The strains of bubblegum pop filled the malt shop where Freddy, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and (despite the No Dogs Allowed sign in the window) Scooby-Doo himself were enjoying an after-school snack, and trying to think of any spooky buildings in the area which they had not yet explored, for these amateur sleuths were always on the lookout for a new mystery to solve.
"Like, the only mystery right now is what we're going to play next on the jukebox," announced Shaggy as the music stopped. "C'mon, Scoob, help me choose which groovy tune we'll listen to now!"
"Yeah, yeah!" agreed Scooby-Doo, as he walked over to the Rock-ola with his scruffy friend, and Freddy and Velma came along as well, leaving Daphne alone at the counter with Mr. Martin, the kindly proprietor.
"Business sure is bad these days," he told her sadly, "I can remember when this place was full of young people from wall to wall, but now, if it weren't for you and your friends, I don't think I could make ends meet."
"Gosh, Mr. Martin," the pretty redhead replied, "I'm really sorry to hear that, because I and the rest of the gang really like to hang out here. Is there anything we could do to help?"
"Well, I do have an idea to increase business," Mr. Martin confided, "but, um, excuse me, I need to check my supply of strawberry ice cream in the back freezer!"
"Well, he's acting pretty strange," thought Daphne, as she watched him scurry away. She frowned, and took a sip of her 'triple-thick!' milkshake. Her mind was still pondering his odd behavior, so that she was completely unaware of the stealthy figure who was sneaking up behind her.
"I like this one, C-7" announced Freddy as he made a selection at the jukebox, causing "Sugar, Sugar," by the Archies to start playing. "Hey, Daphne," he exclaimed as he turned around, "is there anything… Daphne! What happened?"
"What is it, Freddy? What has klutzy Daphne done this time?" asked Velma, as she hurried over with him, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo following behind. "Honestly, can't we go anywhere without her getting tied up?"
"Mpfff," explained Daphne.
"Is something wrong?" asked Mr. Martin as he hurried out of the freezer. "Daphne! Tied up, and here in my shop!"
Yes, Daphne was tied up again. She was still seated on her bar stool by the counter, with her half-finished shake in front of her. Rope had been used to tie her ankles together, and more used to hold them against the base of the stool. Her arms had been drawn behind her back so that her elbows touched, held in position by more loops. Her wrists were also bound together, and a strand ran down from those knots to the base of the stool. This connecting bit of rope was quite short, actually, so that Daphne's back was arched inward, forcing her head to face up towards the ceiling, where all she could see was the overhead fan as it whirled around and around.
Although she had been expertly and quickly tied, her gag consisted of nothing more than a bandana which covered her mouth and nose, and draped down across her throat. "Mpfff!" she exclaimed.
"You know, Daphne, you're not really gagged all that well, and you should be able to talk a little, especially with all the experience you've had," scolded Velma, as she helped Freddy with the untying.
"I don't see why you're making such a fuss about this," replied Daphne, "I seem to remember that you got tied up yourself on our last mystery."
"Yeah, but I get tied up reasonably often," retorted Velma. "I mean, any spunky damsel who goes about having adventures knows she's going to get bound and gagged from time to time, but really, Daphne, with you it's always; I mean, you were just sitting in a malt shop, our backs turned on you for only two seconds!"
"Please don't fight," begged Shaggy. "Like, why don't you two cool down by buying us all another round of shakes?"
"Ranother round rof rakes!" agreed Scooby-Doo, as he licked his lips, and wagged his tail.
"Why don't you tell us what happened?" suggested Freddy, as the leader of the group. He sat down next to Daphne, and ordered a Vanilla Milkshake, "and whatever else my friends want," he added.
"Well," explained Daphne, "I was just sitting here by myself when suddenly I was grabbed from behind, and the next thing I knew I was all tied up!"
"But do you know why you were tied up?" asked Freddy.
"The person said something like, 'Don't you and your friends take it into your heads to investigate the mysterious Screamer over at Curdle's Dairy, or else!'"
"Or, gulp, or else, like what?" asked Shaggy.
"He didn't say," answered Daphne.
"Well, I've never heard of there being any Screamer there," said Velma skeptically.
"Like, maybe he just moved in," suggested Shaggy.
"Something's going on out there," declared Freddy, "and we're going to find out what." He paused for dramatic effect. "Well, gang, it looks like we've got another mystery on our hands!"
"Well, here we are, gang," announced Freddy as he pulled the Mystery Machine to a stop in front of the aging abandoned milk processing plant.
"Gosh, it doesn't look very inviting," observed Daphne.
"Like, could you maybe drive the van back to the malt shop?" asked Shaggy. "I think I forgot something."
"What did you forget?" demanded Freddy.
"I forgot to stay there," he explained.
"Re-he-he-he-he-he!" laughed Scooby-Doo.
"Come on, you two," ordered Velma as she opened the rear doors. "There are no such things as ghosts and monsters."
"Yeah, but do the ghosts and monsters know that?" asked Shaggy.
Freddy, meanwhile, had walked up the stairs to the enormous double-doors at the entrance to the old building, and was pounding on one of them with an antique doorknocker shaped like an angry bull. "There doesn't seem to be anyone here," he announced brightly, just before they swung open of their own accord.
"G-g-g-ghosts!" exclaimed Shaggy as he jumped into Scooby-Doo's arms, and "R-r-r-rhosts!" exclaimed Scooby-doo as he jumped into Velma's arms.
"Knock it off, you clowns!" she exclaimed, opening her arms and causing Shaggy and Scooby to crash onto the sidewalk. "The doors just opened because Freddy was knocking on them."
"Oh, yeah," giggled Shaggy, "like, I knew that."
"Yeah, yeah," agreed Scooby-Doo, "Ri rew rat!"
"I wonder why this monster is called the Screamer?" mused Freddy as he stepped inside.
"LEAVE THIS PLACE AT ONCE!" screamed a disembodied voice in reply.
"Zoiks! Like, no point in overstaying our welcome, Scoob," announced Shaggy, as he and his canine friend turned to run out the door. They had to move their legs back and forth for a few seconds before they could actually move, though, and in the meantime Freddy had reached out and grabbed Shaggy's shirt, and Scooby's tail, and thus kept them from retreating.
"DAPHNE! YOU WOULD'T DARE TAKE ONE STEP FORWARD, AND TWO TO THE LEFT!" roared the Screamer.
"Oh, yeah? That's what you think!" she replied, as she followed the directions, and stamped her foot on the ground on that new spot, just before "Eek!" a trapdoor opened beneath her, and down she went!
"We need to split up and search for Daphne," Freddy announced. "Shaggy, you and Scooby-Doo search the Cheese Vault, while Velma and I go into the Yogurt Room."
"Well, Scoob, look on the bright side," said Shaggy, as they parted from their friends. "Like, maybe there are some leftover cheeses in here. I sure could go for a snack right about now!"
"Rum, rum!" enthused Scooby-Doo.
Considering the plant had been inoperational for many years that seemed rather unlikely, so when they opened the door….
"GET OUT! GET OUT!"
Yes, it was the screamer, all right. He wearing a large purple poncho, so that all the terrified duo could see of him were his black patent leather shoes, and his hideous face. And what a face it was, too! In the front where there should have been his mouth, nose, and eyes, there was instead one single enormous bloodshot eye, that seemed to be glaring at them.
"GET OUT! GET OUT!" he repeated.
"Zoiks!" exclaimed Shaggy, as he and Scooby-Doo raced out, followed by the monster. At that precise instant Freddy, who had in the meantime discovered the facility's PA system, turned it on, and, as it was connected to an oldies radio station, it started broadcasting "My Boyfriend's Back" by the Angels throughout the entire building.
Run, run, run, went Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, followed by the monster, all the while accompanied by the music that continued to play over the PA system. "ROAR!" went the screamer as he chased them about, causing Shaggy to wonder how a monster with no mouth could scream so often and so loudly. He and Scooby-Doo lost the Screamer, found him again, and then lost him again. And then the Screamer found Freddy and Velma, and started chasing them instead.
"Whew! I think we lost him!" announced Freddy as he and Velma dashed back into the PA control room, where they noticed Shaggy and Scooby-Doo cowering in fright.
"Come on out you two," scolded Velma as she switched off the PA system just as the song ended. "There's nothing to be afraid of."
"If there's nothing to be afraid of, then what's making that thumping sound?" asked Shaggy.
"What thumping sound? I don't hear any…. Jinkies! You're right! Something is making a thumping sound!" she exclaimed.
"Whatever it is, it's getting closer!" observed Freddy.
Thump, thump, thump!
"Gotcha!" exclaimed Freddy, as he jumped out and grabbed the mysterious figure.
"Mpfff," replied Daphne.
"Daphne, it's you! Where have you been?" demanded Velma.
"Mpfff," explained Daphne.
What had happened is that when she had fallen down the trap door earlier she had had the wind knocked out of her. While she was not hurt from the fall, she was momentarily dazed, and so the Screamer had been able to tie her arms behind her back, and her legs together; and then gagged her with another large bandana over her face, before leaving to deal with the other intruders.
Daphne remembered what Velma had told her earlier about her gag. "She said I should be able to talk, at least a little," she reflected, so she tried saying "She sells seashells by the seashore," but all that came out was "Mpfff, mpfff." "And anyhow, now that I think about it," she thought, "the last time Velma got tied up she was gagged this exact same way, and she couldn't talk any better either. So she was probably just making that up."
That cheered her up a little, so she then thought about what she could do to get out of her current situation. "Although I'm tied up, I'm not actually tied to anything," she realized, "so I can probably manage to hop a bit." She bent her knees, and managed to move forward a couple of inches. "That'll work!"
It was slow going, but bit by bit she managed to creep along. Climbing up the stairs back to the main floor proved to be a real challenge, "But I'm not giving up!" she told herself firmly, and, somehow or the other, she managed it. She then heard her friends' voices, and hurried (more or less) over to them, thump, thump, thump!
"Very interesting," observed Velma as she helped Freddy untie Daphne. "Apparently this Screamer wants to keep you here, while frightening the rest of us away!"
"That's right!" agreed Freddy. "But now that we've rescued Daphne we're going to turn the tables on him. I've got a plan. I'm going to need you," he said, speaking to Shaggy, "and Scooby to put on this cow costume I found, and then, when you lure him here, I'll lasso him with this rope."
"Like, no way man," Shaggy told him. "Ain't gonna happen. No way, no how. Isn't that right, Scooby?"
"Ro ray!" agreed Scooby-Doo.
"Oh, come on, you guys," pleaded Velma, as she produced a small box from underneath her voluminous sweater. "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack? How about… two Scooby snacks?"
"Two Scooby Snacks for each of us!" agreed Shaggy, and, when Scooby-Doo nodded his head in agreement, Velma tossed each of them a couple of the delightful doggy treats, which were immediately swallowed with gusto.
"Just slip this on," ordered Freddy, and Shaggy put on the head of the cow, while Scooby-Doo donned the rear, which two parts Freddy quickly fastened together. "Now, go find him!" he ordered.
"Scooby, how do we ever get ourselves into these sorts of situations?" asked Shaggy as the two of them wandered down a dusty hallway. "I mean…."
"LEAVE AT ONCE!" screamed the Screamer, as he suddenly jumped out in front of them.
"Zoiks! Let's scram, Scoob!"
Scooby-Doo, being able to run faster than Shaggy, led the way, creating the effect of a cow running backwards. Unfortunately, he could not see where he was going, so he was constantly banging into the walls and pieces of old equipment as he lead Shaggy and the Screamer along.
"No, Scooby!" cried out Daphne when she spotted the pair approaching, but it was too late. He bumped into her, sending her sprawling into the Screamer, so that, when Freddy released the lasso, instead of capturing the Screamer he neatly laced up Daphne instead.
"Daphne! This is the third time you've been tied up today!" exclaimed Velma.
"Well, at least I'm not gagged this time," she replied. "And, oh yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that…"
"Oh, oh," groaned the Screamer.
"Daphne! When you bumped into him you knocked him out cold! Good job!" announced Freddy.
"Oh, yeah, I did, didn't I?" she replied happily. "In that case, I did it on purpose, then."
"And now, let's see who he is!" declared Freddy, as he pulled off the rubber mask.
"Mr. Martin!" everyone exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, Mr. Martin, how could you?" reproached Daphne. "I thought you were a nice old man! Nice old men don't go around tying up sweet young damsels!"
"I'm really sorry," said Mr. Martin, looking completely miserable, "but if you'd just let me explain…."
"Yes, Mr. Martin," Freddy told him, "we want to hear your explanation."
"Well, as you know, business at the Malt Shop has been very bad for quite a while now. So I came up with a plan to improve business, but it needed your help. I thought that maybe if I could just speak to Daphne first I could convince her, and then she could convince the rest of you. So I tied her up in the Malt Shop, and gave her that message about not coming here, since I knew that would make you come at once. Then I tied her up here, and tried to frighten the rest of you away. But that last part didn't work."
"Like, of course it didn't" said Shaggy, "because we know there's no such thing as ghosts and monsters. Isn't that right, Scoob?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Scooby-Doo agreed.
"Gosh, Mr. Martin," said Daphne, "if you wanted to talk to me alone you could have just asked me. But what is that plan of yours to save the Malt Shop?"
"Yes, that's what I've been wondering," said Velma.
"You see, back when this plant was operational I used to buy all my ice cream from here," explained Mr. Martin, "and when I did I had the best tasting milkshakes in the world! So, when I heard that the owners of this building were willing to sell it cheap, I bought it to put it back into business again. With the fabulous ice cream this place makes, my Malt Shop should be full of customers once again!"
"That sounds like a great plan!" enthused Freddy. "But what does it have to do with us?"
"Unfortunately, the start-up costs are too high for me," Mr. Martin replied sadly. "But I know you have received a lot of reward money from having captured so many criminals, so I thought you could be my investors in this project."
"Well, I can't think of a better use of our money than that!" announced Freddy. "Isn't that right, gang"
"Gosh, yes," agreed Daphne, "now that I realize you had a really good reason for tying me up, Mr. Martin, I'm glad to help."
"Me too!" said Shaggy.
"Re roo!" echoed Scooby-Doo.
"Well, I'm not going too," declared Velma. "Honestly, throwing away our hard-earned cash on some run-down dairy that went out of business for what must have been a good reason? Forget it! I'm investing my money in my uncle's ascot factory. He told me that fashionable neckware is poised to make a comeback. If you guys were smart you'd get in on this, too."
"Gosh, Velma," said Daphne as she finally wriggled out of the lasso, which she now held in her hand, "are you sure you won't change your mind about that?"
"Absolutely not!" she declared. "There's no way I'd… Daphne! What are you doing? Stop tying me up! Mpfff! Mpfff!"
"I knew it!" exclaimed Daphne. "I knew you couldn't really say anything other than 'Mpfff, mpfff!' if you were gagged with a bandana across your mouth." She turned towards Mr. Martin. "She was just fooling with you," she explained. "Actually, I'm sure
Velma really is very anxious to help you with her money. Aren't you, Velma?"
"Well, but she seems to be shaking her head no," replied Mr. Martin dubiously.
"That's just to tell you there's NO way she'd refuse to help you."
"Oh, well, in that case," said Mr. Martin happily, "thank you all very much! And, when I get things going, be sure to come by for the Grand Reopening of my Malt Shop!"
"Oh, no! Daphne's tied up again!" exclaimed Freddy as he hurried back to the booth in the Malt Shop that the gang was using.
"She's not tied up; she's taped up," corrected Velma.
"Mpfff," replied Daphne.
"Like, the tape that's binding her looks just like the duct tape sticking out of your purse, Velma," observed Shaggy.
"That's just a completely meaningless coincidence," snapped Velma as she quickly closed her bag.
"Mpfff," disagreed Daphne.
"And here's your order!" brightly announced Mr. Martin, arriving at the booth. "Thanks for coming! But I don't understand why you're the only ones here. I was so sure that with my new ice cream that this place would be packed."
"Maybe the problem wasn't the ice cream," hinted Velma. "Maybe what you really need to do is update this place a bit."
"Although we really like the selection in your jukebox," Freddy explained, "not all the other people our age are quite as hip as we are about music from the '60's, so perhaps they'd rather listen to something a little more modern."
"Well, I had thought about that," admitted Mr. Martin, "but the thing is, I have to listen to the music all day long, every day, so I'd rather have music that I like. Besides, although the Malt Shop's reopening isn't going very well, the dairy is doing fabulous, so I can afford to run this place at a loss."
"Like, I know what I think is fabulous," announced Shaggy as he squirted some mustard onto his French fries. "It's this triple-decker hamburger with boysenberry jam and sauerkraut! I can't wait to sink my teeth into it!"
"Shaggy, you must have a cast-iron stomach," said Velma.
Scooby-Doo, though, looked at the hamburger enviously. "Raggy, rook rout!" he suddenly shouted as he randomly pointed with a paw. "Ra rhost!"
"Zoiks! A ghost!" his terrified friend exclaimed, and without even thinking to look he dropped the hamburger and dived under the table.
"Rum, rum!" exclaimed the Great Dane, as he wolfed down the hamburger, and the fries on the platter next to it as well.
"Scooby, you tricked me!" accused Shaggy as he crawled back out.
"Re-he-he-he-he-he-he," laughed Scooby-Doo, and since everyone else thought it was funny too they all joined in his laughter, and while they did so he exclaimed, "Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"