A Werewolf In Under-Town

"You're killing me, Levy." Sybil sighed heavily.

The sorceress scowled as Shaggy looked around Sybil's auto shop. The bug brothers were tearing down a sedan while dozens of other aliens and humans moved pieces of cars. Sybil had filled out her cohort of Lackeys with a bunch of like-minded gear-heads. They were marching around the shop, chopping up and putting back together cars.

"What do you mean?" Levy asked, still scowling.

"Dear, this is a XRB Spyder! We don't have the equipment to scrap and resale this," Sybil said, waving a hand at the sleek purple car they had stolen.

Shaggy had insisted they bring the thing straight to Sybil. Mostly to see what the tiny werewolf thought they could do with it. She did not look receptive.

"I'm not asking you to scrap it! I want you to clean it so I can drive it around!"

"Yeah, that ain't happening either. In fact, I'm surprised you got it out of the damn driveway. You said you grabbed this in the residential area east of here?"

"Southeast, but yeah. In what basically amounted to a corporate suburb." Shaggy answered as he watched the busy shop.

"Then I'd crash this into the nearest wall and run away."

"WHY!?" Levy said, sounding distraught.

"Cause it's clearly a trap, or at the very least, it belongs to someone with more money than sense. And people like that usually want their cars back."

"I sent a hefty pulse through the thing, Syb. Whatever tracker was in the thing is most likely fried and I didn't find any trace of magical tag on it."

"Well, that's something. But I still don't have the equipment to tear down this thing or wipe the internals clean."

"Why do you keep wanting to rip apart my baby?" Levy asked, incredulous.

"Because that's what we do, boss-lady. We tear down the cars and sell the parts to other wholesalers. Barring that, we reassemble the pieces into scrubbed clean cars. But to do that to a car, this high-end requires specialized equipment."

"Where do we get the equipment, then?"

"A Terrirai dealership? That would be my bet. But good luck with that. They don't exactly sell them to low-rent auto shops."

"What in the hell makes you think I'm going to buy it?" Levy asked.

Sybil could only nod her head understandingly. "Fair point. Just let me know when you have the equipment and I'll get to work. Until then, we'll hide it here. We can bury the damn thing under the junkers out back."

"You'll scratch it."

"You're going with her." Shaggy stated. "You and your team here. Y'all can pick up any other specialized equipment you find."

"Boss! I have a bunch of other cars to tear down and shipments to see to."

"Then I suggest you work fast. Cause you are going with her, Sybil. Got it?"

The short blond werewolf huffed in exasperation but nodded her head. Almost immediately, the tiny woman spun around and started yelling at her workers. Levy was still staring at the purple sports car sitting in Sybil's automotive bay. Shaggy initially wanted to give her all the time she needed to say goodbye to her latest fixation. But she was still standing there a full minute later.

Rubbing his eyes, Shaggy grabbed his wife by the shoulder and spun her around. As he did, he reached out to the other members of his pack and informed them of the threat to their southern border. Cekrass and Stanley promised to step up patrols in the south while Vick said he'd move his sniper teams down that way. Both Tom and Ephemara had to be talked down from rushing into the southern block. Shaggy put the kibosh on that as quick as possible. He didn't want to lose anyone from the scout or spy teams. When they both tried to argue, Shaggy shut them down by pointing out the other threats around them.

He was in the middle of discussing things with Rita when Levy poked his shoulder. They were walking back to the deli, and Shaggy thought they were being accosted by a gang. But when he looked up, all he saw was Levy grinning at him.

"Slink wants a meeting when we get back to the cabin." Levy said, closing a window she'd been using.

"Noted." shaggy said before going back to his conversation with Rita.

She was still in the cave trying to get the Lackeys in order. He had her promise to beef up security and then told her they were almost there. When he pulled himself out of the link, Shaggy took in the night and sighed.

Another guild being so close was going to put a damper on a few things. He wasn't sure how guild wars or battles happened in the game. But if they were like other contemporary titles, then they needed to find and overrun their guild house. Which was not going to be easy. Most of the other threats around their new home were NPCs. But a Player guild was another ball of wax entirely. Players respawned. Which meant the Shadow League could be a thorn in the Legion's side for a long time.

"Surprisingly, there are now reports of Guild Wars happening in the Texas area yet. Possible because of the Protection Windows." Levy stated.

"So there's no helpful info about them on the forums or net?"

"A lot of hearsay and rumor. But nothing concrete. Most are just assuming that clashes between guilds will work like other games."

"Which can be a pain in the ass," Shaggy growled.

"Oh shush. If all the ninja players are as weak as that blue one, we'll be fine."

"Sure, that just means we'll kill them and they'll call in more players to stop us."

"By that point, we'll have pushed them out of the area, Shaggy. Stop worrying."

Shaggy huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm not worried! You know how players are, though. I wouldn't be surprised if the call already went out about when our Protection Timer is up."

Levy grinned. "That's what I thought. But it doesn't look like it. For whatever reason, the Shadow League are keeping mum about us."

"They are probably waiting for the last moment."

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"Or they want to take us on themselves." Levy argued. "Maybe they don't want us to release when their time is up, either. So they are playing things square."

Shaggy begrudgingly nodded his head. "Fair. That Josh fella did seem like a stick in the mud. He might want a 'fair fight.'"

"Hahaha! Got to love a straight arrow."

Shaggy didn't necessarily agree. But he kept his mouth shut as they crossed the street toward their deli. The store was closed, but Shaggy could see their people inside pretending to clean the store. As they were let in, Shaggy nodded to the Lackeys on duty and Franklin. The Meatmancer barely glanced up from his work in the back as he seemed to play with a slab of meat. The last glimpse Shaggy had of the deli kitchen was of Franklin shaping meat into a doll. He shivered and quickly looked away.

"Franklin is getting creepy, right? It's not just me?"

Levy snorted as the pair of Lackeys watching the tunnel entrance nodded at Shaggy's words. Making a mental note to talk to the Meatmancer at some point, Shaggy carried on down toward the cave.

"So what does the kid want to talk about?"

"Probably just wants your take on the ninjas. I told him they wouldn't be a problem, though."

"Really, love? Immortal ninjas don't seem like an issue to you? Ones not bound by game logic, and who won't hesitate at our deal with the cops?"

Levy waved a hand dismissively. "Bah! Only five of them are immortal. Also, while they not be slaves to game logic, they do have to obey the rules. So we have 12 days until their protection is up. When that happens, we can start scouring their turf for their hideout. Once we find it, we invade and take it. Simple as that."

"I highly doubt it's going to be as easy as all that. If I were them, I'd start recruiting players."

"So why don't we start doing the same?"

Shaggy scowled. While it was probably a good idea, Shaggy was a little hesitant to bring in any fresh faces. The six of them had established a rapport and things were running smoothly for the Legion. If they brought in more Players, that meant more voices. Each vying for their own way to run the gang. Butting heads was inevitable with so many Players in one place. He shook his head as they passed into the cave proper.

"I don't think we need to. Especially with enemies at our gates. More Players will just bring more problems."

"What about Xiv and her crew? You don't have a problem with them?" Levy asked.

"That's cause they hung around and made themselves useful. They also respect the hierarchy we have in place. How are they doing, anyway? I know we placed them under you."

"Oh, they are working out great. They steal a lot of the magical ingredients myself and our mages need. They've been racking up the Guild Points and they've got their own little sub-group of Lackeys. It's cute."

"See, maybe if we can get to know the new Players as they come in, we could slowly start to expand. Like we did with Xiv and the others."

"As I understand it, that group of misfits just followed you home."

Shaggy snorted and opened the door to their cabin. Everything was as they left it, and Shaggy rushed over to the couch and sat down. But Levy shoved him off the cough in a hurry and directed him toward the terminal in the room. Getting to his feet, Shaggy scowled. His wife waved a hand over the terminal's interface and Slink's face popped out of the top of the thing.

"So what's this about ninjas?"

Shaggy rolled his eyes. "Levy fill you in?"

"Partially. But me and Ren want to hear your side of things. Vlad and Dave are already moving teams toward the portal. They'll bolster your southern border after basking in that blood lamp thing."

Shaggy nodded before he fell into a brief description of what happened. Everything from the suddenness of the attack and the twelve day countdown to their confrontation on the streets. Once he was done, Shaggy crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.

"It's going to be a pain in the ass."

"You rate their power that high?" Slink asked.

Shaggy thought about it for a few seconds before he shook his head. "I don't think so. But we got the drop on the one Player we fought. So he wasn't exactly fighting at full potential. Their Lackeys, or whatever Heroes call them, seem comparable to ours. In fact, we may be slightly ahead of them, strength-wise. But they all seem to have an annoying knack for sneaking around."

"That's pretty standard for ninjas." Slink said seriously.

Shaggy got the impression that the boy was taking notes. When the teen looked up again, he asked.

"And do we know if we attack them in twelve days, will our Protection end early?"

Shaggy blinked, not having thought of that. He looked at Levy, who seemed just as annoyed. The both of them of them shared a sigh before turning back to Slink. The boy had watched the interplay, though, and seemed ready for the news.

"We don't know."

Ren's voice echoed over the terminal's connection. "I'd say it's a safe bet that we lose our Newbie Protection if we start a guild war."

Shaggy could only agree. Which meant they could wait until their own timer was up, or blitz the Shadow League as soon as they could. He imagined they would have many discussions about the subject in the coming days. There were pros and cons on both sides. But Shaggy was of the opinion that they should take out the other players as quickly as possible. Eventually talks became cyclical, so Slink had them drop the matter for another day. By that point, Vlad and Dave were standing in Shaggy and Levy's living room.

Their people were off getting rooms in the cave's many duplexes. So had joined the conversation about the other guild. Unsurprisingly, Vlad was on Shaggy's side about attacking first and hard. Meanwhile, Ren, Slink, and Levy wanted to wait until their own timer ended. Dave abstained from the vote, willing to go along with either plan. The laid-back surfer dude was now eating a sandwich on Shaggy's couch.

"We can't just table this," Vlad was saying. "We need to have a conversation about this problem now."

"But that's the thing. It's not a problem yet and we have twelve days before the decision must be made." Slink argued, his floating holographic head looking tired. "Need I remind you we have our own problems going on in Under-Town? A weak guild like the Shadow League can wait."

"Not if they use the time to gather power!"

"That's what our spies are for. Even if they can't get into the League's turf, we can watch their borders for any movement. All four of you can get your people to watch them while you're up there. If they make any strange moves, we'll know about it."

"He-Ha! My people aren't like great at the stealth thing, though." Dave supplied. "I mean, I'm sure I have some that are. But I'd have to look at, like, a list."

Levy rubbed her forehead as she said. "You HAVE a list. Guild menu under the Lackeys tab."

Dave got a far-off look in his eyes as he brought up his menus. "Whoa."

Shaggy rubbed his own head in exasperation. "We can table this for now. But sooner or later, we'll need to make a decision. A Player Guild on our southern edge is bad for business."

"Has anyone reached out to them yet?" Ren asked. "Maybe we can settle things out-of-game."

"Well, that's not any fun," Levy complained, Shaggy nodding at her side.

"Just a suggestion. No one wants to be an asshole here… well, some people do. But you get my point. I'll reach out and get a temperature check."

"Then the rest of us can go back to doing what we need to do." Slink added. "Vlad and Dave, be sure to swap out your Lackey teams to the schedules I posted in the Guild tab."

Dave waved his hand in front of him. Probably navigating to said tab. He squinted at what he was seeing and Shaggy almost rubbed his temples raw at the surfer dude's antics. It had been an eventful evening and Shaggy was ready for it to end. Giving their cabin to Vlad and Dave, Shaggy and Levy hurried off to her tower. She was excited to stay the night in the space, and Shaggy didn't see anything wrong with that. Supernatural Witch's Tower, touched by the Fae and housing an Artifact of the Blood God. Nothing wrong with that.