This one, (ho boy) This one! Does it really need an introduction? This is probably the scariest episode of Courage they ever made, and this is one of my favorite episodes. I did actually didn't watch the show until I was thirteen, so I got off scot free from nightmares, but I did remember getting creep out by this episode. (Fun Fact: in Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders VHS, this episode appeared after the end credits, if I'm correct.)
Anyway's enjoy.
(Reedited 5/10/22)
It was late one evening the family were all in the house watching a movie, well, Muriel to be precise. Eustace was asleep with his newspaper acting like a blanket, it was late at night and Muriel had decided to watch a movie before going to bed. Courage was sleeping on Muriel's lap, while Shaggy and Scooby fell asleep on the couch, they didn't really like the kind of movie Muriel was watching as it was a rom-com.
Then there was a sound, that woke Shaggy, Scooby and Courage with a start, their eyes open and the three started fearfully around the living room. The noise from outside sounded shrill, but just as soon as it had come, it just stopped. This was followed by a loud rumbling that seemed to buzz right over the house and was soon silent, almost like a helicopter had just flown over the house.
"L-L-Like who or what was that?" Shaggy stammered out, shaking like a leaf.
"You mean the strange noise?" Courage replied, rather nervously.
The three went over to the window to look out and saw nothing except a strange mark on the nearby road with the searchlight from police helicopter going down the road a moment later.
"What's going on out there?" Courage gasped, waiting for his heart to stop pounding, as he also saw the searchlight of the helicopter.
"Like I don't know, and I don't wanna find out, come on guys," Shaggy said trying to calm himself down and not wanting to search creepy things at night.
Scooby and Courage both nodded in agreement, they can deal with this in the morning.
The very next morning, Shaggy, Scooby and Courage walked out to the water pump. Since nothing unusual was visible around the well, but the trio were still worrying about it. Sure enough upon reaching the pump, the trio spotted a mound of fresh earth right next to it. The dirt couldn't have been more than a few hours old.
Courage and Scooby began to dig in that spot, after a moment, they both found something buried there.
"Rey, Raggy, there's a tablet!" Scooby yelled from the hole.
"Like, okay. Scooby, little pink dude, get out of there," Shaggy murmured.
As Scooby and Courage got out of the hole, Shaggy grabbed the stone slab. Like, what is this?
Four different images had been carved into the large stone slab. The first being what looked like some waves and just underneath it was a gramophone and just under that was the image of a locust. But the one that unnerved them the most was the largest image. That of a skeletal figure, wearing shrouded clothing and three thin tufts of hair coming out of a skull like head.
Shaggy and Scooby got an uneasy feeling by looking at the slab. Courage took a look at it as well. Even he began to whine as he looked at it.
"Like, why do I get the feeling something bad is about to happen?" Shaggy asked, fear crawling into his voice.
"I don't know Shaggy," Courage replied, feeling a sense a dread from this slab as well, "But maybe Eustace or Muriel might know. If not, we can ask the computer."
Back inside, Eustace and Muriel were sitting and relaxing in the living room as usual. Muriel rocking in her chair and Eustace sitting in his armchair and reading the morning newspaper. As they sat, Shaggy and Scooby came walking back into the house with Courage following behind them, carrying the slab in his mouth.
"Why what's this now?" Muriel asked as she took the slab from the pink beagle's mouth. "Oh my, this looks very old."
"We like, found it buried by the water pump outside," Shaggy said.
Muriel frowned and asked, "Now what was it doing out there?"
Scooby shrugged and responded, "Reats me."
"Perhaps Eustace might know," Muriel suggested. She then turned to him. "Eustace."
"Huh?" he asked.
"Come look at what Shaggy, Courage and Scooby found. What do you suppose it could be?" Muriel asked, as she walked over and gave it to him.
The trio also walked closer to him.
"Well judging by the markings and the obvious age of the relic, I'd have to say it would be, GARBAGE!" Eustace concluded, as he threw the slab out the window.
Muriel scowled at Eustace as the slab hit the ground outside, Shaggy, Scooby and Courage went to the window and looked down at it.
"Eustace!" Muriel chastised him.
Eustace merely picked up the TV remote and continued his rant by saying, "Garbage! King Garbage from the Garbage Dynasty. Stupid dogs, and stupid nephew always bringing garbage into the house."
Fury swelled up inside Courage. We don't bring garbage in the house!
He turned on the TV and switched to the news, ignoring the angry glares that the rest of the family was giving him.
"But the big story today! Million dollar slab stolen from the tomb of King Ramses'," said the newscaster as the news displayed a picture of the slab.
The very slab that Shaggy, Scooby and Courage had just found a little bit earlier. Even Eustace went wide eyed at the picture as the rest of the family watched on.
"Eh?" Eustace exclaimed shocked. He then immediately rushed to the window and picked up the slab from the ground and exclaimed, "I'M RICH!"
He set the slab on the night stand and went to the phone.
"Like, Scooby-Doo, do you know what you could buy with a million dollars?" Shaggy smiled.
"Uh guys," Courage tried to get their attention, but the hungry duo didn't hear him.
Shaggy chuckled, "A pepperoni pizza everyday for every meal for the rest of your life!"
"Rextra large?" Scooby chimed in.
"Uh fellas?" Courage tried again, but to no avail.
"Extra-extra large," Shaggy beamed.
The two then shared a laugh together.
Courage sighed, then pulled a microphone from behind his back and screamed, "FELLAS!"
Shaggy and Scooby held their heads at Courage's tone of a voice, before turning their heads towards the pink beagle.
"Didn't you hear that guy on the news? He said it was stolen," Courage explained, matter of factly.
Shaggy and Scooby slowly settled down, as they realized that Courage was right. It was a stolen slab, which means no pizza.
"Oh, right," Shaggy gave a weak chuckle, "Sorry little pink dude."
"But the man said it was stolen Eustace. We must return it to it's rightful place," Muriel reminded Eustace.
"Like, we can't demand money for something that was stolen," Shaggy started, but was cut off when Eustace spoke up again.
"He said a million dollar slab, that means we get a million dollars! And you know what a million dollars means?" Eustace said, excitedly.
At that moment, Shaggy, Scooby and Courage looked down at the slab and discovered the man in gauze had disappeared. Chills rushed through Shaggy, Scooby and Courage from head to toe and paw.
"Zoinks! Did you see that!?" Shaggy yelled, he couldn't believe what he saw.
"RI wish I didn't!" Scooby replied, staring in shock at the slab.
Courage let out a howl of terror, "How is this possible!?"
"That's right. New lawn chairs!" Eustace finished.
As he finished, Courage got between them and began babbling again. Morphing into a mummy and making moaning sounds similar to the undead.
Eustace ignored him while he picked up a phone and started dialing. "Nowhere News, I want to put an ad in the paper," he said into the phone.
The cowardly trio continued to shudder as Muriel began to dust around the room. They heard some chatter on the other end which was followed by Eustace saying, "Yes sir. Start running that ad right away."
About an hour or two later, there came a knocking at the door. Despite being a small town, news always seemed to travel outside of Nowhere very quickly so it came as no surprise to the family that someone had heard about their discovery so soon. So neither Shaggy, Scooby, Courage or Muriel were surprised to see a short portly man standing before their front door. The man had a large red mustache and was dressed like he was about ready to go exploring. He looked like a smart enough individual, with a taste for excitement.
Eustace pushed past Muriel, looked at the man and asked, "What's your offer?"
"I am Professor Frith of the Institute of the Pharaoh," the man introduced himself politely. "I've come to retrieve the slab you lot found."
"You see Eustace? I told you it was stolen," Muriel chastised the old farmer.
Scooby nodded and said, "Rit belongs to it's rightful owner."
Courage however began his panic mode once more by pointing, babbling incoherently and morphing into a vanishing explorer and a sinking ship for some odd reason. Everyone, even Shaggy and Scooby started at Courage in confusion. For Shaggy and Scooby it wasn't because they didn't understand what was scaring him, but because they couldn't help but wonder what the sinking ship was about.
"Like what does a sinking ship have to do with the slab?" Shaggy asked, in confusion.
"Reats me," Scooby shrugged his shoulders.
"You know, now that I think about it," Courage said, "What was I thinking?"
Eustace was clearly not amused as he just made a sarcastic laugh as he glared down at the pink beagle before turning back to the professor.
"What's your offer?" he demanded.
"Sir the Institute of the Pharaoh is member supported. But for every million dollar donation, you'll receive this sporty tote bag with our thanks," he said as he pulled out a gaudy looking tote bag out from behind him.
Eustace however did NOT look amused as he frowned even harder, as he slammed the door onto Professor Frith.
"Eustace, we should really give it back you know," Muriel told him.
"Nuh-uh. Finders' keepers," Eustace scoffed, as he walking into the kitchen.
Shaggy, Scooby and Courage exchanged glances and sigh, Eustace was as stubborn as a mule.
Nighttime rolled around and a heavy fog began to settle in and around the farm. Shaggy, Scooby and Courage had tried a few more failed attempts, along with Muriel to try and plead Eustace to give the slab back. But, the selfish farmer wasn't going to listen to them.
Eustace was in his chair holding onto the slab happily, thinking of all the stuff he can buy with a million dollars. "Rich, rich, rich, rich, rich. Fly swatter, spark plugs, shovel handle, razor blade, light bulb for the attic," he began saying all the things he would buy with the money as he began to rock back and forth.
All the while, Muriel rocked in her rocking chair with Courage in her lap. Shaggy and Scooby were on the couch eating snacks to calm their nerves, but even then it didn't make them feel better, they and Courage had a feeling something really horrible is about happen anytime now. They were all jarred from their thoughts when there came a rattling sound from the farmhouse's front door making Shaggy and Scooby jump.
It sounded like something was desperately trying to get in.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy screamed, while Scooby gulped.
Courage was freaking out, he felt like he was going to be sick with terror. "Oooooohhh!" he squealed, jumping out of Muriel's arms.
Eustace went to the door and the trio ran to the window.
The color drained from Scooby's face the very moment he looked out of the window and his eyes widened. He seemed to looked at the window in horror, looking frozen with fear, and trembled violently. It was then he raised a shaking paw finger pointing at the window, "Ruys! Rook!"
When Shaggy and Courage turned to look, their eyes met a horrifying sight.
"Return the slab!" said a thin shrouded individual.
The sight of his bony mouth moving with his words and the skull like face that the mouth belonged to, was enough to terrify anyone. But for the frightened trio, the sight of his wisps of hair and the flailing and contorting arms were enough for the trio to be stricken with terror. when he spoke it was just about enough to send shivers all the way down to their spines.
"Is that a….g-g-g-ghost?!" Shaggy stammered, his eyes glue to the undead pharaoh.
The dogs didn't answer, they were frozen with fear. Scooby and Courage could only stare out the window in the foggy night at the unnatural looking ghost.
"Return the slab! Or suffer my curse!" the figure repeated in a haunting manner.
The cowardly trio's hopes that Eustace would see reason for once in his life were dashed as he once again stated, "What's your offer?"
The skeletal king gave Eustace no kind of offer and instead issued him a dire warning. A warning the trio pleaded in their minds that he would heed.
"This night, you will be visited by three plagues! Each worse than the last! Return the slab!" it warned, as it continued it's inhuman movements and tone.
Shaggy's eyes filled with fear, "P-P-P-Plagues?"
Scooby wore a look of horror, "R-R-R-Rhat plagues?"
"I don't know," Courage shivered, "But I have a feeling bad feeling about this, or my name is King Tut, and it's not."
Eustace however did not heed the warning as he let out a sarcastic laugh and said, "Nice try the professor!"
He slammed the door shut and turned away, holding tight to the slab as he turned back to the family. "Who's he kidding?" Eustace said angrily. "I can see the zipper on that cheap dime store costume."
The trio got a good look at the slab. Their hearts lurched when the waves that they had previously seen carved on the slab were now gone, Shaggy, Scooby and Courage gaze at one another with frightened eyes.
Courage let out another howl, he felt dizzy with fear. What's gonna happened now?
"Zoinks!" Shaggy yelled, fear gripping him.
"Ripes!" Scooby yelped, his heart thumped fast.
Their senses of foreboding was quickly followed by them feeling some water drops onto the top of Shaggy's head, Scooby's head and Courage's nose.
Scooby looked up and gasped. Rhat the...
The drops were followed by another and then another.
Muriel held out her hands to feel the water come down and asked, "Boys, did either of you leave the tub running?"
Before any of the three could answer, it rain harder, then it did earlier, making Shaggy, Scooby and Courage's hearts stopped.
"I like, don't think that's from the tub Aunt Muriel," Shaggy responded, in fear, feeling his heart lurched.
What's happening? Courage had an uneasy feeling that this was the first plague that King Ramses had warned.
Pretty soon the water wasn't just dripping from the ceiling, it was also running down the walls and soon a small part of the wall burst open and water began pouring out of it. It even began pouring out of a moose head that Eustace had recently just put up over the fireplace and even out of the grandfather clock and then began gushing down the stairs. The house began filling up with water at an alarming rate. In a horrifying matter of seconds.
Panic shot through Shaggy, "ZOINKS! The water's up to our waists!"
"Get up stairs! Hurry!" Courage yelled.
Wasting no time, the family ran for the stairs and climbed up to the second level, but that too quickly filled up with water. They ran for the attic, but this did no good either. As soon as they reached the attic door, the water pressure behind it caused the door to explode inward and fill the room quickly. In no time at all, their heads were just inches below the ceiling. They each had to kick their feet, just to stay above the water. Just a few more inches, and there'd be nowhere else to go. Even the windows weren't breaking to the pressure.
"Eustace? Oh boys, where's Eustace?" Muriel's terrified voice rose above the rising water.
"Raggy, Rourage what are we going to do?!" Scooby yelled, as he struggled to stay afloat.
"I don't know!" Shaggy exclaimed in panic, also struggling to stay up float.
"We gotta think of something quick before we drown!" Courage whimpered, he wondered if he should type in an answer and ask computer for advice. But it was hardly gonna work with all that water clogging up his system. And anyway, what was he meant to type in? How to stop long deceased Egyptian pharaoh attacking your house with plagues and what to do when a slab is removed from an Ancient, cursed tomb? Courage doesn't think computer would come in use there, just the same words appearing on the screen.
Return the Slab.
Even now, those words chilled the pink beagle to his very core.
The water was now getting up to their chests.
"Like, talk about a million dollar dream turn into a nightmare," Shaggy hollered in terror, "We're gonna drown!"
"Raggy, don't say that!" Scooby cried, fearing this may be the end.
Courage's mind whirled as he tried to work out some way to get out of this predicament. Suddenly, a newfound plan filled him with resolve. Of course it was a ridiculous idea, but he knew he had to do something before he and his family drown. "Shaggy, Scooby, stay here till I get back!" If I ever get back... He forced that anxious thought back into his mind and he took a deep breath and dive into the water.
"Rourage were are you going!?" Scooby's panicked voice called out the moment the water hit his chin.
"Like, don't leave us!" Shaggy pleaded.
Courage heard the terrified cries of his friends as he dove into the water, and knew he had to hurry, he swim past Eustace who was hugging the slab to his body while wearing goggles and a snorkel.
Really!? We're drowning and all he cares about is his 'precious slab!?' Courage thought angrily to himself. Never mind that now, I have to save my family and myself. He began to swim out of the room and down the stairs all the way to the basement, all the while trying not to swim into any of the furniture that was floating around the rooms.
Shaggy, Scooby and Muriel pressed their heads against the ceiling, as the water was up to their ears.
"ROURAGE! RELP!" Scooby screamed out in terror, spluttering as he spat out water getting into his mouth.
In that terrifying moment, Scooby, Shaggy and Muriel took big gulps of air and the water rise above their heads. Shaggy and Scooby exchanged terrified glances, bubbles slipping from their noses. And can only hope Courage saving them before they drown.
Getting to the basement, Courage quickly saw the drain in the middle of the room.
There! He thought, as he laid his eyes upon the drain plug
Swimming over to it, he tried to unplug the drain but couldn't as the water is putting too much pressure on it for the small dog to be able to remove the plug. He nearly panicked, as bubbles escape from his nose and mouth. Pushing away his fear, he forced himself to ignore the fact that he was moments away from drowning and instead focused on the task at hand.
His lungs were beginning to burn, and the urge to take a breath was growing stronger by the second. He refused to give up. With his all strength and might, he managed to pull the plug off the drain. All the water in the house immediately went into the drain with a lot of furniture now covering the center of the basement floor, Courage begin coughing and taking raspy breaths and collapsed on the floor.
"Oh, Come on," the voice of King Ramses echoed throughout the entire house, making the pink beagle shiver with fear.
Back up at the attic Shaggy and Scooby's lungs begin to feel pressure, as bubbles escape from their mouths. Just as Shaggy and Scooby were both about to let go of their precious oxygen, all at once, the water begin to recede.
Slow at first, but it quickly picked up and within seconds, Shaggy and Scooby coughed and gasp for air, filling their aching lungs again and again. All the water had drained out of the room, though it still dripped from the ceiling to no accumulation. Shaggy, Scooby and Muriel took several deep breaths as they spit excess water out of their mouths. Water came gushing out of Scooby's mouth.
"Are you okay Scoob?" Shaggy asked, breathlessly.
"Reah," Scooby replied, his voice rasp and was nearly out of breath.
"Return the slab!" the familiar undead voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It made chills ran down Shaggy and Scooby's spines.
Eustace looked out the window at the figure of King Ramses and once again repeated, "What's your offer?"
Like, please don't make him even more angry Uncle Eustace! Shaggy wanted to wail out at the old stubborn farmer's hopeless argument.
Ramses raised his arms and this time Shaggy got a good look as the gramophone carving disappeared off of the slab.
"Oh no! Like, Not another!" Shaggy yelled out.
The sheer terror in his owner's voice made Scooby recoil in fear, it was a minor miracle that he hadn't fainted from what he had been through so far tonight. His ears suddenly picked up when music began to blare. It started off as a piano playing, but then the horrible singing voices began.
"The man in gauze! The man in gauze! The man in gauze! The man in gauze! King Ramses!"
And the singing would just repeat like that. It wasn't just the horrific singing that was painful, it's the fact that it felt like it was blaring in their ears. They all covered their ears and began to scream from the pain of it. Except for Eustace who took the cowardly route once more and stuffed some cotton between his ears to block out the sound.
"Like, that music's getting louder and louder!" Shaggy croaked as he and Scooby both covered their ears, as stabbing pain shot through their ear canals.
Courage even came running back into the room, clutching his ears tightly, his ears were struck with the worst pain in his life.
"Courage! Make it stop!" Muriel pleaded with the pink beagle.
"Rhere is it coming from!?" Scooby gasped, another wave of pain hit his ears. He wanted nothing more than to claw his ears off.
"Wait, on the slab, it showed a record player, maybe that's what's causing this noise?" Courage suggested, the pain was so strong that he thought his ears would popped out of his head.
"Like maybe," Shaggy said, as he still clutched his ears in agony, it felt like his ears were being poured with lava. "Little dog dude hurry! My ears are starting to bleed man!"
Courage didn't waste any time and despite the pain he forced his feet to scrambled out of the attic.
Courage headed outside, In order to find the song, he first had to locate it's source all the while his ears were being attack by stabs of pain from the ear-piercing music, Courage messed up all the hay in the shed-barn. Next, he checked the water pump to see if it was coming from there as he, Shaggy and Scooby originally found the slab buried there, but didn't find anything. Courage went to Eustace's truck and searched it, but he still came up with the same result.
Courage felt a jolt of pain deep in his ears, he staggered, almost losing his balance. He forced himself to ignoring the spike of pain that were pricking his ears. He then decided to check the basement, as he ran to there, he passed by a rock and the sound seemed to get louder as he passed by it through the fog of pain, going around the rock. Beyond the pain Courage found the source of the horrible which in fact turned out to be a record player. Exactly like that of the one on the slab.
Pulling out a baseball bat, Courage whacked the thing with all his might, until the terrible racket was no more. It's...it's stopped... he realized beginning to shake with relief, blinking away the darkness that was trying to suck him away.
It was here that the music finally stopped. Despite some slight ringing in their ears, there seemed to be no damage to their hearing.
"Ow," Shaggy said as he moaned, the worst of the pain was slowly subsiding, "Like, my head's gonna hurt in the morning."
"Ry ears, are ringing," Scooby added, as he also moaned in pain, his ears were throbbing and hid head started to pound a little from that painful music.
"Like, are you guys okay?" Shaggy asked his relatives.
"I think so," Muriel answered.
Eustace didn't answer and merely took his pinkie finger and dug around in the inside of his ear with it. Shaggy and Scooby took a look outside and saw that the horrible figure of King Ramses did NOT look amused. Two of his plagues were down and both had been failures due to Courage's intervention. But Shaggy and Scooby shuddered when they remembered that there was still one plague left and the image of a locust for it was enough to make them shiver.
"Return the slab!" he repeated once more.
This time, Muriel just glared at Eustace, clearly fed up with this whole thing. Shaggy and Scooby stood with her and added to the intense glares that Eustace was receiving from his family.
"Eustace what are you waiting for? Til we're six feet under?" Muriel said angrily.
"Like just give him back the slab man!" Shaggy said, feeling scared and angry that this was his uncle who caused all of this.
"Rit's not worth our lives!" Scooby added, he was getting furious with the old farmer
By now it looked like even Eustace had enough as he went to the window and threw it open.
"Alright!" Eustace said, giving Shaggy, Scooby and Muriel a small amount of relief. That is until Eustace added, "But a million is as low as I'll go!"
Shaggy and Scooby facepalmed, letting their anger get the best of them, "SERIOUSLY!?/RERIOUSLY!?"
Back outside, Ramses raised his arms and the final carving vanished. Thus, the third and final plague commenced. And no doubt, the worst one yet. Shaggy and Scooby felt their anger melting away and was replace by fear, they both leaped back from the window, their hearts thudded against their chests like drums, while their breathing sped up.
Courage began to make his way back to the house, his head was still pounding from that horrible music, but it was just a dull ache. It was a miracle that he wasn't deaf. I need to get that slab away from the farmer and give it back to that ghost!
Suddenly as he reached the door, Courage heard a loud ear-piercing buzzing noise the worse sound than that record player he destroyed moments ago. The noise sounded close by as he turned to look at where the sound was coming from, a horrified scream sounded from Courage as he laid his eyes upon an entire swarm of LOCUSTS coming towards him.
For a single heartbeat that seemed to last forever, a dark, fast moving cloud. A cloud of noise and anger. In a matter of seconds, Shaggy and Scooby could see that this was no ordinary cloud, but a cloud of locusts, very angry locusts.
"ZOINKS! LOCUSTS!" Shaggy screamed in horror.
Scooby felt every hair on his fur telling him to flee as far from the farmhouse as he could, only the thought of Shaggy, Courage and Muriel in danger made him stay where he was.
Shaggy and Scooby looked to the ground and could see Courage rushing back inside, bringing them SOME relief. But all of their relief vanished, it was replaced with horror as they saw the locust cloud consume the water pump and bucket with it. Next was the chicken coop and even the truck were no matching for this ravenous swarm.
Then they began to encircle the house.
"Return the slab!" Ramses repeated once more.
"Well old buddy, old friend, old pal," Shaggy uttered, clutching at his chest. "I think it's time what us cowards to do and what cowards do best. HELP!"
"RELP!" Scooby screamed, panicking, as he realized that in a few minutes they would become a meal for the locusts.
Muriel ran from the room screaming at the top of her lungs. Eustace took the time to try to make a break for it and ran straight from the room and down to the living room. But he didn't get far as Courage suddenly jumped him and began trying to tug at the cursed slab.
"YOU STUPID DOG! Let go of that!" he yelled as he began tugging back.
Shaggy and Scooby dashed downstairs, joined in and tried to help Courage pull it away from Eustace's grasp.
"IT'S THAT GHOST'S SLAB! LET GO OF IT!" Courage screamed out, no longer caring, if he had to endure Eustace's wrath.
"UNCLE EUSTACE PLEASE!" Shaggy screamed and begged, trying to pull on the slab from his uncle's grasp.
"RE-RE GONNA DIE!" Scooby screamed as he tried pulling at the slab.
A rumbling sound came from the attic that sounded like pieces of the house were coming apart. The locusts were beginning to consume the house. If they didn't resolve this quickly, they too would be consumed by the swarm.
Eustace growled as he tugged and said, "You stupid nephew! Do you have any idea what's at stake here? A million dollars. And end to all our problems. We can't pass this opportunity up."
"Like, what good is a million dollars if you're dead?!" Shaggy retorted, feeling both angry and scared.
The rumbling sounds became creaks and cracks and were swiftly getting louder as the locusts were getting closer and closer to them. The trio could already tell that the attic was gone and the locusts were now consuming the second floor.
Ret go! Ret go! Scooby begged in mind, giving the old farmer a desperate pleading look, but Eustace have no intentions of letting the slab go.
"Return the slab!" Ramses repeated once again.
Shaggy and Scooby suddenly lost their grips on the slab and Eustace began spinning around in circles in a desperate bid to get Courage to let go of the thing.
"LET GO!" Eustace shouted as he tried to pull the slab away from the small dog.
"NO! YOU LET GO!" Courage screamed at the old farmer.
Shaggy and Scooby managed to recover and grabbed onto the slab once again.
"Return the slab!" Ramses repeated once more.
Then suddenly, the ceiling began to disappear and in a matter of seconds, they were completely exposed to the swarm.
The trio screamed far louder in horror. Shaggy clutched Scooby, holding him real tight, Scooby meanwhile tightened his arms around him, staring with wide frightened eyes at the bugs.
"OKAY OKAY! You can have it!" Eustace suddenly screamed as he let go of the stone slab.
Shaggy and Scooby screamed once more, while clutching each other and shutting their eyes tight.
Courage took off towards the window, running really fast, his heart hammering, a voice booming in his mind. Get it out the window! Get it out the window! Get out the window! Almost there, just a few more steps! He dove forward tossed the accursed slab outside, not even wasting a second open it first. Courage stood there and watched as the slab flew off into the distance. Then, all at one, complete silence.
Panting, Courage started out in the sky, most of the house has been destroyed, but the swarm of locusts were gone. He dropped to his knees, panting with both relief and exhaustion, this was, to date, the closet thing he and his family had come the closest thing to death.
Shaggy and Scooby both opened their eyes and slowly let go of each other, they're both relief they were still alive and not chewed to bits by locusts.
"That was like, way too close," Shaggy shakily said, as he panted with relief.
"Rou said it Raggy," Scooby agreed, as he also panted, then shudder at the thought of he and his family were almost eaten alive by locusts.
As Courage's fear ebbed away, he gazed up at Shaggy and Scooby, gazing at at each other with huge eyes, sharing the same fear, that they almost got eaten alive.
Courage padded up to his frightened friends, "Are you guys okay?" he asked, exhaustedly.
"Reah," Scooby said, with labored breathing, "Re're okay."
"Like, thanks for saving our lives little pink dude," Shaggy said, as he gave the small dog a smile.
"Of course," Courage replied,with a comforting smile, as he Shaggy and Scooby round up and give each other a group hug.
Shaggy's uncle didn't share the same feeling as he suddenly ran from the house yelling, "NO! I can't believe I did that."
The trio looked up and couldn't help but groaned and give facepalms at the greedy farmer.
Eustace ran out into the yard and grabbed the slab once more, holding it close to him. It took him only a moment for him to realize that King Ramses was standing only a few feet away from him. Clearly not amused by Eustace going back on his promise.
"That's three plagues," Eustace mocked, as he held up three fingers. "You're out of ammo mister. He he he he. And don't think you can come around here pushing no tote bags on us neither."
Eustace was caught up in his gloating. So much so, he didn't notice that the black cloud of locusts had suddenly reappeared and were quickly closing in on him.
"What's your offer?" Eustace demanded once more.
"Return the slab!" Ramses demanded one last time.
It wasn't until the buzzing sound reached Eustace's ears that he realized it was too late. All he could do was scream one last time before the swarm overtook him.
The very next morning, Shaggy, Scooby, Courage and Muriel were sitting in the remains of the living room. By some miracle, the TV set was still intact and it was working, despite most of the house being gone. It was a news report that they were watching as the Professor from the day before was being interviewed.
"At long last, the allegedly cursed slab of King Ramses has been returned to his crypt. Where it will remained buried in antiquity for all time," the professor stated.
"Thank goodness," Courage sighed in relief, happy they don't have to deal with Ramses anymore.
Shaggy shivered and whined, he still hadn't gotten over of what happen last night. "Like, I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks."
"Hopefully the lad can rest in peace now," Muriel added. "Oh, I wonder where Eustace is."
Scooby shuddered and said, "Re ran back into the yard after Rourage threw the slab out the window. Re didn't come back in after that," he sat back in the couch and thought to himself, RI don't think we want to know what happened to him.
Meanwhile, in a crypt thousands of miles away, an ancient kings tomb remained undisturbed. But anyone who would have been in the tomb at the time would have been disturbed to hear the sound of an old man's scream, seemingly coming from nowhere, but everywhere at the same time.
They also would have been disturbed to see that King Ramses cursed slab had been altered very much as well. The three familiar plague markings were all still the same. But the carving of King Ramses was gone. In it's place was the carving of an old lanky man, in overalls and an old fashioned hat, screaming in absolute terror.
"What's your offer?" was the last thing heard through the tomb.
Well that was fun to write, :) VK IS OUT PEACE!