The 99 Caverns (book 2)

Crops-Counter Cavern

Trixie had never talked about her home cavern that much.

No one pried. It was her life.

They knew her home had been attacked before, she had fought back, and then had left.

"So," Kord said as they headed to Crops-Counter Cavern, home to the best farmers and accountants in Slugterra.

"Not a word." Trixie growled.

"I wasn't saying anything!" Kord said quickly. He turned to Kerien, who was running beside their mechs. "Sure you don't want a ride?"

"Nah!" She shook her head. "I got stamina for days. Dark Water is the best energy drink!"

Kord never knew how to respond to that. On one hand, it was good Kerien could joke about the experience that rotted her skin, made her veins grow red, and have more than a passing resemblance to the Emperor. But, still, it seemed a little fast.

Then again, for her, it had been 20 years.

"So," Eli tried starting a conversation next. "You've never talked much about your family Trix..."

Trixie sighed. "There's my Mom, Dad, 2 older brothers, both married with kids, then a few hundred nieces and nephews."

"You don't sound too excited about seeing them, or heading home." Pro to sniffed. "Does Pronto smell some drama!"

"Its not that--exactly. I love my family," Trixie tried to explain. "But...they're sorta disappointed with me."

"Disappointed? With you?" Eli sputtered.

"But, you saved your caverns from Blakk's goons, Trix." Kord said.

"And helped Pronto save not only the 99 caverns but the Eastern caverns as well." Pronto added.

"Yeah, but my family is kinda old fashioned." Trixie said.

Eli and Kerien shared a look. "Uh, what's old fashioned for Slugterra?"

Trixie rolled her eyes. "More old fashioned family traditions. They wanted me to be like my brothers, stay home and either be a farmer or accountant, settle down and give them lots of grandkids."

Eli and Kerien shared another look.

"They know I'm gay." Trixie added.

Kord and Pronto burst out laughing.

"Don't blame us we assume everyone is homophobic. We were raised on the surface." Kerien defended.

"Yeah, our families were pretty cool but the rest of the surface world--" Eli said.

Kerien and Eli both drew a finger across their throats.

"Glad I never grew up there." Trixie rolled her eyes. "My family isn't that bad. But everytime I come my parents try to convince me to stay, put down my camera and get a "stable job."

"Hey, what we do is a stable job!" Kerien defended. "The caverns always need protected. And I mean always. Look at the Eastern Caverns, we lost Junjie and 20 years under the Emperor. Be easier to break a mirror."

"Ah, yes, the work of the Shane gang is never done." Pronto said as they finally entered Crops-Counter Cavern (try saying that three times fast).

"Trix, you came..." Kord pointed to the people of this cavern, who were all lounging around drinking Slug soda and looking positively dead inside. "From this."

The town itself was beautiful, healthy, with slugs happily chittering and jumping around. And the people seemed very nice--if they didn't seem dead inside.

"This place reminds me of the twenty years I spent in a lab swimming in dark water." Kerien hissed.

Eli nudged her. "Trixie's home cavern, remember."

"Right, right. Well, the people seem..." A guy winked at Kerien. "Nice to slugs."

"Yeah. Its a great place to grow up. Unless its being attacked." Trixie said.

"Well, it doesn't seem under attack." Kord observed.

"And I didn't look like the Emperor's sister when Eli and Trixie first meant me." Kerien defended, making the red in her skin fade for only an instant, revealing the girl she had once been. "Looks can be deceiving."

No one thought those gangsters who killed my mom were a threat. She didn't say.

Trixie waved to a man leaning against a salon. He had red hair like hers. The man jumped up upon seeing them.

"Trixie?" He called. Then he turned to face the tired townspeople behind them. "Hey everyone, it's Trixie!"

The zombie people suddenly moved like Roadrunners, surrounding Trixie.

Snippets of cheers and conversations reached othe others.

"Hero."
"Member of the Shane Gang."
"Documentaries..."
"Got a girlfriend?"
"Visited the Eastern Cavern?!"

"Okay everybody, breathe." Trixie stepped down from for mecha (dubbed Director's Cut by Kerien), holding her arms out. "I'm back. And I brought my friends to help out. So what is the--"

"BEATRICE!" A voice screamed out.

Trixie winced. "Problem." She sighed as she straightened. "Hi Mom, hi Dad."

Making their way through the crowd, a young couple came forward. The woman looked like a strict teacher while the man looked like a brick school building.

They had red hair that matched Trixie's.

The woman stared at her daughter a moment before bursting into tears.