If the months were anything to go by, they were supposedly on the brink of summer. And yet, by mid-afternoon the storm clouds had rolled in and it now felt like the middle of winter. It was only early evening and yet it was pitch black outside, aside from the odd bolt of lightning that shot out of the sky above, as rain pelted the earth below. No sane person in the world would have been caught dead in such weather, let alone be driving in it, but then Norville “Shaggy” Rogers was not a normal person.
If you went back two years it would have been a different story. He had a wonderful, supportive girlfriend and was heading to the top of American race car driving as the next big thing. But then, just like that, everything had come crashing down. He'd discovered that monsters were real and been turned into one himself in an attempt by the one and only Count Dracula to make him race in the Monster Road Rally in deepest darkest Transylvania. In the end Shaggy had agreed after Dracula promised to turn him back if he won the race. After doing everything in his power to stop Shaggy from winning the race and failing, Dracula had then refused to hand over the tome that held the reversal enchantment. It was only after stealing the book and fleeing back to America that Shaggy and his friends had realised that the reversal enchantment also required the moon to be in the same position as it was for the initial conversion spell. That wouldn’t occur for another five hundred years and thus, Shaggy had gone through the whole chaotic race for absolutely nothing except putting his dearest friends in danger and angering one of the mightiest monsters out there.
After Dracula and his minions, the Hunch Bunch, had turned up outside his window he’d given up and signed a contract to drive the werewolf car for the next one hundred years without any resistance, much to Dracula’s surprise. He’d retained his crown for the third year on the trot in February and ultimately a talk with Dracula, along with a review of the contract he’d signed, had led to his current predicament and new job.
To be honest though, it couldn’t be any worse than being turned into a werewolf, dumped by your long-term girlfriend who you were planning on proposing to, and then dealing with your recently deceased uncle’s long-lost fortune and discovering that he’d been murdered by a psychopath pretending to be the local sheriff. And even then, those first four months had been nothing in comparison to what he, Scooby and Scrappy were about to be put through.
After a relaxing couple of months doing up his uncle’s estate with his now substantial wealth whilst running an orphanage for ghosts, yeah, peculiar one that one but that’s another story altogether, a supposed old friend had sent him a letter stating that she needed a pilot for a business trip to Hawaii, offering him a free vacation in the process for his services. Of course, he’d agreed, who wouldn’t have? Especially considering they were a long-term friend who Shaggy had thought he could trust. Little did he realise at the time just what Daphne Blake was getting him, Scooby and Scrappy into.
Daphne was in truth now a covert operative for a government department run by her father that was so secretive not even the president knew what it did. Even Shaggy still wasn’t one hundred percent sure just what Blake did but what he did know was that she had lied to him and her actions had ended up having serious consequences, like, for one, fighting the thirteen most powerful monsters to have ever set foot in their world. They’d caught eleven before their luck had eventually run out catching the twelfth, Asmodeus, the king of all demons. To put it in perspective, Asmodeus made Dracula look about as threatening as a bunny rabbit.
As Daphne’s handler, Vincent Van Ghoul, a warlock, performed a Christmas miracle, she had revealed everything to Shaggy. About how they were never actually going to Hawaii and how her actual mission had been to retrieve the chest for her father and have it locked away for safety purposes where no one would ever find it. About how she had purposefully given Scooby the wrong map and never meant for any of this to happen. But at the end of the day, it had, and because of her they’d been sucked into monster movies, mirror realms and even a comic book, fought terrifying monster after terrifying monster and stared the end of the world in the face on what felt like a weekly basis. And that wasn’t even the worst of it. The mental toll on poor Scooby had nearly killed him and possibly would have if Asmodeus hadn’t.
Instead, his best friend now had no recollection of anything that happened after the plane took off all those months ago and didn’t even question the stitches connecting his head to the rest of his body. Shaggy was glad, it was like he’d finally got his best friend in the whole wide world back, aside a somehow even greater addiction to Scooby Snacks. Still, for himself and Scrappy, there was no magical amnesia spell and the horrifying memories of the past eighteen months would stay with them the rest of their lives, the most notable of which was Scooby’s decapitation at the claws of Asmodeus and Flim Flam’s sacrifice, trapping himself in the chest with Asmodeus to save his remaining friends.
Unsurprisingly, Shaggy had abruptly informed Daphne he was done after finally being told the truth, handing her back the chest not caring that only Scooby could trap the final monster as he was the one who had inadvertently opened it, and headed home. For the next month, the Boo Brothers had proven surprisingly excellent counsellors and helped both him and Scrappy deal with the severe mental trauma they had suffered as they tried desperately to keep the truth from Scooby. This had certainly not been easy considering just how much Scrappy had grown but they had managed to spin a story of sorts that had seemingly satisfied Scooby, stating that the plane they had been on had crashed and he’d been in a coma for more than a year.
In what felt like no time at all the Monster Road Rally had come around again and despite everything, Shaggy had actually welcomed the distraction and won for an unprecedented third time in a row. He now wondered though if his mental state at the time might have impacted his judgement regarding this new job.
“Hey Shaggy, you there Shaggy?”
“Huh, what?” Shaggy replied, turning to see the giant three foot plus tall Great Dane in the back of the van that was covered in scars and missing part of his right ear.
Scrappy, unlike his uncle who was the very definition of a coward, was more akin to his own name, a fighter, whose sheer stubbornness, determination and strong will had got them all through more than one scrap over the course of the past eighteen months but not without consequences. The most notable of these was where his back left leg now naturally ended three quarters of the ways down, the end replaced with a metallic prosthetic after their escape from Befuddle Hall.
“You zoned out there for a while. Everything okay?” Scrappy asked, already knowing the answer. Things would never again be okay no matter how hard they tried to forget and move on from the past. Because Flim Flam was gone and never coming back. A tear slowly formed in his right eye as Shaggy replied.
“Sorry Scrappy, I was just thinking that maybe it would have been better if we had just told Dracula no and dealt with the fallout. I mean, I know he could deal with me easily but when you’ve an estate with a thousand or more ghosts backing you up, I’m not sure even Dracula could deal with that,” Shaggy admitted.
“Nonsense,” Scrappy replied, wiping the tear away with a paw as he forced a smile onto his face. It might be impossible to forget what had happened but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t at least try for his uncle’s sake. “You’ll make a great gym teacher and I’ll make a great assistant, won’t I uncle Scoob?”
“Sure thing Rappy,” Scooby responded, pausing for a moment from where he had been devouring a box of Scooby Snacks next to Shaggy to reach over with a paw and proceed to pat his nephew on the head.
Scrappy looked less than pleased. “Quit it unc, I’m not a little pup anymore!” he exclaimed.
“You’ll always be ry little Rappy and you row it,” Scooby replied, struggling to pronounce several words and instead replacing the first letter of each with an r.
The fact he could talk at all was astonishing in itself but then Scooby wasn’t a normal dog and neither was his nephew. Another bombshell Daphne had dropped on Shaggy after the thirteen ghosts’ debacle. Even so, if it wasn’t for the fact Scooby was now technically an immortal zombie held together by some seriously powerful magic, his lifespan would still have probably been only around fifteen to twenty years, around twice that of your average Great Dane. Now at least, Shaggy would never have to worry about that day arriving, for Scoob at least.
Shaggy shook his head and tried to focus on the road ahead, which was easier said than done through the pitch-black exterior. Thankfully, his enhanced night-vision helped a lot, even if he hadn’t passed another vehicle on this deserted, barely passable road for well over an hour. It had been a long drive from the Beauregard Plantation over the course of several days but claws crossed they were hopefully nearly there, wherever there was. Shaggy wasn’t entirely sure himself anymore what part of the country they were in.
“Scrappy, you’ve got the map, haven’t you? Mind locating where we are. I’m pretty sure we must be getting close to the school by now,” Shaggy requested.
“Erm, about that” Scrappy replied like a guilty puppy who had just been caught with his paw in the biscuit barrel. “I put it in the glove box between two pieces of bread for safe keeping and, well, uncle Scooby just ate it.”
Scooby burped. “Rorry, I was still hungry,” Scooby said apologetically.
“Oh swell, so we’re lost. We could be halfway to Alaska for all we know,” Shaggy exclaimed, not taking his eyes of the road for even a moment.
“I said I was rorry,” Scooby responded dejectedly.
“Sorry Scoob, I’m not blaming you okay, or Scrappy either for that matter. And don’t worry, it looks like there’s a property ahead. Maybe it’s the school and if not, hopefully we’ll at least get some directions to where we are going,” Shaggy said optimistically before his eyes caught sight of the sign on the gate.
Calloway Military School
Shaggy let out a mighty sigh of relief. They were on the right track. Grimwood Manor should be just next door according to the instructions he’d been provided with.
“Nearly there guys,” Shaggy said, reversing the van back and then turning left up a windy narrow lane that ended at a set of gates.
A bolt of lightning momentarily lit up the dilapidated looking manor in the distance.
“RIKES!” Scooby screamed, diving under the seat whilst shaking uncontrollably.
“Sc-ooo-by, will y-ou come out fr-om u-nder there,” Shaggy said disjointedly as he bounced up and down on the seat. “I told y-ou wh-at to ex-pect be-fore we left,” he added as the set of gates swung open.
“Ruh-uh, scared,” Scooby replied, but thankfully at least the shaking subsided enough for Shaggy to manoeuvre the van up the driveway.
“Wow, what a neat place,” Scrappy commented, peering over Shaggy’s shoulder from the back of the van. “It even has a moat!”
“Yeah, I can see and the drawbridge is up,” Shaggy replied, peering through the never-ending tirade of rain. To make matters even worse, the wipers had conked out!
“Rood,” Scooby replied.
Shaggy rolled his eyes as he brought the van to a standstill.
“I do hope the girls aren’t in bed yet but I can’t think of any other way to get their attention,” Shaggy said before he let out an ear-splitting howl.
*
“How was your flight from Transylvania Sibella?” Miss Grimwood asked as the eldest and last of her current students arrived alongside her father.
“Fangtastic Miss Grimwood but awfully tiring and the last part was extremely wet,” the vampire replied with a mighty yawn that showed off her elongated canines as she wringed the water from her long two-tone purple hair into a bucket. She also sported pale purple skin and a dark purple dress with a red waistband.
“I can imagine so,” Miss Grimwood replied with a stern glance in Dracula’s direction before returning her attention back to Sibella. “Octavius has filled the bath tub ready for you and your luggage is already in your room along with some blood packs in case you wish for a snack before bed. Your dormmates should be awake but I’ve just sent the younger ones to bed so please try to keep the noise down.”
“Thanks Miss Grimwood, you’re the best and will do,” Sibella said before turning to her father and giving him a hug. “As are you daddy. Thanks again for letting me do my first long distance flight.”
“The pleasure was all mine Sibella dear,” Dracula replied, reciprocating the hug whilst stroking his daughter’s hair. “It is nice to know that even as you grow older you are still willing to spend some time with your old man.”
Sibella gripped her father tighter. “You know that’ll never change,” she said firmly before slowly releasing her father. “I’ll see you at Halloween, right?”
“Is your favourite blood type B negative?” Dracula replied with a broad grin across his greyish green face.
“You know it,” Sibella replied as she turned and headed for the stairs.
“Then there’s your answer. Now let me not…”
A loud howl suddenly came from outside.
“Oh no, I totally forgot!” Miss Grimwood exclaimed as the howl was answered upstairs followed by the sound of hastily approaching footsteps (or more accurately put, paw steps).
Dracula turned to Miss Grimwood as Winnie came barrelling down the stairs.
“Hi Winnie, how have you…” Sibella began only for the werewolf to push her to one side as she stormed down the stairs with a face like thunder and continued to the front door.
“WHO DARES INVADE MY TERRITORY,” the young werewolf roared angrily.
“You didn’t tell her?” Dracula said with just a hint of surprise.
“It’s been one of those weeks,” Miss Grimwood sighed as Winnie paused in lowering the drawbridge and redirected her attention to Miss Grimwood.
“Tell me what?” Winnie growled.
“Would somepony like to tell us what all the noise is about,” Apple Bloom grumbled with a yawn appearing at the top of the stairs, her left shoulder heavily bandaged.
“Yeah, we were just drifting off when we heard Winnie howling her head off again,” Scootaloo added testily beside Apple Bloom.
“Talking horses! Well, that is a new one,” Dracula chuckled.
“Yeah, and what’s it to you Fang Face?” Scootaloo responded rudely.
“Hey, that’s my father you’re talking about!” Sibella interjected, glowering at Scootaloo.
Dracula simply let out another chuckle. “Feisty to. They’ll fit in well at Grimwood. But I also suggest learning your place chicken unless you want to end up being my next meal,” he added, disappearing in a puff of smoke and reappearing by Scootaloo’s side, his extended canines mere millimetres from her throat.
Scootaloo gulped nervously, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead.
“No matter how troublesome she may be, that so called chicken is still a pupil of this school and under my responsibility and care. So, unless you want your daughter witnessing your untimely demise, you’ll back off,” the cold, harsh tones of Mrs Bones suddenly cut through the hallway.
Dracula retracted his canines and did as he was told but not before whispering in Scootaloo’s ear, “You’ve been warned.” He then turned and faced Mrs Bones with a toothy grin. “Elizabeth, long time no see, how you…”
The students grimaced as a cold bony hand slapped Dracula around the face. “You’ve five seconds to get back downstairs before I start ramming garlic down your throat.”
Dracula disappeared once more in a puff of smoke and reappeared next to Miss Grimwood downstairs. “I see she’s still the same old Mrs Bones,” he stated to the Headmistress whilst rubbing his sore cheek and proceeding to laugh of the whole incident. “Anyway, before I go Sibella there’s one more surprise I’ve planned for you.
He snapped his fingers and the drawbridge dropped with a loud bang followed by the front door swinging open, allowing the raging storm outside into the entranceway.
“I know how much your sports competitions against the cadets next door mean to you and how disappointed you feel that you’ve never been able to win either, so, I found and sponsored you a gym teacher,” Dracula announced.
“GYM TEACHER,” all the older girls exclaimed as one just as Shaggy appeared in the doorway.
It was a well-known fact at Grimwood about the lacking of a specialised gym teacher due in part to a lack of funds and in part due to the fact no one who wasn’t either a monster themselves or completely insane would be willing to teach a bunch of monsters. Thirdly, there was also the significant security risk associated with hiring outsiders who might leak confidential information about the school or worse, cause the students harm.
“Like, thanks, it is really coming down hard out there. And sorry about the howl, I was unsure how else I could catch your…” Shaggy paused momentarily as he caught sight of Dracula. “Attention,” he finished before stating the obvious, “Drac, I had no idea you would be here.”
“Sibella wanted to fly all the way here from Transylvania and, as I felt she was old enough to do so, I let her but only with me accompanying her as it was her first long distance flight. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything bad happened to my precious Sibella due to my negligence and I expect you to take just as good care of her whilst she’s at Grimwood, understood,” Dracula somewhat explained, somewhat threatened.
Shaggy gulped nervously, his knees knocking against one another in fear. “Understood, Count.”
Sibella went rosy cheeked on the stairs in embarrassment. “Dad, I’m not a little ghoul anymore, I can quite easily look after myself. But thank you daddy, I’m sure with his help this will finally be our year!”
A mixture of howls, screams, cheers and squeals greeted Sibella’s declaration.
“Hey, what did we miss?” Scrappy enquired, letting go of his uncle’s tail. Scooby had had to be dragged in from the van and immediately shot off and hid under a nearby rug upon his release.
“Ah, so you brought the dogs to,” Dracula said as the cacophony of noise subsided. “I wondered if you would. I see he’s still as big a coward as ever,” he finished, stabbing a finger in the direction of the cowering Scooby.
Shaggy placed himself between Scrappy and the Count before the former said something he regretted later. “Scooby is who he is, that’s all that matters. And as you’ve very well seen, he’s never one to shy away from danger when his friends need him,” Shaggy said in a tone that clearly told Dracula not to push the subject any further.
“Understood. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve some business to attend to with Miss Grimwood before I depart. It was good catching up with you again Shah-gee and we’ll catch up again at Halloween, hopefully with the first of many trophies, for your sake,” Dracula responded with a toothy grin.
Shaggy’s knees started knocking once more but he refused to back down. “Got ya. Look after Sibella, help all the girls win a volleyball match. Anything else?”
“My, my, you’ve certainly developed a bit more of a backbone Shah-gee since we first met,” Dracula said light-heartedly. “I think you and your dogs will fit in perfectly here at Grimwood. Miss Grimwood, I’ll wait for you in your office, try not to keep me waiting for too long.” And, after one final wave to his daughter, Dracula disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Still the same old Drac,” Shaggy muttered to himself whilst letting out an almighty breath of relief as he offered out his hand to Miss Grimwood. “Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, mystery solver, race car driver, reluctant werewolf and now, apparently, gym teacher extraordinaire.”
A ghostly white floating hand reciprocated the offer. In the past Shaggy would have baulked and run a mile at such a thing but now he didn’t even flinch and just shook it.
“Miss Griselda Grimwood, headmistress of this finishing school for girl ghouls,” Miss Grimwood stated. “If you wouldn’t mind helping Mrs Bones getting the students back to bed that would be much appreciated as I’d better not keep the Count waiting. Handy here and Octavius will collect your luggage and show you to your quarters once you’re done.
“Rones?” Scooby said, suddenly popping up at Shaggy’s side out of nowhere.
Miss Grimwood chuckled and gave Scooby a pat on his head. If someone had been super attentive, they might have noticed Miss Grimwood’s smile flicker but it was so swift it would have been super difficult for even the keenest of eyes to tell if it had truly happened or not. The tone of her voice though could not hide the fact that something was definitely wrong, in spite of her best attempts to hide it.
“Aren’t you a good boy. And what’s your name?” She asked, scratching Scooby behind one of his ears.
“Scooby Doo,” Scooby replied.
“And I’m his nephew Scrappy,” Scrappy nipped in.
Miss Grimwood let out an audible gasp as her eyes fell upon Scrappy.
“Plane crash,” Scrappy said robotically before Miss Grimwood had the opportunity to ask the obvious question.
Miss Grimwood raised an eyebrow in response but didn’t push the matter any further. “Alright then. I’ll see you all at breakfast tomorrow but if you’re hungry now, as I’m guessing you will be after such a long drive, Octavius will show you to the kitchen after you’re done here. Help yourself to whatever you fancy and there should definitely be a couple of bones lying around for you Scooby. Just no munching on Mrs Bones if you know what’s good for you, okay? Huh, where’d he go?”
This time it was Shaggy’s turn to let out a chuckle as he pointed to where Scooby was bounding up the stairs barking wildly. “You said the magic word, FOOD. I’d better go and ensure he doesn’t scare the students half to death, or vice versa. And return this one to her bed.” He lifted his left arm to reveal Winnie’s jaws clamped on it.
“RAT! GIANT RAT,” Shaggy suddenly heard Scooby exclaim from upstairs.
“Oh no, not again!” Harriet’s voice suddenly squeaked from upstairs. “Get away from me you filthy mutt!”
This was followed by Mrs Bones barking commands. “Down! Sit! Stay!”
“Erm, uh oh, looks like I should have asked sooner, how’s you dog with cats because one of our girls is half-cat,” Miss Grimwood enquired uneasily.
Shaggy bolted for the stairs, with Winnie still hanging off his left arm, Scrappy following in his wake.
“Scooby Doo, you leave that poor girl alone you hear me,” Shaggy yelled as he did so.
A loud crash followed by a scream that was obviously Harriet, was all Shaggy received in reply.
Miss Grimwood thought momentarily about assisting but knew her presence was needed more urgently elsewhere. Especially if she was going to get an answer as to why her new gym teacher had a zombie dog that radiated the magic of one Vincent Van Ghoul.
*
“Okay, would you like to tell me just what is going on and why my new gym teacher has an undead dog for a pet or… are you drinking my vintage bourbon?”
“With a shot of blood, yes. It’s very nice I must say. Oh, and I’d like to ask you the same question,” Dracula replied. “To be precise, why your friends at the Interdimensional Demon Defence Division (IDDD) instructed me to persuade Shah-Gee to take residence here at the school as a teacher without him knowing they were involved in doing so. I’d show you the letter but it self-combusted, as is the norm for any correspondence received from the I triple D once it has been read.”
Miss Grimwood’s eyes widened in surprise. “They did what?”
“I can guess from your face that you didn’t know?” Dracula questioned before taking another sip from his drink.
“Well, I did think it strange that you were willing to partly fund a gym teacher for the school but considering how much you adore your daughter, I didn’t really give it as much thought as I possibly should have,” Miss Grimwood admitted, walking over and pouring herself a large glass of bourbon. She needed it after the day she’d had.
“So, I guess we’re both a little in the dark then as the mortals say?”
“Very much so but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to piece together the pieces of the jigsaw we do have. Firstly, the IDDD want Mr Rogers at the school for one reason or another. Secondly, he must have strong ties with one of the highest ranking IDDD agents, Vincent Van Ghoul, as the warlock resurrected…”
“Wait, did you say Van Ghoul was involved?”
“Yes, I’d recognise that magic anywhere, why?”
“Because if he and Daphne Blake are both involved, we’re looking at something so powerful, it has the possibility to change the world as we know it. No wonder the I triple D were trying to cover it up so badly,” Dracula stated grimly.
“Daphne Blake? How’s she involved? And, oh, you mean that spike of malevolent magic two years back that caused a significant shift in the balance of good and evil in the world?” Miss Grimwood enquired. “I knew the IDDD couldn’t be trusted on that one but trying to find out anything they don’t want you to find out about is virtually impossible. There security is tighter than Fort Knox combined with the Whitehouse.”
“Exactly. I found that out the hard way a few times myself before being told in a rather abrupt letter to cease my attempts to infiltrate their base of operations or find myself and my family residing in a vacuum bag. Considering the message was delivered via a high velocity stake that shattered one of my castle’s windows and very nearly took my head of, I decided it best not to push my luck, especially as I’d just found out Vana was pregnant with Sibella,” Dracula explained.
“I see, so how did you find out Mr Rogers was involved with Daphne Blake?”
Dracula collapsed onto the floor and pressed his back up against the desk and looked up to the ceiling. He let out a deep breath and then began. “Two years ago, when I first met Shah-gee, he was just like his eldest dog, terrified of practically anything that wasn’t food but a happy and jolly fellow who enjoyed life to the fullest. Then, a year later, it was like a totally different werewolf turned up to the Monster Road Rally. He was cold, aloof and there was a steeliness to him that wasn’t there before. I’ve never seen any monster ever change so much, let alone in just a year. Don’t say this to anyone but his change in demeanour even frightened me to a degree and I’m one of the most powerful monsters on the planet.”
“Okay. So what? You got the Hunch Bunch to tail him to try and find out more?”
“No,” Dracula clearly lied before wilting under Miss Grimwood’s gaze as she offered him a hand to help him back to his feet. “Eugh, how do you know me so well?” he grumbled.
“I taught you for nine or so years of your life remember? Before I opted to make Grimwood a school for girl ghouls only,” Miss Grimwood deadpanned, pulling Dracula back to his feet.
“Of course,” Dracula stated with a roll of his eyes. “Anyway, getting the Hunch Bunch to follow Shah-gee did me little good, aside finding out he now ran an orphanage for ghosts.”
“Well, that sounds a little peculiar,” Miss Grimwood nipped in.
Dracula held up his hand to cut her off. “I asked him about it discreetly, stating I’d heard rumours of such, and he was happy to discuss the whole caper. A stressful situation involving hillbillies, murder, a loose gorilla, creepy butlers and a treasure hunt amongst a lot else but overall and, quite bizarrely, he seemed at peace with the whole thing. I’d tell you the full story but time is of the essence right now and we seem to be getting nowhere with solving just what the I triple D is up to or how Shah-gee is involved.”
Miss Grimwood, who had taken in what Dracula had said in stunned silence, eventually responded. “I’ll ask him about it when I get five minutes. Right now, I go back to my initial question, how did you find out Daphne Blake was involved?
Drac reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a photo. “I’d practically given up but decided I might as well have the Hunch Bunch tail Shah-gee to the airport when he left after the race. It’s a little blurry, as they had to remain a good distance away to avoid being spotted, but I’d recognise that ginger hair and purple jumpsuit anywhere.”
Miss Grimwood took the photo and examined it. It seemed to show Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy boarding an airplane where a woman was standing waiting for them in the doorway.
Miss Grimwood sighed. “Yep, that’s definitely Daphne Blake and now I have some idea of what’s going on and I don’t like it, not one bit.”
“You do?” Dracula responded, unable to hide his surprise.
“Only a vague outline but enough to be worried. The IDDD must have had something insanely evil that they didn’t want anyone to know about trapped and it managed to break free. For some reason we have yet to uncover, Mr Rogers was brought on board to help Blake recapture it that caused him significant mental and emotional stress, thus the change in personality you reported. Mr Van Ghoul meanwhile was likely their handler and the one who oversaw the entire mission. Anyway, after months of tracking and trying to recapture whatever got loose, they must have finally cornered the evil abomination only for it to lash out, kill his dog and then get away again in the ensuing chaos,” Miss Grimwood theorised.
Dracula stared Miss Grimwood for a moment utterly speechless until finally he managed to utter, “That actually is a good theory but still leaves us with several massive questions. Like, why do they want Shaggy at the school? Why resurrect his dog? And most importantly, what was unleashed?”
“This is the part you’re not going to like. I believe that whatever unholy demon escaped has some kind of link to Mr Rogers and his dogs, most likely he’s the only one who can re-imprison it. But, after nearly losing his dog, he walked away before the job was completed and now, without fear of being captured, the IDDD fear that monster is planning something big, something that involves the school, or, more accurately, what it sits on,” Miss Grimwood went on.
“The fracture,” Dracula said barely above a whisper as he helped himself to some more bourbon.
“Precisely.”
*
On a rocky outcrop surrounded for miles all around by a gloomy forest filled with gruesomely deadly creatures sat a castle that had laid derelict for years until very recently, Castle Revolta. That was until its owner, Revolta, the Witch of the Web, had returned after finally being released from her insufferable prison after so many years of entrapment alongside twelve more of the most evil and diabolical monsters ever to have lived. It was from her castle that she had opted to bide her time, allow her power to grow, and plot her next move whilst monitoring the situation. And so, it had proven a wise decision, as one by one her brethren were defeated by a bunch of bizarre misfits and returned to the chest from whence they had been released from. Even Asmodeus, the most powerful of them all, had fallen, but not before landing a couple of fatal blows that had inevitably caused the bunch of misfits to disband and give her more time to perfect her scheme. She just wished he’d taken these two idiots with him in the process so that she didn’t have to listen to their pathetic pleading right now.
“ENOUGH,” Revolta bellowed sat atop her throne of bones. “I have no need for failures, so begone from my sight before I banish you to the beyond for good.”
“Oh, please be merciful your highness, all we want to do is help,” Weerd pleaded.
“Help, help? All of my brethren have been returned to the chest because of your incompetence,” Revolta snapped, firing a bolt of lightning at the two quivering ghosts at her feet.
“Yow,” Weerd and Bogel screamed in tandem, leaping into the air.
“The only good you two have done is that now I don’t have to share this world with anyone. I shall rule it entirely alone with obedient and competent minions fulfilling my orders to the letter.” A sinister smile suddenly crossed her face. “Actually, maybe I was too harsh, there is one way you could help me.”
“Anything your mightiness, anything,” Weerd beseeched, grovelling at Revolta’s feet.
“Grim Creeper, take these two to the laboratory, we have tests to run,” Revolta sneered.
“Yes Revolta,” a strange, dark green plant like creature with one eye replied appearing from the shadows.
“Erm, tests?” Weerd replied, looking a lot less sure of himself than a moment ago.
“Don’t worry, they won’t hurt, much,” Revolta replied wickedly. “They’ll hurt a lot.”