"It's Roolsville Red, it's runder rattack."

Those words uttered by Scooby came out more than slightly a little mangled but even so, the message came through loud and clear to Fred and it cut straight right through to his heart.

All thoughts and anxieties about his proposal plans were instantly abandoned, just like the rocks, so painstakingly arranged just moments ago, that were now washing away in the surf. None of that no longer mattered to Fred, he didn't even wait for Scooby, he was on his feet and sprinting back towards the village before he could even think clearly.

He kept on running barefoot until he reached the bar, finally stopping dead in the middle as he saw exactly what was on the TV screens.

The first thing he registered was the blackened shell of a building, flames still smouldering as firefighters desperately tried to dampen down. It was impossible to recognise what the building even was, and if it wasn't for the scrolling banner he might not have given the story a second glance, but his eyes became hypnotically drawn to the scrolling news ticker, screaming silently from the TV screen.

"COOLSVILLE POLICE ATTACK: THE BOMB WAS DETONATED AT 10.15 PM THIS EVENING.

COOLSVILLE POLICE ATTACK: IT IS NOT YET KNOWN HOW MANY OFFICERS WERE INSIDE AT THE TIME OF THE EXPLOSION.

COOLSVILLE POLICE ATTACK: THERE ARE CONFIRMED FATALITIES BUT WE AWAIT FURTHER DETAILS."

He read it several times, still staring at the screen slack jawed, unable to take in anything else that was happening around him for so long. So much so that he didn't even notice Daphne or the rest of the gang, not until Daphne had rushed into his arms, her eyes showing the same kind of fear and grief that he was already starting to experience within. He hugged her tightly, but with his eyes still glued to the screen behind her.

"Oh god Freddy, I can't believe it! Isn't this awful! Who would do such a thing?!" she gasped.

Velma urged the barman to turn up the volume and the actual news report now boomed desolately around the mostly empty bar.

"Details at this time are still very, very sketchy, but once again, we can tell you what we know so far. Around 10 pm, the police here including several armed units, arrived at this building in down town Coolsville. At 10.15 pm the building exploded. It is not known how many police officers were inside at the time.

There are unconfirmed, and we stress this, unconfirmed reports, that gunfire and grenades were heard before the explosion. At this stage it is looking like a deliberate attack.

As you can see, the area around the building and indeed, the whole district, has been completely cordoned off. Just behind me, you can see a stream of red and blue lights of waiting ambulances which have been used to ferry injured survivors to hospital. We have been told there are confirmed fatalities but we don't yet know the number of these.

This is obviously a shocking and brutal attack and we await comment from official sources. The FBI are now on the scene."

Velma was clinging on to Shaggy for dear life, her expression pale and strained as she turned to Fred. "This all happened three hours ago, there's been no further updates from the scene. I've...I've been calling Stella and Will...but they are, ah, not answering," she stated, her voice trembling with fear.

"I just, I mean, what the hell? We know some bad stuff has happened there in the past but this? Who would deliberately go out and murder police officers?" Shaggy asked, looking stunned.

"Well, I think we all know one person capable of such brutality," Fred said venomously, causing everyone to gasp.

Daphne's eyes also widened in fear, she couldn't deny that it had crossed her mind in the few minutes since they had learnt of the attack but that didn't mean she had to believe it.

Velma responded first with some skepticism. "Of course he's capable, but surely not? He hasn't been on the scene for nearly four years that we know of. Why would he suddenly return to little old Coolsville after all this time? It doesn't make any sense to me."

"It sure doesn't. Didn't Stella tell you it's been quiet there too, the last time you spoke?" Daphne asked.

Velma looked a little nervous for a second and that slight hesitation in answering Daphne's question wasn't missed by Shaggy.

"That is what Stella said, isn't it Velma? I remember you very distinctly telling us that she told you everything was okay and there was nothing to worry about." Shaggy's eyes narrowed a little at Velma as he started to get a bad feeling.

Velma sat down heavily onto a bar stool, and took a long swig of Shaggy's previously untouched beer, feeling her head spin automatically.

Shaggy stared at her expectantly, and Fred and Daphne stood close by her too.

"That might not have been exactly what she said," Velma eventually admitted morosely.

"Vel-ma...what do you mean?!" Daphne asked sharply, her fears already rising. "Why wouldn't you tell us what she really said?"

"We were all happy, I didn't want anyone to worry about things back home..."

"Velma, I can't believe you would do such a thing! You lied to us?" It was Daphne's turn to use that 'quietly disappointed' voice now.

"I didn't lie to you guys!" Velma said defensively. "I just didn't tell you...everything," she added weakly. "But I will say right now, she didn't mention anything about guns and gangs or anything as severe as that. She just told me about some minor crimes, which admittedly were our kind of crimes. Quite a few of them recently in fact."

"Velma! You had no right to keep this from us," Fred too was appalled and angry. "We've kept in touch with Stella and Will for the very reason to make sure that everything was okay back home!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't think it was a big deal, we were going to go home soon anyway. If I knew that anything near as bad as this was happening, I would have told you guys in a heartbeat, of course I would!" Velma was overcome with emotion, distraught at the realisation Stella hadn't been honest with her.

"Look," Shaggy was rarely the rational one of the group, but knew someone had to try and keep the peace as emotions threatened to take over them all. "Yelling at Velma isn't going to solve anything. Yes, she kept things from us but the bigger issue is surely what Stella withheld from her. That," he gestured sadly at the screen, "is not even close to being 'low level crime'."

"You're absolutely right Shaggy," Daphne said, wiping away a tear, "the question now is what she kept from us and why?"

"And at what cost," Fred murmured darkly, earning a sad, pleading look from Daphne.

"Fred, we can't even think about that, I don't want to think about that, not until we have more details, we have to have hope, it's about all we have right now," Daphne stated sadly.

Makani and Akamu had given the group some time to come to terms with the scenes but emerged again into the bar awkwardly now.

Makani, a towering, native Hawaiian stood with his head bowed solemnly, Akamu, a much smaller man, standing likewise, by his side.

"I am so sorry young friends," Makani said to the whole gang. "Seeing your home in flames like that, it is so devastating. It brought me such sorrow to report to you the news after such a joyful time, and undoubtedly, I believe there was more joy to come," he said, making deliberate eye contact with Fred.

Fred felt a pang of regret tighten in his chest as he remembered how tonight was supposed to end; the nervous excitement he had put his proposal plans together with, all that was lost now. They were all shocked by what they had witnessed on screen but Velma and Daphne were taking it the hardest. He knew as their leader, he was going to have help them to hold things together while they considered their next steps.

"Thank you Makani, Akamu," he began graciously. "We thank you so much for your kind hospitality this evening and throughout our stay. You have been such wonderful and gracious hosts. But, I hope you will understand, we cannot return to your party tonight, all of our plans will have to dramatically alter now. Coolsville is our home."

"Of course Fred, we fully understand," Makani replied, eyeing the blond boy sadly, knowing exactly what he was referring to when he said 'all' plans.

The Hawaiians embraced each member of Mystery Inc. as they left the bar together a short while later, saddened their young friends' stay in Hawaii had come to such a devastating conclusion, when it should have been a joyous and celebratory night.

When it came to Fred's turn, Makani pulled him tightly, whispering in his ear, "I am so sorry friend, take care of her, your time will come again when the storm clouds clear away."

Fred smiled at Makani, touched by his wise words, he was a good and genuine man. "Thank you."

He knew it could be a long time in the future before he could even consider his plans again. The ring jostled awkwardly in his pocket as they returned to their huts still in a state of shock. The ring was a permanent reminder of the way the night had swung so badly away from what he had been dreaming about for months. Right now, he just wanted to get the ring far, far out of his sight, he couldn't even think about it or his exciting plans; instead his mind was full of the fiery images of what had happened in Coolsville.

Fred gave the girls the option of staying up with him and Shaggy so they could investigate further, but it was getting late and they both professed a desire to sleep, knowing they would be looking at getting on the first flight out tomorrow morning. Shaggy and Scooby had also retired to sleep so he was left alone with his thoughts.

The first thing he did after changing and stowing the ring safely in his luggage, was to try and call Ethan but he got no response. He remembered his previous urgency earlier and realised he might still be at work or given the later hour, maybe even on that date he had teased earlier in the week. He knew Ethan would doubtlessly be in touch as soon as he heard the news regardless.

Creeping around the bedroom, so as not to disturb his friends, Fred knew his brain was so wired right now that there was very little point in him even trying to sleep so he grabbed his laptop, firing it up in the small living area intending to start the investigation work early.

As soon as he typed in the word 'Coolsville,' he was assaulted by multiple images and reports of the attack. He clicked on one and began reading, his stomach flip-flopping at the details and he rested his chin on his hand grimly as he read.

"Eyewitnesses described a pop of light and then a searing heat with screaming heard in the immediate aftermath."

"Firefighters on the scene were faced with a scene of devastation as shell shocked colleagues outside the explosion zone reacted in horror."

"One police source confided it is unlikely bodies will even be recovered from the remains of the structure."

The latest update on one live blog was speculating that as many as potentially twenty had died. It was just too truly horrendous to comprehend. He quickly scrolled past some videos that had been taken on cell phones just seconds after, by kids who had been watching the police raid with interest from a distance and then, got the shock of their lives.

It still just did not seem real, the photos looked like a war zone, this was not their Coolsville. He was alerted from his thoughts by a snuffling sound, and turned around to see Scooby Doo, swiftly accompanied by Shaggy.

"Hey guys," he offered them a tired smile. "Can't sleep either?"

"Like you got it Fred, it's just impossible. Find out anything more?" Shaggy nodded towards the screen.

"Just that as many as twenty might be dead," he sighed.

"Well fuck."

"I know."

Shaggy walked closer to the laptop screen, bending down and staring at the devastating pictures with a curious expression, he scrunched his face up, seemingly studying the images closely, before he suddenly jolted upward in alarm.

"Rhaggy?" Scooby said in concern, laying a paw on his shoulder.

"Shaggy," Fred asked, also very worried by his reaction, "what is it, what did you see?"

"Are there any, uh, other pictures of the buildings, taken at other angles?" he managed to ask calmly, despite the fact something had clearly spooked him.

"Uh yeh, there are actually, just hang on a moment." Fred clicked through a series of images, showing them to his friend. He said nothing at first but it seemed to have confirmed something for Shaggy, who sat back on the couch heavily.

"You don't see it?"

Stomach now churning in worry after Shaggy's reaction, Fred gave the building itself a closer scrutiny, not seeing anything familiar at first he turned to Shaggy in puzzlement. "I don't see anything Shaggy...what am I supposed to...oh...oh...oh shit," he said softly.

There was very little left of the bombed building itself but the surrounding ones were still partially visible and it was something on those that had alerted first Shaggy, and now Fred, to the bombed buildings' probable identity.

"Oh my god Shaggy, that was where they were lured to? That can't be a coincidence, go get the girls, they'll want to know."

Shaggy disagreed with him at first, not wanting to disturb the sleeping girls, but he was reluctantly persuaded, and as soon as he got to the hut, he could see a light was still on. It was clear although they were dressed for bed, Daphne and Velma had actually been awake all this time talking and he wasn't disturbing much of anything at all.

They got up quickly, Daphne grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders as they followed Shaggy back to the boys' hut with growing trepidation.

Fred was sat in front of his laptop, a pensive expression on his face, making it hard to see what he was thinking. When Velma and Daphne walked in, he simply spun the laptop around to face them, so they too could see the images that had so startled himself and Shaggy.

Like Fred, they didn't recognise anything at first but soon, Velma too identified the familiar surroundings that silently confirmed what must have been standing where ruins were all that remained now. Both she and Fred had spent many hours in that building.

For Daphne however, she had only been there once or twice and found it much harder to place initially. When she did though, she felt like the temperature had dropped twenty degrees in an instant and shivered, a haunted feeling coming over her.

"Is that really..." the words stuck in her throat, refusing to be released.

Shaggy, Velma and Fred nodded grimly in response to her unfinished question.

"It's not even like it's just the district, I'm 99% certain that it's the actual building that exploded," Shaggy confirmed.

They all looked troubled, staring at the photographs with a renewed sense of apprehension. What had already been a horrific discovery had now become even worse with the knowledge of exactly what those smouldering remains were of. Finally, Fred spoke, typically grave now.

"I'm sorry Daphne, I don't think we can call this a coincidence," he stated, looking around at all of them now. "Knowing that it's almost certainly Shaggy's parents' warehouse that has been targeted in this manner, I think we've got to come to terms with the very real possibility now..."

"He's back," Daphne whispered.

Despite the late hour, nobody could sleep. There was little point, not when there was a very realistic chance that their worst nightmare had actually now returned, waging war on Coolsville in the most devastating way. It was the early hours in Honolulu now, almost seven hours since the attack.

Undoubtedly, the gang were fearful, they were also incredibly worried about the fates of their good friends, Detectives Will Barnum and Stella White. Ultimately however, it was the cold realisation that it could be Devon Blake - Daphne's murderous and long MIA uncle – that was behind this appalling crime that had them leaping into action.

First on their agenda, was booking their flights home, and Fred managed to get them all seats and a cargo place for Scooby, on a non-stop flight to Los Angeles for 6 pm, it would give them a lot of time to mull things over but it would have to do.

With their flights sorted, and with Daphne having made very welcome coffees for everyone, it was time to start their investigation in earnest, starting with the truth of just what really had been going on in Coolsville.

They all gathered around Fred's laptop ominously as he started to search.

Again, at first typing in 'Coolsville' only brought up information about the recent attack, but as Fred started to dig a little deeper, they were all soon stunned by the things that he found.

Staring at a recent headline on display from the Chronicle, had them all in a state of disbelief, how could this possibly be about their town?

"Stella told you it was only real estate and petty crime huh Velma? Safe to say it escalated quickly." Fred said, unnervingly eyeing some of the more notable headlines that jumped out from the screen.

Third body found as gang warfare dominates town once again.

Execution: Shocking murder of Professor in own home

Innocent bystander critically wounded in fourth armed bank robbery to take place in a month.

Enough! Chronicle calls on authorities to step in to halt alarming slew of violent crime in the town.

They were all stunned by the news, but Velma in particular was in a state of quiet disbelief. Stella had told her that things had picked up a little recently, and a few delinquents had tried their luck, but generally it had been reasonably quiet for a while.

It couldn't be further from the truth.

Far from a sudden violent outbreak of crime that had came from nowhere, a considered amount of research showed the gang this was a steady and sustained period of increased crimes taking place in Coolsville for at least the last year.

For over a year, the gang had periodically checked in with Stella or Will only to get a cheerful exclamation from them that all was quiet or instead they recalled some farcical case. The gang never had any reason to doubt them or to check up on what was claimed. It was clear now, both Stella and Will had been at pains to paint a positive picture to disguise a truly horrifying truth.

"Oh god Stella," Velma said aloud, voicing everybody's thoughts on the matter, "what the hell happened to Coolsville?"

Finding out their home had been attacked so decisively, had understandably rocked the gang. Nobody could fathom why a previously absent Devon would suddenly return with such a vengeance, and then why instead of asking for support, Stella and Will had lied over and over.

Of course, unbeknown to Mystery Inc. the lie actually went much, much deeper than that; Devon Blake had been back on the scene for a very, very long time...

Coolsville. Six weeks after Mystery Incorporated departed.

"How long are we going to chase shadows for Stella? Physically and metaphorically?" Will Barnum complained, as the Detectives took cover from another volley of shots from behind a car.

Stella White jumped up to fire off another one of her own shots, quickly getting a scream of pain in reply, she knew she had hit her target. The man in the scarecrow mask went down clutching his shoulder, and she smiled grimly at her partner as they proceeded towards him quickly.

Seeing him reach with his injured shoulder for his gun, she smartly kicked it away from his reach whilst Will held his own gun on him, she gave the signal and the rest of the armed police quickly moved in.

Will pulled off the scarecrow mask in disgust, and slapped the cuffs on him, taking absolutely no care with his injured shoulder as he pulled his arms behind his back.

"Where is he Eddie?" Stella asked him, as the man cried out in pain. "We know you work for him."

"Then you'll know, he doesn't get close until he's ready detective," Eddie replied smugly as Will and a colleague pulled him up from the ground. "You can take out as many of us as you want, he's still protected at the top table darling."

Stella's shoulders slumped in disappointment but it was expected. He was the sixth one of Devon's underlings they had managed to capture in the last month but they were still no closer to unearthing his whereabouts, which remained unknown since he had orchestrated the staged mystery in Oakland.

"Take him," she instructed, adjusting her ponytail. "We go again next time."

Coolsville, one year after Mystery Inc.'s departure.

"I hate to say it Stella but this feels like we are in a never ending battle and it's one that we cannot win. It's clear to me he's still orchestrating his chess pieces from afar." Will stated as they were stood outside their young colleague's hospital room, awaiting news of his condition.

"You're too defeatist," Stella replied, not wanting to admit she was beginning to feel the same way. "We just have to keep going, he will show his cards eventually."

"But at what cost Stella!" Will slammed his hand against the wall in pure frustration. "At what fucking cost?"

The young policeman lying still in the hospital bed had only tried to help their cause. He had desperately tried to stop one of the gang's getaway vehicle, only to be dragged under their car when they didn't stop. It was absolutely shocking and symptomatic of the violence that was steadily becoming the norm in Coolsville. He was just 27 years old and now in a coma and for Will this was the final straw. Chasing Devon Blake was increasingly like chasing a ghost; his influence was all over Coolsville and the surrounding area but his actual presence remained elusive.

"We'll get him," Stella stated. "We have to. The Coolsville that we know is disappearing from under our very noses."

Coolsville. One year and six months after Mystery Inc. departure.

He had shown his face.

After almost two years of being merely a shadow puppeteer, Devon Blake had finally set foot in Coolsville. The day Stella came face to face with him took her totally by surprise. At the park with her youngest niece on a rare day off, she had become temporarily distracted by a phone call and to her absolute horror, she found Lucy chatting to a man animatedly at the edge of the playground.

As if the sight of any stranger alone with Lucy wasn't terrifying enough, as she got closer, she glimpsed the man's facial scarring and she could have sworn her heart actually stopped beating in that moment.

She was too far away, she could close the gap to him in seconds but she was still too far away. He could reach down and scoop up her niece before she could even stop him. She had never felt such raw, naked fear in her life before and she feared she would just lose it but her calm actions, surprised even herself.

"Lucy, sweetheart," she beckoned to her niece, "it's time to go."

To her immense relief, Lucy turned away immediately, waving shyly at the man and it was as he turned fully towards Stella with a sinister smile that she felt the coldest shiver go through her.

"Good afternoon Detective," the man saluted her, tipping his hat to her and fully revealing his face at last.

Stella had long suspected that for Devon to escape the factory fire, that he couldn't have done so fully unscathed and she knew without any doubt that this was him. He still looked broadly the same in profile but his face was mesmerising for all the wrong reasons. Half of his face looked normal but the sunlight picked out scarring and burns on his right hand side, all the way down to his neck.

"Lucy come on," she pleaded with more urgency, and with a disheartened shrug at her new friend, Lucy skipped away from Devon back into Stella's arms, and Stella clutched her tightly to her.

"Don't you ever come near her again," she hissed.

Devon laughed and strolled away casually, knowing Stella would do nothing whilst Lucy was still around. "Be seeing you soon Detective..."

He strode to a waiting car, mock saluting her as he climbed into the back seat before it quickly sped away.

After that day, Stella White's mission to get Devon Blake became even more pronounced and frantic than ever before.

Coolsville – Two months ago.

Since terrorising Stella that afternoon, Devon had stepped up his game. Careful to always stay just the right side of the shadows, he turned Coolsville into his own personal battleground, considerably upping the ante and the consequences were brutal. Rival gangs were slaughtering one another at will and violent robberies were massively on the rise. The town was under a curfew and it was a town living in fear.

Will Barnum, whose spirit had been deflated a long time ago with the death of one of their own, was called to a violent daytime bank robbery.

"This is the third one this month," Will muttered as he surveyed the scene at the bank that had just been hit. There was a pool of blood by the door, bullet holes in the ceiling, remnants left behind of the dangerous attack that had taken place.

Increasingly, it seemed it wasn't enough to merely attack and rob, this gang were intent on terrorising.

The young girl cashier, still shaking as she was tended to by a paramedic, was testimony to this.

Will sighed and walked over to the young girl and tried to give her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Hi...Nadia is it?" He tried to guess from her partially obscured name tag.

"Nadine."

"Nadine, hi. I'm Detective Will Barnum. I know this is going to be really tough but I need you to tell me what happened here."

Like many victims recently, he expected her to be tearful, but it shook him a little when she responded so aggressively.

"Why?" She spat bitterly. "It's not like you could stop them, you haven't stopped any so far. Perhaps if you had been doing YOUR job, I wouldn't have had a gun pointed in my face or had to watch a customer shot today."

Her words had Will reeling on the inside but on the outside, he maintained his professional demeanour. "We're doing everything we can to bring those responsible to justice, I can assure you of that," he replied smoothly and convincingly. They were just empty words, they had been pedalling the same line for months. The truth was, was that Devon continued to elude and the trail of devastation he left behind was getting even longer. She wasn't the first to lose her faith in law enforcement and she certainly wouldn't be the last.

Unfalteringly, Will took the witness aside anyway, maybe today could be the day they made the breakthrough?

"Nadine, can you tell me exactly what happened after the men in the vampire masks burst in?"

Coolsville. Today. One hour before the attack

"Do we trust the intel?" Will asked Stella quietly just before they walked into the huge briefing she was about to lead on the prospective raid.

"He's there, he's got to be. Besides guess who once owned the warehouse?"

Will shrugged in response.

"One William Rogers, now sadly deceased."

Will cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "As in Norville SHAGGY Rogers?"

Stella nodded in the affirmitive. "Yup. Chances of Devon not being aware of this and choosing it at random? Slim to none. He's sending us a message for sure. It's time to end this."

She pushed open the door confidently and set out her detailed instructions for the warehouse raid to her assembled forces.

Taking out Devon Blake was the number one priority, ever since he had showed up at the park that day, she had been a woman on a mission to nail him. For far too long he had fucked with her, fucked with this town, it had to end.

There were many times she had considered contacting Daphne and the others. But every time something stopped her.

They were safe, they got out.

To the very best of her knowledge, Devon hadn't pursued the kids once they left America, she intended to keep it that way.

They didn't need to hear how he had returned to ruin Coolsville.

They didn't need to know about their failure.

Stella sighed...so far...it was only their failure so far.

Tonight it had to end.

More and more residents were abandoning the town every day and who could blame them? Who wanted their kids to grow up in a town where robberies were a weekly, if not, DAILY occurrence and where the local high school had been shut down because of the biggest drugs bust in recent Californian history.

It was out of control.

Stella had to hold her hands up. Devon's criminal empire was sprawling and vast and showed no sign of slowing down.

But tonight...finally...a breakthrough.

There was a sense of nervous optimism as she and her team travelled to the warehouse, it was heightened by the phone call she took moments before arriving, from a well placed source.

He provided further intelligence, confirming their belief this was a base for Devon and he too asserted a similar desire that tonight would finally be the end of it. He had of course, helped them fight the good fight for over two years and she was more than grateful for his covert support.

"Thank you so much for all your help," she told him, "I'll hopefully see you soon."

"Was that?..." Will nodded towards the phone.

"Uh huh."

They sat in quiet contemplation for a minute. "You know this has to be it, Stella," he commented. "I've heard on the grapevine that we are days away from the FBI taking over."

"Oh for fucks sake."

"Exactly, it's our final chance. God I can't believe how screwed up this has become. I remember when my only annoyance in this town was the lame villains in the costumes whose only crime was stealing a few artefacts from a museum. How did things escalate so badly?"

"It all comes back to Devon Blake, once the saviour of the town, now the sole responsibility for it's destruction."

"Yeah, well tonight we destroy him."

Will was just as determined for the right ending as Stella. He smiled grimly as they got out the van outside the warehouse and assembled their units.

"Okay, tactical unit 1, you follow me around the back. We'll see you in there Detective."

Stella watched Will disappear with his armed unit and mobilised her unit for a two pronged assault. "Let's go get this son of a bitch."

After spending the last hour and a half reading through recent newspaper articles, it was fair to say the gang had been left reeling.

Fred sat back with a heavy sigh in his chair, his hands resting on the back of his head.

"Wow."

"I don't believe it," Velma muttered. "How could I have been so bloody stupid! We NEVER should have left."

"When did it get so brutal?" Daphne marvelled aloud sadly. "I mean take this example from two months ago...Customer injured as raiders target third bank in a matter of weeks. Eyewitnesses claim the unnamed injured man was shot at point blank range when he confronted the robbers. He is in a serious condition in hospital. I mean the number of shootings alone..."

"It's incredibly hard to believe," Fred agreed. "The truth has been kept from us for a while it would seem."

"Even the High School man!" Shaggy bemoaned. "The whole town has been going to ruin, and now after this explosion..." he shuddered. "Is there anyone even left to save the town now?"

"It has to be us," Daphne said quietly. "We have to go. We can't turn our backs on this. But we can do no more tonight," she eyed her watch seeing it flash 3.22 am. "We need to sleep guys, I know it will be difficult but we've got to try. We're going to drive ourselves crazy if we read any more. Let's leave the investigation work until we get back."

Nobody disagreed with her and they retired to their huts. When the five reunited in the late morning the next day, a walking mass of bleary-eyedness, it was obvious that very few minutes of sleep had been accumulated between them.

Daphne and Velma packed their belongings quickly, chatting as they did so.

"Why do you think she did it?" Velma asked, "why did Stella lie to us so easily?"

"I'm not sure what the answer is," Daphne replied, "although I firmly believe she tried to do the right thing, no matter how misguided it seems now."

"Yeh I'm starting to get that feeling too." Velma finished folding the last of her clothes in the suitcase and wandered into the small bathroom to collect her toiletries. She paused as she zipped up her wash bag.

"Daph?" She said in a quiet voice. "Do you think Stella and Will are gone?"

Daphne grimaced, she didn't want to voice her true feelings but it was all she had thought about last night when sleep never came to her.

"Honestly? If that blog is true and it is twenty...we've got to think it's likely."

"Yeah," Velma agreed sadly, "I've done the math and the odds are so very not in their favour."

At 2pm the sleep deprived and emotionally drained gang said a final sad farewell to their Hawaiian friends and arrived by taxi at Honolulu Airport.

The atmosphere between them was sombre, to keep entertained on their many travels, they often turned to games or to amuse themselves, made up their own stories about people that they saw. There was always laughter and no shortage of conversation. Anyone who saw them, saw four young friends and their dog, carefree and happy.

Today the five sat in quiet contemplative mood, they might as well have been strangers, it was so sad to see. In reality, they were lost in their own thoughts.

Shaggy had completely shut out the others, interacting only with Scooby, as he listened to music through his headphones.

Despite agreeing not to investigate, Fred was devouring the early edition newspaper articles on the attack, occasionally reading out the worst tidbits of information to Velma and Daphne.

Daphne was flipping through an impressive pile of glossy magazines, desperately trying to avoid the horrific reality of their world for just a few precious minutes.

Velma meanwhile was sat hunched forward, eyes glued to her cell phone. Certainly an unusual sight for her, she only possessed a cell phone out of necessity she had loudly declared on many occasions, her list of apps were slowly increasing, but only the very useful and practical made the cut. Social media and Velma Dinkley were not friends.

Curious what she could possibly be looking at so avidly, Daphne paused her incessant flipping and stole a glance at what her friend was looking at.

Catching sight of the email header, she sighed.

"Don't beat yourself up Velma."

Velma was stoically reading her recent email history with Stella, her thoughts rapidly skewering from upset to full on fury.

Hi Velma!

So jealous to hear you're heading to Hawaii soon! Once again, I'm just in awe of everything you're doing. Who would have guessed that there was a whole influx of men (and women!) in masks just waiting for you to unmask them. You should write a book one day, I have no doubt it would be a best seller. Have you made any progress on Scooby's speech? (I still don't believe you by the way, send me a video of him 'talking!' and then I might!)

You won't be surprised to hear it's all quiet here. Will and I apprehended some vampire fanboy wannabe recently but that's about it. All quiet on the West Coast front!"

Velma read that final line over and over again until she felt like her eyes were bleeding.

All quiet on the West Coast front.

She wasn't just lying, she was at such absolute pains to conceal the truth that she wrapped it up in a fantasy vision of their home. Velma was furious, if they had so much glanced at their local news at any point the past few months, they would have known. Stella and Will must have trusted the fact that they would have no suspicions, that they would have been far too busy. And the gang had been busy. They had travelled carefree and content across the globe, without even a second thought for their home town. They had paid their debts. How wrong they were.

Just before boarding time, Shaggy went to prepare Scooby's travel crate and the dog sighed resignedly when he saw the huge cage been wheeled in once again.

"Rargo?" he said and his four friends nodded sadly.

"Sorry buddy," Shaggy exclaimed, patting Scooby's head. "It's not too long this time, we'll be there before you know it." Scooby pulled away slightly as Shaggy attached his lead, knowing how much Scooby hated being leashed.

"You know I've got to do this Scooby," Shaggy sighed, preparing to take Scooby on his final walk around outside before they headed to the departure lounge.

Fred, Velma and Daphne gathered to say their goodbyes to Scooby and Scooby whined softly, sensing the change in atmosphere within the gang. They were hesitant and although Scooby didn't full understand exactly what was going on, he could sense the overwhelming fear.

Daphne shook as she hugged him and Velma was a raging ball of anger and although Fred was clearly trying to hold everything together, Scooby could sense his inner turmoil.

Seconds before Shaggy took Scooby for his walk, Daphne's cell phone rang and she walked a little away from them to answer it, struggling to hear the caller at first.

Fred watched her as she first placed one hand over her ear to try and hear the call better. Her body language before taking the call was already agitated and he was concerned as this only seemed to grow. He knew she was listening intently to the caller, hugging herself tightly, a neutral expression on her face. Whoever it was was obviously explaining something and he selfishly hoped it wasn't another case, they needed to focus all of their energies on Coolsville. He continued to watch her with a growing sense of dread as she began to react to the contents of the mostly one way conversation. Her face visibly dropped and she almost crashed straight into someone as she numbly thanked the caller.

She slowly walked back towards them almost in a trance, fully getting Shaggy and Velma's attention now.

She placed the cell phone slowly back into her bag, before her eyes met the concerned ones of her boyfriend and her friends.

"Daphne?" Fred asked, desperately trying to keep the panic from his voice. "Sweetheart, what is it?"

He expected her to react dramatically, instead they were all left stunned as she spoke with quiet formality and said blandly without any emotion.

"That was the American Embassy in Japan...Ethan is missing."