Parking by the lake, the Tennysons and Rodwell camped there for the night. "I've prepared a special surprise for tomorrow," Max said happily as he put out the fire and headed in to sleep.
Fred was busy with all the stuff he bought, building a couple of things. "Hehe, so much to work with. I don't know where to begin," Fred chuckled while transformed as a mixture of Upgrade, Juryrigg, and a Galvan. Not only did he want to upgrade his nanotech bracelet to include an armor feature, but he also wanted it to be able to change clothes even for his alien forms, leaving some room for additional software upgrades like the translation feature that all Plumber badges have. He had a lot to do and had been busy since they arrived, now finishing up.
"Sheesh. And I thought Gwen was a geek," Ben muttered, overhearing Fred's chuckles as he went to take a late-night swim in the lake.
As morning came, the gang went straight to the dock. "So this big surprise you were talking about was us going fishing, Grandpa?" Gwen asked with a hint of disinterest.
"Come on, you don't have to be so gloomy about it," Max responded as they arrived.
"Yeah, I think I'll sit this one out," Gwen said.
"Huh, okay, but you'll be missing out on a whole lot of fun," Max said as Gwen walked away.
"I, for one, am looking forward to this," Ben said.
"Well, that's great to hear. How about you, Fred?" Max asked.
"I'm not sure. I've never gone fishing before," Fred replied as they got on Captain Shaw's boat, setting sail on the lake.
"So, um, is there anything interesting to catch out here?" Max said, breaking the silence as he made small talk.
"Hoo, there is something out there, I'll tell ya," Shaw responded as he steered the boat. "One of your boys there seems to be having a rough time," he added, referring to Ben.
"You doing alright there, champ?" Max asked, shifting his attention towards Ben.
"I'm alright, Grandpa. I'm just keeping an eye out for the lake monster I saw last night. Won't catch me off guard this time," Ben said, scanning their surroundings.
Fred sat at the back of the deck quietly, the only thing on his mind was if he would be able to catch something. "Is there like a trick?" he pondered.
"Ben, this is a fishing trip, not a monster hunt," Max responded.
"That monster has a name. It's called the Kraken," Shaw remarked, revealing his passion for hunting down the creature. "Called me crazy is what they did, but I ain't letting up."
"Did they now? Wonder why," Max commented.
"For hundreds of years, there have been reports of its sightings. Many say it's a legend, a folk tale. They dismiss it as a myth. Not me, though. I've seen it with my own eyes. Even know of a location where it likes to show up," Shaw said, adding fuel to Ben's conviction that it was real. "I can take you there if you want, that is if you've got the guts," he said, with Ben looking at Max with excitement and wanting to go there.
"Guess the fishing will have to wait," Max said, giving the okay to Shaw's proposition.
"Alright!" Ben rejoiced as the boat changed course.
"Huh. Wait, we're not going fishing anymore?" Fred, realizing the change of plans, remarked in disappointment. Although he knew a lot about the series, he was still somewhat looking forward to going fishing.
"Sorry, kiddo," Max apologized to Fred for the letdown.
After a while, the boat stopped by some barriers warding off people from going forward. "What's this? This wasn't here before," Shaw grumbled.
"Hmm. It looks official, though," Max said as a boat came up next to them.
"This section of the lake is currently closed off. Please turn back," a man on the boat said.
"This wasn't here before. This lake belongs to the public. Who are you to order us around?" Shaw retorted.
"I am Jonah Melville, founder of Friends of Fish. We've closed this section of the lake for some environmental studies," the man responded.
"And who's gonna stop me? This is my boat, and I'll sail wherever I feel like," Shaw said defiantly.
"Well, I did charter this boat for the day. I believe I've got the final say," Max interjected.
"So no fishing and no Kraken. Should've stayed at the Rust Bucket," Fred remarked, leading Jonah to laugh.
"Kraken? There's no such thing as the Kraken, kid. Trust me, I've been a marine biologist for years and never came across such things," Jonah laughed. "We'll escort you back now," he said, still chuckling.
"What does he know? The hypocrite," Fred clicked his tongue as the boats headed back to the dock. As they sailed, Shaw's sonar picked up a large object moving fast.
"The sonar... We've found the Kraken!" Shaw exclaimed.
"Yeah, or maybe it found us," Ben said, pointing to a creature swimming really fast that passed them by.
"Oh no. It's heading for the docks," Max remarked.
"Gwen!" Ben noted in worry.
"I told you it was real. No one believed me, but now look who's got the last laugh," Shaw said pompously as the Kraken rampaged by the docks.
"How about you sail to a safer location first?" Max suggested, calling Fred and Ben to the side. "Someone has to save those people," he whispered as Ben jumped off the boat, turning the dial of his watch.
"Ripjaws to the rescue," he said, diving under the water and slamming the dial. "Aw man, I said Ripjaws, not XLR8," he muttered after turning into a Kineceleran. "Stupid watch," he grumbled as he started to run, speeding across the water to save the people by the docks. He rescued the people in the water, including Gwen, who were swimming for their lives away from the monster.
With the people gone, the Kraken focused its attention on the nearby boats as if it was looking for something. Not finding it, it saw the Friends of Fish boat sailing away at full speed. "Get us away from that thing!" Jonah yelled as the monster followed them.
XLR8 went up to their rescue, but the monster seemed to have taken a crate from their boat. "Thanks, you saved us there," Jonah said, thanking Ben.
"Just what was in that crate?" Ben asked, but Jonah dodged the question. With his timer beeping, Ben sped back to Shaw's boat, barely making it.
"I told you. I told you there was a monster here," Ben said later that day back at the camp. Other campers had already fled.
"That still doesn't mean I'm wrong about Shaw. He's trouble, Ben," Max said.
"Chh, now you're just being stubborn," Ben clicked his tongue.
"Anyways, the officials will handle it," Gwen said, leaving Ben to brood as she packed up.
"Actually, this might require us to step in," Fred said as he sat by the fire, pulling their attention. "Look what I found about Jonah," he said, showing them his laptop. "Marine biologist, my a... ahem. I mean, he was lying about being a marine biologist. He's a poacher who sells exotic animals on the black market. In fact, Friends of Fish doesn't even exist," Fred said, showing them some info on Jonah.
Max looked at Fred for a minute, wondering what made him do a background search on Jonah. "If you're wondering why I looked him up, it's because I found it fishy that the 'Kraken' only took a crate from their boat and not the others if it was just looking for food," Fred explained.
"Well, Grandpa?" Ben said, looking at Max.
"Things have changed now. Let's pay Jonah a little visit," Max replied.