A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy and the rest of the Pack made it back to the deli unscathed and still buzzing from their nightly run. The guards inside gave them a double-take and immediately jumped to their feet to report. But Shaggy waved them down. All that could be dealt with later, first things first.

“Is Levy back yet?”

“Yeah, boss. She’s down below overseeing construction again,” said one of the few humans on guard duty.

“Good. Anything pressing we need to deal with right now?”

“Uhhh no, boss. At least I don’t think so?”

Shaggy sighed and waved Rita forward. The tall woman nodded and began debriefing the guards as the rest of Shaggy’s pack huddled around him. He gave them all a quizzical look before he waved them away.

“Y’all can git too. You’ve been fed and went for a night run. Go see to your own business. I’ll see all of you for another patrol soon.”

His pack relaxed and broke apart. Each one of them was heading for the back of the deli and the staircase that lead to their underground cave. Shaggy took one last look around and followed his pack. He looked in on Mr. Stein’s office. But the Lackey was currently out or sleeping. Shaggy gave a big yawn and followed behind his pack as they rushed down to the cave.

He thought through all the mayhem they had gotten up to during the night and was only slightly disappointed. He’d spent a big part of the early evening talking with a bunch of business people. Which was essentially what he did out of the game. He didn’t need that here, too. But with Levy talking over those talks, he and his pack managed to do so much.

They attacked a checkpoint for information, found a HLO warehouse full of chimeras, and beat that tiger asshole, Ryall. It was a surprisingly good night. Sure, Ryall was still out there and pissed at him and his pack. But Shaggy figured the big cat-shifter would be licking his wounds for a bit. Ryall was probably also in a load of hot water with the HLO for abandoning the warehouse.

Shaggy must have been smiling because the first thing Levy asked when she saw him was.

“Was it a fun night?”

Shaggy blinked as he looked up. He had been so lost in thought; he didn’t realize he was already in the cave and had made his way to Levy. She was at the eastern end of the cave, directing the robots and earth mages. The cave had really grown out under her leadership and now the robots were building quick prefab houses. Wires and flood lights were all along this side of the cave and power was being pumped into the houses. Shaggy had to shake himself as he looked around. Their own little slice of the game was coming together. Even if they had to share it with some Lackeys.

“We raided an HLO warehouse full of hybrid animals. They were planning on releasing them into our neighborhood and causing a panic.”

Levy arched an eyebrow. “Did you kill them?”

“The animals? Hell no! We called the cops and had them clean up our mess. That way, it’ll also throw a wrench into the HLO’s plans.”

Levy nodded idly as she shouted over the trudging robots. “Cole! You and the mages can rest now. We’ll pick back up in the morning. Let the bots handle the earth moving for now.”

A man in brown robes nodded at Levy and then started rounding up the other earth mages. The large group of them all waved at Levy and then hurried off to the dormitory. Shaggy gave Levy a quizzical look. There wasn’t enough room for the mages in the dorms. In fact, a lot of them had been returning to Under-Town to rest. Levy smirked as she explained.

“They’ve turned the dorm’s common room into a sort of bar/hang out spot.”

Shaggy rubbed his chin. “Should we make them a small bar or something down here?”

“If we do, it will be over here. That side is for us and our loyal followers. This side of the cave is the backup point for the Lackeys in Under-Town. All it needs to be is big and full of rooms. Which is why I have the bots set to make an apartment complex. Just a big ole building full of rooms for everyone else.”

“That tracks. But it’s getting about that time, love.”

Levy seemed to check her own clock and sighed. “Yeah, you’re right. Time to wake up to the real world.”

Shaggy wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back before you know it and we’ll get to watch the HLO implode.”

Shaggy chuckled as he and his wife disappeared into motes of light. The real world was calling and there were things to do.

Shaggy sighed as his feet hit the ground of the cave. It had been a long workday, and he was ready to sit back and have fun gaming. Glancing around, he saw that the mages and robots were back at work clearing dirt and building Levy’s apartment complex. He waved at a few of them as Levy logged in beside him. She stretched her arms over her head and sighed as she did the same look around he had just done.

“Oh, it’s all coming together. And it goes so much faster when we miss an entire game-day of work. I need to see where my people are.”

Shaggy nodded and gave Levy a peck on the cheek as he mentally called to his pack. Rita and Stanley were up above guarding the deli. Sybil and Vick were chilling with the Lackeys in their makeshift bar, and Tom was asleep. As for Ephemara, she was… in his house?

Shaggy took his mind away from the pack link as he hurried over to his house and opened the door. What met his gaze was Ephemara’s own black eyes as she stood over a small table with several other Lackeys. She stuck up a finger, telling him to wait as she spoke to the others.

“I want Charlie and Loretta on the eastern side. Give them supplies and a comm unit and have them report any suspicious activity. Leave the north alone today. We don’t need a repeat of yesterday. Not with the cops still out in force. Vira, I need you to make another supply run to our scouts.”

Shaggy watched all of Ephemara’s people give her nods and then rush to fulfill her orders. Vira even disappeared in a cloud of smoke as the door to his house slammed open and closed. He felt his eyebrow go up as he imagined what a speedster would look like as a werewolf. Ephe grimaced as the idea seemed to hit her.

“I wouldn’t, boss. Vira can get a little flighty and forgetful. Not to mention she is too young for you.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes as he looked down at the table Ephemara was standing over. A detailed map of their neighborhood was laid out. Little markers and meeples were laid out throughout their neighborhood, and Shaggy had to smile. Ephemara had been reluctant to take on the Spy Master position. But after the stuff with Tone, she seemed to throw herself at it. He nodded down at the table.

“How we looking?”

Ephemara sighed. “Honestly, we are fine during the day. The HLO has pulled back after they were tied to the warehouse incident.”

“They were connected to the warehouse?!”

“Sort of. The building was under the name of one of their subsidiary companies. An animal rescue operation. Which did not look good for the HLO as a whole. But they pivoted well enough. But the added scrutiny on the neighborhood means that they’ve moved back some stuff. Some of my people saw them taking down checkpoints yesterday.”

Shaggy nodded. “But they aren’t giving up that easy.”

“Of course not. I’m expecting secret HLO patrols tonight. Along with a few of the braver gangs trying to push in now that the HLO is pulling back.”

Shaggy mulled that over in his mind. She wasn’t wrong. The HLO wasn’t going to give up with just one minor setback. They needed to find something more. But if they removed the checkpoints, he and the pack would have to check the HLO patrols. Ephemara read his mind as she nodded along with him.

“Yeah. That was my thinking as well. So I’ve got people in different sections of the neighborhood ready to call in sightings. But we need a better communication setup.”

Shaggy looked confused. “Why? They are adults. Don’t they have phones to begin with?”

“Service in Under-Town is shit and they haven’t had time to spend their ill-gotten gains yet.”

“Are we not giving the Lackeys time off?”

“Boss… they are Lackeys. All their time is time off. If they aren’t breaking legs or working for the Legion, they are lazing about the place.”

“Well then, send them out to steal phones or something.”

“We can’t. A phone is as good as a tracking device. We need our own form of communication that piggybacks of the standard network.”

Shaggy rubbed his hands down his face in aggravation. “Fine. Put in an order with Roald and Randa to come up with something quick. Until then, we’ll rely on the shitty store-bought communicators we stole a while back.”

“That’s what we’ve been doing and I’ll get the order to Randa.”

“Thanks, Ephe. Anything else?”

“Those Vigilantes are back in the neighborhood. They were running around last night looking for trouble.”

“Maven?”

“Yeah. They didn’t swing by, but some of my people saw them out and about.”

Shaggy idly nodded as he wondered if the other Players had finished doing their quest for the Wild Bunch. Also, if they had led any of the other gang back here. He’d have to hunt them down at some point. But first he wanted to check in with the business.

“Noted. Send me a signal if any of your people see them again. I’d like to talk to them.”

“Gotcha, boss.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Ephemara.” Shaggy said as he open the door to his cabin and walked out.

Ephemara’s voice echoed after him as the door closed. “Get me a proper Operations Room!”

The door swung closed and Shaggy quirked an eyebrow at the bossy NPC. Levy sauntered up just as Ephemara finished speaking. She stood on the porch next to him and draped her arms around his shoulders. With a smile and a glance over his shoulder, she asked.

“What was that about? Is our girl not happy with her accommodations?”

“Naw, she’s got an entire spy network set up in our living room. We need to get her an Ops room or something. At least that’s what she is barking about.”

“Hmmm? An Ops Room? That sounds way too military. Not on theme at all.”

Shaggy chuckled. “Hehe, Oh? What would be on theme, my dear?”

“A Spy Tower! We can build right next to your pack’s dormitory. It can even have a little courtyard where she can train her new spies.”

“Really? And how much is that going to set us back?”

“Please, we robbed the Rakgu family. We’ve got the money. All we need to do is assign the resources and get the system to work.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes and started walking, his arm wrapped around hers. “Fine. You handle all that. I’ve got to go up and see how Frank is doing with the Deli. I also want to check in with the pack. Have you heard that the HLO is on the back foot?”

“No, I hadn’t. Do tell.”

Shaggy explained what Ephemara had told him as the two walked toward the cave’s exit. As they did, Shaggy could spot several groups of lackeys idling around. They really needed something to do. Patrolling the cave system and tunnels was going to drive a bunch of them nuts. At least they could shoot back to Under-Town at any time. When they got to the exit, Levy brought him up short and gave him a kiss.

“I have to oversee the construction of things down here. You go check on your boys. I’ll be up when everything is set.”

“Alright, love. Put some of the Lackeys to work as well. A few of them look like they are having too much fun.”

Levy gave him an evil grin as she nodded and spun away. Shaggy watched her leave for a few seconds until he shook himself and went back to his task. There were things to check and Players to find. He felt mirth coming from his pack link as his thoughts about his wife must have travelled through the connection. But Shaggy shook them all off. They were just jealous.

Shaggy made his way through the tunnels and up the stairs to the deli. He was rounding the corner to the front of the store when he stopped. A small voice was whispering something from the room behind him. That area was the kitchen, so Shaggy crept forward and kept his ears open. As he got closer, the voice became more clear and made Shaggy grimace.

“That’s it, little baby. Nice and easy. And… there we go. See? That wasn’t so bad, was it? No! Now, for this next part, I’m going to have to move you over. Nice and easy again, and here we go.”

The voice continued to whisper sweetly to something and as Shaggy got close, the smell of blood and meat filled his nose. Which wasn’t too concerning, given that this was a deli. But the voice was downright creepy. Shaggy snuck closer, peering around the edge of the corner into the kitchen, and found Franklin standing there in a white apron. He hovered over a slab of meat, whispering sweet nothings into its bloody side.

Shaggy snuck closer to hear better, but he must’ve alerted the deli’s manager as Franklin spun around with a large meat cleaver in his hands. Shaggy crouched low and was ready to attack, but Franklin winced like a child being caught. He immediately put the knife down and began apologizing.

“Whoa! Boss, you… you scared me there. I was just getting this meat packaged up and ready for the freezer. How… how long were you standing there?”

“Long enough, Frank. What the fuck?”

Franklin flinched back as if struck before he started tapping the counter nervously. His gloved hands left traces of blood everywhere as he tried to find a good excuse. Shaggy could smell the man’s worry, even above all the blood and viscera. Eventually, Frank just shrugged and came clean.

“The meat… speaks to me.”

“It… speaks to you?”

“Yeah, sometime yesterday morning. I walked into the freezer and the meat started to… sing.”

“Sing.”

“Yes, I know, okay. It sounds crazy and now most of my staff won’t even look at me. But I swear I can hear the meat talking!”

Shaggy put up his hands and nodded. “Okay, I believe you. But how about you keep the creepy whispering to a minimum? Just while other people are here, huh?”

Frank sighed and nodded, a twinge of a smile on his lips. “Sure, boss. Can do.”

“Alright. Well… you get back to… your meat.”

Shaggy shook his head as he turned around and left the kitchen. He could hear Frank start to speak to the deli meat again, but he ignored it. Instead, he brought up the Lackey menu and tried to figure out if Franklin had caught something or maybe developed a super power or something. But the man wasn’t on the Lackey list anymore. Shaggy balked and almost rushed back into the kitchen when he noticed the Henchmen tab in the window. He clicked on it and a much shorter list of Lackeys turned Henchmen came up.

Some of the names he recognized. Not just from his own pack, but from Ren, Slink, and Vlad’s retinue’s, too. Meanwhile, they had a few more that had somehow evolved into Henchmen on their own. Shaggy narrowed down the list to only those in his area and frowned. Aside from his pack, few of their Lackeys were even approaching Henchmen territory. Not even his entire pack was made up of Henchmen.

Stanley Tigerhall (Lackey)

Human – Level 5

Personality – Quiet type

Loyalty – 94/100

Pack Bond increase 3%

Wolf Trigger – Curiosity

Stanley was still at Lackey. Shaggy looked across at the young boy, sitting and chatting away with Rita near the front of the deli. He seemed happy enough, and the boy had shown his stuff plenty of times since he joined. So what was holding him back? Shaggy set that aside for later and zeroed in on the only other Henchmen on his list.

Franklin Stein (Henchman)

Human – Level 3

Personality – Quiet/Creepy

Loyalty – 12/100

Class: Business Owner

Subclass Unlocked – Meatmancer

Subclass Level 1

Shaggy blinked at the words for a long time. He could probably guess what a Meatmancer was, but it also sounded gross. So he didn’t want to imagine it. At the very least, he knew what was going on with Franklin now. The tall, creepy bastard had lucked into a damn subclass. One specifically tailored to his day job. Shaggy shook the shiver out of his spine as he dropped his menus and moved to join Rita and Stanley.

They could feel his curiosity and revulsion. But neither of them looked surprised.

“Talked to Franklin, huh?”

“Yeah, I caught him mid-convo with a slab of Drunelofu. It was… something.”

“Yeah, apparently he can speak to the meat now.” Stanley said, shaking his head. “Isn’t that wild?”

Shaggy quirked an eyebrow. “You believe him?”

“Boss,” Rita said. “We’ve got flying humanoid squirrels running around and your wife has a skull with the demon in it. Talking to meat isn’t the wildest thing in the world.”

“I guess not. I just wish the name was better.”

“You know what he is?” Stanley asked excitedly.

“He’s a Meatmancer.”

“A meat… mancer? Like he can magically control meat?”

“I have no idea. We’ll have to send him to Levy once he’s done… conversing. Meanwhile, how are you two?”

Rita and Stanley shared a bored look before they both shrugged. “We can’t complain, boss. The work yesterday was pretty boring. We’ve mostly been showing some of Levy’s new friends around.”

“She means the neighborhood business owners,” Stanley explained. “They’ve wanted to look into the new business in town. But I think once they realized you weren’t horning in on their racket, they scampered off.”

Shaggy snorted. “Pfft. No need for that, anyway. This was only meant to be a front, remember? The real shit will go down in the basement once we get it built.”

“That’s the casino?” Rita asked.

Shaggy nodded as he studied Stanley’s face. The kid looked happy enough. So why wasn’t his loyalty going up? Shaggy’s questioning feelings brushed up against the boy as he smiled amiably at the table. Stanley looked quizzically at Shaggy and tilted his head.

“Something wrong, boss?”

Shaggy shook his head. “I was hoping you could tell me. Is there anything making you unhappy with the pack?”

“WHAT?! No! This has all been amazing. I mean, first Kev attached himself to me and then you initiated me into your pack. It’s all been awesome. Believe me. I’m tougher than I’ve ever been and I’m rolling with the boss. What could be better?”

Stanley seemed to be telling the truth. But when Shaggy glanced at Rita, he found the matronly woman shaking her head at the boy. Stanley glared at the older woman for a few beats before he eventually sighed and looked down. As he explained, he played with his fingers and avoided eye-contact with Shaggy.

“I was never a bruiser, boss. Y’know? I mean, with the Quinica and the Werewolf thing, I get it. I’m tough as hell and can throw a mean punch.”

“Third strongest in the pack after Cekrass.” Rita nodded happily, boosting the kid’s morale.

Stanley smiled into the table as he nodded. “Yeah, it’s sort of what I wanted. Y’know, power? That’s why I grabbed hold of the Quinica when it tried to escape. Then you went and made me pack and that just made me so much more.”

“But…?” Shaggy asked leadingly.

“But I kind of want to do more. Y’know, besides just hit things. I mean, I know Cekrass is happy to have a training partner and I’m glad to do it. But I want to do other stuff too.”

“Like…?”

Stanley hemmed and hawed for a bit, but then his eyes went shot back toward the back of the deli. Where Franklin was. Then he pulled himself up in his chair and turned to look Shaggy in the eye for the first time. He was still playing with his fingers, but he looked determined.

“Do you know that the government classified most of the aliens within the first few years of their arrival?”

Shaggy said nothing and merely watched as Stanley adjusted his glasses.

“But when the Mutants and the Mages started growing in number, the government couldn’t handle the workload. There have been groups since that have tried to classify and detail magic and mutations. But no one has gotten close to discovering them all. The abilities of Mutants are just too varied and Magic itself seems to defy study, despite what the wizards say.”

“So you want to… study Mutants and Magic?”

Stanley gulped. “I want to get my GED and then go to university.”

Shaggy sat back in his chair as Stanley's eyes blazed with fear and determination. He fell into quiet thought as he looked into the boy’s eyes. Stanley had been a part of Luis’ crew. Another lost orphan boy in a sea of kids who had turned to crime. Shaggy had never asked if any of the kids were in school. But he supposed it made sense. His silence seemed to spur Stanley on as he explained.

“I can take most of the courses online and I can still be a part of the pack. But I would also like to contribute differently, other than just hitting things.”

Shaggy kept his face blank and tried to tamp down his presence over the Pack Link. “What would you study?”

“I want to major in Mutant Studies and minor in Alien Anatomy.” At Shaggy’s questioning look, Stanley nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’m technically a Mutant Alien. So of course I would want to study what is happening to my body. But I think the research could also be useful to the pack. I mean, our understanding of Mutants, Magic and Aliens is still growing. I’m sure I can find something to-”

Shaggy raised a hand to cut the boy off. He tapped the table with a finger as he tried to maintain eye contact with Stanley. Underneath the table, Rita kicked him. Hard. The table shook and Shaggy glared at the woman as she pointed a finger at his face.

“Don’t you play with him. This has been bugging him for a while, and I’m proud that he finally plucked up the courage to tell you. So don’t you give him shit or make any jokes. Just tell him you decision and be done with it.”

Shaggy rubbed his shin as he glared at Rita. “Damn, woman. Who’s the pack leader here?”

“You. But I also know you well enough to know what you’re going to say. So quit picking on the poor boy.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes and waved a hand at Stanley. “Go get yourself signed up for GED testing. You’re buying the books yourself, but the Legion will cover school.”

“Boss?! No! I can pay for school myself out of the-”

“The Legion’s paying, kid, so shut the hell up and go do what I told you. Next time, come to me if there’s a damn issue with how I’m using you. If you want to be an egghead in a lab, then just say so.”

Stanley tried to look mad. But the giant smile on his face wouldn’t go away. “I’m not a damn egghead, boss. I just want to study Mutants and Magic.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get out of here already, damn it.”

Stanley rose from his chair and hurried away. The happiness resonating from the pack link seemed to echo with each member of Shaggy’s pack. He didn’t even need to look at the Lackey List to see that Stanley had become a Henchman. Shaggy could feel the power resonating through the boy. He turned to scowl at a smiling Rita. But the auburn-haired woman was merely grinning at him.

“You’re a good villain.”

“Shut up. Is there anything else I can do for the pack now? Maybe assign one of you to their dream job of trash detail?”

Rita snorted. “Play the hard-ass all you want. But Stanley’s been wanting to go back to school for a while. So have a few of the other kids.”

“Then get it set up. Create a foundation or something and have it grant scholarships to the kids. It’ll make the Legion look good, and we’ll get some good press.”

Rita’s smile grew as she looked at him. Shaggy shrugged her off and looked around the deli. There weren’t that many Lackeys in the store at the moment. But it was enough to make the place look full. Which is why it was a surprise when the front door opened and then closed quickly. The entire deli tensed up as Shaggy spun on the new face.

“Sorry, the Deli is currently full right now.”

A lump of clothes was standing in the entrance to the deli. The lump of mobile clothes seemed to pulse as Shaggy drew closer. The Lackeys in the room readied themselves and Rita had her sword in hand. As Shaggy approached the large fur coat that made up the outer layer of the intruder, he heard giggling. Then, with a flourish, the coat was thrown into the air and a shock of red spun into view. Shaggy groaned as a certain cat-girl whirled on the spot and gave the peace sign to the whole deli.

“Ruby Shroud, Ace Reporter, is back on the scene!”