Back with Moray, despite being spooked by the Evil Manta just moments ago, he was most annoyed as he pulled his cart along huffily.

"Why that dirty manta," he muttered crossly. "He's nothing but sea slime! I ought to teach that jerk a lesson one of these days! And I didn't even make a cent off of that kid!"

Then, a strange web-like shadow loomed, causing him to look up in time for a net to fall upon him, trapping and entangling him, courtesy of Ariel, Urchin, and Flounder.

"Looks like it's our turn to pull one over you, Moray," said Urchin as he tied up the net to prevent his escape.

"What did you do with Garret?" demanded Ariel. "Take us to him right now!"

"Yeah!" chimed in Flounder, trying his best to be stern.

"I-I can't!" Moray gulped. "The Evil Manta's got him now. And I'm never going anywhere near that horrible creature's cave again!"

Ariel and her group were shocked at his confession, which made them all the angrier at Moray. Their glares alone were enough to make Moray relent in his last statement.

"But, uh, I could sell you a map that'll lead you to his cave?" he suggested meekly. "I'll even give you a major discount."

Ariel and her company agreed, and so in exchange for Moray's freedom and a sand dollar, Moray gave them the map that led them straight to the Evil Manta's place. Moray then swam promptly away with her cart while the three friends made their way while following the map. Urchin still felt

Then, Ariel saw the Evil Manta's cave as was indicated on the map. "Look! There it is!" she pointed.

Urchin was still worried. "I sure hope Garret's OK," he said sadly. "And I hope he isn't too mad with me."

"Don't worry, Urchin," reassured Flounder. "Things'll get better."

The three approached the entrance and were about to enter it when Fangs shot out of the cave, barking at them ferociously, startling them all.

"Then again, things might get worse!" squeaked Flounder.

And while feeling startled, the three swam away far enough to take some shelter from behind some rocks while Fangs remained at the entrance, refusing to leave.

"How are we going to get by Smiley?" Flounder asked worriedly.

"I don't know, but there has to be a way," said Ariel. "We just have to think."

Then, as the three started putting their heads together, Urchin saw something on the ground not too far away. It was a large purple ball in the shape of a pufferfish. He picked it up to inspect and squeezed it, causing it to let out a squeak while blowing bubbles. When he did, another idea popped into his head.

"Hey! Look at this!" Urchin whispered as he showed it to Ariel and Flounder. "It's a blowfish ball, the one thing dogfish can't resist!"

And with the blowfish bouncing out of sight while Fangs eagerly chased after it, soon disappearing from view. With the dogfish no longer a problem, Ariel, Urchin, and Flounder proceeded into the cave to continue their rescue operation.

Soon, they came to a large spacious room where they heard the sound of evil cackling belonging to the Evil Manta. When they peered inside, they were surprised that the room had a large bookcase filled with various books and a cauldron in the middle of the floor filled with ominous blue and bubbling liquid. The Evil Manta was also there, skimming through a book while dropping a strange substance inside the cauldron.

Then, Ariel suddenly gasped, seeing something in a corner of the room. "Look!" she cried in a whisper.

Sure enough, Garret was hanging on a hook while still trapped in his net, the boy looking worse for the wear, his face looking flushed. However, he was still trying to stay brave as he spoke to the manta.

"So, what are you doing now? Aside from cooking inedible soup?" he called out weakly. "Because I'll be honest, you've certainly nailed the inedible part."

"It's not something as trivial as that," hissed the Evil Manta. "I'm a sorcerer, you see. A master of spells and creator of various potions." He then gestured toward the cauldron. "And this potion is designed to exact all of the trident's power that dwells inside you. And once the extraction is complete, I shall rule the seven seas by taking its power for myself. All shall bow before me."

He then let out another triumphant cackle before stopping to think for a brief moment.

"Or maybe I should make them stand on their heads instead," he hummed thoughtfully with a snide snicker.

"Give me a break," Garret muttered with a scoff. "I've heard better ideas from the Lobster Mobster and Da Shrimp."

The Evil Manta glared in Garret's direction, but as he did, he could see the boy was shaking slightly while his tail continued shining and sparking.

Believing he was putting on a front, the Evil Manta continued his work. "You can go on and keep talking, boy," he said. "I forgot to mention that once you've bathed in the potion in this cauldron, let's just say that things will get rather messy. Plus, it seems your body won't last much longer with all that power inside you. You'll be out of my hair one way or another, so I suggest you savor your last moments."

Garret's eyes widened at this as he swallowed. But before he could say anything more, his tail crackled and sparked again as he felt his body jolt a little and grew dizzier.

Ariel, Urchin, and Flounder had heard everything and were horrified by what the manta was getting out.

"What are we going to do?!" whispered Urchin in a squeak. "If we don't hurry, Garret's either going to pop like a bubble or end up as a soup special!"

"We got to distract him to get Garret out of there!" Ariel whispered back.

"But how?" wondered Flounder.

Ariel then looked at her bag and had an idea of her own. She dug inside it and pulled out one of the glow-shells she got from Shark Canyon. Then, while the Evil Manta's back was turned, she tossed the shell, sending it flying across to the other corner away from Garret, hitting the floor.

The Evil Manta heard the shell drop and looked around until his eyes fell upon the shell.

"What's this?"

And much to Ariel's delight, he swam over to inspect, picking it up.

"A rare glow-shell," he recognized. "That stupid eel must have dropped it. But how did it get in here?"

While looking at the shell, Urchin, not wanting to wait, quickly dashed out from their hiding place, going over to Garret.

"Urchin! No!" Ariel cried out, keeping her voice low.

But the merboy didn't listen as he soon reached Garret and started trying to undo the net.

Garret looked up and couldn't help but be surprised. "U-Urchin! You came back!" he gasped. "But what about-."

"Shh! Quiet!" shushed Urchin. "I was able to save Ariel and Flounder, and now I'm busting you out of here."

"Thank goodness," sighed Garret thankfully. "But please be careful."

But no matter how much Urchin tried to untie the net, he couldn't. He glanced around, wracking his brain until his eyes fell upon the hook holding Garret's net. Having another idea, he started sawing the ropes back and forth against its sharp edge until he managed to cut through them and caught Garret just before he sank.

From there, while carrying him, he swam slowly towards Ariel and Flounder.

He was almost there, but then Garret's tail began to crackle and spark again, sending a jolt of electricity running through Urchin, causing him to cry out of pain and surprise.

"YEEEOOOW!"

This sound didn't go unnoticed by the Evil Manta, who let out an angry snarl when he saw his prey was freed.

The Evil Manta lunged for the two, reaching out with his giant hands, but Urchin quickly swam out of the way and, while carrying Garret, made for the exit with Ariel and Flounder following them.

While still hot on their heels, the Evil Manta reached out with his giant hands, trying to grab them. Finally, he managed to catch Flounder, squeezing him tight in his hand while the little fish helplessly struggled to get free.

"SOMEONE HELP!" the tropical fish cried out.

Ariel and company stopped as the Evil Manta smirked.

"Hand over the boy!" he ordered. "Or else I'll wring out this fish like a sponge!"

Seeing Flounder in this predicament and worrying for his safety, Garret plucked up strength and courage.

"Let him go, Manta!" he yelled out. "Leave him alone!"

"You're in no position to be making demands, boy," the Evil Manta leered. "I'm warning you, surrender yourself now, or the fish gets it. And I'm not afraid of getting what I want."

"No! Stop it!" pleaded Ariel. "Please don't hurt him!"

But the Evil Manta squeezed tighter, causing the tropical fish to squeak.

Anger and fear for Flounder's safety surged through Garret as his tail began to crackle and spark again as he glared dangerously. Then, when it seemed that the Evil Manta would follow through with his threat, Garret screamed at the top of his lungs.

"LET! HIM! GOOOOOOOO!"

When he did, a powerful supersonic stream erupted from his mouth, blasting squarely into the Evil Manta's chest. While letting go of Flounder, the attack blew the fiendish creature away until he crashed straight into the cauldron, spilling its contents and slamming straight into the wall, causing books and rock to fall right on top of him. Dust and rubble flew everywhere as a massive explosion shook the entire cave.

Ariel and Urchin soon pulled themselves together, both somewhat shaken but unhurt.

"Whoa, that was wild," Urchun mumbled as he shook the sand out of his hair.

Ariel looked around. "Where's Flounder and Garret?" she asked worriedly.

Then, they heard the very fish in question cry out in alarm.

"Ariel Urchin! Come quick!"

The two followed the sound of Flounder's voice and came across a startling and worrying sight that made them gasp.

While Flounder swam around him with worry, Garret lay on the ground, his body radiating in yellow with some sparks, completely unconscious.

It wasn't long before the group returned to Atlantica and found King Triton, who had returned from his trip with Sebastian. After telling the king what had happened, Triton set to work treating Garret by using his trident to sap away the energy from his body. Ariel's sisters were also there, having heard of the situation, and waited with worried breath along with Ariel, Urchin, and Flounder, praying that Garret would be all right.

Finally, after several minutes, all of the energy was taken out of Garret's body, resulting in the color of his tail returning to normal and the sparkling and cracking aura fading away.

At first, there was silence, but then Garret's eyes fluttered open as he woke up.

"Wh-What happened?" he groaned while touching his head. "I feel like I slammed into another boulder. Only with my whole body."

Everyone was relieved.

"Thank goodness!" sighed Ariel. "He's going to be all right!"

The little mermaid hugged Garret and kissed his cheek, only to be met with some static electricity on her lips, causing her to yelp. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Urchin then approached King Triton. "Your majesty, I'm sorry for trying to take your trident," he apologized. He also apologized to Garret. "And I'm sorry for putting you in danger, Garret. You could have gotten hurt real bad."

Garret smiled heartfeltly. "That's all right, Urchin. It was an emergency, and you did whatever you thought was right. Plus, you managed to save Ariel, Flounder, and me without it, so we're square."

"The trident has more than the power of lightning, but only in the hands of the king," King Triton spoke sternly. "After all, something this powerful should never be left unattended, which was why I put a spell on it to prevent anyone from taking it, as well as a defense mechanism."

Urchin glanced away, feeling guilty, but the king's expression softened.

"Although I'm partially to blame for what has happened, I'm also sorry, Garret."

"Don't worry about it, your majesty," stammered Garret. "You're going to make me blush over here."

"But there's one thing that's been bugging me," said Ariel. "Garret, what was that scream from before? It was the loudest I've ever heard!"

"Yeah! And it was strong enough to blow the Evil Manta away," Urchin added. "

"I… honestly don't know," Garret replied. "I was so caught up with everything going on I just reacted. The only logical explanation is because of the trident's energy being inside me."

"Well, you sure saved my scales, that's for sure!" smiled Flounder. "And hopefully, we won't have to hear from the Evil Manta after that."

Garret agreed, but even he still couldn't help but wonder about the power he had used before passing out. Then, he remembered what Athena had said before.

"Could this be what she meant when she said I'd find out more about myself I didn't know?" he thought. "Or is this nothing short of a fluke?"

But that was another question Garret didn't know the answer to.