Hope everyone had a good holiday. I sure did. And now I give the gift of another chapter of Nicktoons: The Final Countdown. But I'll warn you; this chapter is a little T-rated here- mostly due to blood…and lots of it. Read at your own risk.
Enjoy…
Chapter 17: Desperate Resolutions
At the Chum Bucket where Platform stood, up in the operator's chair, one of the screens played various images of the now ruined Bikini Bottom which were transformed by the machine, and others just displayed data. DarkEvil was relaxed back in the chair as he stared at the screens without a sound or emotion.
"Finally…everything is mine." DarkEvil finally spoke coldly. "I defeated my enemy and conquered all with this wonderful machine that insufferable genius invented. Now that I'm through with Bikini Bottom, maybe I should move onto Retroville…or even Amity Park…"
As DarkEvil continued to ponder to himself, down below, the SpongeCog bots were idly standing around, somewhat looking bored with nothing to do at the moment.
"Do you think that the master has gone mad with the power he holds from that device?" SpongeCog 8 suddenly asked.
SpongeCog grunted and responded, "Don't even think that, fool. Too much power is never a bad thing. Besides, he knows just as well as us that those squishies are still out there. They haven't been affected by Platform's power thanks to Neutron's suit."
SpongeCog 10 growled rapidly and shook his head violently in anticipation. SpongeCog 13 pounded his fists together. "Find Target." He spoke dimly.
"Hmph," SpongeCog stood up and changed into Darry Phantom's appearance as he spoke in his voice to match, "No, we're done with that, you idiot. Our job now is to find those squishies; and when we do…" he reached over and grabbed one of 8's swords, holding it up to his neck and speaking in a gagged voice, "Kill them."
SpongeCogs 8, 10, and 13 nodded in understanding. SpongeCog changed into his "SpongeTron" disguise as he finished, opening his red eyes, "…along with the Target."
Meanwhile, outside in Bikini Bottom, Jimmy, Timmy, Darry, Tammy, Tommy, Dani, SpongeBorg, Danny, and Tak were walking on the streets, making their way to the Chum Bucket.
"Do we have ANY ideas where Max could be?" Danny asked the others.
"SpongeBorg," Tammy asked, turning to the robot and giving him a friendly smile. "Do you think you can locate Max for us?"
SpongeBorg suddenly became shy again and made a few beeping noises, which baffled the others, not knowing if it was a "yes or no" answer or something completely different.
"Do you understand, Jimmy?" Dani asked.
"Of course not." Jimmy replied indignantly. "As much as I talk with Goddard, I don't speak robot."
Tak slumped over in frustration. "My magic doesn't work on anything electronic." He pointed out. "So I couldn't make him speak English even if I tried."
"Where's SpongeTron when you need him?" Tommy cried as he covered his eyes.
Just when all hope seemed lost, Poof suddenly appeared out of Timmy's magical weaponry and floated over to SpongeBorg. "SpongeBorg find Max!" Poof said excitedly to the robot.
SpongeBorg beeped again to which Poof laughed and clapped his hands. "Well, Poof?" Timmy asked anxiously. "Can you understand him at all?"
Poof smiled and nodded, "Uh huh."
Everyone smiles. "Awesome!" Timmy shouted contentedly. "Can he find Max at all?"
Poof opened his mouth wide and inhaled deeply, but all that came out was a simple, "No." as his smiled vanished.
At this, everyone slumped in disappointment. "Well, it was worth a shot." Jimmy said in defeat.
Suddenly, a bright shine appeared in the distance which only caught Tak's eye, to which he gasped and quickly gasped and moved in front of Jimmy. "Look out!" he shouted as he shoved Jimmy away and took out his staff which was bitten by SpongeCog 10 after he pounced from the air.
SpongeBorg shrieked in fear and ran away while Tommy grunted in annoyance and ran after him.
Tak did his best to hold the beastly robot back, but before the others could give him a hand, SpongeCog 13 suddenly jumped down toward them, and the Nicktoons quickly moved out of the way as 13 pounded his fist on the ground.
Tammy quickly swung her jump rope and wrapped it around SpongeCog 10, pulling him away from Tak, and flipping him on the ground. But SpongeCog 10 got up and turned to her with a growl. Tammy gasped in fright until Timmy used his giant hammer to whack the robot away. Jimmy then removed his left glove and used his watch to magnetize SpongeCog 10 to a fire hydrant, leaving him stuck.
SpongeCog 13 grunted as he swung his large fist at the kids. Darry jumped out of the way and turned his head to notice a yellow square figure fly away with rocket boots. Darry's eyes widen as he recognizes the figure.
"SpongeTron…no, it can't be," Darry said in disbelief as he shook his head and glared. "SpongeCog…" he sneered before flying off after the robot.
"Darry, wait!" Danny called out. But before he could go after him, SpongeCog 13 grabbed his legs and swung him to the ground.
Dani flew forward to punch, but SpongeCog 13 simply swat her away and she fell on the ground. Danny sat up and glared angrily. "You bugged me for the last time." He furiously said as he vanished into black mist.
SpongeCog 13 looked at his empty hands in confusion, not noticing Danny reappear high above him, at least twenty feet.
Then Danny charged straight back down to the ground with both his fist glowing bright with green energy and power than it usually did. As soon as Danny hit the ground, his fists broke a crack in the pavement, and he suddenly sent ectoplasmic waves along the ground, knocking down whatever was in their path. This included SpongeCog 13, Timmy, Jimmy, Tommy, Tak, Tammy, and SpongeBorg. Dani was able to hover in the air to avoid it.
Danny stood up with a self-satisfied expression. "I just learned that move last week." But upon seeing his friends trying to stand up after being knocked in different directions, he gained a look of embarrassment. "And I'm still trying to learn not to do that."
Before SpongeCog 13 could regain balance, Danny few over to him and jumped on top of him. "Okay, you bucket of brainless bolts…where's Max and the rest of your robotic group?"
"Uhhh…" SpongeCog 13 dimly stammered before answering, "SpongeCog order to destroy Nicktoons…and wait at base to eliminate Target and the Nicktoons who follow him."
After hearing the robots fragmented explanation, Danny quickly realized what was going and who it was that was in danger at this very moment. "No…" he said with his eyes widening.
Meanwhile, Darry was walking down the dark eerie hallways below the Chum Bucket by himself after leaving the group to follow SpongeCog. But he had soon lost sight of SpongeCog and couldn't see anyone else around.
"Maybe this wasn't such a great idea." Darry thought out loud to himself. "I'd better call Dad and Jimmy to let them know-"
Before he could take out his Recaller, he heard crying down the hall up ahead. He quickly rushed down the hallway and spotted Max sitting against the wall, softly crying into his knees.
"Max!" Darry shouted, running up to the boy.
Max immediately stopped crying and looked up at Darry. "You're here too? But how?"
"Of course." Darry responded, "I'm here to help you. Jimmy protected us from Platform's effects with his Neutronic Mech-Suit."
Max glanced behind Darry to see no one there. "You're here alone?"
"Yeah," Darry sheepishly smiled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Not my best idea. But how did you survive Platform's effects."
"I created a protective force field with my psychic powers." Max glared and glanced away. "I figured since you already know, there's no use in hiding it anymore."
"There's nothing wrong with it." Darry said with a smile. "I think they're amazing. Why would you wanna hide it?"
"That's none of your business!" Max shouted as he stood up.
Darry rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, fine, we need your help to stop Platform. We have a way to get pass Platform's defenses and fix everything, but we need your help. Once Jimmy and the others get here, we'll be able to beat DarkEvil."
Max's eyebrow rose. "Really? Well, whatever this plan is, it better work."
"So you're gonna help?" Darry asked with a smile.
"Yeah, sure, I'll show you where Platform is, and there we can wait for Jimmy to arrive." Max turned around and started walking forward. "Let's go, Darry."
"Thanks Max." Darry said as he began to follow. "I'm glad I can count on-" but then he stopped in his tracks as his eyes widen, realizing something off.
Max turned around and noticed Darry stopped following him. "What are you waiting for? Platform is this way!"
"…I'm sorry, Max." Darry suddenly flung himself forward and grabbed a hold of Max's collar, holding him against the wall. "If that's who you really are! You can't fool me this time, SpongeCog!"
Max's pupils suddenly turn red as he smirked. "I didn't need to fool you."
He snapped his fingers, and SpongeCog 8 suddenly sprung out from the corner of the hallway and swung his swords at Darry. The ghost boy quickly backed away, dropping Max and dodging the robot's swings.
Max changed back into SpongeCog and shouted, "Get him! Eliminate him for good!"
SpongeCog 8 followed his leader's orders and rapidly swung his swords at Darry to eliminate him. But Darry quickly dodged every swing.
"I hate fighting this thing." Darry muttered in annoyance before turning intangible from another swing of 8's sword, and quickly fired a blue ecto-beam at the robot. SpongeCog 8 deflected it with one of his swords.
Suddenly, SpongeCog jumped onto Darry and pounded him to the ground. "Not so easy without your little team to follow you around, huh?" the robot taunted. "It was easy to fool you then too."
Darry quickly sat up and fired another ecto-beam at SpongeCog, knocking him away. "Not so easy without your little team to hide behind, huh?" Darry taunted in a cynical manner.
When he wasn't looking, SpongeCog 8 swung another sword at him, but Darry reacted quickly and phased through the ground to avoid it. When he came back up, SpongeCog 8 launched all of his swords at Darry, who gasped unable to think of another way to defend himself.
But suddenly, a beam of lightning fired at SpongeCog 8, shocking him and causing him to fall back. Darry sat in awe until he turned around and saw Max, holding out a little ray gun.
"Max?" Darry asked. "How did you…"
"Don't just sit there, Scottie!" Max yelled as he pocketed his weapon. "Get us out of here!"
"The Target!" SpongeCog yelled in exhilaration. "Eliminate him first!"
SpongeCog 8 recovered and spun his swords around as he moved toward Max as the younger boy froze in terror.
"No!" Darry yelled as he rushed forward, but an extended robotic arm grabbed his leg and caused him to trip on the floor.
"Don't interrupt us." SpongeCog said grimly.
Max flinched as SpongeCog 8 swung his swords at him. But suddenly, a force field surrounded Max and stopped SpongeCog 8's swords from hitting him. The robot was surprised by this and kept attacking it with his swords, but could not break through.
When Max looked up, his shield suddenly disappeared, leaving him vulnerable. SpongeCog 8 noticed this and prepared to strike.
"MAX!" Darry yelled as flipped through the air, throwing SpongeCog against the wall.
Darry hastily flew to Max and grabbed a hold of him just as SpongeCog 8 swung his sword down at him. Darry winced, feeling a sharp pain before turning intangible and phasing through the wall with Max in his arms.
SpongeCog stood up and stormed over to SpongeCog 8. "You let them get away!" he yelled in frustration.
"Yes," SpongeCog 8 said in monotone as he held up one of his swords to see green ectoplasm dripping from the tip. "…but they won't get very far."
In a darkened hallway Max and Darry were walking through after escaping the robots. "Platform's up ahead." Max said with a firm expression. "I recognize the interior of this place from when I was here last."
But suddenly, Darry grunts in pain and grasps the left side of his abdomen as he bends over.
"Scottie, what are you doing?" Max asked in an annoyed tone.
Darry slowly removes his hand and sees a tear in his suit with green ectoplasmic blood coming out of the cut underneath from where SpongeCog 8's sword had hit him.
Max's expression turned to shock and horror. "Oh no." he whispered. "Scottie…"
Despite the way he was feeling, Darry put on a weak smile for Max. "Don't worry, Max." he stood up as best as he could and began to slowly limp forward. "It's just a cut. Let's go."
However, he did not get very far. Darry grunted again and knelt to the floor, turning into human form.
"Scottie!" Max cried out, and shook his head franticly. "No! This can't happen…We need to find Platform!"
Darry began to gasp heavily as he spoke, "We will…My dad and everyone else will be here soon." His forehead began to sweat as he continued grasping onto his injury.
Max glanced at the red blood staining through Darry's shirt and dripping on his fingers. "They won't make it in time!" he shouted. "You're losing a lot of blood!"
"I'll be fine, Max." Darry assured as he spoke in his normal tone and slowly stands up. "I'll take you…" he places his blood-covered hand on the wall to hold himself up. "We'll stop DarkEvil together with…" but he suddenly coughs and holds his wound as he leans against the wall.
"Scottie…" he quietly said with a look of concern. But then he groans angrily and shouts, "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO HELP ME? None of this would've happened if you hadn't come along!"
"You'd be dead right now if not for me!" Darry shouted back before grunting in pain while his forehead still sweats. "…I'd never let that happen. You may be the biggest brat I'd ever met, but you're still one of my best friends.
Max seemed stunned by his words, but still made an attempt to look firm. "That doesn't matter. I broke my promise." His eyes begin to water as his starts crying. "Dad's gonna hate me now. I ruined everything…everyone hates me."
"That's not true, Max. I don't hate you…none of us do- not even your dad." As his labored breathing became heavier, he puts on a weak smile as he continues talking in a gentle voice, "I can't tell you how many times I've messed up…But my dad…he…he never stops loving me. Your dad will understand…I know."
Darry's vision suddenly becomes blurry and he slides forward against the wall, smearing blood on the surface, as he falls to the floor.
"Scottie!" Max cried out in alarm, "Get up, Scottie!" he grabs a hold of Darry's arm and pulls on it in an attempt to get him up, but his strength couldn't even get him to budge. "We have to go! Get up!"
Darry lied on his front with his eyes half-open as he succumbed to his injury. "Don't worry about me, Max." he spoke weakly, his eyes slowly closing, "I still believe in you."
Once Darry slipped out of consciousness, Max's eyes widen in horror and water with tears as he falls to his knees.
"Scottie?" he despairingly asked as he shook Darry to wake him up, but the teen was out cold.
When Max realizes this, he laid his head on Darry's back and began to sob into his shirt. His muffled voice came out, "Don't leave me alone."
Despite how they act, Max and Darry are really good friends, could you tell? But will they lose another member of the team…permanently? Please review what you thought and the next K+-rated chapter will be posted soon.