A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy did his best to keep from growling as he glared at the people arrayed in front of him. Next to him, Levy was humming a cheerful song as she acted like this had nothing to do with her. He crossed his arms across his chest and tried to meet all four sets of eyes. But one person still wasn't meeting his gaze.

Vlad was sipping at his goblet of blood as he looked around at the wooden cabin. The vampire's typical suit and cape were gone. Replaced by a more refined and expensive-looking white and black suit. Except this one had armor padding in several strategic places. Ren was also sporting some heavy armor across his chest and knees. A massive hammer was by the Perinadon's side covered in dried blood and dirt.

Dave and Slink were both grinning at Shaggy like two kids told that they were going to McDonald's today. Dave was in a half-open Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts, while Slink was in his customary robe. Strangely, Shaggy could smell blood on all four of them for some reason and while he wanted to ask, they had bigger things to discuss.

"Oh, quit glaring, Dog-Boy. You had to have known we were going to show up for this," Vlad hissed playfully. His enlarged fangs tainted red.

"Right? This is bread and butter villainy here, Shags. Of course, we want a piece of the action." added Ren.

Shaggy snorted as he turned his glare to his wife. "This is all your fault."

"What?!" Levy shouted in mock-outrage. "Am I not supposed to inform the guild about our upcoming shenanigans anymore? I do it all the time."

"You've been narc-ing on me?!"

"Oh, shush you! It's not my fault that you don't engage with any of the Guild Functions or the forums."

"Besides, Shaggy, how do you think your little love nest has kept up with supplies?" Slink said. "Levy sends almost daily reports of your inventory and requests for weapons and armor."

"Traitor." Shaggy grumbled.

"Stop being a child already. Besides, you're going to need help with a bank heist."

"Don't you jokers have better things to do in Under-Town?"

Vlad, Ren, and Slink all shared a look before turning back to Shaggy. Dave remained leaning against the wall, smiling to himself.

"Things have reached a sort of equilibrium in Under-Town for right now. That doesn't mean things aren't about to change again. But everything's quiet for now." Slink explained.

Vlad nodded. "Under-Town Council meetings have devolved into shouting matches about which gang is going to what turf for how long. I get the sense that each NPC gang now has Players in their ranks. All the leaders are all too busy trying to hold on to power against their own members. The UGB still has a firm handle on things, but the match has been lit. The powder keg is going to explode. It's just a matter of when."

"Which means the Legion needs more capital to build up our defenses. Our supply trains are steady and borders secure. But we could always do more." Added Ren.

"Yeah, and, like, the people are more on board than ever, dudes. I mean, they, like, still hate us criminals. But they realize we're the best of a bad situation in Under-Town."

Shaggy blinked in confusion. "What does that have to do with you robbing a bank, Dave?"

"Dude, I can take that money and give it back to the people, right? Get a little Robin Hood thing going?"

Dave grinned to himself as he almost vibrated with excitement. Slink coughed awkwardly, but nodded at Dave's words.

"He's not wrong. Although I would recommend using the money for public works projects on our turf."

"Yes, keeping the cattle happy makes the farm run much smoother." Vlad grinned, and Shaggy swore he saw a red glint in the vampire's eyes.

Ren smacked Vlad hard on the back of the head. "Vlad, I swear if your little hyenas are snacking on our people again…"

"My children of the night need their sustenance, dear Ren. I cannot deny my children a meal that is so free-ARGH!"

The sound of Ren's massive hand slamming into Vlad's head echoed in the cabin's living room. Vlad dropped his theatrical tone and turned to look at Ren.

"Dude! I'm kidding! The Thralls eat outside our turf, I've told them."

Slink snorted. "Yeah, but do they listen?"

"Maybe you should, like, stop killing them, Vlad-dude. Then they'd be able to listen to you."

Vlad hissed as he looked around at everyone. "Hey! They may get a little rowdy at times. But my Thralls listen to me just fine."

"After you killed that one guy."

"So one rotten apple doesn't spoil the bunch. I'm sure Shaggy's had his fair share of shitty underlings."

Shaggy shrugged his shoulders and didn't hide his gloating. "Actually, everyone in my Pack is still running strong. In fact, the older members just hit Captain."

All four of his friends stared at him with a mix of shock and aggravation. Except Dave, who just offered congratulations.

"DUDE! Nice!"

"Seriously, we have to swap out above ground teams more. The Under-Town crews just aren't seeing your action," Ren rumbled.

Slink waggled his head noncommittally. "Maybe. But we do have a couple of Henchmen getting close. We just don't engage with them enough. Then, of course, there's Vlad's brood."

"How was I supposed to know that turning people into Vamps would take them out of the Lackey Pool?"

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Shaggy raised an eyebrow at that and checked the Menus again. His entire Pack had its own menu that he constantly checked. But they were also still on the standard Lackey menus. He looked back up to see Vlad giving him a fang-toothed smile.

"Yeah, your crew is still considered part of the Legion. But whenever I turn someone, it brings them into my Family. They almost instantly lose respect for any non-vampires and become extremely uppity. Fun fact, though, it's only MY vamps that act that way. Probably because I'm a Mutant and not a magical or cursed creature."

Shaggy could sort of understand that. Although the news that there were other types of Vamps out there was new. Sure, he had always assumed, but he figured they were an alien race or something. Turning to Levy, he found his wife playing with a strand of her hair. When she caught him looking, she smiled.

"Yes, love. There are other types of vampires. Some super powerful magic users can even create them. Although that has a tendency to go poorly."

"Huh, learn something new every day. But I bet they grow fairly quickly, right? A little blood in their veins and they can grow more powerful, right?"

Vlad gave a grunt in response. "Not really. So far I've only unlocked three ranks for my Family. Ghouls, Thralls, and Vampires."

"And his first vampire went power mad and tried to kill him."

Vlad sighed, back to his theatrics. "Ahhh, my Abraham. So strong, so cunning. Such a disappointment."

"Since then, Vlad's kept his Thralls in check."

"In that case, you don't get to bitch about my Captains." Shaggy said, to which Vlad simply shrugged.

"But I do." Ren inserted. "I've got a team of Henchmen just sitting in the nineties on the Loyalty Scores. I know it's from the work we are doing. Sure, transportation is an important part of our business. But my boys are brawlers. They want to throw down."

Slink nodded. "I'm willing to bet that's the same problem with my logistics staff. They are great at crunching numbers. But they need to stretch their legs."

Levy sat forward on their sofa, a wild glint in her eye. "Now there's an idea."

Shaggy felt a shiver go down his back as Vlad, Ren, and Slink looked on with interest. He didn't know what his wife was planning, but he was sure it wasn't going to be good.

"We've got five teams here, right? And at least two of you want to move some of your Hench's up to Captains?"

Slink's eyes blazed with the same light as Levy's when he caught on. "So we split up! You and Shaggy can continue on your own little mission. But the rest of the Legion Leaders can take on our own banks."

"Dudes! We can, like, make it a contest too! Most money stolen in a night wins!"

Vlad sat a little straighter. "Straight credits or value of all merchandise stolen?"

"Value." Shaggy added.

Ren was nodding along until a thought seemed to hit him. "Hang on. This isn't fair. Shaggy's got a head start."

"So we won't go until all of you are ready." Levy giggled. "Each of you can find a bank. Somewhere outside the city. Then, when we are all in position, we can hit each bank at the same time."

"We can even leave the Legion's calling card. Let the city know we're here to stay." Slink rubbed his hands together.

"What about Dave?" Shaggy asked when he realized the laid-back mutant hadn't mentioned his own team.

Vlad, Ren, and Slink all snorted at the same time. Dave's cheeks went red as the man scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Who do you think got most of our Lackey's to Henchmen in the first place?" Slink asked.

Ren nodded. "Yeah, the dude could walk into the Den right now and have his pick of team members. They love the guy."

"For some reason." Vlad muttered.

"There a good bunch of dudes. Y'know, for a batch of villains. But don't worry, I know a few guys that could help."

"I could offer to turn my Thralls into true vampires if we win." Vlad said haughtily.

"And even if Slink and I lose, our people will probably move up to Captain." Ren said.

"Which is good for the Legion overall. The more people we can delegate tasks to, the more freedom we get." Slink added excitedly.

A glance at Slink made Shaggy wince slightly as he thought of something. "Wait, Slink. Are you going to be okay? I mean, a bank heist is supposedly one of the hardest things in the game to pull off. Supes of all shapes and sizes come out of the woodwork when one gets called in."

Slink's eyes narrowed at Shaggy's words. "I'll have you know my people are just as talented as any of yours. I have no doubt me and my people will win this thing for sure."

Shaggy snorted good-naturedly. "Alright then. After midnight tonight, we'll all pick a place and begin. From there, we'll have the whole day to start our plans and then the next morning we'll meet in Under-Town to calculate the winner."

"What's the winner get?" Levy asked excitedly, drawing everyone's eyes.

"Hold up. Total foul, dude. Levy's a Founding Member too. She can't be on Shaggy's team."

"Yeah!"

"Unfair."

"Purple haired witch."

Shaggy pointed an aggressive finger at Vlad. While factually true, the vampire's words were a little close to the line. Vlad simple grinned and sipped his blood again. Blowing air through his nose, Shaggy turned back to his wife. She was a leader in the Legion, but without her, his team would have a harder time with magical wards. Then again, so would the other teams. Levy was smiling at him again, seemingly reading his mind, as she was often known to do. Seeing the familiar flicker in her eyes, Shaggy could only sigh.

"Fine. But you're finding your own bank, love."

"Trade you some Mages for Ephemara or Rita's help."

"Deal."

"Whoa!"

"Hey!"

"You can't do that!"

"Righteous! Hahahaha!"

The group fell into further arguments about the upcoming competition. Rules were put in place, deals were struck, and contingencies planned for when if things turned to shit. The game was audacious and probably a little too bold for them. But Shaggy figured they were having fun, so what could go wrong? Of course, when he brought that up, he was shunned mercilessly for raising such a flag.

An hour later, the group broke up, and the guys went off to gather their teams. Levy and Shaggy shored up their own teams, with Levy grabbing Rita for the heavy lifting and passing Shaggy a young wizard named Milo. The unassuming young mage reminded Shaggy of Seth, so he paired the two together for the night. He was about to run around and collect his own team when Tom finally checked in.

"Got it, boss! Big international bank to south of Austin. Physical security is shit, and the magical security looks to be run by a team of mages."

"International?! Are you kidding?! We need to be in and out, Tom!"

"Boss, I got this. My boys grabbed some of the mages. We got the keys to the kingdom. We just need to make sure the physical stuff is brought down."

Shaggy scratched his chin as he glanced around. Levy was over by her tower, smiling at her various mages as she explained tonight. He couldn't keep his own smile off his face as he thought about winning. It was a typical gamer bet, mostly done for the clout and bragging rights. But Slink had taken things a step further. Now whoever won wouldn't have to pay a cut to the league out of their stolen goods.

"Sorry, love." Shaggy whispered. "You're going down."

Turning back to his mental communication with Tom, Shaggy asked. "Tell me more about this building."

"Boss, you won't believe it. Four stories of Candy Land. First floor and second floor are straight credit vaults. But the third floor is an alien resource deposit site!"

"And the fourth floor?"

"Magical artifact holding for the SPPD. It's the most heavily guarded though, and we might want to give it a miss." Tom added, almost hesitatingly. "But, y'know, nothing wrong with looking around when we are there, right?"

"Right." Shaggy agreed as Levy caught his eye and waved at him. He could see the flicker of competition spark within her eyes.

Tonight was going to be a blast.