Red Hook grumbled to himself as he swung open the door to his house. Some of the children of the town simply didn't fear him like everyone else. They thought they could just show up on his front porch whenever they liked and pester him for stories. It wasn't his fault he had to oblige every time- to get them to leave, of course.
He reached for the lightswitch with his hook and flicked it up. The lights flickered to life-
Revealing a girl standing in his work room, in front of his workbench.
Red Hook opened his mouth to yell out, but the girl held a finger to her mouth.
"Shh," she said, raising her blaster. A Thrasher sat in the barrel, growling. "Those children aren't back in their homes yet. I'd hate for them to still be outside when I give the Dark Bane the signal to take this cavern."
"Who are you?" Red Hook snapped, but he knew. He'd seen her in the Sting girl's videos. He recognized her scarlet-streaked hair and cruel eyes.
"Dana Edwards," the girl replied. "And I'm here to collect you for Doctor Blakk. We've run into a technical problem that only you can solve."
"What makes you think I'll help that scum?" Red Hook sneered.
"You may have a grumpy facade, but you do have a conscience," Dana replied, grinning wickedly and glancing down at the Thrasher. "I'll bring those kids into this if I have to, Red Hook."
Red Hook scowled, his hand curling into a fist. But Dana only smiled. She knew she had him.
"Come on. You have work to do."
~~~~~~~~
Alana slowly edged around the corner of a street, looking around at her surroundings and feeling for dark energy.
When she felt nothing, she raised her hand to her earpiece.
"Are we clear, Pronto?" she asked quietly.
"As crystal! Well, not Geoshard crystal, that's lime- oh, whatever. Clear!" Pronto said, luckily cutting off one of his inevitable rambles.
Alana laughed quietly and turned to the half dozen people she was leading out of the city, hidden in the shadows of an alley by the corner. Two teens, three adults, and a baby held by one of the men, asleep thanks to Alana's Slyren, Sonic.
"Okay, follow close behind me," she said, slowly leading the way out from behind the alley. "You guys should be the last ones on the west side."
The civilians nodded and followed closely after Alana as she jogged down the street. While Eli, Trixie, and Kord were trying to rally some of the more able-bodied people in the caverns to fight against Blakk, Alana was tasked with evacuation with Pronto giving her cover from one of the rooftops. Since Alana was easily the most optimistic of the group, she was able to keep the citizens more calm and collected during the evacuation.
Suddenly, Pronto's voice erupted in her earpiece at the same time Alana got a chill down her spine.
"Dark Bane coming around the corner!"
"Pronto!" Alana hissed, sticking her arm out and stopping the people who were following her. "I thought we were clear!"
"I could not see them!" Pronto argued, but Alana ignored him, turning to face the civilians, pushing down her frustration.
"We need to take cover," she said, and one of the teens tried to push the closest shop door open.
"It's locked!" she exclaimed. Alana hurried forward, taking a deep breath and focusing on pulling up some energy, letting it give her strength before she raised her right leg and kicked the door in. It splintered at the handle, but swung open. "Everyone in!"
The civilians filed into the store, ducking down below the shop's window display featuring the latest holotablet models. Alana slipped in the doorway and quickly shut the door behind her, kneeling down in front of it.
"Two Dark Bane, walking down the street," Pronto reported. Alana could feel the dark energy of the monsters just outside the store. She forced herself to slow down her breathing and pressed her ear against the door.
"I thought I heard something," a deep, guttural voice growled.
"This place is a dead zone. All the people have cleared out. Keep moving," another voice snapped. Alana smiled faintly as the voices went silent and she felt the dark energy begin to retreat.
The group sat in the shop for a few moments, all holding their breath and waiting for the danger to pass. Alana could practically hear her heartbeat.
And the baby must have heard something, too, or perhaps had just naturally been snapped out of her Slyren-induced daze, because she began to cry.
Loud.
"Sh, sh!" her father cooed, rocking her gently, panic all over his face. Sonic began to hop out of Alana's bandoleer to lull the baby back to sleep, but stopped when a voice rang out down the street. The damage had been done.
"Ah, there you are."
A Greneater suddenly shattered the window display, sailing into the shop and landing just behind the group and sending broken glass flying all over the floor.
Alana reacted immediately, loading and firing her Geoshard, Peridot. The slug landed on the ground in front of the ghoul and created a dome of lime green crystal just as the Greneater detonated. The explosion still shook the floor, but it wasn't nearly as catastrophic as it could have been. The baby was wailing, but Alana ignored her, shoving the door open and wincing as pain shot up her left arm from where a shard of glass was imbedded just below her elbow.
"Clear out!" she ordered, leading the way out of the shop and firing a Phosphoro at the two Dark Bane, who stood at the center of the street. The Phosphoro created a half dozen fireworks, spiraling through the air in bursts of yellow, green, and blue.
While the Dark Bane stumbled back, blinded, Alana ducked as Pronto fired a Sand Angler from his rooftop. It landed at the Dark Bane's feet, and they began to sink in a pile of quicksand.
"Let's go!" Alana called, running down the street, away from the trapped Dark Bane. The citizens followed behind her, the small group parting when Alana fired her Negashade, Eclipse, creating a black cloud of smoke around the Dark Bane to secure the group's escape.
"I'm so sorry," one of the men gasped, holding his baby tight to his chest. "We would've been in the clear if she hadn't-"
"It's okay," Alana dismissed immediately, rounding a corner. "It happens. We should be in the clear as far as Dark Bane, and we should be running into my teammates soon- oh. Speak of the devil," Alana laughed, slowing down to a halt as Eli appeared from around a street corner. He jumped a bit when the group rounded the corner, starting to raise his blaster, but he relaxed when he saw who it was.
"Townspeople aren't going to help," he reported tensely. Alana's shoulders dropped with disappointment. "Is this the rest?"
"Should be," Alana said. "What about Nacho and Blakk's workers?"
Eli laughed nervously, scratching at the back of his head. "About that-" he began, but was cut off when a yell suddenly sounded down the city streets.
"He went over here!"
Alana groaned and ran a hand through her bangs. Eli nodded to another side street.
"We'll have to take them the long way around," he said. Alana nodded and flinched as she felt a chill run down her spine- Blakk's men were closing in. She turned back to her group of civilians.
"Follow us. We might run into some of Blakk's men. If we do, stay out of the way, and you'll be fine," she said.
Eli and Alana led the way down the streets, moving as silently as they could. There was the occasional sound if slugfire from the rooftops, where Trixie, Kord, and Pronto were trying to take out as many ghoulslingers as they could without engaging in a full-on fight.
As Alana was running, she suddenly felt another burst of chills. She halted, holding out her arms to stop the rest of the group.
"Dark energy," she said quietly. Eli nodded and crept forward, glancing around the closest street corner. He sighed and turned back toward Alana.
"Titans," he reported. "And a lot of ghoulslingers. Can you help boost Rookie?"
Alana nodded, focusing on bringing up light energy as Eli loaded his Blastipede.
"Ready?" he asked. Alana closed her eyes and nodded. Eli fired Rookie, and Alana immediately sent a pulse of light energy forward, giving him more power and speed. When she opened her eyes, she watched alongside Eli as Rookie dropped blue grenades down the street, covering the Titan vehicles. As soon as the slug reverted back to protoform, he detonated the bombs. Flashes of light and clouds of smoke filled the street, and rubble rained down from the buildings.
Titans flipped over in midair, shaking the ground, and Alana caught a glimpse of Diablos Nacho at the end of the street, watching the scene unfold in confusion.
"Nice," Eli laughed, fist bumping with Alana before running out into the street, avoiding overturned Titans. "Pronto, you're up! Alana, take the first right and get this people out of here!"
"Got it," Alana said, loading her blaster with her Arachnet, Webs. "Follow me!"
She led the people out into the street as Pronto, on one of the rooftops, fired a Tazerling at Nacho. As the group crossed the street, Alana watched in awe as Nacho fired a Harmashelt that ricocheted the Tazerling, sending the slug flying back at Pronto and electrocuting the molenoid.
One of the teens slowed down for a moment, gasping. Alana turned around and reacted immediately, firing Webs at a Hop Jack a worker had fired at the teen. The Arachnet created a spider web between its legs, catching the Hop Jack and sending it flying back towards the ghoulslinger.
"Oh my gosh," the teen gasped, shaking her head as she followed Alana and the others into another side street, away from where the rest of the Shane Gang was starting a duel against Nacho and the remaining workers. "This is terrifying, how do you do this every day?"
Alana glanced at the girl, and her eyes widened as she realized that they had to be about the same age. But to this girl, what was a normal day on the job for Alana was a horrifying near-death experience.
"You get used to it," Alana said with a smile. "Don't worry, we're nearly out of town, and the rest of the Shane Gang will keep Nacho and the ghoulslingers busy. I promise you all will be fine."
The girl nodded, and the group continued their escape in silence.
After a few more minutes, the city streets thinned out, making way for mushroom trees. Some civilians were hiding in the trees, waiting for friends and family to make it out. A woman sprinted forward and enveloped the teens in a hug, and a man practically knocked the man holding the baby down, hugging the two and resting on a kiss on the baby's forehead before looking up at Alana.
"Thank you," he said with a smile. Alana couldn't help but smile back, nodding.
"You're welcome. Get out of here as soon as possible. The fighting shouldn't spread past the city, but I don't want to take any chances," Alana said, pausing when a voice suddenly filled her earpiece.
"Alana! They've got blaster mods that let them fire ghouled megamorphs. Meet up with us, you do not want to go against these things solo!" Eli called. An explosion went off in the background. "Stay on the rooftops!"
Alana's heart sank, and she glanced at Ash, who chirped worriedly from her shoulder. Ghouled megamorphs were already scary to think about, but if Blakk's workers had blaster mods that let them fire without having to move at high speeds, the Shane Gang's slugs wouldn't be able to compete.
"I'm heading back now," Alana replied, pressing her earpiece. She turned back toward the remaining civilians. "Stay safe."
With that, she turned and ran back into the city, firing a Lariat and pulling herself up to the rooftops. She spotted the gang almost immediately, a few blocks down. They were sprinting across the rooftops, leaping from one to the next, with ghouls flying around them. Alana reached up to press her earpiece, but before she could, a ghoul hit the next building the gang was jumping to, sending it toppling to the ground. They disappeared from Alana's sight as they fell, and she sped up, leaping from rooftop to rooftop to reach them.
Alana scrambled across one final rooftop before peering over the edge at where the gang had fallen down. Trixie, Kord, and Pronto all stood next to each other, blasters raised as Eli fired a fusion of a Rammstone and a Hop Rock at Diablos Nacho, who was backed by two Dark Bane and a few more Blakk Industries workers.
Alana gasped as Eli fired the fusion at the same time Nacho fired a ghoul, wincing at the rush of dark energy she felt when the ghoul megamorphed. The fusion and ghoul collided, releasing a shockwave that sent trash flying down each side of the street. The ghoul and both slugs fell to the ground, now returned to protoform. Eli looked down at his blaster with wide eyes as one of the double barrel's power core sections slowly flickered back to life.
"I'm gonna need more time before I try that again," he said. Alana fired Ash from her rooftop, climbing down a rickety ladder as the Infurnus created a wall of flames between the Shane Gang and the ghoulslingers.
"We need to get out of here," she said. "Those ghouled megamorphs..."
"We need to find out how to get upgrades of our own, or we'll never be able to take them on!" Kord exclaimed.
"Yes, but for now, we need to retreat!" Pronto cried. Ash's flames were already dimming, weakening the barrier between the gang and Blakk's men.
"Right. We'll figure out the megamorphs later. Let's get going!" Eli called, leading the way down the street and rounding a corner. The gang covered a few blocks before coming to where they'd parked their Mechas when they first arrived in the city. They hurried forward to reach their rides, but before they could mount up, screams begin to echo down the city streets.
A moment later, people went sprinting by, followed closely by Blakk Industries workers. Alana's eyes widened, and she turned to Eli.
"I thought I got everyone out!" she exclaimed.
"I was watching from the rooftops, that should have been everyone!" Pronto agreed.
"They must have been holed up in one of the buildings," Eli said, grabbing his blaster. "We need to get them to safety!"
"How? As long as they've got those megamorphed ghouls, we can't touch 'em!" Kord exclaimed. Eli thought for a moment, then smirked, climbing up on his Mecha.
"It's a good thing we have megamorphs, too," he said. Burpy chirped excitedly from his shoulder. Alana moved forward to climb onto Midnight, but Eli shook his head. "You've been running around the city all day, you're already exhausted. With all this dark energy, we don't need you passing out on your Mecha."
Alana wanted to argue, but she knew that holding Eli up would just put the civilians in more danger. She sighed frustratedly and backed away from Midnight. Eli nodded and put on his bike helmet, revving Lucky's engine.
"Bro, there's no way you're gonna get to speed with all these short streets," Kord argued. Eli drove Lucky up to a lift on the side of a tall building, and Alana couldn't help but smile and shake her head when she realized his plan.
"Then I'll just have to go up," he said, pressing a button on the lift. Gears whirred to life and the platform shot upward, leaving Alana, Trixie, Kord, and Pronto on the ground.
"He's insane," Pronto deadpanned.
"It's a Shane thing," Alana replied with a shrug, turning back to the street. Two blocks down, Nacho and two Blakk guards fired at Eli as he ascended. Alana and Trixie acted in unison, firing at them to buy Eli time. Alana fired her Aquabeek, Blue, while Trixie fired her Tormato, Bluster. The slugs worked together, creating a small rainstorm around the ghoulslingers. Nacho fired a Bubbalash that swallowed the two slugs up, but it had been long enough for Eli to safely reach the top of the building.
The Shane drove his Mecha straight off the lift, Lucky's glider wings extended to guide the fall. Eli fired a Frostcrawler, creating an enormous ramp of ice before transforming Lucky into bike mode, landing on the ramp and speeding down it. He loaded his blaster and fired Burpy, and Alana let out a holler as the Infurnus megamorphed in a brilliant orange flash, long flames trailing behind him as he swooped down to the ground.
Burpy flew down the city streets, leaving a wall of fire blazing behind him that separated the ghoulslingers from the Shane Gang and the rest of the civilians. The flames towered twenty feet into the air, lighting up the city. Alana and the rest of the gang quickly mounted their Mechas, waiting for Eli to jump down from the rooftop he'd landed on before taking off away from the city.
"That was awesome!" Eli exclaimed. "Way more fun than just driving in a straight line!"
Alana laughed and shook her head. "Only you would think of that," she said as their surroundings slowly transitioned from the city to an empty plain. "But... yeah, it was pretty cool."
"And it did get the people out, though Blakk's men got away with a lot of slugs," Kord noted. Eli nodded.
"As long as they have the megamorph advantage, we won't be able to stand up to them. Somehow, we've gotta get the rest of our slugs to do what Burpy and Ash can do," he said.
"Without jumping off buildings," Trixie added, raising an eyebrow at Eli.
"Hey! It worked, didn't it?" Eli challenged. Trixie rolled her eyes, but still laughed and nodded. Alana chuckled and slid down in her seat, resting her arm over her eyes to try and get some sleep in before they returned to the hideout.
~~~~~~~~
Alana sat curled up in her bean bag chair, with Ash in her lap. His head was aflame, and Alana held her hands just over the small fire, enjoying the extra warmth while Kord wheeled up a whiteboard. Eli and Trixie sat next to each other on the couch, while Pronto sat in a chair scarfing down a sandwich that had some form of insect leg sticking out of it (Alana was afraid to ask what it was).
"It looks like the main key here is speed," Kord said, gesturing to the whiteboard. Schematics were scribbled all over it, displaying velocity equations and blueprints of blaster cores. It was almost incomprehensible, but Alana figured that as long as Kord could make out whatever he was writing, it would be fine. "Get a slug or ghoul going fast enough, and it'll have even more power when it transforms."
"But there has to be more," Eli insisted. "You saw the megamorphs Nacho had. I wouldn't be surprised if they were some of Blakk's top ghouls."
"Their energies are stronger than normal ghouls, even before they actually hit velocity," Alana agreed. "They were already powerful before they were megamorphed."
"That might explain why Burpy and Ash can do it," Trixie noted, glancing at the two Infurnus slugs. "If they've been slung by your families for who knows how long, there's no slugs with as much experience as them."
Ash nodded proudly, his flames temporarily spiking up with pride and nearly burning the tips of Alana's fingers. She jerked her hands away quickly, and Ash giggled nervously before dimming down his fire.
"That brings up a good point. I always just assumed Ash's white markings were natural," Kord noted. "We don't exactly have a lot of examples of Infurnus slugs. But now we know they come from being megamorphed, which means he had megamorphed before we took Blakk to Stalagmite 17."
Alana frowned slightly, thinking back to her memories of the West. Now that she knew slugs could megamorph, what she had dismissed as a different slinging style now seemed like megamorphing. Hadn't the Tazerling that Evanlyn hit the Dark Slinger with been moving with more power and radiance other than the burst of slug energy Evanlyn had given it? Hadn't Nathanael's Vinedrill shot had extra speed that couldn't have been Evanlyn's doing?
"He did, but I don't know how. I remember my mom's blaster had a second power core," Alana said, glancing at her blaster, which sat on the floor next to the bean bag chair. "But my dad used megamorphs, too, and he only had one. Whatever made their slugs megamorphs, I just... don't remember. I guess I wouldn't have thought it was important at the time," she finished with a shrug, frowning.
"It's okay. You couldn't have known it would come up so much later," Eli said quickly. "If anything, that definitely confirms that there's a way to make slugs megamorph without hitting velocity that isn't ghoul-specific."
"Well, no matter what, I can only help with the first part of megamorphing: the speed," Kord said, holding up an old blaster that had a strange configuration of rubber bands and spinning forks to form a makeshift accelerator separate from the blaster's power core. "And maybe not even. I boosted this blaster's power core- which wasn't much of a challenge for a skilled cave troll like yours truly-"
Alana cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow. Kord sighed and nodded.
"And a bit of energy from our resident energy expert," he added. Alana laughed and nodded.
"Carry on," she said. Kord nodded and raised the blaster, loading it with a Rammstone.
"But..." he said, tensing as he pulled the trigger. The forks and rubber bands began to spin rapidly, and the Rammstone was propelled about an inch forward (falling unceremoniously to the ground) while a cloud of smoke erupted from the blaster's power core. The rubber bands snapped and sent forks flying, luckily not sticking any of the slingers.
"Blasters aren't made to withstand that kind of energy," Kord finished, brushing smoke and ash from his face. Eli got to his feet, picking up a stray fork and twirling it in his hand as he thought.
"Can't you tweak the blaster cores to make them stronger?" he asked. Kord sighed and shook his head reluctantly.
"I wish," he said dejectedly, tossing the fried blaster behind him. "But that's way outta my league, bro. And you know what that means."
"We're paying another visit to Red Hook," Eli said, sounding both excited and dreadful. Trixie pulled out the gang's holomap, looking at the route to Quiet Lawn Cavern and shaking her head.
"Almost every path that would take us to him goes through caverns now controlled by Doctor Blakk," she reported. Alana sighed and ran a hand through her bangs. They tried to save as many slugs as they could, but five slingers could only cover so much ground. Whenever Blakk took a cavern, the priority turned away from running his workers out of town to making sure the people were safe. If civilians got in the way of Blakk's conquest, it wasn't like he would lose any sleep over wiping them out.
"Bah!" Pronto exclaimed, rushing forward and grabbing the holomap, throwing it over his shoulder. "You have Pronto! I shall lead you there in both safety and style!"
Alana sighed as Ash jumped up to her shoulder. Trixie walked forward and held out a hand that Alana took gratefully, letting Trixie pull her up.
"Thanks," she said, stretching out her back. Eli glanced at Alana as he clipped on his bandoleer.
"You sure you're good to come? It's just a mechanics run," he said.
"I'm sure. I don't want to sit anything out," Alana insisted. "Besides, it's never just a mechanics run. There's no way we make it to Quiet Lawn without meeting some ghoulslingers."
~~~~~~~~
"Remember when you said there was no way we'd get here without meeting some ghoulslingers?" Eli asked.
Alana shook her head. The ride to Quiet Lawn had been eerily anticlimactic. They had skirted around the edges of the caverns controlled by Blakk, ready to find a patrol of guards at every turn. But nobody came. There had been no civilians, which made sense. As soon as Blakk took a cavern, if the Shane Gang didn't evacuate the people, they found a way to do it on their own. Nobody wanted to live in streets patrolled by Dark Bane looking for slugs.
Alana was always an optimistic person, but even she had expected some kind of a fight. She had tried to take a nap on her Mecha, but she couldn't relax enough to actually fall asleep. Now the gang was slowly riding down the main street of Quiet Lawn Cavern, completely unscathed from their journey.
"I admit it, I definitely read that situation wrong," she said. "I thought for sure we would have seen someone, even just a couple messengers. Props to you, Pronto."
"Haha, yes! You see, safe passage as promised!" Pronto exclaimed loudly. Alana frowned and looked around the street.
"Something seems off," she said quietly. "Nobody shushed us. These people hate noise."
Kord nodded, looking around at the houses. Nobody milled around the neighborhood, and there was no movement from within the windows.
"Yeah. Does Quiet Lawn Cavern seem quieter than usual?" Kord asked. Trixie nodded.
"Where is everyone?" she asked. "I know us rolling into town doesn't usually mean good news, but they don't usually go this far."
Alana took a deep breath and spread out her senses, feeling for slug energy. She could see the Grenuke slugs ahead, asleep under an overpass. But she didn't feel anything else.
"This isn't good," she said, riding forward so she was in line with Eli. "I'm barely feeling any slug energy. You're sure we haven't gotten any distress calls from here?"
"Positive," Eli said. "This is either new, or not worth calling us about. Hopefully Red Hook knows."
"If the old grouch is even here," Trixie muttered as they rode down the street.
They reached Red Hook's house, a run-down building on the edge of town, secluded from the neighborhoods. The grass around it grew tall and wild, and enormous bioluminescent violet bulbs littered the yard. A red tarp hung over the front of the house, acting as makeshift porch roof, and beneath it sat Red Hook. He sat in a rocking chair, holding a glass of lemonade in his hook.
"Thank goodness," Kord sighed with relief. The gang rode up to the front door and Red Hook got to his feet and walked down the front steps, smiling up at them.
"Well, if it isn't the Shane Gang. To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked.
Alana frowned and exchanged a glance with Trixie.
"Owe the pleasure?" Trixie whispered. Alana frowned and spread her senses out again, feeling for any energy. At first, she felt nothing- then the tiniest chill. It was like she was staring at a snow white wall and had found one single spot of off-white.
Whatever she was feeling, it was being suppressed.
Alana tried to think of how to warn Eli without 'Red Hook' seeing her, but when she looked at the Shane, she could already see the gears in his head spinning. He looked down for a moment, then silently slid off his Mecha.
"Well, I hate to admit it, but we need some of your master slinger-smithin'," Kord admitted, getting down off his Mecha and approaching Red Hook. "I was tryin' to amp up our blasters' power cores, but right when-"
Eli cut Kord off before he could continue, hurrying forward and holding an arm out to silence the cave troll. Alana glanced at Ash and nodded. The Infurnus slowly hopped down from her arm and into her blaster.
"Where is everyone, Red Hook?" Eli asked, covering his voice with false innocence.
"What do you mean?" Red Hook asked curiously. Alana rested her hand on the grip of her blaster.
"He means it seems like this town is empty," Trixie said. Red Hook nodded and chuckled to himself, shaking his head.
"Oh, that. Why don't you guys come in for a spot of lemonade, and I'll tell you all about it?" he offered, turning towards the Pronto door. Alana looked over at Trixie, and sure enough, the redhead was carefully loading her blaster.
"That sounds fantastic!" Pronto exclaimed, causing Alana to wince. "Pronto is quite parched. But I hope your lemonade is not too sweet. Pronto likes it to have some pucker!"
At this, everyone else turned to face Pronto.
What? Alana mouthed. Pronto laughed nervously and tugged at his bandana.
"Ah, are we... not having lemonade?" he asked. Eli sighed and turned back to Red Hook.
"No," he said, and immediately the rest of the gang (excluding Pronto, who hadn't quite figured the situation out yet) raised their blasters.
"We may be on good... or, well, not bad terms with him," Alana began.
"But hospitality's never really been a Red Hook thing," Trixie finished.
Red Hook faced the gang and sighed, shaking his head.
"Perhaps I should have done a bit more research into my character," he said, holding his arms up. In a flash of red and white sparks, Twist appeared in the blastersmith's place, his hands raised. Alana felt a rush of cold as Loki's dark energy was released, and the door to Red Hook's house swung open, revealing Dana. She looked unfazed by all the weapons, leaning in the doorway with a smirk on her face.
She met Alana's gaze, but said nothing.
"You got me," Twist said with a laugh. "So maybe you avoided our little trap..."
Alana gasped as she felt another wave of dark energy approaching. She whipped around toward the town, where she could see ghoulslingers on Mechas approaching.
"Eli!" she warned.
"But good luck avoiding them," Twist finished. The leading ghoulslingers fired a trio of Hop Jacks, causing explosions that shook the ground beneath the gang's feet.
Eli scowled and turned away from Twist, jumping up on Lucky and leading the Shane Gang down the street away from the town. Alana was reluctant to leave Twist without getting a shot in, filled with anger at the sight of the traitor, but she followed behind Eli. She stole a glance over her shoulder and saw Dana start to step forward, but Twist grabbed her arm and held her back. Dana snapped something at Twist before jerking her arm away from him and storming back into the house.
Gritting her teeth, Alana forced herself to turn around and try not to think about Dana. She rode up to Eli, feeling around for energy.
"The ghoulslingers behind us, and Dark Bane coming up on our left," she reported as a Thrasher sped by. She caught a faint glimpse of Diablos Nacho growling and lowering his blaster before the gang rounded a corner, tearing down another street.
"No wonder we got here so easily," Trixie called as a Greneater exploded to the gang's right. "This was all a setup, and we fell for it! Sorry, Pronto."
"Well, I refuse to accept your highly probably scenario!" Pronto said matter-of-factly. "I prefer self-delusion, thank you very much!"
Alana laughed and shook her head, firing a Tazerling behind her that electrocuted one of the ghoulslingers' Mechas. It crashed to the ground and tripped the Mecha behind it, causing a small pile-up. But where those two fell, two more took their place, and the Dark Bane had regrouped with the slingers.
"Well, it explains why the Dark Bane have those blaster accelerators," Eli noted as the gang rode out of town and into a warmer canyon area with tall walls and pillars of orange stone. "Doctor Blakk must have Red Hook at his citadel."
"Does that mean you are going to want Pronto to take you there next?" Pronto wailed as a Dark Urchin nearly impaled his Mecha.
"We've gotta ditch these guys first," Eli said as another wave of ghouls landed around the gang, detonating in bursts of black and red. Alana winced at the rush of dark energy, spots momentarily dancing in her vision.
"We need Red Hook back if we want to go against these ghouls," Alana said, firing a Rammstone behind her. But a Dark Bane fired a megamorphed Amperling in response. The ghoul shot a bolt of electricity at the Rammstone and flew forward to fire one of bolt before returning to protoform. Alana ducked just in time to avoid the lightning, which struck a stone pillar and sent flashes of electricity through it.
"Case in point," she gasped.
"Maybe we should-" Eli began, but he stopped when the ground suddenly shook beneath the Shane Gang's feet. Alana looked down, her eyes widened as Briardrill vines erupted from the ground.
Eli scowled and thought for a moment before pressing a button on his Mecha, transforming into bike mode.
"Transform your Mechs and head for the cavern's exit!" he called. Alana pressed the green button on Midnight's control panel and her wolf bounced into the air for a moment before transforming into bike mode.
"Helmet!" Kord called disapprovingly. Alana sighed and laughed, but unhooked her helmet from Midnight's side and put it on.
"Sorry!" she called as she wove her ride back and forth to avoid the Briardrill vines. She glanced up at the top of one of the canyon walls and saw the Dark Bane taking aim. She fired her Phosphoro up at the Dark Bane, creating a burst of fireworks in attempt to give the gang some cover.
"What's our next move?" Trixie asked as she narrowly avoided a Pyringo.
"Try not to get blown up!" Kord yelled.
"Pronto is running out of that move!" Pronto shrieked.
"Don't worry, we're almost there!" Alana called, nodding forward to where the road narrowed into a tunnel. "We can make it!"
"Yeah! Hit that and don't look back!" Eli called. Trixie, Kord, and Pronto floored their Mechas, speeding forward. Alana hung back for another split second for her Phosphoro, Lux, to hop onto her shoulder and into her backpack-
Just in time to see Eli slow down, a lot, to fire Burpy at an oncoming group of Hop Jacks and a Greneater. Burpy successfully took out the Hop Jacks, but the Greneater escaped his flames and sped forward, landing just above the tunnel the Shane Gang was racing toward. The ghoul detonated and the ceiling of the tunnel's entrance rumbled and began to collapse in on itself.
"Come on, Eli!" Alana yelled, speeding up Midnight. He's going too slow, he won't make it!
"I'll be fine!" Eli called. Alana frowned, confused as she neared the tunnel. Eli veered slightly to the side, heading for a rock that looked like it could serve as a ramp. "Meet me there with the rest of the gang!"
"What?!" Alana cried. "What do you mean?"
Eli rode up the ramp, transforming Lucky back into beast mode and flipping off his ride in midair. Alana's eyes widened as she realized his plan. She slammed on Midnight's brakes, but it was too late- she skidded into the tunnel, Lucky following beside her, just as the entrance collapsed in a rockfall.
It was almost pitch black. Alana coughed as she breathed in smoke from the rocks, her heart pounding as she transformed Midnight back into beast mode. She groaned and rested her elbows on Midnight's neck before putting her face in her hands.
There was an echoing click! as Trixie turned on her Mecha's overhead lights. She, Kord, and Pronto were cheering for what they thought was a successful escape. But they must have seen Alana and the empty white wolf Mecha, because the trio fell silent.
"Where's Eli?" Trixie asked quietly, her voice filled with dread. Alana groaned and rubbed her eyes for a moment before sitting up straight.
"On the other side of that rock pile," she said, her voice wavering.
He's gonna be fine he's gonna be fine he's gonna be fine.
"He'll be okay," Alana said, forcing the words out. She took a deep breath before looking up at the rest of the gang, her eyes narrowed in determination. "Come on."
She reached forward and pressed Lucky's control panel, setting it to follow Midnight.
"We need to get to the Blakk Industries Citadel."
~~~~~~~~
Worry gnawed at Alana. The gang was hiding out behind an outcropping of black stone just behind Blakk's citadel. They had been there for only ten minutes, but Alana had been pacing the entire time.
"He'll be fine, Alana," Trixie repeated for the fourth time. "He always is."
"You don't usually worry like this, Alana," Kord noted from where he sat atop his Mecha.
"That's because when Eli's being stupid, he isn't going into the most dangerous building in Slugterra unarmed with Blakk ready to-" Alana stopped herself, wringing her hands. "I just..."
Guardian slugs, I can't lose another Shane.
"I'm just scared," she admitted. "And I can feel so much dark energy in the citadel, it's so unsettling."
"Do not worry! While he may be... well, sometimes a little rash, he has a knack of getting out of these kinds of situations," Pronto said.
Alana nodded, forcing herself to take a deep breath. "You're right, I'm sure he's fine-" she began, but a loud crash cut her off.
The four slingers looked up at the citadel. Alana gasped as she saw two people thrown from the roof- even from far away, she could recognize the lanky figure of Red Hook and the leaner one of Eli.
"Kord!" Alana called, and Kord quickly fired a Bubbaleone he'd had preloaded in his blaster. The slug transformed on the ground just in time to halt Eli and Red Hook's fall. They bounced off the slug and landed on the ground in a heap, but it was better than hitting the ground full force.
"Thank the guardian slugs," Alana laughed, her worry immediately fading as she jumped up on Midnight and sped forward, leading the rest of the gang to Eli and Red Hook.
"We need to go!" Eli said quickly, scooping up the Bubbaleone and practically dragging Red Hook over to the gang. Kord held out an arm and Red Hook took it, climbing onto Kord's Mecha while Eli jumped on Lucky. "They are not happy in there!"
"And we're not exactly thrilled out here!" Alana said as the gang turned and rode away from the citadel as fast as they could. "Really, ditching us like that?"
"Look," Eli began, but Pronto cut him off.
"We know, we know. Eli Shane always has to follow his hero instinct," the molenoid said, waving a hand.
"Usually to do something heroically foolish," Kord added. Eli laughed and looked back at the rest of the gang.
"Is that what everyone thinks about me?" he asked.
"Yes," five voices replied in unison.
Eli laughed and rolled his eyes. "Well, all that matters now is that Red Hook's safe, and we've got his accelerators. Now we just need to figure out the slug part."
"Then we head back to HQ and regroup," Kord said breezily. "We'll be back in action in no time."
"Good," Eli said, his smile fading. "Because as soon as we can match slugs against the Dark Bane, we're coming right back here. We need to talk about what I saw in the citadel. Blakk has big plans, and I have a feeling..."
He looked over at Alana.
"We're the only ones who can stop it."
~~~~~~~~
As soon as the gang got back to the hideout, Kord and Red Hook immediately went to the garage to work on installing accelerators on everyone's blasters. Trixie hit the SlugNet to find updated information on Blakk's latest conquests, and Pronto said he had something 'very important to do that definitely does not include watching Kisses From a Hoverbug.'
That left Eli and Alana to sit in the living room, discussing what Eli had seen in the citadel.
"It takes up a whole room," he said. "There's giant cylinders- bigger than me- filled with dark water attached to the ceiling, in a circle. And it sounds like he's gonna put ghouls in there, too. I only got a quick look in a control room, but the blueprints I saw... Alana, I think it can make a terraportal. I think it's a drill to the Deep Caverns."
Alana's face paled. She sat up in her bean bag chair, trying to form a coherent thought.
"But... Eli, the last time he made a terraportal-"
"Stalagmite 17," Eli finished. Alana's eyes widened.
"I couldn't stop that one because Dana was maintaining it, and now Blakk's got something powerful enough to drill straight into the Deep Caverns," she breathed. Eli nodded.
"And this is unheard of, there's not exactly research about terraportals to the Deep Caverns that we can look at," he said. "We're on our own."
Alana felt panic rising up in her chest and struggled to take a breath for a moment. But she finally controlled the fear, pressing it down as she stood up.
"Where are you going?" Eli asked.
"I don't even know," she said. "To train? To just... sit down and focus on Slugterra's energy? I don't know. If Doc and Mage are still making sure the Dark Bane don't get in through the guardian gate, I'm the only thing that can cure dark energy right now. Maybe I should visit the Shadow Clan-"
She stopped when the holoscreen began to flash. She and Eli turned toward Trixie, who opened the message.
"It's a call from Sam!" Trixie exclaimed. Alana and Eli ran up behind where Trixie sat in the desk chair.
The screen filled with static for a moment, then took the form of a shaky video. There was a flash of someone's shoes, then a brightly lit ceiling, then it focused in on a television screen in the Bonnie Springs Hospital lobby. The screens usually displayed the news or some cartoon show, but now this one was pure red and read 'INCOMING MESSAGE.'
The television changed to a video of Doctor Blakk. The pale man stared into the camera calmly, with a cold smile on his face.
"Residents of Bonnie Springs Cavern," he began. His voice sounded like it was echoing- Alana guessed it was playing on any transmittable screen in the hospital. "Up until this point, I have accepted your choice to be neutral in this conflict."
He didn't need to name what conflict- everyone knew of the Shane Gang's battle against Blakk Industries.
"But recent events have made this no longer an option. I am not without generosity- I will not take your cavern like I have taken so many others. I will even allow select patients to enter the cavern if necessary," Blakk continued. "But nobody will be leaving Bonnie Springs. I would hate to find any of the healers there treating... miscreants."
Alana's blood ran cold. Without Mage or Doc, the Shane Gang had met up with Sam Gray and her team multiple times already for quick heals between distress calls. But now they were cut off.
"Like I said- nobody leaves this cavern. Anyone caught doing so will be treated severely," Blakk said. "And if any healers try to escape to help the Shane Gang, then I will have no choice but to raze this cavern. Hospital and all."
Blakk's fake smile faded as he leaned forward.
"And to the Shane Gang: this is the price you will pay for actions. Do not test me."
Blakk's transmission cut out and the television went back to airing a cartoon. The camera rose and turned around, revealing a terrified Sam Gray.
"Eberly already checked. There are ghoulslingers at every exit to the cavern. I don't know what you guys just did the make him this mad, but whatever happens next..." Sam's voice trailed off. She shook her head. "You've got no healers able to back you up. No doctors, no Boon Docs. Even throughout the rest of the caverns- with all the injuries from Blakk's raids, most of the doctors in the 99 Caverns were called in here."
People in the background finally seemed to break out of a shocked silence. Children began to wail in the background. Sam winced and glanced at something behind the camera.
"I have to go. Stay safe."