Chapter 17: A history research project and at the library
February 13, 1969
It has been more than a month since Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Fred has met and befriended Velma, who was transferred to Central from Ohio in the previous month.
During that time, Velma has started to become involved with the school's science club, and with the support from her new friends, she gradually started to open up to her peers, while Fred continues to make efforts to make Velma feel welcome at school.
With support from Fred and Shaggy, Velma started to offer help to her peers in their homework, and she gradually find herself being significantly different than her past self during her time in Ohio, where she normally gets along with the adult school staff, particularly math and science teachers.
Also, Velma has started to hang out more frequently with Shaggy, Scooby, Fred and Daphne and as the time went by, the five became close friends.
Within the group, while they all are born in the same year (1953), Velma is the youngest with her birthday in late-November, followed by Daphne, whose birthday is in late-August, and then Fred, whose birthday is in early-July and Shaggy being born in late-April.
As for Scooby, in spite of his status as a dog, his family is one of the very few special dogs that ages in the same rate as humans, thus his age is comparable with the rest of the gang. Being born on September 8, 1953, it places him as younger than Daphne but older than Velma, thus making Shaggy being the oldest in the group.
(Based on TNSD Mysteries episode Happy Birthday, Scooby Doo, which originally aired on September 8, 1984, I'm going with the idea of Scooby's birthday being on September 8. Also, I'm placing the gang in the same age instead of Shaggy being 17, Fred and Daphne being 16 and Velma being 15 as shown in much of the franchise to keep things simple.
In addition, for my Dimension Four series, the gang turns 16 in 1969, which means they're all born in 1953, and starting in 1969, the timeline will float so that characters ages once every two years, a phenomenon that lasts until 1991. So by that year, all members of the gang are 27 instead of 38 under normal circumstances.)
That day, history class went by as usual for Shaggy, Daphne, Fred and Velma, with the main topic being taught in class being that of the later half of the American Civil War.
It was also that day that the class begins their history project, where they researched a topic given by the teacher and present a historical event related to the topic.
Shaggy, Daphne, Fred and Velma were grouped together, and they picked to work on a topic related to the Far East during the mid-to-late-19th century.
"Like, so which historical event will you guys like to research on for the Far East during the mid-to-late 1800s?" Shaggy asked once they started discussing their projects and research topics.
"Hmmm...I was planning on doing a presentation on the Meiji Restoration in Japan." Velma said. "The Restoration, named after the then-reigning Emperor Meiji, was responsible for Japan's modernization and its raise to becoming a powerful nation in the later-half of the nineteenth century."
"Sounds interesting." Fred nodded.
"How about we research something related to where Henry was born at?" Daphne asked.
"Like Hong Kong?" Shaggy asked.
"That's right." Daphne nodded. "We can present how Hong Kong became a British colony in the aftermath of the First Opium War that was fought between Qing China and Britain."
"That's using the good old noodle, Daph." Shaggy agreed. "Sounds like an interesting topic to me."
"Yeah." Fred nodded. "Henry will be surprised to see us presenting a history of his home city."
"Works with me." Velma smiled. "My family and I went to Hong Kong for sightseeing a little while ago, and I had a lot of fun during the trip, since we get to learn about different cultures, and it is interesting to learn about a place's history while travelling there."
"Alright, then it's settled, gang." Fred nodded. "We'll do some research on the first fifty years of British rule in Hong Kong."
"Works with me, Fred." Shaggy said as Daphne and Velma nodded in agreement.
That afternoon, after school, the four met up with Scooby in the school library to do their research for their history presentation.
"So where should we start?" Daphne asked as they grouped together at a desk.
"Let's start with the history encyclopedia that lists out notable events that occurred in the nineteenth century." Velma said. "The library should have a copy of it available."
"What's the title of it?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The Guide of World History and Events in the Nineteenth Century." Velma replied. "My old school in Ohio has several copies of that encyclopedia in the library."
"I see." Fred nodded as they headed for the history aisle, leaving Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne behind at the desk.
As they waited for Fred and Velma to return, the trio took out their pencils, erasers and sheets of notebook paper for them to take notes with.
"Like, I sure wonder what will Henry think when he sees our history presentation?" Shaggy said.
"He sure will be interested." Daphne replied. "As far as I know, he's one of the very few people in Central that's of Chinese or East Asian descent, so he sure will be surprised to see our presentation on his home city."
Shaggy nodded as he turned and looked around the library, during which he noticed something weird about the bookshelves on the wall on the far side of the library.
From his previous trips to the school library, he noticed that the books were always arranged in a particular order and that they were never borrowed by the students or faculty.
"Shag?" Daphne asked, noticing that her friend was staring at the bookshelves on the wall at the far side of the library. "Is something bothering you?"
"Huh?" Shaggy asked as he turned and saw Daphne and Scooby looking at him with puzzled looks on their faces. "Like, I don't know why, but I feel like there's something weird about those bookshelves over there."
"Weird?" Daphne asked. "You're probably seeing things, Shag."
"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "I guess I'm just exhausted from the day, Daph."
"Don't worry, when we're done with our project planning and figure out how to divide the project among ourselves, we can head home." Daphne smiled. "And I might plan on whipping up something for you, Shag."
"Like, sounds good with me, Daph." Shaggy smiled at his friend as Fred and Velma returned with the encyclopedia.
"We found the book, gang." Fred said as Velma placed the thick book on the desk, almost creating a slam on it.
"Wow." Shaggy remarked as he looked at the size of the book. "You sure need to work out more often in the gym in order to carry that book easily."
Scooby and Daphne chuckled at the remark while Velma said, "Well, the book's got about a thousand pages, so you should be able to carry it alone easily."
"I know." Shaggy said. "I'm talking about if you're carrying it with some other books."
"Well, anyways, let's get down to work, shall we?" Velma asked.
Over the next hour, the gang jotted down significant notes related to their research topic, with each one of them going off to find another book in the history aisle at a different time for more information.
Eventually, after almost two hours of note-taking and chatting, the gang has got a rough outline on what to present for their history project.
"Well, I think we're all set to dive into the project for next Monday, gang." Fred said as they prepared to head home.
"Oh yes indeed." Daphne agreed. "And I think we should head home now. It's getting late."
"No kidding." Shaggy said as he stretched his arms and legs. "Like, I'm completely worn out from today."
"Shaggy's right." Daphne said. "I'm also tired from today being a long day."
"Then, let's grab our stuff and head home." Velma suggested.
However, before the gang could get going, the lights in the library suddenly went out.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy shouted in the darkness. "Who turned out the lights?"
Just then, a ghostly voice shrieked, "Get Out!"
"Jeepers!" Daphne shivered. "Who said that?"
As Scooby leaped into Shaggy's arms, or at least what he thought was Shaggy's arms, Velma said, "Jinkies! Look!"
Everyone turned around and saw a bright-looking phantom at the far side of the library.
"Stay away from the Coolsville Central High School Library, or you will suffer from the wrath of the Phantom of the Library!" The phantom bellowed.
"Holy moly!" Fred said. "It can't be the very Phantom of the Library that haunts the school library! Oh, and something furry and heavy is in my arms!"
"Rorry, Red." Scooby laughed when he realized that Fred was talking about him.
"Beware!" The phantom hollered once more before it disappeared in the darkness.
For a while, there was complete silence in the library.
Then, someone managed to find the light switch and the lights were back on.
Scooby found himself on Fred's arms, and the blonde looked like he couldn't hold him for much longer.
"Scooby, do you mind getting off my arms?" Fred asked the Great Dane.
"Rokay." Scooby nodded as he licked Fred in the face before getting off his arms.
During this time, Tom and Jerry were walking into the library with Ruff and Reddy to return some borrowed books.
When they walked by the front counter, where the cash register holding the money received in fines for overdue books is located at, Tom noticed something peculiar and whistled urgently.
"Tom just whistled!" Ruff said. "He must have saw something!"
"Indeed he must have." Reddy said as the librarian walked over.
"What's the matter, Thomas?" She asked.
The cat responded by pointing to the opened cash register.
The librarian looked in and gasped.
"The money!" The librarian said. "It's gone!"
The gang walked over to the front counter and leaned over to look.
Sure enough, the register holding the paid fines for overdue books is empty.
Uh oh. Someone has taken the money from the cash register during the phantom appearance in the library. Wonder what is this business about the Phantom of the Library? And it looks like the gang, except for Velma, has got another mystery in their hands.
What will happen next? Stay tuned, and please read and review!