Author's note: And now, my revision of Revenge of the Man Crab. Fifth episode of my reboot of SDMI.

One thing to take note is that this episode is the first of the episodes where the culprit and motive is going to be completely different in the revision than in the original episode, mainly because the motive doesn't make any sense at all.

Like, why on earth will someone take the costume of a monster man crab and randomly kidnap plenty of people just because his/her idea for a drink was stolen? Doesn't seem realistic or makes any sense to me at all.

Some bit of a background here: This episode was the first episode of the series I've watched, and I was rather bothered by the darkness and lack of humour at that time when I first watched it, particularly with the to-be-continued type ending, which I now can care less about, since how can there be an arc for a subplot if there's no to-be-continued type ending? However, the main thing that annoyed me about the episode is Fred. Like, was that necessary to be that desperate? Sure, I know Daphne got kidnapped, and he must've been traumatized by the sight, but, well, let's just say that those scenes with Fred trying to dig gave me a facepalm.

I apologize for the ranting, thought I need to spill out what I think of the original series, hence the reason why I'm doing the reboot. I can see the idea behind the series, particularly with the mystery subplot-arc, has a lot of potential. However, the crude humour, lack of common sense and the stupidity of the characters, the gang's new characters and the plot holes and lack of realism ruined it, especially the romance.

For a while, I had considered Fred/Daphne a natural pairing and could care less about it during the WNSD-era. As for Shaggy/Velma, well, even before the series started, I could never picture them together, although I was actually open to the idea especially after seeing an online video from the series showing the two in love.

Unfortunately, when it came down to the series, I was rather annoyed by how the romance was portrayed.

Trap-obsessed Fred and spoiled Daphne, who is clearly obsessed with Fred: Seriously? I can't see a relationship like that lasting long. As a matter a fact, the way the Fred/Daphne pairing was portrayed in this series, along with the post-2010 DTVs, contributed to my decision not to use the pairing in my stories.

As for Shaggy/Velma: I don't get why they use Velma to drive a wedge between Shaggy and Scooby, or rather, why was it necessary to pit Shaggy against Scooby? In fact, the series further eroded my interest in using the pairing in any of my stories, especially after I discovered the Shaggy/Daphne forum on this site and rewatched the older series, hence the reason why my reboot is geared towards Shaggy/Daphne and Fred/Velma.

Again, I apologize for the ranting. I felt that I need to spill out some of my thoughts and opinions on the series. If any of you disagree with what I just said, feel free to leave it in the reviews or PM me, on the condition that there is ABSOLUTELY NO FLAMING AND SWEARING. If there is flaming and swearing, then I will have it removed and block you if you're a user of this site. End of story.

I don't own Scooby-Doo. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.

Chapter 1: Prologue and the tournament

April 20, 2012

It was a warm evening down at the Crystal Cove beach, and the Crystal Cove Central High School female beach volleyball team were finishing their daily practice for tomorrow's tournament against their rival: Rovenburg High School.

After finishing their practice, the team headed home to call it a night with the team captain being the last one to leave the deserted beach.

As she changes back to her normal outfit in the public washroom near the beach, a large, giant claw started appearing on the surface of the sand like a shark fin appearing on the surface of the water and moved towards the washroom.

Finishing her changing, the team captain made her way out, just in time to see the giant claw heading towards her.

"Yah!" She exclaimed and took off, running for the parking lot as the claw gives chase.

She was lucky to make it to the pavement, which was too hard for the claw to slice through.

Upon realizing that it can't reach her, the claw gave up and retreated back into the beach, just as another unsuspecting girl walks by.

Seeing the girl, the team captain shouted, "Janet, look out!"

The girl, named Janet, upon hearing the team captain's warning, turned and saw the claw heading towards her.

"Yikes!" She exclaimed and tried to run, only to trip over a rock and leading the claw to grab her in the ankle.

"Help!" Janet exclaimed as she was dragged into the sand by the claw while the team captain quickly hurried over to grab her and try to pull her back onto the surface.

However, the claw was too strong, and before she knew it, Janet was dragged under the sand.

April 21, 2012

That morning, the newspaper had the following headline:

"CLAWS

Star CCCHS female beach volleyball team member dragged under beach sand by mysterious giant claw on night before today's beach volleyball tournament"

"Like, poor Janet." Shaggy remarked as he read the paper as Fred drove the Mystery Machine, driving the gang to the tournament. "She's the school's best chance against Rovenburg."

"Indeed, Shag." Fred nodded. "Rovenburg has been training hard for this season and are only too happy to beat us in the tournament."

"Yeah." Daphne agreed. "I wonder if that claw is some prank pulled by the students from Rovenburg."

"I won't be surprised if that's the case." Velma said. "Our school has a large rivalry against Rovenburg since the Crystal Cove Institute of Education split in 1940 with the construction and opening of its Rovenburg campus, which later became Rovenburg High School, while the original campus in downtown Crystal Cove became Crystal Cove Central High School."

"Well, gang, all of this discussion made me think that we've got another mystery on our hands." Fred says as they approached the beach.

Upon hearing Fred's last remark, Shaggy and Scooby both swallowed, particularly after reading Mr. E's latest warning.

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