Maya looked around unimpressed as Vlad scowled at Shaggy. To be fair, they weren't really anywhere near Cog's base. More like a secret entryway that lead to the sewer system attached to the old man's base. But that was a mouthful and really they just needed to know that they were all safe now… probably.

Shaggy barely returned Vlad's scowl as he turned and spread his arms wide. There was a clicking sound from beyond the room and a blast of hot air shot through the room. He spun on the spot as the driers did their work. He heard the others shout in surprise before they realized what was happening. All to soon the hot air stopped and Shaggy grimaced at his damp clothes. It was better than being soaked, but still annoying.

"Well, that was practically pointless." Levy said, wringing out her long hair. "Is there a way to start that up again?"

Shaggy shrugged as he waved at the door. "I don't know. In fact, I'm surprised it still works. I was under the impression that this little hideaway was under Cog's control. Meaning that any tech down here would've broken without his help."

"Maybe it's just really good tech." Maya said hopefully.

"Or someone else has moved in. Really, Shaggy. There's a reason we don't rely on hearsay stories about Escape Tunnels in Under-Town."

"Hey, I have personal experience with this one. Ephemara, Slink, and I used it to avoid the cops once. Sure, it eventually led to my confrontation with Cog and my eventual death. But it did get us away from the cops."

"Two for two on that front then." Levy smiled moved to the huge iron door blocking their exit.

The massive door slid open gracefully at Levy's touch. When the large door opened up into a stone spillway, Shaggy blew out a breath. Something that did not go unnoticed by his teammates at hat moment.

"Last time there was a giant robot on the other side of that door."

Shaggy moved through the door before anyone could ask any questions. He was pretty sure the cops had been, at least, slowed down by their little charade. But if they scanned the sight of the exploding hummer they wouldn't find any bodies. Which meant they'd investigate. So they needed to get away now.

The six of them hurried down the curved sewer tunnel away from the entry room. Shaggy order Cekrass to wedge the door shut, just in case though. No sense, taking chances. Eventually after a long hike through the tunnel, they entered a large domed room. It was the one spot Shaggy remembered. It big the main entry point into Cog's inner sanctum.

He'd posted a video on the forums of his first interactions with the old man. But he'd edited out the trip to and the entrance of the Lair. That didn't stop people from looking though. Players had been searching underneath Austin by the hundreds. But none of them knew the secret knock that opened Cog's Villainous Lair. To be honest, Shaggy wasn't sure it would still work either. But they needed a place to relax and heal up. Even if the place had been blown to hell.

He lead the group around the edge of domed room and toward where he remembered Cog's walled entrance was. The pipe-riddled wall looked the same as the last time he was here. Expect now, none of the pipes were hissing or spitting out steam. The once noisy wall lay inert now. The only sound was the sewer water rushing through its channel.

"Hun, why are you staring at a wall? It's not even brightly colored." Levy chuckled.

Shaggy shook off his thoughts. Even if the door's fake pipes were inert that didn't mean the thing was busted completely, right? Shaggy raised a clenched fist and knocked on the wall heavily. Like he'd seen the old robot do. But his stomach dropped as he waited for the pipes on the wall to come alive. Before they creaked and hissed with steam as the wall moved out of their way. Now, though?

Shaggy turned to see the others looking at him strangely. "Looks like it's going to be brute force, then."

He tried to summon his hybrid form. But his inner wolf merely glowered at himself in its inner space. Even shifting his hands took more effort than usual. He was hungry and exhausted and it showed. Cekrass pushed his way forward with Stanley as the two studied the wall. Shaggy looked between the two members of his pack and gave his nod of thanks at their help. But to his surprise only Cekrass stepped forward.

The big Lizard's body transformed again as the alien accessed his hybrid form. His muscular body practically shoved Shaggy and Stanley off the sewer walkway. Levy moved to help Shaggy right himself as they watched the big lizard shove his shoulder into the wall. Stanley hurried to help as Levy giggled in Shaggy's ear.

"Ephe's going to be pissed. She's only mastered a partial hybridization."

"I remember." Shaggy nodded. "You can tell her."

His wife gave him a deadpan look before a loud scrapping noise came from the wall. The sound screeched in Shaggy's ear and echoed down the tunnels. But the wall was moving. It was slow and taking both of Shaggy's werewolves, though. With a grunt, Shaggy put his own shoulder into the wall and helped shove it open. He was joined by Vlad and Maya while Levy used her magic to create a large hand. With the six of them the job was that much easier and the massive metal door scraped open just enough to squeeze through.

Shaggy had them stop there and order, Cekrass and Stanley through first. They happily charged around the door as Shaggy shared a look with the others.

"We are going to have to close it too."

"Seriously?!" Vlad almost hissed. "My back's killing me."

"The cops are going to be killing you if they come down here and see this door opened." Maya quipped. "Let's just get inside and see if there's a button first."

They nodded in agreement as Levy was the first to squeeze through. Shaggy took up the rear, keeping his ears open for any followers. But as he entered the well-maintained metal hallway leading to Cog's Lair, thoughts of the police fled his mind.

"Jeez-us!" Vlad said, looking around the long metal hallway. "What the fuck did you do?"

Shaggy frowned as he took in the state of the hallway. Where before rows of Cog robots stood in divots within the metal walls. Now the remnants of said robots lay scattered across the tunnel floor. Before bright lights had nearly blinded Shaggy and Ephemara when they entered this place. Now Shaggy could smell the scent of exploded light bulbs as well as see their shattered glass along the floor. His mind went back to the cave-in he and Cog had caused during their fight. The falling ceiling had crushed him and Cog while explosions resounded in Shaggy's ear. At the time, Shaggy thought the explosions had been limited to the room they fought in. But seeing the tunnel now, he could see the damage had been spread wide.

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Instead of answering the vampire, Shaggy sent them all the video of his fight with Cog. While he did that, Levy found a nearby button and pressed it. Thankfully, it still worked and they were sealed into the tunnel. There was a small hiss as the door sealed shut and Shaggy sighed in relief before ordering Cekrass and Stanley to scout forward a bit. This was still the Lair of a Villain. Even dead, Cog could have some surprises for them.

He tried to push the group onward slightly, but found that Maya and Vlad were hypnotized by their menus. Levy gave him a smile when he looked at her though. Shaggy had shown her the video right after it had happened and apparently she remembered. Her staff appeared at her side and she gripped it tight before sighing.

"There is so much death here, love. Old death. Unnatural. It reeks of power, but it's tainted too. Angry Spirits haunt these walls."

"Ominous." Shaggy said "Do we need to be worried?"

Levy's shoulders relaxed and she snorted. "Nah! Angry ghosts are like Necromancy 101. I can handle them. Not to mention our Patron has touched this place."

Shaggy blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Xang is here. I mean, not physically. But his power touched this place."

"This is where Cog was killed. Fulfilling his agreement with Korrigan and getting sent to Xang's realm." Shaggy nodded in thought as he remembered his Deathville visit after Cog killed him. "That's when he stole the Crown of Bone and became young again."

Maya was staring at them dumbly now as Vlad was still in his menu. Shaggy gave the other Player a half-shrug as his wife asked him something.

"Did Cog explain what spell Korrigan cast to open a portal to the Realm of Blood? It's not one people would normally be sent to if they died."

"I have no idea. It was just some kind of agreement between them. Probably all Cog wanted was a way to become young again."

"Which the Crown would've granted him." Levy nodded.

Shaggy shrugged again. Xang's intrusion into Shaggy's Deathville visit had been interesting. But not that worrying at the time. He was given a quest by a God and sent on his way. Now that series of events resulted in Cog's death and made Shaggy a permanent member of the Xang club. But it was all pretty standard fair for a video game. At least Shaggy thought so.

"You people are crazy." Maya laughed shaking her head.

"Meh. I wouldn't have been cut in half." Vlad said as he came out of his menus.

"Naw, you'd have been toast when the old bastard lasered you." Shaggy pointed out.

"He would have never caught me."

"Vlad, I was trapped down in here with hundreds of robots pouring even everywhere. You'd have been caught and flambéed in under a minute."

"Just a note: if I get cut in half, I die." Maya interrupted. "Just saying."

"So does Vlad. No matter what he says."

"You want to try me, wolfy?! You can cut me in half right now and see what happens." Vlad argued.

Shaggy did his best to keep a smile off his face as Vlad moved to push his shirt up. He could tell that the vampire was playing it up. But he didn't know where to take the joke from here. Fortunately, he didn't have to decide because a monstrous roar from Cekrass echoed back to them along them hallway. Shaggy was already running as the roar's echo dissipated. A blur of black and the loud footsteps behind him, told Shaggy that the others were moving with him.

Soon the sounds of metal being ripped apart joined another roar as the group slid to a stop a the end of the hallway. Cog had a central room a the end of the hallway that fed into a bunch of other labs, workshops, and other such rooms. Within that central room, Stanley and Cekrass' hybrid form were ripping Cog bots into pieces. The robots were already half-destroyed. Throwing themselves at the intruders like the lost ghosts of a haunted mansion.

Between the pair of them Stanley and Cekrass managed to decimate most of the bots as Shaggy and his group arrived. Cekrass immediately shrunk down to his normal height and moved to guard Levy and Shaggy. Meanwhile Stanley seemed enthralled by a computer screen embedded in a still-working console.

"You're getting used to that change quickly." Shaggy said, looking at Cekrass.

"It's powerful, but tiring." Cekrass nodded. "I can not hold it long. For now."

"Yeah, we'll have to schedule some training when we get back."

Shaggy smiled at the big lizard as the others studied the room. Most of the other rooms off the central one were a mess. The collapsed ceiling from Shaggy and Cog's fight sent waves of dirt and concrete down onto everything. The resulting explosions from the destroyed machinery made things even worse as multiple rooms were now completely gone. Even the central room had half it's roof caved in. Now there was a half circle full of computers and data banks once run by robots. Now sitting unused and thrumming oddly.

"I like it." Vlad said, happily.

"You would." Shaggy quipped back. "Half decimated and broken. All it's missing are some old fashioned torches and a high backed chair for you to sit in."

Vlad opened his mouth with a look of anger on his face. But than it wilted into a more curious expression. "Where do you think I could get torches? Do they sell those somewhere?"

Shaggy rolled his eyes. "Vlad, we are not taking over Cog's old Lair."

"Why not?! We were thinking of expanding, right? Well then, this can be my space."

"We were still trying to decide if it would be you or Ren moving out and this is below Downtown! Besides the fact that this is Cog's old place, it clearly meant for a higher-tier group."

"Higher than you guys?" Maya asked, genuinely confused.

"Actually, dear. This might not be a bad idea. It's below ground, well-hidden, and it has a connection to our patron deity. Almost like divine intervention." Levy smiled, making Vlad's eyes dance with joy. Until Levy added. "Plus it's big enough for Ren and Vlad to build into."

"What?! No! Come on! The Legion owes me a dungeon at this point. A secret nest for my undead family. Somewhere were we can grow and secretly subjugate the city."

"Don't you actually need an undead family for that?" Shaggy asked.

"Low blow, dude."

"Boss!" Stanley shouted over whatever Shaggy was about to say.

The boy was still standing next to the computer screen. His eyes glued to the monitor. Sharing a quick look with the others Shaggy marched up the platform to the first outer ring. There a number of computer consoles used to seat. Now there was only one and Stanley was pointing his finger at the images flickering across the screen. At first Shaggy feared it was the cops coming down the tunnels to attack them. But instead he got an even bigger shock.

"Is that?"

"It's Under-Town, yes. But look what's happening!" Stanley shouted.

"What's go- holy shit!" Levy said as she slid to a stop near Shaggy.

On the screen dozens of black robots were marching through Under-Town. The had the same look as the ones they had fought off in the desert. Immediately Levy dove into her menus as Vlad and Maya examined the footage. Shaggy turned to Stanley and asked.

"Is this real-time?"

"I think so? I was just watching things, trying to find a way to contact home when this shit happened. They flooded in from the northern tunnels, boss!"

"Okay. Stanley? Relax. This is Under-Town. They have to be putting up a resistance, right?"

"Some are." Vlad said, pointing a pale finger down at the screen.

On it, men in heavy armor with the letters UGB written on their chest were helping the robots. They were fighting Phreaks and the Raks in the streets of Under-town as a blue dome shimmered over a building in the north.

"What the hell is that?"

"The Brute Clan mansion. Apparently they paid for a shield a some point." Stanley said. "They've pulled back behind it and are fighting off any who get too close."

"What about our own people?"

Levy answered him from over her shoulder. "They are under attack too. Ren is holding them off with our men as Dave manages the evacuation."

"Evacuation? It can't be that bad!" Shaggy said, spinning around on his wife.

Levy turned to look him in the eye, a grim frown set on her face. "Slink thinks it is. He's calling for everyone to pull back to the bar and then to our cave."

"Then what? Is he's going to cut the portal? That's fucking crazy! Almost all of our money comes from Under-Town we can't just abandon it!"

"Tell that to Slink! I'm just relaying information here. Besides, it's moot! We are to far away to help or hinder right now." Levy shouted back.

Shaggy growled in frustration. They had been going from one fire to the next ever since Abilene. Retreating from Under-Town was probably a smart move. But it felt like giving up to Shaggy. Worse yet, it was giving up without him even getting a chance to fight. That irked him to an almost unbearable degree. He was racking his brain for a plan when he noticed Levy had gone perfectly still again. Her eyes were alight with an idea and an evil smile played across her lips.

"Honey?" Shaggy asked, drawing the word out in question.

"I have an idea." Levy smirked. "A wonderful, terrible, practically awful idea."

"We're doing it!"

"Hell yeah!"

"I'm logging off right now!"

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