Post by bigscoobydoofan on May 15, 2023 1:08:10 GMT -5
The camera panned down from a pitch black sky to a retro-looking diner, which had a bright red neon sign at the front of it.
Inside the diner, there was only one customer eating at a table. He was an old man who wore glasses and a black jacket.
He looked very miserable while eating his burger.
“What in the world happened to this place?” He whispered to himself.
Just then, a waitress in an old-fashioned waitress outfit appeared right in front of him.
“Hey there bud!” The Southern waitress said, “How ya doin!? Enjoyin’ your burger? I’m stayin’ here for the anniversary party tonight, are you?”
The old man didn’t reply.
“I see, I see, I enjoy the silent treatment meal too.” The waitress nodded.
“Why aren’t you being rude to me?” The old man asked.
“Wh…what?”
“This isn’t an ‘old fashioned’ diner at all, it’s all been softened down for a new generation! Back in my day, the catering crew was mean to everybody!”
“Well they didn’t teach me that in waitress school.”
“CLEARLY YOU DIDN’T STUDY IN WAITRESS SCHOOL, CAROL.”
There was a pause.
“Alright, alright…” The waitress sighed, “Uhhhh…..you’re stupid?”
“It doesn’t have the same effect.”
“How about…you are literally a skeleton at this point sir, it’s a miracle your bones are still standing up straight!” The waitress giggled.
“Well that’s just mean.” The old man scowled.
Giving up, the waitress walked off. The old man continued eating his burger.
“Yeah that’s right, you back off, peachy keen.” He smirked.
Suddenly, a purply-blue mist entered the diner. Foggy clouds rolled in, and completely covered the man. Now, he couldn’t see anything.
“What the…” He muttered. He got up off of his seat and tried walking round in what seemed like infinite fog.
“If this is a publicity stunt, then I still think you suck at waitressing!” He smirked.
He continued walking round in the mist. Suddenly, he bumped into a wall, and the mist slowly began to clear. But now…he wasn’t in a diner anymore.
He was in a small little room which had a roaring log fire in a fireplace and a swinging rocking chair next to it. A record player was playing eerie old fashioned music.
“Wait a minute…” The old man whispered. He looked up at the brown patterned wall, and saw a familiar old woman’s shadow begin to form.
“Edna? Is that you?”
There was no reply. He slowly turned around.
Standing right behind him was a glowing blue ghost who was wearing sunglasses, and a fedora and trench coat. The ghost smiled.
“AHHHH!” The old man screamed, trying to run from the ghost, but the ghost glided to him, cackling.
The slow music playing on the record player began to get more distorted, as the neon sign outside the diner flickered.
…
A few hours later, the diner was now hectic. People were dressed in old-fashioned 80’s outfits, and waitresses were running around to get food for people.
The gang, who were in normal outfits, were sitting on stools at a countertop.
“I can’t believe we’re actually here!” Velma said. “The Tip-Taking Moo Cow Diner. I’ve wanted to go here since I was a kid.”
“That’s an odd name for a restaurant.” Fred pointed out.
“Yeah, well their mascot is literally a fry cook cow, this is standard uncanny valley.” Velma replied.
“Honestly, I don’t get the whole ‘80’s’ thing!” Fred admitted. “Nostalgia is just…just…such a weird concept to me. Am I weird? Well yeah, probably. Ahh, nostalgia.”
“Fred. We’ve been over this. Do not mention nostalgia to me.” Velma whispered.
“Okay, water, clowns, and now nostalgia, how could you have beef with nostalgia!?” Fred asked.
“It sends me down….a spiral…” Velma sighed.
“Alright, alright,” Fred said, “I won’t mention it. Anyway, a lot of things confuse me. This being one of them. I’m just a present day man, I’ve got a van, some teens to be responsible for, since they can get a little weird. But nostalgia, it's just- OH NO.”
Velma gasped, and it cut to some stars in space.
“Is the past as good as the present?” Velma’s voice asked. “Am I as good as I was in the past?”
“Do I get nostalgia over bad things? Are they good things? Who knows!”
“Is nostalgia being prioritised over life’s grand opportunities? Is the future technically just a direct to DVD sequel movie to the nostalgic past? WHAT IS GOING ON! WHAT DOES NOSTALGIA EVEN MEAN ANYMORE?”
It shows Velma’s head slowly floating through space. Then, it cuts back to the diner, where Velma was now banging her head on the table.
“Riiiight.” Fred uttered.
Out of nowhere, loud old pop music began to blast into their ears. They turned to see Daphne carrying a boombox that was bigger than her head.
“Daphne, would you mind not turning on a vintage boombox in the middle of my existential crisis?” Velma muttered.
Daphne sighed and turned the boombox off. She pressed a button on it and out came a little cassette.
“What are you doing with one of these things?” Fred asked.
“Oh, my uncle got me it for my 10th birthday. I just thought it would fit the occasion. 80’s, ya know?” Daphne laughed.
“Well, maybe you could quieten down?” Fred suggested, “The retro folks are getting a little jealous.”
They looked around and saw guests in outfits staring at them.
“Oh, c’mon! Who wants to hear a little bit of Chester Soulnumb!?” Daphne yelled to the crowd.
The crowd continued staring. The people dressed as rock stars shook their heads in disapproval.
“How about some Jacky Jackson?” Daphne asked.
“Maybe not the time, Jacky died last week.” Fred whispered.
People dressed as Jacky Jackson gave her dagger stares.
“Or maybe a song from Ou Kelele?” Daphne smiled.
“Just yesterday he was found to be the leader of a smuggling ring…” Fred whispered.
“Oh-” Daphne’s eyes widened.
“Ugh, young people.” Someone in the retro crowd muttered.
“Ah, I see, you guys just want to hear Meldon Lesley.” Daphne realised. She turned the boombox back on again and music continued blasting out of it. Everyone cheered.
“Well played, past.” Velma said.
Near them, Shaggy and Scooby were sitting talking to a male bartender who had a goatee and ponytail.
“And so, to conclude this terrifying tale, the hot dog ate Joe.” The bartender grinned.
“AHHH!” Shaggy and Scooby screamed, hugging each other.
“Like, Jesse, how are you so good at making up these weird horror stories?” Shaggy asked.
“This building could be his inspiration.” Scooby commented, looking around the diner.
“I’ve seen a lot of things come and go.” The bartender called Jesse shrugged. “My whole life is like a mini horror flick! MuahahahaHA!”
Shaggy and Scooby eyed each other nervously.
“Anyway fellas, would you like to hear another tale?” Jesse smiled, “This one is about how the refill drink machines at Burger Queen became…empty…”
Shaggy and Scooby screamed and fell off their seats.
“We’re gonna need another milkshake after that one.” Scooby said through a shivering voice.
“One milkshake coming right up.” Jesse nodded.
“Like, I’m not sharing a milkshake with my dog!” Shaggy frowned, getting up.
“Our food is individual.” Scooby added.
“So we get more of a taste.” Shaggy smiled.
“Alright, alright, two milkshakes.” Jesse said.
He went into the kitchen and came back in with two strawberry milkshakes. He placed them onto the counter.
“These things are a part of this diner’s history! I’m not sure who made the recipes though, I don’t trust this place’s owner. Anyway, that’ll be four fifty.” He smiled.
Shaggy placed four fifty onto the table.
“Ya know, Scoob, I can’t actually remember the last time I tried one of these!” He gasped.
“I’d say probably last century.” Scooby guessed.
“Like, I remember coming here as a kid and trying it, but now that I’m actually an adult with responsibilities and goals, the taste has been forgotten.” Shaggy continued.
“What if…what if these milkshakes are trainwrecks?” Scooby’s lips quivered.
“Woah woah woah boys, calm down, they’re the exact same as they’ve been for forty years.” Jesse reminded them.
“But, like, that was the past when this diner started making these.” Shaggy said.
“....And now it’s the present.” Scooby finished.
“I’m getting superstitious!” Shaggy shivered. “I don’t have faith in a drink!”
“I’ve officially been diagnosed with an allergy to giving things a try!” Scooby added, pushing away his milkshake.
“Not the worst thing to happen here.” Jesse admitted.
“Huh?” Shaggy and Scooby frowned.
“They say that a ghost is haunting this place.” Jesse revealed.
“GHOST!?” The two pals screamed.
“Did I hear the word ghost? That sounds like a MYSTERY!” Fred grinned, running over to their side of the bar with the rest of the gang.
“I wish our nonexistent hearing aids had been acting up.” Scooby sighed.
“Yes, a ghost, the ghost of DJ BrainLodge, also known by his real name, Lucas Armstrong.” Jesse explained. “He used to perform onstage next to the dance floor in the other room, I remember him. But now he’s back somehow, doing terrible things to people…”
Suddenly, Daphne’s boombox accidentally came on again, playing a Halloween song, everyone jumped into each other’s arms, startled.
“Oh, sorry! Just…the boombox.” She shrugged, turning off the boombox again. “Man, boombox life is hard.”
“I personally don’t believe in it myself. A ghost can’t possibly make its own atoms disappear. Plus, if a ghost can pass through walls, then I’m actually making this ink vanish.” Jesse said, grabbing a napkin and scribbling his signature on it.
He crumpled up the napkin and reopened it. The signature was gone. Then, he turned the napkin around, revealing that the signature was just there.
Just then, the old man from the cold open burst in, leaving. A woman in a waitress outfit came running after him, along with three younger waitresses.
“I’m outta here, why was my ex wife’s shadow on that wall!? This place is cursed!” The old man scowled, walking out. “Now I feel like a milkshake too…what’s wrong with me?”
The older woman sighed.
“Excuse me, ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking, what just happened back there?” Fred asked.
“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” The woman quickly turned to him, with a forced smile. “NO GHOST! ENJOY YOUR FOOD!”
“But the bartender literally just told us that there’s a ghost here.” Fred said.
“HE DIDN’T!” The woman corrected him. “NO GHOST! NO PROBLEMS! I KEEP MY PRIDE! ENJOY THE 80’S NOSTALGIA!”
“Nope.” Velma turned her head.
“I feel like we can really help, honestly,” Fred said, walking over to the woman, “we’re mystery solvers, we do this on a daily basis-”
“FRY COOK COW!” The woman interrupted him, shoving a little figurine of the diner’s mascot into his face. “LOOK AT HIM! HIS NAME’S BENNY!”
“Retro coo coo.” Scooby muttered.
Fred and the woman stared at each other for a moment. Fred nervously pushed the cow figurine away from his face.
“Ugh, fine, I can’t keep this up much longer.” The woman sighed. “The name’s Nancy Miller, I run this place, but yes, as Jesse may have already told you, thanks a lot Jesse, there’s a ghost.”
“A really spooky ghost!” The three waitresses behind her said in unison. The gang eyed each other.
“Oh, excuse them, they’re my apprentices who go to waitress school, Mai, May and Mae.” Nancy explained. “They always do that weird stuff.”
“They say that we’re not mean enough!” Mai, May and Mae rolled their eyes, also in unison.
“We’re good at catching ghosts, so maybe we could figure out why this DJ is haunting the diner.” Fred said.
“Customers have said that he’s brought them back…to the past?” Nancy frowned, “It’ll be a confusing one for you kids, trust me. I’m definitely not just being too proud of the past forty years.”
“The past? So could I go back to the 80’s and meet my nerdy uncle? Awesome!” Daphne smiled.
She blasted her boombox and began dancing.
“Hmmm…” Fred pondered, “Gang, let’s split up and look for clues to discover more about this DJ BrainLodge guy.”
Daphne was still dancing, this time to a heavy metal rock song.
“C-can you stop that?” Fred asked.
She shouted an unclear lyric, while whipping her head back and forth.
“Oh-Kayy…” Fred scratched his head, “Shaggy, Scooby, you guys go investigate the kitchen-”
“Woah woah woah woah WOAH!” Shaggy stopped him. “If we’re going to investigate the kitchen, then you and Velma are not coming with us!”
“Lest we forget waffles.” Scooby added.
“Guys, we weren’t planning on it.” Velma said.
“Like, oh.” Shaggy replied.
“Always a small chance.” Scooby shrugged.
“We’re going to go upstairs to check Nancy’s office.” Fred declared. “If she has an office- do you guys remember the last time a restaurant owner didn’t have an office?”
“Oh no….remembering…nostalgia…” Velma gasped.
It cuts to Velma’s floating head through space again.
“The past? The present? The future? Are they all of the government's plans? The past, an addiction, the present, a problem, the future, yearning? Her voice asked.
“Am I getting the wrong past back? Why doesn’t my grandma’s soup return out of all things?”
“LET’S JUST GO!” Fred shouted.
…
Soon, Shaggy and Scooby were in the kitchen.
“Ya know, Scoob, I’m wondering if we took those milkshakes the wrong way.” Shaggy admitted.
“I’m conveniently feeling thirsty now.” Scooby noticed.
“Whaddya say we have a little try of the classic drink? For old time’s sake?” Shaggy asked.
“Sure!” Scooby smiled, licking his lips.
They walked over to the milkshake machine. It was painted a bright light blue.
“This thing looks old.” Scooby remarked.
“Dude, we’ll figure out how it works, believe me!” Shaggy reassured him.
He opened a mini fridge on the counter next to the machine and got out some milk and strawberry flavouring. Then, he opened the top of the machine and poured them both inside.
Then, he pressed a button on the machine and waited.
Out of nowhere, a gross mix of milk and unblended strawberry spurted out of the machine, getting all over Shaggy and Scooby!
“AHHH!” They yelled, running around in a panic.
“I knew they would be no good!” Shaggy yelled.
“Present day is a curse!” Scooby screamed.
Pinkish milk got all over them, and they looked like blobs.
Quickly thinking, Scooby grabbed a cloth and tried blocking out the stream. After a while, it stopped and he put the cloth down.
The two buddies sighed. Shaggy’s eyes widened.
“Oh wait, that’s it, like, I forgot a cup.” He facepalmed.
They wiped the milky mixture off of themselves and sighed.
Suddenly, a man’s shadow loomed over them. They turned around and saw that it belonged to a buff retro fry cook, who now had milk on his uniform.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOIN?” He shouted.
“Like, nothing, your retro-ness!” Shaggy panicked.
“The present-day cleanup is all yours!” Scooby screamed.
They bolted off, screaming.
“Where do we go!?” Shaggy screamed.
“Burger buns- that way!” Scooby commanded. They hopped inside a cupboard. Eating sounds could be heard from inside the cupboard.
The angry fry cook walked past the cupboard while trying to look for the two.
“Every single week...” He sighed. He walked off.
There was a long pause.
“Is it safe to come out?” Shaggy asked.
“You tell me.” Scooby replied.
“But, like, I asked for a reason.” Shaggy reminded him.
“Welp, yolo.” Scooby said.
They burst out of the cupboards and landed flat on the floor like pancakes and got up.
“We’re saved!” Shaggy gasped.
Suddenly, the lights in the kitchen went off. They were left in pitch black darkness.
“Time to rephrase that.” Scooby sighed.
Then, they began to hear eerie, slow music. It was muffled music that sounded like it was in the distance.
“Like, who’s playing 80’s music?” Shaggy asked.
Paranoid, he and Scooby looked around and hugged each other, shivering.
Then, the lights began to flicker on and off. The music slowly but surely got louder. And louder. And louder.
“WHAT IS GOING ON!?” Shaggy cried.
“Somebody’s having multiple beauty sleeps.” Scooby suggested.
Abruptly, the music stopped. The lights stayed on. All was now well again.
“Well that wasn’t that bad.” Shaggy shrugged.
They turned around, preparing to walk off, only to be met with the ghost from the beginning. His smile stretched out inhumanely.
“Key word: Wasn’t.” Scooby uttered.
The two pals screamed and ran off from the ghost. He chased after them, cackling evilly. The lights began flickering on and off again, and his ghoulish blue light reflected off of the shiny pots.
Shaggy and Scooby crashed through some pearls into the empty dance room of the diner.
It was a dark blue room that had a spinning disco ball on top of it. A DJ stage was nearby.
The ghost crept towards the room. Shaggy and Scooby bolted towards the door, but it was locked!
The disco ball’s colour began to change from red to white. Shaggy and Scooby looked mortified.
The Ghost of DJ BrainLodge showed his rotten, sharp yellow teeth with his wide smile.
“AHHH!” The two pals screamed as he pounced on them.
Out of nowhere, some sort of a purple fog erupted into the room.
Everything went silent.
Now, they could only see white. Just white.
Shaggy and Scooby stirred for a moment and got up. The ghost wasn’t there anymore. In fact, they weren’t in the dance room anymore either.
They were just standing in some sort of a white…
Void.
“Like, what the heck…” Shaggy whispered.
They slowly turned around to face each other- but something was different.
“AHHH!” They screamed, looking at how they were both now in the ‘Scooby-Doo, Where are You!’ art style.
Abruptly, they jolted forward, waking back up in the dance room.
The two pals were sitting on the floor.
They were back!
But the ghost wasn’t there anymore. The disco ball was back to normal. So were the kitchen lights.
“Are you guys okay?” Three voices asked.
Shaggy and Scooby let out yelps of surprise, as they turned around to see May, Mai and Mae, the three waitress apprentices, standing next to them.
“We heard this commotion and thought that the ghost might’ve hurt you.” They explained.
“We don’t know WHAT he did.” Scooby shrugged. “I just want a milkshake.”
Fred, Daphne and Velma ran into the room, with Nancy.
“Guys!” Fred shouted, “What happened here!?”
“We found them just sitting here, their eyes looked weird.” The three Mays reported.
“Shut up, girls, we have customers to tend to!” Nancy snapped. “Any broken bones? If so, then I am not paying.”
“Yeah, you guys are too dumb for our money!” The three Mays smirked.
Everyone slowly turned their heads towards them.
“And now we’re too mean.” One of them whispered. They ran off.
“What were you guys doing anyway?” Velma asked.
“Like, we just encountered the DJ’s ghost.” Shaggy replied.
“I think he sent us to another reality.” Scooby added.
“Maybe he’s one of those people who believes in reality shifting!” Daphne gasped.
She threw necklaces made of candy onto the two pal’s necks.
“Are we supposed to eat these?” Shaggy asked.
“No, they’re supposed to protect you from the ability of teleportation.” Daphne smiled.
“Guess I’m an easy target.” Scooby said, having already eaten the candy.
“Is this what teens did in the 1980’s?” Fred asked.
“Yep.” Daphne nodded. “They made a lot of whacky necklaces! Next, I might go for a mohawk-”
“Don’t even think about it.” Velma said.
“Anyway,” She continued, “We found some sort of a purple chemical in Nancy’s office, so we decided to put it in a bottle.”
She revealed a small tube and opened it. The gang huddled around her to have a look. There was a glowing purple mixture in it.
“But what could it be?” Fred questioned.
“I’ll have to take a look at it with a microscope. Judging from the way it’s glowing, I think it might be a radioactive chemical.” Velma deduced.
“Like, then why aren’t we wearing gloves?” Shaggy asked.
“I hope Safety is doing well after being tossed out the window.” Scooby added.
“Of course- this is actually all just an 80’s movie about getting radioactive superpowers!” Daphne’s eyes widened.
“Can you stop mentioning the 80’s? I’m slowly losing sanity.” Velma admitted.
“What? It’s not like we’re getting any memories from it.” Daphne shrugged.
“Daphne…” Fred warned.
“I mean,” Daphne continued, “as much as I love that era, I do not get any nostalg-”
It cuts to Velma’s imaginary floating head now violently zooming through space.
“WHATISTHEPAST?WHYAMIYEARNINGFORIT?” Velma’s fast voiceover screamed. “GUYSHELP ME-I MEAN- AMIGETTINGREGRET?ISTHISWHATITIS?PASTPASTPAST-”
Velma was somehow now floating in real life.
“Zoinks! Velma’s leaving the universe!” Shaggy yelled.
“At least give her a helmet.” Scooby rolled his eyes.
Fred dragged her down and she landed with a thud. Then, she weakly got up.
“I do not get you nostalgic people, I do not get you at all.” Fred shook his head.
“You don’t get nostalgia?” A voice asked.
A man with shiny brown hair who wore yellow shades and a white outfit walked over.
The gang slowly pushed Fred towards him.
“No…I’m Fred!” Fred shrugged. “I’ve literally never felt nostalgia in my entire life. I just like mysteries.”
The man walked up to him with a slight scowl on his face. The gang looked scared.
“....Your friend is weird, that’s all I have to say.” He said to the rest of the gang.
“We know.” Scooby nodded.
“What? I’m just completely desensitised to the idea of missing random times!” Fred protested.
“Lucky you.” Velma muttered.
“I’m Brett Banks, famous for impersonating the man, the myth, the legend, Meldon Lesley.” The man called Brett smiled.
“Meldon Lesley? The former pop star from the 80’s?” Fred gasped. “I love his work!”
“Sounds like nostalgia to me.” Shaggy pointed out.
“NO IT’S NOT!” Fred shouted.
“Thank ya very mooch, thank ya very mooch.” Brett smiled. “I even imitate the amount of fries he ate in his life. It’s a lot!"
“Stop coming here! I didn’t invite you!” Nancy yelled at him. “Get out!”
“But I’m the life of the party!” Brett frowned.
“Are you the one making my neon sign flicker constantly? C’mon, chop chop, I already hired singers!” Nancy said, ushering him out of the room, walking with him.
“But I’m Brett freakin’ Banks!” Brett shouted in the distance.
“Are you sure you don’t even feel one ounce of nostalgia, Fred?” Daphne asked.
“Nope, the only emotions I feel are Trappin’, Solvin’ and Frid.” Fred declared with a grin.
“Speaking of which, we should look for more clues before the ghost shows up.” Velma said.
Suddenly, the lights flashed off. A cackle was heard for a split second.
“Before or after?” Scooby uttered.
He and Shaggy began to shiver and shake and hug each other.
The gang’s eyes widened as they heard an eerie organ sound in the distance.
Then, it began to get louder.
And louder.
Then, there was the bash of fast drums.
The disco ball flickered and the gang looked around in fear. Then, they heard footsteps.
“G-g-gang…” Fred shuddered. “I think he wants to have a boogie…”
Everyone slowly turned their heads around to see the DJ’s ghost simply standing there on stage.
Just smiling.
Drool started to erupt from his mouth. He slowly pressed a button on the DJ mixer next to him.
White and purple smoke covered the gang’s vision and made them all cough.
“Like, where’d he go!?” Shaggy asked.
Abruptly, the ghost’s head jolted out of the smoke, cackling in a screechy voice.
“AHHH!” The gang screamed, bolting off. But the more they ran, the less they could see. The ghost was still behind them, and he was now floating in mid air as he did so.
Then, the loud organ music became more and more distorted. The gang dropped to the floor.
Back on the dance floor, the ghost was gone. The gang stood there, but something was different. Their eyes had rolled back into their sockets, and they were slowly dancing to music, like shells of their former selves.
…
Soon, the gang was lying on a chequered floor in a very dark, blue-tinted room.
Daphne slowly woke up, tilting her head. Everyone began to wake up. They groaned.
“Guys- where the heck are we?” Daphne began to panic, pushing the gang awake.
They opened their eyes and looked at each other. Their eyes widened.
“AHHH!” They screamed, leaping up. Now, they were all in the art style of ‘Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!’.
“You look weird!” The gang yelled at each other.
“What is going on anymore!?” Fred yelled. “This is torturing my present day needs!”
“Like, wait a second-” Shaggy gasped, “guys, walk over to that mirror over there.”
There was a tall mirror nearby that they walked over to. They all looked in it.
“What we look like right now is exactly like what Scoob and I saw when the ghost first attacked us.” Shaggy explained.
“Yeah, we look like we failed plastic surgery.” Scooby remarked.
“But what actually happened to US?” Velma asked, “If this has something to do with the past, then I will lose my mind.”
“Let’s retrace- the ghost attacked us, he filled the room with some sort of fog, and then I can’t remember what happened next and now we’re here.” Daphne shrugged.
“What if this is just a different location!?” Fred smirked.
“Like, I dunno, Fred, this place looks awfully familiar.” Shaggy admitted.
“I bet you five bucks we’re in the ghost’s lair!” Fred smiled.
He dashed outside the room and burst through the door. He stood backwards a few steps and read the flickering, red neon sign craning above the building.
‘Malt Shop’
Fred miserably walked back in.
“We’re in a malt shop.” He sighed.
“Cha-ching!” Scooby grinned, as he and Shaggy laughed.
“I knew there was something off about this place…” Daphne whispered. “Wait- we used to go to a malt shop all the time as teens…”
The gang’s eyes widened.
“HELP MEEEE-” Velma’s voiceover screamed as it cut to her head floating through space, now at the speed of a space shuttle.
“So that ghost has basically brought us to a creepy haunted version of our own nostalgic memory?” Daphne realised.
“That must be what the old man who walked out of the diner was talking about when he said he saw his ex wife.” Fred noticed. “This ghost is bringing people back to their most memorable times.”
“How about that, Scoob? We can get all of the past milkshakes we want!” Shaggy said.
“Four decade old food tastes great!” Scooby grinned.
“We should look around this place to see if we can find any connections to that ghost.” Velma declared.
“I’ll go with you guys,” Daphne said to Shaggy and Scooby.
“Good luck with Boombox!” Fred smiled as he and Velma walked off.
The others began to make their way out of the dark malt shop dining room.
Suddenly, the ghost’s creepy head leaned out of the mirror, smiling. Faint horror music began to play in the background.
Back at the diner dance room, the gang was still dancing, soulless, with no pupils in their eyes.
But now a few people had joined them: Nancy and the fry cook.
…
Soon, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby were in the dark, creepy malt shop kitchen.
“Like, man, this place is too creepy for a kitchen.” Shaggy shuddered.
“But it’s creepiness from the past, so it’s better.” Scooby said.
“You have a point.” Shaggy nodded.
“Yeah, but creepiness is still creepiness, no matter what time it’s in, right?” Daphne pointed out.
“Technically if the creepiness just ‘was’ and the part about when the creepiness occurred was a good period of time, and now there’s no creepiness around anymore because that was in the past, which, mind you, is still a nostalgic comforting time at this point, then was there really any creepiness at all because of how toned down it was in the first place?” Shaggy asked.
“Wh…what?” Daphne scratched her head.
“We’re evaporating creepiness with serotonin!” Scooby grinned.
“You lost me.” Daphne shrugged. “Anyway-”
She pulled out a boombox and put it on the countertop. Then, she turned it on and started playing loud Meldon Lesley songs. Shaggy and Scooby gasped.
“Daph…where the heck did you get that boombox from?” Shaggy asked.
“I dunno.” She shrugged, “It’s like the ghost supplied me with my own 80’s gadgets!”
Then, she pulled out a black leather jacket and wore it. Then, some big boots and some hair curlers.
Soon, she looked like she was ripped right out of a vintage magazine. She flipped her hair around.
“Look! It’s retro me in a retro outfit!” She chuckled.
“What….have you done?” Scooby asked.
“It’s- it’s horrible-” Shaggy said, looking like he was about to vomit.
“Yeah, well horrible is what grunge sixteen year olds wore forty years ago.” Daphne said.
“A whole decade of unreasoning.” Scooby said.
“Now, I think we should get to making milkshakes- the retro way!” Daphne smirked.
She grabbed a hold of the recipe on the counter and observed it as another song came on the boombox. It was an intense rock song.
“It’s like it’s calling for us.” Shaggy said, looking at the boombox.
“The recipe here says that first you need to get a cup,” Daphne ordered.
“Yeah, Shaggy.” Scooby smirked.
“I’M TRYING!” Shaggy yelled, going to get a cup.
“Then, you need some milk and some flavouring of your choice.” Daphne finished.
“Are you kidding me? They only have banana flavouring.” Shaggy sighed. “Oh well, if it’s for nostalgia then I guess I’ll try it.”
Soon, they got the ingredients together and made the milkshakes.
While they were putting everything in the machine, Scooby heard a laugh. He turned around and looked into the darkness of the kitchen. He saw nothing and rolled his eyes.
The three clinked their glasses and tried the milkshakes, sipping on stripy red and white straws.
Shaggy started coughing quickly, making Daphne and Scooby scream.
“Are you okay, Shaggy!?” Scooby screamed, patting him on the back.
“Yeah, I just had a tiny allergic reaction, I’ll be fine though, that was worth the health risk.” Shaggy smiled, tilting his head.
“Too nostalgic to go to the ER, I see.” Scooby nodded in agreement.
“Wow, whoever made this recipe is very proud of themselves. Their signature is all over this recipe.” Daphne noticed.
“Where have I seen that signature from?” Shaggy questioned.
“Wait- look.” Scooby pointed at the wall.
The same signature was all across the wall, written multiple times.
“Didn’t Nancy create these recipes? So it must be her signature, right?” Daphne realised.
“Like, Jesse doesn’t think so.” Shaggy remembered. “He told us he doesn’t trust her.”
“Reah.” Scooby agreed.
Daphne and Shaggy turned to him.
“Rhat?” Scooby asked, “-rait..”
“You have a speech impediment now?” Shaggy gasped.
“Ruh roh.” Scooby uttered.
“How did this become a thing?” Daphne asked.
“RI DON’T KNOW RANYMORE!” Scooby cried.
Suddenly, they heard the crack of a bone. They slowly turned around.
“Oh nonononono- what was that?” Daphne panicked.
They looked around everywhere as they began to hear that same creepy music in the distance.
Abruptly, the music stopped.
“Well, that was convenient.” Shaggy smiled.
The music resumed. Louder this time.
BASH!
Suddenly, a skeleton burst out of one of the cupboards and roared.
“Wait- that’s the FRY COOK!” Shaggy screamed.
“Rhis is a sequel!” Scooby yelled.
They ran off from the fry cook’s greasy skeleton that chased them out of the kitchen.
Then, they skidded around a corner, only to be met with the malt shop’s dining room.
“Huh!?” They all blurted out.
They ran out of the malt shop, and the skeleton fell to pieces.
The trio turned around and saw the skeleton’s bones on the ground. His skull rolled towards them.
“Phew.” They sighed.
Then, they heard a chilling cackle come from the skull…and the skull disintegrated.
A cold wind blew over Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby.
Daphne slowly pressed a button on her boombox and it played a scary sound effect. The others glanced at her and she smiled.
Out of nowhere, the creepy music came back.
“Like, please tell me that’s coming from the boombox.” Shaggy gulped.
Daphne shook her head. She pointed in front of them.
DJ BrainLodge’s ghost was dancing in the breeze with his back turned to them.
Suddenly, his head twisted around grotesquely, facing them. He twisted his body around too and leapt off the air, flying after them.
They screamed and bolted off from the ghost. They could barely see in the thick fog outside.
The trio panted as they tried getting through the endless steam. The ghost was still after them.
At the other end of the fog, they found themselves at a long, purple hallway, back in the diner.
“How is this even physically possible!?” Shaggy asked.
“Rhis is painful!” Scooby remarked.
“Ya know what?” Daphne frowned. “Take this, weird music ghost!”
She turned and threw one of her hair curlers at the ghost. It went right through him.
“Like, good one Daph.” Shaggy uttered.
The ghost roared and floated after them through the everlasting hallway.
…
Meanwhile, Fred and Velma were checking out an office in the malt shop. They were sitting at a table, reading a book.
“Here it is, the legend of DJ BrainLodge,” Velma began, “They say that back in the 80’s, a charming young man called Lucas Armstrong had started working at the diner as a singer. The more people got to know him, the more respected he became, and he was able to move up to DJ status, under the stage name BrainLodge. But one night, his equipment was possessed by a demon and turned on him, sending him to a realm in the past. Now his ghost is back, and is able to control people…and that’s all it says.”
“Couldn’t they have just gone with a simple ‘died on stage’ legend?” Fred asked. “Yeesh.”
“I don’t think you’re in the right place to mock people’s way of viewing things, Fred.” Velma said.
“Hey, I have every right not to feel any emotion.” Fred snapped. “Especially nostalgia. Nostalgia is for the weak.”
“So you’re saying that you don’t feel partial happiness and yearning when thinking of all those past cases we’ve solved?” Velma asked.
“Well of course I have,” Fred nodded, “but that’s nowhere near nostalgia-”
Suddenly, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby burst through the door. They began boarding it up behind them.
“Like, we need to find a way out of here RIGHT NOW!” Shaggy insisted.
“Reah, ry speech is all reird now!” Scooby cried.
“What happened, guys?” Velma asked. “Daphne, I’m not even gonna mention the jacket.”
“It's an essential vintage style.” Daphne smirked, twirling around in her jacket.
“Apparently Mr. Music Man has a fry cook skeleton chilling in his closet!” Shaggy exclaimed.
“WE JUST RANTED RO TRY RILKSHAKES, NOW I RAN’T EVEN RONOUNCE IT ROPERLY!” Scooby cried.
“Okay, everyone just calm down, we need to find a way out of this.” Fred declared. “What could the ghost have done to us? And where did the diner go?”
“And, like, we should probably ask why we look like a 60’s cartoon too.” Shaggy added.
“Well….yeah.” Fred replied.
“Maybe that chemical I found has something to do with it.” Velma said. “I think I still have it with me now.”
She pulled the small tube of the stuff out and opened it. It bubbled. There was a pause for a moment as she intensely stared at the contents of the bottle.
“Okay, I give up, literally none of this makes sense.” She facepalmed. “WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?”
“Let’s leave, Scoob, I think she’s about to go to space again.” Shaggy warned.
It cuts to normal Velma and Retro Velma’s bodies floating through space.
“ACTUALLY NO- no, you’re right, I’ll find the answer to this mystery through a non-nostalgia contemplating, constellation way.” Velma declared as it cuts back to the office.
“Rhat a change.” Scooby said.
“Maybe there’s something on these records on the wall!” Daphne suggested, while staring at the wall which was covered with retro music records.
“Like, what kind of a malt shop has a record wall?” Shaggy asked.
“The kind that serves Soulnumb Soda!” Daphne chuckled, leaning on the wall.
Suddenly, a brick in the wall slid out of place and a creepy hand tried swiping her. Then, it went back into the wall and the brick slid back in place.
There was an awkward silence.
“Wow, I forgot how much I used to get kidnapped in the old days.” Daphne sighed.
“Rit’s become apart rof rou.” Scooby remarked. He covered his mouth in shame.
Fred looked up at the wall. He walked over to it and ripped off a piece of paper that was on it.
“Look at this, gang, it’s a contract agreement to sell the Tip-Taking Moo Cow Diner. Nancy signed this, and so did someone else.” He noticed.
“Like, it’s and it’s dated back to 1985. This must’ve been ages ago.” Shaggy added.
Suddenly, the paper began to float.
“Why’s the paper floating?” Daphne asked.
“Reverything used to roat in the old cases too.” Scooby said.
“Stop doing that RETRO thing, ghost.” Fred snapped, grabbing the paper back down.
He began to read the contract: “This contract is an official agreement between Nancy Miller and…covered out name ... which officialises that all of their share of the revenue stream is now rightfully Mrs. Miller’s. Any recipes that have been crafted by them are also officially Mrs. Miller’s. ‘Covered out name’ is resigning to pursue a job in physics.”
“So Nancy didn’t come up with those delicious milkshakes, burgers or spicy chicken nuggets?” Shaggy gasped.
“She only speaks for the cow.” Scooby remarked.
“Who in their right mind would sell off something so successful?” Daphne asked.
“Wait a minute….” Velma whispered, still observing the chemicals.
She looked up ahead and saw the flickering neon sign in the reflection of the window.
“Guys, don’t you see? This isn’t just any normal radioactive chemical. It’s a BRAIN chemical!”
“What?” Everyone else collectively blurted out.
“She didn’t even need Space to lose it this time.” Shaggy said.
“Trust me, we need to get out of here as soon as possible- and I know exactly how.” Velma smirked. “Just tell yourself that none of this is real.”
“Okay, even for my 80’s movie geek brain, this feels like a cop-out.” Daphne said.
“JUST DO IT!” Velma yelled.
Suddenly, the contract in Fred’s hands tore up into shreds by itself.
Everyone yelled and jumped.
“Looks retty real to re.” Scooby said.
The lights began to flicker and that faint, haunted 60’s music was heard in the distance.
Thump thump thump thump thump.
The gang slowly crept to the door in fear and pushed it slightly open. There was nothing there.
Fred looked at the other members of the gang and looked back at the door. He pushed it fully open. In front of them was a crooked staircase, going upwards.
They slowly looked up the staircase to see DJ Brainlodge’s spectre standing there.
“RUN!” Fred yelled.
“Run where?” Shaggy asked.
They slowly turned around, only to see the ghost standing right behind them.
“The timing is impeccable.” Velma uttered.
The ghost roared and cackled. The gang turned around and ran out the door, through a dark hallway. The stairs had vanished. They bolted through the hallway.
Chase scene starts
60’s style chase music begins to play. A Scooby-Dooby-Doors scene plays in the hallway. Scooby runs from one door to another from the ghost. Velma calmly floats from one door to another, having another head floating through Space moment. Fred drags her to the other door with him. Daphne dances from one door to another dressed as a waitress. She and the ghost dance back to their original door, and Daphne reappears from another door and runs off down the hallway. Shaggy and Scooby run from one door and throw milkshakes on the floor, which the ghost trips over.
Modern chase music begins to play as it cuts to clips of the ghost kidnapping people at the diner. A retro nerd is talking to some retro high school jocks near the stage, and the nerd’s pupils disappear mid-sentence.
A retro rockstar is running around crazily with a milkshake in his hand, rocking out, when a hand abruptly drags him in a curtain.
It cuts back to the 60’s chase music as we see the gang running out the hallway, only to bump into a maze of stairs going up and down. They run up and down the stairs, and soon, the ghost faints from confusion.
It cuts back to the modern chase music. Very few people are left standing in the diner now. The ghost bursts into the dining room and cackles.
It cuts back to the 60’s chase music as Shaggy and Scooby jump over the counter of the bar in the dining room of the dark malt shop. The ghost creeps up to it, but they grab milkshakes and spill them on him and dash off.
The modern music plays again, but this time alongside with the 60’s music. Both songs reach their high point as they begin to clash together into one song.
It quickly cuts between scenes of the malt shop and the diner, between the gang running off from the ghost, and more people falling into the soulless trance.
Soon, Fred is running from the ghost in a hallway.
The chase scene ends.
Fred sighed and looked behind him. The ghost wasn’t there anymore.
“Okay, I lost him.” He sighed.
Suddenly, he fell through a trapdoor, and landed in a dark basement. The eerie yellow light above him buzzed on and off.
Fred looked around in utter confusion. After looking around for a while he spotted a mirror in front of him. He budged up towards the mirror.
Suddenly, his reflection CRAWLED out of the mirror!
“AHHHH!” Fred screamed.
His reflection laughed, and his whole body glitched and morphed into the mysterious figure, another one of Fred’s aliases.
Fred gasped.
Then, he glitched into Frid, and Frid glitched back to his normal self, who now had glowing red eyes. His purple veins were showing on his forehead.
Mirror Fred crawled towards him, moaning creepily.
“It’s not real…” Fred whispered, “Velma’s right, it’s not real…”
The light above him switched off and didn’t come back on.
“IT’S NOT REAL.” Fred said, starting to get louder.
The zombie-like mirror Fred leapt towards him, and he let out a scream.
…
Abruptly, Fred woke up, standing on the dance floor of the Tip-Taking Moo Cow Diner. The rest of the gang gasped.
“Fred!” They smiled. They all hugged him.
“What the heck just happened?” Fred asked. “I think I felt nostalgia for a second…”
“You? Feeling nostalgia?” Scooby, in his normal voice, asked.
“Yeah- wait…we’re back to normal!” Fred’s eyes widened.
“I told you guys it would work.” Velma nodded. “Quick, we need to get outta this room and think of a trap for the ghost. Look what he’s done to everyone…”
Shaggy and Scooby turned and gasped, seeing the fry cook dancing in the trance.
“Like, the job got to him.” Shaggy said.
“Too many nice waitresses to handle.” Scooby added.
The gang began to creep out of the dance room, but they bumped right into the door, which was locked.
The disco ball turned red. Slow 80’s music began to play. The gang turned around to see that the people in the trance were now standing there. Watching them.
They slowly turned their heads to the stage. The ghost was standing there.
Not attacking.
Not doing anything.
Just smiling.
“Somebody wants to slow dance, huh?” Daphne whispered.
The ghost roared and jumped off stage, landing on the floor majestically. He ran towards the gang.
The gang yelled and ran away from him. They crashed through some pearls into the kitchen.
“Third time.” Scooby sighed.
“Like, we’re lucky.” Shaggy said sarcastically.
The ghost crashed into the room, and they hid behind different counters. The slow dance music in the background got quieter and quieter. Soon, it was muffled. The gang heard an ear piercing, continuous ring.
They glanced at each other. It was over. They were doomed.
Scooby turned and looked at a metal pot near him. He stared at it for a while, thinking.
Suddenly, his reflection in the pot turned into his retro self.
Scooby looked back at the ghost, who was still looking for the gang, and then back at his old reflection in the pot.
“That’s it.” He scowled. He leapt up, revealing his location.
The ghost ran at him. Scooby screamed and grabbed some pots and pans, bashing him on the head with them.
The ghost yelped and chased him back into the dance room. Scooby ran up onstage and grabbed a microphone.
Then, he started making loud noises into the microphone. The ghost shrieked and covered his ears, backing off.
The gang watched from the door to the room.
The ghost was now right underneath the disco ball.
“Alright, buster, this is for not taking my hair curler.” Daphne smirked.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Everyone yelled as she pulled out a retro roller skate.
It goes slow-mo as she throws the roller skate up into the air and it collides with the disco ball.
The disco ball shattered into pieces and the pieces dropped onto the ghost. Right there and then, people started falling out of their trances!
“Wh…I want a milkshake.” Some of them muttered.
The ghost lay flat on the floor in defeat.
“Get…retroed…” Daphne smiled, as the camera zoomed in on her face.
“That sounds very cheesy.” Velma remarked.
“There’s the 80’s for ya.” Daphne shrugged.
…
Soon, in the dining room, everyone was crowded round the ghost, who was getting handcuffed by police officers.
“Great work, kids.” One of the officers said.
“Yeah, thank you for your hard work, but quick question- why did all of my guests start dancing because of a ghost?” Nancy asked.
“They didn’t,” Fred replied, “because they were really under the trance of-”
He ripped the mask off the ghost.
“Jesse!?” Everyone exclaimed.
“Exactly.” Velma nodded, “It turns out that back in the 80’s, Jesse and Nancy co-owned the diner together, but Jesse decided to sell his half of the business, and all of the credit for his recipes, to Nancy, so that he could pursue a physics career and study it in college.”
“But when he discovered how successful all of the recipes he made actually turned out to be, he went back, seeking to get the position that could’ve made him a lot of money.” Fred explained.
“With Jesse’s experience with physics, which I could tell because of how he displayed his knowledge when we were at the bar, he was able to turn brain chemicals into radiated electricity.” Velma explained.
“He chose the chemicals for happiness and adrenaline, which, both combined with the diner’s atmosphere, led to the creation of the trance. That's why my plan of saying that none of it is real worked, I was simply just repressing the artificial chemicals that were making me think it was.”
“Jesse installed these chemicals into a small bulb in the disco ball, which was how he was able to hypnotise everyone at the restaurant.” Fred explained.
“But what were you actually getting from this, Jesse?” Nancy asked. “Stupid man.”
“Credit. Those signatures that we found all over the kitchen and on the contract matched with the one he scribbled on the napkin when doing a magic trick in the bar. His hallucinogenic trance was literally designed to engrave into people’s heads that he created the recipes, which also explains why we all felt hungry for a milkshake after every attack.” Daphne finished.
“Like, all that just so people would see you as the milkshake man?” Shaggy asked. “Why didn’t you just continue your physics career?”
“I was blinded by nostalgia, okay!?” Jesse yelled. “And I would’ve gotten away with it too, especially in the good old days, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids.”
The police took him away.
“Well gang, that was quite the experience.” Fred nodded.
“Yeah, and I actually don’t feel like an 80’s gal anymore…” Daphne scratched her head. “I think I might move on to the NINETIES!”
“Please don’t!” The gang shouted.
“Like, and for once, I’m not all keen on the past milkshakes anymore.” Shaggy said.
“Yeah.” Scooby agreed, “I’m not all keen on the past in general.”
“Thinking about it now, I never realised how much the past sucks.” Shaggy continued.
They turned around and saw two fresh milkshakes on the table. They glanced at each other and took tiny sips of them.
“Wow, this is actually a great milkshake!” Shaggy smiled.
“Well that’s a twist!” Scooby remarked.
“Maybe that was the whole point of tonight…” Velma stroked her chin.
She grabbed Scooby’s microphone from earlier that was lying on the table. She started speaking with it.
“Everyone…I’d, uh…...I’d like to have your attention.” She began nervously. “Yeah, that, um, ghost thing was horrible to experience, but it also gave us some pros. Because from journeying back into a place similar to my past, I realised that nothing was as I remembered it, and I didn’t need to question anything about any time at all.”
“It made me realise the true power of nostalgia. Something may actually deserve credit, but it doesn’t get any because of unnecessary favouriting of others due to the time period the world first saw them. It doesn’t mean that it’s actually a good thing to look back on. Not to change your viewpoint, but I’m just saying, experiences could be amazing from the past, present or future."
“Don’t give up hope just because it isn’t the same as before. Our brains are wired to look back. Velma out, son.”
People began booing. Velma’s eyes widened and she immediately put the microphone back down. None other than Brett Banks swiped the microphone.
“Do you really think any of us care about the present or the future?” He asked, “Don’t be ridiculous, kid, we’re all just crazy past-addicts, and consume whatever old things we want because of when they came out, even if they’re bad, and won’t give new things a chance. I mean, wouldn’t that just be ridiculous if we did, folks!?”
Everyone cheered.
“So let’s sing a little song about our experience today, because I’m sure I’ll get good nostalgia from it soon.”
Velma’s jaw dropped.
Pop music began playing on a jukebox. Everyone, except for the gang, began dancing.
“Our yesterdays are important, the only thing important, to me…” Brett sang.
The gang slowly began to back out of the diner. Jesse was even dancing with cops in the background.
“So how about we discredit our futures and become past-addicts in glee!” Brett continued.
It cuts to credits as Brett’s song continues playing through them.
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Inside the diner, there was only one customer eating at a table. He was an old man who wore glasses and a black jacket.
He looked very miserable while eating his burger.
“What in the world happened to this place?” He whispered to himself.
Just then, a waitress in an old-fashioned waitress outfit appeared right in front of him.
“Hey there bud!” The Southern waitress said, “How ya doin!? Enjoyin’ your burger? I’m stayin’ here for the anniversary party tonight, are you?”
The old man didn’t reply.
“I see, I see, I enjoy the silent treatment meal too.” The waitress nodded.
“Why aren’t you being rude to me?” The old man asked.
“Wh…what?”
“This isn’t an ‘old fashioned’ diner at all, it’s all been softened down for a new generation! Back in my day, the catering crew was mean to everybody!”
“Well they didn’t teach me that in waitress school.”
“CLEARLY YOU DIDN’T STUDY IN WAITRESS SCHOOL, CAROL.”
There was a pause.
“Alright, alright…” The waitress sighed, “Uhhhh…..you’re stupid?”
“It doesn’t have the same effect.”
“How about…you are literally a skeleton at this point sir, it’s a miracle your bones are still standing up straight!” The waitress giggled.
“Well that’s just mean.” The old man scowled.
Giving up, the waitress walked off. The old man continued eating his burger.
“Yeah that’s right, you back off, peachy keen.” He smirked.
Suddenly, a purply-blue mist entered the diner. Foggy clouds rolled in, and completely covered the man. Now, he couldn’t see anything.
“What the…” He muttered. He got up off of his seat and tried walking round in what seemed like infinite fog.
“If this is a publicity stunt, then I still think you suck at waitressing!” He smirked.
He continued walking round in the mist. Suddenly, he bumped into a wall, and the mist slowly began to clear. But now…he wasn’t in a diner anymore.
He was in a small little room which had a roaring log fire in a fireplace and a swinging rocking chair next to it. A record player was playing eerie old fashioned music.
“Wait a minute…” The old man whispered. He looked up at the brown patterned wall, and saw a familiar old woman’s shadow begin to form.
“Edna? Is that you?”
There was no reply. He slowly turned around.
Standing right behind him was a glowing blue ghost who was wearing sunglasses, and a fedora and trench coat. The ghost smiled.
“AHHHH!” The old man screamed, trying to run from the ghost, but the ghost glided to him, cackling.
The slow music playing on the record player began to get more distorted, as the neon sign outside the diner flickered.
…
A few hours later, the diner was now hectic. People were dressed in old-fashioned 80’s outfits, and waitresses were running around to get food for people.
The gang, who were in normal outfits, were sitting on stools at a countertop.
“I can’t believe we’re actually here!” Velma said. “The Tip-Taking Moo Cow Diner. I’ve wanted to go here since I was a kid.”
“That’s an odd name for a restaurant.” Fred pointed out.
“Yeah, well their mascot is literally a fry cook cow, this is standard uncanny valley.” Velma replied.
“Honestly, I don’t get the whole ‘80’s’ thing!” Fred admitted. “Nostalgia is just…just…such a weird concept to me. Am I weird? Well yeah, probably. Ahh, nostalgia.”
“Fred. We’ve been over this. Do not mention nostalgia to me.” Velma whispered.
“Okay, water, clowns, and now nostalgia, how could you have beef with nostalgia!?” Fred asked.
“It sends me down….a spiral…” Velma sighed.
“Alright, alright,” Fred said, “I won’t mention it. Anyway, a lot of things confuse me. This being one of them. I’m just a present day man, I’ve got a van, some teens to be responsible for, since they can get a little weird. But nostalgia, it's just- OH NO.”
Velma gasped, and it cut to some stars in space.
“Is the past as good as the present?” Velma’s voice asked. “Am I as good as I was in the past?”
“Do I get nostalgia over bad things? Are they good things? Who knows!”
“Is nostalgia being prioritised over life’s grand opportunities? Is the future technically just a direct to DVD sequel movie to the nostalgic past? WHAT IS GOING ON! WHAT DOES NOSTALGIA EVEN MEAN ANYMORE?”
It shows Velma’s head slowly floating through space. Then, it cuts back to the diner, where Velma was now banging her head on the table.
“Riiiight.” Fred uttered.
Out of nowhere, loud old pop music began to blast into their ears. They turned to see Daphne carrying a boombox that was bigger than her head.
“Daphne, would you mind not turning on a vintage boombox in the middle of my existential crisis?” Velma muttered.
Daphne sighed and turned the boombox off. She pressed a button on it and out came a little cassette.
“What are you doing with one of these things?” Fred asked.
“Oh, my uncle got me it for my 10th birthday. I just thought it would fit the occasion. 80’s, ya know?” Daphne laughed.
“Well, maybe you could quieten down?” Fred suggested, “The retro folks are getting a little jealous.”
They looked around and saw guests in outfits staring at them.
“Oh, c’mon! Who wants to hear a little bit of Chester Soulnumb!?” Daphne yelled to the crowd.
The crowd continued staring. The people dressed as rock stars shook their heads in disapproval.
“How about some Jacky Jackson?” Daphne asked.
“Maybe not the time, Jacky died last week.” Fred whispered.
People dressed as Jacky Jackson gave her dagger stares.
“Or maybe a song from Ou Kelele?” Daphne smiled.
“Just yesterday he was found to be the leader of a smuggling ring…” Fred whispered.
“Oh-” Daphne’s eyes widened.
“Ugh, young people.” Someone in the retro crowd muttered.
“Ah, I see, you guys just want to hear Meldon Lesley.” Daphne realised. She turned the boombox back on again and music continued blasting out of it. Everyone cheered.
“Well played, past.” Velma said.
Near them, Shaggy and Scooby were sitting talking to a male bartender who had a goatee and ponytail.
“And so, to conclude this terrifying tale, the hot dog ate Joe.” The bartender grinned.
“AHHH!” Shaggy and Scooby screamed, hugging each other.
“Like, Jesse, how are you so good at making up these weird horror stories?” Shaggy asked.
“This building could be his inspiration.” Scooby commented, looking around the diner.
“I’ve seen a lot of things come and go.” The bartender called Jesse shrugged. “My whole life is like a mini horror flick! MuahahahaHA!”
Shaggy and Scooby eyed each other nervously.
“Anyway fellas, would you like to hear another tale?” Jesse smiled, “This one is about how the refill drink machines at Burger Queen became…empty…”
Shaggy and Scooby screamed and fell off their seats.
“We’re gonna need another milkshake after that one.” Scooby said through a shivering voice.
“One milkshake coming right up.” Jesse nodded.
“Like, I’m not sharing a milkshake with my dog!” Shaggy frowned, getting up.
“Our food is individual.” Scooby added.
“So we get more of a taste.” Shaggy smiled.
“Alright, alright, two milkshakes.” Jesse said.
He went into the kitchen and came back in with two strawberry milkshakes. He placed them onto the counter.
“These things are a part of this diner’s history! I’m not sure who made the recipes though, I don’t trust this place’s owner. Anyway, that’ll be four fifty.” He smiled.
Shaggy placed four fifty onto the table.
“Ya know, Scoob, I can’t actually remember the last time I tried one of these!” He gasped.
“I’d say probably last century.” Scooby guessed.
“Like, I remember coming here as a kid and trying it, but now that I’m actually an adult with responsibilities and goals, the taste has been forgotten.” Shaggy continued.
“What if…what if these milkshakes are trainwrecks?” Scooby’s lips quivered.
“Woah woah woah boys, calm down, they’re the exact same as they’ve been for forty years.” Jesse reminded them.
“But, like, that was the past when this diner started making these.” Shaggy said.
“....And now it’s the present.” Scooby finished.
“I’m getting superstitious!” Shaggy shivered. “I don’t have faith in a drink!”
“I’ve officially been diagnosed with an allergy to giving things a try!” Scooby added, pushing away his milkshake.
“Not the worst thing to happen here.” Jesse admitted.
“Huh?” Shaggy and Scooby frowned.
“They say that a ghost is haunting this place.” Jesse revealed.
“GHOST!?” The two pals screamed.
“Did I hear the word ghost? That sounds like a MYSTERY!” Fred grinned, running over to their side of the bar with the rest of the gang.
“I wish our nonexistent hearing aids had been acting up.” Scooby sighed.
“Yes, a ghost, the ghost of DJ BrainLodge, also known by his real name, Lucas Armstrong.” Jesse explained. “He used to perform onstage next to the dance floor in the other room, I remember him. But now he’s back somehow, doing terrible things to people…”
Suddenly, Daphne’s boombox accidentally came on again, playing a Halloween song, everyone jumped into each other’s arms, startled.
“Oh, sorry! Just…the boombox.” She shrugged, turning off the boombox again. “Man, boombox life is hard.”
“I personally don’t believe in it myself. A ghost can’t possibly make its own atoms disappear. Plus, if a ghost can pass through walls, then I’m actually making this ink vanish.” Jesse said, grabbing a napkin and scribbling his signature on it.
He crumpled up the napkin and reopened it. The signature was gone. Then, he turned the napkin around, revealing that the signature was just there.
Just then, the old man from the cold open burst in, leaving. A woman in a waitress outfit came running after him, along with three younger waitresses.
“I’m outta here, why was my ex wife’s shadow on that wall!? This place is cursed!” The old man scowled, walking out. “Now I feel like a milkshake too…what’s wrong with me?”
The older woman sighed.
“Excuse me, ma’am, if you don’t mind me asking, what just happened back there?” Fred asked.
“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” The woman quickly turned to him, with a forced smile. “NO GHOST! ENJOY YOUR FOOD!”
“But the bartender literally just told us that there’s a ghost here.” Fred said.
“HE DIDN’T!” The woman corrected him. “NO GHOST! NO PROBLEMS! I KEEP MY PRIDE! ENJOY THE 80’S NOSTALGIA!”
“Nope.” Velma turned her head.
“I feel like we can really help, honestly,” Fred said, walking over to the woman, “we’re mystery solvers, we do this on a daily basis-”
“FRY COOK COW!” The woman interrupted him, shoving a little figurine of the diner’s mascot into his face. “LOOK AT HIM! HIS NAME’S BENNY!”
“Retro coo coo.” Scooby muttered.
Fred and the woman stared at each other for a moment. Fred nervously pushed the cow figurine away from his face.
“Ugh, fine, I can’t keep this up much longer.” The woman sighed. “The name’s Nancy Miller, I run this place, but yes, as Jesse may have already told you, thanks a lot Jesse, there’s a ghost.”
“A really spooky ghost!” The three waitresses behind her said in unison. The gang eyed each other.
“Oh, excuse them, they’re my apprentices who go to waitress school, Mai, May and Mae.” Nancy explained. “They always do that weird stuff.”
“They say that we’re not mean enough!” Mai, May and Mae rolled their eyes, also in unison.
“We’re good at catching ghosts, so maybe we could figure out why this DJ is haunting the diner.” Fred said.
“Customers have said that he’s brought them back…to the past?” Nancy frowned, “It’ll be a confusing one for you kids, trust me. I’m definitely not just being too proud of the past forty years.”
“The past? So could I go back to the 80’s and meet my nerdy uncle? Awesome!” Daphne smiled.
She blasted her boombox and began dancing.
“Hmmm…” Fred pondered, “Gang, let’s split up and look for clues to discover more about this DJ BrainLodge guy.”
Daphne was still dancing, this time to a heavy metal rock song.
“C-can you stop that?” Fred asked.
She shouted an unclear lyric, while whipping her head back and forth.
“Oh-Kayy…” Fred scratched his head, “Shaggy, Scooby, you guys go investigate the kitchen-”
“Woah woah woah woah WOAH!” Shaggy stopped him. “If we’re going to investigate the kitchen, then you and Velma are not coming with us!”
“Lest we forget waffles.” Scooby added.
“Guys, we weren’t planning on it.” Velma said.
“Like, oh.” Shaggy replied.
“Always a small chance.” Scooby shrugged.
“We’re going to go upstairs to check Nancy’s office.” Fred declared. “If she has an office- do you guys remember the last time a restaurant owner didn’t have an office?”
“Oh no….remembering…nostalgia…” Velma gasped.
It cuts to Velma’s floating head through space again.
“The past? The present? The future? Are they all of the government's plans? The past, an addiction, the present, a problem, the future, yearning? Her voice asked.
“Am I getting the wrong past back? Why doesn’t my grandma’s soup return out of all things?”
“LET’S JUST GO!” Fred shouted.
…
Soon, Shaggy and Scooby were in the kitchen.
“Ya know, Scoob, I’m wondering if we took those milkshakes the wrong way.” Shaggy admitted.
“I’m conveniently feeling thirsty now.” Scooby noticed.
“Whaddya say we have a little try of the classic drink? For old time’s sake?” Shaggy asked.
“Sure!” Scooby smiled, licking his lips.
They walked over to the milkshake machine. It was painted a bright light blue.
“This thing looks old.” Scooby remarked.
“Dude, we’ll figure out how it works, believe me!” Shaggy reassured him.
He opened a mini fridge on the counter next to the machine and got out some milk and strawberry flavouring. Then, he opened the top of the machine and poured them both inside.
Then, he pressed a button on the machine and waited.
Out of nowhere, a gross mix of milk and unblended strawberry spurted out of the machine, getting all over Shaggy and Scooby!
“AHHH!” They yelled, running around in a panic.
“I knew they would be no good!” Shaggy yelled.
“Present day is a curse!” Scooby screamed.
Pinkish milk got all over them, and they looked like blobs.
Quickly thinking, Scooby grabbed a cloth and tried blocking out the stream. After a while, it stopped and he put the cloth down.
The two buddies sighed. Shaggy’s eyes widened.
“Oh wait, that’s it, like, I forgot a cup.” He facepalmed.
They wiped the milky mixture off of themselves and sighed.
Suddenly, a man’s shadow loomed over them. They turned around and saw that it belonged to a buff retro fry cook, who now had milk on his uniform.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOIN?” He shouted.
“Like, nothing, your retro-ness!” Shaggy panicked.
“The present-day cleanup is all yours!” Scooby screamed.
They bolted off, screaming.
“Where do we go!?” Shaggy screamed.
“Burger buns- that way!” Scooby commanded. They hopped inside a cupboard. Eating sounds could be heard from inside the cupboard.
The angry fry cook walked past the cupboard while trying to look for the two.
“Every single week...” He sighed. He walked off.
There was a long pause.
“Is it safe to come out?” Shaggy asked.
“You tell me.” Scooby replied.
“But, like, I asked for a reason.” Shaggy reminded him.
“Welp, yolo.” Scooby said.
They burst out of the cupboards and landed flat on the floor like pancakes and got up.
“We’re saved!” Shaggy gasped.
Suddenly, the lights in the kitchen went off. They were left in pitch black darkness.
“Time to rephrase that.” Scooby sighed.
Then, they began to hear eerie, slow music. It was muffled music that sounded like it was in the distance.
“Like, who’s playing 80’s music?” Shaggy asked.
Paranoid, he and Scooby looked around and hugged each other, shivering.
Then, the lights began to flicker on and off. The music slowly but surely got louder. And louder. And louder.
“WHAT IS GOING ON!?” Shaggy cried.
“Somebody’s having multiple beauty sleeps.” Scooby suggested.
Abruptly, the music stopped. The lights stayed on. All was now well again.
“Well that wasn’t that bad.” Shaggy shrugged.
They turned around, preparing to walk off, only to be met with the ghost from the beginning. His smile stretched out inhumanely.
“Key word: Wasn’t.” Scooby uttered.
The two pals screamed and ran off from the ghost. He chased after them, cackling evilly. The lights began flickering on and off again, and his ghoulish blue light reflected off of the shiny pots.
Shaggy and Scooby crashed through some pearls into the empty dance room of the diner.
It was a dark blue room that had a spinning disco ball on top of it. A DJ stage was nearby.
The ghost crept towards the room. Shaggy and Scooby bolted towards the door, but it was locked!
The disco ball’s colour began to change from red to white. Shaggy and Scooby looked mortified.
The Ghost of DJ BrainLodge showed his rotten, sharp yellow teeth with his wide smile.
“AHHH!” The two pals screamed as he pounced on them.
Out of nowhere, some sort of a purple fog erupted into the room.
Everything went silent.
Now, they could only see white. Just white.
Shaggy and Scooby stirred for a moment and got up. The ghost wasn’t there anymore. In fact, they weren’t in the dance room anymore either.
They were just standing in some sort of a white…
Void.
“Like, what the heck…” Shaggy whispered.
They slowly turned around to face each other- but something was different.
“AHHH!” They screamed, looking at how they were both now in the ‘Scooby-Doo, Where are You!’ art style.
Abruptly, they jolted forward, waking back up in the dance room.
The two pals were sitting on the floor.
They were back!
But the ghost wasn’t there anymore. The disco ball was back to normal. So were the kitchen lights.
“Are you guys okay?” Three voices asked.
Shaggy and Scooby let out yelps of surprise, as they turned around to see May, Mai and Mae, the three waitress apprentices, standing next to them.
“We heard this commotion and thought that the ghost might’ve hurt you.” They explained.
“We don’t know WHAT he did.” Scooby shrugged. “I just want a milkshake.”
Fred, Daphne and Velma ran into the room, with Nancy.
“Guys!” Fred shouted, “What happened here!?”
“We found them just sitting here, their eyes looked weird.” The three Mays reported.
“Shut up, girls, we have customers to tend to!” Nancy snapped. “Any broken bones? If so, then I am not paying.”
“Yeah, you guys are too dumb for our money!” The three Mays smirked.
Everyone slowly turned their heads towards them.
“And now we’re too mean.” One of them whispered. They ran off.
“What were you guys doing anyway?” Velma asked.
“Like, we just encountered the DJ’s ghost.” Shaggy replied.
“I think he sent us to another reality.” Scooby added.
“Maybe he’s one of those people who believes in reality shifting!” Daphne gasped.
She threw necklaces made of candy onto the two pal’s necks.
“Are we supposed to eat these?” Shaggy asked.
“No, they’re supposed to protect you from the ability of teleportation.” Daphne smiled.
“Guess I’m an easy target.” Scooby said, having already eaten the candy.
“Is this what teens did in the 1980’s?” Fred asked.
“Yep.” Daphne nodded. “They made a lot of whacky necklaces! Next, I might go for a mohawk-”
“Don’t even think about it.” Velma said.
“Anyway,” She continued, “We found some sort of a purple chemical in Nancy’s office, so we decided to put it in a bottle.”
She revealed a small tube and opened it. The gang huddled around her to have a look. There was a glowing purple mixture in it.
“But what could it be?” Fred questioned.
“I’ll have to take a look at it with a microscope. Judging from the way it’s glowing, I think it might be a radioactive chemical.” Velma deduced.
“Like, then why aren’t we wearing gloves?” Shaggy asked.
“I hope Safety is doing well after being tossed out the window.” Scooby added.
“Of course- this is actually all just an 80’s movie about getting radioactive superpowers!” Daphne’s eyes widened.
“Can you stop mentioning the 80’s? I’m slowly losing sanity.” Velma admitted.
“What? It’s not like we’re getting any memories from it.” Daphne shrugged.
“Daphne…” Fred warned.
“I mean,” Daphne continued, “as much as I love that era, I do not get any nostalg-”
It cuts to Velma’s imaginary floating head now violently zooming through space.
“WHATISTHEPAST?WHYAMIYEARNINGFORIT?” Velma’s fast voiceover screamed. “GUYSHELP ME-I MEAN- AMIGETTINGREGRET?ISTHISWHATITIS?PASTPASTPAST-”
Velma was somehow now floating in real life.
“Zoinks! Velma’s leaving the universe!” Shaggy yelled.
“At least give her a helmet.” Scooby rolled his eyes.
Fred dragged her down and she landed with a thud. Then, she weakly got up.
“I do not get you nostalgic people, I do not get you at all.” Fred shook his head.
“You don’t get nostalgia?” A voice asked.
A man with shiny brown hair who wore yellow shades and a white outfit walked over.
The gang slowly pushed Fred towards him.
“No…I’m Fred!” Fred shrugged. “I’ve literally never felt nostalgia in my entire life. I just like mysteries.”
The man walked up to him with a slight scowl on his face. The gang looked scared.
“....Your friend is weird, that’s all I have to say.” He said to the rest of the gang.
“We know.” Scooby nodded.
“What? I’m just completely desensitised to the idea of missing random times!” Fred protested.
“Lucky you.” Velma muttered.
“I’m Brett Banks, famous for impersonating the man, the myth, the legend, Meldon Lesley.” The man called Brett smiled.
“Meldon Lesley? The former pop star from the 80’s?” Fred gasped. “I love his work!”
“Sounds like nostalgia to me.” Shaggy pointed out.
“NO IT’S NOT!” Fred shouted.
“Thank ya very mooch, thank ya very mooch.” Brett smiled. “I even imitate the amount of fries he ate in his life. It’s a lot!"
“Stop coming here! I didn’t invite you!” Nancy yelled at him. “Get out!”
“But I’m the life of the party!” Brett frowned.
“Are you the one making my neon sign flicker constantly? C’mon, chop chop, I already hired singers!” Nancy said, ushering him out of the room, walking with him.
“But I’m Brett freakin’ Banks!” Brett shouted in the distance.
“Are you sure you don’t even feel one ounce of nostalgia, Fred?” Daphne asked.
“Nope, the only emotions I feel are Trappin’, Solvin’ and Frid.” Fred declared with a grin.
“Speaking of which, we should look for more clues before the ghost shows up.” Velma said.
Suddenly, the lights flashed off. A cackle was heard for a split second.
“Before or after?” Scooby uttered.
He and Shaggy began to shiver and shake and hug each other.
The gang’s eyes widened as they heard an eerie organ sound in the distance.
Then, it began to get louder.
And louder.
Then, there was the bash of fast drums.
The disco ball flickered and the gang looked around in fear. Then, they heard footsteps.
“G-g-gang…” Fred shuddered. “I think he wants to have a boogie…”
Everyone slowly turned their heads around to see the DJ’s ghost simply standing there on stage.
Just smiling.
Drool started to erupt from his mouth. He slowly pressed a button on the DJ mixer next to him.
White and purple smoke covered the gang’s vision and made them all cough.
“Like, where’d he go!?” Shaggy asked.
Abruptly, the ghost’s head jolted out of the smoke, cackling in a screechy voice.
“AHHH!” The gang screamed, bolting off. But the more they ran, the less they could see. The ghost was still behind them, and he was now floating in mid air as he did so.
Then, the loud organ music became more and more distorted. The gang dropped to the floor.
Back on the dance floor, the ghost was gone. The gang stood there, but something was different. Their eyes had rolled back into their sockets, and they were slowly dancing to music, like shells of their former selves.
…
Soon, the gang was lying on a chequered floor in a very dark, blue-tinted room.
Daphne slowly woke up, tilting her head. Everyone began to wake up. They groaned.
“Guys- where the heck are we?” Daphne began to panic, pushing the gang awake.
They opened their eyes and looked at each other. Their eyes widened.
“AHHH!” They screamed, leaping up. Now, they were all in the art style of ‘Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!’.
“You look weird!” The gang yelled at each other.
“What is going on anymore!?” Fred yelled. “This is torturing my present day needs!”
“Like, wait a second-” Shaggy gasped, “guys, walk over to that mirror over there.”
There was a tall mirror nearby that they walked over to. They all looked in it.
“What we look like right now is exactly like what Scoob and I saw when the ghost first attacked us.” Shaggy explained.
“Yeah, we look like we failed plastic surgery.” Scooby remarked.
“But what actually happened to US?” Velma asked, “If this has something to do with the past, then I will lose my mind.”
“Let’s retrace- the ghost attacked us, he filled the room with some sort of fog, and then I can’t remember what happened next and now we’re here.” Daphne shrugged.
“What if this is just a different location!?” Fred smirked.
“Like, I dunno, Fred, this place looks awfully familiar.” Shaggy admitted.
“I bet you five bucks we’re in the ghost’s lair!” Fred smiled.
He dashed outside the room and burst through the door. He stood backwards a few steps and read the flickering, red neon sign craning above the building.
‘Malt Shop’
Fred miserably walked back in.
“We’re in a malt shop.” He sighed.
“Cha-ching!” Scooby grinned, as he and Shaggy laughed.
“I knew there was something off about this place…” Daphne whispered. “Wait- we used to go to a malt shop all the time as teens…”
The gang’s eyes widened.
“HELP MEEEE-” Velma’s voiceover screamed as it cut to her head floating through space, now at the speed of a space shuttle.
“So that ghost has basically brought us to a creepy haunted version of our own nostalgic memory?” Daphne realised.
“That must be what the old man who walked out of the diner was talking about when he said he saw his ex wife.” Fred noticed. “This ghost is bringing people back to their most memorable times.”
“How about that, Scoob? We can get all of the past milkshakes we want!” Shaggy said.
“Four decade old food tastes great!” Scooby grinned.
“We should look around this place to see if we can find any connections to that ghost.” Velma declared.
“I’ll go with you guys,” Daphne said to Shaggy and Scooby.
“Good luck with Boombox!” Fred smiled as he and Velma walked off.
The others began to make their way out of the dark malt shop dining room.
Suddenly, the ghost’s creepy head leaned out of the mirror, smiling. Faint horror music began to play in the background.
Back at the diner dance room, the gang was still dancing, soulless, with no pupils in their eyes.
But now a few people had joined them: Nancy and the fry cook.
…
Soon, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby were in the dark, creepy malt shop kitchen.
“Like, man, this place is too creepy for a kitchen.” Shaggy shuddered.
“But it’s creepiness from the past, so it’s better.” Scooby said.
“You have a point.” Shaggy nodded.
“Yeah, but creepiness is still creepiness, no matter what time it’s in, right?” Daphne pointed out.
“Technically if the creepiness just ‘was’ and the part about when the creepiness occurred was a good period of time, and now there’s no creepiness around anymore because that was in the past, which, mind you, is still a nostalgic comforting time at this point, then was there really any creepiness at all because of how toned down it was in the first place?” Shaggy asked.
“Wh…what?” Daphne scratched her head.
“We’re evaporating creepiness with serotonin!” Scooby grinned.
“You lost me.” Daphne shrugged. “Anyway-”
She pulled out a boombox and put it on the countertop. Then, she turned it on and started playing loud Meldon Lesley songs. Shaggy and Scooby gasped.
“Daph…where the heck did you get that boombox from?” Shaggy asked.
“I dunno.” She shrugged, “It’s like the ghost supplied me with my own 80’s gadgets!”
Then, she pulled out a black leather jacket and wore it. Then, some big boots and some hair curlers.
Soon, she looked like she was ripped right out of a vintage magazine. She flipped her hair around.
“Look! It’s retro me in a retro outfit!” She chuckled.
“What….have you done?” Scooby asked.
“It’s- it’s horrible-” Shaggy said, looking like he was about to vomit.
“Yeah, well horrible is what grunge sixteen year olds wore forty years ago.” Daphne said.
“A whole decade of unreasoning.” Scooby said.
“Now, I think we should get to making milkshakes- the retro way!” Daphne smirked.
She grabbed a hold of the recipe on the counter and observed it as another song came on the boombox. It was an intense rock song.
“It’s like it’s calling for us.” Shaggy said, looking at the boombox.
“The recipe here says that first you need to get a cup,” Daphne ordered.
“Yeah, Shaggy.” Scooby smirked.
“I’M TRYING!” Shaggy yelled, going to get a cup.
“Then, you need some milk and some flavouring of your choice.” Daphne finished.
“Are you kidding me? They only have banana flavouring.” Shaggy sighed. “Oh well, if it’s for nostalgia then I guess I’ll try it.”
Soon, they got the ingredients together and made the milkshakes.
While they were putting everything in the machine, Scooby heard a laugh. He turned around and looked into the darkness of the kitchen. He saw nothing and rolled his eyes.
The three clinked their glasses and tried the milkshakes, sipping on stripy red and white straws.
Shaggy started coughing quickly, making Daphne and Scooby scream.
“Are you okay, Shaggy!?” Scooby screamed, patting him on the back.
“Yeah, I just had a tiny allergic reaction, I’ll be fine though, that was worth the health risk.” Shaggy smiled, tilting his head.
“Too nostalgic to go to the ER, I see.” Scooby nodded in agreement.
“Wow, whoever made this recipe is very proud of themselves. Their signature is all over this recipe.” Daphne noticed.
“Where have I seen that signature from?” Shaggy questioned.
“Wait- look.” Scooby pointed at the wall.
The same signature was all across the wall, written multiple times.
“Didn’t Nancy create these recipes? So it must be her signature, right?” Daphne realised.
“Like, Jesse doesn’t think so.” Shaggy remembered. “He told us he doesn’t trust her.”
“Reah.” Scooby agreed.
Daphne and Shaggy turned to him.
“Rhat?” Scooby asked, “-rait..”
“You have a speech impediment now?” Shaggy gasped.
“Ruh roh.” Scooby uttered.
“How did this become a thing?” Daphne asked.
“RI DON’T KNOW RANYMORE!” Scooby cried.
Suddenly, they heard the crack of a bone. They slowly turned around.
“Oh nonononono- what was that?” Daphne panicked.
They looked around everywhere as they began to hear that same creepy music in the distance.
Abruptly, the music stopped.
“Well, that was convenient.” Shaggy smiled.
The music resumed. Louder this time.
BASH!
Suddenly, a skeleton burst out of one of the cupboards and roared.
“Wait- that’s the FRY COOK!” Shaggy screamed.
“Rhis is a sequel!” Scooby yelled.
They ran off from the fry cook’s greasy skeleton that chased them out of the kitchen.
Then, they skidded around a corner, only to be met with the malt shop’s dining room.
“Huh!?” They all blurted out.
They ran out of the malt shop, and the skeleton fell to pieces.
The trio turned around and saw the skeleton’s bones on the ground. His skull rolled towards them.
“Phew.” They sighed.
Then, they heard a chilling cackle come from the skull…and the skull disintegrated.
A cold wind blew over Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby.
Daphne slowly pressed a button on her boombox and it played a scary sound effect. The others glanced at her and she smiled.
Out of nowhere, the creepy music came back.
“Like, please tell me that’s coming from the boombox.” Shaggy gulped.
Daphne shook her head. She pointed in front of them.
DJ BrainLodge’s ghost was dancing in the breeze with his back turned to them.
Suddenly, his head twisted around grotesquely, facing them. He twisted his body around too and leapt off the air, flying after them.
They screamed and bolted off from the ghost. They could barely see in the thick fog outside.
The trio panted as they tried getting through the endless steam. The ghost was still after them.
At the other end of the fog, they found themselves at a long, purple hallway, back in the diner.
“How is this even physically possible!?” Shaggy asked.
“Rhis is painful!” Scooby remarked.
“Ya know what?” Daphne frowned. “Take this, weird music ghost!”
She turned and threw one of her hair curlers at the ghost. It went right through him.
“Like, good one Daph.” Shaggy uttered.
The ghost roared and floated after them through the everlasting hallway.
…
Meanwhile, Fred and Velma were checking out an office in the malt shop. They were sitting at a table, reading a book.
“Here it is, the legend of DJ BrainLodge,” Velma began, “They say that back in the 80’s, a charming young man called Lucas Armstrong had started working at the diner as a singer. The more people got to know him, the more respected he became, and he was able to move up to DJ status, under the stage name BrainLodge. But one night, his equipment was possessed by a demon and turned on him, sending him to a realm in the past. Now his ghost is back, and is able to control people…and that’s all it says.”
“Couldn’t they have just gone with a simple ‘died on stage’ legend?” Fred asked. “Yeesh.”
“I don’t think you’re in the right place to mock people’s way of viewing things, Fred.” Velma said.
“Hey, I have every right not to feel any emotion.” Fred snapped. “Especially nostalgia. Nostalgia is for the weak.”
“So you’re saying that you don’t feel partial happiness and yearning when thinking of all those past cases we’ve solved?” Velma asked.
“Well of course I have,” Fred nodded, “but that’s nowhere near nostalgia-”
Suddenly, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby burst through the door. They began boarding it up behind them.
“Like, we need to find a way out of here RIGHT NOW!” Shaggy insisted.
“Reah, ry speech is all reird now!” Scooby cried.
“What happened, guys?” Velma asked. “Daphne, I’m not even gonna mention the jacket.”
“It's an essential vintage style.” Daphne smirked, twirling around in her jacket.
“Apparently Mr. Music Man has a fry cook skeleton chilling in his closet!” Shaggy exclaimed.
“WE JUST RANTED RO TRY RILKSHAKES, NOW I RAN’T EVEN RONOUNCE IT ROPERLY!” Scooby cried.
“Okay, everyone just calm down, we need to find a way out of this.” Fred declared. “What could the ghost have done to us? And where did the diner go?”
“And, like, we should probably ask why we look like a 60’s cartoon too.” Shaggy added.
“Well….yeah.” Fred replied.
“Maybe that chemical I found has something to do with it.” Velma said. “I think I still have it with me now.”
She pulled the small tube of the stuff out and opened it. It bubbled. There was a pause for a moment as she intensely stared at the contents of the bottle.
“Okay, I give up, literally none of this makes sense.” She facepalmed. “WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?”
“Let’s leave, Scoob, I think she’s about to go to space again.” Shaggy warned.
It cuts to normal Velma and Retro Velma’s bodies floating through space.
“ACTUALLY NO- no, you’re right, I’ll find the answer to this mystery through a non-nostalgia contemplating, constellation way.” Velma declared as it cuts back to the office.
“Rhat a change.” Scooby said.
“Maybe there’s something on these records on the wall!” Daphne suggested, while staring at the wall which was covered with retro music records.
“Like, what kind of a malt shop has a record wall?” Shaggy asked.
“The kind that serves Soulnumb Soda!” Daphne chuckled, leaning on the wall.
Suddenly, a brick in the wall slid out of place and a creepy hand tried swiping her. Then, it went back into the wall and the brick slid back in place.
There was an awkward silence.
“Wow, I forgot how much I used to get kidnapped in the old days.” Daphne sighed.
“Rit’s become apart rof rou.” Scooby remarked. He covered his mouth in shame.
Fred looked up at the wall. He walked over to it and ripped off a piece of paper that was on it.
“Look at this, gang, it’s a contract agreement to sell the Tip-Taking Moo Cow Diner. Nancy signed this, and so did someone else.” He noticed.
“Like, it’s and it’s dated back to 1985. This must’ve been ages ago.” Shaggy added.
Suddenly, the paper began to float.
“Why’s the paper floating?” Daphne asked.
“Reverything used to roat in the old cases too.” Scooby said.
“Stop doing that RETRO thing, ghost.” Fred snapped, grabbing the paper back down.
He began to read the contract: “This contract is an official agreement between Nancy Miller and…covered out name ... which officialises that all of their share of the revenue stream is now rightfully Mrs. Miller’s. Any recipes that have been crafted by them are also officially Mrs. Miller’s. ‘Covered out name’ is resigning to pursue a job in physics.”
“So Nancy didn’t come up with those delicious milkshakes, burgers or spicy chicken nuggets?” Shaggy gasped.
“She only speaks for the cow.” Scooby remarked.
“Who in their right mind would sell off something so successful?” Daphne asked.
“Wait a minute….” Velma whispered, still observing the chemicals.
She looked up ahead and saw the flickering neon sign in the reflection of the window.
“Guys, don’t you see? This isn’t just any normal radioactive chemical. It’s a BRAIN chemical!”
“What?” Everyone else collectively blurted out.
“She didn’t even need Space to lose it this time.” Shaggy said.
“Trust me, we need to get out of here as soon as possible- and I know exactly how.” Velma smirked. “Just tell yourself that none of this is real.”
“Okay, even for my 80’s movie geek brain, this feels like a cop-out.” Daphne said.
“JUST DO IT!” Velma yelled.
Suddenly, the contract in Fred’s hands tore up into shreds by itself.
Everyone yelled and jumped.
“Looks retty real to re.” Scooby said.
The lights began to flicker and that faint, haunted 60’s music was heard in the distance.
Thump thump thump thump thump.
The gang slowly crept to the door in fear and pushed it slightly open. There was nothing there.
Fred looked at the other members of the gang and looked back at the door. He pushed it fully open. In front of them was a crooked staircase, going upwards.
They slowly looked up the staircase to see DJ Brainlodge’s spectre standing there.
“RUN!” Fred yelled.
“Run where?” Shaggy asked.
They slowly turned around, only to see the ghost standing right behind them.
“The timing is impeccable.” Velma uttered.
The ghost roared and cackled. The gang turned around and ran out the door, through a dark hallway. The stairs had vanished. They bolted through the hallway.
Chase scene starts
60’s style chase music begins to play. A Scooby-Dooby-Doors scene plays in the hallway. Scooby runs from one door to another from the ghost. Velma calmly floats from one door to another, having another head floating through Space moment. Fred drags her to the other door with him. Daphne dances from one door to another dressed as a waitress. She and the ghost dance back to their original door, and Daphne reappears from another door and runs off down the hallway. Shaggy and Scooby run from one door and throw milkshakes on the floor, which the ghost trips over.
Modern chase music begins to play as it cuts to clips of the ghost kidnapping people at the diner. A retro nerd is talking to some retro high school jocks near the stage, and the nerd’s pupils disappear mid-sentence.
A retro rockstar is running around crazily with a milkshake in his hand, rocking out, when a hand abruptly drags him in a curtain.
It cuts back to the 60’s chase music as we see the gang running out the hallway, only to bump into a maze of stairs going up and down. They run up and down the stairs, and soon, the ghost faints from confusion.
It cuts back to the modern chase music. Very few people are left standing in the diner now. The ghost bursts into the dining room and cackles.
It cuts back to the 60’s chase music as Shaggy and Scooby jump over the counter of the bar in the dining room of the dark malt shop. The ghost creeps up to it, but they grab milkshakes and spill them on him and dash off.
The modern music plays again, but this time alongside with the 60’s music. Both songs reach their high point as they begin to clash together into one song.
It quickly cuts between scenes of the malt shop and the diner, between the gang running off from the ghost, and more people falling into the soulless trance.
Soon, Fred is running from the ghost in a hallway.
The chase scene ends.
Fred sighed and looked behind him. The ghost wasn’t there anymore.
“Okay, I lost him.” He sighed.
Suddenly, he fell through a trapdoor, and landed in a dark basement. The eerie yellow light above him buzzed on and off.
Fred looked around in utter confusion. After looking around for a while he spotted a mirror in front of him. He budged up towards the mirror.
Suddenly, his reflection CRAWLED out of the mirror!
“AHHHH!” Fred screamed.
His reflection laughed, and his whole body glitched and morphed into the mysterious figure, another one of Fred’s aliases.
Fred gasped.
Then, he glitched into Frid, and Frid glitched back to his normal self, who now had glowing red eyes. His purple veins were showing on his forehead.
Mirror Fred crawled towards him, moaning creepily.
“It’s not real…” Fred whispered, “Velma’s right, it’s not real…”
The light above him switched off and didn’t come back on.
“IT’S NOT REAL.” Fred said, starting to get louder.
The zombie-like mirror Fred leapt towards him, and he let out a scream.
…
Abruptly, Fred woke up, standing on the dance floor of the Tip-Taking Moo Cow Diner. The rest of the gang gasped.
“Fred!” They smiled. They all hugged him.
“What the heck just happened?” Fred asked. “I think I felt nostalgia for a second…”
“You? Feeling nostalgia?” Scooby, in his normal voice, asked.
“Yeah- wait…we’re back to normal!” Fred’s eyes widened.
“I told you guys it would work.” Velma nodded. “Quick, we need to get outta this room and think of a trap for the ghost. Look what he’s done to everyone…”
Shaggy and Scooby turned and gasped, seeing the fry cook dancing in the trance.
“Like, the job got to him.” Shaggy said.
“Too many nice waitresses to handle.” Scooby added.
The gang began to creep out of the dance room, but they bumped right into the door, which was locked.
The disco ball turned red. Slow 80’s music began to play. The gang turned around to see that the people in the trance were now standing there. Watching them.
They slowly turned their heads to the stage. The ghost was standing there.
Not attacking.
Not doing anything.
Just smiling.
“Somebody wants to slow dance, huh?” Daphne whispered.
The ghost roared and jumped off stage, landing on the floor majestically. He ran towards the gang.
The gang yelled and ran away from him. They crashed through some pearls into the kitchen.
“Third time.” Scooby sighed.
“Like, we’re lucky.” Shaggy said sarcastically.
The ghost crashed into the room, and they hid behind different counters. The slow dance music in the background got quieter and quieter. Soon, it was muffled. The gang heard an ear piercing, continuous ring.
They glanced at each other. It was over. They were doomed.
Scooby turned and looked at a metal pot near him. He stared at it for a while, thinking.
Suddenly, his reflection in the pot turned into his retro self.
Scooby looked back at the ghost, who was still looking for the gang, and then back at his old reflection in the pot.
“That’s it.” He scowled. He leapt up, revealing his location.
The ghost ran at him. Scooby screamed and grabbed some pots and pans, bashing him on the head with them.
The ghost yelped and chased him back into the dance room. Scooby ran up onstage and grabbed a microphone.
Then, he started making loud noises into the microphone. The ghost shrieked and covered his ears, backing off.
The gang watched from the door to the room.
The ghost was now right underneath the disco ball.
“Alright, buster, this is for not taking my hair curler.” Daphne smirked.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Everyone yelled as she pulled out a retro roller skate.
It goes slow-mo as she throws the roller skate up into the air and it collides with the disco ball.
The disco ball shattered into pieces and the pieces dropped onto the ghost. Right there and then, people started falling out of their trances!
“Wh…I want a milkshake.” Some of them muttered.
The ghost lay flat on the floor in defeat.
“Get…retroed…” Daphne smiled, as the camera zoomed in on her face.
“That sounds very cheesy.” Velma remarked.
“There’s the 80’s for ya.” Daphne shrugged.
…
Soon, in the dining room, everyone was crowded round the ghost, who was getting handcuffed by police officers.
“Great work, kids.” One of the officers said.
“Yeah, thank you for your hard work, but quick question- why did all of my guests start dancing because of a ghost?” Nancy asked.
“They didn’t,” Fred replied, “because they were really under the trance of-”
He ripped the mask off the ghost.
“Jesse!?” Everyone exclaimed.
“Exactly.” Velma nodded, “It turns out that back in the 80’s, Jesse and Nancy co-owned the diner together, but Jesse decided to sell his half of the business, and all of the credit for his recipes, to Nancy, so that he could pursue a physics career and study it in college.”
“But when he discovered how successful all of the recipes he made actually turned out to be, he went back, seeking to get the position that could’ve made him a lot of money.” Fred explained.
“With Jesse’s experience with physics, which I could tell because of how he displayed his knowledge when we were at the bar, he was able to turn brain chemicals into radiated electricity.” Velma explained.
“He chose the chemicals for happiness and adrenaline, which, both combined with the diner’s atmosphere, led to the creation of the trance. That's why my plan of saying that none of it is real worked, I was simply just repressing the artificial chemicals that were making me think it was.”
“Jesse installed these chemicals into a small bulb in the disco ball, which was how he was able to hypnotise everyone at the restaurant.” Fred explained.
“But what were you actually getting from this, Jesse?” Nancy asked. “Stupid man.”
“Credit. Those signatures that we found all over the kitchen and on the contract matched with the one he scribbled on the napkin when doing a magic trick in the bar. His hallucinogenic trance was literally designed to engrave into people’s heads that he created the recipes, which also explains why we all felt hungry for a milkshake after every attack.” Daphne finished.
“Like, all that just so people would see you as the milkshake man?” Shaggy asked. “Why didn’t you just continue your physics career?”
“I was blinded by nostalgia, okay!?” Jesse yelled. “And I would’ve gotten away with it too, especially in the good old days, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids.”
The police took him away.
“Well gang, that was quite the experience.” Fred nodded.
“Yeah, and I actually don’t feel like an 80’s gal anymore…” Daphne scratched her head. “I think I might move on to the NINETIES!”
“Please don’t!” The gang shouted.
“Like, and for once, I’m not all keen on the past milkshakes anymore.” Shaggy said.
“Yeah.” Scooby agreed, “I’m not all keen on the past in general.”
“Thinking about it now, I never realised how much the past sucks.” Shaggy continued.
They turned around and saw two fresh milkshakes on the table. They glanced at each other and took tiny sips of them.
“Wow, this is actually a great milkshake!” Shaggy smiled.
“Well that’s a twist!” Scooby remarked.
“Maybe that was the whole point of tonight…” Velma stroked her chin.
She grabbed Scooby’s microphone from earlier that was lying on the table. She started speaking with it.
“Everyone…I’d, uh…...I’d like to have your attention.” She began nervously. “Yeah, that, um, ghost thing was horrible to experience, but it also gave us some pros. Because from journeying back into a place similar to my past, I realised that nothing was as I remembered it, and I didn’t need to question anything about any time at all.”
“It made me realise the true power of nostalgia. Something may actually deserve credit, but it doesn’t get any because of unnecessary favouriting of others due to the time period the world first saw them. It doesn’t mean that it’s actually a good thing to look back on. Not to change your viewpoint, but I’m just saying, experiences could be amazing from the past, present or future."
“Don’t give up hope just because it isn’t the same as before. Our brains are wired to look back. Velma out, son.”
People began booing. Velma’s eyes widened and she immediately put the microphone back down. None other than Brett Banks swiped the microphone.
“Do you really think any of us care about the present or the future?” He asked, “Don’t be ridiculous, kid, we’re all just crazy past-addicts, and consume whatever old things we want because of when they came out, even if they’re bad, and won’t give new things a chance. I mean, wouldn’t that just be ridiculous if we did, folks!?”
Everyone cheered.
“So let’s sing a little song about our experience today, because I’m sure I’ll get good nostalgia from it soon.”
Velma’s jaw dropped.
Pop music began playing on a jukebox. Everyone, except for the gang, began dancing.
“Our yesterdays are important, the only thing important, to me…” Brett sang.
The gang slowly began to back out of the diner. Jesse was even dancing with cops in the background.
“So how about we discredit our futures and become past-addicts in glee!” Brett continued.
It cuts to credits as Brett’s song continues playing through them.
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