Chapter 7: Enter the Chan Clan
October 7, 1968
It has been a month since Shaggy, Scooby and Sugie have befriended Daphne, as well as Fred and his brother Geoff at a dinner party the subsequent day. During that time, Shaggy, Daphne, Scooby and Fred have become closer as a group and it became noticed in school that Shaggy and Fred's rivalry has diminished in intensity.
The four friends will gather together often to work on their homework or assignments, and they continued to remain active at school.
That day was a typical school day at Central High School as classes went by as usual. However, there were rumours that a new student is transferring to the school from Hawaii.
During lunch period, Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Fred were seated at their usual table having lunch.
"Like, I heard that there's someone transferring to Central today." Shaggy remarked after finishing a triple-decker sub.
"Yeah. A lot of guys were talking about that during my English class." Fred nodded.
"I sure wonder who that new student is." Daphne wondered.
"Ri rink ri rave re ranswer." (I think I have the answer.) Scooby said as his tail pointed towards a certain direction.
Shaggy, Daphne and Fred turned and looked. At a table seated a young boy with short black hair and wearing an orange shirt, green pants and a pair of brown sneakers, who is accompanied by a middle-aged woman with long black hair tied into a ponytail and wearing an orange dress. Both of them appeared to be of East Asian descent, and Scooby can hear them speaking in a language he couldn't understand.
"I see." Fred nodded as Shaggy and Daphne returned to eating their lunches.
Meanwhile over at police headquarters in downtown Coolsville, Police Chief Sam Rogers was reading a file while a middle-aged man with short black hair and dressed in a blue suit is seated across the chief's desk. Like the boy and woman mentioned earlier, the man appeared to be of East Asian descent.
"Detective Sergeant Charles 'Charlie' Chan." Sam read as he looked through the file. "Excellent reputation as a detective and has helped close a large number of cases during your service with the Honolulu Police Department."
"That's me, chief." The detective nodded, and Sam can detect a Cantonese accent in the man's voice. "It's a great honour to be here in Coolsville."
"I agree. Coolsville is a great city, although things can be rough around here, which is why it is important that you do your best, Sergeant Chan." Sam said.
"You'll get my best work, chief. I promise." Charlie replied.
"Excellant." Sam nodded. "After all, you don't carry a badge for nothing, and I expect my men to do their best in keeping this city safe."
"Yes, sir. You can count on me." Charlie nodded as he proudly presents himself.
"That's exactly what I want to hear." Sam smiled as he and Charlie shook hands after handing him his badge.
After the handshake, Sam then picked up his office phone and within minutes, the door to his office opened and in came a middle-aged black male dressed in a dark grey suit.
"Sergeant Chan, I'll like you to meet your new partner at Major Crimes Division, Lieutenant Nelson McCormick." Sam said as he introduced the lieutenant.
Turning to McCormick, he continued, "Nelson, I'll like you to meet your new partner Sergeant Charles 'Charlie' Chan. He's transferred from Honolulu."
"A pleasure meeting you, Sergeant Chan." McCormick said as he offered his hand. "And welcome to Coolsville."
"Likewise, Lieutenant." Charlie smiled as he shook McCormick's offered hand. "And thank you. I do look forward in getting started."
"Excellent." McCormick nodded before turning to the chief and added. "I believe I can take over from here, sir."
"Yes, Lieutenant." Sam nodded in agreement. He then sat down as the two men left his office.
Later after lunch, Shaggy and Daphne arrived at their chemistry class. As they took their usual seats, they both spotted the boy cautiously entering the classroom after taking a glance at what appeared to be his school timetable.
The teacher, Mr. McDabble, saw the boy and went over to greet him.
"Mr. Henry Chan, I presume?" He asked.
"Uh, yes, sir." Henry nodded.
"I'm Mr. McDabble, and I'll be teaching your chemistry class for the school year." The chemistry teacher introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, sir." Henry said as he shook Mr. McDabble's offered hand, and Shaggy thought he could detect a slight trace of an accent in his voice.
"Likewise, Mr. Chan." Mr. McDabble nodded before getting the class' attention. "Now everyone, listen up! I'll like to introduce Mr. Henry Chan, a new student from Hawaii who was transferred to Central just this morning. I expect all of you to make him feel welcome during and after classes and to treat him with respect, just like how every one of you will like to be treated with respect from your peers."
After the introduction, the teacher than proceeded with the class while Henry took a seat beside Shaggy.
During the class, Shaggy was tempted to ask the boy where he was from but decided to focus on the class instead.
Eventually, the class was split into groups to work together on an in-class assignment, and as usual, Shaggy went with his usual group consisting of himself, W.W. of the Mysteries Five school band and Tinker.
Henry watched the trio grouped up before deciding to walk over and ask, "Pardon me, but mind if I join your group?"
"Like, be my guest, man." Shaggy smiled. "We're always welcome to new group members!"
"Groovy!" Henry nodded as he joined the group. "By the way, I'm Henry."
"Like, the name's Rogers. Norville Rogers, although most of my friends call me Shaggy." Shaggy said as he offered his hand.
"My name's Walter, but most people call me W.W." W.W. added as Henry shook hands with Shaggy.
"And you can call me Tinker." Tinker added as he and W.W. took turns shaking Henry's hand.
"Nice meeting you all." Henry smiled as he sat down. "Today's my first day of school here in Coolsville."
"Don't worry, you'll fit right in, Henry." Tinker smiled before they got down to work on their assignment, which they managed to finish after about fifteen minutes.
While waiting for Mr. McDabble to take up the assignment, Shaggy leaned over and asked Henry, "So where're you from, Henry?"
"I'm actually born in Hong Kong, but I grew up in Honolulu." Henry replied. "My family speaks Cantonese at home, although my younger siblings mostly communicate in English."
"Cool." W.W. remarked as Shaggy and Tinker nodded understandingly. "So what does your parents do for a living?"
"Well, my father is a police detective and my mother is a nurse."
"A police detective, eh?" Tinker commented. "I guess he's now working for Shag's father, who is the city's police chief."
"Oh, really?" Henry asked as he turned to Shaggy.
"Like, that's right." Shaggy nodded. "My father had a reputation as an excellent police detective, and if your father works hard in solving cases, he should be able to fit right in working for him."
"I see." Henry nodded. "Good to know, because my father does work hard in solving cases."
"Well, like, in that case, he's the type of man my father will consider to be a great addition on the force." Shaggy replied.
"Ah. Good to know." Henry smiled. "I guess Pop made the right decision in accepting the transfer to Coolsville."
"Like, Coolsville is a great place, so I do hope your family enjoy your stay here." Shaggy added.
It was then that Mr. McDabble got the class' attention as he prepares to take up the in-class assignment.
After directing Henry to the classroom for his final period class, Shaggy joined Daphne as they made their way to their civics class.
"So he's born in Hong Kong and grew up in Honolulu, eh?" Daphne asked once she met up with Shaggy as they made their way to their class.
"Yeah. He's really friendly and polite, and he helped a lot in getting my group to finish the in-class assignment in, like, fifteen minutes." Shaggy nodded.
"I see." Daphne nodded thoughtfully as they arrived at their civics classroom.
"I always wanted to go to Hawaii for a trip, but my father is usually tied up in cases for our family to go on a vacation." Fred remarked later after school as the four friends met up at the school entrance and Shaggy and Daphne told them that Henry is from Hawaii.
"Well, I've been to Hawaii a few times while accompanying my father on some business trips, and the beaches are great." Daphne agreed.
"Like, and I heard that the food in Hawaii is great!" Shaggy added as Scooby licked his lips.
"Oh, do you guys ever think of something else other than food when it comes to other places?" Daphne teased.
"Well, like, my mind will be thinking properly if someone didn't eat my triple-decker sandwich while I wasn't looking during lunch time." Shaggy replied as Scooby smirked, revealing himself to be the one responsible for eating Shaggy's sandwich.
Fred laughed as he watched Scooby making the smirk. "Maybe that should teach you to keep a sharp eye on your food at all times, Shag."
"Don't worry, Shag." Daphne smiled as she patted Shaggy's back. "I might whip something up for you when I get home so you won't get too hungry."
"Like, that sounds like a groovy idea, Daph." Shaggy smiled as they prepared to walk home.
On their way out, they saw Henry being picked up by his mother.
Henry spotted them and waved his arm, leading them to walk over.
"Hey Shaggy." Henry said as the group walked over to him.
"Hey Henry." Shaggy smiled as he shook his hand. "Like, you're heading home now?"
"Not quite." Henry replied. "My mother is taking me to the hospital for a checkup."
"I see." Shaggy nodded before turning to his friends and continued, "Like, by the way, this is Daphne Blake, Freddie Jones and my old buddy Scooby Doo."
"Nice meeting you all." Henry smiled as he shook each of their hands (Paw for Scooby's case.)
"Likewise, Henry." Fred nodded as he shook Henry's hand. "Welcome to Coolsville and I hope you all enjoy your stay."
"Thank you." Henry smiled before gesturing towards his mother and added, "By the way, this is my mother Diana."
After introducing them each to his mother, she smiled as she said, "Nice meeting you all."
"Likewise, Mrs. Chan." Shaggy smiled as his group nodded.
Henry then got on his mother's car and added, "In the meantime, my appointment is in about fifteen minutes, so we'd better to get going. Have a nice day, eh?"
"Yeah. Have a nice day!" Daphne nodded before the car drove off.
During the drive, Henry's mother commented, "那些學生還真友善。" (Those students are quite friendly.)
"是阿。" (Yeah.) Henry nodded. "另外,我上化學課期間有跟薛吉同一組,他也向我介紹他的朋友。" (And I was in Shaggy's group during chemistry class and he introduced me to his friends.)
"我瞭解。" (I see.) His mother nodded understandingly as they continued with their drive to the Coolsville Metro Hospital.
October 13, 1968
That day after school, Shaggy, Sugie and Daphne were walking Scooby in the park as usual when they encountered a group of kids of East Asian descent in the park as well, and one of them was Henry.
Henry spotted the four walking their dog and waved. "Hey Shag."
"Like, hey Henry." Shaggy nodded as he walked over. "Nice day for a walk in the park, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it sure is." Henry agreed before gesturing to the kids that were at the park with him and continued. "By the way, guys, I'll like you all to meet my siblings."
Gesturing at a thirteen-year old boy, he said, "This is my brother Stanley."
Then, turning to a twelve-year old girl who quite resembled Daphne in her early-teens, he continued, "This is my sister Suzie."
Gesturing at a ten-year old boy wearing sunglasses, he continued, "This is my brother Alan."
Turning to an eight-year old girl, he continued, "This is my sister Anne."
Gesturing at a six-year old boy, he continued, "This is my brother Tom."
Turning to a four-year old boy by the side of Suzie, he continued, "This is my brother Flip."
Finally, gesturing at a two-year old girl carried by Stanley, he added, "And this is my youngest sister Nancy."
(For those of you that watched The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, this story takes place prior to the birth of the youngest two Chan siblings - Mimi and Scooter)
He then turned to his siblings and said, "Everyone, these are my friends from Central: Shaggy, Daphne and Scooby."
"Like, nice meeting you all." Shaggy smiled as Scooby and Daphne all waved their hands. Gesturing to Sugie, he added, "By the way, this is my sister Maggie, but you can call her Sugie."
"Hi Sugie." Suzie said as she and her siblings walked over to greet the four.
"Like, hi Suzie." Sugie smiled as she shook hands with her.
"Jeepers! You sure got a large family, Henry." Daphne commented.
"Yeah, it's a Chinese tradition for us to have large families." Henry nodded as Stanley lets Nancy rub Scooby.
Just then, there was a ruff and Henry quickly realized something and added, "Oh, how can I forget our pet dog Chu Chu?"
"Here Chu Chu, come and meet Scooby Doo." Tom said, and out came a small light-brown-furred dog sporting a red tag.
"Rowdy!" Scooby barked as the small dog faced him.
The dog responded by howling, which almost sounded like the siren of a police car, shocking Scooby and causing him to leap in Shaggy's arms in fright.
"Ripe!" (Yipe!) Scooby exclaimed as he leaped into Shaggy's arms.
"Oh, sorry about that, Scooby." Henry said. "Chu Chu just howls like that."
"Roh. Ri ree." (Oh. I see.) Scooby nodded understandingly before getting off Shaggy's arms and proceeds to lick Chu Chu, something which the small dog seem to enjoy.
Watching the two dogs interacting with each other, Daphne commented, "It seems that they're becoming fast friends."
"Yeah." Henry nodded as they all smiled.
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