“So let me get this straight. You left to deal with the Duke issue, didn’t take me, your adoring wife, and then you come back with a one-eyed metal woman and a blue-haired giantess?”

  Shaggy rolled his eyes as he took a sip of water. “No. Again, I went to go MEET with Duke and the shit fell apart. Afterward, Slink asked me to hit the Raks before coming home. When I did, I met Chromia and Leslie and they followed me home.”

  “So they followed you home and now you want to keep them?”

  Levy was doing an excellent job of keeping the smile off her face, but Shaggy could see mirth in her eyes. Behind him, Chromia and Leslie’s whispering took on a more heated edge. But the two remained silent. They had stayed quiet ever since the three of them came back from Under-Town and were immediately dragged into his and Levy’s cabin. She had rebuked Shaggy for running off without her and then proceeded to try to embarrass him. Poking fun at his ever growing ‘harem’ again.

  “Levy…” Shaggy sighed as he stared into his wife’s purple eyes.

  Judging from the look on her face, his wife was still eager to dig at him. But she sighed dramatically and spread her long arms along the back of the couch. Smiling demurely at the two awkward-looking women in the room, she said.

  “Please excuse my husband’s deplorable manners. Welcome to our home. Please don’t wreck anything and make sure to pull your weight.”

  Shaggy rolled his eyes again as behind him Leslie coughed awkwardly. “Ahem No, yeah. Sure, that makes sense. Thanks for inviting us into your home. But it looks like you two need to talk more, so we’ll just get out and explore.”

  “Make sure you get put on the patrol rotation. If you are gonna stay up here, you are gonna work.”

  Chromia shot him the finger as Leslie nodded amicably. Once the two women had rushed out of the house, Levy glared at him. A stare that was completely ruined by the playful look in her eyes. Her hair, eyes, and skin tone were completely different than they were in the real world, but some things would never change. She kept up the glare even as she rose from her couch and sauntered over to his chair. Sitting across his lap, she settled her arms around his head and sighed comfortably. For his part, Shaggy held her in his arms and the two enjoyed a quiet moment together before Levy spoke up again.

  “My tower will be done soon. Along with the houses along our eastern edge. We’ll need to set up some sort of merit-based system for awarding houses to our Lackeys.”

  “The most useful will get a house and the rest can stay in the dorms?”

  “Yeah. Something like that.”

  “What about my Pack?”

  “They are a special case. Every one of them would dominate any reward chart we set. So how about instead you handle all that?”

  “Fine. But that means you have to manage the magic users.”

  “You mean all twenty of them? And seventeen of those are NPCs. My witches come and go, but most spend their time in Under-Town, anyway.”

  Shaggy nodded understandingly. “That just leaves the Lackeys and the Henchmen. I need to check with Bodecker too. I was supposed to ask a Spindlind if they were okay with Seth running a weapons shop out of their backroom. But I got caught up with Legion bullshit.”

  “Bullshit, you didn’t invite me too!” Levy punctuated her statement with a finger jab into his chest. “What the hell, Love. I wanted to fight an A-Tier threat, too!”

  “I didn’t know things were going to end in a fight! It was supposed to be a meeting with the HLO. Who knew Duke would go off his rocker and try to increase his standing with the Hero Office?”

  “You’re sure he’s dead?”

  “If he isn’t, then Obadiah is going to get a hell of a surprise.”

  “Hmph!” Levy made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a laugh. “So what’s next?”

  “I find Bodecker and a Spindlind named Corvi. The Spindlind is the one Bodecker tapped to run our Robotics Shop above ground.”

  “And you want to set up Seth in his backroom as a weapons dealer?”

  “If Corvi is okay with it.”

  “And if he isn’t?” Levy raised an eyebrow as they stared into each other’s eyes.

  “Then I’ll find someone not as good to run the robotics shop. We need to set up Rackets in each of our stores in order to get the bonuses and Seth’s weapon shop is a good one for us to have.”

  “Or we could make the Robotics store legitimate and use it to wash credits.” Levy interjected.

  “But we need three stores for the Crime Ring to activate. Sybil’s auto shop, Clyde’s electronic store, and Corvi’s Robotics. We could supply them with stolen goods and run Rackets out of their backrooms.”

  “Why not just make Seth’s weapon shop an actual store?”

  “I doubt we could get the permits, hun. Now let me up so I can find Bodecker and Corvi.”

  “No!” Levy whined as she wrapped herself tighter around him.

  Shaggy sighed and stood up, taking his taller wife with him as he did. He wrapped his arms under her and carried her through the front door as she snuggled in closer to his body. As he hit their porch, Shaggy felt multiple emotions flit through his mind and looked up. His pack was waiting for him in the yard in front of his cabin. Ephe and Rita were grinning while the others kept straight faces. Though Tom was leering a bit much for Shaggy’s liking. He growled menacingly until the pale man looked away and covered a grin.

  “Hun, my pack is here.” Shaggy said gently.

  “Don’t care! You’re not leaving me behind today.”

  Shaggy let his grip on his wife go, but she stayed glued to him. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she hung loosely before a purple band shimmered into existence. The band wrapped around Levy and Shaggy, fitting them snugly. He could hear his wife mumbling some spell under her breath, and Shaggy rolled his eyes yet again. Deciding to let her hang there, Shaggy addressed his pack, who were now all trying not to laugh.

  “Seth, you’re with me and can one of you find Bodecker for me? The rest of y’all can head topside. I imagine the patrols could use some of your help.”

  “Sure thing, boss,” Ephe said, giggling to herself and disappearing.

  Tom and Rita took off to find Bodecker as Sybil and the Bug Brothers hurried to the surface. Shaggy could sense that the small blonde woman was heading to her auto shop. Which wasn’t what he had ordered, but it was fine. She needed to get things settled, anyway. He felt her smugness through their Link, but let it go as Vick, Cekrass, and Stanley hurried to actually follow his orders. Seth watched them all leave before turning worried eyes on Shaggy and Levy.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Her magical clamp sat tight around Shaggy’s chest and slightly squashed her to his front. He could see that his wife was uncomfortable in her position. But she was also too stubborn to release the spell.

  “Love, if you don’t let go, I’m going to jump up and down on the spot.”

  “Blegh!” Levy grimaced as she released her spell and caught herself before she fell.

  She still clamped on to Shaggy’s arm and he sighed as he realized he was just going to have to deal with her clinginess today. He kissed the side of her face and walked arm and arm off his porch. With a mental command, he got Seth to follow them as he made his way to the Lackey dorms.

  As they walked, Shaggy brought up Corvi’s Lackey profile and skimmed through the information there. But it was mostly just stats and numbers. Nothing helpful for negotiating. Bodecker had a file on the alien as well, but it was back in Shaggy’s cabin. He tried to remember most of it as he walked.

  Corvi was an older Spindlind, who had come to Under-Town to retire. But he found that the quiet life didn’t suit him, so he joined up with the Legion. If Shaggy remembered correctly, the old alien was like Bodecker. He didn’t want to be a criminal; he was just looking for work. Which meant Shaggy was probably going to have an uphill battle ahead of him.

  The three of them passed into the dormitory and Shaggy was happy to see a few Lackeys were actually cleaning up inside. It was far from perfect, but at least the smell was gone. Mostly. The four Lackey’s cleaning the lobby waved and nodded at Shaggy as he entered the room. For the first time, the lobby’s common room wasn’t full. So Shaggy decided to just voice his question out loud.

  “Any of you know where I can find a guy named Corvi?”

  The four humanoids that were cleaning paused in their actions and shared looks. He saw a pair of them shrug and shake their heads. But the third nodded hurriedly.

  “Yeah, boss. The old guy is on the first floor down the hall. I think he’s in room 106?”

  Shaggy nodded in thanks and pulled Levy along with him toward the hallway. Seth hurried behind them both and Shaggy could feel the boy’s questions bubbling across the Link. But he would know what was going on soon. After a short walk and a couple more greetings with random Lackey’s, they arrived at Corvi’s door and Shaggy knocked hard on the wooden door.

  A loud crash was the only response beyond the door before a cranky voice screamed at them, “Go away!”

  “Corvi! This is Shaggy! I’m here to talk about Bodecker’s offer!”

  There was some more crashing and loud shuffling from beyond the door again. It stopped as the door’s handle rattled loudly and the wooden portal was swung open violently. A wrinkled and slightly yellow alien glared at them with bloodshot eyes. Three of his four hands were curled into fists and the fourth had an empty bottle ready to throw. Four legs in modified shorts shot out of the alien’s torso in an X shape and one was aimed to kick the door shut on them. But once the old alien realized who he was facing, he quickly dropped the bottle and scurried away from the door.

  “Aw, shit! I didn’t think you were serious. I figured it was those damn kids playing tricks again.”

  Shaggy tapped down his inner wolf and forced a smile onto his face. Neither he nor the wolf enjoyed being threatened. But the old man hadn’t known better.

  “That’s alright Corvi. It is rather early… in the afternoon. Sorry to surprise you.”

  “Uh-huh! What did you say you were here for?”

  “Bodecker’s offer? About you running a store?”

  “I didn’t get any offer. I’ve just been helping build the new apartment block.”

  “Aw, maybe he just put your name up without informing you. Sorry about that. But yes, the Legion is looking to establish several businesses topside.”

  All four of Corvi’s arm’s folded across his chest as he nodded. “That’s this store you're talking about?”

  “Yep. We want to sell robotic assistants and small droids. I understand you have experience with that.”

  “I’ll say. Building robots was my job for thirty years before I retired. But y’know, getting the appropriate metals and materials can be tricky.”

  Shaggy grinned. “That’s where the other side of the Legion’s activities come into play.”

  The Spindlind’s bushy white eyebrow shot up as understanding seemed to dawn on him. “You’re going to steal the materials?”

  “Whatever you need and so long as you don’t have a problem with that?”

  Corvi looked confused at Shaggy’s words. Shaggy heard Levy chuckle quietly into his ear, but he kept his eyes on the old alien.

  “Why should it matter if I have a problem with it?”

  “Because, Corvi, I am asking you to engage in illegal activity. If I force you to do it, then you become a liability. One that will most likely bite me in the ass later. But if I know you’re on-board with things, then shit will go much smoother.”

  “And if I’m not ‘on-board with things?’”

  “Then we’ll move you to our legitimate branch and separate you from this side of things. You’ll run some other business and kick a percentage back to the Legion for protection and store upgrades.”

  The old Spindlind nodded in understanding. “Uh-huh, well, I got no problem with running a shop and I don’t care where the inventory comes from. So you can count on me, boss!”

  “Very good.” Shaggy smiled before waving Seth closer. The boy took a second, but he quickly closed in next to Shaggy and smiled at the old man. “One other thing, and this is more less-than-legal stuff. We want Seth here to run a weapons shop out of your backroom.”

  Corvi’s large eyes nearly bulged out of his head and their bloodshot look seemed to grow more intense. Shaggy was sure he had just insulted the alien somehow. But instead, an enormous smile spread across the old man’s face. He rubbed two of his off-yellow hands together while the others stayed clasped to his chest.

  “That’s more like it, boss! That’s the kind of thing I was looking for?”

  Shaggy blinked. “Really? Bodecker indicated that you might be less than enthused about engaging in this side of the business.”

  “Bah! What does that wet blanket know? I spent thirty years building the same bog-standard assistant bots! Thirty years with no creativity. No pizzazz! It was a damn boring life! Now you’re giving me my own store and you want to operate an illegal arms room from it? Now that shit is exciting!”

  “I guess…” Shaggy trailed off before he patted Seth’s shoulder. “But be aware, Seth is going to be running the weapons part of things. Your robots are just a front.”

  Corvi waved him off with all four hands. “That’s fine! That’s fine! Boy! Do you know anything about running a store?”

  Seth, startled to be addressed, hopped on the spot. “Uhh, no, sir. I mean, I’ve been handling the weapons for the guys down here for a bit. But that’s not exactly a store.”

  “Ah. Well, we’ll get you all sorted out. When can I check out the area for the store?” Corvi asked Shaggy.

  “Later today, I would think. I need to get with Bodecker and see what he’s up to. He is going to be your point of contact for all of this, okay? So you, Seth and him need to get together and hash things out as soon as possible.”

  Corvi nodded absently before he finally seemed to notice his state of dress. He was naked from the waist up and patches of white fur on his body looked matted and wet. His custom shorts were half open and would’ve probably slid off if not for the way the alien’s legs were built. His pale yellow cheeks darkened, and he coughed awkwardly.

  “I’ll get dressed and follow along, boss.”

  “Yeah, you do that. Glad to work with you, Corvi. See you later.”

  The old alien nodded and closed his door. Shaggy and Levy shared a look and suppressed their mirth as they hurried back down the hall. They were outside the dorm building when their facade broke and they both burst out laughing. The odd alien had been quite a sight, and both Shaggy and Levy had been unprepared for it.

  “It wasn’t that funny,” Seth offered.

  “I assure you, it most certainly was,” Levy countered.

  “The dude’s shorts were a strong breeze away from falling off him, Seth.”

  “And that would not have been funny! I don’t want to see old alien junk, Shaggy!”

  Levy smiled at the boy. “And you’re going to be working with him soon. Just imagine how he is around the shop?”

  Seth’s eyes went wide, and he looked fearful as he gave Shaggy a pleading look.

  “Hey, you wanted to run a store, right? Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Corvi is a professional while he is doing business. Now let’s find Bodecker.”

  He and Levy, arms still linked, turned away from the young man and started walking away. Shaggy could feel the kid’s trepidation. But soon he followed after the pair and the three of them searched the cave for Shaggy’s aide-de-camp.