Chapter 17: "A Night of Fright is a Total Delight"
As soon as the demon roared, Kurama and Kuwabara and Yusuke fell into defensive stances, years of experience and training taking over without a single conscious thought. Scooby leapt to Shaggy's side, cowering behind the man with teeth chattering loudly enough to be mistaken for maracas—but when the demon tried to step through the doorway toward them, its horns (which crowned the very top of its nine-foot-high body) bumped against the doorframe. The creature snarled and backed up a step, attempting to walk through the door slouched over sideways, but its enormous barrel chest once more impeded its progress into the room.
Not that Scooby was complaining. As the demon struggled to advance, Scooby crept out from behind Shaggy on trembling legs, crawling to a spot in the middle of the various scattered members of Mystery Inc. There he took a deep breath, raised a paw, and snapped his… paw pads? They certainly weren't fingers, but the point was that holy shit he had dexterous paws with what looked like opposable thumbs on them? And he snapped them just like a human would, easy as pie.
As soon as he did so, all members of Mystery Inc. blinked. A chorus of confused, pained groans rang out as they clutched their heads, squinting at Scooby-Doo as if he radiated blinding light.
"Wha…?" Shaggy said. "Like, where am I?"
Daphne rubbed her temples. "Last thing I remember is walking through a big set of doors, and then…"
"That's right!" Fred said, one finger rising triumphant into the air. "We were investigating the disappearances around Onigumo Manor!"
"The ones the locals said were caused by a demon!" Velma concurred as she shook the cobwebs from her head.
"But like, demons don't exist." Shaggy began to gnaw on his fingernails. A beat passed, and then he asked with marked uncertainty: "Do they?"
A moment of silence passed.
And then the demon's horns hit the doorframe again, and the heads of Mystery Inc. swiveled toward the sound, and Yusuke surrepitously readied the beginnings of a Spirit Gun where the vanilla humans couldn't see it. Not that they were paying attention to him just then, of course.
"Jinkies!" Velma said, backpedaling away from the door.
"It's the demon of Onigumo Manor!" Daphne exclaimed as she did the same.
"Zoinks!" said Shaggy—and Scooby leapt into Shaggy's arms so Shaggy could cradle him like a baby, Scooby clinging to Shaggy's neck. Nose to nose with Scooby-Doo, Shaggy groaned, "I've got a bad feeling about this, Scoob!"
"Beat it, gang!" Fred commanded, and Mystery Inc. proceeded to bolt for the room's only other door.
Yusuke followed, of course—partially because Yusuke didn't want the rickety manor to come crashing down on their friggin' heads if they fought the demon, and partially because he got the sense that Mystery Inc. would get themselves into trouble without someone to babysit their gaijin asses. He motioned for Kuwabara and Kurama to follow, and they did so, but not before Kurama reached into his hair and pulled out a seed. This he chucked at the door; vines erupted from it when it hit the ground, covering the doorway in a latticework of foliage Yusuke suspected was either poisonous, or carnivorous, or both. He didn't ask; he didn't actually want to know what kind of shit Kurama kept in his hair. Some things are just better left unsaid.
Kurama fell into step beside him as they chased after Mystery Inc. "I've bought us some time, but the vines won't hold for long," he said as they ran. "This just got complicated."
"Yeah," said Yusuke, eyes forward on the fleeing gaijins' retreating backs. "But I've got a plan."
Kuwabara fell into step on Yusuke's other side. "Let me guess," he said. "Protect the gaijin?"
"Yup."
"Keep the dog's secret?" sad Kuwabara.
Kurama's eyes glittered. "Yes."
"Kick the demon of Onigumo Manor's ass?" Yusuke asked.
"But of course," Kurama said through a small smile.
"Right." Yusuke grinned. "Let's get to it."
But before Yusuke could put on a burst of speed and catch up with the gaijin (to herd them to a safe spot, or to use them as bait, or whatever; his plan hadn't progressed that far yet) Scooby dropped back from the pack. "Rey. Rey!" he said, running backwards on his hind legs with disturbing grace. "Risten!" Scooby jerked an inexplicable thumb at his chest. "Ret rus randle ris."
"Say what?!"
Shaggy looked at them over his shoulder, face panicked but firm. "Like, zoinks! Listen to Scoob, OK?"
"Shaggy's right!" said Fred, grinning his fearless leader grin.
"Mystery Inc. deals with stuff like this every day!" said Velma.
"We've got this!" said Fred.
"So you boys just sit back and watch, got it?" Daphne added with a wink.
For a moment, Yusuke started to argue with them.
But then he grinned, because Scooby gave him a sly and exaggerated wink—and Yusuke got the feeling that the gaijin and their demon dog had as many tricks up their sleeves as Kurama had seeds in his hair. Although he wouldn't ask Kurama about the latter, he was morbidly curious about the former.
"OK," he said. "OK, then. What the hell?" He let out a whoop of a laugh, excitement bubbling in his blood. "Show me what you got, Scoob!"
Scooby grinned.
Scooby winked again.
And Scooby got to work.
NOTES: Next chapter changes up this story's formula. Get excited. THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR!