Scooby Doo and the Beast of Barghest

Part I

"Maybe we shouldn't go," said a soft voice filled with worry and concern. The owner of said voice placed her purple handbag on the table and pushed her fiery locks behind her shoulders, delivering a sidelong glance to the person on her left, who nodded, arms crossed.

"I'm in agreement with Daphne on this one," he said. "And I'm sure Shaggy agrees too. Right, Shag?"

"Like, yeh. Freddie and Daph are right, Velma," Shaggy agreed, thrusting his hands in the pockets of his brown bellbottom pants. "We can't just abandon you like this."

Velma laughed lightly as she looked at each member of Mystery Inc., surveying them carefully. She fidgeted on the plush sofa, feeling slightly uncomfortable under the watchful gazes. Did they really have to tower over her as she sat down? She felt like a small child awaiting punishment from her parents.

"I hardly call this abandonment, Shaggy."

"Then, like, what is this?"

Velma adjusted her glasses as she pushed herself off the sofa, as if the added height would make everything alright. "You guys are all over exaggerating here," she stated. "If none of us show at all, then we are all letting Sharon down."

"You're her friend too, Velma," Daphne pointed out poignantly.

"I also happen to be under twenty-one," Velma retorted nonchalantly.

Fred looked around, trying to formulate a plan inside his head. Their old school friend, Sharon Weatherby, had invited them all to her twenty-first birthday at a new club her brother owned. Naturally, Mystery Inc. agreed, always eager to help and appease friends. However, it was only recently brought to their attention that the club held a strict 'Over Twenty-One Only' policy. That would not have been a problem if their youngest member wasn't just twenty years old. They had spent so many years together that age was never a problem – until now.

"Sharon will understand," he said listlessly.

"Surely there must be a way we can get around this," Daphne sighed, throwing herself down onto the sofa, running a hand through her hair. "Maybe they could make an acceptation regarding your age, Velma."

The brunette shook her head softly. "No. There are fixed penalties, Daphne. If the authorities get wind of the fact that the club owner allowed underage individuals inside, they could face closure, the loss of their licence or receive an extremely hefty fine. It really isn't worth it, in my opinion."

Shaggy scratched his goatee, grinning. "Like, maybe we can sneak you in!"

"I don't think so, Shaggy. You can't just throw a disguise on me, call me Grandma, and expect to get away with it," she laughed heartedly.

"Like, it worked for Scooby. Right, old buddy, old pal?" he chuckled sheepishly, running a hand through his unkempt hair.

The Great Dane's ears picked up at the mention of his name. Slowly, he stood up and stretched, thrusting his rear end in the end as he yawned before walking over to the others. He sat down heavily and used his paw to scratch behind his left ear, ridding himself of the insufferable itch that had been plaguing him through his glorious nap.

"Rah ha," he agreed, giggling at the memory of that fateful plane ride.

"How anyone fell for that is beyond me," Daphne sniggered, lightly kicking Fred with her leg.

The blond haired man scratched his head, awkwardly laughing off the memory. "Knock it off, Daph. You know, as well as I, that we were all going through a rough patch back then."

Velma stifled her laugher as she observed the playful banter between Fred and Daphne. While it was true that the meeting on Spooky Island was awkward at best, their friendship was rekindled and Mystery Inc. has never been stronger. Each member had managed to overcome the fears that plagued them throughout the earlier days, which was a blessing. Daphne overcame her frustrations of being the constant 'Damsel in Distress', however, the curse of the Blake's still resided deep within her, much to her dismay. Fred managed to take a step back from the limelight as he witnessed the extent that his actions had on the gang. He also realised that his book 'Fred on Fred: The Many Faces of Me' was an imminent flop and immediately requested that printing was ceased and all remaining copies be destroyed, not wanting to have any reminders of the time he nearly ruined the greatest friendships of his life. As for Velma herself, there would always be a part of her that lacked the self-esteem she so truly desired but she now realised that she could be herself within the group, without being judged. She also realised that group therapy was not an option for her and that whoever crafted the idea was clinically insane.

"So, like, what are we gonna do?" Shaggy asked, sitting on the ground next to Scooby, softly stroking behind his left ear.

Silence filled the air until Daphne finally spoke up. "Why don't we take a vote?"

"Great idea, Daph!" Fred spoke up. "Who here votes we should stay?"

Three hands rose.

"Who votes we should go?"

One hand rose.

Fred took a seat next to Daphne, smiling softly as he brushed out the invisible creases from his pants. "That decides it then – we stay!"

Velma crossed her arms and slowly began to pace back and forth. "I'm afraid I don't acquiesce to your preference in decision making this time, Freddie. It really doesn't bother me if you go – in fact, I'd prefer it! You all know, as well as I, that it isn't really my 'scene'," she finished, flexing the index and middle fingers of each hand to emphasise her point. "Besides, I can keep Scooby company – unless you were planning on sneaking him in too," Velma sniggered, directing the latter comment towards Shaggy.

The lanky man laughed as he looked to his canine friend. "Well, I was planning on dressing him up as an Egyptian hobo and calling him Cliff. But, if you, like, insist on staying behind, Velms, then I'm insisting that Scoob stays too."

Scooby looked up at Shaggy, his expression showing how despondent he was with the decision. Despite how cowardly he was at times, he didn't like to be left out of anything either.

"Like, don't be like that, Scooby," Shaggy pleaded. "You need to be here to keep Velma safe. You wouldn't want something bad to happen to her, would you?"

"Ro way!" he replied, roughly shaking his head from side to side. The thought of anything happening to any of his friends made him was enough to make him upset.

Shaggy smiled. "I need you to promise me you'll look after her."

Scooby nodded, standing on his hind legs. "I ross my reart and rope to rie, stick a reedle in my rye!" he said confidently, using his paw to emphasis the promise.

"Like, groovy! I knew I could count on you, Scooby Doo," Shaggy grinned, absently throwing a Scooby Snax to the dog, who caught it in expertly his mouth.

"Then I guess it's settled then," Fred exclaimed, pushing himself up from the sofa before offering a hand to Daphne.

"Yep, I guess it is," she replied, taking Fred's hand, her lips curling into a small smile.

Velma had watched in silence but decided now would be the perfect time to voice her opinions. "You say it as if I need a babysitter, Shaggy," she said, eyes alight with amusement.

Shaggy stood up, placing his hands steadily on his hips. "Like, don't be like that, Velma. You need to be here to keep Scooby safe," he grinned joyously, an amused glint in his eye that caused his entire face to light up.

Velma laughed. "Shaggy, you goofball!"

Daphne watched carefully. Trust Shaggy to be able to resolve the problem, she laughed to herself. His carefree nature always had some sort of calming effect on the group. Throw Scooby Doo into the mix and the gang have their own personal stress relief remedy. This was the perfect example. Velma's stubbornness was enough to make Daphne want to, at times; shake her by the shoulders to get some sense into her. Luckily, this didn't happen very often. Velma was like the younger sister Daphne always wanted. Granted, Velma wasn't as willing to be a dress-up doll as she or her dolls were. When Daphne was younger, she was used as a dress-up doll for Dawn, a doctor's patient for Daisy, a young cadet for Delilah and a hair model for Dorothy, who later realised that hairdressing wasn't meant to be. So, naturally, Velma's reluctance to partake in any of the activities confused Daphne to no end. Velma gave her the explanation that as an older sibling herself, younger sisters were not used as such. To which Daphne retorted that as the eldest sibling in the family, Velma wasn't aware of the laws of younger siblings because she was never one. The logic was sound, much to the amusement of the two male members.

"Everyone ready?" Fred asked, digging into his pockets to retrieve the Mystery Machine keys.

Daphne nodded as she opened her bag to retrieve the hairbrush, lightly dragging it through her silken tresses. "I'm ready," she replied.

"Now, remember, Velma..." Fred began.

"Don't open the door to strangers?" she retorted.

"True. However, can you record 'The Ten Greatest Traps of Our Time'?"

"We'll see," she teased, knowing how much the blond wanted to see the program. It apparently featured one of his trapped used during their earlier days.

"Cool."

Velma watched as the others slowly gathered their things before making their way to the main door. It was almost as if they were stalling because she was certain that Daphne really did not need to reapply her make-up and change her hairstyle. She would have changed her entire outfit had Velma not pushed her to the door, exclaiming that they were going to be late and that it wouldn't look good on any of them.

Ten minutes later, the air was quiet. The sounds that the Mystery Machine made were out of earshot and Velma heaved a light sigh of relief. She smiled as she looked down at the Great Dane, who was eating his fill of Scooby Deluxe Sandwiches.

"Well, I don't know about you, Scooby," she began, "but I plan on spending the night reading my novel. As much as I love solving mysteries, it's always refreshing to read about others cracking the codes."

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note: Just in case you didn't know, this takes place shortly after the second live action movie. I also makes references to most of the Scooby Doo series, because I love most of them and i always squee with joy when I discover something new about my favourite character XD. Also, I'm trying hard to work with Freddie ... trying to combine most of his personalities into one because I did not like how he was portrayed in the movies. Maybe it was just me, but I never saw him as a self-centred, arrogant jerk ... i also don't see him as a bumbling idiot who has the IQ of a gnat and some odd fixation with traps. Granted, I believe they play a good part in his life and he is a strategical individual who likes to plan these things ... but obsessed? No thanks. lol. I'm hoping I've done ok with the other characters. Velma - I'm hoping I make her seem like her extremely intelligent self. Daphne - I hope I make her out to be a caring member who isn't just there for eye-candy and to be captured. Shaggy & Scoob - I just hope I do these two justice lol.

If they're wrong, lemme know and I can make changes. Scooby Doo played a large part in my childhood and I don't want to tarnish the memory lol.

Hope you enjoy - this idea just refused to leave me alone!