Hello again, fellow readers! I got chapter 2 done! Yay! Enjoy!
Warning: Contains spoilers for the ones who haven't seen the episode "What Lies Beneath".
Chapter 2: Is It Just Coincidence?
We slowly made our way to the site of the battle. We stayed hidden in shadows of the bushes so we wouldn't be detected. We were awe-stricken when we saw who was dueling. He was wearing dark blue jeans with built in kneepads; black boots and fingerless forearm length, dueling gloves; a mostly black, sleeveless, standing collar jacket with white accents; an orange backpack thing; and a bandoleer of slugs thrown across his chest. An orange blaster was gripped in his right hand. What really struck us were his hair and his eyes. His shoulder length hair was navy blue, and his eyes were as blue as the sky. Also, he had an orange star on his bandoleer shoulder pad and his Infurnus slug on his shoulder.
It was Eli. What a coincidence!
"Well, what do you know," I whispered as the shock left me.
I turned by attention to Will. His eyes were tearing up, yet he had a smile on his face. I let a small smile crawl on my face. He was happy to see his son again, even though it wasn't the circumstances we'd expected.
Then I went back to Eli. I realized something after that. Who was he dueling? He was the only one in that clearing.
"How many times do we have to do this, Twist?" he called out.
"As many times I need to take you down!" the voice called Twist answered angrily.
"Blakk is gone! You can live your own life now!"
"Not if there's a Shane patrolling the caverns! It's because of your father that I lost mine!"
I looked back at Will and saw shock take his smile away. I didn't know what the voice named Twist meant, but because of the anger in his voice, it must have been a mistake on Will's part. Then I heard Will gasp as wave of red energy whizzed past my head. When I recovered, I saw Will stuck to a tree by a web spun by the ghouled Arachnet slug standing at the base of the tree.
I saw Eli's face. It was a mix of joy, hurt and sadness. He just stared at his father, unmoving.
A cloud of glitter appeared behind Eli, which was unbeknownst to him. Out from it came a guy about his age. He had spiky blonde hair and teal-colored eyes. He wore a short-sleeve, dark green shirt; a dark brown, unzipped, sleeveless, standing collar vest; dark gray pants with built in dark brown kneepads; dark brown boots and wrist length dueling gloves; and a bandoleer and belt of slugs.
Twist.
"Eli, behind you!" Will shouted.
Like that, Eli turned around and fired a Frostcrawler, but Twist turned to dust again. He appeared once more next to Will, his blaster aimed at the Shane's head. Eli turned to him again as Twist's blaster charged.
Aw, crap, I got to do something!
"Aw, a father worried for his son. How was your trip to the Deep Caverns, Will Shane?" Twist said slyly.
He knows about that?
"What the heck are you talking about?" Eli asked.
Then I heard a little chirp and looked to my shoulder. Flare was sitting there with a confident grin on her face.
"You want a crack at this guy? You got it!" I whispered.
I had no idea what was going on. First, I was battling Twist and next I find myself staring into the eyes of my father. While I was . . . distracted, Twist had the opportunity to shoot me in the back. Luckily, my father noticed this and warned me. I turned around and fired Chiller at Twist, but he disappeared again, and then appearing next to my father, aiming his blaster at his head.
"Aw, a father worried for his son. How was your trip to the Deep Caverns, Will Shane?" Twist said.
At first my eyes narrowed, but widened as he said 'Deep Caverns'.
"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked him.
Then a blaster shot echoed through the clearing and a stream if golden flames darted towards Twist. He vanished once more, but did not appear again.
"Don't worry, Eli. I'll be back when the odds are even!"
With that, the battle ended. I loaded Buzzsaw into my blaster and fired at the web that held my dad. He landed on his knees and I studied him a bit.
He wore the same attire I last saw him in; a white and gray jacket, blue jeans, black boots and gloves.
; But was dirty and tattered. Same went for his hair, which reached his back. He also had a beard. His bandoleer was empty and his blaster clipped to his belt.
"You got some explaining to do," I told him as I helped him up, "But, first . . . Alright, man, show yourself!"
"Actually, it's woman."
A girl no older than me walked out from behind the bushes. She wore a sleeveless, black and purple, hooded jacket with a lime green symbol patched on it. She wore black shorts, black boots that went to her thighs and black dueling gloves that went past her elbows. Like me, a bandoleer of slugs was hanging from her shoulder, but she also had a slug belt. Her purple and lime green blaster clasped onto her belt. Her jet-black hair was long, bangs covering half of her face. What really got me were her eyes; they were a familiar shade of gray.
Then there was a chirp and I saw this cool-looking slug stroll towards her. It looked like Burpy before he reached his mega-morph form, but was white and had gold markings. The girl bent down and let her hand touch the ground for her slug to jump on it. Afterwards, she placed it on her shoulder.
"Sorry you weren't able to hit him, Flare," the girl stated.
Then Burpy chirped in my ear and I looked at him.
"What?" I asked him.
He chirped some more and pointed upwards. I looked up and saw nothing. It only added to the confusion I already have.
"That's not what he's trying to tell you, Eli," my father stated with a smile.
"It's been a long time, Eli," the girl said.
Then I realized who she was.
"Athena! How . . . why are you in Slugterra?!" I asked her.
"Athena! How . . . why are you in Slugterra?!"
I've got to admit, he was kind of cute when he's surprised. He was back then to. When I'd scare or startle him, he'd look shocked and he'd stutter.
"You have never change, Eli. You're easy to startle," I chuckled, "Now, get your mecha and follow us back to our campsite. There we will tell you everything.
At the campsite, we told Eli about earlier and why Athena was down here in the first place. We told him where I have been.
"Darn it!" Eli shouted as he stood up from where he sat.
"Blakk didn't kill me, but sent me to the Deep Caverns," I sighed flatly.
"No, that's not it! If I'd known that you were down there, I would have looked for you during that mission!"
"What mission?" I asked curiously.
Eli sighed. He told us about how he and his friends, "The Shane Gang", which there hasn't been a Shane Gang since my Great- grandmother Alondra and Great-uncle Luke were the Shanes. Anyway, he told us that they were running from Dr. Blakk, outnumbered twenty to four. They were pushed into a nearby canyon that held another Drop. It also held the entrance to the Deep Caverns that was protected by the Guardian slugs and Shadow Clan.
"The Dark Bane was trying to break through, and we used Shadow Clan tech to get inside. However, our slug couldn't transform due to the lack of slug energy. And, I see that the lack of slug energy of that wretched place had took its toll," Eli continued and pointed at my empty bandoleer.
He went on. He said, unfortunately, that they only had one choice if they wanted to stop the Dark Bane's plan; ghoul their slugs. They didn't like it, but it seemed their slugs supported it. Luckily, Eli had a healer like Athena's, but according to Eli, his was green and not white. They battled the Dark Bane, but were still outmatched. Eventually, the door to Slugterra was opened. Eli and his friends had to fight from the other side. The Shadow Clan sentry didn't like what they did to their slugs, but Eli reassured him it was the slugs' idea. At the end of it all, it seemed that Eli's healer, Doc, was the one who closed the door. He healed up the other slugs, including the Guardian slugs, and ended up becoming a Guardian himself.
"Wow . . ." Athena said trying to imagine how the mission really would have gone if she was there.
On the other hand, I remained silent. I can't believe that he had to go through all that, especially at an age so young. Sure, I said he can take up slinging once he reached fifteen, but I didn't expect that. And that was only one mission. How many other adventure has he been on?
"Now, dad, tell me something," Eli told me.
"What is it?"
"Tell me about what really happened to Twist's father and between you and Tom Por."
I think it's a little shorter than the last one, but, it qualifies. I hope you liked it!