A Werewolf In Under-Town

"And you just let her go?!"

"Yes! The cops and drones were moving in and we needed to get out of there!"

"What if she told someone about you two?!"

"Tom had his eyes on her as soon as she entered the hotel. She went straight to her room after receiving her reprimand. She hasn't spoken to her team since."

Vlad huffed loudly as he searched for another angle of attack. His eyes flashed red when it came to him. "Ah-ha! What if she's talking to her group while in her room? Each room has a terminal for direct communication. She could know she's under surveillance."

Shaggy rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Then this entire operation is fucked and we're all getting arrested!"

"Shaggy, take this seriously." Ren admonished.

"Hey, I made a judgment call…" Shaggy started.

"WE made a judgment call." Levy interrupted.

"We made a judgment call. The woman looked fed up with the HLO's bullshit, so we initiated a partnership."

"You should have contacted the rest of us!"

"Vlad, there wasn't any time, and even if there were, I don't have to ask your permission for everything."

Vlad's pale face went slightly red as he clenched his teeth in anger. Clearly, he was looking for another angle of attack in this argument. But Slink interrupted them this time. The boy was seated near the room's window. He had a portion of the curtain pulled back and was watching the evening foot traffic. But his voice was clearly directed at all of them.

"It doesn't matter, Vlad. Levy and Shaggy have told us about their conversation. Other than our goals, they didn't give very much away. I am much more interested in this secret container being shipped with the books."

There was a crunching sound as Dave, who was standing near the motel room door, gripped his bag of chips excitedly. "Phyeah! Thas da cul shis!"

"Dave, finish chewing." Ren said, glancing back at the other man.

The big alien was seated on one of the few beds in the room. His bulk making the frame bend slightly. They had been assured that beds were rated for bigger aliens. But Shaggy was starting to doubt that. The big Perinadon subtlety shifted his weight as he looked over at Slink.

"Your not thinking that we should steal the thing, are you?"

"Why not?" Vlad asked.

The vampire was leaned against the wall that held the room's Holo-emitter. Shaggy's friends had been watching the news when he and Levy came in. Now the emitter sat silent as Vlad blocked it. The pale man looked between Ren and Slink in confusion as Shaggy answered his question.

"Because it's a military shipment! We've pissed off the HLO, sure. But only the local branch in Austin. If we hit something that big, we'll be in for a world of hurt. No question."

"So then we dip into Under-Town!"

"Under-Town is a public secret." Ren said. "Everyone knows about it. But they do nothing about it. They let it act as a hub for the lesser criminals. Because that way they know where they all are. You've noticed that the big Super-Villains don't hang out down there, right?"

"But if we hit the military. All bets are off, folks." Levy picked up. "They'd storm the place. Probably with back-up from both the HLO and the city."

Slink sat back in his chair and let the curtain fall into place. "I never said that we should steal it. I was only wondering about how it'll affect our plans in the future. Like it or not, there is a military package with that convoy. If we hit it, we need to make sure that they only see us taking books."

"What do you mean? If we hit it?! Of course we're still doing this. We didn't drive all the way out here just to turn around and go home."

"All the way out here?" Shaggy quipped. "It was a three-hour drive, Vlad. It's not like we went across the country. If this shit is too hot, then we will turn around and go home. No harm done."

"And we can still do something in Abilene."

Vlad scoffed as he bounced his back against the motel's wall. He was obviously pissed off to the point of losing his words. The rest of the people in the room shared looks before Slink picked up the conversation again.

"There's also the chance that even hitting the convoy will spark some kind of military outrage. They may not care if we never even see their secret shipment. Just hitting the convoy could be enough to screw us."

Silence came back to the room as they all digested that. The only sound was Dave's chip bag as the man upended the small bag into his mouth. Ren scowled at the other player, but Dave paid him no mind as he hurriedly chewed and swallowed his chips. Once he was done, he coughed slightly and said.

"PAH! Ugh, dudes! What if they're dropping off the super secret package IN Abilene? There's that old military base nearby, right?"

Slink nodded along with Dave as he processed his words. Shaggy also thought it was possible. But was once again struck by how Dave seemed to state the obvious and somehow seem like a genius. It was a reasonable thought and one they all should've considered. But for some reason, they missed it. Shaggy blamed Vlad's complaining in his head and then contacted Tom.

"Tom? How's work?"

"Over for the day, thank God! I just clocked out and I'm heading for a nearby building to maintain a watch. If you need be to visit your gun-packing friend, I left a bag inside that I can claim I'm going back for."

"Where's your vantage point? Can you see the truck?"

"Yeah… Why?"

"Cause we think the HLO is going to do a handover to another military unit. Keep an eye out and be careful. Anyone else who's still awake, back him up."

"Boss, it's like 8pm. We're all still awake," said Rita's voice.

Shaggy bit his lip and shook his head. "Well, forgive me for thinking that some of you could use some beauty sleep. We're only hitting a HLO convoy in the morning!"

A cavalcade of grumbling and rumblings echoed over the link, but Shaggy shut it down and focused back on the motel room. The small space was heating up thanks to the six people standing in it. But things weren't uncomfortable yet. It didn't seem like anyone had spoken since Dave's statement. So Shaggy spoke up about his pack's surveillance.

"I've got eyes on the convoy's hotel. If something moves, we'll know about it."

Everyone's eyes flew to him before Slink, and Ren nodded knowingly. Vlad tsked loudly, but said nothing else. Dave gave Shaggy a big thumbs up as he pulled another small bag of chips from his pocket. Shaggy briefly wondered where the man had bought those. But he put it aside and looked at Levy. His wife seemed thoughtful before she caught his eye and smiled warmly.

"It seems that what happens tomorrow depends on what happens tonight. So we can either get some sleep or log out."

"True." Slink nodded. "If they move whatever military hardware is in the truck, then we hit it. But if the truck is still too hot in the morning, we find something else."

"Sorry Levy." Ren added, looking over at her.

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Levy shrugged. "Hey, I wanted books for our future library. It's not like we can't find them elsewhere. Besides, it's always nice to get the six of us together. We need to do this more often. Plan some big heists and really step up our game."

"I like what the witch-dude is saying!" Dave cheered, sending some of his chips flying out of his bag.

Ren sighed heavily as he brushed the chips off his bed. As one, the rest of the people in the room looked at Vlad. The vampire still seemed surly, but was oddly silent. He met each of their gazes before walking toward the door and opening it.

"I'll join the recon team near the hotel. No offense, Shaggy. But your wolves aren't creature of the night like me."

Shaggy rolled his eyes and waved the other player off. "Do what you like. But if you're too tired in the morning, that's on you."

Vlad nodded curtly and then stepped into the darkening night before shutting the door. The oppressive air that had been in the room seemed to seep out with the vampire. Slink even blew out a breath as he stretched his arms.

"He seems more tense than usual," Levy remarked.

"More of his little vampire family have been acting up. He's had to kill of few of them." Slink said.

Ren snorted. "At this point, I'd be surprised if his loyalty ratings weren't all fear-enhanced."

"The dude is a most non-righteous leader, according to the other locals. No one's signing up to be a vampire anymore because of it."

"Has it become a problem?" Shaggy asked.

Ren and Dave looked at Slink, who shook his head. "Not yet. The Legion still has a healthy number of NPCs joining. But no one is opting for Vlad's bite. So we're not getting the same number of powered individuals."

"Thankfully, other Players are still getting their footing in Under-Town. So we don't see a lot of action."

"Both a blessing and a curse, Ren-Dude. Our people can't get the training they need just sitting in Under-Town."

"Which is why I think we need to set up another outpost like Shaggy's."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Slink as the boy tapped his fingers on the table in front of him. He was slowly lifting his front chair legs off the ground as he seemed lost in his own thoughts. Ren coughed loudly, getting the boy's attention.

"Care to explain that further?"

"Shaggy's outpost led to his team's rapid growth and a new area to train our people. If we did it again, we could see more rapid growth and have a secondary spot to let our people loose."

"It also pissed the Phreaks off like crazy." Shaggy said. "Not to mention now we have other Player's pushing into our turf."

"Shaggy got lucky with the cops, too. If he didn't do that stint in jail for that old spy, we'd never have the space to grow."

Slink nodded at Shaggy and Levy's words, but still argued his point. "I understand that. So whoever sets up our secondary location will have to be more careful. More of a dagger than Shaggy's warhammer style."

Everyone in the room looked at Shaggy to hear his response, but he only shrugged.

"He ain't wrong." Looking back at Slink, he asked. "You thinking Ren or Vlad?"

Ren sat up a little straighter as he rubbed his hands together. "I have some guys ready to take over the transportation work in Under-Town. I can move out whenever."

Slink threw up his hands. "It was only an idea! Why are you all looking at me? The Legion has six founding members, y'know."

"You're head of logistics, kid. You know where to put the best people and when." Shaggy said.

"Or you're the best at it, at least." Levy nodded.

"You could do just as well, Levy, and you understand more about games."

"But he is right about there being six of us," Dave said. "We probably shouldn't decide this without Mad-Vlad here."

"I can get my people to talk to him right now," Shaggy said, switching back to his pack Link.

Tom was sitting on a roof down the street from the hotel. Shaggy could see that he was watching the front of the building. The rest of his pack was still moving into position, and there was no sign of Vlad.

"Oh man, is that vampire coming?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, he'll be there shortly. How are things looking?"

"Boring. A Humvee parked outside the hotel for a bit, but since th-"

BRZZT!

The loud sound of a laser filled Tom's ears and Shaggy felt pain flare up over the link. Tom pitched forward off the building he was on as Shaggy could hear voices through Tom's senses.

"Target neutralized. Area secure for now. Maintain perimeter."

"Theta-2, check the corpse for identification and processing."

"Confirm."

The voices were short and clipped, but clearly came from a person. Tom's sensitive ears even picked up on the click of their radios as they talked. More pain flared over the link as Tom hit the pavement of the alley. Shaggy could feel Tom's wounds healing, but that just created more problems. The rest of the pack was now converging on Tom's location, their worry clear over the link.

"Tom! Are you conscious?! Tom!"

"Yeah! I hear you, boss! Just in a bit of pain right now!"

Shaggy could feel and see Tom trying to roll over. But shouting from the others made him stop.

"Don't!"

"Stop, you idiot!"

"No moving!"

Shaggy did his best to push those voices to the side as he spoke to Tom. "They are going to search for your body. Do you have anything that could identify you?"

"Boss, I'm not an amateur."

"That will not matter if they scan him! Tom, roll to your left. There's a dumpster there that you might be able to squeeze under."

"It's going to raise more questions if they can't find him, Rita!"

"Boss! What's worse? Them having questions or them getting answers?"

Shaggy bit his lip in thought before he nodded. "Go Tom! Hide!"

The lanky man was already moving as Shaggy finished his words. Just in time too, as a set of black boots hit the pavement right next to where Tom had landed. Tom sucked in his gut as he hugged the ground beneath the dumpster. There was a click of a flashlight as the person looking for Tom started searching.

Shaggy watched over the link as the flashlight scoured the alley. Working from where Tom landed all the way to either end of the narrow space. Once they were done, there was another click. This time coming from the person's radio.

"Theta-1, the subject is gone."

"What do you mean, gone!?"

"There's no body, Theta-1. What was the setting on the rifle? Is it possible the subject was dusted?"

"Theta-2, the setting was within nominal ranges. There should be a body!"

"Copy, Theta-1. I'll continue the search."

The radio clicked off again and the set of boots turned toward the left side of the alley. The Shaggy saw them turn toward the dumpster. He held his breath as the guy started to kneel down to look under the dumpster. Tom's muscles coiled like a spring, ready to attack. Then the person put their hand down to steady themselves. Right into a puddle of something.

"Argh! God damn it! Gross!" said Theta-2's voice.

The person got back to their feet as they continued to curse. They walked away from the dumpster and Shaggy gave an enormous sigh of relief at Tom's lucky break. Although, had it been luck? Tom had a knack for being ignored by others. Did his ability just save his ass?

"Yes." was Rita's response.

"I could have taken him." Tom said.

"We all know that, Tom. Now hang out there until the coast is clear."

"Gotcha, boss."

Shaggy sighed and returned to his own point of view, only to find himself standing with his fists clenched. He had been sitting on the bed, hadn't he? Shaggy relaxed himself as he felt Levy's hands on his shoulder.

"Love? What the fuck's going on?"

Shaggy snapped toward his wife and gave her a tired smile. "Sorry. Shit just hit the fan near the hotel. Tom was hit with a laser rifle and almost discovered."

"By who?" Slink asked, getting to his feet.

"Some people with some pretty serious firepower. Maybe military. They're creating a perimeter around the hotel."

"Shit!" Ren said, shaking his head.

Everyone looked at the big rhino-man until it dawned on all of them.

"VLAD!!"