Thorn and Crystal watched as Shaggy cooked in the kitchen. Both girls were thinking about what Shaggy had done for them, and more importantly how it made them feel. Thorn couldn't stop thinking about Shaggy's kiss. She had tried dating before, but every single date had ended with her having to fight off unwanted advances. The only people who had treated her like a person were her sisters Dusk and Luna. She hadn't seen either of them ever since being captured. Then the three of them had met Mystery Ink when they had come to her home town to solve a mystery. It was while Shaggy and Scooby were distracting the witch so she could read and cast the spell to seal the witch's ghost that Thorn had started having feelings for Shaggy. Unfortunately she, Luna, and Dusk had to leave for another concert, and Shaggy and his friends continued their travels. She had tried to keep up to date on the gang s adventures, but the last she had heard was the gang had broken up. She still saw Velma on occasion, but she couldn't find out any new information on the others, especially Shaggy. Now that she had reunited with him, she was determined to stay by his side. The only downside was Crystal. It was plain to her that Shaggy cared for Crystal, and she wasn't sure how he felt about her. Sure he had broken her out of her hypnoses, but he could have done that just to save a friend.
Crystal was having similar thoughts. True she and Shaggy had hit it off during her and Amber's visit to earth, but she had been forced to leave him. When they had returned to their home world she had been informed that her future mate had finally matured, and she was expected to marry him in 5 days. She had tried to settle into the role of a good wife, but every night she dreamed of Shaggy s eyes, his lanky frame, his love of food, his grate friendship with Scooby, and yes even his running from danger. On the last night before her wedding she had snuck aboard her ship, and returned to earth. She had known that the travel had burned up at least one earth year, and Shaggy may have already found himself a girlfriend, but she couldn't just give herself away while her heart belonged to him. Upon landing on earth she had hiked toward the last place she had seen Shaggy and his friends, but she had been attacked by a woman dressed in white. She didn't remember much after that, until Shaggy had snapped her out of her trance with his kiss. After gaining her senses her first thought had been one of happiness. She was sure Shaggy really liked her. That was until she watched him do the same to the woman that walked in soon after their kiss. She couldn't say she was jealous, she didn't know the term. However she did feel sad that the man who owned her heart had kissed another woman. It didn't help this Thorn was quite beautiful herself. One problem Crystal had was low confidents in her own looks. Because of her being promised to one of the oldest families no one had given her a second glance. She had never been complimented, never told she looked nice much less beautiful, never even shown love. Because of this she had thrown herself into training to explore other planets. Now she was back on earth, and she felt she was second best again. Maybe Shaggy hadn't loved her to begin with. Maybe she had just traded one lonely existence for another, but she decided that if she could she was going to at least stay by Shaggy's side.
"Ladies, I know I am usually one for eating as much as possible, but I think we need to eat what we can, and then try to figure out where we are."
Thorn and Crystal both smiled at Shaggy's words. Both of them had seen Shaggy's huge apatite, and knew how hard it would be for him to stick to what he himself had said. Despite this and the gravity of the situation they found themselves in, Crystal decided to ask the question she needed answered.
"Shaggy I'm sorry if this seems like the wrong time, or if it seems a little forward, but I need to know. How do you feel about the two of us?"
Shaggy looked down at the sandwich he had made for himself. How did he feel about these two women? He remembered helping Thorn with the ghost of a witch, and how beautiful she had looked when she accepted her bloodline. He had begun thinking she was growing even more beautiful when he and the gang had run across the Hex Girls while shooting a music video. On the other hand he had been smitten with Crystal when he had first laid eyes on her. Her needing to leave Earth had broken his heart, and he had never really recovered. Now having both of them at his side felt really nice, but he wasn't sure if he could pick just one. On top of this he remembered one dream where one of his old students had told her parents she loved him. He couldn't remember which one it was, but he was sure he would be seeing her at some point, and he wasn't sure what to do.
"I really like you both, but I don't know what to do. As far as I know I can only have one wife, but I know I love both of you, and there is another girl who is looking for me. I dreamed about her, but I don't remember who it was."
Crystal gently reached across the table and took his hand. "Don't worry about it. We'll figure something out."
Thorn nodded. "I agree, but first I think we need to get out of here."
Shaggy smiled at both girls. "Ok, let's see if we can find our way out of this creepy place."
"Wow this place is quite the maze" Crystal exclaimed as they came upon another passage. The three of them had spent the last hour exploring empty rooms and looking for an exit. Shaggy was looking for signs that would lead them out.
"Hay! What s this?"
Crystal and Thorn turned to see Shaggy examining a screen on the wall. The screen showed cars racing across an open field.
"Shaggy?"
Shaggy turned to Thorn. "This reminds me of something. I'm just not sure what it is."
Crystal wrapped one arm around Shaggy's waist. "Did you ever drive in a race? I seem to remember Amber and me coming across something like this before meeting you and the gang."
"Ye, Scooby Scrappy, my then girlfriend Googie, and I were tricked into..."
"Shaggy? What's wrong?"
Shaggy looked up his eyes shining. "I'm sure I know who is behind all of this. I want to think about it a little more, but in the meantime let's find the exit."
Turning away from the screen Shaggy noticed a small door set into the wall. Curious he reached out and tried the handle. To his surprise the door was unlocked, so Shaggy turned it and pushed open the door. In the room sat a young man with shoulder length blond hair.
"Scooby! Is that you?"
The young man looked up, then jumped to his feet. "Shaggy!"
Crystal and Thorn were surprised as Shaggy and this man rushed to each other and hugged.
Thorn cleared her throat. "Uh Shaggy, last time I saw Scooby he was a dog. Has something happened?"
Shaggy turned to Thorn and Crystal. "Sorry Thorn. I promise to tell you the whole story once we're out of here, but the short version is Scooby's family was under a curse for over 100 years and was broken only recently. Scooby is actually a shapeshifter, but was stuck in his dog form."
Scooby extended his hand. "Hi Thorn, Crystal. It is nice to meet you once again."
Looking around Shaggy asked. "Hay Scoob, where's Winnie?"
"I don't know. When I woke I was here alone."
"We need to find her then. Come on pal, we're all getting out of here."
Nodding Scooby followed the group out of the room and down a long hallway. The group passed through a small opening, and came upon a room with a strange bar lying on the ground. The room sounded like it had a river just over head. Crystal and Thorn placed hands over their ears.
"WHY IS THERE A RIVER JUST OVER OUR HEADS?"
Shaggy was just about to answer Thorn, when he tilted his head at the echoed questions all around them. Looking around Shaggy spotted a glowing crystal imbedded in one wall. Acting on a hunch, shaggy said "echo". At once the volume dropped. Though they could still hear the sounds of rushing water over head, it was quiet enough that no one felt like running out one of the exits.
Thorn walked over to the bar lying on the ground, and picking it up examined it. After a minute she looked up in wide-eyed surprise.
"This is pure 'platinum'!"
Shaggy and Scooby both looked over at this. Thanks to their adventure at the estate of Shaggy's uncle they had a good idea how much platinum was worth, and here was a pure bar of it just lying around. Deciding not to worry about it, Shaggy lead the group through the next exit.
They found themselves in a room that looked round. It was clear that there had been exits in all eight directions in the past, but now several passages had collapsed, and besides the one they came through there were only exits leading north, south, west, and southeast. On one wall Shaggy spotted a sign. As if in a joke, the sign read "the round room".
Scooby sniffed the air. "Winnie is close." He moved toward the west exit.
The others followed him as they passed from the room into a passage that lead west, except for a branch that lead northeast. Following the passage the group came out into a room with passages leading back east, farther west, and south. The only problem was Winnie in full werewolf form guarding the southern exit. Her eyes were filled with malus as they swept around the room.
Crystal stopped at the sight. "Who is that?"
Shaggy pulled both Thorn and Crystal close to him. "That is Winnie. She is a werewolf, but I've never seen her like this before."
Scooby shifted back into his k9 form. "This is how she would act under the influence of the full moon. The only problem is there is no moon light in here."
Thorn leaned out and around Shaggy to get a good look at Winnie. "Does Winnie wear any jewelry?"
"No" shaggy replied. "Why do you ask?"
Thorn smiled. "Because she has a necklace around her neck."
Shaggy and Scooby exchanged startled glances. "Maybe she'll return to her normal form if we can get the necklace away from her."
Scooby shifted into a silver wolf. "Leave this to me." Before anyone could stop him Scooby had dashed across the room, and proceeded to claim dominance over the werewolf. Winnie wasn't just going to submit quietly though, and for the next ten minutes the two of them were engaged in a furious struggle. At last Scooby pinned Winnie, and ripped the necklace from around her neck. As Shaggy had suggested, Winnie slowly returned to her nearly human form. The look in her eyes had not changed though.
"Scoob, you may have to kiss her to break her out of her trance."
Nodding Scooby leaned down and planted a kiss directly on Winnie s lips. For a few more minutes she struggled, but soon enough Winnie was looking up at Scooby with a lost expression.
"Scooby? Where are we?"
"I don't know yet love, but you seemed to be guarding a way out of this prison."
Winnie hugged Scooby to her tightly. "I know the room south of here is a cellar, but I don't know how to get out."
"Just leave that to us Winnie" Shaggy said gently.
Winnie looked up to see Shaggy with two other women behind him. Her memories kicked in, and she shuttered at what she had been guarding. "If you can spare a moment, there are some treasures in a room west of here. The only problem is it's a maze."
Crystal smiled. "I can help with that. That is if you want to retrieve these treasures love?"
"Maybe later. First we need to get out of here and stop the one who put us all down here."
The group all nodded, and walked to the southern exit.
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An: Well that's it for this chapter. I really wish I hadn't gotten sick last week, but at least this chapter is now up. I'm not quite done with the game reference yet, but next chapter we find out what happened to Miss Grimwood, and they start heading toward where Shaggy and the rest are. Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments please leave me a review, or send me a pm. See you all next time.