Chapter 3: Bonnie Springs Girls

A/N: Whew! Finally finished. I grabbed whatever time I have on my computer to write this chapter, and that won't be much, because PSLE is in two months...dang it. It took forever to think up of a name for this chapter, but still, ENJOY!

"Thud!"

"Ouch! That hurt!" Eli said while sitting up and rubbing his right arm. He looked around, taking in his new surroundings.

Where am I? Where are my friends? He heard another round of moaning and looked down. "I know Doc. You'll be alright." He sighed. "If only I can get outta this place."

"Course you can." A young girl's voice resonated around the area, which is apparently a dungeon. "If you will just tell me who you are."

"Huh?" Eli said, confused. Suddenly, a bright light shone onto his face, and he shielded his eyes with his arm. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked up, and gasped.

An Asian-looking girl, about ten years old, stood in front of him. She had smooth brown hair, tied into a ponytail by a red rubber band, and the excess falls down the side of her face as long bangs. She wore a matching red headband and shirt, and had a clean white bandoleer slung around her shoulder. She had a blue-green ribbon with sparkling emerald embedded in it tied around her neck, and an identical one around her waist. Her skirt and boots were again in a matching green shade, and her dark brown eyes were smiling and cheerful. Nothing like what Eli imagined.

"So, what's your name, young man?" the girl said casually while tossing the glob of green sparkles up and down on her hand, which Eli recognized as the same stuff that dragged him here. It was also that light source which shone like the sun. Well, at least its light was real bright.

"Eli Shane." Eli said. "Yours?"

The girl suddenly whipped around, almost sending the green sparkles into Eli's face. She caught it just in time, and said, "You're the legendary Eli Shane?! Wah, I've been dying to meet you leh!" She skipped around the room, squealing with delight (and ignoring the fact that she just let her Singaporean accent show) for at least a minute before settling down and saying, "Okay, sorry, I was, huh, really happy. Oh yes and, my name is Isabelle Cheng. Princess of Bonnie Springs."

Finally got your name. "Oh, no wonder, you sound like a Singa…"Eli clapped his hand over his mouth. Stupid! He thought. What a stupid idea to say Surface stuff to Slugterrians!

"Oh, it's okay. I'm born in Singapore." Isabelle smiled, revealing a set of clean white teeth. "I know you are also from the world above."

Eli smiled too. "Good to know." he heard Doc moaning again and Isabelle's face immediately went pale. "Is that a Boon Doc slug? He sounds sick." She said with a tremble in her voice.

"Uh, yes, I came here to get him fixed up." Eli held up Doc, who looks as sick as ever. "Can you help him?"

"Oh my, he looks so bad." She scooped up Doc in her hands and continued, "Let's go look…"

"Wait, Isabelle, wait," Eli said, slowly getting up, trying to ignore the sharp pains from his right arm (the one that he landed on). "My friends are still out there, and they might be worried. Can I just get out of here to get them?"

"No need, Eli," She said with a cheeky smile. "I'll get them in a second."

A whoosh of green sparkles again. "No Isabelle don't…"

"WHOOSH!"

"…do that."

"Wh-what just happened?!" Trixie said while slowly uncovering her eyes.

"Not sure." Kord replied uncertainly. "Come on now let's go look for him."

"Let Pronto lead the waAAAYYYY!" The same green sparkles reached out of nowhere and grabbed Pronto, who was screaming his head off. Trixie and Kord gasped and huddled together, hoping and hoping that the green sparkles will not reach them, but their prayers were futile. One moment they're outside, and the next, they're gone.

"Ouch!"

Trixie, Kord and Pronto landed in a heap on the cold, cement floor. They got up looking woozy and took in the place.

"You're finally here," said Isabelle. "Let's go."

"Wait," Trixie began. "Who are you? Where's Eli?!"

"Right here." Eli said as Isabelle's healing magic illuminated their faces.

"ELI!" Trixie shouted with joy. She leapt towards him and caught him in a bear hug, and he winced at the sudden pain in his right arm. Luckily, it wasn't too audible.

"Guys, this is Isabelle, Princess of Bonnie Springs. She can heal Doc," Eli said, gesturing towards Isabelle with his left arm while keeping his right arm behind his back. "But first…I guess we need to get outta here."

"Right on." Isabelle said with a serious expression on her face. "Let's go."

On the way, Pronto muttered under his breath with disdain, "This girl doesn't look like a Princess at all."

Isabelle caught the remark, but she didn't retaliate. Instead, she muttered under her breath as well, "Stereotypes, stereotypes and more stereotypes."

"There," Isabelle said while stopping in front of a big, green door labeled 'Healer Slugs'. "We're here."

"Whoa," Kord said, his eyes widening at the carved designs on the door. "Why is everything in here so awesome?!"

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Kord, why do you love everything in here?"

"Cos they're awesome!" Kord grabbed Trixie by her collar and brought her close to his face to exaggerate his point. Trixie cringed at the stench of his breath. When was the last time he brushed his teeth? She wondered in disgust.

Isabelle untied the ribbon, which appears to be an energy amulet, from her neck and inserted it into the hole under the handle. A bright light flashed and a click can be heard, then Isabelle turned the handle. The door opened slowly to a magnificent golden room, filled with Boon Docs and whole bunch of slugs the Shane Gang couldn't name. Amongst them was another girl who looks exactly like Isabelle, other than her hair, which had a red and white star clip in it and was tied into two ponytails with red purple elastic bands. She looked up at the Shane Gang and smiled shyly.

"Guys, meet my twin sis, Irene." Isabelle walked over to the girl and knelt down beside her. "Irene, they're the legendary Shane Gang."

Eli was the first one to walk over as the rest gaped at the marvelous design of the room. "Hey," he said quietly. "I'm Eli."

"Hi Eli." Irene said with an even quieter voice.

"She's a bit shy around strangers," Isabelle explained.

"That's Trixie, Kord and Pronto," Eli continued, nodding at his friends respectively. "We came here to get Doc fixed."

In response, Isabelle held out Doc, who looked slightly better, if not cured. Irene's eyes widened at this sight and said, "Oh poor little guy, he looks so homesick!" and grabbed Doc from her sister's hand, bringing him close to her face.

Eli gasped. "H-how did you know?"

Isabelle shrugged. "Oh, it's in us Chengs' blood, to see the patients' problem without asking them. And it's simple really, to heal this little slug. Just put him with the others and allow them to interact for two hours. In the meantime, why not have a snack? You guys must really have burnt a lot of calories just trying to get here."

Surprisingly, Isabelle was right, Eli did feel a little hungry. "Okay then," he said. "Let's go."

Irene gently set Doc down on the floor. He stood up immediately and smiled wide at the sight of his fellow Boon Docs, and started a happy conversation with some other unknown slugs (to Eli at least). Then, the three of them got up and walked towards the door, dragging a reluctant Kord away from the room. As Irene locked the door with her energy amulet, Pronto asked Isabelle, "Don't you need someone to watch over the slugs, in case they…"

Isabelle chuckled and put her hand on Pronto's shoulder. "Pronto," she said. "Slugs also need privacy." And then she hopped away, catching up with Eli and chattering happily with him.

Pronto sighed with frustration. Nobody understands me.