A whole crowd of people had gathered outside the new water treatment plant located outside a huge lake on the outskirts of Fission City and as usual Dr. Paradigm was making a guest appearance. The Street Sharks observed over the television, but Dr. Bolton only frowned.

"And we are here to unveil the newest addition to our water treatment plant on behalf of Paradigm Industries with Dr. Paradigm in person."

A round of applause was heard as Dr. Paradigm took the stand.

"My fellow citizens, we at Paradigm Industries are proud to help in any way we can. With this treatment plant up and running by tonight, the water hopefully will become more consumable and will be the first on the long road to make Fission City the greatest it can be."

Dr. Bolton's frown darkened.

"Only cause you're hiding what that plant's real purpose is.", he growled showing his shark teeth.

The sharks didn't look so thrilled as they observed Dr. Paradigm cut the ribbon to let everyone know that the place was officially open for business. Ripster was shooting some pool balls to pass the time while Jab lifted the bar bells. Dr. Bolton turned off the television and turned to his sons.

"He's up to something."

"Like he ever isn't?", Streex joked.

Dr. Bolton sighed.

"If I wasn't bound to this infernal wheelchair, I'd shark dive over there to that plant to see what's really going on."

"Hey, Dr. Malcolm said to not rush the recovery process.", Slammu said trying to calm Dr. Bolton down, "Please Dad?"

Dr. Bolton looked his son's way in an understanding way.

"Thanks. I'm just feeling like I could do something and then I'm reminded I'm in a-"

He was interrupted as a timer went off and Lena came in with Bends and a couple crutches.

"Okay Robert, it's that time again."

Dr. Bolton smiled as Lena and Bends helped him stand and lean on his crutches before he took a short walk.

"How are you feeling?", Bends asked.

"I'm still a bit sore in my legs, but I have the mobility of a toddler just learning to walk.", Dr. Bolton answered earning a light laugh from everyone else.

"Good to see you still have your sense of humor Dad.", Ripster said.

Dr. Bolton did a couple more steps before he wobbled and Bends came up behind him with his chair which Lena helped him back into.

"Couple more days of this and I'll be shark diving."

"Yes.", Lena said, But for now, you have to settle for these leg exercises until they're strong enough to lift the rest of you."

/

Dr. Paradigm soon got to his office and closed the door behind him.

"I can't believe I have to act so supportive and nice all the time.", he grumbled to himself, "All those times I had a chance those Street Sharks had to interfere."

He recalled the first time the sharks got slammed. It was easy to manipulate the boys into thinking their dad was in trouble and Dr. Paradigm was offering a chance to find him. After they got slammed however, they had not been mind controlled a tactic that would've insured his takeover of Fission City. Most of his evil plans to gene slam Fission City into his unstoppable army to conquer the world was intercepted by Bolton who had informed his sons about it. He paused and ran a hand over his chest recalling the time Dr. Bolton faced off against him when he kidnapped one of the creatures that Dr. Bolton had saved.

"Because of you, I've already paid the ultimate price. I'm not even human anymore."

Dr. Paradigm frowned as he recalled how he had tried to get Bolton to see things his way, but the shark serpent monster had refused him and left him whimpering on the floor. Well that wasn't going to happen twice. Not if he had a say about it. He went to the wall and pressed a sequence which opened up the wall where a large tank came into view, but was too dark to see exactly what was in it.

"Let them think this water treatment plant is helping them.", he grinned, "For when I unleash this baby, all of Fission City will know the wrath of Dr. Paradigm."

He then took out a cell phone and made a call to his seaviants.

"Yeah Doc?", Slash asked after the other end picked up.

"Slash, get Repteel and prepare to visit the treatment plant.", Dr. Paradigm instructed, "You're making a little drop off. How soon can you get here?"

"We're parked outside in the back.", Repteel reported.

Dr. Paradigm then pulled a lever and a large crane from above the tank dipped into the water and pulled out something and carried it out to a chute where it dropped it.

"And my evil plan falls into place.", Dr. Paradigm chuckled.

A knock came on his door and he quickly typed in another sequence and the wall came back hiding the tank before his secretary came into the room.

"Sorry for disrupting Dr. Paradigm, but you have a reminder of your three o' clock afternoon meeting."

"I'll be ready and able.", Dr. Paradigm said slapping on the best expression of caring he could muster, "Fission City deserves to see the good name of Paradigm Industries as it should be."

The secretary left and Dr. Paradigm's face melted back to his usual sneer the moment she was out of sight.

"When I rule this city, you will be the first issue on my list."

/

Ripster rode on ahead on his motorcycle while Jab and Slammu rode inside the larger car and Streex flew the hover jet. They were on their way over to the new water treatment plant now that night had settled in and allowed them better cover than midday.

"After we check this out, I'm ordering out.", Streex joked.

Ripster rolled his eyes.

"Guys, I'm sure Dad will have that special chute Bends made figured out soon enough."

It was true. After Bends showed Dr. Bolton the special chute he had designed to link directly to the famous Humongo Burger fast food joint, Dr. Bolton was more than eager to find out what else Bends had helped his sons out with. Before the sharks got too far ahead, a beep came up and Dr. Bolton showed up in a hologram.

"I've located two possibilities.", he informed as a map of the plant showed up beside him, "The north wall where security is least or the manhole on the east side. Keep your guard up, Paradigm could have something lurking in those pipes."

"We're on it Dad.", Ripster said giving a thumbs up, "We won't let you down."

Dr. Bolton smiled.

"When you all get back, I'll serve those burgers I'm grilling."

Slammu looked awestruck.

"You're cooking again?", he asked eagerly.

Dr. Bolton hung up because the sharks had reached their destination, but they were more than ready.

"Jab and I will take the wall.", Ripster informed, "Streex, you take Slammu and go below."

Streex nodded.

"Got it."

The pairs went their separate ways and soon, Ripster and Jab had arrived at the wall. Jab used his hammer shaped head and the wall gave way to a hole large enough for them to enter. Inside was dark and the odor of chemicals filled the air, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A beep came up and Streex was calling in.

"Nothing down here. How are things up above?"

"As creepy as that haunted house we visited on Halloween in fifth grade.", Ripster answered.

Streex and Slammu shivered.

"Old Lady Gertrude's?", Slammu asked.

"The very one.", Jab answered, "She really knew how to scare the daylights out of us."

Then another beep came up and the sharks looked attentive.

"We got activity in the center floor near the pipes.", Streex informed, "Bro and I will meet you guys there."

Ripster nodded as he hung up.

"Shark dive!", he and Jab called out as they dived into the floor.

/

Slash drilled into the pipe as Repteel got a glass case close to him.

"Can you hurry up?", Repteel asked harshly, "This thing is creeping me out."

"Alright, I'm through.", Slash said stepping away, "Let it out."

Repteel cautiously opened the top of the tank and something slimy looking slithered out and into the hole Slash made before disappearing out of sight.

"Hope that thing makes trouble.", Repteel said still shivering.

That was when the floor below them gave way to Streex and Slammu coming up while the ceiling caved in with Ripster and Jab coming down.

Shark attack!" they all called out.

Repteel launched out a barrage of electrical beams while Slash drilled out some holes for pressurized water to spout out at great force, but the sharks had everything in hand.

"So what's Piranha Face got in mind this time?", Streex asked.

That was when the pipe nearby opened and shiny slime slid to the floor to a stain of oil that it sucked up like a sponge.

"What's that?", Ripster asked.

As if to answer him, the slime jiggled and then grew to the size of a dog and sprouted a shell and eyes on stalks before the rest became a slimy body.

"Some kind of slime snail?", Streex guessed.

The snail reared up and shot out some gunk that missed the sharks, but got to a tank of liquid that dissolved it and spilled the stuff on the floor which the snail slid over to and slurped up.

"So this thing eats hazardous chemicals and grows bigger.", Ripster said as he observed.

The snail did get bigger, but it got to the size of a small child and slid away as fast as an ice skater on ice.

"After it!", Ripster yelled.

The sharks went after it as Repteel and Slash got outside where Killamari was waiting.

"Did it get out?", he asked.

"Just drive.", Slash said as he and Repteel got in, "I don't want to be around when it hits the main pollution tank."

The seaviants drove off leaving the sharks with the snail that had now gotten to a corner and started spinning a sticky cocoon around itself. In less than a minute, a large white ball had formed and stood motionless on the clean tile floor.

/

The sharks met up in the main pipe room.

"Any luck?", Ripster asked.

"Nothing.", Jab informed, "It could be anywhere."

That was when a large crash was heard a few rooms away.

"What was that?", Slammu asked.

Another crash came out closer this time and then the wall buckled as a huge slimy tentacle burst through revealing a huge slimy mollusk with huge razor tipped tentacles out if it's side, large lobster claws and a huge mouth of sharp teeth on a larger more uglier version of the snail before.

"Great, now we got a major snail problem.", Streex commented.

The snail monster reared up and let out a bellow that shook the room as it assaulted. Ripster and Slammu got to work on the tentacles as Jab and Streex helped keep the slime away.

"This is quite a workout.", Jab commented, "Who knew snails were so toxic?"

Ripster then brightened.

"That's it! Salt."

He scanned the room and saw a valve for seawater in a pipe above them.

"Streex, can you get that valve there?", he asked pointing.

Streex saw it and smiled.

"You got it bro."

With great movement, Streex got to the valve as the snail monster had gotten closer to the main pollution tank which was where most of the polluted water was being cleaned.

"If that thing gets in that tank, we're gonna be swimming in slime along with Fission City.", Slammu commented.

Streex had made it to the valve and with a little effort, got it open sending a torrent of salt water onto the snail that let out a scream that almost broke all the windows. It didn't shrink, but it stayed in one place as it swelled like a balloon filling with water until it burst into a shower of gunk that coated most of the room as well as the sharks.

"Talk about your slimy ending.", Streex snickered as he shut the valve off.

"Let's just get home and clean up.", Ripster said as the sharks headed to the exit.

"Yeah, and we can get to Dad's cooking.", Slammu added.

/

After putting the vehicles in the garage, the sharks could smell the aroma of cooking coming from the kitchen.

"I know that fragrance anywhere.", Streex said dreamily.

The sharks followed their noses to the kitchen where they saw Dr. Bolton standing by the grill and getting dinner of hamburgers and fries ready.

"Dad?", Ripster asked, "Where's your chair?"

"I recovered.", Dr. Bolton said proudly as he turned to show he was wearing jeans and brown loafers under a cooking apron, "Humongo Burger had a bit of a problem so they had to shut down for the night early. Luckily Lena and Bends helped me with some grocery shopping before you all got home."

Then Bends came in with Lena followed behind by Mantaman, Rox, Moby Lick and El Swordo.

"Oh hey, why are you all here?". Slammu asked.

"We got invited to dinner.", Moby answered.

"Also, we won't be out of Fission City til tomorrow morning so we thought we'd stop by for old time's sake.", Rox added.

Moby sniffed the air and a smile came across his face.

"Those burgers sure smell as great as the ones we usually have."

"Yeah, Dad always had a flair for home cooking.", Jab said proudly.

Moby looked a bit surprised.

"Wait, your dad is the one doing the cooking?"

Dr. Bolton turned to see the extra company and looked a bit unsure.

"Wow, didn't think you would all accept my dinner invitation. I might need to make another trip to the market."

"At ease my good friend.", El Swordo said returning a friendly smile, "We helped fix up Humungo Burger on our way over. We can use the chute again in case we need to."

After a while, everyone was chowing down, having conversations, and having fun.

"So your recovery is complete?", Lena asked Dr. Bolton.

"Yep. I won't need the chair to get around anymore, but we should keep it on hand just in case.", Dr. Bolton answered, "Bends, think you can make a vehicle for me out of it?"

Bends gave a thumbs up.

"I'll start first thing after dinner Doc."

Dr. Bolton looked assured, and he was happy his sons cleaned up the mess before they left the plant, but something didn't feel right.

/

Slash and Repteel hobbled into the lab still sore from their fight with the sharks and they were sure Dr. Paradigm was going to not be pleased to hear the report. He turned to face them as they entered.

"So, how did it go?"

Slash gulped hard, but didn't remain silent.

"Our slime snail failed Dr. Paradigm.", he said bracing for Dr. Paradigm's wrath, "The sharks beat it."

Dr. Paradigm looked thoughtful, but didn't look angry.

"I guess that little test run was a success.", he said cracking a malevolent smile, "Now that we know that the snail's slime can adapt to certain compounds, we can use it for more..effective means."

He pressed a sequence into the wall and a large tank slid out of the wall containing a huge snail like the one the sharks fought only this one had spikes on the shell, and flowing anemone tentacles on it's head between the eye stalks. Below it was a set of what looked like rocks each the size of a soccer ball and pulsing like little heartbeats. One eye turned to Paradigm and then it rammed the glass a few times forming cracks.

"Killamari, administer thirty cc's of obedience serum stat!", Paradigm ordered.

Killamari nearby pulled a lever and a huge needle full of light purple liquid came down on a robotic arm and administered it to the snail which thrashed for a few seconds, but then calmed down as Paradigm pressed a sequence and the tank's glass fixed itself.

"Oh yes, this will do quite well.", he snickered.

Slash liked this vibe, but Repteel wasn't as assured.

"So you're not angry with us?", he asked.

Paradigm's smile didn't flinch.

"Job well done gentlemen, you earned a bonus."

He pulled a lever and a huge container of fish showed up which his seaviants helped themselves to before he turned to his monitor now showing Dr. Bolton in his shark form.

"Enjoy your peace while you can Dr. Bolton.", he purred, "Your sons may have thwarted my plans before, but what I have in motion is something even you can't comprehend."

He cackled like a madman as he turned the monitor off and headed back into the room the snail's tank came from while it followed behind him.

"They may have bested the juvenile stage of my snail, but if it had made it to the main pollution tank, it would've grown to maturity and really tip the scales in my favor."