CHAPTER 5

BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA

"So, that's two parts of the syrum we have now," Darren said as he eyed the mysterious computer chips that sat on Professor Smith's desk. "We're doing good!"

"Yes, but now where do we go?" Iris asked. "How many more ruins are out there? And which ones would have what we need?"

"I'm sure we'll find some place with the stuff you need to make your syrum," Sharon answered as she stretched and leaned against the lab wall.

"Hmmm..." Professor Smith said as he studied a map. "Where WOULD another good place be? There are so many places to try... I can't decide."

"Excuse me, Professor," Snake Man said as he entered the room with an open envelope in his hand. "You got a letter from Dr. Thompson."

"Dr. Thompson?" Smith asked as he looked up with definite interest. "Great! Thanks, Snake Man." He took the envelope, pulled out the letter inside and read it intensely.

"Well? What's that?" Sharon asked as Darren, Iris and she crowded around Smith.

"Aha!" Smith announced. "My good friend Dr. Thompson has asked me to come to her lab in Australia to help her excavate a ruined reploid factory. That sounds like fun, eh?"

"Excavate a factory?" Sharon asked. "We're lookin' for computer chips, prof! That won't help!"

"Actually, it might," Smith said as he threw Sharon a sly grin. "It turns out that Dr. Thompson's lab is right on the northeastern coast, and a few miles out on the water is a sunken naval base. I'll bet you dollars to donuts there's some useful chips down there! While I'm helping Dr. Thompson, you three can dive for the base and take a look!"

"The ocean?..." Sharon asked, her eyes widening with shock and anger.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Darren said. "What do you say, Iris?"

"It could give us another part of the syrum, couldn't it?" Iris said as she scratched her chin. "OK! I'm in!"

"Wonderful," Professor Smith said as he grabbed a telephone. "I'll call her and tell her that we're coming, and we can teleport there in half an hour. OK?"

"Hmmph," Sharon grunted as she stomped out of the room.

"What's wrong with Sharon all of a sudden?" Iris asked. "She seemed fine a few minutes ago..."

"I have no idea," Darren replied.

"She's usually pretty bad tempered," Snake Man pointed out. "Though I have noticed that she gets much more irritable than usual whenever someone mentions oceans."

"Really?" Iris asked. "Hmm... Let's go and talk to her."

Iris and Darren found Sharon out by the fountain in front of the museum, practicing some of her martial arts techniques. She punched and kicked with intense ferocity, sending out loud WHOOSH sounds as she moved. The look on her face suggested that she was pretty darn angry.

"Sharon?" Iris asked. "What's up?"

"Is something wrong?" Darren asked. "Are you coming with us?"

"N'aaarrgh!" Sharon snarled as she pulled off a perfect somersault and landed in front of her friends. "Sure I'm coming with ya. I can't leave you guys hanging."

"Well, that's good, but you seem pretty ill-tempered right now," Iris pointed out. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sharon repeated. "I'm just fine."

"But you got really angry when Professor Smith mentioned the ocean," Darren said. "What's the matter? You can tell us."

Sharon snorted angrily, but her glare softened. "...Thanks, guys," she said. "But it's not that big a deal. Oceans... just bring back a lot of bad memories."

"Bad memories?" Iris asked.

"Care to enlighten us?" Darren added.

"Ahh, not right now," Sharon replied. "I mean, come on, we've gotta go hook up with Smith and get going, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Iris replied. "Come on, guys! Let's go."

"All right," Darren said. "Are you coming, Sharon?"

"Yeah, just gimme a minute to catch my breath," Sharon answered.

As Iris and Darren vanished back into the museum, Sharon sighed heavily and cast her gaze downward, letting her mind drift back into its darkest recesses. "The ocean... brought me nothing but agony..." she murmured softly, her voice almost cracking.

Suddenly, Sharon's eyes flew open in rage. With a loud war cry, she kicked backwards and knocked a huge gash into the fountain's side before heading back towards the museum doors.

"OK, we're all set!" Professor Smith said as Snake Man typed away at the teleporter's computer. "Who's ready to spend some time on the beach?"

Iris and Darren responded enthusiastically. Sharon just stamped her foot and snorted.

"OK, then," Snake Man said as the teleporter started whirring and flashing. "Who's going first?"

One by one, the friends mounted the machine and vanished. Iris was last; for a moment, she felt like a million dandelion seeds floating on a gentle wind, and then she was standing on a sandy beach, watching a beautiful ocean sunset.

"Well, here we are!" Professor Smith announced. "We're on a beach near Cooktown, on the northeast point of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef and the sunken base are just north of here."

"I see..." Iris said as she peered out over the waves. "This is beautiful..."

"The Colony crash really didn't affect Australia very much," Darren pointed out. "Now, where could we-"

"Professor! Professor Smith!" a voice called from nearby.

Everyone turned to see an African-American woman in a labcoat running towards them, with a robot assistant trailing behind. She stopped in front of them and panted for a moment, then regained her posture. "Good to see you made it, Ross," she said as she extended her hand. "It's been a while."

"Too long,"Smith chuckled as he shook the woman's hand vigorously. He then turned back to his friends. "Emma, these are my friends Iris, Sharon and Darren. Guys, this is Dr. Thompson."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Iris replied as she shook Dr. Thompson's hand warmly.

"So, you're Iris Thorne, huh?" Dr. Thompson asked with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you. It's good to meet all of you."

Darren looked at the assistant. He was a small, grayish-green fellow equipped with an oxygen tank and flippers. "Who're you, friend?" he inquired.

"Hello, my name's Bubble Man," Bubble Man replied. "I'm Dr. Thompson's assistant."

"Yeah, Bubble Man's been a real help with my research," Dr. Thompson chuckled. "I owe Ross a lot of thanks for teaching me about reactivating robots."

"Emma, these guys are looking for some computer chips, and they think something that they need might be at the old marine base," Smith explained.

"The marine base?" Dr. Thompson asked. "Hmm, that's an odd place for anything to be, but if you guys really need to go, I have a boat that you can use."

"A boat?" Darren asked. "Yes, ma'am! That'll do fine!"

"Wonderful," Thompson answered. "Come along to my lab, and we'll get you all prepared."

The party followed Dr. Thompson towards a large building on the shoreline. As they walked, Iris glanced over at Sharon, who was glaring stonily ahead with a set jaw. Every so often, she glanced out at the ocean and muttered something under her breath.

"Sharon?" Iris asked. "Are you OK?"

"Hmm?" Sharon asked as she glanced over at Iris. "Oh, I'm fine, Iris. Don't worry about a thing!"

Iris gave a concerned look, but shrugged and kept walking. "OK, if you say so," she replied.

"All right," Dr. Thompson said as she led the group down to an indoor dock. "This boat'll get you out to the reef in no time at all!"

Thompson turned on the lights and everyone stared in amazement. Floating at the dock was a long, sharp-looking red boat with a huge motor attached to the back. The title S.S. BEOULVE was painted neatly on its side.

"Wow," Darren exclaimed as he looked over the ship. "This looks really fast!"

"You bet it is," Dr. Thompson chuckled. "Built it myself. A normal motorboat can get you to the reef in three hours. This will do it in fifteen minutes."

"This is wonderful!" Iris said. "Thank you so much, Dr. Thompson!"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Thompson laughed. "I haven't been out sailing in a while, so it needs some exercise. Oh! One other thing..."

Dr. Thompson pulled a small, spherical machine from her labcoat and gave it to Darren. "This is called a rebreather," she said. "Just give it a squeeze when you go underwater, and an bubble of oxygen will surround you. It's very useful!"

"Thanks," Darren said as he took the rebreather. "You bet I'll use it."

"You guys have fun exploring the base," Professor Smith said. "I''ll be here, helping Dr. Thompson with her factory research."

"Hang on," Iris spoke up. "We don't know where the reef is!"

"Don't worry about that," Bubble Man said as he hopped onto the boat and grabbed the wheel. "I'll come with you and pilot!"

"Great!" Darren said. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's cast off!"

"Whoopee," Sharon grumbled as she got in the boat and plopped down. Iris and Darren exchanged looks, but said nothing and hopped in too.

"I'll see you guys later!" Smith said as the boat pulled out of the dock. "Good luck!"

"So, Bubble Man," Darren said. "How fast can this thing go?"

Bubble Man grinned. "You're about to find out!" he chuckled as he yanked back on the lever.

The boat sped off across the water at breakneck speed. Darren was so surprised that he topped backwards into Iris. "Sorry," he replied.

"It's OK," Iris mumbled as she gently pushed Darren off. "I'm getting used to it."

Iris got up, walked to the front of the boat and watched as the ocean unfolded in front of her. She had always loved watching the sun set over the waters that had surrounded the Repliforce base, and now she felt the same warm feeling as she had then. She cheerfully took off her beret and let her hair blow freely in the salty twilight air.

After Iris came off of her reverie, she looked back at her friends. To her surprise, Sharon was huddled in one corner of the boat, in a sulking-like state.

"Hey, Sharon," Iris said as she walked over. "Are you sure you're OK? I mean, if you get seasick or something, you can tell me. I-"

Iris looked again at Sharon and her eyes widened in surprise. Tears were dribbling down the fire-type Reploid's cheeks.

"Sharon?..." Iris asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Sharon muttered as she wiped her face and looked away. "Go on and enjoy yourself."

"No," Iris said as she sat down beside Sharon. "You've been acting funny during this whole trip. Something's bothering you, and I'd like to know if I can help."

"Nobody can help," Sharon grumbled. "It's all in the past now."

"So?" Iris asked. "Tell me about it."

"Fine," Sharon muttered as she coughed a few times. "I was created about twenty years ago on a tiny island in the Pacific by Dr. Keitaro Sushi, a learned scientist."

"Yes?" Iris asked. "So, Dr. Sushi was like your father, then?"

"I would NEVER call him that," Sharon fumed. "Not after what he did to me..."

There was a pause. "What did he do?" Iris asked.

"Most Reploids are created to become contributing members of society," Sharon said. "They go to school, work, play and get careers... From the moment Sushi activated me, he kept me totally segregated from others." She swallowed hard. "He told me that my only purpose was to please him; I was the servant and he was the master. If I didn't submit to him, I would be punished.

"So, as the days progressed, I learned all kinds of servitude to make the man happy. Still, after a while that wasn't enough. Even though I kept his lab clean, cooked his meals and washed his clothes, he wanted more... One night, after I was finished with my chores and went to bed, he came into my room and tried to..."

"Oh!..." Iris gasped as she involuntarily put her hand over her mouth. "Sharon..."

"I didn't understand what he was doing, but I didn't like it," Sharon continued. "I pushed him away and ran as hard as I could... Finally, though, I had to stop. We were on a tiny island, over 500 kilometers from any other settlements, and I couldn't swim... He caught me on the beach... and..."

Iris could do nothing but shake her head in disbelief.

"That was just the beginning," Sharon continued. "He expected it daily, and I had to submit, never taking any pleasure from it... He told me that it was all I was good for, and I began to believe him... But then, one morning, after a fierce tropical storm, I looked out my window and saw a small boat washed up on shore. Instantly, one word repeated over and over in my mind: escape.

"That day, I was especially nice to Sushi, so he wouldn't expect my plan. Then, after I had lulled him to sleep, I snuck out and took the boat. I suppose I could have rode to Japan, since it was the closest place around, but I didn't know that. Eventually, a storm hit and shattered my boat, sending me into the watery depths.

"I came to on a beach in Washington. From there, I wandered the country, worrying about very little. I was elated; I was free from Sushi's grip. Unfortunately, I had never learned to read, write or do math, so I couldn't really communicate with many people. That, fortunately, was when Professor Smith came along and pulled me out of the rut. He taught me everything that Sushi never wanted me to learn, and I became a prominent security guard at the museum. I also chose a new name for myself: Sharon Doherty, after a Maverick Hunter of the same name.

"Still, even though I've made so much progress, I've always hated the ocean," Sharon sighed sadly as she looked out over the water. "I've never stopped seeing it as a cage... A cage that kept me locked up with a horrible monster..."

Iris put her hand on Sharon's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sharon," she said. "I can't even imagine what that was like."

"I've trained myself so that what Sushi did to me will never be repeated," Sharon said as she flexed her arm. "I've also vowed never to remove my body armor for the same reason."

"I see..." Iris replied. "But... You'll help us when we get to the marine base, right?"

"Of course," Sharon said. "My personal feelings aren't important in this. I said I was going to help you, and help you I will."

"Thanks, Sharon," Iris said. "But if things get a little too hard for you, just tell us. We'll help you out."

"Bah!" Sharon snorted as she folded her arms and looked away. "I'm not some weakling."

"Well, OK..." Iris said.

"Madam Iris!" Bubble Man called from the front of ths ship. "We've arrived!"

Iris and Sharon walked over and saw that the boat was floating a few meters away from a rainbow-colored reef. "The base is about fifty meters beneath us," Bubble Man stated. "You'll have to dive the rest of the way."

"All right," Darren said. "Thanks, Bubble Man."

"All right!" Sharon growled as she stretched a few times, dove into the water and shot up a few feet away. "C'mon, guys! That chip isn't gonna find itself!"

"Coming!" Iris said as she started towards the edge.

"Uh, Iris, I dunno if you should-" Darren started.

Iris disappeared into the water. After three seconds, she bobbed back up and stayed on the surface, her skirt spread out like a giant lillypad.

"Uh..." Iris said as she looked down. "...What's this all about?"

"I thought as much," Darren said. "That skirt of yours will trap air and make it impossible for you to swim. Maybe you should change into something more appropriate."

"Oh... Ummm... Ha ha ha!" Iris laughed embarrassedly as she hauled herself back onto the boat. "Of course! Do we have any diving suits?"

"Sorry," Bubble Man said as he opened a small cabinet and looked inside. "I guess Dr. Thompson took them out for cleaning."

Iris gulped hard. "Great," she said. "Now what?"

"Well, uh..." Darren said as he coughed uncomfortably. "...You ARE wearing something under that, right?"

"Yeah," Iris said as she looked around. "I have some undergarments... Do you think I could swim well enough in them?"

"I don't see any other choice," Darren muttered. "Let's try it."

"All right," Iris replied as she nervously peeled off her top layer to reveal her white, leotard-like undergarments. She blinked for a moment as she felt the wind on her bare shoulders, then turned to Darren. "Will these do?" she asked.

"U-ummm..." Darren gulped with a blush. "...Y-yeah, those will work just fine. But, uh... They're kinda thin."

"Thin?" Iris asked as she looked down again. "Well, I suppose so... They are just undergarments, after all. Why?"

Darren quickly pulled off his shirt and handed it to her. "Just put this on," he muttered. "That should work."

Iris stared questioningly at Darren's chest for a moment, then realized what he was getting at. Blushing madly, she jammed the shirt on. "How's that?" she asked.

"Much better," Darren said as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Any longer and my nose would've started bleeding. Let's go."

Iris and Darren dived into the water and swam over to Sharon. "About time," Sharon muttered. "Let's get goin'!"

"When we go under, we won't be able to talk," Darren pointed out as he strapped on his rebreather. "Let's stay really close together."

Everyone ducked under the waves and swam straight downward. Slowly, a massive structure appeared from the gloomy darkness, and then they were floating just above the abandoned naval base.

Iris looked at her friends. With a quick gesture and a nod, Darren led everyone around the building in search of an entrance. As they rounded one of the building's corners, Sharon pointed frantically towards a rectangular opening that could have been a dock. The three friends swam to it, pulled at the bottom and forced it open.

Iris and company floated into the flood chamber and looked around. Darren swam to a small control box on the far side of the tiny room and poked at the buttons. Immediately the door slammed shut behind them and all the water drained out.

"Great work, Darren!" Iris said. "How did you know how to drain the chamber?"

"Umm," Darren said with a nervous look. "I didn't. I think it drained all by itself."

Sharon frowned. "That's not good," she growled. "Stay on your toes. This could be a trap..."

A door next to the control panel slid open, beckoning the adventurers into the ruined base.

"Should we go in?" Iris asked.

"Hey, if we want to find that chip, we do," Sharon replied. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

"Did you guys notice something when we came in here?" Darren asked as he took the rebreather out of his mouth.

"What?" Iris asked.

"There's air in here," Darren said. "I can actually breathe! If this base was abandoned, it would have flooded by now..."

"Jeez, you're right," Sharon said. "Now I'm totally sure that this is a trap!"

"Maybe it was a lot of lucky accidents," Iris spoke up, trying to boost her friends' morale.

"There's only one way to find out, really," Darren replied as he looked around nervously. "Let's go further in."

The party set off down the dimly lit pathway, stopping every now and then to investigate a side room or two, but they didn't find anything of interest. The base was pretty cleaned out; the staff had probably taken most of everything when they had abandoned it.

"Nope, nothing in here," Darren said as he emerged from another side room. "We've been looking around for two hours. I wonder if this was a dead end?"

"It's beginning to look like that, isn't it?..." Iris sighed sadly. "Oh, well... We can't win them all, can we?..."

"On the plus side, Sharon seems to have perked up a little," Darren said as he motioned in Sharon's direction; she was poking around in another room and humming an off-key tune.

"That's good," Iris said as she recalled what Sharon had told her. "This must be really hard for her..."

"Well, she's been pretty hot-headed since I met her," Darren replied. "But her recent behavior was kinda weird. I'm glad to see her acting normally."

"Yeah..." Iris said.

"Umm, Iris," Darren said as he shifted his weight. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? What?" Iris asked as she quickly looked up.

"You've been staring at me funny all through the conversation," Darren said. "What's up?"

"Huh?! Oh, it's nothing... Really!..." Iris gulped as she looked away and blushed.

Darren chuckled. "Ahh, don't worry about it," he replied. "Let's just keep searching."

"Yeah... Yeah..." Iris agreed as she ducked into another room and started searching. She glanced back once more at Darren's physique, then went on with her work.

Five hours after they had entered the station, the group still hadn't found anything. "This is really discouraging," Darren muttered as he sat down to rest. "Maybe this was a red herring."

"Although, have you noticed that the air hasn't thinned any since we arrived?" Iris asked. "It's like it's being freshly pumped."

"C'mon, guys," Sharon said. "There's still one place we haven't checked yet. Let's find the central control room and search there!"

"The central control room..." Iris said. "Of course! I bet there'll be all sorts of computer stuff there!"

"Great thinking, Sharon," Darren said. "Let's find a way there."

Sharon pulled open another door and found a ladder. "Problem solved," she said smugly.

The party climbed up through a narrow shaft until they reached another door, which Sharon also opened. They stepped out into a large chamber filled with control consoles and blinking lights.

"Woah," Darren said. "I think this is the control room."

"Great!" Sharon said as she dashed forward and looked around. "Let's find some chips and get out of here!"

"Wait a minute..." Iris said as she looked down. A thin layer of water was covering the whole floor. "This is strange... What do you think-"

Suddenly, two huge, red tentacles wrapped around Iris and Darren and hoisted them into the air. "Whaaaaagh!" Iris cried as she dangled helplessly.

"What IS this?!" Darren yelled as he struggled.

"Writhe all you want, but it won't help you," a dark voice said from below them. Everyone looked and saw a shining, red Reploid octopus with gun turrets lining his shoulder pads. Two of his tentacles clutched Iris and Darren several feet off of the floor.

"I've heard about you!" Sharon said. "Launch Octopus, right?"

Octopus sneered. "So good of you to save me an introduction," he said. One of his tentacles raised something sparkly up. "Looking for this?" he asked.

"Agh!" Darren exclaimed as he looked down at the object. "A computer chip! I bet it's one we need!"

Launch Octopus laughed. "Defeat me and it's yours," he said. "Of course, what can you do up there? Heh heh heh!"

"You've forgotten something!" Iris retorted. "Sharon! You can take this guy, can't you?"

"You bet!" Sharon growled as she struck a fighting pose.

Octopus laughed even harder than before. "You, a fire-type Reploid, challenging ME?! What a foolish weakling!!!"

Sharon gritted her teeth and readied herself. "Bring it on," she snarled.

"With pleasure!" Launch Octopus said as his tentacles readied for combat.

Sharon fired a few rounds with her S-Buster cannon, but Launch Octopus swung his tentacles and dissolved them. "Wh-what?!" Sharon gasped.

"You pathetic fool!" Octopus sneered. "You are fire! Such a weak force can't stand against water!"

"There's that word again," Sharon growled angrily. "You're in for it now!!!" She leaped and caught the Maverick with a spinning kick.

"Yeah! Nice one, Sharon!" Darren cheered.

"I don't think it was enough, though," Iris warned. "Look!"

Launch Octopus skidded backwards, but didn't show any pain. With a cruel look, he whipped out his free tentacles and lashed Sharon fiercely. She stumbled backwards and fell to one knee. "You're spunky," Octopus cackled. "But that doesn't make up for your poor ability!"

"My abilities aren't poor!" Sharon growled, starting to pant angrily. "You want power? I'll show you power! HYAAAAHHH!!!"

Sharon flew at Launch Octopus and pummeled him with punches and kicks. No matter how many blows she landed, though, the Maverick wasn't feeling anything. With one well-placed smack, Launch Octopus sent Sharon crashing to the floor.

"My armor is rock-solid!" Launch Octopus laughed. "No fisticuffs of yours will penetrate it! As for you, however..."

Iris and Darren cringed as Launch Octopus whipped Sharon over and over, then coiled his tentacles around her legs and banged her body against the ground. Finally, he lashed her across the back repeatedly. Sharon grunted and growled through all of this, but she never cried out in pain.

"Sharon!!!" Iris cried.

"Get up, Sharon!" Darren called.

"Quiet up there!" Launch Octopus yelled as he moved the tentacles around his captors up and around their necks, then squeezed. Darren started gagging horribly and Iris turned blue.

"Iris... Darren!..." Sharon groaned as she struggled to look up.

"Your friends will be dead soon enough," Launch Octopus laughed. "What a weakling you are. You really are worthless! I've never seen a more pathetic Reploid in my life!"

"Weak... worthless... pathetic..." Sharon whispered softly. "Weak... worthless... pathetic..."

Launch Octopus laughed loudly. "You're so weak, I don't even know why you're fighting!" he jeered. "I bet you're not good for anything!!!"

Somewhere inside Sharon, something snapped. She slowly rose to her feet, her head cast down at the ground.

"Eh?" Launch Octopus asked as he looked questioningly. "What? Haven't had enough punishment?! Well, here's some more!!!"

Launch Octopus flung his four free tentacles at Sharon with decapitating speed. Iris and Darren shut their eyes to block out the sight.

All that was heard was a dull THOCK.

After a brief pause, Iris and Darren opened their eyes and looked. Sharon's arms were spread wide, and she had all four tentacles caught in her hands.

"What's this?!" Launch Octopus asked. "Hey, let go!!!"

Sharon looked up at Launch Octopus, and everyone froze. Her eyes were wide in anger, her pupils teemed with hatred and her mouth bent into a hellish frown.

"Sh-Sharon?..." Iris asked quietly.

Sharon gave an inhuman roar and tore the tentacles from their sockets. Launch Octopus screamed in agony and dropped Iris, Darren and the chip.

"I've got it!" Darren cried as he snapped up the chip. "Let's get out of here!"

"Sharon?" Iris asked. "Sharon!!!"

Sharon was advancing on Launch Octopus, who edged away with sheer terror in his eyes. "No! Please! I give up! You win!!!" he pleaded with his remaining limbs.

"What's the matter?!" Sharon yelled as she grabbed two more of Launch Octopus's tentacles and ripped them off. "Are you afraid of a WEAK, WORTHLESS LITTLE GIRL?!"

"Sharon!!!" Darren yelled. "What are you doing?!"

Sharon thrust her arms into Launch Octopus's stomach, then charged her S-Buster and fired into the hole. The Maverick gave a bloodcurling shriek and vanished. He didn't explode like a normal Reploid; he disintegrated.

With Launch Octopus gone, Sharon panted angrily, the hateful gaze not leaving her eyes.

"Something's wrong with Sharon," Iris gulped. "We have to calm her down!"

"Sharon!" Darren said as he came up beside her. "Please, calm down! It's OK! Launch Octopus is gone! Please don't be so angry... We're your friends, remember?"

Darren placed a protective hand on Sharon's shoulder. Instantly her gaze locked on him, and he gulped in alarm. Sharon grabbed Darren's neck and flung him with a beast-like shriek.

"Darren!!!" Iris cried as she ran and caught Darren before he hit the floor.

"Vuooo..." Darren gagged as he looked up. "Thanks, Iris."

"If you had been hurt, then Sharon could have been branded a Maverick," Iris explained. "Here... I think I know what's wrong. Let me try."

Iris slowly walked over to the still-fuming Sharon. "Sharon, it's me," she said calmly. "Will you listen?"

"WEAK!!! WORTHLESS!!!" Sharon screamed, as if in anguish.

"No, you're not," Iris agreed. "Sharon, you're just as strong as anyone else! Sushi was wrong to tell you otherwise... You're not weak, and you're not worthless! You're one of the toughest and strongest Reploids I've ever met! You're also one of my closest friends!!!"

Sharon was still panting hard, but it seemed a little more controlled than before.

"So, please..." Iris said softly. "Calm down... before you hurt somebody."

"HE HURT ME!!!" Sharon yelled. "HE ALWAYS HURT ME!!!"

"Yes, he did," Iris replied. "But do you want to be like that? Do you want to hurt anyone? Do you want to hurt Darren? Or Professor Smith? Or me?"

"No... NO!!!" Sharon growled. "I'm not like him! I'm NOTHING like him!!!"

"Then... do what I know you'll do," Iris said. "Calm down... and let's go home."

Slowly, Sharon's panting slowed, then stopped. Sharon looked at Iris with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, Iris..." she said quietly. "I let him push me overboard..."

"It's all right," Iris said. "We all get angry sometimes. But..."

"Oh, no!" Sharon said. "Darren, are you OK?! I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right," Darren said. "I'm just glad that Iris is a good catcher."

Sharon stared out the glass windows at the ocean water and was quiet for a few moments more. "Come on," Iris said as she put a hand on Sharon's shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

Sharon glanced at the hand, but just smiled softly. "Thanks, guys," she said. "Yeah... Let's go home."

Darren glanced between Sharon and the glass windows. "Does this mean that you're not afraid of the ocean anymore?" he asked.

Sharon chuckled a bit. "I think... I think I can learn to live with it," she replied.

Just then, the water on the ground started to rise. "Uh-oh," Iris said. "I think Launch Octopus was what was keeping the air in here. Let's get out, quick."

"No problem. I just want my shirt back when we get back to the boat," Darren said as he stuck the rebreather in his mouth.

The three friends swam out of the abandoned base and back towards the boat on the surface.