Shaggy ducked the haymaker from the thug and slammed his fist into the man’s jaw. Shaggy finished his uppercut and slammed his forehead into his target’s nose. The man crumbled and Shaggy turned to look down the street. Nearby, Branka’s stun baton sparked as she swung it into another gang member’s face. She seemed to do fine, while Akie was currently trying to use her new forcefields to contain another three Bunch gangsters. The blue bubbles were holding up, but the girl was sweating profusely. The dark-haired, skinny boy, Heru, rushed over to help. He sucked in a large breath and then blew it out, sending a torrent of wind rushing down the sidewalk.

Shaggy braced himself as he slid backwards slightly. The thugs in Akie’s shield, however, stayed in place. Akie swore and fell to her knees as the bubble flickered. Shaggy moved to intercept as Heru stopped using his Super-Breath. The bubble shattered just as Shaggy reached it and he dove in.

The first thug caught Shaggy’s fist right in his sternum, crumbling immediately. He was pushed forward slightly as the second thug used their bat against his back. But with his armor, Shaggy barely felt it. He curled his fingers into a hammer fist and spun, bringing it down on the hybrid’s cheek. Shaggy felt bone shatter beneath his fist and grinned wickedly. He was about to spin to the last gangster, but Branka was already there. She had her stun baton jammed into the man’s back and he twitched several times until his eyes rolled into his head and he collapsed.

“I’m so sorry, Akie. I thought my wind would go through the shield.”

Akie gave Heru the middle finger before she shifted it into the okay sign. The young boy rushed over to help the girl stand as Shaggy and Branka started looting. As he went, Shaggy made sure all four thugs were dead. No sense in leaving an enemy at your back. Plus, every one of the bunch they killed was another one they didn’t have to deal with later. Branka eyed him as he finished his gruesome work, but she said nothing. Instead, she finished looting and stood to check over her weapons.

The muscular red-head had brought several stun batons and already beaten two out of shape. She had four more hanging on her hips. But at the rate she was going, she was going to run out at some point. Branka didn’t seem to rely on her powers as much as Akie or Heru. Then again, being able to crawl on walls would not help much either. Shaggy finished going through pockets and glanced both ways down the street.

“Is...is it safe now?” A timid voice called from further down the street.

Shaggy sighed. The last member of their little patrol had finally turned up. “Yes, Nisha. The fights over. Care to explain why you weren’t shooting?”

The unawakened member of their patrol stammered as she looked at Shaggy. “I… I’m… I mean… well…”

“I told her not to.” Akie wheezed as she finally stood. “I knew blaster fire would drain my shields. I didn’t want exactly what happened to happen because of Nisha.”

“Hmph!” Shaggy grunted and looked between the two girls.

Heru was still fidgeting near Akie, looking awkward. Meanwhile, Nisha looked green as she glanced around at the dead thugs. Shaggy wanted to rub his forehead. It seemed that Nisha was a little gun shy in a straight up fight and Akie was covering for her. Or maybe the two had actually talked. He couldn’t be sure, but from now on, they were going to have to get better at communicating.

“Whatever.” Shaggy finally said. “Akie, how fast can you raise a shield?”

“I don’t know. I think pretty fast, but I never timed it.”

Heru bounced excitedly as he contributed to the conversation. “Oh! Why don’t we do that? That could be a fun way to test your abilities.”

“Not out here!” Shaggy shouted. “The Bunch are out in force today. Probably because of what we did yesterday. This is the third patrol we’ve come across and Akie is already tired, Heru hasn’t capped a single thug, and Nisha is refusing to fight! Now normally I would have us resume the patrol, but I think we need to head back.”

“WHAT?!”

“Oh, come on!”

“Finally!”

Branka and Akie shot Nisha death stares as Heru remained quiet. Shaggy growled slightly as he looked around. The street seemed clear, and they were only a few blocks into Bunch turf. But they would still need to be careful on the way back. He didn’t know if the Bunch had patrol patterns, but he doubted it. If anything, their gang was just out and prowling around like a pack of animals. Shaggy straighten up and headed south when Branka’s voice stopped him.

“This isn’t fair! I shouldn’t be punished because these two don’t know how to use their powers and Nisha doesn’t want to fight.”

“You know most people wouldn’t see an untimely end to their workday as a punishment, right?” Shaggy asked.

“And fuck you, Branka. We know how to use our powers! We just haven’t used them together at all.” Heru added.

The large woman moved forward and towered over the shorter man. But Heru didn’t back down, he just glared at Branka. Daring her to do something. Shaggy felt a headache forming between his eyes and sighed. He really didn’t want to deal with this shit right now, but he knew both kids were going to make him.

“Both of you fucking stop. We are going back to the cave. It’s clear we need to get some of you used to using your powers and understanding the limits of them.”

“Isn’t that best done out here?” Nisha said.

Shaggy glanced up, surprised that she was the one making that argument. It was clear she didn’t want to be fighting. By the way Nisha was wincing, Shaggy guessed that she hadn’t planned for the words to come tumbling out of her mouth. He quirked an eyebrow and waited for Nisha to complete her thought. When she didn’t, Akie gave her a hard nudge in the waist. Nisha almost tumbled, but the words rushed past her lips even as she sighed.

“I mean, the best place to learn is in an actual life or death situation, right? I mean with you here, Shaggy. The chance of us dying is significantly lower, so where better to practice? I mean, sure, they’ve messed up a few times, but they are still learning.”

“Not you though?” Shaggy asked. “You’re not learning?”

Nisha shrugged. “I’m not awakened yet. So the best I can do is shoot at people. But I really don’t like guns. But I’m also not some warrior woman. I’m not in that kind of shape.”

Branka snorted and tapped her shoe on one of the dead thugs. “Neither are they, really.”

“Maybe, but I really don’t trust myself not to mess up in a straight fight.”

“So use the gun!” Heru shouted.

Shaggy and the others all shushed the boy. It was before noon, but they didn’t need anymore attention. Heru had the good sense to look chagrined, but he still pointed toward the weapon and shrugged his shoulders. Nisha looked down at the silver pistol in her hand and shivered. She didn’t even like looking at the things, apparently. Shaggy rubbed a hand down his face. They still had a lot more on their patrol path. But they had made it this far without the girl’s help. But that didn’t mean he was going to have his crew carry her.

“You know you’re going to have to do something, right? I mean, we can’t all be fighting and you’re just sitting there not shooting your gun. If you want a pass, like Seth, find something to do back in the cave.”

Nisha nodded glumly, which Shaggy took to mean she accepted her new non-combat role. Instead, she grabbed one of Branka’s stun baton and gave it a few experimental swings. Shaggy gawped at her for a few seconds until the young girl coughed.

“Ahem… What? I said I don’t like guns. I have no problem braining a person.”

“That’s a fucking weird line to draw, but fuck it. Whatever works for you. Now can we go?”

Branka was glaring at the smaller girl for taking one of her batons. But overall, it seemed everyone was ready. So Shaggy spun around and walked up the block. They still had a few blocks to go before they turned and started back. It was another few hours of walking ahead of them. Probably more if they kept running into Wild Bunch patrols.

Shaggy found it interesting that the streets were less populated than they had been. But he chalked it up to the increased Bunch presence. It was like the citizens knew what was going down and tried their best to stay out of it. A few of the stores were still open here and there, but the majority looked closed as well. The empty streets and quiet morning made it seem like the five of them were just on some kind of weird walk. Shaggy almost missed Isabel’s constant prattling in his ear.

Heru would occasionally try to engage someone in conversation, but he was mostly rebuffed. Shaggy got the impression that none of the girls like the young man. Although he couldn’t figure why. He didn’t seem annoying or clingy, just a bit awkward. Maybe after a few patrols, the boy would learn a bit more socially. But for right now, it didn’t seem like he could read the room.

Shaggy led them past the next street and further into the next block, when Branka finally broke the silence.

“Is this going to be a regular thing? The patrols?”

Shaggy nodded. “Oh yeah. You lot will take over once you're all more comfortable with your powers. Then when we get more people, they’ll take over. Someone’s got to watch the territory. But it’s grunt work.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“So then what will you do?”

“Well, for right now, this is as offensive as I want to be. But once we have enough people, we can venture further into Bunch turf and start hitting bigger targets. That’s what Ephemara is doing for us right now. We kind of are in a holding pattern, testing the Bunch lines while also eliminating some of their grunts.”

Branka grunted. “Shouldn't we just march into their turf and fight it out with them? I mean, this has to be the slow way.”

“It is.” Shaggy nodded. “But there’s nothing wrong with the slow way? We don’t know enough about our enemy to just outright attack them. We’ve got what? About twenty-something people? How many does the Bunch have? Sure, the pack is strong, but even we get tired. So if we have to fight off a hundred mooks and then deal with the big boss. We will not do well.”

“A few hundred what?” Akie asked.

“Mooks.” Heru answered quickly. “It’s just an older way of saying goons, thugs, hooligans, or gangster. Shaggy’s saying that we don’t have the numbers to win a straight up fight right now.”

“They might not give us the choice if we keep marching into their turf.” Branka muttered.

“How old ARE you, Shaggy?” Nisha asked.

“Old enough to remember when that was a rude question. Oh wait! It still is. You damn kids are giving me a headache. I swear.”

Branka snorted. “I didn’t do shit.”

“I was only curious.”

“It IS kind of rude to ask, though.”

“I mean, we can probably guess. If we look at the other members of his pack and then extrapolate how they treat him based on their assumed ages. We can…” Heru droned on as Shaggy ignored him.

He kept his eyes on the streets and alleys as they moved, but they were eerily quiet. Shaggy was surprised they hadn’t bumped into another patrol. But with Vick and Cekrass marching into Bunch turf too, they probably had their hands full. At least, he hoped. A tingle went up Shaggy’s spine and he stopped. Heru and the others stopped their quiet conversation as Shaggy spun on the spot. Something had his hackles up, but he couldn’t guess what. He was starting to guess it was an invisible enemy when a large rat darted away from a few trashcans ahead of them. Shaggy felt the teens relax.

“Jeez, Shaggy. Jumping at rats now?” Akie asked.

Shaggy shook his head as he cautiously moved forward. He still felt like someone was watching him.

“That wasn-”

Shaggy was interrupted by a low whizzing sound and then a sharp pain in his side. He felt himself being lifted off his feet and thrown into a nearby building. He hit the brickwork and fell face-first onto the sidewalk as the kids scurried for cover. Shaggy could hear their shouts of alarm and confusion as his side exploded in pain. He felt a shiver course through his body and he was reminded of the disintegration weapon. Shaggy felt himself getting hungrier as his regeneration power tried to heal the damage and he reached for his pocket. He had made sure to grab as many snacks as possible before heading out.

“Is he dead?” Nisha cried from nearby.

“No way!” Heru shouted back.

“Someone go check on him!” Akie cried

“Not till we know where the shot came from.” Branka ordered.

Shaggy noted that Branka was the closest to him and could probably see where the shot came from. He tried to ask her, but he couldn’t get any breath into his body. There were no other sounds in the street, and Shaggy guessed the shooters were checking their work before moving in for the kill. He was proven correct when a voice called from the east.

“Hey! One of you kids go and check if there’s a body. He’s worth five thousand credits dead, but we need proof.”

“Go fuck yourself!” Branka shouted back. “How about you come check him?!”

“Oh, don’t be like that. We were going to let you all go with a beating. Now, because of your hurtful words, we might just kill you.” The voice called back.

Shaggy finally got his left hand into his pocket and reached around for something. He came away with a candy bar that was slightly mushy from the heat. But he didn’t even unwrap it and jammed the thing into his mouth. His healing was progressing slowly, but it was going to need all the help it could get. He had survived getting his hand disintegrated, so this couldn’t have been that bad. Although his side hurt like hell.

His kids were still yelling at the Bunch assassins and it seemed like they were at a stalemate until an unknown voice came from across the street.

“Let’s just kill them all already. We only need the short one for the bounty. The rest are just icing on the cake.”

Shaggy heard Branka whispering something, but he wasn’t sure if it was for him or the others. He felt the hole in his side finally close up and he cracked an eye. Branka was crouched near Akie, behind a tree. The large woman was whispering something. The wide-eyed Akie looked a little shocked, but she nodded rapidly. Shaggy tried to find the others, but he couldn’t see them from where he lay.

“Fine! I’ll do it myself!” said the second voice.

There was a rush of air and a flap of wings before an angel landed in the middle of the street. Long blonde hair flowing in the breeze from his large wings, the man touched down in the street with a strange amount of grace. He turned his blue-eyes to where Branka was crouched behind a tree.

“I’m going to check on the target. If you get in my way, I’ll bury you.” He warned.

Shaggy felt his healing stop, but his stomach still rumbled slightly. He wasn’t at a hundred percent, but he figured he could deal with one asshole. He watched the man approach and saw Branka ready one of her batons. Shaggy wanted her to let the giant angel through, but she seemed ready and willing to jam her shock stick up the guy’s holy ass. Which is exactly what she tried.

Akie created a large blue bubble on the other side of the tree to block gun fire, as Branka left her cover and tried to jab her weapon into the angel’s back. The shock stick hit, but no electricity sparked and the guy didn’t even flinch. In fact, he looked more annoyed than anything. He spun and ripped the weapon from Branka’s hand while snarling.

“I’m an agent of the divine, you stupid bitch. No mortal weapon can best me.”

Shaggy grinned as he rose to his feet. The angel didn’t seem to see him and Shaggy threw himself forward, shifting his hands into claws. The angel spun again, left arm outstretched to catch Shaggy in mid-air. He succeeded in gripping Shaggy by the throat, but Shaggy thrust his claws forward into the angel’s chest.

“As I was saying, I am untouchable as I am part of the Divine! No one can…” The angel trailed off as Shaggy wrenched his claws sideways.

Gold ichor gushed forth from the angel’s chest as he looked down. The angel’s face was a mask of terror as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. Shaggy slashed the angel’s arm off for good measure. Another whizzing noise sounded, and Akie gave a scream. Her bubble had stopped a shot, but it was costing her. Thankfully, those weapons had a long cool-down on them. Shaggy glanced at the angel, who looked dumbfounded, and grinned.

“H-h-h-how?”

“Demon Wolf, bitch.”

Shaggy jammed his claws into the angel’s neck and ripped them sideways. After that, he pulled another snack from his pocket and unwrapped it. He looked over at Branka and found Nisha and Heru further south by a car. While he was eating, he waved a hand.

“Well… Charge?” He grumbled around a mouthful of chocolate.

Branka was the first to shake herself out of her stupor and rush across the street. Shaggy quickly followed her. Akie dropped her bubble as they crossed the street. Shaggy spotted the shooters on the rooftop across from them and ran for the alleyway. If he was lucky, there would be a fire escape. If he wasn’t, there would at least be a way into the building. Branka made it to the building first and threw herself at the wall and climbed it. She started with all four limbs attached before she stood and started running. Shaggy tried not to gape as he entered the alley and looked around.

“Shit!” he screamed.

No fire escape. The building was at least three stories and made of brick, so he could probably climb it. But that would be slow going. Another option was the side entrance, that looked like a fire exit. Heru and the others slid to a stop behind him as Shaggy made his decision. He kicked in the door and rushed inside, looking for a staircase. As he did, he shouted.

“Someone watch the exits!”

He didn’t hear anyone answer him as he found a staircase and bounded up to them. Branka was probably on the roof fighting. He didn’t doubt that the muscular woman could handle herself, but he didn’t know what she was up against. Hopefully, she reached them before the disintegration weapon was ready. Shaggy shouldered through the roof door in time to hear a woman screaming. He scanned the roof and found two bodies sprawled across it. Both hybrids and both still breathing. The scream had been from the slim rabbit-girl Branka had held over her head. The red-head roared as she flung her poor captive over the side of the roof and huffed. Shaggy winced as the sound of the rabbit-hybrid’s body hitting a car echoed up from the street. He glanced at the rooftop again and saw that both men were laying next to modified rifles, only one of which was crackling with red energy. The other had black smoke curling across it. Branka had handled all three of them fairly well. When he looked back at the tall woman, Shaggy noted a large red welt appearing on her right eye.

Noticing his look, Branka huffed. “Rabbit bitch kicked me.”

Shaggy nodded and waved a hand at the roof’s edge. “Thus the impromptu skydiving?”

“Yeah.”

“Understandable. Good work, kid.”

Branka snorted, but gave him a nod. Shaggy sighed as he started looting, grabbing both rifles. Those would be very handy in the coming days. They would also need to loot the squashed bunny-girl. But Branka could do that. Once the two bodies were looted, he and Branka stepped toward the roof door.

“Boss?” Branka asked, sounding worried.

Shaggy raised an eyebrow at her tone. Was she worried about how he had killed an angel? Maybe she hadn’t realized he was technically part demon. The large woman didn’t seem like the type to care. But judging from the concerned look on her face, maybe she did. Branka waved a hand up at her face, around her mouth and jaw.

“You have chocolate all over your face.”

“What? Oh, damn it!” Shaggy shouted as he rapidly began wiping his face.

Branka gave him a disgusted look as she walked through the roof door and down the stairs. Shaggy swearing the whole way behind her.