Shaggy tested the chains in the dark van. His arms and legs were manacled this time. A heavy chain threaded down to a large bolt on the van floor. He was seated on a sharp rectangular ledge that ran the length of the whole van. Which honestly wasn’t very big, and the six bodies jammed in the van made it seem smaller. He was strapped into his seat with a leathery feeling seat belt that crisscrossed around his still bare chest. His chains clinked as they shifted around his arms. In the dark in he could see the magical symbols on the chain light up in various colors.

“You know that noise is fucking annoying.” Pin-head growled from his seat across from Shaggy.

“Leave him alone, Pin. He’s got a plan.” Xiv’s modulated voice said.

The skinny woman was sitting next to her cone-headed cohort. But the police had taken no chances with her super pheromones. She was in a large puffy orange hazmat suit. The strange outfit had runes crisscrossing it everywhere. Shaggy figured they must have served the same function as his chains. Locks to keep the prisoners in.

“Don’t matter what kind of plan he got, sister.” Said a black-haired man in a filthy suit. “We are on our way to the clink and ain’t nothing stopping this train. Ain’t you notice we ain’t got no windows? It’s so we can’t tell any Telepaths where we are. Plus, they change the route up every day.”

Shaggy grunted at the man’s accent. “You’re with the Raks, aren’t you?”

The man gave Shaggy a smug smile as he adjusted his suit. Shaking his own manacles. “What gave it away?”

“Just seeing a pattern.” Shaggy muttered before he zeroed in on what the gangster had said. “So they don’t have any mind suppression stuff or anything? No one or nothing to magically suppress psychic links?”

“HA! So that was your plan.” The large turtle-looking alien cackled from beside Shaggy.

He ignored the alien’s laughter and stared hard at the Rak gangster. The suited thug sniffed and shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. But stayed quiet. Shaggy did his best to keep a smile from his face. Whatever magical defenses the van had, they didn’t work on Shaggy. His pack was close and getting closer. He could feel all of them more and more easily as they got closer.

After his interview with Xelthub, it was another quick round of processing. For Shaggy as well as Xiv and Pin. They had all been out-processed together and then corralled into the back of this van. Shaggy hadn’t been aware that it was daytime until they shoved him out of the police station into a hot parking lot. He must’ve been out for a couple of hours, then a few more hours of waiting around for paperwork. Then more hours for the out-processing procedures and then more waiting for the van.

Shaggy was a little shocked that, while faster, the in-game cops seemed to be just as mired in paperwork as real ones. It was both a small comfort and an annoying tidbit. After getting all six of them square away in their short little van. They were locked away and sent out. Shaggy’s in-game clock told him they had been riding around for thirty minutes. Taking sharp turns and rough circles all morning. The cops were probably driving the most circuitous route they could think of. Which, of course, didn’t matter cause Shaggy was a damn living GPS.

“I am also interested in what your plan was,” said an echoing voice.

Shaggy glanced down his bench toward the door to see the sixth occupant of their van. The humanoid figure was turned toward him. The large clear dome the creature used for a head shook slightly as its voice hummed through their ears. Shaggy could just make out a black mass beyond the dome, but he couldn’t make out any shape.

Whatever the creature was, the cops took seriously. Because it was chained up more than any of them. In fact, it’s glowing chains made up for most of the light in the dark van. The chains crisscrossed its bulky form. Holding it tight to the side of the van. Shaggy was sure he saw a few cops bolting the thing’s feet down too.

Shaggy cleared his throat when he realized he’d been staring. “Ahem, it doesn’t matter. Just be ready.”

“HA!” croaked the gangster again. “I TOLD ya! It don’t matter if we’re ready. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“Then just sit there, shut up, and enjoy the ride, Suit. If you got nothing constructive to add, I don’t need to talk to you,” Shaggy growled, rattling his chains again.

“Shu...?! It…?! Wh…?!” the gangster sputtered before he tried to yank himself to his feet. The skinny man fell back to his seat as he angrily shouted.

“YOU CAN’T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!! Do you know who I work for? The Rak family is the biggest gang in Austin. We got people all over this city! You don’t want to be upsetting me.”

“Pfft!” Shaggy snorted. “Oh yeah? Is Donnie gonna come down for you himself? He going to send Angelo down to come get you?”

The Rak thug looked both affronted and annoyed as he shouted back. “Of course not! I’m nobody! That’s the point of this whole van! We are nobodies! The crews we have are too small time for the cops to find a threat. Ain’t no one coming for any of us and if your crew is stupid enough to try, then they’ll be joining ya in the pen soon enough. Or end up dead!”

The man gave a final huff as he glared daggers at Shaggy. Shaggy said nothing and merely tested his chains again. They were going to be tricky to manage when it came time to run. He was hoping whatever magic held them in place would dissipate if the van was out of commission. Shaggy could feel the eyes of everyone else on him, but he ignored it as he attempted to shift.

His hands bulged out momentarily before the magic in his cuffs forcibly shoved the change back down. It was like Shaggy was trying to stand up, but the magic kept shoving him down. It was maddeningly stifling, and Shaggy felt like he was going to throw up. He sighed as he tried again with his feet. But the same thing happened. Eventually, he sighed and sat back. Mentally urging his pack to hurry.

They were closer now. Shaggy could practically hear their thoughts. But the quiet clanking of the prisoners’ chains, the hum of the van, and the soft fluttering of wings interrupted him. Fluttering wings?

Shaggy opened his eyes to find a pink Pixie. She was dressed in tiny blue jeans and a purple blouse. Her long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and Shaggy thought she looked familiar. When he said as much, the little Pixie rolled her eyes and squeaked something. Shaggy raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. The pixie stomped a tennis shoe covered foot in mid-air and then mimed tucking into a ball.

Shaggy grinned. “I hope y’all are ready.”

Shaggy curled in on himself as the pink pixie poofed away. He didn’t know where she was going. But he was sure that whatever was about to happen was going to be big. Then nothing happened. Shaggy frowned.

The van still sounded the same. It wasn’t speeding up or fleeing from anything. No truck had sideswiped them. No elaborate ploy seemed to be underway. A chortling from the backside of the van brought Shaggy’s eyes to the gangster again. The smug shit was grinning and miming Shaggy’s curled position.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“I told you dum-”

CRUNCH

Suddenly Shaggy’s world spun, and he felt the van tip end over end. The inside of the van was full of shouts of alarm, and his manacles cut into his arms and legs as they tumbled. Shaggy felt his body slam into the wall and bench repeatedly. Another crunch pervaded the air, and they stopped abruptly. Shaggy felt his back pop as he hung upside down from his seat. The harsh breaths of his fellow prisoners filled the air, and Shaggy could just make out some radio chatter from the front cab.

A tinkling sound brought Shaggy’s eyes toward the back of the van. Whatever the large creature had been, its dome like head was now shattered. The black mass beneath gone. The turtle alien was groaning and seemed to be jammed between the seat and the wall. Both Xiv and Pin-Head weren’t moving. Pin-head looked unconscious, but Shaggy couldn’t see if Xiv was. He gave an experimental tug on his restraints, but the soft magical glow was still there.

“Boss?” Rita’s voice called in his mind. Clear as day.

“Yeah. Here. Chained in the van,” Shaggy answered, surprised.

A swell of words and feelings came from the five full werewolves of Shaggy’s pack. He didn’t catch all the words. But he got the gist. Vick was on Overwatch, dispatching drones. Cekrass, Stan, and Sybil were dealing with the cops. Tom and Ephemara were making their way toward the van to free Shaggy, while Rita was using Pixie magic to reinforce the pack bond.

“Wait. Pixie magic?” Shaggy thought at Rita.

All he got in response was a smug feeling that he did not like. The pink pixie was already a clue that his wife was back. But he really didn’t need Levy doing the ‘I-Told-You-So’ dance outside his prison car. He struggled against his manacles, trying to get some semblance of coolness back. But he was running out of time. He felt Tom and Ephemara get to the back of the prison transport. Slightly further away, Sybil and Cekrass were living it up in the streets, causing mayhem.

Shaggy was still struggling with his manacles when a screeching of metal came from the back of the van. Purple wisps appeared in the air and Shaggy sighed as the noise got louder. The wisps solidified and slapped into the back of the van door. With more wrenching and squealing, the door came free and a tall figure stood in the doorway. Shaggy blinked against the light as several others in the van groaned.

Shaggy immediately recognized the purple hair and eyes. The look of mirth on the tall woman’s face. But even if he hadn’t, the scent alone would’ve clued him in. Levy placed both her hands on her hips as a pink pixie settled on her shoulder. Her deep purple eyes scanned the van until they found Shaggy. The Levy put a fake angry look on her face.

“HONEY! Youse gots some ‘splainin to do!” Levy mock growled.

“Who the fuck is that?” Xiv said, sounding awed.

Shaggy coughed as he waved at his chains. “Dear, could you perhaps refrain from any gloating… for now, at least?”

Levy’s look of anger didn’t leave her face. But she stalked forward, stepping around the large turtle alien that was still struggling. She bent over Shaggy and pretended to study the chains. When Shaggy ducked his head in close to see, levy gave a quick peck on the cheek.

“Okay, Love. I’ll wait. But, oh man, are you never going to hear the end of this one.”

“Dude, what the fuck?” Pin-Head said. “Where the fuck did you find her?”

“Gaming Cafe. Downtown Santa Barbara.” Shaggy said, shrugging as Levy went back to studying his cuffs.

Xiv’s covered head moved to look at Shaggy as Pin-head just stared at him dumbly. They all said nothing as Levy twisted the chains this way and that. Outside, sounds of fighting and drones buzzing filtered in through the open door. Shaggy noted that the Rak family thug was dead. The back corner where the man was sitting was caved in from whatever his pack did.

“Seriously, the cops need better magic users. This is some low-grade shit.” Levy muttered.

Shaggy gave his arms a tug. “Well, that ‘low-grade shit’ is keeping me from shifting.”

Levy grinned. “Well, it’s pretty stacked. I mean, each pattern is low-tiered, but it’s stacked in such a way to make the whole stronger. I guess it’s a good use of making the most with what you have, but still. Straight amateur-hour.”

Levy pointed a finger and a purple light shot from it. Multi-colored sparks flew as she carved her way through the chains. Shaggy had to keep his face away as the sparks danced across him. But no sooner than she started, Levy was done and Shaggy felt his chains slacken. His pack bond flared to life again, and he felt his healing kick back in. He felt amazing again. He felt his pack hunting as his mate smiled down at him. But then he felt… slightly woozy.

Shaggy fell back to his ass and grabbed his head. His world was spinning and his vision darkened. A chilling cackle echoed through his head and Shaggy felt images come up again. Cog. The bastard was doing something. Shaggy could feel it in his blood.

A sudden cold slap across Shaggy’s face brought him back. Levy was standing next to him, rubbing her hand. Shaggy smiled at her, but she merely waved her good hand at the van’s other occupants.

“What about them?”

“Let’s get them out.” Shaggy said, looking between the three surviving prisoners. “Safety cone is a bit of an asshole. But once he’s out, he can do his own thing. Same with the rest of them.”

“What if we wanna come with you?” The turtle alien asked.

Shaggy shrugged. “You can find me in Under-Town. Find a bar called the Viper’s Nest and they’ll put you to work. It’s our Legion’s headquarters.”

“Bullshit. You’re too chickenshit to have a Legion.” Pin-head growled as Levy cut through his chains.

But at his words, the tall Drow woman stopped cutting and drew her hand back. Pin-head looked like he was about to say something when Levy jammed a spike of magic straight into the other player’s chest. Pin-Head looked pissed as he glanced down at the purple spike made of magic before he disappeared into motes of light. Levy banished the magic and glared between Xiv and the Turtle.

“Anyone else want to badmouth my husband while we are rescuing you?”

Xiv shook her helmeted head as the turtle gave a quick “No, ma’am.”

Shaggy snorted, but kept his head as he walked out of the van into the sunlight. Cekrass was pushing empty cars into the road as Sybil lit their seats on fire. Stanley was standing on the sidewalk looking confused, and Tom was looting several dead police officers with Rita. The crack of Vick’s energy rifle turned Shaggy’s head upward to where the old Sharpshooter was still blasting nearby drones.

Shaggy took a deep breath and let it out again. He was a free man and his stay in prison this time was a hell of a lot shorter than the first. You really could go farther with some good friends at your side. He smiled at his own cheesiness as Levy joined him.

She smiled down at him and Shaggy leaned up for a kiss. They shared a moment in the chaos-ridden streets. But then Cekrass and Sybil finished their barricade. Rita and Tom picked the corpses clean and Ephemara popped up next to Shaggy.

“Time to go, boss. We got more cops incoming.”

Shaggy smiled as he looked at Levy and then at Ephemara. “I suppose you two thought of an exit strategy when you were planning all this?”

“Pfft! Hell no, boss! It was already a pain in the ass finding you. So we figured we’d just use the old standby.”

Shaggy sighed. “Sewers?”

“Sewers.” Both ladies answered at the same time.

Shaggy dropped his head and groaned as the rest of his pack joined them. Sirens in the distance moved closer as drones fell from the sky. Shaggy was free, his pack was with him, and his wife was probably planning the biggest ‘You’re a dumbass’ party ever. Shaggy didn’t want it any other way.