Chapter 7: Back in the fair and the split up
A short while later, the gang were at the Mystery Machine as Velma examines the sample of glowing slime she had picked up from one of the Vikings.
Shaggy was playing with a Rubik's Cube to pass the time with Scooby watching while Fred and Daphne sat by.
A few minutes went by before Velma noticed something.
"Jinkies!" She remarked, alerting her friends. "You may want to take a look at this, gang."
"What is it, Velms?" Fred asked as they leaned over to join Velma.
"In this sample of glowing slime, I found traces of venom typically found in the nematocyst of a jellyfish." Velma replied. "The venom, without the other materials in the slime, is very toxic and can cause serious stings when touched."
"Holy cow." Fred remarked.
"Like, does this mean that the mysterious gnome knows his fish?" Shaggy asked.
"Something like that, Shaggy." Velma said. "Whoever this gnome really is must have a good knowledge in marine biology and chemistry in order to neutralize the toxicity of the venom but still leaving it with enough toxicity to paralyse others, with the effects lasting for five days."
The gang looked at each other as they digested the information.
"So jellyfish toxin and the diamond earring, these are the clues we've got so far, gang." Daphne said. "What should we do next?"
"That's a good question." Fred said as he thought for a while.
"Like, maybe Scoob and I should go back into the fair and check out the food stands." Shaggy suggested. "We still haven't have our snack yet."
"Oh, you guys." Velma rolled her eyes. "Didn't you guys already have your snack before you met up with us?"
"You know them, Velma." Fred said with a shrug before turning to Shaggy and Scooby and added, "But maybe we should all go back into the fair, just in case we have another clue lying around there."
A short while later, the gang were walking through the fair, with Shaggy and Scooby having had sampled almost every single snack offered at the fair.
"This sure is the life, eh Scoob?" Shaggy asked as he and Scooby both held mugs containing root beer float.
"Reah!" Scooby agreed before offering his mug to Shaggy. "Cheers!"
Shaggy and Scooby clinked their mugs and then proceeded to drink their floats. They then exhaled with looks of satisfaction on their faces.
While Shaggy and Scooby clinked their mugs, Fred and the girls looked towards a different direction, where they spot an open stand with bottles containing liquids of different colours.
"Wow, take a look at these bottles!" Fred remarked. "They remind me of the fun times while in chemistry class."
Before Daphne and Velma could say something, Fred walked over to the stand to try out mixing the liquids in the different bottles.
"Uh...Freddie..." Velma said when she saw the sign above the open stand. "Maybe you should be careful mixing those liquids..."
"Don't worry, girls." Fred reassured them confidently as he poured a bright blue liquid into a bottle containing a sample of pink-brown liquid. "I'm just trying to see if I can whip up an antidote to..."
Just before Fred could finish his sentence, there was a mild explosion.
"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed.
"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"Ripe!" Scooby exclaimed as they all ducked behind a nearby garbage can.
After the smoke cleared, the four peeked out from their hiding spot.
Fred was completely covered in blue powder as a result of the unstable chemical reaction caused by him mixing the two liquids together.
"...the glowing slime." Fred finished, dark smoke emerging from his mouth as he spoke.
"Fred sure looks like he's suffering from a severe case of the blues, Scoob." Shaggy remarked jokingly.
"Reah!" Scooby laughed. "Re-he-he-he-he-he-he!"
"This stand's an alchemy stand, Freddie." Velma said as she and Daphne walked over. "The liquids inside the bottles are not necessarily chemically stable, and besides, once the paramedics determine that the glowing slime contains jellyfish toxin, I'm sure they'll be administering the antitoxin to the victims."
"You don't say, Velms." Fred said.
After getting Fred cleaned up and into a new medieval lord costume, the gang continued their way through the fair.
They were walking by the a castle when they overheard an argument.
"Lord Barry, you should know that your refusal to allow Vikings to enter was the reason this fair is running in the red in the first place!" A voice they recognized as Gill Littlefoot was speaking.
"Running in the red?" Velma asked.
"We'd better go check, gang." Fred suggested.
Quietly, the gang walked over to the podium in front of the castle and hid behind a nearby tree, listening in to the argument.
"Says the joker who's been doing nothing to stop those vicious Vikings from entering the fair and causing it to be running further into the ground." Lord Barry retorted. "And besides, it's probably a good thing that gnome is attacking Vikings. Those Vikings costumes are completely inaccurate. For instance, there's no archeological evidence that Vikings wore horned helmets!"
"And coming from someone who didn't properly order the right costumes for the fair." Gill said. "Look, it was me being in charge of the fair that prevents it from running further into the ground."
"Since you're married to the rich Queen Amanda who took over running the fair for this year, yeah right." Lord Barry rolled his eyes at the comment. "We'll see how long you remain in charge."
Upon that remark, Gill Littlefoot walked away from Lord Barry with a huff.
"I think it'll be best if we split up, gang." Fred whispered to the others. "Shag, Scooby, you guys follow Gill Littlefoot while the girls and I keep an eye on Lord Barry."
"And remember to be careful, guys." Daphne added as Shaggy and Scooby got up. "With that gnome still running loose in the fair and targeting Vikings, you guys can become easy targets."
"Like, don't worry, Daph." Shaggy reassured her. "Scoob and I can take care of ourselves."
"Reah." Scooby agreed. "Rake care of ourselves."
(Fred and the girls)
After the split-up, Fred and the girls followed Lord Barry as he entered his castle.
Silently, they followed Lord Barry as he entered a private room.
Taking a peek through the cracked door, the trio saw him stop in front of a closet.
"I honestly don't know why the Viking costumes that were ordered for the fair came with these horned helmets." He remarked to no one in particular. "But I sure will be happy to play one for a change this year."
The trio then watched Lord Barry taking a Viking costume out from the closet.
At the scene, Fred and Daphne shared a look as they were reminded of their very first mystery while investigating ghost appearances at their high school.
Shaggy had suspected the janitor to be involved in the ghost appearances back then, so they sneak back into school in disguise and followed the janitor into the supply room, only to end up catching him videotaping himself dancing.
(See D3 SDMI: The Mystery Begins for the story in question.)
"I guess we can cross Lord Barry off our suspect list." Velma remarked as they quietly sneaked away while Lord Barry changed into his Viking costume.
"Yeah." Fred nodded. "I hope Shaggy and Scooby are having better luck than us."
(Shaggy and Scooby)
Meanwhile, the duo silently followed Gill Littlefoot back to his castle.
With royal guards standing guard at the castle entrance, the duo knew better than trying to sneak in, as they couldn't see another way in.
"What now, Scooby Doo?" Shaggy sighed and asked.
Just then, Scooby saw Gill Littlefoot through a nearby window.
"Raggy, rook!" He said, pointing towards the window.
Shaggy, whose back was facing the window in question, turned and saw the jester.
The duo sneaked to the window and peered in, keeping low to avoid detection.
Gill looked like he was changing into his night clothes, as if he was preparing to call it a night.
As Gill Littlefoot left the room to get changed, Shaggy and Scooby leaned closer towards the window.
The duo looked around the room, and one thing Shaggy saw was a diploma issued by Darrow University for a masters degree in Marine Biology.
"Like, Gill's got a masters degree in Marine Biology, Scoob!" Shaggy remarked.
"Rand look at rose!" Scooby added, gesturing towards several champion cups in the room.
Shaggy looked closer. All of those champion cups were for gymnasium, and there were framed photos of Gill Littlefoot receiving several champion cups.
"Someone sure is one swinging gymnast in his school's gym class, Scooby." Shaggy nodded.
Scooby nodded in agreement, but before he could say something, they heard a creepy, sinister-sounding giggle coming from behind.
"Now what's so funny about this, Scooby?" Shaggy asked.
"Rhat wasn't me, Raggy." Scooby quickly said.
Shaggy's eyes widened at the remark. "Like, if it wasn't you, Scoob, who was it?"
The sinister giggle grew more pronounced and the duo quickly turned.
The duo almost immediately found themselves face-to-face with the sinister gnome.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as Scooby leaped into his arms. "The gnome!"
The gnome growled menacingly at the duo, and they quickly took off.
As quickly as foxes, Shaggy and Scooby raced down the fair with the gnome swinging around in hot pursuit.
A short while later, the duo were chased into a wooded area, and Shaggy turned his head and his eyes widened.
"Zoinks!" He exclaimed, seeing the gnome about to grab Scooby by the tail!
Looking around, Shaggy saw a loose tree branch and he quickly grabbed it.
He then turned his head to a certain direction (Breaking the fourth wall) and said, "Don't try this at home, kids."
Shaggy's voice sounded like a certain DJ who was the long-time host of American Top 40 as he made the remark, and that DJ's voice almost sounded like Shaggy's.
After making the remark, Shaggy used the stick to hit the gnome in the hand, preventing him from grabbing Scooby by the tail.
"Like, go find the others, Scooby." Shaggy then instructed the Great Dane. "I'll try to hold him off!"
"Rou sure, Raggy?" Scooby asked.
"Just go!" Shaggy quickly said.
Seeing the determination in Shaggy's eyes, Scooby nodded. "Rokay, Raggy."
As Scooby ran off, Shaggy turned his attention back to the gnome.
"Like, shoo!" Shaggy swung the stick aggressively as he backed away from the gnome, who was marching towards him menacingly. "Beat it! This fair ain't big enough for the two of us!"
However, Shaggy didn't watch where he was going, and he almost immediately bumped into a tree behind him.
The tree happened to have a loose coconut right above him, and it broke loose and fell and hit him in the head.
As Shaggy laid on the ground, completely knocked out cold, the gnome leaned over and reached for his face.
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