Slugterra: The New Shane

Chapter 24: Chaos, Peace, and a Little Bit of Ice

Alana's POV

The table immediately erupted with questions, but the gang fell quiet as the people in the restaurant gave us strange glances. Then, they all shrugged and went back to their slugball games. A couple walked in, and sat in the booth directly behind me. I rolled my eyes, annoyed that they had the entire place to sit, and they had to choose right here. Ugh, people were stupid.

I directed my attention back to the gang. Sam looked bewildered. Trixie looked like she didn't believe me. Kord and Pronto were just gaping, looking at each other, stunned. Eli, honestly, looked a little more angry than startled.

"Alana, you have to be joking!" he whispered. To avoid being overheard, we all leaned in.

"I wish I was," I mumbled. "Look, I know it's hard to process, but... she's a Blakk. She's his daughter, and she's dangerous."

Trixie looked at me incredulously. "And you just never told us about her?!"

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. I was beginning to form a stress headache, something that seemed to be happening an awful lot lately. "I thought she was dead!" I hissed. "I didn't think she would be relevant anymore! That explosion should have killed her, I have no idea how she's alive," I said.

"I can answer that," a voice from behind me said. I jumped and spun around with wide eyes. I found myself facing the couple that had walked in. We had been so occupied in the conversation with Dana, we hadn't paid them much attention. Which was a mistake.

See, it was no couple.

Dana and Twist sat behind us.

"Nice jacket," Dana said casually, as if she was making a conversation with an old friend. In a way, she was. But I hardly considered Dana Blakk to be my friend any more- not after everything that had happened, including the recent incident in the mall.

Twist smirked and gave a small laugh at our surprised expressions. Dana laughed, too, and my hands immediately reached for my blaster, my eyes narrowed. Dana sighed and rolled her eyes.

"We won't duel if you won't," she said. "I'm just here to talk. Blondie there is just here because Dad doesn't want me going out alone just yet," Dana added, nodding towards Twist. I couldn't help but give a small smile at the nickname for him.

"Hi, Blondie," I said to Twist with a smirk. Twist scowled, and reached for his blaster, but Dana shook her head and he reluctantly crossed his arms once more. For a moment, I thought about what Dana had just said. Why would Blakk want her not to go out alone? I turned back to Dana. "Okay, talk," I said coldly.

She nodded. "Do you want to know how I'm alive?" I nodded earnestly. Eli and the others looked a little hesitant, but they all nodded, too. Dana sighed, and then began.

"I definitely wasn't expecting you to be there, Alana. And when you offered to help me, I refused. Dad would never let me hear the end of it if I owed someone a debt. Finally, you ran off. You had thought you had neutralized all the dark water in the depot, but you didn't. There was still a full barrel inside one of the machines."

I felt my heartbeat quicken as I suddenly had a thought as to where this story was going.

"So when your explosives went off, it destroyed the barrel- but not the dark water. The circumstances were incredible, perfect. You all went to Deadweed, yes? You saw what happened to the miners that were exposed to dark water. Well, the explosion gave just the right temperatures, I was exposed to just the right amount of dark water that was in just the right state that I didn't turn into a ghost like the Deadweed miners."

I refrained from sighing with relief. So she hadn't been turned into a ghost because of me. But what else could have happened when she was exposed to the dark water?