Chapter 2: Damage Control

Soon after, Sheriff Stone and the rest of the Crystal Cove Police Department cordoned off the area with police tape while reporters looked around.

"Any clues to the cause of the attack?" queried Heather. "How did the dinosaur get through security? Where did Mystery Incorporated's plan go wrong?"

In the meantime, Velma was looking around for clues, and found a secret hatch underneath the Pterodactyl Ghost's podium. She lifted it up, revealing a dark tunnel underneath.

"A secret hatch..." she murmured. "The REAL Pterodactyl Ghost must've come through here..."

As the gang gathered around, Velma bent down and lifted something from the floor around the area—it was green and shiny. "A reptile scale..." she exclaimed. "A most wonderful clue..."

"He stole 2 costumes: The Black Knight Ghost and the Creeper...but why?" Fred wondered.

"I even saw them going for the 10,000-Volt Ghost costume before they flew off," chimed in Daphne.

"Question is, why did they want all of those costumes?" asked Scrappy.

Mary Jane nodded. "That's the real mystery, isn't it?" she asked. But she wasn't the only one wondering—the entire crowd was watching.

Heather Jasper-Howe stepped forward and spoke into her microphone. "Fred, Daphne...could you answer a couple of questions for the press?" she asked.

Fred and Daphne glanced at one another.

"I dunno, Fred..." said Daphne. "We've always faced reporters after we unmasked the creeps. We looked ridiculous back there."

Fred glanced between Daphne and the press, trying to think of what to say.

Finally, he spoke. "Don't worry, I can smooth this over," he insisted. "The press loves us."

So he took a deep breath, and approached the press, trying to recoup his confidence...

THE NEXT MORNING...

At Mystery Incorporated's new headquarters in downtown Coolsville, the gang met up to see how things had played out with the news interview the previous night.

Izzy and Mary Jane were on the couch while Fred and Velma were leaning against the wall, and Daphne had just entered the room.

"The higher the pedestal, the harder the fall," said Heather Jasper-Howe on the news that morning. "And Mystery Incorporated fell far in the embarrassing debacle that tarnished the reputation of the once-great gang."

Onscreen was footage of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo getting pulled around by the Pterodactyl Ghost, smashing into all sorts of things.

"It was an utter disaster as 2 of the gang's key members, Norville William 'Shaggy' Rogers and Scoobert 'Scooby' Doo, are seen here causing untold damage to Crystal Cove's hottest new tourist attraction, which took a full 2 years to complete," Heather Jasper-Howe continued, as Scooby and Shaggy sat behind a nearby counter, humiliated. Sure, it hadn't been that bad in the past, but now their bumbling nature was on display for everyone to see.

Scrappy sniffed, irritated. "Man, that lady stinks!" he remarked.

"Like a pile of rotten fish," agreed Izzy. "She didn't even mention they were being dragged across the table by, oh, I dunno—a giant pterodactyl!"

"Fred Jones, leader of Mystery Inc. had this to say," said Heather before footage of Fred came up.

"Little old Crystal Cove can solve its problems without us," he said.

Fred gawked at the footage. "Hey! I didn't say that!" he blurted.

"Technically, you did," replied Mary Jane.

Fred blanched. "Well, yeah, but—SHE TOOK IT OUT OF CONTEXT!" he sputtered.

Velma groaned as she went to turn off the television.

"And I guess little old Crystal Cove will have to," the reporter continued. "This is Heather Jasper-Howe reporting, disillusioned, from Coolsville."

KLIK!

Velma shut the TV off. "No matter WHAT you said, it wouldn't have made a difference," she insisted. "Everyone blames us for what happened. People are cancelling appointments left and right. If we don't do something, we'll be Mystery Blink."

"Over before we know it," Daphne added with a sigh.

Velma sighed. "It feels like we're back at square one, before Spooky Island..." she lamented. "This whole thing is my fault, anyway. I was the one who suggested the plan with the ropes."

"No, it was my fault," said Daphne. "I should've checked that they were tied before I let go."

"It's my fault, too," Fred declared as he stood up. "We all know how Shaggy and Scooby can be."

Shaggy and Scooby overheard, and they looked utterly destroyed.

"But it's all right; we just need to stay strong, in control, and work fast," Fred continued.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we oughta take a look at those clues Velma found?" suggested Izzy.

"I'm gonna see how Uncle Scooby and Shaggy are doing while you guys work on that," Scrappy told the others.

"Alright," nodded Mary Jane. "Good luck with that."

"In the meantime, we'll figure a way out of this Jurassic jumble," Velma declared as she, Daphne, Fred, Izzy and Mary Jane left.

So, Scrappy headed into the kitchen, where he found Scooby and Shaggy, reeling from the information they'd heard.

"We REALLY messed things up last night, huh, Scoob?" Shaggy sighed.

"Reah," Scooby nodded.

The lifelong friends sighed as they stared ahead with solemn expressions.

"I mean, lookin' back, I guess every time they make a plan, we DO botch it somehow," Shaggy continued. "I just never really, like, noticed it before."

"Re neither," agreed Scooby.

"...well, we can't let the gang's reputations suffer because of our screw-up," Shaggy declared. "What if we didn't mess around and acted like REAL detectives? That way we could prove our worth and show we can carry our own weight on the team!"

Scooby burst out laughing thinking Shaggy was joking for a moment, but as his laughter died down, he saw there wasn't a single trace of mirth on his best friend's face. "...really?" he asked.

"Really-really," Shaggy nodded. "You saw how embarrassed everyone was after what went down last night. Besides, it's about time we started showing why we're a part of this team!"

Scooby gave a firm nod. "Ro, reah!"

Shaggy and Scooby rose to their feet.

"Scoob, as of now we need to make a promise," Shaggy declared. "From this moment on, we will NOT screw up anymore!"

Scooby nodded. "Ro more screw-ups!"

Shaggy put his right hand in the air, and Scooby raised his right paw.

"We are gonna buckle down, get serious, and act like REAL detectives!" Shaggy vowed.

"Ruckle down! Rerious! Real detectives!" Scooby chanted.

"And now..." Shaggy said as he put his hand out. "...we shake on it to make it official!"

Scooby nodded and took Shaggy's hand. And with that, they shook on it.

"Like, not bad!" Shaggy smiled. "I'm already feelin' more detectivorial! Now, we gotta LOOK like detectives!"

A few minutes later...

The duo burst into the Crime Lab, dressed rather strangely. Shaggy was dressed in what looked like Fred's clothes but in green and brown, plus one of his ascots. And Scooby had on Velma's sweater...but not her skirt. He didn't think he could pull that off. What he did think he could pull off, however, was Daphne's boots.

"What are you two doing?" asked Fred, bewildered.

"Scooby, you're gonna stretch out my sweater!" Velma scolded as she ran towards them. "Sure, I still have 38 others just like it, but that's beside the point!"

"Like Daph says, 'image is everything'!" Shaggy replied. "So we figured the first step to solving the crime is wearing the right attire!"

"You're going to solve the mystery by dressing like us...?" Daphne asked her boyfriend in confusion.

"And by using the most important parts of our bodies," said Shaggy. "Our brains!"

Daphne cringed. "The brains I can buy, but those boots don't go with that sweater," she pointed out.

"If you're done...maybe we should get back to solving this mystery?" asked Scrappy.

Suddenly, a machine beeped, and a printout emerged from within. Shaggy plucked it from the desk and beamed. "Ah! Clues!" he exclaimed, looking it over. "What ARE these strange markings?"

Fred picked it up and flipped it around in Shaggy's hands. "Those are words, Shag, and you had them upside-down." he explained.

"Ah...right," Shaggy replied, feeling pretty stupid.

Velma plucked the paper from her hand and studied it. "C'mon, you kooks," she sighed. "Looks like the results came back positive. That's a REAL pterodactyl scale."

"That masked figure was out to humiliate us, AND take revenge on Crystal Cove," said Fred, as he, Velma and Daphne strolled off to talk, leaving Shaggy and Scooby in the proverbial dust.

"Uh...Scoob, take notes!" Shaggy instructed.

Scooby gave a thumbs-up as he started working on the notepad. Clearly, the gang were trying to ignore this while sticking to the main situation.

"Maybe it's someone you unmasked?" asked Mary Jane.

"But who would be able to make a real Pterodactyl Ghost?" inquired Velma.

Daphne's eyes widened as she got an idea. "The original Pterodactyl Ghost!" she exclaimed, as she brought up one of Mystery Incorporated's case files. "Johnathan 'Johnny' Jacobo. He was trying to use the Pterodactyl Ghost to keep people away from that hang-gliding contest so he could continue his true plans: pirating music and selling the bootleg tapes with Mr. Bohannon."

[Note: this was what REALLY happened with the Pterodactyl Ghost, from the episode Hang in There, Scooby-Doo. I dunno where they got this nonsense about him trying to make a monster army came from.]

"A fairly substantial hypothesis," replied Velma. "But I doubt Johnny is smart enough to create a real-life dinosaur monster. He mainly used a rubber suit and his hang-gliding skills."

"You think he might've gotten out?" asked Fred.

"Highly unlikely," stated Velma.

"So he's still slumming in the slammer?" asked Mary Jane.

"My guess would be parole," replied Izzy.

"Maybe..." said Fred. "But what about THIS? Jacobo's cellmate was released from prison 2 months ago: one Mr. Jeremiah Wickles. That name sound familiar?"

"I know! I know!" Scrappy exclaimed. "That was the guy who was The Black Knight Ghost!"

Daphne smiled. "Good memory, Scrappy!" she replied. "Wickles was the Black Knight Ghost! One of our first major cases!"

"And the Black Knight Ghost was one of the costumes that got stolen!" Izzy pointed out.

"It seems Old Mr. Wickles deserves a visit before any of our creepy conquests make a comeback," Velma stated.

Shaggy gave a nod. "Yeah!" he replied, prompting everyone to look at him. "Scooby Doo! What's your conclusion?"

Scooby held up a drawing of a rabbit. "Bunny!" he replied.

"...you know what? Maybe we should take it from here," said Velma. "You guys...just stay back here."

Scooby and Shaggy both looked pretty hurt by that statement. Scrappy took notice. "Maybe they could come along?" he suggested. "We could use all the help we can get."

"I guess we could," admitted Fred. "Maybe this time things will go better."

"Way to be optimistic, Fred," commented Izzy.

"Hey, someone's got to be," Fred shrugged.

"So when do we head out?" asked Mary Jane.

"Right now," said Fred as he grabbed the keys to the Mystery Machine. And with that, the others followed Fred out to their van.

Hope this is substantial enough for you, folks. I've been busy with lots of stuff, so apologies for not updating until now.