"Eli? Alessia?"

A familiar voice echoed through my mind as I lifted my heavy head from my crossed arms. My eyes squeezed shut when an unfamiliar headache struck me. It was nothing like the headaches I have experienced before. This was overpowering and painful, but it went away as fast as it appeared.

It must have been the lack of sleep that had caused that dizziness.

I assured myself. My vision became clear and I saw the four members of the gang standing in front of me. Eli let out a groan and unwillingly woke up from his nap. 

"Good morning," I greeted and let out a huge yawn.

"You guys stayed up all day just to plan for the attack?" Mia questioned and looked at us as if we were aliens.

"Pretty much, but not Blakk's citadel this time," Eli replied as he sat straight and stretched his arms out. The rest of the gang took a seat around the table as Eli told them about our plan.

"Dana informed me that Tad is storing the captured slugs in Undertow Cavern instead of his dad's citadel, which admittedly is a smart move because who would have guessed they're underwater," Eli said as he rolled out the map of the building. "Got this blueprint from Dana too. This is the layout of the underwater citadel Tad had constructed in secret."

He pointed at the back door of the structure and slid his finger across the map.

"We get in from here, and once we are in we shouldn't have to depend on our underwater suits for oxygen. Remember, the goal is to save the slugs, which are stored right here," he said as his finger stopped at a layout which had the word 'storeroom' printed in the middle of a square.

"According to the number of wagons we did not managed to stop during the distress call missions, there should be more than a thousand slugs kept in there. Try to carry as many slugs in our backpacks as possible, and for those who couldn't fit, we'll have to carry the carriers with us, or have them swim with us. Walking out of the store with the carriers will definitely draw attention, so I'd say we just blew up a hole in the store and escape before Tad realises we broke in," he jokingly concluded and looked up at the gang. "Sounds like a plan?"

"Definitely," Kord said, wearing his signature smirk as he punched a fist into his other palm. "Simple enough," Mia added with her game face on.

"Just... one question," Pronto said, putting up a finger to demonstrate the number. Trixie and Kord, being the older members of the Shane Gang, knew that Pronto's questions were never helpful in the past and they rolled their eyes. Eli, on the other hand, knew about it but still decided to give Pronto a try.

"Go ahead, Pronto," Eli said patiently.

"Why don't we just use Pieper- I mean Cobra, to lure out all the slugs instead of breaking into the citadel to get to them?" Pronto questioned, and everyone was surprised at Pronto's level of intelligence. It may not be a 1000IQ question, but him being serious and asking that kind of questions was weird to say the least.

"Yeah... Why haven't we thought of that?" Eli questioned as he looked at me, and I responded with a shrug.

"I never really know how, let alone saw Cobra hypnotize other slugs," I said as Cobra left a group of slugs that were playing with bubbles and hopped onto my shoulder. I turned to look at her and caressed her cheek.

"What do you think buddy? Can you do it?" I asked her, and gave her a confident nod. She thought for awhile, before she nodded and cheered joyfully.

"Wow! Pronto your analytical skills improved!" Trixie finally praised as she hugged Pronto, squeezing him so hard that she could carry him up in her arms. Pronto squealed from the tight embrace, but still put on a proud smile.

"Of course! All thanks to my super intelligent brain! Now please excuse me, Pronto the Magnificent deserves to watch some shows to relax," he dismissed himself, walking towards the television.

"I do have a slight concern for the plan with Cobra," Kord spoke up after the molenoid left. "Water waves affects sound waves. Water tends to muffle sounds that are otherwise clear in air, so the effect Cobra has on other slugs may not be as powerful underwater. She may even not be able to hypnotise other slugs! Not saying it's impossible, of course."

"Smart," Trixie added casually and lightly punched Kord at his shoulder. "But I guess it's worth the try."

"How about Cobra hypnotizing other slugs is Plan A and the plan I've bragged about earlier is Plan B, just in case Plan A doesn't work?" Eli concluded and the remaining gang nodded in agreement.

"Great! We'll head off tomorrow morning. Get yourself prepare and some rest," Eli said, and smiled at his gang. We all returned it, before Pronto started to scream from the television.

"Guys look!" Pronto exclaimed, pointing a finger at the television screen. We walked towards him and gathered behind his chair, curious to know what got the attention of the molenoid.

"SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! IT'S THE SLUG RUN!" the speaker spoke and Eli rolled his eyes.

"No Pronto. We are not joining Slug Run tomorrow. We have a mission to embark on," he reminded, but Pronto ignored him, his eyes glued to the screen.

"This year we got one of the rarest slug of all! A Narwhaddle slug! One surfaces every ten thousand years!" the speaker spoke as the blue slug appeared on screen in Snowdance Cavern.

"A... Narwhaddle slug? No one has ever own one before!" Trixie exclaimed with her jaws dropped to the ground. "Eli, we must get that slug!"

The whole gang turned to Eli to gauge his reaction. He was too awestruck by the news.

"Come on Eli! It's the historical, ultra rare ice slug that no one has even see it transform!" Kord added with puppy eyes.

"Tad must be interested in owning the Narwhaddle as well! I'm sure there'll be a few Tad's goons in the race! Just treat this as another rescue mission!" I urged, and Eli raised an eyebrow at that.

"Our mission can wait for another day. Let's do this," Eli said with his signature smirk on, and the whole gang cheered.

"We can do this!" Pronto screamed at the top of his lungs.

...

A white line marked across the humongous rocky pathway. The six of us lined up at the very left of the line, threathened by our competitors: ghouled mechas. When Tad wants something done, he really do go all out. There were around twenty Tad's men lined up to our right, each riding explicit mechas such as a Snake Mecha, a Bull Mecha, a Horse Mecha, a Cheetah mecha, and the list goes on.

If the Shane Gang did not join the race, the one and only Narwhaddle slug will definitely become a ghouled Narwhaddle slug.

"So, what's the plan?" Mia asked as she glanced at the other riders that were wearing identical black suits with a red 'V' logo on their shoulder pads and chest.

"The plan? Is to win," Eli said as he revved up his engine, determined to win the race.

"Eli, you do realise that we have to win this race in order to save the slug, right?" Trixie asked, clearly concerned.

"Yup, and the only way to stop Tad from getting that slug is to win," Eli said as he put on his signature smirk. "We can't fire at the other riders. What plan can we actually come up with?"

"Hate to admit it but he's right," I said, revving up Dalinda's engine as my eyes fixed on the road ahead. "The only way, is to win."

"Are you racers ready!?" the judge yelled into the microphone and everyone prepared to have their best start.

"Set!" the man spoke as he pointed a blaster at the ceiling.

I revved up my engine even more as Dalinda let out a roar, allowing the sound from the engine to intimidate the other racers. Before he pulled the trigger, the crowd cheered from a distance behind us, and a rider came to a halt beside me. I looked over my right as a Mecha Horse stood mightily beside me. The rider was a blonde, and looked like an experienced rider. His ride had many extra attachments to it. He was clearly in it to win it.

"Yes I know, I'm right on time," the new rider said as he looked at the announcer with a raised eyebrow. As if the announcer got his signal, he raised his blaster even higher.

"Go!" he screamed into his microphone and pulled the trigger, and the competition officially begun. Dalinda's wings gleamed the slightest, expanding slightly before she dashed out from the line, pounding forward like a beast. The rest of the Shane Gang transformed their rides into vehicle form as the six of us raced ahead of the others.

The crowds cheered louder as we smirked, but the sound of clinking metal echoed the path as we turned to check out the situation.

"You think you're the only one with that mode!?" one of Tad's goons yelled, and before we knew it, all of Tad's mechas transformed into bikes, and were accelerating at a dangerously fast rate.

"Go go go go go!" Eli yelled as we revved our engines, speeding even faster, causing the air to be filled with tiny rocks and filthy dust. Soon enough, we reached the second phase of the race. We entered a cave, with many thin black columns that had tiny pink flowers overgrown on them. I skillfully swerved past each columns as the rest did the same.

Tad's goons were getting closer, but when they reached the tunnel, their skills were clearly not good enough to be put to the test. They started to fall over each other, some even went flying over our heads, but that did not completely demolish Tad's goons. A few of them were still in the race.

My slugs came out of the backpack and stood above my control panel, enjoying the gushing wind as Dalinda raced with her tail wagging and wings streamlined. I smiled as the two new members of my team, the Jellyish and Speedstinger, were chuckling with the rest of my slugs, clearly getting along with them.

"How do you like the names, Slime and Nerf?" I asked. The two slugs looked up at me and chirped contentedly. I let out a small laugh at their adorable reactions before focusing back on the race. Even though Tad's mechas had vehicle modes, there was still a long distance between us.

And the Vance Bolt guy, who claimed to be the champion of the race for seven consecutive years, was no where to be found.

A smirk ascended onto my lips.

This is going to be an easy win.

"We got this!" Eli yelled as he did a wheelie on his motorcycle and cheered. The six leading racers sped across the tunnel with ease and exited into the third part of the race.

There were two ways: the first one was to somehow go across the huge chasm with only rocky pillars for riders to jump onto, and the second path was just a road that was much safer and reasonable, but would take a much longer time.

"Ales! Mia! You two take the hard way. The rest of us will catch up!" Eli suggested and I nodded at him. The four of them departed from us and headed towards the rocky road while Mia and I charged straight towards the chasm.

"You won't make it!" one of Tad's goons yelled as Mia and I were approaching the cliff. We exchanged a glance, before I pressed onto the red button.

It felt like time had stopped as Dalinda crouched down, before she leaped into the air with great momentum. Her majestic wings expanded, flapped twice before she soared towards the other end of the chasm. I looked over, and Mia was right behind me, soaring on her Peacock Mecha.

Some of Tad's goons attempted the shorter way, but ended up falling into the bottom of the chasm. I drove over to Mia and fist-bumped her in midair.

There is no way we are not winning this.

"Get out of my way!" a male's voice sounded as Mia and I looked over to the source of the voice in unison. Vance Bolt, with his Horse Mecha, jumped over the group of Tad's hesitant riders at an unbelievable height before he landed on one of the rocky pillars with ease, and made his way across the chasm.

"That guy really is a champion," Mia said as we reached the other end of the chasm. We landed safely at the other side and we could see the rest of the gang riding towards us from the alternative path, but Vance was quicker. Before we knew it, he reached the last pillar of rock and leaped into midair, and landed in front of us in a split second.

"See you at the finishing line, losers," he smirked at us, before his mecha's engine let out blazing blue flames and he sped off.

"No!" I yelled, furrowed my brows and revved up my engine. "Come on Mia, we have no time to waste!"

Without waiting for the rest of the gang, we rode off to catch up with the champion, eager to win the competition. I once again pressed onto the red button, and Dalinda flew in midair.

I charged straight towards Vance and suddenly, we came into a mysterious icy cave. The frozen ceilings had stalactites that were made of ice, and there was countless piles of frozen rocks deposited here and there, making it ten times harder to ride.

But what caught my attention the most was the weird looking frozen structures which came out of a hole and into another, forming a curve like a rainbow. They had different sections, each containing sharp-edged horizontal spikes. They looked somewhat unnatural.

"A piece of advise, don't follow me if you want to live!" Vance yelled before he revved up his engine and sped forward even faster, dodging the piles of rocks and pillars like a professional.

"Come on Mia! Let's go!" I yelled, before I turned my handles to make Dalinda soared faster. At my signal, she roared, hunched her back and extended her wings even more to produce the fastest speed possible.

"Ales!" I heard Pronto yelled as I turned back to look at him. The rest of the gang had caught up with Mia, and their mechas were bolting down the slippery icy path below me. "What?" I asked, my hands still firmly grasping onto Dalinda's handles.

"Watch out for those crysta-"

I felt my body jolted forward as Dalinda crashed into something when I wasn't looking. The four original members of the gang inhaled sharply as Dalinda flew unstably from the impact before she landed safely onto the icy ground.

"I'm okay!" I assured as I pulled myself and Dalinda up. I looked up, and my eyes widened when I realised I just crashed into the one and only thing Pronto warned me not to touch: the crystals.

It was like in a horror film when the crystals Dalinda crashed into suddenly gleamed red, before descending into one of its holes like a serpant. And within seconds, an actual serpent, with a head attached with pointed crystals, protruded from the ground and rose into the air. It had a pair of nightmarish eyes that glare with red, a jaw with razor-sharp crushing structures that could easily smash an Elephant Mecha. It let out a spine-chilling cry that shook the entire cave, before it crouched downwards to scowl at the approaching racers.

"And that's why we don't touch the crystals," Pronto said sarcastically.

...
For those who doesn't know what these creatures are, they are called Crystal Worms and here is a pic of one of them from the show: