Chapter 4

Daphne Snaps

The clock tower struck six as the gang arrived at the festival. There were several stands with games, small rides like merry-go-rounds and helter-skelter, and a table laid with freshly cooked food. Shaggy and Scooby immediately ran towards the table and began to dine on the food.

"Like we've hit the jackpot!" Shaggy exclaimed.

"Reah, rackpot!" Scooby agreed with a mouth full of roasted chicken.

"What did I tell you this morning, Scooby?" Velma said. She was feeling less tired now since she got a few hours of sleep before they went to the festival.

Scooby swallowed before he spoke. "Rorry."

Fred, Casey, Mindy, and Shaggy let out a small chuckle while Velma rolled her eyes and Pete looked unamused. Daphne, however, wasn't paying attention. She and Velma hadn't made up after their fight, which added to her anger at being called "Danger-Prone Daphne."

"Well, you two should save some for later, after all, we have an entire night to enjoy first," Mindy said to the hungry duo.

Shaggy and Scooby took one last bite and made their way back to the others. As they walked around the carnival, they decided to split up to find their own fun. Shaggy and Scooby went to a hot dog stand, their hosts went to the Ferris wheel and Velma went in search of Tim, leaving the Mystery gang's couple.

"So, Daph what do you want to do first?" Fred asked.

"Hm sorry, Freddy I didn't catch that," she responded.

"Is something bothering you?"

"No, I'm fine Freddy."

"Are you-"

"I said I'm fine!" Daphne quickly yelled him.

Fred was taken aback by this but knew it would be best not to pursue it any further. "Ok then," he said. "So, what should we do first?"

"I'm not sure, maybe we could just look around for a bit," she suggested.

"Ok then," he said.

Meanwhile, in the nearby forest, the witches, who were now in their normal forms watched the sad redhead.

"Do we have to do this?" Elvina plead.

"Of course, we do," Mary said.

"All we need to do is to wait for her to be alone," Victoria said.

Elsewhere, Velma had found Tim. He had just finished carving the last of the pumpkins when he saw her.

"Hi, Tim." she greeted.

"Hi Velma, I see you're less tired now," he joked said in a jokey tone.

"Yep."

"I guess there were some loud machines outside your room?"

"More like a loud girl and her boyfriend," Velma said.

"Oh, you got stuck in the room next to the two love birds then?"

"Yep."

They chatted for a while and eventually after Velma had finished telling him about how she and the others had solved a case thanks to Daphne being kidnapped, she went into great detail about her colleague's various predicaments.

"So, that's why you call her Danger-Prone Daphne?" Tim asked.

"Yep, I don't think I've meant anyone who gets kidnapped as often as her."

Shaggy and Scooby had been walking around the grounds with a giant stick of cotton candy when they accidentally bumped into a red-haired woman.

"Rorry radam," Scooby immediately apologized.

"Oh, that's quite alright," Holly said. "That's a lot of cotton candy you got there."

"Well, you can never have too much cotton candy," Shaggy responded, which made Holly giggle.

"I'm guessing that food is your favorite part of the event?" she guessed.

"Reah." Scooby clarified.

"So, like what's your's?" Shaggy asked.

"Mostly how it brings out the spirt of Halloween. It makes it feel so magical."

"You don't say." Shaggy said.

"Well, I should be off. It was nice talking to you," she nodded.

"So, should we," he agreed.

They went their separate ways, the boys then found Velma and Tim who looked shocked at the size of the sweet treat.

"How haven't you gotten diabetes yet?" she asked.

"R-I ron't know," Scooby shrugged.

"Do you really need that much?" Tim judged.

"Yes, we do. Like- why does everyone want us to stop eating tonight?" Shaggy replied.

"Rhat rady ras rine rith rt." Scooby said.

"What lady?" Velma asked.

"Scoob and I bumped into this woman, and she was fine with it," Shaggy gestured to their cotton candy.

"By chance did this woman have red hair and a blue dress?" Tim asked

"Reah," Scooby said before taking another bite.

"Aye, you met Holly Helena," he continued

"Who is she?" Velma asked.

"Just some woman who believes in the supernatural for some crazy reason."

"Sounds like someone I know," Velma referenced to the colleagues before her.

"Like- it could be real," tried to Shaggy persuade.

"Sure and I'm head of MI6," Tim teased, causing Velma to chuckle.

Nearby, Fred and Daphne were still walking around, they couldn't find anything they wanted to do since Blake was too sad.

"I'm gonna go to the restroom, I'll be back in a flash," Fred said.

"Ok."

While he jogged to the portable toilets his partner spotted the rest of the gang and approached them.

"Hey, guys," she greeted. Just then two kids quickly ran past her and accidentally knocked her, she lost her balance and Shaggy caught her.

"I can see why you call her Danger-Prone Daphne," Tim jibed Velma, unfortunately, Daphne did see it that way.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked in a slightly bitter tone with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I was just telling Tim about our mystery-solving adventures, and I mentioned you getting kidnapped on several occasions," Velma shamefully admitted, but that was the breaking point for Daphne.

"You told a complete stranger about it!" she shouted in frustration.

"I'm sorry I thought-"

"What you thought you could just tell someone about me being helpless!" Daphne interrupted.

"She didn't mean it like that, she meant it more in a humorous way," Tim defended.

"You think it's funny to have someone tell others private information about you!" Daphne accused loudly.

"Ronder rif rhe rountry ran rear rhat?" Scooby whispered to Shaggy, hoping that Daphne didn't hear him, but she did and turned to them.

"Hear what Scooby?! Hear me screaming when I'm kidnapped?!" she shouted at the dog, which caused him to whimper.

"Like- take it easy Daph," Shaggy tried to calm her.

"Why, so you can make jokes behind my back?!"

"No, I just meant-"

"Meant what?"

They hesitated to answer her. Then swallowing her breath Velma spoke, "You may be overreacting." She tried her best not to escalate the situation to no avail.

"I beg your pardon?!"

"I didn't mean it like-"

"You know what, maybe I'd be better off without all of you!" Daphne shouted and, before any of them could try to speak to her, she turned around to leave them.

They looked at each other knowing full well that they went too far. Fred had just finished washing his hands as Daphne stormed past, so he followed.

"Where are you going, Daphne?" he called after her.

"I'm going back to the motel," she said.

"Ok, would you like me to walk with you?"

"Why, do you think I'm going to be kidnapped? That I can't take care of myself?" Daphne said in unbridled frustration.

"What did I-"

"Well guess what Frederick Jones, I don't need you to walk with me so just leave me alone!" She stormed off, leaving Fred sad and confused.

As Daphne left the festival grounds, she found a forest path that the witches soon followed.

"Who do they think they are talking about me like that?" she grumbled to herself.

When the redhead was far enough where no one could see her, Victoria cast a spell on her. All of a sudden, Daphne felt sleepy. She closed her eyes and began to sleepwalk deep into the forest guided by Victoria's magic.