Modern Age Online

After getting Shaggy a full set of clothes at a shop up the road, they all continued their brief journey. Along the way, Shaggy explained that his recent Werewolf form was fairly new. Which meant it came with certain issues. Lack of clothes when he transformed back being one of them. But after some initial awkwardness, they all managed to get themselves under control and had a fairly quiet walk to the Brute Clan’s mansion. They drew a few looks from the local populace, but no one else seemed aggressive.

Kaleb was going over what he wanted to get accomplished once he made it back to his Workshop, when Two Gun spoke up.

“Uhhh, Professor. Does that look right to you?”

Kaleb turned to look up the street, seeing the mansion’s wrought-iron gate and the dirt yard beyond it. But standing in front of the gate, looking mean as hell, was a load of Brute Clan Basilinoids. Their metal and wooden clubs were in their hands and they looked more than ready to start something. Kaleb sighed heavily as he guessed the source of their contempt was probably him.

He stepped forward, arms up, and said. “My name is Professor Pack Rat. I am a friend of Wulkun and Aqwen. As well as a friend of the Brute Clan. I mean no harm and come to trade. Please go ask someone from the original Brute Clan down here and we can avoid a fight.”

His actual in-game name felt weird on his tongue as he addressed the muscular lizard-aliens. None of them moved, choosing instead to glare daggers at Kaleb. He felt his hand slowly falling to his hip holster and praying for something to happen. He really didn’t want to explain to Aqwen and Wulkun why he had knocked out all their guards.

A thudding of harsh footsteps in the dirt caught everyone's attention as a slim, green lizard rushed toward the gate from the mansion-side. Next to the skinny lizard was a cloud of black mist that seemed to travel alongside the lizard. Kaleb watched as Aqwen slid to a stop in front of the gate, but the black cloud easily slid through it and rushed closer toward them. The black cloud came to a full stop next to Shaggy, and the mist formed itself into a tall pale man in a black suit.

Vlad grinned at them all before throwing a curious glance at Shaggy. With a sigh, the pale vampire player said. “Seriously? You’ve been gone for like three hours. How have you gone through so many clothes already? You’re not even wearing what you left here in.”

The short, messy-haired werewolf shrugged his broad shoulders. “What are you? My mom? You try to fight with claws without getting blood everywhere.”

Kaleb ignored the pair as he turned back to Aqwen. When he had left, the female Basilinoid was in a leadership role within the clan. But wasn’t sure if that was still the case. Judging by the way she was shouting orders and arguing with the group at the gate, Kaleb assumed she still held the same position. Several of the big brutes would glare Kaleb’s way as the shorter, slimmer woman shouted at them all.

Two Gun tapped Kaleb’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow in question. But Kaleb shook him off and raised a finger for the man to wait. Two Gun shrugged and stepped back a few steps as they all watched Aqwen give the gate guards a severe dressing down. Once it was finished, every one of the guards shot an evil look at Kaleb. He was thinking this little trip to the other side of the tracks might not go well.

Aqwen waved them all over as the gate was slowly pushed open. Kaleb noticed that the left-side gate dug through the dirt as it was pushed. Looking at it, he realized the gate was hanging loosely on that side. Something heavy had bent the metal gate out of shape. He quirked an eyebrow at Aqwen, but the lizard-woman shook her head slowly. Kaleb gave a mental shrug as he greeted his friend.

“Hello, Aqwen. I see you have new recruits.”

Surprisingly, the female Basilinoid bowed reverentially. “Greetings, Professor. Yes, the Brute Clan is doing very well for itself. Something you would know if you were down here more often.”

The tone was the same as before, but Kaleb still found the reverence off-putting. With a sigh, he explained. “I have obligations topside. You know that. Also, if what just happened was any sign, I don’t think my presence down here would be very welcome.”

He heard several of the gate guards hiss openly behind him as they all walked through the gate. Aqwen shook her head and waved a hand.

“Bah! That only happened cause the new group of clan members don’t know you. Something that could be remedied by you being down here and taking care of clan business.”

“Man, you really want me to visit more. You must have really missed me.”

Suddenly the subservience was gone and the old Aqwen came out as she whirled on Kaleb. Pointing a finger in his face. “Damn it, you are supposed to be down here helping Wulkun as his aide-de-camp! But instead, I have to follow the old lizard around and attend meetings, take notes, remind him of people’s names. Not to mention handle the mansion’s security! I was raised to be a warrior, not an old lizard’s secretary!”

Kaleb slowly nodded as he realized why the woman had been so deferential. She was playing the part of a good second. Something Kaleb had absolutely no interest in. Shaggy said something that Kaleb missed, but it dragged Aqwen’s glare over to the shorter Mutant. Kaleb glanced at them before he waved the angry woman down and tried to explain.

“That’s not my job, Aqwen. You know that, and you are more than capable of finding a replacement. You just don’t want to leave Wulkun’s security to anyone else. Now can we walk and talk about this at the same time. I have gifts to distribute.”

The lizard-woman huffed angrily as her eyes scanned past Kaleb. He noticed the hungry look in her eyes as she took in the two large crates. With a nod, they all continued down the dirt path toward the large mansion in the distance. As Kaleb looked around, he spotted a large batch of tents just in front of the mansion doors. Campfires and the smell of food cooking pervaded the air as they approached. Kaleb spotted children playing in the dirt. Aqwen broke into his musings by mumbling.

“Last time I wasn’t with him, he got abducted.”

Kaleb’s mind searched back to the last time he was down here. The Faceless Gang had abducted the old lizard leader in an attempt to bring all the Brute Clan to heel. Unfortunately, they choose to abduct the old man when Kaleb was just starting to like him. Even worse for them was the fact that their Rivals, The Phreaks, launched a surprise attack. The resulting fight had killed both the leaders of each gang and had wiped out the Faceless entirely.

Kaleb scoffed as he thought about the incident. “He went willingly. Also, if any force comes to your gates now, I think the greeting they would get would be entirely different.”

Aqwen’s eyes went hazy as she replied. “Yes, it would.”

Kaleb could see the anger and brutality behind the lizard-woman’s eyes. She looked ready to kill anyone who came into their new home. Which Kaleb could understand. The Brute Clan had been tossed around more than enough. While Kaleb wasn’t ready to fully join the cause, he was more than willing to help them all out as much as he could.

A scratchy old voice shouted from the mansion, stopping all of them in their tracks. Kaleb looked up to see Wulkun smiling happily and moving toward them. The old lizard was still as massive as any Brute Clan member, but he was slightly hunched with age and his scales were a dull green color.

“Professor! So good to see you down here so soon. I hope our security wasn’t too overzealous in their job.”

Kaleb nodded kindly at the old lizard, but the glares of the three other old-looking Basilinoids cut into him. One was the biggest Brute Clan lizard he had ever seen, while the other two were much shorter and clearly older. He wasn’t great at telling ages of alien races. But if he went by the shine of their scales, then the big one was the youngest. The second older Basilinoid was clearly a woman, and her gaze was just as intense as the first guys. But the freakiest glare came from the skinniest Lizard-alien Kaleb had ever seen. He was staring at Kaleb with equal parts disdain and interest. Like a bug he wanted to kill and then place in a glass case for observation.

Kaleb shuddered as Wulkun noticed him glancing at the other old basilinoids. The old lizard laughed as he grasped Kaleb’s hand.

“I see my compatriots are eager to meet you.” Wulkun said, not remotely looking like he believed his own words.

Kaleb grimaced as he was dragged over to the council of Brute Clan Elders. Each one represented a different Brute Clan that had joined up with Wulkun. Once the old lizard had sent out word that the Brute Clan’s were joining together. The three of them had come running. Gor’kinak was from Arizona, and he led a small group of fighters with an iron fist. V’alla was from Oklahoma and had come hoping to protect the families under her care. The skinny one’s name was Jerald and he lead the largest force of Brute Clan members aside from Wulkun. He claimed to have been merely curious about what was going on.

Kaleb had to wipe his hand on his pants after shaking Jerald’s hand. It wasn’t covered in anything, but the guy just gave Kaleb an uneasy feeling. Kaleb introduced his own group of friends. The elders were kind, if a little standoffish with the others. But once Kaleb had shown off the two crates of weapons, V’alla and Gor’kinak’s expressions changed in a hurry. Unfortunately, Kaleb had to shoot down their expectations.

“Sorry to say, but I can only make so much. Also, the other crate will go to our mutual friends here for services rendered. They helped collect the metal that went into the weapons.”

The giant Gor’kinak got an ugly look on his face as he turned his glare to Shaggy. The werewolf player merely grinned happily as Vlad tried to be more diplomatic about things.

“We will be more than happy to just take what we need and give the rest to our new allies. We are still a small group, anyway. So we don’t need much.”

Kaleb saw Shaggy’s shoulders slump in defeat and bit back a smile. It was clear which of the two was more of the diplomat. He figured that if it was up to Shaggy, the werewolf would snatch all the weapons and sell the rest. But this way, Vlad garnered some goodwill between their two groups. Kaleb turned around in time to see Roy showing off their work to Aqwen. The pair had opened a crate and were looking through its contents. Shrugging, Kaleb reached down and grabbed both parts of the spears he and Daivor had created.

Taking the metal pole and the screw-on spear tip, Kaleb attached the two and held out the six-foot weapon to Wulkun. But the old lizard shook his head good-naturedly.

“I am more than familiar with your work. Show the others.” Wulkun said, smiling happily.

Kaleb shrugged and turned and found Jerald staring hopefully. Still off-put by the lizard elder’s look, Kaleb handed the lizard the spear and backed away. The skinny Basilinoid held the weapon gingerly in his hands. Which confused Kaleb. The Brute Clan were genetically modified to be soldiers. But Jerald was acting like he had never held a weapon before. Gor’kinak moved closer and snatched the weapon away as Roy was explaining everything they had made. Marie and Terrance joined in the explanation as Gor’kinak tested the weight of the weapon.

The giant lizard spun the weapon in his large hands before he went through a few katas. His actions drew a large crowd of lizard-people as young and old aliens pushed forward to watch. Once he was done, the big lizard tossed the metal spear to Kaleb and nodded.

“Good. You will make more for us.” He ordered.

Kaleb felt his hackles raising as he put on a forced smile. “Sorry. As I was explaining to Aqwen, I have my own concerns. I can’t just be making weapons for you people.”

The giant lizard’s face went deep green as he became enraged. Kaleb sat back and waited for the outrage to come pouring out. But before it could, Wulkun got between the two.

“The clans understand your prior obligations, Professor. We would never want to put undue pressure on you.”

“WULKUN! This damn Lab Lizard owes us! He needs to be making our weapons full-time.”

Kaleb snorted. “Owes you? I am sorry, but you can go fuck yourself. I made these weapons to help Wulkun and his clan. The rest of you can all go hang for all I care.”

Gor’kinak’s face was flushed with angry as he sputtered under Kaleb’s tirade. Once he had collected himself. The big lizard blew out a breath and glared down at Kaleb.

“Your people created, enslaved and then threw us away. No amount of weaponry will ever make up for what your kind did.”

“Sorry, Champ. That’s got nothing to do with me. The people you want are still out in Arizona. So unless you plan on holding all basilinoids accountable for what happened hundreds of years ago. You can stuff it.”

Kaleb glanced around to find a few of the Brute Clan were glaring at him angrily. But most of them just looked tired and worn out. A few even looked afraid that a fight was going to break out at any second. His friends were standing near the two crates, watching. Two Gun and Claire seemed tense, and Jar-lock was watching with a blank expression on his face. Kaleb scanned for Abby and sighed when he couldn’t find her. Oddly enough, Obadiah was having a whispered conversation with Shaggy a short distance away. Oblivious to the mounting tension in the air.

Gor’kinak looked ready to tear Kaleb’s head off. But with a final glance at the surroundings, the giant lizard-man stomped away. A collective sigh came from everyone. Although Kaleb spotted Jerald looking a little annoyed. But then he quickly wiped the look off his face and spun toward Kaleb. A fake smile appeared on his face.

“Well, I apologize for my compatriot. I am sure we can come to some kind of arrangement that will make all parties happy.”

V’alla, who was also close by, nodded as she ran a hand down the spear in Kaleb’s hands. “Yes. Might I suggest we send a few of our own people up with you? Just to facilitate shipments? Whatever you can create would be massively helpful. Although I think I would prefer more contemporary weapons.”

“That’s a marvelous idea.” Wulkun clapped. “Please, Professor. Step inside and let us discuss things.”

Kaleb and his friends were quickly ushered inside the mansion where food and drink were quickly served. He had to hand off Shaggy’s weapons from the second crate. But once that was accomplished, Vlad and Shaggy took their leave. Eager to pass out their weapons to their own people.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of agreements, handshakes, and an almost full-out ceremonial brawl. But once things were finished, Kaleb came away with several orders for weapons and a large batch of Brute Clan warriors for their airfield. The lizards would handle transport and distribution of the weapons. While all Kaleb had to do was build some in his off time. Surprisingly, Roy, Terrance and Marie all volunteered to work on the project. Terrance confided in Kaleb that Marie’s dad didn’t let them use his workshop as much as Kaleb did.

With the constant magical orb in the sky casting light down on Under-Town, Kaleb was unclear about how much time had passed. The Brute Clan had been adamant about celebrating the deal in some fashion. After Kaleb had ix-nayed the brawl, they had decided on a feast that lasted several hours. Now they were all trudging back through Under-Town, two crates lighter and a lot of in-game alcohol in their systems.

“What’s that sour look for, Professor? The Brute Clan are doing great.” Abby said happily.

Kaleb groaned. “I somehow got roped into doing more fucking grunt work! That’s why I have a sour face. The goal was to lessen my workload, not add to it.”

“More work is good. It means you’re a talented artisan.” Marie slurred as she leaned against Terrance.

Kaleb winced as he imagined the earful he was going to get from the kid’s parents about letting them drink. Thankfully, most of the Hunter teens had taken to sleeping at the hangar. So what the parents didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

“Besides, Prof. We can handle that stuff.” Roy added. “You can spend your days contemplating that pickaxe of yours.”

“Are you still at that thing?” Jar-lock asked, surprised.

“Of course. It’s our only link to whatever those damn demons were up to. But your library is pretty sparse on demonic runes. We need a better catalog to pull from.”

The big mage shrugged. “Magic books are expensive. Besides, the Demons have gone underground. We have other things to be worried about.”

“Yeah. Like making our quota of crimes stopped this week. It’s great that the damn cops are doing their jobs for once. But if they keep it up, we’ll lose our license.”

“That’s probably their goal.” Kaleb grumbled.

“You’re not wrong. But we just have to be faster. I really don’t want to compete with the local PD for crimes. But if that’s the position we are in. We are going to have to.”

Abby gaped at Jar-lock. “I think I like drunk Jar-lock. Fuck the man! Let’s get out there and stomp on some crime!”

Abby wobbled on her feet before she stumbled into Claire. The tall woman righted Abby and helped her walk as she added. “She’s not wrong. You have been pretty insistent on us not stepping on the police’s toes, Jar. Why the change?”

Jar-lock waved an arm angrily. “Cause I’m pissed! We tried to work with them and they are now trying to shut us out. Well, fuck that. I say we up our patrols, push into other neighborhood, and give the cops a damn run for their money. We’ll see who bows out first.”

The others all cheered as they nodded along. Kaleb couldn’t help but shout along. But inside, the runes on the demonic pickaxe still rolled through his head. Their shapes and styles reminded him of several runes from Daivor’s Gnomish runes. But they didn’t quite match up. It was a mystery he wanted to solve, and he was sure when he did, it would lead them right into the heart of the Demon’s plans.