As Mindy, Skygrace and Riverstream watched desperately as the execution was about to occur, Hasselhoff swam toward the island with Bikini Bottom below before halting. “Okay, fellas, this is where you get off. Bikini Bottom’s directly below.”
“But we’ll never be able to float down in time!” Sunny argued. “Not even at Sonic Rainboom speed!”
“Who said anything about… floating?”
Suddenly, Hasselhoff began to stand right in the middle of the water, leading the others to hold on tightly as a voice began to speak up from out of nowhere. “Initiating launch sequence.”
“What the…?” the twins, SpongeBob and Patrick spoke wide eyed as Hasselhoff’s pecs turned into some sort of launching device. “Did you see that?!” Hitch stared wide eyed. “The control!” Patrick exclaimed, just before Hasselhoff grabbed the crown with all of them hanging onto it. “All hands on deck!”
He stuffed the crown within his pecs, and there was ten seconds to countdown… right about the time King Neptune prepared to fry Mr. Krabs to a crisp. And finally, the final countdown began: Three… two… one!
In a split second, the entire group, along with the crown, were fired straight through the ocean’s watery depths. Spinning wildly, giving the group the ride of their lives upon the crown, they screamed like children as they plunge toward the Krusty Krab 2.
The crown smashed through the roof, along with the whole gang. And just as Neptune fired his blast, just as Krabs is about to be fried, the crown blocks the ray, and it deflects toward the shiny surface, and the blast from the trident hit Hasselhoff as he congratulated himself on a job well done. “Ow…”
Mr. Krabs opened his eyes after a moment to discover he had not been blasted, and the group cheered in celebration. “Hooray!” SpongeBob cheered. “We made it!”
“I can’t believe we actually did it!!” Arctic squealed as she and her friends swam happily around the others, hugging and bouncing all around-- even Mr. Krabs joined in. “My crown!” Neptune cried, picking up the object. “My beautiful crown!”
“Oh, thank goodness they're all okay!” Skygrace sighed, and she and Riverstream managed to remove the chains and pried the doors open. “Ponies? SpongeBob? Patrick?” Mindy said happily as she, the queen and her sister hugged the group. “We knew you could do it!”
“I never lost faith in ya!” Riverstream told Sunny with a smile. “Thanks, River,” said Sunny, “but we never could have done it without these brave fillies, as well as SpongeBob and Patrick. They're as much heroes as we are.”
Patrick laughed stupidly as they continued to embrace… until they heard some slow clapping and turned around toward Plankton. “Oh, yes,” Plankton added sarcastically. “Well done, SpongeBoob.”
“Wow... some defeat speech. I thought you were REALLY going somewhere,” Zipp rolled her eyes. “Anywho... sorry to rain on your parade, Plankton,” Pipp crossed her hooves with a smirk. “Oh, don’t worry about me,” Plankton mocked. “My parade shall be quite dry under my… umbrella!”
He quickly pulled a cord next to him, and as the group slowly turned around toward Neptune, who was still kissing his crown, a trapdoor in the ceiling that says ‘King Size’, opened up and a chum bucket helmet falls out landing right onto King Neptune’s head. “Daddy, no!” Mindy cried. “Daddy, yes!” Plankton said. As Neptune struggled, Plankton pulled out a remote and pressed the button on it, and an antenna emerges from the top of the helmet, making a humming sound.
All at once, King Neptune’s brain went numb, his body quickly stiffened, and he spoke these words only. “All hail Plankton.”
Everyone in the group screamed in terror just before the enslaved citizens smashed through the windows, chanting ‘All hail Plankton’ repeatedly and forcing the group up against the wall. “SpongeBob, what happened?” Riverstream asked, her ears pinned. “Plankton cheated,” SpongeBob answered. “CHEATED?!” Plankton spoke in a surprised manner, stopping Neptune from obliterating the group before approaching. “Oh, grow up. What? You think this is a game of kickball on the playground? You never had a chance to defeat me, fool! And you know why?”
“Cause you're a backstabber and you cheated?” Hitch asked in a narcissistic tone. “No, not because I cheated or cause I backstabbed a bunch of horses,” Plankton answered, looking dumbfounded for a second before turning back to SpongeBob. “Because I'm an evil genius! And you're just a kid-- a stupid kid!”
He burst into a maniacal laugh, even King Neptune and the bucket-headed fish joined in. While most of the group growled and stared at the single-celled organism in hatred, SpongeBob slouched a bit. “I guess you’re right, Plankton,” SpongeBob said, defeated. “I am just a kid.”
“SpongeBob, no!” Misty gasped. “Plankton is rarely right, and he's definitely not right in this circumstance!”
“Of course I'm right. Okay, Neptune, time to kill,” Plankton tried to say, but SpongeBob wasn’t finished. “And you know,” he continued, “I’ve been through a lot in the past six days, five minutes, twenty-seven-and-a-half seconds. And if I’ve learned anything during that time, it’s that you are who you are.”
“...that’s right. Okay, Neptune--” Plankton tried to say, but SpongeBob interrupted him again. “And no amount of mermaid magic or managerial promotion or some other third thing can make me anything more than what I really am inside: a kid.”
Everyone in the group looks down sadly, feeling sorry for the little sponge, but Plankton was quickly growing numb to the speech. “That’s great, now get back against the wall,” he said. “But that’s okay!” SpongeBob declared as he grabbed the microphone from the cash register. “Because I did what everyone said a kid couldn’t do. I made it to Shell City, and I beat the Cyclops, and I rode the Hasselhoff, and I brought the crown back!”
“Uh, SpongeBob, I think they get the point,” Pipp said, only to have Hitch to elbow her with a frown. Then, as the group looked around, dry ice smoke surrounded the group and a spotlight fell on SpongeBob, prompting his friends to step to the side. “So, yeah, I’m a kid!” SpongeBob cried. “And I’m also a goofball! And a wing nut! And a Knucklehead McSpazatron!”
“What’s-- what’s going on here?” Plankton managed to cough. “But most of all, I’m… I’m… I’m…”
Eyes wide, everyone not under mind control waited for SpongeBob to tell the world what he truly was when suddenly… SpongeBob burst into a rock version of the Goofy Goober song, flinging Plankton into the wall. Everyone looked on in shock, not expecting this as the song continued.
As Plankton recovered from being knocked out, he noticed SpongeBob in the midst of singing and dancing to the music while the ponies watched in awe. “His dance moves are impressive-- but I’m in control!” he said, putting on a headset. “SEIZE HIM!!”
The slaves crowded around SpongeBob, shouting ‘All hail Plankton!’ over and over. Nodding to one another, the twins suddenly charged their horns, and Tropic immediately gave the signal. “NOW!!”
She and Arctic fired at the sponge, who immediately burst out in a wizard outfit with a purple hat and robe, both covered in peanuts, and tall white shoes as he lifted into the air playing his guitar, much to the shock of everyone not under the mind control, while Patrick and Izzy and Riverstream let out a cheer. “WHOO-HOO!!!”
“...how did you two do that?!” Zipp asked the twins. “We just gave SpongeBob a diversion,” Tropic shrugged. “We didn't expect the wizard thing.”
As SpongeBob played the electric guitar, its head stock lit up, and the music was so overpowering, a laser beam blasts out and one by one the helmets were destroyed. “SpongeBob, it’s working!” Sunny cried with a grin. “Keep playing!”
Every familiar face before the group was freed thanks to SpongeBob’s guitar playing skills. From Squidward to Mrs. Puff, and from Sandy to Gary. SpongeBob blasted the Krusty Krab 2’s antenna, breaking the helmets on all the slaves outside. “His chops are too righteous!” Plankton shouted. “The helmets can’t handle this level of rock ‘n’ roll! Karen, do something! Karen?”
Plankton turned to look for her, only to find her surfing through the crowd. But Plankton was only getting angrier and angrier. “All right, that's the last straw! Neptune, I command you to--”
But all of a sudden, a beam from SpongeBob’s guitar hit King Neptune’s helmet, freeing him before Mindy brought him the crown. “Here you go, Daddy.”
“I... better get outta here,” Plankton attempted to run, but he was instead flattened by the adoring fish, coming to see the wizard who saved their lives.
And the ponies couldn't be prouder.
XXXXXXXXX
A few hours later, life in Bikini Bottom resumed to normal-- more or less. Plankton, now squished into the texture of cookie dough, covered with shoe prints, was picked up by the police and placed in a small cage. “Come on, I was just kidding!” Plankton implored. “Come on, you guys knew that didn’t you? With the helmets and the big monuments… wasn’t that hilarious, everybody? Th-- I WILL DESTROY ALL OF YOU!!!”
“Have a safe trip!” Izzy said cheerfully, getting looks from the others. “What? It's not bad to say goodbye to someone. Even if they are evil.”
“I'm proud of you, ponies. You've saved Bikini Bottom once again,” Queen Skygrace smiled. “You have a multitude of thanks spreading around.”
“Thanks,” Sunny smiled. “It's the least we could do, after the Bikini Bottomites have showed us so much hospitality.”
Meanwhile, back in the wrecked Krusty Krab 2, King Neptune had a heart-to-heart chat with his daughter. “Well, Mindy,” the king spoke smiling. “I have to admit, you were right. Your compassion for these sea creatures proved a most admirable trait. Without it, I would have never again seen my beloved crown. I think you’re going to make a fine ruler of the sea one day. Now, let’s go home.”
“Daddy, haven’t you forgotten something?” Mindy asked. “What? Oh, yeah,” the king turns to Mr. Krabs. “Eugene Krabs, I forgot to unfreeze you.”
Neptune fired his trident, unfreezing Mr. Krabs… only he was now a human instead of a crab. “What the--?”
“Whoops! I guess we had it set to ‘real boy’ setting.”
Embarrassed, Neptune fiddled with his trident before resetting it to the appropriate function. He fires again, turning Krabs back into his old krusty self. “YIPPEE!” Mr. Krabs cheered. “Oh, I’m sorry for falsely freezing you, Krabs,” King Neptune apologized. “And may I say, sir, you are a very lucky fellow to have in your employment such a brave, faithful, and heroic young lad.”
“Hey... where'd he get to?” Riverstream asked, looking around. “I’m up here,” said a voice, and everyone turned to see in his wizard outfit, hanging over the group from a rope. “I’m on it,” Patrick said, bringing SpongeBob down. “Go to him now, Krabs,” the Monarch of the Sea told him. “Embrace him.”
Mr. Krabs walked over to the sponge, who stood still as Bella helped him take off his costume, and he hugged the best friends happily with a smile. “SpongeBob, my boy!” Mr. Krabs said. “I’m sorry I ever doubted ye. That’s a mistake I won’t make again.”
“Oh, Mr. Krabs, you old soft-serve,” SpongeBob said with a blush. “And... do you think we can go on more adventures like this sometime?” Tropic asked. “I actually enjoyed it.”
“Me too. We've had enough of being scared,” Arctic said. “There's an entire life waiting for us, and we have a lot of it to live with... our new family.”
As SpongeBob and his friends smiled warmly, suddenly, the twins began to get enveloped in bright lights, lifting them off the floor. “Wha...?” Tropic looked around. “What's happening?!”
The light continued to swirl until a mark appeared on each of the girls' fins; Tropic's was a batch of fruit, and Arctic's was a cluster of snowflakes. “Whoa... sis, do you realize what this means?” asked Arctic as the girls were sat down. “We have our own cutie marks!”
“Congratulations, girls! We're so happy for you!” SpongeBob said as he and the ponies enveloped them in a hug. “Indeed we are, little fillies. And now, SpongeBob,” Mr. Krabs said, “I’m going to do something that I should’ve done six days ago. Mr. Squidward! Front and center, please.”
Squidward comes forward as Mr. Krabs proceeds with his announcement. “I think we all know who rightfully deserves to wear that manager pin.”
“I couldn’t agree more, sir,” Squidward agreed, removing his pin from his shirt. “Hooray for SpongeBob!” a fish called out, and the rest of Bikini Bottom burst into cheers. “Wait a second, everybody,” SpongeBob spoke seriously. “There’s something I need to say first. I just don’t know how to put it.”
“I think I know what it is,” Squidward spoke, putting an arm on SpongeBob’s shoulder. “After going on your life-changing journey, you now realize you don’t want what you thought you wanted. What you really wanted was inside you all along.”
“Are you crazy?!” SpongeBob cried, snatching the pin. “I was just going to tell you that your fly is down! Manager! This is the greatest day of my life!”
All the group cheered and hugged him massively, just before a portal opened near the door. “Well, I guess that's our cue,” Misty said. “We better get home, but thank you for your help, everyone. We'll come back soon, I know it.”
“Oh, before you all bid farewell...” King Neptune pulled a star shaped gem from this crown. “This was in the royal treasury by the time I found my crown missing. I think it is in your right to lay claim to it.”
Sunny gasped and took the gem with a bright smile. “The first crystal! Oh, thank you, your highness! Come on, guys! We have to put this back on the tree!”
“Goodbye!” the twins chorused as their friends disappeared. That's when the girls were sure about their thoughts-- their mother may have been gone, but with SpongeBob and Patrick... they had the family they always wanted right there with them.