Big-Top Scooby (5 page)

S
cooby ran to where the werewolves had the others cornered. “Raggy!” He yelled. “Rhey're raboons!”

“Raboons?” Shaggy asked. Then he looked at the werewolf in Marius's clothing and, again, at its red fur. “Baboons! Oh, man … What was that command Doubleday used…?” Shaggy ducked as one of the werewolves slashed at him.
“Domingo!”
he cried.

The werewolf lunged again.
“Dossantos?”
Shaggy tried. “Um … uh …
descanso
!”

It was like magic. Instantly, the werewolf stopped in its tracks and stood still. All the other werewolves stood still, too … except for one. That
werewolf turned and ran, as Shaggy explained, “They're the trained baboons! Which means Doubleday must be behind this!”

The werewolf kept running. Fred yelled, “Stop him!”

Velma looked around and noticed the cannon. “Oh, no….” she muttered. But she knew what she had to do. She ran to the cannon, climbed in, and yelled, “Fred! Fire!”

Fred looked uncertain. “Are you sure?”

Velma closed her eyes. “Do it!”

Fred pulled the lever on the cannon. Velma shot out, hit the center of the trapeze net, bounced, and landed right on the escaping werewolf!

“Way to go, Velma!” Daphne cheered.

“Oh, yeah,” Wulfric agreed from his seat in the stands. “Best Human Comet ever!”

As everyone hurried over, Velma pulled off the trapped werewolf's mask. It was Doubleday!

“Ow!”
Doubleday yelped. “That was glued on, you know.”

“It's Doubleday, all right,” Velma noted.

Doubleday leaped to his feet and grabbed a
pole from the center of the circus ring. He pointed it at everyone, growling, “Get back! You won't take us that eas —”

Suddenly, there was a muffled shot. Doubleday yelped and reached around to pull a tranquilizer dart out of his backside. Then he swooned and swayed, about to fall over.

Everyone looked to see what had happened … and there was Archambault, standing in the shadows at the side of the circus. He was holding up a tranquilizer gun. Loose ropes hung from his arms.

“What did you do?” Fred asked.

“Is okay,” Archambault said, stepping out of the shadows. He caught Doubleday as he fell to the ground and lowered the animal trainer slowly to the ground. “Just tranquilizer gun. Doubleday keep around in case of problem with animals.”

“What are those ropes?” Velma asked, pointing at the ropes that hung off Archambault's arms. They looked like they'd been cut.

“Archambault tied up. But Archambault break ropes! Such thick ropes. It take hours.”

Daphne stared at him. “Where were you?”

Archambault pointed to the exit. “In storage shed, back there. Come with me.” He led the gang to a storage shed on the outer edge of the circus.

The gang peered inside and saw Marius, bound and gagged in a corner.

“Are you okay?” Fred asked, untying him.

“Who did this?” Marius demanded. “Did you catch him? What's going on?”

“It was Doubleday,” Fred said. He turned to help Velma and Daphne free Shmatko and Lena, who were tied up nearby.

“We've already called the police,” Velma said. She barely got Lena's ropes untied before they heard a loud squeal.

Oliverio ran over to embrace Lena.
“Carino!”

“Liebling!”
Lena cried.

Shmatko pulled the rest of his ropes away and stormed off. The gang followed Marius and Archambault back into the big top, just in time to see Doubleday getting carted away on an ambulance gurney.

Wulfric wandered up to see what was going
on. “Where did my amulet go?”

“I've got men searching for it, and all the other stolen jewels,” said a police detective, joining the group. “But if we don't find them, we can get the information from Doubleday when he comes to. This is strong stuff, though. He could be out for hours … days even.”

“My circus is supposed to be in Philadelphia tomorrow,” Marius said. “Will that be a problem?”

“No,” the detective said. “If we need you, we'll contact you.”

Wulfric turned his attention to Scooby as the detective finished up his business with Marius. “You were the best thing in the show, my friend. And that dog costume is brilliant.”

Scooby shook his head. “Rog rostume?”

The next morning, the gang joined Marius and the rest of the circus performers as they boarded the train for Philadelphia.

“Thanks again for all your help,” Marius said. “Are you sure I can't give you anything?”

“No thanks,” Fred said, waving him off. “We're just glad we could help.”

Marius held up a lockbox. “We did some major box office while you were helping out … this thing is crammed with cash. So anytime you want to see the circus, it's on the house. And all the churros you can eat!”

“Yes!” Shaggy cheered.

Scooby just frowned. He was still upset with Shaggy for taking all the credit for his act.

“And maybe I could do the high-wire next time, huh?” Fred grinned.

Marius looked uncomfortable. “Uh, let's think about … whether that's … the best … uh … well, good-bye!” He hustled onto the train.

Archambault stopped to bid the gang good-bye. “Archambault say good-bye, also!”

Velma waved. “Good-bye, Archambault. Thanks for everything!”

“Okay! I hope they find all those jewels,” he said. “Especially that black diamond. It seemed
very nice,
oui
?”

As Archambault stepped up onto the train, Sisko and Shmatko approached Daphne. “Hey, Motorcycle Girl!” Shmatko said in a friendly voice. “After this little break, I finally decide clowning is not for me. So now I go to New York to pursue my true love … theatre!”

“That's great, Shmatko,” Daphne said. “I'm sure you're going to be a huge success.”

“Of course, Sisko will miss me terribly.” Shmatko looked at Sisko, who honked sadly in response. “But a man has got to be doing what it is that a man has got to be doing! Good-bye!”

Daphne waved. “Good-bye!”

Sisko mimed tears as he waved good-bye to Shmatko. But the second Shmatko was out of sight, his tears cleared up. He rolled his eyes and said, “I thought he'd never leave. Cheers!” He stepped up and boarded the train.

As the train chugged off, Fred mused, “Well, another case solved.”

“I don't know,” Velma sighed. “Something's still bugging me.”

Daphne nodded. “Yeah, I miss the part where the bad guy says he would've gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for us.”

“Wait!” Velma cried, raising her finger into the air. “Archambault said ‘black diamond.' But the last he heard that gem was a ‘carbonado.'”

“So?” Fred asked.

“And do you remember what Doubleday said when we unmasked him? He said, ‘You won't take
us
that easily.' He said
us
! Like he had a partner in crime! And Archambault caught Doubleday after he tranquilized him. He could have grabbed the black diamond!” Velma looked around, nodding as the others began to get it. “And Archambault said he broke his ropes, but that rope hadn't been broken. The ends looked like they'd been cut!”

“And the book!” she cried. “Archambault was the one who knocked the Ingolstadt werewolf book off the shelf. I'll bet he planted it in there!” She beamed. “Archambault was in on it!”

They all looked at the train, which was speeding away from them. “We've got to catch that train!” Velma cried.

T
he Mystery Machine sped down the highway. Scooby looked out of the van's window as the Mystery Machine pulled up alongside the train. Through a window, he could see Archambault and Marius fighting. “Ruh-roh!” he barked. “Look!”

“We gotta get on that train somehow!” Shaggy said in a moment of temporary insanity. The others looked at him curiously. “What?” he asked nervously. “What are you looking at?”

Fred smiled. “Shaggy … how far can you jump?”

“Huh?” Shaggy's eyes widened as he realized what Fred was suggesting. “Oh, no. Oh, no no.”

A few minutes later, Shaggy and Scooby were on the roof of the Mystery Machine, staring at the speeding train zooming along beside them.

“Come on, guys,” Daphne urged. “Jump, so I can get up there.”

Shaggy moaned. “Like, how did we get talked into this, Scoob?”

Scooby turned away. He was still mad at Shaggy.
“Hmph!”

“How can you still be mad? I said I was sorry!”

Daphne was getting annoyed. She grabbed a clown horn from the floor of the van and honked it loudly. Startled, Shaggy and Scooby jumped off the roof and onto the top of the train.

A moment later, the road began to curve away from the train tracks, making it impossible for anyone else to jump onto the train.

“I guess it's just us, Scoob,” Shaggy said, looking mournfully at the van. He followed along as Scooby ran toward the front of the train. They stopped and leaned down over to peek in a window.

Inside, Archambault and Marius were still fighting. Archambault had Marius pressed up
against a wall and held him off his feet with just one hand. He shook the lockbox in Marius's face. “Tell Archambault where is key, or Archambault get angry!” he screamed.

“We gotta stop him!” Shaggy shouted.

Scooby looked away, upset. “Re?”

Shaggy sighed impatiently. “Scoob, I'm sorry. I know it was wrong to treat you like a trained animal. I was a complete —” He broke off as he thought of something.

Scooby thought of the same thing at the same moment. “Rained animals!”

They ran like crazy toward the animal car on the train.

“Hey … animals!” Shaggy called. “We need your help!”

The animals all stared at him blankly.

“Uh …
escuchenme
!
Por favor … uh … ayu-dame
…”

Scooby held up one hand to stop him. “Rallow me.” He sauntered over to the baboon cage and started barking at them. The baboons listened intently, and then began to nod.

“Scooby speaks baboon?” Shaggy mused. “Who knew?” He took a ring of keys from a hook on the wall and began to unlock the cage with the horses in it. Once everything was ready, he and Scooby made their way back to Marius's car.

Inside, Archambault had Marius tied up like a prisoner. He was hastily dumping the contents of the lockbox — including the jewels — into a sack.

That's when Scooby rode into the car on horseback, playing a bugle!

Archambault stared at Scooby, stunned. Then he began to laugh. “Archambault never punch a horse before,” he said. “Could be fun!”

Just as he reeled back to charge at Scooby's horse, the baboons ran into the room. Archambault dropped the sack with the jewels, reached behind his back, and grabbed for his tranquilizer gun. “Sleepy time for the monkeys!”

The gun clicked uselessly. Archambault stared at it. “What?! Where are the darts?” He looked around and saw Shaggy, who had climbed in through the window behind Archambault.

Shaggy grinned, and picked up the sack of loot. “Don't worry. I've got the darts right here.” He patted at his pocket.

Archambault lunged at Shaggy, but the baboons pounced on him.

“No!” Archambault cried. “Bad monkeys!”

Scooby and Shaggy took the chance to slip out of the train window while Archambault was occupied. “Like, what do we do now?”

“Hello, peoples!” Suddenly, Archambault's head popped up over the edge of the roof.

Scooby's eyes widened. “Run!”

Archambault chased after them, yelling, “Come back here, dog and hippie! Archambault won't hurt you … much!”

Shaggy glanced at Scooby. “Did he just call me a hippie?”

They kept running, with Archambault getting closer by the second.

Shaggy and Scooby yelped as the train approached a bunch of low-hanging tree branches. They swerved, but Archambault just let the trees hit him. He puffed out his chest and let the thick
tree limbs smash against his rock-hard body. “Rikes!” Scooby said, feeling his own chest.

“Jump!” Shaggy shouted to Scooby when they reached the end of the train car. The tracks sped by at an alarming speed beneath them. Shaggy gulped nervously. He looked for Scooby, and then realized his pal had already jumped and was staring at him from the top of the next train car.

Shaggy crouched down and leaped across the gap just as Archambault reached for him. Shaggy grabbed at the top of the train car, but his body slid down. He was going to fall!

Just in time, Scooby grabbed at Shaggy's shirt collar and pulled him up to safety.

“Thanks, buddy!” Shaggy said, hugging Scooby happily.

“Ranytime, pal,” Scooby said.

They only had a moment to celebrate before Archambault was after them again. “Scoob! I've got an idea! Follow me!” Shaggy cried. They ran to the end of the train car and jumped … but instead of making it to the other side, they both fell out of view.

Archambault leaned over the edge of the train car, wondering where they'd gone. As he did, Shaggy reached up and stuck a tranquilizer dart right in the tip of Archambault's nose!

“Ahhh!”
he cried, reeling backward.
“Mon nez! Mon …”

Shaggy and Scooby high-fived as Archambault tipped and toppled and finally crashed to the roof of the train car. “Rood rob, Raggy!”

“You, too, Scoob!”

When the train stopped, it took several police officers to drag Archambault's huge body off into a police car.

“This guy is tough!” one of the police officers said. “I think that tranquilizer is starting to wear off already….”

Archambault snored in response.

Marius looked at the gang and sighed happily. “Apparently, Archambault and Doubleday
were both angry when my uncle left me the circus. I understand it … They worked for him for years, then suddenly his nephew comes in and wants to change everything.”

“Anyway,” Velma said, “when Archambault saw that Doubleday was caught, he double-crossed him, hoping to make off with the jewels
and
the box-office money.”

The police officers were still trying to wrestle Archambault into the police car when he opened his eyes to say, “And Archambault would have get away with it if it don't be for the young peoples and the nosy dog!”

Daphne smiled happily. “Ah … I do like to hear that.”

Archambault toppled backward into the police car. As the officers drove him away, a stretch limo pulled up. Wulfric hopped out.

“Well,” Fred said, “I guess that wraps it up.”

“I got your call,” Wulfric said. He paused. “Hey, that's a train. Toot, toot!”

Shaggy walked over to Wulfric and said, “Uh, Mr. Wulfric, sir? Um, hi. We caught Doubleday's
accomplice and, uh … he had this in his pocket.” He held up Wulfric's amulet.

“Brilliant! Just brilliant!” Wulfric gazed at his black diamond amulet happily as Phil stepped out of the car with a big case. Phil opened the case to reveal six identical amulets and one empty space inside. “That one's my second favorite!” Wulfric grinned. “Hey, I really gotta thank you. Is there anything I can do for you?”

Marius nodded. “I have to thank them again! They won't take money, though — I tried.”

Wulfric nodded. “Well, there must be something, right?”

Shaggy thought for a second before saying, “Hmm … maybe there is …”

Late that night, Shaggy and Scooby sat in fancy theater seats and munched happily on churros, relaxing after their big day. “This is the best!” Shaggy cheered. “Right, buddy?”

“You said it,
amigo
!” Scooby grinned.

The lights dimmed, and Wûlfsmöóon appeared on the stage in front of them. “Hello, you guys! Are you ready to rock?”

Scooby and the gang all shouted, “YES!”

Wulfric launched into his first song:

He broke off and began to scream and play his guitar.

Shaggy pumped his fist in the air, whooping.

Scooby jumped up on stage and grabbed the mic. Everyone cheered as Scooby howled,
“Scooby-Dooby-Doooooooo!”