//------------------------------// // Case Closed?/Another Batch of Dino Attacks // Story: G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// The Phantosaur haunting the town of La Serena were the makings of the man and woman from the Thaumatrope Mining Company that the gang had spotted just a few hours ago, and with the Phantosaur finally defeated, it was time to get some answers. As soon as everyone was reunited, the bikers kept a close watch on the villains, now known as Deitch and Babbit, while Fred began the interrogations. “So these Phantosaurs are animatronic dinosaurs,” he said, “from the real live dinosaurs exhibit your company sponsored.” “Yeah, that’s right,” Deitch nodded. “We hauled two of them out here a few days ago.” “Then,” Babbit continued, “we set a power cable, so we could operate them from the van.” “Power cables!” Misty suddenly realized. “So that’s what caused those snake tracks we saw outside the mine!” “Except they weren’t really snakes at all!” Pipp said before sighing, relieved. “Thank goodness for that…” “All we had to do,” Deitch continued, “was add a few decorations and glow paint to make it look like that Indian legend had come alive.” “It turned out pretty good, huh?” Babbit smirked. “Deitch here went to art school.” “Ooh, I’d love to see what you can do to a canvas!” Izzy said before handing her a business card. “When you get out of prison, hook up with me-- maybe I can get your artwork in the Maretime Bay museum someday.” “Uh… thanks,” Deitch said awkwardly as Izzy trotted back to her friends. “But there’s still one thing I don’t get,” Silhouette said. “Why go to all this trouble anyway?” “We just found a new vein of silver near the mines,” Deitch explained. “But as long as those scientists were digging, we couldn’t touch it.” “So you created the Phantosaurs to scare them away,” Velma figured it all out at that moment. “Yeah,” Deitch nodded. “Hey, it could have worked.” “It would have,” Babbit corrected. “And we would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling ponies and kids.” “And we’re proud of it!” the ponies chorused in unison with a slight laugh. Suddenly, police sirens sounded as two police cars approached and immediately took Deitch and Babbit into custody. “Well,” Fred announced, “looks like another mystery is solved.” “Wow… do you always feel this good after solving one of these crimes?” asked Silhouette in awe. “Yeah… it feels pretty good to know that we stopped a crime-spree,” Zipp nodded in confirmation. “But… you know… it usually takes a little longer than this.” “Yeah,” Velma nodded as they watched the police cars drive away. “I wonder how we solved it so quickly.” “Probably thanks to my older sister,” Pipp said, nudging Zipp playfully. “She’s a master detective in her own right.” “Heh… thanks,” Zipp smiled. “But I can’t take all the credit-- it was a team effort.” “Well, now that this is all over,” said Sunny, “I wanna get back to the spa and get a good night’s sleep.” “Sunny, my dear,” said the dragon queen with a relieved smile, “you’ve practically read my mind.” XXXXXXXX As the group drove down the road in the Mystery Machine, Shaggy was amazed at how he practically won the race thanks to... well, he honestly wasn't sure what. But it felt really good in that moment, so there was really no need to worry about it. “Nothing like a little motorcycle race to work up an appetite, eh, Scoob?” “Yeah,” Scooby nodded, fist bumping him. “You were awesome!” “Thanks, buddy!” Shaggy smiled. “By the way, how did I win the race?” “I don’t know.” “...me neither,” Shaggy admitted, just before seeing Zipp look puzzled and concerned over something all at once. “Hey, Zipster… you okay?” “Don't get me wrong, Shaggy, I'm really happy that you won the race, and the fact that you weren't dinosaur chow,” Zipp said respectfully, “but... I just can't help but feel that we would be a lot better off if we knew your secret keyword. That way, we could keep a better record of your brave periods.” “I hate to say it, but I think that Zipp might be right on this,” Hitch said with a slight frown. “We don't want Shaggy to get bold in the wrong circumstances, like... while he's being held at gunpoint or something.” “But then again, Shaggy could go brave at the right moments, like saving us from a giant ferocious dragon,” Pipp pointed out. “We'll just have to keep experimenting and see which keyword it is.” Zipp sighed reluctantly, knowing that her sister was right... ...and honestly, she hoped that they found out that secret keyword soon... for all their sakes. XXXXXXXX After a few minutes, they arrived back at the spa... but when they arrived, Mr. Hubley came running outside, looking panicked. “Stop! Stop!” “It's Mr. Hubley!” Velma said with wide eyes. “And he seems pretty upset about something!” Izzy said in concern, and Mr. Hubley stopped at the van, out of breath from running and from panic. “Thank goodness you're back! Something terrible has happened! Last night, somebody broke in and took my PLR equipment!” “What?! Ohh man, that is so not good!” Hitch said with wide eyes of panic. “Mr. Hubley, show us the scene of the crime,” Silhouette said, opening the door to let everyone else out, “and we'll work out who took the equipment and figure out how we can get it back for you. You have my word.” XXXXXXXX Mr Hubley did as the dragon queen asked, and immediate led the group through the hallways and into the dark PLR room. And just like Mr. Hubley said, the PLR projector had been completely ripped out, and many things in the room were in shambles as well. “Zoinks!” Shaggy said with a gasp. “The whole PLR thingy is, like, gonesville!” “Yeah,” Scooby nodded. “And it was stolen too.” “Whoever ripped the equipment out must be pretty strong,” Queen Silhouette pointed out in thought. “But what kind of creature would do something this extreme?” “Look, guys! Claw marks!” Daphne said, feeling some of the markings on the desk in front of her. “Velma and I have a set of footprints here!” Zipp said, removing her visor while Velma inspected the footprints before her. “Dromaeosaurus theopod of the Mongolian species. In other words... a velociraptor. And more than one, judging from this mess.” “Velociraptors?” Misty asked, confused. “But aren't they extinct? And besides, what would velociraptors, if they were still around, want with holographic equipment?” “I have no idea, Misty,” Sunny shook her head in concern. “But one thing is for sure... we might still have a mystery on our hooves and hands.” Suddenly, a clattering came from the next room, causing everyone to jump and shiver in fright. “They're still here!” Mr. Hubley exclaimed. “We should--” “Shh!” Velma said, immediately silencing him. “Horns and lights out!” Scooby visibly trembled as shadows in the next hallway over began to form, and they seemed to be inching closer, causing the group to back themselves even further into the darkness. “I feel the need to encourage all of you,” Zipp whispered to her friends, “nopony make a single sound!” But that’s when the creatures revealed themselves-- a quartet of ferocious velociraptors snarling at them from the doorway and charging at them at full force. This left the group with only one solution. “RUN!!!!!” Everyone screamed and ran out of the room with the velociraptors hot on their rears. Pipp eventually got split up with Shaggy and Scooby, getting the idea to hide in the large fountain in the middle of the spa. Fortunately for them, the velociraptor couldn't smell them through the water, so it stalked off to look somewhere else. Once realizing that the dinosaur was gone, Shaggy, Pipp and Scooby burst out of the waters of the fountain, having held their breath for a rather long time. “I think…” Shaggy panted tiredly, “...we… lost him!” “Well, I should HOPE so,” Pipp said with a shiver. “My wings are soaked and I won’t be able to fly until they’re dry again!” “Hey, would you rather have had the prehistoric serial killer hunt us down?” But as they were speaking, they had no idea the velociraptor had gotten into the water with them until they had turned to see him, causing them to scream and dive under the water in a chance to escape without much harm. As they reached the kitchen, Pipp knew that they wouldn't have much time before the velociraptor was on their tails again, so they had to work fast. That's when she saw a set of baking equipment and got an idea. “How gifted are you boys about crafting dough-made lookalikes?” “No idea what the heck that means,” Shaggy said, “but, like, if it gets us away from those ravenous reptiles, I’m all for it!” So, Pipp began to instruct the duo to make the right kind of modeling dough, and then they shifted it and made it look just like them, giving them the signal to hide before the velociraptor showed up. When it did, it roared and leapt on the dough figures, beginning to tear them to shreds before Pipp gestured for the boys to follow her discreetly out of the kitchen. Unfortunately, the velociraptor turned and saw them as they were escaping, sending them on the run once more. Eventually, they all met up with the others, who were being chased by velociraptors themselves, until they were backed into a corner of the lobby, completely surrounded. It was true... our heroes were trapped, and about ready to be eaten alive by prehistoric predators. Well, they would have been eaten alive, if another roar in the distance had not caused the raptors to turn and run out of the spa. “Where are they going?” Fred wondered before many of the group ran after them. “Where are YOU going?” Shaggy asked in bewilderment. “We’re gonna go figure out what these lizards are up to, and we need to move before they get too far ahead!” Silhouette told the cowardly duo, pushing them forward. “Come on!” The gang followed the raptors out of the spa and saw them running down the road toward La Serena… which looked like it was burning to the ground. “Oh my gosh!” Zipp cried. “They’re heading for town! And half of it looks like its on fire!” “Quick! We have to get to the van and see if we can help!” Misty urged her friends, who followed her in the same direction. XXXXXXXX Mr. Hubley, on the other hoof, had found a safe hiding place in the cabinets of the kitchen, and slowly crawled out of hiding just before he saw what remained of the dough replicas of Shaggy and Scooby, sprawled across the kitchen floor. “Scooby! Shazzy!” he cried out in sorrow, thinking this was the real duo. “Noo… they were so young!” XXXXXXXX Meanwhile, in the heart of La Serena, many civilians were running and screaming from a horrific sight-- another phantom dinosaur, but this one was much more different than the one that attacked before. This dinosaur was almost specter-like, resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex with horns a red semi-transparent body that gave it a more ghostly appearance. It also had spines growing from its back, and a tail that resembled a cross between the tail club of a ankylosaur and the tail spikes of a stegosaurus. Now, back to the story at hand. Many people on the streets were running from this ghostly dinosaur... well, all except Tex and his biker buddies, who were inside the malt shop getting drinks when the attack seemed to be going on. “If there's one thing I can't stand,” Tex said out loud, “it’s ghost dinosaurs! Come on!” “YEAH!!” the other bikers agreed and followed him outside. While the giant ghostly dinosaur continued to wreak havoc on the town of La Serena, the bikers took the chance to deal with the velociraptors, and give the Phantosaur less of a fighting chance. However, it still seemed to cause mayhem and havoc wherever it went-- even the La Serena police couldn’t do anything to stop it. But don't count out our Equestrian heroes and their friends yet-- they were high-tailing it into town when they saw all the mayhem happening... including them heading straight for a squad of police cars fleeing from the beast. “Look out, Fred!” Daphne shrieked, and Fred made a hard turn to avoid the police cars… but then, everyone screamed as the Mystery Machine bolted away from the Phantosaur breathing fire at them. “IT’S THE REAL PHANTOSAUR!!!” Shaggy and Izzy wailed, clinging to each other in desperation. “That can’t be possible!” Hitch said, almost panicking. “It just can’t! It has to be some sort of sick prank!” “Whatever it is,” Sunny said desperately, “somepony take some photos!” “On it!” Velma said before sticking her phone out the window and taking some pictures of both the Phantosaur and the velociraptors chasing them down the street. “Gotcha!” Pipp quickly rolled the window before one of the raptors could stick its head in, sighing in relief. “I like action films as much as the next pony, but this is just getting to be a little too ridiculous for my personal taste!” Luckily, Tex came up on the other side of the Mystery Machine and used his bike to knock one of the other raptors away from them. “Thanks, Tex!” Fred called out, but then returned his focus when he saw the Phantosaur tailing them once again.  But then, when they looked forward, the entire gang gasped as they saw the entire police force in front of them, causing the Mystery Machine to screech to a halt, but the raptors just ran right past them and into the darkness. The Phantosaur, however, rose up from the ground, in front of everyone there before it let out a huge roar that nearly blew them all away. Then, a blinding flash of light seemed to emerge from the creature, blinding them all before it vanished into thin air… …like it was never there to begin with. Our pony heroes and their friends, new and old, stood slack-jawed for a few moments before Fred decided to take the opportunity to speak. “Well, gang, it looks as if this mystery has been officially reopened.” “It sure has,” Zipp nodded. “Let’s hurry and get those videos to Professor Svankmajer… maybe she can tell us what the hey is going on.” XXXXXXXX Immediately, the group drove to the mines to find Professor Svankmajer just as the sun was beginning to rise over the desert. And once she saw the photos, the professor hummed in thought. “The smaller ones are raptors. But the large one, either that's what attacked my camp or…” “Hold it-- attacked your camp?” Zipp questioned. “What do you mean?” The professor said nothing, but led them back outside and gestured to a trailer that was literally bit in half. “That terrible creature must have done this.” “Yikes… I’d hate to be that guy right now,” said Hitch with a wince as he inspected the damage. “He probably has a major stomach ache from eating all that metal.” “Tell me about it,” Velma said before noticing that the professor was the only one on staff that morning. “Where’s Winsor?” “I sent everyone home after I saw this,” the professor said. “I'm getting out of here and if you have any sense, you will do the same. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish packing.” And just like that, the professor had walked off. But while the others seemed a bit confused, Velma seemed the most down and depressed with how Winsor just up and left like that. “I can't believe Winsor would go without saying goodbye.” Izzy put a comforting hoof on Velma’s shoulder just before Silhouette glanced around and caught site of something. “He didn’t! Look! Isn’t that Winsor’s car over there?” The others looked where she was pointing, and low and behind, Winsor’s car was parked right behind one of the old storage sheds. “Hey… you’re right, queen dude!” Shaggy pointed out. “Scientists are really lousy liars, huh?” “There’s definitely something going on here,” Sunny sighed, “but I can’t put my hoof on what it is exactly.” That’s when Fred said something that surprised the group all together. “Well, I guess we'll be leaving town now,” he said loudly. “Yep! Here we go!” The others looked stunned at this-- they were leaving? Already? But they hadn’t even solved the mystery yet! As Fred climbed back into the van and started the engine, Daphne approached in concern. “We’re not really leaving, are we?” “Of course not,” Fred reassured her with a sly smile. “We're gonna pick up a couple of things and then come back. I have a plan.”