Author's Note: After starting out Sgt. Scooby's Lonely Hearts Band as part of my D4 series with high hopes of rewriting that 2015 KISS crossover, I'm announcing that the story has been discontinued, as I no longer feel inspired to continue with the story.
As such, given that I've completed Rush Hour in Hong Kong on FictionPress recently, I will be moving onto the next entry for my D4 series, which will be titled A Study in Wand Smoke.
In addition to being a rewrite of Abracadabra Doo, the story also marks the start of the gang's involvement in magic and the supernatural in the D4 series. Its first chapter is expected to be uploaded in the new year.
On another note, given the absurd uncertainly surrounding today, I'm also announcing that I'm hitting the pause button for my Coolsville Central series, as this series is intended to continue to follow through with the gang's lives as they grow up, much like D4 and D7, and considering how much of a year 2020 was, I no longer feel inspired to continue to write stories under that series' banner.
Instead, whatever I've got planned for the gang in the modern-day setting will likely be transferred to D3-2 Paranormal Instincts and D6 Streets of Coolsville, both of which are intended to take place in a more-specified timeframe instead of being some sort of a biography that follows the exploits of the gang as they grow up like Coolsville Central is.
Chapter 7: In the library
No sooner did the mayor and Velma succeed in untangling Fred, Jr.'s legs did the blonde began to rub both of them.
"How are your legs feeling now, Junior?" The mayor asked as the blonde continued to remain seated on the floor and rubbing his feet.
"I suppose it's gonna take some time before I can feel them again, Mayor Dad." Fred, Jr. replied.
"It's not much of a surprise when you were stuck in that position for..." Velma paused as she glanced at her wristwatch and continued, "...at least two hours."
The mayor glanced down towards the blonde's legs and remarked, "I think I know what your problem was, son."
As Fred, Jr. raised an eyebrow, the mayor continued, "You were practicing while wearing jeans."
"Hey, the instruction video made it look so easy." Fred, Jr. shrugged. "Thought I could wing it."
"Perhaps you should return to your old routine back when you were on the school football team, son." The mayor suggested as he glanced towards the blonde's wardrobe. "I'm certain you still have your sweatpants from your time on the team."
"Oh, I certainly still do, Dad." Fred, Jr. replied. "Only problem is...I might have shrunk them in the wash the other day."
The deadpan on Fred, Sr.'s face was interrupted briefly when Velma covered her mouth to suppress a chuckle briefly, during which the father and son duo both turned towards her briefly.
Seeing the way both Freds were staring at her, Velma quickly returned to her usual neutral expression as she said, "Ah, sorry."
"Either way." Fred, Sr. said as he proceeded to take his leave. "Remind me to take you to the mall to get you new pairs of pants first thing tomorrow morning after breakfast."
"Of course, Dad." Fred, Jr. replied before the mayor made his way out of his room, leaving him alone with Velma.
"Well?" Velma turned towards Fred, Jr.
Fred, Jr. glanced around both sides before he asked, "Well, what?"
"I'm sure there's more to you deciding to take up yoga than doing it 'for a change', as you put it, Freddie." Velma said with her hands on her hips.
Fred, Jr. sighed. "More like, I was hoping that the yoga practice would help occupy my mind and put it at ease in a meditative trance."
"Figured as much." Velma nodded. "Unfortunately, the way you've been forcing your legs into the positions wouldn't help you achieve that, especially when your feet ended up falling asleep after being stuck in that position."
"I guess you're right." Fred, Jr. said. "I mean, there's gotta be something we can figure out to help move on from those Fright Hound attacks we've seen first-hand almost a week ago."
"Well, given the meditative music the yoga instructor's playing in that instruction video, I think I might have an idea on how to deal with the aftermath." Velma said as she looked towards Fred's laptop.
Following Velma's gaze, Fred, Jr. raised an eyebrow.
"What are you suggesting, Velms?" The blonde prompted.
"My parents know someone who specializes in using hypnosis for treatment of the mind." Velma explained. "In fact, he's got a new facility in town that specializes in treatments by placing the mind in a meditative stance."
"Really?" Fred, Jr. raised an eyebrow. "I mean, can it work?"
"There's only one way to find out." Velma said before she grabbed his hand and continued, "What do you say we check this out together and see if the treatment can help us move on from the trauma."
The blonde nodded. "You can count me in, Velms."
"Perfect." Velma beamed. "Let's go, then."
Meanwhile, Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne continued to remain perplexed by their encounter with the vampire the night before as they sat together in the public library.
"Like, this is all too baffling, Daph." Shaggy remarked.
"Reah. Ray roo baffling." Scooby agreed. "Rust what exactlyt ris re rampire rafter?"
"I'm practically as stumped as you guys." Daphne said. "First, the vampire steals the worthless Full Moon in Transylvania that nobody wants in an auction, then she steals a priceless Star Orchid."
"What pattern are we looking at here?" Shaggy said. "Does that mean the vampire's gonna go after something worthless, assuming she's not finished with all the stealing?"
"And more importantly, what does my mother have to do with all of this?" Daphne added. "Granted, I rarely see eye-to-eye with her, but I highly doubt my mother would go so far in stealing those artifacts if that means attracting more material for scandal."
As the trio glanced towards the nearby window, one of the janitors pushing a cart filled with cleaning equipment suddenly bumped right into the left side of their desk, startling the trio briefly.
Without missing a beat, the trio leaned forward towards the clumsy janitor and shushed him.
The janitor only nodded back at them sheepishly before he resumed pushing the cart and continued on his way, prompting the trio to turn towards each other once more.
"Probably first day at work." Daphne observed as she nodded towards the retreating back of the janitor.
Shaggy and Scooby didn't respond as the former glanced back towards the nearby window, during which his eyes settled onto a magazine resting on the right side edge of their desk.
"Say Daph, did you pick up a copy of the Celebrity Weekly?" Shaggy asked as he gestured towards the magazine in question.
Daphne turned towards where Shaggy was gesturing at and frowned. "No, I don't even subscribe to the magazine, not when it's basically filled with tabloid-"
The redhead stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed a bookmark sticking out from the pages of the magazine, prompting her to drag it to the middle of their desk and opened it.
The bookmark in question had a wax seal labelled "E", prompting the trio to frown.
"Rhat does Mr. E rant now?" Scooby wondered.
Scanning through the page that was bookmarked, the first thing that caught their eyes was the header, "Countess Hagula's Youth Juice".
"Looks like a recipe." Shaggy remarked as they scanned through the page.
"Indeed it is." Daphne said. "For a youth potion, to be exact. Two of the stolen objects are part of this recipe. 'The shavings of cadmium yellow paint from any generic scary painting. One with a full moon and/or castle works best.', followed by, '1/3 cup pollen from the rare and endangered Star Orchid'."
Shaggy frowned. "I don't get it. Like, how exactly does cadmium yellow paint contribute as an ingredient for a youth potion?"
"Good question, Shag." Daphne surmised. "Perhaps the chemical ingredients of the cadmium yellow paint used for the stolen painting fully activates the chemical properties of the pollen from the star orchard."
"Well, there's also this disclaimer at the bottom." Shaggy pointed at the bottom of the page. "'May not actually work'."
"Considering that this will be published in a tabloid magazine, it shouldn't be any surprise that the formula wouldn't work as claimed." Daphne nodded.
"And for the sake of argument, let's say that the formula does work, how does that vampire benefit from it?" Shaggy added. "After all, I'm under the impression that they don't age visibly."
"I think there's more to all of this than simply a case of wanting eternal youth." Daphne interjected. "After all, two more rare, priceless items are listed in this recipe for a supposed youth potion: The 'Chateau Rouge Crimson Ruby Rose Bordeaux 1911', and the Devil's Eye ruby."
"Like, '2 teaspoons Chateau Rouge Crimson Ruby Rose Bordeaux 1911', then 'Mix them all up in a bucket, garnish, gulp it all down under the light reflected from the cursed Devil's Eye ruby and look in a mirror.'" Shaggy read. "When the recipe puts it this way, seems like there's more to the Full Moon in Transylvania than meets the eye."
"Alright, so where do we expect to find the 1911 Chateau Rouge Bordeaux?" Daphne asked. "From what I understand, that wine's very rare with only about a hundred bottles still in circulation around the world."
"Which means it must be worth a fortune and be found in the wine cellar of one of those posh, exquisite restaurants." Shaggy said. "Only one posh restaurant comes to mind around town, and that's the Crab Net of Dr. Calimari."
"I know that place." Daphne nodded. "My family has dined there a few times. It's got an extensive wine cellar in the basement, plus it's the only place in town that will feature rare wines like the Chateau Rouge. Problem is you need to reserve well in advance, and any new staff members are rigorously background-checked."
"Probably wouldn't stop that vampire from breaking in and steal the wine." Shaggy said, but before he could continue, they heard a couple of police cruisers rushing by from outside with their sirens flashing.
Sharing glances with each other, the trio rushed out of the library and saw the two police cruisers speeding north, towards the direction of where the posh restaurant is at.
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