Shaggy drug Cekrass out of the basement and to the dirt streets of Under-Town. He didn’t want the lizard-man to shift and crush a bunch of lackeys. The poor lizard was still panting and looking around frantically as they pushed through everyone. Thankfully, Stanley helped clear a path. But once they were topside, Shaggy froze.
He had no idea what to do now. The lizard-werewolf seemed to be stuck. To Shaggy, it looked like the wild-eyed Cekrass was fighting the transformation. Shaggy tried to focus on his pack link with everyone. He could feel Sybil, Vick and Tom all moving within the bar. Heading his way. Unfortunately, Rita was through the portal, so she was too far. Ephemara was also nearby, but Shaggy sent them all calming vibes as he zeroed on in Cekrass.
“Okay, dude. I need you to stop fighting it or whatever you are doing. Just let the shift take you. Focus in on whatever emotion is the biggest right now and feed into it. You hear me?”
Shaggy stared into Cekrass’ beady eyes as they seemed to roll and move around randomly. The lizard gave a quick nod at Shaggy’s words. But it didn’t seem to work. Cekrass looked like he was having a fit standing up, panting and almost frothing at the mouth. Shaggy racked his brain for an answer until a wild thought hit him.
Then Shaggy hit Cekrass. The lizard slid back from the blow, staring wide eyed at Shaggy. Then Shaggy’s thoughts seemed to reach the lizard alien, and he dove at Shaggy. Cekrass charged with his two claw-like hands swiping in front of him at Shaggy’s chest. Shaggy dodged backward before activating Slide-Move and circle-strafing the bigger lizard. He jabbed the lizard in the kidneys twice before dashing away again.
Cekrass gave chase, throwing haymakers and roaring. The graveling screams drew even more attention as Shaggy battered his pack mate. Shaggy could feel the lizard’s emotions rubbing raw through the pack link. It was like the link was shedding its skin as Shaggy sparred with the big lizard. The mental image made Shaggy pause for a split-second, which cost him. Cekrass landed a heavy blow into Shaggy’s mid-section and sent him tumbling through the dirt. Shaggy rolled to his feet and popped up in time to see Cekrass flying in with a knee. Shaggy caught the knee on his forearms and backed away.
He activated slide move again. But Cekrass was waiting, and he turned with Shaggy before grabbing him. Shaggy grunted as the Cekrass squeezed roughly before tossing Shaggy again. Shaggy cleared the road behind the bar and crashed into a metal shack. He chuckled as he hurriedly got to his feet.
“Been a while since I got thrown through a building. Ahhhhh, memories.” Shaggy thought as he brushed himself off.
A pulse from his Link brought him back around to see Cekrass roaring up at Under-Town’s ceiling. The raspy roar echoed and the bystanders all took a step back as Cekrass’ chest bulged briefly. The lizard curled in on himself and his body seemed to twist and bend. Most of the crowd went silent, except for Shaggy’s pack.
“WOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“GO, LIZARD, GO!”
“LET IT HAPPEN, CEKRASS!”
“YOU OWE ME FIFTY CREDITS, VICK!”
Shaggy ignored his peanut gallery as he watched the lizard alien’s body twist and grow into an enormous wolf. Once the shifting was done and wolf-Cekrass shook off the residual pain, Shaggy could only stare in shocked silence. The big lizard had turned into a large ass wolf. Which was expected. But the normally furry creature was now covered in sharp, pointy-looking scales. Also, he was freaking green. Well, greenish-yellow, but Shaggy had not been prepared for such a weird hybrid of a werewolf.
Cekrass shook his body again and stumbled around on his four legs for a bit. Once the big green wolf got a hold of himself, he looked around. Catching eyes with Shaggy, Cekrass gave a wolfish grin before tilting his enormous head back and howling. The sound echoed through the streets and Shaggy had to physically stop himself from joining in. As he did, he felt Rita’s pack link light up and he knew the older woman was rushing toward them. Shaggy smiled as he activated his own shift.
The crowd had started to close around Cekrass. But once Shaggy completed his shift, he saw them back away again. Cekrass yipped happily and bounced in the dirt as Shaggy finished his transformation.
“What are you two doing?” Rita scowled as she rushed out of the basement.
Shaggy used his body to bump against Cekrass and Rita took in the second pack mate to fully shift. She glanced up and down at him before she nodded.
“Okay, yeah. That’s nice. But warn a girl next time. I thought the damn bar was under attack.”
“So you thought you’d come help all us helpless bar patrons?” Sybil screamed from the second-story window. Vick and Tom huddled near her.
Rita responded by giving the short blonde woman the finger. Stanley was once again moving closer to Shaggy and Cekrass. So were a few braver Lackeys. Rita was heading back toward the basement when Vick called down.
“Your turn Mama Wolf. Show us what ya got!”
Shaggy nodded and sent approval through the pack link. Rita glared at them all, but Shaggy could feel her delight through the Link. He could also tell Tom, Sybil and even Vick were a little annoyed they hadn’t shifted yet. But Shaggy could only give them a mental shrug. He still didn’t know what set Cekrass off, but it was apparently tied to combat. He was on the fence, whether it was rage or something else, though. Maybe it was just time?
Shaggy felt a few hands brush over his fur and he shifted uncomfortably around. A few Lackeys were bravely petting their boss. He was considering taking off a few hands when Rita gave in and shifted. It was still relatively slow compared to Shaggy, but the auburn-haired woman was getting faster. Fur sprouted from her body and Shaggy winced as he saw her clothes rip off her body. He sent a mental order for Sybil to get some clothes ready. But all he got back was the mental equivalent of a laugh.
Rita’s transformation finished, and she shook her large shoulders and head. Shaggy sent her positive vibes as she walked over to Cekrass. She bumped shoulders with the bigger lizard-wolf. Shaggy sent some good-natured annoyance at seeing that both of his wolf pack mates were bigger than him. Rita was probably normal for a werewolf. But Cekrass was downright massive. Thankfully, his spiky-looking was as rigid as normal scales, though.
The were-lizard-wolf looked like he could impale people on the wide fringe around his head. Cekrass shook the spiky scales as Shaggy thought about them. When he did, Shaggy saw the spikes shine for a second and then straighten up. Rita sniffed the spikes for a quick second before she lifted a paw. Shaggy saw her paw pad reach out and contact the scale. She rapidly pulled it back after the spike made contact and tapped it against the ground.
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Shaggy felt surprise and an evil happiness come from Rita as plans for Cekrass spikes filled the Pack Link. Cekrass seemed to exhale and the gleaming scales relaxed again. Shaggy bumped up against them with his shoulder and felt them give. Apparently Cekrass had to focus, but he had a pretty potent weapon. Cekrass shuffled happily from side to side, eager energy welling up within him. Shaggy felt that eagerness through the link as it fed into Rita and the others. Shaggy started to tamp down the urge to run, but then he stopped. Why shouldn’t he? They had time. Maybe just a quick run around their territory.
He felt contentment and agreement from Rita and Cekrass. Sybil and the others were a little annoyed at being left out. But Shaggy knew they understood. Their pack had three full werewolves now. They need to stretch their legs. More Lackeys and bar patrons were milling about now, waiting for the three of them do something. Shaggy shrugged his massive wolf shoulders and leaned his head back.
“Awoooooooooo!”
Ignoring everything else, Shaggy tore off to the east. He sent the plan to both Rita and Cekrass as they hurried to follow him. He would let the other pack members explain things as he let the thrill of the hunt fill him again. Shaggy submerged himself in the pack link as he sniffed the air for prey. The smell of machine oil, sweat, dirt, and metal filled his nose. Cog’s machines were still out and about.
Cekrass sent him images of them ripping the things to shreds. But Rita cautioned them by sending images of the large robot. Shaggy didn’t think that would be an issue as they ran, but he made a note of it. Instead, he had them move in a straight line toward the eastern wall. NPCs going about their day yelled and scurried for cover as they ran down the dirt roads. Shaggy took the lead position in a V formation as the three of them rushed down the street.
A few people shouted at them, but Shaggy ignored them. They made it to the far wall in record time with no interruptions. Shaggy scented the air again and got more robots and various aliens and humans. No one actively attacked them, So Shaggy turned them south and headed toward Rak territory. He didn’t want to invade or anything, but Shaggy had no problem letting the bastards know the wolves were out.
Rita and Cekrass sent him feelings of agreement as they hopped over low buildings and weaved through narrow dirt streets. A few robots and random low-level gangsters got in their way. But Shaggy snapped or pawed them away and kept running. Metal shacks gave way to brick buildings as they ran closer to Rakgu turf. Shaggy turned them west as he gave another howl, which was taken up by both Rita and Cekrass.
“AWOOOOOOO!”
Their howls echoed through the streets as they ran. Shaggy saw several men in dirty pin-stripe suits rush out onto the streets and glare at them. Some even tried to take potshots at them. But the bullets bounced off and the laser merely singed their fur. Once some of the smarter Raks realized they weren’t attacking, they were mostly left alone. A few of the Raks stood on the roofs of collapsed builds and hollered at them. But Shaggy, Rita and Cekrass merely barked back as they ran further westward.
Once they reached the main road of Under-Town and dipped into the old Quinica turf, Shaggy stopped again. A few Raks had rushed after them, clearly wanting to see what they did. But Shaggy ignored them as he sniffed the air again. The smell of robots was gone. Replaced with the scent of sweaty aliens and humans. The scent of blood and other unfamiliar things also filled Shaggy’s nostrils. But he ignored them as he rushed northward, careful to stay in out of the main road. He was pretty sure the UGB were watching things there.
Shaggy tore through old Quinica turf, sniffing the air. He even had Rita and Cekrass take large whiffs of air. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could find some wayward Quinica. They passed the Arena, and Shaggy spotted a few armored UGB goons. He yipped excitedly as a few random people on the streets yelled and shouted at them. No one took any cheap shots at them, but Shaggy was sure their antics were being reported.
He didn’t give a fuck as they cross the invisible line that separated the old Quinica turf and the new Brute Clan territory. Shaggy wanted to turn back toward their own turf. But Cekrass sent some complicated feelings down the pack link. Shaggy had to stop to parse out some of them. But Cekrass’ giant wolf body ushering him north was a big clue. Shaggy grudgingly went along, even as he tried to understand what the new werewolf was sending him.
They went more slowly as they entered Brute turf and Shaggy even let Cekrass take the lead. They were now in ally territory, but Shaggy wasn’t sure how the Brute clan was going to feel about them rushing down the streets. Even walking was going to upset a few Brute patrols.
Sure enough, they were accosted by a group of five large lizard aliens before they got even three blocks in. Shaggy wanted to shift back to human form and explain. But Cekrass sent him negative feelings and pushed forward. The brute patrol seemed extremely wary as Cekrass’ strange form rushed toward them. A few even brought up their strange rifles and spears. Shaggy wasn’t sure who was supplying the Brute clan now. But he doubted the Professor had started making guns. Well, aside from the Two Gun’s revolvers.
Surprisingly, the large lizards didn’t attack Cekrass as he approached. Once the large green wolf got close, he stopped and sat down. The lizards all glared angrily at them and even shouted at them to leave. But Cekrass merely preened in his new wolf body. The Brute clan lizard stared confusedly at the showoff wolf before shaking their weapons at them again. Shaggy could feel Cekrass’ disappointment at not being admired. The giant Lizard werewolf wanted to push further north to the Brute clan’s mansion. But Shaggy quashed that idea and physically batted the gigantic wolf to face east again.
Shaggy figured they had freaked out enough people on their run. At least for now. They could turn northeast and hit the tunnel the Legion controlled. But he felt it was better to get back. Both Rita and Cekrass gave feelings of begrudging acceptance. Shaggy chuffed as he sent them both images of spoiled kids. The yip and snap at him playfully. But Shaggy hurriedly ran off again.
As they ran back to the bar, Shaggy lamented that he couldn’t travel like this top side. Under-Town was pretty big and their run had taken a decent amount of time. But he imagined it wasn’t anything compared to running free topside. Rita sent him feelings of agreement as they rushed down the streets.
“One day.” Shaggy thought as the streets got crowded.
Apparently, the roads around the Viper Den’s were seeing increased traffic. It wasn’t anywhere near the main road of Under-Town, but Shaggy was happy to see their Legion was drawing a crowd. He gave a howl, announcing them as he put on another burst of speed. Several people cleared the streets in terror as they approached, and Shaggy couldn’t help but smile.
Of course, that smile disappeared as the three of them entered the square around the Viper’s Den. Standing in front of the bar were the fun police. Well, Levy, Dave and Ren were smiling. But Slink and Vlad looked like someone had pissed in their corn flakes. Rita and Cekrass gave chuffing laughs as they all slowed to a stop around the bar. A bunch of patrons and Lackeys went running in all directions as parked themselves in front of the bar.
“REALLY!? SHAGGY?!” Vlad asked, throwing his hands up.
Shaggy released his shift and shrugged as he turned back into a human. “What?! Cekrass shifted, so we went on a celebratory run. No harm done. Except maybe a few NPCs freaked out.”
He felt both Rita and Cekrass shifting as Vlad and Slink rushed up to him. Shaggy could understand Vlad being a killjoy. But Slink seemed more worried than angry. Meanwhile, Ren, Levy and Dave were all smiling and giving him thumbs up.
“Shaggy, you’ve just shown our enemies one of our weapons.” Slink said. “We could’ve held that back as a trump card.”
Shaggy scratched his head as Levy gasped. “Yeah, maybe but…”
“Uh, guys? Maybe y’all should hold off on this conversation until we get Cekrass some clothes.” Levy shouted.
Shaggy grimaced and stopped himself from turning around. Slink and Vlad didn’t think about it, though, and both turned. Slink hissed and put a hand up as Vlad raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, now why would the give a lizard a penis?!” the vampire shouted.