Okay, dead computers don't do a Fanfiction account any good, but I'm back! I'm sure people were probably anticipating me to write a chapter about the school while Shaggy was gone, but Shaggy is our star, so we're going to keep focused on him. 'Kay?

When Ghouls Grow Up

Chapter 10: Alister's Slayer

Shaggy whimpered in his sleep as he kicked his leg in the air. He had found this running away business harder than he anticipated. It didn't help that the ground was cold and the tree limbs were too thin for him not to fall out of whilst he was sleeping that high.

As the crisp, nippy morning breeze caught the nose of the current wolfman, he flopped up into a sitting position and yawned, stretching his furry arms in the early morning light. "Man, would I, like, give anything for a good night's sleep."

"Then why not go back to school?"

Shaggy's head whipped around. "Say what?"

"You heard me. Go. Back. To. School."

Shaggy's lupine ears swiveled atop his head as he looked around. The swamp was murky and coated in weeds and mud, but there was a surprising lack of life in it. Shaggy hadn't so much as seen Matches for the longest time, let alone anyone he could talk to. Only Elisabeth, Alister's shadow puppet, had met with him regularly, and she was too much of an automaton to be considered socializing.

"L-l-like, wh-who said that?" Shaggy turned around, pointing accusingly among the trees.

"Oh, calm down. It was only me."

Shaggy turned to see a giant pillar of mud standing before him. Its hulking arms dripped casually as the hollow eyes and mouth smiled at the reluctant werewolf.

The mud creature poked Shaggy in the chest. "Honestly, look at you. Torn clothing, covered in dirt, a complete mess. And you're still thin as a rail, despite all that food."

Shaggy screamed. "Like, yeah. D-d-d-don't eat me, M-mister Monster. I'm, l-like just skin and bones. I wouldn't make a very good meal." Shaggy was slowly backing away from the mud creature.

"Oh, would you stop that blubbering." The mud creature frowned. "It's me, Alister." He poked himself in the muddy chest. "The sun's coming up, so my avatar this time is a little bit crude."

"Alister?" Shaggy wiped his brow. "You've really gotta, like, stop doing that, man."

"And you've got to stop running away." Alister crossed his arms. "It's been nearly a month, now. I'm sure that none of the girls' fathers will see you like this, now."

Shaggy brushed himself off as he stood up. "Like, it's not the fathers I'm worried about."

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Alister glowered. "Do you honestly think you're going to scare the girls like that?" He gestured towards Shaggy. "Besides, it's not the fathers I'm worried about either. It's the mole."

Shaggy raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Ugh! The coup! Remember?"

"Oh! Right! Like, that." Shaggy nodded quickly. He paused. "But wouldn't it look weird for me to return to school like this?"

"We'll discuss that after you return." Alister nodded sharply. "I'm afraid my avatar can't continue much longer, but I have sent someone out to get you." The mud creature covered its head. "Trust me. There's not much time left. December is much closer at hand than you think. We must pre… pare." The mud began to ooze into a mess at Shaggy's feet.

Shaggy laughed nervously. "Oh, well, okay. I guess I'll just, like, wait here, then." He wrung one of his wrists nervously.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping echoed through the forest. It was incredibly loud, even for that early in the morning.

"Oh no." Shaggy's knees knocked together as his teeth clattered. "Like, please tell me Alister didn't send Matches."

"Matches?" A bat flew over Shaggy's head and landed in a nearby tree. It flipped itself over into a sitting position and quickly shaped itself into a shapely young woman. "Being out here in the swamp hasn't done you much good, has it, Mister Rogers?" She laughed. "A little paranoid, are we?"

"Sibella?" Shaggy placed a hand to his chest and sighed in relief. He paused and pointed at the young vampire. "Wait a second. How did you, like-"

"Know it was you?" Sibella laughed as she slid out of the tree. "Was it not my own father who placed that curse on you?"

Shaggy rubbed the back of his neck. "Right. I, like, probably should have figured that one out."

"Anyways, we need to get going." Sibella walked past Shaggy, swaying her hips with each step. "I don't know what's going on. But I trust it must be important."

"Like, why?" Shaggy followed Sibella, smiling nervously. "I have, like, no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play stupid with me, Mister Rogers." Sibella smirked. She reached into her dress's pocket and pulled out a necklace with a black stone with a strange emblem on it. "It isn't everyday someone become a Night Slayer." She threw the pendant back.

"N-n-n-night Slayer!" Shaggy fumbled as he caught the pendant. "What's that!"

"Well, you know how Bogeymen can't kill, right?" Sibella's eye glinted as she looked back at Shaggy. "It's not often, but the Bogeyman is sort of a guard between the magical world and the human world. The Bogeyman makes sure humans are too scared to venture into magic, but he also needs to make sure that magical creatures don't try to take over the human world. Unfortunately, there is only one Bogeyman, so he needs agents of sorts. A Night Slayer is an agent of the Bogeyman to destroy any upstart monsters."

"Destroy monsters?" Shaggy swallowed hard. "How on Earth am I supposed to destroy a monster? I'm just me."

"Alister said you like to play coy." Sibella giggled. "Elsa has been able to keep tabs on you after you left. We know what you and Mister Doo have doing this whole time, and it's nothing less than fang-tastic!" She waved her hands in the air. "Meeting the Goblin King and the Fairy Princess, let alone saving them both, is quite a feat. Let's not forget receiving samurai training from a legendary Japanese Green Dragon in order to defeat an ancient evil, eliminating Southern Louisiana of a horrid batch of soul-sucking cat creatures, banishing the ghost of a wretched, evil witch. Need I go on?"

"Well, Scoob and I did have help from the gang." Shaggy laughed nervously. "I mean, Scoob and I just get lucky. It's not a whole lot of skill."

"So you say." Sibella shrugged and shook her head. Her eyes suddenly flittered open. "Oh, I almost forgot." A white gumball appeared in her hand, and she flipped it back to Shaggy. "Our scare tactics teacher says that this should clear up that curse of yours. Just chew it up, blow a bubble, and let it pop."

"What?" Shaggy blinked a few times at the small gumball. "Can this thing, like, really do that?"

"That's what I was told." Sibella placed a thoughtful finger on her cheek. "Either that, or turn you into a completely different monster."

Having already started chewing, Shaggy stopped. "What!"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll be human in no time."

Shaggy sighed. "Don't like, scare me like that, Sibella." Fur was already beginning to disappear from Shaggy's skin.

"Oh, don't worry." Sibella covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. "However, you might be scared, once we arrive back at school. Winnie's been a bit of a nervous wreck, and Elsa… Well, let's just say that she has a few 'science experiments' to show you."

Finally, another chapter done. Sorry for taking so long, but I was so unsure whether I could upload anything on the dinosaur I'm working from or not.

Hope I can get this all sorted out and finished soon. The climax is about to happen.

Enjoy.