It was a dull day in Coolsville. Spring had arrived. Everything seemed to be mellow. For once the gang had not been occupied with a mystery. Having just solved a few hectic mysteries, the gang had felt they just wanted to be home for a bit.

After years of living together in a van most of their youth, settling and owning a house together wasn't much different. Except that a house had a lot more legroom.

It was on this lazy, happy spring afternoon when the enjoyable silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. Curled up around a good book, Velma found herself the only one in hearing range. After a few light knocks, a louder knock had come. Seeing that no one else had seemed to hear the person at the door, Velma sighed and placed a bookmark in the book and got up. Taking two seconds brush a few wrinkles from her sweatpants, she headed to the door calling out to the person on the other side,

"Alright... All right, I'm coming. No need to bang on the door anymore."

She grabbed for the handle and unlocked the top lock. Once the lock was undone, and the doorknob turned, the door was force open by the thing behind it. Bounding into the house was a large Great Dane. He did not notice he had knocked Velma to the ground by his actions, and continued past the fallen girl. Instead the brown blur disappeared inside the house as Velma groggily got her senses back.

"Are you ok?"

Came an unfamiliar voice. She adjusted her glasses on her nose to look up at the young boy standing awkwardly on the front porch of the house. He looked like he wanted to step inside and help her up, and yet he was also cautious to enter because he had not been invited in. Grabbing onto the handle of the front door, Velma pulled herself to her feet. She looked at the boy again, trying to figure out if she knew the boy. He was standing a bit taller then her, but he looked smaller by his slightly hunched stance. He was wearing a battered pair of glasses, taped on one side where the earpiece wire met the lenses. His black hair was mussed and capped off with a brimmed brown cap. What hair had stuck out from the cap looked messy, as if he had ran most of the way (where ever he had come from) with the Great Dane. He was shifting his weight slightly, in a worried or anxious manner. Occasionally taking glances from the floor or her, to look at where the Great Dane had gone.

"E...Excuse me... But do you mind if I come in?"

He stammered, obviously trying to be polite in the presence of Velma. She shook her head to shut off her detective analysis of the youth and motioned for him to come in.

"Oh, sorry. Come in."

She said politely. He bobbed his head and grabbed a suitcase by his side and stepped into the door. He then stuttered,

"I... I hope you don't mind a dog... He said he would be welcome here."

Velma looked at the boy confused and showed him to the living room where she had been hanging out. She was curious, and voiced her thoughts out loud to him.

"Sorry to seem rude, but who are you and who was the Great Dane? One of Scooby's relatives I would think."

The boy realized he had not introduced himself. He dropped his bag to his side and scooped the hat off his head as he bowed, making his introduction of himself and his Dane.

"Oh... Sorry... How rude of me... My name is Melvin, Melvin Toore. And that was my Great Dane..."


Bound through the house, the Great Dane in question. He sniffed the air and knew he had to be close. When food was in the air, it was not too hard to guess where his relative was. He skidded to a stop, right before the last door in the hallway. Slowly he came to the door, pausing to listen for anyone inside the room. The voices he heard coming from the kitchen assured him he was in the right spot.

Nosing open the door gently, he saw that the door was a swing door for easy access. Being as quiet as he could, he squeezed himself through the door and snuck behind the two culinary masters at work. He watched and waited for just the right moment. When the time was right, he shouted out from behind them, making Shaggy jump to the ceiling in fright.

"UNCLE SCOOBY! SHAGGY!"

Scooby caught the beatnik in his arms as the spooked Shaggy stammered a reply...

"S...S...Sc"


"Scrappy?"

Velma gasped, shocked as the boy hung his head from her reaction. He felt bad that his dog had not only knocked over the girl, but she seemed to have a rather shocked attitude when she heard his name.

"He... He convinced me that it would be ok... He said that they wouldn't mind him coming for a visit. I... I... I'm sorry."

The boy stuttered some more, playing with his hat nervously in his hand while he waited for her response. He tried not to look at her, out of fear he did something wrong. Velma shook her head, it had been ages since she had seen the loud puppy, and it was apparent at his large size he wasn't a puppy any longer. Then she noticed how much the boy Melvin seemed to be bashing himself, thinking he and his dog was intruding. She tried to comfort him.

"Oh no no no... I didn't mean it like that. It's just been a while since I had heard anything about him. It's just a shock to see him bound in after all these years...Literally…"

Her conversation was interrupted by another voice entering the room. As the red haired girl came across the two of them, she spoke out.

"What's all this racket? I hear a bang and scampering around the house. Did Shaggy accidentally let another cat in and Scooby is after it? Oh!"

She saw Velma and Melvin and the boy looked quite ashamed. His dog was causing more chaos then he thought. Daphne really didn't mind, she had just been relaxing upstairs in her room listening to a new CD she had gotten. Giving her hand an unconscious run through her hair to make sure it was intact for visitors, she happily greeted the boy.

"Hello. And who are you?"

"Oh. Daphne meet Melvin Toore. Melvin, this is Daphne Blake. And I'm Velma Dinkley." Velma introduced Daphne to Melvin, and then introduced herself as well since she had forgotten earlier. "Oh and Melvin is Scrappy Doo's owner."

Velma chirped matter of factly. Daphne did a double take. The owner of the rambunctious puppy was a rather shy, twitchy guy. She would have thought that Scrappy's owner might be some more adventurous, athletic type to keep up with the little puppy. But from the sounds created by Scrappy, he wasn't so 'little' anymore.


"Scrappy!"

Scooby shouted, throwing his paws around his nephew, promptly dropping Shaggy in the process. It had been ages since he had seen him. Puppy no more, Scrappy sat as tall as he was. Though Scrappy was built more then his lanky uncle. He hugged him back just the same.

"Hiya Uncle Scooby. Hiya Shaggy. Long time no see!"

Scrappy greeted his old friends. He really missed them, and was happy he was able to convince Melvin to come here. And if all went well, maybe he'll be able to go on another mystery with them. Knowing that the gang rarely was not on an adventure, or one would seem to pop up when they weren't playing any attention. They always seemed to draw the mysteries to them. Shaggy picked himself off the ground where Scooby dumped him and addressed Scrappy while dusting off his pants from the floor. Not seeming to matter much that Scooby had deposited him on the ground.

"Like, What are you doing here man? Not that I'm not happy to see you, but Zoinks, it's been ages."

Shaggy commented as he walked over to Scrappy, petting him on the head. Being a dog person, he knew just where to pet the younger Dane to make his foot start tapping the floor in rapid secession as he tried to talk.

"I was able... no left left... there... I was able to convince my owner to bring me over. And well... Oooooo a bit lower... And Here I am."

Scrappy leaned into the scratching as his foot thumped the ground harder telling Shaggy he had the perfect spot. Scooby looked over at Scrappy and nodded, then spoke to his human counterpart.

"Raggy, Re roing ro rave Rappy r'and ris rowner ror runch!"

Scooby stated with a determined nod. Shaggy stopped scratching and thought it over. He placed his hand to his scruffy chin and played with part of his goatee as the ideas tumbled around in his head. Then a grin formed on his face.

"Like, good idea Scoob. What better way to catch up on old times and meet Scrappy's owner but over food. Perfect. No one can turn down a free meal!"

Shaggy clapped his hands together at the end of his sentence, in an act of a well thought decision. Scrappy liked the idea. They had not eaten very much, since Scrappy was to concerned to getting here rather then making sure they stayed fed. And it wasn't fair to his boy Melvin to not eat. Plus he happened to be hungry too. So he piped up in response.

"Sounds like a great idea uncle Scooby. Why don't I help you set up?"

Scrappy offered his paw to help. Shaggy nodded. He grinned inwardly, if felt nice seeing Scooby's nephew again. Scrappy always liked to help out. And there was no trouble, so he didn't have to be worried about the younger Dane getting his nose into it. Home was the only place he felt safe in.

"Thanks Scrappy. That goes there. And Scooby, that is going over on that area."

Shaggy directed the Danes a bit in the kitchen. After a bit of organizing and setting up, Shaggy saw that Scrappy was finding his way around well enough that he washed off his hands to get the rest of the gang.

"You guys put the finishing touches on it. I'm going to do get the rest of the gang and your owner and we can then dig in."

Shaggy took off his apron he was wearing and handed it to Scooby who placed it on himself and took over directing Scrappy. Smartly, he saluted Shaggy as he started to leave. Making sure to keep the 'pup' on track.

"R'ok Raggy..."

Scooby dismissed Shaggy and went to pointing of the final placements of the table. Shaggy watched for two seconds before he pushed open the door and headed to get everyone else.

"Like…. This is going to be great!"


Coming upon the girls talking with Melvin, he spoke to get their attention.

"Like, come on gang. Food's a ready and I'm starved! Ahahaha..."

Shaggy laughed at his own words and motioned the guys in the living to follow him. Daphne looked over from their conversation at Shaggy then turned to shrug at Velma. She then in turn shrugged back and took up the pace. Daphne watched Velma start to walk by when she noticed Melvin hadn't moved. She motioned for him to follow. The boy looked at her and pointed to himself confused. As if by cue, his stomach launched a groan of complaint from the depths of the boy that made his face grow red with embarrassment. Daphne sighed and went back for the boy, grabbing him by the wrist she pulled him after her to the kitchen. Velma had stopped to watch the scene in amusement, she tried to not let show as she took up the rear on their little train of people to the kitchen.

Melvin, once captured didn't struggle. He was hungry. Though he was more embarrassed now that his stomach had done that in front of the two ladies he just met and was talking to. But the lanky boy that showed up seemed to be one of the people that Scrappy talked about more. Sure Daphne, Velma and a guy named Fred had been mentioned before, but Shaggy and Scooby were the two he heard about the most.

Melvin was too lost in his thoughts to pay much attention to the hallway that Daphne was dragging him through, but the kitchen did get his full attention. Maybe it was the fact that it mostly painted a nice cheery pale yellow color. Or maybe it was the pure size of it. Since you could park the Mystery Inc van inside the main cooking area, had the tables and oven not been there. Or the fact that it was more suited to serve a 5 star restaurant... But however you looked at it, the kitchen was quite a site. He remembered looking at the house on the outside; it didn't look like it could fit something of this grandeur. His attention also didn't miss the comical look of Scooby in Shaggy's Apron on, "Don't Forget To Feed the cook". Scooby did a flourished bow and let his paw gesture to the meal set up.

"Runch ris rerved"

Melvin was paying to much attention to everything else; he didn't notice where Daphne had dragged him to till a plate was placed in his hands.

"Here."

Daphne offered the plate and waited for him to take it. In all of his observations of the kitchen, he had missed the actual meal served. He was standing behind Daphne and in front of Velma in some sort of line. He leaned to his left and found himself looking at a bunch of tables pulled together to house all the various food that had been set up. It was a buffet, serving spoons and everything.

"I had forgotten it was Buffet Wednesday." Velma said with a chipper tone to her voice. Giddy at the prospect of the variety of food they were being presented. Choices were always nice to have.

"W...Wednesday? You mean this amount of food happens weekly?" Stammered the boy. Velma gave him a nod.

"This amount of food happens each meal... Wither we get access to it is another matter all together. But since Shaggy likes making so many dishes on a regular basis, we thought making one day of the week to making dishes for the rest of us was a good opportunity for him. Just... A warning. Unless you have a strong stomach, don't touch anything on that last table down at the end."

Velma pointed to the end of the table. Melvin leaned again and didn't notice anything particularly odd about the meals on that particular table. He wondered what was so bad.

"Why shouldn't I touch it?" He asked as he moved down the table picking up foods that looked good and that he wanted to try. He didn't notice how much he was stacking. But he was hungry enough to eat it all.

"That's Shaggy's experiment table. If the ingredients don't explode on contact, then you can bet those odd combinations are down there."

Daphne grimaced at the memory of last weeks main dish. Liver and Linguini it was. Though the Tofu toast and cream cheese wasn't as bad as it looked. Velma's face reflected similar thoughts. Melvin looked at the two older girls and decided to take their word for it. His stomach was hungry, not desperate. Normal food was fine.

They got off the line, plates full and sat at the dinning room table. Scrappy was glued to the hip to his uncle Scooby, ringing him and Shaggy for stories of their recent exploits. They were not sitting there at the table for more then five minutes, before Daphne made an observation.

"Where's Freddy?"

Velma shook her head, Melvin just kind of looked up from eating behind the mound of food he was politely attacking. Shaggy also looked up from his meal and swallowed to answer her question, unless he wanted to be sharing his meal with everyone at the table.

"I went up and knocked on his door. I heard shuffling of papers before he said I could come in... He said he would be working on something and he would, be down in a minute."

Just as Shaggy finished his sentence, the person in question came running rather hurried into the dinning room. He stood panting for a bit as the swinging door took its time settling back in place as Fred caught his breath.

"Gang... I just got a call..." Fred noticed he had something in his hand and quickly pocketed it before he continued. Having caught his breath, he straightened up about to continue before Shaggy stood up and stopped him.

"Whoa whoa there Freddy. Take it like' easy man. Grab some food, and take a seat and explain what's going on. We're going to let the guests finish eating before we do anything else. They're like, hungry man."

"Guests?"

Fred confusedly murmured before he noticed Scrappy and Melvin sitting at the table. He didn't know Melvin, he looked like he could be a friend of Shaggy's, but he noticed Scrappy right away.

"Scrappy, that you? Hey man, long time no see." Fred waved to the eating Dane plastered to Scooby's side. Scrappy waved back before turning back to Scooby, talking to him more to get every morsel of detail from his uncle about the current tale he had been mentioning.

"And this is Melvin, Scrappy's owner" Shaggy commented as he sat back down to get back at his food before Fred filled them in with the current mystery. Fred was hungry, so he did get some food before he sat himself down. After a few bites, he let everyone know that they got a new assignment.

"There is a nearby Museum in West Virginia that having a showing of a newly found dinosaur that had never been seen before, but only a few days before the unveiling; the bones have gone missing. I worked out the details and they were hoping that we headed there today to get there in time a bit before closing so that we could get it taken care of before they continued to set up the display. They had put a lot of money in advertising and it would be a great loss if they can't get the bones on display on time."

Fred paused, looking at their two guests.

"…But what are we going to do about Scrappy and Melvin, it's not like we can take them with us..."

Scrappy was the first to speak up.

"Oh come on Fred... Please? I... We'll be able to help you out. A museum must be a big place, more people that can help catch the bad guys. And plus I have in the past helped before. Come on... please?"

Begged Scrappy, Shaggy and Scooby joined in because it had been ages since they worked with him and it would be nice and it would have a nostalgic feel to it. Daphne though about it then spoke up.

"Well, what about Melvin?"

Velma was the first to reply.

"Well, he's about the age we started with our serious mysteries Daphne, Freddie... And it's not he's going to be unsupervised. This sounds like a pretty simple case to me, nothing out of the ordinary. Just some misplaced bones."

Shaggy bounced up to add in after Velma had stopped talking to help prove for Scrappy and Melvin's case.

"No stories of ghosts... No haunting monsters... Just missing bones. I think it's perfect. I don't see why he can't come along Fred. And it sounds to me like' these guys have traveled a long way man, to get here. Look at how much food these two have piled away. Do you want to throw them out after they just got here?"

Fred sighed. He wasn't going to be a bad guy and not let Scrappy come. And Velma was right; it did seem to be a routine job, nothing special. And it wasn't like they were babysitting; Melvin looked mostly like a capable guy, even if he did have a bit of chicken stuck on his lower lip he hadn't noticed. Sticking his fork into the remainder of his pile of food, Fred agreed. With a whoop, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy were up and celebrating with a dance. Melvin was quickly scooped up and was forced to join the dance. Fred placed his hand over his face and shook his head, a smile peeking from behind the fingers.

Once the dance was done, Fred suggested that they got ready. While the girls went to get dressed, Melvin lent a hand with Fred to clean the table off while Shaggy started washing dishes and Scooby and Scrappy put away the leftovers in Shaggy's walk in freezer for later. They also were packing emergency rations for the trip there. Never could have enough emergency rations; quoted the lanky beatnik. After a while, the girls returned dressed in their usual Mystery outfits and helped finish cleaning before they all headed to the Van.

Off they headed at last, to solve the awaiting mystery.