“Fuck. Traffic.” Sybil growled as she brought their van to a jerky stop.
Even with the way the slim woman drove, it was still a chore getting through downtown traffic. One she didn’t seem to relish. Shaggy, for his part, shrugged his shoulders. There was literally nothing they could do about the slow-moving cars. Sure, the Sky-lanes were moving pretty steadily, but that wasn’t an option for them. Instead, they had to stay on the ground with the Rollers. Passing cars at their own peril and having a few close calls.
“Least we all fit in this one.” Tom argued. “Can we keep it?”
“I don’t see why not. Although we should probably keep it away from the deli and maybe cover it?” Shaggy said as they sat in traffic.
There was a general grumble of ascent as his pack settled themselves in to wait out the slow-moving traffic. It seemed that even more Supe nonsense was ongoing in the city. Shaggy wasn’t sure what it was, but they had been shunted to a different street several times already. Normally, he would’ve just abandoned the large van they were in. But they needed a vehicle, at least sometimes. Having Sybil steal a new one every time, while quick and easy, would get them caught. So having a nice regular vehicle would be helpful topside.
“Well, we will need to do some work on it. Update the systems, get its internal scrubbed, maybe a paint job.” Sybil said as she stuck her hand out of the driver's side window and flipped several cars off.
With traffic at a standstill, Shaggy could see the recipients of the rude gesture. They were other drivers stuck in traffic same as them. He didn’t know what they had done to draw the blonde woman’s ire, but he figured it was best to leave it alone. No one wanted to cause any real trouble and Sybil needed to vent somehow. At least she wasn’t flinging fireballs out the window. Shaggy chuckled to himself at the thought.
“That would just melt them in place, boss. She’d get even more pissed off.” Vick said from the middle seat of the van.
“Maybe, but it would get the other cars moving.” Rita smirked.
“And the drones on us.”
“Bah!” Tom argued from the far back seat. “The damn drones haven’t been that much of an issue. Just duck into the sewer and keep your head down and we are good.”
“Weren’t you shot by a drone?” Cekrass asked.
Tom waved off the big lizard as the others laughed at him. The things weren’t that powerful, but those lasers did sting. But the real problem with the city’s drones was how they recorded everything they saw. Supposedly that data was quickly saved on multiple servers around the city, some at the HLO and others at random police stations. That meant there was a record of every nasty thing they did that a drone saw. Which meant, if at all possible, it was better to not be seen by the damn things.
Sybil growled under her breath as their van moved another couple of feet before stopping. They were moving at a true crawl. Shaggy even saw several people on the sidewalk walking faster than them. He looked out his passenger side window in time to see several young men and woman glance his way. They were extremely pale and dressed in club leathers. Shaggy raised an eyebrow as they reminded him of something. It wasn’t until he turned back to face the road, when he remembered…
“QUIN-”
BOOM
Suddenly, the side of their van was lifted into the air and Shaggy’s head hit the ceiling. The sound of crunching metal and screaming echoed in his ears as their van was flung end over end. Shaggy clung to his door handle and tried to keep in constant communication with his pack. But they were all alarmed and confused. He sent them images of what he had seen on the street and their confusion became anger. The Quinica were topside, and they’d just been hit.
Shaggy didn’t know how or why they were here, but he knew what he was going to do about it. It had been too long since he carved up a fucking Space Vamp. Shaggy felt his pack’s anger resonate with his own. His inner wolf, now healed, howled in irritation. It was ready to rip and tear.
Their van did two full rotations. Crashing over another lane of traffic and slamming into a lamppost before it stopped. After a quick mental check on his pack, Shaggy kicked his passenger side door free. Clambering out of the sideways car, Shaggy momentarily thought about helping Sybil, but the Quinica were closing in. Nearby, the civilians shouted and screamed at the sudden carnage. Shaggy ignored them as he counted the threats.
“Eight threats.” Shaggy sent down the pack link.
Before anyone could answer, he dropped to the pavement and charged the attackers. The lead Quinica, a young black-haired man in a trench coat, scowled as he pointed a long fingernail at Shaggy.
“You’re going to find out what happ-”
Shaggy pounced, clearing the distance easily and ignoring the thug’s threats. It was time to kill. He felt his claws sink in deep into the lead Quinica chest. The look of shock on the pale alien’s face made Shaggy laugh. He planted his feet and lifted, intending to bodily throw the smug bastard at some of the nearby cars. Instead, his sharp claws ripped through the man’s body entirely. Blood seeped down his claws as he heard the clatter of metal from behind him. His pack was out of the van now.
A green fireball slammed into one of the stunned Quinica, catching her full in the face. Her brown hair caught fire, and she screamed in pain. Shaggy dove in with his own claws as he felt Rita and Cekrass quickly joining. Tom was in the Link sending images of cars rapidly. It took Shaggy a second to figure out the lanky man was finding them a new ride. Shaggy left him to it as Vick’s laser rifle sent streams of energy into the Quinica. They had been over-confident and now they were going to pay for it.
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Shaggy dove forward and punctured a man’s hip with his claws. As carefully as possible, he yanked the man around in time for his neck to meet Rita’s sword. Shaggy pulled his arm back and spun, ducking a haymaker from one of the Quinica that gathered themselves. But that was the only strike she got off as Cekrass tackled her from the side. The large lizard’s new claws easily bisected the woman as they fell into the street. Shaggy gathered himself and found a new target. He dashed around Cekrass and shifted his hands to normal. With a mental tug to Vick, Shaggy lifted the pale wannabe vampire by his belt. Vick’s blast was waiting and the Quinica’s head exploded into a shower gore.
Shaggy gave Vick a mental thank you and spun to find another target. Nearby, he heard the buzzing of drones and revving of car engines. They had been fighting in the street, but it looked like they were going to have to move. The Quinica seemed to think the same as those who were left retreated toward a nearby alley. Shaggy and his pack gave chase, even as Tom found a nearby vehicle. Sybil shot off to help with the hot-wire as Shaggy and the others caught up with their prey.
But as they entered the alley, Shaggy caught a glimpse of silver before a powerful blow slammed into his head. He felt his body bounce off the pavement and into the alley wall before coming to a stop. His pack sent worried feelings, but he shook them off as he came back to himself. A slim silver humanoid was approaching him, ready to continue the attack. The other Quinica were further in the alley, looking smug. Until Rita and the others showed up. Rita and Cekrass attacked the silver alien as Vick sent a blast of energy down the alley into the remaining Quinica.
As Shaggy shook off his head injury, he saw that Rita and Cekrass didn’t have it easy. The damn Space Vamp was too fast. Even when they scored a hit, Rita’s sword and Cekrass’ claws didn’t leave a mark. Shaggy was momentarily reminded of the Quinica elder he had once fought. But that guy was a lot bigger and way more powerful. He shook off the memory as he sent his pack orders.
“Vick, Cekrass, you two wipe out the rest of them. Rita, distract him and go for Silver’s legs. Sybil and Tom, HURRY UP!”
The buzzing was growing louder, and Shaggy was sure they were going to get spotted. Which overall was fine. He was sure he was already in a few databases. But they didn’t want the damn things following them.
Cekrass and Vick set about their task, moving around the silver Vamp and trying to get at the others. But Silver wasn’t having it. His long silver-covered claws lashed out at Cekrass, but the big Lizard-Were powered through. Rita used the opportunity to slam a kick into the silver vamp’s knee. Shaggy pounced as the lanky Vampire went down, sending a flying knee into the armor-covered Quinica. The vampire’s head snapped back from the blow, but Shaggy felt his knee pop twice. Once as it dislocated and then again as it set itself. Shaggy growled, but swallowed the pain as Rita dropped her sword altogether and wrapped Silver’s right leg with both her arms. The powered-up Quinica was ready to pummel the older woman, but Shaggy dove in and swung an arm around the slim vamp’s neck. The three of them went down in a pile as Rita grabbed Silver’s other leg and Shaggy did his best to get an arm under the Quinica’s chin for a chokehold.
Despite the challenging metal covering, Shaggy found a way to grab the Quinica from behind and started squeezing. He felt the metal silver covering creak. Shaggy was extremely happy that the Quinica wasn’t as powerful as the last silver bastard he had fought. That one required a glowing weak spot to make things fair. As the sounds of fighting in the alley died down, Silver slowly stopped struggling. Shaggy held on for a few seconds longer, until the silver cover of the Quinica died away and all that was left was a long-haired, slim alien. Shaggy jammed a clawed hand into the guy’s throat for good measure, then stood up.
“All good?!” Shaggy shouted.
“Good!”
“Yep!”
“Clear!”
Three voices in the alley answered him and Shaggy turned as he felt Sybil and Tom coming down the alley in another large van. The two were in the front seats, arguing about something. But Shaggy ignored it as they all got ready to pile in. Sybil did a rolling stop as Shaggy and Rita jumped in. Followed by Vick and then Cekrass. Sybil seemed like she wanted to say something, but Shaggy ignored it.
“Punch it!”
“Fuck!” Sybil swore as she slammed on the gas and they raced through the narrow alley.
It was a straight shot out of the alley and onto the next street. Shaggy took stock of everyone's injuries and mentally went over the fight. They had handled the impromptu ambush well. The silver-covered Quinica had been a surprise, but it was handled. He hadn’t suspected the Quinica to be topside. That was a mistake. Of course, they would be here. But how had they recognized Shaggy? Game mechanic stuff? Their two groups were at war, so it made sense.
Shaggy was roused from his thoughts as Sybil shouted at him.
“Damn it, boss! We have to dump this van! NOW!”
Shaggy shook off his confusion. “What? Why?”
“Genius here grabbed a fucking news van! There’s enough tech in here to track us all damn day!”
“I didn’t know that!” Tom yelled back.
“It says ‘Channel Eighty-Eight News’ on the side of the damn van, dumbass!”
Shaggy shouted over the arguing pair. “Okay, so what’s the solution!?”
“Dump and run.” Sybil answered simply.
Shaggy groaned but nodded his head. Rita and the others shifted in the back of the van. Shaggy noticed, for the first time, the array of technical equipment in the spacious back of the van. He wanted to slap himself for his own idiocy. Instead, he got everyone ready to jump out and issued instructions.
“Split up and make it back to the deli! Don’t get into any fights that are avoidable. The sewers are a last resort! We don’t want the drones down there shutting down the entire sewer network for hours. Be smart and stay safe.”
His pack nodded as, one by one, they jumped from the moving van. Overhead, drones buzzed in the sky as Shaggy leapt from the back of the van. He came out in a run as Sybil twisted the van into another nearby alley. As she went left, he curved right away from the roads. But the ever present sound of drones hummed in his ears as he zigzagged his way around various pedestrians. Few got in his way as he rushed past, looking for a suitable hiding spot. He was sure he was faster than a drone, but he couldn’t keep running all day. He ran out of stamina, drones didn’t. Instead, he found a building with heavy foot traffic and ducked inside. But as the metal and glass door closed behind him, he slid to a stop, stunned.
“Fuck.” Shaggy muttered as he stared into a packed, multi-story department store.