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Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated epilogue

          The pieces of the Planispheric Disk were triangular pizza slice shaped objects that might be a key to finding the cursed treasure of the conquistadors. Whoever found all pieces and then combined into one piece could gain the mysterious powers.

          Fredrick Fred Jones, Jr., Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Norville Shaggy Rogers, and Scooby-Doo made up the team of teenage mystery solvers who lived in a small town called Crystal Cove, the self-proclaimed 'Most Hauntedest Place on Earth'.

          “You solved another mystery, thanks," Sheriff Bronson Stone said as he handed a cheque to Fred.

          “Any other mysteries for us?" Fred asked as he put the cheque into his pocket carefully.

          Sheriff could see that Fred was extremely pleased, for he chuckled and rubbed his hands together.

*************

          Not far from them, Brad Chiles was monitoring the Mystery Inc. gang. “This shall be your last mystery," he smiled evilly and drove away.

          “Can't we just shoot them or blast their Mystery Machine?" Brad's wife asked with a smile.

          “Of course not. We must retrieve the Planispheric Disk from them first, and then kill them silently. Unlike the Team Rocket who did bad things in high profile and failed more than one hundred times, we are professional bad guys and we do bad things in low profile," Brad replied, he was as happy as a rabbit in a carrot field.

*************

          “I have had a most singular and unpleasant experience. You can visit Jerry if you are interested, here is his address," Sheriff informed Fred. His first name was actually 'Sheriff', which came from his mother's anticipation of him getting the job.

          Scooby pricked up his ears.

          “Thanks," Daphne said in the sweetest of voices.

          One young cop looked at them with a twinkle in his eye.

          After the gang left the police station, they went to the bank to cash the cheque. “Do you still want to continue or take a break?" Fred asked with interest.

          “Hmm…I prefer to pay a visit to Jerry and check out his mystery, we must obtain the Planispheric Disk before it's too late," Daphne replied, imperturbably.

          Velma rubbed her hands with delight, “Now I have enough money to finish my Degree in Computer Studies. I agree, we can take a break after we collected and returned the Planispheric Disk to the owner."

          “I want to become the best chef," Shaggy said cheerily and patted his stomach.

          On the way to Jerry's house, there was a car broke down on the road. “By Jove, the driver needs help," Daphne said.

          They walked down from the Mystery Machine and approached the driver. The Mystery Machine was the main transportation of Mystery Inc., taking them on their adventures all over the world.

          “Hello, my name is Francis, can you help me to repair the tire? I accidentally left the tools at home," the driver said in his easy, genial way.

          “Sure," Shaggy replied and then took out a toolbox from their van.

          “Let me help you," Fred said with a smile.

          Fred and Shaggy took thirty minutes to repair the tire.

          “Thank you very much!" Francis said, looking at them with mischievous eyes.

          Francis drove away happily, he picked up his Huawei P7 and dialled a number, “Their hands are dirty and they are hungry by now, prepare for next phase."

          “Let's go to the Mc Donald to have lunch and wash your hands," Velma suggested.

          “Good idea. My stomach snarled and howled and from it came the not-so-subtle undertone of pain," Shaggy cried, mischievously.

          “Good idea," Scooby echoed.

          Fred rubbed his hands with some tissue papers and then parked the van near the Mc Donald. “Mc Chicken, here I come," he murmured.

          Five minutes later.

          Baylor Hotner and Judy Reeves opened the back door of Mystery Machine, luckily Shaggy forgot to lock it properly. The back was filled with various equipments. There was a small table and chair for Shaggy and Scooby to cook and eat food.

Judy searched the backpacks and found their flashlights. “We must hurry," she urged.

Baylor took out the ladder, lanterns, and ropes. “This time, they are doomed," Baylor said with a ghastly smile.

          Judy laughed heartily. “Here is the Planispheric Disk, they won't go to the cave if we took it now," she said, as her keen eyes darted over him.

*************

          One hour later.

          “Mr Jerry, we are the Mystery Inc," Fred introduced himself and his friends to the house owner.

          “I am delighted that you have come down," Jerry said, after they had cordially shaken hands.

          After they sat down on the sofa, the old man began his story.

          “The cave near the Peace Hill is haunted, sometimes people saw were-cats and sometimes people saw were-foxes," Jerry said.

          “Haunted?" Shaggy gasped in astonishment.

          “Haunted?" Scooby echoed.

          “Your experience is, so far as I know, perfectly unique," Velma said in a tone of surprise.

          “It is just a small cave only and there is nothing inside, but every night there was weird sound inside the cave.

We did investigate the cave but did not find anything, however we saw non-humans footprints. One night, we hid behind the trees and soon, we saw three werewolves! They stood in front of the cave and began to howl for a few minutes. We tried to catch them but they somehow got weird powers and defeated us easily!" Jerry said.

Scooby felt a wave of fear rush through him.

Shaggy sat in silence for some little time. He was at loss for words.

          Fred listened with closed eyes and fingertips together to this remarkable account. “The mystery has certainly some points of interest," he said, in his languid fashion.

“Have there been any fresh developments?" Velma asked, whose eyebrows had gone up once or twice during this remarkable explanation.

Jerry wiped his damp brow. “I am sorry to say that the cops have made very little progress," he answered, with his enigmatical smile.

“No clues?" Velma asked, cocking her eye at the businessman.

Jerry shook his head.

Daphne grunted from the sofa. “Werewolves singing in front of the cave? This is new."

          “Hmm…there must be something valuable inside the cave and thus the werewolves tried to scare people away from the cave," Fred said, thoughtfully.

          “Undoubtedly," Jerry replied.

          Fred looked grave. “Mr Jerry, we will go and investigate the cave now," he promised.

          Jerry gave a cry of joy. “Thank you, famous five. That will, indeed, be a weight off my mind."

*************

          That same night, Fred parked the car underneath a tree.

          “That must be the cave," Velma said, she smiled indulgently.

          “Let's investigate the cave first," Fred said, he rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight.

          Inside the cavern, darkness was eternity. It was like an invisible force, crushing their body, squeezing the life out of them...

          “We…will…wait…here…" Shaggy said, nervously clasping and unclasping his hands.

“Me too," Scooby agreed.

          “Ok, here is your flashlight and guard the van," Velma said severely.

The cloud fails to blanket the sky, instead it is sporadic, chaotic in where it chooses to be thick or sparse. In the gaps the sky has darkened; the clouds are no longer white or paler grey, instead they are blackened shadows that shift with the wind. There are times they move just enough to reveal the full moon, but for the most part this night will be without the benefit of her silvery light.

          Five minutes later, Shaggy and Scooby heard an eerie sound. “What was that!" Scooby exclaimed. They huddled together and stared apprehensively into the darkness. Soon, three black werewolves appeared.

          “Werewolves!" Scooby cried, with his paws up.

          “Wait for us!" Shaggy shouted as he grabbed Scooby into the cave.

          “Quickly, push the stone to block the entrance," Baylor urged, in orthern accent. He was one of the werewolves. Soon, a huge stone blocked the entrance and no one could come out from the cave.

          “What if they blast the stone?" Judy panted – she was the second werewolf.

          “Elementary, whole cave will collapse and bury them inside," Brad replied with a sinister smile – he was the third werewolf. “There is no way to push away the stone from inside without the pulley."

          “We will continue to scare away the people until the kids died inside the cave!" Baylor yelled, in a paroxysm of excitement.

          “Let's get the final piece of the Planispheric Disk, later we can modify their van and then sell it," Judy said, laughing good-humouredly.

          “Finally, I got all the Planispheric Disk," Professor Pericles said, in a strange, croaking voice. He was as happy as a rabbit in a carrot field.

          They were saturated with happiness.

*************

          “Let's climb up there," Fred said as he took out the rope. The rope broke and he fell to the ground.

          Velma looked surprised. “Someone cut the rope, I bet it was the Evil Entity gang," she mused.

          The others assented.

          Daphne checked the lantern. “I should not be surprised. They also sabotaged our lanterns."

          Shaggy's honest face was twitching with anxiety. “Guys, the entrance is sealed."

          Fred looked at the stone thoughtfully like a master chess-player who meditates his crowning move.

          “They sealed the entrance and there is no switch here, if we blast it, this place will collapse. I hate to say this but this cave is a perfect trap," he said at last. His face showed that he was thoroughly taken aback by this new development.

          “Good Lord!" Shaggy's sallow face turned a shade whiter.

          “Good Lord!" Scooby echoed.

          “The faked werewolves scared Shaggy and Scooby into this cave and then they sealed the entrance," Velma said in a quiet voice.

          They were lost in thought for some time.

          “What should we do now?" Scooby asked in a low, agitated voice.

          “Well! Well!" Fred said after an interval of silence. “We are not going to stand here and do nothing, let's find another exit."

          Five minutes later.

          Suddenly Fred's flashlight ran out of battery and he was separated from his friends. “Weird, yesterday I replaced new batteries," he murmured. In the cave the only sound that met his straining ears was his own echoing footsteps. He reached out his hand to feel his way and could not even see it in front of his face. He stumbled blindly into a forest of stalactites and stalagmites, falling on the unforgiving rocky floor.

          Daphne shook her flashlight, “By Jove, out of battery," she sighed. The absence of light meant the absence of its warming touch. Underfoot the loose stones shifted, twisting her ankle one way and then the other, and the noise of those disturbed rocks echoed off the dense stone walls.

          The cave was small and soon, they touched each other. It was dark and they could not see anything.

          “There is no second exit," Shaggy cried, in a despairing voice. “We are doomed!"

          “Doomed!" Scooby echoed.

          “Sorry guys, obviously this IS a set-up from the beginning. Now Professor Pericles must have discovered all Planispheric Disk," Fred said, in a shaking voice.

          “They purposely haunted this cave to attract our attention," Velma continued earnestly.

          “And then they sabotaged our equipment when we were having meal at Mc Donald, I bet Francis is one of them," Daphne added in astonishment.

          “The car breakdown, it was part of their plans," Scooby guessed.

          There was a deadly silence after he had finished speaking.

“My smartphone has no service," Velma said ruefully.

          “My smartphone is out of service too," Fred said, swaying his face about.

“Good Lord! Good Lord! What shall we do?" Shaggy cried, in an ecstasy of despair.

“What shall we do?" Scooby echoed.

          “I am afraid that we lost. No lights, no ropes, no shovel, no phone, no food and no drinks," Velma said. The notion of hope has become meaningless, if her mind should linger on such ideas they started to feel like cruel tricks, as cruel as any desert mirage.

          “They sabotaged all our equipment, we can't see, climb, dig or blast, basically we can't do anything except sit here and wait for our moments to come," Daphne said grimly.

          “We don't have toilet papers too," Shaggy put in.

         “Thanks for the joke, Shaggy. Hmm…smartphones ran out of battery. Sorry friends, I think this is our final mystery. What do you think about…death?

Let me begin, you never know how it feels, or what happens or where you go after you die. Most of the time you are too busy to think about it. The rest - you are either too scared to think or you believe that you still have a lot of time to think about that," Fred began. His fingertips together and his manner as if he were addressing a class.

“I have to admit that this is really our last mystery, actually I am very afraid of…death. Sadly, death is inevitable. Death is straightforward – I presumed. It is not a gate to immortality but simply, a departure from life. It has no pattern in which those of from the Great Beyond control. And it will be there until the time comes for the world to end," Velma continued. Suddenly, her body wracked with raw sobs and she shook like a leaf. Fright consumed every cell in her body, swelling them with terror. With every second she practically felt the rise of her blood pressure, but she knew that this was the least of her worries.

          “Since I was a child, I had always feared the thought of Grim Reapers. With their tattered cloaks and skeleton bodies which I had imagined must have reeked of death and disrepair as they drag your soul to the afterlife. Most of my life, I regret to say, was filled with worry as if these hideous creatures lurked behind every corner," Shaggy added, his brow was dark with anxiety.

          “Well, Fred, it's not your fault, the enemies outsmart us. If I could choose, I want to go to the Heaven," Daphne replied, her face was haggard with anxiety. Fear curled up inside her and clung to her ribs, settling uncomfortably in her chest. She did not doubt the feeling was there to stay, reminding her of its existence every time she opened her mouth to breathe.

*************

          “Daphne, before I…I just want to tell you that…I love you. Will you marry me if we managed to get out from here?" Fred asked, in a nervous fashion.

          Daphne blushed. “Yes," she replied, affably. They tried to kiss and hug but it was too dark to see anything.

          Two weeks ago their stomach growled violently. Now it was silent. They past the growling point. They felt a sinking emptiness, but strangely did not feel exactly hungry. They just felt empty, like a part of them was gone and they needed to get it back. They were tired and could not focus.

*************

          One month later, some cops stood in front of the cave. They slid the stone away and began to investigate the cave. Soon, they found four corpses and a dead dog.

          A few months later, Professor Pericles gathered all Planispheric Disk and summoned The Evil Entity. The Evil Entity was an evil Anunnaki that was imprisoned within a crystal sarcophagus, buried beneath Crystal Cove.

         “Give me powers, Almighty Entity!" Pericles volunteered to be possessed by the being, to which the Entity agreed. Pericles believed he had gained ultimate power after he transformed into a giant parrot.

          Pericles laughed evilly. His eyes shone, and his cheek was flushed with the exhilaration of the master workman who sees his work lie ready before him. “Now I shall rule the Crystal Cove…what…" Suddenly The Evil Entity betrayed Pericles. It killed Pericles and mutated his body into a squid-like monster.

          “Now I shall destroy you all!" the squid-like monster cried, exultantly. Its face flushed with victory, its manner grossly triumphant.

          Baylor, Judy and Brad were paralyzed with fear, and they could not command their legs to run. Their knotted brows gathered more heavily over their menacing eyes. The squid-like monster stretched out three tentacles and consumed the scared humans.

          The squid-like monster destroyed the Crystal Cove in less than one hour and then disappeared. Nobody knows where it went.

          Many years later, Crystal Cove was rebuilt. A boy found a piece of Planispheric Disk near the river.

          Evil never dies. Mystery never ends.

The end.