Protector's Bond (Two-Shot)

Chapter 16: Back To...Not Work

After Eli's speedy "recovery", they noticed it tied with traps lurking everywhere. A splash from the windowsill. Chilli in the milk. Junjie's shampoo turned his hair white because there was dye in it. The Lion King's intro song Circle of Life was used by Kord as an alarm clock but someone turned the volume on full. Pronto's sandwich vanished from the fridge. Trixie's camera stuck on the roof but the ladder is nowhere. They knew who to blame.

Though Junjie protested innocence, nobody believed him. Until there was the sound of popping glass coming from...upstairs? They dashed inside Eli's room to investigate. It turned out the window had been smashed, the room was a mess, the curtains were torn, and there was blood on the floor...STOP RIGHT THERE! Why would there be blood on the floor? It better be a joke, because everyone in the Shane Gang is losing their heads. They're afraid that their precious leader had been murdered.

If brains were wealth, Pronto would be flat broke. First of all, he caused Eli's allergy (it faded in the middle of the night, giving him an opportunity to make a fake-out, for your information) and second, the mole had the idea of licking the blood on the floor. Then he said it tasted like ketchup. Doc the Healer tried it too, and it was confirmed it was fake blood. Another joke. But they remained skeptics. One thought alone ran through their heads like a slug running from danger. If this is a joke, and that on the floor is ketchup, then where's Eli? He'd better be okay!

A loud crash echoed across the cavern, followed by endless screaming. Kord broke the stony silence by asking, "Eh, Junjie, did you happen to notice the crashing and the screaming..." He turned his head to where the slug-fu master was supposed to be, only to find emptiness. "Eh, Junjie?" (Return Of The Elementals quoted) Then they noticed he too was missing. Maybe something dragged him away?

Another loud, deafening, bone-breaking crash, followed by a clearly irritated "You better get your ass over here, never scare us like that again and stop wreaking havoc on us!" Apparently Jun snuck away and had found the little prankster outside, so, to confront him, he caught him. But, being a Shane, Eli escaped his captor's powerful grasp and managed to run as fast as he could. They entered the house sweating rivers, soaking wet, breathless and pale. Trixie forced the two to take a cold shower. While they were gone, she got bored and didn't know what in SlugTerra to do. She decided to make them lunch.

Seconds later, both protectors emerged from the bathroom. "Did someone say lunch?"

Well, at least Pronto wasn't the one cooking. They wouldn't let him these days due to the weirdest and even grossest ingredients he tossed in. Worms? Only for molenoids. Sometimes the meat was undercooked so Burpy and Joo-Joo had to act fast. He often left the meats cooking, so the next thing they know, there's the smell of burnt chicken. And the one time Pronto was allowed to cook dessert, he intentionally put salt instead of sugar. They thought it was an accident. But he was bad at body language so he ended up having to confess he did it on purpose to spite the fake-out.

That night, Trixie noticed Eli sneak downstairs. What in SlugTerra is he doing?! She thought hard. She trailed him. Where did he go? He looks like he went out for a trip in the middle of the night! Not for a day like tomorrow! She later heard the silent but audible flushing of the toilet. So that's where he went. She saw him dash quickly upstairs, terror etched on his face. He seemed on edge.

The next day, she asked him why he dashed upstairs that quickly. "Well, it's been a long-standing habit of mine," he said nervously, biting his nails. "You see, I often see white, spooky images coming out of nowhere. Since then I always have been nervous about it because I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I've tried everything to prevent myself from doing that; making sure I don't drink water before bed, going to the bathroom right before sleeping. But nothing worked. Which is why I look behind me on my way there to make sure nobody's following me, I inspect the rooftops and I even look behind me while peeing to make sure there's nobody there (wait, why would someone be there while Eli's doing his thing?) and to keep myself safe I lock the door to my room when I get back. Irritating, I know, but a good security against anyone trying to drag me out of bed.

It sounded like an easy case for Junjie. "Okay, so you're seeing ghosts in the middle pf the night?" Eli nods. "Okay, according to my calculations..." He was expecting a serious disorder when he got "...clearly you're watching too much horror movies." Junjie ended up getting chased all over the house.