This is it, the first temple of this story has finally arrived. This chapter will be a long one, due to how much action, story and lore is in here. The final part will also reveal Molly's new move, but you'll just have to read on to find out! This chapter will also be the longest and most intense so far, due to all the buildup it has had, so I hope you enjoy
And one more thing: After the end of each temple episode, there will be a short break chapter that takes place in BlizzardTucky, which will be important in some way.
Chapter 8: A Creative Trial
Molly and the gang have finally arrived in the Windy Tundra, where the first temple was. The structure was massive, being as tall as their school. They looked up at the place, seeing as it was covered with ice and snow.
"So this is it, the first temple" Molly said.
"It's so big! How would someone live in there?" Deema pondered.
"I don't think anyone lives in there Deema" Goby told her.
"And how do you know that? Someone could be inside there right now!" Deema said to him.
"Because this place looks like it's hundreds of years old, so I don't think anyone would be in there" Goby said to her.
"Well that makes sense to me" Deema said.
They walked up the stairs to the front of the temple, where there was a large door at the entrance. There was also some text above the door.
"Now that's a big door!" Deema said out loud.
"Who would need a door this big anyway?" Gil asked.
"It's probably an entrance that people used, like in some buildings that have an importance to them" Nonny explained.
"There's also another question. One of us is supposed to go in there with Molly, but how do we know who it is?" Zooli asked.
"I don't know Zooli. Maybe there's something around here that will tell us" Molly said. They looked around to see if they could find something to help them. They looked for a few minutes, but couldn't find anything.
"Anyone find anything?" Molly shouted. They all shook their heads. "Well, guess that means we can't get in unless we find out who goes in with me" Molly said. Then Oona spotted something above the door.
"Hey guys look!" Oona yelled, pointing above the door. They looked up to see words above it, which they tried to read.
"What does that say Nonny?" Gil asked him.
"It says, "To find out who will tag along with your friend, you must solve this riddle, which will give you the answer to your problem", and then it ends" Nonny read to them.
"Riddle? What riddle? The words end after that" Deema said. Suddenly the ground started to shake, and a sign rose out of the ground.
"How many weird things does this place have?" Deema annoyingly said.
"What does it say?" Molly asked Nonny.
"It seems to be the riddle" He said, reading it out loud. "Creativity is not only a gift, but also a guide to others and their success" Nonny read the riddle to them.
"Creativity is a guide? Who could that be referencing?" Molly wonderded. The guppies tried to think of who it could be. Nonny was looking at the riddle and back, trying to piece together the puzzle. He then got an idea in his head of who it was, looking back at a certain guppy.
"I think I might know who it is" Nonny said out loud.
"You do?" They all said.
"Yes. Think about it, who here is known for their creative ideas, and makes up most of our stories during outside time?" Nonny asked them. They thinked about it, trying to piece it together.
"It means it's talking about Goby!" Nonny said. They all gasped and looked at him.
"M-Me?!" Goby said shockingly.
"Yes. You're the most creative one here Goby. You're the one to always think of stories to tell. If it is referencing creativity, it has to be you" Nonny explained to him.
"Yeah Goby, it has to be you" Gil said to him.
"I guess that makes sense. Alright, I'll do it" Goby said.
"Well then let's go then. We'll see you guys when we come out" Molly said to them.
"Out back or the front door?" Deema asked.
"Good point. I don't know if there's a back. If there is, we'll shout for you guys" Molly replied.
"Good luck guys, and be safe" Gil said to them.
"Don't worry Gilly, we'll be fine" Molly said to him, holding his hand.
Molly and Goby went up to the door and pushed it open. But before it could close, Bubble Puppy quickly ran inside the temple.
"Bubble Puppy!" They all shouted. The door shut. Gil tried to open it, but to no avail.
"It won't open!" he said.
"Guess they're stuck in there until they beat whatever trial is in there" Zooli said.
"What's a trial?" Oona asked.
"A trial is a test that sees if something or someone is qualified for completion" Nonny explained.
"I just hope they can beat it" Gil said, looking at the door.
The temple inside had lots of statues and icy walls around it, and it was pretty cold in there too. Luckily, Molly and Goby had the protective clothing on to make them warm.
"This temple is very mysterious. Look at all those statues and walls. It's like this was once a place where a powerful item was kept" Goby said, admiring the scenery.
"I know, it really is mysterious. I wonder what my trial is going to be" Molly wondered. They then heard barking behind them, seeing Bubble Puppy behind them, shivering in the cold.
"Bubble Puppy!" They both said, running up to him. He jumped in Molly's arms.
"Why did you follow us boy?" Molly asked him.
"Maybe he couldn't wait for us, and decided to follow us?" Goby asked.
"Is that it, you couldn't wait for us?" Molly asked the pup, he nodded his head.
"Aww, you didn't have to do that boy" Molly said to him. Bubble Puppy licked them both, making them giggle.
"Goby, you hold Bubble Puppy, while I clear the trials" Molly said, handing him to Goby.
"Got it!" he said.
They kept walking down the hallway for a few minutes when they came up to a wall with a large hole in it. They wondered what it was for when they saw a sign by them. It read "For this first test, you must both make it over the wall, without moving or leaving your spot".
"How would we do that? We can't use anything" Goby said.
"I think it means that we have to stay where we are, and use my powers to get over the wall," Molly said. "Let me try" she said. Molly tried to use her wind to lift them up, but they were too heavy to use her wind, making them fall to the ground.
"Well that didn't work" Molly said. "You two OK?" she asked them.
"We're fine, just keep trying" Goby replied to her. Next, Molly tried to launch them over the wall with an ice pillar, but she saw that they were about to miss and fall to the floor, so she quickly summoned snow that they could land on.
"That was everything I could think of. My snowballs and ice shards won't do anything, so now what do we do?" Molly said with sadness. Goby then got an idea.
"I may have an idea" he said.
"Really what is it?" she asked him.
"It involves your past two attempts, but you have to use them in a unique way" Goby said to her.
"OK? What do I have to do?" she asked him, confused about his idea.
"What you have to do is jump and launch us with your ice pillar, and then use a strong gust of wind to get us over the wall. But it has to be a strong gust of wind, otherwise it won't work" Goby explained his idea to Molly.
"But, I can't do that, and besides, we can move from our spot to get over. We have to show them we can do it properly" Molly said to him.
"Molly, it's not about getting over the wall, it's about showing how you get over the wall, in any way possible. We're showing them how we get over it" Goby explained to her, making her gain more confidence.
"You're right Goby, let's do this!" Molly confidently said. They both jumped in the air, and Molly launched them up with an ice pillar, but it wasn't high enough. "Now, use the wind Molly!" Goby shouted. She focused hard, and summoned a big gust of wind, launching them over the wall. Molly summoned snow at the bottom, which they landed in.
"We-we did it!" Molly shouted with happiness.
"I knew you could do it Molly!" Goby said to her.
"Thanks Goby, I couldn't have done it without you. That was a very unique idea, I'll have to try that more often" Molly said, hugging him.
"Hey no problem, I'm just helping you. Now let's move on" Goby said. They kept walking down the hallway until they spotted a lever on a wall at the end of the hallway, which they were about to walk down until Bubble Puppy barked loudly.
"Look out!" Molly shouted, pointing up. They jumped away from a large, falling ice ball coming from the ceiling.
"Thanks Bubble Puppy. We would've gotten crushed" Molly said, relieved.
"I think the next task is to get to the lever on the other side, while also avoiding these ice balls. Let's do this one together" Goby explained.
"Good idea" Molly said to him.
They both ran down the hallway, when ice balls began to fall down. They dodged most of them. Goby was doing well due to his training from Attica. Molly was also doing really well, mostly due to her improved training from Glacia. Suddenly the ice chunks began to come down faster, resulting in them losing their momentum.
"They're coming down too fast! We have to go back!" Goby shouted.
"We can still make it!" Molly replied.
"Molly no! It's too dangerous!" Goby exclaimed, but Molly didn't listen. She just kept going, dodging more ice chunks until she tripped on ice.
"Ow!" she shouted.
"Molly look out!" Goby yelled. There was a large ice chunk about to crush her. She covered her head, but Goby pulled her away in time, and brought her back to the start.
"Thanks for saving me Goby" Molly thanked him.
"You're welcome, but you have to be more careful, you could've died!" Goby said to her.
"I know, it's just that we were so close, I thought I could do it, but now we can't. I can't seem to find a pattern to get past them" Molly said to him. Goby looked up at the falling ice, thinking of a way to get past them, when he thought of something.
"Molly, I have an idea" Goby said to her with a smirk on his face.
"What is it Goby?" she asked him.
"You're probably going to be confused, but you have to trust me" Goby said. He held out his hand to Molly. "May I have this dance?" he asked. Molly just gave him a blank stare.
"E-excuse me? Goby this isn't the time for dancing" Molly said, confused on why her friend was asking her to dance.
"You have to trust me Molly. Do you trust me?" Goby asked her seriously.
"Yes, I do" she replied.
"Then take my hand, and let's get pass this test!" Goby said. Molly took his hands.
"Stay here until we pull the lever boy" Goby said to Bubble Puppy. He barked.
"Ready?" He asked Molly. She took a deep breath.
"I'm ready" Molly said.
The two of them started to dance like the time Molly was a ballerina. They held each other's hands and danced past the ice chunks, dodging them in the process, while also having a bit of fun. They swirled and twirled each other around like a ballroom dancer, and did some sweet moves as well. They gracefully danced past all the ice chunks, and then Goby threw Molly in the air, which she pulled the lever, and landed in Goby's arms, making the ice chunks stop falling. They then took a bow and curtsy as the finishing touch. Bubble Puppy barked happily and swam to them, licking them both as they giggled.
"I can't believe that actually worked! Great idea Goby!" Molly excitedly said to him.
"Thanks Molly. I thought that we could come up with our own pattern, and use our own technique that no one else thought of to get past" Goby said.
"And it ended up working! That was a very creative idea you did there, and I had no idea you could dance that well and do all those moves!" Molly said, surprised at Goby's dancing. He blushed.
"W-Well, I did learn it from someone" he said, winking at Molly. She smiled, and they both continued on. Unbeknownst to them, a figure was following them from the shadows, clenching their fist in a fiery way. "They're pretty good. I'll have to try extra hard to beat them" the figure said.
Molly and Goby were walking and looking down the temple hallway, where it was starting to get more cold, and different statues appeared.
"I think we're getting close to the end" Molly said.
"Molly look!" Goby said, pointing to a door. It was a large door with a large orb in the center. A sign then appeared in front of them. It read "Your last trial is to fill up the orb with ice in 10 minutes. If you fail, then you will be kicked out, permanently".
"What?! If we fail, we get kicked out forever?!" Goby said.
"I guess this means we can't fail this time. I got this" Molly said confidently. The timer then started, and Molly began to try to fill it up. She started by summoning ice shards into the orb, which were filling it up, but not completely, she did that for a while until Goby was starting to notice it.
"Uh Molly, I don't think that's working" he said to her.
"Sure it is, see? It's all filled up with ice" she said, but nothing happened. "Huh. Guess we'll have to try something else then" Molly said. She tried using snow and wind to fill it up, but that was taking way too long to do too.
"Molly, that's not working either. Maybe you should-"
"I can clearly see that Goby!" Molly yelled at him, causing him and Bubble Puppy to flinch. Bubble Puppy started to whimper.
'Molly, you need to calm down, this won't help" Goby said to her, trying to calm her down.
"CALM DOWN?! How can I be calm when everything is on the line here?!" she yelled at him again. She then tried everything to fill up the orb. Ice, snow, wind, everything she had, but then it all broke, with nothing works for 2 minutes. Molly then sits down and covers her face. Goby then puts Bubble Puppy down and swims to her.
"Molly, are you OK?" he asked her.
"No, I'm not. This whole thing is scaring me. These trials are too much, and the only reason I've been getting through was because of you" she said, crying. Goby was surprised.
"It feels like I'm not even learning anything, that you've been doing all the work for me then guiding me. If I can't do this on my own, then how can I be the Ice Princess?" she explained to him, crying in her arms.
"Molly, look at me" Goby said. She looked up at him.
"I've been guiding you this entire time. I've told you how to use your attacks to your advantage, and previous knowledge, like dancing, to get to victory. You even said you would use those techniques more often. You learned that being creative can help you succeed more. I've been using creativity to help you, and you've been learning how to be more creative and pass on" Goby explained to her. "What I'm saying is, I've been teaching you this entire time, you just haven't realized it" Goby said. Molly stops crying and hugs him tightly.
"Thank you Goby. Thank you for showing me that I can be creative, and for being there for me" Molly thanked him.
"No problem Molly. You've done so much for us, it's the least I could do. Besides, that's what friends are for" Goby said to her. Bubble Puppy then barked and pointed at the timer, which was now at 2 minutes left.
"We better hurry!" Molly said.
"I'll help you!" Goby said to her.
"No it's OK, I've got this, I have an idea" Molly replied to him with a confident smile. Molly summoned wind and blasted it at the orb, but then she does something wild. She closes her eyes and fists, making an aura appear around her. Goby was shocked at this. She then opens her fists, and launches an ice orb at the larger orb, which it hits, filling it up with ice. The door then opens in a bright light. Molly then sits down in exhaustion, with Goby running up to her.
"Molly, what just happened?!" Goby asked her, shocked at what his friend did.
"I-I don't know, I think I just learned something new. It seemed like an ice orb that freezes things" Molly told her friend.
"I told you that you would learn something new. You learned a new attack!" Goby said to her. The pink-haired girl smiled at him.
"Thanks Goby, now let's go finish this!" Molly said with confidence.
The final room was a large room in the shape of a circle, with what looked like stands around it. In the middle there was a stand with a scroll on top of it.
"This place looks like some kind of arena" Molly said.
"Yeah, but why would there be an arena in a temple?" Goby asked.
They got up to the stand where the scroll was, admiring it.
"So this is our reward? A scroll?" Molly said, confused.
"I'm sure it has some meaning" Goby said.
"Yeah, you're right, let's take it" Molly said, reaching for the scroll. But before she could take it, someone snatched it from them.
"What the-?!" she said, spooked by what just happened. They look up to see someone with the figure. It launches a barrage of fireballs at them.
"Look out!" Molly shouts. They both evade the fireballs. Molly launches back a barrage of ice shards at the unknown attacker, who swiftly evades her attacks too. It then snatches Bubble Puppy, trapping him and the scroll in a cage of fire. Bubble Puppy whimpered.
"Bubble Puppy!" They both shouted.
"You want your puppy back? You have to earn it" the figure said.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Goby asked him. He took off his robe and hoodie to reveal himself. He was an adult guppy with red hair, blue eyes and an indigo tail. He had a yellow and red jacket with a logo that was familiar to the guppies. He also had chains on his arms as well as technology that looked like it was from the future.
"My name is Maverick, and I am a member of the Sizzling Six, Pyro's top assassin team. We hunt and kill whoever Master Pyros sends us after" Maverick explained.
"One of Pyros's team!" Molly exclaimed.
"That guy is still trying to kill us? Do you think Alana was part of that team too?" Goby asked Molly.
"So you beat our leader Alana? You know, Pyros would normally just tell us to kill you, but he made an exception for you guys. So I'm going to make a little deal. We will settle this with a challenge. If you two win, I'll give you your scroll and your little dog back. But if I win, all of you will surrender to Pyros and join him. Do we have a deal?" Maverick asked them with a serious look on his face. Molly and Goby looked at each other.
"Molly, do we really want to do this?" Goby worriedly asked her.
"We don't really have a choice, Goby. We have too" Molly replied to him. The boy sighed and nodded his head.
"We accept your challenge Maverick!" Molly shouts to him. They ready themselves to fight. Maverick cracks his neck and knuckles.
"Very well. BEGIN!" he shouts. Maverick charged at them, launching barrages of fireballs and beams at them. Molly and Goby dodged and evaded them easily. Goby used his surroundings, using pieces of the floor to block the fireballs, and threw grenades at him, and Molly summoned and launched ice shards at him. Maverick was quick though, and successfully dodged them with ease, landing some hits on each other.
"This guy's quick, I can't seem to land a hit on him" Molly said, breathing hard.
"I'm out of ideas. What should we do Molly?" Goby asked her.
"I know" she said, whispering in his ear, "Try and close the distance so that he attacks me, that way you can sneak up and attack him while he's distracted" Molly explained to Goby.
"Got it!" he said. Molly swam fast up to Maverick with her sword out. Maverick summons a fire katana, and the two clash in a sword fight, both extremely well trained.
"I see Glacia has trained you well Molly, but you're no match for me" Maverick said, pinning Molly down.
"You forgot one thing Maverick, we Bubble Guppies always help each other!" Molly shouted, leaving him confused. Then Goby then uses his weapons to land a devastating blow on Maverick, continuing to hit him with punches and tail smacks. This made Maverick furious.
"That's it! Time to finish this!" Maverick shouted. He speedly swam up and tail smacked Molly into the wall, injuring her.
"Molly!" Goby shouted.
Maverick then spun in a circle, then punched the ground, sending a wall of fire at them, knocking them back. But they both got up and continued attacking, although Maverick started to gain the upper hand now that he knows their strategy. He then uses flame pillars and spears to barrage them with attacks, which they dodged, until…
"He's too much, we can't land a hit now!" Goby said.
"Just keep trying! We got this!" Molly shouted to him. Maverick smiled and summoned a flame whip, and hits Goby, launching him into the wall.
"Down and out-" Maverick was interrupted by Molly, who hit him with a well timed ice pillar. She swam to Goby, who was injured with his arm hurting.
"Goby! Are you OK?" Molly worriedly asked him.
"No, I think my arm's broken, I'm out of this fight Molly. It's all up to you" Goby said.
"No, I can't do this without you Goby" she said, crying at the sight of her friend being hurt. Goby grabbed her hand.
"This is your trial Molly, and you have to use everything I've taught you here. Show him what a Bubble Guppy is! You can do this, I promise" Goby says to his crying friend. She smiles, wipes her tears, and goes back to fight.
Maverick gets up and sees her coming back. "Well well well, I see the princess has come to fight. You can't win without him or any of your friends. You're just acting this way to get their support to make you better. Face it, you're nothing without them" Maverick taunted her.
"You're wrong Maverick. I don't always need them. I will never try to get their support. If they want to support me, they can, but I will help them, and they will help me. But I don't rely on them everytime. They help me through tough times, and we will always prevail!" she shouted. Molly then pulled out something Maverick was not expecting: her microphone, leaving Maverick confused.
"Why do you have a microphone? This is a fight, not a concert" Maverick yelled at her. She smiled, turning the volume to max.
"Why don't you come and find out buddy?" she said, taunting him. He charges at her, to which she shouts into her mic, sending Maverick back and making him cover his ears in pain.
"Augh! My ears!" he shouted. Molly uses this opportunity to attack Maverick with smacks and ice attacks, using an ice fist to punch him back. He sends fireballs and flame beams at her, which she dances gracefully past like a ballerina.
"Oh now it's on you annoying brat" Maverick said, starting to get furious at her. Maverick charges and sends pulses and pillars of fire at her, to which she does get hit by some, but gets back up. She blocks them back with a shield and ice sword, and counters by shouting into her microphone as loud as she can, making Maverick get down and cover his ears again. Molly then finishes him off with a sword slash to the chest, knocking him back and out of the fight.
"Ugh, I give up. You win, and you're lucky I'm a man of my word" Maverick said, snapping his fingers. Bubble Puppy and the scroll came down. He ran to Molly and licked her repeatedly. She giggled.
"You did it Molly!" Goby said to her. "That was very creative! Using your microphone as an attack" Goby applauded her.
"Thanks Goby, but I couldn't have done it without you. Oh yeah! How's your arm?" she asks him.
"It's better. I don't think it's broken, it just hurts really bad. Maverick gets up.
"I'll be back, and next time you won't be so lucky. The others will get you Molly, so beware, things have only just begun for you" he said before disappearing.
"Anyway, what does the scroll say Goby" she asked him.
"It seems like it's teaching you a new move. It says to focus your energy and think about the coldness of ice, and then let it out, thrusting your hand open like this" Goby explained. Molly listened to him and repeated it. She focused herself into a winter wonderland. An aura began to form around her, until she opened her eyes, and blasted an ice beam at the wall, freezing it solid.
"I just learned something new. It's like an ice beam!" Molly happily said.
"Nice job Molly, now let's get outta here, I'm tired of this place" Goby said. They both high fived and went to the front to leave.
Meanwhile, the others were waiting for them to come out the door. It had been about 2 and a half hours, and they still haven't come out yet.
"Do you think they made it to the end yet?" Oona asked. "They've been in there for a long time now".
"I don't know Oona, we'll just have to wait" Gil replied to her.
"Well I can't wait any longer, I say we go in" Deema said.
"We already tried the front door Deema, it won't open" Gil told her. Suddenly the door opened, and they came out the door.
"Guys!" they all shouted.
"Woah, what happened to you guys?" Deema concernedly asked them.
"You have no idea what's in there" Goby said.
"We almost died on multiple occasions, it was crazy. One of Pyro's assassins even tried to kill us" Molly explained. They all gasped.
"But we made it out alive, and got this scroll that taught Molly a new move!" Goby said, holding the scroll.
"Can we see the move?" Gil asked.
"Of course!" Molly said. She then blasted the beam at a nearby tree, freezing it solid.
"An ice beam?! That's crazy!" Zooli said.
"Congrats Molly, you passed your first temple!" Oona happily said.
"Thanks guys, now let's get back to BlizzardTucky, I need to rest now" Molly said. The seven of them swam back to town, with their first temple officially complete. 1 down, 6 more to go.
Authors Notes
So the first temple has been completed! How many of you guessed that Molly would be paired with Goby? It was fun to pair them up, although the next few pair ups will be extra nice *wink* *wink*. Anyway, time to answer any reviews:
PrimroseRaspberry: Hello again! The guppies arguing showed that even the closest of friends can have fights between each other, but their bond and teamwork was able to overcome their problems. Also speaking about brothers, my brother is 2 years younger than me, yet he is taller than me. I know how you feel XD.
ReaderandWriter9000: Hello friend! The last chapter was a great way of showing that people can have jealousy and fight no matter how close they are, but they ended up solving their problems. I hope your predictions about who was paired with Molly were true, as I'm sure you won't guess the next one hehe. And once again, thank you for your help on this story, it really comes in handy!
The next chapter will be a break chapter, with no fights, a little, tiny bit of emotion, and some lore hidden in there, but now, it's time for the treat!
Post Chapter
We come to the dojo in BlizzardTucky. Lady Snowa and Glacia were chatting with each other while drinking hot cocoa. They were talking about our guppy friends.
"How do you think they are doing now sister?" Glacia asked her sister.
"Hmm, it seems they have passed their trial and are on their way back now. They shall be here very soon" Snowa replied.
"Good, we will give them a rest and inform them later. The next temple will be a bit easier, but the way there won't be so easy" Glacia said.
Both sisters sat there in silence, drinking hot cocoa and looking out the window. Snowa then asked Glacia a very important question.
"Excuse me sister, may I ask you something?" Snowa asked her.
'Yes Snowa?" Glacia said.
"When will you tell Molly about your little secret? She has to know eventually" Snowa asked her. Glacia got up from her seat.
"She will know once she reaches the end of her journey. It will be the biggest surprise of her life" Glacia said, walking out of the room. Under her coat, we can see an ice-colored dress that sparkled. It seems Glacia is hiding much more than meets the eye.