Shaggy rocked back and forth and sobbed while his friends tried futilely to comfort him. "Oh, Scoob! Scoob, old buddy, old friend, old pal! I'm not sure I can go on without you!"

Fred placed a calming hand on Shaggy's shoulder. "We'll find Scooby. I promise."

Shaggy raised his tear-streaked face. "You think so?"

"He's our friend, too, Shaggy," Velma reminded him. "Nothing will keep us from finding him!"

A dramatic clap of thunder punctuated Velma's announcement, followed by the lights flickering suddenly before extinguishing completely! Screams and cries echoed through K-GHOUL as the building was plunged into absolute darkness.

In a minute that seemed like an eternity, the emergency lights kicked on, bathing the room in a harsh horror-movie glow. As the assembled group let out a sigh of relief, a clip-clop of heels and a bobbing flashlight beam heralded the arrival of Angela Williams.

"That storm did a number on our fuse box," she announced. "And it's about to get worse, they're saying. To be safe, we'll have to evacuate the building."

Shaggy sprang to his feet. "Like, NO WAY! I'm not leaving without Scooby!"

"Shaggy's right," Fred conceded. "There's no way we're going anywhere. Not until we find out where Scooby is."

Angela exhaled, blowing a strand of hair out of her face. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea. This place is a maze, even in the daytime. But if you're sure, we'll get everyone else out and lock the building down until the storm blows over. No one gets in. No one gets out. " The gang nodded their affirmation.

As the party guests filed out, a black-and-white police car, its siren wailing, screeched into the K-GHOUL parking lot. A uniformed officer exited the car, covered himself with his jacket and made a mad dash to the building to keep from getting wet.

"What a night for a crime," he remarked, pulling off his soaking wet jacket to reveal the familiar tousled hair of Officer Lawson. (A/N: Officer Lawson appeared in Wraithcar Driver) He bent over his damp notepad. "Okay, I got reports of a… kidnapping here?"

"More like a dog-napping," Fred interrupted.

"A dog-napping?" echoed Officer Lawson. He looked up at the assembled group and his face twisted into an ugly grimace. "Aw, criminey, why is it that there's trouble, you kids are in the thick of it?"

"I've asked myself that question for years, officer," Shaggy replied.

"All right, well, you kids had better get somewhere safe and let the professionals do the work," the officer replied as condescendingly as possible.

"With all due respect, sir," Fred interjected coldly. "We're not leaving without Scooby."

"Fine," Officer Lawson snarled, stalking back to his car. "Do what you want. You usually do anyway."

"All right," Fred announced once everyone had cleared from the building. "We've got a lot of ground to cover, so let's split up and look for clues!"

"But, like…" Shaggy began, but Fred held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't worry, Shaggy. We won't send you off alone — go with Velma and I'll go with Daphne. We'll meet back here in an hour."

As the gang went their separate ways, they were unaware that someone was tracking their every move…

Ensconced in a secret room, the howling ghoul allowed a wicked smile to slice across its glowing face. "Excellent," it hissed. "Mystery Incorporated, you have meddled for the last time." The beast turned to a cage in the corner, where a muzzled Scooby whined in fright. "And as for you, my cowardly canine…"