The War

"What did you do!?" Eli screamed as his former enemy fell solidly to the ground. Twist's eyes rolled back in his head, as he slipped into unconsciousness.

"Merely took out a portion of his soul," was the reply, as if placing someone in mortal danger was as important as that tiny particle of sand trapped in his hair. "No biggie."

"No biggie?! Both could die! We're all counting on you being able to heal her, now you're telling me that it's no BIGGIE?!"

"Peace Eli. While the souls are adapting, let's talk," said The Dark Healer. "I believe you wish to know more about my history?"

Eli nodded. He could sense that the stranger was extremely powerful, despite the apparent lack of Slugs and Blaster. That raised a point: "Where's your slugs and blaster?"

He opened his mouth slightly to answer, then thought better of it and paused, unable to decide on how to describe it.

"You don't have a blaster, do you?"

The stranger stared hard at Eli, "Listen here young man. Just because you have a blasted blaster doesn't mean you're all high and mighty and above the common folk left defenseless."

"It's perfectly alright that you don't have any blaster –"

"It ain't bloody alright! Soon you'll be looking down on me as the weaponless chap and treat me with pity. I need none of that nonsense, since I can protect myself just fine." He said it with some malice.

Eli started to back away in fear, as the shadows under the man's feet suddenly grew to humongous sizes. It engulfed his entire being in a black roaring translucent fire. Waves of cold washed over Eli, when there should have been warmth.

"Still think I'm weak? Do you?!" he yelled in anger.

"No! Not at all, sir, no!" Eli whimpered out, his back pressed tight against the walls.

"Good! Very well then, where was I?"

As the stranger suddenly put out the black flames and sat down cross-legged on the ground, a look of pure contentment of someone satisfied with their role in the universe, the was just one thought running through Eli's head:

Is he Bipolar?

Nicole reclined against the huge warm mountain that was the cave troll Kord, while watching Trixie pacing around frantically. "Cut it out already, you'll wear those shoes out."

"Do I look like I care?!" Trixie screamed at Nicole, who promptly made herself very comfortable with the cave troll's sides.

"She sure is touchy today, huh?"

"You have no idea, Nicole, you have no idea…" Kord muttered as she leaned into him.

Trixie turned to face a very glum looking Pronto. "And you! Don't ever do that again! I don't care how "good" he smells, pull something like that again and you will regret it. Understood?!" Pronto nodded the best he could. After all, it's hard to move when you're trapped in an Arachnet's webbing.

Trixie whirled around and sat down hard with a very undignified snort.

Neither was Nicole eager to test her worn thin patience.

"Back then, before the creation of Slugterra, there was nothing. No plants grew, no streams, rustling reeds, whispering trees, no magical hum of Slug energy that drives everything in Slugterra. There was nothing, just a huge cave system of darkness. Then, the first slug arrived. The Dark Slug; Woven from the darkness itself, the slug was infused with the dark energies that were ever present. It multiplied itself, forming the Ghoul slugs that you know of. However, a crack in the ceiling let in the light. From the slightest of the light, a new slug formed in the rich energies present. The White Slug; It used its powers to, as you say, "Let there be light!"" He chuckled slightly, like as if he was there.

"The creation of light then led to the clash of the two primal forces. The White Slug versus the Dark Slugs. Ah, that was quite a battle…"

"Anyway, the White Slug won, and banished the Dark Slugs to the Dark World, home of the Dark Banes.

"She then proceeded to develop Slugterra, so as to have some company. She used the light to create the first Fandango, the One who Powers us All. The Fandango slugs bred, and rapidly reproduced. Their excess slug energy is a gift from the Slug Mother herself, so that they may keep the entire ecosystem moving. Have you heard this before, kiddo?"

Eli stared at him blankly.

"Take that as a no then. So, with the infinite amounts of Slug Energy everywhere, the energy started to condense together. It gathered together, so tightly packed it became solid. The Slug Crystals that hang above us used to be bigger, but now, with industrialization, the crystals are failing. The constellations they used to mimic are gone, and the glow is getting dimmer. Someday, we will all wake up to see nothing but pitch black. That's when the Dark Ones will come, and we'll all be at their mercy."

"How do you know about the Surface?"

"Ah, I must say, thanks you for confirming there was a Surface," he smirked at Eli's face. "No worries, I'm not going to run around about how we are under millions of tons of rock ready to crash over our heads. So, I know about the Surface because I was from there."

"How did you get to Slugterra then?"

"Get to? Mister, I was born in Slugterra."

"Then why did you say you were from the surface?"

"Because my family was from there. I tell you about that later. Shall we have your friends come down? I'm sure they're anxious about the two."

Eli nodded, and turned to them, then he realized they were gone. "Where are they?"

A piercing screech rang out and The Dark Healer jumped to his feet. "No time! They have gotten to them, now run!"

Eli grasped his hand and pulled himself up. Sprinting after the stranger, he yelled, "Where are we going?!"

"My home. Hopefully Susan manages to pick us up before they arrive. Keep running!"

Sprinting in no apparent direction, Eli tossed a glance over his shoulder; he saw something that would make any lesser men piss their pants.

"Put me down, you bastard!"

Nicole pounded her fists on her captor's back, while attempting to kick anyone who came close.

Not very effective, given that she was tied up in rope like a straitjacket.

They were on them in the blink of an eye. A bunch of Humanoids in dark green forest apparel had them surrounded. Swarming all over the 4 of them, none stood a chance. All Nicole could see was Dark Green everywhere, the occasional gap when she managed to throw one off.

But there was too many. Fists and feet were everywhere, hitting just about any part of her in attempts to stop her. Nicole had lost sight of the Gang, but the sounds of morphing slugs must have meant they were putting up a fight.

Slugs!

Gasping in pain from the sudden blow to the stomach, she pulled out her blaster and tried to fire. That's when she noticed they had disarmed her and took the opportunity to grab her arms. In seconds, she was trussed up like a turkey and dumped on the floor.

Now, she was slung over one of the bigger Humanoid's shoulder and being carried through the forest with the others. How they got to the forest so fast, Nicole had no idea.

Glancing to her right with her eyes, she made out the shape of a conscious but very disgruntled Trixie. Kord was unconscious on her left, but the egoistical Molenoid was nowhere to be seen.

She had a final back up plan for if she was ever to be kidnapped: the Wisdom Tooth on the right of her upper jaw. It was embedded with a tracker, so hopefully Blakk decided to show his sorry face and save her when he realizes where they were.

She reached for it with her tongue, and momentarily panicked when she couldn't find the Tracker.

Calm down, you're probably too anxious to feel it. Calm down and you will find it.

But after taking in deep breaths and slowing her heart rate, she tried for it, but couldn't locate the tracker.

They took it out.

This was the final straw. Blakk wouldn't be able to find her now. She'd have to bust them all out, but how?

Her slugs and ghouls were gone, as well as her blaster. Their hand-to-hand combat was much better than her, and she had absolutely no sense of direction.

Oh how is Blakk going to yell at me for this. She groaned inwardly. Relying on the Shanes to save her, how ironic.

Slughounds.

Ghouled Slughounds.

Sometimes he just wanted to slap Thaddeus Blakk upside the head for bringing in the Dark Water. They all knew once it was taken out of the Dark World it would spread, inhabiting random locations. And that someone would seek to exploit the notably more powerful Ghouls.

And these monstrosities were after them.

Big, slobbering beasts of over 15 feet in height, with a tail that could sweep down trees like dominoes, and a bark louder than an atomic bomb.

These weren't Slughounds, they were monsters.

Running down a narrow passageway, Eli turned around to fire off a Hop Rock. It flew towards the slughound…

And disappeared in its mouth.

"No!"

But it was too late. The lack of explosion told Eli it was already dead.

"Keep moving! They can't get us in here!"

"Where's Kaiya and Twist?!"

"At the Hideout, now run!"

Eli sprinted after the stranger, with the two monstrosities scraping away at the entrance and howling at them, malice evident in their bloodshot eyes.

Another screech and the stranger yelled seemingly into nothingness, "Hold on Susan, I'm coming!"

Another one, but more panicked. It sounded slightly muffled. "Guess it's all or nothing. Hold my hand!"

Without questioning him, Eli grasped his hand, trying to ignore the snarls and yapping from behind.

All of a sudden, he felt something like a cold hand engulf him, pulling him down into the ground. Into the shadows. Once he was in the shadows, he immediately felt like he was moving at the speed of light. His face felt like it was peeling off, but there was no wind or G-Force.

His stomach felt like it had been left far behind with the hounds, and wherever he was being taken was really, really far away. Strange noises came from around him, growling, snarling, and the whimper of a little girl. Turning his head to find her, he saw a small girl of 5 years of age standing behind him.

Although he was moving, she drifted along with him. Her head was down and she appeared to be sobbing. Eli attempted to let go of the stranger's hand so that he could go to her and comfort her.

"Don't!" he hissed. "It's a trick."

Just as Eli was yanked away, she lifted her head.

He gasped.

Flowing from her eye-less sockets were streams of black blood. Her lips twisted in a cruel, evil smile. Eli saw two points of teeth poke up from her jaw. Then more. And more. Her teeth thinned into needles, and more needle teeth sprang up to fill the spaces.

Until when she opened her mouth and Eli realized just how lucky he was to have a guide. Her gums were bloodied, with needle teeth sticking up from all angles. They were bleeding from around the teeth, which should have caused her pain.

She didn't feel anything. Instead, she grinned even wider, her gums bleeding black blood. And among those teeth…

Was that rotting flesh?

He screamed and clutched onto his guide's hand, trying to make him understand that he was terrified and wanted to leave. His knees were trembling and he knew he would have collapsed should there have been a way to stand.

He was whimpering. Eli doesn't whimper. But he was. He finally let himself feel all those years worth of fear, hopelessness, pain, suffering, bullying, and the stress of having to raise himself from age 10.

He was terrified, and now did he let the barriers break and truly feel those emotions.

Then the sensation of rising.

The she-demon noticed he was leaving and propelled herself upwards in an attempt to catch him and rip him to shreds.

Eli screamed as she caught hold of his shoe. She grinned in pure satisfaction of having yet another plaything to break.

"Kick it off!"

Eli struggled to dislodge her, but the demon hung on like a leech. She wasn't going to give up.

"Take off your shoe!"

Eli gasped as her hand touched his leg, a blindingly numbing cold spreading up his leg. Where it touched, the skin turned black.

Frostbite.

Eli panicked and with a final Herculean effort, he managed to push off his sneaker. She lost her grip and tumbled back down, screaming all the way in anger.

A burst of light, touching solid ground, kissing it to make sure that he was alive. Light chuckling from behind him.

Stopping in his attempt to smooch the floor once more, he flipped onto his back to see the stranger's face looking down at him. "Are you quite done?"

Looking sheepish, Eli got up and rubbed the back of his neck instinctively. "Sorry about that…"

"It's ok. I was more terrified than you on the journey, if it helps. I had to make sure I was on the least dangerous route, and your holding my hand like a baby doesn't help me focus."

"Still… what was that?"

"That, was the Dark. The pure, primal force of the Dark. What you saw was just the parts that you could comprehend without burning up. If you could see its true extents, your brain will self-combust just trying to visualize it."

"But, how did we get here?"

"That, my friend, is something known as Dark Travel. All creatures of the Dark can utilize it, but they are held back by infinite protective spells that keep them in the Dark World."

His eyes travelled down Eli's leg to check for injuries. He gasped slightly. "Shit, did she touch you?"

"Erm… Yeah. Why?"

Then Eli looked down.

Whatever remaining blood in his face drained away at the sight of his shin, where the she-demon had hung on.

It was black, and the Black Blood was slowly creeping up his leg.

This is bad.

They were unceremoniously flung at the feet of who ever these 7ft tall Humanoids' master was.

Nicole wriggled under the blubbery molenoid as she twisted to get a better view of whoever it was.

She gasped.

He had an ugly scar running across his right eye, rendering it useless. A patch covered it, but she noticed the scar had been sewn into it. Weird.

His face was that of an average civilian, with no other remarkable features. Except for his eyes.

A dark stormy green, like a window into the wrath of the entire forest itself. Looking into them, she suddenly found herself seeing things. Visions of people being strangled alive by jungle vines, the very trees moving as they proceeded to ensnare Hunters into their leafy grasp, and horrifyingly, cute little rabbits tearing apart poachers, bits of flesh and bloody entrails flying everywhere.

She managed to wrench herself from his gaze, and noticed a tree root stretching out towards her. She shrieked and jumped with enough force to knock the mountain that was Kord off her.

The root paused, and started to retract.

"Did you see that?" Trixie whispered.

Nicole managed to nod when the Master spoke up.

"Well, what do we have here? Travelling in the company of the Dark Healer?"

"No sir, we had a critically injured friend, who he attempted to save."

"He tries to, but it never works out. His patients, or victims, will have an early death. They always do."

"But –"

"He has a curse set on him, and – wait a second, why are you lot in ropes?"

"Master, your orders –"

"Were to bring them here, not like animals. Release them."

Several Humanoids moved forwards and started to untie the knots. Nicole marveled at the dexterity of their fingers. Long and nimble, they make quick work of the knots that could have stopped a Thresher.

Massaging her wrists, Nicole stood up, "Sir –"

"Where are my manners? We have guests, do we not?" He silenced one of his henchmen with a glare. "Let's all move to the canteen, for a welcoming feast."

The Humanoids moved off. Nicole hung back with their leader. "Sir, I haven't gotten your name."

"Trying to ask me out?"

"What?! No, it's just that I do not want to continuously address you as "sir"."

He smiled. "My name is Alexander Drake, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Well, what are these called?"

"These folks are known as the tree men. They serve the forest, and their life forces are tied to their tree. If either one should die, the other will die with them. This is why they serve the forest, by protecting Nature. Hunters, poachers, woodcutters, those who seek to harm the forest are dealt with harshly."

Nicole gulped, "How harsh?"

"Oh, the lightest sentence would be death." A small sigh of relief. "But there are worse things than death."

Breathe in… breathe out…

"So, what do you eat?"

"Good question lass. What do we eat? We eat the vegetables that we grow. We always ask for permission before we can take them, and I suggest you would do the same thing too."

He eyes gleamed, and Nicole saw a few more visions: Drowning in a bog; having tendrils of earth lash themselves around the victim's body as they pulled him down, circling his neck, yanking out his nether regions, shoving up his nose and coming out of his eyes; and getting eaten alive by bulldog ants.

"Y-Yeah… S-sure…" she stuttered out.

He smirked, "Very well, now go catch up with your friends."

As she bolted off after them, his smile faded away.

Lucifer… back? The spells should have held him, unless…

No, that could never happen, not to someone as twisted and dark as him.

Shaking off those dark thoughts, he marched off to the head table, resolving to send a hunting party after Lucifer Drake, his traitor of a brother.

Why Luci, why?

Please, no –

Jasmine!

Stay with me, come on, don't you dare –

Jas? Jas?! Jasmine!

Shaking his head to clear the dark thoughts, he marched off after the others, deciding to send them on a quest to give him time for a decision. One concerning the fate of Slugterra.

Hi all, Namless Slinger here. So, as you can tell, there are a few plot holes in this chapter. If you can spot them, put them in a review, not PM, since I don't check that often. Also, put in your ideas for what could happen next, 'cause I'm starting to hit a Writer's Block, and I need new ideas.

As you can see, The Dark Healer's name has been revealed indirectly, and there's a new OC with his own army to boot! No worries, this will not turn into an OC only story, there will be a few chapters involving the Shane Gang, Thaddeus Blakk, Twist and Kaiya!

More history on my OCs in the next chapter, and a few more additions to the cast! So stay tuned!

P.S. I love reviews! :)