“Fuck. Paperwork.” Shaggy said as he cracked his fingers.

A very helpful Lackey, named Franklin, allowed them to use his name and information for the various licenses they needed. However, that meant that Shaggy was stuck at the terminal for hours on end just filling out digital paperwork. Franklin had stuck around as well for the various confirmation scans. Facial scan, fingerprints, rapid background check and other scans. Surprisingly, Franklin actually had no criminal record. He was just one of the lost souls of Under-Town trying to make his way.

Sure, now they would have to keep the poor guy hidden away for the foreseeable future. But for now, they had the start of a legitimate business. Also, as a bonus, when they were questioning the Lackeys, several had stepped forward as business majors. Apparently, getting a job with a degree was just as difficult as in the real world. So now Levy was off planning a competitive business empire while Shaggy was stuck doing the paperwork.

Most of the terminal’s functions were still locked away until the paperwork went through. But everything was sent to the city office, then sent back, checked over again and confirmed, then they’d send more paperwork. Shaggy would fill that out and file it with the requisite offices. But most of those offices were closed at night!

“There are entire species of aliens that are nocturnal! Can they not staff a night crew with those people?”

“Hey! What do you mean, those people?” Franklin joked.

Shaggy smiled, but didn’t turn to look at the man. He had been good enough to stick with Shaggy through all the paperwork. Although he hadn’t offered to help. Which Shaggy made a mental note on. He was sure the guy was just in here to avoid working like the other Lackeys. A bunch of those Nocturnal aliens were moving about the Deli. Fixing things up and making everything look nice.

They had already gotten the weapons stored away and the two trucks were on their way to Under-Town. Now all they had to do was save a neighborhood. One business at a time. But once the paperwork was in, they would be the unruly tick on the HLO’s arm. The bastards would have to burn the Legion out. Which Shaggy was sure they would do or at least try.

Ping

A quiet ping sounded from the terminal, and Shaggy returned his gaze to the screen. It was another notice from the city office. This one explaining that the files had been issued to their respective parties, and they were awaiting confirmation. Once they received confirmation, the city offices would send another notice to Shaggy stating that they had confirmation. But he wasn’t about to do anything until the confirmation was then sent off to him. Then he was to send his own confirmation back to the city office and they would keep both confirmations in their records.

Shaggy rubbed his eyes and reread the whole notice again. It sounded like they were telling him they were going to send a notice, to let him know they got a notice, so that it could be sent to him. After which he would then send it back!

“I’m done. Night’s over everyone! Pack it in. Bureaucracy has killed fun again.” Shaggy growled as he threw his hands up and walked out of the office.

Franklin followed along, looking sad as Shaggy passed through to the main room. Lackeys everywhere were cleaning the place and making it look nice. Shaggy grinned for a few seconds and then his brain traveled back to the notices on the terminal. Frowning, he left the deli, reminding everyone to post a guard. He traveled through the tunnel entrance and into the dirt tunnels before he finally got back to the dark cave they called home.

A bunch of the Lackeys tiredly walked off as soon as they entered the cavern. Off to their own slices of the circular room. Shaggy waved off Franklin and headed toward his and Levy’s house. Their log cabin was done and built, but they still needed furniture. He made a mental note to steal some in the morning.

Getting to his cabin’s porch, he found Levy standing there looking haggard as three Lackeys pestered her with questions. Shaggy noted that his wife’s hands were glowing purple, and he quickly got between her and the NPC peons. They glared at him for a few seconds before they realized who he was.

“Oh! Uhhh, boss. What are you doing here?”

“I live here. What are y’all doing pestering my wife? She’s likely to fry your dumbasses where you stand.”

All three men gulped audibly before the lead one answered for the group. “Sorry, boss. But we were just wondering what the plan was for us. I mean, you asked about our degrees, so you have to be thinking about setting up some businesses, right? We can help with that! This gang life isn’t really for us. Although mostly it’s been manual labor.”

Shaggy rubbed his brow before something occurred to him. “Great. Y’all can go up and man the terminal. We’re waiting for confirmation on some things.”

“Boss, did you not fill out an expedience form?”

“Yeah. You need to file a BZ-976 form.”

“That form is okay for standard confirmations. But I don’t know if it works in this context. Maybe we should….”

The three business majors were building up to a full-blown business meeting. So Shaggy quickly waved them off. “Yeah. Go do that stuff. I’m going to talk to my wife. Now git.”

All three men scurried away, still discussing random forms and procedure. When Shaggy turned to regard Levy, though, he found she had adopted a pitying expression. Trying to work out what her look meant, Shaggy tilted his head in confusion.

“Dear, you have to give them access to the terminal.” Levy said knowingly.

“ARGH!” Shaggy shouted as he tore off back down the tunnels.

One quick trip back up to the deli and the down again, and Shaggy was cracking open a beer and sitting on the floor of his cabin. Levy was chuckling quietly as she cast some kind of spell on the walls of the house. Once she was done, she joined him on the floor and smiled at him. Shaggy tried to maintain a stoic expression, but he couldn’t help but grin as Levy bumped his shoulder with hers.

“It’s alright dear. Once we get everything set up, most of the business stuff will take care of itself.”

“I know. But all this technical stuff is killing me. What kind of game has this much paperwork? I mean really?”

Levy shrugged. “The way the forums tell it, that’s only the case out here. The east and west coast HLO are far more lenient. But the one in Texas is a pain in the ass.”

“What the hell is that about?”

“Apparently it has something to do with that guy, Ozarious. They say he’s a real hard-ass about a bunch of shit.”

“Great. Well, at least we aren’t directly dealing with that asshole then. We just have the speedy Mr. White to deal with.”

Levy sneaked his beer and took a sip before she replied. “Don’t worry. This will work and once we have our legitimate businesses set up, we can start our illegal ones.”

Shaggy laid back on the hardwood floor. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. Gun Running, illegal gambling, fight rings, or anything else we can think of. With those business majors, we can even set up some money laundering or something.”

“We’re going to need an accountant.” Shaggy added.

“Well, we’ll find one.” Levy said, leaning down next to him. “We logging off for the night?”

“Yeah. Let me just finish this,” Shaggy said, tilting his beer back and draining it.

Once the drink was gone, the two laid like that for a few more seconds until they both logged off. Shaggy was a bit worried, knowing that a full day was going to pass before they could log back in. But he had faith that his crew could handle it.

****

Logging back in, Shaggy was braced for the sounds of combat and shouting. But nothing happened. Levy phased in right next to him in their log cabin and chuckled softly at his tense mood. She had been the one to fill his head all day with dark thoughts. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before she went off to accomplish her own goals for the day.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Shaggy followed, his heart rate settling once he was realized their entire cave hadn’t been invaded. Stepping out onto the porch, Shaggy saw multiple Lackeys moving every which way across the dark cave. The magical light in the sky was working its nonexistent ass off to provide some light. Thankfully, the lamps they had stolen added a much-needed boost.

Rita and Ephemara were waiting just outside his cabin. They both gave Levy a nod as Shaggy blinked at the third person outside his house. Franklin was wringing his hands nervously as he glanced at everyone. Shaggy quirked an eyebrow, but Ephemara just grinned at him while Rita waved Franklin forward.

The nervous man stepped forward cautiously. “Uhh… yeah, boss. We got the business all set up in my name. I had to give an interview to an inspector. But it went well and the Jonas and the other guys say the business is almost ready. We just need to renovate and get some inventory.”

Shaggy nodded as Rita snorted angrily. “Tell him the bad news, Frank!”

Franklin jolted at the woman’s angry tone. “W-w-w-well! We’ve hit a snag with procuring inventory. Jonas and the others have reached out to suppliers, but no one will work with us. Not to mention, we had to go pretty far. There aren’t that many stores still in our neighborhood.”

Shaggy rubbed his face and nodded slowly. That made sense. The HLO had to have scared off most, if not all, of the shop owners by now. He did a quick stretch before he walked off his deck and started marching toward the cave exit. Rita and Ephemara following behind. He glanced over his shoulder at the two, silently asking for their reports.

“Tone is doing fairly well. He has a good head for spy work, but not really the management type. I’m going to have to watch him for the foreseeable future.”

Shaggy wondered why she was here then and the pale woman answered his unasked thought.

“Because the guy is too weak. He’s currently unconscious from ‘exhaustion’ or something. I’ll be back in time to continue his training.”

Shaggy nodded and waited for Rita. The red-head was silent for a long while and Shaggy tried to get a feel on her emotions. For some reason, the woman was worried.

“Uhh, boss. The pack is concerned about this going legit stance we are currently taking.”

“It’s fake.” Shaggy said quickly, trying to remember if he had informed his pack about the plan.

Feeling Rita’s relief through the pack bond, he was guessing not. She gave a quick sigh, before her usual taciturn nature came back.

“You could’ve told us! We see you setting up a legit business venture and you and Levy go off again. We were beginning to think you’d gone soft.”

Shaggy snorted. “Not likely. But we have to play things differently for now. The HLO is involved in this neighborhood. So we need to keep our noses clean and appear as aboveboard as possible.”

“Shit. So what does that mean?”

“It means we are going to have to be careful. Thankfully, the city and the HLO don’t have any drones out this way. But we still want to do things like civilians. So no stealing, no fighting, and no robbing.”

“Fucking hell, boss. Why don’t you just say no fun?” Ephemara whined.

Shaggy nodded as they walked up the tunnels and into the maintenance hallways beneath the neighborhood. Turning down the right path, Shaggy said.

“I know. But we have to be sneaky on this one. If we are going to give the HLO a black eye, we need to sneak up on them first. They are currently trying to oust everyone in the neighborhood, so we need to dig in. Also, we need to make sure the other store owners stand their ground as well. Ephe, I need to know what’s still open around us. Rita, can you and the others go on a supply run? Hit up Levy for the credits and buy whatever we need. Make sure you're seen doing it if you can. We need them to think we’re legit, remember?”

“Yes, boss.” Both women said, although with different levels of enthusiasm.

Rita was still a little surly at having to be a productive member of society. But there was nothing they could do. At least not yet. Both women broke off to go accomplish their tasks as Shaggy caught sight of Franklin again. The guy was walking several steps behind them and looking lost. Shaggy gave a mental sigh as he waved the tall man forward. Together, they arrived at the stairs to the deli and ascended.

Once inside, Shaggy was surprised to find the place packed with a bunch of layabout Lackeys. Most taking cigarette breaks and some talking over cups of coffee. Shaggy growled loudly, making all the Lackeys in the room jolt to attention.

“Seems y’all have had a great break. Why don’t all of you get your asses back down to the cave and help there? Huh?”

With some minor grumbling, the humans and aliens snuffed out their smokes and marched down into the tunnels. Once the room was empty, Shaggy spotted Stanley and Tom beside the counter. They both gave him a wave and Shaggy shook his head.

“What?! We’re playing guard dogs, boss.” Tom said. “We gotta protect our business interest, y’know.”

“Uh-huh. Has anyone even come by at all?”

Surprisingly, both men nodded as Stanley pulled out a notepad. “Yeah, we had several armored patrols walk the streets. When they caught sight of the lights being on in here, they watched us for a few hours. But they have since disappeared.”

“We’ve also had a few of the less savory members of the community try to stick their heads in. But the boys gave them a good scare. Supposedly, we got the construction workers coming round for a look at the place. But they are beyond late at this point.”

Stanley nodded, looking worried. “Yeah. We were thinking they got jumped. Either by the gangs or those armored dudes.”

Shaggy sighed loudly and rubbed a hand through his hair. “Argh! Fine. I’ll see about that as well. Good work, you two. Keep it up.”

“No problem, boss. This is the type of work I can get behind.” Tom chuckled.

Shaggy shook his head as he and Franklin turned into the deli’s office. A triad of voices overlapped as they entered, all arguing over one another. He blinked as he spotted the three business majors standing in front of the terminal. Each trying to get to the keyboard but all holding one of the others back. Franklin winced as a blonde man grabbed the collar of a dark red alien and pulled.

“What the fuck?” Shaggy said, looking around.

The office had been cleaned out, and the desk had been shoddily repaired. A stack of tablets and papers were arranged on the desk. But before Shaggy could get a look, all three men spotted him.

“BOSS!” all of them shouted simultaneously.

Shaggy winced and took a step back. “What?”

“Tell these two nimrods to implement my business plan! I insist!”

“No. Your plan is too childish and relies too heavily on the kindness of other businesses. We need to be self-sufficient.”

“We are not getting the zoning permits for a farm in the city, Todd! Give it up! We should focus on the personnel. We need people to get this place up and running!”

All three men fell back into bickering and Franklin gave Shaggy an apologetic look. “They’ve been at this for a while. They can’t agree on a damn thing. So they argue until two of them get tired and the third one wins.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes. “Okay! All three of you, get out! I have shit I need to do.”

“Bu-”

“Bos-”

“I-”

“It wasn’t a suggestion! MOVE!” Shaggy growled as all three men tried to argue.

With his shout, all three of the business majors went scurrying. Franklin almost followed them, before Shaggy grabbed the man’s arm. Waiting until they were all out, Shaggy approached the terminal and said.

“You’re going to be in charge here, Frank. You got to be able to control those three. Sure, we need their expertise, but you're the boss here. Got it.”

Franklin nodded idly a few times. The tall NPC waggled his head back and forth for a few seconds before he added.

“It’s Franklin, by the way. Not Frank.”

Shaggy glanced up from the terminal to see the skinny man looking at him nervously. Shaggy grinned. “Noted. Now let me see what those three chuckle-heads did.”

Shaggy spent the next hour or so going over all the paperwork and forms filed by the Business Trio. For all their petty arguing and whining, the three were actually decent at their jobs. They got all the forms in and expedited within a day. The business was well on its way to opening. They just needed a source of meat and a construction crew.

Shaggy could’ve paid out of pocket to have the system rebuild the shop. But without a construction crew on site, the fees were exorbitant. Still, he paid for the little things. Rebuilding the floor, replacing the windows, and refurnishing the counter. The bigger things were going to have to wait.

He checked their current stores of meat to see the two large chimeras sitting in their crates. According to the terminal, though, they couldn’t sell the meat. They need a specialty license to sell magical meat. Shaggy groaned and started using the interface to find nearby meat whole-sellers. But looking at the messages left in the terminal in-box, the business trio had been trying all day. No one wanted to sell to them. It just wasn’t worth it.

“Fuuuuuck.” Shaggy groaned.

“What’s up, boss?”

“Meat problems.” Shaggy said, wincing at the phrase.

Franklin rubbed his hands together before he said. “Umm, doesn’t the Den have meat?”

Shaggy blinked as he remembered the two minotaurs who were running their bar down in Under-Town. He wanted to slap himself. Of course, they were getting meat from somewhere. It probably wasn’t legal. Nevertheless, they could talk to them. He really didn’t have a head for this stuff at all.

Shaking his head, he turned to Franklin and waved the man to the terminal. “Why don’t you contact them and see if they can hook us up?”

“Me?”

“It’s your business, dude. I’m just a silent partner. While you are doing that, I’ll go check on what the holdup is with our construction crew.”

Franklin moved to the terminal hesitatingly. Once he was at the holographic keyboard, he glanced up at Shaggy. “Thanks, boss. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t. Good luck, Mr…” Shaggy paused as he never got Franklin’s last name.

“Stein, boss. Franklin Stein.”