Shaggy felt the Phreaks nose and face cave in from his headbutt. Warm blood cascaded over his face and he quickly closed his eyes. He felt the poor gang member go limp in his hands, Shaggy casually tossed him aside, aiming for the edge of the rooftop he was on. There was a loud thud as he wiped the blood from his face and looked around.

Most of the fighting was dying down with the Phreaks going on the run. Shaggy and Vlad had jumped around the fringes of the fight and attacked any and all the long range attackers. Although Shaggy found it odd that not one of the Phreaks could fly like the few they had fought in the arena. He watched the brute clan lizards mop up the remaining thugs before they started looting the bodies, collecting weapons and money. He felt a rush of air to his right and turned in time to see Vlad come out of his weird super speed.

“Y’know, I’ve been meaning to ask what that is. The whole movement thing. Is it some form of super speed?” Shaggy asked as he went to wipe his bloody hands on his shirt before realizing he no longer had one.

Vlad nodded. “Kind of. It started as a Speed Cell in my Vampire Evolution Tree. But after I evolved the Cell recently, it became something called Shadow Movement. Now I go intangible when I move fast enough. Which is the black mist stuff you see.”

Shaggy ended up wiping his hands on his torn and ripped pants. He sighed. He was going to have to buy clothes in bulk. But as he looked over the edge of the building, they were standing on. He got an idea. He waved for Vlad to follow him and leapt down to the street.

As he landed, he started looking around for someone the right size. Vlad’s voice interrupted his search momentarily.

“What about you? What the hell was that four-legged running thing you did?”

Shaggy shrugged as he spotted a nearby insectoid freak who looked about his size. “I do not know. My instincts were howling at me to try it, so I did. Man, it was a rush. I felt unstoppable.”

“Ha. Yeah, until you hit that gate. Also, really? Howling? Shame on you.”

Shaggy giggled as he looked over the dead Phreak’s shirt. “Hehehe. I work with what I have, man.”

Luckily, the shirt seemed fairly unblemished. If Shaggy had to guess, it looked like someone had twisted the thug’s neck almost clear off. A look of horror was still etched on his face. But Shaggy ignored that and quickly yanked the black T-shirt off the dead NPC and scrambled into it.

“Aww, dude. Seriously?” Vlad asked, appalled.

“What?” Shaggy asked, pulling his head through the shirt. “He ain’t using it, and do you really want to go topside for a clothes run? Besides, money and weapons aren’t the only loot you know.”

“He was literally just sweating and bleeding in that not 5 minutes ago.”

“Bah!” Shaggy said, waving a hand. “I’ll find a laundry or something. Or maybe we can start one down here and get some NPCs to run it for us. Call it Wolf and Co’s Villain Laundry. We get out everything from blood stains to piss stains.”

Vlad snorted as he hid a laugh. “Stop.”

“Hey fellow Villains. Worried about how you pissed yourself when that giant Perinadon charged your crack den? We’ll don’t worry. We here at Wolf and Co are known for our professionalism and discretion.”

“Hahahaha,” Vlad chuckled as Shaggy continued to glance around. “What the hell are you looking for now?”

“Pants.”

“Okay, somehow that’s way more gross than a shirt.”

“How?” Shaggy asked, incredulous.

“It just is. Now can we go? I will buy you some pants later. We are drawing stares.”

Shaggy looked around to see several Brute Clan members looking at them. Their gazes weren’t hostile. In fact, some seemed downright friendly, but they were curious. Shaggy let go of the leg he was holding up, trying to get a good measure of it. He chuckled nervously before turning back to Vlad.

“How long were they looking?”

“Since we jumped down from the roof.”

“Stupid Enhanced Focus only working when it wants to.” Shaggy groused in his mind as they both walked back to the manor gate.

As they walked through the piles of bodies laid strewn across the dirt street, Shaggy found that he was sad that a few of the bodies were clan members. He wasn’t normally sentimental about NPCs, but these were far more real than in other games. Plus, they had been at least somewhat nice to him and Vlad. Shaggy shook his head, banishing the thoughts.

“They did alright for themselves.” Shaggy said, glancing around.

“They are some tough S.O.Bs, that’s for sure. Even if we hadn’t been helping with the gunmen on the roofs, they would have been fine. Small calibre bullets bounced off a few of them and the rifles were devastating, but their rate of fire wasn’t fast enough. If they had assault rifles, the clan would’ve been in trouble, though.”

Shaggy nodded before he asked. “Were there anymore of those weird electric guns?”

Vlad shook his head. “No. The only one I saw tossed you through two people and a building. I was sure you had died. I was looking for the shooter, but I couldn’t find them. How did all of that play out?”

“Yeah, that’s a whole thing. That damn gun nearly burnt me to a crisp. I could barely move and she came to finish the job when…”

He was cut off as they arrived at the gate and Wulkun loudly welcomed them back. The other elders were standing there as well overlooking the battlefield.

“My friends! Thank you for helping to protect our home. You really didn’t have to put yourselves at risk, though. We have a few hatchlings around here that need the experience.”

Shaggy shrugged. “Well, any excuse to have a good dust-up, you know. No offense, but I am just not made for meetings.”

Vlad swatted the back of Shaggy’s head and quickly apologized. “Forgive my wolfish friend here. He lacks tact. But we were happy to help. We are no friend to the Phreaks and if we can prove our sincerity by kicking their assess, well, that’s just good business.”

“Noted.” Said V’alla with a glint in her eyes.

Shaggy wasn’t sure he liked the look in the old woman’s eyes, but he couldn’t say anything as Aqwen spoke up next while pointing up at the gate.

“What in the Hell did you do to our front gate?”

Shaggy looked up and saw that the area that his shin had slammed into was bent outward. He grimaced as he looked at them.

“Stupid dense bones.” Shaggy thought before saying. “Yeah, sorry about that. I mistimed a jumped and ran right into that. But it still works, right?”

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Wulkun chuckled softly as Aqwen looked annoyed. “Hehehe. It’s fine. I hope you weren’t too injured, though.”

Shaggy just shrugged and moved his arms and legs, showing he was fine. “Could do with some food, though.”

“Then let’s return inside and continue our conversation.” Jerald said.

Shaggy noticed that the lanky lizard was pointedly not looking at the bodies that lay strewn in front of the gate. He chalked it up to the lizard being squeamish, but he filed it away. Just in case. The others all agreed with Jerald, and they began the walk back to the mansion.

As they moved, Shaggy realized someone must have given the all clear because the children were back to playing in the dirt. Glancing around at the kids who were throwing mud as if it were snow balls, he remembered what he and Vlad were talking about before the attack.

“Hey, have you guys tried to buy grass seeds?”

“You’re still on that?” Vlad asked, as the elders stopped and turned to look at him.

Shaggy shrugged and waved a hand at the kids. “Kids should have a park or something. Mud can be fun, believe me, but nothing beats rolling around on the grass.”

Wulkun looked at the kids before glancing back at Shaggy. “You think they are playing?”

“They are kids. What else would they be doing?”

“They are training. Our warriors start almost as soon as they are hatched. Sure, it can look like play, but I assure you they are honing skills that will be useful later. Also, everything from the ‘game’ they are engaged in to their breaks are heavily regulated.” Aqwen explained.

As Shaggy glanced around, he indeed saw several adult lizards nearby watching the kids ‘play.’ He grimaced as he looked back to the elders and Aqwen.

“Well, that doesn’t seem fun.”

“It’s not supposed to be.” Wulkun said, slightly confused. “We are training warriors. As we always have.”

Shaggy saw Vlad shaking his head out of the corner of his eye, but he barreled forward anyway. “Sure, but warriors for what?”

“To fight and protect us. Obviously.” Gor’kinak said, raising a fist in the air.

“Sure, but once you have enough to protect yourselves, what about the others? Will you just continue to have soldiers? What about the ones who want to do other things?”

The elders went quiet for a moment as they went introspective, but Aqwen was quick to respond. “We assign a few to be cooks and cleaners. Those who don’t have the aptitude for battle are assigned elsewhere in the clan.”

Shaggy looked around and did indeed see a few of the large lizards were wearing differently colored sashes or pants. They also seemed to be largely ignored by the rest of the clan.

“And how are they treated?” Shaggy asked, bringing his vision back to the group of lizard elders and Aqwen.

“Well, of course they are treated equitable to their standing in the…” Aqwen trailed off as she realized what she was saying. She looked down at Wulkun as the old lizard looked back up at her with sadness in his eyes.

“My dear. I fear we have only continued the behavior that the ruling clans started.”

Shaggy saw that Jerald and V’alla were nodding in agreement, but Gor’kinak look almost affronted.

“They aren’t soldiers! So, of course, they are treated differently. Everyone should be treated based on how they influence or affect the clan. Soldiers are the base of any Brute Clan, so they affect the clan more and have greater influence.”

Shaggy shrugged. “It sounds to me like you created or are a part of a caste system that you don’t know how to break out of. You have fighters and then everyone else. Sure, that may have worked for a while, but now that you’ve put down roots, it may be time to expand your society beyond a purely militaristic one.”

Again, the other elders looked thoughtful, while Gor’kinak looked affronted.

“We are warriors! We will always be warriors! We were bred to be warriors!”

Shaggy sighed as he started walking past all the elders. “And isn’t that sad?”

Shaggy ignored the others and continued walking toward the mansion. Eventually, he felt Vlad flit to his side.

“What the hell was that about?”

“It just irked me. Kids should be allowed to play. Not have to go through training and eventually have their paths laid out for them.”

Vlad chuckled softly. “You know they aren’t real, right?”

Shaggy shrugged. “As long as we are in here, they are. So what’s the difference? As we know, the developers designed this game to be as close to a living, breathing world as possible.”

Vlad stayed silent as they reached the mansion door. But Shaggy turned and looked back at the lizards, who were in a heated discussion in the middle of the mansion courtyard. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before turning to go into the kitchen, Vlad close behind, but as he grabbed a few pastries and a cup of steaming, bitter coffee, he returned outside.

The elders all stepped past him without a word, and Vlad stood in the open doorway. Shaggy waved him off.

“You go deal with that. I gotta go see my Werewolf Sensei.”

Vlad raised an eyebrow.

“Long story. I’ll tell you when I get back. Have fun with your meeting.”

Vlad just shrugged before he closed the mansion door. Shaggy sat on the steps and ate his food and drank the disgusting coffee. It was only half-way through the drink did he remember it was half rat blood. He nearly gagged, but he figured his healing would take care of any problems that the drink would cause him, or at least he hoped it would. He stuffed the remaining pastries in his mouth as he walked back toward the gate.

He received a few nods of hello and the occasional hand raise in greeting, but he mostly ignored them, wanting to get to his new mentor as fast as possible. He tried to be as cordial as he could as he walked through the gate. Lizards were dragging the bodies of the Phreaks off the main road, and he had to carefully walk around them as they worked. But eventually he made it back to the short shack he had been flung into by the electric weapon.

He stared into the hole for a few seconds before he glanced around. He briefly wondered if the werewolf was going to appear out here in the streets. But his gut was telling him that was the case. He waited for a few minutes, though, just to see if something happened. He gave another long sigh as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do. As he did, he picked up on a something in the air, a scent. It smelled like a dog or, maybe a wolf.

“Oh, that makes sense.” Shaggy thought as he followed his nose.

He could see a few clan members shooting him odd looks as he walked around with his nose in the air, but he ignored them. The scent led him further west off the main road, toward Phreak territory. He ran and as he did; the smell came easier as the wind blew by his nose. Soon he was back to loping on all fours. The smell whirled on the air the faster he moved.

His shoulders and arms elongated again as he ran forward, following the scent on the wind. Occasionally, he would snap back to a two-legged run, as he had to make a tough corner or leap over an obstacle in the street. But he would soon return to his four-legged lope. Suddenly, the smell took a sharp turn, and he had to quickly jump to the roof of a nearby shack.

Once he landed, he quickly spun, trying to get the scent back. Eventually finding it, he continued on a two-legged run, jumping from roof to roof. Sometimes a voice would scream from inside the building he was running on, but he ignored it as he continued further west. It was when he was landing on another roof that his Enhanced Focus kicked in again.

A brown missile was coming right for his left side and, judging by its speed, Shaggy knew he could do nothing about it. He tried to curl up as what turned out to be a fist slammed into his side and he went careening off the roof and into a building on the street. Unfortunately, this building was occupied as he slammed into someone’s coffee table and down onto the dirt floor.

Shaggy looked up through bleary eyes as a green insect man with 4 legs and proboscis honked at him. Shaggy couldn’t make out what the alien was saying cause his ears were ringing. But eventually a man shaped shadow appeared in the hole in the wall. Insect man went quiet as they both turned to gaze at the intruder.

The man was around six foot three inches tall and carried himself with an almost regal quality. A quality that was ruined by his messy brown hair that was going gray in places and a black leather jacket that seemed to be patched together with different bits of leather. His jean pants had holes in random places. He gazed down on the still prone form of Shaggy and raised his wrist and pointed at an imaginary watch.

“You’re late.”

His voice was gravelly and Shaggy momentarily thought the man sounded like an irate uncle. Shaggy pulled himself out of the rubble and ignored the Insect man as he walked toward his supposed mentor. As he moved, he realized the old man’s punch hadn’t really hurt. It was more of a firm push that threw him off course. But he still didn’t want to antagonize the old werewolf.

“I was busy.” Shaggy said, shrugging.

The old man smiled, showing off bright white and almost sharp looking teeth. He put his hand out for a handshake and Shaggy grabbed it firmly. Then was immediately ripped through the air like a child and thrown down the road. His back and arm screamed in pain as he tumbled sideways. Shaggy eventually felt his arm pop out of place again as he slid to a stop, leaving a deep furrow in the street.

The old man casually walked over as Shaggy collected himself from the ground. Shaggy felt the arm pop back into place as he stood, as well as a few nicks and cuts on his face, healing quickly. The old man took in his obvious healing before he nodded somberly.

“Well, you can take a beating, that’s for sure.”

“I can dish one out too.” Shaggy said summoning his claws and dashing forward.

But he was immediately stopped as the old man grabbed both his wrists. The old man chuckled softly as he squeezed both of Shaggy’s wrist until Shaggy felt the bones snap and break. He screamed bloody murder as the bones healed and he attacked again. This time he went for a headbutt, jumping into the air to slam his forehead into the old man’s nose.

Shaggy felt a bloom of pain spread from his forehead as it collided with the old man’s face. It was like head-butting a metal girder. Shaggy swore again as the pain quickly subsided and the old man released his wrist. He could hear the old man chuckle as he jumped back to get some space.

“Your bone density is that of a young Werewolf. But your healing and partial transformation indicate a Were far older. You are an odd one. Now show me your full transformation.”

Shaggy coughed awkwardly while scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, about that…”

Shaggy trailed off and looked around, not meeting the old man’s eyes. It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried. Both in early game and in prison before coming to Under-Town, Shaggy had tried everything he could to transform into his wolf form. But nothing seemed to work. In fact, he was waiting for his in-game mentor to even try again.

The old man seemed to catch on quickly and sighed. “Ahh, I swear. I don’t know where you new batch of Weres came from, but if they are all like you, then the Were community has nothing to worry about. Nothing worse than a bunch of angry therianthropes running around in their beast forms, tearing shit up and scaring the Normals.”

“I already tried anger. It didn’t work.” Shaggy muttered.

The old man’s eyes went up in interest before he nodded. “So you are one of those.”

“Wait, so angry is supposed to work?” Shaggy shouted, affronted. He had done everything to get himself riled up in the game's tutorial.

“Yeah, for most, it is the crucial factor for transformation. But for others…” The old man trailed off before he waved the conversation away. “That’s for later. For now, just know that I am Vance Kee, a roving trainer for non-magical Werewolves. For the foreseeable future, I will oversee your training on how to conduct yourself in werewolf society, as well as inform you of the messy state of our relations vis-à-vis with magical Weres.”

Vance stuck his hand out again. But Shaggy was a little gun-shy after being hurled almost a full block. Vance seemed to find Shaggy’s hesitance funny as he chuckled again and dropped his hand. He glanced down at Shaggy, still smiling.

“Well, anyway, are you ready, young wolf? Because this is going to be a wild and long partnership.”

Shaggy gulped as he looked from the furrow in the ground to the old werewolf. He was both excited and a little apprehensive about this next step. But eventually he shook off his nerves and smiled up and Vance.

“Oh yeah. You bet your ass I’m ready.”