The Problem with Pazuzu

[bigscoobydoofan]

WRITER's NOTE: Hey everyone! Happy Halloween! Recently I stumbled across a series of artworks created by the fabulous Travis Falligant (All credit goes to him, he makes such funny Scooby x Horror mashups) and got inspired to write an episode based off one of them, considering that The Exorcist is my favorite horror movie of all time, and I love classic Scooby-Doo. For this fanfic, I tried melding the two together, with suspense but also really goofy scenes, 'The Problem with Pazuzu', where the gang meets a possessed Regan MacNeil and ends up locked in a house with her during a power outage caused by a violent storm. Yes, some scenes do have a little bit of dark implications, some a little adult in their violence, but that's a part of the parody aspect of it: just putting the wacky Scooby gang in these horrific situations sounded like a funny thing to do. I spent a lot of time on this one, and it goes a little over 12K words, so I hope you enjoy it! And once again, Happy Halloween!



_ _ _

It was a quiet, sunny Saturday as the Mystery Machine zoomed down a narrow urban road in Georgetown. The two cowards in the back watched passers by become dark shapes in a blur as the van wooshed past them.

“Well gang, we’ve finally made it- Georgetown.” Fred smiled, turning towards his friends.

“Like, what a weird name for a town. Who’s George?” Shaggy asked. “Why’d he name the town after himself? Was he hungry? I know I am.”

“Re too. Reeeheeeheeeheeehee!” Scooby laughed.

“Actually, historians say that Georgetown was most likely named after King George the second.” Velma corrected, throwing a sharp glance at Shaggy.

“What, did he have a second stomach?” Shaggy asked.

“I just can’t wait to see my friend Sharon again, I haven’t seen her in years.” Daphne said. “Apparently she’s been having issues here whilst tutoring some kid. She didn’t tell me the problem…”

“I wonder what could possibly be going on around there to cause enough disturbance to call us in.” Velma remarked.

“Well, whatever it is, we’re on our way.” Fred said.

“Like, maybe her fridge needs clearing out. Scoob and I are experts at that.” Shaggy chuckled, ripping open a box of Scooby Snacks and preparing to dump them in his mouth, before Scooby swiped them from him in mid air and gobbled them up.

“Hey, those were mine! You had a box!” Shaggy snapped.

“Which you also ate.” Fred chimed in. “You snackers need to control yourselves, no wonder I always find crumbs in the back. That’s how rats get in!”

“R….r….rats!?” Shaggy and Scooby trembled in unison.

Shaggy dropped his Scooby Snack box and the two hugged each other, their teeth chattering and their skin jumping.

“C-c-cut it out Fred, Scoob and I are highly sensitive to animals.” Shaggy whined. A confused frown formed on Scooby’s face, realising what he just said.

A snarl was suddenly heard from within the Scooby Snacks box.

“YIKES!” The duo yelled, flying from the back, squashing in between Daphne and Velma in the front seats.

Now, the growl was mere ripples of squeaking. A big, grey rat stormed out of the box, pointing his tiny pink finger at Scooby, almost like he was cursing him out.

“Are you sensitive to yourself, you big chicken?” Fred raised his eyebrows, unsurprised.

Shaggy shrugged in protest as the rest of the gang looked at him.

“I’m uncomfortable.” Daphne grumbled, her face rubbing against Scooby’s back squishing her.

“Rorry.” Scooby leaned off her, which only caused Velma to come toppling towards the window, as her glasses fell off and her face squished against the glass.

She pulled her face off the window and fixed her glasses back on.

“Oh, look gang, it's Georgetown University.” She noticed as they drove past a huge building with a pointy spire. “That’s a huge landmark here, a private Jesuit institution.”

“Like exorcists?” Shaggy asked.

“Not exorcists- Jesuits. Exorcisms haven’t been practiced in centuries.” Velma said.

“Well, I’ve heard rumours about, like, The Black Mass and the occult and creepy demonic beings. Apparently, kooky stuff’s been happening in this town.” Shaggy said.

“Yeah, but no one’s studying the occult at university. Demons aren’t real, simple as that.” Velma said. “Honestly, can you catch up or will I have to restart the race?”

“Sharon did say that there are kooks around here who still believe in demons.” Daphne said.

“Alright, I’m with Velma now, all caught up, nope, demons aren’t real, let’s move on; Fred, focus on your driving.” Shaggy said, wearily eyeing the others.

“I’ve barely even said anything!” Fred protested.

“I think that Shaggy is experiencing the phenomenon activated in the amygdala, alerting the nervous system whenever we think that we’re in danger that we traditionally call fear.” Velma deduced.

“No I’m not! Not even that old guy will scare me!” Shaggy pointed towards the middle of the road.

An old man with glasses, dressed completely in black, flapping around a hat, was half-running, half-limping on the road.

“STOP! STOP!” He yelled, starting to chase after the van.

The gang shouted and Fred immediately braked.

The old man in black ran over to the window of the van; Fred rolled down the window, throwing glances at the others.

“Who are you, sir? What’s wrong?” He asked with furrowed eyebrows.

A wheeze escaped the solemn figure’s mouth as he paused and clutched at his chest momentarily.

“No time for questions, just wherever you’re going, stay away from Prospect Street.” The old man in black trembled, grasping at his hat as it slowly slipped out of his bony fingers.

“Prospect Street? But that’s where Sharon is.” Daphne pointed out.

“Sharon….Sharon…I think that name rings a bell, yes, there was a Sharon in that house. It’s too late now.” The old man in black replied gravely.

“What!?” Daphne gasped.

“Oh no, oh no, what did I say!?” Shaggy facepalmed, shuddering.

“Maybe this isn’t about demons, let him finish.” Velma said.

“No, I’m not scared about demons, just the thought that maybe it's too late to finish off Sharon’s house feast terrifies me!” Shaggy cried.

Scooby started crying with him.

“No, but you are right, young miss, it is about demons.” The old man revealed. “3600 Prospect Street. I was called in to rid a little victim of her, let’s just say- haunting problems. I thought I was ready. My faith is what wakes me up, sends me to sleep. But what I saw in there…it sent me to darkness in a room brighter than the sun. Alas, here I am, on the road, announcing his- it’s- arrival.”

“Who’s arrival?” Fred asked.

“Pazuzu. Pazuzu is back.”

He started walking off.

“Pazuzu? What does that mean?” Fred asked.

“Like, try saying that five times fast.” Shaggy said. “Pazuzpazuzupazuzupazuzupazuzu!”

Fred peered his head out of the window and spotted the old man in the distance. “Hey! Hey, come back here! Sir?”

He looked back around for one second. Looked at the young, blonde youth in the van.

Turned and continued walking.

“Pazuzu’s the name of a demon from ancient Mesopotamian religion. He was said to represent the southwestern wind.” Velma explained.

“But if Pazuzu is at the house we’re headed to, then what does that mean for us? Or for Sharon?” Daphne asked, panic starting to sink in.

“I think it means that we should go home, whaddaya say Fred?” Shaggy suggested.

“Even if I wanted to go back, there’s a storm forecasted to arrive and it’s getting late, we’re not far from the house so we can get shelter there.” Fred explained.

“Like, forget about it, we’re all prepared for the storm, see!?” Shaggy grinned, as he and Scooby whipped out multiple umbrellas and opened the windows to the van.

They stuck their heads out and used the umbrellas to protect themselves from incoming rain.

Abruptly, a strong gust of wind dragged the umbrellas out of their grip; the duo immediately became soaked and the umbrellas split into two, getting ran over by speedy cars passing by.

“Aw…” They moaned, looking at the ground.

…

The sky was getting darker on Prospect Street.

Soon, Fred had parked the Mystery Machine right next to the thin, monstrous claw of a tree that almost seemed to be guarding the wider home that was shrouded in a thick, white mist.

Shaggy and Scooby’s teeth chattered as the gang made their way to the front door of the house, and Fred rang the bell.

No response.

“T-t-t-talk about a cold reception.” Shaggy said, rubbing his arms back and forth egregiously.

Scooby looked up at the front window, which was emitting a bright yellow light as well as the mist.

A shadow seemed to be floating behind the curtains!

Just then, a low roar erupted from beyond.

“RIKES!” Scooby screamed, leaping into a bush.

“Scooby, we’re not camping, get out of there!” Fred said.

“D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-” Scooby weakly pointed a finger up to the top window of the house.

“What, do you see anything delicious?” Shaggy looked up at the window, very confused.

The dumb dog knew what he’d see before he even looked back again.

The shadow was of course gone and the air was silent. He sheepishly walked out of the bush, carrying a few bush bugs with him. He shook them off in a frenzy.

“Maybe Scooby saw something that we didn’t.” Velma suggested.

“Like, don’t remind me.” Shaggy groaned.

A sudden Thrrrrush! and the front door swung open, revealing a haggard looking young woman with brown hair, whose red scarf covered most of her outfit.

“Oh, Sharon!” Daphne ran to the woman and gave her a big hug. “You look tired, what’s happened to you?”

“Sorry I took so long, I think it’s best you just step inside and see for yourself.” Sharon said, guiding the gang in and slamming the door shut.

As if the house was a wintery power station, and the rushing chills were electricity, the gang was getting fried in the freezing atmosphere of this mysterious place.

“Like, I’ve heard of bone chilling but this is just ridiculous.” Shaggy said, hugging Scooby.

“Reah, rone riling.” Scooby agreed.

“Will you two cut the puns out?” Velma whispered, though she too was shaking.

“So, Miss- Spencer, right? We heard that you needed our help with something?” Fred asked.

“Yes, right this way.” Sharon said, leading the gang into the bar of the house.

They entered to see a woman sitting at the counter.

“Chris- Daphne and her friends are here.” Sharon said.

The woman called Chris looked up to see the gang.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” She leapt up off the stool and shook everyone’s hand. “I’m sorry, Karl, could you get these kids’ luggage? Oh right, there is none, nevermind…just, anything to make yourselves at home, please do so!”

“Wait- you’re Chris MacNeil, that famous actress!” Daphne realized, “I didn’t know Sharon was friends with you!”

“Yes, she’s my secretary.” Chris said.

As the others were talking, Shaggy and Scooby subtly edged nearer towards the cabinets of the bar, which held nuts and chips amongst other snacks and beverages.

“I loved you in Crab President, that was one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best!” Velma smiled.

“Yep, that was me. I’m sorry I made Sharon call you kids in at such a random time, but you see, I heard from her that you’re brilliant detectives…and paranormal investigators.” Chris explained.

“Well, that’s fine with us, isn’t it Scoob?” Shaggy shrugged, secretly grabbing for a snack bag behind him.

“Rep.” Scooby agreed, stealing Shaggy’s packet with his tongue and wolfing it up.

“Oh, not aga-” Shaggy glared at him, swiftly reaching down for the packet but accidentally pushing a glass over. The glass smashed right on Scooby’s head, who fell over at once.

“Sure, we dabble in a little bit of paranormal investigation. A little too much at that.” Fred smiled.

“Good, then maybe you can help me with…a problem.” Chris suggested.

“Like what, Mrs. MacNeil?” Velma asked.

Chris looked at Sharon. “I think it’s time to show them.”

Sharon nodded.

“Let’s all go upstairs.” She said.

“Great, we’ll meet you there!” Shaggy put a thumbs up, half of his mouth full of snacks.

Everyone, apart from Shaggy and Scooby, began to leave the room. Fred momentarily paused at the doorway and turned around.

“Don’t think we forgot about you two.” he remarked.

“Like, we’re just guarding the snacks from demons!” Shaggy protested.

“Yeah, but who will guard the guards?” Fred smirked.

He pushed the two out of the room, and they looked up the narrow stairs of the house, terrified.

…

Multiple framed pictures of a pretty young girl passed the gang, Sharon and Chris as they marched up the creaking stairs.

“Hey Chris, when we were on our way here, an old man stopped us in the middle of the road and told us about some sort of demon that’s at this house. Do you know who that was?” Daphne asked.

“Oh, poor Father Merrin. He’s a famous priest. He was here earlier, trying to perform the exorcism on the darn thing. He was overpowered.” Chris sighed.

“H-h-huh!?” Shaggy and Scooby stared at each other in shock.

“Like, I knew it, I knew it!” Shaggy cried.

“Now, I know none of you are exorcists, but you’re our only hope.” Chris said as they reached the top of the stairs.

She picked up a picture of the pretty young girl, sitting on a small table top in the hall.

“This was my daughter.” She forced a smile. “Oh, Regan…”

“Was?” Fred repeated.

“Yeah, and now I’m the big bad wolf, and I’ll blow this house down.” A raspy voice growled from inside one of the bedrooms.

Chris opened a door in front of her; everyone walked inside to see the creature sitting up in its wooden bed.

A young girl, about twelve, wearing a baby blue gown. Her face was paler than snow, and was covered in little red cuts and green spots. Her yellow eyes were fixed on the gang.

The gang gasped as they watched her green tongue lolling forward like a snake, vulpine.

“Oh my gosh!” Shaggy yelled, to the dismay of the others.

Chris immediately ran down the stairs, crying.

“Sharon, please tell me, what’s going on?” Daphne asked.

“Well, you see- we think that Regan here was possessed by a demon.” Sharon sighed. “She was just having some slight disturbances, and then she began chasing us around the house. She got so dangerous that we had to strap her down to her bed. And now…this.”

“That explains the warning that Father Merrin was giving us, about Pazuzu.” Fred deduced.

Suddenly, the creature guised as Regan in the bed started howling, exactly like a werewolf.

She threw her head back and wheezed, then she stared directly at Fred.

“Merrin was a lost cause, and soon you’ll be too, you don’t know what you’re getting into, you and those disgusting friends of yours!” She warned in a high pitched, witchlike voice. Then, her voice changed into that of a late night TV show presenter, “Say goodnight, Freddy! Goodnight!”

It then clucked like a chicken and mooed like a cow.

“E-I-E-I-O.” Shaggy muttered.

“Hey- how did she know my name?” Fred wondered.

“It’s not her. None of it is. It’s the demon. And I’m scared, Daphne, so so scared.” Sharon hugged Daphne once again.

“Hey big whiskers, how about you do me a favour and loosen these straps?” Regan asked Scooby, gesturing to the black straps holding her arms down. “I’m getting awfully uncomfortable.”

“R-r-r-ro way.” Scooby shook his head nervously.

“But I’m THE DEVIL!” Regan shrieked, practically making the room vibrate.

“YIPE!” Scooby yelled, jumping into Shaggy’s arms, shaking.

“Okay, this is just getting silly.” Velma eyerolled. “Surely there isn’t any sort of demon plaguing this house.”

She walked over towards Regan’s bed and bent down, to get on level with her. Daphne followed, just in case.

“If you’re really Pazuzu, then how many fingers am I holding up?” She asked, putting a hand behind her.

“Velma!” Daphne facepalmed.

“She’ll struggle, watch.” Velma smirked.

“Digitos nullos altos habes, stulte.” The thing in the bed replied.

Velma’s eyes widened and she backed away.

“She just spoke in Latin.” Velma whispered.

“Yeah, well I don’t think I need to know Latin to guess that she’s correct.” Daphne gulped.

Velma held up her closed fist and nodded.

“Latin?” Sharon gasped. “Why, I’m her tutor, I’ve never taught her Latin in her life!”

“Ite, ite, vos omnes exsecrantur. Nox praevalebit.” Regan gravely stared at the open window facing her.

Sharon rushed to the window and locked it shut.

“Like, oh no, I’ve seen my fair share of ghosts and ghouls, creepy clowns, werewolf-mummies and mummy-werewolves and such, but this? I don’t like this one bit!” Shaggy said.

“I just don’t understand what the demon wants, or why it won’t leave. Oh please Daphne, will you help us?” Sharon pleaded.

“Of course we will.” Daphne nodded. “I think we should go downstairs first, to get some air.”

“I agree- then you won’t have to see me break out of here!” Regan cackled, seething in the straps holding her arms and legs down, slowly but surely tearing them bit by bit.

“Sharon, do you or Chris happen to know anything about how the demon possessed her in the first place?” Fred asked.

“Well, Chris thinks that it has something to do with the Ouija Board she found a few weeks or so ago that’s now down in the basement.” Sharon said.

“Then that’s where we’re headed. Velma, Daphne, let’s go ask Chris about the board. Then, hopefully we can investigate the board itself. Shaggy, Scooby, you guys stay here and check up on Regan.” Fred ordered.

“Actually, we were just heading home. We’ll send you a postcard!” Shaggy said, holding an abundance of suitcases in his arms.

“Hey, what happened to your guarding skills?” Fred pointed out.

“Like, I don’t know what you’re talking about, do you Scoob?”

“Rope.” Scooby shook his head insistently.

“Alright then. I suppose you can help us in the dark, spooky basement.” Velma said.

“Now that I think of it, here sounds better!” Shaggy yelled, dropping his suitcases with a thud.

“Good. We’ll be back soon.” Fred declared, leaving the room with Velma, Daphne and Sharon.

In silence, the shivering pair glanced at the thing in the bed.

She met their stares with an evil, ugly grin.

…

Fred, Daphne, Velma were now with Sharon and Chris at the bottom of the stairs in the house.

“You see, the house isn’t really ours. We’ve only been staying here recently as we always have to move around since I work on so many movies. And a few weeks ago, Regan found this dusty, ancient Ouija board in the closet and handed it to me. I’d decided to put it in the basement to get it out of the way. Next thing I knew, she’d found it again and was playing with it, always saying she was talking to this…Captain Howdy person.” Chris explained.

“Captain Howdy? Why, who’s that?” Daphne asked.

“I don’t know. Her father’s name is Howard though, and he’s all the way in Europe. I think that Captain Howdy might have been a ghost. Somehow, that demon befriended my Regan and tricked her into possession. Oh, I just don’t know!”

“Very interesting.” Velma said.

Suddenly, there was an aggressive knocking on the door.

Someone…or something?

There was the jangling of keys.

A lanky man with pointy brown hair and a big nose and ears opened the door and came stumbling in.

“What time do you call this, MacNeil!? I have 2 cabs waiting outside, we’ve been awaiting your arrival at set for quite some time now.” He announced, his British accent very clear.

“Hey, aren’t you Burke Dennings, that one movie director?” Daphne asked.

“Well, do you have two eyes?” Burke replied smugly. Daphne gave him a dirty look.

Burke started to walk around the hall.

“Sorry about him, he can get a little…agitated.” Chris said.

“Excuse yourself, I heard that one, I don’t miss a trick!” Burke said. “Tipsiness does not wear me out!”

“Your ‘wine’ is grape juice that you squirt right into your mouth, Burke.” Chris reminded him.

“Oh, potato potahto. Blimey, it’s freezing in here, will one of you blobs of colour turn on a radiator?” He pointed at Fred, Daphne and Velma.

“It’s supposed to be like this, remember?” Chris said through gritted teeth. “How Regan likes it.”

“Who’s Regan, a fridge?” Burke asked.

“My daughter.” Chris reminded him.

“Oh, right, my apologies. Now, we must get going, it’s getting late and just the perfect moment for the kissing scene in The Protest. I can already see it selling out in the Biograph.” Burke smiled.

“Yes of course, sorry kids, but I need to go to work.” Chris apologized.

“Wait- your daughter. Yes, that’s what I forgot about. Are you sure you can work tonight? I’ve…heard of what’s been happening. In fact, some might say I only came here to test your willingness.” Burke said. “You don’t have to turn up, I’ll just hire somebody else.”

“No, of course I’ll go, I have great faith in these kids.” Chris smiled, for the first time in a long time.

Fred, Daphne and Velma smiled back.

“Very well. Set sail for the seven studios, my dear!” Burke chuckled, and he and Chris began to leave.

“Goodbye!” Everyone waved them off as they walked down the path leading out of the house, disappearing into the mist.

“I’ll be in the study if you need me.” Sharon said to the trio, also leaving.

“I guess that just leaves us.” Fred said.

“Well, I’m not so sure about that, who knows what ghosts or demons are watching us in this creepy house.” Daphne shivered.

“Including the basement. Come on, let’s go down there and find that board.” Fred replied.

…

3 pairs of eyes sank deeper into darkness as the trio walked down the groaning stairs leading to the basement.

“It’s a miracle that anyone makes it down these stairs without tripping in the dark.” Fred remarked.

“Maybe that’s how Captain Howdy ended up.” Daphne said.

“That is- if he is a ghost.” Velma said. “Most signs point to him being another form of the demonic entity Pazuzu.”

“He sure doesn’t sound like the only demonic entity around here, Velma.” Daphne remarked.

“Okay, I know a lot about ancient folklore, so what?” Velma eyerolled.

“It's creepy, cut it out!” Daphne dissented.

“Well, would you like to help out on the case more?”

That shut Daphne up.

Suddenly, a large hand grabbed Daphne’s shoulder as a light was turned on.

“AHHH!” She and Velma yelled, tripping over each other and rolling down the remaining two steps.

The hand was only Fred, behind Daphne.

“What? I found a light switch.” He shrugged, pointing to the white pull chain above him.

“Now my dress is ruined…” Daphne huffed, getting up and dusting herself off.

They began looking around the basement. Sculptures and bright, half-painted art pieces galore were there, presumably made by Regan. There was a wooden workbench on one of the walls, above it two shelves of paints and other bottles.

“Unbelievable, just unbelievable: this is probably the warmest place in the house.” Velma remarked.

“Where could the board be?” Fred wondered.

An old voice from above suddenly made them jump: “You looking for Ouija Board?”

A slightly plump old man with glasses came down the stairs of the basement, carrying a feather duster. He was clearing out cobwebs.

“Mrs MacNeil’s board is in drawer, there.” He pointed to a drawer underneath the workbench.

“Why, thank you sir!” Velma said, genuinely surprised, as she found the board exactly where the man had said it would be.

“Anything for people protecting MacNeils.” The man said. “I’m Karl Engstrom, me and my wife Winnie caretake MacNeil house.”

“Yes, yes!” His wife followed him down. “Anything you need?”

“No thank you, we’re fine.” Fred said. “But, do you know anything about this Ouija board?”

Winnite was about to say something, when Karl interrupted.

“Ouija scares me.” He solemnly shook his head. “Job not worth it, we’re deserving of raise.”

“Don’t go saying that, Karl!” Winnie said. “I love the job!”

“But no bonus, no?” Karl glared at his wife.

Winnie sighed and walked back up the stairs, dusting the railing.

“What do you kids want with board anyway?” Karl asked, his grey, furrowed eyebrows giving him sternness in the dim light.

“We just want to prove if it’s legitimate, sir. We’re trying to figure out what happened to Regan.” Fred replied.

“Must be careful with it.” And with that, the aged caretaker of the manor pointed at them earnestly.

“We will.” Velma said with a slight crack in her voice, waving as Karl walked back up the stairs, creak by creak, groan by groan.

Fred, Daphne and Velma looked at each other, unsettled.

Not paying enough attention to their surroundings, all of them failed to notice a stone statue in the corner amidst other objects, the statue of Pazuzu to be exact, staring at his next three victims with crumbling, granite eyes.

…

What was forecasted to be an evening of roaring showers along with rainbows of running turned out to be a lot calmer.

The thing in the bed was now fast asleep, and Shaggy and Scooby were still shivering and shaking, hugging each other.

“Like, I don’t trust her Scoob, I simply don’t!” Shaggy whispered.

“Re reither!” Scooby cried.

“She’s like a jack-in-the-box: she could spring out at any moment!” Shaggy remarked.

Abruptly, his stomach rumbled, and he moaned.

“Man, am I starving. I don’t see why we can’t go downstairs.” He continued. “How about something from the bar?”

“Reah reah reah!” Scooby agreed urgently, clapping his numb paws and licking his lips. “Ruhhh, rocolate reanut rutter randwich!”

“Exactly! A chocolate peanut butter sandwich! One of my favourites. It’s better than being stuck up here with short, weird and freezing anyhow.” Shaggy chuckled.

Scooby’s teeth were chattering so hard that they leapt out of his mouth and marched over to the door, banging against it.

Scooby gasped and picked his teeth back up, slotting them back into his mouth.

“Reeheeheehehehee!” He laughed.

One of the thing’s glaring, amber eyes opened as the two laughed together. It watched them.

A slight smirk formed on the thing’s face; forecasts getting rainier.

“C’mon Scoob, let’s go.” Shaggy said, leaping up off the edge of the bed he was sitting on.

Flick.

A light turned off, putting them in darkness.

“Ri ran’t see ranything.” Scooby said.

“Like, hey, who turned out the light!?” Shaggy yelled.

“Rot re.” Scooby answered.

“Honestly Scooby, you should be more careful! Here, I found a candle.” Shaggy struck a match and lit a candle with it.

They quietly snuck out of the bedroom, not noticing that the bed was now empty.

The black straps holding the thing back had been ripped through.

Shaggy leading in front with the candle, the two slowly crept down the red carpeted stairs.

It followed.

Crawling behind them, its tongue hanging out like a limp body.

“Grrr….” It growled, gritting its teeth.

“Like, be quiet Scoob, you’ll make enough noise to wake the dead!” Shaggy snapped, right before a massive gulp. “I wish I hadn’t said that…”

“Rut rhat’s rot re reither!” Scooby protested.

There was no telling what it was, but a foul stench of rotten potatoes and human sweat invaded Scooby’s senses.

“Well, if it’s not you, then who is it?” Shaggy asked.

Scooby slowly looked behind him,

The monstrous thing cackled and let out a roar that tore through both pairs of ears, pea soup spit splattering all over the place.

“RIKES!” Scooby yelled.

“Zoinks! It’s short, weird and freezing!” Shaggy screamed, him and Scooby bolting off. Its crawling became increasingly fast paced.

It slithered as it reached the bend at the bottom of the stairs; Shaggy blew his candle out and threw it away.

“Like, what do we do, Scoob!?” Shaggy asked.

Scooby grabbed the end of a long rug and waited for the thing claiming to be Regan to follow.

He threw the rug up and down, expecting it to trip over the rug; she was only propelled faster towards them, bumping along the way!

She crashed into a glass cabinet, which shattered into a million pieces, and they ran off. She lifted the cabin up with two hands and threw it away like it was nothing.

The duo ran into the bar, where Shaggy spotted a pool table in the corner. He grabbed all of the cue balls off the pool table and dropped them on the floor in front of the door.

“Here, she won’t enter if she knows that she’ll trip over all these balls; then we can eat!” Shaggy chuckled.

They continued roaming through the bar, not noticing the creature enter. She simply climbed onto the walls and on the ceiling, following them.

“Like, this’ll be a light meal.” Shaggy said, preparing mounds of bread, chocolate and peanut butter.

As it began producing a low hum, the creature’s grin grew wider. It crawled along the ceiling upside down, eying its victims.

“Rour?” Scooby asked, handing Shaggy a bag of flour.

“Well, I don’t see why not.” Shaggy shrugged, dumping flour onto their ready made sandwiches.

It was right above the dog and the boy now.

Idiots.

It jumped down, right on top of Scooby, toppling the sandwich over and covering the room with flour.

“She just can’t leave us alone!” Shaggy screamed, running off.

It drooled over the floor as Scooby struggled to get the girl off of him, when suddenly, due to the overwhelming amount of flour…

“Ah….ah….ah….achoo!”

He flew backwards, Regan still on top of him, and crashed right into Shaggy. They all ended up tripping over the pool balls in front of the door, and slipping all over the place. All three of them were covered in flour, too.

“Thattaway, Scoob!” Shaggy yelled, pointing forward as they rolled out of the room, balanced on the balls, and eventually crashed into the living room.

Regan was in between the small recliner chair and the floor, her eyes rolling in a daze.

When she got up, she saw that Shaggy and Scooby were dressed as doctors!

“Pssst- the patient’s awake.” Shaggy whispered to Scooby.

Scooby picked up Regan, who was thrashing and hissing, and put her on the recliner chair.

“Hello, hello, do you remember us?” Shaggy finger-snapped in front of Regan’s eyes.

“I remember wanting to kill you.” The creature growled.

“That must be post-procedure grogginess, ma’am. Remember us? We’re apart of ChiropracDoos, you called in saying you had neck pain.” Shaggy reminded her.

Regan shook her head.

“Well, we need to announce that we found a large rotten tomato stuck in your oesophagus, so you will need an operation.” Shaggy nodded. “The pliers, Scooby?”

Scooby whipped out a black bag and took out some pliers. Regan gasped.

Just then, that cold mist sunk into the room.

“N-n-n-now, just close your eyes…” Shaggy’s teeth began chattering.

Regan started smiling again.

A crack pierced the air, and now she was turning her head…

A whole 360 degrees…

She began whispering in an eerie, unfamiliar tongue.

“Saya kamis skoki skoki sssssssssl…..”

Scooby dropped the pliers, which landed right on his toes, and howled; he and Shaggy started backing away.

“Run Scoob, before she starts opening OUR necks!” Shaggy screamed, running off.

Regan cackled and crawled after them.

Running out of options, the two jumped into random vases in the hall.

Shaggy peered his head out of his vase, thinking.

The creature crawled into the hall, producing noises that wouldn’t sound out of place in a slaughterhouse.

“Like, I have an idea. Maybe it’s time to use my good old ventriloquism skills.” Shaggy whispered, smiling. “I’ll just throw my voice and she’ll go away.”

Scooby looked amazed as Shaggy put a hand to his mouth and began shouting.

“Hey! Hey ugly Pazuzu! Come up here! We’re just upstairs! This bed sure looks comfy!”

Regan scrambled towards the stairs and ran up them, roaring like a lion.

Terror whipped Shaggy and Scooby out of their hiding places as they made an immediate run for it.

…

Sharon Spencer was in the study, hunched over in a ball of stress, typing away at a small typewriter, as the fire in the candle next to her changed shapes.

The door behind her opened.

A shadowy figure entered the room, and small Sharon Spencer, wrapped in her ball of stress, didn’t even notice.

…

In the basement, the others were checking out the newly found Ouija Board.

“Please just get this over with Freddy, I really don't like the look of that board.” Daphne admitted.

“Oh come on Daphne, it’ll be fine! Just watch.” Fred replied.

He picked it up, not expecting to find a small piece of paper underneath the board.

Velma picked the piece of paper up and read it.

“I don’t think this Ouija Board is decades old. This receipt says that the board was bought a month ago, at a grocery store.” She announced.

“Then why did Chris say it was ancient?” Daphne questioned.

“I don’t know, but it is something.” Fred said. “Maybe Sharon or the housekeepers know a thing or two about it. Let’s go to the study.”

Soon, they were at the study, which was now empty.

“She’s gone!” Fred shouted.

“There’s nobody here!” Daphne gasped. “Where could Sharon be?”

“I doubt she left the house in this weather.” Velma added.

She pulled on the window’s curtain and watched condensated raindrops racing towards their demise on the steamy glass pane.

In the distance, a brief flash of lightning blinded hope’s eyes.

The sky was getting darker on Prospect Street, indeed.

Daphne left the room, shouting into the hallway.

“Sharon? Sharon?”

No response.

“Karl? Winnie? Anybody!” Fred shouted.

No response.

“What are we going to do now?” Daphne cried. “There’s no way Sharon would’ve left without telling us!"

“There’s only one thing we can do- use the Ouija Board.” Fred declared.

A few minutes later, they were in the dining room, having set up a few candles around the Ouija board on the table.

Velma was skimming through a bookshelf nearby.

“I wonder if there’s anything on this bookshelf that could help us.” She thought out loud.

She removed a book from the shelf; it was a large, crimson leather bound book, delicately wrapped in thin ribbon.

The bold title on the book was less dainty, however.

“Ouija, The Game From Hell,” Daphne read the title out loud.

“That sounds right up our alley.” Fred smiled.

“According to this book, the players of the Ouija Board must put their fingers on the planchette, so whatever paranormal entity controlling it can move the planchette across the board, spelling out words.” Velma said.

“They should give our demon an interview with some coffee, while we’re at it!” Daphne remarked, sounding a little reluctant.

The three kids sat down, the fire on the candles dancing, providing the only protection they could get from the claws of Pazuzu that waited in the room’s shadows.

They all put their hands on the planchette.

“Are you ready?” Fred asked.

Velma and Daphne nodded.

“I demand that whoever is watching us at this moment answer the questions of the living.” Fred began.

“Freddy, that’s not how you begin a conversation with the dead.” Velma shook her head.

“Shhh, I’m trying, I’m trying! Are you here?” Fred continued.

The lights flickered.

Muffled screams were heard from somewhere else in the house.

“Hey, what’s that?” Fred asked.

“Pazuzu’s scared of us, what a feat.” Velma smirked sarcastically.

Shaggy and Scooby ran into the room and dove onto the table, knocking the board over.

“Like no, we’re scared of Pazuzu!” Shaggy yelled.

“Shaggy, Scooby, what happened to you two? And where’s Regan?” Fred asked, gobsmacked.

“We were just going to eat and she went mad on us!” Shaggy replied.

“Went mad on you? How?” Velma asked.

Scooby imitated the demon, flicking his tongue around and jumping onto the floor, crawling and chasing Shaggy.

“Well, where’s Regan now?” Daphne questioned, horrified.

“Like, I don’t know, I tricked her into going upstairs, it was a pretty good bit, right Scoob?” Shaggy laughed.

“Reeheeeheee!” Scooby smiled.

“Looks like we were wrong for letting you chickens take care of her, we need to look for Regan, and fast!” Daphne argued.

“B-b-b-but it’s not our fault she went full on Tasmanian Devil.” Shaggy retorted.

“Oh come on, you’re acting as if you don’t go Tasmanian Devil on food.” Velma said.

Shaggy and Scooby folded their arms in disapproval.

“Hey, what’s with the spooky Ouija Board anyway?” Shaggy gulped and pointed at the board on the floor.

“Just some board we found in the basement. I don’t think it works.” Fred shrugged.

“Don’t take any chances Fred, get that thing outta here!” Shaggy yelled, running away to the door.

Scooby stared at the board.

The planchette moved across the board by itself, and spelt out the letters ‘W-H-A-T-A-R-E-Y-O-U-L-O-O-K-I-N-A-T-B-U-B’..

Casually, Scooby shrugged. Then, he did a double take and looked right back at the board, gulping.

“Run!” He yelled, running towards Shaggy.

“Well, if you’re that keen on it, I was thinking about paying another visit to Regan’s room.” Fred said.

The duo looked at each other and fainted.

…

The holy white bedroom that once belonged to a pretty young girl on Prospect Street was now a cursed white bedroom that hid out a demon of a thousand faces, a thousand forms; one of which being the biting chill of the entire second floor.

The wind outside felt not so far away as the gang crept towards the creature’s lair for a second time.

“Fred, Daphne, Velma, how about we stop at a cafe in the area before making any serious decisions like this, huh?” Shaggy offered.

“I’m sorry guys, but we have to find Regan and make sure she’s safe.” Daphne declared.

One step.

Two steps.

The door up front was left ajar, of course, enough for the mist wafting out to turn the gang into translucent phantoms.

Fred grabbed the handle and peered around the door.

The place was empty.

“She isn't here!” He reported.

“Ruh roh!” Scooby pointed down the hall.

Regan was coming right for them, hissing and spluttering and growling all at the same time!

“Come back here! Come back here! Come back!” It screamed.

“AHHH!” Everyone, even Daphne, jumped in startlement, and ran into the bedroom.

It bit onto Scooby’s tail, right as he was about to slam the door shut.

“RIKES!” He screamed, wagging his tail to no success.

He locked eyes with the creature, who was giving him a death stare. It was going to get in, no matter what.

Scooby tried dragging his tail out of the creature’s mouth, but it was no match.

Eventually, he tumbled forward, finally released, and Shaggy immediately shut the door.

The twelve year old beast outside clawed at the door ferociously.

From inside, it sounded like four strongmen were trying to bust their way in.

“What…what’s going on!?” Daphne said, putting anxious fingers to her lips. “She’s absolutely feral!”

“We tried to tell ya.” Shaggy sighed. “The cafe was just on the next street, too.”

“This mystery is starting to point to real demonic presence a little too much now.” Velma admitted.

“Great, just great, we’re babysitting a possessed child and only now do you start to regret it.” Shaggy scolded.

“I’ve babysat my little nephew before, but never seen anything like this.” Fred said.

Scooby looked at the wall and his eyes bulged out of their sockets. Everybody else turned and noticed it too.

“D-d-do you often see things like that, Fred!?” Shaggy cried.

There were multiple red signs on the wall. Swords, stars in circles, goat heads, crosses.

“A-A-Are those signs from what I think they are?” Daphne asked.

“If I’m correct, these signs are from the occult.” Velma said.

“Oh no no no no no!” Shaggy resorted to banging on the locked window with Scooby.

“Look, there’s a telephone on the table over there. I’m calling Chris; things are getting too unsettling.” Fred reached for the telephone and the phonebook, skimming until he found Chris’ number.

He dialed the number and waited.

“Operator?” He said into the phone.

The wind outside felt not so far away, indeed.

A violent crash sounded outside, and every light in the house went out. The telephone produced a loud blare, and startled, Fred dropped it.

The gang all rushed to the window to find the source of the noise.

A tree had fallen on top of some telephone poles.

“Wouldn’t you know it? The storm’s caused a power outage!” Velma realised.

“We’re stranded here all by ourselves, everybody else is gone!” Fred added.

“This is terrible. What are we going to do now? I really didn’t want to fail Sharon like this.” Daphne panicked, backing away from the window and looking at the floor.

“Don’t worry, Daphne. First, we’ll leave and call for help.” Fred said.

“Wait wait wait, what about the Tasmanian Devil girl outside?” Shaggy asked.

The scratching had stopped quite a while ago now.

Scooby slowly opened the door, expecting the wound up, demonic jack-in-the-box to strike again…

She was gone.

A white liquid was on the floor.

“Phew, what a relief.” Shaggy wiped his brow and smiled.

“Hey, what’s that liquid on the floor?” Velma asked.

“I don’t know, it looks very familiar. Like something you’d use at the salon.” Daphne said.

Scooby sniffed the liquid and like an arrow, his nose pointed straight out of the room.

“You’ve got a scent? Good boy, Scooby!” Fred cheered.

The whole gang clapped and Scooby bowed. They all followed him out.

Outside the misty house on Prospect Street, the shadowy figure wearing a demon mask crept around the walls, laughing.

…

Eagerly barking, Scooby ended his search on the stairs, where more of the same liquid was.

“Scooby, you weren’t meant to find the scent of the liquid!” Fred complained.

“Ruh?” Scooby was very confused.

“You were meant to sniff out the source of the liquid!” Velma said.

“Roh. Rorry!” Scooby smiled.

“Very funny.” Velma folded her arms and shook her head.

“Oh well, let’s leave and call for help.” Fred said.

He walked downstairs and headed for the front door. To his astonishment, when he tried opening it, it wouldn’t budge.

“It’s locked!” He gasped. “Velma, try the back door.”

Velma tried the back door; it wouldn’t budge either.

All of the gang tried several exits through different windows and doors; and all of the gang found every dead end possible.

“Every door and window in this house is locked!” Fred realised. “Somebody’s locked us in!”

“Like, someone should keep a lock on your mouth before we decide to visit these places.” Shaggy said.

“Let’s split up and try to find another way out of here. Then we can call for help.” Fred said. “I think a good place to start is that dark and dingy attic upstairs. Any volunteers?”

No one raised their hand.

“No way, Chris said that place is full of rats, and I don’t want to get dirty.” Daphne shook her head.

Shaggy removed a Scooby Snack from his pocket and held it above Scooby.

Instinctively, Scooby raised his hand to get the snack.

“Looks like Scooby wants to volunteer! Atta boy, Scoob!” Fred smiled.

“Ruh?” Scooby grunted.

“Way to go, Scooby!” The rest cheered.

“Don’t worry Scoob, I’ll wait at the bottom of the ladder whilst you go up.” Shaggy assured him.

Scooby sighed.

“R’okay.” He mumbled.

…

Soon, Shaggy was at the bottom of the opened attic ladder in the hall, whilst Scooby was at the top of it, reluctant to go any further.

“Scooby-Doo, you’ll have to go in there eventually.” Shaggy pointed out.

Scooby looked down at him, then into the dark, dusty attic.

“Rats! Rats!” Scooby yelled.

“Rats? Oh come on, Scoob, you’re better than this!” Shaggy said. “Give us your best Clint Eastwood. Or Sean Connery. Or William Shatner!”

Struck with inspiration, the brave canine looked back into the darkness and toughened his face up.

He jumped up into the attic and landed on the creaky wooden floor dizzily. He got up and chuckled.

A rat ran out from behind a crate and shook his fist at him, squeaking.

Scooby whimpered for a moment, but momentarily thought about what Shaggy said.

He began barking at the small rat, and it ran off, screaming.

“Rean Ronnery! Reeheeheeheehee!” He laughed.

Scooby began walking through the attic, trying to find remnants of Mr. Hope.

Taken by Mr. Evil.

Without realising, he passed a few rats hiding behind old boxes; they were now trembling at the sight of him.

At the end of the attic, he reached a window on a slanted ceiling. When he tried forcing it open, it wouldn’t budge, of course.

“Awww…” Scooby looked at the floor, his arms sinking back, carrying reality’s bolt and chain.

Rats started laughing at him from behind the boxes.

Suddenly, a grey hand behind Scooby patted him on the head.

A smile grew on Scooby’s face; he closed his eyes and let the hand pat him.

Who’s hand?

It hit him.

The dumb dog opened his eyes.

Turned around.

A solid, mangled stone statue towered over him, with chipped rocks for eyes, dagger teeth, stretching stone wings, one hand raised, jagged clawed feet.

The statue of Pazuzu stood before Scooby.

“RIKES!” Scooby screamed, running off.

The demon pounced on him stealthily; it would not lose this time.

“Raggy! Raggy!” The dog was beginning to slow down, his fur in pain from the ever tightening grip of the statue’s hands that were sinking into his skin.

It raised him up, turning him upside down.

Scooby saw every last dent, every last bump in the statue’s mouth, something which would devour him.

He brought the hanging dog closer.

“What’s wrong, Scooby?” Shaggy asked, getting to the top of the ladder.

Scooby immediately found himself falling, and he thudded on the floor.

He got up and turned around.

The statue had disappeared.

“Why’d you call me up? What happened to old Sean Connery?” Shaggy asked.

Scooby could only let out stutters as he pointed to empty space behind him.

“Come back down and tell me what happened.” Shaggy commanded.

Scooby ran back down the ladder, not caring as he fell to the floor.

He got up and began imitating the experience. First, walking along.

“You were looking for an exit….” Shaggy guessed. “Then...you found a window!”

“Yeah yeah yeah!” Scooby nodded.

He strained and pushed air, then gave up and sighed.

“You tried opening the window, but it didn’t work.” Shaggy said.

Scooby patted himself on the head and turned around.

“Someone patted you on the head..”

Scooby magically turned taller, with sharp teeth and wings on his back. He stood very still.

“Ronster ratue.” He said.

“Then you turned around and saw the statue of a monster? Get serious, Scooby.”

Just to make sure, Shaggy checked the attic.

“There’s nothing here except old junk and rats.” He said.

Rats jumped out of their hiding places and ran for Shaggy. He yelled and leapt off the ladder.

“Anyway, like, it was probably just your imagination, malnourishment from having too little chocolate peanut butter sandwiches.” Shaggy deduced.

“Ro! Ro!” Scooby insisted. “Razuzu.”

“And you think it was Pazuzu? That’s even more ridiculous!” Shaggy laughed. “C’mon, let’s go find the others.”

…

Meanwhile, Fred, Daphne and Velma were in Chris’ bedroom. Fred was holding a candle as he and Velma went through Chris’ documents on the bedside cabinet. Daphne kept checking herself out in the mirror.

“I’m sure glad I didn’t join Scooby in going to the attic, otherwise this thing would’ve been a mess!” Daphne remarked, fixing her outfit proudly.

“No difference.” Velma muttered.

“Hey!” Daphne frowned, immediately turning round.

“That got your attention.” Velma laughed. “Now would you look at this?”

“I’m looking, I’m looking- just in the reflection.” Daphne replied.

“Chris has been receiving less and less with every weekly paycheck she gets for her new movie The Protest.” Fred reported, picking up a few pieces of papers.

“And Burke Dennings has been sending letters suggesting that she takes a break from the industry to go take care of Regan. Very interesting.” Velma added.

“What would a silly man like Burke get from letting a glamorous, beautiful movie star like Chris go? Does he want his movie to go under?” Daphne asked.

“I don’t know.” Fred shrugged.

A muffled yell was heard from upstairs.

“Hey, that sounds like Scooby!” Velma said.

“What could be going on in the attic!?” Daphne gasped.

“We should help him!” Fred said.

They know now.

They know that he’s in trouble.

But they don’t know that I’m here.

Just as the trio was about to leave, an odd shape in the mirror’s reflection caught Daphne’s eye.

She stopped for a moment and stared at it.

Something was inside the chandelier.

Someone.

Out from the chandelier emerged a guttural noise.

“Daphne…what’s that?” Velma asked, already knowing the answer.

They all looked up to see Regan, who was silently staring at the window.

The creature reared its ugly head, and screeched.

“Run!” Fred yelled, as Regan jumped out of the chandelier and landed on all fours. She crawled after them, lolling her tongue and guffawing.

Daphne decided to stop in the doorway and face the creature, guising very well now under the young girl.

“Hey Regan, wow, you’re really smart for your age. I know things are tough right now. Ya sure you’re not just tired? I heard that you know Sharon! She’s my friend!” Daphne smiled.

The creature grinned back at her, breathing rancid fumes right into her face.

It lunged right at her legs and grabbed them; her heart dropped as she was sent toppling over, right beneath Fred and Velma.

Fred urgently tried dragging her back up as the creature crawled up her body, trying to tear at it.

“I don’t know about you Daphne, but I don’t think Regan wants to be your friend!” Velma yelled.

Fred got Daphne back up, and they ran off, straight past Shaggy and Scooby, who were closing the attic door.

A Scooby-Dooby-Doors scene plays out in between four guest rooms.

Fred runs from one door to another, chased by a crawling Regan.

Daphne runs from one door to another, as Regan piggybacks her and cackles.

Velma and Fred run past each other as Regan crawls along the ceiling.

Velma runs from one door to another, only to be met by Regan on the other side, who roars and chases her back to the door she came from.

Fred, Velma and Daphne run into the middle of the four doors. They watch Regan, who keeps running back and forth between every door, not even chasing anybody. She notices the trio in the middle and chases them away.

The Scooby-Dooby-Doors scene ends.

Fred and Daphne were running for their lives when they accidentally bumped past Velma, whose glasses flew off!

She was reduced to crawling around on the floor, looking for her glasses.

“My glasses, my glasses, I can’t see without my glasses!” She cried.

Regan stood up and followed her around for a while.

“Ugh, this happens all the time, why don’t I just get contacts?” Velma muttered.

She abruptly bumped into the creature standing in front of her.

“Sk………..sa….ssssmendum…..sai……..” The creature whispered.

“Daphne, is that you?” Velma asked. “Why are you whispering? I’m right here, you know. Just because I have difficulty seeing doesn’t mean I have difficulty hearing.”

She stood up.

“Can you help me find my glasses? I can’t seem to find them anywhere.” She continued.

“You will find your grave first, miss.” Regan smirked.

She howled.

“Well that’s no help, I won’t need to hear the mention of graves for another 80 years! Didn’t know you were that far into the future, golly.” Velma raised her eyebrows.

Velma felt through the air with her hands, and mistakenly pushed a confused Regan to the ground.

“Grrrr….” Regan growled.

“Where are you even going, Daphne? Fred went downstairs. Now, are you helping me look or what?” Velma asked.

“No, I’m right here, Velma!” Fred’s voice suddenly said.

“Fred! Wh- where are you?” Velma asked.

She bent down and felt on the floor some more and finally found her glasses.

Velma fixed them onto her face, and met with the evil eyes of Pazuzu’s demon spawn.

“JINKIES!” Velma screamed, jumping onto the banister and sliding down.

As she slid down, laundry on the banister dropped on the stairs, and Regan tripped over a piece, rolling down and landing at the bottom of the stairs with birds surrounding her head.

“How did I ever make that mistake?” Velma asked herself, and immediately ran off.

…

Shaggy and Scooby were casually walking down a dark hallway. Shaggy was holding a candle.

They walked past a painting of a woman, whose eyes followed them down the hall.

“Scooby-Doo, do you think that Pazuzu is only here to prevent us from eating dinner? Cause it sure seems like it.” Shaggy said.

“Reah.” Scooby nodded. “Razuzu.”

He gave Shaggy a dirty look.

“Oh, you’re not still mad about that, are ya!?” Shaggy chuckled. “Nobody was up there Scoob, I’m sure of it!”

Scooby rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Or maybe, just maybe, Pazuzu’s philosophy is that a man’s gotta eat. Eat us, I mean.” Shaggy gulped. “And that’s exactly what I’m afraid of…”

“Re too.” Scooby agreed.

They passed a red blur on the wall.

Shaggy stopped for a moment and turned back. He moved the candle towards the wall.

The crimson colour was illuminated more under the firelight; swords, goat heads, shapes in circles, strange stars.

Shaggy’s heart rate began to get faster.

“Oh no…like, not more of those…” He felt sweat running down his forehead.

Female screams erupted from the other side of the house.

“That sounded like Daphne and Velma!” Shaggy realised.

A certain, familiar howl froze the man and his dog through time.

It was a dark, freezing night on Prospect Street, indeed.

Without even thinking, his breath drowning in a sea of fear, Shaggy clutched onto his candle and made a run for it, Scooby following from behind.

They both screamed, trying to track down the others.

“Fred! Daphne! Velma! Where are you!?” Shaggy yelled.

As they were running, they slipped over a few red markers that were rolling out of Regan’s room, and they were sent flying into the bedroom, landing on her bed.

They quickly got under the covers, shaking madly.

“Y-y-you’re kidding.” Shaggy said, looking back at the markers on the floor and rubbing his rear end. “I-I-I-I f-forgot about how cold it was here…Like, I don’t think I can take this anymore. Forget it Scoob, it’s time to turn in!”

“Reah, reah reah!” Scooby nodded.

“I’m sure the rest of the gang are doing just fine anyway.” Shaggy said.

“Ruh?” Scooby heard fast footsteps outside, and howling.

“Just a trick of the ears, Scoob! Those are actually the sounds of door-to-door salesmen, nothing to worry about!” Shaggy insisted. “Now, let’s look for a bedtime story. Which one would you like the best? I know Velma packed a few books.”

“Rittle Red Riding Rood.” Scooby replied.

“Alright, Little Red Riding Hood, let’s see.” Shaggy muttered, taking out a bag and rummaging through it. He found a small red book.

“Ah, this looks like just the thing!” He smiled. He opened the book and began reading it. “There was once a boy named Marvin. Marvin mutated into a hideous creature and…”

Shaggy turned the book to its cover and realised that the cover said ‘HORROR TALES TO KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT’.

He threw the book into the air and dragged the bedsheet towards him, shaking.

“Of course Velma only packed scary stories, our lives are scary stories! Well, guess we’ll just have to go to sleep, huh Scoob?” He asked.

“R’okay.” Scooby agreed, beginning to snore.

A few minutes later, Scooby was out cold. Shaggy was rolling around in bed, his pillow against his ears, trying to block out the sound of Scooby snoring.

Eventually, he lifted his pillow up and hit Scooby in the face with it.

“REMON! REMON! REMON!” Scooby screamed.

“Shhh! Not a demon! Me! Now, stop snoring so loudly!” Shaggy whispered.

Abruptly, lightning flashed outside.

“DEMON!” Shaggy screamed, jumping out of bed and hitting his head on the ceiling. “Ow…”

He fell right back into bed; Scooby tut tutted him.

“What? I was just exercising.” Shaggy said. “Now, let’s go to sleep.”

What the two helpless beings in the wooden bed did not realise was that their cries of a demon had already brought Pazuzu back. From under the duvet, on the tip of the bed, an evil face lifted up the cover and grinned.

…

Shaggy Rogers stirred for a moment and, as if he was splashed in the face with cold water, woke up at precisely 12:06AM, turned around to see his dog fast asleep, and listened, for whatever had just woken him up probably wanted him to go back to sleep, forever.

There was an eerie noise downstairs, an eerie noise indeed.

Something echoey, almost like music.

A man’s vocals, otherworldly volume.

It was inexplicable gibberish, yes, but the sheer blaring of the noise practically forced him to go downstairs and investigate.

“Sa…….kmhaki……..skkkkktoa…….herretrakibado…….”

In fact, it sounded as if the noise was getting closer to him.

Shaggy got up and tapped Scooby on the head.

“Ruh!?” Scooby immediately woke up, irritated.

“I’m going downstairs to get a snack, are you coming with me?” Shaggy asked.

Scooby shrugged, exhausted.

Shaggy turned and left the room, shivering as his body was nummer than a foot with pins and needles. The cold was pressing against his bones.

But the sound…he had to investigate it. Out of pure curiosity. He made his way through the hall and down the stairs.

“Ouynopusihtaed….ouynopusihtaed…ouynpopusihtaed…”

It had gotten much, much louder now.

Then, out of nowhere, just as Shaggy had reached the bottom of the stairs…

It stopped.

“Phew, I was getting worried I’d actually have to, y’know, paranormal investigate.” Shaggy sighed and leaned against the wall.

“Hello, Shaggy!” Scooby’s voice greeted him from behind, sounding strangely normal.

“Oh, Scooby! You decided to come with after all! Here, let’s go get more snacks from the kitchen!” Shaggy licked his lips, without looking behind him.

He dashed into the kitchen, and swung open a cupboard.

“I wonder what other chocolate-themed hybrids we can make, huh Scoob?” Shaggy asked.

“Yeah, oh boy, I love chocolate themed hybrids!” Scooby’s voice cheered.

Meanwhile, up in Regan’s room, Scooby-Doo was fast asleep in bed.

In the kitchen, a door near Shaggy was opened by a pale hand.

“Like, help me pick out some food, will ya?” Shaggy said.

‘Scooby’ didn’t reply.

“Scooby? Don’t get all hamgry with me now, hahahaha!” Shaggy chuckled and picked out chocolate sauce from the cupboard.

“Ahhhh….sakhimho…..delitaka mota…..”

Shaggy continued rummaging through the cupboards, his ears having now blocked out the sound of the blaring, otherworldly chants now continuing.

Not noticing the pale hand behind him.

Just as Shaggy was rummaging through another cupboard, a clammy hand pushed him, and he stumbled forward, right into a doorway!

He was screaming as he rolled down the stairs of the house’s pantry.

Violently, he rammed into the pantry, knocking over a shelf of boxed food.

“Ow, my egg noggin…” He groaned, getting up and rubbing his head.

He looked up the stairs and saw a silhouette standing there.

“Scooby! Scooby, what are you doing!?” He yelled.

The figure slammed the pantry door shut.

Shaggy ran up the stairs and banged on the door.

“SCOOBY!”

The creature once known to many as Regan MacNeil cackled and walked out of the kitchen.

…

Fred, Daphne and Velma were back in the dark basement again. Shadows on the wall obscured previously innocent sculptures, morphing them into vicious cryptids.

“Girls, we need to trap Regan and solve this mystery.” Fred said.

“Yeah, and hopefully come up with a way to get that demon outta her.” Velma added.

Fred took a piece of paper and a pencil from a table and began scribbling down a plan.

“Okay, here’s what I got so far.” He announced. “We lure Regan into the landing upstairs, hit her with sandbags, which will make her go flying into her room and onto her bed, where I’ll have rigged the bedsprings to make the bed very bouncy, so she’ll bounce into a makeshift net. Simple.”

“Sandbags? Really Fred? You’re too much.” Daphne shook her head.

“Daphne, it’s the best I’ve got, are you going to improve it?” Fred argued.

“You have a lot in common with sand yourself, you’re coarse and gritty.” Daphne smirked.

“Women, go figure ‘em out.” Fred facepalmed.

“I’d like to see you try to figure anything out!” Daphne retorted.

“Will you two quit it already? We’ve got a lot heavier problems than sandbags, like where Sharon and the housekeepers are. Or Shaggy and Scooby…” Velma said.

Loud banging noises suddenly went off to their right.

“Scooby!” Shaggy’s muffled voice yelled repeatedly.

“Hey, that sounds like Shaggy!” Fred shouted. “He must be in trouble!”

“But where? We shouldn’t be able to hear him that well from down here.” Daphne realised.

“I don’t know, but we need to go, and avoid you know who!” Fred said.

They hurriedly left the basement.

…

Upstairs in the creature’s resting place, Scooby lay in bed, snoring away.

There was indeed something…something out there. But it was only a very quiet noise.

It only grew louder as minutes travelled by.

“...-oby….-oby….-oby….”

Then, yelling.

“SCOOBY! GET ME OUTTA HERE!”

It was faint shouting from downstairs.

Scooby woke up, wide-eyed, a shock jolting him forward.

“Raggy?” He recognised that voice in an instant.

Then, the slamming and banging of doors.

“Raggy!” He yelled, leaping out of bed and running out of the room.

He bolted down the stairs, trying to look for his best friend.

Mortalis.

The dumb dog tripping on his way to doom hadn’t the faintest idea that he was being kept under a watchful eye.

A demon of a thousand forms.

THRASH! THRASH!

Sudden bangings sounded from the living room.

“Roh no!” Scooby cried, feeling like he was about to faint.

He ran into the living room, only to find it completely empty. A fire was now roaring in the fireplace.

Now, a singular knock. This time from the mantle.

“Raggy?” Scooby frowned.

Another urgent KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK made Scooby jump, and he landed on an ornament on the mantelpiece.

The fireplace turned around, revealing Karl, Winnie and Sharon, who were all tied up and gagged!

“Huh!?” Scooby gasped, eyebrows raised.

“Mmmmph! Mmmph! Mmmmph!” The three uttered, looking behind Scooby.

“Ri’ll relp you!” Scooby said, trying to remove the cloth bounding them.

Scooby’s paws kept slipping off of the cloth; he couldn’t untie them!

“Mmmmph!” The three kept shouting and tilting their heads forward.

Mr. Evil had restarted his hunt.

The creature had arrived.

Scooby was reluctant to turn for a moment, and stared into the abyss, knowing exactly what was behind him. Once he turned around, it would be hot metal to the hand.

He turned to face the creature.

She was crawling towards him, lolling her tongue.

“You thought I wouldn’t find you here?” It said with a raspy voice.

“Ruh…ruh….” Scooby uttered shallow breaths, trying to look away, trying not to show the petrification filling his face.

YAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The creature roared, pea soup spit flying everywhere.

Scooby began yelping uncontrollably as it ran around the room chasing him, bashing through furniture like it was nothing.

It swung its arms around rabidly, mad dog against mad dog.

Scooby’s legs spun around mid-air and he ran away, howling for help. He ran into the pitch black entrance of the house, which the creature slid into and jumped right on him.

The sky had gotten dark, indeed.

…

Shaggy was banging on the steel door to the pantry so hard that his hand was starting to perspire.

“Scooby! Scooby!” He shouted, knowing that it was no use. “Oh, what is he doing?”

He sighed and walked down the stairs, his head hung low.

“At least I can eat down here.” He said to himself.

Shaggy bent down and grabbed a dusty box of Scooby Snacks. He could see a massive cobweb taking up most of the half empty box.

He dumped the box into his mouth anyway, not noticing a spider fall out!

Abnormally, Shaggy’s neck stretched out and then turned spaghetti-thin.

“Bleurgh!” Shaggy yelled, spitting out the spider and stumbling backwards. He started uncontrollably coughing up dust in the air.

He landed on his rear against the cold, stone wall and shuddered. Every hair on his arms stood up.

Just then, Shaggy felt a bolt of pain hit his head.

When he looked up, he saw a cube shaped object on the wall that he’d bumped his head on.

He stood up and tried seeing what it was.

It was a hatchet in a transparent case with red lining.

“Like, in case of emergency, use this.” Shaggy read the text on the case out loud. “Hey- I have an idea!”

He broke open the case with his elbow and picked the hatchet out.

Shaggy swung the hatchet back, and took a glance at the door upstairs.

Then, out of nowhere, he smashed down a shelf full of snacks with it, going ham and whacking the hatchet several times quickly. Snacks spilled everywhere

“Finally, I can eat!” He smiled.

Abruptly, the door at the top of the stairs burst open. Fred, Daphne and Velma looked down and saw Shaggy.

“It’s Shaggy!” Fred said. He began shouting. “Shaggy! Up here!”

Shaggy had a bib around him and was sitting at a cloth table, about to feast on a dusty tinned can of soup, when he noticed Fred.

“Ugh, what now, Fred?” He sighed. “Wait- Fred! Daphne! Velma!”

“What are you doing down here?” Velma asked as she and the others walked down.

“Don’t ask me, ask Scooby. He pushed me down here and locked the door!” Shaggy explained.

“Scooby? Now why would he do such a thing?” Daphne asked.

“Oh, the power of fear.” Velma smiled.

“I went to the kitchen because I heard some creepy music, I knew he came with me because I heard him behind me, I got some food and before I knew it, I was rolling down those stairs!” Shaggy explained. “I think Scoob might be…p-p-p-p-p-p-possessed….”

“Possessed?” Fred, Daphne and Velma yelled in unison.

“But that would mean that Pazuzu can jump from person to person.” Fred deduced.

“And, like, I’m jumping from house to home!” Shaggy said, running up the stairs.

“Now hold on just a minute, you’re helping us build a trap for our old friend Pazuzu.” Fred interrupted, putting a hand in front of him. “Now follow me.”

Everyone followed Fred up into the kitchen, where a hoarse shriek stifled their hearing.

“Like, Freddy, help me! Help me!” Shaggy’s voice shouted from another room.

“Huh?” Fred looked at Shaggy standing in front of him, then turned around. He ran into the foyer, where he saw Regan chasing after Scooby, who was jumping over expensive furniture constantly.

Fred gasped as a realisation hit him.

“I understand now. Everyone’s been getting it wrong!” He said. “Scooby didn’t push Shaggy down the pantry stairs- Regan did!”

Regan turned to Fred and growled. One of her eyes darted left to look at a window behind him, contorting the creature’s face in a horrific snarl.

SMASH!

Everyone took cover as the window suddenly smashed, a strong gust of wind blowing in, and Fred caught some sort of medallion in his hands which flew in from the window.

Regan started running after him, and he bolted up the stairs.

Fred threw the coin over to Velma, who Regan followed immediately.

“This is a medallion of Pazuzu!” She noticed, inspecting the creepy demonic engravings on the coin.

As if Mr. Evil had heard their deductions, footsteps sounded behind Fred.

He turned around and saw a shadowy figure wearing a demon mask!

“What the-” Fred uttered, before running down the stairs.

“Like, who the heck is that?” Shaggy screamed.

“I don’t know! Keep on tossing the coin!” Fred yelled.

A Musical Chase Scene Starts.

The gang all runs off from the villainous pair. Velma runs into the bar and tosses the coin to Daphne, and she tosses it back to Velma. Velma jumps over the bar’s pool table, being chased by the demon-masked figure, and she picks up a cue stick and whacks him with it. He roars in pain and she leaps over the pool table again and escapes.

Velma tosses the medallion over to Fred, who runs into the living room. He crawls under a bear rug and scares the masked figure and Regan away, and then stands up. The pair come running back, and he jumps onto a spot next to the tied up trio at the mantlepiece. Karl pulls a lever and the platform spins around. The figure gets in and pulls the lever, spinning around. Each party keeps pressing the lever, until Fred escapes from a spinning disaster and runs away, only to be anticipated by Regan, who jumps onto his back.

Fred falls over, just as he throws the medallion up to the top of the stairs. Shaggy grabs the carpet on the stairs and waves it. This time, it works, and Regan clumsily bounces back down the stairs. She crawls up to the top and chases Shaggy and Scooby into a random room.

She runs in to find Shaggy and Scooby dressed as priests. They wave books in her face and she tears the books open, finding the medallion and swiping it. Regan leaves and begins crawling on the walls of the house, but Daphne intercepts and, whilst running up the stairs, uses a broom to whack the medallion out of Regan’s hands. Regan drops to the stairs and viciously chases after Daphne and Velma as they run upstairs.

Regan and the demon-masked figure walk past the gang, who are hiding behind lamps that perfectly fit their heights. Regan notices them, just as they escape. Scooby snatches the medallion between his teeth and runs downstairs with Shaggy. They run into the kitchen, where Shaggy swings a fridge door open, which ends up flattening the nearby demon-masked figure. Scooby dodges the several foods that Shaggy throws behind his back and jumps into the kitchen oven. Regan leaps onto the dial, turning the oven on, and the oven explodes. An ashy Regan sits in rubble, with the medallion in hand. Scooby snatches the medallion and runs off with Shaggy.

Shaggy and Scooby are running from the masked figure and Regan. They all dash upstairs and run into Regan’s room, where Fred has just completed his trap, exposing the bedsprings with tools. Shaggy and Scooby bounce onto the bed, and the pair chasing them follow pursuit. They end up making the bed bounce all over the place, whilst still trying to remain on it. The bed smashes out of Regan’s bedroom window; everyone on the bed has confused looks on their faces as it bounces down the urban steps outside violently, and finally makes a landing on the floor, sideways, just as Chris walks past, going home from work.

The Musical Chase Scene ends.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Chris gasped.

“Like, we caught them, Mrs. MacNeil!” Shaggy smiled.

He pulled the mask off of the demon-masked figure.

“Burke Dennings!” Everyone cried.

…

A few minutes later, outside the MacNeil house, Burke was in handcuffs; the police had arrived. The gang, Chris, Sharon, Karl and Winnie were also there.

“Great work kids,” The sheriff said, “We’ve been getting reports of a masked figure snooping around the neighbourhood for quite some time now."

“But I still don’t understand what Burke has to do with my daughter’s possession!” Chris pointed out.

“You see, it was all a hoax, Mrs. MacNeil.” Fred began.

“Burke Dennings was using this medallion to hypnotise your daughter into thinking she was Pazuzu.” Velma explained. “He’d stand outside windows, and any other vantage points where she’d see him, so the swinging of the coin would send her into a trance.”

“The traces of white liquid we found were of face paint he’d apply on Regan’s face. Plus, he’d use special effects from his previous movie sets to make Regan change voices and levitate.” Daphne explained.

“He’d planted that novelty Ouija Board in the closet weeks ago in order to scare Chris into believing that her daughter was really possessed. It was quite a scheme, but when Burke saw us coming, he knew that we’d figure it out. He kidnapped Sharon and the housekeepers so that they couldn’t tell us anything more about the origin of the board. Since he was a close friend of hers, he had access to keys to the house, that’s how he was able to lock us all in.” Velma explained.

“Wait…if all of this was fake, then that means that those creepy occult signs were really-” Shaggy pulled out one of the red pens that he and Scooby tripped over before. They began to laugh together.

“But why did you do all this?” Chris asked.

“Burke couldn’t afford to keep paying you for your new movie. He thought that if you quit to spend more time taking care of Regan, he could just get a cheaper replacement.” Fred explained.

“Burke! You could’ve just told me that instead of using demons and ghosts!” Chris snapped.

“Actually, I blew half of The Protest's budget on grapes. If that got out, I’d be gone for good.” Burke admitted. “And it would’ve worked too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids.”

“Who wants to have a party?” Chris asked.

The gang smiled.

….

The next day, in the house’s living room, retro music was playing as Daphne and Fred were doing a synchronised swinging dance.

Sharon was watching the pair dance, smiling.

Meanwhile, Father Merrin, who surprisingly turned up, was talking to Shaggy and Velma.

“So you’re meaning to tell me that the demon I was trying to exorcise yesterday was a fake?” Father Merrin asked.

“Yep. Turns out the real demon was human greed.” Velma nodded.

“Fascinating. That means I can finally continue my global travels in peace.” Merrin smiled warmly.

“And I’m sure glad they were able to reverse the hypnosis on ol’ Regan.” Shaggy added. “It’s like she never left!”

“I love you mother!” Regan said, hugging Chris. Shaggy naturally looked nervous and backed away.

“I’m very impressed by your efforts, kids. But how did you all expose the perpetrator?” Merrin asked.

“Like, to tell ya the truth Father Merrin, we couldn’t have done any of it without our old pal Scooby-Doo.” Shaggy admitted. “Where is he anyway?”

A guttural roar spilled into the room.

Pazuzu was back, and was walking towards Shaggy!

“ZOINKS! IT’S PAZUZU!” Shaggy screamed, jumping behind a chair.

‘Pazuzu’ took his mask off, revealing Scooby. Shaggy scowled at him.

“Scooby-Doo!” Scooby cheered, and everyone laughed.