Chapter 11: The Elemental Slugs
"The Elemental Slugs? I thought you were staying out of this," Mom commented.
"After what our brother has done, no," the Water Elemental told her as he hopped into her hands. "Use us."
She nodded, launching them one after another, followed up by Doc. They soared right through the barrier, plowing through the Behemoths. We released the barrier and stepped back as they went to each of us. Leo got Doc, Mark got the Earth Elemental, Vinyl got the Water Elemental, Emma got the Air Elemental, and Luke got the Fire Elemental.
"I will fight by you in lieu of an Elemental," Apollo told me. "Do not worry, though, I am still powerful."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I replied as we took aim and fired, the five slugs entering UltraMorph. I didn't even know they could, but they did, healing ghouls and taking out Dark Bane.
"We should be lucky that Brimstone isn't here," The Fire Elemental commented as they returned to us. "His power is far greater than any of ours from coming into contact with the Gift."
Doc nodded to confirm his comment. "Not now, we need to focus on the battle in front of us," he replied.
"Good point. Let's go!" I called out. The six of us launched our slugs again simultaneously. We didn't even know the effect it would have as their combined power cured all of the ghouls in the cavern.
"This is our power when combined," Doc stated. "Leo, Jacob, launch Apollo and I at the same time."
We nodded, standing back-to-back as we launched them. They entered a fusion shot, the result far greater than I expected. The fusion slug they created had a trail of green light as they launched a large ring of light, taking out any Dark Bane within a hundred yards of them.
"It looks like the tides have been turned," Mom commented. "There aren't any more Dark Bane entering, this is it. Brimstone must have realized that this was a lost cause as he stopped supplying Dark Bane. From my experiences. He has a hundred times this many Dark Bane."
"Well, let's stop thinking about that and push these ones out," I told her as we focused on getting them out. It turned out that we didn't need to use the special tubes, as the Dark Bane had realized their loss and were fleeing.
"We need to seal this entrance so that they can't get in," I stated before people could burst into cheers. I sent half of them to sweep the cavern for any Dark Bane. Once done with that, they would guard the other entrance as the rest set up camp in the cavern.
"How are we going to do this?" Emma asked me as I looked at the giant entrance.
I smiled, holding up Glacier, the Earth Elemental, a Geoshard, and Scorch. "We'll use these four slugs," I told them. I started by launching the Earth Elemental, using his powers to raise a large wall of rock around the other side, completely sealing it off while leaving a large hollow in it.
"How'll that stop them? They'll just use a couple Behemoths to plow through it," Leo began when I launched Glacier, using his Ice Seal to coat the inside with a thick layer of ice, similar to a Forgesmelter's Sealsmith, and can only be undone by a Forgesmelter's Blastrap. To keep the ice from melting, I used a fusion shot of Freezer and Mark's Geoshard to create an icy wall of crystals. It was incredibly tough, and would keep the ice from freezing. I followed up with Scorch, using Sealsmith to create a layer of smelter.
"Amazing," Mom gasped as she looked at the giant plug I created. "Not even a Grenuke could break through this.
"Exactly. I just have one thing left to do," I replied, launching the Earth Elemental to complete the seal. It even expanded past it to prevent digging around it. "An Elemental Slug would have no problem against this, though."
"Indeed, it would be easy," the Earth Elemental told me.
"Thank you for helping us, and we would appreciate it if you would join us for future battles," I told him.
He nodded. "Of course, it would be our pleasure," he told us, each of them hopping into the bandoliers of the Gifted they chose. We thanked them once more and I turned to Mom.
"I need Mario, Kord, and Pronto to stay here to take charge of this outpost," I told her. "Can you tell them for me?"
She nodded and left, so I turned to Vinyl next. "I need you to make those slug suits for Burpy and Saphira. They are the symbols of the Shanes, and it would boost the morale of everyone if they saw their powered up form. Apollo can be taken care of later."
"I told you, I can only make them for our slugs, or they couldn't handle it," she began when I shook my head.
"Burpy and Saphira have more experience and are stronger than any of our slugs, they deserve it if nothing else. They may have been able to save Slugterra once before from the Dark Bane, but we're forcing a much more powerful threat," I explained. "Please, Vinyl."
She sighed, nodding. "Sure thing. It'll be easier because they're the same species of slug and equally powerful. Is Leo going to continue using Burpy or will he work with you?"
I shook my head. "Burpy will make that choice himself," I replied, so she nodded and started planning as we set up the outpost, sending half of our troops back to HQ to keep an eye on the place while we repurposed the remaining buildings that were still standing. The residents had already fled, so we set them up as barracks and command centers.
"Where's Kaiya?" I asked Luke as we took inventory. "I haven't heard from her since I was sent to the caves."
"She's searching for more of those weird energy-charged disks she gave us," he replied. "She apparently hid two more away somewhere, but when she reached them, they were gone. She's pissed so none of us argued when she left."
"Ah, makes sense," I replied. "If we could get more of them, we could have an almost unlimited amount of slug energy," I added. "Aren't you worried that the Dark Bane got her, though?"
He shook his head. "She's too scary for the Dark Bane to attack, even when she's alone. If she's in trouble, she's got all of our contact information. Anyway, come on, we need to check the food stores after this."
"Oh, right," I muttered, following after him.
We finished inventory by the end of the day, so we set off to put the finishing touches on the outpost. Surprisingly, the giant landmark of interlocking rings was still in place in the middle of the cavern, so we put the energy disk Kaiya gave us in it. According to Mom, that was where Kaiya got it from, so we put it back, the rings lighting up as grass started growing in the destroyed landscape.
"Amazing, what these disks can do to a cavern like this," I commented as we watched it dull and become a part of the landmark once again. We returned to HQ a couple days later and Vinyl and Mark got to work. We managed to have a full week of peace without an attack before the Dark Bane started their next campaign.
"From scouting reports, the Dark Bane haven't attacked any caverns, only going through them," Mario reported when we reached the outpost. He told us he found something, so we rushed there. "We've plotted their movements, and believe that they're going to Futura Cavern. They must be trying to prevent us from developing more weaponry. What do you suggest?" he asked us.
"We should head them off," I replied. "Mark, how many more of those tubes have you made?"
"Two hundred, I've managed to streamline the process," he replied.
"Good. Let's test it by blocking their advance. We will send a squad of ten slingers ahead of a group of one hundred. Those ten will include Mark and Mario, and the hundred will be led by Luke and Emma. You will be armed with the special tubes. Head them off in Herringbone Cavern. They'll have to cross the chasm there, so it'll be your best chance. Before the Dark Bane arrived, the bridges have been greatly improved, so Mark will need to use the Earth Elemental to take it out. You'll have to worry about Eels, I have a feeling that the special tubes will have no effect. Use your usual slugs to take them out. If they manage to find another way across, the secondary force will head them off there until you can arrive. Once done, destroy all bridges."
"How would we get across after that, though?" Mark asked me. "We'll lose any way to access Futuria."
"Earth Elemental, you could rebuild a bridge, correct?" I asked him.
He nodded. "Yes, it would be simple with the aid of a GeoShard," he replied, so I nodded.
"There we go. Once you have done that, Leo, Vinyl, and I will lead a group of the scientists with us to join you and go to Futuria. There, you can complete your research with better equipment than what we have with us. It will advance our battle," I explained. "Any questions?"
"What will we do if Brimstone is leading the advance?" Mario asked me.
I frowned. "If that comes to pass, we will face him in combat. Even if we don't will, we will have to hold him off long enough for us to retreat and focus on protecting Futuria."
"What about our numbers, though?" Mom asked me. "If we spread ourselves too thin between these outposts, they could overtake them all before we could gather together."
I frowned. "I don't know. While we have a lot of people fighting with us, the Dark Bane have a hundred for every one of us. We need more fighters. Contact all of Blakk's former associates if you have to."
"What?" they all demanded.
"Even if they are evil at the core and want to rule Slugterra, they wouldn't want to rule a land that's been destroyed by the Dark Bane. A common enemy can unite those that once were enemies themselves. As much as I'm against it, we may need them. Mom, have Elina and Quora changed their minds about joining us?"
She shook her head. "No. Not even Junjie or their children will join us unless Quora does."
I swore. "If we had them, even if they number five, they could play a major part, especially Elina and Quora," I began when Mom's Holopad lit up. "Who is it?"
She looked at it and her face paled. "Elina," she replied before she answered the call. "What's wrong, Elina?"
Explosions sounded in the background. "The Dark Bane are attacking me! There are too many for me to defeat on my own! Please, help me!" she exclaimed before the line went dead.
"Let's go," I told them, grabbing my blasters. "Even if she didn't want to join us, we need to help her," I added, so they all grabbed their blasters.
"Her cavern is closer to HQ, so I'm sending an advance squad to get there first," Mom announced as we gathered a group of our own.
"Their advance on Futuria must've been a distraction. If we go after Elina, though, we may lose our chance to stop them before they reach Futuria," Mark added.
"That doesn't matter. Elina is one of us, that's all that matters," I told them. "Mom, can you contact Quora and tell her about the situation? She may be in trouble if they're targeting the Enchantresses."
"Already there," she replied, so we mounted our Mechas and took off, a hundred of us racing toward Elina's aid.
The advance squad reached her cavern first, so we soon received word of contact with the Dark Bane. Brimstone had sent three hundred of his Dark Bane to deal with Elina, so they started fighting. Elina could've dealt with a hundred or so on her own without losing control of herself, but that many were too much for her.
"Come on, come on…" I muttered, trying to get all of the speed I could out of Stryder. We arrived at the cavern ten minutes later, only to find destruction. All of our forces were safe, but the Dark Bane were all gone.
"We got your message and figured we'd help," a voice cut in. We looked and found a force easily numbering at least three times our own, led by an old man with graying hair and dark eyes.
"Maurice?" Mom demanded, startled.
"Wait, the Maurice?" we all called out, just as surprised by his response.
A/N: Hello again, my readers! I know, I'm just as surprised as you by my quick updating, but I'm on a roll. It looks like the tides have started to turn in the War for Slugterra. It looks like even Blakk's goons are turning toward the light, yay!
Disclaimer: I do not own Slugterra or its characters, only my own. Hills-to-Sky owns Kaiya Skye, JackieWinters owns Elina, Quora, and Quora's kids, Create-gunner1209 owns Leo Shane and his slugs, Aist MoonSun owns Karina, and PLAINAWESOME owns Leon Blakk. I suggest you check them all out, they're amazing writers!
Until next time!