SlugTerra: The Fatal Duel

Chapter 9: Riding Home

"We must find Lucky." He said in a weak voice to his slugs. "I can't do much now, so it's better for me to return..."

He stood up and started slowly moving away from the cursed arena. The fog around him and his current poor condition were blurring his vision, so he was reeling and stumbling every now and then. Blood was dropping to the ground from his wound, leaving a scary red trace behind the boy.

Very soon Eli stopped and leaned against a rocky wall with pale face and half-closed eyes, catching his breath and trying to fight the faintness. Joules, Spinner, Banger, Doc, and Chiller looked at him from behind his shoulder. They were, of course, worried about their master. The green Healer slug chirped in the boy's ear, offering his help.

"Sorry, Doc, I doubt your powers would work without you reaching velocity." The young Shane murmured. "And my blaster is lost, just like.... Burpy..."

He sighed heavily, closed his eyes, and lowered his head in sorrow. He couldn't believe his little friend was gone forever. His other slugs also made sad sounds, feeling sorry for their teammate.

"We must go..." Eli said a minute or two later, doing his best to pull himself together and not falling into despair. "The sooner we leave this place, the better..."

He looked around, then put two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. A few moments later some mechanical noise was heard and a white wolf Mecha Beast ran up to him.

"Good boy!" Eli forced a smile. "Glad you've heard me!"

He put his right hand on the right handle and forced himself to mount into the saddle. This movement took him more effort than usual. The dizziness became unbearable, and the young Shane nearly fell to the ground.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed, grabbing both Lucky's handles with both hands and regaining balance. "That was a close one....." He breathed out, then turned his head towards his backpack. "Spinner!"

The Arachnet slug jumped on his shoulder at once and chirped.

"Could you tie my hands to the handles and my feet to the pedals?" Eli addressed him. "Otherwise I won't make it, I'm afraid..."

Spinner nodded, jumped up to the boy's left hand, spat some web, made a small net out of it, and dropped it upon Eli's hand, securing it tightly to the handle. Then he did the same with the young Shane's right hand and his feet fixing them to the pedals of the vehicle.

"Thanks, buddy!" Eli smiled at Spinner, then bent forward towards his Mecha Beast's right ear. "Okay, Lucky, take me home...Fast!"

Lucky obeyed his voice command and took off at a gallop. Unable to fight the faintness any longer, the boy dropped his head on the control panel with a quiet sigh and fell into darkness...

TO BE CONTINUED