Alright, guys, I'm not going to hesitate any longer. Here's the next chapter, where we get in some chase-music, a chase-scene, and- hopefully- the end of the mystery!
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Daphne opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was that Kim, Debbie, Pepper, and Josie were all tied to chairs and gagged… as well as herself. Oh, man… why does this ALWAYS have to happen to the girls? she thought, bitterly. Just once, I'd like to see one of the GUYS get kidnapped, bound and gagged as a classic running gag.
What she noticed next was that Eddy Grueler and Nail-Scalp were standing near the door. "What are we going to do with them?" Nail-Scalp asked.
"Simple. We throw them into the rapids, so they can't tell anyone of our hideout." Eddy replied. "It'll be easier than having to slaughter them. No one ever comes up here, so their bodies will never be found,"
That's weird… Debbie thought to herself. In the legend, Eddy always loved to slaughter people, and needed everyone to know his work to feed off their fear and remain strong. Why would he worry about covering his tracks? Unless…
"We'll have to dispose of them later," Nail-Scalp said, taking out what appeared to be a hand-drawn map. "We're getting close to the treasure. We'll just leave these bitches to rot. These caves are impossible to navigate through without the right marks,"
The two psychos left. Once they were gone, Pepper managed to loosen her gag and speak. "Anyone else notice those killers didn't try to gut us?" she whispered.
Daphne nodded, then struggled with her own bonds. She had been captured more times than any other meddler girl- after all, she did start the trend- and knew how to get loose. She remembered her corset was tied around her wrist, thereby the bonds weren't that tight. Shifting her wrists as much as she could, she managed to slide the corset upward and pull her wrist out of the bonds. She was free!
Hurrying, she untied the other girls. "C'mon, we've got to find a way out of these caves," Josie said.
"But you heard those creeps. No one can navigate their way through them-" Kim began to point out.
"Shh! Someone's coming!" Pepper whispered, pointing down a tunnel.
They ducked around the corner, and Debbie grabbed a large rock. "I'll teach those creeps a lesson in kidnapping girls," she said.
*BAM!*
"OW!" came a shout, and Flim-Flam stumbled around the bend, seeing stars. "When did we enter the solar-system?"
"Flim-Flam! Scooby!" Daphne gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Speedy!" Debbie exclaimed, hugging the car.
"How did you guys find us?" Josie asked.
"By accident, I guess." Flim-Flam replied. "We came up here with Dotty, her dogs, Scrappy, Fangpuss, and Love Bug to find that treasure those creeps were after."
"Dotty's up here too?" Pepper gasped.
"And Fangpuss?" Kim gasped next.
"Yeah, we had to split up at the entrance, because there were three different tunnels," Flim-Flam said.
"Hey! What's going on in there?" came Bucky's voice.
"Right now, we'd better split!" Daphne said, and they all piled into Speed-Buggy.
"Go, Speedy!" Debbie cried.
"Vroom-a zoom zoom!" Speed Buggy exclaimed, and shot down the tunnel.
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The rest of the meddlers made it to the three separate tunnels at the start of the caves, after finding a set of footprints, paw-prints, and tire-tracks that led up to it. "Call me skeptical, but I have a feeling my little sister is in there," Larry said.
"And Speed Buggy and Love Bug!" Tinker added, looking at the tire tracks.
"Zoinks, Scooby, Scrappy, and the other dogs are in there, too!" Shaggy whimpered.
"And Flim-Flam!" Velma added.
"Yeah, but what's with those other paw-prints? They look like they belong to a small wolf or something," Fangs asked, arching an eyebrow.
"That reminds me. Fangs, look at the moon," Biff said.
"Huh boy, here we go…" Pugsy muttered as Fangs looked up, and soon he was once again at the mercy of Fangface.
"I gotcha now, Pugs!" Fangface snarled, shaking him rapidly.
"Not now, Fangface. We gotta save the others!" Alan told him. "Do you think you can follow their scent?"
"Sure!" The werewolf got on all fours and began following the tracks, seeing that they had split up.
"We'll have to split up and follow them," Freddy said. "Biff, you take Shaggy, DD, and Valerie and go down the tunnel to the left,"
"Right, and Melody, Fangface, Tinker, Velma and I will go down the right tunnel," Larry said.
"That leaves Pugsy, Alexandra, Alexander, Freddy and I with the middle tunnel," Mark finished.
"Golly, I hope they're alright," Tinker said as they entered.
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Scrappy, Woofer, and Whimper walked down the tunnel, sniffing around. "Hey, I think I got a scent," Scrappy said, sniffing the ground.
"What does it smell like?" Whimper asked.
"Like some sort of girly perfume… the same kind Daphne wears! She must be in the caves!"
"Great Sam Hill! I smell Pepper's scent, too!" Woofer gasped. "Along with a bunch of other scents that would belong to a female,"
"I smell some foul scents, too…" Whimper said, sniffing around. "The same scent some of those creeps had!"
"They must have taken the girls!" Scrappy figured out. "Why those creeps… When I catch up to them, they're going to get a truck-load of Puppy Power!"
"Uh, Scrappy? I think one of them already caught up to us!"
They looked over, seeing a large, creepy shadow on the wall! "Yikes! Run for it!" Woofer cried, and they took off.
"I can handle him! C'mon, you creep! Bring it on!" Scrappy snarled, raising his little fists. Woofer ran back and grabbed him and took off. "Oh, come on! I almost had him!"
Behind a rock, casting the shadow, Sebastian snickered… though a shadow loomed over him and he looked up, seeing the masked face of Michelle Mayors. Letting out a startled screech, the cat shot off down the tunnel in fright.
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Now, in every meddler situation, there's always a chase-scene, with chase-music included… and in this situation, now was the perfect time to start a scene, just as that.
Hey, don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head to feel left out
Or looked down on
Biff and Valerie looked down one tunnel, where Mason Doorkeys leaped out at them. They screamed and ran from him, dodging him by stepping off to the side and having him fall into a small precipice, then took off running. The psycho climbed out, and took off after them.
Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don't worry what they tell themselves
When you're away
Daphne and Josie ran around the corner, where Nail-Scalp was waiting behind a stalagmite with a pair of sharpened shells, and then leaped out in front of them- just as Scooby ran by, tripping him. The Great Dane yelped, and ran off with the girls.
It just takes some time
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be alright
Shaggy and DD met up with Pepper and Kim… and Michelle Mayors, and they ducked as she swung her weapon and ran off with the maniac in pursuit. Dotty and Fangpuss saw them in trouble, and she ordered Love Bug to put her lights on, blinding Michelle and helping their friends get away.
Hey, you know they're all the same
You know you're doing better on your own, (on your own)
So don't buy in
Alexandra and Alexander came across Woofer and Whimper, who yelped and tried to warn them that Bucky was right behind them! Speed Buggy drove up and ran the doll over flat, and Alexandra and Alexander got in, while the two dogs only stared dumbfounded, but got in next. Speed Buggy drove off, and Bucky pried himself off the floor, a little dazed.
Live right now
Yeah, just be yourself
It doesn't matter if it's good enough
For someone else
Freddy and Mark came across Eddy Grueler, who swiped his scissor-hand at them, and they took off, managing to elude him by ducking into a hole in the wall, where Scrappy and Flim-Flam were. Mason came across them, and Flim-Flam went into his con-act and dressed up like a sports-salesman, offering to sell Mason new scuba-gear and stocking random equipment from scuba-tanks to flippers to life preserves into his arms, until they were so full he toppled backward, and they took off.
It just takes some time
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be alright, alright
Tinker, Melody, Velma, and Fangface snuck around a corner. Tinker whispered to Melody to keep quite, and she whispered the message to Velma, who whispered the message to Fangface… who whispered the message to Michelle, who raised a knife. The werewolf gasped and tapped Velma, making her turn around, and she tapped Melody, who tapped Tinker… who yelped and they all ran.
It just takes some time
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be alright, alright
Everyone soon met up with their own gang… but the creeps were still on their tail! Quickly as they could, each gang ran through different tunnels, followed by different villains. Josie and the Pussycats ran through the first tunnel pursued by Michelle, running out of the second tunnel; Speed Buggy and his gang drove out the fourth tunnel, into the third one, pursued by Mason; The Clue Club raced into the second tunnel, running out of the third one pursued by Eddy Grueler; Fangface and his gang ran out of the first tunnel and into the fourth, followed by Nail-Scalp; and Mystery Inc. shot out the second tunnel into the first, with Bucky on their trail.
Hey, don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head to feel left out (feel left out)
Or looked down on
Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy ducked inside a small cave, where Eddy stood. Scrappy balled his fists, ready to fight, but Scooby grabbed him and they took off.
Just do your best (do your best)
Do everything you can (everything you can)
And don't worry about what the bitter hearts
Are gonna say
The rest of the gangs raced down the cavern, where they found a fishing net, barrels of oil, and rope stashed away. Freddy developed an idea and whispered his plan to the others, and they began to set up a trap.
It just takes some time
Little girl you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything's gonna be just fine
Everything, everything's gonna be alright, alright
The villains regrouped, wondering where all the kids went, when there was a whistle and they saw Flim-Flam and Dotty standing there, making faces at them. The villains raced after them, where they slid on oil down the tunnel, landing on a net and being hoisted into the air.
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After calling the police to the caves, everyone stood around at the tied up villains. "Amazing what kind of equipment some psychos have lying around some caves," Velma noted. "Especially boating equipment,"
"Now lets see who's really behind all this," Daphne said, reaching for a mask…
*BANG!*
Everyone froze, seeing a masked figure standing off to the side. "Don't move a muscle," he said. "This is one mystery that won't be solved,"
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There's another cliffhanger for you. The villains are captured, but the mystery remains. Answers will come in the next chapter.