A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy spotted Dave and Vlad vanishing from their positions as he started running. The ground vibrated with the thundering footsteps of the robots charging in every direction from Cog’s City. The sound was joined and increased by the pounding steps of the responding players. Shaggy didn’t spend any time looking around or finding the positions of his friends. Instead, he spotted a large yellow robot in the shape of a body-builder. It had a large torso, and its sleek form was in the shape of a breaded human.

Shaggy ignored the robot’s muted facial features and readied his pounce ability. Nearby, he heard and felt the sounds of energy weapons and power blasts. Overhead, Cog’s purple and black storm waged all around. The wind smelled of oil and lightning as Shaggy threw himself at his target. The sound of other players slamming into the line of Cog bots reverberated through the air as the two sides met. Shaggy saw the flash of steel and heard player’s shouting incoherently as his own claws sank into the metal torso of his target.

The sleek metal robot’s chest caved in as Shaggy took them both to the ground. The sound of metal snapping made Shaggy turn. A player’s sword had snapped as they tried to cut a nearby robot in two. The edge of their blade was careening toward Shaggy. But he ignored it and sliced his claws through the yellow robot’s chest. The robot sparked and sputtered before it went limp. The player’s sword blade slapped into Shaggy’s side and fell into the dirt as he rolled away.

Shaggy sprang up and sliced his claws at a slim blue robot in the shape of a woman. The bot bent away from him unnaturally before it sprang back and punched him in the chest. Shaggy groaned and grabbed at the slim blue arm. He yanked with all his strength, feeling the robot leave the ground. Shaggy slammed the slim robot into the ground and then ripped its stretchy arm off. Nearby, a super-strong player bowled over several robots at once and Shaggy had to move back as the Cog bots went flying.

Lightning cracked overhead again. Bringing Shaggy’s, and several other players, heads up. In the skies above, Cog’s purple torso was still there. But it was now joined by a giant facsimile of Korrigan. The Mad Witch and the Technopath glared at each other over the player’s heads. With gusting wind and streaks of lightning, the two giant avatars clashed into each other. Purple and black colors swirled in the air as Korrigan sent bolts of lightning across the sky. Cog answered by crossing his arms and absorbing the bolts before he threw them back with a punch.

Shaggy was caught off-guard as a big silver robot yanked him from the ground. Before he knew what was happening, Shaggy was sent flying backwards. He felt his body smash into several other bodies before something arrested his flight. Shaggy tried to regain his feet as a large hairy hand tried to grab him.

“Whoa! You're still alive?!” said a young sounding voice.

Shaggy turned to look at the player that had snatched him out of the air. It was a gorilla-alien humanoid. The player had the body of a giant gorilla, but his face and legs were closer to a human. The player was staring at Shaggy in shock. Shaggy glanced back at his flight path and saw several dead players being ghosted, along with some bots that had gotten in his way.

“Dude! You got tossed!”

Shaggy grunted and nodded. “Yeah. Good thing you were in the way then, huh?”

“Not for me, dude. You sapped like a quarter of my damn HP.”

“Shit. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I got some healing potions.” The player said, tossing a red orb into his mouth and swallowing it whole.

“Would you mind tossing me back?” Shaggy asked, grinning.

The player stopped chewing the glass orb and smiled wickedly. “You serious?”

“Fuck yeah, I am.”

“Oh shit! FASTBALL SPECIAL, bitches!” the gorilla player shouted.

Some nearby players turned to look while some dove to the floor. Shaggy had enough time to get his claws in front of him before the gorilla player gripped the back of his shirt and spun. He let his feet leave the ground as his fellow player spun twice before releasing him. Shaggy immediately knew that the player wasn’t nearly as strong as the bot that threw him. But he got some distance as he was tossed back in the direction he came.

Shaggy did his best to clip anything bot-like as he flew with his claws. But he only got a few before his flight ended and he rolled through the dirt. Popping up, Shaggy sent a slash of his claws into a red bot that was aiming a handful of flames at another player. The bot exploded spectacularly, burning through Shaggy’s shirt and sending players and bots alike rushing away.

A blast of cold water caught Shaggy in the face and he turned to see a mousey girl with a wand smiling at him. Shaggy gave her a wave as her smiling face turned to awe. His burnt and blackened skin was slowing, sloughing off and growing back. A burst of gold light flashed in Shaggy’s eyes and he felt his HP shoot up. Another mage past the short girl was rapidly moving his hands as intricate tattoos glowed on his chest.

“Don’t need it. Thanks though. Send some healing in someone else’s direction.”

The male mage shrugged. “It’s all XP to me, baby.”

Shaggy grinned and gave the mousey girl a thumbs up before he rushed off again. All around, speedsters and energy users were flashing on the battlefield. Overhead, Cog and Korrigan were still engaged in their weird avatar fight. Shouting and cursing were everywhere as the independent players tried to form some kind of cohesive front. Trouble was that no one was listening. Instead, the entire battlefield was a weird scrum of players killing robots. Every now and again, a flash of white cubes would signify a player getting ghosted. But Shaggy paid little attention to them.

Instead, he rushed into the melee, throwing his claws into whatever multicolored robot got within range. Occasionally, Shaggy would get hit by a stray energy blast or electrical bolt. But he shrugged it off and pushed deeper into things. It wasn’t until a familiar black mist appeared at his side that Shaggy yanked his claws from a robot and stopped.

“Dude, what are you doing? The others are further in than you. We need to make for the city now!” Vlad said, as his body solidified.

Shaggy ducked a haymaker from a nearby robot. But the punch created a blast of wind that carried him a short distance backward. Vlad vanished and appeared behind the robot. He thrust his long black nails into the bot’s back before he tore into it. The robot fell to the dirt, sparking as Vlad glared at Shaggy.

“Quit fucking around and make for the city. The guilds are already pushing in and you know what will happen if they cordon the area off.”

Shaggy grunted, but gave a nod as Vlad sped away. He had been getting a little too caught up in the fight. He kicked a robot torso at an oncoming robot before he focused inward and released his wolf. If Vlad wanted him to make some time, then he was going to do it in style. With a twisting sensation, Shaggy came back to himself in his wolf form. He gave his great gigantic head a shake before he charged through the ranks.

With his new height, he could see over the heads of bots and players. He spotted the city and shifted his direction. All around shouts of alarm went up, but Shaggy snapped at a few robots and that seem to calm a few players. When it became clear he was making a break for the city, other players followed him. He used his enormous claws and body to clear a path and soon he was leading a charge of players through the mass of robots.

The cracking lightning overhead seemed to intensify as Shaggy ran. The wind picked up as well and Shaggy was sure he heard Cog’s avatar shouting something. Suddenly, the surrounding robots converged on Shaggy. He felt laser blast and fire hit his fur as super strong robots grabbed at his body. Shaggy grunted. Apparently, Cog was aware of his nature and had singled him out.

“The bots are ganging up on the wolf!” A player shouted before sending an icicle shooting from his wrist.

The shard of ice slammed into a bot and exploded into a cloud of snow. Nearby, more players started pulling the bots off. Shaggy dug in with his own claws and batted the nearby bots as hard as he could. A flash of blue and a joyous laugh signaled the arrival of Dave. Shaggy spotted the happy-go-lucky guy tossing bots away from him. Dave gave Shaggy a friendly wave before pointing toward the city.

“We going in, Shags?”

Shaggy gave a rough bark and nodded his head. Dave cackled and ax-kicked a robot into metal bits. With the increased pressure, Shaggy had to physically push against an onslaught of robots that seemed intent on keeping him out. Soon it got to be too much. His healing would not hold out at the rate he was being hit. So he dropped the transformation and rolled into the crowd.

Players and bots alike were thrown as the giant wolf in their midst suddenly shrank and dashed away. But Shaggy ignored it all and pushed forward. A few players spotted him and followed. Of course, Dave happily bouncing at his side, sending kicks and haymakers into approaching bots, probably didn’t help. Several players tried to ask him questions, but Shaggy ignored everything as he pushed forward. Or he tried to…

“FIND HIM!” Cog’s avatar shouted from above.

The shouting players and silent robots all glanced up. Cog’s purple avatar was glaring down at where Shaggy had been. Even as Korrigan’s avatar sent a burst of purple fire and lightning into his form. Cog’s avatar was slowly deteriorating, but he ignored at as he searched the crowd for Shaggy. When Cog seemingly couldn’t find him, the young Technopath reared back a spectral hand and tossed a ball of lightning down where Shaggy had been.

The crowd scattered as the purple ball of energy slammed into the ground. Players screamed and Shaggy threw himself away from the blast zone. Heat, smoke, and dust filled the air as the crackling ball exploded into tendrils of purple lightning. They sparked through players and bots alike. Each bolt chained into another player or bot before it struck someone else. A wide circle formed as everyone nearby got out of the spells’ ways.

Shaggy felt his own skin tingling as he kept running. He was just out of the blast zone of Cog’s attacking. Thankfully, it seemed Korrigan had used Cog’s inattention to strike deep into the Technopath’s avatar. Avatar Cog growled loudly before he disappeared into sparks of purple magic. The crowds of players sighed in relief, but then realized they still had to contend with Cog’s robot army. The field around Shaggy again fell into a wide melee. But at least now the bots weren’t actively hunting. No, now he was being pursued by annoying players.

“He was looking for you, right?!”

“Hey, wait up!”

“Where ya going?”

“How much do you think Cog would pay for you?”

“Are you like a Quest NPC!?”

“Fuck off!” Shaggy shouted as he spotted the outer buildings of Cog’s City.

Dave kept step with him and Shaggy was aware that his friend was silently guided them somewhere. The other players trailed along behind them as they battled their way deeper into across the dirt plains. Shaggy was surprised to see that as they got closer, the bots started thinning out. Most of the bots were only using a few streets to exit the city and leaving the others alone. Dave lead them toward one such side street.

Leaning against a wide metal and brick building were Shaggy’s friends and wife. He noticed that Xiv and her crew were there as well, including Bartle. Shaggy slowed to a stop and finally allowed himself to catch his breath.

“Finally! Dude, what the hell have you been doing?” Vlad snapped.

Shaggy groaned as Levy handed him a bottle of blue liquid. “Where do you think?! I’ve been fighting bots, you damn wanna-be speedster.”

“You can’t kill all of them, Shaggy.” Ren smirked.

“No, but it’s fun to try. We all here?”

Slink nodded as he gripped his rifle in his hands. “Yeah, and we spotted a nearby factory that’s churning out bots. Unfortunately, Vlad only managed to scout one.”

“Why?”

“Because the fucking Wings and Boyz are bogarting the others. They’ve formed ranks around four of them and are farming bots.” Vlad said.

Shaggy shook his head. A cough brought him around to the group of twenty Supes that had followed him and Dave. They were happily looking at Shaggy and his little group. A young man stepped out of the group and smiled at them all before he glanced at Shaggy.

“So… Wanna tell us what’s up?”

“Not particularly. No.” Shaggy said as he threw back the blue potion. He felt his stamina rushing back as the young player grimaced.

“Oh, come on! We all saw how that Cog guy in the sky singled you out. You know shit. Story shit!”

Shaggy groaned. “I got my own mess to deal with Cog. I can’t have others fucking it up.”

“You’re that Shaggy guy! The one on the forums that got all of this rolling. You killed Cog!” said a voice from the mass of people.

Shaggy groaned as Levy patted his arm. “Oh, my poor husband. So famous. So misunderstood.”

“Loved ya too, hun.”

Levy stuck her tongue out at him and smiled. Nearby, Ren looked over the small crowd before he waved them all forward.

“We can use all of you, actually.”

“WHOOO!”

“Hell yeah!”

“Told ya!”

“Lets do this!”

The shouting players fell into silence as Ren clapped his giant gray hands. Once he had their attention, Ren turned to Shaggy’s group and said.

“We need to shut down at least one factory. That’ll get more players in here and the wings and Boyz will have a tougher time holding theirs. I mean, once the RiffRaff get in here, they are already going to have issues. But if we can throw a bigger wrench into Cog’s and their plans, we might as well.”

“You know that’s not what I’m here for, Ren.” Shaggy said.

Ren nodded as the group of new players all leaned in. Eager to hear him explain. But when Shaggy didn’t, they all shot him dirty looks and one guy even booed. Shaggy ignored the peanut gallery and kept his eyes on Ren.

The big Perinadon nodded and leaned in. “They can hit the factories while we all go look for Cog. We think he’s further into the city. But we haven’t had a chance to look.”

“There’s a big, city hall-looking building at the center of town. We think he’ll hole up there, but I haven’t looked.” Vlad said quietly.

“Okay, so who's on team factory and who’s on the Cog hunt?” Shaggy asked.

Ren looked around until he caught Xiv’s eye. He waved the red-head over. “Do you mind taking the newbies toward the factory? We’re going to do something else.”

Xiv studied all of their faces before she snorted and gave them a quick nod. “Fine. But you all owe me. If you get some great loot, I want a shot at it. Deal?”

Shaggy shrugged, not really caring. But the others of his crew were slower to agree. After some quick negotiations that left Vlad and Xiv unhappy, they broke apart. Xiv turned to the group that had followed Shaggy and waved an arm.

“You lot are with me. We’re shutting down a bot factory. Ren and his team will go north and do the same to another one. Deal?”

There was some grumbling, but soon Xiv and her crew lead the crowd of players away. Now it was just Shaggy with his four friends and his wife. They smiled at each other before Vlad pointed a slim finger into the city.

“He’s somewhere in the city. We’ll swing past the city hall and trash the place before we spread out from there.”

“Sounds good.” Shaggy grunted as he stretched idly.

“Is there a plan to get Shaggy a shirt somewhere?” Slink asked.

“Yeah, dude, how do you keep losing shirts?”

“They burn. I don’t! It’s that simple.” Shaggy grumbled.

“I think he does it on purpose,” Ren stage-whispered.

“And thank you for that.” Levy winked at him.

Shaggy groaned and started walking into the city. “Let’s go already. We got a geriatric sexist to kill and a God to please.”

He felt his friends joined him as they walked into the city. Above, the clouds swirled and the clanging and shouting of combat came from all around. The battle was still raging, but Shaggy was sure the players were going to pull through. Once some factories stopped, the city would be overrun with players looking for loot and bosses to fight. Shaggy hoped they could find Cog before then. No sense sharing an epic boss fight.