Chapter 14: A new beginning
By the time the disgraced ex-principal was taken into custody by the sheriff's deputies, the main entrance to the school has started to become a media encampment as the press was tipped off by the massive emergency services presence at the school.
At the suggestion from the paramedics, Shaggy was shipped over to the Coolsville Don Messick Memorial Hospital for a checkup.
Apart from the chest pain he felt from the chest compressions performed on him, Shaggy was largely cleared by the doctors on duty, who decided to keep him overnight for observation in case of any complications.
With the gang at his side at the hospital bed, Shaggy exhaled as he said, "Like, you guys didn't need to stay with me. It's really late now."
"Oh nonsense, Shag." Daphne said as she placed her hand on his chest. "After everything you've been through, the least we could do is stand together. After all, we are in for this together."
"Indeed, Shag." Fred agreed as he patted him on the shoulder. "Whatever it is you're facing, you don't have to face it alone."
"Not to mention you're gonna need all the support you need." Velma added.
Shaggy nodded. "Thanks guys, I really appreciate it."
As the others all smiled, Maggie placed her hand on her brother's shoulder as she said, "Honestly Norville, you really gave us quite the scare."
"Well, I'm still here, Mags." Shaggy quipped as he reached over to hold his sister's hand. "And I owe you an apology for brushing off your concerns the way I did-"
"You don't need to apologize, Norville." Maggie cut him off. "You've made your amends with Dad and have returned to us, that's all that matters."
"Coming from you, Mags, I really appreciate it." Shaggy said.
As Maggie smiled, she turned towards the hallway, in time to see their mother Wendy in her Air Force work uniform walking towards them.
"Norville!" Wendy exclaimed at the sight of her son on the hospital bed.
"Mom." Shaggy called back as their mother joined them and the gang at his hospital bed.
After embracing her son, Wendy said, "I was so worried after I got the call from the sheriff, are you alright?"
"Funny enough, I haven't felt any better, Mom." Shaggy responded. "After that...special trip I've made, in fact."
"What do you mean, special trip?" Wendy frowned.
Shaggy responded by handing the second of the envelopes to his mother and said, "Made the trip to do a special delivery...from Dad."
Wendy's breathing hitched as she recognized her husband's handwriting, then she slowly opened the envelope, took out the letter, and placed her hand by her chin as she scanned its contents. A few tear drops subsequently splattered on the letter as she read it.
Following their mother's lead, Shaggy and Maggie opened their envelopes and took out their respective letters.
Noting the looks on the Rogers' faces, Daphne suggested, "Perhaps we should give them some room, guys."
"Great idea, Daph." Fred agreed as they stepped out. "And after what we've been through, I could use a trip to the washroom."
As Fred made his way to the nearest washroom, he walked past George Blake, who quickly rushed over to Daphne when he saw her.
"Daphne!" George exclaimed as his youngest daughter quickly opened her arms.
"Dad." Daphne said as she embraced her father.
After a long embrace, George said, "It would seem you have quite the story to tell."
Daphne nodded. "Sorry if I wasn't entirely forthcoming on what has been happening at school."
"No need to apologize, considering the way things are in this town." George said. "Though I do hope that you and your friends playing detective does not become a regular habit."
Daphne shrugged. "I can't promise anything about that, Dad."
George grunted before he nodded towards the door leading to the beds and said, "Anyways, lets go in and check on your friend."
"Actually, the guys and I were giving Shaggy, his mother and sister some space for them to go through what his father wrote them." Daphne said.
"Oh?" George raised an eyebrow. "I was not aware Lieutenant Colonel Rogers had wrote them letters before his death."
"He didn't." Daphne explained. "You could say...those letters were special deliveries Shag did while he was trapped in that abandoned swimming pool."
George now arched his eyebrows. "That a fact?"
When Daphne nodded, her father exhaled. "Interesting."
"Before we go in, Dad, did you know Shaggy's father?" Daphne asked.
"As a matter a fact, I did." George nodded. "Before you, Dawn and Dorothy came along, I was a Scout Sniper serving with Rogers and a gunny named Gibbs before I moved to combat logistics. Anyways, Rogers was a very good man and do you remember the reason why Delilah and I had to fly to Washington this past March?"
"You mentioned that you had some business in Washington to take care of." Daphne offered.
"Yes, well, that wasn't the only reason I was there this past March." George said. "You see, a few weeks before that business conference, Delilah's battalion was dispatched from their camp in Afghanistan to help repel a Taliban ambush, an ambush that ended with the ambushers all killed while we only suffered a single casualty."
Noticing the hardening look on her father's face, Daphne was starting to get an idea on where the story was going.
"Now, one thing to note is that the allied casualties would've been much worse had a FORECON major didn't step in to shield his men and made the ultimate sacrifice as he launched the counterattack against the ambushers, and the major was due for a promotion to lieutenant colonel on the day of the ambush." George continued. "In fact, word has it that the major managed to take out seven of the ambushers even though he had taken four hits, and eventually, by the time medics arrived, he had drew in his last breath."
Seeing the somber look on their father's face, Daphne nodded understandingly.
"Delilah was deeply affected by the death of her first CO, who was the one that recommended her transferred to the light armoured recon battalion." George said. "And having had served with Rogers back in the day, I decided to join her in Washington and pay my respects as they buried him with full honours in Arlington."
"Understood, Dad." Daphne said.
George nodded as well before he nodded towards the door and said, "Let's go join the Rogers'."
When the Blakes joined the Rogers, Wendy was comforting Shaggy and Maggie with Scooby rubbing on the former's leg. She paused when she saw George and Daphne walk in.
"You must be George Blake." Wendy said in recognition.
George nodded as he snapped his right up for a salute. "It's a great pleasure to meet you, Major. Sam has spoken highly of you."
Smiling, Wendy said, "The pleasure's mine, Sam had nothing but praise for you, and after seeing how much Daphne's came to establish a good rapport with Norville in the short time she's become acquainted with him, I can totally see why."
George smiled as he beamed proudly at his youngest daughter, whose cheeks flushed red.
Shaggy nodded before he reached into his pocket and pulled out the two remaining unopened envelopes and said, "And I actually got something for you and Daphne's sister Delilah, Mr. Blake."
"Oh?" George raised an eyebrow as Shaggy handed him the two envelopes.
Looking at the handwriting on the envelope, George felt his breathing hitched when he recognized Sam's handwriting on them.
Turning towards the nearby wall, George opened the envelope and took out the letter.
Although George's back was facing him, Shaggy could tell there were some tears, as he noticed a couple of teardrops on the letter when George turned around.
Looking at Shaggy, George exhaled as he said, "Must say that is one devil of a message you've delivered."
Shaggy only nodded back as he saluted with his right index finger and George held up the remaining envelope and said, "I'll be sure that Delilah gets this letter."
October 22, 2009
That morning, the faculty of Coolsville Central High School gathered at the front yard where the now-Principal Grimes addressed them and the assembled reporters.
"And that is why Coolsville owes these students a debt of gratitude." Grimes finished to the cheer of the faculty and several camera flashes.
The gang all beamed at the cheering from the crowd, during which Grimes privately turned towards them with his hand on the microphone.
"I want to personally apologize to you kids for the way I've handled this whole affair." Grimes said quietly to the gang. "I should've acted sooner when Mrs. Gates' allegations came to light, and it certainly didn't help matters when I allowed my fondness for this school to cloud my judgement."
"You don't need to apologize, Principal Grimes." Velma spoke. "For all we know, given the way those ghosts behaved and what Lantsman was up to, you were practically flying blind in the face of all of that."
"So kids, tell us how you got to the bottom of this mystery and uncovered the culprit responsible?" One of the reporters asked before fowarding the microphone towards the gang.
The gang exchanged looks briefly before Velma said, "It was a combination of ..."
Looking at Fred, she said, "...leadership..."
Turning towards the assembled reporters and faculty, Velma continued, "...analytical thinking..."
Glancing at Daphne, Velma continued, "...resourcefulness..."
And finally looking towards Shaggy and Scooby, she finished, "...and the most important of all, our friendship."
At the applause from the faculty, Daphne and the boys all nodded and Fred said, "I couldn't have said it better myself, Velma."
"Yes, that was very beautiful." Shaggy agreed as Scooby briefly wiped a tear with his tail.
"And now, to mark the occasion..." Grimes said as he held up the time capsule, "...we will officially bury the Coolsville Institute of Education's Time Capsule."
Following the camera flashes and applause, the gang were given the honours of digging the hole for the time capsule.
Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne were each given a shovel and proceeded to dig in while Scooby does his part with his paws.
However, as soon as Shaggy lifted his shovel, he unintentionally let go of it by mistake, which sent it flying into the air.
Everyone watched in amazement as the shovel sailed in the air before, to the horror of Principal Grimes, came smashing down onto the windshield of his sportscar.
As soon as the shovel smashed into Grimes' sportscar, the all-to familiar sound of the car alarm blared, prompting Shaggy to gulp as he turned towards the principal.
When Grimes turned towards him in astonishment, Shaggy meekly said, "Like, sorry about the windshield."
This time, Grimes merely raised his hand and calmly responded, "Accidents happen."
As Fred and the girls chuckled, Shaggy grinned sheepishly as he turned around, pausing when he saw Sarah Ravencroft and Ebenezer Crabbe's spirits in the distance.
The two co-founders of the Coolsville Institute of Education waved their hands at him, prompting him to wave back.
After the ceremony, the gang were taking a stroll down the sidewalk in brightened moods.
"I still cannot believe we actually solved a mystery, gang." Fred said.
Velma nodded. "I gotta admit it was more satisfying solving them than it is reading about them."
"Not to mention that was quite the journey we've embarked on." Daphne added as she briefly placed her hand on Shaggy's shoulder. "Especially you, Shag."
Shaggy nodded in agreement. "Like I've said, at the risk of repeating myself, I really appreciate the support you guys have given me."
"We're friends, Shag." Fred responded. "That's what friends do, we stick together."
"Indeed." Daphne agreed as she patted Shaggy on the shoulder.
"So what now?" Velma asked.
The gang exchanged uncertain looks with each other before Daphne began hesitatingly, "Well..."
She trailed off as her mind drew in a blank, and the others made no offers to fill in as they, too, likewise drew blanks.
"Um..." Velma trailed off.
A few seconds went by before she said, "...I suppose I'll see you guys on the bus."
Daphne and the boys all nodded as Fred said, "Of course."
"Right." Shaggy nodded as well.
Hesitatingly, the gang began to head their separate ways as Daphne said, "See you guys around."
As Fred and the girls headed their separate ways, Shaggy turned towards Scooby, who sighed.
"Come on, Scoob." Shaggy said.
Scooby nodded as he began to follow Shaggy in crossing the street.
Just then, Velma stopped them as she shouted, "Actually wait, guys!"
"Ruh?" Scooby asked as they all regrouped.
"Been hearing about some strange going ons at the County Museum lately." Velma explained. "And I was wondering if you guys are up for checking it out?"
The looks on Fred, Daphne and Shaggy's faces all beamed with excitement as the former responded, "If this is another one of those mysteries that needs solving, then I'm all for it."
"Same here." Daphne agreed.
"Hey I'll go wherever you guys go." Shaggy added.
"Perfect." Velma beamed as they turned towards Scooby expectantly and asked, "What about you, Scooby?"
Scooby was not as cheerful as the others as they all turned towards him and he shook his head. "Ro way."
Shaggy frowned before he took out a box of snacks and poured out a snack bite and asked, "Like, would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"
"Rooby snack?" Scooby asked.
"Yeah, I've quite noticed that you like these snacks so much, I figured I'd start calling them that." Shaggy explained as he tossed the snack bite into Scooby's mouth.
As soon as he chewed and swallowed, Scooby licked his lips and responded, "Rin rhat case, I'm rin."
"Glad to have you on board, Scoob." Daphne said.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be the same without you." Fred added.
Scooby giggled as he said, "Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"
After the gang shared a laugh, Fred said, "Well, what are we waiting for, gang? Let's go!"
At Fred's sentence, the gang all agreed and quickly headed out together.
As the gang headed out together, unbeknownst to them, a car was parked on the other side of the street with its sole occupant watching them.
Dr. Wymils sat silently behind the wheel, not saying a single word as she silently watched the gang head out.
She knew that they were interested in some strange going-ons at the Crystal Cove County Museum. In fact, she could certainly see a part of herself and her old friends doing the same thing when they were the gang's age.
She also gathered about the gang uncovering Principal Lantsman's corruption in the process of trying to clear their names on those ghost appearances and getting to the bottom on who was responsible for the death of the librarian, and she sighed as she remembered the nature of the civil suit her ex-boyfriend's family had launched against the school board in the aftermath of the drowning death of his sister at a summer camp.
She remembered that Mary-Jane Lantsman was one of the camp counselors and how Ricky alleged that they were negligent, given his sister's death could've been prevented.
But now, as she watched the gang head out to check out the going-ons at the County Museum, she can't help but wonder if the gang knew what they were about to get themselves into.
It was clear that she was hardly the only who has taken interest in the gang's activities, for her cell phone rang just as she was about to take a photo of them.
Flipping it open to answer, she said in greeting, "I figured it was a matter a time before you'd call."
"Those kids are really interested in what is going on at the County Museum, aren't they, Cass?" The male voice at the other end asked.
"By the looks of it, they sure are." Dr. Wymils responded. "Any thoughts on them?"
"Only that it remains to be seen whether they are adequately prepared for what comes next." He responded. "I mean, sure, the skinny dude that survived that car accident and nearly drowned at the old high school ruins underneath likely has the foresight of what's to come, but whether he and his pals could adequately meet the challenges remains to be seen."
Dr. Wymils nodded. "You know, Ricky, they're starting to remind me of when it was us, Brad, Judy, and him doing the meddling around here."
"Yeah, and look where that got us when we tried to dig deep on what was actually going on at that summer camp all those years ago." Ricky said. "It'd be great if neither of them had to go through what we went through, because whatever it is that's down there in this wretched town, it's cursed."
"You don't know that, Ricky." Dr. Wymils countered. "Really, I know that bravery wasn't exactly your strong suits, I certainly didn't expect you'd be willing to run away."
"Laying low is how I see it." Ricky shot back. "And that gig you've got going at the medical examiner's office, sure, I always know you're intelligent and crafty enough to be able to hide in plain sight. I am just not sure if-"
"I can handle myself, Ricky." Dr. Wymils responded. "Honestly, I thought you know me well enough that I could look after myself."
"And I still do." Ricky responded. "But as long as he remains in town, I cannot help but think about your safety with each passing day, not when we all know what he's capable of, locked up or not."
Dr. Wymils was silent as her ex-boyfriend made the remark, and for a while deaf silence engulfed their conversation.
Finally, Ricky broke the silence as he continued, "If you're insisting on continuing your work in town and helping those kids, it's your decision to make. I just hope you really know what you're doing."
"Rest assured, love." Dr. Wymils responded. "We've been through hard days before, this isn't anything we haven't seen before."
With that remark, the doctor hung up her phone and put it in her purse, then she sighed as she looked out the windshield before pulling out a worn photograph.
In it, she was seated at the middle and holding a thick book with a large locket on the page cover.
To her right stood a girl with ginger-brown hair, and to her left stood a muscular blonde guy.
Towering behind them was a skinny boy who had his hand on her right shoulder, and on his shoulder stood a purple parrot wearing a scarf.
Dr. Wymils inhaled slowly as she studied the photograph, then she replaced it in her coat jacket before starting the engine and drove off.
With the wrap up of this origin story, there are a few announcements I would like to make.
First, for those wondering about the direction of my Coolsville Central and Dimension One series, rest assured it's not abandoned, I just need to get on with my ongoing remastering in further fleshing out the plotlines. This also applies to the D1 entries on FictionPress, which will see a massive overhaul of the characters and storylines.
Second, in the process of rewatching The Mystery Begins for this origin story, it came to remind me of how I once fantasized myself being part of the movie and interacting with the gang after watching it back when it first came out in 2009.
It was that fantasy that seemed to have influenced my subsequent creation of Garfield Stephenson Wu/Ngôo as my fictional alter ego, and having had noted some of the cringy moments from the film (and how the excess emphasis on the Fred/Daphne jealousy and Shaggy/Velma/Scooby "love" triangle in its sequel Curse of the Lake Monster made me thankful that I never had the chance to watch the film when it first came out) and the potential of the storylines of those two live-action films, I am announcing the establishment of Dimension Two with the limited series Scooby-Doo: Poltergeist, which will function as an expansion of the canon of The Mystery Begins and Curse of the Lake Monster while adding my own twists to them.
Third, I am mulling a remastering of my mainline reboot of Mystery Incorporated in Timeline One of Dimension Three, especially the early entries, which were published back when I was still new to the game with an emphasis of quantity over quality.
It was also in the face of all of that that has led to me making the decision to also remaster my Dimension Four stories, especially on the heels of my successful remastering of Garfield Stephenson Ngôo's origin story for Dimension Four on FictionPress.
And finally, on the topic of my early stories, let's just say that I can't help but feel like cringing at the writing and dialogue of plenty of them. Again, they were the product of me being new on this, though it is also with the addition of them being part of storylines that I have since lost a lot of inspiration or steam in writing about over the years.
Therefore, expect these early entries to either undergo a remastering (should I find the motivation/inspiration to do so) as anthropology/standalone stories, or be removed altogether.
The adventures of Mystery Inc. in Dimension Three Timeline Two continues in D3-2 Scooby-Doo! Paranormal Instincts: Beware the Beast from Below!
