Scrappy-Fan92: Good evening, folks. We have a belated but no less special story whipped up to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Scooby-Doo! franchise. And at the time of this writing, it also coincidentally falls under the 25th anniversary of Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost, so consider this a birthday gift for the Hex Girls as well. As a disclaimer, the Scooby-Doo! franchise is a creation of Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. and the property of Warner Bros. Discovery. Enjoy.
This chapter was originally uploaded on Saturday, October 5th, 2024.
It's Your Birthday, Scooby-Doo!
"So, there I was, face to face with the 10,000 Volt Ghost, and that's when I got a spark of inspiration on who the culprit was!"
"Yes, Freddy, we were there."
Fred and Daphne were at Coolsville's community center, lightly regaling past glories to a small group of labcoat-wearing friends. Gibby seemed especially interested in a monster made of pure energy. Eric, less so.
"I'll have to remember to include that one in my game's next expansion pack," Eric said, adjusting the blue and green party hat on his head.
"Try to include me in the game next time!", came a loud voice from a small figure.
The others turned to see Scrappy-Doo, held up by Velma's sister Madelyn and looking unhappy for a change.
Eric frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Scrappy, we've been through this. When I find a modeler who can accurately recreate your…unique body type..."
Red Herring walked by and cleared his throat. "Harrumph-giant head-harrumph,"
Eric rolled his eyes. "...I will add you to the game. You have my word."
Scrappy's demeanor softened and Daphne could make out his tail wagging (Fred could have as well were he not staring down Red).
"Neato! Do we get royalty checks?"
At the entrance of the community center, a police officer was taking tickets.
"Alright, I know he's a big-name celebrity but we're not letting every rando into this private birthday party. Thanks for your ticket, Mr. and Mrs. Doo."
A little boy in yellow wearing a trenchcoat approached and spoke with a toothy grin.
"How's it hangin', uh, who are you?"
"I'm SHERIFF Bronson Stone, part of the security detail and fellow catcher of crooks, baddies, and ne'er-do-wells. Who might you be, little boy!"
"Flim-Flam, best pal of Scooby-Doo!"
Sheriff Stone furrowed his eyebrows. "What kind of cockamamie name is 'Flim-Flam'?"
Scooby-Dum, walking with a plate of salami slices topped with peanut butter, stopped.
"Well, isn't your legal first name actually 'Sheriff'?"
"Shut your uncultured mouth, talking dog #37! I will have you know that 'Sheriff' is a perfectly common, unisex name that my mother picked for me!"
Velma, handing out food to Googie, Del, and Shannon, rolled her eyes. "We didn't say your name wasn't unisex."
Sheriff Stone was muttering to himself. "It doesn't sound like 'Shirley,' which is ALSO unisex. It's 'Sheriff'! 'SHERIFF'!"
Flim-Flam cleared his throat. "So, I, um, misplaced my ticket, can I still come in?"
"You may not, little boy! You could be a stranger!"
Shaggy walked by. "Oh, hey, Flim-Flam, glad you could make it! Scooby's been waiting to see you!"
Flim-Flam did a partial eye-roll in Stone's direction with his arms crossed.
"This changes nothing. No ticket, no enchilada."
Flim-Flam sighed. "I didn't want to do this on a friend's birthday but you leave me no choice."
He pulled back one side of the trenchcoat and got his salesman's voice ready.
"I don't have a ticket but you wanna buy a definitely functional watch?"
"Those are my favorite kinds of watches…wait, a minute, didn't I put you in juvie last year?"
Flim-Flam began sweating. "Uh, well, there's a lot of, well, err, LOOK! Johnny Bravo doing shirtless jumping-jacks in the parking lot!"
"Again?!" Sheriff Stone broke into a run and Flim-Flam slipped his way into the community center.
Robi approached Shaggy with a tray of Scooby Snacks.
"Shaggy, I am worried that Rooby-Roo will not show up on time for his own birthday."
"Relax, Robi, if the friends and family don't bring him here, the food will. Ooh, speaking of which, don't mind if I do!" And he helped himself to a Scooby Snack. His pupils dilated.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the Snack, Shaggy. I flavored it with peppers off the coast of Louisiana!"
Shaggy blew literal smoke from his nostrils and choked out a response. "Where, specifically?"
"Moonscar Island, with the peppers fermented in the juices of a non-alcoholic Vato Blanco mix!"
Shaggy could hear the alarm bells ringing in his head.
Madelyn and Googie were conversing when Shaggy blasted past both of them and dunked his head into the nearest punch bowl.
"Oh, what a guy. Even his panicked running is adorable," Madelyn said.
Fred pulled Shaggy out of the punchbowl, the latter's face flushed of all color that didn't come from the punch.
A translucent young girl emerged from the floor and observed Shaggy.
"What's the matter, teach! You look like you've seen, well, me! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Hi, Phanty," Fred said.
Before anything else could happen, the lights in the room dimmed. On an adjacent stage, Scooby's sister Ruby-Doo approached a microphone.
"Attention, people! My dear brother is on his way to the community center. The hot dog is nearing the kennel, I repeat, the hot dog is nearing the kennel!"
The crowd clapped.
"But before he gets here, we'd like to welcome our musical guests. Introducing, the Hex Girls!"
The crowd clapped even harder.
Thorn, Dusk, and Luna approached the microphone. Thorn threw her head back and looked ready to belt out the wickedest solo on her guitar ever before composing herself.
"Yeah, we're literally between shows and don't even have time to perform. We just stopped by to say happy B-day to the top dog! Hex Girls, out!"
From the crowd, Daphne blinked. "Well, that was a gratuitous appearance, don't you think so, hand-puppet version of me?"
"Sure is, human version of me," spoke Daphne's hand-puppet.
Velma scanned the crowd, hoping Fred and Red weren't fighting again. She turned to Madelyn near a table and smiled. On the table were gifts from guests who couldn't attend in person. Among the gifts were a bat-shaped boomerang, a pair of sunglasses taped to a bottle of hair gel, a stray boot that looked like it came from the middle of nowhere, and a trophy that read, "Courtesy of the Yahooeys."
Scooby had made friends in high and low places and she couldn't say they weren't deserved.
Velma was snapped out of her thoughts by the cries of Vincent Van Ghoul. "Goodness gracious, I can hear the limo parking! Places, everybody!"
Everyone in the community center scrambled to find a hiding place as the doors swung open. First, an annoyed and empty-handed Sheriff Stone entered. Following him was the dog of the hour.
"Now, Scooby, we needed you to help me find who's responsible."
"Responsible for what?", Scooby asked.
"Responsible for this."
The lights flashed on and the gang (plus more) jumped out with the biggest grins on their faces.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
What followed was predictable. Scooby yelped and jumped twelve feet high in the air from the shock, hitting a lamp, bouncing off said lamp, launching from the moon bounce because of course a Scooby-Doo party is going to have a moon bounce, sailing through the room and landing in the extra large cake Daphne's butler Jenkins had just wheeled in.
A stunned silence washed through the crowd.
Sibella leaned toward Tanis. "Goodness, if I'd known these mortal parties killed the guest of honor, I'd attend more."
Shaggy ran toward the crushed pile of batter and frosting to check on his friend.
"Scooby-Doo, where are you?"
Scooby emerged from the cake and licked some frosting off his paw. "Rutterscotch, my favorite!" And he licked Shaggy's face.
"Happy birthday, ol' buddy, ol' pal of mine."
The two embraced, joined in by everyone attending.
"Happy birthday, Scoob!", Fred said.
"Happy birthday, Scooby," Velma added.
"Happy birthday, Uncle Scooby!"
"Scooby-Doo, we love you!", Daphne said, her puppet kissing Scooby on the cheek.
Vincent broke from the embrace and cleared his throat. "And now, a word from the birthday boy. What do you have to say, Scooby?"
Scooby looked around at all the smiling faces, friends and family who had provided him company over the years. Tears began welling up in his eyes and Deputy Dusty offered a spare neckerchief from Yabba to dab them away.
Scooby pulled out a speech he'd prepared one year ahead of time for this very day. Now was the time to express himself honestly.
"Ahem…Scooby-Dooby-Doo!"
A small smile came over Vincent's face. "Why am I not surprised?"
The partygoers broke into applause, Shaggy ruffling his friend's head.
No matter how old he got, no matter what crazy adventure he got himself tangled up in, he remained the same dog they all knew and loved.
Scrappy-Fan92: And that's all, folks. Hope you enjoyed it. Have a Scooby-Dooby-Delightful day.