Levy was surprisingly understanding of Shaggy’s decision to hunt down the Cog lead in Under-Town. Then again, she was nestled comfortably in their half-constructed log cabin. Meanwhile, Lackey’s ran everywhere collecting wood and other materials. She even had several of them building their log cabin. Which they all seemed happy to do.

The Lackey’s quiet obedience had confused Shaggy until he spotted several piles of smoking ash near the Cavern’s terminal. Someone had tried to get uppity with Levy and she had put them down. Now all the Lackey’s rushed to complete her orders. When Shaggy asked how the trees were still regenerating, Levy had explained.

“They aren’t. The mages and I are still searching for a proper generator. Magical or otherwise. For now, all the lights and things are powered by whatever the grunts can steal.”

Shaggy nodded and explained his own situation. Levy nodded understandingly and gave him a quick peck. Telling him to go have fun with his friends. Shaggy had kissed her back and quickly returned to Under-Town. He knew that if he stayed with Levy any longer, they would find some other trouble to get into. As much fun as that would be, Shaggy wanted to figure out what was going on with the robots.

Once back through, Shaggy immediately heard the sounds of rushing feet and suppressed shouts. He exited the portal room to find Lackeys running every which way. Shaggy raised an eyebrow, but didn’t ask. Instead, he followed the mass of thugs out and into the light of Under-Town. Once there, the thugs dispersed and ran in many directions. Shaggy thought he saw Cekrass and maybe Stanley running with the crowd. Once he checked his pack link, he was sure.

“Probably a patrol heading out.” Shaggy thought as he spun in place.

It was a safe assumption and when Shaggy saw a few handcarts being pulled toward the north; he was sure. The carts were under guard and headed right toward the northern tunnel. Probably on a supply run. A burst of black mist brought Shaggy’s eyes to the front of the bar, and he hurried over. Where there were thralls, there would be Vlad.

He found his vampire friend directing his various Thralls to various areas. Shaggy walked over in time to hear Vlad issuing patrol orders for his people. He nodded and stayed quiet as the Thralls took their orders with serious faces before vanishing in a puff of black smoke. Shaggy sighed and waved a hand as the odorless smoke disappeared just in time for the next Thrall to get their order.

It was another few minutes before Vlad was done and he spun to see a very bored looking Shaggy.

“How long have you been there?”

“Since... Costa? Or was it Ruby? I don’t remember. It was a bunch of Thralls back. Did you have to give them all separate orders one at a time?”

Vlad snorted. “Of course, a vampire lord hands down edicts personally to his Thralls.”

“That doesn’t sound right. Shouldn’t you have someone do that for you?”

“Shudup. What did you tell your group of thugs?”

“My PACK is smart enough to figure it out. All I had to tell them was to watch the bar and maybe oversee some training. Go on a few patrols, yadda-yadda.” Shaggy bragged.

“That is so vague.”

Shaggy shrugged. “It works. Are we ready to go?”

Vlad nodded and moved toward the bar’s front door. “Yeah, Slink was checking over a few minor details. While Ren is setting up a supply rotation. Now that we have the northern tunnel, we can manage supplies to our area much better.”

“That was all the carts?”

Vlad nodded, understanding. “Yeah, we need trucks. We have a couple people topside and down here looking. Once we get a few more trucks, we’ll be better supplied.”

“We seem to be doing fine.” Shaggy said as they both entered the bar and looked around.

Slink was over by the bar rapidly talking to an annoyed looking Petra. Ren was across from them both with a wry smile. The big guy was writing something on a table before he handed it to a nearby Lackey. The Lackey gave Ren a quick a bow before rushing off to fulfill whatever order was given. Shaggy shook his head and moved to help Petra with Slink. Before, the woman punched the poor kid in the head.

Vlad following along, they reached the pair just as Slink was saying.

“... Also, make sure that the orders are fulfilled quickly.”

“Yes, Slink.”

“And that Roald gets set up in the area we marked out for him.”

“Yes, Slink.”

“Oh, and that our guys collecting the protection money are well-guarded.”

“YES. Slink.”

Shaggy quickly wrapped an arm around the boy and turned them away from the irate-looking woman. He gave Petra an apologetic look as he drug the boy away. Slink sputtered and tried to keep calling instructions over his shoulder. Vlad moved to talk to Petra as Shaggy maneuvered them toward Ren. The Perinadon was openly chuckling now as Shaggy and Slink approached.

“What the hell, Shaggy? I was giving instructions.” Slink whined.

“No. You were telling the woman who has been helping you run the business how to run the business.”

Ren chuckled louder. “HAHAHAHA! You were about to get smacked, is what was about to happen.”

“And you were just watching.” Shaggy argued, waving a hand at the bigger man.

“Yeah. I was. Everyone needs a good smack every now and again. Keeps us humble. Slink would’ve taken the hit and then thought about his actions. He’s introspective enough to realize it was his fault.”

“My Fault?! For what?! Issuing orders. We need to make sure that all this stuff gets done while we are away or we are going to be dealing with a large shitstorm when we come back.”

Shaggy gave a Ren an ‘I-Told-You-So,’ look and turned to the red-faced teen. “Slink. Dude. Were you issuing orders or reiterating them?”

Slink took a few seconds as he huffed angrily. “I mean… I had already set the commands via the terminal downstairs with Dave. But I just wanted to make sure… that they would be followed… ah shit.”

“There it is.” Ren grinned.

Shaggy sighed as Vlad suddenly appeared at his side. The vampire gave the kid a pitying look before he turned to the others.

“Petra’s annoyed, but understanding. She’ll make sure the place doesn’t burn down while we are away. Is there anything else we need?”

“Dave?” Shaggy asked.

“He’s downstairs talking his people through a training regiment. That extension you added to the workout area hasn’t been fully kitted out yet. But they can still use it as a sparring area. He’ll be up in a bit.”

“Already here, little dude. Are we ready to rock some robots?” Dave said as he slid over, clearly coming out of a run.

Shaggy spotted a black case in the excitable man’s arms. He almost started as the vials reentered his mind. Shaggy reached for the black container. But Dave’s hand was suddenly blocking his path. Shaggy looked up and saw Dave’s smiling face.

“Oops. Sorry, dude. Force of habit. Lots of dudes seem to want a peek inside this little black box ya gave me. I had to break a few hands. It was intense.”

Shaggy nodded as he stuck his hand out. “Sounds like it. Can I have it though? I think I know someone who can look at it for us.”

“Is that the thing from the UGB base?” Vlad whispered.

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Shaggy nodded as he took the box from Dave and hurried off behind the stage. He felt the others follow him as Vlad explained what they had found. He opened the box quickly and spotted the colored vials still nestled safely in their velvet seat. Shaggy rushed through the back hallway and into the infirmary to see Rashi seated at her desk. Reading a book.

She glanced up at him and then back down to her book. “You don’t need to be here. We both know that. So what do you want?”

Shaggy grinned his best salesman grin and moved toward the woman’s wooden desk. Behind him, the others all piled into the room. Ren closing the door with a soft click. Rashi put down her book as Shaggy gently set down the case and pushed it toward her.

“I would like your professional opinion on this.”

Rashi tilted her head, expression still neutral. “What is it?”

Shaggy waited for her to reach for the box. But when she didn’t, he sighed and cracked open the lid. The seven vials seemed to glow with their multi-colored liquid as Rashi glanced at them. Shaggy tried to read the woman’s face. But it was a mask of stone as she sat up straighter in her chair and pushed forward. She picked up one vial, and the liquid sloshed and swirled in her eyes.

“What do you know about them?” Rashi asked as she gently placed the vial back in its seat.

“Virtually nothing. We found them and wanted to get a professional’s opinion. I know you’re not a chemist or anything. But I figured you could help.”

“I can,” Rashi said simply. “But I’ll need to call in a friend to help. You just want to know what they are?”

“And how to use them if there are special ways to imbibe them.” Vlad added.

“Why not just drink one now?” Rashi said, pushing the case toward Shaggy. “Your healing can probably mitigate any ill effects.”

Shaggy grinned. “I try not to drink things if I don’t know what they are. That could be some kind of special acid designed by… our enemies.”

Rashi nodded slowly as she took back the box. “I can do it. But I’ll want payment.”

“Of course you do.” Vlad said flatly.

Shaggy merely nodded and then turned to leave. “Yeah, we can talk about that when you have answers. The leadership is heading out for a bit. We’ve found something interesting.”

“The giant robot?” Rashi asked.

Shaggy nodded. “Yep. If there are more of the damn things around, we’ll all be in trouble. I’d pull your sisters back in and have them help. But that’s up to you.”

“Yes, it is. But I will take it under advisement. Happy hunting.”

Rashi went back to her book and pulled the black case into her lap. Shaggy looked at the others. But none of them had anything more to say, so they all left. Shaggy closed the door behind them all and sighed.

“Can anyone else not get a read on her? She’s like a damn statue.”

Slink shook his head, as did the others. Except for Dave, who wasn’t paying attention.

“She just seems a little too severe to me,” Slink said.

“Stick up her ass, is what you mean.” Vlad scowled.

Ren herded them all back toward the bar floor. “Let’s just go. We have a long walk ahead of us.”

“Not if Shaggy wolfs out again. We can all ride him and get there, like, super quick.” Dave almost shouted.

Shaggy shook his head. “Hell no. Not only am I not carrying all of you. But I doubt Ren would even fit.”

“I ain’t that big compared to your wolf.”

“Although Rita’s wolf seemed bigger. Not to mention I like the color of her fur better. It’s a lighter color. Your dark black coat makes you look all edgy.” Slink said.

Shaggy was about to complain when Vlad piled on. “Yeah, and the eyes don’t help. Super Edgelord.”

“No. I meant like literally edgy. Like sharp. He looks like if you pet him, you’d prick your finger.” Slink explained.

“We are so done with this conversation.” Shaggy groaned as they all exited the bar and turned toward the east.

Their walk was an animated one. What with Dave constantly running all over, introducing himself to locals. Vlad was also chatting up everyone they came across. It seemed that the robot’s rampage had relocated a lot of the population. While Dave was understanding and empathetic, Vlad was the salesman. Selling the idea of safety and happiness if the people moved closer to the bar. Some bought it, some didn’t. But it all made Shaggy feel slimy. More so when Slink got involved.

“We also have daily supply trains coming into our neighborhood. We can place orders for anything you could need.” Slink was saying.

“Of course, we would charge a small fee. Which pays for protection of the goods and keeps us all afloat.” Vlad added.

Shaggy sighed as he kept moving. The others had caught up multiple time already and they would again. Ren kept pace with Shaggy as the others worked the neighborhood. He looked up at the big alien.

“Not going to schmooze with the locals?” Shaggy asked.

Ren snorted. “Hell no. Ain’t my thing, same as you.”

“Hey, I can schmooze with the best of them. I just choose not to.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. Face it, you’d rather be punching something than talking up our services.”

“It is a much simpler past-time.” Shaggy admitted.

Ren nodded. “I agree. But we also need people like Slink and Vlad. They are a one-two punch when it comes to ingratiating ourselves with the locals. Not to mention Dave’s natural charisma. He’d draw people to us just by the strength of his personality.”

“Fair. But I want it to be known that I am only this way in-game. Out of game, I am a successful businessman with many happy clients.”

“How many do you interact with regularly while on a job?”

“If I’m doing the job right. None. I go in, fix the issue they are having, then duck out. I give them an invoice. They pay me electronically, and I’m out. Quick, clean, and efficient.”

Ren’s chuckled rumbled low in his chest as he shook his head. “I bet your number one complaint from your customers is that you're too distant.”

Shaggy threw up his hands. “I’m a repair technician! We don’t need to be close to customers! I just need to do the job.”

Ren let it drop as he turned around to look behind them. Shaggy did too and spotted the others happily talking amongst themselves as they walked. He turned back to Ren and smiled. As he did, he spotted a large empty area off to the right. Most of the houses in the area had been knocked down by the robot. But there was no debris and the surrounding houses were bent inward toward the open area. Shaggy tapped Ren and pointed. Ren followed his finger and then nodded.

“This way!” Ren called to the three stragglers as they left the road.

Shaggy and Ren rushed over between the broken house and debris. As he approached, he realized the space was a massive indent in the ground. Probably where the metal monster clawed its way from the ground. The ground was slanted toward a large opening in the dirt. Like a large ramp leading down into a cavernous maw. Dozens of broken shacks and rusted metal junk were at the bottom of the ramp.

“Movement.” Ren said, pointing a massive finger down near the bottom of the ramp.

Shaggy focused on the area, but saw nothing for a few moments. Eventually, when the others joined them, Shaggy spotted a shifting piece of metal. It was creeping toward the tunnel opening. Shaggy raised an eyebrow. It could have been the ground settling. But when he turned to tell Ren that, Slink gave a shout.

“LOOK!”

Shaggy spun again and looked down. The shifting piece of metal got caught on a nearby piece of debris and almost flipped. Shaggy spotted a small, spider-like robot dragging the metal toward the tunnel. He sucked in a breath through his teeth as now he saw the little robots everywhere. The pile of trash hid them pretty well, but once you spotted one. It became easier.

“Those are definitely Cog Bots, right?” Vlad asked.

“I don’t know.” Shaggy said. “I’ve never seen spider ones. Most of Cog’s designs have been humanoid.”

“What about the cat-bots?” Slink asked.

“Or the rabbit-bots?” Added Dave.

Shaggy sighed. “Fine. He is also known for creating animal robots. But we still don’t know if this is him.”

Ren chuckled and cracked his knuckles. “Doesn’t matter. These damn things are in our backyard. We need to cull them and get into that tunnel. I’d bet that’s where the giant robot came from.”

“You think? Doesn’t the cave entrance seem small?” Shaggy said, looking down the ramp at the entrance.

“It looks like a dungeon entrance in a fantasy game,” Vlad added.

“DUDES! Is this a dungeon?! Sweet!” Dave shouted excitedly.

“I didn’t think this game did dungeons.” Slink pondered.

Shaggy shrugged and started walking down the ramp. He grew his claws out as the others followed.

“Nothing to do but find out. If it is a dungeon, then we are gonna get the first clear. If it’s just another tunnel, then we will follow it and kill every bot we find. Deal?”

“Sounds good.”

“Deal.”

“Righteous.”

“This can only end badly.”

Shaggy ignored Slink’s pessimism and hurried down the slope. Looking for a target. He was eager to sink his claws into the metal of the robots again. By the sound of the rushing feet behind him, his friends were too. Shaggy spotted his first target and grinned. The spider was dragging a large piece of metal and hadn’t spotted them yet. Shaggy activated his pounce ability and cackled as beside him his friends found their own targets. The group’s next dungeon dive was underway.