“Uff!”
“Hup!”
“Whoa!”
“Stay still!”
“Why the hell would I do that?”
Shaggy ducked under Claire’s slim green arm and backpedaled. The tall woman gave chase and Shaggy activated his slide-move ability. He was trying to sneak around and batter the woman’s side, but she caught him. Her left arm swung out and hit him in the shoulder and Shaggy went flying. Shaggy grunted over the sound of his should crunching as he hit the cement floor way beyond the rubber mat of the exercise room. It wasn’t the first time the super-strong woman had sent him flying.
Shaggy peeled himself from the floor and groaned. He felt his shoulder pop back into place and he checked his HP. He was sitting at 432/497, but it was raising fast. Still, the woman had knocked a large chunk of his health and sent him flying with one swing. He gave a quiet grunt as he returned to the mat and took a fighting stance again.
“Are you sure you are good to continue?” Jar-lock asked.
Shaggy grinned as he rolled his shoulders. “Yeah, she took a lot out of me, but I’m almost back to full.”
Claire huffed from her side of the mat as she blew a strand of black hair out of her face. “Well, that’s annoying. Maybe next time I should grab you.”
“Please don’t.” Shaggy winced. “I don’t want your husband to shoot me when I claw you up… again.”
“That was one time, ya whiner.”
“Dear, this IS supposed to be a friendly spar. You didn’t have to shoot him.”
Two Gun shifted on the bench he was sitting on. “Hey, his claws are weapons. This was supposed to be hand-to-hand only. He cheated and he could’ve killed you.”
“Yeah, and she would’ve re-spawned right here on the mat. That’s how the spar system works, old man. You know that,” Said Abby.
Two Gun said nothing, but crossed his arms and set his mouth in a slim line. Clearly not budging on the subject. Shaggy shrugged and raised a hand to forestall any more complaints.
“I get it. The dude doesn’t enjoy seeing his wife cut up. I’d be the same way if I saw Levy getting shot to hell.”
Two Gun raised a finger at Shaggy with a triumphant expression on his face. But Claire snorted as she stepped off the mat and toward her water bottle. She took a quick sip before she turned back to her husband.
“Dear. This is a game. I am perfectly fine. Yes, his claws hurt and can get through my skin. But it’s just as easy for me to hurt him.”
“He’s got that crazy healing though, sugar. You damn near snapped him in half before and he just popped right back up.”
Jar-lock quirked an eyebrow. “He was lying on the mat screaming for several minutes. I almost wanted to kill him just, so he’d respawn.”
“Next time. Please do. That was fucking painful. But my Pain Suppression didn’t even go up at all.”
Abby picked herself up from the floor and moved to the mat. “That’s the shitty thing about the Training Mat. It’ll help you with your moves. But not so much for your skills and abilities. My turn?”
“Hey, here’s a question. When is it someone else’s turn?” Shaggy asked. “Seriously, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were hazing the Super-Villain.”
“Hardly a Super-Villain. You’re D-Tier.” Abby smirked.
“By HLO standards, Abby, and we all know those are shit. Not to mention we saw him go round and round with Claire. Although we didn’t get a good baseline for his strength.”
“Is that why you lot asked me to spar? You wanted to assess my abilities?” Shaggy asked, annoyed.
“Well, you were sitting by the Professor’s shop looking bored as they poked and prodded you, anyway.” Abby said. “Besides, don’t act like it hasn’t been fun.”
Shaggy couldn’t disagree, so he simply settled into a fighting stance and grew his claws. Once his hands had transformed into their longer, sharper form, he glanced at Two Gun. The old man was glaring at him, but his hands were away from his weapons. Abby snickered as dark shadows wrapped themselves around her arms. Her long shadow blades extended past her arms and engulfed her sides.
“You don’t have to worry about the old man and his guns. You should be more worried about me.”
Shaggy returned his gaze to Abby. Dark shadows coiled off her shoulders as the arms blades seemed to fully solidify. Shaggy said nothing, but backed up to his side of the mat and waited for Jar-Lock’s signal. Shaggy crouched low as they faced each other, mental finger hovering over the Pounce ability. He kept the large robed man in his peripheral vision and tensed when he saw the mage’s arm go up. Jar-lock’s arm came sailing down just as his voice shouted.
“FIGHT!”
Shaggy pounced immediately. Abby rushed forward at the same instant, and the two clashed at the center of the mat. Shaggy’s claws reached for the woman’s torso, but her shadow-blades raked upward, catching Shaggy in the legs and flipping him over her head. He grunted but confirmed that the blades weren’t sharp enough to get through his skin. Shaggy hit the mat on his back and rolled away before Abby slammed the point of her blades down at him. He hopped to his feet and raked his arms sideways. But the small woman dove forward, letting the claws sweep through her shadowy form.
Shaggy felt a slight tug on his claws, but nothing tangible. That Abby didn’t fall away screaming was another clue that he had done no damage. The billowing shadows filled his vision as Shaggy tried to back-pedal. But a large shadow blade rushed out of the darkness and slammed into his shoulder. The blade sunk into his skin, but stopped as it hit his dermal plating. Shaggy jumped and kicked both his feet out, listening for and hearing a grunt as his feet connected.
The mass of shadows followed their master as she was flung backwards on the mat. Abby rolled out of the kick, her shadows cushioning her fall. Shaggy picked himself up and got ready for another exchange. He checked his claws. They were free of any sort of blood or shadowy residue. He sighed.
“You’re intangible.” Shaggy grunted.
Abby was checking her own blade as she responded. “And you're tough as shit. My blades aren’t the sharpest, but they haven’t failed me before.”
“This is going to be a war of attrition.”
“Unless you give up.” Abby grinned.
Shaggy snorted and flung himself at the small woman again. Her blades came up to protect her and Shaggy grunted as his claws clashed with her shadow blades. Abby pushed out of the clash and ducked low to roll away. Shaggy intercepted and brought his knee to her face, but her shadows moved again to protect her. Shaggy knee collided with a sludgy mass of shadows and he grimaced as the shadows tried to wrap around him.
He tried to back away, but the shadows clung to him. They crawled across his body and Shaggy lost sight of Abby and the mat as his vision was obscured. The shadows wrapped around him and pressed inward. But the force was barely enough for Shaggy to notice. He tried to press back against the shadows, and he felt them flex back. They doubled their pressure, but Shaggy still felt fine. Abby couldn’t exert enough pressure to hurt him, but he couldn’t flex his way out of the entombment. Abby’s voice rang in his ears as Shaggy tried to press against the shadows.
“You’re a dense fucker, aren’t ya?”
“Or you’re too weak to crush me with your shadows,” Shaggy said through clenched teeth.
“Maybe. But I’m strong enough to do this!”
Shaggy felt himself go weightless as the shadows still pressed on his vision. He had no sense of up or down as the inky blackness pressed in on him. All he could hear was Abby grunted with effort as he assumed he was lifted into the air. Shaggy braced himself for what was to come as he readied for the shadows to let him go. But they never did. Instead, they wrapped tighter around him and rushed to the ground. His body slammed into the mat and the shadows lifted him again. Shaggy sighed. Between the mat, the shadows, and his own armor, the slam into the floor hadn’t taken a single HP from him.
Shaggy let the shadows take him back up and slam him to the floor again. He let his claws shift back into normal hands and let Abby tire herself out. She kept it up for a few more slams until the shadows squeezed around him again and he heard her voice.
“What ARE you?!”
Shaggy exerted enough strength to talk. “Just a werewolf trying to sleep. What’s going on? Are we still fighting?”
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“ARGH! What the hell are you made of?!”
“Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails. Ya feeling tired yet?”
Instead of responding, the shadows lifted him into the air again and fell away. His hands and feet were gripped tightly as the shadows left his vision. Shaggy found himself spread out in the air as Abby huffed and puffed on the mat below. Even with the distance, Shaggy could tell the girl was sweating as she controlled her shadows. Shaggy gave her his best bored look as he said.
“You know your shadows cushion the impact a little, right? Between the mat and my armor and that. I’m doing great.”
Abby grimaced. “I slammed you into the hangar floor too, though!”
“Did you? I must have missed that. I don’t think your building enough momentum to do any damage.”
“But I can hold you long enough to let my friends hit you. If this was an actual fight, right?”
Shaggy shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. Remember, I could always wolf out and probably break this easily.”
“Why haven’t you?” Jar-lock asked.
Shaggy couldn’t see the mage, but he angled his head toward the voice. “It didn’t seem fair. This was a spar. So I didn’t want to go full werewolf. I’m more durable and more deadly in that form. Even if I am a bigger target.”
“Is that why you didn’t do it for our fights?” Claire asked next.
“Yeah, I doubt I have the agility to avoid you at all in wolf form. Sure, I could probably heal from your hits. But I think it would turn into a slug-fest that would leave the mat.”
“We have to try that sometimes.”
Shaggy didn’t know how he felt about that. The large woman packed a hell of a punch. She’d probably only need to land five or six to kill him. Meanwhile, he didn’t know how his teeth stacked up to her skin. It would really be a crapshoot. A grunt brought Shaggy back to face Abby. The small, dark-haired woman had an annoyed look on her face as she held him in the air.
“You said you could ‘probably’ break out of my shadows easily. Care to try?”
Shaggy shrugged and nodded his head. He heard Jar-lock say something, but it became muffled as the shadows engulfed him again. Shaggy let the girl get a firmer grip on him, waiting for her to start squeezing. As soon as she did, Shaggy started the shift and let himself slipped into his werewolf form. There was some push-back from the shadows, but Shaggy muscled his way through and out again just as a pained screamed filled his ears.
Shaggy’s lupine feet slammed into the mat and he reoriented himself. He heard shouts and yells as he spun, careful not to tear up the mat. Abby was lying on her side of the mat, gripping her head in pain. Jar-lock was beside her as whispering a spell or just calming her down. Two Gun and Claire were up and moving around Shaggy’s body. Two Gun had both his weapons out and Shaggy heard himself give an involuntary growl. The old cowboy froze, but his wife kept moving.
Claire made her way to her friend as her husband glared up at Shaggy. Shaggy snorted and glanced at the cowboys pistols before looking back at the old man. Two Gun snorted, but put the weapons back in their holsters. Shaggy nodded and started panting as he turned to check on Abby. She was sitting up now, looking more annoyed than hurt. When Shaggy frame came lumbering up, he saw her sigh.
“Yeah. You are way too big for me to handle in that form. The kickback on my abilities almost knocked me out.”
Shaggy nodded his large head and canceled his shift. He thought he saw a look of sadness appear on Claire’s face. But he ignored it. Shaggy was pretty sure the lady was more than ready to go another round with his wolf form. But Shaggy really did not want that. Two Gun was way too itchy with his trigger fingers and those guns hurt like hell.
Shaggy cracked his neck as his human body reformed and smiled. “Yeah, it’s a cheaty-ass form, that’s for sure.”
“And you couldn’t have kept it for a few more rounds?” Claire asked.
“No. I am not getting shot by your husband again.” Shaggy shook his head.
“See, dear. You DO ruin all my fun.”
“Only cause I love you.” Two Gun said, unapologetically.
Shaggy looked around for something to eat or drink and found a small mini-fridge by the benches. He gave Abby a smile as Jar-lock helped her up and moved toward the fridge. He grabbed himself a water a small energy bar from the basket on a bench before turning back to the Supers.
“So, is the hazing done?”
Jar-lock snorted. “It wasn’t hazing. We just wanted to keep ourselves occupied.”
Shaggy glanced around the busy hangar. Teens and Lizard moved around in groups. Some were training, some were talking, while others were moving bits of equipment back and forth. The large command center at the back of the hangar was abuzz with NPCs. Shaggy couldn’t see what they were doing, but he guessed it was the hero-version of what Slink was doing. Probably taking in calls about cats in trees and lost balloons.
Shaggy smiled as he looked back at Jar-lock. “Seems like you’re all plenty busy.”
“Naw.” Abby said as she joined him by the fridge. “After our fight with the Demons our territory has been pretty quiet.”
“All the smaller gangs have gone into hiding and are regrouping. I will bet that the system will pick a winner to throw a bone at in a matter of days.” Two Gun added.
“So you guys knocked out the biggest gang in your area? Why not go after the smaller ones?”
Jar-Lock sighed. “We kind of went over the APD’s heads when we nuked the Demons. So they want us to step back. As a sign of good faith.”
“We still do daily patrols and help the community where we can. But we can’t actively go after a gang.”
“I tell you, it’s the system resetting things for us.” Two Gun plopped down on the bench near Shaggy.
“Sure, but that shouldn’t stop us from branching out into another district.” Abby complained.
“No. City Hall stops us from doing that. We haven’t earned enough trust to get another district. Shit, the district we do have is filled with Hunters who don’t exactly need our help.”
“Maybe not with City Hall. But you have seen the people in our neighborhoods, Jar. They love us.”
Jar-Lock folded his arms and nodded, slowly. “Yes, but we need to stay on City Hall’s good side. We still have that inspection to go through, and we all know the HLO doesn’t take kindly to secondary hero groups.”
Shaggy sighed as he watched the discussion. The noise brought everyone’s heads around toward him and he smiled.
“Sorry. Just happy I went villain. I’m sure dealing with bureaucracy is fun and all. But give me an underground town full of drunken villains any day. Less paperwork. Although we do have to watch how many toes we step on.”
“That why your friend took off?” Two Gun asked.
“Yep. Vlad worries too much when he ain’t at the homestead. We got the Lackeys and the infrastructure to handle the low-level threats. But if any of the big gangs come for us… Well, let’s just say Vlad would like to be there.” Shaggy explained as he grabbed another protein bar.
“You know, I think I’d be delighted to see how the other half lives sometimes.” Claire said, smiling.
Shaggy nodded as he looked around again. “It is interesting. It seems at least structurally we operate the same. Just one of us has more paperwork and the other…”
“The other has to avoid the cops.” Jar-lock finished nodding.
Shaggy agreed as he took a sizeable chunk from his bar. The door to the Professor’s workshop swung open and the large Lizard-man appeared for the first time in a long while. Shaggy glanced outside the shield dome surrounding the hangar and noticed it was getting dark. He waved to the Professor as Abby’s voice spoke up.
“So, what are you two planning? It’s clear you’re doing something tonight.”
Shaggy hummed as the Professor trotted over. He wasn’t sure how much to tell them. But his face must have given some of the game away. Abby and Claire turned on the Professor as he approached. Shaggy heard Jar-Lock sigh and Two Gun chuckle as the two women accosted the player.
“What the hell do you have planned?!”
“What are you up to, idiot!?”
The professor slid to a stop and blinked at the two women. Confused, he turned to the others. But Jar-Lock merely planted his feet and glared. Two Gun shook his head and Shaggy kept his mouth shut and shrugged. The Professor grimaced at them before trying to explain.
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing dangerous.”
“What about illegal? If you get caught doing something, you shouldn’t we are all going to be toast!” Abby said.
The Professor nodded. “Yes, but if we don’t get caught, we will have the formula to a super serum. Which could be huge for us, The Brutes, and the Hunters.”
Jar-Lock and the others groaned, but the Professor pushed on. “You all know I’ve done some shady things before. How do you think we all got our armor or the materials I use to build things?”
“Yes, but that was all below ground. The rules are a little looser there. If you get caught above ground, the APD will have a field day with us,” Said Jar-Lock.
“That’s the thing. We will not be in our district.” The Professor said excitedly.
“Where are you going?” Abby asked.
The Professor stopped himself from answering and looked at them all. “It might be better if none of you know. Plausible deniability, y’know. If anyone asks, I’m just going for a night patrol.”
“With a known fugitive.” Shaggy smiled.
The professor grimaced, but nodded. “Not a good look. But keep your hood up and let’s go. We got a drive ahead of us.”
Shaggy nodded and finished his water. He gave the others a quick wave and put on his hoodie again. He stole a handful of protein bars and gave them all another wave before he rushed to join the Professor. The others all sighed and complained as he and the Professor raced toward the dome. Shaggy wasn’t sure what the Lizard had planned, but he figured the guy would explain as they walked.
The Professor waited for him by the dome and when Shaggy got close; he placed his robotic arm on Shaggy shoulder. Having seen Vlad leave, Shaggy wasn’t familiar with the proper exit procedures for the dome. Apparently, someone the system recognized had to be in contact with a guest in order to pass through. Of course, they could also turn the thing off and on again. But that was dangerous and annoying. Shaggy let himself be pulled through the blue dome and back out into the Texas air. The sounds of the Hangar faded away and Shaggy turned toward the airstrip, ready for a long walk.
But the Professor turned the opposite direction and moved toward the far side of the hangar. Shaggy followed wordlessly as they cleared the edge of the hangar toward a parking lot. Several compact sedans were parked next to the hangar and Shaggy grinned. The Professor rushed to a rusty-looking old car and got in. Shaggy hurried to follow into the passenger seat and sighed as he sat back in a comfortable leather seat. A slight rattling brought his eyes to the back seat and Shaggy was surprised to see a metal mesh barrier between the front and back seat. He raised an eyebrow at the Professor as the other player started the car. Catching Shaggy’s look, the Professor grinned.
“Yeah, it’s an old cop car. That make you nervous?”
“Dude, it’s metal. I could pop that like a soda can.”
The Professor laughed as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the airstrip. Shaggy rolled down his window and basked in the moving air. They really needed to get more cars down to Under-Town. Sure, it was a maze of crappy houses and rough roads. Even so, it needed to be done. Turning to his new partner in crime, Shaggy asked.
“So, where are we going?”
The Professor grinned as they approached the front gate to the airport. “We are going to wizard school, Shaggy.”