Three days since the Game Master's challenges, Alana found herself riding alongside the rest of the gang, listening to Trixie explain a distress call she'd received from a woman in High Plains named Brodie- something about slugs in the area being drained of energy. The Shane Gang reached a small ranch town, right at the center of the cavern.

"The town we're going to is big on slug farms," Trixie explained. "It's the kind of close-knit place where everyone knows everyone. I've known Brodie for years- she's big on getting things done right the first time. Whatever's wrong, she thinks we're the best people for the job."

Alana looked around as the gang rode along the outskirts of the town. The buildings were focused around a central commons area, numerous toward the middle but thinning out the farther away they were from the center. The outer border of the town was made up of barns and farm houses. Trixie led the way to a large white house, with a barn next to it enclosed in a wire fence.

But something was wrong. It was a slug farm, right?

"This can't be it," Alana said, watching as Trixie dismounted at the edge of the fence, along with the rest of the gang. Trixie looked up at her curiously.

"Well, it's not Brodie's place, but this is where she said to go," she said. "Believe me, I know my way around this place, this is the right address."

Alana got down from Midnight, eyeing the barn as the gang walked down a short dirt path leading to the entrance. "What kind of slug farm has no slugs?"

"What do you mean?" Kord asked warily.

"I mean there's almost no slug energy in the barn," Alana explained. "One or two, maybe, but I'm telling you, there's not a whole colony of slugs in there."

But then the gang walked into the barn, and Alana saw that she was horribly wrong.

The barn was full of slugs, just the right amount Alana would have figured to be on a small farm like this. There was an aisle running down the middle of the barn, and each side had several separated pens with food, water, and shelters for all sorts of slugs- Hoverbugs, Fandangos, Phosphoros, Rammstones, Armashelts. But every slug was just laying on the ground of their pens. The food and water dishes were full, but they didn't seem to care. They blankly looked up at the Shane Gang, but had no emotion.

At the center of the barn stood a woman and a little girl. The little girl had shoulder-length black hair and wide teal eyes. She wore a white and red dress, and in her hands she cradled a lethargic Hoverbug. There were tears shimmering in her eyes.

The woman had dark purple-pink hair and dark green eyes. She wore a pale blue and white shirt and dark gray pants, and had a hand resting on the little girl's shoulder.

"Thanks for coming in," the woman said. Trixie smiled and hurried forward, hugging the woman and ruffling the little girl's hair.

"Everyone, this is Brodie," Trixie said, gesturing to the woman. "And this is Trini."

Trini seemed uninterested in the gang, instead keeping her gaze on the Hoverbug in her hands. Alana nodded to Brodie, but was more focused on the slugs. She bent down and observed one of the pens. It was like the slugs were about to fall asleep at any moment, and they had nearly no energy in them at all.

"How long do they stay like this?" Alana asked, gently picking up an Armashelt. Usually slugs seemed excited to see her- they were curious to see a human with their energy- but this one just gave a quiet whimper. It broke Alana's heart.

"So far, none of the slugs that get sick like this have recovered," Brodie said grimly. Alana shook her head.

"I've seen sick slugs. These guys aren't sick," she said. Brodie shot a questioning glance at Trixie.

"So this is Alana Caelum, then? I've heard you've got a way with slug energy," she said.

"That's one way of saying it," Alana said with a small smile, stroking the Armashelt's head with her thumb. "I can feel their energies. We had a couple of our slugs get sick a bit ago. With them, the exposure to dark energy was making their energy and life force flicker out. But these guys... there's just no energy in them at all."

"So they're just like normal slugs now? No transforming?" Eli asked, peering into one of the pens. Alana frowned and tightened her lips, and vaguely wondered how Eli had managed to keep the surface a secret from the rest of the gang for so long.

"Yes, Eli, if slugs that didn't transform existed, these guys would be like that," she replied. Eli's cheeks flushed red. Alana rolled her eyes, turning back to Brodie. "Your healer slugs aren't helping at all?"

"We don't have any," Brodie admitted. "Part of the reason I called you in. Heard you've got two solid ones, Doc and Mage."

Alana frowned, glancing back down at the Armashelt. Eli cleared his throat.

"We did," he said. Brodie's shoulders fell, and her face went slack.

"Oh. I'm sorry," she said. Eli quickly shook his head.

"No, they're fine. Just... far away," he said. "It could be possible to reach them, but difficult. Although I think our first move should be finding out what exactly drained the slugs."

"That would be the creature," Brodie responded grimly. Alana raised an eyebrow and set the Armashelt back in the pen.

"You think something is doing this?" she asked. Brodie nodded.

"The High Plains monster," she said, glancing down at Trini. "It's something of a local legend. No one's actually seen it, but whatever did this slipped through the electric fence like it was nothing."

"But I've seen it!" Trini said, glancing at Brodie, then at the rest of the gang. "It's big, and it's scary, and it has long legs like a spider! It drained Flutter!"

Trini held up her Hoverbug. Trixie kneeled down and rested a hand on Trini's shoulder.

"Don't worry. Flutter's going to be fine," she promised. She glanced up at Eli and Alana. "Could we take them to the Lightwell?"

Alana glanced down at the slugs. The Lightwell could definitely replenish the energy they lost, but it wouldn't be a real solution.

"It might help, but I think we should to find a permanent solution," Alana said, turning to Eli. "Besides, I'm not sure I want to recharge the slugs just for something to steal away their energy again."

"Alana's right. We need to put a stop to whatever's actually causing this," Eli decided. Trixie turned back to Brodie, standing up.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, Brodie. I promise," she said.

"If you could just give us a moment to talk?" Kord suddenly requested. Brodie nodded and guided Trini out of the barn. The second they were out of earshot, Kord sighed and turned to Eli.

"Okay, I'm all for helping the slugs," the cave troll said. "But a monster, Eli? I dunno. I'm engineer. In my mind, if I can't see it or I can't hit it, it don't exist."

Eli nodded, turning to Trixie. "What do you think?" he asked. "Do you think it's really a monster?"

"I believe Trini saw something," Trixie said. "And look at these slugs. Brodie isn't the kind of person to exaggerate."

"I've never heard of a monster that can drain energy, but this isn't natural, and I think I'd be able to tell if it was because of a Vamparo," Alana said. "Even the slugs the Game Master was holding weren't this drained. It wouldn't surprise me if it really was a creature that's doing this."

"Slugterra's magic is already weakening. We can't let more slugs lose their energy," Eli said. "We need to stop this thing as soon as possible."

~~~~~~~~

Brodie led the Shane Gang to the town hall, at the very heart of the High Plains town most affected by the slug draining. Dozens of Mechas were parked out front, and when she opened the door, the slingers were met with a chaotic scene. Rows of chairs filled the room, with a blackboard up front. But few of the civilians were actually sitting- they were standing in groups, yelling and arguing, while a tired-looking man stood at the front and tried to keep everyone controlled.

"Wow," Alana breathed, looking out around the townspeople. "And everyone here thinks it's a monster doing this?"

"You don't?" Brodie asked, not sounding irritated, but definitely guarded. Alana shrugged.

"I've never heard of a creature that steals energy like this, but... yeah. We just ran into a guy with technology who could kind of do the same thing," she said, frowning when she remembered the Game Master. "But this definitely isn't the same."

Finally, the man at the front of the room seemed to regain control of the meeting. On behalf of the town council, he announced that there would be a two thousand gold bounty, to be rewarded to whoever took down the High Plains monster.

Alana's eyes widened, and she watched as Brodie groaned in frustration and stepped forward.

"We don't need a bounty! I called in the Shane Gang!" she announced, drawing the crowd's attention to the five slingers at the back of the room.

"Hey," Eli said quietly, giving a half wave.

"They can have a shot at it, too," the man said with a shrug. "At this point, Brodie, we need all the help we can get."

"This doesn't sound good, Eli," Trixie said worriedly. Eli nodded.

"This much money, with this much desperation?" he replied as the crowd began to argue again. "People could get hurt."

Brodie scowled and looked like she was about to keep arguing with the man, but the door to the building suddenly slammed open. Alana, closest to the door, was pushed aside by the tall, muscular man who walked in.

He had tattoos- or perhaps scars, Alana could never tell- up and down his arms, dark orange hair, and a wicked crossbow blaster hooked onto his right arm. The Shane Gang hadn't seen him since the hunt for the Enigmo.

"Stocker," Eli said, narrowing his eyes as he looked up at the hunter. Stocker glanced down at him, then turned to the front of the room.

"I'll bag your creature. But it's gonna cost you five thousand gold. Not two. Five," he said coldly. "For that, you get my services, the monster, and your peace of mind."

The man up front hardly hesitated before nodding. "Mister, if you can get it, we'll find the money."

Alana sighed and rolled her eyes. Money like this would just bring out the worst in people. And while the sound of so much gold was tempting, she knew it would bring more trouble than it was worth.

The town meeting ended, and by the time everyone had flooded outside, the last of High Plains' Lumino glow was fading. The Shane Gang stood with Brodie, watching as groups of slingers and hunters gathered at the center of the town, gearing up for the hunt.

"Fire and Ice, the Power Trips, and Stocker," Eli noted, looking around at the people who had flocked to High Plains in hope of snagging the bounty. "Brodie, the town council is making a big mistake. I know these guys. They're bad news, especially Stocker."

"Isn't there something you can do?" Brodie asked worriedly. Eli shrugged and approached Stocker. Alana watched warily, her arms crossed. Brodie sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "One of these days, the council will realize they should listen to me."

"You're definitely right," Alana said. "I like to see the good in people. And who knows, maybe with such a big threat to the town, we can actually work together to take this thing down. But I'm not sure that'll happen."

Eli's conversation with Stocker ended quickly. He walked back to the rest of the gang, looking frustrated. Stocker briskly walked away from the rest of the hunters, heading down the street for the woods that surrounded the town, and the others took that as their cue to start heading out, too.

"Cheer up, bro," Kord said as Eli led the gang down the street, resting a hand on Eli's shoulder. "We'll just have to catch the monster first. Check this out."

Kord held out his blaster. A mod was on top of the barrel- a small blue holoscreen with several pulsing red dots on it.

"It's a motion-detector mod," the cave troll explained. "Anything bigger than a molenoid comes our way, this thing will light up like a Phosphoro slug."

"Good thinking, Kord," Eli said, looking a little more confident. Alana watched as Brodie talked to Trixie.

"I'm staying behind to help keep everyone calm, and hold down the fort if the monster comes back. Keep me updated on the hunt," Brodie said.

Trixie nodded. "We will," she promised. "Don't worry- we're not gonna stop until we catch this thing."

Brodie nodded, hanging back from the slingers as they reached the mushroom forest. It loomed in front of them, and Alana couldn't help but shiver. She had a feeling it was about to be a long night.

"Good luck!" Brodie called as the Shane Gang, along with the rest of the hunters, entered the woods. Alana turned back and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Thanks! Won't need it, though!" she called, and she laughed when Brodie cracked a smile. Alana turned to Eli as their surroundings changed from townhouses to tall, dark mushroom trees. "So what's the plan, E?"

"For now, just sweep the woods until we find something," Eli said, pulling out his blaster. Alana did the same, a Rammstone loaded. "And try to keep an eye on Fire and Ice, the Power Trips, and- wait."

Fire and Ice were to the gang's left, and the Power Trips were just visible through the bushes to their left.

"We've already lost track of Stocker," Kord groaned. Eli sighed and waved a hand dismissively.

"Forget about him. We'll just have to find the monster first."

The gang continued their trek in silence. Alana could feel her heart pounding from the thrill of the hunt. The forest around them was eerily beautiful- a thin veil of fog was limiting visibility. Bioluminescent mushroom lined the dirt path, glowing ice blue and bright pink. Dark blue and violet mushroom trees grew around them, and green vines hung from the branches. But there was no slug chatter, and Alana could barely feel any energy around them. The creature had already gotten to the wild slugs, or they were in hiding.

Suddenly, Alana tensed. She turned to her right and scanned the tops of the trees around them. She'd felt a tiny chill, barely perceptible, and it was already gone. It had been so faint and fleeting that she couldn't tell if it had been dark energy or just a chill running down her spine from the creepy surroundings.

Then Kord stopped in his tracks, staring down at the mod on his blaster.

"Hm. Weird," he noted. "Thought I had something, but... nothing."

"Alana? What's up?" Eli asked. Alana glanced over at him, then back up at where she felt the chill.

"Not sure. I thought I felt something, a chill. But it's gone," she said. "I don't know if-"

She was cut off when a frightened yell suddenly echoed across the forest. A few birds took off from branches. Alana looked around wildly, and Eli took off to the right.

"The Power Trips! Come on!" he called. The rest of the gang followed after him, hitting aside branches as they tore through the woods in the direction of the voice. Alana felt excitement and adrenaline coursing through her veins- this is what she liked about being a slinger, the action, the real action, not fighting simulations and holograms.

The gang was quickly met by Fire and Ice, and the group came to a halt in a clearing. They all looked around rapidly, trying to find any sign of the Power Trips. As Kord ran to catch up with them, he was suddenly yanked into the air, his blaster clattering to the ground- he'd been caught in a snare. Alana began to walk over to cut him loose, but Pronto pet out a terrified shriek.

"I think I found them!" he whimpered, pointing upward. Alana followed the molenoid's gaze, and her jaw dropped.

The Power Trips were hanging in a mushroom tree above them, dangling from the branches. The redheads looked extremely pale, and from the ground, Alana couldn't tell if they were moving. Distaste of the triplets quickly faded from her mind, and she fired an Arachnet up at the tree, swinging up and landing on one of the branches next to the siblings.

Up close, and no longer looking through the layer of fog, Alana could tell they were still breathing- slightly. She sighed with relief and carefully reached for one of the triplets' shoulders (the one in the purple- she could never remember their names).

"Can you hear me?" she asked quietly, but there was no response. She rested her hand on the slinger's shoulder and immediately gasped.

There was a tiny spark of energy in every person- humans, cave trolls, molenoids. It wasn't as powerful as the energy in a slug, and sometimes Alana forgot it was even there. But she could definitely feel that it was missing from the three siblings.

Alana yanked her hand away, her breath speeding up. "They're alive, but we should get them down. It isn't safe for them up here," she called down.

Eli was the first of the rest of the hunters to come out of his shocked daze. He used his own Arachnet to swing up to the branches. He and Alana got the three slingers down, leaning them up against the base of the mushroom tree. The only noise the Power Trips made was an occasional groan- other than that, it was like their life force had been sucked right out of them.

"Looks like these clowns got themselves iced," Ice said flatly, peering down at the Power Trips.

"It's just like the slugs," Alana said, stepping away from the Power Trips. "They're drained."

"No way, man! This thing is hunting people now?" Fire exclaimed, running his hands through his dark hair. "This is not what I signed up for, man!"

Alana wasn't feeling quite as dramatic as Fire, but she had to admit the idea was unsettling. If the creature wanted slug energy, and was willing to go after people, then wasn't she the perfect target?

A bush at the edge of the clearing suddenly rustled, and Alana quickly raised her blaster, ready to fire. But instead of a monster, Stocker emerged from the leaves. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed and holstered her weapon.

"You're making noise," Stocker growled. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that we're three men- ah, two men and a lady down," Eli corrected. "This is what happens when we don't work together. And your stupid traps aren't catching the creature, they're catching us!"

Eli gestured up to Kord, who waved from where he was dangling from a tree branch. "Hi. I'm upside-down."

Stocker sighed and immediately began scaling the tree, pulling a knife from his belt. Alana sighed and walked back over to the Power Trips, kneeling down in front of them.

Could I try to fill them with energy again? But what if I can't do it right and it hurts them?

Before Alana could make a decision, Stocker suddenly shushed Kord, who'd been halfway through a thanks. There was a quiet beeping coming from Kord's blaster.

"Oh, that's just- oh," Kord groaned, looking up at Stocker. "Cut me down."

"Kord?" Eli called hesitantly as the beeping grew louder, and more rapid. Alana stayed by the Power Trips, her blaster raised. The three definitely weren't in any condition to defend themselves.

"Proximity alert, something's coming, something big! Cut me down!" Kord called. But Stocker just raised his right arm, activating his crossbow blaster.

"Well? How close is it?" Fire asked. Alana frowned as she felt another chill run up her spine, faint and fleeting again, but definitely still there- but she couldn't tell where exactly it was coming from.

"Really close! Cut me down, now!" Kord yelled. Stocker rolled his eyes, and with a flash of his blade, he cut the rope holding Kord up. The cave troll came crashing to the ground, and Stocker neatly jumped down beside him, eyeing the trees around the clearing.

"I can't tell. It's coming from... multiple directions?" Kord muttered, peering down at his blaster screen.

"There's more than one?" Pronto wailed.

"No, not anymore," Kord said. The beeping temporarily came to a halt, and then slowly began again. "Wait, I've got a new signal. Four hundred yards out."

The slingers immediately stood at the ready in circle formation, their blasters raised and aimed for the trees around them.

"Three hundreds yards," Kord reported.

"Everyone get ready!" Eli said, and Alana could feel the tension in the air as she and Trixie stood side-by-side in front of the Power Trips.

"Two hundred yards! It's movin' way too fast," Kord said.

"What the heck man, where is it? I can't see nothin' out here!" Fire cried out.

"Alana, can you feel anything?" Eli asked.

"Something's there, but I can't tell what!" she said. "If it's taking slug energy, there must be something about it that's canceling it out, I can't sense it!"

"A hundred yards. Fifty yards!" Kord exclaimed. "It-it's right on top of us!"

Alana looked around, but she saw nothing through the faint mist in the woods. She could feel the chills, but it was impossible to tell exactly where they were coming from.

After a few moments of silence, Ice sighed and glanced over at Kord's blaster.

"That's what you get for buying an off-brand gear mo- AH!"

His jeer quickly turned into a scream as two mushroom trees suddenly parted, splitting at the trunks and falling to the ground. Alana gasped as an inhuman screech filled the clearing. She could just barely see the outline of a giant shape looming above them, and the briefest flickers of red and orange. But in the dark, with the fog around, the thing may as well have been invisible.

Alana fired her Rammstone in the direction of the screech, and the others opened fired, as well. But most of the slugs simply sailed into the air, or into the trees- nothing was hitting a target. Whatever was attacking, it either wasn't totally solid, or the slingers weren't hitting it at all.

"Alana, where is it?" Eli yelled, backing away and looking around wildly.

"I still can't tell, just that it's here!" Alana called. Stocker dove beside her, firing a Tazerling into the air. It simply electrocuted a mushroom tree.

"Why's he think you know where this thing is, kid?" Stocker yelled over the sound of slugfire.

"Long story!" Alana replied, loading her Armashelt. Suddenly, the hairs on the back stood up. By instinct, she ducked to the left. She felt something whizz by her face- her bangs even blew to the left a bit- and Stocker was knocked to the ground.

Alana scowled and squinted, looking around the clearing. She could only see quick flashes of red and orange. She did her best to track them, not letting herself blink. Finally, she timed up a shot and fired a Hop Rock. It definitely hit something, letting up a cloud of smoke. But there was nothing else to go off except a mighty roar from the transparent beast.

"Fire!" Eli suddenly yelled. Alana watched as Fire was yanked into the air, an orange ripple around his feet. Fire shrieked and writhed in mid air, and for a moment, he glowed pale blue. Alana gasped as she felt his bundle of energy fading away, joining whatever the creature was that was attacking. The glow around Fire faded, and he was hung in a tree branch.

There was a small ripple, and the creature suddenly became more visible, slightly more dark and solid, even through the fog. Alana fired a Thresher, but the creature spun around, and the slug simply grazed what Alana assumed to be an armored shell. The Shane Gang, Stocker, and Ice all continued to fire, but the creature didn't seem to care. It lashed out with several arms, and as Alana dodged one, she vaguely remember how Trini had compared it to a spider, and she agreed with the kid.

"Watch out!" Pronto suddenly yelled, and Alana gasped as the creature ripped a tree from the ground and hurled it at the slingers with a hiss. It narrowly avoided Trixie, who glanced up at Eli as she fired a Rammstone at the monster, to no effect.

"We're not making a dent!" she said. "Any ideas?"

"Just one. Run for it!" Eli called. "We need to regroup!"

Alana turned and ran along with the rest of the slingers, firing behind her as she went. Even Stocker didn't argue, sprinting alongside Ice and the Shane Gang. The creature followed after them, crashing into trees as it went. She could feel a mass of conflicting energy in the monster- it had darkness, and then the light it was stealing.

She was so caught up in running and analyzing its energy, Alana didn't notice the arm sneaking up to the gang before it was too late.

There was a ripple of darkness, the faint outline of the creature's arm, lined with a few glowing orange spots. And then it was wrapping around Trixie's ankles and yanking her to the ground and dragging her away from the rest of the gang.

"Trixie!" Eli yelled, skidding to a halt and immediately sprinting back toward the monster. Alana gasped and did the same, taking deep breaths and forcing herself to run faster than she ever had at the sound of Trixie crying out as she was dragged back toward the monster.

"Pronto cannot see a thing!" Pronto exclaimed as Trixie disappeared into the fog.

"Alana, Phosphoro!" Eli yelled. Alana nodded and loaded her Phosphoro, Lux, and fired it as Eli fired his own slug, Glimmer. The two let off beams of light that turned the entire forest white. Alana squinted and could see the monster between the trees, flinching away from the bright lights and fleeing into the woods.

And leaving Trixie behind, unconscious on the ground.

"Oh, no," Eli breathed, sprinting forward and falling to his knees next to Trixie, carefully raising her head onto his lap. "Trixie?"

Alana, Kord, and Pronto slowed down, all gasping for breath as they gathered around Trixie. Alana knelt down next to Eli, resting a shaking hand on Trixie's shoulder. Sure enough, there it was, a small void where Trixie's energy should have been. Other than the occasional brief flutter of the eyes, and slow breaths, Trixie was completely drained.

"Can you do anything?" Eli asked quietly, glancing up at Alana. Her heart sank, and she pulled her hand away from Trixie.

"No, I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I could put some energy in her, but I have no idea if that would actually work, or for how long, or if something could go wrong. And I don't really want to experiment."

Eli nodded, and nearly jumped into the air when a twig in front of the gang suddenly cracked. The slingers- with the exception of Trixie- raised their blasters, but relaxed as Ice and Stocker emerged from the forest.

"Cool your jets, cats," Ice said, and the gang sighed and lowered their weapons. Eli glared up at Stocker.

"Change your mind about sticking together?" the Shane asked coldly. Stocker sighed as Kord lifted Trixie into his arms, turning away from the others and heading back into the woods.

"Follow me," he said. Alana glanced at Eli, who shrugged and followed after the hunter.

On the way to wherever Stocker was leading them, everyone was silent. Pronto and Eli stood on either side of Kord, occasionally looking up warily at Trixie. Ice stayed up by Stocker, and Alana brought up the rear, the gears in her head spinning.

If the goal here is to regroup and rest, I need to leave, she thought as the group trekked through the foggy woods. I'm a beacon for this thing. It'll keep coming after us as long as I'm around.

Stocker led the group to a run-down barn in one of the thinner parts of the forest, where the fog was light and trees were more sparse. The hunter was completely silent as he opened the doors and ushered everyone in before swiftly locking them. Stacks of boxes lined the walls, and there was a small pile of firewood.

Kord set Trixie down on a row of the boxes while Burpy hopped down from Eli's shoulder and began to light a flame in the firewood. Alana hung back from the others as they gathered around the flames, unsure of how to tell Eli she wanted to leave the group when he was so dead set on them beating the monster together.

Finally, she decided to just get it over with. "Hey, Eli, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Eli nodded, leaving his post in front of Trixie and following Alana as she walked over to the doors of the barn, crossing her arms.

"I know you're not gonna like it, but I'm splitting up from you guys," Alana said. Eli looked at her like she was crazy.

"Alana, the last thing we need right now is everyone spreading out," he argued, nodding back to where Trixie was laying.

"It's not ideal, I know, but Eli, the monster just proved it isn't afraid to go after people. I'm just a big target," Alana said. "And you guys need to catch your breath, which you won't be able to do if the monster is tracking me down."

Eli looked like he wanted to argue, but he stopped and sighed. "Are you sure it's the best thing to do?"

"I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't," Alana said. "I've already had my energy drained, what, three times now? I don't want to make it a fourth. But if me being at risk gets you guys a chance to rest up so you can take this thing down, then by all means."

"Keep your comms on," Eli said, running a hand through his hair. "And be careful."

"I will," Alana promised, cracking open the barn door and slipping out. "If I see the monster, I'll let you guys know. You do the same. Take advantage of the resting time."

Eli nodded, shutting the door behind Alana.

She sighed and glanced down at Ash.

"All alone. Just like old times," she said with a wry smile, before pulling out her blaster and firing her Arachnet, swinging up to the mushroom canopies. "Let's go hopefully draw that thing away from the others."

~~~~~~~~

To be honest, Alana was expecting an exciting chase. But instead, she was met with a half hour straight of doing nothing but jumping from mushroom tree to mushroom tree, wandering around the woods. She got a brief message from Eli saying that the remaining hunters were going to sleep, taking turns on watch, before he left to try to get some rest.

Alana would love to curl up and go to sleep, but instead she forced herself to keep moving, tree after tree. She wanted to lure the creature away, and hopefully if she stayed on the move, it wouldn't actually catch her.

Ash was on her shoulder, as always, trying to keep a flame lit to get Alana some light and warmth during the cool night. But it kept flickering out as his eyes drooped shut. Finally, Alana smiled and told him he could go ahead and sleep, and he didn't argue. Her other slugs followed suit, laying down in the three tubes on her bandoleer or in her backpack.

Now it was just her, fighting off thoughts of sleep as she wandered the forest.

She hummed quietly as she walked and jumped, distracting herself with thoughts of the fight against Blakk. The gang hadn't heard much at all from Blakk Industries since the incident at the Lightwell. Nobody seemed to know where Doctor Blakk had ended up once the Shadow Clan took him, but something told Alana the fight against Blakk wouldn't be over this easily. He'd show up again.

So would Dana, Alana thought vacantly, pausing as she heard running water. A stream- the stream. Had she been subconsciously coming this way?

She sighed and scratched the back of her head. She might as well check it out.

Carefully, trying not to disturb her sleeping slugs, Alana dropped down from the top of the mushroom she was on, grabbing a vine and silently swinging down to the ground. She landed and glanced around, checking her surroundings. There were no chills, nothing to hint that the monster was nearby. She was alone.

In front of her was the bank of a stream, only about seven feet across. The water gurgled quietly, and reeds along the dirt bank brushed against each other, giving off a faint scratching sound. Other than that, everything was silent.

A faint smile crossed Alana's lips as she walked up to the edge of the water, bending down and picking up a smooth stone from the bank. She rolled it in her gloved hands for a moment before turning on an angle and skipping the stone down the river.

One, two, three, four.

She turned to her right, and for a moment, she could practically see a nine-year-old her sitting on the bank, watching as a ten-year-old skipped a stone down the river.

"How do you do that?" Alana asked, exasperated as she grabbed another stone and tried again. She threw it, but when it hit the water, it simply sunk to the bottom of the stream.

"You have to find the right kind of rock, for starters," Dana said, turning away from the river and looking around the bank before picking up another stone and tossing it to Alana. "And you've gotta angle your arm."

Dana picked up another rock and threw it. It skipped four times before sinking into the stream.

"Ta da," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "You'll get it eventually."

"Who taught you how to skip stones?" Alana asked curiously as she got to her feet and prepared to throw the stone. Dana's smile disappeared, and her steely green eyes narrowed.

"Nobody. I taught myself."

Alana sighed and fought to force down a yawn. She could remember that weekend perfectly. Will had been up on the surface, celebrating Eli's ninth birthday. In a Slugterra under the protection of a powerful Shane and without looming threats like Doctor Blakk, wandering around the caverns camping had seemed perfectly acceptable to the two young girls.

Not to mention one of them was Dana, who had been intimidating even at the age of ten.

Alana turned to walk away from the stream, but stopped when a small burst of static went off in her earpiece, quickly followed by Eli's panicked voice.

"Alana? Are you there? Please tell me you're there!"

"I'm here, what's wrong?" she asked, eyes widening as she heard slugfire from the other side of the transmission.

"The monster ambushed the barn, it got everyone except me and Stocker!" Eli replied. Alana scowled and kicked at the reeds in front of her.

"Floppers! Where are you now?" she asked.

"On a boat heading back to town," Eli reported. "The creature... it's afraid of light. That's why it only attacks at dark, and why it fled when I shot the Phosphoro. We're warning to townspeople and getting them to gear up with as many Phosphoros as they can. It looks like you're the only one left in the woods that thing would want. You need to come back-"

"No, I need to keep it distracted until you're ready at town," Alana corrected. Eli began to protest, but she cut him off. "Let me know when you're ready, and I can bring the party to you. But if that thing finds you early, it could be game over."

Eli was silent for a moment. Then he sighed. "Stay safe. We're already almost back to town, and it won't be long until we get the people around. Twenty minutes."

"Got it," Alana said, stepping away from the river bank and heading back farther into the woods.

"And, Alana? One more thing. The Shadow Clan stopped by to talk to me. And... this monster, it's from the Deep Caverns."

Alana stopped in her tracks. She took a deep breath and looked up at the cavern ceiling. You've gotta be kidding me, she thought before clearing her throat.

"Roger that. I'll be careful. Call me back when you're ready."

She stretched out her arms and gently shook Ash to wake him up.

"Time to play some cat and mouse, bud," she said with a wry smile. "But we're the mouse."

Doubt flickered in the back of her mind, but she could let the monster reach town before the people were ready. Alana raised her hands into the air, taking deep breaths and focusing on pulling energy up and out of her fingertips. Her hands glowed blue, and a ball of bright blue energy formed above them, lighting up the woods around her.

Here I am. Come and get me.

A roar suddenly shook the ground beneath Alana's feet. She gasped and quickly lowered her hands, the energy fading away.

"Okay, let's do this," she breathed, running into the woods.

For a couple minutes, everything was silent. Then Alana started to hear the trees behind her rustle and shake. She could feel the monster approaching- still difficult to sense, but definitely there, with its natural dark energy conflicting with the light it was collecting.

She picked up the pace, ignoring how her legs were beginning to ache. Another tremor shook the ground, and she gasped as a tree right behind her trembled and fell to the ground. Her Phosphoro, Lux, chirped from Alana's bandoleer, but Alana shook her head.

"Wanna distract it, not scare it away," she gasped, loading her Tazerling, Watts. "Don't let it catch you guys, keep it long distance."

Another tree behind her fell, and Alana stole a glance behind her.

The creature was trampling the woods behind her, almost caught up. It was more visible now, a looming dark figure with red eyes and orange on its arms, but it was still translucent enough to strain Alana's eyes. She spun around, slowing down for a second to fire the Tazerling. Watts fired a single wide bolt of electricity in attempt to keep the light to a minimum. The creature screeched and spun around, and the lightning hit a shell on its back.

Alana took advantage of its halt, picking up the pace and weaving through the trees, putting distance between her and the monster. Finally, she came to a halt behind a wide mushroom tree, catching her breath. She put her hands on top of her head and looked upward, taking deep breaths.

The trees behind her began to shake, and she quieted her breathing, lowering her hands. Her heart was pounding as she listened for the creature. For a second, everything went silent. Then she gasped as she felt a chill just above her.

She didn't even look- she just sprinted forward. The monster slammed into the ground where she had been a split second before, letting out a furious roar. Alana turned and fired her Frostcrawler, only watching long enough to see the slug create a block of ice around one of the monster's legs. It screeched and slammed its leg to the ground, shattering the ice, almost completely unfazed.

Just when Alana was debating calling Eli and telling him to hurry it up, she heard a voice from her earpiece.

"We're ready, bring it in!" he said. Alana laughed with relief, loading her Arachnet.

"Good, 'cause it's right on my six, and it is not happy!" she said, firing the Arachnet and using its web to swing up to the tops of the mushroom trees. "I'm on my way, see you in a few!"

Alana began jumping from mushroom top to mushroom top, bringing up some energy as she did. She felt it rush through her veins and chase away her weariness, at least for now. But that was all she needed to keep sprinting along the forest canopy, with trees collapsing around her as she went.

After a minute, town came into view, and Alana forced herself to speed up again. The monster was right behind her, screeching as it knocked down trees a second after she jumped away from them.

At the entrance to town, Alana could see a dozen slingers lined up, with Eli among them, all with blasters pointed at the woods. She pressed her earpiece.

"Get ready, it's right behind me!" she yelled.

When she reached the final tree, she dropped down, grabbing a vine to slow her fall and hitting the ground running, nearly to the town gates. She hoped the slingers could aim well enough to hit the monster, not her.

"Wait for it," Eli called as Alana neared them. She winced as she heard the monster break free of the woods, letting out a roar, but she didn't slow down until she was safely behind the blockade of slingers.

"Now!" Eli yelled, and they all opened fire while Alana ducked behind a parked bull Mecha and caught her breath, her energy and adrenaline fading. She watched as the townspeople fired at the monster, but it still wasn't completely solid- several shots simply fazed right through the creature.

The monster grabbed the bull Mecha Alana was hiding behind and flung it into the street before climbing a building and lashing at the slingers perched on the roof. The bull flew through the air and pinned Stocker to one of the buildings.

Eli ran over to him, helping pull the Mecha away, and Alana jogged up to the two, panting.

"Thanks for keeping it busy," Eli said. Alana just gave him a thumbs up.

"Even with that extra time, we can't fight what we can't touch," Stocker said gravely. "That thing isn't all here."

Eli's eyes lit up, and Alana could tell he'd gotten an idea that would probably sound crazy.

"Then we give it what it wants," he said, jumping on the bull Mecha and driving into the middle of the street. "HEY! OVER HERE, YOU BIG UGLY MONSTER!"

The monster whipped around to face Eli, interested in this new, annoying target. The Shane smirked and sped off on the bull, riding to one of the slug farms on the edge of the town.

"Is he always like this?" Stocker asked as he and Alana took after him.

Alana shrugged and nodded. "Pretty much. I think it's a Shane thing."

The two watched as Eli stopped in front of the slug farm, which was made up of three slug enclosures. Alana gasped as the monster dove for him. Eli rolled out of the way, and instead the monster scooped up the dozens of slugs in its arms, draining them of their energy.

"What is he doing?" Brodie yelled as she got down from the rooftop she had been slinging from. Eli did the same maneuver with the second enclosure, and was ducking away from the third by the time Alana and Stocker got there.

"Making it solid!" Alana responded, watching as the monster drained the third and final batch of slugs.

But nothing happened. It stayed the same translucent shadow, but when it lashed an arm at Eli, Stocker, and Alana, it seemed faster.

Alana didn't have much of a thought process. There was no real time to think. She just broke away from the other two, waving her hands in the air and pulling up energy.

"Here! Over here!" she called, and the monster faced her, growling. "Eli, get ready, there's no way it doesn't go solid after this!"

Her hands began to glow blue, and Eli realized what she was doing. "Alana, wait!"

"It'll be fine!" she called as the monster wrapped an arm around her. She pulled up more energy and braced herself for the same painful feeling of her energy being torn away like it had been by the Game Master, but she got lucky. This was instant, like she'd been dunked into a pool, and everything immediately went cold and black.

~~~~~~~~

By the time Alana hit the ground, the monster glowed red and became solid. It was dark gray with fierce red eyes and dozens of sharp teeth, and Eli was starting to regret wanting it in physical form.

But in its new solid state, he was able to actually hit the thing, with a fusion of Burpy and his Phosphoro, Glimmer. The supernova-level light released from the fusion caused the High Plains monster to collapse, unconscious. Eli watched as the orange glow faded from its legs, and the creature slowly began to glow blue as he ran over to where Alana lay on the ground.

He winced as he kneeled down next to her. This was, what, the fourth time she'd been drained?

The blue in her hair seemed more faint than usual, and Eli gasped as he saw that when her eyes were fluttering, they weren't blue. They were a steely gray.

But it didn't last long- the blue light around the monster rose into the air as the unconscious creature faded away. For a moment, the mass of energy pulsed, and then it broke apart into dozens of pieces, scattering all around. Little balls of light zipped back to the slugs that had been drained, and they found themselves back to normal, able to chirp and hop around.

And the biggest bundle of light flew over to Alana. While all the others were a few inches in diameter, Eli thought Alana's looked more like a basketball. It came into contact with her chest, just above her heart, and for a moment, her whole body glowed blue.

Then she gasped for air and sat upright, taking deep breaths and looking around. The blue in her hair was back to being bright, and her eyes were back to normal, too.

She cracked a smile as Eli's shoulders sagged with relief.

"That is four times, Eli Shane," she laughed. "Let it be known that I will not be letting my energy be drained again."