Chapter One

The first time I ever visited Slugterra, it was a beautiful day. Full of their strange sunshine and singing slugs, almost as if the whole world was trying to make a good first impression. My dad and I flew in on his Infernus, Burpy. The sky lit up willingly as they lighted it up. It was gorgeous, the way the clouds changed their color to the deep orange the slug was giving off.

The ground nearly swallowed my small 10 year old body. Burpy wasn't as good at landing as he was at taking off, so we both fell off, but my dad landed feet first. He, with the help of the little slug who had dropped me, pulled me to my feet, knees shaking and knocking together. Shock baded leave as soon as I saw the nearest tree, which was mostly green at the base and tan the rest of the way to the ground.

"It's so much prettier than you said. Why did you lie to me?" Mandy consulted him angrily.

He simply shrugged, holding up his hands, proclaimed innocence. "I did say. You just didn't listen."

She turned and purposely concentrated on the tree's strange colorings. "What?" She asked him, gigging under her breathe.

He shook his head, smiling brightly. "Alright smart-alec. Where do you want to go?"

She clapped her hands to get her excitedly. "I want to meet all your slugs, at your base."

Will pointed to his mecha-beast, gesturing to her the command to mount. She

"Are you ready? Hold on tight." He didn't wait for her to answer, as her tightening hands did it for her.

They traversed a few caverns, with Will giving random facts along the ride. Mandy soaked up the information like the first day at school, eyes wide and ears listening valiantly. Her father gladly answered all her questions, knowing how many she had. She always was a very inquisitive little girl, he remembered. Always asking questions and understanding things in more ways than he did himself. Her and her brother would be great Shanes. He sighed and continued down the worn path.

"Are those train tracks? They don't look normal…" she concluded.

Without looking at her, he said," They are, but they're like subway tracks."

Before he could further explain, she told him off. "Oh. But there isn't an electrical current to power the third rail." She argued.

"Remember how I said the slugs give off energy? Well, the tracks run on that power that is absorbed from the slugs in the area." He rethought through what he had said, and was only more confused, but Mandy seemed to get it.

Her attention was suddenly pulled away. "Dad! Stop!"

Will instantly breaked, extremely confused, but confident in his daughter. She snagged his blaster off his belt, and nodded to Burpy, who jumped into the clear light blue glass casing. Any careful parent would have snatched the weapon out of the 10 year old's hands, but Will wasn't worried. All he did was steady her shot. He knew where she was aiming, and why, and he was determined to let her know it was her who did it.

"Aim a little lower, towards the base." He advised her.

There was a little sheet of rock sliding down the cavern wall towards the incoming train on the tracks, and on it a whole variety of slugs, all of which were trying to slow their approach. Mandy was aiming just below the right spot, but Burpy could easily account for the lost height.

When the blaster fired off, it knocked the little girl into the back of the mecha-beast as a cause of the recoil. She watched in amazement as the little slug spun and magically transformed into the flying ball of fire everyone was afraid of. She frowned in disappointment when Burpy flipped the rock, instead of going where she had wanted him too. Mandy grabbed her father's arachnet from his belt, and popped it into the slot. She fired quicker, not bothering to perfect her aim. It shot a net of webbing, catching all the falling slugs, including Burpy.

As she hopped down from the mecha-beast, Will imagined how Burpy could have more easily saved the slugs with Mandy's technique. He didn't even think it was possible,until he thought deeper.

I can't wait to duel her when she's older. He thought to himself as he jumped down from the mount. She was helping all of the slugs down by the time he reached her.

She would bring her arms up and over the net, pick up a couple slugs, then very gently set them down, where they would hop away happily. She did this a few times, before Will noticed that one of the slugs were sitting on her should, directing the slugs on her arms. Mandy didn't seem to notice until her father pointed it out.

"Hi there. What's your name?" She was fascinated by the strange coloring on it.

The reddish slug chirped seriously to her.

Her father examined more closely the little slug. "It's a thugglet." He said, surprised.

"That's a cool name." She told it. "Well Sulfur, I'm going to go with my dad to meet his slugs, so, I have to go. Your welcome to come if you want to." She gestured to her father who was standing astonished.

A black and grey train passed behind them, along the tracks.

The thugglet lept off of the girl's arm, and onto the ground. Then the train started squealing loudly, trying to stop. The Shanes put their hands over their ears, and Will watched the train worriedly. When the horrible noise had stopped, he told her to run.

"Go! Behind those trees!" He gripped his backup blaster and beckoned towards the treeline.

"Dad, what is it?" She helped over her shoulder as she sheltered behind a strangely coloured tree.

Three black-clad men walked out from the train's now open door, blasters at the ready.

My father slipped another casing into his blaster, fired it, and repeated the process several more time. I watched carefully, making notes about certain slugs and their quirks, finding weaknesses in the enemies, and worrying about Dad. So many times, I saw ways he could have knocked out one of the guys, and became angry in my inability to do anything to end the battle. That's when I noticed the thugglet, Sulfur, hopping towards me, dragging along a red canister.

"You, kid, shoot me at head level, and avoid your dad." It ordered me.

I, not knowing what it did in terms of abilities, complied, eager to help. He jumped into the casing, as I loaded it into my father's main blaster.

I aimed at the middle of the firefight, hoping it was high enough.

The recoil was startling, but in the end, I didn't notice it as much as I had the first two times. I watched in amazement as the slug transformed, and flew towards the group, slamming into all of them, with the exception of Dad. They all started to flail around, waving their blasters as if they were encased in fog. My father looked back at me in astonishment, but I was concentrating on reaching the mecha-beast. He understood, and ran towards it as well.

I picked up Sulfur as I past, much to its dislike, as my shoulders were quite bumpy.

The ride back was quick, and I didn't ask nearly as many questions, for I just wanted to relax and enjoy the scenery. As we entered a clearing in the trees, there was a little white house centered in it. It didn't look like a normal house, it was more like a cottage and a mushroom pushed together. I laughed at it's funny shape, wondering how well it would hold up in a major storm.

Burpy chirped in response to my laughter.

Inside the 'hideout', as Dad called it, was a few rooms; a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and three guest bedrooms, not to mention the master bedroom. It was mysteriously large on the inside for what it looks like on the outside.

I immediately made myself comfortable on the soft green couch in the parlor, while my dad sat next to me, taking off his backpack and yelling, "I'm back guys! And I brought a visitor!"

I shot a confused look to the older Shane.

He just pointed to the doorway between a bedroom.

I turned my gaze to where he pointed, and noticed a few slugs hopping tiredly towards us. "Oh my gosh, hi guys! Hi there!"

I was waving, wildly excited, to the slugs, when I felt teeth on my ear. "Sulfur, you jealous?" I nagged him. He chirped, annoyed. "Don't worry," I comforted him, "I'm just meeting them. I've never seen any slugs other than Burpy." My explanation was confirmed by Burpy's joyful noise.

After meeting all the slugs, and possibly playing with them when dad was making lunch, I wanted to fire a few.

"Dad, can I please just fire off a few?" I begged him.

He chuckled. "It takes weeks, sometimes even months before you can get a slug to do what you want when shooting it."

"But you let me shoot Burpy. And Sulfur." I argued.

"No, you don't understand. I'm telling you not to expect the slugs to do exactly what you want."

I smiled gleefully. "Does that mean…" I led him on.

He nodded, and handed me his blaster. "Just do it outside, please."

It was my turn to nod in assent.

I turned excitedly to the slugs. "Who wants to go first?"

All of them started jumping about wildly, except for a Tormato slug, which was just raising it's hand really cutely. I loaded it into the blaster, and aimed out of the open window.

This repeated for a few hours, until we had to go home.

"Dad, can I take Sulfur home?"

Sulfur chirped a yes, indicating that he didn't want to be left here.

Will Shane was about to deny, when Burpy jumped up next to him, and hugged the thugglet slug. He sighed, giving in. "Yeah, I guess so, but don't tell your mother that I let you fire a blaster, or your brother. We don't need him to be more jealous…"

I hugged both slugs and my father, before flying home.

A/N sorry 'bout the wait time, hope it was worth it. Make sure to follow the story so you know when I've updated. And maybe check out some of my other books. Have a good holiday break!