Written in honor of Scooby-Doo's 50th anniversary, the Mystery Inc. gang is invited to check out Professor Kaufman's new multi-dimensional universe sampler, which ends up uniting different variations of Mystery Inc. from different universes! And this means the different animated incarnations of the franchise from over the years; I left out the live-action and video game versions on purpose to keep the fanfic from getting too complex. So in a way, think of this as being a Scooby-Doo verison of "Into the Spider-verse." I had lots of fun uniting the different incarnations, though!
SCOOBY-DOO AND THE SCOOBY-VERSE!
The Mystery Incorporated gang was driving in their Mystery Machine, as usual, through a set of woods. It was late afternoon to early evening, but still fairly bright out. (NOTE: The gang is in their classic style and outfits, like in the pre-1980 shows and the direct-to-video movies from this current decade.)
"It sure was nice of Professor Robert Kaufman to invite us to his college laboratory to show us his latest experiment," Daphne exclaimed.
"I can't wait to see it," Velma added. "He says it's going to be a major scientific breakthrough!"
Shaggy realized something. "Like, here's a puzzler," he said. "How come when we get invited to see something like this, we never get exact details until we actually get there?"
"It is pretty unusual," Fred admitted. "But it's always exciting, so seeing it couldn't hurt."
"But it could!" Shaggy pointed out.
"Ryeah!" Scooby nervously agreed, and he and Shaggy huddled each other nervously as their teeth chattered.
"Oh, will you two knock it off?" Velma scolded Shaggy and Scooby. "We've all been through so much together that I thought you'd be used to it by now!"
"Well," Shaggy admitted, "those things still do take us by surprise." Scooby nodded in agreement.
…
Then the gang arrived at the University's science and technology center and met with Professor Kaufman in his office.
"Ah," Kaufman said in his thick German accent. "I'm glad you all made it to see my latest invention."
"Yeah," Shaggy said, "but can we, like, just get to seeing it now without any initial backstories or whatever?"
"Ryeah, rease?" Scooby asked in a pleading position.
"You'll have to excuse Shaggy and Scooby," Fred explained. "They seem a little more aware than usual of what we run into."
Kaufman laughed. "It's OK," he said. "Come vith me to my science lab!"
…
So, Professor Kaufman led the gang into one of the science labs, unlocked the door and let them inside. "Behold," he announced, turning on the lights in the room. "My multi-dimensional universe sampler!"
The invention was a large purple chamber with a small electronic console with monitor attached to its side, and several large multi-colored wires coming from the top of the chamber into the ceiling. The chamber's door had a couple of small round windows.
Shaggy sighed with relief. "Like, it doesn't look like much," he said.
"Rat's a relief," Scooby said, wiping his forehead.
Kaufman turned to the kids and dog. "Have you ever heard of ze multi-verse theory?"
"Of course," Velma said. "According to the theory, there could be an infinite number of universes co-existing alongside ours, on parallel dimension planes."
"Exactly!" Kaufman excited said, rubbing his hands. "And vith this invention, I can meet counterparts of myself from different universes. See for yourself," he said, getting out a photo of himself posing with multiple Professor Kaufmans, each one looking slightly different in a way.
The gang passed around the photo. Velma took a good look at it. "Jinkies!" she exclaimed. "I can tell that this was not made with digital image manipulation or whatever. It's all too true!" She looked up at the Professor. "Professor Kaufman," she told him, "this is amazing!"
"Thank you, dear Velma," Kaufman said. "So far I know it is able to vork vith a single individual, but I vant to see if it vill vork with more than one living being inside ze chamber."
"Like, I knew it," Shaggy moaned. "We're being made test subjects!"
"Roh no!" Scooby said, kneeling down and covering his eyes with his paws as he started to shiver again.
Kaufman laughed. "Don't vorry," he told them. "It's perfectly safe! If an emergency arises, I have a reset button inside and out ze chamber zat makes everything back to ze vay it vas, with everyone and everything in ze proper universes."
Shaggy wiped his forehead and said, "Phew! I call standing next to the reset button in case something goes wrong."
"Excellent!" Kaufman said, excitedly rubbing his hands again. "You may all step into my chamber." He pressed a door on the chamber's console, and the doors opened.
The gang did so. Before the doors closed, Velma said, "I'm so glad we are able to help with this scientific breakthrough, Professor."
"Yes," Kaufman agreed. "And ze press will be here in an hour and a half to do a story about my multi-verse sampler. Now, in each universe, the reality may be different from our own, sometimes only slightly, sometimes quite drastically. After I run zis machine, after you step out, counterparts of you all from various universes vill step out as well."
"Oh boy," Shaggy sarcastically said. "More double trouble!"
"Relax," Kaufman told Shaggy. "It's not vhat you think it may be. Are you all ready?"
"Yes!" Velma, Daphne and Fred all grinned.
Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other, and slowly nodded in agreement.
"It's all settled," Kaufman announced. "Here ve go!" He began pressing a few buttons, and the chamber's doors closed. The chamber began shaking slightly while making whirring and beeping noises. All the while, steam and fog seemed to be building up through the chamber windows as flashes of light were also happening inside. After half a minute, it stopped shaking and dinged, and the doors slid open. The gang walked out, unscathed.
"Like, we're OK!" Shaggy exclaimed. He and Scooby laughed and hugged each other.
"Jeepers," Daphne noted. "Right before we left, it felt like the area behind us was wider and more open." Right after saying that, she turned back and saw a group of silhouettes resembling the gang stepping out of the fog from the chamber. "Guys, look!"
The whole gang turned to see themselves stepping out of the chamber! Although the humans' complexions looked slightly different, Velma's hair was more reddish, Daphne wearing a lavender cargo shirt and matching pants and her hair in a slightly different style with no headband, Shaggy wearing a red shirt and blue pants, and Scooby-Doo with seemingly darker-brown fur. (NOTE: Daphne and Shaggy are based off their counterparts from The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.)
Both Shaggys looked at each other. "Zoinks!" they both exclaimed. "It's us!" Both Scoobys began sniffing each other.
"Incredible," both Velmas said in unison.
Professor Kaufman was delighted. "It vorks perfectly!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them in delight once again.
But then another version of the Mystery Inc. gang stepped out of the multi-verse chamber! This time, the gang looked much younger and different from the others. Their outfits were similar to what the gang was wearing in this universe, but Fred's shirt had orange bands around the arms; Daphne wore a pink outfit with magenta skirt and scarf, along with a white headband and go-go boots; Velma wore a white shirt with yellow vest and much larger, round eyeglasses with thinner frames; and Shaggy wore a pair of blue jeans with his green shirt. The humans in the gang's hair was all styled slightly differently, with Fred and Daphne's being the most noticeably different. Shaggy lacked a goatee. And Scooby also looked younger and smaller, with larger ears and differently-shaped eyes. (NOTE: This is the younger version of the gang from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.)
"Gee whiz," the main universe Fred stated. "They look much younger than us!"
The young Shaggy looked very surprised. "Like, what happened to us?"
The young Velma took a look at their multi-universe counterparts. "Jinkies," she exclaimed.
"Velma spoke!" the young Daphne said.
"She said 'Jinkies!'" the young Fred added.
"Well, duh!" the main universe Shaggy said, rolling his eyes.
"These are our counterparts from different universes," the young Velma explained to her friends. Then she walked over to the main universe Velma, with her feet skittering quickly as she appeared to glide along the floor and shook her counterpart's hand.
The main universe Velma chuckled. "So far this is kind of cute," she said.
The three Scooby-Doos were sniffing each other. "Rhuh?" they all said in unison, giving Scooby's usual puzzled look.
And there were still more coming out of the fog of the chamber. The next Mystery Inc. gang to step out looked slightly older in age than the main universe gang, and their faces and eyes appeared more highly detailed, except for Shaggy and Scooby, although Shaggy had noticeable sclerae around his eyes. While Shaggy and Velma's outfits appeared mostly the same, save this universe's Velma's skirt appearing more simplified, Fred was wearing a white collared short-sleeved dress shirt and blue jeans and no ascot, and Daphne had on a lavender business jacket and skirt with a green top underneath the jacket, and her hair in a more contemporary style with no headband. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in the early direct-to-video movies by Warner Bros. Animation.)
And another Mystery Inc. gang stepped out. They looked like a hybrid between the previous gang's style and the main universe gang, with detailed faces but not as detailed as the 90s gang, Velma being slimmer and shapelier with her hair slightly ruffled, and Daphne's hair somewhat longer. Fred sported had a white shirt with blue collar and blue pants similar to the main universe Fred, but with a blue stripe in the middle of the shirt, and once again no ascot; Daphne's purple dress somewhat resembled the main universe Daphne's dress but with a robe-like opening in the center and with no green ascot; and Velma's turtleneck sweater looked a bit too large for her due to her slimmer figure, along with a single line down her skirt. Scooby-Doo's eyes also looked a bit smaller, and his ears slightly larger. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in What's New, Scooby-Doo?and related direct-to-video movies.)
"Wow," the main universe Velma exclaimed among seeing her latest universe counterpart step out. "I look hotter in that universe."
The next incarnation of the Mystery Inc. gang to step out of the chamber looked much more different. All their faces and hair appeared more stylized, with Fred, Shaggy and even Scooby-Doo's eyes looking small and like black dots! Besides that, Fred wore a tight white T-shirt with a light blue dress shirt over it along with blue jeans, along with once again lacking an ascot; Shaggy wore an even longer white and blue-green T-shirt and baggy tan cargo pants; and Daphne and Velma's outfits were not that much different from their main universe counterparts, except she also had no ascot, and Velma's glasses had thinner trapezoid-shaped frames. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!)
All the other Shaggys cried out "ZOINKS!" among seeing these versions of Mystery Inc., and their respective Scoobys leaped into the Shaggys' arms, and of course they all shivered in fear.
The main universe Daphne made a displeased sound. "Do we really look like THAT from the universe they came out of?"
The Get a Clue Daphne said, "Do we really look like THAT in other universes?"
And then yet another variation of the Mystery Inc. gang emerged from the foggy chamber. This time they all looked pretty close to the main universe versions, but they looked very slightly angular and stylized, and Daphne had large purple eye pupils and Velma had a couple of maroon bows in her hair. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.)
The Velma with the newly-emerged gang let out a somewhat exasperated sigh. "Did we end up in another dimension again?"
"Precisely," Professor Kaufman told her. "You see…"
But before he could explain, yet another version of the Mystery Inc. gang came out of the multi-verse chamber. Like the Get a Clue universe versions, they also looked very different from the rest. They all appeared taller, with skinnier limbs and more pronounced knees, wider simple eyes, simplified face shapes and hair, and Fred and Shaggy having quite tall chins. Scooby-Doo's face also had a longer, more exaggerated muzzle, with a larger than usual nose. Their outfits, however, remained unchanged from the main universe counterparts, although Velma's glasses were larger and Daphne's dress sleeves were shorter. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!)
"Roh no!" the rest of the Scoobys cried out, still shivering in fear, as the Get a Clue and SD:MI Scoobys leaped into their respective Shaggys' arms.
"This is getting too weird," the rest of the Daphnes all said in unison.
The Be Cool Daphne gasped in delight. "This is just like a science-fiction movie!"
And then another version of the Mystery Inc. gang stepped out of the chamber, rendered as LEGO characters! (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in the LEGO Scooby-Doo specials and direct-to-video movies.)
The main Shaggy chuckled as he set down the main Scooby-Doo. "Like, dig those versions of us, Scoob," he said. "They're like little plastic figures, but life-sized!"
"Yep!" the LEGO Shaggy said, popping off his plastic hair piece and tipping it like a hat before placing it back on.
"That's so cool!" the main Shaggy said, grinning widely.
"Jinkies," the LEGO Velma exclaimed. "We've traveled to a different universe where all our counterparts from different universes have united!"
"Jeepers," the LEGO Daphne added. "They all look so different from the rest of us. More slim and flexible…"
But then yet another Mystery Inc. gang stepped out of the chamber, this time looking even closer to the main universe counterparts but appearing somewhat looser. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?)
"How did this happen?" the Velma that just emerged from the chamber asked. "Are we in some kind of virtual reality thing?"
Professor Kaufman stood up on a chair and faced all of the different Mystery Inc. variants. He cleared his throat and began, "May I velcome you to another universe! You see, I have developed and invented a multi-dimensional universe sampler and have brought you all here from many different universes, all co-existing along parallel dimension planes!"
Most of the different gangs turned to face their respective Velmas. Many of the Velmas said in unison, "It could very well be possible."
"Oh, it is!" Kaufman exclaimed. "Each of your groups came from a different universe, and I have united all of you here as part of my experiment. And so far, it's been a grand success!"
"Zoinks!" all the Shaggys except the main one said in unison.
"Ruh-roh!" all the Scoobys except the main one said in unison.
"Jeepers!" all the Daphnes except the main one and the young one said in unison.
"Jinkies!" all the Velmas except the main one said in unison.
"Hold the phone!" the Freds from the SD:MI and Guess Who universes said in unison.
The rest of the Freds except for the main ones gave a blank look for a bit. Then the 90s, What's New, Get a Clue, Be Cool and Lego Freds said in unison "Uhh… let's split up and search for clues?"
"Yeah!" the young Fred added. "Let's split up, gang!" he told the rest of the gang from his universe.
"Oh, Freddy," the young Daphne said, not amused, "how many times do I have to tell you to only say that when we're well into a mystery and splitting up is appropriate?"
"Oh yeah," the young Fred sheepishly grinned. "Sorry."
The main universe Fred and his 80s counterpart couldn't believe it. "Do I really lack such an exclamational catchphrase?" the main Fred said to the 80s Fred.
"Maybe we should start saying 'Hold the phone' as well," the 80s Fred said.
"I like the sound of that," the main Fred said, shaking his 80s counterpart's hand. Then he turned back to the other Freds. "But I don't like how that younger version of me is noticeably less intelligent…"
Sure enough, the young Fred was holding up a magazine labeled The National Exaggerator. "Say," he was starting to tell the rest of his friends, "the National Exaggerator exclaims that the Martians have been working on inter-dimensional technology and finding ways to invade multiple universes! Maybe that professor is really a Martian in disguise!"
The young Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby all put their hands over their eyes in annoyance (though with Scooby, it was his paw.)
"Oh no," Professor Kaufman said. "You are all definitely on Earth, in a different universe! No Martians or anything."
The What's New Fred still gave a blank look. "Uhh, I'm still lost," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "What's all this about multi-verses and dimensions and stuff like that?"
The main universe Fred rolled his eyes. "And that counterpart of me is no better," he said.
"I'm inclined to agree," the Be Cool Fred said, putting his hand to his forehead.
The What's New Daphne heard them. "Oh, don't worry," she told the main Fred. "He's like this all the time. But that still doesn't change my view of him…" She gently wrapped her arms around the What's New Fred's right arm and gave a loving look.
The main Daphne let out a soft gasp and looked at the main Fred. "Could this be a sign?" she told him.
They both observed as the 90s and SD:MI Daphnes were similarly embracing their Freds, but the 80s Daphne was giving a loving look to her Shaggy. The SD:MI Velma saw that and glared at her Shaggy, whom laughed nervously.
This led to the main Daphne and Velma giving the main Shaggy a look, and he also gave a nervous chuckle as well.
The main Scooby-Doo laughed, "Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" and began gesturing blowing kisses. All the other Scoobys saw that and did the same laugh as well. This led to the main Scooby looking at them with another perplexed expression.
"This is so unreal," the main Daphne said. "Look at the different fashions my counterparts have. Really, no headband or ascot on some of them?"
"Oh, come on," the 90s Daphne said, stepping up to the main Daphne. "Your look is too dated and sixties. Get with the times!"
"Look who's talking," the What's New Daphne exclaimed, walking up to them. "That look you have is so five years ago! Headbands are back in, but ascots are still out!"
"Speaking of ascots," the 90s Fred said, walking up to the main Fred, "why are you still wearing that thing?"
"I think it looks nice," the main Fred said, holding it up.
"Likewise," the SD:MI Fred agreed.
"Same here," the Be Cool Fred added.
"I agree," the LEGO Fred grinned.
"Ascots are where it's at," the Guess Who Fred pointed out.
"What's an ascot?" the What's New Fred asked.
The young Daphne sighed as she eyed the What's New Fred. "And I thought the Freddy of my universe was clueless," she said in annoyance. Then she walked up to the three other Daphnes that had been conversing with each other. "But that purple color, ewww! Pink is where it's at!"
The What's New Daphne kneeled down to the young Daphne. "Well, it does fit you," she admitted.
"Oh, you really think so?" the young Daphne asked. "Then I guess the purple look actually suits you pretty well."
The What's New Daphne beamed. "I guess out of all the Daphnes, you and I have the most in common," she told her younger counterpart.
The 80s Daphne joined them. "Dresses and skirts are fine for casual purposes," she said, "but for action, an outfit like mine is more appropriate."
"Ewww, that hair!" the young and What's New Daphnes exclaimed in unison.
The 80s Daphne looked a little hurt by that. The main Daphne saw that, smiled and said, "Don't listen to them. You look perfect."
"I agree, you sure do," the 90s Daphne added.
"Thanks," the 80s Daphne grinned. "You both do too."
The SD:MI, LEGOand Guess Who Daphnes walked up to the main Daphne. "Wow, I'm glad my fashion is also popular in other universes," the SD:MI Daphne exclaimed.
But the Be Cool Daphne just grinned widely and said, "Gee, this feels even more like a sci-fi movie!"
"Oh?" the young Fred said, zipping up to her. "Which sci-fi movie? I've seen almost all of them!"
Of course, this annoyed the young Daphne and Shaggy and the Be Cool Velma and Fred.
The Guess Who Velma still looked baffled. "I still don't believe this," she said. "It has to be a hallucination or something…"
The SD:MI Velma put her hand on the other Velma's arm and told her, "Oh, this is real," with a hint of snarkiness in her voice.
"Yes," the What's New Velma added. "The Professor explained it very clearly."
"Isn't this so exciting?" the 90s Velma asked. "To be part of such a scientific breakthrough, and meet ourselves from different universes?"
"I suppose," the Get a Clue Velma said. "But this is only happening in the particular universe we are in now. When and if we get back into our own respective universes, I don't think anyone else will believe us."
"Exactly," the Guess Who Velma pointed out. "So, this is probably all just a bizarre dream or something." To which the SD:MI Velma reached out and pinched her arm. "Ow!"
"Nope," the SD:MI Velma said. "It's not a dream."
The Be Cool Velma grinned and said, "It's a good thing I already knew about the multi-verse theory before all this, or else I'll be freaking out over how this is happening!"
The main Shaggy walked up to the 80s Shaggy. "Like, I look so strange in red and blue," he said.
"I like it," the 80s Shaggy replied. "I got tired of that old green and maroon look after a while!"
"Eh," the young Shaggy said, "I'm more of a blue jeans kid myself, but green's my favorite shirt color!" He did his distinct laugh, no different from his older counterparts.
"Your shirts are rather plain," the Get a Clue Shaggy exclaimed, walking up to them and speaking in a voice that was startlingly different from all the other Shaggys. "Like, stripes and bagginess are cooler!"
The other Shaggys were not pleased by how he sounded. "Like, what's up with your voice?" the main Shaggy asked. "It doesn't sound right!"
"Excuse me?" the Get a Clue Shaggy said in disbelief. "You're questioning my voice, while that kid version of us has a voice like you older counterparts?" He gestured towards the young Shaggy.
"Hey!" the young Shaggy was offended. "It's a good voice!"
The What's New Shaggy added, "Like, you can't go wrong with consistent voices, you know!" His voice sounded a little tired and weak.
"And you," the main Shaggy said, pointing to the What's New Shaggy, "you sound more like a tired, old version of me! Just how old are you on a scale of 16 to 32?"
"I may also look different from the rest of you," the Be Cool Shaggy pointed out, "but, like, at least I sound the same as most of you!"
"Like, same!" the LEGO Shaggy added.
"Say," the young Fred said. "That weird Shaggy with the pointy hair and striped shirt sounds awfully familiar…"
"Like, what do you mean?" the Get a Clue Shaggy asked him.
"Aha, I thought so!" the young Fred exclaimed. "You're really Red Herring in disguise, and you're behind all of this!" He leaped onto the Get a Clue Shaggy and pulling his hair. "Take off that mask and wig, Red!" he demanded. "You're not fooling me!"
"Ouch!" the Get a Clue Shaggy cried out. "Like, stop!"
"Like, who's Red Herring?" the Be Cool Shaggy asked the SD:MI Shaggy.
"Like, beats me," the SD:MI Shaggy shrugged.
"Like, isn't that just a mystery term for a false clue or suspect?" the What's New Shaggy asked.
"Like, Red Herring is the local bully in our universe," the young Shaggy explained to the other Shaggys. "Freddy usually thinks each ghost or monster we come across is really him in disguise, and most of the time, it isn't!"
As the main Shaggy reached over and separated the young Freddy from the Get a Clue Shaggy, the main Fred told his counterparts from the 80s, Be Cool and Guess Whouniverses, "I can't believe I'm such an airhead in that universe." The three other Freds nodded in agreement.
"Yeah," the Be Cool Fred agreed. "I doubt he takes mysteries as seriously as I do."
But then the SD:MI Fred walked up to them. "So, me and me and et-cetera," he began, "what's your favorite trap to set up?"
"Well," the main Fred said, "you can't go wrong with the classic net!"
"Yeah," the Guess Who Fred agreed. "The net almost never fails."
"Ah, nets are too simple and uninspiring," the SD:MI Fred said. "It just so happens I brought a copy of Traps Illustrated with me. Take a look!" He pulled the magazine out of his pocket and proudly displayed it to them, with its' cover depicting a bikini-clad young woman on a beach setting up a rather elaborate trap.
"Let me see that," the main Fred said, taking the magazine.
"Then me next," the Guess Who Fred added.
"And then me!" the What's New Fred exclaimed. "Traps are something I'm quite good at!"
Even the young Velma was interested. "Jinkies," she exclaimed. "It's amazing how in the other universes, Freddy is the one that devises the traps instead of me!"
"Really?" the young Daphne couldn't believe. "I can't see our Freddy ever coming up with efficient traps or plans to catch the villains!"
And with that, she and the young Velma turned to look at the young Fred, hitting it off with the Be Cool Daphne.
"So, you're also into science fiction movies?" the Be Cool Daphne asked.
"Of course!" the young Fred grinned. "I have a ton of them on VHS!"
"Ohhh!" the Be Cool Daphne exclaimed, but then looked confused. "What's VHS?" she quickly asked.
The What's New Fred answered, "I'll field that! VHS is a type of video where, well… it's like a precursor to DVD, but… they're rectangular shaped…" He was rather clueless on how to explain about VHS tapes.
The Be Cool Daphne giggled. "Hey, you're kind of cute!"
This made the What's New Fred gulp nervously. "Well, I, er…"
Sure enough, the What's New Daphne was glaring at the two. "Fred!" she scolded. "That version of me is basically a female version of you!"
The What's New Fred gave a sheepish smile.
All the Scooby-Doos were looking at each other. The Be Cool Scooby couldn't believe how different the other Scoobys looked from him. "Rhy do you rook so rifferent from re?" he asked the main Scooby. "Ryour eyes are rigger, and your rose is smaller."
"Rat reast rit's rot as rad as rim!" the main Scooby said, gesturing to the Get a Clue Scooby. "Rose eyes are reepy!" He shuddered.
"Who? Re?" the Get a Clue Scooby pointed to himself.
"Rohhh, ryou all ralk a rot!" the What's New Scooby said to the main Scooby and his Be Cool and Guess Who counterparts.
"Rand you ron't?" the SD:MI Scooby countered.
"Wow," the Guess Who Scooby realized. "Rour roices are rostly the same!"
"Rot mine!" the young Scooby pointed out, as his voice was indeed higher and youthful.
"Ryou're a ruppy," the main Scooby explained. "Rat's why!"
The 80s and 90s Scoobys looked at each other. "Rhat about OUR roices?" the 80s Scooby asked. "Re sound rifferent too!"
"Ryeah," the 90s Scooby noted. "Rorer energetic, too! Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"
Now the young Velma was speaking with Professor Kaufman, who was showing her some documentation about how his multi-dimensional universe sampler worked and its' logic. "Jinkies!" the young Velma exclaimed as she looked at the small print through a magnifying glass.
Kaufman was impressed. "I'm amazed you understand all of this," he told the young Velma. "In your universe, you seem to be more technologically advanced than our universe's Velma!"
All the other Velmas looked somewhat offended by that. The SD:MI and Be Cool Velmas in particularly looked peeved.
"Is it all right if I type out a copy of your documentation, for me and my colleagues back in my universe to use?" the young Velma asked Kaufman.
That made Kaufman smile. "I take it you might want to help out in developing your own multi-verse sampler for your own universe?" he asked. "Then so be it! But make sure you credit me in this universe for coming up with the initial invention and concept."
The young Velma nodded, and she took the case she brought with her, set it facing down on the floor, and opened it up to allow a big, bulky UNIVAC-style computer to pop out, complete with CRT monitor. She immediately began typing away on it.
The What's New Velma couldn't believe her eyes. "You call that a portable computer? Ha! That's impossible in physics and functionality. I have my own laptop computer that only weights a quarter of that thing, and it's equipped with wireless Internet!"
"So?" the main Velma asked. "Wi-Fi is very common nowadays. Virtually all laptops on the market have it. But we don't go around pointing out the obvious…"
But then the multi-verse chamber began beeping and shaking again. "Uh, guys?" the SD:MI Shaggy said, but the others didn't really notice except Professor Kaufman. So Shaggy yelled, "ZOINKS!" That got the others' attention. "Like, the multi-verse thingy is going again!" he pointed out.
Kaufman slapped his forehead. "Silly me," he exclaimed. "I forgot to turn off the universe scanning feature after the last of you arrived."
"Jeepers," the 80s Daphne said. "You mean there's even more of us out there!"
"Could be," Kaufman admitted.
The machine dinged, and then the chamber doors opened, letting more fog out. Emerging from the fog were what looked like the What's New versions of Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc., but they all had red glowing eyes! They started growling in low, monstrous voices.
"ZOINKS! Evil versions of us!" all the other Shaggys except the What's New Shaggy cried out in unison.
"Roh no!" their respective Scooby-Doo cried out, leaping into the Shaggys' arms once again.
But in all of this, the What's New Shaggy and Scooby were unfazed.
"What's with that Shaggy and Scooby? How come they're not scared as usual?" the main Daphne asked.
"Because they're not really evil versions of us," the What's New Velma explained. "This already happened the past Valentine's Day in our universe. It's only singing sensation J.C. Chasez and four Hollywood extras disguised as us in an attempt to frame us."
And with that, the "evil Scooby" stood up on his hind legs, reached up and pulled off his rubber Scooby-Doo mask to reveal it was indeed J.C. Chasez, appearing as he would in the What's New universe. "That's right," he explained. "We were all getting ready to strike at the Lover's Lane in Coolsville when all of a sudden there's this weird flash of light, and we're in this lab with multiple versions of you meddling kids!" As he spoke, the extras peeled off their masks of the human Mystery Inc. members to reveal their true faces; "Daphne" was actually Grey DeLisle-Griffin, "Fred" was Frank Welker, "Velma" was Mindy Cohn, and "Shaggy" was the late Casey Kasem.
"Aw man," the main Shaggy groaned, "why do so many people have to impersonate us?" He slapped his eyes and forehead with his right palm.
"Roh, rother," the main Scooby agreed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
"You're telling me," the What's New Fred moaned. "I wanted to pull their masks off!"
The What's New Daphne gave him a look and reminded him, "You already did, remember?"
"I did?" the What's New Fred asked, looking blank. This caused the main Fred to let out an exasperated sigh and lower his head into his hand.
The Be Cool Scooby wasn't amused by this. "Roften rimitated, never duplicated," he said, gesturing to J.C. in his incredibly lifelike Scooby-Doo suit, who was holding the empty latex mask in one of his paw-gloves.
"Oh my," Professor Kaufman realized. "I guess my invention accidentally picked up a group of people zat vere dressed up as you! I guess I have a few kinks to work out." Then he told J.C. and his group, "You five just step back into ze chamber, and I'll send you back to vhere you belong."
J.C. Chasez and his extras just stepped back into the still-foggy chamber, and the Professor went over to the console, pressed a couple of buttons, and the chamber doors closed, and the machine whirred and beeped again, stopping after a few flashes inside the chamber windows went off.
"There," Kaufman said. "No harm done!"
"It's not entirely your fault," the What's New Velma said as she put a hand on Kaufman's shoulder. "Their masks and suits were TOO good, so good that they fooled your machine."
"Like, even though their eyes were glowing red?" the Be Cool Shaggy asked.
"Zat's beside the point," Kaufman said. "I guess it needs a few more adjustments…"
"Yeah," the main Shaggy agreed. "Otherwise the machine will end up grabbing any Scooby-Doo or Mystery Inc. cosplayer it can find and bringing them here!"
"Mystery Inc?" the young Daphne asked.
"Well, yeah," the main Daphne explained. "That's what we call our mystery-solving group."
"Yeah!" the 90s Mystery Inc. gang replied.
"Yeah!" the What's New gang added.
"Yeah!" the SD:MI gang said.
"Yeah!" the Be Cool gang exclaimed.
"Yeah!" the LEGO gang added.
"Yeah!" the Guess Who gang chimed in.
"Not us," the young Fred claimed. "We call ourselves the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency!"
"The Scooby-Doo Detective Agency?" the main Daphne raised an eyebrow at the young versions of the gang. "That name is a little unfair…"
"Like, yeah," the What's New Shaggy pointed out. "Scoob and I end up just being pushed aside while THEY do all the work." He gestured to the What's New Fred, Daphne and Velma.
The Get a Clue Shaggy added, "And Scoob and I are often away from Fred, Daphne and Velma, living in my rich uncle's mansion and saving the world from a mad supervillain!"
"That sounds like the premise to some cheesy cartoon show," the SD:MI Velma noted.
"Look," the main Velma started. "Like Professor Kaufman said, the reality of each universe varies. Some changes are slight, while some are significant. We're all important in our own ways, no matter which universe we belong to. We are all better off in our own universes for the most part."
"She's right," the main Fred added. "So, let's all agree to disagree, and then…"
That's when they heard screaming in the hallway outside the lab. Professor Kaufman went over to the door and took a peek. "Heiliger Strohsack!" he exclaimed. "A demon-like creature of some kind is terrorizing the place!"
"D-d-d-d-d-demon?!" all the Shaggys reacted in fear, and the Scoobys leaped into their arms and they all began shivering in fear. The What's New Shaggy and Scooby's teeth chattering was much louder than the others.
"Jeepers," the SD:MI Daphne noted. "The way that Shaggy and Scooby shiver is more like something out of a Bunny and Claude cartoon!"
"Oh, puh-leeze!" the young Daphne complained. "There are no such things as demons!"
"Well," the 80s Daphne countered, "we do have actual demons in the universe I came out of."
The 80s Shaggy stammered "P-p-p-perfect. We get transported into another universe ALSO with real demons and ghosts!"
"Well, gang," all the Freds said in unison, "it looks like we've got a mystery on our hands!"
"Wait!" the main Daphne called. "With all of us here, things could get complicated. Why don't we already trap the monster and get it over with?"
"You mean, without splitting up and looking for clues?" the 80s Fred asked.
"I like that idea!" the What's New Fred agreed.
"And I can design the trap!" the SD:MI Fred added.
"Well," the Guess Who Fred pointed out, "I've got a trap that I'm sure will work."
"Wait a minute, Freds!" the main Fred called to grab their attention. "Let's all huddle up. You too, young Velma."
So, all the Fred sans the young Fred, who was still engrossed in his National Exaggerator magazine, huddled up together, and the young Velma joined them. "OK, so there's only going to be one physical trap. Each one of us can go over what trap style we'll use, and we'll have my Daphne and Velma vote with me which trap will work the best. Also, since we have so many Shaggys and Scoobys as well, we can confuse the demon with them, to make sure our trap works."
The main Shaggy heard that. He told all the other Shaggys, "Did you hear that? Like, the Freds once again want to use all of us as the bait to catch the monster, and all the Scoobys!"
"That's right!" all the Freds said in unison.
"We're not going!" the Shaggys all insisted at once.
"Re reither!" all the Scooby-Doos agreed in unison, shaking their heads.
But that was when the Velmas from the main, 80s, 90s, What's New, SD:MI, Be Cool, LEGO and Guess Who universes, along with the young Daphne, all asked in unison, "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"
"Roh-kay!" all the Scoobys said at once, grinning.
The Get a Clue Shaggy said, "Like, Scoob and I have our own Nano-powered Scooby Snacks that give us incredible powers!"
"Roh yeah," the Get a Clue Scooby realized.
Then the Get a Clue Shaggy fumbled through his pockets and realized, "Zoinks! We left them at home, Scoob. We didn't know we'd be transported to another universe."
"Rat's roh-kay, Raggy," the Get a Clue Scooby said, gesturing towards the group of Velmas and the young Daphne.
"But how can we toss the snacks to them?" the main Daphne pointed out.
"You're right," the main Fred realized. He quickly counted the Scoobys under his breath, and announced, "OK, there are ten Scooby-Doos and ten Shaggys each. So, let's have the nine teen-to-young adult Velmas and the kid Daphne feed their own universe's equivalents, standing in front of them."
"Ohhhh!" the young and What's New Freds moaned.
"Why can't we ever come up with good ideas like those?" the young Fred told his equally-scatterbrained counterpart.
"I hear you," the What's New Fred agreed.
"This doesn't feel very much like a sci-fi movie now," the Be Cool Daphne noted.
"What is with her anyways?" the SD:MI Daphne asked.
"Lately she's into sci-fi movies," the Be Cool Fred explained. "It's her latest 'Daphne Du Jour', as we call these things."
So, the eight teen/young adult Velmas and the young Daphne each gave Scooby snacks to their respective universe Scooby-Doos and Shaggys, though the young Shaggy decided he didn't want any. After eating all their Scooby snacks in one bite, the young Scooby-Doo began wrapping himself in his arms and making very pleasured moans and "mmmm"s, before spinning around and then taking off into the air like a rocket and then gently floating down into the young Shaggy's arms, sighing contently.
"Roh-kay, I'm ready!" the young Scooby declared.
The rest of the Shaggys couldn't believe what they just saw. Their jaws all dropped open in unison. Then the main Shaggy told the others, "Like, can you believe that young Scooby? His reaction to eating the Scooby Snack was like something out of an old cartoon!"
The other Scoobys all snickered in unison, "Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" They thought it was amusing to watch.
"OK now, Shaggys and Scoobys," the main Fred announced, "I will assign each pair to a certain location of the building for our plan…"
…
Now the main Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were walking down a corridor in the science and technology building together. "Like, I can't believe how this is turning out," he told Scooby. "Everything ends up becoming a mystery! And this time there's no suspects, no looking for clues, no prolonged chase scene, no nothing! Fred just flat-out comes up with a plan to catch the monster, with like, us as the bait once again!"
"Rhat a rorld…" Scooby said, shaking his head in agreement.
"But I do hope the demon spots us first," Shaggy added. "That way, Fred's plan will work out the way it was initially planned!" He did a nervous chuckle.
"Rmmm," Scooby thought, rubbing his whiskered chin. Then he got an idea and called our "Roh rister remon! Rhere are you?!"
That was when the demon creature popped out, with a red scaly head with two black horns on his scalp, reptilian-like bumps running down the back of his head, and a pointed nose and chin. His hands were also the same scaly red, with long black fingernails. Besides that, he was wearing a dark-colored dress shirt and khaki pants, along with a long black hooded cape.
"Over here!" the demon said in an evil, mocking voice.
"RIKES!" Scooby yelped.
"Double yikes! This way, Scoob!" Shaggy cried out, and he and Scooby began running, with the demon chasing after them.
They approached a hallway junction to their left. Shaggy saw it in the distance and cried out, "Like, heeeelllllp!" Then he and Scooby ducked into an empty classroom on the right.
The demon wasn't aware that was actually a signal Shaggy gave. For when the demon approached that junction among losing sight of the main Shaggy and Scooby, who should come out of the junction but the 80s Shaggy and Scooby!
"ZOINKS!" the 80s Shaggy screeched. "I-i-it's the demon!"
The demon gave a puzzled look at first but chased after the 80s Scooby and Shaggy anyways, through the junction down another corridor.
But of course, after a short while of running, the 80s Shaggy and Scooby ducked into another classroom and shut the door, and then the door across from it opened and the young Shaggy and Scooby came tearing out. They saw the demon and jumped up in crazy wild takes with their eyes and mouths enlarging, their tongues sticking out, and Shaggy's hair standing up. "Whoooaaaaaa!" they both yelled and ran away from the demon.
The demon appeared freaked out by the young Shaggy and Scooby-Doo's reactions but chased after them. But this time, when the young Scooby and Shaggy jumped into a utility closet, the demon went in after them and shut the door. But after turning on the light and grinning evilly at the younger duo, he heard knocking on the door and opened it, to find the 90s Scooby-Doo and Shaggy waving nervously at them.
"Huh?" the demon said, and then he turned back into the closet, now unable to find the young Shaggy and Scooby!
Naturally, the 90s Shaggy and Scooby took off, and the demon heard that and ran after them. Once they were gone, the young Shaggy and Scooby popped out of a large cardboard box in the corner of the closet and shook each other's hands in an accomplished manner.
Then the demon chased the 90s Scooby and Shaggy a bit, until the duo entered a men's restroom. Remembering what happened in that closet, the demon just stopped outside the door. But a few seconds after, the What's New Shaggy and Scooby-Doo exited the restroom!
The What's New Shaggy was saying, "Well, at least we get a bathroom bre…" But then he saw the demon and let out a somewhat scratchy "Zoinks!" as he and Scooby shivered with their much louder, loonier teeth chattering sound and Shaggy's hair standing up. They took off down the hall but looking more awkward than the other Scoobys and Shaggys did, as if one were to try it in real life. Regardless, the demon chased them anyway. After they were out of sight, the 90s Scooby and Shaggy quickly left the restroom and took off in the other direction.
They went into another corridor with several classroom doors on the side, and a building exit at the end. The What's New Shaggy and Scooby went into the door on the left closest to them and shut it. But as the demon approached, the door opened, and the Get a Clue Shaggy and Scooby-Doo poked their heads out!
"Like, you looking for us?" the Get a Clue Shaggy squeaked.
The door across from that room opened, and the SD:MI Shaggy and Scooby poked out! "Or us?" the SD:MI Shaggy added.
The door next to the first one opened, and the Be Cool Shaggy and Scooby appeared from it! "Or us?" the Be Cool Shaggy asked.
Then the door across from them opened, and the LEGO Shaggy and Scooby stuck their heads out. "Or us?" the LEGO Shaggy said.
And then the door next to the one the Be Cool Shaggy and Scooby were in opened, and the Guess Who Shaggy and Scooby poked out! "Or us?" the Guess Who Shaggy added.
The demon let out a scared-sounding moan as he recoiled a bit in fear and started running away from that corridor of doors. All the Shaggys and Scoobys went after him.
After some chasing, the main, 80s, young, 90s and What's New Shaggys and Scoobys were blocking the path of the demon, close to the building's main lobby. He tried to turn around but saw the rest of the Shaggys and Scoobys approaching, and they all began to circle him. The demon, looking visibly scared now, kept jerking his head from side to side, and crying out "No… no!"
All the Shaggys and Scoobys backed up a little bit, and from a distance, the main Fred grinned and pulled a cable going up into the ceiling. Sure enough, the ceiling tiles above the demon opened downward and a metal rounded cage descended on a cable and trapped the demon!
"We got him!" the main Fred called out, with the other Freds and the young Velma coming up as well.
"You see?" the SD:MI Fred pointed out. "Had we tried the net, it would've probably fell onto all the Shaggys and Scoobys as well."
"And with multiple versions of me around," the main Fred added, "it made setting up the trap a lot quicker."
"And we all worked together," the 90s Fred said while grinning.
"But not me," the young Fred pointed out. "I'm not really into traps. That's more of Velma's thing." He gestured to the young Velma, who smiled and blushed.
The young Shaggy grinned and said, "Like, that demon is all cooped up! Get it, Scoob?"
The young Scooby smiled and laughed, "Roh yeah! Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" Then he stopped laughing and looked confused. "Ri don't get it."
"Re reither!" the rest of the Scoobys added.
The main Shaggy groaned. "That was, like, such a lame pun, even for my standards!" he said.
…
Shortly afterward, the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang members from their respective universes all gathered around the caged demon, along with Professor Kaufman, two university police officers, and a few members of the press, having arrived for the scoop on Kaufman's multi-dimensional universe sampler invention.
"You all sure acted quickly," one of the police officers exclaimed, "for some prank that just started up a short while ago."
"But it's more than just a prank," the young Velma stated.
"Yeah," the young Shaggy added. "Like, who is this demon really?"
"Exactly," the main Shaggy pointed out. "We haven't had the time to meet any suspects yet!"
The young Fred scoffed. "Really, guys?" he asked. "It's obviously gotta be Red Herring!"
The young Daphne glared at the young Fred and said, "But Red is back in our own universe. He wasn't transported here with the rest of us, remember?"
As the young Fred realized, "Oh yeah, I forgot." The main Fred lowered his face into his hand in embarrassment again.
"Perhaps I can explain," the young Velma started. "During the Scooby Snack bribe and this universe's Fred assigning the Shaggys and Scoobys to their positions for our plan, I took the time to question Professor Kaufman on anyone who might be jealous of his multi-verse invention. He mentioned quite a few others that disliked him, but only one was truly against his invention."
"Like, wow," the young Shaggy said, obviously impressed. "Velma was able to work on the mystery without any clues or meeting any suspects!"
"Ramazing!" agreed the young Scooby.
The young Velma walked up to the What's New Fred, bowed and asked, "May I?"
"By all means," the What's New Fred said as he opened the cage.
The young Velma cleared her throat and announced, "The demon is none other than…" She grabbed the bald scaly scalp of the demon's mask and began stretching it forward a bit. With a stretching sound, the demon's neck crumpled and popped out of his shirt's collar, dripping sweat on the bottom, and then the whole silicone mask came off with a wet slurp, revealing a sweaty male in his late teens, with matted orange hair. "Bill McLemore!" the young Velma concluded.
"Bill McLemore?!" the 90s Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy all cried out in unison.
The other Mystery Inc. members from different universes looked blank. "Who?" the main Velma asked.
"He's a former student of Professor Kaufman," the young Velma explained. "He didn't like Kaufman too much, and though Bill was brilliant, Kaufman had trouble taking him seriously, as Bill is often into crazy, complex theories and fictional creatures and demons and stuff like that."
The 90s Velma said, "We have a Bill McLemore in our own universe, too! And he was also a culprit responsible for one of our mysteries. But he was slightly different from this one."
"Again," the main Velma pointed out, "the realities of each universe vary, with some similarities and some notable differences."
Kaufman gasped. "I knew he vas jealous of my invention… but vhy?" he asked Bill.
"I was hoping you could let me help out with your multi-verse machine," Bill said in a sour voice, as he stretched and pulled his elbow-length scaly demon gloves off, each coming off with a wet pop. "I really wanted to play a significant part in a scientific breakthrough, and I know plenty about the multi-verses! But you wouldn't let me."
Kaufman frowned and said, "I told you, Bill, your theories and explanations vere vay too complicated vith many details. I vas able to condense my findings into a simpler summary and formula zat vould be useful to many other scientists and prodigies, like ze young Velma here." He gestured to the young Velma, who smiled and blushed once again.
The main Daphne chuckled and said, "A good old-fashioned jealousy plot!"
"Wow," the What's New Fred said, bewildered. "Does that young Velma explain the whole mystery and how they figured it out?"
"Pretty much," the young Fred told him.
"Also," Kaufman continued, "I wouldn't take his theories about the other universes being filled with demons and strange creatures seriously."
"I get it!" the main Daphne realized. "Bill was hoping to make it look like that 'demon' had apparently come out of another universe and would make the Professor's invention look bad!"
"Why, that's what I just realized," the young Daphne said.
"Me too!" the What's New Daphne added.
"Me three!" the SD:MI Daphne pointed out.
"But demons like those aren't in sci-fi movies," the Be Cool Daphne said, prompting the other Daphnes to palm their foreheads in annoyance.
As the first cop collected the silicone rubber demon mask and gloves, the other cop cuffed Bill's right arm and said, "You're coming with us to our office. You created a major disturbance with the students and faculty here."
As they started to leave, the What's New Shaggy realized, "Hey, isn't Bill supposed to call us meddling kids before he's taken away?"
"But we're not kids!" the 90s Fred stated.
"Meddling?" the young Daphne asked. "I thought it was supposed to be pesky kids!"
"Really?" the main Shaggy asked. "In your universes, do ALL of the captured villains say something like that every time?"
"Pretty much," the Be Cool Velma replied.
"Except in ours," the 80s Daphne pointed out.
"And ours," the Get a Clue Shaggy added.
Bill growled a bit and then angrily said, "Fine! And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you pesky meddling kids. Happy now?!"
"Ra-hem!" the young Scooby-Do cleared his throat, staring at Bill.
"Oh," Bill frowned, "and your dogs, too. Satisfied?" He stuck his tongue out at the young Scooby.
Much of the Mystery Inc. gangs all sighed blissfully, except for the main, 80s and Get a Clue versions.
…
Back in the laboratory, Professor Kaufman was talking to the main Mystery Inc. gang, with their multi-verse counterparts behind them. The reporters were also still standing behind the Professor.
"I can't thank you kids enough," Kaufman said. "After ze press and I get more information interviewing your multi-verse beings, I vill send zem back to zeir respective universes."
"Like, that'll be a relief," the LEGO Shaggy said.
"Yeah," the young Daphne said. "This seems like an interesting universe, but it's a bit sterile for my tastes."
The Be Cool Fred realized something. "We should have a photo or something taken of all of us gangs together, so we can all remember this really happened," he said. "Each of us gangs can take a copy of the photo back to our own universes!"
"Excellent idea!" Kaufman said, rubbing his hands excitedly. "I vill contact ze university's media department and…"
But the multi-dimensional universe sampler's sudden beeping and shuddering interrupted the Professor.
"Oh no!" all the Shaggys cried out in unison.
"Rot again!" added all the Scooby-Doos.
Professor Kaufman slapped his palm against his forehead again. "I have forgotten to disable the machine's universal scanner and power it down! I can be such a dummkopf sometimes."
Then the chamber stopped shuddering and dinged, and the doors opened. Out of the foggy chamber came yet another Mystery Inc. gang, resembling the main gang but appearing more detailed and three-dimensional. (NOTE: This is how the gang will appear in the CGI animated movie S.C.O.O.B.)
"Rhere are re?" the CGI Scooby asked.
"Like, I don't know," the CGI Shaggy asked, in a voice that was much different from many of the other Shaggys. "But everything looks flatter and bolder, except for those blocky versions of us."
"It's incredible," Kaufman realized. "I guess zere are even more universes out zere than I originally thought, and zat my research may be continuing even further!"
Now all of the Mystery Inc. gangs laughed, making the best of what just happened.
After the laughter died down, the young Shaggy put his left arm around the young Scooby-Doo and said, "Like, multi-verse traveling isn't so bad after all when I'm with my pal, a pup named…"
All of the Scooby-Doos howled "Scooby-dooby-dooooooooo!" in unison and licked their respective Shaggys.
END
SCOOBY-DOO AND THE SCOOBY-VERSE!
The Mystery Incorporated gang was driving in their Mystery Machine, as usual, through a set of woods. It was late afternoon to early evening, but still fairly bright out. (NOTE: The gang is in their classic style and outfits, like in the pre-1980 shows and the direct-to-video movies from this current decade.)
"It sure was nice of Professor Robert Kaufman to invite us to his college laboratory to show us his latest experiment," Daphne exclaimed.
"I can't wait to see it," Velma added. "He says it's going to be a major scientific breakthrough!"
Shaggy realized something. "Like, here's a puzzler," he said. "How come when we get invited to see something like this, we never get exact details until we actually get there?"
"It is pretty unusual," Fred admitted. "But it's always exciting, so seeing it couldn't hurt."
"But it could!" Shaggy pointed out.
"Ryeah!" Scooby nervously agreed, and he and Shaggy huddled each other nervously as their teeth chattered.
"Oh, will you two knock it off?" Velma scolded Shaggy and Scooby. "We've all been through so much together that I thought you'd be used to it by now!"
"Well," Shaggy admitted, "those things still do take us by surprise." Scooby nodded in agreement.
…
Then the gang arrived at the University's science and technology center and met with Professor Kaufman in his office.
"Ah," Kaufman said in his thick German accent. "I'm glad you all made it to see my latest invention."
"Yeah," Shaggy said, "but can we, like, just get to seeing it now without any initial backstories or whatever?"
"Ryeah, rease?" Scooby asked in a pleading position.
"You'll have to excuse Shaggy and Scooby," Fred explained. "They seem a little more aware than usual of what we run into."
Kaufman laughed. "It's OK," he said. "Come vith me to my science lab!"
…
So, Professor Kaufman led the gang into one of the science labs, unlocked the door and let them inside. "Behold," he announced, turning on the lights in the room. "My multi-dimensional universe sampler!"
The invention was a large purple chamber with a small electronic console with monitor attached to its side, and several large multi-colored wires coming from the top of the chamber into the ceiling. The chamber's door had a couple of small round windows.
Shaggy sighed with relief. "Like, it doesn't look like much," he said.
"Rat's a relief," Scooby said, wiping his forehead.
Kaufman turned to the kids and dog. "Have you ever heard of ze multi-verse theory?"
"Of course," Velma said. "According to the theory, there could be an infinite number of universes co-existing alongside ours, on parallel dimension planes."
"Exactly!" Kaufman excited said, rubbing his hands. "And vith this invention, I can meet counterparts of myself from different universes. See for yourself," he said, getting out a photo of himself posing with multiple Professor Kaufmans, each one looking slightly different in a way.
The gang passed around the photo. Velma took a good look at it. "Jinkies!" she exclaimed. "I can tell that this was not made with digital image manipulation or whatever. It's all too true!" She looked up at the Professor. "Professor Kaufman," she told him, "this is amazing!"
"Thank you, dear Velma," Kaufman said. "So far I know it is able to vork vith a single individual, but I vant to see if it vill vork with more than one living being inside ze chamber."
"Like, I knew it," Shaggy moaned. "We're being made test subjects!"
"Roh no!" Scooby said, kneeling down and covering his eyes with his paws as he started to shiver again.
Kaufman laughed. "Don't vorry," he told them. "It's perfectly safe! If an emergency arises, I have a reset button inside and out ze chamber zat makes everything back to ze vay it vas, with everyone and everything in ze proper universes."
Shaggy wiped his forehead and said, "Phew! I call standing next to the reset button in case something goes wrong."
"Excellent!" Kaufman said, excitedly rubbing his hands again. "You may all step into my chamber." He pressed a door on the chamber's console, and the doors opened.
The gang did so. Before the doors closed, Velma said, "I'm so glad we are able to help with this scientific breakthrough, Professor."
"Yes," Kaufman agreed. "And ze press will be here in an hour and a half to do a story about my multi-verse sampler. Now, in each universe, the reality may be different from our own, sometimes only slightly, sometimes quite drastically. After I run zis machine, after you step out, counterparts of you all from various universes vill step out as well."
"Oh boy," Shaggy sarcastically said. "More double trouble!"
"Relax," Kaufman told Shaggy. "It's not vhat you think it may be. Are you all ready?"
"Yes!" Velma, Daphne and Fred all grinned.
Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other, and slowly nodded in agreement.
"It's all settled," Kaufman announced. "Here ve go!" He began pressing a few buttons, and the chamber's doors closed. The chamber began shaking slightly while making whirring and beeping noises. All the while, steam and fog seemed to be building up through the chamber windows as flashes of light were also happening inside. After half a minute, it stopped shaking and dinged, and the doors slid open. The gang walked out, unscathed.
"Like, we're OK!" Shaggy exclaimed. He and Scooby laughed and hugged each other.
"Jeepers," Daphne noted. "Right before we left, it felt like the area behind us was wider and more open." Right after saying that, she turned back and saw a group of silhouettes resembling the gang stepping out of the fog from the chamber. "Guys, look!"
The whole gang turned to see themselves stepping out of the chamber! Although the humans' complexions looked slightly different, Velma's hair was more reddish, Daphne wearing a lavender cargo shirt and matching pants and her hair in a slightly different style with no headband, Shaggy wearing a red shirt and blue pants, and Scooby-Doo with seemingly darker-brown fur. (NOTE: Daphne and Shaggy are based off their counterparts from The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.)
Both Shaggys looked at each other. "Zoinks!" they both exclaimed. "It's us!" Both Scoobys began sniffing each other.
"Incredible," both Velmas said in unison.
Professor Kaufman was delighted. "It vorks perfectly!" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them in delight once again.
But then another version of the Mystery Inc. gang stepped out of the multi-verse chamber! This time, the gang looked much younger and different from the others. Their outfits were similar to what the gang was wearing in this universe, but Fred's shirt had orange bands around the arms; Daphne wore a pink outfit with magenta skirt and scarf, along with a white headband and go-go boots; Velma wore a white shirt with yellow vest and much larger, round eyeglasses with thinner frames; and Shaggy wore a pair of blue jeans with his green shirt. The humans in the gang's hair was all styled slightly differently, with Fred and Daphne's being the most noticeably different. Shaggy lacked a goatee. And Scooby also looked younger and smaller, with larger ears and differently-shaped eyes. (NOTE: This is the younger version of the gang from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.)
"Gee whiz," the main universe Fred stated. "They look much younger than us!"
The young Shaggy looked very surprised. "Like, what happened to us?"
The young Velma took a look at their multi-universe counterparts. "Jinkies," she exclaimed.
"Velma spoke!" the young Daphne said.
"She said 'Jinkies!'" the young Fred added.
"Well, duh!" the main universe Shaggy said, rolling his eyes.
"These are our counterparts from different universes," the young Velma explained to her friends. Then she walked over to the main universe Velma, with her feet skittering quickly as she appeared to glide along the floor and shook her counterpart's hand.
The main universe Velma chuckled. "So far this is kind of cute," she said.
The three Scooby-Doos were sniffing each other. "Rhuh?" they all said in unison, giving Scooby's usual puzzled look.
And there were still more coming out of the fog of the chamber. The next Mystery Inc. gang to step out looked slightly older in age than the main universe gang, and their faces and eyes appeared more highly detailed, except for Shaggy and Scooby, although Shaggy had noticeable sclerae around his eyes. While Shaggy and Velma's outfits appeared mostly the same, save this universe's Velma's skirt appearing more simplified, Fred was wearing a white collared short-sleeved dress shirt and blue jeans and no ascot, and Daphne had on a lavender business jacket and skirt with a green top underneath the jacket, and her hair in a more contemporary style with no headband. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in the early direct-to-video movies by Warner Bros. Animation.)
And another Mystery Inc. gang stepped out. They looked like a hybrid between the previous gang's style and the main universe gang, with detailed faces but not as detailed as the 90s gang, Velma being slimmer and shapelier with her hair slightly ruffled, and Daphne's hair somewhat longer. Fred sported had a white shirt with blue collar and blue pants similar to the main universe Fred, but with a blue stripe in the middle of the shirt, and once again no ascot; Daphne's purple dress somewhat resembled the main universe Daphne's dress but with a robe-like opening in the center and with no green ascot; and Velma's turtleneck sweater looked a bit too large for her due to her slimmer figure, along with a single line down her skirt. Scooby-Doo's eyes also looked a bit smaller, and his ears slightly larger. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in What's New, Scooby-Doo?and related direct-to-video movies.)
"Wow," the main universe Velma exclaimed among seeing her latest universe counterpart step out. "I look hotter in that universe."
The next incarnation of the Mystery Inc. gang to step out of the chamber looked much more different. All their faces and hair appeared more stylized, with Fred, Shaggy and even Scooby-Doo's eyes looking small and like black dots! Besides that, Fred wore a tight white T-shirt with a light blue dress shirt over it along with blue jeans, along with once again lacking an ascot; Shaggy wore an even longer white and blue-green T-shirt and baggy tan cargo pants; and Daphne and Velma's outfits were not that much different from their main universe counterparts, except she also had no ascot, and Velma's glasses had thinner trapezoid-shaped frames. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!)
All the other Shaggys cried out "ZOINKS!" among seeing these versions of Mystery Inc., and their respective Scoobys leaped into the Shaggys' arms, and of course they all shivered in fear.
The main universe Daphne made a displeased sound. "Do we really look like THAT from the universe they came out of?"
The Get a Clue Daphne said, "Do we really look like THAT in other universes?"
And then yet another variation of the Mystery Inc. gang emerged from the foggy chamber. This time they all looked pretty close to the main universe versions, but they looked very slightly angular and stylized, and Daphne had large purple eye pupils and Velma had a couple of maroon bows in her hair. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.)
The Velma with the newly-emerged gang let out a somewhat exasperated sigh. "Did we end up in another dimension again?"
"Precisely," Professor Kaufman told her. "You see…"
But before he could explain, yet another version of the Mystery Inc. gang came out of the multi-verse chamber. Like the Get a Clue universe versions, they also looked very different from the rest. They all appeared taller, with skinnier limbs and more pronounced knees, wider simple eyes, simplified face shapes and hair, and Fred and Shaggy having quite tall chins. Scooby-Doo's face also had a longer, more exaggerated muzzle, with a larger than usual nose. Their outfits, however, remained unchanged from the main universe counterparts, although Velma's glasses were larger and Daphne's dress sleeves were shorter. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!)
"Roh no!" the rest of the Scoobys cried out, still shivering in fear, as the Get a Clue and SD:MI Scoobys leaped into their respective Shaggys' arms.
"This is getting too weird," the rest of the Daphnes all said in unison.
The Be Cool Daphne gasped in delight. "This is just like a science-fiction movie!"
And then another version of the Mystery Inc. gang stepped out of the chamber, rendered as LEGO characters! (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in the LEGO Scooby-Doo specials and direct-to-video movies.)
The main Shaggy chuckled as he set down the main Scooby-Doo. "Like, dig those versions of us, Scoob," he said. "They're like little plastic figures, but life-sized!"
"Yep!" the LEGO Shaggy said, popping off his plastic hair piece and tipping it like a hat before placing it back on.
"That's so cool!" the main Shaggy said, grinning widely.
"Jinkies," the LEGO Velma exclaimed. "We've traveled to a different universe where all our counterparts from different universes have united!"
"Jeepers," the LEGO Daphne added. "They all look so different from the rest of us. More slim and flexible…"
But then yet another Mystery Inc. gang stepped out of the chamber, this time looking even closer to the main universe counterparts but appearing somewhat looser. (NOTE: This is how the gang appeared in Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?)
"How did this happen?" the Velma that just emerged from the chamber asked. "Are we in some kind of virtual reality thing?"
Professor Kaufman stood up on a chair and faced all of the different Mystery Inc. variants. He cleared his throat and began, "May I velcome you to another universe! You see, I have developed and invented a multi-dimensional universe sampler and have brought you all here from many different universes, all co-existing along parallel dimension planes!"
Most of the different gangs turned to face their respective Velmas. Many of the Velmas said in unison, "It could very well be possible."
"Oh, it is!" Kaufman exclaimed. "Each of your groups came from a different universe, and I have united all of you here as part of my experiment. And so far, it's been a grand success!"
"Zoinks!" all the Shaggys except the main one said in unison.
"Ruh-roh!" all the Scoobys except the main one said in unison.
"Jeepers!" all the Daphnes except the main one and the young one said in unison.
"Jinkies!" all the Velmas except the main one said in unison.
"Hold the phone!" the Freds from the SD:MI and Guess Who universes said in unison.
The rest of the Freds except for the main ones gave a blank look for a bit. Then the 90s, What's New, Get a Clue, Be Cool and Lego Freds said in unison "Uhh… let's split up and search for clues?"
"Yeah!" the young Fred added. "Let's split up, gang!" he told the rest of the gang from his universe.
"Oh, Freddy," the young Daphne said, not amused, "how many times do I have to tell you to only say that when we're well into a mystery and splitting up is appropriate?"
"Oh yeah," the young Fred sheepishly grinned. "Sorry."
The main universe Fred and his 80s counterpart couldn't believe it. "Do I really lack such an exclamational catchphrase?" the main Fred said to the 80s Fred.
"Maybe we should start saying 'Hold the phone' as well," the 80s Fred said.
"I like the sound of that," the main Fred said, shaking his 80s counterpart's hand. Then he turned back to the other Freds. "But I don't like how that younger version of me is noticeably less intelligent…"
Sure enough, the young Fred was holding up a magazine labeled The National Exaggerator. "Say," he was starting to tell the rest of his friends, "the National Exaggerator exclaims that the Martians have been working on inter-dimensional technology and finding ways to invade multiple universes! Maybe that professor is really a Martian in disguise!"
The young Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby all put their hands over their eyes in annoyance (though with Scooby, it was his paw.)
"Oh no," Professor Kaufman said. "You are all definitely on Earth, in a different universe! No Martians or anything."
The What's New Fred still gave a blank look. "Uhh, I'm still lost," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "What's all this about multi-verses and dimensions and stuff like that?"
The main universe Fred rolled his eyes. "And that counterpart of me is no better," he said.
"I'm inclined to agree," the Be Cool Fred said, putting his hand to his forehead.
The What's New Daphne heard them. "Oh, don't worry," she told the main Fred. "He's like this all the time. But that still doesn't change my view of him…" She gently wrapped her arms around the What's New Fred's right arm and gave a loving look.
The main Daphne let out a soft gasp and looked at the main Fred. "Could this be a sign?" she told him.
They both observed as the 90s and SD:MI Daphnes were similarly embracing their Freds, but the 80s Daphne was giving a loving look to her Shaggy. The SD:MI Velma saw that and glared at her Shaggy, whom laughed nervously.
This led to the main Daphne and Velma giving the main Shaggy a look, and he also gave a nervous chuckle as well.
The main Scooby-Doo laughed, "Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" and began gesturing blowing kisses. All the other Scoobys saw that and did the same laugh as well. This led to the main Scooby looking at them with another perplexed expression.
"This is so unreal," the main Daphne said. "Look at the different fashions my counterparts have. Really, no headband or ascot on some of them?"
"Oh, come on," the 90s Daphne said, stepping up to the main Daphne. "Your look is too dated and sixties. Get with the times!"
"Look who's talking," the What's New Daphne exclaimed, walking up to them. "That look you have is so five years ago! Headbands are back in, but ascots are still out!"
"Speaking of ascots," the 90s Fred said, walking up to the main Fred, "why are you still wearing that thing?"
"I think it looks nice," the main Fred said, holding it up.
"Likewise," the SD:MI Fred agreed.
"Same here," the Be Cool Fred added.
"I agree," the LEGO Fred grinned.
"Ascots are where it's at," the Guess Who Fred pointed out.
"What's an ascot?" the What's New Fred asked.
The young Daphne sighed as she eyed the What's New Fred. "And I thought the Freddy of my universe was clueless," she said in annoyance. Then she walked up to the three other Daphnes that had been conversing with each other. "But that purple color, ewww! Pink is where it's at!"
The What's New Daphne kneeled down to the young Daphne. "Well, it does fit you," she admitted.
"Oh, you really think so?" the young Daphne asked. "Then I guess the purple look actually suits you pretty well."
The What's New Daphne beamed. "I guess out of all the Daphnes, you and I have the most in common," she told her younger counterpart.
The 80s Daphne joined them. "Dresses and skirts are fine for casual purposes," she said, "but for action, an outfit like mine is more appropriate."
"Ewww, that hair!" the young and What's New Daphnes exclaimed in unison.
The 80s Daphne looked a little hurt by that. The main Daphne saw that, smiled and said, "Don't listen to them. You look perfect."
"I agree, you sure do," the 90s Daphne added.
"Thanks," the 80s Daphne grinned. "You both do too."
The SD:MI, LEGOand Guess Who Daphnes walked up to the main Daphne. "Wow, I'm glad my fashion is also popular in other universes," the SD:MI Daphne exclaimed.
But the Be Cool Daphne just grinned widely and said, "Gee, this feels even more like a sci-fi movie!"
"Oh?" the young Fred said, zipping up to her. "Which sci-fi movie? I've seen almost all of them!"
Of course, this annoyed the young Daphne and Shaggy and the Be Cool Velma and Fred.
The Guess Who Velma still looked baffled. "I still don't believe this," she said. "It has to be a hallucination or something…"
The SD:MI Velma put her hand on the other Velma's arm and told her, "Oh, this is real," with a hint of snarkiness in her voice.
"Yes," the What's New Velma added. "The Professor explained it very clearly."
"Isn't this so exciting?" the 90s Velma asked. "To be part of such a scientific breakthrough, and meet ourselves from different universes?"
"I suppose," the Get a Clue Velma said. "But this is only happening in the particular universe we are in now. When and if we get back into our own respective universes, I don't think anyone else will believe us."
"Exactly," the Guess Who Velma pointed out. "So, this is probably all just a bizarre dream or something." To which the SD:MI Velma reached out and pinched her arm. "Ow!"
"Nope," the SD:MI Velma said. "It's not a dream."
The Be Cool Velma grinned and said, "It's a good thing I already knew about the multi-verse theory before all this, or else I'll be freaking out over how this is happening!"
The main Shaggy walked up to the 80s Shaggy. "Like, I look so strange in red and blue," he said.
"I like it," the 80s Shaggy replied. "I got tired of that old green and maroon look after a while!"
"Eh," the young Shaggy said, "I'm more of a blue jeans kid myself, but green's my favorite shirt color!" He did his distinct laugh, no different from his older counterparts.
"Your shirts are rather plain," the Get a Clue Shaggy exclaimed, walking up to them and speaking in a voice that was startlingly different from all the other Shaggys. "Like, stripes and bagginess are cooler!"
The other Shaggys were not pleased by how he sounded. "Like, what's up with your voice?" the main Shaggy asked. "It doesn't sound right!"
"Excuse me?" the Get a Clue Shaggy said in disbelief. "You're questioning my voice, while that kid version of us has a voice like you older counterparts?" He gestured towards the young Shaggy.
"Hey!" the young Shaggy was offended. "It's a good voice!"
The What's New Shaggy added, "Like, you can't go wrong with consistent voices, you know!" His voice sounded a little tired and weak.
"And you," the main Shaggy said, pointing to the What's New Shaggy, "you sound more like a tired, old version of me! Just how old are you on a scale of 16 to 32?"
"I may also look different from the rest of you," the Be Cool Shaggy pointed out, "but, like, at least I sound the same as most of you!"
"Like, same!" the LEGO Shaggy added.
"Say," the young Fred said. "That weird Shaggy with the pointy hair and striped shirt sounds awfully familiar…"
"Like, what do you mean?" the Get a Clue Shaggy asked him.
"Aha, I thought so!" the young Fred exclaimed. "You're really Red Herring in disguise, and you're behind all of this!" He leaped onto the Get a Clue Shaggy and pulling his hair. "Take off that mask and wig, Red!" he demanded. "You're not fooling me!"
"Ouch!" the Get a Clue Shaggy cried out. "Like, stop!"
"Like, who's Red Herring?" the Be Cool Shaggy asked the SD:MI Shaggy.
"Like, beats me," the SD:MI Shaggy shrugged.
"Like, isn't that just a mystery term for a false clue or suspect?" the What's New Shaggy asked.
"Like, Red Herring is the local bully in our universe," the young Shaggy explained to the other Shaggys. "Freddy usually thinks each ghost or monster we come across is really him in disguise, and most of the time, it isn't!"
As the main Shaggy reached over and separated the young Freddy from the Get a Clue Shaggy, the main Fred told his counterparts from the 80s, Be Cool and Guess Whouniverses, "I can't believe I'm such an airhead in that universe." The three other Freds nodded in agreement.
"Yeah," the Be Cool Fred agreed. "I doubt he takes mysteries as seriously as I do."
But then the SD:MI Fred walked up to them. "So, me and me and et-cetera," he began, "what's your favorite trap to set up?"
"Well," the main Fred said, "you can't go wrong with the classic net!"
"Yeah," the Guess Who Fred agreed. "The net almost never fails."
"Ah, nets are too simple and uninspiring," the SD:MI Fred said. "It just so happens I brought a copy of Traps Illustrated with me. Take a look!" He pulled the magazine out of his pocket and proudly displayed it to them, with its' cover depicting a bikini-clad young woman on a beach setting up a rather elaborate trap.
"Let me see that," the main Fred said, taking the magazine.
"Then me next," the Guess Who Fred added.
"And then me!" the What's New Fred exclaimed. "Traps are something I'm quite good at!"
Even the young Velma was interested. "Jinkies," she exclaimed. "It's amazing how in the other universes, Freddy is the one that devises the traps instead of me!"
"Really?" the young Daphne couldn't believe. "I can't see our Freddy ever coming up with efficient traps or plans to catch the villains!"
And with that, she and the young Velma turned to look at the young Fred, hitting it off with the Be Cool Daphne.
"So, you're also into science fiction movies?" the Be Cool Daphne asked.
"Of course!" the young Fred grinned. "I have a ton of them on VHS!"
"Ohhh!" the Be Cool Daphne exclaimed, but then looked confused. "What's VHS?" she quickly asked.
The What's New Fred answered, "I'll field that! VHS is a type of video where, well… it's like a precursor to DVD, but… they're rectangular shaped…" He was rather clueless on how to explain about VHS tapes.
The Be Cool Daphne giggled. "Hey, you're kind of cute!"
This made the What's New Fred gulp nervously. "Well, I, er…"
Sure enough, the What's New Daphne was glaring at the two. "Fred!" she scolded. "That version of me is basically a female version of you!"
The What's New Fred gave a sheepish smile.
All the Scooby-Doos were looking at each other. The Be Cool Scooby couldn't believe how different the other Scoobys looked from him. "Rhy do you rook so rifferent from re?" he asked the main Scooby. "Ryour eyes are rigger, and your rose is smaller."
"Rat reast rit's rot as rad as rim!" the main Scooby said, gesturing to the Get a Clue Scooby. "Rose eyes are reepy!" He shuddered.
"Who? Re?" the Get a Clue Scooby pointed to himself.
"Rohhh, ryou all ralk a rot!" the What's New Scooby said to the main Scooby and his Be Cool and Guess Who counterparts.
"Rand you ron't?" the SD:MI Scooby countered.
"Wow," the Guess Who Scooby realized. "Rour roices are rostly the same!"
"Rot mine!" the young Scooby pointed out, as his voice was indeed higher and youthful.
"Ryou're a ruppy," the main Scooby explained. "Rat's why!"
The 80s and 90s Scoobys looked at each other. "Rhat about OUR roices?" the 80s Scooby asked. "Re sound rifferent too!"
"Ryeah," the 90s Scooby noted. "Rorer energetic, too! Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!"
Now the young Velma was speaking with Professor Kaufman, who was showing her some documentation about how his multi-dimensional universe sampler worked and its' logic. "Jinkies!" the young Velma exclaimed as she looked at the small print through a magnifying glass.
Kaufman was impressed. "I'm amazed you understand all of this," he told the young Velma. "In your universe, you seem to be more technologically advanced than our universe's Velma!"
All the other Velmas looked somewhat offended by that. The SD:MI and Be Cool Velmas in particularly looked peeved.
"Is it all right if I type out a copy of your documentation, for me and my colleagues back in my universe to use?" the young Velma asked Kaufman.
That made Kaufman smile. "I take it you might want to help out in developing your own multi-verse sampler for your own universe?" he asked. "Then so be it! But make sure you credit me in this universe for coming up with the initial invention and concept."
The young Velma nodded, and she took the case she brought with her, set it facing down on the floor, and opened it up to allow a big, bulky UNIVAC-style computer to pop out, complete with CRT monitor. She immediately began typing away on it.
The What's New Velma couldn't believe her eyes. "You call that a portable computer? Ha! That's impossible in physics and functionality. I have my own laptop computer that only weights a quarter of that thing, and it's equipped with wireless Internet!"
"So?" the main Velma asked. "Wi-Fi is very common nowadays. Virtually all laptops on the market have it. But we don't go around pointing out the obvious…"
But then the multi-verse chamber began beeping and shaking again. "Uh, guys?" the SD:MI Shaggy said, but the others didn't really notice except Professor Kaufman. So Shaggy yelled, "ZOINKS!" That got the others' attention. "Like, the multi-verse thingy is going again!" he pointed out.
Kaufman slapped his forehead. "Silly me," he exclaimed. "I forgot to turn off the universe scanning feature after the last of you arrived."
"Jeepers," the 80s Daphne said. "You mean there's even more of us out there!"
"Could be," Kaufman admitted.
The machine dinged, and then the chamber doors opened, letting more fog out. Emerging from the fog were what looked like the What's New versions of Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc., but they all had red glowing eyes! They started growling in low, monstrous voices.
"ZOINKS! Evil versions of us!" all the other Shaggys except the What's New Shaggy cried out in unison.
"Roh no!" their respective Scooby-Doo cried out, leaping into the Shaggys' arms once again.
But in all of this, the What's New Shaggy and Scooby were unfazed.
"What's with that Shaggy and Scooby? How come they're not scared as usual?" the main Daphne asked.
"Because they're not really evil versions of us," the What's New Velma explained. "This already happened the past Valentine's Day in our universe. It's only singing sensation J.C. Chasez and four Hollywood extras disguised as us in an attempt to frame us."
And with that, the "evil Scooby" stood up on his hind legs, reached up and pulled off his rubber Scooby-Doo mask to reveal it was indeed J.C. Chasez, appearing as he would in the What's New universe. "That's right," he explained. "We were all getting ready to strike at the Lover's Lane in Coolsville when all of a sudden there's this weird flash of light, and we're in this lab with multiple versions of you meddling kids!" As he spoke, the extras peeled off their masks of the human Mystery Inc. members to reveal their true faces; "Daphne" was actually Grey DeLisle-Griffin, "Fred" was Frank Welker, "Velma" was Mindy Cohn, and "Shaggy" was the late Casey Kasem.
"Aw man," the main Shaggy groaned, "why do so many people have to impersonate us?" He slapped his eyes and forehead with his right palm.
"Roh, rother," the main Scooby agreed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
"You're telling me," the What's New Fred moaned. "I wanted to pull their masks off!"
The What's New Daphne gave him a look and reminded him, "You already did, remember?"
"I did?" the What's New Fred asked, looking blank. This caused the main Fred to let out an exasperated sigh and lower his head into his hand.
The Be Cool Scooby wasn't amused by this. "Roften rimitated, never duplicated," he said, gesturing to J.C. in his incredibly lifelike Scooby-Doo suit, who was holding the empty latex mask in one of his paw-gloves.
"Oh my," Professor Kaufman realized. "I guess my invention accidentally picked up a group of people zat vere dressed up as you! I guess I have a few kinks to work out." Then he told J.C. and his group, "You five just step back into ze chamber, and I'll send you back to vhere you belong."
J.C. Chasez and his extras just stepped back into the still-foggy chamber, and the Professor went over to the console, pressed a couple of buttons, and the chamber doors closed, and the machine whirred and beeped again, stopping after a few flashes inside the chamber windows went off.
"There," Kaufman said. "No harm done!"
"It's not entirely your fault," the What's New Velma said as she put a hand on Kaufman's shoulder. "Their masks and suits were TOO good, so good that they fooled your machine."
"Like, even though their eyes were glowing red?" the Be Cool Shaggy asked.
"Zat's beside the point," Kaufman said. "I guess it needs a few more adjustments…"
"Yeah," the main Shaggy agreed. "Otherwise the machine will end up grabbing any Scooby-Doo or Mystery Inc. cosplayer it can find and bringing them here!"
"Mystery Inc?" the young Daphne asked.
"Well, yeah," the main Daphne explained. "That's what we call our mystery-solving group."
"Yeah!" the 90s Mystery Inc. gang replied.
"Yeah!" the What's New gang added.
"Yeah!" the SD:MI gang said.
"Yeah!" the Be Cool gang exclaimed.
"Yeah!" the LEGO gang added.
"Yeah!" the Guess Who gang chimed in.
"Not us," the young Fred claimed. "We call ourselves the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency!"
"The Scooby-Doo Detective Agency?" the main Daphne raised an eyebrow at the young versions of the gang. "That name is a little unfair…"
"Like, yeah," the What's New Shaggy pointed out. "Scoob and I end up just being pushed aside while THEY do all the work." He gestured to the What's New Fred, Daphne and Velma.
The Get a Clue Shaggy added, "And Scoob and I are often away from Fred, Daphne and Velma, living in my rich uncle's mansion and saving the world from a mad supervillain!"
"That sounds like the premise to some cheesy cartoon show," the SD:MI Velma noted.
"Look," the main Velma started. "Like Professor Kaufman said, the reality of each universe varies. Some changes are slight, while some are significant. We're all important in our own ways, no matter which universe we belong to. We are all better off in our own universes for the most part."
"She's right," the main Fred added. "So, let's all agree to disagree, and then…"
That's when they heard screaming in the hallway outside the lab. Professor Kaufman went over to the door and took a peek. "Heiliger Strohsack!" he exclaimed. "A demon-like creature of some kind is terrorizing the place!"
"D-d-d-d-d-demon?!" all the Shaggys reacted in fear, and the Scoobys leaped into their arms and they all began shivering in fear. The What's New Shaggy and Scooby's teeth chattering was much louder than the others.
"Jeepers," the SD:MI Daphne noted. "The way that Shaggy and Scooby shiver is more like something out of a Bunny and Claude cartoon!"
"Oh, puh-leeze!" the young Daphne complained. "There are no such things as demons!"
"Well," the 80s Daphne countered, "we do have actual demons in the universe I came out of."
The 80s Shaggy stammered "P-p-p-perfect. We get transported into another universe ALSO with real demons and ghosts!"
"Well, gang," all the Freds said in unison, "it looks like we've got a mystery on our hands!"
"Wait!" the main Daphne called. "With all of us here, things could get complicated. Why don't we already trap the monster and get it over with?"
"You mean, without splitting up and looking for clues?" the 80s Fred asked.
"I like that idea!" the What's New Fred agreed.
"And I can design the trap!" the SD:MI Fred added.
"Well," the Guess Who Fred pointed out, "I've got a trap that I'm sure will work."
"Wait a minute, Freds!" the main Fred called to grab their attention. "Let's all huddle up. You too, young Velma."
So, all the Fred sans the young Fred, who was still engrossed in his National Exaggerator magazine, huddled up together, and the young Velma joined them. "OK, so there's only going to be one physical trap. Each one of us can go over what trap style we'll use, and we'll have my Daphne and Velma vote with me which trap will work the best. Also, since we have so many Shaggys and Scoobys as well, we can confuse the demon with them, to make sure our trap works."
The main Shaggy heard that. He told all the other Shaggys, "Did you hear that? Like, the Freds once again want to use all of us as the bait to catch the monster, and all the Scoobys!"
"That's right!" all the Freds said in unison.
"We're not going!" the Shaggys all insisted at once.
"Re reither!" all the Scooby-Doos agreed in unison, shaking their heads.
But that was when the Velmas from the main, 80s, 90s, What's New, SD:MI, Be Cool, LEGO and Guess Who universes, along with the young Daphne, all asked in unison, "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"
"Roh-kay!" all the Scoobys said at once, grinning.
The Get a Clue Shaggy said, "Like, Scoob and I have our own Nano-powered Scooby Snacks that give us incredible powers!"
"Roh yeah," the Get a Clue Scooby realized.
Then the Get a Clue Shaggy fumbled through his pockets and realized, "Zoinks! We left them at home, Scoob. We didn't know we'd be transported to another universe."
"Rat's roh-kay, Raggy," the Get a Clue Scooby said, gesturing towards the group of Velmas and the young Daphne.
"But how can we toss the snacks to them?" the main Daphne pointed out.
"You're right," the main Fred realized. He quickly counted the Scoobys under his breath, and announced, "OK, there are ten Scooby-Doos and ten Shaggys each. So, let's have the nine teen-to-young adult Velmas and the kid Daphne feed their own universe's equivalents, standing in front of them."
"Ohhhh!" the young and What's New Freds moaned.
"Why can't we ever come up with good ideas like those?" the young Fred told his equally-scatterbrained counterpart.
"I hear you," the What's New Fred agreed.
"This doesn't feel very much like a sci-fi movie now," the Be Cool Daphne noted.
"What is with her anyways?" the SD:MI Daphne asked.
"Lately she's into sci-fi movies," the Be Cool Fred explained. "It's her latest 'Daphne Du Jour', as we call these things."
So, the eight teen/young adult Velmas and the young Daphne each gave Scooby snacks to their respective universe Scooby-Doos and Shaggys, though the young Shaggy decided he didn't want any. After eating all their Scooby snacks in one bite, the young Scooby-Doo began wrapping himself in his arms and making very pleasured moans and "mmmm"s, before spinning around and then taking off into the air like a rocket and then gently floating down into the young Shaggy's arms, sighing contently.
"Roh-kay, I'm ready!" the young Scooby declared.
The rest of the Shaggys couldn't believe what they just saw. Their jaws all dropped open in unison. Then the main Shaggy told the others, "Like, can you believe that young Scooby? His reaction to eating the Scooby Snack was like something out of an old cartoon!"
The other Scoobys all snickered in unison, "Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" They thought it was amusing to watch.
"OK now, Shaggys and Scoobys," the main Fred announced, "I will assign each pair to a certain location of the building for our plan…"
…
Now the main Shaggy and Scooby-Doo were walking down a corridor in the science and technology building together. "Like, I can't believe how this is turning out," he told Scooby. "Everything ends up becoming a mystery! And this time there's no suspects, no looking for clues, no prolonged chase scene, no nothing! Fred just flat-out comes up with a plan to catch the monster, with like, us as the bait once again!"
"Rhat a rorld…" Scooby said, shaking his head in agreement.
"But I do hope the demon spots us first," Shaggy added. "That way, Fred's plan will work out the way it was initially planned!" He did a nervous chuckle.
"Rmmm," Scooby thought, rubbing his whiskered chin. Then he got an idea and called our "Roh rister remon! Rhere are you?!"
That was when the demon creature popped out, with a red scaly head with two black horns on his scalp, reptilian-like bumps running down the back of his head, and a pointed nose and chin. His hands were also the same scaly red, with long black fingernails. Besides that, he was wearing a dark-colored dress shirt and khaki pants, along with a long black hooded cape.
"Over here!" the demon said in an evil, mocking voice.
"RIKES!" Scooby yelped.
"Double yikes! This way, Scoob!" Shaggy cried out, and he and Scooby began running, with the demon chasing after them.
They approached a hallway junction to their left. Shaggy saw it in the distance and cried out, "Like, heeeelllllp!" Then he and Scooby ducked into an empty classroom on the right.
The demon wasn't aware that was actually a signal Shaggy gave. For when the demon approached that junction among losing sight of the main Shaggy and Scooby, who should come out of the junction but the 80s Shaggy and Scooby!
"ZOINKS!" the 80s Shaggy screeched. "I-i-it's the demon!"
The demon gave a puzzled look at first but chased after the 80s Scooby and Shaggy anyways, through the junction down another corridor.
But of course, after a short while of running, the 80s Shaggy and Scooby ducked into another classroom and shut the door, and then the door across from it opened and the young Shaggy and Scooby came tearing out. They saw the demon and jumped up in crazy wild takes with their eyes and mouths enlarging, their tongues sticking out, and Shaggy's hair standing up. "Whoooaaaaaa!" they both yelled and ran away from the demon.
The demon appeared freaked out by the young Shaggy and Scooby-Doo's reactions but chased after them. But this time, when the young Scooby and Shaggy jumped into a utility closet, the demon went in after them and shut the door. But after turning on the light and grinning evilly at the younger duo, he heard knocking on the door and opened it, to find the 90s Scooby-Doo and Shaggy waving nervously at them.
"Huh?" the demon said, and then he turned back into the closet, now unable to find the young Shaggy and Scooby!
Naturally, the 90s Shaggy and Scooby took off, and the demon heard that and ran after them. Once they were gone, the young Shaggy and Scooby popped out of a large cardboard box in the corner of the closet and shook each other's hands in an accomplished manner.
Then the demon chased the 90s Scooby and Shaggy a bit, until the duo entered a men's restroom. Remembering what happened in that closet, the demon just stopped outside the door. But a few seconds after, the What's New Shaggy and Scooby-Doo exited the restroom!
The What's New Shaggy was saying, "Well, at least we get a bathroom bre…" But then he saw the demon and let out a somewhat scratchy "Zoinks!" as he and Scooby shivered with their much louder, loonier teeth chattering sound and Shaggy's hair standing up. They took off down the hall but looking more awkward than the other Scoobys and Shaggys did, as if one were to try it in real life. Regardless, the demon chased them anyway. After they were out of sight, the 90s Scooby and Shaggy quickly left the restroom and took off in the other direction.
They went into another corridor with several classroom doors on the side, and a building exit at the end. The What's New Shaggy and Scooby went into the door on the left closest to them and shut it. But as the demon approached, the door opened, and the Get a Clue Shaggy and Scooby-Doo poked their heads out!
"Like, you looking for us?" the Get a Clue Shaggy squeaked.
The door across from that room opened, and the SD:MI Shaggy and Scooby poked out! "Or us?" the SD:MI Shaggy added.
The door next to the first one opened, and the Be Cool Shaggy and Scooby appeared from it! "Or us?" the Be Cool Shaggy asked.
Then the door across from them opened, and the LEGO Shaggy and Scooby stuck their heads out. "Or us?" the LEGO Shaggy said.
And then the door next to the one the Be Cool Shaggy and Scooby were in opened, and the Guess Who Shaggy and Scooby poked out! "Or us?" the Guess Who Shaggy added.
The demon let out a scared-sounding moan as he recoiled a bit in fear and started running away from that corridor of doors. All the Shaggys and Scoobys went after him.
After some chasing, the main, 80s, young, 90s and What's New Shaggys and Scoobys were blocking the path of the demon, close to the building's main lobby. He tried to turn around but saw the rest of the Shaggys and Scoobys approaching, and they all began to circle him. The demon, looking visibly scared now, kept jerking his head from side to side, and crying out "No… no!"
All the Shaggys and Scoobys backed up a little bit, and from a distance, the main Fred grinned and pulled a cable going up into the ceiling. Sure enough, the ceiling tiles above the demon opened downward and a metal rounded cage descended on a cable and trapped the demon!
"We got him!" the main Fred called out, with the other Freds and the young Velma coming up as well.
"You see?" the SD:MI Fred pointed out. "Had we tried the net, it would've probably fell onto all the Shaggys and Scoobys as well."
"And with multiple versions of me around," the main Fred added, "it made setting up the trap a lot quicker."
"And we all worked together," the 90s Fred said while grinning.
"But not me," the young Fred pointed out. "I'm not really into traps. That's more of Velma's thing." He gestured to the young Velma, who smiled and blushed.
The young Shaggy grinned and said, "Like, that demon is all cooped up! Get it, Scoob?"
The young Scooby smiled and laughed, "Roh yeah! Ee-HEE-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" Then he stopped laughing and looked confused. "Ri don't get it."
"Re reither!" the rest of the Scoobys added.
The main Shaggy groaned. "That was, like, such a lame pun, even for my standards!" he said.
…
Shortly afterward, the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang members from their respective universes all gathered around the caged demon, along with Professor Kaufman, two university police officers, and a few members of the press, having arrived for the scoop on Kaufman's multi-dimensional universe sampler invention.
"You all sure acted quickly," one of the police officers exclaimed, "for some prank that just started up a short while ago."
"But it's more than just a prank," the young Velma stated.
"Yeah," the young Shaggy added. "Like, who is this demon really?"
"Exactly," the main Shaggy pointed out. "We haven't had the time to meet any suspects yet!"
The young Fred scoffed. "Really, guys?" he asked. "It's obviously gotta be Red Herring!"
The young Daphne glared at the young Fred and said, "But Red is back in our own universe. He wasn't transported here with the rest of us, remember?"
As the young Fred realized, "Oh yeah, I forgot." The main Fred lowered his face into his hand in embarrassment again.
"Perhaps I can explain," the young Velma started. "During the Scooby Snack bribe and this universe's Fred assigning the Shaggys and Scoobys to their positions for our plan, I took the time to question Professor Kaufman on anyone who might be jealous of his multi-verse invention. He mentioned quite a few others that disliked him, but only one was truly against his invention."
"Like, wow," the young Shaggy said, obviously impressed. "Velma was able to work on the mystery without any clues or meeting any suspects!"
"Ramazing!" agreed the young Scooby.
The young Velma walked up to the What's New Fred, bowed and asked, "May I?"
"By all means," the What's New Fred said as he opened the cage.
The young Velma cleared her throat and announced, "The demon is none other than…" She grabbed the bald scaly scalp of the demon's mask and began stretching it forward a bit. With a stretching sound, the demon's neck crumpled and popped out of his shirt's collar, dripping sweat on the bottom, and then the whole silicone mask came off with a wet slurp, revealing a sweaty male in his late teens, with matted orange hair. "Bill McLemore!" the young Velma concluded.
"Bill McLemore?!" the 90s Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy all cried out in unison.
The other Mystery Inc. members from different universes looked blank. "Who?" the main Velma asked.
"He's a former student of Professor Kaufman," the young Velma explained. "He didn't like Kaufman too much, and though Bill was brilliant, Kaufman had trouble taking him seriously, as Bill is often into crazy, complex theories and fictional creatures and demons and stuff like that."
The 90s Velma said, "We have a Bill McLemore in our own universe, too! And he was also a culprit responsible for one of our mysteries. But he was slightly different from this one."
"Again," the main Velma pointed out, "the realities of each universe vary, with some similarities and some notable differences."
Kaufman gasped. "I knew he vas jealous of my invention… but vhy?" he asked Bill.
"I was hoping you could let me help out with your multi-verse machine," Bill said in a sour voice, as he stretched and pulled his elbow-length scaly demon gloves off, each coming off with a wet pop. "I really wanted to play a significant part in a scientific breakthrough, and I know plenty about the multi-verses! But you wouldn't let me."
Kaufman frowned and said, "I told you, Bill, your theories and explanations vere vay too complicated vith many details. I vas able to condense my findings into a simpler summary and formula zat vould be useful to many other scientists and prodigies, like ze young Velma here." He gestured to the young Velma, who smiled and blushed once again.
The main Daphne chuckled and said, "A good old-fashioned jealousy plot!"
"Wow," the What's New Fred said, bewildered. "Does that young Velma explain the whole mystery and how they figured it out?"
"Pretty much," the young Fred told him.
"Also," Kaufman continued, "I wouldn't take his theories about the other universes being filled with demons and strange creatures seriously."
"I get it!" the main Daphne realized. "Bill was hoping to make it look like that 'demon' had apparently come out of another universe and would make the Professor's invention look bad!"
"Why, that's what I just realized," the young Daphne said.
"Me too!" the What's New Daphne added.
"Me three!" the SD:MI Daphne pointed out.
"But demons like those aren't in sci-fi movies," the Be Cool Daphne said, prompting the other Daphnes to palm their foreheads in annoyance.
As the first cop collected the silicone rubber demon mask and gloves, the other cop cuffed Bill's right arm and said, "You're coming with us to our office. You created a major disturbance with the students and faculty here."
As they started to leave, the What's New Shaggy realized, "Hey, isn't Bill supposed to call us meddling kids before he's taken away?"
"But we're not kids!" the 90s Fred stated.
"Meddling?" the young Daphne asked. "I thought it was supposed to be pesky kids!"
"Really?" the main Shaggy asked. "In your universes, do ALL of the captured villains say something like that every time?"
"Pretty much," the Be Cool Velma replied.
"Except in ours," the 80s Daphne pointed out.
"And ours," the Get a Clue Shaggy added.
Bill growled a bit and then angrily said, "Fine! And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you pesky meddling kids. Happy now?!"
"Ra-hem!" the young Scooby-Do cleared his throat, staring at Bill.
"Oh," Bill frowned, "and your dogs, too. Satisfied?" He stuck his tongue out at the young Scooby.
Much of the Mystery Inc. gangs all sighed blissfully, except for the main, 80s and Get a Clue versions.
…
Back in the laboratory, Professor Kaufman was talking to the main Mystery Inc. gang, with their multi-verse counterparts behind them. The reporters were also still standing behind the Professor.
"I can't thank you kids enough," Kaufman said. "After ze press and I get more information interviewing your multi-verse beings, I vill send zem back to zeir respective universes."
"Like, that'll be a relief," the LEGO Shaggy said.
"Yeah," the young Daphne said. "This seems like an interesting universe, but it's a bit sterile for my tastes."
The Be Cool Fred realized something. "We should have a photo or something taken of all of us gangs together, so we can all remember this really happened," he said. "Each of us gangs can take a copy of the photo back to our own universes!"
"Excellent idea!" Kaufman said, rubbing his hands excitedly. "I vill contact ze university's media department and…"
But the multi-dimensional universe sampler's sudden beeping and shuddering interrupted the Professor.
"Oh no!" all the Shaggys cried out in unison.
"Rot again!" added all the Scooby-Doos.
Professor Kaufman slapped his palm against his forehead again. "I have forgotten to disable the machine's universal scanner and power it down! I can be such a dummkopf sometimes."
Then the chamber stopped shuddering and dinged, and the doors opened. Out of the foggy chamber came yet another Mystery Inc. gang, resembling the main gang but appearing more detailed and three-dimensional. (NOTE: This is how the gang will appear in the CGI animated movie S.C.O.O.B.)
"Rhere are re?" the CGI Scooby asked.
"Like, I don't know," the CGI Shaggy asked, in a voice that was much different from many of the other Shaggys. "But everything looks flatter and bolder, except for those blocky versions of us."
"It's incredible," Kaufman realized. "I guess zere are even more universes out zere than I originally thought, and zat my research may be continuing even further!"
Now all of the Mystery Inc. gangs laughed, making the best of what just happened.
After the laughter died down, the young Shaggy put his left arm around the young Scooby-Doo and said, "Like, multi-verse traveling isn't so bad after all when I'm with my pal, a pup named…"
All of the Scooby-Doos howled "Scooby-dooby-dooooooooo!" in unison and licked their respective Shaggys.
END
