Author's note: Merry Christmas Eve, everyone. Once again, I wanna thank you for all of your support and suggestions. I really appreciate it, especially since I'm relatively new to crossovers and never expected this one to get off the ground. The good news is, I asked for the Adobe Suite for Christmas...and if I get it this story will be made into a comic book as was its true intent. And with your suggestions, it will be even better than it would have been as it is now!

Let me be the first to say that I really don't like this chapter. It's so short, cut and dried. But I did promise it would be finished by Christmas…and that's in a matter of hours now. Tonyboy, in future revisions I think I will look at some of the Christmas Carol films versions you were talking about. But for now, this will have to do.

--P.S. You have all gotten really good at guessing who the Ghosts are gonna be. ;)

Chapter 5—Looking ahead

Before Mr. Krabs's very eyes, all his surroundings slowly blurred and faded to grey until nothing was familiar. He found himself in an abysmal void. "Wha—where am I?" he whimpered to no one in particular.

He glanced around frantically...then suddenly became aware of a cold chill coming from behind him. Cautiously, he turned and found himself face to face with a phantasmal black silhouette. The apparition had glowing green eyes and emitted an eerie green haze.

Mr. Krabs's eyes shrank in fear. "You…you must be the Ghost of the Future, I presume?"

The Ghost of the Future did not respond. The silence was piercing.

Mr. Krabs laughed nervously. "Heheh…you're not like the other ghosts."

The Ghost put a shadowy hand on Mr. Krabs's shoulder, as if leading him somewhere.

"Huh? Where are we going?"

A time portal vortex materialized beside them, like the one recently used by the Ghost of the Past.

"Oh, I get it. Alright then…I guess we better get going." Mr. Krabs walked through the vortex…and found himself falling through a psychedelic dimension similar to the one Squidward was evicted to in Shanghaied. "OOOHHH, NOOO!" he wailed.

The exit to the time portal appeared inside the bustling—but not hectic—Krusty Krab, close to the ceiling. Mr. Krabs fell out and landed hard on the floor. "Ooof!" He stood up, brushed himself off and looked around. "Ah. At least it looks like my beloved Krusty Krab is seeing good business in the future."

Beside him, the Ghost of the Future faded into view and pointed in the direction of the cash register. The employee standing behind it was a female fish with black hair in pigtails, wearing a black shirt and red plaid skirt.

The fish cheerfully handed a tray to a customer. "There you are, Sir! Come again, okay?"

Mr. Krabs narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar girl. "Hold on! Who in Davy Jones's name is that!" He walked past the register and peeked in the kitchen, only to find the guy that was mistaken for the Hash-Slinging Slasher in Graveyard Shift standing at the grill, holding a spatula and picking his nose.

He looked up at the Ghost again. "Wait a second, where's SpongeBob? I know I…uh…just fired him and all, but I guess I wasn't thinking about a future of the business without him. Where is he?"

The Ghost simply pointed across the street to the ChumBucket. Mr. Krabs hesitantly made his way across the street and casually went through the front door into Plankton's restaurant. There he saw the yellow sponge, talking to a very somber-looking Karen. Plankton was nowhere to be found, but the booster seat SpongeBob gave him sat vacant on the same table.

Karen sobbed. "Thank you for coming over on such short notice, SpongeBob."

SpongeBob placed a hand on her mechanical arm, trying to comfort her. "Of course, Karen. I came as soon as I heard. So…when exactly did it happen?"

"Early this morning. That ultra-microscopic spore…just finally got to him."

Mr. Krabs gave the Ghost a sheepish look. "You…you don't mean Plankton…?"

Again, no reaction.

"Heh…what goes around comes around, I guess." Mr. Krabs tried half-heartedly to laugh, then continued to watch SpongeBob and Karen.

"I'm so sorry, Karen," SpongeBob said. "I only wish there was more I could do."

"No, no; don't say that," Karen protested. "Plankton might not have shown it, but we really appreciated your support. Even though it's mostly because of you he got committed in the first place. And even though he's slighted you, used you…" She sniffed back artificial tears. "…and hired a shady hit man to kill you…" she broke down and cried. SpongeBob "hugged" Karen and cried with her.

Mr. Krabs didn't know what to say at first. He speculated to himself. "This is…really sad. Even after all that Plankton's done…" Then to the Ghost he said, "Is this all that you brought me to the future to see?"

The Ghost lead Mr. Krabs back outside in time to see two random fish meeting on the street.

"Oh, hey Chris," the first fish greeted.

"Hi Eric!" Chris responded. "Oh, you'll never believe what I heard. Guess who finally bit the hook!"

"Who?"

"I'll give you a hint: It's someone that everybody hates."

"You don't mean…?"

"That's right."

"Hah, it's about time! I thought he'd never go. So, when was the funeral?"

"I dunno, but it's not like anyone would have gone to it, anyway!"

These harsh words surprised Mr. Krabs.

"I heard that," Eric continued. "But anyway, come on; let's go have lunch at Shell Shack!"

"Ooh, great idea!" Both Chris and Eric headed down the street together.

"Who were those two talking about in such a mean way?" Mr. Krabs asked the Ghost. "It must have been Plankton, right?"

The Ghost pointed off in one direction.

"What is it with you and that finger!" Mr. Krabs demanded, frustrated. "Why can't you just answer the question!"

The Ghost just kept pointing.

"Ugh. Very well." He followed where the Ghost's finger led, only to find himself at Floater's Cemetery…as dark and scary as ever.

"Oh, this bone yard always gives me the creeps," he trembled.

They passed nonchalantly by the grave labeled "Here lies Squidward's hopes and dreams." The latter part has been crossed out so it now reads "Here lies Squidward."

"But, wait a minute," Mr. Krabs suddenly realized. "If Plankton only just died this morning, he couldn't have been buried already."

The Ghost pointed to a dark, dismal tombstone. No flowers, nothing.

"That's a miserable, lonely-looking grave all right," Mr. Krabs rambled a bit in his fear. "But it's definitely not Plankton's. His would be much smaller. So…whose is it?"

A green, ghostly ray of light shoots from the Ghost's fingertip to the tombstone, causing it to illuminate and display the name "Eugene Krabs."

Mr. Krabs gasped. "What! No!"

The Ghost finally illuminated, his features becoming distinct. "That's right, Krabs! It's yours!" he said in a voice resembling a Dutch sailor's.

Mr. Krabs's jaw dropped. "WAAAH! The Flying Dutchman!"

The Flying Dutchman laughed. "And you'll no doubt be happy to know that it was the cheapest funeral in history. No one bothered to show up at all!"

Mr. Krabs grasped at the tombstone in disbelief. "But doesn't anyone care that I'm gone? What about me daughter, Pearl?"

"She moved in with your mother and was attending fashion school, but now she's dropped out and taken your job!" the Dutchman explained. "She's doing surprisingly well, too."

"Well, what about SpongeBob?" Mr. Krabs asserted. "He cared about Plankton's death, and he thinks I'm the greatest boss there ever was!"

"You fired the poor lubber, remember! Those people you saw at the Krusty Krab were his replacements!"

Mr. Krabs stammered. "No! He couldn't really-- I didn't mean to—"

"Just face it, Krabs! The world would be better off without a tightwad like you!"

"But I'm a whole new crab! You've got to believe me; I've learned so much from all of this!" Mr. Krabs shriveled onto his knees. "It doesn't have to be this way! I can make it all better, you'll see!" He was near tears. "Please!"

The Flying Dutchman towered over him "See to it that you do…or else!" He let out an otherworldly roar. Mr. Krabs cowered shamefully in a fetal position on the ground, covering his eyes and weeping loudly.

"WAAAHAAHAA!"

Author's note: Alright. Normally I don't do this sort of thing, but with this story almost to a close, I find myself with two more ideas for SpongeBob crossovers that I'd love to hear what you all think of. Fair warning, these would both be directed at older audiences than is Christmas Carol. My friend and I are collaborating on them…and we are 19-year-olds with an obscure sense of humor, after all.

Orgazmo/SpongeBob crossover: SpongeBob and Sandy have big plans to open their own karate dojo in Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob goes door to door in hopes of raising money for the investment, but when the knocks on the door of a mansion where an adult film is being made—ultimately finding himself in the leading role--he just might be in for more than he bargained for. Believe it or not, this story does not contain porn; the original Orgazmo by Trey Parker is itself a spoof of the porn industry. It would probably be a T rating at best, M at worst…but fans of the real Orgazmo movie should appreciate it nonetheless.

Silence of the Lambs/SpongeBob crossover: A mad serial killer is on a spree, committing a number of brutal murders. Sandy Cheeks, a determined and confident trainee of the Bikini Bottom Police Department, is sent to the asylum to interview a captive for a better understanding of these crimes. What results is a disturbing look at the demons of Sandy's own past…and a race against time to rescue the latest victim before it's too late. Again, this could probably pull off a T rating; I've seen an edited version of SotL on TV that was rated T. Do you think it'd be too gruesome to go there, though?