NOTES: PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU BEGIN
First and foremost – this story is strongly based on the plot of John Marsden's incredible series, Tomorrow When the War Began (My favourite books ever. Read them if you get a chance!), and also loosely based on the comic series Scooby Apocalypse. The writing of the characters is based off Scooby Doo Where Are You, What's New Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated (my top three Scooby shows!). I also took inspiration from the films, especially the 2010s era and direct to video shorts. It is written in third person omnipresent. There is no main character, meaning the focus will shift around. At the beginning, it's very Fred-Daphne orientated, but like I said, the focus WILL shift. Sometimes I go deep into the feelings of one character, sometimes I switch between two, or sometimes I purposely don't tell you what someone is feeling. All of these are intentional decisions. I have based my decision on what I think will work best with the story.
This is set in Australia, because I am more familiar with the way things work over here and the lingo and the bush, etc. Just ignore that for the purpose of continuity – sorry! But technically, they are still in Crystal Cove, America.
Ships: Fraphne … that's all … at this stage ;) (At the beginning, Fraphne are in that annoyingly flirty stage that WB always seems to give them – but do not fear, things can change). But this is going to be a long story, so you will see a little bit of all the ships that exist within the Scooby gang depending on how you choose to interpret the way I write them (Shelma, Shaphne, Frelma, etc).
Technically, this is set after the Mystery Incorporated series, HOWEVER, for the purpose of this fanfic, I have made some major changes. In the series, they are in their last year of high school, however, for this fic, in the beginning, the girls are 16 and the boys are 17, so they've still got a few years to go. Most importantly, their relationships with all their families are the same as at the BEGINNING of Mystery Incorporated. To recap, Mayor Jones is Fred's dad and he is the current mayor. (Mayor Nettles is a competing candidate, and yes, she is seeing Sheriff Bronson Stone). Daphne's parents are still rich and disapproving of Fred, and Daphne's sisters are all super successful. Velma's parents are the same, and she is really close with Marcie Fleach. As at the beginning of the series, Shaggy's parents aren't proud of him. Scooby lives with them, of course. As mentioned above, Fred and Daphne are not an item yet.
Brad and Judy are just a random couple in town, though slightly sus/mean. Cassidy Williams (Angle Dynamite) is alive, and is a disc jockey at K-Ghoul and part time spy/agent. Ricky co-runs Destroido Corp. with Pericles. It is environmentally unfriendly and there are lots of disagreements among the two owners. Both have a nasty streak, but are not outright evil like in Mystery Incorporated. Aside from the above points, everything is the same as at the end of the Mystery Incorporated series. As you read, treat it as though it takes place after all the films and series, as I will be making references to various past adventures/monsters. The Miskatonic University they mention at the end of Mystery Incorporated is said to be across the country, but in this story, it is just outside of Crystal Cove.
A bit of background on this story: I've been reading/writing fanfiction for about two years, but I have never published anything. I've had the idea for this story for a couple of years now, but I only started writing it down about February 2019. I finally got the complete idea of the story by September that year. It was not chronological when I wrote it down, but every now and then, I would write a particular section I'd recently been thinking about, but completely out of context. So, I only wrote the beginning in March 2020. It was surprisingly hard to start, considering I'd already deeply considered the complication and ending, but hopefully I've done the beginning okay. As of posting the first chapter, I have written about 19 chapters. They are extremely varied in length, but that's just the way it came out. I am aiming to add a new chapter once every week on Wednesday!
Oh my zoinks – this is a long intro but if you read this, THANK YOU you legend! I have a feeling this is going to be a very, very long story. This is also my first fanfic I've published! Also, if you want, follow scoobysurfers on instagram, tumblr and tiktok for more Scooby content or just to have a chat about the amazing franchise! Hope you enjoy :)
CHAPTER 1
'YAA-HOO!' Shaggy exclaimed. Daphne and Velma joined in the cheers and Scooby ran in circles around the living room, barking in delight. A bubble of happiness filled Fred's chest and expanded so much that he found himself laughing and cheering alongside the rest of the gang.
'Let's have a cheers!' Daphne said, giggling as she put up her glass.
'First, I think you need a refill, Daph,' Fred replied, laughing at Daphne's already empty glass, despite it having been full just a few minutes ago.
She laughed again and held it out for Fred to fill up.
'Gee Daph, you're already downing the wine, and you're like, not even legal,' Shaggy teased, good-naturedly. Daphne and Velma were both sixteen, while Fred and Shaggy were seventeen. But that didn't stop them from indulging whenever they went out after a successful mystery. They were teenagers after all.
Daphne hit him playfully on the shoulder. 'You can't talk, hunny,' she said in a sickly sweet voice.
'Fair point!' Shaggy shrugged and downed the rest of his glass. 'Like, I'm going to need a refill too, Fred.'
'I think it's convention to drink after the cheers,' Velma reminded them, suppressing a chuckle.
'Right Velm! Come over here, Scoob.' Shaggy grabbed a glass for Scooby.
'Can you even give dogs alcohol?' Velma asked.
'I rould rather fill it with Rooby Racks!' Scooby grabbed some Scooby Snacks from the table and chucked them in his glass. 'Rokay, ready!'
Fred stood up. 'Here's cheers to finally solving our toughest case yet…'
'And finishing school for the year…' Velma began.
'Ron't rorget the ranteen at school…' Scooby put in.
'And to that like totally amazing pizza we had at the restaurant tonight…' Shaggy said.
'And here's cheers to our friendship!' Daphne finished.
Fred beamed at that disjointed speech, but he realised that it was absolutely perfect. They all clinked their glasses together. Finally, they had cracked a mystery that they had been working on for a while – the case of the Spooky Space Kook at the abandoned airfield. Only a few hours earlier, they had unmasked the crook and sent him off to jail, receiving extensive credit from the local authorities. There were so many reasons to celebrate tonight, Fred thought happily.
To celebrate, they were having a pizza party at their unit just outside of Crystal Cove that Daphne's parents had bought her for her sixteenth birthday. Of course, they weren't allowed to stay in it for longer than a night or two, but they all enjoyed having that feeling of independence from their parents. They all had their own rooms and were on fourth level – the top level of their unit block. Since it was right near Miskatonic University – where Professor Harlan Ellison taught – they planned to move into it once they had graduated.
Similar to hippie theme of the Mystery Machine, they had all agreed to decorate the place 1960s style, complete with a flowery design Daphne had made on each of their doors. In their living room, a giant paisley red throw hung over the window and acted as curtains, which looked down on the local village. Twinkling fairy lights were scattered all over the walls, interspersed with multi-coloured feathered dream catchers. The main light was off, creating a cosy feel as the gang sat on the couch and beanbags around their wooden table, which held the drinks and Scooby snacks. Since the hippie theme wasn't exactly everyone's cup of tea, they had decided to add small touches of it in other rooms of the house, but go all out in the living room. Fred hadn't been keen on it at first, but it was definitely growing on him. Fred had a suspicion that Velma was starting to like it too, even if she didn't admit to it.
Fred placed his half full glass back on the table and laughed as he saw Daphne's glass empty again and Velma's completely full minus one sip.
Shaggy noticed this too and gave his signature chuckle. 'Like, you two are polar opposites. I don't understand how you two get along so well.'
Daphne grinned and pulled Velma in for a hug. 'Me neither. Why do I put up with this nerd?'
Velma grimaced at the alcohol stench of Daphne's breath and replied sarcastically, 'And why do I put up with this slut?'
This was met with intense 'ooohs' from both boys and Scooby ('ROOOH').
Velma fell into fits of laughter at Daphne's mock horror face. 'That. Was uncalled for!' Daphne turned to her best friend.
'So was calling me a nerd,' Velma smiled lightly.
'Velma, nobody who has met you would not call you a nerd,' Daphne said.
'Daphne, that doesn't make any sense!' Fred laughed.
'Whose side are you on, Freddie?' Daphne shot him an accusatory glance through a smile. Fred held up his hands in mock defence.
'Velma, you got an encyclopaedia for your sixth birthday,' Daphne pointed out.
'Daphne, I don't know if you recall a particular party where you happened to give at least five guys the wrong idea,' Velma teased. 'And school rumour has it that…'
'OKAY LADIES! Let's just hold it there,' Shaggy chuckled.
'Yeah, okay.' Daphne laughed, and threw her arm around Velma again and held out her glass. 'Fill 'er up, Freddie!'
'This is your fourth one of the night,' Fred said, laughing. 'You had one earlier, remember? That's quite enough for you, Miss Blake.'
Daphne threw her head back, exasperated.
'She's already quite crazy enough.' Velma returned Daphne's gesture and put her arm over her shoulders.
As if to prove Velma's point, Daphne gave off a rather sinister, high pitched laugh before sliding off the beanbag and sitting on the ground.
'Zoinks! Like that's scarier than the Space Kook's laugh!' Shaggy shuddered.
'Thanks Shaggy, what an honour for me!' Daphne squealed. Laughter kept bubbling out of her, probably because she was a bit tipsy. But Fred passed Daphne a half glass anyway. They all deserved a bit of indulgence tonight.
Shaggy reached for the Scooby snacks. 'Scoob! Did you eat all of them!'
'Rmm, raybe, raybe not!' He replied, but a burp gave him away.
'Scooby! You're so greedy. Didn't even think to leave one for your closest pal,' Shaggy shook his head disappointedly. Fred smiled at them. He could Shaggy was joking, but Scooby clearly couldn't, and he ran over to Shaggy and flopped his head on Shaggy's lap.
'Ri'm rorry Raggy!' he cried.
Shaggy scratched Scooby's head. 'Hm, like alright, I guess I could like you know, forgive you.'
Scooby responded by leaping on Shaggy and smothered him with his slobbery licks. Shaggy could smell the Scooby Snacks as Scooby continued to drown him in licks. So in a way, Shaggy was getting some of the Scooby Snacks.
Fred smiled at his best friends surrounding him. Yes, this was the happiest he had ever felt. And looking around at the beaming faces of the rest of the gang, he knew they felt the same. He lay back and shut his eyes, savouring the wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Fred suddenly remembered the toblerone chocolates in the fridge. Actually, he was surprised they hadn't already been discovered by Shaggy and Scooby – as far as he knew, that is.
Fred slowly began to stretch and open his eyes…
At least, he thought he'd opened his eyes.
But the room was still pitch black.