Chapter 4

Adventures through Time

The gang eventually found themselves standing inside an old amphitheater that was decorated with red banners.

"Where are we now?" asked Daphne.

"If I'm not mistaken, we're inside the Roman Colosseum," Velma explained.

"Rolosseum?!" Scooby asked.

"Like, where they play football?" asked Shaggy.

"No, Shaggy," Twilight chuckled. "You see, during the times of Ancient Rome, people would often gather in the colosseum to watch many events. Mostly gladiator fights."

"Right. But the colosseum is infamous for the misleading fact as the place where they fed people to the lions for lunch," added Fred.

"Well, it looks deserted, now," said Daphne.

"Speaking of lunch, we didn't even get to keep the Scooby Snacks from the moon level," said Shaggy.

"Well, what did you expect? It's a video game," Sunset said bluntly as she folded her arms.

"Uh, guys? Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Rainbow said, pointing to a white line in front of her.

Applejack walked up to the white line and rubbed her right index finger on it.

"It is, Dash! It's field chalk!" she said.

"Rikes! Rirus!" Scooby exclaimed, pointing in front of him.

Sure enough, there was the Phantom Virus standing in front of a gate while holding a lightning-shaped sword in his right hand and a Parma, or circular-shaped shield with a lightning bolt insignia on it in his left.

"Welcome to level two, gameplayers, where things get a little tougher," he said sinisterly. "But first, let me introduce you to the home team."

He slashed the chain holding the gate with his sword, causing it to break. The doors slowly opened, revealing three skeletons dressed like gladiators to come out. The lead one was carrying a pitchfork and a net, while his cohorts had spears and shields.

"I was joking when I told Eric to add skeletons!" Twilight exclaimed. "I get that most games I've seen have skeletons in them as enemies, but this is going a bit overboard!"

"Don't worry, gang. We can beat these meatless gladiators!" Fred said bravely.

"And now, for the home team's mascot," the virus said as he walked over to another gate.

He slashed the chain holding the doors, causing a lion to come bursting through them. In its mouth was the box of Scooby Snacks.

"The lion's got the Scooby Snacks!" Daphne exclaimed.

"You know, for once I'm not in the mood for Scooby Snacks," said Shaggy.

"Re reither," Scooby agreed.

The lion leapt towards them and dropped the box on to a mound in front of them.

"RUN!" Twilight shouted.

"Good idea," said Daphne.

"Let's go, Norvie," said Sunset as she dragged Shaggy away from the lion and the skeletons.

One of the skeletons then tossed a net at them, which ended up getting tangled in Shaggy's legs. The gang saw their friend in danger and ran over to help him.

"Norvie, are you all right?"

"Yeah, but I'm really tangled up," he responded.

Fluttershy nervously glanced over and saw that the lion and skeletal gladiators were getting even closer to them.

"What do we do?" she squeaked.

"Ra rariot," said Scooby, pointing towards a Mystery Machine-colored chariot.

"Good thinking, Scoob!" Fred beamed.

"Rank rou."

Sometime later, Scooby ended up pulling the chariot with Shaggy, Sunset and Fluttershy riding in it.

"Good work, guys! You handle the gladiators, and we'll take care of this lion!" Fred shouted at them.

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Daphne whimpered.

"Give me your jacket."

"But I just bought this."

"Daphne! This is no time fer arguing!" Applejack chastised.

"Oh, all right!"

Daphne removed her jacket and gave it to Fred. Fred then used it like a bullfighter's cape to deal with the lion.

"Is he serious? Bullfighting?" Rainbow groaned.

"Now, wait a minute, Dash. Seeing Freddy like this gives me an idea," said Applejack.

"Yeah, what?"

Applejack walked over to the doors that the lion came out of earlier.

"Help me with this door, would you?"

Rainbow ran over to where her friend was and helped her open the doors.

"Freddy, lure him over here!"

Fred did just that and as soon as the lion was inside, the girls closed the doors and secured them.

"Whew! That was close!" Applejack sighed.

Daphne walked up to Fred and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"That was very brave, Freddy," she said.

"Adorable!" Rarity sang as Fred gave Daphne her jacket back.

Just then, everyone heard Shaggy and Scooby scream as they continued being chased by the gladiators.

"They're in trouble! Come on, y'all!" said Applejack.

One of the gladiators sliced one of the wheels right off with its sword, causing Shaggy and the others to tumble out. As they did, Shaggy also managed to get untangled from the net the gladiators trapped him in. Sunset held her head as she slowly got up.

"That was some ride," she groaned.

They then noticed that the gladiators were headed right towards them. So, they ran away as fast as they could to escape them, leaving a cloud of dust behind them.

"Good going, guys!" Fred congratulated.

"Whatever you say, Freddy," Sunset panted.

"Keep those gladiators busy just a little bit longer. We'll get the Scooby Snacks."

"That's easy for you to say, man," Shaggy whimpered.

"Reah," Scooby added.

"Try leading them up into those stands. That'll distract them long enough for us to get the box of Scooby Snacks," Twilight said.

"But we're… so exhausted," Fluttershy panted.

Just then, a spear came down right at their feet.

"Eep! Then again, maybe not."

She grabbed one of the poles as Shaggy and Scooby grabbed two more. Sunset ran off with the others as the three of them pole-vaulted over the wall. They then tried to distract them by having Scooby dressed up as Emperor Julius Caesar. The disguise soon came off, which exposed them. Just before the gladiators could finish them, Twilight grabbed the box of Scooby Snacks, transporting everyone to the next level of the game.

The gang eventually found themselves in some kind of jungle that was overgrown with wildlife. There were also plenty of mountains in the distance, as well as the sky being a beautiful bright orange-pinkish color. Just then, they all heard a screeching sound nearby. Looking above them, they all saw a purple pterosaur headed right for them. They all ducked and realized that they were in prehistoric times.

"Hey, look over there!" Fred said.

He was pointing to an apatosaurus in a lake getting its food from the trees. Just then, they all heard thunderous footsteps nearby. They all turned around and saw the Phantom Virus riding on the top of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

"TYRANNOSAUR!" Pinkie yelled.

"Let's head for the trees! It's too thick for them to follow!" Fred instructed as they all ran from the T-Rex.

They all ran as fast as they could and eventually managed to escape both the T-Rex and the virus. Frustrated, the Phantom Virus threw the spear he was holding directly at a tree. Back in the real world, everyone was relieved that the gang managed to escape the T-Rex.

"Whew! That was close!" Phantasma sighed.

"Yeah, but they're doing pretty good, so far," Eric said.

"I'm wondering something, here, you guys," said Wembley. "Who activated that laser and sent those poor kids into the game?"

"Who knows? Could be anyone," said Bill.

"Even someone in this very room," Professor Kaufman said slowly.

Back in the game, the gang decided to rest in a cave for a while.

"We just hiked through miles of jungle, and still can't find the Scooby Snacks," Daphne sighed.

"Well, we'd better," said Velma. "Otherwise, we'll be stuck in this level forever."

Sunset let out a heavy sigh.

"You all right, Sunset?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it's just that… we've been through a lot, lately," said Sunset. "You know, our encounters with zombies, werecats, witches, even aliens. I'm starting to wonder if all of this has anything to do with that book we found on Moonscar Island."

"It might," said Velma. "But we won't know for sure until we find all of the Geodes of Friendship."

While they were talking, both Scooby and Shaggy were busy drawing various food items on the cave walls. Velma noticed them and then asked who drew the image of the volcano.

"Hmm… I wonder if this volcano drawing means anything…" Twilight mused.

Just then, the fire started going out.

"It's going to be dark soon," said Applejack. Shaggy, Scooby, it's your turn to get the firewood! We'll try to keep this fire going as long as we can!"

Scooby and Shaggy went to go get some firewood but soon came back a while later without it. Not only that, but they were also nearly out of breath.

"What in tarnation is going on, boys? Where's the firewood?"

"Like, if we don't get out of here soon, we're all going to be firewood!" said Shaggy.

"What are you talking about, Shaggy?" asked Velma.

"Rolcano," said Scooby.

"Volcano?"

Scooby nodded his head and glanced out the cave. Sure enough, the volcano was erupting.

"My word! That thing is not good for my complex!" Rarity complained.

"I bet THAT'S where the Scooby Snacks are," said Velma.

"You know, Velma, I think you're right!" said Twilight. "That drawing of the volcano has to be a clue to lead us straight to the Scooby Snacks!"

"But it's miles away!" Daphne pointed out. "It'll take us hours to get there!"

That's when Fred thought of an idea: Wooly Mammoths. Even though they existed years after the dinosaurs, Twilight wasn't one to complain as long as they had good transportation to get to the volcano. The gang eventually made it to the volcano. Upon reaching it, they dismounted from the wooly mammoths.

"Any sign of the Scooby Snacks?" asked Fred.

"Like, all I can see is smoke," said Shaggy.

Suddenly, the volcano erupted, causing lava to pour out of the cone. The resulting eruption scared the wooly mammoths away. Just then, everyone heard a screeching sound coming from the volcano. Looking up, they saw a baby Pterosaur with its right wing trapped by a rock. All of a sudden, the ground around them began to shake, but it wasn't the volcano, this time. It was the Phantom Virus coming right towards them on the T-Rex.

"Quick, start climbing! The T-Rex was built for running, not climbing!" Twilight said.

Everyone did just that and managed to escape the prehistoric carnivore's massive jaws. Scooby and Shaggy even managed to barely dodge the Virus's spear that he threw at them.

"Nyanyanyanyanyanya! You can't get us!" Pinkie mocked.

Suddenly, the volcano erupted again. This time, lava really did start pouring down from the cone.

"I'M TOO YOUNG TO DI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IE!" Rarity wailed.

"Oh, my goodness! Look!" Fluttershy said. She pointed at the adult pterosaur they encountered earlier. It turned out that that particular pterosaur was the mother. "That mother pterosaur is trying to save her baby! We've gotta do something!"

Scooby decided to try and help out. He carefully climbed the volcano until he reached the nest. Upon reaching it, he pushed the boulder with all his might until it freed the pterosaur's wing. After pushing the boulder off, the pterosaur revealed that it was hiding the box of Scooby Snacks. The baby then noticed that the lava was coming down fast. Using quick thinking, the baby pterosaur grabbed Scooby with its talons. Scooby grabbed the box of Scooby Snacks just before it could carry him too far away from the nest.

"Way to go, Scooby-Doo!" Rainbow cheered.

Suddenly, both Scooby and the rest of the gang vanished from the prehistoric level and were transported to the next one. With three levels down, the gang knew that they only had seven left before they could officially return home. But what exactly was in store for them on the last level? Something that would surprise all of them, that's what.