Shaggy awoke in a dark cell. He had given as well as he had got in the back of the police van. But with no powers or healing, the other members of the van had damn near stomped him to Deathville. Of course, the ruckus brought the police, who realized that Shaggy was apparently not part of the Wild Bunch crew. Shaggy had bleary memories of his body being moved to another vehicle and then random bits of him being processed and then thrown in a room.

Shaggy stood with a groan. Noting that his wrists were still clamped together with the power-suppression cuffs. He had a gut feeling that if he tried to shift with these cuffs on, they’d cut his hands off. With no healing, that was not a good idea. Shaggy looked around and took in the room. He was in a large cement square with runic writing glowing along the edges. On one side was a row of bars that went from ceiling to floor. The space between the bars was so slim, Shaggy wagered he couldn’t squeeze his way out. Beyond the bars was another dark cell across from his and a hallway cutting between them.

Shaggy stretched his arms and legs as best he could. Thankfully, the cops hadn’t opted for leg manacles. He paced the length of his cell from all four corners and sighed. If things played out like last time, he was going to be bagged, tagged, and thrown into the nearest prison. Probably a higher-tiered one this time. Then, according to the forums, he would have to wait until some Villain came recruiting or some other disaster struck. Of course, first they would question him to high heaven. Shaggy sighed loudly again and sat down while checking his HP and Stamina.

HP: 125/497 (Healing Suppressed)

SP: 185/446

He grimaced. Not the lowest they had been, but the fact that neither was slowly ticking upward as he watched was annoying. He wasn’t even getting the normal ‘sit-boost’ to healing all players got. A sneering voice echoed from the darkness of the opposing cell.

“We don’t get bonuses of any kind in here. Dumbass!”

Shaggy stayed seated but spun around to glare into the other cell. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. A large pair of hands reached out to the bars, notably without cuffs on them. The pale hands drug an oddly shaped head into the cornea of light from the hallway. Shaggy did nothing to hide his laughter as he saw Pin-head, the player who had ruined his escape from the police drones. Last he had seen the brawny cone-headed player, he was going to break out his friends with the help of Xiv and Mell. Apparently, that hadn’t gone well. The big lug was glaring back at Shaggy, a large metal clamp placed over his conical head. Magical glyphs pulsed on the clamp and Shaggy guessed they were suppressing the player much the same as his cuffs. But the large metal hat struck Shaggy as absolutely hilarious.

“Hey! Fuck you dickbag! I wouldn’t be in here if it wasn’t for you!”

Shaggy snorted. “Hey! It ain’t my fault your trio of dumbasses didn’t succeed in breaking INTO a jail.”

“We succeeded, asswipe. We got SenSor and Cutie out of that cell, then we booked it into the suburbs. Trying to get away from the Raks. That’s when shit fell apart. With no way into the biggest crime family in Austin, SenSor left. Then Mell and Cutie went off in search of Under-Town. Which left just me and Xiv. Which I was fine with…”

“Gee, I wonder why?” Shaggy sniped.

Pin-head’s large hand slapped against the bars. “Shudup! It was going to be prefect, but she…”

Shaggy cranked up his right eyebrow as a thought occurred to him. “She ditched you?”

Pin-head said nothing. Instead, his pale hands moved away from the bars and the ground shook slightly as the large man sat. Shaggy could barely make out the other player’s body through the darkness. Which was slightly alarming. His dark-vision should’ve been able to see. In-fact why could he see in the darkness of his own cell but not Pin-head? Damn police and their shitty magic crap.

“I tried to ditch him. Didn’t work out so well.” Yelled a new voice from down the hallway.

Shaggy gave a start before a smile formed on his face. “Xiv?”

“I was going to dump the liability and join Cutie and Mell in Under-Town. But genius there robbed a jewelry store. His way of making it up to the Rak Family.”

“It would’ve worked if you hadn’t fucking dropped your control of the hostages!” Pin-head screamed through the bars.

“No, it wouldn’t have, Pin. We would’ve just been killed by the Rak family for failure and had to respawn elsewhere. So I took my out.”

“Look where it got you, bitch.”

Silence reigned through the hall as the red-headed player said nothing. Shaggy couldn’t see her cell, but she sounded fairly close. Maybe between the three of them, they could get out quicker. They would just have to circumvent all of their suppression cuffs. Not a simple task, but where was the fun if it was easy?

Shaggy was about to voice his plan. When the loud click of a door opening echoed down the hall. Footsteps approached slowly in measured pace as three people walked down the hall. Two were wearing police blues, while the third was dressed in a sharp suit. Suit guy was grinning as he was escorted toward the cells. Shaggy tilted his head in question as the trio stopped before his cell. Shaggy could see that the suit guy was a pale white alien with yellow eyes and sharp black teeth. The Alien waved a hand and one officer did something to a panel outside Shaggy’s cell. All three of them took a step back as whatever darkening spell over Shaggy’s cell dropped. It was like they could all see him now and the suit guy did not look happy.

“Why is my client in such a state? Where are his clothes?”

Shaggy looked himself over and realized he was indeed still wearing the rags. His jeans were torn, burned, and shredded down to short-shorts. His shirt was long gone and his shoes had been burned off by the damn fire devil. Once again, Shaggy was almost fully naked. He gave a sigh as one police officer explained.

“He was found like that during the riot. As you know, all offenders were taken as they were with no orders to supplement their clothing or any other needs besides medical.”

“What about those bruises? My client has clearly been beaten by someone, or has the police department started grabbing random assaulted civilians off the street?”

“He is no civilian, Mr. Calig. According to the report, he sustained those injuries because of a miscommunication. It was believed he was part of the Westside Lampers. So he was placed in a police van carrying others. A fight broke out and he injured seven of them before they brought him to the floor. With his hands still bound.”

Mr. Calig adjusted his sleeve as a slimy smile appeared on his face. “So my client sustained those injuries while in police custody? That is good to know. Well, you have prison jumpsuits, don’t you? Throw him one and let him make himself presentable. At the very least, he should wear pants when you all question him. While you go get that, I’ll introduce myself.”

Both police men stared at each other before one sighed and started walking off. The other took a few steps away and watched as Mr. Calig reached into a vest pocket and pulled out a slim piece of metal. A red hologram bloomed to life in the shape of a short square. The words ‘Mr. Gathic Calig, Attorney at law,’ appeared in the air and Shaggy nodded at it.

“Good evening, Mr. Robertson. I am Mr. Calig, and I am your assigned public defender. As I don’t want you saying anything until we have a private moment between us, I shall do the talking. Hmm?”

Shaggy gave his state-appointed lawyer a quick nod. He did not know where the hell the guy had come from. But what the hell? Why not ride things out? The pale alien seemed genuine, if nothing else.

“Very good. So I have studied your file and been made aware of the circumstances of your arrest. But as I understand it, you fought with several individuals this evening, correct?”

Shaggy shrugged and nodded. True enough.

“Okay. We have footage of your tussle with the two members of the HLO. While that looks bad, I think we can reasonable say it was all self-defense.”

“Pfft. Really Gathic? He tried to cut the lady’s arms off. Not to mention what he did to some of those Lampers.” said the cop, still watching them.

Gathic shrugged off the words. “Please. He defended himself during a mass stampede from all sectors of the Wild Bunch. He was lucky to make it out alive. Not to mention the recorded video shows that she struck first. My client was protecting himself.”

Shaggy glanced between both men. If this was a staged scene for his benefit, the lawyer was coming off very well. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, either the lawyer would get him out, or he’d go to jail and break out there. All it would cost him was time… and a long lecture from Levy. Shaggy tried to keep the grin from his face as he thought about his wife. Soon, rushing footsteps signaled the return of the other guard. He was carrying a set of folded orange clothes that he carefully slipped through the bars to Shaggy.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He got the orange pants and slip-on white shoes on with no trouble. But his cuffed hands made wearing a shirt impossible. Shaggy held the shirt in his hands and merely shrugged. Mr. Calig looked to both officers, but neither one moved to uncuff Shaggy. Calig sighed and took a few steps away from the cell.

“Gentlemen, you are aware my client has a right to be comfortable while you interrogate him.”

“Sorry, Mr. Calig. But we’ve seen what he can do. His comfort does not take place over our safety.” Said an officer.

Calig sputtered. “Oh please. He is no harm to anyone. Are you, Mr. Robertson?”

Shaggy took a second to ponder the question. It was possible the cops, or the cell, had a truth detection spell or something. But really, he wasn’t going to kid anyone. Instead, Shaggy gave a shy nod of his head. Confirming that if they uncuffed him, he was probably going to try something. Calig sighed and rubbed his eyes as one guard chuckled. The other guard moved his hand across the cell’s control panel and a portion of the bars rose into the ceiling.

Immediately, both guards had weapons in their hands, trained on Shaggy. Shaggy maintained his grip on his shirt, but raised his hands. Both guards monitored him as Calig turned back down the hallway. Shaggy slowly walked out of his cell into the stark-white hallway. He immediately spotted two cameras, one over his cell and the other slightly further up the hall. One guard must have gotten impatient as they attempted to shove Shaggy’s shoulder. The shove moved the officer more than Shaggy, and he turned to gaze at the officer.

“Ahem… You need to move. Interrogation is that way.” The guard said, sounding and appearing embarrassed.

Shaggy smirked as he started walking. He kept a step behind his lawyer as he prepared to memorize every inch of what he was about to see. Anything could be useful in his escape attempts. But it was not to be. Down the hall and through a slim metal door was another small room. A square white-brick room with a metal table which had multiple recording devices on it. There wasn’t even a chair for Shaggy to sit on.

So far, things had been much more complicated than his first foray into police custody. That time he had merely been handed to the police, stuffed in a cell, processed, then shipped off to prison. Although the mugging had been pretty cut and dry. But this time, it looked like he had a case for self-defense. The two guards checked the room and the various devices on the table before they both left the room. There was a loud click and Shaggy felt the air hum as a spell took root throughout the room.

“Okay. Now that’s out of the way. We can get down to business. I think, Mr. Robertson, you have an excellent case for self-defense. The HLO thugs notwithstanding, you mostly seemed to be dealing with the Wild Bunch thugs. Merely criminal on criminal crime. Which is, honestly, not the worst thing. Yes, I think we can get your sentence down quite a bit.”

Shaggy tossed his still folded shirt to the table. “First things first. Who are you and who contacted you?”

“Well, I am your attorney and my offices were informed soon after your arrest. The automated system pings the public defender’s office whenever there’s a case we can handle. Most of the Wild Bunch thugs are repeat offenders. Not to mention, they are the aggressors in this case. You, and several other vigilantes, are being covered by my office, though.”

“Okay. Second question: Why do some of you say those guys were with the Wild Bunch, and others claim they are with these Lampers?”

Calig shrugged. “Neither are wrong. The Westside Lampers run the eastern side of the Wild Bunch’s operation. They’re an offshoot of a bigger gang. Although the Lampers were pretty big themselves. Their leader, George, was a very intelligent geneticist. If a very misguided one.”

Shaggy struggled not to show anything on his face. All this time he had thought he was fighting the big bad. When in fact he was merely dealing with an arm or maybe even a hand. He wanted to kick himself or one of the teens. Why hadn’t anyone told him? Shaggy thought about it and realized that why would they? Who would question him? He kept going on and on about taking out the wild bunch. Mari, Louis, and the other teens probably thought he meant one piece at a time. He really wanted a seat right now.

Unfortunately, Mr. Calig was oblivious to Shaggy’s inner turmoil. “Well, if you don’t even know who you were fighting, then that makes this even easier. Once the lead officer comes back, you let me do the talking. If you’re lucky, they will let you out on bail tonight.”

Shaggy bit back a scoff as the door slowly opened. He winced as the smell of brimstone filled Shaggy’s nostrils. A massive red body walked into the room. Black eyes trained on Shaggy. Xelthub completely ignored Calig’s introduction as he glared. Shaggy sighed audibly as he sat back against the table. Calig quickly picked up on the tension in the room. He glanced between Shaggy and Xelthub several times before he collected himself.

“Officer? You seem to know my client?”

Xelthub snorted. “Oh, I know him. Probably know what he was out there doing tonight, too. Way better than you do, Mr. Calig.”

Calig didn’t miss a beat. He walked over to stand next to Shaggy. “Well, as interesting as that is. That doesn’t change what has happened here tonight. My client was merely protecting himself from the Wild Bunch’s Stampede.”

“Your client is probably the one that caused that Stampede!” Xelthub shouted.

Shaggy grinned, but stayed quiet. No sense giving Xelthub anymore ammo than he probably already had. Not to mention, Shaggy felt a sudden pulsing behind his eyes. He tried to focus on what was going on while Calig conversed with Xelthub.

“Hearsay. There is no evidence that my client has had anything to do with the Lampers.”

Xelthub moved to the other side of the table. As he did, three chairs rose from the ground and formed themselves. Shaggy took one as Xelthub and Calig did the same. The big red demon-man tapped something on his side of the table and a report appeared on the table. Calig started reading as Shaggy focused on the weird sensation in his head.

“This is a report written after Shaggy and his associates hit a Lamper Lab. At the time, he was operating under the police. But he went off target and hit a facility we had not agreed upon, nor was his team ready for.”

Calig’s eyes sped through the floating document before he said. “It says here that the operation was a success?”

“Technically.” Xelthub rumbled.

“So he is an ex-police asset that was let go. That makes him more of a target for the Wild Bunch. What police protections was he given after the operation?”

Xelthub crossed his massive arms as he stared at Shaggy. “None. He and his group retreated underground and they’ve been avoiding police contact.”

“Pah! I would too, with the police’s track record for protecting assets. Officer, this is clearly an open and shut case for self-defense. You can let my client go right now or we can hash this out in court. But I assure if it gets that far, this department will be in worse shape than it already is.”

For the first time, Xelthub smiled, still looking at Shaggy. “Let’s say it goes to court? If that happens, everything will come out. Including Shaggy’s little stint of helping the police. I wonder how that’ll look to any interested parties? How long do you think a snitch can last out there?”

Shaggy grinned back and spoke for the first time. “As long as it takes.”

Xelthub’s knuckles cracked as he clenched his fist. Shaggy was going to say more, but the pulsing in his eyes grew harsher and he had to shut them. It felt like the start of a terrible migraine. He focused his attention on it and was surprised when the tension went away. Shaggy’s eyes grew large as he realized where he had felt this before. Some jack-hole was trying to read his mind. Shaggy felt his anger get the best of him, but he quickly squashed it down as another sensation appeared in his mind.

“You know what?” Shaggy said, standing from the seat. “You’re right. I plead guilty. Take me to jail right now.”

Both Xelthub and Calig looked perplexed. Xelthub even looked angry. Calig, on the other hand, was now standing next to Shaggy, trying to push him back into the seat.

“Mr. Robertson please. There’s no need for this. We can take them to trial.”

Shaggy smiled. “There’s no need for that. I’m a bad, bad man and I’m ready to serve my time.”

He maintained eye-contact with Xelthub as he spoke. The demon’s eyes scanned his face. Looking for something. But apparently he couldn’t find it, as Xelthub slowly stood and growled out.

“Fine. You’re on the next wagon to the Supe Pen. Happy?”

“Elated.” Shaggy said back happily.

He felt the pulsing in his forehead go away and seven other presences came screaming into his mind. His pack was close, and they were a jumble of emotions. He sent them calming waves as Mr. Calig kept trying to talk to Shaggy. But the nice suited lawyer was ignored as Shaggy was walking back to his cell. He sent updates to his pack as he walked, trying to formulate a plan with emotions and vague images. Most of his pack were pretty adept at understanding him, but he wanted to be as clear as possible.

Shaggy nearly tripped as he was shoved back into his cell. A flustered Mr. Calig, now long gone. Muttering about dumbass clients. The Pack Bond lessened slightly as the cell enchantments went up, but Shaggy could still feel his pack. They were waiting. Attacking a police station was a bad idea, although Shaggy didn’t doubt his crew could handle it. But the smarter play was for him to wait to be moved.

“Well, look who’s headed to the Pen with the rest of us dregs.” Pin-Head snarked.

Shaggy gave the bastard a grin filled with teeth and shouted down the hall. “Be ready.”

Shaggy glared at Pin-Head as he sat back down and waited. He didn’t know when they were going to move him. But when they did, his pack would come. Xiv seemed like a nice enough player and if he could’ve informed her without telling Pin-Head, he would’ve. Xiv proved her intelligence by staying quiet. Pin-Head, however, was not so bright.

“Be ready for what? What are you going to do? Escape? Ha! It took three of us just to get SenSor and Cutie out. You’re wasting you breathe.”

Shaggy said nothing as he crossed his legs and turned his thoughts inward. He could feel Rita, Vick, Tom, Sybil, and Cekrass decently. Ephemara and Stanley were there, but he only had a vague sense of them. All of them were muted, but he could feel their anger and excitement. He could feel them moving to enact a plan. A plan that was probably going to go poorly. But since when have they ever done anything the easy way?