It was warm.
Alana took a deep breath of clean, clear air. She was warm, but it wasn't unpleasant. She felt safe, at ease. Calm.
She was laying down, and whatever was beneath her was soft, and also warm. She could feel her hair down and spread out around her head, and she felt the material beneath her shift ever so slightly with every breath she took.
There was the sound of water nearby. A shore, she realized- the sound of a current hitting sand banks. The air smelled faintly of saltwater. Slowly, like her senses were tuning in to a radio station, her senses sharpened. She could hear voices around her. They sounded familiar in a way that made her feel like she was... home.
Finally, Alana opened her eyes and sat up.
She was on a white sandy beach, warmed by gentle Lumino light. Crystal clear aquamarine water glittered where it met the sand twenty feet in front of her, giving off dazzling reflections of the Lumino light. The cavern ceiling was pale blue, and there were a few palm trees around her. She was in a cyan swim shirt with short sleeves and black swim shorts.
For a moment, it struck her as odd that she was in a swimsuit. Then that seemed silly. She was at the beach. Why wouldn't she be in her swimsuit?
Alana scooped up a small handful of sand, letting it flow between her fingers. It felt like she had just woken up. Had she been sleeping? That didn't seem quite right, but why else would she be laying down in the sand?
Then she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and smiled as a woman approached her, also in a swimsuit, royal blue and cyan. But she also had a belt on to hold her blaster. She would never go anywhere without her blaster.
"Hey, spark," Evanlyn Caelum said as she held out a hand to her daughter. "Did you have a nice nap?"
For a moment, Alana's heart leapt in her throat. Something felt wrong with this.
There were a few pink sparks at the edge of her vision.
She relaxed and took her mother's hand.
Alana got to her feet and dusted some sand off her legs. She still felt somewhat disoriented, but she couldn't figure out why.
"I think I did," she told Evanlyn. "I feel all weird. I think I was having a dream. Something with a bridge?"
Evanlyn smiled, and Alana immediately felt better. Evanlyn radiated confidence- her short brown hair framed her face and her eyes, the same color light blue as the streaks in her hair, were lively despite a few age lines on her face.
"You've always had a lot of dreams," Evanlyn said. "You don't calm down even when you're sleeping."
"No I don't," Alana agreed with a smile. She glanced out over the glittering teal sea. "I love the Cay Cavern. It's so beautiful."
Evanlyn nodded, following her daughter's gaze. "And always so peaceful. I thought it would be a good place to spend our day off."
Alana nodded, watching as two adults walked up to the mother and daughter, coming out of the surf. Both were soaked and holding the frames of masks in their hands. It took a moment for Alana to recognize them. Marcus Dorado and Donatella Richmond, two of her mother's Paladins.
"The Aquabeeks are migrating, I'd go check out the reefs at some point today," Marcus said, shaking out his black hair. "They're all out and about, and all the movement is stirring up the other fish."
"And we got to see a shark," Donatella added, but she didn't sound scared. Instead, she seemed pretty pleased with the development. "They're keeping their distance from the beach, though."
Evanlyn smiled and scratched the back of her head. "That's probably good. I'd hate to have to fight those things again."
Alana turned as another person approached her. A man with caramel colored hair and a mischievous glint in his brown eyes- Nathanael. Alana's dad.
Another brief moment of confusion before Alana pushed it away.
"Hey, look who's awake," Nathanael laughed, ruffling Alana's hair. Alana smiled up at him, and found herself taking a moment to memorize his face, his smile lines, the way he looked over at Evanlyn with pure love in his gaze.
"This is kinda weird, but I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something," Alana said. Nathanael thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers.
"Oh, right! I was supposed to tell you, Ray's on his way over with lunch. He wanted your help unpacking."
Alana didn't quick feel like that was what she'd had in mind, but she nodded anyway and turned to head to a pathway behind some palm trees that led to the clearing for Mecha parking. Her legs were on autopilot, walking down the sand path barefoot like she'd done it a hundred times before. She glanced down at the lush bushes on either side of the path, blooming with azure and magenta flowers that had faint glows to them.
The sand path opened up into a small clearing, where several Mechas were parked. One, a lioness, was mostly golden, with cyan and white details. A young man stood next to it, unloading several baskets. He had warm brown skin and dark brown hair, with golden eyes that looked like they'd captured pure Lumino light. He had a white shirt on and a pair of gold swim trunks. Alana smiled as she walked up to him.
"Couldn't carry it all by yourself?" she said with fake pity. The young man snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Haha, very funny. I could handle the weight, there's just too many baskets. Paladins eat like crazy," Ray said, setting down a third basket on the ground.
He would know- his father was Marcus Dorado, one of the Paladins standing on the beach.
Ray and Alana were the same age, and had grown up together, bonding over a love for slinging and their parents being teammates. For a while, the Paladins had teased them about being lovebirds. When they were five, they tried holding hands. Three seconds later, they deemed that disgusting, and had decided they were better off as friends.
Strange... that had been when they were five. For some reason, Alana's memory was foggy from there on out. She couldn't pinpoint recent birthdays spent with Ray, but that couldn't be right-
"Hey, Ray to Alana? You there?"
Alana blinked a few times, focusing back on Ray, who was holding out two baskets to her. "Oh, sorry."
She took them, and they were admittedly heavy. Ray picked up the other two, looking Alana up and down. "Are you okay? You seem a little distracted."
"I'm fine. I just woke up from a nap," she admitted as the two headed back down the path. Ray rolled his golden eyes.
"You can sleep back at home, we're in the Cay Cavern, we need to enjoy the peace while it lasts," he laughed as the two reached the beach. Alana was once more engulfed in the sound of the waves and the glistening cavern sea. Another person had joined the group of adults- a cave troll, with orange-blonde hair and tattoos on his arms. He had on a white cutoff and red swim trunks. The tattoos, Alana thought, should have reminded her of someone.
"The food has arrived," Ray announced as he and Alana walked up to the bunch. "Ezekiel, you've got this whole basket to yourself."
"Good! I'm starving!" Ezekiel responded, although it looked like he hardly missed any meals. The group settled down on the sand, opening baskets and passing food around, enjoying the view of the beach.
The meal itself was simple- sandwiches and smoothies cooled by a Frostcrawler in one of the baskets, who retreated to Evanlyn's lap once its job keeping the drinks cool was finished. Alana sat in the sand between her parents, listening as they told a story about a pyromaniac who'd been going on a rampage, and how they'd cornered him in the Cay Cavern where he was surrounded by water, and was quickly subdued.
Just as Alana finished her strawberry banana smoothie, Ray pulled out a small device from one of the picnic baskets, a white ball. He fiddled with it for a moment before setting it on the basket's lid and pressing a button. Upbeat islander music began to play, steady percussion and quick strings.
Evanlyn laughed and got to her feet, taking Nathanael's hand and pulled him up, as well. She began to dance with her husband, who looked out of his comfort zone, but willing to play along if it meant he got to be with Evanlyn. Ray stood up, too, and offered a hand to Alana.
"No," Alana laughed, laying down on the ground, not caring that it was probably loading up her hair with sand. "I'm comfy down here."
"Aw, come on. Please?" he asked, putting his hands together. Alana ignored him. "Alana, please, I know we don't like to humor the couple stuff..."
He sat down next to her, pouting. "Your bro wants to dance. Please. Please."
Five minutes of "please" later, she was up on her feet dancing with her friend.
"Man, I love this cavern. The Lumino light, the sea, the sand," he said as he and Alana danced like kids, mostly spinning and kicking up sand, just relaxing and playing around. "Wish we could come here more often."
"Yeah, I'd come all the time if I wasn't always running around with-" Alana stopped short. For a moment, a name had been on the tip of her tongue. Then it disappeared from her mind. Were those pink sparks in the edges of her vision?
Ray ignored her hesitation, or perhaps hadn't even noticed it. "You know, I think the music was a nice touch, too. I'm full of great ideas."
Alana laughed as Ray held her right hand and lifted it so she could spin around. "You sure are," she said, spinning and stepping away from him in a temporary pose.
But the way he was holding her hand exposed her right forearm. It was bare, completely empty of any blemishes, and that struck Alana as odd. She frowned as she looked down at it, memories of pain and panic beginning to surface.
Without making a conscious choice to, she lifted up her swim shirt a bit with her left hand. Her side was bare, too. That didn't feel right. She lowered her left hand and looked back down at her forearm.
Then it came back to her in a sudden flash. Dana Edwards, knife in hand, lashing out as Alana tried to help her out of the debris of a destroyed ghoul depot. Then again, a Thresher ghoul slicing into Alana's side when she had fought a ghoulslinger to retrieve Mage. Where were the scars?
Where was she?
With the memories of Dana and the ghouls came memories of the 99 Caverns. Eli, Trixie, Kord, Pronto. Sam, Max. The Dark Bane, the Shadow Clan. And with memories of the Shadow Clan came memories of her standing in the Dark Periphery, terrified and confused and angry and devastated as she learned about the destruction and conquering of her homeworld- the West.
Alana looked over at Ray, heart pounding, eyes wide. He was still holding her hand.
"This isn't right," she breathed. Ray's golden eyes seemed to flash.
"What do you mean?" he asked levelly.
Alana's head began to spin as she remembered her latest adventure with the Shane Gang, trapped in a world created by the Game Master. How had that adventure ended?
It hasn't, she realized. She looked up at Ray fearfully. He was still holding her hand. I'm still in the game.
"This isn't real," Alana whispered, starting to tug away, out of his grasp. But he didn't let go. "Let go of me."
Ray didn't, but he didn't look malicious. Instead, he just looked concerned, looking Alana over like she had started talking crazy. He glanced over at the group of Paladins. "Evanlyn, can you come here? I think something's wrong."
Evanlyn hurried over, looking back and forth between Alana and Ray. "What's wrong?"
Alana finally wrenched her hand from Ray's grasp, taking a few steps back, her breaths becoming more and more rapid. Panic was welling up in her chest. "Who are you? Are you real people? Or just made up?"
They definitely weren't holograms- otherwise Ray's hand would have just passed through hers. Evanlyn looked at Alana with concern.
"Spark, I don't know what you mean," she began, but Alana cut her off.
"Don't 'spark' me! You know!" she exclaimed, and every word hurt. Whatever this was in front of her, it looked and sounded like her mother, and she wanted so desperately to believe that it was. It hurt to talk this way to her. "What are you? Robots?"
Evanlyn was silent, and Alana continued.
"You're part of the Game Master's challenge! I know you are! I want out of here!"
Instead of attacking like Alana thought she would, Evanlyn stepped forward slowly, and tears began to glisten in her blue eyes.
"But don't you want this? To live in your real home, to be in peace, instead of constantly fighting?" Alana's mother asked. "Spark, it may not be the real thing, but it's the closest we can get. I can have the chance to really be your mother, and you can really be a daughter. You can live the life you lost."
Nathanael appeared at Evanlyn's side, resting a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Please, Alana. We can be a real family again. No more dreaming about what happened, or what could have been."
Alana hesitated, tears forming in her eyes. She did want that, didn't she? She wanted to be with her mom and dad. She wanted to be somewhere beautiful and peaceful. She loved slinging, but it wasn't like she loved having to constantly fight. She could live out the life the Dark Slinger stole from her.
Alana took a few steps forward and hugged her mother, burying her face in Evanlyn's shoulder. Evanlyn hugged hear back, and Alana took a moment to savor the feeling of being hugged by her mother. She closed her eyes and thought about the gentle lull of the ocean meeting the shore, and the warmth of the bright Lumino light. It was perfect.
There were no ghouls. No dark energy. Here, the world wasn't in danger.
But there was no Shane Gang. No Pronto, with his extensive stories of heroics. No Kord, stubbornly hacking away at any mechanical problem life could throw at him. No Trixie with her mischievous smile as she pulled out her camera. And no Eli, with his confidence and determination that everything would work out fine.
Was it really worth it?
"I want to be your daughter. I want something peaceful. I want to stay here," Alana whispered, her voice cracking. She felt Evanlyn's shoulders relax ever so slightly with relief.
The Game Master's words came back to her. Some of the worst demons don't look all that dangerous.
Alana sighed, taking one last breath to savor this moment with her mom.
"But I can't."
She pushed away from Evanlyn, who looked absolutely heartbroken. The Game Master had been right. A teen longing for her family, for better days where life could be simple? That didn't seem so bad.
But Alana had never been so close to abandoning her mission.
This was exactly what she was afraid of. Confronting her feelings, acknowledging what happened to her, and all of that revealing something terrible- that she just wanted to live a stable life with her parents. She'd spent years after Will's disappearance longing for him to come back, for things to be okay. Now she had an entire realm to wish for, and the guilt felt like a red-hot knife.
"Please don't do this," Evanlyn begged, but Alana turned away from her, looking up at the cavern ceiling, blinking tears from her eyes.
"It's over, Game Master," she called, her voice cracking. "I'm not falling for your tricks. I'm not staying."
Immediately, the scenery around Alana changed. She was back in her slinging gear. The ocean beside her turned scarlet, and Alana felt a rush of cold. The Lumino light dimmed and tinted red, and winds picked up, carrying bursts of and around. Ray, Marcus, Donatella, and Ezekial immediately turned into black silhouettes that flickered like a malfunctioning screen before disappearing. A single figure materialized in the flurry of sand, flickering for a moment before becoming the recognizable shape of a thin man.
"I'm impressed," the Game Master said. "But you won't be leaving. I simply cannot let you. The things your energy can do when properly harnessed... this is the most intense simulation I've ever created! The others are washouts compared to it! If you stay here, then all of my challenges will increase their difficulty by tenfold!"
"Don't plan on it. I'm not staying. I beat your challenge, I didn't fall for it," Alana argued, her tears gone, replaced by a scowl. The Game Master smirked and nodded.
"Yes, you are staying. See, I told you earlier that you weren't quite facing a challenge. That was true. You aren't destined to get past this room. This is no challenge, Alana, it's a trap. And you will not be leaving."
There was a rush of cold, of dark energy, and then his figure flickered and disappeared.
Alana blinked, and the two remaining people- her parents- transformed. Nathanael turned bruised and battered. Glowing Geoshard crystals formed around his temples, and although he was still standing, his brown eyes were blank and void.
Scratches and bruises formed on Evanlyn's skin, and her torso was stained red. Her blue eyes looked gray, and her skin was pale. There was no burst of energy left in her to heal her wounds. She was fading.
"It didn't have to be like this," Evanlyn said. "We could still be on the beach right now."
Alana let out a pathetic whimper and fought to keep herself calm. This isn't real. This isn't real, I'm not making them suffer again.
It was as if her surroundings began to acknowledge that she was able to look past what she saw. Evanlyn and Nathanael disappeared, giving way for a whole new nightmare.
The Dark Slinger, a wicken grin on bis face, began to walk toward Alana, his furs ruffled in the winds of the storm, his scarlet eyes seeming to pierce Alana's skin. Her breathing became choppy and rapid as she took steps backward, trying to convince herself it's not real it's not real it's not real. But that had been easier with her parents- she knew they were gone
For all she knew, the Dark Slinger was still out there.
Alana reached for her blaster, but it wasn't there. The scene around her grew darker. Lightning flashed, and the Dark Slinger grinned maliciously at the sight of her fear.
"You aren't going anywhere," the Game Master's voice rang out from all around her. The Dark Slinger was closer now, only ten feet away. "You've got something I need."
Alana narrowed her eyes and curled her hands into fists, focusing on the energy inside her, able to draw it up easily when her emotions were so elevated. She couldn't let things end here, just because some maniac wanted to have fun treating people like game pieces.
"Yes, I AM!" she yelled, and her eyes began to glow. As did the blue in her hair, and then her hands. She held them out in front if her, directed at the Dark Slinger, and released a blast of light energy, fueled by her sorrow and anger. There was a brilliant blue glow, and then everything went black.
Alana was standing in a room, but it was pitch black. She gasped, looking around, expecting the Dark Slinger to appear. But he never did.
"Tsk, tsk."
The Game Master flickered to life in front of Alana, looking down at her disdainfully.
"That's against the rules, dear."
"What do you mean?" Alana asked. "You never said I couldn't use my energy."
"I never said you could," he countered. "Slugs are banned, and you've just released a large amount if slug energy- which I do appreciate, by the way, and will put to good use- but... I think I'll take you, now."
The floor opened up beneath Alana's feet, and she was freefalling. Cyan pixels zipped by her, and Alana yelled as she suddenly felt herself slowing-
And then she was dropped flat on her back onto a rectangular white platform, just her size. And before she could move, metal restraints emerged from the platform, pieces of metal around each ankle and wrist, keeping her down. A small panel of metal emerged just below her feet. A cylinder of glass encircled itself around her, and with a mechanical whir, Alana was tilted upright, her head and back aching from how she'd landed.
For a moment, everything was blurry. Then it all came into focus.
She was in some stone room, but its contents were anything but archaic. An enormous computer station sat in front of her, with dozens of screens. The computers and even a device on the Game Master's back were plugged into large device that resembled a generator, but Alana could feel that it held a massive amount of slug energy. Connected to the generator was another glass cylinder on Alana's right, and then her own.
"Well, that was a good run, wasn't it?"
Alana looked up as the Game Master turned away from a computer screen and walked up to her. But he was no longer a shimmering hologram. This man was real, flesh and bone.
"What are you doing with me?" Alana asked, struggling against the restraints with no avail. The Game Master smirked and glanced over at the other glass cylinder. Alana followed his gaze, feeling another mass of energy within it. When she saw its contents, she nearly threw up.
It was full of slugs. Dozens? Hundreds? She couldn't tell. But they were all cramped in the cylinder and they all looked miserable. Alana's breath caught in her throat when she realized that she definitely wasn't feeling as much energy from them as she should.
"You're draining them," Alana said, her heart sinking at the pathetic slugs. "The manipulated energy I was feeling... you've been using them to power your game!"
"Ding, ding! You are correct," the Game Master said, clapping his hands. "And once word started to get out about your energy, I knew I needed you, too. You see, slugs can only give me so much energy. But you? You were powering your personal challenge, and it was unlike anything I've ever made! There's so much potential, tapping into people's pasts. But it's always so difficult to get right. I've spent months developing new technology to convince you what you're seeing is real, but I've never had the power source until now."
Alana blinked a few times, her head still spinning from the fall and the emotional stress of considering living out her days in a simulation.
"How did you even run that simulation?" she asked as the Game Master turned back to his computers. She couldn't tell what the screens were showing from her angle. "Nobody knows about that stuff."
"You're right, and that includes me," the Game Master admitted. "I've been running tests and I have no idea who those people were, and the cavern you were in- the 99 Caverns doesn't have a 'Cay Cavern,' and the beaches there certainly weren't in Undertow. There's so much more to you than meets the eye! And there's so much to other people that I can finally exploit! The train, the targets, those challenges seem so silly now!"
Alana was barely following along with the Game Master now. Trains? Targets? She shook her head, trying to clear it from the memory of how nice it was the be at the Cay Cavern, dancing to upbeat music.
"But if you didn't know, then how did you make that simulation?" she asked. The Game Master glanced at her, but remained silent. He wanted her to guess. She thought for a moment. "Pink sparks, I remember seeing pink sparks whenever I got confused. A Hypnogrif?"
The Game Master smiled, looking impressed. "Close. I created devices to send out slug energy signatures without having to actually hit you with the slug. I was inspired by your abilities to summon slugs' powers without having them reach velocimorph," he explained. "But I just didn't have the energy to power the simulation. It was a lovely mix of Hypnogrifs, Thugglets, even a little bit of a Hexlet. I didn't have to construct the simulation pixel by pixel. It was like a dream. It didn't matter what you actually were seeing- your mind was convinced you were seeing somewhere you felt safe and happy."
"So, you-you used the slugs to make the simulation, but you didn't have to make them transform and hit me, so I wouldn't suspect something," Alana managed, her breath starting to pick up again. She'd been so close to taking her mother's offer. "But at the end, that didn't feel like slug energy."
"I knew you were clever," the Game Master complimented. He gestured to a small vial set on the energy generator. It was now empty, but there was a red 'V' stamped on it. "I used a little dark water to get a Frightgeist's effects. It seems your parents suffered an untimely demise. And one of your deepest fears, that man in the furs... I have no records of him, but he was quite the frightening character."
Alana shook her head, glaring up at the Game Master. "You're twisted."
"I know!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "And now that I have you here, my games will be top notch! No one will be able to best me!"
Suddenly, computer screens began to flash red. The Game Master turned toward them, and Alana began to tug at her restraints while he wasn't looking.
"Ah, it looks like your friends have been cheating. It's time for a final confrontation, and you'll be able to help me defeat them," the Game Master said, turning back to Alana, who froze.
"I'm not going to help power your games," Alana said, but she was already putting focus into suppressing her energy, locking it deep away in attempt to keep it from the Game Master.
He turned to one of the other computer screens, an amused smile on his face.
"I wouldn't expect you to. You could have lived your life peacefully in the simulation. I could have extracted your energy without harming you. You would have been safe and happy. Alas," the Game Master said with a sigh, glancing over at Alana, "you chose the hard way."
Then he pressed a button on the screen, and Alana felt like she was suffocating.
It was like a force of gravity was dragging away everything from her. She felt her energy draining away, the light inside her stolen. She pressed her head back against the panel of white behind her, screwing her eyes shut and yelling as light energy was ripped straight from her-
And then it stopped, and everything returned to normal. Alana's head dropped and she took deep breaths, forcing down her panic. She felt weak and dizzy, and she briefly began to see double. But after a few moments, she began to feel herself slowly recovering. The Game Master hadn't stolen much of her energy, but it was enough to give her a headache and to not want the experience again.
Rumbles shook the cave's ceiling. Alana leaned forward as much as she could and watched one of the computer screens. The Game Master had used her energy to trigger a series of explosions above in the game.
"I'd hate to drain you right away, I'm expecting company," the Game Master said as Alana panted and tried to focus her vision. "Here, you friends should be coming now."
Alana looked up, her bans hanging in her face as she caught her breath. At the far side of the cave, an elevator door opened, but it was empty. The Game Master frowned and raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, friends til the end. I guess it's just you and me," he said, shrugging and turning back to his computer. A voice sounded from next to Alana.
"Nah. We just found a better way down."
Alana gasped and looked up at the sound of Trixie, a faint smile appearing on her face as she saw the rest of the gang standing between rows of boxes at the back wall of the cave. There was a hole in the wall, and Pronto looked dusty- he must have dug the gang an entrance to the Game Master's lair. They all looked fairly confident, but their faces fell when they saw their fifth slinger.
"Alana?" Eli gasped, taking a hesitant step forward. "Are you okay?"
She managed a nod, even though it was easy to say the day had taken a turn for the worst. Eli scowled and glared at the Game Master, raising his blaster.
"Game's over. Give us Alana and the slugs."
"You think I'm beaten? Guess again. You still have one last challenge- to get past me. And with the ultimate upgrade to my game," the Game Master said, gesturing toward Alana, "I won't give up without a fight.
With that, the Game Master smirked and raised his hand, where a small blaster barrel was attached to his arm. But it had no slugs- wires ran from the blaster to the device on his back, which was connected to Alana's glass cylinder. He reached back for a button on one of his screens.
"Let's begin," he said. He pressed it, and Alana hissed in pain as more of her energy was drained, right into the Game Master. She gasped and dug her nails into her palms as everything went blurry. She could hear the gang calling out to her, but she couldn't get words in her mouth to answer.
"Alana?! Alana, what's happening?" Eli yelled. Alana gritted her teeth and blinked spots from her vision. Everything was going blurry.
"Using my energy! To power himself up!" she yelled, trying to rein in her energy, desperately trying to keep it away from the Game Master and pulling back however much energy she could from the device on his back. It seemed to work, because the Game Master scowled quickly hit the button again, stopping the flow of energy for the time being so he could use what he had reserved.
He raised his arm and began to fire at the other slingers, bursts of fire and ice and lightning, and Alana's head dropped now that his attention was off of her. She was literally seeing stars, and her head felt like it was about to burst. Having her energy forcefully removed was confusing and painful and left her wanting to pass out.
But she forced herself to stay conscious, keeping her eyelids just open enough to watch as the Shane Gang tried to draw the Game Master's fire. She wanted to call out to them that they had to cut off his power source, but she was so exhausted and numb, she couldn't form the words. Instead, she had to just watch as her friends fought.
Alana wanted to scream into the air. She was frustrated that she was trapped and miserable that her unwavering loyalty to the Shane Gang had in fact wavered. She would have loved to stay in the Cay Cavern. And even though in the end she couldn't bring herself to abandon the gang, she'd be lying if she said the idea hadn't tempted her.
Finally, the gang realized that their best bet to beat the Game Master would be cutting off his supply of slug energy. Alana could faintly hear the discussion over the sounds of explosions created by the Game Master's weapon.
"It'll free the slugs, but I can't use it to free Alana, it would hit her, too-" Eli was arguing.
"Then free the slugs first, make his supply dwindle, and then severe his connection to her! We're out of options!" Trixie responded, and suddenly Alana's vision lit up. She felt a burst of energy and clung to the feeling desperately as she recognized the creation of a fusion.
It was Burpy and a Rammstone, flying through the air with flaming horns and crashing into the cylinder next to Alana. It shattered the thick glass with ease, sending shards flying in every direction and freeing the slugs.
"No!" the Game Master yelled, and turned to the computer screen, ready to take more of Alana's energy. Immediately, panic rose up inside her, and she let out a weak cry of protest. But before the Game Master could get to the screen, Trixie's Thresher zoomed by, slicing the tube that connected him to Alana's cylinder.
The Game Master turned toward Eli, his eyes wild and furious. "Agh! You keep on cheating!"
"We can live with the shame!" Eli retorted. The Game Master smirked and lunged forward, hitting a red button on one of the screens.
"But you won't live through this!" he laughed. Red lights began to flash, and the ceiling of the cave began to rumble. Bits of dust and debris began to fall, rolling down the glass in front of Alana.
"What's happening?" Trixie yelled, looking around warily at the ceiling. The Game Master grinned and began to back away from the control panel.
"I've started a meltdown that will destroy this entire area within minutes. You might have just enough time to capture me- or save your teammate and the slugs. But not both," he said. "Make your choice."
Eli scowled and curled his hands into fists as the Game Master took off for the elevator door, diving inside. But Eli just sighed and turned away from the escaping man.
"Forget about him. Start grabbing slugs!" he ordered, running up to the glass cylinder holding Alana. "Aw, man. You just got back from being sick, too. Don't worry, Alana, we're gonna get you out of here."
Alana couldn't find it in herself to respond. She just watched as Eli rapidly pressed a few buttons on the side of the cylinder. The restraints around Alana's ankles and wrists unlocked, and the glass container swung open. Without anything holding her back, she swayed forward, but Eli and Trixie caught her. They each wrapped an arm around Alana, and with his free hand, Eli fired his Crystallyd, drilling a hole up from the Game Master's lair to the surface of Land's End.
Stalactites were beginning to fall around the gang, and Alana was relieved when Eli fired an Arahnet that created a web to pull them back up. The slugs the Game Master had collected jumped into the web or simply onto the slingers. While Eli made sure all the slugs had escaped safely, Trixie sat down on the web and layed Alana down next to her.
"Can you hear me?" the redhead asked with uncertainty. Alana nodded, closing her eyes.
"Give me... few minutes," she managed. "Gotta recharge."
"I don't know. You kinda look like you're gonna pass out."
"I'm not gonna pass out," Alana insisted.
Then everything went black.
~~~~~~~~
When Alana opened her eyes, she was on Midnight, leaning against the wolf's control panel.
She yawned and sat upright, met with a small head rush. She was sore, but the memories of having her energy drained by the Game Master came flooding back, and she knew she felt infinitely better than before. She glanced down- she was seatbelted onto her ride so she wouldn't fall off, and Trixie was riding directly next to her, observing a blog article on her Mecha's screen.
The redhead glanced over and smiled, ignoring the article and instead looking Alana over. "You look a lot better. You were right, you just needed to recharge. But it took more than a few minutes."
Eli, Kord, and Pronto all fell back on their own Mechas, riding so they were in line with Alana. By the look of their surroundings, Alana figured were nearly back to Wild Spores.
"What happened? We all went into the individual challenges, and got out, but we couldn't find you," Eli said. "Then we get to the Game Master's lair and he was using your energy."
Alana hesitated for a moment, remembering her challenge.
"My personal challenge was a bit... different from you guys," she said uneasily. Kord raised an eyebrow.
"How different?" he asked.
"Like, it wasn't a challenge. It was a full on trap. He used my energy to create a full on simulation based on my memories different," Alana responded dryly. "He hadn't been able to do it before because he didn't have the technology to power the simulation. But I was in somewhere from when I was a kid, and completely believed it was real."
"But you figured it out eventually?" Trixie guessed.
"Yeah," Alana said with a nod. "I tried to get out, but the simulation turned dark. I panicked and let out a wave of slug energy, which the Game Master considered the same as using a slug. So he took me to his control center and took my energy the same way he was taking the slugs'. His plan was to just keep me forever, I guess, so he could use the intense simulations in his future games."
The gang fell silent at that, for a few moments, at least. Then Pronto spoke up.
"Well, Pronto certainly would not have allowed that," he said. "It would completely throw off the balance of the gang. Unacceptable!"
Alana laughed. "Thanks, Pronto."
"So what did the Game Master show you, anyway?" Trixie asked. Alana bit her lip, glancing down.
"Just something that could've been."
~~~~~~~~
That night, Alana took a steaming shower. The hot water on her skin felt like it was keeping her grounded. The feeling of it was real. What the Game Master showed her was not.
Who knew if things would have turned out that way if the Dark Slinger hadn't attacked? Some of the simulation had been based purely on possibility- Alana hadn't seen Ray since she was five. Who knew what he looked like now, or if he had even survived the Dark Slinger's attack.
She couldn't go back to the West- at least, not the West she'd grown up in. It would never be the way it was. It was impossible, so why did the thought of going back to a world where everything worked out seem like a dream come true?
If I didn't come to the 99, I wouldn't have met Will. I wouldn't have met Eli, Trixie, Kord, or Pronto. I wouldn't be able to help them fight Blakk. I might not even know the Dark Bane could be invading. Maybe I'm more useful here.
But no amount of thinking could completely erase the one thought from Alana's mind: what if?
A knock rapped at the bathroom door. Alana jumped and nearly fell flat on her face.
"Alana? You've been in there for a while, are you okay?" Trixie called.
"Yeah!" Alana replied, hurriedly shutting off the water. She quickly dried off, changing into her black tank top and blue shorts and keeping her towel over her shoulders to keep her wet hair off her back.
When she opened the door, Trixie was standing there, already in her pajamas, looking up at Alana with concern. Alana knew what was coming and painted a smile on her face.
"What's up?" she asked. Her voice was calm, but she was digging her nails into her palms.
"I wanted to talk to you about your personal challenge," Trixie said with uncertainty. Alana decided to not correct her by explaining that it was a trap, not a challenge. "Mine just challenged my pride, but what you said about yours being something that could've been..."
"Don't you wish you weren't here sometimes?" Alana blurted. "Like, not here, fighting Blakk and stuff?"
Trixie blinked, surprised, then sighed. "Sure I do. I left my home cavern to come here and join Eli. Sometimes I think about how it would've been if I had stayed. But if I spend too much time trying to figure out what would've happened if I hadn't signed up for that slinging tournament, or hadn't stopped by the road to help Eli with a bandit, I'd miss all the good stuff that's happening right now."
Alana nodded, crossing her arms. "I love being a slinger. I love fighting with all of you guys. But I just... I miss how things were."
She glanced over at the painting of Will and Eli, her heart sinking.
"That's okay," Trixie said. "You're allowed to miss the good old days. But don't wallow in it, use it. Things might not go right back to how they were, but now you've got a goal. You know what you're fighting for."
A peaceful day, enjoying the blue water and the company of my friends. Slinging to protect my home and feeling satisfied with what I have.
Alana nodded, and she didn't notice until Trixie hugged her that she'd begun to cry.
"You know, when all this stuff with Blakk is over, the five of us should take a day off. Go to Undertow, enjoy the beaches," Alana said, wiping tears from her cheeks.
Trixie smiled up at her and nodded. "You can bet on it."