*drags self in*
Apologies for the ridiculously long wait! You'd think, considering we ended on a cliff-hanger, I'd be motivated to update sooner! But nooooo! Life… happens… and then I get side-tracked!
Quick! Onto the next chapter before inspiration escapes me again!
d~b
Season Finale
Is This Goodbye?
(Part Two)
~Last Time on Shaggy, Pugsy and Flip!~
Shag and Pugs lost their jobs, Flip got kicked out of school, Zippy's MIA, and Robotnik is still a jerk dealing with random explosions. …Seriously, just re-read the last chapter to catch up, peoples! *bonk!* …and non-peoples… *unconscious*
d~b
~Some Unknown Location (which we were paid lots of munnies not to reveal)~
The Black Alchemist stood in a dimly-lit room; from a few monitors on the walls, it was clear this was a secret-base… so secret, I didn't even know about it until just now (and I'm the narrator, for crying out loud!)
"Ever consider getting the lighting fixed in here?" The Black Alchemist remarked, walking up to a large rotating-chair, though it had its back to him.
"You said this was urgent. What is it?" responded the figure in the chair, his tone showing he was in no mood for games.
The masked secondary-character looked at the monitors. They were all on Robotnik (showing him chewing out his lackeys, laughing maniacally by one of his old machines before they blew up, or napping at his desk). "This guy you've been having me thwart? He's not the one we're looking for. We've been chasing the wrong guy all year,"
"How are you certain?"
The Black Alchemist sighed, then set a cell-phone on the table… a cell-phone he found dropped in the streets. On the home-screen was a picture of Zippy hugging Vincent.
"Because… the real threat just kidnapped my girlfriend," The Black Alchemist, aka Vincent, informed the figure. "…And they're somewhere in the city, planning their next move."
The figure stood up quick… his silhouette having a familiar form. "…Get me headquarters,"
d~b
~The Next Day~
Normally on Fridays, Flip would be sitting at his desk, counting down the hours until school was out and he would be free for the weekend.
Now, however, he was packing up the last of his belongings, looking at the clock and counting how many hours he had left to be with his friends. Granted, the year had been a wild ride… but at the same time, he felt the ride was over way to soon.
There came a knock at the door, as Pugsy entered. "Hey… you got everything packed?" he asked casually, though it was clear he didn't know what to say.
Flip only nodded.
"Alright, just making sure… Shag's still packing up his stuff. Heh. I had him double-check to make sure there were no booby-traps still set up somewhere, like when we first moved in. 'Told him that if I open up the closet only to get a boxing-glove to the schnozz again, I'd be giving him… the express way out… off the balcony…"
He slowed down. Flip was leaning against his desk, his head hanging low.
Pugsy sighed, walking over and resting a hand on his back. "C'mere," he whispered, allowing the pre-teen to hug him tightly.
"Pugs… We'll see each other again, right? I-I-I mean, just 'cuz we're moving… and we managed to meet again after three years… you think we'll meet again?" Flip asked.
The muscular room-mate patted his back. "Of course we will… just pray it won't be a half-baked spin-off, heh." When the joke didn't make the kid smile, he sighed and rubbed his back. "We'll keep in touch, Flip. You know us- we're all good friends. If anything happens, we'll be there. Don't worry."
Shaggy poked his head in. "I thought I sensed a tender moment in here," he said, walking in. "…Robotnik just called. He told us that we have to be out by 5 o'clock sharp tomorrow afternoon. The party will start at 11, so no problem…"
"If everyone wasn't so intent on giving us a fond farewell, I'd suggest we talk Derek into lending us a few tips, and spend our last hours here giving that bald-headed blowhard the worst time of his middle-aged life!"
There was a ring, and Pugsy answered his phone- big mistake, it was Robotnik. "That's PROFESSOR 'Blowhard' to you! …And I'm not middle-aged! I'm in my 40's!" he snarled.
"(Oh! Are we celebrating your 40th birthday again, boss?)" came Grounder's voice in the background.
"(Shut up! Get back to work on that-! *boom!* OH WHAT NOW-?!)"
Pugsy hung up. "…Again, moving out of this place isn't much of a downside." He quipped.
"I'll say… Hey, how about we go out for dinner? My treat!" Shaggy suggested.
"Can you afford it?" Flip asked.
"(After that Supernatural crossover, I can afford to eat out for a year!)"
"(Can it, and stick to the script)" Pugsy groused.
"Ah… it's no trouble. Heck, go call up Holly, she and Melody can join us- and ask if they can find a girl for Pugs, too!" Shaggy said, getting elbowed by his room-mate for that last crack.
"Alright, if you say so," Flip went to make the call.
Shaggy and Pugsy both sighed. "I'm going to miss living here… somewhat." Shaggy said.
"Yeah… despite all the crazified chaos, whacko neighbors, and horrible writing… it wasn't that bad." Pugsy agreed.
Shaggy rested a hand on his shoulder. "Gonna miss rooming with ya, man… If your gang ever wants to do a crossover, just shoot me a message."
"Sure thing, Shag." Pugsy said, patting him on the back.
There was a pause.
Making sure no one was looking (and thinking the camera was off to go to the next scene), the two exchanged a quick, two-second hug.
"Let's go/c'mon," they said to each other, awkwardly.
d~b
Down in Robotnik's so-obvious-how-can-you-even-call-it-secret lab, the evil scientist was going through computer files, all which listed different machines… which had a big red 'X' over each of their pictures."Destroyed… Damaged… Ruined… Insolvent… Busted… Broken beyond repair…! GAAAAHHH!" he screamed, pounding his fist so hard on the metallic table that he left a dent. "Blast it all! Every machine I've built has been blown up, disassembled, or suffered an unknown malfunction, and none of my funds can cover a new one!"
"…does this mean we can take time off?" Jasper remarked.
"No one rests until one of my plans succeeds!" Robotnik shouted.
At the top of the stairs, Uncle Ted was about to walk down… though from Robotnik's tone, he paused, figuring it would be wise to wait a moment.
"Well… your plan to kick out Shaggy, Pugsy and Flip has been a success! Does that count?" Horace asked at this convenient time.
"Fools! They still have 24 hours! Until I see them all leaving, I'm not counting that as success just yet!" Robotnik snarled. "Now, get back to work!"
"Doing what?! We have no machines to repair!" Jasper scoffed.
Robotnik sneered… then knocked over a chemistry set. "Clean that up before it burns through the floor!" With that, he stormed off.
Uncle Ted quickly ducked down on the lobby stairs, watching his so-called landlord trudge out the doors. "…I need to tell the guys!" he gasped, then rushed up to his apartment.
d~b
Holly and Melody, during this time, sat in their room at Trueblood Plaza. They had been spending most of the day trying to contact Zippy, but the psychotic-girl wasn't picking up their calls; they tried calling her boyfriend, but even Vincent wasn't answering.
Not to mention, Rickshaw had been whimpering and yipping all night, giving Holly the notion something was definitely wrong. "…No answer," Holly sighed after trying to call Zippy one more time.
"I called some of her friends, but they said they haven't seen her since yesterday," Melody added, just as worried.
"C'mon, let's head over to the apartment. Maybe we'll find a clue," Leashing up Rickshaw, the girls went over to Paradise Towers; at this moment, Holly's phone rang- it was Flip. "Hi, Flip, what's up?"
"Hey, Holly. Shaggy, Pugs and I were wondering if you and Holly wanted to go out to lunch with us," Flip asked.
"I-I can't right now, Flip. Rickshaw was found running loose last night, and we can't find Zippy anywhere! Have you guys seen her?"
Flip, on the other end, turned towards Shaggy and Pugsy. "Holly said she's looking for Zippy. Have you guys heard from her?"
Pugsy thought for a moment, rubbing his chin. "You know, no one's broken in or popped up unexpectedly in the last 24 hours…" he replied.
"Like, yeah, I figured that psycho would be chewing out Robotnik for us! (…if not hugging me by the ankles begging me not to leave,)" Shaggy added, muttering that last part under his breath with a shudder.
Flip turned back to his phone conversation. "We haven't seen her since yesterday. S-She was heading to my old school, if that helps."
"Alright, thanks Flip. We'll see you at the party tomorrow," Holly then hung up, turning to Melody. "C'mon, let's head down to the Junior Detective school- Flip said Zippy went there yesterday,"
"I sure hope we get some sort of hint!" Melody sighed.
Driving down the street minutes later, the girls pulled up to the school. Sitting out front was an expensive cameo- I mean, young 'boy' of Japanese heritage, wearing a dark-blue detective hat, light-turquoise shirt, tie and black pants, also having dark blue hair.
Holly walked up to the cameo. "Excuse me, have you've seen our friend?" she asked, pulling up a picture of Zippy (playing with puppies) on her phone. "We've been trying to call her, but she hasn't been answering. A friend of ours said she was coming here yesterday,"
The 'boy' rubbed 'his' chin. "Ah yes. She came after I was done giving a presentation. She went to talk to the dean about expelling one of the students for bringing a Bible to school and tried to talk him into allowing him to continue his education, although the dean declined. She stormed out a bit bitter… though, quickly grew excited upon passing me in the hall, asked me for an autograph as well as if the rest of my 'investigation team' were present, then left after taking a selfie with me." 'he' replied, letting out a heavy sigh at that last part.
"(Imagine how Flip would react)" Melody giggled to Holly.
"(He already fan-girled backstage, hush)" Holly replied, before returning to the script. "Did she say anything about going anywhere else?"
"No, but I last saw her walking down the street in that direction," the cameo replied, pointing north. "If she's been missing for 24 hours, I suggest you go to the police. There's been a lot of kidnapping incidents being reported in the States. It would be best to check the traffic-cameras for any patterns or suspicious characters that were around during the time of her disappearance,"
"Thank you so much… um…"
"Naoto Shirogane," 'he' shook her hand, giving a nod. "I will keep an eye out for your friend. Good luck in your search,"
"I think we'll need it- unless Zippy pops up out of nowhere like she normally does," Melody quipped, as she and Holly made their way down the street.
"Do you think Zippy was actually kidnapped?" Holly asked, more concerned than before. "I mean, it happens a lot… but… it doesn't sound like it could be the case! Zippy's too quick (and insane) to be captured!"
"Maybe the culprits were even crazier, then."
Both of them exchanged a look, giving a shiver at the idea of someone crazier than a girl who jumped off balconies for fun.
"C'mon, let's go to the police and-"
Rickshaw suddenly started barking like mad; he yanked on the leash, trying to pull them forth.
"R-Rickshaw! What're you-"
*ZAP!*
A beam of light shined down upon the girls, and they were suddenly lifted upward! "Whoa! Who turned off the gravity?!" Melody cried as they began to hover upward.
Rickshaw tried to pull them back down with his leash, only to be sucked up as well.
In a flash, the two girls were gone!
…
And no one in daytime traffic noticed this?! Seriously?!
d~b
Back with Uncle Ted, he was on his way up to Shaggy, Pugsy and Flip's apartment to tell them the bad news. "Shag! Pugs! Flip! Open up!" Uncle Ted hollered, knocking on the door but received no answer. He went over to his own apartment, looking around. "Shawn! Call the cops, and report an abuse of authority! Robotnik's been setting the guys up to get kicked out the whole time!"
The apartment was vacant… save for Derek who was just lying on the couch, jamming out to rock music.
"Shawn? HEY, SHAWN! ARE YOU HOME?" he hollered. With no answer, he walked over to Derek, pulling off his headphones. "Hey, Derek, do you know where Shawn is?"
"Yeah- he said his agent called him for some acting gig and he had to fly out to Florida," Derek replied nonchalantly, pulling his headphones back on.
Uncle Ted scratched his head. "Shawn left…? The day the guys were going to leave? That doesn't sound like him at all…"
At this point there was a knock at the door, and Jake, Izzy, Cubby, as well as Flim-Flam, Stanley and Fangs, all entered the building. "Hey, Uncle Ted. We thought we'd come by and check on preparations for the party tomorrow," Jake said. "Is Shawn around?"
"'Fraid not, Jake- and I don't think there's gonna be a party, if we can get Robotnik to expose himself!" Ted said, crossing his arms.
Flim-Flam flinched. "Whoa! Dude, this is a KID'S story!"
"What do you mean, Ted?" Stanley asked.
"I just overheard Robotnik downstairs- he's been trying to kick out Shaggy, Pugsy and Flip!" he replied. "I think he's been planning it from the start!"
"But why would he want them out?" Izzy asked.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out!" Fangs replied, firmly. "No one kicks MY best-buddy to the curb without ME getting involved!" he then paused. "Um… h-he's not going to use any of those weird machines that always explode on us, is he?"
"C'mon, let's go down to the basement and give that lard-butt landlord a hard time for messing with our friends!" Flim-Flam declared.
With that, everyone stormed out of the apartment.
…
Derek paused, taking off his headphones and looking around. "…Finally!" he exclaimed, grabbing the remote and turning on the newest season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Robotnik and his lackeys happened to be out back, Horace and Jasper messing with the sprinkler system while Scratch and Grounder were loosening bolts out of the lawn-chairs and tables. "Boss, why are we doing this again?" Horace asked. "Shaggy, Pugsy, and Flip will be leaving tomorrow- I-I don't think we need to sabotage their party,"
"I know- but I want to anyway! I'm a villain, after all. Besides, if we ruin the afternoon for all their precious little friends, then EVERYONE will feel twice as miserable- perhaps miserable enough to leave! Then NO ONE will stand in the way of my nefarious schemes!"
"…Say that a little louder, we didn't hear you from Mercury." Stanley deadpanned, as he and the rest stood right behind him!
"GAAAHHH! What the-?! How the-?! What are you all doing out here?!"
"Busting YOU for the creep that you are!" Fangs snapped.
"So that's why you're kicking our friends out!" Jake pointed out. "You've been up to something all year, haven't you?!"
"Yeah, spill it!" Cubby added.
"I don't have to tell you anything!" Robotnik huffed. "Your friends are just getting the boot because they couldn't live up to the rules!"
"Oh, and YOU have?" Stanley scoffed. "Aren't repeated explosions against building regulations?"
"Yeah, and when was the last time you even went around and collected rent?" Flim-Flam added.
"And why hasn't that bathroom on the fourth floor been cleaned yet?" Fangs threw in.
"You've been using this building to cover up something, Robotnik, and it's time you told us everything!" Izzy snapped.
"Oh, so what if I have! My schemes have been failing ever since those three nimrods moved in, so there's nothing you can say that will serve as means of arrest- if you try to convict me otherwise, I'll see to it you'll ALL be banned from the premises!" Robotnik sneered.
"Not unless we make you confess…" Stanley said, taking out his mask. "And I know just the guy to do it!" he then went to sneak off and change identities…
Only for them all to be caught in a beam of light! Robotnik gasped and fell back, landing in the bushes and looking up.
"What the…?! Yo! Who told Scotty to beam us up?!" Flim-Flam stammered as they began hovering upward!
"Aaaauuuggh! Someone do something! I'm afraid of heights!" Fangs cried out.
"Izzy- use your pixie-dust and help us fly out of here!" Jake stammered.
"I can't- whatever's pulling us up is too strong!" Izzy replied.
"Oh, coconuuuutts…!" Cubby cried as one-by-one they were all sucked into an airship!
Stanley tried putting on the mask, but it was sucked up ahead of him, out of his grasp! "Oh, why didn't I just live with my mom…!" he screamed.
Even the lackeys were caught in the pull! "This wasn't what I meant when I wanted a raaaaaiiiiiise…!" Jasper hollered as they were sucked up.
In a flash, everyone was gone. Robotnik looked up, watching as an airship shot off, though he caught sight of a familiar logo on its side.
"Oh no… he's here!" the villain gasped, then hurried down to the basement for refuge.
…
Ten minutes later, Shaggy, Pugsy and Flip came back from lunch. "…what did I tell you about controlling your cravings at the buffet?" Pugsy scolded the lanky teen.
"They said 'All You Can Eat', so I ate all that I could!" Shaggy retorted as they walked inside.
"I doubt they meant clearing out the whole restaurant, Shag." Flip stated.
They all returned to their apartment, not noticing things had gone all too quiet.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next day, around 11 o'clock, the trio waited out back for the party. Shaggy and Pugsy tried to sit down and relax in the chairs… only for them to break under their weight. "…I knew those '50-percent off' sales were a joke…" Pugsy was grumbling as they got up.
Flip looked at his watch. He figured someone would have shown up by now. "Where is everyone?" he asked. "I figured they'd have everything set up by now,"
"Like, yeah. Where's the food? Where's the banners? …Where's my girlfriend?" Shaggy wondered, then looked at his watch. "And where's the pizza-guy? I placed an order 45 minutes ago!"
Pugsy began looking in bushes, underneath the table (which fell apart seconds afterward), and even inside his own hat. "…Zippy hasn't popped up anywhere either." He looked up at the building, scanning the balconies. "No signs of that Tuxedo-Mask rip-off either."
"I resent that,"
"GAH!" The trio jumped, turning and seeing said Tuxedo-Mask rip-off approaching them.
"Geez, do you get your stealth-techniques from our crazified neighbor, or something?" Pugsy sneered.
"Who are you?" Flip asked.
"Call me the Black Alchemist," The Black Alchemist replied.
"…I'm already scared." Shaggy gulped.
"As for your friends… I doubt they're coming by anytime soon,"
"How would you know?" Pugsy questioned.
The Black Alchemist looked up at the sky, hearing a hum. "Let's just say, it would be a bad idea to have a party outside. Hurry, inside!" he then ushered them indoors, making them duck behind the soda machines.
They looked outside, watching as Two Stupid Dogs were sitting by a fire-hydrant… only to end up getting sucked upward! "ZOINKS! Not another alien invasion!" Shaggy yelped.
"It's not an alien invasion,"
"Oh, good. I was worried Spielberg took over the writing,"
"What's going on out there? …More importantly, how do you know about it?" Pugsy questioned.
"Normally I'd have to knock you out and make you think it was all a dream… but my associate (as well as the writers) claimed your assistance may be needed." The Black Alchemist answered.
"And who's your associate?" Flip questioned.
"Follow me," The Black Alchemist checked to make sure the coast was clear, then led them into an alley, stopping by a manhole. He then knocked on it via 'Shave And A Haircut- Two Bits', and it opened up, revealing a hidden chute. "After you,"
"Why should we trust you?" Puggsy questioned in suspicion.
*ZAP!*
Behind them, a beam of light was shining down, coming their way!
"I don't think we have a choice!" Flip exclaimed, then jumped down first.
"Flip-! Oh… wait for me!" Shaggy groaned, jumping down next.
Pugsy sighed. "I can never have a normal weekend, can I?" he muttered, jumping in next.
The Black Alchemist jumped down last, the opening sealing shut just as the light shined upon it.
"WhooooOOOOOOOOAAAAAA!" The guys screamed as they slid down the chute, before falling through an opening and landing/bouncing off a mattress at the bottom.
They stood up, seeing they were in a dark lab. "What is this place?" Flip asked.
"Oh good, you made it. I was worried you've been kidnapped!" came a familiar voice. They looked over, seeing a dark silhouette standing before a series of monitors.
"Is that…?" Shaggy gasped.
The Black Alchemist walked over to the wall. "…For crying out loud, I know we're on a budget, but would it kill you to turn on the lights in here?" he scoffed, flicking a switch.
The lights turned on… and everyone looked at Shawn K.
"Hello, guys… welcome to S.E.C.R.E.T. HQ," Shawn said in greeting.
d~b
Next Chapter!: Some explanations, a training montage, and… a rescue mission!
Quite a lot to pack into a series finale, ne? :3
Please review, but don't flame… and if I get some good reviews, I'll show a bonus-clip of Flip fan-girling about meeting Naoto Shirogane (the young detective from Persona 4).
Flip: (off-screen) Don't you dare!
Me: Try me! *to readers* Tell me what you think ^^