//------------------------------// // Miss Grimwood's School for Ghouls // Story: G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! and the Ghoul School // by ponydog127 //------------------------------// As they traversed through the dark stormy night, the team found themselves getting even closer to Scooby and Shaggy than before, and they found themselves quickly bonding to Scrappy, despite just meeting him a few minutes before. However, as they drove along, the storm began to get even worse. “Zoinks!” Shaggy said from the driver’s seat. “I can’t see a thing through this windshield!” “Oh, man… neither can I! What a washout!” Sunny tried to glance through the windshield, but to no avail. “Oh, boy…” Shaggy muttered. “Maybe I shouldn't have taken this new job.” “Don’t be silly, Shaggy,” Scrappy reassured. “You'll make a great gym teacher, and I'll make a great assistant. See? I've been working out.” The tiny pup lifted a large weight over his shoulders, but as the van rocked along, Scrappy lost balance, causing him to fall back into the open doors, only holding on by his back paws. “Oh no!” Scooby cried. “Scrappy!” Misty shrieked. “Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Like's not only working out, he's falling out!” “Whee! I bet this is great for building up my shoulder muscles!” Scrappy said, pleasantly enjoying the ride. Zipp and Pipp grabbed Scooby’s tail in their teeth while Scooby made a move toward his nephew, grabbing his hind legs. “Scrappy!” the elder Great Dane said. “Let go!” “Anything you say, Uncle Scooby!” Scrappy said, and willingly let the weight go, causing the group to fly back into some workout equipment. “Gee, Pipp and Zipp!” said Scrappy. “Are you ready to work out too?”  “...not especially,” Zipp groaned, helping her sister out of the mess they got into. “Like, I’m ready to get to this fancy girls' school and taste their fancy cooking,” Shaggy laughed. “Me too-- I haven’t had a bite to eat all day!” Hitch agreed. “In the meantime, I’lll check the grub compartment,” Scrappy said, opening the box in front of him and pulling a sandwich out of it. “Hey! There’s a sandwich left!” Shaggy took the sandwich from Scooby’s nephew, but immediately spit out the small bite he took, seeing that there was no condiments on the sandwich… only a chuck of map being eaten. “Like, anyone for a road map on rye?” “I put it there for safe keeping, Shaggy,” Scrappy answered. “But without the map,” Misty gulped worriedly, “I think we’re lost!” But as they drove through the storm, a building came into view. “No, we’re not. There’s the school!” Scrappy said. “Not too shabby, Shaggy.” “Only the best for my friends!” Shaggy laughed before noticing the sign in front of the building. “Huh? Military school? Like, we’re looking for Miss Grimwood's Finishing School for Girls.” “Ohhhhh… it must be the spooky-looking place next door!” Izzy cheerfully pointed at the building next to the military school-- a creepy old house that had a sign that read ‘Miss Grimwood’s Finishing School for Ghouls’... not what Shaggy previously thought. “Like, looks like no one’s home,” Shaggy gulped nervously. “We'll come back some other time.” “Yeah!” Scooby agreed, but before they could get moving, the gate to the finishing school slowly creeped open. “See, Uncle Scooby?” Scrappy said. “I knew they’d be expecting us.” “Scrappy’s right, fellas,” Sunny said. “Let’s at least go take a look-- it can’t be all bad. Like my dad used to say, don't judge a house by its paint job.” “Or a school by its appearance,” Zipp added. Realizing their pony friends were right, Shaggy piloted the van through the gate, but as they drove, the windshield wipers stopped working. “What a time for the wipers to conk out…” Shaggy muttered. “Like, I can’t see the road!” Suddenly, a brown tail began to wipe over the windshield, and as it turns out, Scooby and Sunny were on top of the van, with Sunny holding an umbrella over Scooby so he wouldn’t get wet. “How’s that, Shaggy?” Scooby asked. “Like, much better. I think I see the school!” Shaggy said, just before taking a closer look and gasping. “But I'm not sure I want to.” “Wow, what a spook-tacular place!” Pipp said, loving anything spooky. “It even has a moat!” “Moat?!” Shaggy cried. “Moat?” Scooby looked over and saw them coming closer, but then he and Sunny realized something with wide eyes. “And no drawbridge!!” Immediately, Shaggy slammed on the brakes, causing the van to lurch to a stop right before the moat. But upon doing that, he sent Sunny and Scooby flying toward the doors, causing them to crash on the other side. “That’s my uncle Scooby!” Scrappy boasted proudly. “He always wants to get places ahead of everybody.” “...and in more ways than one,” Hitch muttered. Slowly, the door opened, and someone with a cold hand helped Sunny and Scooby back onto their hooves and paws. “Thanks,” Sunny said, just before she and Scooby let out a scream-- the hand that helped them up was moving all on its own, without a body attached to it! This caused Scooby to run inside, with Sunny following after him, but something made them stop… actually, some-creature. It was a small dragon, probably a little older than Sparky, covered in light green scales, with dark green horns, hair, and spots and scales on his back. His eyes were yellow with orange irises and red pupils, and he also had webbed hands, sharp teeth, and an arrow-shaped tail. Scooby had heard Sunny and the others talk about Sparky before, but had never seen a dragon before this, so he wasn’t sure how to react. “G-G-Good boy…” But before he could try and convince the dragon not to hurt them, the dragon lit Scooby’s tail on fire, causing him to run smack dab into the middle of a row of armor. “Uncle Scooby likes to arrive with a big bang!” Scrappy said from outside. Turns out, when the suits of armor fell, one of their helmets got stuck on Scooby’s head, and he was trying desperately to get out of it. “Shaggy!” he screamed. “Scrappy!” “Hang on, Scooby-- I’ll help you out!” Sunny grabbed the helmet with her front hooves and helped Scooby pull it off. When they finally got it off, it flung onto the chains holding up the drawbridge, lowering it, and the helmet then got stuck on the dragon’s head. Once they saw the drawbridge was down, Misty knew this may be their one chance. “Come on, guys!” She and her friends quickly crossed the drawbridge to get out of the rain, and Izzy was the first to find Scooby and Sunny. “There you guys are!” she said, and then she noticed the dragon wearing the helmet. “Awww, another baby dragon! Maybe he’s Sparky’s cousin!” “If he is,” Sunny answered nervously, “then this cousin has a serious temper/fire issue.” The dragon then used his fire breath to torch the helmet off of him, and then with growls, he quickly advanced toward Scooby and the ponies. “Uh oh…” the three trembled, taking steps back until they reached the wall. Suddenly, a voice stopped the dragon before he could harm them any further. “Matches! Come here!” Matches, which Sunny assumed to be the dragon’s name, quickly walked toward a short, middle-aged woman with black hair, wearing pink dress and a red cloak held on with skull buttons, and red head band. “Bad boy,” she scolded the dragon before turning to Scooby and the ponies. “I hope he didn't scare you.” “Me? Uh uh,” Scooby shook his head. “Surprisingly,” Sunny said, “we’ve dealt with a dragon at home… but he’s a lot more tame than this.” That’s when Shaggy, Scrappy and the other ponies managed to find them. “Like, guys…” Shaggy stammered. “Is that a… a…?” “Dragon? Uh huh,” Sunny nodded while Scooby imitated his growling. “Like Sparky?” Hitch asked. “Sort of,” Sunny shrugged. “Except this one’s dragon fire doesn’t transform things… just burns things.” “Matches can get a little feisty around strangers,” the woman then explained as they approached. “But once he gets to know you, he’s fine.” “Glad to know you, Matches,” Scrappy shook Matches’ claws. “I’m Scrappy-Doo. I guess you already know Sunny, Izzy and my Uncle Scooby.” This caused Matches to growl at them intimidatingly. “Hello,” Scooby chuckled nervously, waving his paw at the dragon. “And I’m Zipp,” the white pegasus then introduced. “And this is my sister Pipp, and our other friends, Hitch and Misty.” “Then you must be Shaggy Rogers,” said the woman with a kind smile. “I'm Miss Grimwood, head mistress of this finishing school.” “Like, pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Shaggy said. Expecting Miss Grimwood to shake his hand, Shaggy was beyond shocked to see the floating hand shake it instead. “I thought you could use a hand with your luggage,” Miss Grimwood said, and a creepy howl echoed through the entire school. “I… I don’t think we’ll be staying,” Misty gulped. “Right, Scoob?” “Absolutely!” Scooby agreed as a bat flew around them. But then, as they were making a break for it, the floating hand closed the door on them. “Come now, we have a contract, Shaggy,” Miss Grimwood brought out such. “This is your signature, is it not?” “Like, I guess so,” Shaggy gulped at the proof. “Sure it is!” Scrappy pointed to the two sets of pawprints on the contract. “We even witnessed it, right, Uncle Scooby?” “Uh, right, Scrappy,” Scooby nodded. “Good, now that’s settled. Come-- I want you all to meet my girls,” Miss Grimwood said as the same purple bat that flew around them earlier flew around them again. “Ahh… here’s one of them now.” “Girl?” Shaggy looked skeptic. “Like, don’t be batty! That’s no girl!” Suddenly, the bat began to glow with a bright light, and instantly morphed into a young girl with lavender skin, long two-tone purple hair, red lips, aqua eyelids and green eyes, with an outfit consisting of a dark purple dress with a knee-high slit, red flats, and a red belt. “What’s wrong with batty?” she asked in a calm voice. “I’m Sibella, Count Dracula’s daughter. Fang-tastic to meet you.” “D-D-D-D-Dracula’s…?” Shaggy stammered. “...d-d-d-d-daughter?!” Scooby exclaimed. Suddenly, there came another fearsome howl, and everyone glanced over to the window to see a young werewolf who was short, has light brown fur, curly, bright orange hair, and yellow eyes, and an outfit consisting of a blue dress with the sleeves cut off along with a light blue bow-tie. “Whoa!” Pipp exclaimed. “A werewolf!” “Winnie the Werewolf to be exact,” Miss Grimwood nodded. “Come down and meet your new teacher, Winnie!” “Hellooooooooooo!!!” Winnie howled in greeting. “Like, goodbyyyyyyyyye!!!” Shaggy screamed before he, Scooby and Misty ran off in panic… just before they were approached by another student. This student was a tall, female humanoid, with pale skin, and a black hair updo with white streaks, bolts on both sides of her neck, a bit of a heavy brow, and many stitches on her body, along with a dark green dress over a light green t-shirt with chunky brown sandals. “Hi,” she greeted in a friendly tone. “I’m Elsa Frankenteen.” “And we’re outta here!” Scooby yelped, and they raced back in the other direction, collecting their friends before darting off again. “I guess they're anxious to find their rooms,” Miss Grimwood assumed. “They must be tired.” “They don't run like they're tired,” Elsa noticed. “Yeah,” Sibella nodded. “You think they’ve never met a girl ghoul before.” XXXXXXXX Sunny and the other ponies tiredly followed Scooby, Shaggy, Scrappy and Misty through the dark corridors of the school until they reached a large wooden door. “Maybe we can get out this way,” Misty pointed to the door with her hoof. “I hope so!” Scooby said worriedly. “But, Uncle Scooby, why are we leaving?” Scrappy asked. “Don't you want to meet the rest of the girls?” The group pushed open the door, peeking inside to see a cold desolate room with a singular organ inside. “Like, those weren’t girls, Scrappy,” Shaggy said. “They were ghouls!” Suddenly, another one of the students floated over to them through the walls. And this student was transparent, highlighted by a blue tinge, with short white hair with a blue streak, worn in a sideways ponytail and a simple light blue dress and high heeled white cowgirl boots. “Ho ho!” Shaggy said as the group watched with shock. “S-See what I mean?!” “Hi! I’m Phantasma,” the ghost girl said before sitting down at the organ. “Wanna hear me play?” The tune she played was happy and upbeat, not at all what the group was expecting. “Not bad, Phantasma,” Hitch said. “But do you know any rock-n-roll?” But, he was quickly picked up by Zipp, who was getting a tad bid freaked out about this. “There’s no time for rocking!” she said as they bolted down the hall as fast as their feet, wings, hooves and paws could take them. “We have to get rolling!” “Don’t worry, Miss Grimwood,” said Elsa’s voice from down the hall, “we’ll find ‘em!” As they ran, Shaggy spotted another door from not too far off. “Quick, in here!” They soon went inside the room, finding it designed to look like an ancient Egyptian tomb, but the group was too busy panting tiredly to notice. “I think we lost them,” Zipp panted. “Guys, I really don’t get why we ran off,” Sunny frowned. “Those girls seemed friendly enough.” “Not to be rude, Sunny, but… once again, they were ghouls!” Misty exclaimed. “And remember last time we encountered ghouls? They tried to drain us of our life force!” “Well, that’s a good point… but I’m wanting to keep an open mind about them,” said Sunny. “Just until we have evidence to prove they’re not friendly.” But as Sunny was speaking, Shaggy spotted a sarcophogus to hide inside for the time being. “Like, this looks like a good place to hide.” “Uh… Shag, Scoob, Scrappy, wait!” Zipp tried to stop them, realizing what it was, but they dove in anyway. Then, after a few seconds, they all burst out screaming the same thing. “MUMMY!!!!!” A small mummy girl yawned and arose from the sarcophogus, blue eyes blinking tiredly. “S-S-S-Sorry we woke you,” Izzy squeaked as they backed away… right into Elsa, causing the unicorns, Shaggy and Scooby to scream as Miss Grimwood and the other girls joined them. “Ahh… I see you met the youngest of my girls,” Miss Grimwood said pleased. “This is Tanis, the mummy’s daughter.” “Are they the new gym teachers?” Tanis asked, coming closer. “Yes, Tanis,” Sibella nodded. “We’ve been waiting for them a long time.” “It wasn’t worth it!” Shaggy blurt out. “You don't want to eat us. We're just skin and bone!” “Yeah! Skin and bone!” Scooby agreed, and Phantasma let out a high-pitched giggle. “They’re strange, Elsa!” she spoke. “But they’re in good shape, Phanty,” Elsa agreed, and Scrappy flexed a muscle for them proudly. “Gee, thanks.” “G-G-Good shape? For what?” Hitch asked nervously. “To teach us how to beat those Calloway cadets, of course,” Sibella pointed in the direction of the military school. “Yeah! They win every time!” Tanis said, pointing to an empty trophy case. “I'll never get a trophy for my mummy case.” The ponies’ hearts melted a little at the sight of such a sad mummy… but then again, they never thought that way about a mummy before. “We need a coach with spirit!” Phantasma said, phasing through the walls. “Who can show us all the right moves!” Winnie agreed, pretending to dribble a basketball. “Well...” Shaggy stammered. “Uh...” “That’s my Uncle Scooby!” Scrappy said before he or Shaggy could protest. “He and Shaggy have more moves than a Russian chess player.” “Yeah!” Scooby nodded. “Checkmate!” “Don’t worry, Tanis,” Izzy said comfortingly. “We’ll help you earn a trophy, or my name isn’t Izzy Moonbow! And if we don't win you that trophy... well, I guess I'm gonna have to change my name.” “I’m so happy I could howl!” Winnie cheered. “In fact, I will! Awoooooooooo!!!” “YIPE!!” Misty shrieked, not used to hearing that sound. “Oh… it’s fang-tastic having you here, guys,” Sibella said, showing off her vampire fangs. “Yeah… welcome to Ghoul… School!” Elsa patted Shaggy and Scooby roughly on the back, which caused them to tumble straight into Misty and Hitch. “Well, I’m glad that’s all settled,” Miss Grimmwood said. “Now, let me show you all to your rooms.” That’s when the floating hands brought a set of keys over to her. “Ahh… here are the keys!” “YIKES!!!” Shaggy, Misty and Scooby screamed before falling back, having fainted. “Gee,” Scrappy said as he dragged them out of the room. “You guys must’ve been overcome by your warm welcome!” Sunny chuckled nervously at the headmistress and students. “We’ll help them settle in… promise.” But as they settled in for the night, no one noticed the evil Opaline watching them through her mirror pool. “Now I know where they went, and I know just the person who can help me finish them for good…”