Nothing that morning felt quite real.

Alana used her Slyren the night before the raid of Blakk's citadel to get a peaceful sleep. She never wanted to have nightmares of terraportals and ghouls, but especially not on the night of what was shaping up to be the biggest mission of her life. So Sonic lulled her to sleep quickly after the gang returned home from Ricochet Pizza, and not a single dream plagued her.

Then her alarm went off, and it was time.

She sat in her bed for a minute, staring up at her ceiling and taking deep, steady breaths.

Today's the day, she thought, a faint smile on her lips. In twenty-four hours, the fight with Blakk would be over. Alana sat up, enjoying the pale yellow Lumino light for one more moment before getting to her feet. Her slugs began to gather into her black backpack as she changed into her slinging gear.

Black boots, gray pants, a light blue shirt with a single bar of black on each side. As she pulled her shirt on, her gaze flickered first to the scar on her side where the Thrasher had cut her, then up to the burn on her right arm where the Dark Slinger's Darkfurnus had burnt her. She slid on her knee pads and gray belt, and grabbed her black and blue gloves.

One third scar, on her right forearm, where Dana had taken a slash at the hand Alana had held out to her. Alana narrowed her eyes and quickly tugged on her gloves. She glanced at her closet, decorated with pictures of herself, her slugs, and the gang. She knew that tucked away behind the sliding door was a shoebox holding pictures she'd rather not see every day, including some with her and Dana.

Eli had pulled her aside before the rest of the gang went to bed the night before.

"We know Blakk will probably have most of his forces outside the citadel," he had said. "So I'm thinking Trixie, Kord, and Pronto stay out from and keep them occupied while you and I get past them and go into the citadel. I'll go for the portal, and you..."

"Go for Dana," she guessed. Eli nodded.

"If the portal's already activated, we won't be able to stop it if she's willingly keeping it open," he said. "Even if it isn't, we won't be able to permanently neutralize the dark water if she can just keep curing it."

Alana glanced at the ground as he continued.

"I know it's hard. You shouldn't have to be the one to fight her, but you are. And I know you want to help her, and I'm not going to ever try to talk you out of that. But the focus will be incapacitating her as quickly as you can," Eli stressed. "Not healing her. We need to stop the portal as soon as possible. After that, I promise you can go back and do whatever you need to do, and then we'll figure it all out as we go."

Alana nodded. "I'm ready," she had assured.

Admittedly, Alana wasn't sure if she had meant it at the time. But now that the day was here, she only felt adrenaline, ready to be released.

"Let's go, guys," she said, grabbing her backpack and heading downstairs.

The rest of the gang was already preparing to leave, eating hurried breakfasts and grabbing their gear. Trixie looked up as Alana walked to the kitchen area and smiled, tossing Alana an apple.

"How do you feel?" Trixie asked.

"Ready," Alana replied confidently. "We've been dealing with Blakk for too long. I'm ready for it to be over."

"You're not nervous?" Trixie asked, grabbing her blaster and holstering it.

"Nah," Alana said, waving a hand. Trixie raised an eyebrow, and Alana sighed and shrugged. "Okay, sure. But worrying about it won't change anything. We're as ready as we'll ever be."

Trixie nodded, perking up when Eli walked in from the garage, followed by Kord and Pronto.

"How are the mechas?" she asked.

"They all check out," Eli replied, standing at the end of the counter, Alana and Trixie to his right, Kord and Pronto to his left. "We're ready to go."

For a moment, he was silent. Then he looked up at the rest of his team, and Alana found herself recognizing the determination in his eyes. It was an expression she'd seen in Will.

"I'm not going to try to sugarcoat this," Eli said. "It's going to be a big fight. Blakk knows we're coming. The fate of Slugterra is riding on this mission. But there's no one else I would want to trust with that fate," he said, looking around at the rest of the gang. "You guys have gone through so much already. We've entered and escaped the Deep Caverns, while Alana escaped the citadel by herself. We've done some pretty amazing things.

"And we've changed Slugterra so much already. We've given the people hope. So, if you guys are nervous or scared, I don't blame you. But remember why we're doing this. For all the people here we love, all our friends who are ready to fight for Bonnie Springs. For everyone else who decided to stand up. For Master Shanai, and..."

Eli glanced past the rest of the gang, at the portrait of Will that hung on the wall. Alana didn't have to turn around to follow his gaze- she knew where he was looking.

"For everyone else who came before us. It's time to be the heroes that Slugterra needs. So let's get going, and by this time tomorrow, we'll all be celebrating."

The rest of the gang cheered, whooping and pumping their fists. Alana smiled, but edged away from the group carefully as they filed into the garage and finished gathering their slugs.

She walked down the hall and stood in front of the portrait of Will, folding her arms in front of her and looking up at the portrait fondly.

"He'd be pretty proud of you, you know."

Alana turned around and smiled and Eli walked up to her, crossing his arms and standing next to her.

"I don't remember as much about his visits as I wish," he continued. "But he always had good things to say about you. He always felt bad that he couldn't spend more time on the surface, be a dad up there. But having you down there probably made him feel better about it."

Alana's eyes widened a bit. She hadn't ever thought of that, of being a good way for Will to still feel like a father even when he was around his son.

"Thanks," she said, glancing at Eli. "I can't even put into words how much he loved you. He obviously wanted you to take up being the Shane, but I think no matter what you did, he wouldn't have cared. If he could see everything you've done, Eli... he had a lot of great victories, but that would top them all."

"That means a lot. Thanks, Alana," Eli said.

And I like to think my parents would feel the same way, Alana thought. She pressed back thoughts of Evanlyn and Nathanael Caelum falling during the battle for the West, instead focusing on a clear-cut memory of her father carrying her to bed while her mother, having just returned from a mission, looked over a map of the caverns.

"Come on," Alana said, gently elbowing Eli's side. "Let's go. We've got some people to make proud."

~~~~~~~~~

Sam stood beside Doctor Eberly, in the basement of the hospital, amongst old records and filing cabinets. Ever since Max had confirmed that Gray Enterprise had hired slingers to patrol the streets of Bonnie Springs, Sam had been avoiding windows at all costs. She didn't know what would happen if her parents knew where she was, and she was too scared to find out.

Eberly was hunched over a small holoscreen, too old to display a video chat, instead just showing a sound frequency.

"We've gotten a majority of the patients evacuated into the resident halls," Eberly said. "There's only a couple slingers here, but we've got them guarding our immobile patients."

"Good. We're setting up at the perimeter of the cavern," a voice said from the holoscreen. Brodie, a defender from High Plains Cavern. "A group will be shadow traveling into the lobby of the hospital, and right after that, things will get hectic."

Another voice took over the comm, more coarse and formal- Indra.

"In the kindest way, keep the doctors with the patients who need some more protection and leave the lobby clear for the slingers," she said. "We don't want anyone in the way or caught in the crossfire."

"Understood," Eberly said. "With luck, we'll see you soon. Thank you again."

"No problem. See you soon, doctor."

Eberly turned off the holodesk, rubbing at his eyes for a second before turning to Sam.

"As soon as we're clear here, I want to send a group to the Shane Gang," he said. "Brodie and I were discussing it. We don't doubt them, but they're children. They may not want any doctors in danger, but we owe it to them to be there for support."

"Me and Gwen should be fine, but not Rhydian and Alex," Sam said. Eberly nodded, leading the way out of the storage room.

"I agree. Those two have seen enough of Doctor Blakk's work," he said. "I was thinking of you, Gwen, and myself."

Sam's brown eyes widened. "Don't you think you should stay here?"

"Even with the Shane Gang there, the Blakk Industries citadel is an extremely dangerous place. I wouldn't ask anyone here to face that if I wasn't willing to as well," Eberly argued. He lowered his eyes and sighed. "Besides, I want to feel useful. I was never very brave, you know. I never stood up to Blakk."

"Well, we've got a taste of what happens when you cross him," Sam said sourly, thinking about the patrols in the streets of Bonnie Springs and the ghoulslingers at the cavern exits. "You did what you did to keep the patients safe, even putting up with his threats. That seems pretty brave."

Eberly laughed and shook his head as the two reached the elevator. He pressed the up button and glanced down at Sam.

"I'm supposed to be the mature one, not you," he noted. Sam set her hands in the pockets of her white jacket and shook her head.

"Doc, I've been too stressed to sleep, so I've been playing a bunch of Slug Kart to relieve stress. Don't worry, you definitely still get to be the one to act like an adult," she noted. Eberly rolled his eyes as the two stepped into the elevator.

"Lucky me."

~~~~~~~~

The Shane Gang rode out to the very edge of Wild Spores Cavern, where the mushroom forests faded away into a more barren canyon landscape, with dusty ground and tall orange and red walls and columns of stone. They reached a fork in the road and came to a halt, grabbing their helmets and preparing for the ride to Blakk's citadel.

"This is where we split up. Good luck, Pronto," Eli said, clipping the strap to his black and orange helmet. Pronto, who had been surprisingly quiet throughout the journey, sighed and hunched over in his seat.

"Yes, I am going to need it!" he exclaimed.

"You'll be fine!" Alana assured. "The Shadow Clan is on our side. Just keep it simple."

"Easy for you to say, Miss Energy Mage!" Pronto grumbled, pressing the button on his mecha and transforming it from beast to kart mode.

"Would you rather have my job?" she asked. At this, Pronto perked up, nodding hastily.

"Ah, yes, perhaps Pronto should be grateful for what he has," he said quickly, before tearing off down the road, a cloud of dust following behind him. Eli laughed before revving Lucky's engine.

"Alright, let's pick up the pace," he said, starting off down the road again, the rest of the gang behind him. "I'm sure we'll have company any second."

Alana pressed the green button on Midnight's control panel, bracing herself as the mecha's legs retracted, quickly replaced by wheels. Ash chirped happily from his shoulder, sticking his tongue out in the wind.

"Trixie, message Brodie and tell her we're on our way to the citadel," Eli called over the rush of the wind as the gang left Wild Spores Cavern, passing nothing but barren gorges and canyons. "Now we act like everything is a race against the clock. Who knows when the terraportal will-"

"Ghouls up ahead!" Alana suddenly warned as she felt a wave of cold approaching. Sure enough, the gang rounded a corner a found a trio of Titans heading their way.

"I'm guessing that'll be a problem in our race against the clock," Trixie said grimly as she quickly sent the message to Brodie.

"No problem at all," Eli said, holding up his blaster and nodding toward the accelerator. "Just remember the cooldown. Our blasters can't handle rapidfire megamorphs. Alana?"

"Already on it," Alana replied, holding up her blue and black blaster. Ash jumped in, and Eli raised his blaster, loaded with Burpy.

"Fire!" Eli called, and he and Alana fired their Infurnuses in unison as the leading Titan released its first wave of ghouls. A Grimmstone, two Hop Rocks, and a Harmashelt flew forward, but they were no match for the megamorphed Infurnus slugs. Ash sped forward and released a wall of flames that sent the ghouls toppling into the stone walls around the gang, clearing the way for Burpy to collide with the Titan and send it flying through the air before crashing unceremoniously in a heap.

"Woohoo!" Kord cheered as his Rammstone, Bludgeon, knocked two Grimmstones out of the air with ease and still flew forward to punch downward on the hull of the Titan, flipping the once fearsome vehicle. Trixie loaded her Tormato, Bluster, and Alana fell back so she was riding beside her, pausing as Ash flew back to her and landed on her shoulder.

"Want some help?" Alana asked. Trixie nodded, firing her Tormato at the third and final Titan. Alana held out a hand as the red slug flew forward. She sent out a rush of energy, and Bluster's wings temporarily glowed bright blue as he sped forward, releasing a tornado that caught the Titan and sent it flying up into the air.

Eli fired a Hop Rock, hitting the Titan as it came falling back down and sending it back upward so it wouldn't crush any of the slingers. Alana laughed and put her hands in the air for a moment, her eyes lit up with excitement.

"I love megamorphs!" she laughed as the gang rode on, Blakk's failed attempt at a blockade left in smoking piles behind them. "That was awesome!"

"Yeah it was!" Kord called. "These things pack a punch!"

"Good, because that was the easy part," Eli said, speeding up as the gang continued down the dry western region. "We've got a straight shot to Blakk's citadel now."

The gang only encountered two more Titans on their ride, easily taken care of by Alana's Grenuke and Trixie's Armashelt. Other than that, they were met with no more challenges from Blakk, which wasn't entirely unexpected.

A majority of the slingers holding Bonnie Springs were slugslingers from Gray Enterprise, but there were still some ghoulslingers of Blakk's. That combined with the ghoulslingers Blakk had to keep in each cavern he took to maintain control meant that he was down plenty of men- but the ones he still had left would be his best, and they would be the ones guarding the citadel.

"Alright, we're getting close," Eli said as the gang once again reached a change in surroundings. The stone around them was dark gray, with eerie green Lumino crystals and magenta mushrooms. There were no trees to harbor slugs, but Alana doubted any slugs would want to live so close to the citadel in the first place.

The Shane Gang began to slow down, transforming their mechas back into beast mode, and Alana could feel her heartbeat quickening at the thought of the impending battle. She glanced down at Ash, who had a small flame burning on his head as he fidgeted on her shoulder. He'd been more hyperactive since Mage had left for the guardian gate- another thing to look forward to once this was all over. Alana would finally get her healer back.

She looked back up in front of her when Eli spoke, finally breaking the silence.

"We're here."

Alana slowed Midnight to a stop, following next to Eli as the gang reached a tall ridge in front of the citadel. The looming gray and red building came into view, stretching high toward the cavern's stalactites. But instead of looking up, Alana found herself shrinking down in her seat as she looked down.

In the valley between the gang and the citadel sat a small army of ghoulslingers, sitting atop mechas. Most were uniformed in gray and red, but some were recognizable- John Bull, Locke and Lode, C.C., Nacho, and the other Dark Bane. Alana could feel the dark energy radiating from them, and even more darkness came from the citadel itself. She took a deep breath, swallowing down her fear.

"Trixie, call Brodie. Give her the signal," Eli said quietly as the gang crept forward, coming into the army's view. At the front of the group, atop a bull mecha, Doctor Blakk looked up at the ridge and narrowed his eyes. Trixie hurriedly tapped away at her mecha's control screen.

"You sure about this, Eli?" she asked, glancing up as she pressed one final button and looked over the mass of ghoulslingers.

"Nope," Eli admitted, taking a deep breath. "You?"

"Nope," Trixie repeated with a smile. Alana raised an eyebrow, a faint smile on her lips, but she figured that now wasn't the time to make a note of the interaction. Eli rode forward a few steps, looking down at Doctor Blakk.

"This could be just you and me, Blakk," he called, his voice echoing across the valley. "No one else has to get hurt."

"Oh, it will be you and me," Blakk replied icily. "But your friends will suffer as well."

Alana glanced over at Eli, whose knuckles were white as he dug his nails into Lucky's handles. He looked down at Blakk with anger and determination as he looked around at each of his teammates.

"Everyone, stay safe," he said. Alana nodded, revving Midnight's energy. Eli waited for one more moment before relaxing his shoulders. "GO!"

~~~~~~~~

Brodie snapped her phone shut, turning around and facing Dana Por, Indra, and Mario Bravado. She and Indra got along well and decided that being on the same team would work well, and the team that would be the first to reach the heart of Bonnie Springs would face the least amount of ghouls, so it made sense for them to bring Mario Bravado along.

He didn't say anything, but Brodie could see the nervousness in the slinger's eyes, the small tremor in his hand that rested on his blaster handle. The was no reason to put him up against a blockade of ghoulslingers if they could avoid it.

"Trixie just messaged me," she whispered. They were stationed in the forest surrounding one of the main entrances to Bonnie Springs. A few dozen yards away, a group of defenders was ready to attack the ghoulslingers blocking the entrance. "We're a go. Ready, kid?"

Dana nodded, holding up a gloved hand. A black and green sphere sat in her palm, glowing glyphs etched in it. The Shadow Clan tech creeped Brodie out, but if it really could do what Dana said, it was worth it. Dana held up her other hand, grabbing Mario's wrist. Mario grabbed Brodie's, and Brodie grabbed Indra's.

"Do not let go until we reach the hospital. Understand?" Dana asked, looking each of them in the eye. Brodie nodded. "Alright. It'll be disorienting, so get ready."

She pressed the center of the sphere, and Brodie gasped as she felt the world around her flip upside down. Everything was tinted green and black, and she stumbled as Dana pulled the group forward.

"Come on!" she called, her voice distorted. There was a ringing in Brodie's ears, and she glanced at Mario and Indra to see both of them looking just as disoriented. Only Dana looked in her element, running along the shadowy version of the mushroom forest around them.

"This is crazy!" Brodie managed, looking around at floating green lights around them. A cavern wall loomed in front of them- the border of Bonnie Springs.

"You get used to it," Dana replied, an amused smirk on her face as she ran full speed at the wall. "Close your eyes, this gets disorienting!"

"It is not already disorienting?!" Indra gasped from behind Brodie. Brodie wanted to make a comment, but she followed Dana's ordered, screwing her green eyes shut as the group made contact with the wall. After a few moments, she opened her eyes to see the neighborhoods of Bonnie Springs flying by them at speeds that didn't seem to match up with how fast they were running.

The hospital came into sight, the towering white building tinted pale green. Dana narrowed her eyes in concentration as she pulled the other three slingers straight through the wall, stumbling into the lobby. A few doctors sat at the front desk, completely frozen in time.

"This is wild," Mario gasped, looking at the frozen world around them as Dana came to a halt.

"Get ready," Dana warned, holding up the Shadow Clan sphere and pressing the center.

Brodie gasped as the world flipped again, color returning to her surroundings as time resumed. There was a flash of green and black smoke and she felt the ground solidify beneath her.

"We're clear," Dana said, letting go of Mario. The other three slingers sighed with relief and let go of their comrades, swaying as they regaining their senses. "You guys handled that well."

"I want to puke," Mario groaned, running a hand through his brown hair. "Slinging seems like no problem after that."

"You guys made it!"

Brodie turned to see one of the few people left in the lobby running up to meet the group. She had brown skin and wild curly dark brown hair, tied back in a thick braid. A white jacket billowed out around her, and her brown eyes were lit up with relief.

"Sam Gray," she introduced. "So everything's set? It's starting?"

Dana nodded, hooking the shadow walker to her belt. "Shane Gang's started the raid on the citadel, and any second the other defenders will attack the borders of Bonnie Springs-"

"Heads up!" Mario suddenly yelled, shoving Brodie and Sam to the ground. A Thresher flew through the air where they had just been standing, and Brodie quickly got to her feet, grabbing her blaster.

A dozen slingers in white and gray uniforms filed into the lobby, blasters raised.

'"Any second' apparently means now," Brodie replied. Mario helped Sam to her feet, raising his own blue blaster as the Gray Enterprise slingers froze for a moment at the sight of defenders ready to protect the hospital.

"I'll be back behind the counter," Sam said, slowly backing away. Brodie nodded, a confident smile on her face.

"Stay safe, and let us have our fun," she said, firing a Rammstone.

The workers definitely hadn't been prepared for a fight from anyone besides doctors, but they were still skilled. They spread out through the front half of the lobby, finding cover behind chairs and information stands. Brodie counted herself lucky that they weren't ghoulslingers, otherwise the small group might have been in trouble.

But even though they had never slung as a team before, the four defenders were still excellent slingers. Brodie was focused in firing a Flaringo, knocking an enemy slinger through a window, and was nearly hit by a Hop Rock. But out of nowhere, Mario's Speedstinger appeared, knocking the Hop Rock off course, ricocheting off a wall, and nailing a Gray slinger in the head.

"Nice shot, kid!" Brodie called, rolling behind a table and flipping it on its side for some cover. Mario dove behind it, sitting next to her with wide eyes.

"Thanks," he laughed, looking like he couldn't believe what he was doing. "Kinda missed this."

"Who wouldn't?" Brodie said, leaning over the table, firing a Rammstone that knocked a Dirt Urchin out of the air. Indra leapt out from behind a chair, punching a Gray slinger in the jaw before firing an Armashelt at another, knocking him into a potted plant. The pot shattered and covered the slinger in dirt, a pale blue orchid landing on his head as he groaned and slumped down on the ground.

Dana swung from the lobby's ceiling, firing Arachnets from her arm blasters to stay aloft and weaving through slugfire with precise grace. Brodie fired a Tormato an an oncoming Rammstone, but the Rammstone knocked the Tormato out of the air and slammed into her, knocking her back. A Grenuke sped her way, but Indra dropped down in front of her, swinging her staff around and sending the Grenuke into a pair of Gray slingers. Dana fired a Sand Angler at the slinger who fired the Rammstone, sending her sinking into a sand pit.

"Thanks," Brodie said as Indra held out a hand and pulled her to her feet. The two looked around the lobby- the first wave of slingers was taken care of. There were a couple broken windows and a table was on fire, but Brodie figured that was better than the patients being in danger.

"How much longer until we get more company?" Mario asked, leaning down and picking up his Speedstinger, setting the slug on his shoulder.

"Probably a few-" Dana began, but she was cut off by a sudden yell from Sam.

"Now! I just got a message from someone upstairs, there's some scaling the walls outside, and she can see five more about to come in the lobby!" she reported from behind the front counter. She reached down and pulled up a white blaster and a few Rammstones. "I know I'm an awful slingers, but you guys might need help."

"Better than nothing. I can get the ones on the walls," Dana said, dropping swiftly to the ground and holding up the shadow walker. "Indra, can you come with me?"

Indra nodded, and Brodie loaded her blaster with a Hop Rock.

"Sam, Mario and I have the ones coming in the lobby. Get upstairs with the patients and make sure none of the ones climbing the walls get in," she ordered. Sam nodded, rushing out of the lobby and into the halls of the hospital.

Brodie turned to Mario as Dana and Indra shadow traveled out of the lobby.

"You ready, kid?"

Mario shrugged, loading his blaster. "Doesn't really matter, does it?"

Brodie tensed as she heard mecha engines approaching the open doors of the hospital lobby. She shook her head.

"Nope."

~~~~~~~~

"Stay on my right!" Eli called as he led the way down the ridge, transforming his mecha into bike mode. Alana copied him, riding Midnight down the slope, her hair flying behind her. Blakk scowled and pointed forward, signaling his ghoulslingers to attack. He and his employees sped forward on their mechas, ready to meet the Shane Gang head on.

Blakk scowled and fired a Grimmstone at the two as they split off from the rest of the gang, riding up a slope of rock that acted as a ramp and flying through the air. Alana gasped as Eli leapt straight up from his mecha's seat, flipping in midair to avoid the Grimmstone before landing back in his seat.

Alana narrowed her eyes and held out a hand, releasing a burst of light energy before the Grimmstone could hit her. The Grimmstone halted as it was healed and returned to protoform. Alana braced herself as Midnight landed back on the ground with a jolt, just behind Lucky. Blakk, who'd sped forward assuming the two would be knocked back by the Grimmstone, was now stuck behind them- they had a straight shot to the citadel.

"Watch the crazy stunts!" Alana called as she fired her Phosphoro. The slug sent off fireworks in the faces of ghoulslingers around them, blinding them. "You can't save Slugterra with a concussion!"

"Come on, it looked pretty cool!" Eli exclaimed, firing a Hop Rock at Locke and Lode, sending them flying up into the air. Alana rolled her eyes as she and Eli rode forward, riding their mechas straight into the citadel through a hole blasted open by Alana's Grenuke.

The sounds of the duels outside immediately faded away, filled only with the echoes of Eli and Alana's mechas as they drove down the gray and scarlet hallways of the citadel. Alana couldn't help but feel a little happy- driving indoors was bad, but when it was a nemesis's lair that they were marking up with tire marks? That was just fun.

But the fun quickly faded when Alana felt the energy of the place. Cold prickled at her skin like a thousand eyes were watching her, and she could feel a raging storm of pure power at the center of the citadel.

"The portal," she whispered. She didn't need to see it- she just knew. She could feel it, drilling through Slugterra. "Eli, the portal's already activated!"

"Then let's hurry!" Eli called, taking a sharp right. "Can you tell where Dana is?"

Alana focused for a moment, blocking out the mass of dark energy created by the terraportal. There was a lot of dark water stored beneath the citadel, and some in the western wings where the ghouling chambers were-

And another mass of energy, close to the portal, but not right on top of it.

"Yeah," she said. "I need to go straight. She's close to the portal, but I don't think the same room."

Eli slowed down a bit as a fork in the hallway approached- one path veering to the right, one going straight.

"Hey, you've got this," he called over the sound of his mecha's engine. "She'll try to get in your head. Don't let her. My bet's on you any day."

Alana smiled and nodded. "You, too. Knock 'em dead."

Eli gave her a peace sign before swerving to the right, taking the hall that would go straight to the terraportal, while Alana kept riding straight. She glanced down at Ash.

"Here we go."

~~~~~~~~

Sam sprinted up the hospital stairs, cursing safety protocols advising the elevators weren't the safest bet during an attack. She wasn't completely unfit, but these stairs were way too steep.

Finally, she reached the third floor, bursting into the long white hallway. Max stood by the doorway to the stairwell, nervously tugging at her apron. She perked up at the sight of Sam, and Sam cursed her heart for fluttering when she saw Max's dark eyes light up with relief. Now wasn't exactly the time.

"Has anyone gotten in?" Sam asked as the two began to rush down the hallway.

"No, not so far-" Max began to say, but she was cut off when the elevator just behind them let out a beep. Sam and Max came to a halt, spinning around and watching with wide eyes as the doors slowly opened. Sam cursed herself for not just taking the elevator.

Four people walked out. First, two Gray Enterprise slingers, wearing white jackets with gray lining. They scowled and raised their blasters, standing on either side of the hallway to give room for the other two people.

They walked out of the elevator, and Sam's stomach dropped. She instinctively stepped in front of Max, hoping that whatever happened next would just involve her, and not the artist.

"Well, Floppers," Sam mumbled.

~~~~~~~~

Alana's heart pounded in her ears as she began to slow down, approaching the mass of dark energy that she recognized as Dana.

Almost there...

Suddenly, cold prickled at the back of her neck. Alana gasped and slammed on Midnight's brakes, coming to a screeching halt. She grabbed her blaster, Ash jumping in it without any prompting, and spun around.

But there was nothing there.

She could feel the thin layer of dark energy, though, and it was definitely where she was looking. For a moment, she was confused, then her eyes widened in realization.

"Twist?" she asked, her voice echoing down the hall. At first, there was no reply, but finally, Twist's familiar voice rang down the hallway, seeming to come from all directions and nowhere in particular all at once.

"You're going to lose, you know that? The portal's already started."

Alana kept her blaster raised, even though she couldn't pinpoint exactly where he was hiding.

"You're gonna feel really stupid for saying that in about a half hour," she said confidently. "Are you going to fight me or not?"

"No, I'm not the one you'll fight today," Twist said nonchalantly. Then his voice turned serious. "She's still in there, Alana. She's not all bad."

Alana gulped, her grip tightening around her blaster. "Dana? I know that. But I can't worry about saving her," she said, trying to sound at ease with this decision. "Today is about all of Slugterra. Besides, why do you care?"

"I just thought you should know," Twist said, and Alana could practically imagine him shrugging. "Maybe I want to help. She can be reasoned with. Just remember that."

With a sigh, Alana holstered her blaster and got down off Midnight. She didn't want to alert Dana to her presence any more than her energy already did.

"I don't have time for this, Twist," she said, turning her back to where his illusion was cast. "I have a realm to save."

"Just don't give up on her," Twist said quietly, sounding like he genuinely cared. Then there was a flash of red and white sparks, and the veil of dark energy lifted.

Alana shook her head and began to run down the hallway, trying to ignore what he'd said. Maybe he was trying to manipulate her, make her drop her guard for the fight against Dana? Or maybe he really did care, and was trying to encourage Alana?

That doesn't matter now, Alana thought, forcing the thoughts away as she turned down a dead-end hallway. One door sat at the end, and she could feel Dana's dark energy radiating from within it. She slowed down, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she stared at the gray door.

This is it.

Was she really ready to fight Dana?

She was about to find out.

With a deep breath, Alana took a step back and summoned a burst of light energy to give her strength. She raised a foot and kicked at the door handle with all her might. The lock snapped and clattered to the ground, and the door swung open.