Chapter 10
The next morning was somewhat picturesque, by Transylvanian standards naturally: the sky was slate gray and it looked there was going to be a thunderstorm with plenty of rain coming in soon; which of course made it perfect racing weather, at least according to the organizer of the race, who was at the moment standing in a clearing with a starter's pistol in his right hand.
"Dracy, is it time to start the race yet? The weather's doing supernatural things to my hair and quite frankly I don't like it" Vanapira remarked, while twirling a strand of her dark brown hair.
"You've got to be kidding me! You live in Transylvania and you're married to Count Dracula and you're worried about what the weather would do to your hair?" Dracula asked.
"Yes, why?" Vanapira replied with a question of her own.
"Because we've been living here for hundreds of years and you've never complained about the weather before," Dracula remarked.
"Well, actually I have, but you weren't around to hear it" Vanapira replied.
"Oh for crying out loud; if I weren't so busy I would, well you don't want to know" Dracula commented.
"Wait, where are you going?" Vanapira wondered.
"I want to talk to Sha-Gee, before the race starts" Dracula replied.
"Why?" Vanapira wondered.
"Because I want to let him know of some of the rules and things like that," Dracula commented.
"Like what?" Vanapira questioned.
"Well, if you must now I want to make sure Sha-Gee doesn't try anything, or doesn't try and escape, or that his friends don't try and escape" Dracula replied.
"Draccy! I'm surprised at you! Shaggy wouldn't try and escape, he agreed to race and you made a deal with him that you would change him back if he wins, so you have to honor that agreement" Vanapira explained.
"Oh fine, just fine; now if you don't mind I have to take care of some pre-race business," Dracula said before walking away in somewhat of a huff.
"I don't know why I married her, even for a monster she can be so, so aggravating sometimes; I guess this is what mortal husbands go through with their wives as well, although sometimes I wonder if I would have been better of as a mortal in the first place" Count Dracula added as he walked towards Shaggy and the rest of Mystery Inc.
Meanwhile, in the pits or what passed for the pits of the monster race course Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby were discussing what their plan should be for the upcoming race; the cowardly teen turned werewolf would naturally drive but what about the rest of the group?
"Like I still wish I didn't have to drive this race, I barely got any sleep last night; plus who knows what Dracula and his cronies did to the Werewolf Car, not to mention who knows what other traps Dracula has set on the course" Shaggy explained.
"Listen Shaggy, if it makes you feel any better I'll join you and Scooby in the Werewolf car, that way I'll be able to assist you two in navigating through the course with ease" Fred explained.
"Fred's right, plus Daphne and I will be in the Mystery Machine and we'll use the van's radio communications system to keep in contact with your car" Velma replied.
"Like I still wish I had something else to keep me calm through this whole thing" Shaggy said.
"I bet I have something that might do the trick" Velma replied; the bespectacled college student then walked over to Shaggy's car, leaned her head through the driver's side window and gave the cowardly scholar turned werewolf a soft kiss on his furry lips.
"Like arooo! Velma I think that did the trick!" Shaggy remarked with a howl.
"I figured it would, good luck Shaggy and remember if you don't win the race you'll be a werewolf forever" Velma said with a smile, as her cheeks began to turn a slight red.
The redhead member of the group also decided to take this opportunity to wish her boyfriend/navigator good luck as well as she walked over to the passenger side of the car and gave Fred a kiss on his cheek.
"What was that for Daphne?" Fred asked with a befuddled look on his face.
"For good luck what else? Just be careful out there ok Freddie?" the redhead said with a smile.
"I sure will, come on Shaggy let's get this thing started" the blond teen replied.
"Wait just one minute!" a voice called from some distance away.
The gang wondered where the voice was coming from, that is until they noticed a familiar green faced figure with black hair and wearing a dark black cape coming towards them, which considering what had happened so far in the gang's current adventure, meant bad news.
"Dracula!" the gang said in unison.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Sha-Gee and his friends" Dracula replied.
"What do you want you creep?" Daphne asked.
"Yes, Shaggy has already agreed to drive in your dumb monster race, and he'll win; so I don't know why you're here right now" Velma remarked, with a little anger in her voice, considering what Dracula had done to Shaggy, specifically turning him into a furry werewolf and making him compete in a monster version of the Indianapolis 500.
"I just wanted to wish you good luck in today's race Sha-Gee, and considering you are competing against all of the monsters of my realm and considering they are some of the best drivers in the world, monster or yuck, mortal you'll need all the luck you can get" Dracula replied.
"Well then it's a good thing we've decided to come up with a plan that will assure Shaggy of winning this race, and showing all you monsters what a real driver can do" Fred commented.
"Oh really? And just what kind of plan can you mortals and that dog figure out that will help your precious Sha-Gee win this race?" Dracula questioned, with his arms folded and looking clearly annoyed with the members of Mystery Inc.
"Rell, ri rever!" Scooby said, sounding somewhat infuriated in the back seat of the werewolf car.
"Don't worry about it Scoob, he's just trying to psych us out, so we won't win the race; anyway, go ahead and tell him what our plan is Fred" Shaggy remarked, trying to reassure his canine companion.
"Right Shaggy, well we've decided to have Daphne and Velma use our van the Mystery Machine to travel along the race course and assist us via radio; meanwhile, Scooby and I will be assisting Shaggy in the Werewolf Car with driving and navigating" the blond teen leader of Mystery Inc. replied.
"Very good strategy, it's no wonder why you're such a good driver Sha-Gee; of course it would be a good strategy except for one thing" Dracula commented.
"What's that?" Fred asked.
"I don't mind your female friends being on the race course as from what you described, they will actually not be participating in the race; as for your dog, I have no problem with him being in the car, but as for your sharing driving and navigating strategy" Dracula replied.
"What about it?" Fred asked.
"Well, you see we have a rule here: all participants, whether drivers or navigators in the Monster of the Year race, must be monsters of some kind; as I said before, your dog and the two girls I have no problem with, but as for you Blondie..." Dracula replied.
"Wait a minute, can't your rules be broken every once in a while?" Daphne asked.
"Yeah, this is a special occasion" Velma added.
"Well, I never like to break rules, but then again I am different when it comes to this sort of thing, so therefore I will bend the rules just this once" Dracula commented.
"Fantastic!" Velma exclaimed.
"Jeepers, that's wonderful" Daphne added.
"However, I do have one, shall we say condition to letting you participate Blondie" Dracula commented, while chuckling evilly under his breath.
"Hmm, I suppose that would be all right" Fred remarked.
"Like Fred, are you crazy? This is Count Dracula we're talking about, we already know what he's capable of, besides he might try and trick us somehow" Shaggy replied, trying to talk some sense into his comrade.
"Shaggy, I know who he is and what he is, but remember if you don't win this race, you'll be the only mystery solving werewolf in the world so we'll have to trust him, besides you'll need all our help to win this race, so I don't mind doing anything that he needs us to do" the blond teen commented.
"Ah, little do you know that Sha-Gee won't be the only mystery solving werewolf in your little group, Blondie" Dracula said under his breath, while chuckling evilly.
"All right Dracula, what's your condition?" Fred wondered.
"It's very simple really, just exit the Werewolf Car and I'll tell you" Dracula replied.
"All right" Fred commented; a few seconds later, the blond teenager left the vehicle and walked out into the pits in front of where Dracula was standing.
"Now, what was your name again?" the vampire asked.
"Fred Jones, why?" Fred replied with a question of his own.
"Very well Fred, here" Dracula commented as he slipped a hand into a pocket of his cape; Scooby and company didn't know quite what to make of this at least at first, but after a few seconds his hand came out holding a small vial filled with some kind of clear liquid, which confused the gang greatly, so one of the members of the group decided to ask Dracula about it.
"Count Dracula?" Velma queried.
"Yes, my dear, what is it?" Dracula asked.
"Call me curious, but what is that vial and what does it have to do with the race?" Velma wondered.
"Very simple, I will show you" Dracula remarked.
With that Count Dracula walked over to the blond teenager and leader of Mystery Inc., and placed the small vial of liquid into the teen sleuth's hand; Fred was a little confused as to what the liquid was for and decided to ask the vampire about it as well.
"Dracula, why are you giving me this and why do I need it?" the blond college student asked.
"Simple Fred, all you have to do is open the vial and drink the liquid inside and then you will be able to participate in the race, oh and make sure to drink every drop of the liquid, there can be nothing left in the vial" Dracula explained.
"All right, if you say so" Fred replied.
So with that the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. uncapped the small vial and began drinking the clear liquid; Dracula watched the teen sleuth consume all of the strange fluid and smiled evilly as he did so, while the rest of the gang looked on curiously as the unusual scene unfolded.
With all of the strange clear liquid gone from the vial, having been digested by the blond college age sleuth, the rest of the gang and Fred wondered just what the liquid was and what it was going to do to him; after a few seconds, the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. was about to get his answer.
Suddenly, the blond college student dropped the small vial from his hand to the ground, naturally because it was glass, it smashed into several dozen pieces; but the gang weren't worried about that at the moment, actually they were more worried about their blond comrade who was now groaning in pain as he stumbled backwards towards the Werewolf Car; amazingly Fred was able to keep his balance though and a few seconds after he began groaning in pain, the gang and Dracula noticed that the blond college student's body had begun to transform.
It started with Fred's hair as it became a little messier than normal, and proceeded to his face as thick brown fur covered every square inch of it, while his ears became pointed and more like those found on an animal rather than a human being; meanwhile something in his eyes changed as well and his nose transformed from a regular human one into a black round nose; inside of his mouth his teeth changed a little as well from human to something close to a member of the canine family.
The strange transformation then proceeded to Fred's arms as both of them began changing, becoming covered in thick brown fur, similar to the kind that was now covering his face; the college student's hands began to change as well, into what looked like paws with sharp black claws at the end of each finger; finally his feet began transforming, in addition to his hands, they were also becoming paws, and as a result of this they began sticking through his brown shoes as sharp black claws were now where his toenails were only a few moments ago; while this was going on Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Velma watched in horror as yet another member of the group became a werewolf thanks to Dracula, while said vampire looked on and smiled evilly.
Fred began growling a little after the transformation finished but like Shaggy after he transformed into a werewolf, the blond college student was able to control himself and keep his animal like emotions, thoughts and cravings in check; of course the female members of the group didn't think this was a good thing and as soon as Fred was able to control himself they began yelling at Dracula.
"What have you done?" Velma asked, with a tinge of anger in her voice.
"Jeepers, my Freddie is a werewolf" Daphne added, with a mix of anger and sadness in her voice; while this was going on however, tears also began to steam down her face as she walked over to where Fred was standing and put her arms around him.
"Zoinks! Like Fred you were right, I knew we shouldn't have trusted him; I was a total idiot to listen to what he was saying" Shaggy remarked; by now he had exited the werewolf car as well and joined Scooby Doo in trying to comfort their friends.
"Oh how simply touching, you know I really should use more mortals in my races" Dracula commented, clearly ignoring what was going on with the gang; although considering his nature, it made sense.
"You, you fiend! How dare you do this to my Freddie, I'm going to have my parents hire a good monster hunter and an attorney and you Dracula will be sued back to…" Daphne began as she pointed her finger towards him in an accusing manner, she also looked like she was going to run straight towards the vampire and do him some serious harm; that is before Fred put his arms on her shoulders to attempt to stop her from doing something she was going to regret.
"Daphne, will you stop and listen to reason for a second" the blond college student, and now werewolf commented.
"All right, I guess I can" the red head replied as she wiped a tear away form her cheek.
"Daphne, you knew that we made the plan for this race last night; that you and Velma were going to take the van and communicate with us via the Mystery Machine's radio setup and that Scooby and I were going to join Shag in his car for the race, so you knew there was a chance that I was going to be in some danger" Fred stated.
"I know Freddie, I know but I never thought that he would stoop so low as to turn you into a werewolf; how is going to look to everyone at home and our clients if we have two werewolves as members of the group?" Daphne replied.
"Clients? Do you mortals and that dog run a business?" Dracula asked.
"Yes we do as a matter of fact, why do you care?" Daphne questioned, still quite perturbed with Count Dracula.
"Well, I do remember the Grimness Book saying something about Sha-Gee and his friends being private detectives" Dracula remarked.
"Jinkies, that book must know everything; we didn't even tell you that, but since you asked, yes were are private investigators, sometimes we stumble into mysteries and sometimes clients hire us for cases, it really depends; but most of the time we encounter fake ghosts and monsters" Velma explained.
"Ahh, interesting; what are these phony ghosts and monsters like?" Dracula asked, his curiosity having been peaked.
"Well most of them are just people in masks trying to scare everyone away from somewhere because they are trying to cover up some kind of crime they try and commit" Velma replied.
"Hmm, very good; I always hate that, fake ghosts and monsters have always given us bad names anyway, although I do enjoy Halloween now that I think of it" Dracula commented.
"Why?" Fred asked, as Daphne continued to hold onto his right arm.
"Because I think of it as kind of a tribute; think about it: mortal children actually dressing up like us and receiving gifts, it's too bad I didn't think of it first" Dracula commented.
"Actually Count Dracula, like on Halloween most people give out candy to mortal children" Shaggy corrected him.
"Oh, well it's still a good holiday; besides even full grown mortals dress up like us in movies and television shows, now that's a compliment" Dracula replied.
"I guess you could say that, I mean we really enjoy Halloween and horror movies too, although I guess we live in a horror movie every day" Velma remarked.
"Yes I would say so" Dracula replied; meanwhile the two gruesome twosome known as the Hunch Bunch had made their way over to the pits and were carrying what looked to be a dark blue racing suit.
"Master, I do believe I have something for that blond gentleman" Brunch remarked as he tapped Dracula on the shoulder.
"Yeah, here" Crunch added, although he slobbered a bit as he spoke.
"Ugh, thank you Hunch Bunch and Brunch do me a favor will you?" Dracula remarked.
"Yes Master, what is it?" the well-articulated member of the pair asked.
"Make sure Crunch gets some speaking lessons, I'm getting really tired of his mush-mouth" Dracula replied.
"I heard that!" Crunch yelled to his fellow hunchback and Count Dracula.
"Yes Master" Brunch replied as he and Crunch ran back towards the starting line.
"Ooh those two, I should have had my head examined when they asked to be me my right hand monsters" Dracula remarked.
"Well if that's the case I know plenty of good doctors" Velma remarked while giggling under her breath.
"Very funny, but back to the matter at hand; Blondie, if you would please changed into the racing suit that the Hunch Bunch gave me, we can get started" Dracula commented as he gave the suit to Fred.
"Very well, I'll be a few moments" Fred remarked.
After a few minutes had passed the blond college aged sleuth came out from behind the Werewolf Car dressed in a Dark Blue racing suit, basically it was the same color as Shaggy's, which amused the gang and actually made Dracula chuckle a bit as well.
"Well, well, it looks like we have the first set of twins racing in the history of the Monster of the Year competition" Dracula remarked with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah Shaggy, you and Fred might be brothers" Velma added with a chuckle.
"Now that all the laughs are taken care of, I need to remind you of a few things Sha-Gee and Blondie" Dracula remarked.
"My name is Fred" the blond teenager replied, gritting through his teeth.
"Fine, fine whatever; first, anything goes in this race, all the cars have special equipment that is geared to the driver's specifications and styles, your car is no different Sha-Gee, second, the winner of the race is the first car to cross the finish line, I'm assuming that's the way things are done in the mortal world as well, am I correct?" Dracula explained.
"Yes they are" Shaggy remarked.
"Good, finally the most important part of this particular race: Sha-Gee and Fred, if you win I will change you both back to ugh, normal and you can all go back home to your pathetic little lives, but if you lose, you two will stay werewolves forever and you will stay here and live in my castle; as for the girls and the dog, they may go home if they wish" Dracula replied.
"What! We didn't agree to that!" Fred yelled.
"Oh, you didn't well I guess I'm just full of surprises aren't I?" Dracula said.
"Yeah you are and here's another surprise you weren't expecting Dracula: if Shaggy and Fred lose, we're all staying here, Daphne, myself and Scooby included, so how do you like that?" Velma replied with a somewhat satisfied look on her face.
"Velma, are you crazy? You can't stay here as mortals, those monsters will tear you to pieces, like including us" Shaggy said, with a somewhat shocked look on his face and tone in his voice.
"Oh don't worry Sha-Gee, your little companions won't be mortal, they'll be monsters too; besides, I could always use more monsters around here, maybe these two girls would make good witches or vampires" Dracula replied.
"That's more than fine with us, besides we wouldn't go anywhere without Fred or Shaggy" Daphne remarked.
"Right Daphne, I wouldn't want to be separated from Shaggy for one second" Velma added.
"Oh fine, just fine, now if you three will get into the Werewolf Car, start it up and head for the starting line we can get on with this race, besides I need to get back to the starting line myself, I'm supposed to start the race and be the play by play announcer as well" Dracula replied, somewhat impatiently.
"Sure and just to let you know at the end of the race, you'll be handing us the trophy right Shaggy?" Fred asked as he climbed into the passenger's seat of the vehicle.
"Like right, I just hope we can get through this race alive and healthy" Shaggy replied after having re-entered the vehicle.
"Excellent, but I wouldn't count on it" Dracula said, although the second part of his statement he said underneath his breath before disappearing.
"Well I guess Dracula's getting ready for the race" Daphne commented.
"Right and we should get ready too, could luck Shaggy" Velma said as leaned in through the driver's side window and gave him another kiss on his furry lips.
"Like aaaooooh! That was great Velma and thanks" the cowardly college student replied with a howl.
"You too Freddie, be careful; we don't know what traps Dracula has in store for you and Shaggy" Daphne said as she leaned through the passenger side window and planted a kiss on Fred's now furry lips.
"Shaggy, I couldn't agree more aaaoooh! Daphne, that was great and don't worry about us, we'll be fine" the blond werewolf said with a howl.
"Roh rother, reven ri ron't rhowl rhat ruch" Scooby commented as he placed his hands over his ears.
"Come on Shaggy, let's get this show on the road" Fred declared.
"Right Fred" Shaggy replied as he put the Werewolf Car into gear and began driving in towards the starting line.
After the werewolf car headed on its way, Daphne and Velma headed for the crimson colored Mystery Machine and entered it; since they had already discussed who would do what during the race; Daphne took the wheel of the famous van and served as the driver for the race, while Velma, having plenty of experience with technology and the van's equipment decided to take the passenger's seat and served as the navigator during the race, in addition to operating the van's radio system, so with their roles decided already Daphne and Velma took off in the Mystery Machine for the start-finish line and the beginning of the Monster of the Year race; meanwhile both of them were unaware that Dracula and the other monsters were still planning on keeping Shaggy and Fred from winning the race and were planning on pulling pit all the stops to do so, but thankfully the two female members of the group were just a radio call away just in case.
Author's Notes: Hopefully everyone liked the Fraphne and Shelma moments and plot twist I put in the chapter; actually it came from me asking someone about what they thought of this story idea on a Scooby Doo chat once and they suggested Fred being a monster to race with Shaggy would be a good idea so I used it, plus actually I thought about doing it even before it was suggested as well.