Episode 3:
Abra-Cadaver!

It was the day of Randy Scott's 8th birthday party, and a lot of his friends had come. There was cake, ice cream, the usual accoutrements that came with birthday parties.

"A magician, Mom?" Randy asked in disbelief. "That's little-kid stuff! Right up there with clowns and balloon animals!"

Randy's mother tried to justify her decision. "I'm sorry, sweety. But the only entertainer available was Bobo, the clown that uses a paper shredder as a prop," she explained. "And I hear he got a bad review from a family when he shredded her set of encyclopedias."

"...you're right, that would've been worse," admitted Randy. "Alright, let's go for it."

So he went to sit with his friends while the magician got himself ready to perform—the man in question was dressed like a sorcerer from a Tolkien book.

"Salutations, young ones!" he declared. "I am the great Reubenspeare!"

Most of the kids clapped in excitement, while Randy gave a bit of scattered applause.

"I sense that we have a birthday boy in the audience," said Reubenspeare. "And his name...is Randy!"

Some of the kids turned towards him and applauded in response.

Randy rolled his eyes. Of course the magician would've known his name—after all, he's the son of the person who hired him.

"Anyways, I'd like to wish you a Happy 8th Birthday, Randy," said Reubenspeare. "And I believe it's time for a little magic~!"

The others kids all grew super excited to see some magic.

"Okay..." Reubenspeare said as he took off his hat and tapped a magic wand on the rim. "Abracadabra, jibbedy-jabra! Pickles and cream, wobbly-doo: let's make something for the birthday boy too!"

He then reached deep into the hat, searching for something...before he pulled out a string of hankerchiefs that were tied to each other, which was connected to a live rabbit.

The various guests, naturally, ooed and aahed at the rabbit.

"And now, for my next trick..." Reubenspeare announced as he placed the rabbit back into his hat again, then getting ready for his next trick. He brought out a very large box on wheels. "I will put a small object into this box, and turn it into a person!" he exclaimed.

"Oooooo~!" The kids exclaimed in awe.

Reubenspeare looked around. "I'll just need a small object to turn into a person..." he murmured.

One of the kids handed him a plastic fork. "How about this?" she asked.

Reubenspeare smiled. "That'll do nicely!" he exclaimed. So he accepted the plastic fork and put it on the table, before he covered it with a tablecloth.

"Rickenrock...quazzleflam...haggen-stein!" he chanted, wriggling his fingers over the tablecloth as though he was sprinkling magical dust over the tablecloth.

And then he grabbed the fork and placed it in the very large box.

"Vanderpyl...Messickon...Weinribus!" he declared as he shut the box and tapped the sides.

"Now, when I open this box, the fork will have transformed!" Rubenspeare declared, before he reached down and opened the box with a great dramatic flourish. "And...TA-DA!" he exclaimed.

But then the guests started screaming!

"Eh?" Rubenspeare asked as he glanced at what they were screaming about. He glanced into the box and went wide-eyed in pure shock.

Standing inside the box was an almost skeletal-looking magician wearing a ratty old tuxedo and tie, a moth-eaten top hat, and a dusty old cape.

"Ta-da...!" he rasped with a wicked cackle. "Behold—the Great Pilkini! And now, for MY next trick, I'll make YOU all disappear!"

He let out a demonic roar, and the kids & adults all screamed as they began to run in terror!

"I've STILL got it!" The undead magician grinned as he laughed wickedly, and with a flourish of his cape, he engulfed the screen completely!

The title card: Scooby and Shaggy tremble in terror before the undead magician as he looms over them; Shaggy has a party hat on his head.

"Scooby-Doo! Tales of Crystal Cove
in:
ABRA-CADAVER!"

Fade in:

SUBURBS OF COOLSVILLE — SUNSET

A car pulled into a driveway, and out stepped Shaggy—but now, he was in his 20s; dressed in a snappy green suit and carrying a briefcase. And from the looks of it, he was coming home from a day at work.

And walking with him was an older, but still energized Scooby-Doo. Suddenly, Shaggy found himself being tackled by four small children—2 boys and 2 girls, all of whom shared some resemblance to him.

Shaggy smiled as he picked up all the kids in his arms as Scooby was tackled by several adorable puppies.

"C'mon, kiddos, let's head inside," Shaggy said as he carried them indoors. "Your mom's probably expectin' me!"

Shaggy carried the kids over and opened the door. As he did, he saw the silhouette of a woman in the kitchen doorway—and one he couldn't quite suss out.

But before he could get a chance to see what she looked like—

RIIIIING!

"Huh?" Shaggy blinked as he shot awake, in his own bed—and still a kid! "Wow! Like, talk about your weird dreams!"

Scooby yawned as he woke up at the foot of Shaggy's bed.

"Good morning, Scoob," yawned Shaggy.

"Rorning, Raggy." replied Scooby as he stretched.

Rubbing his eyes, Shaggy turned on his phone to check what day it was.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26th, 2023
11:09 AM

"Like, WOW!" exclaimed Shaggy. "Today's a really special day!"

He ran to his dresser as Scooby asked, "Rhat is it, Raggy?"

"Today is the day I turn 12, Scooby-Doo," explained Shaggy. "Like, today is my BIRTHDAY!"

Scooby pulled a noisemaker from out of nowhere and blew it. "Rappy Rirthday, Raggy!" he exclaimed.

Shaggy came over and hugged Scooby. "Thanks, ol' buddy-ol' pal-o-mine," he replied. Then, he went to his closet and pulled out a pair of superhero costumes on hangers. "A special day calls for special clothes!" Shaggy declared.

A few minutes later, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were both fully dressed in homemade superhero costumes, consisting of mostly blue and white.

"Like, get ready, world, for Commander Cool!" Shaggy exclaimed.

"And Mellow Mutt!" Scooby-Doo added.

After getting dressed they went down for breakfast and found Shaggy's mom and little sister in the kitchen.

"Like, morning, Mom!" greeted Shaggy.

Maggie giggled. "Sha-ggy funny!" she exclaimed, clapping.

"Like, hey little sis." Shaggy said as he and Scooby sat down while his mom cooked breakfast.

"Morning, son." his mom replied as she served up a big plateful pancakes. "Happy birthday."

"Like, thanks, Mom—er, helpful citizen," replied Shaggy before turning to Scooby. "Okay, Mellow Mutt. We're gonna need plenty of energy today!"

"Ri hear you roud and rear, Rommander Rool!" Scooby saluted before he got seated at the table and brought out a fork and knife.

Maggie clapped as Scooby and Shaggy ate in a whirlwind of crumbs and syrup. Within seconds, their plates were empty.

"Thanks again," said Shaggy, as he and Scooby went upstairs to brush their teeth.

And later, once they were outside, they took a glance out on the streets of the suburbs...before they started doing goofy poses and karate shouts while heading out.

Both Shaggy and Scooby felt like genuine superheroes...but to most people who saw them, they looked like mega-nerds.

And some of said people happened to be part of Daphne's former clique—like Olive, Stefanianna, and Gigi. They were looking for someone to tear down verbally, and they'd just found themselves a perfect target.

And so they approached, like they were a shiver of sharks.

Shaggy took notice and just rolled his eyes. "Keep alert, Mellow Mutt," he told Scooby. "Don't let 'em get you down."

"Righto, Rommander Rool," said Scooby as they went on their way.

"You know, it's not as fun if we don't get a chance to belittle them," groaned Stefanianna, annoyed.

"Then we'd better do it now." Olive suggested as they made their move.

"Well, if it isn't the co-presidents of the Dweeb Society," sneered Stefanianna smugly. "What's up, you two off to another geek meeting? And I see you're in uniform this time! Must be a special occasion!"

Scooby growled a little, but Shaggy eased him down. "Steady yourself, Mellow Mutt; they're not worth it," he advised. "Besides, the gang is probably waiting for us!"

"Right," nodded Scooby as he continued on.

SOON!

Fred, Daphne and Velma were already at the Blake Residence and going about their business when Shaggy and Scooby arrived.

"Like, hey guys!" Shaggy called. "Hope we didn't miss anything!"

The gang stared at their friends like they'd each grown a second head.

"Hey, guys!" Fred commented. "What's with the getups?"

"These are our birthday costumes!" Shaggy explained.

"Reah! Reah!" Scooby beamed as he struck what he thought were heroic poses.

Velma giggled a little. "Better than a birthday suit," she joked.

Fred chuckled at that.

"You wear those on your birthday...?" Daphne asked, bewildered. "How old are you turning?"

"Twelve!" Shaggy responded.

"...no offense, but..." Daphne asked. "Don't you think you're a LITTLE old to be dressing like that?"

Shaggy shrugged. "Nah," he replied. "Dressin' like this makes me and Scoob happy. Even if other people think we're dorks or something."

"I mean, you're turning 12," said Daphne. "Might be time to act your age...also, Happy Birthday, Shaggy."

She inwardly facepalmed. Stupid, stupid Daphne! Why didn't you open with wishing him a happy birthday! Ugh, you dimwit! she thought.

"You know, there are people much older than them that dress up in a similar fashion." Velma mentioned. "Cosplayers do something like this on a daily basis, in addition to people that participate in L.A.R.P."

"L.A.R.P.? What's that?" Fred asked.

"Live Action Role Play, where you dress up as characters in a game—usually medieval characters—and essentially play as those characters and do what they would do by using foam weapons and game masters to monitor rules and points." Velma explained.

"Huh... interesting," Fred commented. "So! Now that we're all here, are there any new mysteries for us to deal with?"

As Velma handed off a newspaper, Fred looked it over. "Hmm..."

"Please say there isn't." Shaggy begged. "Consider it a birthday wish."

"Sorry, Shaggy...that's one wish that won't be granted," said Fred as he finally looked up.

"Aw, man..." Shaggy sighed, as Scooby patted his back.

"Our next case is to deal with an undead magician terrorizing birthday parties," stated Fred.

"Talk about major coincidences!" Shaggy mentioned.

"It IS most surprising, admittedly." Velma replied.

"Coincidence or otherwise, we'd better get a move on," said Daphne.

"She's right," nodded Fred. "We've got a mystery on our hands!"

"At least we can still get our cake later on." Shaggy mentioned.

"Anything on this Reubenspeare guy, Velma?" Fred inquired to the bespectacled girl. "Like wherever he's been recently?"

Velma looked him up and pulled out his schedule for the entire week. "...alright, I've found yesterday's entry," she finally responded.

"Then let's hear it," replied Fred.

"Birthday party for Randy Scott—he turned 8—and the magician has a gig at a retirement home in a couple of hours." Velma revealed. "I think some of us should go and ask the customer about what happened, while the rest go look for Reubenspeare and ask him about what happened."

"OK, so who's doing what?" asked Daphne.

"Daphne, you and Velma look for Reubenspeare while the rest of us will go to Randy Scott's house." Fred advised.

"Okay," nodded Daphne. "We'll get on that."

Should give me plenty of time to recover from accidentally insulting Shaggy, she thought.

With the decisions made on who would go where, they all headed out to solve the mystery.

Fred, Scooby and Shaggy headed to the Scott house; it had been a couple of days since the incident happened, and Randy Scott still had a case of the nervous nellies.

"So, Mrs. Scott," inquired Fred, holding a notepad and pen. "Can you describe the incident as it occurred?"

"Well I hired Reubenspeare, since the only other entertainer was that clown with the shredder, and everything was going well until he got to a classic cabinet trick, where the ghost came out of it." Mrs. Scott explained.

"Curious," commented Fred as he wrote this down.

Meanwhile Shaggy and Scooby were checking on Randy.

Surprisingly, the both of them were oddly serious this time; they didn't even try helping themselves to the leftover birthday cake.

Seeing the downtrodden Randy nearby, kneeling in grief in the wake of his decimated birthday party, Scooby simply put a paw on his shoulder and patted him. Randy didn't look up, he just continued to grieve.

Both dog and boy traded a serious look, knowing that if things didn't improve...then kids might never be able to enjoy their birthdays ever again.

This wasn't just about presents or cakes or other such things. It was personal.

"I don't know what you can do, but if you can help then please do so." Mrs. Scott requested.

Fred glanced over and saw Shaggy and Scooby with Randy, and began to understand the gravity of the situation, if at least a bit.

"...we'll do the best we can, Mrs. Scott," he replied, his tone firm.

"Thank you." She replied with hope in her eyes.

Fred got up. "We'll be in touch," he replied, giving her a business card. "Shaggy! Scooby! We're heading out!" he called to his friends.

"Like, okay." Shaggy agreed as he and Scooby left Randy alone.

Meanwhile, Daphne and Velma went off to find the Great Reubenspeare.

They found him in between locations for his shows...and currently on his lunch break.

After meeting up with him they asked asked questions.

"In regards to the incident at the birthday party for Randy Scott, what happened to cause the appearance of the ghost?" Velma asked.

"I just went through my usual routine, and up until I opened the box everything was going smoothly," Reuben responded as he tucked into his lunch.

"Do you happen to know anything about the ghost?" Daphne asked as she felt that there might be a connection.

"Imposter, more like it," said Reuben as he ate a couple chicken nuggets. "Whatever that thing was...it wasn't Pilkini, even if it claimed to be."

Velma and Daphne noticed that his tone sounded almost resentful.

"How can you tell?" Velma requested while taking notes. "What all do you know about Pilkini?"

"I knew about him, a little," said Reubenspeare. "He was one of the best, a regular inspiration to my generation."

"Sounds interesting." Velma replied. "Any chance there's a way we can find out more about him?"

"Well, I might know a place to ask," Reuben said as he wiped his hands and wrote down something on a note card. "You'll need to go to this address."

They accepted the card and saw what was on it.

"Mr Gibbles' Genuine Magic Shoppe," read Daphne. "Must be in Coolsville, then."

"It is." Velma confirmed after checking the address.

"Okay, then," Daphne replied. "Thank you for your time, sir."

"You're welcome." Reubenspeare said as he tossed his trash and left.

Daphne got her phone and notified Fred and the others of their next address.

A FEW MINUTES LATER...

The Gang was dropped off outside of Mr. Gibbles' Genuine Magic Shoppe, over in Coolsville.

"Thanks again, Uncle Eddie!" Fred said. "We really appreciate this!"

"Anytime, Freddy," Eddie replied. "Say hi to your folks for me!"

"Sure will!" Fred agreed as Eddie left.

They all looked at the location they came to; it was something that resembled a large, towering castle.

"Like, talk about your conspicuous business places," commented Shaggy.

"Well, let's head on in," said Fred. "Time to continue our investigation!"

"Despite its appearance, this place is remarkably clean." Daphne said after examining it.

And so, the gang headed inside the building. At the counter was a pretty young blonde in her 20s, wiping the countertop off.

"Hello, welcome to Mr. Gibbles' Genuine Magic Shoppe." she greeted with a cheery voice.

"Hi, we're the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency," said Fred, giving her a business card. "And we've come to do some research for a case."

"Oh really?" Prestina asked. "I'm not sure what you'd learn about here, except our low prices."

"We're looking for information on someone called The Great Pilkini," explained Velma. "And we figured the best place to look for data on a magician would be a magic shop."

"Not usually." Prestina replied. "Information like that is in magic museums."

"Well, we don't exactly know any places like that," explained Daphne.

"I do." Another girl said as she came over.

As the gang looked over, they saw she was a blonde with green-tipped pigtails, and emerald-colored clothes with black thigh-high boots.

"I'll take them to the back." The girl said as she pulled out a card and gave it to Prestina.

"Sure thing, Dusk." Prestina said after checking out the card and reaching into a hat to flip a switch that opened a secret door.

To say the gang was stunned would be an understatement.

"Magic museums are membership only and use illusion to hide their location." Dusk explained. "I'm a member here, so I'll get you in."

"Thank you," said Daphne as she and the others followed Dusk inside.

Once they entered, they found an entire room which was like a massive museum, chock-full of displays for various magicians and illusionists that spanned centuries.

"This place is amazing." Fred said in amazement.

"Reah! Reah!" Scooby commented.

Velma removed her glasses and cleaned them before putting them back on. "So many books...on so many shelves..." she managed to say, awestruck.

"And so many tricks to figure out." Dusk mentioned while bringing over a big book.

All at once, the gang leaned over the book as Dusk opened it.

She turned the pages before reaching the section about Pilkini.

"The Great Pilkini: 1951—1988," read Dusk. "From the beginning of his career in Fall of 1969, Davido Pilkini always possesed a flair for the art of prestidigitation. Inspired by his uncle's words, 'Se sei bravo in qualcosa, non farlo mai gratis', Pilkini took some money from his college fund and headed out on the road to begin his career as a professional magician. It was said that he would spend many nights awake trying to come up with strange and wondrous new tricks to keep the audiences guessing."

"He sounds like someone that was truly dedicated." Velma pointed out.

"Oh, he totally was," Dusk responded before she continued. "Fortunately, the tricks were successful, and Pilkini was a hit. After that, he was a magical monolith, and people would flock from all over, paying whatever price they could to see him perform. It was in the spring of 1973 where he first met the man who would become his partner, Magnus Michaels, soon to be redubbed 'Magnus the Mystical'."

"Like, a regular dynamic duo!" Shaggy beamed.

"Maybe...but not for long, bright-eyes," responded Dusk.

"What happened between them?" Daphne asked.

"Maybe it'll give us some more insight." Velma suggested.

So Dusk read on. "Things seemed relatively civil between them, but a little while into their act, Magnus wanted more credit, and to share top billing," she said. "Their argument culminated in Autumn of 1975, and Magnus & Pilkini went their separate ways. They never resolved their argument, and Pilkini died a bitter man in 1988, during what would become his final performance, where he attempted the ultimate escape act: tied to an electric chair with ropes, chains, duct tape."

"Talk about overkill." Fred mentioned, as he was the trap expert of the gang.

"So then maybe the next course is to find this Magnus guy!" exclaimed Shaggy.

"Good luck," replied Dusk. "Magnus hasn't been seen since 1975. For all we know, he might be dead too."

"Any chance of his real name being in the book?" Velma requested.

"Maybe," responded Dusk. "But I'm not fully sure."

"Well at least we have some information to work with." Velma mentioned.

"Right," said Fred. "Now we'd better get a move on."

"That's going to be a problem..." rasped a voice. "...because YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHEEEERE."

"Like...was that you?" asked Shaggy.

"Definitely not," responded Dusk.

As they turned around, their eyes all went wide. Standing behind them was the wiry, disheveled figure of the undead Great Pilkini!

"And now, for my next trick: I'LL MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR!" the Great Pilkini cackled wickedly.

END OF ACT ONE!