Brighter Days || Eli Shane x reader

~ Prologue ~

The sound of blaster fire echoes through the cavern as a man rolls to his feet, dodging the attack. The man, Will Shane, loads another slug into his blaster as he looks around for his opponent. Another shot rings out, and Will bends back, narrowly missing the Thresher slug aimed at his back. He looks back and fires a Hop Rock at the man he is dueling with–Dr. Thaddius Blakk. Blakks eyes widen as he leaps away from the explosion and fires a Ramstone slug as he falls. Will does the same, and the two slugs collide, with Wills coming out victorious.

Will bends down and smiles as his slug makes its way back to him, hopping up into his outstretched hand.

"You worthless slug!" Blakk growls as his slug painfully gets back up, hopping away.

"Not that I don't enjoy bringing you to justice time and again Dr. Blakk," Will starts as a victorious grin crawls onto his face. "But aren't you tired of getting beat?"

"Extremely. Which is why I lured  you here," Blakk says, an evil smile appearing on his face. 

"Think you're finally going to beat me in a duel?" Will challenges.

Blakk chuckles darkly. "I know I am."

The slug on Will's shoulder snarls at Blakk, saying something to him that neither of them can understand. "Settle down Burpy," Will says to his slug. "You'll get your chance." He turns back to Blakk. "So, are you going to tell me what this is all about or do I have to guess?"

"I'll do one better, Will Shane," Blakk promised. "I'll show you!" He holds up a red slug container, loaded with a twisted version of a Tormato slug. This slug had dark, sharp features and glowing red eyes unlike anything Will had ever seen before.

"Is that... a slug? Blakk what have you done to it?" Will says, his concern and anger growing with every second.

"I fixed it, made it better!" He proclaims as he loads the ghoul into his blaster. "Good enough to finally beat you." Blakk aims the blaster at his old rival and fires.

The slug flies through the air, transforming into a monstrous adaptation of what it once was. It spins through the air as the area around them turns a deep red, and a portal opens up in the center of the storm. Will struggles to stay upright as the winds try to pull him closer, while Blakk looks at the spectacle with curious eyes. "The power... I could never imagine!" He shouts in wonder before grabbing onto a tree to steady himself.

"You have no idea what you're doing!" Will shouts over the whipping winds. "Corrupting slugs? You could destroy all of Slugterra!"

Blakk climbs away and out of the storm, ignoring Will calling after him.Will falls, grasping onto the ground in order to hold on. He grabs Burpy off of his shoulder and loads him into the blaster. "Go to Y/N. Find her, give her the letter. Tell her I'm sorry." Burpy looks up at his friend with tears in his eyes as Will fires the blaster. "GO!" He shouts one more time before falling and disappearing through the portal.

Burpy flies through the air, weaving through trees and caverns until he gets to the Shane hideout, where a young girl sits awake by the window, reading a book while a Geoshard slug naps on her shoulder. She startles as the infurnus lands on the windowsill with a sad look on his face.

"Burpy? What are you doing here? Where's Will?" She asks, scared she might already know the answer. Burpy coos sadly, before hopping over to a small Shane symbol engraved onto the wall. The girl hesitantly follows him, still not sure of what had happened.

The Infurnus slug presses the symbol and a small compartment opens up, revealing a letter. The girl reaches for it and Burpy hops up onto her shoulder, nuzzling his head into her neck as she reads it.

Hey Kiddo,

If you're reading this, I'm sorry. I have fallen defending Slugterra. I hope you know that I didn't want to leave you alone like this after everything you've already gone through, but trust me. It will all be ok in the end. As a final request, fire Burpy back the way he came. He'll know what to do. Don't worry, you'll see him again.

I'm so proud of you Y/N. More than you could ever know. I wish things were different... and I wish I could see you and Eli meet. You both are so similar in ways I couldn't even imagine. I'm just sorry I won't be able to see it for myself. Now that I'm gone, I won't be able to teach you all about the different parts of Slugterra–I guess you'll just have to learn for yourself. I made a promise to your parents a long time ago, and I'm sorry I'm no longer around to keep it. But know that they loved you with all their hearts, and that I do too. Emmie will look after you while I'm gone... you too have a very special connection. Make sure to hold onto that. Once again, I'm sorry Kiddo. Look after yourself while I'm gone. And if you happen to meet my son, give him a hug for me.

Love,
Will

Tears fell down the young girl's face as she stared at the letter her former father figure had left for her. Minutes passed, and still the girl did not move. The Geoshard slug, Emmie, nudged the side of her face as an act of comfort. The girl rubbed the slugs head before rising and making her way back towards the window.

"Are you sure about this?" The girl questioned as Burpee hopped into a slug container. He gives her a final, sad nod before she loads him into her blaster and fires. The Infurnus transforms and soars through the air in a fiery sweep, disappearing into the distance.

Emmie coos sadly from her shoulder.

"Don't worry girl," The child said mournfully, wiping away her tears. "We'll see him again."