A Werewolf In Under-Town

Dave looked around the room and took in the fighting. Hoping to see a way to have fun. Marvella was crouched behind some kind of magic shielding, taking fire from his Lackey's energy weapons. Johnny was dashing about swiping his sword every which way, trying to defend her. Rizer was on the other side of the room, swinging haymakers at the more robust of Dave's crew.

With a grin, Dave rushed off to fight the dinosaur first. The triceratops Player ducked a Perinadon's fist and slammed his own into the Lackey's exposed stomach. Dave heard the Lackey's armor crunch audibly as the rhino-man was sent flying. He dashed around the fighting and used the opening to deliver three kicks to Dino-Rizer. One to his leg, one to his stomach, and then to the Dino-man's chin.

Rizer rocked backward from the blow, and two more large Lackeys piled on with their own punches. Rizer roared in anger before he covered his face with his arms and pushed forward. Both Lackeys tried to herd him back, but the Player pushed through and swung his arms open wide, sending both Lackeys recoiling. Dave jumped in again, this time with a jumping tornado kick. But Rizer got his forearm up in time and blocked the spinning kick. The two of them slid across the floor as the force of the blow carried them across it.

"Fuck!" Rizer screamed as Dave thought he heard something crack.

Not waiting for confirmation, he jumped back and then toward his target again. Left leg raised to deliver another side-kick. Rizer backed away hurriedly as Dave saw the Player reach down to his belt. He pulled a red bottle from his pouch and struggled with the top as Dave watched.

"Boss! It's a healing potion!" One of Dave's Lackeys screamed.

Dave grinned as he turned to see an overly muscular human man getting ready to charge. Dave put up an armored fist and waved the guy back.

"Good! Go help with the money. I got this."

The Lackey stared in confusion for a few seconds. But Dave just smiled some more and waved him off again. Shrugging his massive shoulders the Lackey turned toward the back of the bank and jogged away. A few other Lackeys hung around, but Dave waved them off too. They looked worried, but he ignored them as he turned back to Rizer in time to see the Player toss the glass bottle away.

"That was stupid." Rizer groaned as he wrung out his arms.

"Maybe. But it'll lead to the most fun." Dave cackled.

"You're an idiot, aren't you?"

Dave shrugged and kept grinning behind his mask as he looked for an opening. The triceratops was standing against the bank counter. Beyond, several employees were still grooving to the music in the air. Gordi was still doing his job, apparently, and so was Lawrence. He made a mental reminder to call the dude off after his fight. The boss music was cool, but it was about time for the escape plan.

"You won't get away." Rizer said, simply. "The police and the HLO have this place surrounded. Even if you cube us…"

"ARGHHHHHH!" a feminine scream echoed through the bank.

Dave and Rizer looked over to see Marvella fall under a hail of energy weapons fire. Johnny looked on helplessly as his friend was gunned down. The swordsman went nuts after that, slashing and chopping away at Lackeys with his sword. Dave could see his Lackey's armor holding up, but they would not last long under the angry Player's assault.

"Plan H!" Dave shouted into the sounds of fighting and music.

The Lackeys that heard him tore off to the basement as those still fighting Johnny continued what they were doing. Dave was turning back to Rizer when a brown, scaly fist smacked him in the helmet. His beetle-like helmet helped lessen the impact, but Dave was still rocked from the blow. Rizer pushed his advantage further by closing in with Dave and deliver several rapid punches to his midsection.

Dave stepped back away from a well-timed uppercut and delivered a front kick to Rizer's thigh to make him back off. The shot made the big Player stumble, but he tried to continue forward. He made the Dino-player pay for it by clasping his hands around the Player's massive flared head and bringing it down to meet his armored knee. Dave kneed Rizer three times in the face and horns before Rizer pushed away angrily and tried to collect himself.

Dave jumped on his advantage by literally jumping off Rizer's thigh and trying for another knee aimed for Rizer's jaw. The blow missed, but Dave quickly changed tactics and flipped forward, bring his right heel around for a spinning axe kick. The back of his armored shin hit Rizer's main horn as his heel struck the player right between his other two horns. Rizer grunted in pain before he stumbled back and Dave landed his front flip.

Rizer fell into the bank counter as just beyond Dave could see the bank employees now worriedly watching his escapades. He gave them a jaunty wave as he jumped forward and delivered a massive side-kick to Rizer's side. The blow hit hard and Rizer was flung through the bank counter and beyond. Dave didn't stop to watch the rubble and instead checked on his Lackeys. Johnny had killed a few and was panting as he tried to catch the few remaining on the first floor of the bank.

"Hey!" Dave shouted, getting the young man's attention.

When he had it, Dave dashed forward again, delivering a weak front kick that Johnny parried easily. The glowing aura around the dude's sword was flickering now, and Dave could see the young man was exhausted.

"You want to take a potion, dude? You look wasted."

"Fuck you!" Johnny shouted, swiping at Dave with his sword again.

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Dave punched the sword away and stepped in to headbutt the boy hard. Johnny's messy black hair swept up as the blow knocked him back. Dave didn't push the advantage this time, though. He looked around to see if anymore of his people were up top. Lawrence was by the back door and gave the all clear sign before disappearing beyond the door. Nodding to himself, Dave heaved a sigh of relief and turned back to Johnny. The red-faced man was looking even more pissed off as he raised his sword to attack again.

"Dude, it's been fun. But it's time for this villain to make his escape."

"AHHH!"

With a fairly impressive shout of fury, Johnny dove forward, sword extending for a stab. The glow was completely gone from the blade now, and Dave shook his head as he batted the weapon aside. With little fanfare, he stepped into Johnny's personal space and got right behind the Player. Raising his two gauntleted hands up, Dave wrapped them around Johnny's head and then twisted as hard as he could. He felt the Player's neck snap and a flash of light quickly blinded Dave.

Dave sighed as the maneuvered worked. Vlad and Ren had explained to him that if the Player's health wasn't low enough, instant-kill techniques were prone to failure. His crew must have worn the poor swordsman down. Dave looked back toward the bank counter to see if Rizer was going to make a surprise comeback. But all he saw was a bunch of frightened NPCs. Again, he gave them a jaunty wave and turned toward the rear of the bank.

He dismissed his armor as he jogged to the door to the back hallway. Sliding to a stop, he looked around for any ambushes, but was happy to see a few of his Lackeys waiting for him. Gordi was there, looking exhausted and being hoisted up by several others. Dave shot the kid a thumbs up before he waved them all toward the basement.

"Plan H, people. Remember? Let's go!"

"Boss? Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, dudes. I got the whole thing memorized don't worry about it. We just got to keep running."

"Boss, I don't think I can do much running." Gordi said as they descended the stairs.

Dave threw back a grin. "Don't worry, Gordi. You're the MVP this time! No way I'm leaving without you and Lawrence!"

Dave's attitude seemed to be infectious as the other Lackeys all seemed to pick up on his vibe. They moved with renewed vigor all the way toward the underground bank. Once there, Dave spotted a few dead guards and clicked his teeth. Poor dudes tried to play hero and his people took them down. He marched into the vault and its cages and looked around. A good chunk of his Lackeys were there, minus the few that had died. All of them had bags and their pockets were noticeably full of credits. He rubbed his hands together excitedly as he made his way toward the big vault in the back.

It was picked clean, but vital to Plan H.

"We're leaving, right, boss?"

Dave nodded as he turned to see a sea of concerned faces. Only a few of the Lackeys knew the escape plan. Those involved with its execution. Slink called it operational security. He grinned back at his people as he raised his hands like he was trying to calm their fears.

"Yes, we are. From here, it's going to be a bit of running. But Plan H will be starting shortly."

"Hey, boss?! Why is it called plan H? What happened to the other letters?"

Dave looked at his Lackeys in confusion. To him, it made the most sense, even if they didn't know the plan. The letter was clue enough, wasn't it?

"Plan H." Dave smiled as he raised a fist. "H for hole."

He punched down into the tile flooring of the bank vault dramatically, only for the floor to only crack. Frowning, Dave pulled back again and punched down again even harder this time. The cracks grew out from the floor and Dave felt himself sink a fraction. Getting to his feet, Dave armored up again and leapt into the air. While in the air, he mentally clicked the Jump Kick button in his mental action bar. The action made his body contort into the shape to deliver the blow, and he aimed it straight down at the floor.

He couldn't generate a lot of power in such a confined space. But in his armored form it was enough to sending him through the floor and into the abandon subway below. He had used his short time to prepare by locating a bank that was built over such a prefect escape route. But not only had he found one, he found one that was even more perfect.

Dave brushed himself off and looked up at his crew. A few of his Lackey's faces were grinning at him as they prepared to jump down. But Dave quickly shouted at them to stop.

"Wait! First send down Gaspard and Ginger!"

His Lackeys elated faces changed to confusion before the two Lackeys were identified and thrust toward the hole. Gaspard, a hulking, stone-skinned alien, jumped down as Ginger looked down the hole with a look of worry. She was wearing the traditional robes of a mage and seemed extremely concerned about the drop distance to the subway tracks. Dave waved away her concerns.

"Hurry, Ginger. I need both of you for this. I'll catch you."

The mage still looked concerned, but the others harried her until she flung herself through the hole. Dave didn't let her fall far before he jumped up and caught her. They landed with a heavy thud, but Dave's legs took most of the impact. It took a few moments more to pry Ginger from his neck. But once he did, Dave looked down both ends of the tunnel.

"Okay, we need to find East. Ginger, you're an earth mage, so that should be easy for you, right?"

The mage nodded, still trying to collect herself. She pointed vaguely in the direction of the wall to Dave's right. He grinned as he waved to Gaspard next. The stoic stone alien seemed confused about what Dave wanted him to do, so he explained.

"Your race of aliens is good at digging tunnels, right?"

Gaspard's beady, coal-black eyes widened before he nodded sagely. Dave clapped his hands and pointed to the wall Ginger indicated.

"A tunnel to Under-Town is just that way. I need you to connect the two. Then, Ginger, once he's done, I need you to collapse the tunnel behind us. Can you do it?"

The frazzled-hair witch seemed relieved at the news. She nodded as she said. "Oh, hell yeah. Destroying is much easier than building. But can he build the tunnel fast enough? The cops have to be right on our tail."

Gaspard looked insulted at the mage doubting his abilities and quickly faced the chosen wall. With a grunt of effort, the stoney alien's hands grew to three-times their normal size. After they did, the alien man attacked the wall with them. His newly enhanced hands acted like enormous shovels as they cut into the stone and dirt in their way. Dave even saw bits of old concrete get torn to shreds as Gaspard quickly dug them a route to freedom.

Dave cackled before he looked up. "Okay! Everyone get in the vault and then seal it. After that, throw yourselves down here. We are making our break for freedom!"

Dave's own joyous cries were joined by muted ones from above as his Lackeys hurried to fulfill his orders. He looked around at the abandoned subway and sighed. It had been a fun time, and he was happy the guys had issued this little challenge. It was good times. He didn't know how much money they'd stolen or if they'd even come close to winning the bet. But to Dave that stuff didn't matter. He'd gotten to throw down with some other players and had a great time doing it. Even now the dramatic music Lawrence had chosen beat in his ears. It was when Dave was looking for the big music-making mutant that he noticed the streaming Camera was still going. Dave laughed as he spun the thing around to him.

"Whoa! Forgot about you guys! Sorry, dudes. This part is just for the professionals. Laters!"