An anonymous local sponge vanished without a trace

and caused the formation of an elusive shadow organization

behind every business decision, political campaign

and aquatic catastrophe in Bikini Bottom,

an organization known only as "Gold Team".

Gold Team rules!

This is Bikini Bottom Mysteries.

We all know the famous Gold Team

one of two famous teams formed by Sandy Cheeks.

Alpha Team, you search uptown,

Gold Team searches downtown.

Gold Team's whole purpose is to search for a missing sponge.

Or is it?

While they may look like an ordinary search party,

beneath the surface, Gold Team is one fishy faction.

Exhibit A, dominant disciples.

Is Gold Team really just a search party?

Or are they are highly specialized crew of elite fish,

each with their own set of very specific skills?

Remember to drink plenty of fluids.

Tibor, a muscular fish who acts as the team's muscles/enforcer

as long as his weak constitutions don't get in the way.

[announcer] Those of you with weak constitutions

may want to leave the stadium.

- I gotta get out of here! - Too late!

His blind sense of tribalism makes him the perfect leader of Gold Team.

Gold Team rules!

Henry, an orange striped fish

with the ability to change colors on command

and infiltrate any party in Bikini Bottom.

Hey, can you believe this guy crashed your party?

Steven, a renowned snorkel specialist

with the ability to communicate with boots.

- Yeah, I'll have the Krusty Special. - Thank you, sir.

An unnamed blue fish with a purple stripe

who can blend in with both the young folk and the elderly of Bikini Bottom

without arousing suspicion.

He's also clearly lying about his childhood.

As you can see, me and Chocolate no longer hang.

If that's really you, where is your signature purple stripe?

You can keep that for five bucks.

I'll take 10!

And finally, the supernatural anomaly himself, Nat Peterson,

whose strange powers we already covered in a previous investigation.

Here he's seen shapeshifting into a human hand.

Does this sound like the make up of a simple search party to you?

No, something just doesn't add up about Gold Team.

Even their very origins are mired with contradictions.

Which brings us to Exhibit B, Alpha Team.

The following is an official clip

documenting the supposed creation of Gold Team.

Alpha Team, you search uptown,

Gold Team searches downtown.

- Any questions? - Gold Team rules!

Let's analyze this a bit more closely.

Sandy assigns the code name Alpha Team to the first group

in the back-right corner of the Krusty Krab.

Alpha Team, you search uptown...

But now let's watch the footage of Gold Team once again.

Where are they standing? The back-right corner of the Krusty Krab.

That's right, the order that we know as Gold Team

is really the group Sandy named Alpha Team.

Alpha Team, you search uptown...

And yet they immediately begin calling themselves Gold Team.

Gold Team rules!

As if they had already decided that was their name before the meeting.

Is it possible that Gold Team had been formed

long before Sandy assigned them a name?

Is it possible that Gold Team has always been lurking around Bikini Bottom,

not to search for missing sponges,

but instead to accomplish their more sinister agenda?

Exhibit C, their more sinister agenda.

Throughout the history of Bikini Bottom,

during every major catastrophe, Gold Team was there.

Let's examine this footage from the infamous

ripped pants debacle of Goo Lagoon.

When SpongeBob first arrives,

Tibor is clearly visible on the beach, working out.

But then, just moments before the inciting pant rip,

he's nowhere to be found.

Coincidence? We don't think so.

Is it possible that Tibor is no longer here

because he's the one who ripped SpongeBob's pants?

Maybe this incident wasn't an accident at all.

Maybe it was a highly coordinated attack on SpongeBob's pants.

Why else would the beachgoers that day be full of members of Gold Team?

No doubt watching SpongeBob to make sure the job gets done.

Not convinced? Then let's look at this footage from the town meeting

discussing the Alaskan Bull Worm assault on Bikini Bottom.

Gold Team leader, Tibor, is nowhere to be found. But then...

I'd rather that worm come in here right now and eat you all alive!

He suddenly appears only seconds after Krabs mentions

the worm eating the citizens alive,

proving that Gold Team has an insatiable appetite for carnage.

How did he know the discussion had taken this turn, you ask?

Maybe because he had Gold Team spies placed all throughout the meeting.

At every important meeting, Gold Team is there.

Whenever there's a powerful, influential figure, Gold Team lurks behind them.

And during every disaster at Bikini Bottom,

Gold Team is conveniently nearby.

They even attend parties

that only the highest order of Bikini Bottomites are invited to.

Dude, how did you get in there?

Giving them a means to rub fins with influential fish

like the mayor of Bikini Bottom himself.

The very same mayor who makes chaotic decisions like opening a bridge

before it's finished.

It is with great pride that I officially open this unfinished bridge.

Could this mean that even the mayor is in Gold Team's pocket?

That even the government is being influenced

or even controlled by Gold Team?

Wake up, people!

Gold Team has members placed in organizations

all throughout Bikini Bottom,

and Bikini Bottom just happens to be mired in chaos,

the very thing Gold Team covets.

They've been exercising their influence over the city

ever since the day they were created and even before.

So maybe, just maybe,

regardless of the politicians, kings and even gods in Bikini Bottom,

the people who are truly ruling the city

are the members of an elusive secret order whose mantra is literally,

"Gold Team rules."

And now for a Bikini Bottom bonus mystery,

we all know Wormy,

a highly emotive worm turned harmless butterfly.

But was Wormy the Butterfly really harmless?

It looks harmless.

It's kind of cute.

Or was he hiding strange supernatural powers?

If the citizens truly had nothing to fear,

then explain this meteor striking the underwater city!

Or the citizens suddenly floating into the sky!

Is this some strange coincidence or should we fear Wormy after all?

File this one under A for...

Ahhhhhhhh!

Have you seen something strange under the sea?

Leave us a comment and tune in next time for more investigations

that will blow your pores, strip your scales and flip your fins.

Like, subscribe and remember,

if the pineapple fits, live in it.