Blakk Industries workers swarmed the grotto, all armed with ghouls. Alana bit her lip and winced as she felt all the dark energy around her. A half dozen workers approached the Shane Gang, blasters raised.
"Hands where we can see them, please," Blakk said coldly as he dismounted his Mecha. One by one, the defenders put their hands up, each glaring at Blakk and his workers. Eli, ever courageous, was the first to speak.
"If you're after the Master's secrets, you can forget it, Blakk," Eli said. Blakk walked up to the surrounded gang and rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please. I've surpassed such banalities," he said coldly. "This arcane ritual holds but one purpose- to prove who is best."
Eli raised an eyebrow.
"And I just did that when I took down your apprentice," he said with a smirk. Twist walked up to the group, Dana next to him. Alana subconsciously inched away from her, wincing as she felt Dana's strong dark energy. Twist raised his blaster, but Eli's confidence didn't waver as he looked down the barrel.
"Fine. I'm down for a rematch, with either of you," Eli said, glancing back up at Blakk.
"You're an arrogant gnat, Eli, one I will swat in due time. But there is one here who is worth of my attention. Today," Blakk said, raising his voice, "I shall demonstrate my superiority by beating the Unbeatable Master herself."
Alana and Eli exchanged a worried glance. Twist's appearance didn't waver, but Dana gave a small smirk.
This won't end well, Alana couldn't help but think.
"You have nothing to prove, Thaddius," Shanai said stoically. "But, if this will bring you peace, I accept your challenge."
"Isn't she sick?" Alana whispered. Eli nodded subtly and stepped forward.
"Be careful, Master. He fights dirty. And his ghouls are-"
Shanai held up a hand, stopping Eli.
"It will be okay, knock knees," she said calmly.
Alana watched as Doctor Blakk walked back towards his Mecha, unhooking a machine and facing the Master with it. It had dozens of ghouls loaded in it, with one opening to fire from. It wouldn't be accurate, but the weapon would be able to rapid fire ghouls.
Alana's eyes widened and she grabbed Trixie's shoulder, trying to block out the immense amount of dark energy the weapon held.
"I don't think it'll be okay," she breathed.
"What is that thing?" Trixie asked. Kord stepped forward.
"A gattler," Kord gasped in wonder. "But nobody's ever been able to make a working model."
"First time for everything," Alana said quietly, pressing a hand to her head in attempt to drown out her headache.
Blakk and Shanai stood in the clearing that Twist and Eli had been dueling in ten minutes ago. When Blakk began to fire the gattler, for a moment, the ghouls were out of control, soaring in every direction. The Shane Gang scattered, diving behind stones, and Blakk's workers began to open fire.
"I'll go after Twist," Eli said, loading his blaster and looking at Alana. "Are you okay to go after Dana?"
"Always," she responded with a smirk. "You guys got the workers handled?"
"Of course!" Pronto exclaimed. "You two go deal with your rivals. Pronto the Magnificent will lead the charge against Doctor Blakk's lackeys!"
Alana and Eli nodded, diving out from behind the stones and opening fire on their respective enemies. Dana had been watching the fight between Blakk and the Master, and dove to the side just before Alana's Hop Rock hit her. The pale girl turned around and grinned as she saw her old friend approaching.
"No tricks this time?" Dana jeered. "None of your friends are going to show up?"
"It's just you and me," Alana promised, loading a Rammstone. "But just so you know, I still don't want to fight you. I still think you can have a change of heart."
Dana scowled and fired a Pyringo. Alana fired her Aquabeek, Blue, who sprayed out water that doused the flames of the Pyringo. From the steam of the dying flames came Dana, leaping towards Alana and firing a Grimmstone.
"You're wrong!" Dana snapped. Alana dodged the ghoul, scowling and dodging as Dana aimed a kick for her stomach.
She's better at close range. I need to get away.
Alana fired Mage at Dana, who gasped and dove away from the healer, scrambling away from the beam of light energy Mage shot out. Now with more room to work, Alana fired her Vinedrill. The green slug dug into the ground, causing vines to sprout up from the grass. Dana scowled and dodged left and right to avoid them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alana caught a glance of Shanai and Blakk's fight. Shanai fired her Boon Doc at Blakk, causing a bright flash of light. She wanted to keep watching the duel, but she forced herself to focus on Dana.
"I'm actually impressed with your slinging," Dana noted as she fired a Hop Jack. The blast knocked Alana back, but she quickly got back to her feet, firing her Forgesmelter, Blaze. Dana fired a Harmashelt, but Blaze belched out a stream of lava that reverted the ghoul back to protoform, shooting out a jet of lava at Dana before losing velocity.
"Thanks," Alana said sourly as Dana fired a Frostfang at the lava, turning it solid before it could hit her skin. The chunks of ice fell to the ground harmlessly around Dana. "But that means nothing coming from you."
Dana shrugged as she loaded her blaster.
"I'm just saying, I wish Doctor Blakk had made more of an effort to keep you from Will Shane," she said, her voice dripping with fake sincerity.
Alana's heart skipped a beat at the sound of Will's name, but her body froze at everything else Dana had casually said, as if it didn't matter.
"What?" she asked, taking a step back. Dana raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on her face.
"Doctor Blakk was studying energy, Alana, of course he noticed when you showed up! He just never thought you would be a threat," she replied. "Otherwise, who knows, you could be on my side right now."
Alana's hand tightened around her blaster, the adrenaline from the fight beginning to fade.
"What do you mean, 'when I showed up,' when was this?" Alana asked, and all that was running through her head was, I don't remember anything before I was five. I don't remember anything before the day Will found me.
Dana lowered her blaster, looking at Alana with sympathy, and Alana hated it.
"You mean he never told you?" Dana asked, taking glee in the confusion on Alana's face. "He wasn't even decent enough to tell you about yourself? How cruel-"
Alana's eyes narrowed in fury. She fired Ash, who fanned a wave of fire at Dana. The force of the flames knocked her to the ground and singed the edges of her jacket. Dana's blaster fell from her hands and Alana hurried forward.
One foot on either side of Dana's legs, Alana grabbed Dana by the collar of her gray jacket and yanked her forward so she was sitting up. Alana could feel her anger in the form of her energy pulsing through her arms as her grip on Dana's jacket tightened.
"I wouldn't say anything that bad about Will Shane if I were you," she warned. "Now what are you talking about? When exactly did I 'show up,' Dana?"
Dana didn't look the least bit intimidated. Instead, she smiled up at Alana.
"Everyone's got those couple things that tip them over the edge," she said, lunging forward.
Time seemed to slow. Alana released Dana, rearing back just as Dana's dagger flashed through the air.
Alana backed away from Dana, who quickly got back to her feet. Before the fight could continue, there was another bright flash from Blakk and Shanai's duel that caught the attention of both slingers.
Blakk was rising from the ground, panting.
"Is that the best your pathetic art can muster?" he asked as he got to his feet.
Shanai sighed sadly, raising her staff.
"Forgive me, Thaddius," she said as her Boon Doc and Negashade jumped onto her shoulders. "I did not want it to come to this."
She began twirling the staff-blaster in her hands. One slug jumped into each barrel, and the Master unclipped her weapon, aiming both ends at Blakk, who was hesitantly raising his blaster.
Instead of firing them one after the other like she had done with the Power Trips, Shanai fired both slugs in unison, and the result made Alana's jaw drop.
Both slugs wove through the air together, linking arms and spiraling. An enormous amount of energy was released, unlike anything Alana had ever felt before. The fusion shot forward a beam of light that sent Blakk crashing into of the stones, snapping it in half on contact, and cracking the stones in the ground of the clearing.
"A fusion shot...?" Alana breathed, her blue eyes wide. Those two slugs had worked together in perfect harmony. Their energies had combined to create something much more than a combo move. She wanted to stand in awe and comprehend the insane slinging move she had just witnessed, but a detail of the duel was sticking out in her head.
Blakk was holding his blaster.
Hadn't he been using the gattler?
She hadn't seen Twist lately.
Her feet began to move before her mind could process what she was doing. Alana began to sprint towards the Unbeatable Master, her breath catching in her throat.
Where is he where is he where is he-
The Blakk who laid in the rubble of the broken stone transformed into a wounded Twist.
Alana felt the swell of dark energy the gattler held, spotting Blakk emerge from the cover of bamboo stalks behind Shanai.
"Behind you!" Alana cried out. Shanai turned to look at Blakk, but she was too late.
He fired only a single round from the gattler.
A headache formed as the ghouled Boon Doc transformed in the air, but Alana ignored it.
She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. She watched as the Goon Doc made contact with Shanai, a ray of black and red hitting her in the side.
Alana heard Shanai cry out and fall to her knees, catching the woman before she could fall to the ground and gently laying her down.
Tears formed in Alana's eyes as the protoform Goon Doc hopped away, ignoring the fear and sense of déjà vu she got from seeing the ghoul. Eli ran up next to her, sliding to his knees and looking at the glowing green wound on Shanai's side with wide, terrified eyes.
Mage and Doc both hopped down and inspected the wound. After a moment, they both looked up at their slingers sadly and shook their heads.
"No, come on, I can use my energy or something, we can do this," Alana said, tears falling down her cheeks. But Shanai shook her head, coughing.
"It's... too late," she said, her voice hoarse. She looked at Alana, rested a hand on the young slinger's shoulder.
"The... the woman I mentioned before," Shanai began. She paused, glancing at Ash. The Infurnus narrowed his eyes and looked away. "She... was your mother. This probably isn't how he wanted to find out. But you need to know."
Shanai lowered her hand and turned toward Eli, but Alana didn't hear whatever she told him. Her words just played over and over again.
Your mother. Your mother.
My mother. My mom.
She blinked, and more tears fell on her face. The sensation brought her back to her senses, and she watched as the Master sat up carefully, holding the detached halves of her blaster.
Her Negashade and Boon Doc, both looking solemn, jumped into the blaster. Shanai fired the two simultaneously, and Alana felt another enormous rush of energy. Another fusion shot.
But she couldn't bring herself to be excited about it anymore.
The two slugs spun in the air, creating winds and a sphere of white light. Alana wiped away her tears as Shanai's body was lifted into the air by the winds, dissolving into the light.
And just like that, the light faded. And the Unbeatable Master was gone.
Alana numbly looked up at Twist, who was being helped along by Dana. He looked pale, and blood stained his white shirt and tan vest.
"Well done, Twist. You played your part commendably," Blakk noted as his apprentice passed him. "Those wounds will heal."
Twist looked up at Blakk.
"She's gone," he said hoarsely. "I-I didn't think you'd-"
"Her time was up," Blakk interrupted. "I will give you all the training you'll ever need."
As Alana got to her feet, her eyes met Twist and Dana's. She didn't care that she probably looked like a child, standing there was trembling hands and teary eyes, shocked and hurt by the news she had just heard and the woman she had just seen die.
Twist only looked for a moment, quickly lowering his gaze to the ground.
But Dana raised an eyebrow and smirked, completely unfazed by the death of Shanai and the injury of Twist. Her scarlet eyes held no remorse.
Now it was Alana's turn to look away, glancing at Eli. The Shane got to his feet, holding the two halves of Shanai's blaster in his hands and staring at them blankly.
"Move out!" Blakk ordered, turning to leave without another word to the Shane Gang. Alana watched him, wanting nothing more than to take him down then and there, but knowing the gang was outnumbered and outmatched.
"No."
Alana turned toward Eli in surprise. His eyes showed the pain he felt, but he stood with confidence.
"Excuse me?" Blakk said, turning and looking down at the Shane. Eli didn't flinch under Blakk's stone-cold gaze.
"I said no. No more. You will never hurt another innocent person and just walk away."
The way Eli looked had always reminded Alana of Will Shane. His hair, his skin, his eyes. But in that moment, he just radiated the confidence and heroism that a true Shane had.
"I just defeated the greatest slinger who ever lived," Doctor Blakk said, holding up his gattler. "What chance do you have?"
Eli narrowed his eyes and raised the two halves of Shanai's blaster. Burpy and Joules jumped in. Blakk laughed, taking aim with the gattler.
"Make your move," he said, firing three ghouls.
Alana watched with wide eyes as Eli fired his top two slugs in unison, both halves of the Master's blaster singed and sparking after the slugs were fired.
Burpy and Joules flew in a spiral, glowing blue and orange. Alana took a deep breath as she felt a surge of energy released as the two slugs' energies combined. A beam of flames and electricity sped through the air, knocking away the three ghouls and slamming into Blakk, lighting the grotto up orange.
Blakk was knocked all the way back to the entrance of the grotto. A few of his workers began to load their blasters and retaliate, but Blakk held up a hand to stop them, taking deep breaths and holding his side.
"No. We've won enough for today. Come," he said, nodding to Dana and Twist. Twist sat atop a hyena Mecha, with Dana on her stallion next to him, still reaching over and holding him up. Eli set down the halves of Shanai's blaster.
"You're backing the wrong guy, Twist. And you know it," he said.
The blond glanced at him, but turned to follow Blakk out the gates. The workers followed behind, and in a mere minute the Shane Gang was left standing alone in Dojang Grotto. Only an hour before, they had been waiting for the duel between Eli and Twist to begin.
Alana's eyes began to water again when she remembered what Shanai had said to her.
My mom.
She just stood there, staring at the broken-down gates, replaying that moment with the Master, tears falling down her cheeks.
Where do I go from here?
She couldn't get the moment where the Goon Doc had hit Shanai out of her head. It was seared in her brain.
It sounded like it came from a mile away, but Alana heard a clattering sound behind her. She slowly turned to see the halves of Shanai's blaster on the ground. Eli sank to his knees, running his hands through his hair.
It felt like Alana was running on autopilot as she walked up to him and sat down in the grass next to him. He glanced up, looking into her eyes.
"The Master said something about your mom?" Eli asked quietly. Alana shook her head, picking at the grass in front of her.
"That doesn't matter right now," she mumbled. Eli frowned.
"How could it not matter? Alana, do... do you even remember her at all?" he asked hesitantly.
For a moment, she tried to think, even though she'd done it countless times before with no luck. She tried to remember anything. A smile, a face, a hug. But nothing came to her mind. It felt like it was all being held back by a barrier that Alana just couldn't break.
With a sigh, Alana shook her head.
"Then, yeah, it matters," Eli said softly. Alana frowned, continuing to tug at the grass.
"Someone just died," she said, feeling numb. "No, it doesn't."
~~~~~~~~~
The days that followed the Unbeatable Master's death were quiet.
It seemed Blakk was taking a break after what he considered to be a victory. The Shane Gang heard almost nothing of his workers invading towns or rounding up slugs to be ghouled.
Rumors were spreading of the Master's demise, but the Shane Gang did nothing to prove or disprove them. After the Winnowing, they all just wanted to move on and not have to think about Dojang Grotto.
Trixie threw herself into her SlugNet work, producing a documentary of the gang's slinging in the last couple months. Pronto eagerly helped her, excited to be starring in a film, and was constantly attempting to lighten the mood in the hideout if things got down. Kord and Eli began to produce blueprints and layouts for a new blaster design. Eli was turning his grief into determination, set on recreating the fusion shot.
Alana didn't know what to do.
She often found herself just sitting in her bean bag chair, watching as the others went along their days, her head moving on from replaying Shanai's death to replaying her final words to Alana. Her slugs were concerned, but after the first day of such negative behavior, they had given up on trying to cheer Alana up and simply resorted to comforting her when they could.
Or she would be sitting alone on the roof of her room, staring out at the forests of Wild Spores as if they somehow had an answer for her. They never did, but seeing the expansive forests did give her a sense of hope. It was a big world, and it was still moving on. So could she. She just wished grief didn't make her so distant. Her team needed a little bit of her optimism right now, but she just needed to be alone.
That's why she had to put a lot of effort into not being annoyed when she heard the panel that led up to the roof swing open.
She turned and gave a small nod in greeting.
"Hey, Eli."
"Hey," Eli said as he walked up to Alana, sitting down next to her. It was afternoon, and Wild Spores Cavern was glowing faint yellow.
Alana, who'd been sitting with her knees tucked up to her chest, stretched her legs out and glanced over at Eli awkwardly. She was usually willing to chat whenever, but if she ever wanted to move on from seeing Shanai die, she just had to get through it alone.
"You've been pretty distant these last few days," he said. "We kinda miss you."
Alana looked out over the forests and sighed.
"I know. It's just what the Master said," she replied. "Eli, Will never mentioned my parents once. Now someone who knew them- or, at least one of them- was willing to talk to me, and Blakk killed her."
Her eyes narrowed.
"I shouldn't be worrying about this. It's stupid," she said, chastising herself and getting to her feet. "Blakk has a new weapon and is willing to go to any measure to get what he wants and I'm moping around about not learning more about my mom. It doesn't matter right now. We have too much going on."
Eli stood and looked at her incredulously.
"Alana, you shouldn't be thinking like that-"
"Why not?" she challenged. "I can look into it after we defeat Blakk."
"It doesn't work like that, we don't know how long that'll take. It's going to be on your mind until you figure it out," Eli said.
"No, it'll bug me for a bit and then I'll move on and it'll be fine," Alana assured. Eli didn't look convinced.
"I don't think that's how it works," he said flatly.
"Okay, so maybe it isn't! But worrying about my family issues when there's someone who wants to conquer Slugterra? That's just selfish," Alana said. "One person being happy doesn't outweigh a realm being safe."
"You deserve to be happy," Eli argued. "You deserve to know. With your powers, it could be something important. You could learn more about where they came from and what you can do. Wouldn't that count as helping Slugterra?"
Alana thought for a moment.
"It just sounds like an excuse for me to go," she said. Eli smirked.
"But it's a pretty good one," he said. "You can learn more about yourself so when you come back, you're just focused on fighting Blakk. It sounds like a good trade-off."
Alana's nightmare with the man appearing from the dark came to her mind. She had a feeling it was connected to her past, but she couldn't remember how. Did she even want to? What terrible events could have led to her being abandoned and found by Will? The thought of learning about herself terrified Alana. But it also intrigued her.
She had to.
"Fine," she said. "Fine. I'll... I'll go to the Shadow Clan. They seem to know more than they've let on. I'll go to the Dark Periphery and ask them and figure out this whole mess."
Eli smiled triumphantly.
"Good," he said. Then his smile wavered. "Do you want to tell the gang?"
"Don't tell them I'm going to the Dark Periphery. They'll freak," Alana said with a laugh. "Just... just tell them I'm following a lead Shanai gave me. I won't be gone longer than a couple days. If I can get moving soon, I can reach the Dark Periphery before ten."
~~~~~~~~
Eli left Alana to stand on the roof for a few moments and clear her head before she started packing. Once she got her breathing under control and stopped the thoughts of oh guardian slugs, what have I gotten myself into?, she jumped down through the hatch in the roof into her bedroom.
Her slugs, who were scattered around the room, all looked at her curiously. Alana forced a smile on her face and clapped her gloved hands together.
"We're going to the Dark Periphery!" she announced. "Shanai said something about meeting my mother, and the Shadow Clan are definitely hiding things from me. So we're going to go confront them and figure some things out."
Ash jumped up to her from her bed, Mage following behind. He looked worried, and chirped quietly, shaking his head.
"It's okay, bud," Alana said with a laugh, crouching down and holding out a hand. The Infurnus and the Boon Doc jumped into it and she stood back up. "The Shadow Clan seemed to like you the last time we saw them. It'll be okay, I promise."
Ash lowered his antennae and looked like he was about to start chirping at Alana again, but Mage hopped up next to him and nodded. After a moment of hesitation, Ash nodded as well. He and Mage jumped up onto their slinger's shoulders.
"Alright then. Let's load up, guys," she said, looking around at all her slugs. "We're leaving as soon as possible."
Her slugs began hopping into her backpack, which sat on the ground. Cipher hopped up to her from her dresser and gestured toward her bandoleer. Alana hesitated.
"Cipher, I don't usually use Hypnogrifs in battle, I'm not sure-" she began, but stopped when Cipher pointed to her bandoleer again. "Okay, bud. If you say so."
She held out a hand and Cipher jumped into it, then into her bandoleer. Alana was never one to question her slugs' judgement. She wholeheartedly believed that, since they were the ones being fired in a duel, they knew what they were doing.
Alana didn't see it, as she was focused on clipping her backpack and grabbing an extra blanket from her closet, but Cipher and Ash exchanged glances. The Infurnus stared down at the Hypnogrif, who chirped apologetically and shrugged.
Ash was no longer getting his way, but there was nothing he- or Cipher- could do about it now.
~~~~~~~~~
Alana edged her way around the back of the living room. Trixie, Kord, and Pronto were doing a three-player round of Slug Kart. All three slingers were shouting and practically jumping off the couch at every mood. A faint smile formed on Alana's face.
She carried a blanket in one hand and a small cooler packed with food and water in the other. Eli was in the kitchen with a piece of pizza in one hand. He silently waved to her, and she waved back. Alana didn't want to get stuck talking to the gang. She just wanted to get going before she thought too long and changed her mind.
Once she was a few hundred feet away from the hideout, Alana revved Midnight's engine. The mecha sped forward and tore through Wild Spores, now safe from the ears of the rest of the Shane Gang.
"Okay, I'm going to confront the most dangerous race in Slugterra to find out more about my missing mom," she breathed as she rode along. "I'm... I'm crazy. Why am I doing this?"
Mage chirped quietly. Alana glanced down at her and couldn't help but smile as her healer gave her a warm smile and encouraging nod.
"Right. Eli's right. I deserve this," she said, forcing confidence into her voice. "I deserve this. I deserve this!"
Her confident mood rose and fell throughout the lonesome ride. Alana stuck to the jungles and forests, avoiding any towns. The last thing she needed was one of Blakk's men spotting her alone and sending word to their superiors- more specifically, Dana- and Blakk deciding another move to ghoul Alana would be worth a try.
Lumino crystals lost their light as Alana approached the Dark Periphery. Forests transformed into worlds of green, yellow, and orange to blue and purple, and the air got a slight chill. Alana wrapped her cyan blanket around her, and might have found herself grow drowsy under other circumstances, but every step Midnight took toward Shadow Clan territory just increased her energy.
Finally, Alana found herself approaching a black and green jungle. With a deep breath, she rolled her blanket back up, tucking it away and keeping an eye out for movement around her.
"Do I just... start shouting and see if they show up?" she murmured as she slowed Midnight down. Ash shrugged. "Or maybe..."
Alana's voice trailed off. She closed her eyes and focused on the energy inside her, willing it to come forward. She felt its warmth flow through her veins and released it into the space around her, a beacon for the Shadow Clan to follow.
It took less than twenty seconds. Alana heard hissing around her and nearly jumped from her seat, opening her eyes and letting her energy flow back into her. Around her were a half dozen Shadow Clan, eyes narrowed and tails flicking. Alana gulped, focusing on the cool shadow energy of the creatures, trying to form a connection with the Shadow Clan that approached her.
"Human... energy... who... you?"
Alana struggled to understand the Shadow Clan at first. It sounded like she was trying to tune into a radio station, and she hadn't found the right setting yet.
"My name is Alana. I'm the human with the connection to the light energy here," she said, trying to sound confident. "I need to speak to the leader of the Shadow Clan. Can you take me to him?"
She put more focus into her connection with the Shadow Clan, this time hearing every word he said.
"He has told us about you. Very well... we will take you to him."
"Thank you," Alana said, her shoulders sagging with relief. The Shadow Clan gave a curt nod before turning and leading the way through the Dark Periphery.
Slugs peaked out at Alana through the branches and leaves around her. A few times she did double-takes, barely spotting Negashades amongst the dark scenery. The whole cavern felt otherworldly and foreign, even though Alana had been there multiple times before.
It was about fifteen minutes of riding in silence until the scenery around Alana began to change. The clearing she was led into had an eerie beauty to it. The mushroom trees faded, replaced by green and black huts that were difficult to see in the dark. The stone ground began to contain glowing green glyphs that spiraled in shapes and patterns Alana couldn't recognize. Green sparks of light drifted lazily in the air.
And at the center of it stood the leader of the Shadow Clan.
Tall and regal-looking, he slowly turned to face Alana.
"What is it you have come for?"
Alana took a deep breath as she hopped down from Midnight and looked up at the Shadow Clan chief.
"I need to know more about my past," she said, having to fight to keep her voice from wavering. "And I know you can tell me."