Starchild led the large, ragtag group to the room that the Rock of Kissteria was previously left in.
While the Demon walked towards the back to retrieve the box, Starchild used the time to set some ground rules over the ordeal. In order to conceal the secret from the Scooby gang for a little while longer, he came up with a cover story as well.
"The Detroit Rock is a very special relic to us. Almost sacred. Only a few people have ever laid their eyes on it, and even fewer have ever handled it." He looked over the teenagers with a stern look, adding to the seriousness of his words.
Rory caught on quickly to Starchild's hidden meaning when he sent a quick wink her way. Stilling herself, Rory got ready for her part of Starchild's plan.
"We find it very important for the Detroit Rock to remain as pure as possible. So, only one of you will take care of it, and in doing so will be the only one that will be able to touch it. No. Matter. What. Now who will that be?" he finished with twinkling eyes.
Rory was quick to jump in. "I will!"
Daphne huffed in humorous jealousy when Rory beat her to the draw. She so wanted to take part in anything connected to Starchild.
Rory sent Daphne a sly grin at the playful glare she was receiving, which was quickly interrupted by Fred ruffling her hair. The Scooby gang didn't think Rory's eagerness was suspicious. She was always eager to help and easily excitable, no matter the circumstance.
The Demon walks back towards the center of the room with the box that held the Rock, effectively catching everyone's attention. Placing it back on the table, the four rockstars gather around the box, much like they had done moments earlier.
Ever the grump, the Demon pointedly looks at Starchild while grumbling, "I do not like this."
Unbeknownst to Rory, he was concerned with the safety of the young Wielder, along with how the upcoming events were going to turn out. KISS as a whole knew that things were about to go down, quick, but they didn't know if it was going to be for the better or for the worst.
"It's going to be fine," Starchild attempted to appease the agitated bass player.
The Demon wasn't going to be easily comforted though, and retorted "How do you know?"
Instead of offering further words, Starchild simply points to his special eye, that he claimed could see the future, or at least parts of it.
"Oy," the Demon breathes out with an eye roll, deciding that Starchild was not going to waver in what he thought was the right thing to do.
Catman and Rory, who had been standing side by side, had been glancing back and forth between the two bickering band members, much like watching a tennis match. Giving a quick glance at Rory, Catman sees her quickly nodding towards the two, giving him a silent nudge to step in and try and help.
With Rory's encouragement, Catman speaks up. "Come on Demon, if we don't stop the witch tonight the park will go under."
Spaceman quickly jumped in, "so let's rock these kids already!"
Stepping back towards the box, Catman, Spaceman, and Starchild placed their palms against the box simultaneously to unlock it once again.
The three, along with the Scooby gang, looked to Demon expectantly as he had not yet placed his hand over the box.
Meeting their stares, the Demon groaned in annoyance. He knew he was outnumbered.
"Eh, alright," the Demon reluctantly gave in.
As soon as his hand connected with the box, it began to glow, startling the teenagers that had not yet experienced the unveiling of the Rock of Kissteria.
Velma, the first to gain her bearings back, was starstruck by what she saw. She almost couldn't believe it, but it was staring her straight in the face.
"Jinkies, it's a black diamond," Velma breathed out in awe.
"The largest in the world," Starchild was quick to add. He, along with the other band members, were proud and fond of the object that was used to save their home in the past.
"That explains why the Crimson Witch has turned this place upside down looking for it," Daphne spoke the words that the Scooby gang were all thinking. Well, except for Rory since she now knew the truth.
Fred was quick to start formulating a plan to bring the Crimson Witch down. "Now it's just a matter of setting a trap."
"Yea, so like whose going help Rory to be the bait? She doesn't need to go by herself." Shaggy cluelessly responded.
Missing the scowl that Rory was now sending his way, Shaggy's shoulders slumped in despair when everyone chorused,"You are," pointedly to him and Scooby both.
"Scoob, how is it that out of four ginormous superhero's, you and I have to do the hard part?" Shaggy asked.
"Oh, so not only can I be bait by myself, I'm also the hard part!? Bring it, baggy clothes!" Rory quickly jumped on Shaggy's back, causing him to flail around as the duo passed by Scooby during their scuffle.
"Just lucky I guess," simply offered Scooby as he passively watched the commotion. The two acted more like siblings then they would care to admit.
"Come on, you can do it," Velma encouraged Shaggy and Scooby once the Demon plucked Rory off of Shaggy's back and placed her next to Catman, who he hoped would calm her down, at least a bit.
"Yea, we can't lure her out, so put yourselves in our shoes," Catman also encouraged from where he stood next to the now sulking brunette. His attention was soon diverted, though, when he noticed how Rory was standing with her hands crossed in front of her with an endearing pout across her face.
As cute as it was, he could not stand by and watch her mope about. Poking her in her side, laughter bubbles out of her mouth as she also squealed. She spun towards her 'attacker' to see who it was.
There it was, her smile that Catman has quickly grown very fond of. As his eyes of mischief stared straight into her own, he let himself fall deeper and deeper for the girl who was surely but steadily stealing his heart.
Hatching a brilliant idea, Shaggy responded, "You know what? That just might help."
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Scooby, Shaggy, and Rory were currently walking right through the park to reach the very middle. Rory was clutching the Rock of Kissteria tightly in her hands as they waited for the appearance of the Crimson Witch.
Looking between the two on either side of her, Rory held back any of the sly comments and jokes that passed through her mind at the sight of her two friends. Before they were to act as bait, Shaggy and Scooby insisted that the band members were to let them borrow a few pairs of their boots. Shaggy quite literally took Catman's words to heart, believing that wearing the boots of KISS would make them just as brave as the band.
Unfortunately, the boots were bulkier than the two were used to. In Scooby's case, having anything on his paws at all were more than he was used to. They more like wobbled and teetered through the park.
The three friends also sported a pair of earphones each so that they could stay in close contact to the rest of the Scooby gang as Fred's plan commenced.
"I figured the bigger the shoes, the faster we'll run," Shaggy tried to convince the brunette who was failing to hide her wary eyes that appeared every time they flicked to their massive pairs of rockstar boots.
"Good idea, Shaggy," Scooby agreed.
"Let's have a race then," Rory quickly challenged the two, scratching the top of Scooby's head.
Before either two could comment, Velma's voice chimed through all three earphones. "Just make sure the witch sees the rock," she ushered the three. Rory could see Velma halfway hiding behind a building nearby. The bespectacled girl gave Rory a reassuring smile that she quickly returned.
Seeing that Rory was doing ok, she then checked up on the remaining two of the group. "Fred, Daphne, are you in position?"
"Roger that, just make sure to bring her our way," Fred prompted the three that were now standing in the very middle of the park since they had been barely getting anywhere by walking.
"Ok you three, start walking," Velma told them.
"Not a problem," Scooby responded, quickly mustering the willpower once again to walk in KISS's boots.
Rory could not hold it in any longer as she starting laughing at the two. The looked like a couple of newborn baby deer!
"Come on guys, we have to get this mystery wrapped up before the concert starts," Velma stated in an attempt to get the three to remain serious.
"How does KISS walk in these things," Scooby uttered as he and Shaggy kept on trying to walk in a straight line as they listened to Rory's incessant snickering.
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Sorry that this update took so long!
It's been crazy lately, but I will always update eventually <3
Hope everyone is doing ok!