Shaggy felt his claws rend through metal as he slashed another Omega-bot. He and Slink were still running through the twisty streets of Under-Town heading for the Needle Sisters. Slink was leading the way and doing his best to dodge the large Omega-bots falling from the sky. The boy kept Shaggy up-to-date on the location of the sisters. His snake, Curly, was apparently watching them as they moved.

Shaggy ducked a wild haymaker from another Omega-bot and kept running. The mindless automatons seemed to ignore them if they got far enough. But if you veered too close they would smack you with their wrecking-ball-shaped hands. Shaggy’s own claws could easily slice through the bot’s bronze armor, but they didn’t have the time to fight every one of the damn things.

Slink slid to a halt ahead of him and Shaggy used the short stop to slash the arm off a nearby Omega. He pushed the kid’s shoulder trying to get him to move. Slink shook his head and slowly started running again as he spoke up.

“The sisters are under attack!”

“Curly?” Shaggy asked as he dodged a collapsing wall.

“Yeah, The Raks look like they are more interested to grabbing the sisters than they are fighting the Omegas. But, Shags…”

“What?”

“Tillani’s leading the Raks after the sisters.” Slink panted.

Shaggy chuckled as he patted his empty pockets. “Well shit. So I got no food, robots are falling from the sky, and we’re heading right toward the one man I have pissed off the most down here? This is going to be great.”

Slink smiled. “Least you have me?”

Shaggy just laughed harder as he kept running. The kid was getting better, but he wasn’t exactly who shaggy wanted in a fight. At most he would prefer Vlad, or Ren, maybe even…

“Hey where the hell was Dave back there?”

Slink panted loudly for a bit before he answered. “He was protecting the civilians inside the bar. They really seemed to trust him. Of course when the bots first showed up, he ran out there and started gathering the people to the bar.”

“Just can’t shake the hero out of him, can we?” Shaggy laughed as he glanced around.

Slink tapped his shoulder and pointed southwest, before responding. “Nope. But, hey that may be a good thing for us. Every company needs a front man and Dave’s got charisma.”

Shaggy started running in the direction Slink pointed and agreed. “True. But we can discuss a marketing deal with him later. Where are the sisters?

Slink brought a finger to his temple and slowed down a bit. Shaggy kept an eye on their path as Slink communed with his snake. Or whatever he did with his snakes. Slink came back to himself and pointed while saying.

“They are fighting a running battle with The Raks a little further south. Tillani’s following after, but the sisters are giving them a run for their money. At least Leslie, April and Vera are, Flora and Rashi are running as fast as they can.”

“Wait,” Shaggy said thinking of the pink-haired Flora. “Can’t Flora teleport? What they hell is she doing? Why doesn’t she just port them out of there?”

Slink shrugged as he ran. “I don’t know, Shags. But we can ask them here in a bit.”

Shaggy slowed his run down to a jog and put a hand on Slink’s shoulder slowing the boy down. “Wait, wait. This stinks to high heaven. Let’s be a little more circumspect about this.”

Slink raised and incredulous eyebrow and stared at Shaggy. Clearly the boy did not believe Shaggy could do anything quietly. Shaggy coughed into his hand and started to walk toward where Slink said the sisters were. He kept an eye on the still falling Omegas, but he thought that the bots were becoming more scarce as time went on. Soon the Sword-bots on the walls were going to come down and all of this would start again.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

The damn Cat-bots were still up there flying around every which way. Dropping their payload of rabbit-bots whenever they crashed into a building or got shot down. Shaggy thanked the gods of gaming that none of the damn things had gotten in their way yet. Although if they had, the Omega’s would probably stomp them out of existence. Shaggy had seen a Cat-bot fly into an Omega a few times now. The damn bots didn’t seem able to tell friend from foe.

Shaggy’s thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of gunfire and shouting. There had been intermittent gunfire going off throughout Under-Town. But this was clearly an automatic rifle and it was not followed by the loud clanging of a bot being hit. Shaggy was also sure he could make out a few women voices in the tumult. So Shaggy stopped where he was and silently indicated for Slink to climb a nearby building.

It wasn’t exactly a safe spot, with a few Omega bots still dropping. But Shaggy checked that the coast was clear as best he could before he jumped onto a building and waited. The ominous buzzing of the flying Cat-bot’s wings droned overhead a few times. But they were soon drowned out by a running battle that was taking place on the streets. Shaggy and Slink crouched down low on the roof they were on and watched as the Needle Sisters and Rakgu got closer.

Rashi was running ahead of the other sisters half-carrying a slumped-over Flora. April, Vera, and Leslie were following close behind throwing various powers at their pursuers. April would wave her hand and nearby buildings would collapse and Rakgu thugs would go flying backward. Vera was shooting beams of energy out her hands as Leslie shot bolts of electricity in every direction. Shaggy glanced at Slink who was collecting a small green snake from the roof.

“You didn’t say Flora was injured. Also where the hell is Chromia in all of this?”

Slink shuddered as Curly returned to his body. “Chromia went off to scout by herself. Ephemara was being a little harsh on her so I thought it best to split them up. As for Flora, I didn’t know. My snakes only tell me what I ask of them. I wanted to know where the Needle Sisters were. So Curly told me. He has no frame of reference for an unconscious person and a conscious one. My boys are just babies you know?”

Shaggy stared at Slink as the boy rubbed the fleshy protrusion on his arm where Curly was. He shuddered as he turned back to the fight. He really didn’t want to learn more about the young boy and his snakes.

The Rakgu thugs were diving all over the place. Dodging the sister’s attacks while firing their assault rifles and Tommy guns. None of them seemed brave enough to rush them and Shaggy couldn’t really blame them. The sisters were throwing around some power, but that could only go on for so long. Shaggy kept an eye out for Tillani as the fight grew even with their building.

Their building was in real danger of being knocked over by one of the Sister’s powers. But a blast of magma shot out from the back of the Rakgu thugs. A few of the more unfortunate ones were caught in the wave. Their screams and the sound of them sizzling filled the small street everyone was standing on. Almost eclipsing the sound of the bots still trudging about the place. The source of the magma moved in it’s wake, adjusting his suit as he did.

“Well my fine ladies. This has been fun. But this needs to stop now.” Tillani said calmly as he played with steaming magma in his right hand. He raised a hand and all the gunfire coming from the Rakgu stopped.

“Go fuck yourself, Tilly!” Leslie screamed shooting a wild bolt of electricity that missed the Rakgu Captain by a hair.

Tillani stayed perfectly still and sighed audibly. “Rashi will you please control your bitches? We have business to discuss and I won’t have it interrupted by your little charity cases.”

Rashi turned around, keeping a firm hold on Flora’s limp form. “Sorry, Mr. Tillani. But I am going to have to agree with my sister on this one. Go fuck yourself!”

Tillani's face went red with anger and Shaggy was sure the man was going to blast more magma at the sister. But contrary to expectation the gangster just sighed again and looked up at the large cavern roof of Under-Town. More and More Omega’s were still dropping while their Cat and Sword cousins poured over the walls and Sky. Tillani lit a cigarette and puffed out a small plume of smoke.

“You know, Under-Town’s protections have lasted hundreds of years. So they say. But in a few short weeks Under-Town loses a member of the Big Five, the Phreaks fall into a civil war, the Quinica go radio silent entirely, and now the protective wards surrounding this hellhole have given out. Now we find ourselves beset on all sides by an unknown enemy.”

Shaggy and everyone else stared at the suited man as he spoke. Tillani was almost reverent in the way he spoke about the chaos around them. Shaggy swore he could see a twinkle in the stocky man’s eyes. Tillani spun in a circle and gesturing at the falling robots and the destruction they were bringing on Under-Town.

“Isn’t it fucking glorious? This den of idiots and small-time hoods is being put through the fire and once it’s gone those of us who remain are going to set the tone for how things are done around here! My boys are moving on Phreak turf, on UGB turf, on the Quinica. Even those damn green lizard bastards are going to get washed away by my cleansing fire.”

Shaggy felt a tapping on his arm and turned to see Slink pointing at the air above Tillani’s head. A Cat-bot was soaring around, looking for a target. Shaggy grinned, but it quickly faded as he remembered he gave all his guns to his Lackey’s. But Slink seemed to notice the problem because he waved a small pistol under Shaggy’s nose.

“Where did you get that? Ephemara took your gun.” Shaggy whispered.

Slink snorted. “Did you think that was my only one?”

Shaggy grinned as he took off the remaining bits of his armor. It had served him well, if not long, but he still didn’t want it to get shredded when he shifted. Slink watched him for a bit until he realized Shaggy was getting completely naked. The boy turned and started to aim at the hovering Cat-bot.

“Soon as you hit, I’ll rush him. You lead the sister back to the bar.”

Slink looked up from his aiming. “Are you sure about that? Tillani’s throwing magma around and you’re out of snacks.”

“Nope. This is an absolutely terribly idea.”

“Par for the course, then. At least you’re consistent.” Slink chuckled quietly.

Slink went back to aiming his gun as Tillani still pontificated in the street below. Shaggy noticed that all the sisters had gathered together and were glaring at the encroaching Rakgu forces. Slink was muttering something under his breath. But Shaggy could barely hear it as he focused on his own change. As his head and face changed shape, though, he could just make out what the kid was saying, and he had to really focus in order to avoid laughing.

“Don’t miss. Don’t miss. Don’t miss. Don’t miss. Don’t miss. Don’t miss… ”

BAM!