A Werewolf In Under-Town

The trip through the streets was fairly quick. The empty streets and the setting sun brought to mind images of a ghost town. Shaggy would’ve been surprised if the streetlights worked. But for now, there was just enough sunlight to cast a glow on the red brick buildings. They were approaching the supposed block. It was a large block of three, six-story apartments. Although Tone had assured Shaggy, at the center of the block was a shared space that sat between each building.

Apparently, it was originally made for renters to access the storage for the buildings. But Kek’zar had commandeered the space for his weapons’ storage. The only way in was on the northern side of the block, where a narrow alley, big enough for a car, came out to the street. A shuffling at his back made Shaggy look at their three new unwanted followers.

The two insectoid aliens were following along behind Tone as the three walked twenty feet behind Shaggy and his crew. Rita tsked but said nothing. Tone had made it clear that no one was getting into the warehouse. But once Shaggy and the ladies had set out, Tone and the other two had followed. Stealthily at first, but Ephemara put a stop to that. Rich and Lupe had long since run off.

“Should I fry these bastards?” Sybil asked. “I mean, it was kinda cute to start, but we are getting close now. They could fuck up everything.”

Shaggy rubbed his eyes, annoyed. “No. Let them be till they try something. Maybe they’ll draw fire or something.”

Turning to Ephemara, Shaggy gave the woman a once over. She had always been slight and svelte, but now her body had more of sharpness around the edges. Shaggy couldn’t quite describe it. It was like everything about the woman had snapped into greater relief. With her new status as a full Werewolf, her already confident stride had become almost a cocky strut. His thoughts made her glare at him as she caught some of them. She gave him her best mock glare.

“I’m allowed to be cocky! This feels fucking great! It’s like the world has a bunch of new colors and flavors.”

Shaggy nodded. “Good to know. But I need you to do some scouting. Start with the southernmost building and work your way up. If you find anything, let me know with that weird Remote Viewing thing.”

“Gotcha, boss. But what are you going to be doing?”

“Drawing attention and probably fire. Like you ladies know, I’m not good at the stealthy shit.”

Rita drew her sword as Ephemara vanished and they continued up the block. “What about us?”

Shaggy opened his mouth and shut it. He really didn’t have an idea for Sybil and Rita. He was just going to walk down the alley and get some attention. Sybil snorted as his thoughts became apparent to them. Both through the pack link and on his face. Rita sighed as Sybil waved at the western apartment building.

“Why don’t I head into this one and Rita goes into the eastern block? All three buildings share a storage space, right? So we can clear the buildings and meet you at the center. Sound good.”

Shaggy hedged a bit. Not really wanting his pack to take on the white-armored soldiers alone. Rita and Sybil gave him pitying looks as they read his thoughts. Sybil shook her head and hurried off before Shaggy could stop her. But Rita stuck around long enough to chastise him.

“We got this, boss. Have some faith in us.”

“I do. But These guys ain’t no joke.”

Rita grinned, her red catching the setting sunlight. “We know, boss. But neither are we.”

With that, she ran back down the block and hurried along its southern edge toward the east. Shaggy could still feel all of them through their Link. He let that comfort him as he turned to regard Tone and the two insectoids. Snorting at their presence, he rushed toward the northern side.

He had just turned the corner when he spotted something he hadn’t seen all day. A truck. It was a large box truck heading into the alley. He grinned as he spotted three guards in plain clothes waving the truck on. They weren’t wielding anything he could see. But that hardly meant they weren’t dangerous.

As the truck rolled down the alley, Shaggy walked closer. Strolling as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He heard Tone and his two friends stop at the corner as Shaggy continued on. The first guard to spot Shaggy was a lion-man. Whether he was an alien or a Mutant, Shaggy couldn’t tell. But the lion immediately called Shaggy out to his compatriots, and the three of them moved to intercept him.

Shaggy raised a hand in greeting. “Hey! Lovely evening, huh?”

The lion-man pulled to a stop about fifteen feet away and gave Shaggy a once-over. His two partners, a human-looking thug in a lightweight jacket and jeans, and an orange alien with black hair in some kind of onesie, glared at him. Shaggy merely smiled back.

“This is a dangerous part of town, friend. I suggest you hightail it out of here before you get hurt.”

“That would be a good idea.” Shaggy nodded as he kept approaching. He saw all three tense up. “But it is a dangerous time and I think some weapons that are hiding down that alley will help me and my friends.”

There was just enough time for Shaggy to see the lion’s eyes widen before he pounced. He let the ability launch him at the biggest threat and he summoned his claws. The lion-man had enough time to get an arm up before Shaggy slammed into the larger man’s chest. Shaggy grinned as he felt his claws dig into the lion’s chest and arm. He even had the satisfying vision of watching the lion-man’s arm go flying.

“Shit!” the human said as he summoned a blue ball into his arm.

Shaggy wrenched his left claw out of the lion’s chest as he and his target fell. He swiped blindly at where the human had been. He felt the claws of his left-hand rip through flesh and clothing. Screaming filled Shaggy’s ears as he wrenched his claws out of the lion and stood. The human was recoiling from Shaggy’s strike and the lion-man was roaring in pain as he rolled about the sidewalk. But the orange alien was gone.

Shaggy stood on the lion-man’s chest as he glanced around. He had a sinking feeling that the orange guy was a speedster. He tried to rush to the alley, hoping that the third man had run off that way. But a sudden slapping sensation at his side made him freeze. A grunt filled the air as he turned toward the blow. The orange alien was standing there, glaring at Shaggy and shaking out his hand.

“Did you just tap me?” Shaggy grinned as he turned to the alien.

The alien said nothing as his body phased out of sight. Shaggy noticed the puff of air as the speedster vanished. Scanning the surroundings for the speedster, Shaggy reached down and silenced the mage. Shaggy’s claws had created a large gash in the man’s chest, but he was still annoyingly alive. Another smack hit Shaggy in the back of the head and he spun, claws out.

A rush of air and a flash of yellow made Shaggy groan as his claws passed through nothing. The speedster was too fast for him to catch and he was too slow to hit the bastard. Thankfully, the speedster didn’t seem to be strong enough to hurt him. So Shaggy ignored him. With a casual flick of his claws into the lion-man’s face, Shaggy finished his business and started walking down the alley.

It was a fairly roomy alleyway, all things considered. The two enormous brick walls on either side were bare save for a few boarded-up windows. Someone had also cleared the alley of the normal trash or equipment normally found in the area. The speedster tried to batter Shaggy as he walked, appearing at odd angles and times. But Shaggy ignored him as he let his gaze climb the walls and road ahead of him.

Down at the other end of the alley was the center area. He could just make out two trucks and a load of people loading stuff up. Shaggy grinned as he switched to the roofs. They looked clear so far, but Shaggy took a big whiff of the air to make sure. When he did, he got a lot of odd smells. Metal, blood, sweat, sulfur, and a fifth smell Shaggy hadn’t smelled before. But it was musty.

His orange assailant rushed off as Shaggy got closer to the center. Shaggy kept his claws out as he waited for the speedster to tell his friends what was coming. He smiled as he took another sniff of the air. His senses were telling him that there were people on the roof. People in a metal armor of some kind. Suddenly, a rush of movement caught Shaggy’s eye, and he looked down the alley.

The people who were loading the trucks were now rushing about and a blue glow had suffused the area. Shaggy walked forward lazily as his enemies got situated. The metal smell in the air was joined by the electric smell of plasma weaponry. He could see the blue glow down the alley coalescing into white armor and weapons as he got closer. He watched as a woman bathed in blue light came out of it in a full suit of familiar white armor. Shaggy filed that bit of info away as he scanned their weapons.

Thankfully, he didn’t smell or see any disintegration rifles. But he figured it was probably better to hurry before they summoned some. With a whoop, he rushed down the alley. The troopers fired their laser weapons as Shaggy held his claws out and tried to find a target. But the troopers were annoyingly taking cover behind the trucks and in the storage areas. The air became thick with laser fire as Shaggy ran.

His skin prickled as the lasers eat away at his skin. But Shaggy ignored it as he kept moving. Soon, the firing on the ground was joined by the troops on the roofs. Shaggy grunted as his Pain Resistance did its thing and he finally spotted a target. An armored person had stuck their body out too far, calling out orders. So Shaggy launched himself the remaining distance down the alley.

His body went sailing as red and green lasers ate away at his clothes. Angling his claws upward, Shaggy hit the trooper in the side and let the person’s armor redirect his claws. His claws were shunted upward and right into his target’s exposed chin. The man gave a short-lived yelp and then went limp before Shaggy tossed him away.

People shouted and guns fired as Shaggy took in the area between the apartment buildings. It was a large square with four large box trucks parked haphazardly. Troopers ran everywhere as they tried to pin him down with laser fire. But Shaggy ignored them as he tried to find the best target. But a sudden flash of blue pulled his eye to the south-facing building. A trooper and a large wooden crate were disappearing in swirls of magic.

“Fuck!” Shaggy swore as he rushed forward.

But his way was blocked by troopers. They pulled all manner of melee weapons. Finally, casting aside their laser weapons. Shaggy grunted as he dodged a white katana and countered. His target was too slow, catching Shaggy’s claws in the chin. The person’s jaw flew, and he went down screaming as Shaggy’s head was smacked by a mace. All around him, Shaggy could see more troopers vanishing with crates of stuff. He grimaced and checked on his pack. Ephemara and Sybil were rushing to help. Their buildings were apparently empty. But Rita’s link was suddenly quiet.

Shaggy jolted as the worst popped into his mind. His carelesslness meant a dagger wielding trooper jabbed him in the side with his weapon. But Shaggy ignored it as he tried to ping Rita again. Rita answered his second prod with a rush of emotions that hit Shaggy like a sack of bricks. Suddenly, the back of the eastern apartment building exploding as an enormous wolf appeared.

Shaggy tore the arm off his dagger assailant and grinned as Rita’s wolf body went nuts in the small space. He briefly thought about wolfing out, too. But they would both be cramped into the space if he did. Instead, Shaggy focused on the troopers. The quicker they took care of them, the more stuff they would get.

As Shaggy jabbed his claws into the armpit of a soldier, he spotted Tone trying to sneak his way toward the back of a truck. Shaggy grimaced as he ducked around a claymore swung by another random trooper. He quickly dispatched his new opponent and tried to find the bat-alien again, but the man was gone. He didn’t see the two insectoids either.

Rita’s large brown and red form tumbled through the space. Crushing and biting anyone who got too close. She had bitten through a screaming trooper as a new sound crashed through everything. Shaggy saw the back of one truck come apart as Tone was flung back into the alley. An unholy roar filled the air, and everyone froze.

“One’s loose! It’s loose!” A trooper near the truck cried.

Rita batted a large alien man away as Shaggy rushed toward the truck. Idly, he spotted green flames coming from the roof above the truck and Shaggy checked to find Sybil clearing the roofs. Ephemara was still making her way through her own building, but she had been stopped by some troopers. Shaggy got to the side of the truck when something inside peeled its way out. The truck’s metal side was torn away as Shaggy came face to face with a large furry lizard.

Shaggy blinked as the thing’s beady black eyes stared at him. It was large. Longer than the truck had been, and furry in odd spots. But Shaggy also saw green armored scales across the thing’s body. Black stripes flowed up and down the thing’s body, converging at its long snout. It opened its maw and roared in Shaggy’s face, revealing enlarged canines and rows of sharp, conical teeth. To Shaggy, it looked like the unholy union of a tiger and alligator.

“Alli-ger? Tigator?” Shaggy wondered idly as the gigantic beast lumbered toward him.

The beast snapped its enormous jaws at Shaggy and he braced himself. Catching the thing’s jaws with his clawed hands, Shaggy tried to get his claws into the thing’s skin. But its hide was tough and he couldn’t really get an angle on the thing. He held the Tigator’s mouth open as its tongue flapped at him. But its strength was immense. Soon Shaggy had to throw himself to the side as the huge beast kept trying to snap at him.

Rita wanted to help. But Shaggy sent her orders to keep killing the troopers. They needed as much weaponry as they could get. The tigator rushed Shaggy again, and he threw himself around the truck the beast had sprung from. When he did, he came face-to-face with another trooper. The soldier shot Shaggy ineffectually in the chest, but Shaggy backhanded the man as hard as he could. The man tumbled away as the tigator trundled around toward them. A loud screech echoed in the alley, and Shaggy saw Tone hitting the tigator in the side with his sound waves.

The beast’s massive side wobbled a bit before it turned and regarded the skinny alien. Shaggy saw Tone swear wordlessly as the bat-man backed away. Groaning to himself, Shaggy launched himself at the tigator and clawed at it. The things roughly armored side stymied his claws, but there were spaces between the armored plates Shaggy could reach. He jammed a long claw into the space and held on as the tigator bucked dangerously.

Ephemara sent Shaggy a mental ping, showing that she was now in the fight. Sybil was still burning through troopers as Rita rolled through the alleyway. Troops were running everywhere and flashes of blue were spiriting them and Shaggy’s weapons away. With a grunt of effort, Shaggy got two of his long claws under the armored plate of the tigator and pulled. The Big beast went even crazier as Shaggy held on. It tried to pull Shaggy along as it rolled onto its side. But Shaggy merely used the leverage to yank the bit of armor off.

Another roar echoed through the alley. But this one was accompanied by a tail-swing that caught Shaggy in the chest. He went flying across the small space and crumpled into the cab of another truck. As Shaggy healed, he felt Rita get fed up and charge the tigator. Her large wolf form slammed into its side and her teeth chomped down on its armored plates. Nearby, Ephemara was using her newfound strength to rip the remaining troopers apart.

The smell of lasers in the air was almost completely gone and the blue flashes were coming less and less. Shaggy could feel things winding down when the truck he was embedded in shook roughly. Another ungodly roar filled the air, and Shaggy felt Ephemara’s annoyance. He mentally pinged the woman, and he got a mental image of another tigator muscling its way out of a small black-metal crate.

The crate had to be enchanted as the large lizard-esque creature pulled its enormous body out. Shaggy sighed as he calmed his emotions and tugged on his own wolf. Between Rita, him, and the two tigators, things were going to be extremely tight. But he didn’t want to risk his people because he didn’t shift. He felt the cab crumble as his body shifted and changed into his four-legged form.

“Took you long enough.” Rita’s voice echoed in his head.

Shaggy shook his lupine head as he rushed toward the second tigator. Soldiers dove out of his way as they shouted and he spotted Ephemara ripping a guy’s head off. She tossed the thing at the still appearing tigator and vanished as Shaggy answered Rita.

“I thought I had it. I pulled one of its plates off.”

“Noticed.” Her voice said as the alley was filled with the sounds of a pained tigator. “This thing’s hide is tough, but with some work you can chew through it.”

Shaggy nodded idly at the information as he rushed toward the second tigator. It was pulling its large tail free of the small box when Shaggy’s front claws hit its face. Shaggy felt his nails get some skin, but the tigator pulled away. It snapped its elongated snout at him and Shaggy danced backward, bumping into several more troops. He noticed the teleportation magic break apart as he bumped into them.

Another bit of information that Shaggy filed away as he dove back at his tigator. He reared up and over the thing’s jaws and he swatted at it. His claws left little scuff marks on the things armored plates, and Shaggy sighed. Rita was right, the things were tough, and this was going to take a while.

A burst of green fire to his right signaled Sybil’s arrival. The short woman had thrown herself off the roof and used her fire to back-blast her descent. Shaggy sent her an unhappy feeling at the risk, but all he felt back was her elation that the maneuver had worked. She and Ephemara set about killing the remaining troopers as Rita wrestled her tigator. His own was still snapping at him as it waddled closer.

Shaggy waited for the thing’s mouth to close before he bolted in and bit down. His fangs sliced into the thing’s nose and it waggled its giant head, trying to dislodge him. Shaggy wrenched his head around and got his back legs under the large beast. With a massive effort, he flipped the creature over and used his front paws to rake the thing’s underside. To his surprise, the skin flayed easy the beast roared in pain.

“Soft underbelly!” Shaggy thought at Rita as his tigator tried to scuttle away.

Shaggy pounced on this new information and used his strength to keep the tigator on its side. Once Shaggy had opened large gashes on the thing’s underside, it tried to disengage from the fight. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for the thing to go. Rita and her own fight were near the exit of their little fighting square. Other than the large hole Rita had made in the eastern building, there was nowhere else to go.

Realizing this, Shaggy’s tigator went on the offensive and snapped at Shaggy. But with an open wound in its stomach, it was only a matter of time until it bled out. Shaggy stayed back and let the thing tire itself out as he looked around. The troopers were gone, two of the trucks were on fire, and Ephemara and Sybil were arguing with Tone. His two Insectoid pals were oddly staying out of it as the bat-face alien pointed around at the devastation.

Shaggy's inattention cost him a few bites on his front shoulders and legs. But the tigator was running out of stamina fast. Soon, the large creature slowed to a complete stop and breathed its last. A howl behind Shaggy informed him that Rita was also victorious, so he quickly canceled his transformation and approached Ephe and Sybil.

“I deserve something! They know I was here now. They are going to come for us!” Tone was screeching.

“You are not getting a truck, bat-face. Forget it. This shit is ours now.”

Tone spotted Shaggy walking up and called out. “Hey, I helped you with that first creature-thing, right? Don’t I deserve a reward!?”

Shaggy snorted. “How exactly did the first one get out in the first place?”

Tone went quiet as Sybil and Ephemara glanced between the two. Shaggy studied the alien’s bat-like face. It wasn’t that different from a human’s aside from the nose and the tiny eyes. But Shaggy could read the guilt on the man’s face. With another snort, Shaggy waved off Sybil and Ephemara.

“Let’s get this shit loaded as fast as possible. I don’t know if these people are going to be coming back, but let’s not risk it.”

“You're not worried about this shit being tagged?” Sybil questioned.

“I am. But I still want it closer to home.”

“We’ll help.” Said a new vibrating voice.

Shaggy looked around to see the red insectoid person raising a hand. Neither one of the two insect-man had said a thing since Shaggy had met them. But apparently now they wanted to be helpful. The green one nodded along as they both moved to load weapons and crates.

“What the hell, Vud?!” Tone yelled.

“I’m Rin, he’s Vud.” The red insectoid said, nodding at the green one.

“Whatever. I thought you were on my side.”

Vud gave a chittering laugh. “That was your mistake. We just wanted to see if the new leader was worth working for.”

“New leader?” Shaggy asked.

Rin nodded as he threw a crate into the back of a nearby truck. “Normally we prefer a matriarch. But you will do. At least until you die or someone better comes along.”

“Leader is strong.” Vud nodded. “So we will follow for now.”

Shaggy wasn’t sure about the for now stuff. But it was better than nothing and at least they were helping. Sybil and Ephemara started too as Tone sputtered angrily. Shaggy just stared at the bat-alien until he eventually started helping as well. A patter of feet made Shaggy almost turn around, but his pack link told him it was Rita.

“Aw, what’s a matter, boss? Does a naked woman scare you?”

“Ha Ha, Rita. Find some clothes and then get back out here. We need to do this quick and we only have two trucks.”

He could feel her mirth through his pack link. But the shuffling of bare feet told him that Rita was listening to his orders. As she rushed into the storage areas of the apartments, Shaggy glanced at the two dead tigators. He briefly wondered about taking those things too, but he brushed it off as he loaded the stuff. But his thoughts sparked something in Ephemara.

“Why don’t we just shove them back into those spacial boxes?” She asked as she waved at the two bodies.

“Do you know how to work with Tigator hide?”

“Tigator?”

“It’s what I named them.” Shaggy grinned.

“Well, I don’t know how to work the hide. But they have to be worth something, right? I mean, why would Kek’zar keep them if he wasn’t going to sell them?”

“They’re dead, Ephe. I doubt we could get much for them.”

Ephemara just shrugged as she stacked laser weapons in a crate. Shaggy stopped what he was doing as he looked between the two large beasts lying dead in the alley. Rita head nicked and cut hers to death. Random bits of plate and viscera were everywhere. Meanwhile, his opponent was fairly whole.

“I know that look, boss.” Rita groaned.

Shaggy shrugged. “Hey, who knows? They might come in useful or at the very least be worth some credits.”

“Fine.” Sybil said. “But you’re stuffing them back in the boxes.”

Shaggy started to argue, but he stopped himself. It was his idea. With a loud sigh, Shaggy walked over to the enormous creature. The others behind them hurried on with their own work as Shaggy wondered how he was going to get the tigator back in the box.