Author's Note: Happy Halloween, everybody.
In honor of this spooky celebration, I have decided to get started on the next installment of my Teen Titans series, the Raven of Crystal Cove, which will feature Raven and Beast Boy involved in the Scooby Doo gang in Mystery Incorporated. Get ready for all sorts of spooks and a few twists from the original source material.
Enjoy the chapter. Have a happy Halloween. Any and all comments are welcome.
"Where am I? How did I get here?"
Questions like that rattled around Rachel Roth's head as she rushed across the dark, barren field in the middle of absolute darkness. She stopped when he reached a tall, dead tree where she stopped to take a deep breath over and over. She pressed her gray hand on her chest to feel her heard beat heavily on her chest.
When she regained her vision, the first thing she noticed was her short, dark-blue hair getting in her eyes. She brushed them off and looked up at the tree. The branches were leafless and the only thing that sat there was a single, solitary raven with glowing red eyes pointed down at her. It screeched at Rachel before flying down to her. She raised her arms to shield herself, but nothing happened.
When Rachel lowered her arms, she found herself in the middle of a devastated town rather than the dead tree she rested on. Everywhere she looked, she saw a building or business that was ruined and broken. Skeletons laid on the streets charred black as though they experienced the hottest fires.
Finally, Rachel stopped at the front of the ruined town. In front of her was the remains of a sign. It read "Crystal Cove. The Most Hauntedest Place on Earth". Like the rest of the town, it was broken. It just laid on the ground burned and nearly destroyed between the two stone pillars it once displayed on.
Seeing everything, Raven fell to her knees feeling an overwhelming feeling of dread take over her entire body, mind, and soul. Her hands trembled on the broken asphalt she knelt on.
"How?" she asked in a frightened voice. "How could this have happened?"
She was seconds away from crying she suddenly felt hot. She inhaled some smoke and coughed. When she raised her head again, she found that all the buildings in Crystal Cove were caught on fire again. The little town was more fire than anything. The flames circled around her trapping her in a ring of fire. When Rachel looked up, she saw four, red eyes looking down at her from a sky filled with dark smoke. It was impossible to see who they belonged to, but one thing was for certain: they weren't human.
After a moment of demonic growling, a thunderous voice echoed from the sky. His words shook the remains of Crystal Cove shattering apart all that was left.
"What they tried to conceal, you shall become."
All of a sudden, a large, green hand burst out of the ground right in front of Rachel. It continued to climb out revealing a very tall monster made up of green, toxic slime. It fixed its eyes on Rachel.
"No…" Rachel's voice cried out in defiance. She lowered her head and gripped her hands onto her blue hair. "No… NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"NO! NO! NO!"
"Rachel, honey, calm down!"
Rachel finally opened her eyes finding herself back in her bedroom in the middle of the night. She was breathing heavily and wiped her forehead noticing the cold sweat she woke up in. She finally looked up at her mother who placed her hand gently on her shoulder.
"It's all right, Rachel. It was just a dream."
"It… It didn't feel like that." Rachel said unsure of what was real and what wasn't. "It was like… Like something bad was going to happen."
"Rachel, honey, dreams are just dreams." Ms. Roth assured. "Don't worry. Everything will be much better in the morning."
Rachel looked at the clock and saw that the time read 1:30. She looked back at her mother and nodded. "Okay, mom."
"Just remember the meditation techniques I taught you, including the mantra." Ms. Roth said. She got up from the bed and walked out the door. She looked back at her daughter and whispered, "Good night, Rachel," before closing the door.
As soon as her mother left, Rachel frowned once again. She laid back with her head on top of the pillow. She tucked herself underneath the covers, but she was unable to sleep. She just repeated the same three strange words that her mother always told her to say.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
The next day, after leaving the house for school, Rachel thought of taking a walk downtown. She wore a dark-purple jacket which with a hood hanging over her head. She left the house mainly to make sure everything was fine as always. She stopped when she found the Crystal Cove sign that was broken in her dream. Sure enough, it was still up and displayed brightly.
At that moment, Rachel looked to her side seeing a group of people from out of town. They gathered in front of a museum around a teenage girl in an orange turtleneck and a pair of square glasses. She stepped in to listen in.
"Welcome to the Crystal Cove haunted tour. I'm your ghoulish guide, Velma." Velma's blank tone showed absolutely no interest in the tour she was leading as if this was the last thing she wanted to do. "The first documented case of the curse of Crystal Cove is from 1630, when a garrison of Spanish conquistadors mysteriously vanished from the harbor."
"Oh, that is so scary." A tourist commented. "Where did they go?"
"What part of the word 'mystery' didn't you understand?" Velma replied. "The curse struck again in 1765 when an entire town of missionaries likewise disappeared. Things were pretty quiet until 100 years later, when Cletus Darrow found gold here and renamed the town Crystal Cove. Most people thought the curse had been lifted until the entire Darrow Family disappeared one Halloween and was never seen again."
Velma held up a tape recorder and pressed a button. A woman's scream came from it. While the effects were weak, it seemed to be enough to baffle the tour group.
"Sheesh. Is everyone scared over the littlest things?" Rachel asked herself. "Although, perhaps Velma's tour could put my mind at ease."
Rachel squeezed herself into the tour group as they followed Velma into the museum. Inside, they find many exhibits of monsters covering the entire walls. There were many assorted types of costumes on display for everyone to see, including a robot, a ghostly miner, a glowing diver's outfit, and a spacesuit with a skull on its helmet.
Velma stopped at the center of the room which showed five manniquins in costumes. There was a bearded man in a wheelchair, a very tall woman, a man covered entirely in bandages, a large robot, and a green kid.
"Since the disappearance of the Darrow Family, Crystal Cove has been a hub of paranormal activity. In recent years, most of the troubles were kept at bay thanks to Crystal Cove's very own group of superheroes known as the Doom Patrol. The Chief, Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, Robot Man, and Beast Boy all worked together to protect the town. Though, sadly, it appears that even they weren't safe from the town's curse. They disappeared three years ago, and since then, paranormal figures came crawling out of the ground like woodwork. You might recognize some of our more famous visitors. Ghostly deep sea diver, Captain Cutler. Miner '49er. Charlie the Haunted Robot. And who could ever forget the terrifying stylings of Space Kook? Not me."
"Oh. How frightening." Said another tourist.
"Absolutely blood-curdling." Another tourist added.
"Not really. They all turned out to be fakes." Velma said finally speaking honestly. The crowd gasped in disbelief, but Velma went on. "Yep. Captain Cutler was just some guy who was hijacking boats. Miner '49er's real name was Hank. Charlie belonged to Mr. Jenkins who thought it would be easier to run an amusement park with a crazy robot. And Space Kook? Oh, don't get me started."
Suddenly, two adults forced their hands over Velma's mouth. Their appearances gave off the impression that they were her parents.
"Thank you, Velma." Velma's dad said. "Well, that concludes the terror-ific tour."
"Don't forget to stop in the haunted snack shop for souvenirs and your complimentary undead sipper cup." Velma's mom said.
The crowd left to the snack shop like the woman suggested, but Rachel didn't follow. She stayed behind and watched awkwardly as the Dinkley parents scolded their daughter.
"What do you think you were doing?" Mrs. Dinkley asked.
"Are you trying to destroy our business?" Mr. Dinkley added on.
"Reboot, parentals. I was just being honest." Velma said.
"Those were isolated incidents in Crystal Cove's otherwise-unblemished supernatural past of hauntings and paranormal happenings." Mr. Dinkley said.
"Your generation's belief, not mine." Velma said. "My generation, we only got one thing on our minds: solving mysteries. There's nothing wrong with wanting answers."
Mrs. Dinkley sighed. "I swear, you've only gotten worse ever since you decided to drive around town with those friends of yours."
Rachel cleared her throat loudly to get the Dinkley family's attention. They turned finally noticing her still standing there.
"Uh… hi." Rachel greeted gently waving her hand. "Sorry for interrupting."
"Sorry, young lady, but we just concluded the tour." Mrs. Dinkley said.
"I'm not a tourist, actually. I'm Rachel Roth. I go to school with your daughter."
"Oh, right. I think I've seen you around." Velma said. "What brings you here?"
"I've actually got a question about the supposed curse that haunts this town." Rachel said. "I'm not saying I believe it, but…"
"Oh, don't say things like that." Mr. Dinkley interrupted. "We need the tourism and publicity, and it wouldn't do good for our citizens to go around saying that there is no curse."
"I'll take it from here." Velma said taking Rachel by her shoulder and leading her away from her parents. "So what's this about the curse?"
"It's just… Well… Say there was this girl who was having recurring dreams about the town being destroyed. Has there ever been a case like that in Crystal Cove's history?"
Velma pondered for a second. "Well, I don't know about any destroyed town, but there has been one case about frantic dreaming." She turned to the Doom Patrol exhibit and stopped to face the statue of the green boy. "Beast Boy, the youngest of the Doom Patrol, suddenly started yelling frantically about wild dreams. He went on and on about the curse to everyone who would listen. Just a couple days later, the entire Doom Patrol disappeared, along with Beast Boy."
"I see." Rachel said unsure of herself. "And what do you think about it?"
"Me?" Velma asked. "Honestly, I think the guy's powers might have messed with his head. He did have the power to shapeshift into any animal. Perhaps it drove him nuts or something."
"I see." Rachel said turning to leave. "Well, I better be going. Don't want to be late for school."
"Okay. See you later, Raven."
Rachel stopped herself and turned to Velma. "What did you just call me?"
Velma took a second to remember only to smack her forehead softly. "Oh. Sorry. It's just that, well, everyone at school's been calling you Raven. But hey, if it makes you feel any better, they say much worse about me and my friends."
"Okay." Rachel said before continuing to walk out. "Raven…" She remembered her dream about seeing the raven on the dead tree. She shuddered at the memory of what came after.
Rachel left the museum and continued on with her walk throughout town. Shortly after leaving, she noticed a group of girls in front of her. One of them looked back at her and looked disgusted.
"Ugh. Let's walk faster. That creepy girl is behind us. Let's get out of here before she affects us all with her emo."
The girls continued to walk at a faster pace leaving Rachel to sigh heavily.
"Brenda." She muttered. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone and her earphones. She opened up her music library and scrolled through her selection of songs to listen to. Soon enough, she found one.
As soon as she pressed play, Rachel heard the song "Creep" by Radiohead filling in her ears. She went on her quiet walk listening to her music. After a while, she started singing out the lyrics.
"But I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here…"
BOOM!
Just as she was about to cross under a bridge, a loud burst took Rachel by surprise. She looked over seeing a manhole cover fly off the road in green mist that exploded like a geyser. After that, Rachel heard a familiar growling sound coming from the mist. It emerged revealing itself, and Rachel widened her eyes in horror.
It was the same green, skeletal monster that she saw in her nightmare.
The monster approached a nearby blue-and-green van with the words "The Mystery Machine" painted on the side. It shot out its arms like tentacles and struck it before disappearing into a dark alleyway. Even after it was gone, Rachel did not lose her fear.
Rachel waited on the sidewalk while the drivers of the Mystery Machine headed down the sewers to see where the monster came from. She would have followed them, but she was too distracted by the memory of her nightmare to raise her voice to them.
"Is it really happening? Does this mean that monster, whatever it is, could destroy Crystal Cove?"
When the drivers returned from the sewer, they carried three men trapped in green, slime-like cocoons. Rachel finally took the time to see the mystery solvers and recognized one of them as Velma. The others were a tall, blonde boy with an orange ascot and a white shirt, a beautiful woman with red hair and a blue dress, a skinny boy with a stubble and a green shirt, and a brown dog.
The police arrived in mere seconds to take the cocooned men to the ambulance while the sheriff confronted the kids. Rachel moved in close to listen in.
"All right. You see what happens when you kids stick your noses where they don't belong? People get cocooned!"
"Like, man, we found them like that." The skinny teen said.
"Sheriff Stone, there was a monster…" the beautiful redhead started to say before the sheriff cut her off.
"Quiet! From this point forward, this is a crime scene and future tourist attraction. Stay out of it."
"Future tourist attraction?! Are you blind?!" Rachel finally spoke up getting everyone's attention. "Sheriff, this monster, whatever it is, has to be stopped! If we don't, there won't be a future for tourists in Crystal Cove!
"Rachel?" Velma asked.
"And who are you to think you can tell me how to do my job?" Sheriff Stone asked.
"It doesn't matter!" Rachel cried out. "The point is, that monster is going to destroy the town! I know it… I mean, I'm pretty sure. I…"
"You're 'pretty sure'?" Sheriff Stone asked mockingly. "Yeah. Sure. Listen, kid, why don't you leave the monster-handling to the professionals?" He turned away to rejoin his squad.
"Some professional." Velma said.
"Um, like, who are you?" the skinny teen asked Rachel.
"This is Rachel. She goes to Crystal Cove High with us." Velma said. "Rachel, these are my friends: Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby Doo."
"Nice to meet you all." Rachel said nervously.
"So what was that you were saying about 'destroying the town'?" Daphne asked.
"I… Well… It's hard to explain, really." Rachel said. "But the thing is… I kinda had a nightmare last night."
"Is it the one you told me about earlier?" Velma asked. "The one with the destroyed town?"
"Yes. And that monster was at the center of it." Rachel said.
"Are you sure?" Fred asked.
"I'm serious. That was the exact same monster I saw in my dream last night, down to the very last detail. Tell me the logic behind that."
"The odds are pretty high." Velma said. "Perhaps we can bring Rachel along on this one."
"But how do we get close to this case?" Shaggy asked. "The sheriff told us to stay out of it."
"Let me talk to him." Fred said walking over to the police.
"Can he really get through to the sheriff?" Rachel asked.
"Well, he is the mayor's son." Velma said. "Then again, Fred isn't the best at debates."
"Reah. Not the best arguer." Scooby stated.
Rachel turned her wide eyes over at Scooby. "Did that dog just talk?"
"Yeah. It's a neat trick of his?" Shaggy asked. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Don't worry." Daphne assured. "Fred will make him understand.
Much to everyone's surprise, Fred ran back to the gang at top speed. He carried one of the cocooned man over his shoulder.
"Shaggy, start the car!"
"Like, I thought you were going to talk to him." Shaggy said running to the van.
"He wasn't in a listening mood!"
"So you stole a body?" Velma asked opening the back of the van. "Rockin'."
"Wow. You're all a little bit crazy, aren't you?" Rachel asked getting in the van with the others.
After throwing the body in the back of the van, everyone entered the vehicle and drove away from the crime scene as fast as they could.
"Don't worry." Fred said. "I know just who can help us."
The man who Fred decided to go to for help was none other than the high school science teacher, Professor Emmanuel Raffalo. As soon as they brought the cocooned body to his class, all his students ran out as fast as they could. Professor Raffalo, however, looked tired as though this occurs to him at a daily basis. They set the body on a science desk allowing the professor to examine it.
"So just to be clear," Rachel said to everyone, "All those monsters that were just criminals in costumes… You were the ones who caught them?"
"Yeah." Fred said. "It's amazing how many mysteries we were able to solve."
"And lately, I'm the one who's having a straining career because you kids keep bringing monster stuff into my class." Raffolo said. "Anyway, the man in here is still alive, but he appears to be in some sort of dehydrated stasis. I don't quite know what that means, but I'm guessing it's temporary."
"Do you know what could've caused it?" Daphne asked.
"The cocoon material looks organic, but I'll need to do further tests. The sheriff okayed this?"
"Uh, of course, he did." Fred lied. "What, do you think we stole a body? That… That's rich. Haha." He proceeded to lead the gang out of the classroom.
"Welcome, everyone to Fruitmeier's!" exclaimed the clown who ran the circus-themed restaurant. He traveled around the floor delivering green desert to everyone. "Remember, it's not ice cream. It's not yogurt. Ha! I really don't know what it is."
Rachel got her scoop of green desert along with the rest of the gang. She took a lick before grimacing. "A little too sweet for my taste."
"Let's get back to the topic at hand." Daphne said. "Rachel, let's talk about this dream of yours. You know, the one where you saw the monster?"
"I know which dream you're talking about." Rachel said. "Look, it's really weird. I go to sleep, and almost every night, I keep having the same dream where Crystal Cove is destroyed. The only thing that's new is the monster. I only ever had one nightmare about that thing, and it was last night."
"Maybe you saw the monster before and it just haunted your dreams?" Velma asked.
"I think I would remember seeing a seven-foot tall toxic slime monster." Rachel said. "My mom tells me it's just a dream, but I don't know. Something about the dream just feels… too real."
All of a sudden, a ringing sound was heard. It came from Rachel's pocket. She reached in and pulled out her phone before checking the caller ID.
"Speak of the devil." Rachel said before answering. "Hey, Mom."
"Rachel, is everything okay? You're usually home by now."
"It's okay, Mom. I'm just… hanging out with some new friends."
"R-Really?"
"Yeah. They seem like… fun guys. I'll tell you later."
"Oh. Okay then. I love you."
"Love you too, Mom." Rachel said before hanging up. "Sorry about that."
"Oh, that's fine. You should meet all of our parents." Fred said. "Anyway, gang, if that cocoon does turn out to be organic, we might have a real honest-to-goodness monster in Crystal Cove."
"One that my dreams say is going to destroy everything." Rachel reminded.
"Right. That too." Fred said.
"My guess? The cocoon is a multicelled mutation, probably a result of radiated allotropes and free radical implosion." Velma said before turning to Shaggy. "What do you think, Shaggy?" She tried to hold his hand, but he pulled it out.
"Uh, I think I want more Fruitmeier's!" Shaggy said before leaving.
"Me too!" Scooby said following his best friend.
"So… are you and he an item?" Rachel asked.
"No. Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Velma said boldly. "Why would me and Shaggy be an item?" She crossed her arms and stomped away.
"Well, if there's nothing else, I guess I should head home." Rachel said before walking off.
Word got out pretty quickly as soon as it was discovered. Professor Raffolo was found stuck to the ceiling covered in the same green, slimy cocoon that covered the sewer workers. It was devastating for the gang to hear, which is what caused them to gather at a radio station. While they waited, the station's owner, Angel Dynamite, finished up her broadcast after her latest song was over.
"Mmm. Yeah, Crystal Cove. That was the Rotten Brains with their single, 'Zombie Housewife Blues'. I'm Angel Dynamite, and you're listening to K-Ghoul. 101.4 on your A.M. dial."
After ending her broadcast, she joined the gang as they gathered around Fred, who laid on the floor on top of a radio like it was a pillow.
"Fred, it's okay. We're here for you." Daphne assured caringly while Scooby licked Fred's hair.
"It's no use, gang. I was the one who stole the body, and Professor Raffalo paid the price. I should have listened to my dad and stayed out of any new mysteries."
"We all helped steal the body, Fred." Velma reminded.
"Well, I actually never… OW!" Shaggy started to speak before getting elbowed by Velma. "Okay, fine. Yes. We all took part, Freddy."
"Fred, listen, if the monster is going to blow up the town or something, then you guys are the only ones with the experience to stop it." Rachel said.
"But I've got nothing." Fred said.
"Man up, Fred!" Velma commanded. "We still have our first clue. The cocoon. I brought a sample to… Scooby, what are you doing?!"
Scooby had his face dug into the tray of green slime that Velma was referring to. He forced a lot of it into his mouth like a pig eating slaw.
"What? It's Fruitmeier's." Scooby said. "Yummy."
"Did he just say Fruitmeier's?" Rachel asked.
Curious, everyone dipped their fingers into the green stuff and placed it in their mouths. They all recognized the same sweet taste that they had tasted just the other day.
"Jeepers. It's made of Fruitmeier's desert." Daphne said. "But if the cocoon is made of that stuff…"
"That means if we capture the monster, we can have our own shop, and we can have an endless supply of Fruitmeier's desert." Shaggy said with a happy daydream in his head.
"Does he always have food on the brain?" Rachel asked.
"It's either that or running away from monsters." Velma said.
"No. It means that the slime mutant may not be a monster at all." Fred said. "What do we know about Franklin Fruitmeier."
Velma headed to a nearby computer and did a quick search. "Franklin Fruitmeier showed up in town out of nowhere two months ago. Before that, nothing. He's hiring right now for female servers."
"Then that's our way in." Fred said.
"If the girls can get jobs at Fruitmeier's, they can snoop around and find out more." Shaggy said.
Although Shaggy had a solid plan, in the end, it was he and Scooby who wore green dresses, colorful wigs, and makeup.
"Um, like, this isn't exactly what I had in mind." Shaggy said. "Why are Scooby Doo and I dressed like girls when Velma, Daphne, and Rachel are girls?"
"Because we refused." Daphne said.
"I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a colorful dress and smiling to the customers, not even for a day." Rachel said.
Later that night, it was finally closing time at Fruitmeier's. After Franklin left, Shaggy and Scooby left the door open for the rest of the gang.
"All right, gang. Fan out." Fred instructed while Daphne gave Shaggy and Scooby their normal clothes. "See if you can find anything that will tie Franklin Fruitmeier to the slime mutant."
The six roamed around at different parts of the restaurant. Rachel and Daphne searched the back room together and realized the door to the storage closet was locked. Suddenly, a box was knocked over and fell behind Rachel. She gasped loudly until she realized what it actually was. She took a breath and chanted to herself.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath…" As she said that, a small spark of dark-purple light flashed from the storage closet keyhole. No one noticed.
"What are you doing?" Daphne asked.
"Oh. It's just some mantra my mom taught me." Raven explained. "Supposed to calm me down."
"Well, does it?" Daphne asked.
"Sometimes. I can't explain it really. It just feels like whenever I say it, stuff happens to me both inside and out. For some reason, it just feels right."
"Hey, girls." Shaggy said getting past them. "Have you checked the storage closet?"
"We tried. It's locked." Daphne said.
Shaggy placed his hand on the doorknob and jiggled it. "Huh. Feels unlocked to me."
"What?" Rachel asked. "But we couldn't open it earlier."
"Well, let's see, like, what's in here." Shaggy said opening the door.
Suddenly, the slime mutant appeared again standing on the other side of the door. It roared and swiped its claws at Shaggy and Scooby, but the two ducked down and ran off as fast as they could. Rachel and Daphne followed.
The gang caught up to Fred and Velma who joined them in running from the slime mutant. They circled around until they found themselves back at the storage closet. They tried to stop, but Shaggy and Scooby pushed them all in.
Rachel felt like she was pushed the furthest. Although she hit the ground, she didn't finish falling. She found herself dropping through a man-sized hole where she plummeted further down.
When Rachel recovered, she found herself in a dark, rocky cavern. She called out for the others who gently followed her to examine their surroundings.
"This is the cave where we found those sewer workers." Fred said. "This is where the monster came from."
"It must run under Fruitmeier's." Velma said.
"And check this out." Daphne said pointing at a second hole in the ceiling with a shovel planted beneath it. "Someone's been digging."
"Wait a second." Rachel said realizing something. "Unless I'm mistaken, Fruitmeier's is right near the Crystal Cove bank."
"But dude, why would a slime mutant bust a hole through Fruitmeier's to get into a bank?" Shaggy asked.
"Maybe it's hungry." Scooby guessed.
"Yeah. Hungry for money." Fred said. "Gang, it's trappin' time."
The gang waited in the caverns hiding themselves until the slime mutant revealed itself. As it crept along, Fred emerged from behind a rock to get its attention.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!"
The slime mutant turned and tried to shoot Fred with its slime, but he dodged out of the way and ran with the monster behind him. As it gave chase, Velma jumped out to divert it next.
"No, stupid! Over here!"
The slime mutant chased Velma until Daphne appeared from behind it.
"Wrong again!"
The slime mutant angrily turned and chased after her, but before it could, Rachel called out to it from the far side of the cavern.
"Looking for someone?"
The slime mutant turned to chase Rachel next. Her chase lasted the longest as it was meant to. She soon lead it into position while the others sprung their trap. Above, a bunch of contraptions activated each other from slides to seesaws to swinging anvils to minecarts until finally, a cage dropped. However, it didn't trap the slime mutant. Instead, it fell and surrounded the entire gang except for Rachel.
Rachel watched as the slime mutant fired its substance and trapped her new friends in the Fruitmeier's desert. With a stern sneer, she showed herself to the slime mutant waving her arms for its attention.
"Hey! I think you're missing one!"
The slime mutant faced Rachel and swung its claws at her. She ducked and ran right past it heading right back to the hole that leads to Fruitmeier's. She climbed back up with the monster right behind her.
The slime monster headed to the restaurant floor where it knew Rachel ran to, but when it arrived, she was nowhere to be found. He turned his head side to side unaware that Rachel was hiding behind the counter with a tray full of Fruitmeier's desert in her hands.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Rachel chanted quietly with her eyes closed unable to see the desert she was holding glow.
Once the slime mutant got close enough, Rachel jumped out from behind the counter and tossed the desert right at its face. It tried to wipe it off, but suddenly, the desert began to grow. The monster began to panic until he fell over and it pinned him to the wall. That's when the others ran in to join Rachel.
"Whoa. Rachel, did you do that?" Fred asked. "How did you do that?"
"I… I don't know." Rachel said. "It all happened so fast."
Suddenly, Sheriff Stone and Mayor Jones barged through the front door.
"What is going on here?" Sheriff Stone asked.
"Why is the town's latest tourist attraction cocooned to the wall?" Mayor Jones asked.
"Dad, Sheriff, you don't understand." Fred said. "That is not a monster."
"Oh, hopping steamed clams, Fred. Then who is it?" Mayor Jones asked upset.
"Franklin Fruitmeier." The whole gang answered at once.
"He was trying to rob Crystal Cove Bank." Velma said.
"Uhh, that's impossible." Sheriff Stone said. "Franklin Fruitmeier's the one who called us." He stepped out of the way allowing the clown-themed restaurant owner to walk in.
"What?" Rachel asked in shock.
"I was making a clipper ship out of circus balloons when the silent alarm rang at my home." Fruitmeier said before turning to the slime mutant. "Oh, good gracious. What is that?"
"But if the monster isn't Franklin Fruitmeier," Shaggy said, "Then dude, who is it?"
Scooby proceeded to place his paws on top of the slime mutant's head and yank on it. The rubber mask came off revealing the last face everyone expected to see.
"Professor Emmanuel Raffalo?"
"That's right." Raffalo confessed. "I was trying to scare people away from the sewers while I dug my way into the bank and got rich."
"But you've got a job as a teacher." Daphne said. "Why do you need more money?"
Raffolo looked glumly at the kids silently giving them the obvious answer. They all stammered nervously.
"I discovered the Crystal Cove caves were connected to the sewer by accident while collecting mold spores for my class. Once I realized the cave led right under the bank, I put my plan into motion. Fruitmeier's gave me secret access to the sewer, so I decided to frame balloon boy for the crime by using his disgusting dessert. I staged my own disappearance to throw doubt on any hint of my involvement. Oh, it was foolproof. Genius. That is, until you… you…"
"Meddling." The sheriff said.
"Meddling. Yes, …Meddling kids and your blasted dog ruined everything."
"So all you wanted was the money?" Rachel asked. "You weren't looking to blow up Crystal Cove or something?"
"Goodness, no! Whatever gave you that idea?" Raffalo asked leaving Rachel confused.
"Wait. Just one more question." Daphne said pulling out a magnifying-glass-shaped locket with a question mark imprinted on it. "What about this locket we found where you were digging?"
In the back of the crowd, Mayor Jones raised his eyebrows in surprise once he laid eyes on the locket. He lowered them and kept quiet.
"Never seen it before." Raffalo said as he was taken to the police car.
"All right. Well, guess we owe you kids thanks." Sheriff Stone said. "You did save the bank. Although, you also lost the town a serious revenue stream! Stream of revenue!"
"Why can't you just be happy that a serious crime was just prevented?" Rachel asked. "If it wasn't for us, Crystal Cove's economy would be in serious peril."
"Ah, whatever." Sheriff Stone said.
To celebrate their latest monster capture, the gang decided to party over at Angel Dynamite's radio station. Rachel sat in the corner until a hand touched her shoulder. She was surprised to find her mom joining her by her side.
"Mom. What are you doing here?"
"Angel texted me. She told me how you helped prevent a bank robbery." Ms. Roth said. "I've never been prouder."
Rachel sighed. "I know I should be proud, but I'm not. I mean, not entirely. I still have a hundred questions."
"Well, whatever you're looking for, I have no doubt your friends can help you." Ms. Roth said.
"What do you say, Rachel?" Fred asked. "You wanna be our newest member?"
"R-Really?" Rachel asked with a small smile.
"The more, the merrier." Velma said.
Rachel smiled and joined in with the others. However, she looked over and saw Daphne looking at the locket she held in her hand.
"Is something wrong?" Rachel asked.
"I just don't get it." Daphne said. "If this locket didn't belong to Professor Raffalo, then who?"
"Let me see." Rachel said reaching for the locket. Daphne placed it in her hands, but as soon as it made contact with her skin, Rachel gasped blacking out.
Rachel found herself on top of a high hill. She looked around until she found a cliff that had a beautiful view of Crystal Cove from above. Rachel got a closer look to find two teenagers standing alone taking in the beautiful view. The handsome boy held up the same magnifying glass locket and gave it to the beautiful girl. She opened it up and mysterious music played while a picture of the both of them was shown.
Seeing the picture, the girl smiled affectionately to the boy who gave it to her. "I love you, Brad."
"I love you too, Judy."
Rachel gasped as she found herself back at the radio station. The locket fell from her hand and landed on the floor.
"Whoa. Like, you okay?" Shaggy asked as he and the others caught her when she almost fell. They gently placed her down on the mat waiting for her to take a breath.
"What happened?" Angel asked.
"I… I saw…" Rachel said with heavy breaths. "I don't know what I saw." She picked the locket up and opened it up. Like in the flashback, it played mysterious music and had the exact same picture inside. The others asked what the matter was, but she was too speechless to answer.
RIIIIIIING! RIIIIIING!
The nearby telephone rang catching everybody's attention. Nervously, Shaggy pressed the answer button and put it on speaker phone.
"Uh… Hey. This is K-Ghoul 101.4. What can we scare up for you?"
"You're all doomed."
The gang was startled before, but now, they were scared. They all gathered around the phone hearing the ominous voice that came from it.
"Like, uh, who is this?" Shaggy asked nervously.
"You can call me Mr. E. You should never have brought that locket out of the cave. And you certainly have terrible choices in friends. You don't know what you're getting yourselves into."
"What does that mean?" Daphne asked. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about a truth that should have remained hidden." Mr. E answered. "The truth behind the curse of Crystal Cove. The real mystery has just begun."
The phone call ended leaving a faint tone that came from it. Everyone looked at each other in utter confusion. They had no idea how to respond to the ominous warning they were just given.
Suddenly…
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Everyone turned in panic hearing the hard knocks on the door. Half of the gang backed away nervously while Fred and Angel approached the door nervously. They held their guards up ready for anything. Fred gripped the ankle of the door and slammed it open.
Standing on the other side of the door was a person—probably a teenager—that was covered in dirt on mud. He bobbled his body with a faint groaning.
"Duuuuuuude…" was all he said before collapsing face-down on the floor.
The gang turned the kid over and wiped the dirt off of his face. As soon as his skin was revealed, the gang gasped as they recognized him from the museum.
"Is that… Beast Boy? From the Doom Patrol?" Rachel asked staring at the boy's green skin.
"How is that possible?" Velma asked. "Where has he been?"
"Guess we won't know anything until the boy wakes up." Angel said.
Scooby ended the conversation with three words which he said nervously and eerily.
"Scooby… Dooby… Doo."