Shaggy grit his teeth as his stomach twisted, and a pain appeared behind his eyes. He was regretting stepping through the black portal. Every inch of his body was sore as he felt his feet thump on a tiled floor. He heard the others groan from behind him as he tried to shake away the pain in his head. The trip had been way too unpleasant.
“Ha! It worked! I have to say, so far, I have only sent my minions through my portals. Tell me, how was it?”
Shaggy growled as he stopped shaking his head and started looking around for the kid. Shaggy wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he found the little bastard. But he knew it would not be a happy time. But as he looked around, Shaggy realized he was in a large square room with nothing but the metal portal at its center. The others seemed to come to themselves as shaggy spotted a small circular speaker embedded in the wall by the room’s one door.
Shaggy stomped over to the speaker and huffed at it. He really wanted to go on an angry tirade right now. But, somehow, yelling at a speaker didn’t seem like the right move. Gritting his teeth, Shaggy said.
“Where are you?”
There was the faint sound of a plastic bag opening before the kid answered. “Hmm? Oh, I’m in my room. You can’t expect me to leave just for the help, can you? No, you lot can come to me, I think.”
Shaggy growled again, and he felt his hands transform almost unbidden. As the pain receded, though, he felt a sudden surge of new anger. Turning, he saw the stony face of Rita and Cekrass, both of whom looked just as angry as him. Shaggy tried to dial back his anger and took a few calming breaths. He let his claws recede, and he did his best to find his calm place again. The pain had been amplified somehow by the pack bond, but it also helped him find his calm.
But the annoying little alien wasn’t helping things either. “Crunch… munch… Just follow the little guy, kay? See ya soon.”
There was a snap hiss as the speaker turned off and Shaggy had to fight down the urge to rip the damn thing off the wall. Then he thought about it and ripped it out, anyway. Fuck it. Probably better to destroy things than to hurt the kid. He felt a little better as the thing sparked in his hand and he sighed as he tossed it to the floor.
“Feel better?” Chromia asked, carrying a limp Sylus.
Shaggy nodded and took stock of everyone. It seemed like they had all made it through. Blobby seemed to have trouble maintaining its humanoid shape, and the others looked pale and angry. But they all were present and accounted for. He was about to suggest the rest for a minute here when the room’s wooden door swung open. Shaggy jumped back and stood ready. It was probably the kids ‘little guy’ but better safe than sorry.
As the door swung open, Shaggy kept his eyes low to see just how little this guy was. But what stepped through the doer still surprised hi, not because it was small but because it was a robot. A weird triangle-headed robot with an oblong body and tracked wheels for legs. The thing rumbled forward, pushing the door open further as it moved right in front of them. It bowed its weird triangle head and then spun on the spot, clearly meaning for them to follow it.
Shaggy looked at his crew and got a few curious looks, but in the end they all shrugged or assented to following the robot. Shaggy nodded at Ephemara, who instantly went invisible, and followed the robot out of the room. The kid had already seen her on the terminal screen, but an invisible friend in the room could always be helpful, even if your enemy knew they were there.
The armless, oblong robot lead them out of the room and into a large foyer. Shaggy got the sense that the kid was extremely rich just from his attitude, but the young technopath’s home really cemented that idea. Large, dark-wood, gold-accented walls surrounded the foyer. Two large oak doors were to their right, and a carpeted stairwell leading up to a second floor. Shaggy felt like he was in a castle as he gazed at all the tapestries and paintings hanging everywhere.
He heard Chromia suck in a breath as the robot rolled to the staircase and pointed with its triangular head again. Shaggy turned to look at everyone again, but they were all enthralled with the room’s sheer opulence. Sighing, he started up the stairs, leaving the robot and his crew behind. Soon they followed along, and Chromia pulled alongside Shaggy. The woman had transformed back into her metal form and even passed Sylus over to Cekrass. Shaggy was about to complain about the big lizard carrying too much, but Chromia cut him off, her voice filled with worry.
“I think I know whose house this is.”
Shaggy raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so who-”
“This! Way! This! Way!” a heavily modulated voice spoke up from the top of the stairs as another robot appeared.
This one looked like a creepy stick man, with a bullhorn for a mouth. It waved its skinny metal arms and stomped its spindly legs as they approached. The bullhorn mouth kept shouting over and over, even as they drew even with the thing. Chromia tried to continue the conversation as they walked, but the robot kept drowning her out. Shaggy put up a hand as both Chromia worried about mutterings and the robot’s constant shouting was giving him another headache. He would find out soon who this kid was, anyway.
The robot lead them down a series of corridors that finally ended at another large oak door. This one had a few signs on it, promising dire tidings on anyone who entered without permission. Shaggy grimaced as his brain guessed the age of their arrogant host. He really didn’t want to deal with a snobby kid, no matter who it was.
The robot knocked feebly on the door with its tube-like arms. Shaggy wasn’t sure anybody would’ve heard it, but soon the arrogant voice yelled through the door.
“You may enter!”
Shaggy grit his teeth again and shoved his way through the door. He barely had time to take in the nasty smells and the horrible state the room was in before a loud bang resounded in his ears. He felt a burning in his stomach as Shaggy realized he had been shot. Ignoring the pain, he grew his claws and threw himself to the floor. He rolled behind an enormous pile of trash and clothes and waited for his gut to heal.
“Oh, no! Come on, stand up! I want to see if the stories are true.” The technopath’s familiar voice whined.
Shaggy stood and glared hatefully at the chubby alien. The pink alien teenager was seated in a large leather chair, still munching away at some kind of food. He looked barely older than eighteen. One arm of his chair was smoking and when Shaggy looked closely, he could see a barrel concealed there. He was watching gleefully as Shaggy’s stomach healed.
Shaggy took in the rest of the room as he tried to calm himself down again. Little bastard had shot him just to watch him heal. The room was covered in black wallpaper and the large window to the outside was painted over with some kind of dark film. Posters covered the walls and the room stank of old food and sweat. Shaggy could see piles of both food and clothes strewn about everywhere. He couldn’t even find a bed and guess the fat alien boy slept in the chair he was sitting in. Behind the boy was a large bank of monitors on a giant glass desk. Shaggy could even see the computers running through everything below the desk.
“Whoa! That is so cool. Enhanced Regeneration to a degree that I think has rarely been documented. At least for a Therianthrope. Some alien species can, of course, have greater levels of regeneration. I mean, supposedly the Ultrarians can heal almost anything, but no one has injured one enough to find out.”
Shaggy ignored the kid as he stomped forward, claws showing up again. The boy seemed blissfully unaware of the doom approaching him as he went on and on about the various alien species that could heal and regrow limbs. Chromia tried to stop him, but he shook her off as he got closer and closer to the young pink alien.
“Uhh, what are you doing?” the boy asked, finally looking up at Shaggy’s face.
Shaggy gave a feral grin and kept walking closer. The boy seemed to understand his mistake as he operated his chair with a small lever on its side. The chair and the boy jolted backward into the glass desk, but could go no further.
“You can’t hurt me! Do you know who my brother is?! He won’t let you get away with it! You need me.”
Shaggy sighed. “Kid, actions have consequences. Yours and mine. Whenever you do something, you have to be prepared to accept those consequences. Once you know what your actions will bring, making decisions becomes slightly easier. So, I am going to teach you the consequences of shooting me. Knowing full well the consequences it could bring me.”
Shaggy burst forward as Chromia shouted at him to stop. The boy closed his eyes, and another gun went off as Shaggy sliced his claws forward. The boy gave an ear-piercing scream and Shaggy grunted as he was shot again. But his claws found their mark and ripped straight through the boys’ monitors. Stepping around the kid, Shaggy proceeded to cut up all the monitors and the desk. He even destroyed every computer below the desk as well. Once he was done, he turned around, brushed a hand over his shredded shirt, and grinned.
Everyone stared at him for a beat before the boy went apoplectic with rage. Chromia breathed an audible sigh of relief as Blobby, Rita, and Cekrass grinned from the doorway. The pink alien was sputtering in his chair as he looked over the destruction Shaggy had wrought. His dull pink skin even looked like it was turning red as he fumbled in his seat for something. Apparently, he found it as he raised a small black square into the air and waved it like a trophy.
“Ha! This will show you.” The boy said as he back his chair away from Shaggy. “This panic button is designed to call-”
The boy was cut off as Ephemara appeared next to him. “Yoink!”
She ripped the panic button out of the boy’s hand and crushed it. The metal casing of the button squealed in protest as Ephemara crushed it in her bare hand. Shaggy was impressed as he strolled toward the boy again. That Henchman boost really worked some magic on his new Number One.
“Now!” Shaggy said as he placed his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned into the boy’s face. “Who the hell are you, and what do you want from us?”
The teenage alien glared hatefully at Shaggy and Ephemara before he pointedly glared away from them. Clearly no longer interested in talking. Shaggy sighed and contemplated clawing the bastard’s arms up, but Chromia spoke up wearily.
“He is Donnie Raks little brother.”
Shaggy raised an eyebrow and stood up. Rita and Ephemara gasped in surprise as Blobby and Cekrass seemed more interested in studying the posters of scantily clad men and woman on the walls. The boy turned his face back toward them, an arrogant looked plastered on his face.
“That’s right, my b-big... bro runs the Raks! He-He’s going to kill everyone last one of you… for me?”
Shaggy cocked his head at the way the boy said ‘big bro’. It sounded stunted, like he had never used that phrase before. Even his declaration that they would be killed appeared more of a question than anything. Chromia snorted as she, too, picked up on his strange tone.
“Seems the rumors were true. You two Raks don’t get along much, do you?”
The petulant teenager didn’t answer. He just crossed his enormous arms across his gut and grunted angrily. Shaggy tried to put the pieces together.
“So, Donnie Raks’ estranged little brother is the Technopath the Raks used to fortify their positions in Under-Town. But the two don’t get along, and judging by the state of this kids’ room, he doesn’t get out much. So what the hell could he want from us? Does he want to leave? Does he want us to hurt his brother?”
Shaggy shifted his hands back to human and put on under his chin as he thought about things. Apparently, Ephemara and the others were deep in thought too, as the boy snorted.
“Don’t stretch your tiny brains about it. I just want to get out of here.”
Shaggy scratched his chin and stared down at the boy. “So why don’t you just leave?”
“Pfft! Have you seen me?” The younger Rak asked. “My brother says I am not fit to be seen out in society. So he locked me up in here. He let me out a few times to work on stuff for his stupid underground gang, but mostly I am locked up here.”
Shaggy nodded, but quickly stopped as he had a thought. “Holy Shit! This is Donnie Raks’ house.”
The others all froze, except for Chromia. “That’s what I was trying to tell you. His picture and the pictures of his ancestors are all over the walls of this place. We need to get out of here quickly, before he gets back.”
“Pfft. My brother won’t be back for a while. He is too busy defending the city.” The boy grumbled sarcastically from his chair.
“Defending the city from what? Is Cog still at large?”
“I would’ve been able to show you, if you hadn’t destroyed my rigs, you jumped up, dog-man!”
Shaggy nodded. “And I would have a complete shirt if you hadn’t shot me. We all got problems. How long has your brother been gone and have we tripped any security by being here?”
“Nope. I had my minions shut down everything. Soon as we leave, they’ll turn everything back on.”
“Why do you need us? Seems like you could just walk… er… roll out of here whenever you wanted.”
“Cute, metal bitch. But I need you guys to break into my brother’s vault for me. He took some of my best gear from me and keeps it in the basement vault. Whatever else you can grab hold of is yours, but I want my stuff back. Then we can go.”
Shaggy snorted. “Piece of cake, you turn off the alarm, we bust open the safe and we all get out of here.”
The boy laughed in derision. “Ha! If it was that easy, I wouldn't need you. I could bypass a technological lock easily. My brother knows this. So the vault is guarded with fucking magic. Necrotic curses, golems, arcane wards. It’s all annoying as hell.”
“Necrotic curses.” Shaggy asked, looking at his blackened shirt and newly healed torso.
The boy just grinned. Rita and Cekrass took a step toward Shaggy worriedly, but he waved them off. Shaggy noticed that Sylus was creeping around the room, studying a bookcase on the wall. He wondered what the old man was looking at, but he returned his thoughts to the problem.
“So I tank the curses, and maybe I survive. What about the wards? Golems will probably be no problem.”
“Pfft. Sure.” The boy said as he moved his chair closer to the bookcase.
He herded Sylus out of the way and started looking for something. Shaggy got a good look at the book Sylus was holding, and he stifled a laugh. The old man in pajamas got an indignant look on his face as he waved the book at Shaggy.
“Hey! There is nothing wrong with an old man liking manga, dammit! It’s culture impact is well documented and the stories are usually pretty good.”
“Battle Angels and Pretty Devils?” Chromia asked as she looked at the book in Sylus’ hand.
The white cover of the book had two young women, both an angel and devil, on it. They were both scantily clad and were engaged in what seemed to be an epic battle. Shaggy snorted again as he kept his laughter in check. Rita and Ephemara failed at stifling themselves and burst into laughter. Sylus’ face went red, but he still looked ready to argue the point. But the little Rak finally found what he was looking for.
“Leave the geriatric alone. Nothing wrong with a man of culture.” He moved his chair back to Shaggy. “Now here, I may not have much use for magic, but that doesn’t mean I can’t study it.”
He tried to place the book of notes he had found on his desk. But realizing it was broken, he moved over to his bed. Then he realized the bed was covered in clothes and looked up and the nearest person. Chromia.
Chromia sighed and shifted to her metal form. Using both of her arms, she shoved all the clothes and junk onto the floor. Shaggy grimaced as he was sure he heard something sloshing from the pile as it hit the floor. Chromia shifted back to her human form and shook her arms out, clearly disgusted.
“Thanks, toots.” The pink alien said, clearly unaware of Chromia’s disgust. “So some of my minions have gotten a look at the wards my brother paid for down near the vault. As near as I can tell, they are several trap wards, an alarm ward, and a summoning ward. Although what it summons, I can’t tell. I don’t think it’s my brother though, cause the coordinates on the ward are for a different plane. I just don’t know which one.”
“No shield wards?” Ephemara asked hopefully.
Shaggy nodded. If she could just walk in and out of the closed vault, then this entire operation would be easy. But the boy shook his head.
“None near the vault. But the vault door and the room itself are warded against people with phasing abilities and strengthened against tunneling or drilling powers. Once we get to the door, however, I have something that can get it open, which should deactivate the wards.”
“But first we have to get past the alarms and the traps.” Chromia said, nodding along.
“So that means you guys are going to do it?”
Shaggy sighed and looked at everyone. Rita and Cekrass both nodded happily. Ephemara looked at him like her answer should be obvious, which it was. Chromia looked a little worried, but also excited. Blobby burbled and wagged its tentacles happily, Shaggy thought. While Sylus was sitting on the other side of the bed reading his manga.
“The chance to rob one of the biggest gangsters in Under-Town? That is absolutely crazy and we should all have our heads examined for considering it.” Shaggy said. “But of fucking course we are doing it!”
Shaggy grit his teeth as his stomach twisted, and a pain appeared behind his eyes. He was regretting stepping through the black portal. Every inch of his body was sore as he felt his feet thump on a tiled floor. He heard the others groan from behind him as he tried to shake away the pain in his head. The trip had been way too unpleasant.
“Ha! It worked! I have to say, so far, I have only sent my minions through my portals. Tell me, how was it?”
Shaggy growled as he stopped shaking his head and started looking around for the kid. Shaggy wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he found the little bastard. But he knew it would not be a happy time. But as he looked around, Shaggy realized he was in a large square room with nothing but the metal portal at its center. The others seemed to come to themselves as shaggy spotted a small circular speaker embedded in the wall by the room’s one door.
Shaggy stomped over to the speaker and huffed at it. He really wanted to go on an angry tirade right now. But, somehow, yelling at a speaker didn’t seem like the right move. Gritting his teeth, Shaggy said.
“Where are you?”
There was the faint sound of a plastic bag opening before the kid answered. “Hmm? Oh, I’m in my room. You can’t expect me to leave just for the help, can you? No, you lot can come to me, I think.”
Shaggy growled again, and he felt his hands transform almost unbidden. As the pain receded, though, he felt a sudden surge of new anger. Turning, he saw the stony face of Rita and Cekrass, both of whom looked just as angry as him. Shaggy tried to dial back his anger and took a few calming breaths. He let his claws recede, and he did his best to find his calm place again. The pain had been amplified somehow by the pack bond, but it also helped him find his calm.
But the annoying little alien wasn’t helping things either. “Crunch… munch… Just follow the little guy, kay? See ya soon.”
There was a snap hiss as the speaker turned off and Shaggy had to fight down the urge to rip the damn thing off the wall. Then he thought about it and ripped it out, anyway. Fuck it. Probably better to destroy things than to hurt the kid. He felt a little better as the thing sparked in his hand and he sighed as he tossed it to the floor.
“Feel better?” Chromia asked, carrying a limp Sylus.
Shaggy nodded and took stock of everyone. It seemed like they had all made it through. Blobby seemed to have trouble maintaining its humanoid shape, and the others looked pale and angry. But they all were present and accounted for. He was about to suggest the rest for a minute here when the room’s wooden door swung open. Shaggy jumped back and stood ready. It was probably the kids ‘little guy’ but better safe than sorry.
As the door swung open, Shaggy kept his eyes low to see just how little this guy was. But what stepped through the doer still surprised hi, not because it was small but because it was a robot. A weird triangle-headed robot with an oblong body and tracked wheels for legs. The thing rumbled forward, pushing the door open further as it moved right in front of them. It bowed its weird triangle head and then spun on the spot, clearly meaning for them to follow it.
Shaggy looked at his crew and got a few curious looks, but in the end they all shrugged or assented to following the robot. Shaggy nodded at Ephemara, who instantly went invisible, and followed the robot out of the room. The kid had already seen her on the terminal screen, but an invisible friend in the room could always be helpful, even if your enemy knew they were there.
The armless, oblong robot lead them out of the room and into a large foyer. Shaggy got the sense that the kid was extremely rich just from his attitude, but the young technopath’s home really cemented that idea. Large, dark-wood, gold-accented walls surrounded the foyer. Two large oak doors were to their right, and a carpeted stairwell leading up to a second floor. Shaggy felt like he was in a castle as he gazed at all the tapestries and paintings hanging everywhere.
He heard Chromia suck in a breath as the robot rolled to the staircase and pointed with its triangular head again. Shaggy turned to look at everyone again, but they were all enthralled with the room’s sheer opulence. Sighing, he started up the stairs, leaving the robot and his crew behind. Soon they followed along, and Chromia pulled alongside Shaggy. The woman had transformed back into her metal form and even passed Sylus over to Cekrass. Shaggy was about to complain about the big lizard carrying too much, but Chromia cut him off, her voice filled with worry.
“I think I know whose house this is.”
Shaggy raised an eyebrow. “Okay, so who-”
“This! Way! This! Way!” a heavily modulated voice spoke up from the top of the stairs as another robot appeared.
This one looked like a creepy stick man, with a bullhorn for a mouth. It waved its skinny metal arms and stomped its spindly legs as they approached. The bullhorn mouth kept shouting over and over, even as they drew even with the thing. Chromia tried to continue the conversation as they walked, but the robot kept drowning her out. Shaggy put up a hand as both Chromia worried about mutterings and the robot’s constant shouting was giving him another headache. He would find out soon who this kid was, anyway.
The robot lead them down a series of corridors that finally ended at another large oak door. This one had a few signs on it, promising dire tidings on anyone who entered without permission. Shaggy grimaced as his brain guessed the age of their arrogant host. He really didn’t want to deal with a snobby kid, no matter who it was.
The robot knocked feebly on the door with its tube-like arms. Shaggy wasn’t sure anybody would’ve heard it, but soon the arrogant voice yelled through the door.
“You may enter!”
Shaggy grit his teeth again and shoved his way through the door. He barely had time to take in the nasty smells and the horrible state the room was in before a loud bang resounded in his ears. He felt a burning in his stomach as Shaggy realized he had been shot. Ignoring the pain, he grew his claws and threw himself to the floor. He rolled behind an enormous pile of trash and clothes and waited for his gut to heal.
“Oh, no! Come on, stand up! I want to see if the stories are true.” The technopath’s familiar voice whined.
Shaggy stood and glared hatefully at the chubby alien. The pink alien teenager was seated in a large leather chair, still munching away at some kind of food. He looked barely older than eighteen. One arm of his chair was smoking and when Shaggy looked closely, he could see a barrel concealed there. He was watching gleefully as Shaggy’s stomach healed.
Shaggy took in the rest of the room as he tried to calm himself down again. Little bastard had shot him just to watch him heal. The room was covered in black wallpaper and the large window to the outside was painted over with some kind of dark film. Posters covered the walls and the room stank of old food and sweat. Shaggy could see piles of both food and clothes strewn about everywhere. He couldn’t even find a bed and guess the fat alien boy slept in the chair he was sitting in. Behind the boy was a large bank of monitors on a giant glass desk. Shaggy could even see the computers running through everything below the desk.
“Whoa! That is so cool. Enhanced Regeneration to a degree that I think has rarely been documented. At least for a Therianthrope. Some alien species can, of course, have greater levels of regeneration. I mean, supposedly the Ultrarians can heal almost anything, but no one has injured one enough to find out.”
Shaggy ignored the kid as he stomped forward, claws showing up again. The boy seemed blissfully unaware of the doom approaching him as he went on and on about the various alien species that could heal and regrow limbs. Chromia tried to stop him, but he shook her off as he got closer and closer to the young pink alien.
“Uhh, what are you doing?” the boy asked, finally looking up at Shaggy’s face.
Shaggy gave a feral grin and kept walking closer. The boy seemed to understand his mistake as he operated his chair with a small lever on its side. The chair and the boy jolted backward into the glass desk, but could go no further.
“You can’t hurt me! Do you know who my brother is?! He won’t let you get away with it! You need me.”
Shaggy sighed. “Kid, actions have consequences. Yours and mine. Whenever you do something, you have to be prepared to accept those consequences. Once you know what your actions will bring, making decisions becomes slightly easier. So, I am going to teach you the consequences of shooting me. Knowing full well the consequences it could bring me.”
Shaggy burst forward as Chromia shouted at him to stop. The boy closed his eyes, and another gun went off as Shaggy sliced his claws forward. The boy gave an ear-piercing scream and Shaggy grunted as he was shot again. But his claws found their mark and ripped straight through the boys’ monitors. Stepping around the kid, Shaggy proceeded to cut up all the monitors and the desk. He even destroyed every computer below the desk as well. Once he was done, he turned around, brushed a hand over his shredded shirt, and grinned.
Everyone stared at him for a beat before the boy went apoplectic with rage. Chromia breathed an audible sigh of relief as Blobby, Rita, and Cekrass grinned from the doorway. The pink alien was sputtering in his chair as he looked over the destruction Shaggy had wrought. His dull pink skin even looked like it was turning red as he fumbled in his seat for something. Apparently, he found it as he raised a small black square into the air and waved it like a trophy.
“Ha! This will show you.” The boy said as he back his chair away from Shaggy. “This panic button is designed to call-”
The boy was cut off as Ephemara appeared next to him. “Yoink!”
She ripped the panic button out of the boy’s hand and crushed it. The metal casing of the button squealed in protest as Ephemara crushed it in her bare hand. Shaggy was impressed as he strolled toward the boy again. That Henchman boost really worked some magic on his new Number One.
“Now!” Shaggy said as he placed his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned into the boy’s face. “Who the hell are you, and what do you want from us?”
The teenage alien glared hatefully at Shaggy and Ephemara before he pointedly glared away from them. Clearly no longer interested in talking. Shaggy sighed and contemplated clawing the bastard’s arms up, but Chromia spoke up wearily.
“He is Donnie Raks little brother.”
Shaggy raised an eyebrow and stood up. Rita and Ephemara gasped in surprise as Blobby and Cekrass seemed more interested in studying the posters of scantily clad men and woman on the walls. The boy turned his face back toward them, an arrogant looked plastered on his face.
“That’s right, my b-big... bro runs the Raks! He-He’s going to kill everyone last one of you… for me?”
Shaggy cocked his head at the way the boy said ‘big bro’. It sounded stunted, like he had never used that phrase before. Even his declaration that they would be killed appeared more of a question than anything. Chromia snorted as she, too, picked up on his strange tone.
“Seems the rumors were true. You two Raks don’t get along much, do you?”
The petulant teenager didn’t answer. He just crossed his enormous arms across his gut and grunted angrily. Shaggy tried to put the pieces together.
“So, Donnie Raks’ estranged little brother is the Technopath the Raks used to fortify their positions in Under-Town. But the two don’t get along, and judging by the state of this kids’ room, he doesn’t get out much. So what the hell could he want from us? Does he want to leave? Does he want us to hurt his brother?”
Shaggy shifted his hands back to human and put on under his chin as he thought about things. Apparently, Ephemara and the others were deep in thought too, as the boy snorted.
“Don’t stretch your tiny brains about it. I just want to get out of here.”
Shaggy scratched his chin and stared down at the boy. “So why don’t you just leave?”
“Pfft! Have you seen me?” The younger Rak asked. “My brother says I am not fit to be seen out in society. So he locked me up in here. He let me out a few times to work on stuff for his stupid underground gang, but mostly I am locked up here.”
Shaggy nodded, but quickly stopped as he had a thought. “Holy Shit! This is Donnie Raks’ house.”
The others all froze, except for Chromia. “That’s what I was trying to tell you. His picture and the pictures of his ancestors are all over the walls of this place. We need to get out of here quickly, before he gets back.”
“Pfft. My brother won’t be back for a while. He is too busy defending the city.” The boy grumbled sarcastically from his chair.
“Defending the city from what? Is Cog still at large?”
“I would’ve been able to show you, if you hadn’t destroyed my rigs, you jumped up, dog-man!”
Shaggy nodded. “And I would have a complete shirt if you hadn’t shot me. We all got problems. How long has your brother been gone and have we tripped any security by being here?”
“Nope. I had my minions shut down everything. Soon as we leave, they’ll turn everything back on.”
“Why do you need us? Seems like you could just walk… er… roll out of here whenever you wanted.”
“Cute, metal bitch. But I need you guys to break into my brother’s vault for me. He took some of my best gear from me and keeps it in the basement vault. Whatever else you can grab hold of is yours, but I want my stuff back. Then we can go.”
Shaggy snorted. “Piece of cake, you turn off the alarm, we bust open the safe and we all get out of here.”
The boy laughed in derision. “Ha! If it was that easy, I wouldn't need you. I could bypass a technological lock easily. My brother knows this. So the vault is guarded with fucking magic. Necrotic curses, golems, arcane wards. It’s all annoying as hell.”
“Necrotic curses.” Shaggy asked, looking at his blackened shirt and newly healed torso.
The boy just grinned. Rita and Cekrass took a step toward Shaggy worriedly, but he waved them off. Shaggy noticed that Sylus was creeping around the room, studying a bookcase on the wall. He wondered what the old man was looking at, but he returned his thoughts to the problem.
“So I tank the curses, and maybe I survive. What about the wards? Golems will probably be no problem.”
“Pfft. Sure.” The boy said as he moved his chair closer to the bookcase.
He herded Sylus out of the way and started looking for something. Shaggy got a good look at the book Sylus was holding, and he stifled a laugh. The old man in pajamas got an indignant look on his face as he waved the book at Shaggy.
“Hey! There is nothing wrong with an old man liking manga, dammit! It’s culture impact is well documented and the stories are usually pretty good.”
“Battle Angels and Pretty Devils?” Chromia asked as she looked at the book in Sylus’ hand.
The white cover of the book had two young women, both an angel and devil, on it. They were both scantily clad and were engaged in what seemed to be an epic battle. Shaggy snorted again as he kept his laughter in check. Rita and Ephemara failed at stifling themselves and burst into laughter. Sylus’ face went red, but he still looked ready to argue the point. But the little Rak finally found what he was looking for.
“Leave the geriatric alone. Nothing wrong with a man of culture.” He moved his chair back to Shaggy. “Now here, I may not have much use for magic, but that doesn’t mean I can’t study it.”
He tried to place the book of notes he had found on his desk. But realizing it was broken, he moved over to his bed. Then he realized the bed was covered in clothes and looked up and the nearest person. Chromia.
Chromia sighed and shifted to her metal form. Using both of her arms, she shoved all the clothes and junk onto the floor. Shaggy grimaced as he was sure he heard something sloshing from the pile as it hit the floor. Chromia shifted back to her human form and shook her arms out, clearly disgusted.
“Thanks, toots.” The pink alien said, clearly unaware of Chromia’s disgust. “So some of my minions have gotten a look at the wards my brother paid for down near the vault. As near as I can tell, they are several trap wards, an alarm ward, and a summoning ward. Although what it summons, I can’t tell. I don’t think it’s my brother though, cause the coordinates on the ward are for a different plane. I just don’t know which one.”
“No shield wards?” Ephemara asked hopefully.
Shaggy nodded. If she could just walk in and out of the closed vault, then this entire operation would be easy. But the boy shook his head.
“None near the vault. But the vault door and the room itself are warded against people with phasing abilities and strengthened against tunneling or drilling powers. Once we get to the door, however, I have something that can get it open, which should deactivate the wards.”
“But first we have to get past the alarms and the traps.” Chromia said, nodding along.
“So that means you guys are going to do it?”
Shaggy sighed and looked at everyone. Rita and Cekrass both nodded happily. Ephemara looked at him like her answer should be obvious, which it was. Chromia looked a little worried, but also excited. Blobby burbled and wagged its tentacles happily, Shaggy thought. While Sylus was sitting on the other side of the bed reading his manga.
“The chance to rob one of the biggest gangsters in Under-Town? That is absolutely crazy and we should all have our heads examined for considering it.” Shaggy said. “But of fucking course we are doing it!”
