Sponge: ¡Hola amigos! (In case no one here knows Spanish, that means "hello friends"). Are you ready for chapter 10? I know I am! After this, there are only seven chapters left for me to write. I'm going to try to get out as much as I can before college gets too hectic. Let's see how that goes! Congratulations to Scoobyfan1 and XxLadyStrengthxX for correctly guessing the contest question! "Drive My Car" is another Beatles song! (I know I already used The Beatles, but I love them so much that I couldn't help using two of their songs.) Enjoy chapter 10! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters – they belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera.

Chapter 10: Hello, Seattle

The next morning, Saturday, Fred, Daphne and Velma showed up at Shaggy's house. He had told them about his plans to paint the van as they drove home the previous afternoon and invited them to come by and help out.

"Sounds good," Fred had said. "And then after we paint the van, we can go check out the Wendigo's lair."

Shaggy hadn't exactly planned on that, but he relented. He hoped that painting the van would distract the others from the Wendigo.

He had put the van in the garage after he had taken his friends home (his parents hadn't even known that it was gone) so that they wouldn't have to freeze their butts off outside while painting. His parents weren't super thrilled about his friends coming, but they didn't say anything. Shaggy just knew.

"Like, hey guys!" He was glad to see that his friends were already in the garage. He and Scooby had set out the paint the previous night as well. Scooby went around greeting everyone individually.

"You like green, blue and orange, Shaggy?" asked Fred, gesturing towards the paint cans on the ground.

"Like those are the only colors I could find, man," Shaggy said. "All my other huge paint cans were like, lost in the move."

"That sucks," Daphne said sympathetically.

"Do you have a specific design in mind, Shaggy?" asked Velma.

"Well like, I was thinking of maybe doing blue for a base color," he said. "And then like, just playing around with the green and orange. Maybe paint like, a few flowers. I want it to be like, psychedelic."

"Groovy!" Daphne exclaimed and everyone laughed. They set to work.

Fred and Shaggy took one side of the van while Daphne and Velma took the other side. Scooby painted the top, occasionally sending splatters of paint down which the humans had to dodge to avoid.

"So how's it coming with you and Shaggy?" Daphne whispered as she and Velma painted. Velma felt her face go red.

"Um…what do you mean?" she asked although she knew very well what she meant.

"Have you asked him out yet?" asked Daphne.

"…No," Velma admitted. Daphne pouted.

"Why not?" Daphne asked.

"I've…I've never been very good at the whole dating thing. You know that my only experience with dating was Tony. I was lucky that I didn't completely ruin my friendship with Tony. I don't want to chance that with Shaggy just yet," Velma told her. "Besides, I don't even know if he feels the same way."

Daphne thought for a while. Suddenly, an idea struck her and she smiled.

"Well, you know what they say, don't you?" she asked. "The way to a man's heart is through his…" She waited for Velma to finish the sentence.

"…Stomach?" Velma guessed.

"Well…yes, but that wasn't what I was getting at, although that might work too," Daphne told her. "The way to a man's heart is through his dog." She nodded her head upwards at Scooby Doo. "If you make Scooby love you, then Shaggy won't be far behind."

"How would I go about doing this?" asked Velma. Daphne reached down into her purse and pulled out a large box of dog treats.

"I bought these to bribe Scooby with in case he's too chicken to go search for the Wendigo later," Daphne told her. "I think you should be the one who carries these." Velma looked at the box of treats for a few moments, grinned, and put them in her own backpack.

"Thank you, Daphne," she murmured. Daphne beamed brilliantly at her.

"No problem, Velm," she replied. "That's what friends are for."

x.X.x

Many hands made light work. Within a few hours, Shaggy's van looked exactly the way he'd hoped it would look. It was blue, with green and orange flowery designs all over. Unfortunately, it seemed to be missing something.

"You're right," Velma agreed when the beatnik mentioned this to her. "It doesn't seem like it's finished."

"Well we can take a break," Fred said. "In the meantime, let's go look for the Wendigo!" He rummaged around in the backpack he brought with him and pulled out five forks.

"…Fred, what are those for?" asked Daphne.

"Silver repels the monster, remember?" he reminded her.

"Um…I don't think that silverware repels it," Velma told him. "Why don't we head over to my house? My sister's fiancée actually does have silver bullets."

So the five of them headed over to Velma's. Shaggy and Scooby were extremely reluctant to do so.

"No one's home right now," Velma explained on the way over. "Dottie and Bill are house-hunting, Madelyn is out with friends and Mom and Dad are…somewhere." Velma pulled out her house key, let the gang into her house and led them upstairs. "Dottie and Bill are staying in Madds' bedroom, so all his stuff is in there." Quickly, she entered the room, leaving the others out in the hallway. Shaggy peered into a room on the right whose door was left ajar. He figured it was Velma's room. He could see her school backpack on the floor near a desk that was cluttered with science books. There were two beds and he guessed the one that had stuffed animals all over it wasn't hers. Above her bed was a bulletin board that held a calendar, a few awards – and the picture of her that he'd drawn the first day they met. Shaggy couldn't help but smile when he saw it.

Velma hurried back into the hallway from her sister's room. "Let's go," she said, handing each of them several bullets.

"I'm still not exactly sure how this is supposed to work," Daphne said. "I mean, what are we going to do? Throw these at the Wendigo?" Fred snorted in amusement.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Velma said. She – along with everyone else – was hoping that they wouldn't actually run into the Wendigo.

x.X.x

Once they left Velma's house, they silently made their way through the foliage.

"Which way did Mrs. Reynolds go?" asked Velma.

"I don't know. We followed her from the other side of the forest," Fred told her.

"Hmm. Maybe we should just go back to the place that we last saw it, huh Shaggy?" Velma addressed the beatnik.

"Um…" Shaggy paused.

"Ruh-uh! Roh ray!" Scooby exclaimed forcefully. Velma grinned and reached into her backpack and pulled out the box of dog treats.

"What are those?" asked Fred.

"Scooby Snacks," Velma replied.

"Like, Scooby Doo loves those treats. It's where his name came from," Shaggy spoke up. He deliberately did not mention that he enjoyed them as well.

"Roh roy! Rooby racks!" Scooby exclaimed, smacking his lips excitedly. Velma laughed as she tossed a few of the treats into Scooby's eagerly waiting mouth. "Rooby Rooby Roo!" With that, the dog headed bravely for the forest with the others in tow.

They arrived at the clearing where Shaggy, Velma and Scooby had first seen the beast within minutes.

"Freddie!" Daphne touched the young man's arm and pointed. "Isn't that the tree?"

"I think so," Fred said. Silently, he made his way to the tree as the others followed close behind. He lifted up the root and sure enough, the side of the tree opened up.

"That is just like, too weird," Shaggy remarked as he and the others entered the door.

"Reah. Roo reird," Scooby agreed. He was beginning to get scared again. The five of them climbed down the rickety staircase and Velma pulled out a flashlight.

"What do you think this tunnel is?" wondered Daphne.

"Well, Coolsville used to be a stop on the Underground Railroad," Velma said. "I wouldn't be surprised if this tunnel was created to help escaped slaves move further north."

Shaggy shook his head in disbelief. How did this girl know so much about everything?

"Which way should we go?" asked Velma.

"The Wendigo came from the right," Daphne said.

"I want to know what he's hiding down there," Fred spoke up, taking the lead. Silently, the others followed behind him. "Maybe we ought to hold hands. It's pretty dark up here and I don't want anyone getting lost." Daphne was walking behind him, so she took hold of his hand. Velma grabbed Daphne's other hand. Shaggy held on to Velma's free hand and Scooby's collar. Of course, all of the humans went red despite their fear. Scooby did not know any of this - he was still too terrfied. Slowly, the five of them walked down the dank and dirty tunnel. At last, they reached the end.

The gang found themselves standing in a large room. Unfortunately, that was all they could tell about the place they were standing. Since it was so dark, they could see virtually nothing else. Reluctantly, they let go of each others hands and queitly spread out.

"EEEK!" cried Daphne as she tripped over something in the dark.

"Are you okay Daph?" asked Fred, rushing to her side.

"I'm fine," she told him as he helped her up. "I just tripped over something."

"It wasn't more tofu, was it?" asked Velma. Daphne and Fred had told the others about Mrs. Reynolds and her mysterious tofu container.

"No," said Fred, who was shining his flashlight at the thing that Daphne had tripped over. They discovered a thick cable.

"What is that, like, a wire?" asked Shaggy. Curiously, Velma took the wire in her hands and followed it to the wall.

"There's a light switch here," she said, confusedly. "I didn't think you could get electricity down here." Nonetheless, she flicked on the switch.

Surrounding the gang were hundreds of stacks of brand new twenty dollar bills. In the center of the room was a printing press.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy gasped. "Like, so that's where the printing press went!"

"I think we just found the counterfeiter's hideout," Daphne said.

"But how did they get the printing press here?" wondered Fred.

"…You know, gang," Velma said quietly. "I think I'm beginning to figure this mystery out."

"What are you talking about, Velma?" asked Daphne. Velma looked at her.

"Do you think any of this is a coincidence?" Velma asked. "The janitor's strike…the disappearance of Paul Reynolds…the counterfeit money…the Wendigo…"

"Hold on," Fred said, holding his hands up. "Are you saying that they're all connected?"

"Precisely," Velma replied. "The only question is 'how'?"

"I bet the Wendigo is just a cover up," Fred said. "A story to keep people away from the woods."

"Maybe we should follow the tunnel the other way," Daphne suggested. "I wonder what's at the other end."

"Let's find out," Fred said. He shone his flashlight around the room and discovered several more flashlights under the desk where the printing press sat. Everyone in the gang took one and went silently down the tunnel. They passed by the staircase silently. They continued down the dark tunnel silently. Finally, at the end of the tunnel, they reached a second staircase.

"Let's see where it goes," Fred said, climbing the stairs with the others in tow. It was a short staircase that led to a trap door in the ceiling. Cautiously, Fred pushed on it.

Everyone peeked their heads up out of the door.

"Where are we?" asked Daphne.

"I'm not sure…" Fred replied. But Velma realized where they were.

"Jinkies!" she exclaimed. "We're in the school basement!" Everyone soon realized that Velma was right – they were peering out of a large tile in the classroom where the printing press had used to be.

"I guess we know how the printing press got out of the school now," Fred said.

"This proves it," Velma said.

"Proves what?" asked Daphne.

"That Mr. Aiken and Lewis Jacobson are the ones behind the counterfeits!" she replied.

"I don't know…it could be anyone who works in the school," Daphne pointed out.

"Velma's right, though. Mr. Aiken and Lewis Jacobson make the most sense," Fred spoke up.

"And if the Wendigo is fake, it would take at least two people to operate that suit," Daphne added. "It's a huge monster."

"So like, what do we do now?" asked Shaggy. Everyone paused.

"I don't know," Fred admitted. "I hadn't thought that far ahead."

"Neither did I," Velma added. "Maybe go to the sheriff?"

"That's so boring and predictable, though," Daphne said. "Can you imagine what kind of news we'd make if the town learned that a group of teenagers had solved this mystery?" Everyone remembered that it was Daphne's dream to be famous.

"Well, we can think about that later," Fred said. "Let's go home."

"Reah! Rime rungry!" Scooby barked.

"Like, I'm hungry too," Shaggy replied. Velma checked her watch.

"My parents should be home by now," Velma told them. "Let's go see if they can feed us."

x.X.x

Madelyn Dinkley had had a bad day.

It had started out okay. She and her friends, Jane, Kerri and Lana had played dolls at Kerri's house all morning. They all had enough allowance money to go to the malt shop, so later they decided to get some hot chocolate.

Unfortunately, just as they finished their hot chocolates, trouble appeared.

"Well, well, well," sneered Rowena (Raw) Herring as she walked into the malt shop with her two best friends. She was the younger sister of a boy who was in Velma's grade. Raw did not like Madelyn and her friends and Madelyn was an easy target. "If it isn't Little Doe-Eyes Dinkley."

"Ignore her," Jane advised Madelyn in a whisper.

"How're those kickball skills coming?" asked Raw as she and her minions snickered. Madelyn felt her face go red as she remembered yesterday's recess. Madelyn wasn't the most coordinated person on the planet and yesterday she had gone to kick the ball, completely missed, and fell flat on her back.

"Leave her alone!" snarled Lana, the most outspoken in this group of friends.

"Who's gonna make her?" asked Kim Lordsburg, one of Raw's friends. "Besides, Dinkley deserves this."

"Yeah, she can't do ANYTHING right!" cried the other girl, Holly Richards, gleefully.

"That's not true!" Madelyn tried to defend herself.

"Name one skill you have, Dinkley," Raw challenged her. Madelyn bit her lip and paused. She wasn't very good at sports. Okay, that much was established. She was good in school, but that wasn't something that she exactly wanted to brag about. Besides, Velma was ten times smarter than her.

"Look at her!" exclaimed Kim. "She can't think of anything!" Madelyn felt her face grow hot.

"Shut up, Kim!" shouted Lana, rising to her feet with venom in her eyes.

"Please don't fight," Kerri whimpered.

"Yeah, you know I could kick your butt," Kim said.

"We'll see about that!" Lana challenged her.

"Stop!" cried Jane, also rising and stepping between Lana and Kim. "I don't want to get kicked out of the malt shop, so let's go." She took Madelyn by the wrist and led her out of the shop with Kerri dragging Lana along behind her.

"See you in school, losers!" cackled Raw.

"Ignore them, Madds," Jane said. "They're so not worth your time."

"Besides, you have lots of talents," Kerri comforted her.

"Like what?" Madelyn asked bitterly.

There was a pause. The other three thought about their specific skills. Kerri had a beautiful singing voice. Lana was phenomenal at sports. Jane was a magnificent writer.

But Madelyn? They couldn't think of anything. She wasn't extremely fabulous at anything she did. She was just…average.

Madelyn felt tears welling in her eyes and looked down. "Never mind," she sighed. "I have to go. I'll see you guys later." With that, she turned down her street, trying very hard not to cry. When she walked into the front door of her house, she found her parents and sisters sitting at the kitchen table, with Dottie's fiancée and Velma's friends standing around the kitchen. Remains of lunch were upon the kitchen table, although nothing was in front of Dottie and Bill, suggesting that they'd just recently walked in. Upon seeing Shaggy, Madelyn immediately dried her eyes.

"So…we have news," Dottie was saying when she noticed Madelyn walking in. Everyone looked up.

"Hi," Madelyn said. Everyone greeted Madelyn, then turned their attention back to Dottie.

"What news, sweetheart?" asked Mrs. Dinkley.

"Bill and I have found a house," Dottie announced. The Dinkleys gasped collectively. Velma's friends all glanced at one another.

"It's small," Bill said. "But not too small. Just the right size for a family starting out. And we got a really good deal on it, too."

"Where's the house?" asked Mr. Dinkley.

"Er…that's the thing," Dottie hedged. "It's um…it's in Seattle."

There was a silence.

"Seattle? Seattle, Washington?" Mrs. Dinkley murmured.

"We know that it's far away," Dottie said. "But we couldn't find any affordable houses nearby. This one was the best deal we got. And…Bill and I went to college in Seattle after all…"

"I understand," Mrs. Dinkley said. "It's just…it's a lot to absorb."

"Well, congratulations, Dottie," Velma said. "If you'll excuse us, my friends and I have some things to talk about." Velma quickly exited the room with her friends following close behind her. The elder Dinkleys and Bill hardly seemed aware of this. Madelyn slunk after them, also unnoticed.

"Like, what was the big rush, Velm?" asked Shaggy. They walked upstairs and headed for Velma's room. Madelyn stayed out in the hallway and eavesdropped.

"Yeah, won't your parents think it's um…rude that we walked out in the middle of the conversation?" wondered Daphne as tactfully as she could.

"No," Velma said. "That discussion is really for them and Dottie and Bill. They won't mind that we left."

"So what are we doing up here?" asked Fred.

"We need to figure out a way to catch the Wendigo," Velma said. Madelyn furrowed her brow. What was a Wendigo?

"You mean, prove that the monster in the woods isn't really a monster?" Fred said. "And expose him for the counterfeiter he is?"

"They, Freddie," Daphne reminded him. "There are probably two of them."

"Right," Fred stated. "So what should we do?"

"Like, don't you think we should be sure of our facts before we go around accusing somebody?" asked Shaggy. He was reluctant to pursue this mystery much further and wanted to stall them for as long as he could.

"That's not a bad idea, Shaggy," Velma said. "Let's go over all of our clues." And they did, right there in Velma's room.

All the while, Madelyn listened in as a plan formed in her head.

What if her whole school found out that she had uncovered this mystery? The case of the counterfeit money would be solved! That would show Raw Herring that Madelyn was good for something.

She could hardly wait to get started.

Sponge: Yes indeed, my fans! We have the birth of the Mystery Machine in this chapter (of course, it's not actually called the Mystery Machine quite yet. That'll come in later.) We also have the backstory as to why Velma is the one who carries the Scooby Snacks. (I know that Daphne carries them too but…yeah. Mostly it's Velma. Has anyone else noticed that Scooby Snacks have yet to appear in the Mystery Incorporated series?) Anyway…I hope you all appreciated the Raw Herring reference. Red has yet to appear, but his sister is bitchy, neh? In any case, YIKES! What will become of Madelyn? Only one way to find out. Review, guess the artist of the chapter title, and wait patiently for my update! I don't know when that will be as college is currently eating my life, but I will update as soon as I can! Until then, my dear readers!