Velma strode over to the giant beached shark and gave it a knock. "See…the shark's a fake! Just a miniature submarine dressed up to look like a great white. No doubt bought with the pirate gold in the shipwreck." She flipped open a panel in the side of the sub and the seaweed monster tumbled out amid a pile of gold doubloons. "And I'll be willing to bet that he's a fake, too." Pulling the creature to its feet, Velma and Fred wiped slimy seaweed off the creature's face, revealing a scowling man with white-blonde hair and a scraggly beard.
"Cowabunga Carlyle? The world-class surfer?"
"Not quite," Velma corrected. "He'd lost his titles under allegations of cheating, and hoped that winning the competition would skyrocket him back to fame. But when he found the shipwreck, winning no longer mattered. He used the legend of the seaweed monster and great white shark to scare everyone away while he stole the treasure!"
"Yeah," Cowabunga snarled angrily. "With all that gold, it would have been like my birthday every day!"
Velma froze suddenly. "Birthday?" she parroted quietly. "Oh, jinkies…"
"And it could have been if not for you meddling kids!" Cowabunga shouted as he was escorted away by a police officer. "And your dumb dog!"
"Aw, tell it to the judge," the officer retorted, none-too-gently shoving his prisoner into the backseat of the patrol car. "And don't you dare get any sea slime on my upholstery."
"Well, another mystery solved," Fred announced happily, striding towards the Mystery Machine. He noticed that Velma was still frozen in thought. "What is it, Velma?"
She looked around for Shaggy and Scooby, relieved to notice them messing with one of the vending machines in the beach's snack bar. "Scooby's birthday," Velma replied.
Daphne bit her lip, leaving rose-colored lipstick on her front teeth. "Oh, jeepers, you're right!"
Velma looked worried. "It's next week. We've got to go shopping and invite all our friends and get everything ready. But how?"
Fred snapped his fingers. "I've got it! We'll take the long way home, hand-delivering some invitations to our good friends. In fact, I think we can deliver an invite and go shopping in one fell swoop. We're an hour out from Mariawood Mall. We could stop in there and see what we could find as well as slip an invite to Frank and Brock. Shaggy and Scooby would be too preoccupied by the food court to worry about us."
"Perfect," Velma said. "Let's get on the road."