Scooby Doo! Meet Ellie Machine

Howl of the Fright Hound (Part 1)

It's been only a week since the mystery of the humongonauts, and things between Shaggy and I have been pretty weird. I can't even remember the last time we were alone together, though I'd like to keep it that way for a while. Nowadays, I'm mostly around Daphne, and by extension, Velma. I'm still not her biggest fan, but she's starting to grow on me.

Like right now, for example. I walked out of the school with Daphne and Velma on either side of me, talking about different assignments we had for our classes. In front of the school, sitting on the steps, the guys were waiting for us. I had a bit of blame for that because I needed a quick interview with Velma on the summer robotics club competition that was coming up in a few months. We joined them on the steps as the bell rang, and more students flooded into the parking lot.

Shaggy sighed and I gave him a side glance. "Like, another boring day or regular boring old school," he complained, and I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure we could find some ways to spice things up," Velma told him, leaning into his side a little bit.

"Yum, spicy! Like spicy meatballs!" Scooby interrupted them with a grin, making Velma grumble to herself at the lost chance of a moment with her still-boyfriend. Things between them haven't been too good either, though. Shaggy still hasn't made a flat decision on whether Scooby or Velma were more important to him.

"You know, sometimes I feel like a side of mayo on a 'Shaggy-Scooby Sandwich,'" Velma complained. This has been the basis of conversation between the two of them for days.

Shaggy and Scooby giggled and licked their lips in unison. "Yum. Mayo," they also said in unison... I know, creepy. "It's time you made a choice- Dog, or me," Velma forced, leaning back into him and batting her eyelashes 'flirtatiously.'

Shaggy laughed nervously. "Um, yeah."

The interesting yet sad saga of Shaggy and Velma was interrupted by chaos erupting in the parking lot, making Scooby jump into Shaggy's arms and thus causing Velma to fall to the ground. There were multiple loud crashes, making all six of us turn to the commotion. A large, mechanical spider was crawling and jumping all over the place, making students either run or stand like deer in headlights.

The spider then turned and started to approach us. As it did, it scraped a car and bent an antenna on a couple of cars. "Dude, my paint job!" Ethan, one of the soccer players, exclaimed. "My chubby the chipmunk educational antenna ball!" Gary added angrily.

"What is that thing?" Daphne exclaimed. "It's a mystery, Daphne. And the only thing that'll stop a mystery is a trap!" Fred exclaimed, standing up. The spider came to a stop in front of us, and a rotund, red-haired boy with glasses and braces, as well as a seriously troubled fashion sense, stood next to it proudly.

"That, or an ingeniously fashioned remote control," he said, holding said remote before laughing and turning to the angry and scared students of Crystal Cove High.

"Look, Velma! All those jocks and populars cower when faced with my mechanical menace. Who's in charge now, jocks and populars?" he called to the students. Ethan and Gary approached him, gave him a wedgie, and pushed him to the ground. "We are!" they said in unison. Man, what is with the talking in unison thing?

"You're buying me a new paint job, dork," Ethan told him, and they stalked off to further inspect their cars. "A small price to pay, eh, Velma?" the boy asked her. I raised my eyebrows and turned to the bespeckled girl as Daphne asked, "Velma, do you know this boy?"

"Know me? Why, she's talked to me. And she's a girl who isn't my mother!" the boy exclaimed, standing up and looking at Velma with adoration in his eyes. Velma groaned as we all stood up. "Everyone, this is Jason," she introduced.