Chapter 7
The loudspeaker buzzed as an announcement was made throughout the ship.
Attention; attention, please. Pacific Princess is proud to have the renowned winners of the famed Worcestershire Dog Show on board for our final evening. We hope they have a fabulous evening of touring the ship and tell all their royal followers about our humble crew and cruise line.
"That should be a great piece of bait for our troublemaker," Velma said after the broadcast finished. "If they really want to sabotage the reputation of the ship, this is a perfect opportunity. Now Fred, why is it that you have an overly complicated plan again?"
"It's really quite simple," he explained. "I always come up with complicated traps to catch the bad guys, and something always goes wrong. But because they ARE so complicated, things have lots of opportunities to wrong the right way. We always catch the bad guys, right?"
"Right..." Daphne agreed, reluctantly.
"So why would we change our methods? Here's what we're going to do..."
...
"Remember, you're supposed to be a dog show winner. Keep a regal posture," Daphne reminded Scooby.
The Great Dane straightened his back and legs so neither were bowed. "Right!"
"Be proud, Jenna. Show 'em the lady you are," Rosy said, patting her dog on the back.
Jenna tossed her head, her hair settling into place. "Okay!"
With a knock on the door, Fred opened it and Captain Stubing stood, playing the part of a proud tour guide to whoever might be watching or listening in. "If my honored guests are ready, I would be honored to give you an evening tour of the ship before you dine with me at my table." They emerged from the cabin and started following behind the captain and quickly found out that he WAS proud of his ship. The tour included recreational areas, entertainment venues, and shops; other areas normally off-limits to guests were included, such as the engine room, galley and bridge. The sun was beginning to set as they strolled along a deck; it was felt that this time of day and location would be the highest probability of having an encounter.
"I've only been on the Princess about a year, but she is the finest ship I've ever served aboard."
"It really is impressive," Rosy gushed. "It's really nice to show us all those neat places."
"Anything for the handlers of renowned winners of such a prestigious show as the Worcestershire." So far, nothing had happened; but just in case whoever was causing the trouble didn't want to confront the captain directly, he excused himself for a few minutes when Gopher showed up with a fake request for his presence elsewhere. "If you'll excuse me, I'm needed on the bridge. I'll meet you for dinner in...one hour?" They agreed and Stubing departed with Gopher, leaving the two dogs and their 'handlers' alone.
"I'm kind of scared," Rosy said. "What if it's a real ghost?"
"It's not a bad thing being scared," Daphne said. "But we've always found it was a real person pretending to be a ghost or monster. They're always trying to scare people for different reasons."
"What do you usually do?"
"Me? I usually get kidnapped, or sometimes I trip over something while running." Scooby giggled and Daphne shushed him. "Let's walk down this way. Remember our plan."
"Right," Rosy whispered and she led Jenna off towards the stern. In less than a minute, they heard a scary noise behind them. They turned and saw a figure in white gliding towards them, making some type of chattering noise.
"Run!" Daphne yelled, and the four started running down the deck; not too fast, because they didn't want to lose the one chasing them. They paused at a corner, and entered a breezeway between two out buildings. They huddled together and waited for their pursuer to get closer, then ran off again. As they passed the door to the infirmary, Daphne tapped the door and continued past.
As the dark figure followed, the door suddenly opened and Doc stood in the doorway with a huge hypodermic needle he used as a prop at parties. "You're just in time to get your tetanus shot!" he exclaimed with glee, and as the figure hurried past he followed behind, proclaiming that it would only hurt for a moment.
The girls led the dogs past a juncture where another hallway led off to the right; it was almost completely blocked with a serving table with a man behind it. When the figure neared the table, Isaac lifted up a drink and ignited it, creating a brief flare up. As the flames sparkled, he shouted out "Care for one of our famous Tiki Torch drinks?" The figure threw up its hands as it slid around the offering and continued the pursuit. Isaac joined Doc in the procession.
Up ahead, the four turned another corner and waited a short distance away. When the pursuer got close, someone threw a bucket of something on the floor. As the figure hit the patch of white, it skidded straight ahead instead of turning the corner to follow the dogs and girls.
"Not only does our homemade dark chocolate whipped cream made a great dessert topping..." Walt boasted.
"...but you can also see why we nickname it 'oil slick' on the menu," Craig finished. Several streaks could be seen running through the patch and when the figure hit a railing; as they flew over the top, you could see that whoever it was had roller skates underneath. They landed in a heap in a go cart that was sitting on a small race track, which Velma started with a pull on the engine. She locked the throttle on full and the car raced off, bouncing off the sides of the track. At the end of the straight, it jumped the curb and raced down the deck as the figure struggled to get themselves turned around in the seat. Before they could, the deck ended at a pool area, where the car ran into a low wall.
The figure got flipped out of the seat and tumbled through the air before landing at a platform where Shaggy was waiting. He switched the water to the slide on and pushed the figure into the tube, where it tumbled headfirst as it slid down the slickened tunnel. After a few turns, it dumped the dazed stranger into the pool at the bottom.
"Help! Help!" they cried as they trashed around in their robes and skates.
"It's only three feet deep," the security chief said as he reached over and pulled the person out by the scruff of the neck before depositing them on the walkway edge of the pool, coughing and sputtering.
The rest of the gang hurried to the spot. "I don't believe my plan actually worked just like it was supposed to!" Fred yelled, pumping his fists.
"There's a first time for everything," Daphne said as she hugged him.
"And this is where we find out who the troublemaker is," Velma told the captain. "Would you like the honors?"
"You're the professionals," he said as he declined. "I just run ships."
Although there was a light bulb lighting the immediate area, the figure's face was in shade. Velma reached over and threw back the hood of the cowl. "Julie?" she exclaimed, seeing the cruise director's face emerge.
"What?" Julie said as she joined the group from behind. "Did it work? Who was it?"
Velma looked at the new arrival. "Do you have a twin sister?"
"No."
"Then..." she said as she reached over and pulled off a mask, revealing a man. "Hmm. I have no idea who this is."
"I do," the security chief declared. "It's Captain Madison. He used to be the captain about two years ago."
"He obviously wanted to sabotage the ship," Velma surmised. "But I don't know why."
The former captain roused himself. "It's because I heard they were going to make a television show about the ship and its crew. I was jealous because I couldn't be a part of it, so I thought if I could drive away enough business that they'd just scrap the ship. And I would achieved my stated goals if not for the intervention of a certain collection of post-adolescent young people."
"Excuse me?" Stubing asked.
"I think he means 'I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids', unless I miss my guess," Velma translated.
...
"I would love to get to know you better Scooby, but I can't take this heat. My owners are moving to Alaska. Will you come visit me there? It's not snowy ALL the time," Jenna said.
"Ahh," Scooby said with a sigh. "Ren?"
"When? Anytime you want, big boy," she said as she leaned up against him.
Fred and Daphne were walking down the gangway back to the pier too. "You really did a good job there, Daph. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, Fred. I didn't get kidnapped once OR trip over anything."
"That's okay. You're beautiful even if you're sprawled on the ground from a tree root," he joked.
Daphne laughed for a moment, then paused mid-chuckle. "What did you say?"
A bit further behind, Doc was walking Velma and Scooby out. "I don't know what you plan to do with the rest of your lives, but you sure have mystery-solving skills. Tell your family I said 'Hello', will you Velma?" he asked.
"I sure will, Uncle Adam. Thanks for the help."
"The help? It's us that should thank you! You might have saved our jobs, and I think I even earned a few brownie points with the captain. If there's ever a mystery again, we'll be sure to call you." The two almost bumped into the crowd that had gathered at the end of the gangway. A banner over the building next door read:
Welcome to Oklahoma City
"Oklahoma City?" Doc asked, wide-eyed. "They're not even on the ocean!"
Velma smiled. "Looks like we've got another mystery on our hands."
The End
...
A/N: I grew up on the classic Scooby Doo cartoons, and of course the Scooby Doo Movies where they had special guests. When it was time for another centenary story for number 400, my friend suggested putting Scooby Doo and The Love Boat together. I've seen a few episodes of the latter, but when I researched it I found out there were two TV movies with different captains BEFORE the series officially started. That gave me my villain, and it was just working the details from there. As you've found out, other celebrities just have cameos in this story. It's hard enough to give lines to the main characters.