The 'Rashes' (Sheriff Labrador fanfic)

Chapter 2: The Red Mark of Crime

Sheriff Labrador woke up with a start, half-groggy, turning his head towards the phone on his desk, which was ringing continuously. So that was what was ringing in my dreams, he thought, this phone must have been ringing for a while now. Steadying himself off the couch, he looked around as he picked up the phone. Where were Dobie and Papillon?

"Woof! Hi, I'm Sheriff Labrador," he exclaimed into the phone. There was no answer. He noticed the phone started beeping and went into voicemail. Ah, the caller put down the phone right when he picked it up. The sheriff listened carefully to the voicemail.

'Hiya, sheriff. Just making sure you're alright, nothing bad is happening, nothing serious going on. We're trying to solve a crime that happened just recently. Do you think you're well enough to help us?'

Sheriff Labrador recognised Dobie's voice. With a slight nod, he put the phone down, fixed his hat and exited the police station. Quickly, he hopped into the police car, pressed his foot on the pedal and drove to the place where most crimes would happen; the town square. As soon as he arrived, he leapt out and looked around for his teammates. His eyes widened as he saw the flash of pink hair.

'Antel..' he thought. 'That villan must be up to no good.'

Just as he was about to run, he suddenly tripped and gave a small wince of pain. His knees suddenly felt weak and his arms started to tingle and itch like crazy. He was also starting to feel very hot. He took off his cardigan, dusted himself off and continued to run. His wobbly, irritated legs strained to push him forward as he went faster, arching his eyebrows, determined to catch the villan. He turned the corner and...

It wasn't Dr. Antel. Just some civillian with simillar hair.

"Is something wrong, officer?" she asked, noticing his sudden pause.

"I thought you were the villan I was looking for. Sorry ma'am," Sheriff Labrador bowed politely. His arms started to itch again as he bowed, but he resisted the temptation to vigorously scratch.

"O- Oh! It's alright sir. Enjoy your day!" she exclaimed. She seemed to glow a bright pink of being flustered, but the sheriff could detect something else in her eyes - mischief. Just as she was about to walk away, he lifted his right hand up and grabbed her by the shoulder. The touch sent a bolt of what felt like electricity up his arm, and he desperately tried his best to hold in a cry of pain. The woman, who was rubbing her face just then, turned around in surprise and stared nervously at the sheriff. He could tell her face was flushed under that fair skin of hers.

"I have to question you," he said firmly, not letting go of her shoulder. She tried her best to wriggle out of his grasp, but he just arched his eyebrows. He was not going to fall for this woman's acts of deceit, well, if they even were acts of deceit.

"Why are you here in this abandoned alley?" he continued, looking the woman up and down suspiciously.

"My cat ran here," the woman pouted slightly. "I was trying to get her, but she turned the corner and vanished out of sight."

Sheriff Labrador looked at the stretched out alley behind. There were no possible turns the cat could have gone to. It just led to a dead end.

"You're lying, Antel."

Dr. Antel gasped and quickly tried to get away, but with Sheriff Labrador's hard hold of her, it seemed nearly impossible. But wait, what was this? His arm was trembling slightly, very unusual for a strong man like him. Ah, a weak spot. Antel smirked. Thinking quickly, she lifted up her hand and firmly hit it onto his forearm. She watched as the arm shook violently, and the sheriff was now trying to hold back tears of pain. The villan looked surprised. Did she actually hurt him? Taking a step back, she tried to flee, but Sheriff Labrador wasn't done there.

"Hold it right there!" he exclaimed, clutching onto his right arm. Antel faced him and continued backing away, right until she was pressed up againt the wall. The alley was tight so there was no possible way of moving around her enemy. But as she tried to think of a plan, she saw the sheriff's arm shaking a lot more than before. She must have hit him a bit too hard. Forgetting that she was a villan for a second, she took a slight step forward and knelt down so she was level with his hand.

"Let me look," she said softly, hoping to gain his trust.

Sheriff Labrador gazed at her, his expression still half-pained. What was this woman thinking? Was she going to poison him? Hit him again? Amputate the arm?- wait no that's too far, but whatever she was about to do, he suspected it wasn't going to be good.

His cardigan was off, so he was just wearing his light blue blazer. This made it a bit easy for Dr. Antel to pull up the sleeve. Careful not to hurt him any further, she slowly lifted up the fabric and winced at the sight of his bare skin. Sheriff Labrador winced too, he didn't even know he had it.

One huge red mark, spread across his entire arm. It seemed to be a bit redder from where Antel had hit him earlier. She started to feel bad.

"That does.. not look good. I think you have to go to a hospital."

Sheriff Labrador couldn't believe his ears. Was she actually helping him?

"Come on, I'll take you-"

But as she tried to help him up, someone came from behind and whacked him with a frying pan, knocking him out cold. The pink-haired scientist gasped and covered her mouth, looking up at the person's outline.

It was Wolf, another local villan who was a thief.

"Wolf!" she yelled crossly, standing up. "Why did you do that?"

"Was I not meant to?" Wolf asked curiously, scratching his head. It wasn't normal for his friend to be standing up for someone who has been her sworn enemy for over two years.

"Of course not! Look at his arm, it's been injured already!"

Wolf looked at Sheriff Labrador's arm and gulped. He too had a bad feeling, but instead of agreeing to help, he hid his feelings and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Do what you want to do. I'm leaving," he groaned, walking away.

Dr. Antel's enraged eyes looked up at her former friend. Just as he left, she managed to spot two other figures running towards her.

Dobie and Papillon.

'Oh no, they'll think I knocked out the sheriff,' she thought, sweating vigorously. 'If I tell the truth, they might not believe me. But even if they don't, Sheriff Labrador will eventually wake up and tell them, right?'

As she got the courage to stand up, the two officers were already standing in front of her, their eyes wide, their mouths agape in worry. Papillon faced towards Antel with a determined face.

"Explain!" she shouted, pulling out handcuffs.

With a trembling voice, Dr. Antel tried to explain what happened, but to her dismay, her thoughts were true. The duo didn't believe her at all.