Chapter 7: The wrap-up and back to the dance

A short while later, a quick call to the Sheriff's Office eventually lead to the area swarmed by sheriff's deputies.

The Creeper, by then, was handcuffed and was escorted by a trio of deputies while the lieutenant spoke to the gang.

"I see you kids have captured this masked figure like you kids always do." The lieutenant remark. "What has he done?"

"Ah, Lieutenant." Fred said. "This Creeper here is the disguise adopted by the culprit behind the latest string of mysterious robberies at the Union Bank in Coolsville."

"Oh yes, I heard that Coolsville Central has been baffled by those string of robberies lately." The lieutenant nodded, referring to the metonym used for describing the Coolsville Police Department based on the name of its headquarters. "And this Creeper is somehow connected to those strings of robberies."

"Yes and no, lieutenant." Velma said. "The Creeper, according to legend and what the bank president told us, is the ghost of a bank robber who has been robbing the bank recently with the ability to go through solid objects."

"Except that it wasn't really the Creeper that was the culprit behind the bank robberies in recent days." Daphne said.

"Indeed it wasn't." Fred nodded before pulling the Creeper's mask off. "It's really Carl Carswell, the bank president."

"How about that." Velma remarked as Mr. Carswell was unmasked.

"Mr. Carswell has a swell scheme going on for a while." Fred said.

"I'll say." Velma nodded. "Mr. Carswell was always the last person to leave the bank everyday, so on his way out, he will drop by the safe and take some of the deposited money and place them in his briefcase."

"Then at night, he will return to the bank, dressed as the Creeper, and hang around the area in the darkness in order to create the illusion that the Creeper was responsible for those bank robberies that has been occurring." Fred continued.

"The fact that the bank was robbed but no signs of break-ins or forced entry were found at the scene should easily lead to the conclusion that the robberies were nothing more than an inside job." Shaggy said. "Like, someone with extensive knowledge of how things go in the bank, for instance."

"That's right, which is where the bank guard Mr. Earl came in." Daphne said. "Unbeknownst to Mr. Carswell, Mr. Earl had installed a security camera at the safe and the camera took a picture of Mr. Carswell robbing the safe."

"When Mr. Carswell found out what Mr. Earl had done, he was desperate to get the photo containing the incriminating evidence." Fred said.

"Which is where that blank sheet of paper came in." Velma said. "It wasn't just a simple blank sheet of paper. Rather, it's one of those photographs activated by heat."

"Which also explained why Mr. Earl instructed us that 'the flame will reveal the Creeper' when he handed us the paper in the hospital." Daphne said.

"Yes." Fred nodded. "Now watch."

He then struck a match and moved it close to the paper. A few seconds went by before the picture of Mr. Carswell robbing the bank safe came into view.

"Well, Mr. Carswell, looks like you're going to be facing embezzlement charges." The lieutenant remarked.

"Say, how did Mr. Earl ended up in the hospital anyways?" Shaggy asked. "Where was he at last when he got attacked by the Creeper?"

"I don't know about that, Shag." Fred said. "Though I won't be surprised if the Creeper ambushed him at a dark, deserted area of the streets while he was on his way to the nearest police station to report the theft."

"I suppose that is the case." Velma nodded.

"Anyways, we should get going now." The lieutenant said as he nodded at the deputies.

"Blasted meddling kids..." Mr. Carswell muttered as he was taken away by the deputies and placed in the back of the patrol car.

After watching the patrol cars leaving the scene, Fred turned to the gang.

"Well, it looks like we've wrapped up another mystery, gang." Fred said as he rubbed his hands.

"I suppose it's back to the school dance for us, eh?" Velma said.

"Oh yeah." Daphne said. "We should head over to the Malt Shop before it gets late."

A short while later, the school dance was well underway at the Malt Shop as the gang joined the others.

"Took you guys long enough to get here." Stanley Chan remarked when they saw the gang entered the Malt Shop.

"Yeah. What kept you guys?" Shelly asked. "And you better not think of some excuse before you start explaining."

"Oh, nothing." Velma said. "Shaggy and Scooby simply took longer than usual to clean up the barn and make sure everything was as it is."

"Oh yeah?" Shelly asked as she placed her hands on her hips before turning to the duo. "Is that true?"

"Like, yeah." Shaggy nodded. "All this running around and cleaning kinda worn us out, so we had to take a break before joining the gang in returning to the dance, not to mention that we have to figure out what caused the blackout in the barn."

"Oh yeah, did you guys figure that out?" Clam asked.

"Yeah." Daphne said. "Apparently, some mouse decided to chew onto the wiring at the light switch."

Everyone else nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, in case you guys were wondering, we were waiting for you guys for more than an hour to arrive here." Shelly folded her arms.

"You could've continued the dance without us." Fred said.

"Besides, it would've been fun for you to take part in the dance when Daph's not here yet." Velma added.

"Huh." Shelly snorted. "It was more fun for me to take part in the dance when Alexandria and I get to point out what Daphne's been doing wrong when she danced with her Freddie boy."

"Oh yeah." Alexandria said. "When are you guys going to propose to each other? Or is Freddie too much of a chicken, is he?"

She and Shelly then burst out laughing as they high-fived each other.

The gang, particularly Fred and Daphne, turned and looked at each other before shrugging.

"Oh, well." Shaggy said. "The dance floor isn't going to dance itself if we keep standing."

A waiter then walked by with six bottles of cream soda on a tray, and Shaggy flagged him down and took three.

"Here, keep the change." He said to the waiter as he flipped a quarter before passing the two other bottles to Tinker and Henry.

"Thanks." The waiter nodded before headed off.

Tinker and Henry opened their bottles and clinked them.

"Cheers." They both said as the clinked their glass bottles.

Shaggy, however, was having some trouble opening his bottle of cream soda and struggled with the cap.

"Here, Shag." Clam walked to him. "Let me help you."

"Thanks, man." Shaggy nodded as he handed the bottle to Clam.

However, in the process of trying to open the bottle, Shaggy had shook it a handful of times, and then when Clam finally got the cap off, the soda inside suddenly burst out like a volcano going off.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as the soda burst out.

What happened next was that the soda burst out of the bottle and ended up spraying all over Shelly and Alexandria.

The two girls felt the impact of getting sprayed and turned towards the source, finding Shaggy and Clam grinning nervously while the others, at the sight of the two girls dripping wet, started laughing.

"Uh...sorry." Shaggy grinned nervously at them while Clam smiled sheepishly.

"This isn't funny!" Alexandria said snappishly as everyone laughed.

"Yeah!" Shelly added as she and Alexandria stormed off to get themselves cleaned up.

Turning back to Clam, Shaggy and him shared a look at the now-empty bottle.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to order another bottle of cream soda." Shaggy remarked before turning to the waiter, who was now carrying an empty tray. "Another cream soda, please."

"Sorry, but I just gave away the last bottles of cream soda to your pal there." The waiter said. "We're out of cream soda."

"Out of cream soda?" Shaggy asked before he turned to find Scooby finishing the last bottle of cream soda. "Scooby-Doo!"

"Rorry." Scooby smiled sheepishly before covering his mouth at a burp and then added, "Re-he-he-he-he-he-he!"

Shaggy turned to his friends and they all started laughing again.

Soon, the music came on and everyone started dancing together.

The scene then shifts to the night outside the Malt Shop, where the lights are visible and music notes can be seen emerging out from the diner with shadows of the students dancing together.

And so ends my revision of Jeepers, it's the Creeper!

What do you folks think of the revision? Did I address any of the inconsistencies pointed out in the goofs?

Anyways, the adventures of Mystery Inc. in the Dimension Four saga continues in D4 Scooby-Doo! Showdown in Tumbleweed County!, so stay tuned and please read and review!