CHAPTER 3
BACKSTAGE BATTLES
Fred quickly gathered the Mystery Inc. detectives onstage. “Okay, gang,” he said, “let’s put our heads together and see if we can figure this mystery out.”
KLUNK! Shaggy and Scooby-Doo knocked their heads together as they both reached for a Scooby Snack that had fallen to the floor.
“Like, ouch!” said Shaggy, rubbing his forehead. “I don’t think that’s what Fred meant when he told us to put our heads together, Scoobs!”
“Rouch!” agreed Scooby.
Velma sighed and then looked around. “Where did that ghost expert Ellie Wilson go?” she wondered aloud. “I think I’ll see if I can talk to her. She might be able to shed some light on this mystery.”
“That’s a great idea, Velma,” said Daphne. “Fred and I will go backstage and see what we can find.”
Just then, David Belastic stormed onto the stage. The actor was still dressed in his Hamlet costume, and his pointy boots echoed on the hardwood floor of the stage. He was not in a good mood.
“What are you troublemaking kids up to now? My play is ruined, and my theater is haunted!” he yelled. “Worst of all, Crystal Cove will never get to see my groundbreaking performance as Hamlet!”
Scooby and Shaggy giggled at that last comment, which earned them a fierce glare from Belastic.
“Didn’t you hear what the ghost said?” demanded Belastic. “Anyone who remains in this theater is doomed.”
“Like, does that mean the dinner is cancelled too?!” Shaggy asked, afraid of the answer.
“Of course it does!” cried Belastic.
“But what about all the food?” Shaggy said.
“The food? What does it matter?” shouted Belastic, growing annoyed. “They can throw it in the trash, for all I care!”
“Rhe rash!” Scooby cried out.
“Zoinks!” exclaimed Shaggy at the thought.
“Who cares about the food? What about me?” the actor continued. “I will have no choice but to tear down my beautiful theater. I will be ruined! My brilliant acting career is over!”
“Mr. Belastic,” said Fred. “We want to help you solve the mystery of this theater ghost!”
Belastic snarled at the teens. “If I wanted your help, I would ask for it! If you don’t leave, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing!”
With that, Belastic marched offstage and slammed the door of his office.
WHAM!
“Time for Mystery Inc. to grab this ghost!” said Fred. “Let’s split up and meet back here in fifteen minutes. We have to work fast before Belastic comes through on his promise.”
Fred and Daphne each ran backstage.
Shaggy turned to Velma. “Um, Velma,” he started, “don’t you think that Scoobs and I should take some Scooby Snacks with us?”
“Sorry, guys,” she said as she walked to the front of the theater. “You already ate my emergency stash and my emergency emergency stash. I’m all out!”
“Darn,” said Shaggy.
“Rarn,” agreed Scooby.
Then Shaggy had an idea. “I might know where we can find some food!” he told his friend, who followed closely behind him.
* * *
* * *
Daphne wandered over to the other side of the stage.
CREEEEEAK! She slowly pushed open a door with rusty hinges.
WHAM!
The door slammed behind Daphne, startling her. When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she discovered that she was in a room full of dusty stage props. There was a rusty suit of armor, a table piled high with swords and other medieval weapons, and a statue of an angry-looking black raven.
BLAM!
Daphne jumped again when she heard a sudden noise from the other side of the theater. That was the direction where Fred had gone.
What was that noise? she wondered. Then she called out, “Fred! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he yelled back. “Keep searching for clues.”
Daphne sighed with relief. Now she just had to look for clues in this creepy room. She walked over to the suit of armor and slowly lifted the visor on the helmet, not sure what she was going to find. Fortunately, the suit was empty.
She carefully handled the prop weapons. There was no clue about the ghost there.
Then she put her hand on the raven statue. “I wonder what play this raven prop was used in,” she said as she tilted the statue toward her.
Suddenly, a secret trapdoor opened right beneath her.
WHOOOSH!
“Jeepers!” cried Daphne as she plummeted through the open door.
A split-second later, she landed on the floor of a tiny pitch-black room. THUD!
“Ouch!” Daphne cried.
Luckily, she wasn’t hurt, and she quickly switched on her flashlight to see where she had landed.
The room was dirty and covered in rotting wood. Looking up, she saw the trapdoor above her, but it was too high for her to reach.
Then she heard a sound.
DRIP! DRIP! DRIP! DRIP!
“That sounds like a leaky faucet,” Daphne said to herself.
She looked up and saw water trickling down from the trapdoor above.
“Hello?” she called out. “Who’s there?”
No one answered.
Just then, the flow of the water increased.
WHOOOOOOOSH!
The puddles around Daphne’s feet grew larger. Soon, she was standing in several inches of water. The room was filling with water, and she was trapped!
Daphne was soaking wet but unharmed. Next to the trapdoor she saw the thick fire hose that had filled her room with water, but there was no sign of a ghost or anyone else. She turned off the water and wondered what had happened.
Did someone try to drown me? she thought. Was it the ghost?
With an angry shake of her wet hair, she marched out of the room determined to solve the mystery.
* * *
Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo searched the backstage area of the theater. Shaggy peeked his head into one doorway and then the next, growing more and more frustrated as they went along.
“Like, it has to be around here somewhere, Scoobs!” Shaggy said.
“Rhat?” Scooby-Doo asked, confused.
“The kitchen, of course!” Shaggy replied.
Shaggy looked inside another doorway. Nothing. He wasn’t giving up. All the other guests had fled the Crystal Cove theater. That meant a whole lot of leftovers, and Shaggy couldn’t wait to try them — after all, he’d never had leftovers before!
“Rhis ray!” Scooby-Doo said, pointing down a long, narrow hallway.
“How do you know that?” Shaggy asked.
Scooby-Doo lifted his long snout into the air. SNIFF! SNIFF! SNIFF! He gave a sniff and then licked his lips.
“Good work, Scoobs! Lead the way!” Shaggy instructed.
SNIFF! SNIFF! SNIFF!
Scooby-Doo sniffed his way down the hall with Shaggy following closely behind. As they neared the end of the hallway, a strange sound echoed through the building.
WHOOOoooOOOoOooO! It moaned.
“Like, what was that?” Shaggy asked.
Scooby-Doo lifted his nose from the floor. “Ra R-r-r-rhost?!” he suggested.
“Like, m-m-maybe it was just the w-w-wind,” Shaggy offered. He grabbed onto Scooby-Doo, and they both shivered in fright.
Suddenly, the hallway lights flickered out. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo couldn’t see anything in the pitch-black darkness — luckily, they were still hanging onto each other.
WHOOOoooOOOoOooO! The ghoulish moan came again.
Just then, a ghostly figure appeared at the other end of the hallway. It glowed a sickening green, just as it had on the theater stage.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy shouted.
“Roinks!” Scooby repeated.
“Hear my warning!” the ghost said again. “This theater is cursed and must be destroyed. Anyone who stays here will be sorry!”
“Like, we’re already sorry!” Shaggy said, still clinging to Scooby-Doo.
“Reah!” Scooby agreed. “Re’re rorry!”
“Too late!” cried the ghost.
WHOOOoooOOOoOooO!
The green ghost floated toward them. Shaggy and Scooby had to leave — and fast! Shaggy felt his way down the darkened hallway, pulling Scooby behind him by the collar.
“In here!” Shaggy said as they ducked inside the nearest room.
SLAM!
They quickly closed the door and locked it behind them.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Scooby-Doo and Shaggy held each other as something beat on the door. After a few minutes, they couldn’t hear the ghost anymore. They figured they were safe.
“Phew!” said Shaggy. “That was close!”
SNIFF! SNIFF! SNIFF!
Shaggy could hear Scooby-Doo sniffing at the air. “What is it, boy? Do you smell something?” he asked.
“Reah,” Scooby confirmed. “Rood!”
“Food?!” Shaggy exclaimed. “We must be in the kitchen! I wish we could see.” Shaggy tried the light switch, but it didn’t work. “Oh well. You’ll just have to point me in the right direction, Scoobs.”
SNIFF! SNIFF! SNIFF!
Scooby-Doo sniffed at the air again. He could smell strawberries and coconut and vanilla and cucumbers and bubble gum!
“Rover rere!” he barked, pulling Shaggy toward the mouth-watering aroma.
SNIFF! SNIFF! SNIFF!
Scooby-Doo felt around a long table, which was covered with dozens of sweet-smelling items. “Roah! Rancy!” he said, picking up one that smelled extra sweet.
“Like, I believe the French call these hors d’oeuvres,” said Shaggy, grabbing a handful for himself. “Dig in!”
CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!
Shaggy and Scooby-Doo quickly ate as much of the feast as they could. Nearly everything on the table was gone before they even stopped to chew.
“Um, Scoobs?” said Shaggy, hesitantly. “Does this food taste a little funny to you?”
“Res, runny!” Scooby agreed.
Suddenly, the lights flickered back on. Scooby-Doo and Shaggy each saw a stranger standing in front of them.
“G-g-g-ghost!!” Shaggy screamed.
“R-r-r-rhost!!” echoed Scooby.
The two friends ran in opposite directions. They tripped and stumbled over chairs and tables and fell to the floor with two loud THUDS!
“Rouch!” Scooby-Doo moaned in pain.
“Scoobs? Is that you?” Shaggy asked from the other side of the room.
Scooby-Doo lifted his head off the floor. His face was covered in white powder, and a ring of redness surrounded his lips. He looked like a canine clown.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy shouted.
“Roinks!” Scooby repeated when he spotted Shaggy. His face looked the same way!
“What happened?” Shaggy wondered. He looked around at the room, puzzled. Then he opened the door. On the door was a sign that read Makeup Room.
“Like, this isn’t the kitchen, Scoobs,” he told his friend.
“Ruh?” Scooby-Doo asked.
“It’s a makeup room!” Shaggy replied. “And that wasn’t food. It was —”
“Rakeup?!” finished Scooby.
“Exactly! Makeup!” said Shaggy as he frantically spit and wiped his face.
“Yuck! Patooey!” Scooby-Doo spit.
The two stood in awkward silence. Then Scooby finally picked up a cherry-flavored lipstick, shrugged, and bit off half of it.
After a moment, Shaggy said, “Pass me that blackberry eye shadow, will you, Scoob?”