Chapter Five: Aquatos

(Note from the author: Sorry I made the previous chapter too quick and simple. This time, we shall see a fully-detailed battle at Aquatos.)

At the planet Aquatos, a submarine of unusual design swam through the blue waters. Inside, we find Mr. Grimm's accomplice Stone, piloting the vehicle while keeping someone as a hostage. Behind him in the cockpit, the hero known as Hydro Girl was kept in a tank of water. There was no escape for her; only Stone knew the correct password to unlock the tank and release her.

"Now that I have you as a hostage…" Stone spoke up as he drove along, "…I shall take you to Grimm and you shall become his next meal. And the best part is… nothing can get in my way."

But Stone was wrong; suddenly, he saw two familiar figures descend into the water. He easily recognized them as Kat and Raven, the two shifters. They used their gravitational powers to create a force-field around themselves, so that they can breathe easier. The field of air would help them breathe while in water.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Stone exclaimed in frustration.

"But that proves that I'm not alone on this," Hydro Girl taunted behind him. "You cannot underestimate our might!"

Enraged, Stone pressed a button to launch four torpedoes at the shifters. But Kat and Raven used their powers to push the torpedoes away.

"He underestimates our powers too much," Kat spoke up to Raven. "But we shouldn't destroy that submarine. Hydro Girl is in there, so we shouldn't hurt her while she's in there."

"We should bring the sub up to the surface first," Raven replied. "It's there that we will do the rest of the work."

Stone angrily drove his sub forward, hoping to hit Kat and Raven with full force. But, out of his hard anger, he still underestimated the shifters as they used their powers to raise his sub up to the surface. Once it reached a boat dock, Stone angrily burst out of his cockpit and raised a rifle at the shifters. "Now it will be just like in that other world," he thought silently to himself. "Pupuru will never know what's REALLY happening!"

Once Kat and Raven ascended to the surface, Stone immediately opened fire. But even his bullet fire could not penetrate the force field. Finally, his anger fully unleashed itself as he pulled out a bomb from his submarine's storage compartment. He tossed it up into the air, then quickly ducked out of the way. Raven was fast enough to catch Stone before he was able to run away.

Kat at first thought about heading for Stone with Raven, but Hydro Girl was her biggest thought. She ran towards the sub and used her powers on the bomb before it landed on it. The bomb was thrown into the water before it was detonated. The fuse was snuffed out right before the bomb exploded.

"They may have caught me," Stone thought. "But they still don't know the password to unlock Hydro Girl's tank."

Kat hopped into the sub, more than ready to finally free Hydro Girl. She faced the tank and raised her hand to use her powers. "You might want to stand back," he warned her. "This might hurt a bit."

"That's alright," Hydro Girl replied. "I'm sure I can take it."

"Okay then. Stand still." With that, Kat used her power to form a force-field around the tank, then squeezed the field on it, shattering the glass into many tiny pieces. When the mess cleared, Kat looked to see if Hydro Girl was alright; sure enough, not one shard of glass damaged her at all.

"Gee!" Hydro Girl said. "I don't know how to thank you for this!"

"Well…" Kat replied, "…if you like, you can join our League of Heroes. What do you say?"

"Sounds good to me!"

Right then, the girls suddenly saw Agent Shepherd walking towards them. On his shoulder, Colonel Mael Radec lied unconscious. "I caught this fellow snooping around at the asylum," he spoke up as he slammed Radec down to the ground. "He told me about something that might draw some clues together about this invasion."

Shepherd took out four pieces of paper and showed them to the girls. One of them was a drawing of Stone, the second was of Mr. Grimm, and the third was of the Polygon Man. But the fourth sheet of paper was intentionally left blank.

"Notice how we have already caught three villains involved in this invasion?" Shepherd said, showing the drawings. "I know for a FACT that there is a FOURTH one that has to do with this. And yet, I don't know who I'm looking for! I swear I have his image in my mind, but I can't place the name!"

"I THOUGHT I felt it somewhere," Kat replied. "But my brain seems a bit clouded as well. Perhaps if we find Ratchet and Pupuru, maybe THEY will know the answer. I hear that Neptune, Nepgear, and Dart are heading for Veldin. But they're violating Ratchet's orders; he said he and Pupuru are going there alone."

"That's funny. Isn't there a preacher involved in all this?"

"That's what I'M thinking," Raven came in. "Pupuru told me all about her dream and how she met…" She stopped for a moment to think; but right then, she finally snapped. "We need to head to the mansion IMMEDIATELY!"

And so they did. After heading back to Earth, they ordered Stone to be executed so he would not be able to use his trickery on any other asylum patient.

While Shepherd took care of Stone, Kat and Raven headed for the mansion, where they would consult the others about what clue this might lead up to.

The shifters saw Qwark talking through an intercom, connecting with whoever else was fighting elsewhere. Qwark turned and saw the girls at the door, then he hung up. "What are you two here for?" he spoke to them. "If you're looking for another fight, why don't you go help Snake and Raiden. They're over at Tokyo fighting this tall tower with a giant clown head on it."

"No need," Kat replied, looking depressed. "We're only here for waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"For Pupuru to return safely. We know she has the key to stopping this invasion. And yet we can't be involved in her mission with Ratchet. The only thing we can do for now is wait… and hope."

FINALLY! NEXT TIME, WE SHALL SEE PUPURU AND RATCHET'S MISSION TO VELDIN! BUT THE GIRL SHOULD WATCH OUT, OR SHE'LL BE A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE. NYUK! NYUK! NYUK!

(If you do not know who Curly Howard is, then you don't get the joke!)

UNTIL THEN, SEE YOU SOON!