Scooby Scary Skeletons!
with guest writer shadodemon123 [from DeviantART. He's a cool guy, give his stuff a read!]
guest voices:
ANDRE SOGLIUZZO as Scooter
WILL SASSO as Lead Skeleton
RAY CHASE as Sheriff
It was a dark, foggy night as a man was preparing to lock up his jewelry store for the evening when he suddenly heard something.
"Hm? Who's there?" he asked as he looked around.
After seeing nobody around, he went back to putting some diamonds onto a tray so he could lock them up in the safe.
As he did, he overheard what sounded like...bones clattering against the floor. But that couldn't be right. How would there be exposed bones out here? And if so, who would be walking around with them?
He looked around again, but still saw nothing. "This isn't funny!" He called out in annoyance, while also some fear.
Then came more clattering noises, which grew louder as they got closer.
"Now you're getting annoyi—!" The guy said as he turned around and was face to "eye" with a skeleton that had a single giant eye for a head.
"And you're gettin' to be a pest..." hissed the skeleton. "NOW GET LOST!"
The man flung his hands in the air and ran for his life, shrieking out of the building.
The skeleton man chuckled wickedly before he brought in his cronies to start robbing the place. "Diamonds ahead," he informed. "So stuff your bags!"
The other skeletons came in and opened bags and started to pour all the diamonds into them. Once they had gotten all they needed, they headed outside into the streets of Crystal Cove.
But before they were gone, they left a mark on the store's window of a single-eyed skull and crossbones, painted in black mud.
TITLE CARD:
SCOOBY SCARY SKELETONS!
Description: Scooby is surrounded by the disembodied, floating heads of the Skeleton Men. As he quivers in fear, the skeleton heads cackle.
It was the end of another day at Crystal Cove High School, and Scooby was waiting for Shaggy and the others.
It's been a while since we last heard from them, and now they're teenagers. Scooby is now 7 in dog years, but he ages at a human rate. Don't ask why, you'll just get a headache.
Anyways, he was waiting.
Soon Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma came over to him.
"Like, hey buddy!" Shaggy said as he got to him first, ruffling his head fur. The young boy was now tall and lanky, with a fuzzy chin.
"Rey, Raggy!" Scooby beamed. "Reddy, Raphne, Relma!"
"Hey, Scoob/Scooby." They all replied.
"So, how're things going?" asked Fred, wanting to make conversation.
"Well, like, Sadie-Mae and I are thinking about parting our relationship," said Shaggy.
"Why?" Velma asked in confusion.
"Well, we like each other, but somehow, I feel like we might be better off as friends," responded Shaggy. "Of course, there's also the fear factor."
"Fear factor?" Daphne asked.
"Like, yeah; I fear the factor of her big brother and his shotgun!" Shaggy responded.
"I thought he was put on probation for that?" Fred asked.
Shaggy blinked. "Huh...oh, yeah!" he replied. "Personally, I just wanna make sure we part on good terms, and that we can stay friends after this."
"Knowing her, you will." Velma assured him. "She's very nice."
"Like, I hope so," said Shaggy. "But! In lighter news, where're we headin' today?"
"One of my favorite jewelry shops was attacked last night." Daphne revealed. "They're all saying that it was a curse or something."
"Rurse/Curse?" Shaggy and Scooby asked, and both gulped heavily.
"That's what they say, but who knows?" Daphne replied. "I think we should look into it."
"Sounds like a mystery..." declared Fred. "And solving them is what we do best! C'mon, gang!"
Fred got out his keys and opened the vehicle...the Mystery Machine. It was a GMC Vandura (like the A-Team's van), painted in turquoise and green, decorated with orange question marks and flowers.
Then they drove off to Daphne's favorite jewelry shop to start the investigation. Once they arrived, they disembarked and came to look around, seeing that the cops were already there.
The sheriff [not Stone] looked up from his investigation and gave them a wave. "Hey, kiddos," he greeted.
"Hey, Sheriff," nodded Fred. "We're here to begin our investigation."
"We looked around and couldn't find much." The sheriff admitted. "See if you can check for anything important, other than the call sign that was left on the window."
"Call sign?" Fred asked as he went over to take a look.
He and the gang saw what had been left on the wall the past night: a one-eyed skull and crossbones!
"A cyclops skull," Velma observed while looking at it. "Fascinating."
"Like, I wonder what it could mean?" Shaggy commented.
"The only lead we have for it is this legend about cursed skeletons that were once people driven by greed." The sheriff explained. "Supposedly, they went after a rare emerald diamond that could be worth millions or even billions, just because it's so rare, and they ended up being cursed by greed to where they will steal diamonds forever."
Scooby shuddered. "Riamonds forever?" he responded.
"Looks like we'll need some more info," decided Fred. "I wonder who'd know more about this supposed legend?"
"How about checking with old Scooter?" Daphne suggested. "He owns the sporting goods store across the street, and he's very well-informed about on local legends."
"Good call, Daph," said Fred as Velma snapped a picture of the skull and crossbones. "Let's get a move on!"
They went to the sporting goods store and found a hat-clad man that was in his 60s, but looked forty. Chalk it up to healthy living!
"Heya, Daphne, how's things going for ya?" Scooter asked.
"Pretty good, Scooter," replied Daphne. "Anyways, we need some information."
"What'cha need?" asked Scooter.
"We found this on my favorite jewelry store," Daphne said as she presented the photo Velma took. "Then we heard something about a legend and a curse involving diamonds."
Scooter looked over the picture, then lowered it. "Ah...the greed diamond and the green eyed skeletons..." he responded. "I've heard about the legend—it's about a group of people that were once friends going in search of a green diamond, but during their journey together they were consumed by greed and when they found the diamond, they were cursed to become skeletons with one big, greedy green eye on their heads, and they'd forever take diamonds in place of the one that claimed them."
The gang gave a collective shudder at such a horrific thought.
"Wait, a green diamond?" Velma spoke up. "The sheriff mentioned something about a diamond mixed with an emerald."
"Ah, I know what he was trying to describe," Scooter replied. "The owner of that jewelry store would often join me for lunch, we'd talk about our merchandise...and he actually told me about a type of green-colored diamond called a dresden diamond."
Velma took more notes as Scooter continued to explain.
"A dresden diamond is the rare green colored diamond and green is often known as the color of greed," Scooter said. "Another local legend says that almost a century ago the world's biggest dresden diamond was stolen from its owner and was supposedly stashed on the island in the middle of the lake."
"Lake?" Shaggy asked. "Like, you mean Lake Takamoto?"
"Exactly." Scooter confirmed.
"Then that's gotta be our next location," responded Fred.
"We're going to need some equipment." Shaggy mentioned.
"Reah." Scooby agreed.
"Good thing we're in Scooter's Sporting Goods." Daphne mentioned.
"Alright," said Scooter as he got out his own notepad. "What can I get ya, kids?"
A while later, they left with everything they needed to go to the island in the center of Lake Takamoto.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Shaggy. "We take a boat to the island?"
"Exactly." Fred said after activating a self-inflating raft.
So, one by one, the gang climbed aboard the raft, and paddled out to the island in the middle of the lake.
After they arrived, they auto-deflated the raft and hid it. Once the raft was hidden, the gang got started on searching the island.
"Let me guess, look for secret passages?" Shaggy asked.
"It's pretty small here," said Velma. "But that is a good point, those secret passages could be around here somewhere."
Suddenly Daphne leaned against a rock and it opened up a secret entrance. "Cliches aside, found it," she said.
"Still, at least we did," said Fred. "So good going, Daphne!"
"Thanks." Daphne replied.
With that done, the gang each made their way down the stairs and into the passage.
Soon they came across a split passageway.
"Looks like we've come to a fork in the road," said Shaggy. "And, like, me without a plate!"
"So...looks like we're gonna split up here," said Fred. "I'll go with Velma."
"And the rest of us will go the other way." Daphne replied.
Shaggy's face went a bit red at that, and he swallowed heavily. "Well...alright, sounds like a plan," he nodded.
A moment later they went their separate ways, and so, both parties went down the pathways.
Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne went further down before they suddenly heard something up ahead.
"Did anybody else hear that...?" Shaggy inquired.
"Reah, rup ahead," Scooby confirmed.
"It sounds like a generator," Daphne mentioned.
"And that means it powers something!" Shaggy beamed as he continued further.
"Let's look further," Daphne suggested.
"Re rareful." Scooby advised.
"Like, I'm definitely gonna try," Shaggy said as he made his way over, getting closer to the generator's source.
They found a cavern where the generator was situated along with a strange looking machine.
"OK...we found the generator..." observed Shaggy. "But that brings us to another question—just what is that thing it's powering?"
"I don't know." Daphne said before using her phone to take a picture of it. "But maybe Velma might."
Suddenly they heard the sound of bones shuffling.
"...like, I'm not the only one who heard that, am I?" asked Shaggy.
"Ruh-uh," responded Scooby.
"...any chance that was the sound of someone's teeth clattering?" asked Shaggy hopefully.
"Also nope," replied Daphne.
"...then if that wasn't you...or you..." Shaggy gulped heavily. Turning around, they saw two of the skeletons, standing right behind them.
"RAAAAGH!" They roared together.
"YEEEEEOOOOWW!" Scooby and Shaggy exclaimed as Shaggy picked up Daphne, and they ran as fast as they could, with the cycloptic skeletons hot on their heels.
They ran all over the cavern and even went into a few more tunnels as they kept up the chase. But everywhere they went, it seemed impossible to ditch those skeletons!
Then they eventually made it to a natural slope and slid down it before the skeletons ended up going one way while the trio went another way, successfully giving the skeletons the slip.
"Looks like we ditched the boney brigade!" Shaggy laughed in relief. "Now let's take off before they come clattering back!"
"WAIT! We've gotta find Fred and Velma, remember?" Daphne advised.
"Oh! Right," nodded Shaggy. "Let's hope the tibia twins haven't found 'em first!"
And off they went.
Meanwhile, Fred and Velma had discovered diving equipment while they were busy searching.
"This scuba gear has to belong to someone," commented Fred. "Maybe it's whomever came here to try and find that emerald?"
"I doubt it; it's brand new, but not from a local store." Velma pointed out.
"Fair enough," Fred said. "Now we just gotta figure out who bought these."
As they were inspecting the equipment, a couple of the skeleton men came out of the water and saw them.
"...skeletons?" exclaimed Fred, surprised.
The skeletons turned and came towards the duo.
Once the skeletons began their pursuit, Fred and Velma took to their heels and made a run for it.
They managed to get away before crashing into the others.
"OOF!" they all exclaimed.
"Like, ow." Shaggy groaned. "I guess the gang's all here then?"
"Reah..." Scooby groaned and whimpered.
"Sorry about that, find anything on your end?" Fred apologized.
"Yeah," replied Daphne. "We found a generator, hooked up to some sort of device."
"And, like, that's just about all we found out before we had a run-in with the Boney Bunch!" Shaggy added, as Scooby mushed his eyeballs together into one, and briefly reshaped his skull to resemble that of the Skeleton Men.
"The equipment looks familiar." Velma said as she looked at the picture. "Ah yes, it's a micro laser etching system."
"Laser etching?" Daphne asked. "But what could they need something like that for?"
"It's a bit of a known fact that diamonds are given serial numbers via micro laser etching in order to identify them for sales and for if they're stolen." Velma explained. "If they have this same machine then they can use it to erase the serial numbers and they'll be able to safely sell them on the black market and leave no trace."
"Golly..." Fred muttered as he made a note of that. "You think that could be what they're up to?"
"Considering that they've been stealing diamonds and they have that machine, it seems to be true." Daphne replied.
"Like, yeah, that's how it all fits so far." Shaggy agreed.
"Hmm, I need to get back to the surface." Velma stated. "My phone doesn't have service down here and I need to lookup something."
"Rokay," nodded Scooby, and the gang began their trek back to the surface of the island.
After reaching the surface Velma used her phone to do some research and soon found what she was looking for. "Jinkies, I've solved the mystery." She declared. "Now we only have one thing left to do."
"And that would be...?" asked Shaggy.
"Build a trap?" Fred suggested.
"Like always." Daphne reminded.
"I actually brought a few things we can use." Fred mentioned.
"Rike always." Scooby declared.
"Kinda seems like we're getting through this a lot quicker than normally," said Shaggy. "...but, like, it's probably just me." "Honestly, some mysteries are a little shorter than others, but we do have a lot of experience with them and we know what we're doing." Velma admitted. "So this just means that we're really good at doing all this."
"I guess that makes sense," said Shaggy. "Like, let's get to it!"
"Sure thing, because I'm going to need some help for this trap." Fred said as he carried his supplies. Shaggy and Daphne made their way over to lend their aid to Fred. They grabbed a few extra things to build with before setting up some snare traps and a couple of pit traps as well as a net finale.
"Thanks for digging the pits, Scooby." Fred said to Scooby.
"Ro roblem." Scooby replied.
"Are we ready, Freddy?" Velma asked.
"We are now," Freddy replied. "Now we need to lure them out."
"Any chance we could play rock-paper-scissors to decide who's gonna be the bait this time?" Shaggy asked, sensing what was going to happen next.
"Actually, we have an alternative today," Velma revealed as she pulled out an air horn. "The cave has very strong acoustics that will make this much louder than it already is."
"We just need someone to sneak in and sound it off," Fred declared.
"So who's it gonna be this time?" Shaggy asked.
"Scooby, because he's already wearing earplugs." Velma pointed out. "Also the place he needs to go to to sound it off is accessible through water, so he's going for a swim."
"Rell...rokay," nodded Scooby.
"You'll be okay." Daphne assured him.
"No doubt about that." Fred agreed. "Especially since I left their air tanks open, so they're empty by now and they can't swim out."
"Good thing I brought this doggy scuba gear for you, Scoob." Shaggy mentioned as he brought it out.
SHORTLY...
Once Scooby was all geared up, he got ready to head into the water. He went under slowly and, following the directions Velma gave him, found the underwater entrance into the caves.
After traveling through the tunnel, he made it inside and saw the skeletons working on their air tanks. They didn't notice him as he carefully pulled out the air horn and blew it.
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAT!
...they noticed that, though, and clasped their hands over their earholes.
Scooby quickly dived back into the water as the Skeletons rounded on him.
"GET DAT MUTT!" the lead skeleton shouted. As Scooby went back under, the the Skeletons went the other way in an attempt to catch him outside, since their scuba gear wasn't available.
Scooby made it back out and ran the rest of the way back to the group.
"Rere rhey come!" Scooby said as he joined the others.
"Alright, places!" Fred said. "Now or never, Gang!"
After they got set up, the skeletons finally made it out and started looking around.
"Dumb dog's GOTTA be around here somewhere!" one of them groused.
As they searched the area, the gang got ready to spring the traps.
The skeletons looked around until they found some paw prints.
"We can follow these!" one of them said, and they followed the paw prints right into the traps.
None of them knew that Scooby had intentionally left them there as bait and once they were within range, the traps went off.
First one of them got snagged by a snare trap, then another. Then the last three came after Scooby, but as they chased him, they each fell into a pitfall trap.
As for the final one, he was caught in the net at the end. "This is what we get for following some blasted dog!" he groused as he struggled.
Once the skeletons were snagged, the gang came out of hiding.
"Now to find out who's been behind all this in the first place," declared Daphne.
"This is actually going to be a big reveal, so I called the sheriff in advance for it." Velma said as police boats came over to the island.
Within minutes, the island was swarmed with police officers.
"Hey, I see you got the boneheads causing trouble, but who are they?" The sheriff asked after he got to them.
"Well, we're about to find out," said Fred. "Velma, care to do the honors?"
"Glady, for the skeletons are all wanted criminals known as the Tibia Family...aka, Clan MacTibia." Velma revealed after she and the officers removed the masks. "A known crime family that has a habit of stealing diamonds and getting away with it, but now we have the evidence to finally put them away."
"And we would've kept getting away with it," groused the patriarch, Byron McTibia. "If it wasn't for these meddling kids and their dog!"
"Tell it to the judge," retorted the sheriff. "Because you're going to the clink!"
Mystery Inc. handed over all the evidence they found and the police gathered up all the stuff that was found. However, after getting the members out of a pit, Scooby noticed something that was slightly uncovered.
"What's up, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.
"Found romething." Scooby replied as he went down and started digging again.
The gang gathered around and watched as Scooby dug up a small chest and then when he opened it he revealed the long-lost world's largest dresden diamond.
"Zoinks..." Shaggy gasped.
"Jeepers," Daphne observed.
"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed.
"Golly...!" Fred remarked. "It's that diamond that they were digging around for!"
"No we weren't, that was supposed to be a myth!" Byron McTibia called out. "You're telling me that it was real!?"
"Not everyone believes in legends." The sheriff explained. "Anyway, technically the original owner is long since gone and since nobody will probably claim it, you can keep it based on being the ones to find it."
"So... should we?" asked Shaggy.
"I mean...I guess so," responded Fred, a bit uneasy.
"We could claim it and use it for selfless things." Daphne mentioned. "I actually know a museum that could keep it safe."
"Now there's an idea!" Velma smiled. "I say we do it!"
They all agreed to it as they took it and left the island.
That evening, Shaggy went next door to talk to Sadie-Mae.
"Hey Shaggy, how you doin'?" Sadie-Mae greeted.
"I'm alright, Sadie-Mae," responded Shaggy. "And I was hoping we could talk."
"Sure." She agreed. "And if it's about us as a couple, don't worry about it, I understand your reasons and I don't mind just being friends."
"Like, thanks," Shaggy replied. "And personally, I think you're likely to find someone else for you, y'know? I think you're pretty great, and any guy would be lucky to have you. Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to get together again sometime."
"Thanks for that, but I'm gonna be busy beatin' up my brother before I go looking for love." Sadie-Mae explained before a timer went off. "Well there's the pie, I'll see you later."
"See ya around," Shaggy waved as he hopped the fence and headed back to his house, feeling relieved that things went down so well.
Another mystery was solved, and at the museum a new display was revealed, as Mystery Inc. had once again made their mark on their hometown.
And, who knows what might happen later down the road?
For now, everyone was happy, especially...
"Scooby-Dooby-Dooooooo!" Scooby called out with a wink and a laugh.
