Chapter 26 – Back Home With New Friends

Later that night, the camping van pulled up into the driveway. Mike ran out and he cheered. He had so much fun at summer camp with his friends there. The young boy heads upstairs and into his dark bedroom. He turns on the light, and hums the tune we heard while he was at hummed a tune that reminded himself of the camp as he climbed a chair and peeked at the shelf. "Hey, SpongeBob!" The shelf is empty To his surprise, the aforementioned toy isn't there. SpongeBob?"

Mike turned around to see an unexpected greeting before him: a huge congregation of Mike's toy collection on the bed. Etch has the words Welcome Home, Mike! written on the gray screen. The sign was held up by Jimmy Neutron, Oscar the Grouch, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Craig Tucker and Cody Maverick on the left, at the right are Alex the Lion and Clifford, and at the center are SpongeBob SquarePants arched over Spirit's back with Sandy Cheeks and Cindy Vortex's arms draped around the horse's neck. Standing alongside Jimmy are Sherman and Agnes. It almosts looks as if they're all greeting Mike home, like they were welcoming him back from summer camp.

"Oh, wow! New toys! And some surprise ones! Cool! Thanks, Mom and Dad!" Bursting with happiness, Mike picks up Spirit, SpongeBob, and Cindy. "It's Bazooka Jane and her trusty jet-propelled horse!" Mike began to play with his toys, all old and new, not feeling an expression of pity. "SpongeBob, Jimmy! That polecat Vader has stolen my space cows!"

Mike is unaware that a luggage cart is outside in front of the house across the street; SpongeBob and the toys have stolen the vehicle to get all the way back home. It doesn't matter anyway, because the young boy is reunited with all of his toys and his best friends.

The next morning, a couple of neighbors wonder why there was a luggage cart was parked in front of their house. Despite the confusion, Mike holds SpongeBob up, whose arm was fixed. Mike has added more fluff to the arm, and has been sewn with green stitching. He tugs at it, and it will always stay secure. Mike smiles in admiration at his work. His mom and dad come in.

"Mike, come on, sweetie. Time to go!" Mary called out. She grins widely and said, "Hey, you fixed SpongeBob!"

"Yeah, you did!" Larry said proudly.

"Oh, yeah. My lessons for stitching had been doing wonders for me. Glad I decided not to take him to camp." Mike replied, setting down SpongeBob on the desk." His whole arm might've come off." He runs over to the door.

"Well, your father and I are very proud of you, sweetie." Mary said as Larry closed the door.

Once the family was gone, SpongeBob comes to life, and sees his bulgy arm. SpongeBob was very happy to finally be back home with his friends, old and new. The pull-string sponge should've seen the look on Farquaad's if he knew he had been wrong most of the time. He smiles widely in satisfaction, "Well, would you look at that?"

"YEE-HAW!" SpongeBob looked across to see Cindy bounding upward and doing a little happy dance, an extreme grin on her face. "Oh, Spirit and Sandy, we're part of a family again!" Cindy lifted up her shoe to see Mike's signature in the form of permanent ink on the sole. Spirit followed, lifting up his hooves. The 4 letters of MIKE are written in the same ink. Sandy looked down at her boot to see that her sole has the same signature. The 3 Roundup Gang members knew what it would be like to be owned by a young boy that likes to play with toys.

"Wow! This is great!" Sandy said happily.

Shyly, Jimmy walked up to Cindy. Ever since Last night, Jimmy saw her personality; feisty, adventurous, sassy, beautiful, funny, anything Jimmy would like in the soul of a girl. Cindy was all love interests combined. This would be the first time Jimmy ever had a love interest, and Cindy...she would be something else. In fact, she was all love interests and girlfriends combined. Jimmy walked over with his cheeks blushing a deep red.

"Uh, ma'am? I, uh…." Jimmy cleared his throat, and continued while blushing, "Well, I just wanted to say you're a bright young girl with a beautiful yarn full of blonde hair." His eyes widened and he kept on going. "Uh, blonde hair full of yarn. Uh, it's...uh..." He struggled to find the right words, until he gave up trying to say something lovey-dovey. Jimmy cleared his throat, "I should go."

Jimmy began to walk away but Cindy yanked him back with both arms into an embrace with a romantic smirk. "Well, aren't you the sweetest space toy I have ever met!" A tiny, edgy smile crept Jimmy's lips. Just then, barking sounds filled the room. They both turned to see Pal clawing paws against the door, looking concerned.

"What's that? Bark, bark?" Clifford said, understanding what Pal meant. He turned to the other toys, "Uh, this fella says he wants to go out back for a little private time."

"Cindy, that critter needs help!" Sandy said. Cindy nodded, and she runs over to a Hot Wheels track hooked on the nightstand. She stands on the car like a skateboard, and she went through the loop, like how Jimmy did before he became one of Mike's toys one year ago. Cindy flies off the car, and grabs hold of the doorknob and turning it. She opens the door, and Pal runs off to do her doggy business. Jimmy was so impressed by this girl's stunt, that his rocket boosters automatically pop out of the backpack, not even bothering to close them. Sandy watched that with a smirk.

"Uh-oh! Looks like somebody has fallen in love!" Sandy said in a singsongy voice.

Jimmy just stood there with his jaw open. Sandy jumped down to the floor and Cindy dropped from the doorknob to the floor. As Cindy walked to Sandy, a voice greeted, "Hello." The two girls turn to see two familiar toys, Sherman and Agnes.

"Oh. Hello." Cindy greeted. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sherman." Sherman introduced.

"Hi. My name is Cynthia Vortex. But my friends call me 'Cindy'." Cindy shook Sherman's hand. She gestured to the squirrel doll, "And this is my friend, Sandy Cheeks." Sherman also shook Sandy's hand.

Sherman then introduced his sister, "And this is my sister, Agnes."

"Well, aren't you cute with them big eyes! And that hairdo suits an adorable girl like you!" Cindy cooed, bending to her level and stroking her cheeks.

Agnes blushed in flattery, "Thank you, Cindy."

As Cindy stood back up, Sherman and Agnes lift up their feet, to reveal the same signature in permanent black ink.

"What's it like having an owner for you kids?" Sandy asked.

"It feels great to be adored by a young owner!" Sherman grinned.

"Me and my brother are looking forward to a new life in this bedroom!" Agnes added.

"Now that you're part of the toy family, how would you two like a tour for your New Toy Orientation?" Cindy requested. Sherman and Agnes nodded, then Cindy and Sandy ushered their new friends for their tour. On the desk, Cody is now trying to play the Jimmy Neutron: Attack on Vader video game. Like Alex, Cody struggled to beat Darth Vader. He had been handling the XBOX One controller, but no matter how hard his efforts were, Cody couldn't find a way to conquer it. Alex the Lion took notice of the struggling penguin bank.

Cody asked the lion, "Hey, Alex? I could use a little help here!"

"I don't need to play. I lived it!" Alex said.

Cody's eyes widened in horror to see that the enemy had defeated the Jimmy Neutron game character. "Oh, no! No! No, no, no, no, no! AWWW, NUTS!" In frustration, Cody banged a flipper and the screen changed the game source to the normal TV. It played the latest commercial, showing Happy Chapman, donned in his football costume as usual, trying to keep his emotions together.

"Welcome to Happy's Toy Stadium. We got the lowest prices in town." Everything for a buck-buck-BUCK!" Happy Chapman lost control of his emotions, and broke down into tears, thus turning away from the camera, bawling like a big baby. The jinxed toy collector had realized that all the characters in the SpongeBob's Roundup collection were gone on the trip to Japan. And to make matters worse, the deal with Mitsbisu Watanabe had been cut off, and Happy's dream of being the richest man in the world was foiled and vanished.

Cody smirked, and said, "Well, I guess crime doesn't pay." Alex nodded, agreeing with the penguin. Happy got what he deserved.

SpongeBob shows his fixed arm to Abby. "Oh, Michael did a great job, eh?" He then flexes his bulging arm, thanks to the extra stuffing. "Nice and strong!"

"I like it." Abby said, caressing SpongeBob's arm. "It makes you look…tough." SpongeBob chuckled sheepishly. On the floor, Oscar kisses Grundgetta after being away for so long. The South Park boys walked over to the couple.

"Hey. We're still thanking you for saving our squeakers back there." Said Stan.

"He's right. We could be like your family." Craig replied.

"You saved their lives?" Grundgetta replied. "Oh, my hero! They look so adorable!" Grundgetta pinched Stan's cheek, making him blush. "Let's adopt them!"

"What?! Great." Oscar said cynically. E.B. the squeaky toy rabbit was hopping gleefully over to them. At first, he had a squeaker with a faulty quality, but now he has a better squeaker letting out high-pitched squeaks every time he hops around. And there was also no signs of coughing.

SpongeBob and Abby hear the squeaking. "E.B.! You're fixed!" SpongeBob exclaimed happily.

"Oh, yeah! Louis the alligator looked in the toy box and found me an extra squeaker!" E.B. replied happily.

"And, how do you feel?" SpongeBob asked curiously.

"Oh, I feel great. In fact, I think I feel a song coming on!" Jazz music began to play as E.B. picks up a toy microphone and began singing a familiar song in Robert Goulet's voice.

E.B. You got a friend in me
You got a friend in me

The ensemble of Mike's toy collection congregate to watch the performance.

When the road looks
Rough ahead and you're miles and miles
From your nice warm bed

You just remember what your old pal said
Babe, you got a friend in me
Yeah, you go a friend in me

SpongeBob walked over to the window, and looks down to see Michael and his friends getting on the bus, getting excited for another day of summer camp. The sponge couldn't help but smile widely. Jimmy walked over to his best friend.

"Are you still worried?" Jimmy asked.

"What? About Michael?" SpongeBob asked. He shrugged, "Nah. It'll be fun while it lasts."

"I'm proud of you, Sponge." Jimmy grinned pleasingly.

SpongeBob can already feel what it's like to be back home for a while ever since the incident that happened a couple days ago. SpongeBob leaned forward and put a hand on Jimmy's shoulder and gave him a friendly shake, "Besides, when it all ends, I'll have ol' Jimmy Neutron and all my friends to keep me company..." The pull-string sponge paused to let it sink in, "...for infinity and beyond." Jimmy smiled at his pal. Their owner Mike was bound to grow up in the near future, but SpongeBob had a very good feeling that no matter what challenges they face, he will still be safe as long as he had his friends.

The song was just reaching its conclusion, with E.B. performing on a small stage composed of building blocks, lights flashing across the room, and Sherman, Agnes, and some Bratz dolls acting as the squeeze-toy rabbit's backup singers.

E.B., Sherman, Agnes and Bratz Dolls: You're gonna see it's our destiny!

E.B.: You've got a friend in me

Sherman, Agnes and Bratz Dolls: Yes you do!

E.B. You've got a friend in me

Sherman, Agnes and Bratz Dolls: That's the truth!

All: You've got a friend…in…ME!

The screen shrank to an iris on E.B., who winks before it closed.

E.B.: YEAH!

THE END