"Shaggy, you can't!" Googie cried out in horror.
"It's the only way to get out of this place, Googie!" Shaggy said. "Somehow, I've like, learned a lot in my four hours of advertising. In order to win, you've gotta beat them at their own game."
"I don't like you talking like that, Shaggy. That isn't you." Googie shuddered.
"Yeah, like, I know. That's why we've gotta get outta here!" Shaggy said.
"Row rill we do rhat?" Scooby inquired.
"Well, it's like this. Dracula pulled a bunch of tricks on us during the race, and he also didn't believe the outcome. If we tempt him into, like, having another race, we could play it up like some of the tricks he played in the original race are what made us win." Shaggy explained.
"What makes you think he'll go for that, though? He's already got you; he doesn't have anything left to prove." Googie pointed out.
"Well, his partner Vanna Pira didn't seem to think so. Remember, she, like called him out for fibbing right after we won the race?" Shaggy recalled. "Besides, people like Dracula don't have any sort of moral code. They just want to win, and can't turn down a challenge when they're dealt one."
"What makes you think that, Shaggy?" Scrappy asked.
Shaggy scratched a piece of itchy fur near his nose whiskers. "That team meeting I just went to was, like, all posturing! They were just trying to one-up each other. I don't think any of them would turn down a challenge if they were dealt one. All of them are, like, such narcissists that they couldn't turn down an attack on their ego like that."
"I don't know, Shaggy. That seems like it could be dangerous." Googie cautiously said.
"More dangerous than staying in a castle full of monsters forever?" Shaggy challenged.
"Fair point." Googie chuckled.
"So how do you plan to bring it up to old Drac?" Scrappy asked.
"Well, like, I think I'll wait until tomorrow at breakfast. I'm bushed." Shaggy yawned, flopping down on his bed.
"And I'm ramished!" Scooby interjected.
"Yeah, me too, Uncle Scooby! All I had for breakfast this morning was that yucky bread." Scrappy replied. Shaggy's mind was beginning to turn to a sleepy haze, so he didn't finish hearing the entirety of Scrappy's sentence before drifting off.
Shaggy was completely disoriented when he woke up. He had no idea what time it was, and he was desperately hoping the whole werewolf thing had been a dream. A quick look at his hands - or rather, paws - confirmed his wishful thinking was a no-go. He sleepily got out of bed and looked out the window to see a blue sky. He wasn't sure at first if he'd slept just an hour, or if he'd slept so long that it was already the next day. A quick glance at the clock alarmed Shaggy when he saw it was already 5:58am.
"Like, zoinks! I slept through the entire rest of the day?" Shaggy gasped. "Wow, I must have been exhausted."
"I imagine your body was probably reeling to catch up. Getting turned into a werewolf twice in a week likely isn't a part of normal human development." Googie said with a chuckle.
Shaggy had intended to respond to that comment, but his stomach beat him to it. It began growling frustratedly, likely to denote that it was craving food. He hadn't eaten anything since those three pieces of toast yesterday, which was nearly 24 hours ago at this point.
"Man, like I think my body's trying to catch up in more ways than one." Shaggy laughed. "I'm starved."
"Me too!" Scrappy replied. "I don't want any more of that awful food, though."
"Like, I don't know if we have a choice, Scrappy. Hopefully if my plan works, we'll only have a few more days of having to do that." Shaggy replied.
"Well, I'm ready to go downstairs for the morning. How about everyone else?" Googie wondered.
"Like, yeah, I guess I'm as ready as I can be." Shaggy shrugged. He would have admittedly liked to brush his teeth, but he figured Dracula would probably come looking for him if he didn't come downstairs soon. He'd been MIA for over 12 hours now, so he didn't want to make the King of Vampires suspect anything, especially when he had a plan to escape his heinous fate.
When Shaggy and his friends got downstairs, they saw that the breakfast table had a large display of food available. All of it was disgusting again; there were omelets with some sort of slime coating over them, biscuits and danishes that looked burnt to a crisp, and donuts that looked as if they'd been through a World War. The table was adorned with a tablecloth that had bat prints on it. Shaggy wouldn't have taken Dracula for the cutesy interior decorator type, but he supposed perhaps Vanna Pira had done it.
Speaking of which, Shaggy was a bit surprised that Dracula wasn't waiting for him and the others at the breakfast table. Either they had come down too late and missed him, or he'd gotten preoccupied doing other things. This was the one time where Shaggy actually wanted to see Dracula so that he could challenge him to another race. It seemed just about right with Shaggy's luck lately that Dracula wouldn't be around.
"I don't see old fang-face anywhere!" Scrappy noticed.
"Yeah, like, he's clearly not around. Guess I'll just have to see if he shows up while I'm working." Shaggy sighed. He honestly had hoped he'd get out of having to work today, but he supposed even if he did bump into Dracula, the likelihood of this was probably relatively slim. The race likely wouldn't happen right away anyway.
Looking at the disgusting food in front of him, he decided that he was most in the mood for the danishes. His only regret was that he had wished he'd thought to consider what was actually in the danishes before taking a bite of one. A putrid ooze seeped out of the danish, tasting like dirty water on Shaggy's tongue. Shaggy gagged as soon as he realized the awful taste in his mouth. Since no one was around, he spit it into a nearby garbage.
"Yuck! Do yourself a favor and, like, don't try the danishes." Shaggy gulped, as he cautiously took one of the biscuits. It was burnt into oblivion, but at the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about a disgustingly gooey surprise occurring. Having not eaten in several days, Shaggy felt ravenous and grabbed several biscuits, even though he didn't really want them. He tried to wash the burnt taste out of his mouth with water, which he worried was going to have some sort of gross or spooky surprise come along with it, but surprisingly it tasted like clean water. He just hoped it was.
"You'd better get going, Shaggy." Googie pointed to the clock, which showed Shaggy only had a few minutes to get to work. Shaggy honestly dreaded going back to work. He would have loved to have some time to wind down, given the only thing he'd done since the last time he worked was sleep. Nonetheless, that was not the situation he was in.
"Like, you're right. Love you, Googie." Shaggy smiled, as he leaned over to give his girlfriend a peck on the lips.
"Love you too, Shags." Googie reciprocated the kiss.
"Rave a great ray, Raggy!" Scooby exclaimed.
"Yeah, like, hope it's super!" Scrappy replied.
Shaggy hoped it would be too, but given his job was pure evil, he didn't exactly keep his expectations high. He marched off to his office, displaying an aura of confidence outwardly but feeling very empty and horrible inside. Holding onto the idea that he'd be able to convince Dracula to agree to another race provided some solace for him. He just wished he was actually as confident that it would work as he pretended he was with his friends. His faux courage and confidence that he could convince Dracula to agree to the challenge were not an attempt to trick his friends; rather, it was a coping mechanism. Shaggy still felt awful about getting his friends into this mess, and he was determined to get them out one way or another. He wanted to provide them that comfort that they weren't going to be stuck in this situation because of him, even if it meant exaggerating how confident he actually felt.
Shaggy walked through the hallway of other monsters' offices and saw most of them busy at work, either calling people or coming up with new ways to trick people via advertisements. He was looking forward to convincing people to buy that shitty car about as much as one would look forward to getting a tetanus shot and a colonoscopy at the same time.
Shaggy tried to follow somewhat of a pattern the previous day with the numbers he called, so that there'd be no overlap. He'd gotten up to 111-111-1389 the previous day, so he started from 111-111-1390 today.
"Hello? This is Norville here, and I'm calling to give you the deal of the century!" Shaggy began. He always attempted to use his real name, since some people might be suspicious or think he was messing around with a nickname like "Shaggy."
"Is it about trucks?" a man with a smolderingly masculine voice replied on the other end.
"Well, it's about vehicles! The Pontiac LeMans is such a great, bomb-ass car that it'll feel like you're driving a truck!" Shaggy lied.
"Uh-huh." the man replied. "Well, I like trucks."
Shaggy wasn't really sure how to continue the conversation other than to continue pushing the man to buy this car. "Are you in the market for a car today, sir? Because if not, you should be!" Shaggy answered.
"Well, I'm not into cars, but my wife wants a vehicle. I love my wife almost as much as I love muh truck." the man replied, sounding as intense and posturing as ever.
"Your wife's in luck today! I've got a 1988 Pontiac LeMans for sale, and man, these things are going like lightning!" Shaggy realized he'd have to find a way to tie it back into trucks, since that's all this guy seemed interested in. "They're callin' it the truck of cars!"
"Uh-huh." the man grunted.
"I think your wife will love this car, sir. In fact, I think she'll love it so much, someday, she might want to give it to your kids…if you have any!" Shaggy could feel himself getting a bit nervous and awkward. He'd gotten smooth-talking down, but this was quite a difficult case given the man was barely saying anything.
"Ain't got no kids. Just my wife, my hound dog, and my truck." the man responded.
"Well sir, I can tell you love your truck. And wouldn't it be great to have the truck all to yourself? If you gave your wife this car, you'd never have to ride with her in your truck again. It'd just be you and your truck!" Shaggy incentivized. "How does that sound to you, my good sir?"
"Sounds pretty truckin' good." the man smoldered.
"I'm selling these for $10,000, but we're having a special deal for truck owners today. If you buy with me right now, you'll only have to pay $9,500! Just give me your address and I'll send a form right to your house. Then, you give that to Pontiac, and they'll ship the car to your house. What's your address, sir?" Shaggy asked.
"It's the house with the truck." the man replied.
"I'm afraid I'm gonna need you to be more specific, sir." Shaggy urged.
"Ah, sorry. 123 Silverton Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa, 50047." the man gave his actual address.
"Thank you, sir. I hope you have a good rest of your day!" Shaggy replied.
"Truck yeah I will." the man mumbled. Shaggy quickly hung up on the man. He was so grateful to be done talking to that posturing buffoon.
He dialed the next number, hoping for someone at least a little more pleasant to talk to. A woman's voice could be heard on the other end. She couldn't be older than college-aged.
"Hello?" the woman's voice was high-pitched and girly.
"Hi there. This may shock you, but I'm about to give you, like, the deal of the century!" Shaggy informed.
"Oh my gosh, really?!" the girl seemed quite excited.
Shaggy felt bad tricking all of his so-called customers into grossly overpaying for a piece of crap vehicle, but he felt particularly bad with this girl. Something about her seemed so innocent and sweet, as if she had been completely sheltered from the fact that the world could be a hard place.
"I sure am! Have you ever thought about getting a new car?" Shaggy asked, trying to sound as if he were bursting with excitement.
"It's so funny you say that! I was just talking to my friend about it yesterday." the girl revealed. "I took out some student loans because it's my first year in college, but I got a pretty generous scholarship at the last minute, so I've got some extra money. I was debating between whether to pay it back to the loan company, or getting a car so I could go back and forth to see my parents!"
Shaggy felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Previously, he'd mainly been working with faceless people, some of which seemed like stereotypical caricatures. All of his previous customers were relatively subdued with him, and he'd never had a customer that opened up to him like this girl was. Something about this girl being so excited about getting a new car really hit him hard. This girl was so genuine and innocent, and he was calling to rip her off.
Shaggy was honestly about to try to talk her out of getting this car, but he knew he'd get himself and his friends in serious trouble if he did. Given he was trying to convince Dracula to trust him enough to accept a challenge, directly disobeying his orders was not the way to go about it.
"That's great!" Shaggy finally said, pushing through his discomfort. "I'm calling because I've got an amazing car called the Pontiac LeMans!"
"Ooh, sounds fancy!" the girl replied in a playful fashion, as if she were talking to a friend. "LeMans. Sounds luxurious."
This only made Shaggy feel even more like shit. This girl was so blindly trusting of him that she was practically walking into his trap.
Shaggy quickly glanced out in the hall from his chair, and didn't see anyone around. This emboldened him to use a bit more of an honest strategy with this girl. "Well, the first thing I always ask my customers is about if the price works for you. I'm selling this car for $9,500."
There was no way this girl was going to be able to afford that, so Shaggy was pretty sure she would back out after hearing this.
"Oh my gosh, that's crazy! That's almost exactly what my school loans were for. I got a $10,000 loan from my school. I really need a car, so maybe I can spend that money on the car now and pay the loan back once I'm out of college." the girl replied. "I think I want to buy this car! I guess I've just got one question: is it reliable? I need to make sure this car won't break down, because I can't afford it."
Shaggy's face fell. According to the user manual the witches conjured up for Shaggy, he was supposed to say that this car rarely breaks down and is one of the most reliable models on the market. Shaggy knew about this car, though, and he knew it was one of the biggest clunkers on the market. The parts were dirt cheap and fell apart on a dime, and owners reported needing major repairs on the car every single year. He desperately wanted to tell this girl the truth, because tricking her into doing this would not only impact her financially; it'd cloud her view of the world. Having a car that broke down constantly would cause her significant stress, and may even cause her to lose touch with her family if she couldn't travel to see them like she wanted. Hell, it could even cause her to lose her innocence and trust in people, if she ever realized how badly Shaggy had tricked her.
Shaggy was ready to pull the metaphorical trigger and slowly talk her out of doing this. He was strong enough to trick the posturers and faceless nobodies, but his guilt wouldn't allow him to trick somebody who was in such a vulnerable position like this.
"Well, I'd love to give it to you, but I was thinking about your school loans. You should probably…" Shaggy stopped when he saw the witch sisters walk past his office. He rapidly realized that they weren't just walking past casually…they appeared to be checking on him to make sure he was doing his work.
Shaggy swallowed the painful lump in his throat and sighed before he mentally revised the sentence he'd started. "You should probably wait to pay back the loans until after you graduate. Sounds like you really need a car now."
Shaggy immediately hated himself after saying this, but he couldn't jeopardize himself and his friends like that when the witches were listening.
"That's what I was thinking too!" the girl replied. "So how do I get the car?"
"Just tell me your address, and I'll mail you a form. Then, you mail the form back to Pontiac, and they'll ship the car to you." Shaggy explained.
"Great! It's 300 Rain Tree Road, Winona, MN, 55987." the woman informed. "Thank you so, so much! Have an amazing day!"
"Thanks, you too." is all Shaggy could muster. He felt utterly defeated. Tricking full-grown adults that had some financial stability was one thing, but tricking a naïve girl just going out into the world for the first time felt like a new low for Shaggy.
He knew he had to keep powering ahead, despite his extreme frustration and disdain with his work environment. He dialed the next number, hoping to god it was someone who would have enough fucking sense not to listen to his trickery. Before he was able to respond, the person on the other end spoke.
"Hello! Sheriff Dandy's office, this is Don speaking!" a familiar voice said. Shaggy felt a jolt of shock in his heart when he realized it was Don Knotts, the deputy whom he and the gang had solved a cattle-rustling mystery with.
He couldn't trick somebody he knew, and this time, he had a great alibi. This person was an officer of the law, so attempting to con him would lead Dracula into legal trouble. Shaggy didn't realize he had left Don hanging during this time he was thinking about what to do.
"Hello? Hello?" Don's tone became more frustrated. "In the name of Juneberry, I command you to reveal who is speaking!"
Shaggy quickly hung up the phone, feeling even more somber now that by some strange coincidence he'd accidentally reached somebody he knew.
Thank goodness for Shaggy, a familiar voice distracted him from his guilt. To his surprise, the voice was more pleasant than he'd heard from anyone other than his friends in the past few days.
"Shaggy! How's the job going?" the voice asked.
Shaggy spun around to see a beautiful looking human woman with brunette hair wearing a maroon dress.
"Like, Vanna Pira!" Shaggy exclaimed. He'd never really directly talked with her during his previous stay (or rather kidnapping), but she seemed different than the other monsters here. She was a lot more friendly and upbeat. In fact, she seemed genuinely concerned for Shaggy last time he saw her, when she confronted her partner about his unfair treatment. "The job's going well."
He wasn't going to say it was going like shit, especially given acting casual might give him the chance to test out the idea of challenging Dracula on someone who was at least moderately safer than Dracula.
"Great! I felt so bad when Dracky dragged you back here. You won that race fair and square!" Vanna Pira responded.
Shaggy remained cautious even though Vanna Pira seemed to be on his side. With his luck lately, he could easily see Dracula putting her up to tricking him into admitting something. Although he was going to use this as an opportunity to bring up the challenge, Shaggy kept it relaxed and cool, even if he was feeling like he'd just crawled out of a sewer.
"Well, I'm not so sure about that." Shaggy said, trying to play both sides so Vanna would not know his true intentions.
"Oh?" Vanna Pira looked surprised.
"Well, you know that The Hunch Bunch played a bunch of tricks during the race, and some of them might have been to my benefit." Shaggy replied. He didn't actually believe this, because the Hunch Bunch made it significantly harder for him to win than it otherwise would have been.
"Yeah, those two are always messing around!" Vanna Pira chuckled.
"I was wondering if Dracula would be up to a rematch. Now that I'm back here, I think I deserve a fair chance to win without any interference. I won't cheat, and he won't cheat. It'd be, like, the same stakes as last time. If I lose, I stay a werewolf forever. If I win, he changes me back for real this time!" You think he'd agree to that?" Shaggy inquired. Despite the confident facade, Shaggy felt like a bundle of nerves.
"I think it's worth a shot!" Vanna responded. "C'mon, I'll take you to him now. He was just getting lunch."
Shaggy hadn't expected his gratification to be so immediate, but he certainly wasn't complaining. He was quick to jump out of his uncomfortable office chair and follow Dracula's partner down the hall.
"So, has your stay here been comfortable?" Vanna Pira asked. She was clearly trying to be kind and make small talk, but Shaggy wasn't entirely sure how to interpret it.
"Well, the food's taken a bit of getting used to." is all Shaggy said.
"The Hunch Bunch makes human food for me. Maybe they'd do the same for you!" Vanna Pira suggested.
Shaggy fought the urge to enthusiastically say "that'd be great" or show any sort of desire for special treatment that might throw suspicion on him.
"Sure, like, if you want." Shaggy replied. His voice was monotone and completely vacant of any personality when he said this.
Vanna Pira continued leading him down the spiderweb infested hallway. The narrowness of it and lack of lighting made it quite dark and dingy, to the point where Shaggy was having a bit of trouble seeing.
"I wish Dracula would put some lights in here." Vanna sighed. "It's right up these stairs."
Shaggy knew the stairs well. It was the same stone staircase he went up every evening to get back to his room. It was admittedly a bit discomforting for Shaggy to know Dracula slept in such close proximity to him and his friends. All this time, he'd thought that he had his own little sanctuary of his room when he wasn't working. Shaggy supposed he still technically did have a space to himself, but knowing that Dracula was nearby made him feel less like he had a safe space.
"I believe he was getting a bite to eat, but you should be able to talk to him!" Vanna said.
The anxious part of Shaggy wondered if the bite to eat he was getting was human blood.
Reluctantly, Shaggy raised his left hand and knocked on the door lightly. There was no answer at first, so Shaggy knocked a little harder.
"Vanna Pira? Is that you?" Dracula answered.
Shaggy was worried for a moment that he'd have to answer for her. This worry was quickly relieved when Vanna spoke up.
"Yes!" she said. "I've got someone to see you."
"Send them in!" Dracula commanded, as if he were some sort of busy office executive.
Shaggy saw him licking a nearly-empty bowl full of red stuff. Shaggy preferred not to think too hard about what it might be. He supposed now was the moment of truth, but despite all his planning, he felt extremely anxious. He wasn't sure if it was the swindling that shook him up, or simply being in the presence of Dracula giving him cold feet. He was incredibly gracious when Vanna spoke up again.
"Shaggy's got a brilliant idea I think you should hear!" Vanna Pira informed.
"So vhat is your 'brilliant idea,' Shah-gee?" Dracula inquired.
"I think we should do another Monster Road Rally." Shaggy started. He paused for a moment and felt like his self-esteem shriveled a little as Dracula's face showed disdain.
"Vhy vould ve do that?" Dracula snapped.
"Hear him out, Dracky!" Vanna Pira scolded, before her voice developed more of an encouraging tone. "He's got a good idea."
Shaggy wasn't sure why Vanna Pira seemed to be on his side, but he was extremely grateful for it. "Even though we're both on different sides, I think both of us can agree that there was, like, some interference that benefitted me in the original race. I want to win fair and square, and I'm positive that I could if given the chance."
"You?" Dracula mocked. "Ha! You couldn't vin if ve gave you an hour head start!"
Shaggy's confrontation with Dracula was such an interesting study of his character. Dracula could have been menacing, angry, or even dehumanizing in his responses to Shaggy. Hell, if he wanted to, he could have locked Shaggy and his friends away forever and completely shut down the idea of the race, and there's nothing that Shaggy could have done about it. However, this Dracula seemed like a very posturing man who was more interested in self-preservation than inflicting mayhem and harm. The fact that Dracula's response to him was an empty taunt absolutely showed who Dracula was.
As much as he hated it, Shaggy could use this to his advantage. He simply thought back to all the posturing people he'd talked to on the phone over the past two days, like the "got a wife and a truck" guy and the person who said minivans were for weenies.
"Like, wanna bet?" Shaggy didn't know what came over him. His words did not at all match the anxiety he felt inside, but he knew the only way he'd get what he wanted is if he challenged Dracula's ego. "In fact, I think I could easily win if there were a rematch! Those obstacles the Hunch Bunch put in front of me were only minor hindrances! I would have won even easier without them!"
Although Shaggy was definitely posturing, there was a part of him that actually believed this. Perhaps it was the strange turn of events that resulted from Dracula sending him on many detours that caused him to win, but Shaggy didn't believe it was. He was regularly in the lead even before the traps, and he believed he could do it again.
"There's no vay you vould have von. If not for the Hunch Bunch's bumbling, you vould have been dead last!" Dracula teased.
"Well, if you're so confident about that, why don't we test it out?" Shaggy asked. "If I win, you turn me back into a human, and leave me and my friends alone forever. If I lose, I'll stay a werewolf, and I won't try to fight it anymore."
Dracula didn't respond to Shaggy at first. He sat in silence for a moment, presumably contemplating whether or not he was going to agree to Shaggy's challenge. After a few moments of saying nothing, he simply cried out "Volfgong!"
Shaggy wasn't exactly sure whom Dracula was talking to for a moment, until a bedraggled wolf-like creature came in. He wore a tattered blue robe with a rope around the waist.
"Hey, like, you've got another werewolf here!" Shaggy was almost a little insulted at first that Dracula wouldn't just use whoever this was as the werewolf instead of kidnapping him and all his friends.
"That's not a werewolf, silly. It's just Dracula's butler, Wolfgong. He was never a human; just a very strange-looking wolf creature." Vanna Pira explained.
"Yes, master?" Wolfgong said in a sniveling voice.
"Make preparations for another Monster Road Rally!" Dracula demanded, which caused Shaggy to light up inside. His challenge had been accepted.
"But we just had one, master." Wolfgong pointed out.
"Vell, ve're doing another one. Shah-gee is right! There's no vay he vould have von if not for the Hunch Bunch's stupidity." Dracula said.
"I'll get on that immediately, master." Wolfgong said, as he slinked out of the room. As soon as he did, another knock could be heard at the door.
"Tomb service!" Crunch exclaimed, pushing a cart with a platter holding a large ice cream sundae on it. The sundae cup had what appeared to be chocolate and something red in it, presumably blood. Unfortunately for Crunch, he clownishly tripped over his own feet and spilled the sundae all over the floor.
"Sowwy, bosh." Crunch apologized to his supervisor, causing Dracula to give him an angry glance.
Dracula seemed so caught up in making his announcement that he didn't even verbally scold Crunch.
"Hunch Bunch! I have some news! Ve're doing the Monster Road Rally again!" Dracula announced.
"We are?" Crunch asked.
"Yes, ve are, and vithout your bumbling this time, so that Shah-gee cannot vn!" Dracula snapped, before turning his attention back to Shaggy. "Alright, Shah-gee, you've got a deal, but on two conditions!"
To keep up his "tough guy" persona, Shaggy simply said the same thing one of his customers had said to him over the phone. "I'm listening."
"The race vill be tomorrow! You vill have no time to prepare, just to prove that you really are as good as you say are!" Dracula gave his first condition. Shaggy was worried it was going to be something outrageous or shocking, so the fact that it was such a simple caveat significantly relaxed Shaggy as he prepared to hear the second condition.
"Agreed." Shaggy nodded. "Like, what's the second condition?"
"If you're going to be so caught up in this…yuck…fairness, ve each get to decide part of the bet." Dracula scoffed. "If you vin, I vill turn you back into a human and leave you alone."
Sounded good to Shaggy so far.
"If you lose…" Dracula bared his fangs playfully, which Shaggy feared couldn't be good. "You and your friends vill become a part of my Monster Realm forever!"
Shaggy's stomach sank as soon as the King of Vampires said this. He felt stupid for ever having hope that Dracula would blindly agree to his challenge, because of course there'd be an Earth-shattering string attached just when he thought he was getting what he wanted.
Shaggy tried not to gulp, but one slipped out. "They'll become monsters too?"
"Yes, Shah-gee. If you are as confident in your ability to vin as you say you are, then it shouldn't be a problem to agree to this, right?" Dracula smirked.
This didn't feel like a decision Shaggy could make on his own. He felt horrible either way. If he remained complacent and didn't agree to the race, his friends would be stuck here in this castle forever. If he agreed to this race, there was a 50/50 chance that he could get out of this and save his friends. However, there was an equally likely chance he couldn't win. He'd already been feeling guilty that he'd dragged his friends into a dangerous situation. Googie had assured him that it wasn't his fault, but if he agreed to this, then it would undeniably be his fault. He would be directly responsible for turning his friends into monsters. On the other hand, agreeing to this at least gave them a fighting chance, whereas the other option would ensure he and his friends would be trapped here forever.
"So Shah-gee, do you accept?" Dracula pressured.
Shaggy supposed sometimes life presents situations with no good options. He didn't feel there was any other way out of this, so begrudgingly, he spoke up and made his decision. Shaggy felt conflicted about his decision nearly until the three-letter-word left his lips.
"Yes." Shaggy agreed.