Shaggy woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock, the sound was awful, he even got up and punched his alarm, but the throbbing was still there. He then realized he had an awful headache.
Actually, he didn't feel well at all. His whole body hurt, his head was completely congested, and his throat was dry and took a sip of water from his nightstand, but his swollen, damaged throat made it so difficult to swallow that he nearly started coughing, but It was congested and horrible, and he got into a short fit.
Snot dripped from his nostrils and his throat felt heavy. Coughing slightly, he wiped his nose on the sleeve of his pjs and climbed from his bed.
Shaggy looked around and wonder where Scooby was. Probably already downstairs. He thought.
Shaggy felt his own body tremble with cold, though he knew it was one of the warmest weeks of the summer.
There was no doubt about it. He was sick.
Shaggy wrapped his arms around his torso with a soft frown. There few things in the world that he hated, but the summer flu was one of them. He hated being stuck inside on beautiful days, bed ridden and feeling lousy.
A bout of coughing overtook him and he pressed his fist against his mouth to muffle the sound.
Shaggy got up on his aching, shivering body and went over to the bathroom to brush his teeth, wash his face, and take a shower. He trudged over to the bathroom and caught a look of himself from the looked pale and exhausted.
Like, I look as bad as I feel. Shaggy thought.
He splashed old water on his face and took his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth. His throat was swollen so that brushing his teeth made him want to gag, but he liked his teeth clean so he continued scrubbing his teeth. He rinsed the brush, and added another dab of of toothpaste, and started scrubbing his tongue.
Shaggy managed to make himself start coughing again, to the point that his eyes were watery. He was done, he spit out and rinsed his mouth. Now he had to think of a way to make himself feel better. Maybe Aunt Muriel keeps cold/flu medicine in the medicine cabinet, and if I like, take that and a shower, I'll probably be alright.
In the kitchen this morning, Muriel was sneezing up a storm, much to Scooby and Courage's concern, despite the both dogs' protest Muriel insisted on making breakfast.
Muriel is trying to serve Eustace his breakfast, however, she sneezed the eggs into her husband's face due to her cold.
Courage gasped with concern. Oh my gosh, I don't think I ever seen Muriel this sick before.
"Ruriel are you okay?" Scooby asked.
"I'm fine dear, just a little congested," Muriel replied, before sneezing.
Eustace lowered his newspaper to show the two sunny-side eggs still on his face. He then turned to face Muriel, "Muriel! What are you trying to do!? Get me sick!?"
But then Eustace ate the eggs that Muriel SNEEZED on moments ago.
Both dogs expressed their disgust at this.
"Rhat's just nasty," Scooby cringed.
"I'm sorry, Eustace. This is the worst cold I ever-" Muriel began, but another sneeze stopped her.
"I got you Muriel!" Courage reassured, as he grabbed a chair and caught Muriel, before she could hit the floor.
"Thank you Courage," Muriel sniffled.
"Your welcome," Courage grunted, feeling pressure on weight of his owner.
After Muriel got up, Courage went over to the Great Dane.
"Scooby, do you know where Shaggy is?" Courage asked.
Before Scooby could answer, he heard a voice saying, "Like, morning everyone," Shaggy's hoarse voice said softly as he walked into the kitchen. His cheeks were red and feverish and his hair was plastered on his forehead by sweat.
Almost immediately, Scooby's smile faded the minute he met his owner's gaze, "Rhoa, Raggy! Rou look like you haven't slept in a week!"
"Yeah, are you okay?" Courage asked, hiding the worry in his tone. Not only was Muriel sick, but Shaggy too, he felt sharp pangs of anxiety surged through him.
"Yeah, I just like, h-have a little bit of a cold little pink dude," Shaggy replied groggily. "But I'm okay. ACHOO!" he let out a harsh sneeze.
But Scooby didn't believed it for a minute. Shaggy had a bad habit of trying to brush off whatever illness he was suffering from as nothing more than a cold. And the worse the illness was, the more likely it was for Shaggy to continue to insist that he was perfectly fine and that it would go away in a few days.
Shaggy sat down in a chair next to Scooby.
"RI've saved you some food," Scooby offered, pushing a plate of pancakes and bacon toward his best friend.
"Thanks Scoob, but I'm not hungry," Shaggy mumbled.
Scooby and Courage looked at their best friend in amazement. That wasn't something Scooby nor Courage had ever thought they'd hear Shaggy say.
Shaggy broke out in a coughing fit. A look of worry flashed on both Scooby and Courage's faces as the cowardly teen began wheezing. Scooby started to rubbed Shaggy's back.
Raggy must be really sick. Scooby decided, shaking his head.
"Perhaps a wee spot of tea will fix us right up," Muriel said, getting up.
Shaggy stared his aunt in surprise, She's sick too?
Muriel was about to sneeze again, but it was a false alarm, "Ow," she moaned while holding her face in pain.
"Aunt Muriel, are you okay-AH! AH! AH!" Shaggy began, before feeling another sneezing forming.
"Rourage, tissues," Scooby command, when Muriel also began to wind up for a sneeze.
"Right,"Courage nodded, before grabbing a box and tossing one to Scooby. He then grabbed one for himself, took out twelve tissues, and formed a glove out of them.
"AH-CHOO!" Shaggy and Muriel both sneezed, but to the trio's great surprise, Muriel and Shaggy sneezed out what appeared to be a projection of a slug.
"Rikes!" Scooby yelled, completely bewildered.
Courage let out a horrified scream, sending the tissues all over the floor.
"We don't want any," Eustace said, not even paying attention.
"Did someone say something?" Muriel asked, holding her head.
"Like, what on earth was-" Shaggy began but stopped when he and Muriel started winding up for another sneeze. But the same thing happened with the projection of the chained slug returning.
"Zoinks," Shaggy was so startled, it send him into a coughing fit.
"Oh my!" Muriel said, shocked.
"This here urgent message has been prerecorded right into the cold and sent by magic,"the slug said.
"What!?/Rhat?!" Scooby and Shaggy asked in unison.
Courage screamed so loud, that his eyes screwing out of his head like light bulbs.
"I knew this wasn't an ordinary cold," Muriel said, as the projection faded.
But like, what could this mean? Shaggy thought, trying to control his fear. Why did those slugs send colds to him and his aunt for?
Shaggy's thoughts were cut off as he and Muriel sneeze simultaneously, the message returned as a result.
"We apologize for your discomfort, having to send you both this cold and all, but we sure need your help," the chained slug said.
"Help? Help with what?" Courage asked, what could these slugs needed help with and why give his owner and best friend the colds?
"We'll explain everything in detail when we meet in person. For now, just know that we all are slaves in a sweatshop. We'd be obliged if y'all would come and set us free."
Ree from what? Scooby thought.
"And just so you know, those colds ain't going away till you get your sneezing self down here for the cold. Here's how to get where we are,"the chained slug said, pulling out a map. He then began to give the coordinates and how to get to his location.
The dogs gasped while Shaggy's eyes widened, stunned in silence.
"We gotta help Muriel, Shaggy and those slugs!" Courage exclaimed.
It took ten hours to reach the bayou, the family were on a raft, Muriel was on her rocking chair looking down, Courage was stirring the raft to their location, Shaggy was fast asleep with Scooby by his side. Shaggy's body was burning with fever.
"RI hope we get there soon," Scooby fretted, worried about his owner, he had never seen his best friend this sick before.
The boundary of where it really became swampland was still about a good ten minute walk away, unlike the countryside, this swamp was densely packed with the strangest assortment of gnarled trees.
Several frogs could be heard croaking as well. They'd sometimes come across one floating in the water near the road and there would, at times, be a loud splash as a frog went off to do whatever frogs did somewhere else.
The two dogs didn't want to imagine what disgusting creatures lurked beneath the surface.
"Boys look, I think we found the swamp," Muriel said, pointing ahead of them.
"Whoa/Rhoa," Scooby and Courage said in fright.
Scooby felt sweat erupt on his forehead. He and Courage both shivered as they plunged into the gloomy silence, the two grew slightly worried when they noticed the numerous stuffed puppets resembling snakes. Scooby swallowed nervously, while Courage let out a pitiful whimper.
"I think we found the spot," Muriel said, as Scooby changed direction to land on a small clearing free of tall grass.
"I don't like this," Courage said in fright, shivering as the snakeskin puppets towered over them.
"Re-Re neither," Scooby stammered, unable to help feeling just as scared.
"Boys, I don't think they're real," Muriel reassured the frightened dogs, before coughing.
Courage poked a the snakeskin puppet a bit, and too his relief, it was lifeless. But this caused the snakeskin to topple and fell over onto Courage.
This caused the pink beagle to scream with horror and disgust, this also caused Scooby to scream as well.
Shaggy woke with a start, his eyes flashed open and he stared fearfully at the snakeskin that was on Courage, "Zoinks!"
"Get it off me! Get it off me!" Courage screeched.
Scooby quickly removed the snakeskin off of his best friend, "Rare you okay, Rourage!?"
"Yeah… Yeah I am now," Courage uttered.
"Like dudes, what were those things!?" Shaggy utter out still half asleep, before letting out a big sneeze. He was still tired, despite his supposed nap, Shaggy was not doing well at all. Of course, he hadn't been great before either.
Before either Scooby and Courage could respond, a voice called from the distance.
"Well, hey. I didn't mean to scare you. Just setting up a statue of Big Bayou," the slug said, before piercing the ground with the bottom of the snake statue.
"Big Bayou?/Rig Rayou?" Shaggy, Scooby and Courage questioned.
"He's the snake that got us shackled here."
"Zoinks! A snake!?" Shaggy exclaimed, letting out a sneeze and cough out of fear, "Oh man! Like, it's bad enough that me and my aunt are sick, but now we have to deal with a snake too!?"
"ACHOO!" Shaggy and Muriel sneezed.
"Rless you," Scooby said, as he handed his owner a tissue.
"Thanks Scoob," Shaggy responded, as he blow his nose on the tissue.
"That lady and the kid must be the ones that caught the colds we sent. Glad you all could come to free us," the slug said.
Scooby turned his gaze towards the slug. Rhen why did you have to get Ruriel and my Raggy sick, when there were other ways you could have done!?
"Why don't y'all come on inside, and we'll explain the whole mess to you," the slug said, before returning to a cave made out of the grass.
"Come on, boys, let's see what we can do to help," Muriel said, before sneezing.
"Take it easy, Muriel," Courage said, as he helped her into the slug's home.
Scooby got to his feet and reached a paw out to help Shaggy up.
Shaggy shakily rose to his feet, only to lose his balance almost immediately. It was only because of Scooby that he didn't collapse completely.
He put an arm over Shaggy's shoulder to help support him and they made their way to the slugs' place.
The cowardly trio then heard a growl from the distance of the swamp.
"Like, what was that?" Shaggy timidly asked.
Breathing heavily, Courage turned back to his best friends with a desperate look on his face, "I think we should head inside."
"Ragreed," Scooby nodded, as he and his best friends rushed inside the Slug's house.
But as soon as the trio entered, they're greeted with the sad sight of multiple shackled slugs stuffing more snake statues with leaves. However, they stopped and turned to them when they heard Muriel and Shaggy sneeze and coughed.
"THEY'VE COME TO SAVE US!" the slug wearing a propeller hat cheered.
"Take it easy, slugs. We owe our guests some explanation," the slug they had just met, which we now realized is the leader, said. "It's like this, Big Bayou's a powerful snake and very vain. He loves himself, he kept us prisoner, here for years. Us making the stuffed statues of him out of the skin he sheds. It's torture."
"Yeah, and the dental coverage stinks," the slug with the propeller hat said while showing that he only had one tooth in his mouth.
"Big Bayou's magic put us here, and only Big Bayou's magic can break our shackles."
"Like, I'm so sorry you have to go through all of that slug dudes," Shaggy said, then beginning to cough.
"That all bad and all, but what about curing Shaggy and Muriel?" Courage exclaimed, after they violently coughed again. He even transformed into a miniature Muriel to help get the message across.
"Uh, well, we'd love to cure them, but uh..." the lead slug began.
"We don't know how," the young slug finished.
"Roh, come on!" Scooby complained, not sure whatever to feel sympathy or irritated with the slugs that got their human owners sick.
"We were only able to steal just a smidge of magic from Big Bayou- Just enough to get our message out in a microbe," the lead slug explained with the young slug pulling out the paper.
"You've got to find a way-" Muriel began, but a sneeze cut her off, causing the rest of the slugs to retreat to the other side of the room.
"Where can we find the rest of the spell!?" Courage asked, trying to ignore the cold lump of apprehension that was gathering in his stomach.
"Well, all you got to do is get your hands on Big Bayou's book of Big Bayou magic. He's got all his magic in there. Then you can cure your friends," the lead slug answered.
"Yeah, and free us," the young slug added, with the other slugs joining.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage shared an uneasy glance, this was harder than said and done.
"I'll try." Muriel said, but sat down afterward as she began to feel dizzy, "Maybe I'll take a wee nap."
"Aunt Muriel!/Ruriel!/Muriel!" Shaggy, Scooby and Courage gasped.
"GET US OUT OF HERE! HURRY!" the other slugs kept repeating.
"Like, come on dudes, let's get that cure-AH-AHH-CHOOO!" Shaggy let out another sneeze.
Scooby and Courage groaned, the last thing Shaggy needed to be doing was dragging himself along on a mission. He really needed to be sleeping.
"Ro Raggy you need to stay here," Scooby strictly ordered, "Rou're in no condition to do anything right now."
"Like, I'm not going to lie down in bed while you dudes are risking your lives for ours," Shaggy said, quickly turning his head as he coughed," I want to get cured as soon as possible, and I'm not going to let this cold bring me down."
"Shaggy, you're gonna get worse if you don't rest!" Courage scolded. Why can't he just rest and let us handled it, now I know where he get's his stubbornness from. He thought, thinking about Eustace.
"You're not gonna changed my mind guys!" Shaggy letting out another irritated cough, then headed out towards outside.
"Is Shaggy always like this when he's sick?" Courage asked, turning his gaze towards the Great Dane.
"Rou have no Idea," Scooby commented, as he and race outside towards Shaggy.
"Raggy!" Scooby called out, "Rait!"
Shaggy was scurrying off into the swamp not looking where he's going. He was beginning to pant now, he just couldn't keep up this pace.
Scooby and Courage managed to catch up with Shaggy, with panting breaths.
"Shaggy, you really need to go back to that slugs's place and rest!" Courage pointed out.
"Little pink dude, I'm fine!" Shaggy groaned in exasperation, not understanding why Courage and Scooby was so fixated on the matter.
"Shaggy, look at you, you could barley stand!" Courage retorted crossly.
Scooby tried to take another step but his hind leg was stuck. He tugged, trying to pull it out of the brown peat, but the mud sucked harder and he sank deeper. "Ruh guys…"
"I've had colds before and I think I can handle this mission!" Shaggy scowled at his best friend.
"Ruys!" Scooby practically begged out of desperation, but once again, he was ignored.
"Yeah, but this isn't an ordinary cold!" Courage spat at the sick cowardly teen.
"RUYS!" Scooby wailed frantically.
Shaggy and Courage both turned their heads towards Scooby, his frightened yell scared them to the core.
Scooby stretched his shoulders, trying to pull out his forepaws, but they slid farther down until he was buried to his knees, "Re're sinking!" Panic flooded him. With every tug on one paw, another sank deeper.
Looking down, Shaggy and Courage saw their feet and paws dissolved into this thick oozy mud.
"Like, I can't move!" Shaggy exclaimed fearfully, letting out a sneeze and descending over his ankles into the ground.
Courage became increasingly worried as any little movement he made caused him to sink. The mud was becoming thicker and oozier growing tougher to move.
Courage's eyes widened as the horrifying realization dawned on him, "Guys… guys, don't move a muscle! We're sinking in QUICKSAND!"
"QUICKSAND!?/RUICKSAND!?" Shaggy and Scooby echoed in shock.
"ZOINKS!" Shaggy screamed frantically, as his legs disappeared beneath the mud.
"RELP! RE'RE STUCK!" Scooby shrieked, wetness rose past his stomach, soaking his flanks. He lifted his chin as mud began to climb his chest.
"Guys, guys stay calm! Please!" Courage begged.
Shaggy kept his hands up and was no waist deep in the quicksand, "Like, I'm calm, I'm cool… it's cool…"
"Re-Re-Re too," Scooby stammered, it took every fiber of his being to not panic and scream.
Courage steadied himself, staying perfectly still. Staying still never did any good. Everyone still sank. His heart pounded deep within his chest. Though he couldn't make his insides which were panicking to the brim making the outside. We need to get out!
"Shaggy, calm down and listen to my instructions," Courage said to him hearing his own voice whimper. It was an awful feeling when a bog of cold mud was pressing against your legs. "Grab that branch that's behind you and pull yourself out."
Turning himself around, Shaggy grabbed onto it, "Got it!" he pushed upwards on the stick. The stick was planted on the hard earth near a forest of grass. He couldn't slowly feel his body left out from the muck. To make matters worse the stick snapped. Shaggy let out a scream sinking below his hips.
"Shaggy!/Raggy!" Scooby and Courage wailed in unison.
"Rany ideas Rourage!?" Scooby screeched, feeling panic gnawing his insides.
Courage's mind started racing, growing more hysterical as he waved his arms through the air. If his arms or even his paws touched this surface they were going get stuck. How would he pull himself out after? Courage's head moved around as if it were an owl trying to find anything to pull himself free.
Calm down, Courage thought to himself. Panicking only makes everything worse.
Courage looked down the pathway again. It was getting tougher to see the lower he disappeared under the earth.
"Little pink dude, hurry!" Shaggy squealed, by now, the mud was up to the bottom of his ribcage, and his chest was about to be sucked in next.
Courage looked up. A tree branch was right above them, a lightbulb went off in his mind.
He grabbed a rope, and Courage whipped the rope like a cowboy. He was able to tightly wrap it around the branch. Yes! Now Courage had to shimmy up the rope.
Sweat dripped off his face once Courage realized that the branch he was pulling on wasn't strong enough. It was dangerously bending making little snapping noises.
"Roh no," Scooby whimpered, fearing what this was about to go. Rease, please don't break!
Courage emitted little whimpering noises, praying each little moment he pulled himself free. He could feel the rope riding up in back as the cold mud pressed against it.
The branch could no longer hold Courage's weight and broke off. The pink beagle sank well over his stomach to his chest! The rope landed in the mud along with the branch. How was it that objects like branches, or even a rope could float against quicksand?!
"Oh man," Shaggy panicked, Little pink dude, what are we gonna-" he began before being interrupted by a itching sensation in his throat, "Oh no."
Shaggy then started to coughed to violently and sneeze violently too. This caused him to sink further into the mud, much to Scooby and Courage's horror.
"Raggy, stop!" Scooby exclaimed.
The mud continued to creep up Shaggy's chin, as his eyes widened in horror. The mud then covered his mouth to keep his from screaming, as if the mud wanted him to shut up, and cutting off his air, since he congested.
The mud soon reached his nose, his eyes were wide and eyed the mud in fear knowing that he was only a few inches away from death. His eyes looked up at Scooby and Courage, their faces glittering with terror as their best friend sunk to his death. Shaggy shut his eyes tightly, as they went eventually went under.
"SHAGGY!/RAGGY!" Scooby and Courage screeched in unison.
Scooby stretched across to his best friend and shoved clumps of mud away from his Shaggy's face. But the quicksand was faster and took Shaggy all the way under. Thick bubbles rose to the surface popping and splattering on Scooby's face.
"RAGGY, NO!" Scooby cried, not wanting to accept this is real, he felt his chin brush the surface of the mud. He tipped his head back, feeling the peat suck at his chin.
"Scooby don't move!" Courage wailed, he wanted more than anything to help his best friend. But he was in the same predicament as Scooby.
Scooby jerked his head around, "ROUR!-" he was cut off by the mud. The peat flooded Scooby's mouth. He slammed his jaws shut, drawing air desperately through his nose as the mud seeped up around his cheeks.
"Scooby! Scooby, no! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!" Courage shrieked with horror and despair.
The mud went pass Scooby's nose, leaving his eyes the view his best friend and the outside world one last time before he left it. the mud slid over his spine and he could no longer feel his legs.
Scooby closed his eyes, when the mud came over his eyes and dragged his head under the dismal brown surface.
"SCOOBY!" Courage screamed with fear, bubbles rose to the surface from where his best friend once was. He tried to move his body to get to him, but it only made him sink deeper. The mud was now covering his neck and he was sinking in it faster with every second.
Courage shot down past his neck and was now up to his chin, the pink beagle's eyes went wide with fear, he was only moments away from going under. Thinking quickly he leaned his head back to save him some time, his ears began to float atop the surface.
Courage forced himself to not think about all the bad things that had happened to him over the past years of his life. He only thought about the happy times he had with his best friends and his owner. Eventually, after some time reliving some of his memories, the mud sealed his mouth. The mud folded over his nose sealing off his oxygen. His eyes darted around in all directions taking in one last view of his surroundings.
Courage closed his eyes as the thick muddy clay coved and folded over his eyes pulling him under at last, his ears rested on the surface for a few moments before it was taken under in a thick swirl of wet earth and water, leaving behind a thick bundle of air bubbles to rise to the surface in their wake.
Deep beneath the mire Courage had his eyes closed, his body was slowly going numb, his right arm was stretched above his head almost like he was reaching out to someone.
He wept internally on the inside knowing that he let down Scooby, Shaggy and even Muriel.
I'm sorry, Shaggy, I'm sorry Scooby, I'm sorry Muriel. Courage thought desperately as realized he's going to die. I tried so hard and I wasn't good enough…
The inescapable wetness that was the quicksand crushing against him from all sides. And then, just when Courage was about to suck in a breath, he slipped through the quicksand, falling out into empty space. Slamming hard into something very furry with a surprised "Oof!"
It was Scooby, as he got off his best friend, he Scooby and Shaggy coughed out all the sand in the mouths while gasping for air exhausted, but alive. A few seconds of coughing and recovering from the near death experience.
"Rare you okay Rourage?" Scooby coughed.
"I'm okay," he gasped, "I only swallowed a bit," a hacking cough cut him off and he spewed up muddy water.
"Like, little pink dude, do you know where we are?" Shaggy rasped, before letting out a hard cough.
Courage looked up and turned his head and saw it was some sort of hide out and their was a door indicating their exit.
"I think some sort of hide out," Courage gasped.
"Like, we should go," Shaggy turned away and walked towards the door.
Scooby and Courage exchanged a look, there was no way that taking an obviously extremely sick Shaggy on a mission was a good idea.
The cowardly trio could see the first path did end after a few moments, but the second path revealed itself seconds later. Although, the numerous snake statues did keep them going in the correct direction.
Shaggy shivered under the flannel blanket, in all honesty, he would have been perfectly fine sleeping all day. He had absolutely no energy whatsoever. But if he wanted to keep his dog pals safe, then Shaggy had no choice but to tag along.
Like, Scoob and the little dog dude has other, more important things to worry about. Shaggy thought as he pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders. Though Shaggy knew deep down that he should tell his best friends before he got too sick and that his best friends wouldn't hesitate to drop everything and take care of him, he just couldn't bring himself to bother Scooby and Courage. This isn't that big of a deal. Like, dude, you have to learn to take care of yourself anyway, Shaggy. Everybody gets sick.
"Wow/Row," Shaggy, Scooby and Courage gasped, as they reached the trail's end and saw Big Bayou's lair.
"Rither he's in vain like the slug said, or he is really in love with himself," Scooby stated when he and his best friends realized the lair was in the shape of a snake's head.
"Let's just get the book and return to the-" Courage began, but stopped when the door to Big Bayou's lair opened.
"Ride!" Scooby commanded.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage moved into the tall grass.
"That must be Big Bayou,"Courage commented, as a massive red snake slithered out. He screwed his eyes shut. Don't let him see us!
Luckily, it seemed like he was doing so out of habit rather than hearing something, but it didn't stop the trio's hearts from pounding so hard.
"Hello, me," Big Bayou said, talking to a snake statue and poking it with his tail. "Don't I look fine? I am so beautiful. I think I'll go and see how all the other Mes are doing, but first."
He slithered out of his skin before quickly grabbing his hat. This made Shaggy, Scooby and Courage cringed in disgust.
RI heard of loving and admiring yourself, but this is ridiculous. Scooby thought bitterly.
Big Bayou tossed his old skin onto a nearby pile, he then slithered toward the direction of the bayou, "I am pretty. I love me."
The headache combined with the lack of energy, the fever, and the low blood sugar that came from not eating anything this morning made Shaggy feel like he was going to pass out. He stopped and slouched down. The world was spinning faster, and his legs were shaking so badly that he felt like his knees would buckle any minute. He shivered and yanked the blanket tighter around his shoulders, though he knew it wouldn't do much to help him.
Okay! Shaggy cried mentally. Like, I can't take it anymore! I admit it! I'm really, really sick!
His mouth began to quiver, and he felt tears slipping down his feverish cheeks. He knew he only did this to himself. After all, he had lied about how sick he actually was.
He even agreed to go on a mission that he knew he was physically unable to do, and refused to back down, even though Scooby and Courage had given him plenty of opportunity to do so. He had probably seriously endangered his health after all, people literally DIED from influenza.
"Like, dudes!" Shaggy sobbed hoarsely, causing his best friends to turn towards him and see that he was pathetically slouching down, sobbing like a baby. Crying had made his throat feel like it was on fire, but he didn't care. He just wanted to crawl into bed and never come out. "Like, I admit it, okay? I'm really, really sick! I really thought I could do this, b-but I can't! I just feel so awful, and I want to go home!"
Another coughing and sneezing fit hit him, worse than from earlier that day. It was one of those ones that made him feel like he was going to hack out a lung. It would be absolutely unbearable if he developed an upper respiratory tract infection on top of whatever he already had. He grabbed his torso underneath his blanket as the coughs rattled his frame and began to rock himself back and forth to try and comfort himself.
He was faintly aware that Courage was saying something, but he couldn't make it out. He felt like somebody was jackhammering his brain, that's how bad his head hurt.
Somebody placed a paw on his forehead, but he couldn't make out who it was. Everything was just so blurry. The edge of his vision started turning black, and next thing he knew, the world went dark.
"Raggy!" Scooby gasped, feeling his paws go numb with alarm.
"Oh no!" Courage yelped.
Scooby had already spotted the faint rise and fall of Shaggy's chest, "Re need to get that book! Raggy's getting worse!"
Courage's paws were already moving he exited the tall grass and rushed to Big Bayou's door., he ran as he had never run before, but even so, ten million awful thoughts rolled through Courage's mind he ran to the snake's house. What if Shaggy was dying? What if he were...
No! He thought, refusing to give into his own pessimistic thoughts. What on earth had he been thinking letting his sick best friend tag along like this? How could he have been so stupid? He should have been more firm with him!
What was Shaggy thinking? He wondered to himself. What was I thinking?
However, as he got to the door Big Bayou locked it before he left, "What? It's locked!?" he asked, dismayed. "Seriously?!"
He climbed up to the window of the upstairs house. Taking a peak, he could spotted some books.
Composing himself, he stuck his paw into the window and beginning sifting around.
Unfortunately his arm was too short and he just couldn't reach the book.
Courage sighed with a whine, "I hate doing this."
Sticking his tongue out (that was surprisingly long) he could easily reach a book. Finally, his tongue hit something firm and he grabbed it, hoping that it was a the book.
Although, he was confused by the first book as it was about motivational thinking. The second book he grabbed with his tongue was about various party tricks.
He let go of it. Where are you hiding that book? He thought to himself. When he was about to stretch his tongue further he heard, "I can't wait to look in my mirror. I love my look after I've looked at all my mes," Big Bayou said, turning around he saw him in a hot tub, talking to the other stuffed statues of himself.
Courage focus on his search and finally he could feel another book, hoping this was it. But just he was about to let his tongue out, he heard Big Bayou said, "Ooh! I am so lucky to be me."
Courage froze for a second, but quickly move his tongue. Finally he managed to get that book outside, despite breaking apart of the house in the process. With anxiety and blood pulsing in his ears, the pink beagle rushed into the tall grass to avoid Big Bayou spotting him.
Looking where Shaggy and Scooby were. Cold paws clutched Courage's heart, Shaggy's skin was now green, and has warts all over his face.
Scooby was staring at his unconscious owner with horror, he looked up at Courage, blood was roaring in his ears. Re's gonna die! Terror was glittering in his eyes.
"Scooby carried Shaggy, we need to get him back to the cave!" Courage was staring directly at the Great Dane.
Scooby nodded his head, he took Shaggy on his shoulders, even though he was a full grown teenager. Staggering under his weight, with Courage on one side, he struggled back to the the cave.
Scooby and Courage rushed into the cave. Only to wince, they saw how miserable Muriel was due to the uncommon cold. Her skin was also now green, and had warts all over her face like Shaggy was.
"ACHOO!" Muriel sneezed, with her head inflating like a balloon.
Courage let out a scream of worry and concern.
"Re gotta find the cure!" Scooby stated urgently.
"THEY GOT THE BOOK!" the young slug announced before heading toward them. "BUST US FREE! COME ON!"
"Rot until we cure our family!" Scooby growled, can't he see that Shaggy was in bad condition?
"Feel free to cure the lady and the kid first," the lead slug said, pulling the younger slug back.
Muriel moaned, with a bit of pain, while Scooby placed a cool, wet rag on Shaggy's forehead, causing the cowardly teen to shiver.
Scooby let out a piteous wail, "Raggy!"
Not wanting to see them suffer anymore, Courage opened the book and quickly flipped through the pages. Luckily, he found it after a few seconds.
"Okay. To cure The Uncommon Cold, have a four-legged creature perform this ritual," Courage read.
Taking a few steps back, Courage then began to perform the ritual precisely, which, weirdly enough, required him to act like a chicken.
"Row is this supposed to be the cure?" Scooby asked, scratching his head.
"You got me," Courage answer, as he crow like a rooster.
"Well, it doesn't seem to work," Muriel said between coughs.
"Maybe we should-" Courage began, tired but stopped when he started to grunt inexplicably. But before Scooby could say anything, he laid an egg which stunned him.
"Oh, my," Muriel gasped.
"Retanding that did not happen," Scooby commented.
Courage laughed with embarrassment, he then got off the egg, picked it up, and walked over to the table, where he proceeded to crack it open.
Courage poured the contents of the egg into two glasses, he grabbed from nowhere. He then gave one to Muriel while Scooby gave the other to Shaggy.
Scooby then poured the antidote in Shaggy's mouth all at once his skin turned back to normal and his warts disappeared.
Letting out a weak groan, Shaggy opened his eyes only to find blurriness. His vision seemed to vibrate with the thumping of his heart and no matter how many times he blinked, he could not clear it up.
"Wha-What happened?" Shaggy whispered to himself. His voice cracked with every word he spoke.
"Raggy!" Scooby cried wrapped his arms around his owner with relief, "Rour okay!"
It took Shaggy a moment to remember what had happened, he passed out from lack of energy in the middle of the grass.
"Like, I'm f-fine Scoob," Shaggy told him as he slowly sat up on the ground.
"How do you feel, Muriel?" Courage asked, sitting next to her.
"I can breathe. I feel myself again," she answered.
"YAY!"Courage cheered, feeling relief washing over his body.
He then turned his gaze towards Shaggy and saw he was cured too, "Shaggy you're awake!"
A knot began to form inside Shaggy's stomach. Just how long had he been out? Before he could ask, Courage's demeanor suddenly changed and the next thing he knew, the pink beagle was practically on top of him. If the cave hadn't been spinning enough before, it certainly was now with Courage shaking him like a snow globe.
"What were you THINKING?" he demanded. "Do you have any idea just how worry you made me and Scooby!? You could of died!"
Despite nearly getting shaken half to death, Shaggy couldn't help but smile, "Like, I guess you knew how me and Scoob felt when you'd battled against Di Lung's robot dog dude."
Courage let out a sigh and couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "I guess the tables have turn, have they."
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage then all have a good laugh.
"NOW FREE US!" the slugs chanted.
"Okay, now, which spell can we use to free them?" Courage asked as Scooby, flipped through the pages. However, they stopped and froze when the two dogs and Shaggy heard Big Bayou's voice.
"What the BAYOU's going on here?" he asked with a hiss. "Were you three messing with my Bayou magic?"
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage scream with fright and raced out of the cave with Shaggy carrying the book in his arms.
"RHERE SHOULD WE GO!" Scooby shrieked.
"IN THE WATER!" Courage shouted.
The three enter the lake and begin to swim away from the cave.
"Like, maybe we could use a spell in this book to stop that big creepy snake dude," Shaggy suggested, maybe there was a way to find a weakness of the snake.
"I think I saw a spell that could help,"Courage said, taking the book from Shaggy and opening it to the correct page, "Here it is."
"Rut how do we perform the spell, or is it a ritual?" Scooby asked.
"To make stuffed bayou snakes, your obedient servants, use deadly venom from a real bayou snake."
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage shared glances of cringe and disgust.
"Like, you gotta be kidding me," Shaggy groaned. Like, nothing is ever easy, is it?
However, fate seemed to hate or like them at the moment as Big Bayou suddenly appeared in front of the cowardly trio, they stop, freezing with terror.
"AS WE SAY IN THE BAYOU! BYE YOU!" Big Bayou said, baring his fangs, lunging towards Courage.
Icy terror coursed through Shaggy and Scooby's blood as they watch the snake trying to strike Courage with his fangs.
"COURAGE WATCH OUT!" Shaggy screeched.
But Courage didn't have time to move, all he could do was scream with horror. He used the book to block himself, shut his eyes tightly and braced himself as he waited for the shining fangs to meet his body.
"What the bayou?" Big Bayou asked sounding, confused.
Utterly confused, Courage opened his eyes and saw shaking his head to try and free his fangs from the book.
"Little dog dude, the venom!" Shaggy reminded, pointing to the snake statues and how they were coming to life from the venom.
"Oh, no!"Courage wailed, after the book hit his head, making him and his best friends realize that Big Bayou freed his fangs. He then quickly got onto a stump and waved toward the snake statues. "Servant snakes, obey."
"Rool," Scooby said with astonishment, seeing how the snakes stood at attention to Courage's command.
"GO GET HIM!"Courage ordered.
"NO!" Big Bayou screamed, terrified as the snake statues moved toward him. "HEY! YOU ALL... ARE ME! I CAN'T DO THIS!"
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage all breathed out with relief.
"Like, I guess that's one way to admire yourself, eh dog dudes," Shaggy joked elbowing Scooby.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage all laughed at the cowardly teen's joke, it was great to see him well again.
"Boys come here," the trio heard Muriel shout. They all turned to the shore and saw Muriel and the others waving at the boys.
Swimming over to her, Shaggy, Scooby and Courage noticed Muriel holding a damaged nail file. "I need a new file. But we got the slugs free."
"She's one big bayou mama!" the young slug said.
"Where's Big Bayou?" the lead slug asked.
"Oh, he won't be bothering you for a long time," Courage assured, with a playful grin.
The next day, back at home, Muriel was drinking her tea with Courage next to her, while Shaggy and Scooby were eating their breakfast.
"Ahh, it sure is lovely to sip tea just for the pleasure of it," Muriel said, smiling.
Courage nodded and turned to Shaggy who was eating like he did before getting that nasty cold.
"It's good to see you eating Shag," Courage said.
"I know little pink dude! It was awful to not eating anything with that cold!" Shaggy agreed, taking big bites of his pancakes.
"Reah," Scooby nodded, also eating his pancakes.
Courage chuckled and shook his head, It's good to see Shaggy's normal huge appetite returning.
Suddenly Eustace barged into the room. "AHHH! Muriel! Shaggy-haired-fella! I caught your darn COLDS!" he complained, before sneezing. But it wasn't an ordinary sneeze as it was the uncommon cold sent by Big Bayou this time.
"HELP!"he shouted, severely injured and locked in shackles.
Courage sighed, "Here we go again," performing the ritual to get the cure.
"Like, huh?" Shaggy asked, confused, what was Courage doing?
"Rust go with it Raggy," Scooby replied.
Epilogue
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage were looking at the readers.
"Hi dudes, I'm Shaggy Rogers, and these are my best buddies Scooby and the little pink dude Courage," Shaggy introduced.
"Uh Shaggy, we can introduce ourselves," Courage responded.
"Oh sorry," Shaggy sheepishly said.
"Rometimes everyday, when a person has a cold, they should think about if they should stay home to prevent the spread," Scooby said.
"And not help spread the virus," Courage added.
"Like, how many dudes you know have colds but refuse to stay home?" Shaggy asked the reader, "If you know a dude or you have a cold, stay home and not spread the virus!"
"Reah, tell your parents or a doctor," Scooby recommended.
"It's important now than ever to take care of yourself," Courage agreed.
"And like, make sure to get some rest!" Shaggy finished.
Well that's all for this chapter, next will be Farmer-Hunter, Farmer-Hunted. I like to thank Aartman7141999 schweenieboy and Angry9guy for the quotes and ideas. Also I got the idea of the quicksand scene from one of my favorite movies of all time The Brave Little Toaster. Let me guys know in the reviews/comments of what should I do for the future episodes or next chapter. And what Courage should say in future chapters. Until then this is vakarns signing out.
Farmer-Hunter, Farmer-Hunted: Eustace tries to prove that he can hunt like his deceased brother, Horst. But the deer families are tired of being hunted and the father deer decides to hunt Eustace instead. Shaggy, Scooby and Courage hosts a game show to see who gets to shoot whom.
