The Shane Gang return home to the 99 caverns to find Gateway Cavern overrun with slugs-in Eli's absence, the Shadow Clan have governed by putting the slugs before the people, and the result is chaos! It's up to Eli to restore the balance, but the Shadow Clan aren't as friendly as they once were...and that's saying something. Help comes from an unexpected source-Tad and his slug Pieper, who just arrived from the Surface!

The Shane Gang take Tad under their wing, training him to blast like a pro with Eli's old blaster and teaching him to live by the slugslinger's code. Tad takes to it like a natural, and as Kord says, it looks like they have another "slugslinging savant from the Surface" on their hands. But their training will be put to the test when Tad accompanies them to a showdown with the Scrap Force...and the Shadow Clan!

Tad is still missing after the slug-out with the Shadow Clan, but the Gang have to set off without him when reports start coming in of slugs disappearing all across the 99 caverns. As they pursue the trail of missing slugs, the mystery grows darker when it leads them straight to Dr. Blakk's old stronghold!

Tad's hypnotic slug Pieper has gone megamorph, his gang of supporters all have Gattler blasters, and Tad's control over his army of ghouls is stronger than Dr. Blakk's ever was. The Shane Gang are under non-stop ghoul fire as they struggle to put a stop to Tad's plans and end the mass ghouling of slugs once and for all.