SpongeBob was chilling in his room with his friends, Keyhole and Kryptos.

Keyhole was relaxing on the couch next to SpongeBob's chair and said, "Wow, SpongeBob, it's really relaxing at your place!"

SpongeBob chirped, "Glad you think so!"

Kryptos was also reclining on the chair and said, "Yeah, no wonder you're so calm all the time! You have such a peaceful home to go back to! I do wonder, is there anything you're afraid of?"

SpongeBob gave it some thought and replied, "Well, back in Bikini Bottom, we did have this one holiday. It was designed to appease malevolent spirits and remember dead loved ones. It always freaked me out. All the skeletons, ghosts, witches, and spiders! All in all, I was always scared of Halloween!"

An evil smile spread across Kryptos' face.

Kryptos said, "I just remembered something I need to take care of!"

He got up and rushed out the door. He burst into the main party.

Kryptos shouted, "Guys, I have the best idea to thank SpongeBud for all his hard work!"

Pyronica asked, excitedly, "Really? What?"

Kryptos reached behind himself, pulled out a Jack-O-Latern, and replied, "A Halloween party!"

Zanthar boomed, a bit concerned, "I DON'T KNOW GUYS, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A BAD IDEA!"

Bill asked, "Since when were you so concerned about SpongeBud?"

Zanthar replied, "LAST WEEK, SPONGEBUD TOOK OUT A SPEAR THAT WAS STUCK IN MY PAW!"

He showed an enormous bandage on his left front foot.

Paci-fire said, "Yeah, and he made that First Aid Kit for us so we can heal ourselves!"

He gestured to the white box with a green plus on it.

Kryptos Said, "All the more reason to reward him by giving him a taste of his old home."

Bill asked, somewhat suspiciously, "Are you sure that's a good idea? Are you sure that your intentions for celebrating this holiday are out of a desire to reward our friend and not out of the weird chip you still harbor for our resident living in Sunny D?"

Teeth probed, "Yeah, what is your beef with SpongeBud? He's been nothing but nice to you, and yet you conspire time and again to destroy him."

Kryptos said, "I just think he's a bit too soft, is all. Besides, I think he would appreciate us embracing his traditions!"

The others were uncertain but quickly got into the spirit of things.

Bill directed them accordingly, "Okay, Eight-Ball, start gathering skeletons and the most twisted creatures you can get a hold of! Teeth start carving pumpkins! Pyronica, get us some tombstones! Kryptos, make the corn maze! Paci-fire, You'll need to start making some machines that can mass-produce Multiple kinds of candy! Everyone needs a costume, and Everyone needs to help decorate! I'll be getting things together with my old pal Hades to summon some spirits! Let's make this the Spookiest All Hallows Eve yet!"

Keyhole said, "Thanks for having me over, SpongeBud! I hope we can do this again sometime!"

SpongeBob chirped, "Of course, see you later, Keyhole!"

Keyhole left the room into the main dance floor and his jaw met the floor when he saw it was all decked out for Halloween!

Kryptos, now dressed like a black knight, grabbed him and said, "There you are, quickly, you need a costume!"

Kryptos dressed him up like a vampire, and the said, "Now, go help with the candy!"

Kryptos then began to sing, "Twisted Tales tell of creepy sights!

All pale in comparison to this haunted night!

All the ghouls!

All the spooks!

All the fearsome beasts come to gather here to sing!"

All the Hench-maniacs joined in singing, "Halloween in The Nightmare Realm!

What a fitting festival!

Autumn chills blow!

The smell of sugar and spice!

The dead will come back to life!

Tonight is the first Halloween here in the Nightmare Realm!"

Pyronica sang, "Look at the flicker of the candles in these Jack-O-Laterns! Look at my fetching costume! I'm a wicked witch! Anyone can see!"

Hexagon sang, "Look at all these dead leaves so colorful and fun! Look at my costume, all bundled up in straw and patchwork cloth like a scarecrow!"

Eight-Ball sang, "Look at all these clean bones! Look at all my twisted creatures! I can't wait to see what SpongeBud thinks of Mummy Eight-Ball!"

Krptos sang, "All the ghouls!

All the spooks!

All the fearsome beasts come to gather here to sing!"

All the Hench-maniacs joined in singing, "Halloween in The Nightmare Realm!

What a fitting festival!

Autumn chills blow!

The smell of sugar and spice!

The dead will come back to life!

Tonight is the first Halloween here in the Nightmare Realm!"

A Jack-O-Latern sprang to life to sing, "Tonight is the first Halloween in the Nightmare Realm!"

Then, it laughed in a demonic way.

SpongeBob soon left his room, and Bill stopped him in his tracks.

SpongeBob chirped, "Hiya, Boss! Everything okay?"

"Oh sure," Bill said, "Never better. Just one thing, do you like Halloween?"

SpongeBob chuckled nervously, "Oh, uh, sure. But I don't have the best time with it. Something always pops up to scare me. It was so bad that I even earned the nickname SpongeBob Scaredy-Pants."

Bill squeaked, "Oh, you don't say?"

SpongeBob asked, "Why do you ask?"

Bill became very nervous and said, "Uh, well, you see..."

Kryptos popped out and shouted, "BOO!"

SpongeBob screamed in Surprise. Kryptos laughed twistedly.

Bill sighed, "It would seem we went through all that work for nothing."

SpongeBob calmed down a bit to ask, "What do you mean?"

Bill reached behind himself and, pulled out a piece of fabric and tied it around SpongeBob's eyes.

Bill warned, "Brace yourself, Sponge; I'm taking you to the big dance floor again."

SpongeBob said, "Okay, Bill."

He leads the now blindfolded SpongeBob to the others. Everyone gathered around him excitedly.

Bill instructed, "Alright, take off the blindfold."

SpongeBob took it off.

The otheSurprisemaniacs shouted, "Surprise! Happy Halloween, SpongeBud!"

SpongeBob took a moment to drop the blindfold and gawk at the decor. The paper bats, the skeletons strewed about, the bubbling cauldron of green ooze, the two dozen Jack-O-Laterns now illuminating the floor, and, of course, all the costumes that his Hench-maniacs wore. His pupils shrank, and sweat was beading his head.

SpongeBob then took a deep breath and promptly left the room in a rush.

Teeth, dressed as a werewolf, said, "Erm, I don't think that was a good response."

Kryptos chuckled, "We got'em! He's scared!"

Bill glared at him.

Kryptos said, "Aw, come on, you know that's peek entertainment!"

Bill snapped, "What is your problem?! SpongeBud has been working so hard to help us be better, and the way you think to thank him is to scare him?!"

Kryptos scoffed, "Oh sure, it's okay for you to threaten to send someone to take Jessie and Sixer's eyes. But now that I want to scare the simple fool of a Sponge you let in, suddenly it's too mean."

Bill went quiet.

Kryptos said, "That's what I thought. Listen, everyone, this Sponge's sweetness has ruined our posse! Have you forgotten what we are? What we're here for? This nice streak ends today. And it starts with a certain Triangle Tyrant actually doing what I know he does best."

Bill perked up and asked, "What would that be?"

Kryptos replied, "Drive him to madness!"

But before Bill could, the lights went out on the dance floor. Creepy organ music filled the air. A thick, glowing green fog rolled in. It all gathered into a single spot, and from it emerged The Flying Dutchman!

The Flying Dutchman cackled as lightning flashed.

He then stopped and looked around, asking, "Hey, where's SpongeBob? I thought he summoned me from right here."

Bill said, pointing. "He's down the hall; look for the blue metal door."

The Flying Dutchman chirped, "Oh. Thanks, Triangle Guy!"

Then he flew off. The lights turned back on. Then, the room went quiet. Bill followed the Flying Dutchman after a minute. He stood outside the room. He closed his eye to peek into it.

SpongeBob was bundled up in utter fear, and The Flying Dutchman was gently comforting him.

SpongeBob said worriedly, "I hope I didn't ruin their fun. They worked so hard to make their own Halloween party, and THE ONE PERSON WHO THEY MADE IT FOR can't even enjoy it."

The Flying Dutchman reassured, "It's okay, Sponge. You just need to practice exposing yourself to it, just like the years before."

SpongeBob whimpered, "You really think so?"

The Flying Dutchman retorted, "Remember when I lived in your house for a few months, and you slowly grew accustomed to all my tricks?"

SpongeBob chuckled, "Yeah, it's part of the reason I was able to keep myself sane here."

The Flying Dutchman said, "Well, you can just do that again with Halloween. Desensitize yourself to it!"

SpongeBob took a deep breath and said, "You're right, I'll need a costume!"

Bill looked away and felt a tinge of guilt. He returned to the main party, his heart aching a bit. It got started without Spongebob; the Hench-maniacs collectively began to get ready to forget another lost cause. Except Bill could tell SpongeBob was down but not out.

Five Minutes Later

The Flying Dutchman flew into the main hall and howled to get the group's attention.

Then he declared, "Attention all you creepy creatures, presenting the scariest spook of all, SpongeBob Squarepants."

SpongeBob came into the room with a white sheet limply hung over his body. The top of his head was rounded. The Flying Dutchman pulled the sheet off, and Spongebob had shaven himself right down to his brain and just a tiny stalk to hold up his face.

SpongBob said in a nervous but playful way, "Raw-Rawr!"

A wave of shock washed over the group, then cheers. The party started back up. The other Hench-maniacs, except Kryptos, showered SpongeBob in support and awe.

Pyronica asked, "Doesn't that hurt?"

SpongeBob joked, "Not anymore! Bill made us immune to pain, remember?"

Hectorgon asked, "Would you consider staying like this?'

SpongeBob snapped, "Don't push it."

Hectorgon said, "Fair enough."

Kryptos sat in the corner and stewed in jealousy, anger, and, of course, disappointment. The Flying Dutchman approached him, and a knowing smile spread across his face.

The Dutchman asked, "Annoyed by the little yellow headache?"

Kryptos said in frustration, "Oh my gosh, it's in words!"

The Dutchman laughed, "You're not first and doubtless the last. I was like that, pointless hatred for that Scaredy-pants. But, as we got to know each other, I realized something. SpongeBob was just a sponge. Sure, he's pretty powerful in his imagination and whatnot, but he's always used it to protect who he sees as his friends. Especially the hard-to-love pessimistic ones."

A tear prickled Kryptos' eye in frustration and he snapped, "It's not fair! This isn't the way that we're supposed to be! Bill chose us to destroy the universe, not fix this world we spent so much time tearing apart! All I ever wanted was to be loyal to Bill's vision of a party that never ends. Consequences be damned! But ever since SpoingeBud came around and got us off of the Time Police's radar, suddenly, we're upstanding citizens who follow the rules. It just doesn't make sense in the worst way possible."

The Dutchman gave himself a moment to process what Kryptos said and quipped, "Oh, I see."

Kryptos sighed, "I guess I just wish our goal was still unleashing Weirdmageddon and not this neverending office party!"

The Dutchman was confused, "You know what an office party is like?"

Kryptos confessed, "I used to work in a cubical, bored out of my flipping mind. I had two roommates who had strict rules, not unlike my parents, who never seemed to let up trying to keep me in line. My whole life before I was a Hench-maniac was about strict rules, schedules, and boring routines. Bill freed me; he helped me escape from that bureaucratic maze of a life I lived. It's the only maze I couldn't escape no matter how hard I tried on my own. All I wanted to do was to help him cleanse it of its order. But it would seem that now I'm right back to where I started."

The Flying Dutchman was quiet for a few moments. The sound of the party wiggling it's way to their corner.

The Dutchman then said, "Well, if you're so sure about being destructively chaotic, find a way to ruin this boring party you hate so much."

Kryptos said, "I'm the one who set it in motion; however, I think I know just the old Hench-maniacs to crash this snooze fest. Thanks, Dutchman!"

The Dutchman vanished, going back to his ship.

The party was still in full swing, the creepy music in the air, and the candy was being unwrapped and enjoyed by all.

Eight-Ball then stopped munching on his chocolate bar, and horror washed over him.

SpongeBob asked, concerned, "Everything alright, Eight-Ball?"

Eight-Ball squeaked, "They're here!"

SpongeBob asked, "Who?"

The door to the Scara-myid burst opened. On the other side were Stanford, the Six-fingered human, and Jessica, also known as the Oracle, a multi-eyed humanoid.

Stanford held up a weapon at the group threateningly and demanded, "Everyone freeze!"

The Oracle had a spell book open and projected her voice with magic, "Take heed, Hench-Maniacs, and repent now or die."

SpongeBob quickly grew his body back into a square, squishy form and rushed towards the two of them. He stood in front of the crowd. He held his soap bubble bottle in his hands. Bill was shortly behind; he stood by Sponge's side, looking ready to burn them. Fire enveloped his fists. Stanford shirked back a bit at seeing Bill, but he clung to his weapon as if his life depended on it. The Oracle stood her ground and glared at the both of them.

Bill said, "You're out of line, Jessie; this is a pathetic plea for attention."

SpongeBob scolded, "Bill, uncalled for!"

Bill snapped, "She's just trying to break us up!"

The Oracle said, "Everyone deserves to know freedom from the collective knowledge and the truth of your philosophy, Bill."

"I get the latter," SpongeBob said and then asked, "But why do you hate the collective knowledge?"

The Oracle retorted, "What do you like about it?"

SpongeBob said, "Well, for one thing, I don't feel so alone when I'm by myself anymore. For another, I know the only reason why anyone is here is because they wanted a place to feel at home; everywhere they went, they felt excluded or the outcast. Here, they don't have to be! I know that it can be so painful to be the odd one out. Yes, Bill was compensating for the destruction of his own home, but all they've ever wanted was not to feel so alone."

The Oracle sighed, "I suppose I just wasn't used to it, no matter how much time has passed. I just didn't want to be lost in the shuffle."

SpongeBob said, "I suppose that's reasonable enough."

SpongeBob said, "Come on in. Enjoy the party, Jessica."

Stanford piped up, his courage-building, "Has Bill been in your mind yet? Has he torn you down after building you up for so long? I don't think so. He did it to me; Bill betrayed my trust! He never had my best interest in mind! All he wanted was freedom from this Nightmare Realm that he had made!"

Bill looked a mix of embarrassment and shame as the flames in his hands extinguished. SpongeBob turned to Bill, arms crossed and face scrunched into a scowl, but his naturally sweet aura blunted it.

SpongeBob asked, "Is that true, Bill? Did you hurt Sixers in a way he didn't like?"

Bill squeaked, "Yes, I loved him as a friend, but I didn't want to let go of my vision of the future. Finally, beridding his world of order."

SpongeBob sighed, pulling out his bubble wand. He then expertly blew a bubble around The weapon Sixers was clinging to. Then, the bubble flew over to Paci-fire. (He was dressed like a train conductor) Paci-Fire popped the bubble and quickly disassembled the weapon.

Stanford's courage evaporated, and he looked ready to run. Instead, he was frozen on the spot.

SpongeBob then asked, "How long have you been away from home?"

Stanford replied rather tiredly, "Thirty years, but my brother and I have drifted so far apart. Not even the few years we spent on the Stan-o-War 2 have been able to heal our drift. So I've devoted myself to getting myself and Jessica to this place. I just wanted some reassurance that my pain wasn't for nothing. I wasted my college fund on Bill's portal; I threw away my twin, trying to keep myself the good one. My niece and nephew don't even want to stick around. I can't imagine why. All I've done has been to keep my family safe these days."

SpongeBob very gently took Stanford's hand in his and led him away from the door, "I know what you need."

SpongeBob took him into his room and sat him down on his big, comfy chair. He put a weighted blanket over him and left the room. When he came back with a videotape and a tub of ice cream, he noticed that Stanford was fast asleep.

SpongeBob carefully took off his glass, put a pair of earmuffs on him, and gently gave him a little kiss. He put the tape and tub away.

SpongeBob murmured, "Goodnight, Stanford Pines."

He left to join back with the others.

The Halloween party soon came to a close as the candy ran out, and everyone had full bellies.

SpongeBob said, "Let's turn in guys. Try to get some sleep."

Bill asked, "Sleep? This crowd?"

Then he turned to the rest of his crew and saw they were utterly exhausted. Hectorgon was already fast asleep on top of a pile of candy wrappers.

Bill sighed, "Very well, SpongeBud. Off to your rooms then."

Bill snapped his fingers, and SpongeBob was in his room. Stanford was awake, snuggling under the weighted blanket with a warm cup of tea.

SpongeBob chirped, "Oh, your awake. You feeling better?"

Stanford chirped, with a chuckle, "Why yes, I feel much better. I guess I just needed a good nap."

SpongeBob yawned, "I'm headed off to bed, but are you going to be okay getting home on your own?"

Stanford finished his drink with a swig and got up from his chair. SpongeBob gave Stanford a sweet little hug.

SpongeBob said, "Go in peace, human. Your mind has been clensed."

He then let him go. Stanford left confused, but heart full.