And now, time to return to the future where we reveal Sir Reginald's motives in THIS timeline! Anyway, enjoy!
EIGHT YEARS LATER...
Shaggy blinked twice as he looked at Sir Reginald in shock, a feeling of burning hatred rushing into his stomach... before shaking his head in confusion. "Like, I thought this case was going to lead to the janitor being the bad guy."
"You would surprisingly think that, but, no." Troy shook his head. "Come on, guys, I just got to my JOB when I came in and saw you. How could I have been the ghost in THAT timeframe? But you know, this Sir Reginald guy looks very similar to my boss..."
"That would be because I AM your boss..." Sir Reginald grumbled angrily before turning towards the two. "Forgive him, he's new, he doesn't know a thing."
"Now it all makes sense..." Daphne frowned as she narrowed her eyes towards the man. "Everything related to us as kids... the golden flakes on the costume... they were all similar because some of the clues were the exact same components that condemned you eight years ago!"
"How smart of you, young Daphne..." Sir Reginald smirked. "And my, you have certainly grown in those eight years..."
"Don't even TRY to get near me." Daphne growled in anger as she went into a fighting stance.
"Like, we're not the same kids you met eight years ago." Shaggy frowned as he stood close to Daphne, going ahead of her, but not too far ahead of her.
Scooby growled as he stood in front of the both of them, figuring Sir Reginald to be bad news.
"You got away from us eight years ago with that time ray, which didn't take you too far, I bet, BUT it was enough time to the point where you heard of the Scooby Doo Detective Agency's success as time went on..." Daphne theorized. "Am I right?"
Sir Reginald chuckled. "You're on the nose, Miss Blake. Yes, ever since this BRAT in his little superhero costume over there..." Reginald specifically pointed to Shaggy. "Punched and kicked me down eight years ago... and when you fired that blast at me, I was taken to about a year after the events occurred, which by then, not only was my mansion destroyed, BUT all plans for my ray AND the Future Diamond have mysteriously vanished without a trace!"
The man would have crossed his arms had it not been for the cuffs behind his back. Nevertheless, he continued. "The one thing on my mind was revenge against the kids and puppy that took me down and humiliated me. But I wasn't dumb enough to attack right away. I wanted to play the long game... so I changed my identity and used some fake beards and mustaches to get a job at the movie theater, all the whilst getting newspaper clippings of the Scooby Doo Detective Agency, mostly of you two kids, as you two grew up..."
"Like, dude, that's just creepy right there!" Shaggy growled in anger.
"Maybe so, but see, I remember one thing, is that you two kids couldn't help but resist Commander Cool memorabilia, and I knew that one day, a Commander Cool movie would be playing in this theater. It took a few years, but once I heard that a movie was in the making, that's when I started making my plans. See, I do a good enough job that I'd be promoted to the manager of the movie theater, and once I get some new employees on hand, I'd tell them this story about a ghost that haunts the theater. Of course, that's all just hooey in hopes of grabbing your attention in one form or another..."
"So this WAS a trap, specifically for us?!" Daphne frowned.
"Indeed so! Once the Commander Cool movie arrived in theaters, I knew it would only be a matter of time before YOU three arrived. So, I seized the opportunity to use wires to make items float in the theater and come out of the screen to scare everyone off. Then, once you guys came back, you three would be directed to myself, delivering a box to one of my ushers..."
"That explains the box!" Daphne nodded. "So, what WAS in that box, anyway?"
Sir Reginald chuckled. "Why, nothing, of course. You were right in the fact that the box is a red herring, but the fact that after I would capture the three of you, I was going to sell this theater to someone else as I made my getaway..."
"Wait, why did you want the THREE of us, specifically?" Shaggy asked in curiosity.
Sir Reginald frowned as he turned towards the young man. "Are you seriously asking that right now? Look, my plan was to easily kill you and the dog, and keep the girl for myself until an intermediate date... of course, I underestmated the three of you."
"Yeah, didn't think I actually learned how to get out of traps, did you?" Daphne narrowed her eyes in anger. "And let's face it, Shaggy and Scooby have been so slippery from the time I know them that they have had quite the legs for getting out as fast as they could!"
"Reah!" Scooby nodded as he narrowed his eyes at Sir Reginald. "What rid rou rope ro arromplish?"
Sir Reginald growled in anger. "I had a lot of anger, a lot of resilient anger for the three of you specifically, I thought if I could try and destroy the three important members of Mystery Inc, the team would forcibly disband..."
"Like, dude, even if you had captured us in some way, Fred and Velma would still be trying to find us!" Shaggy frowned. "Either way, you would have failed in your mission..."
Sir Reginald growled in anger as he whistled for someone. Shaggy and Daphne turned to see if they could defend themselves, expecting an usher hiding from behind the wall to come out... only to find nobody was coming out from either side of the room.
The once former rich man blinked twice before shutting his eyes. "Crap... that's right... I sent the usher HOME after he delivered the box to that room..."
The sheriff shook his head as he grabbed Sir Reginald by the shoulder. "All right, Reginald, that's quite enough. You've been evading arrest for long enough... let's take you in..."
Sir Reginald growled in anger as he tried to charge forward, only for the sheriff to forcibly drag him towards the doors as he yelled out in anger, "I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WITH IT TOO... IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THOSE PESKY KIDS AND THEIR PUPPY IN THE PAST... AND YOU MEDDLING KIDS AND YOUR DOG IN THE PRESENT!"
As the man shouted the words in anguish, the police decided to follow the sheriff and the convict out, leaving Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne and Troy alone in the room.
Hearing those words shouted by Sir Reginald gave Shaggy, Daphne and Scooby a small wave of relief as Shaggy gave a sigh, "Like, am I happy to hear those words come out of his mouth... especially after everything that's happened..."
"Hey, good job, fellas." Troy smiled as he walked over and shook Shaggy and Daphne's hands, then shook Scooby's paw. "I have to say, seeing you guys solve a mystery up close was just amazing..."
"I'm just relieved we finally can close the book on the whole Sir Reginald case after some time..." Daphne sighed in relief, before looking over nervously. "Hopefully, this is the final time we'll be hearing from him..."
"Like, don't jinx it, Daphne." Shaggy shuddered as Scooby frantically shook his head.
Troy gave a chuckle. "Ehhhh, don't worry about it fellas. If what you said about Sir Reginald is true, and I'm sure he'll confess to his crimes, he'll be in jail for quite a long time..."
The two nodded as Daphne chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, hey, sorry that we thought to suspect you earlier..."
"Hey, no big deal." Troy shrugged. "Like I said, I arrived late to the party when I went in to work, so of course I'd be a primary suspect. I'm just excited to be part of this whole Scooby Doo Detective Agency mystery for once as a suspect!" He laughed a bit, before pausing. "One thing I don't understand. When I was coming in, I heard you saying something about Sir Reginald being in jail for the robbery, but now you say he went forward in time?"
The three blinked in confusion, before Shaggy snapped his fingers. "Oh! No, we weren't talking about Sir Reginald. See, since he went forward in time, the police had to arrest someone, so they arrested the butler and the cook for being accomplices to Sir Reginald's crimes. We thought maybe one of the servants got out, but we were mistaken. That's why we said the butler was still in jail for the robbery."
"We were pretty close, though." Daphne said as Shaggy and Scooby nodded.
Troy paused for a brief moment, as he nodded in understanding. "Well, thanks for clearing that part up for me... if there's anything I can do for you guys, name it. I'll be working the janitor's shift for a good while..."
At that moment, the sheriff walked back in with a nod as he said, "My boys are taking care of Sir Reginald as we speak. Once again, you three have done a fantastic job."
"Thank you." Daphne smiled. "It's a shame Fred and Velma weren't there to help us, but I'm sure they'll understand."
"Like, they always do." Shaggy nodded as he took Daphne's hand and squeezed it.
"Ruh-huh." Scooby nodded as he gave a big smile.
"Tell you kids what. As a reward, you can have free reign of the theater for yourselves... just for tonight." The sheriff said as he turned to Troy. "I know you're the janitor, but since the manager was arrested, how would you like to temporarily take position... just until someone else goes up to manager."
Troy blinked twice, before giving a nod. "That sounds reasonable..."
Shaggy's eyes lit up as did Scooby's as the two of them turned towards Daphne, who looked rather shocked at this outcome. "Like, Daph, this could be our chance to watch the Commander Cool movie..."
"It'll be on the house." Troy smiled.
"Rease?" Scooby asked as he held up his paws and crossed them, widening his eyes in a cute fashion as he begged.
Daphne blinked twice... before the girl let out a giggle. "You know what? We worked hard to save this theater from a haunting, and I want to see this movie more than you guys. And jeepers, I am NOT willing to look at my phone just to see reviews or spoilers on this movie I haven't seen!"
Shaggy and Scooby cheered as they immediately went over to the concession stand to collect every bit of food they could. Troy, the sheriff and Daphne just watched as the former turned to Daphne. "Your two friends are a little eccentric."
"Yes, but that's what I love about those two." Daphne giggled as she gave a blush.
Troy paused, before giving a chuckle of his own as he started to walk off towards the theater. "I'll set up the projector!"
As Troy walked off, the sheriff gave a smile as he turned to the young woman. "Miss Blake, rest assured, we'll finish up any reports regarding Sir Reginald tomorrow afternoon. I know you all had a long day AND you have a movie to watch, so I'll leave you kids to it."
"Okay." Daphne nodded as she watched the sheriff leave. "Have a good night, sheriff."
The sheriff nodded before walking off. As he did so, Shaggy yelled out, "Daph, Scoob and I have the snacks! Come on, let's go find our theater and... like, sit anywhere we like!"
Daphne couldn't help but give a small grin as she started to run after the two as they were heading for the theater that was showing the Commander Cool movie. "Wait for me!"
As the three entered the theater, all of them could tell they were in for a rather good night...
And that's it for the culprits on both ends... the mystery is solved, and the bad guys is in jail! But we're not done QUITE yet! Next chapter, we'll be going back to the past timeline to wrap up Pup Shaggy and Pup Daphne's growing relationship as they start hanging around each other... what'll happen between the two? You'll see! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, everyone!