Shaggy and Levy walked arm and arm down the dark streets. The back alleys and decrepit buildings were quiet. No gunshots, no screams, just the gentle hum of the street lamps… and Tom’s constant muttering. Although Shaggy was sure only he could hear that. Levy didn’t have his enhanced hearing and was also too busy commenting on the various businesses they passed.

Their meeting with Derek and his associates was supposed to happen in an hour. But they were planning on being early. First impression and all that. However, their walk was slowed as Levy kept finding new business opportunity in each building. There was a defunct laundromat, a for-sale department store, and a Robotic Assistant charging and rental place just in the block they were on.

“I mean, I know some Lackeys have to have untapped skills, right? So why not float the idea around and see if any of them are interested in robotics?”

Shaggy nodded. “Yes, dear. I agree, but we need to hurry if we want to get to the meeting early.”

“I know. But there’s just so much potential here. I mean, the HLO has scared everyone off, so we could probably get some of these businesses real cheap. If City Hall wasn’t a bunch of corrupt ass-hats.”

“Well, you can explore that potential at any point in the future… in the daylight… while I’m stuck underground building a city… all by my lonesome.”

“Aww, poor baby.” Levy teased as she leaned down and kissed him. “At least you’ll have your harem to keep you warm.”

“Oh, ha ha…” Shaggy pretended to laugh before he tapered off.

The air had become suddenly tense and Shaggy couldn’t hear Tom’s mutterings anymore. His senses seemed to amplify as he focused on his surroundings. Levy must have picked up on his mood, because her hand started glowing. They were slowing to a stop at the end of the block when Tom spoke up from the roof beside them.

“Sorry. Just a mugger.”

Shaggy glanced up to see Tom smiling over the edge of the roof. “You take care of it?”

“Naw, I let him go so he can go get friends and come back to bother us later.”

Levy snorted at the obvious sarcasm in Tom’s voice and Shaggy rubbed his eyes.

“Okay. It was a stupid question. Is it handled?”

“Yeah, boss. It’s handled. You and the missus can continue your weird flirting.”

Shaggy turned to see Levy smiling like a cat as she linked their arms again. She forcibly moved him across the street and to the new block as Shaggy’s hackles were still raised. But she patted his shoulder softly and chuckled.

“Love, you’ve got a capable pack member watching over us. We’ll be fine.”

“I know. I’m just keeping an eye out for something Tom can’t handle.”

Levy looked confused for a few moments until it dawned on her. “You mean your cat friend?”

“He was quick, quiet, and he hit hard. If the HLO has hired him again, I want to be ready.”

“That’s fair. But you can’t keep walking around like you have a stick jammed up your ass. If he comes, we’ll deal with it. But until then, let’s enjoy our walk and find this community center.”

Shaggy pointed up the block and across the main street. “It’s over there and it looks like we aren’t the first ones here.”

The short squat community center building was lit up against the dark street. There was no one on the door, but Shaggy could see movement across the lights in the windows. The ones that weren’t boarded up, anyway. The community center was a lot like the other buildings in their little neighborhood, old, broken, and abandoned. Shaggy was surprised the place had power, really.

He and Levy rushed across the street and up the road toward the building. As they approached, Shaggy could hear sounds of heated discussion going on. Nothing concrete yet, but the muffled voices didn’t sound happy. When he said as much to Levy, she held him back slightly and gave him a worried look.

“Maybe I should do the talking while were are in there.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes. “Why? I’m good at diplomacy. I got us this meeting, right?”

“Little Stanley got us this meeting. Because he has become fast friends with Derek. We don’t want to harm that relationship or our chances of getting the locals on our side.”

“I told Stanley to set up the meeting, y’know. So that makes it half my accomplishment at least.”

“It really doesn’t.”

“Besides, the locals are already on our side. They want the HLO and the troopers gone just as much as we do.”

Levy nodded as they reached the door. “That may be. But that doesn’t mean they want to make a deal with a werewolf and a witch.”

“If they were smart, they would.” Shaggy muttered quietly as he opened the door and stepped through.

The bright foyer was empty save for a large desk on the right side wall and a seating area to the left. Shaggy ignored the empty room as the sounds of arguing grew louder once they entered the building. The noise consisted of multiple voices, all overlapping and conflicting with each other as they yelled. Shaggy shared a look with Levy and his wife gave him a tired smile. Apparently, they were walking into trouble again.

They both walked down the main hall, past a small lounge and a dining area, before they reached a set of double doors. The tumultuous sounds of a crowd arguing all at once were clear through the door. He gave Levy’s arm a squeeze before he pushed open the door and walked through.

On the other side was a massive basketball court that had been converted into a mock auditorium. Rows of metal chairs had been set out in front of a platform that was raised a foot and a half above the ground. Every chair in the five rows was filled, but everyone was on their feet, shouting over each other at the impromptu stage. The four people on the stage were yelling at each other and the crowd.

“I love the calm and mature nature in which we discuss things. I mean, as a species.” Levy joked.

“I don’t know. I see a bunch of aliens in here. So you can’t blame humans for a bit of elevated discourse.”

Shaggy was trying to get a better view of the people on the stage. He was sure he spotted Derek. But then there was a studious-looking man in a brown suit who was red in the face from screaming. Next to him was a hunched over old woman, who was a dressed in a long black robe with a shawl over her shoulders and head. But the fourth member of the stage was harder to see. Shaggy caught glimpses of orange flesh, but he still didn’t have a great view.

Pulling Levy along, he wrapped around the crowd on the right and moved toward the stage. As they passed the rows of chairs, people fell silent. Shaggy could feel their eyes on him, but he ignored it as the rest of the voices in the room grew clearer. The squeaky, but rough voice coming from the stage tickled something in the back of Shaggy’s mind. As he got closer, he recognized the short hybrid yelling on the stage, even as everyone else grew quiet.

“… They’re criminals! Which are always bad for business. So yes, we should work with…?”

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Nuc trailed off as she realized no one was paying attention to her. Shaggy crossed his arms across his chest and waited for the short hybrid to turn around and face him. But instead the woman shifted lazily toward the side and put the other members of the stage between them.

Shaggy acted hurt as he stepped onto the platform. The brown-suited man looked ready to say something, but Derek stopped him. Shaggy crouched down low so he was eye-level with Nuc even as the hob-goblin/gnome woman tried to avoid his gaze.

“I’m hurt Nuc. I thought you were well aware that I’m just an honest businessman. Just trying to set up some honest business and bring some life into this community.”

Nuc opened her mouth to reply when another voice spoke up from the sizeable crowd in front of the stage.

“You mean you want to take all of our money?!”

Shaggy immediately spun on his heel as he stood. “Yes! Like any other damn business in this neighborhood! You pay for the goods or services I provide and I take your money! Is that not capitalism?”

The crowd fell silent at his words, but the suit-man cut in.

“I think they are more concerned with your men offering ‘protection’ to our stores.”

The older man cranked an eyebrow up over the rim of his glasses as he stared down at Shaggy. For his part, Shaggy shrugged his shoulders and, again, tried to look put upon.

“Is that not a service? All of you have just paid out to a group of Supers for the same thing, haven’t you? But how loyal will those Contract Supers be when their contract is up? I mean, even right now they are a block to the west taking jobs there.”

A general sense of shock rolled through the crowd as Derek and Suit-man shared a look of disbelief. Shaggy let the worry set in a bit before he calmed them down.

“I’m sure they’ll be back. But don’t you want someone who is dedicated to the welfare of this community protecting it? I have a vested interest in making sure this neighborhood stays intact and the means to protect it. I have a business I’m trying to run! My wife has a cafe she wants to open. Do you think we’d be putting down roots if our goal was to fleece you all and run?”

Shaggy paused to let his words sink in. He had not planned on giving a damn speech when he left the cave. Stanley had just said this was a meeting with the locals. He didn’t mention it was a damn town hall. Shaggy plotted how he was going to punish the kid as the crowd murmured quietly amongst themselves.

Again, he turned toward Nuc, but he was interrupted by the old woman this time. The crone raised a thin bony finger and pointed it at Levy. Stalking forward, the crone passed by Shaggy and spoke in a raspy voice.

“You have a touch of Necrotic energy about you.” The crone said to Levy.

Levy drew herself to her full height and smiled. Which did nothing to calm the tense crowd. Shaggy could feel the room shift against them again. But his wife acted before he could calm things. She summoned her staff from her dimensional pocket and slammed the butt of it onto the stage. A muted glow emanated from the top of the staff and Shaggy groaned. Levy had taken an alien skull and decorated the top of her staff with it. The glow was from the crystal embedded in the top of Levy’s staff and it made the skull’s eye-sockets and mouth shine with purple light.

The crowd went absolutely still as Levy towered over the old crone. Glaring imperiously, Levy gave a condescending sniff.

“Yes. I’ve dabbled in Necromancy. But so what? Are you one of those old fools who thinks that dark magic makes a person evil? I suppose you think that Holy Magic users have never committed a crime? Or perhaps you are looking to test the mettle of my magic, Plague Witch. Well, if it’s the last one, you are more than free to try.”

Levy slammed the butt of her staff into the stage again as the crone dropped her finger. Shaggy hissed in the back of his mind and felt Tom prepare himself. The skinny man was on the roof, but felt more than willing to crash down and start some mayhem. Shaggy was about to intercede when the crone gave a hacking laugh.

“Ack-ha ha ha ha! Oh, I like you.”

She turned to the others on the stage and nodded. “They can stay.”

“Mama Agnes…” Derek said cautiously, but he was interrupted by more arguing coming from the crowd.

“You can’t let a Necromancer into our neighborhood!”

“One witch is bad enough!”

“These protection prices are outrageous!”

“Actually, they are kind of fair!”

“Fuck you, I want a discount!”

Shaggy blinked as the assembled crowd argued amongst themselves. When he turned back to the stage, he found Derek and the old crone in a heated discussion. The old man in the suit was watching the conversation, getting redder and redder in the face. Nuc was… right next to him?

Shaggy had to stop himself from leaping in fright as Levy moved over to his side. He pointed to the skull on the end of her staff and asked.

“Is that who I think it is?”

Levy nodded and stuck her tongue out cutely. “This way I don’t have to hear him yapping and I essentially have two Foci. Sure, it takes a bit longer to cast through both of them. But my spells are that much more potent.”

Shaggy nodded understandingly as he looked down to address Nuc. The shoeless orange hybrid looked worried. But kept her cool as she squeaked.

“I meant nothing by it. It’s just that criminals is bad for business.”

“Oh please, like criminals aren’t half of your clientele.”

“Yes. But most of them don’t drop a shit-ton of trouble on top of my store.”

Shaggy bent down as Nuc waved him lower. She whispered to both him and Levy.

“Is it true that the white-suited fella was with the HLO?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Your men talk.”

Shaggy snorted. “You mean the men that I put outside your shop to guard it from criminals? At no charge, I might add.”

Nuc waved him down frantically. “Shush! Don’t go telling people that. They’ll think I work with you.”

“Don’t you?”

“Yes! But you want people to know that?”

Shaggy merely shrugged. In truth, it made no difference to him so long as Nuc cut him a percentage of her stores profits. In fact, he would probably make more in the long run. Getting a profit-share on a business was a far better thing than running protection for the various stores. Looking amongst the crowd, Shaggy asked Nuc.

“Did you bring over any of your friends from the other neighborhoods?”

Nuc nodded. “A few took up my offer. A couple more bolted when they found out I was working with a criminal. But most stayed and they are on that side of the room.”

She waved a clawed hand at a section of chairs and Shaggy studied the people. They were a collection of aliens and humans, and unlike everyone else, they were quiet. The room was a loud outpouring of noise and arguments. But Nuc’s people were silently watching their conversation. Shaggy raised an eyebrow at Nuc.

“They’re hardened merchants. They are waiting to see if you kill me or not.”

“For what?! Advocating for not trusting me? Why would I do that? It’s a smart move. I don’t trust you.”

Nuc started to look hurt and then caught herself. When she finally schooled her facial features, she spun on him and clawed his pant leg angrily.

“Then what was all the scary-wolf businessman shtick about?!”

“What? You gave me a great opener, so I took it.” Shaggy said, annoyed. The gnome/goblin’s claw had ripped a sizeable tear in his pants. “You owe me new pants.”

“Shipments are all on hold.”

Shaggy growled as he looked around. There were fifty people in the room and if he had to guess, they were all business owners. That meant that no one in this room was getting their shipments in. When he asked Nuc to confirm, the goblin nodded worriedly.

“Yeah, we get the odd truck from downtown now and again. But mostly they are stopping everything for random ‘spot checks.’ If they find any reason to arrest the truck driver, they’ll take it too.”

“Arrest?” Levy asked. “Since when do armored troopers have the right to arrest anyone?”

“Where have you been? Those troopers were deputized by City Hall yesterday evening. Since then, they’ve arrested several of our drivers for a bunch of misdemeanors. It’s slowed all business in this area to a crawl.”

“But we are still getting trucks in, right?”

“Sure, after they go through several checkpoints, fill out a bunch of forms, and prove that they are not, in any way, affiliated with a criminal element of the city.”

Nuc gave Shaggy a calculating look, but he merely shrugged.

“Hey, I was recently acquitted.”

Levy snorted. “Pfft. The case was halted, and you were released on bail.”

“The case was halted until the HLO can actually prove I’m up to no good.”

“Are you?” Nuc asked.

Shaggy sighed. “I’m just a normal businessman… while I’m on the surface.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Shaggy didn’t have time to answer as Derek, the Crone and the suit guy walked over to them. The crone was wearing a benign smile, while the guy in the suit looked like he tasted something sour. Derek was somehow a mix between the two. The boy coughed awkwardly into his fist before he spoke.

“Um, we’ve decided to allow you entrance to the local Business Association. Fees are due at the first of the month, but it means you are free to set up any deals you want with anyone in this room.”

Shaggy looked around at the still chattering crowd. No one seemed interested that such a big thing was just decided without them. Derek nodded, understanding.

“Don’t worry, they’ll all agree. These people just like to argue and haggle about nothing. You’ve got your work cut out for you if you think anyone will give you a deal.”

“Not that we have anything to sell.” Suit-man said.

Shaggy grinned. “Yeah, Nuc was just telling me about your little checkpoint problem.”

Brown suit went red in the face as the Crone’s smile grew.

“You will not touch those checkpoints! They are city property and staffed with legitimate peacekeepers. An attack on them would bring down all kinds of hell.”

Shaggy put on a hurt expression and turned to Levy. He saw his shocked mirrored in her face and had to bite his cheek to stop from laughing.

“I would never! I was just thinking about some poster campaigns or maybe we would host a stream about the situation out here. Y’know, really tell the rest of Texas what’s going on here.”

The crone’s face fell, and she looked annoyed. But the man in the suit coughed awkwardly as he adjusted his glasses.

“I… uh, I see. Well then, I think that would be fine. So long as everything is kept peaceful and legitimate.”

Shaggy couldn’t keep a small chuckle from escaping his lips.

“Hehehehe, don’t worry. I can be very peaceful.”