Am I dead?
"Alessia?"
Wait... Was that Blue?
"Alessia, can you hear me?"
No way this is happening.
"Ales please! Wake up"
Get up!
"Please don't do this to me!"
Get. Up.
Pain travelled up my spine, causing it to arch as I felt a gallon of liquid streamed up my trachea. I vomited violently, and winced at the tremendous discomfort before I felt a pair of arms grabbed me by my shoulder.
"Oh Ales, thank goodness you're alive!"
Blue?
I forced my heavy eyelids to ascend, my vision became clearer as I blinked.
It was Eli Shane. I was in his arms.
It was stupid of me to think that it was Blue. I must have hit my head too hard.
Literally.
I tilted my head and laid on his strong shoulder, catching my breath.
My eyes lazily looked around our surroundings. We were on shore, on a greyish-blue land, filled with astronomical green rock statues that had tiny blue, glowing mushrooms growing on them.
Eli and I were nearer to the waters, with Doc, Strange, and a group of Fandangoes cheering around us. The rest of the gang, slugs, and mechas were further up the land, beside a rock statue.
Relieved, I rested my eyes and sank into his chest. I couldn't feel my body. My muscles were so sore, my body felt like it was restarting. Eli seemed to have noticed it as he tightened the hug, not allowing my body to slip out of his embrace.
"She's awake!?" I heard Mia's voice from a distance away, and a second after that, four more pairs of arms were wrapped around me. Dizziness hit my head like a wave as I squinted my eyes. Once it was gone, I could finally come back to my senses.
Every part of me was in pain, but I was too grateful to be alive to even be bothered.
"Alessia! Can you hear me? Oh floppers do you know you gave us all a heart attack? Why did you do that!?" Mia screamed into my ear as they slowly loosened their hugs on me, and I returned it with a weak yet assuring smile.
"What happened?" I questioned them, and the recent events played in my mind, and I was suddenly panicking. "Where are my slugs? Where is Phoenix and Cobra? Are they okay?"
"Yeah they are safe," Trixie assured me. "Why did you go after Cobra? Do you not know that slugs can swim and breathe underwater?"
Trixie glared down at me like an angry mom. She was scary.
"I was worried that Tad's goons might get her," I pouted as I uncomfortably snuggled closer to Eli since he was the only one that wasn't scowling at me.
"You almost lost your life to a slug, you idiot! If I told you that this would happen a year ago, you would have brought me to a psychologist," Mia said and crossed her arms. "Next time in situations like this when you could very possibly die, could you please think logically, my dear Ales? I know you love your slugs but is it really worth sacrificing your own life for them? They are nothing without you!"
"I am nothing without them too," I mumbled. "I'm sorry. It was the rush of adrenaline that made me make irrational decisions. I'm sorry I got you all worried. I really am. I promise that this wouldn't happen again."
"It's alright, as long as you're alive," Kord said as they finally softened their expressions.
I smiled and hung my heavy head. It finally registered in my mind that I was still in Eli's arms. A towel was covering my shoulder, and underneath the towel, my underwater gear was unzipped halfway. My sports bra was exposed.
I wrapped my body with the towel in haste, my head shot up to stare at Eli. His watery eyes and assured smile turned into a confused expression.
"What?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Did you perform CPR on me?" I questioned, and I could feel the expressions of the other four changed into a playful one.
"Yeah I did, why? How else would you be alive if I didn't-" he paused himself as his eyes widened. A tint of pink surfaced on his cheeks as he bit his lower lip.
Which made me blushed ever more.
"T-That was my first kiss," I stuttered.
Silence.
"Mine too," he added.
Silence again.
"A-Anyway, what happened back there? We heard a roar that scared the living heck out of us. We thought a giant sea monster found its way here or something, but there weren't any!" Eli asked, stuttering a little as he hurriedly finished his sentences.
I let out a laugh and explained everything that happened to them, emphasising on how surprised I was when Phoenix megamorphed twice with exceeding power. I had never seen another slug showing off such great power before, and they too were shocked.
"That's unbelievable!" Pronto exclaimed and Burpy, who was perching on Eli's shoulder, chirped excitedly.
"That explains a lot of things," Eli commented, and I turned my attention to him, waiting for him to continue.
"The roar must've been from Phoenix," he started. "And we were searching for you everywhere after we successfully saved the captured slugs and fought off the other goons. We even went out of the citadel to search for you in the open sea! I was about to give up when Cobra, megamorphed Cobra by the way, found me and led me to you. The sudden strong wave from the other collapsed wall must've given Cobra enough velocity to megamorph."
"Then where's Phoenix?" I asked desperately. "She is still out there!?"
"Of course not!" Eli exclaimed. "Burpy found her on the seabed. Thank the Guardian Slugs slugs can breathe underwater."
Trixie went over to her mecha and picked up something. Her hands were holding it like a ball. She knelt beside me, and slowly opened her palms, to reveal Phoenix resting with a tiny blanket wrapped around her.
"Oh thank you so much for saving her!" I thanked them as I gently reached out for her. Trixie passed her onto my palms, and the slug's eyes opened slightly. Her face lit up when she saw me, and that melted my heart. Another tear escaped the corner of my eye as I planted a gentle kiss on her head.
"But why did she megamorphed twice and became as weak as a kitten? This doesn't make sense!" Pronto pointed out with his hand posing dramatically.
I was surprised. Pronto actually asked something that is not stupid.
My mind tried to search for answers, but after all the events that had happened today, I was too exhausted to even think. Burpy on the other hand, started speaking in Slugish on Eli's shoulder.
He hoped onto my palm, landed beside Phoenix as he continued to explain in his language, pointing his little limbs here and there urgently.
Clueless, I looked up to the gang for help.
"Don't worry! Allow Pronto the magnificent to do all the translating," Pronto said as he sat down on his butt in front of me and stared at Burpy with his thumb caressing his chin. Burpy let out a soft sigh, before he reexplained everything to him.
"Aha!" Pronto screamed in confidence with a finger pointing upwards.
"It was just a vision from either Mago or Loki, so Phoenix never megamorphed twice!" Pronto proclaimed proudly, just to yelp when Burpy blew a wave of fire at him.
"Oh wait no no no no... it's because when slugs get sick, they tend to have more energy when they transform, and become even more lifeless when they returned to photoform!
No! It's because Phoenix just ate a special slug pallet that Alessia probably gave only to her slugs!
NO! It's because Phoenix is actually a real Phoenix in disguise!
Wait that does not make sense! Oh I know! It's because Phoenix secretly went to the Lightwell and gave herself a good old bath!
NO WAIT I KNOW IT IS BECAUSE-"
As Pronto rambled on his groundless theories, I squinted my eyes to examine Burpy's behaviour and body language. He was so worried for Phoenix, and he seemed to be the only slug that had a clear idea on what was happening.
I paid close attention to where he was pointing his limbs at.
He pointed at Phoenix, then at his belly.
It clicked.
"She's pregnant?" The question slipped out of my mouth without a second thought.
Eli gasped. Pronto stopped rambling about his false ideas and everyone stared at me. Burpy looked at me with big curious eyes, before he leaped into the air and rejoiced.
"She's pregnant!" I exclaimed as a wide smile surfaced.
"So that's what you've been trying to tell me all along?" Eli asked Burpy and the slug nodded with a wide smile.
"Wait, that... that's great news! Congratulations!" I smiled. No words could expressed how proud I am as Phoenix's slinger.
"Hell yeah! But that still doesn't explain why she's much more powerful when she megamorphed!" Trixie said.
"Maybe..." I started. "With the extra slug energy from her fetus, she is able to perform much more powerful moves?"
"Y-Yes! That's exactly what I've been trying to say!" Pronto exclaimed.
"Wow," Kord mumbled as he stared at Phoenix. "I mean, first of all congratulations! I'm truly happy for the both of you! But wow, never knew our slugs have the potential to be way more powerful than we thought!"
Burpy nodded in agreement, and started to point his limb at the mechas at a distance.
"I think Burpy is trying to tell us that Phoenix is about to go into labour," Mia said. "We should get going."
Eli nodded, and everyone started to head back to their respective mechas.
I softly hold onto Phoenix in my hand and pulled myself to stand up, just to lose my balance immediately and fell back into Eli.
I furrowed my brows and bit my lips in embarrassment. I turned back and shot him an apologetic smile.
"Sorry," I said as I quickly tried to get back up, but a hand grabbed me by my wrist and pulled me down. My back hit his hard chest with a loud thud and I looked back at him with a question mark hovering above my head.
He gave me a soft smile, before he gently took Phoenix from my hand and placed her into one of the canisters on my bandoleer.
"Eli? What are you-" I was cut off when he suddenly picked me up, bridal style, and slowly walked us towards the mechas.
"You're not fit to ride. You're coming with me."
My heart is too weak for this.
I looked up at his charming face. His sharp jawline penetrated through my shivering body. I let go of the tension that I did not know I was holding onto and placed an arm around his neck, helping him to support myself.
He gently threw me upwards to have a better grip on me and I burried my face into his chest to hide my tomato face. When the rest of the gang noticed us, they started cheering at us and letting out all sorts of weird catcalls.
When Dalinda finally saw me, her flippers at the end of her face erected, her wings spread out, her tail wiggled as she let out a victorious howl. My backpack was on her seat, and all my slugs started to leaped out of it and chirped happily.
I gave them a wholehearted smile as Dalinda approached me. With an arm still around Eli for support, I petted her with my left hand, and then the slugs. They came up to me on Dalinda's head.
I placed Phoenix with the rest of them before Eli brought me to Lucky. He mounted Lucky with me in his arms. Once he stabilised us on the mecha, he put me on his lap and he let go off my legs to rev up the engine, and we rode off. The rest of the gang, including Dalinda and the rescued slugs, followed closely behind.
"T-Thank you," I stammered, hiding my blush from him and the gang by looking down at my lap. He hummed in response. He was leaning forward to grip onto Lucky's handle, but that just shortened the already tiny gap between us.
I laid in his safe arms as he rode through the caverns. It felt good to have someone who I can trust wholeheartedly. My eyes rested and I slowly slipped into slumber, trusting Eli that he will get me home safely.
...
"Explain yourself!"
His furious green eyes glared daggers through the shivering ex-captain's burnt body. His body was tensed with veins popping out of it.
"Sir, Eli killed my top slug three years ago! That was revenge on him! I could have killed the Shane Gang if it wasn't because of that stupid Infurnus! I had no idea they could transform underwater or near water, neither did I know that that Infurnus in particular can megamorph twice! I swear, I had everything under control! I could have killed each and every-"
"Idiot!" he screamed as he slammed his hands on the table, shutting the creature up. "I need as many slugs as possible! Didn't that came across that small brain of yours when I told you about our plan of overruling Slugterra!? We need all the slugs we can get to supply our army and to not left any for the Shane Gang! And that slug you almost killed-"
He could not finished his sentence as he hung his head. Twist saw his reaction and finished the sentence for him.
"That slug you almost killed, it's his slug, Pieper."
Terrified by the news, Drake dropped to his knees and pleaded for his life. "Please forgive me! I did not know that she was yours! Please spare my life!"
"You're lucky that I need more manpower for the project. If it isn't because of that, you would've been the Darkbanes' snack," Tad hissed as his eyes met Drake's. "Get out."
Once Drake left the room, he turned to Twist.
"There is no way anyone could have find out about the citadel in Undertow Cavern. Find out what happened, who figured this out, and I want that person alive," Tad ordered. "Use the surveillance cameras if you need, or any goons, any weapon you want. This time, do not disappoint us."
His lips curved into an evil smirk.
"I will deliver to you what you've asked for. And maybe, just maybe, use this person to deliver the girl you hate the most. The one who stole your slug."
...
EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER ARGHH
Since I have a lot more free time now, do expect more chapters coming at you at a much faster rate! Can't wait for you guys to read them >:)
That's all for me now, do consider voting if you enjoyed the chapter hehehe