The gang had been following Marcie's metal detector for a while now.
"Found anything yet, Marcie?" Madelyn asked her.
"Not yet" said Marcie as she looked at the detector's screen.
"I hope we find something soon." Daphne said as she checked her wristwatch. "It's getting late and my parents are going to be worried."
"Yeah, not to mention that I haven't had my midnight snack yet." Shaggy added.
It was then that the metal detector started to ping.
"Zoinks" said Shaggy "What's that?"
"The detector has picked up something" said Marcie.
"I hope it's the time capsule." Velma said.
"We'll soon find out." Marcie nodded before pointing towards a certain direction and added. "According to the detector, the object should be that way."
"Then, that's where we're heading, gang." Fred said.
After following the detector's map, they finally reached the spot.
"Here we are gang" said Marcie "This is where the time capsule is"
"Alright Scooby, now dig" Velma ordered Scooby.
Scooby nodded as he started digging.
The others looked on before the Great Dane reached a particular depth where he felt something made of metal.
He sniffed the object, picked it up with his mouth and showed it to the gang.
Shining the flashlight on the object Scooby's holding, the gang can see that it's a cylinder.
"I believe that's the time capsule." Madelyn said.
"Good" said Velma "Now let's open it and see what's inside"
Just then, the familiar-sounding ghostly holler came.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy shivered as Scooby leaped into his arms. "Don't tell me..."
Before he could finish, the gang saw the Reaper nearby.
"Aha!" The Reaper exclaimed. "So you kids managed to find the Coolsville Time Capsule! Excellent job, now give it to me!"
Fred took the time capsule from Scooby and gripped firmly on it. "Never!"
"Very well then..." the reaper growled.
The reaper lit a match and started blowing a large flame right at the gang.
"Like, let's get out of here!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"Not a bad idea, Shag." Daphne agreed as they took off running.
The gang once again started running away from the reaper, all while going into a cave entrance, only to be exiting out of some other cave.
"Here we go again." Velma remarked as she randomly exited a tunnel and entered another one.
Eventually, they lost the reaper again and hid in some sort of corner.
"Now that we've lost him again, we can put my plan into action" said Fred.
"Like, here we go." Shaggy rolled his eyes as he thought to himself.
"So Scoob and Shag are going to be the live bait." Daphne said. "What else is part of your plan, Freddie?"
"Here's the rest" said Fred "While Scooby and Shaggy are being chased, we'll lay out a giant trap net and when the reaper gets onto it, we trap him inside the net and unmask him"
"Sounds easy." Velma remarked.
"What can possibly go wrong with a trap that simple?" Marcie asked.
"You know Marcie, you shouldn't say that" Daphne remarked.
"Whatever." Marcie shrugged. "Now we just need to put the plan into action."
Soon enough, the reaper was searching for the capsule.
"Hey you" Shaggy shouted as he held out the capsule "Mr. Reaper Dude! Looking for this?"
"You!" he roared "Give that to me!"
"Never!" Scooby said as he and Shaggy started to run.
"Come back here!" The Reaper shouted as he gave chase.
Shaggy and Scooby ignored him as they continued to race down the tunnel.
At that same time, the others had finished setting up the trap.
"There, the trap is all set" said Fred "Okay ladies, do you remember what to do?"
"Yep" said the girls.
"Good" Fred said "Now all we have to do is wait for the reaper"
Just then, Shaggy and Scooby came racing down the tunnel with the Reaper close behind.
"There they are" said Fred "Battle stations everyone"
The girls nodded as they get down to work.
Shaggy and Scooby kept running in fear and finally, they ran across the net. Fred and the girls then saw the reaper getting closer to them.
Fred saw the reaper "Okay everybody! Be ready right about..."
The reaper then got closer and closer until his cloak finally touched the net.
"...NOW!" Fred shouted.
The girls quickly let go of the net as Fred had instructed them to do earlier.
Just then, the net closed up and trapped the reaper right inside.
"Yippie!" Shaggy jumped for joy "We did it"
"And it was all thanks to you, Freddy" Daphne said to Freddy as she hugged him.
Unfortunately, the celebration was cut short when the Reaper managed to strike another match and used the flames to burn a hole in the net, freeing itself.
"You think you can defeat the Library Reaper, huh?" The Reaper grinned as it freed itself.
"Oh come on" said Velma.
"Now be a good bunch of children, and give me the capsule or else" the reaper said as he slowly approached them with another match.
"Scooby!" Marcie said to Scooby "Sick him boy!"
"Like, what about we get out of here?" Shaggy suggested.
"Not a bad idea, Shaggy." Fred agreed.
The gang raced off again as the Reaper gave chase.
In the process, the gang split up with Shaggy and Scooby racing in one tunnel and Fred and the girls raced off in another tunnel with the Reaper chasing them.
"You have any other ideas, Fred?" Madelyn asked as she saw the Reaper gaining on them.
"Like, what about we get out of here?" Shaggy suggested.
"Not a bad idea, Shaggy." Fred agreed.
The gang raced off again as the Reaper gave chase.
In the process, the gang split up with Shaggy and Scooby racing in one tunnel and Fred and the girls raced off in another tunnel with the Reaper chasing them.
"You have any other ideas, Fred?" Madelyn asked as she saw the Reaper gaining on them.
"Yeah" Daphne shivered.
Fred thought for a moment "Why don't we try making another trap that the reaper can't escape from?"
"And pray tell, what would that be?" Marcie asked as she placed her hands on her hips.
"We could trap him in a sack" said Fred "That way, he can't reach his matches and we'll finally be able to unmask him. Even if he could reach the matches and burn the sack, he would be burned too"
"Question is, where could we find a sack?" Velma asked before they came to a stop as they reached a dead end. "And I hate to say this but we've reached a dead end!"
Sure enough, there was no where for them to go and the five turned and saw the Reaper standing in front of them.
"I'm going to say this only once." The Reaper said as it reached out its arm with the other hand holding a lit match. "Hand me the Time Capsule!"
"And what if we refuse?" Fred asked.
"Then I'll lit this place on fire." The Reaper replied.
"No way." Marcie said defiantly.
"Very well, then." The Reaper grinned as it prepared to lit a larger fire.
As Fred and the girls backed away from the Reaper, Daphne thought, "Shaggy, Scooby, where are you?"
Just then, a huge splash of water appeared out of nowhere and soaked the Reaper wet and putting out the flame.
"Huh?" The Reaper asked as it turned and looked.
Standing behind him were Shaggy and Scooby holding a large bucket that was filled with water.
"Stay away from our friends, slimeball" said Shaggy "Unless you want to feel the wrath of Shaggy..."
"And Scooby Doo!" Scooby added.
Before the Reaper could respond, the duo placed the bucket on its head.
"Argh!" The Reaper growled as it struggled to get the bucket off its head.
As the Reaper backed away, it tripped over a rope Shaggy and Scooby prepared, leading it to fall.
Just as the Reaper managed to get the bucket off, Shaggy and Scooby unleashed another net on it, trapping the villain as a result.
"Shaggy, Scooby, you did it" Daphne said as she approached them "You two captured the reaper"
"That sure was perfect timing." Madelyn agreed.
"Like, I'm glad you guys are okay." Shaggy said.
"Now let's see who this reaper really is." Fred said as he prepares to unmask the Reaper.
Fred unmasked the reaper to reveal a human face.
"Principal Deedle?" they all shouted at the same time.
"But why?" Scooby asked.
"I was so close in getting my hands on one of the most valuable artifacts in Coolsville." The principal said, referring to the time capsule.
"But what's inside the capsule that you really want to get your hands on?" Velma asked.
"I think we will find out when we open the time capsule, sis." Madelyn suggested.
They opened up the time capsule and saw all that was in it were letters with stamps on them.
"Letters?" Velma asked, annoyed "Are you kidding?! All of this just for some stupid letters?"
"Yeah" Daphne said "You had us do all that work just for some stupid letters? What a rip off! You endangered the school for that?!"
"These aren't just letters" Shaggy said "They have stamps on them"
"So?" Fred asked.
"The principal is a stamp collector and one of them is a misprint" Shaggy pointed to one of the stamps "And stamp collectors are always after these. They're very rare and worth lots of money"
Everyone's eyes widened as Daphne asked, "How did you know that, Shaggy?"
"Like, while I was at the principals office to wait for my parents to pick me up a few days ago when I have to leave early for a doctors appointment, he told me about stamp collecting and how misprints are very valuable to collect." Shaggy explained.
"So he dressed up as a reaper so he could scare people away, make way with the capsule and steal the misprint" Fred concluded.
"That's right." Deedle nodded. "It could've been mine, if it weren't for you meddling kids and your stupid dog, too!"
"That's me, Scooby-Doo" Scooby exclaimed.
The next afternoon, the gang and the members of Mysteries Five went to the malt shop to celebrate their victory.
Fred read the newspaper "Seven mischievous kids and a talking dog save school from reaper. Not too bad"
"I hope they got my good side" Daphne said as she looked at the picture of her and the gang.
The photo was taken as she was busy doing her hair.
"Wow kids" said Judy "I can't believe you guys actually solved your first mystery together"
"So, how exactly did you guys do it?" asked Cassidy.
The gang looked at one another before Fred spoke.
"I guess it was really the seven of us all working together" Fred said "It was Velma, Marcie and Madelyn's brains..."
"...it was Freddy's leadership" Daphne added.
"And it was our friendship" Shaggy smiled.
"I'm real proud of you, son" Brad said as he placed his hand on Fred's shoulder "You really did lead this team very well"
"Thanks, pop" Fred smiled.
"Eat whatever you like, kids" said Brad "Food's on us"
"In that case, I'll have a second cheeseburger" Shaggy said as he started pigging out.
Watching Shaggy and Scooby eating, the others turned to each other.
"Some things sure doesn't change." Daphne smiled.
Everyone else just nodded and smiled back in reply.
A few days later, Shaggy and Scooby went to see the movies one night. On their way back, they encountered an abandoned pickup with an empty suit of armour in the driver's seat, and...well, that's for another story.
THE END
Author's Note:
Mystery Incorporated has formed and they're off on some brand new adventures. But those will have to wait because right now, we are going to do the next origin in the arc; the Origin of the Funky Phantom Gang. Coming soon.