As soon as Shaggy’s feet hit the floor, he knew something was wrong. He was materializing back in the bar’s infirmary. But instead of the normal wooden floor, he stepped out onto something much softer. Levy bumped into him as she lost her footing on the not so solid ground. Shaggy took a moment to steady them both before he looked around.
The infirmary and the entire back wall of the bar were gone. It was cut clean in two, like some giant knife had sliced the back end of the Viper’s Den right off. Shaggy would’ve been more alarmed if it wasn’t for the multiple Lackeys moving around carrying bits of wood and other building materials. They must have been in the process of expanding the bar.
“What the hell is all this?” Levy asked after she straightened up.
“Building expansion. Slink must have set the Lackeys to building before he left.”
Shaggy grabbed his wife’s hand and led her back toward the still standing portion of the bar. They had to step up a bit to get onto the wooden floor. But when they did, Shaggy was surprised to see the front half of the building was still busy. People moved about between tables, drinking beer and chatting. Shaggy shook his head and snorted at the absurdity. Levy squeezed his hand, bringing his gaze back to her.
“I’ll get going like we planned. I’ll meet you on the other side?”
Shaggy nodded. “Yeah, don’t leave without me.”
“Maybe.” Levy chuckled as she rushed off in the direction the stairs used to be.
Shaggy chuckled good-naturedly and set out toward the bar. He could see Petra’s sparkling green scales shifting in the unnatural light of Under-Town. The entire back wall being gone really let in a lot more light. Shaggy curved around several servers and other staff before he planted himself next to the bar. It took a few seconds to get the woman’s attention, but when he had it, he waved her down.
“What can I get you, boss? More workers to rip up my bar or dig up my foundations?”
Shaggy gave the obviously irate woman a toothy grin. “Sorry, Petra. But we needed to expand. Slink apparently thought it was a good idea to do that now. So it’s being done. Once everything’s in place, it’ll all come together.”
Petra just snorted, but didn’t disagree. So Shaggy continued. “Speaking of the boy, have you seen him? Or any of the leadership? I need to speak to them.”
“Vlad The Petulant is off with our new Infirmary staff, creating the perfect Infirmary. Along with the rest of his pale cohorts. Slink was downstairs overseeing the basement expansion and I think Dave was around somewhere. Haven’t seen Ren though.”
Shaggy nodded as he pushed away from the bar. “Thanks, Petra. Keep being you. You’ll get through this nonsense.”
The scaly woman just waved him off and went back to her work. Shaggy hurried back outside and scanned the various people moving around. A lot of Under-Town Citizens were just standing around. Watching. But he found a pack of people dressed in black huddled around at the far south end. It took some pushing, but eventually Shaggy made it into the mass of people. Vlad was at its center having a conversation with Lia and the other doctors and nurses they had hired. They were all looking down at a large blueprint on a wooden table.
Shaggy tried to wave to get Vlad’s attention. But the vampire was engrossed in his own conversation. Shaggy had to shoulder his way past the vampire’s normal cadre of sycophants before he could tap his friend’s shoulder. When he did, all hell broke loose.
“He has touched the master!”
“Slay the defiler!”
“Murder him!”
“Protect the Master!”
Shaggy dodged out of the way of a slow-moving vampire’s charge. Looking confused as Vlad finally glanced up from the blueprint. Shaggy was about to say something, but another fledgling vampire slammed into his side and tried to dig their nails into Shaggy’s side. Shaggy batted the neophyte vamp aside and raised an eyebrow at Vlad. The other player grinned and Shaggy thought the sonofabitch was about to start playing games. But the mutant vampire hissed loudly.
“Cease this! You damn children are really getting on my nerves! Go help the others build or something!”
“But master…”
“GO!” Vlad’s angry shout echoed through his cadre of dark-coated lackeys, and they scattered.
Shaggy sighed and stood firm as a few of the jackass vampires tried to knock his shoulder. Shaggy responded by sending several of them to the dirt with his own shoulder shove. He heard Vlad sighed at his antics, but he would not let a bunch of NPCs punk him. As the last of the sycophants bleed away into the background, Shaggy finally got a look at the Infirmary blueprints. Other than a general widening of the building, though, Shaggy didn’t really look too deeply at what they were doing.
“We need to have a meeting. All hands or as many as we got.” Shaggy said vaguely.
One of Vlad’s slim black eyebrow rose. “Pertaining to what, exactly? I am awfully busy here, you know.”
“The Cog Raid might be starting up.”
Vlad’s back went straight, and he studied Shaggy’s face. “Did your wife talk to Korrigan?”
“Nope. I never got around to telling her about Cog’s pocket dimension or whatever it was. Korrigan contacted her people. Something about retribution on the betrayer or something. I think the system is gearing up for a big raid. But only for people that have an in with the Mad Witch.”
“Which, thanks to your wife, we have. So what is the meeting going to be about?”
“Who goes with Levy to the Mad Witch’s realm and finds out what’s going on.”
Vlad snorted and glanced back down at the paperwork. “Oh, that’s easy. You do it. You don’t need the rest of us. I doubt Korrigan is going to start the raid immediately or anything. You go, find out what’s going on and when, then we plan around it.”
Shaggy crossed his arms and scowled. “You sure about that? For all we know, the Witch is going to charge straight at the old man. You could miss out.”
“I doubt it. Just go. I’ll take the heat if me and the guys end up missing anything. We have way too much stuff around here to organize. It feels like we are constantly renovating shit down here. Thankfully, we are still getting recruits daily.”
Shaggy shrugged his shoulder and walked away. “Fine. If that’s what you want. But let it be known I offered, and you spoke for everyone.”
“Noted.” Vlad said, sounding bored as he went back to his blueprints with the Infirmary staff.
Shaggy hurried into a jog and rushed into the bar again. It took him a bit to find the area with the stairs leading down. But once he found it, he jumped down and pushed into the basement. The sounds of music and people grunting with effort filled his ears. As Shaggy glanced around, he saw multiple people hauling wheelbarrows of dirt around and dumping them in corners. He was about to say something, but then the dirt glowed blue and disappeared.
Shaggy guessed that Slink was using the excess dirt to reinforce the walls or do something else related to the renovations. Despite what Vlad said, Shaggy stuck his head into the War Room, looking for Slink. The pale teen was frantically typing into the war table's interface, trying hard to keep up with the building. Shaggy gave the boy the same spiel he gave Vlad, but surprisingly, the kid agreed with the vampire.
“Look, while I don’t doubt you are a trouble magnet. I don’t think Korrigan has the resources to attack Cog right now. She is probably gathering her people for a declaration of war or something.”
“Yeah, but you don’t want to be there for that? It could be epic.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it will be, but we have to take care of the base, too. We actually have some down time here. The Quinica are gone or lying low, the UGB is content with harassing our traders, and the Rak’s are focused upward. We have space to push. So we need to push. Although…”
Slink trailed off as he finally looked up at Shaggy. Shaggy smiled widely, thinking the kid was going to join him and Levy. But instead the kid’s eyes unfocused, like he was trying to remember something. When it came to him, his eyes dropped back to what he was typing.
“Although…?” Shaggy prompted.
“Take Dave with you. He’s great with manual labor, but he has been wandering around like a lost puppy. I think he needs to go back out and stretch his legs. Let him run with the magical crowd for a while.”
Shaggy snorted. “You know he’s not actually a dog, right? I know we kid around…”
Slink stifled a laugh. “I know, but the guy’s energy is infectious. He can bring an entire room full of lazy Lackeys to life. I was mentally weighing the pros and cons of you taking him. But I think an outing will be just what the guy needs.”
“Fine. I’ll take the Dave for a walk in a Witch’s pocket realm. You sure he won’t be missed?”
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Slink shrugged. “Morale will flag a bit, but we’ll manage. Go find out what this is all about and report back.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Shaggy chuckled as he rushed away.
He had to zigzag his way past people in the overcrowded hallways. It didn’t take him long to find Dave. The guy was happily digging through a wall of dirt as he talked to nearby Lackeys. He was in his full blue armor, rapidly pushing armfuls of dirt out of his way. Lackey’s with snow shovels collected the dirt and shoved it aside before it vanished in blue light. Shaggy whistled loudly, getting Dave’s attention.
“Hey, Dave. You wanna go for a walk in a magical world designed by an evil witch?”
The half dozen Lackeys in the hallway all stared at Shaggy in confusion. But he ignored them as Dave did a fist pump and leapt into the air. Dave’s helmeted head collided with the ceiling, but he ignored it as dirt and wood fell on him.
“Do I?! Fuck yeah! When are we going?”
“Right now. Portal room. We gotta meet my wife, and then we’re going over.”
“Sweet. Later dudes!”
Dave hurried over to Shaggy, and they both made their way toward the portal room. Shaggy did his best to ignore the forlorn looks a good deal of the Lackeys were giving Dave. The mutant player dropped his armor and grinned as they entered the portal room. Shaggy shook his head at the man’s cheer and turned to study the portal.
The pink-rimmed swirling mass of magic was still floating in the middle of the room. But Shaggy was surprised to see multiple groups of people passing in and out of the vortex. He was unaware that their people were using the damn thing so regularly. But then he supposed that was the point. Shaggy and Dave shoved their way to the front of the moving line of Lackeys and tossed themselves through.
Shaggy could hear Dave apologizing behind him as the feeling of vertigo took him. But the feeling quickly went away as his feet hit dirt again. Shaggy moved out of the way as Dave came careening through the portal. Once they both had their feet back under them, Shaggy went looking for his wife. According to the plans they made in the real world, she would wait behind their cabin. Which Shaggy was surprised to find was still only half-built.
The area around the log cabin was being worked, though. Tree had been cleared or moved and Lackeys were working to build other small shacks and houses. Shaggy spotted several Mages standing near a large crop of trees, hands glowing with magic. The young trees around them glowed and increased in size. Shaggy had to grip Dave’s shirt before the guy ran off to interrogate the mages. Of course, the Lackeys moving everywhere probably helped distract the excitable player.
Large crates of who knows what were being moved around the space. Shaggy saw several big square buildings on the northern side of the cave. But he didn’t stop to examine what was going on. Levy had everything handled on this side of the portal. So Shaggy drug Dave around the cabin and toward the large pit in the back. Levy was already standing there patiently waiting with a few other Mages. Shaggy gave a wave and a call as he finally let go of Dave’s shirt.
“Hey! We all heading out then?”
Levy gave him a smile and a quick hug while nodding. “Yep. We’re just waiting for the Call. Korrigan is going to pull us along. All you have to do is hang on.”
Shaggy gripped his wife’s hand and smiled. Until Dave placed a hand on his shoulder. Shaggy turned to see Dave smiling excitedly at him.
“Dude, this is going to be so cool!”
“Why are you grabbing me? Go find a Mage to latch on to!” Shaggy said, trying to shrug off Dave’s hand.
Levy giggled. “Actually, he should be fine. As long as you are in contact with me, it should drag him along as well.”
“Should?” Shaggy asked, sounding skeptical.
Levy shrugged. “Korrigan is a powerful Witch. For all I know, everyone near her accepted minions will be pulled toward her realm. So expect to be questioned by her guard. She is usually very strict about who she lets in to her realm.”
“Which tells you how worried she is about Cog.” said one of Levy’s Mage friends.
The robed woman nearly vibrated as she clasped her hands together and spoke about her mistress. “She will rain down destruction upon that old bastard. It will be glorious.”
Shaggy gave his wife a worried look, but she merely smiled at him and placed a finger to her lips. He nodded, but kept an eye on the obvious sycophant. The absolute reverence from the NPC made Shaggy nervous. But then again, Korrigan was apparently a big name in the game. Shaggy was about to ask his wife about the types of questions Korrigan’s people would ask him. But before he could, a twisting yank sensation came from his gut.
Shaggy felt like a fish on a line being drug upward by his hand. He was sure both Dave and Levy were still with him. His hand and shoulder felt like they were glued to their respective hands. His vision was blurry. He could make out nothing but a tunnel filled with color. Images of purple, pink, and red blew past him until his feet collided with solid ground again.
But he didn’t have time to enjoy his feeling of stability. Because a screeching warbling went up around him. Shaggy barely had enough time to take in his surroundings before several dark shapes pushed toward him. He let go of Levy’s hand and shifted his own into claws. Blinking rapidly, Shaggy heard shouts of alarm and cries for help all around him. When he got his vision back, a black and purple demon was standing in front of him.
The horned demon man was over eight-feet tall and wearing a pair of torn shorts and nothing else. His two goat-like legs pawed at the earth as he studied Shaggy. Shaggy was ready for a fight, but suddenly Levy was between them and shouting up at the tall demon.
“They are with me! He’s my husband and the other one is our friend. They’ve come to hear what the Lady has to say.”
Shaggy glanced around. Noticing Dave, fully armored up just behind him. The player was happily jumping while looking around. Shaggy returned his look to his wife in time to see the demon’s all-to-human face scowl down at Levy. Shaggy wanted to dig his claws into the bastard just for the look. But he contained himself. Eventually, the black and purple-skinned demon snorted and spoke.
“All newcomers must be processed. Stand aside as we deal with the other extras.”
Shaggy wanted to ask questions. But Levy gripped his hand and drug him away. Dave following behind them, still jumping, trying to get a look at everything. They pushed forward, moving with a large crowd of people. As Shaggy looked down, he realized they were all standing on a stone slab with archaic writing written on it. The writing was lit up with a purple glow which cast everyone in its creepy color.
Screams of terror and the sounds of fighting came from all around Shaggy. But with the crowd, he couldn’t make out much. The smells of fire and blood were in the air and judging by the occasional scream that was suddenly silenced. Shaggy figured he knew how they were ‘dealing’ with the ‘extras.’ Dave was still hopping though, armor still up.
“Dude, they are, like, killing a bunch of people. Not cleanly or quickly, either. It’s like they are trying to prolong the suffering.”
“Yeah,” Levy said as she continued to pull Shaggy further away from the stone slab. “Korrigan’s minions are paid with the suffering of her enemies. So they like to play with their food.”
“Gnarly.”
Shaggy kept up with his wife as they finally leapt off the stone slab and onto a field of scorched dirt. He finally got a better look at the landscape as people spread out and made room. The sky was a deep mauve color with no clouds or sun. It seemed like the sky itself glowed with an otherworldly power. The landscape was a desolate wasteland of black scorched dirt and sand with grey dead trees everywhere. Off in the distance, a large black castle stood out on a hillside overlooking a city of stone and metal. Shaggy tried to get a sense of how big the city was, but before he could, he was roughly spun around.
He saw Dave being held by two large demons as a third held a clipboard. The excitable player wasn’t struggling, so Shaggy didn’t either, as his own demon glared down at him. Levy was a short distance away, giving Shaggy a ‘behave’ look, so he bit off any retort and tried to be civil.
“Name?” the tall demon rumbled.
“Shaggy.”
“No. Your real name.”
“Shaggy.”
“Right.” The demon seemed to roll his fiery red eyes and moved on. “Reason for visit?”
“I came to see the sights.” Shaggy thought, taking a second to cut off his own snark. “To hear the Mad Witch Korrigan’s message.”
“MAD WITCH?!” the demon roared.
Next to him, Shaggy saw his wife slap her own forehead. Shaggy rapidly tried to play it off as the demon’s hands lit on fire.
“Uh, yeah. That’s what they call her outside. What would be the proper epitaph here?”
The demon took a few seconds to calmly breath. In which time, blue flames peeked out from its nostrils. Once the demon was calm enough, it glared down at Shaggy.
“The proper way to address our lady is Mistress, Lady, or The Grand Witch. You are allowed two mistakes while in the Mistress’ realm. That was one.”
Shaggy bit back his anger and mentally counted down from ten. Levy, tapping a few feet away, helped him keep a level head as the demon asked more inane questions. If he had any magical affiliation, how he felt about the different dimensions, what flavor ice cream he liked. Shaggy wanted to reach up and slap the demon by the end of all the questions. But he could hear Dave’s demons asking the same questions. So he let it all go and focused on the world around him as he was interrogated.
But unfortunately, this realm was entirely devoid of most anything. Shaggy thought he saw more buildings off in the far distance. But aside from the city behind him, Korrigan’s realm seemed absolutely empty. Which Shaggy guessed was the point of a personal pocket dimension. It was clearly a place Korrigan built for her own people. So all she needed was a city and her own castle. The demon’s bored voice brought Shaggy back from his musings.
“Finally, are you now or have you ever been a champion of any deity/religion/cult/sect/alien order?”
Shaggy almost said ‘no’ automatically. But the sudden taste of blood in his mouth stopped him. He had to choke down the blood taste and cough a few times before he eventually nodded. The demon seemed surprised and waited for Shaggy to elaborate. Levy took a few steps closer while Shaggy eventually collected himself.
“Uh, I have been blessed by the Blood God, Xang.” Shaggy said, silently cursing the god in the back of his mind.
The purple and black demon took a step back as he stared at Shaggy in awe. The demons that had been questioning Dave also stopped what they were doing and turned to look. Shaggy scratched the back of his head and wondered what trouble this would cause. He didn’t have to wait long as a black bolt of energy clashed in the mauve sky above. The demons and several Mages scattered as a large black tube of magic shot down from the sky and crackled with purple lightning. The tube of magic shimmered and slowly dissipated before Shaggy’s eyes, and a tall woman stepped forth.
Levy rushed to Shaggy’s side and gripped his arm as the tall woman stalked forward. Her black dress dragging in the dirt. Purple magic sparked off the woman’s pale skin and her green eyes pierced Shaggy’s brain and he felt his mental defenses try to resist. The woman smiled at the meager defense and raised a hand. A gnarled black staff appeared in her hands and Shaggy’s world went dark. Images and memories flashed through his mind, but Shaggy could hold on to nothing. As quick as the darkness had come, it receded and Shaggy found himself almost nose to nose with the Mad Witch. Her long black hair covered half her face, but Shaggy thought he could see a smile forming.
“My lady…” Levy said, but the pale woman raised a hand and everything went silent.
“Now this IS interesting.” Korrigan said as she pulled away from Shaggy and Levy and stood to her full height. The Mad Witch suddenly threw her head back and cackled. The air around Shaggy seemed to freeze and the very world seemed to reverberate as its master laughed. Shaggy shared a looked with his wife and wondered what the hell he had just done.