A Werewolf In Under-Town

“Excuse me?” Korrigan asked, one eyebrow raised.

Shaggy rubbed at his face as he blew air out between his lips. “You heard me. Fuck off, Korrigan. I just had to deal with a centuries-year old jackass trying to shove his memories into my brain. Then I had my brain damn near rattled out of my skull by a bunch of Primal Gods! Then, I had to engage in some weird ritualistic godly bullshit. Finally, when I make what is supposed to be a triumphant return, I got you breathing down my neck. No. Not happening. Ya want Xang’s crown? Ask him yourself. He’s still hanging around, right?”

The tall sorcerer sneered, but Shaggy could see her eyes darting around the blackened sky. He could tell Xang was still watching over him. He didn’t know if Korrigan could feel the God as well, though. When the Mad Witch’s gaze fell back on him, Shaggy shrugged and waved a hand down at Cog’s body.

“He’s all yours. I’m taking my friends and getting out of here. There are three guilds on the other side of your little dome and I will probably have to deal with that shit, too. Good day.”

Shaggy stepped past the taller woman and angled toward his friends. When the Korrigan didn’t fry him in the first few steps, Shaggy took the win. That is until a big demon stomped in front of him. Shaggy growled and grew out his claws. He tried to summon his hybrid-form, but his wolf wasn’t having it. So instead, he just held his claws up and eyed the army of demons guarding his friends. Vlad was shaking his head at him, but Dave and Ren seemed ready to throw down. Slink was there too, but the slim teen was passed out on the ground near Ren.

Shaggy and the demon glared at each other for a few seconds. When he was sure he was going to have to slash his way out, a curt order came from behind. It was a short, clipped order in a language Shaggy didn’t recognize. But he wasn’t punched. Instead, the demons around his friends all moved aside. Shaggy glanced over his shoulder to find Korrigan staring at his back. When he quirked an eyebrow, she asked.

“You met the whole Primal Council?”

Shaggy shrugged, unsure how many he had met exactly. Korrigan nodded as several mages stripped Cog of all belongings. Shaggy was sure the old man had been wearing the crown before he went into the giant mech. But the damn thing wasn’t his problem now. For all he knew, Xang had hidden it somewhere. Pushing past the demons, Shaggy joined his friends.

“What’s going on?” Vlad asked quietly.

Shaggy grunted. “Raids over. Time to go.”

“But we didn’t win anything! Isn’t there supposed to be an announcement or something?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. We need to go before the other players eat us alive. Cog is dead, and I imagine this realm is going to shatter or something.”

Vlad looked annoyed, but agreed. Ren bent down and picked up Slink, and the five of them started pushing through Korrigan’s army. They drew a few dirty looks, but Shaggy ignored them as he moved toward the Mad Witch’s magic dome. The purple, see-through bit of magic was being overrun by players all trying to get a look at what was going on. Shaggy could see all manner of aliens shoving their faces into the damn thing. He shivered at the thought of the onslaught of questions they were going to get.

“So what happened?” Dave asked.

Shaggy shook his head. “Later. First, tell me what’s up with Slink.”

“He passed out after the fight. I think he’s growing a new snake… or regenerating one. However, it works.” Ren explained.

Shaggy nodded as he scanned the pyramid’s edge. Korrigan’s dome covered everything, and he wasn’t about to turn around and ask the woman to make them a hole. So instead, they waited by the edge and watched as a scrum of mages encircled Cog’s body.

“What are they looking for?” Vlad asked.

“The Blood God’s bone crown. Cog was wearing it during the first phase of the fight. But I missed it during the second.”

“Dude! Was that the gross white thing in Cog-dude’s chest?”

Vlad and Ren shared a nod, but Shaggy looked at all of them, confused. Ren adjusted Slink on his shoulder before he explained.

“When we looted Cog’s body, there were some bone white spikes in his chest. I thought his ribs had stabbed their way through in the fight. But maybe he melded with the crown somehow?”

“It’s as good a theory as anything. What did you guys pull from Cog?”

“His cybernetics, some diagrams for various robots, and a shit ton of money.”

“Which is bullshit!”

“Oh can it, Vlad! You know this game uses a Realistic Loot System. You’re not getting a legendary dagger from killing a wolf. Our loot is restricted to what Cog had on him at the time of death.”

“It’s still bullshit. We went through this entire damn Raid and all we get is his money and some tech bits we can’t even use? That’s shit.”

“Well, at least it was fun, though, right?”

“Stow it, hippy!”

A sudden commotion drew Shaggy’s eyes back to the Mad Witch’s mages. They were holding up a bloody prize of some kind. Shaggy could feel Xang’s presence in the air quiver as the mage holding the bloody crown moved over to their mistress. There was some back and forth, and then Korrigan turned to regard him. With a nod and a wave, she dismissed the dome surrounding the pyramid’s roof… and all hell broke loose.

Hundreds of players surged onto the roof. Pushing and shoving, they rushed toward the center where Cog’s body was. A few brave/stupid ones even tried to take a swing at Korrigan and her demons. However, once the witch atomized the first few players, the remaining ones scrambled around the pyramid's crowded roof. Even more were crowding around Shaggy and his friends. Shaggy was about to go full werewolf and carrying the guys out of there. But a large snap-hiss of magic and a rush of air drew everyone’s attention to Korrigan again. But she, and her army, were now gone. The crowd of players was silent for a few seconds and Shaggy was sure a few were going to complain when a notification popped to life in front of him.

Region-Wide Announcement

The Cog Raid has been completed for the first time! The mad genius, Cog, has been defeated and sent to suffer at the feet of an angry God. But this is not the end. Cog’s realm is now unstable and his robots have begun to go wild. Help contain the chaos for rewards from the local government or use the chaos to uncover some of Cog’s hidden secrets. The realm is now considered a permanent Raid Space. Heroes and Villains are free to battle over resources, experience, and Cog’s robot designs.

Have Fun!

Shaggy had to cover his ears as the surrounding players went ape-shit. Those on top of the pyramid scattered off the sides in every direction. He wasn’t sure who threw the first energy blast. But soon Shaggy and his friends were running and ducking as speedsters, energy blasts, and magic went flying everywhere. The players were killing each other everywhere as Shaggy and his friends bolted.

“This Raid Space is now the property of the Wor Boyz! All you fucks need to get out now!” a giant of a woman shouted as she punched and kicked her way up the pyramid.

Shaggy ignored the leader of the Boyz as they slid down. But plenty of other players took offense to the woman and her contingent of meat heads. The Wor Boyz were a purely physical guild and almost always went with melee weapons in other games. But in M.A.O a bunch of them had chosen super-strong or otherwise physical impressive aliens. They were punching and slicing their way through players.

Shaggy was sure the Boyz were going to turn their way. But a sudden flash of silver lit up the sky and the other guild in the Raid was suddenly on the scene. Derek and his Silver Wing’s came swooping down. Their mass collection of different wing types created a heavy gust of wind as they flapped just above the Boyz.

Shaggy rolled his eyes as Derek flipped his long black hair out of his face before shouting down.

“Anika! This is Silver Wing turf now. You and your Boyz need to get out.”

“Fuck you, ya silver chicken!” Anika shouted up at the winged Derek.

Over fifty of the Silver Wing’s people were hovering over the pyramid’s side. Shaggy wasn’t sure how many people Anika had. But the few that were with her were enough to be concerned with. A tugging at his sleeve made Shaggy realize he had stopped to watch. Vlad mouthed the words ‘let’s go’ at him and they continued their long trek downward.

Sure, going down the side of the pyramid was a lot easier than going up. But with all the fights breaking out and the Silver Wings and Wor Boyz tearing each other apart. It made navigating things extremely tricky. Then they reached the bottom of the pyramid and stepped out into pure pandemonium. Super-powered robots were waking up everywhere and throwing themselves into the melee.

Unlike when Cog was alive, though, these robots had no direction. No common sense. They rushed around, attacking everyone and everything that got in their way. Including Shaggy and crew. Dave armored up and ran defense as Ren held his hammer in a one-handed grip.

“Need to get a belt or something for this.” The rhino-alien said idly as he kicked a robot away.

“Should I wolf-out?” Shaggy asked.

“Why? Aren’t we staying?” Vlad said, as he sliced his nails through an over-eager player.

Shaggy groaned and rolled his shoulders. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty beat and I have to think we got a good amount of Evo points from all of this. The announcement said this place will still be here, so why don’t we regroup and recuperate?”

“Relaxation sounds pretty righteous right now, dudes.”

“Agreed. Not to mention that Slink is out of the game. But does anyone know HOW to leave?” Ren backhanded a silver robot before turning to all of them.

Shaggy and the others shook their heads. But Shaggy wasn’t worried. Instead, he asked his original question again.

“So... werewolf ride?”

“Please don’t put it like that.”

“Yes, please.”

“Are you going to be, like, okay though? Last time you were almost dog-piled, Shaggy.”

Shaggy shrugged. “I’ll be fine… I think. Either way, it’s the fastest way for all of us to travel. You and Vlad could speed things up and do some scouting, though.”

“Why don’t you do it? Just go all man-wolf again.” Vlad said, misting through a robot’s punch and then ripping its head off.

“Can’t,” Shaggy said, tapping his chest. “Fido is a little tuckered out right now. Apparently, that change took a shit-load out of him.”

“But you can still go full wolf?”

“Feels like it.”

The others all stared at him as they idly tore into robots. The odd player would occasionally try their luck. But with all the robots going haywire, most stayed away. Once they had cleared a spot, Shaggy focused inward and started to shift. He felt a pang of annoyance from his inner wolf, but he smacked it down and ignored it as he finished changing.

A few players around them gave cries of alarm and Shaggy raised his great enormous head. After a quick full-body shake, Shaggy knelt down and let the others get on. Ren, Slink, and Vlad got aboard, but Dave simply waved as he streaked off as quickly as he could. Shaggy gave chase, following the blue blur of his friend through the ruined city.

Everywhere Shaggy looked, buildings were stomped flat, and the dirt roads were pockmarked with large holes. Robots poured forth from the ground and the surrounding areas. Off in the distance, Shaggy could even see a few factories churning out smoke. He briefly wondered what the players were doing with the factories, but a flash of white stopped him.

A winged man and woman were swooping down at them from overhead. As they got closer, Shaggy pulled to a stop. They did the same and Shaggy noticed a slim white communicator on the woman’s wrist. It beeped and Shaggy wanted to growl as the woman rattled off his stats to the other player.

“It’s a player,” she said. “and a villain too. Bounty isn’t that high, but Cog was aiming for this thing during the raid, right? So it’s got to be worth something.”

Shaggy did growl now as he realized the two guildies were going to try to gank him. He was planning to launch himself at them when Vlad’s black mist traveled up at them. With little sound, Vlad reformed into his solid body and flicked his long black nails into the woman’s throat. She started choking as blood gushed out of the wound.

“Hey!” her partner shouted, surprised.

“Fuck off! Ya damn chickens can leave us alone.” Vlad snarled as his body turned back into mist.

The female guildie fell out of the sky as Shaggy felt Vlad’s body solidify on his back. With a huffy chuckle, Wolf-Shaggy tore back off through the city. He didn’t doubt that the other member of the Wings was probably calling reinforcements. But they were surprisingly left alone as they cleared the edge of the city. Dave was waiting there, battling the odd robot that got too close. Off in the distance, Shaggy spotted a large blue portal almost at the edge of the realm. Dave pointed.

“I think that’s it.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes and nudged the armored player with his head.

“Haha! I know. I am pretty smart.” Dave chuckled.

Shaggy groaned as they tore off across the enormous expanse of dirt. It was eerily quiet outside the city. Robots and players were all fighting like made in the city. But out on the plains, it was a virtual ghost town. A few other players were slowly making their way to the exit. But everyone left everyone else alone. At least until they got to the portal.

Shaggy could see the spooky old mansion Korrigan had chosen as her portal site through the large blue portal. But the real pain in the ass were the jackasses standing near the bottom of the portal, trying to collect credits from people leaving. The portal itself towered over all of them, dozens of feet high. But the Silver Wing’s members were even blocking that. A few flyers were patrolling above, and collecting credits.

“Oh, fuck this!” a nearby player said, echoing Shaggy’s thoughts.

“Hey! This is a Guild Zone now. So if you come in, you have to pay a tithe. Also, the guild gets a portion of everything you collect. So pay up.” A large man with no shirt and large muscles said.

He was holding a small brown bag that he put people’s credits in. but judging by the size, Shaggy didn’t think many people were paying. In fact, the people around the portal were shouting expletives at the gate guards. Shaggy yawned as he moved forward. Heedless of everyone’s raised voices. As he approached the portal, the beefy-looking guy without a shirt got in his way.

“Whoa whoa whoa! No one leaves without paying a tithe. I don’t care if you are a shifter, shift back to human and pay…”

Shaggy didn’t let the guy finished as he chomped onto the guy’s head and shoulders. To Shaggy’s surprise, the guild members didn’t die straight away. In fact, he wrestled with Shaggy’s jaws for a bit until Shaggy crunched down on the player squirming in his mouth. Once the guy stopped wriggling, Shaggy bit him in half and spit his body onto the ground. His action seemed to light the match on the whole situation as people trying to leave attacked the guildies everywhere. Laser blast went flying and players glassed each other as Shaggy sauntered through the portal.

Once through, Shaggy let everyone get off and shifted back to human. As he did, he spat several times, getting the player’s taste out of his mouth.

“Was the blood gross?”

“No.” Shaggy said as he spit again. “Fucker was dipped in oil or something. It feels weird on my tongue.”

“Body lotion?” Ren posited.

“Nasty shit is what it was,” Shaggy said.

“Guys?”

“Why would he be wearing body lotion?” Vlad asked.

“You saw the way the guy was glistening.”

“That could’ve been from working up a sweat killing bots and players.”

“GUYS?”

“Dude, this does not taste like sweat. This taste like some weird-ass body oil or something.”

“How do you even know the difference?”

“They are pretty distinct tastes.”

“How do you know!?”

“GUYS?!” Dave shouted over them.

Shaggy, Ren, and Vlad turned to look at Dave. The armored up player was pointing down the hill from the portal. It had kicked them out near the spooky mansion. Down the hill were the other players and their cars. But there was also a new group at the bottom of the hill. Shaggy swore and as Ren chuckled.

“Oh, what the fuck?” Vlad screamed as he stared down at the assembled cop cars.

“How did they even know?” Shaggy asked as he watched multiple players make a run for it.

“Guilds probably called it in.” Ren posited.

“Fuckers were fast.” Vlad griped.

“So, like, are we running?”

Shaggy chuckled as he shifted again. “Yep, then it’s back to Under-Town for the Legion.”