Squeaky Boots

On Pearl's birthday, Mr. Krabs attempts to cheaply entertain her party guests. When this does not receive a warm reception, he moves on to presenting Pearl with his present. She opens the package, eagerly hoping for a pair of the popular flipper slippers all her friends wear. What she finds instead is a pair of rubber fishing boots, a real bargain for Mr. Krabs but a mortifying gift for her.

Left stuck with a two-dollar pair of boots, Mr. Krabs wonders what he can do with them. SpongeBob arrives to ask for his paycheck, and Mr. Krabs decides to play up the value of the boots, telling SpongeBob they are meant only for the world's greatest fry cook. SpongeBob longs to wear such a pair, but Mr. Krabs denies his request until SpongeBob offers up his paycheck in exchange.

SpongeBob takes to the squeaky new boots immediately, much to the annoyance of Squidward. To Mr. Krabs' ears, the boots merely make the sound of money. That night, Mr. Krabs begins to dream about the cash lining his register, but the sounds of squeaking invade his slumber and the squeaky boots appear in his dream jumping in his register. He wakes to realize it's his window making the sound, but as he goes to close it, he steps into a knothole, breaks his leg literally in two and falls outside.

Limping back upstairs, he finally closes the window and returns to sleep, but the window opens once more. Repeated attempts eventually yield success, but he breaks his other leg on the way back to his hammock and becomes entangled in it, just as the window resumes squeaking open and closed.

Trudging to work on bandaged legs, the tired Mr. Krabs looks forward to at least having a successful business day. He arrives to find Squidward leaving for vacation in a huff. Mr. Krabs cannot understand what could be wrong when business is booming, but it soon becomes clear as SpongeBob comes squeaking into view. Enthusiastic as ever about wearing the boots of the world's greatest fry cook, SpongeBob demonstrates how he hopes to live up to the title, performing various feats and squeaking all the while. Mr. Krabs grows ever more weak and weary, retreating to his office for peace. The sounds permeate inside, however, and he decides he must get rid of the boots once and for all.

Sneaking into SpongeBob's house under cover of darkness, Mr. Krabs slips off the boots from the sleeping SpongeBob's feet and brings them back to the Krusty Krab to hide. The next morning, Mr. Krabs is sitting peacefully with his dollar bills when a sobbing SpongeBob enters, apologizing for losing the precious boots, and admitted his belief of his fault. Mr. Krabs attempts to console him with "magic oven mitts," but they do nothing to heal SpongeBob's pain. Unsure of what else to do, Mr. Krabs takes a customer's order. However, the order comes out as a series of squeaks. Horrified, Mr. Krabs soon hears everyone and everything making the dreaded sound.

Driven to madness, Mr. Krabs confesses that he hid the boots underneath the restaurant's floorboards. He pulls the boots out, takes them to the kitchen and dips them into the fryer before devouring the shriveled footwear. Satisfied, he tells the mystified SpongeBob that he doesn't need special boots to be a great fry cook as he already is one, and so gives SpongeBob his long-overdue paycheck and an extra bonus. Mr. Krabs then heads off on a week-long vacation with Pearl, having finally bought her a pair of Flipper Slippers for the trip. Much to his dismay, a tell-tale squeak starts hiccuping from him as he drives and continues all the way down the road.