Fifteen - Pt. 1 -

Coolsville. We were in Coolsville. Standing in the presence of Mystery Incorporated.
Also known as THE FREAKING SCOOBY GANG.
The Scooby Gang, guys!! All five of the legendary cartoon sleuthers, my heart...

Surely you know them, or at least know OF them, or at least seen their images pop up. But in the off chance you haven't, which is impossible cuz they're an American icon, I shall introduce you.

The head of the gang is Fred Jones...a tall, blonde jock figure dressed in a long sleeve white shirt with an orange ascot who always fearlessly takes charge and gives commands to the gang, and..ya know..always splits them up...yeah.
He's excessively cheeseball cuz jock and blonde and all and, like, I don't know how else to describe Fred. He loves building traps to catch the monsters and also has a thing for Daphne.
Daphne Blake is the stereotypical girly girl. Rich and fashionable, with long red hair and a purple dress..which..she really has a thing for purple, as much as I do black.
She also has a knack for getting kidnapped or get herself in some kinda other pickle.
The polar opposite of Velma Dinkley, the smart girl. Short auburn hair, thick glasses and always spotted in her orange turtleneck, in like, every season. She's brainy and usually puts together who the monsters really are way ahead of the others, due to her paying attention to the littlest details throughout the investigation. The downside is that she's a skeptic when it comes to the supernatural and is never convinced that actual monsters or ghosts or aliens exist. Which I kinda hold against her, cuz duh, of course they are. Next is Shaggy Rogers, the beatnik of the gang, a chill and very groovy product of a child, often using the word 'like' on a regular basis. He is addicted to food (I can relate) and is extremely terrified of monsters (I do not relate). He sports shaggy dirty blonde hair, a short sleeve oversized green shirt and baggy brown pants. And lastly, there is Scooby Doo. The titular character.
A walkin-talkin doggo who's 100% a scaredy cat and bestest pal of Shaggy. The two are pretty much inseparable and have common obsessions with food and fun times, both not necessarily keen on going after monsters. If anything, they're there to be with their friends and have a good time. They refuse to confront anything spooky in the slightest and will run the very second danger shows up.

Now enough about them. Details are for bagels.

I held both sides of my face in pure and utter shock. For I was standing in the presence of people of whom I had grown up watching. Heck, they had existed long before I was even born.
Since my parents were little kids. What made it even more weird was even though they were around before I was, we were at this exact moment the same age. Me maybe tipping on the older side, but still.
This was beyond freaking amazing and golly, what an honor. There's just something simply addicting about Scooby Doo and his show's mysteries. "MYSTERY INC., KDJKJEWDJWJDWJKDJD" Before the boys could restrain me, which they indeed did try, I set myself loose and bolted towards the five. "Freddy! Daph! Velm! Shaggy! SCOOBEHHHH!!"
I hugged each, shaking them vigorously, them looking both perplexed and flattered that I knew each of them and that I was so excited to see them.
"I LOVE YOU GUYSSSS" "Well, we love you, too!" Fred uttered out, clearly not knowing what else to say. I giggled as I then knelt down and began to pet Scooby like a maniac, doting all my love upon him, who as a dog was greatly enjoying the affection. It had been too long since I embraced a dog. Far too long. I needed to catch up. Doggos are life.

"It's an honor to meet you guys, seriously!" A couple of them blushed.
"You..you follow our cases?" Velma said in awe.
"Just about all of them! Your methods are perfection, deductive skills exemplary. You, my dears, are legendary."
More blushing. It was here that I elected to cut the geeking out and cleared my throat, backing up towards the boys.
"Allow me to introduce myself..my name's Sarah Demens. These are my friends and traveling companions..Master, Joker, Bane and Moriarty."
"Saving the best for last, I see." Jim noted with a subtle wink.

The others cut their eyes at me in that moment at the mention of 'friends'.
Which was actually rather touching. "Master?" Velma inquired. "Master of what, exactly?"
He shrugged casually. "Everything."
"-Awesome! Haha, he's a master of a lot of radical stuff. He's a pretty crazy dude, please don't feed his ego." "And what kind of name is Joker??" "He jokes a lot. Seriously, he's a total goofball. Also he's a professional clown." "And Bane?" "Nicknames, y'all, these are nicknames. I mean, no one questions Shaggy about HIS name."
They fell silent. Velma rubbed her neck. "..And Demens? That's Latin."
"Latin?" "AHA!" Master pointed an accusing finger at me. "A false identity!"
"So what?!" I shoved his accusing finger away. "You're a hypocrite!" "Fight me!"
"Latin for what?" J grabbed Velma's shoulders and shook her. "I gotta know!"
She widened her eyes. "Insanity!" "What is it?!" He shook her again. "Insanity!"
"Stop babbling, woman, and TELL me!" "J, stop harassing her, you salty pineapple, IT LITERALLY MEANS INSANITY!"
He froze.

Velma held her dizzy head. J swallowed and slowly released her, causing her to fall to the ground, where the rest of the gang rushed to hold her up comfortingly as she continued to hold her forehead.
I pulled J back, throwing him behind me with the others.
"Apologies, I have to keep these boys on a tighter leash, clearly, they've gotten rowdier as of late."
The boys were perplexed by this, but I paid them no further mind.

"Now.." I glanced at them, then back at the gang. "What's this about you knowing that we were coming?"
"And someone warning you?" "And there being a mystery you can't solve?"
Daphne looked up at us, while putting an arm around Velma, who was still recovering.
"Not long ago, a man came to us and told us that there were five people coming to Coolsville, looking to help the town. They would be strangers and different from us, but we should trust them."
"And you'd help us with our case." Fred cut in. "And like, help save the town!" Shaggy threw in.
"And we've been waiting ever since, for someone like you five..." Velma climbed back up.
I was flabbergasted. "Sweet lord! Who in the actual?!"
"How long ago was this?" "Only a couple of hours!"
We all whipped our heads at one another.
I looked straight back at the gang with excited eyes.
"Two hours??? That means......." "Wait..." Bane lifted a hand up at me and laid it on my shoulder. I cut my eyes at him.
"..What mystery?"
My eyes turned to the streets of the town..something came to light in my mind at that moment..there was no one else around. Empty. The town in itself also had an additional feeling...it felt...terrorized.
Preyed upon. There was something wrong with the air. A whole different atmosphere entirely.
"..Where is everyone?"

Velma and the rest of the gang all looked to one another, exchanging uneasy glances, as if they were themselves unsettled about something. That's when Velma approached me and extended her hand, to which I stared down in puzzlement.
"Come with us. We'll tell you everything. Just not here."
"How's that?" J questioned.
"Tell us about what?? A masked guy trying to get away with a petty crime?  We'll put the cad to shame, I assure you."
"Just please, come."
Trusting them was unquestionable. Going with them was completely safe. There was nothing to fear with the Scooby Gang. It was the mystery...the mystery unsettled me. In fact, it made me sick just thinking about it, and I didn't know why. I didn't even know what it was. What was happening. Why the town felt so empty and dismal and the gang seemed so shaken.
This mystery..whatever it was..made me sick to my core.
I knew this adventure wasn't a pleasant one..still..I wasn't afraid. Fear has little to no meaning to me.
I, like the gutsy fool that I am, readily took her hand with a single nod.
"Lead the way, Dinkley." She nodded back and then tugged me forward and dragged me alongside the others as the boys soon followed right behind.
~ ~ ~
The gang took us aboard their vessel, the Mystery Machine, a marvelous green van of which they traveled in to all their mysterious destinations. Due to Fred, Velma and Daphne taking up the front, the boys and I had to ride in the back with Shaggy and Scooby, making it a little crowded, but still having a bit of elbow room. I was sandwiched between J and Bane, while Master took Bane's opposite side, facing Jim, who sat next to Shaggy and Scooby. It was a bit of a windy road to wherever it was they were taking us. I peeked around the others out the windshield to see the town. It was such an old looking place, definitely set in the 60's going on 70's, which was the show's initial release period. You could definitely tell by the gang's attire and language which time period it was set in, as well. The town itself always felt a little spooky, but when the gang was around, they lightened the mood. You have a sense of hope when they're present. It's a gift of their's. Why this town always had a guy dressed as a monster to commit, as Joker put it, "petty crimes" was beyond me. Perhaps earlier cases simply inspired the rest of the idiots to carry on the tradition. Maybe the crooks feed on the fear and superstition the residents clearly have. They did have many eery legends and ghost stories in Coolsville, stretching to long ago. Who knows..all I know is, whatever the feeling was given from this town, a whole new ballgame was at large. And to be honest? Even riding in that van?
I felt..watched.

I sat back and faked a smile to the boys, who were obviously trying their hardest to be calm and patient with the ongoing developments of this adventure. I almost laughed, but decided against it to attempt to be as nice as possible. I didn't necessarily feel like a jerk that day, which is highly unusual.
So unlike me, I know..
"So where are you taking us?" Master spoke, sounding almost as if we were taken prisoner.
"To like, one of our favorite places to hang out and think! The diner!"
Master lifted his brows, "Food, you say? What a glorious coincidence..I'm famished."
"I bet you are." I said with a hint of worry, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Why a diner?" Joker now spoke.
"Because, like, food, dude!"
"Reh! Rood!"
The clown frowned. "Of course, how could I even question it.."
"Honestly, Joker." I teased. He crinkled his face at me.
"Why can't you just tell us here about the case?"
"It wouldn't be very professional, nor comfortable."
"Indeed, it wouldn't..but still..if the idea is secrecy.."
"Not so much secrecy, me thinks. More about having a better, pleasant place to sit and discuss. Not smackdab in the middle of the road."
"See, Sarah's got it!" "Yeah. After all, you five must be hungry after coming such a long way."
"Certainly." Jim agreed.

The van abruptly stopped, making the boys and I jerk forward.
"We're here!" Called out Fred.
No kidding.
We nodded in reply, just as the three upfront unbuckled and exited via both doors. Shaggy and Scooby climbed ahead of us and opened the backdoors, jumping down and excitedly advancing away.
The rest of us exchanged some glances before they ultimately allowed me to go first, Master stating "Queens first." to which I chuckled at and hopped down.
I turned to my left and now faced a glorious building, neon pink, green and purple colors reflecting against me from the lit up sign. I gazed at it with an open mouth...food.
"Well, gang.." Fred said as the boys had all disembarked from the van.
He gestured at us with a bit of a delayed nod. "And..other gang..let's head inside!"
. . .
Amidst the darkness of the night..fog reaching every corner of the area..a body laid upon the ground..a body not unlike a child's..it laid unconscious, close to the neighboring woods and a dirt road littered with rocks. The body had laid motionless for nearly an hour..all still for the longest time..no sound was heard, no other traces of life present.
And then..the body's eyes opened.