by Martial Arts Master
Scooby-Doo and all related characters copyrighted by Hanna-Barbara and Cartoon Network. I made up the assassin named Quail, though, and I also made up Reltserw. This fic takes place after the "Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School" movie. Now, let the story begin.
***
Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, and Scrappy-Doo had just entered an amusement park. This particular amusement park was different from the rest in that everyone wore costumes, even the customers.
Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy, though, had chosen not to wear costumes.
"Whoopee, this is gonna be fun!" Scrappy said. "I can't wait!"
"Yeah, and we can't wait to try the refreshments, right Scoob?" Shaggy asked.
"You bet, Shaggy!" Scooby said. He pronounced it, "Rou ret, raggy!"
But that was his usual pronounciation, and one could hardly blame him, since he was a dog. That didn't seem to impede Scrappy, though, but Shaggy paid it no mind.
Shaggy and Scooby walked up to a hot dog stand.
"Two hot dogs, please," Shaggy said.
"Two hot dogs, coming right up," the hot dog vendor said. He took out two hot dogs and said, "That'll be two dollars, please."
Shaggy gave the hot dog vendor the money and took the hot dogs.
He then gave one to Scooby.
"All right, let's eat!" Shaggy said, proceeding to eat his hot dog.
Scooby swallowed his hot dog whole, rubbing his stomach and saying, "Delicious!"
"Can we go on the rides now?" Scrappy asked.
"You can, but Scoob and I don't ride on a full stomach," Shaggy said.
"Ok then," Scrappy said, running off toward the rides.
Scrappy was so eager to get on the rides that he didn't watch where he was going.
He bumped into a group of people.
One of them started to turn around.
"Be careful, or you might end up like me!" she said as she was turning around. Then she laughed, an alternately high and low laugh.
Scrappy recognized that laugh and gasped.
The person who had just completed the turn wasn't a person at all.
She was a ghost Phantasma, otherwise known as Phanty. She was one of five girls that Scrappy had helped Shaggy and Scooby teach during a brief period in which they were gym instructors at the Grimwood Finishing School for Ghouls.
"Phanty, is that you?!" Scrappy asked, astonished.
"Scrappy?" Phanty asked, recognizing him. She said, "Oh wow, I don't believe it!"
At this, the other people in the group turned around, too.
Scrappy recognized them as Ms. Grimwood, Winny, Cybella, Tanis, and Elsa, who were from the same school.
"Hey, look, it's one of our old gym teachers!" Winny said.
"My, my, of all the astonishing coincidences," Ms. Grimwood said.
"I better get Shaggy and Scooby over here; they're probably gonna be thrilled to see you again!" Scrappy said.
Scrappy ran back to where Shaggy and Scooby were.
"Hey guys, you won't believe who I ran into---literally!" Scrappy said.
"Who?" Scooby asked.
"You better see for yourself! Come on!" Scrappy said, dragging Shaggy and Scooby to the girls.
Soon they all recognized each other.
Shaggy laughed.
"Well isn't this a strange turn of events!" he said. "You girls were my old students, remember?"
"How could we forget? You were our gym instructors on the day I first got a trophy for my mummy case!" Tanis said.
"So, what are you all doing here, anyway?" Scooby asked.
"Well, I decided to take the girls on a field trip to this amusment park to reward them for doing well," Ms. Grimwood said.
"I get it!" Scrappy said. "You chose this place because everyone wears a costume, so anyone looking at you would simply think you were in costumes!"
Then Shaggy remembered something.
"Weren't there other students that arrived just before we left?" Shaggy asked.
"Yes, but they didn't want to come," Ms. Grimwood said. "They're newer, so they're a bit shy."
"Yeah, they don't know what they're missing!" Winny said. "This place is a real howl!"
"Have you won any more games against Calloway since we left?" Scrappy asked.
"You bat we did!" Cybella said. (Author's note: No, that is not a typo, I really did mean to type "bat" instead of "bet". It's a pun.) "The girls are really doing quite well," Ms. Grimwood said. "I think they learned a lot from you."
"Yeah, well, we learned a lot from you guys, too!" Scrappy said.
"Like not to judge someone by how they look," Shaggy said.
Scooby laughed, remembering how he and Shaggy had acted like total cowards when they had first met the girls.
"Ms. Grimwood, can we go on the rides now?" Tanis asked, tuggin on Ms. Grimwood's dressed.
"Yeah, I can't wait," Elsa said.
"I don't see why not," Ms. Grimwood said. "I, on the other hand, am getting a little too old for rides. How about we all meet back here in an hour?"
"Ok, Ms. Grimwood," the five girls said in unison.
"Like, I'm not going on any rides, either," Shaggy said. "They're too scary, so I'll just be chowing down instead."
"Me too," Scooby said.
"Fine, I'll go on the rides, then," Scrappy said.
A couple of minutes later...
Cybella walked up to the Tunnel of Love. She'd heard of couples trying this ride, and she wondered what it would be like going on it alone.
She went up to the entrance.
"Hey, you ain't planning on going alone, are ya?" the barker asked.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am," Cybella replied.
The barker started laughing.
"You can go alone, of course, but couldn't you get a boyfriend or something?" the barker asked.
Cybella handed the barker her allowance and said, "Just give me the ticket, please."
The barker stared at the money, incredulous. The money consisted of Transylvania dollars.
The barker checked the sign, but although the sign gave the price, the barker had forgotten to specify which nationality the dollars should come from.
The barker pointed to a boat and said, "That's what you're riding on, miss."
Cybella got into the boat, and the barker gave the boat a shove, sending her down the tunnel.
It was really dark, and there was romantic music playing. It almost made Cybella wish she had a boyfriend.
But, of course, she wasn't interested right now.
The ride was peaceful, and Cybella was easily able to relax.
Suddenly something slammed into her, knocking her off balance.
She managed to get her balance again, but that same something slammed into her again, knocking her out of the boat.
As soon as Cybella was beneath the surface of the water, a hand shoved down on her head, forcing her deeper underwater.
Cybella struggled, but soon the mystery person was using the other hand to keep her down.
She was kicking like crazy and trying to get to the surface, but the person was determined not to allow her to breathe.
She realized with a start that the person was trying to drown her.
She turned herself into a bat in an attempt to escape.
It worked. The would-be killer was so surprised at the sudden change in what he was pushing that he let go, and Cybella flew out of the water.
She saw a mysterious person garbed in black.
The person cursed under his breath, then disappeared.
Cybella then changed herself back into a human. Well, as much of a human as a vampire can be, anyway.
When the boat finally emerged at the other end, Cybella got out of the boat, soaking wet. She started looking for the person who had tried to kill her.
Meanwhile, on the roller coaster, Winny was having the time of her life.
She'd been lucky, having gotten there when no one else was in line. So now, she had a roller coaster all to herself.
The roller coast was every bit as fun as she expected, having lots of dips and loops.
The ride was supposed to be a long one, too, so she could expect the ride to last a while.
She was so excited that she was ready to howl.
Then, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
Winny spun around suspiciously. She was quite sure that no one had been with her in line, so how could there be anybody else on the roller coaster?
She saw a mysterious person garbed in black.
The person lunged at Winny, hands outstretched, apparently attempting to push her off the roller coast so she would fall to her death.
Boy, was this guy messing with the wrong girl. Winny did a backflip, using the agility that being a werewolf provided her with, and the would-be killer ended up sailing under her.
The person ended up in the front car.
He turned around and lunged again, but this time Winny slashed him across the stomach with her claws.
The person groaned in pain and clutched his stomach.
Just then, the ride ended, and Winny got off. The person tried to follow her, but saw a lot of people and realized that he couldn't kill her now.
Swearing under his breath, he turned around and fled.
Elsa was in the audience of a circus tent that was in the amusment park. She was enjoying the show.
There had been bareback riders, trapeze artists, circus animals, lion tamers, jugglers, and clowns.
Now, the show was about to start its finale.
"Everyone, I have a special surprise for you!" the ringmaster said.
From a door, a large, muscular man emerged. Muscular was an understatement; this guy was huge!
"Anyone who can defeat this man in a wrestling match will recieve 77 dollars from the man's own pocket!" the ringmaster shouted.
"Who is this man, you ask?" the ringmaster continued. "His name is: Reltserw! Yes, this guy was born to wrestle, and his name is "wrestler" spelled backwards to prove! Now, any volunteers?"
There were none. Everyone was afraid of Relsterw and his big muscles.
Then, Elsa raised her hand.
"I would like to volunteer," Elsa said.
The ringmaster looked incredulous, but then motioned for her to come down to the ring.
Reltserw took one look at Elsa and laughed.
"This little girl is my opponent? Don't think I'll go easy on you," Reltserw said.
"You can't make fun of Elsa Frankenteen and get away with it," Elsa said.
"Ooh, a Frankenstein's monster rip-off! ALl right, time to break some bones!" Reltserw said, rushing at Elsa.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the crowd, a mysterious person garbed in black hid a gun under his coat.
He'd failed to assassinate Cybella and Winny, but this time, he wouldn't fail.
He lined up the gun on Elsa, careful to keep the gun hidden.
He'd only loaded one bullet into the gun before coming on this trip, because one would be all he needed.
He fired the gun, but timing was not on his side.
He had fired the gun just as Reltsrew had knocked Elsa down, and the bullet ended up hitting Reltserw in the shoulder.
Restlerw screamed and collapsed, and the ringmaster (and Elsa) looked shocked.
The crowd, seeing Restlerw's collapse, panicked into a riot. Amidst the confusion, the mysterious black-garbed person, muttering swear words under his breath, managed to slip away. So did Elsa.
Phanty was exploring the "haunted house".
She was looking around, and seeing all the ghosts. She knew they were holograms, but she was having fun anyway.
She laughed. The other ghosts looked really silly compared to her.
Of course, she was the Phantom's daughter, so that should've been no surprise.
She noticed a mysterious figure garbed in black walking up to her.
She wondered if he needed to tell her something.
That's when he took out an extremely high-powered flashlight and shined it directly on her.
She screamed. The one thing that could kill an already-dead ghost was light so intense it was unbearable.
The figure was merciless, advancing on her.
In desperation, Phanty went through the floor, and then passed through the walls of the house until she was out. Apparently this guy didn't know that ghosts could pass through walls, judging by how, after Phanty exited, she heard an extremely loudly shouted expletive.
Scrappy and Tanis were exploring the fun house.
"Aw gee, Tanis, couldn't we have gone on the roller coaster?" Scrappy asked.
"Roller coasters are scary," Tanis replied. "Fun houses are more fun."
Scrappy sighed.
"If you say so," he said.
They came to a bunch of twisted mirrors. In front of one mirror, Scrappy looked ridiculously small and obese.
In front of another, Tanis looked ridiculously tall and thin.
There was one really weird mirror which made Scrappy looked twisted and ugly, and another really weird mirror that made Tanis's bandages look like white skin.
Scrappy and Tanis both laughed at the images the mirrors reflected.
"I guess this is more fun than I thought," Scrappy said.
Then Scrappy smelled something strange.
It was weird. Scrappy couldn't quite place the smell at first.
Then he had it. It smelled like something...burning!
"Tanis, something's burning; I think we should leave," Scrappy said.
Tanis was about to reply when she heard people screaming.
That's when they noticed the fire.
The fire was spreading throughout the fun house.
Everyone else but Scrappy and Tanis had cleared out of the house as they screamed.
"I think we better get out of here!" Tanis said.
Then the fire spread to in front of them.
"This way!" Scrappy said, motioning for Tanis to follow him. They went back the way we came, only for the fire to spread behind them, too.
Soon, they were surrounded by fire, no way of escape.
The smoke started overwhelming them, and they started coughing.
They couldn't see, and they could barely breathe.
Scrappy succumbed, falling unconscious from smoke inhalation.
Tanis thought they were done for, until she noticed a hole in the floor.
She got an idea.
She dragged Scrappy near her, and then started digging.
She kept digging, always keeping Scrappy close so the fire and smoke wouldn't kill him while he was unconscious.
Eventually, she got both herself and Scrappy out of the fun house. She dug her way upward, and emerged outside.
Luckily, the people were too busy staring at the fire to pay attention to the fact that a mummy girl had just gotten herself and a puppy out of the fire.
At the end of the appointed hour...
Ms. Grimwood, Shaggy, and Scooby met at a bench, and they waited for the girls to arrive.
Cybella arrived first, and she was soaking wet.
"My goodness, dear, what happened to you?" Ms. Grimwood asked.
"You wouldn't believe it," Cybella replied. "I promise you, you wouldn't believe it."
Winny arrived, saying, "Guess what some doofus tried to do to me on the roller coaster!"
Elsa walked up and said, "You ain't gonna believe what happened while I was in the circus."
Phanty floated over and said, "I just had the most harrowing experience!"
"Like, calm down everyone," Shaggy said. "Let's wait for Tanis and Scrappy to get here, and then we can all share our adventures."
A few minutes passed before they arrived.
Scooby was the first to notice that Tanis was dragging Scrappy along, and Scrappy was unconscious.
"Scrappy! What happened?!" Scooby asked, running over.
"I'll wake him up," Elsa said. She walked over to Scrappy and sent some spare electricity into him.
"YEEEEEEEEOWWWWWW!" Scrappy shouted, bolting awake.
"I think some explanations are due," Ms. Grimwood said.
Later, after everyone had finished their explanations, Ms. Grimwood was shocked.
"It sounds like they were all the same person, and that person is an assassin!" she said. "I'm afraid I have no choice but to take everyone home."
"None of you are going anywhere!" someone said. The mysterious figure garbed in black appeared.
"There's the guy who tried to drown me!" Cybella shouted.
"He's the one who tried to push me off the roller coaster!" Winny cried out.
"You must have been the one who tried to shoot me!" Elsa said.
"You shined that light on me!" Phanty said.
"You big meanie! You probably started the fire!" Tanis shouted.
"You're all right," the mysterious figure said, throwing off the black garb to reveal...a quail costume.
"I am...the Quail!" he said dramatically. "Assassin extraordinare! Revolta hired me to assassinate you girls, because thanks to you, Revolta doesn't have a wand, and she's the laughingstock of the witches."
"Well if she had a problem with us, why didn't she try and get us herself?" Winny demanded. "What a coward!"
"All right, Quail, prepare to splat!" Scrappy shouted. "Da da da da da da! Puppy power!"
Scrappy charged at Quail, but Quail gave Scrappy a vicious kick, sending him sprawling.
Suddenly a couple of people grabbed from behind. They turned out to be a couple of female security guards.
"You should be careful of who's around before you make confessions, Mr. Quail assassin," one of them said, dragging Quail off, kicking and screaming.
"Whew, like I'm glad that's over with," Shaggy said.
Ms. Grimwood glanced at her watch.
"It's time to go, girls," she said.
"Aww, but we didn't get a chance to have much fun," Tanis said, sounding disappointed.
"Well, don't worry, the one who spoiled your fun is getting exactly what he deserves," Scrappy said, after recovering from that kick.
Everyone laughed.
The End
E-mail all questions and comments to bleifer@msn.com.
