A Werewolf In Under-Town

They were attacked four separate times on the way back to the bar. Shaggy had tagged a lot of suspicious looking people’s scents, but he couldn’t tag everyone. Some tried to stop them like old highway robbers, standing in the road and acting menacing. Others just jumped from nearby roofs and tried to take them by surprise. Vick and Sybil’s guns, combined with Tornk and the others in melee range, were more than enough to repel the attackers.

Vlad and Shaggy spent most of the journey back making plans and discussing various bits of the game they had enjoyed. Even some they hadn’t. They also talked about how to expand and train up their burgeoning criminal empire. They had four players and almost a hundred Lackeys running about the place. Their little outfit had really grown fast. But with that many thugs in one place, they were going to need a project. Something to keep the grunts occupied while they focused on the big stuff.

“We have to set up patrols.” Vlad explained. “Our grunts need to be out protecting our turf and establishing the boundaries of our area.”

Shaggy nodded. “Okay, but what about weapons? We are not all kitted out. Do we have the capital to arm ourselves, or are we sending our people out with just their fists?”

“Hey, it’s worked so far. These Blade-things changed the game somewhat, but even they are susceptible to knives and cudgels. So we send them out and see what happens. They can also do protection collections for us.”

Shaggy sighed as, nearby, Vick shot a teal-skinned alien wielding an electric knife. “Yeah, I suppose. It would also give us time to focus on our own personal teams and projects. I know the pack and I could do with a few outings under our belts. The bond is not as overpowering as it first was, but we could still use the practice.”

Tornk ripped a tentacle-like arm off another attacker as Vlad said. “Exactly. Also, we both need the points to find our ‘make vampire/werewolf’ ability.”

“If we even have them.”

“Bah! I know I have one. You just need to see if you do.”

Shaggy dodged a wild haymaker from a skinny purple alien. He back-handed the young man back toward his crew and grunted at Vlad’s suggestion. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want to create a pack of werewolves, but points were hard-won and weirdly spent in the system. He was already pretty tough, but spending points on making werewolves would be points he couldn’t place elsewhere. Something must have showed on Shaggy’s face because Vlad snorted.

“Its worth the point cost. Maybe not personally, but it will help the group immensely.”

Vlad stopped talking and dodged a sword swipe from a human woman. He dipped in and ripped her throat out with his fangs. Blood dripped down his face as he glanced around questioningly. Shaggy did as well. That was two thugs that had made it to them. They were standing next to the cart, surrounded by their crew. It should have been pretty difficult to attack them.

Looking around, Shaggy saw that Vick and Sybil were engaged in melee combat. Arklot was on the ground with Tornk over him, doing his best to fight back their attackers. Shaggy had to raise an eyebrow because it looked like they were being attacked by the Quinica. They were all pale-skinned kids that moved and seemed stronger than normal people. Shaggy also noticed that Vlad’s vamps were all down. Dead or unconscious, he didn’t know.

“I got it.” Vlad sighed as he blurred forward at the nearest pale skinned thug.

Shaggy watched as Vlad's mist-like body slammed into the grunt and lifted him into the air. Vlad’s own pale hand reached out of the mist and twisted the poor guy’s head clean off. Then he was gone, onto the next Quinica. He charged at Tornk’s attackers and ripped into them with his black nails, easily cutting into their flesh. They would try to back away, but Vlad was too fast. He easily caught them and finished them. He even bit one, which made Shaggy wonder what the Quinica parasite in their bodies would do to another vamp biting its host.

With Vlad’s help, the crew made quick work of the Quinica. Vlad even left one alive to question as Shaggy went around and checked on their crew. A few of Vlad’s thugs were dead, but it appeared that all of Shaggy’s crew made it through. Arklot was just knocked out. As they moved the red alien into the cart, Shaggy wondered why the pack bond hadn’t told him his pack mates were in trouble. But it had. The bond was alive with information, letting him know his pack was fighting. But it didn’t go deeper than that. It wasn’t a danger sense for his pack apparently, it just let him know they were fighting and their general emotional state. Which in the middle of a fight was pretty all over the place.

“No! Please! We were just following orders! Please do-ARGGH!”

Shaggy glanced over at Vlad and saw the pale player with his lips attached to the Quinica’s throat. He could see his friend gulp the other guy’s blood until the NPC was empty. Throwing the Quinica grunt into the dirt, Vlad turned and marched back to Shaggy, looking highly annoyed.

“Well, that’s a new problem.”

“Orders?”

“Yeah, apparently the Quinica don’t like us operating in what is supposed to be their territory. So they’ve sent out their young to deal with us.”

Shaggy grimaced. “Well, that’s a new wrinkle.”

Vlad gave a sardonic laugh. “Ha! Yeah, now we got to be on the lookout for these bastards.”

“I also don’t think our boys are up to taking on fully enhanced aliens like the Quinica.” Shaggy said quietly.

Vlad nodded. “Agreed. We are really going to have to put them through some training. But for now, all we can do is defend our turf as best we can.”

Shaggy nodded as they moved back to the cart. Vlad looked at his wannabe vampire crew and saw that they had lost two members. He sighed as he ordered for everyone to loot quickly so they could be on their way. The vampire player used his black cloak to wipe the red blood off his mouth and chin.

“Bastards didn’t even taste good.”

“About that. Did you get any messages when you were drinking from them? Like maybe you were infested with that parasite thing inside them?”

Vlad blinked owlishly at Shaggy for a few seconds before he shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Most of the young Quinica die when their host does. It takes a really old parasite to last outside the body.”

Shaggy nodded. Vlad would know. The player had spent hours trying to find the right vampire-type alien he wanted to play. Eventually, he had to go with a mutation instead of being an alien. But the choice worked out for Vlad. He could be the type of vampire he wanted. Long-flowing cape, top hat, and all. Once the looting was done, shaggy took hold of the cart’s front handle and pushed.

Thankfully, the rest of their journey to the bar was peaceful, and they made good time with Shaggy pulling the whole way. A few Bladelings came their way, but Vick’s rifle put them down and Vlad even had them load some of the scrap into the cart. Everything was useful with the console in their new Lair. However, once they approached the square outside the bar, they all could hear shouting.

Vlad and Shaggy glanced at each other before they bolted toward the noise. Shaggy still pulling the cart along. The rest of their crew matched pace and soon they all burst into the dirt clearing. Standing in front of the bar was a group of dark-clad individuals, all shouting at the people standing in front of the door’s entrance. Shaggy could see a few guns sticking out of the bar’s front windows, and he was sure they had shown up just in time. The creaking of the cart caught the attention of everyone as Shaggy and Vlad stopped in front of the cloaked group. Shaggy was sure he could see pale skin peeking out from beneath the hooded figure’s cloaks.

“Quinica…” He sighed, taking in all eight of the figures.

Vlad growled uncharacteristically. “What do you want with our property?”

A cloaked figure stepped forward, and a soft accented voice wafted over to them. “Your property? Boy, you own nothing here. Everything in this area belongs to the Quinica.”

Shaggy set down the cart’s handle and stretched his arms out. More out of habit than actual soreness. The move caught the attention of the group of Quinica and they all turned as one to regard him. But Vlad wasn’t done talking.

“Really? Because it took us days to set all this up and in that time I haven’t seen one of you pale fucks out here. But now you show up and expect us to... what? Move on?”

The Quinica all turned again, back toward Vlad. “You will pay a tithe to keep your... building? Also, anything you earn, ten percent will go to your minders in this area. Failure to cooperate will result in your extermination.”

Shaggy chuckled as Vlad hissed. “Yeah, I am going to go ahead and tell you lot to fuck off. I’ve already drunk a few of you fake vampire bastards and I am really getting a taste for it. So you get off OUR property before I show you what an actual vampire can do.”

Shaggy shifted his hands into claws and crouched low, ready to pounce. The sounds of guns cocking and metal shifting pervaded the air as their whole crew got ready to attack these new invaders. The Quinica shifted as if they were ready to fight, when the leader raised a slim pale hand. Everything stopped as they reached up and pulled back their hood, revealing a sharp angular-faced person with dark black hair.

“Is that your final answer?”

Vlad just scoffed as his fangs and nails grew out.

The leader of the Quinica quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing and waved at their men. Shaggy was surprised to see the Quinica settle down and back away. Heading westward out of the square. Shaggy looked at Vlad, but the vampire waved him off. It appeared the Quinica were leaving, and the situation was quickly deescalating.

But as the first of their group was exiting the square, a cloaked figure at the end suddenly spun and dashed toward Vlad. The Quinica moved fast, Shaggy Enhanced Focus barely let him keep up with the figure as it bolted through the air. But Vlad was far faster. In a puff a black smoke, Vlad disappeared and reappeared right in front of the charging Quinica, his left arm outstretched. There was a grunt and the cloaked Quinica’s head glanced down at Vlad’s arm, piercing their chest. With a jerk of his arm, Vlad ripped his arm out of the Quinica’s side and let them drop to the ground.

The Quinica had all turned to watch the exchange and Shaggy could see the shocked expression on the leader’s face. Either that hadn’t been part of the plan or Vlad’s strength surprised them. Either way, the pale leader fixed their expression and glared at Vlad. The vampire player shrugged as he flicked the blood off his arm. The Quinica leader continued to glare as they and their cohorts slowly exited the square.

Shaggy grunted as he crossed his arms. “I give it an eight out of ten. Presentation was good, but you missed an opportunity to really freak them out.”

Vlad spun on his heel and addressed Shaggy. “Punching my arm through a guy’s chest wasn’t enough?”

“Bah! I would’ve ripped his heart out and bit into it. That would’ve really got to them.”

“Blegh! Dude…”

“What?! You literally drink blood.”

“The game mechanics make it taste good. I don’t want to test whether the system will do the same for some guy’s heart.”

Shaggy waved Vlad off and moved back to the cart. It appeared that for now; the situation was handled. But they were going to have to set up a watch of around the bar and a player was going to have to play watchdog for a bit as well. They were going to be on a constant war-footing, apparently. They just got the Rak situation handled and now the Quinica were coming back out of the woodwork.

Once Shaggy got the cart in front of the bar, several lackeys moved to secure everything. Petra was in the lead, immediately doing inventory and checking that they had received everything. As he watched, Shaggy suddenly swore, surprising everyone.

“Shit!”

“What?” Vlad asked.

“The Quinica run our supply tunnel.” Shaggy said simply.

Vlad pursed his lips but said nothing. Petra, who was still marking things off, jumped in the conversation.

“Yeah, this is going to be a problem. We are going to have to find a new supplier. Although I suppose there is a chance the Quinica won’t immediately cut us off. Maybe we can get in one last big order?”

Shaggy grimaced, not looking forward to going back out there right now. Vlad shook his head at Petra.

“No. We need to create our own supply chain. Can we have people run topside and back with large packs or something?”

Petra grimaced. “Yes, but that’s not a solution. That’s a stopgap at best.”

“I agree, but for now let’s do it. We can work on getting our own tunnel to the surface or making new arrangements as we go.” Shaggy said.

Petra nodded as she followed the supplies inside. A load of Lackeys and civilians right behind her. Shaggy glanced at Vlad’s pensive face and could guess what the vampire was worried about. Supplying their Lair was going to be a pain in the dick unless they had trucks and a tunnel to the surface. But they couldn’t even hold a tunnel with the group they had. So for now they were going to be forced to make mini-runs to the surface to grab stuff.

Shaggy briefly wondered if the Brute Clan had a tunnel to the surface. He was about to ask Vlad when a messaging window popped into his vision. He grumbled as he read through the message. His sour look turning into one of happiness.

T: Hey, guess what just arrived early and with a ‘we’re sorry’ gift card.

S: No way!

T: Yes way! MY POD IS HERE!

S: Fucking sweet. Do you need help getting it set up?

T: Would you mind? I also have to pull my character info from your pod anyway.

S: I’ll be right out. Let me just finish some stuff.”

T: Okay. Love you. This is going to so awesome.

S: Love you too. See you soon.

Shaggy closed the window and turned his grinning face to his vampire friend. Vlad took a step back at Shaggy’s cheery face. But Shaggy was undeterred as he rushed forward and grabbed Vlad by his shoulders.

“My wife is coming!”

Vlad snickered as he said. “Good for you. Did you have anything to do with it?”

Shaggy’s grin fell until he made sense of what Vlad had said. “Damn it. Fuck you. My wife’s Immersion Pod just arrived. I need to help her get it all set up. But that’s another player for our Legion once she gets down here.”

Vlad laughed at his own joke. “Hehehe. That’s all well and good, but is she going to be okay with the whole villain thing.”

“Pfft. It was her idea that we roll villains for this game. Trust me, dude. This is going to be sweet. I have to log though. So I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, okay. You have fun setting up a pod and going through all the data transfer nonsense. I hear that shit can be a pain.”

Shaggy’s finger was already on the log-out button before Vlad had finished speaking. He was excited to start playing games with his wife again. That’s how they had met in the first place and remained a passion they shared throughout their marriage. He cycled through all his wife’s other characters trying to guess what she had come up with this time. He felt his feet leave the ground before he was enveloped in inky blackness as he logged-out.