Slugterra Fanfic
Chpt 20:
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Things seemed to take a turn for the worst after we returned empty handed. Nacho had triumphed in the role of temporary leader and seemed to be keeping up to date with Blakks daily activities.
I got loaded with multiple jobs, often paired up with CC or the Twins.
God, I hate them.

Twist was luckier.
One day, while I was enjoying a quick break, I saw him stroll over to me in the canteen.
"Hey, What's up?" He asked casually.
"Not much. I'm just fitting in a quick snack before I get loaded with errands again." I took a big sip.
"Nacho driving you hard, huh?"

"You have no idea. He thinks, just because my mecha is faster, I can get all the jobs done in half the time it usually takes! It's insane, I ran into the Shane Gang four times in the time of half an hour. Each a different job too." I flopped down into a chair and put my head back, "It's crazy."

"Do you want me to do something about it?" Twist offered, grabbing a sandwich.
I looked at him and huffed, "And what could you do?"

Twist leaned back, "You never know." He grinned.
I waved a hand at him, "Go ahead, I dare you. Anyway, what are you doing most of the time?"

"Oh, I'm training with Nicole, one of Blakks…'colleagues'. Normally I sling against her but she always beats me," He winced and touched his chest, just below the sternum, "She packs a powerful punch and kick."

I scanned him up and down, "You're covered in bruises, have a slight limp and you seem quite stiff. Ahh, how long have you been doing this?" I asked, interested and slightly concerned.
"A week. Ever since Blakk went to the Lightwell and hasn't come back."
I shook my head, "How about you take a break and teach me to sling instead? I've always wanted to learn, even though I've never been any good."
"That's true. I remember watching you in Healer Springs. And sure, but I thought you were loaded with chores?" He asked slyly
"And I thought you were going to do something about that?" I countered.
"Touche" He drawled.
I closed my eyes and laughed quietly, "Look, you do something about my jobs and I'll fix you up and give you a reason to stay away from Nicole."
Twist held out his hand, "Deal?"

I shook it hard, "Deal."
"See you at training. And don't be late!" He yelled as he walked away.
I smiled fondly.

Training with Twist was a lot of fun and hard-work. I thought we would get down to the slinging part straight away, but instead he taught me exercises to enhance my ability to dodge and shoot.
Sure I could do a few flips and I was quick on my feet but when I had to spar with Twist, I found I was useless. He had me pinned down before the first five minutes was over.
This made me realize I was only useful to Blakk because of Skies and my mechanic skills, though he had enough of those already.
Every training lesson I left, I found myself exhausted but I couldn't wait for the next time.
I started to repeat the exercises in my spare time and it started to pay off.
Within a week, I felt more active and energized, stronger and faster and it now took Twist twenty minutes to catch me, but not without a few mean hits.
Twist, himself, was a great coach. He wasn't soft or strict, offered praise when it was needed and he never teased me about it. He even included Jet in some drills.
Slowly but surely, I felt more relaxed around him. I saw him as a close friend, one of my only ones.
I could also tell he was getting used to having me around him as well. The first few lessons, he was awkward and modest, never meeting my eyes or moving me into the correct stances or positions. But that all changed one day.

I thought it had something to do with the black haired woman he was talking to in the corridor the other day but I wasn't too sure.

"See ya." I called to Twist as I left the training room and headed towards my own room
"See ya 'round" He called back as he packed up the ghouls I had practiced with today.
He had shown me how to handle them and the best ways to keep them under control. Loki helped as a demonstration and I followed Twists explanations.

My hands had little bite marks on them, from some of the ghouls but it wasn't anything a little bit of ointment couldn't handle.

I walked up to my door to my room, looking forward to my soft bed and the comforting glow of Black Skies engine.

I swiped my card, failing to see that the door was unlocked already.

I switched on the lights and found a black haired woman with her head in her knees, sitting on my bed.
I stepped in and the door swished shut behind me, "Uh, can I help you?" I offered.

The lady sat upright, her wet cheeks glistening, "Oh, I'm sorry. I though this room was empty. I can leave if you want…"
I was surprised at how young she was. 20, 21?

"No, it's alright. It's an easy mistake to make." I hadn't bought anything for my room yet, just a desk set, a smaller bed and a few shelves. My workshop was a different story though. I had crammed every nook and cranny with tools, crates, shelving units, benches, spare parts and boxes full of items.
I sat down next to her. "Are you alright? You're crying."
The lady unfolded herself and wiped her eyes on her black velvet sleeve, attached to a matching jacket and black jeans, "I'm just worried, that's all."

Jet crawled up next to her and licked her cheek.
"Worried? About what? Oh, and I'm Kaiya by the way."
She looked at me and smiled, "Oh, so you're who Twist is always talking about."

I blushed inside my head, "So you must be Nicole?" I tried to keep my voice flat.

Nicole nodded her head, "Yes, I am. And I'm very worried about Blakk. What is he's hurt or captured by the Shadowclan or worse…" Her voce trailed of with a sniff.
My head was reeling, Nicole was worried about Blakk? Who ever cared about Blakk?
Then I remembered the conversation I walked into when I went to ask Blakk about the parcel. He had mentioned her name.
Then the realization hit me like one of Blakks trains.
"Wait…Are you Blakks…" I trailed off, to embarrassed to say it.
She glanced at me before muttering a soft 'Yes'
"Sooo….you two are…."

"I prefer not to talk about it…"

"Right sorry…"

Insert awkward silence here

"Anyway," I tried to change the conversation, "How'd you get into my room? I coded the keypad to only let Twist or Blakk in, and Blakk had to get my permission."

"Oh, I stole his spare keycard. No big deal really."
"Huh, okay then. Anyway, I need to go into town and buy a few decorations for my room one day. You keen to come?"

Nicole's eyes brightened, "Really? I'd love too. Blakk never lets me out of the Fortress of Depressitude, let alone his private area."

"Depressitude? Nice. Well, I guess I'll see you around. Fell free to stay as long as you want. Just call me if you need anything." I smiled as I went to grab Skies and Jet for a run.
"Will do", She replied, "Oh, and Kaiya."

I paused while putting on my jacket, "Yeah?"

"Thanks. It's nice having another girl to talk too."

"Likewise"

My day out with Nicole came after Ryan, a guard, had caught wind of Blakks presence. Going to check it out, he discovered that the infamous man was being held prisoner in Caravan Cavern.
This caused a major stir, as Quentin wanted to test out his newest inventions, the Titans or whatever they were called and Nacho wasn't to happy about the plan, until Crazy Q let him drive one with a Gattler.
That sorted things out pretty fast.
Once again, the news came to me via Twist.
As soon as I heard the news I knew I had to distract Nicole, so why not go shopping?
I gave her a quick call, met her in my workshop, then got changed in to some different clothes, while being critiqued by Nicole, then headed off towards the Plaza.

It felt so great to just go out and be a girl for once, instead of a rough, tough tomboy having to deal with things no ordinary person would ever go near.
I could tell Nicole was enjoying herself. She said on the way here, she had been once with Blakk but he had booked the entire thing for the day.
I laughed at that.

We arrived there pretty quickly, even though Nicole was on her own mecha beast.
We then rushed in, went nuts, had a lunch break, then went nuts again. By the end of the day, we had new clothes, new decorations, some machine parts and I had a whole bunch of furniture, ready to be delivered to the Citadel.

After playing a Black Skies version of Buckaroo with all the items, we headed back to the Fortress.
Laughing and joking most of the way, I eventually decided to mention that Blakk had been found.
"What? Really? They found him" Nicole gasped, her eyes full of hope.
I looked away awkwardly, still a bit uncomfortable that she had a thing with Blakk, "Yeah, Crazy Q decided to go fetch him with his Titan tanks."

"Crazy Q?"

"Quentin."

"Ahh, makes sense."

"Yeah, Fletcher made it up. One of the guards."

"You get along really well with them."

"Yeah, they're great dudes. Always friendly, I don't see why the Shane Gang have to be so rough with them, even if we work for Blakk."

"Yeah…"

An explosion sounded close to our left.
"What?" I whirled towards the noise.
"What was that?" Nicole asked.
"No clue," I said looking back, "But lets go check it out!"

"Sweet!" Was the reply.
We hit full throttle and eventually came across a father and son, curled up behind an overturned bull mecha.
Advancing on them was a nasty gang of brutes, all tattoos, muscles and scars.
I turned to Nicole. "You can sling right?"

"Yep."

I nodded towards the two figures trying to protect themselves, "You take the gear, protect them and cover me okay? I'll scatter the jerks."
Nicole nodded before taking the rest of the items and zooming down to the father and son.
Once she was in position, I revved Skies up, and charged forward, slipping my glasses down and rode straight into the gang.
They scattered immediately as Skies grabbed one and gave him a mecha-wedgie.
Nicole was covering me with a Rammstone and Hop-rock.
I corralled two of them and her Arachnet hogtied them together.
The rest scattered, a few loosing some Rammstones but Nicole's Armashelt dealt with those.
Turning Skies around, we trotted over to the Mecha, where Nicole was helping the man to his feet. He was limping badly and his son had a graze on his cheek and elbow.
Nicole turned to face me, "You were awesome out there, Kaiya! Skies is really powerful."

"Thanks, but how are your two."

Nicole looked at the man, "He's sprained his ankle and his sons got some nasty grazes but I think they'll be fine. I took away some of the pain already."

"Good, I'll just fix up their mecha and then we can go." I eased Skies jaws gently over the mechas body, before easing it up onto its feet.
I then check the engine, tweaked the fuel input and output and extended the seats.
"That should do it." I stood back hands on my hips as Nicole led the man over to the machine.
After helping him and his son up, the man turned to face me, "You work for Blakk don't you?"

Fearing where this conversation was going I answered, "Yes, I do."

The man smiled at me, "Then thank the Shadowclan you aren't all brutes."
I was speechless at this mans generosity.

As they were leaving the little boy turned and smiled at me, "Thank you." He squeaked.
"Take care!" Nicole called after them.

I watched them go and raised my hand to wave good bye but then stopped.
"Come on, lets go." I muttered, before heading back to my ride.