“So then Yelena told Nate what Nisha said, and he got all mad about it. Now Nate isn’t talking Nisha OR Yelena and they’re not talking to each other either. It’s a whole thing. But that’s nothing next to what happened with Akie and…”

Isabel droned on as they walked, and Shaggy shot a withering look at Ulf. It was the red-haired teen’s idea to bring the chatterbox along with them. The damn kid had the decency to look somewhat abashed, but his brother, Dragan, did nothing to hide his mirth. At least the last member of their party maintained an image of stoicism. Although Otto hadn’t really reacted when Shaggy had offered him a spot on the patrol squad, either. The brawny, dark-haired boy just nodded and picked up a K-Tech weapon.

Seth had used his super-speed and his brother’s help to arrange most of the weapons in a separate area. When they left, the young lad was attempting to take apart and reassemble different weapons. Now it was a sort of the unofficial workshop for the kid, although they would need to gather more materials to actually build him something. Shaggy had wanted to rob some more construction sites. But Rita convinced him to let her own squad go out and buy some stuff. After the fight with the Quinica, they were flush with credits, so it made sense. They just needed to be careful about cameras and drones. Shaggy was sure they had all been scanned at this point, one way or another.

Both Rita and Sybil had taken four of the teens with them to accomplish various tasks throughout their neighborhood. Vick and the others remained at the cave to train. Shaggy made sure that each team had at least one unawakened Mutant. Just in case. You could never know what would trigger a transformation. Although, with how stoic and taciturn Otto was, Shaggy wasn’t sure the boy would recognize a stressful situation. What conversations Shaggy had tried to start with the boy were met with one-word answers or grunts. Eventually, Shaggy gave up and let Isabel talk his ear off. A choice he was sorely regretting.

They were patrolling a few blocks to the west of their deli hideout. Shaggy was sure the Bunch was based somewhere in the northwest. But he wanted to get a feel for the area. What he had seen was bleak. More abandoned buildings, tenements stuffed to the gills with shouting tenets, the occasional group of thugs hanging on a stoop. The latter group would just glare at Shaggy and the teens as they went by. Shaggy grinned wickedly as they passed, which was often enough to deter most assholes. Then there was the bear-man that had winked back at him. Shaggy hadn’t been sure how to take that. But he memorized the location of the building and kept walking.

They had just passed another bunch of animal-human hybrids when Dragan interrupted Isabel’s torrent of dialogue.

“Why don’t we just beat everyone of the damn things we see? I’m sure we’ve passed a few of their spots by now. We can beat them down, take their shit, and be out in a few minutes with you in the lead.” He waved an arm at Shaggy.

Shaggy shrugged. “Because we don’t know if those thugs actually roll with the Bunch. They ain’t exactly wearing gang colors. So we need to be cautious. It makes no sense to start shit with another gang just because.”

“But we’re going to take these blocks anyway, right? So why don’t we just bop them and be done with it?”

“Can we defend any territory we take right now?” Shaggy argued.

He was making excuses. He had been sure that a few of the groups they had passed were Bunch goons. But he didn’t want to jump into a fight with a bunch of kids. The Quinica had been different. They came looking for an ass-whooping. Now, he was actively throwing these teens into a grinder. Although he also wasn’t wrong, they needed bodies to hold the turf they fought for, and right now, they didn’t have it. At best, they could patrol daily and keeping fighting the Bunch.

Dragan tried to argue with Shaggy, but Otto was the one who called him out. “We aren’t weak, y’know?”

Shaggy grunted and came to a stop on the sidewalk. Without Isabel droning on, the street seemed extremely quiet. Dragan and Ulf looked at Shaggy and Otto. But the stocky boy just kept glaring at Shaggy. Shaggy met the stoic boy’s eyes and sighed.

“I get that. But fighting to defend yourselves is one thing. Knowingly throwing you to the animal-people feels different.”

“What about George's warehouse? You had no problem flinging us into that, did you?” Isabel argued.

Shaggy groaned. It was a good point. He had been more than happy to use the teens when he was sure it would be a one-off. But now they were his people, his crew. The fact they were kids also didn’t help. Could he really ask a bunch of teens to go to war with a criminal gang? Shaggy shook his head.

They weren’t real. Just lines of code in a game designed for him to have fun. They were NPCs. A resource he could exploit to make himself a bigger deal. Yes, they were more complex and nuanced than most NPCs he had ever seen. Even so, they were there for him to use. He didn’t give a shit about the random nobodies that had been in the Viper’s Den basement, did he? No. They were there to fill out the Legion and help with the Quinica. He needed to wrap his head around the fact that these weren’t actual teens. Just digital facsimiles with realistic personalities and goals.

Shaggy was pulled from his thoughts as the sound of shattering glass echoed in the air. Down the street, a chair flew into the middle of the street, barely missing one of the few cars on the road. Screams and shouts filled the air as Shaggy moved. Dragan and the others followed along as Shaggy scented fear on the air, along with cigarette smoke and sweat. He crossed the street as he approached what looked to be a small convenience store that used to have a glass front door and window. Both of which were now broken.

“I don’t care!” A man yelled. “You’ve been late with your payments one time to many, old man! Now me and the boys are going to take it out of your hide!”

Shaggy heard a cascade of cackling and what sounded like an old man pleading for his life. He turned back around to the others and started whispering orders.

“Isabel, turn into something with claws, and Ulf, get your weapons ready. Dragan and Otto, I want you both out here if they try to run, got it?”

Both Dragan and Otto looked ready to argue, but a shout from inside the store stopped them. It sounded like a little kid screaming. Shaggy grit his teeth, turned, but Isabel gripped his arm. Shaggy’s glare made the young girl step back before she whispered.

“I can’t just shift into an animal. I need to touch one and then I take on the characteristics of that animal.”

Shaggy sighed. “You didn’t explain this last night because…?”

Isabel shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Shaggy blew out a breath as the kid and old man screamed inside the store. More and more sounds of destruction filtered through the open door and Shaggy shifted his hands into claws. He and Ulf would have to go in then. Isabel could stay out here. He was sure he could handle whatever was in there. Maybe.

“Try that.” Otto said, pointing at Shaggy’s claws.

Isabel gave the boy a weird look before she shrugged again and gripped Shaggy’s wrist. Shaggy felt a ripple move across his skin and he blinked. The next thing they knew, Isabel was standing there with almost identical black-red claws. The young girl hopped excitedly.

“Ohmygod, I didn’t think that would work! That’s so cool!” Seeing Shaggy’s look, she added, “ahem, we should hurry though. Right? Yeah.”

Shaggy shook his head at her antics before he nodded to Ulf. He rushed around through the now broken door and took in the scene even as he rushed the nearest animal-human. He was shocked to discover it was a skinny, green snake man with spindly arms. Arms that were currently holding a short orange person off the ground. Shaggy shook off the scene as he jabbed both claws through the snake-man’s torso. A flash of red at his side told him that Ulf was handling another of the goons.

The coils of muscle that made up the snake man’s body briefly tugged at his claws. But their sharpness won out and Shaggy raked them through the alien’s body. The snake-man collapsed to the ground like a lump of rope. The orange individual went tumbling back toward the store counter. But Shaggy ignored them as he spun toward his next target. Ulf currently had a shield up and was battering a tentacled face man with a red bat. Isabel had rushed in after them and stabbed her claws into the cat-lady that was now lying dead at the young girl’s feet. But Isabel wasn’t moving anymore. She was just staring down at her claws in what Shaggy assumed was horror. All thoughts of the young girl not being real fled his mind as he saw the shock on Isabel’s face. Then the young girl cheered, raising both claws into the air.

“These things are fucking AWESOME! Boss, you gotta let me…”

Shaggy tuned her out as his mind caught up with what was happening. She wasn’t scarred from killing someone. She was elated at having a new weapon. Shaggy briefly wanted to rail against his previous worries about the ethics of bringing kids to a fight. They were just as bloodthirsty as any other Player in the game. He was about to chastise the girl who was still yapping, when a furry arm swung out of one of the small aisles in the store. Aimed right at Isabel’s head. Shaggy moved.

“Duck!” Shaggy shouted as he leapt.

Isabel may have been chattering away, but she was quick. The girl went low as the arm swept through where her head had been. A bipedal furry white tiger spun out of the aisle as they missed their target. Shaggy collided with the body, and they both went tumbling toward the front door. The tiger-person tripped on the edge of the door and went falling to the pavement, taking Shaggy along for the ride.

SPLAT

They landed with an odd noise and Shaggy briefly looked up to see Dragan and Otto staring wide-eyed at him. Looking down, Shaggy saw that the tiger was stuck to the pavement outside the door. He threw himself backward and checked himself. Dragan’s glue could be annoying, but it was also effective. The thug on the ground tried to wriggle and yank their arms and legs out of the glue. Shaggy grinned and briefly checked on Ulf and Isabel, but they had already dispatched the last Bunch gang member. The sound of ripping clothes made Shaggy spin around in alarm, but by the time he got his eyes on things, Otto had already opened fire.

The small K-Tech pistol he was carrying charred and burned the skin around the tiger-person’s face. The smell of burnt hair filled the air and the sounds of the pistol went on and on. Shaggy glanced up to see an angry-looking Otto continue to unload his energy pistol into the twitching form of his target. Dragan finally pulled Otto away and Shaggy watched the two step away. He might need to talk to the kid about that. It seemed like an overreaction. But for all Shaggy knew, the Bunch had killed the kids’ parents or something. He momentarily hoped it wasn’t outright racism, but an angry voice spoke up from behind the counter.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Oh, you damn fucking idiot Supes! Look what you’ve done! You think this is going to solve anything? They’re just going to come back with more people next time.”

Shaggy watched as the old man in overalls behind the counter berated them. The man was missing a few front teeth and even had patches of hair missing from his head. Shaggy scratched his head for a few seconds as the man tried to invent more creative ways to insult them. But once the man stopped to take a breath, Shaggy stepped forward and grabbed the man by his overall and pulled him forward.

“First thing, how many Supes do you know that kill their targets?” The old man sputtered as Shaggy yanked him further across the counter. “Second, explain to me how it’s my problem? Finally, tell me how much money you got in that cash register.”

The old man finally stopped sputtering as Shaggy finished his spiel. He glared up at Shaggy before finally spitting to the side and grumbling.

“Great, another batch of evil fucks. Like we need anymore of those. I ain’t got no money! You pack of savages. I wouldn’t give you any iffen I did either. I need what I got to pay off the Bunch, anyway.”

Shaggy scoffed. “Protection payment? How’s that working out for ya?”

The old man squinted his eyes at Shaggy and gave a toothless grin. “Better now that I know what you lot look like and what your powers are.”

Shaggy snarled, showing off his pointed teeth. “That was a stupid thing to say ol-”

BAM

What sounded like a cannon echoed in Shaggy’s ears and his vision went completely dark. If it wasn’t for the shouting of the surprised and angry teens, he would’ve thought he was dead. Instead, he felt the body of the old man he was still holding go limp. Shaggy dropped him and reached toward his face, feeling bloody and torn skin. His ears picked up a high-pitch voice as in alarm.

“Whoa! How the hell is he still alive?!”

“Drop the damn gun gnome!”

“It’s not a gnome. It’s orange!”

“Not really important right now, Isabel.”

“Yeah, it just shot Boss in the face.”

“I AM NOT AN ‘IT’!” the squeaky voice shouted.

Shaggy felt his skin and eyes regrowing and tried to focus on what was going on around him. It didn’t feel like the shotgun, or whatever it was, did too much damage. But it had fucked up his eyes. He wondered if he had been the target or was it the old man? Thankfully, the tiny gnome thing answered his unasked questions.

“My name is Nuc Monpund, you bunch of weirdos. I’m sorry about your boss, but he was standing next to that waste of space that just tried to sell me.”

“You didn’t have to shoot him. Boss was getting ready to claw the bastard himself.” Ulf argued.

Nuc sniffed. “I understand that. But I was understandably pissed! I worked for the guy for almost a year and at the first sign of trouble he tries to SELL me! So fucking excuuuse me! Besides, it seems your boss is fine.”

Shaggy felt and heard the sounds of buckshot leaving his face. He raised a hand. “I don’t know if I’m fine exactly. But I will be. Although I’m going to be taking some food for my trouble.”

“What do I care? Take what you want.”

“Well, it seems to me that with the owner dead, you are the one in charge of this place, Mr. Nuc.”

“Ms Nuc! Miss! One would think you lot had never seen a woman before!” Nuc roared angrily.

Shaggy pointed to his still healing eyes. “Considering I haven’t seen you yet, how about you cut me some slack?”

The tiny woman started grumbling under her breath as Shaggy’s eyes fully healed. Once they did, he saw that Dragan and Otto were now in the store. All four of his crew were staring at him, having watched his eyes grow back. Ulf and Dragan looked a little green, but Isabel was staring on in wonder. Otto was back to his stoic look again, pistol back in its holster at his hip. Shaggy glanced at them all before saying.

“Loot?”

All four kids flushed red in embarrassment before they started rifling through pockets of the deceased. Otto and Dragan ran outside to get the tiger-person. Shaggy held back a chuckle as he watched the teens rummage through the dead.

“Make sure to leave a lookout!” he shouted as he turned to regard Nuc.

The tiny orange woman was standing on the counter of the convenience store, holding a large shotgun. The weapon was clearly designed for someone much bigger, and Shaggy wondered how she had fired it. Shaggy took in the creature’s appearance. Nuc was around three and a half feet tall. She had short-cropped brown hair, a long pointed nose, arms that hung down almost to her knees. She was barefoot and her long three-clawed toes gripped the countertop. The claw marks on the counter told Shaggy how she got a shot off. He stared for a moment at the long, sharp-looking black claws before he glanced back at her face to see her grinning at him.

“Take a picture, sweetheart. It’ll last longer.”

Shaggy snorted. “Right. Excuse me. It’s just I’ve never seen a…”

Nuc tittered and readjusted the shotgun she was holding. “Well… you ever wonder what happens when a hob-goblin fucks a gnome?”

Shaggy recoiled a bit as the goblin/gnome waved a hand up and down her body. Behind him, he heard Ulf ask.

“Gobome? Gnomlin?”

Nuc sighed. “Heard them all before. Just call me a hybrid and be done with it. There’s not that many of us to even warrant a name, to be honest. But at least my mom and dad seemed to love each other. That’s not usually the case for most of us.”

Shaggy nodded absently before he tried to change the subject. “Well then, uh… what do you plan to do with your store?”

“Why?” Nuc asked, waving a hand at the destruction all around them. “You gonna offer me protection? It didn’t seem to work out so well for Randall.”

“Bah! Different person, different circumstance. Besides, how would you feel about moving?”

“Jeez, sweetie! Do you want me to run this store or not? Make up your mind.”

“No. I can’t offer you protection if you stay here. But if you set up shop a few blocks east of here, we might be able to talk. There are plenty of empty buildings for you to choose from.”

Nuc rubbed her chin in thought. “I did pretty much run things for Randall around here. But he kept most of his important files as hard copies. That’s where all his contacts and suppliers are. I’m gonna need them if I want to set up a shop somewhere else. Not to mention I’m going to need credits to building permits and everything. You gonna help with that, dog-man?”

Shaggy bristled. “Wolf.”

Behind him, Ulf and Isabel stood up and approached. He twisted slightly to check their haul. They both had a fair few credit chits on them. It looked like this bunch were running collections. Shaggy waved over Dragan from outside and added his Credits to the pile. They would still need a reader to figure out how much was on the things, but he figured he could promise Nuc a share. He turned to make his offer and found the hybrid still standing on the counter. But now she had a credit reader in her clawed hands.

“Half.” Shaggy said simply.

Nuc looked like she tasted something disgusting, but she nodded. “Fine. Cheapskate. But no discounts.”

Shaggy pulled back the pile of credits in his hands. “A small discount.”

Nuc rolled the decision around in her mind for a little while before she grunted and held out a hand. Shaggy handed over the credit chits over the sounds of his teens grumbling. He had them all wait outside as he and the diminutive woman discussed terms and where to set up shop. By the end of the conversation, they had agreed to a five percent discount for his crew and another five percent cut of her revenue in exchange for protection from the Bunch.

Nuc seemed mildly surprised at the five percent and mentioned that the Bunch was taking fifty. Shaggy figured that made sense, but for a poor neighborhood like this, it wasn’t workable. They’d end up cutting into the store’s profits way too much and then they’d have nothing. It made more sense to offer better percentages of people who joined them early. It made them look good, and then they could renegotiate later. Nuc seemed to cotton on to what he was thinking halfway through, and she argued for more benefits.

“I’m your first store, right? So that means I’m your word-of-mouth. I can decide how your future dealings go with other store owners. But I can tell you right now, few of them are going to want to move. Even if it is a few blocks.”

“Not even to get away from the Bunch.”

“I like you kids. You seem nice. But you ain’t the first group to try this. Most of the other store owners are afraid of what the Bunch will do to them if they abandon ship.”

Shaggy nodded. That made sense.

“But I can sing your praises and if you actually protect me. Well, that look even better.”

“You really don’t have much faith in our protection, do you?”

Nuc patted the shotgun that was sitting on the counter. “There’s a reason Randall had this under the counter. Gang protection is as reliable as a fox guarding a henhouse.”

Shaggy shrugged. That was also fair. He didn’t know how often they would patrol, but he would make sure that they at least went by once a day to check on things. Nuc’s store would be an investment and his crew would need to defend that investment. After some back and forth, they arrived at a decent enough agreement, which they both figured they could come back to later. Finally, Shaggy helped the small woman break into Randall’s old safe. It supposedly held all of Randall’s previous agreements with suppliers, as well as their contact info. But at that point, Shaggy was well and truly bored. So he left the small hybrid to peruse the files with a promise to check on her before they finished their patrol.

As Shaggy left the store, he found his teens sitting on the sidewalk and talking amongst themselves. It hadn’t been that long, but apparently it was enough for the kids to get bored. Shaggy glanced up and down the street and sighed at the fact that the police hadn’t been called. There were no sirens, no drones, not even a random patrol. The Bunch seemed to have a firm handle on this neighborhood. Shaggy cracked his neck as he addressed the kids.

“Alright, on to the next one.”

“We gonna stop another robbery, boss?” Dragan snarked.

Shaggy shrugged. “How about you choose the next target?”

Dragan started before he excitedly started back the way they came. The others hurried after him as Shaggy chuckled to himself. He wondered which group had caught Dragan’s eye. The drug dealers? The group of stoop thugs? Maybe the building with the Bear-hybrid guarding it? Shaggy rushed to find out. So far, the first patrol had been decently lucrative, and it wasn’t even over yet.

“Did I tell you about what happened with Mariposa this one time?” Isabel started as Shaggy caught up with the teens.

Shaggy rolled his eyes as the girl droned on again. He started hoping Dragan was aiming for the bear house as they walked. Isabel chattering endlessly at his side.