And so it continues.
…
At The Pink Banana, Shawn and Gus play a few hands of Blackjack.
Thankfully Gus has stopped trying to attack his collar long enough for Shawn to survey the room.
He's been keeping tabs on everyone.
While Shawn plays Blackjack, he loses most games on purpose.
It's to early right now to have another Ken arrive at the table.
On the other side of Shawn, Scooby-Doo loses as well.
"Rigged Shawn, these cards are rigged!" Gus declares, slamming his palm against the table as the dealer takes another hand of his away.
"Relax Scoobs," Shawn replies, "right now is just a waiting game, you don't have to get your lucky rabbit's ear out of the car just yet."
"Rabbit's foot Shawn", Gus argues back, "and I would like to at least win enough money today to come out of this place even. Remind me again while you were unable to fork up cash?".
"Jules took all the cash out of my wallet this morning," Shawn says, checking the room again. "But who's my best-buddy?" He asks Gus.
Gus rolls his eyes, turning back to the card game.
"...not even Shaggy…." Gus grunts.
The banana sign standing next to the entrance suddenly glows a bright yellow.
"Bingo," Shawn mutters, eyeing the door and taking a sip from his drink absentmindedly.
Inspector Clouseau walks into the room.
Taking a quick scan of the room he leads his partner - dressed as a common thief with the Pink Panther jewel in their hand - towards one of the many hostess wandering around the room.
Shawn raises an eyebrow, amused.
Leaning in close, Inspector Clouseau mutters something indistinguishable to the hostess, quickly flashing something in his suit jacket.
Even undercover... Shawn thinks to himself.
No sooner does the hostess snap her finger into the air, then Ken - yes, Barbie's Ken - arrives.
Leading both Clouseau and his thief into the next room, Ken looks back once, and then disappears in.
Shawn knows exactly where they're going.
"Time to get that rabbit's foot Scooby," Shawn says to Gus.
…..
Shawn gets aggravated the more hands he plays of Blackjack.
He's won an innumerable games at this point.
Ken should be over here by now, asking Shawn if he would like to play in the upper rooms.
But Ken hasn't shown up.
And right now, Shawn is pissed that something other than Barbie is taking up his time.
Spotting a wig of blonde hair out the the corner of his eye, Shawn folds his hand and jumps out of his seat.
"I guess we're going to have to find the first clue ourselves," Shawn tells Gus, pulling his friend's seat out, waiting for him to jump out and join him.
"I'm not moving until I'm done with this hand Shawn," Gus says, gripping the table with his hands and pulling himself back in.
Groaning loudly, Shawn turns and checks Gus's hand.
He makes a clear no go hand gesture.
Grumbling, Gus folds his hand as well and stands up next to Shawn.
"Okay then, what's the plan then Shawn?" asks Gus, dusting off his brown fur, he readjusts the collar on his neck.
Leading Gus over to where he spotted the blonde wig first, Shawn starts talking.
"Well, I was thinking I could do a little of this" - he raises his right hand to the side of his temple - "and a little of this" - he raises his left hand to the side of his temple - "to get us into the upper rooms" Shawn explains, "I don't want our first clue to be in there without us."
"And what exactly is our first clue Shawn?" questions Gus, sidestepping Pikachu as he follows Shawn around the room.
"Ahhh...I believe you mean Fred," Shawn needles a pointer finger at Gus, "and don't worry, I'm sure you'll sniff it out when we get there Scooby."
Shawn pats Gus once on the shoulder.
He spots the wig of blonde hair over by the jacuzzis now.
"Barbie! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" exclaims Shawn, raising his voice to a much higher range than he is required too and waving his hands up and done crazily.
The women dressed as Barbie, turns around from speaking to her friend in the jacuzzi to eye Shawn wearily.
At six feet tall, with at least 4 inch high-heels, she is one hell of an imposing figure.
"Do I know you?" Barbiefinally asks, jutting a hand to her hip, she leans her back casually against the jacuzzi wall.
"Well, not me per say," begins Shawn, "but you definitely know my friend Scooby-Doo over here" - he pushes Gus out in front of him - "you two use to play together all the time. I believe at one point Scooby here made sure you had everything you needed for your dream vacation…" Shawn begins to explain, but is immediately cut-off by Gus.
"I think what Fred was trying to say…." Gus begins, looking Barbieup and down once, the man tries to make his face look as suggestive as possible.
It doesn't work.
"Is that we both know that I was just cleaning up my sister's toys" Gus explains.
"Sisters toys?!" Shawn interjects, "Meaning that Barbie airplane your mom was forced to buy you after you decided to first skyrocket her off in one of my..very manly..." Shawn interjects, looking over at Barbie again, "bottle rockets was for your sister?".
Gus glares at Shawn.
"Once she had a taste of the sky how could I…" Gus cuts himself off, realizing his mistake.
He looks uncomfortably around the room.
Barbie smirks.
"As my buddy Scooby was saying," Shawn begins again, fist-bumping Gus on the shoulder, "while you might not know us, we know you. And are in fact, very good friends with your boyfriend Ken…" Shawn eyes the room once, "Speaking of Ken, where did those little plastic legs go off too? I was beginning to miss his flawless 6-pack from the table I was sitting at?"
Barbie purses her lips, shifting her feet from one foot to the other.
Shawn's been watching Ken and Barbie for most of the day.
While he's sure they wouldn't admit it, it is only these two who lead impressive customers to the upper rooms.
"Ken can do whatever Ken wants to do," she begins,"Unlike some of us…" she looks suggestively over at Gus, "we don't need a collar on or in owner who needs to know our whereabouts every second" She finishes, pointedly looking over at Shawn.
Indignant, Gus shouts a quick "hold up now!", but is quickly shushed by Shawn.
"Sure, my buddy Scooby here does have a collar, and while I am in fact not his owner.." he gestures up and down at his Fred costume, "he only needs to wear one on him so I know he's safe!" Shawn justifies.
Shawn thinks for a moment.
"Can you same the same for Ken, Barbie?" Shawn asks.
Barbie says nothing.
Shawn holds his right hand up to his temple, "Cause I'm feeling like Ken here has gotten into a little more than he can chew off" Shawn reads, "In fact, I'm getting that Ken is not at all happy to be in the situation he is in...tell me Barbie, was it you or Ken who decided first to begin distributing drugs to the guests at The Pink Banana?" Shawn inquires.
It's a shot in the dark, but with The Pink Banana history, Shawn is sure he has the right assumption.
Barbie gives a quick, short intake of breath.
Bingo.
"You can't prove anything" she asserts, tossing his hair to one side she tries to step around Gus.
"Nothing substantial yet" Shawn affirms, blocking her in between the jacuzzi wall and the club wall, "but once I tip off the Santa Barbara police department that two dolls tried to sell me...some things…" Shawn gestures randomly in the air, trying to come up with a drug that is hot on the market now.
He can't think of anything.
He continues anyway, "they'll get a warrant and check out this place themselves".
Barbie sneers, pulling her arms back she tries to push Shawn away from her.
Shawn stumbles once, but quickly regains his footing.
He brings his arms up in a football defense style, quickly trying to suppress a now, very angry, Barbie.
"Scooby! Come help me!" Shawn exclaims, noticing Gus out of the corner of his eye looking around the room, doing nothing.
Figures.
Crouching in front of Barbie, Shawn takes the right side while Gus takes the left.
"Shawn!...Wait, Fred! What are we doing?!" Gus puffs out, struggling against Barbie'sweight.
She swipes her nails at Gus's face.
Yelping, Gus hastily moves his face away.
"She's going to hurt the money-maker Fred!" Gus exclaims.
Ignoring him, Shawn fires back a quick "Ready?".
Noticing what Shawn's getting at for the first time, Gus prepares his own stance.
Both men give Barbiea giant push.
"Now!" Shawn shouts.
As Barbie tumbles into the jacuzzi, Shawn and Gus make a dash for the doors that lead to the upper rooms.
"She's a lot heavier then I remember her to be" Gus gasps out, trying to keep up with Shawn as the head in.
"Let's just hope we didn't purchase the Detective Barbie", shoots back Shawn.
….
Opening the doors to the upper rooms, Shawn and Gus immediately pause.
Holding their hands in the air, they push themselves against the wall and close the door behind them.
Holy HelI, Shawn thinks as he surveys the room around him.
Tables have been thrown in disarray across the room.
Game Boards and pieces have been laid haphazardly around the floor.
A tornado has went and up-chucked the place to pieces.
But that's not the part that makes both men pause.
In the far corner of the room stands Inspector Clouseau, gun out, sternly pointing it in Ken's direction.
"Don't move!" Clouseau yells at Ken, kicking the game board next to him, he tries to make a move closer.
With his hands by his sides, Ken gives a quick take-it easy gesture, taking two small steps back.
Closer to the door.
"I said don't move!" the man yells again.
The Pink Panther thief, Inspector Clouseau's partner, takes no heed of the discussion taking place.
Quickly assessing and patting down the guests in the room, Shawn knows what - no, who - the thief is looking for.
While he commends them for making it to the upper rooms without even trying, he's afraid they're not going to find them here today.
"SBPD put your hands where I can see them!" Inspector Clouseau finally bites out, again, watching as Ken makes another attempt to step backwards.
Slowly he starts moving his hands to the back of his waistband.
Shawn spots the vague outline of a gun hidden there.
The Pink Panther thief continues to pat down victims near him, moving from a very outraged Nancy Drew to a more quiet Iron Man.
Shawn tries to stifle a snort as Iron Man tries to disassemble his suit using air pressure.
It's not ComiCon you idiot, Shawn thinks.
However, when he notices the person sitting next to Iron Man Shawn freezes.
He's stomach drops to the floor.
Face a few shades paler Shawn pulls on the sleeve of Gus's elbow.
Leaning in close, Shawn urgently whispers in Gus's ear, "Gus, Smurfette! Look at Smurfette!"
Gus glances over and groans quitely.
The upper room doors suddenly slam open.
A very wet, pissed off Barbie makes her way in.
Moving her gun from her left hand to her right she points it at Clouseau.
She is Detective Barbie afterall.
Two things happen at once simultaneously.
Angered that yet another member of the Caster and Jackle team has made it into the room, Clouseau goes to dive tackle Ken.
Barbie, ignoring Clouseau and Ken, spots the Pink Panther thief on the other side of the room.
Stumbling over both men's grappling, she takes a shot.
It goes wild.
Aiming for the Pink Panther thief, it misses by a few feet, hitting the hostages around him.
Bypassing the thief, the shot hits directly into Smurfette.
…..
"JULES!" Shawn shouts, dodging discarded game boards around him.
This cannot be happening, he thinks to himself, not now.
Gus huffs alongside Shawn.
Trying to make his way across the room, Shawn trips on a Candyland piece.
"JULES!" Shawn shouts again, chucking the Candyland piece with his hand, he rushes to where she sits on the floor.
The Pink Panther thief is already over her, placing both palms against her arm, stenching the blood flow.
Jules - Smurfette - opens her eyes as Shawn kneels down next to her.
Her eyebrows turn down.
"You're not suppose to be here!" Jules huffs out angrily, wincing as McNab - the Pink Panther thief - readjusts his hold on her arm.
"Yeah, well, a little late for that, isn't Jules?" Shawn asks, worry evident in his voice.
He bends down next to McNab to eye the wound.
Breathes a sigh of relief.
It's not bad.
A little deeper than a graze, but nothing time won't heal.
To close, Shawn thinks.
He looks back up at Jules.
Her eyes are on Inspector Clouseau.
She turns her head back to McNab.
"Help him.." She gasps out.
Locking eyes for a moment, he nods once, taking his hands off her arm.
Grimacing Juliet changes position, trying to find a comfortable spot.
Shawn puts his hands over where McNab's left.
"I thought…we told you…..both of you" Juliet amends, "that you were not apart of this case", she gasps out.
Even in pain, Juliet can't help but be angry at Shawn.
Gus averts his eyes.
Pulling out his cellphone he calls Chief.
Ignoring Gus, Shawn turns back to Juliet.
"Yeah, well maybe it would've been easier to turn our backs on this case if you weren't working it. Come on Jules! You can't be apart of it!" Shawn pleads.
A small groan escapes Juliet's clenched teeth.
She ignores Shawn's outburst.
She eyes Lassiter again from across the room.
Lassiter - Clouseau - can be seen responding to a comment McNab made.
Glancing over too, Shawn notices McNab cuff Ken, while Lassiter starts leading hostages out the room.
Barbie's gone.
Chief, though, has arrived with backup.
He focuses back on Juliet.
"If you blow my cover Shawn, so help me god…", she starts, leaving the statement hanging in the air.
She backpedals her good arm closer to the wall, trying to stand up.
Shawn blocks her path easily, shushing her.
Ripping the bottom of his Fred shirt, Shawn uses it to clench the blood flow coming out of Juliet's arm.
The bullet can be seen indented in the wall behind her.
With his hands empty, Shawn lays them on top of Juliet's belly.
"I just…." Shawn is at a loss for words.
"I just can't Jules. You just can't".
His eyes plead.
Juliet looks away.
…
Shawn takes Juliet and Gus back home after the paramedics patch her up.
After being yelled at by both Chief and Lassster - just be lucky we got Ken, Shawn. Or you would be facing a whole other firing squad right now... -, both men are in no mood to do anything else for the day.
Much to Shawn's chargin, Chief won't take Juliet off the case.
At home, Shawn watches as Juliet walks around to the couch, wincing as she adjusts her arm on a pillow.
She's to angry at him right now to ask for help.
Inwardly cursing himself, Shawn walks his way over to the kitchen.
He randomly grabs food products out of the fridge to start making dinner.
He's not hungry.
But he knows at least two people who will be.
…
And the cookie keeps rolling.