Chapter 2: We're Going Out to Sea

A week later, Scooby and the gang were all packed and on their way to Washington to meet up with Mr. Fletcher to prepare for the expedition to find the city of Atlantis. Now Mr. Fletcher had told them that he had extended the deadline of the project, but the Board of Directors were considering scrapping any further expeditions if the search turned out fruitless. As usual, Shaggy and Scooby were in the back of the trusty Mystery Machine enjoying another snack of triple-decker BLTs while the gang trundled along in the van. Eventually, Fred announced, "We're here, gang. Welcome to Washington D.C. Naval Yard."

"You do remember which dock Mr. Fletcher's meeting us at, right, Freddy?" asked Velma.

"Of course. Dock 45," replied Fred smartly.

With that, the gang made their way to the Naval Yard and showed their entrance papers and explained why they had come. The guards allowed the Mystery Machine to pass with little hassle and then the gang headed to Dock 45. Mr. Fletcher was there, along with the rest of the crew who would be traveling with them to find Atlantis. He waved to them and the gang approached, and then Mr. Fletcher said, "Glad you could come, kids. The sub is nearly finished with the safety checks and all supplies are on board now. You should be ready to depart on the expedition in about fifteen minutes."

"Like, groovy!" said Shaggy. "I can hardly wait to taste those extra-long sub sandwiches."

"Very funny, Shaggy," Daphne said with a slight hint of sarcasm.

"Come on, you comedians. Let's meet the rest of the crew," said Velma.

And so the gang went with Mr. Fletcher to meet the others when they caught the attention of a middle-aged man clad in a blue uniform adorned with medals. They approached him, and the man said, "Good day, sirs and ma'ams. Captain Albert Walton at your service."

"Good day, Captain," Fred said with a salute. "And thank you for permitting us to join you on the expedition."

"Well, it was Mr. Fletcher's idea, kids," smiled Captain Walton. "He knew that this kind of expedition falls into the category of a mystery and you were looking into it, so we had to agree to take you on. Besides, no teens and their dog could possibly solve a case like Atlantis better than you, I wager."

The gang all grinned, and then Velma said, "Well, we try not to brag, but ghost-hunting has taken us around the world."

"And we've certainly had our share with mysteries of ancient times," added Daphne.

"Reah. Rancient rimes," Scooby chuckled.

Captain Walton gave a chuckle and said, "Well, we'd best get aboard now. It's almost to shove off."

With that, the gang followed the captain to the submarine and were introduced to some other members of the crew before boarding the USS Odyssey. They met Samuel Addleson from Columbus, who was the ship's medical officer; Dolores Fuente, a young Latin-American woman who was the ship's chief engineer; Martin Williams from Atlanta, who was an expert on drills; Jean-Claude Francois, the ship's cook from France; and Alexander Malinsky, an explosives specialist from Russia. Finally, it was time to board, and Scooby and his pals waved goodbye to Mr. Fletcher just before the airlock doors sealed and it was time to settle in.

Scooby and the gang went to set up their quarters before joining the others, so they bade Captain Walton good day for the time being and headed to Deck 4 of the Odyssey. Now there were accommodations on board for service animals, so Scooby was covered. With that, Shaggy and Scooby got Cabin 12 while Fred took Cabin 14. As for Velma and Daphne, they were bunking in Cabin 17. Then after some time of getting accommodated, they decided to head to the mess hall for their first lunch of the journey.

…

Shaggy and Scooby piled up their plates with food and drink and joined the gang at a table. Fred, Velma, and Daphne were worried about how the rest of the crew would react to the buddies' enormous appetites, but Mr. Francois didn't seem troubled at all. In fact, he had never met anyone who enjoyed food so much. When Scooby and Shaggy came to pick up their share, the cook said, "Ah, you like to eat, non?"

Once they were settled in, Dolores Fuente questioned, "So how did you kids find out about the submarine expedition again?"

"There was something about it in the papers," Fred explained. "We had to find out more since ghost-hunting is our specialty and a personal hobby."

Alexander Malinsky said, "You know, if I had been ghost-hunting at your age back in Ekaterinburg, I'd probably have made it an official business for payment."

The gang shared a laugh at that and resumed eating, and when their meal was done, Scooby and the others went up to the bridge for a view of the sea outside. When they came to the bridge, the gang was blown away by the view of the ocean from below. They could hardly see the ocean floor, for all around them was clear blue water illuminated by the sun's light flowing through the surface to the expanse of the waters below.

"Like, wow," said Shaggy. "Who knew life under the sea could be so groovy?"

"Not to mention calm," added Daphne.

Then the others noticed Velma was busy looking over the ancient map, for Mr. Fletcher had lent it to them to use on the journey. Shaggy asked, "Like, what are you doing with the map, Velma?"

Velma explained, "There's still one part of this ancient map I don't quite get. There's a picture of these weird snake-like heads along what looks like a canyon wall. I can't make it out, but I might be able to discern the rest of the journal if I use the same translation method I did when we were at Mr. Fletcher's mansion."

And so Velma returned to hers and Daphne's bunk while the rest of the gang stayed on the bridge for a while. They got to meet the ship's navigator Ashua Tomakowa, who was a retired Marine officer from Japan, and were even given a personal tour of the ship by Captain Walton. For the next few hours, there wasn't much to do aboard the Odyssey, but Scooby and Shaggy were enjoying the underwater scenery. Promptly at 6:00, dinner was served, and it was accompanied by a pleasant talk as well. Scooby and the gang quickly made friends with the rest of the crew and told them about life back in Coolsville and how they became the best teenage detectives around. When the day was through and everyone turned in for the night, everyone was expecting the voyage to be relatively uneventful. Of course, Velma was up late trying to decipher the one picture in the map that had her confused still.

…

On the next day of their journey, Velma was finally able to decipher the picture. She informed the gang about it, and then explained to Captain Walton that she had information that would prove vital to the expedition. Immediately after breakfast, the captain had Scooby and the gang and their new friends come up to the bridge.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let's have it quiet now," Captain Walton said. "We need to give Ms. Dinkley our attention as what she has to tell may make or break our chances at success on this next leg of our journey."

Velma received smiles from Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and a hearty lick from Scooby, and then uploaded her recently compiled research onto a projector using her laptop's wireless messaging system. Then handing her laptop to Fred, she began.

"Everyone, starting the second day of our expedition to Atlantis, I have successfully deciphered the map to Atlantis in its entirety and have confirmed that we are quite close at this time," she explained. "Based on our current location, we are about 80 miles from the coast of Africa. Once we're in the Mediterranean, we should come upon an ancient undersea carving of a rather familiar creature of myth: the Hydra. From what the glyphs are describing, it's likely that what we're searching for may be only a sunken statue that was meant to frighten anyone who attempted to pass through the borders of Atlantean territory uninvited."

Captain Walton and his first officer Luke Milton exchanged intrigued glances, and the captain said, "So we just find this ancient sculpture, and where do we go from there?"

"Well, once we pass through the trench where the fifty heads of the statue are, we should find an outcropping in the wall which should lead us to an underground air pocket," replied Velma. "Once we're in, we should be able to find the remains of an ancient road that stretched from North Africa to as far as Santorini, where the civilization of Atlantis was said to have been. If I'm reading the geographical signs correctly, that outcropping is where the submarine from three weeks ago traveled before the crew was forced to return."

"In that case, we follow our present course," Captain Walton said with a nod.

And so they did. In a few hours, the Odyssey reached the Mediterranean Sea and after a narrow pass through the Strait of Gibraltar, continued on about three thousand miles from the North African shoreline. As the submarine cruised along, Luke Milton suddenly signaled the captain and everyone else on deck.

"Sir, the trench Ms. Dinkley described is in range," he said.

The sub moved in closer and the exterior lights were activated. When Scooby and the gang took a look, they saw the floor of the trench was crawling with small fish, crabs, and even several eels. And all around them were many ships: some from Greece, some from Mesopotamia, some Roman, some Arabian, and even some Viking longships. There were even vessels from the 16th century straight up into modern times.

Shaggy gulped and said, "Like, I don't like the looks of this."

"Re reither," murmured Scooby.

Unknown to them, the serpentine heads of the Hydra sculpture were turning toward the Odyssey as it passed by. Suddenly, there came a roaring sound from outside, causing Shaggy and Scooby to huddle together, and Shaggy asked, "Was that you, Scoob?"

"Ro," the Great Dane replied. "Ras rat rou, Raggy?"

"No," the boy gulped. Then he saw what was happening outside the bridge window and cried, "Then it must've been… that!"

To the shock of everyone on the bridge, the heads of the statue were moving in the direction of the sub. Fred, Velma, and Daphne gasped, and Scooby leapt into Shaggy's arms.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy yelped. "Like, the creepy statue's heads are moving! It's alive!"

Suddenly, one of the serpent heads went off with a bang and sent what looked like a flaming cannonball the size of a boulder at the submarine. Fortunately, the sub moved to the left, but then another stone serpent head did the same. In moments, the Odyssey was trying to avoid being blown apart by the flaming projectiles. Dolores Fuente ran from the bridge to the engine room of the sub and Captain Walton said to Mr. Milton, "Tell Mr. Francois to fill up the stew pots and break out the good silver! I want this sea monster ready to serve with buttered bread in fifteen minutes!"

Mr. Milton grabbed the intercom microphone and called, "Arm all torpedo tubes!"

A short time later, the reply came from the torpedo bay. "Torpedoes armed and ready!"

Captain Walton gave the signal, and each torpedo tube released a round. A few torpedoes hit their mark and at least ten of the statue's flame-spitting heads were blown to bits. One of the statue's heads was actually dislodged, creating a hunk of debris larger than the shots the heads were firing. The gang got a good look at the drifting sculpture and Velma cried, "Jinkies! They're cannons!"

"But that's impossible!" said Fred. "Cannons don't work underwater."

"Maybe these can because they use a pushing mechanism instead of gunpowder," wondered Velma.

"No time for that now, guys!" cried Daphne. "We're gonna get barbecued if we stay out here much longer!"

"Zoinks! Like, that's one barbecue I won't like!" yelped Shaggy.

Captain Walton ordered the submarine to go all ahead full, and soon they were cruising through the deadly trench at forty knots. Eventually, Velma saw the outcropping, which led to a deep tunnel long enough for the Odyssey to get through. The submarine made for it, but before it could make its escape, there came a loud bang and a sudden jolt which threw everyone on their faces.

"Jeepers! We've been hit!" Daphne cried.

"The rudder's busted! We can't turn!" Velma reported.

"Not left or right, but up or down!" said Captain Walton. He called the engine room and bellowed, "Get us into that crevice! Now! Now! NOW!"

The Odyssey surged ahead at a submarine's breakneck pace and escaped into the tunnel. Down it went with only the exterior lights to find its way. then upward. The sub groaned from the sudden change in the water pressure and for a moment, some of the crew feared that the vessel would crumple on itself. Fred took Daphne in his arms, then Velma held onto Shaggy who held Scooby, and Daphne completed the group's embrace. None of them dared to look or release their hold. If this was to be their last mystery, they would go out together as friends.

"Holding course," Mr. Milton said. "Surface at four hundred yards and closing. Three hundred. Two hundred. One hundred. We're coming up now!"

When Scooby opened his eyes, he whooped and cheered, "Re rid it!"

Shaggy, Velma, Fred, and Daphne looked and then cheered. The Odyssey was mostly intact and now inside the air pocket Velma had described. They had successfully survived the hardest part of the journey to find Atlantis. Now it was time to go by land, or rather under it.

"We actually made it!" Captain Walton marveled. "And I thought it would be impossible."

"Well, no trap's impossible to get through when you've got Scooby-Doo around," Daphne giggled as she scratched behind Scooby's ears.

"Rah, it ras rothin'," Scooby said, giving his signature chuckle.

A/N: Well, Scooby and the gang and the rest of the crew made it through that awful mess. But we'll see how they fare in Chapter 3.

Hope you liked this part of the story. Remind you of anything? If so, feel free to tell me your opinions. Be back soon!