Chapter 11: In the ruins and a plan

The silence at Coolsville Central High School, typical in the deep of the night, was shattered by a massive explosion inside the building.

Inside, Fred, Velma, Daphne and Shaggy were all laying on the gym floor, which had a large hole right in the middle and a length of rope from the ceiling, and coughing as they regained consciousness and got up.

"Daphne, Velma, are you guys okay?" Fred asked.

"I...think so." Daphne said as she and Velma got up before she looked around and added, "Where are we?"

"Looks like we're back in the gym." Velma replied. "But how did we get here?"

"I'm not sure." Fred shrugged as Shaggy got up. "I don't remember anything that came after we were ambushed by the Witch and sprayed."

Gathering around the hole, the four looked into it before Velma observed, "This must be the handiwork of that phony Witch."

Just then, a familiar voice from behind cackled, prompting the four to turn around, in time for them to see the Witch walking down from the elevated walkway overseeing the gym.

"Bravo!" The Witch cackled as she walked towards the edge of the walkway. "Bravo, little puzzle masters, you've put all the pieces together."

As Fred stared back at her disdainfully, the Witch continued, "You were right, it was all about the time capsule, and you were even kind enough to volunteer yourselves to retrieve it for me and save me the trouble of getting my hands dirty."

At the Witch's remark, Shaggy and Daphne exchanged looks, during which the Witch continued, "Ironic, isn't it? You were so bent on trying to clear your own names, you didn't even realized the consequences your actions could lead you to until it was too late."

Then, pointing at the hole, the Witch barked, "Now, get down there and find the time capsule!"

"As if we'd ever help you." Fred responded as he stepped forward defiantly.

"Of course, I don't expect you kids to help find that time capsule, which is why I've got some insurance." The Witch said before pointing to her right, in time for a spotlight to turn on and revealing two cages.

Shaggy and Daphne both gasped when they saw Scooby and Maggie, both tied up with duct tapes covering their mouths and whimpering, locked in the cages.

"Now isn't that unfortunate?" The Witch continued. "In your quest to clear your own names, you even dragged in your little puppy dog and little sister into this game, so I will make this simple: Unless you agree to find that time capsule for me, you can say goodbye to them!"

"Scooby? Maggie?" Shaggy gulped before he stepped forward and yelled defiantly, "You won't get away with this, Vice Principal Grimes! Not after what we've gathered on your dirty deeds."

Shaggy's defiant stand only provoked more laughter from the Witch, then she said, "Oh, you are so gullible. If there is one piece of the puzzle you have never figured out, it's his role in all of this."

Without missing a beat, the Witch pointed to her left, leading to another spotlight to activate and revealing a third cage.

And locked inside that third cage was Vice Principal Calvin Grimes, who was likewise tied up and gagged, though unlike Maggie, there is a bloody gash on his forehead.

As Fred and the girls exchanged looks in astonishment, the Witch turned towards her left and ordered, "Ghosts! Get these three out of my sight!"

At the Witch's order, Crabbe and Ravencroft's ghosts flew in and used their telekinesis powers to lift up the three cages before taking them away, during which Maggie's muffled protests can be heard.

"Mmph!" Maggie protested as she was taken away. "Mm-orville!"

"Maggie!" Shaggy shouted as he hurried towards the wall under the walkway and jumped, with his foot subsequently kicking onto the wall and propelling him towards below the edge of the walkway with his arms stretched.

However, he couldn't reach the edge and hit the floor, during which the Witch cackled and said, "And remember, dogs don't have nine lives, let alone little girls and old men."

The spotlight shining on the Witch subsequently switched off as she cackled, during which Shaggy shook his head and growled as he got up and saw the door.

"I'm coming, Mags and Scoob!" Shaggy shouted as he sprinted towards the doors, which were tangled with chains.

Undaunted, he furiously untangled the chains before pushing on the push bar repetitively, during which Fred and the girls walked over to him.

"Like, come on!" Shaggy shouted in frustration and shook the push bar some more, but it wouldn't budge.

"Shaggy!" Daphne exclaimed as she, Fred and Velma now rushed over to him.

Shaggy was in the process of kicking the push bar repetitively when Daphne reached over and pulled him back by the shoulder and said, "Cool it!"

"Lemme at it!" Shaggy yelled as he tried to break free from Daphne grip, which is when Fred and Velma entered the fry.

"Shaggy, cool it." Fred urged as he and Velma both pushed Shaggy back.

Struggling against the trio, Shaggy shouted, "They've got my sister and Scooby!"

"We can see that, Shag." Daphne said. "But kicking the door won't solve anything."

Shaggy growled briefly before he exhaled and said, "This is all my fault, guys."

"Shag, it's not your fault, we all had the blinders on that we couldn't have seen this one coming-" Fred began, only for Shaggy to cut him off.

"No, it's not that." Shaggy said. "If there is one opportunity for me to prove to anyone, especially Mags, that I can move on from the trauma from the accident I was in last year, as well as news of my father's death, uncovering the scheme behind this Witch business fits the bill. Instead, my efforts to prove myself in this only put Mags and Scooby in danger."

Looking at the others, Shaggy exhaled and shook his head as he continued, "Like, ever since my Dad died, given the way our last conversation ended, I've been pushing myself to find something that can keep my mind off all the hardships I've endured since the accident, and one of the reasons why I've jumped at this was, well, I have always had difficulties making friends."

Fred and the girls only looked on as Shaggy continued, "I guess...this drive to prove myself and make new friends has also saw me trying hard to avoid Maggie's repeated questioning about my well-being, and in doing so, I failed to appreciate how much she's meant for me until this happened..."

Shaggy trailed off as he struggled to contain his emotions, prompting Daphne to place her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Shaggy, it's okay." Daphne said. "You've been through a lot, but you don't have to face all of this alone."

"Yeah, you still have us, and as I've said before, we're in for this together." Fred added. "Besides, it's not just you who has convinced us that maybe we should go down into the ruins of the old school to find that time capsule, not that we have any other choice."

"Scooby, too." Velma added. "I mean, to be honest with you, I wasn't exactly fond of canines, being more of a feline person. But he sure has grown on me, and as much as helping the Witch will make our suspensions be the least of our worries, I'm afraid it's our only realistic chance in rescuing both Scooby and Maggie."

As Fred patted his back, Shaggy nodded.

"Appreciate your support, guys." Shaggy said.

"Here." Fred said as he pushed the pile of rope down the hole and then extended his hand to grab onto it and said. "We're gonna do this and rescue Maggie and Scooby, gang."

"I second that." Velma agreed as she placed her hand on Fred's.

"Third that motion." Daphne added as she placed her hand on the pile.

"Motion carried." Shaggy said as he placed his hand on the pile.

Together, the gang lifted their hands up as they all shouted, "For Scooby and Maggie!"


A short while later, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne were climbing their way down the hole on the rope.

Fred was at the bottom, with Velma and Daphne above him and Shaggy at the top.

"Jinkies." Velma remarked as she gritted her teeth and looked down. With the lack of any light below, it's hard to tell how far down the hole goes.

"Like, I hope we reach the bottom before my palms start sweating." Shaggy gulped. "Better not look down."

"Wise idea." Velma said.

Daphne and Fred only grunted in agreement as they continued to climb their way down the hole, but against his better judgement, Shaggy decided to look down.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy swallowed as the sweat began to form on his palms, and he soon find himself unable to properly grip the rope.

Uh oh. Fred thought to himself just as Shaggy lost his grip on the rope and began falling down.

Velma was the first to collide with Shaggy as he fell, followed by Daphne and eventually Fred.

Although the gang were already close to the bottom of the hole, it was still a very hard landing as everyone piled on one another upon hitting the floor.

"Oh, Shaggy." Fred groaned before he opened his eyes and then he involuntarily yelped if fright when he saw what was in front of him.

There were about a dozen snakes hissing near where they had landed, and at the sight of the snakes following Fred's yelp, everyone got up.

"Oh, wow." Velma remarked.

Shaggy only exhaled as he muttered, "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"

"Must say that's one H*ll of a welcome to Creepsville." Daphne remarked as they turned on their flashlights and looked around.

Surveying their surroundings, Velma remarked, "Clearly the place hasn't been fixed up since that flood."

"Guess we'd better start searching for that time capsule." Daphne suggested.

Fred nodded before he walked towards the nearby opening and said, "Come on, let's start this way."

The others all murmured as they followed the blonde away from the snakes.

Walking through the ruins, Daphne was visibly disgusted by the poor upkeep.

"This certainly explains why the Witch wanted us to be down here searching for the capsule." Daphne remarked.

"Since the time capsule was never buried, where do you suppose it's at?" Shaggy asked.

"Hard to say." Velma shrugged. "I guess we just have to search until we find it."

Looking around, she added, "But with the ruins this size, it'd be finding a needle in a haystack."

Then, her flashlight shined onto a nearby door with an old sign, prompting her to walk towards it and frown.

The word on the sign were clearly faded from age, but she could roughly recognize the word "Storage" on it.

"Maybe this is a start." Velma said as she began grabbing the door knob in a bid to pull the door open.

Of course, the door wouldn't budge, and the bespectacled girl grunted as she said, "Come on!"

Watching her struggling with the door, Shaggy walked over to her as he said, "Here, let me give it a try."

Stretching his arms, he added as Velma moved away from the door, "I'm usually good at this."

Fred only raised an eyebrow as he exchanged looks with Daphne while Shaggy proceeded to grab the door knob and tug at it, during which Velma frowned as she saw a directory beside the door.

Shaggy continued to grunt before he finally pulled the doorknob out, prompting him to turn around and said, "See?"

Fred and Daphne both chuckled as the former nodded back at Shaggy, during which Velma tried to decipher the directory beside the door.

However, it was then that the wall began to creak as it tilted towards her.

Looking up, Velma saw the top of the wall about to fall onto her, prompting her to shout, "Jinkies!"

Two things happened at once in that split second. Shaggy was immediately pulled back by Daphne, who urged him, "Get back!"

Fred didn't hesitate when he quickly rushed towards Velma and tackled her out of the way and rolled onto the floor, right as the wall completely collapsed with the duo only unscathed as a result of being within the door frame.

Finding himself on top of Velma, Fred asked, "Are you alright?"

Velma nodded as she said, "Could've been worse."

As Fred chuckled, he got up and proceeded to pull Velma up.

Once they dusted themselves, Fred said, "I don't know about you guys, but I think we can all agree that it will take us all night opening all the doors around here."

"Not to mention what sort of surprises there may be in store behind them." Shaggy added in agreement.

"And even if we did find the capsule, there's no telling what the Witch intends to do with us next, or even if she intends to release Scooby, Maggie, and Vice Principal Grimes." Daphne pointed out.

"Not to mention she can still pin the whole scheme on us." Velma added.

Fred frowned before he thought of something and said, "Maybe not."

When the others turned towards him, the blonde added, "I've got an idea. Huddle up."

Immediately, the gang huddled together as Fred proceeded to explain his plan.


Over at the Cougars' locker room, the Witch was pacing back and forth while the two ghosts were keeping watch on their three prisoners and playing cards.

The ghosts' idle game was interrupted when Shaggy called out, "Um, excuse me. Mrs. Creepy Witch, ma'am?"

Upon hearing Shaggy, the trio stopped what they were doing and turned towards the gym as Shaggy continued, "Can we have a quick word with you?"

At Shaggy's question, the Witch hurried out of the locker room and darted towards the hole.

"Hello?" Shaggy called out, which is when the Witch arrived at the hole.

"I'm here, what is it?" The Witch growled in annoyance as she looked down.

Looking up towards the top of the hole, Shaggy said, "I think we've found it, but-"

"-but it's lodged in something heavy and we can't get it out." Fred finished. "And we're gonna need some help."

"Of course." The Witch nodded before muttering to herself, "I really should've figured those brats can't get it out on their own."

As the Witch began to descend down the rope into the hole, Shaggy and Fred high-fived each other as they took their leaves.

Landing on the floor, the book felt out from the Witch's dress, prompting her to grunt as she picked it up before she looked around.

"Alright, I'm here." The Witch called out. "Where is it?"

When no response was forthcoming, the Witch surveyed her surroundings as she called out, "Where are you kids?"

While the Witch's back was facing him, Fred emerged from his hiding spot and quickly darted to a nearby pushcart and began pushing it towards her.

"Is this some kind of a-" Before the Witch could finish, she was suddenly knocked backwards by Fred and fell onto the cart.

"All aboard!" Fred declared as he pushed the Witch and cart to the nearby debris.

Before the Witch could react, Velma and Daphne emerged from their spots and Daphne slammed a framed picture onto her head.

"It's no joke getting framed, so allow me to return the favour!" Daphne exclaimed.

"And I'll be taking this." Velma added as she took the book from the Witch.

Turning the cart and Witch around, Fred pushed the struggling Witch towards a door where Shaggy was waiting.

"Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle." Fred said as the Witch struggled to get up to no avail.

With the Witch pushed to the door, Shaggy said as he prepared to open the door. "And you'll be waiting here while we contact the authorities."

But as he finished and opened the door, Shaggy and the others were completely caught off guard by the water that came splashing out from the flooded room behind the door.

With the water splashing out, the cart was pushed aside while the gang were knocked back and became soaked.

"Jinkies, my glasses!" Velma exclaimed as her glasses were knocked out.

Up in the locker room, Scooby heard the flooding and the gang's cries of surprise.

Also hearing the drama below were the ghosts of Ebenezer Crabbe and Sarah Ravencroft, who promptly abandoned their card game and floated down.

As the gang tried to regain their bearings from the unexpected flooding, the Witch pushed the picture off her shoulder before finding a tube-like item and picked it up.

"A-ha!" She exclaimed as she held it up. "The time capsule! It's mine!"

And before Velma could get her glasses back on, the Witch walked over and stomped on her glasses before grabbing the book from her as she said, "And I believe you have something that is mine."

Hearing her glasses getting crushed, Velma didn't have time to catch her breath as the Witch grabbed her by the collar and said, "Tried to trick me, eh?"

As Velma furiously shook her head, the Witch turned towards Fred and Daphne, who were looking on in disbelief.

"Should've suspected that you kids would pull such a trick on me." The Witch said. "Only that this trick didn't turn out the way you were expecting, huh?"

Before Fred and Daphne could respond, Shaggy suddenly grabbed a chair and slammed it on the Witch's head, forcing her to let go of Velma and drop the book.

Even without her glasses, Velma managed to swoop the book away and stumbled towards Fred and Daphne as the Witch turned towards Shaggy with fury in her eyes.

"A little fight in you." The Witch sneered as Shaggy tossed aside the pieces of the chair. "Very admirable."

But before Shaggy could make his next move, he suddenly froze as the two ghosts arrived from above, then he began to levitate as Crabbe uses his telekinesis to lift him up.

With his feet flapping as he struggled against Crabbe's choke hold, Shaggy saw his friends looking up at him in grave concern.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Shaggy managed to weakly call out, "R-run...!"

When Fred and the girls didn't move, Shaggy pointed towards the openings as he rasped, "R-run...guys...!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." The Witch shook her head mockingly as Fred and the girls reluctantly heeded Shaggy's urging and quickly took off.

Crabbe then lowered Shaggy to the Witch, who leaned closer to him menacingly.

"Such a pity that you didn't pay much attention at school, maybe it will be helpful in you thinking of the consequences before you acted." The Witch said.

As Shaggy gulped, the Witch turned towards the ghosts and said, "Don't just stand here! Get rid of him and then go after the others!"

After nodding, Crabbe once again levitated Shaggy before tossing him towards a nearby door opening, where he sailed through the air before splashing down into a flooded swimming pool.

And for extra measure, Ravencroft used her telekinesis to direct a length of rope over to the room, where one end tied to hook deep underwater in the pool and the other to Shaggy's leg.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he struggled to stay afloat while more water continued to pour in. "Can't...swim...!"

Before taking off after Fred and the girls, the two ghosts made sure to shut the door to the swimming pool.

Up in the locker room, Scooby wasted no time using his claw to claw through the rope tying his paws together.

"Ri'm coming, Raggy!" Scooby muffled as he sawed at the rope.

Back in the underground swimming pool, though, the continuous pouring of water from all sides and the darkness were not helping Shaggy's situation as he slowly became more disoriented while struggling to remain afloat.

With the rising water level and his leg still tied to the hook, it wasn't long before he became fully submerged in the dark water.


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