A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy sighed as he walked. Again, he was out in the scorching sun in the early morning. Walking. His van had been requisitioned by his friends. Apparently, they were going to get it ready for tonight. Which was more important than ferrying him to what was possibly an ambush. He scratched the back of his head as he came to a stop on the sidewalk and moved to a nearby stone wall. Leaning against the condemned store’s brickwork, he thought about his decision again.

He and the others had spent much of their evening discussing the benefits and drawbacks. Working with the Austin Police Department was probably a horrible idea. But the benefits could be great. Vlad had been vehemently opposed to it. Not cause he didn’t trust the APD, but because he didn’t want to stray too far from being an in-game villain. Which Shaggy understood. But, at the same time, they were a villainous organization already. They had goons and lackeys all in Under-Town. Vlad’s argument had been about what would happen when they moved topside. But the others had agreed that moving topside was probably a ways off, so helping some cops bust a couple of junkies and dealers for an easier time topside was a good deal.

They had compromised. Shaggy would head to the station alone to hear the deal in full. If anything went sideways, he would deal with the consequences. Because, as Vlad said, it was his dumbass nose that got them into this mess. Shaggy had agreed, but as he got closer to the station, Xelthub had mentioned, his nerves were getting the better of him. Not to mention the increase in drone activity made him nervous.

He peeled himself off the wall as he steeled himself again. An in with the police topside was worth it, and if they could skim a few credits from a few junkies, who would complain? A drone buzzed overhead and shaggy dipped his head downward, hoping to avoid a facial recognition. The damn metal thing zoomed by, leaving him alone, and he blew out a breath as he continued on. Several people on the sidewalk gave him odd looks, but Shaggy ignored them and scanned the street signs.

According to their van’s GPS mapping system, the closest police station was a block away. That is, if he remembered the directions right. Shaggy grunted as he hopped off the curb and ran over to the next block. Horns honked and angry drivers cursed him, but Shaggy rushed forward. He both wanted this over with and wanted it to never start. Shaggy did not know how he was going to escape a freaking police station if shit went tits up. He was probably walking toward a respawn, which wasn’t entirely too bad. But, according to the forums, dying by the police meant your character was sent to prison. So he would respawn in the nearest prison and he would have to break out again. Which was a major pain in the ass.

Shaggy stopped again as the thought of having his in-game character in prison struck him. It meant he couldn’t help with the job tonight. It also meant he would have to wait to meet his wife. She would give him no small amount of shit for it, too. Not because he couldn’t make it, but because he had been too much of a noob to get out of his predicament. Thoughts of his wife made him bring up the in-game clock. She should’ve been in the game somewhere by now.

Shaggy had told her about Under-Town and that is where they were planning to meet. Shaggy just hoped he and the guys got through their plans before he had to go down and meet her. He was excited. Playing games with his better half was always a fun time. Although she could be a little competitive. He smiled wanly think of her.

“Hey buddy, you can’t just stop in the middle of the sidewalk.”

Shaggy turned and glared up at a tall, bright-white alien. They were bald and androgynous enough that Shaggy couldn’t guess at a gender. He gave the alien a once over and just growled under his breath. The alien’s stoic face remained placid looking, but they took a half-step back. Shaggy snorted and continued walking. He was close to the station now.

Soon the large black metal building came into view and Shaggy sucked in a breath. The building’s dark walls and large gated parking lot made it incongruous with the surrounding buildings. It was a three-story metal building fenced in by metal walls. Meanwhile, the surrounding buildings were all brick. Black unmarked hover-cars flew from the roof of the station and traveled the sky-lanes as drones dashed around the place. But what froze Shaggy in his tracks were the two sentry towers at the east and west end of the station’s fence. They were twenty feet high and large-bore laser cannons rested at their tops.

“Hey! Asshole! What did I…” The voice started again, from behind him.

Shaggy spun and summoned the claws of one hand. He thrust them under the alien’s slim chin and growled again. The alien froze and tried to process what was going on as Shaggy stopped growling and glared. He forced his claws upward slightly, making sure the alien understood him, before he shifted his hand back and spun on his heel. He marched toward the station as something occurred to him. Something he hadn’t noticed in the fight with the federal agent, Albert. His normally long black claws were now tinged slightly red.

He mulled that over when a loud whirring sound echoed in his ears. Expecting another drone, Shaggy ducked his head and continued forward. It wasn’t until a loud klaxon sounded that Shaggy realized that the whirring probably wasn’t a drone. Glancing up, he saw one of the sentry cannons had both of its barrels aimed right at him. He had barely made it into the station compound, just past the front gate. A gate that was rapidly closing as drones and cops spilled out of the station. Shaggy put his hands up and sighed as he spotted a large triceratops rushing toward him, shoulder down.

The tricera-cop was followed closely by several of their compatriots and soon Shaggy was squashed under a mountain of bodies as people shouted alarm bells rang. He felt his arms and legs being shackled by thick metal bands. He felt exhausted as the cuffs seemed to drain him of energy and the cops hoisted him to his feet. What followed was a surprisingly quick and efficient in-processing procedure where Shaggy was scanned and photographed several times.

When he was finally asked if he had anything to declare, Shaggy grinned and said.

“Officer Xelthub.”

That sparked another round of questioning that Shaggy ignored. Several cops looked like they wanted to get rough with him, but Shaggy just snorted and kept his mouth shut. Internally, he hoped he wouldn’t have to make a break for it. He was placed into an empty holding cell and left alone. A large camera and some kind of alien scanner monitored his cage, so Shaggy sighed and sat back to wait. As he contemplated perusing the forums, he realized he hadn’t checked his point totals in a while. That was probably a better use of his time, all things considered. So he dove into his character screen.

Lycanthropy Mutation Tree

Attack Lvl 15

Canines Lvl 1

Claws Lvl 15

Demon Claws Lvl 15

Sharpness Lvl 5

Serrated Edge

Convex Edge Lvl 1*

Bone Claws -

Defense Lvl 10

Tough Bones Lvl 3

Utility Lvl 15

Partial Transformation Lvl 5

Limb transformation Lvl 4

Regeneration Lvl 26*

Limb Regen Lvl 2

Pain Suppression Lvl 3

Points: 50

General Tree

Toughness Lvl 25*

Thick Skin Lvl 15

Skin Resistances Lvl 5

Skin Durability Lvl 1

Dermal Armor Lvl 1*

Reflexes Lvl 23*

Quick Hands Lvl 10

Manual Dexterity Lvl 2

Mind Lvl 21*

Enhanced Focus Lvl 3

Points: 80

Shaggy huffed. Not a lot of points, but then again, he hadn’t done a lot of fighting other than hunting Quinica with his pack. Which probably accounted for much of the points. That and the fight with Albert and Ziva. Although the fact that his claws were now labeled as Demon Claws made him raise an eyebrow. That was probably a change the Blood God had been talking about. Would it get stronger if he absorbed more demon blood? Or did he have to put points into it like everything else? Gritting his teeth, he added a couple of points to Demon Claws.

Demon Claws Lvl 15

Points: 45

Shaggy grimaced. Somehow, he just knew that the Demon Claws were going to be a point vacuum. He waffled a bit before he set the claws aside and looked over the rest of the Lycanthropy Tree. His Defense was covered with his General Tree. But if he wanted to double-down, he could probably throw a few points into that. But his regeneration had pulled him out of just as many scrapes. Deciding to stick with his all-rounder approach, he focused on Defense and decided to at least get it to its next evolution.

Defense Lvl 15

Tough Bones Lvl 3

Enhanced Evasion Lvl 1

Points: 25

Shaggy stared at his newest evolution and sighed. He had mostly been tanking hits thanks to his regeneration. But he supposed not being hit was another way to stay in a fight. He didn’t think he would spend any points on it. But for now, he’d see how he did with it. The rest of the points he dumped into Partial Transformation. He had been using it a lot, and it helped when he couldn’t go full wolf.

Partial Transformation Lvl 8

Points: 0

Not a lot there, but Shaggy just moved on to the General Tree and gave it a look over. The Reflexes cell was close to another evolution and that would probably help with his Enhanced Evasion. Afterward he could try to get Mind to 25 as well. He stopped as he heard footsteps in the hall outside his cell, but soon they faded and he started spending points.

Reflexes Lvl 25*

Quick Hands Lvl 10

Manual Dexterity Lvl 2

Quick Feet Lvl 1

Points: 55

Shaggy just nodded and moved on. That made sense. Fast hands and fast feet. Although he wondered how fast he was going to be now. He was tempted to stand up and test it, but his leg and hand manacles would probably get in the way. Moving on to mind, he hit the mental button and watched his points drain away.

Mind Lvl 25*

Enhanced Focus Lvl 3

Mental Defense Lvl 1

Points: 15

Shaggy had barely finished reading before he dumped the last of his points into Mental Defense. His memories of Ziva’s psychic attack were still fresh in his mind.

Mental Defense Lvl 2

Points: 0

Shaggy looked over his sheet again and grinned. He was probably spreading himself around too much. But his at least all his other stats were almost to par with Regeneration now. He had never been one to min-max, anyway. He brought up his skills to see if there were any changes there and he sputtered at what he saw.

Skills:

Werewolf

Werewolf Senses – Beginner Level 3

Werewolf Form – Beginner Level 3*

Demon Wolf – Beginner Level 1*

Werewolf Speed – Beginner Level 1

Werewolf Durability – Beginner Level 3

Normal

Claw Fighting – Beginner Level 4*

Leaping – Beginner Level 3

Enhanced Senses – Beginner Level Maxed*

Endurance – Beginner Level 4*

Fight Like An Animal – Beginner Level 3*

Pack Hunting – Beginner Level 1*

What the hell was a demon Wolf?! That had to be the Blood God’s gift. Apparently, his werewolf transformation was now completely changed. Shaggy had to fight the urge to shift in his cell. Thankfully, the draining power of the police’s handcuffs made it difficult for him to do anything, or he might have tried.

Losing two levels in the skill was probably a pain, but for something called a Demon Wolf, it was probably worth it. Unfortunately, the rest of his werewolf skills hadn’t grown at all from lack of use. But his normal ones were moving up pretty well. His Senses were maxed and four out of five of his old skills had all seen growth. He even had a new one, Pack Hunting. He brought up the information on the skill as footsteps resounded in the hall again.

Pack Hunting

You are just learning the ropes of fighting with your follow pack members. Each of them is like a new appendage, ready to claw and bite your enemies. As your pack grows, so too will your ability to take down larger prey. Receive a bonus to sensing and Fighting Skills when with your pack. Bonus is calculated based on the size of your pack you are currently fighting with.

Shaggy let out a low whistle as he read through the skill. It was impressive, and if it went up with his pack numbers, it would probably get pretty beefy. Odd that it didn’t have a number attached to it, though. He briefly wondered if he had shut off that function along with some of his other notifications, but he let it go. It was a useful skill, but one he would have to keep an eye on when he was back with his pack.

He tried to feel them through the pack-link he had. But the distance or the suppressing cuffs dulled the feeling. He found he was actually missing his group of rowdy NPCs. Shaggy figured he would take them out hunting when he got back. He was tempted to check his Pack Tab on the menus, but the sound of clanging made him close everything out.

A uniformed cop was standing outside his cell, glaring at him. Shaggy smiled and gave a little wave. The human cop snorted and barked orders.

“To the gate, scumbag. We’re going for a walk.”

Shaggy snorted and moved over to the bars, right in front of the cell’s gate. He couldn’t resist quipping.

“Oh, I love walks. Are we going to the park?”

Shaggy flashed his pointed teeth, but the cop ignored him and opened the cell door. The cop’s baton sparked with an ethereal blue glow and Shaggy was sure it was electric or magically charged somehow. His new friend gripped the cuffs around Shaggy’s hands and tried to lead him down the hall. They stalled a little as Shaggy’s dense bones made the aggressive move a little tricky. The officer pulled twice before Shaggy gave the guy a break and pretended to be dragged.

They walked down the linoleum hallways for a few brief minutes until they came to another door. Two officers were stationed outside. A tall, slim green alien and another mauve-looking alien. Both in some kind of riot armor. The green alien moved to open the door as Shaggy and his guard approached. Inside was a small metal room with a plastic table and two chairs. Shaggy had to stifle a chuckle at the obvious interrogation room. It even had an old florescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling on a wire.

Shaggy was led to the table and his cuffs were somehow connected to the table and his leg manacles were strapped to the chair. He didn’t see any connecting points on his handcuffs, so he figured it was magic. Once his job was done, the human officer left and Shaggy was left alone in the metal room on the uncomfortable plastic chair.

He sighed as he looked around at the blue-black metal walls and the gray-white tiled floor. The room was completely empty except for the chairs and table. There were no mics or cameras either. He didn’t even see an observation window he had seen on some of the old cop show vids. He flexed his wrists a little, testing the bonds of the cuffs. But whatever magic was on them made him feel lethargic the more he tried to push against them. He relaxed and tried his legs, but the same thing happened.

Shaggy shook his head as the sleepy feeling filled his head. They were an interesting way to keep enhanced individuals subdued. But he wondered what would happen if he did a partial shift. He gave the room another once over before he tried. Still nothing.

“Fuck it.” Shaggy thought and shifted his arms and hands.

His arms bulged, and a waved an exhaustion hit him just as the sound of metal breaking filled his ears. There was a loud clang and Shaggy felt the drowsiness quickly leave his body just as a loud alarm went off. Scrambling at the door made him shift his arms back to normal just as the door flung open and three cops came rushing in. Shaggy smiled at them as he gave a little wave at a familiar face.

“Officer Xelthub! So good to see you.”

Xelthub grimaced as he looked between the broken cuffs on the table and Shaggy. The other two officers were the green and mauve door guards. They each had their baton out and looked like they were trying to decide what to do. Xelthub put an arm up and waved them toward the door.

“It’s alright, Hicks. You and Muldoon can go back to watching the door. I’ve got this.”

The green alien gave Shaggy a dirty look. “You sure, Xel?”

Xelthub nodded, and the two cops marched out of the room. Each glaring angrily at Shaggy. Shaggy waved goodbye and tried to exude an air of confidence. Breaking the cuffs hadn’t been that hard, but he wasn’t too sure about fighting his way out of the entire police department. Xelthub muttered some words into his shoulder and the alarm stopped. The large red demon sighed at the same time as Shaggy. The alarm was both piercing and annoying. Shaggy would’ve guessed that it had some underlying magic to it as well. But maybe his new Mental Defense had blunted some of it.

The other plastic chair in the room creaked loudly as Xelthub sat down across from Shaggy. Shaggy shuffled his own chair closer to the table. Legs still attached to the annoying bit of plastic. Xelthub set down a folder full of papers and sighed as he leaned back. His beady black eyes bore into Shaggy. But Shaggy just sighed and scratched the back of his head.

“Just an attempted mugging, huh?” Xelthub asked.

Shaggy shrugged. “Yep.”

Xelthub sighed. “You weren’t going to mention the prison break?”

“Well, technically, I didn’t break myself out of prison. The walls came down, and I walked out. The prison had to be structurally unsound at that point. So, for my safety, I thought it best to leave.”

“Pfft. Riiiight.” Xelthub opened the folder on the table and spread the papers around.

Shaggy was surprised to see they weren’t about him. In fact, several of the papers had photos of fairly gruesome crime scenes. Each with bloody body bits filling the area. Shaggy guessed they were Glow related incidents. Each image reminded him of what happened to Chuli at Callahan’s. He glanced up at Xelthub to see the large demon studying him.

“What do you see?”

Shaggy shrugged again. “More Glow victims, looks like. Is it always so damn volatile?”

“No, and that’s what has some of us worried.”

“Worried enough to help a criminal?”

Xelthub snorted loudly and black fire shot from his nostrils. “Please. You are hardly a master criminal. You got caught during a mugging, then escaped prison when a Super Villain was doing a recruitment drive. Why didn’t you join Delmond?”

Shaggy raised an eyebrow in question, and Xelthub nodded understandingly. “The Supe that broke into the prison was an Elemental-wizard type. Named Delmond Merl. He didn’t introduce himself?”

“I’m sure he did,” Shaggy said. “But I was a little occupied with the roof collapsing. So I wasn’t paying much attention.”

Xelthub nodded and looked back down at the papers. “For some reason, this new batch of Glow on the streets is a lot more volatile. Current efforts to find the cause have been stymied by an almost zealot-like behavior from the dealers. They aren’t talking and we’re spread way too thin as it is. What with the Anti-HLO Supes everywhere and the recent attack from Cog, the entire damn city is running on fumes.”

Shaggy stifled a yawn. “Wow, that’s… a thing. So about your deal?”

Xelthub snapped his head up from the papers and grinned. “Do you really think this is a negotiation?”

“Yep.” Shaggy said, simply staring into the demon’s black eyes.

Xelthub blinked first. Sitting back in his plastic chair and sighing loudly. “Damn it. I fucking hate it, but you’re right. We need help, but for some reason, not a lot of these new Supes in town seem interested in grunt work. If the SPPD doesn’t snap them up first, that is. Most of them want to run right at the biggest Villains in the city. Next thing you know, we’re picking up the pieces and they’re off to try again.”

Shaggy just nodded. Players were going to be players and some of them were going to run headfirst into a wall as many times as it took to break it down. But others were going to take it slow and steady. Those were the ones that were going to be a pain later. Especially if they got it into their heads that Under-Town was a good place to farm XP.

“So we’re trying everything we can to get more people on this. Even letting a few criminals take a whack at it.”

“Criminal.” Shaggy corrected. “My friends are fine, upstanding citizens.”

Xelthub snorted and glared at Shaggy, but he just grinned at the demon.

“Whatever. So here’s the deal. You and your buddies hit the streets and start taking down suppliers. WITH MINIMAL COLLATERAL DAMAGE!” Xelthub jabbed a thick finger into the plastic table as he nearly yelled that last part.

“That last part is nonnegotiable. We need evidence and suspects, not burning buildings and dead bodies. Also, you will be fitted with a tracking device that’ll let us know where you are at all times.”

Shaggy sighed loudly. “Then you better put me back in the box, chief. I don’t do well with collars.”

He really didn’t need a leash on him. Especially from the police the morning before they were going to get up to some mayhem. THAT was nonnegotiable. It had been something Vlad had brought up multiple times. If they were going to do this, they were going to want some autonomy from the police. Luckily, Ren had suggested a compromise.

“Give me a few vests with audio and video support. When we go to work, we switch them on and record everything. From planning to execution. Then, when we are done, we turn over everything at a dead drop. Take our payment and new assignments and do it again.”

Xelthub sucked in a breath and glared at Shaggy angrily. “You’ve thought this through.”

Shaggy shrugged and sat back in his chair. Xelthub tapped the table a few times before he spoke.

“I’ll have to send it up the chain. But if it gets approved, the brass are still going to want assurances that you lot aren’t out there running wild.”

“HAHAHAHA!” Shaggy couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing, and it took a full minute to get himself under control.

“Sorry,” Shaggy said, rubbing a tear from his eye. “But of course we are going to be running wild. However, I assure you, we are the lesser of two evils in this case.”

“You understand I can’t take your word on that, right?” Xelthub said stoically.

Shaggy nodded as he sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “What choice do you have? Send me to jail? That’s fine, I’ll sit there happily. Maybe make some new friends, plan my eventual rule of the world. Or you can work with us and we can both benefit.”

Xelthub raised an eyebrow. “Benefit? How do you and yours benefit?”

Shaggy mentally swore at himself. He and the others had planned to rob the druggies blind as they went about their business. Thinking quickly, Shaggy made something up.

“Uh… well, we eliminate the competition and we show the locals that we aren’t so bad.”

“Riiiight…” Xelthub glared at Shaggy.

Shaggy coughed and tried to maintain eye contact for as long as possible. He felt like those beady, black demon eyes were staring into his soul. But soon, Xelthub sighed and stood up. Shaggy sighed to himself and tried to stretch his legs. He briefly thought about breaking his legs out, but Xelthub interrupted his thoughts.

“I’ll run it up the chain. Don’t break anything while I’m gone.”

Shaggy grinned as the big demon moved toward the door. “I make no promises. My legs are getting a little sore, y’know?”

“That reminds me,” Xelthub turned with a hand on the door. “How DID you break your cuffs?”

Shaggy just grinned as Xelthub stared. Soon, the big demon snorted and threw open the door to the hallway. There was some shuffling of feet and the indistinct murmur of voices, but Shaggy ignored it. Hopefully, he would be out of here soon and they would have another source of income topside. A legit source of credits, from the actual police of all people. Shaggy grinned as he sat back in the chair. Whether he got shipped off to prison or they accepted the deal, he was having a wild time either way.