Scooby and Yabba were enjoying getting settled into their new house when all of a sudden, Emma ran over to them.
"Scooby! Yabba" said Emma "Come meet big brother! I want you to meet him, please"
The dogs nodded as they went to join Emma.
They followed her to a bedroom upstairs.
Emma knocked at the door "Big brother! Big brother"
"Coming" A voice can be heard from the other side of the door.
A few moments went by before the door opened, revealing a boy with dusty-brown hair and wearing a pair of glasses.
"Howdy sis" said Dusty "I heard you and pop went out and got us some new dogs"
"That's right big brother" she smiled "Meet Scooby and Yabba-Doo"
"Nice to meet you, Dusty" Yabba said as he offered his paw to Dusty.
"Yeah, nice to you" Scooby said as he offered his paw, as well.
"Great God Almighty" Dusty exclaimed "Are my ears deceiving me or did those dogs just talk?!"
"It's the latter" Yabba replied. "Scoob and I can speak for real."
"Well I'll be darned" said Dusty "How can you boys talk?"
"Rye have no idea" Scooby replied.
"Are there any more talking animals like you two?" Dusty asked.
"Judging by the fact that there are no other animals like us, I'd say no" Yabba answered.
"Yep" Scooby said "It's just me and Yabba"
"Well, I now know why you bought them, sis." Dusty turned to his sister.
"They're the best doggies in the world" Emma said as she hugged Scooby and Yabba.
"I figured." Dusty nodded.
"It's nice to have a couple of dogs around the house" said Dusty "Especially ones that talk"
"So Dusty, I hear that you want to be a law enforcement officer" Yabba told Dusty.
"Indeed I do." Dusty nodded "Our father's older cousin is the city's chief of police and his courage has inspired me in wanting to join law enforcement when I grow older."
"I've always wanted to be a police dog myself" Yabba said "Fighting crime, sniffing out the bad guys, chasing the bandits, it's my lifelong dream"
"Wow" Emma remarked. "It looks like you two have quite a lot in common."
"We sure do" said Dusty "Say Yabba, wanna go back to my room and read the police training guide with me?"
"Do I" Yabba replied as he followed Dusty back into his room.
"What about you, Scooby?" Emma asked Scooby "What do you like to do?"
"I like eating." Scooby replied. "In fact, is there something to eat? I'm starved."
"Sure" Emma said "Daddy and I bought a nice pack of dog biscuits for you and Yabba"
"Okay" Scooby nodded as he followed Emma down the stairs.
Meanwhile, the gang had arrived at the pet shop to shop for a mascot.
"Here we are the pet store" said Velma.
"Good" said Fred "Now all we have to do is think of what kind of animal we would like for a mascot"
"Yeah" Madelyn agreed as they try to come up with a mascot of sorts for their team.
"How about a kitty cat?" Velma suggested "I've always wanted one of those"
There was no response from either member of the group.
"We need something that can be useful in helping us in solving mysteries." Fred said. "For instance, my parents' old gang's parrot is very smart and he often helps put the clues together."
"Something super smart?" asked Daphne.
"I know" Madelyn snapped her fingers "How about a ferret?"
There were some shrugs in response to the suggestion.
"I've got it" Velma said as she snapped her fingers "How about a dog? They can track things using their sense of smell, they're fun to play with and they are very brave and can defend us when we are in trouble or face to face with bad guys"
"Sounds like a good idea to me, Velms." Fred said.
"Then let's go into the kennel and pick someone out" said Daphne.
"I can't wait to see all those cute widdle puppy dogs" Madelyn said.
The five friends all went into the kennel to find themselves a dog.
"Can I help you with something, kids?" the lady at the kennel asked the gang.
"Yes" Fred nodded. "We are looking to adopt a dog as a pet, ma'am."
"Oh sorry, we just sold our last two earlier today" said the lady.
"Oh really?" Velma asked.
"Yeah" said the lady "I'm afraid we won't have any dogs for a while"
"You know guys" said Shaggy "My cousins said they were going to adopt a dog today, maybe they got them"
"Why don't we go visit them?" suggested Fred "Maybe they could help us find a pet"
"Then that's where we are headed, gang" said Madelyn.
After taking a bumpy bus ride, they finally arrived in Shaggy's cousins' neighborhood.
"Like, here we are gang" Shaggy said as they got off the bus "This is my cousin, Daniel's neighborhood"
"Wow" Daphne remarked. "It's a nice neighbourhood, Shag."
"Well come on" said Fred "Let's go see Shaggy's cousins"
Shaggy led them all to his cousins' house.
"Let's see if Cousins Daniel, Emma and Jeff are home" Shaggy said as he rang the doorbell.
Inside the house, Emma had opened a package of dog treats for Scooby to eat.
"Here boy" she said as she offered Scooby a dog biscuit "Here's a tasty treat"
Scooby barked and leaped over as Emma tossed the biscuit to him.
"Who's a good boy?" Emma asked as she started rubbing Scooby's belly "Who's a good boy? You are. You are"
Just then, Emma heard the doorbell ring.
"Someone's at the door" she said.
"I've got it" Dusty said as he and Yabba went down the stairs and walked towards the front door.
He and Yabba went to the front door and saw Shaggy and his friends.
"Cousin Norville" Dusty said excitedly.
"Cousin Daniel" Shaggy said excitedly back.
"What brings you guys here?" Dusty asked as he shook hands with Shaggy.
"My friends and I are starting a mystery club and we need a funny non-human mascot" Shaggy explained "We were just at the pet shop and we found out you and Emma bought their last two dogs, so we figured you two could help us choose what we would like for a pet"
"Oh, really?" Dusty asked "Come right in, then."
Everybody went inside of Dusty's house and sat down in the living room.
"Emma" Dusty called out to his sister "Cousin Norville is here!"
"Coming" Emma shouted as she and Scooby exited the kitchen.
Emma and Scooby came to the living room and saw Shaggy and his friends.
"Cousin Norville" she happily shouted.
"Cousin Emma" Shaggy smiled.
Emma ran over to Shaggy and wrapped her arms around him.
"It's been a while." Shaggy said. "You surely have grown."
"I'll say Emma smiled "Send my regards to Cousin Maggie."
"I sure will." Shaggy nodded.
"Anyways, what brings you and your friends here?" Emma asked.
"We're starting a club and we want to find a club mascot" Shaggy explained "We went to the pet store and heard you guys bought the last two dogs, so we figured you might have some ideas on how we could find our perfect mascot"
Emma nodded as she turned to her brother.
"Do you have any ideas on what kind of pet they should have, Daniel?" she asked Dusty.
Dusty thought for a while before coming up with an answer.
"I got an idea" he said "Why don't you use one of our dogs as your sidekick?"
"Sounds good to me" Shaggy replied.
Dusty cleared his throat "Cousin Norville and friends, meet Scooby-Doo and Yabba-Doo"
"Howdy young folks" Yabba held out his paw.
"Nice to meet you" Scooby said as held out his paw as well.
Shaggy and his friends gasped at what the dogs just said.
"Zoinks" Shaggy gasped as he jumped into Velma's arms.
"J-j-j-Jeepers" Daphne said as she clinged onto Fred's arm.
"Jinkies" Velma gasped "Am I hallucinating or did those dogs just talk?"
"Yes, we can talk" Scooby replied.
"Like, amazing" Shaggy replied as he walked over to the brothers.
"Jinkies" Velma said still in shock "I had no idea that talking animals existed! I don't even know how this is possible"
"Yeah" Madelyn said "Last I checked, animals don't talk"
"Well, Yabba and I talk" Scooby replied "That's the truth."
"Jinkies" said Velma "I can't believe my bespectacled eyes. Two talking dogs right in front of us. Now all we need is to choose one of you two as our sidekick"
"Well, one thing's for sure" Dusty said "I prefer keeping Yabba. He wants to join law enforcement like I do."
"Then, I guess Scooby is ours." Shaggy said.
"No" said Emma "I want to keep Scooby! He's mine!"
"Well, you still have Yabba to play with, sis." Dusty said. "And besides, I'm not a fan of having more than one pet in the house."
"And besides, you can visit Scooby anytime you'd like" Shaggy added.
"Yeah" Daphne agreed. "It's not like that we're not allowing Scooby to have visitors."
"Yeah" said Scooby "We can still see each other, Emma"
There was some silence as Emma thought about what they said.
"Okay" she sadly said "You can have him"
"Oh boy" Scooby exclaimed excitedly.
"It's great to have you on board the team, Scooby-Doo" Fred said to Scooby as he shook Scooby's hand.
"Nice to be on the team" Scooby said as he shook Fred's hand back.
"Wait until my parents see you" Fred said to Scooby "They're gonna be shocked to see a talking dog"
It was then that Dusty and Emma's father came down the stairs.
"What's going on here?" he asked, and then saw Shaggy and his friends "Cousin Norville? Is that you?"
"Hiya Cousin Jeff" said Shaggy.
"What're you doing here, and who are your friends?" asked Jeff.
"I believe a formal introduction is needed, Cousin Jeff." Shaggy said before turning to introduce them one by one.
"Well then, who are your friends, cousin?" Jeff asked Shaggy.
"These are my friends" Shaggy said as he introduced the others "Fred..."
"Nice to meet you, sir" said Fred.
"Daphne..." Shaggy continued.
"Pleased to meet you" said Daphne.
"Velma..." Shaggy continued.
"The pleasure to be here" Velma introduced herself.
"And Madelyn" Shaggy finished.
"I'm truly delighted to make your acquaintance" Madelyn said as she curtsied.
"Nice to meet you all" Jeff nodded as he shook each of their hands.
"And vice versa" Fred remarked.
"So why are y'all here?" asked Jeff.
"We are starting a secret club and we need a club mascot, so we were wondering if Scooby could be our mascot, if that's okay with you" Velma explained.
"I see" Jeff nodded thoughtfully.
"So can we have Scooby as our sidekick?" Shaggy asked Jeff.
"As long as you and your friends take good care of him and let Emma visit him." Jeff replied.
"Don't worry, Cousin Jeff." Shaggy reassured. "We will."
"Here that boy?" Madelyn asked Scooby as she bent down "You're coming home with us"
"Roh boy" said Scooby.
"Not so fast Madelyn" said Fred "We still need to see my parents and their friends before we can go home. Remember? They're going to be our club advisors"
"Oh, right" Velma nodded. "Then, we should get going."
"To Freddy's house" Shaggy proclaimed.
As the gang prepares to leave, Scooby turned to Emma, Yabba, Dusty and Jeff.
"Goodbye Scooby" Emma sniffed a tear "I'll miss you"
"I'll miss you too." Scooby nodded as he shared a hug with Emma.
"I love you, Scooby" Emma said as she kissed Scooby on the nose.
Scooby blushed before turning to Yabba.
"So long, brother" Yabba said as he shook Scooby's hand.
"So long, Yabba" Scooby nodded. "Take care of yourself, eh?"
"I sure will" Yabba said. "And I'll take note to visit you when I have the time."
"It's a good thing we have enough money left for bus fare" Fred said "Cause that's all the money we've got left"
"Wait, where do you live, Freddie?" Velma asked "If it's in this neighborhood, we can walk."
"I live on 867 Welker Drive" Fred replied.
"Welker Drive?" Madelyn asked. "I'm sure it's only a couple of blocks away from here."
"Then, we can walk." Daphne said.
"I guess so" said Daphne "It's just that these heels are killing me"
"Maybe you should consider wearing other footwear, Daph" Velma said as they left the house.
"Or maybe we should get going if we want to get to the bottom of this mystery!" Fred said. "The guys the Reaper took are probably in danger if we don't work fast enough."
"Reaper?" Scooby asked. "What Reaper?"
"We'll explain on the way." Fred said as they walked down the sidewalk en route to Fred's house.
Author's Note:
The gang has found their new mascot, a talking Great Dane named Scooby-Doo! Now all they need are their club advisory...their predecessors, Mysteries Five.