Scooby Doo! Meet Ellie Machine

Menace of the Manticore (Part 1)

There was a knock on the door of my room at the Blake's. I looked up from the diary I was still translating to see Daphne standing at the doorway. "Hey, Fred just called. He said his dad wanted to see all of us about something," she told me. I frowned. "He never wants to see all of us. He doesn't even like us," I said, confused. She shrugged.

"Yeah, so it might actually be important," she added. "How much you want to bet that it's to fix a mistake he made?" I asked, getting up from the desk. She thought about it.

"How about a shopping trip?" she asked. I laughed. Only Daphne could think about shopping right now. "You're on. If we have to fix his mistake, you take me shopping. Deal?" I asked. She nodded and we shook hands. "Deal."

I laughed. "I really like my odds right now," I taunted. We heard the horn of the Mystery Machine from outside, and after I grabbed my bag, we went downstairs, out the door, and got in the van. I sat next to Shaggy, as usual, and we kissed quickly, and looked up front to Fred.

"Hey Fred. Did your dad give you any hint about what he wants us to do?" I asked. "I have no clue Ellie," he said with a shrug. So, we all sat together as we drove to Town Hall. But Velma and I kept glancing at each other, and it seemed like we were having a conversation through facial expressions.

We don't exactly agree on the terms we left with Angel. I wanted to tell the gang right now that Angel, or Cassidy, is one of the original Mystery Incorporated members. But she was determined to have Cassidy do it herself.

After Velma left that night, I stayed behind to talk to her some more. I needed to know more about my mother. But she refused to say anything about her. "If your dad has kept certain things about her from you, it's for a reason. And I'm not about to go against him and his wishes," she had said.

I didn't leave that radio station a happy camper, that's for sure. And I felt really bad about what we were keeping from the gang. I had never kept anything so important from Shaggy, ever.

I was cut from my train of thought when we pulled up to Town Hall. We all got out and made our way to the mayor's office. We knocked on the door, and we heard Mayor Jones call, "Come in!"

We walked in, and he was sitting at his desk looking rather sheepish. "What's up, dad?" Fred asked him as we all sat down. "Look, this isn't easy for me, but I need your help," he said.

"Our help?" Fred asked excitedly. "Dad. Are we... bonding? Look at me! I'm shaking!"

"Galloping gopher ponies, Fred. Don't get all girly on me," Mayor Jones exclaimed. I frowned at his comment, but kept my mouth shut. "I asked you here because this Manticore problem may be my fault."

"Your fault?" Scooby asked. I looked at Daphne, and she gave me a small nod. I won the bet.

"I was looking around the Internet for something that might help the park when I found hauntedattractions-forsale.scared, advertising an ancient Persian temple haunted by a Manticore," Mayor Jones explained. "Oh, come on. Who buys a temple on the Internet?" Daphne asked with a laugh, as though he was kidding. He gave her a look and pushed his glasses down his nose to show he was not, in fact, kidding.

"Sorry, sir," she said sheepishly.

"It was a deal. I paid the owners of the temple in leftover Que Horiffico t-shirts, and they shipped the temple up here. Seemed like a good idea at the time to boost tourism, but now, it appears that a Manticore is actually eating tourists. What can I say? Buyer's remorse," he finished with a shrug, as though he hadn't just said it was eating people.

"We'll do it! We'll fix this for you. I can't tell you what it means to me that you're actually asking for our help. This is going to be great, dad. We'll go on team stakeouts together. We'll build traps together!" Fred ranted, getting more and more excited. We all looked at each other, feeling bad for the answer his dad will probably give him.