The Witch and The Sponge

SpongeBob has tried and failed many times to try to change his evil nemesis, Plankton, for the better. However, He doesn't want to force Plankton to change.

To keep his powerful ally Bill occupied, SpongeBob casually mentioned the Mawgu as the only villain he really worried never learned their lesson. Bill left SpongeBob's side after learning this.

In the meantime, Lil' Citrus was making plans to move to Bikini Bottom permanently to be by Larry's side. Perch's attitude had changed to be a bit chipper, and he seemed to have taken his lesson to heart.

SpongeBob was relieved that his world was returning to a state of normalcy. He eased himself back into the regular rhythm of life again.

One day, something terrible happened. His favorite heroes, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy refused to renew their contracts as their health had gotten so much worse. They put themselves in hospice, and SpongeBob visited them. He was upset, but they comforted him by reassuring him that even though their lives were ending, their story would continue through SpongeBob.

MermaidMan weakly said, "This world is counting on you to fight the good fight now, kid."

Barnacle Boy added, "You gave us a second chance to live our old glory, and for that, we are eternally grateful. But now, we have to leave, and there is no turning back."

MermaidMan unbuckled his belt and gifted it to SpongeBob, saying, "It's your turn, SpongeBob, go and inspire the next generation."

SpongeBob took the gift tearfully, saying, "Thank you for everything."

He hugged them both and left their side. They died a few days afterward.

There must have been at least a hundred people at the funeral for the heroes. MermaidMan and Barnacle Boy were buried under a Statue of themselves in their prime.

SpongeBob took some time off to process his grief. In the will for the heroes, they had left their Merma-lair and all the gadgets to the next generation of the International Justice League of Super Acquaintances. (Invinci-Bubble, The Rodent, Sour Note, Sir-Pinch-Alot, and Plank-Ton)

The rights to their stories went to Viacom.

SpongeBob could hardly believe that the heroes would gift his team with their gear and the name of their old team. It would be a week before SpongeBob went back to his regular rhythm of life.

Enter Hannah, a human girl who was gifted the ability to breathe water from the magical rose necklace she wore. The magic also granted her owl-like wings. She helped around town by cleaning windows, sweeping the streets, and generally keeping things tidy. SpongeBob met up with her, and they were instantly on the same page.

The Chum Bucket had gone months without any customers. The dust had settled on the floor and tables. Cobwebs tangled the stools to the table. The tiles of the walls had been rusted a bit around the edges. Plankton stood in the kitchen doorway and looked around at the state of the neglected dining room. He took a deep breath and went into a nearby broom closet.

Well, more accurately, he had struggled to open the door. Karen had to come and help Plankton open the broom closet and grab a full-size broom herself. He grabbed a broom that was his size and climbed up the stools to dust off the tables. Working together, the two cleaned up the place. The dining room reeked of lemony cleaning fluid when they were done.

"Cleaning day is pointless," Karen said, "But oddly rewarding."

Plankton replied, "That's the foundation of our marriage, Baby!"

Karen chuckled a bit. She then went back into the laboratory. Plankton hopped onto the counter and squeezed into the ordering booth through a slot. He sighed as he sat down.

Suddenly, the Chum Bucket's front doors swung open, and the newest resident walked to Bikini Bottom. Hannah, a human, looked around at the place with a smile.

"Boy," Hannah said, "You cleaned this place well, Professor Cyclops."

Plankton came to his feet and asked, "Aren't you a loyal customer of the Krusty Krab?"

Hannah laughed, almost menacingly, and said, "I did fool you and those morons."

Plankton was confused and surprised.

"I was only pretending," Hannah explained, "SpongeBob is so disgustingly soft and gullible that it was easy to convince him that I was hopeful, Hannah."

A twisted smile crossed her face as she said, "But I'm not Hannah, SpongeBob's trustworthy friend."

She then threw down a smoke bomb, and when the smoke cleared, she had dawned a checkered jacket, and some hair was covering her left eye.

"I am Natalie," She said, "That little yellow headache's worst nightmare."

Natalie turned to Plankton and said, "Join me, Sheldon, and together we can rule the ocean!"

Plankton rubbed his hands together and said, "Yes, I will."

"Excellent," Natalie said.

Plankton asked, "So what's the plan?"

Natalie laughed, saying, "You'll see, but first, I need you to make a specialized robot for me."

She pulled out a giant pencil.

Plankton asked, "What is that?"

Natalie replied, "The magic pencil; I can help you copy its power for the new machine I'm commissioning you to build."

Plankton asked, "What are you offering?"

Natalie smiled and said, "No one but you and Karen know who I am. So I can still buy you a Krabby Patty so that you could finally have the formula."

Plankton gasped, "That's genius!"

So, as Plankton started work on the machine, Natalie went to get a Krabby Patty. She carefully changed back to look like Hannah to avoid arousing suspicion. Then, it was only a matter of getting the burger to the Chum Bucket. Once there, Plankton could extract the formula and recreate the Patty.

"Woohoo," Plankton cheered, "You did it, Natalie; now all that's left to do is for me to taste the burger at long last!"

He took the giant bite, but it tasted off somehow.

Natalie asked, "Is something wrong, Sheldon?"

Plankton replied, "It's missing something."

Natalie asked, "What is it missing?"

Plankton replied, "A bit of Chum."

He paused for a moment to think about that statement.

Plankton asked himself, "How did I know that?"

Natalie grimaced, "You thinking of the recipe for the beta Krabby Patty, a sandwich known as the Plab Patty."

"That makes sense," Plankton said, " I did invent it with Krabs!"

"This is awful," Natalie snarled, "You should have forgotten about it by now."

Plankton asked, "What's the big deal? It's just a silly little memory."

Natalie poked Plankton's belly and said, "The big deal is that the moment your body is done digesting that Krabby Patty, your villainous days are over!"

Plankton took a step back to rub his tiny body and think.

Plankton asked, "Why did you call me Professor Cyclops earlier?"

Natalie smiled and said, "It's your supervillain name."

Plankton asked, "If I eat my patty slowly, will it prolong my time being evil?"

Natalie nodded.

Plankton said, "If that's the case, then I will never finish my Patty. I want to see your plan through to the end."

Natalie said, "That's not how that works; you do have to finish it eventually."

Plankton asked, "Will your plan take long?"

Natalie replied bluntly, "Longer than it should take to eat that thing reasonably."

Plankton said, "Then let's get started."

Plankton began building the robot Natalie requested. While he formed this new machine, a strange change was overtaking him. His mind was growing a bit fuzzy midway through building this new robot. Then, when the fuzz vanished, he noticed that the robot was shaping up to look very similar to SpongeBob for some reason. It was too late for that since it was almost entirely done. All that was left was to bring it to life.

Plankton noted, "Weren't we already on the same Te-am before?"

Natalie replied, "Don't worry about it."

Hannah restored herself, and she started chuckling to herself.

Meanwhile, Natalie was pissed watching an imposter put ideas into Plankton's head that he would become good by finishing the Krabby Patty.

Malum snickered, "Looks like there's two Natalies."

Natalie hissed, "Stay out of this Blood Lake. I've gotten this taken care of!"

Natalie confronted Hannah in the town square the following afternoon.

Natalie snapped, "How dare you come into this world and start poisoning it with your hope!"

Hannah mockingly whined, "Aw, I'm sorry, I didn't realize just how much the nightmare demon has made you into a joke!"

Natalie growled and tried to blast her with dark magic. Hannah shielded herself with light magic and laughed.

Hannah asked, "What makes you think Mindy wouldn't prepare me for this encounter?"

Natalie hissed, "Don't invoke that name to me, you pathetic little siren."

Hannah said, "It isn't wise threatening the chosen wielder of the Heart of the Ocean like this, Natalie. You, of all people, should know that."

Natalie scoffed, "Yeah, right, you?"

Hannah answered, "No, SpongeBob SquarePants."

Natalie was shocked and asked, "Wait, really? That guy? Why?"

Hannah said, "You won't believe me if I told you."

Natalie flatly asked, "You don't even know, do you?"

Hannah answered, "Oh no, I do. It's because he's nice, kind, and friendly."

Natalie gagged, "That's so corny!"

Hannah chuckled, "But it's true!"

Natalie hissed, "You're lying. That's not the real reason!"

Hannah rolled her eyes and quipped, "I told you wouldn't believe me. It's really just that simple."

Natalie snarled, "We'll just see about that!"

She rushed off before Hannah could say anything else.

(To Be Continued...)