"Alana, come on!"
Alana sat up, stretching out her back. As uncomfortable as it was sometimes, getting in extra sleep on her Mecha was worth it. She'd readjusted plenty of times already, and had just been leaning all the way back on her Mecha's seat with her feet propped up just above Midnight's control panel, one arm on her stomach and the other draped over her eyes.
"What's up, Trix?" Alana asked, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she readjusted herself, now sitting properly. Trixie was riding alongside Midnight, looking worriedly at Alana.
"We're almost here, sleepyhead. Are you okay? This was not a comfortable ride, but you were out," Trixie noted. Alana nodded, already coming to her senses.
"Yeah, just got in a quick power nap," she said.
"Ah, so you are learning from Pronto the Magnificent!" Pronto exclaimed from behind her. Alana laughed and nodded.
"Sure, that's it," she said, looking at the buildings around her. They were in a small town that was just as much plant life as buildings. Small mushrooms grew at curbs, and bamboo stalks swayed between buildings, which had slanted rooftops and lanterns at doorways.
"This should be it," Trixie said, looking down at a map on her Mecha's screen.
Alana looked at the building in front of the gang. It was three stories, and there was a crowd of people around it, all murmuring worriedly. It didn't take her long to figure out why- the sound of slugfire was barely muffled by the restaurant's doors.
Eli came to a stop, the rest of the Shane Gang following suit, and led the way toward the doors. A bang and crash made the two doors rattle on their hinges.
"That sounds fun," Alana noted.
"You sure about this, Eli? Sounds like a tough character in there," Trixie said worriedly. Eli nodded.
"My dad never had the chance to train me, but he always said that a Shane never backs down from a challenge," he said. Burpy chirped and nodded from his shoulder.
"That doesn't mean you have to face it alone," Trixie said as the rest of the gang stood beside him. Pronto hurried forward.
"Five against one? Allow Pronto to lead to charge!" the molenoid exclaimed, leading the gang forward. But he only got in a few steps before the doors to the restaurant flew open. A man sailed out, crashing to the ground at Pronto's feet, covered in bruises and looking utterly defeated.
"Do not go in there!" the man groaned. Eli kept moving, unfazed.
"Come on, guys," he said. Alana, Trixie, and Kord followed after him, while Pronto laughed nervously and stayed behind a moment to check in on the man.
Eli led the gang into the restaurant. Alana's eyes widened as she looked around the place.
Tables were on their sides, broken glass littering the ground around them. Plates and food were strewn about the floor, the back counter, and even a bit on the walls. Smoke rose from a few charred places on the ground, and at the center of the room, a hooded figure sat on one of the few remaining upright tables, sipping from a steaming cup.
Alana narrowed her eyes as she felt the stranger's energy. It wasn't like hers by any means, but it felt different. Like this person had taken their natural aura that accompanied them as a Slugterran and manipulated it, not changing it to be more light or dark, but to have more strength. Alana was impressed.
"Are you the one who called me out?" Eli asked, his hand hovering over the handle of his blaster as he walked toward the figure, who remained silent. "Look, are we gonna duel, or-"
The stranger cut him off, setting down their drink and pointing their blaster at Eli. Alana took a step forward, unclipping her own black and light blue blaster from its holster, but quickly finding herself immersed in the stranger's blaster.
It was more of a staff. One end was white, detailed with black, and the other was the reverse. There was a clip in the middle, and Alana vaguely wondered if the weapon could split into two separate blasters.
The figure pulled their blaster away from Eli's throat, standing and facing him. They were clad in black, dull teal, and silver gear, and didn't seem fazed at all that they were talking to the Shane.
"Hm. A little young," the stranger said, looking Eli up and down. "And skinny."
"H-hey! Watch it!" Eli said, glancing confusedly back at the rest of the gang. The stranger walked in a circle around Eli, slamming their staff blaster into his knee guards.
"A bit knock-kneed, too," they said. "We'll see how you do in the Winnowing."
Alana and Trixie exchanged a confused glance- who were they dealing with?
"Winnowing? Is that some kind of duel?" Eli asked. "Look, mister-"
The stranger shook their head, pulling down their hood. The Shane Gang gasped in unison as she warily faced them.
The slinger was an old woman, but Alana still had no doubt that she could outsling the whole gang if she wanted to. Her white hair was pulled back, half of it in a bun, half of it down. Her face looked stone cold, like she had seen thousands of duels in her lifetime. And her slanted eyes were intense, pale green.
Ash gasped quietly from Alana's shoulder. She looked down at her Infurnus to see him staring at the woman with a sense of familiarity. And when she looked up, she saw that Burpy was doing the same on Eli's shoulder.
"Uh, lady? Ma'am? Not to be rude, but can we just slug this out and be on our way?" Eli asked.
The woman ignored him, continuing to circle around him. It looked like she was memorizing every detail about Eli.
"You're Will Shane's kid," she noted, and Alana perked up instantly.
She knew Will?
"He was a good man," the woman noted, picking up her cup from the table she stood by. "Worthy of the name."
Eli put his hands on his hips and sighed.
"We're not gonna duel, are we?" he guessed. "I'm Eli. Eli Sh-"
"A name's gotta be earned, knock-knees," the woman interrupted sharply. Alana couldn't help but frown and cross her arms. She was pretty sure Eli had already done plenty to earn the name.
"If you want to earn yours, come to Dojang Grotto at first glow," the woman said. Burpy chirped excitedly from Eli's shoulder.
"Speaking of names," Eli said, "I didn't catch yours."
The woman swirled her cup around for a moment, glancing up at the rest of the gang before looking back at Eli.
"Shanai," she finally responded.
Alana felt her face run pale. She clipped her blaster back into its holster running her hands through her hair. Trixie gasped, covering her mouth.
"Eli, that's the Unbeatable Master!" she exclaimed.
"The un-whatable who?" Eli asked, turning back to face where the Master had stood only moments ago.
But she was gone.
~~~~~~~~
After deciding that the ride home would be futile if they just had to be up at the crack of dawn the next day, the gang decided to camp out for the night instead of going back to the hideout.
They set up the few tents that they had stored in their Mechas, and fifteen minutes of firewood-hunting later, Ash and Burpy made the slingers a campfire. When they sat around it, it didn't take long for Eli to finally ask what everyone knew about the Unbeatable Master.
"They say the Master knows the thousand secrets of slinging!" Trixie exclaimed.
"The Master's gaze can melt solid rock!" Kord said.
"The Master can remove grape stains from linens!" Pronto finished. Alana snickered from her spot on the ground next to where Eli sat- she was the only one laying on the grass and using the logs the rest of the gang was sitting on as a headrest.
"No matter who you ask, the stories are a little exaggerated," she said, looking up at Eli. "But everyone agrees on one thing. The Unbeatable Master is the greatest slinger in history."
"She appears out of thin air, at a time of her own choosing," Kord explained. "She hasn't been seen in over thirty years. The Master's trained every Shane in recorded history. Uh... including..."
Kord's voice trailed off, and he nervously glanced at Eli and Alana. Alana looked away from him, instead focusing on the fire, but Eli perked up.
"My dad," he finished. He looked down at Alana. "Did he ever talk about her?"
Alana angled her head a little bit more before she answered, making sure at least Eli couldn't see her frown, even if Pronto and Trixie could from their spots on the other side of the campfire.
"A couple times, but not in detail," she responded. "Just that he was chosen to be trained by her, and from the sound of it, they got along well. That's probably why Burpy looked excited to see her."
But that doesn't explain why Ash seemed to recognize her, too, she thought to herself, looking over at the two Infurnus slugs. They, along with Doc and Mage, appeared to be on a mission to steal the sausage Pronto was roasting over the campfire.
"This is great!" Eli said excitedly. "This is what I've been wanting since I got to Slugterra- real training!"
He leaned down and scooped up his sleeping mat from the ground.
"Let's turn in. Big day for me tomorrow!" Eli exclaimed.
"It's a big day for all Slugterrans," Trixie said with a fond smile.
"Uh, right, yeah," Eli said.
Kord and Pronto were quick to follow Eli, leaving Trixie and Alana sitting around the shrinking fire.
"Are you okay?" Trixie asked. Alana blinked a few times, turning her gaze away from the flames and up at Trixie's emerald eyes.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she asked.
"You just looked upset when we brought up Will. I'm sorry we did, we try not to-" Trixie began, but Alana cut her off.
"It's fine, really. You guys shouldn't have to avoid him all the time," Alana said as she sat up. "And Eli deserves to know as much about him as he can."
Trixie nodded, getting to her feet and holding out a hand. Alana took it, letting Trixie help her rise, brushing dirt and grass off her gear. Alana's Aquabeek, Blue, spat out a fountain of water that doused the remaining flames.
Trixie and Alana headed into the tent they shared, both collapsing into their sleeping bags and quickly falling asleep.
It didn't cross Alana's mind that, given that she was essentially now sharing a room with someone other than her slugs, she maybe should have used a Slyren to fall into a dreamless sleep.
It did, however, cross both her's and Trixie's minds at around three in the morning.
Everything was dark. The only thing Alana knew was there was the ground beneath her feet, but everything was black. Black and cold.
Dana's voice sounded behind her.
"First you couldn't save him."
In an instant, the swirling red and black portal blossomed up from the ground. White lightning flashed, and Alana heard Will yell out as he flew into the swirling void, but all her muscles were frozen.
"Then you couldn't save me."
The portal transformed into a single mass of raging dark energy, and from it formed Dana's body, so much paler than it used to be, with red streaks in her hair and scarlet eyes.
"What kind of protector are you?" jeered a new voice. This was a man's, deep and cold. The sound struck fear into Alana's heart, but she couldn't tell who it belonged to.
Dana's figure changed into the dark, muscular figure that Alana had thought she'd seen in her room. Now she could make out the man's glowing red eyes, and another single scarlet eyes on his shoulder. There it was, the flash of a blade-
"Alana? Alana, can you hear me?"
Alana's eyes flew open, and she rapidly sat up, shoving away the hands she felt on her arms. For a moment, everything in her vision was tinged light blue as she gasped for breath.
Then the panic faded away. She blinked a few times and everything reverted back to its normal coloring. Trixie sat up in her own sleeping bag, holding her hands out, her eyes wide with fear.
"Can you hear me?" she repeated quietly. Alana nodded, taking deep breaths and wiping sweat from her face.
"Guardian slugs, Trixie, I- I'm so sorry, I didn't think- earlier-" she stammered, putting her face in her hands. She felt Ash and Mage hop onto her legs, chirping worriedly.
"It's okay, as long as you are," Trixie said. Alana lowered her hands, looking up at Trixie.
"Was I yelling? Did I wake everyone else up?" she asked quietly. Trixie shook her head.
"No, you were just thrashing around," she assured. "I don't think the boys heard a thing. Did you know you could do that thing with your eyes?"
"What thing?"
"Your eyes. They were glowing blue."
Alana thought back to when she first woke up, how everything had been tinted blue.
"I think that's a thing now," Alana said with a small laugh, getting to her feet. "Whenever I get really scared, my energy flairs up, like some kind of defense mechanism."
Trixie frowned as Alana bent down and started to gather up her sleeping bag. "Where are you going?"
"Outside," Alana responded. "I've already woken you up once, I don't want to do it again."
Trixie rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"That's stupid," she said bluntly. "You're not gonna sleep outside all alone."
"I've done it before-" Alana argued, but Trixie cut her off, pulling Alana's sleeping bag out of her hands and setting it back on the ground.
"Yeah, when you were living alone. Now you've got a team to help you. So come back here and go back to sleep."
Well, nobody can say no to Trixie Sting, even when she was half-awake at three in the morning.
~~~~~~~~
The rest of Alana's night was dreamless. She didn't wake up until she felt Trixie gently shaking her shoulder.
She sighed and rolled onto her back, brushing some hair from her face before sitting up.
"You feeling better?" Trixie asked. Alana nodded, stretching out her arms.
"I do. Thanks," she said. Trixie smiled and gestured outside the tent.
"Don't mention it. Eli must've been excited, he's already headed out. We're packing up right now and then riding out to Dojang Grotto," she said before heading out. Alana got to her feet and started to roll up her sleeping bag.
The ride to Dojang Grotto was spent excitedly chatting about what the Master would be like. Alana wanted to find a time to talk to Shanai, to ask her about her strange energy signature.
But mostly, she just wanted to see the Unbeatable Master sling.
"Wow," Alana breathed when Dojang Grotto finally came into view. "This is...wow."
The entrance was a tall archway. Stalks of bamboo stretched out to either side, acting as a wall. A building was at the center, with a slanted rooftop and lanterns just like the town they had visited yesterday. Large clearings with training targets were on either side of the building. A small group of Mechas was already parked by the gates, including Lucky.
"Guys, you came! Thanks for the support."
Alana looked up to see Eli as she hopped down from Midnight. She snickered and exchanged a glance with Trixie, who crossed her arms.
"Support? We're here to compete," Trixie responded. "You thought all this was about you?"
Eli's face turned red.
"No!" he said hurriedly. Then he shrugged. "Well, yeah. Kinda."
"Shanes," Alana said teasingly. "If she doesn't pick you, we might as well up our chances of it being one of us."
"Yeah," Kord agreed. "That is support, right?"
"Yes! We shall support you by fighting against you!" Pronto exclaimed.
"Thanks," Eli deadpanned. Before the gang could continue their conversation, Shanai's voice rang out across the clearing.
"Welcome, one and all, to the Winnowing," she said. She stood atop a rock ledge, and the crowd of slingers formed a half circle around it to hear her talk. She bent down, scooping up a handful of grain from a pail next to her. "Winnowing is a way of separating grain."
She sifted the grain from her hand. Pale golden dust floated away as it fell.
"The wind carries off the chaff, leaving only the pure kernel," she finished. She stepped down from the rock, holding out her blaster. With one end, she drew a line in the grass next to her. "Now. Whoever would be a slug master, stand on this line."
That's it? Alana thought. For a moment, nobody moved. Then Eli shrugged.
"Alright then," he said before charging forward. Alana grinned and followed after him, the rest of the group charging forward as well. A majority of the slingers began fighting with each other in attempt to keep the others from reaching the line, but the Shane Gang made it in one piece, along with the King of Sling, a purple-and-black haired woman that Alana vaguely remembered seeing at slinging tournaments, and a dark-skinned teal-haired boy who seemed to be keeping his distance from everyone.
For a moment, Alana and the boy made eye contact, and a chill ran up her spine. But before she could think anything else of it, Shanai stepped forward, looking condescendingly down at the pile of fighting slingers.
"All of you are dismissed," she said bluntly. "Selfishness and cruelty have no place in a slug master."
Two of the slingers in the pile, Shockwire and Jacques, grumbled, but still untangled themselves and left without an issue. The Power Trips, however, seemed unamused with the Master's decision.
"No!" one of them exclaimed, pulling out his blaster. "We are not leaving!"
Alana looked at the Master, curious as to how she would respond. The old woman laughed quietly and took a step forward.
"Not really your choice," Shanai said, pressing a button at the center of her staff-blaster. The weapon disconnected, creating two separated barrels. Two slugs that had been on Shanai's shoulders, a white Boon Doc and a Negashade, jumped in, and Shanai fired them simultaneously.
The Negashade created a cloud of thick, black smoke around the Power Trips. The Boon Doc released a beam of light energy that knocked all three redheaded slingers out of the gates of the clearing, which swung shut behind them.
Alana's eyes widened as she felt the power from the Boon Doc swell around her before slowly fading. It felt like the Master had gotten close to something big, but her slugs hadn't been going all out. Like if she had really wanted to do the Power Trips harm, she could have, but knew it wasn't necessary.
"That was awesome," Alana said quietly. Eli nodded beside her.
"Did you see how those slugs worked together?" he asked.
"I know!" Trixie responded. "You pull combo moves all the time, but nothing like that!"
"The rest of you, I can dismiss anyone at any time. My reasons are my own and my judgement is final. Clear?" Shanai asked. The remaining eight slingers nodded without another word. Shanai smirked. "Then let's see what you've got."
Shanai led the slingers into the clearing with the spinning targets. Poles reached up to forty feet in the air, each topped with three or four rotating glass targets. The slingers were instructed to simply do their best, and Shanai would be observing everything from their techniques to their reactions to success and failure.
Alana felt unnerved by Shanai and her strange energy, so she found herself at the set of targets the farthest away from the Master. At first, she thought she might be able to avoid speaking to her, but Shanai began to walk amongst the slingers to watch them. Alana angled herself so she wasn't quite facing Shanai and pretended to be extremely focused on firing her slugs at the targets, even though she was hitting every one without a problem.
But, of course, Shanai did eventually reach her.
Alana felt her approaching from behind. Her grip tightened on the handle of her blaster as she lowered it. She didn't even know why she felt so intimidated, but it was beyond just Shanai's slinging abilities.
She turned to face the Master, mustering up a small smile. But the Master just looked concerned as she walked up to Alana, looking the young slinger up and down.
"What are you doing here?" Shanai asked before Alana could say a word. Alana's smile faltered, and she holstered her blaster.
"I- um- I'm here to compete in the Winnowing," Alana responded, confused. Shanai shook her head.
"But why are you here, and not your own home?" she asked curiously, slightly leaning against her staff-blaster. "Surely there is someone there who can teach you?"
Alana didn't know how to respond.
"My home is in Wild Spores, so, not really, no. Are... are you mistaking me for someone else?" Alana tried. Shanai shook her head and narrowed her green eyes.
"No, I know who you are-" Shanai began, but was interrupted by Ash.
The Infurnus began to chirp from Alana's shoulder, drawing in the Master's gaze. Alana was incredulously as Shanai watched and seemed to be listening to Ash, nodding and never taking her eyes off the slug. Shanai's gaze quickly turned distraught as Ash continued, and almost sad when he finished.
"I understand," Shanai said, but she wasn't speaking to Alana. She was speaking to Ash. "I'm so sorry."
Then Shanai looked up at Alana, who could tell that the Master was brushing aside her emotions, because Alana did it all the time.
"My apologies. It appears I was mistaken," the Master said shortly. "Please, carry on."
With that, she turned away from Alana and left, leaving the slinger confused and worried.
"What was that all about?" Alana whispered to Ash, watching as Shanai walked back to the front of the targets, talking to Eli.
Ash chirped quietly and shook his head, his antennae drooping. Before Alana could press for more information, Shanai raised her voice to speak to the remaining slingers.
"We will now begin the one-on-one duels."
The Unbeatable Master paired everyone up. Eli was with the King of Sling, which cemented Alana's thoughts that he would be among the finalists of the group. Kord and Pronto were paired, and Trixie was with the teal-haired boy that was not avoiding people, Alana realized, as much as he was avoiding her, which was strange, because she had never seen him before.
That left Alana with the punk-looking woman with spiky purple and black hair and an arsenal full of mainly Dirt Urchins and Threshers.
Lots of spikes. Yay, Alana thought as she and the woman stood in front of each other, sixty feet apart. Her fingers brushed her side where the scar from the Thrasher was. This duel's gonna end a little differently than that one.
Shanai slowly walked down the line of slingers.
"Begin," she said.
The woman fired first, a Thresher that let out a roar as it sped toward Alana. The other duels around Alana faded away as she focused in on her fight, firing her Frostcrawler at the Thresher. Kelvin froze the teal slug solid, and Alana fired her Armashelt after him.
The woman dodged the Armashelt, nearly losing her balance as the slug hit to her left, but keeping her footing. She fired a Dirt Urchin that shot out spikes at Alana, who wove left and right to avoid being pierced by them. One grazed her leg, cutting through the fabric of her pants. Alana hissed and narrowed her eyes, but didn't slow down, firing her own Dirt Urchin. He wasn't as experienced, but maybe giving the woman a taste of her own medicine would make something happen.
With a smirk, the woman fired a Tormato that released a burst of wind that scattered the Dirt Urchin's spikes and sent the slug tumbled back into protoform and into Alana's feet.
"It's okay, nice try, bud," Alana said as she dodged yet another Thresher. She glanced down at Ash, then at her Rammstone, Sarge. "Let's try something new. You guys know how Fandangos can amp up a slug it's fired right after?"
Alana rolled away from more Dirt Urchin spikes. She raised her arm as one soared toward her face. It hit the metal plate on her arm, ricocheting off.
"Well, I wanna fire Sarge and then Ash, so no time for a Fandango," Alana said, "but I need Sarge to pull a lot of weight."
She loaded the Rammstone, taking a deep breath as the woman fired another Thresher.
"Here we go."
She fired Sarge and held up her blaster for Ash to jump into, but kept her focus on the Rammstone. She focused on pulling up the energy inside her, letting it flow out, and into the bundle of energy that belonged to Sarge. She felt it flare up, and smiled as Sarge knocked the Thresher out of the air and, now full of energy, flew forward and punched the woman in the stomach, sending her slamming into the ground.
As the woman fell to the ground, Alana fired Ash, who flew in circles around the black-and-purple haired woman. She crouched down to avoid the flames as Ash drew closer and closer, waiting until the last second to throw her hands up.
"I surrender!" she called. Ash immediately flew away from her, reverting back to protoform and hopping back to Alana with Sarge.
Alana walked up to the woman, holding out a hand. After a moment of hesitation, the woman took it, getting to her feet and brushing dust from her gear.
"Not bad, kid," she said shortly, before turning and heading back to the Mechas. Alana watched with wide eyes- she hadn't expected the punk woman to be nice in the least.
"Guess appearances aren't everything," she said with a small smile as she held out Ash and Sarge in her hand. "You guys did great! Did you see how I powered you up?" she asked Sarge. The Rammstone nodded excitedly.
"That was impressive," said a voice from behind her. Alana turned to see Shanai watching her carefully. "I take it you found inspiration in the powers of a Fandango?"
Alana nodded, raised her hand so Sarge could jump into her bandoleer and Ash to her shoulder.
"Yeah, I did," she said. "I've been meaning to try-"
Shanai held up her hand.
"I'm sorry, but you're being dismissed as well."
Alana's smile disappeared. Her heart sank, and she shifted her weight back and forth.
"O-oh. I... okay," she said.
What did I do wrong?
"I'm sorry," Shanai said again, turning back toward the other duels. Alana did the same. "Both your cave troll and molenoid friends are out, too. It looks like it'll be between knock-knees, and-"
She fell silent, and Alana winced as she saw the teal-haired boy get in a hit on Trixie with a Jellyish, burying the redhead under a pile of green slime.
"And that boy," Shanai finished. She began to walk over to Eli and the boy, but Alana hesitated, wondering if she should leave, or go over with the rest of her gang. Shanai glanced back and beckoned for Alana to follow.
"I'm allowing your little gang to stay here as guests," she said as Alana hurried after her. "Knock-knees could use the support."
"Thank you," Alana said, fighting to keep the disappointment from her voice. Shanai simply nodded, coming to a stop in front of the rest of the Shane Gang and the teal-haired boy.
"May the best man win," Eli said with a smile. The boy smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I intend to," the boy said, and Alana's stomach dropped.
That voice.
And it was difficult to pick it up from the illusion the "slug" on the boy's shoulder was casting, but she could feel the small spark of dark energy.
Alana took a step back, grabbing her blaster. The boy turned to her and sighed.
"I've been found out. You know how hard it was to avoid you all morning?" he asked. Then he glanced down at the Dirt Urchin on his shoulder. "Take a break, Loki."
With a flash of black and red sparks, the slug transformed into a ghouled Thugglet, and the boy turned into an all too familiar blond-haired slinger with teal eyes.
"Twist!" Eli exclaimed, his eyes widening. Twist smirked.
"What's the matter? Does it bother you that I'm here to train with the Master? The contest is open to anyone, remember?" Twist reminded. Alana scowled and her grip on her blaster handle tightened, but she stayed where she was.
"Then why the disguise?" Eli challenged. Twist turned toward Shanai.
"Apologies, Master, but Eli and I are... rivals," Twist said, holding out his hand for Loki to jump into. "I didn't want to create a distraction to this ceremony."
Alana rolled her eyes. You just wanted to see the looks on our faces. Own up to it.
But Shanai didn't look upset. Instead, she looked almost impressed.
"It takes quite a bond for a slinger to share his slug's illusion power," she noted. "Even I couldn't see through it."
"That's because he's using a ghoul!" Eli said heatedly. Shanai quickly turned toward him, her eyes narrowing.
"And you think just because I've been gone a few years I don't know what a ghoul is?" she asked coldly. "It's the slinger I'm choosing, not the slug-"
Her words fell short as she suddenly began to cough violently. Alana finally let go of her blaster, watching the Master with concern, not sure if she should offer any help.
"Are you okay?" Eli asked worriedly. Shanai regained control of her breathing, holding up a hand.
"I'm fine," she assured. "Rest yourselves. We'll begin the final duel in one hour."
Then, with a pause, she glanced at Alana.
"And you. Come with me. I want to talk with you."
Alana's face went pale. She glanced over at Eli, who just shrugged. With a deep breath, she followed after the Unbeatable Master.
~~~~~~~~~
Shanai led her to a clearing that overlooked the grotto. Two cherry blossom trees were on either side of the ledge, and pale pink petals drifted around. With a faint smile, Alana caught a few in her hands as she followed the Master.
At the edge of the overlook, Shanai sat down criss-crossed. A trio of slugs, an Aquabeek, a Flaringo, and a Vinedrill, carried up two steaming cups, setting them down by the Master, waving, and then leaving.
Alana hesitated, not sure what to do. Shanai glanced up at her and offered a small smile before gesturing for Alana to sit next to her.
She was confused, but Alana sat down criss-crossed next to the Master. Shanai handed Alana the second cup of tea.
"Thanks," Alana said, holding the cup in her gloved hands. She was thrown off-guard by the Master's kindness. She didn't seem mean, necessarily, but she had been more stoic and cold before.
"I'm sure you must be confused," Shanai said, lowering her cup. "You don't understand why I'm behaving like this. But please, let me have this. One day you'll understand."
Alana nodded carefully, taking a sip of the tea. She was usually a fan of sweeter things, but the apple-cinnamon tea seemed to warm her whole body.
"I wasn't born here, but I took a liking to these caverns," Shanai said after a moment of silence. "This realm is in a state of balance. Things aren't orderly, but it isn't a world of extremes in need of taming. So I decided that I would stay here to learn and to teach."
Shanai's hands tightened around her cup.
"But I didn't think it could leave others with a disadvantage. She was more of an explorer than those before her. She came to these caverns often. And one day she sought me out," Shanai continued. "Not many have the courage to come poking around here, but she came asking for knowledge from my homelands. A specific slinging technique that few were masters of, that I had taught no one else."
The Unbeatable Master sighed and glanced up at Alana.
"I turned her down, even though she would have excelled. I thought I was preserving a piece of my old culture. But I never thought that maybe it could have helped her save her own," Shanai said, glancing at Ash. "She didn't even argue. She said that she understood, and that was that. Maybe if I had taught her, things would have turned out differently."
Who is she talking about?
The question was burning in Alana's mind, begging to be asked, but she stayed silent as Shanai continued.
"I wish I could teach you, to help you one day take back what you lost. But you won't be able to master such a difficult technique without first mastering the energy abilities that already lie within you," the Master said. "And I cannot teach you to do that."
I'm so confused.
"So, I am sorry. It seems that once again my abilities bring not only talent and safety, but also pain," the Master finished.
"I... I don't really understand what you're apologizing for," Alana admitted. "And thank you for doing it, but I understand what you did. You couldn't have known something terrible was going to happen. You were just trying to protect your old culture."
Shanai laughed quietly.
"Just like her. Kindness where perhaps someone doesn't deserve it," she said. Alana wanted to ask the Master more questions, but it was obvious that Shanai was upset about whoever she was talking to.
Once the Winnowing is over, I'll talk to her.
Alana set down the cup and got to her feet.
"Thank you for the tea," she said. Shanai nodded silently.
Wanting to burst with questions, Alana made her way back down to the grotto.
~~~~~~~~~
"How much trouble would I get in if I just slugged him now?" Trixie asked.
Eli had gone up to speak with Shanai, leaving the rest of the Shane Gang in the clearing glaring at Twist, who stood far too close at forty feet away.
"Remember how she handled the Power Trips? I wouldn't try it," Alana said. She and Trixie stood side by side, both with their arms crossed. Kord and Pronto sat against a nearby stone, placing bets on how quickly Eli would beat Twist.
"I'm starting to think it might be worth it," Trixie said bitterly. Alana shook her head.
"As someone who was buried under a pile of rocks by him, I can see where you're coming from. But I still think there can be some good in him," she said. "Think about it. He's basically just a kid that got roped into some bad stuff. Once Eli wins this thing, maybe we can talk to him."
"That might be easier said than done."
Alana and Trixie turned to greet Eli, but stayed silent when they saw his solemn face. Kord and Pronto came up to the trio.
"What did she say?" Kord asked.
"Not what I wanted to hear. She's perfectly fine with training Twist," Eli said, crossing his arms. "She seems to think it could help him. The last Winnowing, the one my dad won? The other finalist was Blakk. The Master's worried that if she doesn't pick Twist, he could go down the same path Blakk did."
Alana thought back to her own conversation with Shanai. She'd feared that something bad had happened because she hadn't traine whatever woman that had come to her. If something like that had also happened with Blakk, she might be too scared to make it a third.
"She'd really do it? Train Blakk's right hand man?" Trixie asked, dumbfounded.
"I have to win now. We can't let the Master's secrets fall into Blakk's hands. With that and his ghoul arsenal, Doctor Blakk could be unstoppable. But that's not what worries me the most," Eli added.
"Then what does?" Kord asked curiously.
"She may have already made her choice," Eli responded bitterly, looking at Twist.
Shortly afterward, the Master returned, signalling the start of the final battle.
"You've each proven yourselves worthy. This isn't a duel. It's an assessment," Shanai said as the gang backed away from Eli and Twist. "The judgement is mine alone. Begin."
Twist and Eli circled each other, waiting for the first move.
"You're not winning this, Twist," Eli said. Twist smirked.
"You never know, Eli," he replied.
Eli fired a Rammstone. Twist waited until the last second before jumping into the air to avoid it, firing Loki. The ghoul created an explosion of red and black sparks in front of Eli, who stumbled back, looking around wildly as eight more illusions of Twist appeared around him.
Alana shivered at the dark energy, but watched with pride as Eli never hesitated, firing his Speedstinger. Stunts slammed into Twist after Twist, ricocheting into the stones around the clearing and continuing his path. Each illusion dissolved into sparks until finally, only one Twist was left.
He made a break for one of the stones, in attempt to get some cover, but Eli quickly fired a Rammstone and an Armashelt, one after the other. Twist dodged the Rammstone, but the Armashelt hit him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground.
Alana beamed, following after the rest of the gang as they cheered and ran towards Eli. She glanced back at the Master and saw the woman give a faint smile.
"Not quite like the Master, but good enough," Eli said with a grin as the gang reached him.
"Good-" Alana began, but went silent as she heard a banging noise.
The gang and the Master both turned toward the front gate of the grotto. Another crash, and the two doors came crashing down. A bull Mecha made its way through the rubble, leading in gray-and-red clothed slingers and a rush of dark energy. A pale girl in a red shirt and gray jacket headed over to Twist, her scarlet eyes matching the streaks in her hair.
Dana. And...
"Hello, Master," Doctor Blakk said. "It's been a while."