Beyond What's Known

Chapter 12

Silence fell in the room, and the Shane Gang slingers all glanced at each other. They hadn't really had time to discuss how to handle communicating what had happened in Gateway. There were plenty of further details, too, like Alana's knowledge of the Dark Slinger's existence and the destruction of the West. Things like that weren't necessarily needed for the public to understand what happened, but they were surely connected.

Sam crossed her arms and looked around.

"You're off to a great start," she deadpanned.

"It's a long story?" Trixie tried.

Sam sighed and stepped out of the room and into the hallway, picking up a white briefcase and walking back into the room, sitting down on the coach and setting the case on the coffee table.

"Well, lucky for you, I have time. Who's up first?" she asked, patting the couch cushion next to her.

Everyone simultaneously pointed at Eli, except for Eli, who sighed and was already approaching the couch, knowing what the consensus would be without needing to actually see it. Sam unpacked a holotablet and a few sensors.

"While you guys tell me what happened, I'm just taking vitals," she explained. She watched Eli carefully as he sat down next to her. "And if you want me to kick these guys out, you just let me know."

Eli laughed and shook his head, waving toward the other chairs and the bed in the room for the gang to sit back down. Alana went back to her armchair, Trixie and Kord sat on the edge of the bed, and Pronto sat on the couch next to Eli.

"They all know better than I do anyway," he said quietly. Sam raised an eyebrow, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around his right arm.

"Wanna elaborate on that?" she asked, pressing a button and watching the cuff slowly inflate.

"Well, I know the beginning," Eli said, staring at his arm. "We got into it in Converta Mall with... what are they going by now, Trix?"

"I think the 'Tough Guys,'" Trixie replied, making finger quotations. "I kinda liked 'Scrap Force,' though."

"I still have no idea who you're talking about," Sam laughed, observing Eli's blood pressure and marking it on her tablet before switching the cuff to the other arm.

"Boss Ember and his goons, we fought them in the Scrap Heap that one time," Alana supplied. Sam nodded in recognition and Eli continued his story.

"Anyway, we fought them in Converta Mall, then we got a call that there were ghoulslingers here in Gateway. Alana met up with us and we headed out here. There were some ghoulslingers and this big ogre thing attacking the town, and we followed them to the edge of the Outland Reach," he said.

"An ogre? Like the ones in Snowdance?" Sam asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah. Made me look like Pronto," Kord noted.

"Again, I say that must have been a marvelous experience for you!" Pronto exclaimed.

"Anyways, we found out the ghoulslingers were stealing Flaringos to power this portal that was powered up at the cavern wall," Eli continued, laughing at Pronto's comment. "It was heading into the wall, eastwards."

"Into... the rock?" Sam asked, frowning. She noted Eli's blood pressure again and took off the cuff. "Where would that portal even go? Gateway's the easternmost cavern."

A few moments of silence passed. Sam's mouth dropped open and she looked over to Alana.

"You've gotta be kidding me," she said.

"It would appear that there is, in fact, an entire other realm out there! And worst of all, they do not know the tales of Pronto the Magnificent!" Pronto lamented. "It is so tragic!"