Meet My Student

by The Brod Road

Originally a request response, now a 5-story series of unconnected One-Shots. Mystery Inc comes across one of Shaggy's former students from Grimwood's Finishing School. How will life continue with a Ghoul in tow? Shaggy/Grimwood Ghouls, a different Ghoul per chapter. Update: It's finally Tanis time. PLUS a... "special" bonus chapter!

4. Sibella

Disclaimer: If I owned anything, I wish I owned the concept of intrusive ads on YouTube videos so I can banish that for good.

Meet My Student: Sibella

Transylvania: often haunted, never duplicated. This was mostly because of the proclaimed ruler and dictator of the land, Lord Dracula, the master of all vampires. Now usually in the past few decades, the instances of supernatural attacks on the human towns and villages were kept to a minimal, as Dracula was content with his domain for the time being. However, within the last week, hordes of the undead attacked the towns, for reasons unknown beside the speculation of their unholy hunger for flesh.

After a few days of horror and mayhem, one man carved a path of vengeance, littered with the carcasses of zombies and demons of different kinds. His destination was obvious: The large looming castle that oversees all of the relatively small region. He knew something like this would happen. It had happened before. Hell, his ancestors had to deal with the rage of Dracula before. But unlike the legends, it would seem the vampire had decided to strike a lot earlier than expected.

Nonetheless, it was time to take up the whip and his special weapon…a giant sharpened spatula? Whatever his fighting mastery turned out to be, he would vanquish this evil or his name wasn't Juese Belmont. (1)

Deep inside the Gothic monstrosity of a palace, one of the handful of sentient beings amongst the thousands of undead in general was sealed away in her bedroom, guarded by some large ugly brute of a demon lurking outside it, a security measure by her crazed dipshit of a father. Trapped in her spacious, fancy bedroom, unable to leave because the 'king' of Transylvania was immature enough to throw a temper tantrum, raze the surrounding villages, and end up provoking the humans enough for some to strike back. And for what? His bimbo of a mistress being caught cheating on him with a human? Not that surprising that she would do that, as it was obvious that she was vapid as the night was long.

That all led to the castle being under siege, despite humans being physically weaker than many monster species and their lack of any mystical abilities. They could fight, that was true. There were the legends about her father's failed attempts to conquer the world before she was born, all foiled by humans of a certain bloodline. Sibella Dracula sighed in annoyance for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. What happened to the Dracula of legend that wouldn't let such trivial matters bother him to the point of needless rage? This was worse than the rumor of a botched monster road race years ago while she was with her biological mother. Another plan foiled by a nameless human, so she heard…

As she thought about the situation, a loud roar was heard from outside. Her guard's warning against an intruder, soon to be followed by noises of fighting. At least one human was near her room, possibly wanting to kill her if he somehow gets past whatever hellspawn Dracula had set in place. She had to leave, to find safety somehow. Moving to her large bookshelf, she quickly perused the titles on the spines of her massive collection of times before she came across the one she was looking for. Yanking it out, she flipped the pages of what was revealed to be a spell book. She needed either a way out or a guardian of her own to keep her safe. If the intruder(s) got this far in, then her father's chosen minion might not be enough to spare her from a grave misunderstanding.

After all, she sorely disagreed with Dracula's views and wanted no part of his vile scheme. He was family and she didn't mind living at home until this started, but familial love had its limits. The sound of fierce combat drew louder, straining Sibella's nerves as she skimmed through her spell book. 'Let's see… Thunder bolt, fireball, mind control, summon zombie, transformation, plant growth, the Midas touch, cleaning spells, cure all ailments with Esuna, flight, meteor… There has to be something!' she mentally read and concluded as she ran her eyes through titles, spell components, and descriptions.

Finally, she came across a suitable piece of arcane magic. It was described as a way to teleport the user to somewhere his or her heart truly believed to be completely safe. A veritable 'happy place', if one were to use such sappy terminology. A couple of places came to mind, but it didn't matter where the spell would take her, as long as it was away from her potential killer.

Thanking her luck that the spell only required the book itself and the words of the spell to be uttered, the purple vampire wasted little time in gathering a few necessities. A howl of agony was heard, the death scream of the beast guarding her room as she closed the small bag of things. Picking up the open spell book, Sibella started reciting the spell as a loud thud came from the door, the 'hero' trying to kick it open.

As she uttered the words, a few thoughts came to her mind. First was another futile question of how petty her father was, followed immediately by her pity for the poor local humans subjected to his pathetic wrath. She had heard of a mid-life crisis, but this was disgraceful. Whatever happened to just dealing with the one offending human, if need be? She was glad that she was taught better, which made her think of her old school days. How she missed her friends so… Maybe this spell would take her to one of them! That would be, as she would phrase it, 'fang-tastic'.

She spoke the last word of the incantation just as the door finally gave way to the angry human's force. Before the enemy could properly take in the surroundings, what looked like a purple lightning bolt struck Sibella from above, the bolt and the vampire vanishing just as quickly. Juese Belmont cursed to himself, what may have been potential prey escaping him. He consoled himself with the fact that whoever it was that had teleported away, it definitely wasn't Dracula. There was still a chance to finish him…

Sibella felt like she was flying and falling at the same time, the confusing array of glowing auras and other strange, mystical phenomena not unlike what some describe the experience of going through a magical vortex or traveling through the time-space continuum. She tried waving her limbs around to get some sort of balance or bearing, but to no avail. Wherever she was going, she was stuck going in whatever direction the spell was taking her, if she was even actually going in any direction. Who knows what earthly laws applied while she was in this wormhole or warp or whatever this was?

It didn't matter in the long run. As long as her destination was somewhere safe, preferably with friends nearby. It was obvious that she wouldn't be able to go home for a long time, no matter which side won.

Her surroundings shifted, almost like forming some sort of opening. That must be her exit. Guess it was time to see where her magics have taken her…

It was supposed to be another run-of-the-mill monster mystery. This time it was allegedly a two-headed orc terrorizing a small town over some legendary buried treasure. A stretch of the imagination, for sure. A couple of hours later and Mystery Inc had the monster cornered in a trap by, of course, having Shaggy and Scooby lure it into a certain area. In this case, the gang had a simple snare trap set up. As basic as it was, it succeeded at catching the monster and leaving him hanging upside down in the air, the orc head helmet fell off to reveal the perpetrator.

However, the resident cowards hadn't considered the fact that they were living in the advent of people adamantly defending the Second Amendment with more and more people being armed with firearms. The hanging criminal managed to draw a pistol, angrily demanding his freedom and their money. Shaggy and Scooby had their hands (paws) up but refused to let him down. The criminal aimed at the "damn hippie" (his words) and was ready to fire. Shaggy cringed, hoping behind hope that he would miss. Understandably, the others had probably seem this development and hadn't come out from their hiding spots, perhaps trying to figure out a way to disarm him.

But that was not to be. Despite the weather being a clear starry night, a loud clap of thunder burst overhead, causing everyone to look skyward in confusion. A few moments passed and something fell toward the three. The odd event turned out to be quite a stroke of luck for Shaggy and Scooby as the something landed right on the hanging criminal, stressing the snare rope to the point of snapping. The criminal and the very-purple something landed with a thud on the ground, the fake monster knocked out as a result.

The fallen thing started to move with a definitely female groan. "Wha… What happened…?" the mystery woman asked in a weary tone.

"Zoinks! Like, it's a person, Scoob!" Shaggy reacted, wondering how somebody fell right out of the sky like that.

The dazed woman began lifting herself up from the cushion that was the criminal. "Mmm… Where have I heard that voice before…?" It was apparent to the duo that she seemed a little disoriented. Shaggy approached her to help, getting a closer view of her. In the moonlight, he could make out that she had long thick hair and she had an affinity for purple. It seemed familiar…

"Like, are you ok, miss?" he asked, offering a hand to help her stand up. She noticed the hand and took it. As Shaggy pulled her up to her feet, their eyes met. The woman's haunting eyes widened, as if in recognition. She gently put a hand on his cheek.

"I'm not seeing things… It IS you, Coach. I'm so glad…" she said before losing her balance and falling forward, Shaggy catching her. It was at this point that Fred, Daphne, and Velma came out of their vantage points and approached.

"What the heck was that? I mean, I'm glad it ended up stopping the gunman, but… uhh… who's that?" Fred asked, not seeing the woman leaning on Shaggy until they got closer.

"Like, believe it or not, an old friend."

Minutes later, when the gang entered the Mystery Machine to take the crook to the town's police station, three out of the five members were surprised to see by the van's indoor light that Shaggy's friend had purple skin. They had thought it was due to the dim moonlight being pretty much the only source of light in the outskirts of the town. She appeared to be wearing a fancy Gothic dress of black with shades of purple. It reminded them of the styles of their musical friends, the Hex Girls, when they did one of their more extravagant performances. Her obviously expensive attire combined with her complexion made them curious of how and where Shaggy had met such a woman.

"So, uhh… You know this lady, Shaggy?" Daphne asked, being the one to finally break the ice. Shaggy kept the woman's items, a small backpack and an ancient-looking book, close to him as he kept an eye on the woman. She had regained some of her bearings, enough to think straight again. Teleporting was convenient but she would prefer a good flight in her bat form next time. The book said nothing of disorientation….

"Ugh… Shaggy, would you mind if I field this question? I'll be fine. Just weary."

"Uhh… Sure, Sibella." he answered with a smile. He had recognized her after she had referred to him as 'Coach'. She had definitely grown up. The vampire smiled back, glad that he had remembered her.

"Ahem… I do hope you pardon my intrusion into your lives like this, but I was in distress and needed to escape. I wasn't sure where I was going to end up when I cast my spell. All I knew for sure was that it was designed to take me to a friend or a place that would keep me safe. Looks like I know why it dropped me off here. In any case, I am Sibella Dracula and I know your friend well, since he was my school's gym teacher some years ago."

"Whoa! You were a teacher?" Daphne asked, not having recalled any point in time he might have mentioned it.

"Jinkies… Dracula? So, are you…?" Velma hesitantly put forth.

"Nice going, Shaggy. It's not every day that a grown schoolgirl comes to visit her teacher after graduation." Fred said, chuckling. Sibella giggled at the blond's remark as Shaggy placed a palm over his face.

"To answer the brunette's question first, you are correct. I am indeed a vampire." To emphasize he answer, she grinned, revealing her noticeable fangs. "But you needn't worry about your blood. One of the things I've learned at school is that there are other ways for me to get nourishment other than forcibly. Besides, any friend of my dear Coach is an ally of mine." she concluded, adding a much-friendlier smile for effect. Shaggy took that as his cue to introduce the others to her. Sibella politely greeted each human as Shaggy introduced them, getting a friendly acknowledgement in response.

"Coach, huh? Who knew gym would be your thing, Shaggy?" Fred joked as he pulled into the town's police station parking lot.

"Like, I thought it'd be fairly easy, since we do run around a lot and I do keep in shape. I didn't know the problem wasn't going to be the exercising." the foodie snickered as Fred parked the van and opened his door.

The conversation halted as the gang took care of turning in the criminal they had caught, much to Sibella's curiosity. The vampire elected to remain in the van with Shaggy and Scooby, as to not draw any unwanted attention to herself.

"Your friends seem interesting, Shaggy. Have you known them long?" Sibella asked while they were alone.

"Like, yeah. Since we were children." Shaggy replied, smiling at fond memories. Sibella gently cut off his nostalgic train of thought with another question.

"So, uhh… May I ask what you all were up to when I… 'dropped in'?"

"Heh… Well, we're actually glad that you showed up. Believe it or not, like, you actually saved our lives by dropping on that guy. Ya see, we're a traveling band of paranormal mystery solvers. Like, at least we have the reputation of one and decided to go with it. We would travel around and end up coming across towns that are, like, haunted by something. So we would kinda poke around and end up running into whatever creep's freaking everyone out. Uhh… Long story short, we'd end up catching him and a lot of times, it turns out to be some human in a costume wanting everyone else out of town for some reason. Usually treasure or something."

"That sounds quite disingenuous of them to do. Are any of these frauds actually accurate? It is absurd enough that some people would sully the dignity of monsters for petty gains." Sibella's disdain was understandable to Shaggy, knowing that she had come from a high class of vampire.

"Well, I dunno about accuracy, but they were, at least, pretty scary. Like, until we got their masks off, of course."

"Rake or rot, rey rill ranted to ret us…" Scooby chimed in.

"Too true, Scoob. But this guy you dropped on… Like, if you hadn't came along, we would've been shot to death! We had him in a classic snare trap, but he had a gun concealed on him. He, like, drew it on us and wanted to be let down. We weren't gonna do that, man. But, before he fired, well… here you are!"

Sibella's eyes were wide. She had no idea that her escape from the invading vampire slayer would end up saving the life of her old gym teacher. She didn't even want to imagine what would have happened had Dracula not invaded the rest of Transylvania in the first place. "Oh my… I'm glad I could lend a wing then!" she replied, flustered.

"And, like, I thank you for it." Shaggy said, grateful. The flustered vampire couldn't help but blush a little at his praise. She had thought she had gotten over her old schoolgirl crush on the one-semester teacher, figuring that she wouldn't ever run into him again, what with his travels and her responsibility as vampire princess since graduating (not to mention, his possible and understandable reluctance to come visit her because of her intimidating legend of a father). But perhaps she still had those feelings.

A couple of minutes later, the other humans reentered the Mystery Machine and the gang had resumed their journey toward wherever the road might take them. Turning the radio on to a reasonable volume (putting it on a classic rock station, of course), the gang settled in for a good drive. Feeling like continuing the conversation, Sibella was the first to speak. "Shaggy tells me that you all run a sort of detective agency, yes?"

"Indeed, we do. We call ourselves Mystery Inc. We didn't think we'd end up making a bit of a career out of it, but as luck would have it, we just kept running into one costumed kook after another in our travels. Of course, there were a few times when we did run into some real monsters…" Velma explained, turning to look back at the foodie, the vampire, and the dog from her front seat.

Sibella had to smirk. "Oh, I can certainly tell there would have been a few of those. Like how Shaggy met me."

"Speaking of which, I think you three were just about to tell us about that." Daphne interjected, remembering where the original chat had trailed off when they made their stop.

"Ah, yes. I remember that day vividly. Our headmistress, Ms. Grimwood, had informed us that we would finally be getting a new gym teacher. We were slightly understaffed that year and Ms. Grimwood wasn't exactly a spry one. Not that she was elderly, of course. In any case, some of us were excited for the prospect of somebody new coming. I think Winnie wanted someone new to match physical wits against. Werewolves, am I correct…? Heh… And Phantasma so looked forward to a new playmate. She's a phantom. It was interesting to find out that the new coach was actually a human. The poor dear was so scared when he first showed up and met us." Sibella giggled as she mentioned the last part.

Shaggy's head sunk as he groaned. Just because he was a coward didn't mean he liked being ribbed about it. But the truth was the truth. "Yeah… I thought the sign out front was, like, a joke or something. 'Finishing School for Ghouls'… Then again, like, I probably should have guessed from the building looking like a giant haunted house…"

Velma and Daphne snickered. "Well, look before you leap, Shaggy." Daphne playfully advised.

"So, like, I knock on the door and Ms. G invites us in. She was a sweet lady, despite the building she lived in. She went over some things and then tried to introduce us to the students. Uhh… That didn't end well at first." Shaggy continued, chuckling nervously in embarrassment.

"To be fair, I probably shouldn't have made my entrance in my bat form… But alas. Let's just say that I got an immediate demonstration of how athletic he could be. Fast runner, this one." Sibella said as she looked Shaggy over. He didn't seem to have changed much at all since her time in school. Just as lanky and somewhat boyish as ever. His business probably kept him on his toes quite literally, she figured.

"Like, it took me a little while to realize that they weren't out to get me, but when I did, things were copacetic enough, considering. Well, except for Matches, Ms. G's pet dragon… That little guy never really liked us, did he, Scoob?"

"Rire reath..." Scooby grumbled, still a little afraid of when somebody or something gets literally red in the face because of that little dragon's antics.

"Yep, Scoob. Fire breath… Like, not fun. But other than that, the girls were actually pretty cool. Obviously, there was Sibella here. Then there was Winnie the werewolf. Man, was she, like, feisty! Then there was Phantasma. Like, she was pretty nutty, but likable. Um… No offense to her, but just don't get her to sing… Elsa was the egghead of the bunch, but that was kinda obvious for what she was. Like, you'd have to be smart to maintain yourself when you're the created offspring of Frankenstein and his Bride. Finally, there was Tanis, like, the youngest of the class. She's a mummy. A pretty shy one, but very adorable."

"A class of five? At least that seems quite manageable, considering the whole monster thing." Daphne mused.

"Yeah. Imagine if it was the size of a public school class." Fred added, snickering as he saw Shaggy pale in the rear view mirror.

"Like, don't even joke, man! That would be rough." Shaggy groused, grabbing a loose box of Scooby Snacks and absently munching on one. Curious, Sibella reached into the box and pulled out one of the little biscuits, looking it over.

"What amazed us was the fact that Shaggy not only stayed around to teach, despite his fears, but he also wanted to get to know us. He began seeing us as fellow people, not as things to be scared of, unlike some other humans. Believe me, the five of us had run into our share of human cowards and even a bigot or two. So a friendly human was a huge benefit for us, very compatible with Ms. Grimwood's insistence on the belief of coexistence."

"That's our Shaggy alright. Easy to scare, but a heart of gold." Velma proudly confirmed.

"Indeed. In fact, his teaching and care helped us get over some bullying that we had been subjected to for a while at that time. Nearby our school was another school, a military school for human boys. They were quite intolerable… Pulling immature pranks, calling us names, pushing us around, the sort of thing that you might have heard about other human kids at that age." She lamented before eating the Scooby Snack.

"Yeah, bullying is a problem within some human schools. It's the kind of thing that unfortunately keeps lingering around." Velma admitted. "What happened with your bullies?"

"Well, to settle the feud, our headmasters had scheduled a volleyball match to take place near the end of the semester. To put the long story short, Shaggy's exercise regimen and inspiration helped us win the match. We couldn't have done it without him. It's nice to have someone to help fly you out of a slump. I know that was a while back, but thank you again, Shaggy." she concluded, smiling warmly at the foodie, her fangs peeking out in a way that Shaggy found to be a nice touch.

"Um, like, no need to thank me again, Sibella…" Shaggy replied, not expecting to be put in any sort of metaphorical spotlight.

"Aren't we the modest one." the vampire remarked, giving him a pat on the back. "By the way, what's in these Scooby Snacks of yours? I tried one and I suddenly seem more alert."

"Oddly enough, we're not sure." Velma answered with a shrug. "We've… just always had them. It helped Shaggy and Scooby get over their fear when they needed a boost." The mystery of what exactly were Scooby Snacks was as unexplainable as the reason why criminals seemed to feel the need to dress up as local monster legends. Perhaps the word of Mystery Inc's deeds still hadn't become mainstream knowledge. Most likely, most crooks had that 'It'll never happen to me!' way of thinking…

"So what happened after that, Shaggy? Was the job only for one semester?" Fred asked before the others could think too much about the unexplained mysteries of their lives.

"Ms. G did want to keep us around, like, since she was impressed with all that we had done. But… well… uh… I thought one year was good enough." Shaggy answered, a little too quickly for some of the occupants of the van. They knew Shaggy well enough to know that he was covering up something, most likely another embarrassing moment. Unfortunately for Shaggy and Scooby, Sibella remembered too well what happened.

"Oh, there's no need to hide, Shaggy… I understood your concerns perfectly well. After all, the new students that showed up for next semester weren't exactly as… sophisticated as we were. Ugh… I wish I could have fled with you." Sibella frowned as she recalled the new students she had to share the school with when the new year began.

"Like, really? They were that bad?"

"The aliens, for example… They got into everything. Too curious for their own good. That eventually came back to haunt them… Uhh… Oh bats, this is awkward… They kept trying to see what we looked like naked, presumably for their research. I hope they added to their knowledge the scientific fact that werewolves do NOT like being poked and prodded 'down there' against their will."

"Zoinks!"

"The others were little better. It was a rough year. Ms Grimwood eventually had to expel the whole batch of students for their own misbehavior. And then the year after… Remember those bullies I had mentioned? They had the nerve to try to ask us out on dates. Repeatedly… I'm sorry but I refuse to be courted by a Neanderthal just because he notices my growing body." she stated, waving a hand down to indicate her body, which Shaggy couldn't help but notice was very well-developed. "The others felt the same way, although Phantasma had a few creative ideas to give them the worst dates they've ever had. I put a stop to her schemes, though. I felt that her actions would just reinforce their previous negative views about monster-kind. Some firm lectures were quite enough."

"Gee, I would think they would be. Some guys do have a hard time accepting the word 'no'." added Daphne, recalling the few times she had to put her foot down on guys she rejected. None of them had been a particularly fun experience.

"Looking back on it… It did kind of help drive the point home when I kindly informed them of what my father would do to boys that hurt me, if I were to tell him. He was as powerful as the legends said, after all." Sibella couldn't help but smirk with pride at the memory of the scared looks of the Calloway Cadets. Why hadn't she brought the subject up in the first place?

Velma, being ever so observant, noticed something about her choice of words. "What do you mean by 'was', Sibella?"

And there it was. The reason why she was reunited with her coach in the first place. Her proper posture slumped with a sudden bout of worry. "Ah… That. Yes… Well… There's a problem back home in Transylvania… A big problem." Her voice was suddenly dulled, with noticeable sorrow. With that, she began to tell of Dracula's temper and sudden war against the local humanity, the invasion of the Dracula family home, and her narrow escape from certain death at the hands of a righteously vengeful human warrior. The gang could tell that, as annoyed and fed up with the elder vampire's short fuse as she was, she did still worry about him. He was family, legendary villain or not.

Of course, Shaggy had bad memories of Sibella's father, having not forgotten a certain road race involving a certain werewolf curse… A small part of him did feel somewhat satisfied that someone was taking it to him for a change. After all, his temper did end up killing innocent people in this latest development. Still, he understood why Sibella would be concerned. It was kind of funny to try and imagine Dracula himself as a family man, though.

"…and I figure I'll be here for a few days until this blows over and it's safe to go back. Either father wins this battle or I'm coming home to an empty castle… We shall see, I suppose. Um… In the meantime, would it be alright if I stayed with you and your friends, Shaggy? I could certainly use some good company and your journey might help me get my mind off of this." Sibella asked, turning her pleading eyes toward her favorite foodie. Looking into said eyes, Shaggy just couldn't say no to her, which prompted certain 'whipped' jokes from Fred and even a jab from Daphne about how some nice guys can never resist when a woman turns on the ol' waterworks, embarrassing both Shaggy and Sibella to the sounds of Scooby's signature laugh.

And so, the vampire became part of Mystery Inc.

The next night, the group's luck with stumbling into supposedly haunted areas by chance proved to be true yet again as they stopped at a hotel for the night. Three rooms, they had rented. One for Velma, one for Fred and Daphne, and the third for Shaggy, Sibella, and Scooby. The vampire had insisted on Shaggy's room, even though Velma had thought to keep the remaining women in the same room. But who was she to tell vampire royalty what to do? Besides, it was just Shaggy. Nothing perverted would happen, that much was definite.

But before the group could get much sleep, they met the reason why the innkeeper was grumbling about extremely low business as of late: A deranged, zombified bellhop who attacked people with glowing suitcases. But, unlike most of their mysteries, this monster caper was put to a sudden halt when he had loudly burst into Shaggy's room and scared him. For what else would make a better bodyguard than a vampire?

The ghoulish bellhop hadn't even swung one suitcase before it found itself grabbed by the neck by a very purple woman, somehow cutting off its air supply even though she grabbed him with one hand. In the dark, her eyes seemed to glow an eerie green. "You dare disturb our sleep? What's the meaning of this, you cur? Do you not have a master, lost soul?" she scolded as if she were back home and one of Dracula's minions had done something foolish.

"Le….ggh…Lemme go…" a voice gurgled out. Shaggy, having realized with a little surprise that Sibella had the situation under control, realized that this was yet another human playing at being a monster. That voice sounded a little too healthy to be a zombie, even with Sibella's grip constricting his throat.

"You can talk. Astounding, for a supposedly mindless zombie. I believe I was told of people like you from my friends… Humans that put on costumes to scare others for petty reasons. What filth…" Loosening her grip on the neck while maintaining her hold, she used her other hand to rip the mask off, revealing a scared middle-aged man underneath. "See? Not so scary anymore, are you? I believe we should hand you over to the authorities now, yes Shaggy?"

"Uh… Like… Yeah…" He couldn't take his eyes off of her, seeing her take control of the situation like that. A part of him figured that it was just her using her natural vampire abilities of speed and strength to subdue the crook. But another part of him still thought, even though he could only make out silhouettes, her display of power was….sexy.

"Hmm… Won't you be a dear and fetch the local police while I secure the prisoner?" Sibella suggested, not taking her eyes off the scared perpetrator. Shaggy agreed, turned on a light to find his phone, and picked it up from the nightstand to dial 911. A quick look around the room revealed just the thing Sibella could use to present the very-much-alive bellhop 'monster' to the cops. With unnatural speed and a flurry of bedsheets, Sibella tied the criminal up in such a way where his arms and legs were completely bound behind him. It almost looked like the kind of rope-tying used to prepare a prisoner for old-school torture.

"There. One criminal, fang-tastically packaged." Sibella exclaimed with pride.

"Wha… What the hell are you?!" the criminal gasped in fright, getting a clearer look at Sibella's purple complexion in the light, which was a lot more evident since she had changed into a simple nightgown (obviously purple) that she had packed for her escape. The crook also couldn't help but notice the little white points that were her fangs protruding from her mouth as she smirked at her rope-tying effort.

"Oh, nothing you need to worry too much about. Just a REAL monster… But you should be lucky. My friend over there, a human, and his dog would be very disappointed if I were to do something… horrific…" Sibella trailed off cryptically, putting on a sinister fanged sneer to scare him in hopes that this crook wouldn't want to try breaking the law again.

The criminal quivered with fear as he tried to imagine what she'd try to do with those sharp teeth. With her captive suitably cowed, Sibella turned her attention to Shaggy and Scooby, the foodie having finished his call a minute ago. "All set, Shaggy. Are they on their way?"

"Like, yep. Wow, Sibella, that was… That was pretty awesome." Shaggy said in awe. Sibella blushed a little. "Oh, that? Um… That was nothing, Shaggy… Just defending us." She suddenly found the floor interesting as Shaggy's praise echoed in her head.

"Like, yeah, but the way you just went up and got him… I could never do that. I mean, like, I know you're a vampire and have these abilities and all, but…" Shaggy stopped, feeling awkward and unsure of what to say. He knew what he felt about it but wasn't sure how to properly express it.

"I understand…" Sibella said quietly, her face now a mix of purple and red. Inside, her head was in the clouds. Her former coach thought she was cool. Her! For a moment, she had thought it was merely because he was a human and all helpful super-abilities would seem amazing to him anyway in a 'grass is greener on the other side' kind of way. But it wasn't like this was his first time around friendly monsters, of course. He had seen her class' abilities in action before. Not to mention, a couple of the stories that he and his friends had told her while traveling in the van… So for him to consider her, out of all monsters he'd met, to be awesome was…. fang-tastic! At least, that was the conclusion she decided to go with.

"Dammit, when did this turn into a bad chick flick? Get a freakin' room, idiots!" the criminal piped up, his fear diminished by the awkward scene happening mere feet from him. "How rude…" Sibella muttered. Moment: ruined.

"Like, we are in one…" Shaggy shot back timidly. Scooby snickered at the criminal having the obvious be pointed out to him.

"Ris guy rants a ree row…" the dog joked, still snickering.

"A free show?" Shaggy questioned, his face blushing as much as Sibella. "Like, Scoob, we're not…. It's not like… umm…"

"Shaggy, it's ok. I know it's a joke. After all, we've only just reunited. It certainly wouldn't be proper, especially with a captive audience. Let us take this guy down to the lobby to meet the officers when they get here." Sibella said, taking charge of this sudden farce as she picked the tied criminal up with ease and left the room.

Before they left to follow her, a confused Shaggy turned to Scooby. "Like, way to go, Scoob… I think we weirded her out, man."

"Ro re ridn't… Re rid." Scooby defended, pointing to where the criminal was tied up moments ago.

"Sigh… Let's just go down and take care of this and then we can all get some sleep." he said, the two of them exiting to follow their purple friend.

The next morning brought a continuation of their journey as Fred, Daphne, and Velma were surprised by Shaggy's tale of the events of the previous night. Apparently, Shaggy's room had been the first stop in the criminal's nightly scheme. His last stop for quite some time, after what happened. Sibella blushed again at Shaggy's continued appraisal of the way she subdued the fake zombie. To her, it almost sounded like he was proud of her. As a former teacher would be proud of a former student, she thought at one point. She began to wonder exactly how Shaggy saw her. As a vampire? Still that schoolgirl he had met those years ago? Or perhaps as a potential mate? Not for the first time in recent days, she begun to think of what might happen if he was indeed interested…

Back in the Mystery Machine, as they headed toward their next destination, Shaggy had a chance to ask Sibella something he was curious about. "Hmm… Hey, Sibella, do you know, like, what the others have been up to since you graduated?"

Sibella smiled at such a pleasant topic. "Oh, yes. I have been in regular contact with them since then. Such adventures they have gotten themselves into. It's so batty! Let's see… Little Tanis learned to fully overcome her timidity, thanks mostly to your inspiration when you taught us. She actually runs her own podcast, only broadcasted to monster frequencies. It's mostly about monster pop-culture, but her topics vary. Although, I think she misunderstands what podcast means… She actually has this pod she goes inside to broadcast her stuff. Hehe… Always so adorable, that little mummy." the vampire gushed, remembering when she and Tanis crammed inside the pod the undead Egyptian thought she had to have for her show. Sort of like cramming into a mall photo booth.

"Wow! Is it popular?" Daphne asked, impressed with how adaptable monsters can be. Podcast mummies! What next?

"It's gaining some ground, last I heard. Although she does have some competitors. I shouldn't be surprised at that. After all, podcasting is the current thing, yes? But I have faith she can thrive." Timid or not, Sibella knew that Tanis was not one to give up.

"Like, that's wonderful of her. Glad to see her come out of her shell." Shaggy said, his pride as a teacher beginning to grow.

"Indeed. Hmm… Winnie became the first werewolf to go into the human sport of… what was it again? Mixed Martial Arts? Yes, I do believe that was it. She always did have a penchant for getting physical with others, although most would contribute that to her species' nature. She hasn't gotten much success as far as mainstream popularity yet, but she suspects that might not be any of her own fault. She mentions in one of her recent letters of this one famous human that transferred to her sport from a completely different one and the management treated him like some sort of royalty (2). Perhaps it is indeed all in who you know…"

"Heh. I always thought she liked playing rough a little too much." Shaggy remarked with a chuckle.

"How about that, Fred? Now that sounds like a strong woman." Daphne chimed in, just busting her boyfriend's chops a little.

"Yeah. I don't think I want to even picture the idea of what could happen if she lost a match. Werewolves do have tempers, right?" the blond asked, beginning to wonder if this Winnie's opponents threw their matches because of her species.

"Indeed they do. But I know Winnie. She likes a good challenge. She'd take her rage out on training equipment. Or in bed with a lucky guy." Sibella giggled. Her blunt friend had decided not to skimp on the fact that she had taken someone to her kennel, so to speak. Her latest letter had said that she had finally made their relationship official when he, a human, allowed her to turn him with a bite.

"Too much information, Sibella. Who's next?" Shaggy asked, chuckling along.

"Well, Phantasma had a bit of trouble, but she came out smelling like nightshade. Or roses, as you humans might phrase it. Long story short, she ended up forcing her way to being the lead songstress for a heavy metal band, the only genre of human music that can handle her banshee style singing. Oh, no worries, though. Her music isn't all doom-and-gloom like some heavy metal bands tend to get. She tends to make her songs cover the spectrum of moods. Almost as erratically as she herself behaves, as a matter of fact. We should attend a concert sometime, Shaggy." Now there was a thought: Sibella and her favorite human, alone in a mass of concert goers with the melodies of her ghostly friend accompanying their time together.

"Like, yeah. That might be fun."

"As for Elsa, she has managed to successfully blend in with humanity so far in her current goal of seeing the world. She travels from one famous locale to another, to see the sights and to learn the ways of humanity. Being one of a kind, aside from her parents, Elsa figures that learning to be more human might be beneficial for her. She sent us postcards as she went. Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Moscow, Las Vegas, and more."

"Wow. Glad to hear there's another traveler out there, enjoying life while she can." Daphne said, waxing poetic about the gang's own fondness of travel. Got to respect the love of the open road, after all.

"Yes. Hmm… Elsa is a good person, but she's very to-the-point during conversation. It will be interesting to see if her travels helped increase her social skills to include nuances like subtlety, slang, and perhaps some puns."

"Or she could, like, just learn how to make her point in multiple languages." Shaggy jokes.

"Fair point." Sibella giggled.

After that, the conversation trailed off toward questions about Sibella herself and what it was like being Dracula's daughter, which the purple vampire didn't mind answering despite her worries about how her home was faring.

The next morning, Sibella was able to get answers to her nagging concerns when she mentally sensed a change occurring. It had to do with her link to her father and their mystical castle. What she sensed didn't seem to be very positive, a factor that Shaggy and Scooby noticed when they saw her suddenly change facial expressions during breakfast.

"Like, what's wrong, Sibella? Something wrong with your egg and sausage sandwich?" Shaggy asked, hoping it was nothing more than an undercooked meal.

"No, Shaggy… It's over. The conflict at home, that is. The battle is finally over. But I don't like what I'm feeling… I think…. I think Father may have lost." She felt a wave of sorrow. Sure, her father had a vastly different world view than her, to the point of blatant disagreement and the occasional outrage. But she knew he was always proud of her and her accomplishments.

Shaggy put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he sat next to her, his past encounter with the Lord of Vampires making him unsure of what to say. "Like… I'm sorry, Sibella…"

"Jinkies… Dracula himself, defeated in combat? That almost seems unthinkable." Velma remarked, recalling how powerful the legends usually made him out to be.

"Does this mean you have to go home?" Daphne asked. The redhead had gotten to like Sibella already after convincing her to join her and Daphne for some girl talk the previous night. She admired the vampire's fashion sense and classy-yet-friendly personality.

"I will. But…" she trailed off, seemingly torn. Velma, noticing that her gaze kept drifting toward the food-obsessed man next to her, ventured a guess. "You don't really feel like leaving your friend behind, huh?" Sibella shook her head.

"Well, you can just teleport back here, right…?" Fred asked, figuring that transportation spells can take someone anywhere at will.

"It depends. Going home is no problem. Usually, when casting teleportation spells, one would have to know the general area of where you want to go but since you're all travelers... it doesn't really help me focus on where I want to go because I don't know this area at all. I could use the same spell I used to get to you in the first place, but after reading the spell, I could end up being sent randomly to another of my friends and I'd have to try to track you down if I were to try to get back to you. Maybe if I focus on Shaggy while casting it… I've haven't had much reason to use this spellbook. On the other wing, I could try to sense Shaggy's location and go from there, but… Transylvania is a long way from America."

"Yeah, that would be a long flight…" Daphne said, imagining Sibella having a long plane trip with so many typical airplane/airport problems. Misplaced luggage, being crammed in Coach, perhaps being selected for additional screening because of her foreign heritage and purple complexion…

"Quite. I don't think my wings would have had such a workout." Sibella mused, causing Daphne to go a little red in embarrassment, having forgotten that the vampire could just morph into a bat and fly.

"Hmm…. Like, I got it! We're actually not too far away from our hometown right now. You can go check on things and, like, we'll just hang at our place until ya come back. I can even get you a map of the region to help you find our city if you have to go the long way." Shaggy suggested.

"That's a good idea. If anything major happens, I will send word."

Sibella's return home was eventful and lasted a couple of days. Her first discovery of the apparent human victory over the undead was right upon arrival. There was no castle left at all. Only a few small pieces of ruin that looked like they had just sat there for centuries undisturbed. Oh, and the scattered piles of possessions that now lay on the ground, of course. Dracula's castle was said to be magically linked to the vampire himself, changing ever so often whenever its master beckoned it to. No castle would most likely mean…no Dracula.

After her disorientation from teleporting wore off, as well as the shock of her home suddenly being nonexistent, it didn't take her very long to find what happened to her father. The stubborn master of her species was found impaled by what appeared to be an enlarged version of a shish-kebob skewer, another of the strange food-based weaponry that the lone warrior was reported to be wielding. It wasn't hard to identify him from his familiar clothes and the obvious fangs, despite having degenerated to nothing more than a skeleton.

She expected to feel grief over his apparent death. And she was indeed sad. But her sorrow was tempered with annoyance over what led to this fate. If only he would have just… Cutting her mental rant short, she quietly chided herself, having gone down that path enough times. Falling to her knees, she let herself go and cried. His final week of actions may not have been the most honorable, but he was still her father.

Her grief attracted the attention of a couple of Dracula's leftover minions, having the fortune to survive both the human warrior and the fall to the ground via disappearing castle. A zombie and a living suit of armor. It didn't take them long to follow the sounds of sniffling and sobbing. They came across the familiar sight of their master's daughter. 'Finally, someone from our side.' they probably would have e thought if they had sentient intelligence. They stood over Sibella, expecting a command or at least recognition.

A couple of moments later, the purple vampiress realized that she had company. Rubbing the tears out of her eyes, she noticed the two undead and counted herself fortunate, for she would need help in formally disposing of her father's body. She momentarily wondered if she had official command over her father's horde, now that he had passed. For all she knew, these two merely recognized her as an authority figure in general. Dracula had not taken the opportunity to explain what would happen upon his death, as proud as he was of her being next in line. Ego had a tendency to not take such bad outcomes into consideration…

She gave her new 'friends' a couple of orders. The suit of armor was to find her father's coffin/bed, which it had no problem locating after ten minutes of exploring the wide expanse of flatland, ruin, and scattered possessions. The zombie was to dig a hole for the grave, which it frantically started to do with its bare hands, almost like a dog would. When the armor dragged the coffin over, Sibella noticed that it was slightly damaged from the fall. But it was intact enough to serve its purpose. Yanking the makeshift 'stake' out of Dracula's chest, Sibella gently picked up the skeletal remains and placed it in the open casket. She positioned it in the typical manner of having the body straight and the arms crossed over the chest.

Heaving a sigh as she took one last look at the defeated remains of the King of Vampires, she gently closed the coffin and turned to check on the progress of the hole the zombie pawn was digging. Looking down when she got there, she noted that the grave seemed deep enough. Recalling her zombie, she then ordered her two minions to bring the casket over. Carefully, of course. They placed the coffin next to the sloppily-dug hole, as if waiting for the official command to put it in.

Sibella placed a hand upon the casket lid, one last farewell. She hoped that the humans of Transylvania could finally rest easy, for they were only defending themselves. If she had indeed inherited her father's title of ruler, she would strive to be a just leader, one that believed in coexistence. There had to be a better way for vampires to get their necessary blood. For instance, the concept that humans donated blood for medical purposes… Would purchasing blood packs not be an acceptable method of feeding? Perhaps it depended on the mindset of individual vampires… But that could wait.

With the help of her two minions, the casket was placed in the grave and buried. As one final gesture of respect, the purple vampire had the living armor take a slab of stone from the few pieces of old ruins and carve out a tombstone with its enhanced sword. The work was hasty and amateurish, but Sibella didn't mind. A sloppy tombstone for a sloppy end, she supposed. For a moment, she had wondered what happened to her 'stepmother' through all this. But merely a moment. She had things to take care of. Starting with all the possessions that didn't disappear with the castle. Wouldn't be long before the possibility of curious parties came into play…

After hours of sorting out the large multitude of items, which included Dracula's physical wealth of gold and jewels, Sibella managed to get a few hours of troubled sleep within her own coffin. She had dreams and visions of what might have been Dracula's final moments, fighting the angry human. These glimpses were followed by a nightmare of the warrior cornering her with no way out. The human raised his razor sharp….oversized spatula. ('Humans are strange…' she remembered thinking.) But his incoming blow was blocked by… Shaggy?

"Like, leave her alone, man!" Dream-Shaggy demanded, having intercepted the mad warrior's strike with his shield, which was a wok. For some silly reason (or perhaps the dream at work), Shaggy wore a spaghetti colander as a helmet and had an oversized steak knife as a sword. The warrior fell back a step or two, sizing up his latest opponent. "Away with you, puny thrall. I seek to rid this earth of the Dracula bloodline!" the human spat with what appeared to be a noble tone.

"Like, who or what is 'Thrall', man? I'm just protecting my friend. She didn't do anything wrong." Dream-Shaggy replied, 'sword' and 'shield' at the ready. The warrior's look turned grim. "Such is the talk of those under a vampire's control, not realizing the danger they or their mistress present…"

"Mistress?" Dream-Shaggy gulped. Sibella couldn't help but notice him blush a little. "Like, no. I was just her gym teacher from school. She's a good friend of mine. Look, it's not her ya want, man. She wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose!" he stammered, really hoping that the rampaging cook or whatever he was supposed to be with his bizarre weaponry would see reason.

"Gym teacher? A likely story… Still, the job must be finished in the name of the Belmont legacy!" the warrior declared before lunging again toward Sibella. The purple woman shrieked as the incoming blow was one again stopped by her Coach, steak knife clanging with spatula. Thus the battle over a misunderstanding was engaged.

As Sibella partially expected from her cowardly teacher, Shaggy was mostly defensive, only taking a swing when he was certain his attack wouldn't cost him a limb or worse. "Like, I'm telling ya, she's not evil!" Dream-Shaggy yelled over the clang of spatula on wok-shield. "Leave her alone!"

"Foolish pawn. She cannot be trusted! Her kind must be destroyed!" the vampire hunter scolded, kicking Shaggy in the gut after his latest attack was blocked, taking advantage of his novice opponent's focus on his shield work. Shaggy stumbled backward, barely having the awareness to deflect his foe's next thrust.

"You're wrong, man. Like, I trust her with my life." the foodie retorted with conviction, shocking Sibella. She subconsciously knew this was a dream, but his statement still caused her to blush. After all, no male had said anything like that to her before (not counting the Calloway Cadets' false pretenses when they tried to court her and the Ghouls).

She was about to muse about her favorite human when it happened. The hunter had managed to get past Shaggy's shield and slice him with his sharpened novelty weapon, blood gushing out of his now-open face and chest…

"SHAGGY!" Sibella cried, waking up suddenly. Panting, she opened her casket, thankful that it was only a dream. It was daytime again, shaping up to be a lovely day of sun and blue sky, an unusual thing for the normally gloomy region. Another sign that Dracula was no longer reigning supreme. Her mind wandered back to the dream, specifically the fact that Shaggy had been the proverbial knight in shining armor to try and chase away the nightmare. She blushed.

Wondering about her growing feelings for her former teacher, she climbed out of the coffin. She still had items to sort through. One never realizes how much material items she has until her home vanishes into nothingness and leaves everything a mess on the ground. A few more hours of sorting through her clothes, her library of books, her small collection of human music CDs (a gift from Phantasma), and other items of hers, she realized that she needed a place to store at least her stuff. Taking up her spell book again, she located a spell for conjuring items and proceeded to bring forth a series of large chests, her sorted items neatly placing themselves within them.

After that was done, she had come to a conclusion about her feelings. She would go to Shaggy and see if he was perhaps interested in the courting process. If she was indeed the new ruler of vampires, she hoped that the responsibility and the power wouldn't be too much of a liability from his standpoint.

"Madam Dracula?" a voice called from a distance. She turned, not expecting any company. It was a lone human, dressed in a strange combination of a casual tee, khakis, and combat boots, as if he scrounged up the outfit at random. Sibella could tell that it was a vampire's thrall, a brainwashed human used for daytime tasks. "Yes? What is it?"

"Uh, I was sent to confirm for my mistress what she had sensed… Indeed, Lord Dracula has ceased to exist. In that case… my mistress informed me that there would be much to discuss."

It had been a while since Mystery Inc had stayed in their apartments in Coolsville. The first thing the group had done was stock up on groceries, especially for the resident bottomless stomachs. Then, Daphne had the group dust their apartments, reminding them that it wouldn't be proper if Sibella were to come back to a filthy hovel. Shaggy had to agree. His place wasn't much compared to what his purple student was probably used to back home, but he did feel like he should try to impress anyway. After cleaning, there wasn't much to do.

Currently, Shaggy was channel surfing, bouncing between the Food Network (duh) and sitcom reruns. He wasn't really paying attention, his mind diverted to thoughts of Sibella. Mainly, his concern about what might be going on over there. After all, for all he knew, the person that slain her father might have been still in the area and had discovered her or something. He didn't know much about Transylvania, but after hearing what Dracula did, it was a fair assumption that the region's people believed that the only good vampire was a dead one…

When he wasn't worried about her safety, he was puzzled by his own thoughts of her. Ever since they had reunited, Shaggy had occasionally had wandering thoughts about how much she had grown and how pretty she had become. The thoughts always eventually lingered around her looks, imagining those eyes staring at him, that fanged mouth smirking at him, her well-endowed body moving smoothly and sensually, framed by her long flowing locks of hair... And there he goes again, thinking sexy thoughts. Scolding to himself quietly, he changed the channel yet again. Just as he did, a sudden swirl of energy built up in front of him out of nowhere, surprising him enough to jump up and hide behind the recliner he was sitting on.

The energy quickly formed a portal. Moments later, a familiar figure shot out of it, landing right on the soft cushions of the recliner, upside down. A group of five old-school chests shot out of it, landing with thuds on the floor, thankfully not crashing into anything. Shaggy responded to the sudden loud noise with a shriek and a "Zoinks!".

"Shaggy? Whoa… I made it." Sibella said aloud, mostly to herself. Disoriented from the portal travel, she remained positioned upside down on the recliner. Shaggy, instantly recognizing her voice, stood up and looked over the recliner. His face turned red as he realized that he was getting an abrupt upskirt view, gravity hiking up her dress to reveal her fine legs and her purple panties. Was that lace?

Her vision clearing, Sibella tilted her head downward (technically, upward) to notice the red-faced foodie. She wondered in her slight mental haze what he was blushing for when she then realized that her panties were showing. With a loud brief shriek, she tried pushing her dress back down and used both hands to hold it down. Her action, however, caused her position to be even more precarious to the point where she ended up sliding down off of the chair, clumsily landing on the floor, her forelegs being the only part of her still on the seat of the chair.

Shaggy, having covered his eyes in a futile gesture at her shriek, cringed at the sounds of her struggling with her predicament. "Like, I'm sorry, Sibella! I didn't mean to look! Honest! I was just trying to see if you were OK." he stammered, eyes still covered. After a moment, the purple woman managed to get to her feet, dusting herself off. She looked frustrated, but knew better than to blow up at her dear friend over a simple mistake. Even so, she could have done without the embarrassment.

"It's alright, dear Shaggy. No harm done, really. I suppose I'm not used to teleportation. Flying is more of my style, but necessity being what it is…" she said with a sigh. Shaggy noticed her forlorn look and invited her to sit on his chair, which she did. Sitting on the floor beside her, Shaggy turned to her. "So…. What happened?"

And so, Sibella told Shaggy about how she found her home gone and her father slain, how she buried Dracula, and spent a good chunk of time sorting through clothes and items. But that wasn't all that happened…

"It was then that a messenger came for me. Word of Dracula's defeat had reached most of vampire kind. It seemed they had felt a momentary void, that of a great power disappearing, and knew that he had indeed fallen, similar to what I had felt. I was informed that, with my bloodline, I should take over as the next Dracula. And I am…"

"Like…. Really? You're the big cheese now? That's… well… impressive! I think…" Shaggy wasn't sure what to say, as she had gotten the title at the expense of losing family. Sibella smiled at his demeanor, knowing the human meant well.

"Thank you, Shaggy. Which brings me to my next point… Back when he was more focused on his rule than his personal matters, my father didn't rule alone, despite appearances. He took a bride. My biological mother. Even though she would eventually leave a few years after I was born because of his changing behavior, it made sense to me that two heads were better than one. Especially now, as this role was suddenly put upon me. I… I think I need help, Shaggy."

Shaggy tilted his head, wondering just how he could possibly be of help. He didn't have any idea how to even be a leader of humans, much less a leader of vampires. He also wasn't exactly a Casanova of any sort, so how could he help her find a suitable guy? "Like, what can I do, Sibella?"

"Nothing major, I assure you. After my father's rule, I figure that my species might need a change of direction. For too long, we have been seen and even behaved as predators. You have always seemed like a sensible person. Perhaps you might have some ideas to help prevent any more retaliatory incidents like this from happening." From his point of view, Shaggy could almost picture Sibella sitting on some sort of gothic throne, regal and powerful in her own right. But right now, she was his good friend in need of help, sitting on his favorite recliner.

"Uh… Hate to break it to you, like, but that sounds pretty major. Don't some of you actually enjoy the hunt?"

Sibella nodded, grimly. "The thirst for blood influences some differently than others, due to individual personalities. Some would rather embrace the hunt indeed, rather than find a better way. I understand that simply ordering them to stop hunting would not go over very well…"

Shaggy nodded, knowing that such a decree would be like asking certain corporations to stop being greedy or asking certain celebrities to quit posting scandalous selfies. "Like, maybe you could discuss things with ones you know would be more sympathetic to your cause? Ya know, start a movement or something about different ways."

Sibella knew he would say something to that effect. She smiled. The seed of her plan had been planted. Truly, she wanted and appreciated her former coach's input, but what better way for her to get him used to the idea of ruling beside her without alienating the mortal?

And so, Sibella officially became part of Mystery Inc, sometimes leaving to take care of official vampire business, usually dealing with stubborn vamps that blatantly killed humans in defiance of her rule's new ethics, almost like a purple, female, all-vampire version of Blade. But beside that, her time was spent with her new friends. The new vampire queen, as bizarre as it would sound to many, would be one that liked watching movies with friends, going out dancing at a local club, and living with a roommate in an apartment building.

Often enough, Sibella would ask Shaggy and only him about a matter pertaining to her royal duties, usually advice or his opinion on something. The foodie still wasn't sure why she didn't ask Velma about some of these things, he felt so out of place about them. But he tried anyway. Who was he to refuse the woman who was quickly becoming so dear to him? In retrospect, he did find it pretty cool that she would include him in an important, supernatural responsibility like that. Not many others could say that they help lead a race of mythical people.

A couple of months had went by as Mystery Inc continued to enjoy their time at home. But something interesting would happen on one fateful night. Sibella was insistent that Shaggy join her in her weekly sojourn to the dance club, more insistent than he'd ever seen the classy queen be. But he agreed to go, glad that she appeared to be in such good spirits. He wasn't sure why she was so intent on his accompanying her this time. Or why she seemed so excited by it. It wasn't like he and/or the others had never gone clubbing with her before.

He noted that he was the only one that she had asked to go with her this particular time, his thoughts quickly turning toward his growing attraction to her. Perhaps, in his mind, this could be considered a date. But he knew better than to assume things like that right away. Still, dancing with her alone amongst the throng of humanity would be a treat.

At least, it was a treat until 5 minutes into the dancing when some macho jock shoved him out of the way and started to hit on Sibella. "Hey, baby. How about you ditch the twig there and get with a real man, huh? Purple looks great on you and you'll look great on me." said the oaf, unaware of the deadly glare that the purple woman instantly had upon seeing her favorite human discarded so. Shaggy, used to being picked on, just stood there, knowing he couldn't do much of anything if the bigger man decided to fight. But then, a thought occurred…

He realized that Sibella was watching. An irrelevant observation to most, but to him, the fact caused him to panic mentally. What would she think? Would she indeed think of him as a complete coward, scared of EVERYTHING? Monsters, he believed was an understandable fear, but… The timidity had never bothered him before (other than the stress from monsters chasing him, of course). Hell, she had seen him be scared before. He was used to it. But not this time. With nerves of….something that definitely wasn't steel, he approached the bully. "Like, excuse me, dude. I was dancing with her." he said, his voice quivering.

"And now you're not, boy." The jerk then shoved him again, harder this time so that he fell over, landing on his ass. When the guy turned his head back to the hot cosplaying babe, he saw nothing but a purple little fist speeding toward his face. Sudden pain shot through his skull, overwhelming the fact that her punch sent him flying backward a good fifteen feet, crashing to the ground. It was mere luck that the launched body hadn't crashed into any of the surrounding dancers who were unaware of the situation. Sibella stormed toward the fallen braggart, an epitome of wrath.

"You uncouth cretin…!" she growled, loud enough for him and nearby civilians to hear. "Don't you dare put your hands on him again! That man has more honor and class than you will ever have!" Her outburst was met with some cheers to the effect of "You go, girl!", "Kick his ass!", and even a drunken rendition of "Stand By Your Man". The punk sat up, coughing and snickering at the same time. "Him? A man? Look at him! You're way out of his league… (coughs) Hot breeds with hot only. That's society's expectation! What good is honor and class if you look like you can't even lift twenty pounds, brah!?"

Sibella scoffed as only a high-class noble can. "I didn't come here to look for a brute to move stuff for me. I don't need a brute. Now you will excuse me while I dance with my man. Don't try me again if you know what's good for you." She threatened before backing off toward the sitting Shaggy, who hadn't moved due to his captivation of the sight of a dominant Sibella. Despite his rapt attention (rather, because of it), he noticed Sibella's slip of the tongue. He was HER man?

"Are you alright, dear Shaggy?" the vampire asked, extending a slender hand to help him up. He took it and was about to haul himself up when she gently pulled him up to his feet with a little help from her superior strength, a pleasant smile on her face like the previous incident never happened. "Like, whoa… I'm fine, Sibella. Uhh… Thanks for standing up for me. Umm…" he trailed off, both turned on by her defense of him and a little put off that he didn't seem to have anything to offer her if they were to date. What good would he do for a vampire queen? She had money, power, strength, whatever she wanted…

"Trust me, Shaggy. I don't let anyone damage what's mine. Ever." Was it him or did her voice suddenly sound flirty? Never mind that, was she saying…? Sibella seemed to read his changing facial expressions well. "Yes, my dear Shaggy. If you don't mind, I would like to consider you my consort. Boyfriend, in your layman's terms." She immediately took him by the hands and started dancing, the foodie sluggishly following along as he was surprised by her admission. "Over the past couple of months, I have found myself thinking of you. For you have been truly a caring soul to me in my time of loss and need. Then again, you had always been that way since our school days. It may be silly, but… I had a crush on you back then. You were so amusing that I found it quite charming. I still find you amusing today. Then, when my spell led me to you, I started feeling those emotions again. I had originally thought it was merely a teenage crush, but…" she trailed off, the beat of the music driving her to pull herself close to him in a makeshift sloppy waltz.

"Like, really? I can't believe it. I admit I like you a lot too, but… I thought you wouldn't want someone like me. I mean, you're royalty with superpowers! You could, like, probably get any hunk you'd like… Maybe someone just as powerful." Shaggy confessed, looking downward in self-depreciation. Sibella immediately tilted his head back up, making him look her in the eye.

"I doubt most hunks would care about me as much as you have, human or otherwise. And what about your personality? No one has made me laugh like you do. You think I care about money or power when I already have both? No, I don't. What you can give me… is yourself. I have thought about this for a while, so no more of this talk about you 'being unworthy'. Now… let us dance, my mate." she concluded, picking up the pace of her dancing, her timid partner clumsily trying to keep up. Shaggy would say nothing about how corny that might have sounded, nor would he argue her point. After all, she accepted him for who he is. Best news he heard all night.

No one asked any questions when Shaggy and Sibella came back to the gang's apartments holding hands, snickering to themselves about some joke that Shaggy had whispered to her upon arrival. Fred had a hunch that Shaggy would make a move on her soon. From his standpoint, it looked like he was right. Imagine his reaction when he would soon find out that Sibella was the one to make the first move. ("Should've known…") Velma and Daphne both knew of the vampire's feelings from a previous session of girl talk, which was amusing from the human women's point of view since it wasn't often that women like her got so embarrassed about something. Scooby, having already accepted Sibella as his master's mate (and therefore, another master), wondered if this would mean that Sibella would also take him out for walks…

Sibella, being a queen and a vampire, would end up being the one to wear the pants of the relationship. However, unlike most relationships of the sort where the men would be anywhere from disgruntled to pathetic, Shaggy actually thrived under Sibella's fair, lenient command. He aimed to please, now that he actually had a relationship that seemed like it was actually going to work out well. Besides, it wasn't like he did ALL the chores or anything. (Although he always felt kinda awkward every time he went to the blood bank once a week to purchase her needed drink. He thought the workers would start asking questions about why he buys it so often… How would he explain it?)

His famous cowardice surprisingly decreased as the relationship went on. Of course, monsters still scared him whenever Mystery Inc went on the road to solve mysteries again. But he wasn't as stubborn about avoiding dangerous situations as he used to be. If his lover could deal with corrupt vampires and other dangers while away, he could be bait for some punk in a costume. He just had to remind himself of his own agility, that was all. No problems, right?

As luck would have it, his growing spark of courage was almost extinguished when he ended up breaking a leg during a chase involving a criminal costumed as, ironically enough, a ghost of an old-school prison convict, complete with black and white striped jumpsuit. It happened when the trap sprung. They had prepared a makeshift wooden cage suspended in air by a rope. Shaggy was supposed to lure him under the trap by running from him, like usual, leading him to it. That part was successful. But it looked like the gang had a little problem cutting the rope… There came a standoff. Shaggy refused to move. The crook prepared to lunge, knife in hand, but hesitated, as if wondering if the skinny coward was going to dodge it and do something.

The crook went for it, just as Fred finally cut through the thick rope holding the cage up. With a cry of his favorite catchphrase, Shaggy didn't run, but instead kicked forward. His foot caught the opponent in the gut, stopping him in his tracks enough for the cage to fall on him. But it also fell on Shaggy's extended leg, bringing him to the ground with a snap of bone. Everyone was thankful that they didn't use a steel cage or one made of thick heavy logs…

Sibella just had to be away on another royal duty at the time… It wasn't to anyone's surprise that she was dismayed to hear about her mate's misfortune. She regretted that she had to take care of yet another problem amongst her kind. But the good news was that he would recover within a month, according to the doctors.

Even so, the accident brought to her mind a thought she had toyed with for a little while. It had been 4 months since Sibella confessed at the dance club, but recently, she was reminded of the obvious difference between him and her: the life span. He would die naturally a long time before she would even get middle-aged… It was a sad thought. She imagined it would get sadder as her feelings for him deepened. There was only one solution, of course… but she couldn't do that. She wouldn't do that to him. Could she…? Would he accept the option? Would he get mad for even suggesting it? He did enjoy being human… Granted, she had been subtly preparing him to have a role in helping her rule her kind other than just asking for advice, but still...

"Like, are you OK, Sibella? You look like somebody died." Shaggy observed as he lay on his hospital bed on his tenth day cooped up in bed, leg bound in a cast and raised up. Sibella snapped out of her thoughts, unaware that her face was that readable. "Uh, yes, my mate. I'm fine. Just… worried, I guess. I don't like that this happened."

"Me neither. Like, boy, did that hurt… But I'll be fine. As long as I don't do anything stupid, I shouldn't even have a limp when it's better. Don't worry, Sibella." he said, placing a hand on hers as she stood at his bedside. She took his hand, her frown not abating. After a few moments of silence, he broke it. "Is there something else?"

A pause. There was a lot to get off her chest… "Yes, Shaggy… I've been thinking. Something I've been pondering bat and forth for about a month now, but now I can't get my mind off of it after this injury. And before you start, I am not thinking of breaking off our courtship. I've been around your kind and your culture long enough to know that some of you males expect the worst when their woman wants a serious conversation… I will never understand some things. That aside, speaking of different cultures, that brings me to my point… You will die before I will. Long before. Oh, do stop twitching, my dear. I of course refer to my kind's exceedingly long life span. My father lived for more than a millennium before he was slain. He cheated death a couple of times but that only bought him a couple hundred years. I am still but a mere 5 year old if you were to give me a human age equivalent…" Her hand squeezed Shaggy's in a fidgeting manner, a somber smirk appearing as she thought of something. "Guess that makes you quite the cradle-robber with that analogy."

Shaggy momentarily pouted in annoyance as his girlfriend gave an empty chuckle at her own joke before frowning again. "There is, of course, one way I could keep you with me… but that would be fang-tastically selfish of me. I'm sure you can figure out what I mean…" she said before baring her fangs in a mock-threatening gesture. Shaggy gulped, but not out of fear for his life. He trusted Sibella a lot more than most other vampires. He gulped because, even with his simple, laid-back mind, he realized the implications of what it could mean for him. The thirst for blood, no longer able to eat anything with garlic in it, weakness to sunlight (which Sibella didn't have because of her Dracula lineage, but he doubted he himself would gain such immunity), and the high cost of nigh-immortality: the deaths of everyone he'd ever known as time rolled past the natural human lifespan. Very heavy stuff, man…

So he did the only thing he could do in the face of such a serious choice… "Like, why do I suddenly feel like I'm in a bad teen drama?" he said offhandedly. Sibella froze, as if struck dumb by such a nonchalant, aloof question. Of all the things he could respond to something she was morally struggling with… She still had her mouth open and fangs bared when he had asked that, so her being stunned left her looking somewhat comical. Luckily for her, it was just her and Shaggy in that hospital room.

Then, after a few moments, a soft little 'heh' as she finally shut her mouth. Then a snicker… Before she could contain herself, she burst out laughing. "Wow, Shaggy! That answer is so… It's so you!" was all she got out before more laughter overtook her. "Hey… Like, what's that supposed to mean?" Shaggy asked, unsure whether that was a compliment or if she was busting his chops. It took a few moments for her to calm down enough to talk again. "Oh, I haven't been brought out of a funk that quickly in a long time. And I should be bringing you out of a funk with that injured leg of yours. What kind of girlfriend am I, swooping down on you with this like the bat I am?" she said in a playfully scolding tone.

"A good one, I'd say. Like, you do have a point. That accident could have been… gulp… much worse than just a leg. Vampire powers do sound very handy. You were already thinking about that kinda situation anyway. Getting injured didn't help." Shaggy responded, not wanting her to put herself down.

"I thank you, Shaggy. This problem can indeed wait. Perhaps some time to mull it over, perhaps run it by the others after some time. You still have your entire life ahead of you, of course. I do not mind my royal consort remaining a human. In fact, that image does help with public relations. Oh bats, now I'm using human business terms. You're rubbing off on me too much." she again mock-chided, feeling like a weight has been taken off of her. In a way, he was right. Worrying about such a problem seemed like something foolish for the time being.

A year had gone by since their relationship started and the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Fred and Daphne had married at some point, but the others didn't have to worry about any public displays of affection from them. At least, not as much as they saw from Shaggy and Sibella, the vampire queen having steadily grown more affectionate and seductive toward the brown-haired beatnik since his accidental leg injury. It wasn't blatant make-out sessions alone (although there were a decent number of those). A lot of the time, it would be the vampire groping him or saying some newly-learned human double-entendre to him just loud enough for the other four members of Mystery Inc to overhear.

It was like Sibella had decided to cut back on the formality and, as Fred had put it once, 'go blue-collar' (Sibella had no idea what that meant). Occasionally, it made it hard to live with the pair. Especially when it came to stopping at hotels… At some point between Shaggy completely recovering from the injury and the present time, apparently, one of the two had brought up the idea of sex. Everybody bet on Sibella being the one that brought it up. A lesson was learned by many, one hotel at a time… Sex with a vampire could get very loud.

It also made Shaggy's one-time job as teacher an off-limits subject to the rest of Mystery Inc, due to some of the things Sibella was heard screaming…. Somebody liked role-playing… It was strange to think about the idea of a controlling student when it came to sexual role-play scenarios, but Sibella played that role like it was going out of style, occasionally giving Shaggy a turn at being a 'strict' gym coach. The phrase 'giving her detention' would never be thought of the same way again by Mystery Inc.

But enough about that… It was evening, the cloudy skies of the dimming sky fitting perfectly with the mood of the occupants of the Mystery Machine, which had been forcibly stopped when somebody stood right in the road, as if expecting them. Fred had barely managed to get the van stopped without running the seemingly suicidal man over. Strangely enough, the man didn't even flinch.

They quickly learned that he had been waiting for them specifically due to a certain new member of the gang. "You in the van! Surrender the Vampire Queen or else I shall assume that you are under her control!" The man drew a giant spatula, edges sharpened to give the comical weapon some threat. The humans grew nervous. There was no way that they would give Sibella up. As nervous as he was, Shaggy was annoyed by the nerve of this guy.

Shaggy, hoping that the armed stranger could be reasoned with, opened his door and stepped out, to the surprise of everyone else. "Like, excuse me? Sir?" he asked timidly, cautiously approaching. The man lowered his oversized novelty weapon, willing to listen. He didn't think the skinny fellow posed any threat. "Umm… I dunno what you're problem is, but… Sibella isn't going to hurt anyone."

"What would you know, mortal?" he said, a distrustful tone to his voice.

"Well, like... uhh… I'm her boyfriend and…"

"You?! That must explain it… Do you know what you have done, mortal fool?!" He once again lifted his 'axe', pointing it toward Shaggy. In the van, Sibella glared toward the offending stranger. How dare he threaten her mate…

"Uhh… Nothing wrong?" Shaggy nervously guessed, not taking his eyes off of the deadly food utensil.

"Fool! There was a reason I had slain her vile father! The Dracula bloodline must be extinguished, lest the world fall again into peril! I had hoped that she would just hide away and die naturally, but no… Not only had she taken up the mantle of her father, but you're helping her create an heir!"

Shaggy disagreed with the man's assumption. So the foodie managed to get Sibella pregnant about a month ago… So what? Hadn't Sibella proved to those that know of the vampire race that she's changing things for the better? Perhaps there would always be one or two holdouts on the human side, just like Sibella occasionally dealt with a few vampires that preferred hunting over ideas like blood packs. Not to mention, this was apparently the same guy that killed her father…

"Like, I can't let you do that, man… I'm telling ya, she's a good person! I didn't exactly think much of her father either, but she's different! Haven't you noticed anything different? Like, not as many vampire attacks or something?" Shaggy asked, his hands raised in a 'Whoa, let's not get hasty now' kind of gesture.

The man paused. Even Shaggy could consider that an indicator that he had indeed heard something like that. "…Yes. They have decreased… I had thought that perhaps your little queen was plotting something, gathering her forces and lulling humanity into a false sense of security. So I tracked her down. She does have a certain aura about her. For those that can track such a thing, even one of merely average ability like myself, it doesn't make her easy to hide. Be that as it may, I still feel an obligation to my family, the Belmonts, to protect the world from that accursed bloodline. How do I know she hadn't brainwashed you into a pawn of hers?"

Shaggy gulped. Having learned of vampire culture from his mate, he had naturally heard of vampires having human minions, drawn to serve their masters. Was there a good way to defend against an accusation, though? Somebody had heard enough. "That is simple, warrior… He is no pawn of mine. At least, not one I had to exert control over. His will is his own, for he is my mate." Sibella interjected, stepping out of the van and walking over to Shaggy's side. Better to confront this warrior herself before things got out of hand.

"A human mate of his own will… Hard to believe, Dracula." the Belmont said, practically spitting the name out. He had a tight grip on his weapon. At this point, a couple of cars from the opposing traffic lane had passed by. The scene must've looked so strange to the passing drivers…

"Believe what you will, Sir Belmont. We are not here to fight. Merely to live. I do not seek domination and vengeance, like my father had on occasion. Your presence doesn't even anger me, knowing that you are my father's murderer. Your misguided mission is of an understandable concern, but you don't have to bother anymore, I swear it." Sibella spoke eloquently, even adding in a deep bow to honor the worthy former opponent.

"Now, my mate, let us depart before our vehicle becomes an obstacle for more traffic. I do know how you humans love to honk at people that just block their way." Sibella said with a giggle as she and Shaggy turned back to the iconic van.

Juese Belmont merely watched. He had not expected a Dracula to actually show any sign of respect like this one had. Perhaps she was telling the truth. If so, then the world could indeed rest easier. Was it really that simple? As the van drove past him, the queen of vampires giving a courtesy farewell wave of a hand (another gesture he hadn't expected), Juese began to feel... empty. Like his purpose had been taken away from him, only partially completed. But was that such a bad thing?

He could always chase after the strangely-painted van and finish what he had started…

No… That wouldn't do. He had sensed none of the hostility that had always came with Lord Dracula himself when he had fought him. Recalling the entire confrontation, he wondered if what he could sense was deviousness, deception, or some other minor form of evil. He couldn't exactly tell. He wasn't an expert at empathic powers. Merely average. His expertise lay in fighting. That and cooking…

Speaking of cooking, deciding to put the Dracula mission out of his mind for now, perhaps he could accomplish his other dream of opening a breakfast restaurant. He did so like pancakes… (1, again)

6 months later, Shaggy and Sibella were dropped off at their Coolsville apartment due to how rambunctious Shaggy's queen had become with her developing pregnancy. It wasn't anger-based mood swings or morning sickness that made it unbearable for the rest of the team to deal with. Although there was the very rare case of her raging out about something... But instead, she had seemed to become very sexual, bordering on nymphomania. One would think that it would be a guy's absolute dream, especially if a guy liked pregnant women. But it did have its downsides, other than her altered state putting a temporary halt to her responsibilities, leaving a couple of trusted allies to look after things.

For one, it made it near impossible for Shaggy to take her out anywhere until she gave birth. It was especially problematic when she wanted to go to her usual club to dance. Eventually, one day, he caved and took her dancing. As a result, the duo almost got banned when, after spending a half hour blatantly grinding on her mate, she tried taking his clothes off… on the dance floor in front of everyone.

His second problem was that there was apparently such a thing as being oversexed. He would never get bored of seeing her and being with her, but he had begun to feel completely drained after a month into their current stay in Coolsville (and he doesn't mean his blood). Sure, she didn't mind his exhausted nature while in the act, as she did most of the 'work' anyway with her alpha demeanor. But as she approached the approximate time of birth, she realized that she had worn out her poor loyal lover.

Her guilt in the final approximate month of pregnancy was his final downside. He himself didn't blame her at all. This was her first child, after all. And with her father being… well… her father, combined with her time away at Grimwood, there wasn't exactly a chance for a vampire version of the ol' birds and bees conversation. So neither had known fully what to expect. Sibella had to chuckle to herself when she pondered if her biological mother gave the king of all vampires himself sexual problems…. Even so, Shaggy had to repeat himself every time Sibella apologized for her wild behavior, her upper-crust side roaring back with a vengeance (combined with a mood swing shifting toward depressed). The moping and apologies continued for a few days, Shaggy unwavering in his steadfast support of her.

It took taking her out on a romantic date of dinner and a movie to cheer her up. If only the little one hadn't picked halfway through the movie to decide to want to come out a little early….

Shaggy never thought of what he would look like with Sibella's skin color. But when he looked at his firstborn son for the first time, cradled in a blanket in Sibella's arms, he got a glimpse of what that would be like. The doctors were baffled by the expectant mother's abnormalities (both parents-to-be were adamant about not divulging the truth of what she is, citing the urgency of giving birth to change the topic), but the delivery was successful. On a related note, the hospital staff was even more baffled as to why whatever the purple woman clenched on during the birth ended up crushed, even anything made of solid metal.

"Alright. Like, I just sent Velma a picture of him. He's so adorable." Shaggy said, a proud smile on his face. He hadn't felt so proud of anything he created since the last time he crafted a 3 foot tall sandwich that didn't fall over. Typical Shaggy train of thought. Sibella grinned, the happiest she'd ever been. "Indeed he is. I see a lot of you in him. But I think we both know what that means, my ever-hungry mate…" she trailed off, her smile turned into a mischievous smirk.

"Gulp… Like, we're gonna need a lot of baby food! Or do we need a boatload of blood?!" Shaggy realized, instantly wondering if anybody local was hiring. "And diapers! Good thing we thought ahead and got, like, a crib and a couple of toys and some onesies… Hmm…" he said, mentally thinking of what else the royal couple needed to get. Sibella lightly slapped him on the arm, knowing what was on his mind.

"How quickly you forget about my wealth, my love. Don't you worry about money. And don't you start about being a provider. You've done very admirable so far, helping me out with my duties, keeping me happy, and occasionally stopping some fake monster from committing crime. Relax for now. You can focus on being a father. I know you'll be a worthy one." she reassured him. She then held their son out to him. "Wanna hold him, 'Father'?"

Shaggy took him, again floored that he actually has a son, now that he's actually holding the little one in his arms. He was about to say something about it (again) when he noticed a familiar look on his mate's face. One of concentration combined with being lost in thought: a usual sign of mentally communicating with a fellow vampire, usually one of high rank or power. Considering the situation, the person she was 'talking' to must have initiated the contact. 'Duty calls…' he thought absently. And so he waited, taking the chance to take a good look at the dozing purple baby in his arms. Yup, she was right. A miniature purple Shaggy.

Now, what to name him…..?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Holy crap, I think this is the longest one I've done. When I have an idea, I really try to roll with it sometimes… Ya know, to put out a complete story of it. I've read a few good fics, mostly happens with one-shots, where it ends in such a way where there could be (even SHOULD be) more to it but the author's like "Yeah, this is finished" anyway. I didn't want it to be that way. Anyways, how'd I do with this? Too out-there? Too sappy? Was anybody too OOC? I will edit if necessary. I know it took a while for me to hammer this one out, but I don't deliberately try to rush things… Rushing is never beneficial a lot of the time…

First of all, yes, I went with a big Castlevania tie-in as far as how Sibella ends up reuniting with Shaggy and the interpretation of Dracula's fate here. Speaking of tie-ins….

Reference Footnotes:

1: Those that are very familiar with the video game music rearrangement website, OverClocked Remix, or the 'cheap knockoff' site, OverLooked Remix, will probably know exactly what I'm talking about with Juese Belmont. If you are not familiar but do enjoy video games and video game music, I highly recommend you check out OCR and scope out their huge library of free, fan-made remixed game music. Great stuff on there. If you want a laugh, as far as this reference goes, check out the goofy parody song of a remix called "Juese Belmont" (I prefer the original OLR version, though) to understand the unofficial character I used here. Anyone for pancakes…..?

2: CM Punk anyone? Anyone….? Former WWE guy that quit the company and switched over to MMA where he has STILL yet to have his first official fight, but from what I've heard, they had a couple of fighters fight for the 'privilege' of being Punk's first opponent. Talk about getting paid to do nothing….

Secondly, I understand that people were probably expecting little Tanis to be up next, but I had this idea first and decided to roll with it. I was thinking that Sibella would have been the last chapter in a way of "Well, she's the head girl, right? So she's the Main Event, the last chapter of the series, right?". But I guess inspiration happens when it will…

As for Tanis, I'm liking some of the ideas I've seen in reviews of the Phantasma chapter, but if anyone has more ideas about the little mummy, feel free to put them out there! As well as what you think of this chapter, of course.

Random thought here, but I wonder if there can be more Ghoul School related fics on here. As I mentioned before (probably in my other Scooby fic), I know the Ghouls are obscure because they were from an old 80's Scooby movie, but still… Ah well. Just a thought.

Reader Reviewer Replies!

Sgt. M00re – Not sure if I can pull that idea of yours off successfully, but I do like it. I would like to see that idea written out somehow.

ThatGuy – Well, I apologize if ya didn't like how I did the Phantasma story. I believe I explained my story logic behind the idea of Velma/Shaggy/Phanty in my author's note at the end there. But I guess it goes to people's individual tastes. I'm glad you still like this series of fics so far. Hope you liked this Sibella story.

Everyone else – Thanks again for the compliments and Tanis ideas. It's appreciated.