The page read, "There was once a magic book that told the tale of a happy, sweet, and wholesome little Sponge named Bob that goes on a journey to accept himself and earns the title of manager for his job. One pirate called Burger Beard heard of this powerful book and decided to use it for his gain. So, he stole it from its place on Bikini Atoll and rewrote the story, taking away Bob's happily ever after.

Burger Beard instead wrote in his own happily ever after. To set things right, SpongeBob had to team up with his greatest enemy, Plankton. SpongeBob managed to take his story back from Burger Beard, but in the process, most of the book was burned. Some of the pages survived, and SpongeBob entrusted them to his friend, Bubbles, the magical talking dolphin from the future. SpongeBob didn't realize until very recently that this had happened.

His story now is about protecting his harmonious world from the existential threats he opened them to. Among them, SpongeBob managed to make a friend from Globulous Maximus. Globulous now refers to himself as SpongeGlob. In the process, SpongeBob met up with more friends from other worlds. He felt like his old world and story was very small. He never gave it much thought beyond the moments he was far from home. His new friends, the Nicktoons, were a comfort in those moments.

However, SpongeBob was protected from those kinds of thoughts until he met Natalie. Natalie directly brought in the existential threats to SpongeBob's home.

SpongeBob has no idea how to combat this. Fortunately, he doesn't have to stand alone. Previously, Squidward had agreed to work for Natalie so he could be the main character of the story. Still, it only made him more miserable, and he forgot why he and SpongeBob were friends as a sacrifice. But he soon realized his mistake and has resolved to become helpful in SpongeBob's life rather than a hindrance."

Squidward frowned, reading this. He quipped, "I don't think we need this kind of recap for the twelfth time, Hannah."

Hannah chuckled, "Sometimes it can be easy to forget everything that's happened so far. I just wanted to make sure everyone is on the same page."

Squidward noted, "Yeah, but sometimes that's not necessary, especially if the story at hand has nothing to do with the exposition itself."

Hannah said, "You're right; maybe I should stay focused on the story at hand."

Hannah took the page from Squidward, rushed off, and said, "Thanks, Squiddy!"

Squidward quipped, "What a weird girl."

He went right back to work. After his shift, Plankton approached him in a robotic suit. Squidward was surprised, but then a cloud surrounded them.

Squidward panicked and asked, "What is this?"

Plankton said, "Think about it, Squidward. We were great together as Squidton. Don't you miss that?"

Squidward snarled, "No, because you just want to be big! Squidton wasn't what I want now! And if we have to be in synch if we're going to fuse, right?"

Plankton chuckled, "Only if we're using the original spell. But I took the liberty of editing it so that more powerful ones can fuse with whoever they please. My new mechanism makes my small stature a non-issue."

Planton then rushed into Squidward, but Squidward skillfully dodged by jumping Plankton with one fluid movement. Squidward posed definitely.

Squidward said, "You forget, I have mastered moving my body in ways your clunky machine can't."

He wiggled his tentacles to demonstrate.

Plankton asked, "Is that what you think?"

Squidward smirked and slipped on a few sweatbands on his wrists before quipping, "Let's dance!"

Plankton charged at Squidward, and the octopus slinked below to duck from Plankton's thrusts. Squidward then stood up and quickly and expertly tried to dismantle Plankton's machine with his suction cups. Plankton tried to shake him off, but Squidward was too fast, and his movement too fluid. Plankton felt restricted by the slow and clunky movement of his machine. He was able to knock Squidward off, but in the process, Plankton's mechanical arm was torn off. Squidward chuckled as he kicked the arm out of the cloud.

Squidward said, "You frankly disgust me with your overuse of technology. I have found how to see the beauty in myself, and now that I've been in your head, I know you don't."

Plankton snarled, "Shut up, you don't know me; of course, I see the beauty in myself."

Plankton tried to pin Squidward with his remaining arm, but once again, the octopus undid the screws to that part with blinding speed. He then kicked the arm out of the cloud.

Squidward snapped, "That's a lie, and you know it! You hate being small and ineffective. That's not to say you're not incredible in other ways."

Plankton was intrigued and asked, "What do you mean?"

Squidward said, "Think about it, Plankton. Who else has such a brilliant mind that they could create such a wonderful piece of technology that they can supplement their disadvantages? Who else would have such a crazy idea as to refuse with the one other person who hated the Sponge as much as them?"

Plankton snapped as he tricked into kicking Squidward with the robot, "I don't need a pep talk from a hack artist like you!"

Squidward dodged the swing and said, "Well, excuse me for trying to help you understand my viewpoint."

Squidward spun around and quickly swept Plankton's robotic suit off its feet, and the cloud dissipated.

Squidward asked, "Doesn't it get tiresome being the villain? Don't you wish you could do other things than plot and scheme? Especially now that there are bigger threats that will destroy everything you want to conquer so badly?"

Plankton hissed, "Oh, shut up! You sound just like that little yellow twerp!"

Squidward gave it some thought and said bluntly, "You have no idea what it's like. I stared deep into that abyss of my darkness once. Into that Mirror of Lies, the one Natalie likes to cradle as if it comforts her. I don't know what the hell she sees because all I saw was sorrow and agony."

Plankton got out of the robot and asked, "What do you mean?"

He turned from Plankton; he took off the bands from his tentacles. He then focused his mind, and it was like most of the color was drained from his body. He collapsed into the ground, uncontrollably sobbing into his tentacles. Plankton was surprised.

Squidward then slowly stood up and moaned, "Allow me to show you exactly how Malum sees you."

Squidward turned back to Plankton, and his eyes were now transformed, resembling humans with deep, scarlet red irises and blackish-red streams coming from his eyes.

Plankton asked, "Is that.."

Squidward said, "Yes, it's my 𝚋̶𝚕̶𝚘̶𝚘̶𝚍̶."

WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS. ONLY ON NICK!

Squidward was frozen, grimacing at Plankton, and Plankton was frozen in shock. A White fish with a purple-slicked-back dorsal fin and purple-rimmed glasses enters stage left. This fish was Phil, the Titan of Organization.

Phill reached behind himself and pulled out a metal bat with the word "Censorship" and whacked Squidward multiple times until he snapped back to being a regular Squidward but with mascara tears running down his face.

Phil said, "Much better; now my multimarketing money maker can stay ignorant of the damage my brother is doing."

Phil then approached Plankton and very slowly picked him up. He then used a surge of purple to try to write Palnkton's memories over, but then Phil felt his gills shut up, and he was forced to become a human. He swam up to the surface to breathe.

Aquarius snarled, "What the *Dolphin noise* do you think you're doing? My children are trying to express just how deeply your brother that Blody Titan has destroyed their lives, and you're trying to censor that?!"

Phil said, "Do you have any idea how much this will affect our bottom line? If this show gets the plug pulled because children decide to google 'scary, sad Squidward' and discover a deeply gross and cruel fiction. It will be pinned on us because those idiot adults who refuse to parent their kids!"

Aquarius asked, "What did you just call them?"

Storm clouds threateningly stirred up above Phil. Phil was terrified and immediately disappeared. Aquarius restored Squidward to his colorless self with blood running down his cheeks.

WE'RE BACK TO SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS! ON NICK!

Plankton gasped, "Why are you crying out 𝚋̶𝚕̶𝚘̶𝚘̶𝚍̶ ?"

Squidward answered, "This is what Malum made me into when I looked into that damn mirror! He fed on my desire for external validation and transformed it into this! A deep and utterly soul-draining depressed monster! He's crushing whatever willpower to live I have left!"

Plankton asked, "How did you break free?"

Squidward took a deep breath. He put himself back to his colorful self and dried his tears.

Squidward answered, "I had to stop thinking of just myself and be reminded that I'm part of a team. SpongeBob's team. I have people who love me and my art, and I have gone through a lot alongside SpongeBob. Despite our differences, he still cares about me, and that made me realize that what I really wanted was to love myself. Yeah, I still think he's an annoying optimist, but damn it, sometimes it can get draining being pessimistic when he repeatedly proves that saving the day works!"

Plankton sighed, "Maybe you have a point. I had no idea what I was getting into with being genuinely evil. But being SpongeBob's teammate feels so wrong. I spent my whole life just being the villain. I went back to it after that whole Burger Beard incident! If what you say is true, then Natalie may take my place as the villain, and I once again have to be part of a teamwork. I don't know if I want that this time."

Squidward asked sympathetically, "But why wouldn't you want that?"

Plankton rushed away, not answering Squidward's qeustion.