A Werewolf In Under-Town

To Shaggy's surprise, Scout moved first. Swooping down on him, Scout tried to use his speed to pummel Shaggy into the ground. With a grunt of annoyance, Shaggy used Slide Move to squeeze against a nearby building wall and around the square-jawed idiot. The space in the alley was tight. Especially with their stolen car in the way.

Scout had just enough time to turn around in surprise before Shaggy hit him with both claws. His long black claws raked the NPC's back and sent him spinning toward said car. Levy's assault on Ao had dented the roof of the vehicle. But Scout slamming his whole body into it? That tore through metal and embedded the Supe halfway into the backseat.

The super looked around at his new surroundings and grimaced as he ripped his way out of the car toward Shaggy. Wanting to clear some space, Shaggy bent his muscular legs and leapt into the air. He dug his claws into the second floor of a nearby building and bared his teeth at the Supe. Scout's grimace became a frown as he finally pulled himself from the wreckage of the car and floated upward. He tried to inspect the surroundings for any traps this time before making another grab for Shaggy.

Shaggy let the Supe grab onto his furry shoulders before clamping both of his hairy hands down on Scout's wrists. With a firm hold, Shaggy jumped again. This time he clear the building's roof and soared into the air. They were dangerously close to the floating drones, and Shaggy could hear them buzzing as they tried to fly away. Mid-air, Shaggy started to spin as he and Scout neared the drones. Their two bodies swung out flat as minor explosions signaled the end of several drones.

Shaggy's body took the small explosions and healed them rapidly. But Scout was battered around as his body was swung into the things. Once the drones had flown out to a longer distance, Shaggy tried to stop spinning. It was proving tricky, though. While he did that, their upward momentum had stopped and Scout got his air-legs under him again. The flying Super maintained his grip on Shaggy and forcibly halted them in the air.

"Destruction of HLO and city property?! No wonder you're considered a dangerous criminal! No worries. We shall have you imprisoned once again by morning!"

Shaggy did nothing but growl as Scout pulled back for a punch. With a clawed hand, Shaggy held on to the flying Supe's torso as he was let go and a solid hook slapped him in the face. The strength of the blow would've sent Shaggy reeling through the air. Instead, with his right hand holding on, they were both jerked to the side roughly.

Scout pulled back for another as Shaggy jabbed his left claws into the super's thighs. The guy was tough and dense, though, so Shaggy claws barely got purchase. It was deep enough to ruin the Supe's punch and drew some blood. With both his hands occupied and his enemy reeling, Shaggy resorted to instinct and snapped his head forward. Scout gave a gurgled cry as Shaggy fangs landed on his neck.

He immediately tasted blood as Scout freaked the fuck out. Screaming in pain, the Super started flying around erratically, trying to shake Shaggy off. Each movement just drove Shaggy's teeth in further. With the Super freaking out and his right hand still holding on, Shaggy started clawing the Scout's mid-section. Blood flecked onto his furry limbs and Shaggy heard another notification go off in his ears. He rolled his massive eyes at the sound and kept attacking. He didn't have time for Notification nonsense. There was an ass-kicking to finish.

"DIVE!" said the mechanical voice from Scout's wrist.

The voice made Shaggy try to look over his shoulder as he kept his teeth embedded into the Supe's flesh. The street and buildings were far below them now. If Scout dove then…

Before Shaggy could finish the thought, the Super dove and the two of them fell like a sack of bricks. Air rushed around his head and Shaggy kept up the attack as he tried to think of a way out. The roof of the alley's side building came into view in Shaggy's periphery, as well as the flock of drones. Scout's arms started to wrap around Shaggy's mid-section as the building came rushing at them.

"Adjust! Adjust! You don't want to pay for an apartment complex, Scout! Not to mention all the paperwork!"

The voice made Scout loosen his grip and adjust their trajectory to the side slightly. Shaggy took that moment to release his bite and spin around fully in the air. Seeing another nearby building, Shaggy activated Pounce and aimed carefully.

His legs pulled up and kicked off Scout's mid-section as the ability took over. Shaggy was propelled toward his goal by the system as Scout was left bleeding in mid-air. He cleared the roof's edge and brought his knees up as he rolled to a stop. Quickly getting to his feet, Shaggy zeroed-in on Scout again.

The Super just managed to right himself in the air as Shaggy got his feet under him. The NPC was bleeding from the neck and several small scratches on his sides. His blue super suit was torn and shredded in places. The smell of the hunt was in Shaggy's nostrils and he could feel that his prey was soon to be defeated. Unfortunately, Scout's advisor could feel it, too.

"Scout! Fly into the air and await back-up! Shaggy Robertson's designation is clearly misrepresented in the system. Help is thirteen minutes out!"

Scout glared at his wrist communicator for a brief second and Shaggy held out hope that the NPC was going to be an idiot. Alas, the Supe heeded the voice of his friend and shot upward, away from him. Shaggy growled loudly and tried to pounce at the retreating Supe, but the ability wouldn't activate. Either it was still on cooldown or the target was too far. Shaggy's growl became louder, and he flexed his clawed hands. He was thinking of ways to pursue his prey when the sounds of buzzing grew louder again.

Drone's were descending on him again. Shaggy huffed as they buzzed over his hand, just out of arm's reach. He flipped them a furry middle finger and sniffed the air. Levy was probably still fighting, so he wanted to watch her tear through the blue dumbass. Blood and sweat were thick in the air as Shaggy turned back toward the alley and jumped. Drones tried to get out of his way again, but Shaggy batted a few away. The less of those damn things around, the better.

As he moved, Shaggy shifted back into his human form. He sighed as he propped an arm on the side of the building and looked down. The alley was dark, but Shaggy could see just fine. Not to mention, Ao's little puffs of white smoke were practically everywhere. The ninja was disappearing and reappearing at odd angles as he tried repeatedly to attack Shaggy's wife.

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Levy was standing stock still in the center of the alley, her staff held loosely at her side. When Ao would appear and swing on her with his katana, Levy's arm would snap up in her defense. She would then counter-attack, making Ao vanish in a puff of smoke and try again. After his latest retreat, Levy yawned theatrically and rolled her eyes.

"Is this it?" She asked the darkness.

"Fuck you, bitch!" Ao screamed, appearing from the shadows and chopping down with his sword.

Levy side-stepped the attack and pivoted on her left heel. Bringing her right foot up into the air, she spun around and tried to deliver a spinning heel kick to Ao's face. But her foot hit nothing but a puff of smoke again.

"Hey, dumbass! If you want to hit me, try using something other than those scripted auto-abilities! I mean, shit, you're just swinging a sword. Can't you do that?"

"Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyou!" Ao shouted, appearing again, repeating the same chop as he did last time.

Shaggy scoffed as he watched Levy dodge the scripted attack, again countered with the butt of her staff. Her movements brought back memories of Shaggy introducing her to his family. Training with her, Levy meeting his little sister, his dad…

"Nope." Shaggy said, shaking those memories from his brain. "Not thinking about that."

"Thinking about what?" a voice asked from nowhere.

Shaggy's senses went into overdrive as he backed away from the edge of the roof. Over head the drones buzzed to keep him in their cameras. Shaggy ignored them as he looked for the owner of the voice. It sounded familiar and super close. But the roof was clear. Moving to the edge of the building again, Shaggy sniffed the air. But the fight in the alley below and the drones above were creating a lot of smells. He tried to center himself and focus, but the voice interrupted again.

"Sorry, dude. Didn't mean to make you shit yourself. I just thought you had scented me and were talking to me. Y'know, kind of a 'I-know-you're-there' thing."

Shaggy tilted his head as the voice's owner came to him. "Josh?"

"Could you call me Shiro, please? It's kind of my in-game name and I won't to keep the two separate."

Shaggy nodded as he looked around for the white ninja. The voice still sounded close, but it echoed slightly off the alley's walls. The drones didn't seem aware of the other Ninja yet and Shaggy wondered what he was doing here. He was clearly not helping his friend in the alley.

"Sure thing, Shiro. Care to tell me where you are?"

"After what you just did to that flying Supe? No, I think not. Good to know that my ninja skills can keep me hidden from you, though. That'll be useful later."

"You're still going to come at the Legion, then?"

"Of course! That's the game, isn't it, Shaggy? I mean, I'd have no problem if y'all pulled up stakes and moseyed on. But you don't strike me as the type."

"Fair enough. So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I hunted down Jacob to kick him out of the Super Group. He's Amy's ex-boyfriend, and we all tolerated him for a while. But his attitude was costing us. Literally. He lost us several ninjas, and we were just hit with a 'Cessation of Heroic Duties' document from the HLO."

"The ninjas might've been our fault." Shaggy provided.

"Yeah, I figured that when I got here. Either way, the dude's an asshole. Which is fine, y'know? Games can bring out the worst in people. But it's costing us resources in-game. We're not having that. Not with a dangerous werewolf group so close."

Shaggy opened his mouth to correct the ninja, but quickly closed it. No sense providing information unprompted. Instead, he looked down into the alley again. Levy was seated on her staff now, letting Ao tire himself out as he swung at her shield. Shaggy could see his wife was pulling magic from her staff to feed the spell. It wouldn't last forever, but it was helping to drive Ao/Jacob into idiotic rage.

The blue-clothed ninja was flailing his sword against Levy's purple dome while screaming bloody murder. His white katana was flickering dangerously with each hit, and Shaggy was sure the guy was on his last legs. Levy must have thought the same, cause she stopped checking her nails and stood. Her staff remained floating as she waved a hand, dropping her shield. Ao was mid-chop and over-extended again. Levy pushed the man's wrist away with her left hand and stepped into his personal space. Bringing her left elbow back, she slammed into Ao's throat before pivoting on her right foot and jamming her other elbow into his face.

The maneuver caught the murderous ninja off guard and sent him spiraling to the floor of the alley. Shaggy heard Shiro suck in a breath and smiled. Levy had just taken Ao apart, and she had barely used any magic to do it.

"So that white smoke trick has a limit, huh?" Shaggy stated.

"It tires us out, yeah. But Ao wasn't big on the whole ninja thing, anyway. So he wasn't the best at it," Shiro answered.

Shaggy snorted, doubting the head ninja's assessment. He was sure Ao was an idiot. But Shiro was clearly trying to make it seem like he and the other ninjas were better at it. Below, Levy was summoned her staff into her hand and she raised it above her head like a club. At her feet, Ao was choking as blood seeped into his face coverings. Shaggy heard the man try to choke out some expletive as Levy cracked him across the skull with her staff. Then she did it again just to make sure and again, because she was angry… and then again.

Shaggy winced as he saw Ao's body started to turn into cubes. Levy was clearly pissed at the disappearing player. From his hidden position, Shaggy heard Shiro whistle.

"Your wife… she's… something else."

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded awkwardly. "Weren't you going to kick the dude out of your Guild or League or whatever?"

"I think he'll get the message when he doesn't reappear in the League's medical room. But if not, Amy and I are going to have a talk with him out of game. Speaking of which, is our deal still on?"

Shaggy could hear the hope in the other Player's voice. Clearly Josh didn't think his League had a chance against the Legion. At least not yet. The thought of a guild war made Shaggy shiver in excitement. If everyone managed their damn feelings, it could be a lot of fun.

"Sure, so long as this whole incident is forgiven."

"There's nothing to forgive. This was fucking Jacob's fault."

"True. Well then, I need to get my wife before she breaks her staff against the concrete."

"Sure, sure. I'll had back to base and tell the others what happened."

Shaggy nodded and jumped onto the edge of the roof. He looked up at the drones still flying overhead. They were going to be an issue. Even if he and Levy made into the sewers. But they'd get away. The tunnel system below Austin was a warren of passages and secrets. That thought made Shaggy think of exploring them, but a loud grunt from Levy drew his attention back to the present. He was about to join his wife on the ground when he asked the empty air.

"You're still here, aren't you?"

Shiro's voice was playful as he replied. "Like I'm going to miss your getaway? It might help us catch you evil doers in the future."

"Ha!" Shaggy laughed and leapt down into the alley.

He needed to collect his angry wife and then get to the nearest sewer entrance. Levy's fight hadn't taken long, but they probably had minutes until Scout's back-up arrived. Thoughts of the flying Super turned Shaggy's eyes to the sky again. The man was a blue dot in the sky, but Shaggy was sure the Boy Scout could see them. He'd ask Levy for another dark cloud spell once he calmed her down a bit. She had stopped smashing the already gone ninja's face in anyway. Maybe she had already vented her feelings about the asshole.

Shaggy snorted at his own thoughts as he approached his wife's side. "Yeah… that'll happen."

"What!?" Levy snapped, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"Nothing, dear."