With a single, swift strike, Velma's glasses are smashed to smithereens by a giant metal hammer. The sound reverberates throughout the hollowed skeletons of the countless decomposing cars in Arlen Salvage's second and much larger junkyard. Wielding said hammer was none other than Kevin Levin, whose face shined bright with angsty confidence. Velma ducks under another swing of the hammer by mere inches, throwing up dust as she makes a mad dash in the other direction.
A few car piles away, Ben Tennyson stands ready to face Luanne.
"Give it up, we'll send you and your space invader back where you came from," he boasts. In less than a second, he's clobbered in the face by Luanne, who expertly weaves jabs faster than he can reach his Ultimatrix. He stumbles back and wipes his cheek. The rawest expression of disgust and shock flashes across his face.
"Ew, what is this stuff?" He cries in his whiney, boyish voice while flicking blood from his hands. He looks up to see Luanne charging at him; however, upon hearing the thunderous pang of Kevin's hammer, she halts her assault, leaving him an opening to slap down on his watch. His body grotesquely mutates supplemented by a green flash, transfiguring into a large, brown, reptilian beast. Luanne steps back in caution, looking up at the alien monstrosity who stares back down with his menacing, luminescent, green eyes.
"Humungousaur," he cries.
"Why do you say your name?" Luanne asks.
"What?" Ben confusedly asks.
"Oh, I know! You're worried you'll forget, like me," she concludes, "here's a little trick I use to remember my name. I think of a man named Lu, and then a woman named, Anne. They meet in a kingdom in the forest."
"People say I talk too much…" he grumbles, drawing back a mighty punch and throwing it at a terrifying velocity where Luanne stands. She dodge-rolls to the left while withdrawing a hand puppet. The unholy punch sends tremors shaking the entire junkyard, an avalanche of rusty cars topple down their piles like a sharp, metal tsunami. Luanne hides in an old cargo crate, where she performs a hand sign that causes her puppet to grow into a full-size donkey. The two look at each other.
"There's Obadiah the donkey. He says 'Hee-haa,'" She sings, mounting his back.
"Hee-haa!" He enthusiastically brays. Luanne nods and holds onto his fur tightly.
"Good boy, follow my lead," she instructs. He sprints out of the shipping crate and to the spot Ben hit a moment ago. Ben makes another swing at them. They easily outmaneuver his attack, causing him to smash the ground again. This time, the already-tenderized soil erupts into a thick, blinding dust cloud. Luanne and Obadiah use the shroud to hide. The giant roars and throws a blind hook, sending an old Silverado into oblivion.
"Where'd you go, donkey girl…" he growls, making his way to a nearby stack of cars. He stands there for a moment, sniffing the air.
"Aha," he shouts, tossing the cars aside to find nothing. A flying hoove smacks him in the jaw and disappears again into the dust. He turns and is hit again, causing him to stumble back, holding his bruised face. The alien then begins rapidly growing in size, matching the height of the crane in the center of the yard. Spinning around, his tail sweeps away all the cars around. He stumbles back, dizzied from spinning, allowing Obadiah an opening to run in and kick Ben square in the jaw again. Humongusaur collapses to the ground causing the Earth to quake. As the dust settles around him, Luanne leaps off Obadiah and mounts Ben's neck, where she proceeds to ground pound his face over and over. She shuts her eyes and continues slamming her fist until all she feels is wet mush. Upon opening them, a warm pile of green, gooey bacteria looks back at her.
"Gooooooop," a shrill, electronic voice shouts through a tiny hovering saucer above them. Luanne throws another punch that becomes caught in the goop. She struggles, yanking at her hand, but the goop creeps its way up her arm, wrapping itself around her body. Just as she inhales one last deep breath, it cocoons her completely. Within the goop, she puts up a feeble fight, unable to hit anything tangible. What little reserve of oxygen she has is depleting quickly, she can feel herself slowly losing consciousness.
Obadiah sees this and charges towards the green mass but also becomes caught in its body. Seeing Luanne's blue skin, he opens his mouth to cry out to her, only to be greeted by a mouthful of goop that tastes like snot-flavored Greek yogurt. In a fit of adrenaline and determination, he kicks the ground with enough force to eject his body from the goo, carrying his momentum into another kick that sends the hovering saucer into orbit. The goo collapses to a measly puddle at their feet. Luanne gasps for fresh air on her hands and knees.
"Hee-haa?" Obadiah asks, looking around with suspicion.
"Right," Luanne wheezes, getting on her feet, "we need to stay alert and aware." The puddle was gone. The two began scanning the battlefield for their opponent.
"Fasttrack," a voice echoes in the distance. A blue streak appears between them and Luanne is thrown against an old Volkswagon bus. A sharp pain shoots through her liver causing her to yelp. She collapses to the floor and Obadiah chases after the blue streak. He finds himself racing a blue, humanoid-like cat alien. He's able to keep pace for a moment, but Ben suddenly speeds up and disappears into the horizon. Shortly, he returns with a smoothie in one hand and a drawn-back fist of fury in the other. Translating the momentum of a lap around the city into a single punch, all of Obadiah's bones shatter at once. He opens his mouth to vocalize the torture, but only a faint whimper escapes before he collapses into the cold, wet dirt. His breathing stops and the donkey shrinks back into a torn and tattered hand puppet.
"Obadiah," Luanne shrieks, her voice cracking. Tears stream down her face as she reveals her next puppet, a blue cat.
Nearby, atop the large crane, Daphne stares face-to-face with Gwen Tennyson. They both gasp for air, exhausted from the visceral battle that led them up there. Despite their exhaustion, they both stand confidently, awaiting the other's next attack.
"You're Taekwondo's strong," Daphne compliments between breaths.
"Black belt," Gwen pants, "you're karate's alright."
The two continue staring at each other like two cowboys getting ready to duel. Daphne reaches into her purse, prompting Gwen to attack. She throws a punch and Daphne blocks, which leads into a flow of flurrying strikes and parries. The two are unable to land a blow on each other, equally matched in skill and speed. Daphne performs a sweeping kick that Gwen hurdles, landing a punch to Daphne's face. Daphne stumbles back for a moment, then springs into the air attempting to kick Gwen in retaliation, but she's caught by the ankle. Daphne's stomach sinks as she's hurled over the edge of the crane. She catches herself with her purse, losing its entire contents in the process. Climbing into the shaft from the bottom, she catches Gwen off guard, yanking her by the ankle and causing her to lose balance. Gwen catches herself on a bar and uses it to swing into a kick to Daphne's stomach. She coughs blood and loses grip, screaming as she plummets to the ground. She's caught at the last moment in a glowing pink bubble and brought back to Gwen atop the crane.
"Let me go," Daphne demands, pounding on the side of the bubble.
"Okay," Gwen dissipates the bubble and Daphne begins falling again. Gwen catches her once more and brings her back.
"Ready to participate?" Gwen asks. Daphne nods in agreement. "Good."
The bubble morphs into the shape of a rope, keeping Daphne tied up while Gwen places her hand on Daphne's forehead.
"What're you doing?" Daphne asks. Gwen's eyes start glowing pink and her red hair begins to float.
"I'm gonna look at your memories and find out why you've been following us and what you know about the space invader," Gwen replied.
"No way, those are private, you don't have any right to go digging through-"
…
"Alright Daphne, do you remember what I told you?" Fred asked.
"No getting captured," she confirmed.
"No getting captured, that's right."
"If someone tries to capture you, what will you do?"
"I will use the thingamajig you gave me," Daphne replied, pulling a small remote out of her purse.
"It's not a 'thingamajig,' Daph, it's a Life Alert I hacked to link up with the Mystery Machine. That way, if you or the Mystery Machine is in danger, I'll be alerted via the neural implant I had Velma attach to my brainstem."
"Freddy, you had Velma stick a thingamajig in your brain? Doesn't that sound a little dangerous?" Daphne retorted.
"Of course not, I said my brainstem, not my brain. Besides, this way I'm always connected to the Mystery Machine. I can see what it sees, feel what it feels. If some villainous entrepreneur with a failing business has her or you in their gross, greasy grips, I'll know," Fred reassured her.
"Fred, don't forget what you are." she said, touching his chin and looking him in the eyes. He stared back into hers.
"A mystery solver?" He asked.
"No," she smiled, "a human. My human."
"I know, you're my human too, and the Mystery Machine is my van! That's why I want to protect you guys," Fred replied.
"Like, could you hurry it up, Fred? Scoob and I are getting hungry," Shaggy's voice whined from the back of the van. Luanne and Velma stood nearby waiting, ready to infiltrate and investigate the 7-11. Daphne and Fred said their goodbyes, then he got in the van and left.
…
Velma runs faster than she's ever run before, terrified by the metallic monstrosity following her close behind. She had to come up with a plan, and quick; the only problem was she couldn't see where she was going.
"Common, I just wanna talk," Kevin shouts, the rhythmic panging of his feet growing closer. Velma sprints through a puddle of water that sparks an idea. She stops and searches the area, quickly locating a few car batteries and dropping them into the puddle. Kevin has a line of sight and charges straight for her, but Velma stands unwaveringly tall. He steps into the puddle and is immediately overcome by an intense electrical shock that paralysis his body. Dropping to the ground, Velma chuckles.
"I should thank you, this is the wake-up call I needed to finally switch to contact lenses," she says, dropping another battery into the puddle and intensifying the shock, "I have a strong aversion to touching my eyes, but I have an even stronger aversion to dying."
Kevin slowly reaches forward, unable to easily control his shaking arm. His hand brushes an old car tire and he coats his skin with a thick layer of rubber, nullifying the electricity. He lays flat on his back in the puddle, catching his breath.
"I don't get paid enough for this," he grumbles, standing up and gut-punching Velma. She collapses to the floor, wheezing and coughing. Kevin lifts her by the throat and holds her against a rusty SUV.
"You're gonna tell me why you and you're friends have been following us…" Kevin threatens, absorbing the rusty metal and turning his hand into a blade.
"What-" Velma chokes, "you-"
"We know you work for Vilgax, what's he planning?" Kevin shouts, stabbing the car next to her head threateningly. Velma winces then gasps for more air. Kevin's demeanor suddenly changes and he releases her.
"You haven't done this before, have you?" He asks in a much calmer voice. Velma catches her breath then looks back at him.
"If you mean getting interrogated by a big metal monster with giant line-backer shoulders, not too often, no," she remarks. Kevin removes his metal coating.
"Relax, I'm just a guy," he says.
"They usually are."
"You still gotta tell me why you've been following us though," Kevin continues.
"A simple misunderstanding. We weren't following you, we were following the same person as you," Velma says. The two are whisked away into a dreamlike flashback as Velma explains further.
…
Daphne and Velma were near the fridges, looking for the cashier from last time. They'd been inconspicuously browsing the convenience store for an hour now, and just as they were about to lose all hope, the current cashier took off his nametag, ready to retire for the night. It was then that Daphne felt a familiar presence. She looked about the store but they were alone inside. Suddenly, three teenagers walked in; it was the same three who were talking to Boomhaur the other day. They were eyeing the cashier wrapping up his shift.
"Hey Velm, I've seen those kids around before. They were here last time too, and they were talking to one of Mr. Hill's neighbors about aliens. You think they have a connection to all this?" Daphne whispered to Velma.
"They do seem familiar, it's very possible," Velma replied, adjusting her glasses. Gwen and Daphne exchanged quick glances, then Gwen whispered something to Ben. The old cashier finished packing up and left, just as his replacement, the cashier they'd been looking for, waltzed in. He removed a navy blue cloak, hung it on a hook, and clipped a nametag to his shirt that read: Carson.
Daphne, Velma, and Luanne made their way to the counter at the same time as Ben, Gwen, and Kevin. Both make it to the front at the same time.
"After you," Gwen said with a smile, offering to let the three in.
"No, no, after you," Daphne replied, returning a smile. Luanne set a Reece's TAKE 5 bar on the counter and the cashier rang it up.
"That'll be three eighty-two," he said, holding his hand out.
"So," Daphne casually began, leaning against the counter, "what do you think about aliens?"
"They're all right I s'pose. Not a big fan of Marvin the Martian," the cashier responded. Gwen cut in front and casually leaned against the counter like Daphne.
"You ever see any aliens around here?" Gwen asked, cutting Daphne's interrogation short.
"Pardon?" He replied, an expression of worry growing on his face.
"Excuse me miss, we weren't done in line," Daphne said, shoving Gwen aside.
"Oh we're so sorry, were you still planning on buying something?" Gwen asked aggressively, shoving Daphne back. Daphne grabbed a bottle of chocolate milk and slammed it on the counter.
"Yes. If you don't mind," Daphne replied, staring Gwen in the eyes.
"Be my guest," Gwen coldly conceded, retreating to the back of the line.
"What just happened?" Kevin asked.
"Don't ask."
"Sorry."
"Just the milk, ma'am?" Asked the cashier, scanning the drink.
"So… Carson…" Daphne replied, "what do you do for fun?"
"Well, if there's one thing I love, it's churnin' butter. An' if there's one thing I love more than churnin' butter, it's eatin' butter," Carson replied, revealing a stick of homemade butter from his pocket.
"So you don't do anything related to aliens? Ooh wait, do you recognize the phrase: 'ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu L'on-Staarr wgah'nagl fhtagn?'" Daphne asked. Carson stood for a moment, looking about the room, sweat gleaming off his buttery forehead. In an instant, he bolted for the door, causing everyone to go after him. All six of them piled up at the door, stuck and helpless as they watched Carson hop in his car and drive away.
"He went to the junkyard next door," Ben shouted, hitting his watch and transforming into a red and yellow manta-like alien. He sprang gracefully in the air and took off flying after the car. The rest of the group followed.
"Why're you guys following him?" Daphne asked, climbing the fence to the junkyard.
"I should ask you the same," Gwen replied, throwing a mana disk and knocking Daphne off the fence. She created a pink bridge and ran over the fence with Kevin following her closely.
"Did you see that one kid turn into a jellyfish?" Luanne shouted, helping Daphne up.
"Yeah, they're definitely connected to this mystery. Let's head into the junkyard and search for clues," Daphne replied as Velma came over.
"Jinkies, this mystery's getting weirder by the minute, and for whatever reason, those kids seem so familiar. It's on the tip of my tongue," Velma said, beginning to climb the fence with the other two. They made it to the other side and looked around.
"What do we do now?" Luanne asked.
"Well usually this is the part where we split up," Daphne suggested, "I'll search the crane. Velma, you check the area to the left, and Luanne you go right."
"What are we looking for?" Luanne inquired further.
"A clue; anything that looks out of place or connected to the mystery," Velma responded. The three split off and began searching the Arlen Salvage junkyard.
…
"So you guys weren't following us, you were following the same guy we were following?" Kevin asks, scratching his head. The two sit together in an old jalopy, catching their breath.
"Precisely."
"Then why'd you make me step in that scary water?"
"You were the one coming at me with a hammer-hand thingy, I was only acting in self-defense," Velma argued.
"Self-defense is pepper spray or a kick in the nads, not sending me to the electric chair…" Kevin grumbles.
"We don't exactly do things conventionally," Velma says.
"Who are you guys anyway? Arlen Texas's own local crime-fighting team? Another branch of the Teen Titan's?" Kevin asks.
"We're Mystery Incorporated, we solve-"
"Wait, Mystery Incorporated? As in The Mystery Incorporated? So that red-headed chick back there was Daphne?" Kevin asks, becoming flustered.
"Yeah… why?" Velma curiously inquires.
"No kidding, I was a big fan of you guys when I was a kid, I still have a poster in my room! What's Batman like?"
"He's not the best dinner guest, but he can solve a damn mystery. Now you know who we are, so who are you?" Velma asks.
"We're plumbers investigating a case. I'm Kevin Levin, and those other two are my friends Ben and Gwen."
"I thought that green jacket was familiar, Ben Tennyson's quite a cultural icon these days. It's not often superheroes so young get so much recognition. You know I actually wrote a college thesis about the Omnitrix-"
"Yeah, yeah, Ben's amazing, I get it. He's gotta remind me at least a dozen times every morning," Kevin responds.
"If you're here investigating Cthulhu too, this must be serious," Velma notes. Kevin looks confused.
"Cuh-what now? Our prime suspect is Vilgax. Plumber sensors intercepted a threatening message from an alien calling himself the 'Space Invader.' Said he was gonna kill our strongest warrior, someone here in Arlen," Kevin replies, "then have his government take control of Earth."
"Vilgax? Strongest warrior? This mystery might be deeper than I thought," Velma says with concern.
