The Witch and The Sponge.

Ah, the dawn of a new day in Bikini Bottom. In this hub of undersea life, everyone has a role they fill, whether it's building new homes, delivering pizza, or being a villainous schemer.

But Sheldon J. Plankton has been nowhere to be seen in a week.

Mr. Krabs went into the Kitchen and asked, "SpongeBob, report! Is there any sign of Plankton today?"

SpongeBob replied, with a salute, "No sir, I haven't seen him!"

Mr. Krabs said, "That's really weird; he should have acted on some scheme or another by now."

SpongeBob went back to flipping patties.

Mr. Krabs said, "Well, keep an eye out! We can never know for sure what Plankton will come up with next."

Mr. Krabs went back to his office, and Bill Cipher was already there.

Bill chirped, "I think I would know!"

Mr. Krabs jumped a bit in surprise but centered himself to say, "Oh, hello, Mr. Cipher. I didn't hear you come in."

Bill said, "I wanted to surprise you, Eugene!"

Mr. Krabs sighed, "Well, be careful; my old heart can't take many sudden surprises."

Eugene Krabs is now the high-earning CEO of Krusty Krab Corporate because of a deal he made with Phil. The cost of this was his precious daughter, Pearl. In order to break free from this odd timeline, he needs to find a way to team up with his old rival, Sheldon J Plankton.

To free his friend, Mr. Krabs decides to run for mayor of Bikini Bottom. But opposing him is none other than Squilliam Fancyson. The town is torn in two. Mr. Krabs has a platform of hard work and honesty. At the same time, Squilliam has the platform of free money but is aggressively trying to slander Mr. Krabs.

Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs promoted Rachel Angelfish to be his secretary, much to the chagrin of his head of Aquatic-Life Resources, Stephanie Blue Tang. Stephanie has grown to despise Rachel's upbeat attitude and is looking for a way to break her spirit.

SpongeBob woke up, breathing heavily and sweating bullets.

SpongeBob said, "Oh, it was just a dream."

The Puppet Master, sitting nearby with a twisted grin, said, "Oh, it was no dream!"

SpongeBob jumped out of bed in surprise. Gary woke up, slowly walked across the room, and started going down the stairs.

The Puppet Master said, "You know, you can fix it!"

SpongeBob snapped, "By stooping to mind control? No! Never! There has to be another way!"

The Puppet Master floated up from his sitting spot with a twisted grin and approached SpongeBob. But as SpongeBob flinched, he felt a pain wash over his mind. SpongeBob held his head and closed his eyes, and before the Sponge knew it, SpongeBob was floating in space. He then spotted a large, vaguely cube-like bundle of orange slime with one big green eye and a sweet smile next to him.

The being spoke gleefully, "Little Bob, I have returned from my journey across the universe!"

SpongeBob took a moment to gather his thoughts and then chirped, "Oh! Hi-ya, big Glob! Nice to see you again!"

SpongeGlob asked, "Did I miss out on any adventures while we were apart?"

SpongeBob said, "Well, if you'll indulge me, I have quite the story to tell."

SpongeGlob said, "Of course, little Bob."

Meanwhile, the Puppet Master was looming over SpongeBob's passed-out body with furious impatience.

The Puppet Master hissed, "I refuse to accept that the only reason why I can't corrupt him is that SpongeBob is in the sweet little feedback loop with his larger cosmic counterpart, Gloobius."

The Puppet Master gave it some thought; his plastic smile gleamed in the sunlight.

The Puppet Master said, "There's no reason for me not to use my powers on Gloobius instead!"

He laughed evilly.

SpongeBob said, finishing his story, "And now I have to deal with this mess Phil made on top of an evil version of myself called the Puppet Master on top of Malum and his annoying minions, the sea witch Natalie, and the pirate Black and White Willy. "

SpongeGlob said, "Wow, your life sounds so much more exciting than the journey I've just been on."

SpongeBob asked, "Oh? What was your journey like?"

SpongeGlob began to answer, "Well, first I..."

Suddenly, SpongeGlob stopped in his tracks. He snapped into the pose he was in before he started talking, and his body was immediately transformed into hard plastic. He slumped over, and then his feet, hands, and head were bound by string. Then, he was pulled up by the strings to stand.

SpongeGlob then said, but his voice sounded stilted and without any real emotion, "You know, SpongeBob, the Puppet Master isn't all bad. He wants to see you at your full potential."

SpongeBob immediately snapped awake and glared at the Puppet Master.

SpongeBob snarled, "You'd better let SpongeGlob go on the count of three, or I swear to Neptune I will tear you apart personally, stitch by stitch!"

The Puppet Master laughed.

SpongeBob said, "One."

The Puppet Master said, "You can't be serious!"

SpongeBob said, pulling at a pair of scissors, "Two."

The Puppet Master said, "C-come on SpongeBob, y-you wouldn't r-really-y w-wiling to destory-y me, would you?"

SpongeBob took a deep breath and said, "Three!"

He charged at the Puppet Master.

Meanwhile, Gary was downstairs, slowly making his way to the Kitchen. There was muffled screaming and fabric tearing from upstairs. Gary munched on his breakfast, unbothered by the sounds. But then he stopped when he heard it go hushed except for SpongeBob's crying.

Gary quickly finished his meal and rushed back up to the bedroom. He came to see SpongeBob on his knees, crying over a pile of fluff and fabric, a pair of scissors stuck into the top of the pile.

Gary slipped to SpongeBob's side and managed to calm him with a purr.

SpongeBob sniffled, scooped up Gary into a gentle hug, and said, "I'm okay, Gary. I hope SpongeGlob can forgive me."

SpongeBob stroked Gary to recenter himself. He then sat down with his legs crisscrossed. He set Gary down, held his head, and closed his eyes. Before the Sponge knew it, SpongeBob was floating in space. There was a plastic puppet, SpongeGlob; he looked at the being's eyes, and there was a hollow sadness in them. He then very gently hugged SpongeGlob until the plastic melted back into goo and the string snapped. Then SpongeBob let him go.

SpongeGlob, as if not even missing a beat, said apologetically, "Sorry, I seemed to have lost my train of thought. I'll start over. First, I had to regurgitate all the planets I had absorbed."

SpongeBob asked, "Big Glob, do you not remember what just happened?"

SpongeGlob retorted, "Something happened?"

SpongeBob was horrified.

SpongeGlob read SpongeBob's face and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, little Bob. Don't be frightened! I'm okay! The Puppet Master sent my soul to a happy little place made of sunshine and clouds, that's all!"

"Oh, thank goodness," SpongeBob said, relieved, and asked, "Did you see anything else when you were there?"

SpongeGlob answered, "I think I saw some human man with a halo in a Hawaiian shirt, but he was kind of hard to make out because of all the clouds."

SpongeBob said, "Huh, neat!'

SpongeGlob asked, "So, how are you going to fix the mess Phil made?"

SpongeBob considered it and said, "Hey, since you're done with your journey across the larger universe, you can come down and visit Bikini Bottom!"

SpongeGlob gestured to a tiny star and replied, "Uhm, little Bob, I'm way bigger than your whole solar system, remember?"

SpongeBob grinned and said, "I can shrink you down, and you can help me keep my powers in check!"

SpongeGlob asked, "Are you sure you trust me with that?"

SpongeBob replied with a sparkle in his eye, "With my life, Big Glob."

SponeGlob's face softened with excitement, and he said, "Okay, little Bob, let's do it!"

SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs and SpongeGlob were in a van. As they went over their plan to free Plankton, SpongeBob felt a little tug on his mind. The page that had been in his Mindscape, helping him in these times, was beginning to long to return to the rest of the book.

SpongeBob muttered, "Hold on, I just need to get things back on track here."

Mr. Krabs asked, "Did you say something, lad?"

SpongeBob said, "No, Mr. Krabs, not to you. I still have a piece of the magic book in my mind. It's starting to hurt a little."

SpongeGlob asked, "Will you be okay?"

SpongeBob answered, "Yeah, we'll address it later after we wrap up this adventure."

Mr. Krabs went to the warden of the Home of the Criminally Tiny's office to distract him from the boring office jargon he had learned being the CEO of Krusty Krab Corporate. Meanwhile, SpongeBob kept the guards occupied by distracting them with a snack and a song. SpongeGlob sneakily slipped into the building by simply becoming a liquid and oozing into a vent. He made his way into the facility and toward Plankton's cell.

SpongeGlob whispered when he came to Plankton, "Psst! Hey, tiny one! Up here!"

Plankton looked up to SpongeGlob peeking into the vent and gasped, "SpongeGlob? What are you doing here?"

Plankton approached SpongeGlob.

SpongeGlob replied, "Mr. Krabs orchestrated this jail busting with me. Come on, take a part of my slime, and I can slip you out!"

He reached down a tentacle, and Plankton eagerly hopped into SpongeGlob's grasp. He very gently slipped out and signaled to his companions. Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob stopped their distractions and quickly made their way back to the van.

They peeled out of there and, after some distance, stopped to collect themselves.

Mr. Krabs and Plankton began to plan how to take the Formula from Phil.

SpongeBob returned SpongeGlob to space out of concern that Bill was on a wild goose chase. SpongeBob then felt the page inside his mind ache again and decided to start the journey to return the page to the book.

SpongeBob turned to the camera and said, "Oidso, I need you to help me. You and your science friends know where past Bubbles or one of his ancestors could be. If somehow I can tell him now to bring the book he has ten thousand years in the future and bring it back to me, so I can finally free this reality from my influence! Will you help me?"

O1-DSO (Deep Sea Observer), or simply Oidso, replied in a robotic tone, "Calculating best solutions based on available data."

SpongeBob waited patiently.

Oidso then chirped, "Calculations complete! Here are the top five solutions. Number 5, Bury the page for Bubbles to find later."

SpongeBob scolded him, "That's too dangerous! A villain might get a hold of it and doom the universe again."

Oidso resumed, "Number 4, Summon Bill and convince him to pull you forwards in time."

SpongeBob said, "If Bill could manipulate time, he would have just simply gone back and stopped himself from destroying his home by now."

Oidso continued, "Number 3: Use a time machine to go forward in time by yourself."

SpongeBob asked, "Where am I going to get ahold of a time machine in such short notice?"

Oidso resumed, "Number 2, Message in a bottle."

SpongeBob said, "I don't think written language will be the same in ten thousand years for that to work."

Oidso finished, "Number 1, Bubbles' acestoral pod is nearby! You can talk to them!"

SpongeBob asked, "Really? Where?"

Oidso swam off, chirping, "Follow me!"

SpongeBob gave chase.

Bill was sitting on a chair in the office, and Mr. Krabs sat on his chair.

Mr. Krabs asked, "What brings you to my office today, Bill? Are you looking for a job?"

Bill chuckled, "Actually, I was hoping I could offer you something. I'm a bit of a business tycoon myself, you see."

Mr. Krabs asked, "Oh, what sort of business do you run, Bill?"

Bill replied, "That's a bit hard to explain, but to put it in terms you can grasp, I grant the innermost desire of whoever I deal with. And in turn, well, it depends. Sometimes, I do it just for my amusement!"

Mr. Krabs said, "Ah, and you want to grant me my innermost desire?"

Bill chirped, "Well, if you insist!"

Bill made a flame in his hand and extended it.

Mr. Krabs said, "Hang on, what do you think is my innermost desire?"

Bill made the flame extinguish and gave it some thought.

Bill replied, "It's probably a shot in the dark, but more money?"

Mr. Krabs gasped, "How did you know?"

Bill replied, "Uhh, don't worry about it. Focus on the fact I can give you riches beyond your wildest dreams!"

Mr. Krabs gave it some thought and asked, "What am I giving you in turn?"

Bill replied, "Oh, you'll find out soon enough, Eugene Krabs."

Bill made a flame in his hand again and offered it to Mr. Krabs.

Bill asked, "Do we have a deal?"

Mr. Krabs hesitantly replied, "Very well, Mr. Cipher."

He very carefully took Bill's hand in his claw. Mr. Krabs noticed that a royal purple tainted Bill's eye. Mr. Krabs blinked, and he was holding the fin of a white fish with a slicked-back purple dorsal fin.

Mr. Krabs quickly let the fish's fin go and said, "You're not Bill, are you?"

The fish was confused and asked, "Who's Bill? I'm Phil, your newest business partner! I just transformed your small-town operation into something incredible!"

Phil stood up from his seat, grin on his face, and said, "Follow me, Eugene! I think you might like it!"

Mr. Krabs stood up from his seat a bit worriedly and scuttled after Phil.

They left his office, and Mr. Krabs gasped. They weren't in the Krusty Krabs anymore! Instead, they were in the headquarters of a big building for a business called Krusty Krab Corporate. Mr. Krabs spots the logo.

Mr. Krabs asked, "What did you do with my business?"

Phil answered, "I improved it!"

Mr. Krabs asked, looking around, "What happened to my employees?"

Phil said, "Oh, don't worry, they are all around us, still hard at work making you lots of money!"

Mr. Krabs asked, "How many people are employed under me?"

Phil replied, "The last count reached well into twelve thousand! All in our safe hands!"

Mr. Krabs and Phil entered an elevator. Phil pressed a button. Mr. Krabs and Phil stood in awkward silence, the Elevator music gently jingling as they went down. The elevator stopped, the door opened, and Mr. Krabs followed Phil into a block of cubicles. The space was busy with workers fish typing on computers to print out essential pages, stapling papers, filling out the necessary paperwork with pencils, some sharpening pencils, and shredding papers. Some held meetings while others exchanged memos, and above the clatter, there was the sound of a ringing phone. Mr. Krabs rushed to answer himself, but an intern fish got to it before he did.

Phil chuckled, "Let your drones do their job. You have an important meeting to attend."

Mr. Krabs muttered, "Drones?"

He followed Phil to a glass room, where vital-looking fish folk were sitting at a long rectangular table, seemingly waiting on Mr. Krabs. They all stood up as he came in, and he was led to the head of the table on one end.

"Ahoy there," Mr. Krabs said with a salute. "I look forward to getting to know my new crew!"

The business fish folk exchanged confused looks but sat down when Mr. Krabs did.

Phil smiled and said, "I'll be nearby if you have any questions!"

He then left the room.

Mr. Krabs then took up the folder at his place and looked over it carefully; the other business fish was right behind him. He was presented with a well-organized portfolio of investments, charts, and numbers. He then closed the folder and smiled.

Mr. Krabs then said, "Everything looks to be in order! What's this meeting for, anyway?"

A ladyfish said, "Um, it was to review the productivity of all the departments and determine if we need to cut any department down."

Mr. Krabs, now confused, asked, "Everything looks in order to me. Or do the numbers not tell the whole story?"

The well-dressed fish folk exchanged worried glances, and the ladyfish replied, "The cost of paying for our employees has gone up."

Mr. Krabs said, "Ah, I see. Well, let's review their performance."

The ladyfish pressed her ear and said, "Run a performance review on all current employees."

Mr Krabs asked, "May I ask what your name is, Lass?"

The ladyfish replied, "Stephanie. I'm your head of Aquatic-Life Resources."

Mr. Krabs asked, "Miss Stephanie, if I may ask, how much money do we currently spend on employees?"

Stephanie mulled it over and answered, "All of our employees, not including managers and department heads, are paid $12 an hour, sir."

Mr. Krabs asked, "Are the Managers and Department heads paid salaries instead of hourly?"

Stephanie replied, "Yes."

Mr. Krabs asked, "Do they get reviewed for their performance?"

Stephanie nervously asked, "Did you want to?"

Mr. Krabs replied, "Of course!"

Stephanie pressed her ear and said, "Run a performance review on all current managers and department heads."

Mr. Krabs said, "Alright, this meeting is dismissed."

Mr. Krabs then scuttled out of the room, and Stephanie was shortly behind him.

Stephanie asked, "What are you doing now, sir?"

Mr. Krabs said, "I want to try to be more claws on. I'm going to look for a secretary to help me connect with the office."

Stephanie said, "Well, if that 's what you want."

He bustled around the many levels of the office, watching everyone work. He noted their work ethic and how happy they were in their positions. Mr. Krabs spotted an intern bringing in coffee. He took note that it was a bubbly and joyful fish folk.

Mr. Krabs pointed to them and said, "I want whoever that is to be my Secretary."

Stephanie said, "Rachel? But she's an airhead and an intern!"

Mr. Krabs smiled and said, "Trust me, I've worked with an airhead before, and while there might be a bumpy start. I trust she'll grow and change to do the best work this office has ever seen."

Stephanie sighed and turned to Rachel. "Hey, Rachel, you've been promoted!"

Rachel squealed, "Really? Oh, thank you, thank you!"

Stephanie sighed. "Something tells me this office is going to become far more toxic than before."

Mr. Krabs chuckled wisely as he scuttled back to his office, and Stephanie followed him.

"What's so funny?" Stephanie asked.

Mr. Krabs answered, "You remind me of an old friend of mine. I used to work in a place so much smaller than this. It used to be just me and a couple of employees. I'm not sure if this role is right for me, but I'll do my best to be the best boss I can be to you folks."

Mr. Krabs went back into his office, and Phil was in there with a twisted grin.

Phil asked, "Do you like your new business?"

Mr. Krabs replied, "It's certainly much bigger than my old restaurant!"

Phil asked, "Notice anything missing yet?"

Mr. Krabs thought for a moment and answered, "Not that I noticed."

Phil said, "Oh, you will. But first, if I may turn your attention to your safe."

Mr. Krabs asked, "What about it?"

Phil twisted the lock so fast itspung, and it transformed into a vault doo. The door opened into a big pile of money. Mr. Krabs excitedly rushed into the vault and dived into the pile.

Mr. Krabs cheered, "This is incredible! This is so much money!"

Then he looked around and noticed piles of money. He thought back to his original safe and panicked when he realized that the secret formula wasn't there. He scrambled to search the vault for the formula, but nothing. He did find a way up and out of the vault.

Mr. Krabs managed to get out, faced Phil again, and snarled, "Where is my formula?"

Phil chirped, "Don't be so paranoid. It's safe and sound in another container in the last place anyone would even think to look."

Mr. Krabs looked around the office and noticed all his photos of him, and Pearl was replaced with photos of himself in a bag of cash.

Mr. Krabs gave it some thought, and Phil started snickering evilly, "I think you know now what exactly your new life has cost you. You have nobody by your side, and all that's left is your wealth."

Mr. Krabs was horrified at this revelation, and Phil laughed.

Phil said, "Malum was right; watching you fish-folk squirm is so much fun!"

Mr. Krabs fainted from the shock.

WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK ON NICK!

Phil picked Mr. Krabs up and sat him at his desk.

Phil laughed unhingedly.

Phil said, "You know I could just pin you here forever, make you suffer under the weight of your greed for the rest of eternity, but I already know that Bill has seen you imprisoned here. I suppose I'll let you go if you can take the formula from me."

Phil scribbled a note, chuckled, and disappeared.

WE'RE BACK TO SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS ON NICK!

Mr. Krabs slowly woke back up. He noticed the note.

He looked at it, and it read, "You know that this is for the best; don't try to fight me. You will lose what you know is most important."

Mr. Krabs snarled, "That son of a barnacle is threatening the wealth he gave me!"

Mr. Krabs pulled a photo book from his desk and flipped it back to the beginning. There was a picture he hadn't seen in a long time—his wedding day with his whale of a wife, Dianne. Mr. Krabs thought back to her with a few tears prickling his eyes. He slowly turned the page as the pictures became them buying the anchor house together, building a nursery for the baby she was expecting, and the last photo of her alive. This one especially stung; she was lying in a hospital bed. She had to be given air from a tube. It was a hard decision for them both. Eugene could still remember how Dianne had already made peace with the fact she would die that day. Eugene had not, but the baby was coming regardless of his feelings on the matter. Dianne died as the baby came into the world.

Eugene turned the page to a picture of him with a baby. He remembered that the doctor had delivered it and had gotten it to breathe pretty quickly. It was a little girl. Eugene held the tiny baby in his arms; she was really beautiful, just like her mother. He named the little girl Whale Pearl.

Eugene allowed a tear to roll down his cheeks as he sniffled. He whimpered, "How could I have let this happen? How could I have lost sight of the worth of my family and my friends? I'm sorry, Dianne, I failed you.

The tear landed on the picture of baby Pearl. Eugene then closed the book and sighed.

Eugene muttered, "It's late; I should tuck in."

Eugene then left his office, scuttling out of the building and back to his house. He was still in the same house he always had, but it felt so empty now. He got up to his room and changed into his pajamas. He fell asleep, feeling so uneasy and sick to his stomach.

MEANWHILE

Plankton sat in his tiny cell, wearing a tiny black and white striped hat and shirt. He had turned himself back into the Prison for the Criminally Tiny a week earlier. He Prison as he lay staring at the ceiling.

Plankton began to sing to himself, "Was it too much to ask that I would be given a chance to change?

Would it really be too much to ask that my fate wasn't so quickly laid out?

But I know my place now.

This is how my story ends.

Because of one simple sour truth.

Villains always lose!

Heroes always win!

This is my message to Eugene and especially SpongeBob.

You don't have to come after me anymore!

I know my fate!

I know my purpose!

I'll rot in my cage, and you get to live out your happily ever after.

Because of one simple sour truth.

Villains always lose!

Heroes always win!

And as long as I'm still the villain of your story, I'll never be free.

But don't you feel bad; this is for the better.

I'm fulfilling what must be done now to save you the heartache of it happening later.

All Because of one simple sour truth.

Villains always lose!

Heroes always win!

You should be grateful you get to live out your happily ever after,

While I rot, forgotten in this cage."

Plankton then lay down in his bed and fell asleep, but hunger stabbed his stomach. He placed a hand on his middle to settle his belly.

Plankton began dreaming at the same time Mr. Krabs was. Bill used his power to connect their dreams.

They both dreamed of being in cages. Mr. Krabs was in a gilded cage, shiny and gold. Plankton was in a wire cage with a solid steel frame. The wire was so well knitted that Plankton couldn't squeeze it out. They could see each other because the cages were right next to each other.

Mr. Krabs asked, "Plankton? What's happening? Why are you in that wire cage?"

Plankton replied, "I think we're sharing a dream somehow, and I have no idea. I was wondering why you're in that shiny gold cage."

Mr. Krabs looked at it and sighed, "I think I know why I'm here. It's a physical manifestation of my greed."

Plankton looked at his cage, and a horrified realization washed over him.

Plankton said, "I think I know why I'm here. This cage is a physical manifestation of my jealousy."

Mr. Krabs rolled his eyes and said, "But nothing we haven't already known before."

Mr. Krabs noticed a key in his cage. He took it up and tried it on his lock with no luck. But then he tried it on Plankton's cage lock, and it worked! Mr. Krabs managed to unlock Plankton's cage and let him out.

Plankton was eager to run out but then paused and asked, "Where did you find that key?"

Mr. Krabs answered, "My cage."

Plankton quickly searches his cage.

Plankton said, "I don't have a key for yours."

Mr. Krabs said, "Don't worry about it; you should go. I'll find another way."

Plankton said, "No, we'll find another way. We're a team now, remember?"

Plankton hopped up to the keyhole and used his antenna to pick the lock. Which worked! The cage unlocked.

Mr. Krabs chuckled and said, "Seems like you unlocked that all on your own."

Suddenly, an alarm blared. The two of them looked around and realized that they were in prison.

Mr. Krabs asked, "Sheldon, we need to run!"

Plankton nodded and hoPrisonp to Mr. Krab's shoulder, and he scuttled as fast as he could out of the room they were being held in and rushed down the hall. A large group of guards stopped them in their tracks.

Plankton sighed exhaustedly. "Dang it."

Mr. Krabs said, "Don't give up just yet. I have an idea."

Mr. Krabs then closed his eyes and focused his mind. A flurry of bubbles washed over them, and before anyone could react, the two of them were out of the prison.

"Woah," Plankton said and then asked, "How did you do that? Eugene Prison Krabs was surprised and said, "Wait, did that work? I guess I didn't expect that."

Plankton was confused.

Mr. Krabs set Plankton down and said, "I guess this is goodbye, Sheldon. I'll do what I can to get you free in real life."

Plankton said, "Thanks, Eugene; it was good to be by your side again."

They woke up.