A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy’s head and eyes drooped down for what had to be the thirteenth time. Vlad and the other Brute Clan elders were still in discussions about why and how their two groups should form some kind of alliance. Although Vlad said he was happy enough to get a simple non-aggression pact with their group. But, besides Wulkun, the other three elders seemed more reticent to join hands with a group calling itself a ‘gang.’ Which Shaggy thought was fair.

The seven of them were in a large meeting room that seemed to have been recently refurnished, with a large circular table and a bunch of mismatched chairs. Vlad and Shaggy were seated together as the elders all took up places as well. Aqwen had taken up a guarding position at the door and seemed just as bored as Shaggy. He was pretty sure he caught her dozing off a few times as well. Shaggy blinked furiously as the elders spoke.

“Also, Wulkun. We can not trust these gentlemen simply based on the supposed words of one of your clan members. Even if said clan member is from one of the old ruling clans.” Said an older lizard woman.

“Especially because he is from one of those bastard clans.” Another of the elder’s gruff voice cut in. “Those bastards cut us loose years ago. Why the hell would we trust one of them?”

Wulkun gave a world-weary sigh as Shaggy and Vlad watched on. The Lizard elders had been discussing their trustworthiness for at least an hour now.

“V’alla, Gor’kinak. I understand your reticence and anger, but the Professor has been a staunch ally since he met us down here and he has helped us immensely. He is no longer considered part of the main clans and has in fact been shunned by them for attempting to be a Super.”

The fourth Lizard Elder, who was slightly slimmer than the others, raised his hand. “Yes, about that part, Wulkun. How can we trust someone who is clearly that… unique? The ruling clans maybe a bunch of money-grubbing lab-lizards, but even they have shunned this individual? What does he want and why do you trust him so much? Even if he saved your life…”

BAM

The lizard was cut off as Wulkun slapped the wooden table they were using. “Jerald, I understand everyone’s skepticism. However, do you all doubt my judgment so much? I have looked into the young man’s eyes and I can see that he is trustworthy. He does not seem to harbor any ill will toward us. In fact, he seems to pity us. That is why he has supplied us with what weapons he can spare and also why my clan has accepted him as one of their own. Now! May we please move on to our chief topic of discussion?”

Vlad coughed into his hand awkwardly before saying. “For what it’s worth, I have met the Professor and found him to be an agreeable man… uh, lizard. Even if we are on different sides of the legal spectrum.”

“Yes, let’s discuss that. Shall we?” said the gruff lizard elder called Gor’kinak. “Why in the Hells should we trust a bunch of criminals?”

Before Wulkun could answer, Vlad spoke up again while smiling with a fanged-filled grin.

“Because that is the position you are in. I can understand your hesitation to shake hands with the devil. But you are in Under-Town. It is a known refuge for… individuals such as us. So if your clan plans on setting down roots here, then you are going to need allies. While myself and my associates have agreed with our friend, the professor, to leave you all alone. That doesn’t mean the other gangs down here will.”

The table went quiet, as they all seemed to digest that. Eventually the elder, V’alla, addressed Wulkun again.

“Are we sure we want to stay down here? The pale one is right. This underground cavern is full of criminals and their ilk. Don’t we have enough clans to make a push above ground?”

The other three elders scoffed, and Shaggy raised a curious eyebrow. He hadn’t really thought about why the lizards were down here. Wulkun was shaking his head sadly as Gor’kinak spoke up angrily.

“You know what happens when the ruling clans find out that enough of us have gathered in one place. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are already know we are down here.”

“If they did, we would’ve been chased out of here already by some lawyer or their hired thugs.” Jerald sneered.

Wulkun waved a weary hand. “Regardless, until they make their presence know all we can do is be on the lookout and strengthen our position here. That is why we quietly put out the call for your clans. From here, we can grow slowly and undisturbed. Away from the prying eyes of the old ruling clans. The more secure we are, the better chance we have to withstand whatever they throw at us later.”

“Not to mention the more allies you have.” Shaggy finally spoke up, drawing the elders’ eyes.

Vlad nodded, along with Shaggy’s words. “It’s true. From what I can gather, your clans are hiding from a bigger ‘ruling’ clan and I can tell you: no one hides better than criminals. Just look at the city a group of said ne’er-do-wells created under another prosperous city. All to hide ourselves from prying eyes.”

“Also, we can act as a shield and early warning system for these other lab-lizards you keep talking about. Just give us a description and we can have a few runners keep a lookout. If we see any of them, we can scare them off… or make them disappear entirely.”

V’alla caught eyes with Shaggy. “Scared would be preferable to dead. Bodies bring questions. But do you even have the manpower to do what you are saying? As I understand it, you are just a small gang.”

Shaggy grimaced. “Sure, but we’re growing and a friend at your side is better than a wolf at your back.”

Shaggy gave his own feral grin, but V’alla didn’t seem to appreciate his implication. “Are you threatening us?”

“No, he isn’t. Please forgive my Wolfy friend here. He has a tendency to be hot-headed.” Vlad quickly covered.

Shaggy shrugged, but tried to look chagrined. Honestly, he was only playing. But some elders just couldn’t take a joke. He sighed internally as he attempted to look apologetic. Although the looks around the table said his contrition was only slightly believed.

“My vampire friend is right.” Shaggy said, still smiling. “I am a little tired and hungry, so I ask elder V’alla to forgive me.”

V’alla simple sniffed in annoyance as Wulkun rapped his knuckles on the table. “That is a good idea. Let’s take a quick break here and stretch our legs a bit. We have some rat-blood coffee and biscuits in the downstairs kitchen.”

Shaggy watched the eyes of the other lizards in the room shine hungrily. He even thought he saw Vlad’s eyes glimmer with interest. He shook his head and stood along with the rest of them as they slowly marched out of the room. Shaggy wasn’t really a fan of coffee, but a pastry would really hit the spot right now. As they entered the kitchen, however, the sight of two large lizards draining the blood of a few rats into a large container was almost enough to put him off his stomach… almost.

He grabbed a few donuts and a couple of cookies before he made a hasty retreat out of the mansion. He sat on the short steps in front of the main door and ate as he watched the various lizards go about their day. The lizards all seemed rather similar in body shape and size, save for the women, who were only slightly slimmer but still as tall and muscular. Even the children looked somewhat muscular as they played in the dirt in front of the mansion.

Shaggy shook his head as Vlad sat down next to him with a mug of reddish brown liquid. The vampire sipped quietly from it as Shaggy waved a hand at the kids.

“That’s just not right. Kids at least deserve some grass to run through. This dank, dark cave ain’t exactly a great place for kids to grow up in.”

Vlad shrugged as he blew on his coffee. “Maybe, but from what they were saying, they have little choice.”

“Still sucks, though. Maybe we can find of grass seeds for them or something.” Shaggy said as he took a bite of another donut.

“You know that grass is getting more rare in the real world as well.” Vlad said.

“Bah! That’s for IRL Shaggy. In here we can probably do something about it. Besides, where I live not only has some real-grass parks, but even honest to god trees.”

Vlad just finished his coffee before turning to look at the mansion. “Well, so far, things are going well inside.”

“Really?” Shaggy raised an eyebrow. “Because from where I sat, they just discussed how untrustworthy we were and complained about their own plight.”

“Yes, but now we know about more about them and in negotiations, knowledge is power. The more of their problems we know about, the more we ways we can offer to help them.”

“And what about our own problems?”

Vlad shrugged. “What problems? From what I can see, all we lack as a group is manpower and credits, which we can get by setting up more places like the bar. Really, all I want from these guys is assurance that we won’t be attacked by them, but anything else I can negotiate is just icing on the cake.”

“Yeah, well, I was falling asleep.”

“Saw that.” Vlad said, finishing his coffee. “Why don’t you wait out here while I go back in and see what I can get us?”

Shaggy nodded in agreement and stood to go back inside for more pastries, but a shout from their left drew their attention. A large lizard in leather armor was running toward the mansion, screaming while banging a wooden club against his metal shield.

“ENEMIES AT THE GATES! ENEMIES AT THE GATES!”

The lizard was running in a zigzag pattern as he made his way toward them. All around them, the lizard burst into movement. Children were scooped up and shepherded toward the mansion as men and woman grabbed whatever weapons were nearby and started running toward the outer gate and walls. Shaggy grinned at his vampire friend before they both took off through the crowd.

Shaggy was bumped aside a few times as he saw Vlad’s shadow form flit its way around the lumbering members of the brute clan. Shaggy saw a few glances shoot his way as he broke free of the mass of lizards and started running as fast as he could while shifting his hands into claws. Not for the first time as he ran, he got the urge to hunch his shoulders and put his arms to the ground and lope like an animal.

He fought the urge for a few seconds before he thought ‘fuck it’ and placed his transformed hands in the dirt. His sharp claws dug into the earth as he kicked forward and pushed with his arms. The movement felt eerily natural and as he glanced around, he found he was outpacing the lizards. He felt his shoulders pop as his arms elongated and his speed seemed to increase as he pulled himself forward.

Shaggy could see the large gate ahead as he continued to lope. There were four large lizards trying to hold it shut, but they were being assaulted through the gate. He got a wild idea as he grew closer, and without thinking, he acted. With another mighty pull with his arms, he kicked with his hind legs as hard as he could and leapt up toward the top of the gate.

He felt his feet leave the earth, and the air rushed by his ears. The top of the gate grew closer as he sailed over the heads of the lizards, trying to keep the gate shut. Shaggy felt more free than he ever had. He could smell the blood, earth, and sweat on the enemies below. He could sense his prey and he… was not going to clear the gate. His shin slammed into the top of the gate as Shaggy realized that this was probably a bad idea.

He went cartwheeling into the mass of bodies below. The bodies broke his fall as he tried to go into a roll and lessen the damage from the fall. He ignored the pain and stood as quickly as possible, feeling his arms shorten and his shoulders pop again. As he glanced around, he noticed the attackers were all the same hybrid type humanoids they had encountered in the arena.

“Phreaks.” Shaggy thought as he saw Vlad’s shadowy form join him on the other side of the gate.

With the help of his new Enhanced Focus ability, Shaggy took in the large mass of enemies. Shaggy grimaced as he realized that there were over fifty of them and they were all heavily armed, unlike the other gangs they had encountered at this point. He mentally cataloged the enemies with large caliber guns and prepared to rush into them as fast as he could. He thought he heard the screech of the metal gate as he charged.

With a roar, he fell upon a woman with a rabbit-like face who was holding a shotgun. He slashed and he felt his claws cleave clean through her arms. She collapsed into a pile, screaming, but his victory was short-lived as he heard another gun go off and something hot tore into his stomach. He swept his claws into the mass of bodies blindly as he glanced down. There was a large hole in his right side that was rapidly healing back together.

Thanking the gaming gods that he had filled up on donuts, Shaggy spun and tried to spot his next target as he casually swiped his claws through another gang member. He spotted a large an honest-to-god centaur with a hunting rifle nearby and without thinking gathered his legs under himself. Taking another casual swat at another Phreak, he launched himself at the centaur.

He pushed both his werewolf claws together and pointed them spear like at the large horse-man’s chest. Shaggy felt the man’s rib cage crumble as his full body collided with him. His hands sunk deep as a gush of blood ran over his furry, clawed hands. The centaur jerked before going completely limp and falling over dead. Shaggy quickly ripped his hands out with a meaty squelch and grabbed for the centaur’s rifle.

Not taking the time to use the weapon, he grabbed it by the barrel and spun around, hitting anything that came within reach. Shaggy felt a few small-calibre bullets pepper his body as he spun. He felt the rifle barrel bend, then snap as he stopped. He tried to glance around, but he still couldn’t see through the mass of bodies. Shaggy thought they were winning but, there were too many attackers.

He jammed his end of the rifle barrel into an oncoming Phreaks eye and looked around for his next target, but a strange buzzing noise filled his ears. Shaggy had just enough time to locate the source of the noise before a white-hot heat burned into his chest and upper arms. He was launched off his feet and through a few bodies before he felt his back collide and punch through something metal.

Shaggy slammed into the dirt floor of another abandoned shack as he tried to get his breath back. His chest was on fire with pain, but he couldn’t get the breath to scream. Glancing down, he saw his shirt in tatters and he thought he could see his organs as his healing tried to repair the damage. But as his muscle, bones, and skin tried to knit itself together, his assailant’s shadow filled the hole he had made in the wall.

A lithe woman with a bird-like nose and tiger-like legs glared down at him over the barrel of a large bore pistol. The gun was different from anything he had seen before, with large concentric circles down the barrel. Those circles spun, electricity crackling down the barrel as the woman glared down at him with hatred in her eyes.

“Fuck you, traitor!” She screamed as she waved the gun at him.

Apparently, the gun needed to charge, as he wasn’t dead yet. Shaggy wanted to say something, anything, to get the woman to pause for long enough for his healing to finish. But he still couldn’t get air into his lungs. As he gazed up at the woman, resigning himself to Deathville, he saw a large shadow pass by the hole in the wall. It was just for a second and even with his Enhanced Focus, he could only make out the outline of an enormous creature with a wolf-like head, a furry body, and elongated arms ending in clawed hands.

Shaggy blinked, and the shadow was gone, but so was the woman with the large electric gun. He didn’t even hear a scream. All he could hear was the sound of fighting still going on outside and his still sizzling chest. He sat up as his chest and arms screamed in protest. His skin was slowly coming back as he stumbled to his feet, still awed by what he had seen. He assumed he had just met his in-game mentor and the voice that spoke up next affirmed his suspicions.

“Meet me after you're done here, little wolf. You have a lot to catch up on.”

Shaggy’s response was to cough in pain as he tried to walk toward the hole he had made in the wall. Something told him that the werewolf was long gone by the time he felt steady enough to rejoin the fight. He felt a twinge of hunger in his stomach as he glanced around. The damn electric gun had taken a lot out of him and even took a while to heal. He tried to find Vlad as he got his breathing under control.

He saw that the scrum of bodies he had been a part of wasn’t even the main fight. Many more Phreaks had taken up positions on nearby buildings and were shooting at the lizard. The Brute Clan were responding with spears and whatever recovered weapons they could get a hold of. The brutes were great in a melee, but they were getting hammered by the Phreak’s long game. He saw that Vlad seemed to agree, as the Vampire was on the rooftops taking out the long-range fighters.

Shaggy groaned as he regrew his claws and looked for a nearby target. Spotting one, he gingerly took a running leap and landed in front of a man with antlers. He batted the guy in the face, sending him careening off the short roof and into the melee below. Shaggy picked up the deer-man’s rifle and threw it toward the brute clan members. He lined for his next target as he thought about what his werewolf mentor would be like.

“Need to hurry. Finish this as quickly as possible so I can meet my werewolf Sensei.” Shaggy thought as he sailed through the air toward his next victim.