Day 3 – Pitstopped – Part 2
When the Compact Pussycat parked in front of the McCoy mansion, the three girls ran down the stairs. To their dismay, when they arrived at the garden, they saw the image of Josie and Peter Perfect kissing inside the car. The girls looked at each other and got embarrassed, and Alexandra made a noise in her throat to announce their arrival and break the kiss. Consequently, the noise made Peter and Josie feel embarrassed, since they knew what they were doing was wrong. Without saying a word, Josie quickly got out of the car and tried to fix the misunderstanding.
Josie: Hey, it's not what you´re thinking...
Alexandra: It's way worse than I'm thinking!
Josie: Oh, you can think! I didn't know you had a brain...
Alexandra: You should be nicer to me now that I know what you both are doing with your boyfriends...
The phrase interrupted Josie's typical arrogance, and she looked at Alexandra with a surprised face, fearing she would continue.
Alexandra: From now on, no videos about me, ok? Or the whole school will know you´re cheating and they will realize how disgusting you are!
Josie shook her head silently, with tears in her eyes. Before Alexandra could continue, Velma pulled her by the wrist towards the car, and Madelyn followed them.
Peter: Hi, pretty Velma!
Velma: SPARE ME YOUR CHEESY PICKUP LINES, PETER! Now, give me the car keys!
Peter: I'll take you to the mansion...
Velma: NOW, PETER!
Velma's scream didn't scare Peter due to intensity, but due to the voice tone identical to Penelope's, and the boy got out of the car as if he were running away from a ghost. Velma angrily snatched the key from his hand and took her seat in front of the steering wheel, while Alexandra and Madelyn occupied the other seats.
Velma: You're lucky I´ve only got Penelope's personality right now! If I had her talents, I would kick your ass!
When Velma started the car, a camera flash shone next to Josie and Peter, then Alexandra laughed.
Alexandra: Oh, no! I accidentally took a pic of them! And I will post it at any time if Josie don´t behave herself as a good "sister"…
Without saying goodbye, Velma sped towards the mansion. When she got there in some minutes, she realized that she had acquired some of Penelope's talents too.
The girls gathered in the main room and soon started truly a task force to try to solve the mystery. While Alexandra inspected the rooms, searching for a source of radioactivity, Velma carefully analyzed the walls and the floor, looking for fungi and other sources of contamination. Madelyn continued the arduous task of contacting Marcie through all kinds of social networks, but unfortunately she was unsuccessful. As dawn was breaking, they instinctively searched for sofas and armchairs, then fell asleep from exhaustion. Three hours later, Alexandra's cell phone rang, waking them up.
Josie: Hi Alex... it's almost nine o'clock and... I thought I should tell you... to return home before your mom wakes up... because… she might get mad at you…
Josie's voice was sweet and gentle, very different from the threatening and arrogant way she used to speak with Alexandra.
Alexandra: Thank you... but you'll have to come here and pick me up... and if our parents wake up before we return, you'll say it was YOUR idea to go out at night, and YOU asked me to go with you... otherwise, I'll post the photo...
Alexandra hung up as soon as Josie agreed, and she got up in a hurry. Madelyn also got up quickly, worried with the time.
Madelyn: I need to return home and tell Mom some lies before she suspects!
Velma was so tired that she couldn't even move. She only opened her eyes when she heard the sound of a car horn – and after that, she heard the main door slamming when the two girls left. Then, she sat on the sofa and checked her cell phone messages. As Madelyn had said, Shaggy and Marcie had blocked her at all social networks, and Velma couldn't even send them an apology message. Daphne was also incommunicable, probably because she was with Fred while his father was out of town. When she gave up trying to contact them, she received a call from an unknown number.
Melody: Hi Velma! The girls are going to have breakfast at Tiki Tub… and I thought it would be nice if you came too…
Velma's stomach didn´t let her refuse, and Melody said she would pick her up in a some minutes. After all, without Daphne around, nobody would notice if she stayed out of the mansion for a few hours. Velma used the little time she had left to brush her blonde hair, put on a short pink dress and redo her makeup. When Melody arrived, she put on her long white boots and chose another pink bag from that huge closet.
When Velma appeared outside the mansion using those clothes, Judy, Melody, and Valerie looked at her astonished. Even so, they were nice to her and didn't make any kind of mean comments about it. On the contrary, Velma got impressed to see how nice the girls were to her after what happened the night before, and she got way more impressed when Judy mentioned they had only invited her because they wanted to make her feel better. "I think I owe them apologies too… like Penelope, they're not the kind of girls I though they were ", she thought constantly, at each kind attitude she received.
At the restaurant, Shelly and Bubbles were already waiting for them, sitting at a large table. While they were talking and waiting for their orders, Velma - again - realized both the Neptunes vocalists were nicer than expected. A big surprise occurred when Josie arrived, bringing Alexandra with her. Alexandra was no longer hiding her long white hair.
Josie: Hi girls, I brought Alexandra to have breakfast with us…
The questioning faces made Josie give further explanations.
Josie: Alexandra is my stepmother's daughter, she...
Valerie: We know who she is, we're just trying to understand why you´ve brought her... and what the hell has happened to her hair!
Josie spent a few minutes smiling and praising her (previous) enemy, and in the end, she convinced the girls about how incredible Alexandra was. Alexandra smiled discreetly to Velma before sitting next to her at the table. At the same moment, Marcie Fleach entered the restaurant door and walked to the counter.
Velma: MARCIE!
Velma left the table abruptly and almost turned it over. When she grabbed Marcie by the wrist, Fleach quickly let Velma´s hand go, lowered her sunglasses and looked at Velma with disdain.
Marcie: Excuse me, do I know you?
Velma: Marcie, honey, I need to talk to you right now!
Marcie: EXCUSE ME, DO I KNOW YOU?
Marcie's scream disarmed Velma and left her with tears in her eyes. Instead of caring, Marcie turned her back on her friend and continued walking towards the counter. Even so, Velma didn't give up. She grabbed her friend's waist and prevented her from walking, and Marcie responded with slaps and kicks. When the attempt to make Marcie stop became a small fight between them, Alexandra and the other girls approached to intervene.
Marcie: What's your fucking problem, Velma? Forget me! You have new friends now, and I don't want to talk to you anymore!
Velma: Marcie, honey, please give me 5 minutes to explain everything! We need to talk! There's something odd going on and...
Marcie: I'm not wasting 5 minutes of my life listening to your stupid excuses!
Velma: ...it made me wake up like this! And it's not only me, darling, Madelyn and Alexandra are also feeling weird, and we need your help to find out what´s going on and...
Marcie: Velma, let me go before I slap you!
Velma: …solve this mystery! Look at you, sweetheart, you are very strange too, you are wearing expensive sunglasses and a bikini! Something happened at that mansion, and you need me to solve it and…
Marcie: I DON'T NEED YOU, VELMA!
Marcie's scream was followed by a big slap at Velma's face, and started such an awkward silence in the restaurant that even the clerks froze for a while.
Marcie: Of course something strange happened to me: my best friend abandoned me after 15 years of friendship! She discarded me in the first chance she had to become popular, and now I'm here, alone, pampering myself with my parents' money and trying to cope with everything! But don´t worry, I'M FINE! Hear me? FINE! Pretty different from you, since you´ve been doing shameful things... now, please, do exectly like your new friends and forget that I exist, ok?
Apparently, the fight made Marcie change her mind and leave the restaurant without ordering her meal. Alexandra said she would follow her, to convince her about the strange facts – then, she asked Josie "Jojo" to pick her up by car as soon as she finished. Velma was in shock and she couldn't even cry. The girls insisted her to return to the table and finish her meal, but when they saw Shaggy, Sugie and Scooby-Doo arriving at the restaurant, they decided to leave too.
Velma: Shaggy, honey, I need to talk to you!
To Velma's surprise, Shaggy didn't even look at her. She couldn´t approach him either, since Scooby-Doo growled at her and threatened to bite her. The only one who had a little empathy for her was Sugie, Shaggy's younger sister.
Sugie: Like, just leave him alone, ok? You can be whoever you want, but you don't make a fool out of him!
Velma started crying, and Melody immediately took her back to Pitstop Manor. When she got there, unfortunately, she had one more challenge to face: Daphne Blake was waiting for her in the garden.
Before leaving, Melody invited Velma to watch the Cats, the Neptunes and the Hex Girls perform their songs at the Malt Show that night. While Velma waved back, Daphne angrily grabbed her friend by the arm and led her into the mansion.
To Velma's surprise, Daisy, Daphne's doctor sister, was waiting for them by the fireplace. Velma looked at her friend with surprise, and Daphne quickly justified.
Daphne: You´ve asked for help, I´ve brought help. Daisy is a psychiatrist, she can find out what's going on with you...
Velma: Daphne, honey, I'm not nuts, I have proof that...
Daphne: Shhh!
Daphne signaled her to sit in the nearest armchair, so that her "appointment" with Daisy could begin. Velma spent more than two hours answering different questions and repeating her version of the previous days' events. At the end of the interrogation, Daisy was emphatic.
Daisy: Well... I don't know what´s wrong with her, sis... it's definitely not a mental illness...
Velma: I´VE TOLD YOU!
Daisy: …so, I think she's really faking a disease!
Velma: I'M NOT FAKING IT!
The noise coming from the intercom interrupted them, and Daphne answered it. She got surprised to see Josie parking the car in front of the main door, and Alexandra Cabot getting out of it. Daphne led Alexandra to the place where Daisy and Velma were, and confessed.
Daphne: Yeah, I never thought I'd see Josie McCoy being Alexandra's Uber... but I still hate to admit that something extremely odd is happening to you both...
Alexandra: BUT IT'S HAPPENING! I´ve just found out that Marcie convinced her parents to sell their park! That's why she's spending so much and wearing luxury sunglasses!
Velma: HOW COULD SHE? Marcie would never do that! She loves that park and she would never do such a thing to her own parents!
Alexandra: Marcie would never do that, but we both know it's not the real Marcie doing it! So, our theory was confirmed again, because Marcie has changed too!
Velma: We need to bring her here immediately!
Velma searched for Compact Pussycat´s keys inside her purse, but Daphne found them first and did not let Velma get them.
Daphne: No, no, no! You need to stay here quietly, without touching anything, to earn your 3 thousand dollars, remember? Alexandra needs to leave now, because she shouldn't even be here with you! And Daisy has to leave too, because you're so crazy that not even a psychiatrist can help you! And I need to leave, because I have to study and…
Daisy: And Daphne needs to go home right now, because our parents aren't stupid enough to believe she's going to study on a Sunday while Fred Jones' dad is out of town.
Daphne blushed after her sister's answer and said goodbye to Velma, taking Compact Pussycat´s key with her. Without Daphne there, Alexandra stayed until late afternoon, and helped Velma search the rooms and walls for clues one more time. At evening, Josie's car horn was heard again outside the mansion, and Alexandra got surprised when Velma refused to join her to the show at the Malt Shop.
Velma: Daphne is right, I´d better stay here before I lose the money... besides, I'm afraid of doing something stupid there too…
Josie insisted honking, so Alexandra hurried and left the mansion. Velma sighed and returned to the room where she met Daisy hours ago. This time, instead of the armchair, she threw a cushion on the floor and threw her tired body onto the carpet. Instead of finding the rug comfortable, she found it… strange. Because her arms and legs started itching, and when she scratched them, she noticed there was something on her skin. While running her fingers over her skin, Velma noticed there was a gray powder stuck to her body. The powder looked like a mixture of incense ash and crushed herbs, and magically, it made Velma understand the origin of all the events.
Velma: JINKIES! It was Thorn! Thorn bewitched us!
The discovery made Velma get up quickly, run to the garage, and look for a car she could use to drive to the Malt Shop. To her surprise, when she left the mansion in a luxury car, she found Marcie Fleach standing in front of the Manor´s gate.
Marcie: You're right, Vel, I woke up feeling very strange. After all, I´ve screwed up my parents' business and left my best friend when she needed me most.