A/N: Hey, everyone. So, recently, I saw "Lena's True Feelings" by Fox Teen at this website. Loved it. So, I figured it would be best to use that for my story, but not without giving him some credit. The credit for this work belongs to him. No one else. Give up a round of applause for Fox Teen, ladies and gentlemen! :) I also saw some pages of the fan comic "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolves" on deviantart by lonewarrior 20, and I liked that one, too, because that gave me an idea for a surprise for you guys, which I will explain at the end of this chapter, so the credit goes to him, too. Anyhoo, enjoy.
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
Chapter 9: The Cat God's Curse Strikes
Back at the mansion, Fred and Daphne were looking for Lena and Simone.
"Lena!", Fred shouted.
"Simone?", asked Daphne as Velma went to the kitchen and tried to flip the switch to turn the lights on, but nothing came on.
"Scooby? Shaggy? Scrappy? Googie?", asked Velma.
"The generator must've gone out. We'll look back at the living room.", Beau spoke before Fred shouted.
"Lena!", Fred shouted, catching Beau and Velma's attention.
"Lena?", asked Fred as he walked toward the staircase and walked upward, only to fall through the first set of six steps after taking the second step.
That was when Daphne walked over to that area and found the hole.
"Fred! Are you...", Daphne began before she noticed Fred with Lena.
"All right?", asked Lena.
"Yeah. Heh. Thanks.", Fred gratified as Lena brushed Fred's hair before Velma and Beau caught up with Daphne, Fred, and Lena, who helped Fred back up.
"What's going on?", asked Daphne.
"It was a nightmare. Miss Lenoir and I went outside to wait for you, when we were attacked by these, these...", Lena began before Velma got the gist.
"Zombies?", asked Velma as Beau joined the others.
"Yes. We ran back to the house, and Miss Lenoir opened a secret passageway. She said it was built during the civil war to hide from union soldiers. But the zombies came after us. They grabbed Miss Lenoir and dragged her away. Oh, thank goodness you've come!", Lena apparently fibbed as she landed on Fred's chest while Beau checked the footprints.
"Hold up. You said the zombies 'dragged' Simone away?", Beau asked.
"Yes. It was horrible!", Lena fibbed.
"Don't worry. We'll find her, and it's gonna be okay.", Fred assured.
Then, both Velma and Beau have their suspicions as Daphne pressed forward.
"Come on. We've got to save Simone.", Daphne urged.
"Yeah, well I'm not so sure it's just her we need to save.", Beau responded before they walked down the hall as a couple of rats fled from the light in the middle of there late night dinner and then arrive at two doorways.
At that point, Velma took a closer look at the footprints to see where they lead before she stood back up.
"Come on. This way.", Velma urged before the group followed her to another doorway, this time only one, leading to a sort of dark cave as Velma opened it and went inside with the others following her.
"Where are we?", asked Daphne as they looked around and saw several assorted candles and one idol with a bowl of fire as well as a moon dial.
"Looks to me like a place for voodoo rituals, but why don't we just ask..Lena?", Velma asked suspiciously.
"What are you talking about?", asked Fred.
"Think about it. After she said that Simone was dragged away, I saw the foot prints of Simone's heels and realized that she wasn't dragged away at all, meaning that whatever Lena said was not true. She just walked there.", Beau replied as he opened the drawbridge covering the moonlight before Simone then walked out of the shadows.
"Very cleaver, Velma, especially you, gardener, but it's too late.", Simone spoke as she walked into the light before she laughed evilly.
Then, Simone held out Daphne and Velma's dolls before placing them on the wall, suddenly forcing Daphne and Velma to hit the wall behind them, earning Fred's gasp.
"Sorry, Freddy. I really do like you.", Lena spoke penitently before she then got out Fred's doll and placed it against the wall, knocking him back to the wall behind him as well, causing the camera to land on the table perfectly, doing no damage to itself whatsoever.
"What would you do if you didn't like me?", Fred puzzled weakly before Beau went after Lena.
"Hey!", Beau shouted as he ran towards her before Lena then lifted Beau's doll up, causing him to float before she then placed the doll on the wall, sending him crashing to the wall next to Fred, before tying up the dolls as Simone already did so for the other three.
"Voodoo dolls!", Velma gasped.
"These was dolls do come in handy.", Simone admitted with a chuckle as she then set the dolls on the table.
"So, that's where the cleaning cloth was. Sorry, I doubted you.", Velma apologized.
"Apology accepted.", Beau replied.
"We also made wax dolls for your daughter and her puppy, gardener, but they seem to have been misplaced. Regardless, the harvest moon will soon reach the midnight point on this moondial, and then, the ceremony will begin.", Simone illustrated as she turned around to the others.
"What ceremony?", asked Fred.
"You won't get away with this!", Daphne grunted.
"Quite the contrary. I've been getting away with it for 200 years.", Simone spoke with a chuckle before Beau realized something.
"Wait. 200 years? If you've done it for that long, then that means...", Beau spoke right before Simone began to transform as her ears turned into cat-like ears, causing her earrings to fall off as she grew sharp teeth and her face became almost cat-like before she then snarled as she opened her eyes, revealed to be If a yellow cat-slit sort, catching the others off-guard.
"So, you two were the cat god's followers all along.", Beau realized.
"At least, Scoob, Shaggy, Scrappy, and Googie are still free. Maybe.", Fred hoped before Lena, who was in the same state as Simone now, spoke.
"I heard that, Fred. Those two simpletons with Googie and Scrappy? We didn't even bother making wax dolls of them. Heh! A waste of time and magic wax.", Lena replied before she hissed.
"Enough with the banter! What's your endgame, Simone?", asked Beau.
"Yeah. Just what are you planning to do to us?", asked Fred.
"Ah, it's simple. Every Harvest Moon, I must drain the lifeforce from victims lured to my island to preserve my immortality.", Simone replied.
"This is more haunted stuff than I really wanted!", Daphne exclaimed.
"I just hope Googie and the others have better luck.", Beau admitted.
Meanwhile, near the docks, Googie, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy arrived over by where they entered in the first place just as a ferry boat suddenly arrived and was slowly lowering the bar.
"Wait a minute. That's just where we started earlier today. More importantly, didn't Simone say that ferry's don't run at night?", Googie realized before Shaggy spoke to Jacques who was waving to them.
"Jacques! Like, are we ever glad to see you! There's no time to waste!", Shaggy urged before Googie drew her sword and then stopped the others.
"Wait, guys. Something's not right about him.", Googie warned as Jacques stepped forward.
"I am happy to see y'all.", Jacques spoke with a chuckle before he suddenly turned into a sort of werecat as his hat fell off while his shirt tore off, he grew orange fur and sharp teeth as well as his eyes turning into a yellow cat-slit sort, and claws, confirming Googie's suspicions.
"Yikes!", Shaggy shouted as Scooby screamed.
"I knew it. You're one of the cat god's two followers, aren't you?", asked Googie.
"That's right, Miss Googie. Although, technically, that's three followers. I am just one follower right here, and I assume you already know the other two who were here on this island long before you arrived with your friends.", Jacques replied, earning Googie's gasp. "Although, to tell the truth, it wasn't exactly easy, chére. 200 years ago, a horde of pirates had destroyed all the settlers that had arrived before them, well, except for Lena and Simone, of course. Right after that, they uttered some kind of curse on the pirates, turning them into cat creatures, like moi, and then devour the pirates whole!"
"What? Then, that means that Lena and Simone were the cat god's followers the whole time.", Googie realized.
Then, Jacques used the same French speech he did earlier when he was driving the others to the Moonscar Island before speaking further.
"And after I learned that, I decided 'I want a piece of that immortality', so, naturally, I got a little somethin' somethin', yeah, as you can plainly see, and this here my gris gris. I got the power of the cat god! But if you think you can spill the beans to your gang, I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Miss Googie.", Jacques replied before he whistled, apparently summoning a sort of panther, which hopped out of the ferry and onto the docks before it snarled, scaring the others, mainly Scooby and Shaggy.
"Okay, Snakebite having a hunting pig is one thing, but you having a hunting panther? Exactly who is that, anyway?", asked Googie.
"Oh, his name is Shaun, my best watchpanther.", Jacques introduced as Shaun growled.
"Oh, boy.", Googie groaned.
"Now, you keep an eye on Miss Googie and Scrappy while I dine on that boy and his dog. They act like a cooyon, you have yourself a skinny puppy girl combo.", Jacques laughed, earning Scooby, Shaggy, Googie, and Scrappy's gasps before he then roared and charged toward Shaggy and Scooby, prompting them to run away.
Meanwhile, Googie turned back to Shaun.
"What are we gonna do now, Googie?", asked Scrappy.
"Don't worry, Scrappy. I've got this.", Googie assured before she then got out the Grimness Book of Records and opened it, turning to a page that states how one can transform into a werewolf.
"Wait, isn't that..?", Scrappy began before Googie interrupted.
"A spell that turns people into werewolves? Yes, and I'm using it on myself. If Jacques can transform like that, then so can I.", Googie replied.
"Oh, I get it. Fighting fire with fire, right?", Scrappy realized.
"Yep. You guessed it.", Googie replied before she then spoke an incantation in the Grimness book, causing a blue wavy light similar to the green one to emerge and take the form of a spirit wolf's head, at least fir the front while the rest remained the same as it however in front of the harvest moon, catching Shaun's attention as he snarled in response.
"Oh deepest, darkest night, transform me by midnight's light. And turn me into a wolf tonight!", Googie incanted before the wolf light then hit Googie, although not actually hitting her so much as coating her in some protective barrier before she grew wolf ears, fangs, brown wolf fur, wolf laws for feet, claws, and a cute wolf nose before she howled just as the barrier became invisible.
After the transformation was done, Shaun recovered from the blinding light and grew petrified from seeing what became of Googie before meowing like a kitten and then running away, much to Scrappy's amusement.
"Talk about running like a scaredy cat.", Scrappy admitted.
Googie opened her eyes, which were still normal.
"Did it work?", asked Googie.
"Why don't you see for yourself?", asked Scrappy before Googie then looked at her reflection and saw herself as a werewolf.
"It worked! I'm a werewolf now!", Googie shouted with joy.
"Yeah. Who would've thought you almost looked like how Shaggy looked when he transformed?", Scrappy admitted.
"In a good way, right?", asked Googie.
"Yep, no question.", Scrappy replied with no hesitation.
"Now, if we're done here, we need to get to Shaggy and Scooby, and fast!", Googie urged as the She-wolf drew out Morgan Moonscar's sword.
Meanwhile, Velma had an idea.
"If you're as old as you say you are, then I'll bet you're the one who found Morgan Moonscar's treasure.", Velma guessed.
Beau, however, had a more accurate guess.
"For all we know, you weren't even after his treasure in the first place, were you?", asked Beau.
"Meh! You've guessed it again. Why would we want anything from the very pirate who destroyed our island?! He was the cause of all of this. I was one of a group of settlers who made this island our home. We looked to our cat god for a bountiful harvest, until that night, when he came ashore. He drove the islanders into the bayou, all except for Lena and myself. We uttered a curse on the pirates, to destroy them as they had destroyed our island. Our wish was granted: we became cat creatures and destroyed the pirates!", Simone replied with a snarl as it showed a flashback of a time when Morgan Moonscar charted a course for the island just as Simone placed a sort of bowl of rice before stepping back and then sitting down at the table as Lena joined in before Moonscar's crew stepped closer and closer only to find the settlers who beat them to it, prompting them to drive the islanders out into the bayou, even smashing and tipping tables and allowing alligators to eat them, much to Lena and Simone's horror before they were later saddened over their fellow settlers' deaths and looked up to the harvest moon before transforming into cat creatures and later approaching them as Moonscar was burying the treasure before Lena and Simone attacked, earning a scream from Morgan Moonscar.
Back to the present, Beau was quite surprised.
"I remember reading about that with my daughter earlier at the garden. That was you?", asked Beau.
"Indeed, but it was only afterwards did we discover that invoking the cat god's power had cursed us as well.", Simone replied.
"Over the years, boats continued to come to our island. One was full of spice traders who started up pepper plantation. The plantation flourished.", Lena added as it showed a flashback of a shipload of spice traders arriving at Moonscar Island and getting ready to plant pepper seeds while building a sort of mansion before it showed the next Harvest Moon later that night.
"At least until the Harvest Moon.", Simone added before it showed the cat creatures creeping up on a farmer and scaring the heck out of him.
"So, that's it. You weren't just responsible for Morgan Moonscar's deaths as well as his crew. You were the very reason this island is haunted for 200 years straight.", Beau realized.
"Sometimes, it became necessary for Lena to lure the outsiders back to the island.", Simone added.
"Just like you lured us.", Fred realized.
"I've had years of practice.", Lena admitted.
"Yeah, 200 years too long.", Beau commented.
"And those zombies are just the poor souls you drained. They were just trying to warn us, so we wouldn't suffer the same fate they did.", Daphne realized.
"Pretty smart, for a television reporter.", Simone commented.
"And when that didn't work out, they chose my daughter as their savior from the very curse that destroyed Morgan Moonscar and his crew two centuries ago.", Beau spoke.
"Yeesh! When did you get so smart?", asked Simone in surprise before a primal roar was heard from far away.
"Sounds like Jacques has found your frightened friends.", Lena guessed.
"Jacques?", puzzled Fred.
"We needed a ferry driver. The old man wanted immortality, so we gave it to him.", Simone explained as she walked closer to the moondial, just before a wolf howl, a kind of howl normally heard from werewolves, sounded, alarming Lena and Simone.
"What is that?!", Simone asked irritably.
"I don't know.", Lena puzzled.
Then, Beau had a guess that turns the tides in favor of the gang.
"Sounds like Jacques's not the only one who's found Shaggy and Scooby by now.", Beau guessed.
A/N: After seeing the part where Googie became a werewolf as well on page 7 of "Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolves", I eventually got the idea for Googie to fight the werecats as a werewolf like a sort of Cat-and-dog fight. As for how Jacques spoke, including his pet panther, Shaun, they were based off of how Catfish Booray spoke and Shaun, under Catfish's control.