The Gargoyle and the Gangsters

by Green Platypus

While visiting Shaggy's family in New York the gang is caught up in the hunt for a living gargoyle terrorizing the city. Braving mobsters and skyscrapers the gang must find the secret behind the creature's vicious attacks. Meanwhile, Shaggy begins to wonder about his recent mysterious surges of strength. AU. S/V. Sequel to The Faerie and the Fear.

Well, you've waited long enough. I'll just get you the soundtrack list and then let you get to it. Part 1: My Angel put the Devil in Me From Doctor Who season 3. Part 7 The Railroad Waits for No one from The Lone Ranger (Really just the end of Part 7, the action-y bit). Part 9:The Runaway Bride from Doctor Who. Part 13: Mind if I Cut In from the Dark Knight Rises. The latter half of Part 17 goes with Dredger Fight from Sherlock Holmes. Part 18: I Think You Should Do as he Says from Batman Arkham City as does Part 26(the latter half of part 26 that is). Part 19: It was the Joker from the same, Part 23 also goes with that. Part 24: goes with Five Years from Arrow as does Part 33. Part 25: Goes with The Main Theme from Batman Arkham City. Part 26: It's Not Even Breakfast from the same. Part 34: Chamber of Secrets from, the Harry Potter Film of the same name. Enjoy.

Part 1: Demons of Manhattan

Ricky's was a nice place with some not so nice clientele. Most of the people who congregated in the swanky Manhattan club were the kind of people who would sell out their friends just as soon as make friends with their enemies. Some of them came to the club to make such deals. Some came for the drinks and some came for the music.

Music as sung by Clara Bertinelli was some of the sweetest to grace the club in years. Indeed, most of the patrons came to watch her on nights just like tonight. Clara was up on stage, black hair and red dress, crooning some twenties ballad that kept the atmosphere festive. No one wanted to start anything when Clara was on stage… no one normal.

There was a shriek that was the first thing. One of the waitresses by the bar screamed. Two lights went out. The manager, a slim thirty six year old named Johnny Sands, ran into the main room. People were shouting; one guy pulled a gun, not Sands' biggest concern. No, the thing on the stage was probably a bigger concern at the moment.

It was huge, not tall, only about six feet, but it was built like a wrestler. Two leathery wings swept from its shoulders and fangs protruded from its gaping, dragon like, mouth. Its eyes glowed red, its skin was like scaly stone. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Johnny thought gargoyle. All that came out of his mouth was…

"Demon!"

Part 2: Call for Katherine

Sam Rogers was cooking. It was his week off after that bust back in March. That meant he did the cooking. He couldn't complain though. It also meant that he was off while Shaggy and Maggie were on Spring Break. A lovely aroma wafted into his nose from the chicken he was marinating. It would probably smell even better when it was cooked. He had just finished sliding the chicken into the oven when the phone rang.

"Y'ello" He said as he pulled it off the receiver, wondering how in the world his family had managed to even keep a landline.

"Hello" A New York accent came through, Brooklyn, Sam figured. Being from there helped. "This is Father Murdoch at Saint Finnian's…"

"Saint Finnian's in Brooklyn?"

"Yes" The man answered.

"That's my hometown church" Sam smiled.

"Oh, well, would you happen to know where I could find a Katherine O' Flannery."

Sam was a bit taken aback. Getting a call from St. Finnian's he expected it to be for him, not Kate, the girl who grew up in cushy Oakhaven Massachusetts.

"Yeah" Sam said, covering the mouthpiece briefly. "Kate!" He yelled. "New York priest on the phone for you!"

Kate trotted down, the stairs, tying her long blond hair back into a pony tail, the hair that had given Sam, whose whole family was all brunette or redhead, a blond daughter.

"What, did they walk into a bar?"

"Wha…?" Sam scrunched his face in confusion. "No, no joke there's an actual New York priest on the phone for you."

Kate shrugged and took the phone, holding it between her head and her shoulder as she finished tying her hair. Sam leaned on the counter and watched. Slowly Kate's eyes went wide. She stopped tying her hair and let the remainder fall into her face as she grabbed the phone in her hand. Her eyes began welling up.

"Thank you" She choked out. "No… thank you I'll come and pick it up myself."

"What is it?" Sam asked worriedly.

Kate covered her mouth, suppressing a sob.

"They found it."

Part 3: It's Complicated

Shaggy, try as he might, could not wrap his head around the old Sherlock Holmes stories the way Velma could. As far as reading went he was more of a comic book guy, Commander Cool, was his book. If he had to go into novels, then his tastes were about the same as Fred's, Pulp Novels, some Science Fiction, adventure books. That was the main difference between him and Velma. Shaggy read to get out of his head, to inhabit another world for a little bit. Velma read to stimulate her mind, her goal was to one day be one step ahead of the Great Sherlock Holmes.

Still, Shaggy made an effort to read the stories. Velma was his friend after all, and now… It had been a month since her confession at the hospital. At once it felt like a weight had been lifted and an elephant had been dropped in the room at the same time.

On the one hand, Shaggy had had feelings for Velma, and apparently it was mutual. Still, Shaggy had decided to move on months earlier, before Velma's feelings became apparent. He had even met another girl he liked, Crystal, before she had apparently disappeared off the face of the planet. Velma, for her part, had had feelings for Shaggy. The people who knew this, a startlingly higher number than she had anticipated, seemed baffled as to why.

Velma was analytical, calculating, and slightly headstrong. Shaggy was…Shaggy. That meant calm in peace and catatonic in danger, or at least, for the most part. Velma had seen another side to him. He could be brave when he wanted to be, and he liked the mysteries as much as everyone else. His brand of fear had evolved from refusal, to reluctance and even then he always went along, and in the time Velma had known him she had found that he never did anything he didn't want to. Then there were the times when he seemed to lack cowardice at all, times that even he could not explain. Velma had chalked it up to adrenaline, and everyone seemed content with that.

That was the other hand, these two people who seemed very different, had feelings for each other. Even if neither, at this point, had the faintest idea how to express them. It was the bookstore then. They sat in the bookstore, Shaggy with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlett, Velma with Commander Cool Vol. 5: The Demon of Desmond Hill. Each one hoping to better understand the other.

Part 4: A Surprise Invitation

Shaggy pulled his jeep into the drive way. Scooby sat next to him. They got out, walking up to the house and entering. The first thing that Shaggy was greeted with was the smell of his father's chicken in the oven. The second was a set of Plane tickets for LaGuardia Airport laying on the table next to the door. Sam walked in dragging a suitcase behind him.

"Pack up son; we're going on a trip."

"Like, uh… what"

"Ri ron't ret it"

"It's all squared away, you're friends are coming too. We already talked it over with Skip, Jo, and Kurt and Tasha. Maggie's already upstairs packing. Your grandparents are really excited to see you."

"Okay" Was all Shaggy could manage. "Cool."

Part 5: Taking Off

It had happened pretty fast. The planning, the packing, it had only been a few hours. Fred and Daphne were waiting at the airport. Velma and Madelyn were riding with the Rogers. They checked in and boarded and quite frankly, after so many international flights that the gang had been on, a domestic flight was a real relief. Sam and Kate sat in front, followed by Maggie and Madelyn. Fred and Daphne were next followed by Shaggy and Velma. Scooby and was safely sleeping in a pet carrier below.

"These seats are kind of small" Daphne said squirming.

"It's first class" Fred rolled his eyes.

"Is it?" She asked with genuine surprise. "It's so cramped."

"Have you ever flown on a commercial plane before?"

"No" She shook her head, eyes still wide in wonder at the seats.

Fred rolled his eyes again before pulling a book out of his jacket and leaning back in the seat. He'd flown first class very few times in his life, and thus far his tastes had not been spoiled by his girlfriend's private jet, at least he hoped not as he wiggled in his seat.

"I'm sure Scooby is fine, it's a good plane and they'll take good care of him." Velma consoled.

"Like, I know, it's just, I've never flown him on a commercial jet, it's scary. Who knows what it's like down in pet area?"

Velma patted his hand and opened a New York Times as the plane took off.

"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed

"What!" Daphne immediately turned from the front seat. "Mystery, is there a mystery?" Her eyes were wide.

"I hope you never have to fly coach" Fred said wincing from the pain of Daphne's shriek. If first class could make her this jumpy, he shuddered at the possibility.

"Well…" Velma let the word hang in the air, glancing at Shaggy who was looking on fearfully. Maybe one vacation could just stay a vacation. "No…" She folded the paper. "Just fight in a night club."

Daphne settled back into her seat drumming her fingers. Shaggy seamed unconvinced, but he laid back in his seat and fell asleep.

Part 6: The House of Rogers

The gang landed two hours later at LaGuardia Airport in Queens amidst a thundering rain storm. Shaggy's worries proved to be unfounded as Scooby slept just as well as he had. They retrieved their luggage and hailed a cab. Shaggy had never been to New York. His father had grown up here, as had every Rogers since the family had emigrated from Ireland in 1895. Shaggy and Maggie had not. Both were New Mexico born and Florida raised.

"So, hotel or…?" The driver questioned.

Sam gave a smirk and handed the man an address.

"Home"

The cab sped off through the streets. They passed tall buildings, houses, apartments, and every kind of restaurant imaginable. Finally it stopped in front of a house, packed tightly between two others. A white mailbox was stuck on the front lawn with the name Rogers written in black letters. A porch led the way to a screened door and swing hung next to it. Sam smiled, breathing in the air.

They walked up and knocked on the door. A tall woman answered. Her hair was red with heavy streaks of grey and her face slightly wrinkled. She wore a blue blouse and a green skirt. Her face had the same lean look that Sam's had. Sam stepped up and hugged her.

"Sammy, my boy" She cried before moving onto Kate. "Katie how are you?"

"Good" Kate nodded brushing hair out of her eyes.

"Shaggy, Maggie, it's been too long"

They greeted their grandmother and went inside where Sam's father was watching television. Shaggy's grandfather was wearing a blue NYPD T- shirt. That and the photo on the wall of a much younger version of him pegged him as a former Police Officer. His hair was completely grey and his face was clean shaven in stark contrast with his son's usual mane of stubble. Introductions were made and everyone was split up into rooms. Shaggy, Scooby, and Fred would be staying in Sam's brother's old room. The girls in his sister's, Maggie and Madelyn insisted on sleeping in the game room in the basement. Sam and Kate would stay in Sam's old room.

"We made sure to clean your old sheets dear" His mother said. Sam's face dropped in terror.

"Please tell me you don't mean…" Kate's laughter echoed through the house from the room. "The superman sheets" He hung his head in resignation.

Fred heaved his suitcase onto the bed. A number of fossil posters and prints adorned the walls and shelves. The bookshelf was stacked with books on human evolution… and a few volumes of Commander Cool, ran in the family apparently.

"Shaggy?" Fred asked. "What does your uncle do?"

"Anthro… something" He answered.

"Anthropologist" Fred finished."So you and Velma?"

"Nope" Shaggy countered, as he had been doing for about a month.

"Worth a shot."

"We're heading out to the museum!" Kate called, a trace of laughter still in her voice.

Part 7: Clint's Problem

The first thing the gang learned when they headed out was that in New York you don't drive. Certainly Thomas and Martha Rogers had a car; they just never used it in the city. The gang walked a few blocks to the subway station and boarded a train for Manhattan.

It rumbled along, speeding through the tunnels beneath the city. It was cleaner and smelled better than the others had expected. A few other patrons shared the car with them, but other than that it was empty.

"Clinton said he could get you kids a special tour" Shaggy's grandmother informed them proudly.

"Is he still… what was it, assistant to the secretary of something?" Sam laughed.

"No, they promoted him" His mother answered, oblivious to the joke.

"So, Mister Rogers…" Velma pointed to Thomas sheepishly when both Mr. Rogers responded. "I was looking at some of the photos in the house. Was that Theodore Roosevelt in one of them?"

Thomas smiled proudly.

"My great grandfather worked with him in the NYPD. Every Rogers boy since has joined up… except Sammy."

"Dad" Sam rolled his eyes.

"I'm just saying Smallville Florida can't be as tough as New York."

"You'd be surprised" Fred laughed.

They disembarked the C train at the 81st Street Museum of Natural History Station. The cavernous underground station led directly into the Museum structure. A large mural title For Want of a Nail adorned the walls depicting the interconnectivity of the living creatures of the Earth, past and present. As they walked past it, Sam kept his eyes on it, scrutinizing it as though picking out what was missing.

They trotted up the steps into the Museum's lowest level. Hundreds of other patrons flocked with them. Small children could be heard shrieking about the dinosaurs, hungry adults about the food court, a thought that almost sent Shaggy and Scooby wandering away from the group.

From there they wound through the exhibits, dinosaurs and creatures of the deep. At the back of the Main building they stopped at a door marked Employees Only. Tom knocked and a man came out wiping his nose with a handkerchief. He was lanky, not like Sam who had a modest amount of muscle, or even Shaggy who was somewhat built from his past in High School gymnastics. His brown hair was short and parted to the side and his face was clean shaven. In his blue sweater vest and slacks he looked more like one of Velma's relatives than Shaggy's.

"Clint" Sam greeted hugging his brother. "Long time, how's it been going?"

"Oh… you know…" He replied, his voice cracking.

"Bad time?" Sam asked worriedly.

Clint looked down at his shoes. He shuffled them nervously. The steely eyes of his policemen father and brother squinted down at him.

"Its fine" He waved the questions off. "Who's ready for the tour?"

"Doctor Rogers" A young woman yelled frantically as she sprinted down the hall.

"What is it Irene?"

"We just finished inventory from the second event… they took the stone."

Clint's jaw dropped. He closed his eyes mouthing a silent no.

"Clint" Sam said putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "What happened?"

Clint looked at the group like a scared puppy. Slowly he breathed in and then began walking, waving them forward. They were taken to a large blue partition that indicated an exhibit in progress. Scooby sniffed at the air and immediately backed away.

"What's wrong?" Shaggy asked worriedly.

"Rulfur" Scooby barked. "Rulfur."

"Like Sulfur?" Shaggy asked worriedly.

"I shouldn't let you see it, so many civilians, the police won't like it…" Clint muttered.

"Listen Kate, Mom, Dad…" Sam whispered. "Take Maggie and Madelyn into the museum, we'll handle this."

"You're taking the kids in?" Martha asked.

"Trust him Martha…" Kate smiled. "This is what they do."

Clint looked on warily, but after a quick assurance that the kids were technically police interns, he unlocked a door in the wooden partition and led them inside. Scooby shook his head at the smell, which now even the humans could detect, if barely. Beyond the door the room was in shambles. Fossils and dioramas that seemed to have once lined the walls now littered the floors.

"This is the second time" Clint explained. "A few cultural artifacts were taken, bowls, spears, nothing big, nothing too well known…"

"Just whatever the thieves could fence" Velma finished

"Exactly"

"Rulfur" Scooby protested again.

"Yeah" Shaggy said, now covering his nose. "It's pretty strong."

"It was stronger after the first robbery."

"Did you see who did it" Fred asked kneeling and holding his fingers over the splintered remains of a display shelf. "You must have cameras or something."

"Well, that's the strange part" Clint nodded with resignation. "The cameras… were torched."

"I'm sorry what?"

Clint pointed up to a small black dome affixed to the ceiling, or what was left of it. Black scorch marks crisscrossed the surface and exposed wires jutted out of the melted plastic camera.

Everyone stared upward at the ceiling. The entire surface, not just the cameras was burnt black. The marks extended a short way down the walls, striping the room.

"That's a new one" Fred muttered.

Below them they felt the shake of a subway car rumbling down its tracks. The broken glass and wood on the floor vibrated filling the room with a faint jingling. The vibrations continued and began to focus on the center of the room. The gang stepped back, away from the spot where the floor now cracked under the stress.

Daphne stumbled a bit. "That's not a subway is it?"

Sam and Clint both shook their heads worriedly. Cracks spread across the floor. A great crash sounded from beneath the tile and a bump rose from below. It sounded again and again, the bump rising until the floor tiles were pointing straight upward and then finally flew toward the ceiling. A massive grey claw rose from the pit, groping at the ground, then another came. A head, pointed and demonic emerged, eyes a glowing red. Twisted horns curved from the sides of the skull. A body followed, stony and hard. Bits of dirt flecked off its skin as it squeezed through the freshly made door. Great wings, six feet each spread out at its sides, flexing in the open space.

The crowd dispersed, screaming for the door. The sulfuric smell was at its strongest now. The gang backed up slowly. Sam instinctually reached for his holster, only to realize that he did not have it.

Fred caught Daphne's eyes, flicking his own to a large banner hanging in front of one of the windows. Daphne nodded, reaching behind her back and under her jacket. Fred flicked his eyes toward Velma and then toward a fire extinguisher mounted to the wall. She nodded, stepping ever so slightly toward it. Shaggy and Scooby had caught all of the exchange and rolled their eyes nodding as Fred looked at them.

Shaggy and Scooby ran straight at the creature, turning sharply to the sides, narrowly avoiding a collision. It spread its wings trying to hit them but both dove for the floor, sliding beneath the leathery wings. The creature turned and Shaggy and Scooby looped back around, running towards the large window with the red banner hung over it. Velma sprinted for the fire extinguisher, yanking it off the wall and spraying it into the creature's path. Shaggy and Scooby jumped out of the way as the demon slid along the foamy trial. Daphne quickly made her move, pulling a small object from her back pocket. With a flick of her wrist she opened up a small knife, a Filipino balisong, and tossed it at the top of the banner. The rope holding it up was cut as the knife impaled itself into the wood of the museum wall. As the creature slid toward the window the banner fell, wrapping around the massive figure. The more it thrashed the more entwined it became until finally it stopped.

Everyone expected to hear some slow breathing as it rested, but nothing came. The room was deathly silent for a moment. Then the creature spread its wings tearing the banner to shreds. It roared at the room before running to the wall, digging its claws into the plaster and climbing up. Once at the top it smashed its head through the window, breaking the glass and jumping out. It disappeared over the top of the building.

"Is that a new one?" Fred panted. "Because that felt like a new one."

"Let me see" Shaggy mumbled. "Phantoms…" He held up his fingers as he counted. "Pirates, mummy, pterodactyl…" He cocked his head in contemplation, letting his gaze rest on the massive hole that had been broken in the stone floor. "Yeah" He nodded. "Like, that's a new one."

"Clint" Sam said with the kind of stern gaze specific to older siblings, the kind of gaze that says you're in trouble and I'm not mom and dad. "You owe us an explanation."

Part 8: Demon or Gargoyle

Martha Rogers reacted exactly like a grandmother. Once everyone was back at the house she brought out hot cocoa and cookies, proving, among other things, where Shaggy got his snack habits and baking skills from. The situation itself may have been a bit serious for cocoa, but no one refused.

Mads and Maggie had been put in the game room, no matter how tough they were, and they were, Sam did not want them involved in this. He would have sent the others away too, but they were all either eighteen or only a couple of months away. They were police interns and had seen more insane things than Sam would have thought possible. They had earned the right to be in on this.

Clint on the other hand, was unsure of what was happening. He looked from one member of the gang to the other. Daphne and Fred sat on one of the couches together, Fred with his arm over her shoulder and she absently flipping the knife in her hand (an eighteenth birthday present she had received from her sister). Shaggy drummed his fingers nervously against the arm of his chair and Scooby pawed anxiously at the ground next to him. Velma leaned forward, eager for the story.

"Okay" He started with a sigh. "I guess the best place to start would be back at the museum. See, mostly we get funding from donations, and last year we got a big one. There's this guy, business man in the city; Arthur Bertinelli, we call him Mister B. He's really, really, like, insanely rich and he made this huge donation to our department. With that money we were able to bring in some artifacts from a find outside of London, on loan from the British Museum. That was what we were prepping for when that…"

"Demon?" Shaggy offered.

"Gargoyle?" Velma said.

"Gargoyle" Clint nodded. "I'm gonna go with gargoyle. That gargoyle showed up and thrashed the place, only at that point we had no idea what had done it. The British Museum was furious, we were devastated. I mean… we lost half the find. Eventually Mister B got them to calm down and we rebuilt, beefed up security. Two days later it happened again, and again today, which is when we got our first glimpse of the thing doing the thrashing. What we've just found out is that the last time it came it took something very precious." Clint pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of a small sphere with wavy lines crisscrossed around it. "This is the Miller Stone, from the Jackson Miller expedition that found the relics. It was the prize of the collection."

"Won't it be easy to track if it's so famous?" Daphne asked.

"It's only famous to us and valuable to the right people. Other than that, it's untraceable."

"Has this thing been anywhere else?" Velma asked.

"Not that I know of" He shook his head.

Sam stood up and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Get some rest Clint." He turned to his father. "Is Dean still on the force?"

"Dean's in charge of the investigation" Clint answered before his father could.

"I'll talk to Dean in the morning. Let's all get some rest."

Part 9: St. Finnian's

The next morning Sam had already left for the police station. It was cloudy out, very cold, but the gang was in New York and they were going to enjoy it. Thomas was with Sam and Kate and Martha had taken the girls to the park. So the gang walked down the streets of Brooklyn discussing the case.

"I say we go and check out the museum again" Fred said as they settled into tables at a small coffee shop. "I want to see what's in that hole the thing came in through."

"Like good luck" Shaggy mused. "The police won't be letting anyone near that thing."

"Has that ever stopped us before" Fred smirked.

"No, and that's why you haven't learned."

"I think I may actually have a lead" Velma interrupted holding up her phone. "I ran some searches on gargoyles here in the city. There are two buildings that I think match the one we saw at the museum. The first one is in the city, a place called the Bradshaw Building, the second is just a few blocks from here, a church called Saint Finnian's."

"Okay" Fred clapped his hands together in excitement. "Daph and I'll take the building, you guys take the church."

"Like why do you guys get to go into the city?"

"Reah"

"Okay, fine, you can go into the city" Daphne smirked. "We'll take the peaceful, likely demon free church."

Both perked up. In one swift motion Shaggy and Scooby stood up and got ready to leave.

"Come on Velms" He said energetically. "We're going to church."

The sky was still dark and overcast as they began to walk toward Saint Finnian's. Shaggy vaguely remembered his dad mentioning it once or twice. This part of New York was his hometown after all.

They were three blocks away when Scooby began to sense something. His nose was burning painfully. He began coughing and stopped walking. Shaggy and Velma looked down at him worriedly. Why did humans have to be so dense? Why couldn't they smell that?

"Rulfur" He coughed.

"Uh oh"

A shadow passed over them, blocking out what little sunlight there was. The three of them looked up. There was the gargoyle, gliding across the sky. It landed on a low building and continued running across the rooftops.

Velma was the first to break out of the stunned silence. She threw a glance at Shaggy and his face sank.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me"

Shaggy ran across the street toward a fire escape. Still moving forward he leaped up and grabbed the hanging ladder, scurrying up the side of the building. Once he pulled himself onto the roof of the four story brick building he had an immediate sense that he was doing something incredibly stupid. He saw the creature continuing its flight two roofs ahead of him.

With a fearful breath he ran at the gap between the roofs and jumped. Two years of gymnastics and track had stayed with him remarkably well since sophomore year. He landed hard but kept running. Below he could hear cars screeching to a halt, apparently seeing a teenager parkour chasing a demon was a sight even in New York.

The wind started to pick up and the gargoyle was spreading its wings, going for a glide. Shaggy wondered how something that looked so heavy could possibly get off the ground. With no real plan, Shaggy picked up his speed, hoping for the burst of energy he had gotten last March in the swamps.

The Gargoyle rounded a corner and Shaggy pivoted in his sneakers. Over the side of the building he could see Scooby and Velma trying to catch up from the ground.

"Try to get a picture!" Velma yelled up.

Okay, so he had a plan, not a great one but hey, what are you going to do? He leaped over another gap and this time almost slipped. The creature was leaving some kind of slimy residue everywhere it ran. Up ahead it was spreading its wings to their fullest span. The wind became stronger. 'Here we go' Shaggy thought.

He pulled his phone out and tried to get a shot. The creature moved too fast to get a lock. Then through the camera screen he saw a large brown wall loom in front of them. He lowered the phone just in time to see a steeple and stained glass window blocking his path not six yards away. The creature jumped, tucking in its wings and smashed through the colored glass. Shaggy tried to stop but the goo on the ground kept him from getting enough traction. Fearfully he crossed his arms over his face and jumped once he reached the edge. He clamped his eyes shut and tucked in his legs as he sailed over the gap and through the remains of the window.

For a moment he only felt wind in his face, then a slimy arm hit him in the gut carried him to the ground. Finally with a thud he hit stone floor and opened his eyes just in time to see the gargoyle smash through the adjacent window and continue its run.

A priest ran over to him from the altar, as did a young man who had been sitting in the back of the church. Shaggy steadied himself on a nearby chair as he stood up. Velma and Scooby came sprinting in through the doors and ran to help him.

"What in the world?' The priest exclaimed, helping Shaggy up.

The young man grabbed his face and forced his eye open. Shaggy tried to swat him away.

"Hey man, cut it out."

"Relax, I'm a medical student" He assured. "You feel woozy at all?" Shaggy narrowed his eyes at him. "Right, of course you feel woozy. I don't think you have a concussion though."

"What was that thing?" The priest asked.

"Demon free" Shaggy panted. "Fred said the church would be demon free."

"Looked just like one of our gargoyles"

"Wait" Velma asked the priest. "Is this Saint Finnian's?"

"It is" He answered. "I'm Father Murdoch what can we do for you? Besides perhaps getting the boy an ambulance."

"No, like, I'm fine" Shaggy steadied himself.

Now that his vision had cleared he could see the two men clearly. Murdoch was tall and lean with a receding white hair line. The young man was built a bit like Shaggy, lanky but athletic with neat, parted blond hair.

Murdoch looked to the young man for advice. He shrugged and looked at Shaggy's eyes again.

"I guess he's okay. He's lucky that gargoyle broke the window first though."

"That's gonna cost us" Murdoch sighed looking up at the two broken windows. "But as long as he's okay."

"Um sir" Velma looked up hopefully. "Do you think we could maybe take a look at the gargoyles?"

Murdoch was a bit confused by the request, perhaps not so much because it was an odd request but because after Shaggy had crashed through the window with one, he assumed they had had enough of Gargoyles. Still he let them climb the stairs up into the bell tower and showed them the statues. There were seven in all, each one was almost identical to the one Shaggy had chased except of course, they were not alive. At the end of the row an eight ledge stood empty.

"Where's that one?"

"That particular statue…" Murdoch said, "…was loaned to the art museum a month ago for study."

"Interesting" Velma said to herself. "Very interesting."

Part 10: Mr. B

Fred was completely lost in the city. He was a small town man, not used to confusing route maps and underground trains. The most experience he had ever had with a subway was buying lunch. Daphne on the other hand had spent time in France and London and very much knew her way around trains and maps. She expertly guided them into the city where they disembarked and began making their way to the Bradshaw Building.

When they got to it they saw that it was an old building. It probably dated back to at least the twenties, but was in surprisingly good shape considering. From the ground Fred and Daphne could see four gargoyles perched at each corner of the building.

Together they walked inside, taking in the bustling lobby. People in business suits hustled across the floors and into elevators. As they got in line at a security checkpoint they looked up to see the expansive mural that decorated the ceiling. A man was leading a pack of wild dogs through a forested area. In the sky cherubs trumpeted as though spurring on the hunt.

"What do you suppose that is?" Fred mused looking up.

"Not a clue" Daphne replied.

"It's the grandfather of the building's founder" Someone behind them said. "He was one of the first settlers on Manhattan Island."

They turned to the man. He was somewhat short, Fred at six feet had a good few inches on him, with curly black hair and a pudgy face. He wore a blue suit and spoke with a thick New York accent.

"Morning Mister B" The woman at the security check smiled.

"Mister B?" Fred mouthed to Daphne.

"Would you happen to be Arthur Bertinelli?" Daphne asked sweetly.

"Why yes I would" The man smiled.

"Well, we're friends of Clint Rogers at the museum" She said, pouring on the charm.

"Oh, yeah, I heard there was another incident, such a shame."

"Well, we were actually there when it happened, we were actually coming here to ask about the…" Daphne dropped her voice to a whisper. "Gargoyles."

"You think it was one of ours?"

"Well, they looked quite similar, we were hoping we could get up and get a closer look."

Bertinelli cocked his head in thought for a moment. All the while Daphne kept that sweet, innocent girl face that got them into so many places. Fred simply stood back and let his girlfriend work.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt, they're actually on my floor, why don't you kids come up?"

"That would be wonderful" Daphne smiled.

Fred rolled his eyes as Daphne turned to him. She stuck out her tongue is response. Bertinelli led them into the elevator and up to the fourteenth floor, although Fred noted, since the building skipped 13, maybe that was really the floor they were on.

The rooms on the floor were vague as to what Bertinelli actually did. Posters for many different companies from aeronautics firms to restaurants adorned the walls and Fred guessed they were all his. He and Daphne were led down the hall into a large office. Not sure whether to trust the man yet, they both stayed on guard. Security had made them both give up their knives, but Fred could see Daphne scanning the room for possible tools in a fight. They may have been dumb enough to go up to this guy's office, but they were not dumb enough to go up without a plan.

The office itself was a spacious circular room. A large window looked out over the surrounding buildings. Several business awards adorned the shelves. A number of other plaques and trophies were displayed in a glass case behind a large wooden desk.

"Dog shows" Daphne mouthed to Fred, indicating the trophies.

Now that Fred looked closer he could see several pictures of a beautiful golden Labrador. A couple of the pictures also showed an attractive girl with dark hair the same shade as Bertinelli's.

"My daughter Clara" Bertinelli said proudly as he saw them looking at the pictures. "And my champion Chrissie. The gargoyles are just out the window here if you want to see them."

Fred and Daphne joined him by the window and peered down. About a foot below them was a gargoyle easily the size of the one at the museum. Just around the corner of the building they could see another.

"That looks about right" Fred said to himself.

"Gargoyles coming to life" Bertinelli sighed, leaning on his desk. "I wouldn't have believed it until what happened at Ricky's."

"Ricky's?" Daphne asked.

Bertinelli's face froze as though caught in a lie. Both Fred and Daphne got the distinct impression that he most definitely had not meant to mention Ricky's.

"Mister Bertinelli, Jack Slicker to see you." His secretary buzzed over the intercom.

Bertinelli's face twisted again, this time into a revolted sneer. It was barely two seconds from the warning that a spindly man in a burgundy suit strode into the office. His face was slim like someone had hit him hard on both sides of the head, his eyes were sunken and his skin waxy. A distinctive thin black mustache complemented a head of greasy black hair. Fred and Daphne exchanged an immediate worried look.

"Slicker" Bertinelli sneered. "I heard you were in prison."

"Parole" Slicker smiled, showing off an unpleasant set of yellow teeth. "That's not the point though; I'm here to talk to you about an opportunity my boss would like to offer you."

"You get out…" Bertinelli laughed weakly. "And you go crawling back to Boretti?"

"The money's good B, you oughta try it?"

While this conversation had been happening Fred and Daphne had slowly been inching closer to the door. It was just as it seemed the two men had reached a boiling point that they were able to slip out unnoticed. Quickly they left the building, retrieving their knives and hopping a train back to the Rogers house.

Part 11: Out of Commission

The gang reunited in the game room of the Rogers house. Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby shared their findings in the church, and their lead about the art museum. Fred and Daphne shared their findings and offered the hint they had gotten about Ricky's.

"Okay" Velma smiled wildly tapping away on her computer. "Now we've got something. That place, Ricky's, is a night club in Manhattan. I remember it from a news article I read on the plane. There was an attack there two, and it happened a few days before the second museum attack."

"Sounds promising" Daphne smiled. "I say we check it out in the morning."

"Right" Fred rolled his eyes. "I'm sure they'll let four kids and a dog into this place."

Daphne smirked and playfully slapped the back of his head.

"Oh, one more thing…" Fred added. "We ran into Slicker at Bertinelli's office."

"Slicker from the Saunders Mansion?"

"Yep."

"Slicker who pulled a gun on us?"

"Yep"

"Good to know" Velma said tiredly, figuring the matter could wait until morning. "I say we sleep on it." She yawned.

"Like I'd say that too, except my parents made reservations for us to have dinner at this steak house by Time Square." Shaggy said, embarrassedly scratching the back of his neck.

Fred caught a slight exchange between Shaggy and Velma. If he were the kind of person who could read emotions he might have made something of it. As it was he just thought it was nice to have less tension between the two. Besides, he was getting a free steak dinner and Shaggy was not the only one who thought with his stomach.

"Sounds great" He said. "When do we… achoo!"

"Are you okay Freddy?"

"I'm fine justachoo!"

"I think you sound a bit ill" Daphne said feeling his forehead.

"I'm fine, I'm…achoo!"

"Freddy you should stay home"

"Daph I'm finachoo!" Fred's head was pushed back slightly by the force of his own sneeze.

"Freddy that's it you're stayiachoo!"

It was hard to tell exactly what Fred and Daphne were thinking as the others left for dinner. Certainly there was a sense of I can't believe we're sick on a trip to New York, as well as a bit of the old Fred you need to tell people when you might be contagious with just a hint of oh so that's why he's been avoiding kissing me relief on Daphne's part.

Either way it seemed that they would be out of commission for a while. This meant that, among other things, it would fall to Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby to do the legwork for the remainder of the investigation. It was something they would have to reflect on at dinner.

"So" Kate said with a smirk as they sat down at the steak house. "What did you kids find out today?"

"What, we weren't…"

"Come on" Sam interrupted. "We know you were out investigating today."

Shaggy gave a sheepish look but Velma just smiled proudly. She pulled out a notebook and laid it down on the table for the group to see.

"The gargoyle that we saw matches both the gargoyles on the Bradshaw Building and Saint Finnian's." Velma explained.

"I'm not surprised, both of those were flown in from France" Clint said between mouthfuls of T-bone. "I have a friend at the art museum" He smiled fondly. "They've got one on loan now from Father Murdoch."

"So we had heard."

"I can ask her to talk with you if you want."

"Thanks" Velma replied. "We actually had one more question. Do you know anything about an attack at a place called Ricky's?"

Tom and Clint both nearly choked on their food. After a moment of sputtering coughs Tom looked back at Shaggy and Velma.

"Ricky's is… not a nice place. To put it bluntly it's a mob front. Smuggled goods, laundered money, everything goes through Ricky's."

"Like why haven't they shut it down?"

"It's not easy" Sam said. "On the surface a place like this is legitimate."

"Ricky's isn't run by anyone big name, but they're up and comers. If you and your friends are really intent of getting into this investigation, stay away from Ricky's."

Part 12: The Art Museum

The next day Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby boarded a subway to the Museum where the gargoyle was on display. Clint had given them the name of his friend and said she would meet them in her office.

When they got there they were surprised to see the young man from the church leaning back against the wall. He waved to them as they climbed the front steps.

"Fancy meeting you two again" He smiled. "How's your head?"

"Like fine, and thanks for your help yesterday, sorry if I was rude.'

"Hey, after that fall you had a right to be. I'm Simon by the way." He held out his hand.

Velma, Shaggy and Scooby introduced themselves and followed Simon inside. After asking at the front desk they were directed to the offices at the back of the museum. Simon tagged along, partially, they suspected, because he still wanted to make sure his patient was all right.

"So what are you doing here?" Velma asked.

"Taking a day off, I'm doing my residency here in the city."

"Like, you're not from here though; your accent is really familiar."

"Oakhaven, Massachusetts"

"Oh, that explains it, my mom's from there."

"Heh, football team still suck at the high school?"

"I don't know, she hasn't been there in years."

They stopped at a door and knocked. A pretty woman with long dark hair peaked out.

"We're looking for Clara Bertinelli." Velma said.

"Well you've found her" The woman smiled. "You must be Clint's friends, come on in." Her voice sounded somewhat nasally, like she was talking without breathing through her nose.

She led them back through the offices past interns doing inventory and workers moving paintings and sculptures. At the very back was a small makeshift warehouse. Crates in various states of unpacking were stacked around the room. Clara walked up to a large object under a tarp.

"Well" She smiled. "Clint said you wanted to see the gargoyle we borrowed from Saint Finnian's. Here it is."

She pulled the tarp off with a slightly overdramatic flourish. Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby recoiled a bit. Clara gave a smirk like this was a usual reaction. After the initial shock, Velma stepped a bit closer. She had worked with her mom in the Coolsville Museum before. She had been around countless statues and carvings and had never seen so much life in one as she saw now.

Behind her, Shaggy, an amateur sculptor, was nervously looking over the statue as well. It was hard to believe that it came from Saint Finnian's. It was so much bigger than the others, just about as big as the one that had attacked.

"Clint said it came France?" Velma asked.

"They were gifts to Saint Finnian's while it was still under construction. Once it was completed, they didn't have the room for all of them so four were given to Wilhelm Bradshaw when he began construction on his building. The church loaned this one to us to study a few weeks back. We call him Greg."

Shaggy and Scooby gave brief chuckles.

"What?" Velma asked.

"It's a cartoon thing" He waved it off. "Who sculpted it?"

Clara began giving off the history of the statue. She ran through its commissioning, purpose; the way it was made and of what. She was so engrossed in her spiel that she did not notice Scooby slinking off into the aisles of museum stock.

Part 13: Chrissie

Normally he hated going off alone, the last time he had done so he had been forced to fight a large wolf. This time Shaggy had given him an opening so he could follow a scent he had gotten when he first entered the back room of the museum.

It was not sulfur, or else he would not have gone alone. It was sweat and dirt and a little bit of mildew. As a dog smells struck him in a way that it did not for humans. This was the distinct smell he had picked up in the subway station. As far as he could see, this museum had no subway stops.

A short distance into the maze of boxes the smell became stronger. Scooby put his nose almost to the ground and inhaled for all he was worth. He could almost taste it now, something that immediately made him want to vomit. At a small crate he stopped. A light breeze wafted in from beneath it.

"What'cha doin?" A voice said behind him.

"Gah" He turned sharply, making a rather weak attempt at baring his teeth.

Behind him was a sleek golden lab in what looked like a diamond studded collar. She smirked and sidled up next to him.

"Whoa, what's with the coyote face?"

"You don't just sneak up on a guy. Who are you, what are you even doing in the back of a museum?"

"I live here, what are you doing?" She smiled at him.

"I'm investigating" He straightened up. "There's a… thing under the… thing."

"Really" She deadpanned. "Where, next to the whatzit?"

"I mean…" Scooby shook his head out. "There's a hole under the crates here."

"There you go, knew you had some real words in you. Let me give you a hand with those crates."

The Lab pressed herself up against the crates and motioned for Scooby to do the same. He hesitated for a moment and then pushed against the boxes with all his might. If dogs could blush Scooby would be bright red at the moment. The other dog seemed to have no such shame.

Finally the crates slid to the side. The breeze strengthened as Scooby looked down into the hole they had just uncovered. It had been blasted into the stone of the room like back at the Natural History Museum. The Lab turned and grinned at him.

"I've been coming here since I was born and I never even knew that was there. Nice find Coyote."

"Thanks… and its Scoobert… Scooby."

"Well Scoobert Scooby it's nice to meet you, I'm Chrissie. What do you say we take a look down there?"

"Not right now, I should go get my friends."

"The humans back there? Naw, who needs 'em. Take a chance Scoobert. Have a little fun."

With that Chrissie dove into the hole. Scooby stared aghast for a minute. Then with a whimper, he dove in after her. He expected a straight drop but instead his paws hit a slope of dirt. He slid diagonally for about three meters until the ground went horizontal. Only when he stopped did he realize he had shut his eyes for the entire ride. Now that he opened them he saw Chrissie staring at him with an amused look on her face.

"Not a word."

"Oh sure, now come on, I smell something ahead, smells like limestone."

Scooby stood up as Chrissie began walking away. From what he could see they were in a tunnel. Metal supports held up walls of smooth concrete. Below them metal bars ran along the floor.

"I think we're in a subway tunnel."

"Abandoned most likely, could be anything down here."

"Yeah" Scooby sighed nervously. "Comforting thought."

"It's stronger up here!" Chrissie called. "The limestone smell."

Scooby followed. He could smell it as well, though he had no idea how she knew it was limestone. It, however, was not the only thing to be detected in the tunnel. He could smell sewer water and hear its faint dripping as it entered the tunnel. Rats squeaked and scurried along the floors.

"I don't suppose you'd know this but why is there an abandoned tunnel under the museum."

"Well…" She began. "There were people building it, and then they left."

"Yeah, you're a big help" Scooby rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you're smelling limestone?"

Chrissie turned her head toward him.

"Yes" She answered with a smirk.

Scooby jerked his head as he heard a rumbling in the walls. Chrissie seemed to hear it too because she was already bounding back up the tunnel. Scooby followed as the rumbling grew louder. It could not be a train. The tracks barely looked like they could support a pump cart. Then the shaking started.

"What is that?"

"Water!"

"What!?" Scooby yelled forward. He looked back to see what she was talking about and was struck by an awful truth.

Gallons of sickly brown water were rushing toward them at an uncomfortably swift pace. Now, common human wisdom held that dogs did not mind water as much as cats. Common human wisdom was often very wrong.

Scooby quickly caught up to Chrissie, eliciting a stunned look from her. He smirked back, if this was her speed he could outpace her easily and the abnormally large fear center of his brain was telling him to. Another part was telling him not to abandon her. Sometimes he hated the other part.

The hole they had come down from was up ahead but the rocky slide they had used was too steep to climb. Scooby wracked his brains for a plan. Velma would have one, or Fred. Shaggy could probably just jump up out of the hole. Maybe if they could let the water carry them just a little higher than they could get out. There were some exposed pipes that looked like they might hold against the wave, maybe just long enough to call Shaggy and Velma for help. Scooby dismissed that as a stupid plan, so naturally he put it into action.

"Grab one of those pipes!"

"I don't know how much time you've been spending around humans but in case you forgot we don't have thumbs!"

"I'm aware! I meant in your mouth!"

"Oh, eeewww!" Chrissie squealed as she clamped down on the dirty metal.

"Now hold your breath!"

"Rith ry routh opren!" She said through the pipe.

"Yep" Scooby bit down on a pipe next to her and shut his eyes. This was not going to be fun.

The water hit them like a truck, a cold, wet, truck that smelled like sewage. Immediately it began pulling them down the tunnel, but more importantly it pulled them up. At that moment Scooby realized that he had not planned how to get up without getting whisked away.

Just as he was ready to give up and ride the wave wherever it would take him, he felt a hand grab him by the collar. He felt himself being pulled up and out. In a moment he was laying on the museum floor sputtering out water and other things he would rather not think of. Chrissie was next to him and Shaggy and the man from the church stood above them, both with their arms soaked in sewage.

"Ranks" He panted.

"Chrissie" Clara said worriedly. "What were you doing down there girl?"

"This is your dog?" Velma asked.

"My champion." She smiled as she began toweling Chrissie off.

'She's a show dog' Scooby thought. 'Little miss we don't need humans is a barkin' show dog.'

"Like, uh, why is there a tunnel down there?" Shaggy stared down the hole which by now had a slowly receding river inside of it.

Part 14: In House Detectives

Fred sneezed into a handkerchief as he and Daphne sat in front of the poker table in the Rogers' basement. They had their laptops set up and their phones set to speaker, ready to keep the investigation going no matter how sick they were. Shaggy and Velma had just finished briefing them on their meeting with Clara and Scooby's find beneath the museum.

"That would almost definitely be Bertinelli's daughter." Daphne said into the phone. "The way you described her and her dog match the picture on his desk perfectly."

"What about the tunnels?" Velma asked. By now she, Shaggy and Scooby were probably somewhere at lunch awaiting their next lead.

"Well" Fred answered. "I got some old city plans from a contact…"

"Like what contact?"

"Just a contact I have."

"Would this contact have glasses and be dating my cousin?"

"Maybe" Fred answered hastily. "Anyway, my contact…"

"Eric?"

"Yes Eric. Eric got me some old subway maps. There's a line that was abandoned around the turn of the century. It runs under most of the city but the entrances have been mostly sealed. Either way it corresponds to the gargoyle sightings."

"What about Saint Finnian's? Are there any entrances there?"

"Saint Finnian's no, but Ricky's yeah."

There was silence on the other line for a minute. Fred and Daphne exchanged a worried glance.

"Okay, we'll talk to you guys later."

The phone went silent. Fred and Daphne slumped back in their seats, wishing they weren't so sick. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby weren't the members of the group who would usually go into a place like Ricky's. That was Fred and Daphne's role. Both of them hoped desperately that their friends would be more careful than they were.

Part 15: A Friend on the Force

Sam walked briskly down the streets of his old hometown. Kate and his parents were out with Maggie and Madelyn. He had hoped Kate would take the opportunity to visit St. Finnian's. That had been the whole reason they had come to New York after all.

He stopped when he reached the police station. Almost three decades ago he had graduated from the police academy right here. He had left right after that, unsure whether or not he wanted to be an officer for himself or because it was tradition. The following cross country trek had eventually led him to Louisiana where he had met a young undercover officer named Beau Neville, fought some zombies and were-cats and eventually joined The Knights of Van Helsing.

Inside he requested to see Dean Marcus, and old friend from the academy. Part of his being here was to preemptively cover for whatever the kids were going to do. Part was just to help out Clint. Perhaps his biggest motivation though was his job as a Knight of Van Helsing. Most of the things that happened in Coolsville were fake, didn't mean this was.

"Sam" Dean said as he walked up.

Dean was a muscular African American man, a head shorter than Sam but probably the better detective. Had Sam not left, Dean probably would have been his partner in the NYPD.

"Dean" He shook his old friend's hand. "How've you been?"

"Not bad. How about you, your dad says you made detective."

"Yeah, my dad still spend a lot of time down here?"

"Probably more than he should. So, what can I do for you?"

"Ah…" Sam paused nervously. "It's about Clint and the gargoyle."

"I had a feeling. I've been following your work in Coolsville, seems like this kind of thing is right up your alley."

"You have no idea" Sam mumbled. "My son and his friends might be looking into it too. They won't interfere in your stuff, just… paranormal curiosity."

"Right, the famous Mysteries Inc. They're your interns right?"

"Something like that" Sam laughed. "So, anything you can give me on the case?"

"I can't really say… but one cop to another, that attack at Ricky's, we think it might have been a drop-off. The local boss is using the club as a smuggling waypoint. We think he's using this thing as a diversion. Giant monster breaks into the place; nobody thinks it might be dropping something off. The guy funding the exhibit used to have ties to Ricky's owners."

Sam thanked his old friend and began to leave.

"Hey Sam!" Dean called as he was almost out the door. "Whatever you're doing… be careful."

He nodded and continued out the door. Out on the street it was dark now. Sam wasn't afraid. He had been born and raised here and most importantly he was not only a cop but essentially a trained assassin, a trained assassin who had his blade gauntlet strapped to his forearm under the sleeve of his jacket. For those reasons he was already aware of the bulky man following him, even before the man sped up. Sam discretely took the safety off of his gauntlet.

"Sam Rogers, is that you?" The man sneered.

Sam cursed under his breath. He knew that voice. Slowly he turned, reluctantly clicking the safety back on the gauntlet. The man before him was very buff, so much so that he made the reasonably muscled Sam look like one of Kate's stick skinny cousins in Ireland. He had a squared jaw and a few days worth of blond stubble.

"Carson" Sam said through gritted teeth. "Still stalking the old neighborhood."

"Rogers, still don't know your place. Am I gonna have to teach you a lesson like back in High School?"

"I don't want any trouble Carson." Sam growled. "I'm just going home."

He turned away and began trudging down the street.

"Hey!" Carson called. "One of my friends saw your little interns at Bertinelli's office; tell them to watch their backs eh?"

Sam stiffened up. He didn't even want to think about how Carson knew any of this, although if he had to guess he'd say that this friend was not very friendly. Part of him very much wanted to draw his knife, but instead he just kept walking, he had another way of looking into this.

Part 16: Midnight Rendezvous

Scooby was just settling at the foot of Shaggy's bed by the window when he smelled her. She was barely making noise but he recognized that smell anywhere, freshly shampooed too, to get out the sewage. He stood up and tiptoed over Shaggy to the window.

"Yo coyote!" Chrissie called. "Come out here!"

"Why?!" He hissed.

Next to him Shaggy stirred a bit. 'Okay, that's why.' He thought. Quietly he crept out of bed and down to the dog door in the living room. Chrissie sat outside, grinning at him with the same grin that had made him jump into a pit in a museum.

"About time"

"About time for what Miss Best in Show?"

"Whoa, little attitude there Coyote? You got a problem with me?"

"Dogs who think they're better off without humans are fine. I have a few friends who are happy that way. Dogs who pretend to be that way when they're really pampered show dogs kinda get on my nerves."

Chrissie widened her eyes at him. Her lips curled away from her teeth for half a second and she took an angry step towards him.

"Don't you dare tell me I'm pretending anything! I wanted your help with this, but maybe I should just go on my own."

She turned and began to walk away. After a moment's hesitation Scooby ran after her.

"Wait!" He barked. "What did you want my help with?"

Chrissie stopped and turned to him. Scooby caught a look of sadness on her face before it hardened back into the angry façade returned. Scooby in turn put on his most apologetic and sympathetic face. She seemed to soften in response, not back to the sadness from earlier, but not as angry.

"My owner Clara used to take me everywhere. She groomed me for shows. She took me on trips to Italy and France for her work. All those old museums, that's how I know the limestone smell. For the past few months though, she's been different. I thought at first it was just that she was busy, always going out at night, coming back really early in the morning. Last week I found out where she'd been. One of the dogs at my groomers belongs to a human that goes to that club Ricky's. He said that she's been going there and singing in the lounge."

"Maybe she's just trying to make a little extra cash."

"She has a steady job and a paycheck at the museum. Her dad is rich and she hates the people who go to that place, I've heard her talking about it with her boyfriend on the phone."

"Okay, I'll buy that it's suspicious. What do you need me for?"

"I want to go into Ricky's and see what's going on."

"I knew you were gonna say that. No way, no way, no how."

"What if afterward we go back to my place and I give you some of the gourmet dog treats my owner ships in from Italy?"

"Deal."

Part 17: Ricky's

Shaggy was awoken by the sound of his phone vibrating on the desk. In the bed across the room Fred was stirring awake from the noise as well. Shaggy checked the number but did not recognize it. He was about to end hang up when he noticed Scooby was gone.

"Like, Hello."

"Raggy?" He heard whispered on the other line.

"Scoob, where are you?"

"Ricky's."

"What are you doing there?"

"Re're rapped, ree reed relp."

"Like how did you dial a phone?"

"Rig buttons, row's not ra time. Ree rere rinvestigating rand row ree can't ret out."

"Okay…" Shaggy said in a mixture of worry and confusion. "I'm on my way."

Shaggy leaped out of bed and quickly dressed. He gathered up his phone and keys and ran down the hall.

"Wait" Fred said groggily. "I'm coming with you."

"You sound half dead. You're not coming with me."

"Then I am" Velma said peeking out from the girls' room door. "Where?"

"Ricky's, Scooby went down there to investigate something and got trapped. I'm going down there to get him out."

"Shouldn't we tell your dad?" Daphne said through her stuffed nose.

"He's not home yet, by the time he is it could be too late" Shaggy said as he pulled his jacket on.

"Well, then just wait a minute…" Fred interrupted. "If you are going in then I think I have an idea."

The taxi ride downtown was filled with fearful anticipation. Both Velma and Shaggy were eighteen but it was unclear whether or not that would get them into the club. They had given the driver an address about a block down, not wanting to pull right up.

"Testing, can you hear me?" Fred spoke through their earpieces.

"Loud and clear" Velma replied. "Do I want to know why you brought these?"

"I didn't. I had Eric express mail them as soon as Daph and I got sick. Now, they're probably not going to let you in the front. I would say don't even bother. The employee entrance in the back is your best bet. See if you can pose as waiters or something."

Velma and Shaggy found the building and rode the employee elevator all the way up to the top. The club took up the whole fifteenth floor. Exiting the employee elevator they found themselves in a small kitchen. Off to the side were two doors marked women's and men's locker rooms. Shaggy and Velma exchanged a fearful glance of confirmation and split up into the rooms.

Inside Shaggy found several waiter uniforms consisting of black slacks with a matching vest and white button down shirt. Quickly he changed, hoping that it was enough to fool the people outside, and also hoping nobody noticed his sneakers.

Quietly he slipped back out of the room. Behind him Velma came out in a different uniform, like Shaggy's but without the vest and a black skirt instead of pants. Shaggy stared for a moment before he caught himself. Velma for her part seemed rather embarrassed.

"You two in yet?"

"Yeah hum" Shaggy said snapping out of his thoughts.

"Okay, just look around, don't talk to anyone unless they talk to you first and don't give them your real names." Daphne said.

"Oh, and try to get me a book of matches." Fred added. "I have a collection."

Shaggy and Velma nodded their agreement and began searching the kitchen. If Scooby was hiding anywhere it was probably here. After about five minutes, though, they had checked the area from top to bottom and found nothing. Just as they were about to move on a voice whispered from behind them.

"What the heck are you two doing here?"

"Simon" Shaggy whispered as he turned around.

The young man was still dressed almost exactly as he had been at the museum, save for a messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Velma asked suspiciously.

"I run deliveries around town to make extra cash" He said hurriedly. "You're not working here are you?"

"No, like, Scooby, my dog was here and he got trapped. We came to get him."

"That makes very little sense" Simon grumbled. "But never mind, just find him and then get out before…"

"You two!"

"Too late."

A man walked up to them. He was about thirty with professionally styled dark blond hair and a light blue suit. His face looked either angry or mildly annoyed but it was difficult to tell for sure.

"Are you two new? You should be out there, the boss's son is here tonight and we don't want to give him the wrong impression do we?" Shaggy and Velma frantically shook their heads. "Good… what are your names?"

"Ricky Owens" Shaggy blurted out.

"Cassidy Williams" Velma added.

"Alright, Ricky, Cassidy, get to work."

Shaggy released Velma's hand, which he had grabbed when the man had yelled at them. Reluctantly both grabbed trays of drinks off the counter and made their way into the main lounge. The music hit them first. A live band was playing a jazzy twenties song. Up on the stage a dark haired woman in a red dress was singing along. The smell of alcohol and cigars hung heavy in the air.

By the main entrance a short man with a stocky build and receding red hair was being led inside. Two larger men accompanied him to a table that seemed to be staffed by about five waiters. As Shaggy and Velma moved farther into the room Shaggy's palms began to sweat. He recognized the pug like face, the heavy eyes. He had seen it in the crime documentaries that his dad watched.

"That's Deacon Boretti Junior." He gasped.

"Who?"

"Oh frack" Fred exclaimed in his ear.

"Who's he?"

"Deacon Boretti Jr., son of Deacon Boretti Sr. the famous bank robber. Ricky's, why didn't I get that before? Boretti Sr. robbed banks with Ricky LaRue, that's how he made his fortune. Like we gotta find Scooby and get outa here."

Shaggy and Velma split off to opposite ends of the room, both careful to steer clear of Boretti's table. After emptying his tray of drinks Shaggy ducked into the door of the door of the coatroom.

"Raggy!"

Shaggy turned and relief flooded into him. Scooby was lying in a corner in the shadows… with Chrissie, Shaggy noticed. He ran to them and gave Scooby an affectionate scratch behind the ears.

"We got him."

"Great, now get the heck outa there before everyone here wakes up and we gotta explain where you are."

Shaggy was about to respond when a low grumble sounded behind him. He noticed Chrissie giving Scooby a fearful look.

"Rimestone" She whispered.

Shaggy turned shakily. Even as he shifted his feet he became aware of the slimy substance beneath his feet. Before him was the creature, staring at him with glowing green eyes. It cocked its head at him curiously before quietly going out the door.

"Is that why you were trapped?' Shaggy whispered hoarsely.

"Ruh hum" Scooby nodded.

"That's been in here the whole time you were?"

"Rep" Chrissie said.

Outside the screaming started. Shaggy and the two dogs burst from the room to see the lounge in chaos. Waitresses and waiters were screaming as they ran back into the kitchen. A few patrons were hiding, some were running, and some had drawn guns on the creature. The woman on stage was standing frozen in terror as the beast advanced towards her.

"Rara!" Chrissie barked as she ran at the monster.

"Clara!?" Shaggy exclaimed with a confused glance toward Scooby.

"Rong story."

Across the room Velma was caught in a wave of fleeing bodies. With a grunt of force she pushed past them and climbed up on to one of the tables.

"Hey Gargoyle!"

The creature looked up at her and growled, but stayed its course toward Clara. Velma, having reached the end of her plan promptly picked a bottle of scotch off the table and tossed it at the creature, the glass shattering on impact and soaking the stony hide in spirits. The monster turned to her, visibly annoyed, but then resumed its grab for Clara. In less than a second it had thrown her over its shoulder and was running toward the window. Then the shooting started.

The two bodyguards with Boretti had drawn pistols and were firing, admittedly rather poorly at the beast. The blond man who had berated Velma and Shaggy quickly ran at them and shoved their guns down.

"You wanna hit the girl, idiots?"

"Forget the girl" Boretti rolled his eyes as he drew his own pistol. "I want that damn thing on my wall."

Chrissie's face registered a moment of shock before she bounded across the room and clamped her jaws onto Boretti's arm. He swung around and fired wildly, shooting up the bar and sending booze and glass flying.

People were still scrambling across the floor, trying to find a way out while avoiding the gunfire. Shaggy was pushed over by one woman, tumbling to the rough carpeted floor. From his worm's eye view he could see the stone, clawed feet of the beast marching toward him.

"No you don't!"

Shaggy looked up to see Simon swinging a chair at the creature's head. The wood splintered on impact and the creature turned and roared. Simon gave a quick gulp and mouthed something that looked a lot like 'Simon you # !*ing idiot.' Shaggy sprang back up and returned the favor.

"Yo Quasimodo!" He yelled.

It turned to him again and he took off across the club floor, vaulting over the bar and ducking behind the counter. A second later Simon sailed over and joined him.

"See this?" He waved his hand around. "This is what I was warning you about."

Velma was crouched down behind a table with Scooby, waiting for the gunfire to stop. Chrissie was still locked on to Boretti's arm so they needed to act fast. As Velma attempted to come up with a plan, an empty bottle rolled past her.

She plucked the bottle from the floor and tossed it over the table at Boretti's head. It connected hard and he dropped the gun. Velma stared at her hand for a moment, amazed at her own aim. Next to her Scooby gave a wide eyed approving nod.

The issue now was that Boretti was ticked off, dazed though, that was a plus. Velma ran out from behind the table, wishing the damn skirt offered her more leg movement. Scooby was ahead of her weaving in between Boretti's legs until he fell. Velma kicked the gun away under a table and scooped Chrissie into her arms.

"Hey, I don't mean to pry but it sounds like one hell of a bar fight in there."

"Fred" Velma panted with relief. "I don't suppose you could give us directions to that abandoned subway tunnel?"

"What's wrong with the regular subway?"

Velma looked down at Boretti's unconscious body on the floor.

"I may have made some people angry here, we need a discrete getaway."

As Fred relayed the instructions to her, Velma ran across the room toward the staircase door. From there she could see Shaggy and Simon crouched behind the bar. She motioned for them to follow. Both sprinted to her and into the stairwell, slamming the door behind them.

"Come on, first floor, we're taking the tunnel" Velma called back to them as she began to descend.

"Was that Boretti on the floor?" Simon asked as he and Shaggy sprinted after her, Scooby and Chrissie between them.

Velma neglected to answer. About four flights down the building shook. Dust fell from the ceiling above them.

"Like what was that?"

"Let's not wait to find out." Velma panted.

They burst from the stairwell and the first floor and Shaggy's question was immediately answered. There was a massive hole in the ceiling and several more above it. The boarded up subway entrance that Fred had said to look for was torn open.

"Like you want to go down there?"

"Ro way"

The elevator dinged and Boretti's two bodyguards stepped out clutching guns.

"Yes way" Velma said as she pulled Shaggy across the room and into the tunnel.

Part 18: Working from the Shadows

Sam dove from the top of the adjacent building. The tower that housed Ricky's was only a story down and his boots were reinforced for long falls. His inky blue robe fluttered behind him slightly as he landed, pulling his hood over his eyes. Kate and his parents thought he was still meeting with Dean. He didn't want to imagine what they would say if they knew what he was doing. Granted, that would first take revealing himself and the Knights and that was a whole other breach of protocol.

He kicked the roof door open and crept inside. A police scanner in his earpiece had told him that the creature had just attacked here. That changed his plan somewhat. It had been 'ruff up the mob guys' now it was 'spy on the investigators.'

He could hear the police chatter downstairs. Dean was there, that made sense. There was another voice too though.

"That thing must'a clocked Mister Boretti when it escaped."

That was Carson, and he was working for the Borettis. This night kept getting better and better.

"It wasn't the damn monster." Sam recognized the nasally voice from at least ten crime documentaries. Deacon Boretti Jr. was down there. "It was one of your waiters Sands, pretty girl, brown hair, glasses."

"Damn" Sam mumbled. He had told them to stay away from this place.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?"

Sam whirled around to face a group of men. Each one was wearing civilian clothes and had antler tattoos on their forearms, Boretti's symbol.

"I'm Batman" Sam smirked as he vaulted over the one immediately in front of him, using him as a springboard to kick the next one down.

Sam landed as the first guy went down. He ducked as another swung at him, grabbing his bare arm in both hands and activating a switch in his gloves. Blue sparks crackled as the gloves sent a charge through the man's body, delivered by gloves designed for the Order by Nikola Tesla himself. Sam crouched low as that man fell. He held his arms out to his sides and let his knife gauntlets eject their blades. The hood left only a wicked grin visible to the remaining attackers.

"He went down easy" Sam growled, disguising his voice in the same way Kate had described Warner's when he had saved her. "There're three of you left, which one wants to talk?"

Two of them were still dumb enough to rush at him. Sam clicked the blades back in. That was just for show. He was not going to kill them unless they really earned it. Instead he put his hands on the shoulders of the first one and flipped over him, sending him head first into the other one. Both went down hard. Sam kept his grin as he advanced on the last one, who looked about ready to faint.

"Want to talk now?" He growled. The man nodded. "What does Boretti have to do with the Gargoyle!?"

"Nothing" The man shook his head furiously. "It's costing him money."

"How!?"

"He was moving stuff through the museum. When that thing trashed the place, it all got taken."

"Only one thing was reported missing."

"I know, the stone thing, the other stuff wasn't on the manifest 'cause it was an under the table deal. But since the stone was taken, the boss figures it was Fong down in China Town, antiques smuggler, leads a gang called the Zen-Tuos."

"I know Fong, Interpol and the FBI are closing in on him. Why would he try this now?"

"Boretti is the biggest smuggler in the city right now. Fong is second, if he can drive the boss outa business and take the top spot, maybe he can get the Feds and the Euro-Feds off his back."

"You've been a big help. Now when you wake up and you have to explain this to your boss, try something other than a guy in a hood, that doesn't usually work so well."

"When I wake up?" The thug asked before Sam zapped his with the Tesla gloves.

"Хвала" Sam called back at him as he dove from the roof.

Part 19: Of Dates and Demons

Shaggy, Velma, Scooby, Chrissie, and Simon trekked through the dank sewer like some low rent fellowship of the ring. They must have gone blocks and would have been contented with just an exit, but the space between them was longer than they had thought. Worse, their earpieces had no reception down in the tunnel.

"Is this your guys' idea of a date?" Simon asked. He was limping noticeably, but had brushed them off when asked about it.

"Oh uh" Velma replied flustered.

"Like we uh…"

"Rumans" Scooby smirked a Chrissie.

"If anything this is Fred and Daphne's idea of a date." Shaggy said. "I would take you somewhere calmer…" Shaggy's eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. "I mean, if we…"

"Where would you take me?" Velma asked with a playful smirk.

"Like, uh, there's a great seafood restaurant in Crystal Cove, and Tony at the pizza place on Spears owes me a favor…"

"It's a date" Velma smiled.

"Like it is?" Shaggy exclaimed. As he did so he let his mouth hand open. His eyes widened at something off in the distance.

"Shaggy?"

"Desmond Hill"

"What?"

"Resmond Hill" Scooby repeated the same air of new understanding.

"From the Commander Cool comic?" Simon asked.

"The Demon of Desmond Hill. Commander Cool finds a system of caves underneath Warner City. He thinks that's how the demon is moving around but it's not. The caves are a distraction because the demon is really a shape-shifter that can blend into crowds."

"And?" Velma asked.

"We haven't seen or heard the thing since we came down here, there was no one else in the lobby to see it leave and it blew holes in the floor of every level, but what if it just escaped into one of them. These are usually just dudes in bulky costumes, so what if he just took it off and evacuated with everyone else. It didn't get into the building this way because the entrance was still sealed."

"Then how did it make the holes in the floors if it didn't escape through them?" Simon asked.

This time Velma's eyes went wide. She crouched down and began staring intently at Shaggy's shoe.

"Scooby" She ordered. "Sniff this." She pointed to the slimy residue that Shaggy had stepped in when he encountered the creature.

He obeyed. Two whiffs in and he was backing away in disgust.

"Rulfur."

"And rimestone" Chrissie added.

"Limestone paste to hide it in plain sight, and sulfur… It's an explosive. They set up the floors of the building to explode, and the hole at the museum."

"But my uncle said the only thing under the museum where the creature came out was a basement…" Shaggy's eyes went wide again. "Because it wasn't using the tunnel, somebody at the museum is the gargoyle."

"Or somebody funding it, Fred and Daphne said that Bertinelli had posters for an aeronautics firm in his office. Who better to build a gargoyle flight suit?"

Scooby glanced at Chrissie when they mentioned Bertinelli's name. When they got back to the house he would have to talk with Shaggy about finding Clara. He had lost owners before and he knew how it felt.

"Hey" He said to her. "She'll be okay; you can stay with us until we find her."

Part 20: Fong

Fred and Daphne smuggled the others back into the house before anyone woke up. By the next day their colds had almost cleared up and they were itching to get back to work. When the others woke up they found out that Clara was indeed missing. Clint had called in sick from home, apparently catching the cold Fred and Daphne had, and told them that the police had been around to question him about it.

That afternoon Velma and Shaggy saw one of Boretti's body guards walking down the street outside the house. Martha had said that he lived around the neighborhood, but with all that had gone on; they figured it was probably best if they laid low for a while.

So, after a few discrete calls to Bertinelli's office, Fred and Daphne volunteered to see what he was up to. His secretary had said he was heading down to a curio shop in China Town so they hopped on the first subway there.

"You think we're in over our heads?" Fred asked as the train thundered along.

Daphne chuckled and smiled at him. After a moment she realized he was serious. "Yes, we're always in over our heads, it's what we do."

"Well, I mean, I know it's what we do, but this is the mob, I've seen those shows Shaggy's dad watches, the Boretti's are bad news."

"Well, we're not following Boretti are we?" Daphne smirked. "We're following Bertinelli."

"When did I become the cautious one and you became the… me one?"

"I rubbed off on you and you rubbed off on me" Daphne smiled. "Come on, this is our stop."

"I hate subways" Fred grumbled as they pushed their way out.

They emerged in China town and made their way to Fong's, the store that Bertinelli was supposed to be. The smells of freshly cooked food wafted to them and Fred made a mental note to take Daphne to one of these places when they were done.

The store they were looking for was small, looking like it could comfortably fit inside Daphne's living room (granted this was more a comment on Daphne's house than the store). They slipped inside, joining an older couple who were quite obviously tourists. At the counter stood a man in a dark blue suit. He was balding but the hair he did have was jet black. Leaning over the counter was Bertinelli. Fred and Daphne ducked behind a shelf to avoid being noticed, but after a moment, doubted he would have seen them anyway.

His eyes were haggard and his hair was messy. It looked like he had not slept in a few days and when he spoke to the man behind the counter it was with the voice of a broken man.

"Listen Fong, do you think I had anything to do with this, or Clara… I just want her back."

"Do you think I have anything to do with this Mister Bertinelli." The man answered coldly. "I assure you if I did I would not have come after you. I am well aware that you severed ties with the Boretti family decades ago."

"Look, Boretti t claims he thinks you're behind this, the cops think he is… I just want my daughter back.'

"I sympathize, but there is nothing to be done. Whatever or whoever this creature is, I would take some small measure of comfort in knowing that it has her rater than Boretti."

"I just want my Clara back" Bertinelli sobbed. "I don't even know what she was doing at his club. I thought I raised her better than that, raised her away from it."

Bertinelli slumped down for a moment before trudging from the store. Fred and Daphne continued to pretend to browse. Bertinelli was pretty much off the suspect list after that display. Without any more leads they walked to the nearest restaurant and sat down for some food.

"So, you think Shaggy and Velma are getting together?" Fred asked over his menu.

"Of course they are, have you seen them together?"

"Were we that obvious?"

"Naw" Daphne shook her head.

"And Scooby's totally putting the moves on that lab right, it's not just me?"

"Are we really discussing Scooby's love life?"

"We're tailing mobsters to find a demon gargoyle, there's no standard for weird in our lives." Fred said incredulously.

"Boy I'll say" Someone said from behind them. Detective Rogers slid into their booth and picked up a menu. Fred and Daphne stared at him as he placed his order in Chinese (which they had no idea he could), then looked down at them. "I know they were at Ricky's last night," He said, keeping his voice level. "And I know why so don't bother to explain it. It was the one place I told you not to go. I promised your parents that I would look after you. I am telling you one more time to stay away from Boretti, Bertinelli, and Fong."

"So Bertinelli is dangerous?" Fred asked eyes wide.

"No. Bertinelli and Boretti used to know each other, but he split off from them when he was very young. His businesses are completely on the level."

"But it had to be someone at the museum." Daphne protested.

"Maybe, and if you want to check out the museum, I won't stop you. But stay away from…"

"Boretti, we know."

"I ordered you the duck" Sam said standing up. "Specialty of the house."

With that he walked out, flexing his arm. Fred and Daphne glanced at each other. They had never seen him like that. He had been serious before, but that, there was no other word than suspicious. Mr. Rogers was acting very suspiciously.

"Something still might be going on in those tunnels" Daphne said, staring back at where he had left. "Is there an entrance near here?"

"He told us to stay away from…"

"The mob." Daphne finished. "Those tunnels have nothing to do with the mob." She smirked.

"I love you" Fred said as he pulled up the map on his phone.

Part 21: Sam's Threat

Carson Thomas walked briskly down the China Town street. As he cut through an alley he never even looked up to see the man perched in the shadows. It would have done him some good.

Sam leapt from the fire escape, landing and pinning Carson to the wall in one fluid motion. He had one of the gauntlet blades, detached from its housing, clutched in his hand. With lightning speed he held it up to Carson's throat.

"Listen to me you bastard, I could have done this in a mask or a hood and you wouldn't have known who I was, but I wanted you to see my face, to look me in the eye and know how serious I am. I saw you outside my house, and I know you were at Ricky's. I know you saw my son there and I know you're watching him. If you continue to do so I will end you and they will never find your body."

"That's your threat" Carson glared at him. "You should be threatening to make example of me, show the Borettis what happens when they mess with your family."

"I'm not a sociopath."

"No, you're just an idiot." He rolled his eyes. "I'm NYPD undercover. Check my jacket pocket, you'll find my badge."

Sam did so, keeping the blade up until he had the golden shield in his hand. He muttered a lovely set of curses before letting Carson go.

"You're a cop" Sam said in disbelief.

"Yeah and I've been watching your house so I can make sure Boretti hasn't found your kids out. Now I could bring you in for assaulting an officer, but I've always wanted to be the better man than Sam Rogers, so I'm gonna chalk this up to an accident and send you on your way with the knowledge that I now know what you're willing to do for your family and will come after you on the off chance you go too far."

Carson took his badge, straightened his jacket and walked away.

Part 22: Train Station of the Dead

Shaggy looked fondly at Velma as she poured over the old subway maps that Eric had sent them. Unable to leave the house she had taken up the job of looking for places the Gargoyle could be using as a hideout along the route. If Shaggy was right and it wasn't using the tunnels as a base, or for transport, then it was at least using them as a backup plan. That meant that it would not stray too far from them.

"You know, I think there was a pool going on when we would get together." Shaggy chuckled.

"I know, Mads put money in" Velma said without looking up from her maps.

"Mads is eleven…"

"Yes, and now she's an eleven year old fifty dollars richer."

"Fifty!"

"A hundred actually but she and Maggie split their winnings."

"… I should'a put money in it."

"Shaggy" Velma said, switching back to her investigator tone. "Did you see which way the gargoyle went after it left the church?"

Shaggy thought for a moment. "It looked like it was going back towards the… behind the church… direction."

"The tunnel runs tight underneath it."

"But, like, Fred said."

"Fred said there wasn't a station under Saint Finnian's because there isn't, but there is a tunnel, and if that thing can blow a hole in the museum."

"Oh, they broke into a church, that's low."

"There was a graveyard behind the church right, with a crypt?"

Shaggy groaned uncomfortably. "I'll get my coat."

Part 23: DIY Museum

Fred and Daphne thought they must be somewhere near an actual subway. The walls were rumbling uncomfortably loudly. Water that dripped in from broken pipes splashed them as they walked.

"Scooby said the tunnel flooded." Fred said nervously.

"Rainwater combined with the broken pipes. They must have been near a storm drain" Daphne said nonchalantly. "It used to happen in the caves under Blake Hall during a heavy storm."

"Right" Fred backed farther away from the wall. "So, just to recap, Scooby's new girlfriend's owner was kidnapped by the gargoyle, a Gargoyle that visually matches the ones at both Saint Finnian's and The Bradshaw Building. This gargoyle has also been breaking into museums and making off with artifacts.'

"Correct."

"The mob, or at least Boretti, is tied to this."

"Correct."

"Whoever this is probably took Clara as revenge against Bertinelli. And Clara was singing at Boretti's club despite hating him with a passion."

"Correct"

"Our colds are going to come back ten times worse after a walking around down here."

"Yep."

"I'm hallucinating?"

"What?"

"Well, that seems to be the only logical explanation for why I'm seeing a large stack of crates up ahead, surrounded by professional lighting."

"No" Daphne shook her head, following Fred's gaze to the odd sight. "I see it too."

They walked up, peering into the boxes. There were antiques and artifacts, paintings, and weapons. It was more than could have been taken to the museum. Fred noticed a charred piece of floor where a cutting torch lay next to a pile of dismembered guns. On a small folding table, Daphne found a map of the tunnels with entrances circled in red. The strangest thing of all was the massive gargoyle suit resting next to the crates. The head had been removed and inside they could see the mesh of wires and canvas that allowed it to glide. A series of motors was rigged up in the head that probably made the face move.

"I think we just found the Gargoyle Cave."

"These must be mob guns, the artifacts too. This more than was taken to the museum. Whoever did this must be trying to get at the mob."

"Oh son of a…" Fred cursed. "I know who did this."

"Who?" Daphne asked bewildered.

"Think about it, back at museum, how he was wiping his nose, how he sounded so down, but he wasn't down because of the robbery he was down because he was sick from being down here."

"And then he gave it to us…"

"It was Clint."

"Not just Clint" Daphne began to catch on. "The way he said 'I have a friend at the art museum.' I mean talk about being obviously in love."

"And the tunnel under the museum."

"Velma said her voice sounded off too."

"We were right about Bertinelli, we just had the wrong one."

"We need to call Mister Rogers."

Part 24: High Altitude Interrogation

"Donald Fong!" Sam growled as he held the smuggler over the edge of the building.

It was dark now, the perfect time for Sam to suit up and do his Batman impression. Eight stories below traffic raged on. Five minutes ago Fong had been about to join that traffic. He had never seen the hooded man coming.

"I suppose you're going to tell me I've failed this city."

"You have but that's not why I'm here! What do you know about Boretti and the Gargoyle?"

"I know it dies tonight. Boretti's men found some of their stolen goods in Bertinelli's apartment."

"Arthur Bertinelli is behind this?!"

"No, Clara. She kidnapped herself, the perfect cover, right in front of Boretti Junior. But they tossed her apartment just in case and they found a bunch of their stuff from the museum stashed away. They found a note for an appointment at Saint Finnian's in Brooklyn too, he's sending his men over."

"Damn" Sam growled. Quickly he took a length of rope from his robes and tied to the man's legs. The he tied the other end to the roof ladder.

"You're not just going to leave me tied up on this roof are you?!"

"No" Sam said as he began lowering the mobster down the side of the building. The police should find you by morning. Mind the pigeons!"

Fong thrashed down below as Sam began walking away. He would have to call Dean and he would have to get to Saint Finnian's fast. Above him a helicopter began flying towards Brooklyn. Sam smiled as he took out his remaining rope.

Part 25: Enforcers

"All right boys" Boretti Jr. yelled as the car rolled along toward Brooklyn. "When you see the girl, take her out and anyone else who gets in the way. You can leave her boyfriend to my boys" He smirked looking at the growling German Shepherds in the back.

Part 26: Many Happy Returns

Shaggy, Scooby, Velma, and Chrissie entered the church, taking refuge from the pouring rain outside. The found Clint immediately, sitting up front with his head bowed. Simon was sitting next to him and father Murdoch was up at the altar.

As he heard their footsteps Clint turned around, a hopeful look on his face that sunk as soon as he saw who they were.

"Hi Uncle Clint" Shaggy said solemnly. "Where's Clara?"

Chrissie growled at him. Clint seemed shocked for a moment but then he realized how much they knew.

"She's torching the rest of the weapons down in the tunnel… and the suit."

"What about the artifacts?" Velma asked.

"Those are gonna be picked up and shipped back to the people they were taken from. We probably should have left already but Clara wanted to do this…" He waved his hand around the church. "Before we left for Italy."

"Do what?" Shaggy asked.

Velma though, had just understood what was going on. "You got married."

"This young man here was nice enough to be our witness. She'll be back soon and I'm begging you to let us go, please Norville."

"Like… I"

Before Shaggy could get any words out there was a great crash. The Gargoyle swooped in through the open window and landed in the aisles. Without missing a beat it pulled off the mask revealing a distraught Clara underneath.

"Clint, they know what we did. They're coming!"

"Who?"

There was a screech of tires on asphalt outside. Voices and guns sounded from outside the doors. Clara climbed out of the suit and rushed to join her husband. Father Murdoch crossed himself.

"Out the back" Simon called. "Come on!"

Everyone ran out into the graveyard, taking cover behind tombstones. It was an obvious hiding place though, and the gunmen soon followed.

"Come out and play" Boretti called as he crept among the graves. "Oh Claaaarraaa, come out to play-ay!"

Two large dogs growled at his heels and began sniffing around the gravestones. Scooby eyed them warily from his hiding place.

"Check the crypt" Slicker ordered.

Two of the thugs readied their guns and entered the marble structure.

"Anything?!" Slicker called.

"Na, nuttin" A voice called back in a very over the top, stereotyped gangster voice.

"You sure"

"Yeah, nobody in here!" A second voice called, a little more subdued, in fact, it sounded downright feminine.

"All right whoever you are I'm impressed you took out my guys but now I need you to come out with your hands up."

Fred and Daphne emerged from the crypt, hands in the air.

"You made it through the tunnels, nice move, we're gonna have to remember those when this is all over."

"You're not gonna get the chance!" Someone roared.

A blue hooded figure descended from the top of the church. He landed right on Slicker and all hell broke loose. The thugs started firing, only Boretti keeping his focus on finding Clint and Clara. The hooded man darted around the thugs, punching and kicking like a maniac.

"It's him" Velma exclaimed as she knelt down by Shaggy. "It's the man from the hospital."

Boretti's dogs stopped at one of the stones. Slowly the mobster reached his hand behind it and pulled Clara out, putting her in a choke hold and placing the barrel of his gun at her temple.

"Clara!" Clint yelled standing up.

BANG!

Clint fell clutching his bleeding chest. Shaggy's eyes went wide and glazed over. He leapt from behind the stone and charged at Boretti. The man tried firing at him but Shaggy was too fast. He leapt across the tops of stones before finally delivering kick to Boretti's face. The mobster stumbled back and then, keeping his gun trained on Shaggy, backed himself and Clara into the church. Velma screamed for him as Shaggy followed, charging into the building.

"Help me here!" Simon yelled, snapping her back to reality. She ran over to where he was, furiously trying to stop Clint's bleeding. "Reach into my bag" He jerked his head to the messenger bag he had worn at Ricky's. "There's a first aid kit, give me bandages."

"Clara" Clint moaned.

Across the graveyard Boretti's dogs had picked up the scent of fresh blood. They were eagerly advancing toward Clint. Scooby glanced at Chrissie.

"You want to help me out here?"

"Okay" Clara nodded. "You think we can take them?"

"Nope" He said to her and then turned to the beasts. "Yo morons, over here!"

The German Shepherds turned toward Scooby and Chrissie. One of them charged at Scooby faster than he had expected. It sunk its teeth into his leg, drawing blood. Chrissie suck her teeth into him in return and tossed him away where he collided with a headstone.

"Nice one best in show"

"You okay?"

"Nope" Scooby grunted as he stood up. "But I've been worse. Hey flea bag!" he barked at the other one.

The second hound charged at him, but this time Scooby was ready. He rolled out of the way, letting it collide head first with the marble slab behind him. It crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Coyote" Chrissie said flirtingly. "That was some Alpha male display."

Back by the crypt Velma and Father Murdoch had managed to help Simon get Clint stable. By the church entrance the hooded man was still beating his way through the Boretti gang. Fred and Daphne were in the middle of their own fight with a few of them as well.

As chaos raged Velma looked up at the tower. "He hasn't come back down."

"I'll go see if he's okay alright" Simon said standing up. "Just watch him" he pointed at Clint and then sprinted off into the church.

Part 27: The Moon and The Devil in The Tower

Shaggy leapt across the rafter so fast that Boretti couldn't get a lock on him. This was how he had felt so many times before and although he hated to admit it to himself; he was beginning to like it. The animal instinct and strength coursed through him.

Boretti finally emerged from the stairwell and into the bell tower, Shaggy at his heels. Clara was still struggling as much as she could. Shaggy let out a guttural growl before pouncing at the man. In one motion he whipped the gun from his hand, unknowingly crushing it in his grip. Clara pushed away and Shaggy grabbed Boretti by the color. He flashed his teeth and even though they were just normal human teeth, it the glow of the moon they looked like fangs.

Shaggy pummeled the man without letting up. He could feel his bones breaking. He didn't like it, but something just coursed through him that made him keep going. This man had shot his uncle. He had tried to kill his friends. He was evil, Shaggy could sense that.

They were by the edge of the tower. It was only an open archway that separated them from the drop down to the graveyard. He held the beaten Boretti over the edge. The man screamed, begged for mercy, but Shaggy couldn't hear it. The rain pounded and thunder flashed in the sky, illuminating the horrific scene for all below.

"Shaggy" he heard someone howl. He turned and saw Simon standing by the stairwell. Clara was gone, presumably having escaped to check on her husband. But Simon stood there with his hand out toward Shaggy. "You have to stop."

"He deserves it!" Shaggy growled.

"He does, but you don't. You don't deserve to have that on your hands. You are better than that!"

"You don't know me" Shaggy stammered back. "I don't know you, I don't know who you are I just know you keep showing up everywhere something is wrong. For all I know you work for Boretti!"

"I promise you I do not" Simon's voice was calm. "Please don't do this. You're a healer, like me, not a fighter."

"What does that even mean!?"

"You'll know soon but I promise you will never get to enjoy it if you do this."

"What are you talking about!? What am I!?"

"A defender, a healer, a wolf protecting his pack. Just please listen to me, trust me!" He raised his voice for the first time. "One to another, trust me! Don't kill him!"

Shaggy turned back to Boretti, releasing one hand from his collar. He held him out on one arm and cocked his fist back. One more slam to the face and he was out cold. Shaggy tossed his sopping wet body back into the tower.

"There" He growled. He could already feel the strength and the rage leaving him.

"Thank you" Simon said massaging his chest where Shaggy could now see a large red stain on his white shirt.

"Dude, did you get shot?"

"I'm fine" Simon waved him off. "Let's just get back down."

Part 28: The Servant of the Dragon

Sam clocked the last thug, ending the fight right there. In the distance he could hear sirens. He turned to grab Slicker for questioning and saw him running for the crypt. 'Bastard's going for the tunnel' Sam thought.

He sprinted after him down into the dark structure. He could barely see in front of him but could hear the man's ragged breath and footfalls as he ran. At the base of the stairs he saw Slicker climbing down a freshly dug hole into the old subway line. He followed, splashing into the damp tunnel.

"I know who you work for Slicker! I know you took the Miller Stone, not Clint! Why does he want it!?"

"You will regret following me! The master will rain fire upon you!" He pointed his pistol at Sam. "Long live the Dragon!"

A loud rumbling vibrated the tunnel. Pipes creaked and Sam heard an all too familiar sound. A torrent of water collected from the storm drains came rushing at them. Slicker turned and ran for the exit but it was too late. The water hit him and carried him away. Sam had just made it to the tunnel up with the water had caught up to him too. He grabbed hold of the ledge above him as the deluge hit him full force. Through the murky flood he caught sight of a small carved stone. It must have slipped from Slicker's pocket when he got hit. Sam grabbed it with his free hand, but his other hand was slipping.

"Need a lift?" he heard above him.

Carson grabbed his arm and hoisted him out of the roaring river. Sam was about to give a disguised 'thanks' until he realized his hood had come off.

"Carson" He started.

"Just hood up and go before the rest of the precinct gets here."

Sam thanked him and ran.

Part 29: Dawn's First Light

Shaggy slumped down in the church as the police and paramedics rushed around. His uncle was stable. He supposed he had to thank Simon for that… if he could find him. The man had disappeared once they came out of the church.

Shaggy looked down at his hands. He had no idea what had come over him, but he somehow knew it wasn't wrong. Beating the man may have been wrong but that feeling, that animal rush. That felt natural.

He noticed Velma knelling by Chrissie and walked over to her.

"Hey Velms"

"Shaggy" She stammered. "Um, glad you're okay. I need to go call Madelyn okay." She walked away quickly and without making eye contact.

Scooby walked up, a fresh bandage on his leg.

"Like, she's scared of me Scoob" He said quietly. "She saw what I did and she got scared. I scared her away." His eyes began to well up and kneeled by his friend.

Across the room Clara was giving her statement to the police. Sam leaned back in the shadows, having just arrived with Kate.

"We found out that Boretti was moving smuggled goods through our museums. Clint came up with gargoyle and I got the tech from one of my dad's companies. We found the old tunnels and used them as a base and in case we couldn't get out of the costume in time. I got the job at Ricky's to keep tabs on Boretti. We torched the smuggled guns and arranged for the smuggled artifacts to be sent back home. Then we were going to catch a flight to Italy and start a new life."

"You have evidence on Boretti so you'll probably be able to cut a deal with the FBI. They'll put you into witness protection starting pretty immediately."

"I understand" Clara whispered. "Sam, I know this is a weird thing to ask, but I Clint always talked about what a nice family you have… I was wondering if you could take Chrissie."

"We'd be honored" Sam nodded solemnly. "And, for however short a time I can say this, welcome to the family."

Part 30: The Charm

Fred and Shaggy were walking through the neighborhood on their last day in New York. Velma was still avoiding him. Scooby was cheering up his new girlfriend and preparing her for the move to Coolsville. Clint and Clara were already in federal custody.

"Fred" Shaggy said as they came up to Saint Finnian's. "There's something I want you and your… contacts… to look into for me."

"The berserker rages" Fred guessed.

"Yeah, that, and a castle somewhere that I keep dreaming about and a couple named Seamus and Fiona."

"I'll have Jimmy work up a sketch when we get back, and Eric and Dell can run the names."

"You know where the word berserker comes from?" Fred asked. "Ancient Norse warriors went into a battle frenzy granted by Odin. They wore bear skins, hence, berserkers. It's almost a kind of werewolf story."

"Like man, don't even get me started on wolves."

Shaggy opened the door into the church. He wanted to make one last trip just to see if he could meet Simon again. He never had the chance to thank him. Instead he saw his mother at the altar, speaking with Father Murdoch.

"Thank you so much, I can't tell you what this means to me." She said, taking something from the Father with tears in her eyes.

"I'm gonna go outside to make a phone call" Fred said, sensing this was a family matter.

Shaggy walked up to his mother as the priest walked away.

"Hey mom, uh, what's that?"

"This…" She held up a small silver charm with a wolf's head on it. This is the reason we came here."

"I don't get it."

She sat down and Shaggy joined her. He had never seen his mother looking quite so emotional.

"This belonged to your uncle, my brother."

Shaggy's mouth fell open. "I didn't know you had a…"

"No, I never told you, he died here in New York. He was off at medical school and he died pushing a little girl out of the way of a car. This charm, and the ring you wear around your neck were his. But this got lost for many years and someone just now found it and returned it to the church. He wore it on the same chain he used for the ring. You remind me of him sometimes dear, brave and caring…"

"Mom" Shaggy said embarrassed. "Uh, what was his name?"

"Norville" Kate noticed Shaggy's somewhat ashamed expression. He had never liked the name much. "He hated it too honey. I was the only one who ever used it. He made everyone else call him by his middle name, made them call him Simon. Norville Simon O' Flannery. I was going to bury this in the family crypt in Oakhaven, but I think he would have wanted you to have it. O' Flannerys are like wolves, he would say, always looking out for each other."

"Like, uh, yeah" Shaggy stammered. "I think you're right."

"Now go join your friends, and be careful."

"I will mom" Shaggy said as he kissed her goodbye.

Outside Fred was leaning against the building waiting for him. As Shaggy explained what had happened he thought he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Good luck"

When he turned he saw nothing except maybe the faintest flash of blond hair and a white t-shirt.

Part 31: Magic Tricks

"This is insane Mads" Maggie said excitedly.

The two girls were hidden away in the game room as they had been the whole trip. Certainly nothing in New York could compare to what was happening inside.

"I think this is what those guys were looking for back at the swamp. That's when I figured out I could do it." Mads giggled.

"Do another one."

Madelyn flexed her fingers, balled up her fist, and then opened it. A small ball of fire erupted in her palm. She repeated the procedure with the other hand generating a ball of ice.

"It doesn't hurt?"

"Nope" Madelyn smiled as she began juggling her creations. "You can't tell anyone though, promise me Maggie."

"I promise."

Part 32: Recruitment

Carson and Dean drove carefully with their new witness protection couple. The young newlyweds would soon be spending their honeymoon under assumed identities in rural England. They were almost to the airport when there was a loud thump on the roof of the car. Then a hooded figure climbed down in front of them.

"Carson Thomas, Dean Marcus, Clinton and Clara Rogers; you have all shown an admirable amount of skill and dedication. I'm here to offer you all jobs, and the chance at a life better than witness protection.

"Yeah" Dean yelled. "And just who the hell are you?"

Sam lifted the hood from his face. "A friend."

Part 33: Visitors in the Night

Deacon Boretti Senior looked over the reports on his desk. Slicker was dead. His own boy was sitting, beaten to a pulp in a prison hospital and one of his own damn men had turned out to be a cop. The only comfort was that he had ordered hits on all of them.

"Hello Mister Boretti" A voice growled behind him.

Boretti turned to see a man in a dark blue, hooded robe standing behind him. He reached for his gun but the stranger was too fast. He grabbed Boretti by the throat and shoved him into his own desk chair. He held his fist up to Boretti's face and let a long silver blade spring from the sleeve.

"Who are you" Boretti said hoarsely.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you are going to call off the hits on Clinton and Clara Rogers, Carson Thomas, Dean Marcus, Norville Rogers, Velma Dinkley, Fredrick Jones, and Daphne Blake. Do you understand!?"

"What if I don't?"

"Then they never find your body and I take down your empire one man at a time. This is the easy way, and the one where you get to live."

"Alright" Boretti stammered, picking up the phone, I'm making the call now…"

"Don't bother going for the emergency buzzer" The figure growled. "All of your men are already unconscious."

Boretti gave up and made the call. Once the hooded man was satisfied he released his throat and turned to face the window.

"You got a hell of a nerve."

"We'll be watching to make sure you keep your promise."

"Who's we?!" Boretti screamed at him.

The figure popped its blade out again and smashed the window of Boretti's sixtieth floor office.

"Knights" It growled as it dove out the window and disappeared into the night.

Boretti slumped back into his chair and poured a glass of scotch.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was the competition Deacon" A cheery southern accent announced.

"Wait, it can't be…"

"It is Deacon" A man said as he strode into the office and took a seat opposite Boretti. He plopped two muddy hiking boots on the table.

"It can't be…" It looked just like him though. He had the same pointy face, the same inky black hair and that same damn brown leather duster. He even had the same axe strapped to his belt. "Knudsen, but you died."

"So'd Ricky" He said taking a glass of scotch for himself. "I didn't get a club named after me by the way, what's the deal?"

"This is impossible, you're…

"Dead, yeah, I know. Many times. I mean there was the first time back in the sixties when I ran with you and Ricky, then I came back, then there was a prison riot, that got me outa jail nicely, then once in Egypt, again down in Florida. It gets relaxing after a while."

"How did you even get in here?"

"That's your question, how'd the dead man get past security? Well it was pretty easy, those guys there were asleep; I mean some of them were awake… then I killed them."

"What the hell are you?"

"Hell, no I've never been there, I stay nicely in the place in between. But you my friend. Well, you got on the wrong side of my new boss, and you did it just as he was getting ready for something big. So I'm sorry, I'd love to stay and reminisce, but I've gotta spring a mad scientist out of an asylum in a couple hours, so we'll have to make this quick. First though, I need that little trinket you pulled off that cop down in San Francisco in sixty three."

Knudsen reached over and pulled a chain off of Boretti's neck. On it was a small golden rod.

"Was that it?"

"No… now I gotta kill you" He put a boot on Boretti's chair and kicked it out the window. "Bye bye Boretti."

Part 34: Epilogue

Fletcher slipped the Miller Stone into his pocket as he entered St. Finnian's. Sam had given it to Vincent, and Vincent had given it to him, and now they were all meeting behind Sam's back. The whole thing made him a little sick.

'Father Murdoch' stood up at the altar. That was another part of this that made him uncomfortable.

"Charlie can you go back to your regular form, I don't think you should be impersonating a priest any longer. What if someone tries to go into confession, I mean where those people actually married."

"Of course" Charlie answered as his outer shell shifted back to its normal form, a pale, dark haired, thirty year old. "I was ordained as a minister prior to taking this assignment for just such an occasion."

"That's… odd, fine, I'm glad that worked out. Can we get this meeting over with?"

"Of course Jonathan" Vincent said as he emerged from the shadows. "What were the findings on the Miller Stone?"

"Well" Fletcher took it out of his pocket. "It's a rock" He put it in both hands and cracked it in two. "But inside…" he pulled out a golden ring. "…Is a piece of the Key of Guardians, which puts us at two. But that's not what I want to talk about right now."

"You still feel uncomfortable about working behind Samuel's back?"

"We lured his family to New York so I could search his house, and we have Charlie spying on his son and we're not even telling him why, or even that there's anything to worry about!"

"Is there?"

"Yes" Fletcher said seriously. "As a matter of fact, there is. I checked their house for every kind of magical energy there is, and the results I got back… Vincent, it's lycanthropic."

"Impossible" Vincent said definitively. "They are gone, I saw them die, saw him slaughter them."

"I know you did, but this isn't full energy. They would still require a bite to make it work. Otherwise it's just latent within them."

"They… but Jacobo said Samuel was not compatible when he took him."

"He wasn't, it's an O' Flannery gene, the boy has it, and the girl, and their mother."

"Excuse me Doctor Fletcher" Charley interrupted. "But may I assume that, in talking about innate and hereditary lycanthropic energy, you are implying that, with the proper catalyst, the members of the O' Flannery line are…"

"That's right…" Fletcher interrupted before he could finish. "Which means we need to step up the search for the remaining pieces of the key."

"Jonathan you cannot be serious." Vincent said.

"I am very serious, they are Faoladh."

End Part 11

Google it, it's cool. So, I'm sorry this one took so long. The reason is that a lot had to be put into it because the next story will be the finale (well there will be a sort of post finale story, an epilogue story I suppose, but the next one will pretty much wrap up the myth arc that I've been building). It is a shame all that has to be cut, but I think I've risked ridiculousness by stretching this out so far. For example, Ruby Doo was supposed to be in this one and get a love interest, eventually have a son named Scra… well you know. There was also meant to be a Mexico story which would have involved Shaggy getting some advice on his condition, and a Witch-Doctor story where Scooby would have gone under cover in underground fights. They're probably all still canon, there just wasn't the room. Now, I know you all who what villain I'm building up to, but if I say his name too much then it just loses its power. As you can probably tell from the soundtrack list and the story itself this had a big DC comics, Batman/Green Arrow thing going on, at least that's what I was going for. The names Thomas, Martha, and Bertinelli were all shout outs, the names Sam and Dean were not. Those being characters of their own show was brought to my attention later (Dean was just picked as a kind of, New York sounding, name). Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you liked it and I hope that when the next one roles around your minds will be suitably blown, it has been a long time in planning and I'm excited to write it.