"Scoota-Loo, Where Are You!?"

by Kieva Lynn

Enormous Escargo Escapades!

We open this tale on a small farmhouse in the French wine country, just after sunset. As we peer through the windows of the house, we see a widowed farmer, Pierre, and his five year old son Jean Luc, eating dinner together. But a calm happy family meal is disrupted when Pierre looks at his son's plate, and sees something shocking:

"Eh? What is this!?" Pierre exclaims, "Jean Luc, why have you not eaten your escargot? It is delicious, no?"

"No!" The boy replies, throwing down his fork, "It is slimy, disgusting, and made of snails!* I do not wish to eat the escargot Father!"

Pierre sighs inwardly, and says "But Jean Luc! You must eat your escargot! Or Lou Carcolth will come!"

"Lou... Who?" Jean Luc replies in confusion.

"You mean you have never heard!? Lou Carcolth is a giant and monstrous snail! He knows which little children have eaten their escargot! And... Which... Have... Not."

"Do you mean... Is it like, how Santa Claus knows which children have been naughty, and which have been nice?" The boy asks, trying to follow the concept.

Pierre nods his head in affirmation. "Yes indeed! It is exactly the same! Except... For one, terrible, difference... For you see, if you do not eat your escargot, Lou Carcolth will come, and he will.... He will..." Here Pierre began to pretend he was horrified by what he had been about to say, "No! No I will not speak the words! It is just too terrible!"

"What Father?" Jean Luc asks, riveted by Pierre's performance, "What will Lou do?"

Pierre sighs again, openly this time. "Jean Luc. If you do not eat your escargot, Lou Carcolth will eat-" (Here he stands up straight and points at his son,) "...YOU!!"

"Sacre-bleu! No!" Jean Luc exclaims, and quickly begins to choke down the escargot on his plate, as well as on Pierre's plate too...

An hour later. With Jean Luc tucked safely in bed, Pierre is in the kitchen washing dishes. "Foolish child, as all children are..." He thought to himself. "He fell for it just as I did at his age! So now my boy will eat well and grow big and strong! And best of all, I will never have to eat the disgusting snails again, heh heh..."

Moments later, a knock sounded at the front door. "Eh? Who could it be at this late hour?" Pierre wondered. Drying his hands on a towel, he headed for the front door, the knock impatiently repeating twice more before he could get there despite the small size of the house. "Yes, yes! I am coming, I am co-" Here Pierre opened the door. And looked up. And up. And up...

"I got a report of a guy named Pierre, what didn't eat his escargot..." Said Lou Carcolth...

Elsewhere in the wine country, we find Mystery Machine, driving along winding narrow country roads. "Oh this is just so romantic, being in France!" Daphne gushed.

"I dunno... It just looks like another lonely countryside to me." Apple Bloom replied, looking out the passenger side window. "At least that Paris place was busy and exciting."

"And, like, filled with delicious French food!" Shaggy said.

"Philistines all of you." Daphne grumped.

Scootaloo shook her head. "Oh come on Daphne! We get that you love it here! It's just not our thing! Right Scooby?"

"Speak for yourself Rootaroo." Scooby answered, "I, for one, am in rove!"

"Oh Scooby really? With who?" Daphne asked.

The great dane pulled out a six foot long baguette, which he had sliced down the middle long ways and turned into a massive sandwich. "Rench-style Ragwood sandwich!" He said, hugging the sandwich while muttering about it being his "Rrecious" and then gobbled it all down in one bite while Daphne grumped again, and everyone else laughed.

"Huh... What's this?" Freddy wondered from the driver's seat. Up ahead, alongside the road, they could see a building.

Velma said "Freddy according the the map there shouldn't be anything on our path for miles yet. Have you gotten us lost again?"

"Like big surprise... GPS and Freddy still gets lost constantly." Shaggy said.

Scootaloo said "That may be our fault Shaggy. I overheard Velma talking about pony magic throwing those things off."

"It's not your fault Scoots. Just one of those things." Velma answered.

As they drove closer to the building, they were able to read a sign in French, which Daphne translated as it being a pub. "Maybe we can get directions!" She suggested, so Freddy pulled the van into the parking lot and everyone piled out and walked single-file into the pub. The first thing the gang noted was a distinct lack of customers; Though there was room for nearly a hundred patrons, fewer than a dozen were present. The second thing they noted were two men, one behind the bar, the other in front, arguing animatedly with each other in French.

"The man behind the bar is the owner." Daphne translated in whispers. 'The other fellow wants to buy the bar, and insists he's doing the owner a favor, but the owner isn't having it."

The argument soon escalated into shouting, and the would-be buyer finally threw up his arms and stormed out in a huff. "That... Seemed like more than a business disagreement." Velma mused.

"Agreed, but I don't think it's any of our business." Freddy said. "I'll just ask directions." He approached the owner and attempted to speak to him in French, "Pardonnez-moi, mais mon aeroglisseur est rempli d'anguilles et je ne peux pas les manger sans moutarde?"

The owner stared at Freddy in confusion until Daphne sighed and said "You'd better let me handle this. I actually know the language..."

At this the owner laughed and said "Or we could just converse in English. I do know the language after all."

"Like great! We're lost Mister Pub Owner dude sir, and need directions!" Shaggy said.

"Rand food!" Scooby added.

"Sacre-bleu!" The owner jumped back from the talking dog.

Apple Bloom said "Aw shucks, that's just Scooby! He's okay!"

Relaxing at the comparative normalcy of a talking pony, the man asked where they were going, and quickly gave directions. But before the gang could leave, the front door burst open, admitting a crying Jean Luc calling out to the owner "Uncle Francois! Uncle Francois!"

Worry crossed the man's face. "Jean Luc!? Why are you here at such an hour? Where is your father?"

"Oh Uncle it is awful! My papa was taken... By Lou Carcolth!"

At this the silence in the pub was palpable as every patron was staring at the boy in shock and fear. "Excuse me sir, but who is this 'Lou' guy?" Scootaloo asked.

"Lou Carcolth is not a who but a what!" Francois explained, "A giant monster snail! We had thought he was a myth, but for the last two weeks he has been showing up all over this area attacking people who do not eat enough escargot!"

At these words, Shaggy and Scooby zipped into seats at the bar and Shaggy called out "Like two servings of escargot please!"

"Rand give them wings!" Scooby added.

Daphne strolled over to the duo and whispered in Shaggy's ear for a moment, after which he exclaimed "Like it's made of what!? Oh the things I do to stay safe from monsters..."

"What's it made from Rhaggy?"

"Like ol' buddy ol' pal ol' friend... You, like, do not want to know..." Shaggy was beginning to turn green.

Meanwhile Freddy, having helped to reassure Jean Luc that his father would be fine, stood and said "Okay gang! We've got a mystery to solve!"

Shaggy asked "Like Freddy do we have to?"

"Come on Shaggy! It's a snail! It'll be really slow!" Scootaloo said. "I bet you could just walk and get away from it!"

"Like hey yeah! That's right! Hey Scoob, finally a monster we don't have to be afraid of!"

"Reah!"

"Like okay, we're in. So what's the plan Freddy?"

Freddy began to lay out his plan: "Okay, Velma? I want you and Sweetie Belle to go check for clues at Jean Luc's house. And I couldn't help but notice how all the customers here reacted when Jean Luc said the name, so Daphne, Apple Bloom, and I will stay here and try talking to them to see what else we can learn."

"What about us?" Scootaloo asked.

"It's suspicious that the monster attacks people who don't eat escargot. So you, Shaggy and Scooby will go snoop around the local snail producers for anything unusual." Freddy explained.

"Alrighty then! Let's get this here show on the road!" Apple Bloom cheered, and the groups went thier separate ways...

Velma and Sweetie Belle cautiously approached the farmhouse from the back, alert for any signs of danger but detecting nothing. They reached the back patio, and Velma produced the key Jean Luc had let her borrow and opened the door, allowing them both to slip inside. Velma closed and locked the door behind her.

"Maybe we should call out." Sweetie whispered. "I mean, what if Jean Luc just had a bad dream and his dad is here in bed asleep?"

"I doubt it..." Velma answered. "I mean, at his age, his dad's bed is the first place he'd run after a bad dream. Besides, I don't want to let anyone bad know we're here if this isn't a wild goose chase. After all, even if Jean Luc's experience was just a dream, there is still a mystery here with all the other people who've seen the monster."

Sweetie pondered that for a moment. "That makes sense. So, all the curtains are pulled, can we risk a little light?" Velma nodded yes, and the unicorn lit a faint glow from the tip of her horn.

They were in a kitchen. Water stood in the sink, which was still half full of unwashed dishes but nothing else was out of place.

"Indicative." Velma muttered, looking at the unwashed pots and pans.

"Yeah, thanks to being friends with 'Bloom even I know that! A farm family would never put off chores." Sweetie agreed.

"Let's check out the rest of the house..."

The search didn't take long. The open kitchen door led into a dining room, then the path looped around to a long narrow hallway. The first door served a washroom, the second a closet. Number three was clearly Jean Luc's room, and at the end of the hall was the father Pierre's room. Notably, the bed was still made. Two doors branched off from this chamber. Velma expected a closet and a master bath, but instead the second door led to a study. Of particular note was a bookcase loaded with memorabilia relating to a superhero Sweetie had never heard of. "Monsieur Courageous?" She asked.

"Yeah, I've heard of him..." Velma said. "He's really big here in France but never caught on in the States."

"Why not?"

"Well that's a long sad story. See, during the second world war the French Resistance had some of the bravest fighters in the world. But, all anyone Stateside ever remembers is the French army running for their lives when the Maginot Line fell. As a result, there's just not enough suspension of disbelief in the entire universe to make American readers accept the notion of a brave Frenchman."

"That's not right." Sweetie complained.

"No, it isn't..." Velma agreed, "And here's something else that's not right... Look at this empty display case in the middle of everything else. It looks like the crown jewel of this collection is missing."

"Missing, or maybe he just hasn't gotten it yet and is saving the space- No, wait. If that were the case the display light wouldn't be turned on yet would it?" Sweetie deduced.

"Very good Sweetie Belle, and exactly correct, I doubt the light would be on if the case was always empty. This is clearly a clue. Come on, let's check out the rest of the house."

They returned to the dining room, and from there took another door that led into the large family room. Everything here seemed normal, save that the house's front door, directly across from the dining room door, was knocked clean off it's hinges and laying flat on the floor. Gallons of slime covered the door, door frame, and front porch. "Jinkies! What a mess!" Velma gasped as they carefully stepped through the door and out onto the porch, avoiding the slime as much as possible. "I need to analyze a sample of this." She said and scooped some into a test tube.

"Do you think this is really giant snail slime?" Sweetie asked.

"We'll know soon enough. Though, I'll point out another clue to you: The slime stops here. Whatever took the contents of that case didn't ooze slime into the house itself."

Sweetie started to say "Which means-" But stopped as her ears twitched about, locking onto a sound. "Do you hear that?"

Velma listened intently and after a moment agreed "Yeah, it's sounds like screaming. And it's getting closer... Quick! Hide!" They ducked behind some convenient patio furniture and watched...

"Like Gangway!!" Shaggy cried out as he ran alongside Scooby and Scootaloo, the massive Lou Carcolth in hot pursuit behind them and rapidly closing the distance. "Scootaloo! I thought you said this thing would be slow!"

"Well, I mean... It's a snail! It should be slow!" Scootaloo yelled back.

"Yeah well it's not! I don't think the Speed Demon ghost was this fast!"

"Rope. He wasn't." Scooby agreed.

"Look I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know 'Turbo' was a documentary!?"

From behind them the massive snail kaiju's deep rumbling voice boomed out, "Flee you fools! Flee or I shall dine well tonight!"

As the monster drew ever closer, Scootaloo said "Shaggy? I've got an idea!"

"Like does it involve being eaten by a snail?"

"Not if it works!"

"Then like I'm game! Go for it!" Shaggy answered, and wondered, not for the first time this night, how he had gotten into this mess...

As Freddy had instructed, the trio had set off to investigate local escargot producers. Asking around had revealed that there was only one, though, and they had arrived at the front gates thirty minutes prior to the chase. A sign above the entry bore writing in both French and English, proclaiming it the "Escargantua" corporation, and boasting, ironically, of "France's BIGGEST Escargot Snails," and also stated that all snails were raised on site, and fed only organic foods. There was a guard shack at the gate, but no guard, and the gates themselves stood wide open.

Staring at the empty guard shack, listening to the too quiet of the night, Scooby said "Rhraggy? Rootaroo? I don't rike this...."

"Oh don't worry Scoob. I'm sure the guard is just making his rounds or something." Shaggy said.

"Maybe, but where is everyone else?" Scootaloo wondered.

"Let's take a look." Shaggy said, "And just keep telling ourselves 'It's just a snail, we can outrun it... It's just a snail, we can outrun it...'"

They crossed a gravel lot between the security fence and the main building, taking note that there were a large number of cars parked there. The door into the building required a key card, but luckily for them it was propped open. They crept quietly into the first chamber, which proved to be an employee's locker room. A single, unsecured door led to a long wide hallway with doors on both sides.

The first door was labeled 'hatchery' and contained row after row of tables hosting clutches of snail eggs. This was followed by a large room full of live snails in various stages of growth, and a room filled with bags of feed and medicines. No clues were found in any of these rooms, save for the total absence of any employees despite all the cars outside. Next was a locked and mysteriously unlabeled door.

Scootaloo asked "Should we just pass this one by? It's probably a janitor's closet or something."

"Like believe me Scoots I'd like nothing better. But you know Freddy and the girls will ask if we checked out everything and send us back if we didn't, so we'd might as well get this over with..." Shaggy said, and he tried to jiggle the lock open but had no luck.

"Rep aside please." Scooby said. Shaggy stepped next to Scootaloo, and Scooby began picking the lock with a nail. After only a few seconds, the door sprung open. "Rafter you!" Scooby motioned to the open door, and when Shaggy hesitated Scootaloo trotted in first.

Beyond the door was a roughly twenty by twenty foot chamber, most of the space filled with large aquariums. Eel like fish of some sort swam happily in the waters. In one corner of the room sat a small work desk, loaded down with loose papers. "Okay, so not a janitor's closet." Scootaloo said. "But this has to be a clue."

"Like no kidding! Why would an escargot farm have aquariums full of hagfish?"

"Ragfish?" Scooby asked, while Scootaloo began examining the papers.

"Scoob you've never heard of hagfish? They have, like, one of the most disgusting defense mechanisms in the entire animal kingdom! Watch!" He grabbed a long pole and carefully slid it down into one of the tanks. As soon as he poked a hagfish, the creature reacted by filling the waters around itself with a seemingly impossible amount of slime.

"Wow! That's horrible and awesome at the same time!" Scootaloo laughed.

"Yeah!" Shaggy agreed, and then began to ponder, "But I wonder... Snails move around on slime right? If this is just another fake, maybe someone here is responsible for Lou Carcolth! And these hagfish are to harvest for the giant snail's slime!"

"Makes rense to me!" Scooby agreed. "Rut why?"

"I dunno Scoob, maybe this place is losing money, about to go under, so they're trying to drum up business by making people too afraid to not eat escargot."

Scootaloo shook her head, and passed a sheet of paper to Shaggy. "I don't think so... According to this, 'Escargantua's' profits are great and going up. They have no motive."

"Huh. Well it was a thought. Let's get out of here huh?" Shaggy said, and they made their way back to the front door. But no sooner had they stepped out side then a voice loudly proclaimed "I Hunger!! And as I smell no escargot on your breaths, you will make a perfect meal!" The voice seemed to come from above, and they looked up to see Lou Carcolth looking down upon them from the roof of the building.

Shaggy's hair frizzed out and he jumped back, exclaiming "Zoinks! It's Snail-zilla! Scooby, Scootaloo, Run For It!!" And so began the chase we interrupted earlier, and now return to just as Scootaloo is putting her plan in motion:

Directly in the trio's path as they ran was a large storage barn. Scootaloo took the lead and ran inside through an unsecured door, which Shaggy and Scooby slammed shut behind them. Of course, a simple wooden door wasn't about to stop something like Lou Carcolth; The ginormous snail just rammed its way through and oozed into the barn...

Where it found a beautifully appointed restaurant that looked like it belonged it the fanciest parts of Paris. "Ah! Oui oui Monsieur Carcolth!" Maitre'd Scootaloo greeted as she trotted towards the monster. "Welcome to 'The Slimy Slug,' France's first and only five star restaurant for gastropods!" The confused creature looked around as the pegasus continued, calling out "Oh wait staff! Our best table for Monsieur Carcolth!"

Waiter Shaggy appeared, maneuvering Lou Carcolth into an oversized chair at an equally large table, while waiter Scooby put a large bowl of freshly heated snail feed before the monster, which began to salivate at the sight of it. It took a bite, then spat it out and began to roar angrily. Scootaloo ran out in front of the creature and said "Ah! A thousand apologies! Our chef is new and still makes mistakes sir! But not to worry! I know exactly what the problem is..."

"...Not enough Salt!!" And with those words Shaggy and Scooby each yanked hard on a rope hanging from the rafters above, a several tons of salt poured down, burying the monster snail. Scootaloo jumped atop the massive salt pile and danced about cheering "We did it! We did it!"

Then Shaggy and Scooby joined her, also dancing. "Like take that!" Shaggy exclaimed. "Snails and salt do not mix!"

"Reah! Rcience!" Scooby agreed.

And then the salt pile shuddered and Lou Carcolth burst free, right out from under them.

"Ruh-Roh!!" Scooby yelped, and to keep from falling to the ground he grabbed ahold of one of the snail's eyestalks with his front legs, while Shaggy grabbed on by Scooby's back legs and Scootaloo clung for dear life to Shaggy's feet. Lou Carcolth broke back out of the barn, and once outside began to rapidly move its head in a manner that caused the three to spun about faster and faster until Scooby's grip failed and with a scream of "Roh no!" they went flying high through the air, screaming in terror, the snail following along on the ground below...

Apple Bloom cast her gaze around the pub. There hadn't been many customers to begin with, and half of them had skedaddled when they heard the name Lou Carcolth. Still present, though, were a rough looking old man with a long grey beard, a thirty-ish woman in what 'Bloom recognized as, by human standards, far too little clothes for the public eye, and a young couple busily snogging in a back booth. "So, who do we talk to first?" She asked Fred and Daphne.

"We'll save the couple for last. With any luck they'll have come up for air by then." Daphne said.

Freddy pondered, "Old man or lady...?"

"The old man first." Daphne insisted, secretly hoping the woman would leave in the interim. She didn't want her Freddy near the half naked... no, make that three-quarters naked trollop. For his part Freddy was oblivious of this and just agreed, so they approached the man.

"Excuse me sir?" Daphne asked, "But we'd like to ask you a few questions..."

"Oh but of course! This old man has too little company these days, let alone company of your beauty!"

Blushing, Daphne said "Well, well... A charmer."

The old man shook his head. "In my younger days perhaps. Not for a long time now. So, what did you want to know?"

"We're investigating the mystery of Lou Carcolth." Freddy explained. "We were wondering if you've seen the monster yourself?"

"Or heard anything that might be important." Apple Bloom added.

"Hmmm...." The man stroked his beard in thought for several seconds. "Well, I've not seen it myself. Not sure I even believe it really. Though, I can tell you that's it's not just made up. There really is folklore about the giant snail Lou Carcolth, who eats those who don't eat escargot."

Apple Bloom cocked her head in confusion. "Yeah I don't get that part... Why would he want people 't eat his own kind?"

"Mister Peanut." Freddy said.

"Charlie the Starkist Tuna" Daphne added.

"Human advertising is weird." 'Bloom decided.

"And all codswallop!" The old man said to them, "No escargot... I've not eaten the stuff in fifty years! So why hasn't this monster came after me!?"

"That's a good question sir, and almost certainly a clue." Freddy said.

"Thank you for your time sir." Daphne said as they rose to move on.

The young couple was still making out so hard as to be lost to the world, so to Daphne's dismay they had to talk to the underdressed woman. The good news was, that in spite of the woman's aggressive advances Freddy was in fact still oblivious, his mind looping between Daphne, the mystery, and trap ideas with no room for anything more. The bad news was, she proved to be something of a bimbo and knew nothing useful:

"So, like, what's a snail? Is it a kind of car?"

"Erm... No miss, they're the little animals escargot is made from." Freddy explained.

The bimbo snickered. "Exactly! 'Es-CAR-got!'"

"Seriously?" Daphne thought, then said "What about the monster? Have you heard anything about that?"

"Monster? Well, I did drink like ten of them in a row and woke up in a hospital one time."

"No we mean a monster monster." Apple Bloom said, already getting exasperated.

"Coool! A talking cat!"

"I'm... A pony."

The woman shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous! Ponies don't talk!"

"But neither do cats," Freddy said, "And you thought..."

Bimbette seemed to really notice Freddy for the first time. "Well hello sailor! Wanna come back to my place?"

Seeing red now, Daphne placed herself in between Freddy and the woman. "Back. Off."

"Easy Daphne...." Apple Bloom said, placing a hoof on her arm.

Fortunately the woman didn't escalate. "Like, you people suck. You too cat! I'm out of here!" She said, and stumbled away and out the door.

"This is probably wrong of me to say," 'Bloom said, "But that was disturbing... Do you think she could be our villain? I mean no one is that dumb right? It had to be an act."

"Sadly I have to disagree 'Bloom." Daphne said. "People can be that dumb, and I think she's really one of them..."

Freddy and Daphne moved on to the couple who had finally relented. Apple Bloom started to follow, but then noticed Jean Luc sitting in a booth by himself. "Excuse me you two. I gotta check on something." She said, then trotted over and jumped into the seat next to the boy. "You okay buddy?"

"Yes. I am just worried about my Papa." Jean Luc answered.

"I can understand that. But I'll tell you right now, with my friends on the case he's gonna be just fine." Apple Bloom said. Then she noticed a thin book or magazine laying in the seat next to the boy. "Say, what's that?"

"Oh! It belongs to my uncle I guess. I found it behind the counter. My papa has one too, but I've never gotten to see it."

"Say where is your Uncle anyway?"

Jean Luc pointed to the kitchen door. "He is working. I asked to go with him, but he said a pub kitchen is too dangerous for someone my age, so I should wait here."

'Bloom found herself disgusted that the man had put continuing to work ahead of his nephew at a time like this. She looked across the room and saw Freddy and Daphne in an animated conversation with the couple, and decided it was her duty to do what she could to cheer Jean Luc up. "Well I tell you what... Why don't we read that book you got huh? It looks interesting!"

"I cannot read yet." Jean Luc cried.

"Eenope... But I can, and I'll read for you!" 'Bloom said cheerfully, and Jean Luc smiled, then opened the book and they began to read...

After hiding, Velma and Sweetie Belle continued to listen to the screams, which were getting closer and closer and a rapid pace. After a few seconds, Velma gasped. "I'd know those panicked screams anywhere!" She said, and ran out onto the front lawn. Looking up, she saw Shaggy, Scootaloo, and Scooby falling from the sky.

"Like look out below!" Shaggy screamed when he saw Velma. But they were falling too fast for her to do anything to help them, and it looked to be a rough landing. Fortunately, at almost the last moment before it would have been too late, he felt a sudden pull upwards and looked to see Scootaloo still holding onto his feet, wings beating furiously, struggling to slow their fall. Considering that she still couldn't even lift her own weight to fly it shouldn't have been enough, but something, adrenaline perhaps, was giving her enough wingpower to slow them enough for the landing to be survivable.

They slammed to the ground, and Velma and Sweetie Belle came running to their aid.

"Are you okay!?" Velma exclaimed.

"Scootaloo that was incredible!" Sweetie cheered.

Shaggy sat up and shook himself off. "Like yeah, I think we're okay. And thanks Scoots, that really was far out!"

"I didn't know I had it in me..." Scootaloo answered, stumbling about in exhaustion.

"So what happened?" Velma asked.

"Like Lou Carcolth happened." Shaggy explained, "And he's way faster than a snail should be. But we found a good clue at least. See, there's these fish tanks, and-"

"Um, Rhraggy?" Scooby interrupted, "Raybe you should tell Relma about this later..."

"Like why?"

"Rhat's why!" Scooby screamed, and pointed to the horizon, where Lou Carcolth was still coming after them.

"Jinkies!" Velma gasped.

"Like man o man he does not give up!" Shaggy said, and took off running. The others were right behind him, except for the exhausted pegasus.

"Scootaloo come on!" Sweetie shouted.

"Little help?" Scootaloo answered back.

And as big of a cowardly chicken as Scooby may be, let it never be said he'd leave a friend in a lurch; The dog scrambled back, tossed Scootaloo on his back, and ran for it as hard as he could. "Thanks Scooby." Scootaloo sighed.

"You're relcome!"

The gang fled across a field full of grape vines, angling away from the pub since the monster was after them. Unfortunately this deep in the wine country there were precious few places to shelter, or even to get out of the massive snail's line of sight long enough to plot. With no better choice, they made for a nearby hill, hoping for something useful on the other side. Lou Carcolth slowly closed in on them, but he had started far enough away that they crested the hill nearly a minute before he would get there. But there was nothing in sight except for more fields of grapes.

Velma said "Okay, we've got a few seconds. Fast plan time."

"Like break left and right and hide in the grape trellises." Shaggy suggested.

"I've got nothing better!" Sweetie agreed. Velma nodded her agreement as well, and they quickly hid.

Less than ten seconds later, Lou Carcolth appeared over the top of the hill. it looked about in confusion, muttered "Merdre" and oozed off back the way it had come.

The gang waited several minutes, just in case the monster snail was bluffing, then crept out of their hiding spots and huddled together in a circle to compare notes. Velma and Sweetie Belle reported on the empty house, missing display case item, and pile of slime at the door. Shaggy, Scooby, and Scootaloo (Who had regained her footing by this point,) talked about the aquariums full of hagfish and all the missing plant workers.

"I'm starting to see some patterns..." Velma said, "But I still don't have everything I need. There's a crucial part of the big picture still missing."

"So should we head back to the pub then?" Scootaloo asked.

Velma answered "Yeah, I think so. I still need to analyze the slime sample, and we need to see what the others have learned."

"Like alright then, let's go!" Shaggy said.

Sweetie Belle turned away from their circle and started to trot in the direction of the pub, but made it only as far as turning when she ran into something. Lou Carcolth was Right. There. "Fooled you!" The monster laughed, and it's head bent down to swallow her whole. Luckily Scootaloo was faster, knocking them both clear just as they heard Scooby cry out "Ruh-Roh!" and then everyone was on the run once more. They fled across vineyards, and over hills and through low valleys, and even back past the 'Escargantua' factory, where they had another of their regular 'hall of random doors' moments, this one involving the cars abandoned in the parking lot. At one point the monster snail chased them into the building, and they tried to fake it out by hiding in the hagfish tanks, obscured as they were with slime, but even that didn't work; If nothing else, Lou Carcolth was cannier than most of their villains and not easily fooled.

When the chase led back outside, the previously clear starry sky had clouded over. Which gave Velma an idea. "Sweetie, can you focus the light your horn makes into a beam?" She asked.

"Maybe...? I've never had to try." The unicorn answered.

"Well try, and aim it at the clouds!"

Sweetie built up her magic, horn glowing brightly, and after a couple of tries had a pretty stable beam, illuminating a circle on the bottom of the clouds. "Okay, now what!?"

"Now we make like Commissioner Gordon!" Velma answered, "Shaggy?"

It wasn't easy to do while running, but Shaggy tried to use his knowledge of finger shadow puppets to create a recognizable image in the circle of light on the clouds. It wasn't going well, so Scooby jumped in making shadows with his front paws, creating a symbol anyone who knew him would instantly recognize...

Apple Bloom stepped outside the pub to join Freddy and Daphne. "Learn anything?" She asked.

"Very little." Freddy answered. "All we know for sure is that there have been a few outsiders coming into the area lately."

"Miss Bimbo among them." Daphne added.

"She don't seem bright enough for this." 'Bloom said, and Daphne snorted.

"I don't think so either. But we've been surprised before..."

Freddy said "By the way, that was a nice thing you did, comforting Jean Luc."

Apple Bloom shook her head. "He seems like a good kid. And it was the right thing to do, what with his uncle hiding in the kitchen working."

"I think I wanna have a word with the uncle, leaving a five year old alone at a time like this!" Daphne fumed.

Freddy agreed. "Let's go talk to him, and then... Hey! What's that!?" He pointed high in the sky, to where a circle of light could be seen on the clouds. Dark shadows in random, unrecognizable forms passed through the circle, and then it was clear for a moment before clearer shapes appeared. "Letters..." Freddy said.

"R..."

"E..."

"L..."

"P..."

"Relp!" They all exclaimed together.

"Scooby must be in trouble!" Freddy said.

"Scooby and the others too! Let's go!" 'Bloom shouted.

They ran to Mystery Machine and jumped in, Freddy turning the key even as he slid into his seat, and tore off in the direction of the signal. They were a good half mile down the road before 'Bloom and Daphne noticed that Jean Luc had somehow slipped along with them unnoticed. "What are you doing here!?" Apple Bloom demanded.

"If you are helping your friends who are helping my papa, I want to come with you!" The boy insisted.

"Well... He does have a personal stake in this..." Daphne said.

Freddy nodded. "Okay, you can come. But put on a seatbelt and hold on tight! I might have to do some tricky driving!"

Racing down the road as fast as possible, Freddy soon realized that they had a problem: The road was veering off in a direction away from where the light seemed to originate. Seeing no other choice, he swerved to the left, going off road. Daphne winced as they shredded one trellis of expensive grapevines after another, though she agreed with Freddy that it had to be done.

In just a couple of minutes they caught sight of their friends, off in the distance, with Lou Carcolth still in hot pursuit. "Boy howdy! That's a snail and a half!" Apple Bloom said, while Jean Luc gasped in fear at the sight. 'Bloom continued "This'll be tricky, close as he is."

Freddy agreed. "I'm not planning to stop, just slow way down, so this will be a close shave."

"Come on 'Bloom, let's get the doors open and ready." Daphne said. She climbed out of the seat and together they opened the back doors wide, then strapped into lines connected to the walls of the van, so that they didn't have to worry about falling themselves, and could help without fear.

"Get ready! We're almost there!" Freddy shouted back. Moments later they were speeding past the monster snail which roared at them, and then Freddy was easing on the breaks as they passed Velma, Scooby, Sweetie Belle, Shaggy, and Scootaloo in the lead. When she saw Mystery Machine the pegasus cheered and poured on more speed before hopping in. Shaggy jumped and was caught and helped in by Daphne and Apple Bloom, followed by Scooby who, frightened when the monster roared again, leapt right into Shaggy's arms. Velma and Sweetie Belle were last, only just barely making it when Freddy slowed even more than he had planned. And then with everyone aboard Freddy headed back to the road, and practically stood on the gas pedal, Lou Carcolth finally outmatched for speed and fading away behind them.

Soon Mystery Machine was parked in a hiding spot behind a billboard. Velma and Apple Bloom worked to analyze the slime left at Jean Luc's house, while everyone else exchanged discoveries.

"Actually Shaggy, I doubt the lack of employees at escargantua was a clue. They probably just evacuated when Lou Carcoth showed up." Freddy was saying.

"That would explain why the cars were still there." Scootaloo said, "They were too scared to think about grabbing their keys and driving away."

"Ragfish! Ragfish!" Scooby said.

"Like yeah what about the hagfish?" Shaggy asked.

"I'm afraid I've got nothing there." Daphne said.

"Us neither." Apple Bloom said, "Especially since this stuff from Jean Luc's house ain't hagfish slime."

"It's actual snail slime!?" Sweetie Belle gasped.

"Oh no no no I told you Lou Carcolth is real!" Jean Luc wailed.

Velma said "Calm down everyone. It's not snail slime. It's actually a fairly common synthetic machine lubricant, but mixed with some other ingredients that make it more like a thin gel."

Scootaloo cocked her head. "You mean, like how you can turn white glue into slime?"

"Not exactly, but yes it's pretty similar." Velma explained.

"Like I'm still not getting this mystery, gang." Shaggy said. "It's just not adding up."

"You said it Shaggy." Apple Bloom agreed.

At Daphne's suggestion, they went back over all the clues: The fake snail slime, the missing piece of Pierre's collection, the hagfish, and word of outsiders in the area. Velma said "It's like I told Shaggy earlier... I kind of feel a pattern, but something's still missing..."

Scootaloo asked "What about you 'Bloom? Did you find any clues?"

"Eenope... Closest thing I've got is this book I read for Jean Luc." Apple Bloom said, holding out the book.

Sweetie Belle stepped next to 'Bloom and stared at the front cover. Then exclaimed "Hay Velma! It's that guy!"

Velma took the book and stared at the front cover in silence for several seconds. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "And there it is..." She whispered. "Gang, I know what this is all about! Freddy, it's time to say your line!"

"Um... 'Hold the phone?'" Freddy asked.

"No no, your other line."

"Oh right!" Freddy chuckled, then pumped a fist in the air and cheered "It's trappin' time!"

And so they set to work. Of course, even for an experienced group like Mystery Inc., trapping something as big and fast as Lou Carcolth would be a serious challenge. They moved to the Escargantua facility, (where luckily for the plan the night shift workers had never returned,) and began putting the pieces into place. The most crucial component of the plan, though, took long enough to prepare that it was barely more than an hour before daybreak when everything was finally ready, and Freddy began to detail the plan to everyone one last time.

"Okay, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scootaloo; Your part comes first. Shaggy and Scooby will be on roller skates, holding lines attached to the back of Scootaloo's scooter. That way you'll all be able to move faster than on foot. You'll go out, find Lou Carcolth, and lead him back here where you'll go into the warehouse building through the big double doors we've left open. As soon as you are through the doors, take a hard left and jump as hard as you can."

Daphne picked up from there, "You'll jump to avoid the floor we've covered in Velma's chemically enhanced hagfish slime, which is so sticky even Lou Carcolth should get stuck in it, at least for a short time. At that point, Freddy, Velma, and I will step out of hiding on one side, while Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Jean Luc do so on the other side, and we throw each other strong ropes to hold the monster in place better. Then we just have to unmask him!"

Velma said "Just remember we need to be quick. We don't know when this place's morning shift starts showing up and it's better to be done before they do."

Scootaloo looked up at Shaggy and asked "You ready?"

Shaggy swallowed fearfully. "Like does anyone have any Scooby Snacks?"

"Reah! Rooby snacks!" Scooby agreed. Velma sighed and tossed a handful to each of them.

"Like okay, let's get this over with..." Shaggy said, and they headed out to find the monster...

As it turned out, finding Lou Carcolth was the easy part. Getting him back where they needed was somewhat trickier. They had been passing by the pub, not even expecting anything yet, when the giant snail appeared around a corner, saw them, roared "Where is it!? Where is it!?" and came right after them at full speed. Scootaloo revved up her wings and soon the trio was rocketing along at high velocity, but in the wrong direction.

"Like we're going the wrong way!" Shaggy exclaimed.

"I know I know!" Scootaloo shouted back, "But he was in the way I had no choice! Hang on you two, I'm gonna try to make a wide curve!" Scootaloo began banking to the right, hoping that she could get them going the right way. But Lou Carcolth saw this and moved to intercept, forcing her to curve back the other way again. Time and time again Scootaloo attempted to get around the monster and head back to the others, but each and every time the angry creature managed to interfere too quickly. Then she saw her opening:

Directly in their path was a highway underpass, with an on ramp angling up to the roadway. And if there was one on this side, it stood to reason there was a counterpart on the far side too. Of course, she would have to make an awfully tight, awfully sudden turn to make this plan work. Which wouldn't be so bad for Scootaloo herself, but Shaggy and Scooby, at the end of the lines, would be whipped around pretty roughly.

"Should I warn them...?" Scootaloo wondered, and then thought better. "I'll just do it. It'll be over before they have time to get too scared."

And so Scootaloo aimed right for the pass under the highway, flashing past the road tunnel in seconds, then hit the breaks and spun about to face the on ramp, already accelerating as she did so. Behind her, Shaggy and Scooby were screaming as they swung in an arc and were then suddenly yanked back along behind her. Scootaloo reached the elevated highway and didn't slow down as she zoomed straight across the road, and sailed high into the air on the opposite side... Right over the head of a shocked Lou Carcolth, who was just about to pass under the road. The monster tried to stretch up and pluck them out of the sky, but it was too slow. Seconds later, Scootaloo hit the ground and kept going, back towards the waiting trap at last.

In the tight confines of the space leading into the underpass, it took Lou Carcolth longer than usual to turn itself around, so Scootaloo managed to build up quite a lead. In fact, she had to slow down a little, to be sure the monster still had them in sight and would continue following. But at last everything was going according to plan. Which is, of course, a very big red flag.

They made it back to Escargantua, lost time tossing aside the scooter and roller skates, and ran into the warehouse building about ten seconds ahead of Lou Carcolth. The augmented hagfish slime was spread over the floors, leaving their only safe path to jump and climb up ropes dangling from the roof. What no one had taken into consideration, was that since they were running when they made the jump, the ropes began to swing about. Just then the snail monster roared around the corner and came right for the trio. Scooby swung wide, then arced back and slammed right into Scootaloo who found herself knocked off her rope and right into Lou Carcolth's face, which she clung to.

"Ah ha! A morsel of dinner!" The snail boomed out.

"Somebody help!" Scootaloo cried out. Shaggy swung in close and tried to grab her, but just ended up sending them both flying across the room and landing in the slime where they were instantly stuck.

"Roh no!" Scooby exclaimed, and swung down closer to the ground to try and pull them free, only to fall in himself too. "Ruh roh!"

Lou Carcolth paid no heed to the slime as it moved towards them. Incredibly, it's great bulk was such that the slime was barely slowing it down. "Now then... Where. Is. It!?"

"Right here!" A voice rang out. Lou Carcolth looked to see Sweetie Belle holding the book in her magic aura. She shouted "Come and get it!" And galloped away.

Lou Carcolth started to go after Sweetie, but the longer it was in the slime the slower it's movements were becoming. Then Freddy called out "Now!" And several strong ropes were thrown over the monster's back and pulled tight with ratchets. Lou Carcolth struggled mightily, but was unable to free itself...

With the monster trapped, the gang was free to rescue Shaggy, Scootaloo, and Scooby from the slime. By the time that was done, the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon and morning shift employees of the snail farm were arriving. The first of them took one look at Lou Carcoltlh, exclaimed 'Sacre Bleu!" And ran to call the police, who arrived shortly thereafter.

"Incredible!" The police chief said, "You have actually captured Lou Carcolth! But what is this all about? Who is responsible!?"

Velma said "I'm afraid there's only one possible suspect..." She nodded to Freddy and Shaggy who pulled away the cleverly disguised operator's hatch to reveal...

"Uncle Francois!?" Jean Luc exclaimed. "But... Why...?"

Daphne knelt down at Jean Luc's side and tried to explain. "Your Uncle's pub was about to go out of business. He didn't have enough customers. A man who thought he could turn it around was trying to buy it up, but Francois wanted more money than that man would pay."

"Then, he remembered the centerpiece of your dad's Monsieur Courageous collection." Apple Bloom said.

Velma held out the book. "A mint condition, autographed by the writer and artist, copy of 'Monsieur Courageous number one' from nineteen fifty five. In American money it's worth over half a million dollars to the right buyer."

Scootaloo said "So Francois came up with the Lou Carcolth monster to explain away when weird things happened!"

"But... If the monster is not real then where is my Papa?" Jean Luc cried.

From his seat inside the snail's cockpit, Francois answered "Your father is fine Jean Luc. He is locked up in the wine cellar under the pub. I needed him out of the way until I could sell the comic book, and flee the country... Ideally to someplace warm and tropical, and without extradition treaties." He then glared at the gang and added "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling Americans, and your tiny horses!"

As Francois was pulled from Lou Carcolth and arrested, Freddy said "Well gang, I guess that wraps up this mystery!"

"No it doesn't!" Apple Bloom said, "What about the outsiders we heard about?"

"And, like, all the hagfish!?" Shaggy added.

Velma thought this over. "Hmmm.... I'd say the man who wanted to buy the pub was one of the outsiders, and the others had nothing to do with any of this. And as for the hagfish... Huh. I don't know. That is odd though-"

Before Velma could finish, a voice familiar to some of the gang spoke up "The hagfish are mine! And you'd better not have hurt them!" They looked to see the bimbo woman from the night before approaching, and now much more modestly dressed. "I rented out that spare room specifically to have a quiet place to conduct research for my doctoral dissertation!"

Apple Bloom stared in confusion. "Doctoral.... But... But you.... You're...."

"You're an idiot!" Daphne blurted out what Apple Bloom was too polite to say.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Hardly. Though, I admit I can seem that way when I'm drunk." She stomped off towards the building where her fish waited.

"Um... Okay! I guess that really does wrap things up." Sweetie Belle said.

Shaggy said "Like, just one last thing. Let's go free Jean Luc's father, and then make breakfast with the food in the pub. I mean, it's not like Francois will be needing it anytime soon, right? And it'd be a shame to let perfectly good food go to waste!"

Everyone laughed, and we fade out of the scene...