Several miles later...

"Wow, Fred! This Mark Twain country is really something!" Daphne smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised to see Tom Sawyer or Becky Thatcher any moment!"

"I'd rather see a road sign, Daphne because we're lost!" Fred replied.

"Thanks to our chief navigator Shaggy," stated Velma. "And his brilliant shortcut."

Shaggy, who was looking at the map, raised his head. "Can I help it if I can't read Greek?" he asked.

"Greek? That's an American road map!" Velma told him.

"I know, but it's all Greek to me!" Shaggy replied.

"Now we'll never make it on time for the Tom Sawyer Festival!" Daphne pouted.

"Well, don't worry, we'll find us a shortcut out of this shortcut," Shaggy promised. "Won't we, Scoob?"

"Right!" Scooby smiled.

Eventually, the cowardly duo both got stuck in the map as Shaggy accidentally tangled both of them up in it.

"On second thought, maybe we should ask for directions from somebody." Shaggy then said bashfully.

"Great idea, except there's nobody out here except for Cherry and the others in their van!" Velma replied.

There was then suddenly a bit of a ghostly moan heard.

"Not the time for Halloween pranks, Cherry." Atticus said.

"It's not me!" Cherry defended. "Maybe it's Casper's uncles!"

"Nah, sounds more like their friend, Harry Scary," Lionel replied. "From that time Casper met Yogi Bear and his friends."

"Probably just a monster from the Big Muddy," Shaggy replied casually... until everything clicked into place. "...MONSTER?!" he exclaimed, before joining Scooby in cowering underneath the map.

"Some things never change." Cherry shook her head.

"Hey! Cool it, gang!" Velma warned them. "We were probably hearing things!"

They soon heard the ghostly moan again which sounded a bit more chilling than the first time.

"You're right and we still are!" Daphne remarked.

"Well, whatever it is, it's just around the bend." Fred replied.

"And it might be time to stop the cars soon." Atticus added.

Fred ended up driving the Mystery Machine onto the wooden deck of a boat, where the front right tire sank due to a loose floorboard underneath. "Whoops! End of the line," he then exclaimed. "And we're stuck!"

"Nice going, Fred." Cherry snarked.

They soon found that they were at some sort of port harbor with a ship beside them that looked very expensive and fancy.

"Wow!" Velma looked over. "With that groovy old showboat to explore, who cares?"

"I care!" Daphne whined. "That old tug gives me the creeps!"

"Oh, relax, Daphne," Cherry said as she stepped out of the van she came in as the Mystery Inc group did the same with their van. "I've seen scarier stuff in the Netherworld."

"Guys, I can't help but feel like someone I know is around here, but I can't think of who and where right now." Salem remarked as he jumped down from Sabrina's arms after she carried him out of the van.

"What makes you say that, Salem?" asked Sabrina.

"Call it a hunch for now," Salem replied. "Further developments to come."

Sabrina shared looks with the others before just shrugging as they weren't sure what Salem was talking about, but it would come into play a bit later on.

"Relax, Daph," Fred said. "It's easy to see that no one's been here in years!"

The moaning then got louder.

"Well, it sounds like somebody's here now!" Velma warned.

"It's probably just a gust of wind in the smoke stack." Fred suggested.

"Doesn't sound like wind to me." Mo commented.

"Anyway, let's go aboard before the storm hits." Fred then advised the others.

"Don't gotta tell us twice," Atticus replied. "I'm just glad I'm not afraid of storms anymore."

"Alright then," Velma replied. "Shaggy, Scooby, this is no time to act chicken!"

Shaggy and Scooby poked their heads up from under the map. "Like, we're not acting chicken!" he and Scooby held up a pair of bitten drumsticks. "We're eating chicken!"

"Reah!" Scooby agreed.

"Save some for me, guys!" Scrappy smiled. "We'll need as much energy as we can get!"

"Oh, brother." Cherry rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Everyone soon began to walk to the showboat as they gathered on the gangplank.

"See?" Fred told the others. "Nobody here!"

There was soon some wicked laughter heard. Everyone soon turned around to look at Cherry who just shook her head as she promised that she wasn't the one who was laughing.

"Cool it, Shag, this is no laughing matter." Daphne told Shaggy since he was right behind her.

"That wasn't me!" Shaggy replied. "Was it you?"

"Ruh-uh!" Scooby added. "You?"

"Nope, none of us did," Velma stated, before pointing upwards. "It came from up there!"

"Something else is coming from up there!" Fred added as he look up ahead. "Look!"

Another group was shown to be running across the showboat.

"Uh-oh! We have company!" Daphne gasped.

"I sure hope they're at least friendly." Sabrina said nervously.

"I don't think it's a welcoming committee." Velma replied.

The group soon ran towards the other two groups in front of them and soon, they all groaned and ended up on the floor together.

"Hey! Why don't you watch out where we're going?" The girl with black hair with a white streak in it glared.

"Oh, sure, watch your step, Princess Pouty." Cherry glared back.

"Sorry," Velma replied. "Who are you, anyways?"

"That's Josie and the Pussycats." said the blonde boy with the blue shirt.

"Hey, your group really floors me!" Shaggy commented.

"So I've noticed." Josie replied dryly.

"Who'd have thunk we would get to meet a rock group?" Scrappy commented. "What interesting lives we detectives lead!"

"You're telling me." Atticus nodded in agreement.

"Oh, you're Alan!" Fred said to the fellow blonde guy.

"And you're Valerie!" Daphne added to the dark-skinned girl.

"Right on!" Valerie replied and nodded.

"I'm Melody! ...I think," The blonde girl giggled. "With so many years, it's hard to tell."

The others sweat-dropped a bit at that "Dumb Blonde" moment.

"And, uh, you are?" Mo asked the black-haired girl.

"And I'm Alexandra," The girl replied boastfully. The real star of this group."

"You guys kinda look familiar." Sabrina commented as Salem came from behind her and soon saw the other cat who had hints of white in his black fur.

"Rebastian?" Scooby pointed to the cat who then shook his paws at him.

"Sebastian Cabot?" Salem asked as he looked at the fellow cat before smirking. "Ohh! I thought I sensed someone familiar around here."

"Salem, you know this cat?" Patch asked the cursed warlock.

"Sure I do!" Salem smirked. "We were roommates at the old Warlock Academy, one of my good friends next to Nick and Maurice."

"Shh... Don't tell anyone, Saberhagen, I'm undercover." Sebastian whispered with a smirk back.

Salem made a zipped-lips gesture and a thumbs-up.

"Friend of yours?" Sebastian asked as he observed Patch.

"Salem is teaching me how to be a good familiar like he is with Sabrina," Patch smiled. "I'm sorta new to this, but I was never punished by the Witch's Council. I was born a Dalmatian and proud of it."

"Heh... Good luck, kid." Sebastian rolled his eyes a bit.

"What are you kids doing here?" Fred asked.

"Our super booking agent, Alexander, booked us for a famous gig on a showboat!" Alexandra glared at the brown-haired boy in green. "This!"

"Well, how did I know that the Dixie Queen is a junkyard reject and haunted?" Alexander glared back at his sister.

"H-H-Haunted?!" Shaggy yelped.

"Raunted?!" Scooby added.

The two then shook nervously.

"It's okay, guys, you don't need to be scared," Scrappy told them. "I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."

"The Dixie Queen is not haunted." A man's voice told the gaggle of teenagers.

"Ah... Insert a creepy old caretaker..." Cherry droned. "I was wondering when we were due into meeting one."

"Who said that?!" Shaggy shivered as he looked up.

On the boat's upper half, a bearded man in a navy outfit stood next to a tall, burly man.

"Creepy? Maybe," Lionel clarified. "Old? Nah. Middle-aged is more like it."

"Older than me anyway." Cherry replied.

"Fair point." Atticus shrugged.

"Hello, sir," Sabrina greeted warily. "You said something about the Dixie Queen not being haunted?"

"Captain Cannaby: skipper of this craft, and this is my first mate: Johnny Briggs." The man introduced himself with a warm smile.

"Skipper, let them go if they're afraid." Briggs suggested.

"No, Johnny; without their entertainment, The Dixie Queen will never make triumph return to the Mississippi." Captain Cannaby defended.

"Honestly, Captain Cannaby, we'd love to help you-" Josie replied.

"Speak for yourself, sister! I'm ready to split from this worm-eating relic right now!" Alexandra huffed at the redheaded girl. "Come on, Alan~" she then smiled as she hugged the blonde boy next to her by the arm. "Let's you and I grab the next black boat out of here."

"Wait!" said Fred. "Maybe we can help!"

"We just happen to be expert ghost-chasing mystery solvers." Velma added.

"Plus, I think fixing up this old boat would be a groovy idea!" Daphne beamed.

"Whatya say, guys?" Fred asked Cherry and the others. "You wanna help out?"

"Sure, Fred, we can do that!" Scrappy smiled.

"Beats standing around here doing nothing," Cherry shrugged. "I'm not the lazy type, even if some adventures annoy me."

"That's the spirit, Cherry." Atticus smiled in approval.

"Guys, I think you're right." Josie smiled back in excitement.

The lightning flashed yet again, startling Shaggy and Scooby.

"Besides, we're all stuck miles from nowhere, and if the storm hits, the Dixie Queen will be a good refuge." Fred told the others.

"Ghosts or no ghosts." Velma told Shaggy and Scooby.

"Personally, I'll take no ghosts." Shaggy said.

"Re roo." Scooby agreed.

"Me three!" Alexander added before he ran to hide away with them.

"Well, at least Shaggy and Scooby made a new friend they have something in common with." Atticus shrugged.

"They also sound similar." Lionel remarked.

"Thanks, I thought I was the only one who noticed that." Cherry commented.

Lightning flashed once more which scared Shaggy, Scooby, and Alexander to coming right back towards the showboat before they crashed into a barrel and fell on the floor.

"Like, anybody for a party?" Shaggy groaned as he tripped over a barrel.

"Party?" Valerie asked. "What kind of a party?"

"A boarding party!" Shaggy called out.

The three soon went to the nearest room that they could find and slammed the door shut as they decided to hide behind it.

"Your boyfriend looks scared." Cherry smirked.

"Boyfriend? Please!" Alexandra scoffed. "That's my brother!"

"...Really?" Cherry asked.

"Twin brother, but yes," Alexandra replied. "You better not mess with him though otherwise, it might be rough for you."

"Lemme guess; 'I don't know what you can do'?" Cherry retorted cyncially.

"Now, now, we're all in each other's company, let's at least try to get along with each other." Atticus advised.

"He's right," Scrappy nodded. "Besides, no sense impeding ourselves."

"Here are your saferooms, kids," said Captain Cannaby. "Maybe after tonight, you'll change your minds and stay on."

"Sorry, Skipper," retorted Alexander. "but this barge isn't big enough."

"Aw, there's plenty o' room!" The captain said as Sebastian slipped underneath a wash bucket.

"What makes you think the boat could be haunted, Josie?" asked Fred.

"Mysterious things happen; you know, like objects moving around." Josie explained.

Scooby turned to his left, only to see the wash bucket skittering around the deck. Salem glanced suspiciously at the bucket. Scooby soon yelped as the bucket kept moving and he ran off since that scared him.

"Sebastian?" Salem smirked.

"Guilty." Sebastian smirked back as he showed himself by lifting up the bucket.

"Scooby, you act like you saw a ghost!" Shaggy told his best friend.

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Rhere!" Scooby nodded and pointed at the wash bucket on the floor which was now beside Daphne, Sabrina, and Alexandra.

"Oh, guys, you're just seeing things." Daphne said.

"And I'll prove it," Alexandra smirked as she picked up the bucket as her pet cat soon clung to it to avoid being seen. "See? Nothing!"

Sebastian just snickered as he hid like the nasty cat he was.

"So much for mysterious moving things." Alexandra scoffed before she kicked the bucket to the wall which broke it into pieces.

The bucket was then busted down and Sebastian was shown as he glared after the crash. "...not one of my better moments..." he groaned as he collapsed, face-first.

"Sebastian!" Valerie gasped at the sight of Alexandra and Alexander's pet cat.

"Rhat russyrat!" Scooby snarled and huffed.

"Gee! Maybe Sebastian's a ghost now." Melody smiled.

"Well, how's that, Melody?" Alan asked her.

"'Cuz somebody kicked his bucket!" Melody explained, letting out a hearty giggle.

"Melody... What goes on in that head of yours?" Cherry asked, feeling disturbed by the blonde girl.

"Mm! Not much~" Melody shrugged and smiled innocently.

"I think maybe we should turn in for the night either in the boat or in a hotel." Atticus advised.

"I agree with Atticus," Josie nodded. "You're right, Captain Cannaby; we were silly to believe-" she then began to say until they suddenly heard a strange sound.

"Uh... never mind!" said the captain. "Probably just a loose chain somewhere. I'll go track it down." And he walked off to see.

"That was awfully peculiar." said Alexandra.

"Rattling chains?" asked Fred.

"Injun Joe?" asked Daphne.

"Certainly!" Velma remarked. "It all adds up!"

"Does it now?" Cherry slowly blinked.

"Makes sense to me." Atticus smiled at Velma.

"I was sure you'd get it." Velma smiled back.

"Hey, how 'bout cluing us in, guys?" Alan asked Atticus and Velma.

"Sure!" Atticus smiled.

"In Mark Twain's story about Tom Sawyer, the villain's name was Injun Joe, and he wore a dragging chain around his wrist." Velma informed.

"What a drag." Alexander commented.

"That's right," Daphne said. "Injun Joe was an escaped convict!"

"Oh, good grief!" Alexandra crossed her arms. "That happened 100 years ago! He wouldn't be around now."

"No, but his ghost might." Velma warned.

"Can I just remind everyone that Velma just said that?" Cherry commented to the fourth wall. "What went wrong? This was the girl who didn't believe in Vincent van Ghoul's adventures."

"You mean in-universe, or on a meta scale?" asked Lionel. "Meta, different writers, different interpretation. In-universe? Hell if I know!"

"I'm just saying, it's interesting to think about how skeptical she can be sometimes." Cherry explained.

"It is," Lionel replied. "I guess in-universe it's confusing, but maybe she finally decided to be more open to such possibilities... And while I'm wishing for the impossible, I'd also like Michael Bay to stop making bad movies." he sighed.

Shaggy, Scooby, and Alexander still looked scared at the mention of ghosts.

"It's okay, Uncle Scooby, no one will hurt you as long as you stick with your friends." Scrappy encouraged.

Sebastian smirked as he soon crept down behind Scooby and tapped his shoulder, being a trickster cat yet again. "BOO!" he then called out.

"RIKES!" Scooby yelped and soon took off running as that scared him pretty badly.

"Sebastian!" Patch glared before looking at the black cat beside him. "That friend of yours, Salem."

"Sebastian was always quite the practical joker," Salem remarked. "Probably even more than me when all I did to piss off The Witch's Council was voice my global conquest opinions and dreams I wanted to come true."

"Is that one of his pranks too?" Patch then asked once he saw an Indian ghost with metal chains who was now standing in front of Sebastian after Shaggy and Alexander had run off.

Sebastian yelped, and he and Scooby both ran off. Once they got back to the group, they both pointed in the direction they ran.

"The ghost of Injun Joe!" Velma exclaimed.

"Glad you've become more open-minded." Lionel smirked.

Mo took Lionel by the head and turned him around to see a man who resembled the Gorton's fisherman, except an eerie gray.

"I suppose you don't have fishsticks I can keep in my freezer, do you?" Cherry asked the fisherman ghost.

"Avast thar, you land-gang mortals!" The fisherman ghost glowered, speaking in a very dark and grim tone of voice. "Abandon this vessel, now!"

"Says who?" Alexandra challenged as she crossed her arms.

"The Ghost of Captain Scavenger: The meanest pirate that ever ravaged the Mississippi!" The ghost glared back.

The two ghosts then surrounded the group.

"Galloping Ghoulies!" Alexandra yelped as she suddenly felt scared. "Two ghosts for the fright of one!"

"Heeeelp! Man overboard!" Shaggy cried out as he ran for his life.

"It's you, isn't it, Shaggy?" Atticus asked.

"You are correct, sir!" Shaggy replied as he grabbed a floating ring and jumped overboard into the water.

"Me too!" Scooby added as he grabbed Scrappy by his collar as he ran by with Sebastian on his head and he jumped after Shaggy with his own floater ring.

"We can't just abandon our friends when they need us!" Scrappy yelped as he got pulled overboard.

Captain Scavenger cackled evilly as he vanished.

"H-he just vanished...!" Josie stammered.

"Oh, wow!" Melody exclaimed. "Outta sight!" she giggled.

"Let this be a warning!" declared Injun Joe. "Leave while there is still time."

"Hey, Scoob! Wait for me!" Alexander shouted as he leaped overboard.

"Oh, brother! Did you see what I think I saw?" Valerie asked as she put her hand to her face.

"Most likely." Cherry replied.

"What did ya see?" Captain Cannaby asked.

"We'll explain later," Fred replied. "Right now we gotta fish our buddies out of that river."

"What river?" Velma shrugged.

Everyone soon came to the end of the balcony to find that Shaggy, Scooby, Alexander, and Scrappy had all landed on top of each other onto a lower flower with the floater rings and hadn't gotten down into the water as they had planned to.

"Ouch..." Atticus said as he winced.

"Great... They went right into the docks..." Cherry remarked. "That has to hurt on some level."

"I'm beginning to think being followed by ghosts is a lot safer than following you two." Alexander glared at Shaggy and Scooby.

"It's a lot more interesting!" Scrappy remarked as he climbed back onto the boat.

"I thought I heard some chain rattling sounds coming from here?" Briggs questioned once he came to join the clatter.

"As a matter of fact, fella-" Alexandra began only to be cut off by a certain redheaded girl.

"You didn't." Josie interrupted.

"Then is everything all right?" Captain Cannaby asked.

"Yeah! Groovy!" Josie smiled innocently. "See ya in the morning, skipper!"

"Well, in that case, good night." Captain Cannaby said.

"And sleep tight." Briggs added as he and Captain Cannaby took their leave.

"Hey! Josie, what's with the upstaging bit?" Alexandra glared.

"Yeah, Josie, why did you lie like that?" Atticus added curiously.

"Sorry, guys, but now that we decided to help the skipper, I didn't wanna worry him." Josie explained.

"I get it; keep him unaware until we figure things out." Lionel nodded.

"Precisely." Josie smiled.

"Good to know." Atticus then said.

"Now that that's decided, we better turn in." Fred suggested.

"Right, we'll lock ourselves in our staterooms, and post a watch." Alan agreed.

"Gee, why would you wanna mail a watch?" Melody asked.

"I take back everything I ever said about Thor," Cherry said to herself. "This girl makes him look like a regular Einstein."

"He means stand guard, Melody," Velma added, sounding infuriated just as much as Cherry did before calling out to attract Shaggy and Scooby. "Any volunteers for food-tasting?"

"Seaman Shaggy reporting for duty, sir!" Shaggy saluted.

"Rooby-Doo!" Scooby added.

"I could eat." Scrappy smiled as he joined them.

"Great! ...You'll need these." Cherry said, giving them a mop, broom, and dustpan from the closet.

"Hardee-har-har, veeeery funny." Shaggy remarked.

"Reah, reeery runny," Scooby added.

"Consider them as weapons," Cherry smirked. "Ya know, for guard duty."

"Hmm..." Shaggy and Scooby narrowed their eyes in annoyance.

"Do we still get to taste some food?" Scrappy asked. "I'm pretty hungry."

"Sure, but maybe after a little bit of guard duty," Cherry suggested. "That is, if ya don't mind~"

"You're a very dirty sneak, Cherry Butler." Shaggy frowned.

"Yeah, I know." Cherry smirked.

"Hmm... I think I'll guard with them." Atticus suggested.

"If you want to," Lionel shrugged. "I'm just glad there's something to keep us occupied."

"Anyway... Great Shoulder Arms!" Shaggy commanded like an army general.

Scooby, Scrappy, and Atticus then got into position.

"Sir, yes, sir!" Atticus saluted, having fun with this so far.

"Forwaaaard, march!" Shaggy continued as they marched on opposite sides. "Hut, hut, hut, hut!"

Scooby then accidentally whacked Shaggy in the face with his mop.

"Like, who turned out the lights?" Shaggy asked in a sudden daz before shaking his head suddenly. "

I can handle guarding ghosts, but who's gonna guard me against Scooby?"

"Rorry." Scooby apologized.

"Okay... Forward, March!" Shaggy began again.

"I'll make sure that those ghosts don't come near us," Scrappy said as he took a look around. "I don't see any yet."

"Me neither, Scrappy." Patch added as he looked at the younger Great Dane, deciding to help out since Atticus was helping too.

"That's better," Shaggy declared as he accidentally knocked over Scooby. "...Scooby-Doo, where are you?"

Scooby tapped him on the shoulder. "Right here!"

Shaggy let out a yelp, and fainted.

"This is no time for games, Uncle Scooby!" Scrappy pouted.

"Accident." Scooby replied bashfully.

"Shaggy's fainted, we better wake him up." Atticus suggested.

Captain Scavenger was watching this and began to laugh.

"Wake up!" Scooby pouted as he slapped Shaggy's face with his paws.

"Here's some smelling salt." Captain Scavenger said as he handed the dog a bottle.

"Thanks." Scooby smiled as he took the bottle before he then saw the two ghosts and soon fainted as well.

"Scooby!" Patch gasped before looking over and then growled at the two ghosts. "You two!"

The duo of ghosts cackled evilly as they vanished into the wall.

Patch went to chase after the ghosts before stopping in front of the wall as the ghosts vanished through it. "They've grown intangible," he said to himself. "They must be the real deal."

"We gotta tell everyone!" Scrappy said to Patch.

"Well said, Scrappy." Patch agreed.