Chapter Text
Crystal Cove, California… a decent sized town, far removed from the lights, glamour and bumper to bumper traffic of Los Angeles, the fog shrouded bays of San Francisco, the towering trees of the Redwoods, and the laid back, paradise known as San Diego.
Crystal Cove is like many other municipalities in the state, large and small… it has businesses of all kinds, like restaurants, stores and hotels…
Crystal Cove also has schools, parks, newspapers, a radio station... and at it’s core, is like any other town.
However, there is one thing about Crystal Cove that is unlike any other town or city… for Crystal Cove has a group of mystery solving teenagers…
Their names are Fred Jones Jr., Daphne Blake, Norville Rogers(Shaggy to his friends) and Velma Dinkley.
The four of them, along with a talking Great Dane named Scooby Doo have uncovered some of the most perplexing puzzles known to man and non-men alike…
Which made sense, as the town they lived in had a long, and somewhat distinguished history of ghost sightings, monster attacks, and other varied supernatural occurrances… leading to Crystal Cove gaining it’s nickname of ‘The Most Hauntedst Town On Earth’.
Bad grammar concerning the nickname of their hometown aside, their exuberance in solving these puzzles and mysteries is about to lead them down a path that none of them ever expected.
At the moment however, the five sleuths are celebrating another mystery solved… and another villain put behind bars.
“Another mystery bites the dust!” Velma declared, as she and the others exchanged high-fives.
“Way to go, gang!” Fred then added.
“Let’s celebrate!” Daphne suggested, as Scooby nodded in agreement.
Unfortuntely, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo would not be celebrating anytime soon… for the local long arm of the law had other ideas for the group.
“I’ve got a better idea…” the Sheriff of Crystal Cove then said, as he locked the quartet and their dog into a cell in the city jail.
“Aw, come on Sheriff Stone.” Fred protested, before the aforementioned law enforcement officer put a hand up, to signify that the blond teenager should stop talking.
“Cork it! You see this badge…” Sheriff Stone then told them.
“You know why it’s there?” he added.
“Because it came with the shirt…” Velma said, as he shook his head.
“No! It’s here, because if there’s a crime in this town… I solve it…” Sheriff Stone remarked, before heading towards the front door to the building.
“Oh, I almost forgot… I called all of your parents already, who by now I have on speed dial.” Sheriff Stone then said, the mystery solving teens and their dog glanced nervously at each other.
“You are all in so much trouble… especially you, Fred… and by the way, say hi to your dad… the Mayor.” Sheriff Stone added, as he walked out of the sight of the group.
“You know… just once it would be nice if someone thanked us for solving a mystery.” Daphne then remarked.
“Good thing we’re not in this to be liked…” Fred admitted, as the others glanced curiously at him.
“Maybe… that didn’t come out quite right.” he added, as the group continued to wait to see what their parents were going to say.
Later that day, the members of Mystery Incorporated’s respective parents bailed their sons and daughters out of the slammer…
To say they were not pleased, was an understatement… as evidenced by Mr. and Mrs. Dinkley deciding to having their daughter lead the latest haunted tour of the town to a group of somewhat interested tourists…
“Welcome to the Crystal Cove Haunted Tour… I’m your gholush guide, Velma.” the bespectacled brunette said, in a rather uninterested tone of voice.
“The first documented case of the curse of Crystal Cove, took place in 1630… when a garrison of Spanish conquistadors mysteriously vanished from the harbor.” Velma continued.
“That is so scary… where did they go?” a female tourist then asked, as Velma raised an eyebrow at her comment.
“What part of the word ‘mystery’ did you not understand?” Velma replied, as the woman who asked the question simply shook her head.
“The curse struck again in 1765, when an entire town of missionaries likewise disappeared.” she added, as she continued to walk around the museum, and lead the tour.
“Anyway, things were pretty quiet until one hundred years later… when Cletus Darrow found gold here, and renamed the town Crystal Cove.” Velma continued.
“Most people thought that the curse had been lifted… until the Darrow family disappeared one Halloween, never to be seen again.” she then said, as the members of the tour did not seem to have anything to say to that.
She then played a tape of what was supposedly the Darrow family screaming on a portable tape recorder she carried, while the crowd gasped in horror…
“Moving on…” she then said, as she led the group of tourists into the exhibits section of the tour.
“Since the disappearance of the Darrow family, Crystal Cove has been a hub of paranormal activity.” Velma pointed out.
“You might recognize some of our more famous visitors… such as the seagoing ghost Captain Cutler, the Miner 49er, Charlie the Haunted Robot… and who could forget the terrifying stylings of Space Kook?” she then said, before scoffing at the last of the exhibits.
“How frightening…” a male tourist remarked.
”Oh, how absolutely blood curdling…” a female tourist added, as the bespectacled brunette scoffed at the comments of the group.
“Not really… they all turned out to be fakes…” Velma remarked, while the crowd gasped and talked amongst themselves.
“Captain Cutler was just some guy who was hijacking boats… the Miner 49er’s real name was Hank… and Charlie belonged to Mr. Jenkins…” Velma began.
“Who thought it would be easier to run an amusement park with a crazy robot… and space kook? Ugh, don’t get me started…” she continued, before her parents quickly placed their hands over her mouth, to get her to stop talking.
“Thank you, Velma…” Mr. Dinkley then said.
“Well, that concludes the terror-ific tour… and don’t forget to stop in at the haunted snack shop for souvenirs and your complimentary undead sippy cup…” Mrs. Dinkley added, as soon the group of tourists left the Dinkleys line of sight.
However, Velma herself was not so lucky…
“What do you think you were doing?” Mrs. Dinkley asked her.
“Are you trying to destroy our business?” Mr. Dinkley added, as Velma simply waved off her parents comments.
“Come on mom and dad, I was just being honest…” Velma replied.
“Those were isolated incidents in Crystal Cove’s otherwise-unblemished supernatural past of hauntings and paranormal happenings.” Mr. Dinkley said, as the younger Dinkley simply shook her head in disbelief.
“That’s your generation’s belief… not mine…” Velma replied.
Meanwhile, another member of Mystery Incorporated’s father was having a similar conversation with his son at their mansion…
“I know it’s hard for you to believe dad, but I’m concentrated on one thing… well, two… solving mysteries and building traps…” Fred commented, as he tied his ascot while looking in a mirror.
“Well, there are two other things I’m interested in… but I can’t tell dad about them… he wouldn’t understand.” he then thought to himself.
“Good grief, Fred… you know that you’re a Jones… and we’re interested in making sure Crystal Cove is a good place to live.” Mr. Jones said.
“But our generation wants answers, dad…” Fred remarked, as the mayor of Crystal Cove shook his head.
“Tickling chin whiskers, Fred… the Mayor’s son is supposed to set an example.” Mayor Jones replied.
“That’s what I’m trying to do, dad. As a matter of fact, yesterday I entered one of my traps in the district science fair…” Fred remarked, before sighing in defeat.
“It was rejected for not having anything to do with science, as I recall.” Mr. Jones said, as Fred tried to reason with his mayor father.
“If I want to pursue an interest that isn’t politics, why can’t I?” Fred then asked.
“I just don’t want to make a mistake you’ll regret…” Mr. Jones replied, as Fred sighed once more.
“It’s not making a mistake… I know what I want to do with my life…” Fred said.
“And that’s marrying Daphne someday… and seeing my mystery stories in print…” he then thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in another mansion in another portion of Crystal Cove, another of the members of Mystery Incorporated is sitting at the kitchen table in his family’s house… as he and his Great Dane enjoyed a rather substantial breakfast.
There were portions of bacon, sausage, pancakes piled high, as well as several glasses of orange juice on the table, as this particular member of the mystery solving group’s parents are having a similar discussion to the one Fred had with his father.
“Your mother and I are worried about this mystery phase you’re going through…” Mr. Rogers said.
“We’re not saying find new friends…” he then remarked, before his mother cleared her throat and began to speak.
“We are… find some new friends.” Mrs. Rogers then commented.
“Like, come on mom and dad… you’ve got nothing to worry about it… besides, me and Scoob always play it safe.” Shaggy replied, in between bites of pancake.
“Rthat’s right…” Scooby added.
“Yeah, if there’s danger we just run… and as for our friends, if you would just give all of them a chance you might like them.” Shaggy said.
At the same time, yet another conversation is taking place in another portion of Crystal Cove… where one of the other members of Mystery Incorporated’s parents are having a remarkably similar conversation to the other parents and children.
“The gang is just misunderstood, mom and dad…” Daphne said to her parents.
“We’re just solving mysteries… all the kids are doing it.” she then added, as the mother and father of the redhead shook their heads in disbelief.
“They are most certainly not…” Mr. Blake then remarked, with a somewhat perturbed tone to his voice.
“And what about this Fred Jones? Certainly there must be other boys…” Mrs. Blake added.
“Not like Fred… he’s incredibly handsome, incredibly smart… and very talented.” Daphne explained, as Mr. and Mrs. Blake glanced at one another before returning their gaze to Daphne herself.
“Dear… we just want you to go onto have a rich career… like your sisters…” Mr. Blake remarked, while pointing at the red head’s sisters nearby.
The four Blake siblings all had red hair(like Daphne)… while one was dressed in the uniform of a doctor, one of whom was in the uniform of a race car driver, one was in the uniform of the armed forces, and one was whom was dressed in a white and pink jumpsuit…
While talking to her parents, Daphne then heard the honking of a car horn… which caused her to walk towards the front door of the Blake Mansion.
“That’s Fred and the gang… got to go… don’t want to be late for school.” Daphne said, before waving goodbye to her four sisters.
As Daphne headed out to the Mystery Machine… she and the rest of the members of Mystery Incorporated did not know at that point, that two distinctly different events were about to affect them...
Both of which, would change not only their lives… but eventually the lives of everyone in not only Crystal Cove, but the entire world as well…