Soon, the gang were walking their way down the street, en route to the used car lot where they had bought the Mystery Machine.
"Excuse me, Crazy Ed" said Freddy "We'd like to talk to you"
"Oh, its y'all again" said Crazy Ed "What can I do you for?"
"We'll like to ask if you know anything about the Mystery Kids." Daphne said.
"Are you kids talking about that Mystery Machine van that was supposed to be haunted and come alive?" Crazy Ed asked.
"You got it, man." Shaggy replied.
"See I done did tell ya that there was something going on with that van" said Crazy Ed "If y'all want a refund, too bad. I don't give refunds"
"We're not here for a refund, Crazy Ed" said Fred "We need the information of the former owners. We kind of have to talk to them about the van"
"Well why didn't y'all say that?" asked Crazy Ed "I'll go get the papers"
The man then made his way to his office at the back of the room while the gang waited.
After waiting a while, Crazy Ed finally came back with the papers.
"Here you go" he said as he handed them to Fred.
Fred started reading the papers as Velma and Marcie leaned in to read along.
"Let's see" he said "According to this, the Mystery Kids live with their mother, Susan Dinwiddie and apparently, they sold the van when became has-beens"
"And it says here that they live of 6789 Griffin Lane" Marcie pointed to an address "Maybe they're home right now"
"Only one way to find out" said Fred "Come along gang"
Everyone else nodded as they followed Fred's lead.
As they took their leaves, Shaggy stopped and turned. "Like, thanks for the information, Crazy Ed."
"Anytime, lads" Crazy Ed said as he tipped his hat "If that thing is really haunted, y'all might want to purchase this red and yellow mobile home with an angel on it"
Later, the gang finally arrived at the Mystery Kids' house.
"Okay gang, here we are" said Fred "Now, we all agree that what happens in this house, stays in this house"
"Like I agree with ya, man" said Shaggy.
"Re too" Scooby added.
Fred rang the doorbell and the gang waited for someone to answer. Finally, a woman arrived at the door.
"Hello" The woman greeted them. "What can I do for you kids?"
"Are you Susan Dinwiddie?" asked Velma.
"Yes, yes I am" Susan replied "Why do you ask?"
"We're Mystery Inc and we just purchased your old van" Velma explained "We believe it might be haunted...well all except two of us"
"Haunted?" asked Susan "Now that's just plain ridiculous, dear"
"Well, are the former Mystery Kids home?" asked Marcie "We'd really like to talk to them"
Before Susan could respond, a voice coming from the house asked, "Who's at the door, Mom?"
"Ah kids, thank goodness you're here" she said "We have some fans at the door who want to talk to y'all"
"Coming." The same voice said and some footsteps can be heard.
Two teenagers arrived at the front door; a boy and a girl to be exact.
"Are you the Mystery Kids?" asked Madelyn.
"Well we were" said the boy "My name's Andy and this is my sister, Mandy"
"Who wants to know?" asked Mandy.
"We're here to ask you guys some questions if you don't mind." Fred explained.
"It's about the Mystery Machine, to be exact." Madelyn added.
"Oh really?" asked Mandy "I assume you've purchased it"
"Yes, we have" said Fred "Last night, the van came to life and almost crashed us into some fallen tree"
"Oh God, you must've heard those rumors about the van being possessed" Mandy sighed "Don't listen to them. They're all a bunch of baloney"
"Then like, how do you explain it coming to life?" asked Shaggy.
"Some knucklehead probably just fiddled with the wiring and engine" Mandy remarked.
Marcie and Velma turned and stared at Shaggy and Scooby at the remark.
"But either way, how did the rumour of it being possessed came on?" Daphne asked.
Andy started to explain "Well, we found out we were really talented at music, so our mother made us into a child band. We decided to use the van as a tour bus. Since we were the Mystery Kids, we decided to call the van, 'The Mystery Machine'. Pretty cool huh?"
"Continue..." said Madelyn.
Mandy cleared her throat "The van was owned by our keyboardist, Flash Flannigan. He would tour with us around the world"
"Do you think we could talk to him?" asked Fred.
"Well...unfortunately, no." Andy said. "We don't know where he lives."
"But you guys said that you toured with him." Shaggy pointed out. "Surely, you guys would have practiced at his place at some point or another."
"That's the thing." Mandy said. "One day, he stormed off after a performance and we never saw him again."
"And eventually, our careers were ended" Andy concluded "Mom sold the Mystery Machine and we stopped performing"
"And quite frankly, I'm glad to be done with it" Mandy folded her arms "Unfortunately, our mother wants us to make a big comeback. She's been forcing us to practice for weeks"
"I see" Velma nodded with her arms folded.
"Well I know what happened" said Susan "Flash had an accident when he left the band and now he's the late, great Flash Flannigan. He's in Rock 'N Roll Heaven. Say, that could be a song"
"Like, now I know what happened" Shaggy shivered "Flash Flannigan's spirit is haunting the Mystery Machine"
"Rikes!" Scooby jumped into Shaggy's arms.
"Yeah, he painted the van green with orange flowers because it reminded him of his uptopian garden" Mandy sighed.
"Well that explains that" Fred nodded "I kind of wanted to paint it red"
"Thanks for your time kids, but we've got a song to rehearse for a concert in the park tonight" said Susan "Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Alright kids, time to get back to rehearsing"
"But mom, I'm tired of practicing" Mandy whined "I wanna pick out my prom dress"
"No 'buts' young lady!" Susan sternly told her daughter "You two are going to practice and get back on top whether you like it or not"
"Yes ma'am" Andy and Mandy sighed.
As the family of three retreated into the house, the gang took their leaves.
"So what now, Fred?" Velma asked.
"Beats me" said Fred "All I know is that we're going to have to walk for now"
Just then, Velma bumped into a boy with orange hair and a red cat and accidentally caused him to drop some books he was carrying.
"Oh, sorry" she said.
"Why don't you watch where you're going, missy?" the boy rudely told Velma.
"Hey! You can't talk to my friend like that!" Marcie retorted.
"So?" The boy sneered.
"So...you'd better watch what you say around her or you'll be pushing up daisies when I'm done with you!" Marcie said as she held up a fist at the boy.
"Oh, is that right?" The boy sneered again.
"Right buddy!" Marcie said as she poked the boy's nose "So if you know what's good for you, you'd better leave her alone!"
"Yeah!" Madelyn agreed "Nobody talks that way to my sister, but me!"
The boy looked at the others. In addition to Fred's frowning and Daphne placing her hands by her hips, Shaggy had his arms folded with a clear message on his face, saying, "Don't even think about it.", while Scooby growled angrily at him.
"Ah, forget it" the boy huffed as he bent down to pick up his books "I'm gonna late for class anyways"
"Who are you, anyways?" asked Daphne.
"Is that your business?" The boy asked.
Before the gang could answer, another boy, this one with black hair and wearing glasses, came to the scene.
"Bill, what are you doing?" The black-haired boy asked. "We're going to be late for class."
"Sorry, Eric" said Bill "This girl with freckles bumped into me"
"Well, there wasn't a need for you to be that rude." Eric said.
"Whatever" said Bill "Let's go, Eric. Randy is waiting"
Bill then started to walk away, while Eric turned to the gang.
"Sorry about that" said Eric "He's a bit irritable"
"I can see that" Velma rolled her eyes.
"Anyways, we'd better get to class." Eric turned to Bill.
"Bye" said Fred.
Eric and Bill walked to wherever they were going, leaving the gang confused.
"Boy, that Bill character was such a j-erk" said Velma.
"Tell me about it" Marcie added "If he ever talks to you like that again, I'm gonna hit him right in his little pig nose"
"Anyways, what now?" Shaggy asked.
"We walk back home and investigate" said Fred "After all, that van is haunted and I don't wanna tumble down another road"
The gang started walk back home and eventually, it became dark.
"Boy, we like need new means of transportation" Shaggy said as he tried to catch his breath "Walking is for the birds"
"Yeah" Scooby tried to soothe his paw "My paw is really sore from all of it"
"And so are my feet" said Madelyn "Shaggy, would you please carry me?"
As Shaggy decides what to do, Velma and Marcie were speaking.
"Thanks for sticking up for me back there, Marie" Velma said as she smiled affectionately at her friend.
"No sweat, Velms." Marcie said. "I guess everyone's just tired and annoyed by the way the day went."
"Yeah, but thank you anyways" Velma smiled "Nobody stood up for me before. Except Madelyn, of course"
"It was nothing, Velma" Marcie blushed "You would've done the same for me"
"I think it'll be a good idea if we grab something to eat." Shaggy suggested after putting Madelyn down. "Like, all this walking made me starve!"
"Reah." Scooby agreed.
"You guys got a point." Daphne also agreed. "We could really use a meal."
"There's a nice place to eat over there" Fred pointed to a nearby pizza restaurant "We can eat over there"
"Terrific" Scooby slurped his tongue "Ret's a go!"
Just as they were about to cross the street, some glowing lights started surrounding them.
"Guys...either I'm seeing green or they need to fix the streetlights" Shaggy remarked as he saw the glowing green lights shining down on him and his friends.
"It's not just you, Shaggy." Madelyn said. "I'm seeing green too."
"Jeepers" said Daphne "Either there's a block party about to happen or something is watching us"
It was then that they started hearing the familiar sound of the engine of the Mystery Machine.
"Guys, do you hear that?" Shaggy gulped.
Everyone turned towards the source of the noise. To their shock and horror, the Mystery Machine came speeding down the road, right towards them!
"Shall I do the honors?" asked Velma.
"Be my guest" said Shaggy.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Velma shouted.
The gang started screaming and running for their lives as the glowing Mystery Machine chased them.
Author's Note:
Looks like these Mystery Kids might know something about the van and it's rumor about being haunted might be true and now, the gang is running for their lives. It looks like we'll have to stay tuned once again.