No one. Not one of the damn gangsters tried to make a run for it. Instead, they threw themselves wholeheartedly at RinVud. Like a bunch of damn lemmings. Shaggy yawned loudly in his wolf form as he lay across the street, his two paws crossed in front of him. He watched as RinVud snapped necks and broke bone with each swing of their massive arms. The Bug Brothers were a Tank to rival Cekrass and Stanley. Although they were clearly slower. But that didn’t matter when metal bats broke over their carapace and energy blasts were deflected away.

“AAAAHHHHHHHH!”

Then there was Seth.

“Brlpb! St- Blrpgh! He-”

It was just bad luck that the opposition had a speedster, too. One that was faster and meaner than poor Seth was. The young blonde boy was currently being dragged up and down the street by his foot. Seth’s new body and mild regeneration meant that he was somewhat okay, although Shaggy could smell blood. The kid was doing a good job, punching and moving at first. But when the Speedster turned up, that’s when things went to shit for the kid.

Shaggy was debating helping. But the Speedster stopped running to catch his breath. The reddish-yellow alien looked down at Seth to check his work and hissed in annoyance. The kid had cuts and bruises on his face and body, but otherwise, he was still alive. Although Shaggy wished he’d stopped whimpering, it made the pack look bad.

“HELP!” Seth screamed over the Pack Link.

Shaggy rolled his eyes and chuffed angrily at the youngest member of his pack. “Damn it, kid. Kick his knee!”

Seth stopped trying to cover his body with his arm and watched as the speedster reached down to grab his leg again. When he did, the boy kicked out harshly, aiming for the alien’s knee. There was a loud snap and Shaggy nodded approvingly as the speedster’s knee snapped like a twig. Seth used the opportunity to scramble to his feet and delivered a viscous kick to the alien’s face.

Shaggy watched the boy’s wounds heal slowly as he beat his assailant until he was out of breath. When he finished, he turned to Shaggy with an angry look on his face.

“Why didn’t you say that before!? He stopped to catch his breath twice!” He shouted out loud.

“I was hoping you’d try to figure a way out yourself!” Shaggy thought back. “You’re a goddamn werewolf, Seth. Your body is denser and you are more powerful overall. I was hoping you’d use some of that new power to assert yourself. Instead, you let him dig a damn trench with your body.”

“He did what?!” Rita’s voice shouted over the Link.

Shaggy chuffed again as he felt the rest of his pack show up on the outskirts of the fight.

“Whoa! Is that Rin and Vud? Beefy.”

“Well, that can’t be fair. Having the kid fight with them? How is he supposed to stand out?”

“By taking the smaller thugs off them, Vick.”

“Whoa! Check out the divot in the street! Was that you, Seth? You okay?”

Shaggy had the perfect viewing spot to see Seth’s whole upper body go red in embarrassment. Already, Rita’s figure was by the boy’s side, checking him over for damage. The kid clearly wanted to answer Stanley’s questions, but he was busy being mothered by the Auburn-haired werewolf. Shaggy rolled his eyes again.

“Rita, don’t baby the boy. He’s fine. I’d wager he's got plenty of stamina left to finish the fight.”

Rita spun on the spot and growled at Shaggy’s larger wolf form. She held the growl long enough to make eye-contact, before she went back to checking the pup. She spun the boy around and brushed off his pants before she was finally satisfied. But when she was, Rita jerked the boy back toward the melee and gave him a push.

“Get back in there. The boss is right. You got plenty of healing left and your pack members could use the help.”

Seth gave the taller woman an incredulous look as he waved at RinVud. “They don’t need my help! Besides, I was only supposed to be the pack’s quartermaster. Can’t I go back to doing that?”

“Hey, kid. You don’t hunt, you don’t eat. Okay?”

“Holy shit! You know it’s bad when Tom is telling people that.”

“Fuck you, Sybil.”

“Ya ain’t pretty enough, Lugosi. Why don’t you go join the blood-suckers?”

“What’s a Lugosi?”

“Ancient move actor, Stan. Let Sybil have her dated references.” Vick answered.

“Boss, can we join in yet?”

Shaggy yawned again and checked the street. “Naw, leave it to the newbies, Cekrass. They’ve still got a few to go.”

“But I want to play too.”

“We can spar with them back in the Cave, ‘Krass.” Stanley offered.

That seemed to placate the lizard werewolf, and Shaggy and the rest of his pack settled in to watch the fight. Seth gave them all a sad look, hoping for sympathy, but he got none. Although, Rita raised a fist in a fighting stance and then waved him into the fight like a soccer mom. A chorus of chuckles filled Shaggy’s head at that image and Rita sent him another death glare.

Shaggy’s nose picked up a scent, and he turned his head just as Ephemara phased back into existence. She smirked at him and then placed a hand on his neck, giving him a few scratches. He enjoyed the sensation for a few seconds before he gave his second in command a curious look.

“I was checking up the street, boss. Didn’t want any of their friends coming to help.”

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Shaggy snorted loudly, the force of it blowing Ephemara’s black hair back. “I’m pretty sure these guys are small time. I’d wager this is the entire crew. Or, at least, was their entire crew.”

“We can never be too careful.”

Shaggy gave her his best wolfish shrug and turned back to watch the fight again. Seth was back in the mix and had taken to shoving unsuspecting thugs toward RinVud. The speedy little werewolf would tee them up and RinVud would knock their necks sideways. It was a fairly gruesome affair. But with no more enemy speedsters, Seth was fairly unstoppable when he was moving. He took a few knocks when he stopped to shove people. But his newly enhanced body seemed to weather the blows.

“Overall, this wasn’t a bad first day of patrols.” Ephemara said into his ear.

Shaggy nodded. “Yep. We lost a few, but we held our turf just fine. Hopefully, things continue at this rhythm.”

“You mean weak patrols during the day and then the main force at night, boss?” Sybil asked.

“Exactly, that way I can handle the big bads at night and our regular troops can tackle the pawns.”

“Don’t you dare keep the good fights to yourself!” Cekrass rumbled playfully.

Shaggy yipped. “I wouldn’t dream of it. At nights, we run and by day we let the others handle things. Although, Sybil, we’ve got some plans for that Auto-Shop of yours.”

“Oh?”

“Calm down, it’s nothing horrible. But we want you to work with Clyde and one other business owner to set up a Stolen Goods racket.”

“Clyde?”

Stanley was the one who answered as Shaggy watched RinVud toss an alien into a building.

“Clyde’s one of the guy’s that can generate power with just his body. He’s not so good at directing it though.”

“Yeah, he’s elected to start an electronics shop. Y’all steal the goods and then sell them in your shops.”

“Hmmm… What’s the third store?”

“I was thinking of selling personal robots to the public. Basic assistance automatons. Nothing fancy. We just need someone to run it.”

“And you ain’t going to take the Bug Brothers from me?”

“No, Sybil. You can keep Rin and Vud so long as they are happy to work there.”

A combined wince went through the pack link as Seth took a running kick at an alien’s crotch. It was a decent move, well thought out and executed. But the boy chose his target poorly. The woman he kicked was definitely injured, but nowhere near as much as a guy would’ve been. Her rock-like body probably tempered the blow as well. Thankfully, the kid registered his mistake and blurred away before the rock-woman could punch him.

RinVud used the distraction to grip the alien woman’s head and lift her bodily from the ground. They were in the middle of squeezing the woman’s head into powder when she shouted.

“I surrender!”

The entire fight froze, and Shaggy saw some of the surviving members of the enemy gang glare at the stone woman. Shaggy sat up and used his back leg to scratch behind his ear. The move was instinctual and felt almost as good as Ephe’s scratches. It also gave him time to think. He had initially wanted to kill all the invaders. But the ten remaining thugs wouldn’t be a threat to him anymore. In fact, they might just help spread the word.

As Shaggy was thinking it over, another thug took a running swing at the stone woman. He wielded a thin katana like a baseball bat and tried to take the woman’s head off. But Seth was quickly there, throwing a punch into the man’s neck and sending him spinning into the street.

“Ouch.” Tom chuckled over the Link.

“Why the neck?” Cekrass asked.

Seth scratched the back of his head as he tried to look tough and talk the rest of the pack over the Link. “I still can’t aim well while running.”

“We noticed.”

“Leave it alone, Sybil.”

“Hey, why doesn’t the kid run the robot shop?”

“Hey, he’s too young to run a business. Besides, he’s been learning weapons, not robots.”

“I will happily learn.” Seth almost whined.

Shaggy contemplated the idea until RinVud shook the rock-woman in his hand. He was still holding her in the air, waiting for an answer. Shaggy sighed and stalked forward. As he did, he dropped his transformation and felt his wolf reluctantly recede. He cracked his neck and scanned the remaining nine gangsters that had tried to march on his turf. They looked exhausted and scared, which made his wolf smile.

He waved for RinVud to drop the woman as he stalked through the small crowd. The woman collapsed to the street and Shaggy took in her disposition. She looked both pissed and a little terrified. She smelled of gravel though, so Shaggy couldn’t get that good a read on her. But she was more than prepared to tell him what she wanted.

“Let us go! We won’t come back. Just let us go.”

The rest of Shaggy’s pack came stalking out of the alleys and rooftops where they had been hiding. They weren’t in their wolf forms, but the sudden appearance of seven more enemies made the rock-woman lose her edge.

“Please… just let us go.”

Shaggy felt his inner wolf huff in annoyance. This prey wasn’t fun anymore and now all his wolf wanted to do was sleep. He bit back a chuckle at his capricious wolf and addressed the surrounding thugs.

“It looks like y’all have learned your lesson. But how do I know you won’t be back with better weapons and more friends?”

A bunch of the thugs shook their heads as Cekrass and the others pushed in closer. The Rock-woman put both her hands up and pleaded.

“We won’t be back, alright. This is your turf, right? We can respect that.”

“Oh sure, NOW you can respect that. Shame that thirty-one members of your crew had to die for it. But I am nothing if not magnanimous. Git out. And tell the others that the Legion runs these blocks.”

With that, Shaggy pushed past the rock-woman and looked around at the street. Corpses and weapons littered the street, as well as a few broken cars. Shaggy gave his pack the order to start looting, and they all fell to the task. Behind him, Shaggy heard an odd squelching sound that made him look around. Rin and Vud were separating. It was odd-looking as their fusion had been. But once they were done, they gave him a nod and went about the work.

Once they were done, Shaggy was ready to head back to the deli. But there was a surprise still in the street. Five people from the opposing gang were still hanging around, including the rock-woman. She cast her gaze over Shaggy’s pack and then looked back at her fleeing friends. The others all looked between the rock-woman and Shaggy, hopeful gazes on their faces. The question was clear, and his pack was already a-buzz with conversation.

“Hell no, boss! We can’t trust them.”

“Can we trust any of the crew from Under-Town?”

“Not at first.”

“But that’s just it. These ones have already basked in our awesomeness.”

“Tom, you literally did nothing tonight.”

“Why you gotta bust my balls, Sybil?”

“Wait, are we recruiting the rock-woman? I kicked her in her… y’know…”

“Ha! Special place?”

“No-No Spot?”

“Cooter?”

“Stop! All of you quit! Rita and Ephe, thoughts?”

“Calculated risk, boss. We could make up some of today’s losses, but betrayal is always a thing.”

“Bring them in and if they cross us, give them to Rin and Vud.”

“Patriarch, we would happily dispatch the disloyal.”

“Sounds like we are doing it. Ephe, put people on them. I’ll put them on separate patrols, too.”

“Boss…” Seth whined in his head. “I kicked her.”

“Yes, we all saw. I doubt you’ll have to answer for that anytime soon.”

“Unless she joins in during sparring.” Cekrass chuckled.

Shaggy smirked and tilted his head at the five remaining Lackeys. He opened his menu and checked each name as they fell in behind his pack. They didn’t quite make up the losses of the day, but Lackeys were becoming a dime a dozen. They each had a hell of a Fear modifier on their Loyalty scores. But that should make things easier. The fifteen of them walked into the night, as behind them they left a scene of torn-up streets and looted bodies. In the morning, word would spread of what happened in the night and Shaggy couldn’t wait to see who would next challenge their hold on the neighborhood.