Shaggy always used his claws as a basis for how far he had come. They could cut through most anything, did soul damage, and had an evil, green sheen to them. So, as he glared at the two dents he had put in the Perinadon cop's armor, he felt it was time for an upgrade. Unfortunately, his world was exploding in a cascade of blue lasers right now. The cops followed their leader's orders, opening fire on Shaggy and his friends.

The first salvo hit Shaggy from every side and, for a moment, he felt mortal again. Each hit was like a bullet ripping and burning through his hybrid body. Behind him, he felt Stanley and Cekrass move to protect Levy as Vlad, surprisingly, dragged Maya out of the way. For what felt like an eternity, Shaggy was burned and healed rapidly as the cop's weapons ate away at him. He couldn't even move because of the pain.

Again, though, his wife came through for him. Another huge pulse of magic rocked the alleyway and Shaggy's pain evaporated. The alley was tinged purple again, as Levy had re-summoned her shield. Now, the blast from the cops weapons were pinging off the magical shield and back into their number. He turned to check on the others and found Cekrass using his large body to cover Levy. Meanwhile, Stanley was in his silver-armored form, standing just behind Cekrass. Both of his Pack members had smoke billowing off their skin as they healed. Even Stanley's silver armor had been eroded by the guns.

Levy was leaning against her staff and panting as she channeled her power into the shield. One look and Shaggy could tell she was holding the thing up even as cops fired on it. They were going to either have to run or attack. Otherwise, the shield would fall and they'd be screwed. Vlad stopped running around, avoiding the shots, putting Maya down as he did. The gunslinger looked green from her momentary brush with Super Speed. But was otherwise fine. Shaggy was about to start barking orders when the Perinadon beat him to it.

"Inside the dome, boys! HAH!"

Shaggy growled in aggravation as he turned back to the cops. A good number of them had pulled melee weapons and were charging forward. Shaggy hopes that Levy's shield would repel them physically as well were dashed when the Perinadon in charge came crashing toward him. He had just enough time to register that the cops on the other side of the alley were charging, too. They were being pushed in from both sides.

Shaggy dodged the head cop's charge, narrowly missing the alien's horn. He responded by thrusting both his claws out again. They clanged off the Perinadon's armor, leaving an even bigger dent in the metal. He wanted to push the advantage, but more cops were coming at him. He ducked under a stun baton, swiped at its wielder. But, again, his claws were stymied. Little runes on the armor grew brighter after Shaggy's strikes. Hinting at some form of magical protection. He backed away from another swing, but got caught by a third cop from the side. The stun baton sparked against his skin and for a three second period Shaggy was paralyzed. The other cops used that moment to smack him with their batons repeatedly.

Green and silver blurs came into Shaggy's vision before solidifying into Cekrass and Stanley. The two werewolves battered the cops off of Shaggy. Giving him time to collect himself. He spotted Cekrass lifting a cop by the leg and using him as a club to beat the others. Meanwhile, Stanley was swinging his silver fists like they were sledgehammers. The blows shattered the cop's armor and sending them flying. Shaggy took note of his pack mate's success and wanted to replicate it, but first.

"Levy?!"

Cekrass answered his psychic question while punting a cop across the alley. "In the car!"

Shaggy spun around in time to see five cops hammering at the hummer's back door, trying to get in. His wolf roared, and he pounced. He felt his claws receded back into his hands as he used his fist to punch the cop nearest to the car. The man's head was wrenched perpendicular to the ground, and he was blasted into his teammates. But Shaggy didn't stop. He grabbed the next cop by his armor and used him as a flail against the rest. The cops took the hits better than he expected. But after a few strikes, he was holding a bloody mess over another bloody mess.

Cekrass and Stanley had pulled back to help guard the car now as Shaggy turned his attention to more of the damn cops flooding the narrow space. Thankfully, they were too concerned about getting in each other's way. So Shaggy managed to batter a few more of them until the damn Perinadon screamed again.

"Specialist teams! Forward!"

Shaggy growled as he spun around in time to see four cops break away from the crowd. The rest of the cops stepped back and raised their rifles. One of the 'specialist' disappeared and Shaggy saw Vlad's blurred form hit another dark blur. The two speedsters raced all around the alley. But Shaggy's attention was ripped away again as another specialist came at Cekrass. The smaller cop hit the lizard in the side, sending the larger alien sailing away. Shaggy growled and tried to pounce at the attacker, but another slim 'specialist' got in his way.

Shaggy swiped a paw across the short man's head and moved to go around. But the man's neck and made an odd sound before the cop got back in Shaggy's way again. This time, Shaggy punched the man in the stomach, sending him up into the air. When he came back down again, Shaggy kicked him back toward his cop friends. The armored man's body rolled a short distance before he popped back up and ran at Shaggy again, completely unharmed.

Behind him, Stanley was fighting the cop that had sent Cekrass tumbling. The boy was doing okay, but the slim cop was going shot for shot with the kid. Vlad was still blurring around dealing with the speedster. Maya was firing both of her guns at another specialist, who was shielding themselves with some kind of fire shield. Thankfully, no one was trying to get into Levy's car anymore.

Shaggy's opponent ran in front of him and then just stood there. For a second, Shaggy thought the man had given up. But when Shaggy moved to help Stanley, the smaller cop got in his way again. He supposed the man's power was purely defensive and his job was merely to get in Shaggy's way. So Shaggy grabbed the guy again and tossed him away even farther this time. The cop's armored form smacked into a few other cops and then rolled away before he got back up. But by that point, Shaggy was already racing toward Stanley. Cekrass had joined the boy, but both of his pack members were stills struggling against the shorter cop.

The super-strong cop was ducking and weaving around both of them. Then he'd punctuate his dodge with a devastating punch that shattered Stanley's silver armor or sent Cekrass tumbling again. His pack was clearly outmatched here. Shaggy got ready to Pounce to the rescue, but an armored arm stretched across his face. Following the arm, Shaggy spotted his opponent snapping over to him like a rubber band. He ducked the flying cop then stood to find the same bastard standing in front of him again. His face was only half-covered, so Shaggy could see the stretchy cop was grinning at him.

Snarling at that grin, Shaggy grabbed the cop by his jaw and tried to twist it off. But instead, the man's face stretched in his hand. Shaggy let it go with a loud snap and then turned to growl at the man who was still not attacking him! Shaggy raised his massive fist and slammed it down on the cop's head. The sound of the helmet cracking was music to Shaggy's ears, but the cop was still grinning up at him. Shaggy brought his fist down again and again until the helmet split and revealed a smiling cop of about forty years. The man had graying brown hair and a salt and pepper mustache that climbed up his face as he smiled again.

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"Keep trying, doggy! I'm rubber and you are out of your league."

Shaggy's response was to pitch the rubber man straight into the sky. He would most likely be fine. But it would give Shaggy the time to help his pack. Already Stanley's armor was receding back into his skin. Cekrass was trying to strike the smaller target, but the cop was dancing around the big lizard. Shaggy barely aimed before he Pounced over to help. He was mid-air when two stretchy, armored-covered arms slapped into the guard on either side of him. The next thing Shaggy knew, he was face-down on the ground with the rubber cop on his back. The cop wrapped Shaggy's furry limbs up in his body and then sat on him.

Shaggy raised his head as he heard Stanley cry out in pain. Cekrass had been thrown against the hummer and the super strong cop was towering over Stanley with his boot raised. He brought the boot down on Stanley's leg and a crack echoed in Shaggy's ears. Suddenly, the sounds of fighting and struggling around him went away. Shaggy and his wolf went into overdrive as Stanley howled in pain. White hot rage roiled through Shaggy before he realized it wasn't coming from him.

Cekrass was back on his feet and roaring like a wild animal. The lizard's scales gleamed in the light and for a moment Shaggy thought they were shining. Cekrass' body seemed to expand and then shrink back into itself before settling down. Loud snaps and howls of pain echoed through the alley as Cekrass' body transformed into something new. The process didn't go unnoticed, though. Multiple cops opened fire on Cekrass and the super strong specialist abandoned Stanley to try to pummel the transforming lizard. But all their attacks were simply absorbed into Cekrass' scales. Shaggy could feel the lizard's rage increasing with each attack until finally it reached a crescendo. There was a flash of green light and suddenly Cekrass' hybrid form was standing in the alley.

The normally seven-foot lizard was now approaching ten-foot, and his chest and legs were massive. Where Shaggy's hybrid form had been sleek and skinny, Cekrass' was purely muscular. The lizard looked like a smaller version of a kaiju Shaggy had once seen in a movie. Except with massive arms. Arms Cekrass used to wrap around the Super Strong Cop and squeeze. The sounds of bones cracking reached Shaggy's ears, and he grinned even as he was pinned to the ground. Cekrass dug his large lizard claws into his cop's armor and then ripped it off, taking some skin with it.

As the super strong cop was battered by Cekrass, Shaggy turned his attention back to the rubber asshole on his back. But he was pinned to the ground with his arms held to his side. So instead he stood hurried to stand using only his legs. A few cops had approached him, thinking he was subdued. But Shaggy made them pay for that assumption. Using the stretchy guy on his back as bludgeon, Shaggy twisted and spun his body. Hitting cops with both his body and the asshole on his back.

"Just give it up already!" The cop shouted in his ear.

Shaggy spun to growl in the guy's face, stepping into another cop as he did. The cop dropped his energy rifle and Shaggy had an idea. He looked around to find Maya still on top of the hummer, firing away at the fire shield cop. Shaggy canceled his hybrid form as he kicked the cop's rifle up to Maya. The Player jumped in surprise and grabbed the weapon out of the air as Shaggy screamed.

"MAYA! I'll trade ya!"

He turned his back to the woman, revealing the cop wrapped around his back. Sounds of the cop screaming were music to his ears as he felt the rubber bastard loosen his grip. Shaggy shifted again, this time choosing his wolf form. As he did, he zeroed in on Maya's opponent. The flame shield guy was now summoning balls of flame into his hands and aiming at Maya. Shaggy pushed his large body into the way of the fireballs and snapped his jaws onto the man's head.

But there was no satisfying crunch. Instead, the fire-user continued to try to burn Shaggy from inside his mouth. Shaggy felt his tongue and gums heal as they were burned and reflexively gulped. The cop in his mouth screamed as he was sucked upward and into Shaggy's throat. With a choking gasp, Shaggy swallowed the bastard whole even as he was burned from the inside. When he was finished, he looked around, spotting faces of horror and disgust from the cops. The Perinadon captain looked especially pissed as Shaggy leaned back his head and howled.

The fighting continued, this time with Maya handling the rubber bastard and Shaggy and his pack attacking the cops. The fighting was brutal at close quarters, but with Shaggy body taking the brunt of attacks, Stanley was safe. Cekrass, in his new hybrid form, stowed the boy away in the hummer with Levy. Vlad was still shooting around the place, fighting the other speedster. But Shaggy didn't know how he could help. So instead, he bit, kicked, and batted the armored cops as they popped into his view. Then he heard another sound that made him groan.

"More drones!" Maya screamed unhelpfully.

"Stanley, does Levy have a plan? I'm drawing a blank."

"I don't know, she looks…" Stanley's voice was cut off as Levy took over the Pack Link.

"I have a plan! But it's going to take a bit of time and the shield's going to drop. You're going to get shot to shit. But after that, we're going to have to run."

"Deal."

Shaggy ordered Cekrass to grab Maya and throw her in the car. The cops pushed in, probably sensing they were about to run. Shaggy snapped his jaws at the Perinadon, but a big gray fist slapped his head away. Shaggy shook off the blow and kicked his back legs at more cops. His fur was almost on fire with stun baton hits. He looked around for Vlad, but the vampire was still running about the place. Shaggy spotted Levy's purple shield flicker and then fall, signaling the restart of him being shot to hell.

The blue lasers ate into his skin and continued to burn even as he spun. Shaggy attacked the cops wildly, blinded by pain and relying only on his senses. He could feel how Cekrass and Stanley almost hated themselves for not being able to help. But that connection is what pulled Shaggy through. The fact that his Pack was still safe helped him even as his skin burned and the ground shook ominously. In a pain-fused haze, Shaggy realized he hadn't really asked his wife what the plan was. Then, when the stench of death filled the air and a green hand popped out of the ground, he knew.

A purple and red sigil appeared on the ground as a wave of mana shook everything. Unlike Levy's skeletons, the zombies popped out of the ground at a rapid pace. They were almost catapulted amongst the cops as they started gnashing their teeth and clawing at everything around them. Including Shaggy.

"Levy…?"

"Time to go! Move, Move, Move!" His wife shouted in his mind.

Shaggy groaned as he shifted back to his normal size and bolted for the car. All around him, the cops were fighting zombies as more popped from the ground. Shaggy slashed his way through a few zombies as they attacked him and was surprised at their durability. The back car door opened as Shaggy shouted for Vlad. He got into the backseat and immediately the scent of blood hit his nose. Shaggy looked around for the source, finding Levy bleeding in Maya's lap. His instincts almost made him attack the gunslinger, but Levy raised a hand.

"It… was… the price… love" Levy panted as he could see her wounds slowly closing.

Maya looked up at him, an empty bottle in her hand. "I-I gave her this. It's supposed to help."

Shaggy was about to thank her, when a something hit the roof of their hummer.

"Go!" Vlad's muffled voice said from above.

Shaggy shrugged his shoulders as Cekrass stepped on the gas. Multiple thuds came from outside the car and it was rocked as laser fire hit it. But soon they were outside the alley and racing away. He could hear cop cars following them, and Vlad was clearly still fighting on the roof. But Shaggy used the moment to catch his breath. That had been way too close on way too many fronts. They needed to get away and inform the others. He only hoped this nonsense wouldn't follow them to Under-Town.

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