Stephanie had some trouble swimming since it was her first time, struggling to catch up with the others, but after some practice, she soon learned how to swim and was behind the boats.
She enjoyed swimming through the ocean waves and saw Sodor approaching, thinking of how she would explain all this to Sir Topham Hatt.
But since she had shown him almost anything magical, Stephanie shrugged off the thought of being worried and continued swimming.
Meanwhile, a giant warship painted in black and red appeared from a distance and had a familiar insignia: a skull with two curls on each side.
Inside the warship were multiple people in black and red uniforms with a captain at the wheel, and Lieutenant Hammerman was standing on the top deck, watching through the windows with his hands behind his back.
"How close are we to the spot?" Lieutenant Hammerman asked, glancing over from his shoulder to Ember and the others standing behind him.
Ember flipped through the pages and stuttered, "Uh, I don't know. We could be close to it or distant from it. It usually-"
"Lieutenant!" Lieutenant Hammerman perked up after hearing his name and approached the railing as one person turned to him from the radar. "We've got something on the radar!"
"What is it?" Lieutenant Hammerman asked.
"Unidentified," the person responded, turning back to the radar as it beeped, showing a large red dot and a second near a small group of other dots. "But that's not all. There's another on the radar too, and it's the right size for the first."
Ember and the others perked up after he explained, and Lieutenant Hammerman looked confused, turning to Ember and asking, "You said there is only one, right?"
Meanwhile, Stephanie was still swimming through the ocean when she stopped after having a strange feeling that she needed to get out of the water.
She looked around with confusion after that feeling got to her and wondered what was causing that feeling when she was what looked like a massive shadow.
Stephanie flinched after seeing the shadow and instantly turned around, swimming forward, but noticed she had drifted away from the group.
Not wanting this shadow to harm them if she caught up to them, Stephanie went in the opposite direction and searched for ideas for getting rid of this gigantic shadow as it chased after her.
Something nearly pinched her tail, and she yelped in pain, swimming faster and looking around for something to climb on and see what was chasing after her.
She continued swimming before something large appeared before her, causing her to yelp and swim to the side as the large black shadow missed her but crashed into the boat's hull, sinking back into the water.
Stephanie sighed after the black shadow disappeared before a voice called, "Hey!" and she perked up, looking up at the top of the boat with confusion.
"Climb on!" the voice called, looking familiar to Stephanie's eyes but disappearing on the boat.
Stephanie looked hesitant after climbing, but after studying for a moment, she sank into the water and dove underwater.
Once deep enough, Stephanie focused and started swimming upward and bursting out of the water, but she missed landing on the boat and going back into the water.
Stephanie swam back and tried again, swimming a little slower, and burst out of the water, finally landing on the boat, but her lower half was dangling over the ledge.
She yelped and clawed at the ship's floor, grabbing onto some objects but not slipping off, and felt worried about tipping the boat over.
"Pull her onto the ship!" a voice commanded through the intercoms.
People rushed over to help Stephanie, grabbing her fingers and, using their might, helping her onto the ship as she climbed on the floor, using her lower strength to push herself on.
She lay on the ground for a moment before gingerly pushing herself up, feeling the water drip off her but feeling a little exhausted.
"Stephanie?!" Stephanie flinched after hearing the same voice exclaim and glance over, only to have her face smothered with a hug. "Oh my god, is that you?!"
"Yes, it's me!" Stephanie softly chuckled, giving the person an assured pat before she removed her arms, showing herself. "Ms. Ember?"
Ember nodded as she looked at Stephanie's body, hands, and scales, stuttering, "I-Is this part of the Zodiacs or Dust?!"
"Neither," Stephanie chuckled, mentioning the necklace around her neck. "They're still around my neck if I use them."
"Then, what could have done this?!" Ember exclaimed. "A curse?!"
Stephanie shrugged after Ember exclaimed before watching the others appear, along with Diesel and Diesel 10.
They stopped after seeing Stephanie covered neck to toe with scales, fins, and webbing as Ember rushed through her books to figure out what it could be.
"Sink me!" Sailor John exclaimed. "Ye're a mermaid?!"
"Mermaids have one tail," Ember and Stephanie corrected, and Stephanie showed her hind legs with webbed toes between them.
"Then," Sailor John paused, thinking of what else he had learned as Stephanie placed her leg down as her tail flipped to the other side for comfort. "A fish humanoid?"
"Close enough," Stephanie shrugged, and Ember sighed, closing her book before putting it into P.T. Boomer's bag.
She perked up when a man almost her height squeezed himself through the crowd, seeing Stephanie as she was drying herself from the water.
Stephanie noticed that the scales slowly disappeared and were replaced with her original clothes, but they did not feel soaking wet.
"Excuse me?" Stephanie looked over and saw the man, a lieutenant, and corrected her posture. "Are you Stephanie?"
"Yes, I am." Stephanie nodded, speaking formally toward him. "And who might you be, lieutenant?"
"Lieutenant Hammerman," he answered, noticing some features of Stephanie, ranging from the shifting from scales to clothes to the azure blue eyes and hair. "Lieutenant of Blackguard."
Stephanie saluted him with her right arm, but something thumped against the ship's side, perking everyone's attention before something suddenly tipped it.
Stephanie clawed against the ground as everyone was thrown across it, slipping from one side and then the other after tipping again.
"Oh, there goes me hip!" Sailor John exclaimed, putting one hand on his lower spine as the others slid along the floor.
Stephanie landed on the ship's side and grunted as everyone piled at her feet as she looked over the ledge.
She perked up when she saw something climbing the side of the ship before disappearing, causing her to become worried.
"Lieutenant!" the intercom exclaimed. "We're being attacked!"
"By who?!" Lieutenant Hammerman exclaimed before a claw appeared from over the ledge. "Holy-!"
Stephanie instantly wrapped her arms around Lieutenant Hammerman and went backward, watching the claw land and gripping the side with another.
Lieutenant Hammerman and Stephanie watched as a gigantic crab-like hybrid between fox, woodpecker, and rabbit appeared, towering over the group and clacking its claws.
"HOLY CRAB!" one of the riflemen exclaimed.
The Black Zodiac started attacking as Stephanie evaded the attacks, carrying Lieutenant Hammerman in her arms as he held onto his cap.
"Stephanie!" Ember exclaimed as she dove from an attack. "That's the Cancer Zodiac!"
"I know!" Stephanie nodded. "It's a Black Zodiac!"
"A Black what?!" Ember exclaimed.
"The Black Zodiac!" Stephanie exclaimed before wrapping one arm over Ember and picking her up, dodging as one of the crab's legs jabbed down, missing them. "It's a forced fusion of some form between the Western Zodiac, the Chinese Zodiac, the Celtic Zodiac, and the Native American Zodiac!"
Stephanie ducked again when the Black Zodiac attacked again, smacking the Rifleman and the Heavies like nothing while trying to grab Stephanie.
Lieutenant Hammerman gave censored German curses as Stephanie picked up the others, Bernie and Conrad, over her shoulders while picking up the others like potatoes.
The Black Zodiac was pushed backward by the swarm of the Blackguard Army, and the ship tilted to the left, causing everyone and the Black Zodiac to tumble a little.
But Stephanie's webbed feet slipped across the slick floor and tumbled over the ledge, causing everyone to shriek.
Stephanie instantly went into a diving position and dove into the ocean water, sinking a few meters before growing to the same size she was.
However, Diesel and Diesel 10 reverted to their original forms after watching Gold Dust removed from their bodies, causing them to panic as they sank further into the ocean.
Stephanie realized the problem and swam back to the two diesels, using her knees to keep them upright and from sinking further.
She swam over to the two and looked around for ideas, but the idea of the keys popped into her mind against the thoughts of Dusts.
Quickly, Stephanie drew a circle with her clawed finger and reached inside, taking out the key ring of keys, which impressed her that she could summon anything from her bag.
Pushing the surprise for another time, Stephanie flipped through the keys and took one with a head shaped like a human body made of brass.
Stephanie carefully put the two diesels together as they looked confused, holding their breaths as Stephanie watched a keyhole appear on the front of Pinchy's top jaw.
She inserted the key into Pinchy, which caused both diesels to flinch from the sudden feeling, and Pinchy flinched too.
After inserting the key, Stephanie turned the key, and a click came from the keyhole, and she watched the key disappear and transform into a bracelet around Pinchy.
Slowly, the two diesels transformed into their human forms, and Stephanie sighed before thinking of how to help them with the breathing part.
Thinking back to the circle part, Stephanie drew a circle that popped into a bubble, which perked her up.
She quickly drew a circle over Ember's head and flicked downward, watching the bubble appear before covering Ember's head and stopping around her neck.
Ember took a deep breath of fresh air, and Stephanie did the same quickly before flinching when the Black Zodiac splashed into the water.
Everyone held onto Stephanie as she swam through the water as the Black Zodiac chased after her from behind, tucking the crab legs while using the back two to swim and the rabbit legs.
It was fast and was catching up to Stephanie, almost pinching her tail as she avoided the pinches and dove deeper to find a way to get rid of the Black Zodiac.
She soon came across what looked like a gigantic trench filled with many rocks, so Stephanie headed towards the rocks as the Black Zodiac followed behind.
Stephanie weaved through the rocks and went underneath them as the Black Zodiac crashed through them, trying to catch up to her but slowing down whenever it crashed into a rock.
She saw two narrow rocks at the end of the trench, so Stephanie quickly tossed everyone up and squeezed through the two rocks.
Stephanie popped out from the other side and caught everyone before they were swept through the ocean current, and she watched as the Black Zodiac attempted to do the same but got stuck and struggled.
Taking this chance, Stephanie muttered, looking around, "Where would the Black Zodiac's symbol be if it was not wearing one?"
Something flashed from the next trench, and Stephanie stopped swimming, looked over at what flashed, and watched another flash happen.
Curious, Stephanie swam down to the bottom of the trench, watching the flashing happen every three minutes.
The group could feel the chill as Stephanie dove further into the trench and perked up when the same horse appeared beside her.
She prepared herself for an attack from the horse, but it whinnied and went downward, moving in front of Stephanie as if telling her to follow it.
So Stephanie followed the horse, soon arriving at the bottom of the trench, where there was zero sea life and only seaweed growing everywhere.
Stephanie placed her feet on the sand and looked around, and she perked up when she saw the same flash and started walking towards the light.
She parted some seaweed away and saw a massive group of black and red submarines on the trench floor, looking preserved; only the propeller was missing.
"So this is where all my submarines went!" Lieutenant Hammerman exclaimed.
"These belong to you?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes!" Lieutenant Hammerman nodded. "Check if anyone or the supplies are all safe."
Stephanie nodded and approached one of the submarines, kneeling and looking through the window.
She saw people inside, huddled in the back, looking startled after seeing Stephanie and Lieutenant Hammerman.
"They're safe." Stephanie nodded, standing back up after peering through the window. "Let's get them to safety."
She drew a circle and reached inside, taking out her phone and turning it on, pausing from tapping on the screen as she looked at her claws.
The last thing she wanted was to accidentally scratch up her phone's screen or break it with a single press of a finger.
Focusing, Stephanie made the claws disappear and returned to the screen, tapping 'Contacts' and Elias' name.
She watched as the phone dialed before tapping the button for 'screen' mode, the phone transforming into a tablet as she held it in her hands.
Elias answered the phone and looked surprised when he saw Stephanie with Ember and P.T. Boomer on her shoulders.
"Stephanie!" Elias exclaimed. "Where were you? You weren't following us from behind."
"A Black Zodiac was following me," Stephanie explained. "But that's not all; do you remember the missing reports of submarines going missing?"
"Yes?" Elias nodded. "Why?"
Stephanie flipped the tablet and showed the massive collection of submarines and other missing boats, and Elias exclaimed, "They were all here?!"
"Yes," Stephanie nodded, flipping the tablet to face her. "I'll send you the coordinates of where they are so your team can rescue them."
"Send the coordinates to my ship so I can return them to my base." Lieutenant Hammerman nodded.
Stephanie nodded and quickly did the same, sending the coordinates to Elias and Lieutenant Hammerman's ship before switching to Elias.
"I'll distract the Black Zodiac to give you all the time to get these people to safety," Stephanie continued. "Take care."
"Will do!" Elias nodded and ended the call.
Stephanie's phone returned to normal, and she placed it back into the circle, and it disappeared before she heard a crash, causing her to perk up after hearing the noise.
She swam over to the nearest submarine and, using her claw, started tapping in Morse Code to the others to warn them of the Black Zodiac and the rescue coming.
The group nodded, and Stephanie swam through the crowd of submarines, repeating the same Morse Code and getting responses.
After tapping the last submarine, Stephanie looked up and watched the Black Zodiac's shadow, which caused her to become worried as she swam into the seaweed.
The horse appeared and whinnied, looking worried as Stephanie gently shushed it, patting its neck as it slowly calmed down.
"I need your help," Stephanie said to the horse. "Can you distract the Black Zodiac? I need to find a gemstone to power my Zodiac Pocket Watch."
She showed the Zodiac Pocket Watch to the horse as it listened to her, its ears flicking back and forth, but it listened.
"The Zodiac to fight against it does not have a gemstone," Stephanie continued explaining. "Can you distract it long enough so I can find one?"
The horse nodded before giving a loud whinny and swimming upward, heading towards the shadow as Stephanie watched it while hiding in the seaweed.
It approached the Black Zodiac and swam around it, causing it to chase after the horse and disappear, giving Stephanie some relief as she sighed.
"Stephanie!" Stephanie perked up after hearing her name called and looked over, watching Dippy swim downward toward her. "Are you okay?"
Stephanie nodded and emerged from the seaweed, causing Dippy to gasp and move backward a little after seeing her body.
"What happened to you?" Dippy asked.
"It's a very long story," Stephanie chuckled. "But let's save the conversation for later. Are Elias and the others near here?"
"Almost," Dippy nodded. "But where's the Black Zodiac?"
"I made a new friend," Stephanie explained, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder. "And they are distracting the Black Zodiac."
A glow perked everyone's attention, and Stephanie picked up her Zodiac Pocket Watch from around her neck, watching the petals of the flower glow.
"Is that normal?" Dippy asked.
"It is!" Stephanie smiled. "It means we are near a gemstone that could power the next Zodiac!"
Stephanie started swimming as Dippy watched before following her as Stephanie watched the petals on the flower.
They went further and further through the seaweed, Stephanie leading the way while staring at her Zodiac Pocket Watch and looking at the petals as they were glowing.
The petals all soon moved to the right, and Stephanie stopped swimming, turning to the right as the front of the petals glowed, indicating there was a gemstone.
Stephanie swam forward and parted some seaweed, seeing what looked like a gigantic wall with something red sticking out from the middle of it.
But there was a statue right in front of it with someone sitting on top of it in a meditating position, looking like a diver with a black body, and parts of the body were yellow.
Stephanie stared at the diver with curiosity about who it could be and started swimming towards the diver, not noticing something was swimming towards her.
Dippy noticed after a massive form swam past her, and she shrieked, "Stephanie, move! There's a shark!"
Stephanie perked up and glanced over, watching a massive great white shark appear, seemingly staring at her with black eyes.
Stephanie and the others stiffened after seeing the great white shark appear, but Stephanie soon relaxed as the shark swam past her and over to the driver.
They were about to tell the diver that the shark was heading toward them, but the diver simply opened their eyes and reached for the shark, petting the side of it as it swam around them.
The diver looked at Stephanie once but took a second after registering what they saw, and the shark moved away from them, swimming up from where they were sitting.
"Hello," Stephanie greeted as everyone hid behind her after the shark turned. "Can I ask you something?"
The diver cocked their head to the side curiously after Stephanie spoke and responded, saying robotically but in a different language, "๐ผ๐ง๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฑ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ธ? ๐๐ฎ๐ธ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ฑ."
Stephanie perked up after hearing the language and asked, "Can you repeat what you said?"
The diver perked up after Stephanie asked and responded, speaking in English, "You can understand what I am saying?"
"I can?" Stephanie perked.
"Yes, you can," the diver nodded. "Who are you?"
"I'm Stephanie," Stephanie responded. "But I am in a hurry and would love to ask you something."
"Of course," the diver nodded.
"I want the gemstone on that wall behind you," Stephanie explained. "Can my friend Dippy drill that out?"
The diver turned to look at the gemstone over the statue and looked back at Stephanie before nodding and taking the shark's fin as the shark moved away, allowing them to get to the gemstone.
"What did you ask?" Dippy asked.
"Hmm?" Stephanie perked up, glancing at Dippy. "I asked them if you could drill that gemstone out. Weren't they speaking in English too?"
"No, you were speaking the same language as they were," Ember explained. "It was as if you were familiar with the language."
Stephanie looked confused as Dippy approached the gemstone, saw it was red, and flipped her glasses over her eyes before starting to drill.
Meanwhile, the rescue team and Blackguard were rescuing the people in the submarines, and the others were unfortunate enough to get captured.
Blackguard rescued their crew in the submarines while taking the wreckage into their hulls, while the rescue team helped them with the others.
The horse underwater was still distracting the Black Zodiac from the two groups, dodging the attacks and pushing against it, sometimes flipping it onto its back and giving whinnies that sounded like laughter.
The Black Zodiac hissed and chased after the horse, attempting to grab it, but the horse kept slipping past its claws, and even whenever it used water abilities, the horse just enjoyed the current and sped off.
With Dippy and the others, Dippy was nearly drilling the gemstone out as Stephanie and the diver were helping, using rocks to dig around the jewel.
Soon the gemstone was uncovered, and Stephanie took it into her hands and watched the Zodiac Pocket Watch's back open.
The gemstone shrank and went into one of the gem slots before closing, and the arms turned to the third hour, and Stephanie pressed the crown.
Stephanie transformed into a half-crab-like hybrid, with her body covered with armor and crab legs on her back, and two swords appeared as she gripped them, completing her transformation as she had the Cancer Zodiac pendant on her collar.
"Wow!" Ember exclaimed after Stephanie transformed.
Stephanie smirked as she looked at the swords in her hands before putting them on her back, as there were hidden twin sword holsters.
"Alright!" Stephanie smirked. "I'm now ready to defeat the Black Zodiac!"
"Wait a moment!" the diver exclaimed. "How are you going to defeat the Black Zodiac?"
"Ah, that's right," Stephanie nodded, with one of her legs tapping the ground. "It does not have a collar for me to tear off."
"But why would it take all these submarines in one pile?" Bernie asked. "It looked like it was trying to conceal something."
Stephanie snapped her fingers after Bernie suggested it and turned to him, picking him up before hugging him and exclaiming, "Bernie, you're a genius!"
"I am?" Bernie asked before being placed back down on the ground.
"Yes!" Stephanie nodded before removing the necklace as she returned to normal, not wanting to use the gemstone. "Why would the Black Zodiac randomly grab submarines and others? It was like they saw something, and it grew protective, grabbing them to cover up what they saw?"
"So there might be something there!" P.T. Boomer pointed.
"Exactly!" Stephanie nodded before picking everyone up. "Dippy," she paused and mentioned to the diver. "And Abzรป. Follow me."
Dippy nodded and followed as the diver, named 'Abzรป,' looked confused but shrugged, following Dippy as they gripped onto the side of her as the great white shark followed.
Stephanie carefully searched the empty area as the others searched with her to find what the Black Zodiac was trying to protect.
Sailor John saw something shine and gently tugged Stephanie's fin, causing her to stop swimming and glance over, seeing what was shining, and swim over.
She moved the sand away from what was shining and picked it up, revealing a pitch-black pearl and a symbol resembling the same pendants around the Black Zodiacs' necks.
"We found it!" Stephanie smiled. "Now, let's destroy it."
The group nodded, and Stephanie placed the pearl down as Dippy started drilling against it, and Stephanie bashed it with a rock after Dippy stopped.
Meanwhile, the Black Zodiac felt a sharp pain and grunted, stopping to give chase to the horse and realizing that it was coming from the trench.
It made a panicked noise and instantly dove towards the trench, causing the horse to perk up and instantly swim after it.
Stephanie bashed the rock against it after Dippy drilled it, watching a medium-sized crack form, and before they could continue, a whinny caught their attention.
They glared over as the horse whinnied while speeding towards them, and a familiar crab-like shadow followed behind.
"Oh, crap!" Stephanie exclaimed.
Stephanie quickly took out her Zodiac Pocket Watch, turned the clock's arms to the Gemini Zodiac, and pressed the crown, transforming into her Gemini Zodiac form.
She quickly split herself, and the first picked up the pearl, and the others followed, picking up the others as the diver and Dippy followed.
The Black Zodiac appeared, and Dippy panicked, following after Stephanie as the diver held onto the great white shark.
"Must move faster," Diesel pointed out.
"I'm trying!" the Stephanie carrying him fretted.
The real Stephanie was smacking her hand against the pearl to spread the crack further, but she had to stop to dodge one of the Black Zodiac's claws.
"Here, toss it over here!" one of the Stephanies called. "Let's play a game called 'Keep Away!'"
Stephanie nodded and quickly tossed the pearl to the second Stephanie, dodging another attack from the Black Zodiac.
The second Stephanie swam to the wall and dragged the pearl against the rocky wall, pressing it against it as the crack spread further.
The Black Zodiac reached a claw towards it, and the second Stephanie dropped the pearl to the third Stephanie, who caught it, swimming down to the rocks.
She held it over the rocks and allowed them to collide with the pearl, bashing against it as the crack spread more and leaked an unknown black substance that faded into the water.
The Black Zodiac tried to grab the third Stephanie, but the third Stephanie tossed the pearl over to a fourth, which the horse whinnied and, using the back legs, kicked as hard as it could and cracked the pearl more, luckily not hitting the fourth Stephanie across the face.
Dippy glanced back at the Black Zodiac as it attempted to grab her, but two Stephanies grabbed Dippy and swam faster, avoiding one of its claws and catching up with the others.
"Break, break, break, you piece of-!" General Stephanie hissed, bashing the pearl against the wall as it cracked more.
The Black Zodiac smacked against General Stephanie and flung her backward from the impact, the pearl slipping from her hands as it grabbed it, accidentally spreading the crack to the point where it almost covered the entire gemstone.
Dippy sped forward and hit against the Black Zodiac's claw, causing it to drop the pearl out of pain from the impact, and it headed into the trench.
Diesel 10 quickly extended Pinchy and gripped the side, cracking into the pearl further but holding onto a good grip on it while the Stephanie held him and started swimming away from the Black Zodiac.
"That's it!" one of the Stephanies called. "Keep going!"
Suddenly, the Black Zodiac focused and blasted out a huge wave of water, causing everyone to be tossed through the current and causing them all to collapse on the ocean floor, and the pearl dropped.
The bubbles that contained air also popped from the impact against the ground, causing them to hold their remaining breaths as the Black Zodiac approached them.
The Stephanies fused back into one after being knocked to the ground, and she attempted to scramble to her feet, but the Black Zodiac's claw landed on her, pinning her to the ground as she shrieked with pain after feeling her side sliced.
Dippy was even pinned to the ground, trying to swim, but the Black Zodiac pinned her and approached the pearl.
Diesel heard Stephanie's shriek of pain and instantly scrambled, dodging the attacks from the Black Zodiac and grabbing a rock.
With the rock in his hands, Diesel slammed it as hard as he could and successfully cracked the pearl, shattering it into pieces as the leftover black substance disappeared.
The Black Zodiac nearly bit Diesel as he went onto his back but stopped after the pearl was destroyed and winced in pain before slowly fading away.
A star appeared from where the Black Zodiac was and disappeared upward as Diesel watched, feeling relieved as he fell unconscious.