sonderling || mystery incorporated

013 WHEN THE CICADA CALLS

Scooby nodded along eagerly, "Reah! With saltines! And applesauce!" "In gelatin.." Shaggy sighed happily, the two walking off. Lydia followed, Velma behind her as Fred kept Daphne back to talk. "You know hospital food sucks, right?" Lydia asked, Shaggy looking at her confused, "Like, no way, man. Sure, some of it sucks, but, like, the gelatin is perfect!" He grinned, putting a arm over her shoulders before eagerly walking faster for the hospital cafeteria as she complained about taking food from people who need it.

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Lydia had about four gelatin cups hidden in her sweater pockets as the gang- Shaggy, Scooby, Velma and herself- walked down a hallway to meet Fred and Daphne, who are standing in front of Fred's dad and Sheriff Bronson Stone. The Sheriff slammed a patient room door shut as Fred tried to get a glimpse inside.

"Can we help you with anything?" Fred asked, his father shaking his head, "No. Go away." "Who's the patient?" Velma added, the mayor glancing at her, "An employee at Destroido. Go away."

"Like, what happened to him?" Shaggy further questioned, stepping in the direction of the room only for Fred Jones Senior to jump in front of him, frowning, "It's classified. Go away."

Sheriff Stone cringed, hands wiping at his clothes like something was crawling on him, "It was this horrible creature!! Made of thousands and thousands of cicada bugs!! They got in his hair, in his nose..." He made a squeal of disgust, "All over him!! Ew, ew, gross!! Oh, ick!!" Lydia cringed, rolling his shoulders.

"What are you, three years old?" Mayor Jones rolled his eyes at Stone, then turned back to the gang, "Alright, fine, it's a bug creature, okay? And I'm not going to let a golden opportunity like this go to waste! I already talked with the city council. We're gonna have a Cicada Bug Creature Festival this weekend! And the crowds will be huge!" Mayor Jones grinned, then dropped it to stare seriously at the gang, "And if you have any human decency left in your hearts," He jabbed a finger on Fred's chest, "You will not get involved!"

He walked away, Sheriff Stone opening the door for him while giving a warning glare, pointing at the kids before following after, the door swinging shut behind him. Fred frowned, hands landing on his hips, "Sorry, dad, but we can't do that."

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Lydia sat on one of the waiting room chairs, bored as she watched the television show a Grandma Moonbeam's Nature Slivers commercial. "I want to bite some Nature Slivers..." Scooby whined, laying down on the ground, "I'm starving." He huffed, Shaggy frowning, "Like, me too!"

Fred walked over, smiling confidently as he nodded, "Okay, gang, I got it! Room 24B!" He motioned for everyone to get up, them following him down the hall. There had been another cicada monster attack on someone, and this time Mayor Jones and Sheriff Stone weren't waiting there to stop the gang from doing some sleuthing.

Daphne pushed open the hospital room door, sticking her head in. "Mr. Dederdee?" She asked, slowly opening the door wider to step inside, the rest of the gang following. "Mind if we ask you a few questions?" "We heard about your bug attack last night." Velma added.

The man laying in the hospital bed nodded, sighing, "Come on in..." He spoke hoarsely, "I'm not going anywhere." There was a woman sitting at his bedside, patting his hand, "Well, I should go... Feel better, dear." She smiled, getting up and turning.

"Grandma Moonbeam??" Both Scooby and Shaggy gasped, Shaggy grabbing her hand to shake it while giggling excitedly, "We're, like, your biggest fans!!" "Nature Slivers, yummy!" Scooby nodded along happily. "They're kinda good." Lydia shrugged, giving an awkward thumbs up from beside Daphne.