Mystery With a Hint of Romance {Fred Jones}

scrappy memories

The gang had made it back to the hotel. They were greeted by Mondavarious.

"Ah, Mystery Inc! You seem cheery. Good news, I hope?" he said.

"Mr. Mononucleosis" Fred started. Mondavarious let out a sigh while rolling his eyes.

"Yes?"

"We have hit a clue smorgasboard" Velma presented the Daemon Ritus.

"We have three suspects as to who's behind this evil hoodie" Daphne said. While standing behind Stephanie, Shaggy held up three fingers.

"N'Goo Tuana. He believes your theme parks been built on enchanted ground" Velma said. Daphne listed the next suspect.

"The voodoo man, who shrewdly tricked me into going into the castle"

"And you" Fred said, pointing at Mondavarious.

"Me!?" he asked in surprise.

"Alright gang, let's split up. We'll meet back here in a half hour. I'll interview employees to see if they've noticed anything odd"

"I'm gonna get to work translating these inscriptions that Daphne and Peter found" Velma said.

"I'll go research cults on the net" Daphne said. She and Velma high fived each other, then she turned to look at Peter. "You wanna come with me?"

"Sure, I'll help you take notes" Peter said. He and Daphne walked off together. Stephanie watched them curiously as they walked out of sight.

"I'm a suspect?" Mondavarious asked.

"Don't take it personally. It's mostly just because you creep me out" Fred said. He walked off.

"Oh, I see. Alright" Mondavarious gave a nod to Scooby, Shaggy and Stephanie before walking off.

"Steph, like, you wanna come with us to get something to eat?" Shaggy asked. Stephanie could still see Fred in her line of sight and made up her mind to join him.

"Nah, you guys go on ahead. I'll go help Fred" she said. She walked as quickly as she could to catch up to him. She called out his name and he turned to look at her. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all" he said, a small smile growing on his face. The two of them walked off together, finding potential employees to interview.

~

Velma sat at the bar with a magnifying glass in hand. The Daemon Ritus opened up. She turned the ball in the middle, which made the three points open up to reveal more inscriptions.

"Jinkies" she said to herself. She began looking at the inscriptions. The tune of a piano began playing, and a man took a seat next to Velma. His name was Chris.

"Hey. Your friends ditch you?" he said.

"No. I always did the brain work"

"What's this?"

"I believe it's called the Daemon Ritus"

"Daemon Ritus? What's it for?"

"I think this describes an old race of creatures. These inscriptions are reminiscent of ancient pandamonous texts so I can make some of it out. It looks like instructions to some sort of secret ritual. It is fascinating"

"On the house" a bartender said. He set two drinks down in front of Velma and her new friend. "Nice sweater"

"You really dig doing this, huh? Like clues and stuff" Chris said. Velma nodded at him.

"Certainly. Really focusing on a mystery reminds me of the old days" She looked forward as she began to reminisce. "We were quite a crew back then. That was the best time of my life. Shaggy and Scooby, what goofballs. Kind of like they are today. Daphne was so beautiful. She was the coolest girl at Coolsville High. Stephanie was beautiful too. She shared the brains with me, and she shared Daphne's sense of style. Fred, he was so handsome and he really knew how to accessorise."

"Sounds perfect"

"Yeah, but every family has one nut"

~

The gang was in the Mystery Machine, driving down a desert highway. Shaggy and Scooby were in the back of the van. Velma, Daphne, Stephanie and Fred were at the front. Fred was the one driving and he had his arm around Stephanie's shoulders. Scooby took a sip out of Shaggy's milkshake. Velma and Daphne smiled at their goofiness. Stephanie and Fred gave each other an adoring look. It was definitely a peaceful moment, well it was until Scooby's nephew showed up.

"Scrappy dappy doo!"

"Rey!" Scooby said.

"Ghosts don't stand a chance with me! Let me at 'em! I'll rock 'em! I'll sock 'em!" Scrappy said, the whole time remaining on Stephanie's lap. He may have been a puppy, but he always had this odd...crush towards her. It was weird.

"Scrappy, for the thousandth time. There is no such thing as ghosts" Fred said.

"Sure there are! And when I find them, I'll give them a good dose of puppy power!" Scrappy  turned away from Stephanie. He was now peeing on Daphne.

"Oh, god! He's peeing on me!" she said. Fred brought the van to a halting stop. Scrappy ended up face planting on the windshield window.

"Scrappy, I told you no urinating on Daphne!" Fred said.

"It was an accident!"

"You were marking your territory!"

"Speaking of territory, I would like it if you took your hands off of my girl!"

"Scrappy, do we have to go over this again? First of all, I'm of a different species than you, and second, there's the major height difference" Stephanie said. Scrappy ignored her and went back to berating Fred.

"You don't have the scrote for this job, Polly! Listen up, losers! The time has come that you appoint me your unquestioned leader! Either that or I'm outta here!" Everyone gave each other the same look, and the decision was unanimous. They left Scrappy on the side of the road and drove off.

~

Velma leaned on Chris' shoulder as she began to laugh.

"Puppy power?" he said.

"And he wasn't even a puppy! He had a gland disorder" Velma said.