In Stacy's Department Store, Velma, Fred and Daphne wandered through the pet department, looking for a present for their canine friend. "How about this collar?" Velma asked, holding up a turquoise doggie collar.

"Oh, no," Daphne admonished. "That does not match Scooby's coat at all. But this one…" She held up a turquoise collar nearly identical to the first, yet, somehow, more acceptable. "This just screams Scooby."

"Those are on sale today," a raven-haired teenaged clerk replied from atop a nearby ladder as he hung a sale banner from the ceiling. "All red dot items are 30% off."

"Oh, thanks," Daphne remarked, turning her attention back to the racks. The clerk, attempting to straighten the banner, teetered precariously on the ladder's top rung. As if in slow motion, the clerk lost his balance and tumbled off the ladder, landing with a thump in a display full of socks and sweaters.

The trio jogged over to the boy to see if they could help. He struggled to extricate himself from the display, fumbling on a slippery pair of argyle socks. Fred grasped the boy's arm and yanked him to his feet. "Thanks, mister," the clerk said, blushing furiously. "This is so embarrassing."

"Accidents happen," Velma replied breezily. "I think they'll understand."

Suddenly, one of the new security robots clomped up to the gang. "Shoplifter alert!" it droned in an expressionless mechanical voice. With lightning-fast reflexes, the robot clamped onto the clerk's arm with a vise-like grip, causing the boy to cry out in pain. "Shoplifter alert!" it repeated, blaring a shrill alarm. "Shoplifter alert! Shoplifter alert!"

"Ow!" the clerk shouted over the robot's alarm. "What's this thing's problem? I haven't taken anything!"

At that moment, Maria and Brock jogged onto the scene. "What's going on here?!" demanded Maria.

She opened up the robot's head and cancelled its alarm. Its duty over, the robot released the teen and stomped off to patrol somewhere else. "Andrew Williams! I'm surprised at you. Hand it over, Andy!" Andy, the clerk, shook like a leaf, never taking his eyes off the robot. "Well?"

"I-I h-h-hav-ven't st-stolen an-n-y-y-th-thing-g-g," Andy stammered.

"It's true, Maria," Velma interjected. "We've been with him the whole time."

Maria folded her arms over her chest and eyed the shaking store clerk suspiciously. "A likely story. What's that in your front pocket?"

Andy reached into the front pocket of his black polo shirt and pulled out a pair of socks. "Oh, those must've fallen into my pocket when I tumbled off the ladder."

"Oh, Andy!" Maria sighed, massaging her forehead in irritation. "All this stems from your klutziness?" She turned to the curious crowd gathering around the scene. "Everyone, I'd like to personally apologize for the delay in your Mariawood shopping experience. And to make up for it, I'm offering 15% off your entire purchase for the next fifteen minutes."

As the crowd cheered, Maria rounded on Andy. "And every dime they save will be coming out of your paycheck!" she hissed furiously.

Brock laid a calming hand on Maria's shoulder. "Aren't you being a little harsh? It seems like it was just an honest mistake."

"Honest, my foot!" Maria exclaimed. "He's a walking disaster! If we weren't so short-staffed, I'd have fired him myself!" Brock quickly escorted Maria out of earshot as she ranted and raved about Andy's flaws.

Andy hung his head and slunk off to clean up the sweaters and socks strewn about the floor. Wordlessly, Fred, Velma and Daphne bent to help him. "You don't have to—" Andy began, but Fred cut him off with a look and a wink.

"Maria can seem pretty intimidating at first," he replied. "But she's a decent lady once you get to know her. She'll come around."

Andy blinked back tears. "Y-you th-think so?" he stammered, hastily folding sweaters and piling them haphazardly onto the display case. He extricated his nametag and cheesy 'ASK ME ABOUT OUR SALES' badge from the pile and, with shaking fingers, hastily pinned them back on his shirt.

Fred squeezed the clerk's shoulder. "I know so."

Andy managed a small smile. "I-I'd better get back to work," he murmured, jogging back onto the sales floor. "Th-thanks-s for ev-everything."

"Any time," Fred called after the young man.