Alana led the way through the Outland Reach. The ride was silent. No one had the heart or energy to make small talk. The adrenaline from the fight was starting to wear off, and the severity of the situation was starting to truly sink in.

Eli Shane was out there somewhere, possessed and determined to destroy the 99 Caverns. They had just been beaten by him once, and they would probably only have one more chance to stop him and cure the Goon. Otherwise...

Alana swallowed down the fear creeping up her throat as she remembered the cataclysmic fall of the Western Caverns. She turned around to look at the rest of the Shane Gang, following silently behind her as they approached town.

Trixie was staring at the ground in front of her mecha, Pronto looked asleep, and Kord was keeping an eye on his passenger, who was slumped unconscious behind him.

The slinger hadn't stirred once since the gang had started their journey. His Infurnus had gone back and forth from sitting on Midnight's head to chitter with Burpy and Ash to hopping over to sit on his slinger's shoulder, which is where he was at the moment. The Infurnus looked somber at his slinger's exhausted state, but undoubtedly relieved he was free from the Goon's control.

Alana tore her gaze from the black-haired slinger and spent a few minutes scrolling through Midnight's control panel. Some of Alana's equipment, including Midnight and her blaster, shared location data with the rest of the gang.

As far as Alana was aware, Lucky did the same, but when Alana tried to track Eli's mecha, she had no luck. She doubted it was a coincidental technical difficulty, but whatever the reason, the gang had no way of confirming whether or not they would run into Eli any second.

Luckily, even though the Gateway town was still empty, the streetlights were still on, showing the way out of the barren Outland Reach and into the small, winding streets. The town was completely silent, the footsteps of the gang's mechas echoing around the still buildings.

"King's mansion is probably the best place," Alana noted, gesturing to the mansion on the top of the hill that overlooked the rest of town. "Plenty of room, high ground, and the walkways around the roof help us see in every direction. And I doubt the King will care if we bunker down there."

Nobody objected, so she led them up the dirt path to the top of the hill and hopped down from Midnight to push open the tall golden gates leading into the estate. She stepped to the side to let the rest of the gang ride through the entrance before leading Midnight and the Eastern slinger's mecha through, closing the gates behind them.

"Let's get inside and we can figure out who needs Mage and Doc," she called, parking her mecha in front of the mansion's front steps. The others quietly did the same.

Guilt squeezed her heart as Alana led them into the mansion, which was unlocked either due to the King of Sling's forgetfulness or in the rush to evacuate the town. If she'd been able to come up with a way to save Eli, he would be with them now. They could be on their way home.

The entry room had several couches and cushions, and none of the tired slingers felt like climbing up stairs, so they settled in there. Kord carried the unconscious slinger in, at first moving to set him on the floor, but a raised eyebrow from Alana encouraged him to set him on a couch instead.

"I don't like just keepin' him here," Kord grumbled, collapsing down on another couch and staring at the old Dark Slinger. "We don't know what he's gonna be like when he wakes up."

"Arachnet," Pronto grumbled from where he was laying face-down on a loveseat. "And then go to bed."

Alana snorted at the tired molenoid's attitude, but nodded and loaded her Arachnet.

"I think that's the best plan," she admitted. She crouched down next to the couch the slinger was on, looking him over.

His expression hadn't changed from the neutral state it'd been in since he'd been released from the Goon's control. His black hair was falling out of its bun and his armor was a little disheveled, but otherwise he would have looked like he was peacefully sleeping. His skin had regained some of its color, and the dark veins were no longer visible.

Even though he was unmoving, that didn't mean Alana felt comforted as she cleared her throat and directed her gaze to his slugs. She was hoping that he would be a completely different person when he woke up, but her brain was still seeing her old tormentor when she looked at his face.

"We're not gonna hurt him, but we don't know what he's gonna be like when he wakes up," she explained softly to the few slugs in his bandoleer and the Infurnus on his shoulder. The slugs looked at each other, then up at the Infurnus.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment before chirping and nodding. The other slugs seemed to relax and hopped up away from the man's chest. Alana took a few steps away and took a shaky breath before firing her Arachnet. The purple slug spat out a thick layer of spider webs around the man's torso, effectively tying him to the couch.

"We'll untie him when he wakes up and we know everything's okay," Alana promised. She glanced over at Doc and Mage, who were chirping to each other on a coffee table nearby. "Can you two check on him? Does he need one of you? If not, we'll have you two help out Trix, Kord, and Pronto."

Mage frowned and gestured at Alana's shoulders. She glanced down and winced at the bloody puncture holes from the Hoverblade that tried to take her to the Eastern Caverns.

"And me," she promised, although she was going to make sure the others were fine first. Everything had stopped bleeding and had long since lessened into a dull ache.

Mage didn't look entirely convinced, but she and Doc hopped onto the couch next to the unconscious slinger. Each healer closed their eye and fell quiet for a moment before perking up and chirping to each other. Mage looked up at Alana and gave her a "so-so" motion.

"I think we should go ahead and fire you, just to be safe," Alana said, holding out a hand for Mage to hop onto.

"I get keeping him around, but are you sure we should be healing him?" Trixie asked from across the room, where she had just left the kitchen (her arms were now full of snacks). "I just... I'm not sure what we should do."

Alana shrugged, looking down at his face.

"I think we have to," she said. "I don't... I just keep thinking of Eli. If this were him."

No one else offered any comments, so Alana sighed and clicked her accelerator off before raising her blaster up to the slinger. But Mage squeaked loudly, shaking her head and pointing back at Alana's blaster core from where she sat in her canister.

"You... wanna try again?" Alana asked carefully.

She had been working with Mage on megamorphing since before the fight at Blakk's citadel, but the little healer hadn't made any progress. She hadn't been able to handle the added speed, and Alana wasn't sure if it was a matter of needing more experience or just a mental block, but they hadn't tried in a while.

But now Mage nodded, looking down at the unconscious slinger with determination.

"Alright, let's give it a shot," she conceded, clicking the accelerator back on. She took a few steps back and took a deep breath, hoping for the best and firing Mage.

The slug transformed with a flash of white light, and then Alana gasped with joy as she felt another burst of energy as Mage circled in the air around the slinger, dousing him in soft white light. But the light spread across to Alana as well, filling her with soft warmth. She laughed as she felt some of the ache in her joints disappear, including the pains from the pierces on her shoulders.

Her job complete, Mage returned to protoform on the coffee table next to Doc, chirping with excitement. It was difficult to see with her body already being nearly entirely white, but she had different patterns, and her antennae were more streamlined like Doc's. The green healer in question smiled and gave Mage a high-five.

"Good job!" Alana exclaimed, scooping Mage up and letting the Boon Doc nuzzle her cheek. "And thank you, I feel a lot better. I'm sure our new friend does, too. I'm so proud of you!"

"Not to cut the celebration short, but can we get a hit from Doc and go to sleep?" Kord asked, yawning loudly (and causing the rest of the rest of the gang to do the same). "My arms feel like they're made of rubber. This day started out with me holdin' up part of the Caverna Mall walkway."

"I forgot about that," Trixie groaned, collapsing down onto a couch and tugging her hair out of her pigtails. "That feels like ages ago."

Alana nodded and hurriedly stood, holding a hand out to load Doc.

"Right, sorry," she said, firing Doc in the general direction of the other three. The green slug transformed and flew around Pronto, Kord, and Trixie, dousing them all in pale green light. The three slingers all immediately relaxed, sinking further down into the cushions of their respective couches.

Doc landed on the table, yawning but looking happy with himself. Some of the other slugs cheered and gave him and Mage high-fives and smiles. Alana sighed and holstered her blaster, rubbing at her eyes and letting a rush of light energy flood through her veins.

"I'll take the first watch," Alana said, grabbing an apple from the pile of food Trixie had brought in. "You all get some rest. I'm gonna send out a message to some of our allies, too, and, uh. Let them know about Eli. At least some of it."

Trixie didn't look up, but did give Alana a thumbs-up, so Alana took that as confirmation that she could leave and message away. She let a few of her slugs (along with Burpy) hop into her bandoleer and shoulders, while some of them huddled together on the coffee table to get some rest.

Alana quietly walked up the stairs leading to the walkway on the roof of the house, smiling faintly at some of the exaggerated portraits of the King of Sling. Once she reached the outdoor catwalk, she made a quick walk around, scanning the mansion's surroundings for any movement, either in the town or in the Outland Reach.

Once she was confident nothing was out in the dark, barren cavern, she leaned against the rail and pulled out her holoscreen. She took a deep breath before hitting a red button in the corner and starting a message.

"This is Alana Caelum of the Shane Gang with an update on the ghoulslingers in Gateway Cavern. The marauders have been dealt with," she began, choosing not to mention the East for now. That would be a whole other conversation. "But the fight isn't over. Eli..."

Alana's voice wavered, but she forced herself to keep going.

"Eli Shane is compromised. Do not approach him. He's armed with ghouls and isn't in his right mind. Consider him a threat. If you see him, please contact the rest of us as soon as possible. We're staying in Gateway for the night before heading out in the morning to find him," Alana continued. "As far as we know, he's still in the cavern. We'll keep you updated as we continue. For now, keep an eye on your caverns, and keep vigilant."

She quickly ended the recording, sniffing and blinking away tears she hadn't even realized were filling her eyes. With shaking hands, she sent the message to the King of Sling and other slingers that had helped them against Blakk, such as Indra and Brodie. She collapsed the holoscreen and clipped it to her belt.

A few tears rolled down her cheeks. She hurriedly wiped them away, looking up and willing the tears to stop welling. Alana looked down at Burpy, who was sitting on her shoulder next to Ash.

"I'm sorry, Burpy," she whimpered, staring out at the empty town below her. "I'm sorry I couldn't save him. But we're gonna get him back tomorrow. I promise."

Burpy chirped and smiled sadly, nudging his head into Alana's cheek. It didn't do much to soothe the guilt in her chest, but she still smiled and pet his head.

"Thanks, bud," she whispered, taking a deep breath before gathering herself and starting to walk around the catwalk again, trying to push aside thoughts of failure and focusing on making sure the rest of her team, sleeping soundly below, were safe.

~~~~~~~~

"Alana?"

Alana jumped, her heart leaping in her throat as she spun around, blaster raised and loaded. But once she saw that it was not her possessed best friend, but instead Trixie who joined her on the catwalk, she relaxed and holstered her weapon.

"Geez, Trix, you scared me," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "What are you doing? Is everything okay?"

Trixie yawned, tugging her hair up out of her face into its usual buns.

"You never came to get me for a watch. It's been half the night," she said, crossing her arms. "You need to wash up and go to sleep. You need to rest up for tomorrow."

Alana sighed and stretched, looking back over Gateway.

"Sorry, I didn't realize how late it was," she lied.

"You're lying."

"Okay, fine, I did it on purpose. I pretty much have access to a natural energy generator, I can handle being up a little longer," she assured, her eyes flickering with a blue glow to prove her point.

In all honesty, slug energy wasn't exactly a perfect stand-in for actual energy, but it was enough to make Alana feel less tired. But Alana wasn't going to admit that.

"Well, consider yourself up a little longer. Go to bed," Trixie demanded. "I'll watch for a bit and then get Kord. I think we should leave Pronto, though, he seemed exhausted."

Alana sighed, but nodded. Once Trixie decided something, she wasn't going to budge. It wasn't worth arguing. She gave Trixie a fist bump before heading back down into the mansion, carrying a group of fast asleep slugs in her bandoleer and on her shoulders.

Kord and Pronto were still fast asleep, slumped over their couches and snoring softly. She quietly walked across the entry room and into the bathroom, ignoring the circles she saw under her eyes in the mirror.

After quickly washing her face and scrubbing the dirt and blood off her arms, she collapsed on a couch herself. She glanced over at the Eastern slinger, who hadn't moved an inch.

It's okay. He can't hurt me, she thought to herself, laying on her side and making sure her blaster was still holstered. It's okay.

She took a few moments to watch him, studying his body for any signs of consciousness. Once she had convinced herself that he wasn't going to suddenly jolt up and attack, she closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her exhausted body.

~~~~~~~~

"Alana! We have company!"

Alana's eyes flew open, the details of her dream slipping out of her grasp. She was pretty sure she'd been running from something, and was even more sure that the 'something' was laying down unconscious on the couch across from her, but she focused on threats that were still around now that she was awake.

She was up off the couch and loading her blaster with Ash before she'd even blinked all the spots of sleep from her vision. Soft morning Lumino light was filtering through the few open windows in the first floor of the mansion, painting the room with a gentle yellow. Trixie, Kord, and Pronto were all standing at one such window.

They all looked better than they had last night, less ruffled and much more rested, but confusion and tension lined their faces.

"What's going on?" Alana asked, running over to the window to look down at the town spreading out below the mansion. She expected to see Eli, or some other unfortunate slinger under the Goon's control, wreaking havoc on the streets.

Instead, she was met with the King of Sling leading familiar townspeople up the main street. They all looked relaxed and even celebratory, dispersing to their respective homes and businesses. The King kept his march going in the direction of his mansion.

"What?" Alana hissed, rolling her eyes and running for the front door. "I sent a message last night that we were staying here and that we didn't know if Eli was still here! And we told them before we left not to come back until we gave them the okay!"

She swung the front door open and hurried out of the mansion to the front gates, the rest of the gang trailing behind her. The King of Sling, along with a few townspeople who had stayed with him to chat while they made their way to his mansion, all perked up at the sight of the slingers.

"Ah, Alana! Good to see you! How's Eli?" King called cheerfully, swinging the gates open. "Gave me a little fright there, seeing your message last night!"

"King, if you got the message then why are you here?" Alana exclaimed. "We have no idea if it's safe out here, we told you not to bring the townspeople back until we gave you the all-clear. We have no idea where Eli is."

The King's smile faltered. He glanced around at the remaining townspeople worriedly.

"What do you mean? I got a message from y'all this morning saying you helped out Eli Shane and everything here is peachy-keen."

Stopping in her tracks, Alana's face paled. She glanced over her shoulder. The rest of the gang looked confused and, as the seconds passed, horrified.

"King, we didn't send any messages," Alana said softly. She looked around, her heart thumping in her ears. "Eli must still have access to our comms, Floppers why didn't I think of that?!"

Alana growled and pressed her fingers to her eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths before facing the King again.

"We need to evacuate the town again," Alana insisted. "If Eli sent the message then he must want to attack-"

A thundering explosion cut Alana off. She felt the ground shake beneath her feet.

"I think that would be your guy," the King said nervously, gesturing for the dozen or so townsfolk near him to head for the mansion. "You lot get in there and don't come out til we come get you."

"We have a guy in there too, don't mind him!" Trixie called as the people frantically ran inside. "Um, if he wakes up, just, uh?"

"Ignore him?" Pronto suggested.

"Sure," Trixie agreed with a shrug.

"You should head into town, worry about getting everyone either out or barricaded. We're gonna handle the fight," Kord said, picking up his blaster.

"Against Eli? What exactly's going on here?" the King asked.

"It's a long story," Alana said grimly. "Can we trust you to keep the people safe while we fight him?"

"You bet," the King promised, rushing down to the homes below.

Alana turned to face her teammates, tugging her sleep-messed hair from its ponytail and redoing it. They made their way down the incline towards where the explosion had sounded on the other side of the small town.

"Alright, I was hoping we'd have more time to actually plan," she admitted, forcing optimism into her voice. "But that was pretty wishful thinking! So I guess we're just gonna jump in."

"As always," Pronto grumbled.

Alana heard a squeak from her feet, and perked up when she saw the Eastern slinger's Infurnus on the ground, his head aflame.

"And it looks like we have some extra firepower," she noted, letting the slug hop up on her shoulder next to Ash and Burpy. "But I want to spread things out a bit."

She held out a hand and Doc and Mage jumped onto her palm.

"Trix, I was thinking you take Mage, and Pronto, you take Doc," she said. "I'm a walking Boon Doc when it comes to curing ghouls, so there's no point in having these two with me. Now, the Goon took off yesterday not only because I cornered him, but I think we wore him down. It was a long duel. I'm willing to bet he's still getting used to Eli's body."

Her voice shook for a moment before she kept powering through.

"I've seen him fight before, he relies a lot on shock factor. He doesn't want to waste any time, he got the townspeople to come here to make an example. He's too eager, so we're going to use that to our advantage and wear him down. Today," she emphasized. "We're gonna get him back. Just keep firing. Tire him out and don't let him get away. I can do my best to distract him."

Met with silence, Alana frowned and glanced behind her to make sure her friends were still actually following. They were, and they were all staring at Alana in amusement.

"What?" she asked, glancing down at Ash, who just giggled and shrugged. "What, is something wrong?"

Trixie laughed and shook her head.

"No, nothing's wrong. You're just really ready to go. You sound like Eli," she admitted.

Alana laughed and kept leading the march to Eli. Another explosion shook the ground.

"I'll try to see that as a compliment," she noted. The ghost of her laugh faded when shouts began to echo down the streets. "Looks like he found the townspeople he wanted. Okay, let's go, let me take his attention and you guys start spreading out!"

Alana tightened her grip on her blaster, loading it with Ash and running down the streets. Smoke was beginning to rise from a building that Alana realized was a small apartment complex. People were sprinting away from the building, shooting confused looks at Alana as she ran towards the chaos.

The front door swung open, and out stepped Eli Shane. His eyes were still blood red and his skin was even paler. Veins were visible on his neck and face like spider webs, or like cracks in glass. There were circles on his eyes, and he looked tired, but there was a smile on his face, mirrored on the expression of the Goon Doc on his shoulder.

"Ah!" Eli exclaimed, his face lighting up. "Alana Caelum. Did you have a nice night? A good rest? I didn't!"

His voice raised to a roar, and Alana instinctively took a step back, her stomach dropping. She had never heard her friend's voice sound so terrible, so horrifying.

"This, this pest of a host," Eli growled, running a hand through his hair. "He won't rest, won't stop screaming away in his own mind about how he won't hurt you, or his friends, or his caverns!"

Pride made Alana's heart soar, and she couldn't help but choke out a laugh. She held up her blaster with trembling hands.

"Seems like him," she said. "He's one determined guy. So why don't you give him up and just find another host, like you said yesterday? Or, let me guess, that was a bluff?"

Eli's face twisted into a scowl.

"Right. Figured," Alana scoffed. "Should have guessed."

Kord, who'd been sneaking behind Eli, fired his Rammstone. The red and blue slug slammed into Eli from behind, sending him toppling to the ground. There was a flash from a rooftop across the street from the smoking apartment building. Doc, fired from a high-perched Pronto, megamorphed and sped for the Goon on Eli's shoulder.

Eli growled and rolled to the side just in time to avoid the healer, scrambling to his feet like a wild animal and holding up his blaster to try to fire the Goon at Doc as the healer returned to protoform.

A Tormato swooped over at the last second, blowing Doc out of the way of the Goon. Trixie smiled and scooped up the Boon Doc from where she was rounding the corner out of an alleyway.

Alana fired her Hop Rock, which released a series of loud firecracker-like pops around Eli. He scowled and shot a Sand Mangler at Alana. The ghoul transformed, but only had time to spit out a cup or so of stinging sand before Alana cured it in midair.

The yellow and brown slug tumbled to the ground. Alana hissed and frantically wiped some of the sand off her face, trying to ignore the small stings left behind by the grains. She scrambled to the side of the road, ducking behind a set of trash bins for cover.

Another explosion shook the building next to the apartments and right behind Alana, a shop with a glass storefront that was no longer whole. Shattered pieces of glass rained down on the sidewalk around Alana. She ducked down and covered the top of her head with her hands, lucky enough to avoid the worst of the pieces.

Shouts from down the street sounded as Kord, Trixie, and Pronto continued to duel Eli. Alana frowned and glanced down the road. A group of teens were watching from down the block, watching with wide eyes. One of them had a camera pointed at the fight.

"Hey, knock it off, get cover!" Alana shouted. A Grimmstone soared down the street towards them, and Alana felt bad for calling attention to them.

She fired her Frostcrawler, who megamorphed and let out a roar of frosty breath. Ice encased the Grimmstone in midair and it fell to the ground harmlessly.

We're risking him hitting a civilian, Alana thought frantically, looking down at her bandoleer and trying to come up with a plan.

She met the gaze of Ash, then looked down at Burpy and the Eastern Infurnus.

"Well, why not," she laughed quietly. "We've got all three, we might as well."