If it had been just Eli and Trixie walking into the train car, the workers probably wouldn't have started to immediately open fire. But when Alana walked in behind the two disguised members of the Shane Gang, the three realized that if they'd wanted to be more subtle, Alana's lack of a Blakk Industries uniform and bright, multicolored hair wasn't going to help their cause.
The second the door swung open and Alana, Eli, and Trixie walked into the first equipment car, the four ghoulslingers opened fire, including the two that were directly on either side of the entrance.
Alana and Trixie dove for one of the ghoulslingers, Eli for the other. Alana winced as she felt the dark energy in the car, but gritted her teeth and blocked out the coldness. Trixie shoved the worker to the ground while Alana grabbed his right arm and shoved it upwards as the ghoulslinger pulled the trigger to his blaster, sending a Grimmstone crashed into the ceiling instead of into Alana's torso.
"Heads up!" Eli suddenly yelled. Alana felt a surge of dark energy behind her and ducked down. A Harmashelt from the worker Eli was fighting soared by where her head had been a moment ago, crashing into one of the prototype Mechas tied down in the train car.
"Switch me!" she called. Eli nodded and she and him switched places. As she moved, Alana pulled out her blaster and fired a Bubbaleone at the other ghoulslinger. The pink slug expanded and swallowed up the worker, crashing through the doors and releasing him on the small platform where Sam stood.
Sam gasped and leaned back, hesitating before raising her right leg and kicking the worker square in the chest, sending him toppling off the train.
"Nice!" Alana called while she began firing at the two workers on the far side of the car. Eli and Trixie, who had defeated their own worker, shoved him onto (and then off of) the platform as well before opening fire on the last two ghouslingers.
"Wait, was that the Gray girl?!" one of the slingers exclaimed, lowering his blaster and scowling. Eli took advantage of the situation, firing his Arachnet. The purple slug wrapped a web around the ghouslinger, yanking him away from his associate and throwing him toward Eli, who grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Not that you know of," Eli said with a smirk before shoving the worker out onto the platform and off the train. Trixie fired a Hop Rock that blew the last worker against the wall, knocking him unconscious.
Sam stepped inside the train car, her eyes wide.
"I can't believe stuff like this is normal for you guys," she laughed.
"You're not doing too bad," Eli said, taking deep breaths as the four walked down the train car, looking around at the cargo. Mechas, crates labeled as engines and hydraulics.
"It would've been a mess if Blakk got ahold of all this," Trixie noted. "And this is only the first car out of three."
"Luckily, we had our girl on the inside," Alana said, smiling at Sam.
"Glad to be of service," Sam said. She sighed and straightened out her blazer. "Well, on to the next car?"
"Yep," Eli said with a nod, leading the way to the door. "We'll all get on the platform and detach this one. Kord and Pronto are following close behind, and as soon as we disconnect this, they'll work demolition for a few minutes before catching back up."
"After that, we just keep going till Blakk finds us," Trixie said, loading her blaster as the four reached the next door. Alana frowned suddenly, stopping as the other three kept walking forward.
Something felt wrong.
"Ready?" Eli asked, turning to the girls. But he stopped and stepped forward when he saw Alana hanging back, staring at the door. "What's wrong?"
Alana held up a finger, letting her senses spread out. There it was- a mass of darkness, something different than dark water or ghouls. It felt radiating, strong, powerful, and unified, unlike the feeling of individual ghouls, but less pure than dark water. And it was coming straight for them.
"I think reinforcements are coming," Alana said, taking a step back. "But there's something different about them. They're about to enter the next car."
Sam and Trixie exchanged a confused glance, but Eli opened the door and hurried out onto the platform between cars.
"Then let's hurry and disconnect this car," he said as the girls followed him onto the platform. "I don't want to risk Blakk getting it if we're overrun and have to bail."
Alana, the last on the platform, fired her Thresher. She tried to ignore the questioning looks Trixie and Sam were giving her as her teal slug sawed off the edge of the platform, releasing the equipment car from the rest of the train.
"They just got on this car," Alana said, gripping the platform's railing rightly. Eli nodded.
"Then we go in slinging hard," he said. "Sam, stay out here as long as you can. Do not get close to the fight unless you have to, okay?"
Sam looked like she wanted to argue, but didn't. Instead, she nodded grimly, leaning against the safety rail.
"They're making our way towards us," Alana said, fear spreading through her. She didn't know why, but the feeling of the dark energy approaching her just made her want to run.
"How do you know?" Trixie asked. Alana shrugged.
"It's a long story," she said.
"And it's one we can tell later. We're going in," Eli said. Trixie and Alana followed him in, immediately opening fire on anyone else in the car, and chaos erupted.
Alana fired her Rammstone at the first person she saw, one of the workers who had been flanking the entrance. He was startled by the sudden slugfire and caught off guard. The Rammstone let out a roar and rammed into his chest with its blue horns, knocking him to the ground.
The remaining three uniformed ghouslingers opened fire. Grimmstones and Harmashelts flew past Alana, Trixie, and Eli as they each dove for cover behind crates stacked up on either side of the walkway. Alana crouched behind a box labeled as blaster cores, and Eli and Trixie behind nerve centers.
"Whatever that thing with dark energy is, it's past the three workers," Alana called as Jollyfist slime splattered past her.
"Then let's clear them out. Get Ash!" Eli called, loading Burpy and standing out from behind his crates. Alana did the same, loading her Infurnus. She and Eli fired their slugs simultaneously, and when they transformed, Alana could feel the heat of their flames.
Both slugs flew in a spiral, tails of flames flying out from behind them and catching some of the crates and equipment on fire. The ghoulslingers fired at the Infurnuses, but Ash and Burpy spat out bursts of fire that changed the ghouls back to protoform. The slugs released mouthfuls of fire that blew back two of the workers before returning to protoform.
"I love those two slugs," Trixie laughed as she, Eli, and Alana moved forward another row of crates.
"I know, right?" Alana asked as she reached for her Aquabeek. But the remaining worker fired an Attacknet that shot a web at her right arm. The sticky web wrapped around her arm at such a force that Alana was knocked back, her blaster clattering out of her hand and her arm stuck to the floor of the train car, halfway out of her cover and into the aisleway.
"Oh come on!" she groaned, pulling desperately at her arm. "Can you two cover me?"
Eli and Trixie nodded, firing a Tazerling and an Armashelt as Alana pulled as hard as she could at her forearm without being in danger of dislocating her elbow. But the web wouldn't budge, and Ash, who normally would burn it away, still hadn't returned with Burpy.
Alana paused for a moment, ducking down nonchalantly as a Bubbalash missed her by an inch. Then she rolled her eyes as she realized what the solution was, and relaxed her arm. It slid right out of her black and blue glove. Now free, Alana hurriedly grabbed her blaster and dove back behind the crates. She felt lopsided only wearing her left glove, but it was better than being in the middle of open fire.
Eli glanced down at her, and his eyes widened when he saw Alana's arm. Alana followed his gaze, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the scar extending down her forearm, exposed without her glove. She winced- it looked bad.
"It's not-" she began to explain, but stopped when a Dark Urchin spike shot by her.
"Alana, you still got a Tazerling?" Trixie called, grabbing an Aquabeek.
"Uhh... yes!" Alana exclaimed, breaking her gaze away from Eli and loading her Tazerling. Trixie nodded and fired her Aquabeek. The blue and teal slug shot out a jet of water at the ghoulslinger, soaking him and the ground around him. Alana fired her Tazerling, which sent a wave of lightning coursing through the water.
The ghoulslinger cried out as he was electrocuted, and fell to the ground, unconscious. A veil of smoke rose from the worker, obscuring the front half of the car. Alana and Trixie fist-bumped before a gust of wind suddenly slammed into them. Alana crouched down to the ground and grabbed at a crate to keep her footing, Eli and Trixie doing the same.
The veil of smoke blew by them and the wind died down. Alana steadied herself, looking down the aisleway. Two slingers stood at the other end of the car. One, Alana recognized right away. Her grip on her blaster tightened until her knuckles turned white.
Twist.
He crouched down, holding out his hand. The Tempesto he'd fired returned to him, and he set the slug back into a canister on his bandoleer, glaring at Alana as he stood upright. Alana could hear Eli scowl from across the aisleway.
Next to Twist stood a girl Alana hadn't seen before. She had dark gray boots with metal on the front. She had dark gray pants, a gray belt, and a scarlet shirt. Her gray jacket had the Blakk Industries emblem on either shoulder, and her bandoleer was donned with red containers containing ferocious ghouls. Her black and red blaster was in its holster, but a gloved hand rested on the handle, ready to spring into action.
Her hair was dark brown with streaks of scarlet, tied back in a high ponytail. Her eyes were hidden behind red glasses, and her skin was deathly pale. She looked like a ghost, but Alana realized that the chills running up her spine weren't just from the girl's appearance.
"That's the dark energy," she whispered, not taking her eyes off the girl.
"You don't need to make this harder than it needs to be," Twist called, raising his blaster. Eli stood up from behind his crate, locking eyes with Twist and raising his orange blaster.
"You made this harder than it needs to be the second you betrayed us," Eli said coolly. Twist frowned, but said nothing more. The girl stepped forward.
"You have one chance to surrender," she called. Her voice rang across the shaking train car, and Alana gulped. Where had she heard that voice before?
"We're not taking it," Trixie said, standing next to Eli and raising her blaster. The girl stepped forward, raising her blaster.
"Then it's your funeral," she said with a wild smile, not a hint of remorse in her voice as she pulled the trigger. A Pyringo shot out, spitting flames at the crates the Shane Gang slingers were hiding behind. Alana fired her Phosphoro. The slug set off fireworks in front of Twist and the girl, temporarily giving the slugslingers cover.
Eli, Alana, and Trixie ran out from behind their crates, running forward until they got to where metal (non-flammable) boxes held parts of Mecha hearts.
The girl recovered from the flashes of light first, firing a Hop Jack. The explosion shook the ground beneath Alana's feet, but she stayed standing, firing her Rammstone in retaliation. The girl jumped out of the way to avoid the slug, taking cover behind a half-built Mecha. Twist did the same on the other side of the aisle, behind another Mecha.
"The more time we spend here, the longer we risk more reinforcements coming!" Trixie said as she fired her Tormato at a Greneater Twist shot. The slug blew back the ghoul, slamming it into the wall closely behind Twist and the girl. Twist simply ducked down, but the girl gasped at the sight of the explosive slug and dove for cover. Her fear of the ghouled Grenuke seemed to stick out in Alana's mind, but she didn't have time to think about it.
"You're right," Eli said, firing his Dirt Urchin. "Got any ideas on how to speed this up?"
"Not quite, but I have an idea," Alana said, ducking down as a Grimmstone flew into the box she was behind, jolting her forward. "Blakk knows we're here by now. I don't think we're gonna demolish all this equipment and the drill parts."
"So we try and cut our losses," Eli said, understanding Alana's thought process. "If we can separate this car and maybe the next one from the train, we can fight through those and cut off any additional reinforcements."
"But how do we get up ahead through these two?" Trixie asked. Alana paused to fire her Jellyish, who spun in a spiral and released stinging goo around Twist and the girl.
"Well, we have an ally that we've left standing outside," she said, gesturing to the back of the train car. She pressed her earpiece, leaning back so she was completely covered by the metal box. "Sam, are you there?"
"Yeah!" Sam called over the wind rushing by her. "Yeah, I'm still here!"
"You got a Rammstone?" Alana asked.
"Yeah, but I'm not much of a shot," Sam replied worriedly.
"Don't worry, it's no Bravado trickshot," Alana assured. "We need you to move forward to the front of this car- well, really, the front of the next one, but only if you can make it safely- and use your Rammstone to break off the platform. We're compromised, so we're not going for the drill parts."
"How am I going to get there?" Sam asked. "I can't just walk through your duel."
"You're going to have to go above us," Alana said as she felt a rush of dark energy behind her. She leaned forward off the metal box just before an Amperling hit it and sent electricity running through the metal. "On the roof of the train. Can you do that?"
"Yes," Sam said confidently. "I'll let you know when I break off the cars."
"Roger that," Alana said, turning back toward the duel. "We're good, Eli."
"Now we just have to keep this up a little longer," Eli said grimly. Alana stood up, ready to fire at Twist, but he was gone.
"Where did Twist go?" she asked, turning around wildly. The girl smirked as she fired a ghouled Negashade and dark smoke rose in the air.
Alana suddenly grabbed Trixie's wrist, pulling her along as she ran for the back of the train car.
"He's going to try and ambush us from behind-" she began, but was cut off as a shower of red and black sparks appeared between where Eli stood and Alana and Trixie.
Twist spun around, confused, and snarled when he saw that the girls hadn't let him open fire on the trio from behind. He holstered his blaster and dove for Trixie, rearing back his fist. Alana fired her Arachnet at Twist's arm. The slug wrapped itself around Twist's arm and shot out a web. Alana grabbed it and yanked it back, pulling Twist's fist away before it could connect with Trixie's shoulder.
Moving like water with the momentum, Twist fell back and spun in midair, kicking Alana in the stomach and sending her slamming into the wall of the train. Brushing hazel and cyan hair from her face, Alana smirked and pushed herself forward, lunging at Twist with fury.
~~~~~~~~~~
The wind on top of the train was enough to pull Sam's hair loose. It swirled around her head as she carefully crawled across the roof of the last equipment car. She was terrified that one strong gust of wind or one sharp turn would send her toppling off the edge. Sweat beaded her forehead as she reached the edge of the car.
Hands trembling, she carefully slid down from the top of the train to the small platform, facing the equipment car. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fell the last few feet, opening them when she felt her feet land on the platform. Her shoulders sagged, and she wished she could just stop right there and take a nap.
But instead, she rested against the exit to the last train car with one arm and pressed her earpiece.
"I made it to the car," she gasped. "Do you want me to disconnect it?"
She was met with a burst of static that may have turned into a voice, but Sam lost all focus on the earpiece when a voice sounded behind her. It was cold as ice.
"I'd prefer you not."
Her brown eyes widened, and her heart leapt into her throat. Sam's knees felt like they were made of rubber, and her pounding heart felt like it was shaking her whole rib cage. Dread coursing through her, she forced herself to turn around, looking at the platform behind her through her blowing hair.
In the doorway of the first drill car stood Doctor Thaddius Blakk.
His steely green eyes glared at Sam, and she felt her face go pale. She gripped either side of the platform's rails with shaking hands, not even trying to keep her fear from showing.
What was the point? He knew everything now.
~~~~~~~~
Eli wanted nothing more than to take a few shots at Twist, but he knew Alana and Trixie could hold their own against the traitor. Eli had the mystery girl to take care of.
The ghouled Negashade's smoke sank down to the ground, and the girl leapt through it as it did, brandishing her blaster. Only feet away, she fired a ghouled Polero at Eli, who leapt out of the way just in time. He raised his arm to fire, but the girl recovered from her own misfire quickly, grabbing his arm and pulling his forward before slamming her knee into his chest.
Eli hissed in pain and tensed up as he flipped into the air, wrapping his hands around the girl's arm and pulling it along with him as he landed behind her. She felt cold to the touch, like she'd just emerged from the Underiver in Chillbore Cavern.
The girl gasped in pain and grabbed her blaster with her other hand, aiming it at the ground between her and Eli. She fired a Harmashelt that gave off a small explosion and pulled the two apart. She got to her feet, rubbing at her arm.
"You live up to your name, Shane," she noted. "I didn't think you would."
"Who are you?" Eli asked as he got to his feet. "I've never seen you with Blakk's workers before."
"I haven't been in the field much lately," the girl said, raising her blaster. "You could say I was unwell. But I've been waiting for this for a long time."
She fired a Briardrill at Eli. The ghoul created barbed vines that lunged for the Shane, wrapping around one of his legs. He winced as the briars dug into his boot and pants.
"Why have you been looking forward to this?" he asked as he fired Joules while Burpy hopped down from his shoulder and burnt away the briar vines.
The girl gasped and jumped out of the way, nearly crashing into one of the prototype Mechas. She sneered as she looked down at the Shane.
"Because you're half the reason she is the way she is," she said, firing at Attacknet. Eli was freed from the briars just in time, scrambling out of the way of the ghoul.
"What do you mean? Who are you talking about?" Eli asked. The girl sighed and lowered her blaster, gesturing to the other end of the train. Eli followed her gaze over to where Alana and Trixie were fighting Twist in an elaborate mix of slugfire and hand-to-hand combat.
"Her, with her blue eyes and Infurnus," she said icily. "And her never-ending devotion to the Shane name. Alana."
Eli turned back to the girl, his teal eyes staring into her scarlet glasses.
"Are... are you Dana?" he asked hesitantly.
With a laugh, she holstered her blaster, and slowly moved her hand toward the back of her belt, where her dagger was sheathed.
"So you've heard of me," Dana said with a fox-like grin as she pulled her dagger from its sheath and lunged at Eli.
She took a swipe at Eli's arm, but he dodged. As she fell downward, she knocked his blaster from his hands and raised her dagger over her head as she stood upright. She smirked and began to bring it down on Eli. He gasped and held up both of his arms, grabbing Dana's wrist tightly and holding the dagger away from his face.
"What makes you think I had anything to do with your falling out with Alana?" Eli asked.
"After your father disappeared, I thought I could finally talk some sense into her," Dana snarled, pushing her scarlet dagger with all her might. "But because there was still a Shane that would rise eventually, she always thought she had to keep up your family's hero work the best she could until you arrived. She may have lost Will, but it just made her more determined to be of use to you!"
Eli took a deep breath and shoved Dana away. She stumbled back, her fingers curling into fists.
"If I could have just convinced her to follow me, none of this would have happened," she said. Eli raised his blaster, shaking his head.
"I don't know what happened between you two," he said. "But based on who's welding ghouls right now, I'd say you've got no one to blame but yourself."
Dana gasped and growled before barreling forward, firing a ghouled Hoverbug. It grabbed Eli's shoulders, and he yelled as it flew him down the car and slammed him into the wall right next to where Alana and Trixie were fighting Twist.
Alana was firing a Rammstone at Twist when Elo crashed into the wall beside her. She jumped and the slug only nicked Twist's shoulder. He merely stumbled before he and Trixie began to open fire again.
"Are you okay?" Alana asked, pulling Eli to his feet.
"Having trouble with the girl," he said. "She's-"
"Mine, now," Alana said, turning to where the girl stood at the other end of the car. Before Eli could respond, she began running down the aisle way, loading Ash. The girl raised her own blaster, and the two fired in unison.
The girl's Aquafreak shot out a jet of water, and Ash responded by belching out a ball of fire. The two elements collided, sending hissing steam rising throughout the front half of the train car.
Alana slowed herself down, waving some of the steam away. She could feel the girl and her dark energy approaching, and everything in Alana's body was telling her to run away, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
The girl appeared from the cloud of steam. She and Alana both raised their blasters at each other in unison. Alana winced as the girl's dark energy washed over her.
"What happened to you?" Alana asked, almost feeling pitiful. "No human should have this kind of energy."
The girl faltered for a moment, then chuckled darkly, slowly reaching up and pulling off her scarlet glasses. She stared at the ground while she tossed them aside, shaking her head.
"You should know..."
She looked up, her scarlet eyes staring into Alana's blue ones.
"You were there."
~~~~~~~~~
Sam's breathing was quickening, and she felt lightheaded from how fast her heart was beating. Blakk surprisingly didn't pull out his blaster in fury. Instead, he stood in the entryway of the drill car, cool and collected.
"I admit, I had my suspicions ever since the formal," he said. "But I'm still surprised. You aren't what you seem to your parents."
Sam stayed silent, fear rooting her in place. What should she say?
An idea formed in her mind, and she ran her hands through her hair in distress, flicking her earpiece on in the process.
"I... I can explain?" she tried. Blakk sighed and shook his head.
"I doubt it's anything based on what I'm thinking. You were tired of your oppressive parents and, especially after feeling indebted to the Shane Gang because they saved your life, decided to help them escape the trap at the formal," Blakk said. "Now you're making one final stand against your parents. I presume you planned to disappear off the face of Slugterra after this."
Sam stared at the ground in front of her, praying the Shane Gang was hearing this message.
"You're clever, and have impressive survival instincts," Blakk continued. Sam looked up in shock. "That's why I'm going to offer you one single chance to redeem yourself. Turn on the Shane Gang now and agree to work for Blakk Industries, and all will be forgiven. Your parents will never know of your rebellion, and you'll finally have authority and respect."
~~~~~~~~~
Alana gasped and lowered her blaster.
The steam around them settled, and she got a clear look at the girl who used to be her best friend.
She had changed so much. She had faint dark circles under her red eyes. Her hair was longer and now sported the red streaks. She had gotten more muscular and intense. But it was still the same person.
Ash had hopped back up on Alana's shoulder. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Mage's antennae lowered, and she was backed away behind Alana's ponytail as far as she could get.
"Dana?" Alana asked, tears springing into her eyes. Her heart sank like a stone. "Dana, what happened to you? Why are you like this, why are you doing this?"
"For the same reason I ever did anything," Dana said icily. "Power."
"I don't want to fight you," Alana said immediately. "I want to talk, we need to talk-"
"I think we're past peaceful negotiation, Alana," Dana said, her red eyes narrowing. "Besides, I've been waiting for this duel for years."
Alana ducked as Dana fired an Attacknet. Pushing away her shock, she fired her Geoshard, Peridot, at the ground. The slug created a wall of lime green crystal that blocked Alana off from Dana. Unsatisfied, Alana then fired Kelvin, her Frostcrawler, putting up yet another wall. Nothing was processing except the need to keep Dana away from her.
Alana took a few steps back from her barricade, her breath quickening. Dana was here, and she was mad, and she was corrupted with dark energy, and it may be Alana's fault. She didn't know what to do. She felt like she had just seen a ghost.
A hand resting on her shoulder jolted Alana out of her stupor. She gasped and spun around, raising her blaster.
"Whoa," Trixie said, backing away and standing next to Eli. "What's going on?"
Alana took a shaky breath, lowering her blaster and glancing at the other end of the car. Twist lay in a heap, defeated by the duo.
Before she could answer, a voice came through on the Shane Gang's comms.
"... tired of your oppressive parents... decided to help them escape... one final stand..."
It was Blakk.
And he was talking to Sam.
"Floppers!" Trixie cursed. Alana found her voice as she loaded an Armashelt.
"We need to help her and get off this guardian slug-forsaken train," she said as she fired the slug.
"What about Dana?" Eli asked as he fired an Arachnet, glancing at the wall Alana had made. A few hairline cracks were beginning to form. Trixie looked between Eli and Alana, confused.
"Dana Por?" she asked. Alana shook her head as she and Trixie each grabbed one of Eli's shoulders.
"Different Dana. Long story," Alana said numbly as Eli pulled them up to the roof of the train with the Arachnet web.
Eli, Trixie, and Alana ran across the roof of the car, leaping to the final equipment car and heading for the first drill one. Eli pressed his earpiece.
"Kord, get ready for extraction. We're grabbing Sam and getting out of here," he said. "We're gonna try to disconnect the last equipment car if we can, but our priority is getting everyone off safe."
"You got it, bro," Kord responded. "Me and Pronto will catch up and get ready. We can't keep up with the train for long, though."
"Don't worry. We'll be quick," Eli assured, lowering his hand and glancing back at Trixie and Alana. "Sam is our priority here, not Twist or Dana."
His eyes lingered at Alana when he said it, and Alana nodded. She still felt numb. Her body and mind didn't know how to handle the sudden and violent reunion.
"Here we go," Eli breathed as the three reached the edge of the train car. They all pulled out their blasters, ready to fire at Blakk, ready to free Sam.
But when they looked over the edge at the platform, Sam wasn't being held at blasterpoint like they thought. Instead, she stood in the middle of the platform, her hair flying behind her like fire as she stood in front of Doctor Blakk.
Blakk's focus wasn't on what was above him. He was worried soley about Sam.
"So what's your decision?" he asked coldly.
Sam curled her fingers into fists, then relaxed them, sighing.
"All I want to do is get away from my parents," she said quietly. Alana's grip tightened around her blaster, but she stayed silent, wanting to keep their element of surprise.
Blakk smirked, but his pleased demeanor faded when Sam straightened her shoulders and shrugged.
"But if I have to give that up to stop you, then so be it," Sam said. Blakk sneered and raised his blaster.
Eli, Alana, and Trixie all took their cues, firing up their own blasters and aiming them at Blakk. He looked up in fury, while Sam looked up in pure relief.
"This isn't over," he said as he eyes the three blasters at him, holstering his own weapon and backing into the drill car. Alana smirked, and Eli began to reach out an arm for Sam to grab onto, but before he could, two showers of red and black sparks and smoke appeared on either side of Sam.
Alana gasped as a furious Dana and Twist materialized from the sparks. Dana grabbed Sam by the shoulders, shoving her into the drill car. Alana narrowed her eyes- couldn't take a shot at Dana without hurting Sam.
Twist fired a Thrasher at the platform, the slug spinning in circles and sawing through the metal. Dana kicked Sam into the drill car and fired a Tempesto at Eli, Trixie, and Alana before she and Twist ducked into the train car. The slug created a whirlwind that knocked them to their feet, keeping them stationary while the car they stood atop was being detached.
Alana wrapped her arms around a pipe, steadying herself. Eli did the same, but only after being knocked back a few more feet by the wind, and only with one arm- Trixie was desperately holding onto the other.
Alana's breathing became rapid, and the raw terror she felt for Sam surged through her. She groaned and pulled herself into a crouch, glaring at the Tempesto that flew in front of her, creating the powerful wind.
Something inside her snapped. The emotions upon seeing Sam drug away, and seeing Dana for the first time in years, and the adrenaline from the mission are mixed together. She unwrapped one of her arms from the pipe, holding it out in front of her and pointed her hand toward the flying ghoul.
With a yell, she let out all the emotion built up inside her. For a moment, everything in her vision was tinged light blue. The ghoul shuddered and stopped flapping its wings, its eyes widening as it was forced back into protoform.
Alana wanted to revel in what she had done, but she didn't have time, and her mind wouldn't have been able to comprehend it if she did. She got to her feet and ran for the edge of the train car without hesitation, leaping off the edge and landing on the platform of the drill car just before it pulled too far away for the stunt.
Adrenaline kept her going as she slammed the door of the train car open, already loading a Bubbaleone in her blaster.
Blakk and Twist were walking back to the front of the train, thinking the fight was over. Dana stood in front of Sam, who was on the ground with her back facing Alana, sobs shaking her shoulders.
Alana fired the Bubbaleone immediately, and Dana barely had time to jump in shock before the pink slug transformed and swallowed Sam up, flying back toward Alana and the door.
Still numb to what she had just done, Alana reached out as the Bubbaleone reached her in the doorway to grab onto one of its tentacles.
But Dana recovered quickly, firing a Briardrill that shot spiked vines at Alana. They wrapped around her legs, slamming her into the floor. She cried out in pain as the thorns on the vines cut through her pants and into her skin.
The Bubbaleone flew out the door and hesitated for a split second, looking back at Alana with wide, terrified eyes. Sam cried out at her from within the transparent slug, tears running down her face.
"Go!" Alana yelled. Dana's footsteps sounded behind her. "Go, NOW!"
The Bubbaleone didn't hesitate its slinger's order. It spun around and flew away from the speeding train, carrying Sam Gray in it, farther and farther away from Alana.
Dana growled when she reached Alana, loading her blaster.
"You never did know when to quit," she said coldly. Alana winced as she felt both Dana's dark energy and the Briardrill's vines wrapping up around her arms.
"Some things never change," she said bitterly as she looked up at her old friend. But she didn't see the old Dana.
Now, all she saw was a flurry of red and fury, and the sight of a ghouled Phosphoro being shot before everything went black.
~~~~~~~~~
The Bubbaleone lost velocity before Eli and Trixie were picked up by Kord and Pronto.
Sam sat on the train tracks numbly, staring off at the spot where the train had disappeared into the distance.
Tears flowed down her face in rivers. Her hair clung to her wet cheeks, and her stomach hurt from crying. Alana's Bubbaleone sat on her knee, looking like it wanted to comfort her but not knowing how.
When Sam finally heard Mechas behind her, she didn't turn. She just kept her eyes on the train tracks in front of her. The Mechas stopped, and then footsteps approached.
"I'm so glad you're safe!" Eli exclaimed as he ran up to Sam. Trixie, Kord, and Pronto followed behind him. "Way to go, Ala-"
He fell silent when he reached Sam, only seeing one girl there on the tracks.
"Sam, where's Alana?"
Sam lowered her head, staring down at her lap. Her sobs increased, even more tears flowing from her dark eyes, falling and blotching her blazer and dress shirt.
Eli fell silent.
Out of the corner of her eye, through her tears, Sam saw an orange blaster clatter to the ground.
~~~~~~~~
Sorry not sorry
Cyan out!