Time Fixers: Nicktoons of the Future

Episode 4: SpongeTron PI

Plot: SpongeTron loves watching detective films and his luck comes around when Java returns asking for help to find her mother. While the Nicktoons are suspicious about her, SpongeTron puts his private eye skills to the test to find the missing monitor as if he were in a film noir. Can Detective SpongeTron solve this case?

Part 2

Soon, the Nicktoons had Professor Calamitous inside a warehouse and tied him to a chair in order to interrogate him. "What is the meaning of this?" Calamitous asked, irritated. "I haven't done anything!"

"Yeah, haven't done anything we CAUGHT you doing!" Tommy accused, "So you better spill the beans if you want five years deducted from a lifetime in jail!"

"Buy any fancy tech today?" SpongeTron demanded to know.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Calamitous retorted.

"He did it!" Java pointed angrily at him. "I know he did it!"

Maxwell then eyed Calamitous, "Then where did you obtain the computer paraphernalia?" he shook his head and repeated, "I mean stuff! I'm confident any evil genius would desire advanced technology, even items constructed by Plankton." He then bit his lower lip and grunted in frustration over his vocabulary.

SpongeTron held Java's shoulders and scolded the professor, "You took apart a loving mother from an innocent girl."

"You fools! I've done nothing to Plankton's nagging computer wife!"

"Then where'd you get the parts, slim?" Tommy asked suspiciously.

"That's none of your concern." Professor Calamitous countered.

SpongeTron held up a small slip of paper in front of him, "Need I remind you that you're speaking directly to an authority of the law."

Darry then snatched the slip of paper that SpongeTron had been flashing to all their suspects and stared at it. "This isn't a badge." He realized, "This is a coupon for 20% off for waxing at a car wash."

The robot snatched it back and whispered, "It makes my bumper shine."

Professor Calamitous finally had enough and answered their question, "If you must know, I ordered them online. You'd be surprised at how many people sell useful broken computer parts that I can put to good use."

Nobody seemed to believe him until Tammy walked up to them with a slip of paper in her hand. "He's telling the truth. Here's the receipt from the post office."

SpongeTron took the slip, scanned it with his eyes to see if it was counterfeit, but sighed, "It's official. It was ordered and shipped a week ago. Karen was taken a few days ago."

"Well, his story checks out." Darry informed as he slumped over. "Guess we're back to…square one." He joked as he ran a finger around SpongeTron's square head.

"My associate was right- pun aside." SpongeTron narrated. "We were out of suspects and had no leads to where Karen might be."

"Will you untie me now?" Professor Calamitous asked.

Soon, they walked around the dark wet streets of Retroville, wondering where they should look now. SpongeTron sighs sadly and narrated again, "I didn't wanna admit it, but I failed as a detective. I had let my friends down and more importantly, I let Java down."

But Tammy heard him and said, "Don't be so hard on yourself, SpongeTron. You tried."

"Yeah, you did your best." Tommy agreed.

However, Java cried, "But it just wasn't anywhere near good enough!" and ran away into an alley as she continued crying.

"Java, come back!" SpongeTron called as he ran after her.

"SpongeTron, wait!" Darry called as well, but the robot followed Java into the alley.

SpongeTron looked around the alley, but did not see Java. He noticed the back door to a building had been opened and he went inside, hoping to find the robot squirrel. He noticed Java crouched on the ground, holding something in her hand. "Java?" he called, wanting her to not be sad.

But when Java turned around, she was smiling. "Spongy-Poo, look!" she cheerfully said, "I found the back of Mother's battery pack! Just look at it!" she showed him the cover and it read 'Property of Plankton'.

"Java, you did it!" SpongeTron shouted in joy. "That's evidence that your mom is in here!" Java nodded, cradling the pack as if it were Karen herself. SpongeTron grinned as he turned away to narrate, "This is perfect. We found solid proof of Karen the computer wife's whereabouts. Now we just need to scan the evidence to find any fingerprints. The case is close to being solved. I feel I can detect the culprit like the back of my head..."

Unbeknownst to him, Java raises a large metal pipe up high and whacks SpongeTron at the back of the head. SpongeTron's systems buzz from the impact and cause him to pass out onto the floor.

SpongeTron's systems soon reactivate and he wakes up in another room, only now his arms and legs are strapped to a table. "Huh?" he asked, glancing around. "Where am I? Java?"

"SpongeTron!" Java cried out in joy as she ran up to the table he was strapped to. "You're awake!" but then she smirked, "Now you can witness your "cleansing"."

His eyes widen, but he gave a nervous chuckle and responded, "Oh, Jav, don't be ridiculous. I'm a robot, I don't bathe,"

"You don't get it, do you, runt." SpongeTron's eyes widen, recognizing the voice.

SpongeTron lifts up his head to see a figure in a chair in front of a large computer. The chair turned around to reveal-

"Eustace Strych!" SpongeTron cried out and glared, "So it was YOU who kidnapped Karen! Let her go and set Java free!"

"Oh brother," SpongeTron's eyes widen, recognizing the female computerized voice. "I'm starting to see what your father means when he asks what you see in him."

SpongeTron lifts up his head to see Java's mother, Karen. "Java, it's Karen!" he cries out in joy, "She's safe!" then his eyes widen in realization, "Wait a minute. You said Karen had been missing for days. But Plankton had said that he sent her to talk to the Creator's children just this morning, and the video we saw at the Krusty Krab showed us Karen talking to them, then 666 claimed that he had sold her something this afternoon. So that would mean that Karen was never missing and has been here the whole time." He cries out in joy, "I solved the case!"

"Congratulations Spongy-Poo." Java said with a sly smile as she leaned on top of him, inches away from his face. "Now...it's time for your reward: Me."

SpongeTron blushes and nervously smiles. "I'm grateful. I knew you would turn out to be good."

"Oh, I'm not gonna turn good." Java replied, her smile turning into a malevolent smirk, "You're gonna turn BAD!"

"What?" SpongeTron questioned in shock.

"So you're sure this is what you want?" Eustace asked the robot squirrel.

"Yes!" Java enthusiastically answered, "More than ever!"

"What's going on?" SpongeTron asked in panic. "Why's Eustace Strych here? What's gonna happen to me?"

Java explained, "Remember that job I told you I had? Well, I didn't accept any money. The one thing I want for payment was to have you join me so we can be together forever. But since you won't do it as long as you're on the Nicktoons, my boss here said he can make it so you're no longer on the Nicktoons."

SpongeTron tried to break out of the restraints, but couldn't since they were strong material. "I hate to break it to you, Java, but I know Eustace isn't a good guy, so I'll NEVER leave the Nicktoons."

"Not if you don't remember them." Hearing Java say this made SpongeTron's eyes widen in surprise. "Eustace said he can use his technology to erase your memory disk so you will be nothing like the day you were activated. Then once you're nothing but a blank slate, you'll have me and I'll program you into a perfect criminal like me."

SpongeTron became horrified upon hearing this. "No..." SpongeTron uttered, turning to Karen. "You can't seriously let her do this to me!"

"I just want what's best for my little girl." Karen responded. "And to not make the same mistake I made."

"Eustace?" SpongeTron asked, turning to the billionaire. "What do you get out of this?"

"I'll be wiping your memory of course." Eustace answered with a smirk, "Which means I'll have all memories on disk, including everything you witnessed with Jimmy Neutron."

"Won't that be great, Spongy-Poo?" Java asked, smiling at SpongeTron. "We'll be together just like you want."

But SpongeTron was still in shock and horror by this. "I do want us to be together, but not if it means I can't be myself." he glared angrily at Java, "If a criminal like you is what you want me to be, then I don't want us to be together!"

"Hmph!" Java frowned, turning her head away, but then smiled back at SpongeTron, "Don't worry. You'll forget how you feel in the next five minutes." she pointed at Eustace, "Hit it, rich boy."

Eustace plugs a cord into SpongeTron's chest and turns on a laptop that reads, "Transferring files", causing SpongeTron's eyes to twitch and body to jerk in his restraints as he feels his mind begin to lose data.

Meanwhile, the Nicktoons entered the building, wondering where SpongeTron and Java had gone. "SpongeTron?" Darry called out. "Are you here?"

"It's been nearly three hours since the disappearance of SpongeTron," a voice narrated, "And it's almost four in the afternoon, the time the robot would head back to HQ to rock Baby Max to sleep. It's unlike SpongeTron to miss nappy time with his little bro, so we all had a feeling that trouble is astir, especially when involved with a seducing woodland-based she-bot..."

"Dude, I thought it's ST who does the monologues," Tommy said to Maxwell, who was using his powers to speak in their heads.

Maxwell growled in frustration. "None of you were supposed to hear that. It looked like fun so I wanted to try it. Why isn't SpongeTron here to do it anyway?"

"Java is missing too." Tammy reminded. "What if she's doing something deceitful to him?"

Darry held the sides of his head to block out any thoughts, "I don't even wanna think about it."

Suddenly, Karen's monitor strolled past them. "Pardon me." she said, in an uncaring tone as the Nicktoons stared at her in agape.

"Karen?!" Tommy asked in shock. "You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive." Karen responded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were kidnapped, weren't you?" Darry asked. "You've been missing for days and Java's been worried sick."

Karen answered, "I've been away for my health. You don't know how exhausting it is living with Plankton. Java had me stay at her workplace so she can get SpongeTron here and wipe away his memory."

"WHAT?!" the Nicktoons yelled in shock.

"At least Java wasn't programmed with her father's ridiculous ideas of an evil plot." Karen added before strolling away.

"We gotta hurry and find SpongeTron!" Tommy cried.

Darry narrowed his eyes and answered, "We will. I just hope we're not too late."

But back in the top floor, Eustace's laptop reads "transfer complete" and he smirks as he takes out a flash drive.

SpongeTron was still strapped to the table, seemingly deactivated as Java stood over him. "Spongy-Poo?" she asked, nudging him. "Are you there?"

SpongeTron opens his eyes as they lit up and fade. He gets up, feeling groggy, when he asked, "Where...am I? And who's Spongy-Poo?"

"It worked!" Java cheered and held the robot close, "Now you're nothing but a clueless bot who will have no choice but to be mine."

SpongeTron had a dull look as he spoke in monotone, "Affirmative. I will be yours."

But suddenly, pounding was heard on the doors until it's busted down and the Nicktoons burst in. "JAVA!" Darry yelled, "We know what you're up to! Now give us back SpongeTron!"

Java quickly hid behind SpongeTron and spoke in a scared voice, "Spongy-Poo, those Nicktoons are trying to tear us apart."

"I know not the definition of 'Nicktoon'." SpongeTron dully spoke. "Or why they would tear us apart when we are two separate individuals."

"SpongeTron, what's wrong with you?" Tommy asked. "Karen is safe and Java tricked us, so arrest her!"

"Why would I arrest anyone?" SpongeTron asked, still looking dull. "Am I qualified to do that?"

Hearing him, the Nicktoons gasped, having realized what had happened. "We're too late!" Tammy cried.

"SpongeTron's memory's been wiped away." Darry groaned sadly.

But then a voice answered, "No, not wiped, just transferred." they look up to see Eustace holding up a flash drive. "Your SpongeTron is on this little device I have in my hand."

Maxwell hid behind the twins while Darry was ready to fight. "Give us that drive and give us back SpongeTron." he demanded.

"As man of business, I might give you your robot's data...for a price."

"And my guess your price would be," Tammy said, knowing the obvious choice.

"Right you are, young lady." Eustace coyly answered, "Your teammate with the blonde hair. He comes with me and I'll hand you the data you desire. Unfortunately, since I already sold the robot, you'll just have to transfer the data into something else. Since Neutron has plenty of SpongeTrons running around, I'm sure you won't have trouble finding a replacement."

"We don't want another SpongeTron, we want THE SpongeTron!" Tommy yelled, "So you better give him back to use right now or else!"

Darry also yelled, "And our teammates are not property we can trade. So you either give us back ALL of SpongeTron or we'll just take him back ourselves!"

Eustace smirked and he held the flash drive in between both fingers. "Oh, you want ALL of SpongeTron? Well, you can have him." and to the shock of the Nicktoons, he broke the flash drive in half and dropped it on the floor.

Darry yelled in fury, "Nicktoons GO!"

The Nicktoons took out their weapons and charged at them. But Eustace quickly ran out the door while Java took out her laser gun and SpongeTron stood there, showing no emotion.

Rather than firing at the Nicktoons, Java fired at the ceiling causing debris to fall on the heroes. "Let's go, Spongy-Poo." she demanded, grabbing the robot's arm.

SpongeTron shrugged and responded, "Okay," before being dragged away by Java.

While the two robots escaped, Maxwell used his psychic powers to hold the ceiling up in the air to protect them.

"Thanks Max." Tammy said with a smile. "Let's go get SpongeTron back."

"But how? Even if we get him back, Eustace just destroyed the flash drive containing his personality and memories!" Tommy exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter." Darry pointed out. "SpongeTron is still our friend no matter what. And we can't let him be converted into a criminal like Java."

"Scottie's right…again." Maxwell said in determination. "Leave no man or robot behind." Darry, Tammy, and Tommy nodded in agreement.

Up on the roof of the building, a helicopter was hovering above. A rope ladder was dropped as Eustace began to climb up. Java and SpongeTron caught up with him as Java called out, "Hey! Wait for us!"

Eustace ignored them and continued climbing up the ladder. Java then pushed SpongeTron toward the ladder and urged, "Get up there, Spongy-Poo." she then spoke softly to him, "We'll talk some more later."

"Whatever you say, mysterious robot rodent." SpongeTron replied as he started climbing the ladder.

Before Java could follow him up, she was suddenly hit from behind with a blue ecto-blast and she turned to see the Nicktoons approach.

"SpongeTron, don't go!" Tammy called out.

SpongeTron curiously asked Java, "Who are those strange humans that keep following us?"

"Uh..." Java tried to process an idea when she grinned, "Okay, this is confidential, but the truth is that you and I are created by Eustace Strych, head of Strych Enterprises. Those humans are working for Eustace's tech rival, Jimmy Neutron."

"That's a LIE!" Tommy yelled.

"Well, we do work for Jimmy Neutron." Maxwell meekly pointed out.

"You belong with us, SpongeTron!" Tammy yelled to the square robot, "With Jimmy Neutron! With SpongeBob! With the Nicktoons!"

SpongeTron seemed perplexed by what the two sides were saying. But Java just fired hot coffee at them. "You're too late! He's mine now!" and the group quickly got out of the way of the blast.

Once Eustace was safely in the helicopter, he told his pilot, "Drive."

"But what about them?" the pilot asked, seeing the robot haven't climbed all the way up.

"I said DRIVE!"

The pilot swerved the helicopter away, causing the two robots to yelp and hang on the ladder for fear of falling. "SpongeTron!" Tammy cried out, seeing them fly away.

But Java waved to them, smiling and teasing, "So long, losers!"

Once the helicopter got away, Maxwell sighed and said to his three teammates, "I can see why you hate her."

But Darry narrowed his eyes, not ready to give up. "She's not the only one who's running on fuel." and immediately flew off at fast speed towards their getaway chopper.

As they hung onto the ladder, oblivious to the fact that Eustace was not planning to let them inside anytime soon, Java made sweet talk with her new partner, "So Spongy-Poo, after this, wanna share a cup of fresh oil?"

"Is that really my name?" SpongeTron wondered. "It seems kinda degrading."

But suddenly, another blue ecto-beam hits the top of the ladder, causing one side to break apart. Java turned to see Darry flying towards them. She growled in frustration, "You again?!" and fired some spikes from her tail. "Why can't you just leave us alone?!" she yelled.

"Elementary, my dear psycho." Darry answered, catching up to them, "Because while SpongeTron is your dream guy, he is also our friend. And we're gonna make sure he stays on the right path." and he fired another ecto-beam, cutting the ladder off of the helicopter.

The two robots plummeted to the ground as Java screamed while SpongeTron remained silent, not even expressing fear. But Darry quickly caught him before he could fall any further.

"You seem really concerned for my safety even though you're planning to take me apart like the lovely robot squirrel said." SpongeTron said, staring at Darry.

"That's what friends do." Darry answered with a smile. "Not like what your crazy girlfriend tells you."

But suddenly, Java uses her rocket board to fly up to the two. "I don't need Spongy-Poo to beat you!" she activated laser ray. "If I blow him up along with you, I can always rebuild him into something better!"

Darry gasped, unable to fight her off and defend SpongeTron. But before she could fire at them, Java had a net thrown at her and she was pinned to the side of a building. Darry turned to see Tammy, Tommy, and Maxwell riding in a small purple plane.

"Sorry Java, but this case is closed." Tommy said, flying the plane. Netted against the wall, Java growled furiously at the heroes having defeated her and prevented her from using SpongeTron again.

Soon, the Nicktoons sent Java back to jail and everything was back to normal- except SpongeTron who still had his hard drive wiped and had no memory of them or anything else. So with no other choice, they brought him to Nicktoon HQ, hoping his creator would have the solution. SpongeTron still had a dull look on his face when Tommy started to panic, "What are we gonna do? With his memory gone, he won't be the same anymore. What if we never see the old ST again?!" he asked frantically, shaking Maxwell by the shoulders.

Maxwell shoved Tommy off him, "Chillax, I'm pretty sure Neutron has a solution to fix all this...right?"

Jimmy was examining the inside of SpongeTron's back with a tiny flashlight, but he ultimately stood up with a solemn expression and answered, "Unfortunately, I can't."

"WHAT?!" everyone screamed in shock.

"Everything in SpongeTron's memory core has been completely wiped out. And since Eustace crushed the USB containing it, there's nothing I can do," Jimmy said, bowing his head.

"So he's stuck like this?!" Darry shouted, "A meaningless and emotionless void in an empty shell of what was once our naive best friend?"

Tammy began sobbing as she cried, "I never thought this would happen. SpongeTron is right here and yet we'll never see him again."

Seeing all the Nicktoons grieve over the loss of their friend, SpongeTron stared in confusion, "What is this weird sensation they are expressing? And why are they secreting fluids from their eyes?"

"Poor SpongeTron." Maxwell cried, sniffling, "So unaware of what's happened to him. Maybe it's time we put him to sleep and out of this misery."

Hearing this, Jimmy's eyes suddenly widen in realization, "Sleep...That's it!" He grabbed SpongeTron and immediately dragged him off, much to the Nicktoons' confusion.

"But Jimmy!" Darry called out, "You can't really put SpongeTron to sleep!"

"Yeah, he hates being deactivated, remember?" Tommy added.

He brought SpongeTron to his room and set him on his table. Jimmy asked the Nicktoons, "It's true that SpongeTron plugs himself into his computer every night to charge himself, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Maxwell wondered.

Tammy added, "That's only to charge his battery."

"That's not all it does." Jimmy explained. "When we sleep, not only are we resting our bodies, but our brains are still operational. Everything we've experienced that day is processed through our brains to become memories. I thought that even though SpongeTron is a machine, why couldn't he do the same?"

That's when Darry realized, "Of course! Don't you guys remember? SpongeTron mentioned that while he charges, he backs up his data through his computer! Maybe his memories are stored inside!"

"Correct, Darry." Jimmy said with a smile. "Like anyone, you would wanna have a back-up storage of any important data you might have on a computer. SpongeTron is no exception, but for him I've decided to have his data backed up every time he charged himself, that way I can have all his up-to-date data stored in case he was ever destroyed or something happened to his hard drive."

"Well, that's a good tip and all, but will it bring the old SpongeTron back?" Tommy asked.

"Only one way to find out." Jimmy said, opening SpongeTron's chest and takes out an extension cord.

"What are you doing?" SpongeTron asked, "Are you hacking into my systems to steal information from Strych Enterprises?"

Jimmy plugged him into the computer and typed on the keyboard until the screen read, "transferring data", and SpongeTron began to wince as he felt data pouring into his systems.

When the download was complete, SpongeTron looked a bit dazed as he stayed silent. Darry slowly approached him, "SpongeTron? Are you okay?"

Suddenly, SpongeTron turned and around and smiles widely as he answers in a cheery tone, "Of course I'm okay, Darry. Why wouldn't I be?"

Everyone smiles in joy to see SpongeTron full of emotion and personality again. "SpongeTron, you're back!" Tammy cried as she and the other four hug the robot.

"Back from what?" SpongeTron wondered aloud.

The five humans glanced at him oddly. "Uh...back from Eustace and Java's clutches?" Tommy reminded.

SpongeTron gasped and smiled with joy, "Java! The love of my life is here? Is she outta jail already?" he asked hopefully.

This made the others more confused, "Dude, what's the last thing you remember?" Max asked.

SpongeTron thought about it and answered, "Well, I was watching some old detective movies, had a can of oil, and then went to bed."

"That's what happened last night." Tammy mentioned.

"That must have been from his last back-up," Jimmy explained, "Since his recent data was stolen, he likely won't remember the events that happened today."

"So everything SpongeTron experienced today is lost forever." Tommy sadly realized.

"So? We wasted the day going on a wild goose chase only to be betrayed again and almost lose our best friend," Maxwell said dully.

"Yes, some things must be sacrificed in order to regain what was lost," Tammy said, bowing her head.

SpongeTron was perplexed by their behavior. "What are you talking about? Was I in sleep mode for too long that I missed out on another adventure? Why am I dressed like a detective?"

"Dude, trust me. There are some things that must be left forgotten," Darry said, patting on SpongeTron's shoulder.

"Okay..." SpongeTron said when he smiled, "So wanna see another old detective movie? I just love those detailed monologues. Wish I can do one of those in one of our adventures."

Darry chuckled, "Sure thing, buddy." They and the others walk back to SpongeTron's room as Jimmy glanced happily at the five friends.

"You know what's bugging me?" Maxwell stated to Tammy.

"What?"

"We know Java was working for Eustace, even though the billionaire pretty much abandoned her. What I don't understand is that Eustace went through all that trouble just to gain access to SpongeTron's data...only to destroy it at the end," Maxwell mentioned. "Why is that?"

Tammy thought it over and realized, "Well, he did try to get us to trade you for it. He must've thought he could sabotage our teamwork if he took one of us down."

Maxwell sighs, "I'll never understand the way bad guys work. But it kind of freaks me out that he would try to hurt you guys to get me. I mean, if he takes any of you out, wouldn't that mean..."

"Nonsense!" Tommy suddenly intervened. "If you're still here, then there's no possible way that the future you come from will ever change."

Maxwell lowered his head and muttered in sadness, "That's what I'm afraid of." But Tammy did not notice this and dragged him off to be with their friends, having decided to put the event behind them like SpongeTron did.

The End

Case closed, but it looks like a new one has opened up. Please leave a review and stick around for the next one, "Mind Over Maxxer".