If worry and concern had not kept Fred awake all night, the cadent beeping of hospital equipment would have. Having lost track of time, he sat up at the table in the large observation room where Shaggy, Daphne, and Velma were laying in separate beds. The fourth bed in the room was next to Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo was keeping his watchful vigil.
Sprawled out on the small table were various books and a box containing all of the research materials they had gathered so far. Thankfully he had the wherewithal to collect them before the ambulance came, even with how concerned he was with his friend's conditions, he was not about to leave anything unguarded.
'I'm not sure what makes me madder.' Thought Fred. 'The fact that I can't do anything to help them, or the fact that I have no idea what happened.' Rubbing his eyes, Fred looked back down at his research notes and decided the best thing he could do was not lose any time. There was a mystery here, all he had to do was uncover it.
'Velma would be so much better at sifting through all of this.' Picking up the copy of Steel Ball Run Archives: Volume 24 – The Complete Biographies, he thumbed through the pages to look at the entry for Bryce Bravo, the first Bravo to make a name for himself in America, by finishing last in a horse race.
Of all the competitors who completed Steel Ball Run, and for all the mysteries surrounding their lives, one of the more curious entries is that of Bryce Bravo, the Scottish immigrant who at 20 years of age entered the race for a shot at glory. Though he never even finished a leg of the race among the top fifty in terms of time, other racers remarked on his sense of fair play, good sportsmanship, and cheerful demeanor.
After arriving in Kansas City, Bryce started the fifth stage of the race in decent field position. The next destination would be Chicago Illinois, but Bryce never arrived. Days, weeks, months passed until a year had come and gone from the end of the race before Bryce finally appeared in Chicago seeming as chipper and energetic as always. There was some mild confusion among the townsfolk, as well as officials from Steven Steel Enterprises who had a branch office in the city. Before things were sorted out, Bryce left town and rode his way to Mackinaw City to continue on the next leg of the race.
Newspapers across the country picked up word of the racer, lost for a year, returning to finish the race he had started. By the time Bryce reached New Jersey he had been hailed as something of a hero and crowds showed up to cheer him all the way to Trinity Church in Manhattan. And though he finished dead last, his attitude and determination won the hearts of the nation.
In interviews after the fact, Bryce was asked on numerous occasions regarding the year-long absence. Though there are conflicting reports about him finding a lover or living in the forest and even taking a job as a courier, the only consistent part to Bryce's story is that he never stopped riding with his beloved horse, Butler.
Following his completion of the race, Bryce Bravo went on a media tour, becoming something of a celebrity, having exhibition races and goodwill boxing competitions with others who had taken part of the Steel Ball Run. The publicity helped the business interests of Mr. Steel and Bryce went on to become something of a partner. Going on to become a land scout and prospector, identifying potential mines and oil wells before eventually settling down in Southern California where he went into Citrus farming and Exotic Imports.
"For a race as full of murder and intrigue as Steel Ball Run was, Bryce's story was about as happy an ending as it could get." Fred closed the book and tapped its cover while looking over the rest of the contents atop the table. "Might as well take another look at this family tree, see if there's something there." Pulling out Daphne's phone, he examined the picture she had taken back at the Bravo mansion.
Bryce Bravo (1870-1922) married to Patricia Martible (d. 1931), three children.
Bryce Jr. (1891-92), Brinsley (1892-1944), and Brittney (1899-1951).
Brittney married Peter MacFarlane, moved to Scotland, head of the MacFarlane-Bravo family.
Brinsley married Abby Bennet and fathered two children, Joy (1930-1982) and Joshua (born 1932)
Joy married Mace White and had two daughters, Jebedissa (1966-2018) and Bunny (born 1967)
Joshua (wife not listed) has one daughter, Joyce Bravo (born 1977), and she has one son, Brandon (born 1990).
"Strange, this family tree doesn't include Johnny on it." Fred double-checked to make sure but saw that there was no entry for Johnny. "I guess there really is some bad blood there. Kind of wish I knew how they handle their inheritance though, also seems like the daughters of the Bravo family keep their maiden names after marriage, that's very old country stuff."
Tossing down the pen, Fred got up to pace the room. Research could only distract him for so long. Looking out the window, he saw several cats running through the alley leading up to the car park where the Mystery Machine was parked.
Taking a seat next to Daphne, Fred checked her temperature and held her hand. She was sleeping but her breathing seemed to calm slightly at his touch. Pulling out his phone with his free hand, Fred went through his contacts until he found Daisy, Daphne's sister who was finishing her residency at Gotham General Hospital.
"Freddie? That you?" Daisy answered, sounding a little tired.
"Sorry if I woke you. I know you have crazy hours at the moment." Said Fred.
"No, it's alright. Just watching the lab make up a new batch of Joker anti-toxins, it's all automated but a little boring."
"Did you get a chance to look at the charts I sent you?" Fred asked, having sent pictures of Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy's sheets to Daisy.
"Well, it's not exactly proper procedure, but from what I saw the doctors out there are doing what they can. Strange fever spikes and delirious waking dreams, Shaggy being strangely uncooperative to the point where the nurses were going to strap him down. It's all very abnormal."
"Thankfully Shaggy calmed down when they let Scooby stay in the room, though the head nurse made sure to remind me no less than ten times how abnormal that is for a hospital." Fred peeked his head to check the door to make sure the head nurse wasn't hovering nearby.
"And you're sure there wasn't anything abnormal you guys encountered or were exposed to?" Asked Daisy.
"Other than the Chinese food last night? Not really. Wait…" Fred thought to himself as he looked at the box on the table. Walking over to it he lifted a few books and papers before finding a single bone at the bottom of the box. Picking it up, he remembered Scooby had apparently found it at the Bravo mansion. It was clearly no ordinary bone, all at once it seemed too well preserved and too ancient, too strange and alien but human and familiar.
"You still there Fred?" Asked Daisy.
"Yeah, there is one thing. Do you know anything about getting diseases from fossils or old bones?" Asked Fred, who felt weird as he held the bone in his hand like it was starting to skin into his skin, he went to drop the bone only to feel it was sticking to him before it slowly fell into the box. Feeling a bit freaked out, he took a seat and realized he had missed Daisy's answer.
"…so I don't think there's anything to worry about there. Just make sure you all get some rest and hope that you don't pick up whatever they did." Said Daisy. "Oh, I've got to go, I'm on step five of a sixteen step procedure. You take care of them, Freddie, okay? Bye."
"Yeah." Said Fred, hanging up the phone and looking at his hand. While the bone had felt smooth to the touch, his hand looked like it had a thousand little circular impressions which were slowly fading. Looking again he realized that the white spots on his skin were not fading, but rather coming together, forming one large spot on his palm the size of a baseball. No sooner did he stand up in shock, to discover that the spot had suddenly vanished.
"Rare Rou Rokay Reddie?" Asked Scooby-Doo.
"I think so, just a little light-headed. Think I'll go to the cafeteria." Said Fred, who even as he blinked could see the scene replay itself in his vision, of a thousand little orbs coming together to form one large one.
'Was I just imagining that, or am I hallucinating? I hope I don't get sick like the others. Probably best to keep this to myself for now. I'll probably feel better after eating something.' Fred thought, convincing himself that all would be well despite his gut feeling.
It was always hard to get a feel for hospitals. The fluorescent panels overhead gave off the same electric done and level of light regardless of whether it was day or night, and you could never tell the time by how busy the hallways were either. The security guard by the elevator gave a nod as they passed each other with a quiet understanding that visiting hours were more of a suggestion than a rule.
Thankfully there was no line in the cafeteria, despite it approaching dinnertime. Getting a couple of hamburgers and couple of apples, Fred paid and started his way back to the room only to run into a particularly frustrated nurse in red scrubs.
"You the one here with the kids in room 314 right?" The nurse's gruff voice reeked of a fresh cigarette break.
"That's right." Answered Fred.
"You kids must be popular or something. I've had three different calls at my station from people wanting to know what room you're in the past hour. Honestly, I'm surprised the doctor cleared you to walk around because you potentially have whatever bug they have, but what do I know I only took twelve years of medical school to answer phones and change beds." Clearly, in a foul mood, the nurse frowned and took one of Fred's apples with a swipe of her hand. "Of course, I didn't give out any information, some of the calls sounded rather suspicious, but I haven't slept in twenty hours so that might just be my paranoia talking."
"I appreciate that I guess." Said Fred, holding his tray to the side as he took a step back from the nurse. "Did they leave any names?"
"No, not exactly." Said the nurse, who looked up in confusion. The lights overhead were starting to flicker, and she took a bite of her apple before going to her desk. "Just what we need, having to deal with maintenance. On top of everything else today." Clearly having forgotten Fred, the nurse sat down and started making calls.
"Someone attacked the power station, next comes the backup generator." Said a smooth, confident voice. Looking around, Fred was unable to identify where the voice had come from.
Hurrying to the room, Fred put down the tray and closed the door behind him. As he did, he realized that the once familiar sounds of the machinery and lights were gone. The only light in the room was the dim afternoon sun shining through the window. The hospital had indeed lost power, and all that was left was darkness and the distant sound of gunfire. On the far bed Scooby-Doo got up and growled lowly.
"I think we're in trouble Freddie-boy." The voice called again.
"Who said that?" Asked Fred, unable to find the source of the sound, but instead seeing white spots clouds his vision, only this time as they all condensed together an image of a small man, no bigger than his own hand, wearing a white jumpsuit. Black stripes along its sides, arms, and legs and strangely buckles seemed to hold its body together instead of joints. It was a peculiar glint in its gold eyes as it fully took shape in the air before him.
"I hope you've got a plan in mind Freddie because I'm plum out of ideas." The little man said, giving Fred a light slap across the cheek. "We're on the clock now, let's get to work."