Ooze in the Ocean

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Ooze in the Ocean
General information
Author:	David Lewman
Illustrator:	Francesco Francavilla
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Publisher:	Amulet Books/Nickelodeon
Publication date:	June 6, 2023
Pages:	224
ISBN:	1419762060 (10) 978-1419762062 (13)

Ooze in the Ocean is the second book in the SpongeBob SquarePants Mysteries series. It was written by David Lewman and illustrated by Francesco Francavilla.

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Brian ^{(single appearance)}
• Ms. Halibut ^{(single appearance)}
• Shady Shoals residents
  • Mermaid Man
  • Barnacle Boy
  • Roy ^{(single appearance)}
  • Thelma ^{(single appearance)}
  • Zippity ^{(single appearance)}
• Health inspector ^{(single appearance)}
• Squidward Tentacles
• Old Man Jenkins ^(cameo)
• Ghost pirates
• Flying Dutchman
• Flying Dutchman's crew
• Squilliam Fancyson
• Officer Cheryl ^{(single appearance)}
• Officer Bruce ^{(single appearance)}
• Kutterworth ^{(single appearance)}
• Jellyfish ^(mentioned)
• King Aethelfish the Hairy ^{(single appearance; mentioned)}
• Squilliam's chef ^{(single appearance)}
• Grandma SquarePants ^(mentioned)
• Sandy Cheeks
• Mrs. Puff ^(mentioned)
• Alaskan Bull Worm
• Reg ^(mentioned)
• Ber ^{(single appearance)}
• Deke ^{(single appearance)}
• Nico ^{(single appearance)}
• Beth ^{(single appearance)}
• Rock Bottom snakefish ^{(single appearance; mentioned)}
• Gary the Snail
• Eugene H. Krabs ^(cameo)
• Atomic Flounder
• Man Ray
• Dirty Bubble
• Jumbo Shrimp
• Sinister Slug
• Larry the Lobster
• Sheldon J. Plankton

Synopsis

Website description

SpongeBob SquarePants is back with a new mysterious case to solve in the second book of this exciting middle-grade series! When a glowing green trail appears outside of the Shady Shoals Rest Home, retired superheroes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy ask SpongeBob and Patrick to take on the case and figure out what the trail is. Unfortunately for the two detectives, they are lead_[sic] through ship graveyards, underground tunnels, and ultimately in the nest of some of the most dangerous villains Bikini Bottom has ever been faced with!

Book description

When a mysterious, glowing green ooze appears behind the Shady Shoals Rest Home - throwing the residents and and superhero duo Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy into a panic and threatening to close down their home - Detective SpongeBob SquarePants and his new partner, Patrick Star, come to the rescue! But as the clues - and the ooze - begin to unfurl, they realize the case may be stickier than it first seemed. The dynamic duo follows the trail to menacing pirate ghosts, horrifying monsters, and fearsome villains. Will SpongeBob and Patrick's friendship survive the perils of being private detectives, or will they let their heroes down and leave the Shady Shoals residents without a home?

Join author DAVID LEWMAN and illustrator FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA on this fast-paced adventure that throws SpongeBob and Patrick in the mysterious corners of Bikini Bottom!

Plot

The book begins with SpongeBob monologuing to the reader, talking to them about his detective work and how valuable a sidekick can be in an investigation before telling the story of his latest caper. It started very early in the morning, where SpongeBob is frantically trying to wake Patrick up; it's Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Fan Day at the Shady Shoals Rest Home, and he doesn't want them to be late. The two rush over and try to enter, where an employee shoos them out for being five hours early, so SpongeBob tells Patrick the tale of how he and Squidward teamed up to find him to pass the time.

Five hours later, SpongeBob finishes his story when Ms. Halibut, the manager of the Rest Home, declares that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy Fan Day has officially begun. Letting SpongeBob, Patrick and a horde of other fans inside, she gives the cue for Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy to arrive and announces it's time to ask the heroes questions about their lives, which include Patrick asking Barnacle Boy about his role as Mermaid Man's sidekick and a question about the Evilmobile, a vehicle confiscated from their supervillain foes that Mermaid Man accidentally reveals to be in the Mermalair.

However, the festivities are interrupted when an elderly citizen arrives in a panic; strange green trails have appeared behind the Rest Home again. SpongeBob questions him about the trails as Ms. Halibut tries to calm things down, but other residents of the Rest Home soon show up to complain, worried about the trails and threating to leave if it's not dealt with. A health inspector hidden amongst the crowd of fans checks the ooze and declares that it could be dangerous, but is convinced by Ms. Halibut to have one week to deal with the mess.

Ms. Halibut tries to get Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy to investigate, but they refuse due to being retired. She then lets SpongeBob handle the case, and he and Patrick run home so SpongeBob can get his detective outfit and tell his detective partner, Squidward, that they have a new case. However, Squidward refuses to do any more detective work, so Patrick offers to become SpongeBob's new partner, donning a detective outfit of his own before heading back to the Rest Home.

The detectives follow the green trail and it soon runs cold, but Patrick accidentally casts a shadow over the ooze, revealing that it can glow in the dark. The eerie glow reminds SpongeBob of the Flying Dutchman's ship, so the two head to the ship graveyard on the outskirts of town to find him, only to run into some a crew of ghostly pirates who warn them to not say the Dutchman's name, for he knows whenever someone speaks it. The pirate captain states that not only is he not in the graveyard, but that they're going to make the detectives their prisoners.

Unable to escape, Patrick suddenly comes up with the idea to shout the Dutchman's name, and after SpongeBob joins in, the two are struck by lightning, teleporting them onto the Dutchman's ship where they meet the Flying Dutchman himself. As they talk, SpongeBob spies a newspaper article about Bikini Bottom's richest citizens and gets suspicious, causing the Dutchman to lock the pair in a jail cell below deck. The detectives trick the guard into freeing them and locking himself inside, letting the two check the Dutchman's diary for an alibi, revealing that he was busy scaring Squilliam Fancyson. The Dutchman soon barges in and admits it, agreeing to let them go if they stop speaking his name before teleporting them away.

The detectives end up just outside Squilliam's tower, only to see police cars nearby, so the two put on disguises and pose as reporters from the local newspaper, which makes Squilliam let them inside. He reveals that he was robbed the night before, and orders his butler, Kutterworth, to escort them to a parlor so they can work on their article. After serving them refreshments, Kutterworth confirms that the Flying Dutchman had scared Squilliam, and reveals that a rare jewel-encrusted comb was the only thing stolen from Squilliam. As he leaves, Kuttersworth mentions needing to clean a mess; upon being questioned by Patrick, the butler reveals a trail of glowing green ooze has appeared in the tower's yard.

Hearing news of a second ooze trail, the detectives venture outside and use Patrick to cast a shadow over the ooze, which turns out to be different from the trail outside the Rest Home. SpongeBob wishes he had a sample from the Dutchman's ship to compare, making Patrick reveal that he absentmindedly got one, so SpongeBob takes a sample of the new ooze when the police show up and mistake their detective work for evidence tampering. The two officers soon squabble over whether they're tampering or removing evidence, giving them time to escape. Now safe, SpongeBob comments that they need a scientist to analyze the sample, and Patrick remembers that Sandy is one, so the pair begin their journey to visit her.

As the pair travel, a group of shady characters meet up out of town, revealing to have Squilliam's comb and are using it as payment for some sort of service. The detective duo soon make it to Sandy's treedome, where they ask her to analyze their ooze samples. After running a few tests, she puts the samples into an invention called the Animalizer Analyzer, which reveals that the ooze behind Squilliam's tower wasn't from the Flying Dutchman, but instead a mutated sea slug. To help the duo on their investigation, she gives them the Ooze Finder 3000, which she quickly modifies to only find radioactive ooze.

The detectives travel back to the Rest Home to analyze its ooze trail, and are soon led to another ooze trail far away from Bikini Bottom that ends in a ginormous hole that SpongeBob accidentally drops the Ooze Finder into. He soon realizes that the hole is actually a recently dug tunnel, which he deduces could only have been created by an Alaskan Bull Worm. Wondering how the ooze and tunnel are connected, SpongeBob theorizes that the Bull Worm is trained, and that someone brought it to the middle of nowhere to practice digging tunnels, and questions what kind of person could train a Bull Worm. Patrick comments that it would take someone tough, so the two venture to a place tough people go; the Salty Spitoon.

As they travel to the Salty Spittoon, SpongeBob comments that he isn't worried about getting in, since he's friends with Reg the doorman. However, to his dismay, a tough fish named Ber has taken Reg's place, but he lets the two in due to being a big fan of detectives. Within the Spittoon they meet Nico, a server who will only answer their questions if they can stomach his Salty Slop Soda drink, which Patrick easily handles. Defeated, Nico points to Beth, a rough-looking woman dressed in fancy clothing and jewelry that warms up to them after Patrick makes a witty quip. However, when SpongeBob asks Beth about the tunnels, she quickly bolts outside and escapes in a sleek boatmobile, so they borrow Ber's sports vehicle and pursuit her.

As the detectives track Beth throughout Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob repeatedly instructs Patrick on the proper way to drive, the demands quickly getting on his nerves. Beth then swerves into a kelp forest and loses them, causing SpongeBob to lament about the situation, calling Patrick a rookie as he does so. Offended that SpongeBob is seemingly demeaning him, Patrick's anger quickly boils over, causing him to dissolve their partnership and head home. As SpongeBob mulls over all the clues that have been found, he realizes that the best course of action would be to use the Ooze Finder to find another ooze trail, and quickly gathers supplies before heading off.

Back at the tunnel, SpongeBob ties rope to some coral and descends into the tunnel with a flashlight, quickly finding the Ooze Finder and travelling down the tunnel to find not only footprints, but a sleeping Alaskan Bull Worm, which he accidentally wakes up with his flashlight. Meanwhile, Patrick decides to continue being a detective on his own, travelling back to the Shady Shoals Rest Home where he speaks with Mermaid Man, who tells him the importance of respecting a partner, no matter how tough things get. Inspired by his words, Patrick races back to the tunnel and barely saves SpongeBob from the Bull Worm, the reunited pair ending up on its back as it travels down the tunnel.

The Bull Worm then begins to dig a new tunnel, so the detectives jump off the worm and use the Ooze Finder to find more ooze and footprints in the old tunnel, which ends up leading to the Mermalair, which currently has intruders within searching for something. SpongeBob looks around and spots the Mermascope, the perfect tool to discreetly spy on whoever's inside, but accidentally knocks down another tool on the ground trying to get it, alerting the intruders who turn out to be a team consisting of the Atomic Flounder as the leader, Man Ray, the Dirty Bubble, Jumbo Shrimp, and the Sinister Slug. Wasting no time, the villains immediately go on the attack, and the detectives try to use the gadgets on the wall to their advantage, but are quickly overpowered and captured by the Dirty Bubble, who puts them in a cage.

With a little coaxing, SpongeBob makes the Atomic Flounder reveal that he was sick of retirement, so he got his gang of fiends back together to ride the Evilmobile once more, coming up with a plan to get it back; the Flounder posed as a fan and ask Mermaid Man about its location, then the team rob Squilliam of his comb and use it to pay Beth, who wrangled a Bull Worm to dig right into the Mermalair. It's also revealed that the Sinister Slug was the culprit leaving the ooze trails as the group traveled from place to place. Seeing that the detectives have figured out his plan, he orders them to tell him where the Evilmobile is or else he will uses his Nuclear Touch on them.

However, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy soon arrive, as Patrick had activated the silent alarm earlier, and Mermaid Man accidentally reveals that the Evilmobile is held within Sub-Basement Level Four. The villains head towards it but the heroes vow to stop them, freeing SpongeBob and Patrick, who grab some gadgets and begin attacking the villains. The Atomic Flounder orders Jumbo Shrimp to draw the heroes' fire as he ambushes Patrick, stating that he'll let him go if his gang is given the Evilmobile. Out of options, the heroes agree, and everyone heads to Sub-Basement Level Four, where the villains are allowed to take their Evilmobile.

However, the Flounder double-crosses the heroes and kidnaps Patrick as the villains drive away, so the heroes resort to using the Invisible boatmobile to go after them. Searching for any signs of them, SpongeBob spies ooze from the Sinister Slug, which Patrick is purposefully flicking onto the road to form a trail. Jumbo Shrimp spies the heroes catching up to them, so the villains throw Patrick overboard, but he safely lands in the invisible boatmobile. The Flounder, realizing that the heroes are still following them, uses various tricks like oil slicks and nails to try and halt them, but the invisible boatmobile's various gadgets manage to prevent any harm.

Infuriated, the Flounder steps on the gas and tries his best to speed away from the heroes, but they manage to track the Evilmobile all over town. Mermaid Man notices the boatmobile is almost out of fuel, so he takes a shortcut to cut the villains off, giving SpongeBob and Patrick an opportunity to hop onto the Evilmobile and subdue them. Defeated, the villains whine over how they can't do anything fun during retirement, which Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy sympathize with. The heroes allow the Atomic Flounder and his gang to go for one more ride in the Evilmobile before going to jail, much to their joy.

Later, the villains have been sent to jail and the Shady Shoals Rest Home has been deemed safe, causing all the residents to return home. As SpongeBob and Patrick celebrate with ice cream and cake, a few of the residents question them about who left the ooze, only to laugh at how outlandish it would be for a group of villains to be the cause. With the story over, SpongeBob talks about how thrilled he was to solve another case, especially since he did it alongside Patrick. The book ends with him commenting that although the case is closed, he is prepared for whenever another case shows up, hoping that his detective skills would be needed soon.

Trivia

• It's revealed that the Flying Dutchman can sense whenever someone mentions his name, and that he hates people stating his name due to wanting to be forgotten, only to pop up and scare his victims once they least expect it.
• It's revealed that the exact hue of green that the Flying Dutchman uses to decorate his ship is called 'Ghostly Gang Green,' which a pun on gangrene, an infectious skin disease.
• It's revealed that Squilliam has a butler named Kutterworth and a chef with an old family recipe for goober-nut butter. He also used to own a rare abalone monobrow comb encrusted with rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, which was said to once be owned by King Aethelfish the Hairy.
• Sandy's treedome is mentioned to be on the other side of Bikini Bottom from the Krusty Krab, located somewhere between Jellyfish Fields and Grandma SquarePants' house.
• It's revealed that some of the tough fish allowed inside the Salty Spittoon include sailors, construction workers, wrestlers, boxers, sanitation workers, and librarians.
  • Some of the tough activities that patrons of the Salty Spittoon participate in include arm-wrestling, karate chopping bricks, and showing emotional vulnerability.

Episode references

• Leif Erikson Day is mentioned, which was first mentioned in "Bubble Buddy."
• Squilliam's tower is mentioned to include an elevator, a rooftop garden and a jewel-encrusted toilet paper holder, all things revealed in "House Fancy."
• The events of "No Weenies Allowed" are mentioned when SpongeBob talks to Patrick about the fight they staged so that Reg would let him into the Salty Spitoon.
• As Patrick thinks of his friendship with SpongeBob, he thinks of their friendship rings from "The Secret Box."
• Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are mentioned to enjoy playing shuffleboard and eating tapioca pudding, referencing "Shuffleboarding" and Battle for Bikini Bottom respectively.