Lets get this out of the way first.

I do NOT own any Buffy or Scooby Doo characters. This is just for fun, and no money is being made from this. If I was making $ from it I'd update a heck of a lot faster. :p

Review Responses:

(Ch9)

Allen Pitt: Wonder away. But I think you all will like it. Unfortunately it's not moving as fast as I would like. A crash killed 30 minutes of (IMO) very inspired work. Which really bummed me out. Since then I just can't get back into the mood. It's going to be a VERY dark story.

RE: D/B relatives. I'm not going to do the missing relative bit. Unless it's written extremely cleverly it always smacks of enough cheese to give a whole army of mice heart attacks. Anyway I met my own non related double back when I was in JHS. Unless you saw us together it was impossible to tell us apart, so you don't have to be related to have a double.

sired-by-spike: Well I was aiming for some of the classic friction between the two. RE: Terra. Nope it was my idiocy in play. Anyplace in CH9 you see Terra substitute Tara. :(

Sean Malloy-1: I'm keeping the story under wraps. But like I said it won't be yet another generic HP, etc cross over. I should place the first chappy or two up for it sometime in early to mid June. (Before I post I want at least a quarters worth of chappy's in reserve so I wont feel rushed to stay ahead. This one I'm usually finishing the chapter 20-30 minutes before I post it.

marykaitlyn: Thanks I should keep it going for another couple of months. Hope you'll stick around.

Whatchamicallit: Thanks.

mentallyinsane: Of course I know about the men in white suits. I got them after you since I needed a distraction to get away from them.

Setting Notes:

The chapter opens just as Scooby asks Buffy for help.

Chapter Ten Scooby Speaks:

Scooby Speak Alert.

"Rhey ried ro relp me." (They tried to help me.)

(AN: No more Scooby Speak unless it's a pressure situation. Then the BTVS crew and you readers will have to deal with the accent.)

Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Spike and Tara were all pole axed by hearing Scooby speak.

"He can talk?" Buffy was the first to speak, but she echoed all of the others thoughts. Dawn was also shooting Shaggy a mild glare. While Buffy gave him a bit of the patented big sister evil eye.

"Sorry about that. I was getting to it. But…" Shaggy shrugged apologetically and Dawn realized Spikes prank was most likely why she hadn't gotten the lowdown before her extended family.

"Don't blame Shaggy. If I hadn't decided to say something he would have told you. But things have been kind of busy lately." Even with an accent the gang had little trouble with the distinctiveness of Scoobies speech. The fact that he was actually speaking was undeniable.

"You mean the cartoon got a talking dog right?" Xander wasn't sure what shocked him more. The fact that he had a real talking dog in front of him or that TV exec's actually got something right.

Fred decided to give them a fuller explanation. "Uhm not exactly. You see we pitched to the studio heads that we had tricked our way out of more than one scrape by using ventriloquism. They had no idea that Scoob could talk. Since it was already going to be a cartoon we tossed in that the dog could talk. Just to make things even more unbelievable. "

"That's all neat and interesting. But you should cut to the chase. Just how can you talk? What are you? My Slayer senses aren't going off so I'm willing to let you explain yourself."

Buffy was looking demandingly at what she had originally thought was a simple dog. Now it was an unknown in her house, and in close proximity to her sister and friends. This situation seemed much more dangerous than it was even moment's ago.

"He's human." Velma looked embarrassed for speaking out of turn.

"I was put under a spell and changed into a dog." Scoob was telling the exact truth but he and the rest of his friends knew there was a lot more to the story.

'You mean like Amy?" Dawn asked inquiringly.

"Whose Amy?"

"Willows pet rat. She was human until she was about to be burned at the stake and she transformed into a rat. Wait a moment Amy can't talk, how can you?" Dawn was dying of curiosity.

"Ok you have a girl changed into a rat, and she's being kept as a pet and your interrogating me?" Scoob sounded a bit put out.

"It's not like we haven't tried changing her back, but Willow and Tara don't have the power." Scooby and his friends all seemed to deflate at that answer.

"Oh no. After we all saw Tara's power we thought you might be able to help us. We've tried any number of times to change me back but nothings worked. I was hoping I might finally get to be human again." As Scooby slumped to the floor.

Tara stepped up from the background and took center stage. "Willow is on her way over already. Please tell me how you were transformed in the first place. We might be able to help you. Amy changed herself and has been unable to change back on her own. Willow and I have tried top help but nothing seems to work. I won't promise you a reversal of the spell. But I will try."

"You blokes better listen to Glenda 'ere. She's a darn good witch, and Red is no slouch either, if'n it can be done mos' likely they can do it." Tara blushed once again at Spikes nickname for her.

"My girlfriend caught me in a compromising situation. I wasn't cheating on her. But she thought I had, and cast a spell saying that I should be a real life son of a bitch."

Ouch what kind of girlfriend would do that to her boyfriend? The modus operandi sounds awfully familiar though. Xander was exchanging glances with his friends. He didn't notice Velma was looking uncomfortable with the way the discussion was going.

"Sounds familiar don't it?"

They all waited a beat and said at the same time. "Vengeance demon."

"Your girl friend may have cast a spell. But I'm willing to bet she had some extra help. Most witch types don't have the power to permanently change anybody. At least that's what Willow has told me. We've run into vengeance demons before, and this sort of stunt sound right up their alley." Xander manfully ignored the rolling of Buffy and Dawn's eye's.

"Hey Xander where's Anya?" Dawn couldn't resist tweaking Xander.

Tara decided it was time to get down to business. "We'll need lots of details. Who cast it, where, when. How you can talk etc."

"The talking is kinda complicated. Originally I couldn't talk. We have tried changing me back on more than one occasion. Thats what all the compulsive traveling has been for. But they never worked. Most of the time my speaking ability improved. Practice helped. But I can speak much more easily now."

"Still what kind of girlfriend would curse you like this. She must have been real vindictive." Tara was starting to like Scooby even though she'd only been talking to him for a little while.

"No she listened to my brother and she knew she messed up. She immediately tried to break the spell. But it didn't work. After the first try I could talk a bit, not much but enough to do more than shake my head or wag my tail to get my point across. Ever since she has worked long and hard hours trying to cure me."

Dawn noticed Velma blushing. "You're his girlfriend? The evil vindictive (she hesitated a moment) ...witch, who changed him into a dog?"

"Well I. Was so mad at Scott."

"Whose Scott?"

"You didn't think that Scooby was my name did you? Shaggy and I went by our nick names. My real name is Scott Belvedere Shagworthy. It was shrunk to Scoob. My twin brother here always kept his hair in a real shaggy mess. So he got named Shaggy. "

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That's it for this Chapter. Only a minor cliffy this time.

Chapter 11 Velma's Grief: