A Road to Recovery (S:TOTB)

Trials of the Bottomites is a three-part SpongeBob SquarePants fanfiction story based upon a "lost episode" of the series called Goodbye Gary. It follows SpongeBob's sudden derailment into depression after Gary dies, and the effect on his various friends and family.

Act I (The Devastation)
The story begins with a flashback inside SpongeBob's house during the evening, as he quietly reads in his library. A loud, moaning-like noise comes from downstairs in the kitchen. Wondering where the sound is coming from, SpongeBob goes downstairs to find in his utter horror his pet snail Gary laying on his side, twitching ferociously, and foaming at the mouth. His food bowl, filled with Snailpo snail food, is seen spilled with the bowl itself upside down. SpongeBob screams and immediately runs to him as the screen turns white.

The white screen fades out to reveal the hospital in the middle of the night. As it zooms in, it transitions to SpongeBob sitting in an isolated waiting room, sniffling with tears in his eyes. The Purple Doctorfish and Dr. Gill Gilliam come out of a set of double doors labeled "INTENSIVE CARE" and walk towards SpongeBob. Gilliam informs SpongeBob that Gary had been in critical condition for the past hour they had been at the hospital, due to high amounts of poison detected in the Snailpo he consumed. The Purple Doctorfish puts his fin on SpongeBob's shoulder and regretfully informs him that Gary has died. SpongeBob breaks down immediately, wailing loudly as many tears flow out of his eyes slowly, and the screen fades to black.

Act II (Spiraling into Depression)
The screen comes back to SpongeBob's house once more on a cloudy day. It transitions to his living room, where he is seen slouched on a chair and appears to be thinner and paler. Patrick and Sandy are by his side, with Patrick comforting him gently and Sandy doing the same on her knees, a Krabby Patty in her hand. Patrick remarks on how SpongeBob appears to be different, with Sandy reminding him of the tremendous loss he had just gone through. She places the Krabby Patty on SpongeBob's hand, only for his own warped vision to morph the sandwich into a miniature Gary. He begins to sob loudly and uncontrollably as Patrick attempts to comfort him even more and Sandy begins to tear up, distraught at her friend's agonizing sadness.

Just then, Squidward bursts in from the door and begins to yell at SpongeBob, telling him to keep the noise down. Patrick, doing something very unlike at him, snaps at Squidward for being inconsiderate of what SpongeBob has gone through in the past week. Squidward comes back at Patrick, remarking on how either he or SpongeBob should have died as there were too many buffoons in Bikini Bottom anyway. This cruel statement manages to snap SpongeBob out of his funk, and (going completely out of his character), tells Squidward to leave immediately or he will harm him. After pushing his buttons to the limit, SpongeBob launches a physical assault on Squidward, beating him furiously as he sobs in anger. Squidward blood screams at every punch SpongeBob lays on him. Sandy tries to pry Spongebob off and Patrick tries to pull Squidward away, however, they have no success. It only takes a single karate chop to the side for Sandy to finally remove SpongeBob from Squidward, launching him into a shelf.

Squidward, badly beaten, tearing in the eyes, and quaking in fear crawls out of the door back to his house. As he closes the door behind him, he curls up into a ball and starts to cry softly. The screen transitions back to SpongeBob's house, as he remained on the ground from his attack. Sandy and Patrick look at each other in fear and silently leave the house. They close the front door, which in turn causes the room to darken entirely as SpongeBob remains in his position on the floor. The screen fades to black slowly.

Act III (Climax)
The common narrator for the show reads the words "Two Weeks Later", however, the title card is completely black except for the words in white and the narrator speaks in a more dramatic tone.

Sandy visits Squidward's house on a rainy day to confront his actions in the weeks prior. She shows no mercy, backing him up into a corner while she criticizes him for having no heart at all and no respect for SpongeBob despite the numerous times he has tried to be friendly and show him the positive ways of life. Squidward responds, stating that he only did so because he felt as if he was the only one in the entire ocean that actually took things seriously, and that the oversaturated jolliness confined him in his own shell. He proclaims that he'll make an effort to change, starting with his redemption.

As the duo walk on over to SpongeBob's house, Squidward tells Sandy that SpongeBob hadn't shown up to work for three weeks since the incident and that Mr. Krabs had to go so far as rehiring Jim in order to keep the Krusty Krab running.