So...Slugterra is kind of a guilty pleasure cartoon for me...and thus this Fanfic will be an equally guilty pleasure, updated randomly. So...uh...yeah. Welcome to "The Sights Beneath the Surface"
GERONIMOOO!
It was nearly midnight on a particularly cool summer evening when the rumbling began behind the house. It was this horrible screeching sound that was mixed in with the cries of a young man who repeatedly shouted for help, though most were drowned out by the drilling noise that soon faded away. All of this was more than enough to stir Runo Evans from her already light slumber and cause her to sit up, looking in the direction where the noise was coming from with her chocolate brown eyes. Her long lilac locks were left un-brushed or tied back, and was dressed in a long, faded red t-shirt that went to just above her thigh, and a pair of grey sweatpants, pulled on as she went to inspect the noise. Despite the size of her house, which was quite large, it was quite easy to hear what the young man was yelling. Though it was interrupted by the odd noise at surprisingly convenient times.
"MANTIS! YOU SON OF *BZZT* I'M GONNA GET A *BANG* AND SHOVE IT RIGHT UP YOUR *BOOM*! THEN I'LL TEAR OFF YOUR *BOINK* AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR *BONK* SO YOU'LL HAVE TO *BAM* SIDEWAYS! YOU HEAR ME?!"
It caused the sixteen year old girl to giggle a little bit and made her glad her parents weren't home tonight. If they had heard the commotion, she never would have had the chance to find out who was making the noise, and she would have never shaken off the small amount of guilt she carried within her heart. Some may ask why, and the answer was simple.
The boy in the pod has vanished Six months ago, and was presumed dead after two months of searching.
By the time she had stepped out her back door, with a pair of sneakers on over her bare feet, and onto the cool grass, all noise had ceased, and Runo was given a clear view of who was inside. It was a boy the same age at her, and he was standing in some sort of mechanical pod, banging on the glass and was dressed in some very odd clothing from head to toe. She started from his hands, which were balled into fists and scanned his body up and down from there. His gloves, fingerless, were most likely once a vibrant chocolate colour, but had now faded to a more copper-y colour through repeated use. His arms were mostly bare until just above his elbows, where his shirt and jacket began. His jacket, if it could be called that, was closer to a sweater as it had a white hood that seemed sewn onto the dark green fabric. Stitched onto his left breast, above where his heart was located, was an odd looking symbol which looked like a very tiny tornado contained within a triangle. Said tornado was close to a shade of crimson, where as the triangle that contained the twister was midnight blue. Strapped across his chest was a bandolier, but it held what could only be described as very fat test tubes. There were at least three or four of them strapped onto the belt that was worn on his chest, but only one had an occupant. As she went down, Runo could see that a pair of guns holstered to his slate-coloured pants, though they were unlike anything she had ever seen before. The triggers were simple a silver colour, with the handles being serrated to match where fingers would go. There some sort of small circular mechanism that made up the next part of the guns, glowing bright blue. The barrel itself almost looked like a crab claw, as it wrapped around the small container and left only a small hole where it seemed the tube could be expelled. The "claws" on each gun were gunmetal grey, and had a small but detailed etching of a black panther on each. His boots were just simple black boots, nothing really detailed about them.
But it wasn't the clothes that made her bring a hand to her mouth and gasp softly. It was the person in the clothes, who was still banging on the glass, attempting to kick it with his boot.
"Nathan? Nathan Harlow? ...What the hell happened to you?" Runo asked, catching her fellow teen in the middle of a kick again the glass. He somehow stopped himself before thrusting the boot forward; looking as if the glass had just cleared to let him see out.
"Wait a second...Runo?" He asked in reply, his voice full of surprise and confusion. Having stopped mid-kick, the male lost his balance and soon slid onto his rear end. He didn't seem very fazed about it and soon got right back up, a smile crossing his lips.
"Perfect. I could really use your help right now. If you look, there should be a panel right in front of you, close to the ground." Nathan began, Runo standing there for a moment before crouching down and pushing some dirt to find the panel that he was talking about. She opened it, but didn't look inside until after she spoke.
"Assuming I'm helping your escape Nathan, I want information in return. Tell me where you have been for the past four months."Runo stated her terms simply, pulling out a pair of black rimmed glasses to put them on to inspect the inside of the odd machine.
"Well, if I know Rebound, he'll pop up and be some proof of where I've been the past little while. The reason for my absence is an elaborate world hidden beneath the earth's surface where there are Technicolor slugs. There's no way to get back up, unless of course you get trapped in a mad scientist's trap. " Nathan explained, his claim causing Runo to shake her head disbelievingly until something popped out of the mess of wires, giving off a soft growl. It was a small creature, predominantly reddish-orange in colour with a cream coloured stomach and a grey shell. It had bright blue eyes that were slightly obscured by a pair of tiny, off kilter goggles. The creature itself was small, enough that Runo could fit one or two in the palm of her hand, and very squishy. She stayed surprisingly calm as it popped out of the wires and looked at her with a smile.
"So, this little cutie is one of your slugs?" Runo finally said as she once more leaned in to inspect the wires, holding the slug one hand as she started to pull a couple wires out. Her actions caused mostly cosmetic things, a small noise here and there and some smoke to leak out of the top. Meanwhile, Nathan had sat with the back of his head against the glass tube, with his raven locks brushed over his shoulder. His hair had gotten so long, that it had been tied back into a ponytail, and his bangs were combed around his face.
"You got that right. When that guy I was shouting about earlier, Dr. Mantis, managed to trap me, most of my slugs managed to get out because of him. Rebound here is a Speedstinger slug, and they're pretty smart. He's my little escape artist, actually. Also, you're absurdly accepting of the whole situation." Nathan seemed calm, which was odd considering outburst a few minutes previous.
"To be fair Nathan, you did bring proof alongside you...that and I think I'd believe an old friend.' Runo said quietly as she finally pulled the right wire out, bringing her head out of the compartment as the glass descended with a hiss. Rebound gave the girl and affectionate nuzzle and a smile before making a hop to his master's hand. Nathan then put the slug into one of the containers on his chest, pulling the other one off to inspect and show Runo his other slug. It had neon blue skin, with a much smaller patch of orange on its stomach, and patches of orange on the stubby arms.
"Well, thanks. And just so I don't forget, this is Mash. He's an Armashelt slug, and my go-to guy when slugslinging." Nathan said, quickly changing the subject as he looked from side to side.
"Cute as well. But you're avoiding my point Nathan. We were friends when we entered high school, and we drifted apart. We need to talk about that." Runo stated firmly, crossing her arms as she looked at Nathan, who was still avoiding her gaze.
"Fine, but can we do it inside?"Nathan replied as he loaded one of the two blasters he had, inserting the tube that held Mash into its proper spot. Once they were at Runo's back door, he squeezed the trigger once, and Runo saw something quite amazing. The glowing blue wheel on the side of the blaster lit up, let off a whirring sound and the tiny slug was launched toward the pod that brought Nathan up from underground. Except for the fact that cute little slug wasn't so little anymore. In fact, it had had transformed into a huge cannon-ball shaped monster that had blue arms sticking out, which were covered by orange-shelled gauntlets. It flew forward at an unbelievable rate and smacked right into the pod, blowing it to smithereens, with nothing left of it besides upturned dirt and a bit of shrapnel here or there. Runo coughed softly and tried to clear the dust out of the air before sliding the back door open and walking inside. Nathan followed, but not without waiting for Mash to return to his right shoulder as the other shoulder was occupied by Rebound.
"Okay, yes I will admit we drifted apart. You became head cheerleader and pretty much queen of the school, successful at everything you tried. Meanwhile..." Nathan drifted off, getting a sheepish look on his face
"...Meanwhile you started to pick fights with anyone who decided to cross your path." Runo finished as she lead Nathan into the kitchen, leaning against the counter.
"I'd like to think I just picked fights with the bullies. The biggest bully being your boyfriend Buzz. Or as I like to call him, Barnaby" Nathan countered as he went to the fridge, starting to rummage around for something.
"Ex, actually. I broke it off with him after your supposed death. And okay...he was an ass. I thought I could change him." She mumbled the second half of the sentence, starting to look down. Despite the red shirt she was wearing, she still gripped her upper arms and started to rub them for warmth.
"Oh yeah. Why was I declared dead anyway?" Nathan said as he took a step back from the fridge, using a hand to brush a lock of hair behind his ear
"Well, you vanished into the sewers and never came out again. They assumed you drowned in the undertow or something. And I'll bite. What are you looking for?" Runo asked as she went over to the fridge, leaning in to look inside.
"Salad or greens of any kind. Gotta feed the troops." Nathan said, motioning to his slugs.
"Bottom left drawer. I'll get a bowl." Runo replied as she went over to the cupboards and pulled out a blue plastic bowl, setting it on the counter. Nathan soon filled it with the salad Runo provided, and the slugs dived in, eating the green leaves with joy.
"Hey Runo. Why did you insist on our talk anyways?" Nathan asked after a short silence, his hands sliding into his pockets as he sighed a bit.
"I guess deep down I really wanted to check something. Are we still friends?" Runo countered in a soft voice, clasping her hands together. There was pregnant pause shortly after that, in which the only noise came from the two slugs wolfing down the salad.
"Well, we never did have a big fight that tore us apart, now did we? I'd consider us friends. Why do you ask?" He said in reply, raising an eyebrow.
"Simple. Since it's clear you plan to go back down to whatever that place is called-"
"It's called Slugterra."
"Slugterra. I intend to accompany you when you go back down there." Runo Finished after the interruption from Nathan, crossing her arms and cocking her hips a bit.
"That going to be a problem?"
"Remind me how you convinced me to take you along again?" Nathan said as he pulled the manhole back into place from below, jumping off the short ladder and down into the sewer.
"I threatened to tell your mom about who really crashed her car last summer, and I refused to go away. Well, that and I agreed to wear the so-called "disguise" you thought up." Runo said with an air of smugness, now dressed in the same pair of grey sweatpants and sneakers and a white t-shirt. Over that, she wore a leftover robe from when she dressed up as a Jedi for Halloween. She wore it loosely around herself and would put the hood up once they made the drop down to Slugterra.
"Right. And the getup is only until we get down to Slugterra. I'll take you shopping once we get there. Also, you best turn on the flashlight." Nathan said in reply, leading Runo to a dead end, where he started feeling along the wall. Seconds later, he pushed a big stone button and the wall slid away, revealing a room beyond the wall. Inside was a square hole that seemed to be missing something and went down toward the inner world for a very, very long time. Against the far wall was a cobbled together dirt bike covered in dust and spider webs. Nathan quickly went over and stood the bike up from the leaning position, dusting it off with his gloved hands.
"Seems the chair I took down doesn't come back up or get replaced...so we'll have to improvise." Nathan said with a wild grin as he started the bike up, the motor echoing around the room.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Runo said as he she got on the bike behind Nathan.
"Because it's fun. Now put on your helmet." Nathan said as he put on one for himself, the slugs strapped to his chest starting to cower a bit in their containers. Runo quickly strapped the helmet on and wrapped her arms around Nathan's waist, closing her eyes and he inched the bike forward.
"HERE WE GOOOOOO!"
Well, this had been both a pleasure and a bastard to right, and I've finished Slugterra by now. Tune in next time for re-entry of Slugterra, and the introduction of the Aurora Hollow Gang!