Blakk glanced at the clock on his desk. 4pm. He frowned.

The train should have crashed into the town by now. He expected reports to stream in about the amount of casualties and anything that was associated with it.

Morris walked in carrying one of the goons and dropped him onto the floor.

"Morris, who exactly is this?" Doctor Blakk inquired.

"A new recruit, he was supposed to ensure that the package in the train was delivered safely. Sir, he says he knows what happened to the train." he replied.

Blakk steepled his fingers and glared at the teenager. "So.. what information do you have?"

The teen gulped. "Sir, the train did not crash."

Doctor Blakk looked relieved. He said his eyebrows signalling to the teen to proceed.

"Twist, Kayla and Nicole helped the Shane Gang to stop it," said the employee. The infamous doctor clenched his fists. The goon assumed he did it because he hated the Shane Gang but in actual fact, he had never wanted Nicole to leave the citadel.

"So, why haven't they returned?" He inquired further.

The young man replied with a hint of emotion in his voice,"It's because Kaiya was hurt very badly, sir. She used her mecha to stop it."

Blakk hmmphed and waved him away. Kaiya! What in the Burning World was she thinking?

Once the teen had left, he stood up and walked to Morris, "I need to go and see the extent of the damage caused by the Shane gang." He literally spit out the last two words.

His officer called someone and stated bluntly, "Western Caverns Driver, Doctor Blakk wants to visit the crash site."

AT CRASH SITE

Twist carried Kaiya from where she had been lying. He kept on muttering, "Kaiya, stay with me." Eli Shane ran to his side and placed a hand on Twist's shoulder in consolation. Blakk's apprentice stiffened.

"I am so sorry, Twist," he mumbled. Twist ignored him and walked away. He just wanted to get help for Kaiya as soon as possible since she was showing no signs of consciousness. The other reason was that he was crying. Jet wimpered and licked Kaiya's hand.

The rest of the Shane gang and Nicole soon joined the pair.

"Twist, wait!" Eli called him again. He stopped and turned, "What more do you want from me?" he asked dejectedly.

"We need to figure this out together." Trixie reasoned. Twist glared at her and then said vehemently at Eli, "Your father took my father away from me. I will not let you take her too."

Nicole glanced at Eli who looked hurt.

Pronto cleared his throat, "Pronto would like to suggest we look for a medic right now." He pointed to the growing crowd.

Kord replied, "I doubt there is a medic present. We need to get her to a hospital." It was highly unlikely that anyone was going to volunteer.

"That's probably a good idea but my mecha is barely functional and Skies is damaged beyond immediate repair," Nicole replied.

"Our mechas are still out because of the Xmitter." Trixie tweaked her mecha's controls but there was no response.

Derek, no doubt the youngest member of the gang, walked up to Eli and gave him some of the slugs he had retrieved. When he turned and saw Kaiya, he instantly paled. Derek tugged at Eli's shirt, "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yes she is," Trixie assured him.

Kaiya's bleeding rate had increased. There were red angry gashes and purple bruises everywhere and it was a miracle she was still alive.

"Twist, we need to place her somewhere a bit more comfortable and stop the bleeding or else she will get hypovolemic shock." Nicole advised. Twist reluctantly placed her onto the soft green turf on the other side of the valley.

"Guys, do you have any bandages or a knife at least," Nicole inquired.

The Cave Troll shook his head. Eli replied hopefully, "I have a knife."

Nicole took a knife and tore her black jacket. "This will have to do." She bandaged most of the angry red gashes but did not remove a shrapnel jutting out of Kaiya's left hand. She feared that if she did, she would lose more blood since an artery had been pierced.

While the Gang was busy trying to get their mechas to start, Twist whispered to Nicole, "Should we call Blakk?"

She brushed her black hair nervously, "Yeah, you should. The situation has got out of control even though I am going to be in a lot of trouble."

There was a sudden silence as if the Angel of Death had paid a visit. Twist raised his head, "Shit!"

"What is it?" Nicole was busy trying to make Kaiya comfortable. She raised her head and swore too.

Doctor Blakk strutted towards them. "What happened here?"

"I will explain everything on the way. Right now, Kaiya needs immediate medical attention." Nicole replied. Blakk waved at the goons to take Kaiya to the car.

Twist and Jet followed them and Twist held onto Kaiya's hand determined not to let go of her. Blakk raised an eyebrow. He turned and glared at Nicole, "You have some explaining to do. Get in the car!"

Nicole gulped, "Yes, sir." before she sprinted after the team.

Blakk was definitely in a foul mood. His hand twitched on his blaster but he knew that had to wait. There was a crowd analysing his every move and that could mean some of his contacts as well.

"Eliii Shannne. Why am I not surprised?" Blakk feigned indiference to the young hero.

Eli loaded a Tazerling and aimed his blaster at him, "Blakk, I know you are up to something."

Doctor Blakk raised his hands to show that he was unarmed. He giggled darkly. "And what would that be?"

The young Shane smirked, "To take over Slugterra." Blakk hmmphed, "Really? And just how where you going to do that? By stopping a train?"

"No, but by stopping what was inside it." The rest of the Shane gang soon joined the enemies. The air was practically crackling with electricity.

Blakk glared at them and stated, "You and your...(he waved his hand at the other gang members) friends might think that you can save the day but in truth, you are just a pack of vigilantes. You almost killed one of my associates today by your reckless actions."

There was a wave of mutterings from the crowd which signalled their agreement with his words.

Eli averted his gaze. It was, after all, his fault the train had lost control. The Doctor glowered at them. Pronto looked as if he would make a run for it once he got the chance.

"Blakk, you can't blame Eli for everything that happened. He was putting the interests of Slugterra first and you of all the people should know that." Trixie fought back.

The doctor hmmphed. "So, you are saying that firing his Xmitter in a train did not cause all this?" He pointing at the debris. The crowd listened attentively at them as their voices echoed across the valley.

Eli reluctantly lowered his blaster, "Whatever you are doing Blakk, I will find out and stop you."

"Such strong words coming from a small boy. You know, you could have killed a lot of people who actually did not need your help in the first place. Face it Eli, you Shanes have the audacity to invade other people's lives. Who gave you that permission?" Blakk glared at Eli.

Most people in the crowd now glowered at the Shane gang with hostility. Since it was where most of his contacts lived, they had no doubt, been fed with propaganda about the Shane Gang.

Kord sensed where this was going, "Blakk, this had nothing to do with what happened. It was just a mistake."

The infamous doctor laughed. "Oh, yes it was and I'm going to make sure you will not make any more of them again."

Blasters whirled as the two sides got ready for a slugslinging match. People moved away and some got onto their mechas in preparation for a quick getaway should the need arise.

Just then Twist ran to Doctor Blakk and informed him, "Sir, we should get going." Blakk snickered at the group.

The damage is done. He celebrated inwardly then sized them up quickly before following Twist to the large car.

As soon as they had left, the crowd started shouting at the Shane gang. Eli looked crestfallen. "They are probably right."

"No Eli. Blakk wanted this to happen all along." Trixie comforted him.

Just then, a hop rock whizzed past Pronto's head. "Ahhh!" He screamed as he dodged it. "I suggest we make a run for it bro," Kord announced and the rest of the gang nodded. Fortunately their mechas were now operational and they escaped from the angry mob.

BLAKK INDUSTRIES

"Get her to the medic!" He ordered the goons who complied. Jet and Twist followed. Nicole turned to follow the pair. "And you, stay behind!"

She sighed dramatically, "What is it?"

"Care to explain yourself?" he stroked his forehead with two of his fingers.

Nicole cleared her throat. "Well, it was Kaiya's idea. I just wanted to help. She saved the town and you should be grateful."

Blakk was intrigued by the way she had turned the blame to him.

He stared at her but she continued, "I might know how to get her help."

"And that would be?" Doctor Blakk raised his eyebrows.

Nicole glanced at him, "Time travel."

"What? You can't be serious. That is a child's fantasy similar to the Burning World." He waved his hand as if trying to brush away an annoying fly.

"Says the guy who is building a teleporter to the Deep Caverns." Nicole smirked.

Blakk folded his hands, "Okay, so how do we do it?"

"You focus on your inner peace, if you have any at all." Nicole laughed and he glared at her. "Just joking. I am going to give you his number but he expects to be paid. Also, I am pretty sure that if you manage to change what happened, there may be serious consequences."

"How serious?" He looked worried.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Dunno. There's only one way to find out." then left.

After Blakk got the contact, he called the man who said something like, "Gimme a sec."

AFTER SIX HOURS

It was way after nightfall and Blakk was fuming about how the man had let him down. I hope Kaiya is still alive. He was surprised that he cared for her well-being.

There was a knock on Blakk's door. He looked up and shouted, "Enter."

Blakk was astounded. The man was barely twenty years old. He was wearing white and he had jet-black hair.

"You are late." Blakk announced. "For a time traveller, you are such a lousy timekeeper."

The young man shrugged his shoulders, "Can't help it if I have all the time in the world. Anyway you must be Doctor Blakk." The man himself raised his eyebrows.

"You can call me Quantum." he continued while brushing an imaginary dirt off his costume.

Blakk stood up, "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Quantum nodded as he followed the infamous doctor to the clinic. When Blakk opened the door, he was a bit shocked at what greeted him. Twist was holding Kaiya's hand and he was muttering, "Kaiya, don't live me." and Jet was licking Kaiya's other hand. Nicole was sleeping on the chair and her head was placed near Kaiya's feet.

Quantum glanced at Doctor Blakk, "I need to be alone so that I can do this."

"Twist and Nicole, leave us." he ordered. Twist woke her up. Nicole instantly brightened up when she saw Quantum. "Hi! Glad to see you."

The man in white replied, "Likewise."

Twist reluctantly released Kaiya's hand. "Are you sure I can't stay and watch over her?" He pleaded. Blakk noticed his apprentice's eyes were red, no doubt from a lot of crying. Twist crying over Kaiya? What a pleasant surprise.

Quantum shook his head and Jet whimpered. "I am sorry, but there are too many things at stake here."

Doctor Blakk frowned and followed the trio outside and closed the door.

Quantum strode over to the unconscious Kaiya. He sat beside her and held her hand. Then with his left hand, he took out an ancient silver watch with a colourless cover.

"Time travel don't fail me now or I am toast." He prayed before closing his eyes and focusing on the job at hand. The cover swerved opened automatically before a faint blue light started to glow. It increased in intensity and within minutes, the room was filled with an intense blue light.

He felt the familiar mind-numbing feeling of entering someone's consciousness and he started shuffling through Kaiya's memories. Once he locked onto the ones he needed he teleported to the exact time on that fateful day.

Quantum scanned the area. It was easy for him to blend since the large crowd that had gathered was too preoccupied with what was going on. Although he had been hesitant to do this he felt assured that nothing could go wrong. Any mistake he was going to make might even disturb the space-time continuum and the fate of Slugterra.

Quantum shrugged his shoulders. With time he had acquired the skill of isolating events so that they will not affect other people's lives.

He watched as Kaiya turned and saluted. Now is my chance.

The time traveller focused his mind on Kaiya and isolated all other elements then he did what he had ben forbidden to do years ago. He opened the forth dimension of time itself. He teleported into it and just before Kaiya collided with the train, he grabbed her off Skies.

Kaiya gasped in shock, "What the..?" she looked around and there was an intense blue light..

Quantum smiled at her, "Come with me if you want to live, Kaiya."

She looked at him incredulously, "And you are?"

"There's no time to explain. You have to decide now or you will be trapped here forever." Quantum replied hastily.

Kaiya surveyed her surroundings. "Is this some sort of time travel or... am I dead?"

He scratched his head nervously, "It's a bit of both. So, are you coming or not?" he looked impatiently at her.

"Ok! But on one condition," Kaiya folded her hands.

Quantum sighed. For someone who had a lot of time on his hands, he was never patient, "Spit it out already!"

She looked into his eyes, "You have to get me to Blakk Industries right away." Quantum rolled his eyes and then grabbed her hand. He focused again and they were soon back in Blakk's citadel.

"Why are we in the clinic and who are you?" Kaiya inquired as she noticed that the blue light was dissipating.

He sighed as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, "Too many questions. The people outside will be more than willing to answer these questions for you. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some gold to collect."

Quantum strode out of the room and walked straight to the conference room, "It's done." He announced.

Blakk smirked and threw a bag of gold coins.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you." the time traveller remarked. As soon as he left the room, he disappeared into a burst of blue light.

Kaiya stumbled out of the room, partially dizzy because of the trip.

Strong arms soon engulfed her. "Kaiya.." Twist could not finish the sentence. Nicole joined the pair.

"Am glad you are back, Kaiya." Jet barked excitedly at Kaiya who immediately crouched down and hugged her dog. "Am I glad to see you!"

There was an awkward silence.

"I will talk to you later, Kaiya." Nicole wanted Twist to have some time with Kayla..

MEANWHILE...

A bright red and pink portal swirled until it increased in size. The Cavern of Time started to shake as if there was an earthquake. Rocks started to be pulled towards it and the more matter it consumed, the more its gravitational pull towards it and the darker it became. Whatever escaped from it was disintegrated. It was a black hole, eating its way to the centre of Slugterra.

Who was going to save this world from a new kind of evil?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX

finally finished it! Now if you will excuse me, I need to go to sleep.

Kaiya and Jet belong to the talented author Hills-to-Sky.

Quantum and Nicole belong to me.