A Werewolf In Under-Town

“Finally, I am free from that accursed prison!” The demon crowed, stopping Shaggy from launching himself at it.

“For that, I shall make your deaths swift and I shall savor the taste of your souls.”

Shaggy blinked and looked back at his wife. Margret and Jacob were running from the barn as Levy was quickly casting spells on the walls. Her purple magic stuck to the old wooden barn’s rotted planks. He wanted to ask what she was doing, but the demon started stomping toward Stanley.

The skinny teen turned silver and met the demon’s charge. The demon’s red hand reached out to grab Stanley, but the boy batted the hand aside and punched the Demon’s meaty thigh. Surprised, the demon blinked and drew back to swat Stanley. Shaggy leapt, claws extended to meet the demon’s arm. He collided with the demon’s wrist, his claws rending demonic flesh. But the force of the collision flung Shaggy back and toward the barn wall.

His heavy body met rotten wood, and the barn wall exploded in chunks of wood. Shaggy was tossed clear of the building and rolled to a stop in the dirt next to the stables. He blew out a breath as he waited for his arm and leg to heal; the blow bending both at odd angles. He could hear the raised shouts and voices of his pack and wife as they fought the demon while he waited. Once his leg had set, Shaggy quickly dusted himself off and got to his feet, charging back toward the barn.

As he went, he noticed a purple shimmer surrounding the entire building. Shaggy knew his wife was up to something as he passed through the hole in the wall and saw the fight. Stanley was wrapped around one of the demons’ arms, forcefully pulling the enormous creature downward. Rita’s sword had pierced the demon’s palm, and she was using it as a lever to yank the beats toward her. It took Shaggy a moment to find Tom, but he finally spotted the man on the demon’s back, knife raised to gouge out an eye. As Tom’s knife fell and the demon cried in pain, Levy’s voice rose over it.

“Pull him down! I need him on the floor!”

“Yeah? Then how about you hel- urk!” Rita said before she was lifted off her feet and kicked away.

The older woman tumbled through several shelves of tools before she stopped. The Red demon was reaching back toward Tom as Shaggy leapt at him again. This time aiming for the thing’s broad chest. Shaggy claws sank deep into the demon’s squishy chest and the demon barely glanced down at him. But their combined weight put the beast off its footing. Tom jumped away as they tilted dangerously, Stanley doing his best to pull the demon to the ground.

“Legs! Break the damn thing’s legs!” Shaggy shouted as he wrenched a claw out and jabbed it back in.

The demon got his balance in time to slug Stanley in the side of the head and make a grab for Shaggy. He tried to dodge the grab, but the demon’s hand was bigger than he thought and Shaggy found himself in the thing’s massive fist. As the demon glared down at him, Shaggy felt his pack pulling themselves together for another attack. But with the way the demon was squeezing him, he had his own problems.

The demon gripped Shaggy tightly, surprised that the force he was using wasn’t enough to break the small creature in his hand. Before the demon could apply anymore pressure, Shaggy tried to focus inward again. Feeding the beast within with his emotions as pain blossomed in his chest. The pain quickly lessened as Shaggy's size and power increased. The demon’s hand sprang open as Shaggy exerted all his strength against his prison.

CRACK

A loud snapping sound came from the demon’s leg as Shaggy glanced down. Stanley had delivered a hammer fist to the thing’s knee, bending it backward. The demon roared again and tittered again. Shaggy launched himself into the beast’s waist and tried to pull his remaining leg up off the ground. The demon flailed wildly as Shaggy tried to push it over, but it was getting its balance back quicker than he expected.

“It’s healing!” Stanley cried as Shaggy dug his claws into the demon’s thighs.

Shaggy was wrapped around the demon’s middle as his pack did their best to knock the damn thing over. Stanley was working to break the thing’s leg again. Tom was cutting tendons everywhere. Shaggy was wondering where Rita was when he felt a massive paw on his shoulder. Before he could register the action, Rita used his transformed shoulder as a platform as she launched her wolf form at the demon’s face.

“Careful!” Levy shouted.

Shaggy groaned loudly and even gave an involuntarily aggrieved bark. But Levy was adamant.

“Just get it on the floor! Please!”

Feeling his entire pack’s annoyance, Shaggy pulled his claws upward. Rending the demon’s legs as he did. Rita’s enormous jaws were wrapped around the side of the demon’s head, dragging it onto the floor. Finally, between the four of them, the back of the demon’s head finally smacked into the dirt of the barn floor. Shaggy was about to ask what they should do now, when purple chains sprung up from the dirt.

The chains wrapped around the demon’s arms, leg and neck. Wrenching it to the floor and spreading it out. Shaggy backed away as the chains did their work, ordering his pack to do the same. Tom and Stanley jumped back toward Levy as Rita stayed near the thing’s head. Poised and ready to dart in and bite the demon’s face off. Shaggy also stayed close in his man-beast form. But the way the chains were searing the demon’s flesh, he figured they were safe. At least for now.

He turned to ask Levy some questions, but he found his wife deep in concentration. Her hands were held out in front of her, glowing with power. Shaggy blinked as he looked between the struggling demon and his wife. He couldn’t keep the question from his lips as he heard it resonating within his pack, too.

“Why the hell didn’t you do that before?!”

“It needed to lower its horns first.” Levy said through her teeth. “It’s a sign of submission. Now shush! I have to hold like this for another few seconds.”

“Well, do whatever you are going to do fast. Rita is ready to chew this thing’s throat out.” Shaggy growled.

Levy said nothing as the magic in the room seemed to redouble. The chains clanked harshly, and the demon’s struggles grew fiercer. But it was all for naught, as Levy magic swelled around the chains and they slowly began to pull inward. The demon’s body was bent in on itself as it struggled and screamed. Its arms were bent into its back and its legs were forced into its stomach. Meanwhile, its head and horns were pulled upward as its pointed black teeth gnashed in anger.

Levy stepped forward, hands still outstretched. Her power pulsing through the room. The demon started to say something, but Levy pulled her arms up and the demon was sucked up into a little purple orb of magic. The beach ball sized orb pulsed once, then shrunk to the size of a baseball. As the ball dropped, Levy caught the orb and wiped her magic away. Its purple glow was gone, replaced with a shiny glass-like hue.

Shaggy let his shift go, as Levy started dancing on the spot, purple glass orb clutched to her chest. Rita also shifted back to human, so Shaggy averted his eyes and stared at his wife as she thrust the orb over her head happily.

“I caught me a demon!”

Shaggy nodded slowly as he waited for some added context. Levy, seeing his confusion, held out her purple orb.

“As a pet. It’s mine and will have to obey my commands.”

“So you just enslaved that thing?” Rita’s voice said from beyond Shaggy’s vision.

Levy spun around. “Yes! But it’s okay cause it’s a literal Demon. The thing eats souls, and kittens. It probably even had a few contracts open, which are now void because of its capture.”

“I wasn’t complaining. I just want to know what you plan to do with it?”

Levy tossed the orb up and caught it. “I don’t know. It could be a bodyguard or I could drain its power and add it to my own. I mean, the choices are juicy.”

“Would it even listen to you?” Shaggy asked.

“I’d have to maintain control and it would be a constant drain on my willpower. But so long as I am more powerful than it, I should be fine.”

“That thing was pretty powerful.” Stanley added, dropping his silver armour and rubbing his face.

“And it healed like the boss,” Tom pointed out.

“Then maybe I’ll drain it. People say that you have a chance to gain one of its powers if you drain a demon dry,” Levy giggled.

“You’re a menace.” Shaggy shook his head and wiped his hands of the whole mess.

A sudden creak behind them made all of them tense up as they turned. The barn door creaked open and Margret stuck her head in. At first she looked worried, but once she saw everything was alright, her face pinched into anger.

“If y’all are done wrecking by damn barn, can you kindly get the fuck off of my property?”

“But, Mrs. Margret, we haven’t finished our negotiation yet. I assure you my husband can pay for the damages to your barn. Also, now that your demon problem is dealt with, the Phantom Goats will reproduce.”

Shaggy blinked, as he had forgotten about the damn goats. He scanned the barn for the small creatures. But he found them idling by the doorway. Not a care in the world. Neither of the goats had horns now, and Shaggy wondered if that was how his wife knew about the demon. A section of the barn’s wall fell down and crashed through the ghostly goats, but neither of them registered it. Margret glared at the goats, before she returned her stare to Levy.

Shaggy could see the math playing through the rancher’s head. She seemingly came to a decision as she nodded and threw open the barn door. All of her kids and Cletus were standing there, guns drawn and ready. Cletus gleefully raised a rifle to his shoulder, but Margret waved him down.

“We can do business, but only after you pay to fix what you broke.”

“That’s fair.” Levy said, pocketing her demon monster. “But we should hurry. Demon incursions are strictly monitored. We may be lucky cause I shielded the barn. But let’s not push it. I don’t want a bunch of demon hunters rushing this place.”

“Great! More magic types are going to come ‘round here and spook all my damn chickens!” Cletus spat angrily.

“They’re our chickens, Cletus, and they’ll be fine. I’m sure these fine folks will pay for any mental strain the chickens come under…also for our discretion.”

Shaggy grimaced as he tried to remember how many credits he had with the Legion. But Levy happily skipped toward the barn door.

“Of course! We would be happy to discuss it. Shall we continue inside?”

Levy and Margret happily started talking as the alien kids dispersed. Shaggy rubbed his face as his pack pulled on clothes. He felt Rita’s hand on his shoulder as he watched his wife spending his money.

“Marriage is about give and take, boss. You know that.”

Shaggy sighed. “I do… are you naked?”

“Just from the waist up.” Rita said, and Shaggy could hear the smirk in her voice.

“Stanley, quit staring and give her your shirt, okay?”

Stanley snapped out of his stupor and quickly nodded as, beside him, Tom licked his lips. Shaggy saw a flash of silver and Tom leapt back as Rita’s sword embedded into the ground. Shaking his head, Shaggy slowly walked out of the barn, his pack arguing and roughhousing behind him. Shaggy looked up to the sky and blew out a breath as he tried to work out some mental math. But a nagging sensation on his hands drew his eyes down.

The demon’s orange blood was still on his hands. Shaggy tilted his head quizzically as the blood seeped into his fingers and palms. A whisper on the wind made him snap his head up, but the sound was gone before he could catch it. Looking back down, Shaggy found that the demon’s blood was gone. He checked his body and his pants, but not a drop of the stuff remained. Shaggy’s vision was suddenly obscured by a large notification making itself known.

Demon Blood Absorbed

Werewolf Form Augmented