Shaggy held on to the door handle as Sybil took a hard left turn. Even though they were deep in downtown Austin and no one was chasing them, she still drove like a maniac. Their brown sedan shifted back in the opposite direction and Shaggy grunted. He heard similar sounds from the back seat. Shaggy felt his pack’s annoyance and anger.
“Do you have to drive like you're running away from something?” Tom asked, sounding miffed.
“We stole it, so that’s how I drive it.” Sybil said as she overtook a slow-moving truck.
Vick grunted and scrunched closer to Cekrass. “No one knows we stole it. So, could you slow down?”
“And how about next time we get a damn car that can fit all of us? This crowding into the backseat shit is getting old.”
Shaggy agreed with Rita and made his stance known over the pack link. Even with him in the front seat, the whole car still felt stifling. That also was because of the pack link tripling his own annoyance at the situation. Cekrass didn’t seem to mind the cramped conditions. At least through the link. Sybil didn’t respond with words, but she slowed down and stopped overtaking every other car in the street.
After returning to the cave and dumping off the electric cannons. Shaggy and his pack had set out to meet Wayne. According to Vance, the leader of the Mongrels held court in a fancy bar in the middle of downtown. According to the old Were, it was a one of those bars more concerned with looking pretty than serving booze. Although that could’ve just been Vance’s irritation peeking through. With Levy off to meet her Magic friends and Shaggy’s meeting with Wayne, the old man had to play babysitter. Something he did not appreciate. Which Shaggy understood, but the way the kids were eyeing the Electric cannons made him nervous.
After some arguing and favors promised, they convinced Vance to stay. Then it was just a quick trip topside and another hot wire from their resident car thief. Sybil had found and grabbed a car pretty quickly. Shaggy wondered if she had a skill or something that made it easier, or if the game itself was putting cars in their path. But he brushed it off, mostly because he started fearing for his digital life with the way Sybil was driving.
Afternoon traffic was already almost bumper to bumper. Even with the flying cars. But Sybil seemed able and willing to get dangerously close to both pedestrians and other cars. It had been so bad that Shaggy was waiting for a drone to chase them down. But, again, the highest concentration of drones seemed to be elsewhere in the city. A few zoomed along the sky-ways, clearly on their way toward one disaster or another. In fact, the largest problem they were having with getting to their destination was other players.
There always seemed to be some Supe fighting off a raging beast or some flying jackass chasing an armored car. It didn’t surprise him that so many players were out saving the day, but the sheer frequency was alarming. How many bank robberies can happen in one day? Let alone a five-block radius. The whole thing smacked of the System, creating problems for the players to solve. Shaggy was sure none of the problems were being caused by villain players. At least he hoped so. What kind of idiot would rob a bank in the middle of downtown Austin? No Player would try that… well, maybe a few would. Clout was a hell of a thing.
Shaggy was thinking about it too until he watched a flying Supe dive-bomb a runaway safe. The big metal thing had grown legs and was literally running. Behind it was a masked man in a painter’s smock rapidly drawing shapes in the air. The shapes formed into random cartoon characters and started defending the painter while he tried to get away. The whole bizarre scene had played out a few cars ahead of them as Sybil cursed up a storm. That wasn’t even the craziest incident from their short drive.
Shaggy’s thoughts came back to the present as Sybil wrenched the car off the road and into an alley. It was a tight space between two large office buildings and Shaggy was sure not a place for a car. But Sybil slammed on the brakes and turned off the engine. Shaggy glanced around, looking for their destination. Not finding it, he turned to Sybil, who was getting out of the car.
“Uhh….” he said.
“Behind us, boss. Across the street and down the stairs.” Vick said as he shifted out of the backseat.
Shaggy turned and saw a large black sign embedded in a red brick wall. Stairs angled downward and into the ground right beneath the sign. He noted that the side of the building and the sidewalk were free of trash and graffiti. It was a nice little metropolitan bar in a safe location that a standard business man might frequent on a lunch break. It was all so picturesque that it made the hairs on Shaggy’s neck stand on end. He didn’t know what he didn’t like about the place, but it felt off somehow.
Shaggy briefly wondered if it was some kind of magic or spell. But if it was, he didn’t know the purpose. Judging by the people heading down the stairs for lunch, it wasn’t a keep away spell. Also, since he could see the place, it wasn’t an illusion trap or something. Shaggy swallowed his nerves and followed his pack out of the car. Cekrass and Rita waded through the busy street as Vick and Sybil waited for Shaggy. He had once again lost sight of Tom, but a feeling of elation and smugness brought his vision to across the street. The slippery bastard was already across and running down the stairs. Shaggy growled and sent the equivalent of a psychic leash pull to Tom.
Even with all the cars and random noise of the city, Shaggy heard the lanky man yelp, and he had to smile. He felt the other’s grin as well as he lazily made his way across the street. Sirens wailed in the distance and drones buzzed overhead. But Shaggy and his crew kept their heads down until they climbed down the stairs. The short staircase ended in a sharp right turn and a large glass door. Tom was latched onto the door, looking like a spoiled kid who didn’t get dessert. Shaggy shook his head as he pushed Tom out of the way and opened the door.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him, though. “Boss, Cekrass or I should go through first.”
Shaggy smiled at Rita’s intention, but shook his head. “Nope, we need to show strength. Not fear. So we lead with the Big Dog up front. We ain’t here for a fight. So if they ask us to disarm, we do, and we play by the rules.”
“What if they don’t?” Vick asked.
Shaggy smiled, but said nothing. He knew they knew what to do if shit got dicey. But Shaggy wasn’t expecting things to go sideways. Vance had said these people were legit, so they just needed to be polite and get this over with. He had a war to wage. With both the Wild Bunch and the Quinica, apparently.
Shaggy shoved the Quinica problem to the back of his mind. He had agreed to the Gang War, but he and his pack would not be too useful topside. It wasn’t something worth thinking about. He wrenched the glass door open, revealing a big red door with the bar’s name on it in some fancy letters. As he entered, he heard Tom ask.
“What does Chaperon Rouge mean, anyway?”
“It’s French I think.” Rita answered.
“Okay, but what does it mean?”
“I don’t know. What does it matter?”
“Rouge is make-up, right?” Sybil asked.
“So the bar is named Make-Up Supervisor?” said Vick.
“What?”
His pack continued trying to decipher the bar’s name as he entered a wide hall. On the left-hand side were several large booths and tables. To the right was the bar running the entire length of the room. Several people were behind serving drinks to customers. The bar wasn’t packed, but it had a fair few people in it. The fact he didn’t smell food meant that the place was strictly alcohol and pretzels kind of place. At the far end, opposite them, sat a large stage slightly raised from the floor. But it was empty, with just a piano gracing its right side.
Shaggy took another large whiff of the air. But the mix of people, smoke, and some odd perfume filled his nostrils. Again, his hackles were raised, but he quashed them as a furry man approached. As he did, Shaggy got a good look at the person. It was a bipedal rabbit in a black and red suit. He had a brown furry face with long brown-white ears and an even twitching nose. Shaggy raised an eyebrow at the alien’s buck teeth that protruded beneath its pink nose, but said nothing.
“My employer informs me you are here for him?” Said the rabbit. His teeth tainting his speech.
“Depends who your employer is. I was told to meet him here. Although we didn’t have a set meeting.”
“No. I suppose you wouldn’t. None of the recent arrivals seem capable of picking up a phone and arranging a meeting.”
Shaggy noted the subtle expression of distaste on the rabbit’s face. His whisker twitched and his nose scrunched together. But the rabbit in a suit seemed to collect himself. Straightening the lines of his suit jacket, he waved a hand toward the back of the room.
“Mr. Chasseur is holding court in a room at the back. Please make your way there, but don’t enter until I give the okay. Is that clear?”
Shaggy felt his pack tense at the rabbit’s tone. But he nodded amicably and followed the rabbit toward the back. He noted that the rabbit person didn’t hop. Indeed, their guide seemed to take great pains to lift and move his furry feet. They said nothing as they crossed the bar. Business men and daytime drunks gave them a few side looks, but kept to themselves. As they passed the stage and entered a back room, Shaggy’s senses went haywire.
He briefly thought he was under attack. His hearing and sense of smell were inundated with noise and horrible smells. It was like he was overloaded. He heard the loud sound of a click and a sharp ting before the sensation stopped and he came back to himself. When he did, he saw the rabbit apologizing rapidly to an irate Rita. She had her sword to the rabbit’s throat as Vick covered her with a pistol he had pulled from somewhere. Sybil’s hand was on fire and Cekrass was standing next to Shaggy, looking worried.
“I am terribly sorry. I was unaware that Mr. Chasseur had activated the deterrent! Please, it is not my fault! I- hrgk!”
Shaggy had to give Rita a mental tug to stop her from killing the rabbit-man. The whole fiasco had been uncomfortable, but he had survived worse. But it brought up an interesting weakness Shaggy hadn’t thought of. His senses could be too good sometimes. He was wondering how to fix the problem when the large double doors at the end of the hallway opened. Two large men were dragging a similar-sized man out the door and toward them. His pack readied themselves for a fight, but he pulled them back as the two large men stopped.
Shaggy immediately identified them as Weres. He wasn’t sure how. It was something in the way they moved and how they processed Rita and the others. Like two wolves sizing up a threat. Shaggy moved in front of Rita, head still ringing slightly. He had to physically push her back before she finally relented and slammed her sword back into its scabbard. The sound of metal scratching leather told him Vick had put away his weapon, too. Their guide’s voice spoke up behind Shaggy as the two groups watched each other.
“This is my fault. All my fault. I didn’t know the deterrent was on. I take it the last meeting wasn’t productive, Frederick?”
The bigger of the two men nodded and Shaggy saw earplugs dangle from his ears. “Yes, Mr. Xargus. Our Alpha had to deploy the deterrent again. This one didn’t seem to understand the position he was in.”
The two Weres lifted the third man between them and Shaggy saw that he was beaten pretty badly. It was all healing quickly. But neither of the guards seemed worried. The rabbit, Xargus, hesitated before moving past Shaggy and Rita. Once he was in front, he put his back to the wall of the hallway and waved toward Frederick and the other guard.
“Ahh, well, you can dump him outside. I’ll make the arrangements for everything else. Am I to assume Mr. Chasseur is free, then?”
“Yes, Mr. Xargus.” Both guards said as they started forward.
Shaggy gave a mental order for his pack to make way. He got a little push-back from Rita, but eventually they all split. Cekrass even held the door open from them. As the two big men went by, Shaggy could hear the beaten Were muttering loudly.
“Stupid… NPCs… Don’t realize who I…”
The players yammering tapered off as he was dragged out of the hallway. Shaggy nodded slowly. If there was one group of people that would try to make an end run at a strong NPC, it was Gamers. A lot of them assumed that the quickest route to power was to kill a powerful NPC. It sometimes worked. But in this case, Shaggy was sure the player had just screwed themselves. The way Vance talked, this Wayne guy was in charge of a huge number of the Austin therianthropes. You attack a king in the middle of his kingdom, and miss? You are going to want to run as far from that kingdom as possible.
Shaggy cleared his mind as he followed Xargus toward the end of the hall. Wayne’s guards had left the doors open and their rabbit guide stuck his head in before waving them through. Shaggy and the others followed inside and gawked slightly at what they were seeing. Shaggy had been expecting an office space and instead, the room they were in was closer to a mead hall. There was even a fire pit in the center of the room.
On their side of the fire pit was a large pool of red blood seeping into the hardwood floors. On the opposite side was a large wooden chair that Shaggy would’ve called a throne if it weren’t for the complete lack of frills. To either side of the fire pit were long wooden tables with Weres of all sizes seated, gazing at them. The room felt tense, probably because of what had just occurred. But the large man standing beside the throne was smiling widely as he spotted them.
Wayne was over six feet tall with broad shoulders and large black bread that covered his neck. He was dressed casually in a black shirt with some band logo on it and stained blue jeans. He had a calm air about him, but Shaggy was sure that Wayne was annoyed, even if he hid it well enough. But if Shaggy had to deal with a bunch of upstart players all the time, he’d have a headache too.
Silence filled the room as Xargus move the side. Shaggy and Wayne sized each other up for a short while. But each said nothing. Shaggy was sure that he was being evaluated and measured against every other Were that had passed through the bar. He maintained an air of detachment as he shook off the lingering effects of Wayne’s deterrent. After several minutes in silence, and with his pack getting more and more anxious, Shaggy finally decided to say something.
“So do I bow, or is the wooden throne for show?”
The air in the room went still and Shaggy saw Wayne’s eyes narrow. Several people shifted in their seats as Rita’s hand inched toward her sword. Shaggy maintained his cool and watched Wayne. The smile was still plastered on his face and Shaggy was sure it was a facade. But he couldn’t get a read on the man beneath. It was a tense few seconds before Wayne burst into a boisterous laugh.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No. Ha! You don’t have… Hehehe… To… HA HA… Bow!”
His words came out in a wheeze and Shaggy felt the tense air dissipate. His pack was still on alert. But with Wayne cackling like an idiot, Shaggy wasn’t worried. It took a while for Wayne to collecting himself, but once he didn’t he walked around the center fire pit and stuck out a hand to Shaggy. Shaggy gripped the hand and gave it a vigorous shake, not lowering his eyes from Wayne’s. Wayne maintained his grin until the handshake was dropped.
“So you are one of the new ones, huh? One of the few who came in with a pack, too.”
Shaggy nodded back toward the others. “I was told too. Is that not the norm?”
“Depends. Some think they can hide their numbers from me. Others legitimately don’t have a pack. You are one of the few to follow the directions of whatever wandering trainer advised you to seek me out.”
“Well, I figured it was a good idea. One way or the other.”
“A fair assumption.”
Xargus’ voice broke the two out of their conversation. “Mr. Chasseur.”
Wayne and Shaggy followed the voice to a nearby table. Xargus was standing near the end, laying a tan map down. The Were at the table grumbled, but picked up their food and drinks and moved. Wayne chuckled and led Shaggy over by an arm. Shaggy could feel Rita's displeasure, but he sent her calming waves. Once this was done, they could get out of here.
“So,” Wayne said, gesturing to the map. “First, we have to figure out where you and your pack are running. Once that’s done, I can explain the ‘politic structure’ of your hunting grounds.”
Wayne made air quotes around the words political structure and given the snorts coming from nearby tables. He could tell some of the Weres weren’t fans. Shaggy studied the map of Austin for a short time. There were the standards districts of Austin, but there were also large sections colored with different names on them. He assumed they were other Weres. Judging by the size and locations of the areas, there were many Weres in Austin. Mostly outside the city center, but there were even a few there as well. Shaggy found were there underground cavern was on the map, but he didn’t want to point right at it. Something must’ve shown on his face, because Wayne cackled again.
“HAHA! It doesn’t have to be exact. Just give us a broad idea of where you’ve set up shop.”
Shaggy nodded before pointing to a spot directly between Rosedale and Brentwood. It wasn’t exactly where they were, but it was close enough. Wayne’s face tightened, and he stopped smiling. Shaggy figured he knew what the issue was, but he wanted Wayne to say it.
“That’s Wild Bunch turf.”
“We’ve noticed.” Shaggy said simply.
“You know, George is a rough man. Keeps that area under his thumb pretty well.”
“We’ve been doing okay so far.”
Wayne snapped his fingers in realization. “You’re the ones that hit their drug house?”
Shaggy merely grinned and Wayne fell into laughter again. Xargus rolled the map back up and some of the Were moved back into place. Wayne clutched his stomach and gave Shaggy a heavy pat on the back. Something told Shaggy that if George was to disappear, the smiling Wayne wouldn’t give a shit.
“You got brass ones for being such a small pack. But I’d watch out for the Bunch. Most of them are animal-supremacist. George isn’t, but that doesn’t stop him from taking advantage of his people’s zealotry. Not to mention with his underground connection, he can get hold of some pretty neat hardware.”
Shaggy nodded. “Yeah. I’ve… noticed the connection.”
Wayne raised an eyebrow. But put a hand up like it wasn’t his problem.
“You’re far enough out of most territories that whatever you’ve got planned won’t affect anyone.”
“Most?”
“I think there was a Were-bear and a Were-Lion out that way. But they mostly stuck to themselves. The purist don’t touch them. So you should be fine.”
“They will not come looking for me?”
“The purist? Fuck no! So long as you stay out of the more upscale joints and don’t go into the woods on full moons. They should leave you alone for the most part.”
Shaggy caught the hitch at the end of Wayne’s sentence and raised an eyebrow. Wayne raised a hand and moved closer to Shaggy.
“There are outliers in any group and the purist have some doozies. Some even try to hunt Mutts for sport. It doesn’t often work out for them. But it’s something to watch out for.”
Shaggy nodded as Wayne turned him back toward the door they had come through. Shaggy gave Wayne another questioning look, but the big man shrugged his shoulders.
“You have removed yourself from any politics. I mean, there would be an issue of hunting rights and Purist patrols. But you aren’t really in those areas. You have George to thank for that. So all I can say is watch out for the other two Weres in your hunting grounds and try to maintain the peace. Any disputes can be brought to me for arbitration. But most prefer to fight it out. Murphy and Krumb are good neighbors who stick to themselves. So unless you have questions…”
Shaggy wracked his brain, but really he wanted to be out on the hunt again. Taking apart George’s operation. He wasn’t sure what protection Wayne was giving his pack, but Vance had seemed to trust the Mongrel leader. So Shaggy shook the man’s hand again and shrugged his shoulders.
Shaggy waved his pack out the door as he waved a hand over his shoulder. Sounds of frivolity and conversations started up again in the large room. Wayne was already talking to Xargus and Shaggy was sure he saw the rabbit pointing at the map again. But the doors shut themselves before he could get a good enough look. Once the doors were shut, Shaggy watched as they shimmered and disappeared completely. He snorted. It made sense. The large wooden room clashed with the rest of the bar.
“Fucking magic.” Shaggy muttered as he followed the others out into the bar.
The place was a little more empty, even though only thirty minutes or so had passed. Vick and Rita moved for the door as Sybil grabbed hold of Tom. The resident pain in the ass was struggling to get to the bar, but Shaggy growled and he gave up. They needed to get back to their turf, they could eat on the way. Now that they were done, they could get down to the real fun. Sure, some of them would have to watch the kids, but the rest could finally take it to the Bunch. Shaggy was so wound up for a fight that he didn’t notice the others of his pack were standing still until he ran into Cekrass.
Snapping out of it, Shaggy glanced up and followed his pack’s combined gaze across the street. Surprisingly, their illegally parked car was still there. But there was an old man, leaning up against the trunk. Shaggy growled, annoyed, and he felt his annoyance echoed from his pack, although it was for a different reason.
“Where the hell is he going to sit?!” Tom groaned.
Shaggy tried not to laugh as he rushed across the street. If the old man was here, that meant he had a job, or something had gone wrong with the last one. He skidded to a stop next to their stolen car, and he felt the others making their way toward him. Once they were altogether, Shaggy asked.
“Obadiah, what can we do for you?”
The old spook groaned as he stopped leaning on the car and stretched. Once he was done, he looked them all over.
“We need to talk about that stuff you found.”
Shaggy felt a shiver go up his spine, and he groaned. He would never have his own Gang War.
Shaggy held on to the door handle as Sybil took a hard left turn. Even though they were deep in downtown Austin and no one was chasing them, she still drove like a maniac. Their brown sedan shifted back in the opposite direction and Shaggy grunted. He heard similar sounds from the back seat. Shaggy felt his pack’s annoyance and anger.
“Do you have to drive like you're running away from something?” Tom asked, sounding miffed.
“We stole it, so that’s how I drive it.” Sybil said as she overtook a slow-moving truck.
Vick grunted and scrunched closer to Cekrass. “No one knows we stole it. So, could you slow down?”
“And how about next time we get a damn car that can fit all of us? This crowding into the backseat shit is getting old.”
Shaggy agreed with Rita and made his stance known over the pack link. Even with him in the front seat, the whole car still felt stifling. That also was because of the pack link tripling his own annoyance at the situation. Cekrass didn’t seem to mind the cramped conditions. At least through the link. Sybil didn’t respond with words, but she slowed down and stopped overtaking every other car in the street.
After returning to the cave and dumping off the electric cannons. Shaggy and his pack had set out to meet Wayne. According to Vance, the leader of the Mongrels held court in a fancy bar in the middle of downtown. According to the old Were, it was a one of those bars more concerned with looking pretty than serving booze. Although that could’ve just been Vance’s irritation peeking through. With Levy off to meet her Magic friends and Shaggy’s meeting with Wayne, the old man had to play babysitter. Something he did not appreciate. Which Shaggy understood, but the way the kids were eyeing the Electric cannons made him nervous.
After some arguing and favors promised, they convinced Vance to stay. Then it was just a quick trip topside and another hot wire from their resident car thief. Sybil had found and grabbed a car pretty quickly. Shaggy wondered if she had a skill or something that made it easier, or if the game itself was putting cars in their path. But he brushed it off, mostly because he started fearing for his digital life with the way Sybil was driving.
Afternoon traffic was already almost bumper to bumper. Even with the flying cars. But Sybil seemed able and willing to get dangerously close to both pedestrians and other cars. It had been so bad that Shaggy was waiting for a drone to chase them down. But, again, the highest concentration of drones seemed to be elsewhere in the city. A few zoomed along the sky-ways, clearly on their way toward one disaster or another. In fact, the largest problem they were having with getting to their destination was other players.
There always seemed to be some Supe fighting off a raging beast or some flying jackass chasing an armored car. It didn’t surprise him that so many players were out saving the day, but the sheer frequency was alarming. How many bank robberies can happen in one day? Let alone a five-block radius. The whole thing smacked of the System, creating problems for the players to solve. Shaggy was sure none of the problems were being caused by villain players. At least he hoped so. What kind of idiot would rob a bank in the middle of downtown Austin? No Player would try that… well, maybe a few would. Clout was a hell of a thing.
Shaggy was thinking about it too until he watched a flying Supe dive-bomb a runaway safe. The big metal thing had grown legs and was literally running. Behind it was a masked man in a painter’s smock rapidly drawing shapes in the air. The shapes formed into random cartoon characters and started defending the painter while he tried to get away. The whole bizarre scene had played out a few cars ahead of them as Sybil cursed up a storm. That wasn’t even the craziest incident from their short drive.
Shaggy’s thoughts came back to the present as Sybil wrenched the car off the road and into an alley. It was a tight space between two large office buildings and Shaggy was sure not a place for a car. But Sybil slammed on the brakes and turned off the engine. Shaggy glanced around, looking for their destination. Not finding it, he turned to Sybil, who was getting out of the car.
“Uhh….” he said.
“Behind us, boss. Across the street and down the stairs.” Vick said as he shifted out of the backseat.
Shaggy turned and saw a large black sign embedded in a red brick wall. Stairs angled downward and into the ground right beneath the sign. He noted that the side of the building and the sidewalk were free of trash and graffiti. It was a nice little metropolitan bar in a safe location that a standard business man might frequent on a lunch break. It was all so picturesque that it made the hairs on Shaggy’s neck stand on end. He didn’t know what he didn’t like about the place, but it felt off somehow.
Shaggy briefly wondered if it was some kind of magic or spell. But if it was, he didn’t know the purpose. Judging by the people heading down the stairs for lunch, it wasn’t a keep away spell. Also, since he could see the place, it wasn’t an illusion trap or something. Shaggy swallowed his nerves and followed his pack out of the car. Cekrass and Rita waded through the busy street as Vick and Sybil waited for Shaggy. He had once again lost sight of Tom, but a feeling of elation and smugness brought his vision to across the street. The slippery bastard was already across and running down the stairs. Shaggy growled and sent the equivalent of a psychic leash pull to Tom.
Even with all the cars and random noise of the city, Shaggy heard the lanky man yelp, and he had to smile. He felt the other’s grin as well as he lazily made his way across the street. Sirens wailed in the distance and drones buzzed overhead. But Shaggy and his crew kept their heads down until they climbed down the stairs. The short staircase ended in a sharp right turn and a large glass door. Tom was latched onto the door, looking like a spoiled kid who didn’t get dessert. Shaggy shook his head as he pushed Tom out of the way and opened the door.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him, though. “Boss, Cekrass or I should go through first.”
Shaggy smiled at Rita’s intention, but shook his head. “Nope, we need to show strength. Not fear. So we lead with the Big Dog up front. We ain’t here for a fight. So if they ask us to disarm, we do, and we play by the rules.”
“What if they don’t?” Vick asked.
Shaggy smiled, but said nothing. He knew they knew what to do if shit got dicey. But Shaggy wasn’t expecting things to go sideways. Vance had said these people were legit, so they just needed to be polite and get this over with. He had a war to wage. With both the Wild Bunch and the Quinica, apparently.
Shaggy shoved the Quinica problem to the back of his mind. He had agreed to the Gang War, but he and his pack would not be too useful topside. It wasn’t something worth thinking about. He wrenched the glass door open, revealing a big red door with the bar’s name on it in some fancy letters. As he entered, he heard Tom ask.
“What does Chaperon Rouge mean, anyway?”
“It’s French I think.” Rita answered.
“Okay, but what does it mean?”
“I don’t know. What does it matter?”
“Rouge is make-up, right?” Sybil asked.
“So the bar is named Make-Up Supervisor?” said Vick.
“What?”
His pack continued trying to decipher the bar’s name as he entered a wide hall. On the left-hand side were several large booths and tables. To the right was the bar running the entire length of the room. Several people were behind serving drinks to customers. The bar wasn’t packed, but it had a fair few people in it. The fact he didn’t smell food meant that the place was strictly alcohol and pretzels kind of place. At the far end, opposite them, sat a large stage slightly raised from the floor. But it was empty, with just a piano gracing its right side.
Shaggy took another large whiff of the air. But the mix of people, smoke, and some odd perfume filled his nostrils. Again, his hackles were raised, but he quashed them as a furry man approached. As he did, Shaggy got a good look at the person. It was a bipedal rabbit in a black and red suit. He had a brown furry face with long brown-white ears and an even twitching nose. Shaggy raised an eyebrow at the alien’s buck teeth that protruded beneath its pink nose, but said nothing.
“My employer informs me you are here for him?” Said the rabbit. His teeth tainting his speech.
“Depends who your employer is. I was told to meet him here. Although we didn’t have a set meeting.”
“No. I suppose you wouldn’t. None of the recent arrivals seem capable of picking up a phone and arranging a meeting.”
Shaggy noted the subtle expression of distaste on the rabbit’s face. His whisker twitched and his nose scrunched together. But the rabbit in a suit seemed to collect himself. Straightening the lines of his suit jacket, he waved a hand toward the back of the room.
“Mr. Chasseur is holding court in a room at the back. Please make your way there, but don’t enter until I give the okay. Is that clear?”
Shaggy felt his pack tense at the rabbit’s tone. But he nodded amicably and followed the rabbit toward the back. He noted that the rabbit person didn’t hop. Indeed, their guide seemed to take great pains to lift and move his furry feet. They said nothing as they crossed the bar. Business men and daytime drunks gave them a few side looks, but kept to themselves. As they passed the stage and entered a back room, Shaggy’s senses went haywire.
He briefly thought he was under attack. His hearing and sense of smell were inundated with noise and horrible smells. It was like he was overloaded. He heard the loud sound of a click and a sharp ting before the sensation stopped and he came back to himself. When he did, he saw the rabbit apologizing rapidly to an irate Rita. She had her sword to the rabbit’s throat as Vick covered her with a pistol he had pulled from somewhere. Sybil’s hand was on fire and Cekrass was standing next to Shaggy, looking worried.
“I am terribly sorry. I was unaware that Mr. Chasseur had activated the deterrent! Please, it is not my fault! I- hrgk!”
Shaggy had to give Rita a mental tug to stop her from killing the rabbit-man. The whole fiasco had been uncomfortable, but he had survived worse. But it brought up an interesting weakness Shaggy hadn’t thought of. His senses could be too good sometimes. He was wondering how to fix the problem when the large double doors at the end of the hallway opened. Two large men were dragging a similar-sized man out the door and toward them. His pack readied themselves for a fight, but he pulled them back as the two large men stopped.
Shaggy immediately identified them as Weres. He wasn’t sure how. It was something in the way they moved and how they processed Rita and the others. Like two wolves sizing up a threat. Shaggy moved in front of Rita, head still ringing slightly. He had to physically push her back before she finally relented and slammed her sword back into its scabbard. The sound of metal scratching leather told him Vick had put away his weapon, too. Their guide’s voice spoke up behind Shaggy as the two groups watched each other.
“This is my fault. All my fault. I didn’t know the deterrent was on. I take it the last meeting wasn’t productive, Frederick?”
The bigger of the two men nodded and Shaggy saw earplugs dangle from his ears. “Yes, Mr. Xargus. Our Alpha had to deploy the deterrent again. This one didn’t seem to understand the position he was in.”
The two Weres lifted the third man between them and Shaggy saw that he was beaten pretty badly. It was all healing quickly. But neither of the guards seemed worried. The rabbit, Xargus, hesitated before moving past Shaggy and Rita. Once he was in front, he put his back to the wall of the hallway and waved toward Frederick and the other guard.
“Ahh, well, you can dump him outside. I’ll make the arrangements for everything else. Am I to assume Mr. Chasseur is free, then?”
“Yes, Mr. Xargus.” Both guards said as they started forward.
Shaggy gave a mental order for his pack to make way. He got a little push-back from Rita, but eventually they all split. Cekrass even held the door open from them. As the two big men went by, Shaggy could hear the beaten Were muttering loudly.
“Stupid… NPCs… Don’t realize who I…”
The players yammering tapered off as he was dragged out of the hallway. Shaggy nodded slowly. If there was one group of people that would try to make an end run at a strong NPC, it was Gamers. A lot of them assumed that the quickest route to power was to kill a powerful NPC. It sometimes worked. But in this case, Shaggy was sure the player had just screwed themselves. The way Vance talked, this Wayne guy was in charge of a huge number of the Austin therianthropes. You attack a king in the middle of his kingdom, and miss? You are going to want to run as far from that kingdom as possible.
Shaggy cleared his mind as he followed Xargus toward the end of the hall. Wayne’s guards had left the doors open and their rabbit guide stuck his head in before waving them through. Shaggy and the others followed inside and gawked slightly at what they were seeing. Shaggy had been expecting an office space and instead, the room they were in was closer to a mead hall. There was even a fire pit in the center of the room.
On their side of the fire pit was a large pool of red blood seeping into the hardwood floors. On the opposite side was a large wooden chair that Shaggy would’ve called a throne if it weren’t for the complete lack of frills. To either side of the fire pit were long wooden tables with Weres of all sizes seated, gazing at them. The room felt tense, probably because of what had just occurred. But the large man standing beside the throne was smiling widely as he spotted them.
Wayne was over six feet tall with broad shoulders and large black bread that covered his neck. He was dressed casually in a black shirt with some band logo on it and stained blue jeans. He had a calm air about him, but Shaggy was sure that Wayne was annoyed, even if he hid it well enough. But if Shaggy had to deal with a bunch of upstart players all the time, he’d have a headache too.
Silence filled the room as Xargus move the side. Shaggy and Wayne sized each other up for a short while. But each said nothing. Shaggy was sure that he was being evaluated and measured against every other Were that had passed through the bar. He maintained an air of detachment as he shook off the lingering effects of Wayne’s deterrent. After several minutes in silence, and with his pack getting more and more anxious, Shaggy finally decided to say something.
“So do I bow, or is the wooden throne for show?”
The air in the room went still and Shaggy saw Wayne’s eyes narrow. Several people shifted in their seats as Rita’s hand inched toward her sword. Shaggy maintained his cool and watched Wayne. The smile was still plastered on his face and Shaggy was sure it was a facade. But he couldn’t get a read on the man beneath. It was a tense few seconds before Wayne burst into a boisterous laugh.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No. Ha! You don’t have… Hehehe… To… HA HA… Bow!”
His words came out in a wheeze and Shaggy felt the tense air dissipate. His pack was still on alert. But with Wayne cackling like an idiot, Shaggy wasn’t worried. It took a while for Wayne to collecting himself, but once he didn’t he walked around the center fire pit and stuck out a hand to Shaggy. Shaggy gripped the hand and gave it a vigorous shake, not lowering his eyes from Wayne’s. Wayne maintained his grin until the handshake was dropped.
“So you are one of the new ones, huh? One of the few who came in with a pack, too.”
Shaggy nodded back toward the others. “I was told too. Is that not the norm?”
“Depends. Some think they can hide their numbers from me. Others legitimately don’t have a pack. You are one of the few to follow the directions of whatever wandering trainer advised you to seek me out.”
“Well, I figured it was a good idea. One way or the other.”
“A fair assumption.”
Xargus’ voice broke the two out of their conversation. “Mr. Chasseur.”
Wayne and Shaggy followed the voice to a nearby table. Xargus was standing near the end, laying a tan map down. The Were at the table grumbled, but picked up their food and drinks and moved. Wayne chuckled and led Shaggy over by an arm. Shaggy could feel Rita's displeasure, but he sent her calming waves. Once this was done, they could get out of here.
“So,” Wayne said, gesturing to the map. “First, we have to figure out where you and your pack are running. Once that’s done, I can explain the ‘politic structure’ of your hunting grounds.”
Wayne made air quotes around the words political structure and given the snorts coming from nearby tables. He could tell some of the Weres weren’t fans. Shaggy studied the map of Austin for a short time. There were the standards districts of Austin, but there were also large sections colored with different names on them. He assumed they were other Weres. Judging by the size and locations of the areas, there were many Weres in Austin. Mostly outside the city center, but there were even a few there as well. Shaggy found were there underground cavern was on the map, but he didn’t want to point right at it. Something must’ve shown on his face, because Wayne cackled again.
“HAHA! It doesn’t have to be exact. Just give us a broad idea of where you’ve set up shop.”
Shaggy nodded before pointing to a spot directly between Rosedale and Brentwood. It wasn’t exactly where they were, but it was close enough. Wayne’s face tightened, and he stopped smiling. Shaggy figured he knew what the issue was, but he wanted Wayne to say it.
“That’s Wild Bunch turf.”
“We’ve noticed.” Shaggy said simply.
“You know, George is a rough man. Keeps that area under his thumb pretty well.”
“We’ve been doing okay so far.”
Wayne snapped his fingers in realization. “You’re the ones that hit their drug house?”
Shaggy merely grinned and Wayne fell into laughter again. Xargus rolled the map back up and some of the Were moved back into place. Wayne clutched his stomach and gave Shaggy a heavy pat on the back. Something told Shaggy that if George was to disappear, the smiling Wayne wouldn’t give a shit.
“You got brass ones for being such a small pack. But I’d watch out for the Bunch. Most of them are animal-supremacist. George isn’t, but that doesn’t stop him from taking advantage of his people’s zealotry. Not to mention with his underground connection, he can get hold of some pretty neat hardware.”
Shaggy nodded. “Yeah. I’ve… noticed the connection.”
Wayne raised an eyebrow. But put a hand up like it wasn’t his problem.
“You’re far enough out of most territories that whatever you’ve got planned won’t affect anyone.”
“Most?”
“I think there was a Were-bear and a Were-Lion out that way. But they mostly stuck to themselves. The purist don’t touch them. So you should be fine.”
“They will not come looking for me?”
“The purist? Fuck no! So long as you stay out of the more upscale joints and don’t go into the woods on full moons. They should leave you alone for the most part.”
Shaggy caught the hitch at the end of Wayne’s sentence and raised an eyebrow. Wayne raised a hand and moved closer to Shaggy.
“There are outliers in any group and the purist have some doozies. Some even try to hunt Mutts for sport. It doesn’t often work out for them. But it’s something to watch out for.”
Shaggy nodded as Wayne turned him back toward the door they had come through. Shaggy gave Wayne another questioning look, but the big man shrugged his shoulders.
“You have removed yourself from any politics. I mean, there would be an issue of hunting rights and Purist patrols. But you aren’t really in those areas. You have George to thank for that. So all I can say is watch out for the other two Weres in your hunting grounds and try to maintain the peace. Any disputes can be brought to me for arbitration. But most prefer to fight it out. Murphy and Krumb are good neighbors who stick to themselves. So unless you have questions…”
Shaggy wracked his brain, but really he wanted to be out on the hunt again. Taking apart George’s operation. He wasn’t sure what protection Wayne was giving his pack, but Vance had seemed to trust the Mongrel leader. So Shaggy shook the man’s hand again and shrugged his shoulders.
Shaggy waved his pack out the door as he waved a hand over his shoulder. Sounds of frivolity and conversations started up again in the large room. Wayne was already talking to Xargus and Shaggy was sure he saw the rabbit pointing at the map again. But the doors shut themselves before he could get a good enough look. Once the doors were shut, Shaggy watched as they shimmered and disappeared completely. He snorted. It made sense. The large wooden room clashed with the rest of the bar.
“Fucking magic.” Shaggy muttered as he followed the others out into the bar.
The place was a little more empty, even though only thirty minutes or so had passed. Vick and Rita moved for the door as Sybil grabbed hold of Tom. The resident pain in the ass was struggling to get to the bar, but Shaggy growled and he gave up. They needed to get back to their turf, they could eat on the way. Now that they were done, they could get down to the real fun. Sure, some of them would have to watch the kids, but the rest could finally take it to the Bunch. Shaggy was so wound up for a fight that he didn’t notice the others of his pack were standing still until he ran into Cekrass.
Snapping out of it, Shaggy glanced up and followed his pack’s combined gaze across the street. Surprisingly, their illegally parked car was still there. But there was an old man, leaning up against the trunk. Shaggy growled, annoyed, and he felt his annoyance echoed from his pack, although it was for a different reason.
“Where the hell is he going to sit?!” Tom groaned.
Shaggy tried not to laugh as he rushed across the street. If the old man was here, that meant he had a job, or something had gone wrong with the last one. He skidded to a stop next to their stolen car, and he felt the others making their way toward him. Once they were altogether, Shaggy asked.
“Obadiah, what can we do for you?”
The old spook groaned as he stopped leaning on the car and stretched. Once he was done, he looked them all over.
“We need to talk about that stuff you found.”
Shaggy felt a shiver go up his spine, and he groaned. He would never have his own Gang War.
