Sponge: So…um…it's been a while since I last updated. Like, four months. I am notorious for not updating for months and even years. There's a story on my other penname that I haven't even touched since January 2009. It's awful. But I promise I won't leave you guys in the dark. I'll update as much as I possibly can, especially now that my first year of college is coming to a close. In any case, no one guessed in this most recent chapter what the song title was from, so "Downtown" is a song by Petula Clark. It's kind of old but whatever. You guys will probably do a little better on this chapter. Here we go! Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Scooby Doo characters. They belong to Cartoon Network, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera.


Chapter 12: Get The Party Started

One round of Kings had turned to two, and two had turned to three. Velma was feeling mixed emotions. On the one hand she was feeling a little lightheaded. On the other, she was feeling extremely buzzed and excited. Almost antsy. But she liked it. Although there was something tugging at the back of her mind. She felt as though she was forgetting something very important. But she was too focused on the game to really care.

"King!" Tony exclaimed as he drew a king from the deck of cards. "Hmm…the rule is that after every sentence you say, you have to add the words, 'in bed!'" As an after-thought, Tony added, "In bed."

Velma laughed. So did Fred and the others who were playing.

"Sounds good to me in bed!" Fred said, causing everyone to burst into laughter again. Tony placed his card under the stay-tab and Velma drew a card.

"Six! Uh, in bed!" she cried as she, Sadie and Laura all took drinks from their cans and the guys all laughed. Velma was definitely feeling buzzed. Maybe even drunk, but who could tell? All she knew was that she was feeling light and floaty and giggly. She carefully put her card under the stay-tab – if it popped open, she would have to chug it – and Fred drew a card.

"Ace!" he cried. "Hot seat. Ask me whatever your heart desires in bed!" Velma was glad Rob was going first because she needed time to think of questions that hadn't already been asked in the previous rounds. But Rob had a question all ready.

"Do you ever fantasize about sleeping with Daphne Blake in bed?" Rob asked.

"Who DOESN'T fantasize about sleeping with Daphne Blake in bed?" Patrick responded. Everyone roared with laughter other than Velma and Fred. Velma suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

"Fred, we have to find her!" she whispered. "Shaggy and Scooby are next door at Mr. Aiken's house waiting for us!" Fred nodded.

"Right," he said. "I'll go find Daph. You go next door and wait for us." Velma paused. She wasn't sure how able Fred was to find Daphne on his own – he was pretty smashed. Velma wasn't feeling all that great herself but she knew she had to help Shaggy and Scooby snoop.

"Okay," she said. "Drink lots of water, okay? It won't sober you up but it'll help you from getting a hangover in the morning." With that, the two of them stood.

"I have to find Daphne," Fred said as Velma slunk away, unnoticed.

"So you can sleep with her…IN BED!" The others laughed at Rob's statement but Fred ignored them and pushed his way through the crowd. He discovered her playing beer pong with Red Herring. Fred felt his blood boil.

"Hey there!" Red exclaimed upon seeing his teammate enter the room. "If it's not Fred Jones!" Daphne turned and grinned at him. Damn. Why was she so beautiful?

"Daph," Fred said, going to her. "We have to go. Remember what we're supposed to be doing?" Fred was feeling insanely drunk, but he knew that he had to get her out of there – she looked even drunker than he felt.

"Oh right!" she giggled. "Just let me grab my purse from upstairs." She turned to her beer pong mates. "I'm afraid I will have to leave you now. I have a top secret mission to attend to."

"Riiiiight, gonna get all kissy-kissy with Fred Jones?" Ashley giggled. Red and Maureen both heard her and scowled at Fred and Daphne, respectively. It was practically common knowledge that Red still had feelings for Daphne and that Maureen had a crush on Fred.

"God Blake, you're such a slut," Maureen sneered at her. "You're a whore."

Daphne bristled and turned back to Maureen. "Excuse me?"

"You've never paid attention to Fred in your life…why are you suddenly so interested in him?" Maureen didn't give Daphne a chance to answer. "It's because you can't stand being alone. You're such a skank that you have to have a guy all the time!"

That was the last straw for Daphne. "Don't you call me a skank you fucking bitch!" She propelled herself towards Maureen but out of nowhere, Tony Moretti came careening out of the other room and put himself between them.

"Hey, hey, hey!" he exclaimed, his New York accent heavier than ever. "No fighting. We don't want the neighbors to call the cops cuz we're being too loud."

"Fuck off Moretti, this is between me and Blake," Maureen snarled. Tony took Daphne's arm and led her back to Fred.

"You two better get out of here," he said. "You're both pretty drunk. You need a ride home? My older brother's coming to pick me up soon cuz I know I'm too messed up to drive myself."

"Uh…no thanks," Fred said. "We have something to do first. Shaggy's going to pick us up." Fred was surprised and how cohesive that statement was, considering how smashed he felt. Tony nodded.

"Okay," he said. "Don't get into any trouble now. Let me know if you need anything. Dinks has my number…" Upon hearing Velma's nickname, the three of them looked around.

"…Where is Dinks, anyway?"

x.X.x

She, at the moment, was heading over to Mr. Aiken's house. She entered through the garage but found no sign of Shaggy and Scooby. Puzzled, she quietly called for them.

"Shaggy? Scooby?" she whispered. She wanted to be as quiet as possible in case someone WAS home. She made her way over to the sink and poured herself a glass of water. She didn't want to have a hangover in the morning either. Suddenly she heard a sound coming from behind the closed door of the study and jumped.

"H-hello?" she said tentatively. "Who's in there?"

"Like Velma? Is that you?" said a voice from inside the study. She recognized it.

"Shaggy!" she cried, running toward the door. She stopped abruptly. Whoa. Running while drunk. Not a good idea. Her head was swimming and she moaned.

"Relma, rar roo rokay?" asked Scooby, also from inside the study. Velma carefully made her way to the door, talking as she went.

"I got drunk," she admitted, shamefacedly. "Fred did too. We were playing kings and…I'm not feeling so well."

"Like do you feel like you're going to throw up?" Shaggy asked. He'd had those nights where he'd drank too much too quickly and had to vomit immediately afterwards.

"No I think I'm just feeling lightheaded…" Velma sighed. She tried opening the door to the study, but found it wouldn't open. "Shaggy, unlock the door."

"Like it's not locked," Shaggy told her. "We're like, stuck in here."

"Rye raf to ree," Scooby whimpered.

"How long have you guys been in there?" Velma asked them.

"I don't know…maybe like, fifteen minutes?"

"Well hold on, I'll try to get you out-" Velma began but stopped short at a sound from outside.

"Did you like, hear that Scoob?" Shaggy asked his dog in a gulp.

"Reah," Scooby replied.

"So did I," Velma whispered.

A car had just pulled into the driveway.

x.X.x

"My purse is upstairs," Daphne said. "Brandon took it up there while I was playing beer pong so that it wasn't with a bunch of people…" Daphne realized that sentence didn't exactly make much sense but she was too drunk to really care.

Fred, on the other hand, was sobering up a little. He knew that he and Daphne needed water to keep themselves hydrated. He held her steady as they walked up the stairs. In one of the bedrooms were piles of coats and purses and such. Daphne began digging through trying to find her purse. Fred closed the door behind him. He hoped that Velma and Shaggy and Scooby were finding…something. Whatever it was they were supposed to be finding. He couldn't remember. He didn't like not being able to remember things.

"Found it!" Daphne giggled, holding up her purple purse.

"Great," Fred said. "Now let's-"

But Daphne didn't let him finish his sentence. She walked over to him and stood very close to him, lowering her lashes. Fred gulped.

"Uh…Daph?"

"Shh," she whispered, putting a finger to his lips. Then, standing on her toes, she closed her eyes and gapped the distance between them with her lips. They were soft and sweet.

Fred was taken aback. He knew that this was a bad idea but he wasn't about to complain. He was still a little drunk and here was the girl of his dreams kissing him. Who was he to try to stop her? Fred closed his eyes and took her into his arms.

x.X.x

"Like Velm, you gotta hide!" Shaggy exclaimed from inside the study.

"Where?" she cried, frantically.

"Like, anywhere!" Shaggy told her. "Just like don't let him find you!" Without further thought, Velma dove behind the couch in the living room just as the garage door opened. In walked Mr. Aiken and immediately behind him was…Lewis Jacobson. Velma nearly gasped out loud but caught herself.

Mr. Aiken turned to Jacobson as if he was going to say something.

Then, from inside the study, Scooby Doo barked.

Velma froze in fear. Mr. Aiken and Jacobson looked at each other and made their way to the study, walking right past Velma's hiding place as they did. She peered out from the other side of the couch as Mr. Aiken tried the door. When he failed, he motioned for Lewis Jacobson, and he kicked the door in.

"Who's there?" boomed Lewis Jacobson. Nothing happened. Then, to Velma's complete and utter horror, Jacobson reached into a holster she'd never noticed.

"I have a gun!" he thundered. "If you don't want me to use it you'd best show yourself!"

"No! Don't hurt them!" Velma exclaimed, jumping up from her hiding place. Mr. Aiken and Jacobson whirled around upon hearing her voice. Jacobson was still holding the gun up and Velma cringed and jumped away from it. Jacobson lowered it and Mr. Aiken looked at her quizzically.

"Velma?" he said, confused. "What are you doing in my house?"

"Like um…" came Shaggy's voice from the study. Aiken and Jacobson whirled around again to see Shaggy and Scooby emerging from behind the desk. "She was here to like, try to help us out of the study. The door locked on us."

"It sticks," Mr. Aiken said faintly, obviously still shocked that two of his homeroom students were in his house. Lewis Jacobson looked confused.

"Would you mind telling me what you were doing in this man's house?" he asked. He allowed Shaggy and Scooby to pass him so that they could join Velma.

"We were…trying to find clues," Velma said as boldly as she could. She was feeling much more sober now, but still a little sick – although that may have been because she was so nervous. Aiken and Jacobson arched their eyebrows.

"Clues? To what?' asked Jacobson.

"We know that the monster in the Williow Springs Woods isn't a Wendigo," Velma told him. "It's just a guy – or two guys – in a mask, trying to scare people away from the woods so that they can make their counterfeit money in peace." Shaggy looked at her admiringly. She was so brave. He would have never had the guts to stand up to these two.

"What makes you think the counterfeits are coming from the Willow Spring Woods?" Lewis Jacobson asked her suspiciously.

"We saw the printing press in that secret underground cave!" Velma exclaimed. "And we know there's a tunnel that leads from there into the Coolsville High School basement!"

"Like yeah!" Shaggy added, finding his voice. "And like, we also have a pretty good idea who's behind it!"

"Roo!" Scooby cried, pointing at the two men standing in front of them. Aiken and Jacobson glanced at each other.

"What makes you think we're behind the counterfeiting?" Aiken asked them.

"I found this note in your desk that Lewis Jacobson had Tony Moretti deliver to you," Velma replied, producing said note from the pocket of her pleated skirt.

"And like, Scoob and I just found a note in your study, written in the same handwriting," Shaggy said proudly producing that note as well. Velma glanced at them – she hadn't heard of this development.

Aiken took the notes from them and showed them to Jacobson.

"Kids, I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding," Mr. Aiken told them. "Lewis Jacobson didn't write me these notes…my wife did."

Velma, Shaggy and Scooby stared at him for a few moments.

"...Pardon?" Velma asked. Mr. Aiken sighed.

"My wife and I were going through a rough time," Mr. Aiken told them. "I'd done something terrible, something I should have never done. I cheated on her. I thought for sure she would file for divorce if she found out. But as you can see, she wrote 'this changes nothing 'and that 'we can fix this.' That's what we've been trying to do."

"But…what's this bit about 'the greens?'" asked Velma.

"Our lawyers," Mr. Aiken replied. "Bob and Sally Green."

"I'm still confused about something," Velma said. "Why is Lewis Jacobson here?"

"I was asking him if he knew anything about the missing printing press in the school basement," Jacobson told her.

"Like why would a janitor need to know about a printing press?" Shaggy whispered to Scooby. This was all still very suspicious to him.

Lewis Jacobson overheard him and chuckled. "I'm not really a janitor, boy. That's just my cover story." He fished through his pockets and retrieved a wallet, which he gave to Shaggy and Velma.

"…F.B.I?" Velma read, looking up at him. "You're an undercover cop?"

"Indeed I am," Lewis Jacobson replied. "I've been trying to learn more about where the counterfeit ring began and my search led me to the high school. I didn't know about the secret tunnel connecting the school to the woods, though. How did you find out about that?"

"We live near those woods," Velma explained. "We went exploring one day and we found the printing press in a cave under a tree and we followed the tunnel and it led us to the school."

"I want you kids to stay out of those woods from now on," Jacobson told them. "Even if whatever's in there isn't a Wendigo, it could still be dangerous – especially now that we know that the counterfeits are coming from there."

Velma and Shaggy nodded sagely.

"This ruins my whole theory," Velma sighed. "I thought it made perfect sense that a janitor who was on strike would be behind the counterfeits." Jacobson grinned wryly at her.

"It's true that workers who go on strike don't make money because they refuse to work," he told her. "But really the person who suffers the most is the owner of the company." With that, Jacobson tipped his hat and left.

"Like let's get out of here you guys," Shaggy said, having felt like he'd overstayed his welcome at Mr. Aiken's house since he first stepped foot inside. "Like do you still have to go to the bathroom, Scoob?"

"…Ro…" Scooby muttered sheepishly. "Rye ras rared ren rey rame rin re rouse." Shaggy glanced at Mr. Aiken embarrassedly.

"Like I'll clean up after him sir, and then I'll leave."

"So will I," Velma added.

"Thank you," Mr. Aiken told them and went upstairs.

"After we clean up," Velma told him, "we need to go back to Brandon Michael's house. Fred told me he was going to grab Daphne and come meet us here but they haven't shown up yet. I'm getting worried."


Sponge: Whoo! Five chapters left guys! I apologize again for not having updated since last year, especially since I left you guys with a cliffhanger. I left you with a bit of one here but I'll try to get to chapter thirteen soon. The year's almost over so I should have more time for updates once I'm on summer vacation. How will Daphne and Fred's relationship change now that they've kissed? Who are the counterfeiters if they're not Mr. Aiken and Lewis Jacobson? Could the Wendigo really be a monster? And who wrote the song in the chapter title? All these and more will be answered in the next chapter…so long as you keep reviewing!