Chapter 3: At the stadium entrance and the confrontation

A short while later, the gang arrived at the Crystal Cove Terror Dome Stadium.

After parking the van, they made their way into the stadium, though as they did so, they noticed more people nearby backing away when they saw Scooby walking with them.

"Seems like a lot of people think that Scooby's the demon hound, gang." Fred observed as they continued walking.

"No doubt they've read the paper." Velma remarked as they arrived at the main entrance doors to the stadium, where they soon find the area filled with security officers and several sheriff deputies.

The moment the officers saw Scooby, they quickly swan the gang.

"Excuse me." The sergeant leading the deputies said as they approached the gang. "We kindly request that you kids surrender your dog to our custody."

The gang paused as they turned to face the officers.

"Like, you guys are out of your mind if you think Scooby is capable of damaging the storage room as if a tornado stormed through the place." Shaggy spoke first as he stood in front of Scooby, standing in the deputies' way so they can't get to Scooby.

"Well, this photo, which was taken from the surveillance footage in the storage room, disagrees with your assertion of your dog's innocence, Mr. Rogers." The sergeant retorted as he held up the photo that showed the hound trashing the storage room.

"In that case, why isn't Scooby's eyes glowing red right now?" Velma asked as she stepped up, gesturing at Scooby as she spoke.

"That's because it's daytime right now." One of the deputies said as he gestured towards the clear sky. "Obviously, that dog needs his glowing eyes in order to be able to see in the dark."

There was a deadpan from the others, even from the deputy's colleagues.

"That was the most ridiculous statement I've ever heard, Doug." A second deputy said. "You do realize that dog eyes can't glow in the dark, unless its a robot?"

Another pause went by before Doug scratched his head in embarrassment.

"But either way, we need to take your dog into custody, in case he suddenly goes berserk and causes heavy damage like the one in the stadium's storage room." The sergeant said to the gang.

"There's no way Scooby could've done this, Sergeant." Fred said as he stood in the sergeant's way. "Dogs can't do that. It's a rogue robot that did this, not Scooby."

"A robot dog gone rogue?" The sergeant asked skeptically. "This is ridiculous. If the contestants taking part in this expo has a malfunctioning robot, then they wouldn't even qualify to take part in the expo in the first place."

"I'm afraid you don't know how right you are, Sergeant." A voice suddenly said, and everyone turned and looked towards the source of the voice.

Walking towards them was a middle-aged woman with chin-length reddish-brown hair, a sharp-looking chin and nose and dressed in a business suit.

"Janet Wyatt, owner of Wyatt Technologies." The woman introduced herself as everyone turned towards her.

"The firm that built the Wyatt Robot Hound that is due to take part in the demonstration in the Robot Expo." Velma said.

"Yes." Janet nodded. "Only trouble is, our Robot Hound has went missing last night."

"Could it be the one that ransacked the stadium storage room last night, Miss Wyatt?" Daphne asked.

"Heavens, no!" Janet quickly shook her head. "If our Robot Hound went crazy and smashed around the stadium storage room like that demon hound did last night, then my firm would've been disqualified from taking part in the expo."

"However, you still have not been able to find your Robot Hound, Miss Wyatt?" The sergeant raised an eyebrow.

"That's right." Janet nodded. "My son Jason and our team of technicians are still searching for signs of him around the stadium, as that was the last place it was seen last night before it all hit the fan last night."

"Is it possible that someone tampered with your Robot Hound last night, Miss Wyatt?" Velma asked.

"Could be the case." Janet said. "Someone could've tampered it and make it run away, and there's someone I know who I'm sure will do such a thing."

"Who?" Fred asked.

"My chief competitor, Dr. Ned Staples." Janet replied, gesturing towards the main doorway just as Dr. Staples and a few of his assistants emerged from the main lobby. "Owner of Staples Technologies who designed that Mecha Mutt, speaking of the devil."

Just as she finished, Dr. Staples and his team approached them.

"I heard you mention my name, Ms. Wyatt." He said to Janet, who folded her arms and frowned. "What's this I heard about tampering with your Robot Hound that went missing last night?"

"Well, this lady here suggested that the reason why my Robot Hound went missing last night was that because someone tampered with it and make it disappear." Janet replied as she gestured towards Velma before folding her arms again and added, "And I'm looking right at someone who could've done it."

"Huh." Dr. Staples snorted. "I'm sure it wouldn't have happened if your technicians were not careless enough to leave the essential testings to the last minute, nor will it happen had your team worked out the bugs in your robots systems that made it susceptible to hacking."

"Coming from someone who had designed the cyber security system of Destroido Corp. that turned out to have a lot of software bugs that became a portal for hackers to compromise the company's computer network." Janet retorted. "If your company is eager to play dirty, then two came play the game."

"Fine by me." Dr. Staples said before noticing Scooby and added, "Say, you kids may want to get your dog on a leash in case he goes out of control."

"He's not the one that caused the commotion last night, Dr. Staples." Velma said. "And speaking of the commotion, what does your Robot Hound look like, Ms. Wyatt?"

"Well, he's supposed to look like a normal Great Dane with a blue collar." Janet replied. "Why?"

The sergeant showed her the photo of the suspected culprit responsible for the damage at the storage room the night before, and all Janet could do was gasp.

"Well, it's definitely not our missing Robot Hound." She declared. "There's no way it could go on a destructive rampage like this fella. In fact, the only robot that's capable of doing such a thing is Staples' Mecha Mutt."

"That's absurd!" Dr. Staple stormed. "Our Mecha Mutt was under lock and key the whole night."

"Well, if it wasn't either of your robots, then it could only be Mr. Rogers' dog here that did it." The sergeant said as they once again all turned towards Scooby, who whimpered and hid behind Shaggy. "This is our last warning, kids. Hand your dog over to us, or we'll have to do this the hard way."

"You're greatly mistaken, Sergeant!" Velma quickly said as the gang quickly stood in front of Scooby. "Scooby was at Shag's home at bed the whole night."

"Well, I'm sure Mr. Rogers could've paid you guys to secure your dog's alibi." The sergeant retorted as he nodded at the deputies. "Arrest that dog."

"No!" Shaggy exclaimed as he, Fred and Daphne moved to stop the deputies from trying to wrestle Scooby away from them.

"Comply, or you kids will be taken into custody as well." The sergeant said sternly. "And I'm sure the sheriff's in the mood to see you kids in our jail cells again."

"Make us!" Fred gritted his teeth as they all covered Scooby protectively.

What followed was a scuffle involving the gang and several well-armed sheriff deputies.

Uh oh. What will happen next?

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