Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island
Chapter 3: Quest for the Amber Stone
The sun rose high on the island, with yellow light streaking across the horizon. The palm trees swayed in the ocean breeze and sunlight dappled through the forest.
In the Chosen Ones' hut, the group was still asleep. A ray of light touched Danny's face, causing him to blink and open his eyes. Sitting up and rubbing said eyes, the ghost teen looked around.
Looks like everyone's still asleep, Danny thought. He slid out of the hammock and walked outside. A cool, moist breeze was blowing from the sea.
Taking a deep breath, the ghost hero gazed out to the lagoon. He suddenly felt someone next to him and noticed Sam standing beside him.
"It sure is pretty, isn't it?" she said, smiling.
Danny returned the smile, but inside he began to get a funny feeling in his belly. It seem to happen every time he was with the goth girl.
"Yeah," the teen sighed, putting on a brave face, "pretty."
Sam looked at her friend and he looked at her. After blinking several times, the two chuckled for no apparent reason and blushed a little.
"GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS!"
Spongebob's loud greeting startled the two teens. They saw the sponge skipping out of the hut with Patrick trailing him.
"Oh boy! Oh, boy!" he said excitedly, "It's time to find that stone thingy!"
His starfish friend clapped, "Yay! Adventure!"
Spongebob then noticed Danny and Sam together. He stared for a moment and got a big, sly grin on his face.
The ghost teen stuttered in surprise, "Uh...Spongebob, would you mind awaking the others?"
"Understood, Danny," responded the sponge, winking.
After he had gone back inside the hut, Danny looked back at Sam and said, "We'd better get ready."
"Uh, yeah," muttered the goth, "we should."
Once the team was ready, the wise crab came over to meet them.
"I wish dearly that I could come with you, Chosen Ones," he was saying, "but I need to be here for the village."
Jimmy smiled, "We understand. You wouldn't happen to know the way to the lagoon where the Amber Stone is located, would ya?"
The old crab rummaged through his knapsack and pulled out a worn map. "Use this map to guide you to the cave."
He gave the map to Danny, who did a quick once over of the atlas.
"Looks like the lagoon's...that way!" he said, pointing towards a path leading to the rain forest.
Timmy squinted and replied, "Alright, let's go then! I'll lead the way!"
The bucktooth boy began to saunter over when Danny grabbed him by the collar and drug him behind, saying, "I have the map; I'll lead the way."
The teen, now in his ghost form, made his way to the path, with the others following him.
"Good luck, Chosen Ones!" called the crab after them.
The group trudged down the path, the rain forest as hot and humid as ever. Big, green leaves covered the area, save for the dirt path and tall palm trees almost blocked out the sun.
Danny switched between looking at the map and the path every few seconds. "We're on the right track, gang."
"But how much longer?" whined Timmy, fanning himself again.
The teen scanned the map again and replied, "Not long; hang in there, Tim."
The heroes continued to trek on and soon Spongebob and Patrick started singing to keep everyone going,
We're on our way,
to the find the stone that'll save our worlds.
We're on our way,
to defeat the Mawgu before he destroys,
destroys our worlds.
(Oh, we'll never quit, oh we'll never quit,
we'll not give up, we'll not give up,
'cuz this is it, cuz this is it)
We are on our way,
to save the day once again.
We are on our way,
to save the day once again.
Suddenly, Sandy joined in,
Don't ya'll give up,
we're here to save the worlds.
Don't ya'll give up,
we're more ready than a ripe pickle in a barrel.
The three of them sung all at once,
Don't give up,
we're here to save the worlds.
Don't give up,
we ready to help the island.
(Now we're on way to save the day,
nothing will stop us to save the day,
we'll save the day, oh, we'll save the day)
SO DON'T YOU GIVE UP NOW!
Timmy grumbled as he plugged his ears with wrapped up leaves.
"Uh, Timmy?" asked Wanda when she saw her godchild, "Do you know if those plants are safe to stick them in your ears?"
The bucktooth kid turned to her, barely hearing the fairy, "I don't care. I just want to drown out Spongebob's singing."
Suddenly, Timmy's ears started to itch. Bad.
"AAH!" screeched Timmy as he ripped the leaves from his ears and scratched them vigorously. His screaming caused Spongebob and his friends to stop singing and look at him.
"Timmy, what's wrong?" asked Jimmy as he rushed over.
The bucktooth continued to rub his raw ears. They felt like they were on fire!
Cosmo explained, "Timmy stuck leaves in his ears so he didn't hafta listen to Spongebob's horrible singing."
The bucktooth boy elbowed the fairy before he could say anything else, but the sponge had already heard him.
"You think my singing's horrible?" Spongebob asked weakly.
Timmy stuttered, "Did I say that? I don't remember sayin' that."
Jimmy, meanwhile, had a bottle of water and was pouring some of the cool liquid in the bucktooth boy's ears. "Looks like it's some type of skin reaction, similar to poison ivy. But I think you'll be fine."
Danny craned his neck and asked, "Everything okay back there?"
"Yeah," Timmy answered, "we're fine."
The teen took one last look before continuing down the path. Timmy, Jimmy and Spongebob started after him. The bucktooth kid glanced over at the sponge and noticed a hurt expression on his face.
"I think this is it," said Danny, stopping.
The others peeked from behind the teen and saw a beautiful lagoon. There was a partly submerged cave in one of the coves.
Spongebob noticed the cavern and asked, "Is that the cave were the stone is?"
"Well, there's no other cave here," said Sam, scanning the area.
Danny tucked the map into his back pocket. "Let's go, then."
The team cautiously made their way to the cave, trudging through knee-deep water. But that was just for the two teens and Spongebob's friends; Timmy and Jimmy were almost up to their chests in the sloshing sea. The ghost hero noticed this and picked up the two, placing them on his shoulders.
"That's better," the genius appreciated.
Timmy nodded, "Much better."
Finally, the group arrived at the cave entrance. It was bigger than they had thought; the ceiling was at least ten feet tall. But Danny noticed how much deeper it was going to be in the back.
"Looks like we're goin' for a swim," said the teen to his friends.
Spongebob and Patrick beamed and started forward. They sloshed halfway through and fell into the deep end. After popping back up, they motioned their friends to join them.
"C'mon in, the water's fine," coaxed the sponge.
The others soon followed after, carefully entering the pool. Sam could see though the clear water almost to the bottom, as deep as the cave ceiling was high.
"Be careful, everyone," warned Jimmy as he clung to Danny, "there could be stalactites and stalagmites."
Timmy turned to the genius, who was hanging on the other side of the teen, "What's the difference?"
"Stalactites come from above and stalagmites come from below."
Sandy stroked slowly and added, "Not ta mention they're both made of hard and pointy rocks, so if ya'll crash into either of them, it gonna hurt worse than a wasp sting on a funny bone."
The group continued to swim through the cave, carefully scanning the ground and ceiling for any rock protrusions. The sound of waves crashing echoed throughout the cavern.
Soon, they came upon a dead end. A pile of rocks blocked their path, but the water was much deeper here.
"Hey, Spongebob and Patrick!" Danny called over.
The two sea creatures swam to the teen.
"I want the two of you to go down there and see if you can find anything," Danny commanded.
Spongebob chirped, "Okaydokey! Let's go, Pat!"
The friends dove down. It took them a while to reach the bottom, but they soon landed on the sandy sea floor.
"Ooh, it's dark and scary down here," stuttered Patrick, shaking, "I don't like dark and scary!"
His sponge friend tried to comfort him, saying, "It's okay Patrick. Remember; we're the Chosen Ones. We must be brave."
The pink sea star looked at Spongebob and relaxed a little. "You're right, Spongebob. We're the Chosen Ones!"
After calming down Patrick, the sponge began to scan the area. He then noticed a strange, smooth rock laying half buried in the sand. It seemed to glow a deep, rich orange color.
"Hey, look at this," said Spongebob as he tried to dig it out. But it was too heavy for him.
"Allow me," stated Patrick and he tried the action, but to no avail.
Spongebob rubbed his chin, "We need someone strong to carry this thing." An idea came to mind and he snapped his fingers. "Wait here, Pat."
Spongebob swam and popped to the surface.
Danny asked, "Well, didja find anything?"
"Yep," replied the sponge, "it's some kind of weird stone."
Jimmy looked at Spongebob, "Weird stone? I'd better have a look at it. Can you bring it up?"
The sponge frowned, "It's too heavy for me or Patrick to carry."
Danny said, "That's okay, me and Jimmy will go down and look at it."
"Follow me, then," said Spongebob and he dove again. The teen and genius took a deep breath and dove down after the sponge.
While the others patiently waited above, the three boys met up with Patrick, who was asleep.
"Pat, wake up," said Spongebob, shaking him, "Danny and Jimmy are here."
The sea star snored and looked at the guys, "Oh, hey. Whacha want?"
"Where'd you put the stone, Patrick?" asked the sponge.
Patrick stood up and stepped aside, revealing the object. "I sat on it so nobody would get it."
Nodding to the sea star, Jimmy and Danny floated down to the stone. The teen dug his hands into the sand and carefully lifted the stone up. It was unusual all right; The color was much different than the surrounding rock as it had a deep red hue with gold streaks inside.
Jimmy tapped Danny's shoulder and pointed up. The teen nodded and pushed off the bottom with the genius in tow.
"Hey, wait for us!" called Spongebob as he and Patrick followed the two.
The boys breached the surface, Danny and Jimmy gasping for air.
"What didja get?" asked Timmy, clinging to a half submerged stalagmite.
Danny presented the stone to the others. "See for yourself."
The group gathered around and awed at the unusual object.
Jimmy told them, "I bet this is the Amber Stone the crab was talking about."
"Is this the same stone in the legend that'll give us energy or somethin' to defeat that Mawgu guy?" asked Sam.
Spongebob weighed the stone in his hands. "It must be; let's take it back to camp and-"
"S-Spongebob?" stuttered Patrick as he poked the sponge's back.
"What is it, Pat?"
The sea star pointed to the cave's end. The pile of rocks that blocked their path was beginning to crumble.
Timmy asked Jimmy nervously, "Dude, what's goin' on?"
"It looks like those rocks are starting to collapse under the water pressure," concurred the genius.
Danny inquired, "What does that mean for us?"
The teen's question was answered when the pile gave way and the sea water began flowing quickly into the other chamber.
The team screamed as rushing water carried them through the cave, sloshing and tossing the heroes forward. They were separated in minutes. Danny struggled to stay above the chaotic surge. He frantically looked around to find his friends, but they were nowhere to be seen.
Below, Spongebob and Patrick were holding on for dear life on a stalagmite.
"Spongebob, I don't wanna be a Chosen One anymore!" cried the panicked starfish as he clung to his friend's legs.
The sponge's hands were beginning to lose their grip. Finally the two were flung forward into the surge, screaming.
Meanwhile, Timmy and Jimmy held on to one another in desperation and not far off, Sandy and Sam were doing the same, straining against the surf.
A sudden crashing sound echoed through the cavern and Danny craned his neck to see an exit...with the water cascading down the bottom.
Realizing what was about to happen, the teen tried even harder to reach the sides of the cave. The water was too deep for him to stand in and the walls were too slippery to get a good grip.
It was too late; Timmy and Jimmy fell over the falls, screaming, followed below by Spongebob and Patrick. Sandy and Sam cried out as they tumbled over. Danny did everything he could to escape, but the surge was too strong; the water pushed him out and over the cliff.
The entire team soon disappeared below the foamy water...
A gentle glow of orange light warmed the area. Danny stood in the middle, unsure how he had gotten here.
"Where am I?" he asked out loud.
A voice answered, "You're right here, Danny."
The teen turned to the voice and gasped. His friend, Sam, was standing not too far away, smiling.
"Sam!" Danny cried out and he rushed to her. She did the same and they hugged.
The ghost hero asked, "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay," she said, "now that you're here with me."
Danny stared into her eyes, getting that funny feeling again. Out of instinct, he leaned forward and puckered his lips. Sam did the same and the two were just about to kiss...when Danny opened his eyes.
Instead of gazing into the goth girl's face, he was gazing at Patrick's!
"GAH!" cried the teen and he pushed the sea star back.
Patrick fell with an 'oomph' and lay on his back. Spongebob suddenly came up to him and exclaimed, "Danny! You're awake!"
"Huh?" said the teen, groggy and confused. Scanning the area, he realized he was at one end of a river that cut through the rain forest.
Danny wondered, Was that just a dream, then? The teen slowly stood up and asked Spongebob, "What are you talking about, dude?"
"Well, when we found you, you were unconscious," explained the sponge, "so me and Patrick drug you up to the bank. I told Pat you were still breathing, but he was about to resuscitate you anyway."
"He what?!" exclaimed Danny and he got a sick look. The teen rushed over to the river and began washing his mouth off.
"Ah, c'mon," shrugged Patrick as he stood up, "I didn't even got that far before you pushed me off."
Danny looked up at the sea star, "Yeah, but just the thought of it..." Another sick look crossed his face and he started to wash his mouth again.
Suddenly, the teen stood up, another thought passing through his mind. "Spongebob, where are the others?'
"I don't know, Danny," said the sponge sadly, "we're not sure what happened to them."
Danny wiped his mouth and replied, "Well, they can't be too far. Let's go find them."
He, Spongebob and Patrick started trotting off down the river bank.
Jimmy coughed and sputtered. Sitting up, the genius gasped for air. Looking down, he saw Sam had already regained consciousness and was bending over. Jimmy soon realized he and the goth girl were perched on a boulder not far from the river bank.
"Heh, looks like we go outta there in one piece," chuckled the genius.
Sam didn't say anything.
The genius poked Danny's friend and asked, "You okay, Sam? What's wrong?"
"I...don't know," gasped Sam, obviously in distress, "I can't...catch...my breath."
Jimmy's eyes grew wide in fear. "What!?"
He quickly dug through his backpack and took out a stethoscope. The genius placed the device on Sam's back and listened to her heart and breathing.
A look of horror crossed Jimmy's face. "Or, maybe not..."