Team Arch TV Specials

Team Arch: Southern Lights

Time: After Movie 19 and just before Movie 20

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A Mexican boy arrives at SpongeBob's San Francisco house, while a guy in a Texas Ranger outfit follows him. SpongeBob is fixing Syaoran's digital alarm clock when the boy arrives and introduces himself as Humberto Castillo, SpongeBob's Mexican foster son from a foster care program that SpongeBob once participated in. SpongeBob invites him in and Humberto explains that he graduated and is now attending graduate college in San Francisco, but his dorm room isn't ready yet, prompting SpongeBob to put him up. Syaoran leaves for the night, and Humberto gives SpongeBob a hiking stick as a gift based around a letter he wrote to him years ago about a camping trip where he caught poison ivy, and thanks him for everything that he's done for him over the years.

The Ranger, revealed to be named Sullivan Dempsey, goes to a Texas-owned consulate in Marin County and reports to his superior, Texas State Lobbyist Beckett Townsend. He notes that the boy hasn't contacted any resistor, but went directly to SpongeBob. They discuss the fact that the remaining resistors are setting up a new fax network and Humberto has the phone numbers. Townsend orders Dempsey to follow Humberto and see if he meets with his collaborators.

The next morning, Dempsey returns to the docks and meets with his assistants, Mack and Nitt Jefferson. When SpongeBob and Humberto leave for the graduate college, Dempsey follows them while the Jeffersons search the house. SpongeBob drops off Humberto, who meets with a student, Dulce Alvarez. He identifies himself and tells Dulce that he not only has the phone numbers, but another important piece of evidence, and he'll bring both with him the next day.

At the house, Nicolas and Emmy arrive with news, only to encounter the Jeffersons, who swiftly knock them out before leaving. The rest of Team Arch return and revive Nicolas and Emmy, who explain that they checked the graduate college about Humberto's enrollment, but discover that Humberto isn't registered there, prompting them to check Humberto's visa, which had three strange contradictions: The visa is actually resident visa rather than a student visa, meaning that Humberto was already a legal immigrant, and it was issued from Coahuila, not Mexico City, where Humberto is originally from, and the name on the visa said "J Castillo", meaning that Humberto isn't who he says he is.

Townsend observes the Hispanic protestors outside the consulate, who are protesting about the recent maltreatment of their people in Texas, and Dempsey informs him that the Jeffersons didn't find the phone numbers at the house. Townsend has SpongeBob's file and knows he leads the Arch Foundation, which has an outstanding reputation. They determine that Dulce has no prior record and figure she's a member of the new fax underground.

The imposter Humberto returns to the house, where Team Arch asks why he's lying. He claims they misunderstood, but they can tell he's stalling. He finally admits that his real name is Jose Castillo, Humberto's younger brother, whom SpongeBob never knew about. At the time of SpongeBob's involvement in the foster care program, Humberto and Jose were separated, and haven't been together up until SpongeBob left, and Jose learned everything about SpongeBob from Humberto. Jose explains that his comrades sent him to America for safety after a series of attacks in Mexico, where officers claiming to be American feds working on joint missions have been raiding Hispanic businesses that are actually innocent. Although he already has evidence that the contraband was planted by the feds, the most valuable evidence Jose has is a memory card that he hid in SpongeBob's old VHS collection: A recording of one such raid at a restaurant in Coahuila, where all of the workers are killed by officers claiming to be US ICE agents, just like the others. SpongeBob becomes distraught over the footage, as he recognizes one of the victims as Humberto. Jose decides to switch to another footage: A privately captured recording of a meeting between ICE agents, who plan on "raiding" a series of restaurants located directly next to the US-Mexican Border, and framing them for being different cartel fronts, which would force the government to reinforce the border, and start a race war between Caucasians and Hispanics, which would also force the government to permanently deport all Hispanics from the US and enforce martial law on Mexico, along with Central and South America.

At the college, Dempsey and the Jeffersons corner Dulce and force her to cooperate by threatening to have their contacts kill her family in Mexico City.

Jose tells Team Arch that he plans to deliver the footage to his contact in Washington DC to stop far-rightists from pressuring government figures into reinforcing the border and enforcing martial law. He also has the phone list, hidden inside the hiking stick. The Texas government doesn't know he has the tape, but plan to capture him to force him to give up the list. The next day, Team Arch and Jose go to the graduate college to see Dulce. She tells them she has found a place for Jose to hide, and Team Arch drops Jose off as he prepares to hand over the tape. Dulce escorts Jose to a van and apologetically turns him over to Dempsey and the Jeffersons.

Unbeknownst to the Texans, Dulce goes to see Team Arch and tells them what happened. The consulate has special immunity, making them practically invincible from California's government, and Malcom offers to call his government contacts. Sakura and Mizu warn that doing so will tip off the Texans. They get the phone list from the hiking stick, and Malcom and Mizu start working via the fax network to get Dulce's family to safety.

SpongeBob, Tai, Josh, Sakura, and Nate go to the consulate, where Townsend has already destroyed the footage. He demands the phone list, but Jose refuses to tell them where it's hidden, prompting them to lock Jose in the basement until further notice. Meanwhile, the quintet climbs the wall and slips into the consulate atop a delivery truck. However, they missed a security camera and Dempsey quickly captures them. The Texans offer to release them if they can get the phone list from Jose, but the quintet refuses. They give them until that night to get the phone numbers, or they'll kill all six of them. Once they're alone, Nate tells Jose that they made copies of the footage while he was sleeping, in case of the original getting destroyed, and Malcom has already distributed it.

The news channels air the tape and the Texans realize that they're in serious trouble, since the revelation will force them to be called back to Texas, derailing his own plans to take control of California to ensure that it never advocates immigrant rights. However, one of the corrupt ICE agents, Henley Zimmer, the one responsible for killing Humberto and orchestrating the other attacks, suggests that since only Team Arch, Jose, and Dulce know about the tape, they can destroy the evidence they have gathered on them, threaten Dulce's family once more to keep her silent, and kill the others, and once everyone is silenced, Townsend's superiors will have no idea he was involved. However, back at the house, the rest of Team Arch and Dulce get word via the fax network that Dulce's family is safe.

SpongeBob, having taken lessons from Austin, uses a metal pipe attached to a vise as a makeshift press to knock down the basement door. They go upstairs to the kitchen, knock out the Jeffersons, and slam the kitchen door into Dempsey and Zimmer as they arrive. They run up the stairs and Josh jams the roof door to give them time to think of an escape route. As the Texans try to break through, Tai starts cutting cable loose from the satellite dish and pulling down the radio antenna to create a makeshift zip line.

Team Arch, Dulce, and another gang of protesters arrive in a van outside and organize the protestors into rallying for Jose, demanding his release as he has the evidence to foil the Texans' plot. On the roof, the quintet tosses the cable down to Malcom, who ties it to the van. SpongeBob then bends one end of the antenna into a hook and uses the extensions as supports to stand on. Dempsey breaks the door down just as the six slide down the cable to safety, much to the Texans' utter dismay.

Later, news gets out that the Texans have been recalled to Texas by order of the Texas Governor, and Dulce's family remains safe. Jose thanks the team for making it all possible, before he and Dulce leave. Just Team Arch calls it a day, they are visited by a group of girls, including Honoka Kousaka, Kotori Minami, and a reluctant Umi Sonoda. Back in Texas, the Texan quintet, who manage to avoid conviction through an appeal, swear revenge on Team Arch, especially SpongeBob.