Shaggy felt cold slobber on his face, waking him immediately. "Oh man, Scooby..." he groaned. Scooby-Doo, his Great Dane, began giggling and licked his face again. Shaggy responded by a scratch between his brown ears. "Norville!!" a female voice called from upstairs. "Come and get breakfast!"
"Mom, like, stop calling me that!"
"As long as you're still living in my basement, I'll call you whatever I like, now get your breakfast!"
Shaggy looked at Scooby and said, "Like, well, let's get something to eat." Food was his primary motivation in doing anything.
Shaggy ran up the stairs, closely followed by Scooby-Doo. As always, his mother laid an impressive spread, leaving out only the kitchen sink. Within minutes, it was gone. "Goodness," Shaggy's mother said, "I swear that stomach's a bottomless pit! Just like your father! Oh, your friends called; they said they would be over in a little bit."
"Oh, man..." Shaggy groaned. Another 'mystery', he thought to himself. His friend since eighth grade, Fred, was obsessed with finding ghosts, goblins, or whatever supernatural phenomena he'd hear about. As it always turned out, however, it was always some criminal in disguise. He had to admit that the reward money was great (it was the only reason his mother hadn't kicked him out years ago), and the fact that he was terrified by anything at all out of the ordinary kept him in shape (continuous running). If it wasn't for the fact that he was stoned half the time, he would've been in the hospital for a heart attack.
He waited in the living room with the TV on, only half-watching. It was some old cartoon on the Cartoon Network. Halfway through, he heard the familiar motor-sound of Fred's van, a green van he called "The Mystery Machine." "Shaggy!" he heard Fred's voice calling.
Shaggy willed himself to get up and left the house, Scooby close behind him, and entered the van through the back. As always, his other two friends, a redhead hottie named Daphne and a short, bookish girl named Velma, were also in the van. Daphne was in the passenger seat next to Fred (Shaggy wanted so bad to find out if the carpet matched the drapes, but as long as she was with Fred, he never would), with Velma in one of the empty seats in back. "Hiya Shaggy," Velma said with a smile.
"Hi guys," Shaggy said. "Ri reverybody!" Scooby said. "So what are we doing today? Typical graveyard investigation?"
"No," Fred said, "nothing like that. I just thought we'd go to Happyland."
"I've heard it's haunted," Daphne said, but was hushed by Fred.
Oh great, Shaggy said, his irritation voiced by Scooby whining. "Oh well, I could use about 50 hot dogs right about now!"
"Reah! Rot rogs!" Scooby voiced his agreement.
They came to the park to find it unusually empty, with only a few employees present. "Wow, and in the middle of summer, too!" Fred said.
"Yeah, the place is usually packed!" Shaggy said.
They walked up to the gate, but were stopped by a guard. "I'm sorry, but the park is closing early."
"But why?" Fred asked.
"Perhaps you haven't heard about the Park Phantom or the disappearances."
"Why, no, I haven't," Fred said, stifling a chuckle. Everyone, even Shaggy and Scooby, knew Fred was lying and knew damned well about the phantom. Shaggy figured that if it weren't for the phantom, they wouldn't even be there. "Do you mind if we take a look around? Maybe we can help!"
"I don't see how...oh wait, you're those kids. Usually the strange things happen at night, but until then, the park is yours. Have fun!"
After a few rides on the roller coaster and about 50 hot dogs, hamburgers and whole pizzas each, Shaggy's fear was forgotten as he started having fun. He noticed that Velma was inching a little closer to him, but thought nothing of it. Velma had always been his best friend, other than Scooby, and he never looked at her as anything but. Velma, on the other hand, had a crush on him for as long as she'd known him, but was always too shy to tell him. That and she was too busy shoving Fred away from her. The only reason she didn't tell him to fuck off for good was because he was Shaggy's friend, and Daphne's boyfriend. She had continually tried convincing Daphne that he was no good for her, but Daphne was never too bright. Velma knew that Fred would fuck anything that moved, and had suspected that it was just a front to hide his true sexuality. She giggled a little bit at the thought.
Night fell, and the lights soon dimmed to nothingness. "Man, this place sure gets spooky at night," Shaggy said.
"You said it," Fred said. "Let's get to the bottom of this mystery! Let's split up! Daphne, you, Velma and I will go towards the roller coaster. Shaggy, you and Scooby investigate the concession stand." Fred knew that would be the only place Shaggy and Scooby would investigate.
Shaggy and Scooby were soon alone. "C'mon, old buddy," Shaggy said, "let's see if any of the food was left behind."
