Author's Note: Apologies for taking this long to have this story published, folks.

I must admit that I have lost some motivation to carry on with this reboot of SDMI, mainly because I wasn't quite sure if I could utilize the overall story arc from the original series and get it working for the reboot.

Furthermore, I was considering discontinue this series altogether and transfer the properties and functions of the SDMI reboot in the D3-2 Paranormal Instincts series.

However, having had reread The Secret Serum recently and decided that I'm progressing well with what I've got, I decided that I was going to carry on forward with the rewrite for The Shrieking Madness.

As such, here is the promised first chapter of the rewrite, and as always, there are going to be some modifications to the storyline.

I don't own Scooby-Doo. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.

Chapter 1: Prologue

June 1, 2012

Several days has gone by since the gang put a stop to the vampire's rampage in town, and as always, the weather in Crystal Cove was dark and cloudy, fitting the town's gloomy atmosphere.

Actually, only Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne were involved in stopping the vampire's rampage, as Fred and Velma were preoccupied with trying to move on from the trauma caused by their tangling with the tampered Robot Hound.

And naturally, their parents wouldn't exactly approve of their latest "meddling" after they stopped the vampire's rampage.

In fact, since stopping the vampire, each of the gang has overheard discussions from their parents about checking out the universities for them to enroll in after they graduate from Crystal Cove Central High School.

Not that there was any urgency for them to check out universities, as each of the gang still got one more school year to go before graduating high school.

But of course, given that their parents would like to see them moving on from their mystery-solving "hobby", which they increasingly see as an unhealthy one, it would be a foregone conclusion that the parents would pressure them to check out the universities.

And that is how Shaggy and Scooby find themselves getting pressed to go to bed early by the former's father that night while they were watching one of their favourite movies.

"Ten more minutes, and then you have to go to bed, Norville." Colton said from the doorway to the living room. "Don't want you to be late for the campus tour at Darrow University tomorrow morning."

"Okay, Dad." Shaggy replied as he and Scooby kept their eyes on the television screen.

During this time, the television was playing a fight scene where two men, neither of whom were wearing a shirt, were in a fighting ring while onlookers cheered them on.

By that point, the first man had took a punch at the back of his head from the second man, who then headed to the centre of the ring and shouted, "Get up and fight! Come on! Get up!"

After struggling to get up, the first man looked the handkerchief before he searched through the crowd and found a familiar-looking black-haired lady dressed in a hat and wearing a red dress.

Upon making eye contact, the lady in question winked, prompting the man to head towards the exit of the ring.

As he walked past the second man, he said, "That's it, big man. You've won, congratulations."

However, the second man seemed to be the type who refuses to take a win from a forfeited match, as he immediately shouted, "Oi, we ain't done yet!"

Then, just as the first man reached the exit, the second man spits right at the back of his head, prompting him to stop.

In a voice over, the first man narrates, "This mustn't register on an emotional level."

Almost immediately, the scene cuts to the first man facing the second man in a mind's eye.

"First, distract target..." The man narrates as he throws the handkerchief right in front of his opponent's face in slow motion, which prompted him to retaliate with a blind jab, which the first man blocked. "...then block his blind jab..."

After blocking the blind jab, the first man proceeds to punch the second man's left cheek as he narrates, "...counter with cross to left cheek."

With the second man trying to reposition himself and the first man in position, the latter proceeded to slam his hands right over the former's ears as he narrates, "Discombobulate."

Now dazed, the second man attempts a wild haymaker as the first man gets his elbow in place as he narrates, "Dazed, will attempt wild haymaker. Employ elbow block..."

Upon blocking the wild haymaker, the first man then delivers a punch in the second man's ribs as he narrates, "...and body shot."

Attempting to retaliate, the second man swings with his left, prompting the first man to block with his right elbow as he narrates, "Block feral left..."

And upon slamming his left elbow into the second man's right jaw, the first man continued, "...weaken right jaw..."

Afterwards, the first man slammed his fist into the second man's right jaw as he narrates, "...now fracture."

Soon, the first man delivers another punch to the second man's ribs as he continued, "Break cracked ribs."

Then, with another punch to the second man's ribs, the first man narrates, "Traumatize solar plexus..."

Upon slamming his fist in the man's left jaw, the first man continued, "...dislocate jaw entirely."

And then, with a brief leap, the first man lifted his right leg and delivered a kick to the second man's diaphragm as he narrates, "Heel kick to diaphragm."

With the kick from the first man, the second man was sent flying towards the nearby gates to the ring as the first man now concludes, "In summary: Ears ringing, jaw fractured, three ribs cracked, four broken, diaphragm hemorrhaging."

Then, as the first man watched the second man crashing through the gates, he continued, "Physical recovery: Six weeks. Full psychological recovery: Six months. Capacity to spit at back of head: Neutralized."

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other briefly as the movie returned back to real time, as the first man looks at the crowd and the second man itching for more action.

The first man then went over to grab the handkerchief and wiped the back of his neck before proceeding to execute all the foregoing, just as he pictured in his mind's eye, other than the part where he used his hand instead of his elbow to weaken the second man's right jaw.

With his opponent slammed through the gates and knocked out of the ring, the crowd fell silent.

"Where did that come from?" One of the onlookers asked as the first man exist the ring victoriously, approaches one man with a cigar, grabs the bills, places one on the tavern table and grabs a bottle of beer before making his way up the stairs.

"Note to self: Never spit in the back of head of your opponent during a bare knuckle boxing match." Shaggy remarked as he looked at Scooby. "Like, as if I would even take up a career in boxing."

"Ri don't even want ro imagine rhat rou have to go through rould you do so." Scooby agreed.

(Which movie are Shaggy and Scooby watching here?)

It was then that Colton walked by the doorway to the hallway, prompting Shaggy to reluctantly reach for the remote and turn off the television.

"I'm hitting the sack now, Dad." Shaggy said as he got up from the sofa and headed out of the living room with Scooby following suit.

"Good." Colton said. "Be sure to be up by six, Norville. Darrow University's at least an hour away."

Shaggy only nodded as he and Scooby headed down the stairs to their bedroom, where the former changed into his pajamas and prepared for bedtime.

Meanwhile, over at Darrow University, a few students were at the Campus Burger studying when another student walks by them.

"Are you guys really wasting your time with that novel by L.H. (Lewis Harvard) Popcoft-Hill?" The student in question asked when he walked by the group, who were reading a novel titled "Char Gar Gothakon: The Beast That Hath No Name".

"In case you missed the first day of class and haven't reviewed the course outline, Derek, the novel's for our upcoming final project." One of the students replied as he looked up from the novel. "Figured we should get a heads start on it."

"And you also know that Professor Ellison's very strict on grades and doesn't like to bell curve them." Another student added.

"Yeah, I know, but to read such a novel for our final project's just plain ridiculous." Derek complained. "For instance, just what the blazes is a 'Char Gar Gothakon' supposed to be? Some make-up mystic creature that's a poor impression of Davy Jones?"

"Coming from someone who's at risk of having to take this course again because the professor's not impressed with your lack of imagination." The third student remarked, prompting the others at the table to nod in agreement.

"Look, I did take a look at the novel, and while it does show some interesting premise, having a make-up name for the title monster just lets the whole story down." Derek clarified. "But I guess that's what is to be expected when the novel came from snippets of stories the author had scrapped together from the short stories he had published in pulp magazines."

"At least you were paying attention during Professor Ellison's lecture." The first student interjected.

"Only because I needed the course credit in order to fulfill the electives required for my degree." Derek said before he checked the time on his watch and added, "Now, if you guys would excuse me, I have some assignments to work on."

"Suit yourself." The second student said dismissively as Derek exited the diner.

Alone in the dark parking lot, Derek made his way to his car as he continued to grumble, "I still don't get what Professor Ellison seeks from us studying that novel for the final project? I mean, just what the blazes is that make-up name supposed to be?"

As he approached his car, a hideous shadow was looming over the walls of a nearby building, during which he continued, "Char Gar Gothakon? Sounds like a poor impression of Jar Jar Binks."

Derek then stopped when he smelled something, prompting him to muse out loud, "And what is that smell?"

Turning around to look, he saw nothing and shrugged before resuming his walk to his car.

After taking a few more steps, Derek stopped again when the same smell was now more pronounced.

Taking a few sniffs, he then turned around, only to stop dead in his tracks when he came face-to-face with a hissing green-skinned monster with a bulbous head and long, tentacles covering its mouth.

Without warning, the creature opened its mouth, creating a sonic blast that propelled him to race down the parking lot, during which he have to dodge the cars that were sent flying by the blast.

However, the creature aimed its blast towards him, which sent him flying into the air before landing on a nearby car.

The force of his descent smashed the car's windshield, and as Derek stirred, the creature approached him menacingly with its tentacle fingers reaching over to him.

Happy 52nd anniversary of the Scooby-Doo franchise, folks!

Please read and review!