Back on the ground, Augie's group continued to follow Elmo as he tracks down Daphne's scent.
"Can you sniff any faster man?" Dee-Dee told the dog "It's the end of the world in case you forgot."
Just then, Elmo stopped in his tracks.
"Ruff! Ruff!" He barked.
"I think Elmo has found something guys!" April said.
The kids all followed Elmo to where he was pointing. It was the sushi place.
"Zowie" said Taffy "A place for sushi!"
"Boy, am I starving" Augie said.
"This is no time to be eating Anderson" Skip slapped the back of Augie's head "We have to find Mudsy and the others."
"Perhaps Mudsy's in there" suggested April "We'd better check it out!"
The group entered the sushi place and looked around. However, after splitting up and searching through the place, there was no sign of Shaggy's group.
"Elmo, see if you can pick up Daphne's scent here." Augie instructed.
Elmo nodded and sniffed around. He stopped after entering the backlot.
"What's the matter, Elmo?" April asked. "Can you sniff out anything?"
Elmo shook his head and barked lowly, indicating that the trail has ran cold.
"It seems like they've just vanished in thin air." Skip said. "Where could they be?"
Just then, they heard something being knocked over in the inside of the sushi place before hearing footsteps.
"What was that?" Jabber jumped into Clamhead's arms.
"I don't know" said Dee-Dee "But whatever it is, it sure as heck is coming our way!"
"If it's Dr. Zin's agents, then we better hide." Biff said urgently.
"Right." Everyone else agreed before moving to find a hiding place.
From each of their hiding spots, the group peeked out and saw a muscular-looking man with a similar hair-style as Shaggy and with a short beard looking around.
"It's one of Zin's agents!" Biff whispered.
"Well I wouldn't mind getting captured by this guy!" Taffy drooled at the sight of him. "Sexy!"
"Focus Taffy!" Bubbles shook her "We have to save the world!"
"Alright gang!" Biff exclaimed "Get him!"
Everyone jumped out of their hiding spots and started charging at the guy.
"Hey!" The man shouted when the heroes started to jump him. "What's the big idea?"
"Don't try to get any big ideas from us, big guy, because we know you're working for Dr. Zin." Skip said.
"This is for Brenda!" Dee-Dee was about to hit the guy.
Just then, the sound of something banging on the floor occurred.
"Halt!" a voice shouted.
"What the..." Taffy asked as they paused their attack and turned and looked towards the doorway.
Standing there were a trio of agents with their weapons drawn.
"Quit the fooling around!" One of the agents shouted. "The boss has a grand invitation for you all to visit him on his island base."
"How kind of him." Skip replied sarcastically. "Tell him that we thank him the offer, but no thanks."
"He insists that you all come." The second agents said.
"Over our dead bodies." Biff replied. "Not after what your boss' friends did to the loves of our lives! No way are we taking orders from him."
"Oh, is that right?" The third agent asked. "You kids better watch what you say, because there will be consequences if you don't obey our boss."
"Yes. You're coming with us." The first agent nodded as a dozen more agents arrived, also with their weapons drawn. "Now get moving!"
Just then, the man the group attacked suddenly said, "If you all insist having them to go with you in meeting your boss, you'll have to get through me first!"
Then, without warning, he suddenly leaped into the air and grabbed a nearby water pipe and spinned it, disarming the first three agents as a result.
"Uh, mister, I don't think it will be..." Jabber said to the man.
"Take cover, all of you." The man replied. "I'll deal with these agents."
He then turned his attention back to the agents, who were closing in on him.
"You're really such a wild cat, eh?" One of the agents said. "You want to learn not to mess with the agents of the great Dr. Zin the hard way?"
"Make me." The man smirked before using his iron pipe to attack.
In a split-second, the first three agents had foolish looks on their faces before slumping to the ground.
Turning to the remaining agents, the man continued, "Alright, gentlemen, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"
The agents responded by aiming their weapons towards the man, thinking that they had an advantage over him based on numbers.
The man then smirked, and the twelve agents charged towards him to attack.
As the group watched from their hiding places, they were amazed to see the man fending off the attacks and knocking out the twelve agents with his water pipe.
Eventually, the man was the only person standing as the fifteen agents were now unconscious lumps of mass lying on the floor.
"You all can come out now." The man said, and the kids did as they were told.
"Wow, that was amazing." Taffy said.
"Yeah, how did you do that?" Dee Dee asked.
"Save those questions for later, kids." The man replied. "Right now, let's get out of here before these agents wake up."
The group nodded before following the man out of the restaurant, where he led them to a large purple van labelled "Enigma Machine".
"Who are you, and where are you bringing us?" Biff asked.
"Just get on the van, and I'll explain on the way." The man replied.
They all got into the van and they started to drive off. Unbeknownst to any of them, one of the agents had a mechanical cat placed outside the restaurant prior to the battle, and as the van drove off, the cat's eyes, which functions as cameras, zoomed in towards the license plate of the van.
Meanwhile, back on Messick Island, one of the agents was reviewing the footage captured by the mechanical cat and took note of the license plate number of the van that drove off.
Soon, the agent was at Dr. Zin's office after executing a search on the license plate number and noted that the vehicle was registered in Crystal Cove.
"Excellent work, Agent Broggs." Dr. Zin nodded. "I'll take over from here."
Soon, over at Crystal Cove, a white-haired girl was over at a hideout of sorts when a package arrived.
Noting that the package was sent from Messick Island and has instructions to open it immediately, as it contained urgent information, the girl opened it, revealing a radio.
Turning on the radio, Dr. Zin's pre-recorded voice came through from the speakers.
"Alice May" said Zin's voice "I'm glad you have received this message. I have an assignment for you. A van called the Enigma Machine is headed your way. Lisence number, 3497."
Alice May wrote down the lisense number on a piece of paper she found.
"After tracking down that van, you shall shadow the group. Then, when April Stewart, who we know that bears resemblance to you, is alone, move in and capture her and then take her place in the group." Zin continued as an image of April flashed through the screen. "Posing as her, you will act as our spy and gather intelligence from the heroes so we can figure out what they are up to. Then, when the time is right, we'll move in to capture those kids and you'll get your chance in seeking your revenge against those meddling kids."
Alice smiled sinisterly as she thought, "At last."
"This message will self destruct" Zin finished.
"Oh snap" Alice gulped.
The radio exploded and left Alice's face black with soot. She then went to a nearby pond and washed her face off with water.
"Now than that's taken care of" Alice thought to herself "I can finally contemplate my revenge on Mystery Inc!"
Meanwhile back in Rome, Hap and Groovia were taking their last walk around Rome together.
"Groovia," Hap said to his girlfriend "This will probably be our last few hours together so I want to make every little thing we do matter."
"Yeah." Groovia nodded. "It's nice to go out for a walk around Rome."
"I wish this wasn't our last walk, though" Hap sadly said "I wanna spend the rest of my life with you Groovia, but our lives are about to end."
"Hap I'd better get home" said Groovia "My parents are probably scared for me. I want to spend my last few hours with you, but I've gotta be there for my family. And you should be there for yours."
"I love you Groovia" he looked into Groovia's sparkling blue eyes.
Groovia smiled. "I love you too."
Meanwhile, back at the Holiday residence, the rest of the group were waiting for Ruff and Reddy to return.
"How long has it been?" Gus asked Laurie.
"About 34 minutes" Laurie answered.
"We don't have much time" said Jessica "Maybe Happy and Groovia will run into them."
"Well, I hope they're not pigging out somewhere." Charlie remarked. "They'd better be on their way back by now."
"They're two crazy kids in love Charlie" said Gus "They clearly want to spend their last few hours together."
Meanwhile, Hap just took Groovia back home so she could be with her family. They were saying their final words to each other before you know what.
"Groovia" Hap held her hands "Before we all fade away forever, I just want to know that I love you more than anything. You are my girl and always will be. I love you for your beauty, your intelligence, your kindness...and for the way you always know how to make me feel so special. We've had our ups and our downs, but our love is too strong. I love you princess."
"I love you too, Happy" she started crying "You have been my best friend, mentor, playmate, confidant and my greatest challenge. But most importantly, you are the love of my life…a-and y-you make me happier than I could ever imagine and more loved than I ever t-thought. You've always been there for me and I don't care what some stupid computer says, I know you and I were meant to be. I love you boo."
Hap kept his eyes on Groovia's watery ones. She held his hands tight, while watching his face as little tears also fell down his cheeks. The pair then shared a long embrace before parting ways. When Groovia went back into her apartment to spend her last few hours with her mother and father, Hap sadly walked back to his place to be with his family. Just then, someone (or someone's) called out to him.
"Hap!" They called out.
"Huh?" He turned around.
Looking around, he saw who called out his name. It was a little orange cat with a blue bow and a tall, white dog with a tuft of red hair.
"Ruff! Reddy!" he exclaimed.
"Hey, Hap." Reddy nodded as he and Ruff walked over to join him. "What's bothering you?"
"Yeah pal" said Reddy "Why so down in the mouth?"
"It's just that, we've all got a few hours left before we all disappear" he confessed "And I wanted to spend my last hours with Groovia, but she has to be there for her parents and she says I have to as well. I love her, she's the best girlfriend I've ever had and I'll never see her again."
"Man, I wish we could do something to fix that." Ruff replied sympathetically.
Hap nodded before saying, "Well, we'd better head home, guys. Mom and Dad and our guests are probably worried about us."
"Guests?" Reddy asked as they started walking. "You didn't tell us that you guys were expecting someone else."
"We weren't." Hap replied. "After you two left for lunch, we've got new visitors."
Hap, Ruff and Reddy wasted no time in getting back to Venus De Milo Arms. Finally, they made it back to the place. Inside, the adults were still waiting.
"Sigh, sigh, sigh" said Brutus as he laid down.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Gasp" Brutus jumped up "What was that?"
"I think they're back." Gus replied as Laurie walked over to open the door.
"Hopefully it's not Evictus" Laurie rolled her eyes. "He'd even demand rent and kick us out at the end of the world."
Gus walked to the door and saw Hap, Ruff and Reddy right at the door.
"Hiya Gussie!" Reddy waved to Gus.
"We're home pop" Hap added.
"Awesome, and I see that Ruff and Reddy are back, too!" Gus added.
"Just what we've been waiting for." Charlie said.
Ruff and Reddy walked in and saw the other guests.
"Yogi! Boo!" Reddy ran to the guests "Pixie! Dixie!"
"Huck! Mr. Jinks!" Ruff ran to the others.
"It's been so long" Reddy hugged Yogi "What're you guys doing here?"
"Time for you two to get ready to pack your things" Yogi said "You two are going to be king!"
"King?" Ruff jumped for joy "Whoopee! Whoo hoo!"
"Wait, what's going on?" Reddy asked Yogi "What do you mean about us being king?"
Charlie and the others once again, wasted no time in explaining the situation to the cat and dog duo.
"Oh dear" said Reddy "No wonder the world's ending. We have to get back to the main continent and fast!"
"I'll get the kids!" Jessica ran to Precocia's room.
Hap still looked sad and depressed.
"Son, what's wrong?" Gus put his hand on his son's shoulder.
"We've got only a few more hours left to live, and I don't know if I'll ever get to see Groovia again." Hap replied.
"Don't worry, son." Laurie replied as she and her husband comforts their son. "It won't happen if Ruff and Reddy arrive back on the main continent in time with the visitors."
"I know pop," Hap said sadly "It's just that Groovia and I have been together forever and the thought of never seeing her again is probably my worst fear. She had to go home cause she has to be there for her parents in her last few hours of living."
"Well Henrietta and Herman would be just as depressed as you if they didn't get to spend their last few hours with their daughter" Laurie put her hand on Hap's shoulder.
"I guess so" Hap sniffed a tear "And Groovia's right. I have to be here for all of you. Mom, dad, Precocia and Brutus."
"Sob, sob, sob, sob" Brutus cried tears of joy "This is so touching, heart wrenching, bittersweet even."
"The author sure knows how to bring emotions to this story" Jessica pointed out.
"Gee Hap looks too depressed to be reassured" Boo Boo said.
"Yeah" Precocia said "He and Groovia have broken up before, but this time, it's the ultimate one. Seriously, he loves her more than anything and doesn't want to lose her. But he could still lose her forever even if Ruff and Reddy have been found. Plus, Groovia's like the big sister I never had."
"Which is also why we should get going now." Flim Flam said.
"Right." Charlie nodded.
"To the Chan Van!" Cavey Jr said.
"Thanks for helping us Mr. H" Jessica said to Gus.
"No problem Jessica" said Gus.
"Good luck saving the world, Mimi" Precocia shook Mimi's hand.
"Don't worry, Precocia I will" Mimi shook her hand back.
"Oh and if Scooter's available, let me know" Precocia winked.
"Sorry, but he can't have any female friends till he's older" Mimi said.
Meanwhile, Scooby, Mudsy and the others were still on their way to find the sword.
"Say, Daphne, I don't know why but you looked quite different." Mudsy observed during the flight.
"Like how?" Daphne asked, unaware that her scarf is missing.
"It seemed like something from you is missing." Mudsy replied.
"Missing...Oh my gosh, my scarf!" Daphne exclaimed when she felt a breeze in her neck. "No wonder my neck felt quite chilly."
"Like, I've got your other one, Daph." Shaggy said as he pulled out another scarf and passed it to Daphne.
"Gee, thanks, Shag." Daphne smiled as she took the scarf and put it on. "Now I feel like myself."
"And you were carrying that with you?" Scooby raised an eyebrow.
Shaggy and Daphne glanced at each other, not sure how to explain.
"So how exactly are we going to make it back here in time after getting true sword back?" Scrappy asked his allies.
"You'll soon find out, Scrappy." Scooby replied as he patted his nephew.
Author's Note:
Finally! It has happened! Ruff and Reddy have been found and now they have to take their rightful place as king. But will they get back to the main continent in time before its too late? And it looks like Hap's love for Groovia has been proved to be pure and true. He is depressed over the fact that he'll probably never see her again, the love of his life. Sound familiar? That's right! Happius Holiday cant spend his last few hours with the love of his life. But the important thing is that he has to be there for his family. They need him. And what better way to spend the last few hours of your life with your loved ones?