yet another fun chapter. I really do enjoy this fic. I'm enjoying building a new dynamic between the characters. I sincerely ejoy that all of my silent readers are as well. This is my first and if I'll be honest really my only attempt at a Slugterra fanfic. I only have have part of it written but I'm looking forward to seeing where it all goes.
Don't own Slugterra
Eli grinned as he watched his two friends bicker "I am so going to crush your arcade high score." Kord said angrily.
Trixie smirked "Go ahead and try. I've held that record for a while and I'm not letting any one take it so easily." she said as they parked their mechas.
Eli just rolled his eyes. This argument had been going on since they decided to take a trip to the mall. It was getting to be extremely amusing to the young Shane.
They had decided to take a break. After all they weren't the Shane, (as far as they knew) and they had been doing a good amount of damage to Blakk's operations. Hence the trip to the mall. It was automatically decided that the mall was the premier place to chill out and actually relax. The three smiled as they walked into the mall, teasing and bantering. As such it took them a few minutes to realize something was off. "Uh...shouldn't there be more people?" Eli asked.
Immediately the other two froze, looking around "Uh...maybe they are closed?" Kord asked unsurely.
Trixie nodded "Never. Not this mall. I've been here plenty of times. They wouldn't just close unless it was a good reason." she said firmly.
Eli suddenly yelped "What about...that?" he asked, pointing down the hall.
Coming at them were zombies. Actual zombies. All three of them screamed in alarm, bolting down a hall way. "On the left! Incoming!" Kord shouted.
To their concern it was more zombies that were running at full speed for them. They picked up the pace, faces turning from that of scared to annoyed "are we destined to always pick up trouble anywhere we go?" Trixie asked.
Kord shrugged "Guess that's what we get for forming with the 'Pronto gang'." he said.
Eli raised an eyebrow "The what?" he asked.
Both Trixie and Kord looked at him in surprise "Haven't you heard? That's what people are calling us. it's all over the slug net." Trixie said.
Eli blinked "I hadn't heard. Well one of Blakk's men mentioned it once but I thought that was a Blakk thing. We really have a name?" he asked.
Kord rolled his eyes, pulling them both to the side and into a clothing store "Perhaps we should focus on the mess we're in first." he pointed out.
Eli nodded at that, internally going through all the zombie movies he had watched with his dad on the surface. But somehow he had a gut feeling that those wouldn't help him here. He sighed, running a hand through his hair "We have our blasters but they are blocking the exits. Especially since we got in." he said.
The other two looked at their leader expectantly, waiting for some plan to help get them out of their newest mess. Eli glanced thoughtfully out of the glass, seeing the zombies wandering the halls mindlessly "We need more information. But the only way to get that would be..." he froze, whirling around with blaster in hand, matching the blaster that pointed at him.
Instinctually he shot Joules, electrocuting the man. He then dropped the blaster, looking at the figure in alarm "Are you okay?" he asked, realizing the lack of zombifying features.
The man raised a hand "I'm fine. I admit you startled me. Didn't expect to see non-zombies this far in the mall." he said.
Trixie rolled her eyes on that "We were ambushed on the way. What's your story?" she asked.
The man stood proudly "Names Millard Milford. A security slinger in this fine establishment. I've been holed up in here waiting for reinforcements." he said.
Trixie glanced at her companions in contemplation. Eli couldn't stop the smirk from forming on his face "Well...there is all four of us here and we are pretty good slingers. Why don't we help you out?" he asked.
Millard looked thoughtful at that "It is tempting but you three are not only innocent civilians but children. It wouldn't be right to drag you into this." he said.
Eli grinned "Well that's okay because we usually get drawn into conflict whether we want to or not. We go by the Pronto gang." he said.
Millard's eyes widened in surprise "You are the two who have been sticking it to Blakk? And I thought it was only two of you." he pointed out, glancing at Kord.
Kord chuckled, raising a hand "I'm Kord. I'm still fairly new." he said.
Millard nodded in acceptance of the answer "Alright. I accept then." he said.
He motioned for them to follow him, leading them to the back room where a bunch of televisions showed everything going on in the mall. Including the zombies movements. The younger Shane frowned in confusion, cocking his head as he noticed something odd "They aren't leaving. In fact...they are looting." he pointed out.
This brought a whole different set of questions from totally different movies. Trixie also frowned "Why would they do that?" she asked.
Eli scanned the monitors before pointing "What's this camera blocking?" he asked.
Millard glanced at it in confusion " It's the food court. It's the only camera they took out but I haven't been able to get that far in to see why." he said.
The thirteen year old narrowed his eyes, wondering exactly why. Why would they block off one camera? Perhaps this went a little bit deeper than he had first thought. "I need to get up to that level." he said, pointing to it.
Millard looked at him in shock "Are you crazy?" he asked.
Eli shook his head "No. Besides, who knows how long it will take for your back up to get here and if they can handle this. It's obvious that the base of operations is there. If we get there we can figure this out." he said.
Millard frowned "Sounds reasonable. And if worst comes to worst the Shane can bail us out when he gets here." he said.
Eli tensed, his face losing all color "The Shane?" he asked hoarsely.
Millard nodded "Yeah. He's already agreed to join the back up. He's coming with the reinforcements. They should be here in about five hours." he said.
Eli shivered, this just put a massive time limit on what they had to do. Luckily his reaction went unnoticed by his friends who exchanged awestruck looks "The Shane is coming here? He's actually going to help?" Trixie asked.
Because despite the fact he had yet to appear on any of their exploits his slinging skills were legendary. He was the Shane. Nobody could stand up to him. Kord glanced at Eli "Perhaps we should wait. If the Shane offers his help there is no way we could lose." he pointed out.
Eli however shook his head "No. We have to figure this out. Soon." he said.
He then leaned closer to his friends "Look, there is only one person from around here I know. The one person my dad actually allowed me to meet and that is the Shane. And I know him, more than anyone else, would definitely take me back to my dad. We need to help this mall and then get out of here before they show up with the back up." he said urgently.
Trixie and Kord immediately grew serious "So we've been lucky so far. That he hasn't appeared that is." Trixie said.
Eli nodded, his eyes frantic "Yes. And that's why we need to figure something out, quick." he said.
He then sighed as he dug through his back pack, pulling out his scarf "But for safety measures." he muttered, creating his scarf mask he had used during the mecha run.
He then looked up at the blank monitor again "We need to get up there. Are there any ways to get in there Millard?" he asked.
Millard raised an eyebrow "Well...there is one way. But only you would be able to get in using that way. It's rather small." he said.
Eli nodded "Tell me." he said.
Millard stepped to the side, showing exactly what he meant "That's...an air vent." Eli said skeptically.
Suddenly he groaned, realizing exactly what he meant "I need to climb through a dusty air vent." he said in annoyance.
He then sighed "Fine. Move over." he said, moving over to the air vent and opening it, climbing in.
To his, somewhat misfortune, he could fit. And maneuver. He carefully made his way through the vents, finding his way with only somewhat difficulty. He managed to eventually find a vent leading to the room he wanted. He looked around and tensed, seeing one man who did not look like a zombie. He sat on a throne surrounded by all of the things that the zombies had collected for him. He watched curiously as the man held up a staff "I demand you bring me a smoothie." he said, a light shooting out and hitting the person.
Immediately they did as they were told, leaving him. Eli scowled "Mind control." he breathed.
He glanced at the slug he was using before narrowing his eyes. It was a ghoul. He glanced down at his belt, seeing Doc there. If he could fire off just one shot he could succeed but some how he had a feeling it wouldn't work. There were to many human shields that could get in his way. He then frowned as the elevator dinged and he almost felt his heart stop as Trixie and Kord stepped out, looking pale and walking funny. But then he saw the glasses and noticed how their eyes kept looking around warily and he relaxed, recognizing their quite flawless disguise. Not a single zombie stopped them. Eli then turned back to the man, wondering once more what it would take to successfully get a shot in.
Creak.
Eli froze, feeling the sudden shift underneath him. That was all the warning he got before the vent he was using for a hiding place caved in, throwing Eli to the ground with a cry. He impacted hard against the ground, effectively dazing him. He groaned, curling in on himself as the pain flashed through him "Well, well, well, if it isn't an intruder." he said.
Eli scowled, looking up at the man "Who...are you?" he wheezed.
The man grinned "My name is Mr. Saturday. And who might you be? I admit I am impressed you got this far." he complimented.
Eli took a deep breath, managing to push himself shakily to his hands and knees "Pronto. The kid who has been stopping all of Blakk's cronies." he said.
The man laughed "And you think I am with Blakk? You misunderstand. Mr. Saturday works alone." he said.
Eli growled "Yet you have a ghoul." he pointed out.
Mr. Saturday frowned "Only because it helps me obtain my goals." he said coolly.
Eli scowled, slowly and painfully moving to his feet "It's still wrong." he said.
Mr. Saturday looked thoughtfully at Eli "You know Mr. Pronto, I could use some one of your skill on my team. Not as one of these mindless zombies but as a thinking partner who I could rely on." he offered.
Eli scowled "Not interested. Besides, you may not think you work for Blakk but the moment you accept a ghoul you become his henchmen whether you think it or not. Sorry but I am not a mindless henchmen." he said fiercely.
Mr. Saturday scowled, gripping his staff tighter "Not for long." he said, holding the staff higher.
Suddenly he was grabbed from behind. Eli quickly grabbed Doc, loading him into the blaster and shooting it at the ghoul. Mr. Saturday looked at it in horror as the ghoul was purified, the zombies instantly reverting to normal people. Saturday scowled, glancing back to where Kord grinned "You're going away for a long time." he said.
Trixie grinned from where she appeared next to Eli "Great timing for distracting him." she said.
Eli groaned "That wasn't on purpose." he said, his chest aching.
Trixie grinned "I know." she said cheerfully.
Eli then glanced around "Where's Millard?" he asked.
Kord grinned "He's...busy." he hinted.
He then grabbed a pair of handcuffs, chaining Saturday to the wall before writing a note and handing it to one of the confused costumers "Give this to Millard when he gets here." he said.
The customer nodded before Eli noticed something, kneeling down "Hey little guy. How would you like to join us?" he asked.
The slug chirped, jumping into his hand "Welcome to the team Dazzer." he said.
He then looked at his friends "Come on. Let's get out of here." he said.