A Werewolf In Under-Town

“This was a bad idea.”

“Shut it.”

Shaggy growled as they stood behind the Professor and his batch of helpers. They were all inside the large rectangular room that made up the Professor’s workshop. Well, Shaggy, Vlad, The Professor and his batch of NPCs. The lizard player had three other NPCs hovering over his workbench as they all studied the Vial.

Turns out, what the Professor meant was that his chemistry skill was virtually zero. Same with his microbiology skill. Vlad had wanted to leave right then. But after some quick back and forth, they agreed to let the Prof take a swing at it. What could it hurt? Although the process was taking longer than Shaggy would’ve liked. They’d been hovering over that table, staring at the vial for almost an hour. If Shaggy wasn’t absolutely certain they were looking at some kind of interface, he would’ve thought them frozen.

Of course, Vlad’s constant snide remarks weren’t helping much. The vampire was more impatient than Shaggy had ever seen him. If Shaggy had to guess, he would’ve thought it had something to do with the forces arrayed just outside the room. While they were talking about the vial, two more Supes showed up. A large alien humanoid that was basically just a mass of muscles and a four-armed, walking duck. Shaggy hadn’t liked their chances before. But now, if this group wanted to detain or kill them, they’d be dead.

“Seriously. This is taking too damn long.” Vlad muttered again.

Shaggy rolled his eyes. “What? Do you have a hot date coming up? You and I have the same schedule, Vlad. We both know this takes precedent. It would be a hell of a force-multiplier.”

“Not if the Quinica march into our turf or anther giant Cog Bot goes on a rampage while we are sitting here.”

“Our people can handle the Quinica. Also, the Cog bot wasn’t that difficult. Slink and the others can handle it. I bet Ren and Dave have already got another doc to look after the Needle Sisters.”

“Should we still call them that?”

“Don’t think so. But I really don’t know what else to call them. Leslie and the girls?”

Shaggy shook off the thought as the Professor’s lab-coat covered back shifted. But the big lizard-man was only shifting in his seat. Shaggy groaned as the bunch of eggheads went back to whispering. Shaggy could see the red tip of the gnome’s hat dip up and down as they all glared at the vial. The Gnome had done the only tangible thing that Shaggy had seen at the start of things. The tiny man had cast some kind of spell that made the vial glow blue for a few seconds. But since then, it had been fairly boring.

Shaggy, finally fed up with waiting and being bugged by Vlad, asked. “Yo! Prof! Anything to report, or do we have to look elsewhere?”

Everyone near the workbench shook themselves before glaring back at him. The girl and the larger boy moved to block the table from Shaggy as The Professor rubbed his eyes. He blinked a few times before regarding both Shaggy and Vlad. The Professor looked almost confused as he got to his feet.

“Oh... You’re both still here. I didn’t realize. How long have you been standing there?”

“Since you took the damn vial, Prof. What the hell? Of course, we are still here. We need to take the vial back with us.”

The small group of NPCs at the table curled further inward. As if Shaggy and Vlad were going to rush forward and snatch the vial from them. Shaggy sighed as he guessed what was going to happen. The Professor’s pensive look didn’t help things much either.

“Well…” The Professor started. “Uhhh. Would it be possible to leave the vial with me? I mean, I’ve had it for only a few minutes and my chemistry skill has jumped up like crazy.”

“It’s been an hour!” Vlad shouted.

The Professor winced and then checked his in-game clock. His eyes going glossy as he looked. When he came back to himself, he gave them both a creepy smile. Well, it was probably meant to look chagrined, but his tiny pointed teeth made the look kind of creepy in Shaggy’s eyes.

“Wow! Would you look at that? Umm, let’s go get some coffee and I’ll explain what I’ve found so far. Sound good?”

Shaggy glanced at Vlad. The vampire looked a little wary, but nodded. Shaggy pointed toward the vial.

“Let’s bring the vial with us. No offense, Prof. But I don’t trust your kids to not hide while we are outside the room.”

The Professor wobbled his head in acceptance as the teenage girl tsked in annoyance. Shaggy got the feeling that was exactly what she had planned. There was a sudden ‘fwip’ noise, and the gnome was suddenly launched through the air and on a course for the Professor’s shoulder. Shaggy caught sight of a slim cable, before the gnome landed on his perch and held the vial up to the Professor. He nodded to his gnome in thanks and plucked the vial from his hands.

Shaggy watched the exchange as he moved to take back the vial. He was very aware of all the teens’ eyes on him as he placed it back in its box. Vlad coughed and made for the door, closely followed by Shaggy and then the Professor. Once back in the hangar, the Professor circled the large workshop room and headed for an office attached to the right wall. Shaggy spotted the duck alien seated at an office desk tapping away on a holo-screen. The Professor ignored him as he bee-lined for an old coffee-maker and poured himself a cup. The duck barely spared them a glance before...quacking.

*Quack*

“I see you’ve finally poked your head up. We’ve got reports of gang activity out near Hornsby. Abby and Jar are out investigating. Shouldn’t be anything big, but I thought you should know.”

Shaggy blinked at the mechanical voice before he looked at Vlad. The pale player was stifling a laugh as he looked at the diminutive duck. There was a click and a slim black gun appeared in the duck’s upper right hand. The bottom right arm and hand were still tapping away as the duck quacked again.

*Quack*

“I’ll thank you to keep your smart-ass opinions to yourself.”

Vlad scoffed at the weapon. But Shaggy tapped his friend on the arm and tried to point out that the slim black pistol was glowing blue. Just like old man Two Gun’s pistols were. The vampire didn’t take the hint, though. Instead, he glared at Shaggy, annoyed and looking for a target. Thankfully, the Professor was there.

“Calm down, D34d-I. They ain’t here to cause trouble.”

“We shouldn’t be here at all. We should’ve left when you said you couldn’t help us.” Vlad huffed.

“Not what I said. I said, my chemistry skill sucked, and it does. Even now, I can’t identify most of what is in that vial.”

“Then why are we still here?!” Vlad barked.

Shaggy waved his friend down, but nodded. “Calm down, Vlad. Your undead heart can only take so much. Although I agree, Prof. What have you been doing for an entire hour if you can’t even work with the stuff?”

The Professor grinned around the rim of his coffee. “I never said I couldn’t work with it. I said I can’t identify what is in the mixture. However, thanks to Daivor, we know exactly what the stuff does.”

“Hoo-fucking-ray. We know what it does. It makes people stronger, right? That’s what a Super Serum is. What we need from you is more.”

“See, that’s an oversimplification. It doesn’t just make people stronger. It enhances all of their abilities. But only to a certain point. If you are stronger than what the serum does, then it’s useless. Great for non-powered or the less enhanced individuals, but Supers will not get much from it.”

Shaggy tapped his chin. “That probably explains why it was where it was. It was probably there to strengthen the lowest-rung guys. Under-Town is a rough place and we could all use a leg up.”

“How powerful does it make somebody?” Vlad asked.

The lizard shrugged his massive shoulders. “I don’t know. I’d have to see whoever took it and probably get a sample of their blood. Trouble is, I need better equipment if I want to examine the chemical makeup of something.”

*Quack*

“Put in a request form and wait. You know the drill by now.”

The duck was still staring at the screen. So he missed the annoyed look on the Professor’s face. Apparently, paperwork wasn’t what the crafter wanted to hear. Shaggy grinned as he idly rubbed his hands together.

“Why don’t we... retrieve any equipment you might need? We can probably get it faster and cheaper than you would.”

Vlad hissed, but the Professor looked interested. Until another quack came from the desk.

*Quack*

“Please refrain from having any stolen equipment in your workshop. You know we have that investigator coming. They are supposed to come at the end of the month. But for all we know, they could pop in at any moment. The last thing we need is stolen shit.”

The professor blew out a breath as he finished his coffee. After he was finished, he met eyes with Shaggy.

“If you could leave that vial here. My people and I can work on it in our off hours. We think we have a suitable workaround for some chemicals. But we need to see how everything comes together.”

Vlad snorted. “No! Nope. Not happening. We can’t trust you lot. Don’t get me wrong. You seem like nice people. But I don’t think I’m leaving our Legion’s trump card with you.”

“It’s hardly a trump card. If anything, it’ll maybe boost one or two of you guys. But for people like Shaggy? It’s useless. We need a stronger variant. One I bet we can make, but it’ll take study.”

“And time.” Shaggy added. “Time that I doubt you have. Unless you are less busy than we are in Under-Town. Shit, the whole reason Vlad is all pissy is cause his worried about our crew getting attacked at any moment.”

“I’m not pissy.”

Shaggy ignored him as he stared at the Professor’s small black eyes. Even on the reptilian player’s face, Shaggy could see indecision. The big lizard put his coffee mug down on the desk and sighed. Shaggy shared a glance with Vlad, but he was sure they agreed. The Professor had given them some good information. But if he couldn’t replicate the formula, then they needed to look elsewhere.

Suddenly the Professor stood straight, eyes flashing with an idea. Vlad and Shaggy tensed, ready for anything. Even the duck stopped typing as he glanced at the lizard-alien. The Professor grinned his creepy grin before he opened his mouth. Then he quickly shut it. The Professor glanced down at the duck at the desk then back to Vlad and Shaggy.

“I think we should have this conversation back in the workshop. I might have a workaround for us.”

Shaggy nodded, but Vlad huffed again. Shaggy rolled his eyes at his friend as he headed for the door. Behind them, another quack rose in the office.

*Quack*

“Whatever you’re planning, Professor. Don’t get caught. The ant and demon incident has given us some leeway, but not enough.”

The Professor scoffed as he closed the door. “No idea what you mean.”

Shaggy raised an eyebrow, but the Professor said nothing as he turned left. Taking a door on the right-side wall and walking out of the hangar. Shaggy raised his eyebrows as they entered the light of the sun. The Professor’s large frame shook with mirth as he slowly closed the door to the hangar before turning to them.

“What if, instead of stealing the equipment we need, we break in and use it? That way, we all get the formula.”

“What the hell does that do for us?” Vlad asked, sounding surprised.

“It means we can probably make our own if we find a chemist and the ingredients. Meanwhile, the Professor and his group get to keep their own copy of the formula and probably improve on it.” Shaggy said, studying the Professor’s face.

The lizard player didn’t look like he was lying. Although Shaggy wasn’t sure about reading a non-human face. But, if anything, the Professor looked excited. Either to break in somewhere or to study a vial of Super Serum. Shaggy turned to see Vlad looking at him. The vampire shrugged and waved a hand at Shaggy. As if to say the ball was in his court. Shaggy wanted to weigh the pros and cons of the situation, but one thing niggled the back of his mind.

“What if you create a better Super Serum? You gonna share?”

The Professor rubbed his scaly chin for a few seconds and hummed. “I don’t know. We are on opposite sides in this game.”

“Says the great big lizard, wanting to break into a place.” Shaggy muttered.

The Professor gave them his creepy grin again. “I’m only kidding. Sure, if we find out a better way to make the serum, we’ll hand over the new formula. But you lot have to call us in for the Cog Raid. All signs point to that being huge. We want to be a part of it. It’d be great for our Super-Group.”

Shaggy nodded, and Vlad shrugged indifferently. “If you can get us a better Serum, how are we supposed to make it? None of us have any crafting skills or know any crafters.”

“Ease up, Vlad. I’m sure we can find someone down in Under-Town. In fact, why don’t you head back down and look into that? I know you’re itching to get back. The Professor and I can handle some B and E.”

“Shags. You’re great, but stealth is not your thing.”

“Why do people keep saying that? It’s not my fault things go to hell and then we have to run. We can handle it, Vlad. Besides, we both know you want to go check on the Den.”

Vlad sighed loudly before nodding. “Fine. You’re right. I don’t like leaving Slink alone with just the Lackeys. We need to increase our fighting strength and quickly.”

Shaggy nodded and happily and started forward. But Vlad gripped his shoulder and spun him around, away from the Professor. Whispering in Shaggy’s ear, Vlad hissed.

“Keep an eye on that vial. We don’t want these goody-two-shoes to end up with it.”

“Oh, calm down. I’ve got it and soon we’ll have a way to create more. YOU just need to find us a chemist… or a mad scientist or something.”

“Y’all don’t whisper well. Did you know that? I mean, I can hear everything you’re saying.” The Professor chuckled.

“Fine! I don’t trust you or your Super-Friends. Don’t fuck us or we’ll come for you, got it!?” Vlad said, giving up on all pretense.

Shaggy shook his head as the larger lizard smiled down at Vlad. “Relax, dude. We’re the good guys, remember? It’s Shaggy I need to watch out for. He’s the evil half-formed mugger of innocent purses.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes. “Oh, let that go, asshole. You got lucky.”

“Sure, sure. Whenever you two are done saying goodbye. You can come in and wait, Shaggy. We probably want to wait until tonight before we do anything nefarious. So you can see how the other half lives.” The Professor said before heading back into the hangar that creepy grin on his face.

“Yeah. I already know all I want. Multi-colored spandex and an extra helping of moral indignation are a hell of a way to live,” Shaggy muttered.

Vlad snorted and covered his laugh as he turned to look at the sun. It was on its way down. Shaggy figured if the vampire actually ran, he could probably get back home before dark. Vlad must have been thinking the same. Because, after giving Shaggy a quick wave, Vlad turned into a black mist and rushed off. The blue dome shimmered as Vlad passed through it, and Shaggy winced as he waited for an alarm. But nothing came.

Shaggy unbunched his shoulders and shrugged. Maybe it was only for intruders and not those leaving. Sighing, he walked back into the hangar. The Professor was just inside, grinning like a maniac as Shaggy stepped inside. The big lizard’s mechanical arm whirred as he lifted it and wrapped it around Shaggy’s shoulders.

“Great. Glad to have you on board, Shaggy. So I was wondering, while we wait. Could you perhaps help me with a few experiments? I have a few things I want to test, and I think your healing would be a tremendous benefit.”

“Professor, you know that sounds like you want to use me as a testing dummy.”

The Professor waggled his head noncommittally. “Well… yeah. But it’s all for the betterment of in-game science! I mean, come on, you survived Two Gun’s new pistols. So your healing has to be through the roof. Why not use it to advance the sciences?”

Shaggy groaned as he was led around toward the workshop. “And what do I get for putting my body through such punishment?”

“Please. It’s not like it’ll hurt… that much.” The Professor muttered before shaking his head leading them into his shop.