Hunters of Justice (RWBY/DC)

Chapter 58: Scooby-Doo! and JNPR, Too!

January 30th, Year 2

Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America

11:00 AM (Eastern Standard Time)

"Ooh, who's a good boy?! Who's a good boy?!" Nora affectionately said as she rubbed her hands all over the Great Dane, who eagerly accepted it.

"Re! Re! He-hehe!" the dog chuckled, a big smile on his face.

"Well, things are already off to a fantastic start," Jaune muttered with an amused smirk. "It's only been five minutes and we've already met a talking dog."

"Rere is the rawg?" the dog promptly asked, leaning away from a disappointed Nora to look around.

"Who doesn't think he's a dog, apparently," Pyrrha added, also smiling as she found the entire situation to be quite humorous.

"He does appear to be able to speak with a speech impediment," Penny noted, which prompted the Great Dane to shift his focus back to her. His eyes narrowed, then he began to sniff her once again. Noticing this, Penny looked down at the dog and asked, "Oh, you are sniffing me. May I ask why?"

"Rou smell runny," the dog immediately replied as he continued to sniff her, causing Penny and the others' eyes to widen.

Penny's mind began to race. Could it be possible that this dog could smell that she wasn't actually human? Dogs were noted to have a far superior sense of smell compared to humans, so it was well within the realm of possibility for him to notice something was off. Although Penny's rebuilt body was constructed out of the best materials the Justice League had to offer, and her exterior synthetic flesh was indistinguishable to the touch from the real thing, subtle differences still remained. It wouldn't be the end of the world for the dog to notice what was wrong, but given how important keeping a secret identity apparently was in this world, it wasn't something Penny wanted.

After a few moments, the dog's eyes widened in horror as he backed away. He looked up into Penny's eyes, then he declared, "Rou…rou haven't reaten…ranything."

"Hmm? Oh!" Penny exclaimed, finally realizing what the dog was actually talking about. "No, I have not eaten anything today. I am not hungry."

The dog narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Penny continued to smile. But before he could say anything else, the diner doors suddenly opened, revealing a young man wearing a green shirt over a white, long-sleeved undershirt, khaki pants, and with a mob of shaggy brown hair as well as a scraggly beard on his chin.

"Scoob, like, what are you doing?" the young man, seemingly the dog's owner, asked as he walked over to them.

"Raggy, rhe hasn't reaten!" the dog immediately replied while pointing his paw towards Penny, who simply smiled and waved.

The man, meanwhile, looked stricken at the thought before he sighed and said, "Okay, I get it Scooby. But if they've skipped breakfast, like, that's probably why they're coming in here, right? No biggie."

"Ro! Rhe hasn't reaten, rike, ever!"

"Huh?" the man asked while his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Then he shook his head and looked towards the Remnantians while saying, "Like, whatever. Sorry about that, man. My friends and I were just about to sit down and get some lunch when Scooby just ran off."

"It is no problem. I found it quite amusing, actually," Penny admitted, causing the young man to sigh in relief.

"Good, good," he replied, then stood up straight. "Anyway, I'm Norville Rogers. My friends call me Shaggy, and this is my best friend, Scooby-Doo."

"Hello!" Nora immediately responded with an exuberant smile and wave. "I'm Nora Valkyrie! This is my boyfriend, Lie Ren – you can call him Ren –, and my friends Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, and Penny Polendina! We're here to solve a mystery!"

"Nora…," Ren began to chastise, only for Shaggy's eyes to widen in surprise.

"Wait, you're here to solve a mystery? You mean the monster sightings, right?" Shaggy asked much to the others' surprise, and Nora excitedly nodded.

"Yep!"

"Like, what a coincidence, so are we!" Shaggy revealed, catching the others off-guard.

"Wait, really?" Jaune asked, and both Shaggy and Scooby immediately nodded.

"Rep! Ree?" Scooby said as he pointed his paw towards the large green and blue van with a floral pattern on it. "Rhat's our ran."

Penny followed the extended limb towards the vehicle in question. They had seen it earlier when they were walking into the diner, but only now was she actually paying any attention. At first glance, it was just a modified mid-1960s Dodge A100, with a spare tire mounted to the front and a custom paintjob that looked straight out of Woodstock. The back windows were also completely covered and replaced by a flat panel that had the words "The Mystery Machine" emblazoned on its face.

But a quick scan through Penny's sensors showed that, underneath the hood, this Mystery Machine was far more than meets the eye. An assortment of communications equipment, antenna, and satellite dishes could be seen on top of the van's roof alongside high-intensity, roof-mounted headlights. Coming from inside the van were several electronic signatures indicating a large computer setup. Without being able to see it directly, Penny couldn't exactly tell what the computers were for. But, assuming Shaggy was telling the truth – and his biometrics indicated that he was – Penny had a fair idea as to what they were for.

"Whoa…so cool," Jaune declared with stars in his eyes, which Nora shared while the other members of Team JNPR gave less impressed looks. At first, Penny wondered if they, too, noticed what she did. Then she figured they were just easily impressed by the fact that Shaggy and his friends had their own custom vehicle.

"Yeah. The Mystery Machine is Fred's pride and joy," Shaggy revealed, then he waved his arm towards the Remnantians while saying, "Come on, my friends and I already have a booth. You can come eat with us."

"Oh, no. We shouldn't intrude," Pyrrha tried to say, but Shaggy waved her off.

"It's no problem, man! We, like, have more than enough room," Shaggy pointed out as he opened the door. "Besides, if you guys really are here to solve a mystery, my friends would love to meet you."

"I don't know. We—" Jaune tried to say, only for Nora to eagerly walk right past him.

"Sure! The more the merrier!" Nora declared, happily following Shaggy and Scooby as they went inside.

Just after Scooby-Doo passed the door, he turned back to look at Penny with an expression on his face that couldn't seem to decide between pity and suspicion. Although Penny was still somewhat confused, she simply smiled and waved at the Great Dane, who made a confused noise and shook his head before walking away.

"Roor girl…," Scooby muttered, leaving the rest of Team JNPR and Penny behind.

For the moment, the four remaining Remnantians looked at each other, then they shifted their attention towards Nora who was already sitting down at a large booth filled with Shaggy, Scooby, and three other people, all of whom appeared to be only a few years older than Team JNPR themselves. One of them was a man with neatly coiffed blond hair, wearing a thick white sweater with an orange ascot tied around his neck and a pair of blue jeans and light-brown shoes. Next to him was a girl with long, bright red hair wearing a purple mini-dress, pink pantyhose, purple shoes and a green scarf wrapped around her neck. Finally, next to Nora was a short woman with bobbed brown hair and some freckles on her face, wearing an orange turtleneck sweater tucked into a short red pleated skirt, orange knee socks that went into red Mary Jane shoes, and a pair of black square glasses.

"Guys, come on!" Nora called out, prompting Jaune to sigh.

"Well, we might as well," Jaune said. "We can always back out after we eat. Ren, mind talking to Nora after this?"

"Already on it," Ren replied, and together the quartet made their way over to the booth.

"Hey, over here!" the man wearing the white sweater announced as they sat down. "Shaggy and Scooby were just talking about you guys. You're here for the monster sightings, right?"

"We are, indeed," Penny confirmed, purposefully leaving out the missing persons part of their mission.

"Well, so are we," the man confirmed, then gestured towards his chest. "I'm Fred Jones. You've already met Shaggy and Scooby, and this is the rest of the gang, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley."

"Hi there!" Daphne greeted them with a wide smile and a wave.

"A pleasure to meet you," Velma added, pushing up her glasses as they threatened to fall off her nose.

"Together, we are Mystery Incorporated!" Fred revealed, spreading his arms towards the rest of his team.

As Penny immediately tapped into the internet to research this Mystery Incorporated, assuming there was anything to find, Jaune smiled as he replied, "Nora's probably already told you who we are."

"That I have, Fearless Leader!" Nora declared, picking up Fred's interest.

"Oh, you're the leader?" Fred asked, and Jaune nodded.

"I am, yeah," Jaune confirmed.

"Cool, so am I! What are you guys called?" Fred asked in a genuinely curious tone.

Jaune almost instinctively answered 'Team JNPR', but he quickly caught himself. Although these people seemed friendly enough, the last thing he wanted was to out themselves as being superheroes. His mind raced as he tried to come up with a name, then answered with the first thing that came to his mind.

"We're the…Mystery Bunch…," Jaune responded, and almost immediately mentally slapped himself while the rest of his team gave him flat looks.

"…Really?" Velma replied as she narrowed her eyes, only for Daphne to lightly tap her on the arm.

"Hey, cut them some slack. They're clearly new to this," Daphne offered. Part of Jaune wanted to refute that, but he kept his mouth shut in order to avoid putting his foot into it.

"You're not much older than us," Pyrrha pointed out, only for Daphne to chuckle.

"We've been doing this since we were kids and he was just a pup named Scooby-Doo," Daphne pointed out as she gestured towards Scooby.

"Jaune, trust me. There's no need to be embarrassed," Fred advised his fellow leader.

"Forgive me if I find that—" Ren started to say, only for Penny to pull out her scroll, which was displaying the results of the research she found.

"They are, indeed, telling the truth," Penny announced as she handed her scroll to the rest of her teammates, who immediately began to read through it. "For the past ten years, Mystery Incorporated has been solving various cases and mysteries across the United States, and a few international. Their record is nearly flawless."

"Holy cow…," Jaune muttered as he started reading through a highlight list news article of some of their most famous solved mysteries and captured criminals, many of whom wouldn't be out of place from a superhero rogues gallery (the less destructive ones, anyway). The Black Night, Captain Cutler, the Space Kook, the Tar Monster, and those were just some of their earliest after they expanded their operation beyond their hometown of Crystal Cove, California.

"You managed to find that list quickly," Velma noted as she eyed Penny suspiciously, but Penny smiled and waved her off.

"I am highly proficient at using the internet," Penny said. As it was a half-truth, she didn't hiccup, which made her happy.

"Right…," Velma replied, then shook her head. "Regardless, my friends and I have been doing this for a while. It's actually our job when we're not in school."

"Really?" Jaune asked, his interest piqued. "How'd you manage that?"

"My parents are very rich and gave us the seed money to start us off," Daphne immediately answered. "After a while, we started filming our cases and posting them as episodes on our own website. We've picked up a sizable following, if I do say so myself."

"I can see that," Pyrrha replied as she looked through the website in question.

"Yep," Fred confirmed with a proud smile on his face. "So now, whenever we're not taking classes out of Miskatonic University, we scour the country for any mysteries we can solve and swing on by. We actually got lucky here. Providence, Rhode Island isn't too far away from Arkham, Massachusetts."

"It seems your specialty is capturing guys in masks running real estate scams," Ren pointed out, and Velma nodded.

"Mmm-hmm. Ninety-percent of the time, that's exactly what's going on," Velma said, then rolled her eyes. "Some wacko or desperate individual thinks it's a bright idea to dress up as a ghost, ghoul, or a monster of some kind then scare people away from an area so that they can either scour the land for some buried treasure or lower its property value. Ever since Darkseid, people believe that kind of stuff a lot more often nowadays."

"You think that's what's going on here, too?" Nora asked, and Velma nodded.

"I do. It has all the hallmarks, although the recent disappearances are somewhat concerning," Velma admitted as she rubbed her chin. "But they might be unrelated. Until then, we're just here for the 'monster.'"

Jaune, Penny, and the rest of Team JNPR looked at each other. While the disappearances were still a top concern, at the end of the day they, too, were also here for the monster. The League was concerned that a Grimm was running around, either on its own or in a pack. Either way, it needed to be investigated. The only problem was that its description didn't match any known Grimm species on Earth.

Nodding to himself, Jaune then said, "Same here, but we only just arrived. What have you found so far?"

"Not much," Fred admitted as he pulled out a case file he and the rest of Mystery Incorporated had already been working on, which Jaune could see was neatly organized and professionally done.

"Are you sure you want to share this with us?" Pyrrha politely asked, not wanting to intrude, but Daphne waved her off.

"Nah, it's fine! The more the merrier. Besides, we're always happy to help out new mystery solvers," Daphne replied as Velma pushed her glasses up her nose again.

"Anyway, we've only been here for a few days," Velma revealed. "So we haven't found much. But we did manage to interview some witnesses who claimed to have seen the monster. They described it as a 'fish-man', with some calling it a Deep One."

"A Deep One?" Nora asked.

"An intelligent, fish-like humanoid creature from the works of H.P. Lovecraft, first appearing in the novella The Shadow over Innsmouth, published between November and December 1931," Penny answered after quickly looking up the creature on the internet. "They were monstrous allegories for inter-racial relations."

"Ah. I did read that Lovecraft…had a lot of issues, to say the least," Ren noted, then returned his attention to the case file. "So these people say it was a Deep One? Couldn't it also be a legitimate monster, like a Grimm or even a Trench? The latter I'd say matches the description of a fish-man pretty well."

The Trench were a lost tribe of Atlanteans who survived its sinking thousands of years ago by migrating to the deepest, darkest depths of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The harsh conditions, high pressures, and lack of sunlight caused them to evolve drastically, or devolve depending on who you were talking to. They became perfectly adapted to survive their harsh environment, gaining immense strength that surpassed even their fellow Atlanteans, but at the expense of much of their higher brain functions. They became more beasts than men, slaughtering anyone unfortunate enough to cross into their domain. Only Aquaman had any ability to direct them with his trident, and even that didn't completely control them.

"If it was a Grimm, there would be a lot more grisly evidence based off everything I've read about them," Velma pointed out, to which the Remnantians nodded in agreement. "As for the Trench, they don't go anywhere near the coast, which rules them out. If the disappearances were happening out in the middle of the ocean, I'd consider it, but that's not happening. Again, everything I've seen about this case indicates that it's just another guy in a costume."

"Right, that makes sense," Jaune noted, then pointed at a section in the case file and said, "Looks like you've found a place of interest. This house or museum?"

"The H.P. Lovecraft Museum, purportedly a place where Lovecraft himself used to reside, and dedicated to teaching people about his life and works," Velma said, then scoffed and shook her head. "It's a complete crock. That house is a veritable mansion, and way bigger and more expensive than anything Lovecraft actually lived in. His grandfather was rich, but he himself had financial troubles his entire life. This mansion would've been far too expensive for him to afford."

"Hmm. If what you're saying is true," Ren began, "it seems that this place is the center of the monster sightings, and someone might be dressing up as a Deep One to drum up interest, or scare people away for some reason."

"That's what we're thinking, too," Fred confirmed. "We were actually about to make our way over there after eating lunch. You guys are more than welcome to come with us."

"Why not just head over there now?"

"Like, no way! The longer it takes for us to have to run into some creepy monster, fake or not, is fine by me!" Shaggy insisted. "Besides, reviewing the local food is the best part of Scoob and I's jobs!"

"Ruh-huh!" Scooby insisted, then he began to sniff the air. "Ro-boy, our rood!"

"Oh, perfect! I'm starving!" Shaggy declared, taking his napkin and stuffing it into his collar as the waitress arrived. Meanwhile, Daphne turned on a small but professional camera setup to record the upcoming footage for Shaggy and Scooby's food review travelogue segment of their online show.

"Alright. We have a cheeseburger, fries and a shake for you," the waitress said as she handed Fred his plate, "a house salad for you girls, and one of everything for you two."

"One of what?" Jaune asked, then heard the kitchen doors swing open, drawing his attention. "Oh my God…."

Before the superheroes' disbelieving eyes, being pushed towards their table on multiple carts, was what could only be described as a mountain of food. Burgers, pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, sandwiches, literally everything that was on the menu could be seen precariously being balanced atop multiple plates. The entire diner was watching the assembly with open mouths, hardly anyone able to comprehend someone ordering that much food.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Shaggy exclaimed, with him and Scooby (who was somehow holding a knife and fork in his paws after tying a napkin around his neck) bouncing in their seats like little children eagerly anticipating their birthday cake.

"You're…not going to eat all of that, are you?" Pyrrha quietly asked, and both Shaggy and Scooby gave her confused looks.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we?" Shaggy replied, causing the Crimson Guardian's eyes to widen in horror.

Then Nora slammed her fist on the table and decried, "There is no way you two can eat all of that by yourselves!"

"Oh, reah?" Scooby replied with a smirk. "Runna ret?"

"You're on!" Nora declared, grabbing her own knife and fork while stuffing her napkin into her collar.

"This is not going to end well, is it?" Jaune muttered, and Daphne laughed while patting him on the shoulder.

"You get used to it," she said, then they watched as Shaggy, Scooby, and Nora began to stuff their faces as much and as fast as they could.

[~]

"Earth, wind, fire and air! We may look bad, but we don't care!" the song on the radio blared inside the Mystery Machine as Fred drove Mystery Incorporated, Team JNPR, and Penny towards their destination. Daphne was in the passenger seat next to Fred while everyone else was sitting in the back.

"This album's awesome!" Jaune couldn't help but note as he head-banged along to the beat. "Who sings this again?"

"The Hex Girls," Velma answered as she, too, nodded to the beat. "They're an all-female eco-goth rock band from Oakhaven, Massachusetts."

"Wow, they sound right up Ruby, Yang, and Blake's alley!" Jaune replied, continuing to bob his head. "Although I doubt Weiss would be into them. Rock'n'roll isn't really her thing. She's more of classical music kind of girl."

"She should give them a shot," Velma suggested. "I'll send you a link to their Spotify if you want."

"That sounds great, thanks!"

"You know, we're actually friends with Thorn, Luna and Dusk," Daphne added, turning around from the passenger seat to look at the others. "Solved a few mysteries with them over the years."

"No kidding?" Jaune asked, and when Daphne smiled and nodded he replied, "Wow, you guys seriously get into some really neat shenanigans."

"Heh, you can say that again," Fred admitted with a faint chuckle, stopping at an intersection and waiting for the light to turn green.

As the song on the radio ended and shifted to the band's eponymous song Hex Girl, Jaune idly looked around the inside of the van. Although the Mystery Machine's exterior made it seem like an old, if well maintained 1960s van, the interior couldn't be described as anything less than state of the art. Along the left wall were a row of seats, where Jaune, Penny, and the rest of his team sat, while the right wall was completely covered by an extensive computer system where Velma was currently seated.

Velma had described some of it to them. It had standard stuff like satellite internet access and a mobile hotspot, allowing them unfiltered access to the world-wide web no matter where they were. Given just how often their cases took them to the middle of nowhere, such access was necessary in more ways than one. But the computer system also had more specialized functions specific to their needs. Velma kept a detailed and up-to-date internal database of their various mysteries. It had a forensics scanner that could give them accurate results in a matter of minutes, and thanks to the Mystery Machine's connection to public records, they were able to pull any information they needed as they needed it. All in all, it was a very impressive and expensive looking set-up. Jaune imagined that Daphne's family had a hand in paying for it.

They also had a large, long wooden box containing various souvenirs behind the front seat, which Shaggy and Scooby were currently resting on. Jaune didn't feel the need to look at them more closely, particularly since he was far more focused on the fact that Shaggy and Scooby were eating a bunch of biscuits from a green box.

"…How?" Jaune could only barely ask, wanting to look away but unable to.

"We're, like, still hungry, man," Shaggy answered between bites.

Glancing back at his team, Pyrrha was similarly staring at the boy and his dog with morbid fascination on her face. Penny looked halfway to short-circuiting as she struggled to comprehend how the two of them were not only able to beat Nora in their eating contest, which was already a veritable mountain of food, but also ask for seconds. The caloric intake alone should've thrown them into a food coma, with the sheer mass turning their stomachs into beach balls, yet here they were, just nibbling along as though they hadn't eaten a thing.

He gave Velma a pleading look, who could only shrug and say, "Yeah, your guess is as good as ours. We think they might have a meta-gene, but we're not certain."

Jaune remained silent then, after a moment, reluctantly nodded as Nora once again released a low groan, the hyperactive Huntress' infamous metabolism outmatched for once. Not even her loss to the Flash took this much out of her.

"Ugh…," Nora mumbled as she held her stomach close, leaning forward while Ren gently rubbed her back. "Why?"

"I told you not to do it," he chastised his girlfriend, who could only moan more in response.

"Rere, rere, Rora," Scooby said as he walked over to pat her on the shoulder. He then handed her a green box and asked, "Rant a Scooby Snack?"

Jaune looked at the box of caramel-flavored biscuits in question, which were apparently called Scooby Snacks. As he wondered whether they were named after him or vice versa, Nora nauseously raised her palm and replied, "I'm good, Scooby. Maybe later."

"Rokay," Scooby replied, leaving her with the box before returning to sit on the wooden chest alongside Shaggy.

Deciding to redirect his thoughts away from the apparent black holes which were Shaggy and Scooby's stomachs, Jaune looked at the pair and asked, "So, Shaggy, I gotta ask. Has Scooby always been able to talk or did something happen to change him?"

Shaggy swallowed his food, then answered, "No, like, Scoob's always been able to talk since he was a puppy. He was just born with it."

"Really? Does Scooby have a meta gene?" Penny asked, both curious about the answer and just happy to move away from how they were able to eat so much.

"Ruh-huh!" Scooby confirmed. "Me and my ramily!"

"Your family?"

"Reah! My rarents, Dada-Doo and Momsy-Doo, my rister, Ruby-Doo, and my rephew, Scrappy-Doo," Scooby listed, counting off of his paws. But at the mention of his nephew, the rest of Mystery Incorporated, including Scooby himself, let out involuntary winces.

Ren, getting the sense there was a reason for that, curiously asked, "What's wrong with Scrappy?"

"No, no. Scrappy's fine. It's just…," Fred answered, then released a sigh. "We had to puppy sit him for the summer a few years ago, and he became a member of Mystery Incorporated. He proved to be a very rambunctious puppy, constantly throwing himself into danger no matter what we were up against."

"I still remember he'd constantly cry out 'Puppy Power!,'" Daphne couldn't help but joke, only to let out a groan of her own. "Anyway, at first Scrappy was fine. He was a welcome addition to the team and helped us solve plenty of cases. But then he got it into his head that he needed to do more and started taking over the roles that we were already doing. He was trying to make Mystery Incorporated all about him and not the team."

"Reah, he got…rad," Scooby admitted as he let out a low whine.

"What happened after that?" Jaune asked, a slight frown on his face. While he could definitely sympathize with the desire to make oneself a valuable member of the team, a desire he himself shared even now, as the leader of Team JNPR he also understood the value of not trying to step on his teammate's toes. The only thing worse than a teammate unable to pull their own weight was a teammate who, inadvertently or not, undercut everyone else. By all accounts, it seems Scrappy had unfortunately turned into the latter.

"Well, he was just an enthusiastic kid who didn't know any better, and we were the adults responsible for him, so we talked it out. He ended up feeling really bad about his actions and apologized. At the end of the summer, he went back home," Velma concluded. "We've met up with him a few times after that. Scrappy's doing a lot better now."

"That's good. I'm happy to hear that," Jaune said as he smiled slightly. He then turned his attention towards Fred and asked, "How far are we from the museum?"

"Not too far," Fred admitted as they pulled into a gas station. "But I need to fill up the Mystery Machine's tank."

"Perfect. I need to get more snacks anyway," Shaggy remarked.

Jaune glanced at him for a moment, then chose to ignore it for the sake of his sanity. Soon, the van came to a stop inside the gas station. Fred and the others got out of the vehicle almost immediately, with Fred humming a tune to himself as he started filling the Mystery Machine's gas tank. Jaune and the other Remnantians stayed inside the van for a moment, watching the members of Mystery Incorporated go inside the gas station to get whatever they needed. Mostly Shaggy and Scooby, with Jaune thinking that the others were simply there to make sure they wouldn't go too overboard.

More importantly, though, they were now temporarily alone and out of sight, allowing Nora to finally flex her Aura and alleviate her discomfort.

"Ahh, that feels so much better," Nora remarked as she felt her Aura do its magic, her body flaring pink with excess energy as she actively burned off some of the calories. As it was working, she absentmindedly grabbed the box of Scooby Snacks and, much to Jaune's incredulity, began to chow down on them at a deliberate pace.

"Nora, seriously?" Ren chastised, but Nora just gave her boyfriend a questioning look.

"What? A talking dog kindly offered them to me to make me feel better. I'm not going to say no," Nora told him as she ate another. "That would be rude."

"Nora, are you not aware that Scooby Snacks are a brand of dog treats?" Penny asked, causing Nora to stop in her tracks and the others' eyes to widen. They all stared at the box in Nora's hands, with Jaune wondering why Shaggy was eating them alongside Scooby, only for Nora to nonchalantly shrug and eat another.

"Eh, they taste good anyway," Nora remarked, causing the others to sigh.

"Moving on," Ren said as he shook his head, then looked at Jaune and asked, "Are you certain it's wise to be working with Mystery Incorporated, Jaune? They're civilians."

"Technically, so are we," Jaune pointed out, but Ren just gave him a flat stare.

"You know what I mean," Ren countered as he narrowed his eyes. "Need I remind you that we're potentially dealing with a Grimm here? The last thing we should be doing is treating this case like it's nothing more than real estate fraud like they are."

"Ren, you need to lighten up," Nora tried to advise her partner, but he brushed her off which made her frown.

"Forgive me for treating this missing persons case with the seriousness it deserves," Ren said, but before he could say anything else, Jaune spoke up.

"Ren, that's enough," Jaune said with an authoritative tone, catching his teammate off-guard. "All of us are taking this seriously. Don't act like you're the only one who is."

Ren was momentarily taken aback, then his eyes softened and he said, "Sorry, it's just…."

"I know," Jaune softly replied, his mind thinking back to their battle against Black Adam, the aftermath of which made Ren focus far too much on whatever task they'd been assigned, often to his own personal detriment.

Releasing another sigh, Jaune continued, "Look, I know we're all still worried that there might be a Grimm running around. If there is, I doubt Shaggy, Scooby and the others can handle it. But that just makes it more important that we work with Mystery Incorporated on this case. I know we've only known them for, like, an hour, but I get the sense that they're great at finding trouble."

"Jaune is correct," Penny added. "Although Mystery Incorporated has reason to believe that the recent monster sightings and disappearances are unrelated, with the former merely a part of a real estate scam, we cannot rule out the possibility that they are connected. Should that be the case, it is imperative that we be nearby to protect them and others from physical harm."

"Exactly," Jaune said as he pointed to a beaming Penny. "Besides, it's obvious that these guys know what they're doing. They've been investigating mysteries like this for years. I mean, look at the stuff in this van. By the time we got here, they were already investigating leads. If we tried to do this on our own, we'd still be stumbling around in the dark."

"So, what, we just follow their lead in solving this mystery until a Grimm possibly shows up?" Nora asked as she slowly lifted another Scooby Snack into her mouth, and Jaune nodded.

After a moment to think it over, Pyrrha nodded as well and said, "I think that is the best course of action."

"Thanks, Pyrrha," Jaune said with a sincere smile on his face. "We'll keep an eye out for any actual danger, obviously, but until its confirmed just do whatever Mystery Inc does. And if we do run into this Deep One, don't punch him out unless we know for certain it's an actual monster and not just some guy in a costume. That means you, Nora."

"Aw…," Nora groaned in disappointment, but nodded in agreement, nonetheless.

"Perfect! Now then, if you'll excuse me, I gotta use the restroom then give Ruby an update. Promised her I would after I told her we'd be solving the case with a talking dog," Jaune said as he moved towards the back of the van. "She was so jealous."

"How are they doing, by the way?" Pyrrha asked.

"Doing well. Apparently Qrow and Constantine are getting along like a house on fire."

"Figured. Etrigan isn't messing with them again, is he?"

"Unless you count him trying to goad Qrow into a fight, no."

"Huh, that's remarkably tame."

"How is that tame?" Penny asked. "That seems remarkably violent."

"Last time he swapped Jaune and I's bodies as well as Weiss and Yang," Pyrrha answered.

"Oh, I see. That must have been an uncomfortable experience."

"Yep, it was," Jaune said, giving an involuntary shudder at the memory which Pyrrha echoed, then opened the door and stepped outside.

"Jaune," Fred called out as he continued filling the tank, only giving Jaune a quick wave.

"Fred," Jaune said, repeating the action then began to make his way over to the front door. A light trickle of freezing rain was coming down, but he ignored it aside from picking up the pace. As he entered the building, though, he had to quickly step aside as a man wearing a hooded yellow coat prepared to exit.

"Oh, sorry," Jaune called out as the man kept moving, only for him to briefly pause and come to a complete stop. After a moment, the man slowly and somewhat creepily turned around, catching Jaune's complete attention. He briefly looked the man over, but found that he couldn't make out any distinguishable features. He was even wearing what looked like a mask.

"Uh…nice mask," Jaune remarked, hoping to alleviate the tension that had suddenly appeared.

"This is not my mask," the man said in a low yet somehow echoing tone that seemed to reach down into Jaune.

"…What?" Jaune asked, but before the man in yellow could respond, the door behind him opened. Scooby then appeared and, upon noticing the man before Jaune, started to whimper and tried pulling him away.

"Scoob, Scooby it's okay," Jaune insisted, finding that the Great Dane was surprisingly strong. Eventually he was able to pull his arm free, then gestured behind him as he started to say, "It's just a guy. He's—"

That was when Jaune realized that the man in yellow was gone, with only a small puddle on the ground where he previously stood. Perplexed, Jaune could only ask himself, "What the…? Where'd he go…?"

"I ron't rare! Ret's leave!" Scooby whimpered as he shivered in place.

Despite finding the entire situation odd to say the least, Jaune couldn't help but give the Great Dane a soft smile as he leaned over and scratched behind Scooby's ear. That seemed to calm him down somewhat, then he headed inside and made his way towards the restroom. But, as he approached, he quickly noticed a foul stench coming from inside, and when he opened the door he found it clearly hadn't been properly cleaned in some time.

"Ugh! On second thought, I think I can hold it," Jaune said as he pinched his nose shut.

"Good call. Had the same experience," Velma called out as she waited near the front of the store. "Honestly, I wouldn't buy anything from here. Half of it's expired, and the other half's close to it."

"Hey, food is food," Shaggy remarked, causing Velma to roll her eyes.

"Of course you'd say that," the brunette snarked while crossing her arms.

Deciding to join her and Daphne, he pulled out his scroll and began texting Ruby. Daphne paid him no heed, but he quickly noticed that Velma was giving him some sideways glances, particularly at his scroll.

"That's an…interesting phone," she pointed out. "What model is that?"

"It's a scroll," Jaune instinctively answered, then mentally kicked himself. Seeing that Velma was giving him her utmost attention, he quickly added, "It's, uhh, a new model from WayneTech."

"Really?" Velma asked, clearly not buying his excuse. "I wasn't aware WayneTech made that model of phone."

"Oh, well it's not on the market yet. Two of my friends work for them as interns, though, and they were able to hook us up."

"I see…," Velma responded after a moment, her eyes narrowed as Jaune tried his best to stay as calm as possible. The others had told him that Velma was the brains of Mystery Incorporated, often the one who actually pieced together the clues that would end up solving the mystery. He could see what they meant now.

"You know, my uncle works for Mr. Wayne," Daphne pointed out, catching Jaune off guard.

"As in, directly? Your uncle is Alfred Pennyworth?" he asked, and Daphne nodded.

"Yep!" she confirmed as Velma narrowed her eyes even more at the fact that Jaune knew the Wayne family butler by name.

Jaune once again mentally kicked himself, but rather than say anything to try and defend himself, he decided to keep his mouth shut and avoid digging an even deeper hole than the one he was already in. Thankfully, that was when Shaggy came back carrying several bags of potato chips, candy, and other snacks. The young man carried them to the front of the store, the gluttonous smile on his face showing how eager he was to pay for the merchandise.

"My, you're a hungry one, aren't you?" the cashier, wearing an all-black uniform, softly asked as he began scanning the barcodes.

"Like, yep!" Shaggy confirmed with a smile on his face, only for the cashier to begin chuckling.

"Heh-heh-heh. I'll bet," the cashier said. "Well then, if I were you I'd eat these as fast as you can. Around here as of late, things tend to vanish. Heh-heh-heh."

Now Shaggy was thoroughly creeped out, as were the others. He went silent as he gulped heavily, then he made a show of searching his pockets and declared, "Oh, looks like I left my wallet in the van. Let me go get it real quick."

Shaggy fast walked out of the store, the others knowing he had no intention of coming back to purchase his snacks. That was perfectly fine with Jaune, who immediately followed him, if only to get away from this creepy gas station in the middle of nowhere.

But, as he was leaving the station, the cashier called out, "Best not linger here, now. They say things are coming out at night. Monstrous, inhuman things from man's darkest nightmares."

Jaune and the others ignored him as they got into the Mystery Machine, closing the doors behind them. Once Fred finished filling up the tank, he hopped into the driver's seat, turned the radio back on, then quickly pulled out onto the road.

[~]

Luckily, the museum wasn't too far from the gas station. As the Mystery Machine pulled up along its driveway, Jaune looked out the windshield from behind the front row of seats. He didn't know much about H.P. Lovecraft, but he had to admit that the museum dedicated to his life and works certainly looked creepy enough. It was a large, foreboding mansion that appeared to be at least three stories tall, with two wings extending diagonally from a central spire. The entire building was made of dark brick, with stone gargoyles perched along the corners of the roof. The windows were shaded, making it nearly impossible to see inside even had there been sunlight. But aside from flickering exterior lights, the entire landscape was dark and foreboding.

He quickly glanced at the local map on his scroll, and his frown slightly deepened. Rather than being inside Providence itself, the museum was on the outskirts of the city. It rested atop a large, rocky cliffside overseeing the bay. A thick, dark forest surrounded the museum, with a single paved road snaking its way through it towards a small parking lot just outside the front door. A stone stairwell led up to it, and as they approached he could see a plaque beside the entrance. Jaune couldn't read it from this distance, but he could guess what it said.

"Yeah, there is no way he lived here," Velma immediately declared, and the rest of the mystery solvers nodded in agreement.

"Let's go, gang. We've got a mystery on our hands," Fred said as he parked the Mystery Machine and turned off the engine.

Getting out of the van, Jaune heard Fred lock it behind them as they walked up the stairs. The rain had somewhat increased during the drive up, and in the distance he could see flashes of lightning, followed by the low rumbling of thunder. Luckily they would be inside by the time the storm hit. Even if he was a superhero and had Aura, he preferred to not get soaked. But as Fred knocked on the door, Jaune stole one last glance at the Mystery Machine. He and the rest of his team had to leave their duffle bags inside. Should something go wrong, they'd be unarmed.

Well, at least he and Team JNPR would be. Penny had her Winter Maiden powers, which Jaune supposed more than made up for it. Not to mention their Aura, and how Ren was just as dangerous with his bare hands. Besides, at the moment they were going with the assumption that this was just a guy in a mask rather than anything truly dangerous, so Jaune figured it wouldn't be too big of a problem. If they needed their weapons, the van was just outside.

After a few moments of waiting, the door opened from the inside, revealing a tall, gaunt man with a pale complexion wearing a black suit. He looked down on them from behind a pair of circular glasses without saying a word, creeping Jaune out slightly. But Fred Jones appeared to be unperturbed as he simply smiled.

"Hello, we're Mystery Incorporated and the Mystery Bunch," Fred introduced himself and the others. "We're here to investigate the recent monster sightings. May we come in?"

The man was silent at first, then he opened the door wider and turned to the side, stretching out his arm while saying, "But of course. Please, come in."

"Rank you," Scooby replied as he and others went into the building. The sharply dressed man's eyes followed them, which Jaune tried to ignore. Once they were all inside, he closed the door with a heavy, resounding thud, then walked around the group to stand in front of them.

"Forgive my earlier rudeness. It has been some time since we've received visitors," the man said as he folded his arm across his chest and gave a respectful bow. "My name is Stanley Pickman. I am the curator of the Lovecraft Museum. Apologies, I'd organize a tour of the premises, but unfortunately the rest of the employees are out on holiday."

"That's fine, we're not here for a tour," Pyrrha respectfully declined. "My friends and I've been looking into the recent monster sightings nearby."

"Ah yes, you said that," Stanley said as he nodded to himself. "Well, I personally haven't seen any monsters, but perhaps the proprietor may be of some assistance. If you wish, I can go and fetch him for you."

"That would be most helpful. Thank you," Penny replied with a smile on her face, to which Stanley Pickman simply nodded.

"If you'll excuse me," Pickman told them, then walked away towards an old-fashioned rotary phone sitting on a nearby wooden stand. After turning the dial a few times, he held up the phone to his face and spoke into the receiver, "Mr. Blackman, you have visitors downstairs. They call themselves Mystery Incorporated and the Mystery Bunch. They're here because of the monster sightings as of late."

Stanley went quiet for a moment as he nodded at whatever his boss was saying, then replied, "Of course. Thank you, sir."

Hanging up the phone, Stanley walked back over to the mystery solvers and said, "Mr. Blackman will be down momentarily. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you, Mr. Pickman," Velma said as she and the others moved to sit down on the leather sofas. But when Scooby attempted to sit next to Shaggy, Stanley immediately shook his head while snapping his fingers towards the Great Dane.

"No animals on the furniture, please. Otherwise I'll be forced to ask you to leave your pet outside," the curator chastised.

"Rah…," Scooby whined while hanging his head, but otherwise did as instructed.

Stanley nodded, seemingly satisfied that his instructions were being followed. It was then that something buzzed from inside his suit pocket. Pulling out a small black pager, he read over whatever message he received quickly then nodded and put it back.

"It appears something has come to my attention and I must depart. Mr. Blackman will be here momentarily," Stanley announced, then gave another respectful bow. "Good day."

Without saying another word, Stanley Pickman turned around and walked away. The others sat silently as they watched him go, disappearing into an adjacent hallway. His heavy footsteps echoed across the halls, and only when they faded into the distance did they turn to face each other.

"Okay, so did anyone else get a really creepy vibe from him?" Nora asked, and Shaggy let out a sigh of relief.

"Like, thank goodness. I thought it was just me," Shaggy admitted while Velma nodded.

"He certainly had a…mysterious presence around him," Velma added as she rubbed her fingers across her chin.

"It was like he was looking into my soul," Jaune muttered, then shook his head and looked at Penny. "What do you think, Penny?"

"Hmm," Penny hummed to herself while likely trying to figure out a way to tell Team JNPR the results of whatever her sensors picked up on. With Mystery Incorporated sitting right next to them, she couldn't just go out and say it.

After a few moments, Penny nodded and replied, "Although I will say that Mr. Pickman was 'creepy,' as Norville said, I did not notice anything peculiar about him otherwise."

While Shaggy appeared slightly taken aback at the use of his actual name, Velma nodded in agreement while saying, "Penny's right. Even if Mr. Pickman's personality is off-putting, it's best not to jump to any conclusions until we find evidence saying otherwise. You don't know how many times we run into creepy people on our cases who turn out to be completely innocent. It comes with the game."

"Right," Ren said as he nodded as well while Nora, sitting next to him, crossed her arms and huffed.

"Well, he could still work on his attitude. Talk about poor customer service," Nora complained, only for Penny to tilt her head.

"Given that this museum is supposed to be dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft, would his off-putting personality not fit the intended ambiance?" Penny pointed out, prompting Nora to wave her hand.

"Doesn't matter, he should be nicer."

Jaune and the others chuckled at Nora's stubbornness, except for Ren who continued to remain utterly serious. Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune could see Nora frown at her boyfriend's demeanor, but for the life of him he didn't know what to do. Ren was one of his closest friends, but more often than not it proved extremely difficult to actually get a read on the guy. Hopefully he'd get over this funk soon, but in the meantime Jaune supposed he could just focus on the mission at hand.

After a few minutes of waiting, they heard a door open from upstairs which caught their attention. They then heard a set of light footsteps, followed by the appearance of a short, slightly overweight man wearing a beige suit. He had a smile plastered on his face, but it momentarily faltered when he noticed who all was waiting for him. Given how fast his smile reappeared, it was clear that he hoped they hadn't noticed.

One glance at his team, Penny, and Mystery Inc. told Jaune that the man's hopes were futile.

"Ah, welcome!" the man said. "I'm Victor Blackman, the owner of the Lovecraft Museum. Pleased to make your acquaintance, especially for a group so renowned as yourselves."

"You know who we are?" Daphne asked while raising an eyebrow, and Mr. Blackman enthusiastically nodded.

"I do, indeed! I've been following your exploits for years, actually. A big fan," Mr. Blackman revealed as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He then sighed and continued, "But I suspect you're not here to speak with fans or even to visit our illustrious museum, are you?"

"No, sir, we're not," Velma confirmed as she pulled out a pen and notepad. "We're here because, for the past several weeks, there have been sightings of a mysterious monster across the city."

"The Deep One. Yes, I am aware of it," Mr. Blackman said as he released a sigh. "It couldn't have come at a worse time. We'd just finished a major renovation when the sightings and disappearances began, and it's been scaring away our customers."

"Is that so?" Ren asked, and the owner nodded, seemingly oblivious to the brief glances everyone was sharing with each other.

"Mr. Blackman, have you seen this 'Deep One' before?" Penny asked, and when the owner shook his head, her eyes narrowed slightly. A moment later, Jaune and the rest of his team received a silent notification on their scrolls. He didn't have to look to know what it said.

"No, I haven't," Mr. Blackman claimed, "but I am aware of the creature. After all, I am the owner and operator of the largest museum dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft and his works in the world. Please, if there is anything I can do to assist you in your investigation, you only need to ask."

"For starters, what can you tell us about this 'Deep One?'" Ren asked, and Mr. Blackman enthusiastically nodded.

"Certainly! According to Lovecraftian lore, the Deep Ones are a species of intelligent, ocean-dwelling fish-men," Mr. Blackman explained. "They're the offspring of Dagon, one of the Great Old Ones."

"Great Old Ones?" Jaune asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"Malignant deities slumbering on Earth, at least according to his works and those he inspired. You may be more familiar with their most famous member, Cthulhu."

Jaune had heard that name before, but he was never a big fan of the horror genre, so he paid it no heed at the time. Even now the information wasn't that interesting, nor did he see it as truly relevant, so he simply nodded as though he actually understood the importance of the deity.

"In any case, Deep Ones would mate with women along the coast, often unwillingly, and create entire hybrid societies through which the existing social order would be subverted. Again, according to his works. I make no comment on the real-world inspiration for such depictions."

"Right, of course," Velma noted, her eyes briefly narrowing as she continued to write in her notebook. "But as fascinating as this lesson is, Mr. Blackman, my question is this: what would this 'Deep One' even want?"

"I'm afraid I'm as ignorant of the answer to that question as you are, Ms. Dinkley," Mr. Blackman answered with a heavy and dramatic sigh. "Deep Ones may be humanoid in appearance, but their minds are anything but. What may seem entirely reasonable to them are incomprehensibly alien to us."

"You seem fairly certain this is an actual Deep One rather than a hoax," Fred pointed out. "These are fictional creatures, aren't they?"

"At one point, I would've agreed with you wholeheartedly, Mr. Jones," Mr. Blackman said, his face hardening. "But after years of operating this museum, I have seen things that make me question whether that's actually the case. Not just with the Deep Ones, but everything else."

Shaggy and Scooby began to shiver in fright, then Shaggy gulped and asked, "Zoinks. Like, are you saying they're…real?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Mr. Blackman cryptically answered and shrugged. "But what I can say is that I'd be careful if I were you."

"We always are," Velma asserted. "Now, Mr. Blackman, unless there is anything else you can provide, we'd appreciate some space so we can conduct our investigation if that's alright with you."

"But of course. Please, let me know if you find anything," Mr. Blackman said with a friendly smile and clap of his hands. "In the meantime, I'll be in my office if you need me."

"We'll be in touch," Velma responded.

Mr. Blackman nodded in understanding, then turned around and made his way back up the stairs towards the third floor. The others watched him go, none of them saying a word. When the museum owner finally disappeared onto the third floor and shut the door behind him, they waited for a few more minutes until they could no longer hear his footsteps.

As soon as they couldn't, Penny whispered, "He is lying."

"Obviously," Velma immediately agreed. "If I were a betting woman, and I'm not, I'd wager he's the one going around as a Deep One."

"Ror rit's real!" Scooby argued and whimpered, but Daphne shook her head.

"Scooby, it's fine. There's no such thing as Deep Ones," Daphne insisted, but Shaggy and Scooby fervently shook their heads.

"Either way, we have our first real suspect," Fred declared, momentarily pausing to adjust the small camera strapped to his chest, before he stepped forward to face the rest of the group. "The first thing we need to do is split up and search for clues. Jaune, you're with me. Daphne, Velma, you go with Penny and Pyrrha. Shaggy, Scooby, you're with Nora and Ren. If you find anything, or if you find the monster, call us on the radio. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me," Jaune confirmed with a nod, echoed by the rest of his team and Penny and Mystery Incorporated. Except for Scooby himself.

"Ruh-uh! Ro way!" Scooby insisted as he sat down and vigorously shook his head. "Ri'm going rack to the Rystery Rachine rere rit's safe."

"Oh, Scooby. Don't be like that," Daphne cooed, trying to reason with the cowardly Great Dane. But when Scooby once again shook his head, Daphne gave a knowing smile then pulled out another green box and asked, "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"

Scooby shook his head again, but this time Jaune could see that it was more reluctant. Almost as though this was routine, Daphne shook the box again and asked, "How about two Scooby Snacks?"

"…Ro?" Scooby tried to say, his mouth already beginning to slobber.

Daphne gave out a victorious smile, shook the box again, and offered, "How does three Scooby Snacks sound?"

It was clear to everyone that Scooby was earnestly trying to stick to his guns. But that resistance quickly fell as he jumped to his feet and said, "Rokay!"

"That's a good boy!" Daphne declared, pulling out three of the biscuits as promised and tossed them towards the talking dog. Scooby leaped into the air and snatched up all three with one bite, chewing them quickly then swallowing.

"Rets go, Raggy!" Scooby declared as he began to walk off, his nose pinned to the ground as he began to sniff. "Rou too, Ren and Rora."

While Nora enthusiastically followed Scooby-Doo, with Shaggy noticeably less-so, Ren turned towards Daphne and asked, "How many times have you had to do that?"

"Pretty much every time," Daphne answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Scooby gets scared very easily, but his stomach always wins out. Shaggy's, too."

"I noticed," Ren replied, then raised an eyebrow. "I mean no offense, but if those two get scared so easily, and your jobs are being 'monster' hunters…why keep them as part of the team?"

"Because when the chips are down, there's nothing that can stop those two," Fred immediately answered. Ren looked somewhat unconvinced, but he nodded in understanding regardless before walking after the rest of his group towards the East Wing of the museum.

"Well, better follow their lead. Come on, girls," Daphne called out. Giving Fred and Jaune one last wave, the pair of boys watched as the girls walked up to the second floor, leaving them by themselves.

"Let's go, Jaune," Fred called out, with Jaune nodding before walking into the West Wing. As they opened the door, Fred then asked, "By the way, just wanted to ask…what's your opinion on traps?"

"You mean ambushes, or are you talking about physical snares and stuff? I mean, I think they're both cool, but I didn't really get the chance to learn about the second kind," Jaune immediately answered. Fred looked at him for a moment, then he began to beam.

[~]

Penny's eyes went back and forth as she, Pyrrha, Daphne and Velma stalked the halls of the museum. The two veteran mystery solvers were taking the lead while the Huntresses were in the back. Daphne and Velma were holding small cameras though which they were recording footage for their webshow, Velma taking a more meticulous approach while Daphne tried to take in everything, including Penny and Pyrrha.

"So, girls, how's it feel to be solving your first mystery?" Daphne asked, centering her camera on the two Huntresses.

"Oh, well… It's interesting. Not exactly what I had in mind when my friends and I came down here, though," Pyrrha admitted, and Daphne nodded in understanding.

"I feel that. Sometimes I need to remind myself that most detectives don't have the same kind of cases we do on a regular basis."

Penny thought for a moment, then suggested, "What about the Batman?"

"Well, yeah, aside from him. But the Caped Crusader's cases are a bit out there, even for us," Daphne admitted with a small chuckle.

"Focus, Daphne," Velma interjected, prompting the young woman to nod in understanding.

Nodding as well, Pyrrha quietly asked, "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

"Given our suspect, anything that would tie this place to the monster or a motive," Velma answered. "Costume materials, letters, secret passageways, anything like that."

"Secret passageways?" Penny asked as they passed by a large portrait of whom she could only assume was H.P. Lovecraft. She paid it no heed, completely missing the eyes that seemed to follow them as they went past.

"Hidden rooms, tunnels, hallways, and so on," Daphne clarified. "You'd be surprised how many times we investigate a place and it turns out to be filled with them."

"With a building this old, I wouldn't be surprised if there are plenty of gaps between the walls," Velma added.

Penny thought for a moment, then she turned her head to the side and briefly activated her x-ray vision, making her irises shine. True to the detectives' words, the walls of the museum were filled with gaps large enough for a man to slink his way through. Most looked as though they were simply a natural part of the construction, but a few appeared to have been enlarged over the years.

Frowning slightly, Penny deactivated her x-ray vision and blinked her eyes before turning her attention ahead. She briefly noticed Velma looking at her with an inquisitive expression on her face, but Penny simply smiled and waved. That only served to make Velma's eyes narrow in obvious suspicion, but she looked away from Penny regardless.

That was when a large flash of light came from outside, followed by a boom of thunder. A moment later, the lights across the entire museum went out, plunging them into darkness.

"Ah, great. You know, for once I would like to search a spooky mansion with the lights on," Daphne groaned as she pulled out a small flashlight and flicked it on. The others did the same, beams of light illuminating the now dark and foreboding hallway.

"The storm must've knocked out the power," Pyrrha suggested, and Velma nodded in agreement.

"Either that or someone turned it off on purpose," Velma added as the rain outside intensified.

Penny supposed it could've been a mixture of both. This mansion turned museum did appear to be quite old. Not that it mattered to her whether the lights were on or not. Her father had granted her nearly perfect night vision capabilities, even before her Justice League overhaul, so it made no difference. The others obviously weren't as lucky, with the possible exception of Blake. But the faunus wasn't here right now and, if only to help her teammates, Penny was shining a flashlight anyway.

The quartet continued making their way down the hallway, occasionally stopping to investigate anything that caught their attention. So far, they hadn't found much. But they'd only been searching for roughly an hour. The idea that they'd find something instantly was outlandish, even for the gynoid, who within just the past six months had to deal with an alien invasion, getting stuck in a shrunken city, and now living on an entirely different world.

"Pyrrha, if you don't mind me asking," Daphne spoke up as they went inside a converted bedroom which, according to a plaque, used to belong to Lovecraft himself, "a girl's gotta know: what's with you and Jaune?"

"Pardon?" Pyrrha replied, momentarily taken aback.

"Oh, don't be like that. I can read people pretty well, and I can tell you two are really close," Daphne clarified with a smile on her face.

Pyrrha awkwardly chuckled for a moment, then she sighed and admitted, "Jaune and I are just friends. We tried, but…it didn't work out."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Daphne apologized, her smile giving way for a frown, but Pyrrha waved her off.

"No, it's fine," Pyrrha said. "I grew up relatively isolated from others, and Jaune was my first real friend. I did harbor a crush on him for a while, but he didn't notice for the longest time."

"Ugh, I feel that. You have no idea how long it took for Freddy to pick up the signals I was sending him all throughout high school. Boys, am I right?"

Pyrrha chuckled as Daphne moved to lean against the wall next to a large bookshelf, then admitted, "Well, honestly I didn't exactly help myself. The signals I was sending were so subtle everyone except Nora thought I was just being friendly."

"Girl…."

"And when Jaune had a crush on our mutual friend Weiss, he asked Ren for advice on asking her out to our high school's dance. I overheard him talking about all the reasons he liked her and, well…I said he just had to tell her that."

"Girl…."

"Yeah…," Pyrrha remarked as she embarrassedly rubbed the back of her head. "But, after the dance, he began to realize I had a crush on him. Eventually, I…confessed, and things got awkward. He and I are best friends, and he was afraid of messing that up. Jaune also doesn't have the best self-esteem, which I've been helping him with. But, after we started going to Gotham University, we decided to give it a shot."

"Let me guess: it didn't work out?" Daphne suggested, and Pyrrha nodded.

"It did not," Pyrrha confirmed. "During the entire date, it felt no different than when we were just hanging out, even with all this pressure to make it romantic. There was no spark. After that, we decided we were better off as friends."

Daphne nodded in understanding, with Velma even chiming in and saying, "I feel that. Shaggy and I dated in high school for a while, but it always felt off to me so I kept trying to push it, which only made him uncomfortable. Eventually, we realized that Shaggy wasn't ready for a relationship and that I'd been in the closet the entire time, so we broke up."

"That was when you and Freddy went to summer camp, leaving me, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy to keep Mystery Incorporated going for a few months. Ah, that was an interesting summer," Daphne spoke up, and Velma nodded.

"Yep, the time away helped," Velma admitted, and Pyrrha nodded in understanding.

Penny nodded as well, although she didn't really have any frame of reference for romantic relationships. But she knew they were important to many humans, so she felt it was appropriate to show sympathy.

"Well, there's nothing in here," Velma revealed as she finished going through a drawer. "Let's keep moving."

"Fine by me. It's a bit stuffy in here anyway," Daphne replied as the others began to leave the room. She was the last to move from her spot, just missing the bookshelf she'd been next to sliding slightly open behind her, allowing a damp, green, scaly arm to reach out and try to grab her. But she was too far away, causing the hand to grasp only air.

"Huh?" Daphne muttered as she turned around, only to find that everything was as it should've been. Narrowing her eyes, Daphne glared at the bookshelf for a moment, then turned around and followed her friends.

Penny, however, briefly looked back into the room as Daphne closed the door behind her. She had heard the sound of something shuffling behind the walls, and she briefly turned on her thermal vision in order to see what was going on. She immediately noticed the human-sized blob of heat moving away from them, using the space between the walls as tunnels. Penny almost called attention to it, but she paused as the distance between them and the unknown stalker was already too great, leaving them out of danger for the moment. More importantly, she didn't know how to do it without accidentally revealing what she actually was. Velma already seemed to be on to them, and the last thing Penny wanted was to be the one to blow their cover over a guy in a mask running a real-estate scam.

"Penny, you coming?" Daphne asked, shaking the gynoid from her thoughts.

"Oh, yes!" Penny remarked, then hastily returned to the rest of the group as they continued making their way down the hall.

[~]

"-and this is the trap we made to catch the Frozen Fiend," Freddy explained as he showed Jaune a few pictures on his phone depicting the trap in question. "I had Shaggy and Scooby dress up as figure skaters to distract the monster, then Daphne and I swung down on a trapeze with water guns to freeze him solid. Accidentally got Shaggy and Scooby caught in the blast, but they were fine."

"Whoa…," Jaune muttered as he looked over the results. "So cool… And you make these all the time?"

"Yep! It's my favorite part of the job," Fred declared with a wide smile on his face. "Over the years, I've noticed a bit of a pattern with our cases. We go in, find some clues, encounter and run from the monster, then we lay a trap that catches them."

"Do they always work?"

"Eh…sometimes they do, sometimes they don't," Fred admitted. "Sometimes they go haywire, but end up catching the bad guy in a way I didn't actually intend! But that's the thing about laying traps. A true problem solver doesn't stop because their trap didn't work. They learn from their mistakes and make the next one better. Know what I mean?"

"I get exactly what you mean, Fred. I mean, I don't know anything about building mechanical traps. But I like to think I was picked to be leader because I can maneuver my teammates to catch our, uh, targets off guard. Especially on the fly," Jaune honestly replied, giving his fellow leader a firm nod which Fred returned.

"Improvisation is half the fun," Fred said as he patted Jaune on the shoulder. "You know, Jaune, it's honestly refreshing to talk to someone who understands the burden of leadership. It's not all fun and games. It's a big responsibility."

"You're telling me," Jaune agreed as he hung his head and sighed. "There've been times when I'd thought I finally got the hang of things and called out a maneuver, only for the others to look at me like they have no idea what I'm talking about. And then they just bailed me out when I let them do what they do best."

"Like Shaggy and Scooby in a way," Fred told the Huntsman. He then continued, "But I can tell they respect you, and that's the most important thing about being a leader. That and knowing when to reign them in versus just letting them do their own thing."

"You mean trust."

"Exactly. Let me tell you, Mystery Incorporated wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is if I didn't trust my friends, and that's been true ever since we were just the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency working out of our tree house."

Jaune couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Hah, that sounds like a blast. Which reminds me, how old is Scooby?"

"Oh, he's around fourteen years old."

Jaune's eyes widened as he remembered the average lifespan of big dogs like Great Danes, then he said, "Oh, so he's getting old, then?"

"For a normal dog, maybe. But Scoob's different."

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Is this related to how he can talk?"

"Yep. The dogs in Scooby's family have all had lifespans spanning decades. They can live as long as humans do, and also eat anything humans can."

"Wow, I can imagine that must've been a huge relief for Shaggy."

"Oh, you have no idea. He and Scooby have been inseparable since we were kids," Fred reminisced, then tilted his head back and smiled fondly. "Ah, those were the days."

Jaune smiled, then admitted, "You know, I envy you guys. You all had the chance to live out your dreams every day since you were kids. That wasn't the same for me. I was only able to start following my dream recently, and if it weren't for Pyrrha and the rest of my friends, I'd have crashed and burned."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Fred told him as they entered a corner study filled with maps, globes, telescopes and more. "It doesn't matter how long it takes to start following your dream. What matters is that you started following it anyway."

Part of Jaune wondered if Fred would be saying the same thing if he knew exactly what his dream was and the exact method he used to start following it, but he appreciated the advice regardless. More importantly, though, it was time for him to focus on the task at hand, much as Fred himself was doing. Jaune began to scour the entire room, searching it from top to bottom for any sign of a clue. But try as he might, he wasn't able to spot anything.

"Gagh, this is just like the past ten rooms we've searched. Nothing," Jaune complained as he opened and sifted through a small drawer.

"We just gotta keep looking, Jaune. We'll find something eventually," Fred said as he began knocking on the wall and pressing his ear against it.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked, perplexed by Fred's reasoning, if any.

"Trying to find any hidden rooms," Fred explained. "If I was trying to hide something, that's where I'd put it."

"Huh, good point," Jaune replied, then began to do the same.

Starting from the wall directly to the right of the door, Jaune began to lightly knock his fist against the drywall. Although he could hear some faint echoes, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary from the rest of this place. Pyrrha had already texted him that the museum's walls were very spacious, and he could tell based off the echo that it wasn't big enough for a secret room.

Seeing as how his first try was a dud, he moved further along the wall and repeated the process. On and on he went, trying to find the sweet spot, if it existed. He briefly paused to see what Fred was doing, seeing that his fellow team leader was inspecting the wall to the left of the front door. Neither of them bothered with the exterior-facing walls with the windows. The only thing he could see outside were a bunch of gargoyles, including one in the far distance that looked like a large dog, which didn't match the others.

His thoughts were then broken when Jaune heard a much louder echo behind a large bookshelf. Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Jaune rapped his fist against the wall a few more times to make sure he was hearing things correctly. He quickly realized that he was on to something, then stepped away and turned towards Fred.

"Fred, over here. I think I found something," Jaune announced, causing Fred to stop what he was doing and make his way over to him.

"What did you find?" Fred asked, and Jaune quickly showed him by loudly knocking his fist against the wall.

"The space behind this bookshelf sounds bigger than everywhere else," Jaune revealed. Fred narrowed his eyes, then repeated Jaune's action just to confirm for himself.

"Hey, you're right. It sounds like there might be a hidden room behind here. I think you may have found a clue," Fred surmised, then moved to the side of the bookshelf. "Help me push this."

Jaune nodded, then joined Fred and began to push. Thanks to his natural strength, the bookshelf moved quite easily. Although Jaune had to admit that Fred was surprisingly strong for an Earth civilian. More important than that, though, Jaune focused on the fact that his hunch was correct. Hidden behind the now moved bookshelf was a small storage closet. It didn't have much, just a few boxes and filing cabinets, but it was more than enough to make him smile.

Fred smiled as well as he patted Jaune on the shoulder, then the two of them began to go through the boxes and cabinets. Inside were various documents going back several years, ranging from newspaper articles to antique photographs, floor plans, and more. Jaune randomly pulled out an old newspaper article dating back to the 70s about a murderous cult, who for some reason believed that Lovecraft's works were real rather than purely fictional, then he put it aside.

"Jaune, I found something," Fred called out, directing Jaune's attention towards the filing cabinet. "These are financial statements for the past several years. I'm not an accountant, but they do not look good."

"Hmm," Jaune hummed as he read over them as well. "Seems like this museum hasn't turned a profit in years. And look at these expenses. The property taxes alone are costing these guys a fortune."

"Yeah, and get this. Mr. Blackman's had some real-estate valuations done recently," Fred pointed out, holding up the letters of appraisal in question. Just a quick glance over them showed a noticeable pattern: each one was lower than the last.

"Why would he be doing that? Is he trying to sell the place?" Jaune suggested, and Fred pinched his chin thoughtfully.

"Maybe, but if you're trying to sell the museum, why would you lower the property value? That doesn't make any sense. Still, this definitely stinks like a real estate scam of some kind to me," Fred declared as he began taking pictures with his phone.

Nodding in agreement, Jaune started doing the same thing, having every intention of telling his friends what they found when they were done. With how engrossed he was in his work, Jaune never even noticed that outside of the rain spattered window, the dog-like gargoyle was no longer there.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here's the next chapter of Hunters of Justice! Special thanks to NaanContributor and Jesse K for their help in bringing this chapter to life!

The Mystery Incorporated mini-arc has officially kicked off, and both teams have a mystery on their hands. Who's the culprit? What's the motive? These questions and more will be answered over the course of the next two chapter! As a major fan of Scooby-Doo growing up, I had an absolute blast in writing these characters in my story. Funnily enough, my first ever piece of fanfiction (written in elementary school) was about Scooby-Doo, so in a way this is coming full circle for me.

To answer your guys' questions:

The current Scooby-Doo mini-arc is unrelated to the recently released Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too! movie. We'd been planning this well before that movie was announced. Same with the name, although to be fair it is a naming convention that's been used before.

Now that Weiss has successfully recreated Dust, expect it to enter the field sooner or later. Same with Lex. Also, I want to clarify a misconception. Lex did not use industrial espionage to recreate what they did. He was already working on the same general concept; he just heard naturally through the grapevine of what WayneTech was doing, thus confirming his already existing theory. Either way, now the heroes and villains have access to Dust.

Yeah, Lex's success in manufacturing Dust serves as a bit of a wake up call regarding Salem. She's beginning to realize that he's a lot smarter than she initially gave him credit for, making him much more of a threat. You guys will have to see how that realization plays out, and whether she has enough time to really make use of that revelation.

Regarding the decision to include Scooby-Doo, he's been crossed over with DC so many times over the past fifty years that he's basically part of the DCU already. It was not hard at all to justify throwing him in there. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if RWBY gets an official crossover with Mystery Incorporated eventually.

Jaune's interaction with Jessica Cruz was a highlight of the last chapter. I absolutely loved their interaction in the first part of the JLxRWBY crossover movie. Given the story I'm writing, having them interact was a no-brainer.

Regarding the TMNT, they might show up if I can find a way to justify it. Remember, the rule for external crossovers beyond RWBY and DC is that they need to have had an official crossover with DC to be considered. As we know, the TMNT has crossed over with DC a few times. But just because I can doesn't mean I will. The core RWBY/DC story takes precendent, even as HoJ shifts to a soft multi-cross which it's been ever since the multiverse was revealed.

There will not be any kryptonite-esque Dust. Remnant doesn't work that way.

There will not be any love triangles between Jaune, Pyrrha, and Jessica. Particularly since the Arkos ship has sailed. As Pyrrha said this chapter, they decided they were better off as friends.

He may grow a beard. His Rusted Knight beard was glorious. But I won't do it just because.

Jessica Cruz is around two years older than Jaune in HoJ.

Regarding the lack of current arch-enemies for RWBY and JNPR, given the nature of this story it is hard to really include them. But rest assured, as time goes on they will start to amass a group of villains, borrowed from existing rogues galleries, that'll gun for them specifically. Maybe not to the extent of, say, Black Manta and Aquaman or Joker and Batman (although, to be fair, it's really hard to match those guys), but it'll be there.

Jessica's appearance is based off her mainline DC Comics appearance.

I cannot answer questions regarding future inclusions of characters or really arcs. All I can say is that everything is at least being considered.

I'm glad you guys liked Qrow playing Minecraft with his nieces. Fun fact, originally it was going to be Fortnite, but we decided that Minecraft was a better fit.

Supernatural will not be appearing in HoJ.

RWBY and JNPR have been on Earth roughly six months.

That's it for now. Let us know what you all think. If any of you have a TV Tropes account, any assistance in updating the TV Tropes page would be greatly appreciated. We hope you all enjoy! See you all next time!