Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island
Chapter 9: Attack of the Mawgu
The heroes traversed the cave tunnel to the volcano top for what seemed like forever. Finally, an exit appeared, emitting a purplish glow. Stepping through, the gang realized they were now outside on top of a plateau. Above them swirled a vast and cloudy vortex, levitating several large boulders.
Jimmy stared in awe, "The immense forces of the space-time rip must be causing anti-gravitation in the area."
"And that means?" asked Timmy.
Sam replied, "It means that things are gonna get bad."
Danny looked up at the massive, purple spiral. "We've gotta close that rip before it destroys everything."
The teen was about to lead the group to the vortex when an enormous rocky, purple form appeared. It's upper body was that of a two-armed monster while it's lower half emitted a flare on the bottom, allowing the monster to hover.
"CHOSEN ONES, WE MEET AT LAST!" it roared, a glow of purple energy radiating from its open mouth, "I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL MAWGU!"
Spongebob yelped and hid behind Danny. "T-T-That's the M-M-Mawgu?! He's a lot b-b-bigger than I thought."
The Mawgu continued, "NOW, I CHOOSE YOU...FOR DESTRUCTION!"
With that said, the monster blasted off towards the vortex.
"Can he do that?" asked Patrick, "I thought we were already chosen...choosen..."
Danny was a little scared, but managed to ask Jimmy, "Is there any way to defeat something like that?"
"I don't think we need to completely destroy him," said the genius, thinking. "Instead, you guys could lure that monster into the rip and I could seal it up at the same time!"
Spongebob beamed, "Great idea, Jim!" Then the sponge looked up, "But how are we gonna get up there?"
"He's right," commented Danny, "I still can't fly yet. The Mawgu's energy is affecting my powers."
Sandy pointed at the floating boulders, "But lookit all that flyin' rubble! If we get ah-jumpin', we could ride it all the way up!"
"Yay! Jumping!" cheered Patrick.
Danny said, "Okay, we split into three teams: Sandy, Sam, Timmy and Patrick, you go that way and try to lure that monster into the rip." The teen looked at the genius. "Jimmy, you stay here with the Rip-Zipper."
Finally, he pointed at the sponge. "Spongebob, you're with me."
"Me?! But what are we gonna do?" asked the nervous sponge.
Danny smiled, "Don't worry; I've gotta plan."
With everyone ready, the three teams split up, with Sam leading her group up one way and Danny and Spongebob going the other way. Jimmy, now alone, watch as the two groups climbed the rubble staircase. He was a little nervous, but the genius trusted the ghost teen with all his heart.
"Be careful, guys," muttered the inventor.
The atmosphere was intense with purple swirls and floating rocks. Danny and Spongebob had to be careful to where they jumped to. The two had already jumped several rocks up and were getting closer to where the Mawgu was last seen. The ghost teen landed on a large boulder and stopped to catch his breath.
Suddenly, the sponge appeared, floating on a large bubble. When it reached Danny's position, it popped and Spongebob landed next to him.
"You okay, buddy?" asked the sponge.
The teen stood tall, "Of course I am. Let's keep goin'!
The two were about to continue when a deep bellow vibrated through their ears and the Mawgu came down from one of the rocks. Spongebob yelped and jumped into Danny's arms. The ghost teen was too surprised to throw the sponge off.
Before the Mawgu could do anything, a rock knocked on its head from behind.
"Hey, you wiener!"
The monster and two friends looked up and saw Timmy and his group on another rock. The bucktooth was shouting insults at the Mawgu. "You don't look so scary from up here!" sneered the kid, "You look like a toy monster!"
The Mawgu roared, "NOBODY CALLS THE MAWGU A TOY!"
When it left Danny and Spongebob to attack Timmy's group, the ghost teen snickered, "But apparently calling him a wiener is okay."
Spongebob chuckled at the comment and lept from Danny's arms. A loud shout from above caused the two to look up. Timmy's group was doing its job; they were starting to lead the Mawgu to the rift, continuing to taunt the monster as they dodged its attacks.
But Danny knew it wasn't gonna last long.
"Spongebob, climb on!" the teen said.
The sponge lept onto his back and the ghost hero started forward. He deftly jumped from one boulder to the next. Danny almost lost his footing on one, but managed to recover and continue. Finally, the two had reached a higher level in the vortex. It had grown even more chaotic than before.
"What now, Danny?" shouted Spongebob over the howling wind as he clung to the teen.
The ghost hero yelled back, "We've gotta lure the Mawgu into the rip! Hang on!"
With a final leap, they had reached a large slab of rock. The monster was at one end, growling.
Once Spongebob was off of him, Danny drew his lungs full and shouted with his clearest voice, "Hey Mawgu! Me and the sponge are gonna suck all of your energy back into the rip, and there's nothin' you can do to stop us!"
"FOOLS!" thundered the monster, "YOU HAVE SEALED YOUR DOOM!"
The ghost teen and sponge prepared themselves as the Mawgu raced toward them. It through a large, rocky fist straight at the two. Both of them dodged it just in time and the attack crashed into the ground, causing it to crack. Danny launched several blasts of ghost energy and Spongebob blew a number of explosive bubbles at the monster.
The attacks didn't seem to do any damage, as the Mawgu quickly recovered and slashed with another thrust of his hand. This time, it came too fast for the two heroes and they were knocked away to the edge. Tumbling over, they gripped tightly onto the rim with their hands.
"This isn't good at all!" whined Spongebob as his fingers began to slip. Before he fell, Danny grabbed him by the shirt.
"We gotta keep trying!" replied the teen and he threw the sponge to the boulder.
With Spongebob landing with a squeak, the teen struggled to climb over. With a quick tug from his sea buddy, he fell forward onto the plateau. Looking up, Danny gasped as the Mawgu came rushing towards them again.
BAM! A blast knocked the monster off to the side, causing it to miss and veer off. The teen and sponge turned their heads to where the attack came from and saw Timmy's group. Sam's Peeler suit gun was smoking, indicating she was the one that blasted the Mawgu.
"Looks like you guys need some help," stated the goth.
Spongebob smiled, but Danny said, "The Mawgu's a lot stronger than we thought. It's gonna get dangerous."
"Hey, we're the Chosen Ones too," said Timmy, "We're all in this together."
The teen wanted to protest again, but realized the bucktooth was right; they were part of a team. If they were gonna defeat the Mawgu they'll have to do it as a team. Another sudden roar signaled to the heroes that the fight had just begun. The monster arose into full view.
The team was about to ready an attack when the ground beneath them started to break apart from the Mawgu's earlier assault. The team gasped in horror as they were separated on chunks of rock and rubble. Danny and Spongebob drew close together on a small piece while Patrick and Sandy did the same on their own rock, along with Timmy and Sam.
Suddenly, Jimmy and the Rip-Zipper appeared on a floating boulder. "Guys, we've gotta problem!" the genius shouted to the gang.
"No kiddin'!" Sandy yelled back, "That Mawgu guy separated us on these here rocks. We ain't got room to fight."
Jimmy grew solemn, "It's worse than that, Sandy; I can't get the Rip-Zipper to work!"
"What?!" shouted the stunned team.
The genius tried to explain, "I don't understand what's goin' on either; when I first tried a test run on the ground, nothing happened. No energy from the Amber Stone was extracted for my invention. It's like the energy's locked inside..."
Spongebob looked up at the ghost teen, shaking, "Okay, now what do we do?"
Danny took a deep breath and said, "We've got no choice, then; if the Amber Stone's not gonna help us, we'll go to plan B."
"I'm guessin' plan B's about destroying the Mawgu completely, right?" asked Timmy in a nervous tone.
Jimmy raised his eyebrows, "Are you serious, Danny? You've said so yourself, he's too powerful."
The ghost teen stood up. "Well, we're gonna hafta try, guys. We're doin' this for everyone; the island, the Mermecs, the Florians, the Crabs, and our worlds. They need us, they're countin' on us to save their world. We're not only the Chosen Ones, we're the only ones."
The team listened intently to Danny's speech. They were still scared, no doubt, but he was right; they have to do this. For everyone.
"So," finished the teen, "who's with me?"
Spongebob stood up, "You don't need to ask that, buddy; we're always with you."
"The sea critter's right," agreed Sandy, "I'm with ya all the way."
Timmy piped up, "Me too!"
"Me three!" added Jimmy.
"Me...uh, what comes after three?" said Patrick.
Sam beamed Danny a smile, "There's no way I'm gonna sit on the sidelines for this; I'm with you, Danny."
Just hearing his friends' allegiance to him made the ghost teen feel stronger. Raising his shoulders, Danny pumped a fist into the air and shouted, "LET'S DO THIS, THEN!"
A cheer from the team echoed through the chaos, but a loud bellow drowned it. The Mawgu rose between the heroes, glaring at the ghost teen.
"FOOLS!" it roared, "YOU CANNOT STOP ME! THIS WORLD IS MINE!"
With a swipe of its hand, the monster tried to knock away Danny. Although he couldn't turn intangible, the teen was able to leap up and out of the attack's way. Landing in the same place, he shot out another powerful ghost blast.
Spongebob followed his cue and blew more explosive bubbles. Suddenly, both attacks combined to form a ghost bubble that burst in the monster's face. It leaned backward, stunned.
"Whoa," mused Danny, "I didn't know I could do that, did you?"
Spongebob shook his head, "Nope, but let's do it again!"
The teen chuckled, "Well, okay, here goes!"
The sponge blew a huge bubble while Danny carefully formed some energy inside it. With a swing of his wand, the sponge flung the combination at the Mawgu. It burst in it's face once more, causing the monster to fall again.
"Hey, that looks cool!" Timmy called out as he watched, "Lemme try!"
Spongebob chirped, "Alrighty, then. Here it comes!"
Combining their powers again, Danny and the sponge flung the energy bubble towards the bucktooth. His fairies flicked their wands and fairy magic filled the blob.
"Hey, we've got some of our magic back!" cheered Wanda.
Cosmo added, "Yay, more magic!"
The bubble lurched forward to the Mawgu, who was starting to get angry. After it popped and blasted the monster again, it was steaming.
"IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE?!" it roared.
Danny chuckled again, "Ya know what? It kinda is."
"But how can we be sure?" asked a snickering Timmy.
Jimmy smiled, "Let's find out! Give us another, Spongebob!"
The sponge nodded and blew another large bubble. After the team filled it with their own energy, Spongebob did another one. And another. And another. After five energy bubbles were created, the Mawgu was finished watching this game and launched a punch at the sponge.
Yelping, Spongebob hid behind one of the bubbles. When the monster's fist contacted it, the blob burst and almost destroyed its rocky hand. Bellowing in fury and pain, the Mawgu tried again with Timmy, who was still taunting.
"Seriously? Being defeated by bubbles?" sneered the bucktooth, "That's a new low for you, dude."
Attacking with his other fist, the monster burst the bubble again the kid was hiding behind, shattering its arm. This fiasco of energy bubble attacks continued for a few minutes, with the entire team starting to lower their guard down.
That proved to be a mistake.
Spongebob was about to blow another bubble when he tripped and lost his grip on the bottle and wand. The two items tumbled off the rock and fell deep into the abyss below.
"Uh oh," whimpered the sponge as he watched the solution and wand disappear.
Danny rushed to him. "Spongebob, what's goin' on?"
The sponge stood up and looked at the teen with a fearful expression.
Danny suddenly realized what had happened. "You've lost your bubble stuff, didn't ya?"
"Uh, guys?" stuttered Timmy.
The two friends spun around and watched in horror as the Mawgu's limbs began to grow back. In seconds the monster was fully formed.
"THIS ENDS NOW!" it bellowed and smacked its hands together.
An enormous wave of purple energy radiated from the Mawgu's attack and blasted the entire team into the air. The monster then started to spin around quickly, creating a powerful energy tornado. The winds were strong enough to buffet the heroes into the tunnel. They screamed, not just because the team was spinning like a top, but the purple energy in the winds were causing a great amount of pain. They tried escaping but the tornado was too powerful.
Suddenly it stopped and the heroes dropped hard onto a large slab of rock. The Rip-Zipper, however, was able to withstand the attacks (thanks to Jimmy's engineering) and landed in one piece. The Mawgu hovered back, regaining its energy.
Danny groaned and he slowly sat up. "Everyone okay?" he asked, feeling a blossom of pain in his chest.
"Ack, no," muttered Jimmy as he lifted his head up. "I think I broke a rib. I can feel it."
Timmy tried to stand up but his left leg gave way and the bucktooth fell to one knee. "Oh man, I don't feel so hot either."
"Ooh, my head," moaned Patrick, holding said appendage.
Spongebob crawled over to his friend, in as much discomfort as he. "Hang in there, Pat."
Sam was near the device and used it to help her stand up. Danny saw her and limped his way to the goth. "So," gasped Sam, placing her hand on the Amber Stone, "is this how it's gonna end? Out on an island in another dimension while our worlds waste away?"
Danny sighed, "I...I don't know..." He put his hand on the stone as well.
Suddenly, the Amber Stone glowed with an inner light. On the stand a few clicks sounded off.
Jimmy quickly stood up, a little dizzy. "Huh? It's working?"
The genius rushed over and studied the Rip-Zipper. Fiddling with it for a second, he looked up at the ghost teen. "Danny, how'd you do that?"
The teen was confused, "I didn't..."
A thought struck Sam. Her eyes widen in realization and she grabbed Danny's arm. "That's it! That's how we'll release the energy!"
Jimmy started, "You mean, in the stone?"
As the others gathered around the goth, she continued, "Don't you get it? That stone radiates some energy every time Danny and I touch it. I have no idea why, but it works."
Sandy asked, "So, what are ya sayin'?"
Sam replied, "I'm sayin' that we should all touch the stone together. I think it's reacting to our bond we have with one another."
"Bond?" said Jimmy, confused. "How on earth can a friendship bond release energy?"
Danny shook his head, "I've no idea, dude, but we've gotta try it out. We've got no other choice."
The team looked doubtful but did as Sam said. Sandy, Timmy, Jimmy, Spongebob and Patrick placed their hands on the glowing stone along with Danny's and Sam's.
All at once, a great light shined through the Amber Stone, enveloping the team into its brilliance. Sparkles of light danced in their vision and they watched in awe as some of the glitter landed on their skin. A warm and pleasant feeling filled the heroes' bodies. More clicks from the Rip-Zipper vibrated the stand and a beam of light raced out and struck the hole in the space-time continuum. Slowly the rip began to shrink.
Jimmy beamed, "Look, guys! It's working!"
Danny smiled too, but noticed the Mawgu had recovered and was heading towards them again. Taking their hands off the glowing stone, the team realized they weren't in pain anymore.
"Wow, I feel great!" stated Spongebob.
Patrick cheered, "Me too!"
Timmy concluded, "The Amber Stone must've healed us up."
"Alright, then," said Danny, taking a stance, "let's use our new energy to stop Mawgu once and for all!"
The team cheered and took up their positions. Just before the monster attacked, they released all the power the heroes could muster:
Danny took a deep breath and used his Ghostly Wail while Spongebob blasted a torrent of water. Jimmy and Timmy combined the Tornado Blaster and star flingers to send a whirlpool of fairy magic at the Mawgu. Sam set her blaster guns to full power and launched a burst of energy with Sandy attacking with her giant acorn slingshot. Patrick was able to throw several of his arms as boomerangs (he is a sea star, after all.)
All of the attacks were strong enough to push the Mawgu closer to the rapidly closing rip.
"JIMMY!" shouted Danny after he finished with his attack, "NOW!"
The genius stopped and punched a wooden button on the Rip-Zipper. The beam of light grew stronger and the rip began sucking everything into the vortex. The Mawgu roared as it struggled to escape the vacuum, but to no avail.
As it clung to the edges of the hole, the Mawgu bellowed, "THIS ISN'T OVER, CHOSEN ONES! MUAHAHAHAHAH!"
With a loud bang, the monster disappeared along with the vortex. All the anti-gravitational fields around the plateau also disappeared. Too quickly. The team now found themselves falling towards the ground. Danny, however, rushed forward and gathered the team into his arms and back. Soaring up and through the air, the teen dodged several of the falling rocks and hovered, waiting for all the boulders to fall.
Spongebob blinked and gasped, "Danny! You can fly again!"
"Yep," replied the teen, "and it feels good."
Cosmo added, "And it also feels good to have our magic back. YAY!"
"What should we do now?" asked Patrick as he clung to teen's back.
Danny was about to answer when Spongebob beat him to it. "I think we should head back to the crab's camp. They'll be happy to see us."
The ghost teen nodded, "That's for sure. Okay, let's go then." He and the team sped off towards camp, the sun in the horizon beginning to rise.