Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all related characters are copyright 2009 Hanna-Barbera Productions/Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network. No challenge to their ownership is implied; I am not making any money from writing this story, I am just a fan and I am writing this simply for fun.
Chapter 1
Our story opens at a train station in Scooby Doo's hometown of Dooville; the citizens of Dooville have constructed a large banner that reads Welcome Home Scooby Doo while the parents of the cowardly sleuth wait patiently for their now world famous son.
"Just think dada, our little boy is a world famous ghost chaser," remarked a female great dane with light brown hair.
"He sure is momsy and it will sure be nice to see him again after all this time" replied a male great dane who looked exactly like Scooby except for the fact that he was a bit older and was wearing glasses.
The crowd at the station including Scooby's parents then began to hear the whistle of a train, the crowd stirred with excitement as they prepared to welcome the train.
"Look dada I see a train coming, it must be Scooby's" the female Dane said.
"No dear, it's just a circus train" the male Dane replied.
"Professor Fantasmo's Circus Fantastique" the female Dane said reading the side of the train.
The train pulled up to the station as the door opened wide; standing at the entrance to the door was a man dressed a red ring master's uniform, gray pants, as well as a grey top hat; he also carried what looked to be either a black walking stick or cane.
"Yes ladies and gentlemen Professor Fantasmo's Circus Fantastique; the most fun you'll ever have in your entire lives" the man remarked.
"A circus? It sure sounds wonderful" the female Dane commented.
"Yes folks and today only Professor Fantasmo's Circus Fantastique is completely free; free rides, free games and free food" the man explained.
"A free circus, now that sounds fantastic; come on dada let's go!" the female Dane declared.
"But what about Scooby?" the male Dane asked.
"Don't worry, we'll be back in time to welcome him home" the female Dane replied.
"Oh all right" the male Dane said reluctantly.
Meanwhile several hundred miles away the members of the world famous detective agency Mystery Inc. are on a train bound for Dooville, the home town of the group's cowardly canine: Scooby Doo; the five human members of the gang and the one canine member are relaxing in one of the passenger cars talking about their current vacation and their eventual destination.
"Well gang we should be in Dooville in about an hour" Fred remarked.
"Yeah, it'll sure be glad to see Momsy and Daddy Doo again right Scooby?" Velma asked.
"Reah" Scooby replied happily.
"And like taking a train there is sure a great way to go" Shaggy remarked.
"It sure is Shaggy, I can't think of a better way to see the sights" Velma agreed.
"Well, traveling by car or van is sure a cool way to travel," Fred stated.
"Don't forget about traveling by airplane," Daphne added.
"Rot for re" Scooby commented.
"Why not Scooby?" Daphne asked.
"Like I bet I know why, you don't like those dog cages right Scoob?" Shaggy asked.
"Ruh-huh" Scooby answered.
"Don't worry Scooby, at least on the train you won't have to worry about that" Velma replied.
"Ri rope ri don't rave to rorry rabout ranything relse" Scooby commented.
"Don't worry Scoob, what could happen to you on a train?" Shaggy commented.
Meanwhile on top of the train Bogel and Weerd the two ghosts that have been following Scooby and friends since they opened the Chest of Demons are getting ready to derail Scooby and the gang's journey.
"OK Bogel, Scooby Doo and his friends are inside the train; all we have to do is unlatch the car they're in from the rest of the train and that will take care of Scooby Doo and friends" Weerd laughed evilly.
"Right Weerd, after this ride we won't have to worry about them any more" Bogel replied.
"You're right about that Bogel old buddy and not only that but if this works out we'll have no trouble getting into SAPS" Weerd added.
Weerd reached down and unhooked Scooby and the gang's car from the rest of the train, sending it careening out of control; after the car became separated from the train Weerd and Bogel pointed and laughed as it went on its way without the rest of the train.
Scooby and company's train car sped out of control heading for who knows where, but at the present time it was certainly not headed towards the gang's destination of Dooville; the train car traveled about several hundred feet before heading onto the same track as another train going in the other direction.
"When this is over, we'll be full fledged members of the Spooks and Poltergeists Society for sure" Weerd said as he and Bogel materialized near a train switch; the somewhat dimwitted spirit turned the switch and Scooby and company's train headed straight onto the path of the oncoming train, meanwhile Mystery Inc. relaxed in their car as they figured that they were safe for now, but as they would soon learn, they were in some major danger.
Weerd and Bogel stood by or rather floated by and watched happily as Scooby and company's train car continued to head straight for the other train.
"Bon Voyage Scooby Doo!" Bogel said, somewhat sure of himself and his comrade's accomplishment; however the two were very surprised as the train car climbed atop the other train, somewhat safe for the moment.
"Of all the rotten luck!" Bogel bemoaned as he and Weerd were quite unhappy at this turn of events.
Scooby and company's train car then continued traveling along the tops of the other cars, then dropped off onto the main track and proceeded on its journey as planned; however, Bogel and Weerd weren't quite through with the Great Dane and his mystery solving friends just yet.
The two ghosts then materialized near another section of train tracks and decided to attempt yet another dirty trick on Mystery Inc.; the two ghosts laughed as they bent the track to the left, hoping that the train would continue to follow the same route it was currently traveling; naturally the trick worked as the train headed down the bent section of track, however the two ghosts didn't realize that the train was heading straight for them and was trying to mow them down.
"Yikes!" Bogel exclaimed as he attempted to run out of sight.
"Bogel, what are you running for, that train can't hurt us, we're ghosts remember?" Weerd replied as he caught his ghostly compatriot.
"Oh yeah, I forgot don't you know?" Bogel replied; however as usual the ghosts were dead wrong as the train slammed straight into the two ghosts; the two spirits got the distinct pleasure or unfortunate pleasure of traveling first class on the front of the train, which was continuing to head out of control.
The train then traveled down a cliff, past some houses and farms and dozens of trees and plants; meanwhile a few moments later Bogel and Weerd were thrown from the train as unfortunately for them, they weren't hanging on tight enough and weren't wearing seatbelts.
Meanwhile Scooby and the rest of Mystery Inc. continued on their journey, and a few moments later Velma looked out the window of the car and noticed that the train was passing through the outskirts of the town of Dooville.
"I can see a Welcome to Dooville sign Scooby, it looks like we're almost there" the bespectacled teen remarked.
A few more moments passed and Mystery Inc.'s train continued down the tracks, and a few more minutes later the car rejoined the rest of the train as it continued on its way to the Dooville Train Station; finally a few more minutes passed and the gang's train pulled into the station, for now it seemed that Scooby and company were safe from danger, although as they would find out, they wouldn't be safe for long.
"Well here we are gang, Dooville!" Fred commented as the gang's train car door opened and Mystery Inc. stepped outside.
"Reah, rit'll re reat ro ree Rommy rand Raddy Roo ragain" Scooby replied.
The Great Dane and friends looked around the train station expecting to see Scooby's parents and hundreds of people, however all they saw was pieces of paper blowing across the ground; the gang then decided to use their detective skills to figure out a logical explanation as to where the citizens of Dooville were.
"That's strange, Scooby's parents knew we were coming and they knew Scooby was coming too, so why didn't anyone come down to the station to meet us?" Velma remarked.
"Beats me Velma" Fred replied.
"Well whatever's going on, let's look around for any clues" Daphne added.
"Good thinking Daphne, we might find something to help us locate Scooby's folks" Fred replied.
With that Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma and Flim Flam began searching around the train station; within a few minutes the group's canine member spoke, or rather barked up as he apparently had found a clue.
"Ruh-roh, rook at rhis" Scooby commented.
The Great Dane motioned towards the ground as he picked up a container with what looked to be dog-bone shaped treats in it.
"Like I don't like the looks of this, Scoob's parents wouldn't leave a plate of Scooby Snacks around" Shaggy commented.
"Reah rand rhere's rirt in rhis rip" Scooby replied as he took a bite of one of the snacks.
The gang was in the midst of pondering over their current situation when one of the six members of the group began hearing a strange noise in the distance.
"Hey, what's that?" Velma wondered.
"It sounds like music" Flim Flam responded.
"Flim Flam's right, it does sound like music" Fred remarked.
With no other clues as to the whereabouts of Scooby's parents and the rest of Dooville the gang decided to try and track down the source of the strange melody was coming from.
"Scooby, since you've got the best nose and ears of the group why don't you lead" Fred explained.
"Right" Scooby responded.
The Great Dane began sniffing along the ground for any semblance of a clue, however as the group of investigators continued walked along they noticed that the music they had heard earlier was getting louder; after walking for several minutes the Great Dane stopped for a second and pointed at something in the distance.
Shaggy had noticed this and asked his cowardly canine companion about what he had seen.
"You got something on the old nose radar Scoob?" he asked.
"Reah, reah!" Scooby replied.
"Good going Scooby, lead on" Fred declared.
Scooby led the rest of Mystery Inc. in the direction of the strange music and what the Great Dane had seen earlier; after walking for quite some time the gang could see what looked to be a front gate along with what looked to be numerous tents and small buildings coming into view.
"Jeepers, if I didn't know any better I would say that this is the source of the music that we were hearing" Daphne remarked.
"Like it certainly looks that way" Shaggy added.
"Right, now let's just see if that's truly the case" Fred commented.
"And if my hunch is right, this is where we'll find Scooby's parents as well" Velma replied.
Mystery Inc. continued on, following the path that their four legged detective was taking; the teenage sleuths saw the same structures they had seen earlier right in front of them, they could also see that they were indeed on the right track and that they were getting closer to the source of the mysterious melody.
"Jinkies, it looks like a circus" Velma remarked.
"You're right Velma, it is a circus! This must be where Scooby's parents and all the citizens of Dooville are; come on gang let's go in and investigate" Fred commented.
The gang walked inside the gates of the circus grounds and began to look around; however the group could see that there was something peculiar about this particular circus.
"Like did anybody notice what was at the ticket taker booth as we came in?" Shaggy asked.
"No Shaggy, why?" Velma replied.
"Like because there was no one taking tickets" Shaggy explained.
"Don't be silly Shaggy, there's nothing mysterious about that" Daphne remarked.
"Yeah, the ticket taker is probably on a break or something" Fred added.
"Like I don't know, I'm getting the strangest feeling about this place" Shaggy remarked.
"Like what Shag?" Velma asked.
"Well, I'm not really sure; it's more of a creepy feeling, like goose bumps or the hair standing up on the back of my neck" Shaggy elaborated.
"Shaggy that's the silliest thing I ever heard" Daphne replied.
"Why in the world would you get a creepy feeling from a circus of all places; there's nothing creepy or threatening about the circus" Fred added.
"Well like maybe we should be careful just in case" Shaggy replied.
As the gang continued exploring the circus grounds they noticed a pair of familiar Great Danes leaving a nearby booth; Scooby Doo and the rest of Mystery Inc. instantly recognized the pair and Shaggy pointed that fact out to his canine companion.
"Hey Scooby look its Momsy and Daddy Doo" Shaggy said.
"Rour're right Raggy rit ris rhem, Romsy, Raddy, rere ri ram!" Scooby yelled, hoping that his parents would somehow hear him calling them.
In point of fact Scooby's parents did hear their son then looked back and saw that he and his friends were standing there; afterwards the two of them ran towards the gang to join them.
"Scooby!" Scooby's mother exclaimed.
"Momsy Doo, Dada Doo!" Scooby exclaimed back.
Scooby's mother and father then proceeded to hug their famous son like no mother and father have ever hugged a son before.
"Looks like Scooby's folks are glad to see him but I wonder what they're doing now?" Fred wondered aloud.
Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Flim Flam noticed that Scooby and his parents were now in ballet outfits and began dancing.
After Scooby and his parents finished their dancing they explained what they were doing to the rest of the gang.
"That's how us Doos say how do" Dada Doo said.
"In a tutu" Momsy Doo added.
"But Mr. And Mrs. Doo there's still one thing that puzzles me, why weren't you at the train station to meet our train?" Velma asked.
"We're sorry Scooby, but while we were waiting for you to arrive we saw a circus train pull into the station" Mrs. Doo explained.
"When the train stopped a man named Professor Fantasmo stepped out and told us about his circus that was in town" Mr. Doo continued.
"So that's who owns this circus" Velma remarked.
"Yep, plus after he told us about his circus he mentioned that everything inside was free for tonight; free rides, free food, free free free!" Mr. Doo said gleefully.
"So like that's why there was no ticket taker at the booth" Shaggy remarked.
"I guess you were right Shaggy, if indeed everything is free then there would be no need for a ticket taker; however one thing's nagging at me" Velma replied.
"Like what's that Velma?" Shaggy asked.
"How come everything's free? Every circus that I know of or heard of costs at least some money, why should this particular circus be free?" Velma wondered aloud.
"Like that would explain the weird feeling I have about this place, there has to be something in the fact that everything's free" Shaggy replied.
"Oh don't be such a worrywart Shaggy, so everything's free, so what" Fred remarked.
"I don't know, for once Shaggy might be right about something; there has to be some catch to this, nothing in life is free" Velma replied.
"Exactly like maybe we should keep our eyes and ears open just in case" Shaggy remarked.
"Good thinking Shaggy, I'll keep my eyes and ears open as well" Velma replied.
"You two are making too much out of this, after all what could be horrible about a circus?" Daphne asked.
While it was not apparent at this time, as the gang's visit to Professor Fantasmo's circus wore on Mystery Inc. would soon find out that Shaggy and Velma were quite accurate in their assessment; this circus was not like any other circus in the world, this particular big top hid a sinister secret, one that if Scooby and company weren't careful would cause them to remain at the circus for the rest of their lives.