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
Scooby Doo and his famous friends have been solving mysteries and chasing ghosts for many years now; while it was clear to his friends that his personality was mostly that of a coward, Scooby Doo had always managed despite his fear to save his friends and to help solve any mystery that the gang might come across; however this time Scooby's cowardice may just be his downfall, because apparently this Great Dane has seen one ghost too many.
The gang's official mode of transportation: a colorfully painted red and black van known as the Mystery Machine is currently parked outside a local travel agency; inside the small building most of the members of Mystery Inc. are trying to do something that will take their canine sleuth's mind off of ghosts.
The inside of the office is decorated with travel posters from all parts of the globe and a few decorative masks from some of the world's more tropical destinations as well; as the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. walks up to the front desk and rings the bell, he waits for someone to come and help the group; finally a middle aged man with black hair and wearing a green suit walks up to the counter.
"Yes, how can I help you?" the man asked.
"Well, we're looking to take a vacation" Fred replied.
"Yes and my family is quite wealthy so whatever the trip costs my parents and I should be able to cover it" Daphne added.
"Very well, now what kind of trip were you looking to take?" the travel agent asked.
"To be totally honest sir, we're not really sure" Fred replied with a confused look on his face.
"What about a nice ocean cruise to Bermuda?" the agent suggested.
"That sounds great and it will sure do our Great Dane some good" Fred commented.
"Your Great Dane?" the agent asked somewhat confused.
"Yes well, you see we travel all over the world solving mysteries and chasing ghosts; and if I may say so, he's been a bit jumpy lately" Fred remarked in a whisper.
"Hmm, that sounds, well unusual" the agent replied still with a somewhat confused look on his face.
"Well it is an unusual situation" Daphne commented.
"Tell me, what exactly has made your pet so jumpy?" the agent replied.
"To tell you the truth, he's been seeing things that aren't there, like ghosts and things of that nature" Velma explained.
"Ah I see, so where is your Great Dane?" the agent asked.
"Like he's standing over there" Shaggy commented as he pointed across the room.
"My goodness, he does look nervous doesn't he?" the agent remarked as he looked over at the canine.
"That's part of the reason we've decided to take a vacation, to try and calm Scooby's nerves" Velma replied.
Said Great Dane was standing next to an aquarium at the moment, looking nervous while watching his friends speaking to the travel agent; Flim Flam, noticing how nervous Scooby was walked over and tried to calm him down.
"Relax Scooby, once we're out on the ocean with the fishes you'll be completely relaxed and best of all you won't have to worry about any ghosts or monsters" Flim Flam reassured him.
"Rare rou rure rabout rhat Rlim Rlam?" Scooby asked in a whimper.
"Of course Scooby" Flim Flam commented.
Despite what his young friend had told him, Scooby still looked quite anxious; he then looked through the glass window of the aquarium and saw what looked like a monster.
"Ripes, a ronster!" Scooby yelped.
"Where?" asked Shaggy, somewhat frightened at the canine's comment.
The cowardly canine then ran across the room scared out of his wits, he bumped into a wall knocking a hanging mask that was on the wall off it's hook and right onto Shaggy's face; the Great Dane then ran over to his master and jumped in his arms only to look up and see the mask on his face which resulted in the canine mistaking him for another monster, afterwards he ran over to the corner of the room and began cowering.
The Great Dane sat in the corner of the room whimpering and clearly sounding afraid when he felt a tap on his shoulder; he looked up and saw Weerd and Bogel floating there.
"Boo!" Weerd and Bogel said.
"Ripes, rhosts!" Scooby yelped as he ran headlong towards the front counter and into the arms of the travel agent.
"Scooby, knock it off" Fred scolded.
"Rut the ronsters!" Scooby nervously replied.
"Oh Scooby, you know there's no such things as monsters" Daphne remarked.
"Yeah, besides the so-called monster you saw was really just a picture on this travel poster" Fred said pointing to the sidewall.
"And the other monster you saw was just an old decorative mask" Velma said, walking over to Shaggy and removing the mask from his face.
"Come on Scooby, there's nothing to be afraid of" Fred commented.
Scooby came down from the arms of the travel agent and walked over to where the rest of the gang was standing.
"My goodness, that has to be the most nervous dog I've ever seen; of course I haven't seen too many dogs with their owners coming in here" the travel agent replied.
"Like that's part of the reason we're taking this trip, to try and calm him down," Shaggy remarked.
"Very well, here are your tickets" the travel agent said handing the gang their tickets.
"Thank you sir" Fred remarked.
"You're welcome and have a pleasant voyage" the travel agent remarked.
"I'm sure we will" Fred said.
The gang took their tickets and walked out the door of the travel agency, as they got ready for their vacation; after Scooby and company left, the travel agent walked from behind his desk out of sight into a room at the back of the building.
Weerd and Bogel the two ghosts that had already spooked Scooby re-materialized.
"Bogel old buddy did you see that?" asked Weerd with a chuckle.
"Sure did Weerd" Bogel replied also chuckling evilly.
"One more scare like that and Scooby Doo will be out of the ghost-chasing business for good!" Weerd commented.
"Right we're going to scare him to death!" Bogel replied.
The two ghosts then laughed evilly as they disappeared from the agent's office.
It is now later that evening and the red and black automobile known as the Mystery Machine is parked in a nearby lot while the Mystery Inc. gang is on board the luxurious cruise ship the Queen Myrtle; while the rest of his mystery solving friends waved Bon Voyage along with the rest of the ship's passengers; Scooby still looking a bit nervous was cowering behind Shaggy, Fred noticed this and walked over to reassure him, in addition to softly petting him.
"Relax Scooby, we're going to be out on the high seas pretty soon" Fred commented while continuing to softly stroke the canine's fur.
"Yeah Scooby, we'll be thousands of miles away from any ghosts or monsters so don't worry about any spooks and have fun" Daphne added.
"Really?" Scooby asked.
"Like sure Scoob plus I bet there's going to be a terrific buffet on the ship" Shaggy commented.
"Ri ron't know ri'm rill rervous" the Great Dane said.
"There's really nothing to worry about Scooby, besides this vacation is just what the doctor ordered" Velma remarked.
Suddenly there was a strange but familiar voice resonating from somewhere in the gang's luggage; at first the group of mystery solvers didn't know what to make of this as they attempted to figure out where the voice was coming from.
"I ordered no such thing!" the voice bellowed.
After Fred looked through the group's belongings, he realized that the gang's warlock friend and ally Vincent Van Ghoul was attempting to contact the gang; now knowing who the mysterious voice belonged to, the blond teenage leader of Mystery Inc. attempted to locate the crystal ball; a few minutes later after finding it he brought it out and waited for Vincent to continue speaking.
"Sorry about that Mr. Van Ghoul; I didn't realize you were trying to reach us, what's up?" Fred asked.
"That's quite alright Fred; however, the next time you take a vacation, it would probably be a good idea to pack me with the clothing; now if you don't mind me asking: where are all of you, you should all be off chasing ghosts" Vincent remarked sounding somewhat disappointed.
"Rhosts!" Scooby yelped at the mere mention of the "G" word, then jumped about five feet in the air; after the canine landed he decided to stand behind Shaggy and cower some more, with good reason; because it was apparent that the hungry canine sleuth was still a bit jumpy.
"Poor Scooby's seen one ghost too many Mr. Van Ghoul" Fred said.
"Yeah he needs a vacation from ghost chasing and mystery solving" Daphne added.
"Yes I see what you mean" Vincent replied.
"You know Vincent after being cooped up in that castle for so long I bet you could use a nice vacation too" Flim Flam remarked.
"That's not a bad idea Flim Flam, Velma activate the crystal's transporter" Vincent declared.
"Right Mr. Van Ghoul, I'm activating the transporter now" addressed Velma.
The transporter part of the crystal began flickering and for a second it looked like Vincent would be able to join them, however after a few moments it failed to work and the great warlock remained in his castle.
"Oh not again" Vincent groaned.
"Uh oh, looks like the crystal ball's transporter beam blew a fuse" Velma remarked
"Sorry Mr. Van Ghoul, I guess you'll just have to sit this one out" addressed Shaggy.
"If it'll make you feel any better Mr. Van Ghoul, we'll send you a postcard" Flim Flam added.
"Just make sure to keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for any of the thirteen ghosts, remember they could be anywhere and take any form" Vincent warned them.
"Right, Mr. Van Ghoul, we'll make sure to be careful" addressed Fred.
Meanwhile after Vincent's picture disappeared from the Crystal Ball, Scooby found himself being tapped on the shoulder by an unseen figure; this course of events caused the Great Dane to jump into a nearby vent so he could hide from danger.
"Pardon me" the figure said.
Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Flim Flam then turned around and saw a man wearing a blue sea captain's uniform; the man then turned to the gang and decided to introduce himself to them.
"Sorry if I startled your friend, my name is Captain Ferguson and I just wanted to welcome all of you aboard" the man explained.
"Nice to meet you captain, by the way if you're in the market for a first mate I would be more than happy to help you out" Flim Flam said with a wink.
"Uh actually the position has already been filled" Captain Ferguson explained.
"Great I'm looking forward to working with you" Flim Flam replied, not realizing that the captain wasn't talking about him.
"Anyway, if you folks need anything come find me in my quarters" the captain explained as he attempted to return to his work.
"We'll do that Captain" Fred replied.
With that the captain walked away from the gang and headed back to his rounds; meanwhile Scooby Doo was still stuck in a nearby vent, which caused his cowardly master to walk over to where he was in order to check up on him.
"Scoob, what are you doing?" Shaggy asked.
"Riding" the canine replied.
"Hiding from what?" the cowardly teen asked.
"From rhosts and ronsters" Scooby replied.
"Well then you're in the wrong place buddy" said a strange voice, which sounded like it was in the same place as Scooby; sure enough the voice belonged to Weerd, who along with Bogel were continuing their attempts to drive Scooby into early retirement.
"Rhosts! Rhaggy, relp!" Scooby yelled.
"Like don't worry Scoob I'll get you out" Shaggy replied, the cowardly teen attempted to pull his pet out of the vent that he was stuck in; but while the beatnik was attempting to do so, Bogel had decided to pull the tickle someone's nose with a feather trick on Scooby.
The ghost's tickling of the Great Dane's black nose caused him to sneeze, which caused the two sleuths to be blown towards the side of the ship; the cowardly pair however managed to grab onto the ship's anchor as they hung on for dear life, hoping to not join the ranks of Bogel and Weerd.
"Scooby" Shaggy remarked.
"R-Res Rhaggy" the canine said nervously.
"Like I think your nerves are starting to get on my nerves" Shaggy replied.
With all his strength, Shaggy managed to pull himself and Scooby Doo back onto the ship; after the pair got back on the boat they returned to the gang's state room in hopes of doing what they had hoped to do on this vacation, mainly relax.
Later, out of the sight of Mystery Inc. and outside of their state room Bogel and Weerd were plotting to figure out how they could get rid of Scooby Doo and friends once and for all; however, even ghosts such as Bogel and Weerd should have realized what would happen to them when they chose to stand in front of the door.
"This is their state room Bogel, come on let's see what they're up to" Weerd snickered.
"Yeah, let's see if we can put Scooby Doo in the newspaper obituary section" Bogel replied.
The gang then walked out of their cabin and out onto the deck of the ship to start exercising, naturally when the door opened it slammed right in Weerd and Bogel's faces; well at least part of the gang, specifically Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Velma as they had chosen to get some exercise while Flim Flam stayed behind and worked on his various hobbies.
"Come on Scooby" Fred commented.
"Yeah Scoob a walk will do you some good" Shaggy responded.
Reluctantly the cowardly Great Dane walked out of the cabin and joined the gang as they jogged around the ship.
"Attaboy Scooby, you're doing great" Fred remarked.
"Yeah Scooby, you're really hitting your stride" Velma added.
It was then that Bogel and Weerd decided to have some more fun with the Great Dane; the two dimwitted ghosts pulled a wooden plank from the boat and pointed it in the direction of the side of the boat; Scooby walked across the plank and as a result, fell right off the ship.
After taking a dunking in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Scooby climbed up the side of the boat and back onto the ship where he decided to catch his breath; however Scooby wasn't able to do so for long, because right beside the Great Dane, two familiar specters materialized and spooked him by saying boo.
"Ripes, rhosts!" Scooby yelled.
With that Scooby ran at top speed back to the gang's stateroom where Mystery Inc.'s young comrade was doing some reading and practicing magic by conjuring a wand; meanwhile the Great Dane opened the door, ran in and then slammed it behind him, after that he ran into a nearby closet and hid.
Hearing this Flim Flam walked over to the closet and peeked into it, he saw Scooby cowering behind some clothes and decided to see what the matter was.
"Rello Rooby" Flim Flam said as he greeted Scooby.
While he was contuinuing to hide from various spirits, ghosts and monsters that he was seeing or not seeing for that matter, Scooby nervously whimpered and then reluctantly greeted the young boy.
"Rello Rim Rlam" Scooby said still looking a bit frightened.
"What's the matter Scooby? Still seeing ghosts?" Flim Flam asked.
"Ruh-huh" Scooby replied.
"You know Scooby, maybe you need something to take your mind of all the ghosts and monsters, like a hobby," Flim Flam told him.
"Ra robby?" Scooby asked.
"Sure like Stamp Collecting, or making Model Airplanes or maybe even Magic" Flim Flam said rubbing his hands together, then he opened them up and a small dove flew away.
"Wow! Rhat rounds reat (translation: that sounds neat)" Scooby said.
"Ok then I'll show you a trick that will really knock everyone's socks off" Flim Flam replied.
"Rike what?" Scooby asked.
"Well, why don't you stay here and I'll go get it" Flim Flam responded.
"Rokay" Scooby said; the Great Dane then sat on the bed and watched as the young boy walked over to the closet and opened it up.
Once inside the young boy pulled out a simple gray box, and then closed the closet once again; he brought the box over to the bed as he prepared to explain the trick to Scooby Doo.
"This is a simple disappearing trick, if you want to learn magic this is one of the easiest ways to start learning the craft" Flim Flam explained.
"Rut row roes rit rork?" Scooby asked.
"Here Scooby it's pretty simple, all you have to do is open the box" the boy commented.
"Rokay" Scooby replied nervously.
The Great Dane opened the box and the young boy climbed inside it; after closing the lid he continued to explain the trick for Scooby.
"Now, I'll knock on the inside lid of the box three times and say the magic words then you open the box okay Scooby?" Flim Flam explained.
"Rokay" replied Scooby.
The young boy then knocked three times and said the magic word: Abracadabra in this case, then Scooby opened the box once again; however this time Flim Flam was not inside the container which caused the Great Dane to begin whimpering as he wondered where his young friend was.
"Rim Rlam rhere are rou?" Scooby asked, however he didn't hear Flim Flam and began crying.
Suddenly Scooby heard a familiar voice coming from the closet, the door opened and Flim Flam walked out into the cabin.
"See Scooby it's just a magic trick and it's pretty simple," Flim Flam explained.
Scooby sat on the bed still whimpering but happy that his friend was OK; as this was going on Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy had made their way back into the state room and saw that the Great Dane was still a nervous wreck.
"Poor Scooby, what are we going to do Fred?" Velma asked.
"Hmm, I don't know; if Scooby's too nervous to track down ghosts I don't know what we can do" Fred replied.
Author's Notes: I decided to add a translation for one of Scooby's lines in this chapter, basically I like to use my fan fiction stories to try new things and I decided to try one of those things here.
