The next day they drove up to the lake. Fred was as excited as Velma at the prospect of the scavenger hunt. Velma borrowed Polly's lab coat and as the security system was still active, her ID as well "The security system won't be turned off until the building is empty, so as I'm on holiday today, you can be officially me" said Polly as she handed Velma her lab-coat and ID "Parts of the building are still off limits, as far as the security system is concerned, to all but me and a couple others so you'll need the ID to get around." Polly then addressed Velma and Fred "OK both of you, remember you just have the van with you, so not too much." both promised that they would try "OK, off you...... go?" Polly said to the dissipating dust clouds. Shaggy was sunning himself on a deck chair and Polly and Daphne were sitting on a picnic blanket nearby. Polly was throwing Scooby Snacks to Scooby whilst Daphne described the history of Mystery Inc to her.

"Man, this is the life Scoob" said Shaggy "Who'd have thought science could be so relaxing"

"Reah" agreed Scooby grabbing a Scooby Snack in mid air.

Just then Polly's phone rang, after answering the call she looked at Daphne with concern "McKleef broke out of jail early this morning. Do you think we should get the others"

"Is he likely to try anything?" asked Daphne

"He's only shown perseverance when it comes to maintaining his ego" said Polly

"Better tell them, just in case" advised Daphne "Shaggy, Scooby come on, let's get Velma and Fred" she called out. The group set off towards the building when there came a crashing noise from the lab. Some of the workers were running out shouting out about a monster attacking the place. "Velma!" cried Shaggy and he dashed inside with Scooby hard on his heels. Polly and Daphne were there a few seconds later. They entered the building and headed to the main room, just as they got there Fred and Velma came in from the other side. They headed to each other

"What's going on?" asked Fred

"Something is attacking the building" said Polly. Just then part of the wall was knocked down and a large blob smashed its way in. It looked like a monster bacteria with flagella at it's base.

The monster lunged towards the gang; they split in two Fred, Daphne and Polly in one direction, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma in another. The monster followed the latter but managed to catch Fred, Daphne and Polly with a flagella which sent them flying. Shaggy Scooby and Velma reached the corner of the room, Shaggy and Scooby went one way, Velma the other. The creature then went after Velma, a finger like structure emerged and darted for Velma, it landed just in from of her, she stopped and started to run back the way she came. The structure darted for her again, this time catching her by one of her legs and pressing her to the floor.

"Shaggy, help" she shouted, "it's eating me" as it began to envelop her. Shaggy and Scooby dashed to help only to be knocked down by another flagella and landing in a heap together

"Radio Rag, Radio Rag" barked Scooby

"What? Right the radio tag" replied Shaggy, he quickly took the tag from Scooby's collar and set off for Velma again. Scooby tried to distract the creature and took a different route to Velma.

"Help! Anyone! Please help!" screamed Velma, she was trying to pull herself free but could not, only her shoulders, head and arms were free. Shaggy dodged one flagella then another, then another

"Velma! Catch!" shouted Shaggy, he leapt over yet another flagella and threw the tag to her, it landed just in front of her face, she grabbed it just as it began to envelope her head. A flagella slammed into Shaggy sending him crashing into a wall he fell on the floor but didn't get up

"Shagg.." Velma's cry was stopped as her head was enveloped, rapidly followed by her arms. She curled into a ball and clutched tightly to Scooby's dog tag.

Once Velma had been engulfed the creature seemed to head towards Shaggy, Scooby dashed over and stood over him, refusing to leave his fallen friend. The monster hesitated then turned away towards where it had came from. Fred, Daphne and Polly pulled themselves up to see Velma trapped in a bubble inside the monster, pounding on the wall, fear etched on her face, she was shouting but no sound came our. The monster rapidly shuffled out of the room towards the lake which it entered a few seconds later. Fred and Daphne rushed over to help Shaggy, Polly tried to see in which direction the monster had gone.

Shaggy came round and shook his head "Man, what happened. Feels like I've been kicked by a horse"

"We were attacked by a monster of some kind, it took Velma." said Fred

"She's got Scooby's radio tag; I managed to get it to her and saw her grab it" said Shaggy

"I know Shaggy" replied Daphne "I saw you, that was very brave of you."

"Well let's get gooo oh oh" Shaggy tried to move but found it too painful.

"Don't worry Shag, we'll get you patched up then go looking for Velma" said Fred. Shaggy was taken to a nearby hospital, fortunately there were no broken bones but he had dislocated his shoulder, his ribs and stomach were a mass of bruises and he had mild concussion. Shaggy rested in the back of the Mystery Machine whilst they drove around trying to get a fix on the signal. The trouble was that the radio tag was only a short range device and the local topography was played havoc with reception. A couple of times they thought they had the signal but it vanished before they could make any use of it. They searched till it was dark without success, tomorrow they would take a different approach. Velma would have to be patient, they all knew the drill. They would be up and out early the next day, they were sure that they would find Velma sooner or later.

Early the next day the gang went looking for monster tracks. Polly had the approximate direction the monster had gone in and they were exploring the shoreline to try to find the place where the monster had come ashore. Due to the size of the lake, the gang knew they were in for the long haul. Despite his injury, Shaggy was taking full part. Both Fred and Daphne had asked if he wanted to rest, but he refused point blank. To cover more ground they had split up into two groups, Shaggy, Scooby and Polly were going along the shoreline where it was easier for Shaggy to walk, Fred and Daphne were checking up the slope. Fred and Daphne had spread out so they could cover more ground, Daphne had moved ahead of the group.

Daphne's screams pierced the air, the rest of the group came rushing over. Something had to be gravely wrong for Daphne to scream like that. They came across a trembling Daphne, her face as white as a sheet was frozen in horror. She pointed a shaking finger towards some bushes. Fred quickly took hold of her; she could barely stand and was already going into shock. Polly, Shaggy and Scooby inched towards where Daphne had pointed. Polly buried her face in her hands and slumped against a tree, Shaggy sank to his knees and wept, Scooby covered his eyes and howled. A few feet away by the bushes was a large area of wet ground, sprawled at the centre was a skeleton covered in sticky acidic smelling slime, it was wearing Velma's clothes with her glasses near by.