Take Back the Light

Chapter 2

"Shoot!" Alana snapped, running a hand through her bangs.

They'd made it back to the camp only to find the remnants of Ali's goo attack. Lime green slime sat in puddles and dripped off mushroom-trees. The grass was torn up where Alana had dueled the workers, but that was the only sign of them.

They were gone.

With Mage.

Alana sighed and pulled up Midnight's holo-screen. "Okay, Midnight, let's track down those slingers. If they get to the Citadel with Mage... I'm not sure we'll be able to get her out," Alana said, her voice trailing off. She shook her head and cleared her throat. "So we're not gonna let that happen! Let's go!"

Alana hit the gas on Midnight and the Mecha shot forward, speeding through the woods once more. Alana's back was starting to ache- days and days of Mecha travel weren't ideal. Not to mention her stomach was starting to rumble.

Quit it, she reminded herself. Stay positive. Mage will be fine.

She pressed a yellow button on Midnight's control panel and leaned back as Midnight took control, looking around at visible tracks like broken sticks and trampled bushes and invisible tracks like lingering scents of Mecha oil and heat signatures. She slowed for a moment, scanning the forest around her, then took off toward the right to follow after one of the workers.

Ash squeaked worriedly from Alana's shoulder. He was Alana's oldest slug, quickly followed by Mage. The two had spent years together, and Alana realized that she wasn't the only one distraught with the loss of her Boon Doc.

"Mage is gonna be fine, Ash," Alana assured. "I promise. We'll catch up to them soon, and believe me, when we reach those guys, they'll regret taking her. If they thought the duel in the clearing was bad, they have no idea what's coming now."

The Infurnus nodded, but didn't smile. He didn't always have his slinger's ever-positive outlook on situations, but it was impossible to find no comfort in Alana's words. Ever since Will Shane had disappeared years ago, Alana had worked hard to keep both herself and her team upbeat.

And, sure enough, Alana could begin to hear the hoofbeats of other Mechas quickly approaching.

"I think we're closing in. Everyone get ready for a heck of a fight. The second I see those guys, we're going all out," Alana said with a smirk. "No holding back."

Ash nodded and hopped in Alana's blaster. Alana urged Midnight onward and the Mecha gave one more burst of speed before the three workers could be seen through the dense vegetation. She quickly grabbed a strap on her right side and pulled it over, clicking it on her left.

When you had ridden Mechas as long as Alana had, the safety belt quickly became obsolete. But during an on-Mecha duel, Alana had quickly learned that it was a better alternative than getting knocked off a high-speed vehicle.

"Let's do this," Alana said, raising her blaster and firing Ash.

The Infurnus transformed and sped ahead of his slinger, flames trailing out from behind him. The workers all turned around, and Alana savored the look of shock on their faces as Ash flew above and in front of them. He ducked down to the ground and flew in a circle around the three Mechas, trapping them in a ring of fire.

"Come on!" one of the slingers yelled as Alana approached. Two of them fired Rammstones at Alana, who fired her Armashelt to knock one of them out of the air and swerved Midnight to the left to avoid the other, slamming on the brakes to avoid a mushroom-tree.

After resteadying herself, Alana turned her attention back to the fire and scowled as she saw one of the workers' Aquabeeks finishing up dousing out the flames. The three immediately took off in opposite directions. Without hesitating, Alana followed after the one going to the right.