Scooby Doo! Meet Ellie Machine

Attack of the Headless Horror (Part 2)

We ran inside the house, where Dr. Spartan was sitting in a chair looking like he just woke up while everyone was crowded around him.

"Is everything all right? I heard a frightful commotion!" Charles asked. "Where you were? Why you not come when monster make bad-bad?" Dr. Spartan scolded him.

I looked at the gang for some sort of explanation, but Shaggy shook his head and held up his hand. I'll find out later. "Dr. Spartan, what can you tell us about the curse?" Velma asked him.

"It was carved into the box. It said if I took the head, its body would avenge the wrong I did forever," he explained, looking rather stressed about it. "That's a long time," said Scooby. "I can't spend the rest of my life running from that thing. I've got to find a way to break the curse," Dr. Spartan lamented.

"But, like, how are you gonna do that?" Shaggy asked him. "I have no idea," he sighed. "But I know someone who might," Velma told him. Dr. Spartan gave her a look of disbelief. "Oh yeah? Who?" he asked her.

"My mom. She owns a bookstore and museum in town and has the biggest collection of books on anything supernatural. I can go have a talk with her if you want and I can see what she knows," she offered to him. He sighed. "Alright. I appreciate it," he said, though he didn't actually seem like it. "Great idea!" Fred exclaimed. "Shaggy, Ellie, why don't you guys go with her while Daphne, Scooby and I stay to help Dr. Spartan."

I shrugged. "Alright, I'm always down to go see Velma's mom," I said. "Sure! She has, like, some of the best food in town!" Shaggy said happily. Fred handed Shaggy the keys, and we went to the Mystery Machine to stop by the Broken Spine.

It didn't take long for us to get there, though it was kind of weird for the three of us to sit together. We didn't really say anything, really.

When we walked into the bookstore, the three of us made a bee line to the food counter. Shaggy and I sat down while Velma called for her mom, "Oh hey, sweeties. What can I help you with?" she asked happily.

Velma told her all about Dr. Spartan and the attack from the headless horror. As she was talking, Mrs. Dinkley poured Shaggy and I each a cup of coffee.

Mrs. Dinkley hummed in interest. "A shrunken head curse. That's a lot of bad mojo. Not easy to break," she told us. "Then there's nothing we can do?" I asked her. "I didn't say that. I just said it wouldn't be easy. Velma, help me find my curse book," she said, and the two of them walked away as we drank our coffee.

We looked at each other and didn't break eye contact as we both took a long sip of our drinks. "You know, Ellie. I want to tell you something," he started. I set my cup down. "What's up babe?" I asked.

"Well, I, uh," he stuttered, before clearing his throat and sitting up. "I really wanted to say, uh... that I lo-,"

There was a loud thud next to us, and we looked over at Mrs. Dinkley and her oversized book. Velma stood next to me. "Good news! I think I found an incantation to break the curse!" Velma's mom exclaimed and opened the book. "Let's see, now. Okay. It says the incantation has to be said in a jungle," she said after reading the book.

"The jungle? But the Amazon's thousands of miles away!" Velma exclaimed. "It doesn't have to be the Amazon. Any jungle will do," Mrs. Dinkley explained. "But, like, dudes, we don't have a jungle in Crystal Cove," Shaggy told her. That set off a light bulb in my head.

"Wait! Yes, we do. The botanical gardens. They've got that new mini rainforest. That's a jungle," I said proudly. "It also says the incantation has to be recited by a jackal," Mrs. Dinkley added. Velma sighed. "Great. Where are we going to get a talking jackal?"