Chapter 12 - Maurice
Maurice nodded. "Karina contacted me shortly after you received news of Ms. Shae's danger. These are all of Thaddeus and Leon's forces from before the Dark Bane appeared that I could gather with such short notice. We got here not long ago and your forces were on the verge of being defeated. They've set up camp over with Ms. Shae. Most of us have turned over new leafs since the Blakks died. Do we have your permission to join you, Shanes?" he asked us.
"Of course," Leo, Mom, and I replied. "Can you start by patrolling the borders while we help Elina?" I asked him, so he nodded.
"Anything you ask, we will do, Shane," he told me, his group taking off to set up patrols as we continued through the cavern to the place Elina lives.
"Are you okay, Elina?" Mom called out when she came into sight. She had a few bumps and bruises, but looked fine.
"Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix," she replied. "I take it Quora and her family are on their way?"
Mom nodded. "They'll be here soon. Has this made you change your stance on joining us?" Mom asked her.
Elina nodded. "As much as I think you could do it without me now that you have those strange tubes, I will join you, but not for myself. They harmed so many slugs in their attack, I don't know if this cavern will ever return to its former glory," she told us before turning to Mom. "How's Healer Springs?"
"Still standing, fortunately," Mom said softly.
"What's in Healer Springs?" I asked, curious. "Wasn't that were Kaiya Skye grew up?"
"Nothing, I'll explain when I have to, and yes, Kaiya grew up there," she replied. "Now, I need some time to pack my things and call my slugs," she told us, so we let her be as I walked over to Mom.
"Do you know what's in Healer Springs?" I asked her.
"Someone very precious to her," she replied softly, frowning for a second before she walked away.
"What was that about with Healer Springs?" Luke asked me.
"No clue, they won't say," I replied. "If it doesn't affect us, though, let's not get involved."
Elina was packed and ready to go half an hour later, so we all left, the remaining slugs hiding away to keep the cavern alive as we left for base.
When we returned, Quora and her family were already there, so Elina talked to them. Once again, she softly brought up Healer Springs, but they never went into detail.
"Until we can set up more permanent residences, you are welcome to pitch tents or hang hammocks in the trees with the rest of us," I told them once we had reached a clearing. There were already groups of people using slugs and their own two hands to construct crude huts out of slug-made bricks cured by Flaringos. Mark went to help for a bit with the Earth Elemental, creating entire huts with a single shot. It tired out the big guy, though, so he could only do a few at a time before he had to rest.
"If you need me for anything, just call me," Kaiya told me as she left. "I need to keep my home safe. It hasn't been attacked so far, but it's one of the one without sensors, so I'll need to be there to call it in," she explained.
"I understand, stay safe," I told her. "Oh, and do you have any idea why Elina is so concerned about someone in Healer Springs?"
Kaiya shrugged. "No clue, kid. See ya," she replied. I couldn't tell if she was lying or not, so I was still suspicious about her as Mom called me back to Shinai's hut for strategy meetings.
"Now that we have the Enchantresses and the Eastern Champion, as well as Maurice and his men, shouldn't we just attack them instead of allowing them to make the first move?" Luke demanded. "We have the power."
"That is the problem, Luke," Mark told him. "Because we have them on our side now, Brimstone will most likely dispatch more of his Dark Bane to reinforce his claimed caverns. Nobody knows exactly how many he has with a pathway to home. If we attacked, we could be going against twice as many as last time, or more. We need to be careful. Now that Elina is safe with us, we need to focus on the chance that they might extend into Futura Cavern and cut off our source of tech and supplies. Jake's plan would be the best way to do so."
Mom nodded. "We can send out the teams in an hour once we're ready. Any problems with the plan?"
"Yeah. Instead of just cutting them off, why not just push them out of that cavern?" Luke asked, bringing up a holographic map of the cavern. "The part they're in is the smaller part of the cavern."
"As true as it may be, if we did that, they could instead blow the bridge once we cross it and overwhelm us with their reinforcements," I told him.
"What do you think, Junjie? You've been fairly quiet," Mom asked the Eastern Champion.
Junjie shook his head. "I don't know. Fighting the Emperor was one thing, but this is all-out war against and army whose numbers we do not know, and a limited amount of weaponry that can defeat them. Marcus, how many of the tubes can you make right now?"
"If we use just enough to take out a Dark Bane while still having enough for the bomb, we could have a total of…about two hundred now? We used a lot on the last battle, so we need to be more careful with how many we use," he told us.
I frowned. "I can get another crystal big enough," I replied.
"No."
The single word came from Shinai, who was sitting silently in her chair. "You were lucky to get a crystal that big as it is, I doubt it'd give you another one."
"Wait, are you talking about the Gift?" Emma asked, shocking both of us.
"H-How do you know this?" I demanded.
"It was in our letters," Vinyl told me. "We all know now, so your vow of silence is over."
I frowned but nodded. "Of course. Anyway, before we continue with the topic of the tubes, back to the original plan. You shouldn't need the tubes, but if you do, you will each get one. Use them only when you need to. A few Grenukes should be enough to take down each bridge, so if you need more, go to Quiet Lawn," I told Mom and Mark. "Don't take any Elementals, though. If anything happens, we can't lose them. They're our best way to deal with Brimstone."
Mom and Mark nodded. "We'll go to get ready," Mark told me.
"What about the rest of us?" Leo asked me.
"Stay on standby in case they need backup," I told them. "Quora, Elina, could you go with them to assist in the destruction of the bridges? Your powers would be greatly appreciated."
Quora nodded. "I'll go. Junjie?"
Junjie nodded in agreement. "Of course, I'll always have your back. Qai, Jazira, stay here. You haven't enough slugs or skill in combat to face Dark Bane."
"I think my friends and I can help with that," Leo told them, giving them assuring looks. "We'll stay behind to help you get new slugs and learn to sling them like a pro."
"Thank you," Junjie told him before they left as well. We gathered closer around the table, Vinyl starting up communications systems as we sat down. Leo took Qai and Jazira out as we watched the teams' progress.
"Luke, can you go tell Maurice's crew to get ready to go?" I asked him. Maurice returned to the cavern with us. Luke went, so it was soon just Vinyl, Emma, Shinai, Elina, and I gathered around the table as they went. It was a long journey there, but when they arrived, the Dark Bane had set up camp across the bridge. Before they could raise the alarm, the first volley of Grenukes were launched, and the gap widened with Quora's help so that Behemoths couldn't jump over it. She even rose the magma levels below a foot or so, making it harder for them to climb. It was a rather simple operation, as it was meant to be, so they were back an hour later as we set up for dinner.
"At least we have the Caverns' aid, or we'd be starving," Leo commented over dinner.
"Qai, Jazira, how did your training go?" Junjie asked his children, so they went into detail about how they were taught the Slinger's code, got a few more slugs, and learned more. Qai seemed confident he could beat me with more slugs, but I laughed.
"You may have more slugs than before, but I have many friends that have fought with me for much longer," I explained, "not to mention I can Ultramorph them."
"Yeah, it always seems to come down to that. Why can't you make a blaster to launch into Ultramorph?" he asked me.
"It's impossible with today's technology," I replied. "Vitalis Steel may be a breakthrough in metal alloys, but an Ultramorph accelerator would put too much torque on the steel, bending it out of shape just after charging up, and don't even get me started on what it would do to the bearings. Doing it our way only increases the slug's power, not the accelerator's speed. Maybe in a few decades, if it's even physically possible, but certainly not today," I explained, leaning back against the tree I would be sleeping in.
That night, I fell into a deep and carefree sleep, not knowing that, in a few hours, Healing Springs Caverns would go under attack.
That night, Healer Springs Cavern, Kaiya's POV…
"C'mon, Jet, time for some sleep," I told Jet, getting comfortable in my bed as my companion laid in her own bed. I had patrolled the cavern until I could barely keep my eyes open, and set Skies to sentry mode so that he could continue patrolling. I wasn't even asleep for an hour, though, when alarms went off. "Skies!" I called out, running out of my home as Skies roared and ran up to me. There were sensors going off with Dark Energy all over the cavern, so I sent a report to the Shanes before Skies took off at full speed. I alone couldn't save the cavern I grew up in, but I could save a certain someone, so I pushed Skies to the limit as I raced to the facility. When I reached it, though, it was dark.
"No…" I whispered, running to the doors, which were flung open with great force. Pulling up the cameras, there was nobody inside. The Dark Bane must have targeted her first. "Dammit!" I screamed, taking off for the entrance. If I could go fast enough, I could cut them off before they could escape. When I arrived, though, there was a Behemoth. "Damn," I growled when it noticed me. Skies may be strong, but a Behemoth is something Shane would have to handle with his wacky abilities.
The Behemoth decided to chase me, so I spent the next hour or so running from the massive creatures before Shane arrived with backup. Elina and Quora led the way, blasting Dark Bane aside as Young Shane took down the Behemoth with a fusion blast.
"Where is she?" Elina screamed at me as I went over to them.
I hung my head low, guilt flooding through me for the first time in a while. "When I reached the facility, it was empty. That Behemoth was keeping me from giving chase. I'm sorry, I couldn't get her in time."
Elina's eyes widened as she stumbled back a step like I hit her. "No…" she gasped.
"Who are you talking about?" Shane called out.
Jake's POV…
"Who are you talking about?" I demanded as Quora supported Elina. "Who are you so worried about?"
Before Elina could respond, Mark got our attention. "There's a live feed coming in from the Dark Bane," he told us.
"Bring it up!" Elina yelled, running over to him. He pulled up a holographic screen with Brimstone's face.
"Hello, Slugterra. Enchantress, watch carefully," he growled, lifting a figure by the head. She was probably a couple years older than me, and her light blue hair looked like Elina's. When she opened her eyes, they were red and black.
"Mom…help me…" she whimpered, her eyes flashing back to a blue that startled Leo and I, as that color was all too familiar.
"Oh, god, Caitlin…" Elina cried.
"Unless you wish for me to kill the one you hold most dear, surrender to me. Your Eastern friends, too. You have two days to come to me, my men will not attack unless you attack first," he growled before the line went dead.
"Elina, who was that, and why does she have Eli's eyes?" I demanded.
She looked at all of us. "Caitlin is my daughter. As for her eyes, Eli is her father."
A/N: Hello, all! I was trying to think of inspiration for this chapter when Caitlin came to me suddenly. Well, it seems that Ellie had her own secrets.
I do not own Slugterra, only my own characters, including Caitlin. Elina, Quora, and Quora's kids belong to JackieWinters, Kaiya Skye belongs to Hills-to-Sky, Leo belongs to Create-Gunner1209, and Karina belongs to Aist MoonSun
Until next time, dicarten-ice out!