Alana'd had nightmares about ending up in dark water before, especially after the one time Dana had gotten ahold of her and nearly ghouled her. That had been with dark water gas, but the fear was the same regardless of what state of matter dark water was in.

But as her power had grown, as she had found herself curing dark water and ghouls with less effort and more confidence, she hadn't felt as scared when she was near dark water. She had a healthy fear of it, sure, but she had faith in herself to protect herself.

And that faith was what she was relying on as she and Eli plunged into the dark water cove.

It took an immense amount of control to not gasp upon entering the dark liquid. Alana was sure that in any other scenario, the effects of the dark water would have been instant. If it was anything like the prickling dark water gas she'd once narrowly escaped, the dark water probably would have been cold to the point of pain and pressing on all sides like quicksand.

But Alana hadn't insisted on coming to the island with Eli for nothing.

She instantly forced light energy through her body, imagining it not only flowing through her veins, but overflowing out of the bounds of her body and surrounding both her and Eli. It felt like flexing a muscle to the point of shaking, but keeping it flexed. She had to continuously pour out energy. She had to protect herself and Eli. It still felt like she was experiencing the worst brain freeze of all time, but she was ready to push through.

After the two sank down into the water for a moment and didn't immediately perish, Alana assumed her plan was working. Careful to not let up on her concentration, she opened her eyes.

Blue surrounded her and Eli, instead of the red she was dreading, her vision was tinted blue. She looked around and her shoulders sagged with relief. The light surrounded the two, a constant force purifying the dark water before it could touch them. Eli opened his eyes as well, his eyebrows raised in awe as he realized what Alana was doing.

But weariness was already starting to gnaw at Alana. She winced and closed her eyes again, hoping Eli would understand she had to stay focused if this had any chance of working. She didn't want to think about what would happen if her resolve faltered for even a second. Something like this would've been easier on any other day, but right now, with almost half of the caverns ghouled and being surrounded by dark water, it felt like a miracle she could even move.

Luckily, Eli seemed to take the hint, because she felt Eli tugging at her, pulling her along and leading the way as the two swam through the dark water. Her lungs were starting to burn, and she wasn't sure what was worse, the burn of her lungs or the burn of her muscles as she stayed tense to keep expelling light energy. The headache drilling at her temples was almost as bad.

Eli seemed to be leading the two of them up, at least. It was unsettling to not know where she was swimming, but it would be just as bad to see the sea of dark water they were in and be reminded of the severity of the situation. Either way, it would be up to Eli to figure out how they were going to get back to shore.

More energy. More, more, more, even though you're tired. Keep us safe.

Just as Alana started to think she might not be able to hold her breath any longer, she felt a gentle tap on the top of her head. She braced herself just in time for her head to burst up from the dark water sea, and she instantly gasped for air, her chest heaving. She kept her eyes shut, but she could hear Eli gasping next to her, still holding on with both hands.

"Are you-" he paused to cough and sputter, luckily spitting out purified water instead of dark water. "Are you okay?"

"Have to focus," Alana replied shortly, cracking her eyes open for a moment to make sure blue was still surrounding the two. Water within an inch or so of them was purified, but any water swept away by the gentle currents, it instantly turned back into dark water. She didn't want to look around too much and see the ocean of dark water around them, but Alana could see the crumbling remains of the small cave in the corner of her vision.

Eli nodded, interlocking one arm with Alana's and grabbing his blaster with another, holding it up out of the water. He fired his Hoverbug into the air, and the slug transformed before diving back down.

"Need some extra air time, I don't think I'll be able to grab onto Burpy while we're bobbing in the water like this," he explained, looking around at the dark water warily. "Alright, here he comes, hold on!"

Alana nodded and tightened her grip on Eli's arm. The Hoverbug swept down to us and grabbed Eli's shoulders, pulling him and Alana up from the water. The second both of them were free from the sea, Alana sighed with relief, dropping the constant aura of light energy. Instantly, her muscles went limp, all her energy going into hanging onto Eli.

Eli tightened his arm around hers, firing his blaster again. Alana watched through half-open eyes as Burpy transformed, his flames paling as he flew below where the two were hovering. The Hoverbug lowered them down onto Burpy's back before returning to protoform. Alana laid face down, weakly wrapping one arm around Burpy's neck to hold herself in place. Eli laid beside her, one arm holding onto Burpy and one arm across Alana's back, holding her shoulder tightly.

"We made it," he said shakily, shaking his head in disbelief. He looked down at the dark water sea before turning to Alana. "Thanks to you. Are you okay?"

Alana kept her head flat against Burpy's back, unwilling to go through the effort of lifting it to look around. She looked up at Eli and nodded, taking deep breaths.

"Y-yeah, I'm good," she said, wincing as shivers shook her body. "Just... worn out. That was... pure energy around us. It was a lot."

Eli nodded sympathetically. His gaze lowered and his brows furrowed.

"I can't believe Blakk is back," he said. "And working with the Goon. I should've... This just keeps getting worse."

Should've what? Alana wondered, but the last thing Eli would need right now was being pushed to talk about something he didn't want to. She tried to look hopeful, watching Eli through the hair that slid into her vision that she was too tired to move out of the way.

"It'll be okay," she said quietly, hating how her voice shook. "Stopped him once. We can.. do it again."

Eli didn't look convinced, glancing down at her worriedly.

"And Dana?" he asked carefully. Alana's lips tugged down into a frown. Her gaze lowered.

"Just like before. We focus on the mission first. Then I just... I'll try again," she replied. Eli looked unconvinced, but he nodded and kept his gaze forward, watching as the Undertow beach approached.

Burpy flew down to the gray sand. Alana finally raised her hand, looking at the beach. Trixie, Kord, and Pronto stood together, watching the two approaching on the Infurnus. Junjie was returning to them on his mecha. They looked relieved to see Eli and Alana returning in one piece, but none of them looked particularly happy.

They must not have gotten an Elemental back, Alana thought with disappointment, but not anger- after all, she and Eli had failed, too, caught too off-guard by the return of Blakk. Guilt clawed at her stomach, but she felt too tired to think much of it.

With a gentle chitter, Burpy swept down to the beach, carefully lowering to the gray sand before returning to protoform. Alana and Eli both fell the last few feet to the ground, landing smoothly on Eli's part and a little shakily for Alana. Eli popped up quickly, but Alana stayed kneeling in the sand, trying to gather her breath.

"Are you two okay?" Trixie asked, rushing forward and looking over the two, kneeling down next to Alana. "What happened? We saw the island shaking, and then-"

"Blakk is back," Eli interrupted bitterly, exchanging a worried glance with Burpy. "Somehow. And he got the Water Elemental."

"We saw him," Kord replied grimly. "Once he got back, they all escaped."

Junjie rode his mecha up to the group, looking down at them with a frown.

"With the Elementals, unfortunately," he said. "I was unable to stop them. I'm sure they will be moving on to the next Elemental."

Eli sighed and nodded, glancing down at Alana for a moment before grabbing his blaster.

"Let's figure out where the next closest Elemental is first. Then we'll decide on a game plan," he decided.

Pronto perked up at that immediately, rushing forward and holding out his blaster.

"Pronto would like to valiantly volunteer to be the one to fire the Enigmo!" the molenoid said. "Not to take advantage of the opportunity, of course. Just to be a help."

Despite the shivers shaking her arms, Alana snorted out a small laugh at that, shaking her head. Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes, nudging Alana and then pulling away with a frown.

"You're really cold, Alana. We really do need to get you a jacket or something," she said. She stood up and held a hand out to Alana, who took it and carefully got to her feet. A head rush temporarily blackened her vision, and another bout of shivers shook her whole body.

"We should get away from the dark water," Kord said, nodding back up the beach where the rest of the gang's mechas were parked. "We can figure all this stuff out up there."

Eli nodded, handing Pronto the newer Enigmo and leading the way up the beach. Alana nodded and let Trixie guide her up the beach, trying to swallow down the unease that came from being surrounded by so much dark energy. Eli, Kord, and Pronto broke off to the side, while Trixie helped Alana climb up onto Midnight. Alana sighed and turned in her seat, laying as flat on her back as she could and staring up at the cavern ceiling.

"Thanks," she said, running her hands down her face. Her arms felt like they were lead. "I just need a few minutes. It took a lot of energy to swim through that dark water."

Trixie's face lit up with alarm and she rested a hand on Alana's shoulder.

"You swam through dark water?!" she exclaimed, looking over Alana worriedly as if she would start turning into a Deadweed ghost at any moment. Alana winced and shrugged.

"When Blakk collapsed the cave, we ended up in the water. We got out, though. Well, obviously," she rambled. "Anyways, I had to just use a ton of energy to purify the dark water as we swam through it, so I kinda feel like I just ran a marathon. And then ran the Slug Run. Twice."

Trixie snorted and rolled her eyes at the comparison.

"Do you think Mage could help?" she asked. Alana thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't think so. There's not really anything to heal. The problem isn't me having dark energy, it's Slugterra having dark energy," she said.

Junjie, who'd been standing between the two groups uncertainly, approached Alana and Trixie.

"Would a Fandango help?" he asked. "It may not be a cure, but the extra energy may help you push through."

Alana nodded, lolling her head to the side to properly look at Trixie and Junjie.

"That's probably the best bet," she agreed.

Before she could ask Trixie to slug her, Junjie started to load one of his wrist blasters with a Fandango from his bandoleer. Alana instantly sat up, her throat tightening at the thought of having Junjie's blaster pointed at her. She quickly waved her hands, plastering on a smile even though rapidly sitting up made her world spin.

"That's good, Trixie has one right here!" she lied. "While she slugs me- every friend's dream!- can you check on the guys and make sure they don't get too carried away slugging Eli?"

Junjie paused, looking confused for a moment before he glanced down at his blaster and cleared his throat.

"Ah, of course," he said quickly, turning back toward Eli and the others. Alana could see Pronto taking a few steps back, raising his blaster at Eli. But Trixie suddenly tensed and called out.

"Wait, hold on!"

Pronto jolted and grumbled, but lowered his blaster.

"What?!" he yelled back. "Pronto is getting ready for the highlight of his- for the grueling, arduous task ahead!"

"But what if this is how the Goon and Blakk know where to go?" she asked worriedly, looking at Eli. "What if the Goon can still read your thoughts?"

That made Eli hesitate, frowning and looking down. Junjie stepped forward, shaking his head.

"While your concern is valid, it is unlikely Eli is a source of information for the Goon- or myself. Remember, the Goon Doc found the Earth Elemental before we even knew of the Elementals' existence," he reminded. "And it is doubtful they possess the speed it would have taken to beat us here after we learned of the Water Elemental's location."

"Junjie's right, Trix. I know what it's like to have him in my head now," he explained. "It's not like that. It's more like a scar. However the Goon's doing this, he must have his own way of knowing where the Elementals are."

That placated Trixie, and the guys all gathered, getting some distance between them and Alana. Trixie walked back over to Alana, unholstering her blaster and holding her hand out. Alana's Fandango jumped into Trixie's palm.

"I feel kinda bad for even thinking it," the redhead admitted, a frown on her face as she loaded her blaster and took a few steps back.

"Don't worry about it, it's good for us to be cautious right now," Alana said, shifting how she was sitting so she was facing Trixie. "We've never dealt with anything like the Goon. There's no clear-cut answer."

"Right," Trixie said, taking a deep breath and raising her blaster. "Alright, here we go."

She fired the Fandango, and the megamorph transformed in front of Alana, releasing a burst of teal light. Alana closed her eyes and sighed with relief as a blossom of warmth formed in her chest, chasing away some of the cold. Even her headache dulled a bit.

When the light dulled down, she opened her eyes, sighing with relief.

"Thank you," she told Trixie. "I feel a lot better."

"Do you actually, or are you just saying you do?" Trixie deadpanned, crossing her arms. Alana shook her head, putting her hands up in mock surrender.

"I promise it actually helped," she said. "Don't get me wrong, I still feel like crap, but I don't feel so cold anymore."

The Enigmo slug transformed in the distance, and Trixie and Alana watched as the hologram of Will Shane formed in front of Eli, far away enough that they couldn't quite make out every word, but Alana could still recognize the sound of Will's voice.

"This doesn't even feel real," Trixie sighed, leaning against Midnight. "I mean, Elementals? The Goon, Blakk, Dark Bane? I mean, look at just this cavern."

"I know," Alana agreed, shaking her head sadly and looking around at the dark water sea that was now at least a little further away down the beach.

Even if- when- we cure the Elementals and this cavern's sea returns to normal, what will happen to the animals who were living in the ocean? Are they okay right now? Can they hold out until it's too late?

The thought made her feel sick, but she didn't voice it. If Trixie wasn't already thinking about the devastation the caverns were facing, there was no reason to let her join the party.

"Which Elemental do you think we'll go for next?" Trixie asked, tapping her fingers against Midnight. "I don't know how we should decide."

"Losing Fire would be bad," Alana noted, glancing down at Ash, who sat next to Mage on Midnight's head. "And losing Energy would mean I'm the only one left to cure ghouls. But I think it'll come down to where the Elementals are at. We should probably prioritize caverns with high civilian populations, right? If this is what ghouling an Elemental does to its home cavern..."

Her voice trailed off, and she forced herself to turn away from the dark water sea.

"Makes sense," Trixie acknowledged. "I wonder where Fire would be? The Magma Cavern? Oh, man, I hope we don't have to do something like when we had to get that Forgesmelter. That would suck."

Before Alana could respond, the rest of the gang returned, looking both determined and apprehensive.

"We're going for Air next," Eli said, not sounding particularly thrilled about the decision. "It's at Windfarm. It's the closest, and there's a dense population there."

Alana's shoulders sagged at the thought of leaving Fire and Energy for later, but if Air was the next closest and there was a big risk of people being in danger...

This was starting to seem like the kind of mission where there was no "good" option.

The others climbed up onto their mechas, transforming them into their bike mode and speeding out of Undertow. Alana put Midnight in autodrive, syncing her mecha up with Trixie's so she could lay down. She clicked on her seatbelt and laid on her stomach, cushioning her head in her arms as she tried to ignore the fact that the Fandango energy already felt like it was wearing off.

"Trixie, you keep an eye out on the SlugNet for sightings of the Goon," Eli called over the rushing air as the six of them rode along. "I'm sure people will be posting about him. But don't let any other slingers know where we're going, since we don't know who the Goon has as a host."

Trixie nodded and opened the holoscreen on her mecha, tapping away on the SlugNet.

"Pronto's charting the fastest route," Eli continued, to which Pronto simply gave a thumbs-up from where he was looking at both a digital and paper map. "Kord, you've been to Windfarm. Fill me and Junjie in on what you know."

Alana perked up when she realized she'd been left out of the Windfarm debriefing, looking forward at Eli with a raised eyebrow. He turned to face her, giving a small smile that he clearly tried to hide the sympathy from, but failed. Alana tried not to let it annoy her.

"You just need to rest for now," he said. "We'll catch you up, but for now, just try to recover from... everything. It'll be hours before we even get to Windfarm."

Alana sighed, unable to argue, and just nodded, resting her head back on her arms. She knew she wasn't going to be able to truly relax, but if she could at least focus on trying to stay warm and ignore the aching in her head and chest, she'd hopefully be ready for the next Elemental.

She briefly thought about summoning some light energy, letting it flow through her body to chase away the traces of dark energy and warm herself up. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she dispelled it. If she wasted energy just trying to make herself comfortable, and fell short when something went wrong and she had to use her energy, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

With another uncomfortable sigh and a few moments of shifting around, trying to get comfortable, Alana closed her eyes, letting Mage and Ash nuzzle up against her arms in an attempt to comfort her.

~~~~~~~~

"What do you mean you just left?!" Dana exclaimed, her eyes glowing red as she dug her nails into her mecha's handles hard enough to leave marks in the grip. "They were right there, and you had them outmatched!"

Doctor Blakk scowled from his own mecha, glaring down at Dana with a disdain he used to keep hidden when she worked at Blakk Industries. In this new monstrous form, it was unsettling and made Dana want to look away- or slug him, she wasn't quite sure- but she forced herself to stay still.

It was difficult to stay composed and manage her impulses with so much of the 99 Caverns ghouled. It was like staring into a storm, knowing she could harness it, but having to hold back to make sure she didn't act irrationally and ruin her plans.

"There are only three Elementals left," Blakk drawled. "We need to focus on retrieving them. Then we can enact your plan. Or if it happens along the way, fine. But our priorities are higher than your petty dispute with Alana Caelum. Take joy in this opportunity - she and Eli Shane will continue to suffer until their downfall."

Dana huffed in response, rolling her eyes, but she didn't respond. The Goon Doc simply nodded in agreement from where he rode atop one of the creatures from the Deep Caverns, the type that had once ascended to the 99 and terrorized High Plains Cavern - the Dark Bane (who rode atop them as well) had hissed out their name to her, and it took a couple times for her to understand that they were calling them lampreys.

She had been stunned to see anything from the Deep Caverns making its way up to the 99. Despite hating the Shane Gang, Dana had been confident that they'd sealed the Dark Bane away for the foreseeable future. While their power and reputation were impressive, Dana harbored no love for the Dark Bane. They were unsettling, sure, but they were also a threat to her own interests.

She shook her head, focusing her thoughts. She knew the Goon planned to discard the Dark Bane once they fulfilled their purpose. It wasn't something she had to worry about, at least not yet. Frankly, what was more unsettling was how the Goon had gotten them up to the 99. That would prove to be a threat to her, regardless of whether or not she was able to get Alana on her side.

"Where are we going next?" she asked the Goon Doc. "I'm sure the Shane Gang will be going after the next Elemental. Can you tell if we're going for the same one?"

The Dark Slinger tilted his head for a moment. It was unsettling to know it was him under the mask, nothing but a puppet to the Goon Doc.

"We're going for Energy next, at Quiet Lawn Cavern," the Goon said. "My connection with my previous two hosts is limited, but I know their minds. They will pursue the Air Elemental next. Its location in Windfarm Cavern makes it a significant danger to the civilians there. Ghouling Air would lead to the most civilian harm, but ghouling Energy is the best strategy. If we can cut off their ability to use Boon Docs, they will rely solely on Alana Caelum to cure the Elementals. That will mean there's only one person to destroy before securing victory, even if we don't have Fire yet."

"Ghouling Fire first would do the most damage to their arsenal," Blakk growled. "And make any future confrontations laughably easy."

"We prioritize Energy," the Goon said with finality, the Dark Slinger side-eyeing Blakk through the visor of his helmet. "Let them chase after Air. They'll realize their mistake in prioritizing the civilians too late. Our final confrontation will likely be at Fire."

Blakk scowled in response, but didn't instigate anything further. Dana picked at one of the many scratches on her mecha, thinking about the battle ahead.

"And your host?" she finally asked, staring at the Goon Doc carefully. "The last time you tried to take one, it didn't go well. Is it different now?"

The Goon Doc barked out a laugh, nodding. The Dark Slinger glanced down at himself, flexing his fingers around the reins of the lamprey.

"This host fell much easier than its predecessor," he said with joy. "His mental state was so deteriorated when I found him, it was almost child's play to take over. The worst of it was when he saw them for the first time, in Undertow. I almost lost my composure. He fought to hide the location of the Energy Elemental from me. But he's silent now."

Dana smirked, shrugging and leaning back in her seat.

"No love lost here. If you continue to provide results like these, you're fine by me, ghoul."

~~~~~~~~

Dark water was surrounding Alana, and although she was emitting enough energy to protect herself, she could see so many other people floating in the red around her. Eli, Trixie, Kord, Pronto, Junjie- but it didn't stop at the Shane Gang slingers. There was Sam, and Max, and more and more and more, and Alana knew she couldn't reach them all, couldn't purify enough of the water, and whatever happened next would be her fault-

Alana felt like she should have jolted awake, but she hardly moved as her eyes flew open.

She slowly sat up from where she laid on her mecha, rolling her shoulders and stretching out her arms. She had to rub her eyes and blink a few times for her vision to clear enough to recognize her surroundings. The terrain around where the gang was riding was rocky, with steep cliffs and deep ravines in every direction. A strong breeze pushed at her back, sending her ponytail flying next to her face. It wasn't dark out, but the Lumino light around her seemed dimmer than when she'd fallen asleep leaving Undertow.

"Ah, she awakens!" Pronto exclaimed, riding his mecha up to Alana's. "Good morning! How was the beauty sleep?"

"Too short," Alana mumbled, wrapping her arms around her torso as a shiver wracked her body. "It's not actually morning, is it? Windfarm isn't that far away."

"Nah, it's the same day. Been a few hours, though," Kord replied from Alana's other side. "We were gonna wake you up soon anyway. We're almost to Windfarm. There's not a whole lot out here, so we didn't have a whole lotta options, but here."

He turned his mecha closer to Alana's, handing her a white bundle. Alana unfolded it and tilted her head, feeling the stretchy fabric.

"Is this a thermal shirt?" she asked, unable to keep in a small laugh. "What, you went shopping?"

"If only!" Pronto lamented. "Pronto found a store on the way and Trixie called them. We did not even have to stop!"

Alana unclipped her bandoleer and backpack, sliding the long-sleeved white shirt overtop of her short-sleeved blue and black one, pulling her arms into the sleeves and sliding the blue shirt off over her head before putting it back on overtop of the white. Her body instantly felt warmer with the thermal shirt, and though it didn't do anything to chase away to internal chill chipping away at her resolve, it was at least a little more comfortable.

Eli fell back from the front of the group, riding next to Alana and looking her over.

"You awake?" he asked teasingly.

"More or less," Alana replied, clipping her bandoleer and backpack back on. "How far out are we from the Air Elemental?"

"We just crossed over into the outskirts of Windfarm," Eli replied. "We're about fifteen minutes out from the town where Air is. Ready for some climbing?"

~~~~~~~~

i am not calling those things eels. the closest i will compromise is lampreys. they look nothing like eels wtf

idk if i described that shirt trick right but i used to do it all the time when i would want to put on a layer under my shirt