It was just a regular mission of stopping Blakk from conquering another cavern. Another battle between the Shane gang and a bunch of Blakk's soldiers. And with the end of the battle was another victory for the Shane gang.
Of course, this time the soldiers just went and left their ghouls behind to form a pack somewhere. Something the Shane gang couldn't afford, according to Eli.
Ever since the recent events with the Shadow Clan, Eli was worried that if the ghouls were given a chance to grow in numbers, it might weaken the magic of Slug Terra even farther than before.
So even if they didn't have Doc anymore, Eli had the gang set to round up and capture any ghouls they found to bring to the Shadow Clan. Maybe then, Doc could cure them.
The Boon Doc slug named Doc surely had come a long way from where he was before with a boy named Billy of the Hooligang. Once thought to be useless because he couldn't "explode" or "blow things up", Doc now served a purpose even greater than Billy could even imagine: He was a Guardian Slug, serving to protect Slug Terra from the evil forces of the Dark Bane.
Having to be with the Shadow Clan most of the time now, Eli missed him. He often wished Doc could come by the headquarters to visit or to just say a simple "Hi". The Shane gang sure needed him right now. These ghouls were giving them trouble; they hissed, tried to bite, and growled every time one of the gang got near them.
The slugs made it easier to round them up since they were about the same size as they were, but the little demons just wouldn't stop to cooperate.
One ghoul seemed to be smart enough to get away without anyone noticing. But Eli saw it before it got too far and chased after it.
It looked like it was really trying to get away, but Eli managed to catch up to it before it slipped into a hole.
Luckily, the hole proved to be a dead-end and Eli had it cornered.
"Alright, little guy," Eli called to the ghoul, "Come on out!"
Eli got a good look at the little monster as it threatened to hurt him with a low growl. It looked to be a black-and-red Fandango slug with eyes as red as Dark Water and long, sharp fangs. It kinda looked like a tiny slug vampire to Eli. It was almost cute. Too bad he didn't have a camera or something to remember this moment before he took it to be cured.
"It's okay," Eli reassured it as he carefully reached his left hand out to grab it, "I'm not going to hurt you."
Just as Eli thought he was going to get it, the ghoul jumped on him and bit him on the forearm.
"OUCH!" Eli yelped and held his arm against his body while the ghoul hopped away happily.
"ELI!" Eli heard Trixie calling him from behind and turned to face her and the others, "What happened? We heard a shout."
"I was trying to catch a ghoul that tried to get away," Eli explained, "But it jumped on me and bit my arm."
"That bite looks pretty nasty, Bro," Kord pointed out, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Eli reassured him.
"You shouldn't do something like that, Eli!" Trixie scolded him as she pulled out a bandage to wrap around the bite wound, "It could've turned out much worse than this."
"Yeah," Eli agreed, "I know. Sorry, Trix."
"Well," Pronto put in, "How about we just forget about all of this and just deliver these little beasts to the Shadow Clan, shall we?"
"Actually, Pronto," Eli said holding his head, "You guys go ahead and do that. I suddenly don't feel so good. I think I'm going home for the day."
"You sure you don't need someone to go with you, Eli?" Kord asked him, worried.
"If one of you wants to come with me, it's fine," Eli told his gang. Everyone looked at each other and back at Eli before they went to get on the Mecha beasts.
After that, the gang split up; Pronto and Eli heading home, Trixie and Kord set to make the delivery of ghouls to Shadow Clan territory.
On the slow ride home, Burpy began to sense that something wasn't right with his slinger. Something began to feel...off about him. Something inside of him was...changing, becoming...dark and scary...almost terrifying. Burpy didn't like this feeling he was getting off of the slinger he trusted the most. He began to look at Eli worriedly as Eli began to show signs of having a headache.
Shortly after the bite was made, Eli began to feel light-headed and strange. He felt something-a second nature, perhaps-begin to stir within his being. It was almost as if a darker side of him was beginning to awaken. A darker side Slug Terra would not soon forget.
