1.2 - Beware The Beast From Below, Part Three

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Xavier was still deep in thought when the Mystery Machine pulled into the Fruitmeir's parking lot after school. He had been racking his brain for a clue as to why this slime monster would attack three construction workers, then attack him, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby in the van but spare them - and he still didn't have an answer for it. It made zero sense at all, and the fact he couldn't figure it out was driving the man crazy.

"You like.. okay, Xavier?" Shaggy asked, the scruffy teen a bit concerned for his recent new-found friend. The sword-wielding brunette simply nodded in reply, and that was all he did at first before he spoke up, while Fred parked the van.

"I can't really figure out what the hell a slime monster would be doing in the caves of a coastal town.. and then go on to attack three construction workers and then spare us.. it bothers me to no end.." Xavier said, causing Velma and Daphne to turn around and look at the teen sitting in the back with Shaggy and Scooby.

"You really are thinking very hard about the whole thing, are you?" asked Velma, a bit curious. Daphne had a similar expression on her face.

Xavier simply nodded. "I mean, not many teens come to this town and instantly get attacked by a damn monster only 4 days after arriving, do they?" he says in reply, and Velma can't help but agree.

"No, they don't. At least, not that I've seen" she replied, as Fred starts to hop out of the van, causing everyone else to get out. Before they all go into Fruitmeir's though, Xavier simply pulls Velma off to the side for a moment.

"You're the smart one, right?" Xavier asks the shorter orange-wearing brunette, and Velma nods. "Since from what my dad tells me, most of the present supernatural 'occurrences'.."

He does the air quotes gesture for added effect.

"..here in this town are fakes, what's the motive behind who's underneath the mask usually?" Xavier finishes.

"Here in this town, it's usually greed or revenge.. people will dress up as something supernatural sometimes for the dumbest of reasons.." she replies in an slightly sarcastic tone, causing Xavier to gulp.

"Talk about homegrown stupidity.." he says, as he holds the door to Fruitmeir's open for Velma.

"Thanks, and yeah.. indeed.. this town is full of people who don't think like us.." she says, as the two join Fred and Daphne in the line, with Shaggy and Scooby at least nowhere to be seen in front of Xavier.

"Those two sure move fast.." Xavier says, sweating a little. "..for two hungry souls."

"You should see them when it's an all-you-can-eat buffet.." Velma replies in a slightly annoyed tone now.

Xavier just gulps. "You know, I don't really want to imagine that, honestly.." he says, just as a voice from behind the four teens causes them all to turn around. There, only a few yards away from them, was a man dressed as a clown making balloon animals while addressing the customers.

"Welcome, everyone to Fruitmeir's. Remember it's not ice cream, it's not yogurt. Heck, I don't know what it is. Would anyone like a shrimping boat made out of circus balloons?" the clown says, and walks away, just as Shaggy and Scooby walk over with trays full of Fruitmeir's cones.

"I don't get all the fuss over.. what is this stuff again..?" Velma asks, while Xavier just stares at the green Fruitmeir's stuff. It looks oddly familiar, he realizes.

"You heard Franklin Fruitmeir. It's a secret.." Shaggy says. "That's why they call it.."

"Fruitmeirs!" say Shaggy and Scooby in unison before they proceed to wolf down their treats. Xavier moves over to Fred after making another realization.

"Fred, I don't know if you see it, but the stuff that Franklin Fruitmeir uses for his treats almost looks like the same stuff those construction workers were cocooned in.." Xavier whispers in his ear, and Fred takes one look at the Fruitmeir's stuff left on Shaggy's and Scooby's faces, and instantly sees it too.

"Yep. Same here. That's definitely a clue alright.. question is, who would go to the trouble of using Franklin Fruitmeir's stuff for a slime monster outfit now?" Fred says, keeping his voice low so as to not draw attention, as the gang begins to walk out of Fruitmeir's.

Fred decides to act like he didn't hear Xavier's words for a moment, as a setup for Xavier to reveal his find to the gang.

"Hey, you know if that cocoon turns out to be organic, we might have a genuine monster in Crystal Cove.." he says, and Xavier looked annoyed at first, but then gets the hint with Velma's response.

"My guess. The cocoon is a multi-cell mutation. Probably a result of radioed allotropes and free radical implosion. What do you think Shaggy?" Velma says as she takes ahold of Shaggy's hand.

Shaggy yanks it free and runs back inside Fruitmeir's, shouting "I think I want more Fruitmeirs!" and leaving Velma out there annoyed.

"Me too!" Scooby says, following Shaggy back in.

Xavier takes this moment to speak up about his find. "In another world, maybe the cocoon is organic, but not in this world.." he says a little bit cryptically, causing Velma and Daphne to perk up.

"What do you mean by that, Xavier?" asks Daphne.

"I'm saying.. when I looked at the stuff Franklin Fruitmeir put in his cones, it looked almost exactly like the same stuff those construction workers were cocooned in. I think someone is using Franklin Fruitmeir's stuff to create the impression of slime.." he says, and Fred nods.

"Then that means.." says Daphne.

"Our slime monster isn't really a slime monster then.." concludes Velma.

"Exactly. It doesn't explain why it attacked those construction workers and then spared Fred, me, Shaggy, and Scooby.. but it does explain how those construction workers ended up cocooned like that. Someone just hit them with a concentrated blast of Fruitmeirs and that caused them to become cocooned" Xavier finishes. "The question is, who would go to the trouble?"

"And why?" Velma asks.

"It does seem pretty mysterious if you think about it.." Daphne murmurs.

"A bit ingenious too, if you think about it.." Fred adds. "Like a slimy net."

"Whatever the case may be.." Xavier said, turning back to look at Fruitmeir's. "..we know where our slime monster gets his slime from, so I guess the next logical place to look is inside here. But not like today.. maybe tomorrow.. because Alice is probably going to start becoming concerned soon that I'm not home. And believe me, she doesn't like it at all when her brother is home when she gets home from school."

"Good point.." Fred says. "I'm going to go get Shaggy and Scooby. You can hang out by the van if you want to think some more, Xavier."

"Yeah sure.." Xavier says, walking off towards the van as Fred walks back inside Fruitmeir's to get Shaggy and Scooby, leaving Velma and Daphne to have an awkward talk about Shaggy and Velma's relationship with each other. But just as Xavier gets to the van, he hears a weird sound coming from a nearby drain. He turns, and he internally slightly jumps when he sees a pair of familiar red eyes suddenly appear in the darkness of the sewer drain on the edge of the sidewalk at the edge of the Fruitmeir's parking lot. So the monster is here too, Xavier thinks to himself as he and the Slime Monster simply just stare at each other, before the Slime Monster blinks and then decides to walk off, snarling all the while.

Why is the monster interested in me?

That was the question ringing in Xavier's head as the gang got back into the Mystery Machine a couple of minutes later, and then drove out of the parking lot, watched once more by the Slime Monster from the sewers.

All was quiet that night and the next morning, at least until the Crystal Cove High Janitor opened the door to Prof. Raffalo's classroom and screamed. The classroom had been trashed as if a struggle had happened in there, the cocooned body of the construction worker was on the floor, the windows were shattered, the rubber band in the classroom from yesterday was gone, and in a fresh cocoon on the wall near the door to the classroom was the Professor himself, a look of utter horror on his face.

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