SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Junior Novel (12 page)

Holding Burger Beard in one hand, Plankton held out his other hand and said, “The secret Krabby Patty formula, please.”

“Come on!” Burger Beard pleaded. “Team up with ME! We'll be RICH and POWERFUL!”

SpongeBob and Patrick gasped. Would Plankton accept the pirate's offer?

P
lankton shook his head. “No, thanks,” he told Burger Beard. “I'm already part of a teamwork.”

He moved his hand closer to the pirate. Burger Beard gave him the bottle that held the secret formula. Plankton drew back his muscular foot and punted the pirate far, far away.

“YAAAAAH!” Burger Beard screamed as he flew through the air. He returned to the deserted island where he'd lost all his treasure, buried up to his neck in sand. A seagull landed on his bare head. Burger Beard moaned.

Back on the boardwalk, Patrick asked, “Can we do hands in the middle again?”

“Yes, we can, Patrick!” SpongeBob agreed. “But this time, there's ONE MORE HAND to go in the middle!”

SpongeBob put his hand in. Patrick put his on top of SpongeBob's, followed by Mr. Krabs's, Squidward's, and Sandy's.

But where was Plankton's?

“Plankton?” SpongeBob asked, looking for their last team member.

Plankton was standing nearby, staring at the secret formula in his hand. The secret formula he'd been trying to get ahold of for so many years.

“Hmm …,” he said, thinking.

“Oh, no!” Mr. Krabs gasped, thinking Plankton was going to keep the formula for himself.

Plankton handed the bottle to Mr. Krabs. “Here you go, Krabs. She's all yours.”

Mr. Krabs joyfully took the bottle. Then he looked suspicious. “This doesn't have another insulting note in it, does it?”

“No,” Plankton said. “That's the OLD me, the one who turned his back on everything important just to have that formula all to himself. But I realize now that keeping something to myself is … selfish.”

“Especially when that something is the Krabby Patty,” SpongeBob said, smiling proudly. He turned to the other team members. “Okay, everybody! Let's get back to Bikini Bottom and put things back the way they were.”

Suddenly, he realized something awful. “Oh, no!” he cried. “I don't have the page from Burger Beard's magic book! It must be back on Pelican Island!”

“Don't worry,” Plankton reassured him. “I thought
of everything.” He handed the last page of the book to SpongeBob. “All right, SpongeBob. Take us home!”

“Thanks,” SpongeBob said. He looked around for Squidward and saw him admiring his own superhero body.

“Oh, yeah,” Squidward said. “Nice.”

“C'mon, Squidward!” SpongeBob called. “It's time to go back and open up the Krusty Krab!”

Squidward looked appalled. “Are you out of your MIND? I'm NEVER leaving this place! I mean, look at me! I'm a GOD!”

“No, Squidward,” SpongeBob corrected. “You're a CASHIER.”

SpongeBob started to write on the page from the magic book.

“Wait a minute!” Squidward cried. “What are you doing? NO!”

Energy swirled around them and they vanished!

Back in the Krusty Krab, Squidward appeared behind his cash register, back to his normal self. “Well, it was fun while it lasted,” he said, sighing.

Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Patrick, and SpongeBob re-appeared. They, too, were back to normal.

“Don't be sad, Squidward,” SpongeBob said. “I left you a little surprise, under your shirt.”

Squidward lifted his shirt, and was delighted to see …

“Rock-hard abs?” he said, amazed. “Aw, SpongeBob, you're okay in my book.”

“Shucks!” SpongeBob said modestly.

“Excuse us,” said an eager voice. They all turned to see a huge line of customers snaking out the door of the restaurant.

“We'd like three thousand Krabby Patties, please,” said the customer at the front of the line.

“That must mean things are back to normal,” Squidward said.

SpongeBob zipped into the kitchen and returned with a tray full of sandwiches. “Who wants three thousand Krabby Patties?” he asked.

The customers all cheered!

“First one's for you, Gary,” SpongeBob said as he handed a Krabby Patty to his pet snail. “Extra mayo, just the way you like it.”

“Meow,” Gary said, looking pleased.

“AHA!” SpongeBob shouted. “Caught you red-handed! Gary HATES mayo … PLANKTON!”

SpongeBob opened Gary's shell, revealing Plankton
hidden inside, operating a robot version of the snail. “Up to your old tricks again already, eh?” SpongeBob said.

“Hey, I'm just putting things back the way they were!” Plankton said innocently.

The real Gary crawled up next to SpongeBob. “What do you have to say about this, Gary?” asked SpongeBob.

“GRRROWWWLLL!” Gary roared.

“Oh, shrimp,” Plankton said. Moments later, he was riding his robot snail out the front door of the Krusty Krab, screaming. Gary chased him out, still roaring.

As he watched Plankton ride away, SpongeBob waved goodbye. “See you later,
tee-am
mate!”