Chapter 1

Along the Radon Avenue, following it until coming to the Erbium pass overhead was a man-made river bed with tunnels running under the ground, connecting the ocean into Fission City... or it had a while ago. Now it's dry on the outside, small streams of water deeper inside. It's still linked to the new bed, which explains the water, and it serves as the perfect refuge for 'fugitives' to reside... especially when these sought-out people were obvious to the eye.

"This is nuts!" shouted the hammerhead, throwing his arms up in his rant and pacing back and forth. He wore black jeans, white hi-tops, and a mesh grey undershirt at the moment. He was about 6'2", with dark brown skin over strong muscle, the front of his torso a much lighter brown. "We let that slime ball get away again!"

"Jab, keep a cool head," said the deep blue shark, sitting on an old wooden crate, one booted foot on the floor with the other tucked up infront of him, both arms to his sides, supporting him. The great white was about 6'4", donned in a white tee-shirt, which covered over the alice blue skin on the front of his chest, denim jeans, and cowboy boots. "To open up Piranoid's plans to the public takes patience."

"Patience my ass!" hissed Jab and took a bit of his frustration out on the stone wall. "We lived in this town all our lives. Dad was a more respected scientist than that bastard ever could be. But as soon as he proclaims that Dad was the one that turned his sons into monsters--... He's really starting to piss me off!"

A figure over to the side, sitting at a computer console, winced as the loud sound touched sensitive ears. His passive expression turned into a frown and knit eyebrows as he continued to work through the distractions.

"He's pissing everyone off, Jab," murmured the tallest shark, hands stuffed down the pockets of faded bluejeans. The whale shark leaning against the stone wall, arms folded, seemingly cool and relaxed, was 7' even, pale orange hinted with yellow and dark orange markings for skin, wearing a white undershirt, cross-trainer sneakers, black sweatbands on his wrists, and a blue one on his head. Then a little stronger, he said, "But Ripster's right, you need to keep a clear head."

The brown shark narrowed his stalk eyes at his younger brother and was about to speak, when another voice cut him off. "A year into this sick and twisted game and /now/ you ask him to stay focused? C'mon, boys, we can do better than that."

The three brothers looked to the circular doorway of the hall-like tunnel, which led into the other wings, to see their fourth sibling. The 6'3" tiger shark was the oddest of all the known alters when it came to coloring. He was cursed with light blue skin and deep purple stripes running down his arms and back. In one arm, he carried his blue shirt and tanned leather vest. His left arm was immobile, bandaged up at the outer curve of his shoulder and in a sling. What he wore now was a pair of black sweatpants and socks. He shrugged simply and looked to the fifth in the room. "Have you found him yet, Manta?" he inquired.

"Patience is not a virtue with you middle Bolton kids, is it?" questioned the manta ray/alien hybrid without much enthusiasm. His skin was the same as Ripster's, deep, sea-sapphire blue, except the coloring of his chest was whiter. Two loose antenna resided on the top of his head, part of both his manta and alien heritage. But, aside from that, there was an obvious difference that set him apart from the sharks. Under both arms, connecting wrist to hip, were two flap-like wings, which were only taunt when his arms were totally vertical. Currently, he wore his heavy, black combat boots and loose khaki pants. The 5'11½" ray stopped his search for a moment to catch the tiger shark in the corner of his eye. "You better hope he stays in the same vicinity, Streex, or you'll be out of luck."

"And if he's out of luck, they so are we." A human stood where Streex had a moment ago. He had sandy blonde hair, held back by a red bandana, and blue eyes hidden by a pair of rayban sunglasses. His 5'6" height was covered with a light blue t-shirt and green sweatshirt tied around a slim waist. Beneath it were a pair of over-sized khaki shorts, which reached his knees, and white hi-tops on his feet. Tanned skin was the proof he was, indeed, a Californian surfer. "Not to put you guys down or anything, but since I need Manta here for now, and Streex is going to be out for a month or longer, three sharks vs everything Paradigm has makes the playing field even. Battles could go either way."

Rispter snorted good-naturely. "Heh. Thanks for taking out our confidence, Benz. By the way, where's Leena?"

Benz shrugged, adjusting the glasses on his face. "She went to go see her brother for the night. She'll be back by tomorrow at the most."

"On call?"

"Of course."

The great white nodded and closed his eyes. "Okay, we need a recap... What did Piranoid steal?"

"Hn. Easier said than done," said Jab, settling down on one of those large cable spools. "Who knows what he got away with by the time we got there. They were in the process of swiping that totally ugly fish, which they did, infact, get away with."

"That was an angler fish, Clint," snickered Slammu, baring a few of his teeth. "Marine biology 101. That's the class you failed, remember?"

Jab's snout crinkled up as he made a face, waving it off. "Ah, it wasn't worth it. The class shouldn't be a requirement because we live next to the Pacific Ocean."

Mantaman hned softly, catching their attention. "But it's a requirement now, since this war is using only marine animals... and a few mixes on the side."

"Puh. I don't need to know what the fish is to know Piranoid is gonna use it against us. Like every other creature he's gotten a hold of."

Ripster sighed, eyeing the computer in use. "I would suggest breaking into the police records and see if the have which animals were stolen.... but since Moby's more important at the moment, we'll just have to wait."

"... Maybe we don't.. I think I know another one they took."

Streex had said that, now having found a seat of his own. He sat there, lightly rubbing his shoulder, eyebrows knit together. "Repteel was careless in what spoke of before tossing me against that empty tank."

"Tough luck, boy. But if you think I'm being rough with you, wait til we release your worst nightmare."

"Well.. my worst nightmare is my fifth grade teacher, Mr. Charce. But look at us. We aren't human, nor are we completely shark. We have both strengths and weaknesses... So what if it's not my nightmare, as in my human side, but my worst nightmare, as the shark."

"Uhhh.... Bro, you lost me."

Streex chuckled weakly, secretly dreading the thought. "Think of this, Jab. What would a tiger shark be scared of? It's as ruthless as the great white, the second most dangerous shark.... So what does that fear?"

Jab seemed dumbfounded at the question and turned his sight towards the ceiling. "Shouldn't you be telling us that?"

"...You think they took a bottlenose dolphin, don't you," spoke the luteous shark, pushing himself away from the wall and looking at his second oldest brother. Streex's smile was somewhat proud. "So jocks do learn in school. You're right, Slam-man, that's exactly what they have."

Slammu bowed his head and watched the tiger shark from the corner of his eye, looking concerned. "It's what we had just studied before this happened." Then he looked directly at the others. "Tiger sharks and bottlenose dolphins are common enemies, and dangerous ones at that. It's safe to say there's a rivalry between the two, since both die from each other all the time."

Ripster nodded. "An angler fish and a bottlenose dolphin. ... I'm wondering if he's smart enough to try straight fusion with them or if he'll hand this so-called rivalry into the hands of somebody out there... That's why you wanted Moby, isn't it Streex."

Streex smirked and turned on the box, lying down on it with one leg bent. "Caught red handed. I wanted Moby for lots of reasons... One, never trust an ancient dinosaur to do an aquatic animal's job. Two, I don't want to pull Rox away from his tour. And three... well, if they can have a mammal fishie, why can't we, right?"

Jab snorted and turned his head away, but his stalk eyes watched the light blue shark. "You're awfully calm about this, Bob."

"Are you kidding?" His eyebrows rose. "My insides are churning. For christ's sake, they're going to use the one thing that makes me afraid. That only remotely soothing thought I have is that I won't have to face it until I'm better, which is why I'm remaining calm."

"That won't do you an inch of good if Piranoid sends it to sniff you out," said Mantaman passively, "along with where we are."

There were groans all around and Streex said, almost bewildered, "I'm suddenly glad I can't pale; I'd look albino."

Benz frowned gravely. "This is not good."

"Well, the least we can do is make it somewhat tolerable. I found our orca friend." The computer beeped in time with his announcement, dragging four sharks and the human closer to see.

"He's at the very tip of the Everglades...." Manta frowned, brows knitting. "If Medusa wasn't down there, we wouldn't have a problem with radio frequencies."

"True, but he is," said Benz, leaning on the manta's shoulder for a better look. Then, he pointed to the screen. "You've got it. Ready to relay?"

"You bet." Mantaman's fingers flew over the keyboard, eyes on the screen while Benz put on the headset. "You're on."

"Moby?"

A second past before the crackling of the headheld telesponder the killer whale had came on, followed by a, ~Benz?~

"Moby, dude, are you available to leave the Everglades to help us?"

There was a brief chuckle, then, ~What's the occasion?~

"Piranoid's up to no good, as usual. We need you to substitute for Streex."

~...... Lemme talk to him.~

Benz shrugged and looked over his shoulder at the tiger shark. His expression was enough to tell Blades what Moby wanted. He sighed and bowed his head as the blonde handed the headset over to him. "Here it comes. The big rant, laughing, sarcasm, and what not... Whadaya want, tongue-boy."

~Just a more in-depth version from your point of view.~

Yes, there was a snicker in his voice and Streex growled, closing his eyes. "Repteel zeroed me out-- no, you don't have to say, as usual-- and took those damn incisors of his and sunk them into my shoulder, severing a buncha muscles, and then threw me against a glass tank, making it a whole lot worse. You happy now?"

~Perfectly. I'll be there after tagging a few more manatees for the government. I'm guessing I'll be down there in about a week, at the most, another day in the least. Enlighten though: why me.~

"Because they have at least one breathing menace and it might be smart to have our own."

~Feh. I'll be there. I'll call when I'm heading over.~

"Don't get eaten, as much we'd all like that."

"Hey!"

"We'll, except Jab, but he doesn't count."

~*snicker* See you.~

The line disconnected and Streex glanced a look at his brother. Jab was frowning, expression leaning towards pissed-off all over again.

It was gonna be a long week.

The next day...

"Robyn!"

The girl turned around at the voice, a perplexed expression written on her face. It became a soft smile when the person calling her ran around the other bodies in the hallway and to her side. "Hey squirt. Where you going?"

"English. What about you?... Oh, wait, you're going home, aren't you?"

"Yup, I'm done for the day."

The smaller one huffed. "If you hadn't failed, I'd call you lucky for not having as many classes as I do."

"Heh. Get going, Reg. The teacher's not gonna want to hear you're late 'cause, 'I wanted to see my sister.'"

"He would if he was smart." and she ran off in the other direction.

Robyn Jenison chuckled and shook her head, continuing to walk towards the exit and to her car. She was the daughter of Jacob Jenison, hi-tech business president and, unfortunately, lived on the other side of the country, in New York City.

Court's decision.

She now lived with her step-mother, Julia Brimham-Denwar-Jenison, one of the most powerful women in California, and her half-sister Regina Jenison... Robyn disliked Julia with a passion.

The girl was 5'6", with bowl-cut brown hair, shaved below and underneath the length. Blue eyes twinkled as one of the many doors to the outside opened and let in the sun, also giving a slight shine to her medium skin tone. Her attire reflected half of her personality, being a tight, light green tank top, shorts that didn't even cover a minority of her thighs with frayed edges, and heavy combat boots, loosely tied. Julia disapproved of her choice in clothes and voiced it many times.

Readjusting her bag on her shoulder, Robyn walked to the student parking lot and fished out her keys. On them were three keys, various keychains, two having slogans ("If you don't like the way I drive, get off the sidewalk." "If you can't stand the heat, then step back, 'cause here I come."), a car alarm remote, and a keychain photo frame. The picture on one side was of her and Regi, playing with Shabon, Julia's cat.

On the reverse side, was something that could've been misinterpreted if no one knew her previously. It was the Silver Christmas Ball, a school event for seniors and juniors, from a year and a half ago. Robyn wore a long green dress, strap-less, with elbow length white silk gloves. Her hair had been longer back then, all held up in an intricate design. Beside her was a man, her age and only a few inches taller, outfitted in white dress pants and a silk, ocean blue shirt, the three buttons undone and the collar flared out instead of folded over. Both had mischievous smiles on their faces, pairs of blue and brown eyes twinkling. His hair had been actually brushed that day, not just running amok in its normal fashion, resembling the younger of his two older brothers like a twin, with the exception of the immaturity radiating.

A key found its way into its proper lock and the jeep door opened, Robyn sliding inside after tossing her bookbag in the passenger seat. The door closed and the collaboration of items jingled as the nineteen year old held the photo frame closer, smiling faintly, sadly. Well my friend, you wanted adventure, and now you're getting it. ... Wish I could see you again, Clint. I miss you a lot. It's just not the same without you around...

With a sigh, she turned the ignition on and started on her way home.

Regi Jenison rested her chin on the inside of her hand, idly tapping her pencil on the three-subject notebook in front of her. If that didn't clue her classmates that she was bored, the lazy, nearly asleep expression should have. It wasn't that the english was boring or anything, but what was planned for tonight was making everything seem slow and sluggish.

As Mr. Ashton droned on (Regi was willing to suspect that he, too, was tired, having repeated the same lesson over and over again all day), the normally spunky girl thought about the good time she would have later on.

Jessica Conners, her best friend, had invited her to join herself, her current boyfriend, and his best friend, at the west-side ramp park. Her expertise went to the skateboard, as did Jessie's and Joel King's, her boyfriend, but the fourth in that group of names was a prize BMXer, blader, and of the three S-boards, surf, snow, and skate. He was Orson Dawson, but everyone called him Odie. Both men were out of high school, Joel trying to raise enough money to get into medical school, and Odie was slacking off in that deparment, but helping Joel along with the money.

A lazy smile crossed her lips at the possibility of getting out of the house, but the bell pulled her out of her daydreaming. She gathered her stuff and left with the body of students, heading for her locker a corridor away.

Regina was short for a sixteen year old. Only five feet tall, yet ranked third in the most popular of her class and could be a threat when, well, threathened. She had light brown eyes, amberish, that showed joy and a light-heartedness with the gift of youth. She was a ball of compact energy, and everyone knew it. One reason you wanted her as a friend, because an enemy could have been endangered. Her dusty blonde hair was behind her ears, reaching to the middle of her shoulder blades. It was thin and straight, unlike Robyn's, who had it thick and straight. Her clothes consisted of blue jeans folded up to mid calf, a light baby blue shirt, and a jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow.

At her locker, she turned the combination to the lock, and was only mildly surprised as a hand clasped onto her shoulder with a tight pressure and a slight hispanic voice rang out, "Hey, Regi! How's life? Coming tonight?"

"If I don't get caught sneaking out of the house, what do you think, Jess?"

Jessie beamed brightly. The girl was only an inch shorter than Regi's sister, having a dark olive skin tone and eye coloring like chocolate. Her hair was, for the most part, a soft, wiry coal black, reaching her tail bone. She wore a white shirt, tight in every place imaginable, and baggy, faded denim overalls. High-tops about two sizes too big were on her feet, completing yet another tomboyish figure. But the attire never told of her hacking abilities and speed on the track team. She was the computer club's president, and the fastest person in the girls' running events. "It's a yes! Oh, my god, we are going to have so much fun tonight, I can't wait for you to actually meet Joel and Odie, they are the coolest people!" Though, her talkative skills needed work, but Regi couldn't have had it any other way.

"Good, because I know practically eveything about them. It would be nice." Yes, nice to know the best friends of the man who was another of Jets' best friends. ...God, I miss those guys. I miss /him/. "Ramps at ten, right?"

"Yep, definitely. .. Hey, did you hear Tanya and Chad broke up again?? Can you believe it? They only made up second period!"

Regi groaned as she tossed her unneeded-- and unwanted-- book in the small compartment, dragging out the ones she did need. "Not a personal best for them, but it's close.... or did it happen at the end of second?"

"Nope. Sixth."

"Not bad for them." The locker door slammed shut. "C'mon, hacker. You need to drive us home."

"A bottlenose, a dusky dolphin, a mako shark, an angler, and a flying fish," rattled off Mantaman to himself, swerving around in his chair. "Our new enemies."

Benz crossed his legs and sighed, watching the computer screen with hesitance. "I don't think I need to say this is all very bad. Mako sharks are the fastest of the shark family."

"Exactly," the manta ray said, nodding. "And duskies weren't named Acrobats of the Sea for nothing."

"Mmmm... Hey Jer. What're your thoughts? Think we stand a chance?"

Dr. Morton gave it a moment before shaking his blue head. "Three sharks against them... it really depends. Is Piranoid smart enough give them a true human conscience? Or is he going to fusion them with humans?"

Benz shrugged, resting his chin on a fist. The 'good' doctor was truly unpredictable and even the greatest psychologists couldn't figure him out. "He'll be dragging more human minds into it with the latter. The Boltons turned on him. Moby turned on him. Rox wasn't willing to go onto his side, even with that rivalry he and Streex managed to create. Repteel's the only one, and he's doing it for revenge. Those aren't good odds towards that process."

"..Unless he's found some way to control the human brain in an alter, like he did in Washington DC."

"That was a mess."

Jerry chuckled. "Anyplace Paradigm goes is a mess. He practically has a slime trail all his own when that poor fish slithers around."

Benz cracked an amused smile. "Indubitably, my dear Mantaman. ... But is he really capable of such a thing? It's hardly worked out in the past."

"We'll just have to watch and see." A sigh. "It's all we can do for the time being."

The surfer nodded. "... Game of cards?"

"Deal me in."

That night...

Regi reached out to grab the branch that hung right above her window and started sliding herself out the small opening. The branch swayed under her weight, but it never broke. She hung on with both hands and hauled herself up onto it, leaning out to close the window behind her.

That done, she began to crawl towards the tree itself and climbed down one branch at a time. At the lowest one, Regi dropped down the last three feet and landed softly on the near-summer grass. She rounded the corner of the house and grabbed the bag she left out earlier that day and her skateboard. She knew Jessie would be waiting on the other side of the neighbor's tall hedges and quietly crept across the lawn.

"Hey, squirt. This something only you can go to?"

Regina nearly screamed and stopped suddenly, turning around to hiss at Robyn, "Don't do that! You nearly killed me!"

All the older girl could do was smirk. As her sister controlled her fright, she said, "If you wanna come, you better have your gear."

"All right here," said the elder, tugging at the strap on her shoulder.

"Then let's go."

A few hours later...

Repteel came slithering into the compound, two teens in both of his arms. Following behind him, Kilimari carried three others. It wasn't anything he couldn't handle, being a squid and all. He had four arms and pale-ish green skin. Three-clawed hands held the humans in his grip, but they lacked the dripping residue that normally leaked from the holes in his palms. As well, he'd spent a good amount of time in only black underwear until he insisted on getting better pants, which he did over time. Hey, when you're a mutant, and an evil one at that, it's easy to steal whatever you want.

The two ceviants deposited the adolesents on the floor, limp bodies unmoving in their unconsciousness. "We didn't even have to look far, doctor," hissed Kilimari. "They were right at the outer city pipe ramps. Fiesty little humans they were."

Paradigm glanced over his shoulder to where their prizes lay. Five. "Excellent." He got up and stolled over to them, cloak rustling with his stiff movements. He gave them a look-over and then pointed to each one individually, instructing which human would pair with each sea creature.

Kilimari and the eel obeyed, picking them up again and dragging them towards their new fate.

"Hey, Paradigm? Which one was the mako again?"

The piranha sighed, agitated. "The one in your top right arm."

The squid nodded and finished his task. All of them were set on elevator-like platforms, strapped down tightly and giving oxygen masks. When both of his servants gave the okay sign, the gene-splicing doctor lowered a large switch and the platforms decended.

One of the African American males woke up earlier than expected and started screaming and struggling. Repteel bared his teeth at the boy and growled, "Don't move or pay."

The teen, eyes wide with terror, could only nod in agreement and stilled, whimpering for his life to be spared. Repteel was not one to be moved.

They all sank into their own small tanks, connected directly to the tank of their choosen animal by many wires. One of the girls had woken up as well and thrashed wildly about in the liquid. Paradigm swiftly threw another toggle.

The labratory grew bright with light. The marine animals were nervous and frightened by it. In the humans' tanks, electrical charges surged everywhere, brewing mini lightning storms. Their shapes began to change quickly, drastically, the restraints beginning to fail. The light soon became blindingly radiant and the on-lookers shielded their eyes as the sound of crunching metal and broken glass emitted from the chaos.

When the light faded, the sight was utterly amazing.

The angler alter was the first shake himself of the watery droplets and stand on wary legs. Four lures, two each arm, wavered to keep the creature on balance, much like a tail would. his giant fan-like ears twitched toward Tentakil when the animal whined and backed off. His height seemed to exceed the other four.

On the end, the flying fish sat uncomfortably on the floor, shaking his head in attempt to clear it of its fuzziness. His wings were not unlike Mantaman's in position, but these lost the baggy factor. They were more like those of a glider than a manta ray's. As well, small spikes protruded out from his skull and coursed down his spine, stopping at his tail bone.

The dusky dolphin was sprawled across the floor, panting in short breaths. Considering her size, her breaths weren't the only short thing about her. Her skin was dark and white on her front and flanks. She was the only one that didn't seem to grow at being transformed. Not too odd, but unexpected. However, it left something to be desired for some reason.

The mako shark was on her hands and knees, eyes closed, and attempting to crawl up to sit on her legs. A fin had grown out of her back, like that of the sharks'. It was to be expected, thought Paradigm as the shark reached one hand up to hold her throbbing head.

The last one, though.... Bizarre. She laid partially on her back, partially on her side. A dolphin's tail had ripped through her pants, twitching ever so slightly in its birth. The abnormality interested Paradigm greatly so, just as Rox's hair had for a while. The bottlenose began to gather her senses and started to rise, the glass underneath her dropping from the suction of her skin as she did so.

In other news, the creatures these forms were stolen from lay at the bottom of their tanks, still and lifeless.

The majority of the new alters' clothes had shrunk, as usual. The males' shirts were tattered to shreds with the expantion of the chest and developement of new rarities on their arms. The bottlenose dolphins's upper wear was nearly split in two, but the lowcut vest she wore covered anything that would prove indecent. Nothing changed on the dusky. As said before, she didn't change much at all. The mako, however, had lost her tee. But you just couldn't see much behind the front of a pair of overalls.

Eventually, they made it to their feet, two of them needing support from what little the demolished tanks had to offer. Most of them had tiny cuts from the glass, but it was nothing; they were only pinpricks to them now.

Paradigm smirk gradually grew wider. It worked. Now we'll see if it stays that way.

They were what he wanted. What he needed to crush those moronic sharks. But who's really the moron? nagged a small voice. You flushed them down the toilet because their transformation took time. If you a bit more patient back then with them...

Blast it all! I know that! Paradigm refused to show his turmoil and fury at his own thoughts; he had no intentions of morphing on his new creatures.

Eventually, brand new eyes fell onto their creator. The Tursiops truncatus stepped foward, waving them all into bitter silence before any of them could speak. The tail swung back and forth in excitement and the dolphin threw her head back, screaming with waves that burned the inner ear, paired with a sound so inhumane that it made it absolutely frightful. Paradigm's minions, old and new, backed down and away from the sound, desperately trying to block it out. Paradigm himself only winced with pain and the dusky looking terrified, yet unaffect by the noise.

The roar died down after a few moments, leaving the taller dolphin snarling at their creator. Paradigm frowned, unphased by this act of retaliation. "I made you," he whispered raspishly, a threat building in his words. "I made you and I can destory you. Is that clear?"

The dolphin frowned deeply and blinked, defiantly. Silence held up a protective barrier around them until the dolphin bowed her head and said, voice somewhat gruffy, "We understand."

"Good," he said, practically purring in his evil genius. "Tell me who your enemy is."

The mako shark took a step foward, arms folded across her chest to spare some decency of those trying to get a peek in. "The Street Sharks."

Excellent.. The enforced hypnotic serum mixed into the watery soup of chemicals was working perfectly. They will /not/ turn out like Moby Lick did... I will make sure of that.

The piranha alter watched as the dusky dolphin reached out to the bottlenose and burrowed up into her side, the dusky showed a little possessiveness in her visible eye and the bottlenose unconsciously draped an arm over the smaller one. Either sisters or lovers. An eyebrow ticked. They could blow either way. Just wonderful, he mused sacastically. Wait, what is this?

Tiny, high-pitched noised spilled out of the dusky's muzzle and the bottlenose respond with her own similar sounds. Sonic communication.. Oh, this is definietly worth my time. The mad doctor cleared his throat expectantly. "Let's get down to business."