Chapter 6: Just Rewards

In sunny Jellyfish Fields, SpongeBob and Patrick were running around with their nets, trying to catch jellyfish.

"SpongeBob, you wouldn't believe who I saw yesterday!" Patrick told him as he swung his net. "I saw the Masked Sponge."

"You did?" SpongeBob asked, trying to stifle a chuckle. "Did he…reveal anything to you?"

Patrick tried to think. "Hmm…I think he revealed…his 'MS' symbol. I wonder what that means anyway."

"Those are the initials to his name, Patrick. All great superheroes have those emblems on their costumes." SpongeBob explained as some jellyfish buzzed over to him. "'MS', 'Masked Sponge', Ha, ah, ah, ah!" he laughed as the jellyfish stroked against him, "That tickles!"

Patrick walked over to him, looking amazed at how affectionate the jellyfish were being towards the sponge. "Wow, SpongeBob, they must really like you."

"Gee…I wonder why." SpongeBob smiled as he soon had a flashback.

In the flashback of Jellyfish Fields, a herd of jellyfish were buzzing about until a wild clam pounced on them and started trying to bite them.

But then, the Masked Sponge suddenly sprung out and hopped on top of the clam with an action ready pose until the clam flung him off.

When SpongeBob landed on the ground, he got back up and ran over to the clam. But when SpongeBob tried giving the clam a punch, he ate it him in one bite. The clam looked satisfied, but not when its mouth began to forcefully open, and it was the Masked Sponge lifting its mouth open with his jellyfish net.

When the clam's mouth was open wide enough, the Masked Sponge quickly hopped out of its mouth and grabbed his jellyfish net from inside. Then he reached into his utility belt, and grabbed a hotdog he conveniently had in there, and he whistled to grab the clam's attention until it spotted the hotdog.

The clam had an excited look as SpongeBob smiled and threw the hotdog far away into Jellyfish Fields and the clam chased after it.

The Masked Sponge smiled in satisfaction as he wiped his hands, and the jellyfish he has saved gratefully buzz all around him as he laughed.

The flashback ended with SpongeBob smiling peacefully with the grateful jellyfish still hanging around him. Patrick had a confused look as he asked, "Why was the Masked Sponge in YOUR flashback?"

"Huh?" SpongeBob quickly shook his head and snapped back to reality. "Oh, uh, no he wasn't?"

"Oh," Patrick said in understanding. "That must've been you pretending to be the Masked Sponge."

"Yeah…" SpongeBob lied with a sheepish smile. "I was."

But then, he suddenly heard a female and southern voice call out, "AAAHHHH!"

SpongeBob gasped as he quickly told his best friend, "Sorry, Patrick, I got something very important to do."

Then he ran off as Patrick waved, "Okay, SpongeBob, see ya!"

In Sandy's treedome where the scream had come from, Sandy was standing by shattered glass and pickles that were on the floor.

"Oh, dang it." Sandy said angrily. "I dropped my pickle jar. Now that's just trouble."

"Did someone say trouble?!" a voice called out.

"Huh?" Sandy looked around to see no one, but then looked up to see SpongeBob as the Masked Sponge wearing a water helmet, and standing upside-down on the roof of her dome, using plungers on his feet. "Who in tarnation might you be?" she asked the Masked Sponge

"I am the hero of Bikini Bottom!" SpongeBob answered in a deep heroic voice. "The defender of justice and sole protector of those who need protecting!" while he was making his speech, he was unaware that the suction cups on his feet that were holding him up were becoming unstuck. "I am the Masked SPONGE!" he yelled as he fell off the top of the dome.

He screamed as he fell down and crashed through her tree. As he plummets through the branches, his cape got caught on one of the pointy branches and hung SpongeBob out of the tree upside-down.

"Oh…" SpongeBob moaned in pain as he hung upside-down out of the tree. "I'm the Masked Sponge."

SpongeBob saw his upside-down view of Sandy as she rubbed her chin and said, "Hmm…oh yeah, I think I've heard of you. You're that new hero of Bikini Bottom everyone's buzzin' on about."

"You really have heard of me!" SpongeBob realized with a big smile.

"You're darn tootin' I have. But there's somethin' about you that I just can't make out."

Then Sandy started to walk over to the Masked Sponge as he got an excited look as his eyes widen. "Wow," he said in his inner-thoughts. "Sandy probably wants to thank me for all the good I've been doing. This is gonna be just like in that movie I saw with that other superhero."

Then Sandy put her paws on his glass helmet which made SpongeBob even more excited. "This is it. I better get myself ready." SpongeBob thought as he closed his eyes and puckered his lips.

Sandy didn't seem to notice what SpongeBob was doing, and she instead put one eye close to his helmet and looked through the glass suspiciously, trying to see if she could figure out his identity.

While SpongeBob still had his lips puckered, he didn't notice the branch his cape was caught on began to snap. It wasn't long till the branch completely broke and SpongeBob fell to the ground.

The Masked Sponge stood up, feeling dizzy. "Oh…Did it happen?"

"Did what happen?" Sandy questioned. "That was a nasty drop ya had. You okay?"

"Of course I'm okay." SpongeBob replied with a positive smile. "Superheroes like me are always okay…because we're super."

Sandy chuckled a bit. "Well, I can't argue with that logic."

"Ha, ah, ah, ah," SpongeBob laughed also. "Well, I better get going, gotta a lot more hero-type business to take care of."

"Alright, but don't be a stranger, come back anytime." Sandy said as she waved goodbye.

"Aye, aye, citizen!" SpongeBob saluted before he jumped away to the door. "Masked Sponge…away!"

"Hmm…" Sandy wondered to herself. "I know his laugh, but it couldn't possibly be…Nah, he ain't that foolish."

While the Masked Sponge was walking away from Sandy's treedome, he was unknowingly being spied on through a telescope- a telescope that was coming from the Chum Bucket.

"I knew it!" Plankton said as he watched the Masked Sponge. "I knew that masked goody-goody is too much of a do-gooder to accept my offer."

"Maybe that's why he's known as a superhero." Karen pointed out the obvious.

"Don't think that for long, Karen!" Plankton snapped. "I will get through to that masked fool one way or another. I just need to find out his secret identity. But for that to happen I need to render him weak, meaning I must expose his weakness!"

Looks like Plankton has something planned for the Masked Sponge. But what could it be? Please review and the next chapter will be up soon.