This is actually one of my more favorite chapters. Not quite my number one but I definitely enjoyed writing it. I do really hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.
Don't own Slugterra
It had been another week after their run in with the Hooligang and that time found them wandering near Deadweed cavern. Trixie shivered as they neared an old abandoned mine shaft "Come on. Let's hurry and get out of here." Trixie said in worry.
Eli raised an eyebrow at that "Why?" he asked.
Trixie gave him an odd look "Only because this is like the most haunted place in Slugterra. Rumor has it you need to hold your breath as you pass to prevent the evil spirits from taking you over." she said nervously.
Eli chuckled a little "Well I'm getting a closer look. Besides, isn't Deadweed where frightgiest slugs come from?" he asked, getting closer to the mine shaft.
Trixie flinched "I don't think you understand. This place has a very low survival rate. The legends say that this mine used to be thriving but something happened and a lot of men left the mine screaming. But...not all of the miners left. They were never found again." she said with a shiver.
Eli shrugged "So we can get a new slug, and solve a mystery." he said.
He then grinned at her "Not to mention think of the footage you could get. Real life ghosts!" he urged.
Trixie hesitated but he could see she was warring with herself. Finally she sighed, pulling out her camera "Alright. But I am filming you. I won't put anything on the slug net but this way if we do die then someday some one can know what happened to us." she warned.
Eli nodded "Acceptable. As long as when we get out you edit me out of all the images." he said.
The red head nodded her head as they dismounted, slowly approaching the cavern. As they reached the door Trixie shuddered again "This is crazy. We shouldn't be here. Come on. let's go." she said.
Eli grinned, grabbing her hand and taking her off guard "Come with me." he said, his eyes eager and bright.
Trixie couldn't help it as her face began heating up. She wasn't going to lie. Eli had impressed her before. "Alright." she said quietly.
She then moved to help him open the door, not liking the look of the spooky cavern. But Eli grabbed her hand, pulling her along "See? This isn't to bad. It's just like Halloween." he said casually.
His red headed companion gave him an odd look "What in the 99 caverns is Halloween?" she asked.
Eli froze for a moment before quickly recovering "It's something my dad used to do. Our whole...cavern really. Once a year you dress up in scary costumes and go door to door to get candy from the neighbors." he explained.
His friend raised her eyebrow "Sounds like extortion. But fun. We should try it some time. Maybe once we get a base of our own." she said.
Eli nodded before freezing "Do you hear that?" he asked.
Trixie frowned "Yeah. I almost sounds like..."
"Turn back." Eli whispered.
He shivered as a bit of fear shot through him. He had seen a lot of scary movies with his dad and they had never fazed him but this was actually kind of creepy. Both of them jumped as they heard the sound again, echoing through the caverns. They stayed silent as they crept through the halls, wincing at every movement. Seeing that Trixie couldn't help but smirk "Getting scared?" she asked.
Eli smirked "As if." he said.
He then jumped as a shadow appeared, followed by more. He took a step back as the shadowy images surrounded them, taking shape. "These are...ghosts. Aren't they."
It wasn't a question.
Yes.
They were.
Both Trixie and Eli quickly kicked into high gear, each shooting a slug but they passed harmlessly through, disappearing through the cave. Eli glanced at Trixie "Time to run?" he asked.
Trixie nodded "Time to run." she said firmly.
Both of them wasted no time, bolting down the caverns and away from the ghosts. "There!" Trixie shouted, pointing at an old mine cart.
Eli nodded, helping her push the cart down the tracks. Once it hit enough speed they jumped in, riding it along the beaten tracks, hoping to get away from the danger. They couldn't help their exhilarated grins as the cart shot through the mines "Any idea where this is taking us?" Eli asked.
Trixie shook her head "No. Just that it gets us away from those ghosts." she said.
But unfortunately she would have to eat her words as the cart began going uphill. They both paled as the cart slowed to a stop before slowly...moving... "Floppers." Eli muttered as the cart took off backwards, coasting to a stop right in the middle of the ghosts.
Eli groaned in annoyance while Trixie gave him an irritated glare "If we die. I blame you. Any last words?" she asked, lifting her camera up to Eli's face.
Eli gave her an equally irritated look before it morphed into one of surprise as a train horn sounded through the cavern. Luckily it also attracted the attention of the ghosts. They quickly vacated, leaving the two slug slingers in silence. "That was creepy." Trixie said, earning a nod of agreement from the young Shane.
They cautiously got out of the cart, looking around worriedly but there truly wasn't any sign of the ghosts. "Is that...a train?" Eli asked, hearing the train again.
Trixie frowned "It kind of sounds like the Slugterran Express. It's a train run by Blakk Industries. But I didn't think it ran here." she said.
Eli frowned "Blakk. That was the guy the Hooligang was working for, right?" he asked.
Trixie nodded "Yeah. Maybe we should check this out." she said, moving towards the sound.
Eli nodded, moving next to her and falling in step as they made their way through the once more empty cavern, following the sounds of the train whistle. They frowned as they came across a small room over looking the tracks "Hey, it's the ghosts." Trixie said in a whisper.
Eli nodded, his eyes focusing on the man climbing off of the train "Who is that?" he asked.
The guy kind of reminded him of some sort of demon. Trixie shrugged helplessly "This is as much new territory for me as it is you." she said.
Eli winced "I was afraid you'd say that." he said.
They then watched as some doors opened, allowing the train into a different section of the caves. Trixie quickly combed the area with her eyes before pointing "The control room. Let's go." she said.
Quickly the two made their way to the control room, looking through the glass to see an oddly terrifying sight "What...is that?" Trixie asked.
It was a red water. And around it the men were wearing protective suits, putting the odd liquid on the train "This...is really weird." Trixie said nervously.
Eli nodded, his eyes narrowing as he studied the scene. The demon dude was over seeing the operations with a practiced eye. This made Eli comb his eyes, looking for anything he could use. That was when he saw the ghosts advancing on demon dude. Quickly he nudged Trixie, pointing to the ghosts. She frowned as she looked at the ghosts as well, focusing her camera on them "That's odd. They are trying to make them leave as well." she said.
Eli frowned as demon dude turned, shooting one of the men with a slug and hitting. "How come his slugs hit?" he asked.
Trixie scowled, zooming in "They are using ghouls. Who know what the ghouls actually are." she said.
She then frowned as demon dude walked over, taking a spoon full of the red liquid and adding it to a machine before adding a slug. Both Trixie and Eli exchanged horrified looks before seeing the slug turn into a ghoul, right before their eyes "So that's how he's doing it. He's using this...red water to turn the slugs into ghouls." Trixie said in surprise.
Eli nodded "Yeah. And looking down there he has an enormous supply. Who knows how many slugs he could ghoul with all of that water." he said.
Trixie nodded "What do you want to do Eli?" she asked.
Eli frowned, looking around before grinning slyly "First off I think we need a little...make over." he said.
Trixie frowned in confusion before following his gaze and grinning herself "I think you may be right."
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Both Trixie and Eli walked casually down to the area where the other workers were. They nodded their heads as they made their way purposefully towards what looked like the main control panel. To their luck it was unguarded. "Think you can hack it?" Eli asked Trixie.
The red head cracked her fingers "I can try. Cover me." she said.
Eli nodded, heading away and instantly targeting the closest member to him. Time to do some info gathering "So...exactly who is mister big shot over there?" he asked casually.
The guy looked up from where he was filling a barrel "Aren't you a little young to be here?" he asked.
Eli shrugged "I've been on my own for a while and needed some gold. This job seemed promising but they really failed to give out the information." he said in annoyance.
The man laughed at that "You've got that right kid. By the way, his names Diablos Nacho. Rumor on the streets is he's Blakk's right hand man." he said.
He then scowled "And if he is any indication of what Blakk's like then I pity any poor soul who goes toe to toe with him. Especially the Shane and that Pronto gang." he said.
Eli almost choked "Pronto gang?" he asked.
The man looked surprised and Eli quickly covered his tracks "I'm an orphan. News isn't necessary to live so I usually ignore it. But I will admit you have me curious." he said.
The man chuckled "Very well. Supposedly the group has been coming along and causing trouble for some of Blakk's recruits. If I might be so frank I kind of wish they'd take out this dark water too. It makes me uncomfortable being near it. After all, we all saw what it did to those miners." he said uneasily.
Eli felt cold. Dark water. That's what it was called and this did that to the miners? What ever this stuff was it had to be stopped. There had to be some way of getting rid of it. Suddenly he felt something touch his hand and he glanced down, seeing Doc pop out of a pocket and tugging on his glove. But Eli hesitated. He had seen what the dark water had done to the other slugs. What if it would do the same to Doc? Not to mention there were too many people. One shot now and he'd be cornered for sure. If only he could get a proper distraction.
It was times like this he wondered if Trixie could read his mind.
The control tower went up in a beautiful display of fire and sparks, the red head herself leaving quickly as to cause no worry to her younger companion. Eli quickly took out his blaster, loading Doc into it "You sure about this Doc?" he asked.
Doc nodded in determination. That alone steeled Eli to shoot it at the small pipe that hosed the dark water. Unfortunately the distraction hadn't quite done it's job. Some one saw him and was there to stop him. A harmashelt hit Doc, knocking him off course. Eli scowled, looking up as Diablos approached him, looking angry. Eli didn't get a chance to react as someone grabbed him and forced him to his knees. Eli scowled, his eyes darting around for a way out but it was hard to focus on anything when the imposing figure of Diablos Nacho was bearing down on you. He turned to him with a defiant glare, ready to defend himself "What did you think you were doing?" Diablos asked.
Eli frowned "Trying to help the miners. What's it to you?" he asked.
He was feeling strangely brave. Maybe it was the fact that Trixie hadn't been discovered. There was still hope after all. Diablos scowled (or at least Eli thought it was a scowl. It was hard to tell with him.) as he stared down at the young man "Who are you?" he demanded.
Eli frowned "Names Pronto." he said firmly.
A few of the men gasped, shifting uncomfortably but Eli didn't care. If his 'name' was getting up there he might as well try and use it, right? Diablos frowned, loading his blaster "Well then Pronto, I think it's time we ended your trouble streak right now before it gets worst." he said.
Immediately one of the men stepped up, the one Eli had been talking to "Is this really necessary? He is just a kid after all." the man said in irritation.
Eli couldn't help it. His respect for the man increased ten fold. Diablos however scowled "You want to join him?" he asked.
The man hesitated at that, looking at Eli who slowly shook his head. Hesitantly the man backed down, getting a look of satisfaction from the evil henchmen. Diablos then turned his attention back onto Eli "Any last words...Pronto?" he asked.
Eli grinned "Just one. See ya." he said.
For a moment Diablos looked confused before he was suddenly hit by an arachnets web, being tossed to the side. Eli grinned as he leapt up, dodging behind a barrel and shooting. immediately forces divided. It was odd to see.
Apparently there were a few more who were on the 'kids' side.
Eli grinned as he exchanged blows with some of the other men who didn't agree. He almost felt sorry for them. Almost. But not quite. He then winced as he himself got hit by a surprise shot, knocking him back and away from his cover. it was all Diablos needed. He launched a second shot at Eli, hitting him directly in the head. Eli cried out in pain before feeling an odd over whelming terror come over him. He yelped in horror as he looked around, everything looking much more terrifying than usual. He scrambled back, knocking into a barrel. That truly set his mind into over drive. He scrambled away in fear, fleeing the battle. Seeing this Diablos grinned, reloading the blaster before following closely into the mines. He was going hunting.
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Eli shivered as the effects from the nightgeist slowly faded, still leaving his skin crawling. Around him his slugs watched him in concern, not sure of what to do. Eli smiled weakly "Don't worry guys. I'm okay. That thing just managed to terrify me is all." he said.
He then sighed as he stood up, rubbing his arms "Come on. I think it's time to get back." he said.
He couldn't help but shiver as a breeze swept through the mines "Guess I'm still being affected." he said.
He then sighed as he began walking back through the tunnel. He then jumped, stumbling back as one of the ghosts appeared in front of him. The ghost then morphed into a slug, making Eli sigh in relief before kneeling down "That was a terrifying trick little guy. You know, I could use some skill like that on my team." he said.
The frightgiest chirped happily, jumping into the young Shane's outstretched hand, nuzzling his thumb. Eli grinned "Welcome to the team Spooker." he said. H
e then tensed as he heard a rock shift. He quickly ducked, hiding behind the mining cart he had taken refuge behind as he slowly peaked out, watching as Diablos himself slowly crept up the hall, looking for Eli himself. Eli frowned before he glanced down at Spooker "Alright Spooker, I guess it's time to see what you can do, huh?" he asked.
He then aimed, narrowing his eyes as he focused on Nacho. And he fired. He couldn't help a silent cheer as Spooker hit directly in Nacho's face "Payback." he said.
He then blinked as Nacho looked around, terror now on his face. He smirked as he stood "Not so tough now. Are you?" he asked.
He then shivered, feeling an odd chill in the air. He only had a second to blink before the ghosts surged from around him, running at Nacho and terrifying him back towards the rest. Eli smiled at that, following after the ghosts and joining the charge. When they reached the cavern it was instant pandemonium. People from both sides fled, seeing the ghostly miners charging Blakk's second in command. A few people did remain however. Including the man who had helped Eli earlier. It was that man who immediately took charge "Seal up those wells. Blakk will no longer have control of these mines. Now hurry up! Let's move!" he barked.
Immediately the remaining men gathered their supplies, hurrying and welding shut the wells. The man couldn't help but smile, moving next to Eli who watched awestruck at that. Trixie approached at that point, smiling gratefully at the guy "Thank you. For all of your help." she said politely.
The man smiled "Like I said earlier. Your just a kid. Well, kids it looks like. I'm not about to stoop so low as to hurting a child." he said firmly.
Eli nodded gratefully "Thank you anyways. It means a lot." he said.
Suddenly Trixie jumped, stumbling into Eli as the ghosts began surrounding them, looking eerie and creepy "Thank you, for the help you have given us. We've been trying to stop them from doing this for a while now but that water kind of put us in a weakened state. Between that and the ghouls there was nothing we could do." he said hopelessly.
Eli smiled reassuringly at Trixie before stepping forward "Thank you. For your help." he said.
The miner leader nodded, giving a grateful smile. Eli's eyes then widened as the miners began gaining color. He pointed at the men "You...you're turning back to normal!" he said in surprise.
The miners looked at their hands in surprise before grinning, congratulating each other all around. This in turn got celebration from Blakk's men as well. Both Eli and Trixie exchanged eager grins, feeling excited by the good feelings all around. But as the people began mingling in good humor, Blakk's cast offs helping the miners, Eli couldn't help but frown.
Seeing that Trixie also frowned "Everything okay?" she asked.
Eli shook his head hesitantly, growing worried "I don't feel like this was a victory. Blakk got a lot of dark water. And who knows how much he got out total." he said.
He then frowned, turning away from Trixie 'And if Blakk has made a deal with what ever is down in the deep caverns...then even dad would have trouble keeping Slugterra safe.' he thought.
Now more than ever he needed to stay in Slugterra.
He had to get to the bottom of all of this.