Crystal Cove, KGHOUL
"You're all doomed!" came the voice on the call-in line.
"Like, uh, like who, who is this?" asked Shaggy.
"You can call me Mr. E," said the voice. "You should never have brought that locket out of the cave. You don't know what you've uncovered."
Daphne said, "Uncovered? Uncovered what?"
"A truth that should have should have remained hidden, the truth behind the curse of Crystal Cove," said Mr. E. "The real mystery has just begun."
Angel Dynamite realized this was the point of no return. She had been a friend of the gang for years and come to genuinely care for them. She had seen the locket and said nothing. If she didn't speak up now and tell them what she knew about Mr. E, and the truth came out later, then they would never trust her again. They would ask her why she hadn't spoken up before, and she would have no answer.
Her promise to Mr. E kept her silent.
Scooby-Doo said solemnly: "Scooby. Dooby. Doo."
Crystal Cove Animal Asylum for the Criminally Insane
"Mystery Incorporated to the Rescue," said Professor Pericles, as the gang stood before Scooby-Doo's cell in the Asylum.
He couldn't have heard the little music box in the locket from behind the vault door, but somehow he had. They couldn't have heard his words, but somehow they did. Pericles had secrets. Even though he was locked up in a tightly-sealed room, under soundproof glass, and in a straightjacket, he was still in communication with the Entity below Crystal Cove.
Officer Johnson was amazed that Pericles had spoken, so he opened the vault door and ran into the room.
Velma nattered on about how it wasn't uncommon for parrots to talk, but Johnson explained, "It's incredible because it's the first words he's spoken in years. He belonged to those kids who disappeared in the caves."
"You mean, this was the parrot who belonged to the original Mystery Incorporated?" asked Daphne.
Pericles chuckled. "I trust you enjoyed their little theme song."
As Officer Johnson warned the gang against him, Pericles focused his mind on the man. He was in the Entity's favor because he was willing to release it, and it had granted him a small power increase as an incentive. He was strong enough now to knock down a large man. He could also influence weaker minds without their realizing it.
Johnson pulled a roll of duct tape from his pocket. His left hand worked rapidly on his right hand and arm.
"Officer Johnson is quite correct. Now please step aside, Officer Johnson, to free your hand, which mysteriously has become duct-taped to your stun gun," said Pericles.
Johnson tried to get the taser off his hand and ended up stunning himself and falling to the floor.
"Clues await you. Clues that will lead you to the cursed secret that feeds on Crystal Cove," said Pericles.
"What secret?" asked Daphne.
"I am sure you will find out. Meanwhile, I will dispense this piece of advice: beware of those closest to you. I am specifically talking to you, Frederick."
After Johnson ushered the visitors out, Pericles pondered. Nibiru was coming soon. The entity had created this case, which would facilitate his escape from the asylum, and then there would be a race to get the pieces of the Planispheric disk and the four keys. Pericles was confident he would win. Nobody knew more about the pieces than he did, or would be more ruthless about obtaining them.
The gang didn't know how much they were a part of the curse themselves. The five-alchemical-element groups the Entity called "Children of Nibiru" did not age as long so they stayed together. This new group had been in operation for over a decade. The Entity covered for them by altering memories in Crystal Cove. As the world and technology moved on around them, the gang simply adapted without realizing what was going on. They remained high-school students, a group to themselves as their classmates moved on without them.
The gang so far had enough adventures to fill a museum with exhibits. The town had enough time to adapt everything to a haunted theme for tourists. Shaggy sometimes said they had been "teenagers forever." Fred was hazy about what "graduation" mean, and found the concept of time so confusing that he tried not to think about it.
All the parents, especially Daphne's, had gone a little crazy due to their extra-long parental roles and all the memory edits. Daphne's older sisters were originally her septuplet identical sisters. As they aged and Daphne didn't, they became her older sisters and got careers. One had married an astronaut and moved out of town – the others had practically forgotten about her.
With the additional fact that mysteries were created around them by the Entity (pulling innocent people into becoming monster-masked criminals), the five-element mystery groups were a bane to everyone around them, so Pericles believed. Some groups had imploded quickly and caused less harm. The one long-lasting group, the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery, had traveled the globe and diluted their dangerous influence by creating only a case or two in each place. But in the opinion of Pericles, this new, stable gang was the real curse of Crystal Cove. He would wipe them out once he gained power.
Then he would take over the world, of course.
No Tell Motel
Pericles examined the piece he had stolen from the home of Mayor Jones, in spite of the interference of the kinder. It had a circular glass window in it, and the left side had a square jigsaw pattern while the right had a triangular point notched out. He studied the mystic symbols on it.
There was something he had discovered about the pieces that nobody else knew. The pieces came in pairs marked with the same symbols: two triangles, two circles, and two "U" shapes. He also knew those pieces with the same symbol had an alchemical affinity. With the right process, one could be swapped for the other instantaneously over any distance.
He knew that the gang had the other piece with a circle. He was going to transpose it right out from under their noses. It wouldn't increase the number of pieces he held, but it would be a demonstration of power to the Entity, which had promised to alter everyone's memories so his trick would go undetected by anyone.
He arranged the alchemical elements around the piece on the motel-room desk: a lighter for fire, an ice cube for water, a clod of dirt for earth, and a full balloon for air. He drew mystic symbols in the dust between them and uttered an incantation. Then he placed one wing over the piece, covering from sight.
When he lifted his wing, the piece that he saw had two small triangular points on the left, and a square jigsaw pattern on the right. He had a moment of triumph, but then his mind clouded. It hadn't worked: this piece was the one he had stolen today from Jones.
The Entity chuckled in his sarcophagus. He had promised to alter everyone's memories, after all.
Fire Dimension
Scooby-Doo fired the spear shaft of the broken Heart of the Jaguar into the crystal sarcophagus which the Entity was still tethered to. The Entity was sucked into the void, and everything around the gang was being sucked in with it.
Even though it seemed they were all prolonging the inevitable, they all held onto each other, until the black hole became a ball of light and exploded.
Sitting Room
Outside of time in the Sitting Room, the Anunnaki possessing Nova sensed the quantum wavefront collapsing as the Evil Entity was sucked into the void. Kukulcan the Feathered Serpent was with her.
"Come, Kukulcan, now is our opportunity to create a better world, with the Entity's influence removed but with all the best elements preserved."
They visited all the chambers of the Sitting Room in time order, freeing the best parts of those trapped there to join their new lives.
"Fernando El Aguirre, you and your men will return to Spain without ever hearing of a pearl-filled sarcophagus," Kukulcan said. "None of the evil you did as a result of the Entity ever happened."
"Thank you," said El Aguirre. "I never imagined such redemption was possible."
"Brothers of the Fraternitas Mysterium, you and Porto will lead quiet lives of contemplation and study," said Nova.
"The town will be founded at the site by your mission, not the conquistadors of 1630, and named for the crystal-clear waters there." said Kukulkan. "It will not perish in an earthquake or explosion."
"Thank you," said Friar Serra and Porto together. The other two monks nodded their agreement.
Nova and Kukulcan moved to the room with the frozen time slice of the Alianza Misterio. They woke the masked group.
"Consuela and Alphonso, Carmen and Gomez, you will be free and you will marry. Alphonso, you will succeed your father as Mayor and have the opportunity to undo much of his evil. El Fuchi, you will live with Gomez and Carmen as their pet – descented." said Kukulkan.
"Fuchi. Fuchi. Foo," said El Fuchi.
They moved to the room of the Mystery Gang.
"Dead Justice will not be tempted to steal and will retire an honorable man. Maria will run the family ranch, with Patience continuing as a ranch hand. Tiny will stay with them. Stella will become a rodeo star and she and Sissy will become business partners and eventually run a small dude ranch together when the wild west days are over," said Nova.
"Pardners," said Stella, and Sissy smiled.
They moved to the room of the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery.
"You will all still be friends and world travelers with Mr. Peaches as your companion. Mr. Burlington will still found a library, but filled with knowledge of the natural world and not the secrets of the Anunnaki," said Kukulcan.
"Mr. Puh-puh-puh-Peaches!" said Mr. Peaches, and Burlington clapped him on the back.
They went on to the time-slice of the Darrow mansion.
"You will be a happy family and Daniel will survive the others to be the Dean of Darrow University and the proprietor of the historic Darrow mansion," said Nova.
Pericles was in a room by himself, because his full corruption was in solitary confinement at the Asylum.
"You will be the pet and friend of Frau Gluck, who will reject the Nazis and emigrate to America. She will be an oceanographic researcher, creating robots that will eventually assist marine biologists Dr. Paul Williams and Capt. Michael Murphy, the parents of Tom and Tub. When her health fails she will find a new home for you with her young bird-loving neighbor, Ricky Owens," said Nova.
"Will I still be intelligent?" asked Pericles.
"You will be a highly intelligent talking bird, but the gift of the Krampus was too much for your own good, and it will be lessened," said Kukulcan.
The main room containing the old Mystery Incorporated was next. Ricky appeared the youngest in the room. They went to him first.
"You lost all your innocence in your youth, but you never got worse as the others did," said Nova. "You will be rewarded with great success, in a business that benefits humanity."
"Thank you," said Ricky.
Cassidy said, "I got worse after my hair was cut short, and that's why my good side looks like this?"
"Remember when the gang kept rejecting your offers of help? You turned against them, refusing to try any more direct warnings even though you had advance knowledge that Brad and Judy had evil intentions. You salved your conscience with cryptic warnings on a radio station the gang might not have even been listening to any more," said Nova.
"I'm sorry about that," said Cassidy. "I tried to make up for it by saving their lives on the undersea mission."
"That was well done," said Kukulcan. "Your reward is to be united with the man you love, and share his success. However, you will not be a part of the gang's life any more. You will be a famous person who never knew them personally. As will Ricky, for his many betrayals."
"Brad and Judy, you kept getting more and more corrupted, until even your love for each other was lost. That is why your good-side images were posed back to back. You will get pleasant lives, with fond memories of raising your son together, but not in the area of skill you most loved. You will become obstetricians, giving life freedom instead of trapping it," said Nova.
"Fred Jones, you were the true father to young Fred when his real family abandoned him. You will be first the principal of Crystal Cove High and then its soccer coach, with hundreds of kids to feel like a father to, and a special bond to Fred Chiles," said Kukulcan.
They entered a larger room where more people of Crystal Cove waited.
"Those of you who became monsters and villains under the influence of the Entity will be honest citizens who will find other ways to solve your problems," said Nova.
"Parents of the gang..." began Kukulkan, but interrupted himself. "Where is the gang? They should be here, too."
"Oh no!" said Nova. "They held themselves back as the quantum waveforms collapsed. Now they are stuck with the memories they had before. They will come back to a world where they don't belong."
Kukulcan said, "They are still the ageless alchemical team of five, then. They will never grow old as long as they remain together."
Nova said, "This is a sad fate for the saviors of the world. They will want mysteries to solve, but there is no Evil Entity to create them."
Kukulkan said, "Then the good Anunnaki must intervene to give them mysteries wherever they go. But they will be lighter ones, since evil is not in charge."
"If there are crimes, we will use career criminals who would have ended up in jail in any case. In other cases, we can use people with good motives who can be forgiven and left free," said Nova.
"There is another real evil to fight at Miskatonic University. Harlan Ellison can be made the new Mr. E to help them there," said Kulkukan.
The Rogers stepped forward, "May we still have happy memories of our child as a success?"
"I see no reason why not, though your son may not meet your expectations in the future," said Nova. "The rest of the parents may have that too, if they wish."
The others agreed, but then Hot Dog Water came forward.
"What about me? I sacrificed my life for the gang, and in this new world I'll be left alone. Even if Velma and I ever do get together again, I'll age and she won't," said Marcie.
"There is a way," said Nova. "You were once a substitute for Daphne, and your personality aspect is very like Velma's. You can join the gang at the University and help them with mystery-solving. You will share Daphne's fire and Velma's earth element to become ageless as well."
"As long as V and I can be together," said Marcie. "That's what matters to me."
Crystal Cove
Nova watched as the newly-painted Mystery Machine drove out of Crystal Cove, on the road to mysteries and adventure.
"Thank you, Scooby-Doo. You are the bravest dog that ever lived," said Nova.
"Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"
The end