Shaggy stared up at the at the large brick apartment building. They had moved out of downtown Austin, further south, until the gleaming metal and glass buildings turned to brick. It was a long walk and with Shaggy and Slink having to keep their heads down and away from drones; it seemed even longer. But Ephemara helped them navigate when the drones flew overhead.

 

“So this is the place. Let’s go see if anyone is in.” Shaggy said from their spot on the sidewalk across the street.

 

But Ephemara grabbed his arm and pointed at the building’s door. “It’s key coded. We’re going to have to wait and barge our way in.”

 

Shaggy nodded, but Slink had a thoughtful look in his eye. The young man was staring the at the door’s keypad and soon a snake slithered out of his sleeve and hissed up at him. Slink tilted his head as he listened to the snake and then nodded. Turning to Shaggy end Ephemara, he waved at them to follow.

 

“I have an idea.”

 

Shaggy shrugged and followed along as Ephemara made a questioning grunt. The three of them rushed across the street and walked over to the building. No one was around the recessed entrance, and Slink moved right up next to the keypad. But after a quick once over, he turned back to Shaggy.

 

“Can you pry this up?”

 

Shaggy raised an eyebrow, but transformed his hands into claws and slid one under the metal panel. The panel screeched a bit as his nails cut into it, but he managed to lift it away from the building. Shaggy jumped as one of Slink’s green snakes crawled around his hand and into the building. He gave Slink another questioning look, but the kid just grinned.

 

Soon the keypad beeped and Slink lunged for the door. Shaggy watched as the green snake slithered out of the wall and back to its owner. Ephemara and Shaggy shared a look before they both shrugged and rushed into the building with Slink in the lead. But the kid quickly came up short, as he didn’t know where they were going. Shaggy chuckled as he bounded up the stairs.

 

“Apartment 4C. That should be where our guy is.”

 

As they climbed the stairs, Shaggy noticed that the entire building was quiet and still. None of the hustle and bustle of downtown was present throughout the building. In fact, he was barely getting any Scent Trails. He’s hackles were raised completely as they got to the fourth floor and looked down a darkened hallway. A light flickered as power seemed to trickle into the bulb every now and again.

 

“Man, the outside of the building looks a lot better than the inside.” Slink muttered.

 

“Metaphor for Austin right there.” Ephemara snorted.

 

Shaggy said nothing, but kept his claws out as he moved down the hallway. He noticed that several doors leading into apartments were wide open. He peered into a few and saw that the rooms still had furniture in them. Shaggy quirked an eyebrow as he got to the first closed door on this floor. 4C.

 

“I don’t like any of this.” Shaggy sighed. “It all feels like a tutorial level for a horror game.”

 

Slink stayed quiet as he checked up and down the hallway with Ephemara. The NPC woman was also glancing around the hallway, being unable to hear Shaggy’s words. Shaggy grimaced and swallowed nervously before he tested the doorknob. The door swung inward, almost on its own accord, and the smell of stale air hit all three of them.

 

“Yeah. Someone is definitely dead in there.” Ephemara said, and Shaggy could hear the smirk in her voice.

 

Shaggy looked over his shoulder at Slink and saw that Moe was wrapped around the boy’s arm and neck lightly. Slink shrugged and waved him forward. Shaggy gritted his teeth and dove into the darkened apartment. He almost immediately tripped over an end table that was lying on its side in the apartment’s entryway.

 

Shaggy felt either Slink or Ephemara ram into his back and almost send him tumbling forward. With a grunt, he jump over the turned over end table and into the center of the apartment. It was a pretty nice apartment overall. One long hallway from the front door into the back, where he suspected the bedroom and restroom were. The kitchenette and living room were combined into one large room in the at the center of the apartment. A room that was utterly and completely trashed.

 

A small kitchen table and one chair were over-turned and broken. The living room couch was flipped and someone had taken a something sharp to its innards. The TV was broken, the coffee table was cracked in half, and couch fluff and bits of broken wood littered the floor. Ephemara gave a slow whistle at the destruction as Slink stepped over the end table in the front hallway. Shaggy waved toward the back hallway.

 

“Why don’t you two head toward the back and see if it’s the same as out here? I’ll snoop around and see if I find anything.”

 

Ephemara glanced and Slink. “Both of us?”

 

Shaggy shrugged. “Hey, maybe whoever did this is still here. You never know. Plus, you two can stumble on the body. I’m going to try to sniff out who did this.”

 

Ephemara snorted again as she waved Slink forward with her. The kid gave Shaggy a worried look but followed the pale woman to the back of the apartment. Shaggy moved to the middle of the living room and took a big whiff of the air, focusing on the scents. Several old smells filtered into his nostrils and his brain began sorting through them.

 

He felt his Enhanced Focus kick in again as he went through the various smells. Wood and pleather smells from the furniture, food from the garbage can in the nearby kitchen, the odd flicker of iron in the air, and sweat. Human sweat or maybe Alien, Shaggy really didn’t have the frame of reference to tell. He tried to find each smell with his eyes as they registered in his brain, but when the smell of sweat hit his nose, he froze.

 

After a short few seconds, his brain told him that the smell of sweat was old. Shaggy let out a breath and went back to scanning the room. So someone had obviously been here and trashed the place. But did they find what they were looking for and where was the apartment’s owner? A surprised shout came from the back of the apartment and Shaggy spun to look and came face to face with an honest-to-god ninja.

 

Shaggy’s jaw dropped as the ninja’s eyes went wide behind their mask. The ninja had a short, slim sword raised to attack, so Shaggy punched out on instinct. But to his surprise, the ninja jumped backward faster than he could see. They both collected themselves as the sounds of fighting came from the back of the apartment. Shaggy got into a low stance and spread his claws wide as the ninja ready his sword in a two-handed stance.

 

The ninja sprang forward first, and Shaggy was again surprised by the person’s speed. They dove in and past Shaggy before he even had a chance to take a swipe. I sharp sting in his side told him that he had been cut, but he could already feel it healing. Shaggy grinned as the ninja watched his wound heal and he heard a low male voice say.

 

“Bollocks.”

 

Shaggy sprang this time and swiped wide with both his claws. But the fast-moving ninja ducked under his attack and came up with his sword. Cutting Shaggy’s thigh and up his side. Again, the cuts were shallow and, again, they immediately started to heal. But Shaggy ignored them and dove in again, swinging his claws wide and trying to close in on his fast-moving adversary.

 

He could still hear shouting and fighting going on in the back of the apartment. So Shaggy tried to end the fight quickly with a huge attack, but nothing he did was hitting. But when the ninja stepped on a bit of wood and almost tripped, Shaggy lunged. He almost cheered as he felt his claws sink into the ninja’s flesh. He had finally scored a hit, and it looked deep.

 

The ninja dropped his sword and fell to his knees. The wide gash in his side gushed with blood and he was trying hard to staunch it as Shaggy sauntered closer. Shaggy raised a claw to end the ninja’s life when he realized the noise from the back of the apartment had stopped. He was about to shout at his friends when he felt himself being lifted from the ground.

 

Before he knew it, he was sailing through the small living room and slamming hard into the brick wall. Shaggy felt his head smack backward into the wall and his vision swam. Another, larger, ninja clad all in black had appeared next to the smaller fast ninja that was currently bleeding out on the apartment floor. Shaggy shook his head and noticed that Ephemara was laying in the hallway next to the large ninja. Unconscious or dead, he didn’t know.

 

He collected himself as the big ninja stomped forward, aiming a punch right at his chest. He dove to the side and raked his claws forward. But he felt his claws hit something hard. He pulled his claws back, and they came away with bits of the ninja’s clothes, revealing a grey stone body underneath. Shaggy sighed as the big ninja chuckled.

 

“Them claws are useless against me, bruv.”

 

Shaggy quickly shifted his hands back to normal and started throwing punches. The big ninja laughed as Shaggy slammed his fist into the bigger man’s midsection. He gave a grunt and choked on his laugh as Shaggy pulled back for another punch. Shaggy’s second punch hit the bigger man’s side as the ninja took another swing. He heard the man give another grunt as a large palm slapped him across the living room.

 

Shaggy thought he saw stars as he tried to get to his feet again. He took in the room again as the big ninja stomped forward angrily. He was facing into the living room and across from him was the big guy. But behind that big ninja was the apartment wall, a wall with a window to the outside. Shaggy grinned as he lined up for a tackle. If he could get enough momentum, he could toss the big fuck right out the window.

 

Shaggy bolted forward and slammed into the concrete man. He felt his shoulder pop as he lifted the man by the thighs and continued forward with his head down. Both Shaggy and the large ninja were screaming as they barreled toward the window. But right before they hit, Shaggy felt a sharp pain in his chest, and he was suddenly out of breath. He felt weak as the big ninja pushed him away and Shaggy saw the sword sticking out of his chest.

 

Shaggy stared idly at the sword covered in his blood, and he thought he heard the big ninja laughing. Turning his head slightly, he saw the small ninja’s dark blue eyes. They seemed to have a gleeful look as the small ninja ripped his sword out. Shaggy could already feel his healing take effect, but he was still out of breath as the big ninja gripped him by the head.

 

“We need another one?” The big ninja asked.

 

“Fuck no. Toss him.” The smaller one side, grunting in pain.

 

Shaggy felt his feet leave the floor and then the feeling of weightlessness as he was thrown again. There was the sound of glass breaking and the pain of hitting something metal. He winced as his vision darkened and he felt himself spinning in the air. The feeling of weightlessness was replaced by pain as he felt himself come to a complete and abrupt stop. His vision went black and the last thing his brain registered was what he thought was the sound of a car driving away nearby.