Fifteen. Fifteen kids joined them as they marched down the street. Shaggy imagined they looked like a damn school outing. Just with more pipes and baseball bats. Soon, Luis and Shaggy had the kids stagger themselves. That way, they weren’t so suspicious. Although Shaggy was sure his APD minders were already reporting his use of teenage soldiers.
Levy didn’t seem to mind the cavalcade of teens that wound up following them. She was even in spirited discussion with Mariposa as they walked. Rita and Sybil also struck up conversations with the eager young thugs. Shaggy wanted to groan.
He had wanted them to stay light and compact. But now they were marching into another gang’s territory en mass. Although, he guessed that was one way to accomplish their goals. It also looked like Mariposa and Luis weren’t the only pair of kids that had some powers. Some were showing off energy beams, while others were sporting various physical mutations. Shaggy had his head together, with Luis trying to piece together what they were in for.
“So we are marching straight into their turf with bats and pipes and they are going to have guns?”
Luis shrugged. “Yea. I don’t know where George got the hook-up, but he got it.”
“You know some of your friends are going to die, right?”
“Hey, that’s the rule of the streets. But we ain’t going to throw ourselves into the mix right away, y’know?”
“Well, at least you have some self-preservation.”
A large slab of rock jutted up from the sidewalk they were walking on and stood right in Shaggy’s path. The werewolf gave a put-upon sigh and smashed through the tiny blockade. After the brittle bit of stonework fell apart, Shaggy turned to a light purple humanoid that was chuckling.
“Damn it, Marvin! You do that one more time and I’m gonna use you to break the damn thing!”
The teen alien just grinned and waved Shaggy away. Not intimidated in the slightest.
“Well, some of you seem to.” Shaggy groaned as he shook out his fist.
The little alien mutant had taken to throwing up barriers in front of people as a joke. Some of his teenage friends took it as a challenge. Others, like Shaggy, saw it for the massive annoyance it was. He had to break down three of the damn things so far, and they had only been walking for twenty minutes.
Cekrass and the Snatch and Grab team had taken the car. Which Shaggy figured made sense, but they really should’ve discussed it. Not being able to drag this many kids on a raid would’ve maybe stopped a few of them. Then again, they probably would’ve just walked and Shaggy and his crew would’ve been first on the scene. Which could’ve saved a few of their digital lives.
“So tell me again about this warehouse.” Shaggy grunted as they walked.
“It’s a drug house pretty much. Most people around here know about it, but no one wants to touch it and draw George’s wrath. You want to make a statement, you hit him there and you’ll have his attention.”
Shaggy nodded and scratched his chin. “Sounds like what we are looking for. What drugs? Glow?”
Luis shrugged. “No idea. But whatever it is, I’m sure you can turn it around and sell it pretty quickly. Of course, you’d have to find your own cooks and packaging people. My boys aren’t going to spend all their time packing drugs. They want to fight.”
“Meh. We aren’t in the drug game. For now, at least. So this is a seek and destroy mission. What does the warehouse look like?”
“Brick building. About one story tall, probably got a basement. Long square thing, though. It takes up the entire block.”
“Can you take you and yours around to one side, while my crew marches through the other side?” Shaggy asked.
“Why?” Luis asked, looking offended.
Shaggy sighed. “Because I don’t know what you kids are capable of, and you are all loaded with pipes and bats. If you run into a group of gunmen, you’re gonna get shot to shit.”
Luis snorted and transformed into his translucent ice form. His light-blue ice covering glinted in the light of the setting sun. Shaggy sighed and shifted his hand into a claw and got ready to poke Luis in the chest. But one of Marvin’s stone walls appeared in front of him and Shaggy quickly pounced.
The purple alien was grinning right until he realized that Shaggy, claws and all, was aimed right at him. Shaggy saw the hint of fear appear on the kid’s face as he tried to summon another wall. But suddenly, Shaggy was there and dragging the slightly taller alien toward the slab of stone. The rest of the teens all stopped as Marvin screamed for his life.
“Come on, dude! It was a joke! You can’t take a fucking joke!”
“Yep, and it was funny as hell. Now you have to deal with the consequences. I warned ya.”
Shaggy gripped the back of the kid’s shirt and thrust his head forward into the stone slab. Marvin flailed his arm, trying to dismiss his stone wall, but he was too late. There was a loud thud and a flash of light, then a head-sized crater appeared in the wall. Shaggy blinked as his Enhanced Focus caught a clear bubble appear around Marvin’s head. Shaggy glanced at his wife and saw her shooting him a saucy grin.
He had wanted to scare the little shit a bit and then let the kid go. But if his wife was using a protection charm or something, then he was going to go all out. He reared back again and jammed Marvin’s still screaming head into the slab of stone. There was another flash of light and the stone broke and collapsed onto Marvin’s limp form. Whatever protection Levy had given him seemed to only cushion the impact.
Shaggy dropped the teen on the street and dusted his hands off. It was then that he noticed Sybil and Rita holding a few other teens back. The various aliens and humans were shooting him dirty looks and Shaggy raised his claws and grinned, showing his sharp teeth.
“Any of you other little shits want to test me?”
He waited several beats as Rita and Sybil stopped holding some kids back. But no one else stepped forward. They didn’t stop their looks, but Shaggy just waved them off and started walking forward again. Levy, Sybil, and Rita all followed along as there was a rush of footsteps behind them. Mariposa and Luis joined them quickly, but Shaggy was sure some of Marvin’s friends were trying to get their friend up.
“Was that… uh… smart?” Luis asked, somewhat quietly.
Shaggy shrugged. “If they can’t handle that, then what’s about to happen is going to be a hundred times worse for them.”
“And they won’t have a shield spell helping them,” Levy added. “By the way, you would’ve popped his head like a grape, you know?”
“Meh, I was just going to scare him a little. A bunch of them are going to die here soon, you know. A little late to care now.”
Levy gave her own shrug. “Maybe but, can you not piss off our meat shields before we get there?”
“Speaking of Luis, Mariposa, whenever you point out the warehouse, take the others around the back. I doubt they’d listen to me and it’ll keep them out of the way.”
“You know a shield works best if it’s in front of you, right?” Levy asked as Luis nodded silently.
Shaggy rubbed a hand down his face. “I get that, but I’m not looking to have a bunch of kids run straight at gunfire.”
“But head trauma’s okay?” Rita asked, looking back at the teens still following them.
“Bah!” Shaggy waved her off. “Head trauma builds character. Plus, like I said, they are going to get a lot worse here soon.”
“So that means you’ll be my shield?” Levy asked, pointedly.
Shaggy sighed. “I’ll try. But it’s going to be a fight, sweetheart. I am better up close and dealing with major threats.”
“I got ya, Boss-lady.” Sybil said, tapping her guns. “I’m the only long range here since we don’t have Vick. I’ll cover you if you cover me.”
“Thank you, Sybil.”
The others fell into quiet conversation as they walked on. The shuffle of feet behind them told Shaggy that their train of teens of was dutifully following along. He could even see other groups of teens marching ahead and across the street from them. They weren’t as bunched up as before, but they were for sure moving in force. Shaggy sighed and stretched as he looked at the brick buildings.
They were in a more metropolitan area than where their own apartment building was located. Even if they were only a few blocks away. Office buildings and coffee shops dotted the streets as cars zoomed this way and that. People crossed the street to avoid their group, but Shaggy ignored most of them. He spotted a few people on their phones, but he just silently prayed that Xelthub was handling on the police calls for them.
Supposedly, their police minders were watching everything going down. So the fact that a bunch of cops hadn’t pulled up to stop them could be taken as tacit approval. If Shaggy was a betting werewolf, he would say that the cops figured Luis and his cronies were less of a threat than George’s crew. All the kids probably had their faces scanned by the camera’s Shaggy and his crew were wearing already. So they would probably be picked up at a later date.
That was another reason Shaggy didn’t want the kids near them during the raid. If any of those kids got caught on camera committing a crime, they didn’t have the same protection as Shaggy’s group. If things went like he was expecting, a lot of crime was going to happen tonight. Shaggy and his group were under orders to pull their punches. The kids weren’t.
After the sun dipped behind some of the taller buildings, Shaggy spotted a squat warehouse cradled between two buildings. It looked like a large storage unit. It had multiple roll-up doors and large white trucks along one wall. The chain-link fence surrounding the front of the building looked worn and was even leaning in some places. Shaggy thought he spotted a few guards out front, but their dark clothes and the setting sun didn’t help his vision.
Luis gave a sharp whistle and started waving his hands for the other teens to join them. Shaggy grimaced and groaned loudly as their small group became a bigger. Making them stand out even more on the street. Mariposa saw the problem and smacked Luis in the stomach. Shaggy coughed loudly, interrupting the pair before they could fall into another fight. When they both looked at him, he made a circle with his right index finger, then pointed at them. Luis tilted his head, confused, but Mariposa seemed to get it and started shepherding the teens around the building.
“Smart girl.” Rita said.
“One behind every man.” Levy added.
“Or three.” Sybil said.
Shaggy sighed and ignored the peanut gallery as he marched toward the warehouse. He had no illusions that their approach had been hidden in the slightest. In fact, a few more guards had even come out of the warehouse and were staring Shaggy down. He ignored them as he passed the fence, feeling a wave of hot air wash over him. He turned to his wife.
Levy was standing just on the other side of the fence and studying the air. After a few seconds, she stepped forward and sighed.
“Alarm ward. If they didn’t know before…”
“They do now.” Shaggy cracked his knuckles and continued as Rita joined him and Sybil and Levy followed a few steps behind.
A large man in a black T-shirt and wearing an ear-mic moved to intercept them and Shaggy grinned as the other guards watched with smug looks on their faces. He was being underestimated. He loved when that happened. Shame the others weren’t close enough for him to attack, though. Then an idea struck him and he smiled at the oncoming guard.
“This is private property. I’m gonna have to ask you and your kids to run along.” The guard crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared down at Shaggy.
Normally, Shaggy would have diced the fucker and kept moving. But since they were here in an actual cop adjacent capacity, he went less-than-lethal. Still smiling, he jabbed his hands forward and grabbed the guard by his pants and lifted. He felt Rita charge with him as he ran toward the other group of guard, using the first one as a shield.
The guard shouted in surprise and anger as Shaggy charged. Several weak punches landed on Shaggy’s head and shoulders as he rushed forward a few more steps and then released. The man’s momentum carried him toward the others. Rita continued to charge forward, stun baton in hand as Sybil opened fire along with a few dark purple spells from Levy.
Shaggy took a second to take in the scene before he charged in himself. He left his batons hanging by his side as he dove into the mass of bodies with Rita. He didn’t want to risk hitting the older woman with one, and he was more than happy to slam his fists into the surprised faces of the guards.
Between the four of them, they made quick work of the five human guards. Shaggy was almost disappointed as he slammed his forehead into the nose of the last guard. It was all way too easy. He briefly wondered if the kids had led them to a random warehouse. But the sudden appearance of another guard took up his attention.
The red and yellow alien was suddenly within their midst and Rita gave a shout of surprise as the blur slammed into her. Shaggy groaned at the thought of a speedster, but an indistinct murmur from Levy and the alien was lifted bodily into the air. Shaggy didn’t have enough time to act as several blue pulses of energy slammed into the floating alien. The yellow and red alien slumped over in mid-air and Levy gave a little cheer.
“I’d never tried that before!” Levy grinned.
Shaggy chuckled as he offered Rita a hand up. “You good, Rita?”
“I’m fine. Little shit, just got the drop on me. Let’s keep going.”
The woman gripped Shaggy’s hand, and he brought her up as the other moved toward the door. Levy sent a swirl of purple and black energy at the open door as they approached. Shaggy didn’t see anyone, but he figured she was covering the door. Sybil joined in and right before they hit the door, a burly… gorilla appeared in the doorway.
Sybil’s shots and Levy’s magic pelted the large, furry body, but it seemed unfazed. The gorilla roared in annoyance at them. Shaggy pounced forward, slamming into the larger body and sending them both careening into the warehouse. The gorilla gave a startled gargle as Shaggy’s dense body hit him full in the chest as they slammed into the ground. Shaggy slammed his fist into the gorilla’s face, waiting for it to bite or toss him aside.
Thick hands reached up and Shaggy immediately tried to jump off. But the gorilla’s feet were waiting for him. He was grabbed, and the Gorilla rolled upward, taking Shaggy with him. Shaggy caught a brief look at his wife and friend’s faces before he was taking through a complete three-sixty and then tossed aside.
Shaggy felt his body slam into several wooden things as his pack and wife shouted. He felt his ribs break and then reform as he stood. The APD’s vest gave some protection, but it wasn’t anything special. He pulled himself out of the pile of wooden crates he had slammed into and got ready to charge back into the fight.
But between Rita’s batons, Sybil’s sustained fire, and Levy holding the giant gorilla in place with some black tendrils, the girls were doing fine. Shaggy spun and took in the whole warehouse. It was around fifteen feet high, but it went back hundreds of feet. Shaggy sighed as he saw more aliens rushing toward them, along with a few more animals.
“What is with the animals?” Shaggy wondered as he rushed forward.
“We have incoming!” Shaggy shouted as he gripped a nearby crate and tried to toss it.
The empty crate came up off the ground easily enough, and Shaggy tossed it ahead of him. Several of the charging aliens scattered as the wooden crate splintered on impact and sent pieces of wood flying. A large black cat whizzed around the debris and charged straight at Shaggy.
He dodged and gripped the baton at his hip. Shaggy brought the baton up and flicked the switch as the panther-like animal spun and attacked again. Its paws came up and Shaggy darted in with the end of the baton, electricity sparking. Shaggy thought he saw scales on the belly of the cat as it gave a loud yowl and jumped away.
Shaggy felt someone closing behind him and quickly dove away. He wasn’t sure if it was an in-game skill or just his natural instincts. But they proved true as gun fire opened up right where he had been standing. A few stray bullets hit the large black cat, and it yowled again and took off. Shaggy ignored the cat and tried to find the shooter, finding a woman holding a sub-machine gun and blasting a way toward him.
Luckily, she didn’t seem to know how to aim as he slid behind a few crates. Bullets rained down around him, and he sighed as he readjusted his vest. Screams, gunshots, and smoke filled the air as Shaggy waited for the woman’s gun to run dry. Sure, he could probably rush the woman and rely on his regeneration, but he didn’t know how long this fight would last. Best to conserve his trump card.
Soon the bullets stopped and Shaggy took a chance to glance around the crate. Another loud bang went off near his head and Shaggy saw that the woman had been joined by a few others. Shaggy grunted and threw himself toward more crates. Bullets went off and the cement floor of the warehouse came up in pieces as hot lead pinged off the ground. Shaggy came out in a roll next to a few more crates as renewed gunfire filled his ears.
He sighed as he checked on the others. Rita was fighting a damn kangaroo, as Levy shielded herself and Sybil in a bubble of black magic. Sybil was firing out of the bubble with impunity. Both of his pack mates sent him affirmative feelings, which he understood to mean that they were fine. So he turned back to his own problem and made a decision.
Placing his hands on either side of the crate in front of him, he lifted and charged forward. Almost immediately, his legs were targeted. A few bullets pierced the meat of his thighs, but he grit his teeth and ignored the pain as he rushed forward with his crate shield. He had to gauge the distance, but once the bullets slowed, he figured he was close enough and thrust the crate forward.
Shaggy kept running as he saw multiple shooters scatter away from the flying crate. He darted in and started stabbing with the end of his baton. The electric tip caught the sub-machine gun woman right in her throat and she went down in a jerking heap. Shaggy dashed into the mass of shooters with impunity. A few got their pistols up in time to shoot, but his healing took care of the few hits.
Shaggy grinned as he felt they were doing well. But a sudden pain hit him in the side and he was lifted off his feet and thrown onto his back. The panther-thing was back, and it had pounced on top of Shaggy. He could see its weird green claws coming down toward his face and he threw the baton up in a wild block. The metal baton bent and sparked as the massive claws crunched into it. Shaggy grunted and kicked out, sending the black cat sprawling across the floor.
It yowled as it right itself and Shaggy stood. He had assumed the damn thing would run off after being shot, but apparently it had been trained very well. Shaggy threw the baton from his hands as the cat circled him. Shaggy circled as well, trying to keep the enormous animal in front of him. But a sudden yell from next to him brought Shaggy around to see a brown alien with four eyes firing at him with a pistol.
Several shots hit Shaggy in the side and he grunted as the cat launched itself. The cat’s paws hit Shaggy in the chest and tried to rake across his vest. Shaggy gripped the claws as and tried to keep them at bay. But his shooter rushed forward, aiming his pistol downward at Shaggy’s head. Shaggy gave a grunt and slid his body down along the cement floor under the panther-cat, doing his best to put the cat in the way of the bullets.
By the sound of the cat’s pained yowls, he had succeeded. In fact, the cat slumped down on top of him and Shaggy had to roll out. Shaggy came up onto a knee as the cat gave another loud yowl and fully collapsed. But his attention went back to the shooter as the sound of a gun clicking empty filled his ears.
Shaggy grinned at the brown alien and rushed forward. His opponent threw the gun away and tried for a punch, but Shaggy dodged the slow jab and slammed an uppercut into the alien’s chin. The man’s head jerked backward, and he collapsed almost instantly. Shaggy tsked as he checked the surroundings again. Even more people were filling the warehouse now, and Shaggy briefly wondered where they had come from. But a fresh batch of yelling filled the warehouse as another group of people came charging at them.
Shaggy sighed, but then he noticed that this new batch was full of teenagers and he grinned. Soon he spotted Luis’s frozen form slamming into the back of a man with a rifle. Nearby, Mariposa was holding her hands out as flames engulfed several other nearby shooters. Luis’s group of teens had snuck right up to the backs of several shooters and they were making short work of them.
Shaggy grinned as he drew his other baton and charged back into the melee. So far, the warehouse had been full of minions and animals, but he was sure a boss fight was coming. It was only a matter of time. Then they could divvy up the rewards and split before the police arrived. He didn’t know how the after action stuff was supposed to work. But he figured he could deal with that later. It couldn’t be that much of a headache, could it?
Fifteen. Fifteen kids joined them as they marched down the street. Shaggy imagined they looked like a damn school outing. Just with more pipes and baseball bats. Soon, Luis and Shaggy had the kids stagger themselves. That way, they weren’t so suspicious. Although Shaggy was sure his APD minders were already reporting his use of teenage soldiers.
Levy didn’t seem to mind the cavalcade of teens that wound up following them. She was even in spirited discussion with Mariposa as they walked. Rita and Sybil also struck up conversations with the eager young thugs. Shaggy wanted to groan.
He had wanted them to stay light and compact. But now they were marching into another gang’s territory en mass. Although, he guessed that was one way to accomplish their goals. It also looked like Mariposa and Luis weren’t the only pair of kids that had some powers. Some were showing off energy beams, while others were sporting various physical mutations. Shaggy had his head together, with Luis trying to piece together what they were in for.
“So we are marching straight into their turf with bats and pipes and they are going to have guns?”
Luis shrugged. “Yea. I don’t know where George got the hook-up, but he got it.”
“You know some of your friends are going to die, right?”
“Hey, that’s the rule of the streets. But we ain’t going to throw ourselves into the mix right away, y’know?”
“Well, at least you have some self-preservation.”
A large slab of rock jutted up from the sidewalk they were walking on and stood right in Shaggy’s path. The werewolf gave a put-upon sigh and smashed through the tiny blockade. After the brittle bit of stonework fell apart, Shaggy turned to a light purple humanoid that was chuckling.
“Damn it, Marvin! You do that one more time and I’m gonna use you to break the damn thing!”
The teen alien just grinned and waved Shaggy away. Not intimidated in the slightest.
“Well, some of you seem to.” Shaggy groaned as he shook out his fist.
The little alien mutant had taken to throwing up barriers in front of people as a joke. Some of his teenage friends took it as a challenge. Others, like Shaggy, saw it for the massive annoyance it was. He had to break down three of the damn things so far, and they had only been walking for twenty minutes.
Cekrass and the Snatch and Grab team had taken the car. Which Shaggy figured made sense, but they really should’ve discussed it. Not being able to drag this many kids on a raid would’ve maybe stopped a few of them. Then again, they probably would’ve just walked and Shaggy and his crew would’ve been first on the scene. Which could’ve saved a few of their digital lives.
“So tell me again about this warehouse.” Shaggy grunted as they walked.
“It’s a drug house pretty much. Most people around here know about it, but no one wants to touch it and draw George’s wrath. You want to make a statement, you hit him there and you’ll have his attention.”
Shaggy nodded and scratched his chin. “Sounds like what we are looking for. What drugs? Glow?”
Luis shrugged. “No idea. But whatever it is, I’m sure you can turn it around and sell it pretty quickly. Of course, you’d have to find your own cooks and packaging people. My boys aren’t going to spend all their time packing drugs. They want to fight.”
“Meh. We aren’t in the drug game. For now, at least. So this is a seek and destroy mission. What does the warehouse look like?”
“Brick building. About one story tall, probably got a basement. Long square thing, though. It takes up the entire block.”
“Can you take you and yours around to one side, while my crew marches through the other side?” Shaggy asked.
“Why?” Luis asked, looking offended.
Shaggy sighed. “Because I don’t know what you kids are capable of, and you are all loaded with pipes and bats. If you run into a group of gunmen, you’re gonna get shot to shit.”
Luis snorted and transformed into his translucent ice form. His light-blue ice covering glinted in the light of the setting sun. Shaggy sighed and shifted his hand into a claw and got ready to poke Luis in the chest. But one of Marvin’s stone walls appeared in front of him and Shaggy quickly pounced.
The purple alien was grinning right until he realized that Shaggy, claws and all, was aimed right at him. Shaggy saw the hint of fear appear on the kid’s face as he tried to summon another wall. But suddenly, Shaggy was there and dragging the slightly taller alien toward the slab of stone. The rest of the teens all stopped as Marvin screamed for his life.
“Come on, dude! It was a joke! You can’t take a fucking joke!”
“Yep, and it was funny as hell. Now you have to deal with the consequences. I warned ya.”
Shaggy gripped the back of the kid’s shirt and thrust his head forward into the stone slab. Marvin flailed his arm, trying to dismiss his stone wall, but he was too late. There was a loud thud and a flash of light, then a head-sized crater appeared in the wall. Shaggy blinked as his Enhanced Focus caught a clear bubble appear around Marvin’s head. Shaggy glanced at his wife and saw her shooting him a saucy grin.
He had wanted to scare the little shit a bit and then let the kid go. But if his wife was using a protection charm or something, then he was going to go all out. He reared back again and jammed Marvin’s still screaming head into the slab of stone. There was another flash of light and the stone broke and collapsed onto Marvin’s limp form. Whatever protection Levy had given him seemed to only cushion the impact.
Shaggy dropped the teen on the street and dusted his hands off. It was then that he noticed Sybil and Rita holding a few other teens back. The various aliens and humans were shooting him dirty looks and Shaggy raised his claws and grinned, showing his sharp teeth.
“Any of you other little shits want to test me?”
He waited several beats as Rita and Sybil stopped holding some kids back. But no one else stepped forward. They didn’t stop their looks, but Shaggy just waved them off and started walking forward again. Levy, Sybil, and Rita all followed along as there was a rush of footsteps behind them. Mariposa and Luis joined them quickly, but Shaggy was sure some of Marvin’s friends were trying to get their friend up.
“Was that… uh… smart?” Luis asked, somewhat quietly.
Shaggy shrugged. “If they can’t handle that, then what’s about to happen is going to be a hundred times worse for them.”
“And they won’t have a shield spell helping them,” Levy added. “By the way, you would’ve popped his head like a grape, you know?”
“Meh, I was just going to scare him a little. A bunch of them are going to die here soon, you know. A little late to care now.”
Levy gave her own shrug. “Maybe but, can you not piss off our meat shields before we get there?”
“Speaking of Luis, Mariposa, whenever you point out the warehouse, take the others around the back. I doubt they’d listen to me and it’ll keep them out of the way.”
“You know a shield works best if it’s in front of you, right?” Levy asked as Luis nodded silently.
Shaggy rubbed a hand down his face. “I get that, but I’m not looking to have a bunch of kids run straight at gunfire.”
“But head trauma’s okay?” Rita asked, looking back at the teens still following them.
“Bah!” Shaggy waved her off. “Head trauma builds character. Plus, like I said, they are going to get a lot worse here soon.”
“So that means you’ll be my shield?” Levy asked, pointedly.
Shaggy sighed. “I’ll try. But it’s going to be a fight, sweetheart. I am better up close and dealing with major threats.”
“I got ya, Boss-lady.” Sybil said, tapping her guns. “I’m the only long range here since we don’t have Vick. I’ll cover you if you cover me.”
“Thank you, Sybil.”
The others fell into quiet conversation as they walked on. The shuffle of feet behind them told Shaggy that their train of teens of was dutifully following along. He could even see other groups of teens marching ahead and across the street from them. They weren’t as bunched up as before, but they were for sure moving in force. Shaggy sighed and stretched as he looked at the brick buildings.
They were in a more metropolitan area than where their own apartment building was located. Even if they were only a few blocks away. Office buildings and coffee shops dotted the streets as cars zoomed this way and that. People crossed the street to avoid their group, but Shaggy ignored most of them. He spotted a few people on their phones, but he just silently prayed that Xelthub was handling on the police calls for them.
Supposedly, their police minders were watching everything going down. So the fact that a bunch of cops hadn’t pulled up to stop them could be taken as tacit approval. If Shaggy was a betting werewolf, he would say that the cops figured Luis and his cronies were less of a threat than George’s crew. All the kids probably had their faces scanned by the camera’s Shaggy and his crew were wearing already. So they would probably be picked up at a later date.
That was another reason Shaggy didn’t want the kids near them during the raid. If any of those kids got caught on camera committing a crime, they didn’t have the same protection as Shaggy’s group. If things went like he was expecting, a lot of crime was going to happen tonight. Shaggy and his group were under orders to pull their punches. The kids weren’t.
After the sun dipped behind some of the taller buildings, Shaggy spotted a squat warehouse cradled between two buildings. It looked like a large storage unit. It had multiple roll-up doors and large white trucks along one wall. The chain-link fence surrounding the front of the building looked worn and was even leaning in some places. Shaggy thought he spotted a few guards out front, but their dark clothes and the setting sun didn’t help his vision.
Luis gave a sharp whistle and started waving his hands for the other teens to join them. Shaggy grimaced and groaned loudly as their small group became a bigger. Making them stand out even more on the street. Mariposa saw the problem and smacked Luis in the stomach. Shaggy coughed loudly, interrupting the pair before they could fall into another fight. When they both looked at him, he made a circle with his right index finger, then pointed at them. Luis tilted his head, confused, but Mariposa seemed to get it and started shepherding the teens around the building.
“Smart girl.” Rita said.
“One behind every man.” Levy added.
“Or three.” Sybil said.
Shaggy sighed and ignored the peanut gallery as he marched toward the warehouse. He had no illusions that their approach had been hidden in the slightest. In fact, a few more guards had even come out of the warehouse and were staring Shaggy down. He ignored them as he passed the fence, feeling a wave of hot air wash over him. He turned to his wife.
Levy was standing just on the other side of the fence and studying the air. After a few seconds, she stepped forward and sighed.
“Alarm ward. If they didn’t know before…”
“They do now.” Shaggy cracked his knuckles and continued as Rita joined him and Sybil and Levy followed a few steps behind.
A large man in a black T-shirt and wearing an ear-mic moved to intercept them and Shaggy grinned as the other guards watched with smug looks on their faces. He was being underestimated. He loved when that happened. Shame the others weren’t close enough for him to attack, though. Then an idea struck him and he smiled at the oncoming guard.
“This is private property. I’m gonna have to ask you and your kids to run along.” The guard crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared down at Shaggy.
Normally, Shaggy would have diced the fucker and kept moving. But since they were here in an actual cop adjacent capacity, he went less-than-lethal. Still smiling, he jabbed his hands forward and grabbed the guard by his pants and lifted. He felt Rita charge with him as he ran toward the other group of guard, using the first one as a shield.
The guard shouted in surprise and anger as Shaggy charged. Several weak punches landed on Shaggy’s head and shoulders as he rushed forward a few more steps and then released. The man’s momentum carried him toward the others. Rita continued to charge forward, stun baton in hand as Sybil opened fire along with a few dark purple spells from Levy.
Shaggy took a second to take in the scene before he charged in himself. He left his batons hanging by his side as he dove into the mass of bodies with Rita. He didn’t want to risk hitting the older woman with one, and he was more than happy to slam his fists into the surprised faces of the guards.
Between the four of them, they made quick work of the five human guards. Shaggy was almost disappointed as he slammed his forehead into the nose of the last guard. It was all way too easy. He briefly wondered if the kids had led them to a random warehouse. But the sudden appearance of another guard took up his attention.
The red and yellow alien was suddenly within their midst and Rita gave a shout of surprise as the blur slammed into her. Shaggy groaned at the thought of a speedster, but an indistinct murmur from Levy and the alien was lifted bodily into the air. Shaggy didn’t have enough time to act as several blue pulses of energy slammed into the floating alien. The yellow and red alien slumped over in mid-air and Levy gave a little cheer.
“I’d never tried that before!” Levy grinned.
Shaggy chuckled as he offered Rita a hand up. “You good, Rita?”
“I’m fine. Little shit, just got the drop on me. Let’s keep going.”
The woman gripped Shaggy’s hand, and he brought her up as the other moved toward the door. Levy sent a swirl of purple and black energy at the open door as they approached. Shaggy didn’t see anyone, but he figured she was covering the door. Sybil joined in and right before they hit the door, a burly… gorilla appeared in the doorway.
Sybil’s shots and Levy’s magic pelted the large, furry body, but it seemed unfazed. The gorilla roared in annoyance at them. Shaggy pounced forward, slamming into the larger body and sending them both careening into the warehouse. The gorilla gave a startled gargle as Shaggy’s dense body hit him full in the chest as they slammed into the ground. Shaggy slammed his fist into the gorilla’s face, waiting for it to bite or toss him aside.
Thick hands reached up and Shaggy immediately tried to jump off. But the gorilla’s feet were waiting for him. He was grabbed, and the Gorilla rolled upward, taking Shaggy with him. Shaggy caught a brief look at his wife and friend’s faces before he was taking through a complete three-sixty and then tossed aside.
Shaggy felt his body slam into several wooden things as his pack and wife shouted. He felt his ribs break and then reform as he stood. The APD’s vest gave some protection, but it wasn’t anything special. He pulled himself out of the pile of wooden crates he had slammed into and got ready to charge back into the fight.
But between Rita’s batons, Sybil’s sustained fire, and Levy holding the giant gorilla in place with some black tendrils, the girls were doing fine. Shaggy spun and took in the whole warehouse. It was around fifteen feet high, but it went back hundreds of feet. Shaggy sighed as he saw more aliens rushing toward them, along with a few more animals.
“What is with the animals?” Shaggy wondered as he rushed forward.
“We have incoming!” Shaggy shouted as he gripped a nearby crate and tried to toss it.
The empty crate came up off the ground easily enough, and Shaggy tossed it ahead of him. Several of the charging aliens scattered as the wooden crate splintered on impact and sent pieces of wood flying. A large black cat whizzed around the debris and charged straight at Shaggy.
He dodged and gripped the baton at his hip. Shaggy brought the baton up and flicked the switch as the panther-like animal spun and attacked again. Its paws came up and Shaggy darted in with the end of the baton, electricity sparking. Shaggy thought he saw scales on the belly of the cat as it gave a loud yowl and jumped away.
Shaggy felt someone closing behind him and quickly dove away. He wasn’t sure if it was an in-game skill or just his natural instincts. But they proved true as gun fire opened up right where he had been standing. A few stray bullets hit the large black cat, and it yowled again and took off. Shaggy ignored the cat and tried to find the shooter, finding a woman holding a sub-machine gun and blasting a way toward him.
Luckily, she didn’t seem to know how to aim as he slid behind a few crates. Bullets rained down around him, and he sighed as he readjusted his vest. Screams, gunshots, and smoke filled the air as Shaggy waited for the woman’s gun to run dry. Sure, he could probably rush the woman and rely on his regeneration, but he didn’t know how long this fight would last. Best to conserve his trump card.
Soon the bullets stopped and Shaggy took a chance to glance around the crate. Another loud bang went off near his head and Shaggy saw that the woman had been joined by a few others. Shaggy grunted and threw himself toward more crates. Bullets went off and the cement floor of the warehouse came up in pieces as hot lead pinged off the ground. Shaggy came out in a roll next to a few more crates as renewed gunfire filled his ears.
He sighed as he checked on the others. Rita was fighting a damn kangaroo, as Levy shielded herself and Sybil in a bubble of black magic. Sybil was firing out of the bubble with impunity. Both of his pack mates sent him affirmative feelings, which he understood to mean that they were fine. So he turned back to his own problem and made a decision.
Placing his hands on either side of the crate in front of him, he lifted and charged forward. Almost immediately, his legs were targeted. A few bullets pierced the meat of his thighs, but he grit his teeth and ignored the pain as he rushed forward with his crate shield. He had to gauge the distance, but once the bullets slowed, he figured he was close enough and thrust the crate forward.
Shaggy kept running as he saw multiple shooters scatter away from the flying crate. He darted in and started stabbing with the end of his baton. The electric tip caught the sub-machine gun woman right in her throat and she went down in a jerking heap. Shaggy dashed into the mass of shooters with impunity. A few got their pistols up in time to shoot, but his healing took care of the few hits.
Shaggy grinned as he felt they were doing well. But a sudden pain hit him in the side and he was lifted off his feet and thrown onto his back. The panther-thing was back, and it had pounced on top of Shaggy. He could see its weird green claws coming down toward his face and he threw the baton up in a wild block. The metal baton bent and sparked as the massive claws crunched into it. Shaggy grunted and kicked out, sending the black cat sprawling across the floor.
It yowled as it right itself and Shaggy stood. He had assumed the damn thing would run off after being shot, but apparently it had been trained very well. Shaggy threw the baton from his hands as the cat circled him. Shaggy circled as well, trying to keep the enormous animal in front of him. But a sudden yell from next to him brought Shaggy around to see a brown alien with four eyes firing at him with a pistol.
Several shots hit Shaggy in the side and he grunted as the cat launched itself. The cat’s paws hit Shaggy in the chest and tried to rake across his vest. Shaggy gripped the claws as and tried to keep them at bay. But his shooter rushed forward, aiming his pistol downward at Shaggy’s head. Shaggy gave a grunt and slid his body down along the cement floor under the panther-cat, doing his best to put the cat in the way of the bullets.
By the sound of the cat’s pained yowls, he had succeeded. In fact, the cat slumped down on top of him and Shaggy had to roll out. Shaggy came up onto a knee as the cat gave another loud yowl and fully collapsed. But his attention went back to the shooter as the sound of a gun clicking empty filled his ears.
Shaggy grinned at the brown alien and rushed forward. His opponent threw the gun away and tried for a punch, but Shaggy dodged the slow jab and slammed an uppercut into the alien’s chin. The man’s head jerked backward, and he collapsed almost instantly. Shaggy tsked as he checked the surroundings again. Even more people were filling the warehouse now, and Shaggy briefly wondered where they had come from. But a fresh batch of yelling filled the warehouse as another group of people came charging at them.
Shaggy sighed, but then he noticed that this new batch was full of teenagers and he grinned. Soon he spotted Luis’s frozen form slamming into the back of a man with a rifle. Nearby, Mariposa was holding her hands out as flames engulfed several other nearby shooters. Luis’s group of teens had snuck right up to the backs of several shooters and they were making short work of them.
Shaggy grinned as he drew his other baton and charged back into the melee. So far, the warehouse had been full of minions and animals, but he was sure a boss fight was coming. It was only a matter of time. Then they could divvy up the rewards and split before the police arrived. He didn’t know how the after action stuff was supposed to work. But he figured he could deal with that later. It couldn’t be that much of a headache, could it?
