A/N: Happy 1,000th FanFiction story submission and 500 watchers on DeviantART! Thank you all so much for helping me make it this far, I never imagined it would end up like this, so I thought I'd give you all this as a treat to celebrate my stories and legacy, even if I have quite a lot of haters out there, but who cares what they think? I feel very refreshed though and this might be my final story of 2022, I don't know for sure yet, but just letting you know that's my plan so far. Thank you all again.
It seemed to be a normal, quiet day in the town of Greendale. Everybody came over to the Spellman house to watch some TV as it was the weekend, but nothing exciting seemed to be going on around town.
"I'm bored." Cherry sulked a bit.
"Me too." Mo added.
"Make that three." Lionel spoke up.
"Four," Atticus chimed in. "If we wanna find something to do, then we need to get out of town. Nothing's happening here."
"What are you kids doing?" Hilda asked as she poked her head in through the kitchen door.
"Nothing!" The group complained.
"Oh, you say you're doing nothing when you must be-" Hilda rolled her eyes before she walked into the living room to see the group sitting there like bumps on logs. "...Doing nothing... Huh... That's never happened to you guys before."
"This town might as well change its name to Dullsville," remarked Lionel. "Since that's what it feels like."
"Why don't we come in the kitchen for a snack?" Hilda offered like a Team Mom.
The group looked at each other with shrugs as they decided to just go with it. They came into the kitchen as Zelda looked very hard at work with something as she had her glasses on while on her laptop while having her laboratory out on the kitchen counter as she reminded Salem to stay out of it.
"Huh... figured the laboratory stuff would be more Zelda's thing." Mo commented.
"So what sort of culinary creation is Dr. Hildastein constructing today?" Lionel asked.
"Don't touch anything!" Zelda yelped as she ran by.
"Hi, Aunt Zelda." Sabrina said.
"Oh, kids, what are you doing inside?" Zelda asked.
"I think I got Stockholm Syndrome for your brother-in-law, 'cuz the lack of adventures in Greendale is really depressing me." Cherry replied.
Zelda winced audibly. "That is a problem..." she said.
"I'm not usually one for convenient plot twists, but I'd be okay with one now." Lionel added.
"Well, I don't know about all of that, but perhaps this special wristband that will allow you to travel in any world possible from a whim?" Zelda suggested as she brought out a magical wristband. "It'll take you wherever in the blink of an eye."
"Well, that's sorta interesting." Sabrina replied.
"Gimme," Hilda said as she reached out for the wristband from her sister. "I wanna go to 1492 to give that Christopher Columbus a whack in the junk for doing worse than discovering America."
"Later," Zelda replied, holding it out of her sister's grasp. "All in due time."
"Hmph! You always ruin my fun!" Hilda firmly pouted.
"Hilda..." Zelda sighed from that before looking to the group. "I'll need a guinea pig though."
Everybody stepped backward from that before Salem came to the kitchen to get himself a snack before he saw everybody looking at him. "Uh, is it my birthday or something?" he then asked from their looks. Soon after, he found himself being used to test the wristband. "Animal testing SHOULD be outlawed..." The cursed warlock then muttered.
"Oh, Salem, you'll be fine," Hilda told the cat. "Uh, he will be fine, right, Zelly?"
"Of course he will," Zelda replied. "Like I would actually hurt a living creature."
"We'll see," Lionel replied. "You signed the waivers, right?"
"Yeah, yeah," Salem rolled his golden eyes. "Let's just get this over with."
"This might be so cool," Patch smiled. "I wonder what's gonna happen?"
"Well, I'm honestly not sure, but Salem will end up somewhere far away from here," Zelda replied. "Hopefully it's merciful for him."
"And hopefully not," Hilda replied, taking out some popcorn. "Let's fire this sucker up!"
"All right, Salem, I made this remote to track where you are to convert it to a screen for us to watch, so good luck." Zelda said.
"Yeah, easy for you to say." Salem scoffed at that.
Zelda pushed a button which made Salem disappear before their very eyes as he seemed to go through a colorful portal that had various screens around him that showed various different people and worlds before one came up to him which brought him there.
"I guess it worked." Lionel remarked.
"Looks like he's channel chasing," Cherry smirked. "We all remember that?"
"I don't." Lionel said a bit sharply.
"I'll give you some highlights," Drell said as he walked by with his bowling shirt on and he looked around. "Has anyone seen my-Hey, what're you doing?" he then asked as he saw the screen. "Did Salem audition for a cat food commercial again?"
"What do you mean?" asked Lionel, turning to look.
"Well, what's he doing there?" Drell asked.
"Going to some sort of world and it looks like he's about to land there." Zelda replied.
Salem yelled out as he disappeared in a bright light before he ended up in a parking lot, but bounced off of and landed by some cars before he fell flat on the ground, rubbing his head as a circle of stars spun over his head. "I thought cats were supposed to land on their feet..." he said with a groan to himself as he rubbed his head with his paw.
"I guess your machine worked." Atticus replied.
"Success! AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Zelda beamed with a laugh with thunder and lightning.
The others looked at her.
"Heh... Sorry..." Zelda smiled sheepishly.
"Called it." Hilda replied as she ate her popcorn.
"So... Bowling ball... Has anyone... Seen it...?" Drell asked as he seemed more interested in what Salem was up to than what he was about to do. "Ah, screw it." He grumbled to himself as he stormed out of the room.
"Have fun with pilates!" Cherry called out.
Drell growled a bit from that.
"Where am I?" Salem asked himself. "This place sure looks creepy... I bet Cherry would like it here... Hello, what's this?" he then asked himself before he saw a familiar-looking van. "The Mystery Machine?"
"I don't know, everything here looks pretty quiet," Daphne's voice said. "Are you sure we're in the right place?"
"Seems like it, Daphne," Fred's voice replied. "All of the witnesses spotted a giant bat creature flying over this area."
"Bat creature?" asked Salem, curiously listening in. "Well... this cat has just become curious." And so he tiptoed over to the van, making sure to keep his steps quiet.
"W-Well, there's n-nothing here now!" Shaggy said as he was about to leave with Scooby. "How about if Scooby and I go look someplace else-"
Velma then grabbed a hold of him.
"Like under my bed?" Shaggy finished his thought.
"Nice try, Shaggy, but we're all staying right here." Velma smirked as she caught him as Daphne caught Scooby.
"Okay, gang. Let's fan out and search the area," Fred suggested. "I have to admit, though it looks like Shaggy's right; I don't see any bat-creatures around here."
Salem rolled his eyes, and yawned. "And curiosity is replaced with boredom..." he remarked.
"But I do, Fred," said Daphne, pointing up to a mysterious silhouette atop a billboard. "Up there!"
The gang aimed their flashlights upwards, revealing Batman and Robin (Tim Drake).
Fred gasped. "It's the Bat... man?!" he asked.
"And Robin!" Velma added.
Robin smirked. "It ain't Jimmy Olsen." he replied.
"Why, it's Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc gang!" Batman remarked as he and Robin came in for a landing.
"Long time no see, Batman," Daphne smiled at the Dark Knight. "Ever since our run-in with The Joker and The Penguin!"
"Yeah, we kept running into all sorts of people back then! Singers, basketball players..." Fred added as he shook hands with Batman. "It felt like we were teaming up with someone different every week!"
"I know the feeling." Batman replied.
"Well, this got somewhat interesting." Salem remarked to himself.
"You guys are pretty far from Gotham City," said Velma. "What brings you all the way out here?"
"We've been tracking down one of our strangest foes: Man-Bat." explained Robin II.
Shaggy looked confused. "Isn't Batman, like, standing right there?" he asked. "Besides, I wouldn't call 'im a menace..."
"Not 'Batman', Shaggy; Man-Bat." Robin II replied.
"Izzat like Pig Latin?" asked Shaggy.
Batman held up a picture of a humanoid bat hybrid. "Man-Bat is a genetic hybrid: part man, part bat. We found evidence he'd been in the caverns just outside of town, but nothing. So we're searching IN town, too."
"Hold the phone!" Fred declared. "Maybe Man-Bat is the bat-creature we heard about!"
"I can't imagine there'd be other bat-creatures running around out here." Daphne added.
"What can you tell us about this 'Man-Bat'?" Velma asked The Dark Knight.
"Gathering background information, eh, Velma? Good thinking," Batman smiled proudly. "The story begins with a man named Kirk Langstrom," he then began to explain. "Since bats have extremely sharp hearing, Dr. Langstrom hoped to use a bat extract to help cure deafness in humans. Rather than risking anyone's safety, he tested it on himself. Let's just say it didn't work out quite the way he expected. In his bat form, Man-Bat, is more animal than human with all the instincts of a wild animal. That makes him dangerous," he soon concluded. "I brought along a vial of the antidote to turn him human again, but we have to find him fir-"
"AYEEEEE!" A scream was suddenly heard.
"Jinkies! I'd say you found him!" Velma gasped.
Batman and Robin II soon got ready to spring into action.
"Mind if we tag along?" Fred asked before he and the others got ready to run off.
"Not at all, Fred!" Batman replied. "We can always use help from partners who are brave and bold!"
"How about craven and cowardly?" Shaggy gulped at that.
"I can't believe what I'm seeing," Salem said to himself. "I wish I could tell the others, but I might not be able to make it back home if this experiment is a disaster."
"No time for makin' jokes, guys!" Scrappy declared. "We gotta go stop that Man-Bat!"
And so, the group took off for the Gotham Shopping Mall.
"This must be the place." pointed Sabrina.
"Could be." shrugged Mo as people ran screaming from the store.
"Yeah, that's a dead giveaway." Cherry deadpanned.
"Careful, that description sure sounds like Man-Bat." Robin II warned.
"N-N-Not Man-Bat, Bat-MEN!" Shaggy pointed out nervously. "Bats! Like three of 'em! Like, buy one and get two free!"
Three Bat-Men were soon shown to be robbing the store together.
"Holy triple vision!" Fred gasped.
"Please don't do that." Robin II groaned at him.
"We might only have enough antidote for one, but we still have to take the other two down just the same." Cherry suggested with narrowed eyes.
"Then we can worry about that after we catch them!" Batman declared as he and Robin II charged into action.
"It's Batman and Robin!" exclaimed one crook.
"And a bunch'a kids an' a couple a dogs!" exclaimed the other.
"Whaddo we do?" asked the third.
"You hafta ask?" replied his friend. "RUN!"
And the crooks made a break for it into a nearby seafood restaurant.
"They're getting away!" Daphne exclaimed. "Let's go after them!"
"Like, do we have to?" asked Shaggy.
"Actually, Shaggy... we don't." replied Batman, as he threw a Batarang, which sliced through the ropes holding up a fishing net over the restaurant entrance, and fell onto the crooks' heads.
"Talk about your 'net gains'!" Lionel remarked.
"Wow, you caught them!" Daphne beamed. "And we didn't even have to run around and crash into each other first!"
"That was gettin' tiresome." Scrappy noted.
"Maybe we should get some Batarangs too." Daphne suggested.
"That would prove for refreshing material after about 50 years of the same formula." Cherry smirked as she crossed her arms.
"So which one of these three is the original Man-Bat?" Fred spoke up.
"It's simple enough to deduce," Batman remarked. "The 'Bat-Robbers' ran away as soon as they saw us. No surprise there; I've always felt that criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot."
"Hey! Like us!" Shaggy beamed as he stood with Scooby.
"And contrary to popular belief, not me." Cherry added.
"I see what you mean, Batman," Robin II agreed with his mentor. "If they were so scared, why'd they run? Why not just fly away?"
"Maybe they're afraid of heights?" Salem guessed.
"No, I get it!" Velma piped up logically. "The answer is the same reason why Bat-Creatures would steal jewelry or televisions!" she, Batman, and Robin II soon removed the masks off of the three criminals who didn't appear to be who they were looking for. "Because they aren't really Bat-Creatures!"
"Right, Velma!" Batman agreed. "None of them is Man-Bat!"
"Yeah, okay, you got us." grumbled a brown-haired crook.
"You guys dressed up as bats to rob a mall?" asked Robin II. "Isn't that kind of... elaborate?"
"Not compared to some of the crimes we've solved!" Fred replied.
Robin II pondered for a few minutes. "...or some of our cases, come to think of it."
"With all the reports about a 'bat-creature' in town, people were already freaked out," said the bald crook. "All we had to do was show up in costume and everyone ran off. We didn't even need guns!"
"Yeah, and we woulda gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those meddling superheroes!" The brown-haired crook glared towards The Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder.
"But instead we caught the whole gang: the three of you!" Daphne smiled.
"Uh, maybe not the whole gang, Daphne..." Velma spoke up.
"She's right..." Cherry added before pointing right at a fast food stop. "There's another one over there near that Big Boy's Burger knock-off!"
The group soon began to run off to where Cherry pointed out.
"Well, considering how quickly we wrapped up his partners, this shouldn't be too hard." Fred smiled hopefully.
Said final culprit was standing atop a garbage can, hissing and baring its fangs.
"...of course, I could be wrong..." Fred gulped.
"R-R-Ran-Rat!" Scooby exclaimed.
"Actually, Uncle Scooby, that's Man-Bat!" Scrappy exclaimed, putting up his dukes.
"Like, why's everyone so uptight?" Shaggy smiled innocently. "I mean, even I know these guys are fake now."
"Did you not just hear Batman's origins about Dr. Kirk Langstrom?" Cherry deadpanned.
"Oh, come on, Cherry, all ya gotta do is pull off the mask-" Shaggy said casually as he grabbed the Man-Bat's face, but it didn't seem to move or come off which made him suddenly scared. "Unless... He's not WEARING a mask!"
The Man-Bat soon took off flying with Shaggy and shrieked very loudly.
"Like, I'm too young to fly!" Shaggy panicked.
"Well, he's doomed," Cherry said flatly. "We better go help him out before he gets hurt or worse."
"RI'll rave rou, Raggy!" Scooby called as he jumped onto his friend's shoe, clinging on as he was airlifted. "Ruh-roh."
"Like, thanks, ol' buddy..." said Shaggy. "But, now, who's got you?"
"Hang on, Uncle Scooby!" Scrappy declared, racing off behind them. "Tada-dada-dadaaaa! Puppy Power...!"
"Hang on, you two!" Batman shouted, swinging off on his batrope. "I'm coming!"
"Psst! Now's our chance!" The brown-haired crook whispered and smirked to his friends. "While they're distracted; split up and get outta here!"
Atticus looked around as he thought he heard something.
"We have to help Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy!" Velma cried out.
"Batman's got it covered." Robin II reassured.
"But we got bigger fish to fry!" Atticus added as he looked over to see the crooks escaping when their backs were turned.
"The robbers are getting away!" Fred cried out. "Hurry!"
"Be very careful and diligent with those Batarangs." Cherry told the others who had some.
"Right!" The others declared before they split.
"No problem, Cherry; like Batman said," Daphne replied as she threw a Batarang, but it missed within a hair length of one of the crooks, and veered back. "Ohhhh... Batarangs curve, right?" she realized.
Cherry face-palmed.
"Yikes!" Velma yelped as she ducked down before the Batarang could hit her. "I'll say they curve!"
"And they keep curving!" Fred added as he dove to the floor.
"Until they hit a crook," Mo smirked once the Batarang finally hit one of the bad guys. "Even if it's not the crook you're aiming for!"
"Um, I guess Batarangs take some practice." Daphne smiled sheepishly.
"I think I'll stick to capturing crooks the old-fashioned way," Fred said before he took off for a ride and bumped into one crook with... "With a giant skateboard!"
"Nicely done and without superpowers!" Atticus approved.
The third crook was on the run. "Forget those other two... I'm home free!" he declared, before Robin II cornered him.
"Wanna bet?" The new Boy Wonder asked, giving a fierce punch to the criminal's jaw.
Meanwhile, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy were still flying with the Man-Bat.
"Zoinks! We're gonna crash!" Shaggy panicked. "Like, this is one time I'm NOT in a hurry to get to Bobby Bigburger!"
"It's all right, Shaggy," A voice soothed. "Come closer!"
"Guys, as strange as it sounds, I think Bobby just tried to talk to us." Scrappy said to his uncle and friend.
"Ruh?" Scooby blinked.
"Bobby Bigburger talk?" Shaggy asked. "Our stomachs must be playing tricks on us!"
"The only trick here is on Man-Bat!" Batman glared as he ran outside the restaurant before he leapt through the air. "I needed him close enough to make this leap!"
The Caped Crusader soon landed right on Man-Bat's back.
"Like, don't tell me three of us need saving now!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"Actually, quite the opposite," replied Batman as he took out a small vial of green fluid. "Now that I'm close enough to administer Man-Bat's antidote!"
But just then, Batman dropped the vial. "No! Somebody catch it!" he exclaimed.
"Like, I would, but I'm too busy hangin' on for dear life!" Shaggy replied.
Fortunately, Scooby grabbed the vial using his tail. "ROTCHA!" he declared.
"Great catch, Uncle Scooby!" Scrappy beamed.
"Good work, Scooby!" Batman added. "Now just toss up the antidote back to me and I'll do the rest!"
Scooby soon did just that as he twirled his tail out and the vial flew up in the air until it was caught by The Dark Knight.
"The antidote works quickly," Batman said as he made Man-Bat drink the serum. "It shouldn't take long for Man-Bat to change back into human form."
Man-Bat yelped as he drank the antidote and seemed to slowly turn back into a human.
"Rhew!" Scooby sighed in relief.
"Human? That's a relief!" Shaggy added.
"Except for one thing," Scrappy then said before they suddenly fell through the air. "Humans can't fly!"
Sabrina discreetly stuck out her pointer. "My friends may not survive that drop, so in mid-air, you need to stop!" she whispered, creating a large net that the others could grab the corners of and use to catch Batman, Shaggy, and Scooby.
"Like, thanks for the save," Shaggy chuckled as he climbed out. "I've never been happier bein' the catch of the day!"
"Speaking of 'catches', isn't that the same net that was holding the thieves?" asked Batman. "They didn't escape, did they?"
"No chance of that," replied Fred. "Luckily, they were having a sale at the House of Rope!" he gestured to the three crooks, all tied up.
"How convenieeeeeeeeeeeent!~" Cherry remarked in a voice reminiscent of "Church Lady" (Look it up, kids!).
Later...
"Not a bad night's work," Robin II smiled at Mystery Inc's help along with the adventure team. "You all were a really big help."
"You mean you couldn't have done it without us?" Fred piped up.
"Well, I didn't exactly say that," Robin II chuckled to Fred, Daphne, and Velma. "But you should come to Gotham for next month's meeting of the Mystery Analysts."
"'Mystery Analysts'?" Sabrina repeated. "Are those like superhero psychiatrists?" Sabrina asked.
"No, Brina, they're some of the greatest detectives in the world." Cherry clarified dryly.
"Well, I didn't know, Cherry." Sabrina shrugged in defense.
"I just thought that was obvious," Cherry said. "By the way, nice work with what you did to help too."
"Thanks," Sabrina replied. "I'm glad I got to help."
"Sabrina Spellman helps Batman and Robin," Cherry said to herself. "Why has no one ever thought of that before?"
"Thanks for your help, Batman," Dr. Langstrom said to the Dark Knight. "When I became Man-Bat, I just couldn't control myself."
"These kids really deserve your thanks, Kirk," Batman remarked. "If they hadn't risked their safety to weigh Man-Bat down, I never could have caught up before you flew away."
"Ya see, Uncle Scooby and Shaggy?" Scrappy beamed. "You guys ARE brave and bold!"
"I knew it all along." Batman agreed strongly.
"Really?" Shaggy asked. "Well, I guess that WAS kinda brave; like, whaddya think, Scoob?"
"Ri rink... RI'M RATMAN!" Scooby growled, wearing one of the Man-Bat masks and terrifying Shaggy.
"Y-Yeah... I think I'll stick with craven and cowardly...!" Shaggy stammered.
Scooby popped the mask off and howled, "SCOOBY-DOOBY-DOO!"
"Oh, brother." Cherry rolled her eyes in deadpan while Atticus said that with an amused smile.
Everybody else then shared a laugh as Scooby chuckled to himself.
"Well, I guess this was a success." Zelda said as she picked up Salem to take the wristband off of the black cat.
"Sure, and leave me to be a test subject," Salem narrowed his eyes. "I know we're an old-fashioned family, but there are some laws against animal testing, ya know."
"I'm aware," Zelda replied as she picked up the armband. "But I'm not sure if that qualifies for cats who used to be warlocks."
"Aw, great..." Salem crossed his arms with an eye roll.
"So, kids, did you have fun with Mystery Inc and Batman?" Hilda smiled innocently to her niece and her friends.
"It was interesting, Aunt Hilda," Sabrina smiled back. "In fact, I think we could do this again real soon."
"Yeah, it was pretty fun," Mo replied. "Nice little diversion from all that free time and nothing to use it on."
"Well, I'm glad that we could help!" Hilda beamed.
"I have a feeling this is going to lead to some pretty interesting adventures." Cherry remarked.
"Mm-hmm!" The rest of her friends nodded in agreement.
"Plus, it was refreshing to see you other than the first Robin." Cherry smirked at Robin II quietly so the others wouldn't hear.
"Duly noted," Robin II gave a thumbs-up. "Especially since Nightwing has his own business to deal with."
"Give him my best regards." Cherry said with a wink.
"Can do." Robin II winked back with a chuckle.
"So whaddo we do now, since this part is over?" asked Scrappy.
"I guess we'll just go home and wait until we see what happens," Cherry said. "This honestly feels like filler."
"Can't say I blame ya." Lionel shrugged, before he nodded his head, and the group vanished in a puff of smoke.