In The Belly Of The Beast

The title card

In The Belly of the Beast is the 9th episode of Action League Now!. It first premiered on the Kablam! episode, You've Tried the Rest, Now Try the Best! on November 29, 1996.

Characters Present

• The Flesh
• Thundergirl
• Stinky Diver
• Meltman
• The Chief
• The Mayor
• Justice
• The Chief's Wife
• The Bank Manager

Plot

The episode begins with The Chief and his wife on a date on the couch. Suddenly, a vacuum hose sneaks up behind the Chief. Justice tries to warn him, but the Chief thinks he's trying to hit on his wife. The vacuum hose then sucks up the Chief and traps him in a vacuum bag, being controlled by none other than The Mayor, who plans to use it against the Action League.

Back at Action Headquarters, the League prepares to goof off. Thundergirl rides a roller skate, The Flesh tosses a paper airplane, and Stinky Diver tries to shoot it with his spear gun. Instead, he accidentally hits Meltman, who tells them that, since The Chief's not here, as senior member, he's in charge. The Flesh says to Meltman that the only thing he can be in charge of is getting soda, then chants for it with Stinky and Thundergirl. Meltman reluctantly accepts to get them, and as soon as he leaves, Justice arrives and tells The Flesh, Thundergirl, and Stinky that The Chief's gone missing. The league rushes off to find him.

Meanwhile, Meltman is at the refrigerator, trying to get the soda cans down with a long stick, all the while complaining that the others don't appreciate him. When he does manage to get them down, they land on him and splat on the ground. He returns to Action Headquarters with the sodas, only to find the others nowhere in sight. He, thinking they ditched him, decides to quit in anger, as he doesn't want to stay where he isn't wanted. He then kicks one of the soda cans, which squirts him backwards.

The rest of the League continues searching for The Chief. The Flesh looks on foot in the kitchen, Thundergirl searches the living room by flying to get an aerial view, and Stinky looks in the bathroom by swimming in a toilet. Just then, the Mayor's vacuum cleaner starts sucking them up one by one, starting with Stinky in the bathroom, and following with Thundergirl in the living room. The Mayor then tries sucking up the Flesh, only to find him too big and buff to fit in the vacuum hose, so he pushes a barbell at the Flesh, which splits him into pieces. He then sucks up the Flesh's pieces one by one. Inside the vacuum bag, the League has found the Chief. Unfortunately, they can't get out of the vacuum bag, and only Meltman can save them.

Meanwhile, a sad Meltman cashes his final paycheck at the bank. Just then, the Mayor's vacuum hose sucks up Meltman's money and even the bank manager. However, he doesn't stop there; his evil plan isn't complete unless he sucks up Meltman! The Narrator then asks the viewers if the Mayor will succeed in his evil plan, telling them to stay tuned for part two.

In the second act, Meltman runs away from the Mayor's vacuum cleaner, which chases him to the bathroom, where he climbs up a toilet plunger, runs over the toilet, bounces off of the handle, and lands on a roll of toilet paper. The Mayor then uses his vacuum to suck up the toilet paper as Meltman starts jogging. The toilet paper quickly fills up the vacuum bag, robbing the rest of the League of precious oxygen. When the toilet paper runs out, the Mayor corners Meltman, and just as it looks like Meltman is done for, the toilet paper clogs up the hose, causing the vacuum to smoke. The vacuum then explodes, destroying it and setting the rest of the League free.

An escaped Chief asks the Mayor why he tried to suck up the League with his vacuum cleaner. The Mayor tells them that he's a neatnik, after which the League thanks Meltman for saving them and says that he really should be in charge... of getting them pizza, that is. They all chant for that food as Meltman kicks a piece of the vacuum in frustration, ending the episode.

Quotes

• The Chief (as Justice tries to warn him about the vacuum hose behind him): "Quiet, Justice! Get your own blasted girlfriend!"

(Stinky' harpoon lands on Meltman, and he removes it.)

• Meltman: "Okay, you cretins, that's enough! Chief's not here, so as senior member, I'm in charge!"

(The paper airplane that Thundergirl threw hits Meltman and he falls to the floor. The rest of the League walks towards him.)

• The Flesh: "Yeah, in charge of getting sodas."
• The League, chanting except Meltman:: "Soda, soda, soda, soda, soda...!"
• Meltman: "Oh, alright... but when I get back, I'm kicking rump and taking names!"

(The rest of the League laugh at him when he goes to get sodas, at the same time Justice arrives to warm the League.)

• The Flesh: "Look guys, I found the Chief!"

The Chief: "You muscle-headed moron! Don't you get it?"

Stinky Diver: "We've all been Hoovered!"

Thundergirl: "And only Meltman can save us!"

The Flesh, Thundergirl, Stinky Diver and The Chief: "WE'RE DOOMED!"

• Meltman: "$99, $100. My final paycheck. Well, I guess I better put this in a safe place." (The Mayor's vacuum sucks up his money) "Hey! Give me back my money! I want to see the Bank Manager!"

The Mayor (as he sucks up the Bank Manager): "Here he is, Mush-man! And you're next!"

• Narrator: "We last left our heroes vacuum-sealed in a dusty tomb. Their only hope; the spurned Meltman, who takes the kind of action he's famous for..."

Meltman: "Aaaah! Don't hurt me!"

Narrator: "...evasive action."

• The Mayor (as Meltman runs across the toilet paper roll): "You can run, but you can't wipe!"

• The Chief: "What in Harry's henhouse?"

Stinky Diver: "Loo paper, robbing us of precious oxygen!"

The Flesh: "At least it's squeezably soft."

• The Mayor (the vacuum about to explode): "Uh-oh, here's trouble!"

• The Chief: "Why'd you do it, Mayor?"

The Mayor: "Would you believe... I'm a neatnik?"

Allusions

• At the bank, the game board is from "The Game of Life", and Meltman's money is Monopoly Money.

• The Flesh says the toilet paper is "Squeezably soft", a reference to the Charmin bath tissue commercials, where Mr. Whipple would tell customers not to squeeze the Charmin, before eventually giving in and squeezing it himself.

Previous Episode

• Roboflesh (episode)

Next Episode

• Where Pigeons Dare

Gallery

"Dateline, Mount Pillowmanjaro, where the Chief takes a time out from his daily grind to admire the works of nature."

"These blasted mountains are beautiful!"

"And yet, they are but a pale backdrop for your radiance."

"But as love begins to blossom..."

"...danger is in full bloom!"

Justice tries to warn The Chief about the vacuum hose behind him.

"Quiet, Justice! Get your own blasted girlfriend!"

"Ha, ha! With their Chief missing..."

"...the Loser League will be sucked into my evil trap!"

"We find our heroes..."

"...at Action Headquarters..."

"...lost without their beloved leader."

"I've got missile lock!"

"Ow! Okay, you cretins, that's enough."

"The Chiefs not here so as senior member, I'm in charge!"

"Ow!"

"Ow."

"Yeah, in charge of getting sodas."

"Sodas, sodas, sodas, sodas, sodas, sodas...!"

"Oh, alright..."

"...but when I get back, I'm kicking rump and taking names!"

The League laughs.

Justice then arrives in a panic to alert the League about the whereabouts of the Chief.

"What is it, Justice?"

"The Chief must be in trouble."

"Action League, away!"

"Those guys don't know how lucky they are to have me around."

"I'm a, I'm a can-do guy."

Soda cans then begin to drop on Meltman rolling him back to Action Headquarters.

"I'm back."

"Hey... they ditched me. That's it; I quit! They won't have Meltman to kick around anymore."

After kicking one of the cans, he is squirted back by the soda.

"Meanwhile, the rest of the League conducts an exhaustive Chief hunt, by land..."

"...by air..."

"...by sea."

The vacuum sucks up first Stinky Diver...

...and then Thundergirl.

"Ha ha! I'm too big and buff."

"Ouchies!"

"Ha ha! I've got The Flesh-eating disease!"

The Flesh's pieces are then sucked into the vacuum.

"Look, guys, I've found the Chief!"

"You muscle headed moron! Don't you get it?!"

"We've all been hoovered..." "...and only Meltman can save us!"

"WE'RE DOOMED!!"

"...$99, $100, my final paycheck."

"Well, I guess I better put this in a safe place."

"Hey, give me back my money!"

"I want to see the bank manager."

"Here he is, Mushman!"

"And you're next!"

"Will the Mayor's sinster plan be a sucking success? And what of the Action League, trapped in a dirt bag of doom? 'Stay tuned for the vacuum-packed conclusion of Action League Now!"

"We last left our heroes, vacuum-sealed in a dusty tomb. Their only hope? The spurned Meltman, who takes the kind of action he's famous for..."

"Aaaah, don't hurt me!" "...evasive action!"

Avoiding the vacuum, Meltman climbs up the toilet plunger...

...then bounces off the toilet handle...

...landing on the toilet paper...

...and he begins running across it.

"You can run, but you can't wipe!"

"What in Harry's henhouse?"

"Loo paper, robbing us of precious oxygen!"

"At least it's squeezably soft."

"Suck it up, Meltman. You're going down the tube!"

Meltman is then cornered by The Mayor's vacuum cleaner...

...but the toilet paper is clogging the vacuum tube.

"WE'RE DOOMED!!!"

The vacuum cleaner then malfunctions...

"Uh oh, here's trouble..."

...and then explodes.

"Why'd you do it, Mayor?"

"Would you believe... I'm a neatnik?"

"Nice going, Melty." "We owe you an apology, mate."

"And our lives. You really should be in charge."

"You think so?"

"Absolutely. In charge of getting us... pizza."

"Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza...!" "The end."

A promotional image for this episode from Nickelodeon Magazine