A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy slid to a stop in the dirt. The slide that let out into Under-Town wasn’t very steep, but it shot you out at quite the speed. A few people moved aside as Shaggy caught himself and stood up. After returning to the hangar with the Professor and getting his copy of the formula, Shaggy immediately came back home. He had ran the entire way to the nearest Under-Town entrance and raced inside. The Mage Jar-Lock had cast some kind of spell that told him no scrying had been done to Shaggy or the Professor. Yet. So Shaggy thought it best to hurry back home. Hoping the underground town would provide some cover.

“Should’ve asked if that was how it works.” Shaggy grumbled to himself.

He pushed his way down main street. The long main road was full of shoppers and vendors. All shouting and arguing about various things. Now that Shaggy was looking for them, he could spot the various guards from the different gangs. The Raks and Phreaks were patrolling up and down the large street. Even the Brute clan had a few lizards out and standing next to different stalls. The UGB was also out in force, but they were a little harder to spot. Shaggy thought they looked like plain-clothes police. Shirts and jackets bulging with obvious armor worn under the clothes. Weapons were a little too clean or too new to be from Under-Town. The UGB thugs themselves were even easier to spot. They all had the same ugly sneer on their faces as they look at the throng of black market buyers.

Shaggy kept his head down and continued to push northward toward the Arena. He was going to have to cut east at some point. But he wanted to get a look at the Quinica territory first. When he got to their section of the main road, he wasn’t surprised. Abandoned stalls and empty swathes of the street met his gaze. The area was littered with trash, junk, and even a body or two. He walked around the block a little to see what he could find. But the entire thing was abandoned. Houses stood empty and even the few weird black tents were left empty. Shaggy was more surprised that no one had looted the tents themselves. But he chalked it up to the local population, afraid of the Quinica.

He finished his walk around and started jogging toward the bar. Under-Town had bounced back well from the Cog invasion and the random gang fights. Although, Shaggy guessed that was the nature of the best in the underground city. Things were always in flux as the people at the top tried to hold on for dear life. Shaggy tried to think about how their own gang was going to fit into that structure. But he really couldn’t picture it. Carving a piece of Under-Town for themselves was fine, but did they really want to run everything down here? By this point, Shaggy had expected to see more players down here making moves. But so far, they had heard nothing.

Then again, they weren’t exactly looking into other areas. As big as they were currently, they didn’t have the manpower to scout other areas with regularity. For all Shaggy knew, there could be several factions of players down in Under-Town, all trying to take over their own little corner of things. He hadn’t been aware of the RP bar. Although he didn’t imagine any of them taking over their own section of Under-Town. But anything was possible.

After several blocks and multiple failed mugging attempts, Shaggy finally made it back to the square around the bar. His pockets were a little heavier with credits and his claws and clothes were bloodier. As usual, the square was packed with various people. Some were heading toward the large wooden bar. Others were wandering around, talking to people, or visiting one of the shops or carts facing the square.

To Shaggy’s surprise, the normal line of people looking to get into the bar was joined by another line of people. As Shaggy approached, he noticed that the second line was wrapping around the building and into the square from the western side of the bar. He didn’t recall an entrance on that side of the building. As he jogged around to get a better look, he spotted several Lackeys patrolling the square. Some gave him nods of acknowledgment, while others stared at him curiously.

When he rounded the corner of the bar, he saw a long line of people entering the bar. At several spots were small handmade signs. He had to push closer to see and when he did; he had to stifle a laugh. The signs were calling for doctors or other technologically inclined people to join them. Things like “well-paid” and “opportunities for rapid advancement” made Shaggy think that Slink had written the signs. When some people started giving him dirty looks, Shaggy shook his head and walked back around to the front. He was let through past the line waiting to be seated and entered the bustling bar.

The smell of cooked meat and fried potatoes filled his nose. Shaggy had to push past a few servers and other staff, but he made his way to the bar. He expected to find Petra there, but all he found were a few more bar employees. Including a stout-looking Minotaur, who gave him an awkward wave, his voice booming over the crowd.

“Boss! Uhhh... the other... boss is in the infirmary, doin’ the interviews.”

Shaggy gave the Minotaur a nod in thanks and started pushing past more patrons. Several hurriedly got out of his way. Others seemed stunned at the Minotaur’s pronouncement. But Shaggy figured they would catch on quick enough. More and more people were going to learn who they were with time. All he had to do was wait and the Legion’s name would grow.

Shaggy moved around the still empty stage to the hallway behind. The murmur of voices dropped as his head peeked in. The line from the side entrance was coming down the hallway and leading into the Needle’s sister’s old infirmary. Shaggy smiled as he spotted an old friend guarding the door.

“Tinsel? Is that you?”

The NPC Perinadon turned at the sound of his name. Seeing Shaggy, the big rhino-man grinned.

“Boss? Great to see your back! You here to help with this lot? Vlad, Slink, and Petra are already in there.”

Shaggy raised an eyebrow. “What about Ren?”

“Went off to handle something, I think. But they need all the help they can get with these interviews, y’know?”

Shaggy nodded as he peered at the long line of people. “Who’s idea was this, anyway? I thought Ren and Dave were looking for a doctor?”

“They were, and they found a guy, but he wasn’t interested in joining up. So Slink thought we’d try to recruit from the community.”

“Hell of a turnout.”

“Yeah. Good pay and our rep seems to have brought out a few gems.” Tinsel smiled.

Before Shaggy could inquire further, a small furry humanoid burst from the infirmary door. It chittered and squawked angrily as a loud hissing noise came from the floor. Shaggy looked down to see Moe harassing the alien’s feet. The alien backed away as Moe hissed and darted his large orange head back and forth. Once the alien was a suitable distance away, Moe headed back inside. The furry alien gave a final and especially loud squawk of indignation before it rushed out the side door.

“Well…” Tinsel said, smile gone. “We’ve also had a lot of duds looking for handouts.”

Shaggy gave the enormous NPC an understanding nod. Patting the big guy’s shoulder, he pushed his way into the infirmary. The person in line tried to say something, but Tinsel’s enormous foot thudded to the floor roughly, stopping any words. As the door swung open, Shaggy was immediately met with an irate-sounding Vlad.

“We haven’t called for the next one yet! Give us a minute to clean up in here.”

Curious, Shaggy rushed into the infirmary and looked around. Vlad, Slink, and Petra were all seated at a long table. Across from the three were four chairs where the applicants were supposed to sit. But all four chairs were knocked over and the table was a mess of papers and what looked like water. Vlad was wiping himself off as Slink took off the large robe he was wearing. Even Petra was sopping up some of the liquid that was on her shirt. Shaggy give the air a few tentative sniffs and he recoiled. The liquid didn’t smell like water.

“What is that?!” He asked, shocked.

“It’s spit!” Petra said through clenched teeth.

“Little fucker spit on us after we told him what the job entailed!” Vlad groaned.

“It doesn’t smell like spit,” Shaggy said.

“IT’S SPIT!!” all three voices shouted at him.

Shaggy put his hands up and started picking up the chairs. As he did, the others got themselves cleaned up as best they could. Eventually, he had to ask.

“So why did you let him walk out of here, then? I mean, if he… spit on you? Why not just kill him and hang him out by the door?”

Vlad sighed, as he eventually took off his shirt and threw it in a corner. “See, this is why I am happy you weren’t here for these.”

“We are trying to engender good-will here, Shaggy.” Slink said as he tentatively swiped a hand through his hair.

“I get that. But we are also a gang. We are allowed to take a rough stand every now and again. Someone disrespects us, and we nail his nuts to the wall. It’s expected.”

“Bodies are never good business, Shaggy.”

“Maybe not. But I’m not the one covered in... spit.”

Petra slumped in her chair and looked pissed as she nodded along. “I know where that little bastard lives. He’s always trying to have food delivered. I keep telling him that’s not a service we provide. Maybe we can arrange for an accident?”

Shaggy pointed at the scaly woman happily. “See? Our business manager thinks it’s a good idea? Also, why are you a part of this, Petra? Not that I’m angry, I just thought you were more focused on the… legitimate side of things.”

Before Petra could answer, Slink spoke up. “Actually, both the Infirmary and the Workshop are going to be legitimate businesses Shaggy. So I thought Petra’s input would be helpful.”

“Not to mention you weren’t here. Ren logged off, and Dave is off playing with his crew.”

“He’s training, Vlad.” Slink rolled his eyes as he took his seat.

Vlad snorted, but returned to his own chair and started collecting papers. “Goofing off is what he is doing. He should be here helping us find useful people.”

After they all got themselves and the room cleaned up as much as possible, Shaggy moved behind Petra. He checked a few of the papers she and the others were holding. But it just looked like a bunch of random facts with names scrawled above them. Slink was a little neater in his note taking, but it looked like each of them had written a few words on each candidate so far.

Shaggy sighed. “So what are we looking for, exactly?”

Slink sat back in his chair and glanced at Vlad before speaking. “Well, first we were scouting for a doctor and some staff. But then Vlad came back from topside and started talking about getting a workshop going. So we’ve kind of been interviewing for both spots. Roald’s thrown his hat into the ring, but few people around here trust him right now. After the shit with the Quinica.”

“So we want people with tech and medical experience to come work for us?”

Vlad nodded. “I figured that would help with the formula, right? I mean, The Professor had a bunch of equipment in that lab of his right? But even he still needed some special equipment. I figured what we can’t steal, a good workshop could make for us.”

“Which makes sense if we had the material. Thanks to the bots and the abandoned shacks, we have plenty of metal. But I don’t know about low-grade electronics.”

“We can always to a walk to the dump, you know?” Slink argued.

“How did that go for you last time, Slink?”

“Shut up. We’d be fine now. Besides, it doesn’t have to be a K-Tech dump site.”

Shaggy gave a short growl. “None of that matters if we can’t get ourselves staffed up. So what are we looking for?”

Petra gave a short cough, drawing all of their attention. When she saw she had it, she said. “We need a head doctor. Preferably one with abilities or a high-level of skill. Then we need a nursing staff and maybe a few alternates for the doctor. For the Workshop we need the more mechanically inclined powers. Technopaths, Technology Manipulators, and maybe even a Mad Scientist. We could settle for the Mundane blacksmiths or other metalworkers, but I don’t think they’ll be able to keep up with what we need.”

Shaggy grunted. “What are the chances we’ll find anyone like that down here?”

Petra grimaced. “Doctors are actually easy to find. At least people with low-tier healing abilities will be easier to find. But the real trick is finding someone trustworthy that we can build a team around.”

“And the Workshop?” Vlad asked.

Petra bit her lip as she looked at them all. “We probably won’t find any Technopaths in Under-Town. Most of them are scooped up, topside. The pay is just too good when they go to work for a big-name company. We might find a few Manipulators, but they rarely have the technical know-how of a Technopath. But the biggest problem with the workshop idea is going to be resources. We can’t just make everything with metal.”

“We can supplement whatever we need with stuff that we steal topside. But I think I get what you’re saying.” Shaggy nodded.

Shaggy went to grab a fourth chair to join and set it up next to Vlad. As he did, he heard Vlad ask Petra a question.

“Wait. You didn’t say anything about Mad Scientists. How likely are we to find one in Under-Town?”

Petra snorted. “Pfft. They’re a dime a dozen down here. All sorts of wannabes come down here. All looking for illegal goods to help with their nonsensical machines. But that’s not the tricky part.”

“What IS the tricky part?” Slink asked.

“They are MAD Scientists, boss. You’ve seen Roald. Sure, the kid is saner than most, but he is still a megalomaniac more at home with his robots than people. I imagine we have a few in the line outside, all itching for a chance to brag about their latest invention.”

“Well, all we need is one.” Shaggy nodded as he grabbed a sheet of paper from Vlad. “Anyone got a spare pen?”

“You’re seriously going to sit with us through these interviews?” Vlad asked as Petra handed Shaggy a spare pen.

“Yeah, why not? This is all for the Legion, right? Besides, I have a few hours before I have to log, anyway. So why not spend it interviewing a few whack-a-dos?”

Vlad shrugged at Shaggy’s words as Slink got himself ready. Petra gave them all a pitying look before she shouted at the door to the infirmary.

“Okay, Tinsel! We’re ready! Send the next couple in!”

Shaggy smiled as the sound of the door opening was quickly followed by thudding footsteps. A few aliens entered the room and Shaggy put on his best business smile. The smile instantly froze as the last man walked into the room. A man in just his underwear, wearing a cape, and a garbage can lid for a hat. But the most alarming thing about the man wasn’t his clothes. It was the three-foot long massive pink worm he had in his dirt-covered hands. A worm that, for some reason, was dressed in a modified tuxedo with a matching top hat.

Shaggy heard Petra sigh as the man took his seat. The other applicants drug their chairs away from the man as he rubbed his pet worm. Shaggy swore he saw the worm shiver under the man’s touch and he averted his gaze. Shaggy heard Vlad and Slink rapidly start writing things down as they avoided eye contact with the man. He shared a look with Petra before he sighed and tried to get things underway. But the old half-naked man was ahead of him.

“So! My name is Erasmus P. Jentlefrapple, and this is Darla! We are ready to take it to the hoity-toity elite in the above ground. WE WILL SHOW EVERYONE THE GLORY OF THE UNDERGROUND RACE!”

Erasmus ended his tirade on his feet. Darla wriggling back and forth in his hands. The three other applicants were now actively trying to push further away from the man. Shaggy gripped his nose in his fingers and put his elbow on the table. All four of them at the table shared a look before collectively sighing. It was going to be a long couple of hours.