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Chapter Text

Spongebob woke up to the sound of his alarm and got his clothes on before heading downstairs like clockwork. His life was on a schedule: get up, get dressed, feed Gary, have breakfast, go to work (if he didn't have the day off), go home, have dinner, then repeat.

The chipper sponge grabbed his beloved pet's bowl and food, trying not to fall as he poured the food.

"Gary! Come and get it!"

Nothing. Not even the sound of slime moving.

"Gary? Gary?? GARY??"

The sponge felt a growing sense of worry in the back of his mind, though he tried to brush it off by telling himself Gary must have gotten an early start. Next, he went to Squidward's house and knocked on the door:

"Hey Squidward, you feeling any better?"

No response

"S-Squidward?"

Once again, the sense of worry grew, but Spongebob decided to ignore it to wake Patrick. Maybe hearing his best friend's voice would ease him, but once the yellow sponge knocked on the rock, there wasn't a noise......not even the sound of breathing.

"Okay......I-I'll see you after work, sleepy head."

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At the Krusty Krab,  the sound of Krabby patties cooking on the grill made Spongebob calm down a little.

That was one of the reasons he loved working at the Krusty Krab: the sound of the patties cooking always made him feel at ease.

This was especially the case now, since the restaurant was deathly quiet; no customers coming in and sitting down, any passing traffic, or even the laughter of plankton trying to take the formula.

"Hello?"

Mr. Squarepants nearly jumped out of his skin, and looked up from his window. There looked to be a person standing at the register confused, the sponge sighing in relief, "Oh, you startled me."

"Sorry about that, I was just wondering....how do I order here? Is it self order or does someone take it?"

Spongebob suddenly felt his stomach tie itself into a knot, "Usually Squidward takes the order but he's not here right now. But I-I can take it for you....uh can I get your name?" The figure smiled "My name's Y/n and thanks!"

Y/n ordered a King sized Ultra Krabby Patty with fries, coral bits, and a diet soda. Once Spongebob finished the order, his watch beeped signaling that it was lunch time, but he did not want to eat alone due to how tense he was feeling.

"Hey Y/n?"

"What's up?"

"M-May I sit by you for my lunch break?"

"Sure!"

So the two had lunch together, talking to each other and having a good time. Y/n was vacationing here for a whole month.

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Dark clouds began moving to cover the sky as Spongebob was walking home, finding the streets still devoid of anyone. He honestly couldn't wait to get home and see Gary, the snail that always made him feel better, even on his worst days.

Once he got home, Squarepants noticed Gary never came up to him like he usually did when he came home from work, "Gary? You here buddy?" The nautical spongebob walked up into the dark and saw a silhouette.

"Gary? Is that you-"

Turning on the light, Spongebob saw the food he poured earlier still untouched, confirming his worst fears.

Gary was GONE!

Running out of the front door, Spongebob accidently rammed into Y/n, who was walking up to Pineapple house. "Y/n! I'm so sorry!! I...wait what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you Spongy! Something's wrong here. When I got to the hotel, everyone there was gone!"

"My pet snail, Gary, is gone too!"

Y/n's eyes shrank at the sudden prospect, "Spongebob.....what if everyone is gone?"

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They checked out Patrick's home to find it completely empty.

Next, they check the Krusty Krab and the crab's house, finding him gone too.

Sandy, she was gone from her treedome.

All the houses the duo checked were all the same: gone, gone, gone.

Even the police, most of the doctors, and other businesses were devoid of life.

The only houses they couldn't check were Squidward's house, Chum Bucket, Squilliam's Manor, and Larry's gym.

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Back at the Pineapple, Spongebob was panicking while Y/n was dialing random numbers in hopes of calling someone, just to hear another voice.

"Please pick up......please....."

"Hi, this Wally darling, I'm very busy at the moment, but leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Bye Neighbor...."

Y/n felt their spirits sink and left a message, dialing the next random number. Again with the same response, a voicemail.

"I'm studying ancient equestrian history. Please leave your inquiry and I'll get back to you!"

"Hey, this is Mike Schimdt, I'm at work right now and can't call back. Leave your message and I'll get back to you."

Y/n's message was the same: "Listen, I need you to call back, send something or come. Almost everyone at my vacation spot is gone! We just....need to know that we're not the only ones left. That we're not completely alone........ok....goodbye."

Squarepants looked at his companion, worried "W-Well?"

"I think we might be the only ones left."

"Shit."

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That night was one of the worst nights the two ever endured, with the winds howling and making the coral trees scratch the windows, the rain pelting the pineapple and the lighting crackling loudly.

Y/n and Spongebob were huddled together, their whole bodies trembling from the rain pelting down. Everytime Lightning crackled, they would shriek and huddle closer.

Eventually, the storm passed, as the two were finally asleep.

Chapter Text

When morning came, the first thing Spongebob noticed when he opened his eyes was the quilt snugly wrapped around him and Y/n.

It had colors of red, blue and yellow, the primary colors in art. Another thing he noticed was the sound of other people talking in the kitchen, with only a few voices he knew right away. The other voices, however, were completely unknown to him.

"Who ties the salt and pepper shakers above the table?! This is just a crime in the world of interior design!" A posh female voice cried out.

"Rarity, we literary have more important matters to deal with!" A raspy voice countered back at the other voice.

Y/n opened their eyes, yawning loudly, "Hey Spongebob? Who's talking in the kitchen?" The sponge shrugged before hearing the familiar voice of Larry, "Hey ladies, I'd love to be part of this debate but we should check on the little sponge and his amigo now."

After saying that, Larry and two odd creatures: a skyblue horse with wings and a rainbow mane, and a white horse with a horn on their head, came out of the kitchen.

"Hey Spongebob, you two alright?"

"Larry?!"

Squarepants got up and ran to Larry, hugging him tight "I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE LEFT!"

"Woah, whoa, Larry needs you to calm down, Spongebob. I wasn't gone, just resting my muscles yesterday."

Upon seeing the ponies, Y/n also got up and went to them as well, giving a more relaxed hug, "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, you two are a sight for sore eyes."

"Aw Y/n, you know we couldn't leave you alone like that. Especially after hearing your panicked voicemail last night."

"What exactly happened darling? You sounded like you were going to lose it."

Rarity levitated a brush, to fix the reader's hair as they sighed and looked at the two, explaining the terrifying situation in detail.

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Plankton made his way over to the Pineapple in a huge robot, intending to take the fry cook. When he found out that his hated business rival was gone, he tried to open the safe to finally get the coveted secret formula, only to discover it needed a combo.

So the mad genius decided to take Spongebob Squarepants and make him open the safe.

"ALRIGHT SQUAREPANTS YOU HAVE UNTIL THE COUNT OF THREE TO COME OUT WILLINGLY! 1.........2..."

BANG!

A gunshot hit the robot, knocking it back, "AH! WHO DID THAT?!" Plankton looked through the monitor to see a lizard-like creature with a forked tail and curved horns on the roof. He had sunglasses on and holding a sniper rifle.

"That was me, assclown! I don't know what you're doing here, but you'd better get lost or I'm going to blast your fucking brain out all over this house!" The copepod growled and pressed a button to fire at the thing protecting the spongy prize.

Blitz, however, was not an easy target. He had the agility and the aim of a professional assassin, managing to hit the robot five times.

The tiny manic had enough of this and fired his ultra-mega-deadly laser to roast the imp, but another laser made contact with the beam, pushing it all the way back in and making the robot explode, sending Plankton flying back to the Chum Bucket.

"AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

As the villain was launched, the one who fired the counter beam- Starlight, smirked with pride while Blitz looked at her with wide eyes.

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Fluttershy was petting Gary, who was cuddling up next to her, in the library "Aw, you're so cute, yes you are......"

"Ah....that's the stuff."

"Say Gary...why were you hiding out here yesterday?"

"Cause of the storm coming here, the library always soothes me"

"You know, I bet Twilight would also love the library. There are alot of books here."

"Yeah, also lots of comics. I don't hate them, but I like a good book over a comic."

"I see"

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After the whole chaos with Plankton, Spongebob realized he needed to go grocery shopping, but he didn't want to go alone. So the group offered to go with him so he wouldn't feel so anxious like he did yesterday.

Chapter Text

At the Bargain Mart, Spongebob looked at the various items on the shelf. The music playing made the empty store the more eerie, even the others were feeling a little nervous. "Boy......this is backrooms levels of creepy"

"Backrooms?"

"None of you want to know."

Y/n had the thousand yard stare as they looked at some canned bread, its price was an absolute steal, "Hey Spongebob? Want some canned bread?"

Before the yellow sponge could answer, the tentacled hand of Squidward grabbed the can and put it in his cart, "Sorry, but this canned bread will belong in my pantry only!" Spongebob gasped happily, looking at his grouchy neighbor.

"SQUIDWARD!"

Squidward sighed, "Yes Spongebob, it's me. Normally, I'd want you to go away, but since everyone that lives here has vanished, I suppose I can make an exception this one time."

The sponge was overjoyed at this. There were some bikini bottomites still there! Frank Frankly came up to the grouchy cephlapod, with some spice mixes in hand, "Oh Mr Tentacles, I found some lovely spices and-"

Frank Frankly gasped, going up to Y/n "Y/n! How nice to see you again! I see you're helping Mr Squarepants here." Y/n nodded, putting a regular loaf of bread in the cart.

"Well, it's nice to see you again."

"Same to you! Say.....where are the others?"

"They wanted to explore the rest of the city, since it's completely empty"

While Y/n and Frank were talking, Spongebob did not notice the puddle created from a fallen ice bag. He pushed the cart and soon lost balance.

"AH!!!!!!!"

Y/n looked right as the cart managed to snag them, propelling the two out of the store and into the downtown.

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Wally was painting the skylines, enjoying the quiet atmosphere, before he saw the two holding onto the shopping cart that was speeding through the streets.

"Someone stop us!!"

Rainbow Dash, Frank Frankly, Squidward, Twilight Sparkle, and the group were chasing after the runaway shopping cart, trying to stop them and get them to safety. Y/n kept the food items from falling out of the cart so they didn't have to go back.

Eddie, Pinkie, Applejack, Poppy, Julie, and Mike Schmidt were looking at baked goods through a window before seeing the cart zoom by.

"What in the hay?"

"Applejack! We've got a problem! Spongebob's cart is out of control!"

"How come?"

Blitz sighed, "Some fucker left an ice bag outside and it melted onto the floor. Now Spongebob is out of control because of it!" Applejack nodded, getting her lasso and began to chase after the rouge cart.

Mike and Eddie decided to help with this by using the lasso on the cart that was now reaching top speed.

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On the richer side of Biniki Bottom, Squiliam Fancyson was getting ready for his ride around the town. Despite the strange quietness of the city, he decided not to let it bug him by having his chauffeur take him around the town.

"Ready to go, Mr. Fancyson?""

"Yes, I am ready. Have my footpath ready for me please"

"Right away sir"

Once the footbath was activated, Squilliam let the warm water ease him. In fact, he was now very relaxed to the point that he didn't see the cart speeding towards the limo nor did he hear the screams of Spongebob and Y/n.

The only thing he registered was the sudden stop of the ride.

Chapter Text

"What the barnacles?!"

Squilliam looked out the window to see a shopping cart that nearly spilled food on the limo, the terrified Sponge and Reader clutching it like a lifeline, and the strange creatures grabbing the rope wrapped around the cart.

"Hang on Sponge, we got ya."

Spongebob's heart was practically pounding in his rib cage as Mike stabilized the cat with the lasso, while Eddie helped get them down off of the cart. Y/n was trembling as they were lowered, and almost fainted from the adrenalin.

The sound of the limo honking, jolting everyone to look at the rich cepholpod, who was looking incredibly annoyed,"Move out of the way, pesants! You're all blocking my relaxing drive!"

Rainbow Dash glared at the snooty squid, "Well, excuse us for trying to stop a rouge cart so two people wouldn't be severely injured! So you'd be thankful we didn't cover your limo with groceries!"

Fancyson went to say something, but a quick glare from everyone else made him stop, "Chaffeur, change the route from this street. This street is littered with peasants."

"Yes sir"

The limo backed up and drove to another street, leaving the group covered in dust.

Blitz narrowed his eyes, "Wow, what an asshole. He's just as bad as Andrealphus, only without ice powers."After that, the group pushed the cart gently back to the pineapple, and unloaded the food.

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Mr. Squarepants and Y/n sat around, trying to find something good on the TV, but since everyone who ran the stations was gone, the only things that were playing were reruns of previous episodes and static.

"Sigh"

"You bored too?"

"Yeah."

The two were in need of something to do, anything to beat the boredom that came from the fact of nothing to do.

Their answer came in the form of the cart being pushed around by the Trolls. The queen Boppy and queen Barb were at the top of the cart while Cooper and the other funk trolls were running on the cart's wheels to move it forward.

Y/n saw the cart moving by and got up, "Hey, that gives me an idea! We could ride around the town, not with a cart though." The yellow sponge looked intrigued, "I might have something that we can use!"

Going to the garage, Spongebob showed a bike that looked dusty, and in front of it was his good ol unicycle. Y/n first dusted off the bike and got ready to ride, while Spongebob told the others what they were doing.

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After getting their bikes up a hill, the reader looked at Spongebob, "Ready buddy?"

"Ready"

With that, the two began riding down the hill towards the downtown area.

It was arguably the best moment of their lives; the cool wind blowing in their faces as the warm sun shone over them, no cars to accidently bump into or people yelling at them to slow down, Spongebob was even able to learn how to ride a bicycle and do tricks.

The best part, however, was when the others joined in, Pinkie used her roller skates, Wally used a trike, and so on and so forth.

They even got a laugh when they fell in the town fountain, getting soaked. The whole thing went on for a full 4 hours, with the sun starting to set.

When the group went back to the pineapple, Spongebob was excited to learn that Danny Fenton, Zim, Dib, Manny Rivera, Jenny, Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner were there.

"GUYS!"

The nicktoons gang went to hug each other.

Chapter Text

As the gang got acquainted with each other, Spongebob talked about what he was going through. Jimmy Neutron had Godard scan the whole area for the other residents but there was truly nobody, before a chuckle entered the room. "Jimmy, of course you can't find anyone. Your robotic dog is no match for my computer!" The boy genius turned around to see his arch rival, Dexter.

The red-headed boy walked forward to the group, with several others walking towards the nicktoon gang, "Dexter, what are you doing here?!"

"What does it look like, Neutron? I'm here to help our dear Y/n by finding the residents of Biniki Bottom!"

Dexter brought his porto lab forward with a smug look, "Computer, scan for the other residents of Biniki Bottom!"

"Scanning area....."

"5%......"

"%13......."

"%59......."

"%100. Scan complete." The Porto computer showed the percent of residents found and it was the same as Godard's "What?! How can that be?! Computer, what areas did you scan?"

His machine showed she had scanned all the city, even to the fields of jellyfish fields to the edge of rock bottom.

Jimmy Neutron smirked as he came up to him, "Looks like you can't find the residents either, huh point dexter?" The two glared at each other before the sound of Timmy's stomach growled, "Look as much as you two don't like each other, I want something to eat."

Bloo nodded, "Yeah, I want food!"

Spongebob thought about the options. He could make something but it was alot of work for a lot of people, but if he took them out to dinner somewhere, then it wouldn't be as bad.

But where should they go?

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"Order up!"

Krust Krab was packed as Spongebob served a super Krabby patty deluxe, coral bits, kelp dogs, large french fries, and a large soda to Richard Watterson.

"Here you are sir!"

"Ah, I can already feel my arteries hardening!"

Blitz had a casual meal while he was texting Fizz about the situation in the other universe.

He only asked that none of the other sins, especially Mammon or Satan, get wind of this. If they found out about the deserted town, bad things could happen.

Danny was enjoying his meal before seeing the fry cook looking at something, with sadness in his eyes.

The fourteen year old went to the kitchen with Y/n, Applejack, Wally Darling, and Eddie Dear following him inside. There, Spongebob looked at an old picture of when he first worked at the Krusty Krab, how proud Mr. Krab was for him saving the Krusty Krab.

"Spongebob? You OK bud?"

Sniffling, Spongebob looked at the five who were in the kitchen, making an incredibly strained smile "I-I'm fine......just flipping patties. That's all."

Y/n was the first to come to him, noticing the tear stains "Spongey, have you been crying?" Mr. Squarepants tried to wipe his tears but they kept flowing, "N-No I'm fine...."Applejack put a gentle hoof on Spongebob's shoulder, "Sugar, you're not fine. Come on now, what's wrong, hon?" The yellow sponge sniffled, "Would you guys be upset at me if I told you."

Wally titled his head confused, "Why would we upset at you? You're just explaining how you feel"

"Well Mr. Krabs never really liked me to talk about my feelings because he said feelings aren't good for business."

Eddie gasped, "Why, that's just doggone wrong! You shouldn't have to bury feelings just because of a job! Now I'll admit I used to do that, but my sweet Frankly helped me get out of doing that."

Danny sighed, "Look if it helps, why not take a break from cooking and come have dinner with us?" Spongebob nodded and turned off the stove to have something to eat.

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When he was at the table, Spongebob confessed that he still missed everyone that used to live in the city.

He missed doing karate with Sandy, seeing the different faces come into the Krusty Krab, playing with Patrick, and just having a splendid time in the city. The sponge did admit that lately everyone had been more of a jerk to him as of late.

Despite that, Spongebob tried to put his best foot forward but eventually something would go wrong. One day, he would finally snap.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Spongebob woke up in his bed with his beloved Gary sleeping with him. Though normally the snail wasn't allowed on the bed, the sponge made an exception this time, since he was still feeling tense from what happened two days ago.

Everyone else that was there was staying at the hotel Y/n wanted to check into, since the pineapple was too small for them to stay at.

After getting dressed and having some kelp flakes, Squarepants heard the phone ring and went to answer it, "Hello?"

"Hey Spongebob!"

"Rocko! Hey buddy, what's going on?"

"Well, I was thinking that we should go to Goo Lagoon today!"

With an excited gasp, the yellow sponge ran to his closet and got out various beach items, including his towel, a floatie, his sand castle building tools, money for ice cream and food, and the most important item: sunscreen.

Rocko waited at the other end of the phone for an answer when Spongebob came back on, "Of course, I'd love to go!"

"Great!"

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At the beach of Goo Lagoon, Rocko got his spot ready, even making sure his beloved dog Spunky stayed there when someone kicked sand at his face.

"Hey! Who did that-" Another kick of sand revealed two female cows, talking to each other and not even noticing the kangaroo as they kicked another helping of sand in his face.

Filburt got his spot in a perfect area, close enough to the water to not get burn marks from the silky hot sand but far enough away not to get caught in the tide. The others got their spots, some to get a tan, others to swim in the water, and some to enjoy the hot day.

Mike Schmidt immediately dove into the water as soon as he got his stuff setup and applied his spray sunscreen on, "Ah......nothing like the feel of nice cold water." He swam around before noticing the fry cook getting a floatie on, then entering the water like it was a hazardous place.

"Spongebob, why did you do that?"

"Do what, Mike?"

"You entered the water like it was biohazardous."

"Well I...uh...." Spongebob moved carefully closer to the security guard, trying to avoid any spots where his feet couldn't touch.

Eventually, Squarepants reached the edge of the shallow end while many others were playing and having fun at the deep end, "The truth is Mike, I can't swim because I'm.......terrified of deep water."

Sighing, Mr. Schmidt knew what he had to do: teach Spongebob to conquer his fear of his deep so he wouldn't be left out.

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Heffer saw the ice cream stand roll by, serving two cones to Fizzarolli and Asmodeus, who walked together to a beach hut for "private time." 

One look at those delicious treats made the cow pull out his wallet only to find nothing inside, and without money, he couldn't buy ice cream. Heffer then noticed several girls with ice cream cones, getting an idea: If he could talk to the girls, he could get their ice creams!

Meanwhile, Rocko kept getting his face pelted with sand. When he was about to have something to eat, he got sand kicked at him by a chicken digging for worms.

Next, Rocko got sand in his face from a deer running to catch a Frisbee thrown to throw back.

Then a crowd practically buried the wallaby in the sand, rushing to watch the surfing contest that was about to unfold. This caused Rocko to snap, scream and kick sand at a crowd member.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE HUH?! HUH?! YOU STUPID BLIND PERSON!!"

"What was that?!"

Rocko stopped to realize that he had kicked sand, and insulted a burly warthog, complete with biceps along with an anchor tattoo on his arm. He tried to run, only for the warthog to punch him into puddy.

Filburt and Bugs Bunny made a huge sand castle, complete with rooms, a working drawbridge and moat, and even functional weapons made of sand.

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With the sound of the airhorn, everyone got out of the water to see the contest.

Everyone, of course, except for Spongebob, who was learning to swim, Mike, who was teaching him, and Spunky, who managed to get loose and was swimming in the cool water.

Mike tried to get Mr Squarepants to swim but the poor guy was stuck to a rock, frozen in fear. He very hesitantly swam back, telling the sponge it was now or never.

Realizing he was stuck, Spongebob tried to get the little dog to help him get back, but there were many things that wouldn't work, like how Spunky was content in the water, and he wouldn't do it because the dog wasn't strong enough to pull someone.

"OK contestants, make your way to the stage!"

Spongebob knew the only way back now was to swim, something he was only starting to learn.

When he tried to move at first, the sponge could barely keep his head from going under the waves, which were starting to pick up, "Come on Sponge...d-don't be afraid, I need to get to the shore. If you don't you'll drown.......and lose everything you love!"

Using that as his bag of courage, Spongebob kept tempting to swim, "Ok.....kick....stroke.....kick....stroke...come on Spongebob you can do it!....Kick...Stroke...Kick..Stroke!"

His movements became more fluid as he managed to get to swallow water but kept going until he made it to the shore.

"I did it!"

With new-found skill and confidence, Spongebob went into the crowd to watch the contest.

It was a tense contest, but somehow, against all the talented players, Spunky won purely by being on the surfboard of a player that fell off.

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Spongebob slept on the car ride home, with excitement that he had finally learned how to swim.

Chapter Text

"Come one! Come all to the new racetrack!"

Spongebob was enjoying some reruns of his favorite superhero cartoon when he heard the announcement move by. He went outside to see an envelope with a strange symbol on it: It looked to be a rabbit with a top hat and floppy ear, "Hey what's this?"

Grabbing the letter, the sponge went back into his house, opened the envelope and read it out loud.

"You are invited to come race onto the new Frankie's roadster roadway on the former site of the boating school!

Since no one's using it anymore, our lovable Frankie decided to move the school somewhere else and build an incredibly fun racetrack. 

We look forward to seeing you at the race!

Signed, Frankie!

Gasping, Squarepants went to get the things before remembering one critical detail: He was terrible at driving!

Not just that, the sponge was practically unteachable, so he sighed in defeat, but he couldn't just stay home and ignore the invite. Maybe Spongebob could cheer the racers on, so he could still go and not crash into anything.

"Hey Gary, I'm going to a raceway. Would you like to come?"

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At the spot that was boating school, the real Frankie was adjusting his bowtie while whistling.

When he found out about the situation from Henry, he wasted no time turning the school area into his own business while keeping the theme of cars or, in this case, boats. Of course, he had help from-

"Frankie, did you have to take over this place?"

The mechanical rabbit turned around to see his number one star glaring at him, "Why, of course Lucky! No one was using this lot, so I figured this would be the perfect spot for a new business!"

"Uh huh, I have to point out that this belonged to someone named Mrs Puff!"

"See there's the keyword: Belonged. Now it belongs to the Frankie corporation."

Lucky felt their eyes twitch in anger and disbelief. If there was one of many things they hated about the Real Frankie, it was how greedy he was. The rabbit couldn't accept the truth that his company went bankrupt years ago.

"Now then Lucky, shall we get this race started?"

"We? I'd rather not do this at all."

"Oh don't worry, you get to be with me!"

"Lucky me" The contestant muttered dryly.

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Everyone that was invited came to the racetrack to either watch or drive. Mike got snacks for himself, Y/n and the welcome home crew as they sat down.

It was beautifully decorated with an asphalt track, presents that floated in the air, images of Frankie and his pals, the lights and colors that made everything pop and vibrant, and finally, the robotic crew cleaning the track for the big event.

What else was odd were the strange colored animals that looked like they were from a cartoon.

"Woah...."

Spongebob was in awe of all that he saw, walking around before a cog came up to the sponge, "Mr. Squarepants?"

"Yes that's me"

"Please follow me to the right gate."

Confused, the sponge followed the robot to where the toons and others were busy picking out their carts, "W-Wait! I-I can't drive! I don't even have a license, I-" The cog known as Head honcho just rolled his eyes "None of the toons do, yet that doesn't stop them."

Realizing there was no way out of this, Squarepants went to the cart selection, only to discover that one cart wasn't already picked............one that was different from the rest.....

One that he was very familiar with.

Chapter Text

Once the racers were ready and everyone else was sitting on the bleachers, the spring rabbit got to the microphone and tapped it, with cameras turning on for everyone to see.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the first race ever here on Frankie's roadster roadway! Will the racers make their way to the starting line?"

The metal doors opened as the racers drove up to the starting line, each cart looking unique, but the one that stood out the most was Spongebob's cart: It was the patty wagon, fully reconstructed with a new coat of paint.

Spongebob was amazed at the wagon that was brought back to life. He remembered using the patty wagon when he needed to retrieve King Neptune's crown when Plankton stole it to frame his boss.

It was lost when a sea monster ate it, before it got eaten by an even bigger sea monster.

"Wow....I wonder how Frankie got it back....."

The sponge thought to himself before he was snapped back to the race by a horn, signaling that the race was ready to begin, as Lucky began explaining the rules with a tone that screamed 'I hate my job'.

"Racers will race three times around the course. The presents contain items that will either help or hinder you. Keep the racetrack clean and safe, and at the end of the race you will receive some prizes depending on the place you got, and please make an effort to race as this race will be broadcasted via the cameras."

"Thank you Lucky! Racers, get ready to go once the spotlight goes green!"

With that, the contestants got ready for the moment for the race to begin, Spongebob was practically on pins and needles with nerves.

"READY"

Red light......some revved up their cars before stopping then starting up again.

"SET"

Yellow light.

"GO!!!!!!"

With the lights turning green, the racers pushed their vehicles forward, some stalling due to revving up their cars early. Mr. Squarepants raced forward, managing to get to 8th place right away and getting determination to win this thing.

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Everyone in the multiverse and those at the Coral hotel, watch the race from their various screens, ranging from phones to tablets to televisions to crystal balls and so much more.

Squiliam was watching from his manor and Squidward from his home due to nothing good being on TV. Both looking incredibly bored at the screen.

The rich cephlopod scoffed at a pig toon who was currently in 4th place, "Buddy, you aren't going to win. I've seen enough of these races to know every inch of it."

"I mean don't people have anything better to do than watch some candy-coated vehicles rac-"

A pie was thrown at the pig toon, causing them to fall behind and Spongebob taking their place, who had the most determined look out of all the racers, dodging items and calculating his next move.

Mister tentacles looked shocked at this, Spongebob was actually focused. In all the years the octopus has known his neighbor, never once had he considered Spongebob to be anything more than a brainless dolt.

But now, Squidward realized maybe there's more to the little guy than he thought.

Fancyson had the same reaction but his eyes shone with awe at the sponge's determination and focus.

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"AND WE'RE DOWN TO THE FINAL LAP! THIS IS A TIGHT RACE FOR SURE!"

Beads of sweat poured down Spongebob's face, as he was now in 3rd place, behind a cat toon and an imp.

He needed an opening in order to cross the finish line and win this thing!

"Come on Squarepants, you can do this!"

BOOM!

The imp's car was spun due to well placed dynamite, giving Squarepants the opening he needed. Flooring it, he managed to pass both the imp and the cat at the finish line so close too!

"YES! I'm almost there, I'm gonna win-"

Suddenly, the cat's cart zoomed past the sponge, crossing the finish line. The feline managed to get a kart battery and used it to win, while the imp had the pixie dust, deciding to use it and get 2nd place.

Spongebob got 3rd.

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After he got out of his vehicle, he ran to hide and cry but was stopped by Applejack, "What's wrong sugarcube?"

"I......I lost. I-I got 3rd place."

Y/n came up to Spongebob, "3rd place is not bad Spongebob! In fact, I'm really proud of you buddy"

"B-But I didn't get 1st......"

"And? You gave it your all and that's what matters! Watching you race was amazing, you were so determined."

Applejack put a comforting hoof on the sponge's shoulder, "I know losing can sting, but it doesn't mean we'll leave you. I remember when I lost the equestrian rodeo......it hurt so bad but my friends taught me that just because you lost, it doesn't make you a failure."

Squarepants sniffled, "Y-You don't think I'm a failure?" Both the earth pony and reader shook their heads with a beaming smile. Y/n had one last thing to say,

"The fact you got 3rd instead of last, proves you aren't a failure. It was your first race too, so that's something to be proud of!"

Touched by this, Spongebob hugged the two and went to get his prize: a bronze trophy with a gift basket and a bag of acorns.

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After getting out of his rider's uniform, the cat toon who got first place came up to the yellow sponge, "Hey."

"Hey"

"You know, you're a really good racer. We should do this again sometime."

"Thank you...."

The two shook hands and went on their way, with the sponge seeing both Squiliam and Squidward at the entrance.

Chapter Text

"Hey Squidward! And hello there Mr. Fancyson."

Spongebob walked to the two octopuses, his bronze medal gently moving back and forth, his eyes shinning in the sunlight, "I take you two saw me race earlier?"

Mister Tentacles nodded, with a relaxed smile, "Yeah Spongebob........I never thought I'd say this but you did a good job."

"I did?"  Squiliam nodded, moving in front of his rival from high school, "Oh absolutely! I've never seen anyone race with that much focus and determination. Although, if I'm being honest, I never really did care about racing."

Mike Schimdt bolted past the two and gave the yellow sponge a big hug, "You were so good Spongebob, especially the way you zoomed on that racetrack!"

Squarepants smiled and rubbed his head sheepishly, "Yeah....though I wish I could've gotten to 1st place."

"Aw, who cares about those shiny cups and cheap ass ribbons? I'm more amazed by the fact that YOU never gave in, even if you didn't win!"

"Thanks Mikey, oh! I almost forgot, Mike, meet my good neighbor Squidward!"

The two looked at each other and gave each other a firm handshake. Schimdt then noticed Squilliam looking at his hand, "And isn't this the rich asshole that you and Y/n almost hit when you spun out of control?"

Fancyson glared at the night guard, "I'll have you know that I am Squiliam Fancyson, one of the richest sea creatures and I don't-"

"Uh huh, sure. Anyway, Spongebob, want to go get something to eat, Cheesepants?"

"Sure Mikey!"

With that, Spongebob and Mike went to leave before Squiliam Fancyson put a tentacle out to stop them, "Hold it! I wish to invite the yellow sponge to my estate to get to know him better and provide something to eat."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Can Mike and Squidward come with us?"

Groaning, the rich octopus tried to come up with an excuse why those two weren't allowed in his manor but couldn't, "Oh yes, they can come BUT! I expect them to be on their best behavior!"

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Driving to Squiliam's manor took about 14 minutes from the new raceway.

Mike and Squidward were just sitting in silence, with an annoyed look while Spongebob was enjoying the ride, seeing the many things the limo had to offer; such as a mini fridge, a TV in the seats, a footpath, and even a seat warmer. 

"Wow Mr. Fancyson, you have a really nice car!"

"Isn't it, Mr Squarepants? This limo has all the luxuries money can buy!"

Squidward made a silent groan and rolled his eyes, he always hated how Squiliam flaunted his wealth, as was common practice. He hated Squiliam Fancyson but hated his boss more due to how often Mr. Krabs placed value on the dollar bill rather than placing it on his employees and daughter.

"Hey Squidy"

"What is it, Fancyson?"

"We've arrived at my humble abode~"

Spongebob was the first to get out of the limo and see the gorgeous mansion for himself, as the other three got out.

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Inside the dining room, the yellow sponge was admiring the decor of the place, Mike was on the phone, not even looking at the host, Squidward got ready for the full-course meal with a napkin on his lap so to avoid any stains.

"Wow.......hey Mike?"

"Yeah Spongebob?"

"You look like you aren't having fun here. Is something wrong?"

"Look.....I don't like guys like Squiliam, they always act like they're superior."

"How come?"

Mike took a deep breath and got close to the sponge, "It's because they think, just because they have a lot of money, that they can treat others like trash."

Spongebob looked down, "Oh....I get that...but I wonder if Squiliam has a friend, like a.....real friend?" Schimdt thought about this before the first meal of the evening came out, with it being tomato soup with crackers.

"Oh, food's here."

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After three small meals, Squarepants looked at Fancyson curiously, who noticed him right away, "Why are you staring at me Sqaurepants?" Spongebob cleared and blushed sheepishly, "Sorry! I was wondering something about you!"

"Oh? What's that?"

"I was wondering.....do you have any friends? I know you usually have people around you when you go but....are they your friends?"

"W-Well.....o-of course they are! They just.....um.....alright, so I don't have any real friends. B-But I have money, so it has to be OK...."

The yellow sponge looked down before getting up, walking over to the octopus, who was confused, "What are you doing? I said I'm fine-"

Suddenly, he felt warm arms wrap around him, Spongebob looking sad, "Well, if you want.......I could always be your friend."

"You.....you would? Even though there are some that don't like me at all?"

"Absolutey!"

Squiliam felt a smile form on his face as the main dinner came out: Turkey, chicken, steak, salad, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and other fancy dishes.

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Eventually, the sun was almost gone, and Spongebob was resting on the couch, tired after such a long and exciting day.

Squidward thought about the fact that Spongebob would go home without anyone, other than that annoying snail, to really talk to.

Then an idea came to him, "Hey Mr Schmidt, you think you let Spongebob stay here for the night?"

"How come?"

"Well, considering what's been going on, I think Spongebob should at least spend the night with someone other than Gary." Squiliam nodded, "He can stay with me for the night, I have plenty of guest rooms for him."

Squarepants looked at Squidward, "But who'll watch Gary? I don't want another incident like when Patrick watched Gary." Schmidt got his phone out again, "I can have Fluttershy watch Gary for you, she's actually great with animals."

"You sure she wouldn't mind?"

"That's why I'm going to call her right now."

Once Mike called and got the okay from Fluttershy to watch Gary, Spongebob was led to one of the guest rooms to rest for the night.

Chapter Text

Spongebob woke up, ate his special breakfast that was given by the staff, said his goodbyes to Squiliam and went on a nice walk as the golden light of the sun shined on the road to the pineapple house.

It was a pleasant stroll except for the sight of Sandy's treedome still empty and just sitting there, reminding the sponge of the situation.

The grass was overgrown and weeds grew, the table where he would have picnics with Sandy and Patrick had dust on it, the hamster wheel had cobwebs and the tree looked like it was ripe with Acorns.

"Man, it's such a shame that the treedome is so empty."

After walking all the way to the Pineapple, an idea suddenly popped into the yellow sponge's head: He could make an acorn farm!

True, the sponge was anything but a good gardener, but he knew Squidward was good at gardening. Plus, Squarepants couldn't let the treedome just sit there neglected, he needed to do something nice for Sandy.

Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of Fluttershy and Gary snuggling with each other, sleeping on the couch. "Awwww"

Fluttershy woke up and yawned, "Hello there Spongebob! Gary was a little difficult at times, like when he needed to bathe, but it wasn't nothing I couldn't handle."

Gary woke up as well, meowing and moving towards his owner, "Hi Gare Bear~! Did you enjoy your time with Fluttershy~?"

"Meow!"

"That's good!"

Giving a nice hug to Gary, Spongebob went to the phone to call his neighbor and possibly his new friends for his idea of giving Sandy's home a makeover.

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2 hours later, the group arrived inside the treedome with gardening tools while Jimmy and Dexter were mapping out a new area for the squirrel's house, which would be a mini acorn farm, so she could make her delicious nut butter.

The first thing was to clean up the dome so it would look nice for the squirrel should she ever return.

"Alright guys, ready to get to work?"

Many nodded except for the welcome home crew and Y/n, who were looking out of the dome while a muffled argument happened between the boy geniuses about who should build the area.

"Wally? Is everything alright?"

Wally Darling looked towards the concerned sponge and nodded, "Oh yes! We're just waiting for a friend of ours! We asked if he could help out and he agreed to do it!"

"And I also invited a family to help out with this. I hope this is okay with you, Spongebob."

"Oh! Well, I just hope they aren't completely lazy or anything like that. This is a big project."

Eddie smiled, "Rest assured, our good friend is anything but lazy!" The sound of a truck pulling up was heard from the dome, and the puppets smiled. Julie bounced up and down, "He's here! He's here!"

Out of the truck came an apple dressed with a green shirt and white overalls.

He also had brown shoes and vibrant green eyes as he made his way to the treedome, and as soon as the apple farmer entered, Julie ran up and gave him a big bear hug, "ANDY! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!"

"Good.....to see you too....Julie....."

Andy was let go, and went to Spongebob, "Hi there! I'm Andy the Apple. What's your name?"

"I'm Spongebob Squarepants! Nice to meet you Andy!"

The two shook hands as a cart with a giant snail pulled up with a family of frogs and a human girl inside: Hop pop Plantar, Spring Plantar, Anne Boonchuy, Polly Plantar and Frobo. They got out of the cart and went inside.

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Once everyone got introduced to each other, the work began.

Jimmy and Dexter got beat by Timmy wishing for a new dome area since they couldn't agree on who was going to build the place.

Frobo used vacuum cleaners to clean both the wheel and the table, and hop pop oiled the wheel. Anne, Y/n, and Sprig were deweeding the lawn while Mike Schmidt was riding on the lawnmower cutting the grass down to size.

Spongebob, Andy, and the rest were picking the acorns that were ripe and putting them in baskets.

While everyone was working on the treedome, a bus was driving to Bikini Bottom with a single passenger going back to the city and her home.

She didn't know about the surprise.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

After 4 hours passed, the farm was completed.

Spongebob and the others rested on the tree, proud of their hard work, before noticing the bus pulling up and letting the passenger off.

"Hey Spongebob, who's that on the other side?"

"Huh....." Spongebob gasped excitedly, and got up.

On the other side of the road was Sandy Cheeks, who had suitcases.

Chapter Text

Spongebob bolted outside of the treedome and gave Sandy a big hug, "SANDY! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S YOU!!"

Tears streamed down the sponge's face with a big smile, "Aw Spongebob, I'm alright. I just.....was.....um." Beads of sweat formed on Sandy's face, getting her fur a bit wet as she tried to give her buddy an answer.

If she gave the truth, the squirrel knew Squarepants would be heartbroken, but if she lied, then it would make things worse.

"Look Spongebob, I'll......tell you all about it later."

Hoping that would satisfy the sponge until Sandy Cheeks was ready to confess the truth. After wiping the sweat off her forehead, Sandy went into her home to notice the strangers relaxing on the tree, "Who are these people?!"

The yellow sponge looked at them then back to his karate partner, smiling, "Oh! These are the people that have been keeping me company for......almost a week now!" Ms Cheeks blinked and blinked, processing the fact that the poor sponge was left alone for a week all because-

No! No! That wasn't important right now! What was important was the odd door left from the main tree.

"Hey Spongebob, what's behind this door?"

Andy was the first to get up, stretching his arms out and walking towards the two, "Oh! That? That's a surprise we have for you! It was Spongebob Squarepants' idea!"

Although skeptical towards the talking apple, the Texan went to the door and opened it, becoming in awe at what she saw: three rows of acorn trees being planted in a careful manner with overhead sprinklers, a sun lamp and even the grass that looked a bit wild to simulate the great outdoors.

"I......"

Sandy felt her chest tighten and her breath wavered, this was the nicest thing someone had ever done for her, and crying would allow them all to find out the truth about why the Bikini Bottomites were gone.

Immediately calming down, the squirrel went to hug her little buddy tight, "This was the nicest gift ever, Spongebob! I'm happier than a toad at a fly convention!"

Anne was the second to get up from her resting spot, "Hey guys, wanna go watch a movie to celebrate?"

"Yeah! Wanna come with Sandy?"

"U-Uh sure!"

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Reef Cinmeas was normally active with the fresh smell of popcorn; the sound of the cash register, the patrons talking and soda being poured.

But now, there was an eerie silence that hung in the air before the lights came on.

"Boy.....it's such a shame that this place is so....empty."

Spongebob, Y/n, and Anne Boonchuy walked past all the stuff now collecting dust and into the projector room.

There, they began debating on the type of movie that should be played for everyone that was getting ready for the movie: Andy, Mike and Howdy were handing out the snacks for the movie, Wally along with Eddie were the first ones to sit down and the plantars got the projector ready for the show.

"Well, it's not that I don't hate superheroes, I just think a Romcom movie would be better!"

"Anne, you know what happens when the internet debates over ships, right?"

The teen put down the romcom dvd, remembering how violent the town of Wartwood became when they fought over a ship. Leaving only a superhero and a scary movie left to be picked, "Y/n....I should tell you that I'm......a scaredypants!"

"Scaredypants?"

"It's an insult people call me because I'm easily scared....like on Halloween or watching a scary movie"

"But it's okay to be scared. It's actually quite fun to be scared!"

Y/n put a comforting hand on the yellow sponge's shoulder, "If you get scared, you can huddle next to me. I'll make sure no monster or ghost gets their hands on you, okay?" Spongebob smiled, "No one's ever done that for me before."

"Well, now you have someone."

Making their choice, Y/n popped the scary movie dvd into the projector and went down with Spongebob to watch.

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RRRRRR!!!!

A scary figure with a bloodied apron and a rabbit mask with a chainsaw came out of the woods, coming to the car where a couple were making out passionately on the screen.

Spongebob was huddled next to Y/n, keeping his eyes open, but his body was shaking like a leaf, "The masked rabbit is heading towards the car to hack up the couple."

Mike was eating a large popcorn with a soda, "Hey fool couple! Stop making out and start the damn car!" Squidward sighed, "How did you two not hear the bloody chainsaw?!" Blitz was also watching, "Plus the masked rabbit really needs to work on his technique of sawing through things."

AAAAAAAAAAA!

The masked rabbit managed to saw through the car's engine, permanently stopping it, forcing the couple to run.

"Now you decide to run?" Squidward sighed, being annoyed as the rabbit killer got closer.

Spongebob felt tense at this sight, and when the rabbit caught up, he closed his eyes for the absolute gore fest shown on screen. Blitz was not impressed, he saw alot more gore in his job than the movie displayed.

"Is it over?"

Y/n nodded,"It's over." Spongebob saw the masked murderer running back into the woods with the police giving chase.

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"Oh......that movie was scary"

"But you got through it, Spongebob! You were being brave for watching the movie most of the way through."

Blitz sipped his coffee, "Besides, that movie was tame for a scary movie. There was hardly any hacking."

Spongebob wasn't sure how to feel, the fish in the sea would've teased him for being scared but....the people he was with didn't do it at all.

Maybe he was.....glad the Biniki Bottomites were now gone....

.....Because he finally felt like he belonged.

Chapter Text

At the park, Spongebob was enjoying a nice walk with Y/n and Sandy, going to have a picnic near the river.

It was a nice day for a picnic; the flowers were blooming, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was just right.

"Gee Spongebob, it was definitely nice of you to invite us to a picnic, but why couldn't it have been just you and me?" Sandy smiled while her eyes narrowed at Y/n, who was enjoying the view of the park. "Aw come on Sandy. Y/n really wanted to come along. Besides, I want to share this moment with both of my friends!"

The yellow sponge smiled, holding the basket of goodies which contained nuts, sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, chips, Krabby nuberg, jelly fish jam with toasted bread, and cake for dessert.

Deep beneath the surface of the park, Plankton was again trying to get Spongebob. For the last 6 nights, the cyclops had been tying to crack the safe to the secret formula since the dimwitted Eugene Krabs left mysteriously.

Unfortunately, he just couldn't get into the damned safe! So he was hoping to "persuade" Spongebob Squarepants to open the safe for him, and finally people would eat at his restaurant!

"Where are you Squarepants?"

Plankton looked at the monitor on the surface before seeing his intended target, talking to Y/n while Sandy looked incredibly jealous of this.

"AH HA! There you are!" The micro-sea creature turned the drill upwards and began making his way towards the sponge, "I GOT YOU NOW-"

WHAM!

Suddenly, the drill collided with another, both stopping to avoid any major damage. Sheldon grumbled and opened the window, glaring at the other vehicle, "HEY! What's the big idea here?! Move that hunk of metal out of my path!"

Out of the window peeked a guy completely black with a red outline and yellow eyes, "AND DO YOU MIND MOVING MISTER BUG?! I'm looking forward to procuring that cake from the sponge for my kid's birthday that's coming up. It's sure to be delightful."

"Aw who cares about some dumb party?! It's the Krabby patty formula I'm after!"

"You think everyone would like that slop they call a patty?"

"At least they're alot more unique than a cake!"

Plankton went to back up and change paths because his intended target was moving away to the picnic spot. Father went in the other direction, in hopes of beating this tiny freak to the prize.

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"How many slices of barnacle loaf do you want on your sandwich, Sandy?"

"3 please"

Spongebob cut 3 slices of barnacle loaf and placed them on a sandwich, giving it to Sandy, "Here you are." Y/n was munching on a burger with some chips on the side, enjoying the sunny weather.

No one knew about the double danger that was coming or the drills surfacing close by.

After everyone had their share of lunch, Squarepants got the cake out, with Father getting ready to get it and Plankton ready to grab the yellow sponge.

"Mm, Mm, come to papa."

Two mechanical arms slowly reached towards the cake and the sponge, before another set of arms beat the grabbers back.

"Stay out of my way! That formula is mine!!" Sheldon's shrill voice rang through the speakers, making the fiery person more angrier. "YOU WANT TO PARTY?! LET'S PARTY!!"

With that, the two masterminds began clashing with each other underground for the right to have the spongy treasure, not knowing about the help that would come.

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As Squarepants got the knife out to serve the cake, a group of kids approached the picnic spot.

One of them was completely bald while wearing a red shirt and a pair of shades. "Excuse me, Mister Squarepants."

"Huh?"

"My name is Number 1. Me and my team are with the Kids Next Door, we need you and your delicious cake to come with us right away."

"But I'm not a kid, I'm an adult"

Number two nodded, as he came forward, "This is true, but compared to most adults we've seen, you're by far the most who behaves like a kid." Spongebob couldn't find an argument against that. He really was a kid in an adult's body.

"So what do you need me for?"

"We need to put you and the cake into the KND's cake protection program. One delightful children's birthday is coming up and the father has his eyes set upon your cake along with its recipe." Squarepants gasped, "But this cake has been in my family for generations!"

Nigel nodded, "Exactly why we need to keep you and the cake safe! Follow us to our tree fortress right away."

With that, Spongebob followed the KND to their treefort with Sandy and Y/n following close behind.

Chapter Text

At the tree house belonging to Sector 4, Spongebob admired the machines, screens and various other things that were seen.

He held his family's chocolate sponge cake like it was the most precious thing in the world. Sandy also admired the amount of machinery, but it had a hint of envy in her eyes, "How did a bunch of kids manage to make such advanced levels of technology from what looks to be random junk?"

She muttered to the reader before they looked at her, "Well, I think it's really impressive that they're able to create incredible things from everyday items."

"Though here Mr Squarpants"

Number 5 opened a door to show what looked to be a sitting room with a mini table, "Here's where you should wait until the KND headquarters comes to pick you and your family's cake up."

Spongebob sat down in the chair closest to the launch point, looking nervous, "Why does the father of the.....delightful children want my cake so bad?"

Number 1 showed a photo of the delightful children, a sight that made the chipper's sponge blood freeze with fear, "The delightful children from down the lane are one of our most dangerous enemies. They wish to become adults as soon as possible and their schemes are for the sake of greed."

Another photo was shown of the kids on each of their five birthdays, seeing the other "guests" tied up and with empty plates.

"Every year on each of the delightful kids' birthdays, they try to eat all the cake for themselves while the guests are forced to watch without a single slice"

"How horrible! Everyone should be able to have cake, especially at birthday parties!"

Nigel smirked at the sponge, "It's exactly why we're dedicated to stopping Father and his insidious plans and ensuring every kid can eat cake."

Number 3 brought in a "Cake containment bowl" (which was a special plastic container, designed for space travel) and carefully put the prized good inside.

"Here you go, Mister spongy! Your cake is all safe and secure!"

Suddenly, the alarm rang out, prompting Sector V to take action. Looking through the monitor, Number One and Sandy spotted a giant Plankton robot stomping its way towards the treefort.

"Plankton!"

"You know the one piloting that mech?"

"Oh I know that tiny pest! He's always trying to steal the Krabby patty secret formula or take over the world!"

"Well then, Kids Next Door, battle stations!"

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The tiny genius huffed in annoyance as he made his way to the tree fort. After that fight with that fire guy, his drill got wrecked and he completely lost the yellow sponge. Once he was close enough, Plankton turned on a microphone and cleared his throat.

"Alright Squarepants, this time no more Mr nice guy!! Either you come out and surrender to me, or I will make this treehouse go boom boom!"

At first, nothing happened, frustrating the mad scientist as he spoke again, "Alright, have it your way!! Prepare for the boom-"

Rumbling was felt beneath the robot before another mech that looked like it was made of scrap came out that resembled a large crab. Sheldon glared, "Who dares to interrupt my moment of genius?!"

The mech crab opened the speakers as Number 1 spoke, "The Kids Next Door does!"

"GRRRRR!! I won't allow this anymore, that Krabby Patty formula will be mine!!"

With that, the two huge mechs fought each other for the ultimate showdown while a flying ice cream truck quietly made its way to the loading dock.

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Spongebob kept the cake snug in his arms while Number 4 guarded him, since Sandy and Y/n were genuine adults, number 1 thought it would be best if one of the members of Sector four stood guard and escort the yellow sponge to safety.

"So number 4, when we get to the headquarters, what will happen next?"

"We'll likely put you in a special room with a TV until the birthday passes."

"Oh"

Looking at the cake in the bowl, Squarepants remembered the day his parents taught him the family's cake recipe......with a song. He had trouble focusing as a kid, so his mom came up with the idea of singing the recipe to him. Which not only was it an effective way to teach him his family's cake recipe, it was a very catchy tune.

Whenever Spongebob makes the cake, he sings the song to bake along.

Ding!

The light above the loading doors turned from red to green, signaling that the ship was here, "Well, Squarebob, time for you to go to space."

The sponge got up and the two began making their way to the doors before Number 4 immediately noticed something wrong. The ship never stated the clearing code or gave the signal that they were from KND.

Getting his mustard gun out, Wallaby pointed it at the door as the ice-cream goons got inside, with their boss, Father, coming in last.

"Well, isn't this a lovely sight."

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The mechanical crab managed to pile drive the robo plankton and began spinning it around faster and faster, until it was let go with Plankton screaming.

"Good riddance!"

Sandy smiled, as the crab turned around, just in time to see the ice cream ship flying off with Number 4 and Spongebob as its prisoners.

Chapter Text

The ice cream ship soared far from the tree house; Sandy looked on in horror along with Y/N, "Spongebob!" Number 1 zoomed in on the ice cream truck, revealing father with his top goon.

"Just as I feared, looks like we're going to the delightful children's party."

"But Number 1, we're not invited to the party!"

Nigel smirked, "Exactly."

With that, the mech crab began making its way towards the manor, gaining speed before it launched the KND into the air and towards the manor where the delightful children awaited their spongy cake.

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Once the ice cream ship landed in the manor, Spongebob and Wallaby were led towards a cell with cuffs on them, the goons locking the door as soon as they were inside. Father confidently walked up to the head chef, Pierre, "Guess who just got the sponge with the delicious cake recipe?"

Pierre sighed with annoyance, knowing he had lost the bet. "You did, sir."

"So...."

The chef pulled out 150 dollars and gave it to Father, who lit up with excitement, "YES!!! I TOLD YOU I COULD GET THE CAKE RECIPE AND I WAS RIGHT!!!!" When the fire reached the sprinklers, they immediately turned on and soaked the pyro, making him lose his flames.

"WHO'S THE BRAINIC THAT PUT SPRINKLERS HERE?"

"You are sir."

Father went to chastise the smart-mouthed chef but his words died in his mouth, "Just get that cake recipe from that talking sponge already. I need to dry off."

He left to remove the water from his body so he could use his fire powers again.

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Spongebob whimpered with terror as he held the cake container like a lifeline, not wanting the bad guys to get the recipe that had been in his family for generations.

Number 4 was a lot more calm than Squarepants, trying to find a way out of the cell, but first to help the panicking sponge, "Relax will ya? I bet you my team is already on their way to kicking the delightful brat's butts!"

"But how can I relax?! I-I don't want anyone else to use the cake for their evil purposes!"

Squarepants could practically feel his heart pounding in his chest as his breathing were in short bursts. He was genuinely terrified at the moment, Wallaby sighed and walked up to him.

Gripping the panicking sponge's shoulders, the Sector 4 member looked him in the eyes. "You listen here, Sponge. We've dealt with these delightful kids and their father so many times that we know how to beat them. I get it, this is scary for a first timer, but you've got someone experienced with you."

Wallby smirked at Spongebob, who looked calmer, "So let's figure out how to escape and kick some butt!" The sponge nodded and looked around for an escape route, before seeing a vent on the top of the cell door, "There!" Number 4 looked at the vent, noticing that it would be a good idea but it was too high up.

"That's one idea, but how in blue blazes are we supposed to get up there?"

"Allow me"

Walking up to the cell door, the yellow sponge stretched himself to reach the vent.

This impressed Number 4, who climbed up to kick open the vent and crawl inside. Once the kid was safely inside, the fry cook pulled himself inside the vent right as the cell door opened.

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY ESCAPED?!"

The ice cream guard looked utterly terrified at his boss, who was now fuming with rage. "I-I mean they escaped somehow! The only clue we could find was a kicked-down vent-"

"IDOT!!!!!!!"

Shooting a fireball at the employee, who barely dodged the blast, father paged his top ice-cream goons, "Find the prisoners at once! They couldn't have gone far! Search every inch of this place and get that recipe!!"

After paging the goons, an alarm rang out, signaling the arrival of his most hated enemies, the KND.

"What's the matter toasty? The birthday blues got to you?"

Father looked to see number 1 staring at him with a smug look, "Not at all, Mister Uno. In fact, you're in time for the main event!!"

He leaped up to fight the leader of Sector v while the others were scattered throughout the manor, looking for the prisoners.

Chapter Text

Spongebob and Number 4 carefully crawled through the vents, making sure no one could see them as an entrance came into view, "This way Sponge." Squarepants followed Wallaby as they opened the vent gate, straight into one of the delightful children's bedrooms.

It looked to be one of the daughter's rooms, judging by all of the female or feminine items inside.

"Wow, the kid's father must really live in the lap of luxury if they have all this stuff."

"Yeah, it's another reason for them not liking sharing any cake with the other kids."

"Is it because they think they're better than everyone else since they have wealth?"

"Excatly"

Number 4 was the first to get out and scan the area for any sign of the delightful brats so they wouldn't be re-captured, "Ok.....the coast is clear for now. But we need to keep our voices low from here on out." The yellow sponge nodded, still holding the cake close.

Once a goon walked by without seeing either of them, Wallaby and Squarepants began sneaking through the manor to find the way out and/or the team.

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WHAM!

Nigel got thrown against the wall before moving out of the way of a fireball, "What's the matter mister uno? Feeling tired yet, CAUSE I'M JUST GETTING FIRED UP!" 

Father lit himself up with fire to prove his point before hearing the squeaking sound of the fy cook's shoes walking by, "Well, well. Looks like the sponge is now on the move. Time to get that sweet cake recipe-"

He got hit by water balloons courtesy of Number 1

"I don't think so, Father! The only thing you'll be getting is wet!"

Number threw another water balloon at the angry dad, soaking him thoroughly, as he prepared for round two.

"Mark my words you little pest! I will give all the cake to my kids one day and you won't get any!"

"Yeah right, the KND will never rest in getting that sweet mouth-watering dessert!"

With that, the two began clashing again so the rest of Sector v could get to the two prisoners before the guards could.

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"I wonder what delicious cake Father has for us this year." The delightful kids asked out loud, while they walked down the hall.

One of the kids with a football helmet on looked to see Squarepants resting against the wall, the cake container just in his lap.

"Hey look!"

The rich kids looked and gasped excitedly, seeing the mouth-watering prize right in front of them.

Father did promise them an extra yummy cake this year, and this had to be the cake he was talking about!

Moving towards the sponge, the kids got ready to pounce, "Oh goody, our birthday cake has arrived." Spongebob looked and yelped loudly, Number 4 immediately got in front of him, to protect him, "Hold right there, Delightful creeps! This cake is going to the KND for them to enjoy."

"Oh please, it's one of OUR birthdays! It's customary to have cake on your birthday."

Squarepants glared, "But cake should be shared as well! It's not fair that you all try to hog things for yourselves!"

Before the delightful kids could grab the cake for themselves, a lasso came out from the dark and managed to grab the kids, tying them up. Three ice cream goons went to attack the duo before Number 3 and 5 took them down with their weapons.

Sandy came out from behind with a glare, "Listen here kids! Nobody is going to take the cake that belongs to my good friend's family!" Spongebob excitedly ran up and hugged Ms. Cheeks tight, "Sandy! Thank goodness!"

"Are y'all okay?!"

"Yeah we're okay Sandy!"

Y/n ran up with an ice cream goon's uniform, holding a weapon that shot ice cream as a weapon, "Spongebob?!" Squarepants went up and gave an equally tight hug to his reader friend, "Y/n! You came too!"

"Of course I did! Me nor Sandy couldn't let those delightful creeps harm you buddy!"

Number 5 looked for more threats, not finding any that could be seen, "Come on, Number 2 has prepared an escape route."

After the warm greetings, the group began going towards the vehicle loading area, where Number 2 was waiting for them.

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After escaping Father's wrath, Number 1 began moving through the halls when the radio turned on, Number 2's voice coming through it "Come in Number 1!"

"What is it Number 2?"

"We got Spongebob and Number 4! Head down the chute on the left, it should take you straight to the vehicle loading area!"

Immediately, Nigel went down the exactly as the heat of Father was starting to close in on the operative, attempting to grab him. Mister uno kept a calm demeanor while making his way towards the vehicle loading area.

Which was currently under attack by Father's henchmen and Chef Pierre.

"Give it up, monsieur Squarepants! We have you surrounded. Just give us the recipe and you'll be set free!"

Spongebob was shaking badly, he didn't want to give the recipe, but he also didn't want anyone to be hurt, if only he could block the shots-

That's it!

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Number 1 landed on top of the vehicle as Spongebob went outside to defend the kids and his friends from the men. "L-Leave them alone you big bullies!"

Father stormed in, "Then give me that cake recipe! Give it or else you will all be pelted with ice cream!"

Spongebob got into a fighting stance, not letting himself surrender or give up, making the fire person angrier, "OK, have it your way."

The goons shot their ice cream guns at Spongebob, who began absorbing the ice cream shot at him, growing bigger as the KND watched amazed and bewildered.

Y/n was the most amazed at the sight as the goons soon ran out of ammo.

"What....?"

Pierre was horrified at how massive Squarepants was, who deeply inhaled and shot the ice cream out of his holes, hitting every guard and every vehicle with ice cream (except for the one with the KND inside).

Once every bad guy was hit with mouth-watering ice cream, the yellow sponge went back into the vehicle along with Number 1, "Nice shot Spongebob!"

"Thank you! I wasn't going to let those bad guys win!"

"Come on, let's get out of here!"

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At the park, Spongebob finally cut the cake to share with both his friends and the operatives of Sector 4 as the day was slowly becoming night and the first week of the citizen's disappearance had now passed.

Chapter Text

The sun rose over the city of Binki Bottom, many buildings still vacant. The people staying there enjoyed a nice, peaceful slumber before the sounds of many cars drove past the buildings, heading straight for the Krusty Krab.

Blitz was the first to wake up from the loud cars, and groaned loudly, "Who could be fucking driving at this time...." 

The imp looked out the window, seeing the cars driving towards the vegan burger joint, each vehicle having a jester symbol on it's door.

This made the assassin seethe with rage at the symbol.

"Mammon....."

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When the cars stopped at the closed restaurant, the large spider demon got out of the car and looked at the joint, being disgusted by the interior of the place.

"Boy not gonna lie, this place is a real dump. I wonder how that dumb HONK! of a crab even managed to get customers to come here."

A construction guy came up to Mammon, "Sir, do you want to forfeit this project? You can always find another restaurant here, since there's no one living here-" Mammon immediately turned to the worker, glaring, "Why would I just abandon this idea, you little shit!"

The workers got a blueprint out and opened it to show their bosses: It was a Mammon-themed restaurant that would serve various products (That would be themed after the greedy spider).

"Ah.....nothing like a business venture themed after the king of greed!"

Before anything could happen, Plankton ran into the establishment with tools and a blowtorch. He wanted that secret formula by any means and this time he would get it-

"Hold it tiny!"

Sheldon was grabbed by the Aussie spider and was held up, "Hey! PUT ME DOWN-"

"Oh shut your HONK! mouth you tiny little cyclops! Why are you breaking into the future site of Mammon's Tender Grill?"

"What? You're taking the Krusty Krab?! You can't take it before I do!"

Mammon narrowed his eyes and proceeded to put Plankton in a jar before going back to his business.

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Blitz managed to wake Spongebob up, and got him in his van, driving straight towards the Krusty Krab.

"Who's Mammon Blitz-"

A bump was felt for Spongebob, as the imp kept racing towards the burger joint.

When they got close to the joint, Blitz sighed, "Mammon is an absolute dick! He's the sin of greed and is Fizzarolli's former boss. He hurt Fizz, made him feel like he was nothing without that spider, and paraded him around like he was fucking product, and not a person!"

Spongebob gasped but looked down, "You know......Mr. Krabs is similar to this Mammon. He's very greedy and it often feels like he doesn't value me nor Squidward." The imp sighed, "Then why do you still work for him?"

"Cause other businesses don't really want me"

"Why not?"

The yellow sponge shrugged, "They said they don't want someone that gets easily distracted and I do struggle with making other food at times." This earned the fry cook a look of concern from Blitz, who thought of a way to get him out of this cycle of pain.

With feeling a final bump, the duo made it to the establishment, seeing the construction workers getting ready to tear down and rebuild the establishment.

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"What's the bloody code to the safe?!"

Mammon's body crackled with frustration as he kept trying to open the safe so he could get the deed and recipe.

Plankton crossed his arms, "Don't know it, only that little annoying fry cook and his stingy boss knows the code-" As if on cue, the door to the restaurant opened up, with both Spongebob and Blitz entering, the assassin loading his gun just in case.

"Hello?"

"Mammon, I know your slimy dick is in here! Get out of this place before I decide to pop one in your ass!" A green smoke with the sound of a cashier opening came as the king of greed appeared, "Why would I do that? This place is sitting empty here and I want to turn it into a fabulous restaurant to make me some more money!"

Spongebob looked horrified, "But this is where I work! I-If you take over, then I won't have a job!"

The large jester smirked," Oh is that so boy? Well, maybe you can fackin' come and work for me!"

"Not in this or any world, Mammon."

Blitz growled at the sin, who's smile grew bigger, "Oh? Well, considering this is the only job the sponge seems to 'ave, unless you can find a better one for him, then Spongey here might have to work for me!"

A worker came out with the deed and the Krabby Patty formula, then gave it to Mammon. With the deed and the formula secure, the jester looked at Spongebob, "Hope ya make a good decision mate."

Chapter Text

At the hotel where Y/n and the others were staying, they were watching a rerun of an old sitcom, before Julie sighed, "I'm bored! We need something fun to do!"

Anne nodded, nearly falling asleep on her bed, "Yeah, there's not much to do here. The best thing we could do is have either just a regular picnic or a massive water fight.......That's it!!" The teen immediately pulled out her phone and began dialing for her friends to come make the day more exciting.

"Hey Mabel, do you think you and your family could come over?"

"....."

"Yep. I was thinking of having a water fight at the hotel me and plantars are staying at."

"....."

"I'm thinking it'll be at the pool! So can you guys come?"

"....."

"Alright, call me back if you get the okay from your grunkle."

After hanging up, Anne Boonchuy tried to call Luz next, only to get a text that she was a bit busy and wouldn't be able to join in the water fight.

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Spongebob was pacing around his Pineapple, worried if he took Mammon's job offering, then he'd be stuck with another greedy boss, but if he didn't, then Squarepants wouldn''t be able to afford to keep living in his home.

Even his beloved snail was worried about the yellow sponge's situation.

"Oh Gary, what do I do?! I don't want to work for another greedy guy, but if I don't take it, then we might not be able to afford to live here!"

Gary meowed while getting a newspaper with job listings on it, giving it to his owner, who began looking for a potential new job.

"Let's see....stunt driver? I still don't have my license.....Extreminator? I don't like going near anything that could attack.......Teacher? Not very good at keeping focused.....Catering? Hey...maybe I could do that!"

A knock came at the door and Squarepants opened it to see Y/n, "Hey Y/n! What brings you by?"

"I came by to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Would you like to come by the hotel a little bit later? We're planning to have a little water fight at the pool."

"Ooo! That sounds like fun! I'd love to come!"

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In the early afternoon, Spongebob walked through the hotel with a towel and his swimming trunks. The hall between the lobby and the pool was deathly quiet, just like the city was before the others arrived.

It was unnerving and very liminal before the former fry cook got to the pool and opened the door.

"Hello?"

"Spongebob, you came!" Y/n had a deep blue one-piece bathing suit on, waving towards their new friend.

"Yep, where can I go to change?"

"Go to the door on the right."

Mister Squarepants went into the locker room and changed into his swimming trucks, getting ready for the fun.

Chapter Text

Once Spongebob got changed, he went outside to the pool to see the others who were arriving.

Some were already in their swimwear while others went to locker rooms to change as the sponge immediately jumped into the water without a floatie.

"Ah.....the cold water sure feels nice" Squarepants swam around a little before hearing the splash of the pool as Manny Rivera was the second to jump in.

"Heya Spongebob!"

"Hiya Manny!"

Mike Schimdt was the third to get in, albeit by walking into the pool and swimming towards the group, "So how exactly will this water fight work?"

The reader shrugged while calmly floating on the water, "Don't know, but I'm sure Anne will tell us."

Bit by bit, the others went into the water, waiting for the teen to explain the rules of the water fight when the door opened, revealing the pines family, complete with Soos and Wendy, even though they weren't fully pines, they were still included.

Anne Boonchuy saw Mabel, and went up to her, giving a big hug, "Mabel! So glad you made it!"

"Good to see you too, Anne! So what's this fight about?"

"Well, we use water guns to try and hit each other. If you get hit, you're out! Each of us gets 3 free dives only!

Sprig gave out the water guns to the people in the water, Spongebob getting a light one due to a lack of upper arm strength.

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"GOTCHA DIPPER!"

Mabel shot a blast of water at Dipper's back, hitting him clean and out of the fight, "Aw man!"

"Hey cheer up bro, you managed to get Ford, Wally, and Sprig out."

Dipper 'Mason' Pines went out of the pool to dry and to join the ones that had already gotten out as well. Spongebob saw Anne swimming towards him with a gun, and he immediately used one of his free dives to evade her stream of water.

The sponge surfaced, hitting Julie Joyful, Soos, Nigel Uno, Mike Schmidt, and Fizzarolli. Getting them all out of the fight and the pool as well.

Y/n managed to sneak up where Squarepants was and hit him on the arm, "Sorry Spongebob! Rules are rules!"

"Oh barnacles! I was doing so good too!"

Spongebob got out of the pool, Mike handed him a towel to dry off and drain the excess water that got into his body, "When did you learn to fight that Spongebob?"

"When I went to the beach, Patrick was supposed to meet me there but he didn't arrive until I was ready to leave." Squarepants sighed while rubbing his head "During that time, I found a water gun and began messing around, learning how to use it."

Ford looked at the sponge with concerned brows, "You mean this Patrick fella almost never came when he was supposed to meet you?"

The yellow sponge shook his head, "Nope. Patrick made up an excuse that the bus ran late but I knew he was just watching television until he just decided to show up."

Mike Schmidt sighed and patted the spongy shoulder, "You shouldn't hang with a guy who can't keep a promise. You deserve someone that's reliable."

"Maybe you're right."

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When Y/n got out, the ones who were remaining were Blitz, Grunkle Stan, and Anne boonchuy.

"Wow, this is intense!"

Eddie dried his hair off with the towel, watching the three duke it out in the pool. Blitz still had two more free dives so he took one to try and hit Anne from behind, but she was ready for him.

"Ha! Got you-"

Boonchu felt cold water hit her back, Grunkle Stan was laughing before he got hit by the water gun from Blitz.

"Looks like I win!!"

Blitz was dancing in the water before he and the others got out of the pool.

Their laughter and applause filled the empty room, making it feel more alive than it was before.

Chapter Text

It was a peaceful afternoon at Biniki Bottom, Spongebob was busy reading a book with his pet snail cuddling next to him.

Usually the streets were quiet, but not this time, the sounds of cars and people talking were heard outside of the streets. Making the yellow sponge confused at the noises, he went to the window, "Huh?" With a look outside, Spongebob gasped happily, "Gary! Look!" Gary got off from his napping spot and looked outside. 

The once empty streets were now full of life again. Cars were driving along the road, sea monsters were now on the sidewalks along with demons, it was like the city going back to it's former glory.

When word of the desolate city reached some sea monsters and demons, they decided to go to the city, even taking some houses for themselves.

Most agreed that the citizens that once lived there were either dead or abandoned the city, so it was free real estate.

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"I want this to be done soon."

Vox was bringing a new entertainment center to the city, and he decided to bulldoze some family homes to make room for the tower.

Workers went inside the houses and began throwing out any items in the house that weren't needed.

"Got most of the items from the first house out"

"Good....what do you mean most? I need that house completely empty before I can remove it!"

Another worker whistled towards the TV demon who looked at them, "What is it?"  They showed a box with a beautiful shell necklace, "Found it in the attic hidden away from the rest of the items we have already collected."

"Does this mean.....?"

"The first house is fully empty and ready for demolition"

Vox smirked and snapped his fingers, signaling it was time to begin working. The workers went to destroy the first house as the other houses were soon ready to be demolished.

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The peaceful rolling hills of Jellyfish were the only place that was completely empty aside from the soft buzzing of the Jellyfish.

Dipper was watching the creatures buzzing peacefully with Luca, "Wow, this was a really good idea Dipper. I have never seen a jellyfish colony before!" 

Pine Tree nodded while sketching the colony in his notebook. When they heard the city springing to life, Mason wanted to have some quiet time from the cars speeding by. A young sea monster who was home from school for the summer wanted to join him in Jellyfish.

"You know it's crazy that the city was just a ghost town just some days ago. Now look at it, it's becoming alive again."

Lucas nodded, "I know not every sea monster is going to move here, but I wanted to see the city."

"Nice!"

"Oh look! A golden jellyfish!"

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Sandy was watering her acorn trees, her mind wracked with worry. 

It had already been over a week, and Ms. Cheeks still hadn't told her friend the truth about what happened.

Everytime Sandy thought about talking about the plan, her heart began pounding like a drum, and she'd end up getting cold feet.

Ms Cheeks knew that if she told the truth.....Spongebob would be heartbroken, but she couldn't make up a lie either, as lies would always spiral out of control, no matter how little they seemed.

"Oh, what do I do?"

The squirrel kept thinking about what to do, moving on from watering to enjoying the underwater sun. One fact she did know for sure was that she needed to make a decision as soon as possible because the citizens could come back any day now.

Once the citizens have come home from their "vacation", the truth will be revealed to everyone staying here.

Especially to Spongebob.....

Chapter Text

Queen Bee was walking towards an empty shop in Biniki Bottom with her boyfriend, one that had been abandoned before everyone vanished.

It was once a diner before the Krusty Krab came into play, and once the restaurant became a popular eating destination, the diner had to re-locate to another part of town to avoid going under. While the princess of Gluttony was a party animal, she needed a way to make her parties still be affordable.

So Beelzebub was planning to open a cafe called The Honeycomb Cafe!

"I'm telling you Vortex! I can't wait to give this town a little something sweet to bite!"

Once the two demons reached the empty shop, the sin began looking over the place carefully, making notes and having her workers begin construction before Bee realized something.

The cafe needed three experienced bakers and barristas to handle any surges in the crowd, whether it would be the holiday shopping or lunch rush, they needed to be able to work under that pressure.

So, getting to her phone, Beezlebub and Vortex began designing an ad for anyone interested in working for the sin of gluttony.

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Spongebob was getting the mail, checking through each of them: A letter from his parents asking how he was, his order of soaps, a bill that Gary needed to pay, an ad from the bargain mart, a job offering for the new cafe that would be opening soon-

Wait a minute!

Immediately looking back, the yellow sponge looked over at the details of the job: the pay would be $30 bucks an hour, the shift hours would switch from morning to afternoon, then to the evening shift.

There were also benefits like medical, among other things.

Mr Squarepants silently thanked neptune before getting the rest of the mail, then bolted inside his house. 

He excitedly called Y/n while getting ready. That was it! The solution to his problem was if he couldn't work at the Krusty Krab, then he could work at a cafe!

But that would leave poor Squidward without a job, and the sponge didn't want him to be homeless! Maybe he could get the cafe owner to give Squidward a job too, so he didn't have to worry about losing his home.

----------------------------------------

"Hello?"

Beezlebub looked from her phone to see the former fry cook and cashier walking up to her, "Hiya! You know the cafe isn't open yet, right?"

Squidward cleared his throat, "We're here for the job offerings you placed here."

"Oh shit, for real?"

"Yes, for real."

Getting off her seat, Queen Bee directed the un-employed neighbors to follow her for a series of tests. While a job interview was fine, the sin of gluttony liked a more hands-on kind of assessment, so the candidates couldn't lie their way to the job.

Both Mister Tentcales and Squarepants felt a twinge of nervousness as they passed through a series of doors.

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"YES!!"

Spongebob had come from the kitchen with a new outfit, which was a yellow shirt with a honey comb and black pants.

He managed to score a job as a baker and would start in his new job once the cafe was ready to be opened. Squidward came out next, wearing the same outfit as Spongebob's. The octopus had just been made a barrister at the cafe, giving customers their drinks.

"We did it, Squidward! Now we don't have to worry about money!"

"Yeah...Spongebob....why were you willing to do that for me?"

"Well, I didn't want you homeless because of the big spider guy! I figured since you didn't like cashiering, you could at least make art with coffee!"

Squidward was taken back a little before out of the blue, and gave the neighbor he used to hate a big sincere hug with a genuine smile.

Chapter Text

Puma Loco was cackling as he ran off with both his grandson and the various things they "borrowed" from the jewelry store. Without a police force keeping order, the supervillain decided to make Biniki Bottom his personal playground.

Among Loco were other supervillains such as Man Ray, Dirty Bubble, and many more.

While some of the downtown was mostly left alone, the rest was practically a hot bed for chaos.

"Ah, it feels so good to revel in the chaos again!"

Man Ray was busy robbing the bank, taking his sweet time counting each of the bills, while the Dirty Bubble was taking any gold he could fit in his bubble-like body, "I agree, old chum! Especially now, there are no heroes to stop us!" The atomic flounder went to grab the ATM before noticing the shape of a man with a panther mask, bronze boots, and a white suit on him perched on a building.

The figure looked at the villain, his eyes were in a glare.  Atomic stared confusingly before the man moved back and leaped forward, "WHITE PANTERA!!"

Before the mutated fish could even react, the hero slammed him straight into the bank where the villains looked surprised.

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Squiliam was enjoying a honey-coated strudel and a well-made espresso from the new cafe that would be opening in a week, "Mhmmm! My compliments to the fabulous bakers and baristas here!"  The rich octopus wanted to check out the Honeycomb cafe early, so he could see if it would be valuable to the stock market and be a profitable business venture.

This was because the season of stock buying was coming up and Squiliam always liked to get a head start on his purchases.

If it was a potential success, then Squiliam would give a small portion of his dough to Beezlebub's new business.

Squidward was looking at his rival from high school with an unsure look; on one tentacle, Squidward wanted Fancyson to have a rotten time, but on the other tentacle, he wanted his new boss's business to succeed.

"Hm"

"I must say Squiddy, the coffee business fits you alot better than cashiering!"

"Thank you...?"

Fancyson went back to eating his strudel before hearing the sound of whooshing from outside, followed by the sounds of villains attacking. 

Queen Bee went to the window to see what looked to be a mash pit close by to the Honeycomb cafe.

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"This way Bubbles and Buttercup!"

When the powerpuff girls heard there were criminals running amok in the town, they came over as fast as they could. Bringing the White Pantera and other heroes to try to bring stability back to the city and chase out the criminal threat.

Buttercup and Bubbles followed Blossom straight towards Man Ray, who was blasting at White Pantera and Poppy, "KEEP STILL!!"

WHAM!

A good punch launched man ray straight into a building, while Poppy managed to knock down Prawn for the count as well. 

Man Ray slowly moved his face away from the cold metal of the building,"Who did that?!"

"We did!"

Turning to face the powerpuff girls, the villain got his gun out, "Well then, let's dance!!"

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The whole fight lasted an hour, with Man Ray being the last to fall for good on top of the pile of villains. The only one that got away was Puma Loco. That was because of sheer luck, but he did offhandly say it was good to see his son again for a bit.

Once the dust had settled, the crooks were locked up back in the prison with Satan's enforcers coming to guard them.

Afterward, the heroes went to a nice cafe to rest and enjoy some peace after all that chaos.

Chapter Text

Satan made sure every criminal that the heroes caught was locked in their tight cells, with high security placed around the entire prison.

He felt like the police force that was there before was incredibly weak and unable to enforce any laws around here. So he took it upon himself to be a better enforcer than any of the hapless souls that attempted to do so before!

Of course, before he began doing anything, even Lucifer's second in command needed something to satisfy his hunger due to the fact it was almost lunchtime.

So he went around the downtown area to find something good to eat.

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DING!

Beezlebub looked at the door from her desk and her eyes widened, "Satan? What brings you to the Honeycomb cafe?"

"I came here for a bit of lunch. I hope you have something good for me, Bee."

The customers who were enjoying their time at the cafe looked at the huge demon dragon that casually sat down at the counter, waiting for the meal to come.

He ordered a pizza panini, a strudel and an expresso. Some of the customers were in awe at the sheer size and prowess of Satan.

The heroes were more intimidated because he was the representative of Wrath and hell itself.

It was tempting to drive him out, but given they had just gotten done fighting villains and because it would potentially destroy this beautiful cafe, they just decided to leave the beast alone.

Squiliam was also on the counter, just a few seats away from the 2nd in command of hell, who all things considered was being rather calm despite being the sin of wrath.

"U-Uh hello there"

"Hello mortal."

10 minutes later, Satan's order was ready and the dragon took a small bite out of the panini to see if it was good, and to his delight, it was, "Mmmm! This....this is so good!" Satan finished the panini in one full bite before trying the blueberry muffin and expresso.

Both were equally good.

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Once most of the customers died down, Satan gave his stamp of approval for the cafe, "Queen Bee, you certainly outdid yourself with this cafe."

"Hey thanks Satan! I take it you're going to settle here too?"

"Yes, after all, this city needs the order that those "police" officers couldn't offer."

Squiliam looked at Squidward, who was busy cleaning the counter, "You know Squidy, I was thinking of having a little celebratory dinner to commemorate the grand opening of this wonderful cafe. So I would like you and Spongebob to come."

"Yeah well.....Wait, me and Spongebob come to dinner with you?"

Spongebob poked his head out of the kitchen to listen to the rich octopus.

"Of course! Consider it a gesture of good will from me."

Mister Tentacles thought about it, along with Squarepants, before they each came up with a response.

"Sure! I'd love to come, Squiliam!"

"It'd be pretty rude to not accept a dinner invitation, so I'll come with Spongebob."

"Splendid!"

Chapter Text

At 1 pm, Squidward's and Spongebob's shift ended with the afternoon shift coming in.

They asked if they were allowed to go home to prepare for their dinner with Fancyson, to which Beezlebub gave her stamp of approval.

It was a little odd for them to go home this early as Krabs would keep them for hours after the intended closing time if he made more money. It was actually nice to be able to go home at a reasonable time and not work into the late hours of the night.

Spongebob used to wonder about the prospect of the night shift, but after the whole hash-slinging slasher and monster Krabby patty incident, he hated the idea of working at night.

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Once they arrived at their homes, they immediately went to prepare dinner with Squiliam. Gary slithered up to his owner, meowing curiously at his owner, "Oh Gary! I got invited to have dinner with Squiliam Fancyson, so I hope you will be fine by yourself for a bit."

"Meow Meow!"

Gary gave a reassuring meow and with that Squarepants began his preparations for the dinner.

First, the yellow sponge took a warm shower, scrubbing himself nice and clean. 

Next, Squarepants brushed his teeth, making sure no plague stayed on, so his smile was bright and healthy.  

Finally, he got dressed in a white shirt, black pants, black suit, and a red bowtie while whistling a tune he heard on the radio while carpooling with Squidward.

Y/n offered to let Gary hang out with them, so the snail could at least have something to do while Spongebob was out on the town.

Gary the snail happily accepted due to getting attached to the reader who was vacationing in the city.

Squidward was taking an extra step into getting ready, getting his head polished so it would be nice and smooth.

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When the clock struck 5 pm, a fancy limousine pulled up to the two houses with Squiliam Fancyson getting out of the vehicle.

Not a minute after he pulled up, the chipper sponge came out of his pineapple, wearing a jacket so as not to get cold in the night, "Hey Mr. Fancyson!"

"Hello there! Don't you look special on this evening?"

"Aw thank you....I figured I should look my best for tonight."

Mister Tentacles was the next to come out, wearing a top hat with a cape jacket, "Hello Fancyson, didn't expect you to come right on the dot."

"Well Squiddy, I understand the value of being on time. Love your cape jacket by the way."

"It's just something I got for this occasion"

With that, the trio got into the limo and headed for the night in the city.

Chapter Text

At Biniki Bottom fanciest restaurant named Fancy!, both Squiliam and Spongebob were relieved to see that it was full of staff that were familiar with them.

Many goetia and other high-class citizens were enjoying their fine meals as an anchovy server came up to the trio, "Hello there Mr Fancyson. Shall I get your single table ready for this evening?"

Fancyson shook his head, No, can I have a table for three instead?"

"Of course! Right this way sir"

The anchovy led the three to an open table which was in the middle of the whole place, which was fine for Squiliam: far enough from a window so no one could intrude on their dinner but close enough so they would still have a good view.

"So Fancyson, what's this really about, huh? Why are you acting so....nice to us?"

"I know we had our spats in the past, but maybe...it's time to change that"

Squidward wasn't fully sure how to trust his rival from the high school band, but he did have a point: things were always changing. 

The Krusty Krab was now owned by Mammon, new creatures were moving here and the grouchy neighbor was starting to see his neighbor in a new light, so Fancyson was right about that, maybe it was time to put their rivalry to rest.

A waiter came over to the table, "What would you three gentlemen like to eat this fine evening?"

Mister Tentacles was the first to order, "I'll have a fine t-boned steak with Indian sea grass on the side." 

Squiliam was next, "I'll have your Sargasso salad." Finally, it was Spongebob's turn as he looked at the waiter, "I'll have the spaghetti please." 

Each ordered a sea chicken dumpling soup as an appetizer before their main course dinner.

Once they gave their orders, the anchovy waiter took the menus and went to the kitchen.

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Despite the seat feeling comfy, Squarepants couldn't help but feel ants starting to crawl around him. The calming melody of the piano didn't help soothe his antsy legs.

He needed to do something here, but what?

"Spongebob, what's going on?"

"Huh?"

"Your legs are twitching, what's going on?" Squidward looked at the yellow sponge worried.

Spongebob looked up startled before he relaxed, "I'm just feeling a little antsy, that's all."

The yellow sponge began rubbing his twitchy legs in hopes of calming them, which only made it worse. Squiliam noticed this, and gestured to one of the waiters to come over to their table.

"Is there something you need sir?"

"Yes, can you bring your foot message therapist over here?"

"Right away sir"

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With the foot masseuse soothing Spongebob's restless legs, the trio could get back to enjoying their dinner, "Thanks for getting the masseuse over here, my legs feel so much better now...." The appetizers came out first and gave one to each of them, along with laying a basket of bread roll.

The steam of the soup carried its heavenly scent, Squiliam was the first to taste the soup, "Mmmmm! Mr Crustean really out did himself with this soup."

Spongebob took regular gulps of his soup, letting the soothing tenectales of the masseuse calm him. "I wonder how the chef's doing? I know he must've been shocked when the citizens disappeared."

Almost on cue, Mr. Crustean came out to a customer who wanted to give their compliments for a wonderful dinner, "You want to see me, monesuir?

"Yes, I wanted to give my compliments to you on this fabulous meal!" This made the head chef beam with pride. 

Ever since the bikini bottmites disappeared from sight, the restaurant had to close temporarily until they either returned or new folks arrived.

When the goetia got word of what had happened, they came to the city and some even settled there, giving Fancy! A chance to open up again.

Squarepants gave a kind wave to Crustean, as the head chef went back into the kitchen to finish the main dinner.

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Soon the meals were ready, and with expert handling from the anchovy waiter, they delivered the meals to the trio to enjoy.

Chapter Text

Spongebob ate his spaghetti, trying not to make a full mess on the table and failing to do so. Squiliam was eating his Sagrasso salad, noticing the yellow sponge struggling to keep the noddles from falling from the fork, "Spongebob, twist the spaghetti around the fork so it can stay in place."

The yellow sponge nodded and tried to do so, only for his wrist to suddenly jerk and twitch. It was clear to both Squidward and Fancyson that Squarepants had the yips. 

Fortunately, the sponge's wrist calmed down and Mister Tentacles had an idea: "Why not just stab the noodles with the meatball, so you can hold the noddles easily."

With that, the dinner continued without much interruption.

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Through the moonlit skies, not very many were walking through the streets of Biniki Bottom, since there was very little nightlife businesses in the city. No clubs to hang out or really party at, no casinos where people could go gambling, etc.

Mammon felt like he was going to pass out thanks to how boring the night in this backwater town was.

His new restaurant was almost ready and many expressed interest in the business, but it wasn't enough for him yet. He needed ideas from the other sins to bring some excitement to this joint-

That's when it hit him, he could have the sins make the night more exciting here at night!

He knew Beezlebub loved to party and Asmodeus could always make a red-light district for the city, but it wasn't just those two that could bring the night to life. Levithan, Satan, Belphegor, himself and the big bad of Hell, Lucifer could make this place more exciting.

Getting his phone out, he began texting the sins his big idea: each sin would get one or two areas of the city to make it more lively.

They would all have to go and meet together to discuss who would get what, since Satan would often lecture the greedy spider about the importance of formal meetings.

Once the texts were sent, the clown opened a portal to hell, revealing his bedroom, which was decorated in various shades of green and yellow with the symbol of the one thing Mammon loved above all: money.

He stepped through to enjoy an easy rest thanks to the backbreaking labor his workers did for him.

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"It's beautiful....."

Squiliam looked at the chipper sponge, who was staring dreamily at the almost full moon, its shimmering light dancing on the waves of the river.

After their dinner, the three went on a pleasant boat ride on the Biniki Bottom river, "Yes, it is very beautiful, spongy....." Squiliam Fancyson gave a relaxed smile to his friend as they continued through the park's river.

"Say Spongebob, can I ask you a question?"

Squarepants looked at his grouchy neighbor, "Go ahead, Squidward." Squidward thought about his question carefully, not wanting to cause any pain to Spongebob, "Do you have any idea why the citizens disappeared?"

"I don't know. Maybe a villain took them or they got teleported somewhere."

Mister Tentcales nodded, before getting a question that made his heart jump a little, "Why did you ask that question all of a sudden, Squidward?"

The octopus knew his neighbor needed to hear what Sandy told him, "Look, Spongebob....the citizens of Bikini Bottom...they never vanished, they just went away from the city." Spongebob looked confused at Squidward, "What? But why?"

"That I don't know, I'm just telling you what Sandy told me."

Luckily, the rich octopus took their attention away from what Sandy told Mister Tentacles with a bottle of Champagne and three cups.

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After drinking half of the cup, Spongebob still felt a lingering fear in the back of his mind, "Why didn't Sandy tell me about this? Why did the citizens just leave the town just like that? Why-"

"Spongebob?"

Squarepants jerked his head to see both Squiliam and Squidward looking at him with worry, "What's the matter Sponge?"

"N-Nothing!"

Squidward grabbed his hand, feeling it trembling like a leaf, "You're shaking badly, is this because of what I said?" Squarepants tried to deny it but his body disproved this claim; His heart was pounding, his chest tightening, and his figure shaking.

Fancyson immediately went to calm him down, by gently grabbing his hand and singing a song from his favorite play, The Phantom of the Opera.

To his delight and surprise, the yellow sponge began singing with him, slowly calming his racing heart. Squidward even joined in on the song, helping the evening become more magical.

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Out on an empty road, a bus full of passengers were making their long journey back to the city of Bikini Bottom, which would take one full day to complete.

They were blissfully unaware of what had happened to their once great city.

Chapter Text

At his pineapple, Spongebob went to his calendar to cross off yesterday with his Gare Bear slowly waking up next to him. After crossing off yesterday, Squarepants realized that almost three weeks had passed since the citizens left town for whatever reason.

He still didn't understand what Squidward had told him.

Why would they all leave the city for three weeks, and not tell anyone about what happened? These questions made it hard for the chipper fella to get a sound sleep after he got home from his dinner with the two Octopuses.

Spongebob first got dressed for his job, then he was having some breakfast with Gary, trying to soothe his nerves.

Once breakfast was over, Spongy got ready for work as his favorite neighbor pulled up to his house.

"See you when I get home, Gary"

Planting a kiss on his snail's shell, the sponge went to work at the cafe with his buddy Squidward.

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"And here's your order sir."

"Thanks"

A fish demon got a latte with two blueberry muffins with a Turkey Ranch Panini. He paid for his food and went on his merry way. Spongebob was busy making some hot cinnamon buns when he heard the door open with a familiar jester-shaped shadow.

Mammon walked in, looking around before seeing Beezlebub coming out of the office, glaring at the spider demon who smirked, "Well, well. I take it this is your establishment, Bee?"

"Yes it is, the fuck do you want, Mammon?"

"I just wan'ed to have a meeting with the other sins."

Beezlebub raised a brow at the Sin of Greed, who showed her the text he sent to her and the other sins which explained his idea for the city. Squidward watched this while getting the fresh cups ready for the drinks.

The Sin of Gluttony thought hard about this. The city was so dead at night and it was only a matter before the remaining sins descended on this place like she, Asmodeus, Mammon and Satan had already done.

"Alright, what time do you want the meeting?"

"1:30, it'll give me time to prepare."

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Every sin was soon gathered at the site of the greedy spider's future restaurant, which almost completely erased the image of the Krusty Krab that once stood there.

"So what's about Mammon?"

Mammon pulled out an idea board, which was a cheaper version of a presentation, "So we all know how this place needs some sin to make it more exciting. So who wants what area to make it like......I dunno, mini rings?"

The sins thought and began picking their areas: Belphegor would get the south, Satan would get northeast, Beezlebub got the southeast, Mammon and Asmodeus got the east and west, while Levithan got southeast. Lucifer would get the north.

Once the areas were picked, Queen Bee came up with an idea to celebrate coming to the city almost a month ago: a big party!

Of course, the greedy spider interjected that the location should be his new establishment for promotional reasons and, for once, the others agreed.

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Soon, news of the party being planned began to spread all over the city. Pinkie Pie and Poppy immediately raced over to Mammon's Tender Grills with party supplies when word got to them about it.

If there was a party to plan, they wanted in.

Of course, Julie soon joined up with them with plenty of game ideas that even Pinkie Pie was in awe of.

Queen Bee was hesitant to let them help out, but after seeing their skills, the bee hound allowed them to plan the party with her. 

Poppy and the other trolls helped make the invites, while Julie planned the activities for the party. Pinkie Pie put her baking skills to the test by making the treats for the party, making sure the ingredients were put in correctly and keeping her cool. Beezelbub got the decor up and going, topping off with a large mirror ball for her to dance on.

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Out by a repair shop and gas station, the bus carrying the passengers had to make an emergency stop due a rock making a hole in the gas tank. 

Everyone just waited in the gas station, getting food and other thing for the long road ahead, as the bus got repaired and eventually as the sun was beginning to set.

Chapter Text

As night fell on the sky, everyone who anyone came to Mammon's Tender n Grill for the hottest party planned there, with arguably the most beautiful evening sky in the area.  

Even the Ars Goatia and Squiliam attended the party, thanks to the king of hell being at the party.

Mike and Y/n brought Spongebob to the party in hopes of making the yellow sponge take his mind off of what Squidward told him, "Look Spongey, let's try to enjoy the party and not focus on where the citizens are right now, okay?"

Squarepants looked at his new companions before sighing, "You're right, I should just try and enjoy myself at the party."

"And if it helps, we'll always be here to listen to you."

Spongebob smiled as they pulled into the Mammon-themed restaurant with a good chunk of vehicles already parked, with only 10 parking spaces remaining available. Mike was lucky that one of the spots was perfect for their car.

Queen Bee saw them park close to the eating area and went to get ready for her big performance. 

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Once the last guest had entered, the party got ready to begin with Beezlebub getting on the stage, turning the mic and saying, "Hey bitches! Who's ready to party sinner style?!"

"Yeah!"

"I said, WHO'S RREADY TO PARTY SINNER STYLE?!"

A loud cheer in the crowd erupted, the loudest being the hellhounds and other hellborns as they flocked to the Sin of Gluttony, "That's what I like to hear! But before we begin, I just want to get a little real before we start the fun."

Everyone went quiet as Queen Bee spoke, "I just wanted to say that this month was probably the most fun anyone has ever had, am I right?!" 

Once again, the crowd cheered and clapped in agreement.

"So to celebrate, let's begin the wildest party of our lives!!"

With that, what was later described as the best party began, with Pinkie and Poppy turning on the music.

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On a lonely highway, the bus was finally on route straight to the city with many of the passengers either asleep or just watching the scenery as they kept moving by.

Eugene Krabs was fidgeting in his seat, incredibly bored.

"Ugh.....we shouldn't have taken this bus. It's taking forever to get back to me restaurant."

A fish rolled his eyes, "You want this one because it was cheap, so of course it's going to have problems!" Krabs and the fish got into a brief argument before the driver broke it up with a threat of turning around.

Stopping their fight, the two sunk into their seats, embarrassed that they fought like little kids as the other passengers that were woken up briefly went back to sleep.

The last thing anyone was on the bus was to turn around now, not when they were closer to home.

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Back in the city, Spongebob Squarepants had the best night of his entire life.

At first, he just sat down with a cup of punch in hand before seeing his boss come up to him, "Come on Spongebob! Go join the party!"

"I don't know, what if I make things awkward or am seen as a weenie?"

"You need to learn to let others' opinions not bother you! If you're seen as some loser at a party, then ignore them! What matters at a party is that you have fun."

The music changed to one that guests would dance to, giving Squarepants a chance to have fun. Getting up from his seat, the chipper sponge went to dance with the others, and he had a blast.

After that, he was involved more in activities, even earning respect from some of the hellborns at the honey chugging challenge. Even Bee was impressed by how the sponge was able to drink and hold the honey well.

Y/n, Blitzo and Mike Schmidt made sure no one made Spongebob Squarepants feel bad for having fun at the party, giving glares at anyone who had an unpleasant opinion about the sponge. Squidward and Squiliam also had a blast, winning some prizes at the games, dancing and enjoying some of the food.

The best part came near the end of the party when the last dance was performed. It was one of those slow dances that could make any night magical.

Many couples danced to the melody, it was a romantic moment. Fancyson offered to dance with Squarepants and Mister Tentcales, to which they accepted.

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Eventually, a sleeping Spongebob was brought home by Mike, who was also tired since it was an hour from midnight.  '

After making sure that Squarepants got safely to bed, Schimdt and Y/n drove back to the hotel to rest as well.

The hours ticked away in the city, and all was somewhat peaceful.

Many had sweet dreams about the party, it was like it never ended. Mammon was laying on his bed with huge stacks of cash he acquired at the party beside him.He was having sweet money-clown-filled dreams.

It wasn't until nautical twilight arrived that the bus that made its long trip finally saw the city in the distance.

Some woke up early to see their city, not realizing it wasn't really their city anymore.

Chapter Text

Y/n was busy saying goodbye to Spongebob as everyone staying at the hotel was getting ready to go back to their homes, "It's been the best vacation I've ever had. I'll try to visit again whenever I can."

Mike got his things ready to go back to his job as a security guard.

The welcome neighbors went to leave as well, having finished packing their things. Squarepants hugged the reader tightly, having become good friends with them, "It's not going to be the same without you!"

"Yeah, but we can find ways to keep in contact with each other."

Squiliam saw the demons building in the places where abandoned stores and houses once stood. Only some of the houses that were there before didn't get bulldozed, along with some shops.

It was wild to think that only a month ago, these buildings were completely abandoned by the citizens leaving the city.

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The bus went to the station, the passengers were eagerly waiting to get back to their homes to rest, "Okay everyone, as soon as we get to the unloading zone of the station, please go out in an orderly-"

Suddenly, a guard stopped the bus and went over to the driver's window, "Hold it, what are you doing here?" 

This confused the fish on board, before one of them noticed the construction crew changing the whole appearance of the place: seats were being replaced, things were being cut, cleaned or replaced, and so much more.

"I'm here to drop off the passengers."

"Afraid you can't you drop anyone off here anymore"

Eugene Krabs was furious, opening his window to shout at the guard, "What do you mean we can't be dropped off here?! What's the meaning of this?!" 

Groaning at the crab's lack of manners, the guard glared, "I mean that by orders of the seven sins, this station will no longer service buses you fatass crab." Many of the fish aboard demanded an answer, but they got nothing.

Unfortunately, the driver had to find a new spot to drop off the Bikini Bottomites, meaning it would be longer before anyone got off.

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What should've taken 10 minutes or maybe even 15, took a whole hour.

The city that the citizens recognized was almost gone; the buildings were being overtaken by demons, their stores were also nearly gone, everything they had was being taken away.

Patrick was confused by all he saw while squishing Mr Krabs. Normally, he didn't care about anything, but this.....this wasn't right. They needed something, anything that was still familiar to them.

"Wh-What happened here?"

Finally, the bus found a place to drop the passengers off, which was close to the hotel where Spongebob's new friends were giving the yellow guy a goodbye hug.

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"Hey Spongebob, aren't those the citizens that went away?"

Wally pointed to the bus stop, where the fish were piling out, exhausted from their extended vacation and the returning drive, "Man, that was the worst trip back ever!" 

Mrs Puss stretched her limbs, "Never will I go with any of you again on a bus or any sort of public transportation."

Spongebob looked towards the stop, excited to see that everyone that he knew had returned, only for his and the others' excitement to turn to pure rage when he heard why they left. Sandy Cheeks arrived to greet them but they noticed her nervous stance.

The one that spilled the beans was Mister Krabs, "The only thing that made the trip worth it was being away from Spongebob-"

"WHAT?!'

Before Krabs could even react or say anything, a tentacled fist slammed into his face, launching him back, "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HOW COULD ANY OF YOU! HOW COULD YOU ALL LEAVE SPONGEBOB ALONE FOR A WHOLE MONTH?!"

Patrick tried to defend what they did, "Well, he's so annoying and dumb! Who would want to be with-"

Y/n stepped up, glaring, "I do! When I first came here, there wasn't anyone but him! Meeting Spongebob was honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me, because, unlike you all, I took the time to get to know the real him instead of what you guys see!"

Blitz took a stance as well, "And remind us, who was the one that left this fucking city abandoned for a whole month? That was you all! So who's the bigger idiot now, him or you guys?!"

More and more of the ones who stayed with Spongebob began defending the yellow guy, making the ones who left lose their voice and stance. 

They also began chastising Sandy for not telling them about what happened.

Finally, Spongebob stepped up in front of his defenders, glaring, but saying calmly, "Maybe I should've let Plankton have the city, because it's clear that none of you were and will never be worth saving."

He left, tears welling in his eyes as Squilliam and Squidward went to comfort him, not before the octopus gave a hateful look at the Biniki Bottomites, "I can't believe Spongebob ever considered you all good people, when you're no better than the demons that now live here."

Chapter Text

Spongebob sobbed on his bed while his Gare Bear laid by his side, purring softly to comfort his owner. He couldn't believe what he had found out.

Everyone he cared about, his boss whom he saw as a father figure, even his supposedly best friend, abandoned him because they couldn't stand to be around him.

Squidward could hear the pained sobs from downstairs, he felt bad for the little yellow sponge. 

"I should have known those uncultured heathens would've stooped so low as to leave the city!" Squiliam ranted with fury, he never truly respected the citizens of Biniki Bottom, and after they pulled this stunt, his respect for them plummeted.

Mike Schimdt was equally furious at those scum-sucking bottom-dwellers and their actions.

He spent a whole month with Spongebob, and not once was Schimdt annoyed at him. Mike genuinely enjoyed Squarepant's company, playing games with him, teaching him things, and partying through the night with the sponge.

"Spongebob deserves real friends that'll be there for him!"

Y/n and Wally were thinking of a way to cheer the sponge up. They had many ideas, but none of them really would work in quelling the tears that Spongebob shed.

There had to be something that showed Spongebob that he still had others that cared about him, that they enjoyed the memories that they made during the month that they were here.

"THAT'S IT!"

Squiliam looked at the reader confused, "What's it?" Y/n ran to the closet, found art supplies and pulled them out, "We should make a scrapbook for Spongebob! Maybe if he sees how much we enjoyed our time with him...."

Mike nodded, "Then the little yellow sponge's heart will hopefully start to heal."

With a plan under their belt, the ones that were going to leave soon began to get ready to cheer up the sponge.

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Sandy was in her bedroom, hiding her face in shame at what happened. All she had to do was tell Spongebob what had happened, but instead Miss Cheeks took the cowardly route.

"Why, why, why. Why couldn't I have just told him what had happened?"

What made the southern squirrel feel worse was seeing the acorn farm that Squarepants and his new pals made for her as a gift. She didn't deserve to have something nice like that, especially with what she did.

All Sandy Cheeks had to do was stay behind with the one that the other citizens scorned, to not give in to her worst impulses.

But she did, and now her friend wanted nothing to do with her.

After 15 minutes of sulking, the Texan got up from her bed and headed outside. She was going to make things right between her and Spongebob, even if the sponge wouldn't fully forgive her.

It was better than ignoring the situation or sulking about it.  Sandy didn't let inaction hold her back anymore.

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Spongebob was still in his bed, feeling like he didn't have the energy to do anything at the moment when a soft knock sounded off, startling the sponge out of his stupor as he looked towards the door.

"Spongebob? Are you there?"

Sandy was on the other side, waiting for a response or something that told her that the sponge was still inside. "Go away...." Squarepants turned away from the door, fresh tears welling his eyes.

"I know you don't want to talk to me after everything I did, but I just wanted to say....I'm sorry."

That made the tears stop flowing with Squarepants sitting up as Sandy continued, "I chose to abandon you when I should have been there. I chose to be a coward like the rest of the Bottomties. You know......it was good that you had people to care about you during the month when we were away. If anyone deserves to be your friend, it's them. I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did, but I just hope that your new friends will be there when we weren't."

Suddenly, the door opened, with the yellow sponge smiling at the squirrel, giving her a simple hug. 

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After they came downstairs, Squarpants saw the friends he made with a wrapped present on the mini-table. "What's this?"

"It's a gift to show how much we enjoyed you, so if those idiots try to cut you down, it'll be like your shield." 

Spongebob opened the present to reveal a beautiful scrapbook with the pictures and mementos they collected during their month-long stay. Julie guided him through each page, "This one is themed after the race you participated in!" 

The pictures showed Mike, Blitz, Y/n and the welcome home crew cheering on Sponebob, the sponge racing, the bronze trophy, and the look of pride they had despite Spongebob not winning. Mementos included the tickets they had, some stickers for race cars and Frankie's symbol glued on.

Each page was similar yet unique, with the last page showing everyone that the yellow sponge befriended outside the pineapple with a message underneath, reading:

"To our favorite Sponge! Thanks for all of the amazing memories you have given us!"

Once the book was closed, Spongebob Squarepants beamed with joy and hugged the group tight, "Thanks for being there for me when no one else would." 

They all hugged back, and began to head off back to their homes, giving one big wave as they began traveling back.

Chapter Text

Things in Biniki Bottom weren't the same after the citizens came back to the city.

Some lost their homes thanks to the takeover by those that were now occupying the city. In order to get by and provide for their families, those that lost their homes were forced to work for the demons and sea monsters, the worst being the TV demon, Vox.

He gave his employees long hours, the minimum wage, and no health coverage.

If the employee didn't already have a surviving home or found a new one, then the shark had them live in small, crowded, and cheap apartments. Things were awful but the families that lost their homes during construction of the tower had no choice but to work for the one that caused it. 

And it wasn't just Vox that ruined the lives of the citizens of Biniki Bottom.

The Goatia mocked, berated, or even outright degraded the og citizens, calling Mrs. Puff a bloated air head, mocking the lower class' plight and so much more.

Some even considered the fishes that originally lived her to be second-class citizens.

Mammon and Krabs fought in court for the rights of Krusty Krab, the trial being overseen by Satan, who clearly favored the demons of hell over the fish of this sea. In the end, the Sin of Greed not only won the legal rights of Krabs' creation, but he also won all the assets of the restaurants.

Which included the Krabby Patty formula.

Unlike the families that lost their homes, the crustacean had enough money to sustain himself and Pearl thanks to the hoard he had in his house.

As Krabs was dragged away from Mammon, who held the deed in his grubby hand, he yelled, "Thanks for leaving when ya did, now I have a new money maker in the form of your old restaurant!"

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Spongebob was busy packing his things while the moving company was getting ready to move the pineapple to the street Squiliam lived on.

While he and Squidward weren't required to move out of the street when the sea monsters and demons moved in, they wanted to move away to start over but at the same time didn't want to abandon the houses they had.

Fortunately, Fancyson hired a company that would move their houses for them, even finding the duo the ideal lots for their properties.

"I know we could've just gotten a new house, Gary, but this Pineapple means a lot to me."

Gary was slithering next to his owner, meowing his opinion on the move, "Meow...."

The yellow sponge placed another box in the moving truck, "Yes, we don't have to move, but I want to. It'll be good to get a fresh start after everything that happened."

Gary helped Squarepants get the last things he needed to pack for the big move, while the snail didn't fully understand it, but he did agree that sometimes it was good to start over.

Plus, it would get his master away from that Oaf of a starfish.

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Squidward was also packing, but he was alot more organized than how Spongebob did it. 

Rather than throwing whatever could fit into boxes, he categorized the items, labeled the boxes and grouped them together. While both moving methods were good, Mr. Tentcales felt like his method would make unpacking easier.

Not to mention, it would save time, boxes and packing equipment.

Once he got the last things packed, boxed and ready to go, the octopus took them out to the moving truck he and Spongebob rented for the moment the company got ready to move his house as well.

"Alright you two, ready for the house to be moved with you?"

"Yep!"

"Got everything ready!"

With that, the company began raising the houses, the noises waking up Patrick from one of his many naps, "Hey keep quiet! I'm trying to sleep-!"

The starfish looked in shock as both the pineapple and tiki head were lifted up, then carefully placed onto large trucks that would transport the buildings to the new street, "Huh?! What's going on?!"

He only had time to see his former best friend and his grouchy neighbor get in the moving truck and drive off.

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As the sun set over the changed Biniki Bottom, the original citizens now began wondering about what could've been different if they never gave in to their worst impulses.

If they stayed, then maybe they wouldn't have lost everything. 

Mr. Krabs would still have the restaurant that not only gave him money but gave him a purpose.

Everything would have been as it should have been.

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But instead, the citizens chose to leave for a holiday that was founded on hate, got told off by a bunch of strangers who stood up for the very guy they couldn't stand, then a bunch of demons were making their lives go downhill.

What was worse was that they couldn't really do anything about it.

The intruders didn't have to forcibly take the city, they were practically given the keys to it when the citizens abandoned their homes for 'No Spongebob day.'

So now, everything the fish once had: homes, businesses, and stability was now.......

Gone.