It was three in the morning, but Dana was still awake.

She paced around her room, staring at a large holographic map of Slugterra that nearly covered an entire wall.

Where is he?

Doctor Blakk vanished after attempting to destroy the Lightwell, and nobody had heard from him ever since. He had disappeared without a single trace, and without any instructions to his employees. Nobody wanted to listen to people like C.C. or Locke and Lode, so Dana had been temporarily put in charge. She was handling personnel while Diablos Nacho was still leasing the now very subtle hunt for dark water.

Dana had scattered Blakk's men far and wide, emphasizing stealth above all else. Let the Shane Gang fall into a false sense of security with lowered activity from Blakk Industries, and they would catch word of where Blakk was soon enough.

Although, I doubt they feel very secure, Dana thought as she glanced at High Plains Cavern on the map. Nacho had told her that a few days ago, one of the monsters from the Deep Caverns had been defeated by the Shane Gang after crossing the barrier between worlds. Dana could feel the magic of Slugterra weakening, its shields against the Dark Bane starting to crack. It was only a matter of time before the invasion.

Or at least it would be, if Doctor Blakk was there.

She sighed and rubbed at her scarlet eyes, shaking her head and heading for her bed. She wouldn't make any changes in where she'd placed workers. Blakk's men were spread thin, but they were covering nearly all of Slugterra. Dana had eyes and ears everywhere, especially on the Shane Gang, and the second word got out, they would make their move. She hadn't spent two weeks dealing with that insufferable scientist if she wasn't willing to go all out.

Dana couldn't help but look up at the map as she laid down on her bed. It was giving off the only light in the room, pale blue marked with red dots for personnel locations. One cavern in particular caught her eye.

Her eyes narrowed on instinct as she looked at the outline of Antimony Cavern. Perhaps if she found Doctor Blakk, he'd reward her by letting her take it. They were going to start making land grabs anyway, right? It would be good for business and good for keeping Dana on track. She didn't want to wait until after the Dark Bane arrived and risk them stealing away what she wanted most.

She couldn't help but briefly think back to a time when what she wanted most was to just live under the radar and be friends with Alana. It was difficult to remember those emotions. Now, whenever Dana thought of Alana, she got angry. Deep down, she knew that was partly the dark energy's fault, twisting her emotions and amplifying the worst. But it wasn't enough to make her want to get rid of the darkness.

Without it, who was she?

~~~~~~~~

Alana was still asleep when the morning glow had long since settled in. Light drifted into her room from her window, but she kept curled up under her blankets, sound asleep. It wasn't until there were knocks at her door did her eyes finally open.

"Alana, are you feeling okay?"

Alana yawned and slowly sat up, blinking sleep from her bright blue eyes. She'd woken up once in the middle of the night, left breathless after a nightmare where she was back in High Plains, sprinting away from the monster from the Deep Caverns. But when she'd finally gotten back to sleep, it was a dreamless rest.

"Alana? Hello? Are you in there?"

Alana had forgotten there was even someone at her door. "Yeah, sorry!" she called. "I'm here. What's up, Trix?"

"Got a call in. Not an emergency, but we need to start getting around," Trixie explained through the door. "Are you sure you're okay? You're always up as soon as it's light out."

"I'm fine, just worn out. Be down in a sec," Alana yawned, getting out of bed and stretching out her back. She sighed as she heard Trixie's footsteps fade away.

Truth be told, she felt off. Her own energy was fine, rejuvenated after being reconnected with her body when the High Plains monster was defeated. But she could feel Slugterra's magic as a whole wavering in its strength as darkness plagued it both from the Deep Caverns and from Blakk's ghouls.

Alana had a feeling that was why her sleep schedule had suddenly shifted from "up at first glow" to "up whenever someone wakes me up." She was trying to accumulate as much rest and energy as she could.

She quickly got around and dressed in her slinging gear and hurried downstairs, grabbing an apple before walking up behind Trixie, who was reading a message on the holoscreen.

"A guy named Coop called us in. Pretty middle-of-nowhere," Trixie noted. "Said he had something important to show us, but he didn't seem to eager to actually say what it was in case someone found out."

"A mystery. Fun," Alana said, taking a bite of her apple. Eli walked behind the two, clipping on his bandoleer.

"Well, hopefully this mystery gives us a lead on where Doctor Blakk is. Blakk Industries has been way too quiet lately," he said.

At this, Pronto sped into the living room from the bathroom. "Obviously Doctor Blakk is in hiding! He knows better than to face the might of Pronto the Magnificent!"

"Right. Yes. That's it," Alana said, trying to contain a laugh as she walked over to the garage door. "Well, let's get on our Mechas and-"

The door was locked. Alana's face fell. Eli sighed and shook his head.

"We still have no Mechas," he said, knocking on the door. "Kord? Kord! It's been two weeks, you've gotta be done by now!"

Alana sighed and exchanged a glance with Trixie. Kord had been working on upgrades to the Mecha beasts for ages now. She wasn't sure what else they needed, but Kord was set on whatever he was doing.

"Alright, alright, they're just about done!" Kord called. There were a few crashes and bangs, and then the garage door swung open. Kord stood at the center of the garage and held his arms out. "I present, our newly improved Mechas!"

Eli, Trixie, Alana, and Pronto rushed into the garage excitedly, to be met with...

The exact same Mechas as they'd seen disappear into the garage two weeks ago.

"They do not look any different!" Pronto exclaimed, observing his ride. Kord waved a hand dismissively.

"On the outside, maybe. But wait til I demo what they can do!" he said excitedly.

"We're kind of in a hurry here," Eli said, jumping up on Lucky. "We'll see the demo later. Right now, wr need to move out!"

The gang rode out to the coordinates Coop sent. It led the five to a wide-open area that had no solid structures for miles, just trailer parks. Eli led the gang to one such park, where a couple dozen trailers were lined up in rows. Small patches of grass grew in front of them, making makeshift yards that held flowers or gardens. It was definitely a lot different than living in a hideout with a full security system.

A man stood outside the first trailer in a row. He looked older, with a balding head and worn face, but he wore a bandoleer and had a blaster holstered. When he saw the Shane Gang riding up, Alana could see him visibly relax his shoulders.

"You must be Coop," Eli said as the gang slowed to a halt in front of the trailer. He hopped off Lucky, and Coop shook his hand.

"In the old days, I woulda called your father. Been a while since then," he said, a sad smile on his face as he turned toward the trailer. "But I figured you might know what to do."

"What seems to be the problem?" Eli asked.

Coop walked up the steps to the trailer. "Wandered into the cavern two days ago. Pretty beat-up and disoriented when we found him."

"Found who?" Trixie asked. Coop typed a password into a keypad on the trailer's door and swung it open, beckoning the gang inside.

"Him."

Half the trailer was encased in metal bars, and at the sight of who was sitting on a small cot behind them, her hand instinctively went for the grip of her blaster.

Doctor Blakk glared up at them, looking beaten up and broken down. His gray and red clothes were tattered and torn, and even singed in a few places. His cold green eyes looked even darker than usual, and he tensed when he saw the Shane Gang.

"Doctor Blakk?" Eli gasped, taking half a step back. A few of his slugs hopped down to the ground and up to the bars, peering at Blakk curiously.

"Came in from the desert," Coop said, his hands on his hips. "No blaster, no Mecha. Nothing."

Eli's Arachnet, Spinner, hopped into the cell area, growling up at Blakk. With a scowl, Blakk moved his foot forward to step on the slug, but Spinner dove away. Alana's hand tightened around her blaster grip, but she didn't draw her weapon, despite the fear that was bubbling up in her. Seeing Blakk right there was unsettling to say the least.

"That must be where the Shadow Clan sent him," Eli noted. "He's been wandering for over two weeks."

"I can't believe it. We got him," Kord said.

"Well, technically we didn't," Trixie said.

Alana nodded and turned to Coop, a smile on her face. "Thanks for keeping him here and calling us in," she said.

"Bah! Now is not the time for formalities!" Pronto exclaimed, backing up toward the cell. "Epic poems will be written about the day Pronto, the most feared scoundrel in all of Slugterra, had Doctor Blakk at his- AH!"

Blakk suddenly sped forward, grabbing Pronto by the blaster holstered on his back and yanking him upward, slamming him into the bars. Eli, Trixie, Alana, and Kord didn't hesitate, loading and raising their blasters at Blakk. Coop watched nervously as Blakk eyed the slingers.

"You have no authority to hold me," Blakk scowled.

"I'm the Shane," Eli said, but Alana noticed that there wasn't cockiness in his voice, just seriousness. "And you're going to pay for your crimes."

Blakk narrowed his eyes. "I will give you one more chance to release me, or face the consequences."

He let go of Pronto, who scampered back over to the gang and hid behind Kord, whimpering. Eli raised an eyebrow, and he broke his serious facade with a smirk.

"I think you're forgetting who's got the upper hand here," he said.

Suddenly, Alana felt a chill coming from behind her. She tensed and spun around, scanning the wall behind her. Sure enough, there was a uniformed Blakk Industries worker peeking through one of the windows of the trailer.

"Am I?" Blakk asked, and Alana pushed her way out of the trailer, Eli following behind her. There was the rev of an engine, and then the worker was speeding by on a hyena Mecha. Alana scowled and fired a Rammstone after him, but he rounded a corner just in time, and the slug simply crashed into the ground.

"Floppers!" Eli said. Alana sighed and holstered her blaster as the rest of the gang filed out of the trailer.

"Sorry. I was so focused on Blakk, I didn't sense him," she said.

Eli shook his head. "Don't worry about it. But he's probably already called for backup, and they'll be here soon. Coop?"

Coop leaned in the doorway of the trailer and sighed. "I've got no love for Blakk. Guy gives me the creeps. But I do love this cavern," he said, looking around the trailer park, his eyes soft. "If more of his men are on the way, it'll be war here."

"You've done your share, Coop," Eli assured. "If there's a fight coming, it's ours."

"We need to move him somewhere more secure," Alana said, glancing at the trailer, where Black was watching their conversation through his cell's window.

"Ah, yes, but how, exactly?" Pronto asked. "Surely we would prefer he remain in there, behind those bars?"

"For once, I agree with Pronto," Alana admitted. Pronto nodded.

"Yeah! Wait, what do you mean for once-?"

"Maybe we'll take the bars, too," Eli interrupted.

~~~~~~~~

Fifteen minutes later, the gang was speeding through the caverns' plains, with the green and tan trailer holding Doctor Blakk safely attached to Pronto's Mecha.

"Now this is good!" Pronto exclaimed. "Doctor Blakk, safely back there, and Pronto the conqueror, safely up here! And so begins our journey to... hey, where are we taking him?" Pronto called over to Eli.

Eli and Trixie rode to the left of the trailer, Kord to the right, and Alana bringing up the rear. She'd voluntarily chosen the position for two reasons. For one, she would be the first to notice if there were ghouls approaching from behind. The second reason was that while she felt better with Blakk locked in the trailer, being so close to him was unnerving. She could feel the residual dark energy on him from his ghouling endeavors, and he was reminding her of losing Will.

"Good question," Eli said. "Locking Blakk up could change everything. If he stays captured."

"Where's the highest-security place we have access to?" Trixie asked. Alana rode to the left a few feet so she could see Trixie and Eli around the trailer.

"Stalagmite 17?" she suggested. "We only got out because of some unique circumstances. Now that it has non-zombie guards, it might be the best place."

"That prison should hold Blakk, if we can get him there," Kord said. Eli nodded, and the group veered to the left, driving through a more rocky area with towering stalagmites.

"Then that's where we-" Eli began, but Alana cut him off when she felt a chill behind her.

"Ghouls!" she yelled, spinning around and loading her blaster as a Hop Jack came barreling toward the trailer. She had no time to fire, so instead Midnight leapt into the air and kicked the ghoul away, knocking it a few feet off-course so it hit the ground next to the trailer instead of the trailer itself.

Another round of ghouls flew around the trailer, but now Pronto was in defense mode, weaving around skillfully and avoiding direct hits. Alana turned so she was riding backwards, facing the threat and trying to block out the cold.

"Four ghoulslingers on Mechas!" she called up.

"Word travels fast," Eli said bitterly. The gang continued to avoid the ghouls as the ghoulslingers rapidly fired wave after wave, ducking down a narrower alley, surrounding by tall stone walls and pillars on either side.

Alana, still riding backwards and hoping Midnight's systems would keep an eye on the trailer so she didn't have a rear-ender to worry about, fired a Rammstone as Eli fired an Armashelt. The Rammstone flew in front of the Armashelt, knocking two Grimmstones out of the way so the Armashelt could crash into one of the hyena Mechas, sending its ghoulslinging rider to the ground.

"Drop up ahead!" Kord called back, and Alana quickly turned around again to face forward before Midnight leapt down a ten foot drop. The trailer shook and threw Blakk around, but stayed attached to Pronto's Mecha.

Alana steadied Midnight and went back to sitting backwards, firing slug after slug as the ghoulslingers continued their fire, just focusing on keeping ghouls from hitting the trailer while Eli, Trixie, and Kord tried to take out the ghoulslingers.

"I'm goin' for that arch, Alana!" Kord called back. Alana looked up and nodded when she saw a large stone arch above the pathand fired Ash at the ghoulslingers while Kord fired a Hop Rock at the arch.

Ash lingered in midair for a moment, releasing a wall of flames that knocked oncoming ghouls out of the air. Kord's Hop Rock hit the arch and detonated, sending the stone structure crumbling to the ground in front of Blakk's workers. A large cloud of dust rose from where the stone hit the ground, and Alana was about to face forward again when the three ghoulslingers emerged from the dust unharmed.

"They definitely know what they're doing," Alana noted, firing her Frostcrawler and creating a wall of ice between the Shane Gang and Blakk's workers. But two Grimmstones later, the wall was shattered, and the ghoulslingers were getting closer- the gang couldn't ride full speed with the trailer.

"And heavily armed," Eli said, ducking as a Thrasher shot by him. The trail narrowed, minimizing the gang's mobility, and the ghoulslingers decided to take advantage of that. The trio fired Greneaters at the cavern ceiling, and the massive explosion loosened several stalactites. The spikes fell down towards the Shane Gang, who had nowhere to go.

"Kord, I know you want your grand reveal, but what about those upgrades to our Mechas?" Trixie asked.

"We need more space. Trust me, it'll be worth it later. Alana!" Kord called, and Alana saw that he was loading an Arachnet. "Once we're through, let 'em drop!"

Alana nodded and loaded her Thresher while Kord fired his Arachnet. The slug spun a web spanning over the trail, catching the falling stalactites and bending down with the tremendous weight. The gang allowed themselves a burst of speed (that jostled Blakk around a lot, to Alana's amusement) and passed under the net.

As soon as they were past the net, Alana fired her Thresher. The slug sliced through one side of the web and dropped the stalactites down on top of the trail, completely sealing off the gang from Blakk's workers. Alana waited for a few moments as the gang rode into a tunnel, entering a darker cavern with bioluminescent pink and blue mushrooms- no one followed.

"Pronto understands being dramatic, but come on already, Kord!" Pronto exclaimed.

Kord laughed and nodded. "Okay, okay. But before you check out my super-duper upgrades, Eli, Trixie, and Alana, you guys are gonna want these."

Kord wove around the group, tossing the three human slingers helmets. Alana's was light blue, with black stripes on either side. She caught it and put it on, laughing when it pushed her ponytail down.

"Man, I'm gonna have some bad helmet hair," she said. Kord shrugged as he rode back to his position at the right of the trailer.

"Don't worry, it'll be worth it," he assured. "Alright, everyone- press the green button!"

"Ooh, we have green buttons?" Pronto asked excitedly.

"We have green buttons!" Eli confirmed. Alana laughed and looked down at Midnight's control panel. There was, in fact, a green button. With no idea what to expect, she pressed it.

Immediately, she could feel gears in her Mecha spinning, and in a matter of seconds, it transformed. Midnight's front and rear legs retracted, but before the wolf could hit the ground, each pair was replaced by a wheel. The panels on Midnight's face contracted and narrowed, as did the panels on her sides, giving the wolf a much more sleek appearance.

But for everything that changed, the transition was almost instantaneous. Midnight hit the ground with her wheels spinning, and Alana shot forward with newfound speed. She laughed and sped forward to Kord, whose Mecha had taken on a similar motorcycle form.

"Kord, this is awesome!" she called, smiling as she felt the wind in her face, so much more intense than when she was on a normal Mecha.

Kord grinned, and Alana could see relief and excitement in his eyes. "Thanks! Glad you like it!"

"We love it!" Eli yelled as he and Trixie sped forward, driving in circles around the trailer. Lucky was almost entirely identical to Midnight, and Trixie's ride was now a four-wheeled kart. Pronto's had transformed into a three-wheeled device with treads, and was able to speed up even with the trailer load.

Alana grinned and fell back to her spot behind the trailer as Eli and Trixie sped forward, weaving around mushrooms and stalagmites that dotted the tunnel floor.

"Kord, you're a genius!" Eli called, his voice echoing through the tunnel.

The next few minutes were spent by testing out the new rides doing, of course, as many jumps as they could. Alana rode forward, using a stone as a ramp and soaring into the air before landing with surprising agility. The bike was more difficult to balance than Midnight's wolf form- going from four legs to two wheels was an adjustment- but everything ran smoothly thanks to Kord's handiwork.

The fun did eventually come to a halt when Pronto decided to take a jump a little too high, and sent the trailer rocking back and forth, with Blakk tumbling all around inside. Alana wasn't going to mention anything, but Eli slowed down and rode alongside one of the small windows of the trailer.

"Watch it, Pronto. We want to get him there in one piece," Eli said, smirking at Blakk, who walked up to the window. Blakk snapped something at Eli, who revved Lucky's engine to cut Blakk off. An exchange between the two where Blakk attempted to threaten Eli and Eli just kept revving his engine ensued, but Alana blocked it out when she suddenly felt a chill behind her.

She turned in her seat (unfortunately, in bike form, she couldn't face backwards and not risk crashing, but it was worth the trade) and peered at the road behind the gang. A thin layer of dust had been kicked up, but through it, a shape was forming, and Alana could tell it was packing an impressive amount of ghouls.

"Eli!" she called up. "I think we're about to have company."

Eli frowned and fell back a bit, staring as the shape grew closer. "Someone's catching up?"

Alana's eyes widened as the shape became clear. It was a large gray vehicle, easily over ten feet across, with four enormous wheels and an armored cab, detailed with glowing red. The windshield was made of scarlet glass, in the all-too-familiar shape of a V.

"Oh no," Kord groaned. Eli glanced at the cave troll worriedly.

"You know what that is?" he asked.

Kord shook his head. "No. But the reason I worked overtime on these upgrades is 'cause I heard Blakk had been recruiting top tech talent for some kind of super-vehicle. So if I had to take a guess..."

Blakk laughed, holding onto the cells of the trailer window. "It's called Titan," he said. "And you're about to find out what it can do."

"I'll be taking Doctor Blakk now!" a familiar voice said over a set of speakers. Alana's eyes widened when she recognized it.

"It's Quentin!" Trixie called. Alana frowned when she remembered the scientist who'd tried to make artificial slugs. Seeing the roboslugs be animate without any energy had been uncomfortable to say the least.

"After all, a man like that deserves to ride in style!" Quentin continued. Alana grabbed her blaster as she felt a swell of dark energy.

"That thing has ghouls!" she warned.

"And the last thing he invented almost crushed us!" Trixie said bitterly.

"Looks like he's picking up where he left off," Eli said as three turrets rose up from the top of the vehicle's cab, beginning to fire ghouls.

Alana winced at the swells of dark energy, but found weaving through the ghoulfire somewhat easier with Midnight's bike form. She swerved one way to avoid a Hop Jack, and then the other to avoid an Amperling. A Frostfang landed in front of her and she quickly steered to the right, but underestimated Midnight's newfound maneuverability and nearly flipped over. She was definitely glad for the helmet.

"Really wish we had some more driving time," Alana muttered once she straightened Midnight. Eli fired his Frostcrawler, freezing several of the ghouls in midair. Alana took advantage of the empty air and fired her Grenuke at the Titan. The slug transformed and gripped the front of the cab before detonating, releasing an explosion that shook the ground.

But when the smoke cleared, Titan was still speeding forward, only a few smudges of ash on its metal armor to show there had ever been an explosion in the first place.

"It's gonna take a lot of firepower to take this thing down!" Alana yelled as she ducked to avoid a Grimmstone. Eli veered away from the trailer, turning and speeding towards Quentin head-on, firing Burpy. The Infurnus create a wave of flames that Alana could fee from her Mecha. But once again, the Titan only slowed for a slight second against the heat waves before continuing its drive, with Eli still barreling towards it.

Alana tensed with worry, but she watched in awe as Eli leaned to the left at the last second, angling himself downward and skidding right under the Titan. He was lucky it had such large wheels that set it up above the ground- he was able to completely slide under the vehicle without hitting it.

Before Alana could be too impressed, one of the turrets swung backward and fired at Eli as he emerged from the other side of the Titan. While he was busy remounting on Lucky, Alana and Trixie opened fire on the Titan itself while Kord rode behind the trailer, using Rammstones and Armashelts to keep the ghouls from hitting it.

Nothing Alana or Trixie fired had any effect- Rammstones wouldn't shatter the windshield, and Threshers wouldn't penetrate the cab. Eli met back up with the two, weaving around stalagmites in attempt to avoid the turrets' ghoulfire.

"Eli, we're gonna need the double barrel to take this thing down!" Trixie called.

Eli nodded, holding up two slug tubes. "I've got the perfect pair-" he began to say, but stopped when a Hop Jack's explosion shook his Mecha. His Armashelt, who'd been climbing into one of the tubes, fell down to one of the bars by his wheels. Alana began to fall back to help him, but an explosion by the trailer drew her attention.

"Get the fusion ready, I'm going back on defense!" Alana called, speeding forward. She couldn't help but smile as she rode next to Kord. The situation itself was undesirable, but this new bike mode was fun.

She fired her Arachnet at an oncoming Grimmstone, tying it up and sending it to the ground. But a Harmashelt got through, hitting just next to the trailer and nearly tipping it over. Alana tried to hold back a laugh as she heard Blakk topple over inside.

"I would prefer to be rescued alive!" Blakk yelled.

Kord fell back with Trixie, trying to find a weak spot in the Titan's armor. Quentin jerked the vehicle to the left, nearly slamming Kord into a stalagmite.

"Where'd you find those hunks of junk?" Quentin jeered.

Kord glared up at the windshield. "Hey, watch your mouth!" he yelled, before patting his Mecha's head affectionately. "Don't listen to him, Wyatt."

Trixie fired a Jellyish that spar out a mass of goo on the Titan's windshield. Alana expected windshield wipers to get rid of it, but nothing happened.

"Yeah, I'll take you over him any day, Kord!" Alana laughed as they exited the dark area and the tunnel around them opened up to a cavern filled with canyons and rock formations. "You would've remembered windshield wipers."

The gang took a hard right, and Quentin, still blinded, kept going straight and slammed full-speed into a wall of stone. Eli laughed.

"Guess we didn't need the double barrel after all," he noted as the gang sped forward. "This way, straight ahead!"

Alana frowned and leaned to the side, looking past the trailer. They were nearing a wide canyon, and as optimistic as she'd like to be, she didn't know how capable these new Mecha models would be trying to make that kind of jump.

"Eli, no! No one has ever managed to jump across Copper Canyon!" Pronto exclaimed.

"Nobody's ever had these kinds of Mecha beasts," Eli replied, firing his Frostcrawler and creating an extended ice ramp partway across the canyon.

"Oh man, we are really doing this," Alana laughed quietly. Ash chirped nervously from her shoulder, but she couldn't help but feel excited. She sped forward in front of Pronto, glancing at the molenoid as she passed him. "Don't worry, it'll be fine!"

"Easy for you to say! You are not the one with the bulky trailer in tow!" Pronto exclaimed. Alana shrugged.

"You got me there," she admitted, bracing herself as Midnight hit the ice ramp. Eli, Kord, and Trixie all went before her, and then, with one final burst of speed, she rode up the ramp and soared into the air.

Alana laughed and glanced down as she scaled the canyon, wind blowing her hair back as she was temporarily suspended in the air before starting to descend. She landed right at the edge of the other side of the canyon and sped forward to where Eli, Trixie, and Kord were already cheering for their successful jump, stopping and transforming their Mechas back to their animal forms.

Once Midnight was back to having four legs, Alana turned to see the last part of Pronto's jump. His mule Mecha landed on the edge of the cliff, but the trailer didn't, dropping off the edge and pulling Pronto down.

"Transform back for more power!" Kord called, speeding forward on his Mecha. Pronto nodded hurriedly and transformed his Mecha back to its original form, trying desperately to move forward and pull the trailer back over the ledge.

But he had no luck, and was dragged back even farther, about to fall off. The rest of the gang acted in unison, pressing a button on their control panels and firing out grappling hooks, grabbing the trailer and walking forward. Alana winced as Midnight creaked with effort, and tried to direct some energy into the Mecha's heart to give it more power.

After a few heartstopping seconds, the five Mechas successfully pulled the trailer back over the ledge. It fell back down on all four wheels, and Alana sighed with relief.

"See?" Eli said. "Nothing to worry abo-"

He was cut off by the sudden rev of an engine, and it hadn't come from any of the Shane Gang's Mechas. Alana's shoulders dropped as she felt a chill, and she looked up to see the Titan soaring through the air over Copper Canyon. Too late, the thought crossed her mind that they should have destroyed the ice ramp behind them.

The Titan crashed to the ground on the edge of the canyon, and without any further prompting, the gang sped forward.

"Face it!" Quented jeered, speeding after them. "You can't last against my superior science!"

"I knew the scribes would write about this day, but I did not think it would be because it was the day Pronto the Great met his end!" Pronto wailed as he transformed his Mecha. Alana did the same, rolling her eyes and calling up to Pronto from behind the trailer.

"This isn't the day you meet your end, Pronto," she promised. Blakk glared at her from one of the trailer's windows.

"Don't be so sure," he warned. "And if it isn't today, then soon. I'd especially be worried if I were you. I have one employee in particular who would love to get ahold of you."

Alana's face paled at the thought of Dana. She cleared her throat and looked away. "Well, she won't. And you won't be able to do anything from Stalagmite 17," she replied, looking behind her as Eli fell back, preparing to use his double barrel against the Titan.

He loaded Burpy and his Armashelt, Banger, riding straight at the Titan. When he fired, Alana couldn't help but smile at the swell of energy and the sensation of two slugs coming together. The fusion created a huge flaming boulder and sent it barreling towards the Titan. It slammed into the vehicle and caused it to flip, landing upside down and getting stuck in the hard ground.

Alana laughed and glanced over at Blakk, the rest of the gang cheering. "So much for your super vehicle."

"Amusing," Blakk replied, and Alana's smile faded at his relaxed attitude. "But Quentin wasn't trying to catch you. He was corralling you, like cattle."

"Hit the brakes!" Kord suddenly yelled, and Alana immediately did as she was told. She felt a mass of darkness in front of her and looked past the trailer.

Four Titans sat in a row across the path, engines revving. Quentin had led them into an ambush.

"Okay," Eli breathed, glancing back at Alana. "Me, Trixie, and Kord take the Titans and clear the way so Alana and Pronto can get through with Blakk."

"Are you sure-" Alana began to ask, but Eli cut her off.

"I want you to stay behind and watch his six," he said before he sped forward, Trixie and Kord right behind him.

Pronto let out a battle cry and surged forward, Alana right behind him. Eli, Trixie, and Kord wove through the Titans, drawing their attention while Pronto swerved back and forth to avoid them. One vehicle shot a trip of Grimmstones at the trailer. Alana fired her Frostcrawler, freezing two out of the air.

At the last one, Alana held out a hand and took a deep breath, forcing forward her energy. The Grimmstone halted in midair, first reverting back to protoform. Then, in a flash of blue, it returned to a Rammstone, landing on the ground and chirping happily.

"Nice!" Eli called, temporarily speeding forward. "Now, whatever you two do, don't stop until you reach Stalagmite 17!"

"Got it!" Alana said with a nod, speeding forward behind Pronto.

Eli, Trixie, and Kord took a bulk of the slinging, putting up a strong offense and taking on the Titans one by one. But Alana still had her hands full with the ghouls that slipped through the cracks, fighting off attack after attack. She fought off a half dozen Grimmstones and cured two Hop Jacks before there was a break in the fire as the road took a sharp right.

"Haha! Pronto cannot wait to hear the epic stories the scribes will write of this epic journey!" Pronto exclaimed. Alana rolled her eyes and began to make a comment, but stopped when the trailer suddenly began to jerk to one side. Blakk was slamming into one of the walls, trying to tip it over.

Alana sped forward on Midnight, but before she could do anything, Blakk tipped the trailer over. With a loud snap, it broke loose from Pronto's Mecha. Both the trailer and the Mecha flipped sideways and crashed into one of the stone walls that rose up next to the path in a cloud of smoke.

She loaded her blaster with a Rammstone, but when the smoke settled away, Blakk was already out of the now destroyed trailer, holding up Pronto's blaster. The molenoid sat on the ground in front of Blakk, looking absolutely terrified. Eli, Kord, and Trixie all stopped around Alana, eyes wide as Blakk pulled the trigger.

If it had been any of the other slingers, it would have been bad. Their blasters would have been loaded with Rammstones, or Tormatoes, or in Eli and Alana's cases, even Infurnuses. But Pronto's was loaded with a Flatulorhinkus. The purple slug only caused a cloud of purple and green gas to form around the molenoid, not any lethal damage.

With Pronto no longer at blasterpoint, Eli fired his Speedstinger. Blakk simply leaned back and swung Pronto's sniper blaster like a bat, sending the slug ricocheting back and nearly hitting Eli before dropping Pronto's blaster and sprinting back to where a Titan was approaching.

Alana narrowed her eyes and fired her Ramstone, but the Titan laid down cover ghoulfire, creating explosions all around the Shane Gang.

"Run!" Kord yelled, driving forward and grabbing Pronto from the ground before rushing down the path. No one objected. Alana stole a glance behind her to see Blakk tossing Quentin out of the Titan's cab before getting in himself and speeding forward after the Shane Gang.

Pronto's Mecha recovered and rode forward, catching up with Kord, who tossed Pronto back onto his ride. Ghoulfire shook the ground around the Shane Gang as Blakk began to start up the Titan's turrets.

"Whatever you do, keep the pedal to the metal!" Eli called, dogging as a Harmashelt flew by. The path took a sharp right, sending the gang and the Titan down a more narrow cliffside road. A wall of stone rose on the right, and to the left was an empty gorge. Alana sat upright on her Mecha, looking at the road ahead.

"Roadblock!" she yelled up to Eli. A pile of boulders sat in the path, what looked like the remnants of a rockslide. There was definitely no stopping, with the Titan right behind them and the gang reaching speeds of 100 miles per hour.

Eli fired Burpy, and Alana would always remember how her jaw dropped at the sight of the Infurnus's first megamorph.

Burpy transformed, with the usual small burst of slug energy. But then, in a flash, it was like he transformed again, and Alana could feel even more light energy emanating from him as he flew forward, demolishing the boulders with a brilliant ball of fire that temporarily lit up the path, bathing everything in orange and yellow.

Eli let out the only appropriate reaction to the transformation, a loud "AWESOME!"

Alana rode up to Eli as Burpy returned to his slinger, an orange glow of heat fading from the Infurnus and giving way to new white markings on the slug. Alana's eyes widened.

"Wow, look at you!" Eli laughed.

"Maybe goin' so fast added some kind of speed boost to your blaster. It could've triggered a change in Burpy's velocimorph!" Kord exclaimed. Alana could already tell there were gears spinning in his head, but she couldn't focus on that.

"I'd say he's now a megamorph," Eli noted, and Alana cleared her throat, holding out a hand as she rode along the orh next to Eli. Ash jumped into it, a mischievous look on his face as he waved to Burpy.

Alana had always figured they were just variations in Ash's colors. But now, with Burpy having nust turned into a megamorph, he looked an awful lot more like Ash. They both had the same white markings.

Eli's eyes widened as he made the connection. "Ash was already-? But how?"

"Save the chat for later, we have a bigger problem!" Trixie exclaimed, pointing forward. Ahead of the gang, the path gave way to another crossing of Copper Canyon.

"We barely made it across Copper Canyon the first time!" Pronto shrieked as Eli fired his Frostcrawler, creating another ice ramp. "And this crossing is even wider!"

"Trust me!" Eli called. Alana nodded and sped forward, riding just behind him. The others hesitated for a split second before following, riding up the ice ramp and jumping into the air. Eli turned back towards Alana. "Got a Rammstone handy?"

She realized what his plan was and nodded, loading her Rammstone and twisting backwards as the Titan began to cross the ice. She fired, and the slug shattered the ice bridge, sending the Titan plummeting to the bottom of Copper Canyon.

"Glider mode!" Eli called, and Alana pulled a small yellow clip on Midnight's control panel. Wings jutted out on either side, accelerators on their undersides slowing down the fall as she and the rest of the gang steered down the canyon.

At the bottom, there was an intense scenery change. Everything was dark, navy blue with mushrooms glowing ice blue. The Titan wreckage let off a plume of smoke. The wheels stuck in every direction, and the windshield was cracking. The armored cab was dented and scratched. If it hadn't been Doctor Blakk inside, Alana would have felt worried for whoever was inside.

And maybe it was bad, but she didn't feel anything as she reached the bottom of the canyon, staring at the wreckage with the rest of the gang. Trixie took out her camera, filming the Titan as it smoked and sparked, but for a few moments, everyone was silent. Pronto cleared his throat.

"Hah! Well, good riddance is what I say," he said, crossing his arms. Suddenly, the wrecked vehicle creaked and groaned. The wheels clicked back into place, and the Titan pulled itself upright, despite looking terrible.

"You should have run when you had the chance," Blakk's voice echoed out through the speakers. The Titan burst forward.

Without hesitation, Eli transformed his Mecha into bike mode and began to speed toward the Titan.

"Dude! You're playing chicken with a Titan!" Kord yelled.

"I'll take your mods over what Quentin built any day!" Eli replied, loading his blaster with Burpy. Alana's eyes widened as she realized what he was trying to do. Blakk fired at Eli, but the Shane dodged the ghouls, building up more and more speed, until finally firing Burpy.

The Infurnus transformed as a megamorph again, releasing a tremendous wave of flames that flipped the Titan over in midair and broke off the hatch, sending Blakk tumbling from the vehicle. Trixie filmed the whole thing, watching with wide eyes as Blakk crashed to the ground.

Alana sped forward on Midnight, loading Ash into her blaster. As soon as Blakk tried to sit up, she raised her weapon, eyes narrowed.

"I wouldn't."

~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, the Shane Gang found themselves standing in the maximum security cell of Stalagmite 17. It was a room mostly occupied by a half-circle shaped cell encased in glass. Doctor Blakk sat on a cot inside, bruised and tattered.

"Wow. It feels... weird. We got him. It's over," Trixie noted.

Eli shrugged, looking unconvinced. He hadn't been at all relaxed until Blakk was in his cell, and even then, he still seemed on-edge. "I hope," he said simply, turning around and leading the gang out of the cell.

Kord laughed. "Dude, what else could happen? I mean, c'mon, none of his goons are gonna break him out of Stalagmite 17."

"Imagine C.C. and them trying to get in here," Alana laughed. Trixie began to respond, but the gang stopped cold just before they could reach the door. Blakk was laughing.

"You may have beaten those who serve me today," Blakk said, standing and walking up to the glass wall of his cell. "But trust me. You have no idea what's coming."

~~~~~~~~

Alana sat alone at a table in Stalagmite 17's staff food court, eating a slice of pizza while her slugs snacked on her fries. Trixie, Kord, and Pronto had made a run to the hideout to grab some supplies. The gang decided that at least for the first few days Blakk was in custody, they would stay at the prison to help the security slingers guard their newest prisoner.

Eli sat down across from her, with a plate full of chicken strips. "Well, got everything sorted with security," he said. "They agree- Blakk's employees will definitely try to attack the prison, but without their leader, it's kind of a doomed cause."

Alana nodded. "There's cameras all over here, so Twist's illusions shouldn't be a problem. That leaves who, Dana and Nacho? They're good, but against us and the security slingers, I'm not sure what they can do."

Eli nodded, although Alana could tell he wasn't entirely convinced. She thought about trying to cheer him up, but instead she glanced at Burpy. Eli followed her gaze and smiled when he saw his Infurnus on the table next to his plate, chirping with Ash.

"So, Ash has already megamorphed before," he noted. Alana nodded, looking at her Infurnus's white markings.

"My mom's blaster was different. It had two power cores," Alana said, picking up her bottle of apple juice and taking a drink. "I think they were meant to handle the boosted slug energy, but it's kind of the right idea. Kord could come up with a blaster mod that lets the slugs megamorph without having to constantly play chicken on the Mechs."

"Well, until then, we'll have to stick to awesome Mecha stunts," Eli laughed. "But, about the blaster. I hate to ask, but is there anyone you could talk to who knew your mom and could tell us how she got her blaster to handle megamorphs?"

Alana's grip tightened around her apple juice. She set it down, and for a moment, the image of the Dark Slinger standing in front of the fallen Paladins flashed through her mind. If there even is anyone, they're in the West, she thought.

"No, sorry. We're kinda on our own for that," Alana said.

"It's fine," Eli said quickly, waving a hand. "Not exactly a new concept for us. We'll figure it out, and once we fend off his men, we'll start figuring out the megamorphs. One step at a time."

Alana nodded. "One step at a time," she echoed, but Blakk's final words to the gang were still ringing in her head.

You have no idea what's coming.