Chapter 6—Gone

Jacob's POV…

After about five minutes in the shell of ice there was silence, so Blaze, Alpha, and any Flaringos and Forgesmelters around us went to work melting the ice so that we could get out. When it was completely melted we climbed out and I searched for Elina.

"Elina?" I shouted after a minute. "Where are you?"

"Jacob," Blaze told me sadly as she and a couple of Elina's other slugs pulled out an envelope and nudged it to me. "I suggest you sit down to read this," she added. My eyes widened and my hand shook as I took the envelope and walked to the table, sitting down. I tried to open the sealed envelope, but I couldn't concentrate with my hands shaking, so Splice, Elina's Thresher, opened it for me.

"Thanks, Splice," I told the slugs. He nodded and nudged the paper inside toward me. I nodded and picked up the letter, unfolding it and reading it.

Dear Jacob,

If you are reading this letter, then I have been captured by Doctor Blakk and am most likely being held in his fortress. I wrote this letter to tell you that the years I have spent with you were the best. You have been the closest thing I have to family in several years.

Also, I wrote this letter to ask for your help. When you finish reading this letter, take as many slugs as you can and seek out the Shane Gang. Tell them who you are and who I am, and ask them to help you free me. If Eli is still like his father told me he was, he will help you to the best of his abilities. If they agree to help you, though, DO NOT FIGHT. I do not want you getting hurt, and the slugs are there to protect you, not help you fight. The Shane Gang knows what they are doing, trust them.

Again, I am sorry this had to happen to you, Jake.

Love,

Elina.

When I finished reading the letter I set it down and closed my eyes, focusing on calming down. If I lose it, things tend to get very cold.

"Jacob, you need to get ready to go," Blaze told me sadly. I nodded slowly and stood up, walking to a cabinet where Elina keeps her slinging supplies. I put on another bandolier so that the two formed an 'X' across my chest. I pulled on a backpack with a miniature slug home in it to fit more slugs before grabbing all the money in case I would need supplies.

"Are you sure about this?" Blaze asked me as I grabbed the blaster I found and Elina's from where she left it just inside the cave. I attached them both to my belt and loaded my bag and bandoliers with slugs. Blaze stayed on one shoulder and Alpha on my other. I pulled on a beanie.

"I'm sure," I replied. "I need to help Elina." She nodded and I finished packing before going to Luna.

"Um, how do I drive it?" I added, looking at the tigress Mecha. The slugs looked at me and shrugged. My arms and legs were too short for the controls, so I'd have to improvise by walking.

"This is gonna be fun," I muttered sarcastically. I managed to get out of the cave by fitting between the vines and climbing out.

"Let's get going," Alpha told me. "We don't know where Eli lives, but we'll have to figure it out.'

"Well, it's gonna take a while to find him on foot," I commented. They nodded but I had to do it, so I started walking toward the cavern entrance.

Three hours later I arrived at Convertamail Cavern, where I looked around for them. The Shane Gang wasn't there, though, so I went in a random direction from there, arriving at another town in an hour.

"At this pace, we'll never find the Shane Gang," I groaned as we walked into a restaurant to get dinner. I bought the slugs a bowl of slug food and ate a burger.

"What should we do to find the Shane Gang?" I asked the slugs. "Their hideout is top-secret, it would take forever to find it."

"We could just start going to competitions," Blaze suggested. "Elina and I once went to a competition and Eli was there. Apparently, he likes competitions."

"Sounds like a good place to start," I commented. When a waitress came up to us to collect the dishes I paid for the meal and asked her where and when the next competition is."

"Well, there's one over in Rock Lock Cavern, starting in about twenty minutes," she told me. "Aren't you a bit young to be slinging slugs, though?"

"I know, but I'm looking for someone," I replied. She nodded and walked away. I left and started toward Rock Lock, but on foot it would take over an hour.

"Can you guys give me a lift to Rock Lock?" I asked the two Hoverbugs I brought with me. Elina's was named 'Winx', and the one I had was named 'Turbo'. They nodded so I launched 'Winx', who velocimorphed and picked me up, taking me about halfway before tiring out and returning to protoform.

"Thank you, Winx," I told her, placing her in a slug tube to rest. She nodded and sat against the wall of her slug tube. I ran for about five minutes before launching Turbo to carry me the remaining distance. He returned to protoform about five meters or so from the cavern the competition is located in, so I thanked Turbo and let him rest as I jogged over to the stands where people watch the competition.

"Keep your eyes out for Eli and the Gang," I told the slugs as the competition.

"Welcome everyone!" an announcer said when it was time to start. "Today's competition will start in five minutes. Don't move, though, because Eli Shane will be here to compete today!"

"Did he just say 'Eli Shane'?" Alpha asked me. I nodded and we looked around for Eli and the Gang.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Over there!" Blaze chirped, pointing to where Eli had walked onto the field. Another guy walked out with an arsenal completely of ghouls, but Eli easily beat him when the announcer blew the whistle.

"ELI!" I screamed along with the rest of the fans. Eli turned and waved to the crowd, but almost froze when he saw me. I waved and mouthed the words 'Talk to me later' to him. He nodded and walked to his seat. As the competition progressed Eli continued to win more and more, eventually winning the entire competition.

"Make sure to find him afterwards!" Alpha reminded me as he accepted the award money.

"I know," I replied. When he walked out of the arena I ran over to him as he turned toward me.

"Hey, there," he said, crouching down to my level. "What are you doing here?" he asked me. "Where's the girl you were with earlier."

"That was Elina," I replied. "She the reason I came to you."

He frowned and his tone became serious. "What happened to her?" he asked me.

"Blakk kidnapped her," I told him. "Elina had me hide while she drove them away, but something must have happened because he took her away to his fortress. Please, help me rescue her," I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

He nodded and held out his arms. I walked into them and hugged him.

"Come on, let me take you to the Hideout so that we can talk about this more," he told me. I nodded and he led me to his Wolf Mecha, Lucky.

"Hold on," he told me when he helped me climb onto Lucky's back. I nodded so he hit the throttle and we took off.

"WOO-HOO!" I screamed as we went. Elina had never gone this fast on Luna.

About ten minutes later we arrived at the Hideout, a large house built into a tree. There was a cliff leading up to it, which we used to go to a garage.

"Let's go inside so that we can talk with the others," he told me, helping me off Lucky's back.

"Thanks," I replied. He nodded and led me through a door and into the large main room, where Kord, the cave troll, and Pronto, the Molenoid, were playing video games and Trixie, the girl, was making a video of some kind.

"Hey, Eli's back!" Kord said, pausing the game when he saw him. He walked up to him but stopped when he saw me. "Who's this?" he added, crouching down to my level.

"Guys, this is Jacob," he said. "He needs our help. I'll let him explain everything," he added, looking at me.

"Um, my name is Jacob DiCarten," I began. "I was raised by Elina Shae, a girl about as old as you guys. Earlier today, she was kidnapped by Doctor Blakk and his men. I need you guys to save her."

"Do you know where Blakk is, kiddo?" Trixie asked me, walking up to me.

"Only Elina calls me that," I snapped at her. The air around me cooled twenty degrees, but I regained control over my temper, calming down. "She is being held in Blakk's fortress. She left behind a letter in case she was captured, telling me to find you guys and tell you this."

"Good," Eli told me. "Now, we need to come up with a plan of attack."

"What do you mean?" I demanded. "I thought you guys just charged in."

"Yes, but we always have a plan," he told me. "Besides, Blakk has improved his security, so it'll be harder to get past them."

"I can take care of that," I snapped.

"No way," Kord said, picking me up and setting me in a chair that I practically sank into. "We can't have you getting hurt. You're just a kid."

"Yeah, and I'm the one person she trusts over all," I snapped. "If she saw me there, she'd go with us in an instant." It didn't feel good to go against her wishes, but I wanted to be there when they rescue her. My slugs knew I was lying, but they also wanted to be there.

Eli sighed. "Sure, but you won't be going with us into the actual fortress."

I nodded. I didn't want to push them too far since they were the ones actually saving Elina.

After that they went to work formulating a plan. It took them over a day, and I was right on the urge of storming out of there to rescue Elina myself when Eli told me he had a plan. It was risky, but it was a plan.

"We'll leave early morning tomorrow," Eli told me. "Kord and Trixie will draw their attention by firing at the wall on the northern end. Pronto and I will tunnel under the wall on the opposite side of the fortress. Once we get in we'll go to the prison cells and search for Elina. Once we find her we'll get her out."

"Sounds good," I replied. He nodded and we ate dinner. When I finished eating I retreated to the room they let me stay in, next to Eli's.

"They finally came up with a plan to rescue Ellie!" I told the slugs hanging out in there. They cheered and made room as I flopped on the bed. They immediately moved around me, some hopping on my chest. Some jumped out of my bandoliers and Blaze and Alpha stayed next to my shoulders.

"We're coming for you, Ellie," I said to no one in particular.

The next day we got up really early to leave on our mission to save Elina.

A Note From The Author: Hey, guys! Here's the latest chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update, I've had a bit of writer's block as well as I couldn't remember which folder I store the files for this fanfic in. Sorry.