The Girl from the Unknown by The Lady of dragons
Prolog: It has been several months since Eli was captured, several months since his friends failed to save him, several months since he was thrown into a secret prison built just for him that only Dr. Blakk knows about, several months since he was placed into a trance of fear, one that left him paralyzed and unable to summon the courage to even lift a finger. A hollow ring-like collar around his neck, filled with dark water keeps him that way; so afraid of everything that he can't even sleep. His slugs are held somewhere else in the prison, in a very similar situation. Blakk decided against using them as ghouls; if they manage to escape somehow, they could lead the rest of the Shane gang right to Eli. Blakk couldn't have that, now could he? That is all about to change very soon…
Now that the dramatic intro is out of the way, let me start at the beginning:
Chapter 1 – Prison Break
Part 1 – Capture
"We're almost to Lumino Cavern!" Eli shouted over his shoulder as the Shane Gang rode through a small grotto on their way to answer a distress call from the mining cavern.
"Just over the bridge around the next corner and we should be there," Trixie yelled back.
"Hey, guys, something's not right here," Kord called, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"What are you talking about? Everything is fine; there is no need to worry," Pronto declared.
"That's the problem," Kord replied.
Eli frowned, "Now that you mention it, it is a little odd that we haven't been attacked yet."
"Maybe they have all just run away in fear from the magnificent Pronto!" the molenoid proclaimed arrogantly.
"Somehow, I don't think that's what happened! Look!" Trixie pointed urgently up the trail. At least a dozen of Blakk's men stood atop a hill, all armed, and all aiming directly at the Shane Gang.
"Now things are starting get back on track!" Eli raced towards the men, whooping with excitement. This was what he lived for.
"Eli, wait up!" Trixie shouted after him. "What are you doing!?"
"Relax, Trix! I'm just having a bit of fun, that's all!"
"Pronto does not want to state the obvious, but shouldn't we be up there with him?" Pronto said to Kord and Trixie
"Yeah, we should, but shouldn't they have fired a shot by now?" Kord pointed out.
"You're right, Kord. This isn't right, it's not like them at all," Trixie shook her head.
Kord cupped his hands and yelled, "Eli! Get out of there now, bro! Something's not right about this!"
But Eli did not hear him. He was too busy firing his slugs at the men as they scattered. Well that's odd, he thought. They should've at least shot something at me by now. And then it happened:
Five men jumped out from the bushes, slinging Attacknet slugs—ghouled Arachnet slugs—at Eli. He was caught by surprised, and knocked off of Lucky, immobilized by the sticky webs even as his friends raced to help him. Another one of Blakk's men fired a slug at him; he couldn't see what kind it was. There was a sudden pain as it hit him and he started to lose consciousness. The last thing he saw was Dr. Blakk standing over him, laughing, and his friends running towards him. He heard them shout his name, and then he blacked out.
Part 2 – A Prisoner of Your Own Mind
When Eli came to, he found himself in a small, grey, square room. To his dismay, he was bound by shackles on his wrists and ankles, all connecting to a central chain, several inches thick, that was seamlessly welded to a metal ring in the floor.
He felt something strange around his neck, and when he looked down he saw the edge of some strange collar. There were no laser bars in the cell, no windows, no way to tell where he was. The room had one door; the only thing that betrayed it's presence was the outline of the frame set into the wall. But beyond that, there was nothing: no knob, or handle, not even a lock. No way to open it from the inside.
Suddenly a holographic video screen came on in front of Eli. "Hello, Eli," said the voice of Dr. Thaddius Blakk.
"You think that you can keep me here, Blakk?!" Eli cried, yanking at his chains in an attempt to stand up.
"Dear boy, I don't think; I know. There is no way for you to escape on your own, and there is no way anyone is coming to save you. I am the only person in all of Slugterra who knows where you are. I had this prison built especially to hold you. There are no human guards; only androids, and the entire structure is rigged to come down on top of you if you even set foot outside that door. I won't go into any further detail; you'll soon be far to incapacitated to worry about anything else," he chuckled evilly.
"What do you mean!? Tell me!" Eli shouted at the screen.
Blakk grinned, "That ring around your neck? It is filled with dark water."
Eli flinched, noticeably moving more warily, "What is this, Blakk? Are you planning to make me work for you?"
"No such thing, Eli Shane. You would be far more trouble than it is worth to make you serve me. That ring is going to keep you here, and that is all I am going to say on the matter. Oh, and have a nice nightmare."
With that, the hologram vanished and the sound of a blaster being loaded came from above Eli's head. He looked up and saw a Nightgeist being fired at him. He braced himself for the impact and when it hit him, the visions began. He waited for them to subside when the effect of the slug wore off, but they did not subside. They began getting worse, until it seemed like he was in a waking nightmare, not just the distorted reality that the slugs usually induced.
He swayed on his feet, dropping to the floor. Sounds became distorted and his vision faded out. Everything went dark as the nightmare took hold.
Weeks passed and he didn't even realize it, trapped in that state as he was. He remained thus for so long, that he eventually slipped into a coma. His body shut down and his mind dragged him through horror after horror for several months.
His friends searched for him everywhere, turning town after town upside down in their desperate hunt. They even went to Blakk's main base and blasted their way through it looking for Eli. They searched until they had nowhere left to look…
THE END
Just kidding! Let the story continue!
Part 3 – A Mysterious Liberator
Eli had been a prisoner for several months; all hope of finding him had been lost a long time ago. His friends still helped people where they could, but they stopped calling themselves the Shane gang. After all, what was a Shane gang without a Shane? Eli was still in his nightmare coma and Blakk had been surprisingly inactive; no doubt plotting the finer details of his conquest and some nefarious plan or other.
Deep underground, beneath the cavern floors of Slugterra, where Blakk had cleverly hidden Eli's prison, someone else snuck through the empty halls.
She had already taken down the androids guarding the place and disabled the trigger that would have caused the whole place to collapse should an alarm be set off—not that she had any intention of doing so—and was now passing through the empty hallways, trying to avoid springing any other traps or motion-detectors on her way to the control room.
"Alright, Rebound," she whispered to the Speedstinger slug in her hand. "I'm going to stick the jamming beacons on your head and all you have to do is touch the wall next to the cameras to get them to stick and put the video feed on a loop. Got it?" The little creature nodded enthusiastically and chirped quietly. "Good." The girl grabbed her blaster and took careful aim, sizing up the angles of her shot. She fired the slug and was able to get it to ricochet properly to each of the cameras.
Without skipping a beat, she dashed down the hall into the control room, scooping up the slug on her way in. She sat down in the chair and studied to control panel before her. A Tazerling slug hopped onto her shoulder and chirped excitedly: it loved technology.
"What do you say, Volt?" Can you get me what I need?" Volt nodded and began to hop around the keys and buttons. The large screen instantly flared to life showing all sorts of data, including the video feed from the other parts of the prison. "There!" the girl hissed as her slug found the cameras to Eli's cell. He was out cold on the ground. "Alright, can you get me the pass code to his cell door?" Her slug chirped happily and jumped around the keys some more. Seconds later, some digits and letters appeared on the screen. The girl punched them into the small device she was holding. "What about his slugs? They weren't in the room with him. Can you find them?" The Tazerling gave her a nod and found what she was looking for. "Perfect," she said as she punched in the pass code for them too. "One last thing; I need you to put the cameras in the rest of the prison on loop." Volt nodded and hopped around again until the cameras were down.
She made her way to Eli's cell carefully. There was no such thing as too careful when Blakk was involved. Once she was there, she plugged her little device into the electronic locking system that secured the door and entered the pass code. The door slid open smoothly and she stepped inside.
There he was: the hero of Slugterra, a prisoner of the cruelest mad man in the entire world. How sad it was to see someone so honorable in such a horrible place. She had heard of how he tried to help anyone who needed it, how he was kind to his slugs and was a great slinger.
When she had been younger, Blakk had come to her home cavern and attempted to destroy it so he could build something or other. Will Shane had protected them from Blakk; Eli's father had been a great man. She owed the Shanes more than she could ever repay, considering that her life hadn't been destroyed because of them. Helping Eli now was the least she could do. And besides, it was the right thing to do.
She bent down to him and tried to wake him up, but he would not move. "Eli, wake up," she whispered loudly. Still nothing. A slug crawled up onto her shoulder and tried to get her attention. "What is it, Medic?" she asked the little Healer slug. (AN: Yeah, I know, cheesy name. Just bear with me here, okay?) The slug pointed at the ring around Eli's neck and made some odd motions by repeatedly opening its arms wide. "You want me to take it off?" she asked. Medic chirped in the affirmative, and when she had, the healer began to jump trying to get her attention again. "You think you can wake him up?" When Medic nodded, the girl stood and loaded her blaster, then quickly fired.
Eli felt something, something different than the constant darkness that surrounded him. It seemed like the shadows were weaker than usual, and he could have sworn someone else was there. He tried to move, to answer the unspoken question, but he was not strong enough to even make a sound. Then he felt something like cool water spread through him. It pushed all the darkness back, letting the light in. His strength rapidly began to return and he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a girl his age, with long black hair and dark green eyes, standing over him and holding a half raised blaster. She was talking to someone he couldn't see.
"Did it work?" the girl asked the unknown person. Then Eli realized that she was talking to the slug in her hand. It looked like a Healer slug.
He tried to ask her where they were, who she was, and what was going on, but all that came out was a moan.
Her eyes immediately focused on his, "It worked." She bent down and put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, are you alright?"
"Owww… Wha..?" he tried again to ask what was going on, but again he only managed a groan.
"Can you stand?"
He gave up trying to talk and just nodded weakly.
"Come on then, we need to get your slugs and get you all out of here," she said as she helped him up, supporting him when his legs wouldn't hold his weight.
The two made their way down the halls of the prison to the room where Eli's slugs and gear was. "Wait here," she told him, and entered the room. He sat down against the wall outside trying to get his mind to function properly. A few moments later the sound of a blaster being fired came from the room and she walked our carrying his bandolier, his blaster, and a case full of his groggy slugs. She helped him put on his bandolier and his slugs hopped inside it. He put his blaster on its belt clip and looked at his dark haired rescuer for what to do next.
"We need to get out of here. Follow me. I found your mecha in the upper levels and hid it outside with mine." She walked through the hallways and he followed her. They reached and elevator shortly, she punched in some sort of access code and the doors sprung open. They walked in and he felt it lurch upward as they moved upwards. When the doors opened he was confused for a moment because he saw more of the same hallways from before, then he remembered she had mentioned upper levels and figured that was where they were.
She led him through some more hallways and to a staircase that looked like the exit. He was about to sigh with relief and ask her what was going on, but she signaled him to remain silent. She walked slowly and carefully up the stairs, alert for any signs of danger or the enemy. When she was half way up she signaled for him to follow and the two of the walked to the exit.
She pushed the huge doors open just enough for them to pass through. They walked outside and Eli saw why no one had found him before now. If he hadn't come from the inside of the prison he would never have been able to tell it was even there; which then brought to mind the question of how she had known it was. The doors fit seamlessly into the stone around them and the stone looked deceptively thin, discarding the possibility that anything could be inside it. Since the rest of the prison was underground, there were no signs of any kind, and being that the guards were androids, they had no need to leave or reason to do so. It was the perfect trap—almost.
The dark haired girl led him a secluded spot a good distance away from the doors. She pulled back the natural curtain of leaves and vines—they were in a jungle cavern Eli did not recognize—and revealed both of their mechas. Lucky was there and Eli felt relieved to see something familiar that wasn't nightmare distorted. He looked at her mecha: it was a some sort of white feline, most likely a leopard or tiger. Some of the basic design was similar to Lucky's, but there were more differences than similarities between the two. "Come on we just have to ride a little ways until we get to the safe place I set up, then you can collapse," she said as she walked over to her mecha. Eli nodded, too exhausted to speak. She helped him onto Lucky and then mounted her own beast, and the two of them raced off along a trail, far away from the prison.
THE END (This time for real)