Here it is. My first own chapter. And this will introduce the duo of Frost and Flame. Enjoy.

Chapter 17: A Double Time Off

Harley was riding back to the hideout on Delta. He had just returned with some supplies the gang needed to remodel the base since bringing home their new ice ogre, now named Rath, after that incident with Billy and his new Hooligang. Harley reached the base, parked Delta in the garage and walked in. "Guys, I'm home!" He called. "Hey bro." Eli said, giving Harley their soul brother hug. "The others home?" Harley asked. "Just me, Trixie, Mario and Lash. Kord and Pronto are at the mech forge helping Grendel and Vance is at a Slug Run in Fungus Cavern today." Eli explained. "Well, it's good that everyone's taking some time off." Harley said. "Speaking of which, Mario's taking me and Trixie to his restaurant. It's date night there tonight and he wants to make a double date between us and him and his girlfriend." Eli said. "Sounds like fun." Harley said, until he realized something. "But with you 3 gone, what am I gonna do?" He asked. Eli thought for a minute until he got an idea. "Why don't you and Lash go for a mech stroll somewhere?" Eli suggested. "He's still bummed on Twist. So, I think he could use some company." "Hmm. Sounds okay to me. I'll do it." Harley agreed.

At that moment, Trixie and Mario came down. "Come on, Eli! Katy called and is waiting for us!" Mario called as he headed out the door. "Coming!" Eli called back. He looked to Burpy. "Burpy, you stay with Harley and Lash tonight. Okay?" He asked. Burpy nodded and hopped to Harley's shoulder. Eli then walked to join Trixie at the door. "See you when we get back!" Eli called as they walked out. Harley sighed deeply. "Alright. Now then." He said, looking over at Lash sitting by the window. He walked over to join him. "Hey." He said. "Hey." Lash said back. "Still thinking 'bout Twist, huh?" Harley asked. "Yeah." Lash said sadly. "Well, I've got a good idea to take your mind off him. How 'bout you and me take a mecha ride somewhere? You know. Hang out. The 2 of us. And our slugs of course." Harley suggested. Lash thought about it. "Sure. That might help." Lash said. "Sweet! Then let's go!" Harley said.

As soon as they left, Trixie had uncertain thoughts. "Eli? Do you think it was a good idea to have Harley and Lash have a day off to themselves while we have our date night?" She asked. "Don't worry, Trix. Harley and Lash can handle themselves. Whether in a duel or just hanging out. Plus, it will help Lash with getting over his thoughts on Twist." Eli assured. "Eli's right. They'll be fine." Mario added. "Well, okay." Trixie said, deciding to let the matter slide.

At that moment, Harley and Lash rode into town, looking for a spot to hang out. "Sure is nice here in town, huh Lash?" Harley asked. "Yep. Feels good to get out of the hideout and hit the streets." Lash said. Suddenly, there was a boom and people started screaming. "What was that?!" Lash asked. "One way to find out." Harley said. They rode ahead, peaking around a corner. They saw a couple of dudes with blasters, slinging slugs and looting buildings. "So much for a relaxing mecha ride into town." Harley said, glaring at the men.


(Intro)


The 2 men continued to fire slugs all over the town. Harley and Lash continued to stare. "Who are these guys?" Harley asked. "I can't say for sure, but I think those 2 are Frost and Flame." Lash said. "Frost and Flame?" Harley asked. "Yeah. These 2 are a very notorious duo of mercenaries. Wanted in over 27 different caverns. Frost uses Frostcrawlers, while Flame uses Flaringos." Lash explained. "But why would these 2 attack this cavern?" Harley asked. "I don't know." Lash said. Harley took a good look at the 2 slingers, noticing a cage of orange slugs in between them. "Wait. They've got a cage full of slugs." He said, pointing to the cage. Lash took a good look at the slugs in the cage. "Those aren't any slugs, Harley. Those are Hexlet slugs!" He said in realization. "Hexlets? Jinxer slugs?" Harley asked. Lash nodded. "Why would they want Hexlet slugs?" Harley asked.

At that time, Flame used an Arachnet to net up another batch of Hexlets trying to hop away. He picked up the net and brought it to Frost, who held up the cage. Frost opened it and Flame dropped the Hexlets inside. "Think this will be enough?" Flame asked. "Maybe. But why stop here? Let's grab us another dozen Hexlets." Frost suggested. "You're right. The more Hexlets, the more money we'll get for selling them on the Slugterran Black Market." Flame said. They both started to laugh maniacally and resumed their work.

Lash went wide-eyed. "Slugterran Black Market?! They're selling Hexlets on the Black Market?!" He asked in disbelief. "What's a Slugterran Black Market?" Harley asked. "It's a criminal marketplace where crooks like gear counterfeiters, slug smugglers and mecha beast chop shoppers go to buy or sell illegal mecha beast parts or super rare slugs to the lowest of the low." Lash explained. Now Harley was really miffed. "Oh, is that so? Well, we'll just see about that!" He said, standing up and stomping towards the ongoing chaos. "Hey, wait for me!" Lash called and running after him, figuring this was gonna happen.

Frost and Flame had just loaded up another batch of Hexlet slugs into the cage. They placed the cage into their carrier along with other cages loaded with Hexlets. "Hey!" Harley's voice called. The duo turned to see Harley and Lash standing behind them with angry faces and crossed arms. "Buzz off, kiddies." Flame said. "Yeah. You wouldn't wanna get hurt." Frost added. "You might wanna take your own advice. Especially if you don't release those slugs in 5 seconds." Harley warned. Flame took a good look at Harley. "Wait. I recognize this kid. He's one of the Shane brothers!" Flame said in realization. "What?!" Frost asked in shock. "That's right. Harley Shane is my name. Protecting the peace for people and slugs alike is my game." Harley said. "Oh, this is gonna be a blast. We can sell these slugs on the Black Market and take out a Shane at the same time!" Frost said. "Great call, partner!" Flame said liking the idea. The duo drew their blasters and aimed at Harley and Lash.


Meanwhile, Eli, Trixie and Mario arrived at Ricochet Pizza. "Babe! We're here!" Mario called. Mario's girlfriend, Katy (Identical to the girl giving Kord that pedicure at Club Slug), walked in from the kitchen. "Mario!" She cried, running over and jumping into Mario's arms, kissing him full on the lips. "Whoa! She sure seems happy to see Mario." Eli said. Trixie nodded. Mario and Katy broke apart to breathe after at least 2 minutes of kissing. "Oh! Katy, this is Eli and Trixie. Guys, this is my girlfriend, Katy." Mario introduced. "Nice to meet you." Eli said, holding out his hand. Suddenly, Katy just brought Eli and Trixie into a big tight hug. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You brought my beloved Mario back into slug slinging and made him the man I fell in love with again." She said. "It was nothing." Eli said, gasping for air. Trixie gasped as well. Katy realized what she was doing and let go quickly. "Sorry. I was just so happy to hear that my beloved Mario had come out of retirement." She said. Mario put an arm around her. "Just breathe babe." He said. "Right." Katy said, taking a deep breath and turning back to Eli and Trixie. "Right. Well then, please be seated then, Eli and Trixie. We will present you with our date night special." She said, walking back to the kitchen with Mario. "Well, shall we?" Eli asked, holding out his arm. "We shall." Trixie said, linking to her boyfriend's arm and they both walked to their table.


Back at the town, Harley and Lash prepared to face off against Frost and Flame. "Best for you 2 to surrender right now." Frost suggested. "Yeah. Save us all time from embarrassing yourselves." Flame finished. Harley and Lash just glared. "You take Frost and I'll take Flame." Harley suggested. "Sounds good to me." Lash agreed. Both Harley and Lash drew their blasters and fired. Harley fired Masher and Lash fired Ice. Frost and Flame dodged and fired back. Harley and Lash jumped out of the way. Harley fired Smelly while Lash fired Speedy. Frost fired another Frostcrawler and created an ice wall, deflecting the 2 slugs back at the 2 Shane gangers. Harley braced himself as Smelly hit him, covering him in Blorfball. "Oh! That is really ripe!" He cried, plugging his nose. As Frost and Flame fired more slugs, Harley and Lash ducked behind a big piece of rubble. "Ha! Guess you 2 made a mistake not coming here with rest of your gang!" Flame called. "Time to put you 2 on ice!" Frost punned, firing another Frostcrawler, freezing Harley and Lash's hiding spot. "What do we do now?" Lash asked. "Best to retreat for now. That way we can come up with a new plan." Harley said. With a hesitated but agreeable nod, Lash followed Harley back to Delta and Jack. They quickly rode out as Frost and Flame fired more slugs. "Ha! Look at them run!" Flame said. "Don't put your thoughts on ice yet, Flame. They'll be back. One thing we should know about Shanes, they don't give up that easy." Frost explained.

Harley and Lash regrouped at a lush forest near the town outskirts. "Wow! That was rough." Lash said. "Yeah. But we've been through worse." Harley pointed out. "You think we should call the rest of the gang? I mean we can barely beat those 2 by ourselves." Lash suggested. "And tell them what? That we chickened out of a mayhem caused by a couple of brainless knuckleheads? They'll never let us live it down." Harley said. "And besides, it's Eli and Trixie's date night. You really wanna pull them from that?" Lash thought about that for a second. "No." He said. "Good." Harley said.


Speaking of which, Eli and Trixie were already on their second date night pizza. "Mmm! I really had no idea that Mario could make a good pizza." Trixie said with a small mouthful. "Me neither. Well, except all those pizzas Vance and I ate when we first met Mario." Eli said. "Where did he learn to cook like this?" Trixie asked. "I'll ask. Say, Mario? Where did you learn to cook like this?" Eli asked. "Pizza chef near High Plains Cavern. Just shortly after I first retired. Yeah. He taught me all of his special recipes and even taught me how to make them with Ricochet." Mario explained. "Even taught a few to me." Katy added. "Oh, that explains why his pizzas are always so good." Trixie said before going back to eating her pizza.


"Now we need a plan to help those Hexlet slugs." Harley said, until he felt something rub against his shoe. He looked down to see a stray Hexlet slug waving at him. "Well, hello there." He said, holding his hand down to the slug. The slug hopped into the hand and was lifted up. "Nice to see at least one Hexlet slug is okay." Harley said. The slug just whimpered, thinking about his friends. "Don't worry little guy. We're gonna help your friends." Harley assured. The slug chittered with happiness. "Now then, back to the plan." Harley started to think, until he thought of something. "Hey Lash, what is it that Hexlet slugs do?" He asked.


Meanwhile, Eli and Trixie rode to Jungle Cavern. They finished a good pizza meal at Ricochet's and wanted to gaze at the view of the jungle. "It's very beautiful. Just like when we started dating." Trixie said. Eli then thought of something. "Hey Trix?" He said. "Yeah babe?" Trixie said. "I have something to give you." Eli stood up and put something around Trixie's neck. Trixie looked at it. It was a small silver flower ring with a small emerald in the middle. "Eli, is this?" Trixie asked. "Yes. It's a promise ring." Eli said. Trixie smiled. "Trix, I know that we've only dated for a couple months now, but I know that deep in my heart, you're the one girl I wanna spend my life with. This ring was my father's gift to my mother when they got engaged. Now, I know we're only teenagers at the moment, but when we reach the proper age, will you marry me?" Eli asked. Trixie started to tear up. "Yes! A thousand times yes!" She cried as she threw her arms around Eli and kissed him.


Afterwards, Harley and Lash had just finished going over their plan to rid the city of Frost and Flame. "I don't know, Harley. Sounds risky. What if we mess up? The Hexlet's affects could probably affect us as well! I can't possibly bear to live with those conditions! Oh, Twist was right about me. I am weak!" Lash said in concern starting to panic. Harley slapped him. "Calm down, man! We won't know unless we try. And you are not weak. You are a great slug slinger. You just need the chance to prove it." He said. That made Lash perk up. "Now come on. It's time to put our plan to action." Harley said.

Back at the town, Frost and Flame had just rounded up another batch of Hexlet slugs. "Let's hope this'll be enough. I really wanna make that payday at the black market." Frost said. "This will be more than enough. So, don't you worry your chilly head, my cold breathed friend." Flame assured.

Suddenly, as they were about to leave, they both felt a presence nearby. They turned around to see Lash riding into town on his mecha. "Well, well. Looky here. It's that little Shane Ganger." Flame said. "You come back for another embarrassing beatdown, boy? And where's your Shane friend? He chicken out?" Frost asked. "It's just me, losers. I wanted to take you 2 on myself." Lash lied. Frost and Flame started to snicker. "What makes you think you can take us on by yourself? You can barely take us on, even with the Shane boy's help." Flame pointed out. "Well then, it's a good thing we have luck on our side now." Harley called from above. Frost and Flame looked up to see Harley standing on a ruined roof, aiming his blaster at them. The both gasped when they saw that he had a Hexlet slug loaded in his blaster. As Harley fired it, it transformed and hit Frost and Flame with a flash of its HyJinx attack.

Frost and Flame looked over themselves, thinking that they were alright. "Ha! Your little light show was impressive, but now, you've just sealed your doom, Shane!" Flame said, taking aim at Harley. But suddenly, when Flame pulled the trigger, the force from the blast pushed him back into a wall. Frost gasped at what happened and glared at Harley as he rejoined Lash. Frost pulled out his blaster, but as he tried to fire, the Frostcrawler loaded in it sneezed, causing the blaster to freeze up. Frost dropped his blaster in shock. Flame came to and saw what happened. "What did you do to us?!" He asked. "It's called Hexlet power, dummy." Harley said. "Hexlets cause bad luck to slingers like you when they reach velocity." Lash added. Flame just growled as he got up. He started to stomp towards them, but he then slipped on a banana that was dropped there from the attack. Frost tried to help, but he tripped on this on own feet and landed in a mud puddle. Harley and Lash laughed at their misfortune. What do you think, Lash? Shall we send them on their way?" Harley asked. "Yes, I think we shall." Lash said. They loaded their new Tormato slugs, Twister and Winger, and slung them at the unlucky slingers. Both Frost and Flame were caught in a double Slyphoon attack and blown into their own carriage, locking them both in.

As Lash let the trapped Hexlet slugs out of the cage, the crowd came back and cheered, and the leader walked up to Harley and Lash. "Well, looks like we owe the Shanes our thanks." He said. "You owe us nothing. It's what anyone in the Shane Gang would do for anybody. Man or slug." Harley said. Just then, the Hexlet slug from before hopped onto his shoulder. "And we couldn't have done it without little Lucky here." Harley added, tickling the slug's belly. "It's good to know that the Shanes are back." The leader said, shaking Harley's hand as Lash walked up to them. "Hey Harley, I think it's time to head back home now." Lash said. "Yeah, after all this excitement, I could use a good night sleep." Harley said.

Back at the lair, Harley and Lash were telling the gang the whole story of what happened. "And just as the Hexlet's effect too place, they started to trip all over the place." Harley explained. "Wow! Sounds like you guys had a blast of a good time." Kord said. "But if you guys had trouble with those 2 at first, you should've called us." Mario said. "We know, but we didn't want to pull you guys from your day off. Especially since it was Eli and Trixie's date night." Lash said. "Well, that was very nice of you." Trixie said. "Even more nice that the cavern leader gave you some Hexlet slugs for us as a reward." Eli said as a Hexlet, whom he calls Jinxer, hopped onto his shoulder, next to Burpy. Harley then noticed something around Trixie's neck. "Guys, is that what I think it is?" He asked. "Yes, it's our dad's engagement ring to our mom. Now Trixie and I are promised to each other." Eli said. "Dude! Congratulations!" Kord said, bringing Eli into a noogie. "Oh, this is so wonderful!" Lash said, bringing Trixie into a hug. Everyone else started to cheer and hug as well. "It's about time." Harley said, feeling proud for his brother.

Meanwhile, Frost and Flame were confined to jail. "Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do." Flame said with sarcasm. "This can not get any worse." Frost said. Just then, their cell door was opened. "You 2. Out. He paid for your bail." The guard said. Frost and Flame exited their cell and turned to see Dr. Blakk. "Dr. Blakk!" They said in shock. "You 2 have lost a big shipment in Hexlet slugs, but with my help, you 2 can be better slingers than you've both ever been. Good enough to even beat that pesky Shane Gang." Blakk offered. Frost and Flame thought about it and grinned. "When do we start?" They asked.

Well, how about that? Introduction of Frost and Flame, plus the appearance of the Hexlet slug. And Eli and Trixie are engaged. Well, promised to be engaged. Who knows what's next for the Shane Gang? If you like this own chapter, leave a review if you'd like.

Thank you SkullGreymonX for the name. I like Rath. He's actually 7 on my top 10 favorite Ben 10 aliens.

Slug Arsenal:

Eli Shane: Burpy (Infurnus), Joules (Tazerling), Noodle (Flopper), Banger (Armashelt), Bolo (Polero), Rammer (Rammstone), Rocky (Hop Rock), Chiller (Frostcrawler), Burner (Lavalynx), Suds (Bubbaleone), Goober (Jellyish), Sparky (Grenuke), Doc (Boon Doc), Larry (Lariat), Gust (Tormato), Buzzsaw (Thresher), Digger (Crystalid), Spinner (Arachnet), Mucky (Dirt Urchin), Tangles (Vinedrill), Spooker (Frightgeist), Charger (Fandango), Stunts (Speedstinger), Glimmer (Phosphoro), Mo (Enigmo), Dazer (Hypnogriff), Urchin (Sand Angler), Dozer (Slyren), Jinxer (Hexlet)

Harley Shane: Matchstick (Flaringo), Squirm (Flopper), Frostbite (Frostcrawler), Webs (Arachnet), Gels (Jellyish), Zipper (Hoverbug), Ivy (Vinedrill), Masher (Rammstone), Frights (Frightgeist), Shredder (Thresher), Smelly (Flatulorhinkus), Claws (Armashelt), Splatz (Lariat), Twister (Tormato), Lucky (Hexlet)

Trixie Sting: Bluster (Tormato), Blizzard (Frostcrawler), Spider (Arachnet), Twirl (Polero), Balloon (Bubbaleone), Haunter (Frightgeist), Pounder (Rammstone), Slicer (Thresher), Rocks (Hop Rock)

Kord Zane: Bludgeon (Rammstone), Sploder (Hop Rock), Jolt (Tazerling), Trip (Polero), Flycatcher (Arachnet), Floatie (Bubbaleone), Iceberg (Frostcrawler), Scorch (Flaringo), Jetstream (AquaBeek)

Pronto Geronimo: Stinky (Flatulorhinkus), Slimey (Jellyish), Soapy (Bubbaleone), Bruiser (Rammstone), Flame (Flaringo), Loogie (Lariat), Windy (Tormato)

Vance Volt: Blast (Hop Rock), Bloom (Vinedrill), Crust (Lavalynx), Legs (Arachnet), Swimy (AquaBeek)

Mario Bravado: Ricochet (Speedstinger), Slide (Frostcrawler), Crawler (Arachnet), Echo (AquaBeek)

Lash: Zing (Tazerling), Speedy (Speedstinger), Hopper (Hop Rock), Bubba (Bubbaleone), Stinx (Flatulorhinkus), String (Polero), Goat (Rammstone), Sleepy (Slyren), Webber (Arachnet), Ice (Frostcrawler), Spark (Flaringo), Winger (Tormato), Witch (Hexlet)