Strange
This takes place a week after Snatch was arrested.
"Ok everyone we will begin the Pro-Slingers' Competition very shortly!" announced the announcer.
"Did you here that?" asked Save who is perched on Leo's shoulder as he neared the giant arena.
"We need to hurry!" said Leo as he parked Walker near the giant arena & hopped off.
"Relax, the competition isn't going anywhere." said Sydney as she & Leo's friends parked their mechas.
"I know but we need to hurry to get our seats!" yelled Leo as he entered the arena.
"He's so excited, as if he's never seen a pro-slingers duel before." said Christi. But it was the truth the only expert slingers Leo ever saw was Eli & the Shane Gang.
Christi & the others entered the arena & they spouted Leo waiting for them on a balcony. They made their way too him "See we took our time & we made it." said Sydney as the first matches began.
Leo's & Save's face light up as he saw 4 individual duels take place. Leo's attention however went to a man who was around 24 years old. He has tan skin, he's slim but athletic, & he has brown hair. He's wearing a dark blue short with a black jacket & grey pants.
"Who is that?" asked Leo pointing to the man.
"Are you kidding?! That's Brian Dwin!" answered Christi "He's like one of the best slingers around."
"Really?" asked an interested Leo as he watched Brian defeat his opponent.
After that the competition continued Brian continued to win against his opponents with his impressive slugs & skills. In the pre semifinals match Brian fired a powerful Tazerling to win him the duel.
"That Tazerling of his is impressive." complimented Sydney as Brink & the Tazerling appeared on the giant screens.
"Yeah it is impressive." agreed Leo as he viewed the Tazerling it speared to be twitching & its eye balls appeared to be yellow.
"I can agree." said Christi as she fiddled on her computer "That Tazerling is strong, it has a high level of experience." Leo looked at the screen to see a horizontal bar that showed the level of the Tazerling & it appeared that its level is in the middle of the bar.
After that they watched the next couple of matches & then Brian won his semifinals match, but he didn't use his Tazerling.
So the finals arrived Brian readied himself as he walked into the arena. The announcer fired his Phosphoro to signal the duelers to begin. Brian immediately fired a Rammstone at the opposite slinger. The slinger avoided the slug & fired an Armashelt at Brian. Brian dodged the attack, loaded, & fired a Lavalynx. The slug sprayed lava all over the place & the lava trapped the slinger. The slinger fired a Frostcrawler to cool the lava creating rock & must. Brian quickly fired a Tormato who blew away the mist. The slinger then fired a Rammstone, Armashelt, & Grenuke at Brian. Brian smirked and loaded his Tazerling, who was growling & twitching around in its tube. Brian fired the Tazerling at the oncoming slugs. The Tazerling velacimorphed & raced past the slugs with great speed & it electrocuted the slugs at it passed by, causing them to turn back into protoforms. The Tazerling then flew to the top of the cavern & created a giant storm cloud that blasted lightning right at the opponent causing him to crash into the wall with a broken blaster.
"And the winner is Brian Dwin!" declared the announcer as Brian claimed a medal.
"That was amazing!" cheered Garo. They all cheered & agreed with Garo, except Leo.
Instead Leo was examining the Tazerling for he sensed something strange about the slug. "Christi, can you measure that Tazerling's level again?" he requested.
"Sure, but why?" I already measured its level earlier." said a confused Christi.
"Just do it." ordered Leo.
Christi obeyed & pulled out her computer. "No way!" she yelled as she stared at the screen. "Guys look here!" she said as she turned the computer to let everyone else to see. "That Tazerling's level is almost near megamorph! But it was nowhere near that level earlier!" explained a shocked Christi.
"I knew it! There's something wrong with that slug!" declared Leo "And we have to find out what."
"Ok how do you plan on doing that?" asked Garo
"Simple, we talk to the slinger that has the slug." answered Leo as he walked off to find Brian Dwin.
Leo, his friends, & Sydney walked around the stadium until they found the locker room, with 2 security guards standing by the entrance. "He's probably in there." suggested Quiver.
"Yeah but how do we get past the guards?" asked Garo
"Don't worry about that." answers Leo as he loaded Dumpster into his blaster.
"But what about when we get inside, Brian might try to hurt us if we get to nosy, & then he'll probably have the guards track us down?" asked Christi
"I got that covered too." answered Leo as Sorry hopped onto his shoulder. Leo then aimed his blaster & fired Dumpster who sprayed the guards with an awful gas causing them to pass out. Leo then fired Sorry who turned Leo & Christi back into the disguises that they used at the mall, Garo & Sydney became security guards, & Quiver became a very short & pudgy security guard. They walked out, moved the unconscious guards into a nearby closet, Garo & Sydney stood at the entrance as Leo & the others snuck into the locker room. When they entered Leo told Quiver to mole around & look for clues while he & Christi interrogate Brian. Quiver obeyed & snuck off to look around. Leo & Christi turned a corner & they spotted Brian talking to one of the slingers that lost earlier in the competition. "Excuse me Mr. Dwin." said Leo as he approached him.
"Hi, there." said Brian as he held out a signed photo of himself. "This is what you want right?" asked Brian
"Actually no image just wanted to ask you a couple of questions." explained Leo.
"Well ask away." answered Brian.
"Well you see sir we're Niobe slingers & we were hoping if you could give us some tips?" asked Leo
"Tips, huh? Ok, if you want to be a good slinger then you need quality slugs." answered Brian
"But what stands as quality?" asked Christi
"Well, quality for slugs means that the more powerful they are the better." answered Brian.
"Speaking of stronger slugs." said Leo "We noticed that your Tazerling seemed to be even more powerful in the last matches compared to when you used it earlier." Brian's face began to look a little nervous.
"Well that's because I used a different Tazerling!" answered Brian nervously
"Really then you don't mind if we see this stronger slug?" asked Leo
"Uh, sorry but that slug isn't here right now." answered Brian
"Not here?" asked Christi "You just used it."
"Well... Uh... Oh look at the time I have to get going!" said Brian as he checked his watch. "Sorry kids but I have to run. But just remember stronger slugs makes a better slinger!" he shouted as he exited the locker room.
"If he's not hiding something, then I'm going to need glasses." said Christi as Sorry's allusion disappeared.
"Yeah he is hiding something, and we need to find out what it is." agreed Leo
"Look what I found!" shouted Quiver as he ran up to Leo & Christi, & Garo entered the locker room. "Look here." he ordered as he held out a badge with a gold H on it.
"Where did you find this?" asked Leo
"In Brian's locker." answered Quiver "And I also found this." added Quiver as he held out a yellow slug tube, that has a yellow cover on top, & it has a yellow eyed Tazerling inside.
"That's the Tazerling!" declared Leo
"Yeah the one that's supposedly not here." said Christi.
"Just look at its eyes." said Sydney
"There is something wrong with this slug. We need to find out what." said Leo
"Yeah, so what's the next plan?" asked Garo
"Easy we follow Brian." answered Leo
After that they immediately left for their mecha-beats & they ride to the edge of the cavern where they found Brian in a rush to get somewhere. They followed him from afar, Leo had a velacimorphed Flight to follow from above is they wouldn't lose him & they could stay out of sight. They followed him for 30 minutes until he stopped at a hidden fortress.
The fortress is giant & surrounded by a giant wall with turrets installed all around it. "Lets go." said Leo as he popped out of the bushes but Garo grabbed him & pulled him back in the bushes.
"Are you crazy?" Garo asked "That wall isn't built to protect people it's meant to keep people out."
"So then how do we get in?" asked Christi.
Leo examined the wall "We can't get through it & we can't go over it without being noticed."
"So how are we getting inside?" asked Christi. Leo didn't answer instead he turned to face Quiver.
"What?" asked a nervous Quiver. But the next thing he knew was that Quiver is digging a tunnel. "How did you convince me to do this?" asked an annoyed Quiver.
"Don't complain, I mean you are a mole." said Leo
"I may be a mole but that doesn't mean I can just dig tunnels whenever you feel like it." complained Quiver as he continued to dig.
Quiver dug for another minute before he popped his head out of the ground & saw that they were past the wall & now in the building in a supply closet. "We're in." said Quiver as he crawled out of the hole with the others close behind.
"Great job, Quiver." complimented Leo.
"Alright, now what?" asked Christi.
"Now we go find answers." answered Leo as he opened the door to the supply closet. He looked around, walked out into the hall, & gestured that it was clear. The others joined him & they began to sneak around the building. Eventually found a metal door with 2 guards, with badges that have the gold H on it.
Save hopped over to them, stuck his tongue out, & mocked them. The guards got upset & chased after the Pulter slug only to be knocked out by Garo. They placed the unconscious guards in a nearby room, opened the metal door, & quietly entered. Leo looked around to see a wide room with Brian at the middle, who did not notice them enter. They quickly snuck behind some weird looking machines & tables to avoid being seen.
Leo peered over the machines to see Brian talking to a strange man, who sat at a desk. The man appears to be in his late 20s, he has pale skin, & dark blond hair. He's wearing a black shirt with black pants & boots, along with an orange gold jacket with a gold H placed on his bandolier which contains yellow slug tubes.
Leo turned to his friends & Sydney, he gestured for them to spread out & to be ready, he then loaded Basher into his blaster, while everyone else spread out.
"Did my improvements serve you well?" asked the strange man.
"It sure did." answered Brian "That's why I'm here, I'd like to have the rest of my slugs to be improved."
"Yes of course, but first I need to examine that Tazerling of yours, so that I can make sure it is stable." answered the strange man.
Brian reached to his bandolier to grab the Tazerling's yellow slug tube, only it wasn't there. He began to frantically look around his belt & blaster to see if it was there. Leo approached blaster aimed "Looking for something?" he asked as he held up the yellow slug tube with the Tazerling inside.
"Give that here kid." ordered Brian as he reached for his blaster, but Leo's blaster began to charge up, giving him the message to not to grab the blaster.
"Who are you?!" asked the strange man as he stood up from his desk.
"That depends. Who are you?" asked Leo
"Wait, I know you." said the strange man "You're that new Shane brat I've been hearing about. But how did a Shane find this place?"
"Easy he led me here." answered Leo gesturing to Brian.
"You led him here?!" asked the strange man angrily to Brian
"No I didn't!" pleaded Brian
"Actually you did, right after you rudely left the locker room when we were in the middle of a conversation." explained Leo as Sorry hopped onto his shoulder.
Brian was confused at first & then he realized "You were that kid that was asking me questions!" declared Brian
"Yeah, and I knew something was fishy after seeing this slug in battle." said Leo as he placed the fiddled the yellow slugs tube.
The strange man began to laugh "There's nothing fishy going in here. It's just business." he said as he approached Leo, who aimed his blaster at him. The man stopped "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Hector Brink or just Brink. You see boy there is nothing wrong with that slug it merely has more power than it did before."
"Yeah power that can cause done real damage." said Leo angrily
"Yes they can." agreed the strange man as he pulled out his blaster & aimed it at Leo's head. "You see boy my slugs have been powered up with a special energy that makes turns them into my Hyper slugs."
"Hyper slugs?" asked Leo
"Yes, you see Hyper is my company that will power up any slug, for a price." answered Brink. "But because you are a Shane I can allow you to test out my system, & if you work for me you can get Hyper slugs for free." offered Brink.
"You want me to join you? No way, your using slugs for profit!" answered Leo
"You do realize that you are outnumbered here." said Brink as Brian loaded a Hyper Hop Rock and aimed his blaster at Leo. "So if I were you I would take the offer."
Leo pondered & answered "Na." After he had said that his friends & Sydney circled Brink & Brian blasters aimed & ready. "Looks like you're the ones outnumbered."
"So you think." said Brian. Just then the metal doors opened & a giant group of Hyper slingers stood there blasters aimed. Quiver freaked & fired at them causing everyone else to do the same. Brink grabbed Leo, snatched the Hyper Tazerling, & then threw him at the wall.
"Oh that hurt." said Leo as he picked himself up. Just then Brian fired a Hyper Grenuke at him, he dodged it as the slug exploded & created a giant hole that led to the hallway. "Guys through here!" called Leo. His friends & Sydney ran through the hole with Hyper slingers close behind but Sydney fired her Frostcrawler who froze ice over the hole.
They ran through the hall trying to get back to the tunnel. But Hyper slingers fired at them from behind. Garo fired his Arachnet who trapped several of the slingers in webbing. Christi fired her Frostcrawler who froze 5 of the slingers. And Sydney fired her Speedstinger which ratcheted and hit 7 of the slingers in the head causing then to pass out. "Nice shot." complimented Leo as they reached the closet.
"Thanks." said Sydney as they continued to fire slugs at the slingers, who were firing hyper slugs at them as well. "All right you guys get out of here!" she ordered
"Don't have to tell me twice." said Quiver as he hopped into the hole. Garo & Christi followed so after.
"I'll hold them back." said Sydney as her Jellyish hit a slinger.
"You better be right behind me." demanded Leo as he entered the tunnel.
By the time Leo got half way through the tunnel. Sydney fired Marina who used her Cyclonator attack to wash away the rest of the slingers. Sydney picked up Marina & then entered the tunnel.
Leo got out of the tunnel and ran to his mecha as Sydney exited the tunnel. Leo hopped onto Walker, he waited for Sydney to hop on hers, & then all 5 of them sprinted away.
"They're not giving chase." said Quiver
"That because we'll be back." responded Leo
"Why would we come back?" asked Garo
"Because we need to find out how they make slugs Hyper." answered Leo as they sprinted home.
