Chapter 7: The Trade 2

(Intro)

Townspeople were running in terror as a rogue slinger was firing Omen Slugs all over their cavern. "Come on! Is there no one in this whole cavern who can give me a challenge?!" The rogue slinger, a dark she-elf named Lensa Erlen, exclaimed as she continued slinging her Omen Slugs. "Come on! Show me who can stand against me!" "Try us on, Lensa!" Eli's voice called. Lensa turned to see the Heroix Crusaders walking towards her. "Well, well, well, the infamous Heroix Crusaders. I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up. Glad to see you don't disappoint." She said. "Omen Slugs aren't welcome here. And neither are you." Eli said as the Heroix Crusaders prepared for battle. "A whole army against little old me? Doesn't sound like a fair fight." Lensa said. "Rules went out the window the day Heltora started recruiting rogues like you into her Doom Slingers, Lensa." Mario said. "Then I guess…I'll have to even the odds." Lensa said. She took out an Omen Whistle and blew it, echoing through the cavern. Just then, several wolf Omentaurs started appearing out of the shadows. "More Omentaurs. Just great." Zoom grumbled.

"Last chance, Lensa. You can walk away quietly or you can lay on your back after we blast you and your Omentaurs to ashes." Harley warned. "You sure talk a big game, Harley Shane. But let's see if you can back up your words. ATTACK!" Lensa ordered, firing an Omen Slug as her wolf Omentaurs charged to attack. "Let them have it!" Eli ordered. The Shane Gang fired their Megamorph slugs. Unfortunately, even their combined strength, the Omen Slug was able to push through the wall of Megamorphs, causing the Shane Gang to scatter. As the wolf Omentaurs charged towards the Storm Hawks, Aerrow removed his scarf and unveiled the Atomic Crystal. "Skylight Unite!" He called as the Storm Hawks transformed into the Skylight Guardians. One of the wolves lunged for Finn, jaws wide open. "Eat light, mutt!" Finn exclaimed, shooting the wolf with a light arrow at close range and reducing it to ash. "We haven't seen these vicious wolves since Terra Edmontonia." Vuto said, blasting another wolf with chi-powered palm strike. "I know. Still as ugly as ever." Riggorix said, slashing a couple wolves with his mercury claws. "But still, we beat them then, we can beat them again." Aerrow said, blowing several wolves away with a gust of wind.

Zoom fired an aura arrow, piercing through several wolves and rendering them to ashes. Suddenly, an Omen Slug was fired right at him from behind. Sensing its dark aura, he leapt out of the way. Amy Lu and Talia stood back-to-back as they both fired barrages of icicles at the wolves. "I'm so insane!" Lensa cackled as she fired more Omen Slugs. "Time to go Double Barrel." Eli said. He equipped the Double Barrel, loaded with Burpy and Joules. "Fusion Move!" He called, slinging his slugs. Burpy and Joules spun back-to-back as they fired Novabolt, taking out 3 Omen Slugs. But then, a few more Omen Slugs were slung. "Look out, E!" Harley exclaimed, firing Frostbite and Sizzle from his Double Barrel. They spun side-by-side before they hit the Omen Slugs, freezing them with Frostbomb. "Nice shot, Harl." Eli said. "Yeah, you too." Harley said. But then, more Omen Slugs were slung right at them. "Oh, for Floppers' sake!" Eli exclaimed. Just then, several aura arrows were shot and struck the Omen Slugs. "I got you, boys." Zoom said. But then, more wolves were about to attack. "My turn!" Vert called. He drew his sword and the blade became engulfed in cosmic fire. And with a single slash, he slaughtered every wolf and reduced them to ashes. Lensa stared in frustrated shock at what happened. "It's over, Lensa." Eli said. "You haven't heard the last of me, Heroix! You and your little friends have no idea what's coming!" Lensa said before taking off on her Mecha Beast.

Afterwards, the Heroix Crusaders, with the Storm Hawks returned back to their regular forms, were heading their way back to the Shane Hideout. "Man, ever since Heltora started bringing more rogues into her ranks, the fights with the Doom Slingers, Omentaurs and Omen Slugs are getting more dangerous than our old fights with Blakk." Kord said. "Tell me about it. These Omentaurs are like 15 times more dangerous than the Darkbane." Mario said. "Okay. We gotta think of something that'll give us an edge against them." Piper said. "Like what?" Riggorix asked. "Gear. We'll need new gear. And we know just the place to get it." Kord said. "But can't we just have Sage upgrade the gear we have? She works miracles with her Sentient tech." Vert said. "Of course. But we need certain gear that can help us. Not just with our blasters, but also with our Mecha Beasts, our defenses, even our own upgrades." Kord explained. "Kord does have a point. If we get new gear, Sage's tech can help upgrade it faster." Sherman said. "Then it's settled. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we're going back to…"

"…Barton & Spinks" The Heroix Crusaders arrived at Barton & Spinks. "Never thought we'd be coming here again." Trixie said in disappointment. "What's wrong? You guys get a bad deal here or something?" Finn asked. "Let's just say the last time we were here, I was forced into trading Joules for 3 boxes worth of supplies and gears." Eli said. "Yeah, the owner was in league with Dr. Blakk, sending him the slugs he traded to be shipped off to his citadel to be ghouled." Harley said. "That's just terrible." Olivia said. "Well, let's just hope things changed after that experience. Especially with Blakk gone." Eli said as they brought up several boxes of supplies and gear. "Oh, they have." A skinny man wearing goggles said as he walked up. "Uh, who are you? Where's Spinks?" Trixie asked. "Spinks? Oh, I had him fired." The man said. "Wait, you had the owner of this store fired?" Pronto asked in confusion. "Oh, Spinks was never the owner. I'm the real owner. My name's Barton." The man, Barton, introduced. The Shane Gang was stunned by this. "Wait, you're the true owner?" Harley asked. "That's right. But then, Spinks started taking over the business after Blakk Industries offered him a fortune for his help. Luckily, after you guys exposed his plans, I managed to get my ownership back." Barton explained. "Well, glad to see that you're cleaning up the mess Spinks left behind. Now, um, how much gold is all this going to cost?" Eli asked. "Oh. I'm so sorry, Mr. Eli. But I'm afraid we're still trading slugs here." Barton said with sorrow. "What?!" The Shane Gang exclaimed. "I've been trying to convince the higher ups to change our slug trade policy, but they won't allow it." Barton explained. "But that's not fair!" Harley exclaimed. "I told them that, but they told me to deal with it!" Barton said. Everyone started arguing loudly. In the midst of all this, Tad looked at a barrel in his hand, containing his best slug, Pieper the Pidra. She chittered to him, knowing what had to be done. As Tad nodded, he pushed through the crowd and presented Piper to Barton. "I offer my slug as a trade!" He said, getting everyone's attention. "Tad, what're you doing?" Aerona asked. "What has to be done." Tad said. Barton took the barrel and examined Pieper. "Oh, she's quite powerful. I'm afraid…you've got a deal." He said. Tad nodded, took one of the boxes and left without looking back.

Later, the Heroix Crusaders were on their way back to the Shane Hideout. "Tad, how could you do that? From what you told us, Pieper was your most valued slug. Why would you trade her?" Aerona asked. "Because I could tell that Barton was worried about something." Tad said. "What are you talking about?" Francine asked. "Pieper and I grew suspicious when Barton told us that his superiors refused to change their slug trade policy. When you guys started arguing with him, Pieper and I decided to make the trade in order to figure out what's going on." Tad said. "He's got a point. Slugs can also be used as informants and get information for their slingers." Harley said. "Alright, Heroix Crusaders, turn yourselves around! We're heading back to Barton & Spinks!" Eli ordered. The Heroix Crusaders turned around and followed Eli back to Barton & Spinks.

Later, when they returned to the shop, they hid themselves as they saw several rogues loading up slug containers and cages into trailers being pulled by cavern spiders. "Ew! I can't believe I have to deal with those things again!" Kala whispered in disgust upon seeing the spiders. "Heltora does not waste any trouble when it comes to recruitment, I'll give her that." Trixie whispered. "But why would Barton supply Heltora's army with all these slugs?" Harley asked. "How could you do this?!" Barton's voice suddenly exclaimed from their com-links. "Huh? Was that Barton? How'd he get on our com-links?" Kord asked. "Oh, I stuck a bug that Fareeda made on Pieper before I traded her." Tad said. "So, that's where that went." Fareeda said. "Shh! Barton's talking." Eli whispered. "This is why you refused my request to change the policy of my shop?! So you can supply the growing bad guy army with the slugs?!" Barton exclaimed. "Exactly. The lesser slugs in our cavern, the better sentient creatures can further thrive." A male voice said. "Are you out of your minds?! The caverns depend on the slugs' energy to survive!" Barton exclaimed. "Puh-lease! The only thing those slugs are good for are being feeling-less vermin." A second male voice said. "Agreed. Caverns will be better provided for when every last slug in Slugterra is extinct." A third male voice said. The Heroix Crusaders were disgusted by such talk. "Who would ever talk about slugs like that?" Rune asked. "Uh, Pronto would bet his money on those 3 rich snobs who just walked over to Nacho and Dread." Pronto said. The Heroix Crusaders saw 3 rich-looking men walking out of the store and approaching Nacho and Dread. One of them had silver hair tied in a long ponytail. Another was a balding, slightly obese fellow with ginger sideburns. And the third had spiked-like hair. "Wait. I recognize those guys. Those are the superiors Barton spoke of. Sable, Melone and Hemo." Kord said. "Barton and Spinks might've run the shop, but those 3 completely own everything in the cavern." Mario said. "Almost hard to believe those guys would despise slugs." Aria said.

"Once again, we thank you for your patronage." Nacho said, shaking hands with Sable. "But of course. Anything to rid this cavern of those filthy slugs." Sable said. "Yes. And hopefully, all of Slugterra in the future." Melone said. "Yes. Slugs have no place amongst us civilized Slugterrans." Hemo said. "That's it." Eli said, having had enough of this talk. "Stop right there!" He exclaimed as he and the others made their appearances, getting the villains' attention. "Well, well, well, the Heroix Crusaders." Hemo said. "Or to be more specific, the filthy slug huggers." Sable said. "Yes. You people disgust us." Melone said. "Funny. We were going to say the same about you." Zoom said. "Yeah. How can you treat slugs like they were mice or common houseflies? It's their energy that keeps the 99 Caverns alive." Rune explained. "Oh, pipe down, Shadow Clan spawn." Sable said. "Yes. Once the slugs are extinct, we will provide a more special form of energy that will spread our legacy all over Slugterra." Melone explained. "And fortunately, you lot, along with any filthy slug-hugging reject, will be put in the dirt." Hemo said. Nacho, Dread and the rogues drew their blasters as the Heroix Crusaders drew theirs.

"Go ahead, Nacho. Make our day." Eli dared. "Please. You barely stood a chance against us the first time we met here, and you don't stand a chance even now." Nacho said. "Then tell us how easy it was for us to humiliate you and your cronies every time we dueled?" Eli asked mockingly, making the whole team snicker and giggle. Nacho just yelled before slinging an Omen Slug. The Heroix Crusaders dodged the slug and spread out as Eli fired Rammer, knocking down one of the rogues. "Open fire!" Dread ordered as he and the other rogues started firing. Finn fired multiple light arrows, taking down several Omen Slugs. As several more Omen Slugs were about to strike, Skyla motioned her hands and summoned a rock wall, blocking them. As a rogue charged towards them, Laura drew her new blaster and slung a Polero, tripping him and knocking him down. "Nice shot." Tad said, slinging a Hop Rock and blowing a couple more rogues off their feet. "You too." Laura said. Grace created a water shield and redirected several Omen Slugs right back at the rogues. "Whoa! You gotta teach me that trick." Sky said in awe. "Sure thing, I'll teach you later." Grace said.

"Unleash the spiders!" Nacho ordered. The rogues released the cavern spiders from their reins and sent them to attack the Heroix Crusaders. Kala raised her blaster out of fear, but Agura put her hand on her shoulder. "I got this one." She said, stepping up. As the spiders hissed at her, her eyes started glowing bright green as her Virgo symbol appeared on her forehead. "What's she doing?" Paulina asked. "Watch. This is a fun part." Rayona said. Suddenly, the spiders turned around and hissed at the rogues. "Uh, why are they looking at us like that?" One of the rogues asked nervously. Just then, the spiders fired their webs and started trapping the rogues. "Come on! We're out of here!" Dread exclaimed as he, Nacho and a few remaining rogues took off with the slugs. "They're getting away!" Pronto exclaimed. "And we don't know where they're going." Barry said. "Oh, yes, we do." Spinner said.

[Flashback]

During the fight, Spinner snuck around to the carriers. "While you guys were slugging it out, I attached a Sentient tracking device Sherman and I came up with onto one of the carriers." He placed a small tracking device onto one of the carriers and snuck away without getting caught.

[Flashback End]

Eli and Harley approached Sable, Melone and Hemo, who were stuck to the wall by the spiders' webs. "You're gonna tell us where they're taking those slugs." Eli demanded. "We're not telling you filthy slug-huggers anything." Melone said. "Oh, but you will." Harley said, going into his Darkbane form. "If you want to keep breathing!" He snarled. "Oh, go haunt a house, freak." Sable said. Eli and Harley looked at each other before Eli nodded. Harley roared before he was about to slash the 3 with his claws. "WAIT! Wait, wait, wait! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!" Hemo cried, stopping Harley from striking. "Hemo, shut your yap!" Sable ordered. "Talk. Now." Harley threatened before changing back to his human form. "Miss Heltora's called a meeting for any rogue or beast wanting to join her army! Nacho and Dread are bringing the slugs we gave them to Blakk's old citadel!" Hemo explained. "That figures. After we defeated Dr. Blakk the first time, his citadel was completely shut down and abandoned." Trixie said. "We gotta go there and save those slugs." Eli said. "Yeah. No telling what twisted plans Heltora has for them." Harley said. "Please. As if a bunch of brainless children such as yourselves could possibly ever stand a ch-" Sable tried to say until the spiders webbed his mouth, along with those of Melone and Hemo, shut. "Hehe. Good spiders." Agura said as she patted the spiders, making them purr at her touch.

Later, the Heroix Crusaders, via the Sentient tracker, arrived at Blakk's citadel and watched from afar as hundreds of rogue slingers and beasts walked inside. "That's a lot of rogues." Kord said with worry. "No kidding. That's a lot more than what Dr. Blakk used to have." Mario said. "How are we gonna get inside?" Aria asked as the doors shut after the last rogue entered the citadel. Eli looked the ground surrounding the citadel. "The same way we got in the first time." He said as he ran towards the citadel with the Shane Gang following. "What's he talking about?" Aerrow asked. "No idea. Eli and Harley sure like their unpredictability." Vert said before he and Battle Force 10 followed. The Storm Hawks looked at each other in confusion, but shrugged it off before following too. As they reached the right spot, Eli grabbed Digger's barrel and loaded it into his blaster. "What're you gonna do with him, Eli?" Talia asked. "Make us a tunnel into the citadel." Eli said before slinging Digger and digging a tunnel. "Ah, yes. Pronto had the privilege of digging our last tunnel during our first visit to Blakk's citadel." Pronto boasted. The Shane Gang just stared at him with deadpanned looks. "What?" Pronto asked. "Come on." Eli said as he leapt into the tunnel with everyone following. "At least it's the proper size this time." Kord said as he hopped in.

Meanwhile, inside the citadel, Heltora and her Doom Slingers stood before a massive army of rogues and beasts. Eli, Harley, Aerrow, Aria, Vert and Olivia peeked their heads out while Pronto helped Digger dig as Heltora started giving a speech. "What I am asking of you is simple. Your loyalty to me, to the Doom Slingers and to my Omentaurs in exchange for the greatest weapon known to all of Slugterra! I know that you rogues are people of action, not words. And just like Dr. Blakk…so am I." Heltora explained. Just then, 2 Omentaur knights came in with canisters filled with Omen Slugs. "I beseech you. Take the power I offer you now and join my army." Heltora offered. The rogues, not wanting to waste this chance, walked up and started picking out barrels of Omen Slugs. Heltora grinned at how well her plans were going. Eli, Harley, Aerrow, Aria, Vert and Olivia ducked back down into the tunnel, careful not to be seen.

Later, Digger popped out into the room that held Heltora's slug prisoners as the Heroix Crusaders climbed out of the tunnel. "Oh, man. This is the same room Blakk used to store his slug prisoners the last time we were in this situation." Kord said. "Guess Heltora's a fan of the classics." Aerona said. "Uh, guys? We got a problem." Tad said with a hint of worry as he looked around the cages. "What is it, Tad?" Kala asked. "Pieper's not here." Tad revealed. The Heroix searched every cage, but they couldn't find Pieper anywhere. "He's right. She's not in any of the cages. She's just…gone." Fareeda said. Tad now started to feel guilty for putting his own slug, his best friend, into jeopardy. "How did you meet Pieper, Tad?" Eli asked. "Where else. I met her back on the Surface. When I was out one day, I found her getting chased by a cat in an alleyway. I threw a can, scared the cat off. After that, Pieper was very happy, she followed me home. She never left my side ever since." Tad explained. "Pieper was Tad's very first slug. She really meant a lot to him." Aerona said. "But why does your slug have the same name as mine? Aside from the pronunciation." Piper asked. "It's because of her powers." Tad said. "He's right. Pieper's a Pidra slug. Their voices produce a soundwave that can hypnotize slugs. Kinda like the Pied Pieper and his rats." Harley said. "Hey, and we have an Arachnet with your name too, Tad." Spinner said. "Wow. What a crazy world we live in." Tad said. "My Arachnet is also named Spinner, because she spins her webs whenever I sling her." Eli said. "Like Tad said, we live in a crazy world, heh." Spinner said with a chuckle.

"Uh, not to interrupt, but maybe we save story time until after we rescue the slugs and find Pieper." Pronto suggested. "For once, Pronto's right. We have to rescue these slugs and find Pieper before anyone realizes we're here." Harley said. "Too late." Nacho's voice said. The Heroix turned to see him entering with Jon Bull, Lava Plume and one of Malvolio's pirates walking in, blasters loaded with Omen Slugs. "Figured we'd find you back here again, Shane Gang. You and your new friends. We underestimated you the first time you broke in here to steal our slugs. We're not making the same mistake again." Nacho explained. Bull, Lava Plume and the pirate took aim at the Heroix Crusaders. The Heroix prepared to draw their weapons, but Eli held out his arm, stopping them. "Actually, Nacho…you always made the same mistake every time." Eli said. He quick drew his blaster and slung Yang, surrounding the 4 rogues with Shadowblak. "Whoa. Now that's some serious shadow power." Twilight said, impressed. "That Shadowblak won't last long. Free the slugs, quickly!" Eli ordered. As soon as the Shadowblak cleared, Nacho saw the slugs escaping into the tunnel. "The slugs! Get them back!" Nacho ordered. The rogues jumped into the tunnel to go after the slugs before Nacho followed.

When they were gone, the Heroix Crusaders came out from hiding behind the empty cages. "Uh, remind me why we didn't escape with the slugs." Pronto said in confusion. "We need to find Pieper. She's somewhere within this citadel and I'm gonna find her." Tad said, heading out of the room. "Not alone you won't, little bro." Paulina said as she and her sisters followed. "Tad's got the right idea. We can cover more ground in this citadel if we split up. Search every room, but be careful not to get caught." Eli ordered. "Good enough for me." Aerrow said. "You heard the man." Vert said.

After splitting up, the Heroix Crusaders searched around the citadel to look for Pieper. Kord, Vance, Mario, Finn, Junko, Riggorix, Judy, Francine, Agura, Stanford, Zoom, Rayona and Zen searched the ghouling station. "Okay, this place is definitely giving me the creeps." Rayona said. "No doubt. This place is totally giving off some bad vibes." Zoom said. "That's because this room is where Blakk makes his ghouls. Those contraptions store the very substance he used to corrupt slugs into ghouls. Dark Water." Kord explained. "Is it really that bad?" Finn asked. "Very. We've seen what that stuff does to people too. Just mere exposure sucks the life right out of you, turning you into demonic ghosts." Vance said. Junko and Judy felt sick to their stomachs upon hearing that.

Trixie, Pronto, Lash, Shimei, Piper, Stork, Lavender, Twilight, the Cortez brothers, Iguanarox, Zug and Cellica searched Blakk's old throne room. "Ugh. This place definitely screams evil disaster." Cellica said in disgust. "You're telling me. And that picture is even creepier." Iguanarox said, looking at Blakk's old portrait. "That, my friends, is the nefarious Dr. Thaddeus Blakk. Archenemy of the Shane Gang, maker of ghouls, and near-destroyer of Slugterra. And he would've done so had it not been for Pronto." Pronto boasted. Shimei smacked him in the head with her staff. "Must you always exaggerate the truth?" She asked in disgust. "Even though I've never had the displeasure of meeting him, but I can tell that Dr. Blakk is far worse than the villains we in Battle Force 10 normally face." Iguanarox said. "Hopefully, we never have to meet him." Cellica said.

Junjie, Yu Jie, the Fuurins, Joshwa, Deagan, Watts, the Stormhearts, Starling, Amy Lu, Vuto, Odessa, Talia, Ivan, Horace and Grace searched around the room where Blakk's terraportal was set up. "What a horrible-looking room." Talia said. "What is this place, anyway?" Starling asked. "This is the terraportal that Dr. Blakk used to tear through the barriers between Slugterra and the Deep Caverns." Joshwa said. "Which the dark creatures below, known as the Darkbane, could enter Slugterra." Deagan said. "I always thought the Darkbane were just a legend." Vuto said. Horace stared down the giant hole. "How far down does this hole even go?" He asked. "Perhaps it is wise if you don't find out." Odessa said, pulling Horace back away from the hole.

Eli, Harley, the Garcia Quadruplets, Tad, Aerrow, Aria, Vert and Olivia searched around the hallways. "You guys find anything?" Eli asked through the com-link. "No sign of Pieper anywhere in the ghouling station, bro." Kord said. "Not in the throne room either." Trixie said. "Or at the terraportal." Joshwa said. "Thanks for the effort, gang. We'll keep looking." Eli said. "How are we gonna find Pieper if we don't even know where we're supposed to look?" Olivia asked. "Look, Olivia, I appreciate what you're trying to say, but I'm not stopping until I find my slug." Tad said. "Tad's right. We won't stop until Pieper is safe and back with us." Harley said. "Why don't I save you lot the trouble?" Heltora's voice asked. The group looked ahead and saw her standing by the entrance. "Heltora! I want my slug back and want her back now!" Tad demanded. "But of course." Heltora said. She held out a slug barrel, containing poor Pieper. "Pieper!" Tad cried. "Uh-uh-uh. Weapons down." Heltora demanded. Tad hesitated, but reluctantly threw down his blaster. Eli and the others did the same with their blasters. "Good. Now, I'm going to make this offer once. Join my Doom Slingers and you can have her back. After I corrupt her into a more powerful Omen Slug." Heltora offered.

But then, Pieper unleashed a powerful sonic blast, giving Heltora a real earful which forced her to drop the barrel. "Pieper!" Tad cried. "I got her!" Eli exclaimed as he rushed forward and caught the barrel. "You've interfered for the last time, Shane!" Heltora exclaimed. She summoned a knife in her hand with her dark magic and tossed it at Eli. But then, Vert leapt in and blocked the knife with his sword. "What?!" Heltora exclaimed in shock. "Surprised, Heltora?" Vert smirked. Heltora summoned more knives and threw them at Vert and Eli. But Vert continued to block each knife, really showing his superior swordsmanship skills. "Let's go!" He exclaimed. Eli and the others hurried towards the entrance after picking up their blasters, Eli even picked up Vert's blaster, as Vert continued blocking Heltora's knives before following them. "You can run…but you can never leave." Heltora said sinisterly. As they made their way outside, an explosion went off in front of them, knocking them down. Eli looked up to see Heltora's entire army surrounding them. The Doom Slingers, rogues, beasts, Omentaurs, and Omen Slugs. "When will you ever learn, Eli Shane? It doesn't matter if your forces are one or many. Mine are…LEGIONS!" Heltora declared. Eli glared as the villains took aim at him and his friends.

"Goodbye, Eli Shane." Heltora said. Suddenly, a blast came from the roof. Everyone looked up as the Heroix Crusaders leapt down and slid down an ice slide created by Amy Lu to aid their friends. "Sorry if we're late for the party." Pronto said. "On the contrary, Molenoid. You're right on time." Nacho said, taking aim with his blaster as the rest of the villains followed his lead. "There's far too many. We don't have enough slug power to fight them all." Kord said. "What do we do, Eli?" Trixie asked. Eli started to think until he looked at Skyla. "Hey, Skyla, how deep can you dig your own tunnels?" He asked. "Very deep. Why do you ask?" Skyla asked, catching on. "FIRE!" Heltora shouted. The Doom Slingers fired their Omen Slugs. But then, Eli slammed his fist into the ground and surrounded himself and the Heroix Crusaders with an Aether Dome, protecting them from the Omen Slugs. Heltora snarled as she prepared a powerful dark energy blast in her hand and fired it at the dome. But as it shattered, a large tunnel was all that was left. The Doom Slingers attempted to follow, but the hole resealed itself. "Get on your Mechas! We're going after them!" Nacho ordered. "No. Let them go." Heltora said. "Let them go?! The last few times we were ordered to let them go, they've gotten stronger!" Nacho exclaimed. "It doesn't matter. Before this is all through, these Heroix Crusaders will be nothing but a distant memory, we will find the ancient Ethereal Crystal and this universe will belong to my one true master." Heltora said as she and her forces walked back to the citadel.

Later, after the Heroix Crusaders returned to the Shane Hideout, resting up after a hard night. "Now I know how you guys felt the first time you squared off in that place." Joshwa said. "No kidding. I've never seen so many villains in one place." Deagan said. Just then, Eli and Harley walked in. "How'd it go with Barton?" Trixie asked. "Just got off the phone with him. After sending those so-called 'superiors' to Stalagmite 17, they gave him legal rights to owning his shop. He's now able to change his policies however he wants." Eli explained. "That means no more trading slugs for gear." Harley said. "Well, that's good news." Piper said. Tad giggled as Pieper continuously nuzzled him happily. "Well, looks like you and Pieper are happy to be back together, Tad." Kala said. "Oh, we sure are. Pieper is like a sister to me, like you girls are. I am never letting her out of my sight again." Tad said, hugging Pieper to his cheek. "That's good. Because with the help of all our friends and allies here in Slugterra, we're gonna need every slug we can get. So, all of us need to be prepared for whatever Heltora sends our way." Eli said.

Meanwhile, Heltora looked down from Blakk's citadel, gazing down at a crevice that was dug down behind the citadel. Down inside, there were thousands of Omentaurs and Omen Slugs, ready to slaughter. Heltora smirked sinisterly as she walked back inside.

Wow! Wasn't that cool?! After dealing with one of Heltora's Doom Slingers, the Heroix Crusaders head off to Barton and Spinks, only to discover that the heads of the shop were still trading slugs over to the villains. The Heroix followed their trail back to Dr. Blakk's citadel, where Heltora had just set up her headquarters. After a close call with getting Tad's slug Pieper back, the Heroix escaped with all the captured slugs. But will the Heroix be prepared for what Heltora has planned? What dark plans do her forces have for Slugterra? Leave a review if you want.

Also, I'm going to be leaving for a couple weeks. So, story updates are going to be on hold for a bit.