"The walls! They're moving!"

The concrete walls on either side of the chamber slid toward one another at a disturbing pace. The steel gate that had dropped from the ceiling behind them barred their escape. But Otto had to rattle it just to make sure.

"We're going to be crushed!"

"RUSHED?" Scooby sobbed.

"Not if I can help it!"

Tossing her juice box aside, Ms. O stormed over to one of the walls. Bracing herself against the concrete, she shoved with all her considerable might, her sneakered feet slipping and sliding in the muck. The wall was halted, momentarily.

"Great work, Ms. O! I'll get the other one!"

Fred dashed over and slammed himself against the opposite wall. It continued moving despite his best efforts.

"What the... This thing's HEAVY! How is she...?"

Velma smiled. "Don't try to figure it out, Fred. It'll just confuse you."

She, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby joined Fred in his efforts to slow down the wall.

Otto, Olive, and Oscar, meanwhile, were focused on the mural.

"It has to mean something!" Olive insisted. "But what?"

"Can't we figure that out later?" Otto wailed. "We're gonna get squished any second!"

"Hmm," Oscar pondered. "All this started when Daphne touched this thing..."

He ran his hand along the carvings. There was another loud beep and the walls retracted again, spilling Ms. O and the Scooby Gang to the floor.

Oscar smiled proudly and a bit nervously at his friends just before a strange purple light shot out of a sculpted gargoyle's eyes, scanning him from head to toe.

"IDENTITY CONFIRMED," The grating computer voice said. "WELCOME, OSCAR."

There was a hiss like a vacuum seal being broken. Then the mural covered wall slid to one side to reveal another secret room.

The team looked inside. Another musty chandelier hung from the ceiling above a bizarre mixture of Midevial trappings, futuristic technology, and Victoriana. There was a rotting wooden table covered with beakers and tubes in one corner, a dust-covered television screen in the other. Way in the back, a sarcophagus rested propped against a wall alongside a night-stand, a bookcase, and a standing lamp. Diagrams festooned the walls.

"MY UNCLE'S SECRET LAB!"

But what caught everyone's attention was the glass display case filled with strange high-tech devices nestled in a quiet nook over to the side.

"And those must be the doomsday weapons!" Daphne exclaimed.

Ms. O nodded. "We'd better gather them up before..."

Before anyone could react, two mimes leapt from the shadows. One grabbed Oscar, pointing his finger at Oscar's head and sticking his thumb in the air.

"Whu... Again? This happens in all this guy's stories!"

The other mime pantomimed pulling a machine gun from behind his back. He trained it at the team, pointed at the display case, then at himself.

"They want the doomsday weapons!"

"We can't let them have them! Who knows what havoc they'd cause!"

"But what can we do? They've got Oscar!"

The Scooby Gang, meanwhile, was thoroughly confused.

"Um, guys?" Fred said gently. "You know they're just pretending to have guns, right?"

The agents ignored him.

"How'd they get down here, anyway?"

"We left the door open," Olive looked up the staircase and shook her head. "We thought all the villains had left. We should have been more careful."

"Guys..." Velma tried again. "They don't really have guns!"

The agents ignored her too. Ms. O stepped forward.. "You let Oscar go, you... you mimes!"

The mime shook his head. He pointed to Oscar, then to the display case again.

"They want to trade Oscar for the weapons!"

"You can't!" shouted Oscar, struggling in the mime's grip. "It's too dangerous! Forget about me!" He struck a pose. "I regret that I have only one life to give to protect the world from oddness!"

Daphne was just staring. "What is going on?"

Just then, Oscar's uncle's old robot appeared at the top of the stairs.

"ARCHON?"

The robot teetered unsteadily a moment, then came crashing down, rolling nearly out of control on its metal wheels, tendrils flapping, antenna revolving, beeping furiously.

The mimes were understandably startled. Taking advantage of the distraction, Oscar squirmed free as the robot trundled toward them.

The mimes pulled faces of exaggerated horror as they opened fire on the advancing robot. The pretend-bullets from their pretend-guns ricocheted harmlessly off its metal body. Its tendrils wrapped around the two mimes, lifting them off the ground as they struggled helplessly in its grip. It then carried them off.

"ARCHON! ARCHON, WAIT!" Oscar ran after them. "Not the crocodile pit. Take them upstairs and lock them in one of the spare cells until we can get Owen here to pick them up."

Fred blinked. "You have spare cells?"

"My uncle... It's kinda complicated... " Oscar turned to shout after Archon. "And keep an eye on them so they don't escape!"

"Yeah!" Shaggy giggled. "You don't want 'em unlocking the door with a pretend key!"

Olive nodded. "Oh, so you have dealt with them before."

"Reah... Huh?"

Otto interrupted the confused silence. "But what was Archon even doing here? Nobody called him!"

Velma nodded. "I'll bet he was programmed to protect Oscar from danger!"

"Programmed?" Fred looked around. "By who? Oscar's uncle?"

Shaggy laughed nervously. "Like, I thought that old kook hated everyone!"

Ms. O called their attention to a secluded corner of the room. There in a secluded little nook hung a dozen or so framed photos of Oscar in his younger days: Baby pictures, school photos, Oscar in his first Odd Squad uniform, etc.

"Not quite everyone, it seems..."

The others gathered around. An embarrassed Oscar quickly pulled down a toddler bath photo and hid it under his labcoat..

"Wow!" exclaimed Otto. "I guess he had a soft spot for you, Oscar."

"Well, I did try to phone him every week," Oscar shrugged. "It was a little tough the times he was missing and presumed dead, but I did my best..."

As Oscar stepped toward the wall, another light beam shot out, this one from an electric eye just above the photos, and scanned him head to toe again.

"Identity confirmed," the computer voice intoned. "Activating recording..."

Suddenly, the screen on the wall lit up, startling the assembled group with a bright flash and a burst of static. Then the cadaverous face of Rayenyrk appeared on the screen.

"Greetings," the Vampire King spoke to the camera in a guttural hiss. "If you are hearing this, I have presumably passed from this corporeal existence and crossed over to the other side..."

Otto frowned. "Huh?"

Olive explained. "He means he's dead."

"Let's just hope it doesn't mean he really is a ghost now!" howled Shaggy.

The taped image continued. "If all goes according to plan, the one hearing this will be my young nephew Oscar." They all turned to look at Oscar, who smiled awkwardly and adjusted his glasses. "And if you are not Oscar, you will not leave this house alive. I have seen to that."

"Yeah!" Shaggy whimper-laughed. "We noticed!" Velma shushed him.

"As you should be aware, I am the Vampire King and I have cultivated a reputation for malice and malevolence to terrify the common rabble. It is an image I revel in, for society is often cruel to those who refuse to conform to its petty strictures."

"Yeah," Oscar sighed. "Tell me about it."

"It is for this reason I have separated myself from mortal man and waged a ceaseless battle to conquer this repellent, backwards society so that I might exterminate it and replace it with something more to my liking." He growled under his breath, unnerving even on tape. "If you are hearing this, it means I did not succeed."

"And thank goodness for that," Daphne said under her breath.

Rayenyrk hissed quietly. "Ridiculous Inuit and her stupid bear..." He shook his head. "Still, that is beside the point. From my seclusion, I have watched over you, nephew Oscar. When you were born, I saw the fires of genius burning within you and I vowed no one would harm you. I made a solemn vow to myself you would be happy and protected."

They all looked at one another. Olive spoke first. "He's... not going to ask Oscar to take over for him, is he?"

Oscar shook his head. "Nah, nah. I mean, we discussed it a couple times but..."

The Vampire King continued. "I will not ask you to follow in my footsteps. I know you have made your own path in this world with this... Odd Squad." He grimaced. "It has brought you happiness and that is all I care about. You do not wish to join my cause."

Fred gasped. "He's not going to kill Oscar for betraying him, is he?"

Oscar shook his head. "Nah, he'd never do that! I mean, I'm pretty sure he'd never do that. I mean..."

"He won't," Ms. O said flatly.

"And so, I shall join your cause."

He spoke a word, unintelligible and unpronounceable by any but the most practiced tongue. In response, the case containing the doomsday weapons popped open.

Otto saw this. "Uh, guys...?"

"Take these devices I have created.," Rayenyrk continued. "Use them on behalf of your Odd Squad. Tell no one what I have done here, for my fearsome reputation must remain intact." He struggled to contort his skeletal visage into a smile. "This is my legacy, your inheritance. Use it as you will. And... And please try to think kindly of your old Uncle Rayenyrk the Vampire King."

The screen dissolved into static, then switched off.

"Uh, okay..." Olive struggled to get her bearings. "That was... unexpected..."

Fred eyed the glass case suspiciously. "How do we know it's not a trap?"

Velma sighed. "We just do, all right?" She considered a moment. "It might be a good idea to let Oscar take the weapons out of the case, though. He doesn't seem to have wanted anyone else touching them."

Oscar just stood, staring at the screen and smiling. Ms. O nudged him and he started. "Huh? Oh, oh yeah. Of course. Hold on."

He hurried over and started unloading the weapons.

Daphne watched, puzzled. "What's Odd Squad going to do with a bunch of doomsday weapons?"

"We'll keep them safe," Ms. O replied. "Locked up so no one can misuse them. And we can study them and maybe..."

"Whoops!" Oscar fumbled and dropped a device. It fell on the floor and, to everyone's horror, discharged right at Shaggy and Scooby.

"Oh no!"

Everyone froze, expecting the worst. But after a couple of seconds, a shower of chocolate chip cookies rained down upon the gluttonous pair.

"WHAT in the...?"

"A cookieinator?"

The two started catching and gobbling down the cookies.

"Man! Like, this is my kind of doomsday weapon!"

The Odd Squad agents started examining the devices.

"Why... These aren't weapons!" Ms. O exclaimed. "Most of them are benign. Even helpful!"

Fred laughed. "He didn't make doomsday weapons! He knew Oscar wouldn't want them so he made nice inventions instead!"

Otto patted Oscar on the back. "Looks like Oscar's Uncle had some good in him after all!"

Velma smiled. "Well, it seems this case is all wrapped up!"

"Well, I guess... But..." Daphne looked at Melvin and the other malformed beasts skulking about.. "What's going to happen to all these creatures?"

"Odd Squad will take charge of them," Ms. O assured her. " The Komodo Dragons and the pterosaurs too. We'll give them a good home."

"That still leaves the problem of this house," Fred grimaced. "I'm sorry, Oscar, but no amount of cleaning could make this place presentable."

Olive nodded. "I'm afraid he's right. So what are we gonna do?"

Otto grinned. "I have an idea..."

#

It was now Autumn. The trees lining Peachtree Road were still dark, bare, but slightly less foreboding with glittery red garlands hanging in their branches. There was a huge, hand-painted sign by the side of the road: 'THE VAMPIRE KING'S HAUNTED MANSION.'

"Looks like Oscar's doing pretty well for himself," Velma smiled. "Look at all the cars!"

The Mystery Machine pulled into the parking area which had been marked off around the old house. The front lawn was crowded with people milling about and street vendors had set up around the edge of the property.

After they parked and got out of the van, they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, guys!"

Oscar came hurrying over, accompanied by a dark-haired girl also in a bow-tie and labcoat.

"This is my new lab assistant, Oona! Oona, the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency!"

Oona's eyes widened. "Do you know Sailor Moon?"

Daphne shook her hand. "We heard about Olive and Otto getting promoted. Congratulations to them both!"

"Yeah! Well, they earned it!" Oscar scratched the back of his neck. "We really miss 'em around HQ but we've also got a bunch of new guys..."

Fred looked around. "Looks like business is booming!"

"Sure is!" Oscar grinned. "At first, y'know, it was mostly just villains still looking for doomsday weapons, but then the holiday season came along... Aunt Wendy's even had a few offers from potential buyers. There's a curio museum who want the place, and a heavy metal rock star..." He glanced around. Hey, didn't Shaggy and Scooby come?"

Velma laughed. "Those two chowhounds went off to the concession stands! They won't be back until they run out of money or they give themselves stomach-aches, whichever comes first!"

Nearby, Shag and Scoob were settling at a picnic table with their food.

"Man oh man, authentic Canadian cuisine!" He sniffed the smells coming from the styrofoam container he was opening. "Boy oh boy, this poutine looks like it'll be anything but routine!"

"Reah!" Scooby wolfed down his own order of poutine, then stared hungrily at Shaggy's food.

"Forget it, Scoob!" Shaggy unwrapped his plastic spork. "This is all mine! You already had yours... Huh?"

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Shaggy turned to see who it was. He was just quick enough to see Scooby's tail slip away, but not fast enough to turn back before Scoob had gulped down the entire plate of poutine.

He glared at the dog. "Man's best friend! Phooey!"

Scooby giggled. "Scooby Dooby Dooooooo!"

end