More two-parters? More cliffhangers? Oh what terrible things could I have in mind for the young Shane?! Only one way to find out!

"Come on guys!" Eli yelled after his friends. They were riding their mechas at top speed, pursuing Blakk's henchmen towards the looming citadel. Slugs and ghouls were being fired back and forth, causing the rocks to tremble around them.

"Come on Eli, we should turn back." Trixie called after the black haired boy. "We're going to get crushed by these rocks!" And if to prove her point, Pronto let out a scream, barley avoiding a giant boulder.

"Yeah," Kord agreed as a Thrasher zoomed by his ear. "I think this is the sorta situation where Zaylee would say we're over our heads or something like that."

Eli rolled his eyes. "We're going to be fine! We are not biting off more than we can chew, and if we do get in to serious trouble, I'm sure Zaylee will show if we need her."

"Just because she's been here to save our butts lately, doesn't mean she'll be there every time we need help." Kord warned.

"Well, I'm sure we won't need her help." Eli huffed; shooting a Rammstone and knocking a henchman clean off their mecha. "We're totally capable, see?" he assured them, as they sped past the fallen henchman.

They continued towards the cavern Blakk called home. The Dark Water that Pronto had released into the ground appeared to have done no damage to the area. They continued riding, chasing after the henchmen.

"Eli, we should seriously consider going back!" Kord yelled, as slugs continued to hit the rocks looming above their heads, causing the whole cavern to shake.

"No! Whatever they're carrying can't be good!" Eli pointed to the giant cart in the center of their enemy's ranks.

Eli pressed on, ahead of the rest of his Gang. He shot Burpy, the slug flying out at full force. He wasn't going to give up.

"Eli!" Trixie's voice rang out behind him. She sounded so far away. Had they decided to turn back? He turned around to look for them, but a mountain of rocks blocked the path. He turned back around. The henchmen had taken the offensive, and he had no escape. He raised his blaster, but found it empty. He blanched. He had no other choice but surrender.

Trixie looked at the rocks blocking the path and separating the Gang from their leader.

"We need to go back and save him!" she demanded, "There's no telling what they'll do to him!"

"It's too dangerous." Kord said, "We aren't strong enough to pull a rescue mission right now."

"But I am sure he will be fine," Pronto offered.

"We have to find Zaylee," Trixie was bordering on hysteria. "She'll know what to do!"

"Don't bother; she's out until the weekend doing some sort of mission with Xia and Pulse." Pronto informed her.

"Where!? We have to go find them!" Trixie yelled.

"I'm not sure," Pronto frowned, "Erin was very vague about the whole thing."

"And they won't be back until this weekend!? Do you know how far away that is!?"

"I doubt she'd even help us, she probably has other things on her plate to deal with." Kord admitted.

"And besides, I am sure Eli will return before then." Pronto smiled, trying with increasing effort to hide his uncertainty.

But Trixie wasn't convinced. She just knew Eli was in trouble.

"I'm surprised you haven't killed me yet." The young Shane tried to joke with the henchman who was leading him down the corridors of Blakk's fortress.

"No," A deep voice came from behind him. The henchman stiffened. "Blakk has other things in mind for you." The voice continued. Eli hesitantly turned around and found himself face to face with El Diablos Nacho. Blakk's second in command grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him into a holding cell the terrified henchman had opened.

"Make sure he doesn't escape." Nacho barked at him.

"And you!" the monster called to a passing crony, "Find his slugs!"

The trembling guards in grey gave a nervous salute as Nacho stomped off.

Eli sat dejectedly in the cell, having tried every means of escape and failing; not even able to get out of the stupid room. He sat on the floor of the empty hole, wishing that is friends would hurry up and get him out of this mess. What was taking them so long anyways? Zaylee would have had him out of here in under an hour, so why was he still here?

He continued searching his brain for answers, when the door to his cell opened, and no other than Dr. Blakk stood in its entrance.

"Well Eli, I'm so glad you finally decided to show up." He smirked.

Eli just grimaced at the man while two henchmen handcuffed him and led him behind the imperious villain.

"I gotta say your little cavern cleaned up nicely after last week's incident." Eli tried to sound as menacing and fearless as possible.

"Please Eli, Dark Water doesn't destroy things, it only enhances things. This cavern was made for Dark Water, and now, in my opinion, it's better. So I suppose I owe you a bit of thanks."

"It's still prone to rock slides," Eli sneered, referencing the morning's events.

"Ah yes, this morning," Blakk smiled. "I must thank you again. Even if it pains me," He sneered. "That shipment got here twice as fast as I expected it to. And I even have a test subject now. All thanks to you."

Eli frowned; worry beginning to clutch at his heart. "What was the shipment?"

"Just a little something from an old lab of mine. I've had many failures with it, lacking the proper subject. But I think it's time to rev it up and give it another go."

Eli's frowned deepened. "And what exactly does it do?"

"For that my dear boy, you will have to wait and see." Blakk grinned evilly at Eli before turning to another henchman.

"Make sure the machine is ready when I get there. I don't want to waste any time."

The henchman nodded and ran ahead of the group. Blakk continued walking at a leisurely pace, Eli being forced along behind him.

"It's really quite a shame it doesn't work on everybody. I can't imagine what I would be capable of if it did." Blakk talked on, referencing his mysterious machine. "But I'm sure it would be wonderful. However, it only seems to work on strong slingers; that's where you come in. And I just know you'd be happy to oblige in this little test."

"Not really." Eli deadpanned.

"Shame, you don't really have a choice." They had reached their destination, and a door automatically slid open, revealing a dark colored lab, and men running around in protected suits making the final preparations.

Eli looked up at the contraption. It was huge, built to fit a person with shackles that completely covered the hands and feet, and needles everywhere. Supporting the contraption was a huge container full of Dark Water. Eli gulped, he had no escape. Blakk nodded to Nacho, who took the boy and strapped him to the contraption, clasping the black and red shackles to his hands and feet. He winced as he felt needles prick his fingers and wrists, as well as the balls of his feet and the back of his ankles. Next, Nacho proceeded, attaching needles to the veins in his neck, arms, legs, and sides, taking special pleasure when he saw the subject wince in pain.

"Good work, before you know it, he'll be just like you." Blakk smiled to his green henchman. "Perhaps even better. I'm sure your other master would be incredibly pleased about the progress on this machine." He grinned as he put on a protective suit of his own before flipping the switch. The dark water began to glow, entering the tubes and going through the needles attached to Eli's body. He began screaming in pain as Blakk laughed maniacally.

Eli never knew what he was really getting into when he took the plunge. Making new friends, reconnecting with old ones, and saving the world were all things any Shane could expect to experience. But facing such an evil as Dr. Blakk? No, he had no idea what he was getting into. And now he was in over his head with no way out. Zaylee was right, and he wished so desperately that she was here to save him. However, neither she nor any of his other friends were here to save him. He was about to see the true uncensored power of evil, and he wasn't sure he would live to tell the tale.

He wasn't sure if the dark water that was about to be injected into his veins would poison him, or kill him.