The Cat-girl was good. A few minutes with a laptop and the chatty reporter had found what they were looking for. Errado didn’t question the method with which the evidence was obtained and Shaggy was too far away to see how she had done it. He knew she had actually called the judge, but what that was for, he didn’t know. Ruby seemed to delight in not telling him as well. Like she was a cat with a toy only she could play with.

With the supposed evidence in hand, they were ready and waiting when the arbiter showed up. Although Shaggy wasn’t so ready for the man’s winged appearance. The angel-like wings dipped and bobbed as the brunette man in a dark suit stepped into the room. He gave Shaggy a withering look, then moved on to Shaggy’s lawyer. With an almost pitying look, the Angel opened his mouth. That’s when Ruby shouted in astonishment.

“Holy shit, it’s an angel! Wow! I didn’t know angels were in the game! How the fuck are there angels in the game?! Can Players be angels? What are the stats like?”

Ruby carried on with a myriad of questions aimed at the arbiter. Her two cameras circling the room and getting every angle. Mr. Errado tried to calm the cat-girl down, but she ignored him as she circled the angel. Shaggy rolled his eyes and tried to get her attention.

“Ruby! Stop! Down, girl!”

Ruby froze at his words and glared at him. “I’m not a disobedient pet!”

“Could’ve fooled me.” The angel said. “Madam, I am an official arbiter of the state of Texas and I am here to check the validity of charges of malfeasance against a judge. If you have nothing to do with that, I suggest you vacate the premises immediately.”

“Oh, I ain’t going anywhere. I’m the one that got the evidence!”

The arbiter turned his golden eyes upon the cat-girl. But Ruby met his steely gaze with her own. Shaggy coughed to get the attention of the room.

“Ahem… Ms. Shroud has obtained evidence of judge-tampering by the HLO. I would like the arbiter to check its validity and then dismiss the HLO’s entire case against me.”

The arbiter’s wings flutters for a second as his lips quirked into a grin. “Oh, you would? Would you? Well, that would depend on how real this so-called evidence is and how it was obtained.”

Ruby snorted and threw off her hat. Pulling a long lanyard from within her shirt, she shoved it in the angel’s face. “I’m a freelance reporter working for the Austin Times. I was investigating government corruption when I was sent an email. This email contained evidence of a certain party paying kickbacks to various people working in city hall.”

The angel’s eyes glowed even brighter and his wings fluttered again. The tall man turned his entire body on Ruby and nearly hid her from Shaggy’s view. Shaggy could hear the angel’s soft voice muttering, almost to himself.

“She’s not lying… at least she doesn’t think she is. Could it be real? Half-truths are easier to hide. I will need to investigate further!”

With that, the angel spun on his heel and moved over to a couch. Taking a seat, the angel flared out his wings slightly. Errado and Shaggy shared a look as Ruby hurriedly picked up her hat and walked to the opposite couch. Errado joined her as Shaggy stretched his neck to remain a part of the conversation. Seeing his predicament, the angel snorted.

“Can I trust you to behave, Mr. Robertson?”

“Never.” Shaggy said, almost without thought. “But I won’t cause trouble within this room.”

The angel nodded and started muttering again. “Qualified honesty. Smart, Mr. Robertson. Your file will need to be updated.”

With a wave of his hand, the metal around Shaggy disappeared and the leg restraints clanged open. Shaggy lost his balance and fell to the carpeted floor, his bare arms tingling as he moved them. Shaggy realized that the bastards hadn’t even given him a shirt or shoes. He was in the same clothes as when they caught him. Which was to say, just a pair of slacks and nothing else.

“Bastards.” Shaggy muttered as he stood.

Errado gave him a hand up and helped steady him. Shaggy’s stomach screamed at him for food. The urge was so powerful that Shaggy almost started salivating. But before he could ask, the arbiter shut him down.

“You will not be fed anything substantial. Reports indicate you can be a handful when you have a full stomach.”

Shaggy almost wanted to throw a fit. Instead, he focused on his breathing and calmly jammed his emotions into his inner wolf. The beast was drowned out by his hunger, but Shaggy was sure the wolf was there. Placated slightly by his own willpower, Shaggy took a few shaky steps toward the couch.

Once he was plopped down next to Ruby, the arbiter started speaking again. “I will need to go over this evidence you have and check its validity. I will also need your sources on this case.”

Shaggy expected the cat-girl to balk at giving away her sources. But instead she grinned, revealing a mouth full of tiny sharp teeth. He swore he could hear the woman purr as she produced a data tablet and stick. She handed both to the angel and sat back on the couch, giving Shaggy a wink.

The angel took both items as his hands glowed with golden energy. As the items touched his hands, a surprised look passed over his face. Glancing up at them, he started muttering again.

“Nothing untoward or prohibitive on either device. No evil intent or hidden secrets. A reporter with nothing to hide? Unlikely. Possible secondary device located elsewhere. Unconnected to this case. Irrelevant.”

His eyes snapped back to the items in his hands. He plugged the data stick into the tablet and turned the screen upward. With a few swipes, he began reading. Shaggy glanced at Ruby for any hint of what he should be doing. But the woman was casually cleaning her nails. She waved her fingers at him and continued what she was doing. So Shaggy turned to his lawyer.

Mr. Errado was standing next to the couch and sweating profusely. He pulled a blue handkerchief from his breast pocket and started wiping his face. Shaggy was about to make some small talk with the nervous man. But a sudden and powerful force slammed into Shaggy. His body was buried in the couch and he tried to turn toward the force. But he could barely move as a bright yellow light almost burned his skin. Beside him, he could hear Ruby hissing against the pain of the attack.

As suddenly as it came, the attack stopped and Shaggy and Ruby spun to look at the opposing couch. The arbiter was still there, but now two more angels had shown up. One was whispering in the arbiter's ear as the other had his hand on the arbiter's chin, forcing it upward. A golden light was visibly shooting from the arbiter’s eyes and it was scorching the ceiling. Both angels ignored Shaggy and Ruby as they manhandled their comrade.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“What the fu- ARGH!” Shaggy tried to curse, but a loud screeching pierced his ears. He tried to swear again, but the noise came back. Slamming into his brain.

“Cease your malediction, peasant! We are trying to aid our comrade,” said one angel.

The one holding the arbiter’s chin sighed. “It’s called cursing, Joseph. You know that. Continue to help Micheal regain his faculties.”

“Pfft, the commoners should know not to utter such things within range of the divine, Thomas. Don’t defend them.”

“That’s literally our job, Joseph.”

“Bah!”

The two fell into silence as Shaggy and Ruby shared a confused look. Beside the couch, Errado was picking himself off the floor. Behind the couch, Ruby’s cameras were still floating and spinning, taking in everything. Shaggy rubbed his eyes and returned them to the three angels across from them.

Joseph was quietly whispering to the arbiter as Thomas was smiling at them warmly. His hand still jerking the arbiter’s chin up. Shaggy quirked his eyebrow at the three angels and Thomas nodded at him kindly, a finger coming up, asking him to wait. Shaggy could feel Ruby nearly vibrating with unasked questions as the entire room sat silent. Waiting for the government’s angel to stop frying the ceiling.

“What the h- heck did you show him?” Shaggy whispered to Ruby, careful not to swear.

Ruby almost didn’t hear him, but with a sharp elbow to her side, she answered. “Well, my contact sent me a lot of alleged illegal things that your judge has been up to. Not just the supposed payments from the HLO. Which were almost impossible to prove, by the way.”

“What?”

“Whatever shell company the HLO is using is either fantastic or they are legitimately not involved. But someone paid a large amount of credits to get your case expedited.”

“I thought that was normal.”

“Getting a case expedited is. But paying to ensure it is, isn’t. The process should have taken a long time, but someone paid the judge to have the paperwork forced through. Which is illegal.”

“But you couldn’t track it to the HLO.”

“Noooo… my source couldn’t track the money. But it proves your judge is crooked.”

Shaggy snorted as the arbiter’s mutterings came back.

“Such perfidy. Such lies and evil intent. A corrupt person sitting in a seat of power. How has it come to this?”

“Oh boy,” Said Thomas. “Joseph, what have you been telling Micheal? How wasn’t he ready for the realm of mortals?”

Joseph snorted. “No angel could ever truly be ready for this den of sin.”

“Joseph! His powers flared up automatically at the sight of such evil! He controlled himself when a Champion of the one of Primals sat across from him. But one look into the dirty laundry of a judge and he snaps? What the fudge, Joseph?!”

“Primals?” Ruby whispered into Shaggy’s ear.

“Not now.” Shaggy hissed back.

“There’s no need for such language, Thomas. I can see that more training is required.”

The arbiter’s eyes finally stopped burning the ceiling and, with a twist of his hand, Joseph put out the smoking ceiling. Shaggy opened his mouth to ask a question. But Micheal, the arbiter, shouted.

“Out! I throw this entire case out! Such treachery and evil shall not be rewarded with a seat at the table of justice! This entire system must be cleansed!”

“Holy Sh- ARGHHHHHH!” Errado said, before a loud screeching interrupted his words.

Shaggy and Ruby covered their ears against the noise as the lawyer tumbled to the floor again. Thomas and Joseph glared at each other. As one, the pair of angels turned to Shaggy and Ruby. Their golden eyes scanning them. Shaggy thought he saw a bit of anger behind Joseph’s eyes, but it was gone in an instant. After a few moments of silence, a harsh knocking came from the room’s door.

Unbidden, several suited men walked into the room and glared. Shaggy spotted an alien that looked somewhat like Mr. White. His pale skin and black veins were harsh against his gray suit. But the alien was slightly shorter and a little pudgier than Mr. White. However, the look he gave Shaggy was almost exactly the same as the HLO’s attack dog.

“Ah, arbiters. Perhaps you can inform us as to why our case was just thrown out?”

“PERFIDY! TREACHERY OF THE HIGHEST DEGREE!” Shouted Micheal.

Thomas and Joseph winced as the HLO’s lawyers took several steps back. After a quick, hushed conversation, Joseph gripped Micheal’s shoulder and vanished from the room. No burst of air or show of magic. They were just suddenly gone. Thomas addressed the room as he moved around the couch.

“The defendant and his lawyer brought forth compelling evidence that the judge for this case had been tampered with.”

“Oh!” said the alien HLO lawyer. “Do they know who did the tampering?”

Thomas shook his head. But then, with his eyes glowing, he asked. “Do you?”

“No, I-”

“Lie!” Thomas interrupted.

“Well, I mean that I’ve heard some rumors, but...”

“Lie!”

The lawyers squirmed as Thomas advanced on them. Each one failed to meet the angel’s glowing eyes until he got to the pale devil looking lawyer. Mr. White’s pudgy clone merely grinned up into the angel’s eyes until Thomas looked away. With a sigh, the angel spoke to the room.

“It has become clear to the arbitration council that something untoward has occurred in the House of Justice. We will be investigating this carefully. Until then, this case shall be halted and resumed at a later date. The defendant, Shaggy Robertson, shall be released on bail with the agreement that he shall return once the HLO is ready to make their case. Agreed?”

“Oh sure, I can…” Shaggy said.

“Lie!” Thomas yelled, sounding annoyed.

Shaggy sighed and looked up into the golden eyes of the angel. Everything in his body was straining at him to truthfully tell the angel that he had no intention of ever coming back to court. But he bit his tongue and tried to think. As the angel Thomas loomed over him, Shaggy could see the smarmy pale lawyer grinning at him. Shaggy grimaced and made another gamble.

“I swear that if the HLO ever has an honest case against me, I will happily appear in court.”

Thomas’s eyes stopped glowing, and a small smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Qualified truth. Sneaky, Mister Robertson. I can see why one of the Primals chose you. But be careful, their stench will call others to you. Others you aught not mess with.”

Shaggy blankly stared at the angel until Thomas spun back to the prosecution. The pale, devil-looking lawyer was grimacing as the rest of his retinue shied away from the angel’s gaze.

“Is the agreement acceptable?” Thomas asked.

“It is.” The devil alien muttered softly, still glaring at Shaggy.

“Then this case is granted a stay of proceedings until further notice. Mr. Robertson, do not leave the city. If you do, you shall be charged with evading arrest. Understood?”

Shaggy chuckled. “Hehehe, don’t worry about that, Tom. I ain’t going anywhere.”

Shaggy eyes scanned over the prosecution. While they still didn’t want to meet the angel’s eyes, they all glared daggers at Shaggy. But the moment was broken as Mr. Errado shouted.

“Yahoo! I won my first case!”