Shaggy grunted as he palmed another fistful of dirt and pushed it behind him. His claws really weren’t made for digging, but they had done well. They sliced cleanly through the mounds of dirt and churned it up until it fell away from the walls. Thankfully, the blue walls Dave drew on the system terminal made it impossible for Shaggy to dig beyond the dimensions of the room. So all he had to do was dig like a dog and Dave would build the walls out of the materials Ren gathered.
The dull, rusted gray walls weren’t much to look at. But they gave the hallway a nice, complete look. It also helped that Shaggy and the digging team didn’t have to prop up the walls or nail them into place. The system did most of the heavy lifting. Things really got going when more Lackey’s showed up. Not only could they break off into building separate rooms. But some of them had super-strength or other powers. So the work picked up speed.
Soon there were sections of wall that were still covered in a blue sheen, waiting for walls. Shaggy had to send a couple of guys to Ren to farm more materials. But his dig team was still moving faster than Dave could get the walls up. Which allowed for a lot of breaks.
“Does using them claws even help, boss?” One Lackey asked.
Shaggy was leaning against the wall, wiping sweat from his forehead. Turning to the guy that asked, Shaggy’s dark-vision brought the guy into sharp relief. Although the alien man’s glowing green eyes helped a little as well. Shaggy shifted his hands back into claws and waggled them.
“They don’t look it, but they are pretty good at cutting into things. Dirt’s even easier than skin. This stuff just falls apart with one swipe. After that, all we gotta do is move it. With skin or bodies, I gotta deal with all the blood, bone, tendons, or whatever else the sonofabitch is made of.”
Shaggy grinned as he watched the alien man gulped noticeably. Several other Lackey’s nearby smirked as they shoveled dirt back down the hallway they had built. Two rooms were being excavated off the hallway they had made, but Shaggy continued to follow Dave’s hallway. Someone had found, stolen, or conjured some shovels and other tools. So the boys were doing decent work. Although Shaggy wondered what they were doing with the dirt.
The alien man fell into silence after his question, and Shaggy grinned. A few of the Lackey’s had tried to strike up conversation with him. But Shaggy found that few of them maintained the interaction. Mostly, they would ask a few meaningless questions and then move on. It was like they were introducing themselves one at a time. Which Shaggy found interesting. They each had their own personalities and ways of talking to him. He even caught a few weird accents amongst the aliens. They were truly some impressively fleshed out NPCs.
Shaggy went back to digging out the wall ahead of him as his dirt-shifting team moved to help. While his body and arms went to work, Shaggy turned his mind inward and did a check on his pack again. He had been intermittently checking on his people as he worked. Shaggy found that if he concentrated and focused inward, he could get and see much more from the members of his pack.
Tom was off sleeping on the second floor. Sybil was talking to several mages and experimenting with her demon fire. Cekrass and Stanley were still hanging out, but now they were sparring with every Lackey that would challenge them. Not far from them, Vick was teaching the Lackeys about the energy rifles they had picked up. They were using the robots and shacks to the east as target practice. Further out east, Rita was roaming around. Probably taking the teens through their paces.
Ephemara was harder to pin down. But she was also the furthest out from all of them. Also, since the link was weaker with newer members. Shaggy couldn’t get a good feel on the woman’s current state. But he thought she felt fine. At least he wasn’t getting any sense of alarm or danger from her. So he let it be. She was out scouting in Quinica turf and so far all he could feel from her was a vague sense of annoyance. But Shaggy figured that was her permanent state.
Shaggy felt his claws dig into sludge and sighed. Coming back to himself, he noticed a pale blue wall of light right in front of him. They had hit the end of the hallway. He shook out his claws as people scurried behind him, moving the dirt. Looking to his left and right side, Shaggy saw that the hallway broke into a T-section and he gave another sigh. He was about to order a team to break left when a spike of pain hit his brain. It seared through him and made him stagger.
Shaggy growled loudly and shook his head. The pain receded to a dull ache and Shaggy looked around for the source of the attack. But angry flowed through his body and he realized one of his pack was under attack. He searched the links and found that everyone of them had felt the spike of pain too. He zeroed in on its source and found Rita to the east, running his way. Shaggy gave another growl.
“Uh… Boss? You alright?”
Shaggy shook his head again. “Keep digging. There’s an issue topside.”
He didn’t wait for a reply as he dashed down the newly built hallway. As he got to the far end near the common area, he saw that some Lackey’s were stringing lights down the hallway. It was a good idea and one he would fully appreciate later. Rita was still running for her life and Shaggy needed to see what the hell from. As he exited the basement and out into the Under-Town ‘sun’, he heard shouts and cries coming from all around him. Shaggy ignored the noise as he zeroed in on Rita. She was headed right for them and Shaggy could feel the other members of his pack rushing to join him. Even Tom had woken up and was about…
CRASH
Shaggy turned to see Tom’s slim form curled into a ball as he broke through the second-story window. The slight werewolf hit the dirt and rolled before popping up a few feet from Shaggy. Just beyond him, Vick, Cekrass, and Stanley were running fast toward them. Lackey’s on nearby roofs were shouting and screaming. But all the noise blew past Shaggy as another spike of pain wrenched through Rita. He felt it as clear as day and started to move as Tom asked questions.
“Where is she? Is she hurt? What about the kids?”
Shaggy waved the other man off as he slowly moved east. Rita was about to enter the east side of the square and she was sending signals that whatever was chasing them was right behind them. Sybil slid to a stop on Shaggy’s right side, fireball at the ready. Shaggy started to shift and felt his body contort and twist angrily. Something was hurting his pack, and he was going to tear the damn thing apart.
Soon a kid popped out of the street along the east side. It was Heru, and he was bleeding from a scratch in his temple. The boy was followed by Branka, who was carrying someone. Then Nate, Otto, and Isabel came barreling down the street. Shaggy was already moving. He knew Rita was bringing up the rear of the kids, probably why she was taking the hits. Branka and the others tried to tell him something. But Shaggy ignored them as a rumbling shook the streets. He looked up to see a metal monstrosity pulled itself toward them.
Shaggy grimaced as he spotted several flying robots coming over the eastern shacks. Below them was a horrible amalgamation of robots. It was in the shape of a giant, with glowing red eyes and a body constructed piecemeal of its fallen brethren. It sparked and hisses of smoke plumed from its body as it pulled itself closer. Shaggy saw the rest of the kids just in front of it as Rita waved her sword underneath it, trying to get its attention. But she was bleeding heavily from several wounds, and the giant robot didn’t seem to pay her any attention.
Instead, its red eyes were trained on the back of the retreating kids. Shaggy growled and charged forward. They were up the street a short distance, but Shaggy didn’t like the low hum that was rising through the air. Through the link, he felt Rita’s despair and helplessness as she tried to get the thing’s attention. Instead, the red of its eyes narrowed to a point and blasted forth as a laser aimed right at the back of the retreating kids. Shaggy pounced to catch the blast with his body, but he knew he was too late. A howl of anger went up and Shaggy felt a pull on his Link with the pack.
Suddenly an auburn-furred body was in front of Shaggy and he had to twist out of his pounce. A dog-like yelp went up and Shaggy turned to see a large wolf standing in the street. Its auburn hair smoking as the laser dissipated into nothing. Rita shook off the blast and growled low in her throat, standing before the giant robot. Shaggy felt a swell of pride build inside him, but a bark from Rita made him refocus. They could celebrate later.
The clanking, hissing giant sparked in anger as it continued to drag itself closer. Shaggy could see that the thing was only half built. It was missing its legs, dragging its body forward on the stumps of its half-completed arms. Shaggy growled as he gave a mental order for his pack to protect the kids. Rita responded with a resounding ‘fuck off!’ as she threw her lupine body onto the front of the giant’s chest. Shaggy suppressed a chuckle as he pounced on the giant as well. Aiming for an arm.
The twenty-foot high half giant stumbled as Rita hit it in the chest and when Shaggy slammed into its right arm, the thing tumbled into the dirt. Wrecking multiple houses. Screams went up and were suddenly cut off as the owners of those houses were crushed. Shaggy gave a mental groan as he bit and clawed at bits of exposed wire. They were probably going to get complaints from the citizenry that paid them protection. Then again, if they didn’t know enough to evacuate when a giant robot was barreling through. That was their fault.
Shaggy leapt away as the arm he was trying to maul moved and the robot brushed at its chest. Rita was smacked with the metal stump and sent into the dirt, and Shaggy pounced again. This time hitting the robot in its giant square head. As he dug into it with his claws, a black mist appeared near its face and Vlad was suddenly there hand thrusting forth into its eyes. The vampire grinned as the robot’s eye cracked and then sparked dangerously. Shaggy had to cut back another smiled as Vlad went rigid as his body coursed with electricity.
A loud clang filled the air and Shaggy looked down to see Ren in the street, punching into the robot’s metal torso. Shaggy glanced up further and saw multiple Lackey’s rushing over with energy rifles at the ready. A blue blur jumped from a nearby roof and Dave’s voice echoed in Shaggy’s ears.
“KOAN KICK!”
Dave’s blue armored form spun in the air as it rushed toward the metal monster’s head. Leg forward in a jumping kick that seemed to speed forward like a guided missile. Shaggy bit deep into the metal of the robot’s shoulder when Dave’s kick rocked the thing’s head back. The only noises the automaton made as it tilted backwards were its normal hisses of steam and sparks of electricity. Shaggy found that he didn’t like it when his prey shout or cry in terror.
Instead, the big metal beast tilted and then fell backwards. The sounds of energy rifles firing joined the cacophony of noises filling Shaggy’s ears as he continued to rip and tear into the metal. Vlad, Ren and Dave were there with him beating and tearing metal plates from the thing. A robot crashing near Shaggy’s head reminded him that there had been flyers too, but he figured the rest of their legion were focusing on those.
With a shudder and a crash, the half-built metal monster came to an abrupt stop. Shaggy continued to tear into the thing as Vlad rushed to his side. Shaggy spat a mouthful of metal and was about to go in again when Vlad’s cool hand brushed through his fur.
“Cool down, Shags. I think it’s dead.”
Shaggy growled low in his throat before he snorted at the unmoving body. He turned away, kicking his back feet at the thing before he looked around for his pack. They were easy to spot as Rita was still in her wolf form. Shaggy thought she was even preening as the others all congratulated her on her first shift. He felt equal amounts of pride and annoyance from the other full Were’s of his pack.
“Is that your first full Werewolf?” Vlad asked.
Shaggy nodded his large lupine head as he canceled his transformation. He felt himself twist and shrink as Vlad studied the other wolf. Nearby, Ren and Dave were already talking about what to do with the giant robot’s remains. But Shaggy was more interested in where the damn thing had come from. Spotting the teens slowly approaching wolf Rita, he had a good idea who to ask.
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“This is another brand of trouble we didn’t see coming.” Shaggy muttered as he started walking.
“Yeah, but we handled it well. And who knows? Maybe this is a one time thing.”
A flying cat-drone fell out of the sky near them, and Shaggy gave Vlad a raised eyebrow. The vampire sighed and nodded understandingly. It wasn’t a one time thing. The robots or Cog were up to something. Although Shaggy doubted it was Cog, the rumor was that the geriatric bastard was off in a pocket dimension somewhere. So who was building giant robots in Under-Town now?
The eastern side of the city had been a dead-zone for all residents. Between the gangs and the lack of shops. It wasn’t exactly an overly-used space. Then Cog-invaded and now the area was full of either gangs or robots. A fact Shaggy now found odd. Cog had attacked with a shit-ton of robots. But they had to have been whittling their numbers down. Right?
Shaggy drew closer to Rita, who was still preening in her wolf form.
“Okay, shows over. Now time to see if you can turn it off. I would go into a shack or something before... and you’re naked.”
There was a quick gasp as Rita threw back her hair and stretched. Fully nude. Shaggy turned away as he heard wolf whistles and more cries of alarm coming from the nearby Lackey’s.
“Damn, Momma-Wolf.” He heard one of the teens say Shaggy thought it was Rue. But he wasn’t sure.
“Shit, Rita. Really?” Sybil asked.
Lackeys and other people pushed in closer and Cekrass, Stanley and Vick formed a wall and Rita still sounded unconcerned.
“Fuck’em, Syb. Let the dumbasses try something. Besides, who here has a change of clothes? Huh? Mine are back at the bar.”
“You couldn’t have gone into a shack and waited for one of the teens or Sybil to grab you something?” Shaggy said to empty air as he pointedly looked away.
He was surprised to see Vlad still watching everything. But the vampire seemed more concerned with getting answers. Nearby, several Lackeys were ignoring their surroundings because of the naked woman in their midst. Shaggy even spotted Slink staring. He sighed.
“INSIDE, Rita.” He ordered.
He heard the older woman sigh herself and marched off toward a short building. There was a crash as she kicked open the door, followed by some swearing. Then an alien man was thrown into the street and the door was shut. Shaggy rubbed his face and looked toward Sybil, but the short blonde was already gone. Racing off toward the bar to get the woman some clothes. A general noise of complaint went up from the assembled crowd, but Ren’s voice echoed through the streets.
“Oh quit your whining, ya bunch of pervs! We have to get this beast back to the bar. So grab what you can and start moving it. We can’t let these resources go to waste.”
“Y’all heard the big dude, right? Let’s get this thing back down the street. Maybe we can make some cool stuff from it,” Dave added, still armored up.
Shaggy let them deal with the enormous beast as he moved toward the teens. They were crowding toward the shack Rita was in as Shaggy approached, Vlad on his heels. Branka spun on a heel and blocked the door, glaring at Shaggy.
“Where do you think you’re going, boss?”
A snort came from the shack before Rita’s voice shouted. “Leave him alone, Branka. I know we tease him. But he’s loyal to his wife. Besides, I’m not the only one he wants to talk to.”
Shaggy nodded as Branka seemed to calm down a bit. “First off, congrats Rita. You pulled off a full shift. How ya feeling?”
“Like a damn raw nerve. Everything’s heightened again. It’s like when I first joined you and when you finally bit us all at once. It’s exhilarating and freeing, though.”
“Yeah, it can be a lot. Quick question, if you look inward, do you see anything?”
“Look inward? Like with your inner wolf thing.”
“Exactly. I want to get ahead of that if you’re the same.”
“I don’t think so, boss. At least I don’t sense anything…inside me.”
Otto snorted loudly before Akie smacked him on the shoulder. Shaggy saw Heru’s ears turn red, and he quickly tried to change the subject. But Vlad beat him to it.
“Where did this giant thing come from, Rita? We have gotten no reports of something like this before. So, where did you find it?”
Before Rita could say anything, the teens all started talking over each other. Shaggy tried to get a word in, but they were all shouting and talking over each other. He was about to yell when Rita beat him to it.
“Quiet!” she shouted, making all the teens immediately clam up. “We found it toward the far eastern border of Under-Town. We were pushing further and further out. Wrecking bots, when that thing just pushed itself from the ground.”
“Yeah, we took off and the damn thing just ripped itself from the ground and chased us. It seemed to zero in on Rita a few times. But after she tanked two of those eye-blasts things, it ignored her.” Rue explained.
Shaggy nodded as Sybil arrived with a bundle of clothes. Branka moved aside as she let the smaller woman in. Vlad was tapping his chin with a fingernail as the sounds of rustling clothes filled the air. Behind them, the sounds of hammering and the lackey’s chattering joined in the noise. Shaggy rubbed his face and shrugged his shoulders.
“We need to check it out. Whether it’s Cog or some dumbass rebuilding his bots, we need to investigate.”
Vlad nodded, smiling. “Sounds like a job for all of us. It’s been a while and I need to make up for getting ganked by that speedster. Let’s gather the leaders and see what we can find.”
Shaggy nodded as Rita stepped out of the shack fully clothed. He gave her a nod and turned to head back to the bar. A pair of arms wrapped around his body and he was squeezed in a powerful hug. He felt himself tense up before he realized it was Rita.
“Thank you, Shaggy. This is an amount of power I never dreamed of wielding.” Rita whispered.
Shaggy grunted. “Yeah, just had to almost die for it.”
She smacked the back of his head, and he almost tripped. But she caught him and whispered.
“It was worth it, boss.”
Shaggy smiled and sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Just keep watch on the kids, mother-wolf.”
A chuckled swept through everyone assembled expect for Vlad who still looked thoughtful. Shaggy waved off the teens and the others as he walked off. A gripped Vlad’s shoulders and led him toward Ren and Slink. The pair were standing near the collapsed giant’s torso, talking about where to move everything. Shaggy waved at Dave, who was talking to a few Lackeys, and screamed.
“Dave, over here. Leader meeting!”
Dave gave him a nod and said goodbye to the Lackeys. Ren and Slink turned to regard Shaggy and Vlad as they got closer.
“What’s up?” Ren asked.
Vlad rubbed his hands together excitedly. “We got a mission for the leadership.”
Shaggy pointed at the large metal robot. “This came from our eastern border. Rita said it came up from the ground and started chasing them. So either we missed a bunch of robots or someone is rebuilding the damn things.”
“Who the hell would do that and how have we missed them so far? I send patrols out here daily.” Slink asked.
“Are the patrols actively hunting the robots or just dealing with the ones that they find?” Vlad asked.
Slink shrugged, unsure. Ren nodded as he crossed his arms. “So you think the giant was a response to the robots being culled too much?”
“Possible. But we don’t know if the thing was a plant from Cog or if something else is going on.”
“Ohhhhh! So you dude, want to, like, investigate the source of the bots? Awesome. I’m totally down, dudes.”
“What about the bar? We still need to be on the lookout for the Quinica and we have several projects going. We need someone here for oversight.”
“Do we? I mean we give the Lackey’s some jobs and let them work. Most of the operation knows what it’s doing daily by now, right? So let’s give them a chance to run on their own for a bit.”
“Yeah! Also, with the new expanded workout room, we can assign daily workouts. It’s pretty epic. So we can let the Lackey’s train themselves. Of course, we can add to the effect by leading a few sessions ourselves. But we can discuss that later. Also, we can automate certain work orders.”
Slink nodded. “Yeah, that’s how I did the patrols and the shipment protections.”
“Yeah, little dude. So all we do is set the training and work schedules to random and then pile up the work we want done. Then we can go off on our own adventures, dudes!”
Dave cheered loudly as he thrust both his arms in the air. Shaggy kept the grin from his face as he looked at Ren and Vlad. Both appeared deep in thought. Shaggy figured they were probably trying to work out what they wanted done in their absence. Shaggy figured he could get his pack to help with training and some patrols. He also wanted his people to check on Levy.
“Hey, for all we know, this could lead to a small-time crook messing around. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Shaggy said.
Ren nodded. “True. But it could also lead into a deep, dark dungeon of nonsense. The type you seem to attract. So let’s plan for a long trip. That way, if we’re back early, then there’s no harm.”
Shaggy and the others agreed. Dave rushed off to build work orders as Ren and Slink turned back to the giant robot. They were going to finish getting the materials home as Vlad gathered his thralls. Shaggy was going to explain things to his pack and then go through the portal to Levy. He didn’t want to disappear without telling his wife. Especially if it was for something involving Cog. For all he knew, the bastard had used his shitty invasion to set himself up somewhere below Under-Town. It was unlikely, but Shaggy wasn’t ready to discount it.
His pack was waiting for him outside the bar. The teens hanging further back, looking on. Shaggy raised an eyebrow as Rita and the others glared at him. He felt their annoyance and understanding at being left out. All he could do was shrug.
“Me and the other bosses can handle it.” He said simply.
“We know you can, boss.” Vick said around a cigarette. “We just wanted to let you know that we’re here, too.”
Shaggy tapped his temple. “I know you are. But I need you all here maintaining order and whipping some of these normies into shape. We’re going to leave some work for everyone. So you’ll be kept busy.”
“What about us?” Otto called.
Shaggy sighed and pointed to Rita. “Talk to her. Y’all are pretty much her responsibility right now. I got to hunt down who’s making giant fucking robots.”
“First you have to talk to your wife, though.” Rita grinned.
“Yes, first I have to go tell my wife about the giant fucking robots. She’s going to be pissed she missed it.” Shaggy shook his head and moved toward the door leading downstairs.
“Your relationship is weird, boss.” Sybil called.
“I know. Now get back to work. I want to leave this place in expert hands. Trouble is, all I got is yours.”
His pack and the teens all swore at his back as he entered the basement of the bar. Shaggy smiled as he thought about the next adventure. Sure, it was robots again. But maybe something new would come from this. There was still so much to do, but half the fun of gaming was having multiple quest lines going. Maybe this one would be a step closer to Cog. If not, he and his friends were going to at least secure their eastern side. Shaggy found the portal room and stepped through confidently. Ready to explain to his wife that he and his friends were going to go battle some robots.