"And then Pronto gets blasted into the crowd, and the molenoids all crowd around him, and we find out he's actually the king of Molemound."

Max's eyes widened, but Sam looked unsurprised.

"That makes sense," she said, taking a sip of her coffee. "If it would be anyone, it would be Pronto."

"That's what I thought. I didn't see it coming, but it wasn't too hard to believe," Alana said with a smile.

It was the evening after a day spent at Molemound, racing Diablos Nacho to a famed map of every cavern and hidden passage in Slugterra, while Pronto dealt with issues regarding the molenoid throne. On the way back to the hideout, Alana had split off from the rest of the gang to meet up with Sam and Max. She had a few cuts on her arms where Nacho's Briardrill had caught her, but otherwise, she had made it out of the firefight unharmed.

Alana sat on one side of a booth in Lolla's Diner, Sam and Max on the other. The three of them had ice cream sundaes, Sam's paired with a coffee to prepare for a night shift at Bonnie Springs.

"So why was Nacho in Molemound, of all places?" Max asked.

"He was after one of their maps," Alana explained. "Blakk's looking to increase mobility. We beat him to it, and decided it was best to destroy the map rather than risking Blakk getting it."

That wasn't the entire answer- the map had held more than secret tunnels, and even more than the way to the Deep Caverns. It had the Drop marked on it, and that put an entire other world at risk. Eli hadn't hesitated to prompt Pronto to destroy it.

"Speaking of Blakk, what did he want that night he came to visit?" Alana asked, glancing at Sam, who sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know," she admitted. "He went in and talked to Eberly for a bit, then left. And Eberly never tells anyone what they talk about. I don't think he wants anyone to panic."

"Yeah, I was panicking enough as it was," Max laughed, shaking her head. "Just being in the same place as him is scary. I'm kind of glad to be moving into my apartment soon."

Alana's eyes lit up.

"Are you staying in Bonnie Springs?" she asked excitedly. Max nodded.

"It's pretty peaceful, and the scenery is gorgeous. I have a nice apartment picked out, and I already know some of the locals," she said, glancing up at Sam, who smiled back. Alana watched the two for a moment, a small smirk on her face, but she didn't say anything.

"That sounds nice, I'm glad something good came out of that mess," Alana said, her eyes flicking toward the small edges of scars sticking up from Max's dress collar.

"Yeah, it all worked out in the end," Max agreed. "Although I definitely won't be camping anywhere."

"I sure hope not," Sam said, and paused as her phone began to buzz. "Ah. I've gotta get back to the hospital for my shift, Alana."

Alana nodded, and the three got out of their booth. Sam hugged Alana before setting gold pieces down on their table to pay for their meal.

"I'm glad to see you looking better," Sam said, smiling fondly. "Stay safe, okay?"

"No promises," Alana said, and Sam raised an eyebrow. "Fine, fine. I'll try my best."

~~~~~~~~~~

As Alana sat on a bumpy ferry leading to the most well-fortified prison in Slugterra, a staffed blaster pressing into her back loaded with a Vamparo ghoul, she couldn't help but think about the conversation she'd had with Sam Gray two days ago.

Stay safe. That didn't last long, did it?

The man holding Alana at blasterpoint stood when the ferry final came to a halt, and so did she. He had dark brown skin, with a white skull painting on his face. His purple hair was in slight disarray, and his eyes were black and red.

"Off we go," Mr. Saturday ordered cheerfully, pushing Alana forward. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to keep her cool as she and Mr. Saturday stepped off the ferry, her hands raised in the air (as if she could try anything without a blaster and with her friends also flanked by armed guards).

"Stalagmite 17," Mr. Saturday said excitedly as he led the group up the stony island path that led to the prison. Several stories of high-strength metal, surrounded by electric fences and barbed wire, all in the middle of shark-infested waters. "A true beauty, isn't it?"

Alana stayed silent, her willingness to be a spitfire lost with the Vamparo constantly being pointed at her. She was hyper-aware of the chilling dark energy that had been close to her for nearly an hour now, and she was ready to be rid of it.

Saturday led the rest of the Shane Gang, all holding their hands in the air and flanked on either side by zombified guards, into the prison. Alana tried to memorize the steps they took, but the twists and turns and identical hallways made it impossible. Not to mention that with every turn the group took, she realized it would be that much more difficult to escape the prison.

Saturday led them into a room with two cells. Eli, Kord, and Trixie were ushered into one with a cot and glowing red bars that shot up from the ground once they were inside. But Alana got a cell all to herself.

Mr. Saturday jabbed his staff blaster forward, pushing Alana inside and slamming the door shut behind her. She was grateful to finally lower her arms, but uneasy when she saw her surroundings.

All four walls of the cell with titanium, completely unmarked except for a six-inch viewing window on the door, where she could look out on the room the two cells were in. Mr. Saturday peered at her cockily through the window.

"No energy tricks in there!" he said. "Even you cannot break through titanium. An explosion would just be contained, and you would burn yourself out. And if you do try to pull anything, I can assure you there will be consequences. Understood?"

Alana didn't respond. She only met his scarlet eyes with a steely glare.

I wish I had Ash. You wouldn't look so cocky if you were surrounded by a firewall.

Saturday laughed and stepped away from her cell, excitedly pacing the room and twirling his blaster in his hands, looking at the slingers of the Shane Gang like they were prizes he'd won.

"Stalagmite 17, the most escape-proof prison in Slugterra," he said. "Watchful guards. High-tech locks. Steel doors. And now, in control of it all, me! I can think of no better place to hold the infamous Shane Gang."

"Go ahead and gloat, Saturday, but you're missing two little things," Eli said, and Alana wished she hadn't wound up in solitude. Obviously she didn't want to be in a cell at all, but if she did, she'd rather be able to at least see her friends.

"Oh? And they are?" Mr. Saturday challenged.

"The two of us you didn't manage to capture," Eli said, and Alana raised an eyebrow as he continued. "And they're probably on their way to rescue us right now."

Alana sighed and leaned back against the wall with the window, also the door to her cell, with a small smile on her face.

Well, if Pronto really puts his mind to it, I'm sure he could pull it off, with Burpy's help, she thought, thinking of how the molenoid and Infurnus had escaped the unfortunate turn of events that had led to the Shane Gang's capture. Still not my top choices, though.

"I doubt that," Mr. Saturday laughed. "Besides, even if escape from this prison was possible, it won't be in your case. I've already made a call ahead. By the end of the day, you will be long gone."

Alana heard a click, and then faint gasps come from the rest of the gang. She frowned and got to her feet, peering outside into the small room the two cells were in. There was one exit on the right that opened up to the rest of the prison, and a large control panel on the wall opposite of the cells. The panel had multiple smaller screens with security footage and prisoner information pulled up, and the largest screen had a video call opened- with Doctor Blakk.

"I told you I would deliver," Mr. Saturday said to Blakk, stepping back and gesturing to the two cells that held the majority of the Shane Gang. Blakk shook his head and laughed, his piercing green eyes darting back and forth between members of the gang.

"I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes," Doctor Blakk said. "The Shane Gang, locked up like a pack of stray dogs."

Alana was practically boiling with anger. She was itching to have her blaster in her hand, to let out some of the energy that was building up because of her emotions, but she'd been put in this cell for a reason. She couldn't use her energy to get out of pure titanium. So instead, she just kept forming a small ball of pale blue light in her hands and extinguishing it.

"The energy one," Blakk said, and Alana rolled her eyes. Unless your name ended in 'Shane,' Blakk didn't seem to care about it. Or at least wouldn't let on that he did. "What kind of cell is she in? We've had experience with her tricks before. She was able to create a... damaging explosion."

Unfortunately, Mr. Saturday nodded. He'd already heard rumors about Alana and had acted accordingly.

"Pure titanium, a miniscule opening," Saturday said, gesturing to where Alana was watching through the tiny hole in the cell door. "Any explosions won't escape the cell door."

And I'm not dumb enough to fry myself.

"Perfect. I'll be there to collect them all by nightfall," Doctor Blakk said with a smirk. Alana heard Eli scoff.

"Congratulations, Saturday," he said sarcastically. "You're officially another minion of Doctor Blakk."

"No, no, no, no, I am a businessman, and this is strictly business," Mr. Saturday insisted. He paused, and his black and red eyes glanced up at Blakk. "Although, I am running a little low on ghouls, Doctor Blakk."

"Call our arrangement what you wish," Blakk said boredly. "You'll get your ghouls when I get the Shane Gang. And one other thing- none of your mind control foolishness. I want our prisoners fully aware as they count down the minutes until my arrival."

Alana hoped the same thought was running through the minds of each member of the Shane Gang. Mr. Saturday wouldn't want to disobey Blakk, whose overconfidence would be his downfall. If Saturday didn't turn the gang into zombies, they would be conscious enough to escape the prison.

The screen flickered off, ending the call with Doctor Blakk. Alana immediately relaxed her shoulders, which she hadn't realized were tensed until then. Mr. Saturday closed the calling program on the holodesk, a confident smile on his face.

"I wouldn't be so confident. He's not here yet," Alana said.

"Exactly. There's still plenty of time to escape," Eli said from the rest of the gang's cell. Mr. Saturday scoffed.

"Escape Stalagmite 17? I have every guard under my control, and they have one simple order," Mr. Saturday said, raising his staffed blaster at the other cell. Alana could practically imagine Eli just staring down the barrel with a cocky smile now that Blakk had essentially ensured their protection. "To ensure you do not escape."

Saturday lowered his blaster and stepped away from the cell.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go make myself a smoothie," he said cheerfully. The second the door shut behind him, Alana heard Eli groan.

"I can't believe I got us into this mess!" he exclaimed, his cocky demeanor gone. Alana felt bad for him- he hadn't meant to cause such a big problem.

"It's not your fault, Eli," Alana tried, but she didn't sound very convincing.

"Well, technically it is," Trixie mused, and Alana wished she could shoot her a glare through her titanium cell. Trixie quickly continued, not wanting to upset Eli. "But- we forgive you!"

"Just don't expect me to forgive myself for what happened," Eli said bitterly. Alana sighed and sat down carefully, not putting weight on her right side, where she'd fallen after Eli's mishap. It was times like these especially where she missed Mage and Doc.

Mr. Saturday had cornered the gang, using a legion of zombified Stalagmite 17 guards. It had been enough of a pain trying to fight the zombies without actually hurting them, but there had been several dozen to worry about, and all had been slinging ghouls.

Eli had been determined to try the double barrel again after the successful destruction of Blakk's new train model. Alana hadn't gotten the uneasy feeling she'd had when Eli failed the fusion at the Beast Forge. The two slugs, a Tormato and a Rammstone, did have auras that aligned. But Eli had underestimated just how powerful the fusion would be. The two slugs created a massive tornado of boulders that did halt a few of the zombies, but it also sent the Shane Gang spiraling in every direction.

Confused by the sudden tornado and left weaponless (and for the most part, ammo-less. A lot of their slugs had flown out of their bandoleers, but not out of the zombies' reach), the Shane Gang- minus Pronto and Burpy, who'd been blown into a cave- had been forced to surrender to Saturday and the zombies, boarding the ferry to Stalagmite 17.

"How are you doing in there, Alana?" Eli asked. Alana sighed and slid down, laying on the floor of her cell, staring up at the ceiling.

"Great. At least if I have to be locked up in a solid titanium cell, I don't have to share," she said, trying to sound cheerful. "It's a little unnecessary, though. I wouldn't try to make an explosion if I were in the same cell as you guys."

"Which we appreciate. But it would be cool for you to somehow discover some hidden power to get us out of here," Trixie said hopefully. Alana snorted and shook her head.

"If that's how it worked, I'd try to get in this situation more. But I've got nothing. I can't bust through these walls. Right now the only thing I can do is hold a little ball of light," she said, opening her palm and focusing on bringing forth a little bit of energy. A small blue light flickered to life before she closed her hand, extinguishing it like pinching a small flame.

Like a flame... Alana thought, and an idea crossed her mind. She sat up, thinking, before getting to her feet and leaning against the door of her cell.

"Actually, I might have something," she said quietly. "Kord, any idea what the melting point of titanium is?"

"Around 1668°C," Kord said, without a moment of hesitation. Alana frowned- she wouldn't be able to make a flame long enough to get the heat she needed.

"If you're thinking what I think you are, it'd probably be easier to freeze it. It would get brittle," Kord explained. "And if you can get enough strength behind a hit, you might be able to break it."

Alana nodded, taking off her right glove. Her gaze flickered down to the scar on her forearm, from where Dana had taken a swing at her the day she'd been ghouled. Alana narrowed her eyes and focused on her hand, resting it against the cool metal cell door.

She focused on the feeling of a Frostcrawler's energy. Still warm with light energy, but slightly cooled in the same soothing way ice cream was, not the bitter chill of dark energy. From the cell next to hers, Alana could faintly here a small clanging.

"We're gonna try for the vent in ours," Eli explained quietly. Alana stayed silent, focusing on her energy.

She felt her fingertips begin to tingle, like the pins-and-needles feeling when a limb fell asleep.

Focus, focus, focus. Do what the slugs do - take that energy and turn it into something else.

A miniscule spiral of frost formed from her fingertips, spreading across the metal door. But suddenly, a loud buzzing came from the other cell, along with Trixie crying out. Alana winced- it sounded like whatever the rest of the gang had been attempting, she'd gotten an electric shock.

Alana gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore the others and focus on the ice. The spiral was growing slowly, but it was still progress. Then she felt a chill that wasn't from her frost- it was approaching the cells.

The door to the holding room slammed open,

"An escape attempt?!" Mr. Saturday yelled, and Alana winced and yanked her hand away, putting her glove back on. She hoped he had just been talking about whatever had issued the shock. The feeling of energy at her fingertips faded away. As disappointed as she was to lose her progress, she also knew that Doctor Blakk hadn't prohibited Saturday from using the Vamparo, and that was the last thing she needed.

"That is a zombifying offense!" Mr. Saturday said. Alana's eyes widened, and she watched through the viewing window as he raised his blaster. The metal pieces around the Cryptogrif in the barrel began to spin and glow scarlet.

Alana took a quick step back, but Eli spoke up.

"Wait, stop! Do you really wanna disobey Doctor Blakk?" Eli asked. Mr. Saturday hesitated and lowered his blaster. The metal stopped spinning and the red glow faded away.

"I suppose that would be bad for business," he said carefully. "But no more escaping."

Saturday walked back over to the control panel, sitting down the chair and pulling up what looked like prisoner information- Alana feared that if they didn't liberate the prison, he might do more "business" with Blakk and release criminals.

"Face it," Kord sighed. "There's no way out of here but the front door."

"We've still got Pronto and Burpy," Alana reminded quietly, running a hand through her bangs. "We have to have faith in them."

The gang stayed silent again until Saturday excused himself to find a guard to make him a smoothie. Once the door was shut behind him, Eli went up against the wall of the gang's cell to talk to Alana.

"I assume your energy thing didn't work?" he asked.

"It did, but it was slow going. I think he would catch me before I could freeze it enough and get the strength to break it," Alana admitted. "And, I'm really sorry, but for someone who does mind control, he seems unsettled by my powers. I think he would get me with that Vamparo."

"That's fine," Eli said quickly, and she could practically hear the guilt in his voice. "If you think of anything else just-"

He fell silent as the door to the holding room opened. Mr. Saturday walked in, followed by a dazed zombie guard, and laid back in the desk chair in front of the panel, a green smoothie in his hands. He took a big sip of it, only to immediately spit it out, sending drops (and what looked like chunks) of smoothie to the floor.

"It's called a smoothie, not a lumpy!" Saturday yelled, getting to his feet and throwing the smoothie to the floor. Alana raised an eyebrow- it wasn't surprising that someone who was less than sane would be the kind of person to zombify people, but it was still unsettling to see.

"What does it take to get a properly blended drink around here?" Mr. Saturday lamented, shoving the zombie guard out of the room and sitting back down in the desk chair.

"New escape plan," Alana heard Eli whisper, and she immediately cracked a smile.

There's no way he's gonna try-

"You know what I miss most in here?" Eli asked loudly. "Making smoothies back at the hideout."

Guardian slugs, he is.

Kord and Trixie quickly agreed with Eli, while Alana had to hold her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Mr. Saturday perked up, rolling over to the barred cell and getting go his feet.

"So, you make smoothies?" he asked curiously. Alana shook her head, grinning.

Sometimes I can't flopping believe Eli's luck.

"Maybe," Eli said innocently, and Saturday quickly rushed over to the control panel, pressing a button. A video chat appeared on one of the screens, showing zombified workers in a messy kitchen.

"Zombie guards! Bring me all the fruit you can! And a blender!" Mr. Saturday ordered. The zombies nodded and slowly began to gather fruit. Saturday ended the call and turned back toward Eli's cell excitedly.

"Oh, no way," Eli protested. "No way I'm making you one of my world-class smoothies."

Alana hoped he knew how silly he sounded.

"Yes, you will! Or..." Saturday glanced at his blaster, propped up on the control panel.

"Or what?" Eli challenged. "How are you gonna make me, Saturday? I'm not one of your zombie minions!"

"Not yet," Mr. Saturday said coolly, reaching over and pulling up on of the levers on the control panel. Alana heard a series of clicks, and she realized he'd opened the gang's cell.

"Now, Saturday, remember what Blakk said about no zombifying," Eli said as Saturday raised his blaster. Saturday took a step forward, nearly out of Alana's view.

"It is easier to beg for forgiveness than to go another minute without my smoothie!" Saturday exclaimed, and the metal on his blaster began to spin.

"Now!" Eli yelled, and Alana couldn't see exactly what happened next, but all of a sudden, Trixie practically flew out of their cell, quickly followed by Kord. Alana heard a few moments of struggle from Eli and Saturday, and then Eli shot forward, too. Trixie smirked and lowered the lever to their old cell, shutting it.

"Now it's your turn," Trixie said to Alana, looking over the control panel and finally pressing a button. With a small hiss, the door to Alana's cell swung open.

"Thanks!" she said, rushing out and immediately enjoying the change of scenery. "It was boring in there."

"At least you weren't electrocuted," Trixie laughed, unhooking Alana's blaster from a knob on the wall and tossing it to her.

"You're right, I just got to sit around," Alana agreed, while Eli opened up a large crate next to the door. The gang's slugs spilled out, rushing back to their slingers. Alana smiled as Ash jumped up to her shoulder.

"Hey, bud," she said with a smile. Trixie hurried forward and opened the door to the holding room.

"Don't wanna interrupt the reunion, but Blakk's gonna be walking down this hallway any minute," she said, running out into the hall. Eli and Alana followed, Kord bringing up the rear and shutting the door behind them.

"I'm pretty sure I remember the way out," Eli said as the four sprinted down the gray halls of Stalagmite 17. "Alana, can you figure out where the zombies are?"

"Yeah," Alana said, spreading her senses out and feeling for the faint traces of dark energy the zombies would carry. "I might lose focus, so nobody let me run into a wall."

"I won't," Trixie promised. "Only because my camera's on my Mecha, and I'd hate to miss filming that."

"Thanks," Alana said flatly, but she was smiling. She focused on locating the zombies, and after a moment, began to slow down. "There's a group at the right."

Eli came to a halt at a corner, where right was their only option. He nervously peeked around the edge, and his shoulders relaxed. Alana could feel the zombified group shift directions, heading down a different hall.

"Lucky break. Something distracted them," he said, running down the hall, the rest of the gang in pursuit. Alana paused for a moment when she heard a gasp down the hall the zombies had approached. It sounded faintly familiar, but she didn't have time to worry about it. If they didn't hurry, Blakk would corner them on the island, and they'd have no way out.

The gang reached the prison's atrium, with a circular room at its center, mostly made of red glass, where the front guards would sit. Through the red glass, she could see the front door sitting wide open, leading out of the prison.

"Our luck continues," Eli noted.

"No, zombies!" Alana warned as she felt the sudden chill, pushing in front of Eli, coming to a halt and holding out her arm so he would do the same. Sure enough, a hoard of zombified guards emerged from either side of the circular room.

"We jinxed it," Trixie said, sighing as she and the rest of the gang loaded their blasters.

"Slug it out!" Eli called, firing an Arachnet at a group of zombies. "But choose your slugs carefully! It's not the guards' fault they're zombies, we don't wanna hurt them!"

"But they don't care about hurting us!" Trixie said as she ducked to avoid a Hop Jack.

Eli fired an Arachnet, spinning up some of the zombies in a net, temporarily coming back-to-back with Alana. "They're zombified because of sark energy. Do you think you can cure them?"

Alana's Vinedrill dove to the ground and wrapped up on zombie in pale green vines. His blaster clattered to the ground.

"I can try," she said, firing her Rammstone and knocking away a zombie's Thrasher. "Cover me."

She holstered her blaster and hurried up to the zombified guard wrapped in the vines, holding out her hands and drawing up the energy inside her. Alana took a deep breath and focused on the faint cloud of dark energy around the guard's mind, willing her own energy to overcome it.

Her gloves hands glowed blue as her energy surged up, but before she could send it out to the guard, she heard a yell from behind her. From the corner of the eye, she saw Eli get knocked to the ground as a Rammstone hit him in the stomach.

"Watch out!" Trixie yelled, and Alana turned away from the zombie as she felt a chill run down her spine. She held out her hands and narrowed her eyes when she saw a Pyringo speeding towards her. With a smirk, Alana let out the energy she'd prepared to cure the zombie, and then some, acting on instinct and focusing on curing the ghoul, not the zombie.

There was a flash of blue light, and the cured Flaringo dropped to the ground in protoform. The orange and white slug chirped happily and waved up at Alana, who laughed and lowered her hands.

Eli got to his feet and the Shane Gang stood back to back with each other as the dozens of zombies continued their advance.

"Did you just cure that slug?" he asked excitedly. Alana nodded, grabbing her blaster and firing her Frostcrawler, Kelvin, freezing three zombies' feet to the ground.

"Yeah, I did. But I'm not gonna be able to cure all of these," she said as Trixie's Tormato blew back a Grimmstone. "We need to-"

She fell silent and straightened up as she suddenly felt all the dark energy clouding the guards' minds fade away. One by one, the zombified guards lowered their weapons. Their pale green skin turned to normal, and the red faded from their eyes. They all looked around in confusion, eyeing the Shane Gang warily.

"Did you do that?" Kord asked Alana, his eyes wide with shock.

Alana shook her head, a small smile on her face. "No, though I wish I had. It doesn't matter how it happened- we need to leave now!"

Eli nodded and led the gang out of the open door to Stalagmite 17, leaving the confused guards behind. The slingers sprinted down the stone staircase that led down to the glittering turquoise water around the rock island. The ferry that transported to the mainland was just pulling up to the shore.

"Perfect timing!" Eli called. "Let's get as far away from here as we... can."

His voice trailed off as he and the gang came to a stop. The doors to the ferry swung open, and out walked Doctor Blakk, escorted by four heavily armed ghoulslingers. Alana didn't see- or sense- Dana in the group, but her shoulders still sagged. Her legs were beginning to burn from all the running the gang had done, and she wasn't looking forward to a fight with five ghoulslingers.

"Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be getting very far at all," Doctor Blakk said, a cruel smile on his face as he turned and fired a Greneater at the door of the ferry. When the ghoul exploded, it tore open the floor of the ship, and it quickly began to fill with water and dip below the surface of the cavern sea.

Eli didn't hesitate. Quicker than Alana thought possible, he loaded and fired Buzzsaw, his Thresher. The teal slug transformed and spun its blades, heading straight for Blakk. At the last second, Blakk leaned to one side, missing the razor-sharp blades by a hair. Doctor Blakk scowled, and he and his group began to open fire.

Alana winced at the amount of dark energy. She and Trixie dove to one side, while Kord and Eli went to the other, taking cover behind some of the purple-gray stones on the island.

Trixie ducked as an explosion shook the ground beneath them. "Maybe we could swim for it?"

Alana peered over their stone, looking into the teal waters surrounding them. Dark purple and gray fins cut through the surface of the water.

"Not if we want to make it home in one piece," she said, standing up for a moment and firing her Aquabeek, Blue, at an oncoming Pyringo.

"No choice. We've gotta slug it out," Eli said, firing a Rammstone. But Doctor Blakk's Amperling electrified it, sending it toppling to the ground, and fired a bolt of lightning at Eli that would have fried him if Kord didn't yank him out of the way.

Suddenly, Alana heard a familiar voice that she certainly hadn't been expecting, but had never been so relieved to hear.

"I do not think so, Doctor Blakk!" called out Pronto Geronimole. The four slingers of the gang on the ground gasped and looked upward, gaping up at the molenoid who stood between the rocks they used for cover. Burpy sat in Pronto's blaster. The Infurnus growled at Blakk, and a flame appeared on his head. Pronto took aim, glancing down at the rest of the gang. "Alana, if you could help Pronto out here?"

Alana laughed, holding up her cyan and black blaster. Ash jumped in excitedly. "You bet!"

The two fired the Infurnus slugs in unison. Ash and Burpy both flew in circles around Doctor Blakk and his workers, surrounding them in towering flames. Alana could feel the heat from where she stood, partially behind the stone, and her eyes widened at the sight of the two powerful slugs spiraling up into the air, orange and yellow flames tailing behind them, before returning to protoform and landing on their respective slingers' shoulders.

"Consider yourselves rescued!" Pronto exclaimed as he leapt down to the ground, the Shane Gang grouping up around him.

"But that firewall's not going to last forever. We've gotta bail!" Trixie said, and sure enough, the flames surrounding Blakk and his entourage were growing smaller.

"But how?" Eli asked. None of the slingers offered up an answer, but Burpy suddenly began to chirp with the other slugs in Eli's bandoleer. Finally, his Bubbaleone, Suds, hopped into Eli's hand next to Burpy.

Eli's eyes lit up, and his gaze met Alana's.

"Do you think-?" he began.

"I don't know," Alana admitted. "But they seem to. I say go for it."

"Go for what?" Trixie asked.

Eli responded by pulling out the double barrel and hooking it into his blaster.

"Eli, what if it doesn't work?" Trixie asked worriedly, glancing at the lowering Infurnus flames.

"Burpy does," Eli said, as if this completely resolved the matter. Against what Alana ever would have thought, Pronto nodded and stepped forward.

"If you had seen what I have, my friends, you would not hesitate to have faith in that slug!" the molenoid said, gesturing up to Burpy as Eli loaded his blaster.

That sealed the deal. The rest of the gang nodded, and Eli took a deep breath before he fired the double barrel.

Alana braced herself for the worst, but her spirits were quickly lifted when the two slugs transformed in unison, releasing a burst of energy that she felt rippling through the air. The slugs fused as the flames around Blakk died down, and the fusion came barreling back at the Shane Gang.

It was the Bubbaleone, but emitting a bright orange and yellow glow, with a brilliant twenty-foot-long tail of flames trailing behind it. The fusion opened its gaping mouth and swallowed up the Shane Gang, keeping them safe in a warm bubble that tinted everything outside pale orange.

The fusion dove left and right, avoiding ghoulfire as it flew over the cavern sea. Alana laughed and laid down in the bubble of safety, relieved to be reunited with Pronto and Burpy and even more relieved to be leaving Stalagmite 17.

A cough suddenly shook her shoulders, and Eli straightened up from where he sat in the bubble, looking at Alana warily. She waved him off.

"Too much running," she complained with a smile. Eli laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah... sorry again about this whole mess," he said. Trixie quickly insisted again that there was no need for Eli to apologize, but Alana made a mental note to talk to him later.

She knew what a fake smile looked like.

~~~~~~~~

Pronto spent the rest of the evening recounting his brave adventure with Burpy to find the gang and free them from Stalagmite 17. The Lumino light was fading by the time to Shane Gang arrived in Wild Spores, so they could claim exhaustion to avoid an encore. And, in all honesty, it was less of a claim than a true statement. The slingers were shaken by how close they'd come to capture, but they were too relieved to dwindle on it long.

Alana was the last to shower after staying up to play a singleplayer game without Trixie's insistence on multiplayer domination. She took her time, enjoying the hot water and steam. It helped to clear her head, which seemed to always be buzzing these days, running through recent run-ins with Blakk and how it felt like everything was building up to a rapidly approaching final battle.

She stopped every few minutes to cough, and by the time she was walking down to the kitchen in her pajamas with her hair wrapped in a towel, she was worried she was getting a cold.

Alana opened the medicine cabinet above the counter, but her arm froze before she could grab the cold relief medicine when she saw "causes drowsiness" on the front of the bottle. Why did she feel like soon, she would need all the energy she could get?

Before she could make a decision to take the medicine or not, she jumped when she heard a slug transform. She immediately unhooked her blaster from the detachable holster on her three-quarter-length pajama pants (call her paranoid).

Alana crept forward, loading Ash into her blaster. The slugfire had come from beneath her. With a shaking hand, she swung open the panel that led to the training room in the basement.

She took a deep breath and rushed down the stairs, raising her blaster. She probably looked more comical than threatening, in her black tank top, pajama pants, and hair in a towel, but she was still doing her best.

And she scowled and lowered her blaster once she saw who was in the training room.

"What the heck are you doing, Eli?" she hissed, holstering her blaster. Eli sat in the center of the room, his slugs around him, his eyes glowing pale green.

"Just taking a look at some slug auras. Trying to memorize possible fusions," he muttered, looking six feet to Alana's left.

"It's time to sleep," Alana said, rubbing her eyes. "You're not going to ge much done."

Eli sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I... I know. It's just that after today, I need to feel like I'm doing something."

Alana frowned and sat down on the ground next to him, petting Burpy absently. "You looked distracted when we got out. What's up?"

For a moment, Eli was quiet. Then he sighed and shrugged.

"I've failed two fusions already," he said. "The one against the zombies may have worked, but it was against us. I just... it feels like things are getting real now and I'm screwing things up."

Alana raised an eyebrow. "Eli, none of us are upset about that."

"But you guys should be," Eli argued. "Especially you. You were drained the first time and then stuck in titanium solitary the time. We could have gotten captured by Blakk. I can't keep making rookie mistakes."

"Everyone makes mistakes, Eli. That's why there's five of us. If someone messes up, we'll be there to help you out," Alana said. Eli smiled, and Alana couldn't help but laugh quietly, because he was still looking in the wrong direction.

"Thanks. I'll get to bed soon," he promised. Alana nodded and headed back for the stairs, but stopped when she started to cough again. This time, a chill ran up her spine.

"Are you okay?" Eli asked. "You've been coughing a lot this evening."

"I think I'm getting a cold," Alana admitted. "No big deal, but definitely annoying."

Alana had come down with colds before. But that night, she tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. She took a few trips to her closet and ended up curling up beneath three blankets, trying to drive away a chill that seemed to prickle at the back of her neck.

And when she did sleep, she dreamt of Dark Bane and dark water and ghouls, surrounding and overcoming her.