Beyond What's Known

Chapter 4

It was a simple black handkerchief, almost identical to the red one the molenoid always wore. Confused, Alana gingerly took it, looking down at Pronto.

"Um, what-?" she began, but the molenoid waved his hand, interrupting her.

"For your hair. It sticks out like an Aquabeek in a flock of Flaringos," he explained. "If you tie up your hair and put that on, you will be unrecognizable as Alana Caelum. And you will look as stylish as Pronto!"

Alana stared down at the handkerchief, unsure why the gesture was enough to almost move her to tears again. It was quite literally just a handkerchief, but with the flurry of emotions she was struggling to keep pressed down, the help in keeping her disguised from her past tormentor meant the world.

"Thanks, Pronto," she choked out, doing as the molenoid said. She took out her ponytail and wrapped her hair up in a bun, tucking it in on itself as much as she could. Then she wrapped the bandana around her head, just at the base of her hairline. Pronto looked her up and down and crossed his arms, giving her a happy nod.

"We'll keep an eye on you, Alana," Kord promised, resting a hand on Alana's shoulder before turning back to the cliffside. "And we'll stop this guy. What's our game plan?"

"Good question," Eli said, grabbing the binoculars and leading the gang back over to the ledge. He looked back down at the group of easterners. "I think our best bet is trying a sneak attack out here. If we keep the fight to the Outland Reach, we don't have to worry about civilians or collateral dam- oh guardian slugs."

"Eli?" Trixie asked, gently tugging Alana forward to stand beside him. "What happened?"

"He's looking right at me," Eli choked out before jumping and tossing the binoculars away. "We're about to find out what that ghoul can do!"

Alana gasped and jumped when there was a flash from the Dark Slinger. A dark green ghoul with a piercing red and black eye sped up toward the Shane Gang. It looked hauntingly familiar, and not just because Alana had seen the Dark Slinger before. But she couldn't take the time to think about it. Eli instantly loaded and fired Burpy, and as the Infurnus flew through the air to meet the ghoul, the gang scrambled to climb onto their mechas.

Burpy and the ghoul collided in the air, flashes of orange flames and wicked green and red light sparking in the air like lightning. The ghoul let out a roar that echoed through the cavern and made Alana's heart sink. It dug its claws into Burpy's velocimorph and the Infurnus let out a shriek that had Ash whimpering from Alana's shoulder.

"Oh no, Burpy," Eli breathed, looking up at his slug in fear. The ghoul finally released Burpy and retreated back to its slinger. Alana gaped as she stared up at not an Infurnus, but a wicked Darkfurnus, black and orange and emitting bright green flames.

"Guardian slugs," Alana breathed, backing Midnight up as Burpy let out a roar and began to fly towards the gang. "Guys?!"

The rest of the gang looked shocked, but not quite as caught off guard, and she remembered that she was the only person who hadn't seen Burpy ghouled before. For better or for worse, she hadn't been with the gang when they traveled to the Deep Caverns. She'd instead been trapped and nearly ghouled by Dana Edwards.

"It's okay," Eli assured, staring up at Burpy confidently. "Burpy's been ghouled before, in the Deep Caverns. And he didn't attack us then, remember?"

As if to spite his slinger, Burpy began burping out balls of green flames that hurtled toward the gang. Alana gasped and pressed the button on Midnight's control panel to switch the mecha to bike mode, the others doing the same.

"Well, this is now, E!" Kord yelled, swerving as the gang drove down the steep cliffside path, trying to weave around the flames. One of the flame bursts hit the back of Pronto's mecha, nearly sending the molenoid teetering off the edge of the path. The gang skidded to a halt at the bottom of the cliff, turning to face the newly formed ghoul.