[Galvantula]

Two hours earlier...

Vilgax knew that water was important to most species and humans were no exception to that rule. Having mapped out all of Bellwood during his few visits he knew where everything was, but most importantly where the water purification system was. So far his plan was working out as well as he expected it to go. Having lost Yuki and Tatsumori was unfortunate but he still had the other Horoscopes to flank his oddball group. Plus he now had complete access to the Libra, Aries and Gemini Switches so things are looking better than they were before. After a overly long and somewhat odd talk with Gamou about the powers of Aquarius and Pisces the idea stuck him like thunder. Waiting until early morning he woke up Ran and Erin. Needless to say getting woken up rudely by the very same being that kidnapped them was not welcome by the fiery tempered girls.

"You have some nerve to barge in on us like this. Even if I may be a Horoscope I consider myself a member of the Kamen Rider Club first and foremost. So if you have anything you wish to say make it fast" Ran grumbled at the former ruler. Vilgax gave her a glare that would have shook lesser warriors to their very core. But Ran was used to dealing with people bigger and meaner than her. She loved Haru like a little brother and when she thought he was in trouble she would rush to his defense with her Aikido skills and great strength. So it was a big surprise that she found out that he was starting to resent her for always feeling like he needed to be saved. Thankfully Gentaro was able to clear that up and restored her faith in older students. It was with great shame that she realized that she was starting to love what the Switch was making her be and it make her sick to her very core. Still Ran was pleased that Vilgax blinked first. Giving herself a small smile for a job well done she thought things would start to look up. That ended as soon as it began when Vilgax grabbed her and slammed her against a wall, causing her to mew in pain. But she would not back down now. "What do you want us to do now, monster? When will out torment end and we can be free from your insanity?" she demanded, her voice hoarse from the pain she was in.

"It's something simple really. I need you and 'Erin-chan' to go over to where Bellwood gets its water purified and contaminate all the water there with your Cosmic Energy powers. Two things will happen next, either the fools will drink it and become my slaves or they will hold out and I can demand whatever I want from them. It's win-win either way for me." Both Ran and Erin were a bit scared at what he was planning. He bragged about how his coming back from their dimension caused the windows of time to 'cloud up', keeping Paradox busy with fixing the damage he caused, so getting help from him was a no-go. Erin walked over to where a monitor showing their target was displaying that there was someone else there. He looked like a monster of a man, with bright red skin, four arms and yellow eyes with no pupils. Normally Erin welcomed any and all challenges as she wanted to be a astronaut when she was older but this was something that was a little too much for the strong willed girl.

"Just what are we going to do about that?!" she snapped at Vilgax, worried that this man or however close he was to being a man would do to either of them should he catch them. While she was smart and focused on all things related to space she was notorious for lacking a sense of humor, making it hard to get along with anyone that seemed like they were too happy-go lucky for their own good. This character trait caused some fiction with her over how cheerful Yuki was over space as she felt the girl was not focused about the work needed to make her dreams of space travel a reality. But shortly before they were caught Yuki was able to impress her with all the knowledge she had about space and soon after they were friends. But Erin was not one to relax and have fun so easily and she herself knew that painfully well. For what seemed like forever she waited for Vilgax to give a response but before a minute had passed he told her everything about this new factor.

"This is Manny Armstrong, a Plumber in training. He's half Tetramand so his powers aren't as strong as a full breed. Plus he's pretty stupid and headstrong so I highly doubt he'll give you that much trouble." Opening a portal to where he wanted them to go he forcibly shoved them both in and as soon as they were over to where he wanted them shut the portal down suddenly, leaving them on their own. Mutating into their Zodiart forms they thought this would be easy, that Manny was the fool Vilgax said he was.

Shortly before Ben and the others arrived at the water station.

Manny knew things would never be the same again. His sister was still grieving the lost of her brother and he knew he missed him too. But he had a job to do and that would never change no matter what happened. Plus the Plumbers promised him a fancy fish dinner just for doing this simple task as some aliens like to attack whatever they feel would harm those they think are lesser species so there's always something to do. The only thing he was wondering about right now is just what kind of fish he'd like to eat. As if by fate he saw the Pisces Zodiart guarding the Aquarius Zodiart as she was flooding one of the water reservoirs with odd water coming out of her...shoulder pads? Manny didn't know that they were Zodiarts or that they were really innocent humans forced into doing the deeds of Vilgax. All he saw were two people contaminating the water of Bellwood with something odd but what was really interesting to him was the Pisces Zodiart. Now he knew what he wanted for dinner! Drawing out his laser pistols he fired at the two of them, causing a scene.

NOW

Manny didn't care that the fish monster was underwater right now. He thought he can fish it out with some bait so he attached a worm to a hook, threw out his line into the water, placed a straw hat on his head and sat down. He would just fish it out and he did not care how long that took him. He was in the first hour of doing this when Ben drove by and saw him. Quickly parking he then ran out with some people he never saw before in his life. But still Ben was his friend so he gave him a hearty greeting.

"Yo man! I was wondering when you'd show up. Some weird chick was doing something to the water station with her fish pet so I tried to kick their butts. But then the fish turned into water and leapt right into the nearby lake. So I've been trying to catch it so I can gut it and scale it then bread it, fry it and eat it! Mmm-mmm good!" Ben raised a eyebrow as he knew from what Gen, JK and Yuki told him that that wasn't really a fish at all.

Underwater Ran couldn't help but be worried about Manny's plans for her. She wanted to go up, turn back into human form and tell him she was not a fish. But to be honest he scared the living daylights out of her. Ran was worried that if he caught her then she would never see her friends again. It wasn't helping matters that he wanted her to eat a worm. Seeing it as it drowned Ran felt sick to her stomach. If she was hungry before she wouldn't be now. The only thing giving her comfort now was the fact Erin was hiding, waiting for the moment to strike.

Sneaking up on Ben Erin prepped her shoulder vases to spray Ben so he would be a slave to Vilgax. She hated the very idea of it but she had no choice in the matters. Unfortunately for her the Aquarius Horoscope form casts a unusual shadow and it was over Ben right now. Knowing her cover is blown she unleashed two blasts of Cosmic Energy water at him while shouting that she was "Fuketsu"

It may have been her shoddy Japanese or her oddly shaped shadow. Perhaps it was the blue water that was rushing just behind him. But before it could hit he already knew what to do. Powering on the Omnitrix he selected Water Hazard and was able to turn into him with no incident. Quickly turning around he opened up the ports on his hands and absorbed Erin's water attack to her shock. "Thank you for your concern about my hygiene but I already showered today." he joked around with her.

"Pani?" Erin was unsure she could take on one weird alien. Having two of them and Gentaro, the boy also known as Fourze to deal with? That was too much even for her. Knowing that the longer this goes on the worse it will end for her she leapt down and started lashing at Ben with her Neater whip, trying to break his armor shell. While it wasn't hurting Ben all that much he was still trying to get her to stop but he was having no such luck with that.

Gentaro knew Ben needed help. He may not be someone he likes but he's still a hero and Kamen Riders always help out those who fight for justice. Summoning the Fourze Driver he placed the Rocket, Launcher, Drill and Radar Switches into their respective slots. Flipping down the red Transswitches and pulling the lever he then raised her arm up as the final countdown started.

"THREE!"

"TWO!'

"ONE!"

As the stream died down Gen was now in his Fourze form. He looked back and saw that Yuki was as excited about this as he was. Both of them crouched down and then rose back up with arms held up high, hands balled into fists are they proclaimed the thing they knew deep in their hearts.

"Uchuu Kita!"

Happy that Yuki was herself again Fourze then pointed to Aquarius and declared this to her

"Kamen Rider Fourze! Let's settle this one on one!"

Yuki and JK were happily jumping up and down, cheering on their friend to save their friend from the form she was trapped in. Water Hazard was just staring blankly as the odd scene, having no idea what was going on right now. Giving up on trying to understand right now he just shrugged his shoulders and started the battle in earnest. Blocking the whip from hitting Fourze he then sprayed her with a sharp jet of water from his palm. Shaking it off Erin made the Neater whip wrap around Ben's leg and yanked it, causing him to fall down in a heap. Rushing to Ben's defense Fourze did a spinkick that Erin was able to duck under as she punched him in the chest. Backstepping away to get his bearings back both he and Ben ganged up on her. The sounds of battle were enough to get Ran out of the water and into Erin's side. The first year sprayed water out at Ben and Gen, grossing out the former and just knocking away the latter. Making a trident to aid her in combat Ran slashed at Water Hazard, damaging his organic armor. Now knowing that this form would not work on her Ben switched to Ripjaws so he can regain the upper hand in this fight. Trying to bite her weapon in half Ran caught his open mouth and held it there. So far they were at a stalemate.

The third year now known as Aquarius was now hovering over the water and attacking with blobs of water. Gentaro was at a total loss to what do about this. Luckily Yuki was able to put in some input about what to do. "Gen-chan use the Board Switch to cover the distance between the two of you!" Thanking her for helping him he placed said Switch into the Triangle slot and turned it on.

"Board ON"

With the Board Module ready for action Fourze leapt into the water and started to surf his way over to where Erin was now. But her attacks were making it harder and harder to get over there and Ben had his hands full with dealing with the Pisces Horoscope. 'I wish Kengo were here now. I'm always blanking out about which Switches to use.' However JK and Yuki were watching the battle and were able to come up with a idea.

"Gentaro-san! Try the Stealth and Flash Modules to gain some ground!" JK shouted over the exploding water blasts. Just when Gen was able to place the Switches into their respective slot it seemed that a water blast struck him down. Holding her hands over her mouth in horror Yuki was almost sure that what she really wanted Gen to know would remain unknown to him forever as JK looked on with utter shock. Erin was sad too as she wanted to be his friend too but that doesn't seem to be happening now. Cursing herself for being so weak as to let a monster take control of her destiny, she wondered if she could ever be forgiven for what she was forced into doing.

But all their fears were put to rest when a bright light shined right into Erin's face, temporality blinding her. Gentaro had managed to set up the Switches after all. Jumping up he then slammed the Board Module into Aquarius, knocking them both into the water. While Erin was struggling to get her bearings Fourze was already on his game, swimming around with the Screw Module on his leg. He had only one shot at this and he knew he had to make it count. Placing the Elec Switch into the Circle slot he then turned it on.

"Elec ON"

Now as Elec States he prepped up a special Limit Break for this occasion. Setting up the Screw Switch for the finishing attack he then placed the Elec Switch into Billy the Rod as he plugged the cord into its left socket he then went over to where Aquarius was.

"Elec ON"

"Screw ON"

"Limit Break!"

"RIDER 10 BILLION VOLT SPIRAL!" He then rushed over to her while spinning, electricity crackling around him as Billy the Rod struck true right in Erin's stomach. Unable to support her Zodiart form anymore Erin canceled her transformation as she fell unconscious. Ignoring the Aquarius Switch Fourze replaced the Rocket Switch into its slot and used the Rocket Module to get Erin and himself out of the lake.

Back on land Ben as Ripjaws was having no luck at all in getting free from Pisces's grip. By now he was worried that she would kill him right there and now and he would be powerless to stop her. Manny however wanted none of that to happen. Grabbing Ran's waist with his lower arms he then leapt high into the air and did a German Suplex on her, negating her transformation. As the Pisces Switch rolled away from her hand and Ben turned back to human form Manny was confused about just what was going on here."Uh Ben, did you know why my fish is trying to hide its form as a cute girl? I doubt it'll be signing that tune once I get its I.D mask off!" he boldly stated as he reached over to where Ran laid, not knowing that Manny still thought of her as his future fish dinner. Ben tried to shout at him that Ran is really human but his mouth was still hurting from eariler. Yuki knew she had to act fast if she wanted to save Ran.

"Manny-san, stop! She's really human! A evil man called Gamou that we thought was our school chairman forced her as well as myself and others to become monsters and come to your world. Ben was able to save me and my friendship with Gen. Look, I'll show you she's really human!" she told him with much fear in her voice as she bent down and gently tugged on her cheeks. Ran at that moment woke up to find Yuki was squeezing her face. Normally she hated when people touched her without her consent and would throw them without a second thought. But given the circumstances right now she was willing to let this side, just this once.

Manny was a little bummed that his 'fish dinner' was really a cute girl but he was happy as a calm that she REALLY was a cute girl, with her friends Yuki and Erin being cute girls too as well! Life was going well for once and Manny knew it. As Erin woke up with Gentaro and JK looking at her with worried faces she then placed their fears to rest. "I- I'm alright now. Barigato for saving me Gentaro-san" she said as the light of the sun shined down on her. While her Japanese was not perfect nobody cared about that at all right now. Ran and Erin were human again. Yuki and Ran sped over to when their friend was and hugged her while crying with happiness."I was so scared that you were going to be that way forever Erin-chan. I'm so glad you're safe now and you-" Yuki wanted to say more but her emotions got the best of her as she cried on Erin's shoulder, much to her slight discomfort. But Erin was thankful that Yuki and Ran cared about her and hugged them right back, tears forming in her eyes as well. JK was happy too but part of his reason was there were three cute girls hugging each other tightly. Thankfully for them Gentaro lead him out of their way so they can reconnect in private, while JK looked back sadly at he wanted to see them some more.

When that was down with and everyone filled each other in about who they were, Ben felt something else in his stomach. Everyone else felt it too as by now it was a little last lunch time and they were hungry. "Now before we head on to lunch I just want to welcome Gentaro, JK, Yuki, Ran and Erin to my circle of friends. Are there any objections to what I just said?" Everyone but Gentaro happily said that they were happy that they were now friends. Gentaro was happy too but he felt it was too soon to call Ben his friend right now. But he still gave Ben a happy nod that told him he was pleased with him making friends with his as he was with Ben's group." OK then who was the front seat on the way to Burger Shack?" It was a innocent question but Ben remembered too late that Manny loved getting the front seat and his car couldn't handle his weight. "Manny no!" But it was too late at Manny called out "Shotgun" and sat down, blowing out his tires and damaging the frame of his car, causing everyone but Ben to winch. Manny gave Ben a apologetic smile but Ben wasn't too pleased with him right now.

A few minutes later

As Gentaro, JK, Yuki, Ran and Erin were riding in Ben's car, talking about how happy they were to have each other back Ben and Manny's discussion was of a somewhat less cheerful tone.

"Aw come on man, I said was sorry" Manny pleaded with Ben. But Ben was having none of that right now. As he was towing his car with Lodestar's power he angrily shot out this to the Tetramand:

"I'm not speaking with you right now. Also you do know you'll have to help me with the repairs, you know" he snapped at him with Lodestar's robotic voice, not even bothering to turn his head to said this to Manny.

Manny gave a sad sigh as they continued their walk back to the main town of Bellwood. 'To think I was going to get a fish dinner and now I'm stuck with paying for the damages to Ben's car' he thought sadly to himself. He would have to work on not getting into a car every time someone offered the front seat. But for now he would just stay quiet and be thankful that he was able to help out his new freinds.