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Back on the horse doing something productive, baby. Previously announced as “Sea Dogs” during my last extravagant announcement post and initially announced as “Megalo Don” two years ago, I’m finally ready to sea this thing through just in time for Shark Week

 

Plot

The Graphic Nature Channel is rolling out their very own answer to Shark Week in the form of “MegaloMania”, another week-long celebration of all things shark. However, the producers and network executives never counted on the water in that well of content to run red.

 

Characters

Manny Mangrove: A mild-mannered and wimpy lemon shark who has moved his family away from their original group after an incident that almost resulted in the predation of his two kids. Since moving out to Bikini Bottom, he’s cultivated a career in showbiz, taking up roles that most sharks would never consider doing. He hopes to use his career as a platform to show the world that sharks aren’t mindless killing machines.

Kai Mangrove: Manny’s wife and mother to their two pups. She saved her children from a near-fatal encounter with another adult shark in their group. In contrast to what’s customary for most sharks, she and her husband take care of and raise their kids themselves rather than leaving them alone to their own devices.

Pan & Thalassa Mangrove: Manny and Kai’s pups. They are regularly ridiculed by their peers for being so easy to step on despite the fact that they’re apexes.

Nigel Darnell: Once seen as a serious rival to Frenchy Barbeaux in the field of marine biology, he has since devolved into an overzealous, opportunistic content producer for The Graphic Nature Channel. The creator and innovator of the first annual “MegaloMania” television event, failure to produce ratings against Shark Week could mean the end of his tenure with the network.

Hieronymus Glove: Founder of the Hieronymus Glove Company and creator of all things glove-related in your childhood. However, most members of his own species collectively frown upon his “contributions” to the world, seeing him as profiting off the suffering of other sharks by marketing the image of man’s glove for his benefit. To help preserve the good image of both himself and his company, he bought out The Graphic Nature Channel to have it serve as a platform to better represent his species (and to pump more content into his Glove+ streaming service).

Kea Blanco: A great white shark handpicked by Darnell and Glove to be the official “Face of MegaloMania”, their “Megashark”. Having previously sold his soul to shill Anchor Arms, Blanco has somehow sunken even deeper, morally speaking.

Sergeant Sam Roderick: A sleeper shark and an active duty member of the Ōma’o Corps. Descended from sharks who fought in The Great Shark Wars many years ago, the Sergeant dedicates his life to carrying on the good fight as they once did.

Gill Hammerstein: A hammerhead shark and executive producer for “MegaloMania”, who was personally recruited by Glove himself following a private screening of the “Hammerstein Cut” of the Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy Movie.


 

Episode 1: Breakthrough

Following another eventful day of bringing park goers smiles and happy memories as a cast member at Glove World, Manny Mangrove is scouted by producers for The Graphic Nature Channel and is offered what’s described as a “breakthrough role” for the channel’s upcoming MegaloMania marathon, finding the story of the Mangrove family to be something worth documenting. Manny finds it hard to refuse such a tempting offer, so he eagerly accepts, convincing his family that it’ll get their story out there and send the message that not all sharks have to be violent, bloodthirsty and without emotion. Manny strongly believes that his family is living proof that sharks are perfectly capable of going about healthy, non-violent lives as a cohesive family unit. 

Manny and his brood are instructed by Darnell and Hammerstein to undertake a long, quirky road trip to The Palauan Shark Sanctuary, where their story will conclude. However, a quirky shark family road trip just isn’t enough to beat Shark Week on Night 1 of the ratings war, prompting Nigel to take some “creative liberties” over the direction of  MegaloMania going forward.

Before the Mangrove family could even reach Palauan waters and educate viewers on all the species who found salvation there, their boat mobile is violently intercepted by a crew of hunters. Manny offers to pay them with some of the MegaloMania money that he’s earned to make up for whatever they may be after, but the hunters won’t bite. The Mangroves are all forcibly removed from the vehicle and are about to be hooked to lines that will drag them up to the ocean’s surface. Manny begs for help from anybody on the Graphic Nature crew documenting their journey, but his begging falls on deaf ears.

Manny is mocked on camera for crying out for help when he’s perfectly capable of defending himself and his family. Kai and the pups are at least putting up a struggle against their attackers, but they’re each viciously clubbed for their efforts. Manny tries reasoning with the hunters, but it gets him nowhere as he gets dropped onto his back and clubbed as well. This act puts Manny into a state of tonic immobility. He watches helplessly as his children are hooked up and yanked to the surface, leaving a bloody trail behind them as they ascend further and further.

Kai is somehow able to break free from her line, though still pierced by the hook. Without hesitation, she swims up after her captive children. Manny is left behind as the hunters quickly give chase to her at speeds that seem very inhuman for the normal, everyday human. One of the hunters appeared to be bleeding heavily, possibly Kai’s doing. Manny then appears to lose consciousness.

15 minutes later, he awakens to the sound of a few splashes on the surface. He finds that he is now able to turn himself over upright, but grimaces from the injuries he received. He looks up and sees three familiar figures floating down towards him. Believing that Kai was successful in rescuing the pups, he rushes upward to reunite with them. What he finds is, indeed, his family, but he finds them in a state that Manny wouldn’t even wish on his enemies. Their fins had all been cut off. Their bodies, now incapable of even staying afloat, discarded like trash.

 

Trivia

  • Manny’s first SpongeBob appearance as the “before image” in the Anchor Arms commercial is referenced while he is listing off his acting credits to Gill Hammerstein.

  • SpongeBob’s casual racism towards Manny and his family during the events of “SpongeGuard on Duty” is mentioned specifically by Manny when convincing his family to sign on for MegaloMania.

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Episode 2: Return to Form

Manny remains with his family. With their boat mobile heavily damaged by the shark finners and no signal to be had on his shellphone, seeking out any help feels far too unrealistic at this point. Manny can only hope now to provide them some comfort.

Kai is able to regain her bearings enough to faintly speak to her husband. She laments their current situation, bringing up how they left their original group in order to escape the barbarity, only to face sheer brutality and suffer this barbaric fate. She’s come to regret leaving since the numbers meant safety. Manny brings up that members of their own tried to prey upon their pups, they had no choice but to leave that life behind. Kai says that sharks were meant to keep order in the ecosystem, how it’s in their nature to keep that ecosystem strong by weeding out the weak. How their children may not’ve lived long, but at least their deaths would’ve meant. She sees no meaning in them dying like how they are now.

Inching ever closer to death’s door, Kai realizes she made many mistakes in her life. Perhaps she wouldn’t be literally drowning in her sorrow right now if she hadn’t stepped up as parent for Pan and Thalassa. Kai’s parents abandoned her like all sharks would and she got to live a fuller life. Perhaps if Pan and Thalassa weren’t so coddled, they could’ve become stronger than they are now and probably wouldn’t even be in this situation. Manny sees little point in dwelling on the hypotheticals and what-ifs, Kai interrupts him by posing the thought that maybe this all wouldn’t’ve happened if she had just cut ties with Manny like she was supposed to. Sharks have never been meant to mate for life, let alone commit themselves to union through marriage. Love was never meant to be in the cards. She admits they’ve only committed taboo, and perhaps this is their punishment for it. Manny committed to MegaloMania to show the world that sharks can live peacefully and normally, but he’s only gonna show the world just how weak they truly are by straying from their true natures. Manny can’t find the words to retort to any of this.

Kai notes that she and especially the pups haven’t much time left, but there’s still a window of hope that their deaths can still mean something. Manny just needs to muster up the strength to grant them that serenity, which his nature won’t allow him to do. This draws the ire of his son, Pan, who uses his final breaths to insult his father. He grills Manny for his weakness, reiterating what his mother said earlier about they weren’t meant to weed out the weak. Manny should be dying alongside them right now, he’ll, he should be dying INSTEAD of them. Pan says that being a shark used to mean something, they would command fear and respect, but now they are the ones being constantly disrespected and living in constant fear. And all in some useless effort to fix something that isn’t broken. Pan attempts to lunge at Manny, teeth out, but he his injuries prevent him from doing so. Pan repeats that “we don’t need fixing” until his final breath. Pan’s body trickles down to the ground along his sister’s, eyes open and glazing over.

Having missed his opportunity to grant his children peace, Manny vows to Kai that he won’t let their deaths mean nothing. Kai voices her doubts, telling him that becoming even more sob stories to garner more pity for their species isn’t “something”. And just as sharks should find the concept of love meaningless, so too should they find holding grudges and seeking revenge. Emotion is a shark’s true killer. Kai passes on, leaving Manny with nothing but those words. Manny breaks down in prayer. He prays to Neptune, to somebody, anybody, to help ease his own pain, but he stops himself. He deserves to suffer through every bit of it, for as le long as he continues breathing.

The finale of the three-part “Sharky Road Trip” with the surprise ending proved to be a hit with audiences, becoming the first piece of MegaloMania programming to beat Shark Week in the ratings. Darnell is pleased with the results, but Hammerstein is fuming at all the abrupt changes to his original ending. Hieronymus Glove wasn’t amused either by the shock, bloody ending to a program that was meant to be entirely educational and approachable to younger audiences. Darnell argues that the ratings prove that what they put out there was approachable to ALL audiences, the demographic analytics tell the story: People want to see sharks do what they do best, and that’s get bloodied. And the grisly fate of the Mangroves will only serve to strengthen shark conservation efforts. Darnell reiterates that MegaloMania is meant to be a celebration of ALL things shark, which includes all the bad things that come with them. No matter if they’re the ones attacking or being attacked, this is what gets people tuning in to Shark Week every single year.

Hammerstein slowly warms up to the idea due to all the story possibilities that could be at MegaloMania’s disposal. Hieronymus mulls it all over. With their original star becoming a victim, he wants MegaloMania’s next star to be anything BUT. They need a killer instinct, a will to survive. He also wants a shark that’s lovably marketable and who can carry the brand for years to come. Hammerstein has just the shark in mind.

Hieronymus sends out an edict that’ll affect all MegaloMania programming going forward: More Violence, More Grit, and More of Life’s Harsh Realities. No more coddling, no more pity parties. MegaloMania shall become the destination where sharks of all shapes and sizes return to form.

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Episode 3: The Frenzy

We return a day later, to Manny still cradling his family’s husks in his arms. He finally decides what his next move is going to be. He apologizes to his family one more time before turning over on his back, appearing to self induce tonic immobility in order to suffocate himself and finally bring an end to his misery. As the trance of tonic immobility gradually takes hold, over him, he starts to see a figure swimming a distance over him, blocking out the sunlight above like a moving eclipse. Manny is startled to see the same imposing figure brush past his body down below. He looks back up to see the sunlight again. This much larger mauve colored shark had tinges of a darker pink on his underbelly. It appears to be looking directly at Manny, but the moment he swims past Manny like he doesn’t even exist again, does Manny realize what this shark is really after.

The shark sniffs Kai and then the kids. It seems to have found its next meal. Manny begs the shark to leave them be and to claim him instead. The shark still refuses to acknowledge him as it begins to open its jaws over his wife’s body. Manny breaks out of the trance he was putting himself in and springs into action, shoving the other shark a couple inches away with all his strength. This finally catches the other’s attention. The shark comments that Manny “still has some fight in him after all”. This shark confesses that he had witnessed everything that transpired, including Manny’s continuously pathetic display. Manny refuses to take a lecture from both his family and some stranger, vowing to protect their bodies in death. They get into an argument over whether a burial is the way to go, with Manny saying that it’s the proper way to about it and the opposing shark arguing that it desecrates their memory and deprives them of their “final act”, the act of giving back vital proteins and nutrients to the ocean in death, which is something he looks to claim for himself.

Manny musters up the strength and courage to wrestle the other shark for ownership of their bodies, but his already weakened state sees him get easily overpowered and absolutely bodied. The shark grabs Manny by the dorsal with just his mouth and slams him back on the ground next to his family, a defeated and bloodier mess. The shark lays the truth on him that it doesn’t take a marine scientist to know that he and his family were betrayed. A shark finning operation this close to a shark sanctuary? Gives off the scent of an inside job. Manny refuses the possibility, but the shark asks just where is everybody he was with. They staged the whole thing, got the juicy stuff that they wanted and then left them for the frenzy to take care of the rest. Manny looks all around himself to see swarms of sanctuary sharks all throughout the distance, chomping at the bit to claim him and his family, but it appears something is holding them all back. Is it this shark, himself?

The dark shark gives Manny the opportunity to allow his family their one final act. Claim their proteins and nutrients as his own and gain greater strength from it. He’s gonna need it for what comes next. Manny asks what comes next. The dark shark responds, “you’re gonna make them bleed.” Manny looks at his family, extremely conflicted over what he must do to survive. He looks back up and finds that the dark shark is gone, and that the sanctuary sharks no longer have anything holding them back. The sanctuary sharks go into a frenzy and frantically make their approach. The frenzy’s approach causes Manny to flashback to when his kids were in danger of being predated on by members of their own group, Manny tried to talk them down but his wife took action and fended the lemon sharks off herself. She came out of the encounter far from unscathed. This was the moment that caused them to flee the group and find a new life of their own. Pan and Kai’s last words then echoed through his head. 

Manny comes to realize that maybe he did make them weak, but it was all in the hope of living a better, more civilized life. But THIS is the life and, ultimately, death his efforts have given them. Even when living in a civilized world, his family still came to a barbaric end. There is no such thing as civilization. Civilization is just a myth. It’s a ruse, an excuse to change the pecking order, a pecking order where sharks were once on top. Sharks have been reduced to being the ones in need of protection. It’s time to change all that.

Manny snaps himself out of his stupor to see reef sharks closing in on his daughter, Thalassa, but before they can sink their teeth into her, Manny manages to sink his in first. He quickly devours her entire body and tails whips the sharks away. He turns his attention to Pan, also swiping him away and devouring him whole. Manny can feel a sudden surge of energy flowing through him. His kind of power in the wrong shark’s hands could prove deadly, but in his it’s even deadlier. Reef sharks have already started nibbling on Kai, but Manny wrestles a large chunk of her away from them and claims it for himself. It feels as though the souls of his family are coursing through him, adding to his own. He’s never felt this before, this great. This was exactly what he needed to save his family earlier. Tears well up and evaporate in his eyes as the weight of his actions, as well as the circumstances that led to this point, catches up to him, but quickly takes it all in stride. He has to, in order to carry out what comes next.

“MAKE THEM BLEED”

The waters within the zone of protection slowly start to run red. Marine biologists and conservationists out in the field take notice of the startling change when a limp and heavily injured leopard shark is suddenly flung over their way, hitting one of them into the water. Some of them check on the condition of the leopard shark while some of the others check on their fellow conservationist who fell in, calling for them but are only answered by increasingly bloodstained water and torn body parts emanating from the bottom of their boat. A rogue lemon shark breaches the water and lunges at their boat. What follows is pure bloodshed.

 

Notes

  • The first instance of Manny embracing his primal instincts.

  • The Dark Shark is implied to be something grander and more supernatural in nature, but what exactly it is remains to be seen.

  • Featured shark(s): lemon shark, grey reef shark, leopard shark, white tip reef shark, ??? (Dark Shark)

 

Trivia

  • The shark sanctuary in Palau was established in 2009, to preserve and protect sharks from being targeted in commercial fishing activities. One such activity being shark finning.

  • The energy that courses through Manny’s body as his primal instincts take hold of him is called “mana”. Stay tuned for more on this subject.


 

Episode 4: The Green Gills

We open up to Sergeant Roderick and his Undersea Defense Force special operations unit, The Green Gills, executing a mission to liberate a reef community known as Barrier Bottom from the jaws of an overly ambitious tiger shark known only as The Dump Truck. The Dump Truck has been occupying the town for months and has been keeping its inhabitants tightly pressed under his thumb. The Dump Truck is an imposing force of nature who has committed similar acts of violence in the past against other communities, leaving nothing but death and carnage in her wake. The Green Gills have finally been deployed to deal with her threat personally.

Sergeant Roderick’s team consists of himself and other bignose sharks; Greg, Rowley, Fregley, Mudd and Patty. They infiltrate Dump Truck’s compound, managing to free some of Barrier’s imprisoned citizens in the process. They finally have Dump Truck in their sights and attempt to take her down in a coordinated attack, but they are soon laid siege upon by a small army of tapeworms, having appeared from inside Dump Truck. Dump Truck is surprised that the Green Gills have gotten this close to her, a true testament of their hunting abilities. She reveals herself to be the one in charge of this small army. She says that she’s come to a working agreement with her parasites. They can continue to feed off of her as long as they help keep her well fed. A mutually beneficial relationship, as she puts it. Roderick’s team fights off the tapeworms in order to reach their leader, but their numbers prove to be more formidable than they anticipated.

Greg manages to break away from the fray long enough to attack Dump Truck himself. His efforts are valiant, but the tiger shark manages to shut him down with her superior bite power. She crushes his skull between her teeth and gnashes life out of him before swallowing him whole. Upon seeing this, Roderick breaks off two teeth from his mouth and uses them as makeshift dual blades. The rest of the team follows suit and do the same thing to better cut down on the tapeworms’ numbers.

Roderick fights through scores of them, eventually carving out a path right to Dump Truck, herself. The tiger shark sees this and attempts to make a move on him before he can on her. She charges him into the walls of the compound, biting away at his torso. Roderick bites her on the dorsal fin and tears away at it, wrestling her down to the ground. Dump Truck tries bucking him off like a horse would do to its rider, but Roderick hangs on by his teeth and stabs her right in the eye with one of his improvised tooth blades. He dismounts as she trots around in pain with the tooth still lodged in her eye. Disoriented from the attack, she still opts to charge him, landing a blow right to Roderick’s nose. This stuns him momentarily, but he’s able to sense her charging over again and this time, he greets her with the end of his second improvised blade. The blade breaks skin under her chin and down her underbelly, the forward momentum from her charge causing the blade to effectively gut her down the middle.

Blood, innards and even more tapeworms gushes out of her, as does Greg’s mangled, slightly digested body. Any surviving tapeworms notice this and flee the compound while they can. Roderick and his team reconvene and finish Dump Truck off by devouring what’s left of her, giving each of them a boost in power and vitality.

Meanwhile, back in the Palauan Marine Sanctuary, the lemon shark circles a heavily damaged boat, hiding underneath the thick blood that’s coating the water. A lone survivor on the vessel attempts to call for help, saying that one of the sharks has gone horrifically rogue. But before they could receive an answer, the lemon shark breaches the water and falls directly on the boat, engulfing both the conservationist and their radio in his mouth. The damaged boat collapses under the weight as the lemon shark drags his victim deeper into the water.

Manny awakens in a fright, covered in sweat and appearing very manic. He finds himself somewhere in the open ocean, far from where he last remembered himself being. Was it all just a dream? Did he go off to find the help he was seeking? The sunlight shining down on him appears to have been blocked out again. He looks up and sees nothing this time, only to be startled when he looks back down to see the same dark shark from earlier floating right before him.

The dark shark informs him that it was all very, very real. He taunts Manny that he’s wasted the best years of his life on such frivolous bullshark shit, and that this is every shark’s true calling. Manny asks why he doesn’t remember making his way all the way down here. The dark shark responds that it’s because Manny let his instincts take over. His instincts “brought him catharsis, some closure and they also brought him here, right to me”. Manny questions just who this dark shark is exactly, and why the sudden interest.

The dark shark claims its name to be Kepanilā. Manny claims to have heard that name somewhere before, like out of an old story or something. Kepanilā claims himself to be “a god among sharks”, alongside others. They had all taken part in the Great Shark Wars centuries ago. Most of his kindred became casualties, believing himself to be the only one still left on the board. He has spent countless years roaming the world’s oceans alone, save for a traveling companion or two. Kepanilā long thought that he no longer had a purpose after the wars ended, but the ocean’s tide brought them together when they both needed a savior most.

Manny’s already getting weird vibes from this guy, to which Kepanilā says is good. Those are his instincts still kicking in. Kepanilā confesses that he wants to be able to help someone again like the good old days, before the wars tore the shark gods all apart. He sees Manny as his chance to finally get redemption. He’s already helped guide Manny to the false sanctuary, but there’s still more stops to make, and more blood to spill before he can truly redeem himself. Kapenilā tells Manny that his instincts have already brought him this far, it’d be best to continue following them. Manny doesn’t even know who or what they’re even leading him to. Kapenilā advises Manny to think back to when he and his family were initially ambushed. The men who de-finned his wife and children did so all the way at the bottom of the ocean. No man is capable of such a feat unless he were a merman. But those weren’t mermen that he smelled. Manny smelled that they were crocodiles, in men’s clothing. Kepanilā compliments him on his deduction skills. And where do the scaly bastards usually tend to shack up? The swamps, and they will run red tonight.

Back in the newly liberated Barrier Bottom, Roderick and his team honor their fallen comrade, Greg, with a brief vigil. Greg had no family that he knew of to notify in the event of his passing. Their vigil is suddenly interrupted by the untimely arrival of Gill Hammerstein and a film crew, on behalf of The Hieronymus Glove Company. Hammerstein compliments Roderick and his crew on a job well done, it all looked great on camera. Roderick refuses to give him permission to use that footage in any way. Hammerstein cuts straight to the point and asks Roderick and his team to become the new faces of Glove’s MegaloMania. Roderick doesn’t know what Gill expects him to say the second time and refuses once again. Gill knows what the Green Gills put themselves through and he wants to give them a platform to show the entire world just that. Roderick shoots that Hammerstein only wants to trivialize what they do, and that what they really do isn’t meant for the entire world to see. Roderick angrily tells Hammerstein to make a spectacle out of someone else.

A defeated Gill promises to burn the footage, but he’s already got a copy made and sent out to Nigel. The Green Gills receive some surprising intel from their superiors about a vicious attack that was carried out at the Palauan Marine Sanctuary. The casualties include both human and shark. Hammerstein snidely comments that he may have just found that spectacle. Roderick informs his superiors that The Green Gills will head down there right away. Roderick orders to have Greg’s body brought back to Bikini Bottom for a proper burial since they can’t bring themselves to consume a fallen brother in arms.

The Green Gills take their leave, but Hammerstein secretly bribes some of the UDF personnel into handing over the body to him.

 

Notes

  • It’s heavily implied that Gill Hammerstein and Sergeant Roderick have a history serving in the Undersea Defense Force together.

  • The Great Sharks Wars was a civil war involving various shark clans over surface world relations. It is believed that entire species went extinct during this time.

  • Featured shark(s): bignose shark, tiger shark, lemon shark, hammerhead shark, a literal shark god

 

Trivia

  • Gill Hammerstein previously appeared in the SpongeBob SauarePants video game, “Lights, Camera, Pants”.

  • Sergeant Roderick previously appeared in the SpongeBob SquarePants episode, “Mrs. Puff, You’re Fired” as the substitute teacher for Mrs. Puff. He even offers bonbons to the tapeworms as a callback to said episode.

  • The Green Gills name comes from two different sources of inspiration: the real life Green Berets and the son of the shark god, Keali’ikau ‘o Ka’u, who was a green shark born from a union between the god and a human.

  • The improvised weapons used by The Green Gills were inspired by ancient Hawaiian weaponry, which utilized shark teeth. Also by the fact that sharks have an endless supply of teeth that regenerates throughout their lives

  • The scientists who tagged Roderick and his team and gave them names were, in fact, inspired by characters from the Wimpy Kid books.

  • Dump Truck’s name is inspired by the fact that tiger sharks are known as “the dumpsters of the sea”, due to their diet of eating just about anything

 

Don’t worry, I may be hella ass late for Shark Week but I plan on wrapping this up for spoopy season! Expect the remaining 3 episodes to be posted before the month concludes. Yup, it’s 7 episodes altogether, one for each day of Shark Week! There might even be another extra festive surprise thrown in for good measure. I’ll have more to say on the future of this shit once it’s all said and done.

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Episode 5: Swamp Bros

We open up to the Green Gills investigating the bloodbath that took place at the Palauan Marine Sanctuary. Shark on shark violence isn’t uncommon, but attacking the conservationists is especially alarming. The reef sharks who frequent the nearby waters take great care to avoid predation on humans, leading Roderick to believe that they either have a rogue reef shark on their hands, which is rare, or a complete outsider took it upon themselves to raid the place. The bite patterns definitely indicates that a shark had carried out the attack, but it’s too large to be that of a mere reef shark. The mangled state of the conservationists also seem to indicate that this wasn’t for just nourishment, the attack appears to have been carried out with prejudice and malicious intent. Their instincts tell them the attacker appears to be set on a course towards Indonesia. They quickly follow suit.

Following the untimely collapse of their illegal hot sauce business, croc brothers; Buford, Cletus and Luther have since discovered that there’s far more money to be made in the reptile hunting industry. They built up their reputations hunting down scores of problem pests in their native swamp and eventually, they successfully shopped a show about their new ventures to the Graphic Nature Channel, their main selling point being “We’re fighting fire with fire. What other hunting show could be better than crocodiles hunting other crocodiles?!” They’re already three seasons deep into their series and they just finished wrapping up a recent tour of Micronesia, applying their trade to hunt down problem sharks in the area and bringing back with them such souvenirs as shark teeth and fins. Currently, they’re back in the swamp preparing to hunt down a newer, bigger threat than anything else they’ve encountered.

Their target is Baya, bane of the swampland and devourer of both croc and men alike. Legends state that Baya has inhabited Indonesian swamps for centuries, while some even say, millenniums. Steadily replenishing food sources has forced Baya to take up cannibalism and add humans to its menu. The legend of Baya becomes more and more of a harsh reality to swamp denizens with each and every attack it cruelly carries out. The Swamp Bros have now taken it upon themselves to end its reign of terror for good.

The Swamp Bros set up a snap trap to snare the elusive beast. They originally intended to use spare body parts from previous crocs that they hunted as bait to lure the monster out of hiding, but with attacks on humans spiking to an all time high, they’ve opted to abduct some people from nearby villages as a more effective alternative. Their piercing screams gets the job done with Baya taking the bait hook, line and sinker. Blood fills the entrapment, signaling the Swamp Bros to spring into action. Buford pops some shots into the prone Baya with nine shotgun blasts, more than they ever had to fire at anything else. Cletus and Luther both wrestle the injured Baya with deadly ferocity, simultaneously rolling it into submission with spinning in opposite directions, even managing to rip a limb off in the process. They truss Baya up and take its carcass back to their home as a huge feast for their families.

The Bros’ wives prepare dinner, frying Baya’s enormous amputated leg and heating up a pot of fresh shark fin soup. Their children play along the docks that connect their shacks together. When the dinner bell starts to ring, the children don’t answer its call. Manny observes the crocs from a distance, chewing and then spitting out a pair of small shoes. Kepanilā appears from above, telling Manny that all sharks’ power comes from mana. Mana can only be gained through two means; acts of violence or sex, and since Manny doesn’t seem like he’s getting any action in bed anytime soon, violence appears to be his only option. The mana that Manny’s gained through his actions thus far should be enough to take on these new foes, but one of their targets does carry a weapon of man with them, which muddies the water a bit when it comes to Manny’s chances. Crocodiles, on the other hand, operate on a different level spiritually, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous in their own right. Kepanilā advises that once he’s ready to engage, it’s imperative that Manny takes the shotgun out of play first. Once that’s done, it should all be mince meat from there.

Manny lets his instincts take over, diving into the shroud of the swamp water to mask his approach. The Swamp Bros, alarmed by the sudden disappearance of their kids, head out into the swamp to go looking for them, leaving their wives open to attack. Manny takes Cletus’s into the swamp and then Luther’s. Buford’s wife is the one preparing the shark fin soup. Manny smells his own family brewing in the pot. It’s their fins she must be using. They were the ones that did it. She leaves the pot to survey the swamp for herself, but this makes it all the more easier for Manny to attack from behind.

The Swamp Bros return by themselves, not being able to locate their children, and they come to find that their wives are now missing as well. They’re able to smell their blood in the water nearby. Cletus and Luther instantly recognize it all as their wives’. Buford catches a separate scent, leading him over to the pot, in which his wife’s severed head is being boiled. Buford grips his shotgun tight and hollers out to his brother, but Manny comes out from hiding behind the pot and knocks it over with a powerful tail whip, causing its heated contents to spill out onto Buford. Manny bites the arm carrying the gun and thrashes away, trying to at least rip it out of Bufords’s grip. Cletus and Luther rush over and wrestle Manny off of Buford, hold him down with their jaws long enough for Buford to get a shot out, blasting Manny back into the swamp water below.

Cletus, Luther and Buford submerge themselves into the swamp in pursuit, hollering that no one knows this swamp better than the Swamp Bros and vowing revenge for their fallen family members. They catch up to a bleeding Manny and brawl with him in the swampy depths. Buford whacks him in the nose with butt of his shotgun, disrupting Manny’s sense of balance greatly. Cletus clutches Manny’s right fin in his jaws and attempts a death roll, but Manny spins his body in the same direction, preventing it getting ripped off and driving Cletus head first onto the swamp floor. Manny gets a gnarly bite in on Cletus’ neck. Buford attempts to shoot him off his brother and gets another shot in. He reloads for a third time but Manny hears this and manages to move away, leaving Cletus to take the shot point blank in the snout. Blood pours out of Cletus’ head as floats up to the surface with his mouth open. Luther catches Manny’s entire body in his jaws and thrashes about recklessly, angered at losing yet another family member.

As this is all going on, Kepanilā approaches Baya, still hung up over on the dock. He knows that Baya still lives and implores him to walk it off already, stating that he’s “the mighty croc of Indonesian legend for my sake”. Baya’s eyes stirs open, recognizing Kepanilā upon first sight. Baya reminds the shark god that no sharks are allowed back in his waters, but Kepanilā reminds the legendary croc that the only reason that is the case is because he lent the croc a fin years ago against a common enemy.  And now, Kepanilā is calling that favor in.

Luther holds Manny down for Buford to get one more blast in, but before Buford can proceed he’s chomped down from above by Baya, who whisks the Swamp Bro further down the swamp and leaving behind a blood trail. This catches Luther completely off guard, giving Manny the opportunity to break free from his death grip and putting Luther into one of his own. Manny and Baya both devour their victims whole. Manny hops back onto the dock and into the gaping maw of Baya. Baya thrashes Manny around and throws him into one of the Swamp Bros’ shacks. Baya states he’s held up his “end of the deal”, now the sharks are to leave his territory immediately. Kepanilā is looking to collect Manny and oblige when the Green Gills suddenly launch their attack.

Baya is infuriated at the sight of even more sharks encroaching on his territory and accuses Kepanilā of trying to take it all like “Sura before him”, but the shark god denies any association with the Green Gills. Baya leaves Kepanilā to deal with them and retreats deeper into the swamp. Kepanilā thinks fast and tail whips Manny into the swamp water and tells his protégée to flee while he distracts the Green Gills. Kepanilā raises his fins in surrender and gives himself up to them. Roderick recognizes Kepanilā, commenting that he’s been praying to see this “war criminal” be brought to justice in his lifetime. Roderick grabs hold of the shark god in his jaws and flips him over, inducing tonic immobility to make transporting him easier. An injured Manny witnesses this, powerless to do anything but swim away.

This entire ordeal has taught Manny that he can’t continue down this path alone. His enemies aren’t just growing in size and power, but in numbers as well. He’s gonna need help and he knows where to get it, but they won’t be excited to see him.

 

Notes

  • It’s revealed that Baya and Kepanilā have a history dating back to the Great Shark War.

  • It’s revealed that The Swamp Bros are indeed the ones who finned Manny’s family and left them for dead.

  • It’s shown that sharks and crocodiles have an ancient rivalry that’s been going on for hundreds of millions of years.

  • Sergeant Roderick claims to know what Kepanilā really is, suggesting even more history between the shark god and the original founder of the Green Gills.

 

Trivia

  • The character of Baya is inspired by a story from Indonesian folklore that details the mighty crocodile’s bitter feud with the equally mighty shark, Sura. They would constantly fight over food and superiority, culminating in a legendary battle that resulted in Baya driving Sura away from the land. The real life Indonesian city of Surabaya would go on to be named after both of them. It’s implied in this episode that Kepanilā had assisted Baya in securing this major victory.

  • Buford, Cletus and Luther previously appeared in the SpongeBob SquarePants episodes Swamp Mates and One Trick Sponge.

 

Might be busy with other Halloween plans tomorrow.  So I might not get everything I had planned up by then. Hopefully I’ll get at least the sixth episode up tomorrow with the other two to follow in the coming days.

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Episode 6: Miseria Cantare

We open up to Manny’s instincts leading him to his family’s home before moving to Bikini Bottom, Arava Cove, a stretch of open ocean where sharks could live in relative peace away from the hustle and bustle of the more modern and civilized communities. These Shark colonies operate by their own sets of rules, free from any outside authority or government that are becoming increasingly commonplace among those lower on the food chain. To his surprise, Arava Cove was seemingly abandoned. Grottos appear ransacked or caved in entirely, trails of blood line the sand. The blood didn’t appear to be from any fresh kill, either. Something happened here, and Manny wanted to get to the bottom of it. 

 

Manny catches a whiff of a very familiar smell in the cove’s water. The lemon sharks that reside here usually don’t go around picking fights when any threat bigger than themselves enters the territory, and the sheer number of the lemons almost always dissuades potential threats from making any hostile movements. Manny theorizes to himself that what happened to him and his family must’ve also happened here, though this attack was on a much larger scale. An entire colony of sharks, seemingly wiped away like nothing. Manny had no room in his heart to spare on mourning this place. The reasons for his departure from the cove are still fresh in his memory. He heads off in the direction of that familiar smell, hoping to get some more intel from it.

 

Manny’s investigation leads him to a small school of remora hiding out in the remains of the Arava chief’s grotto. The startled remoras initially mistake Manny as another intruder, but are relieved to see that at least one of the sharks managed to escape the bloodshed. Manny informs them that isn’t with the settlement, and hasn’t been for a long while now. While the remora are surprised to see him, he’s just perplexed to see them in the settlement at all. Lemon sharks don’t typically view remora as fondly as other sharks of their ilk tend to do. To lemons, remora are no more than pests and more likely to be killed and devoured rather than bonded with.

 

One of the remora introduces themselves as Remy and informs Manny that the denizens of Arava Cove had to adapt more than ever in order to survive in recent times. The cove’s numbers had dwindled since Manny probably last stepped foot in it. Between the number of departures and the rising number of hunters in the area, the lemon shark population is in pretty dire straits. Manny is intrigued to know that more sharks apparently left in the wake of his own departure. See this as his chance to gather any information he can get, he questions the remora about what exactly took place here.

 

Remy recalls how a few weeks back, the cove’s Chief and his hunting party returned home from a feeding frenzy alongside a potential new mate. The Chief’s previous mate had been hunted down while pregnant with his pups. He brought the new arrival back to the cove in order to have something of a fresh start. The chief’s personal remora voiced their concern the loudest, sensing something was amiss with this female shark after other remora reported strange behavior being displayed while bonded with her, but the chief’s decision was final. When the time came to consummate the mating season, the hunters took it as an opportunity to lay siege to the cove. The Chief was killed in his own grotto and more bloodshed quickly followed. Some were tortured and mutilated on the spot, others were battered and netted up to the surface. Some remoras chose to stay with their hosts til the bloody end, others had no choice but to flee. When it was all said and done, this school of remoras were all that was left of the settlement.

 

Manny admonishes the chief for following his emotions instead of his instincts, but Remy replies that replenishing the lemon shark numbers was what his instincts told him. The remoras have come to know the stench of battle all too well in the immediate aftermath. They could sense the very same stench radiating off of Manny. Because of this, they question him on the circumstances surrounding his mysterious return. Manny refuses to divulge anything, feeling his situation to be eerily similar to what had happened. His own decisions had led him to ruin, much like how things turned out for the lemon chief.

 

Suddenly, Manny picked back up on a similar scent coming from beyond the cove’s borders. The stench of death is still fresh on this particular source, so Manny immediately heads out to further investigate, leaving the remoras behind.

 

His search takes him to the outskirts of the nearby reef city, Bandeau, which happens to lie in nurse shark territory. Here, fish of all creeds enjoy off-roading in the sand dunes. A shiver of nurse sharks operates a clinic in the event of any medical emergencies in the dunes. However, unbeknownst to the general public, the clinic also serves as a front for nurse sharks to feed indiscriminately. 

 

Inside, a trio of nurse sharks are currently feeding on a couple of children whose parents brought them in to treat some bad scrapes from a dirt bike mishap. When the nurse sharks conclude their lunch they instruct a fourth nurse to inform the parents that they can see their kids now. As the fourth nurse goes to do that, another injured fish stumbles into the clinic, blood pouring from a very open wound. The parents are startled at the sight as Manny enters the clinic right behind them. He attacks the two, gobbling as much of them up and leaving behind slight remnants of blood and some scraps..

 

The commotion draws the attention of the other three nurses, who storm out in a hurry. They’re pissed to see a lemon shark intrude on “their turf”, but Manny tells them that he isn’t here to incite a turf war. He’s only here for answers, and he thinks the fourth nurse shark can provide him with that. The other three nurse sharks charge at him in defense of their colleague, but Manny throws the injured fish’s body at them to break up their formation. Manny implores them to partake in their last meal. The three nurses oblige and tear the injured fish apart, devouring each respective section of his body.

 

Manny brawls with the nurses all throughout their makeshift office, but the numbers game slowly gets to him. They ultimately back him into a corner of the waiting room, take chomps out of him as he tries blocking their advances. Suddenly, his right fin seems to take on a life of its own as it absolutely potatoes one of the nurse’s right on their nose before proceeding to gouge another nurse’s eye out. Manny then takes the opportunity to take a big bite out of the third’s body. With the three nurses reeling in pain, Manny takes a closer look at his arm to see that Remy had himself firmly placed underneath it without Manny even knowing. Manny angrily demands to know what it’s doing, to which Remy replies that he’s helping “save your skin”.

 

Remy informs Manny that remoras are good for more than just reaping the leeching off of their hosts. They can help their hosts become stronger, more effective. Lemon sharks remained ignorantly blind to that fact for years until the Arava Chief finally saw the use in having them around. Now it’s for Manny to experience the same benefits.

 

The three nurse sharks take note of this development and remove their nurse's scrubs to reveal their very own remoras attached to them. Upon seeing this, Remy remarks that this might’ve gotten tougher. The nurses start channeling on their mana, which also extends to their remoras. This further widens the gap between their power and Manny’s, who is still clueless as to how to control his own mana to such a degree. Remy comments that Manny “sure did a number domesticating himself”. Remy takes some time to sync his own mana with Manny’s. This process allows him a clearer look into Manny’s soul, while also giving Manny a clearer window into his. Remy is finally able to see all the atrocities that Manny has been through while Manny finds out that Remy himself was the Arava Chief’s personal remora. Manny is also able to see Remy’s final memory of the Arava Chief, who in his last act, imparted some of his mana into Remy and instructed him to find a suitable host and spread word of what had happened to them to other shark colonies.

 

Manny snaps back to reality to find that he’s been putting up a much better fight against the nurses than he was previously. Remy informs him that that’s just “instincts really taking over”. Manny grabs one of the nurses and chows them down. And then doing the same to the other two in short order. The last nurse could scream in agony before being chugged through the serrated teeth and down Manny’s gullet. Manny could feel his mana growing exponentially from this latest victory. The nurse sharks’ remoras hastily retreat to the body of the fourth nurse, who applauds Manny for somehow surviving this long, but that it won’t be long before he ends up like all the others of his species. An electric current surges through the fourth nurse, pretty much tasering the remoras that have suckered themselves into her. Remy comments that that wasn’t mana she was using. This confirms Manny’s lingering suspicions that this “shark” isn’t what she passes herself off as.

 

The “nurse” removes her own scrubs to reveal that her body is a cage-looking vessel with two hired Glove hands operating it. Manny angrily questions how nobody in Arava Cove had stronger suspicions of this thing, Remy replies that it was “really convincing” and that they all thought the two operators were just people “she devoured recently”. The mechanized menace commences its attack, snapping at Manny with its motorized chompers. Manny manages to break away and put distance between himself and it, but the mechanical vessel fires off a harpoon that pierces his stomach, and with the rope attached to it, it begins reeling Manny back towards its motormouth. Manny struggles to pull himself away, but one of the operators inside pulls out a gun and fires off pot shots, hitting Manny multiple times, in hopes that it weakens him even further.

 

Remy tries his hardest to also pull back and keep Manny in place, but also gets overwhelmed by the strain. The other nurses’ remoras come to and realizes what’s going on. They quickly surround Manny and sucker themselves onto his body alongside Remy. Together, Remy and the other remoras go to work cleaning up Manny and letting their collective mana flow into his own. Their combined strength stops Manny from being drawn in closer to the mechanical man powered vessel, effectively putting them all at a stalemate until Manny snaps the rope that the harpoon is attached to with his teeth. Now freed, Manny’s aura bursts forth from his body, creating a bluish-green light show for all the fish participating in the sand dunes. Manny charges forth, letting his mana propel him faster, and snaps at the mechanical vessel’s cage-like body. The metal bars bend and break away, giving the operators little choice but to flee the vessel.

 

Manny thrashes about tearing the vessel to shreds as the operators frantically swim away with their guns. Once they reach a safe enough distance, they turn around to aim and fire, but is already out of sight. One of them is suddenly impaled through the head by the very same harpoon they had used on Manny, who quickly maneuvers around the line of fire of the other operator, who misses each of his shots. Manny then finishes him off by also impaling him through the head with the very same harpoon. Manny then proceeds to devour them both like a shish kabob. The nurse shark remoras part ways with Manny, who lets them go scot free for providing him the much needed assist. The remoras promise to let the other nurse sharks in Bandeau know of what happened regarding the hunters’ spy vessel, but they can’t guarantee that the nurses won’t retaliate for Manny’s own part in the incident. Manny assures them that he’ll be ready to cross that bridge when he gets to it.

 

On the way out of Bandeau, Manny and Remy share a heart to heart about their recent tragedies. How they both lost those they cared for in the blink of an eye. How they both had to emotionally detach themselves in order to survive for as long as they have. Manny’s journey to seek out retribution has been missing a pretty vital piece of the puzzle, but his shared experience in Bandeau might have finally gifted him with said piece. Remy offers up his services to Manny since the road ahead seems more perilous than ever. The hunters are also capable of evolving and adapting. It’s time to show them just who the original innovators of that shit are. Before they embark towards their final destination, Remy reminds Manny that there are “more vengeful souls just like them”. Manny is still uncomfortable about the concept of revenge and how it’s a complex emotion that’s beyond the shark species. Remy remarks that perhaps now marks a pivotal moment where sharks finally start evolving beyond their modern conventions.

 

They head back to Arava Cove and recruit all the remaining remoras there who want to stand and fight back against their aggressors. Manny promises to provide them all protection for as long as he’s able, just as long they all work to make sure that he’s capable of fighting for as long as he’s able. Manny discards his prized red and yellow plaid pants that his wife had bought him, as well as his glasses. He no longer needs them to see the world so clearly. He places these items in his old grotto as a makeshift shrine to his family, his old life. The remora all surround him, converging onto Manny’s skin by sticking to him using their head suckers. Their mana all flow together in sync with Manny’s. Through this, Manny is able to experience the pain that they and their previous hosts had all gone through and vice versa. Manny could feel the power of the entire cove coursing through him as the remora all work to clean his wounds and mend his body. Once the bonding process was over, Manny felt good as new and better than ever. The remora became like a second skin, a sort of suit of armor that freely moved along to his own movements. Their mana flow creates a combined yellow color, embodying the entire populace of the cove’s former lemon residents.

 

Manny knows just where to go, but he lets his instincts guide him anyway. He sets a mental course for the location of the final showdown; Glove World. However, he stops by the Bandeau sand dunes on the way there for a quick power snack. Picking apart the many powersports enthusiasts gathered there.


 

Notes

  • The first appearance of Remy, and the introduction of remoras species as a whole

  • We get our first look at Manny’s original home, Arava Cove, which has been referenced and alluded to multiple times in previous episodes

  • The first mention of Bandeau, an underwater city very similar to Bikini Bottom. The events of this episode take place right outside of Bandeau, the closest we get to it being the sand dunes located on the outskirts

  • We are first introduced to nurse sharks, whose feral population operates primarily in and around Bandeau

  • Whatever was left of the lemon shark population in Arava Cove is assumed to be completely wiped out

  • The concept of mana gets further fleshed out in this episode. For sharks, mana is gained either through acts of violence or through sexual activity. Remoras are able to gain and utilize mana through their close working relationships with sharks. Through bonding and symbiosis, sharks and remoras are able to share their power and experiences with each other

 

Trivia

  • The episode’s title is a reference to “Miseria Cantare (The Beginning)” by AFI

  • “Arava” is the Tahitian name for lemon sharks

  • The character of Remy the Remora is a reference/slight homage to Remy from Ratatouille

  • The name for the city “Bandeau” is based off of the bandeau garment used for bikini wear, much like Bikini Bottom

  • Members of The Drasticals are seen among those in attendance for the Bandeau Powersports Competition at the very end of the episode

  • Manny’s wardrobe is based on his depiction used for the Before picture seen in “MuscleBob BuffPants”

  • One of the pictures in the nurse sharks’ office is of Nurse Leslie, a shark character from “Camp Lazlo”

  • In real life, lemons are one of the very few species of sharks who have been observed acting aggressively to and even consuming remoras

  • The mechanized shark-shaped submersible used by the Glove company is based off of the one used in Discovery’s “Mechashark” Shark Week documentary. The storyline revolving around the Mechashark’s infiltration of Arava Cove is also inspired in part by that documentary’s follow-up, “Mechashark: Love Down Under”

  • The fully realized “final form” taken by Manny after fully bonding with the remoras is inspired by the Super Saiyan transformation from “Dragon Ball Z”. Minus the hair, of course

Edited by Old Man Jenkins
“shape-shaped”
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Episode 7: Mutually Assured Destruction

 

The Green Gills have successfully taken Kepanilā prisoner, having since transported him to their base camp in the Sulu Sea, southwest of the Philippines. They place him in a cage made entirely of adamantine metal, a rare metal that has not been used since being officially retired from use by the Undersea Defense Force. Sgt. Roderick reprimands Kepanilā for his litany of war crimes and countless acts of terror against both the denizens of the water and surface. He calls Kepanilā “the progenitor of their species’ soiled reputation” and says that he’ll enjoy seeing the evil shark finally get torn to pieces after all these years.

 

Kepanilā merely continues to proclaim that he’s the species’ great liberator. He reminds the Green Gills that sharks have existed on this earth far longer than most, yet they’re the ones constantly at risk of extinction, they’re the ones constantly treated like scum of the earth both by land and sea alike. Their very existence keeps the whole world in balance, but they’re constantly ostracized for doing what nature demands of them. He also reminds them that most man eaters agreed to the compromise that ultimately ended the Great Shark War because tolls were heavy on both sides. Kepanilā reveals that he lost his own brother to the tides of war. To swear off humans was one thing, but now everyone in the seven seas expects sharks to stand down from preying on their primary food source. Kepanilā puts over the danger these underwater sanctuary cities pose to their ecosystem. If sharks don’t regulate and maintain the fish population, coral reefs will die, seagrass will be stripped clean from the seafloor and the ocean will suffer the consequences. And an unhealthy ocean spells disaster for the world at large.

 

Roderick puts over how the existence of these underwater cities already address those issues, but Kepanilā doesn’t buy it. He sees the establishment of these cities as fish taking up the bad habits of humans, who have only done more harm to the world than good. Roderick says that The Green Gills have an understanding with humans that goes back centuries. Kepanilā agrees that they may have had an understanding at one point in time, but that isn’t the case anymore. The world isn’t the same as it was when the great green shark, Omao, first revealed himself to the surface world and offered man his services. Kepanilā admits that he and his fellow man eaters broke that bond when the first human was devoured, but sharks have died defending man in the years since and still they hunt not just sharks, but all ocean life, indiscriminately and without prejudice. If fish are to continue adopting man’s ways, it’ll without a doubt be mutually assured destruction across the board.

 

Roderick comments on how Kepanilā survived The Great Dying and how life on earth eventually bounced back from that. Kepanilā retorts, “just barely”. Kepanilā then questions him as to why he went back to serving the Gills when he “seemed to have his life all set in the BIG CITY”. He hypothesizes that perhaps something went wrong during the sergeant’s brief stay in Bikini Bottom. Roderick refuses to say anything further, leaving the enemy to toil away in his confinement.

 

Rowley, having listened in on their conversation, later piggybacks on the question and asks the sergeant himself. Roderick concedes that he wasn’t made for “civilized life”. He tried playing by their rules, but their rules ended up turning on him. His whole experience in Bikini Bottom is why he’s sworn off using boatmobiles forever. Just then, they receive news from HQ that a shark attack is taking place in Bikini Bottom as they speak. Rowley goes to rally the others, but Roderick makes the decision to handle the situation by himself since Kepanilā still needs to be heavily guarded until they can finish transporting him to HQ. Rowley is unsure about that as the situation in Bikini Bottom could prove to be more dangerous than anticipated, but Roderick is set on going it alone. He only asks that Rowley tell his wife that he loves her should the sergeant not make it back in one piece.

 

In Bikini Bottom, Manny has already launched his assault on Glove World, attacking both park patrons and workers alike to draw out Hieronymus Glove. Some of his former co-workers recognize him, but not even whatever relationship they might’ve had can save them from his jaws. The water surrounding the park reddens ever so gradually as Manny continues to pick everybody apart. Park security finally arrive on the scene, but they find themselves very ill prepared when faced with a rogue shark. Manny catches the scent of Glove on the security officers and interrogates them on Glove’s whereabouts. One of the security points him in the direction below Glove World itself. Manny finishes the security off before diving deeper into the recesses of the park.

 

The path takes Manny down many underground tunnels and passageways, going far deeper than he imagined. He was aware of the jail that was put in place for unruly park goers, but never did he think that such a vast facility was lying right under all their noses. It all appeared to be a factory of some sort, where the main product being manufactured was none other than shark fins. Manny could see rows of his fellow finned lemon sharks piled up along the factory’s floor, all waiting to be disposed of. Most were already dead, some were still trying to cling to life, but the loss of their fins made it impossible for them to move. Remy and the other remoras’ eyes water as they see what has truly become of their comrades.

 

Not wasting another moment, Manny launches himself at the first finner he sees. The other finners are immediately alerted to his presence by the commotion and take up arms to combat the rogue in their midsts. Gun fire rains down throughout the facility in a desperate attempt to gun Manny down, who tanks some of the shots as he makes his approach. He quickly picks apart the finners one by one until he’s suddenly intercepted by Hieronymus Glove himself, who surprises Manny from below and chomps down on his caudal fin. Glove thrashes about, tearing away at Manny’s legs before slamming him onto the ground next to the bodies of his fellow Arava Cove dwellers. Glove compliments on how far Manny’s killer instincts have brought him, but that his own instincts are even sharper. Glove was banking on Manny just curling up into a ball and dying, but this outcome truly makes for far more compelling television. He comments on how Darnell probably already has a narrative to spin this in mind.

 

Manny wants to know why Glove chose to target him and his family. Glove’s original intentions were to show how vulnerable and weak sharks have become in order to drum up sympathy support that could paint his company in a much better light. Manny realizes that the Glove Company has made a majority of its fortune literally off the backs of thousands, possibly even millions, of sharks. Glove tells him that shark fins are a very hot commodity, always has been. But the practice has become increasingly taboo with new laws and orders being put in place to protect sharks. So he set up the Glove World enterprise as a front in order to hide the company’s seedy underbelly. He even had the great idea for the mascot of this venture to be one of the very last things that sharks see before having everything taken from them. Manny looks around to see all the finners wearing the very same gloves that have become symbolic with Glove World. Glove claims that he has adapted the most to the ever-changing world around. He’s evolved to the point that he’s become the apex predator of the apex predators and a loving, protecting figure to all who has ever been touched by the warmth of Glove. And hey, maybe when it’s all said done, he could be the last shark left in the ocean. As he rightfully should be.

 

Glove does admit that his latest MegaloMania media venture is mainly for surface world eyes only. Surface dwellers nowadays have some sorta self-righteous mission to protect those that cannot be saved. Extinction events have happened time and time again, they’re only struggling against the inevitable. Ocean dwellers, on the other hands, could care less what happens to sharks. It’s why Glove’s been in business for so long. Having heard enough, Remy dislodges from Manny and lunges at Glove by himself. He gets a nip in before Glove grips him tightly in his gloved hand. Glove admonishes Remy for this pitiful display. He poses that remoras don’t care about sharks. The moment sharks are gone and dusted, they’ll just move on to the next big thing like the leeches they truly are. It’s the only reason why they would ever settle on Manny. Glove proceeds to devour Remy before everyone’s eyes. Some of the surviving remora go to work, cleaning the wounds on Manny’s legs, fixing it up to the point that he could attack again.

 

Manny chomps down on Glove’s torso and raises him up above the factory floor, swimming around and shaking his head violently about to worsen the damage being done. Glove powers through the pain and reaches down, biting Manny by the dorsal fin. The pain of the blow allows him to lift Manny off of him and reverse the pressure back onto him.

 

Manny and Glove wrestle for control of each other. The surrounding personnel can’t get any clear shots in, but one of them takes the chance anyway, piercing their own boss in the process. Glove tailwhips Manny off him and attacks the shooter, devouring him on the spot. Manny uses this distraction to go after Glove’s own dorsal fin. He raise glove back up into the air before slamming him back down on the floor with a German suplex. Manny charges his mana and tries going in for the quick kill, but Glove charges up his own, the shockwave being enough to send Manny back from the sheer force. Whereas Manny’s is a lemony yellow, Glove’s is blood red, symbolic of all the lives he’s ruined to get himself where he’s at now.

 

With Manny now a good distance away, the finners open fire on the lemon shark. Manny does his best to shield himself, with some of his remora even taking hits for him. Glove reiterates that Manny will end up like all the others who had the gall to oppose him: gnashed between his teeth! However, some of the firing squad is taken down in one fell swoop. They each slump down, revealing a sharp tooth lodged into each of their skulls. The remaining finners are then each disemboweled in a green flash. Sgt. Roderick emerges through the blood and gore, slurping some of their intestines into his mouth like spaghetti noodles while holding a shark tooth blade in each fin.

 

Glove grabs hold of one of the discarded assault rifles and channels some of his mana into it before letting loose on Roderick, who manages to defect most of the oncoming fire with his improvised blades. Once Glove runs empty, Roderick quickly lunges in and slashes the rifle in half with his own green mana-infused blades and digs them deep into both sides of Glove’s gills. Glove grabs both of Roderick’s arms and twists them back, holding Roderick in place and unable to use his blades as Glove takes a bite out of Roderick’s own neck. Roderick tries kneeing him in the torso but to no avail. His suffering is only alleviated when Manny comes back in with a stiff knee strike right on Glove’s nose. This disorients Glove enough for Manny to chomp down on his right arm and twist it right off.

 

As Manny prolongs Glove’s suffering by targeting the rest of his fins/limbs, some of Manny’s remoras have lodged themselves onto Roderick and they proceed to clean up his wounds. Roderick comments to himself how it’s been a while since he had one of them. Manny once again chomps down on Glove’s dorsal fin. Glove charges his mana up again in an attempt to force Manny off, but Roderick comes back in and impales both of Glove’s eyes with his blades, allowing Manny to rip Glove’s dorsal fin clean off. Manny swallows down the fin. Then, he proceeds to devour gobble down the rest of Glove’s body. Glove desperately struggles to wiggle out, but his lack of fins make escape impossible. Manny chomps at him until only his head remains, which Manny callously drops on the floor before spitting on it.

 

Manny takes a moment to take in all that just happened before focusing his attention toward Sgt. Roderick, who is already staring daggers at him. Roderick levels with Manny, saying that bonding with his remoras just now told him all he needed to know about him. Roderick understands why he did what he did here, but it sure doesn’t make everything that he did getting here right. He knows Manny was the one who attacked the shark sanctuary in Palau. He knows he was in the swamps as an accomplice to Kepanilā. And he knows all about the civilians he preyed on both in Bandeau and at Glove World. Taking all of that into account, Manny is well past the point of going rogue and is now a major threat that must be neutralized immediately.

 

Manny remembers the promise he made to continue living for his family. Roderick reminds Manny that even his family didn’t want this. Manny notices some of the remoras that were once his now latched onto Roderick. It’s telling of his chances at survival. Manny laments that “we can never win.” Roderick retorts that “some of us still can.” Manny responds by saying that “the rest of us will just have to adapt”.

 

Manny charges up with the remaining remoras he has left and charges towards Roderick, who also charges his mana up. Manny goes right for the head, while Roderick goes low for the torso. Blood gushes forth and engulfs the two. Flashes of yellow and green emanate from the cloud of blood for a few brief seconds. After a few moments, Manny shuffles out of the cloud. He crumbles to the floor, revealing a large chunk of his body missing. The blood cloud slowly clears to show Roderick swallowing said chunk down. Roderick kneels down next to Manny, “sorry, brother.” Manny attempts to crawl away, clinging on for as long as he can before finally going limp in a pool of his own blood. The remaining remoras leave Manny while Roderick strips off the ones still on him.

 

As Roderick makes his way back up to the park, his senses start going on the fritz. Something nearby really wants his attention. He briefs the authorities on the situation once he’s back topside. Officers head down below to survey the scene for themselves. Glove World executives collect Hieronymous’ head before bribing the police chief. Manny’s body is taken by Gillbert Hammerstein, who wants his “top men” at ElasmoBranch to study it, just like with Greg’s body before him. These closing events became a smash hit for MegaloMania, with The Graphic Nature Channel giving Darnell the green light to move forward with MegaloMania 2.

 

Roderick calls in to base camp, updating them on the situation at Bikini Bottom. Rowley is relieved to hear that the sergeant is still with them. They’ll be ready to finish transporting Kepanilā when he returns. Roderick’s instincts go off again, drawing him to the presence of a familiar yellow sea sponge who was out enjoying his day at Glove World with his best friend before disaster struck. Roderick’s better judgement tells him to move on, but his instincts refuse to budge.

 

In a post-credits scene, Manny’s remoras are seen scattering all across Bikini Bottom. One of them finds a new host in the form of Harold, who is having another spat with Mr. Krabs at the Krusty Krab. It nestles itself in on him, unseen, as Krabs leaves to go into his office. Harold feels something come over him, commenting on just how “big and meaty” Krabs’ claws look. Not content with his current meal, Harold sets his Krabby Patty aside before approaching Krabs’ office door.


 

Notes

  • The first appearances of Harold, SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Mr. Krabs and Al Priss. The most character cameos from the main series yet

  • The events of “Mrs. Puff, You’re Fired” are finally alluded to

 

Trivia

  • Sgt. Roderick’s request for Rowley to “tell my wife that I love her” is a callback to him saying the very same line in “Mrs. Puff, You’re Fired”

  • Harold is a dogfish, a much smaller species of shark


 

Phew, finally got that done. Sorry it took a lot longer than it really should’ve. At least I managed to wrap it before a full calendar year passed. I ran into some major blockage after the Swamp Bros episode. I had a set roadmap at that point, but the vision for it changed multiple times to the point where I was just stumped for a while. I know that’s pretty sad for something that leans more towards the tv.com style of spin-off but it is what it is. I said in an announcement thread update a couple months back that MegaloMania 2 probably won’t happen this year, and that probably will still be the case going forward. I kinda just wanna focus more on SpongeBrawl through the rest of this year and see if I can make a go of that, y’know. See ya here next year I guess.

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