Shaggy was exhausted. They had met with several ‘adventuring parties’, and each one was more flamboyant than the next. Vlad had done most of the talking. But Shaggy still had to engage with and even toss a few of them out of their little booth. Some even seemed happy to be ejected. Like they were truly living their character’s best life. They had spent hours explaining what they wanted repeatedly to multiple RPers. Shaggy almost felt a headache coming on.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Vlad said, as they made their way down the street.
Shaggy slid past a group of people on the street and threw his friend a dirty look. Vlad had eaten it up. Playing the enigmatic and mysterious vampire lord. Shaggy was surprised so many of the players went along with Vlad’s haughty attitude. But he guessed for a few credits and a decent job, RPers would put up with a lot. He shifted around more people in the street as he tried to glare holes in Vlad’s head. But the vampire wasn’t even looking at him.
“That was a cavalcade of crazy. Can we trust most of those people to do the job?”
Vlad shrugged. “Most of them, sure. But you know gamers. They can get bored easy. So I’m sure we’ll have a few drop out or not complete things. But that’s why we pay once the job is done and according to how well the job is completed.”
Shaggy grunted. That sounded fine, but he didn’t think he wanted to be associated with the bar of over-acting theater kids. He sure as hell needed to keep Levy away from such a place. She would dive in with both feet and he wouldn’t see his wife for days. Was thinking of ways to buy Vlad’s silence when said vampire addressed him.
“So, what’s your plan? For the foreseeable future, that is.”
“I don’t know. I was just going to stick around here and help Slink. We need to defend our borders. I also want to teach my pack how to shift. Levy is also looking for any word on Cog. Which is going to be a huge thing.”
“That sexist old man with the robots?”
“Yeah. Got to kill that guy for the Blood God, y’know. So Levy and I were thinking of getting a Raid together with a bunch of players. According to the forums, both Supes and Villains want the guy taken out.”
Vlad raised an eyebrow. “I thought you hated the forums?”
“I don’t hate the forums. I just don’t like breaking my game immersion with out-of-game tools and mechanics. Where’s the fun in searching for special drops or unique enemies if everything is mapped out for you on a forum?”
“I think all the enemies in this game are unique. Also, I have seen little in the way of drops, to be honest. Mostly just credits and whatever weapons we can steal from the Quinica.”
“You know what I mean. Half the fun of gaming is discovery. Why let someone else do it for you?”
Vlad shrugged again. “Whatever. So how you going to gather the Player’s for your raid?”
“Levy’s handling that stuff. I’m just going to show up and kill an old guy. Maybe a few of his automatons, too. I figured we could get the Legion involved somehow. Although I don’t know if we want to risk our crew. I don’t know how squishy they are.”
“Pretty squishy. I mean, some are enhanced, and we were training them up right. But a low-level Quinica was still giving some of our guys trouble in close quarters. We have the ranged weapons to deal, but we need to toughen them up. Or…”
Vlad trailed off, and Shaggy turned to look at his friend. But the pale man was no longer looking at him as they walked. Vlad was slowing to a stop and looking up and down the street. Shaggy joined him and looked around. He hadn’t run into any civilians in the last few minutes. In fact, the street was empty. Way too empty to be in the middle of the day in Under-Town. The hairs on Shaggy’s neck stood on end as he got a gut feeling. All was not well.
“How long?” Shaggy asked.
“Not sure. It couldn’t be more than a couple of minutes. But I don’t hear anything.”
Shaggy took a long whiff of the air. But no scents came to him. Not even lingering or dying scents on the air. He couldn’t even see Vlad’s scent trail. Which was mildly concerning. He shifted both his hands into claws and circled on the spot, watching the short steel buildings around them. Vlad moved to cover his back and the two slowly moved up the street, cautiously aware of how silent everything was.
“Big Four?”
“Has to be.”
“Raks?”
“I don’t smell blood.”
“I’m not getting any scents either.”
“Quinica then?”
“I can normally smell them. I’m not even getting a whiff of you. So someone is shutting down both of our senses of smell. Phreaks?”
“They would know how to do it and they have the drug manufacturing capabilities to make such a scent mask. But that means that they probably sell it.”
“So it could be anyone. At least anyone we’ve ticked off.”
Vlad snorted as they slowly walked. “That could honestly be anyone. So, who have you ticked off lately?”
“Me?! Come on! I’ve been gone for over a week. You lot have been the ones waging a war.”
“What have you been doing topside but pissing off another gang? AFTER pissing of the Raks and the Phreaks? Then when you came back, you immediately got into it with the UGB. Dude, you’re a walking disaster.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Shaggy turned to look at Vlad and found that the vampire was staring up the street. Following his friend’s gaze, Shaggy spotted a small, dark figure. They were standing in the middle of the street, dressed in black from head to toe. Shaggy grimaced as he tried to get another whiff of the air. But nothing came to him. The person was a blank void to his sense of smell. But his eyesight caught the prick just fine. Shaggy tensed his leg muscles and got ready to pounce. But Vlad stopped him with a whispered word.
“Roofs.”
Shaggy spun away from the figure in the road and glanced at the small shacks that dotted the street. Multiple dark-clad individuals stood on the roofs of houses, watching them. He sighed. He didn’t know who this group of yahoos were. But they weren’t here for anything good. He targeted the dude in the street again.
“I’ll take the leader. You book it back home.”
“Wait! We don’t know who they are. We need to assess the repercussions of this. If we hurt another gang’s people, the Big Four are going to come down on us.”
“Only if we leave witnesses.” Shaggy growled.
“Shags. Hold up. We need to see what they want. If they attack us, we can—”
Fwip
Vlad never finished, as the soft sound of an air rifle came from behind Shaggy. Shaggy spun and Vlad shifted into mist. The vampire was quicker and re-solidified with his hand wrapped around something as Shaggy turned to look. Vlad had enough time to smile at Shaggy before crackling green energy exploded from his skin. Vlad screamed in pain and collapsed into the dirt.
Fwip Fwip
Shaggy spun again as more noises came from around him. Two small pellets hit his chest and Shaggy felt them embed themselves into his flesh. Shaggy growled and then roared as pain flared from inside his body. He saw the same green energy explode from his body, but he gritted his teeth and tried to activate a shift.
Fwip Fwip
Two more pellets hit his skin as Shaggy’s body started to contort and twist. He felt his right leg go numb, and he fell into the dirt with a roar. His inner wolf disappeared into the blackness of Shaggy’s mind as pain racked his body. He crawled through the dirt like a wounded animal. Not sure where he was going.
“Jesus! He’s still awake?!”
Shaggy glanced through have lidded eyes as he felt the muscles in his arms give. The black cloaked person from down the street was getting closer, hand raised imperiously. Shaggy snarled and tried to launch himself at the bastard. He felt his body leave the ground, and he traveled a short distance before he slammed back into the dirt. The hidden figure took a few steps back and shouted.
“AGAIN! Hit him again!”
Fwip Fwip Fwip Fwip
Shaggy barely heard or felt the pellets this time as his body sagged to the dirt. The last image he saw was the black-clothed figure eagerly running toward him. He really hoped he wasn’t going to Deathville. He didn’t need that shit right now. Shaggy also didn’t want to hear Vlad’s incessant complaints that he had somehow gotten them killed. That wasn’t fair. Shaggy was sixty percent sure he had nothing to do with this one… maybe fifty.
Shaggy came awake slowly and groggily. It reminded him of a long time ago in college when he had celebrated passing a test too much. The headache was the same. Although the lack of control was different and alarming. His entire face felt numb and he couldn’t feel his limbs and at all. Thankfully, his ears worked. But the sounds were a little muffled.
“Are you sure we want to wake him? He took six pellets before he went down. That’s six doses of the heaviest shit the Phreaks can sell us. The pale bitch went out like a light. But the short dude? He was still fucking twitching with six pellets in him, Frank. SIX!”
“Thanks, Rome. How about you tell me again? I get it. But the boss wants them both awake for when they get here. So we need them lucid.”
Shaggy felt his ears twitch as Vlad’s voice came from behind him. “Ahhh! And who would this boss of yours be, fair gentlemen? Perhaps this is all a misunderstanding. I would hate for our two groups to go to war over something such as a mistake.”
Shaggy wanted to roll his eyes, but he could still barely raise his head. Thankfully, Frank seemed to share his annoyance.
“Zip it, Vamp! You’ll know who the boss is when they get here. You two are in deep enough shit as it is. I don’t need you thinking you’re going to start the conversation as equals.”
“Lawugh enagh s ou.” Shaggy spat trying for intimidating but his mouth wouldn’t work.
“Jesus, Roman. What’s wrong with him?”
“SIX, Frank. What part of that is confusing to you?! Six full doses of a heaviest necrotic paralytic the Phreaks can sell! I’m both surprised and terrified he is still alive. He should shake it off in a day or two.”
Shaggy would’ve raised an eyebrow at that if he was able. He could already feel his toes again. He tried to twitch a finger, too. But he still couldn’t feel anything in his hands. His vision swam in the room's darkness, and it was a chore to keep his eyelids open. Even his head seemed to flop around on his neck. He couldn’t right himself, not yet at least.
“A day or two? Roman, I told you the boss wants them coherent for their talks. Go get the cleanser.”
“Fuck you, Frank. You want to hit that little beast with an accelerator? You can do it when I’m long gone from here and paid. The little shit is liable to try to kill us.”
“E’s ight!” Shaggy mumbled.
A thump came from behind Shaggy, followed by Vlad’s voice. “Shags, shut the fuck up. Let’s just go along with this.”
Shaggy tried for an annoyed growl, but all he got was a weird gurgle. Something made his head flick to the side with a soft whump, but Shaggy felt nothing. A shape moved in front of him and Shaggy could barely make out flesh tones and clothes.
“Shut up, mutt and Roman go get the damn cleanser, NOW! We don’t have time to play around. The boss is on their way.”
“Frank. I tell you this is a bad idea. One you don’t pay me enough to make. Get the shit yourself. I am out of here. If you live, you know where to send my money.”
Shaggy heard moving feet and then the noise of a heavy door shutting. Shaggy could now feel his ankles and slowly tried to move them. Meanwhile, their lonely captor was cursing up a storm.
“Fucking coward, little bitch! These two aren’t shit and neither are you! When the boss gets here, I’ll tell’em how fucking useless you are!” Frank screamed as he chased after Roman.
Shaggy felt his head thrash again as something tried to move him. Vlad’s voice spoke up from behind him.
“Dude, chill. We can talk our way out of this. We don’t want to get into the shit with multiple groups.”
Shaggy growled this time and somewhere inside, he felt his wolf slowly stir. Suddenly his he could feel his legs and his hearing wasn’t as muffled as before. He tried to speak, but all he got was more mumble-mouth. Vlad continued explaining why they should try to be diplomatic about everything. But Shaggy ignored him as he turned inward. His wolf was resting in its room, black tail wagging happily at whatever dream it was having. Did mental constructs dream? Shaggy shook the room mentally. Trying to wake the wolf. But nothing happened. He gave a mental scream, but all the wolf did was roll over.
“Fucking mutt.” Shaggy berated his wolf as its tongue lolled from it’s head.
Meanwhile, Vlad was still talking. “…so please at least let me try to talk this out.”
Shaggy gave his vampire friend a grunt. Vlad must have taken that as agreement, because he went silent. Shaggy grumbled to himself mentally and went back to screaming at his wolf. He had some request, getting the thing to toss and turn. Whenever the beast was about to be roused, Shaggy felt a surge of power course through his body. Slowly undoing whatever drugs were in his system. He could now feel everything below his chest. Although he still couldn’t feel his face.
The sounds of footsteps and the door opening brought Shaggy back to himself. Frank had returned and was grumbling to himself. Vlad tried to start up another conversation with their captor, but Frank ignored him as he bent in front of Shaggy. Shaggy felt his nostrils sting as an acid scent hit him. He saw a flash of silver in Frank’s hands and tried to get a better view. But his eyes and head still weren’t obeying him.
“Here ya go, you little fucker.” Frank grumbled as Shaggy felt a pinch in his chest.
All of a sudden, Shaggy’s world was alive. He could hear everything, and his sense of smell went off the charts. Frank’s greasy features came into stark relief as Shaggy’s dark-vision went into overdrive. He felt his heart-rate increase, and the wolf banged against the walls in it’s room. His arms and legs tried to shift, but heavy manacles on his arms sent a pulse of magic into him, which cut off his strength. Shaggy jolted and then slumped into the chair he was chained to as Frank backed away. His senses were still inflated and Shaggy got every centimeter of Frank’s appearance. From the short-cropped haircut to the stench of alcohol and cigarettes on the man. Frank’s matted hair stunk of sweat and metal. Like he’d been wearing a helmet all day.
“Bitch!” Frank screamed at having been scared.
The chubby man sent a kick into Shaggy’s chest. But Shaggy’s armor caught the blow and barely felt a thing. Adrenaline was coursing through his whole body and he had to clamp down on his inner wolf before it tried to burst free again. His arms hurt from where the manacles sent a jolt of magic through him. Frank obviously didn’t like being ignored. Because he started rapidly kicking Shaggy in the chest and then escalated to hitting Shaggy in the face.
“Frank! Frank! Quit it! You’ve made your point!” Vlad called urgently.
Although Shaggy couldn’t tell if his friend was worried about him or their captor. Shaggy kept his focus on the wolf, though. It was roaring and rattling it’s little space with Shaggy. Ignoring all attempts at being soothed. Shaggy tried mentally talking to the beast. When that failed, he tried to order it to stand down. But that also failed, so he marked Frank’s scent in his mind and told his wolf that they’d seek revenge later. The wolf continued to growl but calmed down enough for Shaggy to focus on his surroundings again. To his surprise, he saw Frank was no longer hitting him. Instead, a series of thumps and grunts were coming from behind him. He growled.
“What happened Frank? You get tired or were my muscles too much for you? Did you hurt your hands?”
“FUCK BOTH OF YOU!” Frank screamed from behind Shaggy
The sound of a fist hitting flesh came again before footsteps made Shaggy turn. Frank was coming around to his side, fists raised. Shaggy flashed the man his fangs as Frank sent a hook right into his chin. The wolf growled and shook out its fur.
“One.” Shaggy said, glaring at Frank.
Frank roared and threw another haymaker at Shaggy.
Shaggy twisted his head with the blow as best he could. When he brought his head back, he grinned again.
“Two.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Frank hit him again.
“Three.”
Again.
“Four.”
Frank drew back his fist and gripped Shaggy by the hair. Another punch slammed into the bridge of his nose and Shaggy felt it crack. His wolf howled and Shaggy placated it again with another number.
“Five.”
“What the fuck are you doing!?” Frank shouted, clearly pissed off.
Shaggy merely smiled and blew his captor a kiss. Frank roared and set about pummeling Shaggy into his chair. He wasn’t aware if he was healing or not, but Frank’s punches were hardly anything to worry about. Vlad must have guessed what he was doing, or he just wanted Shaggy to take the punches. Either way, Frank laid into Shaggy for a few minutes before he blew out a ragged breath. The fat man wheezed as he backed away. Shaggy smiled as he saw that Frank had torn open a few knuckles during the beating.
“I lost count. Was I on forty-three or forty-four?”
“Forty-four,” Vlad said from behind him. “Calmed down?”
“FUCK YOU! I’m nowhere near calm fuckface!”
Shaggy snorted. “He wasn’t talking to you, Frank. Yeah, I’m calm. What you got?”
“UGB blacksite or safe house. Scents are back. Fifteen warm bodies in the area. Can’t tell friend from foe, though. You?”
Shaggy drug his memory back to when he was hit with the accelerator. He got so much information that his brain was still processing a lot of it. Scents came from everywhere. He could confirm Vlad’s body count. But he also thought he knew roughly where they were.
“Fifteen confirmed, and I think we are underground. I scented metal, burning ozone and electricity, though. So they probably have energy weapons down here. We really going to talk this one out?”
“Yes, Shaggy.”
Shaggy rolled his eyes and glared back at Frank. “Lucky.”
Frank glared back, clearly annoyed that he was being ignored. He reached back with his right arm again, fist clenched. But the sound of the heavy metal door opening stopped him. A heavily modulated voice echoed in their dark room.
“Officer Jamison, you are relieved. Standby for official reprimand.”
“But I-”
“I said STAND DOWN!” The voice modulator crackled as the person nearly shouted.
Shaggy threw Frank a wink as the man marched angrily from the room. The door closed again and the sounds of heavy footsteps resounded. A large metal-covered body circled around from Shaggy’s right and moved toward his left. The person did a full circle around both him and Vlad before coming to a stop in front of Shaggy. The helmeted head twisted left and right as the person seemed to scan Shaggy’s body. Shaggy gave the large metal monster a smile.
“You’re gonna wanna talk to my friend. He’s the one that wants to negotiate. I’d rather rip all your limbs off and use the parts as kindling for a barbecue.”
“Shaggy…” Vlad said, warningly.
There was a metal snort as their new captor reached up and unclasped their helmet. Expecting to see Adjudicator Kyler, Shaggy was alarmed to see a waterfall of dirty-blonde hair fall from within the helmet. The woman wiped her hair out of her face and leaned into Shaggy’s face. He felt something try to grip his mind as he met the woman’s red eyes. She sneered as the pressure on his brain increased. Shaggy grit his teeth and a low rumble came from his chest. The woman took a step back from the noise and she quirked an eyebrow. The pressure receded from his mind and Shaggy sighed.
“Sorry. Only one woman lives rent-free in my mind, Adjudicator.” Shaggy wheezed.
“Ma’am, if I may ask? What is this all about?” Vlad said from behind Shaggy.
The woman kept her red eyes on Shaggy as she answered, a small smile forming on her lips.
“Inquisitor.” she breathed.
“Ma’am?”
“I am Inquisitor Katriona of the UGB. I have been called upon to question you two about Adjudicator Kyler.”
“Hell of a way to start.” Shaggy grumbled.
Katriona’s eyes seemed to harden as she answered. “We were under the impression that you would not come quietly.”
“Yeah, so better to abduct than to ask, right?”
“Shaggy!” Vlad shouted.
Shaggy sighed and put his head down. If Vlad wanted to talk to these people, fine. He was going to check on his wolf. The thing was pacing back and forth, waiting for release. Shaggy kept an ear on the conversation, but everywhere else, he checked out. Vlad gave a cough as he called over Shaggy’s shoulder.
“Inquisitor, I would be happy to answer any questions.”
Katriona glared at Shaggy for a few moments before she walked around toward Vlad. The thudding of her heavy boots echoed in the small room. Shaggy used the chance to test his manacles, but the magic in them bit back at his hands. Even when he tried to shift, they delivered a magical shock to him. He thought he could probably ignore the pain of the shock. But he wasn’t sure if he could break the cuffs.
“Vlad Kopish, one of the five leaders of a new gang calling itself The Legion...”
Shaggy blinked as he heard the name. Sure, they batted the name about amongst themselves. But he wasn’t sure if they had come to an agreement on the name.
“Since when has that been a thing?”
“We voted while you were gone.” Vlad said quickly. Turning back to Katriona, Vlad added. “And there are four leaders.”
“Dude, what is with you and Dave? The guy is literally the most likable bastard anyone could meet. Sure, he’s a little annoying, but come on.”
“Not the time, Shag.”
“Five leaders.” Shaggy said over his shoulder and went back to focusing on his wrists.
Vlad hissed, but Katriona carried on. Ignoring their conversation.
“You both came into contact with Adjudicator Kyler recently, yes?”
“Yes.”
“This was a few blocks from the arena and main street, yes?”
“Again, yes. Though I think it was more than a few blocks. We were in contested territory.”
Katriona’s footsteps echoed again. Shaggy thought she was pacing. “Really? Can anyone confirm this?”
Vlad scoffed. “Other than your own people and ours, I’d say not.”
“So there is a bias on both sides,” Katriona said as she continued pacing.
“Of course. There’s always going to be some bias. Have you not asked Kyler?”
“Adjudicator Kyler has been afforded a level of leeway in this case. We thought it better to question the outsiders first.”
“Question us regarding what?”
Katriona’s footsteps stop and she said. “Our people have stated that they engaged in a confrontation with yours. Is this true?”
“Yes, but we were in contested territory, and your people were trying to arrest one of our leaders.”
“Hello.” Shaggy said over his shoulder as he tried twisting his wrists.
The manacles held firm as Katriona walked back toward him.
“So you resisted Adjudicator Kyler’s attempts at arrest?”
“Unlawful arrest on contest grounds.” Vlad shouted.
“What he said.”
Katriona stared down at Shaggy’s face before glancing back up toward Vlad. She heaved a sigh and raised an arm to her face. Shaggy saw a compartment open on her wrist. She spoke into the compartment quietly. But Shaggy caught most of it. He was sure Vlad did, too.
“I’m going to need all the records on the Quinica/Legion engagement. Also, get Adjudicator Kyler down here on the double.”
Shaggy rolled his eyes. “Isn’t this also unlawful arrest? You can’t hold us for nothing.”
Katriona hummed idly. “Hmmm, actually the UGB may hold suspects up to forty-eight hours on suspicion of illicit activity.”
“What warrants suspicion?” Vlad asked, as Shaggy rolled his eyes.
“Anything the UGB deems appropriate.”
Shaggy couldn’t hold back a snort at that, but Vlad threw his back into Shaggy’s and he went silent. Katriona watched the exchange before returning to Vlad’s side of the room. Shaggy bit his lips and tried to shift his right hand. A powerful jolt traveled through his bones and he grit his teeth as he felt the manacles shift to contain his hands new form. Shaggy let the shift go and felt the cuff shrink back down. He grinned.
“Can you confirm that Adjudicator Kyler was within the contested territory?”
“Yes.” Said Vlad’s voice. But Shaggy thought his friend sounded a little flat.
“Did your associate here attack any of our men?”
“No.” Vlad said in his deadpan voice again.
Shaggy twisted in his seat, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
“Did our people start the altercation?”
Vlad’s voice answered in its hollowed tone. “I don’t know.”
Shaggy jerked his head backwards. Slamming it into Vlad’s. His friend sputtered for a moment before groaning.
“Ow! What the hell, Shaggy?”
“Ya got whammied, dude.”
“Wha?”
“She was fucking with your head.”
Vlad sputtered, sounding angry. “Is that fucking true?!”
Katriona’s voice was casual as her metal armor shifted. “We may use any and all means to discern the truth. Your associate seems annoyingly resistant to persuasion. So I had to go with you.”
“You couldn’t have asked?”
“The ability works better if the victim isn’t aware of it.”
Shaggy snorted. “And you didn’t use it on Kyler because…”
Katriona’s heavy footsteps clanked against the stone floor as she rushed back to Shaggy’s side. Her red eyes blazed with anger as she glared at Shaggy.
“One does not question a UGB Adjudicator without probable cause. As you are both criminals, I can ascertain the truth any way I see fit.”
“Except questioning the actually culprit.” Shaggy growled back.
“Kyler is not the criminal here!”
“Keep telling yourself that, Kat.” Shaggy snorted.
“It’s INQUISITOR Katriona to you, criminal!” She roared in his face.
Shaggy scrunched up his face and ignored her outburst as he focused back on his hands. This nonsense was only going to take them so far. Meanwhile, Vlad went back to playing the diplomat.
“Shaggy, stop antagonizing her. Inquisitor, come back and talk to me. Use whatever methods you need to get to the truth. We don’t want to be fighting a war on two fronts.”
Katriona continued to glare at Shaggy for a few more moments. Eventually, she shook her head and returned to Vlad. Shaggy shifted and unshifted his hand repeatedly, trying to get the timing right on the manacles’ growth and shrinking. Each time he did, he had to grit his teeth against the shocking pain the manacles delivered. Meanwhile, Katriona was back to questioning Vlad.
“Was Adjudicator Kyler complicit in the activities of his men?”
“He ordered them.” Vlad said, sounding flat again.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did your friend instigate the confrontation?”
“Probably.”
“Hey!” Shaggy said, honestly affronted.
“Were any Quinica present?”
“One dead elder.”
“How did they die?”
“Shaggy killed him.”
“Why?”
“They attacked us.”
Shaggy growled as another jolt of pain shot through him. “Did your people not tell you any of this? There were like six of them.”
Katriona stomped his way again, her armored body clanking. But before she could say anything, the door to their cell opened again. Another heavily modulated voice echoed into the dark room.
“Kat?”
Katriona huffed angrily as she looked up toward the door. Shaggy looked and saw another person clad in the heavy armor of an adjudicator. Their armor hissed and whirled as they walked into the room and over to Katriona. They removed their helmet revealing Kyler’s tan face and black hair.
“Kat, what’s wrong? Why haven’t these criminals been judged yet?”
Katriona straightened her back and took a step back from Kyler. “Adjudicator Kyler, you know that is not how we administer the law.”
Kyler reached an armored hand up to Katriona’s face. “Oh Kat, you know the law is anything we make it down here. These are criminals. Under-town would be better off with them off the streets. How did you even hear about them?”
Katriona’s face contorted in confusion before she rallied her expression. “Your men were slow in turning in their reports. When I questioned them, they mentioned your altercation with these two. So I set out to find the truth.”
Kyler smiled happily. “Well, the truth is easy to see. They assaulted my patrol and resisted arrest. Luckily, you arrested them now and we can send them to jail.”
“And you’ll attest to that? Under mental control?”
“Of course he won’t.” Vlad called, annoyed.
Shaggy was still busy shocking himself with the manacles. He could feel the air in the room shifting, and he wanted his hands free for what came next. He almost had the timing down on the cuffs, and he was slowly pulling his hand free. Although the jolts were getting harder to ignore.
“Kat. Who are you going to believe? Me or these criminals?”
Katriona’s voice hardened. “Will you submit to questioning?”
Kyler sighed. “Ohhh, Katriona. Of course I won’t. Even if I did, do you think it would change anything? These two are criminals. It’s our job to send them to jail. Let’s just do that and forget about anything else.”
Vlad shook his chair in rage. “Aren’t you supposed to represent law and order in Under-Town? You’d use deception to imprison two slightly innocent criminals?”
“Of course we would.” Kyler sneered. “It doesn’t matter the methods, so long all of Under-Town is brought to heel under the UGB. We are the true government and we will see this lawless place brought back into the light! Right, Kat?”
Katriona’s face looked pale as she watched the conversation. Shaggy felt his palm slip further down the manacle. Katriona shook herself and nodded at Kyler. Shaggy gave his right shoulder a jiggle and bit the inside of his cheek as he shifted his hand again. The jolt tensed all his muscles, and he felt blood fill his mouth. Katriona put a hand on Kyler’s cheek and sighed.
“You’re right, Kyler. It is the UGB’s job to deal with criminals.”
Kyler grinned and reached for Katriona. Before Shaggy could blink, a red glow enveloped Kyler’s entire head and a loud pop filled the cement room. Shaggy jerked his hand out of the manacle, feeling multiple jolts wrack his whole body. Behind him, he felt Vlad’s entire body disappear. He could see a black mist rush toward the door. Vlad stepped out of his mist and placed his body against the door. Shaggy stood, manacles hanging from his left hand.
“Shags, get yourself free and… oh, you did it.”
“Really, Vlad? After all that talk about cooperating?”
“Hey, I never said we shouldn’t have a backup plan. How did you get the cuff off?”
“Shocked the shit out of myself until it was loose. You?”
“I can become intangible when I turn into a mist. Shocked me too, but not that bad.”
A whimpering sound drew both of their attention back to the floor. Katriona was clutching Kyler’s headless body and sobbing quietly. Shaggy felt his eyes widen at the clearly distressed woman. Turning back to Vlad, he mouthed.
“What do we do?”
Vlad shrugged his shoulders and opened the door a crack. The noise of the heavy door brought Katriona’s attention back up to them. She glared at them through teary eyes for a few moments before she sighed.
“Corruption has always been rampant through the UGB. But I never thought it would reach us,” Katriona said.
She stood slowly and Shaggy grew his claws. Ignoring the pinch of pain from his wrist. Katriona ignored him as she gently placed Kyler’s body on the ground and stood. She placed her helmet back over her head and said in her heavily modulated voice.
“You two are free to do what you want. No one was informed about this operation. Kyler’s men well stay quiet. But if you come at me, I will defend myself.”
Shaggy shared a look with Vlad. The vampire shrugged, so Shaggy raised both his hands and backed away. Vlad did the same at the door, and they both watched as the sad woman marched out the door and turned to her right. She disappeared from sight and Shaggy blew out a breath. He didn’t want to know what that was all about. But it felt heavy. Vlad was back at the door, looking left and right down the hall beyond.
“Now can we kill people?” Shaggy asked as he shifted and unshifted his left hand.
It took a few tries, but he eventually got that one free, too. It fell to the floor with a clank, and Vlad hissed angrily.
“Dude! Let’s just sneak out of here and be done with this.”
Shaggy shook his head and looked inward. The wolf was standing in its room, salivating. Hungry and eager.
“Can’t do that.”
Vlad rolled his eyes. “We don’t know where we are or whether we can trust Katriona.”
Shaggy snorted and glanced down at Kyler. Vlad looked down as well and gave Shaggy a chagrined look.
“Fair. But we still don’t know where we are?”
Shaggy nodded. “Okay, you go find that out and I’ll clear this place out.”
Vlad sighed. “You will not take no for an answer, are you?”
Shaggy smiled at his friend and pushed past Vlad into the hallway. A bright scent on the air led down the hall and Shaggy followed it as he heard Vlad speed away behind him. The scent led Shaggy into an enormous bathroom. Multiple sinks were lined the left-hand side, while the right was full of stalls and urinals. At the second sink, shaking his hands free of water, was Frank. Shaggy pounced, grabbing the man around the lapels and lifting him up.
Frank sputtered, confused for a few seconds, before his eyes went wide. Shaggy gave the man his best feral grin as he drew his fist back. Frank tried to curl in on himself as Shaggy let fly with a punch to the bigger man’s chest. The chubby UGB trooper flew back, slamming into the far wall. The man sputtered and coughed as he fell to the floor in a heap. Shaggy cracked his knuckles as he approached Frank’s prone form. Leaning down into Frank’s face, Shaggy smiled.
“One.”