“What the hell is a Junior Detective?” Shaggy asked, looking around.

Ephemara and Stanley twisted their lupine heads in confusion. The mob of gangsters and thugs shook their heads and rumbled incoherently. Shaggy stared back at the young, dark-haired Derek and grinned.

The young detective gulped noticeably and a sour smell filled Shaggy’s nostrils. It was coming off the young man in droves. Derek swept his large pistols around the roof, keeping all of them in front of him. The bald-headed leader of the mob of thugs snorted and stomped toward the shivering detective.

“I’ve got this little pecker-wood.” The alien growled.

Derek switched targets to the bald alien. “Stay where you are! My back up is on its way. You are all under arrest!”

“Yeah, you said that,” Shaggy snickered. “But what’s the charge, exactly?”

“Huh?” Derek asked, caught off guard. He kept backing away from the bald alien as he tried to get a look at Shaggy. “Well, I mean, you were meeting with mysterious people in the middle of the night and you...you killed them. So, murder. Yeah, you’re charged with murder in the first degree. S..so… surrender now!”

Shaggy moved forward and gripped the bald alien’s shoulder. With a harsh tug, he flung the alien back to his cronies and glared the young detective in the eyes. The younger man kept his gaze for a few quick seconds and then glanced away, his gun barrel dropping a few centimeters. Shaggy snorted and turned back to the group of thugs.

Stanley and Ephemara had stomped toward the crowd, heads low, and teeth bared. Over the sides of the building, the scuffling of the rest of Shaggy’s pack could be heard. He had them all stand down as he stared across at the leader of the mob.

“Beat it. Get the fuck out of my neighborhood.”

“What the… Who the fuck do you think you are?” Baldie snapped.

Shaggy snorted again. “You know, or at least have an idea.”

“I haven’t seen any proof.”

“And I’m not obliged to give you any. Now fuck off before my pack gets hungry.” Shaggy growled.

His own growl was joined by the rest of his pack. Seven enormous wolves, all growling at once, were enough to spook the pack of idiots. Baldie kept glaring, but he was hustled off toward the edge of the roof. The group left their weapons where they threw them and hurried away as Shaggy’s pack kept watch.

Once the group was in the parking lot, Shaggy sent a message to Ephemara. Her dark-furred wolf yipped happily and vanished. Derek gasped in alarm, but Shaggy ignored him as he had his pack set up a perimeter. Rita sent him some pretty strong negative emotions. But Shaggy assured her he would be fine with the young Mr. Perez.

The young detective in question was still trying to find the disappearing werewolf. But Shaggy caught his attention and smiled.

“So, Mr. Perez. Do you want to tell me what you were really doing out here? Taking pot shots at heavily armored soldiers?”

“I-I- told you…”

“Yeah. I got your lie. But how about the truth? You don’t exactly smell like the police, if you know what I mean.” Shaggy tapped his nose and Derek stammered a bit.

The detective eventually calmed himself enough to explain. “I-I’m part of the neighborhood watch… or what’s left of it.”

Shaggy stared down at the hand-cannon the kid was still holding up. “Pretty well-armed for the neighborhood watch, son.”

“Have you seen this neighborhood?”

“Yes. Yes, I have. But what I really want to know is where you got the weapons. I can see your pistol, but you had to have had a rifle, right?”

“That silver wolf of yours left it behind when they snapped me up. I thought I was a goner!” Derek said, finally lowering his gun.

“Still, high-grade laser weaponry isn’t exactly street legal, y’know?”

“This is Texas. There’s a separate set of rules.”

Shaggy smirked and nodded. “Okay, so you are the heavily armed neighborhood watch. What’s with the sniper fire?”

“I’ve noticed these armored assholes prowling around. The cops aren’t doing a damn thing. Meanwhile, the gangs are getting more and more brave. Someone has to do something!”

“So you… What? Decided to deputize yourself and go out and right the neighborhood’s wrongs? That’s vigilantism. I hear they throw you in jail for that.”

“I just wanted to know what they were up to.” Derek sighed. He holstered his pistol and brushed a head through his dark hair. “I saw Yig’Yag talking to that armored feller and lost my cool. Yig and his group of bastards have been harassing my apartment complex for the past couple of days. I figured the armored guys were the ones egging his crew on.”

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Shaggy nodded sagely. He walked to the edge of the supermarket roof and sat down. “Well, Junior Detective. You ain’t far off. I expect that the white armored gentlemen work for certain interested parties. Parties that want the HLO to get a hold of this neighborhood. So they come in, rile up the local street toughs, and run off all you hard-working citizens.”

Derek stared at Shaggy, a serious look smeared across his face. “Do you have proof?”

Shaggy raised his hands helplessly. “Not really. Every time we cap one of the armored guys, they teleport back to their owners. We hit them where we can, but it’s a struggle.”

“What’s your stake in all this? Why are you out here killing the armored guys?”

“I am just a business owner protecting by investments. I have a deli that is trying to get off the ground. But apparently, getting any businesses started around here is like pulling teeth from a shark.”

“A business owner, huh?”

“Well, a silent partner, as it were.” Shaggy grinned.

“You don’t look like a business owner. You look like a vagrant.”

Shaggy glanced down at his shirtless, shoeless body. Thankfully, his pants had survived the man-beast shift. But he was still having difficulty with the rest of his clothes. He grinned up at Derek and shrugged again.

“What can I say? Shifting is a costly endeavor. At least for now, all it costs is my shirt.”

“Wait,” Derek said, eyes going wide. “You were that giant beast thing?!”

Shaggy waved. “Hi, I’m Shaggy. Your friendly neighborhood werewolf. Here to revitalize the economy and kick the HLO to the curb.”

Derek moved toward the edge of the roof and stared out at the parking lot. Shaggy’s pack was shuffling and horsing around in the dark. A street lamp would occasionally catch one of the wolves, mainly Rita or Ephemara, doing their job. They patrolled the streets around the supermarket as Shaggy had his conversation.

“So they are all…”

“Werewolves? Yes. My pack and I have chosen to move into this area. We didn’t know that the HLO had designs of their own on it.”

“So why don’t you just move on? Find a new spot.”

Shaggy blew out a dramatic sigh. “Well… Y’see, my people have already started to set up here. Moving our operation to a different neighborhood wouldn’t be very cost effective.”

Derek raised an eyebrow at his words. “Operation?”

“Yes. We have many businesses we are interested in setting up here. Why, I bet this supermarket could use a little TLC. All it would take is an infusion of some credits and help in finding the right suppliers.”

Derek seemed to think over his words. While he did, the detective’s eyes scanned around the dark streets. In the distance, the power in several buildings flickered dangerously. The neighborhood was clearly on its last legs. People were moving out, and the gangs were moving in. Shaggy could see the turmoil in the younger man’s eyes. He clearly wanted to help his community. Even to the extent that he was trying to kill people in the middle of the night.

“How do I know you're not exactly like those white-armored guys? You say they are HLO, but I haven’t seen any proof and, honestly, you strike me as more of a criminal than them.”

Shaggy saw Derek’s hand drift back down to his gun. He sighed through his nose and stood up slowly. “I can understand that. But really, I’ve been upfront with you to a degree. Can you say the same about the HLO’s people? But if you still don’t trust me, why don’t you come by in the morning, maybe stick around with my people for a while? Maybe I can be the devil you know, opposed to the one you aren’t sure about.”

“Why would you do that? What do you want from me, Mr. Shaggy?”

“Well, for one, you clearly have a vested interest in this neighborhood doing better. For another, a fine upstanding Junior Detective like yourself has to know a few people in the neighborhood, right? If we are going to save this place, we have to be united. Against the gangs, and the HLO.”

“Allegedly the HLO.” Derek corrected.

Shaggy put up both his hands. “Sure, allegedly. But you could introduce me to some people, right? Show me around? Maybe tell folks I’m not here to hurt any of them.”

“You sure? The way I hear it, you Therianthropes can get pretty brutal.”

Shaggy grinned savagely. “Oh, we can get pretty nasty when we are defending our territory. But the citizens around here have nothing to fear from us. We just want to do business.”

Derek scoffed. “See, it’s when you say things like YOUR territory that make me nervous. People around here have been through enough. The cops aren’t helping and our calls to the city go unanswered. We haven’t seen a damn Supe out this way in fucking weeks. More and more people are leaving or losing their jobs. This place is a fucking shitshow.”

“It does sound like an aggravating situation.”

Derek continued to glare at Shaggy, eyes blazing. “And then you turn up. A literal pack of wolves in a dying neighborhood. How do you think that looks? Cause I can tell you, it’s not good.”

Shaggy shrugged. “Which is why I said you can shadow me. See what we’re about. I promise, the only thing I am interested in is making money. At least where this neighborhood is concerned.”

“What about other neighborhoods?”

Shaggy merely smiled as he let Derek absorb his words. The young man was necessary to Shaggy’s plans for the area. But having another local on board would help move things along. Also, establishing themselves as White Knights in the neighborhood was always the plan. Derek wrestled with his thoughts for a short while. In the meantime, gunshots and shouts echoed through the streets.

Shaggy ignored them as he slowly stuck a hand out. “So what do you say, Mr. Perez? Care to help a businessman get his operation off the ground?”

Derek stared at the hand, an unsure expression on his face. “You know what they say about shaking hands with the devil, don’t you?”

“Hehe. I promise you can count your fingers right after I let go. You might even find a couple extra.”

Derek scoffed again, but still didn’t reach his hand out. Instead, he simply stared Shaggy in his face, clearly trying to read something. Eventually the Detective sighed and asked.

“Am I going to regret this?”

“Who’s to say? I have my interest and you have yours. But they are aligned and locked to this neighborhood. Is that enough?”

With another glance at Shaggy’s hand, Derek gripped it tight and blew out a breath. Shaggy grinned as the two shook hands. He immediately started thinking about how he wanted to tour the neighborhood. Now in the company of Derek. With the young detective at his side, he was bound to get more attention and the kid could tell him about the people in the area. Overall, it was a win-win. But Shaggy was sure something would come and fuck it up soon.