Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all related characters and trademarks are copyright 2010 Hanna-Barbera Productions/Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network. This story is partly based on the movie "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost". This story has dialogue, similar plot lines, and same characters from the movie; this also will have spoilers, if you have not seen the movie.
Author's Notes #2: The events of this story take place after the events of my previous Scooby Fan Fic "Shaggy's Magical Mystery"; also this story is sort of a sequel to that story as well and if none of the events in this story make any sense to readers, please go back and read that story as a primer.
Chapter 1
Our story opens inside a large museum somewhere on the east coast; a distinguished looking balding man holds a thick folder with dozens of papers inside it, he walks somewhat quickly down the hallway, his footsteps echoing through the building.
As the man walks down the hallway he passes several displays; one with a young man and young woman in Renaissance style costumes, one with a young girl in a roman style dress feeding grapes to a statue which looked to be Julius Caesar and one with a caveman and a saber-toothed tiger.
What he doesn't know is that the members of Mystery Inc. are a part of each of the displays: Fred and Daphne in the Renaissance display, Velma in the Roman display while Shaggy and Scooby are in the caveman display.
The man continues walking through the museum and looking quite nervous, he makes his way past the display with Velma who puts on her glasses after he walks by; next he walks by Fred and Daphne's display and afterwards they look out into the hallway, finally he makes his way into the room with the caveman display where Shaggy and Scooby are.
Suddenly the man stops in his tracks, looking as if someone or something frightened him.
"I-is someone there?" the man asks nervously.
The man slowly stepped backwards towards one of the displays, and as fate would have it after backing into one of the displays, accidentally pressed a small button located in the front of it with his backside, which caused said display to activate which caused the man to scream; unfortunately for him though, he also dropped the papers he was carrying.
A recorded voice then spoke about the exhibit and the man realized that there was really nothing to be afraid of, so he began picking up the stack of papers, which he had dropped and prepared to go on his way.
"I really must switch to decaf" the man remarked as he shook his head before retrieving the papers he dropped.
Suddenly out of the line of sight of the man, two mummy cases on the other side of the room began to open slowly; while the man who was picking up the papers didn't notice this, the two disguised members of Mystery Inc. who were in the cave man exhibit: Shaggy Rogers and Scooby Doo noticed what was going on and prepared for what was going to happen next.
As each of the cases opened Shaggy and Scooby saw what looked to be two Egyptian mummies with piercing green eyes and holding what looked to be some kind of ancient weapons slowly walked and into the room, in fact the pair of creatures slowly walked behind the man which caused the normally cowardly sleuth and teen warlock to alert the man of the impending danger.
"Professor, look behind you!" Shaggy declared.
The man was a little startled of the fact that one of the museum exhibits was talking to him, but once he saw the two mummies attempting to make Swiss cheese out of him, he didn't care; in fact the man quickly ran out of the way of the two creatures, while Shaggy and Scooby prepared to put their plan to capture the fearsome looking pair into action.
"Okay Scooby, ready?" Shaggy asked.
"Ready Rhaggy" the Great Dane replied.
"All right, here goes nothing" Shaggy remarked; the cowardly teen then aimed his hand towards the ceiling, as a result of this a mysterious green glow surrounded the area which included a large net and as a result of the teen's command it dropped right onto the mummies, trapping them for the moment.
"Like terrific, our plan worked Scoob!" Shaggy said as he high fived the Great Dane.
Unfortunately for Shaggy and Scooby the magical net didn't last very long and the mummies used their weapons to cut their way through it; a few seconds later they walked over to the cowardly pair and tapped them on the shoulder, and as the two saw the villains faces up close they did what they usually would do in that situation.
"Zoinks! Like I thought my magic would stop those creeps!" Shaggy remarked.
"Ri ruess rhey ridn't ret the memo" Scooby replied.
"Well like there's one thing I can do even without magic in these types of situations: run!" Shaggy exclaimed.
The cowardly teen and his Great Dane then split from the room, down the hallway with the mummies hot on their trail; after a few minutes of running, the cowardly pair passed the Renaissance exhibit with Fred and Daphne still in it; inside the exhibit the pair of sleuths saw that their friends were in trouble and decided to leave the exhibit room and meet Velma in order to help their friends.
A few minutes more passed and after a quick change of clothes Fred, Daphne and Velma saw that Shaggy and Scooby were still being chased by the two mummies; however, even though Shaggy was running from a monster as usual, he was at least still able to use some of the spells he had learned and every so often would aim his hand at items in the hallway which as a result of his magical commands would fly towards the mummies, but whatever the teen warlock tried it was always unsuccessful, so Shaggy and Scooby continued running through the museum, still being chased by the two villains.
Eventually the pair of cowardly sleuths made their way into a room filled with middle Ages artifacts, which the pair figured was a great place to finally trap the two mummies once and for all, so once Shaggy and Scooby saw the creatures they attempted to get them to chase them.
"Hey mummies! Like bet you can't catch us!" Shaggy yelled.
The mummies growled at this statement and began chasing Shaggy and Scooby through the Middle Ages room once again, however this time the cowardly pair had a sure fire plan that they were sure wouldn't miss: in this case the plan was that Shaggy aimed his hand at a series of suits of armor which he was hoping the mummies would run right into, considering he was using his magic to move the suits of armor to where they would be in the way of the two creatures.
However as the mummies approached the suits of armor someone hiding behind an old tapestry stuck a foot out and as a result the pair of creatures tripped and fell right into the armor and a few other artifacts as well, just like Shaggy and Scooby planned although it wasn't how they were expecting the trap to go, but it worked nonetheless.
A few seconds later Fred turned on a nearby light switch and he, Daphne and Velma along with the man they had seen already and two museum guards entered the room, all smiling ear to ear at the prospect of seeing another pair of villains captured.
"Nice going guys, you caught them" Fred remarked.
"Like thanks Fred, but would you might if I took a few moments while I change my clothes, this loin cloth and wig are a little itchy" Shaggy replied as he scratched his head a little.
"No problem Shaggy, we can wait" Fred responded.
"Cool, come on Scoob" Shaggy replied; he and the Great Dane then walked over to an area of the other side of the room which was hidden by a large red curtain and after seeing that no one was watching them, the cowardly teen warlock waved a hand over himself and Scooby and within a few moments a green glow surrounded them; a few seconds later the glow disappeared and Shaggy was dressed once again in his familiar green shirt, red pants and black shoes, while Scooby's disguise was also taken care of.
Having taken care of their respective wardrobe changes, Shaggy and Scooby then walked back across the room to join the gang which was good timing considering they were about to unmask the pair of creatures.
"Well gang I guess this wraps up another mystery" Fred remarked.
"Yes and I have to admit Shaggy, your magic powers really did come in handy on this case, in fact they're pretty handy altogether" Velma commented.
"Like thanks Velma, that means a lot, but we can't take all the credit, I mean we did have some help" Shaggy remarked; as soon as Shaggy said that a black haired man wearing a dark brown vest, white shirt, brown slacks and black shoes stepped out into the room and joined the gang.
"Who are you sir?' Daphne asked.
"I don't believe it, you're Ben Ravencroft: the famous horror writer!" Velma exclaimed, instantly recognizing the individual.
"Oh yeah, like I've read a few of your novels, I have to admit they're pretty scary" Shaggy added.
"I'm very glad to hear that you like my books Velma and Shaggy" Ben responded with a smile.
"Hey like how do you know my name Mr. Ravencroft?" Shaggy asked.
"And my name?" Velma added.
"Simple, I've been admiring your work unraveling supernatural mysteries for quite some time now Velma and Shaggy; plus I know Fred and Daphne's names as well " Ben explained.
"Raren't rou rorgetting rome one?" Scooby asked.
"Ah yes and I know your name as well Scooby Doo" Ben replied.
"So Mr. Ravencroft what are you doing here anyway?" Fred asked.
"Well, I decided to come here to do some research for my latest novel when I saw the archeologists acting suspiciously; now why don't we see who these two really are," Ben explained.
Ben Ravencroft then walked over to one of the mummies and pulled its mask and helmet off revealing a face that was very familiar to the older man who was walking around earlier.
"It's Hawkins!" the man remarked.
"And Griswold, the two of them were disgruntled archaeologists from the museum's Babylonian project" Velma said as she pulled the mask and helmet off of the other mummy.
"And like they were upset with you because you cut their funding, professor" Shaggy continued.
"I-I had no idea" the professor remarked.
"Yes and we would have gotten away with it if it weren't for that meddling…writer!" the first archaeologist remarked angrily looking towards Ben.
"Like, that's a twist" Shaggy replied.
"Well at least he didn't call us meddling kids, I hate that" Fred commented.
"I guess you beat us to the punch Mr. Ravencroft" Daphne remarked.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to upstage all of you" Ben replied.
"Like that's okay Mr. Ravencroft, plus it was nice to have some assistance in solving a mystery" Shaggy commented.
"Actually I have to agree with you Shaggy, it's great to have someone else on our side, besides the five of us of course" Velma remarked.
"It was no problem at all, and come to think of it I've always wanted to solve a mystery with all of you; like I said previously, I've been a big fan of all of you for years now, I mean the way you five handle and unravel cases is positively inspiring" Ben explained.
"Like, believe me Mr. Ravencroft, what we do is nothing compared to the hundreds of books that you've written" Shaggy replied.
"Absolutely Shaggy, I really think the sheer and palpable fright of your novels is what makes them in my opinion some of the best horror books ever written" Velma remarked.
"Why thank you Velma, you're too kind and I greatly appreciate it" Ben replied.
"Well gang, since Mr. Ravencroft helped us solve a mystery, I think it's only fair that we should ask him to join up with us for a while and see what he would like to do" Fred observed.
"That's a cool idea Fred, like I'm on board, what about you Scoob?" Shaggy asked, turning to his canine companion.
"Reah, rhat rounds rokay to re roo" Scooby replied.
"Well since you two are on board, I'm on board" Velma added.
"Actually I wouldn't mind having Mr. Ravencroft with us for a while, maybe we can tell him about some of our past cases" Daphne commented.
"That sounds like a fun idea, what do you say Mr. Ravencroft?" Fred asked.
"Hmm, I don't see why I couldn't travel with all of you, okay I'll do it and I even have something that you all might enjoy" Ben replied.
"What's that Mr. Ravencroft?" Fred questioned.
"Well, I'm going back to my home town of Oak Haven, Massachusetts for a while, it's quite peaceful; not to mention the fall colors in that part of the country are simply beautiful; I know all of you like taking vacations and if it's all right, I would like to invite you to stay with me while you're in town" Ben explained.
"Jeepers, that sounds terrific Mr. Ravencroft" Daphne replied.
"Like yeah, plus I bet they're be lots of food" Shaggy commented.
"Actually Shaggy, you're in luck; I happen to know a few people in Oak Haven, and one of them owns a local restaurant, which happens to have some of the best food in New England" Ben observed.
"Now that sounds fantastic, what about you Scoob?" Shaggy asked.
"Reah" the Great Dane replied, licking his lips at the thought of the food available in Oak Haven.
"Shaggy, you and Scooby must have the biggest appetites in the world; don't you think of anything else besides food?" Velma asked.
"Well, I think about you a lot" the cowardly teen replied as he looked over at the intelligent teen sleuth and smiled.
"Good point and I'm glad you do" Velma replied as she smiled back at Shaggy.
"So I guess we're all agreed on going to Oak Haven?" Fred asked.
"Right!" Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby agreed.
"Not to mention it will be a nice change from all the spooky mysteries we've had lately" Daphne replied.
"Got that right" Shaggy remarked.
"Although with my magic, I would have no problem solving mysteries and capturing ghosts and monsters; actually, come to think of it even warlocks need vacations and I'm no different; you know I wonder if Vincent Van Ghoul ever takes vacations, hey maybe I'll ask him one of these days" the cowardly teen thought to himself.
"Well now that we know what we're going to do, let's get going" Fred commented.
"Yeah, we've got a long way to go to get to Massachusetts" Daphne added.
"Oh, I almost forgot: if it's okay with you Mr. Ravencroft, I would love to travel with you in your car; besides I would love to discuss all of your novels with you" Velma remarked.
It was then that Shaggy decided to pull Velma aside and talk to her for a few seconds before she left with the famous author.
"Velma, I kind of thought that you would go with the gang and me in the Mystery Machine instead of with Mr. Ravencroft" Shaggy remarked, while scratching his head; clearly he was attempting to speak to the bespectacled teen without saying anything that would cause Velma to think he was jealous of Ben Ravencroft, or for that matter saying anything that would cause Velma to hate him for the rest of her life or worse, to dump him.
"Come on Shaggy, it's not every day you get to talk to and ride in a car with a world famous horror writer, I'm really looking forward to it" Velma commented.
"Oh, alright; just do me one favor Velma" Shaggy remarked, realizing that he didn't want to argue with the intelligent teen in front of the rest of the gang.
"What's that?" Velma asked.
"Have fun and be careful" Shaggy replied.
"I will Shaggy and thank you, I really care a lot about you and don't want anything to happen to you" Velma replied.
"I know you do Velma and I care a lot about you as well, plus I sure wouldn't like anything to happen to you either" Shaggy remarked.
"Thank you Shaggy that means a lot to me" Velma replied.
"Like it means a lot to me too Velma" Shaggy commented.
After a quick exchange of hugs and a kiss between the pair of sleuths, Velma walked out of the museum and into the parking lot with Ben Ravencroft; meanwhile Shaggy and Scooby joined Fred and Daphne as the quartet piled into the Mystery Machine for their trip to Massachusetts.
"Everybody ready to go?" Fred asked.
"All ready Fred" Daphne replied.
"Like Scooby and I are all set to go" Shaggy remarked.
"It's a good thing too, because it looks like Velma and Ben are taking off" Daphne commented.
"Yeah it sure looks like it, well since we're all set let's get going too" Fred explained.
So with that the black roadster belonging to the world famous horror writer Ben Ravencroft left the parking lot of the museum with another passenger inside, in this case Velma, who was still mentally pinching herself that she was getting to ride inside the famous horror writer's own car; a few seconds later the colorfully painted Mystery Machine left the museum parking lot with Fred in the driver's seat, Daphne in the passenger's seat and as usual Shaggy and Scooby in the back of the van, although both of them, but especially Shaggy were a little miserable that the bespectacled teen sleuth wasn't keeping them company in their trip to New England, which would turn out to be one of the most frightening adventures Mystery Inc. ever had; but at the moment none of the sleuths knew what they were in for and it was certain that Shaggy didn't know at the moment that this adventure was going to be one of the first true tests he had to go through since he became a warlock several months before.