I would like to reiterate that this will be a very sad and depressing start to this story. It will lighten up soon, but bear with me for now!
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"What now Scoob?"
The tall lean beatnik wasn't quite sure what he was hoping in response from his best pal, but the whimpering as the Great Dane placed his head beneath Shaggy's hand had not been it. The two were dressed in their best suits and Scooby had a bow-tie on. But it was a somber occasion.
Shaggy looked down at the sight before him and felt the tears well up in his eyes. He could hear them coming from Scooby too. It had been a heartbreaking few weeks and this was just the culmination of all their pain.
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See, the gang had been out traveling again. They had broken up individually and found success, but the time apart had made them all need to see one another again. So they had gotten in touch and agreed to travel like old times.
There had been some reservations on his and Scoob's part when Fred and Daphne pulled up in the Mystery Machine. The old bucket of bolts had certainly seen better days. The paint was peeling, the engine did not sound good, and the breaks made a very unpleasant squealing sound as Fred stopped. But when the two smiled out the window at he and the dog, they couldn't resist but to jump in the back with Velma.
It was going to be like old times.
And for a while it had been. The old van did break down a time or two, but they were finding mysteries to keep them entertained. Shaggy never could figure out how these things seemed to be following them. But he had learned not to dwell on that long ago.
And he and Scoob had enjoyed things as they fell into an old routine: Find a place, discover a mystery, split up, he and Scooby would find food and inevitably the monster, run for their lives, join in as live bait on one of Fred's crazy traps, and somehow manage to catch the monster.
It was basically what was typically expected from the situations at that point. And their travels had turned into a blog that Velma kept. It was good income, not that any of them needed it. The entire gang had their own wealth hidden away from all of their inheritances from different relatives over the years.
Of course, being in their late 20s meant they still had plenty of time to go out and enjoy life and the blog covered their costs, even with Shaggy and Scooby's insane food bill.
Of course going out and enjoying life is not always the happiest thing.
It had been a dark night. The gang had just finished netting yet another criminal who had been hauled off to jail. Shaggy was thinking about how he and the gang always seemed to arrive and figure these things out before the cops. Made one wonder about the law enforcement in those areas.
So the night had rolled on. After all their running, Shaggy and Scoob had strolled into an all-night diner to enjoy a late night snack. The rest of the gang was going to enjoy a movie and would come back for them before all heading to the hotel rooms they had rented.
Of course sleeping arrangements were different these days. Fred and Daphne were married, so the two shared a room. Velma got her own room as well which then left Shaggy and Scooby to their own devices. Some days they got a room too if the hotel allowed pets. If not, they took a page from their own book and just slept in the mystery machine. Still, the rooms made for a nice change of pace.
Well, the two had just been finishing their meal and heard the gang was on their way. Settling the tab, Shaggy and Scooby had stood and stretched slowly, gaining looks of wonderment from the hostess and cook that the two had eaten so much and looked slim and fit as fiddles. Shaggy grinned a bit at that. It had always been something he took pride on privately.
While the gang had split up, Shaggy had become a chef. He had invested some funds and opened a few incredibly successful restaurants. But of course being around more food and not running from monsters had started to slowly take its toll, so he and Scooby had gotten into a decent workout routine. They were up early each day to run and did some basic weight work a few nights a week. It had become their own fun thing and the two found themselves not only slimming back down but putting on some decent muscle.
So here they were, outside and waiting to see those lights from the mystery machine. That was when it happened.
There had been screeching and Shaggy felt himself watching it in slow motion. He had tried and desperately wanted to rush over, but his feet were rooted to the spot. Time had literally slowed down and there was nothing he could do. He had to watch.
He had to watch as a drunk driver careened into the mystery machine, totaling it. The impact was enough not only to dent but to flip the old brute of a van on its side. Shaggy felt his breath catch. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was frozen until Scooby nudged him. Then all hell broke loose.
Shaggy ran over screaming. As he came near to the van, he nearly threw up. It was not a pretty sight. As he collapsed, someone called 911. Several vehicles with flashing lights arrived. Shaggy and Scooby were both a mess. It took hours to clear everything up and by then, Shaggy and Scoob were sitting in the hospital outside a room.
Inside were Velma and Daphne, both in comas and attached to machines. Fred had been killed on impact. There were tubes running into them and beeping coming from everywhere. And both Shaggy and the Great Dane found they despised it. But they needed to be there for their friends…just in case.
Of course just in case became less and less hopeful. Velma passed the next morning, her heart giving out.
Which left Daphne. Scooby had dragged a rather pitiful Shaggy in to sit beside her. Shaggy had held her hand and cried. Two days later, things started to look up. Daphne woke up!
…well, just long enough to hear that Fred had died. Her own anguished crying melded with Shaggy's. And Daphne had given up. She died that night.
It had become too much for Shaggy. He had shut down. Well, he shut down his emotions. Somehow, he buried them. He became stone faced as he made arrangements. As he called family members. As he got everyone there. As he set up the ceremony and the burials.
Shaggy took care of it all and everyone wondered what had happened to the man. He seemed stone cold. For the man who had been so scared, it scared everyone to see him like that.
And one person had changed that. Fred and Daphne's daughter, Jasmine. She had been with her grandparents for the summer, visiting the Blakes. She was 4 years old as she walked up to the caskets that Shaggy had been staring at. When her hand found his, Shaggy broke. He felt her small fingers wrap around his hand and he collapsed. He fell to his knees and took the small girl into a giant hug. And the two cried together.
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And here they were. The burial and were back inside. There had been a hope to hold more of a wake and celebrate the three, but Shaggy's breakdown and the mood in the room made that incredibly difficult. Shaggy knew his break had made this harder for everyone else, so he had hidden himself in a corner. That was where Scooby had found him. Shaggy was standing there, near the back door and watching the room.
Once he had left, the mood brightened. Family members began to chat. There was some drinking and partying. Enough to make this a celebration. And Shaggy knew he couldn't go back in there and ruin it.
The only person who seemed sad as him was Jasmine, but he knew that being in there would cheer her up. So he turned to leave.
As Shaggy raised his hand to the door, letting one last sob disguised as a sigh out, he knew he needed to run. As Scooby whimpered at him, he smiled to the dog.
"You stay here buddy. I'll be back." Scooby saw the tears in his owner's eyes and just wanted to make it better. But he didn't know how. So he sat on his haunches and watched as Shaggy pushed out of the door into the rain which had begun to fall when everyone went back inside.
As Scooby let out one more small whimper, he felt a paw scratch behind his ears. He looked up to see a familiar face.
"Let him be Scooby. He needs his space. But soon he is going to need friends. And we should be there for him then."
Scooby offered one more look out the door at his down-trodden friend before turning back to the guest.
"Here Scoob, let's go relax a bit." Here Scooby jumped up to follow her back into the room.
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Ok, rough….ROUGH start. I know. But I hope you enjoy.
And I hope you come back to learn more about the friend!