I'm baaaack. Sorry for the absence dear friends, life is a meanie :P Nevertheless, my writing is always a top priority for me, so today I venture into one of my favorite shows of all time; Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated.
Now I've only just begun the 2nd season so any new timeline stuff won't be in this story; in other words, it's a bit AU-ish as usual.
Now that I've successfully bored you with this intro card, please enjoy!
Crystal Cove; the self-proclaimed most haunted place on Earth. And for the most part this was true. The cursed treasure, Planespheric disk, and how it corrupted the hearts of Brad Chiles, Judy Reeves, Cassidy Williams, Ricky Owens and Professor Paricles. But despite its rather shady history, it also had given birth to the new Mystery Incorporated; and its biggest power couple Fred and Daphne Jones. The pair would soon be celebrating being together for 7 years, but the road to that milestone had been long, rocky and full of bumps.
Daphne had been flirting with Fred for years. Even back when they were kids, she had a thing for him. But since this Fred and he could be a little dense, he never noticed. He only started to realize how much he loved her when she got taken hostage by the Man-Crab, just like good ol danger-prone Daphne. Ever since then he had become smitten with her, always willing to put himself in danger for her, even when he endured a beating from her ex-boyfriend Baylor Hotner when he was the Crybaby Clown. Unfortunately, Fred couldn't deal with his feelings, somehow he was being torn apart internally, between his feelings for the purple-eyed beauty and his love for unnecessarily complicated traps for criminals. This infuriated him, why couldn't he just pick?! Thankfully he soon didn't have to, he asked her out and she said yes. Soon the pair were official, loving every second of being together.
But that night at the old church, where Fred dumped Daphne to go hunting for his real parents, he had shattered her heart. Sure Daphne understood that in less than 30 minutes, the guy had gone from having a distant father and an absentee mother to finding out his own father was just an imposter who stole him as a child from his real parents and his mother was a magazine cutout. That was one of the hardest things Fred had ever had to do, but he needed to find out where his family were.
Meanwhile, Daphne had fallen for Baylor Hotner, the star of Dusk and the only man with more hubris than most politicians. Daphne would never admit it, but Baylor was just a rebound with perfects abs. She never really stopped loving Fred, it had honestly taken all of her strength not to jump into his arms when he and the gang showed up at her house for help with the mystery of Baba Yaga and the house with legs. It had been months, but soon Daphne returned to the gang after her self-exile and she and Fred began all over again. Soon the redhead fell for the trap addicted leader of the group. Of course Fred's feelings had never left, if it was possible he would have happily framed Baylor for drug possession if it meant Daph would give him another chance.
Thankfully for the young trapper, she did. And he was so grateful that she had. Mostly because he was almost on the verge of thinking about moving on. Fred was so grateful for Daphne, he never wanted to lose her, and he knew exactly how to do it.
-x-
Fred Jones stood outside the Blake manor. He had been there thousands of times before, but now seemed different. More intimidating. Mostly because of what he was about to do. The weather around him also didn't help much. Crystal Cove was in a serious downpour epidemic, for the last 3 days it hadn't stop raining. This overcast rain episode make the mansion look cold and uninviting.
Summoning his courage, he knocked on the large oak doors, soon they were opened by an older man, his pinstripe three-piece suit, fading white hair and rather pompous demeanor made him look like a butler; which he was of course.
'' Master Frederick, what brings you by? Miss Daphne is currently doing a television interview for Mystery Inc.'' he asked, his accent heavily foreign.
'' Hi there Richardson. I know, it was a unanimous decision that she do the interview instead of us. Shaggy and Scooby would just eat the craft services buffet, Velma would be sarcastic and prickly and according to Daph, I'd just blather on about traps.''
'' I can see that, come in dear sir'' Richards, led the man inside and into on of the home's dens where conveniently the people he wanted to see were sitting.
'' I do believe it is Master Barty and Miss Nan you wish to see sir?'' Richards asked.
'' That's right. Thank you, Richards,'' Fred smiled at the older man.
'' Fred…hello'' Nan said confused. The man never came by unless he was with Daphne. Not that she or her husband were upset by his being there, but they really were just confused. That wasn't however to say that they were thrilled either. Daphne was the baby of their family and they were protective of her. Fred wasn't a badboy or anything, but he was a weirdo with an odd trap fixation. In the Blake family's eyes, Fred was the kind of secret you never spoke about.
'' Yes hello Fred, take a seat'' Barty said, Fred obeying as he sat in a nearby armchair. '' So Mrs. and Mr. Blake, I have to ask you something.''
'' If its to fix your outfit, I'm happy to do it Fred. First thing's first, lose the ascot and get a tie-
'' No Mrs. Blake, I need to ask your blessing for something.''
'' Ok…?'' the older couple said, both not quite sure where this was going.
'' I've been in love with your daughter for years. I was stupid enough to let her go that night when we caught the Freak of Crystal Cove, and that's one of the biggest regrets of my life. Not a day goes by that I'm not grateful to have her in my life. I almost lost her that night with Crybaby Clown and I'm never going to make that same mistake ever again. I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure she is happy ever day of her life. What I'm asking you two is, do I have your blessing to marry your daughter?''
The next 5 minutes of Fred's life felt like an eternity, his two potential future in laws looking at each other with serious looks on their faces. Soon Barty turned his head so it was facing his daughter's boyfriend. '' No'' he answered.
Fred's heart shattered. He'd been told no a thousand times before, but this time hit different. Like being told the 22k lottery ticket you just bought was a fake. '' W-why?''
'' Because you already have it'' Nan answered for her husband.
'' I thought you guys hated me. And what do you mean by, I already have it?''
'' Its simple really. Remember Run Ladderton?'' Barty answered.
'' Yeah. The ascot guy who was stealing all the crystal doorknobs in town. What about him?''
'' He was a test. We could see that you liked our Daphne from the first day you came over here. But since she's our baby, we needed to know if you loved her, or just the look of her. So we brought in Run Ladderton to see if our suspicions of you were right. We were pleasantly surprised. Although we were quite surprised by your trap addiction and your parent journey all those years ago'' Nan answered.
'' So, you're ok with me marrying Daphne?'' Fred answered.
'' Fred, you're the only person I want marrying my daughter'' Barty smiled. '' I know you've never had a normal family life. The man you thought was your father was a con artist, obsessed with finding the treasure of the conquistadors. He also stole you from your birth parents. Then when your actual ones showed up they were only after the pieces of the disk. But you should you know that you're my son. Where your parents and the ex-mayor may have failed you, you will always have us'' the older man smiled, knowingly.
-x-
As it turned out, Fred had actually planned for his future in-laws on saying yes. This was evident by the fact that right now at his and Daphne's house, he had hidden plans for how he was going to propose to her under the floorboards. Thankfully they were in his trap room which Daphne avoided so she wouldn't end up hanging by her legs in a snare from the ceiling…again.
'' Like Fred, why're we in here'' Shaggy asked. Fred had asked him and Scooby to help him go over his proposal plan. He figured if it sounded good to other people, then it would definitely go down well.
'' Well guys, its finally happening'' Fred happily sighed, reaching into a nearby closet and pulling out a crowbar.
'' You're buying that industrial fridge for me and Scoob?'' Shaggy said excitedly.
'' Reah, great for snacks'' Scooby added, licking his lips.
'' Nope, I'm proposing to Daphne.''
'' Dude, like, that's huge. When, where – why're you tearing up a floorboard?'' Shaggy asked, looking at his friend prying up multiple boards which coincidentally launched 3 separate bear traps.
'' This is why'' Fred answered, pulling out a folder and handing it to Shaggy to read.
Shaggy studied the papers. Fred planned on taking her to Crystal Cove beach for the evening. He would arrange for multiple metal candleholders to surround a table, the cloth covering it would be made of purple velvet, the chairs of ebony wood. Fred would arrange for an extravagant 3 course meal consisting of her favorite foods. Around them, some of her favorite ballads would be playing at low decibels. Not enough to distract from concentration, yet not low enough that she wouldn't be able to hear him. Finally, the night would end with him giving her a huge speech on how much she meant to him before he got down on one knee.
'' Well?'' Fred asked.
'' Like Fred, how long have you had this?'' Shaggy asked, clearly impressed by the details of the document.
'' 8 years, why?''
'' Its good Reddie. Real good'' Scooby added.
'' You think? I mean I honestly thought you'd think it was too much'' Fred rubbed the back of his head.
'' Dude, this kind of stuff is like gold. You do this and you'll like be engaged in less than 24 hours.''
'' Wait, do you have a ring?'' Scooby asked.
'' Sure do'' Fred walked over to another closet, as it opened, three boxing gloves shot out at the trio, narrowly missing them. Inside the closet was a large grey safe, clearly its contents were important.
'' Lets see, 24…09…95- agh!'' Fred's hand shot back from the safe after suffering an electrical jolt.
'' You wired that thing? Like why?'' Shaggy asked.
'' I wired everything in here. In case of burglars.''
'' Ok'' Scooby said slowly, clearly worried about his friend's mental stability.
'' Now then. Let's try that again…24…09…94'' Fred winced, expecting another jolt, instead the safe unlocked. Inside of it, resting on a bed of black velvet was a platinum-mesh wedding ring, small amethysts encircling the band.
'' That's pretty. Wher'ed you get it Reddie?''
'' It's my mom's'' Fed answered. '' It belonged to my real one.''
'' Like, won't she miss it?'' Shaggy asked.
'' Nope. She actually wanted me to give it to Daphne. She said if I didn't then she wouldn't let me see Sternum & Sternum's latest sand traps.''
'' She threatened you with traps? She really is your mom'' Scooby added.
'' That see is Scoob'' Fred smiled. He couldn't believe it, he was going to propose to Daphne!
Aand scene. Sorry it isn't some of my best work everyone. Honestly I just needed to oil my metaphorical writing gears since I haven't published in over a month.
Anyway, if you enjoyed this, please let me know and as usual, stay safe and stay awesome!
