Chapter 1- Titan's New Alliance

It was an average day in the city of Titanica. The evil Titan was in a secret communications room along with some of his inner circle which included villains like his masterspy X20 along with the aquaphibians. As all the villains were getting into their seats, Titan pressed the button and a computer screen appeared. The image showed a picture of a man with dark hair and green eyes smirking at them.

"Wait a second," said the man. "You must be Titan."

"Yes," said Titan as he stuck his pinkie finger in his mouth. "I'm interested in forming an alliance with you. Since of course we seem to have the same enemies you know, Hal Cartwright."

"I know," replied Hal. "And I know that you and those sea lizards you call aquaphibians've had some hard times with defeating your enemy known as the World Aqaunaut Security Patrol or WASP for short. I'm also planning on defeating my enemy, Commander Samuel Arthur Shore."

"Of course those the World Aquanaut Security Patrol are our main enemy." said X20 as Hal turned to him.

"You must be X20," Hal spoke up. "I'm glad we can finally meet. I can tell that you've had a lot of trouble with that Troy Tempest guy."

"Sure, whatever," said X20. "But with both Commanders Shore, it's nearly impossible to kick Tempest's butt."

"Not if you accept what to do with my plans," said Hal. "It'll improve your strategy against that cocky jerk."

"Hmm, interesting," said Titan. "I accept this alliance, Cartwright."

"So, like, what do we do with those WASP dudes?" asked one aquaphibian as he pounded his fist on the table.

"That's up to me," replied Hal. "The plan's pretty simple. The WASP submarine known as Stingray has a crew who have outsmarted every bad guy Titan's got to offer to go toe to toe with them. And what makes matters worse is that Sam Shore's one of that punk's allies. The only solution here is to kick both their butts."

"Which is?" asked Titan.

"I'm getting to that," replied Hal. "Don't rush me. Anyway, I figure we can lure both of our enemies into a trap. It shouldn't be any type of trap, oh no, but a trap that will annihilate both of them. My aquaphibian ninjas will make an assault against both WASP and Marineville."

"Hmm, those Stingray buttheads cause a lot of trouble for us." said another aquaphibian.

"Then it's settled," said Titan as he got up from his seat and walked toward the computer screen. "We accept this alliance with you to destroy our enemies."

"Good," said Hal. "Then I suggest that you and your minions get going on those plans. My aquaphibian ninjas'll send in the coordinates to WASP base. Make sure that you pick your aquaphibians to kick Shore's butt and send X20 to help destroy Marineville."

As the computer screen was turned off, Titan turned around and studied X20 and his aqauphibians.

"So, who are you going to send in to kick Tempest's butt?" X20 asked. "Most of us can get our butts kicked by Tempest."

"True," said Titan. "But I'm planning on sending my aquaphibian army against Tempest. Aquaphibians, I think it's time that you made a full frontal assault against Marineville."

"But I want revenge against Commander Sam Shore." complained another aquaphibian.

"Don't question Titan," snapped X20. "This is our chance in finally destroying those Marineville Dorks and any ally of them that believes in their same purpose."

"Hmm," said Titan. "Perhaps you're right. I'll send another squad of aquaphibians against Marineville and make it a smaller squad of aquaphibians. I want most of the them to attack Tempest and help the aquaphibian ninjas."

"Excellent," said another aquaphibian. "We'd love to see fireworks when Marineville's destroyed."

"Come on," said the first aquaphibian that spoke as he was starting to get up from his seat. "Let's get going. We can't keep Hal and those aquaphibian ninjas waiting."

As everybody was about to get up from their seats, the mighty sea god Teufel saw another aqauphibian come right into the room.

"I thought you said Teufel only judged anyone who crossed Titan's path or kicked his butt." said another aquaphibian to X20.

"I did." replied X20.

"You won't last one nano second in Dr Hal Cartwright's plans to destroy Marineville and WASP." said Titan.

"Hmm, I kind of figured that once you got to WASP, Sam Shore turned your butt away, Titan." said Teufel.

"Look," said X20. "You can't join in on any of Dr Cartwright's plans, O Mighty Teufel."

"You're giving Teufel a headache now, X20." said Titan.

"Yeah, good one." said Teufel as he glared at X20. "I know I may only be a fish but I'm just as good as any of you people are."

Suddenly, the computer screen automatically turned back on and showed the image of Hal along with an aquaphibian ninja.

"Sorry I caught you at a bad time, Titan," said Hal. "But here are the coordinates to Marineville which I'm sending you by fax. And oh, I believe I've got some use of X20."

"See, I told you Cartwright would accept me." said X20 in Titan's face.

"So what do you propose to do?" asked Titan. "He's been more of a problem than Tempest when it comes into ruining my plans."

"True," added Hal. "But I think I've got the answer to this problem. I think you might be too risky to be in my plans, X20."

"Please, please, please," begged X20 as he kneeled to Hal. "I want to destroy Tempest. He's Titan's greatest enemy!"

"Hmm, since you put it that way," said Hal. "You can go and help destroy the WASP base."

"Yeah!" cheered X20. "Finally, I'll get my revenge on Troy Tempest."

"Yeah," said another aquaphibian. "Just make sure you don't screw up any of the plans."

Chapter 2- Dinner Plans

That evening, Commander Samuel Shore, Lieutenant Commander Elaine Shore who was also Commander Shore's wife and their 18 year old daughter Atlanta were over at the Tempest's apartment for dinner. 24 year old Troy was incredibly nervous about what he was about to do. There were two factors in his nervousness. One was he didn't know what in the world his 25 year old friend George Lee 'Phones' Sheridan was going to say to him if he told him about this. The other was what his mermaid friend Marina was going to say about it.

Troy decided to tell his mother Rear Admiral Catherine Tempest about it later and not to worry so much about it.

"You seem nervous about something, Troy." said Commander Shore said.

"Me, nervous," Troy said. "What makes you think I'm nervous about something, Commander?"

"Well, you're eating your soup with a fork for one thing, Troy." said Lieutenant Commander Shore.

Troy looked down and realized that Lieutenant Commander Shore was right. He blushed, cleared his throat, dropped the fork and picked up a spoon.

"Actually," he said finally. "There's something I wanted to ask you two."

"What's that??" both Shores asked.

"Well, ummm . . . . ."

Troy pulled out a black box and fiddled with it for awhile. His hands were shaking as he held it up trying to open it. As his hands shook, he accidentally dropped the box right into Atlanta's soup bowl. Soup splattered all over the place.

"Holy crap," Troy shouted. "Sorry about that, Atlanta."

Atlanta giggled a bit and didn't say anything. She picked the black box out of her soup and cleaned it off the best she could. Then, her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box. Her eyes nearly flew out of their sockets when she saw a pair of ruby earrings inside.

"Are those what I think they are?" Atlanta asked.

"Well, I guess so," Troy said. "If . . . . .if you think a ruby's your favorite gemstone."

Atlanta sat there in a shocked silence. Of course, it only made Troy more and more nervous. It was driving him crazy.

"Are you asking Atlanta to go out with you, Troy?" Lieutenant Commander Shore asked finally.

"What?" Troy said. Then he gulped. "As if."

Atlanta sighed and looked at the earrings thoughtfully. Then she let out a gasp of joy and ran straight into Troy tackling him to the ground. Then she grabbed him by the back of the neck and began hugging him.

"Should I take that as a thanks?" Troy asked slightly dazed.

"Sure, Troy, whatever." Atlanta said.

"What's all the noise in here about?!" Rear Admiral Tempest shouted as she burst into the room. "Can't I get a little work done around here?!"

"Sorry, Mom." Troy said.

"What the hell are you kids doing, anyway?!" Rear Admiral Tempest asked. "Looks like a mambo lesson gone wrong."

Troy and Atlanta looked at each other. It was obvious to Atlanta that Troy hadn't told his mother about his plans for the evening except that the Shores were coming over for dinner.

"Should we tell her?" Troy asked.

"Tell me what?" Rear Admiral Tempest asked.

"Why don't you tell her?" Atlanta asked. "She's your mom after all."

"Yeah," Troy said. "But I don't know how he's gonna take it."

"But I still think maybe we should tell her." Atlanta said.

"Tell me what?!" Rear Admiral Tempest asked getting pretty impatient.

Troy and Atlanta just looked at each other and then nodded. Then they both took a deep breath, exhaled and gave Rear Admiral Tempest and the Shores the news.

"I gave Atlanta those ruby earrings Grandma gave you." Troy told his mother.

Upon hearing that, Rear Admiral Tempest just stared at her son for a few moments and then burst out laughing.

"I must need my hearing checked," she said. "For a minute, I thought you said you gave your grandma's earrings to Atlanta."

"He just did, Rear Admiral." Commander Shore said.

"Tell me you're kidding, Sam," Rear Admiral Tempest said. "I demand you to tell me that you're kidding!"

"We're not kidding, Rear Admiral," Atlanta said. "Honest."

Another stunned silence. This made Troy a little nervous but in a different way. Atlanta was a bit nervous as well. She had seen Rear Admiral Tempest lose her temper before and had hoped to stay out of her line of fire at all costs but it looked like this was one time she couldn't avoid it.

"Troy, I'm only gonna say this once so you'd better listen," Rear Admiral Tempest said at last. "That's really nice ot you to do something like that."

And with that, Rear Admiral Tempest had started to go back into the kitchen. Troy was glad that his mother had taken a liking into the Shore family after all which caused both Commander and Lieutenant Commander not to let their friend not to get too close to Admiral Denver.

Atlanta walked over to get a good look at some photos on top of the piano the Tempests had. Most of them were of Rear Admiral Tempest when she was younger and Troy when he was a young boy. But a lot of them had a man with Troy's jet black hair in the pictures and something was written below a framed photo of a young man and a young Troy which read 'Lance and Troy.'

"Who's the dude?" Atlanta asked.

"That was my dad Lance Tempest." Troy told her.

"What happened to him, Troy?" Lieutenant Commander Shore asked.

"Well, it was about a couple of weeks after my 10th birthday, Lieutenant Commander," Troy explained. "My dad came down with pheunomia and he had to undergo an operation and . . . . . it wasn't successful. He didn't pull through. My mom doesn't like brigning him up though."

Commander and Lieutenant Commander Shore looked at each other and shrugged. After awhile, dinner had been served and everyone took their seats as soon as Rear Admiral Tempest came in with food for both families.

"Well, it's official now," Rear Admiral Tempest told the Shores. "My son and your daughter are getting on pretty well these days."

That was all there was to it. It seemed Commander Shore was getting used to the fact that Troy had finally given his grandmother's old earrings to his only child. Lieutenant Commander Shore was getting used to the fact that Atlanta didn't have to worry about her parents meeting any of her boyfriends most of the time.

Chapter 3- Captured Commander

At WASP base, Commander Shore settled back into his desk chair as he lauched Stingray to the depths of the ocean and glanced out the window one last time to see the submarine leave Marineville but the only person he was really looking at was Atlanta.

God, I hope she and Troy made the right decision, Commander Shore thought to himself. I'm sure all I need is a few hours to get that kid out of my mind and get back to only thinking of him as a friend. Well, apart from Jack and I know Troy won't hurt me and will always be there for me.

With that, Commander Shore sighed as a wave of depression washed over him and leaned back into his seat to try and sleep for some of the 4 hour journey Stingray was taking and was overwhelmed with the shock of his own wife entering his office and waking him up.

"Sam, that was pretty incredible!" Lieutenant Commander Shore told her husband.

"Well, I'm glad you like it, Elaine," said Commander Shore. "I hope Troy doesn't make the biggest mistake of his damn life. I know Atlanta just wanted to go with him, Phones and Marina was all. Nothing's wrong with that, right?"

"No, Honey and I'm glad to see them in that submarine at the same time." Lieutenant Coammnder Shore lovingly replied.

"Lieutenant Commander Shore," Sub-Lieutenant John Fisher said as he barged into the commnader's office. "Rear Admiral Tempest is trying to hold of a group of aquaphibian ninjas and she really needs your help."

"Okay, John, tell her I'm on my way." said Lieutenant Commander Shore as they both ran out of the coammnder's office leaving Commander Shore himself alone as his wife went to help their favorite family friend who was stuck kicking aquaphibian butt.

"Check the commander's office," the head aquaphibian ninja yelled to one of his henchmen. "Don't hurt Commander Shore, Dude. He'll so be coming with us!"

"What's going on? Elaine? Damnit, where the hell are you? Elaine?" Coammnder Shore said as he jumped off his desk chair and frantically ran towards the door but before he could get out of his own office, an aquaphibian, dressed in ninja garb, entered the office and confronted Commander Shore himself. He was immediately frozen in fear as he stared into the aquaphibian's dark menacing eyes and the ninja hood covering his face.

"What the hell's going on? Who are you? Damnit." Commander Shore yelled as the aquaphibian ninja quickly approached him and attacked him with a few Karate Kid style moves of his own and delivered a flying kick to the dark haired middle aged commander's head knocking him unconscious stopping his attacking and trying to dodge him. The aquaphibian ninja grabbed him and threws him over his shoulder with ease before briskly exiting the office to rejoin his ninja pals.

The large aquaphibian threw Commander Shore into their submarine called the Ninja Storm before telling the captian to get a move on and get back to Hal's secret lair. As the submarine drove off into the city of Titanica, he left a few humans seriously injured from having their butts kicked by the aquaphibian ninjas and about 20 junior WASP cadets to finish sweeping the place as he tied up any loose ends. His only mission was to get Commander Shore to Hal's secret lair in Titanica quickly and without being noticed.

A few hours later, Troy and the gang arrived back at WASP base to find both Rear Admiral Tempest and Lieutenant Commander Shore lying on the floor bruised and rather tired after getting their butts kicked by aquaphibian ninjas. Upon their arrival, Troy and Phones helped both Troy and Atlanta's mothers up from the floor.

"Atlanta, I think you'll be happy to know that John's identified the dude who ordered those aquaphibians that took your dad," said Lieutenant Slate Landors who was a young African-American lieutenant and was also the same age as Atlanta and John. "His name's Hal Cartwright and they were in the Navy together. By the look of things, your dad got Cartwright kicked out."

"Holy crap, so are you saying you totally don't know where they are?" asked Atlana.

"Whatever, Girlfriend. Here, have a look at the map here," said Slate's twin sister Lieutenant Coral Landors as she gestured towards the map spread out on his desk and pointed to a certain area. "Admiral Denver wants a team of us to go to his secret lair in Titanica and from there, they're attempting to follow a sub trail and I know Troy'll probably be able to pick up their tracks much easier than we can."

"So do you know why they were taken, Coral?" 26 year old George Lee 'Phones' Sheridan asked.

"As if, Phones," said Coral. "We don't know for sure. Although, we got a theory. Those aquaphibian ninjas've got a record of kidnapping WASP folk to use as bait to lure into a trap. Although I hope that that won't be the case this time."

"What do you mean used in lure us into a trap?" 16 year old Marina asked tentatively though she was unsure she wanted to know the answer.

"Well, it all depends on the trap they wanna use, Marina," said Phones for Coral. "But I heard Professor Lake said that they generally use WASP cadets for traps of any kind. They're used to try and kick our asses, to get us killed or bruised or whatever and they're also used for a bunch of other crap."

At that, the others tensed up and turned red, imagining way they would hurt Hal if he tried to use Commander Shore in a Titan-related trap.

If they touch my dad, I'll kick their asses, thought Atlanta. Okay, get a hold of yourself, Girl. Gotta focus. Gotta get him back.

In that moment, Lieutenant Commander Shore's heart contracted in pain as a sudden realization nearly knocked her over and she would have been damned to lose her husband now.

Attempting to calm herself somewhat and refocus her mind on the mission, Atlanta finally thanked Slate and Coral for the information.

Sam, I'm coming, thought Lieutenant Commander Shore. Hang in there, Honey.

Chapter 4- Inside Titan's Lair

As soon as the gang were in Titanica, Phones said "Whoa, the only way we can get into this joint is through the vents but some of you may think that this is pretty creepy."

"Yeah," Marina whispered. "I’ve never been in an bad guy's empty lair at night before."

"Hell, I'll bet no one has," Troy said as they all went inside Titan's hideout through the vents. "And I think I see Titan yakking his head off."

"I want this system 'working' now," Titan said. "Do you hear me? Now!"

"We're doing our best, sir," said X20. "We've just run into a few technical difficulties."

"Good," said Titan. "Do you know what brilliant thinkers are 'supposed' to do? They're 'supposed' to think!"

"We gotta get outta here." Fisher said.

Suddenly, Phones looked shocked and said "Oh my god."

"What is it, Phones?" asked Lieutenant Commander Shore.

"I got that feeling again, Lieutenant Commander." Phones answered.

"Hold it in, big guy," whispered Atlanta. "Hold it in!"

"I can't, Atlanta, I did this a few times before!" said Phones until he finally let out a really loud burp which echoed around Titan's lair.

Finally, the vent they were all in started to give way and fell causing them all to come out.

Titan looked at the gang and yelled "Aquaphibians, attack!"

"Run!" Troy yelled as the whole gang ran as fast as they could from a group of aquapihibans and aquaphibian ninjas.

"Aquaphibian ninjas," Fisher groaned. "Why the hell did it have to be aquaphibian ninjas?"

A few minutes of chasing later, Phones, Lieutenant Commander Shore, Atlanta, John and Marina had all gone back to where Stingray was and Troy had let his mother go before he yelled "Save yourselves!"

"Troy!" yelled Atlanta as she tried to open toe door.

"It won't budge!" Rear Admiral Tempest told Atlanta as the aquaphibian ninjas all chased them back into Stingray allowing it to head back to Marineville.

"Lemme go, lemme go," Troy yelled as he got grabbed by two aqauphibians and Titan stood before him. "I'm warning you, you son of a bitch, I'm a black belt in origami!"

"Let's go, Tempest," said the aquaphibian on Troy's left hand side. "You're in big trouble now."

"Dude, watch the uniform," said Troy as he was getting his butt kicked by an aquaphibian ninjas. "It's dry clean only!"

A few seconds of getting his butt kicked later, Troy had finally fell to the ground and his vision was as black as his hair.

Chapter 5- Trapped By Titan

When Troy woke up, he was lying on a large bed still wearing his WASP outfit and a defused light came from a large window in the background. Sitting on the edge of the bed silhouetted in the window was Commander Shore and he was holding a damp cloth to Troy's head.

"Troy?" Commander Shore whispered softly. "If you're awake, are you okay?"

"Commander, COMMANDER," Troy groaned as he woke up. "I had a dream. I dreamt that Titan was totally letting an aquaphibian ninja kick my ass."

"Bad news, Troy," Coammder Shore said. "We're both being held captive by Titan himself."

"WHAT?" Troy yelled as he sas bolt upright in bed and scanned the room. It was another room decorated in crushed velvet and poor taste. He now looked at Commander Shore and nearly screamed.

"Holy crap," Commander Shore said. "I think they really hit you hard. I'll check up on you later."

Commander Shore stepped backwards to the door of the room and stood by the window. Later, there was a knock at the door. It opened and an aquaphibian sticked his head in the door and said "Hey, Dr Cartwright wants to speak to you guys."

"Who?" Troy asked as he stood up with Commander Shore.

"Look, I don’t care about the damn city water supply. You just make sure the casino's supplied," said Hal Cartwright as he was talking on his cell phone in a swivel chair. "That's all. And the food too! I don't want the dog food that's being delivered to the street! I get the good stuff. If I don't, heads are gonna roll! Yeah, whatever. If the people complain, let 'em eat tofu! Sure. You do what you gotta do to make it happen. Yeah. No. Don't call Titan! I'm his co-worker for this crap. Don't even think about the governor! That's my pop! Look! You work it out!"

The chair swiveled back and Hal closed his cellphone as the aquaphibians put Troy and Commander Shore on the couch. He was waering a pair of navy blue pants with a light blue shirt, black ankle botts and Commander Shore's WASP jacket. His brown hair was slicked back and he glared at Commander Shore beofre smirking at Troy. As far as Troy himself was concerned, Hal radiated pure evil.

"Captain Troy Tempest, I presume," Hal said. "I didn't expect you here unless Titan planned to get your ass kicked. Is your mom's Rear Admiral job becoming so boring so soon? Or are you back here to beg me to ask her to get back with me?"

"Oh yeah, you're Hal Cartwright," Troy said as he saw the man in front of him. "My mom told me about you, you and Commander Shore were great friends and she dumped you for my dad."

"I heard that Captain Lance Tempest came down with pheunomia when you were 10 years old and died of it," Hal said. "And I also understand you got my southern scientist's middle son in your grasp. The guy 'Phones' who's got the hots for your mom, how very sad and don't tell me I'm lying, I checked it on their profiles on the WASP website and it's true."

"Hal, you've got no business interrogating Troy like that," Commander Shore yelled. "If that jerk Titan…"

"Don't interupt, Sam," Hal said turing from Troy to Commander Shore. "Titan's really busy yelling at X20 and those aquaphibians of us and he oughta know as well as I do who really runs this business, now. Right, Sammy boy?"

Commander Shore's eyes widen as he jumped to his feet and stood up feeling rather angry now. Troy now saw the Commander Samuel Arthur Shore he knew and respected.

"Titan's a big jerk anyway like when we first encountered him, Hal," snapped Commander Shore. "Why the hell did he bother getting hiring you when…"

"Why the hell did he? Why the hell did he leave me in charge?" asked Hal interupting the commander before him. "And you and all your little WASP buddies'll do anything to stop him for God's sake! Troy here just found out I dated his mom in the early 80s and trust me, Catherine O'Hara, as she was known back then, had an ass that just didn't quit and boy, did she know how to use it?"

At this, Troy sat and watched as Commander Shore pucnhed Hal right in the face. At that, Hal left and the aquaphibians with him followed. Commander Shore was drained. His head bowed, he walked over to the water cooler and poured himself and Troy a couple of cups of ice cold water. Troy walked over and put his hand on Commander Shore's shoulder and said "Yo, Commander."

Commander Shore frred his arm and took a gulp of the water in the cup in his right hand before handing the one in his left hand to Troy. He flinched slightly and suddenly relaxed.

"Now, Troy, it's the best we can do," Commander Shore. "When you look at the situation, Hal Cartwright wasn't…"

"Commander! How could you have been friends with Dr Cartwright?" asked Troy. "He's a total jerk."

"He was great when I first met him back in the summer of 1983," said Commander Shore. "We were best friends until I told Admiral Carson that he was plotting to get rid of Stingray back in April 1984 when it was created."

"Holy crap, Stingray's 26 years old," gasped Troy. "Where's a time machine when you really need one? I wish I could go back to the day old man Cartwright plotted to get rid of Stingray on that date."

"That date was 17th April 1984, Troy," said Commander Shore taking Troy by the shoulders. "I felt so sorry for getting Hal kicked out and I never saw him til now."

"Holy crap," said Troy. "I learn one thing new about Stingray and meet thet guy who plotted to get rid of it before Titan did."

Chaper 6- Flashback To 1984

Troy gasped as he knew Commander Shore was really confident and spoke a lot like a sailor and an Army general put together. Commander Shore himself was sure he was Rear Admiral Tempest doing Rear Admiral Tempest a big favor and making sure Troy didn't get hurt as they escpaed the office of Titan as soon as Titan himself had entered.

"Troy, are you gonna listen about Stingray's origins?" asked Commander Shore clutching Troy's shoulder slightly. At that, Troy's mind awoke to the sounds of Commander Shore talking to him.

"Okay, okay, I'm ready," Troy replied. "Are you sure it was a month after my dad's birthday cause my mom said his birthday was in March, mine's in January and her's is in September."

"Okay, Troy, it all started in early Febuary 1984, it was the 5th to be correct," said Commander Shore. "Me and Jack Denver had just arrived in Marineville after having left the Navy 6 months before and joined WASP 3 weeks later. Since we were new along with another Navy buddy of mine called Hal Cartwright, Admiral Carson, who was in my position at that time, wanted to show us all something special that would change WASP forever."

20 year old Lieutenant Sam Shore and his 20 year old friend Lieutenant Jack Denver raced each other to Commander Willie Carson's headquarters, trying to get everything together, while also trying not to fall down.

"Dude, I am so ready," said Sam. "Well, on the outside anyway. It's not like I'm ever ready to speak to Commander Carson in a mental sense."

"Sam, you're pretty clever, you just gotta work harder on your oceanography than you do for other things. And work harder on getting up at the right time," said Jack as their 19 year old friend Sub-Lieutenant Hal Cartwright rushed up to them. "Holy crap, here comes trouble."

"Look, we were supposed to meet up before we got called to the Commander's headquarters and go over our essays for Oceanography today, Guys," said Hal. "Hello, Sam, does all that water in your head weigh it down so much that it makes your brain shrink?"

"Oh my God, I'm sorry, okay, Hal?" asked Sam. "I'm sorry, I'm only human and that I overslept today."

"Oh but wait," said Hal. "While we were going to go over our essays, Sam, Lance was going over your oceanography! He got up earlier than usual to come all the way over here to meet up with you and look at the problems you had to do and see if you got them all right! And now look what you're doing!"

"Well, you know what, Hal, while that’s really nice of Lance and all to offer to help with my oceanography," said Sam. "Maybe he should remember one little thing: he helped Jack with the same problem! So he really needs to help me with my oceanography anymore than you need me to go over your essay with you."

"Okay, Sam, okay. If you want to act like the superior one around here, go right ahead. Be my guest," said Jack. "But you should know, Sam, that acting superior can lead to dire consequences. Consequences that can only be fixed if you step down once in a while, do you know what I mean?"

Sam just ignored Hal. He and Jack figured that this was Hal talking from experience. The acting superior part, anyway.

Later in Commander Carson's headquarters, Sam was talking to Jack while Hal just stood by the window and looked at the future Stingray and to top it all off, 22 year old Lance Tempest was filing a few paperwork sheets for the commander himself. While Hal was talking to a young Lieutenant named 20 year old Catherine O'Hara who was standing next to Lance himself, Lance was looking and winking slightly at her.

"Hey, Catherine," said Hal. "Captain Taylor just gave us a lesson on oceanography plus he picked your design and name for the new submarine so I was hoping you could help me out a little here. It looks so confusing."

Hal was expecting the brown haired female lieutenant to look up, get up and start tutoring him. He hoped that while he would learn about the new submarine, her knee would brush against his or that he could breathe in that clean Ivory soap smell that was part of her everyday.

Except Catherine stopped talking to Hal and grinned back at Lance as he just stared determinedly at Commander Carson handing the paperwork to him.

"I totally thought you said you didn't need any help from me anymore." said Catherine.

"What?" asked Hal.

"Lance totally told me that you said you didn't need help anymore now that Sam and Jack are teaching you," said Catherine. "That's why you didn't come with us this morning, right?"

"No, Catherine, that's-" Hal began.

"Really, Hal, it's okay," said Lance. "Me and Catherine realize that Sam and Jack are, you know, much better oceanography tutors than I am. They're about the same age as you and I've been tutoring Catherine since she got here a few weeks ago."

"Settle down, Folks," said Commander Carson. "I called you all here becuase thanks to Lance and Catherine's great teamwork, WASP is due to launch it's new submarine with it's first ever crewmen Sam Shore and Jack Denver so llok outside and take a look at Stingray."

Everyone looked out of the window and gazed at the earlier version of Stingray but Hal just shook his head.

"I can't believe you let that piece of trash go out into the ocean, Commander," Hal protested. "Why didn't you pick my design instead of that hunk of junk Lance and Catherine made together which is gonna be crappy anyway?"

Lance just punched Hal in the face and that was the end of that conversation. Hal really could not believe this. Did his protest just make Lance do that to him while Commander Carson looked on? Was he hurt? Or was he angry? Either way, Hal had no one really to talk to now and Lance wanted Catherine to help him on those 'things to do' and Hal himself was not going to try and strike up a conversation with Commander Carson about not letting Stingray out.

So Hal took out his oceanography textbook and proceeded to make sense of the convoluted language of Submarine Design I.

2 months later, people were protesting and as Hal left Commander Carson's headquarters, he said "Cool it, Folks, cool it. You're making me nervous."

"We'll be cool when you agree to let Stingray launch or I'll slap the caps off your knees." yelled Lance.

"Look, Lance," snapped Hal. "I'll tell Admiral Henderson and oh boy, you're gonna be in trouble."

"People, people, please calm down," said Admiral Henderson who was about 50 at the time. "Captain Sam Shore here has informed me about this 'no Stingray' proposal. Let me assure you that as long as I'm Admiral, this radical plan will never be carried out in this district.

"Hey, Admiral," said Hal. "You just don't get it!"

"Yes he does, Hal and so do I," said Commander Carson. "That's why I'm throwing you out of WASP forever."

What?" asked Hal.

"Sam, Jack," said Commander Carson. "From now on, you two are head aquanauts."

"Wow." said Sam and Jack at the same time.

"Oh, I see what's going down here," said Hal. "You guys tricked me, went around my back to the Admiral to get me kicked out!"

"No, Hal," said Jack. "It's not like that at all."

"Yeah, right," said Hal before he turned to Catherine. "Come on, Catherine, let's go."

"Gag me with a spoon, Hal, it's over," said Catherine slapping him in the face. "I could never be with a guy who doesn't love Stingray."

"So you're against me too," said Hal before getting all mad at her. "Well, fine. I don't need you. I don't need anyone!"

Suddenly, he slipped on the floor as it was wet and fell on his butt. The others rushed to help him and tried to be as nice as they could.

"Hal." said Lance.

"Whoa, are you okay?" asked Sam.

"Don't touch me," Hal said as he got up. "You took my girl, Lance, you kicked me out, Sammy boy. Well, enjoy it while you can cause you're gonna pay. Somehow, someway, you're gonna pay."

And with those words, Hal stormed out of Commander Carson's headquarters and slammed the door behind him as he headed for home. He began to feel very miserable. Then he tried to take comfort in knowing that he at least got Catherine and Lance together unaware that their son Troy, who was born 2 years later, would be Aquanaut of the Year by 2010.

"I never saw Hal again," sighed Commander Shore as he felt the aquaphibian holding him grasp his left arm. "He quit teaching and went into politics he eventually became the mayor of Marineville's secretary until the mayor fired him for trying to get ris of all those submarines he thought were pretty crappy. Only this time, one of those submarines was our own Stingray."

"So that dude's some psycho ex-aquanaut who wants to get rid of Stingray, Commander?" asked Troy.

"He sure is, Troy." said Commander Shore.

"Okay," said Troy as he felt the aquaphibian holding him grasp his right arm. "Now it's personal."

Chapter 7- To The Rescue

Rear Admiral Tempest was breathing heavily as she made her way to Admiral Denver's headquarters when Phones had walked up beside her and grabbed her left hand with his right hand. Since hearing that Commander Shore and Troy had been captured by Titan, she had felt as though the walls were closing in all around her and she needed to walk, needed to move, needed to get her son as far away from that psycho jerk Titan as she possibly could.

"Sorry to hear about Troy and Commander Shore, Ma'am." said Phones as they reached the Admiral's headquarters and went inside.

Rear Admiral Tempest turned her head and saw Admiral Denver, Atlanta, Lieutenant Commander Shore, Marina, John and the twins as she and Phones arrived and at Admiral Denver's scowl, Phones had to let go of the rear admiral's hand as his face was a mask of concern.

Atlanta's face still bore a look of understanding worry as she reached her mother's best friend and asked "What was it?"

"Troy and Commander Shore were captured, people," Rear Admiral Tempest said. "We're going to Titan's lair where Hal Cartwright is and we're gonna kick some aquaphibian ass."

Marina was quiet as she studied Rear Admiral Tempest's drawn features. What she saw there, alone, was cause for concern. Her friend's mother had always been pretty even in those photos from the 1980s but it had always been more than that. The rear admiral had a kind of inner beauty that touched all those around her and, it seemed to the other girls at WASP, too abundant to be contained on the inside alone.

Something told Marina that Lieutenant Commander Shorehad been right. Over the years, that inner beauty seemed to have burst, spilling outward and leaving behind a stunning blonde woman with large round eyes the color of blue, frost-misted glass and an undeniably refined way of carrying herself

As the gang all went into Stingray and jetted off to Titanica, it took a moment for Rear Admiral Tempest to get her bearings, not understanding how she had come to be kicking some aquaphibian butt. When she looked around the place for aquaphibian ninjas, it was to the sight of them doing karate.

"Hold on!" Lieutenant Commander Shore called out as she scrambled to get to her feet. Everyone's eyes followed the ninjas to the dark haired man in front of them. The man's lips curled over his teeth as he stared at the aquaphibian ninjas. Identifing them Marina watched in terror as the man statred yelling "I knew it, that younger guy is the late great Lance Tempest's son and you jerks didn't tell me!"

"Okay, Folks," Admiral Denver said. "Let's do this."

A few seconds later, the admiral, rear admiral and lieutenant commander stood by the doorway holding water balloons as Lieutenant Commadner Shore yelled "Hey, Aquaphibian ninjas!"

The three adults threw the water ballons at the aquaphibian ninjas and ran after them as they all split up, Admiral Denver to Phones and John, Rear Admiral Tempest to Coral and Slate and Lieutenant Commadner Shore to Atlanta and Marina as they found Troy and Commander Shore in a cell. The two of them were pulled out and the ninjas ran in as Phones locked the door.

"Mom, guys," Troy said as he hugged everyone one by one as did Commander Shore. "I knew you guys'd come back for us."

"Come on," Commander Shore cried. "To the auditorium and no running in the halls!"

"Sorry, Sam," Hal said as turned around and saw the whole gang behind him. "You're just gonna have to wait til I finish making Marineville a better place now let's get this show on the road."

"Hey, Hal, leave them kids alone!" said Rear Admiral Tempest from behind Hal.

"Catherine, it's you," said Hal. "You're still a vision of loveliness."

"Yeah? And you're still a two-bit Stingray-hating smart-assed wiseguy, Hal." Rear Admiral Tempest said back.

"That hurt, Catherine," said Hal. "But I'll forgive you if you'll just come back to me."

"Not before I take you down." said Rear Admiral Tempest.

Take me down?" asked Hal making an advance toward the blonde aquanaut. "Yeah, right. You and what army?"

"This army, A-hole." Troy said from behind Hal.

Then, a fight broke out and our heroes were kicking some aquaphibian butt as Rear Admiral Tempest said would happen. One aquaphibian grabbed Troy and Phones up off their feet and subsequently threw them backwards.

Phones landed on his feet halfway across the room whereas Troy landed in the same area on his back.

As a female aquaphibian ninja neared her, Atlanta knew instantly what had happened. Her plan to do any moves to make sure she didn't fight back worked but without the same holy contact, left the female ninja completely vulnerable to the effects of the attack. She was a ninjas whereas Atlanta was a kickboxing pro.

"I know what you are, Bitch." Atlanta said as her left foot shot out and kicked the female aquaphibian ninja in the chest area.

A monstrous hiss followed and the female ninja seemed to said "And I know what you are, Beeatch."

Leaping high into the air, Titan landed right in front of Admiral Denver and immediately threw his arms onto his shoulders. Lifting Admiral Denver completely off his feet, he allowed him to hang there for several seconds.

The whole gang began rushing forward.

"No," Rear Admiral Denver screamed to them. "I can handle this!"

Troy continued forward but Commander Shore held out an arm to stop him.

"Commander!" Troy persisted.

"Hold on, Troy.." Commander Shore said but with slight hesitation on his part.

Hal turned his attanetion to Admiral Denver and said "Go on, Jack, show 'em."

Admiral Denver felt the familiar energy well up inside him and then centralize around his head and torso. But it was different because this time, he was being forced to transform by his Battle Ready Armour.

"Oh God.." John choked, his eyes as big as saucers. Immediately, Admiral Denver's arms were outstretched to grip Titan's elbows as he reeled forward. The Battle Ready Armour had turned his WASP uniform into a samurai-style outfit. His head tossed backwards and his eyes opened to reveal the white glow that overtook them in his samurai form and the samurai headgear on his head illuminated the room for a split second as it shone into view.

Titan dropped his writhing form to the ground.

"What the hell's the matter with you, Jack?" Hal asked. "That bra thing you invented shouldn't've such problems with people transforming. Were you in pain?"

Admiral Denver didnt say a word. He began to sit up as Hal ended his attempts with a swift kick to the ribs.

"If you can feel agony, then you can suffer." Hal sneered.

Troy couldnt take it any longer. And he wasnt sure how long Titan, X20 and the aquaphibian ninjas would forget about him. He took a chance, rushing forward, fists entwined and cracked Hal a stiff blow to the back of the head.

"Everyone, run!" Admiral Denver commanded.

As everyone left Titan's lair, Troy stood overtop Hal, one boot shoving him to the ground each time he tried to stand up.

"Mom, Admiral, I can't keep this up forever," Troy noted. "We can't beat them but we can get the hell home. Now go!"

"Stop them, ninjas!" Titan commanded. Instantly, the entire room focused on Admiral Denver and the Tempests.

Barely escaping the mob, Admiral Danver and Rear Admiral Tempest swiftly slammed Titan's office door behind them.

"Troy!" Rear Admiral Tempest exclaimed remembering her own son was still trapped inside without an exit.

"Catherine," Admiral Denver called. "Follow me!"

Not one to argue, Rear Admiral Tempest raced after her employerand they both eventually stopped at Stringray where the others were.

"What about Troy?" Rear Admiral Tempest asked as Admiral Denver was inside.

"Right here." a familiar voice responded.

Rear Admiral Tempest seemed amazed that her son was still in one piece.

"Hey, Titan's place's got a front door, you know.." Troy retorted. "And most of them were on your ass anyway, Mom."

"Guys," John interrupted. "I think Marina needs help after what the female ninja attacking Atlanta did to her."

"She does!" Phones rushed towards the young mermaid, still laying prone in John's grasp.

"She's not awake yet.. I don't think that ninja beeatch that nearly killed Atlanta gave Marina the five star treatment," Coral said sounding concerned. "She needs a doc, yo."

"This is whack, yo," Slate groaned gripping his head. "I'm sure Stingray'll take it's sweet time getting back to Marineville."

As soon as they were in Stinrgay, Troy turned to his mother and said "Thanks, Mom." to which Rear Admiral Tempest replied "Just doing my job, Troy honey."

Chapter 8- The War is Over...For Now

Marina woke up in Marrineville General Hospital which she heard heard that both Coral and Slate had been born in and had gotten to know really well. She looked around and saw Troy, Phone and Atlanta beside her and had had a bandage around her head.

"Troy? Phones? Atlanta?" Marina asked weakly. Troy looked at her and hugged her with Phones and Atlanta doing so. "What happened?"

"You got attacked by an aquaphibian ninja who was meant to be kicking my ass but you're safe now!" Atlanta said softly.

"Oh, that's damn true... you know what, Guys?" Troy said.

"What??" Phones and Atlanta asked.

"Marina got every habit she's got from either Atlanta, Coral, the rear admiral or my mom!" Troy laughed hugging Phones and Atlanta playfully. Dr Lake came in and shooed the three of them away.

"Are you feeling okay, Marina?" Dr Lake asked looking down at Marina.

"Yeah, I guess I'm okay. Thanks, Doc!" Marina said smiling back at Dr Lake.

"You're welcome." Phones relpied from the door. Soon, Dr Lake walked away from the whole team.

"Wait, where's your folks?" Marina asked.

"My mum's with Denver, Phones's folks are in the deep South and Atlanta's folks are at home!" Troy said as he got up to leave.

"So, what do you wanna do, 'Rina?" Atlanta asked stroking her friend's green hair as Troy left.

"Well, I might as well go back to sleep, 'Lanta." Marina replied sleepily.

"Okay, Marina, we're just glad you're still alive." Phones said as Marina fell asleep and as soon as Marina was asleep, he rushed out of the room and floowed Troy and Atlanta.

"Guys, do you remember when we first met Marina?" Troy asked.

"Sure we do, Troy, she was a slave for Titan and we kicked his ass and saved her." Phones laughed.

"But we're, like, so totally lucky to have a pal from under the sea like Marina." Atlanta said.

"I know but we were lucky to have still been friends." Phones added.

"I know but you do seem to like being in a hospital, maybe you love the place too much!" Atlanta laughed and hugged both Troy and Phones.

It was back in 2007 me and the gang first met Marina and I'm glad to still be in contact with her after all these years, Troy thought. She's fine, I know it.

"Okay, kids, it's late, you two should go home." Dr Lake said as he saw Troy, Phones and Atlanta by the bed Marina was lying in an hour later. Troy, Phones and Atlanta nodded and left the hospital and Troy knew that whan Marina woke up, she would still have that bad feeling but knew she might ignore it.

THE END