Googie continued to ask Shaggy tons of questions, and as much as he hated to, he had to ignore her for a moment as he attempted to get the helicopter off the ground without Dracula seeing him. He assumed not catching Dracula's attention would be an easy task, since the Vampire King was busy with announcing for the race. However, getting the Bat-Copter up in the air and in the correct direction would be a much tougher task.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly so far. Shaggy honestly had no idea what button he'd pressed, but it seemed to be lifting them up into the air. He began to feel confident enough to tune back into what his friends were saying.
"Shaggy, are you ignoring me?" Googie snapped. "Honestly."
"Need a navigator, Shaggy?" Scrappy asked.
"Uh…like yeah." Shaggy replied, giving a brief glance to Scrappy. "That'd be great."
He still didn't quite have the strength to deal with Googie's frustration, so he pretended he hadn't heard her remark just like he'd tuned out for all the others.
The helicopter seemed to be up about as high as they needed it to be, so Shaggy relied on the "autopilot" button to do the thinking for him. Luckily for him, the Bat-Copter seemed to know what to do, and stopped ascending. It continued to move forward on a straight line path.
"Shaggy, I repeat, what is going on?" Googie demanded. Her demeanor did not convey frustration, but rather, panic. He felt bad for scaring his girlfriend, but he knew he was a hell of a lot more scared than she was.
"Okay, like, I think I've got this thing on the right course. Can you navigate and watch the helicopter while I explain this, Scrappy?" Shaggy asked.
"Aye aye, captain!" Scrappy saluted Shaggy. Shaggy envied Scrappy for being able to be so happy-go-lucky and full of energy in such a frightening situation.
"So, it's like this: when I challenged Dracula to a race, I never intended to do the whole race." Shaggy explained.
"Ruh?" Scooby said, with a confused look on his face.
"You mean you were just planning to run away the whole time and didn't tell us? Oh, Shaggy! Sometimes you frustrate me!" Googie snapped.
"Like, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I couldn't! I didn't want to risk Dracula overhearing. He seemed to have no trouble figuring out where we were going before, so for all I knew, he might have the whole castle bugged!" Shaggy explained. "There would have been no way to escape under normal circumstances, so I figured, like, the race would create just enough of a diversion for us to be able to make a quick getaway."
"I understand that you feel you couldn't tell us, Shaggy." Googie's tone shifted from being worked up to an aura of greater understanding. "How do you know Dracula won't just follow us to this Vincent Van Ghoul person's place?"
"Like, I don't." Shaggy gulped. "It's a risk I, like, had to take. Once we get to Vincent Van Ghoul's, he'll know what to do."
"I sure hope so." Googie sighed. Shaggy could tell that this situation was taking a mental toll on his girlfriend, but he didn't really know what to do about it. He was not in a good emotional place either; in fact, he was in an absolutely terrible emotional place. He was glad he was able to escape, but now, he would have to come to terms with a very discomforting thought: he had no idea how to keep his friends safe anymore.
The journey had been long, but relatively smooth. Scrappy and Shaggy had taken turns doing the "driving," that being a relative term given they were essentially just hoping autopilot led them where they needed to go, making minor adjustments as needed as per Scrappy's world map.
If Scrappy's calculations were correct (and Shaggy wasn't exactly sure that they were), they would be flying over Vincent Van Ghoul's castle in the Himalayas any minute. The ground was covered in mounds of thick, wet snow, which was somewhat promising to Shaggy. Maybe they were on the right track after all.
"Like, we're almost there, guys!" Shaggy informed the others.
"Hooray!" Scrappy replied jovially.
"Rippee!" Scooby added.
"That's good." Googie said. Shaggy couldn't quite tell what her mood was, but it seemed like a mix between anxious and dejected. She'd been pretty quiet throughout the journey, or at least, a lot more reserved than normal.
"Rastle! Rastle!" Scooby exclaimed.
"Like, he's right! I think I see Vincent's castle up ahead, Scrappy!" Shaggy pointed to Scooby's nephew, who was currently driving the helicopter.
"Hey, you're right!" Scrappy realized. "Prepare for landing! If I could just figure out how to land this thing…"
"Just don't do what Crunch did!" Googie rolled her eyes. Shaggy was pretty sure this was the first time he'd heard her be even the least bit lighthearted since they'd fled from Dracula's castle.
"Don't worry, I think I've got this all under control!" Scrappy assured.
All of a sudden, the Bat-Copter started to plummet in midair, alerting everyone that Scrappy most certainly did not have everything under control.
"Rappy! Ro romething!" Scooby panicked, covering his eyes in fright.
"Sorry Uncle Scooby!" Scrappy apologized, as he pressed another button. This button seemed to level off the Bat-Copter, although it also stopped the helicopter from landing.
"Like, how exactly are we supposed to land this thing?" Shaggy pondered, as he examined the rows of buttons next to Scrappy.
"I have extremely limited knowledge of helicopters, but in the movies, they always show the person descending at a slower speed. You don't just go from full speed to a complete stop. Maybe try slowing the helicopter down a bit." Googie recommended.
"Great idea, Googie!" Scrappy agreed.
"I think this button slows the Bat-Copter down." Shaggy tested, as he pressed a button.
"Shaggy, don't!" Scrappy hollered just as Shaggy pressed the button. "That button says 'divebomb!' The button next to it is the one you wanted!"
Shaggy looked at the button next to it, which read "super comfy landing." It figured.
Everyone braced themselves for impact as the helicopter began plummeting at high speed. Shaggy quickly realized they weren't actually going to hit the ground; rather, it appeared they were headed straight for a pine tree.
Shaggy's suspicions were soon confirmed when he heard and felt a large thud.
"Well, like, I've got some good news and some bad news." Shaggy replied, looking out the window. "We didn't crash, but we appear to be…"
Googie finished his sentence for him before he could get his thoughts out.
"Stuck in a tree? Again?" Googie sighed.
"Like, sorry." Shaggy blushed, wearing a sheepish look on his face.
"It doesn't look like we're that far off the ground." Scrappy pointed out. "Maybe we could jump down!"
Shaggy rolled down his window to get a better look at things. A few branches poked into the window and brushed against Shaggy's arm as he rolled it down. A couple of needles managed to drop off one of the branches and onto his shirt.
To his relief, they were only about 15 feet in the air. They'd graciously been caught by a low branch, so it would be possible for them to jump out of the helicopter without a high likelihood of them getting hurt.
"Like, I think you're right, Scrappy. Are you comfortable with that, Googie?" Shaggy asked. He could tell something was off about her, so he wanted to make sure that she was doing alright with all of this.
"Yeah…" Googie stuttered, seeming like her words didn't match her mood. Her tone quickly got more confident as she said the rest of her remark. "It doesn't look that far down."
"Like, I think the passenger's side has easier access to the ground. Who wants to go first?" Shaggy inquired.
"I can!" Scrappy suggested. The pup pressed the button to roll down the passenger's side window, and leaped out the window nearly as quickly as the glass had gone down.
"That's rhat I rall eager!" Scooby exclaimed.
"You wanna go next, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.
"Rure!" Scooby offered, before he looked down out the window. "Rut it's rinda scary!"'
"I know, Scoob. But like, Just think how much higher up we were a couple of days ago with Dracula!" Shaggy reminded. "Once you jump, it'll, like, be no time at all before you're on solid ground."
"Ri ruess." Scooby sighed, still shaking as he took the leap. Shaggy realized that he should really glance out the window to make sure Scooby and Scrappy were alright before he and Googie proceeded to jump.
"Like, are you alright, Scooby and Scrappy?" Shaggy asked.
"Re rade it!" Scooby confirmed.
"We're a-o-k, Shaggy!" Scrappy chimed in.
Although hanging from a tree in a helicopter was probably the oddest time to check in on someone, Shaggy felt the need to take a moment to ensure Googie was alright. She'd been quite muted and dejected the entire trip.
"Are, like, you okay?" Shaggy asked his girlfriend.
"I think so." Googie nodded. "I'm sorry if I'm acting off. It's just…you sending us flying down a hill followed by hijacking a helicopter…that was really scary. I get why you did it, but I hope you can understand why that would be traumatic, since the others and I had no idea what was going on."
"I can. And I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure we all got out of there safely." Shaggy replied, moving in for a smooch. Googie reciprocated the kiss, but it was a bit different than usual. There was not that same passionate and mutual strong feeling that they usually felt when they kissed. Googie seemed distant. Shaggy felt bad about it, but he didn't know what other way he could have escaped from the castle.
"I'll go next." Googie replied, as she lifted her legs over the window and climbed up on the sill. She then proceeded to jump out the window. It appeared that she landed on her feet, but Shaggy felt he should check just to make sure she was okay.
"Are you alright, Googie?" Shaggy asked.
"Yeah, I am." Googie confirmed.
There was no one left to delay Shaggy from jumping, so he tried to make what admittedly seemed like a very scary thing as quick and painless as possible. Shaggy decided to follow Googie's lead and put both his feet up on the window, then lift himself so he was sitting on the slightly lopsided windowsill before jumping out.
"Like, that's gonna be a heck of a chore to get down later." Shaggy gulped.
"No time to worry about that now, Shaggy. We've got to go see Mr. Van Ghoul!" Scrappy excitedly said. Scooby's nephew seemed quite eager to get in the castle again, and Shaggy was pretty sure he knew why. He and Flim-Flam had become quite close friends, and he knew it'd made Scrappy sad when Flim-Flam decided to stay behind and become Vincent's apprentice. Scrappy hadn't seen Flim-Flam in nearly a year now, so Shaggy knew that was at least part of Scrappy's eagerness.
The castle was very large and stately. It looked like it could be haunted, but in a different way from Dracula's run-down old castle. The way the snow elegantly rested on the buttresses made the house look like it was from Victorian times. Vincent's home looked utterly beautiful in its snow-covered glory. It appeared to have five floors, all of which were bordered by large picture windows.
Shaggy and Googie carefully walked down the sidewalk to Vincent Van Ghoul's house. It appeared Vincent had fallen a bit behind on de-icing his sidewalk, as it was quite slippery. Shaggy nearly slipped and fell on his keister at one point, but thankfully, Googie grabbed his hand and saved him from tumbling to the ground.
"Like, thanks, Googie! That was a close one!" Shaggy exhaled a deep breath of relief.
Scrappy bounded up to Vincent's door with excitement, and was quick to ring the doorbell. Shaggy had forgotten that Vincent's doorbell was in the shape of some sort of demon. It let out an ear-piercing shriek as Scrappy rang it.
"Wowee, I forgot about that!" Scrappy exclaimed. He seemed almost excited about the shrieking doorbell, whereas all the others' reactions ranged from frightened to annoyed.
No one answered the door for a moment, but after about a minute of waiting, a young boy in a yellow jumpsuit answered the door.
"Yes?" Flim-Flam asked, not recognizing Shaggy. "Hey…wait a minute…it's you guys!"
"Good to see ya again, Flim!" Scrappy exclaimed.
"Same to you, Scrap old buddy!" Flim-Flam replied, as he embraced the small dog in a hug.
"Ri Rim-Ram!" Scooby greeted.
"Scooby! Man, it's good to see you guys again!" Flim-Flam warmly greeted.
"Like, hey, Flim-Flam!" Shaggy waved.
"Shaggy?" Flim-Flam had to do a double-take when he saw the werewolf. "Wow, you really look different. Did you do No Shave November or something?"
"Like, uh…it's a long story." Shaggy gulped.
"Well c'mon in and tell it! You guys must be here to see Vincent?" Flim-Flam asked.
"Yeah, we are." Googie answered.
"Wow, you've really changed too, Daphne! You look and sound like a completely different person!" Flim-Flam gasped.
"That's because she, like, is a different person!" Shaggy chuckled. "Flim-Flam, this is my girlfriend, Googie."
"Pleasure to meet you!" Flim-Flam extended his hand out and shook Googie's hand. "C'mon in, and I'll take you to see Vincent."
"Thanks, Flim-Flam!" Googie responded. "It's great to meet you too."
"So, what's this story you said you had to tell me?" Flim-Flam inquired of the werewolf of the group.
"Oh boy, where should I start?" Shaggy gulped.
"I'll tell it for ya, Shaggy!" Scrappy offered. "Dracula turned Shaggy into a werewolf!"
"And then, he, like, forced me to drive in his Monster Road Rally with all the other creatures in his realm." Shaggy continued the story. "We barely escaped, and now we're looking to Vincent for his help."
Shaggy knew there were other parts of the story that he was omitting, like the fact they'd escaped twice, but he figured he could fill Flim-Flam in on the whole story when they told Vincent, rather than repeating the exact same words twice.
"Wow, that is quite the predicament! Well, you've come to the right place. Vince should know what to do!" Flim-Flam replied, as he led them all down a winding hallway. The walls were adorned with several torch-shaped lights. One of them was flickering a little bit, which Shaggy found to add to the spooky atmosphere.
"So, how's life as Vincent's apprentice?" Scrappy asked.
"It's a pretty sweet gig!" Flim-Flam responded, as he turned to the left and motioned for the others to follow. "Vince is teaching me everything he knows! Pretty soon, I'll be a full-fledged mystic just like he is!"
"Wowee, that's amazing!" Scrappy exclaimed.
"He's right in here." Flim-Flam informed, as he brought them into the dining room. "Hey Vince, some guests have come to see you!"
"Like, hey, Mr. Van Ghoul!" Shaggy greeted as soon as he walked into the dining room. Vincent was sitting down in a chair at the end of the table, eating what appeared to be a bowl of soup. The kitchen was decorated with various mystic stones and statues of the macabre. The aesthetic of the room admittedly creeped Shaggy out a little bit.
"Shaggy?" Vincent asked, seeming a bit surprised.
"Like, yeah, it's us!" Shaggy greeted. "Long time no see!"
"It certainly has been a long time." Vincent responded. "You look quite different."
"Like, that's actually why we're here." Shaggy explained. "It's kind of a long story."
"Shaggy got turned into a werewolf by Dracula!" Flim-Flam summed up the story.
"Dracula? Wow, you sure manage to get yourselves into predicament after predicament, don't you?" Vincent chuckled lightly.
"Well, see, it's like this." Shaggy started telling the whole story. "Dracula claims some book prophesied that I was to become the next werewolf. When his last werewolf left right before his annual Monster Road Rally race, he turned me into a werewolf and brought me to Transylvania to compete with all the other monsters from his realm. The deal was that if I won, then I'd be turned into a human again. Despite all of Dracula's tricks, I won, but he still refused to turn me into a human! So we stole his book, escaped, and Googie was able to turn me back into a human."
"That sounds like quite the harrowing journey." Vincent replied, a great sympathy present in his voice. "So how did you become a werewolf again?"
"Like, Dracula followed us back home! We tried to get away, but he captured me and brought me back to Transylvania. He turned me into a werewolf again, and said I had to be a part of his Monster Realm. I tricked him into agreeing to a re-do race, and then escaped during the race." Shaggy explained.
"And now, we're coming to you for help. How do we get rid of that old bat?" Scrappy asked.
"Well, I'm afraid there's no easy way to do that. There are only two ways I know of to get rid of a vampire. The first way is the easiest." Vincent informed.
"Rhat's rhe rirst option?" Scooby inquired.
"The first way is bringing Dracula out into the sunlight. Vampires can't handle sunlight, so this will cause him to shrivel up until he disintegrates. You saw this when we captured Queen Morbidia, I believe." Vincent reminded.
"Like, that won't work! He wears sunblock!" Shaggy gulped.
"Oh dear." Vincent sighed. "In that case, the only way to defeat Dracula is staking him through the heart."
Shaggy felt alarms go off in his mind and his heart. He'd captured crooks dressed up in Halloween costumes before, and sent hundreds of people to jail. He'd thwarted real monsters like Revolta, the 13 ghosts, and Jadall the evil djinn. But he'd never had to physically kill anything or anyone before, even monsters.
"Do you think you're up to the task, Shaggy?" Vincent asked. "Flim-Flam and I would be happy to help, should you feel that you would like it."
"Like, yeah, we'd definitely appreciate the help." Shaggy said a bit distantly. He was still stuck on the fact that he was planning to kill a monster.
"Then it's settled! We'll come to Transylvania with you and kill Dracula!" Flim-Flam replied.
"Like…uh…are you sure that's the only way?" Shaggy inquired. "Can't we just, like, put him in the Demon Chest or something?"
"I'm afraid not. We put so many ghouls in there that it's getting a bit full." Vincent informed.
"You mean, like all those ghouls on the ship and the cemetery ghouls?" Shaggy asked.
"Yes, mostly. We also had to put the ghosts of the Three Stooges in the chest, because they were causing widespread annoyance across the globe." Vincent replied.
A voice that sounded like Curly Joe began speaking from inside a safe on the wall. Shaggy assumed the Demon Chest was in the safe. "Hey Moe, what does a ghost say before they go to bed?"
"What?" Moe replied.
"I'm dead tired!" Curly Joe joked. "Nyuk nyuk nyuk!"
"Wise guy, eh? Well, I got a punchline for ya!" Moe said, as a loud smack could be heard behind the safe.
"Nyah nyah nyah!" Curly Joe yelped from Moe's retaliation.
"Pipe down in there, you guys!" Flim-Flam snapped in an annoyed tone.
"Well, is there like a Monster Court or something?" Shaggy asked. "Maybe Dracula broke some law!"
"There is a Monster Court, but I doubt you'd want to see them." Vincent informed. "It's run by some of the most ruthless, miserly monsters on Earth, and they aren't exactly guided by principles of justice and fairness."
"Vince is right! Your best bet is to stake Dracula where it hurts." Flim-Flam agreed with his mentor.
"Like, what do you guys think about this?" Shaggy looked to his friends.
"If Mr. Van Ghoul thinks it's the best way, then that's what we should do!" Scrappy provided his insight.
"Ri agree!" Scooby nodded.
"I guess this is the only way." Googie shrugged.
"Well, I'm done with my supper." Vincent replied. "There's no time to waste, so we may as well get going."
Shaggy really didn't want to be the one to stake Dracula through the heart, but he supposed he'd have to. This would be the ultimate test of bravery, which felt like it had been a theme in his life ever since this whole Dracula situation happened.
"Wait, what about the Bat-Copter?" Googie asked.
"What about it?" Flim-Flam looked confused.
"Oh…like, Mr. Van Ghoul. We may have gotten something caught in your tree." Shaggy nervously informed.
"And what did you get caught?" Vincent Van Ghoul inquired curiously, with a bit of an edge in his voice.
"Uh…a helicopter." Shaggy said with a sheepish grin, to which Vincent facepalmed in response.
Thanks to Flim-Flam's help and Vincent's patience (although to be fair, that seemed to be quickly waning), the adventurers were able to free the Bat-Copter from Vincent Van Ghoul's pine tree with a large, thick metal pole. They had gotten the helicopter operational and up in the air once again, and were on their way to Transylvania.
"Like, thanks for getting that out, Mr. Van Ghoul." Shaggy appreciated.
"I didn't think it was possible, but that may have been more difficult than the actual task ahead." Vincent said, exhaustion present in his voice.
"He's joking, I think." Flim-Flam chuckled.
"Only slightly." Vincent replied, his tone seeming unamused.
"So what have you guys been up to since we left?" Scrappy asked. Shaggy was thankful for the conversation shift.
"We've been catching all sorts of spirits!" Flim-Flam informed.
"None as bad or as threatening as the thirteen we all caught together, but they still posed a threat to the supernatural world." Vincent added. "Perhaps our proudest accomplishment was capturing all of SAPS."
"All of them? Woah, you guys have been busy!" Scrappy replied.
"What have you guys been up to?" Flim-Flam inquired in response. "And where's Daphne, by the way?"
"Well, like, we've been traveling around quite a bit. We tried out quite a few different jobs, and like, solved a few mysteries." Shaggy responded.
"Oh wow! What kinds of jobs?" Flim-Flam asked.
"Well, like, we recently became gym teachers at a school!" Shaggy recounted.
"Sounds like an amazing gig! What made you leave?" Flim-Flam questioned.
Shaggy didn't want to say the actual reason, which was that he'd run away in a moment of fear when he was scared by a group of new monster students. "A witch kidnapped all of our students! We helped rescue them, but we got out of there as fast as we could after that. We knew it would be too dangerous to stay."
Scrappy raised a curious eyebrow, but Shaggy chose not to acknowledge it.
"Daphne's working as a reporter full-time now." Scrappy added. "We still see her pretty often."
"That's awesome! How's she liking it?" Flim-Flam wondered aloud.
"She loves it!" Shaggy revealed. "She was sometimes doing journalism part-time while we solved mysteries...well, like, before all the Demon Chest stuff happened."
"Good to hear she's doing well." Vincent chimed in. "Speaking of doing well, the helicopter seems to finally be flying smoothly."
"This helicopter seems to go a lot faster than any I've ever been in!" Flim-Flam observed.
"Like, I noticed that too." Shaggy pointed out.
"Dracula must have built in some special modifications to the Bat-Copter or something." Scrappy said.
"Maybe in the wings or something?" Googie chimed in.
"Must be. This trip would have taken days in any other helicopter, but it seems to only take a few hours." Scrappy answered.
Shaggy still felt a sense of lingering fear and doubt in his mind about the plan they were about to execute. He was happy about the thought of being rid of Dracula for good, but something about slaughtering a living creature just wasn't sitting right with Shaggy. He debated for a while about whether to bring it up again, feeling silly for continuing to push for a magic solution that likely didn't even exist. However, his anxiety took the stronghold and prompted him to ask the question again.
"Uh, speaking of Dracula, are you sure there's no other way to get rid of him, Mr. Van Ghoul?" Shaggy asked nervously.
"Positive." Vincent responded plainly.
"Like, okay." Shaggy sighed.
"What's wrong, Shaggy?" Flim-Flam asked, putting his hand on Shaggy's shoulder to comfort him. "You seem kinda down."
"Like…I don't know." Shaggy harrumphed. "We've trapped hundreds of fake monsters, and even trapped real monsters. But killing a monster? That, like, seems a bit out of my wheelhouse."
"I get it, Shaggy. I've never killed a monster either. Just trapped them. So I get it. You'll do great, though. Just think of all the evil Dracula's doing out there in the world!" Flim-Flam said.
"Like, you're right." Shaggy nodded, still not feeling fully convinced. He genuinely couldn't tell if it was his anxiety or his conscience fighting the thought of what he was about to do (or perhaps it was both).
"If it helps, I've heard this particular Dracula is one of the most annoying and divisive choices to ever lead the Monster Realm. Not that it means much, since monsters tend to be particularly vitriolic when it comes to politics, but perhaps that may assure you." Vincent Van Ghoul informed. "As the Monster Realm has gotten larger in recent years, politics have gotten even more divisive."
"That makes me feel, like, a little better." Shaggy said cautiously, still a bit unsure of how he felt. He thought back to Sybella's father, who seemed at least honorable even if he was quite intense and cruel. This Dracula seemed like a sniveling, narcissistic annoyance. In fact, generally speaking, the five monsters he'd met at Grimwood's seemed more honorable than anyone in the realm now.
Perhaps it would be easier if Dracula was some sort of snarling beast, or mindless monster that Shaggy could kill without feeling guilty. The fact that Dracula seemed like an individual with his own life, even if it was an evil one, made Shaggy feel bad and uneasy about what he was about to do. Shaggy would just have to hope he'd gain the courage to do what he had to do by the time they arrived in Transylvania.
Author's note:
A couple of notes with this chapter. The comment Vincent made about the Monster Realm getting bigger is referencing the fact that every time the gang meets the Universal Monsters in the 1980s, the number of monsters in the group seems to vary. There's always Dracula, a werewolf, a mummy, and Frankenstein's Monster. However, in "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle," there's also a sea monster and the Invisible Man. In Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, there is also a phantom. In Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, there was also a Boogeyman, Dragonfly Monster, Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Snyde, the Bride of Frankenstein, and the Witch Sisters. My headcanon is that the political system of the Monster Realm has created more positions for diverse types of monsters over the years.
The other thing I wanted to note is the conversation about how the Bat-Copter is faster than other helicopters. The reason I included this interaction here is because of a bit of a logistical inconsistency in the original film. In Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf, Dracula and the Hunch Bunch transports the gang from the United States to Transylvania in the same night. North America is nearly 6,000 miles away from Transylvania, so doing that in the same night would not be possible, especially when you factor in the eight hour time difference. The most logical explanation for this is that the Bat-Copter is built differently than the average helicopter, and is able to move significantly faster. The Himalayas and Transylvania are about 3,000 miles apart. Given they were able to travel double that amount of miles from the United States to Transylvania in such a short period of time, I figured it made sense that they'd be able to get to the Himalayas in a few hours from Transylvania.