Chapter Text

The ultimate power chord . 

That’s what they needed to break Rude Boy’s spell. 

Shaggy and Scooby knew that, the Hex Girls knew that. But in the end, it hadn’t been enough. The cursed ska music reverberated through the air with a sinister green glow, glares in the shapes of sinister skulls enchanting the people of Crystal Cove to dance until they could dance no more and blasting the instruments right out of the hands of the Hex Girls. Shaggy and Scooby tried to pick up instruments themselves to back up their friends, but they were no musicians, and found that the sounds they made had no effect. 

“Like, Scoob old buddy, old friend, old pal… after everything we’ve been through, is this it? Like, through all the scary monsters and the homicidal parrot, are our friends really going to dance themselves to death?” 

“No way!” Scooby growled. Still ever determined and faithful, the dog looked around, his mind scrambling for some sort of answer. But his eyes fell upon Fred, Daphne, and Velma dancing uncontrollably with the rest of the Crystalcovians below, and then he looked over at Shaggy, trying to rouse Luna, Thorn, and Dusk from where they’d been knocked unconscious, and a knot of despair settled in the back of his throat. 

It was right at that moment, when it seemed all hope might be lost, that a pink light appeared from below. 

And suddenly, the sound of the synth and the strum of an electric guitar drowned out the cursed melody of ska. 

In an instant, Shaggy and Scooby rushed over to the edge of the rooftop, looking down in the direction of the sound until their gazes landed upon a cloud of pink smoke. Light within it showed the silhouettes of a very familiarly shaped van, and four figures that came into clarity as the vapor cleared, their bodies bobbing in sync with the tempo of the beat.

The first member of the band that came into view was a girl wielding a blue electric guitar, dressed entirely in blue save her pink glasses, right down to the azure hue of her hair. The second was a scrawny young man on the synthesizer with marigold hair and an orange vest. A small white dog stood just in front of him, looking up at the Ska-tastics through gold-tinted glasses. And finally, at the front center of the band, his bow running across the strings of his pink violin, appeared a handsome young man with magenta hair and a matching suit. The rhythm of the song picked up, and he began to sing. 

“ The spell you’ve got on me - it’s like magic! 

His bow ran across the strings twice. 

“ Got me feelin’ like falling in love, 

From behind the truck suddenly appeared a bizarre spectacle of special effects - 

“ Got me feelin’ like I’ll never give up on-

Got me feelin’ like I’ll never give up on you!”

- A small orchestra of pink ghosts with little violins, bobbing their bodies in sync with the music in the same manner as the musicians, strumming their strings right along with the lead violinist.

“ It’s like magic!”

That was when the song really picked up - Shaggy and Scooby had no ear for music, but the Hex girls knew what they were hearing as they awoke from where they’d fallen: a unique blend of electra and disco with violins and a progressive thrust - a song plenty powerful enough to be the ultimate power chord! 

“Like, zoinks! Like, who’re they?” Shaggy asked. 

“I don’t know, but they’ve got some killer sounds!” Said Dusk as the Hex Girls came up behind them to look. 

“It’s not the same as ours, but that’s the ultimate power chord!” Luna exclaimed. 

The Hex Girls weren’t the only ones who thought so either. The band’s pink blasts of music were canceling out the ska, illuminations shaped like those same pink ghosts blasting the Ska-tastics skulls away, and the tired townsfolk below had stopped dancing and were coming to. 

“ I got you feelin’ like you’re falling in love!

I got you feelin’ like you’ll never give up on,

I got you feelin’ like you’ll never give up on!”

And the lead vocalist sang, with the synth player, the guitarist, and the pink ghosts singing too in a call-and-response verse - 

“ Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic, Magic, Magic!”

“Oooh!”

“ Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic, Magic, Magic!”

“Oooh!”

Right as the townspeople began to cheer for the band, the Ska-tastics began to play their ska with even more fervor, entrapping them once again in their spell. 

“ Yer dead right, mate!

Dead right, mate!

Left right, mate! 

That’s right, mate!

Yer dead right, mate!

Yer dead right, mate!

Top mate, mate! 

Yer dead right, mate!”

But the newcomers weren’t finished weaving their own magic just yet, and the Ska-tastics would prove to be no match for the strong bond between the instrumentalists, or the love with which their song had been written. The lead singer and the violinist came together, still playing their parts - and as the two started to dance, eyes shining with joy, he began to sing at her with all the guile and passion of a young man in love. 

“ It's not the way you wear your hair,

Or you just crept out of bed.

Oh no.

It's not the way you move your eyes,

So it took me by surprise.

Oh no.

Before this night is over, I pull your body closer!

I'mma give it to ya,

I wanna get back!

Before this night is over,

I pull your body closer!”

The blue girl spun back to her place and the singer resumed his strings right as the violins returned, bringing back the people of Crystal Cove with the power of the chorus. 

“The spell you got on me - it's like magic!

Got me feeling like falling in love,

Got me feeling like I'll never give up on-

Got me feeling like I'll never give up on you!

It's like magic!

I got you feeling like you're falling in love,

I got you feeling like you'll never give up on-

I got you feeling like you'll never give up on!”

The violins arose in a grand crescendo, building up to the next verse, and that was when Scooby noticed the group’s name printed proudly on the side of their van: 

Mystery Skulls . 

But the great dane had not even a moment to register it, before the group finally dropped the beat. 

“ Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic, Magic, Magic!”

“Oooh!”

“ Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic, Magic, Magic!”

“Oooh!”

That was when from above the Mystery Skulls’ van, arose a great red shape of light. 

“ Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic, Magic, Magic!”

“Oooh!”

The shape took the form of an absolutely gigantic fox-like beast, eyes glowing and sharp teeth bared at Rude Boy, seven magnificent tails swaying to and fro. The white dog on the street down below smiled at it with a smug sense of pride. 

“ Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic!” “Oooh!”

“Magic, Magic, Magic, Magic!”

“Oooh!”

In two great bounds, the beast leapt through the air, above the people of Crystal Cove, and crashed into Rude Boy and the ska-tastics with such force that their equipment exploded. 

The Mystery Skulls smiled at the sight of their defeated opponent, and then went on to have fun finishing their song, basking in the glow of the applause from their liberated audience. As the lead vocalist reached his last verse and the violins brought the ballad to a peaceful finish, there was a moment of silence from the audience for a few moments before the people of Crystal Cove exploded into applause. 

Once everything finally settled and died down, Sheriff Stone arrested Rude Boy and the Ska-tastics, and Fred did the honors of unmasking them to reveal their true identities: 

Rude Boy and the Ska-tastics. 

It was just as Velma had suspected: the band had faked their own deaths. 

As Rude Boy would go on to explain, the band had intended to make a surprise comeback a year after their supposed deaths with a new hit. But, writing the perfect song had taken so much longer than they’d expected that by the time it was ready, the popularity of ska music had died out. So (because obviously that was the “reasonable” and “logical” thing to do), they had come to the decision that they would make their reappearance as zombies and use an enharmonic chord with special frequencies in the music to force their audience to dance. 

As the sheriff loaded the fake ghost band into the back of his car and drove off, Mystery Incorporated finally broke away and went over to meet the group they owed their victory to. 

The crowd had peacefully departed, townsfolk headed home to rest after their ordeal. The fellow with the orange hair in the vest was loading his synth into the back of the van, and the blue guitarist and the magenta violinist/lead singer were wrapping up their conversation with Thorn, Dusk, and Luna. 

Their girl who’d played the guitar was holding the dog - He was mostly white, with black paws, a black spot on his back, and a mane of black and red fur on his head. A gold and red pendant in the shape of a question mark hung from the crimson collar around his neck, and a tiny pair of gold tinted glasses rested on his snout. It was almost unsettling, how human the animal seemed. The way he looked between the five humans as they spoke was almost as though he understood them. Like Scooby… or like Professor Pericles. 

Velma hummed thoughtfully, observing with the rest of the gang from afar. “Is it me, or does that band look… familiar?” Velma asked. 

“Jeepers. You might be right, Velma.” Daphne exclaimed. 

“Like, yeah. Like, they kinda look like… us. ” Said Shaggy. 

“That’s what I thought, too. They’re short a teammate. But if I didn’t know any better, they almost look like another Mystery Incorporated!” Velma said.

“Reah! Right down to the van.” Scooby agreed. 

“That’s true, gang. The past two generations of Mystery Incorporated have driven a similar one. But we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions so soon.” Fred said. 

“Fred’s right.” Velma agreed. “Every Mystery Incorporated has stuck to a very specific formula: four kids and a talking animal. There’s only three of them, and I haven’t seen or heard a peep out of the dog.” 

“That’s true… but the original Mystery Incorporated is down to three members now.” Daphne said sadly. The entire gang nodded solemnly, and there was a brief moment of silence at the mention of Cassidy Williams. 

“I still think Fred’s right.” Velma said. “And besides: they’re a band . It would make sense for them to have a group van… and the fact that Mystery is in the name doesn’t prove anything!” She said stubbornly. And then she was marching forward, leading the way as the gang went to introduce themselves. 

“Hey, Daphne! You guys totally need to meet these guys.” Said Thorn as they approached. They said goodbye to the Hex Girls, who agreed to meet back up with Mystery Incorporated at Shaggy’s House later. Once they were gone, the gang struck up conversation with the Mystery Skulls.

“Well, hey.” Fred said. “Thanks a lot for the help back there.” 

“Like yeah man, your song was like, totally groovy dudes!” said Shaggy.

“We’re-” 

“Mystery Incorporated! It’s great to meet you. Your friends the Hex Girls were just telling us about you all. That, and ‘The Mystery Machine’ is painted on the side of your van.” The singer said, pointing at where the Mystery Machine was parked. 

“Yep! It’s nice to see that we’re not the only ones in town with an appreciation for a themed, uniquely decorated van. Though, you were definitely much more ambitious than we were. I love the colors! Especially the blue, but you probably could have guessed that.” Said the guitarist, gesturing to the color of her hair, outfit, and guitar. 

“Really? You like it? Thanks! I designed the paint job myself!” Fred said excitedly. “I’m Fred, by the way - Fred Jones. This is Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby.” 

“It’s great to meet you.” Said Velma. “And might I say I approve of the color you decided to paint your van.” She added, comparing the orange and red to her signature sweater and skirt.

“Technically, it’s Arthur’s van. So I guess it only makes sense that it’s orange. Speaking of which: Hey, Arthur! Come over here and meet these guys!” Called the singer.

The pianist with the spiky orange hair, Arthur , stumbled out from behind the van. “Oh! Hello there… everyone.” He said shyly with a sheepish wave. “I’m Arthur Kingsmen. It’s nice to meet you.” 

As nice as Arthur seemed, the gang was stunned into silence after he waved. Arthur’s entire left arm was made of metal - a complex artificial limb. 

“Y-yeah. I uh… lost my arm a few years ago.” Arthur chuckled uncomfortably, clutching it nervously with his other arm. 

“Oh! Like, sorry man.” Shaggy apologized. 

“We didn’t mean to stare.” Said Daphne.

“It was just like, kinda surprising.” 

“It’s cool, really.” Arthur said. “Not everyone notices at first, then when they do they’re like: Ahh!”  

“I can see why people don’t notice at first. That’s an incredible prosthetic!” Velma gushed, adjusting her glasses and looking at it more closely. 

“R-really? You think so?” 

“Of course! I’ve never seen a prosthetic that moves so organically! The movements of the fingers are extremely complex - You must have worked really hard to be able to use it with that much fluidity. The prosthetic’s integration with the rest of your body looks flawless! You make it look effortless!”

“Oh, it’s nothing really.” Arthur blushed. “And besides, Vivi helped me out a lot in the early days. I owe her a lot.” 

“ Aww, thanks Arthur. That’s me by the way - I’m Vivi Yukino.” 

“And I’m Lewis Pepper.” 

“Nice to meet you!” Scooby said. 

“Oh, cool. So, is it not that unusual around here for animals to talk? Great! I’m Mystery!” Said the dog. 

Mystery Incorporated stared at the little dog in shock, then they turned to look at each other. 

A talking animal . 

With that single look, the gang all knew what the others were thinking, and they all came to the silent and unanimous decision that they would discuss the implications of this later, either in the van after this conversation was over or after the Hex Girls left Shaggy’s house later. And with that, they returned to the conversation and gave their best effort to appear as though they weren’t hiding anything. 

“Pretty weird how that band was pretending to be themselves… only ghosts. Huh?” Said Vivi. 

“And with those words, you’ve just proved that this is your first time in Crystal Cove.” Said Velma.

“Happens a lot more often around here than you would think.” Daphne added. 

“Yeah, you would know, wouldn’t you?” Lewis said. “We haven’t been here long, but from what we’ve heard, you guys are quite the team. You solve mysteries, right? And you’ve proved a lot of this town’s tourist attractions to be fakes?” 

“Like, yeah.” Shaggy laughed. “That’s us.” 

“Thanks a lot for stepping in when you did, by the way.” Daphne thanked them. 

“Yeah, the monsters don’t catch us off guard like that very often. Without your band’s help Fred, Daphne, and I might have danced ourselves to death!” Velma exclaimed.

“Oh, it was nothing!” Lewis blushed. 

“Believe it or not, that wasn’t even our first rodeo against a large-scale case of musical hypnosis.” Mystery said. 

“Us mystery solvers and paranormal investigators have to stick together and help each other out, right?” Said Vivi. 

There was an audible record scratch inside the heads of all five members of Mystery Incorporated. 

“Uh, like, say that again?” Shaggy asked shakily. 

“Oh, music isn’t our main gig. It’s more of a hobby.” Lewis explained. 

“Yeah, that’s right. We’re mystery solvers - kind of like you, but when we investigate stuff… it usually turns out to be real.” Arthur said, rubbing his arm again and giving Lewis and Mystery very pointed looks. 

“Cults, curses, demons, ghosts, witches, magical creatures, the Weird Tree Lady… we’ve seen most of it at this point.” Vivi said, counting them off on her fingers. 

“Can we not discuss the ‘Weird Tree Lady’? ” Mystery winced.

“Don’t get us wrong: we are a band. But mysteries have always had this weird way of finding us, so we’re more paranormal investigators than musicians at this point.” Arthur said dryly. 

But Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby were hardly listening at that point, their minds reeling at the implications. 

Three kids and a talking animal that formed a gang of mystery solvers. It was too close to the pattern to be a coincidence. A third living, active Mystery Incorporated group had just appeared in Crystal Cove. Where one Mystery had just come to a close, another had just gotten much more complicated.

Chapter Text

Deep within the lower levels of Destroido, Ricky Owens sat before his monitors, deep in thought. 

Two days ago, the town had been saved from Rude Boy and the Ska-tastics’ “Dancing Plague” - and it wasn’t Mystery Incorporated that had stopped them. 

The Mystery Skulls: A group of young paranormal investigators formed by three young adults and a talking animal. Being short a female member, the Mystery Skulls didn’t fit the pattern perfectly, but in Mr. E’s mind it couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. It caught his attention enough that, without bothering to bring Brad, Judy, or Pericles into it, he started looking into them. 

Upon a surface search, The Mystery Skulls were a licensed group of investigators - bounty hunters , in some states - under the leadership of Vivi Yukino that traveled around the country looking for mysteries. They were very well established. Ricky found more than one case in which they worked closely with law enforcement as high as the FBI, and were actually recognized and rewarded for their efforts. Compared to the current and original Mystery Incorporated, who seldom took mysteries outside of Crystal Cove, were unpaid, and were met with ridicule for their efforts for most of their careers, that was extremely impressive. 

While the crimes the Mystery Skulls had solved were far from unmasking people in costumes, the cases they had solved ranged from stolen property to cases as serious as missing persons and murder. And in addition to the more traditional crimes they had solved, the Mystery Skulls also seemed to have an outstanding reputation as investigators in the Paranormal Community for the numerous cases in which they had exposed and dismantled dangerous cults, investigated hauntings, and performed successful exorcisms, as well as for the techniques they had pioneered among so-called “ghost/monster hunters” and the “proof” of the paranormal they had captured themselves. Ricky didn’t know how much he believed that part, but their record showed evidence of a highly experienced, successful, and tight-knit group. In other words, if they decided to side with the kids or to seek the treasure themselves, they had a high probability of becoming not just a problem, but a threat. 

Still, Ricky decided not to bring his concerns to the others just yet. Pericles didn’t seem the least bit concerned with the Mystery Skulls, if he’d even noticed them. And the same went for Brad and Judy. Speaking of… there might be another reason for Ricky to set the Mystery Skulls aside for now. He already had enough problems with his own team. With one member, specifically. 

Pericles was losing his mind. Even more concerning - he was seriously overstepping his bounds. He was spending Destroido’s money - Ricky’s money - carelessly, excessively, and without permission. 

It was for this reason among others that Ricky had blocked Pericles out of the system this morning. He hadn’t enjoyed doing it, and he was not looking forward to the argument that was sure to ensue when the bird noticed. Come to think of it, he’d better go ahead and steel himself for that. It was only a matter of time before it happened, and frankly he was surprised he hadn’t heard from Pericles already. 

Without really thinking about it, he closed his tabs pertaining to the Mystery Skulls, leaving the ones about Cassidy open for him to see. 

Cassidy wouldn’t take his shit. That had made her into an enemy. The thing was though, Ricky was starting to worry. He hadn’t heard from her or caught a glimpse of her on any of his cameras in over three weeks. Pericles had told Ricky that Angel had been “dealt with”. Ricky had assumed that meant he’d driven her out of town. But now… now he was starting to wonder if those words had meant something darker. 

No . 

Cassidy wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. 

“ Ricky! ” Ricky jumped at the angry call of his name, and he quickly shut the tabs about Cassidy just before Professor Pericles - looking every bit as angry as he had expected him to be - landed on the monitor in front of him. 

“Ricky what have you done? I’ve been locked out of the system!” The parrot demanded, his scarred face and remaining green eye looking all the more malevolent in the dim light of the lair. 

Cassidy wouldn’t take his shit. And neither should I. 

“I know!” Ricky snapped, standing up. “I did it on purpose! You’re out of control, Professor Pericles! And I’m putting a stop to it!” Ricky’s heart was pounding out of his chest, but he felt a twinge of pride at himself. I did it. I stood up to him. No backing down, now. “ I’m in charge. I built Destroido from the ground up! While you were cooling your beak in prison!” He said with a hint of bitterness. Even after all this time, the wound from the old betrayal still stung. “It’s time that I-” 

Pericles was shaking with anger, but Ricky was still taken completely by surprise when the bird launched himself off of his perch and struck Ricky across the face so hard that he stumbled and fell on his back. The parrot landed on his chest, his furious expression just inches from Ricky’s frightened one.

“You are in charge of nothing , Ricky Owens!” Professor Pericles said, with more madness and malice than Ricky had ever heard the parrot use on one of their enemies , much less with Ricky. “You have never been anything other than an idiotic human mascot! A shoulder for me to perch upon! ” 

Every word Pericles spoke hurt. Even more than the still-stinging blow on Ricky’s cheek. It hurt in a way Ricky had forgotten he could hurt. Everything they’d done together when Ricky was a boy, all the effort Pericles had put into reconciling when they were adults. Was he really just a tool? Had he never been anything more than that to Pericles? 

Neither of them had any way of knowing, but there in the darkness, the black influence of an ancient curse was loosening its hold over Ricky Owens’ heart. And in a certain parallel dimension, the apparition of a teenage boy looked down at his hands to find that his own image was flickering. But the sight didn’t scare him - no. In fact, it made him shout for joy. 

Mystery Incorporated spent their morning at Shaggy’s house, taking care of poor Scooby, sick in bed with fright ever since he’d come running home from the hospital the other night quivering about how Nova had apparently flatlined before sitting straight up in bed and uttering the words: “Nibiru. Nibiru is coming.”  

It was certainly something, considering that A: Nova wasn’t a talking animal like Scooby, Pericles, or Mystery, and B: Nibiru was the same word that had been uttered by the mummy of Abigail Gluck, the word produced when Velma cobbled together a player for the planispheric disk, and what the ghost of Friar Gabriello Serra had risen from the dead to warn them about. 

Velma had been doing additional research about the event, of course. Courtesy of a book called Supernatural Curses and the Extra-Dimensional Forces Behind Them she had borrowed from her mother. 

“You think Nova's cursed?” Shaggy asked, not believing that Velma the skeptic would even consider it. 

“This whole town is cursed!” Velma exclaimed. “We got used to crazy criminals pretending to be monsters all the time, but things are different. This: I can’t explain.” 

“It must have something to do with the treasure buried underneath Crystal Cove.” Fred suggested. 

“The one the planispheric disk should lead us to, but instead it keeps leading us to strange old objects, like the flintlock and the conquistador’s helmet.” Daphne added. 

“The first and second key. To what and why: I don’t know.” Velma said. “Gang. For the first time in our history as mystery solvers, we have to consider that something truly supernatural is happening here!” 

“And now we have another thing to consider.” Fred said. 

“I assume you’re referring to the Mystery Skulls.” Velma said. “I researched them briefly, though I’ve been putting most of my energy into Nibiru. They’re a legit licensed mystery solving team, specializing in both regular crimes and in the supernatural. And it’s looking more and more possible that they could be another Mystery Incorporated group. I came across a reference online about an incident that occurred three years ago. Apparently one of their members died, and another was seriously injured.” 

“Like, the serious injury could have been Arthur. Maybe that’s how he lost his arm!” Shaggy said. 

“And the one that died must have been their fourth member!” Daphne cried. 

“Until we know otherwise, I think that’s the assumption we should run with. Oddly, that was the only mention of the incident that I could find. Whatever happened, it seems that somebody wanted it covered up.” Velma said. 

“But who?” Asked Fred. 

“That’s just one of the things we need to find out about them.” Velma said. 

“Rut if we just… asked them?” Scooby suggested. 

“That could go either fine, or very very badly.” Velma said. 

“Like, Velma’s right.” Shaggy said. “Like, we don’t know why they came here. Like, they could be looking for the treasure! Like, they could be just as messed up and corrupt as the Original Mystery Incorporated!” Shaggy said nervously. 

“And if that’s true, assuming the Mystery Skulls really are experienced in real supernatural encounters, then they could be just as dangerous as the original Mystery Incorporated, too. Or even worse!” 

The implications frightened Scooby right back under the covers again. 

“Like, you know what I say?” Shaggy said, trying to cheer up his beloved dog, “When things get scary, the scared get pizza! And when things get extra scary, we get extra deep-dish! Right, Scooby Doo?” 

“Scooby Dobbie De-licious!”

Shaggy’s promise of Pizza of course sent the gang on a trip to Planet Pizza From Outer Space that evening. 

Imagine their surprise, right before they could dig in, when Dr. Rick Spartan and Cachinga crashed through the front door with their car and started throwing all the food out the window. Imagine their double surprise when the lights went out and a giant fat demon suddenly appeared and devoured the rest of the food that Dr. Spartan hadn’t thrown out the window. 

… They really couldn’t do anything without mysteries finding them. 

These were the events that led to Mystery Incorporated’s second encounter with the Mystery Skulls. After the Gluten Demon left, Dr. Spartan was just telling them about the history of the monster when Velma’s phone rang. And much to Velma’s horror, all she could hear on the other end was the sound of a hungry growl. The call sent the gang into a frenzy - piling into the Mystery Machine. Fred broke several traffic laws on the drive over. 

Imagine their surprise when upon their arrival, the mystery had already been brought to an end. 

The museum itself was in disarray, with one of the walls blown out and the doors pulled off their hinges. Sheriff Stone was already there, and two of his deputies were rolling an already unmasked and very beat-up Gluten Demon into the back of his car. Much to the gang’s shock, it was none other than Francilee Jackson, who’d been supposedly swallowed whole by the creature live on her show the day before. An ambulance was parked outside, and Angie was sitting in the back with a blanket thrown over her shoulders. 

As for the Sheriff himself, he was taking statements - and you’d never guess from who. 

The Mystery Skulls . Vivi was doing most of the talking, looking rather wind-swept, dusty with rubble, brandishing her shiny silver bat. 

Not that Velma cared about that very much. The moment the van pulled up, she exploded out the back doors and rushed over to her mother. 

“Mom!” She cried, throwing herself into her Mother’s arms. “Mom! Are you hurt? What happened?” 

“Oh, I’m fine sweetie. That strapping young man in the orange vest over there helped get me to safety while his friends dealt with the demon. You might want to keep them around, sweetie. They really know their stuff.” 

While Velma saw to her mother, the rest of the gang, Dr. Spartan, and Cachinga went over to the Sheriff. 

“Hey, Sheriff! What happened here?” Fred asked. 

“Not another step, Mystery Inc .” Sheriff Stone said, looking far too smug. “The Mystery Skulls over here have already put this case to rest. And might I add - their methods seem much more effective .” 

“Hey-hey-hey, Sheriff.” Lewis suddenly interjected, “Don’t go dissing the hand that feeds you. From what we’ve heard, Mystery Incorporated has solved plenty of mysteries that you yourself have failed to solve. This very museum is filled to the brim with them. We stopped one .” 

“ Careful , Pepper. I was just starting to like you. And count yourself lucky I’m not arresting all of you for assault. Especially your little girlfriend, here.” 

“Oh come on , man!” Arthur said. 

“Yeah! How were we supposed to know it was a middle aged white lady under that mask? She was ripping doors off their hinges and eating everything edible in sight!” Vivi argued. 

“Damn right!” Arthur agreed. “Her mouth unhinged like a snake! I didn’t know a  human oral cavity could do that!” 

The Sheriff stuttered and blubbered for a few moments before he rounded on Mystery Incorporated and roared, “I CANNOT HANDLE THERE BEING TWO OF YOU!” Before storming off. 

“Well, we managed to stay here for three whole days before we rubbed the authorities the wrong way.” Arthur sighed. 

“Like don’t worry about it man.” Shaggy said. “The police in Crystal Cove are pretty like…” 

“Incompetent.” Velma said, finally rejoining the others. “Don’t mind the Sheriff. Believe it or not, he used to be even worse. Also, thank you. For saving my mother.” 

“Aw, it was nothing!” Vivi said.

 “We’re sorry for making a mess of the place. We did try to keep the damage contained.” Arthur apologized. 

“But it’s kind of difficult to do that when you’re trying to avoid getting squashed by a sumo wrestler in cosplay.” Mystery chuckled. 

“I heard that, you nasty little mongrel!”  Francilee Jackson hollered angrily from the back of Sheriff Stone’s car. 

“WHY DON’T YOU SAY THAT TO OUR FACES?” Lewis roared. 

“YEAH, YOU BITCH!” Vivi shouted, resting her bat on her shoulder and flipping Francilee the bird. “YOU WANNA GO AGAIN? SAY SOMETHING! I’LL BEAT YOUR ASS RIGHT HERE AND NOW!” 

“G-guys. Please calm down.” Said Arthur, grabbing each of his friends by the arm. 

“Thanks, Arthur.” They both said. 

“But I say,” Cachinga said, desperately wanting to change the subject, “What on Earth did happen here?” 

When the Mystery Skulls had come to the Haunted Museum, they really hadn’t known anything about a Gluten Demon on the loose. What they’d been there to research was about the curse of Crystal Cove that their source had told them about - and how they, the Mystery Skulls, fit into it. 

There were other groups like them, with four kids and a talking animal, and thanks to the little message from the universe that had sent them back to their birthplace of Crystal Cove, they knew that they were one of those groups, too. But they didn’t understand how they could be one of those groups, given that they had three members and not four, and they wondered if Mystery’s true nature had something to do with it. 

And if the curse they were supposedly a part of had anything to do with what had happened in the caves three years ago. 

Not that they told any of this to Mystery Incorporated, of course. Their source may have told them the kids were trustworthy, but given what they’d been told about the group before them, they thought it wise to be cautious at first. Especially given how much the Mystery Skulls potentially had to lose if their secrets were revealed to the wrong people at the wrong time. 

What they did tell the kids was that they were at the Museum doing research on the Curse that was supposedly on Crystal Cove. They didn’t say anything more than that, they merely left the door open for Mystery Inc to say something like, “So you know about the curse! We know about the curse and we’re investigating it too! Let’s team up!” But of course, things couldn’t be that easy. It escaped no one’s notice however that Mystery Incorporated definitely flashed each other a look . But they kept their mouths shut. 

The Mystery Skulls had been scanning the tomes of Angie Dinkley’s vast collection of supernatural texts for the info they needed when all of a sudden, there was a loud crash and a roar that sent all four of the veteran mystery solvers into instant fight-or-flight mode. 

When the Gluten Demon came around the corner, throwing doors and knocking over bookshelves, the Mystery Skulls were already braced for a fight. Mystery was on the verge of returning to his true form, the pink flames igniting around Lewis were indicative that he was about to do the same, Arthur was getting the hell out of his friends’ way, pulling Angie after him and getting her away from the fighting, and Vivi was spinning her baseball bat out from behind her back, the metal emitting an icy blue glow. It looked to be the start of an epic battle when all of a sudden Mystery stopped and said, “Wait a minute!” 

And that was when the beast charged… right past the Mystery Skulls and began to devour all of the pastries in the cafe. 

“What is it, Mystery?” Vivi asked. 

“If that’s supposed to be the Gluten Demon, then it’s an awful fake.” The kitsune-disguised-as-a-dog explained. 

“So does that mean that’s just a fat guy in a costume?” Lewis asked. 

“Correct.” 

“So, there’s probably no need to go all out then.” Lewis said, relaxing. 

“Eh, caution is still warranted. Just because they-” Mystery sniffed the air- “ She isn’t supernatural, doesn’t mean she isn’t dangerous.” 

“But not dangerous enough to warrant an angry ghost and a yokai?” Asked Vivi. 

“Probably not. And not dangerous enough to warrant ancient ice magic either.”

“But dangerous enough for a girl with a lot of pent-up anger and a baseball bat?” Vivi asked. The bat wasn’t glowing anymore, but Vivi looked really excited to use it.

“Oh, yes. Go for it.” 

And then she was shouting a war cry, running into battle. 

“Have fun, babe!” Lewis called after her.

“So you beat her into unconsciousness with a metal baseball bat?!” Daphne cried out in shock. 

“Yep. Sure did.” Vivi said with a thumbs-up. “She didn’t go down easy, either. I’ve got to hand her that.” 

“Wow, man. That’s like, really violent.” Shaggy gulped.

“Yet effective.” Velma said a bit too thoughtfully.

“Mystery Skulls, I like your style!” Dr. Spartan said, punching his palm.

“B-but… what about the trapping part?” Fred asked, dismayed. 

“ The trapping part ? Oh! Is that how you guys usually catch your criminals?” Mystery asked. 

“Well… yeah! Is there any other way?” 

“We usually just… fight them. Or lure them in for the authorities. Or exorcize them, if they’re a real demon or spirit. I dunno. We might have set a trap or two throughout our career. We definitely don’t usually. We don’t really do traps.” Lewis explained. 

Fred was so shook that he fainted right there on the spot. Daphne barely managed to catch him before he busted his head on the asphalt. 

“But there’s one thing I don’t understand.” Dr. Spartan said. “How could you tell the Gluten Demon wasn’t real at just a glance?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Mystery said, his tail wagging proudly. “I’ve met the Gluten Demon, and that wasn’t him!” 

They talked a bit more before the two groups finally went their separate ways. Arthur offered for the Mystery Skulls to help Angie clean up her museum a bit and to help pay for the damages, given that they were partially responsible for it, but Angie just laughed it off. “Oh, don’t worry about it dear! Crystal Cove has excellent insurance! You four come by anytime you like!” Then they were piling into the van and heading back to where Lewis had set up the manor. 

“I like Crystal Cove, but I can see why our families moved when we were kids.” Vivi said. 

“No kidding. It’s no wonder so many mystery solving groups come out of here, curse or no curse.” Lewis agreed. 

“ I like those kids.” Mystery said, looking out the window fondly to where the Mystery Machine was driving out of sight. 

“Yeah.” Arthur agreed. “They seem just as nice as Angel Dynamite said they were.” 

“I’ll say.” Lewis agreed. “It’s impressive that they’ve remained as unaffected by the curse as they have been. I can sense it everywhere we go. Vivi, Arthur, I know you guys can’t feel it like Mystery and I can, but it’s kinda suffocating. No wonder so many people fall prey to it.” 

“I can get a sense of… something in this town, but I can’t imagine what you two must be sensing.” Vivi said.

“Everything Angel’s told us about Crystal Cove seems for the most part true.” Mystery said. “There’s some stuff she can’t have sensed or known about. But apart from that, it sounds like she was totally honest with us, at least to the best of her ability.”

“Makes me wonder if she wasn’t overexaggerating about her group, the Original Mystery Incorporated.” Vivi shuddered. 

“You’ve got that right. I mean, they’re bad enough that she faked her death the first chance she got just to get the fucking robots to stop trying to kill her.” Arthur said.

“She did say there might be hope for one of them.” Mystery said. “But we’d have to meet him to be sure.” 

“His name was… Ricky Owens, right?” Arthur asked, popping a CD into the player and turning it on. 

“Yep. Codename Mr. E .” Mystery confirmed.

“It would be nice to have allies, but for now I think Mr. E should come as second-priority.” Lewis said. On the radio, one of their songs began to play quietly. “Remember: Mr. E is still on the side of… what was the bird’s name?” 

“Trouble

How did I know that you'd be trouble?

“Professor Pericles.” Mystery said bitterly. “If half the stuff Angel said about him are true, then our ancestors are rolling in their graves.”

“Distant visions, you couldn’t handle it,

And you know that it's so hard to handle it.

“Right. Well, if Mr. E decides to side with him after we’ve told him our secrets, it could go very poorly for us.” Lewis said. 

“I agree, I agree. One mystery at a time.” The Kitsune agreed. 

“I told you don't fuck with my money!

This shit goes fast and life ain’t funny!

I told you don't fuck with my money if you're along for the ride!

“For starters,” Vivi said, fishing their latest trophy out of her bag, “What the heck is with this bowl, and why did Francilee seem so damn attached to it?”

“And why is it surrounded by the same energy as the curse?” Mystery asked. 

“ Tercero Llave ?” Lewis read off of the bottom, “ Third Key ? Third Key to what?” 

“Crazy,

How could I know that you'd be crazy?

How did I know that you can't handle it?

I know that you can understand a bit

So listen to me I said-”

“So you see Professor Pericles, it’s over!”

The night after the Mystery Skulls defeated the Gluten Demon, Ricky Owens took a stand.

This had to work. Ricky had gotten Brad and Judy in on it. Pericles was out of control, but Ricky still had hope. If he took the reins back, gave Professor Pericles a wake-up call, then maybe the caring, intelligent bird he’d known and loved as a boy might return. Maybe, just maybe, he was still in there somewhere. Ricky wanted him to still be in there somewhere.

“ You’re not the boss here, I am!” He declared, marching forward. “And you’re out of the group!” 

Whatever words Ricky had been about to deliver died in his throat as his world suddenly exploded with pain. 

Pain!Pain!Pain!Ithurts!Ithurts!Ithurts!Whatisthat?Whatisthat? Whatisthat?! 

Whatever it was, it was originating from his lower back and spreading outward to the rest of him. Ricky was no longer in control of his body as it spasmed with agony. It occurred to him that he should be screaming, he wanted to scream, but his muscles were clenching in such a way that all that escaped him was a pained whimper. 

He was vaguely aware that Pericles was talking. What was he saying? “Oh Ricky, Ricky. My loyal Brad and Judy told me of your little mutiny.” 

Those. Fucking. Snakes. He should have known. Those two betrayed their own son for Pericles and the treasure. How could he have been so stupid as to think that he wasn’t open game for them to betray too? 

“So, last night while you were asleep, I put mutated cobra larvae in your spine.”

Wheezing with agony, Ricky’s efforts to keep his last shred of dignity failed, and he collapsed to his knees with pain. 

“Every time I press this button,” Pericles explained with a twinge of glee, “a little venom is released.” 

From where his forehead was pressed to the cold hard floor, his eyes squeezed shut with pain, Ricky Owens couldn’t see them, but he could feel Brad and Judy’s vile sniggering and Pericles’ cruel smirk. He found the strength somehow to sit up on his knees, clutching his back with pain, and at the sight of the cruel glint in the eyes of those he’d once called friends, his heart seized with a different kind of pain. 

“So, as you can see - or feel - I’m still very much in control. You do as I say .”

The parrot’s gaze was laced with cruelty and madness, and Ricky knew, he knew, that no matter how hard he tried to resist, or how hard he fought, he wouldn’t be able to get out of this. Despair welled up within him at the realization, and he pressed his forehead into the floor again, refusing to let the bird see the tears welling up in his eyes. 

“First, we steal the planispheric disk from the kinder. Then, we destroy them. ” And as the parrot began to laugh, Ricky realized that all he was now, and maybe all he had ever been, was Pericles’ shoulder to perch on. He’d do anything to make this pain stop. And he would never escape, because he could never escape. He didn’t have the strength, nor the skill or wit. He’d been caged within the walls of his own company, boxed in by his own actions. And whatever happened from here, he would have no control over it, because all he was now was one of Pericles’ pawns on the table - usable and disposable. 

Cassidy was right. She was right about everything. 

Pericles had lost his mind a long time ago. The parrot Ricky had once loved was gone, and maybe he’d been an illusion from the start. And now thanks to Ricky, Pericles had the resources to make his every dark desire a reality with no one to stop him. 

This is my fault. I deserve this pain. I’d do anything to take it all back. Cassidy was right. 

From a certain parallel dimension, a very peculiar trio sat in a red room, watching the scene unfolding on Earth. The first was an apparition of a teenage boy - now appearing as though he wasn’t completely there. His image was ever so slightly translucent, and he couldn’t be happier about it. But his heart welled with despair at the sight of what was happening to his counterpart below. The second was the apparition of a very short man in a red suit. And the third, perhaps the most unusual of all, was a well-groomed cocker spaniel with red bows pinned to each of her ears. 

“Oh, man. This is really bad , Daddy-o.” The boy gulped nervously. “Is there anything we can do?” 

“You know there isn’t anything we can do from here, in The Red Room.” The red-clad man said. 

“There must be something .” 

“Ricky Owens is lost to the curse.” 

“ Look at me! You know that’s not true!” The boy insisted. 

“Ricky Owens cannot save himself. And there is no way to send a message to those he would ally himself with of his plight.” The cocker spaniel said, and the other two fell silent to hear her wisdom. For they knew that she was older and wiser than they, and her word would be the final one. 

“Mystery Incorporated is far from the point in their journey in which they will seek us out. The same goes for the Mystery Skulls. And their alliance is failing to form as quickly as we had hoped, if at all. With the approaching of Nibiru, they need all the allies they can get, and there’s no time to waste in forming those bonds. If this one soul has truly broken free of the Evil Entity’s influence, then perhaps not only can he be saved, but he could be the key to bringing them together.” 

“But there is much history between Ricky Owens and the new Mystery Incorporated.” The man in red said. “Even if they learn of this, we cannot know if they would help him. Or if they could .” 

“This is true.” She said. “But such history does not exist with the Mystery Skulls. And they above all others can see and understand the nature of this curse in ways others cannot. Not to mention that Mystery is a much closer relative of my people than any in his place that have come before him - and as a member of the Yōkai bloodline, he has retained many of the abilities of his ancestors that even Scooby has not. And then there is Lewis to consider, half in their world, and half in another. And Vivi, who has become every bit the warrior her ancestor was. But I think, though he may have no supernatural powers to call his own - that it may be Arthur who possesses the strength, skill, wit, and allies required to save Ricky Owens.”

“But the Mystery Skulls don’t consider the Old Mystery Incorporated a priority. They haven’t even met them yet. How are they to know?” 

“The only way I see to make the timeline we desire come to pass…” The cocker spaniel said, “Is to take advantage of the one intact trifecta that remains.”

Chapter Text

A few days after the incident at the Haunted Museum, The Mystery Skulls had just left Lewis’ Manor and were on their way to the Burlington Library. Through their investigations through the records of Crystal Cove (and what they already knew from what their source had told them), they’d discovered a reference to another Mystery Incorporated group: The Benevolent Lodge of Mystery. They knew that other groups like theirs had existed in Crystal Cove throughout the town’s history, but this was the third actual concrete example they’d found, the first being the Mystery Fellowship (aka: the Darrow family) and the second being The Fraternitas Mysterium (but their source had already told them enough about them that they didn’t need to do any further investigating). They were hoping to learn more about the Benevolent Lodge of Mystery, and maybe even to find clues about other groups as well. 

“I’m gonna ask you again, Arthur. Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look right. And the library is still gonna be there tomorrow.” 

“Nah, I’m fine, Vivi. Just… I dunno. I’m just feeling kinda sleepy today.” 

And indeed, it was visible to all of Arthur’s friends that the bags under his eyes were back. But Arthur, who all too often hid his pain from his friends, was vastly underexplaining how he was feeling. The fact of the matter was, he’d felt increasingly over the past couple days as if he was becoming disconnected from his own body, and it had reached its peak this morning. Arthur felt as if he could fall over at any moment ever since he’d gotten out of bed. Not to mention that his whole left side was throbbing - he really needed his meds adjusted, they weren’t working as well as they should.

But he didn’t want to trouble his friends with his issues, and he knew how important this investigation was. And above that, he was afraid of being a burden. Which led him to where he was now, sitting in the back of the van trying not to doze off. 

Unaware of the true nature of their friend’s condition, Lewis was driving and Vivi and Mystery sat in the front with him. “Do you think he’s okay?” Lewis asked quietly. 

“I don’t think he’s as okay as he wants us to think. You know how Arthur is.” Vivi replied in a hushed tone. 

“Maybe it’s his meds?” Mystery suggested. 

“Possibly.” 

“Whatever’s going on with him, the Burlington Library is also a historic home.” Lewis said. “We were planning to spend the night anyway. Maybe when we get there they’ll let him turn in early? Lie down somewhere while we look for clues?” 

“Lewis! LOOK OUT!” Vivi shouted. 

“Oh, SHIT! ” Lewis slammed down on the brakes and the van came to a screeching halt just a foot shy of hitting a rather unusually dressed fellow standing in the middle of the road. His motorcycle sat parked not far off.

Lewis stuck his head out the window. “Hey, what they hell , man? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” 

“Stand and deliver! I’m the Dandy Highwayman! And this is a robbery.” The man said, pointing his guns at the windshield. 

Lewis, Vivi, and Mystery were not impressed. 

“What’s going on guys, why did we stop?” Arthur asked sleepily, poking his head over the backseat. 

“Apparently we’re about to be victims of a ‘robbery’ .” Vivi explained dryly. 

“Looks like another one of Crystal Cove’s fake monsters.” Said Mystery. 

“What do you guys think? Shall I whip out the bat?” Vivi asked.

“Nah, stay here. I think I’ve got this one.” Lewis said, getting out. 

“Lew, please don’t kill him.” 

“So, what’re you supposed to be? The ghost of the Dread Pirate Roberts?” Lewis asked. 

To be fair, the Highwayman was very smooth in recovering from the initial surprise of failing to intimidate Lewis. He pointed the barrel of one of his weapons directly at Lewis and said, “I believe you fail to understand, my dear fellow. I am the Dandy Highwayman, and this is a robbery. I’ll be taking all of your valuables in this bag, if you don’t mind.”

“Uh-huh. So like… what are you though? A ghost?” 

“My dear lady!” The Highwayman said, walking past Lewis like he was trying to pretend he wasn’t there. He walked up to Vivi’s window. “What a captivating woman. I see an intelligence in those eyes that could only belong to someone worth listening to for hours and hours on end.” 

“Oh, really ?” Vivi asked, playing along. 

Lewis was shaking with anger. His eyes turned black, his irises glowing a malevolent pink.

The Highwayman, bless him, was oblivious to the fact that he was enraging one of the single most powerful spirits in North America. “Yes, really. I ask, would you like to accompany me? I would be absolutely thrilled to hear all about your life, your hopes, your dreams, and your aspirations.” 

“ Honey ,” Vivi said dryly, “if I told you about half of my life, you wouldn’t believe a word of it. Seriously though, Lew-Lew has me curious. What exactly are you supposed to be? A ghost?” 

The highwayman didn’t say anything. 

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. See, around these parts we know a ghost when we see one. Do you know how?” 

The Highwayman looked at her confused, so Vivi pointed in the direction of the increasingly bright pink glow. 

“Please don’t kill him, Lew.”

When the Highwayman turned, he came face-to face with an absolutely furious spirit. Lewis had gone full ghost - his head a floating skull above his broad shoulders, flames engulfing his cranium and shoulders where his hair should be. And his body was covered by his frightening black and white skeleton suit, the familiar golden heart throbbing with emotion. The Highwayman was so terrified when he saw Lewis that he screamed and ran, nearly knocking his bike over in his efforts to get on it, and nearly running it off the cliff when he tried to race away.

No sooner were the sounds of his engines fading into the distance, Vivi was laughing herself to tears and Lewis was begrudgingly resuming his human illusion and getting back in the car. Mystery was trying (and failing) not to giggle too, and though Arthur was smiling, he was too tired to laugh. 

“It’s not funny.” Lewis grumbled. 

“Oh come on, Lew.” Vivi giggled, taking off her glasses to wipe the tears out of her eyes, “It was a little funny. I almost feel sorry for the guy, he was so scared! ” Then she burst out into laughter again. 

“Do you guys think we should maybe-” Arthur yawned - “call Mystery Incorporated? That seemed like it’d be right up their alley, don’t you think?” 

“I don’t think we ever got their phone numbers.” Mystery said. 

“No, I don’t think we did. We ought to next time we see them.” 

“Oh! I got Mrs. Dinkley’s phone number. I insisted after that mishap at the Haunted Museum, just in case she did need our help with anything after all.” Arthur said, getting out his phone. 

He dialed, and the phone rang for a few moments before Mrs. Dinkley picked up. “Hello, Mrs. Dinkley. It’s Arthur, from the Mystery Skulls. We just had a run-in with something… weird, and we wanted to get word to Velma and her friends about it. Would you mind giving us her number? Or just passing the word along?” 

Back at the Crystal Cove Library, Scooby Doo had fallen asleep while looking for clues about the Highway Dandyman with the gang. This should have come as no surprise - the great dane hadn’t been sleeping well lately, plagued by terrible and vivid nightmares. Shaggy had been really drowsy the past couple days, too. This time however, Scooby’s dream was more than just a dream. 

Within the world of slumber, Scooby lifted his head off of the tome on which it rested to find his friends had left their seats, the pile of books they’d been using back on their shelves. At the familiar sound of a bell, Scooby turned to see Nova standing by the doorway. Without a word, she turned and left. Curious and confused, not fully aware he was asleep, Scooby hopped off the chair he’d been sitting on and followed. When Scooby walked through the doorway after her, he found himself in an unfamiliar corridor. The walls were covered by crimson curtains, and the floors were a strange, smooth black and white zigzag pattern.

“Nova?” Scooby called. 

He looked in the direction it looked she’d gone and there at the end of the hall by a marble statue was another doorway. Scooby walked down the corridor and through the doorway, and found himself in a room. 

The walls and floor were the same as they had been in the hall, but the middle of the room was tastefully furnished with black chairs and tables and silver lamps in a very simplistic and modern style. A very nervous and very familiar looking teen wearing a yellow and white striped t-shirt was sitting in one of the chairs, and over in an empty space of floor, a strange, very short man in a red suit was dancing to a jazzy tune. Scooby couldn’t help but tilt his head and cock his eyebrow with confusion.

The little man finished his dance and gave a bow, and then said in a voice that echoed throughout the entire space, “Welcome, to the sitting room, Scooby Doo.”

It frightened Scooby so much that he awoke, his head shooting off of the book he’d been sleeping on with a frightened yell. The sudden movement moved the pages and revealed a piece of old parchment that had been hidden between them.

The gang had paused their research, and Velma was on the phone with (Scooby realized after a few seconds of listening) Arthur Kingsmen, one of the Mystery Skulls. Whatever they were talking about must have been good, because she let out an excited “Jinkies!” near the end of the call.

When Velma got off the phone, she reported to the gang that Arthur had called to let her know that the Mystery Skulls had just had a run-in with The Highway Dandyman, but he’d failed to rob them or to get Vivi to go with him, but it was just weird enough that they figured they’d let Mystery Inc. know. 

Fred was actually relieved that they hadn’t caught him, because he was eager to get to trapping again after his opportunity to trap had been thwarted two mysteries in a row, now. 

After that, the gang returned to their books, and not a minute later Velma found their first clue. All of the books on “dashing rogues” and “devinaire thieves” were checked out by the women who had been abducted. Fred found their second one not long after: a members list for a book club with all the ladies’ names on it, including Daphne’s Mom. Which was odd, because Nan Blake hated reading (unless it was a shopping catalog). 

That was when Velma noticed the piece of parchment. 

“Where did this come from?” She asked, picking it up. “Cuarto Llave!” She read off of it. 

“It’s the fourth key!” Daphne cried. 

“But like, we haven’t found the third. I thought we were like, finding these in order.” Shaggy said, rubbing his eyes from where he was resting with his head in his arms on the table. 

“Guys, I don’t think it was any accident that we found this. But why here? And how does it tie into the Dandy Highwayman?” Velma asked.

“All I know is we have to come up with some answers fast, or I might never see my mother again!” 

“I’ve got it! I’ve got the perfect plan to trap this Dandy Highwayman!” Fred declared giddily. 

And like that, it was trapping time. 

Unfortunately for Fred, when the time came, he would eat his words about being glad the Mystery Skulls hadn’t caught the Highwayman, when the next girl he took was Daphne.

Daphne and the other women, lucky for the gang, were under no kind of “spell”, as the men of Crystal Cove seemed to think. Rather, being the clever meddling kid she was, she’d gone along with the Dandy Highwayman on purpose to get on the inside and make sure the other women were alright. One act of deception by Daphne and a trap involving some nets and a shed full of TNT later, the Highwayman was unmasked (as the librarian - who would have thought?) and all was well in Crystal Cove once again (at least as “well” as it ever was in Crystal Cove at any given relatively peaceful moment).

… That is, until Scooby fell asleep in the Mystery Machine on the way home. 

Shaggy and Scooby were both really tired. Shaggy had been getting increasingly “out of it” the past few days, and he seemed really sleepy - Velma and Scooby were convinced he was getting sick, but he insisted he was still well enough to solve mysteries with the rest of the gang for now. And Scooby of course hadn’t been sleeping well, Kriekstaffebots and “Nibiru is Coming” Nova haunting his nightmares (but that was just too many donuts before bed, right?). 

One of the Mystery Skulls’ songs was playing on the radio (Velma had started listening to their music as part of her research about them. Suspicious or not, they were really good.) Shaggy and Scooby weren’t contributing to the conversation much, opting to enjoy Lewis’ voice playing softly from the radio instead. Both of them were looking forward to being back at the Rogers’ residence where they could eat three dinners and then go straight to bed for some well-earned rest. 

"When I see you in my dreams,

You can fly so high it seems.

Took me to another level,

Of your love."

And the next thing Scooby knew, he was back in the sitting room. 

The dog trembled in fright as that same little man in the red suit walked out from behind one of the red curtains. “Scooby Doo. The time has come. She is… here.” He said in that same echoing voice. The curtains opened once again, and Nova stepped into the room. 

“Nova?” Scooby said hopefully. 

“I am not Nova.” The cocker spaniel said. “I have only borrowed her body so that I may bring you an urgent message.” 

Scooby got down from the chair in which he sat and the two dogs sat across from each other to talk. 

“Scooby Doo, your life is in danger. All of your lives are in danger.” 

“Huh?” 

“I am of the Anunnaki: inter-dimensional beings that visit the planet Earth every few thousand years. We arrive at a time called Nibiru , when the barriers between our worlds grow weak.” Not-Nova explained. “The Annunaki have a long history of helping humans, but we have no physical form and must inhabit animals. This is why some animals - our descendants, like you and Professor Pericles - can talk, and others cannot. This is also why populations of fantastical animal-like creatures exist across the world. They belong to bloodlines that are much closer relatives of ours, and given such they have retained many of our powers.

“But not all Annunaki are kind and good.” Nova said. “There are evil ones, and the most evil of all is imprisoned beneath Crystal Cove, and must not be set free.” 

Scooby gulped, and began to tremble in fear. 

“But you will not be alone in this endeavor.” Not-Nova said. “When you awaken tomorrow morning, you will find a gift I have prepared for you. Its true value may be unclear at first, but stopping Professor Pericles from freeing his master and destroying the evil entity will be nearly impossible without it. And it will make Pericles’ efforts even more difficult. With the help of my gift, you must undo it, Scooby Doo. Save yourself. Save your friends! Save the world!” 

Scooby was so terrified he was awake and on his feet in an instant. 

“The cursed treasure is evil! Evil! We have to destroy it!” 

As his friends looked on in horror at Scooby’s sudden declaration, the Mystery Skulls continued to play in the background.

And I’m back in my waking life,

Wished you could teach me how to fly.

You make me wish that I was sleeping.

But you keep fighting to survive.

Somehow you’re only in my dreams. 

Cause’ as real as this may seem, 

I used to think that this was real, 

Til’ you came down and you rescued me.

If being around Professor Pericles was like walking on eggshells before Ricky ended up with mutated cobra larvae in his spine, it was absolutely hellish after.

Destroido’s main building was big , and Ricky had to keep making his rounds to keep up appearances. So avoiding Pericles, Brad, and Judy was easy. It took all of one day for Ricky to become a professional at it. 

It came at his poor employees’ expense of course, but he told himself that if he somehow survived until their next paycheck, they’d find a fat bonus that served as his apology. He was a lot more thorough than usual in his inspections and duties, hid in the breakroom for hours on end, took all his meals in the upstairs cafeteria rather than in the one downstairs near the labs or in his private rooms (much to the confusion and horror of his staff), and took an extra break in the bathroom to get his shit together when the urge to scream became too much. 

(He was fine. Really. He was totally fine.)

Unfortunately though, he couldn’t hide from Pericles, Brad, and Judy forever. All he wanted to do when that happened was disappear - and sooner rather than later, he usually got his wish. When the others weren’t either snapping at Ricky or rubbing his weakness in his face, they treated him like he was just a fly on the wall. After all, he wasn’t a teammate worth listening to anymore, he was a tool . 

An idiot human mascot for Pericles to perch upon.

It wasn’t that Ricky didn’t try to give input - the scheme Pericles was concocting to build a fake post-apocalyptic Crystal Cove and give Brad and Judy plastic surgery to trick Fred and the kids into giving away where they’d hidden the planispheric disk was an utterly insane longshot that he doubted would work even if it wasn’t unnecessarily expensive and complicated madness . 

He supposed he could have phrased it better, but he still got tortured with the remote again just for arguing. 

Still, at the end of the day, when Ricky crawled back into his rooms, laid on his bed and stared at the wall trying to sleep (fuck you, insomnia) and wishing he could cry his emotions out, a voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he deserved this. 

It was his actions that had put Professor Pericles in the favorable position he was in now, and it was his actions that had led him here.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

He’d been a fool to think he meant a thing to his old friends. He’d acted like the leader of the group ever since their alliance began (and why wouldn’t he, considering it was his roof over their heads and his resources they were spending to solve their mystery? Pericles had proven he couldn’t be trusted with leadership, and Brad and Judy were a couple of empty-headed followers), and now they were making him pay for his hubris. 

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid .  

To make matters worse, starting the day after Ricky’s failed rebellion, he noticed he was starting to feel… disconnected. As the days passed, he felt himself becoming increasingly lightheaded, unfocused, and sleepy (though he didn’t get much sleep no matter how hard he tried - again, fuck you, insomnia). There were even moments when it seemed as if he was watching his own body move on autopilot from the outside looking in. 

Ricky could think of only two possible explanations: either it was a side effect of the poison he was being tortured with (because God only knew what the after effects of mutated cobra venom were), or his depression was coming back. 

As ridiculous as it sounded, he honestly hoped it was the former, because now was not the time for his own bullshit to cause even more problems for him. 

Still, it was most certainly a possibility. He’d been off his meds for over a year now, trying not to be dependent on them for his entire life. And it had worked - his depression hadn’t come back after he stopped (sending helpful hints to a certain gang of meddling kids had helped with that too). But given recent events, it would make sense if his mental state had changed. 

Assuming it was the latter (he couldn’t exactly do anything about the former), Ricky started taking his pills again and did what he’d done in the past to chase his demons off: he poured himself into working. 

Ricky refused to let himself fall into the state he’d ended up in in the past. Especially now, when he was vulnerable enough already. So, to keep himself from getting to that point, he forced himself to do basic daily tasks like cleaning and personal hygiene in the mornings. Then once the day actually got started, he put even more vigor into his rounds, looked for non-existent things to fix on the Enigma Machine (he was allowed near the car, but he wasn’t allowed to drive it unless Brad, Judy, or Pericles was with him), and when he wasn’t doing that he was looking for Cassidy. 

He had been worried before. He was really worried, now. There hadn’t been a trace of her in weeks - ever since Pericles had said she’d been taken care of . Ricky had been a fool to twist those words for the sake of his own comfort. 

She’s not dead. She’s not dead. She can’t be dead.

Still, it wasn’t easy. 

Firstly, Pericles wasn’t giving him access to the internet. He was only allowed access to things within Destroido’s own systems, save their communications. To top it off, Brad and Judy kept barging in at random moments any time he was online just to “check in”. 

Bullshit . It was another tactic to remind him of his place, and nothing more. 

Secondly, no matter how hard he worked or how busy he kept himself, his symptoms persisted. Were the meds not working? Or did he need his dosage adjusted? Perhaps it really was because of the venom. Or maybe it was unrelated, and he was just getting sick? 

Whatever. He didn’t care what happened to him. All he cared about anymore was knowing that Cassidy was alright. One evening, Mr. E was using the company’s systems, searching for any trace of Cassidy, when he became aware of a certain pair of back-stabbing leeches entering the room behind him. 

Ignore them, and maybe they’ll go away.  

“You’ve been on the computer more and more.” Brad observed.

Fuck.

“He sure has, Brad!” Judy piped in, “You’re not allowed on the internet, so what do you do in here for hours on end?” 

“There’s been no sign of her for weeks!” Ricky blurted out, turning around to face them. 

“Who are you looking for?” Judy asked. 

“ Cassidy .” Ricky replied, failing to conceal the concern in his voice. 

“Maybe she finally gave up.” Brad suggested smugly. 

“ No! She would never give up!” Ricky said firmly, standing up. “She’s gone .”

“Of course she’s gone.” Professor Pericles said, flying into the room and landing on a monitor above Ricky’s head. “Anyone who crosses me gets… eliminated.” 

Ricky’s heart sank to his feet, hammering like a drum the whole way down. Horror twisted his guts into knots. “N-no. You didn’t .” Ricky stammered. The last bit came out higher pitched than intended, his throat was closing in on itself and his vision was blurring around the edges. It took a second for him to realize it was because tears were welling in his eyes.

She’s not dead. She’s not dead. She can’t be dead.

“You were informed she had been taken care of.” The bird said, fluffing his feathers dismissively. Ricky’s legs gave out under him and he sank to his knees. It was suddenly getting very hard to breathe. 

You agreed with him that something needed to be done about her. What did you think he was going to do?! Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

And of course, seeing it getting to Ricky, Pericles had to take the opportunity to twist the knife. “Would you like to know how she died?” The parrot asked, fluttering down from the top of the monitor to the edge of the desk. 

The only one of us left that was worth saving, the only person left on Earth who might have given a shit about you, and he killed her. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. It’s all your fault. You killed her. You killed her! You killed her!

“If it is any consolation, my sweet Ricky, she likely did not suffer.” Pericles said. “They say that drowning is one of the most peaceful ways to die. If the explosion didn’t kill her instantly.” 

“Fuck you.” Ricky wheezed. 

“What?”  

“FUCK YOU! You bastard!” Ricky roared. “You were always jealous of her! All because you wanted me all to yourself, you just couldn’t let me have anyone else that I loved! And look at what you’ve done to us!” Ricky wasn’t afraid anymore. He didn’t care anymore. He felt as if he was watching from the outside as just a tiny splash of the years of repressed anguish spilled out of him. “Brad and Judy threw away their own son like garbage for that stupid treasure! Anyone with eyes can see what I’ve become! Cassidy was the only one of us who was strong enough to stay good in spite of that stupid curse - in spite of you! And YOU KILLED HER!” 

Ricky didn’t even mind the punishment he received for his outburst. Even when his throat was hoarse from his silent screams and his spine felt as if it was being ripped out, the pain was a welcome distraction from his grief and his crushing guilt. Those hurt a thousand times more than anything Pericles could ever do to him.

You deserve this. She’s gone. She’s dead. You killed her. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

When it was over and Ricky came back to his senses, he was alone. Pericles, Brad, and Judy had just left him there on the floor to get ahold of himself. He didn’t know how long he laid there, waiting for the aftershocks to subside, but when he got up he was feeling oddly numb. He took a look around the room one more time before he shut off his monitors, turned out the lights, and left to return to his rooms. 

Once in the privacy of his own chambers, he went to the kitchen first, where he retrieved a bottle of wine. Something stronger tempted him, but he didn’t want to completely silence his pain with alcohol. Cassidy deserved better than that. Then he went into his room and shut and locked the door behind him. 

Ricky uncorked the wine and took a long swig straight from the bottle, before he set it on his bedside table, walked into his bathroom, stood before the sink, and took a long look at himself. 

Fuck , he hated himself. He didn’t realize it was possible, but he hated the man that scowled back at him in the mirror even more than he hated Professor Pericles. Disgustingly fat, hair that had grown past his shoulders simply because he didn’t give enough of a shit about himself to cut it, dark bags under his eyes that carried the burden of his existence. 

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

His own self-loathing stabbed through the cloud of numbness that had been shielding him, and without even thinking about it, Ricky screamed and punched the mirror as hard as he could. 

It didn’t shatter. Rather, it left a crater-like crack where his fist hit the glass, and he wasn’t sure if that said more about the mirror or about what a damn weakling he was. Either way, his hand was bleeding. 

Ricky was tempted to leave it as it was, but he begrudgingly disinfected and then bandaged his bloodied knuckles before walking back into his bedroom, that familiar numbness returning. Then he sat down on the edge of his bed and took another few gulps of that wine, ignoring the throbbing pain in his hand, and he… existed. He honestly wasn’t sure how long he just sat there, numb to the universe, occasionally taking another drink, before he turned his head and his eyes fell upon the framed photo of Cassidy, his beautiful Angel, on his dresser. 

Just the sight of her broke the spell. Ricky’s throat closed again, he choked back a sob, and he wiped his tears away with his sleeve. Then he set the bottle down on his bedside table, reached down under his bed, and pulled out a box he didn’t touch very often anymore - it was custom made, made of dark mahogany with a certain logo in the shape of a magnifying glass on the lid. He unlatched it, opened it, and took out a large photo album before closing the box and sliding it back under from whence it came.  

With a level of carefulness he didn’t use with many other things, Ricky opened the book to his favorite pages - the ones that were about her . 

Angel Dynamite. 

When they had first reunited when Cassidy first returned to Crystal Cove, he’d never said anything about the fact that she used his old nickname for her as her new alias. But damn , did she rock the DJ look. In spite of everything, she’d managed to move on from the trauma of their youth, something he had never been able to do. Cassidy had continued to grow and change in a way he hadn’t, and she’d made something of herself. “Angel Dynamite the DJ” wasn’t quite as grandiose as “Mr. E the wealthy and powerful CEO and founder of Destroido Industries”, but unlike him the person she’d become was good , and she had found and kept her happiness where she could. 

He’d never told her, but he had always admired her for that. Why had he never told her that ?

Cassidy Williams, their first day of their freshman year at Crystal Cove High. She looked so dorky and cute in her pigtails, those square glasses, and that pretty green dress. 

Angel Dynamite standing by her radio station for K-Ghoul’s grand opening. 

Cassidy eating with a younger him at Skipper Sheldon’s. 

Angel Dynamite DJ-ing an event in Crystal Cove. 

Cassidy standing with him in her parents’ foyer just before he took her to prom. 

Cassidy sitting with him on the hood of the Enigma Machine. 

Cassidy Williams, with her Mystery Incorporated pin proudly pinned to her dress in the photo they took of her for the club’s page in the yearbook.

‘Thinking of Cassidy again,’ him-of-the-past had written next to this photo. ‘Remembering when we first met. Professor Pericles was there and I could tell he was jealous. He didn’t want to share me with anyone.’

Meeting me was the worst thing that ever happened to you.

Ricky cried that night in a way he hadn’t cried in twenty years. I’m so sorry, Cassidy. How could you ever forgive me? My Angel Dynamite. 

Insomnia be damned, his exhaustion finally took over and he eventually cried himself into a fitful slumber. 

Fitful that is, until the dream. 

Ricky opened his eyes to find that instead of on his purple bedspread, he was for some reason laying on the floor. But it was most certainly not his floor or his room. He was in a corridor. The floor had the strangest black and white zigzag pattern, and the walls were covered by crimson curtains. 

Ricky sat up, rubbing the wetness from his eyes. He swallowed nervously and stood. There was a doorway at the end of the corridor, and standing next to it was… him . The younger, thinner, healthier version of himself. Back when he was seventeen, the last time he had ever been happy. Solving mysteries, in love, and still thought he was surrounded by loyal friends. The version of himself he’d wanted nothing more than to go back to for the past twenty years. 

God, you must think I’m such a piece of shit. 

But, the other him wasn’t looking at him with disgust. There was something warm yet sad in his expression. He walked through the doorway. Ricky followed. 

The room he found himself in was a circular intersection between the corridor he’d just come from and two other hallways. At the center of it sat a small, vaguely familiar cocker spaniel. And right as Ricky entered, two other figures walked through the other two doors with just as much trepidation. But Ricky wasn’t paying attention to them. The doorway to his left… for some reason he felt compelled to go there. Was that where the other him had gone? 

Curious, he walked into the room, past the cocker spaniel, and stepped into the dark corridor from which one of the other two figures had come. 

As Ricky continued onward, it was so dark he couldn’t see a thing. The doorway behind him had disappeared, and its light along with it. He wasn’t exactly sure when he fell asleep. But the second he opened his eyes, he was suddenly wide awake. 

Coming face-to-face with the bared teeth of an angry great dane will do that to you. 

Chapter Text

Ricky was so startled at the sight of the furious dog he shouted a curse word and shot out of bed, only he got tangled in the sheets and ended up falling backwards on his ass with his back against the wall, knocking the lamp off the nightstand in the process. So… what ended up coming out of his mouth went something like this: 

“SHIT!” *shoots out of bed* “ What the fuck-” *stumbles* “ AAH!” *falls on ass and bangs head* “OW! Fffuck! ” He cursed, rubbing the back of his skull where his noggin had bounced off the wall.

“You’re not Raggy.” The dog growled. 

And that was when Ricky’s wits returned to him. Wait a minute. “Scooby?” And indeed, there was no mistaking the talking great dane with the blue collar. “What the hell are you doing in my-” 

Ricky’s surroundings finally registered in his brain. 

“This… is not my room.” He said dumbly. 

And if Scoobert’s presence and his surroundings were any indication, then that had to mean he was in Norville Rogers’ room, in the Rogers’ Mansion… How and why?

“No. It’s Shaggy’s room!” Scooby snarled, hopping off the bed and advancing menacingly. Oh shit. Ricky scrambled backwards. “And you are not my Shaggy!” 

Ricky was suddenly very aware that in spite of his goofy disposition and friendly yet somewhat cowardly nature, Scooby was still a 160-pound great dane with a bite force of approximately 238 PSI, and was therefore very capable of ripping Ricky’s fragile human body to shreds. Especially if he thought Mr. E was an imminent threat to his beloved owner.

“N-now Scooby,” Ricky said, his back finally hitting the opposite wall, “let’s talk about this! I swear, I have no idea how I ended up in Norville- I mean, Shaggy’s room. But! I will be happy to vacate the premises!”

“Who are you? ” The dog demanded. 

“Who am I? What are you talking about? We’ve met several times. You know who I am!” 

“I know you are not my Shaggy! So who are you?” 

“ What-”  That was when Ricky’s eyes fell upon his own hands, held out in front of him defensively. 

Those were not his hands. Or his arms. And this green shirt definitely wasn’t his! Wait a goddamn minute-  

“What the fuck-” Ricky’s hands- whoever’s hands they were- covered his mouth with shock, and all he wanted was to repeat the three words he’d just spoken, because that was when it occurred to him that that was not his voice! 

I need a mirror. Now.

No longer caring about potentially getting eaten, Ricky scrambled to his feet and ran. Past Scooby and through the doorway, not really knowing where he was going, but he was in luck. Shaggy’s attic bedroom came with a bathroom, and he’d just run right into it. Ricky clutched the edge of the sink and looked up into the mirror- 

Right into the terrified eyes of a reflection most definitely that wasn’t his. It belonged to Shaggy Rogers , his counterpart in the latest Mystery Incorporated.

What the actual fuck? 

That’s not me! 

But it is. 

That’s not me! 

It is me. 

BUT HOW?! 

Ricky was not usually a fainter. He’d fainted a couple times quite a few times many times when he was young, scared shitless by the latest monster in the middle of investigations. But he’d grown out of that (he’d grown out of a lot of things) when his best friend had betrayed him and ripped his innocence away. 

So… fainting. Add that to the growing list of things he’d done today that he hadn’t done in 20 years.

Twenty minutes later, Fred, Daphne, and Velma were pulling up to the Rogers’ residence, summoned there at the early hour of seven thirty in the morning by a panicked phone call from Shaggy’s phone. 

Only it hadn’t been Shaggy on the other end, and Scooby had sounded so freaked out that he was stumbling over his lingo, with R s every other word (he didn’t do that very often anymore), and given such he was nearly unintelligible over the phone. Between the three of them individually translating together and then talking about it on the drive over, they came to the conclusion that it was something along the lines of: “Something’s wrong with Shaggy” and “ Something’s in Shaggy.” Also something about either “a monster” or “imposter” . They couldn’t tell, but either way it sounded bad. 

They rang the doorbell, and a very disgruntled Mrs. Rogers let them in, clearly understandably annoyed at being woken up this early on a Saturday. They went upstairs to Shaggy’s room, only to find it in disarray. Hearing a noise from the bathroom, they rushed in to investigate, and this is what they found: Scooby with his hackles raised, growling up at a very freaked out Shaggy, who was in the corner of the bathroom, perched precariously on the edge of the sink in an attempt to stay as far away from Scooby as humanly possible. 

“Scooby!” Daphne cried. “What are you doing?!” 

Her concern and shock was shared by Fred and Velma for good reason: none of them had ever seen Scooby act like this. 

“Scooby, what gives?” Asked Fred, rushing forward to drag the dog back by the collar.

“What in the heck is going on?!” Asked Velma.

“Rat’s not Raggy!” Scooby growled, pulling against Fred’s hold. 

“What do you mean that’s not Shaggy?” 

“Looks like Shaggy to me, Scooby.” Fred grunted through his efforts to hold the massive animal back. 

“Jeepers, Shaggy. Are you alright? Do you have any idea what’s happened to Scooby?” Daphne asked.

“Oh, I’m ffffine.” Shaggy said shakily from his perch on the sink. “Everything’s just fine, because I’ve come to this conclusion that this is uh… a dream. Yes! This is a dream. I drank a lot more last night than I thought, and the alcohol has resulted in a strange and vivid hallucination in which I am for some reason stuck in the body of a sixteen year old boy. And when I wake up, I will be back in my own room, back in my own body, and my life will be terrible, but at least it will make sense.” 

“Come again?” Said Velma dryly. 

“Ha! That is such a Velma response. Right down to the dry and sarcastic sense of humor! Figures that’s exactly what my brain would think you would say to that. Haha! ”

“Norville Shaggy Rogers, if this is your idea of a prank, it’s not funny!” 

“Shaggy, why don’t you get down from the sink, and let’s figure out what’s going on?” Daphne asked, a bit more gently.

“Depends. Will Scooby promise not to maul me first? This may be a dream, but I’d rather not experience that.” 

The rest of the gang looked expectantly at Scooby. 

“Fine.” The dog spat, finally stopping his attempts at lunging. Fred let him go, and Scooby turned around and stalked back into the doorway. “But he had better tell me where the real Shaggy is!” 

“Beats me. But what does it matter? This is just a dream.” 

“Uh, You’re not dreaming.” Fred said. 

“It’s starting to sound more like you’re trying to convince yourself of that than us.” Velma added. 

“Do you need help getting down?” Asked Daphne, noticing his hesitance.

“No.” Shaggy spat in a very un-Shaggy-like way. “I’m just f-INE! OW! Fuck!” Shaggy shouted as he moved his foot just wrong, slipped and fell off of the sink, stumbled off, and banged his head on the floor. (For the third time that morning, little did the three of them know)

“Jeepers! Are you okay?” 

“Shaggy” was rubbing the back of his head, but he didn’t seem overly concerned about the fall. “Shit… that hurt. Oh my god , if I was dreaming that should have woken me up.” He pinched himself on the arm - twice, just to make sure - and then promptly started to hyperventilate. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Velma asked. 

“Velma!” Shaggy cried, looking up at her from where he was sitting on the floor. He scrambled to his feet, looking desperate and thoroughly terrified, and grabbed her by the arms. “Velma, I need you to listen to me. I know you’re the skeptic of the group, and I know you still probably think this is a prank, but I need you to believe me, because I’m having a hard time believing myself! Scooby’s right. I. Am. Not. Shaggy! I am a 37-year-old man trapped in the body of a 16-year-old boy, and this feels so wrong, and I don’t know how this happened, and I’m kind of freaking out!” 

“What I believe is that you hit your head too hard.” Velma scoffed. “This is ridiculous! ‘Shaggy’s been possessed or body-swapped, ha-ha.’ Very funny, but you need to drop this!” 

“Yeah, Shaggy! If this is a prank, then you’re taking it way too far, scaring Scooby like that!” Daphne scolded him.

“It’s not a prank!” The great dane interjected. “That’s not Raggy!” 

“Thank you , Scoobert.” ‘Shaggy’ said pointedly.

That’s when Fred suddenly spoke up. “Wait a minute, gang. Something’s up.”

“What is it, Freddy?” Daphne asked. 

“Velm, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m starting to think that might not be Shaggy.” 

“You had better not be in on this too! But for the sake of this charade being over, I’ll humor you. What exactly do you mean by that, Fred?” Velma demanded. 

“Shaggy- he has done a lot of talking in the past few minutes, but he hasn’t said the word ‘like’ even once since we got here.” 

Velma opened her mouth to argue, but then she quickly closed it again. Then she paused to think. 

She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed, but Fred was right. Shaggy hadn’t said ‘like’ even once. It was his go-to filler word. Even when Velma had tried to get him to stop saying it while they were dating, he hadn’t been able to break the habit and they had quickly accepted it and given up. Even when Shaggy acted (which he couldn’t do particularly well), such as when he was doing it as part of his role as bait during a mystery, or when he’d pretended on stage for Vincent Van Ghoul’s play, he still ended up using the word ‘like’ along with his lines. In all the years Velma had ever known Shaggy, she’d never once heard him speak that many words without using the word ‘like’ over a dozen times. 

Which meant one of two things: he’d broken the habit just for this ridiculous joke, he’d been faking it the entire time, or that wasn’t Shaggy. 

And it wasn’t just “like”. Shaggy’s entire manner of speech had changed. It was still Shaggy’s voice, but it was as if it was someone else using it. His movements and mannerisms had altered as well, and yet something about him was familiar. Sure, it was entirely possible that could be achieved by an experienced or otherwise talented actor, but Velma had seen Shaggy’s acting, and he was nowhere near that good. 

“Okay, just what the heck is going on?” Velma demanded. 

‘Shaggy’ took a deep breath. “I’m not Shaggy.” He insisted, much more calmly. “I don’t know how this happened, and I swear I had nothing to do with it. The last thing I remember is falling asleep in my room, then having this really weird dream, and then when I actually woke up, Scooby was growling at me and I was in Norville’s body for some reason!” 

“But if you’re not Shaggy, then who are you?” Daphne asked. 

Not-Shaggy froze like a deer in the headlights. “Yeah… about that.” He said nervously, backing away from them until his back hit the wall. “I can answer that, but you’re not going to like the answer.” 

“You knew all of our names, so you’re clearly someone we know.” Said Daphne. 

“An excellent observation, Daphne.” 

“Oh for crying out loud, just spit it out!” Said Velma.

He sighed, clearly bracing for impact, and told them his name. “Velma, it’s me. It’s Mr. E.” 

“Mr. E?!” The entire gang exclaimed in unison. 

“And that’s why I was so quick to disclaim that however this happened, I had nothing to do with it! Because this seems like exactly the level of crazy Professor Pericles would cook up - or myself, until recently! But now everything's clearer than it’s ever been but it’s too late for me to fix it and- AAAGH!” A frustrated yell tore out of him and he sank onto the floor, cradling his head in his hands. 

He sat there for a few moments, calming himself down. And the gang were in such a state of shock they didn’t move nor speak, until he finally looked up at them with glistening, desperate eyes. “You kids don’t trust me as far as you can throw me - as you shouldn’t, because I’ve been stupid .” He said, much more calmly but with just as much hopelessness. “I never should have trusted Pericles, and I never should have let things get this far. Cassidy was right about everything and I need you kids to know I’m sorry. About all of it. I really was in your corner in the beginning, but I never should have left it. But as much as I don’t deserve it, now I need your help.” 

There was a moment of stillness, the four of them stunned into silence, before Velma finally tried to laugh it off.

“Hardy har har, Shaggy. Very funny.” She said. But her laughter was half-hearted, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Listen, if you want to pretend that you’ve been body-swapped with Mr. E of all people, then you should at least act a bit more in-character for him.” 

Mr. E opened his mouth to argue, but then he suddenly closed it, and a look of realization and horror appeared on his face. “Body swapped…” In an instant, he scrambled to his feet. “Velma, Fred, Daphne, Scooby - one of you! I need you to listen to me very carefully. This is going to sound insane, but if I’m in Shaggy’s body, it can be assumed that Shaggy is in mine! And if Shaggy is in my body then-” 

Mr. E didn’t get to finish his sentence, because that was when Fred’s phone rang. 

Twenty minutes earlier

When Shaggy Rogers woke up, he didn’t feel immediately hungry, his left side felt super sore for some reason, and that whole arm felt as if it had fallen asleep. That really should have been his first indicator that something wasn’t right. But no - it wasn’t that. As the fog of sleep cleared, the first thing he realized was that there wasn’t a giant, furry body pressed up against him. And it was Scooby’s absence that prompted his eyes to open. 

He went from drowsy to wide awake when he realized he wasn’t in his room. He was in a large, king-size canopy bed with a red comforter and sheets. A large fire burned in the fireplace to keep out the cold. He immediately knew where he was, because he and the gang had stayed here overnight once before: one of the guest rooms in the Burlington Library . 

But what was Shaggy doing there, now? 

Then Shaggy tried to sit up in bed. 

And that’s when the panic began. 

For when Shaggy tried to shift, one arm moved and the other didn’t. And when Shaggy looked down it took all of six seconds for it to register in his brain that it was because his entire left arm was missing.

Shaggy screamed and leapt out of bed, his remaining three limbs getting tangled in the sheets in the process, causing him to go tumbling out of bed. Footsteps approached fast and the door suddenly burst open. 

“Arthur! Arthur, what’s happening?! Where’s the danger- Arthur?” The person who had entered the room’s war-ready voice broke out into a more confused tone before they stepped around the bed. 

It was Vivi, with her bat at the ready. But through Shaggy’s haze of panic he barely realized it. “LIKE, ZOINKS! LIKE, MY ARM! MY ARM! LIKE, MY ARM’S GONE!” 

“You’re not Arthur.” Vivi said almost immediately, and with certainty. 

“Like, my arm, man! MY ARM!” Shaggy babbled, starting to hyperventilate. 

“Hey easy, easy. It’s going to be alri-” 

That’s when the flames in the fireplace suddenly turned pink, and a very angry ghost exploded out of it and shoved past Vivi, right at Shaggy. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH ARTHUR?!” He roared! 

Shaggy screamed with fear and shrank in on himself, trying to disappear through the floor. 

“ZOINKS! Like, I don’t know. I don’t know! Just like, pleasedon’tkillme!” He begged, trembling with fright. 

Seeing that look on Shaggy’s face made the ghost immediately back off, the flames engulfing his head and shoulders settling into a vaguely familiar hairdo. For he remembered vividly a night three years ago, when that very same face and that very same voice had looked up at him with that exact same expression and tone of pure terror. Vivi grabbed the guilty ghost by the arm and dragged him to the door. 

Shaggy couldn’t hear them and had no way of knowing that ghost was actually Lewis, but this is what Lewis and Vivi discussed: 

“Is Arthur possessed again?” Lewis asked quietly. 

“I think so, but I don’t think this spirit is malevolent and he might not even know he’s dead.” Said Vivi. “Go get Mystery - he’s better at exorcisms than either of us. And calm yourself down.” 

Arthur nodded, guilt stabbing him in his non-existent guts, and quickly left to do as Vivi had asked. Then she closed the door behind him and went back to the “spirit” inhabiting Arthur. 

“Sorry about him. He was just worried about Arthur.” 

“Like, you know that g-ghost?” Shaggy trembled. 

“Yeah, he’s a friend. Helps us out in our investigations sometimes. But you, I’m not so sure about. What’s your name?” 

“Huh? Like, Vivi, you know who I am. We’ve like, only met a couple times but like, I don’t think I’m that forgettable.”

Vivi blinked at him. 

“You know who I am?” 

“Like, yeah. Why don’t you know who I am?” 

“Well let’s see. Refresh my memory. Who are you?” 

“Like, it’s Shaggy. From Mystery Incorporated?” 

Vivi suddenly looked as if she had swallowed a lemon. “Shaggy?” 

Oh that poor, poor kid. Had Shaggy been killed ? Had the original Mystery Incorporated killed their successors? Cassidy had warned them the parrot might try to! Why hadn’t they stayed in Crystal Cove, where they could protect them?! 

“L-like, why are you looking at me like that?” Shaggy gulped. “And like, why aren’t you more freaked out that like, my arm’s gone?!” 

That was when there was a knock at the door. Vivi rushed to answer it and all but dragged Mystery and Lewis (both in their disguised forms) inside. 

“Guys. It’s Shaggy. ” She whispered at them urgently. 

“What?” The two of them exclaimed quietly in unison. 

“Shaggy. The lanky kid that kind of reminded us of Arthur from Mystery Incorporated!” 

“The kid always wearing the green shirt?!” Mystery said. 

“That’s the one.” 

“So what? He died and is now possessing Arthur’s body?!” Lewis asked. 

“Seems like it.” Vivi said sadly. 

“Now just hold on a second! We just talked to Mystery Inc yesterday!” Mystery said. 

“Oh my God, the Highway Dandyman killed them after we let him go!” Vivi cried, the color draining from her face with horror.

“I sincerely doubt that.” Said Mystery, the calmest of the three. “Let me have a look.” 

The Mystery Skulls walked over to Shaggy-in-Arthur’s-body, who hadn’t moved from his place on the floor, and Vivi and Lewis hung back while Mystery took over. 

“Hey there, Shaggy!” The little dog said, wagging his tail in an attempt to put the kid at ease. It was a given that the boy liked dogs, given his relationship with Scooby.

“Oh. Um, like hi, Mystery. It like, it was Mystery, right?” Shaggy asked nervously. 

“Yeah, it sure was. Now, we’re trying to figure out exactly what you’re doing here, so can you answer some questions for me?” 

Shaggy nodded. 

“Alright. What’s the last thing you remember?” 

“Well, like, the gang and I caught the Highway Dandyman last night,” Vivi and Lewis gave audible sighs of relief hearing that, “and it like, kind of wore me out. So like, when Scooby and I got home we ate like, three dinners and went straight to bed. Then I woke up and like, I was here.”  

“Okay, Shaggy. Well, can you do me a big favor? I need you to just hold really still and look at me, okay?” 

“Like um… okay. Sure, man.” 

Mystery placed his front paws on Shaggy’s knees and stared into his eyes, putting the boy into a trance as he probed his aura. 

There was… something strange about this. 

After a few moments of searching, Mystery broke the trance. “There’s a few problems with your theory, Vivi.” The kitsune explained. “Arthur’s soul isn’t here. At all. And his boy is still alive.”

“What?” Arthur and Vivi explained in unison. 

“Like, what are you talking about? Like, of course I’m still alive! Would somebody please tell me what’s going on?!” Shaggy asked, getting very scared once again.

The Mystery Skulls looked at each other. 

“Shaggy,” Vivi said gently, “I think it’s best that you see for yourself.” 

She took him by his remaining arm, helped him up, and led him over to the dresser, which had a large mirror above it. 

Shaggy blinked at his reflection in surprise for a few moments, turning his head and waving his hand experimentally, before realization and acceptance dawned on him and all he could say was, “Like… Oh.” 

“Are you okay?” Lewis asked. 

“Like… I think I’d like to sit down.” He laughed nervously.

Lewis quickly pulled over an armchair for Shaggy to fall into. 

“It isn’t your arm that’s missing, Shaggy. It’s Arthur’s.” Vivi explained gently. “Unless we’re on the road, he takes the prosthetic off at night when he goes to bed. He says it’s more comfortable that way. We don’t know how but… you’re in his body.” 

“It’s alright, Shaggy. We don’t know how this happened but we swear we’ll do whatever we can to help.” Mystery promised. 

“Anything we can do for you right now?” Asked Lewis. 

“Like, um… breakfast would be nice. And I have some questions. But like, I don’t know how to function with only one arm.”

“I’ll help you put Arthur’s metal arm back on. It’s highly advanced technology. Doesn’t take much practice to use it. Then we’ll get you some breakfast and… call your parents?”

“Like, no way. My parents just… they either won’t believe it or won’t care.” Shaggy deflated. “But my friends will.” 

Ten minutes later, Vivi had helped Shaggy put Arthur's prosthetic back on (it was so weird but also a little awesome having a functional metal arm that he had little to no feeling in), he was dressed in Arthur’s clothes (minus the vest), and they were following the smell of pancakes, bacon, and eggs to the Burlington Library’s kitchen. 

Don Fong, the odd little chef who’d thrown meat at Mystery Inc the whole time they were there on their visit, was nowhere in sight. Lewis was just finishing up making breakfast for Vivi and Shaggy, and Mystery was already digging into his bowl of sausages, liver, bacon, and raw quail egg. There was a CD player on the counter playing one of their songs. 

I can’t fight this feelin’, 

It’s not in my head!

And I know it’s somethin’ I did, baby! 

I can’t fight this feelin’, 

I’m out of control!

Got to get back to the life that I know! 

Oooh!

I’m not freakin’ out. 

But it feels like time is runnin’ out, 

How did this shit come about?

I’m not freakin’ out!

But I’m afraid, 

Afraid of losin’ you! 

Oooh!

Lewis turned the oddly appropriate music down and put their plates on the table - three pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon with a glass of orange juice for each of them. 

“Like, thanks for the food, man. So like, you guys thought I was a ghost at first?” Shaggy asked as he sat down. That did not look like enough food, but the Mystery Skulls were being so nice to him. And he felt oddly not hungry in this body. Peckish, but not starving. 

“Yeah. We did say our paranormal investigations are usually real.” Lewis said. “And possessions, we’ve dealt with many times. But this- this is definitely a first.”

“I hate to push you Shaggy, but I really think we need to call your friends. Now .” Mystery said. 

“Like, what makes you say that?” 

“As I said earlier, Arthur’s soul isn’t here, and you’re currently in his body. Which begs the question: if Arthur isn’t here, then where did he go? So my only guess is that if you’re in Arthur’s body, then Arthur is most likely in yours.” 

Shaggy swallowed his mouthful of pancakes (which were delicious - Lewis was an amazing cook) so fast he almost choked. “Like, zoinks! I always sleep next to Scooby Doo! If he wakes up with Arthur in my body next to him, he’s like, totally gonna freak out!” 

“And Arthur’s skittish around large canines.” Mystery winced, looking oddly guilty.

“Wait- oh no . Shaggy, were you wearing green when you went to bed last night?” Vivi asked.

“Like, yeah. I’ve got a green sleep shirt. Why?” 

All three of the Mystery Skulls winced. 

“Like, is that bad?” Shaggy gulped. 

“No, no. It’s nothing you did, Shaggy. You can’t possibly have known you were going to end up body-switched with Arthur. It’s just… for his own reasons… Arthur has a very strong aversion to wearing the color green.” Lewis explained, looking very sad about it. 

“Let’s just make the stupid phone call. Shaggy, Arthur has Velma’s number in his phone- which I realize you can’t unlock because you of course don’t know his password. So let’s just use mine. Who would you like to call?” Vivi asked.

Shaggy thought for a moment. “Not Velma. Velma will probably think this is a joke. So like uhm… Fred? He’s kind of the leader of our group, and he has the Mystery Machine so… if the others aren’t already together, he’ll get them.” 

“Okay then. Let’s call Fred. What’s his phone number?” 

Shaggy told her. She dialed, and handed Shaggy her blue cellphone.

The other side of the line rang for only a moment or two before Fred picked up on the other side. “Fred Jones, here.” 

“Like Freddy! Man, am I like, happy to hear your voice!” 

“Shaggy?” 

“Like um… yeah. I know I don’t like, sound like myself, but like, it’s me. This is gonna sound like, totally crazy. But like-” 

“Let me guess. You’ve been body-swapped?” 

“Like, yeah. How did you know?” 

“Scooby called us in a panic a while ago. We’re all at your house already."

"Raggy!" Shaggy heard his beloved dog exclaim on the other end of the line. 

"Like, Scooby Doo!" 

"I was so worried, Raggy! I woke up next to you - but it wasn't you!" 

"Like, I know, buddy. Don't worry. We'll be together again, soon!" 

"Don’t worry, Shaggy. We’ll drive over to Destroido right now to get you!” Fred said with determination.

“Destroido? Like, why would I be there?” Shaggy asked, bewildered. 

“Wait- You’re not at Destroido? Then where are you?” 

“Like, I’m at the Burlington Library with the Mystery Skulls, dude.” 

“Wait a minute, Shaggy. Whose body are you in?” 

“Arthur’s. Like, the guy always wearing the orange vest. Isn’t Arthur like, in my body?” 

“... No. But you are not going to believe who is. Hey-!” 

Shaggy heard some scuffling on the other end of the line, and then a different voice came through the phone. Not Fred's. Not Scooby's. Shaggy’s voice. Only it wasn’t Shaggy using it. “Norville- I mean, Shaggy?” Whoever-it-was asked.

“Arthur?” Shaggy answered hopefully. 

“No. This isn’t Arthur.” Not-him groaned. “It’s Mr. E.” 

Shaggy’s stomach sank into his guts. Mr. E, their enemy was in his body! “Like, Mr. E?! What the hell, man? Did you have anything-” 

“As I told your friends, I had nothing to do with this. And I’m just as freaked out and confused as you are. I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I need you to. And I need you to put me on speaker. I need to talk to the Mystery Skulls. It’s about their friend. Please. It’s very important.” 

Shaggy didn’t know what possessed him to listen. Maybe it was because he’d never heard Mr. E sound so desperate or so sincere before. But he did as Mr. E asked. “Like, you’re on speaker.” He said glumly. 

“Thank you, Shaggy. And hello there, Mystery Skulls. We haven’t been acquainted.” 

“You don’t sound like Arthur.” Vivi said shakily. The entire group looked scared for their friend. 

“No. I’m not Arthur, and we haven’t met. But I’ve heard of you, and you may have heard of me. This is Mr. E speaking. My real name is Ricky Owens. I’m a member of the Original Mystery Incorporated. And I’m also for some reason suddenly in Shaggy Rogers’ body, just like Shaggy is in Arthur’s.”

The three Mystery Skulls gave each other a sideways glance. “We know who you are.” Vivi said. “We’ve heard a lot of mixed things about you.” 

“Then you know who I’ve stupidly decided to associate with.” Mr. E said. “I’ve been a fool, and I’m undeserving of your trust. But I need you to listen to me right now, because this isn’t about me. This is about Arthur.” 

“What about Arthur?” Asked Lewis, his voice laced with worry.

“I’m in Shaggy’s body, and Shaggy is in Arthur’s. Which means it can be assumed that Arthur must be in mine- Oh god , that poor kid. This is going to sound insane but-”

“But what? And why should we listen to you?” Vivi demanded. 

“Because if Arthur is in my body, then he’s in serious trouble!” 

Back in the lower levels of Destroido, Arthur Kingsman was standing alone in an unfamiliar master bathroom, anxiously clutching the flesh and blood left arm attached to his body that shouldn’t be there, staring into a broken mirror at several dozen reflections that were most certainly not his. 

Also quietly and calmly having an anxiety attack. Because what’s cake without icing, right? 

But this was fine. This was totally fine. 

He definitely wasn’t freaking out.

Chapter Text

One lengthy explanation later, Ricky was sitting on the edge of Shaggy’s bed, Fred’s phone in hand (still on speaker) with the Mystery Skulls and Shaggy listening on the other side, and the rest of Mystery Incorporated was looming over him. 

“So let us get this straight,” said Daphne, “You’re Mr. E. In Shaggy’s body.”

“And while we were hunting the Gluten Demon, you were organizing a coup against Professor Pericles.” Said Velma. 

“You told my real Mom and Dad about it, and they said they were on your side,” said Fred. 

“But they lied, and they told Pericles about it,” said Scooby. 

“And ever since, you’ve been held prisoner, forced to obey Pericles against your will,” said Daphne. 

“Because while you were sleeping, he put- what in your back?” Scooby asked. 

“Mutated cobra larvae . In my spine. I don’t know what that means either, but I cannot begin to describe how painful it is when he presses that fukin-” 

Mr. E caught himself - no cursing in front of the minors, Ricky! “- When he presses the button.” He explained, desperate for them to believe him but also so humiliated he wanted to bury himself alive. 

“Mutated cobra larvae.” Velma said thoughtfully. “When you say larvae , I’m pretty sure you mean fetuses . Cobras start producing venom within their first few weeks of development in their eggs, before they hatch. So using a mutation to harness that does sound plausible.”

Leave it to Velma to know exactly what that means. Ricky sure as hell hadn’t. 

“I’ll hand it to you Shaggy, that’s clever. It sounds exactly like the sort of sick thing Professor Pericles would do, and I never would have expected you to come up with it. But for some reason I have a hard time believing Professor Pericles would do that to Mr. E. And I have an even harder time believing that you’re Mr. E in Shaggy’s body!” Velma said adamantly.

“And you have every right to be skeptical.” Ricky groaned, running his hand over his face. “But everything I’m telling you is the truth! And I don’t care if you don’t believe me. I don’t deserve your help, but Arthur does not deserve to be punished for my mistakes! I don’t want that innocent young man to experience that because of me! Choose to believe me, or don’t. But please don’t risk it! Arthur is alone at Destroido. He doesn’t know the situation he’s ended up in, and the second he tries to leave or use the phones, he will be caught, he won’t understand why he’s being stopped, and Pericles will punish him for it, thinking he’s me! And God forbid if they realize he’s not me, because Pericles has completely lost his mind! He’s so unpredictable- I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do!” 

“He better not.” Lewis said through the phone, his tone laced with fury. “I will fucking pluck and cook that chicken alive if he dares do such a thing to Arthur! And those fools helping him- I don’t care that they’re your parents, Fred. If they touch a hair on Arthur’s head, I will kill them!” 

“L-like, I think we need to assume Mr. E’s telling the truth, you guys.” Shaggy said in Arthur’s nervous voice through the phone. “Like, as crazy as it sounds, I don’t see why Mr. E would make this up. And like, Arthur seemed like a really nice guy. And he’s never like, dealt with the original Mystery Incorporated before.” 

“Arthur is a really nice guy.” Mystery piped up. 

“Well, I don’t care what you all decide to do. If Arthur might be in danger, then I’m not even running the risk of leaving him there.” Vivi said with purpose. “We’re driving back to Crystal Cove. Immediately. Shaggy will give us his address and we’ll pick up Mr. E there, with or without the rest of you.” 

“And we can’t give Shaggy back, either.” Mystery added. “If we’re going to figure out how this happened and how to get you all back in your proper mortal shells, it’s best to keep you together. Not to mention that if there isn’t distance between you - this is just a guess mind you - your souls might recognize their proper vessels and swap back on their own. Even if just the two of you switch without Arthur, that’ll still be counted as a win because then at least Shaggy will be back in his own body.” 

“Like, as much as I don’t like Mr. E, if it gets me back in my body, then like, count me in!” Shaggy said.

“Where Shaggy goes, I go.” Scooby declared. 

“I can accept those terms as well.” Ricky said. 

“Well, we’re a team on this. So we’re coming with you, Shag.” Fred said. 

“You can’t possibly believe a word of this!” Velma exclaimed. 

“Yeah, Freddy. We can’t trust Mr. E. This could be a trap.” Daphne agreed.

“I don’t know what to believe.” Fred said. “But if this is real, we’re not leaving Shaggy to deal with it without us. And the Mystery Skulls have never been to Destroido or dealt with the Original Mystery Incorporated before. Something really bad could happen if they rush in blind. Not to mention that if this is a trap… there’s no one better than me to see it coming. Or to get us all out of it if we do fall into it.”

“Then it’s decided. We should be back in Crystal Cove in about two hours. As soon as we arrive at Shaggy’s house, we’ll join forces and drive straight to Destroido. We’ll swap notes on the drive over there and figure out what to do next when we arrive.” Vivi said.

“And keep an eye on your guest.” Lewis said, sounding very disgruntled. “It’s like he keeps saying - we shouldn’t trust him.”

“-No offense!” Vivi added. 

“None taken.” Ricky said sadly. “I don’t intend to go anywhere, considering I don’t exactly have anywhere to go. But you’re still right not to trust me - and I know earning that trust isn’t going to be easy.”

“More like im-possible .” Scooby grumbled. 

“That’s also a possibility.” Ricky sighed. “But honestly, I could care less about earning your forgiveness. Or even redeeming myself. All I care about now is getting that kid out of there. God, I just hope he’s alright.”

Nope . Nuh-uh. Arthur was most certainly not alright!

Why did these things keep happening to him?

It was one thing to lose control of one’s own body. It was entirely another thing to wake up in someone else’s body ! 

As Arthur came down from his initial panic, huddled in the corner of the bathroom and trying to avoid his own reflection, clarity of thought returned and he began to think. 

Okay. How did this happen? 

Try as he might, Arthur couldn’t remember anything unusual that had happened the previous day that could be constituted as weird . Or at least, above the normal level of weird he was accustomed to. 

Unless- 

Oh. 

The dream.

The dream had been weird. And looking back, he couldn’t think of anything within his brain that could have come up with it. The red corridor. He’d gone down it. There’d been a dog and… someone else. Who? He hadn’t paid attention. He’d felt compelled down another hallway and in his dreaming state, he hadn’t questioned it. The next thing he’d known, he was waking up in a different place than when he’d fallen asleep. 

The first thing he’d noticed was that his right hand hurt, and when he looked at it there was a bandage for an injury he didn’t remember getting. Then he’d moved his other hand to look at it- 

Wait a minute . He took off his prosthetic last night. And this arm wasn’t made of metal . It had taken him all of seven seconds to process that his left arm… was no longer missing . 

It shouldn’t have been there. 

And not only was it there , but it most definitely did not look the same as Arthur remembered it. Neither did his right arm, for that matter. Injury or no.

And Arthur could barely put it into words how much that freaked him out . 

After the initial panic of having two arms again waned, he’d patted all over his own body, looking himself over, and he’d realized several things: 

He was much fatter than he’d been last night. His hair was much longer - a dark shade of brown rather than the tangerine blonde he was used to, and it fell around his shoulders instead of sticking straight up. Also he had a beard . 

This was not his body . 

That realization had prompted a second wave of panic, sending Arthur into a frenzied search for a mirror until he stumbled into the bathroom. 

The reflection staring back at him was absolutely wretched. Whoever this man was, he was slightly taller than Arthur, much older than Arthur, and much fatter than Arthur. His nose was a lot bigger, the bags under his eyes were a lot darker, and notably his cheeks were covered in dried tears. And yet Arthur could not remember crying. 

Which brought Arthur to his next question: Whose body was this?  

The only form of identification on Arthur’s person was a red E seal on the left breast of the purple coat he was wearing. Something about that rang a bell for Arthur, but he couldn’t recall from where. That may not have quite been an answer , but it was certainly Arthur’s first clue. The how of this situation may still be mysterious, but perhaps the who was a bit easier to figure out. It was this question that pulled Arthur to his feet and out of the bathroom to do what an investigator did best: snoop . 

His attention was immediately caught by the large book sitting open on the bed. It had been there when Arthur had woken up, but he’d been so freaked out he hadn’t paid attention to it. 

It didn’t take much page flipping to figure out whose body he was in. 

Ricky Owens . Alias: Mr. E. The man who’d been in Arthur’s/Shaggy’s spot in the original Mystery incorporated. The one Cassidy had said there might still be hope for. (That certainly explained the insignia.)

And Mr. E had clearly been in a nostalgic mood in the hours before Arthur had somehow ended up in his body, if this tome of memories and the wetness on his face was any indicator. 

Oh, God. Is he still here? Trapped in his own body? Am I possessing him? Arthur wondered. Arthur knew all too well what possession felt like. And now he was the one who had stolen someone else’s life. 

He had to get out of here - wherever here was. And he needed to contact his friends. Vivi had always been the one in their group who was knowledgeable in the supernatural. Then Mystery had revealed himself as a Kitsune, and Lewis had rejoined them as a ghost, so they were supernaturally inclined too. They might not know how this happened either, but they’d have a better clue about how to figure it out than Arthur did. 

Arthur took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Then he went looking for a phone. 

He didn’t find one. 

Odd . 

There were a couple of landlines throughout Mr. Owens’ residence, but Arthur found each one disconnected.

Okay, that’s weird. Yeah. That is concerning. Red flag. Don’t panic, Arthur. There’s gotta be a phone around here somewhere. 

This place didn’t have any windows, and honestly felt more like a prison or a utilitarian space than a dwelling - though he did find a really nice and clearly well-loved and well-maintained purple keytar in its case by the door in the lounge. 

The more Arthur explored his surroundings, the more of an impression he got that he was underground. 

That’s right. Mr. E is the CEO of Destroido. Cassidy said he lived there. 

If he was at Destroido… this place was huge . Surely, Arthur would find a phone somewhere . With newfound determination, Arthur went to the door. 

Wait. He stopped himself. If the owner of this body is still in here with me at the wheel, then he must be so scared. I know how that feels. So… I guess I should say something to him? 

“Uh… Mr. Owens? I mean, uh, Mr. E?” Arthur said, feeling incredibly stupid already (and additionally freaked out when the voice that came out of his mouth wasn’t his), “I uh, don’t know if you’re still… in this body or whatever, but know that if I’m possessing you, I’m really sorry. Please don’t be afraid. My name is Arthur, and I didn’t do this on purpose. But uh… don’t worry. I’m going to find my friends - the Mystery Skulls. And uh, they’ll be able to help figure this out. So uh… yeah.” 

And with that, Arthur gathered his courage and turned the doorknob. 

Once the Mystery Skulls hung up with Mystery Incorporated, things went into motion very quickly. Breakfast was wolfed down (Shaggy was immediately impressed by Vivi’s eating skills - she was almost as good as he and Scooby), bags were packed, research was gathered up, Lewis thanked the library’s new caretaker for letting them stay the night, and in less than half an hour, the four of them were packed into the Mystery Skulls van on their way back to Crystal Cove. 

It was funny, really - how similar the seating in Arthur’s van was to the Mystery Machine. Lewis was driving, just as Fred usually would. And Vivi was sitting in the passenger seat, just as Velma and Daphne would. And just as Shaggy would be doing with Scooby if he was back home in the Mystery Machine, he sat in the back with Mystery. And he told them such when they asked him what had him laughing to himself. 

“You’d be surprised.” Lewis said. “The setup isn’t always like this. In fact, usually Arthur drives. I just take the wheel when we’ve been on the road a while to give him a break, or when Arthur’s not feeling well. Just God forbid, don’t let Vivi drive. She’ll kill us all.” Lewis joked, earning a punch on the arm from his girlfriend.

“Like, really?” Shaggy said, genuinely surprised. 

“Yep. Arthur is the best driver.” Vivi said proudly. “Which makes sense. He’s worked with his Uncle at his auto repair shop since almost as long as any of us have known him. And uh… Lewis does have a point. I’m not exactly the best driver. And my road rage is terrible .”

“Like, wow. His family has their own shop? So Arthur must really know cars, huh?” 

“Yep. Kingsmen Mechanics . And he doesn’t just know cars. More like technology in general, really. Machines, computers, coding. Not just machines, either. He can research like there’s no tomorrow, and he somehow knows all of the laws of whatever area we’re working in within two days of the investigation starting. He’s got a huge skillset. A lotta stuff that definitely goes way over our heads, but we’re happy to let him talk our ears off about it whenever he wants to.” Said Vivi. 

“Not that he does that very often anymore.” Lewis said sadly. 

“Yeah…” Mystery sighed. 

“But you know what? When we get Arthur back, we’re going to absolutely smother him. We’ll spoil him rotten! And we’ll tell him how much we fucking missed his nerd rants!” Vivi said, determined to be optimistic. 

“Yeah. Yeah! Let’s do that.” Lewis laughed, clearly slightly cheered up. “You know, I don’t think we’ve ever told him we missed his nerd rants. I think it’ll make him smile to know that.” 

Shaggy didn’t talk very much for the rest of the drive, content to listen to the Mystery Skulls talk all about Arthur Kingsman. 

Like, wow. They sure do miss Arthur. And yet they’re being so nice to me. Shaggy thought to himself. 

Like, I don’t want them to worry, but I kind of hope my friends miss me as much as Arthur’s friends miss him. And like, I can’t help but feel sorry for Mr. E. Even if Professor Pericles and Fred’s parents have realized he’s gone, I don’t see them like, missing him very much. And I doubt the gang is being very kind to him like the Mystery Skulls are being to me. Like, gosh am I lucky to have them. Without them…  I wonder how Mr. E’s doing…

As if the atmosphere wasn’t already tense and awkward, it somehow got even more tense and awkward after their call with the Mystery Skulls ended.

Okay. Our enemy is in our friend’s body. And we have to wait for the Mystery Skulls to get here before we can do anything about it. Now what?

There were a few moments of still silence so thick and tense it felt as though it could snap under the pressure at any moment. During which time Ricky wanted nothing more than for Shaggy’s bed to come alive and swallow him whole. 

And when said silence was broken, Ricky learned that it was possible for him to feel even more mortified, because it was by the sound of his stomach growling. Loudly. 

Dear God, please kill me.

He’d been so swept away in… whatever the fuck was going on, that he hadn’t even noticed how fucking hungry he was. He felt as though his stomach had come alive and was starting to gnaw on his insides. 

“Oh. Um. That was certainly… a noise .” Ricky said uncomfortably, looking down at Shaggy’s body. 

“Pretty normal for Shaggy actually, ‘ Mr. E.’ ” Velma said, making air quotes with her fingers, still not believing a word of this bullshit was true. She couldn’t help but be simultaneously impressed and disappointed with Shaggy for keeping up the charade this well for this long. 

But what if he is telling the truth? A small part of her wondered. God - just for even considering it, maybe she was her mother’s daughter. 

If he’s telling the truth - if Shaggy, Arthur, and Mr. E have been body-swapped and Mr. E is on our side, or even just against Pericles… this could change everything. Pericles would be basically back to square one without Mr. E’s resources. This could turn the tide!... And Shaggy must be really scared… and Arthur’s in a lot of trouble… 

But of course, Velma didn’t really need to worry about that, because there was no way Shaggy/Mr.E/WHATEVER was telling the truth, because while an interesting concept, body-swapping was impossible . 

“That’s right. Even if you are Mr. E, I guess you’re still in Shaggy’s body.” Fred scratched his head thoughtfully, at a complete loss.

Mystery Incorporated didn’t exactly have a leader. They were partners - the five of them. But for as long as they had been together, in situations when one person needed to step forward and represent the others, when one person needed to step forward and take charge… that person was Fred. It wasn’t a role he’d been elected to or anything. It was sort of something he’d just… fallen into. He wasn’t the smartest - that role belonged to Velma. But he was supposed to be the one who had some semblance of what to do now, and all he could come up with was… wait for the Mystery Skulls . 

This wasn’t some simple trap he could get Shaggy out of. This wasn’t even a complicated trap he could get Shaggy out of. The levers, the pulleys… the nets and chains… they didn’t exist in a way that Fred could work out. But while this was so many realms out of his- their expertise, the Mystery Skulls at least seemed to know where to start . 

And that made Fred feel not just helpless - but useless .

And the only way he could reprieve that feeling right now was to do the only thing they could do - take care of Shaggy’s body until he could get it back. Regardless of who was in it.

“I guess it’s only right to feed you, huh?” Daphne asked, also at a complete loss. 

Ricky felt the urge to say ‘No shit.’, ‘ Feed me? I’m not a dog!’ Or something equally sarcastic, but this was all so fucking weird he couldn’t blame the kids for having awkward moments right now. Hell, his entire existence was an awkward moment right now. So he held his tongue. 

“Well… we wouldn’t want Shaggy to be starving when he gets back in his own body. Come on.” Scooby huffed, begrudgingly leading the way to the door. If it wasn’t for Shaggy’s sake, there was no way in hell he’d ever share the Rogers’ food with Mr. E . 

“Jeepers, I was in such a scramble to get ready this morning to get here, I didn’t eat.” Daphne said, realizing her own hunger.

“Neither did I, Daph.” Said Fred.

“Alright, alright. None of us have eaten and we’re all hungry. Breakfast it is.” Velma said. 

“Well?... Are you coming?” Daphne said over her shoulder at Mr. E when he didn’t get up. 

Daphne didn’t trust Mr. E, she didn’t like Mr. E, and she didn’t know how much of what he’d said she believed. But all the same Daphne was one of the few people in the world who knew even the surface of what he’d been through - what all of the original Mystery Incorporated had been through. And then there was Angel Dynamite- Cassidy Williams . In spite of everything, Cassidy had seen through Mr. E to glimpse the good left in Ricky Owens. Not just that - Cassidy had never stopped loving Ricky Owens , right to the very end. And the gang still regretted not trusting her when they had the chance. So try as Daphne might to hate him… she couldn’t. She felt sorry for him. And she wondered just how right about him Cassidy had been.

Ricky didn’t say anything in response to Daphne’s question, but his snarling stomach answered for her. 

Ricky rolled his eyes and sighed before he stood up and followed. 

This. Is so. Humiliating . I wonder if Shaggy’s having any awkward moments too? And God, I hope Arthur just stays put. 

That last bit of wistful thinking almost made Ricky laugh at himself. Stay put ? What was he thinking? Ricky didn’t need to know Arthur to know there was no way that was going to happen. He was a mystery solver - a meddling kid . One of a very long line of them. There was no way in hell he was just going to stay put when presented with a mystery as big as ending up in a stranger’s body. 

All Ricky could do for him was pray that his snooping didn’t get him hurt. 

When Arthur ventured out Mr. E’s front door, he came into a short corridor that led into a gigantic… lair . 

That was the only word Arthur could find to describe it. 

It was an absolutely enormous space, Arthur supposed it was either under a lake or a big fish tank, because the ceiling had enormous panes of acrylic through which a greenish light streamed into the room from above and Arthur could see a few aquatic plants and quite a few large fish swimming by. As for the room itself, at the center of it was an island in the middle of a great big shark pit (SERIOUSLY - A SHARK PIT!), connected to the rest of the room by a series of bridges arranged equidistant all around it. 

Arthur gulped nervously. As much as he didn’t really want to go over there, it looked like a likely place to find a phone. So he left the doorway, and Arthur briskly crossed the room, went over a bridge, and onto the island. He was terrified, mind you. As stiff as a board the whole walk, the foreboding structures holding the dozens of monitors up towered above him as he muttered the words to the first Mystery Skulls song that came to mind in an attempt to keep himself calm. 

“I'll be there holding on,

3000 light years holding on, ooh~

3000 life times holding on!

3000 light years holding on,

For you. 

“I'll be there holding on,

3000 light years holding on, ooh~

3000 life times holding on!

3000 light years holding on

And waiting for you!”

When the Mystery Skulls pulled up to the Rogers residence, Shaggy jumped out the back doors and ran to the front door, ringing the doorbell incessantly. He couldn’t help it - he’d gone two hours too long without seeing Scooby! 

The door burst open, and the next thing Shaggy knew, he was on his back - laughing with 160 pounds of great dane on top of him, licking his face. “Raggy!” 

“Like, Scooby Doo! Man, am I happy to see you!” Shaggy cried, throwing his arms around the dog’s neck.

“Oh, this is ridiculous! Arthur, I thought I liked you, but I can’t believe you’d go along with such a jovial prank!” 

Shaggy sat up to see Velma leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed, looking very disappointed. 

“Like, it really isn’t a prank, Velms. Like, it’s me - Shaggy.” 

“Shaggy?” Fred and Daphne came to the door from behind her. 

“Like yeah! Hey guys!” 

Fred grabbed Shaggy by the hand and pulled him to his feet, pulling him into a group hug with Fred and Daphne. 

“Thank goodness you’re okay, Shaggy! We were so worried!” Daphne said.

“Like, I’m okay guys, really! The Mystery Skulls were like, super nice to me. So uhm… how’s Mr. E?” Shaggy asked as they let go and stepped back.

“He’s… reserved? Placid? I think he might be in shock - not that I can blame him. And he was- pfft - kind of in disbelief over how much food it takes to feed your body.” Daphne said, clearly trying not to laugh at the last part.

“Yeah, it… almost made me feel sorry for him.” Fred snorted. 

“Laugh it up, you two.” 

It was one thing, being in somebody else’s body. But it was an entirely new degree of surreal when SHAGGY’S BODY walked past him and down the stairs, still munching on the last few bites of an egg, sausage, and toast sandwich. 

“Are you alright, Shaggy?” Mr. E asked, turning back to Shaggy in a show of empathy that genuinely shocked the teen. Maybe Mr. E really had… changed? Or something? Even in a body that wasn’t his own, Shaggy could tell his predecessor’s usual glare wasn’t as hard as usual. He looked… genuinely concerned. And somewhat reserved. Maybe even defeated? And there was a deep sadness in his eyes that made Shaggy’s seventeen-year-old body look much older than it was.

“L-like yeah.” Shaggy gulped when the shock let him get words out. “You?” 

“Your friends were as civil to me as anyone could have asked them to be.” He shrugged, finishing the sandwich. “All the same, it’s not like I don’t deserve it. Now come on. Arthur’s in trouble. He isn’t surrounded by such kind people, like we are. We have to get him out of there.”  

“So then, I take it you’re Mr. E.” 

Mr. E stiffened when Vivi and Mystery came up behind him. Shaggy saw him gulp nervously before he turned around, suddenly a whole new degree of respectful - even more so than he’d been before. “Yes. That’s me.” He said with a bow of his head. “Listen. Your friend… I’m so sorry. I really don’t-” 

“We believe you.” Mystery interrupted. Shaggy didn’t miss it when Vivi glanced down at Mystery as if to say: “We do?” but she didn’t say anything about it. 

“We’ll talk about this, among other things, on the drive to Destroido. Shaggy, Mr. E. You two ride with us.” Vivi said.

“Me too! Me too!” Scooby piped up. 

“Like, is it okay if Scoob rides with us too, Vivi? We like… don’t like being separated.” Shaggy asked. 

“Of course he can, Shaggy.” Vivi replied kindly. “Fred, Velma, Daphne. Here’s a walkie. We’ll use it to swap notes and discuss tactics on the drive over, even in two separate cars. I realize that you probably feel anxious having your friends riding with us - and with Mr. E. So as a sign of good will I’ll ride in the Mystery Machine with you all on the way over.” She volunteered. 

“That’s fine by me.” Fred agreed. “What about you, Velms? Daphne?” 

“It sounds fair to me.” 

“I agree.”

“Also, Mystery Incorporated, you guys are going to have to lead the way.” Mystery said. “We’ve never been there before.”

“I could give you directions.” Mr. E offered. 

“That’s kind of you,” said Vivi, “but we’re going to need to be discussing other things on the way over. Not a single one of us can offer the inside intel you can.” 

Shaggy could tell the rest of the gang didn’t like him riding with Mr. E and the Mystery Skulls, but having Vivi riding in the Mystery Machine as insurance seemed to reassure them. Besides - they didn’t have much choice and Scooby was with him, so what could happen? They all piled into their respective vehicles, and were off. 

And Shaggy didn’t miss how Lewis muttered to himself as they drove off, “Hold on, Arthur… we’re coming.” 

Once inside the ring of monitors, the island became a bit less foreboding. The sharks were hardly visible and Arthur couldn’t lie to himself - his inner IT guy kind of wanted nothing more than to explore Mr. E’s software for a few hours because the tech he was seeing was clearly top of the line and the processors looked amazing. 

Focus, Arthur. 

Phone, phone… dammit. There wasn’t a landline to be seen. Likely, the communications were in the computer itself, but Arthur didn’t have the password… 

But maybe he could figure it out.

Arthur sat down in what he could only assume was Mr. E’s chair and turned the system on, momentarily excited by the way the devices came to life around him. And fortunately for him, the computer wasn’t locked. 

That’s strange, for a powerful guy like this to leave this unlocked. And he was clearly distressed before I wound up in this body… did he leave in a hurry and forget? I wonder if something happened to him last night. 

Arthur got the first clue to his answer when he opened the tabs Mr. E had last been looking at. 

Cassidy Williams. The screens were full of her. And as Arthur looked around more closely, he realized that Mr. E had been looking for her. 

Oh, God. Did he-

“I’m surprised to see you showing your face here after last night.” A voice scoffed. Arthur jumped out of his skin and whirled around to see two people who could only be Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves. 

Thank God Arthur hadn’t started looking for the communications systems yet. Fuck. What do I say in response?! 

“That’s right, Brad. I would have thought he’d lock himself away. What’s the matter, Ricky? Cat got your tongue?” 

Something definitely happened last night. But without knowing what… just look horrible and keep your mouth shut! 

Arthur thought back to how wretched Mr. E had looked when Arthur had first glimpsed his reflection in the mirror. Then he thought back to three years ago - the pain and guilt Arthur had felt back then that had threatened to eat him alive. (Little did Arthur know, that was pretty close to exactly how Mr. E was feeling)

That’s right. I’m upset about… something. Now please go away.

“You can’t still be that bothered about Cassidy.” Brad smirked. 

“I-I wouldn’t expect you to understand, Chiles.” Arthur spat, filling his voice with as much venom as he could muster while he subtly stuck his hands in his pockets to hide the way they trembled. His answer must not have been too far off from the context, because Brad and Judy didn’t bat an eye. 

“Honestly. Why do you even leave your room anymore?” Judy sniggered. 

“It’s not like you’re in charge or anything!” Brad added. 

“Or even that you have any power here at all!” 

What? They were treating him like an outsider. But they couldn’t possibly know, could they?

Something more is going on here. They clearly haven’t picked up that I’m not Mr. E, but given his position as their benefactor, it doesn’t make any sense for them to be talking to him like this.  

“I think he knows it, Judy. Just look at how quiet he is!”

“I think you’re right, Brad!” 

“Thank you, Judy.” 

“Don’t you two have anything better to do than revel in my pain?” Arthur demanded, taking a big gamble in his words. He needed to keep his responses as nonspecific as he could to keep himself from saying something that triggered alarm bells. As much as he wanted them to leave, with every taunt they were giving him more information. 

“Oh, please. You can’t possibly tell us that you actually didn’t know she was dead!” Judy laughed. 

HE DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS DEAD?! 

Arthur visibly recoiled at the revelation, but he schooled his expression into a grieving one and quickly turned away from them. 

He didn’t know what to do with this information, but he knew it meant something, and he needed to tell the others about it. Then again, he couldn’t exactly contact them with Tweedledee and Tweedledumber breathing over his shoulder, so Arthur hunched over the desk, dripping the edge until his knuckles turned white, and ground out, “Get. Out.” 

Brad started to say something ignorant, so Arthur repeated himself, louder. “GET OUT!!!” 

“I think you’re forgetting, Ricky. Professor Pericles gave us express permission to be here.” Judy smirked. 

“You wouldn’t go against what he said, now would you?” Brad taunted. 

From all of this, Arthur got the distinct impression that there was some major bad blood between Mr. E and Professor Pericles right now, which is why he said what he said next. 

“Professor Pericles can go stuff his cloaca with-” 

Only Arthur didn’t finish the last part because that was when an inferno of agony exploded up Arthur’s spine - so sudden and intense it left him gasping, collapsing onto his knees, clutching the desk as panic set in. 

What is that? What the fuck is that?!

“Such cruel words, Ricky.” A new voice said from above Arthur. He mustered the willpower to look up, and through the blurriness creeping into his vision he spotted a powdery gray parrot in a purple scarf sitting on top of the monitors, glaring down at the three of them with a look of such cruelty the likes of which Arthur hadn’t seen since Reverb. 

The parrot was holding a small remote with a big red button on it. He took his wing off of the button, and the pain eased. He pressed it again, and it was back. 

Press. 

Pain. 

Press. 

Pain. 

The bird finally stopped, giving Arthur barely a moment to breathe as he took the remote in his talons and fluttered down onto a perch closer to the ground, before the agony returned - because Pericles was pushing the button again! 

Suddenly, everything Arthur had seen made a lot more sense. 

Oh, God. That’s what’s going on here! He’s a prisoner - I’m a prisoner! He’s being tortured into helping them! 

“Don’t think your grief is an acceptable excuse for your hubris, Ricky Owens.” The parrot sneered. “You forget your place - and your purpose. You do. As I say. And don’t even think about trying to contact the Kinder!” 

Arthur’s sliver of self-preservation kicked in, and he realized right then that if he didn’t get this to stop, Pericles was going to keep doing this to him until he passed out. 

“Y-you’re r-right… Prof- Professor… Pericles!” Arthur ground out between gasps and whimpers of anguish. “I-I don’t- ugh! Know- what c-came over me! I’m sorry- I’m sorry! Yes- whatever you say- I’m sorry. P-Professor- please …” 

There was a few more long seconds of agony before the bird finally let up and Arthur was left panting, half on the floor, barely supporting his weight against the chair with his trembling limbs. 

Arthur heard a fluttering of wings, as Professor Pericles landed on the chair just above him. The following thoughts flashed through his mind very quickly. 

I might catch him if I took a swipe at him now. Such a small parrot. He’s under half Mystery’s size. But then I’d have Brad and Judy to go through. I’m not a fighter like Vivi or Lewis - even when Lew was alive. And I don’t know how strong this body is. Besides - whatever that was, it clearly attacked my nervous system, which is why it hurt so much. My muscles spasmed out of control - I might collapse immediately if I try. Shit. This is bad. I really am stuck. All I can do for now is- 

“Where is your place, Ricky?” Pericles leered.

“U-under you?” Arthur replied, hoping that was close enough to what he wanted to hear. 

“And what are you?” 

What am I? Weird way to put it. Shit- he’s looking for a specific answer, but all I can do is guess. 

“A tool?” 

Pericles narrowed his eyes at Arthur, but he must have been satisfied enough with his answer, because he let him go after that. And Arthur wasted no time in hurrying past Pericles, past Brad and Judy, and scurrying out of the ring of monitors, across the bridge, and back into the safety of Mr. E’s rooms - not stopping until he was slamming the door behind him and collapsing against it. Only then did Arthur finally lose his composure, sitting on the floor with his legs out, hands buried in his hair, trying not to panic. 

What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck? 

Arthur had no idea how long he sat there, processing all that he’d just learned and what had just happened to him and waiting for the aftershocks to go away. At some point he went back to softly singing the words to 3000 Lightyears, just as he’d done before, thinking of his friends as he desperately tried to calm the uncontrollable hammering of his heart. 

“I'll be there!

Holdin’ on ‘cause you're my golden-

I'm trying to see you in my dreams.

“I'll be there!

Ev-ery time that your-

Feels get down you know

You're my eve-ry-thing.

“I'll be there holding on.

3000 light years holding on, ooh~

3000 life times holding on.

3000 light years holding on,

For you.

“I'll be there holding on.

3000 light years holding on, ooh~

3000 life times holding on.

3000 light years holding on

And waiting for you.”

And right as he was starting to feel a little bit better, he felt it again: that same disconnected lightheadedness he’d been feeling the few days before the switch. An inky blackness was coming into the sides of his vision, invisible hands tugging him down until he gave into slumber. 

Chapter Text

When Arthur opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a cold, hard floor staring up at crimson covered walls. This dream again, huh? But when he sat up, he was shocked to find he wasn’t alone. And the three of them were so startled at the sight of each other that they jumped out of their skins. 

“Zoinks!” 

“What the-” 

“You?”

Sitting in a circle with him was none other than the man Arthur was possessing and (for some reason) Shaggy. 

They were back in the Sitting Room, sat in a circle on the floor. The space around them was tastefully furnished with lamps, marble statues, and black leather furniture. But all things considered, their primary focus was on each other.

“So, I take it you’re Ricky Owens? Mr. E?” Arthur asked nervously, sitting up properly and crossing his legs. 

“I am. And that must make you Arthur.” Ricky replied, doing the same.

“Yep. That’s me. Listen. I’m really sorry for possessing you. I swear I don’t know how this happened.”

Mr. E looked at him confused, so Shaggy cut in. 

“Like, sounds like you jumped to the same conclusion as Vivi at first.” Shaggy laughed. “You’re not possessing anyone, Arthur. We’ve been like, body-swapped! You were in Mr. E’s body, Mr. E was in mine, and like, I was in yours.” 

Arthur stared at Shaggy blankly for a moment before he clutched his heart and blurted out, “OH, THANK GOD! All this time I thought I was possessing your body and you were like, trapped in your own mind or something! Trust me, I’ve been there, and it’s horrible! I was so worried I was doing that to you! But uh, I’m so glad you’re not. Body-swapped, huh? I was wondering what you were doing here, Shaggy.”

“You were worried about me?” Mr. E said, flabbergasted. “You have no idea how concerned I’ve been about you!” 

“Well like, looks like we don’t have to worry about that anymore. Like, we’re back in our own bodies!” Shaggy said, delightedly patting himself down. 

“Thank God.” Ricky sighed, relieved. 

“Wait a minute. Maybe not.” Arthur frowned. “Something tells me we’re not in Crystal Cove anymore.” He said, looking around at their surroundings. “I had a dream about this place last night.” 

“I did, too.” 

“Like, so did I. And like, Scoob has been having some weird dreams about this place too. Like, this is going to sound like, totally nuts. But according to Scoob, a being from another world possessing Nova’s body told him about an evil entity trapped beneath Crystal Cove! And that, like, the cursed treasure needs to be destroyed or like, it’ll destroy the whole world!”

Ricky blinked at Shaggy for a few seconds, being the only one amongst them who didn’t know anything about an evil entity or about the curse being that powerful. “Uh… Excuse me. I beg your pardon… what?” 

“Not the craziest I’ve heard.” Arthur said thoughtfully. “Us Mystery Skulls knew about the curse, but I can’t say we knew anything about an entity being behind it. We definitely need to deal with that, but for now I’m afraid we need to shelve it. Guys, I’m not so sure we’re back in our own bodies.” 

“Like, what do you mean? Looks and feels like my own body to me.” Shaggy shrugged.

“I um… I don’t think our bodies were transported here. The last thing I remember is being in Mr. E’s rooms. I think I fell asleep. And now I’m here. What’s the last thing you guys remember?” Asked Arthur.

“It’s a little fuzzy. The Mystery Skulls and Mystery Inc are together. And being in Shaggy’s body, I’m with them too. We were on a hill, getting ready to barge into Destroido to rescue you. Mystery was saying something, I think. Then poof, I’m here.” Mr. E said.

“Like, yeah. I think I passed out.” Shaggy nodded.

Ignoring the warm feeling his friends coming to rescue him summoned, Arthur explained, “Assuming that this is like, another realm or something, it’s possible that just because we look like ourselves here doesn’t mean we’re not still in each others’ bodies back in our own plane. If this is our… soul? Essence? Consciousness? Whatever you want to call it? Then it only makes sense that we look like ourselves here.”

The cogs in Ricky’s head turned. If we might not be back in our own bodies- “Then… Arthur, I need you to listen to me! Stay put and keep your head down! Professor Pericles-” 

“I know.”

Those two little words ceased Ricky’s panicked ramble and sent his heart sinking into his guts. “...What?” 

“I know.” Arthur shrugged. His warm orange eyes looking at Ricky with such… empathy? Sympathy? Pity? “I know about the remote. I don’t know what he did to you, but I can’t blame you for continuing to help him. You didn’t have a choice. It hurts. It hurts a lot.” 

Ricky stared at Arthur, heart hammering out of his chest, eyes wide with horror. The worst had happened. And this innocent boy was paying the price for his mistakes. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

“Wait! You mean like-” Shaggy gulped, “What Mr. E said was the truth? He really is being- you really are being-” 

“Tortured? Enslaved?... Yeah.” Arthur half-laughed.

“I’m so sorry. Oh dear God, I’m so sorry!” Mr. E blurted out miserably, burying his head in his hands. “You didn’t deserve that. The only person who should pay for my mistakes is me! Arthur, I am so sorry!” 

“Hey.” Arthur said firmly, placing a comforting hand on the other man’s shoulder. “I don’t care what you’ve done. You didn’t deserve that either. No one does. And besides: if he did that to you for going against him, then what you’re really being punished for is trying to repent.” 

“How do you know that?” Ricky croaked. 

“I figured out a lot while looking around your place. Then from your… ex-friends while pretending to be you. You know, I don’t think they have the slightest clue yet that I’m not you. Which should say plenty about what kind of  'friends' they are.” Arthur said, sticking his nose up at the notion.

“Not even Professor Pericles?” 

“I don’t think so. I think he may have noticed I- 'you' were acting a little strange, but I don’t think he’s suspicious. Betrayal and grief can do some messed up shit to people. Believe me: I know.”

“Grief?” Mr. E asked, his ears turning red with embarrassment. “Then you know about-” 

“Cassidy? Yeah.” Arthur finished for him. “Did you really not know?” 

Ricky hung his head again before he shook it, no. “We agreed something needed to be done about her… God, I never meant- I didn’t want- I never would have hurt her. Not Cassidy. Not even at my darkest. I swear. I was such a blind damn fool. What did I think he was going to do?”

“Like, wait a minute! You like, didn’t know Angel- that she-” Shaggy stuttered, dumbfounded. 

“Not until last night.” Ricky said, in the tone of a man suffering from a freshly broken heart. He sat with his elbows resting on his knees, his head bent between them. “I got worried after I hadn’t seen nor heard from her for a while, so I started to use my resources to look for her. With no success. But then Brad and Judy came in last night, then Pericles-” He stopped and blinked a few times, refusing to cry in front of them. But Shaggy and Arthur could see the tears just behind the floodgates. “He told me. And I got so angry, I said some things that he 'punished me for'. Then I went back to my room, eventually fell asleep, had a really weird dream about this place, and when I woke up I was in Shaggy’s body.”

“So that’s what happened last night.” Arthur exclaimed. “Your room and your body were in a bit of a state when I woke up in it.” Arthur said. Mr. E looked away, embarrassed, knowing exactly what Arthur was referring to. “Then the others kind of… implied something happened last night, but I had to be super cryptic with my words in order to not give away that I didn’t know what that was.”

“I have to admit,” Ricky half-laughed, “in that respect, I underestimated you. Dare I ask what you did to piss Pericles off if you didn’t give yourself away?”

“I was talking to Brad and Judy. Trying to keep my cover while probing for information. I kind of picked up that there were some bad vibes between you and Professor Pericles. So, trying to stay in character, I uh… insulted him. And didn’t realize he was perched right above us listening. He got me before I could even finish my sentence.” 

“You insulted him?” Ricky scoffed. “Now I have to know: what did you say?”

“Oh. Well, I uh…” Arthur looked over at Shaggy briefly, considering whether he should quote this in front of a minor, before he decided to just say it. Mr. E looked like he needed a laugh. 

“Okay. So Brad and Judy said something along the lines of: 'You wouldn’t want to disobey Professor Pericles, would you?' To which I retorted…” He cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed, and confessed. “'Professor Pericles can go stuff his cloaca with the large end of his own magnifying glass.'”

Mr. E couldn’t help it. He burst into a fit of laughter. “No, you didn’t!”

“I did.”

“That’s so specific!”

“The specificity makes it funnier.” Arthur shrugged.

“I don’t get it. Like, what’s a cloaca?” 

Shaggy’s question only made Ricky laugh harder. 

“Ask Velma.” Arthur said, red in the face with embarrassment. 

“Yes, please do ask Velma.” Ricky pleaded. “And make sure I’m standing next to you when you do!” 

“Well, I’m glad I made someone laugh. My audience at the time didn’t seem to see the humor.” Arthur said lightheartedly, trying to subtly direct the conversation back to the matter at hand. 

“I really am sorry, Arthur.” Ricky said, his chuckles ceasing. The laugh had lightened his mood, but he was still somber. “You shouldn’t be in my place. I know you say that I don’t deserve it either, but I do.” 

“For a long time, I thought the same thing about my pain.” Arthur said. “And I still struggle with those feelings, even now.” 

“What do you mean?” Ricky asked. 

“Like, do you mean your arm?” Shaggy asked. “I noticed it was starting to feel like, kinda sore.” 

“Oh, no. you’re in my body.” Arthur realized. “Ugh, God. I’m so sorry, Shaggy. My pain medication. It hasn’t been working as well or as long as it should for a while now and for my own stupid reasons, I’ve just been… bearing it. And I haven’t told my friends. It won’t be very long before it’s going to start hurting a lot more. You need to get my dosage adjusted or it’s going to be miserable for you until we swap back. Just… tell Vivi. She’ll know what to do.” Arthur explained, not looking forward to the chewing-out he was inevitably going to get when he was reunited with his friends.

“Pain medication? For what?” Ricky asked. 

“Uh… my arm didn’t exactly come off… cleanly .” Arthur said, anxiously rubbing his metal arm and shuddering at the memory of Mystery’s teeth. “From our research so far, we know that The Mystery Skulls have lasted a lot longer than most of the other Mystery Incorporated groups. But that doesn’t mean that we haven’t had forces that have tried to tear us apart. For your Mystery Incorporated,” Arthur said, gesturing to Ricky, “it was betrayal and the Freak of Crystal Cove. For yours,” he gestured to Shaggy, “it was when your group fell apart after catching the Freak and finding out that Fred’s whole life had been a lie. But in spite of everything pulling each of you away from the others, you managed to pull yourselves back together again… and so did we.” 

Arthur took a deep breath and continued. “What happened to the Mystery Skulls was extremely traumatizing for all of us. I won’t go into details, and I ask that you not probe for them. When Vivi, Lewis, Mystery, and I decide to tell other people about… us. About this, we’re always together and have unanimously agreed to share it. But you need to know, so I’ll only tell you slightly more than what’s public knowledge (if you know where to look). Three years ago, we were relatively new in our careers as investigators and weren’t nearly as powerful, knowledgeable, or renowned as we are today. We went to investigate a cave system where the animals in and around it were reported to behave… strangely. Supposedly it was haunted. We arrived, split up, and there was… an accident.” 

“Like, yeah. We heard about that when we looked you up.” Shaggy said. 

“I read about it in my research about you, too.” Mr. E confirmed. “One of your members died, and another was seriously hurt. The latter was you, wasn’t it?” 

Arthur nodded sadly. “It was my fault. Vivi, Lewis, and Mystery tell me it’s not and they don’t blame me for it. And logically, I know they’re right. But there’s still a huge part of me that still blames myself for it. So… yeah. Not having my meds adjusted like a responsible adult is stupid, and it puts me in a lot of pain. But somehow I find punishing myself like that… comforting? Because I feel like I deserve it. I shouldn’t do it, it isn’t healthy, and I probably need another few sessions in therapy - as if I haven’t already had a million of them.” Arthur scoffed. “But I do it anyway and I don’t tell my friends about it because I don’t want them to worry.” 

“That’s like, awful, dude.” Shaggy cried. “But like, why are you telling us this? And how do you know so much about us?” 

“That, Shaggy, is a bit of a long story. And not entirely mine to tell. But still, you deserve to know. As allies- as friends , this shouldn’t be kept from you: It’s no accident the Mystery Skulls came to Crystal Cove. We have an informant. Someone found us, and summoned us here. They saw what we could do and believed that we stood a chance against Professor Pericles, and that we could help you and your friends save this town and everyone in it. So they told us everything they knew and sent us here. They’re staying with my Uncle for now, but are supposed to rejoin us in Crystal Cove soon.” 

“An informant? Who?” Asked Ricky. 

Arthur considered it for a moment, then replied, “I don’t think now is the best time to tell you. Not because I want to keep it secret, but because there are more important matters at hand. When you two wake up with the others, tell Vivi that Arthur says it’s time to bring in our informant, and she’ll either tell you or call for them and let it be a surprise when they arrive.” And as he said this, he was giving Mr. E a look that neither Ricky nor Shaggy would be able to make heads or tails of until later. 

“Like, okay. I can understand that. But like, that doesn’t answer my other question: like, why are you telling us all this?” Shaggy asked again.

“I’m telling you this for two reasons. The first, Ricky, is because of you.” 

“Me?”

“You take comfort in your own suffering because you think you deserve it. It makes you feel as if some wrong is being righted, when it’s not. And you’re only getting angry about it now because it’s someone else in your position, and you think you’re the only one who deserves it. I've been dealing with that exact thing for years. So... I couldn't know what I do about you without telling you about my own experiences. We may have literally just met, and I know this is going to sound stupid, cheesey, and probably cliche, but when I look at you, I see myself.”

Ricky didn’t argue. Because when he looked at Arthur, he saw the exact same thing: a reflection of his own broken soul staring right back. A young man who had known much of the same pain Ricky had - the only person in the world who understood. It was comforting, yet terrifying all at once.

“And…” Arthur added, a little embarrassed by himself, “I dunno. I guess I just… wish that back then, three years ago, I had someone to tell me that.”

There was a moment of silence between the three of them, each unsure how to proceed from here, before Ricky finally broke it. “And… what’s the other reason?” 

“Because I trust you.” Arthur said simply.  “The Mystery Skulls’ plan from the beginning has been to eventually join forces with Mystery Incorporated to help break the curse. But we haven’t because we’ve been doing our own research and testing the waters, first. We needed to learn the nature of this curse, how deeply rooted it was, and who we could trust to not be corrupted by it. I wasn’t sure before, but I am now. And me telling you all this will force Vivi, Lewis, and Mystery to tell you the rest of our secrets when we wake up. The biggest ones, anyway. Shaggy, you and your friends have earned my faith. And Ricky, I’m literally in your shoes right now. I don’t know if you’re on our side or not but I doubt you’re on theirs. Because I believe you’ve broken free of the curse’s influence. But, even after taking all that into account, after all the questions I’ve answered, I think it’s time I asked you a question, ‘Mr. E’.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” Ricky asked, slightly defensive.

“Whose side are you on?” Arthur asked. “You aren’t one of them. So are you one of us?... Are you one of us?”

Then, as if the Sitting Room itself was asking the question too, the very song Arthur was quoting began to play quietly, seemingly from nowhere. 

“I said, even if I told ya,

They’ve been looking for you, we’re onto you.

Darkness is my signal. 

So what do you to me, and what do me to you?

“Are you one of us?

(Oooooh)

Are you one of us?

Tell me, are you one of us?

(Oooooh-Oooooooh!)

Said, are you one of us?”

“I am.” Ricky replied, with firm certainty. “I’m not one of them anymore, and haven’t been for a while now. I’m a former member of the original Mystery Incorporated. I don’t know where I belong now, but know that I am on your side. Arthur, Shaggy. I am one of you.” 

“Good.” Arthur said, pleased. “ I believe you. But you’ve got a lot of work to do to prove that to the others.” 

“Like, yeah. I didn’t believe you at first, but now that Arthur’s corroborated your story, I know you were telling the truth. That and like, just listening to you talk, you sound like, really sincere. But like, that doesn’t mean the others will think the same.”

“I know.” Ricky sighed. “I don’t want their forgiveness, because I don’t deserve it. But at the very least… for myself, and for Cassidy… I have to make things right.” 

“Also…” Arthur said uncomfortably, looking up at the infinite curtains for wherever that music was coming from, “This… is one of our songs, and I was quoting it a moment ago, but I swear to god I have absolutely no idea where that music is coming from.” 

“I figured.” Ricky said, trying to pretend that all of this wasn’t completely weird .

“Like, yeah. That’s kinda concerning.” Shaggy gulped. “So like, um… what now?” 

“Now… we wake up, and we team up, I guess.” Arthur shrugged. “The time has finally come.” 

“Arthur is correct. The time has come.”

The three of them turned around to see that three figures had entered the room. The first, only Shaggy and Ricky recognized at first: an apparition of a younger Ricky, back in his 'meddling kid' days. The second, an odd yet vaguely familiar little man in a red suit. And the third, a very familiar cocker spaniel. 

Things were not quite so civil in the waking world. 

While inside Destroido, the original Mystery Incorporated remained none the wiser about Ricky (And Arthur’s) contact with the outside world, atop a hill overlooking the facility was a different story. Fred, Daphne, Velma, Scooby, Vivi, Lewis, and Mystery had all seen the exact moment Mr. E and Shaggy had simultaneously passed out, but given their differences there was quite a bit of tension on how to react to it. 

“For the last time, move out of the way!” Fred shouted angrily. 

But the Mystery Skulls refused to budge. For the past few minutes, Mystery Incorporated had been trying to get by them to check on Shaggy. But the Mystery Skulls, who knew how unstable the supernatural could be, adamantly refused to let either of them be touched.

“They could be sick. Given all the toxins around here, they could have inhaled something! They may need a hospital!” Velma argued, trying once again to rationalize what was going on.

“Velma, if that was the case, someone else here would have also fainted by now.” Vivi told her, trying to appeal to her reason. 

“I’m telling you-” 

“We’re telling you!” Lewis interjected. “Whatever made them go down probably has something to do with whatever caused them to switch bodies in the first place. For all we know, they’re swapping back!” 

“I’ve seen what happens when something interrupts a spell before.” Vivi insisted. “You have to believe us. If it’s a certain kind of magic at work and we move them when we shouldn’t, it could be extremely dangerous. Especially for them.”

“I know you’re worried about Shaggy,” Mystery insisted, “but if you care about him, you need to back down.” 

After a moment, Fred sighed and eased the tension from his shoulders. “They’re right, gang.” He sighed. 

“Fred-” Velma tried to argue, but Daphne shut her down. 

“Freddy’s right, Velma.” She said. “We don’t have the first clue about any of this, but they do. What if we touch them and end up hurting Shaggy? I wouldn’t be able to live with that!” 

“Reah.” Scooby agreed, whimpering anxiously. 

“I think they’re okay.” Mystery said, from where he was quietly observing the two unconscious figures. 

“What do you see, Mystery?” Vivi asked, sensing that the kitsune was onto something. 

“They’re… dreaming. I think. But not exactly. Their minds are elsewhere. And every now and then I see their lips move…”

“What does that mean?” Daphne asked. 

“Where are they, Mystery? Can you tell? And what are they doing?” 

Mystery scrunched his snout in concentration, listening, thinking, watching the energy move.

“Talking.” He finally replied. “I think they’re talking.”

Chapter Text

“Arthur is correct. The time has come.”

Okay. So. This was weird. Even to Arthur’s standards. Which were already pretty fucking high, but had been raised slightly higher still as of this morning. 

Before them stood a small, cute, well-groomed talking dog. In an in-between dimension. Not that weird. Arthur had met talking animals. And been to other in-between dimensions. But to his knowledge, this dog was Scooby’s girlfriend. Who could not talk. And was in a coma. 

To the right of her stood a… vaguely familiar little man. Arthur was sure he’d seen that face before, he just couldn’t remember from where. But he knew it had something to do with his past experience with the paranormal.

And to the left of the dog stood the one who was quite possibly the strangest of the three. At least to Arthur. Truth be told, it hadn’t immediately clicked where he’d seen that face before. Then he’d just so happened to glance over at Mr. E, and he immediately realized two things. One: that Ricky had turned as white as a sheet, and was looking at the boy like he’d seen a ghost; and two: Mr. E’s shirt was the same yellow and white striped pattern as the teen’s. Then it clicked: Arthur had seen that face several times just this morning, looking through Ricky’s photo album. They were looking at a 17-year-old Ricky Owens. The same age he was when The Freak of Crystal Cove had forced him and the rest of the Original Mystery Incorporated to disappear.

So… yep. This was another new one. Just when Arthur was starting to think he at least mostly had this whole ‘paranormal expert’ thing figured out. What a fool he’d been to forget rule number one of being an expert in the paranormal: never assume you’re an expert in the paranormal. The paranormal will see that as a challenge, and it will find a way to surprise you. Often in a way less-than-pleasant. 

As Nova, the man in red, and Ricky’s younger self came closer, Arthur, Shaggy, and Ricky stood up, wary of the strange newcomers.

“Please tell me that you two also see Brad and Judy’s dog talking, a little man, and a younger me.” Ricky said shakily, in the voice of a man completely prepared to accept his own insanity. 

“Nope. Not just you.” And truth be told, Arthur was relieved it wasn’t just him seeing this, too. 

“Like, technically Nova isn’t their dog anymore. And according to Scoob, like, that’s not her.” Shaggy said with a nervous laugh. “But like, yeah… even so… this is freaky.”

“Shaggy is correct.” Not-Nova said. “I am not Nova. As I told Scooby Doo, I am of the Annunaki, a race of interdimensional beings who visit the planet Earth every thousand years at a time called Nibiru. The Annunaki have no physical form, and must inhabit the bodies of animals in order to remain in this world. And that is why I have borrowed Nova’s body - so that I may aid you in your quest to break the curse on Crystal Cove.”

Ricky and Shaggy gave her a blank stare that reflected the sheer bewilderment going on in their heads. Arthur on the other hand-

“The Annunaki.” He echoed. “That word sounds familiar.” 

“To you, Arthur Kingsman, it would be. The Annunaki have a long history of helping humans. Whenever my kind visits Earth, we often leave part-animal descendants behind. So long as the tiniest trace of our genes remain, our descendants will retain a higher level of intelligence and the ability to talk. Each of you are intimately familiar with at least one of them. As rare as our descendants are, even rarer are our closest relatives, who in addition to sentience, often also retain some of our abnormalities and powers.” 

“That’s right.” Arthur said. “Mystery told us about that.” 

“Like, you guys know about this , too?” Shaggy exclaimed. 

“It’s like we keep telling you: us Mystery Skulls are no strangers to the supernatural. And Nibiru is a pretty big deal. We’ve never met an Annunaki, but we’ve met quite a few beings old enough to remember the last time they were here. Some friends of ours possess a very special set of books with a whole chapter on Nibiru. Not to mention Nibiru is a big deal to the magical creatures of this world, and to the Neitherworld. From what I know of your people though, when you take hold of an animal’s body, you can usually tell visually. There are mutations and distortions. Sometimes you even make yourselves look part human. So… you haven’t taken complete possession of that dog, have you?” Arthur asked Not-Nova. 

“Correct. Her body is frail, her soul barely clinging to it. But if it can be saved, I have no intention of taking her life from her. And even if I wanted to, the time of Nibiru is not upon us just yet, which limits my powers in your world.”

“But not enough to stop you from switching our bodies.” Arthur said, slightly accusatory.

“Correct.” 

“So like, that dream we had was no coincidence. You did switch our bodies!” Shaggy cried. 

“But why?” Ricky asked, trying to avoid looking at his younger self. 

“A number of reasons.” The man in red said. 

“The main reason you three were chosen rather than a different trifecta is because yours is the only one that remains intact.” Nova told them.

“What does that even mean? ” Ricky asked. 

“Heyo, I can answer that!” Ricky’s younger self said. Hearing that voice again after so many years made Ricky jump. It was disturbing, really. It was deeply, deeply disturbing. 

“So it’s like this: looking at each Mystery Incorporated, there are… I guess ‘roles’ that are filled in every group, and you can usually tell who is who just by looking at them and knowing a few things about them. When she says ‘trifecta’, she’s talking about three people existing within the same role in the three Mystery Inc. groups that presently exist. You- or I guess us three are in one. Brad, Fred, and Lewis are in another… you get the idea,” the Young Ricky explained. “But technically speaking, you- or rather, I guess us three are the only trifecta left that exists perfectly between all three groups. Arthur’s the only one who will understand why when I say this, but the other three members of the Mystery Skulls have…  abnormalities that make them not fit the pattern perfectly when compared to other groups.”

“Abnormalities? Like, I don’t see anything wrong with Lewis, Vivi, or Mystery.” Shaggy shrugged. 

“Uh… remember when I said we have secrets that the others will tell you when you wake up?” Arthur asked nervously. “He’s talking about that.”

“The second reason was to forge an alliance between the new Mystery Incorporated and the Mystery Skulls.” Not-Nova said, diverting the conversation before Mr. E or Shaggy could ask any more questions. “The Mystery Skulls began their story in Crystal Cove, but were led away for many years in order to protect them from the evil entity beneath the town. They have always been fated to return, more qualified to oppose this curse than any group that has come before them. The entity knew this, and has tried several times to destroy them before they could. But it failed. However, the Mystery Skulls returned later in the mystery than anticipated, and the alliance was failing to form timely. With the time of Nibiru fast approaching, drastic action had to be taken.”

“ Drastic? You think?” Ricky exclaimed. 

“But like, if you were just trying to get us to work together,” Shaggy asked, pointing between himself and Arthur, “then like, why did you bring Mr. E into it? Like, no offense, man. But like, why not just switch the two of us?” 

“I can answer that, too!” Young-Ricky piped up, sounding positively ecstatic about it. “Over here! Follow me!” 

The three of them followed him as he walked over to one of the walls and drew the curtain back to reveal another room - an absolutely massive room absolutely filled with people. 

“Like, Zoinks! Mayor Jones… Ed Machine… Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves… The Darrow Family… Like, there’s so many of them!”

“Yeah. And they’re just… standing around like mannequins. Weird.” Arthur nervously clutched his metal arm.

“But why are they here?” Ricky asked.

“Only parts of them.” Ricky’s counterpart explained. “What you see before you are the best parts of all of us who have been trapped in-between worlds because of our corruption by the curse of Crystal Cove. The treasure, the entity. One way or another, all of us here have been messed up by it. We’re here as echoes of what we were, a sad reminder of what we could have become, and a beacon of hope for what we could be. I would know. I, myself, am one of them. Or at least I was , until recently.”

“I suppose that explains why you look like… well… that.” Ricky said sadly, referring to how young his better half looked.

“Hey, man! Don’t be so disheartened about it. I mean, I’m you. You think that I of all people don’t know what you’ve been through? Or what you’re thinking?” The other-him asked. “I don’t think you realize just how bright our future could be.” 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“That,” younger-Ricky said, “Is the reason we drew you into the fold. I mean- Look at me. And look at the others. I’m walking around and talking to you, and the others stand still. Why do you think that is?” 

Ricky looked around and thought for a moment. “You’re… see-through?” 

“Ding-dong Daddy-o!” His younger self exclaimed with excitement. “I ‘woke up’ that day you stood up to Professor Pericles for the first time, and I’ve only been getting less solid ever since.” 

“It’s because of me?” Ricky realized, horrified. “I’m hurting you? Am I doing something wrong?” 

“ No! No. You’re not doing a single thing wrong! You’re perfect. ” The boy insisted, gently gripping Ricky’s arms. “This isn’t hurting me. Just the opposite! I want to disappear! Don’t you get it? I’m vanishing because I’m being set free . You’re finding me again! I’m on the verge of not being the best version of Ricky Owens anymore.”

The image of his best self flickered, and for just a moment, Ricky found himself staring at a mirror image of his present appearance instead of a memory. Then the form stabilized and there his younger self stood once again.

 “And it’s all thanks to you! You did what I could never do: you told Professor Pericles he was wrong! You stood up to him! Even back then, I’m sure you remember. Pericles had to be the smart one - the right one. He hated being wrong, and I never had the guts to correct him. But you did! You tried to do what was right, and you aspired to be the man Cassidy thinks we can be! We didn’t do anything wrong back then and what happened to us wasn’t our fault - we were just a kid! And you’re finally coming to terms with that and are moving on . I know you don’t see it yet - just how incredible that is. And I know what you think about yourself. But I think that’s amazing , and I’m so proud of you!” His other half exclaimed, breathless. “I just hope that one day, you can realize the same.”

Ricky’s eyes burned and his throat started to close. But he wiped his eyes with his sleeve and refrained from crying. Again . 

“Twenty years…” Ricky croaked. “Twenty years, all I’ve wanted was to be you again. Innocent. Loved. In love. With my friends. Solving mysteries. Happy. And all I thought was how disappointed in me you’d be if you could see your future self as I am now: flawed. Selfish. Spiteful. Broken piece-of-shit.”

From behind him, Arthur barked a laugh. “ Broken? We’re all broken, dude. Whether you’re stuck in here or not. If there’s one thing my friends have taught me, it’s just a matter of finding people whose broken pieces fit with yours.”

“You weren’t here to experience the things I did, Arthur.” Ricky said. “What if… what if I can’t do it? What if the curse gets me again? Or my own greed and other shit ruins this? What if I go back to being that way? And you’re stuck here like this forever?”

“I have it in good faith that you won’t.” His younger self said. 

“It’s more difficult to manipulate someone who’s aware they’re being manipulated than someone who doesn’t. That’s true whether you’re talking about a person or a curse.” Arthur shrugged. 

“Yep. That’s right! But because I know it’ll bring you comfort, I’ll tell you this too: look around at the others. Who do you see here? Or uh… who don’t you see here?”

Ricky took a deep breath and observed. Everyone tainted by the curse is supposed to be here . Brad and Judy were here. And other members of the Mystery Inc. gangs that came before them. And others who had been involved with the curse, involved with them . Like the former Mayor… and Ed… But absent was-

“The kids.” Ricky finally said. “Mystery Incorporated. The Mystery Skulls… and Cassidy. They aren’t here.” 

“Again: Ding-dong Daddy-o!” His younger self exclaimed, pointing a pair of finger guns at him. “Cassidy always had the strongest spirit of our whole gang. She was just too stubborn and too good for the curse to mess her up. As for the others, the bond between Shaggy and his friends is too powerful to be broken apart by any curse. Every time it tries to do to them as it did to us, they always figure it out and find their way back to each other. Similarly goes for the Mystery Skulls. The Mystery Skulls, especially . They have an understanding of the supernatural - even a bond with it - that’s rare among humankind. You want to make sure you never fall prey to this curse again? Stick with them.”

“Indeed.” Nova said, entering the doorway behind them. “This was the other reason we swapped all three of you: to put you, Ricky Owens, back where you belong. And to give you a chance to save yourself. Our time is beginning to grow short. So I must tell you the final reason we swapped you the way we did.” 

Nova led them back into the sitting room and they sat down on the black furniture to listen to her. 

“Ricky Owens,” she said, “As you know, back in your own body, you were in great danger - trapped in a situation from which you could not escape.” 

Ricky nodded, ashamed. 

“But although you lacked the abilities and allies to save yourself from those you once called friends, I knew there was another who did .” And with that, the cocker spaniel turned her head to stare directly at Arthur. It took a couple of seconds for it to click. 

“ Me? ” Arthur cried. 

“Yes. You.” Said the man in red. 

“There’s no version of Ricky Owens that could ever hope to best Professor Pericles. Not yet , anyway. And definitely not alone.” Ricky’s better part looked down at Ricky with an expression of sadness and understanding. “Let’s face it: he’s known us since we were small - for almost as long as we can remember. There was even a time when he was our only friend. Our entire world . We told him everything , and he watched us grow up. Heck, Dad was hardly around after Mom died, so he practically raised us . He was so much older and smarter than we were… he watched over us, nurtured us, taught us. Most of the tricks, craftiness, and cunning we have, we learned from him. He knows us inside and out and knows exactly what to say to either lure us in, or completely destroy us. There’s not much we could come up with that could take him by surprise, we can’t outsmart him technologically, and we have like only one ally on the inside who we could both trust to not be bribed by Pericles and who has the skills to be of any help. But just her isn’t enough.”

“Arthur Kingsmen however, does possess those things.” Not-Nova explained. “Like you, Ricky Owens, he possesses cunning, intelligence, and patience. But with no history between him and Professor Pericles, the bird’s manipulations and predictions will be completely ineffective. To Pericles, he will be completely unpredictable - a wolf in sheep’s clothing. His intellect in many categories rivals that of his enemy, and he has a powerful set of friends to aid him. You two may not have had the opportunity to observe him and the other Mystery Skulls in action just yet, but I can assure you that Arthur is extremely intelligent, driven, and strong-willed. With quite the stubborn streak when it comes to those closest to him, might I add.” She said fondly. “Not to mention that he has an incredibly high tolerance for pain. Taking all of this and more into account, there may not be a soul in the entire world with as much chance of not only escaping, but also leaving his enemies in ruin on the way out.” Nova explained. 

The whole time the Annunaki spoke, singing Arthur’s praises, Arthur’s blush had become increasingly obvious. By the time she was done he was as red as a tomato. Arthur stammered for a moment, thinking it rude to tell the literal deity that she was mistaken and he wasn’t all that, before he finally stuttered out, “You r-really think so, huh?”

“I won’t doubt Arthur’s abilities.” Mr. E said. “The Mystery Skulls’ reputation speaks for itself. But there’s no way I’m allowing this. You’re saying- what? That we just throw him to the lions to deal with my shit? No way!” He protested, rising to his feet. 

“Like, yeah! That’s totally dangerous and like, it’s not fair to put that much pressure on Arthur!” Shaggy agreed with him. 

“Uh, guys?” 

“The kids already have a plan to get Arthur out. It’s risky, but doable. And we don’t have much other choice. It’s certainly better than what you’re suggesting!” 

“Like, yeah! And like you said, the Mystery Skulls are strong. At the very least we know what Vivi’s capable of. Like, Pericles won’t know what hit him!”

“I want to do it!”

Arthur had to raise his voice to get their attention, so Shaggy and Ricky were honestly startled by the sound of his voice. 

“Sorry for yelling.” Arthur said sheepishly. “I uh… I don’t think I’m quite as good as you seem to think I am, Ma’am. But you do make some good points. And something tells me you’re only going to switch us back when you decide it’s best to, anyway. So… yeah. I want to try.”

There was another pause, broken by Ricky’s rebuttal. 

“No. No way.” He said firmly. “Arthur, if you’re caught, you could be killed . Then I don’t know if you’ll be dead or I’ll be dead, but I don’t want either of us to be dead! And even if you aren’t found out, if you’re caught as me- or even if you so much as make him mad again, he could lock you up. He’ll torture you and he’ll enjoy it .” 

“Lewis will have my back. Trust me. I can’t explain how, but he will. When my friends reveal their secrets, you’ll understand. And if he hits me with the button again… I’ll be fine. I think it was only so bad the first time because I wasn’t expecting it and had never experienced it before. But looking back… I’ve been in far worse pain. Really . It’s not so bad.” Arthur realized what he’d just said and quickly backpedaled before he hurt Ricky’s feelings. “Wait- n-not that I’m saying you’re weak or anything! I’m not denying how painful it is or trying to undermine what you went through in any way, but… let’s just say pain and I are old friends. It’s like I told you guys, I’ve been in chronic pain for years since the accident. And the pain I felt the day I lost my arm was a lot worse than the pain from the cobra venom. So this is like… just- I can take it. I want to take it. I feel useless all the time , but if I can do this, then I want to. I need to do this, Ricky. I- I want to save you.” He said, with firm resolution.

“No.” Ricky said, glaring down at Arthur from where he stood. But Arthur wouldn’t be talked down. He stood, too. Looking Ricky stubbornly in the eye.

“Three days.” He said firmly. 

Ricky cocked an eyebrow at him. 

“Give me three days. I already have a few ideas. Tell me everything you know, give me information I can work with. And if I’m not back with you all in three days time - heck, starting now - then you guys can come in, guns blazing to get me out yourselves.”

Ricky pressed his lips together, then looked at Shaggy. 

“Like hey, don’t look at me, man. It’s your body and he’s stuck in it. So um. It’s really between you two. But like, if the inter-dimensional being thinks Arthur can do it, and Arthur wants to do it, then like… I really don’t have a valid argument for that. Sorry.” 

Ricky sighed and stared up at the ceiling. “Somehow I knew you were going to say that. Fine. I can’t come up with a good reason not to give you the opportunity. But I need to be sure you know what you’re getting into, Arthur. It’s going to take everything and more to beat Professor Pericles at his own game. Please , Arthur, be careful! And what do you expect us to tell your friends?”

“L-like, yeah.” Shaggy gulped. “I like, don’t know if you noticed. But Lewis has uh… quite the temper. And Vivi can be like… terrifying.” 

“Tell them I wanted to be brave, like Galaham.” 

Ricky cocked an eyebrow. “Uh. What?” 

“Galahad is my pet hamster’s name.” Arthur shrugged. “But we mostly call him Galaham. He’s really cute. He was born with a condition that left his lower half paralyzed, so one of my earliest prosthetic projects was making him a tiny set of wheels so he can zoom around. My friends will know there’s no reason you’d know that unless you actually talked to me.”

“Okay, like first of all, that’s adorable.” Shaggy said. “Second of all, like, what if your friends don’t allow it?” 

“Maybe they won’t. But I like to think they have faith in me, so I’m willing to bet they will.”

That was when there came a truly frightening sound: an echoing roar from some other distant part of the sitting room. 

“Oh, great. It got out.” Younger-Ricky gulped. 

“Like, hoh boy. What got out?” Shaggy asked shakily. 

“A threat that isn’t to be dealt with today.” Not-Nova said. And the three residents of the sitting room walked past Arthur, Shaggy, and Ricky to the doorway from whence they had come. 

Arthur looked after them, confused. “A threat?”

“A creature born of shame who has threatened this place for a long time, now.” The Annunaki said. “We have isolated this far corner of the Sitting Room so that you three may use this plane to converse and collaborate until the time comes when you don’t need it to do so.” 

“Time is short, trifecta.” The man in red said. 

“We’ll buy you as much time as we possibly can to collaborate. You need to tell Arthur absolutely anything and everything he could possibly use.” Ricky’s better half told him.”

“But what about you?” Ricky asked. 

“Help me by helping yourself. Live, never give up, put in the effort to amend your mistakes, and set us both free.” 

“For now, we have given you all the tools you need to succeed.” The Annunaki said. “From here, it’s up to you.”

And just like that, they were gone. And the three of them were alone once again. 

There was a moment of pause as the conversation sank in for the three of them, before Arthur turned to Ricky. “Alright, Mr. E. Let’s talk.” 

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Ricky said. 

“I already have a few ideas about how I can go about this. I’ll talk you through them, and you tell me whether or not they’ll work and what else I need to know as we go. But first: The other you mentioned that you have an ally on the inside. That’s something we can use. Who is it?” 

Ricky thought back for a moment. It had only been mentioned, so it took a second for Ricky to remember what Arthur was talking about. “I’m not sure.” Ricky said. “Any of my employees could- wait . Yes. I see! I know exactly who he was talking about.” 

“Well, who is it? Who’s your friend?” 

“She’s not exactly my friend. And when I was working with Pericles willingly I didn’t completely trust her because she’s betrayed us at least twice now. But we are still working together and if you can prove to her that you’re not me and that I’ve swapped sides, she could be the only person in all of Destroido who you can trust. Because when it counts, blackmail and monetary gain hasn’t exactly worked all that well in controlling her up until now. And I know for a fact she doesn’t like the Original Mystery Incorporated. But she’s close with Velma, which makes her an ally of the new Mystery Inc. Shaggy, I’m sure you may have worked out who I’m talking about by now.”

“Like, wait! You mean-”

“Yep. Her . Arthur, when you wake up, the first thing you need to do is arrange a meeting with a girl named Marcie Fleach. She’s also known as Hot Dog Water. ”

Their conversation from there seemed to last hours. But when Arthur groggily opened his eyes back in Mr. E’s body, back in Mr. E’s rooms, he found that hardly an hour had passed. That was good. He needed every second he could get. 

This time, when Arthur left Mr. E's rooms, he did so with Mr. E’s keytar around his neck and a sense of purpose . He supposed he shouldn’t feel so invigorated , given his situation. But he had a job to do, and people who were counting on him . And dammit, he wasn’t going to let them down!

Arthur approached Mr. E’s island of monitors with a bit of caution, mindful to look up for a certain parrot this time. But Pericles, Brad, and Judy were nowhere to be found. Perfect . 

The system was locked this time when Arthur tried to get in, but that was fine. After all, Mr. E himself had given Arthur detailed instructions of exactly how to get in and how to use it. Arthur had a lot to do, but he needed to be smart about it, he needed to do them in a certain order, and he needed to have patience. So he first pulled up the tabs about Cassidy, letting a reel of photos fade in and out in front of him. Then quickly, and in the tiniest window possible so prying eyes might not notice him do it, Arthur sent an email to Marcie Fleach, asking to meet with her in a certain hallway in a few hours’ time. As soon as the message was sent, Arthur closed the window and erased the history showing he’d opened it. Pericles would be able to uncover it if he tried, obviously. But a quick surface look at Mr. E’s history wouldn’t show it. Then Arthur sat back in Mr. E’s chair, keytar in hand, and began to play a slower version of a familiar song in a key Ricky had told him he favored - as solemn as a funeral march. And quietly, he began to sing. 

From the expression on his face and the tempo and key in which he played, an unknowing outsider would think he was mourning. But a mind reader would tell you that the man in the chair wasn’t dirging for Cassidy Williams. No - he was looking more at his own reflection than the images of Angel Dynamite. And his song was meant for another. 

“What if I could bring you back to life?

What if I could be your guiding light?

I would be your pathway

I won't let your spirit die…” 

When Shaggy and Ricky came to, they found themselves lying on the ground where they’d fallen, with Mystery Incorporated and the Mystery Skulls gathered around them. 

“Hey guys! They’re waking up!” 

“See, Velma? We told ya.” 

“Are you okay, Shaggy?”

“And… Arthur?” 

Arthur’s body sat up. “Like, nope. Still Shaggy.” 

Shaggy’s body rolled over onto his back. “Sorry to disappoint you all, but this is still Mr. E.” Ricky reminded himself not to be hurt by the physical deflation that the entire circle of people experienced when they realized he was still there. 

“So then? What happened?” Lewis asked. 

“Well like, there’s good news and bad news…” 

The explanation that ensued took several minutes and went rather well, all things considered… Then they got to the part about Arthur’s plan. 

Lewis Pepper’s thundering boom echoed off of the hills and shook the trees, sending mutated birds scattering from their perches. “ABSOLUTELY NOT!”

Chapter Text

“Lewis! Calm down!” Vivi snapped.

“Calm down? Calm down? Vivi, there’s no way we can let Arthur go through with this!” Lewis roared.

“Like, dude,” Shaggy said with a bit of caution, “I know that you’re like, worried about Arthur. But like, it isn’t up to you.”

“The hell it isn’t!” Lewis snapped. He paced anxiously, running his fingers over and through his hair as he struggled to maintain his mortal illusion through his emotions. “Arthur, you idiot! Why would you offer to do such a thing? He could be seriously hurt, or killed! And without us to protect him-” 

“I told him the same thing.” Ricky said, wringing his hands. “I tried to talk him out of it. I swear I did. I made it clear what the risks were, I offered alternatives. But he was very insistent and all I could do in the end was tell him everything he wanted and needed to know to get it done.” 

“And why should we believe you? ” Lewis rounded on him. “It’s your mess Arthur’s caught in. You’re probably glad he’s stuck dealing with it for you!” 

“Like, hey! Uncool, man!” Shaggy said. Ricky looked over at him bewildered that he was being stood up for. “Like, I get it. You’re upset about the situation and worried about Arthur. But like, I was there , man. And that’s like, totally not how it went down! Mr. E’s telling the truth. About like, everything . Arthur confirmed it. Which is why he wanted to do this.”

“I don’t know about this Shag,” said Fred. “Mr. E’s lied to us a lot in the past.” 

“Yeah Shaggy,” Daphne agreed. “Mr. E gives me the creeps- uh… no offense?” 

“Some taken.” 

“And anyway, how do we know we can trust him this time?”

“Like, um…?” Shaggy glanced over at Mr. E and rubbed the back of his neck. “Things got like… pretty deep while we were in the Sitting Room. I don’t think it’s my place to say all that was said but like, he’s earned my trust. And Arthur’s- And like, Angel had some faith left in him, too. Right to the very end. And like, we all know we should have trusted her! So like… can’t that be enough?” 

“You don’t have to hold information back on my account Shaggy,” Ricky mumbled, swallowing to chase away the feeling rising from the back of his throat at the mention of Cassidy. And that she’d had faith in him. “It’s not like I’ve earned it.” 

“Hey man. Like, you opened up a lot back there. This isn’t an ‘about you’ thing more as a ‘having basic respect for other people’ thing.” 

Even so, it was pathetic how touched Ricky was by the gesture. “Even so,” he gulped, “There’s nothing I told you back there that I don’t want the specific people here at this moment to know.” 

“Thank you for that. And I’m sure we’ll have a discussion about that in the near future. But not here and now. Our focus right now needs to be on Arthur.” Said Mystery. 

“Mystery is right,” Vivi agreed. “We may not like it, but if Arthur’s decided to do this, then as his friends all we can do is support him from the sidelines.” 

“You’re seriously agreeing to this? Vivi-” 

“It’s non-negotiable, Lewis.” Vivi interrupted her boyfriend. “However, you do have a point that doubt is warranted.” 

“He knew you’d have doubts.” Ricky said. “He told us: ‘he wanted to be brave like Galahad-’ sorry- ‘ Gala ham ’.”

The Mystery Skulls looked at each other. 

“I didn’t mention Galahad to anyone. Did you?” Lewis asked. 

“Nope. What about you?”

“I did not.” 

“Then this confirms it. They’re telling the truth. They really did talk to Arthur.”

“Wait. Time out. Sorry, am I missing something? Who or what is Galaham ?” Velma asked, hands on her hips. 

“Arthur’s handicapped hamster.” Lewis explained. “He travels with us sometimes, but he’s back home with Arthur’s Uncle right now. There’s no reason either Ricky or Shaggy should know he exists unless-”

“Oh, come on! This is ridiculous and has gone on long enough!” Velma cried. As hard as she was denying it, Velma was seriously beginning to freak out. Body swapping? Interdimensional beings? Parallel Universes? If it was true then it would change everything she’d ever known about the world, and her knowledge was how she kept her reality grounded. To have it ripped out from under her feet in such a way would be… devastating. 

So what could she do but deny it harder?

“ Seriously , Velma? I think we’ve all established that what we’re dealing with is the real deal.” Said Fred, exasperated. 

“Oh, please ! There are so many holes in this story and so many ways this all could have been faked that it’s not even funny.” 

“There’s a skeptic in every family,” Mystery grumbled, rolling his eyes from where he laid in the open back of Arthur’s van. 

“Name them.” Ricky challenged. 

“Name what?” Velma asked.

“Name the holes. Because it’s clear to me Velma, that you might be one of the smartest people here, but you’re going to be of absolutely no help until you’re on board.”

“Alright. Fine . To start, Shaggy , it’s impossible to prove that you’re actually Mr. E. A good actor could easily pull off acting like another person.” 

“Like that’s easy to explain: I can’t act.” Shaggy laughed in Arthur’s body. There were nods of agreement from Fred, Daphne, and Scooby as well. 

“Even so, you could easily have gotten everyone else in on this as part of some elaborate conspiracy or prank that I can only assume that I’m the target of!” 

“Velma, we’re not pranking you,” Daphne said.

“There is no conspiracy,” Said Vivi.

“Nope,” Lewis nodded.

“We’re really not,” Fred shrugged.

“It’s not a prank. That’s not Raggy, so it must be Mr. E.” Scooby said.

“Of course you would all deny it!” Velma shouted. As ridiculous as she was being, Ricky couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She was so frustrated that everyone could see tears in the corners of her eyes. 

Ricky took a deep breath. “I understand that this is a difficult thing to definitively prove for you Velma,” he said, “But what we’ve been telling you is the truth. So. What can we say or do to make you believe it?” 

“Just- prove it . Prove that you’re really Mr. E!” 

“Very well. Ask me a question. Any question. Something Shaggy wouldn’t be able to guess or make up an answer to.”

Velma thought for a moment.

“Shaggy- ‘Mr. E’ , if that’s who you’re supposed to be - you keep saying that you regret your decisions. That you’re on our side now, and that you never should have left it. So answer me this: what changed? And don’t just give me the enslavement story, because there’s presently no way to prove that . Even if it were true, there would still have to be more to it than that. If you’re so remorseful , then why did you agree to partner up with Professor Pericles again in the first place, when you knew what he was really like and what he was willing to do?” 

Ricky knew he had to answer… but he really didn’t want to. “Um… wow. There are… a lot of layers to that question.” He finally got out, fidgeting. Ricky crossed his arms to stop himself from messing with his hands too much, and he felt himself involuntarily shrink a bit. Where should he even start with this one? “First off, everyone. I want to make it clear that I’m not making excuses. At least I’m not trying to. I’m… attempting to explain my behavior. It’s a long story, and this isn’t exactly a conversation I thought I would be having or a box I thought I would be opening today, so there are some things I might struggle to put into words and-” Ricky’s nervous rambling was cut off by a small body nuzzling against his calf. 

“There’s no pressure. It’s a very personal question,” Mystery looked up at him through gold spectacles. The dog gave him a nudge, then jumped back into the Mystery Skulls’ van and sat down on the edge, indicating for Ricky to sit beside him. “Just take your time.” 

Ricky followed Mystery and fell back to sit inside the open van. Then he took a few deep breaths, avoiding the expectant gazes of the others, and began. “I guess the first part of my explanation goes back to my youth, as cliche as that might sound. My family was close when I was young, but then my Mother got sick. Cancer. Stage three. And we all… drifted apart. She tried to be a good mom even while fighting for her life, but eventually she ended up in the hospital and never left. And my father was so hellbent on her that he ignored me. Even after she died when I was fourteen, I think… Either I reminded him too much of her, or maybe he felt guilty for not being there for me when she was still with us. But we were never close again. It was a lonely time for me, and that’s when I met Professor Pericles. I was eight, playing in my front yard, and he crash-landed right in front of me with a broken wing. I nursed him back to health, but when he got better he just… stayed. 

“I know your only frame of reference for imagining our relationship is by comparing us to Shaggy and Scooby, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You two are mentally about the same age, so you’re such close friends that you’re practically brothers. But Pericles was decades older than me. Hell, he was older than my parents . And mine weren’t around. So Pericles practically raised me. He was my best friend and my surrogate parent all at once. Given such, he… knows me. I know it’s pathetic but… he’s- just-” 

“Manipulative.” Mystery growled helpfully. 

Ricky groaned and ran a hand over his face. “... Yes. Which… brings me to the next part of my explanation.” Ricky had to look away for a second, rubbing the back of his neck and anxiously tapping his heel as he searched for words. “I… I don’t do well on my own. Never have. As much of my life as I’ve spent pushing people away, the truth is I hate it. After my frien- after Brad, Judy, Cassidy, and I left Crystal Cove twenty years ago, we stayed together for… all of two days.”

Mystery Incorporated’s interest was immediately peaked. They had solved the mystery of their predecessors long ago, but they’d never heard a thing about what had happened after the original Mystery Inc. had disappeared.

“We drove for an entire day when we fled Crystal Cove, getting as far away as we could. Then we rented a cheap motel room and hid the Enigma Engine. At the time all of us were just- reeling. We’d just lost everything apart from the van, each other, and the clothes on our backs. We were angry, hurt, scared, confused, and none of us had any idea what our next steps were. Then when Cassidy and I woke up the next morning, Brad and Judy had ditched us. For the first few years, it was just Cassidy and I. Then… I guess life happened,” he sighed.

“We each had our own bullshit- okay, no. It was mostly me. Pericles’ betrayal… It really messed me up and affected all of my relationships going forward. And not in a good way. Because if he could betray me, then in my mind anyone could. And eventually, it pulled Cassidy and I apart. I had a few girlfriends after her, but I didn’t- couldn’t love any of them . Because truth be told, I never stopped loving her . I just- one of my biggest regrets is not making sure she knew that when I had the chance. Anyway, I tried to move on. To make other relationships work, but I was in love with someone else and so afraid of being betrayed or abandoned again that none of them went anywhere. So eventually I gave up, leaving the only relationships I had left work-related.

“After I founded Destroido, I had a string of PAs until Ed finally stuck. He was there through… some hard times for me. He was my employee, yes. But he was also a friend. And the only person apart from the original group whom I ever told my true identity. Eventually, I worked up the courage to move back to Crystal Cove and built my main facility here. Once I knew it was safe and my cover was good enough that the Freak wasn’t coming after me, I reached out to Cassidy. Then she moved here and we started working together again, so for a while I had her and Ed… and you kids, if I’m being honest with myself.” 

God , this was so humiliating to admit. Ricky ran a hand over his face. “Looking back, I regret not reaching out to you in person. I know this is going to sound stupid but…” 

Ricky thought back to the dark times he’d put himself through, before them . All the pills he’d had to take just to get out of bed in the morning, the constant temptation of the bottle, the eating , and the suicidal thoughts. Then one day, on the cameras he’d taken to monitoring in lieu of going out and actually interacting with people, he’d seen them . Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby. And they had looked so much like- that for just a moment, it was like he was a meddling kid, again. For a while after that, he observed. Updated and upgraded his cameras, and had more installed. He saw mystery unfolding in the town below, and he watched with glee and pride as his successors solved them one by one. Until one day, the temptation became too much. 

And ‘Mr. E’ sent Mystery Incorporated his first clue.

Within a month, he didn’t need the pills anymore. 

“Helping you kids with those early mysteries was one of the greatest honors and pleasures of my life,” he admitted solemnly. “I won’t go into it, but I was in a very dark place back then. And if I hadn’t worked up the courage to start sending you those clues… I might have never gotten out of it.”

He looked up at them at last. Mystery Incorporated looked very taken aback. Even Velma, in all her skepticism, looked… honored? And the Mystery Skulls, just as Arthur had, looked as though they understood. 

“Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “You all know how it was. At least for a while. Then… I ruined it. I think it started when you found your first piece of the planispheric disk. And I started to think about that damn treasure, again. But I think the nail in the coffin started when Pericles got out. I was so angry and also so terrified when he escaped. It brought back so much that I’d finally managed to lock away, and I couldn’t force it back in the box. From that moment on, it wasn’t about you and your mysteries, anymore. You were pieces on the table in my war against him . 

“Then everything really started to unravel after Ed was murdered. At the time, no one knew who’d done it. I only realized recently that it was Pericles. Even that far back, he was trying to get me isolated and desperate, because he knew exactly how to get what he wanted from me. 

“And because I had abused the trust you kids had in me, you stopped trusting me too. Then not long after that, Cassidy and I had another falling out. Over you kids, actually. From the start, I had kept my distance. I thought it would be better that way. But Cassidy was never the coward I was. She met you , became your friend, and cared about you. And she wouldn’t have any part of it. So then, for a while after your gang split up, I had you and Marcie, Velma. Until… I didn’t. And it was my fault because I should have treated you better. Having the two of you agree to work with me was a privilege, and I abused it.” Ricky shook his head at his past self and scoffed, “Then I had the audacity to approach you, again-” 

Velma looked up sharply. “Say that again.” 

“I approached you again and asked for a partnership. With you, if not all of Mystery Inc. Outside the ice cream shop. Remember?”

“What’s he talking about, Velma?” Daphne asked. 

But Velma didn’t answer. She was looking at Shaggy- Mr. E with opened eyes. Oh my God. “No one- I never told the gang about that. No one knows except…  Jinkies! You’re not Shaggy!” She blurted out. 

“Told ya,” Vivi, Lewis, and Mystery said at once. 

Ricky looked up at the sky and put his hands together in a mock prayer, “Praise the heavens above, she finally gets it.” 

“Seriously, Velm? Out of everything he just said, that’s what convinces you?” Fred exclaimed. 

“Like, we’ve been trying to tell you that all day.” Shaggy laughed from Arthur’s body. 

“So y-you’re really- Mr. E!” Velma cried, “But you can’t be, and you have to be Shaggy, because body-swapping can not happen ! There can’t be inter-dimensional beings or curses because magic isn’t- can’t be real! But it is, so it has to be, and that doesn’t make sense. I need it to make sense! ” 

Velma started to hyperventilate. “Everything I know is wrong! Science is useless! So I’M useless! My life is a lie-” 

“Velma! Velma! Velma, sweetie! Calm down!” Vivi said, placing a hand on her counterpart’s shoulder. “You’re not wrong or useless and neither is science- oh crap. How did Arthur always put it?”

“What are the three primary colors?” Mystery asked, hopping down from his seat next to Ricky to lean against Velma. 

“ Colors ?” Velma cried, hysterical. “The universe is falling apart, and you two want to talk about colors ?” 

“I can assure you, the universe is not falling apart.” The little dog chuckled. “It is exactly as it has always been. Now, humor us. What are the three primary colors?” 

“Well, that depends.” Velma said, straightening her glasses from where they’d gone askew on her face. “Light or pigment?”

Mystery laughed, eyes twinkling behind his spectacles. “Both. More artistic people would reply red, blue, and yellow. The sciency sort would say red, blue, and green. Mix all pigments together, you get black. Mix all light together, you get white. They are different, sometimes even opposite. And yet both are valid.”

“What’s your point?” Velma sniffed. 

“That magic is real;” said Mystery, sounding every bit his true age at that moment. “It’s a part of this world, and always has been. It’s older than you and I, older than the curse on this town, older than the beast behind it or the others of its creed. And it will continue to exist until long after the Andromeda galaxy collides with our Milky Way in about three or four billion years. It doesn’t follow any rules you know, but that’s not to say it isn’t lawless. Just as math is different from art, yet at times intertwined with it, similar is the relationship between magic and science. Its existence does not negate the science and logic you know. It just means that the way the two coexist isn’t fully understood, yet.” 

Velma looked pensive for a moment, before the shame became apparent on her face. “You must all think I’m such an idiot,” she said, “The rest of you knew almost immediately that you two weren’t who you appeared to be. Oh, Shaggy. I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed, rushing over to give Shaggy a hug. 

“Like it’s alright, Velma. You didn’t know.” 

“That’s no excuse! You were so scared, and you needed your friends more than ever. And I wasn’t there when you needed me! And you!” She stormed over to Ricky and grabbed him by Shaggy’s green shirt. “I know you’re denying involvement and I heard about the Sitting Room with everyone else, but if I find out you had anything to do with this, they’ll never find your body, Ricky Owens!” 

“As you should.” Ricky said defensively, nodding profusely. 

Velma let him go, and he fell back on his butt in the van. “Still,” she said, hands on her hips. “For the record, if Professor Pericles really has weaponized cobra venom, and if he really is using it to hurt you as you said… then I’m sorry. Even after everything that’s happened between us, and everything you’ve done… you don’t deserve that.” 

Now it was Ricky’s turn to be taken aback. 

“Now, assuming the latter is the truth,” Velma said, “what can we do to help Arthur?” 

“Like, he has a plan,” Shaggy said. “Mostly, he wants us to leave it to him. But there are a couple things he asked for specifically.” 

“The first and most important thing he said he wanted was…” Ricky made a face. “He wouldn’t tell us exactly what it is, but he said you guys would know. He needs to borrow a couple of… ‘deadbeats?’ From Lewis? Does that mean anything to you?” 

Vivi and Mystery both turned to look at Lewis. “Yes,” he cleared his throat, “we’re all quite familiar with what a Dead Beat is.” 

“Well, what is it?” Asked Daphne. 

“One of the ‘secrets’ Arthur mentioned,” Lewis explained, folding his hands behind his back, “and not a conversation to be had here. Just know that I’ve got it covered.” 

And indeed, at that very moment, so discreetly that none save Vivi and Mystery noticed, three orbs, aglow with pink light, appeared in Lewis’ hand behind his back. 

“You know, you guys are still withholding a lot considering that you swore to be more upfront from now on.” Velma said cynically. Behind Lewis’ back, the three Dead Beats bounded from his palm and raced down the hillside, bound for Destroido to fulfill their Master’s silent order, swerving to and fro like serpents rushing through blackened underbrush. 

“The secret we’re keeping is… a big one. I don’t know what to say other than that,” said Vivi. One of the dead beats paused and looked back, causing the one behind it to bump into it. 

“It’s a cryptic answer, but that’s about right,” Mystery shrugged. “What we’re hiding is huge, hard to believe, and connects to a lot of other things. It is , in essence, the true nature of the Mystery Skulls.” 

The two dead beats stopped momentarily to fuss at each other, before the third reappeared from the front and roared quietly at the two of them, pointing ahead with a nubby arm. Then the three were winding down the hill towards the toxic fortress once again. 

“It’s a lot to unpack.”

“ Whole other box of worms.”

“This is not the time nor the place.” 

“You’re just gonna have to trust us.” 

“Back to Arthur. Did he have any other directions?” 

“He said he wanted to talk to Lewis directly about the final stage of his plan. But like, I don’t know how you’re supposed to do that.” 

“Like, he also said he wanted us to keep an eye out for Hot Dog Water,” Shaggy said.

“Marcie?” Velma perked up. 

Mr. E nodded. “Marcie’s only still working with- ‘me’ and the others because she’s being blackmailed. She works with me, she stays out of jail- I know, I know! Don’t look at me like that! The point is, that this works in our- or rather, Arthur’s favor right now, because she’ll be trustworthy and willing to betray Pericles at the drop of a hat. It’s not like she hasn’t done it before.”

The three dead beats were cautious to not be seen as they approached Destroido. They swerved under and between cars as they crossed the parking lot. 

“Of course! Hot Dog Water can help him from the inside!” Fred said. 

“And knowing how much she has in common with Velma, she’ll probably want to confirm the body-swap for herself. Which will send her looking for us ,” said Ricky, pointing between himself and Shaggy. 

“And like, if he has more instructions for us, then he’ll probably send them through her,” Shaggy added.

“Apart from that, he just wanted us to stay together.” 

At the bottom of the hill, the dead beats came around the side of the building and split up, searching in serpentine patterns for a way in where they could avoid being seen. 

“Like, don’t forget the other thing. He seemed pretty insistent about it.”

 Ricky sighed, “He also said that I should talk to Lewis and Mystery… about some things.” Ricky said nervously. 

Mystery tilted his head. “About what?” Mystery asked.

At the bottom of the hill, one of the dead beats found an air vent. Too small for any human, covered in stainless steel mesh too strong and fine for any device. But not too fine for the dead beats - manifestations of energy with no solid body to keep out by such mortal means. With a howl, the tiny creature called for the others. 

“Nothing important. Personal matters.” Ricky said quickly. He cleared his throat. “We shouldn’t stay here any longer. We’ve been here way too long as it is. The longer we stay, the higher the chances that Destroido detects we’re here. And if that happens, it could put Arthur in a very precarious position. Which is saying something, because his position is already precarious enough.” 

Lewis tensed anxiously. “He’s right Lew,” Vivi said soothingly, hooking her arm with his. “I hate to leave Arthur like this just as much as you, but trusting him is probably the best thing we can do for him.” 

Down below, the three dead beats, one after another, passed through the mesh as easily as air, slipped into the vent, and entered the dark labyrinth to look for Arthur. 

Lewis released a long breath. “You’re right. Let’s just- get everyone back to the mansion. We have plenty of rooms, and it’s well-protected and hidden from Destroido’s sight. Is that alright with you all?” 

“You guys are staying at a mansion? ” Fred exclaimed, surprised. 

“Correction: we have a mansion. Or rather, Lewis does,” Mystery corrected. 

“Here in Crystal Cove?” Daphne asked. 

“Yep. And we’ll lead you there,” Lewis said. “Just follow us. Same seating arrangements as before.”

“When we get there, we’ll scour our tomes for any information that may be useful. And the materials we took from the Burlington Library - we still haven’t had time to look through all of those. And Velma, it would be helpful if you could check your mother’s collection. As well as the Crystal Cove Library and the library at Darrow University. It’s a longshot, but you never know. And I think I’ll contact our network to see if they know anything. And to give them a heads up about Nibiru.” 

“Your network?” Scooby asked with a tilt of his head. 

“We’re far from the only supernaturally inclined people in the world,” Vivi said excitedly. “Over the years we’ve collected contacts of others with experience in the paranormal.” She counted off on her fingers, “The Addams Family in New Jersey, Sabrina in Greendale, Lydia and Bee- BJ in Peaceful Pines... There are a couple others. And they’re invaluable sources of information.” 

“And sometimes backup,” Lewis added. 

“Though,” said Mystery with a pinch of smugness, “we seldom need it.” 

“Then this evening,” Vivi said, “seeing as we will all be staying together until we see this through, we’ll have dinner. Which will be a real treat. Lewis’ food is amazing. ” 

“Vivi…” the ghost blushed.

“Like, oh boy! If it’s half as good as breakfast was, then like, count me in!” Shaggy said, already starting to drool.

“Oh boy!” Scooby licked his lips.

“Then after dinner, we’ll come clean.” Mystery interrupted. “Given today’s revelations, I think it’s best that you all have a few hours to process and brace yourselves before a whole new bomb explodes in your faces.”

“There is however, something you all need to be made aware of before we arrive at the manor,” Lewis said sheepishly.

“What’s that?” Fred asked. 

The Mystery Skulls looked at each other.

“Well…” 

“It’s kinda-”

“Sorta-”

“A little-”

“ Extremely-”

“Haunted.”

At this point, ‘Zoinks’, ‘Jeepers’, and ‘Jinkies’ did not begin to cover it.

Within the labyrinth that was Destroido Corp, Marcie Fleach sat in her room, stared at her computer, and tried to quell her rising panic.

Mr. E had sent her an email. Asking to meet with her in a very particular hallway. 

Not just any hallway. 

The hallway where, near the ceiling, there was concealed a small camera that Marcie had installed for Velma in secret some weeks ago. 

It was too specific to be a coincidence. 

But Mr. E couldn’t possibly know. How could he? She’d been so careful . She’d worn stealth tech while installing it! She’d literally been invisible. 

If he didn’t know, and it was a coincidence or a test, then Marcie’s only hope was to play dumb. 

But if he did know… then this was bad. Like, really bad. He’d given her so many chances, and she’d betrayed him so many times. And Pericles had been acting so much more deranged lately. If they found out she’d betrayed them again… they might just kill her this time.

But . 

Something was off. 

First of all, Mr. E had sent her an email . Usually, he called or sent someone to fetch her directly when he had an assignment for her or wanted to see her. 

Second of all, in said email, Mr. E just… did not sound like himself. Something about his wording was just way too… polite? Mr. E didn’t ask Marcie to do things. He gave orders . But this didn’t read like an order. More like an urgent request. 

Third of all… there was the link. At the bottom of the email, Mr. E left her a link. When she clicked on it, it took her to a video on a website called MysterySkullsBand.com . The Mystery Skulls were, according to the website, an indie pop/electronica band. And if she wasn’t mistaken, this was the group who had defeated Rude Boy not too far back. To her knowledge, they were still in Crystal Cove. Then when Marcie clicked on the video, it showed her one of their performances from about a year ago of a song called 555. 

It started with special effects. Thick pink, blue, and orange smoke that cleared to reveal the band’s members. The song began with a girl in blue on the electric guitar, and a young man in orange on the synthesizer. Then in the center of the group, the band’s vocalist, dressed in pink, began to sing. 

"Yeah. 

So please don't look into my eyes.

You might just see the other side.

There lie some secrets deep in mine.

Can't you pretend it's all okay?

"But I know it's not what you wanted.

And you just wrote this, fucking bought it.

It's like I haven't got a clue, and-

Yes, things just might be strange

Keep pretendin' it's okay!

"And my mind keeps on changin',

I've gone blind, I can't see it through!.

And my minds fully fadin',

And I know this might seem strange

Keep pretending it's okay!

"You're probably right to think I lied.

There's something 'bout it, but I tried.

And we can't pretend it's all okay.

What a nightmare love becomes,

When the way up fills your lungs, hoooh!

"And I'm tryin' to leave you, let you choose it.

Cause you were right, I'm a bit confusing!

I'm driving fast, heartbeat's improvin'.

But the way out's just the same,

Keep pretendin' it's okay!

"And my mind keeps on changin',

I've gone blind, I can't see it through!

And my minds fully fadin',

And I know this might seem strange

Keep pretending it's okay!"

Mr. E liked puzzles, she supposed. But after watching the video multiple times, Marcie… still had no idea what the point of it was. He said nothing about the link in the email (except the obvious - “PS: Watch this”), leaving the video and website itself as her only clue. 

It was too deliberate to be random. She knew he was trying to tell her something, but didn’t know what. Was he planning to use the Mystery Skulls, somehow? Or was he suspicious of them? Or was there some sort of message in the lyrics or notes of the specific song he’d made her listen to? Because from the look of it, 555 was far from one of the group’s most popular songs. If he’d wanted to give her an idea about the group and their music in general, it would have made more sense if he’d made her watch one of their more popular songs, like Magic , Freaking Out, Money , or The Future. 

The possibility prompted Marcie to listen to the song another couple of times. 

She couldn’t discern anything from the notes. But then again, Mr. E was far more musical than she was. So maybe he’d taken something from it that she just couldn’t see. Which left her the title and lyrics. 

555 was known as an angel number among the religiously minded. But Mr. E wasn’t religious (that she was aware of), and she was pretty sure it wasn’t relevant.

On to the lyrics. Was it a request to pretend everything was normal? “ Yes, things just might be strange. Keep pretendin' it's okay!” Was a memorable line from the chorus that was repeated multiple times throughout the song. And there were similar lines in the other verses, too. If that was the case, then was there something going on she wasn’t aware of? 

She couldn’t tell. 

There were countless other lines in the lyrics that could also be a message. She checked the email and the song for some kind of cipher, but couldn’t discern one. And Mr. E knew her capabilities. He wouldn’t send her a cipher she couldn’t solve in an hour if that was the amount of time he gave to meet her. Which meant there probably wasn’t one.

One thing was for sure, it was very unlike Mr. E. 

It was weird. 

Too weird. 

Weird enough that it prompted Marcie to trace the email back to its original sender just to make sure that it actually came from Mr. E. 

Sure enough. It was sent from Mr. E’s account. Right from his personal computer at Destroido. The question was: did Mr. E, himself send it? Or could Pericles, one of Fred’s parents, or someone else have hacked his account?

Marcie couldn’t find out without hacking into Destroido’s security cameras and checking the footage that aligned with the timestamp of the message. But that, she didn’t dare do. They didn’t trust a hair on her head as it was. If they caught her hacking their security… 

Unfortunately, all that left for Marcie to do was as the email asked. She had watched the video. Several times. Next, she still had about an hour to kill before she had to meet Mr. E, but in the meantime she had to wonder: what was Mr. E trying to tell her with that link. And if Mr. E didn’t send that email… then who did?

Chapter Text

Arthur sat, ‘grieving’ in Mr. E’s place before his monitors for about twenty minutes before what he was waiting for finally arrived. He was just getting into another sad rendition of a Mystery Skulls’ love song. 

“If I could go back in time

I know I could be with you

Music finally on my side

I just can't stop loving you

If I could go back in time

I know I could be with you

Music finally on my side

I just can't stop loving you

If I could go back

I would go back to loving you

And if I did, you know I'd give

Everything I want for you

It's why I need you, baby!” 

Fuck, this sounded absolutely nothing like Ricky. He was in love with Cassidy, but he wasn’t this obvious or lovey-dovey about it. But, Arthur was running out of songs that fit their circumstances. So fuck it. All he could do was hope that Pericles or the wonder twins weren’t listening too hard to the words at this exact moment.

Come on, Lewis. Dead Beats, where are you?

He was getting into the second part of the chorus when an unmistakable flash of pink light darting between the rafters caught his eye near the ceiling. It’s about time . 

Excitement welled in him, but he had to school his expression and body language to keep up his act for the cameras. He felt a little bad about it, knowing how much the Dead Beats were probably enjoying the music, but to keep up the act he abruptly stopped playing. Then he gave Cassidy’s pictures one last sad look before he turned the monitors off. He sat still for a moment, shoulders hunched, eyes subtly trained upwards . 

He could feel the Dead Beats’ eyes on him, even if he couldn’t see them. Arthur got up, Ricky’s keytar over his shoulder, and returned once more to Mr. E’s rooms. Willing the Dead Beats to sense his intentions and stay out of sight. Once he was back in Ricky’s bedroom again, he set the instrument down gently in its case and looked around at the walls. 

“H-hey there guys…” He gulped. “I uh, I know I don’t exactly look like myself right now, but it’s Arthur.”

A soft, familiar coo came from his left. He looked over and sure enough, there were the Dead Beats - their heads anyway - sticking out of the wall looking at him with equal parts worry, curiosity, and wariness. Arthur’s shoulders sagged with relief at the sight of them. 

“Hey there, little friends,” He sighed, tentatively reaching out a hand. The three of them came out of the wall, making curious little sounds, before they came up and sniffed his hand, giving him and his aura a thorough once-over. Then suddenly, the three of them broke out into ecstatic trills, and Arthur was being mobbed by the small pink spirits. 

With an “Oof, ” Arthur fell back to sit on the edge of Ricky’s bed, laughing as the three Dead Beats slithered around Arthur’s round torso and each of his arms before they settled in a snuggle.

Surrounded by the familiar embrace of Lewis’ energy, Arthur felt all of the tension that had built up from that morning leave him. The Dead Beats were here. So in a way, so was Lewis. 

And Arthur was not alone in this place any longer. 

“You little guys have no idea how happy I am to have you with me,” Arthur sighed, hugging them and giving each of them scratches on their heads. 

The one across his shoulders stretched around him so that it was looking him in the eye. It made a couple funny confused noises, tugging lightly at Arthur’s (Mr. E’s) long brown hair and beard, then gesturing to Arthur’s round body with his nubby arms. 

“Not sure what you said but yeah, I’m in someone else’s body right now. You were with Lewis, so you’ve seen him. His name is Ricky. He’s in trouble. And we’re going to help him. But I’m afraid we’ve got a lot of work to do.” 

The three Dead Beats uncurled from Arthur and lined up in a straight row in front of him, little faces set in firm lines as they saluted. 

Arthur laughed, “I’m glad you’re all on board. Before we get started, there’s something I need you to do for me. I need the three of you to search this entire living space for any listening devices or cameras. And when you find them, disable them. Check every nook and cranny - even look behind the walls. You guys can do it a hundred times faster and more thoroughly than I could ever hope to. Can you do that for me?” 

With three affirming squeaks, the Dead Beats sped off throughout the apartment to do as Arthur had asked. While he waited for the Dead Beats to finish their work, Arthur wandered into the kitchen for a quick breakfast (a donut with a glass of water totally counted as breakfast, right?), then into the bathroom to inspect, clean, and rebandage Ricky’s injured hand. It was starting to throb again, especially after Arthur had spent like half an hour on the keytar. But he was going to need it functioning if he was going to accomplish everything he was plotting. Fortunately, all there seemed to be was some swelling and shallow cuts from the glass. Give it a couple days, and it would be right as rain again. After that, nature finally called, so Arthur got it over with and used the facilities. By the time he got out of the bathroom, the Dead Beats were waiting for him, duly shaking their heads. 

“Nothing?” 

They made affirming noises. 

“Well, that’s… good.” Arthur thought for a moment. This… was a good thing. Yeah - it was. Thanks to his torture button, Pericles thought that Ricky (and therefore Arthur) as a loose thread had been adequately tied down. He believed that in his current state, his control over Ricky was so absolute that Ricky couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything to escape or to impede his plans. So much so that Pericles wasn’t bothering to keep tabs on him within his own quarters.

And maybe that was true. If, that is, he was still Ricky. Arthur however… had a few tricks up his sleeve. 

“Yeah. This is a good thing. Good job, guys. Alright, now. There’s one more major thing we need to get started. But to get it, we’re going to have to make a new friend…”

The drive to the Mystery Skulls’ mansion wasn’t as bad as the drive to Destroido had been. Which to Ricky was shocking, considering that this time, he and Shaggy rode in the Mystery Machine with Fred, Daphne, Velma, Scooby, and Mystery. With Lewis and Vivi riding in Arthur’s van in front of them. The original plan had been to keep the same seating arrangements as before, but they’d changed their minds as they were getting in the car. Shaggy hadn’t wanted to part from his friends again, and of course everyone knew why Ricky had to stay in the same proximity as Shaggy. And Mystery… had wanted to stay with Ricky.

He had no idea why. Was it to make sure there was no back-stabbing from the kids? He doubted it. Unless it was just... for Ricky's sake? Yes, sure. It was somewhat comforting having the little dog sitting at his feet, just barely touching his foot the whole ride. What Ricky didn’t understand was why? Had Mystery simply realized that him being with Mystery Incorporated by himself in an enclosed space would be an uncomfortable experience? If so, this wouldn’t be the first time Mystery had acted seemingly for no reason other than to be considerate of him. 

Perhaps that’s just the way the Mystery Skulls were. Kind. Arthur had shown him similar courtesy. Perhaps that was why they’d lasted for so long. If Professor Pericles could see this, he’d scoff - at him for being weak and accepting such kindness, and at the kids and the Mystery Skulls for showing it. 

Come to think of it- 

Ricky snorted. 

“What’s so funny?” Scooby asked with a tilt of his head. 

“Oh, I was just thinking how confused Professor Pericles would be if he saw this. Or rather - how confused anyone would be.” Ricky said, gesturing to the whole back of the van. “Me- or rather Shaggy , sitting in the back corner of the Mystery Machine with someone else’s dog while Scooby treats a seeming complete stranger like, well, that. ” He smirked, gesturing to Scooby draped across Shaggy’s (or rather, Arthur’s ) lap.

Scooby and Shaggy looked at each other, then started to laugh. “Like, yeah. Without context, we look pretty ridiculous.” Shaggy agreed.

“To be fair, this whole thing is pretty ridiculous even with context.”

That made the whole car laugh. 

“I’m very familiar with weird , and even I second that,” Mystery agreed. 

Ricky shrugged. “Eh, if we didn’t find a way to laugh about this we’d be crying.” 

Velma had turned around backwards from where she sat with Fred and Daphne in the front seat. “ I just can’t believe it.” She said, shaking her head. 

“The body-swapping? Yes. If I woke up from a dream right now, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Ricky agreed. 

“Not that. I mean - yes . Definitely. But not that. I meant you . You know, Angel told me once that you were secretly funny. Or at least that you used to be. I didn’t believe her. And yet here you are. With a sense of humor.”

“You know, I don’t know what’s gotten into me either. But I’ve felt… better. Ever since I talked to Arthur in the Sitting Room. I also had… a very weird encounter with my better half. And they both said a lot that- I don’t know. Put things in a different perspective for me? So there’s that too. As weird as it was, it helped a lot.” 

“Arthur has a good heart,” Mystery said fondly. 

“I know. You only need to meet him once to realize that,” Ricky said solemnly. “But in that place… with Pericles , it makes me worry.” 

“Oh, don’t be fooled. I mean - yes. He’s the danger-prone one. If somebody gets kidnapped, possessed, or falls into a trap, it’s gonna be Arthur. That’s just his luck.”

“Oh. So he’s your Daphne.” Said Fred, earning him a well-deserved smack on the arm from his girlfriend. 

And that’s yet another way he’s your me, Ricky thought, recalling the many times in his youth he’d needed rescuing. 

“That is not exactly helping his case.” Velma said dryly.

“But like, Arthur’s the smartest right?” Shaggy asked. “You guys like, talked about how great he was on the way to my house earlier.” 

“Yes. And we will say it a million times because no matter how much Arthur denies it, it’s true .” 

“Huh. So I guess that makes him your Velma too,” Daphne mused. 

Or your Pericles, Ricky thought. 

“In a way, yes,” Mystery replied. “But unlike Velma, Arthur does this thing where every time he accomplishes something, he puts himself down because he thinks: ‘Well, if I did it, then it must not have been that hard.’ And as a result, he sells himself short. But whenever Arthur winds up in danger again he often has himself at least mostly out of it by the time we rescue him. Then there’s his inventions. In spite of never going to college, Arthur has multiple patents under his name. Including what’s widely considered to be the world’s most advanced prosthetic.” 

Shaggy held the metal limb up and wriggled the fingers. “This? Like, really?” 

“It’s true. The arm’s so easy to use because the base of it is connected directly to Arthur’s nerve endings. So when Arthur puts it on, it receives commands sent straight from his brain, just like the rest of his body. The technology has only ever been put into practice with Arthur’s arm, but theoretically it could be made to replace any limb.”

“ Jinkies! That is advanced! I’d love to have a closer look at it!” Velma gushed. 

“That’s pretty much all I know about it. The rest goes over all of our heads but Arthur’s. If you ask him once we get him back, I’m sure he’ll be glad to tell you all about it,” Mystery sighed sadly. “Sorry. I just- I’m sure he’ll be with us again soon, but I can’t help but miss him.” 

Ricky hesitated, then reached down to give Mystery a pat on the head. When the dog leaned into it, he adjusted to give him a scratch behind the ears. Mystery smiled up at him gratefully. “Thanks, and- my point was, he’s got this. Truth be told, Arthur’s kind of a badass.”

The van went quiet again for a bit, but there was a distinct air of heaviness as each of them disappeared into their own thoughts.

“I’m sorry for growling at you this morning Mr. E,” Scooby suddenly apologized.

Both Mr. E and Mystery looked up at the mention of the very similar name. 

“It’s alright. You didn't know. And it must have been scary, realizing your friend wasn't with you and someone else had taken his place. All things considered, I don’t blame you,” said Ricky. “I’m sorry for being such a dick- an idiot this past year.”

“Oh, you can curse in front of us if you want to,” Fred said. 

“Like, we’re all almost 18 here. We’ve heard worse than dick,” Shaggy shrugged. 

“Yeah,” Daphne agreed, “I’d heard worse than that from my sisters and my parents shouting at each other by the time I was ten!” 

“Like me too!”

“Okay you two. We need to have a talk later,” Mystery said with concern. 

“No kidding,” Mr. E agreed.

“And to be fair, you did act like a dick,” Velma laughed, redirecting the conversation.

“I fully own up to that. But still - I’m an adult and should mind my tongue,” Ricky said.

“No offense, but right now aren’t you technically our age?” Fred asked. 

“Jinkies. Now that opens up a whole new discussion,” Velma exclaimed. 

“ Zoinks ! Like, if I’m in Arthur’s body, then I’m like what? Twenty-three? Like, I can try alcohol!”

“ Absolutely not ,” Mr. E and Mystery scolded at the same time. 

“Also if this,” Velma gestured between Ricky and Shaggy, “ is supposedly going to last for an indiscriminate amount of time , I hate to go there, but you two are going to need to use the bathroom eventually.”

“And shower ,” Ricky groaned. “That’s crossed my mind too.” 

“Like, shower ?” Shaggy said, genuinely confused.

“We don’t bathe,” Scooby said. Everyone else in the car wrinkled their noses. Well, that explains a lot.

“Well, you’re not in your body, Shaggy. And I don’t think Arthur will like it if he gets back into his body and it hasn’t been washed since he left it. I won’t make you, but trust me: under our roof, Vivi will ,” Mystery said pointedly. “As for the issue of having to… deal with another person’s body, I don’t know what to tell you. All you two can do is just do it , don’t think about it too much, and don’t make it weird. Granted though - I don’t exactly have the same hang-ups about nudity as you humans,” Mystery shrugged.

“Again: I’m thirty-seven . In a minor’s body. It’s already weird, ” Ricky shuddered. 

“Like hey, neither of us can help it,” Shaggy shrugged. 

“That’s right. It’s only as weird as you make it. I mean, at least you’re both guys.” Fred agreed.

“Like yeah! Could you imagine how uncomfortable it would be if one of the girls was involved with this switch?”

Daphne and Velma visibly shivered at the thought.

“ Ooookay , that’s enough of that! You two are not helping!” Ricky exclaimed. 

“ Yep . That right there was the line. And you leapt over it,” Mystery agreed. 

“Like the cow jumping over the moon.” 

That made Daphne and Velma laugh. “Angel was right,” Daphne said, “you are secretly funny.” 

“Like hey. Speaking of, there’s still something I don’t get.” Shaggy shrugged. 

“What’s that, Shaggy?” Daphne asked. 

Shaggy looked at Velma. “Like um… What’s a cloaca?” 

Ricky started laughing so hard that Fred nearly wrecked the van. 

One thing was for sure - they definitely liked this version of Mr. E a lot better. 

Back at Destroido, Marcie Fleach was standing exactly where Mr. E had asked her to meet him. 

Only… he wasn’t there. 

Weird . 

If Marcie knew one thing about Mr. E from her time working with him, it was that he preferred to be in control. Unless arriving whenever-the-fuck-he-wanted-to was some new way of his to seem in control or something? How was she supposed to know? The man was an enigma. A fat, grumpy enigma. 

So, there she stood against a wall, trying very hard to refrain from glancing up at where a certain camera was hidden in the rafters. 

She didn’t notice that the red light on the Destroido security camera had been pink since before she’d arrived. And she didn’t notice the pair of golden eyes watching her from the ceiling.

Right as Marcie was starting to get annoyed, something fell out of the sky and landed at her feet. Marcie frowned, confused, and picked it up. It was one of Mr. E’s postcards with his big red E seal stamped on the front of it. And on the back of it, he’d written:

I know this might seem strange. We need to talk, but there are ears everywhere. Don’t be afraid. Follow the ghosts - they’re my friends.

 -E

Follow the what now? 

No sooner had Marcie processed the words on the page, a small pink wisp suddenly dropped from the ceiling to float in front of her face. Marcie gasped and opened her mouth to scream, but the ghost darted forwards and put its nubby arms over her mouth to shush her. 

What in the WORLD?

After a moment, the ghost (or drone or whatever - that’s what it had to be because ghosts weren’t real) took its hands off of her face, waved, and did a happy little spin in the air in front of her, warbling as if to say: “It’s nice to meet you!”

Marcie gulped. “So um… I’m supposed to follow you?” The little creature made an affirming chirp and suddenly ducked down near the floor. There was an air vent there. She’d used it several times to get around back in the days when E had her and Velma get into Destroido to meet with him by getting by security and his traps. Instead of him just… disarming them and telling his guards to let them in. Like a normal person. To his credit, he’d stopped doing that a couple months ago. But still. 

The ghost disappeared straight through the mesh of the air vent, and not a moment later the vent popped off of its hinges. The little ghost stuck its head out and motioned for Marcie to follow it.

Confused, anxious, and curious, Marcie adjusted her bag strap more firmly on her shoulder, dropped to her knees, and crawled into the vent after the ghost. The vent popped back in place and the screws turned back into their proper position behind her as the second Dead Beat followed close behind. 

The Dead Beats had done their jobs perfectly - the first was leading Marcie and the second had taken care so that none would be the wiser. As far as Destroido’s security system was aware, Marcie and the Dead Beats had ever even been there. All their cameras ever saw was a loop of a darkened, empty hall. 

Marcie, of course, had no way of knowing this as she followed the pink lights into the depths of Destroido’s ventilation system.

In total, their trek took about ten minutes, but it seemed longer. Left, right, up, down, over, under. Until Marcie lost track of where they’d started. But the ghosts seemed to know where they were going. 

That’s right: ghosts . With an s at the end. As in plural. It didn’t take her long to notice the second one in the vent behind her. It was a tedious trip, and at times they were delayed when the ghosts would suddenly freeze and make Marcie stop. Then a moment later, Marcie would hear someone moving somewhere just outside the vents. If they stuck around, Marcie would continue slowly and silently, careful not to be heard. If they passed by, then she’d be moving full speed again within just a few moments. 

Finally, the ghosts led her to a vent door and opened it to lead her out. This vent, Marcie realized, must be near the ceiling. Because in the room ahead, Marcie could see a hanging silver light fixture contrasting starkly to the deep, dark purple wall behind it. 

Marcie had been all over Destroido. 

She’d never seen such a room. Just where had these things led her? Marcie scooted forward more, pushing her bag with her computer and notebooks in front of her and out. She didn’t hear a loud crash or anything, so it must have landed on something soft. Then she pulled herself forward and stuck her head out. 

“Hey there. It’s… Marcie, right?” Mr. E asked with a sheepish grin.

Chapter Text

When the passengers of the Mystery Machine first laid eyes on the Mystery Skulls’ mansion, their immediate first impression of it was that it absolutely 100% looked like a haunted house. 

It was bigger than Fred and Shaggy’s mansions, but smaller than Daphne’s. And it wasn’t as pristine as any of their homes. In fact, the place looked a bit decrepit - three stories and mainly black, save its accents of dark mauve and its bright purple windows. The forest of thick, twisted brambles that surrounded the mansion perfectly accented the crooked window frames and menacing gothic architecture. 

“Wow. They were really trying to advertise ‘haunted house’, when they designed this place, weren’t they?” Velma asked dryly.

“They could use a gardener.” Daphne agreed.

“I could build some serious traps around this place!” Fred gushed. 

Shaggy gulped. “Like, please tell me you guys do not live here. ” 

Scooby whimpered in agreement.

“Yep,” Mystery replied, unbothered. “Home sweet home.” 

Fred followed Lewis’ lead in parking out front, and the seven of them piled out of the Mystery Machine right at the same time Lewis and Vivi were getting out of the Mystery Skulls’ van. 

“Here it is,” Lewis said with a dramatic sweep of one arm, “ La casa de las Calaveras Misteriosas! ”  

“Okay - I thought you were fucking with us when you said you lived in a haunted mansion, but just looking at this place, I might I believe it now.” Ricky said. 

“Are you okay with that?” Lewis asked. “You too, Shaggy. Nothing in there will hurt you, but I know you guys have been through a lot today.”

“If it’s too much, it’s okay. We can always stay at one of your houses instead,” Vivi offered.

“I’m fine.” Ricky said, but there was a tremor to his voice. “You said whatever’s in there is harmless, and I believe you. Whatever the kids want,” he shrugged, hands in his pockets.

Mystery Inc. looked at each other. Then they looked at Shaggy, who… was not used to getting much of a say in such matters.

“Like um… if they say so. If Mr. E trusts it then like, I guess I do too.”

“Okay, Shag. If you say so then I guess we’re in too,” Fred said. “Besides: Pericles knows about the rest of our homes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s watching them. Shaggy’s parents may notice he’s not acting like himself, Daphne’s house isn’t well protected enough, and in spite of all my traps Pericles has breached my house before.” 

“' Breached' doesn’t even begin to cover it.” Daphne said. 

Shaggy and Scooby shuddered at the memory of ‘Evil Pizza’. 

“Okay then, but feel free to change your minds.” Lewis said. 

“Alright everyone, before we lead you in, there are some things we need to tell you about,” Vivi said. 

“First of all, as I said, nothing in there will hurt you.” Lewis said with certainty. “I am Master of this house and all the spirits that reside in it. And you are here as my guests. Which means they are bound to be curious, but they will be cordial. And if they’re not, then they get to deal with me.” 

“But like,” Shaggy gulped, “what can you do against- g-ghosts?” 

“Any number of things. I could drain their energy, rendering them temporarily unable to interact with the tangible. I could also banish them to the Neitherworld. Or worse - I could exercise them. Punishment fits the crime.” Lewis shrugged, as casually as talking about the weather.

“Trust us - they know not to do anything to incur Lewis’ wrath.” Mystery insisted. Vivi nodded profusely behind him. 

“Jeepers,” Daphne muttered.

“Alright then, what should we expect?” Velma asked. 

“There are many different kinds of ghosts,” Vivi explained. “When most people hear ‘ghost’, they immediately think of the souls of the dead still walking the Earth, or inhuman entities from another plane. But in truth, those are rare. Most paranormal activity is caused by manifestations of energy. Some are powerful and focused enough to form a certain level of sentience, others act more randomly. These can form for any number of reasons. Especially in and around high-energy public spaces or in and around places with rich history. Or sometimes in response to tremendously powerful intent from a single person or group. They can even form from spare energy being emitted by another more powerful entity. Paranormal activity also sometimes happens as a recollection of the past - energy left behind by tremendous events creates echoes for centuries to come. It’s not the souls of the people involved and they usually aren’t sentient. Think of it as bits and pieces of a recording playing back on loop.

“As for our house, there are very few formerly living human spirits here. A mix of the factors I just told you about is what causes most of the paranormal activity here, and what created most of our spirits.”

Lewis led them through the front gate - black iron, surrounded by a fence-height brickwork wall. Then up a set of brick stairs to the front doors. He paused to let all nine of them get under the portico, before the doors suddenly unlocked themselves and the double doors swung open unaided.  

Lewis and Vivi entered first, and Mystery stood behind their guests to bring up the rear. All of Mystery Incorporated shrank together a bit behind Fred. Ricky, who stood apart from the younger Mystery Incorporated, visibly stiffened and gulped. His heart was racing and his breaths were coming out short. But yet another thing from a happier time came to mind.

“It’s okay Ricky,” Cassidy would always tell him when his anxiety started to overwhelm him. “You just need to breathe. Deep breath in… deep breath out…”

He could only wish in vain that her hand was still here for him to hold.

Then the six guests stepped into the haunted house. 

“E?” Marcie asked, confused from where she was, halfway out of the air vent with her hands braced against the wall. 

The room she’d come out in was a living room furnished minimally yet tastefully in deep purple, brown, and black with dark wood furniture and silver light fixtures and lamps. With a few touches of yellow and red here and there.  

Directly below Marcie was a large black leather couch, which her bag had landed on. And Mr. E was standing in front of it, hands in his pockets, looking up at her with a third pink ghost lounging across his shoulders where Professor Pericles would usually be.

“Um… yeah. About that. We’ll talk in a minute, but how about we get you on the ground first?” Mr. E asked, picking her bag up from the couch and beckoning her down.

That’s not Mr. E.

This person looked like him, sounded like him, dressed like him. But he didn’t act like him. Didn’t talk like him. Didn’t even move like him. His handwriting was different - she’d noticed that when reading the note card. His scowl wasn’t there, nor was the hardness in his eyes. And he was friends with ghosts . Which led Marcie to a conclusion that was nothing short of impossible . 

“You’re not Mr. E.” 

Surprise flickered across his face, but then he smiled at her. “That’s right. I’m not,” He admitted.

“Then who are you? What are you?” 

“Like I said,” Not-E said. “That’s a conversation best had with you not way up there.” 

Nope. I’ve seen these movies. Fuck this.  

Marcie started to back up, back into the vent, but something behind her gave a hard shove. And suddenly she was tumbling out of the hole and falling onto the couch below. 

“Ow…” she groaned. Shit , she’d forgotten about the other ghost!

“Hey! That wasn’t nice!” Not-E scolded. The second ghost, who was up near the ceiling shutting the vent, made a mischievous giggling sound in response. 

“Are you alright?” Not-E asked gently.

“Don’t touch me!” Marcie snapped, smacking his hand away from where he’d reached over to help. “Where am I? Who are you?” 

“Oh no, you’re right. I’m sorry. I should have asked permission to touch you, first.” He apologized, handing her bag back to her and backing away. “To answer your questions, you’re in Mr. E’s uh… apartment? Condo? Hobbit-hole? Dwelling ? No idea what you even call it, but he lives here. And yes, you’re right. I’m not Ricky. But I am a person. I’m not a… creature or whatever possessing him, if that’s what you were worried about.” He laughed nervously at that, and Marcie noticed that he was clutching one arm tightly, like it was a habit. 

“Now, this next part is going to sound completely nuts. But in a bizarre turn of events,” he explained, “Ricky- sorry, Mr. E, Shaggy, and I have as of this morning wound up in a three-way body swap. As you can see, I’m in E’s body. Mr. E is in Shaggy’s, and Shaggy is in mine.” 

“Shaggy? You mean Velma’s friend? From Mystery Incorporated?” 

“Green shirt with the talking dog? That’s him.” Not-E nodded. 

He’s lost his mind . “Okay then… whoever you are… so you’ve been body-swapped with Mr. E and Shaggy. Then who are you ?” Marcie demanded. 

Not-E sat down in a black armchair opposite of her, a familiar keytar leaning against the wall beside him. “Could you please pull up the email I sent you this morning?” He asked, putting one leg up in his chair in an entirely not-Mr. E-type-manner. 

Not taking her eyes off of him for more than a split second at a time, Marcie retrieved her laptop from her bag, opened it, unlocked it, and did as he had asked. And all the while he just sat there, harmless as a puppy, looking at her earnestly with those weirdly gentle eyes. “Alright. It’s pulled up.” 

“Did you watch the video?” He asked. 

“Of the Mystery Skulls? Yeah, I did.” 

“Could you pull that up please and start it? Then turn the laptop around?” 

Again, she did as he’d asked. And when she turned the laptop around, he watched the video for a few moments before he said, “Pause it there.” 

Not seeing what was on the screen, Marcie complied. Then finally, Not-E moved. He leaned forward in the armchair and pointed directly at the screen. “That’s me.” 

Marcie turned the laptop back around, and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head with shock. The video had paused on a close up of a young man in an orange vest with a very familiar looking pink wisp peeking over his shoulder as he played with the rest of the band.

“It’s nice to meet you, Marcie. My name is Arthur.”

The foyer that Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Ricky found themselves in was equal parts luxurious, classy, and spooky. Pinkish redwood floors and paneling contrasted vividly with pinstriped purple wallpaper. Jagged hearts were a recurring theme. A decadent stairwell led up to the second floor balcony, with hallways on each side of it. And on either side of the foyer were wide doorways that led into a sitting room and a dining room. The space was lit by scattered rose gold candelabra and a matching chandelier hanging from the ceiling, aglow with pink flame. 

“This place is awesome!” Fred was already scheming places to put traps. 

“Yeah, from the outside I didn’t have a lot of hope but this is really classy. Love the purple.” Daphne admired the decor. 

Scooby suddenly yelled and jumped into Shaggy’s arms. 

“Like, what is it, Scoob?” Shaggy asked. 

The dog just whimpered and pointed to their left, but there was nothing there. 

“What was that?” Ricky asked, looking down one of the hallways. 

“Jeepers, I think I saw something move too!” Daphne cried. 

And indeed, there were glowing pink shapes darting from wall to wall, peeking out from behind door frames.

“Don’t be afraid everyone,” Vivi said gently. 

“They’re just curious,” Lewis said, “They can tell Ricky and Shaggy aren't themselves. Not to mention we don’t exactly have guests often. These are the most common and obvious spirits you’ll encounter here. We call them the Dead Beats.”

“ Dead Beats! Isn’t that what Arthur wanted?” Ricky exclaimed. 

“Yep. I’ve already sent him three - as he requested. Back at the hilltop.” 

“Like, he wanted ghosts? ” Shaggy cried, putting Scooby down.

Lewis nodded. “It makes sense. The Dead Beats can get places where humans can’t with ease, they are powerful enough to interact with the tangible, and they can go places easily without being seen. There’s at least a million different ways they could be of use.” 

“Would you like to meet one?” Vivi asked. 

All six of them gulped. “D-do we have to?” Scooby whimpered. 

“No.” Lewis said immediately. “I can order them to keep away from you, but they may still try to get a peek.” 

“They’re not vicious - most of the time.” Mystery said.

“Think of them like musical housecats,” Vivi said. 

“Or mischievous little kids,” Mystery added.

There came a few slightly indignant-sounding noises from the Dead Beats.

“I want to meet one!” Velma stepped forward before her courage failed her. 

“Are you sure, Velma?” Daphne asked. 

“Guys. We’ve spent most of our teenage years investigating fake ghosts. And now after all this time, I not only learn that real ones exist, but I also get the opportunity to meet one! This isn’t an opportunity I’m passing up!”

“Be careful, Velma.” Scooby said with a whine, ears drooping. 

“Alright you heard her,” Lewis said with a beckoning finger. “One of you.”

There came a series of clangs, rustlings, and bumps accompanied by layered whispers, coos, warbles, and squeaks as the Dead Beats sorted it out amongst themselves.

Then a ghost popped out of the right hallway. 

After Arthur explained the situation to her, Marcie needed a few minutes to herself to process. 

Mr. E was one of the good guys now? 

The treasure was cursed? And there was an evil entity attached to it?

Mr. E was one of the good guys now? 

Body-swapping, ghosts, and other such supernatural things were real? 

AND MR. E WAS ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS NOW?

She was pretty sure some of the other stuff Arthur claimed should have shocked her a lot more. But nope - that was the one that blew her mind the most. If what Arthur said was true, then not only was that grouchy wretch of a man trying to be better, but he’d also been even more of a prisoner than she was for the past week , and Marcie hadn’t noticed.

Granted - she hadn’t exactly seen a lot of Mr. E in the past couple weeks. And come to think of it, it seemed as if he’d been avoiding her. All of his recent orders for her had been technical tasks that she now realized served the purpose of keeping her as far away from the center of Destroido - and therefore from the Original Mystery Incorporated - as possible. She’d suspected it was because they were planning something he didn’t want her finding out about. But after Arthur told her what had really been happening… Maybe it was because while planning the coup, he hadn’t wanted Marcie to get caught in any possible crossfire? And after it went wrong, he’d been trying to keep her as far away as possible because he’d known that he had no power to protect her from Pericles anymore? So in his own way… he’d been trying to protect her? 

Mr. E had been protecting her? 

The same guy who had been blackmailing her into working for him for the past few months now? 

It was an insane concept to think about. 

Not only that, but the way Arthur claimed Mr. E was being ‘controlled’ was pretty far-fetched too. 

And yet - he had proof that Marcie couldn’t ignore.

“I can show you.” He said firmly when she expressed her doubts. 

“ Show me?” 

“The capsule. Or the whatever-it-is that Pericles stuck in E’s back. I had the Dead Beats look for it earlier and they found it,” Not-E/Arthur told her. Then he stood up, shed his jacket, turned around, and reached to take his shirt off. 

Marcie had not expected him to strip, so she momentarily looked away, mortified. Then she realized he wasn’t taking his shirt off , just lifting up the back of it. One of the Dead-Beats then came up and pointed to a spot in his mid-lumbar region along his spine. “If you want proof, it’s right there,” Arthur said, his back still to her. “If you look where my friend is pointing, there’s a little mark that’s healing over, which is probably where Pericles put it in. And if you look right there between that spot and my spinal column, just- well. Show her.” 

Then the Dead Beat suddenly stuck its tail inside Mr. E’s lower back - Marcie saw him jerk at the undoubtedly odd sensation - and it lit up bright pink, like there was a light inside his body shining outwards, showing bone and tissue as clearly as an MRI. She could see everything moving as he breathed and as his veins and arteries pulsed with each beat of his heart. And sure enough, right where he said it would be, there was… something . A small, dark cylindrical shape with a pointed end -  about the size of a large pill.

“What the- what the heck am I looking at?” Marcie asked incredulously, unable to resist coming closer for a better look. Marcie reached out to touch, but suddenly reminded herself who she was dealing with and snatched her hand back. 

“You can touch it if you want,” Arthur said, as if he had eyes in the back of his head. “But you have to press down kind of hard to feel it. It's in pretty deep. If this thing’s gonna come out, it’s going to need to be surgically removed. Otherwise I’d be plotting to cut it out somehow. Or I imagine Ricky already would have tried.” 

Inquisitive as ever Marcie did as he said, though touching Mr. E wasn’t exactly enjoyable. But sure enough, what she was seeing was no illusion or trick of the light. When she pressed down on the skin, just as he had said, she could feel that there was indeed something there. It was some kind of implant. And whatever it was, it most certainly didn’t belong there. 

“Sorry, this is all the proof I’ve got at the moment.” Not E- Arthur apologized as he fixed his shirt and put his coat back on.

“No, it’s proof enough - proof enough at least that there’s something in there. But what, I can’t say.” Marcie had said, sitting back down on the sofa opposite of him.

“As I told you,” he said as he resumed his own seat, “It’s a torture device. I’ve felt it first hand. All Pericles has told Ricky about it is that it contains mutated cobra larvae - which I believe means that this thing has to be some kind of remote-operated self-sustaining micro-incubator for fetal cobras that have been genetically altered to not grow past their fetal stage. Cuz you know - cobras are venomous even before they're born.”

“I know that,” Marcie said. “And they’re even more dangerous when they’re young, because their venom is much more concentrated. Not to mention that cobra venom is a neurotoxin - it’s designed to attack the nervous system. Which means theoretically, if that really is what you think it is, then having even a tiny bit of that stuff released to a hot spot of the nervous system as important as the spinal column would be not only unimaginably painful, but also potentially life-threatening.” 

“It is,” Arthur sighed. “Poor Ricky… he’s had to endure that sometimes more than once per day for the past week. Having experienced it myself just once , I can tell you that I cannot blame him for not making any escape attempts or calling for help. I’ve never experienced Ricky at his worst like you have, so I understand it may be easy to judge him or to blame him. But… if you knew what I know, then I don’t think you would.” 

“Why do you keep calling him that?” 

“What?” 

“ Ricky ? I mean - I think I’ve heard members of the Original Mystery Inc. call E that, but I’ve never heard anyone else do it before. If you really did just meet E today, then why are you on a first-name basis with him already?” 

“Oh. To be honest, I didn’t really think about it. I started doing it and he never corrected me, so I guess he didn’t mind. I mean - I’m literally in his shoes right now, so doesn’t it kind of make sense that we’d be on a first-name basis? Especially after… some of the stuff we talked about.”

And he told her what he knew.

Whatever it was each of them had been expecting, it wasn’t this. 

This had to be the most non-threatening looking ghost any of them had ever seen. Granted - Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Ricky had never actually seen a real ghost before, but the fake ones they were used to were usually much more terrifying than this. 

The Dead Beat wasn’t a vengeful apparition or a graveyard ghoul - rather, it was a small, bright pink wisp of a spirit. Gliding tentatively through the air in a serpentine pattern as it approached. Its head - which had a little point on top as if it was wearing a hat - was tilted curiously as it peered at Velma with bright golden eyes that matched the pulsing heart on the center of its chest. 

Velma gulped and reached a hand out as far as she could. The Dead Beat floated in front of her for a moment, giving Velma a seemingly timid inspection. Before it suddenly darted forwards and booped her on the nose with a teeny arm and a playful “ beep!” Then it zipped back into the dark hall from whence it had come. There came a chorus that sounded suspiciously like giggling when all of their guests nearly jumped out of their skins. 

Lewis looked at the unseen Dead Beats with a look of pure disappointment on his face, hands on his hips. “Was that really necessary? Are you all proud of yourselves?”

One of them made a squeak that sounded suspiciously like “Yes!” that sent the others into another round of giggles.

Vivi snorted, which directed that same disappointment at her . “I’m sorry, but that was adorable.” She giggled. 

Lewis shook his head. “Shameless,” He chastised. But he was smiling too.

The Dead Beat poked its head out of the hall again and made a couple of noises. 

“Well if you want to make friends, you shouldn’t start by startling them!” Lewis scolded. 

The little ghost cooed apologetically. 

“That’s what Lewis gets for being Master of the house,” Vivi turned to their guests and explained. “He can understand them as easily as he hears us speaking English.” 

“Yeah, ‘English’ by a bunch of sugar-crazed kindergarteners,” Lewis grumbled.

“Which is worse? The Deadbeats or your sisters?” Vivi asked. 

“Yes.”

Velma laughed, her racing heart slowing to its normal speed. “Well, they seem sorry. And they don’t seem mean.” 

Ricky took a deep breath and stepped forward beside her. He was the adult. He really should have been the one to volunteer first. And if Arthur was friends with these creatures, then he supposed that he should trust them too. 

Right as he did, a Dead Beat was sneaking out of one of the doorways and coming up to him. Vivi said they were like cats, right? Ricky wasn’t averse to cats. Remembering when he’d petted Mystery back in the van, Ricky reached out. When the Dead Beat leaned into his touch, he started scratching its head and running his hand along its body down to its tail. It was… odd. The little creature seemed to be both there and not there at the same time. Like he was touching solid air. It was a contradiction, and it didn’t make sense, but that was his only way of describing it. The Dead Beat purred happily, its long, cold wispy tail weaving between his fingers. Ricky laughed incredulously under his breath. Yesterday he was a slave in his own home, and now here he was, in a haunted house petting a ghost !

“Oh, now you’ve done it.” Mystery said. 

“Done what-” But no sooner had Ricky said it, he was surrounded by the friendly ghosts, pressing up against him, trilling for pets. Ricky laughed, in spite of himself, suddenly reminded of a lifetime ago, when his actual body had been this age, and he’d been mobbed like this by his neighbors’ litter of puppies. 

And Mystery Incorporated… watched. Slack-jawed. Was this really the Mr. E they knew? 

Or perhaps… they hadn’t known him as well as they’d thought from the start.

Marcie listened with rapt attention as Arthur told her a wild and fantastical tale. About a powerful supernatural mystery-solving gang called The Mystery Skulls . About the otherworldly beings in the strange plane known as ‘The Sitting Room’, and the encounter he'd had there with Mr. E and Shaggy. About the Annunaki and Nibiru. And about the cursed treasure and the entity that needed to be destroyed. 

It was insane. It was complete and utter madness. And yet the more he talked, the more convinced Marcie became that the person sitting across from her really wasn’t Mr. E. Or at least he didn’t think he was. 

“How do I know I can believe this? Any of this?” She asked when he was done. “Maybe parts of it are true, but maybe Mr. E’s just lost his mind and has split up into multiple personalities or something. That definitely sounds more plausible than an interdimensional being swapping your bodies. Or any of the other crazy stuff you’ve told me!”

“That’s just it - you don’t,” Arthur shrugged. “But whoever I am, I’m plotting to rebel against Professor Pericles - who I know you don’t like. And I’m friends with Velma - who I know you do like. So maybe I am crazy. But regardless, helping me benefits you.”

“Helping you?” 

“Yeah, Marcie. Why do you think we're having this conversation? I really, really, really need your help. I have a plan. And if it works, then Ricky will be free of this ,” he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to his back, “and of Professor Pericles. That’s what I wanted to accomplish from the start for my own personal reasons. But on a practical level - a we’re-at-war level, accomplishing this is also the smart thing to do. If we set Mr. E free, he’ll be able to become a permanent ally of Mystery Incorporated and my friends - who are working together now. Which means we not only get him (and he seems like a really smart guy to me) but we also take Destroido and its resources away from Professor Pericles. And there are a few things I also wanted to accomplish before our escape to really make sure he’s left with nothing. Basically, on Ricky's behalf, we’re facilitating the breakup of a decades-long manipulative, toxic, abusive, and one-sided relationship, and I intend to make it as messy as possible on the way out the door.”

“Which sounds all well and good to me,” Marcie said. “I can’t stand that bird, And if the plan is to screw him over then I’m in. But how do I know that the real E is going to be with us after we set him free? Or that you’re Arthur Kingsmen?”

“Well - consider this: If I’m just Mr. E minus his marbles, then that doesn’t exactly explain where these guys came from, now does it?” He asked with a cocked brow, pointing to the Dead Beats.

And try as she might, Marcie couldn’t argue with that. She’d already tried to debunk them. She’d searched the whole room for anything that could make the little ghosts into something more logical than what they seemed to be.

But she’d come up empty. 

They were real. 

Ghosts were real. And whoever this was, they were friends with him. 

So maybe the other crazy things he’d told her about were true, too.

“Like you guys were right. They’re not so bad.” Shaggy said between giggles as the Dead Beats swarmed over him and his friends. 

“I like giving them a hard time, but they really are wonderful,” Lewis admitted, giving the one across his shoulders a scratch. 

All of the Dead Beats heard him and stopped in their tracks to make an affectionate trilling noise that could have been mistaken for an ‘awwwww’. 

“When I first… moved into this house, I was alone for a while. And the original six were the best company I could have asked for. The same has applied to all the others since.” 

“ Original six? You mean there weren’t always this many?” Daphne asked. 

“That’s right,” Lewis nodded. “The Dead Beats are intelligent manifestations of energy that are, for reasons I won’t get into right now, tied to me. They serve me and act in my interests, which extends to my friends as well. When I first- started i n the paranormal , there were just six of them. But as time has gone on and I’ve grown more powerful, more have manifested. Sometimes on accident, sometimes on purpose, and sometimes without me realizing it. As of now, there are thirty-six total. Thirty-three here, and three of the originals are with Arthur.”

“That’s interesting,” Mr. E said suddenly. “Those are all magic numbers.”

Everyone looked at him expectantly. 

“What? They are.” Ricky said a little quieter, not liking all of the eyes on him. “36 is one of the ‘magic numbers’ in physics pertaining to atoms and the number of electrons in filled electron shells. And in numerology, the number 6 - as in the original number of Dead Beats - is related to…” He trailed off. 

‘ You’re rambling again, Vögelchen. ’ An old voice said in his head. ‘Do you really think some silly coincidences in numbers are relevant?’

“Sorry. It was just a thought.” He gulped, uncomfortably looking away. 

“No keep going,” Mystery urged, tail wagging. The others were looking at him as if they wanted him to continue. Ricky swallowed and finished his train of thought. “The number 6 is related to the sun. And it’s supposed to be powerful and masculine, so it’s often tied to security and responsibility. In Tarot cards, it's represented by the Lovers. 

“And the number 3 is believed to be the most powerful of all numbers. Triangles, which have three sides and three angles, are the strongest of all shapes. And in numerology the number 3 is sometimes it's connected to the fates, or the land, sea, and sky, or to the mental, physical, and spiritual, etc. In some traditions it represents youth and things like imagination, humor, happiness, and upbeat energy - which obviously ties in a lot to these little guys,” he said, pointing to the Dead Beats.

“And the number 33 in Tarot cards is represented by The Promise, which brings ‘assistance through honesty and love’.”

“He’s right,” Vivi said, impressed. 

“How do you know all that?” Scooby asked.

“Like, yeah. You never seemed like a mystical dude to me,” Shaggy said.

“I was once a meddling kid too, you know,” Ricky shrugged. “I had to research numerology once for a mystery and it was kind of interesting, so a lot of the information just never left my brain. What can I say? A lifetime of needing to research many different topics has left my mind a plethora of random knowledge.”

Wow. Mr. E stood in Pericles’ shadow for so long, somehow I forgot that he’s a genius too, Velma thought to herself. “How did I ever think you were Shaggy?” She asked incredulously, shaking her head at herself. 

“That,” Ricky said, “is a whole other mystery.” 

Everyone else snorted. 

“What I’m surprised about,” Mystery said to Lewis, “is that you sent any of the originals to do something. I thought you preferred to keep them close.”

“I do,” said Lewis. “But the original six are the most coordinated, and they’ve learned more than the rest. And if this is all I can do for Arthur right now, then he deserves the best I have to give.” 

They all fell into another uncomfortable silence, the heaviness of Arthur’s absence bearing down on them. 

“Hey, you know something?” Vivi asked, trying desperately to lighten the mood, “We still haven’t shown them the best part!” 

Vivi’s statement triggered a sudden excitement among the Dead Beats, who knew immediately what she was talking about. In an instant three of them were clambering over each other to shoot off into the house somewhere for something. 

“ Please can we show them the best part?” She asked again, hopping excitedly. 

“Well, given that they’ve already gone off for your guitar, I’d say the decision has already been made,” Lewis laughed.

“What’s the best part?” Fred asked. 

“They like music?” Marcie asked, her face scrunched with confusion. 

“More like they love music.” Arthur laughed. 

The Dead Beats around him were trilling excitedly, weaving between his legs as he sat in Mr. E’s armchair, E’s keytar in his lap.

“Hold on guys, hold on. This isn’t mine, remember? So I have to be extra careful with it.” 

Marcie sat on the sofa and watched Arthur mess with Mr. E’s keytar for a few minutes before it was set the way he wanted it.

"By the way,” Arthur said. “Not sure if you know this, but Ricky actually has a pretty good voice. You're in for a treat. Sorry if I miss a few notes by the way - I usually play this song on the key board , not the key tar .” 

Then he started bobbing his head - just as the band in the video had. And he began to play.

At the same moment back at the manor, the Dead Beats had just dropped Vivi’s guitar into her arms. And right away, head bobbing, she began to play too.

And the Dead Beats began to dance. 

It was beautiful, the way they moved through the air like intelligent flickers; pink lights burning bright in the dim foyer. And the music! This was different from anything Ricky had ever played but… he liked it. Cassidy would have loved it. Retro electric funk, with harmonies that reminded him of the disco she’d loved so much.

As for Marcie, she had heard Mr. E play his keytar plenty of times. But she’d never heard him play like this. She didn’t know much about music, but she knew enough to know that this song was an entirely different chord and style than anything she’d ever heard from Mr. E.

And the Dead Beats, to the surprise of both audiences, were extremely musical - for not only were they dancing along in sync, but they were also singing along to fill in the missing notes from the roles of the band that weren’t present.

It was at that moment, on opposite sides of Crystal Cove, that Arthur Kingsmen and Lewis Pepper began to sing. 

And Arthur had been right. 

Mr. E could sing.

“Uh. 

Cause’ the world might do me in, 

It’s alright ‘cause I’m with friends.

Guess I’m giving up again, 

It doesn’t matter.” 

In the depths of Destroido, the three Dead Beats came up behind Arthur and hummed the background vocals, 

“Ooh ooh ooh”

Back at the Mystery Skulls’ mansion, their guests were finding that the foyer had shockingly amazing acoustics for their miniature concert. 

“Had me feelin’ like a ghost. 

And that’s what I hate the most! ” 

Lewis sang, and the Dead Beats lined up along each side of the stairway railing and along the walls, bobbing and swaying hypnotically to the beat.

“Guess I’m givin’ up again

This time,” 

The Dead Beats came in all around for the background vocals, 

“This time, 

This time,”

“This time I might just disappear!”

Then the music really went off!

And together yet miles apart, Lewis, Arthur, Vivi, and the Dead Beats played their band’s greatest song.

“Try and hear me, then I’m done. 

‘Cause I might just say this once. 

Seen this play out in my dream. 

It doesn’t matter!”

“Mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmm!” Hummed the Dead Beats. 

“Tired of givin’ up the ghost.

Fuck, it’s you I hate the most!

Maybe there’s no garuntee, 

It doesn’t matter!”

“Uuuuh!

This time I might just disappear!” 

On opposite sides of Crystal Cove, Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Velma, Daphne, Ricky and Marcie listened to the Mystery Skulls play. And as the tempo slowed again and the guitar and keytar fell silent, they couldn’t help but be struck by the song’s words. 

And knowing what they did now about the Mystery Skulls, they couldn’t help but wonder if there was even more to them than met the eye. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

As it turned out, being miserable with a purpose was a lot better than being miserable without one. At least that was what Ricky realized within minutes of deciding to live for the kids. It was like he’d been wandering, aimless and lost through a dark wood. And at last he’d found a lit path. 

After much fussing over Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma were eventually shooed out by the Dead Beats. Fred and Daphne departed first. Velma and Lewis left sometime later after Lewis finally got through to Arthur’s doctor. It was a good thing too that somebody picked up the phone when they did, because he’d looked about ready to blow. Not that Ricky could exactly blame Lewis for being pissed - being on hold fucking sucked.

After Scooby brought Shaggy something to eat, Mystery apparently noticed Ricky salivating over animal crackers , (he was starving) because he then led Ricky out for something to eat. 

“What about Shaggy?” Ricky asked, reluctant to leave. 

“He’ll be okay. Scooby’s a good dog, he’s got the Dead Beats, and Vivi will be back to check on him in a bit.” 

“Speaking of, where did Vivi go?” Ricky asked, looking around for any sign of blue . 

“To her room for a bit, I think. She had to make a call. Anyway, let’s get you something to eat. Then she’ll meet us in the library.” 

The manor’s kitchen was big , which made sense because it was a big house and Lewis loved to cook. The floor was checker-tiled gray and white and that same striped wallpaper was present. The wood that composed the cabinets and furniture was a much deeper red mahogany compared to the pinkish redwood of the rest of the house, and they were decorated with little engravings shaped like chili peppers in each of the corners. It took a minute for Ricky to realize why: Lewis Pepper . Ha-ha. It is to laugh. Also, there were skull designs on each of the appliances.

Again: they were really trying to sell ‘haunted house’ when they decorated this place.

Ricky and Mystery each had a ridiculously tall sandwich. (Seriously - how did that much food fit into the fridge? Or into their bodies for that matter?) Then they cleaned up the mess they’d made and proceeded to the library. 

The library!

Considering it was in somebody’s house , the library was enormous - two floors high, and gloriously spooky. Truth be told, Ricky kind of loved it. The whole space was lit by lamps, more rose gold candelabra, and light that streamed in from the tall pink windows. There were two levels of balconies, and every wall was covered in books save a few - where fantastic Japanese paintings of spirits and magnificent beasts were hung, and where there was an enormous flatscreen TV above a stone fireplace. The floorspace was furnished comfortably with several different seating areas and tables that could be for getting work done or for leisure reading.

As Ricky looked around, excited to get started, Vivi’s voice came from the second story balcony. “I was wondering where you two had gone, I was just about to send the Dead Beats to find you.” 

“Kitchen. E was hungry,” Mystery replied. 

“Oh, shoot! I knew I was forgetting something!” Vivi cried, smacking herself on the forehead. “I’m sorry, Mystery- MISTER. E. I’m never going to get this right! ”

Ricky laughed. The names were similar. “It’s alright, Vivi. Mystery took care of it.” 

“How about we get started?” Mystery asked. 

“Absolutely. Now Ricky, could you step into the room please?... Little further. Alright stop, that should be far enough. Now turn around and look up.” 

Ricky did as she asked, and saw that the second story bookshelf on that wall was different from the rest. The books weren’t on shelves . Rather, they were behind rune-covered glass, bound in leather straps, locked in black cage boxes, hung on a mesh wall with black iron hooks, and chained in place. 

Just looking at them, Ricky could tell why. One looked to be bound with human skin, another was glowing an unpleasant green, and one appeared to be breathing , to name a few examples. “ That ,” Vivi said, “is the cursed section. Every book there is not something just anyone should be handling. Even Arthur doesn’t touch those books. And unless you want to end up trapped in one, turned inside-out, or something equally horrifying, I suggest you do the same.” 

“Ggggotcha,” Ricky said with a gulp. 

“The rest of the books in the library are safe though.” Vivi said, crossing the room above and closing a set of shoji blinds to hide the cursed books from sight. “Anyway, let me show you where I think you should get started. Cuz you need at least an overview of this stuff, first. Over here we have-” 

Twenty minutes later, Ricky was descending a spiral staircase with a small stack of books. Vivi had bookmarked specific sections and left it an open invitation to ask any questions he wanted. One thing was for sure: Velma was going to flip at all of this. 

He was just deciding where he wanted to sit when a yell broke the quiet and about 160 pounds of terrified dog leapt into Ricky’s arms, sending books tumbling to the floor. 

“What the- Scooby? ”

At 3:45, Marcie Fleach took her position, invisible, above the hallway where Arthur had told her to. 

Getting her stealth suit back had gone off without a hitch with the help of the Dead Beats, and the passcode had been exactly what Arthur had said it would be. Within the hour , she was ready. 

These instructions were unlike anything Mr. E had ever asked her to do. Because he didn’t really want her to do anything. 

Her instructions were simple: 

• Sit. 
• Wait. 
• Watch. 
• Listen.
• Don’t be seen.
• Don’t be heard. 
• And whatever you do, don’t interfere. 

It was somewhat concerning, and Marcie couldn’t help but wonder what exactly Arthur wanted her to see.

Whatever it was, Marcie was pretty sure she was going to find out soon. Because that’s when Arthur stepped around the corner. 

Already, he was in character. He wasn’t acting like the Arthur she’d met this morning. And yet he wasn’t exactly acting like Mr. E either.

She knew he was supposed to be there, but he didn’t look to be walking anywhere so much as wandering . He wasn’t wearing his jacket, which was rare for Mr. E, and he was carrying a half-empty bottle of alcohol. (But not the same wine she’d seen him leave with earlier.)

What are you up to, Arthur?

Was he drunk ?

Oh God, maybe Mr. E really had lost his mind. 

If Marcie had picked the wrong horse in this race, then she was screwed. 

Hold on, Marcie. You haven’t exactly entirely picked a side yet. He wanted you to be here for a reason, which means he’s probably acting. But why? 

Arthur stopped just a few paces shy of being directly under her, where he was in perfect view of Marcie and the hidden camera. 

He glanced up at her, and bobbed his head. Just once. Just like the Mystery Skulls had in the video. An acknowledgement. He couldn't see her, but he knew exactly where she was supposed to be.

He’s doing this on purpose. 

Arthur’s eyes dropped again, then he leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. He pulled up a knee and quietly began to hum. Then, he softly began to sing. 

“I believe it,

Someone’s heeere. 

They can see me,

And where I’m goin’.

 

I’ve been sleepless

In my head,

Feels like they’re watching me.

People watching me, ah!

 

Feels like I’m losing my mind,

Feels like a dream of me all of the time, baby!

Feels like I’m losing my mind,

Feels like a dream of me all of my life, baby!

 

Every-day I’m losing my mind!”

 

Earlier

Arthur’s meds did kick in eventually. But not before Shaggy drifted off to sleep.

And Scooby stayed with him. 

Because Scooby was a good dog. 

But after a while, the great dane grew restless. Even if he was staying with Shaggy, he couldn’t help but feel that he should be doing more to help. That, and he was getting hungry. They wouldn’t mind if he stopped by the kitchen on the way to the library, right? So Scooby hopped down from Shaggy’s bed and tiptoed out of the room. 

Scooby still wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole ‘haunted house’ thing. On one paw, there were the Dead Beats, who were fun and cute. But on the other paw, even though Scooby knew nothing here would hurt him, he couldn’t help but feel as if the walls had a thousand eyes. He didn’t like it. 

At the next turn, there were a set of paintings ahead. Avoid the paintings, Lewis had said . Scooby whimpered, lowering his head and quickening his pace. 

“What hound is this? Another animal born of sin?!” A priest demanded in his frame, glaring at Scooby and gnashing his sharp teeth. 

Scooby knew he shouldn’t stop, but his whole body froze. “N-n-no,” He whimpered, trembling.

“Unnatural beast!” The painting roared, brandishing his Bible! “Speaking tongues our Lord meant only for man! Begone of this Earth and return to the fiery pits!” And the preacher came partially out of his painting to swipe his claws at Scooby! 

The Great Dane yelped with fright and took off down the hall full speed, the shouts of the priest following him all the way to the end of the hall. Scooby didn’t stop until he was running down the stairs and bounding into the library. An armful of books was sent clattering to the floor as the terrified dog leapt instinctively into a familiar pair of arms. 

But at the sound of a confused voice, Scooby’s wits returned to him in an instant. “Huh?” And he remembered: This isn’t Shaggy. 

The dog stopped shaking and looked apologetically at Mr. E, who was staring at him equal parts bewildered and concerned. 

“Aw, I’m sorry Mr. E. I forgot. I always jump into Raggy’s arms when I’m scared,” Scooby apologized, embarrassed. He half-expected Mr. E to be angry, but he just gently set Scooby down on all four paws. 

“That’s okay, Scooby. Let’s just be glad you didn’t jump into my real arms like that, because it’s likely I would have seriously hurt my back,” he laughed, stretching. 

Scooby laughed too, “Reah, good thing.”

“And hey, just between you and me,” Mr. E leaned in close, “I used to do the same thing into Cassidy’s arms when I was a kid,” he admitted quietly. 

Scooby giggled at the mental image.

As Scooby helped Mr. E pick up the books he dropped, E glanced up at the dog and said, “So… if you don’t mind me asking, what scared you?” 

“Paintings,” Scooby whimpered. 

“ What about the paintings?” Mystery growled from where he was standing by a nearby recliner. 

Scooby gulped. It really didn’t make a lot of sense for him to feel the way he did towards the other dog but… something was off about Mystery. 

Seeing the look on their faces, Mystery took a deep breath. “Sorry. I just don't like to hear that our tenants aren’t being gracious hosts,” The other dog apologized, walking over to them. 

Scooby told them what happened, making faces and swiping out with his claws as he recanted how the Priest had come at him.

“Figures it would be the Priest to cross the line. Don’t mind a thing he says, Scooby. He’s a Bible-thumper - as much a heretic in death as he was in life. And yet he wonders why he wasn’t welcomed into his afterlife. The hypocrite.” 

“I still don’t get it,” Scooby said, “what’d I do?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Scooby,” Mystery reassured him. “The Heretic associates anything quote ‘ abnormal’ as being somehow of the devil. You’re a talking dog , so obviously he thinks you’re evil. But don’t take it to heart. He thinks the same thing about me. He also thinks anyone with a birthmark is a werewolf, that anyone left-handed is marked by Lucifer, and that anyone with acne has been suckling demons. And I’m not even going to repeat what he thinks about women, minorities, and the LGBT - not that he’s allowed to voice those opinions. Of all the humans in the world I don’t like, people like him are near the top of the list. Don’t worry, I’ll handle him.” 

“But didn’t you just say he feels the same way about you?” Ricky asked. 

“The paintings are all comparatively weak spirits - that’s why they have to lurk in paintings. A few of them are decent, but the rest? Cowards. And if there are two people in this house they know not to cross, it’s Lewis and I.”

“Really? Why?” Scooby asked with a tilt of his head. 

Mystery smirked at him, and there was a glint of something devious behind those gold spectacles. “Let’s just say I know a bit of magic.” 

And with that, Mystery trotted off into the depths of the house.  

After that, Scooby didn’t want to be alone so he decided to stay in the library and help out with the research. Mr. E, somewhat surprisingly, had no qualms with sharing his books. But as Scooby started on the first passage Vivi had marked, he found that he couldn’t focus.

Part of it was that he was worried about Shaggy. But the other part… 

Something’s just not right about that dog, Scooby thought.

Granted: apart from his own family, Scooby had never met another talking dog before. And Nova didn’t count because she was possessed. 

But this dog spoke much more clearly than Scooby or any of his family had been able to. And it sometimes seemed to Scooby that he was talking to a much older animal. Almost like talking to Pericles. Or even like talking to “Nova”.

It wasn’t just that, either. Mystery didn’t exactly smell like a dog. He sort of did, but it smelled… fake. And the scent overlapping it reminded Scooby of something he’d been taught to smell for during his brief period as a farm dog: a fox . 

Scooby Doo had no way of knowing how right he was. For in another part of the manor, the Heretic was praying to the very God that had forsaken him, as he stared through his frame at the snarling maw of a seven-tailed beast.

Daphne Blake sighed pensively, looking out the window of the Mystery Machine. 

Absolutely nothing about today had gone the way any of them had thought it would. To think, she’d been plotting to treat the gang today to celebrate taking down the Highway Dandyman. Come to think of it, Daphne had been so proud of herself for outsmarting him. But it didn’t seem to matter so much anymore. 

And of all the things they hadn’t expected today, Mr. E seemed to be one of the things that they hadn’t expected the most. And from everything Daphne had seen so far, it was looking more and more like Cassidy had been right about him . 

Then again, Cassidy had been right about a lot of things. So maybe they shouldn’t be so surprised. 

Jeepers . Cassidy…

It was just so- cruel . The gang had talked with Shaggy in bits and pieces about what had gone down in the Sitting Room, and one thing stuck out in the forefront of Daphne’s mind:

Mr. E didn’t know Cassidy was dead until yesterday. 

Yesterday! 

Angel had been gone for over a month now, and Pericles had only told him yesterday! 

That was just- a really shitty thing to do. Even if Mr. E and Cassidy hadn’t been in a relationship and weren’t getting along near the end, they had still been friends for years and E had cared about her. And according to Shaggy, he had been looking for her. And now that he knew she was gone, his grief was tearing him apart.

Did Daphne trust Mr. E? Yes- no? Maybe? A little?

Did Daphne like Mr. E? She didn’t not like him. At least he didn’t seem to be giving her the creeps anymore. So that was something. And he seemed to be making some effort to amend his past behavior. So… she supposed she at least liked him more than she did yesterday. 

One thing Daphne was sure of was that she felt sorry for him. She couldn’t imagine how she’d feel if anything happened to Fred. They’d had a number of scares throughout their mysteries, but if Freddy actually- no . No, Daphne didn’t want to entertain a thought so awful. Then there was Pericles, Brad, and Judy. Even if their relationship wasn’t exactly the same as the gang’s, he’d still loved them once. Pericles, especially. And now he was grieving for that relationship too. 

Another thing she was sure of was… Daphne was willing to try. 

In spite of everything, Mr. E seemed to be trying to build a bridge between them. Their old bridge was long gone, and it hadn’t been a very good one from the start. But maybe the one he was building in its place would be better. Shaggy definitely seemed to be helping it along from the other side. Was this metaphor getting away from her? Maybe it was. In any case, Daphne had decided that she wanted to join Shaggy in extending a hand. 

But how? 

She needed an olive branch, but she really wasn’t sure what to say and she was worried about messing it up. After all, she and the rest of the gang kept having to stop themselves from calling him Shaggy. And why wouldn’t they? He looked like Shaggy, sounded like Shaggy, dressed like Shaggy, ate (somewhat) like Shaggy. He was a completely different person than Shaggy, but he still had just enough in common with him that he acted a bit like Shaggy sometimes too. 

Whatever Daphne was going to say or do, she didn’t have much longer to figure it out. They’d stopped by each of their houses for essentials, the groceries were bought, and they were on their way back to the Mystery Skulls’ mansion. 

An olive branch… an olive branch… 

Just then, the Mystery Machine passed a parlor. A familiar pattern in the window caught Daphne’s eye. 

Inspiration struck.

“Freddy, stop the car!” 

The Mystery Machine came to a screeching halt. 

“What is it, Daph?” 

But Daphne was already clambering out of the van. She ran around the back and flung the back doors open, shoving grocery bags out of the way until she found Shaggy’s bag. 

“What’re you doing Daphne?” Fred asked. 

“Double-checking what size Shaggy wears to make sure I have it right. I just had an idea! I’ll be right back!” 

Marcie’s muscles were starting to burn from holding her position for so long. 

And all the while, Arthur sang. 

“ If I do thiiis, it’s for real. 

There’s no turning back, 

There’s no turning back. 

 

“I’ve been sleepless,

In my head. 

Feels like they’re watching me,

People watching me!

 

“Feels like I’m losing my mind,

Feels like a dream of me all of the time, baby.”

Then, at precisely 4:15, there came the sound of footsteps. 

Arthur just kept singing, his head against the wall, eyes closed. 

“Feels like I’m losing my mind, 

Feels like a dream of me all of my life, baby.

(Feels like I’m losing my mind)”

 

“ There he is!” Judy’s voice exclaimed shrilly. 

But still, Arthur ignored her. 

“Every day I’m losing my mind! (Feels like they’re watching me)”

“Hello, Ricky . Guess what,” Brad demanded. There was a certain smugness to the way he said it. “Professor Pericles wants to talk to you.” 

And still , Arthur ignored him. 

“Feels like I’m losin’- 

Feels like I’m losin’-

Every day I’m losin’ my mind!”

Their faces fell when their words garnered no reaction.

“Didn’t you hear him? He said Professor Pericles wants to talk to you!” Judy hissed indignantly. 

“Haven’t you two never been told it’s rude to interrupt?” Arthur finally asked, still not looking at them.

“Professor Pericles-”

“Yes, I heard you just fine, and if he wants to talk so damn bad he’s going to have to fly his feathery ass down here himself. Because I don’t particularly feel like moving for him as he lives under my roof, stuffs his face with seeds I paid for, spends my money, and runs everything I’ve built into the ground.”

“Get up , Ricky!” Brad snapped. 

“Fuck off.” 

“Don’t make us drag you, Ricky! You’re in deep shit for that stunt you pulled earlier.” Judy sneered.

“I did not pull any ‘stunt’ earlier.” Arthur said, finally looking at them. “Ah, Judy. You cleaned yourself up. Was the ‘ Carrie’ look not working for you?”  

Judy looked absolutely livid.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s like you said: you have no one to blame but yourself. ” 

“Why you-” 

“That is quite enough, Dear Judy.” 

The parrot was so damn sneaky, even Marcie didn’t see him until Professor Pericles was flying out from between Brad and Judy to perch on the sole of Arthur’s shoe where his leg was sprawled out. 

He didn’t look happy.

“Ah, and so he arrives!” Arthur declared, fanning both arms out dramatically. 

“Put the bottle down, Ricky.” Professor Pericles ordered. 

“Why? Afraid I’m going to dump it on you? Throw it at you? Smash it and come at you with the sharp end?” And with the way his whole body tensed, for a moment Marcie thought he just might do one of those things. And she wasn’t the only one. The silence said it all. The tension could have been cut with a knife. 

The bird’s glare narrowed.

“Nah. I won’t,” Arthur said, slumping back against the wall. He put the bottle down. “That was the cheap shit earlier. And it was red. This stuff’s expensive. And it’s a white wine - wouldn’t create quite the same impact. Besides: if I pulled the same trick twice, it wouldn’t surprise anyone. And you’d take my booze away. What’s the fun in that?”

“ Be quiet !” 

“Why? I have so much to say. I found this new band I like recently, and I was just about to sing another song! It’s been so many years since I last sang, Professor Pericles. I used to be rather good. And I sang for Cassidy all the time. We’d spend hours singing and playing together. Why did I ever stop? Oh, wait. I remember ! Do you want to know why?” 

“If it will cease this ridiculous tantrum you’re throwing,” Pericles spat. 

“ Tantrum ? Oh, Professor Pericles. This right here isn’t a tantrum. In fact I’m behaving rather well at the moment. This is just the way things are now,” Arthur said. Unblinking. Smiling. Leaning closer. 

“But I’m getting off topic!” He laughed, leaning back again. And he sounded too merry when he said it. His abrupt changes in tone were even more unsettling than when he was at his most serious. “Why did I stop singing? It was because of you , Professor Pericles! You should remember well! ‘ Stop that squawking, Vögelchen!’ No matter how much Cassidy loved it, you were the one whose approval I wanted most, and you were the one who put it in my head that my voice was annoying and awful. You did that to me, Professor Pericles! But why should I be fucking surprised? Everything I am, every ugly thing in my head, the ruin I’ve put out into the world as a result - the root cause of it all comes back to you !” 

Nothing could have prepared Marcie for what she saw next. 

Shaking with anger, Professor Pericles pulled out a remote from a pocket in his scarf and pressed the large red button in the center of it. 

The rest happened exactly as Arthur had said it would. 

Mr. E’s entire body collapsed to the floor and seized with agony, spasming uncontrollably like he was having a seizure. He gasped and convulsed, obviously in a lot of pain and Marcie could tell: that can’t be faked. He’s not making this up! Oh my God! Marcie slapped a hand over her mouth to keep her gasp from being overheard. 

Then Arthur must have finally mustered a breath that was deep enough. Because that was when he SCREAMED . 

Marcie had never heard a human scream like that. 

That was what it meant to scream bloody murder . Marcie had heard screams of terror plenty of times. But this sound was suffering incarnate . 

Do something! Make it stop! Save him! But I can’t- just stop! Leave him alone! 

But even if Marcie decided to do something, she couldn’t. For her whole body had frozen up save the tears running down her cheeks beneath her mask.

To Marcie, it seemed like an eternity before Professor Pericles finally stopped. And Arthur laid there, gasping, trembling, and jerking from the aftershocks, drool dripping from a corner of his mouth. 

Let that be it. Leave him alone!

“Let this be a reminder, Vögelchen . Of what happens when you forget your place.” 

But right when the three of them began to turn away, the laughter began. 

Arthur, what are you doing?!

He was laughing . It started low at first, but by the time he rolled over onto his knees, he was cackling . 

“Stop it. What are you doing- how are you standing? ” The bird demanded as Arthur got shakily to his feet. 

“It’s just funny,” Arthur panted. “How much that little power trip of yours seems to delight you. It’s rather pathetic, really.” 

“What is happening? What trick is this?” 

“Trick? There’s no trick. It’s just that your little trick doesn’t seem to hurt as much anymore. Oh don’t get me wrong: it’s agony . I can’t imagine physical pain hurting more. But it doesn’t hurt as much as this does ,” he said, clutching the yellow and white striped fabric above his heart. “As much as that button of yours hurts, with the way it dulls this for a while, it’s almost worth it. Almost .” 

He let go of his shirt and smoothed out his clothing. “But by all means, I’ll be a good boy. I’ll be there when you need me. I’ll sign whatever transactions you need. Give orders on your behalf as if my company is still mine. I’ll be your nice, still little shoulder to perch upon. Like a marionette on strings!” He exclaimed, tilting his head like a puppet. “After all, that’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Is this what you wanted, Professor Pericles? Is it?!” He shouted the last two words.

And for a moment, something flickered across the vile parrot’s face. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared. 

“That’s what I thought. But then again, there is the alternative… I’ve done some reading recently. And if I’m right, then there’s only so much you can use that little button of yours at one time. Otherwise, it’ll kill me. There are any number of ways it could. It could cause damage to the tissues around affected areas - and my spine is kind of important. It could cause paralysis in my heart or my lungs. Give me a stroke, perhaps? I won’t bother to list off the other possibilities. Because you’re so smart, Professor Pericles. I’m sure you know them already. So why don’t you just get it over with ?” 

“Oh my God , you really have lost it.” Brad laughed nervously.

“Kill me.” And there was no mirth in Arthur’s voice. “I dare you. I’m dead anyway.” 

The silence hung in the air like thick fog. And Arthur may have been the most vulnerable of the four of them, but he was the only one who didn’t look scared. 

“That’s what I thought,” he scoffed. “Because we both know I’m more valuable alive. You can’t control my company with me dead. I die, control disperses to Destroido’s shareholders and you lose everything . Pretend I’m useless all you want, Pericles: I’m not a perch , I’m a crutch. I die, you’re fucked. And don’t you forget it.” 

“Sounds awful self-preserving for a suicidal man.” Judy scoffed.

“ Self-preserving? Don’t make me laugh . I’m not saying any of this for my sake . I’m saying it because this is the only way of tormenting you that I have. The only reason I haven’t already killed myself is because I want to live long enough to watch you all burn. None of us are surviving this mystery. And I’m glad! The world will be better off without us in it. But until then, you’re stuck with me. And I want to rub it in your fucking faces. Because it doesn’t matter how much you torture me. I’m done letting you shitstains walk all over me.” He said, swooping down to pick up his wine. 

“I am out of fucks to give,” Arthur continued. “It’s like I said, Professor Pericles: I’ll be your good boy . But I’d prefer to spend as little of my remaining time on Earth with you shits as possible. So don’t ask for my input - because I know you won’t listen to me anyway. And unless you explicitly need me for something, leave me the fuck alone .” 

And with that, he began to walk in the direction of his rooms, flipping off Brad and Judy as he passed. “You stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours. And no more of this hunting me down or ‘popping in’ bullshit. It’s harassment . Don’t insult my intelligence by calling it something else.” 

“Don’t walk away from me, Ricky Owens!” Professor Pericles shouted. 

“Too late. I kind of already am.” 

“ This isn’t what I wanted! ” Pericles roared. 

That made Arthur stop. And from where she was, Marcie was the only one who could see it, but he was smirking. 

“I wanted you on my side- at my side!”

Arthur sighed, “Oh Professor Pericles…” 

He turned around. And Marcie wasn’t so sure if he was acting anymore. The pain and the anger on his face was so raw and so real that it even affected Marcie. 

“You should have thought of that before you cursed me to live in a world without her in it.”

And that’s how he left them. 

Stunned into frozen silence. 

Mystery reappeared fairly quickly, looking pleased with himself. His ‘talk’ with the Priest apparently went well. 

A while later, Shaggy came downstairs from his nap and joined them in their work in the library, feeling much better now that the meds had kicked in. 

Velma and Lewis arrived back at the manor not long after. And Velma’s reaction to the library was exactly what Ricky expected it to be: delight. 

They studied, asked and answered questions, bounced ideas off of each other, connected dots, and made notes until Fred and Daphne got back, by which time they had some theories coming together and Ricky was somehow getting hungry again.  

When Daphne and Fred arrived, everyone paused what they were doing and took a break to help unload the Mystery Machine, which was packed with bags and groceries. They took care of the food first, then the gang (plus Ricky) took their overnight bags upstairs. Shaggy tried to change into one of his signature green shirts, but the second the Mystery Skulls saw him walk out of his room in green , there was a loud collective “NO!” 

“Like, okay okay. What gives?” Shaggy asked, taking the green garment off. 

“Sorry, Shaggy. We didn’t mean to come on so strong. It’s just… you probably forgot, but we mentioned to you earlier that Arthur is extremely adverse to the color green,” Vivi winced.

“If he saw his own body wearing that color, he’d probably go into a full-on anxiety attack on the spot,” Mystery elaborated. 

“Alright, alright. Like, I won’t wear green. I just like, figured it would be easier for you guys to remember that I’m me if I wore this.” 

“How about this, Shaggy?” Daphne asked, fishing a red t-shirt out of Shaggy’s bag. “I saw it in the back of your closet.”

“Oh yeah. Like, my Aunt gave me that shirt for Christmas last year. She’s like, colorblind. So she bought the wrong color.” Shaggy said, putting it on.

“By the way Mr. E,” Daphne said as everyone was dispersing, “remember what Shaggy said about helping people remember who’s who? I actually had a similar thought.” 

And from behind her back, Daphne revealed a large paper shopping bag. 

Oh no, she spent money on me.

“Daphne… you didn’t have to-” 

“Just open it.” Daphne said quickly, thrusting the bag into his hands.

She sounds even more nervous than I am. Ricky, whatever’s in this bag, you’re going to act damn grateful for it.   

Ricky reached into the bag and pulled out fabric of a very familiar pattern and color. 

Oh my God. She didn’t.

But she had. 

By some force of fate or sheer Daphne-ness, Daphne had found his shirt . The same yellow and white stripes he’d worn for most of his life. 

It was a simple, practical gesture. Wearing this shirt instead of Shaggy’s would remind everyone to call him Mr. E. And yet Ricky couldn’t help but be struck by how thoughtful it was. 

“Daphne, I- I don’t even have the words. Thank you.”

Daphne visibly brightened when she saw how much he liked the gift. “It was nothing, really. I figured it might help you feel a little bit more in your own skin , even if you’re not- technically- in your own skin. Sorry.”

Ricky snorted. “I really appreciate it, Daphne. Thank you.”

Maybe it was silly. But as Ricky ducked into his room to change, he could scarcely keep the smile off his face. 

Arthur managed to keep up the act until he was safely back in Mr. E’s rooms with the door shut and locked behind him. Then he slumped against the door and hugged himself, all his nerves spilling out at once. 

Bile rose in the back of his throat and Arthur dropped the wine on a table, bolted into the bathroom, and promptly threw up in the toilet. He retched until his stomach was empty, then retched a little more. Then once the nausea subsided enough that he was no longer puking his guts out, Arthur closed the lid, flushed, and slumped back against the wall, a hiss of pain escaping from between his teeth as he slowly lowered his weight to the floor. 

Fuck, everything was sore. And Pericles was even more merciless than he’d been this morning. Arthur sighed, panting, and leaned back against the wall, eyes closed. It had taken everything he had to ignore the aftershocks during his performance. If he didn’t have so much practice from hiding his ghost pains, he never would have been able to do it.  

There came three worried trills from the doorway. 

Arthur tiredly looked over at the Dead Beats, cooing softly with sad, cute little faces. He reached out, still catching his breath, and the little ghosts slithered through the air to wrap themselves around him in a warm hug. 

“Thanks you guys,” Arthur sighed quietly. “I know you didn’t like staying here, not being able to protect me. But I really needed you to.”

One of the Dead Beats warbled and beeped at him. He didn’t understand, but he was pretty sure he knew what it was asking. 

Arthur sniffed, blinking the tears out of his eyes. “Yeah… it was really hard for me too.” And damn it, his voice cracked. 

The Dead Beats broke out into a new round of sympathetic noises and cuddled him a little tighter, making soothing, rhythmic tones and vibrations. 

They stayed there on the floor for a little bit, then eventually Arthur got up, rinsed his mouth and brushed his teeth to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth, washed his face, and moved into Ricky’s bedroom to lie down for a bit while his blood pressure eased. Arthur was getting hungry, and he really needed to take care of this body while he was in it. But he supposed he ought to wait until the panic attack fully subsided, lest he throw up again. 

Alright, Arthur thought after a few minutes. Now what? 

He needed to wait a bit before making his next move. Pericles, Brad, and Judy were in shock, but their wits would return. And they would be watching him closely.

Which… could be a good thing. Because with their eyes so firmly fixed on ‘Ricky’, they were less likely to notice some unrelated odd happenings around the place. Or that Marcie was on the move. 

If Marcie was on the move. 

Arthur had once again gambled. A lot rode on how Marcie reacted to what she’d seen. 

If she’d been up there. 

Seriously. Considering she was supposed to be invisible , how was Arthur to know if she’d even been there? 

And if she wasn’t up there… That would be a problem. Because Arthur sure as hell would not be doing that again!

Right then, there came an urgent knock on the front door.

Now what?

“Guys, who is it?” Arthur asked. 

The Dead Beats sped off to the entrance and Arthur followed, waiting cautiously by the kitchen doorway. 

The spirits disappeared through the wall, and a moment later they returned trilling happily and waving Arthur over, indicating he should open the door. 

It’s probably Marcie.

When Arthur opened the door, he didn’t see Marcie. But rather, a human-shaped discrepancy moved briskly past him and into the room. Once Arthur shut and locked the door behind her, Marcie turned off her suit’s invisibility and took her mask off. 

When Marcie became visible again, so did her bag. The first thing she did was reach into it and thrust a laptop into his arms. 

A laptop! Excitement welled in him!

Surprised, Arthur looked between the laptop and Marcie, who was digging into her bag for her own tablet. 

Marcie looked a little disheveled - her eyes were red and puffy, like she’d just gotten done with a good cry. Aw, I knew seeing that would be awful, but I didn’t expect it to make her cry. 

“Mr. E- Arthur , whoever you are, I don’t care,” She sniffed. “We,” she said hoarsely, her face set in determination, “are going to kick some serious ass!” 

His gamble had paid off.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Thanks to Lewis and Velma, they now had resources from the Haunted Museum, the chest of clues from Darrow University, and the books the Mystery Skulls had collected from the Darrow Library to go through along with the Mystery Skulls’ vast collection. 

Mystery Inc. was already familiar with the Darrow University texts. As was Mr. E, who was the one who stole them and sent them to the gang in the first place. But it was new to the Mystery Skulls and there was a lot of new information to be taken from their new sources.

They kept at it for another couple of hours, and Daphne only became distracted when, at about 6:30 or so, she was putting a couple of dead-end books back on the top floor of the library and a painting caught her eye. 

It wasn’t exactly Daphne’s style, but all the same there was something beautiful about it. It wasn’t moving or otherwise haunted. In fact, it was quite different from most of the paintings in the house. It was Japanese, for starters. And it was old. Very old - so old that the Mystery Skulls had seen fit to display it behind glass. It was of a warrior, her sword raised in combat against an enormous… Wolf? With multiple tails. 

There was something familiar about that warrior… and the creature she was fighting. 

“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Vivi asked.

“Who is she?” Daphne asked.

“That,” Vivi said proudly, “Is Mushi. She was a warrior of the Onna-musha - basically the female equivalent of the samurai. She was also my ancestor.” 

“Oh, really? Wow! She was beautiful.” Daphne said.

“Yeah, the blue hair is kind of a dead giveaway,” Vivi laughed.

“So… what’s that she’s fighting?” Daphne asked. 

It didn’t escape her notice the way Vivi hesitated before she answered. “A kitsune,” she finally said. “A powerful shape-shifting fox spirit. There’s a legend in my family that Mushi fought beside one. I’ve been told… that I have a lot in common with her.” 

“Must be where you get your ‘warrior spirit’ , huh?” Daphne teased. 

“Girl. You have no idea.” Vivi said with complete seriousness. 

Daphne never got to ask her what she meant by that, because that’s when everyone’s attention was seized by Velma popping out of a pile of books on the bottom floor. 

“Jinkies! Guys, take a look at this!” 

Vivi and Daphne turned away from the painting and looked over the railing to look down on the others. 

“What is it, Velma?” Fred asked. 

“This book is a sort of encyclopedia on magical artifacts. Take a look at this: The Daemon Ritus.” And she turned around to show the gang an illustration of a small, pyramid-like object. 

The Mystery Skulls looked at each other and winced.

“It says here that this object is capable of removing protoplasms and displacing them!” Velma exclaimed excitedly. 

“Okay Velma. Like, pretend that no one here understands what that means.” Shaggy said pointedly. 

“Velma-” Vivi started, but Velma interrupted.

“It can take a soul out of one body and put it into another one!” 

“Oh. Like, oh!” Shaggy cried. 

“Uh, guys…” Lewis said.

“This could switch our bodies back!” Mr. E exclaimed, getting excited. 

“We destroyed it!” Vivi blurted out. 

Mystery Inc. whirled around to look up at her. 

“Sorry to burst your bubble, guys.” Mystery said. 

“But why?” Shaggy exclaimed, banging his head against a table with frustration. 

“Keep reading. Just another paragraph down.” 

Velma’s eyes scanned the page, and she visibly paled. “Oh. Jinkies…” She said quietly. 

“Yeah. If we hadn’t destroyed it, an ancient race of demons would have used it to take over the world,” Vivi said.

“Ah, yes. The Spooky Island mystery.” Mystery said fondly. 

“That one probably would’ve made us famous, but the federal government covered it up in the end.” Lewis pouted. “Something about not wanting to cause a panic.” 

“I thought you guys said body swapping was a new one for you,” Fred said.

“Well we never actually saw the Daemon Ritus transfer a soul into a different vessel,” Vivi explained. “It was meant to steal the energy of many souls and transfer their power into one entity - which we stopped them from doing before they completed that step.”

“So as helpful as it would be to have it right now, between dealing with this and the world being already over, I’ll take this any day,” Mystery said.

“No kidding,” Scooby gulped.

“You know what? I think we’re at a good stopping point for now,” Lewis said. “I’m going to get dinner started.”

“I know I could use a break,” Fred agreed. 

“Like, yeah!” Shaggy said. “If you’re half as good at making enchiladas as flipping pancakes, then this’ll be great!” 

“Oh boy!” Scooby licked his lips. 

As they left the library behind, Daphne couldn’t help but glance back at the painting of Mushi and the kitsune. There was something important about it, she was sure of it! 

But what?

Dinner with the Mystery Skulls was a surprisingly enjoyable affair. 

Mr. E, Shaggy, and Scooby helped in the kitchen with Vivi and Lewis while Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Mystery sat at the table and watched them work under Lewis’ direction.

Making dinner went pretty smoothly - for the most part. Scooby was eventually kicked out of the cooking process when Lewis noticed him sneaking before-dinner bites. Shaggy, being in Arthur’s body without his usual appetite, had much better self-control. 

Lewis turned on one of his playlists as they worked, and dinner was nearly done when a Mystery Skulls song came on. 

The enchiladas were assembled, the chili sauce and cheese was lathered generously on top, all four pans were in the oven, and the side dishes were all coming along nicely. Yes indeed, a blend of truly wonderful smells was filling the kitchen when Vivi’s voice crescendoed through the speakers. 

“Soul on- soul on- soul on fire tonight. 

Soul on- soul on- soul on fire tonight!...” 

Vivi and Lewis’ faces absolutely lit up when they realized what song was on and without even having to exchange a word about it, they exchanged flirtatious smirks and began to bob their heads.

Lewis sang along,

“I was born poor, I’ll probably die poor,”

“Was born with nothing and I’ll die with less.

Hearing you singin’s got me singin’ too,

It keeps me dreaming, all I dream is you, Oh.”

Beside Velma, Daphne smiled dreamily and leaned next to Fred. Oh, brother .

As the beat of the synth ascended, Lewis and Vivi sashayed across the kitchen until they were together. The Dead Beats, having come to the sound of music, delightedly began to swirl around the room, bouncing and trilling to the beat. And as the lyrics returned, the Master and Lady of the house began to dance. 

Vivi came in for the background vocals. 

“Tell~ me!”

Then Lewis with the lyrics. 

“You got my soul on fire tonight!”

“Tell~ me!” 

“You’ve got my love, stare into the fire.”

“Tell~ me!”

“You’ve got my soul on fire tonight!”

“Tell~ me!”

“You’ve got my love stare- love stare!”

As the chorus repeated and Lewis and Vivi continued to rotate around the room, laughing and singing together, Velma’s eyes wandered to the others. Mystery looked pleased - clearly he approved of the relationship. Shaggy and Scooby, the goofballs (who clearly knew nothing about romantic love but that was a whole other thing) were tapping their toes. Daphne was sending Fred signals, and as usual Fred wasn’t receiving them. 

And then there was Mr. E. 

His posture was relaxed at his station, where he was keeping an eye on the black beans and rice. He was smiling, tapping his fingers and lightly nodding his head to and fro with the music. But there remained that deep sadness and longing in his eyes that Velma had caught on his face several times at random moments throughout the day, and she knew he must be thinking of Angel. 

With everything else going on, Velma had to remind herself that the wound was fresh for him and he was trying to stay strong and productive through his grief. But all the same… was it terrible that it kind of pissed her off?

The pattern from the chorus broke with Vivi singing, 

“Soul on- soul on- soul on fire tonight. 

Soul on- soul on- soul on fire tonight!...” 

Then Lewis came in with the next verse. 

“Feelin’ my dreams are never comin’ true. 

Was on my nightmare til’ it came to you.

Making me feel just like I wanted to, 

You keep me dreaming, all I dream is you. Oh! ”

Then as the instrumentals crested once more, Lewis picked Vivi up effortlessly under her legs and lifted her into the air against his chest. Vivi shrieked with laughter, her arms thrown around his neck.  

Through all her cynicism, it was enough to make even Velma feel all mushy inside just looking at how happy they were together. They were so caught up in each other that they actually missed the first few lines of their return vocals. But their voices on the radio did just fine at supplementing the chorus over the sound of the lovers’ giggling. 

“Tell~ me!”

“You’ve got my soul on fire tonight!”

“Tell~ me!” 

“You’ve got my love, stare into the fire.”

“Tell~ me!”

“You’ve got my soul on fire tonight!”

“Tell~ me!”

“You’ve got my love stare- love stare!”

As the chorus repeated and the rest of the song trailed off into repeating vocals that blended with the instrumentals, Vivi grabbed Lewis by the ascot and pulled him into a kiss. 

The Dead Beats broke out into happy noises at the sight. Mystery, looking extremely pleased, looked away respectfully. Mr. E did the same, albeit while red in the face at the open display of affection. (Mr. E blushing! Definitely something that never occurred to Velma.) Daphne gushed, Freddy was smiling, and Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other and fake gagged. Of course. 

“Alright, alright. Settle down everyone,” Vivi giggled, her cheeks pink as her boyfriend set her down. 

“Sorry about that - when it comes to that song it’s easy for us to get carried away,” Lewis said with a shit-eating grin on his face. But even as he apologized Vivi was leaning against him and reaching for his hand to interlock their fingers. 

“I think it was just wonderful! Oh, it’s so romantic!” Daphne said delightedly. 

Right then, one of the timers went off for their food. 

“Eh, Lewis? What do you want me to do with this?” Mr. E asked. 

“Just stir it and turn the heat down as low as it’ll go to keep it warm until the rest is done,” Lewis said, leaving Vivi’s side to go help.

Before long, dinner was served. 

Given that they’d eat just about anything, most people often disagreed with Shaggy and Scooby on the concept of what tasted good (this was the same pair who loved clam-flavored ice cream and had once gorged themselves on years-old gator burgers), but in this case Shaggy was right. Lewis was a really good cook. While the Pepper’s restaurant, Pepper Paradiso, specialized in spicy food, Lewis adjusted his recipes to take his guests’ tastes into consideration. He’d made four batches of enchiladas: one beef, one chicken, and one of each of the original recipe, with sauce spicy enough to melt your tongue off. At least to the standards of literally everyone except Lewis, Vivi, Scooby, and Mr. E. 

How that came about was actually quite funny. Shaggy, still thinking as if he was still in his own body, tried to shove an entire spicy beef enchilada into his mouth at once and literally belched fire. He was so shocked by Arthur’s taste buds that he nearly threw up, and Scooby had to rush in to save the day by yanking his tongue out of his mouth and dousing it with ketchup to douse the heat. Then Lewis brought him an entire half-gallon jug of milk.

It wasn’t exactly funny at the moment, but once it was established that Shaggy wasn’t literally dying, everyone had a good laugh over it. 

“L-like, I’d forgotten what spicy food’s like to someone who like, doesn’t have the mouth for it,” Shaggy wheezed. 

“‘Someone who doesn’t have the mouth for it,’” Velma echoed thoughtfully, “Hey Mr. E, how well do you handle spicy food? When you’re in your own body, I mean.” 

Mr. E held up a finger ‘just a moment’, while he chewed the bite of rice and black beans in his mouth. “Not very well,” he laughed after he swallowed. “I remember I went on a trip to New Orleans one summer with Cassidy and her family, and they put cajun in everything there. The Williamses teased me the whole time - all in good fun, of course.” And again, he was smiling, but Velma could tell that through his pain the memory of her was bittersweet.

If you loved her so much, then why weren’t you her ally- our ally? Why couldn’t you have treated her the way she deserved when she was still alive? Velma thought. But she kept those thoughts to herself. After all, Velma knew the power of the curse, so she knew it wasn’t entirely his fault. She also knew that all on his own, he’d broken free of it and was trying to do better. 

But still, those bitter feelings persisted.

“Alright then Mr. E, inquiring young minds want to know,” Velma said, putting a spicy chicken enchilada on a plate and sliding it over to him. “Same person, different body. How does he fare?”

Mr. E gulped, looking around at everyone’s expectant faces as if to ask for help. “Do I have to?” 

“I mean, no one’s gonna make you,” Scooby said.

“But it is for science,” Velma said mischievously. 

“Who knows? Maybe it’ll provide a clue,” Daphne said, going along with it. 

“This is revenge, isn’t it?” Mr. E asked dryly. 

“Maybe,” all five members of Mystery Inc. said at once. 

“Fine,” he sighed, rolling his eyes.

After a moment of trepidation, he took a bite. 

The first good sign was that he didn’t immediately spit it out. Then he hummed, pleasantly surprised as he chewed, and swallowed. “Huh. So this is the appeal with spicy food.” 

“Well? What’s it like?” Daphne asked. 

“Weird,” he replied. “I know for a fact that I’d be having about the same reaction Shaggy did if I was in my own body, but Shaggy’s taste buds are used to it so it’s just… good. Really good, actually. All the flavor with none of the pain. Thanks again for the meal, Lewis.” He said, taking another bite.

“I’m glad you like it,” Lewis said, looking very proud of himself. “I’ve been in the kitchen with the Peppers for as long as I can remember.” 

“‘With the Peppers?’ Don’t you mean your parents?” Fred asked. 

“Oh, I’m adopted,” Lewis said. “I don’t remember much of my birth parents. They died in an incident with a monster when I was… three or four, I think? Maybe five? But the Peppers have never treated me any differently from their own kids. I consider them my parents, and their bio kids are my sisters. They’re really good people.” 

“That’s terrible!” Daphne exclaimed. 

“It is,” Lewis shrugged. “But it doesn’t bother me much anymore. Maybe it’s not fair to them, but I remember so little of my bio parents that I don’t think of them much, and the Peppers are wonderful. They taught me everything I know about food.” 

“I think I can understand that,” Fred said. “I’m… I guess ‘adopted’ too. My Mayor-Dad may have kinda, sorta, kidnapped me. And he wasn’t the best parent… a lot of times. But at the end of the day, he still raised me, and I know he loved me. Especially after everything that happened with my ‘real’ Mom and Dad, I consider him more my father than them.” 

“I’m sorry you weren’t as lucky as I was in the family category,” Lewis said. 

“You said your parents were killed by a monster?” Mr. E asked thoughtfully. “There are monsters in… where were you guys from again? I know it’s in Texas. It was… Tempo, right?” 

“Oh, no. I mean yeah sure, there are mysteries abound to be found in Tempo, but my parents didn’t die there. We were from Crystal Cove originally, remember? Otherwise we wouldn’t be part of your curse. No - they died here. In Crystal Cove. I moved to Tempo with the Peppers.” 

“Waitwaitwait- when did this happen? This would have been during my group’s time, wouldn’t it? I think I would have remembered a monster actually killing people during my Mystery solving days!”

“That’s because it didn’t happen during your mystery solving days,” Mystery said sadly. His ears were down, and his brows were furrowed. “It happened about two months after you left.” 

“What?”

“You think the curse stopped after it got rid of you? It took almost a year for monsters to stop appearing after the Original Mystery Incorporated disappeared. I’m sure you all remember how chaotic Crystal Cove was during Crybaby Clown’s reign without Mystery Inc. to maintain the balance. Well let me tell you: 20 years ago, it was a lot worse. With multiple monsters on the loose getting increasingly violent without anyone able to stop them. Come to think of it, they didn’t stop appearing until after the not-yet-formed Mystery Skulls left Crystal Cove,” Mystery said thoughtfully. 

“How do you know all that?” Scooby asked. 

A look flashed across Mystery’s face like he’d been caught, but it disappeared just as quickly. “Vivi’s Dad and Grandma Yukino told me about it,” he dismissed the topic and buried his face in his dinner. 

Vivi and Lewis also went straight to eating, avoiding their guests’ eyes. 

Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Mr. E all looked at each other. They knew that look well enough. 

The Mystery Skulls had yet another thing they were holding off on telling them. 

But what?

Whatever it was, it was apparent that the Mystery Skulls didn’t think it was the right time to share it, if at all. 

The table fell into silence for a few minutes, broken only by the clink of dinnerware. 

How to get them talking again? Velma wondered. 

She looked around the table and once again her eyes fell on Mr. E, working his way through a plate piled as high as Scooby and Vivi’s. If talking about the past had been what got the Mystery Skulls to slip up, then maybe Velma could hit two birds with one stone. There was something she’d been meaning to ask…

“Hey Mr. E,” Velma said casually. 

“Hm?” He acknowledged through a mouthful of beef. 

“You never finished your story earlier.” 

The entire table abruptly went quiet. Mr. E, yet again looking very put-on-the-spot, swallowed the food in his mouth. “Oh. You mean from back at the hilltop? When you asked why I went back to Pericles?” 

Velma nodded. “We don’t have to talk about it now, but given that we’re all together and no one was saying anything else, I figured now’s as good a time as any.” 

“No, no. You’re right. You all deserve the rest of my explanation. It’s fine that you’re still angry with me. In fact, it’s to be expected,” he said, sulking a little. 

“I’m not angry,” Velma said, to her own surprise as much as his. “At least not as angry as I was this morning, after everything that’s happened today. I just… want to understand.” 

He was so surprised it took him a second to respond. “Okay then… Let’s see… where did we leave off? Right. When I reached out to Velma. I’m good to tell you the rest of it, now. If that’s alright with everyone else.” 

There were nods all around. 

“Okay. So, when I was telling you all this story earlier I had actually gotten a little ahead of myself. I’d lost your trust - rightfully so. Sorry about the Obliteratrix, by the way. Alice took it further than I meant for her to, but it really was all special effects. I never would have actually hurt any of you.” 

“At this point I’m too exhausted to even be mad at you. For now just consider it water under the bridge,” Velma said dryly.

“Thanks for not actually blowing up the Mystery Machine,” Fred sighed gratefully.

“Really? I mean- okay then. Anyway - Ed was dead, and Cassidy and I were hardly speaking anymore, much less working together. So after I drove Velma and Hot Dog Water against me, I couldn’t get anyone else to work with me. No one else wanted to, because I’d given in to my own greed and other bullshit, and it made me treat the people around me in ways they didn’t deserve. Everyone, that is… except one.” He sighed and looked away in shame, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“At the time I came to see you Velma, if I recall correctly you all were in the middle of the Graveyard Ghoul mystery. You were out by yourself looking for clues while the rest of the gang was otherwise occupied.” 

“Stuffing their faces with German chocolate,” Velma confirmed, giving the gang the side-eye. All of them shrugged guiltily.

“Well, here’s the part you don’t know,” Mr. E sighed. “A few days prior, Professor Pericles had called a meeting of the Original Mystery Incorporated - the first time all five of us had been together in twenty years. None of us would have gone if we’d known he was the one who called the meeting, but he tricked us. Cassidy, Brad, and Judy all thought that I’d arranged the meeting, and I was under the impression that Cassidy had called it. Then he showed up,” Mr. E growled, his scowl making him look more like himself than Velma had seen him all day. 

“He offered a partnership - told us that you kids had another disk piece and that our best chance of getting the better of you was to work together again. Now, to be clear, I am not completely stupid. Neither are Brad and Judy, and Cassidy certainly wasn’t. That , we all actually agreed on at the time. We looked at him individually, and told him to go fuck himself. Not in those words exactly, but to the same effect.”

Several people snorted at that. 

“But of course that was all part of his plan. He’s a patient bird. He had bid his time, watched from the shadows, and he knew exactly when to strike. He’d already murdered Ed, nudged Angel and I apart, egged me on and nudged my isolation along, then he started dropping in.

“After you refused my offer and left me Velma, you didn’t see it. But right after you left, he was there. Perched on a tree branch right above us, having watched the whole thing. He knew how desperate I was to have someone by my side. He knew exactly where I’d be and what I was going to do before I did it, and he was there lying in wait when the sting of rejection was fresh and I was ripe for the picking. ‘The others won’t work with me, so that leaves only you, Ricky. My sweet Ricky’.” He said mockingly.  

“God ,” He sighed, running a hand over his face. “I knew he was being manipulative, and I still gave him exactly what he wanted. He knew me, and he knew exactly what to say. He knew what I wanted most was impossible, but he dangled such a convincing illusion of it in front of my nose that I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. He played me so well that eventually, I thought our partnership was my idea,” he scoffed, shaking his head at his past self, “what a joke. So that’s it, Velma. That’s how I wound up back under Pericles’ thumb. Because I was stupid and pathetic.” 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” 

All eyes snapped over to Mystery. The little dog looked absolutely livid . But once he saw everyone looking at him he got a grip on himself, his lips lowering over his teeth and his fur lying flat on his back. He looked over at Mr. E and smiled sadly. 

The table was quiet for a few moments. 

“Okay,” Velma finally said. 

“Okay?” Mr. E echoed. 

“There was a lot there. But I think I understand better now. Thank you for telling us,” Velma said, going back to her food. She… really wasn’t sure what to say or do with that information. Not yet anyway. But for now she wanted Mr. E to know that she was okay with him being there. Even with all their history and her mixed feelings and everything else… She trusted people. Maybe that was a weakness of hers, but she wanted to give him another chance. He’d earned it. 

“Good job, Ricky.” Mystery said, following suit. 

Everyone else eventually went back to their dinner as well. Mr. E was the last to pick up his fork again, looking around incredulously at the others as if he couldn’t believe how fine they were with his confession. 

“Oh. And, Mr. E?” Velma said. 

He looked at her like he was expecting the other shoe to drop. 

But all Velma said was, “Don’t be so hard on yourself.” 

Then she went right back to her dinner. And after another moment of processing, Mr. E did the same. 

“... Thanks, Velma.” 

Ricky was tense for the rest of the meal. At any moment, he anticipated… something. Some sort of reprimand or consequence for what he’d told them. Mocking, teasing, jabs, the silent treatment, anything. 

But nothing of the sort ever happened. The meal just continued oddly… normal. The Gluten Demon was brought up and that led to Mystery Incorporated recounting the Headless Horror mystery and telling the Mystery Skulls all about how they’d met Dr. Rick Spartan, Cachinga, and Marian for the first time. Vivi took her scarf off and she and Velma compared turtlenecks. Fred, Daphne, and Lewis talked about ascots and men’s fashion. Shaggy and Scooby were… Shaggy and Scooby. And Ricky was… there. They didn’t push him to talk or join in, but they didn’t ignore him either. Nor did they seem at all displeased that he was with them. 

It was strange, yet also sort of perfect. 

I don’t deserve this, he thought to himself. But is it selfish of me to enjoy it while I have it anyway? 

Between the nine of them, they absolutely demolished dinner. There would be zero leftovers to be found the next day, that was for sure. They all pitched in to get the dishes where they needed to be and straightened up the table. Which went without incident until Velma, her arms full of dirty plates, asked Mr. E to open a door for her. Or rather, she tried to. 

“Hey Mystery, could you please get the door for me?” 

Of course he didn’t acknowledge her, thinking she was talking to the dog. And Mystery was on the other side of the room and thought she was talking to the human. 

“Hey Mystery-” Then Velma realized what she’d said. “Oh my God, now I’m doing it!” She exclaimed. “Mister. E. Could you please open this door for me?” Velma asked again, pronouncing both words this time.

“Oh, you were talking to me. Sorry Velma, I got it,” He said, rushing to get the door for her. 

“I’m the one who got your name wrong. Why are you apologizing?” She asked, stepping into the kitchen. 

Not a minute later everyone was in the kitchen helping put everything away and get all the dishes in the sink when Lewis popped his head in from the dining room. “Hey, Mr. E?” 

“Yeah?” Ricky and Mystery both said at once. 

“Oh. Hehe. Sorry. I don’t know which one I said now. Uh- Mister. E, as in the homo sapien, you left your jacket on the back of your chair.” 

“Oh! Thanks, Lewis.” Ricky said, accepting his jacket from Lewis and putting it on. 

“You know what? This isn’t working.” Vivi said, putting her arms up in the air.

Then she asked a question that absolutely nothing that had happened thus far today could have prepared him for.

“Hey, E? Would you mind if we started calling you Ricky?”

You could almost hear the record scratch as the entire room suddenly went dead quiet, staring at them. 

“I mean- sorry if that was overstepping,” Vivi said. “It’s just that between you and Mystery, your names are so similar that they keep getting mixed up. And even when we get them right, whenever we say either of your names, both of you look up. Mystery doesn’t exactly have another name to fall back on, and you do.”

“I mean I do have another name but humans can’t exactly say it,” Mystery added. 

“Ricky does suit him,” Lewis said.

“Or if that makes you uncomfortable, could we call you Mr. Owens?” 

“No,” Ricky said a little too harshly. But he immediately caught himself. “Sorry- no. It’s just- Mr. Owens was my father. I never really got to be Mr. Owens, and the few times I’ve ever been called that it just feels wrong. So I suppose… Ricky’s fine. You can call me either/or. As long as you kids are okay with calling me that,” he said, turning to the new Mystery Inc.

“I mean- it would be the practical thing to do,” Fred said. “As long as you’re okay with us calling you that, E- or um… Ricky?” 

Velma was staring at him with her eyes narrowed, arms crossed, hand held up to her chin deep in thought. She crossed the room to stand in front of him and sort of leaned in to look at him closely.

“Uh… what?” Ricky gulped, looking around the room for help.

After a tense moment of scrutinization, she finally broke the awkward silence. 

“Ricky,” She said, testing it out. Then she turned around and stepped out of his space. “Yeah, I think I could get used to it.” 

Ricky let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in.

“Me too! Uh, I think.” Scooby said.

“Like, yeah. It’s kinda weird but it’s like Velma said. Like, I could get used to it.” Shaggy shrugged. 

“If you’d asked this morning I’d’ve been like ‘no way’. But now… Ricky … Yeah this’ll work,” Daphne said. 

And that was how Ricky graduated to a first-name basis. 

What a fucking day. 

Once the dishes were all in the sink, the Mystery Skulls told their guests to go wait for them in one of the central dens. 

“We’re not going back to the library?” Scooby asked. 

“The library isn’t exactly ideal for the conversation we promised you after dinner,” Vivi laughed. 

Six sets of eyes widened. Clearly, Lew-Lew’s mad kitchen skills had made them all temporarily forget what came after dinner. 

“You mean-” Daphne started to say, but Lewis cut her off. 

“Yeah. We’re going to spill the beans on what we’ve been keeping from you,” Lewis said. He said it with a smile, but Vivi knew him well enough to see that he was nervous. 

Lewis and Vivi refused all offers of help with the dishes so that as their guests’ footsteps faded off with Mystery leading them to where they needed to be, Vivi and Lewis had a moment alone to talk. 

“Alright. How do you want to go about this?” Lewis asked, scrubbing the largest pans first. 

“I have an idea as to what would be the best approach.” 

They talked for a few minutes until they had a plan. Then Vivi asked: “Do you think we should tell them about… ‘our informant’ after that?” 

“No,” Lewis said immediately. “It’s too much. Especially for Ricky. They’re bound to be freaking out enough about the other stuff as it is. Give them a night to process and rest. Then we’ll tell them in the morning before she gets here. It’ll be a big enough shock as it is without their blood pressure already being up because of us.” 

“Ricky’s in a lot of pain because he thinks she’s dead. And he blames himself for it. He’s… a lot like Arthur. The longer we wait to tell him, the angrier he’ll be.” 

“I know. But this isn’t about us. And trust me: today is not a good time to tell him. According to the Dead Beats… There was an incident with one of the mirrors in his room. That’s why it took him so long to come down earlier. Whatever he saw really upset him - don’t worry, the Dead Beats went ahead and moved the mirror to the basement. Anyway, Ricky’s pretending to be fine, but he’s not. We tell him that she’s alive and on her way here, he’ll have an anxiety attack or worse. And he won’t sleep a wink tonight. We don’t want that. He seriously needs to relax.”

“You’re right,” Vivi agreed with a sigh. “Dammit, I don’t like it. But you’re right.” 

“Then it’s decided.” Lewis said, drying his hands as Vivi shut the dishwasher. “Minus Arthur’s part in our story, we tell them the truth about us tonight. And in the morning… we tell them the truth about who sent us back to Crystal Cove.” 

“My personal favorite theory is coven of witches,” Ricky shrugged. 

“I’m still holding out hope for ‘secret trapping club.'” Fred said giddily.

“Seriously?” Velma deadpanned. 

“No, but it’s funny to speculate,” Ricky chuckled.

Mystery had led them into a large yet cozy room with a high ceiling and tall, gothic rafters. There was plenty of seating space for all of them and a large roaring fireplace, above which hung a large not-moving print of the Mystery Skulls all together. Like the rest of the house, there was lots of pink, purple, and black in the decorations. There was a record player with a display case of Lewis’ record collection, a large TV with a gaming setup, two cabinets containing Lewis’ collection of romance movies and adventure games, and the walls were decorated with moving paintings of Peruvian landscapes and fluffy grazing alpacas.

“Neither of you aren’t even close,” Mystery said.

 Just then, Lewis and Vivi entered the room. Lewis was rolling a large chalkboard, and Vivi was carrying a folder. 

“Oh my. They have a chalkboard. Truly, this must be very serious business,” Ricky joked as Lewis positioned the chalkboard in front of the fireplace where they could all see it.

“Hardy har-har. Do you want us to tell you or not?” Vivi said flatly.

“Cuz I mean, we could make you wait another day if you’d prefer,” Lewis shrugged. 

“No!” All of Mystery Incorporated exclaimed over-dramatically. 

“Do not listen to him! He- he doesn’t speak for all of us!” Fred said in mock-seriousness. 

“Yes! Yes. Please, we beg you, do not let Ricky’s smart ass mouth prolong the suspense any longer!” Velma said, shaking her head and trying not to laugh.

Ricky chuckled, brushing aside the feeling he got when the kids said his name.  

“Okay then. Settle down and buckle your seatbelts,” Vivi said. 

Lewis drew a five-row, three-column table on the board. When he was done, it looked like this: 

“To start off our explanation, Vivi and I talked and decided to start off with what you know before making our way over to what you don’t know,” Lewis said, turning around. 

“As you all know,” Vivi said, pointing to the board with a ruler, “the members within each mystery solving group connected to the curse of Crystal Cove, who are collectively known as the Children of Nibiru, traditionally fall into a distinct pattern of four kids and an animal descendant of the Annunaki, and further fall into roughly distinguishable roles based on general appearances, skills, and personality traits. Fred and Brad, Daphne and Judy, Velma and Cassidy, Shaggy and Ricky, and Scooby and Professor Pericles respectively all fall into the same roles. It’s this connection that allowed the being possessing Nova to swap Ricky, Shaggy, and Arthur - because they’re all in the same role.” 

Lewis circled Shaggy, Ricky, and Arthur’s column on the table. 

“Yes, we all knew this. What’s your point?” Velma asked. 

“The point,” Mystery said, “is that as the Annunaki explained to Ricky and Shaggy, Arthur is the only member of our group who fits enough into that model that the swap was possible. The rest of us are in one way or another deviant from the pattern, and the Mystery Skulls collectively really only hang onto it by a thread.” 

“And that’s what we’re going to tell you tonight,” Vivi said. 

“Rohkay,” Scooby said. The others nodded to indicate that they were following along.

“First, the most obvious thing that differentiates the Mystery Skulls from every single other group that’s come before us,” Vivi said nervously, reaching over and grabbing Lewis’ hand.

Lewis took a deep breath. “As you all know through your own research,” Lewis sighed, “Three years ago our group investigated a supposedly haunted cave system and there was an accident that resulted in Arthur losing his arm and one fatality.” 

“Up until this point, we’ve allowed you all to believe that the person who died was the fifth member of our group,” Vivi said. 

“But that isn’t true,” Mystery confessed. 

“What?” All six of them cried out at once. 

“The Mystery Skulls have only four members. We’ve always had only four members. Lewis, Arthur, Mystery, and I. There isn’t, hasn’t, and likely never will be a fifth member of the Mystery Skulls,” Vivi explained. 

“But like- that can’t be right!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Like, that doesn’t make any sense!” 

“He’s right - it doesn’t. I uncovered from my research about you, independent of theirs, that one of your members died. Unless you somehow fabricated it? But I don’t see why you would do that,” Ricky said.

“That’s just it,” Mystery sighed. “I wish I could say otherwise, but we aren’t making it up, and we didn’t lie. Three years ago, in a cave system near Tempo, one of us was murdered. After the fact, after- everything happened , there was too much police involvement and press to cover up the fact that one of us died. But we could cover up who.” 

“Wait wait wait- this still doesn’t make any sense! If one of you really did die, and you only have four members, then how are you all still… here?” Daphne asked, shrinking next to Fred. 

“Because he didn’t leave,” Vivi said, with such an indescribable sadness that they all knew it to be nothing but the truth.

“The member of the Mystery Skulls who was killed three years ago…” 

Lewis pointed at the chalkboard and to the shock of their guests, the piece of chalk in his other hand flew into the air and, by itself, crossed out his name in one furious swipe. 

“... was me.” 

And that’s when the whites of Lewis’ eyes turned black, and he was engulfed from head to toe in a pink inferno. No sooner had the six of them shot to their feet, gasping in horror, the flames cleared. 

And floating before them, terrifying, spectral, and real, was the ghost of Lewis Pepper.

Scooby yelped with fear and jumped into Shaggy’s arms. Velma and Daphne shrank behind Fred, and without even thinking about it, Ricky moved to stand between the monster and the only five things on Earth that he had left to care about.

Oh, it occurred to him as he trembled. Soul on Fire, indeed.

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