"Don't I get a say in this? You may be everyone's guardian, but you always told me we were equals here."
"I never said we weren't."
"Then why don't we both talk? Surely we can come up with something better-"
"We don't have time, Nate. I have to do this."
"No, you don't! It can't end like this, Lyn!"
"It may not be the end at all. We still have a chance. But if she stays, the realm will fall tonight for sure."
"Then go. I'll keep them off your trail."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
"No... don't," Alana whispered. Then her eyes flew open, and she was back in her bed.
She groaned and sat up, rubbing her sore elbows from where she had been pushed to the ground at the dance only hours before. The gang had sped home and, unsure what else to do, immediately went to bed. Alana's dress shoes still laid on her bedroom floor, and her dress was hanging haphazardly on her desk chair.
Alana stretched out her back before laying back down. Ash and Mage were still laying down on her pillow, undisturbed. Her dream hadn't been violent- she hadn't been thrashing around. But the memory of the conversation made Alana feel inexplicably sad.
"It's been too long of a day to deal with this stuff," Alana yawned before closing her eyes and quickly falling back asleep.
The exact words of the conversation were already fading, but the emotions lingered.
~~~~~~~~
The next few days were spent away from the more civilized parts of Slugterra. Nobody wanted to face anyone who might have been at the formal and retell the events.
Articles on the SlugNet suggested that a troublemaking gang, not Blakk Industries, had tampered with the concert hall's electricity. The slugfire had not been defense, but attempts to stop the rogue slingers. The Shane Gang hadn't been fleeing, they had been going after the suspects.
Trixie encouraged the articles once the gang decided that they wouldn't reveal Blakk's interference until it was necessary. Other than that, nobody talked about the formal. It was a sure way to get everyone annoyed and fired up.
Alana kept her eyes on the news, praying that she wouldn't see anything that would imply that Sam had gotten caught. The heiress hadn't made any contact with the Shane Gang yet, and Alana couldn't decide if that was good or bad.
The gang made themselves busy by spending more time in the wilder caverns. Races through the jungle and more and more training duels in the mushroom-tree forests surrounding the hideout occurred. Things began to feel normal again, although it was obvious that the formal was a landmark in the Shane Gang's journey.
If Blakk had succeeded, they would have been subtly snuffed out. Nobody would have known.
Needless to say, everyone was filled with a newfound drive to defeat Blakk.
After the morning's training session (which included hitting fast-moving targets, and resulted in each member of the gang getting knocked off their Mechas by the others multiple times), the gang gathered up at the first floor of the hideout.
Alana lounged on the orange bean bag chair next to the coach, the least sore out of everyone. She'd been practicing her powers whenever she could during the last few days, and had gotten the point where she was commonly ducking out of the way last second to avoid shots from any direction during training. When Trixie had asked how she was doing it, Alana had dismissed it as luck.
While the rest of the gang had washed the dirt and leaves off their arms from their falls, she had been able to grab a book (Saviours by Allyson Hèroe) and relax.
"Here you are! Casserole a la molenoid!" Pronto exclaimed handing Alana a plate, then walking over and giving plates to Eli and Kord, who sat on the couch.
"Thanks," Alana said as she carefully took the plate and inspected the dish. She couldn't tell what it was, but it smelled worse than a Flatulorhinkus and appeared to be twitching.
No thanks, she thought, hurriedly sliding the plate beneath the coffee table once Pronto turned around. I'll grab an apple later.
She turned back to her book as Kord and Eli poked at their breakfast dishes tentatively.
"I wouldn't do that," Alana said in a sing-song voice as Eli raised his fork to his mouth.
"I'm have doubts. But I'm so hungry," he said, taking a bite.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," Alana laughed as she flipped a page.
Sure enough, a few moments later, Eli groaned and pressed a hand against his stomach.
"Oh, man. This isn't sitting too well. You might wanna clear out. Now," he gasped.
The next few moments were unpleasant, to say the least.
Alana leapt out of her bean bag chair and made a beeline for where Trixie was sitting at the holodesk, eager to get away from Eli. But just as Alana walked up, Trixie got up out of her seat and sprinted into the launch bay.
"What- where are you going, Trix?" Alana called.
"Get on your Mechs!" Trixie yelled, and Alana heard Trixie's Mecha beast start up. "Now!"
Alana looked over at Eli and shrugged. Kord and Pronto ran for the garage, with Eli stumbling after them.
"That's what you get," Alana laughed as she followed him into the launch bay and jumped up on Midnight.
"Shut up," Eli laughed as he climbed up on Lucky's seat. He led the rest of the gang out of the launch bay, with Alana and Pronto following right behind the Shane and Kord bringing up the rear.
"Did anyone hear why Trix took off?" Kord called as the gang sped through the mushroom-tree forest, following the distant sound of Trixie's Mecha's steps. Alana shrugged.
"She was looking at something on the holodesk," she said. "That's all I've got."
"There she is!" Eli exclaimed as the gang rounded a corner. Trixie's Mecha came into sight, growing increasingly closer as the gang caught up with her. "Trixie! Wait up!" Eli yelled.
"What's the deal?" Kord asked as they caught up with Trixie. "One minute, we're eating breakfast, and the next, you tear off on your Mecha!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault. It was Pronto's cooking," Eli said, glancing over at Pronto, who scoffed.
"It takes an iron stomach to digest casserole a la molenoid!" Pronto exclaimed proudly.
"That's not why I left," Trixie said, glancing back at the rest of the gang. "Well, not the main reason. I was looking on the holodesk, and I couldn't believe it- the Enigmo slug actually exists!"
Alana's eyes widened, and she sped forward so she was riding side-by-side with Trixie.
"No way," Alana said excitedly. "An Enigmo?"
"Enigmo slug? Never heard of it," Eli said. "What's it do that's so special?"
"Nobody knows," Alana explained. Trixie nodded.
"Everyone always just thought the Enigmo was a legend. This one's probably the last one in existence," Trixie said. "No one's ever seen one transform."
Eli grinned and sped forward so he was riding alongside the girls.
"So if we hurry, we can be the first to fire it and see," he said, growing more excited.
"Even better. We can be the first to get it on video!" Trixie exclaimed, holding up her camera.
The gang rode through a narrow tunnel that opened up to reveal the Jungle Cavern.
Alana smiled as she looked out over the thriving jungle. Mushroom-trees rose as far as she could see. A river cut through the cavern and long moss hung from the cavern ceiling. In the distance, Alana could hear the chatter of the jungle- slugs chirping, birds cawing. She could feel the swell of slug energy coursing through every plant and slug in the cavern. It felt amazing.
"This place is beautiful," Alana said as the gang rode up to the point of a ledge that overlooked the jungle.
Eli nodded, looking around in wonder. "It's nice to see parts of Slugterra that are still unspoiled."
Just as Trixie nodded, looking out over the cavern in wonder, an explosion shook the ground beneath the gang's feet.
Alana's eyes widened as mushroom-trees began falling in clouds of smoke. Shouts could be heard over the background noise of the jungle. Her hands tightened on the handles of her Mecha beast.
"So much for being 'unspoiled,'" Kord mumbled.
"And so much for being the first to get here," Trixie said, gesturing down to where one of the mushroom-trees had fallen. A group of slingers could be seen running through the jungle's pathways.
"Slug hunters," Eli scowled, narrowing his eyes. "And they're after the Enigmo."
Another explosion shook the ground.
"We need to get down there before they destroy the whole jungle," Eli said, starting to move forward, but Kord shook his head as he hopped off his Mecha.
"No way. Soon as you get some of that mushroom salad in your Mecha's gears, it's gonna go all crnk-crnk-crnk-" Kord said, twisting his arms together, "ka-BOOOOSH!" He finished by collapsing on the ground before popping back up with a grin.
"Very impressive," Alana noted as she climbed down off Midnight. Eli raised an eyebrow at the cave troll.
"Alright, then I guess we're going on foot. Let's head down," Eli said, jumping off Lucky and leading the way down from the ledge.
The jungle was even more beautiful up close. The mushrooms all glowed faintly, the Lumino particles in them shining pale blue and green. Alama had to constantly duck under vines, and she found herself excitedly looking in all directions whenever she felt slugs nearby.
Pronto, however, did not share her appreciation for the forest. He tripped over a small mushroom, knocking into another large one, then ricocheting into a semi-rotten mushroom. It collapsed under his weight and sprayed out half-rotten juice.
"AGH! How uncivilized- slug hunting on foot," Pronto said angrily as he wiped the mushroom juice from his gloves and shirt. He paused and looked up at the trail in front of the gang and gasped excitedly.
Alana crossed her arms and followed his gaze. A fancy tent was set up in the clearing in front of the gang. Fans and a small refrigerator were set up, and at the center, two people who didn't exactly look like they were slug hunting material.
"Aha! Now this is how you do it!" Pronto exclaimed as the gang approached the couple's setup.
"Yeah, if you don't really care about catching the Enigmo," Eli said as he looked around. The woman sitting in front of him shook her head.
"Oh, but we do," she said. "We are quite eager to have it."
"Mhm," the man next to her said, swirling around the ice in the glass he was holding. "As soon as one of you finds it, we'll be here to buy it. For a very fair price," he added, gesturing to one of the corners of the tent. There was a tall chest of gold- the reward for the Enigmo.
"I wouldn't exactly call that fair," Trixie noted. "More like a crazy insane Mech-load of money!"
"Oh, with such riches, we could do such good- for Pronto," Pronto said dreamily.
Alana glanced over at Eli- he wouldn't really give up what was probably the last Enigmo in existence, would he?
"That is a lot of gold," Eli admitted. Then he sighed and shook his head. "I dunno if I could sell it."
Yeah, Alana thought with a small smile. Will Shane's son.
"I doubt you'll have the chance. There's already a lot of competition. But, if you do catch it first, we'll be here waiting," the woman said slyly as the gang left the tent.
They continued on through the forest, slowly making their way down to where they'd seen the slug hunters. After a few minutes of stepping over mushrooms and ducking under hanging moss, voices began adding to the noise of the jungle.
"I think we're almost-" Alana began, but stopped as a tall mushroom-tree in front of them began to sway. Then, with an explosion at its base, the tree shook and began to tip over toward the gang. "There," she finished as she leapt out of the path, pressing up against another tree. The rest of the gang took cover as the tree crashed to the ground.
Alana carefully climbed over the fallen trunk to see a group of slugs fleeing the fallen tree, chirping angrily. A man stood in front of them, wildly searching the group before sighing and shaking his head.
"Nope. No Enigmo here," he said. A Thresher growled at him, and he kicked dirt at it, scaring it away. "Get outta here. No one's gonna pay two tons of gold for you."
Alana scowled, and Trixie grabbed a fallen fruit from off the ground, chucking it right at the man's head.
"Hey!" she yelled angrily as the gang approached the hunter. "You almost flattened us!"
The blond hunter sneered at Trixie, and two more men walked up behind him. Eli walked up and rested his shoulder on Trixie, who was practically steaming.
"Trix, maybe let me do the talking. Look," Eli said, turning to the trio of hunters. "We all wanna find the Enigmo. But maybe there's a less blowy-upy way to do it?"
"I feel like this is gonna backfire," Alana noted quietly. Kord nodded.
"Hey, this kid's right," the blond hunter said. "Instead of using Hop Rocks, it'll be faster to just use Flaringos and burn these trees down!"
Kord rolled his eyes. "Yup," he mumbled as the hunters fired their Flaringos at the trees around them.
Alana and the others quickly fired Frostcrawlers and Aquabeeks, freezing the Flaringos in midair or dousing out their flames.
The hunters scowled and began firing, and a full-on duel broke out. Alana rolled out of the way of a Hop Rock and fired a Rammstone, knocking one of the hunters' Grenukes out of the air. She dove behind a rock with Kord, who was wiping mushroom juice off of his vest.
"Why do we let him do the talking?" Alana laughed as she fired her Jellyish. It covered one of the hunters' feet in goo, freezing him in his tracks.
"We never learn," Kord sighed, ducking down to avoid a Rammstone. He looked up to see Pronto being pursued by two Tazerings. "Pronto, behind you!" Kord yelled. Eli loaded a Bubbaleone.
"On it!" he yelled. Alana held out her hand, shaking her head.
"Eli, wait- Bubbaleones-" she began, but she was too late.
Eli fired the pink slug, and it swallowed up the Tazerlings- who just sent waves of electricity running throughout the Bubbaleone. The velocimorph crashed into Pronto, shocking him.
"-conduct electricity," she finished. Eli's face turned red.
"Ooh, that didn't work. Sorry about that!" he called out to Pronto, who shakily got to his feet.
"I want to go home now," the molenoid moaned before collapsing on the ground.
"Look! I think I saw the Enigmo over there!" the blond slinger suddenly yelled, pointing over to a mushroom-tree. The trio fired a Hop Rock and two Flaringos at the tree, and Alana gasped when she realized Eli was hiding behind it.
"Eli, heads up!" she yelled. Eli leapt out from behind the tree a second too late and was blasted into the jungle.
"Ah, just a crummy leaf," the blond mumbled. Alana scowled and fired her Geoshard. The slug dug into the ground, and neon green spikes began emerging from the soil. The hunters yelled in alarm and ran for cover.
The hunters got out of reach of the crystals and began firing again. It was back-and-forth rapidfire- Alana was dodging and Arachnet then shooting her Armashelt and then Ash and then being blown back by a Tempesto and then-
"Hey- hey!" Eli yelled, firing a Phosphoro in the air. Red fireworks went off, and both sides lowered their blasters.
Eli seemed to have recovered from the blast. He was holding out some kind of contraption- a slug trap, with spikes imbedded in metal.
"Lots of slugs live here, not just the Enigmo," Eli fumed, glaring at the hunters. "And you're tearing their home to shreds. And look at this!" he exclaimed, holding up the slug trap. His gaze softened as a slug hopped up on his shoulder. "You could have killed this slug."
Alana's eyes widened when she saw it- the slug was blue and brown, and its two eyes were vertical instead of horizontal. She glanced over at Trixie, who was staring at the slug in amazement.
"Wait," Trixie laughed, walking up to the Shane, "Eli, that's the Enigmo!"
The hunters all gasped, looking at the slug in wonder. Before anyone could say anything else, a deep voice cut through the trees.
"And that is my trap."
Alana turned behind her to see two large slug hounds walking through the underbrush. A large man dropped down from one of the mushroom trees. He had red hair and scars lined his arms. He had a large crossbow blaster attached to his right arm.
"Stocker?!" the blond hunter gasped. He laughed nervously, taking a few steps back. "I-I didn't know you were here, too. W-we won't get in your way," he stammered, pushing his fellow hunters back as they stared in awe at Stocker.
"Leave," Stocker snapped. "Now."
The hunters all gasped and nodded, sprinting away into the forest.
Cowards, Alana thought, even though she was feeling a little jumpy under Stocker's gaze.
"So, you do the talking this time?" Eli asked Trixie. The redhead shook his head.
"Are you crazy? That's Gerhard Stocker," she said. Alana nodded.
"He doesn't really do 'talking,'" she added.
"They say if you see him, it's already too late!" Kord exclaimed.
"Hence why he is called SBD- silent, but deadly!" Pronto said. Alana smirked- Will had explained to her why that was funny years ago.
Eli knew, too, because he began laughing. "Sorry," he said, shaking his head. "Where I'm from, 'silent but deadly' means something else."
Pronto shrank down, hiding his face in his scarf. Eli sighed.
"He's right behind me now, isn't he?" he asked. Pronto nodded fearfully. Eli turned to face Stocker, who rested a hand on one of his slug hounds.
"The Enigmo slug and my trap," he snarled. "Now."
"Hey, I found him fair and square, before he fell into your trap," Eli said, tossing the slug trap on the ground in front of Stocker.
Alana crossed her arms and smiled at Eli's guts. They may come from foolishness, but his drive was admirable either way.
"I didn't come here to play fair," Stocker said coolly, loading and raising his blaster. "I came here for the slug with a two-ton payday."
He fired a Thresher, and the gang all ducked out of the way. Alana gasped as the slug missed Eli by only inches, spinning away into a mushroom-tree.
"I knew you should've done the talking," Eli gasped, glancing at Trixie.
"You think?" Alana asked as she got to her feet. Kord and Pronto fired a Hop Rock and a Flatulorhinkus at Stocker, but his slug hounds jumped in the way, knocking the slugs out of the air before they could reach velocimorph.
Kord and Pronto yelled in alarm as the slug hounds began chasing after them. The two wove through the trees in attempt to shake the animals off. Alana, Trixie, and Eli sprinted away from Stocker as he fired a Flaringo.
"Split up!" Eli called, running to the left while Alana and Trixie ran to the right. The Flaring crashed into the ground in a ball of smoke only inches away from Alana's heels.
"You want this slug? Well, here it comes!" Eli called, firing the Enigmo at Stocker.
The hairs on the back of Alana's neck stood up- she felt like it wasn't right that Eli had fired the slug, like it shouldn't be used in combat like this- but she had never seen an Enigmo before. How would she know when the right time to use it was?
She was as Stocker fired an Arachnet that spun a web and rebounded the Enigmo. It transformed in a flash and crashed into Eli, sending him to the ground.
"Eli?!" Alana called, running up to him while Trixie fired a Polero at Stocker. The hunter hesitated for a moment, then ducked out of the way back into the forest, narrowly missing the slug.
"Eli, are you okay?" Alana asked, resting a hand on his shoulder. He groaned and carefully got to his feet, facing the ground and shaking his head as if he were trying to clear it.
"I missed it when the slug transformed! You gotta tell me what it looked like," Trixie said excitedly as she ran up to Eli. The Shane sighed and shook his head.
"I can't," he said.
"Why not?" Trixie asked with a frown. Eli took a deep breath and looked up to face the girls.
"'Cause I kinda couldn't see it."
Alana's hands flew to her mouth as she looked at Eli. His once teal eyes were now glowing a pale green, and his gaze wandered back and forth, never actually settling on Trixie or Alana.
A whistle sounded in the distance, then Kord and Pronto emerged from the jungle, panting from their slug hound chase.
"Where'd they go?" Kord asked worriedly.
"Don't ask me," Eli said, staring off into the distance.
"What happened to you?" Pronto asked, looking up at Eli's glowing eyes.
"He got hit with the Enigmo," Alana explained.
"And now his eyes aren't working right," Trixie finished worriedly. Eli laughed nervously and shrugged.
"Actually," he said, "I can see plenty. In fact, I think I'm seeing twice as much as I should!"
Alana tensed as growls sounded in the distance, and the two slug hounds leapt from the jungle back to the clearing, barking angrily.
"Here they come!" Pronto cried out.
Eli grabbed his blaster and looked forward hesitantly before firing a Hop Rock- that sailed straight over the slug hounds' heads and sent a mushroom-tree tipping down. A Flaringo appeared from the trees, flying straight toward Eli.
"Did I get 'em?" Eli asked. Alana ran forward and pushed Eli down to the ground.
"Heads up!" she said, holding him down until the Flaringo flew over their heads.
"I'll take that as a no," Eli muttered.
Trixie rolled her eyes. "You think?" she asked as she fired her Tormato at the two slug hounds. The hounds whimpered and turned to flee, but the slug was too fast and sent them blustering away into the jungle.
"We gotta go," Alana said, grabbing Eli's wrist and pulling him forward. Pronto nodded, looking fearfully into the trees.
"I suggest we move along. Stocker could be anywhere," he said as he led the way down the jungle path. "Stocker is almost as well-known as Pronto, you know!" he commented as the gang walked down the path. As he finished his sentence, he tripped on a mushroom root sticking up from the ground and landed in a pile of small mushrooms.
"Yeah, but for entirely different reasons," Trixie laughed.
"Of course! Pronto is known for his undisputed magnificent! And Stocker is known for his traps. He has probably seeded this very cavern with them! That is why you must all walk in the footsteps of Pronto's expert-"
The molenoid's rant was cut short as he stepped forward and was suddenly encased in a green cage with electric blue bars. It folded up around him and shot upwards, connected to a mushroom branch.
Eli watched with wide eyes, about ten feet off. Kord chuckled and turned Eli's shoulders so he was actually looking at Pronto.
"Ah, you see! I found one," Pronto laughed nervously. Kord peered up at the cage.
"This locking mechanism is high-tech," he said, looking at the bars. "But I think I know how to engineer a work-around."
With that, he reached up and pulled the branch holding the cage down off the tree, swinging it up over his head and then suddenly pulling it downward. Pronto's cage followed after it, slamming into the ground with enough force that the electric bars flickered off and the metal pieces broke away, freeing the molenoid.
"Thank you," Pronto groaned as he got to his feet. "Well, I suggest that with Eli completely and utterly useless-"
"Dude. I can still hear, you know," Eli said, crossing his arms.
"Ah, sorry," Pronto said. "Anyways, I would still suggest that we leave before Stocker finds us!"
"We can't leave," Trixie argued, looking up at Eli's distorted eyes. "The Enigmo did this to Eli, and there's no telling if it'll ever wear off on its own. We need to find the Enigmo to figure out how to cure him."
"If Stocker doesn't have it already," Kord said. Alana shook her head.
"We have to assume he doesn't," she noted. Pronto nodded and put his hands on his hips.
"Oh, I assure he does not," he said confidently.
"What makes you say that?" Eli asked.
"It is right over there," Pronto said, pointing to the path ahead of them.
Sure enough, the Enigmo was in front of them, twirling around on a thin black string that ran across the forest path.
"And it's playing on a tripwire!" Kord exclaimed, sprinting forward and putting his hand next to the Enigmo just as it fell flat on it's face, shaking the wire and causing a dart to fly out of a tube on the other side of the path. It landed right on Kord's hand, but he didn't seem to mind. The Enigmo hopped up on Kord's shoulder, looking around and giggling to itself.
"Are you okay?" Alana asked as Kord pulled the dart from his hand.
"Oh yeah, it's just a slug tranq dart. You know how many of these it would take to bring down a cave troll?" Kord asked as he tossed the dart away. The movement jostled the Enigmo, and it fell off Kord's shoulder- right onto the trip wire, shaking it multiple times. The movement caused dozens of darts to be shot out of the tubes on either side of the wire, all sticking to Kord.
"Yup, that's about right," Kord moaned before collapsing on the ground, snoring loudly.
The Enigmo chirped happily as the shaking tripwire launched him into the jungle. Alana and Trixie each grabbed one of Eli's arms, pulling him forward.
"Come on, we need to get the Enigmo before he does!" Trixie urged.
"But we can't just leave him!" Eli protested, looking back at Kord (or at least tried to. He was about eight feet off).
"Stocker wants the Enigmo, not Kord," Pronto explained as the remaining four members of the gang continued forward. "He will be here when we return."
After about ten minutes of walking (slightly slowed due to Eli's state), Pronto slowed down, sniffing the air carefully.
"Ahh, the Enigmo is close. Keep your eyes peeled," the molenoid said, looking around the jungle.
"Currently the wrong guy for that job," Eli said.
"Maybe some zoom action will help," Trixie said, pulling out her camera. After a few moments, she gasped excitedly. "Yeah, there it is!"
Alana followed Trixie's gaze, and sure enough, she could just barely pick out the blue slug against the blue vegetation of the jungle. It was hopping around precariously at the edge of top of the mushroom-tree.
"Ugh, is this the dumbest slug in history?" Trixie asked, exasperated. "No wonder there's only one of them left- and it's about to fall!" she gasped, lowering her camera and sprinting forward. Alana gasped and let go of Eli's arm, following after Trixie.
Trixie cried out suddenly as the ground beneath her shook, and Alana jumped out of the way as green metal and electric bars rose up around Trixie- one of Stocker's traps.
Alana kept sprinted forward as she saw the Enigmo fall from the tree and speed toward one of the spike traps from earlier. She leapt forward over the trap, catching the Enigmo in midair- and landing right on top of one of the green cages. Alana yelled out in alarm as the bars shot up around her, knocking the Enigmo out of her grasp and onto the forest floor as she shot upwards into a mushroom-tree.
"Floppers!" Alana yelled, kicking angrily at the metal even though she knew it wouldn't do any good. "Pronto, it's all on you," she called down. Pronto nodded and grabbed Eli's wrist, running off into the jungle.
"We'll be back for you guys soon!" Eli called.
Alana sighed and carefully leaned against one of the metal bars, avoiding the electric ones. She was huddled up uncomfortably- the trap definitely wasn't meant to hold a tall human.
"How's it going?" Trixie asked from her own spot, hanging twenty feet away.
"Great," Alana said sarcastically, laughing. "Man, this is not how I imagined the slug hunt to go."
"You're telling me. I'm just glad we keep managing to find the Enigmo- we'll get it one of these times. It's almost like it's attracted to us," Trixie noted.
It probably is. Slugs have always been curious around me- now I know it's because of my energy, Alana thought.
"Yeah, overall it's gone pretty well," Alana said.
For a few moments, Trixie was silent. Then,
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Alana responded, sitting up a little so she could see Trixie, but still trying to stay low enough so her head didn't hit the top of the cage.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to, and it's just that I didn't want to ask around Eli, because it doesn't look like he gets upset, but I know he does," Trixie said carefully. "What was it like to live with Will Shane?"
Alana closed her eyes for a moment, letting the sadness that rose up in her when she heard his name settle back down. Then she smiled and looked back over at Trixie.
"Pretty great," she said. "He was never at home as much as I would have liked, of course, but when he was, he was perfect. I've always loved slinging, and he was willing to teach me everything that a kid could handle. He was kind and funny and it was so cool to be living with the protector of the 99 Caverns."
Trixie nodded, looking out over the jungle. "I only ever saw him once," she said. "He was catching some thieves. I remember him looking so cool, and I looked up to him so much, but I could never imagine living with him. Was it stressful at all? Didn't you, well, worry-?"
"That something would happen to him? Oh yeah," Alana said with a shrug. "Sometimes. But he had a pretty good handle on things. It's a lot easier to just stop worrying and have some faith."
"I guess you're right," Trixie said. Then she began to say something else, but was cut off by a voice below them.
"Hey, guys! What's up?"
Alana leaned forward and smiled as she saw Eli and Pronto waving at her. Even from up in the mushroom-tree, she could see that Eli's eyes were back to their normal teal color. The Enigmo slug waved at her from his canister on Eli's bandoleer.
"Us, apparently," Alana laughed, shaking her head. "Now come on and help us out of these things."
~~~~~~~~~
Alana sighed as she flopped down on the cyan bean-bag chair in her room. She unclipped her bandoleer and tossed it on the ground, taking a deep breath as she relaxed her shoulders. Being hunched up in the slug cage had been uncomfortable, to say the least.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, glad for a few moments of rest. But only seconds later, Alana felt something hop up on her knee.
She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw the Enigmo peering up at her curiously.
"Hey, buddy," she laughed, sitting up. "How you liking the hideout?"
The Enigmo paid no attention to her, chirping loudly and nodding toward Alana's hands. She frowned and raised her right hand in front of the slug.
"Do you wanna get on...?" she asked. The Enigmo shook his head, pointing to Alana's hand and shaking his head. "Oh. No gloves?"
The Enigmo nodded.
"Okay then," Alana mumbled, sliding off her black and cyan gloves and tossing them on the floor. She held her hand out to the Enigmo again. "Now are we good?"
The Enigmo squeaked happily and jumped on her hand. Once he did, he closed his eyes and hunkered down for a moment. Then, his eyes flew open, staring directly into Alana's.
A rush flooded through Alana's whole body, and she gasped, falling off the chair and landing on her knees and screwing her eyes shut.
"What was that?" she asked as she got to her feet and opened her eyes-
To see her room shaking and glowing faint green. Everything was blurry and she was seeing double.
Alana gasped and stumbled, steadying herself on the wall with her left hand while trying to look at the Enigmo in her right hand.
"How are you-?" she began to ask, but froze when she heard a knock at her door.
"Alana, are you okay?" Trixie asked. "I heard a thud."
"Yeah!" Alana said, blinking rapidly as she tried to adjust to the blurry vision. "Yeah, Ash and the other were just messing around and knocked over my bedside table."
"Okay," Trixie said, not sounding convinced. "Let me know if you need help."
"Will do!" Alana said, trying to sound cheerful.
She waited until she heard Trixie's footsteps fade, then she rapidly shook her right hand. The Enigmo took the signal to hop off, landing on Alana's bed. The second he was off her skin, Alana's vision flashed back to normal.
"Oh man," Alana groaned, pressing her hands against her eyes to push down the headache she was getting from the rapid visual change. Then she sighed and crouched down so she was eye-level with the Enigmo, who was twirling around happily on her bed.
"That was pretty cool," she laughed. "That's what you did to Eli?"
The Enigmo nodded distractedly, focused on feeling the soft blanket on Alana's bed.
"Why do you do that? Is there any good part about having green double vision?"
The Enigmo turned to her, and his top eye blinked. Alana snorted.
"Was that a wink?" she asked. The Enigmo simply shrugged, back to hopping through the blanket.
Alana sighed and ran a hand through her bangs.
"This is getting weirder and weirder."
~~~~~~~~~
"When can I get back into the field?"
"I've already told you. We wait until Twist goes in. Otherwise, they'll be too untrusting, and our plan with him will fall apart."
"Fine, fine."
"You will see her again. Your time will come. Until then, keep up your training."
"Will do, boss."
~~~~~~~~
I did a goof and thought Mecha Mutiny took place AFTER Endangered Species, but turns out it's even before Shadows and Light :') so Mecha Mutiny will just happen next, because the order of things at this point doesn't really matter.
Thanks for being patient, I know I took a week off, but that test I took the week off to study for? I totally nailed it, so worth it.
Vote and comment if you liked!
UPDATE: It is KawaiiKitty2468 's BIRTHDAY! Happy birthday, thanks so being so nice and encouraging 💙
Cyan out✌️