Okay, I think I let this thing collect dust long enough. First of all, sorry for a VERY late update on this story. I wanted to continue this mystery as it went on, but in the middle of the month of July 2020, I was sick with constipation, so I had to wait it out. Once it passed through, I got a little... mentally exhausted, and only wanted to focus on one big story project, with some occasional updates to other stories on breaks, including this one. But I couldn't find a way to get to the mystery proper, so I had to delay this story for a long while.
But now that I don't have any big, BIG projects to work on (at least, not right away), I think it's safe to go back to this story... and see how this mystery, along with Shaggy and Daphne's relationship, both in the future AND past, get wrapped up! Slowly, but surely, this is ALL coming together. All right, I delayed long enough. Let's see if I can get myself back in the writing groove for Scooby-Doo! Anyway, enjoy!
EIGHT YEARS LATER...
Daphne looked a bit weirded out as she picked up a couple pictures of her younger self. "Jeepers! I remember this case... the Clock Monster, back when you first got me into Commander Cool!"
"I remember that..." Shaggy gave a chuckle. "Like, I never would have realized you were her."
Daphne smirked. "What can I say? Once you pick up one comic, you just can't stop reading..."
"I have to admit, I would not have guessed that you would have picked the one comic where Gorgeous Gal made her fourth appearance." Shaggy noted as the two began to search the room. "I mean, she's more of a popular character NOW than she was a few years ago, but back then, she was relatively new."
Daphne paused, before giving a slight blush. "Y-yeah, I will admit, I thought she had a fancy costume, and read only her action parts back then..."
Shaggy bit his lip a bit, before turning his head away from Daphne. "I will admit, as a little kid, even if I didn't know about you, like... you were like, amazing as her."
The red haired girl smiled a bit before shaking her head. "In more ways than one, I bet..."
Shaggy and Daphne remained silent a bit as they continued searching, though this little revelation was still on their minds... as Daphne gave a slight cough. "Uh, Shaggy, you know I didn't exactly mean to-"
"Like, don't worry about it, Daphne. It was YEARS ago." Shaggy said in an awkward tone of voice. "We were still kids, we were just... playing pretend. It wasn't YOUR fault that you didn't know! It was my fault for... er..."
Shaggy stopped talking slowly as he turned away awkwardly. "Let's just see if there's any more clues."
Daphne paused, before frowning as she turned back towards the pictures. "Oh, all right. Anyway, as we already established, whoever is in charge of this theater haunting seems to be a little obsessed with... well, us."
"Do you think that... maybe we got some fans?" Shaggy asked as he looked at the picture of himself as a kid wearing the Commander Cool outfit.
"Or someone who wants revenge..." Daphne deduced.
Shaggy's eyes widened as he turned to the beautiful red-haired woman, feeling a shudder in his bones. "Like, we have made a LOT of enemies in our mystery-solving career. Goodness knows how MANY people were still in jail, probably wanting to get revenge on the meddling kids."
"And it's not like they want Velma or Fred... just US, specifically." Daphne said as she scratched her head in confusion. "But the question is... why or how?"
This was a question that puzzled both teenagers, but before they could go any further, they heard the sounds of wailing as they jumped.
"Like, do you hear that?" Shaggy gulped nervously.
"I sure did." Daphne frowned as she motioned over to the teenage blonde. "Come on, we better see what's going on..."
Sure enough, as soon as the two rushed out of the room to see Scooby rushing past the two.
"Like, Scoob! There you are!" Shaggy said as he watched Scooby run to the other end of the hallway. Shaggy then looked back and yelped to see the Ghost of Kilijoumango floating by. "And like, there's the ghost! Come on, Daphne, we better split!"
Daphne couldn't find room to argue as she and Daphne started to run as the ghost began to give chase to the teenage mystery solving couple as they had managed to catch up to Scooby's speed as they ran down the particular hallway. Of course, they arrived at a hallway of doors as they entered the top door on the left, with the ghost following them through, before the middle right door opened to show Scooby and Shaggy running towards the middle left door, and Daphne chasing after the ghost across from the bottom left door to the top left door. The top left door then opened as Shaggy was carrying Daphne bridal style as he went into the middle right door, with Scooby comically carrying the ghost from the bottom right door to the top left door. This humorous, confusing display of chase shenanigans through the doors continued for a while before the three people eventually slipped from the bottom right door and made a run for it. The ghost was coming out of the top left door, looking a little confused, before giving a growl as he started to run forward, not realizing that he was going the wrong way.
After taking a moment to catch their breaths and realizing they lost their ghost, Daphne turned to Scooby with a smile. "You all right, Scooby?"
"Reah." Scooby nodded in relief as Daphne patted the Great Dane's head as Shaggy took a deep breath.
"Like, good. We're all back together again..." Shaggy said as he turned to Scooby. "Scoob, I think this case might be bigger than we thought... apparently, whoever is haunting this theater is, like, mad at us!"
"Ruh? Rad?" Scooby asked in shock.
"That, or specifically after US in particular." Daphne said, causing Scooby to gulp. "But don't worry. We're getting to the bottom of this as soon as possible."
Scooby nodded as he gave a nod. "Ror Rommander Rool and Rellow Rutt!"
The Great Dane's eyes widened before sniffing his nose around and using his paw to point forward. Shaggy and Daphne looked curious as Daphne asked, "Oh? Did you find something unusual?"
"Reah, reah! Rollow re!" Scooby said as he started to head forward towards the room he found that clue in. Daphne and Shaggy quickly followed the dog as soon as he started to run.
Soon enough, the three were back in the laundry room as Scooby pointed to the pile of green sheets that he landed on earlier. Daphne bent over and stuck her hands on the sheets, before retracting them to see the green paint falling off. "Hmmm... green leather paint. Good for a greenish effect. Great find, Scooby."
"Rank rou!" Scooby beamed as he stood in place, looking rather proud of himself.
"Hmmm... green paint..." Shaggy paused as he examined the sheets in curiosity. "Hey, like, maybe this is crazy, but do you remember that case when we were Commander Cool and Mellow Mutt, and we found something similar to this?"
Daphne paused as she closed her eyes, thinking back to eight years ago... and as she did so, Scooby and Shaggy were thinking about that moment in time as well, before Daphne snapped her fingers. "The gold flakes from the Clock Monster, of course! Do you think this is something similar?"
"I think so..." Shaggy paused slightly... before his eyes widened in shock, remembering one particular part of the mystery... that wasn't technically a part of the mystery, but was still crucial to their lives. He and Daphne made eye contact with each other, before turning away and blushing, as if those recent memories were coming back.
Scooby, on the other hand, remembered those memories fondly as he couldn't help but give a giggle... remembering what had happened in "Commander Cool" and "Gorgeous Gal"'s... investigation.
Okay, so I'll stop the chapter here for now! Yes, I know it's a short one, but understand, it's going to take me a while to get back to the groove. But regardless, how did you guys like the chapter? Well, next time we go back to this, we'll be exploring what exactly older Daphne and older Shaggy remembered in the Pup Named Scooby-Doo timeline... what it is, you'll have to wait and see! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, everyone!