Chapter 18: Inheritance
One late night at the Shane hideout, 2 figures dropped down onto the roof. A girl and a boy. Eli and his gang were all fast asleep. The one figure placed her hand on the window, delivering a virus that shut down the hideout's security system. The window opened up and the 2 climbed in, crawled around the ceiling and dropped down inside the hideout. Suddenly, the 2 came face to face with Pronto. But Pronto was sleepwalking. He walked past them, down the stairs, to the refrigerator.
The 2 figures dropped down to the lower level. "Ok, look around. It has to be here." The girl whispered. The 2 split up and started looking around the hideout. As they looked, the girl came across a picture of Eli, Harley and their parents. The boy crept up to the bed where Eli slept. "Now to get what's rightfully mine." The boy whispered. He reached down to the bed, but could only feel soft cushion. "What?!" The boy leapt down to the girl. "We have a problem. The one Shane boy, he's-" He couldn't finish, for the lights suddenly came on. "Can we help you?" Eli asked as he and Harley aimed their blasters at the 2 intruders. "How did you know we were here?" The girl asked. "Yeah. We disabled your alarm." The boy added. "Maybe. But this place has all sorts of eyes and ears." Harley said. And right on cue, Joules, Banger and Suds popped out from their hiding places. "So, you wanna play with slugs, huh?" The girl asked. "Good idea, sis." The boy said. They both turned to the brothers, prepping their special blaster gauntlets. "Let's play with slugs."
(Intro)
Eli, Harley and the thieves continued their standoff. But then, Trixie, Kord, Vance, Mario and Lash woke up. "I heard something." "What's going on?" "Can't a guy get some sleep around here?" "What's with the noise?" "Why is it always in the middle of a dream?" Everybody asked, catching Eli and Harley's attention. The thieves fired Arachnet slugs at the ceiling. The slugs fired webs from their bottoms, pulling the thieves towards the ceiling. The girl thief fired another Arachnet, webbing Eli's arm to a stool. The 2 thieves started to jump around the lair. "Okay. Not what I was expecting." Trixie said in shock and amazement. The girl thief fired a Speedstinger, knocking Trixie's blaster out of her hand. The thieves continued to swing on webs around the hideout. Kord fired Sploder, but ended up making a hole in the wall. "Hey! What's the rule about firing Hop Rocks in the house?" Trixie asked, pointing at the hole. "My bad!" Kord said sheepishly. Just then, Kord got pounced by the girl thief. Eli managed to move his stool over to them and fired Goober. Goober transformed and spat Loogi, but ended up hitting the tree in the room. "Use your Jellyishes! They're messy, but at least they won't destroy the place." Eli said. "Good call, Eli!" Mario said, firing his own Jellyish, Mess. Soon everyone started firing Jellyishes, but the thieves continued swinging around on Arachnet webs, dodging the Loogis. "Lucky thing we stocked up a lot of Jellyish slugs." Harley said, firing Gels. Burpy, Doc and Buzzsaw sat nearby to watch the action. As Eli continued to fire Jellyish after Jellyish, the force from the blaster pushed him and the stool into the couches, making the 3 slugs laugh. "A little help here guys!" Eli called to his slugs. The slugs hopped over. Buzzsaw chewed through the web while Burpy burned it.
The boy thief swung over Eli and took notice of the one slug. "There you are." He muttered. He was about to drop down, but just then, he got rammed by an Armashelt. He landed on his back, alerting Eli. Eli turned to see Vance holding a smoking blaster. "You're welcome." Vance said.
The girl thief then swung overhead. "You know, we might be able to settle this if you just tell us what you 2 want." Eli said. "We want what's ours!" The girl said, firing another Arachnet next to the hole. Trixie fired Balloon, soaking the wall with Foamaloo. The girl slipped off the foamed wall and dropped to the floor. "Thought a little soap would clean up this mess." Trixie said, dropping down and aiming her blaster at the girl. "There's nowhere to run. So, now might be a good time to tell us why Blakk sent you 2 before my friends here get trigger happy." Eli said as Kord, Mario and Lash aimed their blasters. "Blakk? We don't work for that slug turd. We work alone." The girl said, then kicked Trixie under her feet, hopped over the couch and webbed herself up and out through the hole. "You can't hide it forever." She said. "Wait! Hide what? Who are you guys?" Eli asked. "We want our share of that treasure!" The girl said. Pronto, who was still sleepwalking and carrying a sandwich, woke up upon hearing the word treasure. "Treasure?" He asked. "How long were you asleep?!" Harley asked with a snap. "And I promise you we'll get it!" She said. She looked to see her partner crawling towards the table, about to make a grab for Burpy. She fired another Arachnet at him, pulled him out of the hideout and swung away.
Eli watched as the 2 swung away. "Does anyone know who those 2 were?" He asked. "I'm still going with 2 of Blakk's lackies." Trixie said. "I don't know. No reason to lie about that. And they weren't using ghoul slugs. But what treasure could the girl be talking about?" Eli asked. "Obviously they were after the legendary Shane treasure." Trixie said. "Well, if it's so legendary, how come we've never heard of it?" Harley asked. "This wouldn't be the first time your dad kept something secret from you guys." Kord said. "He's got us there, E." Harley said. "Just think, you 2 could have a vast fortune hidden somewhere. You 2 could be rich!" Trixie said. "Rich." Pronto said dreamily. "Richer than me." Vance said. "Even richer than anybody in Slugterra." Mario added. "Rich? I don't know. Dad talked about caches of stuff hidden all over Slugterra. Things we'll need someday." Eli said. "Like that one in that cave where Twist and Nacho ambushed us." Harley pointed out. The rest of the gang looked at each other with big eager smiles. "But I think he would've said something about a fortune." Eli finished.
"Some of it could be hidden here, under our very noses!" Trixie said with excitement. And just like that, everyone started to search the entire lair. Trixie looked throughout the couch, Kord searched the breadboxes, Pronto hopped into a big box full of metal appliances, Vance searched the garage, Mario went to the bedrooms, and Lash looked in Wormy and Rath's pet pens.
Eli and Harley looked over at the picture of their family. "More secrets, huh Dad?" Eli asked. He took down the picture, revealing a safe. Everyone looked in their direction. Eli tapped the safe, trying to think of a way to open it. Suddenly, Kord punched it, breaking it open and scaring the Shane brothers. "Hey! A little warning next time please!" Harley said. "Oh, sorry." Kord said. Eli looked inside, finding some sort of chest. He pulled it out. Pronto squealed and hurried over. "Open it!" He said eagerly as the others walked over. "Okay, okay. But I'm not sure how. Or even where." Eli said, examining the chest. Pronto scoffed and took it. "Allow me." He said. He lifted it and attempted to slam it to the ground, but suddenly, before he could do so, it was snatched from him, making him confused. Harley knocked on his head and pointed to Kord. Kord examined the chest. "Haven't seen one of these in ages." He said. "What? Haven't seen what?" Harley asked. "The thing's been coated with Smolten. Only way we're getting this baby open is with a Forgesmelter slug." Kord explained as Pronto tried to grab the chest back. "Aw! But we don't have one of those!" Pronto complained. "Well, where can we find one?" Eli asked. "Oh, we would have to travel to the deepest regions of the Magma Cavern." Pronto said. "Are you out of your mind?!" Lash asked. "Lash is right. It's way too dangerous. It's basically molten lava." Trixie said. "And don't forget the Magma Monsters." Kord added with fear. "And the ferocious lava bats, that will swoop down and gorge themselves on my slandering brains." Pronto said, starting to cry. "Also, the fire geysers." Mario added. "Not to mention the lava tides that flow in and out every few hours." Vance said. "Sounds like my kind of place. Let's load up, gang!" Eli said, heading out. Everyone looked at him with shocked faces. "Oh, come on! Like you guys didn't see that coming?" Harley asked, following his brother.
As the gang rode their mechas off, the thieves watched them from the roof. "Why'd you pull me out so fast like that? I nearly had the Infurnus!" The boy whispered with annoyance. "We talked about this. You need to have patience!" The girl criticized. The boy sighed. "Fine. Then what're we gonna do?" He asked. "We're gonna follow them to the Magma Caverns. They know they need a Forgesmelter to open the chest. So, when they get to their nesting spot, we'll be waiting and we'll both get what we want." The girl explained. "Alright. We'll do it your way." The boy said as the girl jumped down. "For now." He muttered before jumping after.
Soon enough, the gang reached the Magma Caverns. "So, Eli, you and Harley don't find it at all ridiculous that your dad not only expected you 2 to find that chest without instructions, but he didn't even leave you with a way to open it if you found it?" Trixie asked. "Uh, Dad always liked me and Harley to figure things out for ourselves." Eli said regretfully. "And you're both cool with this?" Trixie asked. "It doesn't matter whether or not we're cool with it. It's just the way it is." Eli said, lowering his head. Trixie started feeling sorry for her fiancé now. But the feelings were to wait. A colony of lava bats flew up from the edge of the cliffs and swooped down to attack. The gang revved their mechas and ran for it. But the lava bats flew after them. "Pronto, sling up Stinky." Eli called. Pronto drew his baster and fired Stinky towards the bats. Eli followed with Suds. Suds ate Stinky, then swallowed up the entire lava bat colony. After a few seconds, Suds burped out the bats. They landed right on the path, trying to shake off the stink. "Oh, nice one." Trixie said. "I beg to differ." Kord said, looking at the one that landed in his arms. "Yeah. That was a little cruel." Harley agreed. "Yeah, okay. Let's round up a few and we'll treat them when we get back." Eli said. They rounded up a few of the bats in a couple of slug cages they kept from Undertow Cavern and continued on.
The gang soon came up to a big lava river. "Uh, how are supposed to cross an ocean of lava?" Trixie asked. Pronto stepped forth, pulling out a pocket watch. "Not to fear. Pronto the Magnificent shall drain the sea of fire…now!" He said. Nothing happened. Pronto chuckled and looked back at the watch. "I mean…now!" He said. This time, the lava started to drain out of the cave, revealing a land bridge to the other side. "Pronto! How did you-?!" Eli asked. "Magnificence." Pronto boasted. Everyone just looked at him with unconvinced faces. "Okay, okay. The lave tide goes in and out every hour one the hour like clockwork." He said. "So, if we are to do this ridiculous, crazy thing and get us some sweet, sweet treasure, we best embark immediately. The drowning in fire clock is already ticking. 59 minutes." He warned. The gang then zoomed past him and he followed.
The gang followed the path on the bridge very carefully. Eli then looked around like he saw something. "What is it, baby?" Trixie asked. "I thought I saw-" Eli started to say, still looking around. "Nothing." "Not nothing. What's on your mind, bro?" Harley asked. "Well, I just can't stop wondering who those 2 thieves were. And how they could've known about this chest." Eli said. "Whoever they were, they couldn't possibly be dumb enough to come here. We already own that level of dumbness." Kord said. "I'm gonna take that as a compliment." Eli said. "Yeah, me too." Harley agreed.
Little did they know, the thieves did follow them to the cavern. The girl fired one of her Arachnets and swung on its web across the river. The boy followed. They both were very careful not to get spotted. "You know, I'm getting a little impatient with all this patience. I could easily swing over there and swipe the Infurnus without anyone being the wiser." The boy whispered. "No. We wait until they get close to the Forgesmelter Chambers. Then we make our move." The girl said.
"Come on, guys!" Eli called as they continued, nearly slipping off the bridge. The slip broke off a few shards. As the shards fell into the lava, something big was swimming around in the lava. "The key to surviving the Magma Caverns is slow and steady." Pronto said. "But didn't you say we had to hurry?" Eli asked. "He did. He did. I heard him say so." Harley said. "Might wanna keep it down too. Don't wanna wake any Magma Monsters." Kord said. Pronto scoffed. "Only a fool would be afraid of a silly little-" He started to say until a giant Magma Monster leaped out of the lava and landed on the path behind him. He sat there for a second until he screamed and ran for his life, hopping over the others as they ran too. "Ride!" Trixie called. Eli and Harley looked back, seeing the monster gain on Kord and destroy the path. The thieves swung along under the path. "Almost there! Come on!" Eli called. Kord started to fall behind as the monster lept after him. The others looked back as the monster started to close in on the cave troll. "Kord!" Trixie called in worry. "He'll never make it!" Lash said. The monster gave one last big leap, preparing to swallow Kord up. But Eli and Harley fired Chiller and Frostbite, freezing the monster in their Deepfreeze. Kord opened his eyes, seeing the monster's frozen mouth. "Nice shot." He said, his voice echoing in the mouth.
"How are we gonna get out of here now?" Trixie asked as Kord caught up, noting on the destroyed land bridge. "I guess we'll, uh, cross that bridge when we come to it." Eli said, making a joke. Harley chuckled. The others were unamused. "We must hurry before the lava tide comes back in! Remember: slow and steady." Pronto reminded. The frozen Magma Monster started to tip over and fell back into the lava.
"Seriously. It's almost like he expected you 2 to go on this crazy mission." Trixie said "Did he? Cause knowing Dad, you never know what to expect." Harley said. Suddenly, a hiss of steam shot from a mouth of a pillar, followed by a blast of lava. Trixie dodged before she got hit. "Fire geyser!" Pronto called. "You think?" Kord asked sarcastically. "Fire geysers give a warning hiss before the blast." Pronto explained. "So, they shouldn't be a big problem if we go-" "Slow and steady! Yeah, yeah we got it." Kord said annoyed. As they continued, another geyser hissed and blasted lava. Kord hopped Wyatt out of the way, and gain as another geyser was about to blast. Kord sighed in relief, until he saw what was up ahead. "Uh-oh." He said as dozens of geysers were about to blast. "Go, go, go!" Eli shouted as he and the gang charged as the geysers started blasting. The gang dodged every lava blast in the front and back, until they reached their destination. "We've made it! Behold, the fabled Forgesmelter Chamber." Pronto said. "Well, let's find one quick and get out of here." Kord said.
Suddenly, an actual Forgesmelter hung down on a web in front of Kord. It was suddenly yanked up. The gang looked up to see the thieves. "Or you could just give us that chest." The girl said. Eli and Harley looked up at them. "Since we've got the only key." The girl gave the slug a bit of a squeeze. "You think that's the only slug in this cavern?" Eli asked with confidence. "The only one you're gonna find." The girl said. "Yeah. I scared the rest off with a Frostcrawler." The boy said. Pronto looked at his pocket watch. "It could be hours before they return!" He said in a panic. "But the lava tide will be back a whole lot sooner." The girl said, hanging upside down. "So, you gonna give us our share of that treasure or are we all gonna boil?" "They've got nerve. I'll give em that." Trixie said. "Must be quite the treasure if they're risking their lives like we are." Mario said.
"Look, we don't know who you 2 are or why you 2 think you have dibs on anything in that chest." Eli said. "Yeah. Until we get answers from any of you, anything in that chest is Shane property." Harley said. The girl dropped down. "My name is Dana Por. And that's my brother, Deagan. And if that doesn't ring a bell, maybe this will." The girl, now known as Dana, held up a picture of 2 men. Will Shane and another. "You 2 recognize that man with your dad?" Dana asked. Eli and Harley took a good look at the picture. "Yeah. That's Tom- Por!" Eli and Harley slowly realized who these 2 thieves were. "He's your father, isn't he?" Eli asked. "Ding, ding, ding! First prize for Eli and Harley Shane, ladies and gentlemen." Deagan said. "Dad talked about him all the time. They were like best friends. Until he betrayed our dad." Eli said, glaring at Dana. "Betrayed Will Shane?! Oh, that's rich! Your dad obviously never told you the whole story." Dana said. "Ooh, there's a shocker." Kord said. Eli and Harley looked at him. "Eh, sorry dudes." "No, you're right." Harley said. "Yeah. Our dad's been known to leave out a detail or 2." Eli said. "Well, our dad didn't" Dana said. "Then please, explain." Harley said.
"Our dad was Will Shane's recon man, and he was the best there was at getting information. And all of that valuable info went to Will Shane. This helped him stay one step ahead of the bad guys. They were a great team." Dana explained. "But our dad knew that something wasn't right about Will Shane. He would disappear for days at a time and never have an explanation for where he went." Dana continued. "Yeah. Will Shane was keeping a lot of secrets from dear old Dad. So, he decided to start watching your father. He was hiding treasure. Treasure he 'promised' to share with our dad." Deagan added. "But that wasn't the worse of it. Our dad found out that Will Shane was working with the enemy!" Dana revealed. "Our dad would never work with Blakk!" Eli said angrily. "Not Blakk, stupid!" Deagan said. "It was even worse. He was working with the Shadow Clan." Dana revealed. 'Liar!' Harley thought.
"When our father confronted him about this, Will denied everything! Except the treasure part. So, our father became angry and challenged your dad to a duel!" Dana said. "And of course, we all know what happens when you challenge Will Shane to a duel. Which is why your gonna give us his cut!" The gang couldn't believe what they were hearing. Eli looked over at the chest. "Dana, I can't believe our would do that. But I know that neither me or Harley can't always explain or understand his actions." Eli said. "He's right. There's nothing about our father's secrets that we know about." Harley said. Pronto popped up between the bickering teens. "Pronto finds this all very moving, but he would also like to remind you that the lava tide will return soon!" He said, holding up his pocket watch and turning to Dana. "So-" "Harley and I don't care about gold. If that's all you and Deagan are after, we'll give you a share. If you give us the slug so we can get out of here." Eli negotiated. "Yes, yes! Get out of here!" Pronto agreed. The Forgesmelter even seemed happy. But Dana pulled up her blaster. "No! We open it here. Right now! And there's little time to argue. So, let's get to it." Dana said. "Fine." Eli said. He took the chest and placed it on the ground.
Dana was about to toss the slug to Eli, but she noticed that it wasn't in her hand. "Hey, where's the slug?!" Eli asked. "Looking for this?" Deagan asked, holding up the slug. "Deagan, what are you doing?" Dana asked. "Sorry sis, but you don't get what you want 'til I get what I want." Deagan said. "That wasn't the plan! I told you to have patience!" Dana said. Deagan just slung a Rammstone, punching her in the stomach. That shocked everyone. "Sorry, but my patience has just run out." He said, before turning to the Shane brothers. "Now then, you want the Forgesmelter? Then I propose a trade." He said. "What's the trade?" Eli asked, knowing they were running out of time. "I'll give you the Forgesmelter, if you give me your Infurnus." Deagan offered. Everyone went wide-eyed at Deagan's offer. "No way. Not gonna happen." Eli rejected. "That wasn't a question, Shane. It was a demand. Give me the Infurnus or I'll crush the Forgesmelter." Deagan demanded, squeezing the slug in his hand. Burpy growled. Dana glared as she recovered. "No way. Burpy belongs to me and my brother." Harley said. Deagan just chuckled. "The Shanes are unworthy to wield a truly ultimate slug like the Infurnus. A slug that rare belongs to the Pors. To me!" He said. "Why do you even think that?" Harley asked. "Your father did promise my father a share of that treasure. That also includes the greatest treasure the Shanes have. The Infurnus slug. The only slug of its entire species in Slugterra. So, last chance. Give me the Infurnus. Now!" Deagan said. Eli looked at Burpy. He shook his head and chittered. Eli knew they were running out of time.
Suddenly, there was a hissing sound behind Deagan. He turned to see a fire geyser. The geyser blasted hot lava into his face. "AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH!" He screamed, dropping the Forgesmelter and grabbing his face, kneeling down in pain. Dana saw her chance. She grabbed the Forgesmelter and tossed it to Eli. Eli caught it and held up a barrel for it. The slug hopped in and Eli loaded it into his blaster and slung it at the chest. The slug transformed and blasted the chest with Blastrap, melting the Smolten coating it. The gang and Dana looked on with impression. The Forgesmelter landed by the chest and looked proudly at it as it unlocked. Dana picked it up and opened it. But there wasn't any gold. There was just a bunch of household objects. "It's just a bunch of junk!" Dana said, taking a fork out of the chest. "What is all this? You trying to scam us?" She asked as she went through everything in the chest. "Worthless! Trash! Junk!" "Told you there was no fortune. Thought I was kinda hoping there would be too." Eli said.
Dana then took out a couple of strange looking tiaras. "Maybe I can melt these things down for something." She said as she started to put one on. Suddenly, she started to see visions of the Dark Periphery and the Shadow Clan chief. She then fell to the ground and started to twitch and shout in pain as she saw more visions of the Shadow Clan on the move as if they sensed her wearing the tiara. "Get it off of her!" Eli shouted with worry. Trixie knelt over Dana and took off the tiara. "Dana! Are you okay? What just happened?" Trixie asked. Dana started to breathe hard. Like she was in some kind of shock. "The Shadow Clan! They're coming!" She said. Afterwards she lost consciousness.
Just then, the Shadow Clan appeared in the chamber. "Shadow Clan!" Trixie said. "They're everywhere." Mario said. Eli looked around as more appeared. "How'd they get here so fast?" Kord asked in confusion. "Hello! They can walk through shadows, remember?" Harley reminded. "Who cares right now? Let's just make them leave." Eli said, firing Rammer while Kord fired Bludgeon. But the Shadow Clan just swatted them back. Pronto ducked and looked at his watch. "The lava tide is coming!" He called. Trixie looked over Dana. "Kord!" She called. Kord ran right over. "Get them out of here!" Eli called as he loaded the chest. Kord picked up Dana as Trixie fired Rocks at one of the Shadow Clan. But it faded in the shadows to dodge and came right back. Vance and Mario grabbed Deagan, who was still holding his burned face and moaning loudly in pain. Eli grabbed the tiaras and the Forgesmelter and raced back to the others. "Come on, Eli!" Trixie called as she revved up Boomer's engine. "I'm coming!" Eli shouted. He stopped for a second, taking Burpy's barrel and loading it. "Go big, Burpy!" He said, firing his top slug. Burpy flew into the little volcano in the chamber, causing an eruption. "Go!" Eli called as he hopped onto Lucky. The gang rode out of the chamber.
As the gang rode, Burpy flew over to Eli and transformed back. The little slug cheered until a familiar hissing sound came. Eli looked to see that they were coming to the fire geysers. He then turned back to see the Shadow Clan chasing them. The gang rode through as the geysers started to burst. Eli stopped and fired Rocky, who hit the ceiling with Scrapnel, causing chunks of it to fall and surround the Shadow Clan, who disappeared before they were crushed. "Nice. That was a Scrapnel move!" Eli said as Rocky hopped back to his hand. "Way to level up, Rocky." Suddenly, Burpy noticed a geyser about to burst. He chittered to Eli and they rode out as 3 geysers burst. "No slow and steady this time!" Eli said. The Shadow Clan remerged from the shadows and growled at Eli's escape.
Back with the gang, Dana started to come to. She gasped at where they were. They were hopping on afloat boulders across the lava. "Well hello! Welcome back." Kord said as they continued to hop across. Eli rode up to the lava and joined in on the hopping. He then heard a screech. He looked back to see the Shadow Clan were still chasing them. They started to phase through the shadows to cross the lava. "These guys are unstoppable!" He said. As Kord hopped from one rock to another, Dana took notice to a strange orb in the chest. It had the same textures as the tiaras and was glowing. Dana then started to get an idea.
Soon enough, the gang reached the other side and continued to ride. That is, until Eli saw something up ahead. "So, remember what I said about crossing that bridge when we come to it?" He asked. Pronto glanced ahead to see what Eli meant. The entire land bridge was destroyed! "WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Pronto screamed. "No, we're not!" Kord said, firing Iceberg, who used Deepfreeze to create an ice slide. The gang slid on the ice slide to the other side. Iceberg transformed back and started to slide on an ice shard until Kord picked him up. "Look!" Lash called. Everyone looked ahead. There was another gap between them and their exit. "I got this one!" Dana called, firing 2 of her Arachnets and creating a web for them to bounce across. The gang bounced to the other side. As they bounced, the cage holding the lava bats came loose and plummeted towards the lava. "No!" Lash yelled, firing his Lariat, Phlegm, at the cage. Phlegm shot his Wrappler at Lash and pulled the cage back. The lava bats chittered with gratitude as Lash caught them. "You're welcome." Lash said.
Pronto stopped in his tracks. "Pronto, what're you doing?! The tide's rising!" Harley called. "You expect Pronto to bounce across that?!" Pronto asked, gesturing to the web. "Unless you prefer option B." Eli said. Pronto looked behind him to see a Shadow Clan climbing up. He screamed and started to bounce on the web, only to burn his butt on the lava, sending him into the air screaming as the web burned up. He landed near the gang. The Shadow Clan stopped at the edge and scattered to the left and right. Pronto started to hyperventilate. "And that, my friends, is why we never go back to the Magma Caverns again!" He said.
As the gang started to ride to the exit, Eli and Harley stopped to see the Shadow Clan were still chasing them. Eli and Harley, finally having enough, turned around and drew their blasters. "Eli, Harley, stay with us!" Trixie called. "Just get Dana and Deagan out of here! We'll catch up!" Eli called back. The gang rode to the exit. Eli and Harley made their stand as the Shadow Clan charged towards them. Eli slung Rammer and Harley fired Claws. The Shadow Clan vanished and reappeared, dodging the incoming slugs. Eli and Harley raced for somewhere to regroup. Eli noticed a cave up ahead. "Harley, this way!" He called. The 2 brothers rode into the cave. Harley looked back. The Shadow Clan weren't following them. "I think we lost them!" He said. But suddenly, Eli saw something and skidded to a stop. Harley noticed and did the same. They reached a dead end. They hopped off their mechas and aimed their blasters at the cave entrance.
Just then, they heard a cluttering noise. They looked to see Burpy bringing out the tiaras. Burpy looked to his human friends with a smile. "You want us to put those on? Didn't you see what one of those things did to Dana?!" Eli asked in surprise. Burpy nodded, like he didn't even care. Eli and Harley heard screeching in the cave. "What choice do we have, bro?" Harley asked. "None." Eli said. They each picked up their own tiara. "Please don't fry our brains." Eli pleaded. Burpy chittered a cheer as the brothers put them on. They started to feel the same pain Dana received. But then they noticed the Shadow Clan chief and two others had just come. "They belong to us." The chief surprisingly said in a deep whisper of a voice. "Are you talking? To us?" Eli asked in confusion. "Who are you 2 that you can withstand the power of the Shadow Talkers?" The chief asked. "Shadow Talkers?" Eli asked, still confused. "What are Shadow Talkers?" Harley asked. "The circuits on your brows. They allow communication between the wearers and the Shadow Clan." The chief explained. Eli and Harley then started to receive more pain, like they were getting a migraine. "But not all can survive its mind-bending force. So again, we inquire- Who are you?" They all asked. "My name is Eli Shane. This my brother, Harley Shane. Our father was Will Shane." Eli explained, shocking the chief. "Sons of Shane!" The Shadow Clan murmured and muttered in question and surprise. The chief turned back to Eli and Harley. "Your father could not handle the Shadow Talker's full strength. And it appears you 2 aren't ready to wear them just yet. But we will allow you to keep them for the day when you are ready. Now remove them before they take your minds." The chief said as he and the other 2 turned to walk away. "Wait! Who are you people? What do you want?" Eli asked. "The same thing all Shanes want. Including your father. And so, we will meet again." The chief said. "Wait! What did our father want?" Eli asked, but too late. The Shadow Clan disappeared. Eli and Harley used what's left of their strength to remove the Shadow Talkers.
"Eli! Harley!" Trixie's voice came. Eli and Harley looked up to see her, Pronto, Mario, Vance, Kord and Lash. "Dudes!" Kord said. Eli and Harley cringed, still feeling the effects of the Shadow Talkers in their heads. "How did you guys escape the Shadow clan?" Lash asked. Eli and Harley picked up the Shadow Talkers and hid them behind their backs as they stood up. "We're still trying to figure out what happened ourselves." Eli lied. "Yeah. They just left us." Harley added. The gang just looked at each other, not believing what the brothers just said. "You know, it might be a lot easier if we figure it out together." Trixie suggested. Eli and Harley looked at each other, then at Burpy, who chittered. Harley looked at Eli and nodded. Eli felt unsure, but decided 'what the heck.' "Well, to start with, these things allowed us to speak with them." Eli explained, holding up his Shadow Talker. "No way!" Kord said in disbelief. "It did what?!" Trixie asked in shock. "We put them on just like Dana and-" Eli stopped, noticing Dana and Deagan weren't with them. "Wait. Where are Dana and Deagan?" Eli asked. "No clue. We turned back to check on them and they were just gone." Kord said. "For now. I have a feeling we'll see them again. My dad kept all these things hidden for a reason. That was his treasure. And I don't think Dana and Deagan Por are done hunting for what they think is theirs." Eli said. "And what Deagan's hunting for right now is Burpy." Harley reminded, picking up Burpy and putting him back on Eli's shoulder. "And at least we still have our Forgesmelter." Eli said, holding up the Forgesmelter. "So, what're you gonna name him, Eli?" Trixie asked. Eli stared at the slug for a minute. "How about Torch?" He asked. The slug chittered with agreement.
Meanwhile, Dana and Deagan were walking away from the entry to the Magma Caverns. "I was so close! I nearly had the Infurnus! Well, I'm not beaten yet! One day, that slug will be mine!" Deagan cussed, still covering his face. "Oh, shut up! At least I got something out of that chest." Dana said. She held up the orb she had her eye on. She tapped a button and they both disappeared into the shadows like the Shadow Clan.
Finally finished this chapter! I'm sorry for any delay, but I'm just been so busy lately, finding ways on dealing with this stupid coronavirus! But enough about that. The Shane Gang meet Dana Por and her OC brother, Deagan, and learn a horrible truth about Will Shane and the Shadow Clan. What other surprises will be in store for the Shane Gang? Leave a review if you like.
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), Torch (Forgesmelter)
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), Jelly (Jellyish)
Kord Zane: Bludgeon (Rammstone), Sploder (Hop Rock), Jolt (Tazerling), Trip (Polero), Flycatcher (Arachnet), Floatie (Bubbaleone), Iceberg (Frostcralwer), 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), Swimmy (AquaBeek), Hardcase (Armashelt), Squish (Jellyish)
Mario Bravado: Ricochet (Speedstinger), Slide (Frostcralwer), Crawler (Arachnet), Echo (AquaBeek), Mess (Jellyish)
Lash: Zing (Tazerling), Speedy (Speedstinger), Hopper (Hop Rock), Bubba (Bubbaleone), Stinx (Flatulorhinkus), String (Polero), Goat (Rammstone), Sleepy (Slyren), Webber (Arachent), Ice (Frostcrawler), Spark (Flaringo), Winger (Tormato), Witch (Hexlet), Phlegm (Lariat)
