Chapter 9: The rescue
Just as the group were about to split up, Velma noticed something on the nearby floor.
"Guys, wait up!" She said and everyone stopped. "I think I found Daphne's scarf!"
Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Tom and Jerry went over to look. Sure enough, it was the green scarf Shaggy gave Daphne as a birthday gift on her previous birthday the year before.
"Like, that means that she was here a while ago!" Shaggy said urgently. "Those kidnappers must've dragged her past here and dropped the scarf!"
"Scooby, can you get a trail of Daphne's scent?" Fred asked.
Scooby nodded as he sniffed the scarf before reaching down to the floor. A few seconds went by before he figured out the trail.
"Ri've got it!" He said. "Rollow me!"
Without another minute, the gang followed the Great Dane as he sniffed out Daphne's trail.
"We'd better hurry." Fred said. "Daphne could be in trouble! We have to find her fast!"
"I don't think that will be necessary." A voice suddenly said.
The kids stopped and turned and looked. It was the two thugs who were accompanying Jelenic and were knocked out earlier by Tom and Jerry with their guns drawn.
"Oh great." Velma remarked as the two thugs approached them.
"You kids have meddled too much!" Joe said. "The boss doesn't like kids who snoop around."
"I though he told you two to be good children and stay in that room." James added.
"Well, we both know that at times it's good to be naughty." Fred snorted as he folded his arms. "And we're not leaving until we find our friend!"
"In that case, we're going to have to teach you kids to be good children the hard way!" Joe smirked as he pulled out a club.
As the two thugs approached the gang, Velma turned to Shaggy and Scooby. "Shaggy! Scooby! You go find Daphne! We'll try to hold them off!"
"Like, you sure that's wise, Velma?" Shaggy asked as he saw the pistol in James' hand.
"Just go!" Fred said. "We can't let that buffoon get away!"
Shaggy and Scooby turned and looked but then nodded. They need to find Daphne and quick! Without hesitation, the duo quickly slipped away while Fred, Velma, Tom and Jerry covered them, preventing the two thugs from chasing after their friends.
"Move out of the way!" James said. "Let us teach that naughty kid and his mutt a lesson!"
Tom responded by shaking his head firmly as Fred and Velma replied, "Make us!"
"Very well, then." Joe said as he and his partner prepared their weapons.
As Shaggy and Scooby continued on tracking down Daphne's scent, they went past a trash can, where Shaggy paused as his eyes settled on a metal garbage can lid.
Meanwhile, upon hearing some gunshots from his headquarters, Jelenic started packing his stuff.
"Time to get out of here, my lady." He said to Daphne, who was still tied up and gagged on a chair. "We can't let those snoopers get to you!"
Daphne's response was not intelligible, although it's a safe guess to say that she was demanding Jelenic to let her go.
"Sorry, hon." Jelenic said with a smirk. "I can't let you go until Daddy has paid what he owed."
"Like, I don't think she needs to wait any longer, Mr. Jelenic." A voice suddenly said.
"What?" Jelenic stopped and turned and saw Shaggy and Scooby walking into the room with the latter growling. "I thought Titley's men got rid of you!"
"Well, you didn't count on us crashing into a cart and crashing into them." Shaggy said. "Now let Daphne go or we'll make you do it that hard way!"
"Oh, so you're going to let your dog bite me, huh?" Jelenic said mockingly. "I'm scared."
"Actually, Scooby's not going to bite you, man." Shaggy said. "We've informed the cops already."
"But you do realize that one of them is involved in this, huh?" Jelenic asked as he secretly reached his hand into his coat for a gun.
"Yes." Shaggy said. "And that welcoming committee at the Convention Center gave up your security chief's name, and I've told my father, who's a senior-ranking police officer in the department, about his conduct and he has mobilized the whole department!"
Jelenic was stunned when Shaggy made the last remark, and the latter can tell that Titley didn't inform him about the fact that Shaggy was related to the senior police officer in charge of the case.
"You're...you're bluffing!" Jelenic said as he reached for his gun.
"No I'm not." Shaggy replied. "Now, you can give up easily or do that the hard way when a battalion of police officers arrive, along with two of their own who has their badges stripped."
Meanwhile, Fred and Velma managed to subdue and tie up James and Joe and were on their way to find Shaggy and Scooby when they heard another gunshot.
"It came from that room!" Velma exclaimed when she pinpointed the origin of the noise.
"Quick!" Fred shouted as they raced towards the room.
When they entered the room, they were greeted by a shocking scene.
"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed. "Shaggy!"
"Oh no." Fred said when he saw Shaggy lying on the floor motionless, while Scooby was whimpering. Although Daphne was still gagged, it was not difficult to see the devastated look on her face.
"What have you done to Shaggy?" Velma demanded as she stormed towards Jelenic, only for Fred to pull her back, as Jelenic was still holding the gun he used to fire on Shaggy earlier.
"Your friend really should've minded his own business and not to snoop around." He said coldly. "At least I can spite that meddling police commander leading the department here."
However, as Jelenic was speaking, he didn't see Shaggy lifting a leg.
Then, he kicked the gun away from Jelenic's hand and got up, much to the shock of the kidnapper.
"What the..." Jelenic exclaimed. "How did you..."
"Like, I knew that you were going to have this one trick up your sleeve, Mr. Jelenic." Shaggy smirked as he pulled up his shirt, revealing a metal trash can lid he had hid underneath his shirt and had used as a bulletproof vest. "So on my way here, I picked up something from the garbage."
As his friends sighed in relief, Shaggy walked over to Jelenic and gave him a whack with the trash can lid as he added, "And this is for kidnapping Daphne and attempting to extort her father out of his fortune!"
The whack was too much for the leader of the gang, and he slumped to the floor after a foolish look in the face.
The four then moved to untie Daphne and remove her gag.
"Daphne!" Fred exclaimed as they remove the gag.
"Guys!" Daphne caught a breath. "Boy, am I glad to see you all!"
"Like, we sure are glad you're alright, Daph..." Shaggy was speaking just as Daphne pulled him over and gave him a huge kiss.
"Woah." Fred said as Daphne kissed Shaggy. "What was that for?"
"I'm just relieved that Shag's alright after pulling that stunt." Daphne said. "I don't want to see Sugie crying over the lost of her brother, and don't you ever scare me again, Shaggy."
"Don't worry, Daph." Shaggy replied as he gave her a long hug. "I'm just glad you're okay, but you're going to need to see a doctor."
"You're right, kiddo." A voice suddenly said. "In fact, you all are going to see a doctor soon!"
The gang turned and looked. Standing outside was Lieutenant Titley with a sub-machine drawn.
"Hi, uh, Lieutenant." Shaggy grinned nervously as they raised their arms in surrender. "Came to check on us, eh?"
"That's right." Titley smirked as he entered the room. "You kids have played good, but now's the time to stop."
He then clicked the weapon as he added, "One move, and you're down!"
The gang all stiffened. Shaggy's trash can lid is too far from him to reach, and there's nothing around that they could utilize to turn the tables against the corrupt police lieutenant.
Just as Titley thought he had nothing to lose, a "Whack!" suddenly can be heard.
For a moment, Titley had a foolish look on his face as he dropped the weapon. Then, he slumped to the ground.
Standing right behind him were Tom and Jerry, with the former still holding the frying pan he had used to whack the rogue police lieutenant.
Right after they helped Fred and Velma subdue James and Joe, Tom and Jerry were about to run off and catch up to them when they heard someone coming and hid. From their hiding place, they saw Titley entering the plant with a sub machine gun.
Knowing that they will need to back their friends up, they waited until the security chief walked past them and shadowed him as he made his way to the room where the others were at.
Seeing Titley about to mow their friends down, the duo made their move, resulting in what the gang just witnessed.
"Like, that was perfect timing, guys." Shaggy said.
"Are they friends of yours, Shag?" Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Long story, Daph." Shaggy replied as Tom and Jerry nodded their thanks.
"We'd better grab these prisoners and meet with the police at the front, gang." Fred suggested as they heard sirens in the distance.
Everyone else nodded before getting down to work, as the sirens grew louder by the second.
One more chapter to go! Please read and review!
