“Who’s this guy again?” I asked Eli. We were in a prison cell filled with cameras (so I couldn’t shadow travel us out) and a crazy African American man with the Haitian skull thing painted on his face was laughing at us.

In case you didn’t know the symbol I’m referring to, imagine a human skull missing its jaw and had four inch long teeth and the entire thing is 2D imprinted on a dude’s face. If you imagined that and said ‘Eww’ or at least shuddered you have a pretty good idea of how unnerving it was.

The dude was definitely nuts in the Haitian region, aka all about zombies.  His hair was purple and in a ponytail. His shirt was yellow but I couldn’t see much of it due to the chest plate that glowed red where the slug canisters were. His blaster was a staff with a place for his single ghouled slug that he kept referring to as a Crypnogriff. The top of the staff was purple unlike the rod which was gray. The top opened up like a flower. It was likely custom made for his sole slug. 

Scariest of all were his eyes. They glowed red if you looked at them at the right angle and black when you’re not. No iris in them. Just darkness and hate. “Stalagmite 17,” The man said, his accent was the Slugterran version of Cajun which made me grit my teeth and hiss. I really was fond of my former home, but this guy was desecrating my home culture. “The most escape proof prison in all of Slugterra. Watchful guards… high tech locks… steel doors…And now in control of it all, me! Mr. Saturday!” He spun his blaster staff like a flag girl and bowed. “I can think of no better place to hold the world famous Shane gang.” He looked at Eli, Trixie, Kord and me as we glared back at him from behind the red glowing bars of our cell.

“Go ahead and gloat Saturday.” Eli challenged, grabbing the bars with both hands. “But you’re missing two little things…”

“Oh?” Saturday said, getting in Eli’s face. “And they are?”

“The two of us you didn’t manage to capture.” Eli taunted. “And they’re probably on their way to rescue us right now!”

“This is really gonna take a miracle, isn’t it?” I said. I was leaning against the back wall next to Trixie as Eli pounded on the bars and Kord sat on the only bed, his face glum.

Saturday called Dr. Blakk on the giant screen. “I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t seeing it.” Blakk chuckled. It was creepy seeing him so happy. “The Shane gang locked up like a pack of stay dogs. I’ll be there before nightfall to collect them.”

Saturday bowed old fashionably and Eli snickered. “Congratulations, Saturday. You’re now officially another minion of Dr. Blakk.”

“No, no, no, no!” Saturday chided, waving a disapproving finger at Eli. “I am a businessman! And this is strictly business.” He looked back at the glowering madman on the screen. “Although I am running a little low on ghouls, Dr. Blakk…” He added as an afterthought.

“Call our arrangement what you wish.” Blakk growled. “You’ll get your ghouls when I get Eli and Alex Shane.”

“Why does everyone say we’re related?” I yelled sarcastically. “I’ve never seen him before he came into the Dark…” I stopped, about to give my true identity away. “I mean, the darkened caverns.” I chuckled.

Blakk looked unconvinced. He glared at me. “I’ll see you’re secrets laid bare, Alex Shane. Willingly or not, you will tell me where you come from.” He said ominously.

I rolled my eyes. “Come up with better threats.” I advised. “Where did you learn to be a bad guy? Fiction-vids?” I laughed as if that was the funniest thing in the world. I looked at the madman, my face one of amusement but I knew that my eyes were filled with hate.

 Blakk growled at me but retuned his attention back to Saturday after a moment. “And one other thing: none of your mind control foolishness. I want our prisoners fully aware as they count down the minutes till my arrival.” He hung up and the screen turned black.

“He’s not here yet Saturday—and there’s still plenty of time for us to break out.” Eli assured the Haitian.

“From Stalagmite 17?” Saturday laughed. “I have every guard under my control and they have one simple order—to ensure you do not escape! Now if you will excuse me—“His voice changed from threating and turned childlike. “I need to get myself a smoothie!” He dashed from the room.

“I can’t believe I got us into this mess!” Eli scolded himself. He gripped the bars so tight his knuckles turned white.

“Come on, Eli.” Trixie said. “It’s not your fault.”

“Well, technically it is his fault.” I told her, making Eli bang his head on the bars. “But we forgive you.” I assured him.

“Just don’t ask me to forgive myself for what happened.” Eli told us.

I don’t remember coming here very clearly but from what I could hazily remember was a mod of Zombies in guard uniforms coming at us and opening fire. They were almost as creepy as Saturday, red eyes, pale skin and a fresh from the dead lumbering walk.

The Shane gang had taken cover behind a rock outcropping in the valley that the zombies had cornered us in. Kord had told me that the headsets the guards wore were cameras so I couldn’t teleport us all out without revealing my secret. Eli had told us the only option was the Double barrel blaster. I remember vaguely that he had asked me if the auras aligned since the known combinations had all been fired and had yet to return. I had looked at the Rammstone and tornado slug and gave him the go ahead. He had fired but the tornado he made was so large and fierce it had whipped rocks around and thrown everyone, both Shane gang and zombies, around the valley.

That’s when it goes blank. Eli told me they had landed in the middle of the crowd of zombies. I was unconscious due to taking a rock the size of an apple to the head. Without me aware we had been captured and brought here. Saturday had waited for me to wake up and even provided pain pills before giving me an even worse headache with his victory speech.

I was still debating if Pronto or Saturday had the bigger ego but they were tied, but all that just made my head hurt worse and without Nurse, Yin, or Doc with me I was too dizzy and weak to teleport myself much less another person. And even if I had the strength there were too many cameras around.

I don’t know what become of Pronto and Burpy but they weren’t with us. I could only assume the tornado had thrown them into a hiding place and Saturday hadn’t captured them.

Eli waved his hand in my face causing me to snap out of it. “Little help?” He asked. He motioned to Trixe who was trying to unscrew an air shaft cover. I grabbed a screw and carefully twisted it around until the cover fell off. Trixie hoped in.

When her feet were in the shaft she said, “What’s this thing?” She must have touched it because electricity streaked across her body like she’d been hit with a Tazerling. The air smelled of ozone as Trixie fell out of the shaft, her face blackened with scorch marks.

The door opened with a hiss and Saturday walked in. “An escape attempt!” He laughed.  “That is a zombifying offense!” He scolded like he was disappointed in us. He held up his staff and the slug inside swirled and red light emanated from the tip.

“Wait! Stop!” Eli yelled. “You really want to disobey Dr. Blakk?”

Saturday stopped and scratched his chin. “I suppose that would be bad for business…But no more escaping!” He stalked over to the screens.

“Face it.” Kord said as Eli came over and joined us on the bed. “There’s no way out of here except the front door.”

“Don’t worry.” Eli told him. “We still have Pronto and Burpy.”

Kord and I both sighed.

“We’re running out of time.” Trixie said. “Blakk’s gonna be here any minute.”

Saturday spit out the smoothie he had been given by a guard in a slew of green that soaked the zombie. Being a zombie I doubt he cared or noticed but still, Eww. “It’s called a smooth-ie! Not a Lumpy!” Saturday threw the cup behind him, breaking some glass. He grabbed the zombie by the shoulders, a mournful look in his creepy eyes. “What does it take to get a proper blended fruity drink around here?” He spun the guard around and shoved him out the door.

“New escape plan.” Eli whispered. “You know what I miss most?” He asked in a stage voice, calling out across the room. “Alex’s smoothies she makes back at the hideout.”

I glared at him but played along. “I knew you loved them. No wonder you’re up all night making them. But my secret ingredient is very secret.”

“It’s some secret ingredient.” Kord said. “You’re smoothies are awesome.”

“Very…yummy.” Trixie added, her voice falling flat.

Saturday wheeled his chair around and looked at me suspiciously. “So… You, make smoothies?” He asked. Before I could tell him to get lost, he called the Kitchen. “Maximum security wing to Kitchen.” I could have sworn in the background of the kitchen I could see a familiar molinoid and infernus slug, pretending to be zombies. “Zombies. Bring me all the fruit you got…and a blender!” He turned back to me.

“You’re dreaming, Saturday.” I taunted. “I’ll never make you one much less tell you my secret ingredient.” I moaned wistfully. “Even if my smoothies are supremely delicious.”

“Yes you will!” the Haitian thundered. “Or…”

“Or what?” Eli interrupted. “You can’t zombify her or make her like she is.”

“Not yet, she isn’t.” Saturday said ominously, throwing a switch.

The bars rattled open. “Ghoul down, Saturday.” I warned. “You know what Blakk said about no zombifying."

He aimed his blaster at me and grinned. “It is better to ask forgiveness then go another minute without my smoothie!”  He jabbed it in my face and it began to swirl.

I grabbed the staff, using it to push me under and I swept Saturday’s legs out from under him. Still pulling the staff, I knew Saturday had two options: Let go or do an involuntary backflip. For some reason he chose the latter.

I braced my feet on his shoulders and did a flip backwards while releasing the staff, sending Saturday sliding into the cell that Eli, Kord and Trixie had vacated already. The bars slid shut thanks to Trixie and Saturday sighed dejectedly.

Kord passed out our blasters and Eli opened up the barrel our slugs were locked up in. They chirped happily as they rejoined their slingers.

“Sorry to interrupt the reunion,” Trixie said, hitting the button to open the door. “But Blakk’s gonna be walking down that hallway any minute and there are still too many cameras so we need to move.”

We rushed out of the room. I turned off the lights as I left and raced after the rest of the gang. I turned a corner only to run into Kord who had stopped on account of zombie mob. We all ducked behind a corner and I watched as the zombies seem to spot something and lumber after it. “Lucky break.” I breathed.

“Let’s go!” Eli yelled, resuming our race to leave. We tore around another series of identical corners until somehow we found the front door. For some reason it was open, giving us a clear view of the barge that carried people to the island that housed the prison. “Front doors open.” Eli said. “Our luck continues.”

“Spoke too soon.” I muttered as we all stopped. The horde of zombie guards had surrounded us.

We opened fire. “Careful choosing your slugs!” Eli advised. “It’s not the guards’ fault they’re zombies!”

I fired an Arachne slug and tied up two guards before unleashing Yang on another, blinding him. Yin had told me the only way to reverse the zombifying ray was too reverse the direction the slug was spinning or cure it. So basically Yin couldn’t cure the zombies. I fired Sneezy, my Frostcrawler, and froze three of the zombies’ feet in chucks of ice.

Eli grunted and I turned to see he had taken a Rammstone to the chest. I rushed over and helped him to his feet just as Trixie and Kord did the same and the Zombies closed in.

Just as I was preparing myself for death, teleporting  all of us out no matter the cost, the Zombies skin turned normal and the red glow in their eyes died. They all looked around in confusion. “I don’t know what just happened, but run!” Eli yelled. We ran for the door, racing out across the black, volcanic sand. “Perfect timing.” Eli said as the barge landed on its routine schedule. (Kord later told me its run by an A.I system and its schedule can only be changed by Blakk himself and no two days landing times are the same so prisoners hopefully can’t get on right away if they do escape. I wanted to tell him I was too busy running for my life to appreciate the bad guy’s technology but I held my tongue.)

The door opened like the opens on those WW2 boats that landed on D-Day to reveal Blakk and three henchmen getting off. “Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll be getting very far at all.” Blakk said as he aimed his blaster at the boat. He fired a grenuker and the boat exploded.

Eli fired Buzz Saw but Blakk leaned to the side, avoiding getting cut in half. Blakk and his men opened fire and we scattered for cover. “Maybe we can swim for it.” Trixie said, casting a fearful look at me. Without my mecha beast I would likely die if I tried to get them all off the island. I had a feeling she knew that little fact.

“Maybe we can be shark-floss.” Kord said, looking at the cavern shark dorsal fins slicing through the water.

“Then we slug it out!” Eli said, opening fire.

“I do not think so, Dr. Blakk.” I heard Pronto say. I turned to see him standing above us on a rock shelf.

“Pronto?” The entire gang said. Including the slugs. Blakk only laughed.

“You may laugh at Pronto but let me introduce you to my little friend.”  Pronto fired Burpy and the slug flew in a fiery circle around Blakk and his men, creating a circle of flame that smothered in the sand before landing in Eli’s hand.  “Consider yourselves rescued.” Pronto told us after he reached us.

“That flame spiral’s gonna fizzle!” Trixie warned. “We got to bail.”

“Question is: How?” Eli asked.

Burpy looked at Suds. If you create a bubble with me in a fusion shot, can you carry us all out with me propelling you?

Suds looked worried. Maybe. I’ve never carried so many. Even with your help I might pop and drop us all in the lake with the sharks!

We have to at least try. Burby said.

Suds got a determined look. I can do it.

Burpy looked at Eli and pointed at Suds. Use Suds and me in a fusion shot. It’s the only way out that doesn’t end in Alex’s death.

Eli might not have got the part about me dying but he got the rest of it. He pulled out his double barrel and loaded Suds and Burpy.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Trixie asked.

“Burpy thinks it will.” Eli and I said.

“If you have seen what I have seen my friends, you would not hesitate to have faith in this slug.” Pronto said, surprising me. I didn’t think he would ever admit a slug was smarter than him. Or anyone was for that matter.

“Good enough for me.” Kord said after a moment.

Eli fired just as the flame spiral died out. Flaming Suds flew at us. We all instinctively started to run but Suds and Burpy were faster. Next thing I knew we were all inside Suds, speeding away from the island like a rocket.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Burpy.” Eli said. “And you Pronto.” He added.

“Yes.” Pronto said. “We made a great team.”

We all stared. “Did Pronto just share credit with a slug?” I asked in shock. I had thought Shadow King and Brimstone becoming Slug book buddies was more likely than Pronto sharing credit with anyone.

“Of course.” Pronto said. “Because Pronto knows how to handle slugs!”

There it was.

“You see, all of you could take a lesson from Pronto. Be strict but fair. With a steady hand. In order to understand this slug, you must go through a simple twenty point check list. Step number one: Does it stink? And by stink, I mean smell.”

“Pronto!” We all chided.