Author's note:

Wow. This is it.

Five years ago now, on June 20, 2014, I published the very first chapter of Coast to Coast as a thought experiment. Now, over five years later, here's the conclusion to that story.

I want to thank everyone who read, reviewed and followed this story, gave me feedback, or even simply just favorited it. You all are amazing, and I truly hope you enjoy the final chapter of Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake.

"What do you mean, you're quitting?" Isabel asked in shock.

"I've been thinking about this whole thing while we've been solving our little mystery. I really miss solving mysteries. It's fun chasing real supernatural threats and all, but they're pretty few and far between, and there's a certain thrill I get when solving a mystery that I don't get just chasing after ghouls. It's the uncertainty, then being able to figure out who's behind it and what's causing it that I enjoy. Not just running away from ghosts and never figuring out what the purpose of their haunting is. I enjoyed figuring out why Jonathan Wellington was haunting his old house, but just catching ghosts on camera doesn't give me the same satisfied feeling." Daphne explained.

"You should really think about this, Daphne." Thelma suggested. "Stepping away from your career to go back to mystery-solving is a big step."

"Yeah, dude, we just don't want you to make, like, a mistake, my homie!" Saggy informed.

"I know what I want to do though. I don't feel much of a dedication to my work now that Daniel is my boss. He literally cares about nothing but himself." Daphne stubbornly stated.

"That doesn't mean you have to quit, though." Isabel reminded. "People have bad bosses all the time."

"You don't understand!" Daphne snapped. "I want to go back to solving mysteries. I made a mistake!"

The car grew silent after Daphne's angry outburst. Nobody spoke for several minutes.

"Have you talked to the gang lately? Maybe they'd want to solve mysteries with you." Isabel finally broke the silence.

"I guess…" Daphne muttered, suddenly seeming detached and shy.

"You can always solve a mystery with us!" Dred suggested.

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Daphne suddenly perked up.

"What's wrong between you and the gang?" Thelma inquired.

"Nothing." Daphne gave Thelma a look of frustrated confusion.

"You seemed to be indifferent when I suggested solving a mystery with the gang, but as soon as Dred said you could solve a mystery with them, you got really excited." Isabel mentioned, clearly suspicious of Daphne's motives.

"Maybe you should go talk to your gang first, then if they don't want to, you can solve a mystery with us." Thelma offered.

"Sure, that's cool." Daphne shrugged. In honesty, she didn't really want to talk to her gang. The gang had been fun to hang out with on the few occasions they had solved mysteries together recently, but Daphne wanted a more committed group of people she could solve mysteries with. The gang seemed like they were done with mysteries, and if she was honest with herself, they were probably done with her.

Maybe the fight with Velma was legitimate. Daphne only used them whenever she needed content for her show. It was then that she realized: she actually had been pretty horrible friend to them recently.

As soon as she had unpacked, she walked over to Fred's apartment and pressed the intercom button to buzz in.

"Who you here for?" the familiar grumpy woman snarled.

"Fred Jones. He's on floor 8, apartment 199." Daphne sighed. The sigh was not only because this dispatcher woman was so rude to her, but also because she quite frankly wasn't looking forward to paying Fred a visit. She had always come over with a plan in mind, about what they were going to do and where they were going to solve a mystery...for her show. For her show. Wow, what a horrible friend she had been to them. She didn't know how she was ever going to forgive herself, even if this hairbrained idea of hers somehow did work out in the way she was hoping it would.

As per usual, the lady didn't even reply, she just opened the door, the buzzer making an ear-piercing noise as it unlocked.

Daphne walked up to Fred's apartment on the eighth floor, her mind spinning with every stair she climbed.

She didn't want to even knock on Fred's door when she went up the stairs. She seriously considered just turning around and leaving the building. But, coming all this way, she forced herself to. Plus, she had promised Thelma she would.

Knock knock knock.

The door was quickly answered by Fred, who was wearing a light blue shirt and tan pants.

"Hey Daph! What brings you over here?" Fred asked.

"Umm...hey Fred. I just was wondering if you might want to...uh...hang out." Daphne answered, trying to keep herself from wincing from how stupid she probably sounded at the moment.

"Oh!" Fred seemed genuinely surprised. Most likely because Daphne hadn't asked to just hang out in forever, probably since the gang broke up. "I'm actually on my way over to see Velma in a few minutes. You're welcome to drive over with me and see if she wouldn't mind an extra person for dinner."

"Sure!" Daphne perked up. Maybe Fred and Velma hanging out together meant they were considering getting the old gang back together. She could only hope. Her ever-curious mind couldn't help but inquire further, to dig into why Fred and Velma were hanging out now and if this type of occasion occurred often.

"Alright, be right there as soon as I grab my keys." Fred said, as he unhooked his keys from the wooden key ring holder perched on his counter. The key ring holder was shaped like a key, which Daphne couldn't help but think was perfectly Fred-like. Only Fred would be something that cheesy looking.

"So...um...you and Velma have been hanging out again?" Daphne immediately regretted phrasing it in that stupid way, but there was nothing she could do about her awkwardness now that it had been said.

"Yeah!" Fred replied. "We started getting close again since we visited that haunted hotel together."

Daphne wasn't sure how to think about this. While she was glad they were becoming close friends again, it bothered her that they became close on a vacation that involved her. Why wasn't she included in their reconnected circle of friendship?

Fred sat in the passenger's seat of Daphne's car, as Daphne drove him to Velma's bookstore. The redhead was admittedly pretty anxious to see if Velma would welcome her with open arms, or be a bit cold like she had been in the past.

Fred was the first to get out of the car, and quickly walked over to the other side of the car. Daphne assumed this was so he could get in the bookstore, but instead, he opened the car door for Daphne.

"Uh...thanks...I guess." Daphne raised an eyebrow with lack of understanding.

Why did Fred feel the need to open the car door for her? She could handle herself, after all!

Fred went first into Dinkley's Mystery Books. Daphne thought that Fred might attempt to pull some stupid masculine posturing move and hold the door open for the "helpless" lady, but he didn't.

"Hey Velma!" Fred greeted. "I brought an old friend!"

"Oh...hey Daph." Velma seemed a bit caught off guard.

"I know we were gonna hang out tonight, but did you want to hang out with Daph too?" Fred inquired, before Daphne even got a chance to ask.

"I mean we can, but she's probably busy with her show." Velma replied matter-of-factly.

Daphne felt outraged and humiliated. Why would Velma think she was too busy with her show to hang out? Maybe she had been in the past but...she was just frustrated, and didn't really understand why she was, but still, it was rude for Velma to make that assumption.

"Yep, I am. Sorry guys, I gotta leave!" Daphne snarkily responded, hoping the snark in her tone would come across to Velma.

"Wait Daph...but you just said…" Fred's voice was cut off by Daphne storming out of the bookstore and slamming the door behind her.

She didn't need them. She'd just go over to Shaggy and Scooby's house and ask if they wanted to hang out with her. Screw Velma and her assumptions.

Daphne pulled up to Shaggy's house, driving probably far faster than she should have. She was still trying to work out her anger from Velma's ridiculous assumptions about her. She felt a bit better now, but more because the frustration was replaced with nervousness about if Shaggy and Scooby would want to hang out with her.

She realized couldn't delay any longer. She got out of her car, and fast-walked up to Shaggy's doorstep to avoid any further nervous procrastination.

Daphne's doorbell ringing was promptly answered by none other than her favorite Great Dane.

"Ri Raphne!" Scooby greeted.

"Hi Scooby! Is Shaggy around too?" Daphne asked. It was so good to see Scooby's smiling face. He was always so happy to see everyone. She wished her life could be as cheerful as his always seemed to be.

"Re's in the ritchen!" Scooby answered. "Ri'll ro ret rim."

And with that, Scooby trotted into the kitchen happily to get his owner. Within a few seconds, he had fetched Shaggy.

"Oh, hi Daph. What, like, brings you over here?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to just...I don't know...hang out?" Daphne questioned.

"Oh!" Shaggy started. Why did everyone seem so surprised that she just wanted to casually chill?

"I don't know, Daph. I think I need a little time apart."

Shaggy's words hit Daphne like a boulder. She didn't say anything for several seconds, leading Shaggy to try to explain himself.

"We broke up, and we said it was fine, but...I don't know, I guess I still have feelings for you. We didn't really resolve anything, we just said let's be friends and never really talked about it." Shaggy continued.

Normally, the rational, nurturing person she was, Daphne would have tried to talk things out to make sure everything was good with their friendship. But right now, she was done. Completely done.

"Oh my god, I can't deal with all of this crap right now!" Daphne shouted, as she stormed out the door.

"Raphne? Are rou rokay?" Scooby asked, just as Daphne slammed the door. She immediately felt horrible, especially for not answering poor innocent Scooby, but she just couldn't rationally have a conversation about this with Shaggy right now.

Daphne parked in her driveway in shame. She felt even more like a horrible friend now than she did before. She got out of her car, nearly accidentally hitting Isabel's vehicle with her car door due to her distracted mindset.

"Hey Iz." Daphne said as she opened the front door.

"Hi!" Isabel waved. "How'd it go?"

"Awful." Daphne began to tear up, but tried to hold it back when she noticed Saggy, Thelma, Dred and Sabrina all looking at her. "Oh...you guys are still here?"

"Well, you did take the car, dude." Saggy joked.

Just another thing for Daphne to feel crappy about. She didn't even think about the fact that she had previously offered to drive them home at some point.

"I'm sorry, I'm an idiot." Daphne self-deprecated.

"No you're not, you're just distracted. We were going to stay here the week anyways, while we look into new vehicles to replace the one that someone ruined." Thelma glared at Dred, to which he sheepishly smiled.

"Now, it's therapy human time. Tell us what's wrong so we can help your process through it." Isabel gently offered.

Sabrina let out a meow, as if responding to the green-haired girl's comment.

"Make that therapy human and therapy cat time." Isabel laughed.

"I'll need a minute." Daphne said, still crying.

"That's okay, we'll all quick change into something comfy and just relax together in the living room." Isabel comforted. "Thelma, you can borrow some of my clothes again if you need."

15 or 20 minutes had passed, and Daphne was finally ready to talk.

Daphne had changed into some red shorts and a purple tank top, while Isabel donned a light gray logo t-shirt reading "Mackinac Ski Lodge and Resort." Saggy wore a baggy pair of shorts and red t-shirt, whilst Thelma wore an orange shirt and blue sweatpants. Dred wore a simple white t-shirt and red sweatpants. Saggy, Thelma and Dred all sat on the floor, while Daphne took a gray armchair, and Isabel was sprawled out like a princess on Daphne's tan couch.

"So what's the problem, dude?" Saggy asked.

"All my old friends hate me." Daphne sniffled. "I acted like a complete bitch."

"I seem to recall a similar conversation happening yesterday." Isabel raised an eyebrow.

"That was different though. I've been acting like a jerk for months, and I don't know what I can do to make them like me again." Daphne whined.

"It seems to me that you considering quitting the show isn't just about solving mysteries." Thelma deducted. "It's about you missing your old friends, and wanting things to go back to how they were."

"So what if it is?" Daphne snapped back. She hadn't quite realized her subconscious motivations, but it certainly felt like something she wanted when Thelma suggested it.

"It's important to make sure you have your priorities straight, and that you understand yourself." Isabel advised. "Having a close group of friends that make you feel good is important, but you can't solely rely on other people for your own happiness. Plus, everyone brings something different to a group. It's not the group dynamic that makes things so special, but the little pieces everyone brings to it. That's what makes it a gang."

That was honestly a good reminder for Daphne.

"I thought what makes it a gang is all the drug-selling and murder?" Dred replied, to which everyone gave him a dirty look.

"Thanks guys. That really helps, honestly." she smiled.

"Maybe you could try out solving a mystery with us, tomorrow morning?" Thelma offered.

"Sure. Not like I have anything else going on." Daphne shrugged. "I'm not scheduled to go into work until the afternoon tomorrow."

"Awesome!" Thelma affirmed.

"You'll be solving the biggest, most difficult unsolved mystery we've faced." Dred became stone-faced with seriousness.

Daphne looked intrigued, before Thelma spoke again.

"Don't listen to him. This "terrifying" unsolved mystery he's talking about is the Polite Ghost." Thelma sighed.

"I mean...I guess a mystery is a mystery." Daphne laughed.

"So just where exactly are we going?" Daphne inquired.

"To the belly of the beast." Dred replied in an ominous voice.

Thelma rolled her eyes once again. "We saw the Polite Ghost on the way up to Jonathan Wellington's house go into a spooky old abandoned house at the edge of town. We were thinking of going back there to look for clues."

"Okay, just give me directions and I'll drive you there." Daphne informed.

"Just drive over to Dixie Queen Street then turn to the right." Thelma instructed.

"Oh, that's easy. You mean the old Conway place?" Daphne remembered.

"That's the one." Thelma confirmed.

"I didn't realize it was haunted." Daphne stated with surprise.

"It wasn't until the Polite Ghost showed up, my dude!" Saggy pointed out.

"Fair point." Daphne laughed.

"Man, this place is spooky, homies!" Saggy said, as the foursome entered the house.

The house was covered in cobwebs, creaky floorboards, and most of all: emptiness. There wasn't a piece of furniture even in the house; it was simply just tile floors and empty walls with loose nails hanging precariously where pictures were likely mounted.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Thelma called.

All of a sudden, Daphne tripped something on the ground and let out a yelp.

"Was that someone, dude?" Saggy whispered, apparently not noticing that the noise came from Daphne.

"No, that was just me." Daphne said. "I tripped over this thing on the ground."

She picked it up, and let out an ear-piercing scream. It was the top row of someone's teeth.

"Oh my god! It's someone's jaw!" Dred yelled.

"Wait a second." To everyone's horror, Thelma picked up the supposed detached jaw. "These are fake teeth. Like the kind you see on dentures."

"Thank god." Daphne breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, what's that over in the corner, dudes?" Saggy pointed towards a small bottle of some sort.

Daphne walked over to examine the strange bottle, to find it labeled "joint."

"It says joint." Daphne verbalized.

"Ayy, finally a cool clue!" Saggy smirked.

"Not that kind of joint, Saggy." Daphne rolled her eyes. "I think this is a bottle for pills to help your joints."

"How rude of you to come in without knocking!" the terrifying Polite Ghost rasped with his detached jaw and giant pointy teeth, as he began chasing them. "It would be most pleasant if you left at your earliest convenience!"

Still holding the pill bottle, Daphne dropped it on the ground in fright. Very luckily, the bottle landed right under the Polite Ghost's feet.

"Please leave! I was hoping for some me time tonight…" the ghost began, before he tripped over the pill bottle on the ground and fell to the floor.

"Hey look dude! You trapped the Polite Ghost!" Saggy congratulated.

"Now let's see who this really is…" Daphne pulled the mask of the very strange apparition, to reveal a decrepit old man. "Who is this?"

"Oh my Papa John! It's my grandpa, Jed!" Dred exclaimed. "But why Grandpa?"

"You young whipper-snappers have no manners anymore! You came to my nursing home room a few weeks ago and trashed the place with your clumsiness, and then just left without saying goodbye! I wanted to teach you a lesson in etiquette!" Jed explained.

"I'm sorry, grandpa." Dred hung his head in shame.

"It's okay, you crazy whipper-snapper. Now how's about we do some fishin'?" Jed offered.

"Nah, let's just get you back to the nursing home." Dred turned down.

"But, I don't like anyone there! I don't wanna go back! The whole place smells like old people!" Jed complained.

"Aww, I love you too grandpa." Dred said, as he escorted his grandpa to the car.

Daphne drove into work, pulling around to the back parking lot that she usually parked in. The mystery solving outing with Saggy, Dred and Thelma only confirmed her thoughts. She wanted to solve mysteries, and she was tired of being a TV host. She couldn't help but feel that nobody really appreciated her, in her opinion. As she strongly considered walking into work and announcing her resignation, she couldn't help but remember all the memories that happened at this TV station.

Fred handing the TV station over to an African prince. Nearly getting crushed by a spotlight. Being in a Christmas play. Heck, she was kidnapped and brought to this TV station by her captors.

It had most certainly been a wild ride, but that wild ride was about to come to a screeching halt.

Once she got in the building, she was even more sure of what she was going to do. She wanted her old life back, and she was going to get it back.

To get to Daniel's office, she had to walk past Isabel's first. Surely she would ask about Daphne's intentions, and try to talk her out of it. But it didn't matter, because she had made her mind up.

A familiar chirping voice greeted her as she walked past Isabel's office.

"Hey, Daph! How was the mystery solving outing?" she smiled.

"Wonderful. And that's why I'm announcing my resignation here." Daphne tried to make seem she was completely confident in what she was going to do and inconvincible of anything else.

"I mean, if that's what makes you happy." Isabel shrugged.

"It doesn't matter. No one even cares about the show anymore anyway. From what I've heard, the ratings have been plummeting, and I doubt people are even watching." Daphne sighed. She immediately felt bad for saying that, as the normally perky Isabel had a very depressed and saddened look on her face.

"I'm really sorry you think that, Daph. Look on the bright side...uh...at least it's your birthday this weekend." Isabel looked for things to cheer her friend up.

Daphne was so caught up in herself, she almost had forgotten her own birthday.

"Yeah...um...I'm gonna go talk to Daniel now." she tried to end the awkward conversation.

"Okay. Good luck!" Isabel wished, though a bit of sadness for her friend was apparent on her face.

Daphne let out a loud sigh as she walked off, which she in hindsight hoped Isabel hadn't heard. She just wanted to get this over with and be on with her life. Her new life.

Feeling very self-conscious, Daphne began walking to Daniel's office, only to find him standing out in the hallway halfway there. As if Daniel himself was a strange enough person, he also had a large gorilla patiently sitting by his side.

"Hi Daniel." Daphne said, with a bit of urgency in her voice. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh, gnarly dude! What do you need?" Daniel responded.

"I've made the hard decision to move on to other opportunities in my life. I'm officially announcing my resignation."

Any other boss probably would have wanted to have a lengthy conversation about why their employee was so suddenly leaving without much notice, but being Daniel, he just said: "Aww, that's too bad, man."

"Oh...okay." Daphne didn't expect such an informal response, though she probably should have given who she was talking to. "Umm...how soon do I need to clean out my office?"

"I don't care, man. Friday?" he randomly selected.

"I can have everything out by Friday. I'll meet you in your office to give you my office keys. Sound good?"

"Sounds wicked, man." he nodded his head vigorously. "Hey, have you met our new company mascot yet?"

"I presume that's the random gorilla standing right next to you?" Daphne pointed to the gorilla, who was very patiently waiting next to Daniel.

"Like yeah, dude! He's trained by professionals. I'd like you to meet the Slam Dunk Ape."

"S-S-S-S-SLAM DUNK!" the ape shouted, as he picked up a basketball and ran down the hall to a nearby basketball hoop. The ape leaped in the air and grabbed onto the basket, throwing the basketball in the hoop, as the basket broke off due to the ape's immense weight. The glass now shattered all over the floor.

"I think he's hurt!" Daphne pointed out, as the ape began limping back towards Daniel with a small piece of glass in his paw.

"Ah damn it. That's the third ape that's done that this week! C'mon SD3, let's get you to the ape-ulance." Daniel said, as he held the limping ape's paw before walking away.

Daphne had no idea if that was some sort of real vehicle they were going to, or just a stupid pun. Regardless, Daphne felt defeated now. She had officially quit her job, and even though that's what she wanted, she still felt like a failure. She didn't really have anyone to solve mysteries with, now that she thought about it. Maybe Saggy, Thelma, Dred and Sabrina would hang out with her for a while, but eventually, they'd get tired of her or she'd feel like a fifth wheel.

She was truly alone.

She couldn't believe it was Friday. Not in a "wow, the week went so fast" type way, but rather the opposite. The week just dragged on and took forever. It felt like Friday would never come.

Daphne walked into ZPOP Studios for what would probably be the last time, and took a big sigh as she walked into the hallway. Soon, she would have to walk through the recording studio area...where she had filmed all the episodes of the show...all the episodes that had flopped. She hadn't even bothered to produce the last one about Jonathan Wellington, as no one would really care anyways. She doubted anyone would even remember the show's impact in a few months.

This would be the last time she would ever have to see that damn recording studio in her life, thank god. She took a deep breath, as she paused for a moment before walking into the recording studio. This was an emotional and turning point moment for her. There was no turning back now.

"SURPRISE!" a large group of people yelled, as the lights flipped on.

"Wh-wh-what?" Daphne looked utterly confused. All at once, she saw a sea of faces she recognized from both recent interactions and past adventures. The first face she saw was Isabel, who was standing next to Annette, Zoe, Ruby and Felix, some of her coworkers from the station. Those four had been in the Christmas Carol play with her this past December.

"Happy birthday Daph!" Isabel chirped.

"I'm...speechless." Daphne said in awe. "Why did you do all this for me, when I've been acting like such a downer lately?"

"That's exactly why we did it for you, silly!" Isabel informed.

"Isabel told us about how you've been down on yourself lately, and she coordinated all this last minute." Zoe explained.

"Yeah, she made a bunch of calls, and got a ton of people from your show to come out for one last big celebration." Ruby said.

"A celebration of YOU, and all the amazing work you've done with your show." Annette continued.

Daphne fought the urge to break down into tears...tears of happiness. She didn't realize so many people actually cared about what she was doing.

"So walk around, and talk with some of your old friends." Felix suggested. "Isabel went all out to make sure you had an awesome birthday party."

"Thank you, Iz!" Daphne beamed, as she embraced her friend in a huge hug.

"Of course, bud." she hugged back.

Daphne was admittedly very eager to see everyone Isabel had invited. Surely it couldn't be that many people, right?

"Daphne!" a familiar voice called out.

"Jenkins?" she uttered with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Ms. Isabel informed me you were thinking of quitting, and I wanted to come down to pay my respects. You did a great thing, restoring that cemetery and honoring Jonathan's memory." Jenkins reminded. "What you did was selfless, not selfish. Never forget that."

"Thanks, Jenkins!" Daphne smiled, as she saw her coworker Nick. "Hey Nick!"

"Happy birthday, Daphne!" Nick said. "Now, what's this Isabel told me that you were down on yourself for not having a big impact?"

"I really haven't, though." Daphne frowned. "All I do is go and capture things on camera, that may or may not be real ghosts, and then never actually figure out why they're haunting. What good is that doing anyone?"

Nick laughed playfully. "I believe it's called entertainment. And besides, you stopped a huge crime boss...well, your old boss actually...Jim Sands from committing illegal acts. Stop being so hard on yourself, Daph. Life is just an adventure, and we have to find the things that make us happy. And you're making other people happy along the way, by entertaining them."

Daphne lightened up a little bit with Nick's reassuring comments.

"Hey, man. And hey, other man." Daniel came up to Nick and Daphne. "I want you both to meet Slam Dunk Ape the Fourth. This one's even trained to play the guitar!"

Daniel let out a loud whistle, and a large brown ape came trotting out from the other room holding a large electric guitar.

"S-S-S-S-SLAM DUNK!" the ape shouted, as he ran down the hall and leaped in the air onto the rim of the basketball hoop. Now hanging from the rim, the ape dunked the guitar through the basket. The ape then landed on the ground and caught the falling guitar, and began playing a very cool-sounding electric guitar solo.

"Woah dude, that's badass!" Daniel exclaimed.

"I better go watch Daniel and his new pet before they wreck the whole place." Nick laughed.

Daphne couldn't help but giggle at Daniel's ridiculous antics.

Who she saw next, she never thought she'd see again in her life.

"Oh my GOD." Daphne shouted. It was Agent Ethan Gorr, the man who had saved her life on her trip to Transylvania.

"Hi Daphne. Your friend sure is persistent. She called me five times until I picked up, and demanded I come to this party."

"I never thought I'd see you again!" Daphne was nearly lost for words.

"I don't really know you particularly well, but all I can give is my advice. Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars." Ethan advised. "What I've found in my adventures is that your identity constantly changes, and there's no such thing as a static version of you. You're always gonna change, and you're always gonna have new interests. Just try to make sure you care for yourself, and live out your full life while you try to understand yourself better."

"Thanks so much, Ethan." Daphne said, as she embraced him in a hug. He hugged back, though it was nearly too tight for Daphne's liking.

"It's jolly good to see you again!" Lorde Sumley greeted as he came up to Daphne.

"Lorde! Great to see you here." Daphne brightened up.

"Now, Isabel was telling me that you've been worried that your show hasn't created a big enough impact. I must say, that your show had a huge impact on my life. Countless TV reporters and news people tried to make a mockery out of the ghosts in my home, and your documentary has made that far better. Of course, not just one person can change everyone's opinion on thinking all ghosts are evil, but your little episode changed a lot of people's opinions. The constant pestering from paranormal investigators and such has been far lessened now. Thanks to you, we're one step closer to completely abolishing apparitionism!" Sumley grinned with happiness.

"Thanks, Lorde. Gosh, you all are so kind. I don't know what to say." Daphne stuttered a bit.

"Nothing to say, other than that you should keep doing amazing work, in whatever form that happens to bring you enjoyment." Sumley advised.

"Thank you, Lorde! I'll never forget that." Daphne promised.

"Excuse me...pardon me." another familiar voice pushed through the crowd. It was Lisa Vanoff, her friend that owned the vampire-infested hotel. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have to leave soon, and I wanted to say hello."

"Oh, no problem. So glad you could make it!" Daphne hugged her friend.

"N-n-no problem. I won't forget what you did for me, both with the whole gang and by yourself. You were a big help to me both times." Lisa thanked. "Well...I need to get going. Good luck!"

So far, of the interactions she had with her old friends, this was the only one she felt a bit awkward during. But Lisa was always like that, due to her tragic traumatic upbringing, so Daphne didn't take it too personally.

"I'm afraid I must get going as well. I told Charles I'd be back by sundown." Sumley informed.

"That's okay. I'm just happy I got to see you again!" Daphne exclaimed, as she offered another hug to Sumley, which he reciprocated.

Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne saw probably the one person from her past that she didn't really care to see again: Mr. Messner, from her old middle school.

"Hello Daphne. It's been a whole 7,884,598 seconds since I last saw you!" Mr. Messner greeted.

"Yeah, but who's counting?" Daphne giggled awkwardly.

"I am! Did you not notice?" Mr. Messner replied in a very serious and angry tone.

"Uh...yeah…" Daphne stuttered, not sure what else to say to this strange man. "How's your new wife Riley?"

"Oh, Riley and I divorced a while ago." Mr. Messner said, referring to his pink unicorn stuffed animal. "We weren't a good fit. But I've learned not to apologize for who I am, because I am a unique individual who deserves to take up space in this universe. I have to be who I really am inside."

"That's really insightful, Mr. Messner. Thank you!" Daphne replied, surprised about how good and logical Mr. Messner's advice was.

"And who I really am inside is a raging narcissist who displays an extreme lack of respect of others!" Mr. Messner matter-of-factly revealed.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a piece of cake." Mr. Messner said, as he walked over to the dessert table next to Lorde Sumley, who was a somewhat bulkier individual. "I think we've had enough cake for today, haven't we tubby?" he said as he shoved Sumley out of the way so he could get his piece first.

Well, if anything, Mr. Messner was certainly right about him being a raging disrespectful narcissist inside.

With all those people showing up, Daphne wondered who she would run into next. She quickly realized that the people were all too familiar.

"Whassup my dude?" Saggy greeted.

"Hey, Daph! We hope you're feeling better." Thelma smiled.

"This is a bitchin' bash, guys! Where's the birthday strippers?" Dred inappropriately asked.

"There aren't any, Dred." Thelma sighed.

"What kinda parties do you go to, my dude?" Saggy inquired.

"Embarrassing ones." Dred began giggling uncontrollably, as Daphne felt a rubbing up against her leg.

"Hi Sabrina! Who's a pretty kitty?" Daphne asked the cat, as it meowed back at her.

"Daphne! It's good to see you again!" one more familiar man exclaimed.

"Oh my god, Saggy, it's him!" Dred pointed in awe.

"Yep, Joe Momma's here, Dred!" Saggy laughed.

"Hahaha!" Dred laughed. "JOE Momma's not though. She's tired out from all the smoochin' we were doing last night!"

"Please sir, not everyone's parents are kind!" Joe pleaded. "So your friend Isabel told me you're considering quitting ghost chasing?"

"With the real ones, at least. Maybe you understand what I'm saying, hosting the Mystery Weekend at all, but there's something satisfying I've missed about solving a good mystery."

Daphne explained.

"Of course I understand, but it doesn't matter what I think." Joe sympathized. "But it's not about what I want, or any other person. It's about what you want, and what makes you happy."

"Thanks, Joe. That's awesome advice and I can't thank you enough for it." Daphne smiled, as she hugged Joe.

As they separated their bodies from the hug, Daphne couldn't help but stare at who just came in. It was the gang. Her gang. And they were walking over in her direction.

Daphne quickly said her goodbyes to Joe and anticipated their coming over to talk to her. What would they say? Right now, nothing else and no one else mattered very much.

Any minute, Daphne expected to hear a familiar voice greeting her.

"Hey Daphne!" a nasally voice greeted.

This most certainly wasn't who she expected.

"Don Knotts?" she raised a confused eyebrow.

"You guys said you'd come back and see me in Juneberry, and you never did!" Don accused.

"I'm sorry, Don. It's been busy for me lately." Daphne elaborated.

"Okay, but y'all come back down soon and we'll have bananas and chocolate custard down at the jailhouse, okay?" Don pressured.

"Sure...um...thanks, Don." Daphne agreed.

"Alright, and remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do. And there's a lot I wouldn't do." Don's expression turned serious.

Finally, she saw who she was expecting to.

"Hey, Daph." Velma waved. "Look, about earlier…"

"I'm really sorry, guys. I acted like a complete bitch to you all and I shouldn't have." Daphne apologized.

"Actually, there's no need for an apology." Fred counteracted. "Your friend Isabel explained to us how you've been feeling about us. She said you wouldn't be brave enough to, but it puts things in perspective a lot better for us."

"She...she did?" Daphne perked up. "What did she say?"

"She just, like told us how you've been missing the old gang, but have been too afraid and ashamed to tell us about it." Shaggy elaborated.

"I'd be happier for us to get closer again. Maybe we could solve a mystery together tomorrow?" Velma extended the offer.

"I...I don't know what to say." Daphne broke down in tears. She had worked herself up so much, and for seemingly nothing. "You're saying you want to get back together again, as a gang?"

"Well, that's one thing we wanted to talk with you about." Velma said, causing Daphne's heart to sink a little. "You've been pretty focused on your show, and you seem to like to hang out with us in a formal context. We all talked, and we were thinking we could just start off hanging out informally. Like friends would."

"Yeah, like we shouldn't force ourselves to be close again." Shaggy backtracked. "Let's just hang out again and do what we love: like, solving some mysteries!"

"Reah!" Scooby wagged his tail.

All of a sudden, Sabrina wandered over and rubbed up against Daphne once again.

"Rats….rrrrr." Scooby growled.

"No, Scooby! Don't you remember what happened on Moonscar Island?" Shaggy reminded. "Besides, you got along with those cats pretty well at the end of our trip. Not all cats are bad."

"Roh reah...rehehehe." Scooby giggled.

"I couldn't ask for better friends than you guys." Daphne beamed. "Group hug?"

Everyone motioned into a group, embracing one another with great affection.

"Like voinks, it's really all of them!" Saggy pointed at the other mystery solving group.

"Zinkies! You're our heroes! We based our whole group off of you!" Thelma exclaimed.

"Wow!" Velma was a bit taken aback. "Nice to meet you all. What are your names?"

"I'm Thelma."

"I'm Dred."

"And I'm Saggy."

"Like, Saggy?" Shaggy laughed. "That's, like, not the most opportune name."

"Saggy? Rehehehe." Scooby giggled.

"You know it, dudes!" Saggy took the teasing in good humor.

"Guys, I've got a lead on that mob boss, Papa John!" Dred announced.

"I'm not that stupid!" Fred rolled his eyes. "This is clearly some sort of bad impression of me."

"Attention, attention everyone!" Isabel called. "I have an announcement to make."

"Wow, that's your friend Isabel?" Fred asked, to which Daphne nodded. "She's hot!"

"Freddie!" Daphne scolded.

"What? She is!" Fred looked a bit embarrassed.

"Looks like you made some good new friends, Daphne." Velma said, as Isabel made her announcement.

"So earlier this week, as you know, Daphne announced she was going to quit Coast to Coast with Daphne Blake. I don't know if you've heard, but she has another unreleased episode, and I want to give her the chance to produce it."

Daphne smiled, but wondered how Isabel had convinced Daniel to allow her to do so, after she had quit so abruptly.

"And I'm saying that as the new owner of this TV station. Daniel's taken another position as a camp owner." Isabel revealed.

"Yeah, bruh, I'm the new owner of Camp Rock. Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers are gonna be camping there this year!" Daniel beamed with excitement.

"Uh, isn't that like just a movie?" Shaggy pointed out.

"You also may know that Daphne is a bit uncertain about what opportunities she'd like to pursue at the moment. That's why my first duty as owner will be to give her the temporary Office Coordinator job, to give her a little time to figure herself out." Isabel smiled.

Everyone began clapping vigorously.

Daphne was blushing with happiness. She certainly didn't feel like she deserved all this, but apparently her amazingly supportive friends did. She didn't know how to even begin to think about repaying them for their incredible generosity.

After things began to quickly quiet down a bit, Shaggy pulled Daphne aside by tapping her on the shoulder when her conversations with all the guests had abated.

"Hey...um, like, I'd love to talk about what happened between us, if you don't mind." Shaggy stated awkwardly.

"Sure, that's fine." Daphne reluctantly agreed. She thought everything was good now. Was she going to go over to Shaggy's house, and get told off for being a horrible girlfriend to him during the time they were dating? "I just have to run over to my house first and change."

"No problem, Daph." Shaggy said.

Daphne was sure she was probably was overreacting, but what was it she sensed in Shaggy's voice? Sadness? Angst? Disdain?

Either way, she didn't like it and worried about their talk tonight. Would this be the end of their friendship as they knew it?

Daphne returned to her house quickly before going over to Shaggy's.

With all the hubbub from the party, she almost forgot again that Dred, Saggy, Thelma and Isabel were staying with her still. She was reminded of this by Isabel, who had a new hair color once again. Her hair was now a dark, gothic shade of black. Her new hairstyle made her appear very pretty and cute, while also a bit badass and tough girlish.

"Oh, Isabel. Thank you so much! I don't know how to thank you!" Daphne embraced Isabel with a big hug.

"No need. That's what friends do!" Isabel hugged back. "I have a gift for you by the way."

Isabel held up a present covered in pink wrapping paper, which Daphne quickly disposed of by ripping it off. "Oh my gosh, it's Bea!"

It was the blanket that Daphne so adored. "Oh, I missed you sweetie!" Daphne cooed as she affectionately rubbed the blanket on her face.

"She's all yours, officially now. I'm giving you her as a present now that I own the studio." Isabel gifted.

"I'm so lucky to have a friend like you. So are you gonna be a mean boss?" Daphne teased.

"Yes. I will be your worst nightmare. Just constant antagonism." Isabel scowled playfully.

"I'm gonna go over to talk with Shaggy." Daphne said.

"Okay. See you later, bitch!" Isabel said in a very sassy tone, causing Daphne's jaw to drop.

"Kidding! Love you forever, bestie!" Isabel's voice squeaked with excitement.

"Love you too." Daphne affectioned back.

Shaggy opened his front door once again, to his ex-girlfriend.

"Shaggy, I've been thinking." Daphne began.

"Like, yeah?" Shaggy replied understandingly.

"You're right that I called off our relationship too soon. I was just worried that my motivations for liking you were because I was being irrational about missing the gang." Daphne explained. "I don't think they are though."

Shaggy quickly perked up at Daphne's statement.

"I've thought about you a lot...I…." Daphne struggled to say the right words. "I miss you."

"Like, I missed you too, Daph. Do you wanna…" Shaggy started. "Uh...like, I'm never good at these romantic things. Do you, like, wanna be boyfriend and girlfriend again? Just to try it and see if it works out?"

"I'd love that." Daphne smiled.

"Like, I think Fred will be jealous though." Shaggy laughed.

"Oh, you've noticed he seems to like me too?" Daphne burst out laughing.

"Yeah, it's, like, kinda hard not to."

"We don't have to talk about it with the rest of the gang just yet." Daphne informed.

"Uh...like we've got an early morning solving that mystery tomorrow with the rest of the gang, and Scoob's already in bed...so, I should probably…" Shaggy was cut off by Daphne's request.

"Maybe we could celebrate with a little cuddle?" Daphne offered.

"Like, yeah! Are you saying…?" Shaggy asked.

"Saying what?"

"Do you wanna just stay over here? You don't have to drive all that way back." Shaggy requested.

Daphne just smiled, and nodded.

The sun's rays alerted her it was already morning, and boy, did Daphne not want to get up today. She was enjoying basking in the glory of Shaggy's warmth far too much.

Shaggy made the decision for her, however.

"Like, zoinks! The gang will be over any minute." Shaggy jumped out of bed, as he glanced at the clock which read that it was 9am.

As if on cue, the two of them heard a knock on the door. The bedroom door, oddly.

"Hey Shag? Are you ready?" Fred inquired. "Scooby let us in."

"Yeah, like just a minute. We have to get dressed." Shaggy shouted back from behind the closed door.

"We?" Daphne and Shaggy could hear Velma and Fred say simultaneously.

Shaggy opened the door and came out, holding Daphne's hand.

"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed.

"Did you guys, like, have…?" Fred was cut off by Daphne, knowing the question he was going to ask.

"That's none of your business." Daphne snapped. It didn't really matter if they were intimate together or not. That was purely their business and nobody else's.

Scooby came happily trotting into the hallway, where his friends stood.

"Come on, guys, let's get going." Daphne instructed. "I've got some Scooby Snacks in the car that I've been saving for a long time."

The gang all followed Daphne out to the Mystery Machine, which admittedly the redhead was a bit surprised to see. She supposed it was only appropriate for them to drive it given they were solving a mystery.

"Okay gang, so I heard there's a nearby museum being haunted by some creepy mummies!" Velma informed.

"Sounds like another mystery to me!" Fred jovially replied.

"Well, let's, go and check the place out then!" Velma suggested.

Daphne already felt the positive energy coming from the gang's interactions. This is what she had missed doing so sorely during her days of doing Coast to Coast, and her and her friends were going to go to it again. But this time, Daphne had a stronger sense of herself. She felt more confident, and like she was beginning to understand who she was apart from the rest of the gang. She felt strong and empowered like she had never felt before, and it was amazing.

"So great to, like, have you back, Daph!" Shaggy complimented.

"Rit rure is!" Scooby exclaimed with joy, as he gave Daphne a big hug. "Rooby Dooby Doo!"

Author's note:

I've officially finished my first fanfic. Wow.

This was so much fun to do, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I'm actually a tiny bit sad now having finished it up after over 5 years of writing this. I really wanted to get this done before the sequel to Zombie Island comes out in about a month (Reader's note: This was first published Friday, August 9, 2019), just so I could say that if there's any inconsistencies with this fanfic and the Zombie Island canon created in that film, that it's not my fault because I didn't know haha.

You thought this was it? Nope, we've still got a huge author's note!

Let's kick it off with the very last reference time!

- Once again, Fred's apartment being 199 on floor 8 is a reference to the year that Zombie Island first came out. (This was originally referenced in chapter 10)

- Isabel's Mackinac Ski Lodge t-shirt is reference to where the gang went in "The Ghost of Bigfoot" from The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

- The street that the Polite Ghost house was on, Dixie Queen Street, is a reference to the name of the boat in "The Haunted Showboat" from The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

- The Conway house is a reference to guest star Tim Conway, who was in "The Spirit Spooked Sports Show" from The New Scooby-Doo Movies. I guess this was a bit of a New Scooby-Doo Movies reference heavy chapter, even though I didn't intend it to be!

- The beginning of Ethan Gorr's advice, "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars!" is a reference to Casey Kasem (Shaggy's first voice actor)'s catchphrase, which he said at the end of every American Top 40 broadcast.

- Don Knotts guest-starred in both "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?" and "The Spooky Fog" from The New Scooby-Doo Movies. I decided to just throw him in with the other returning characters for fun, as sort of a joke. His comment about having bananas and chocolate custard at the jailhouse is a reference to something the gang actually did in "The Spooky Fog" with him. His line "Alright, and remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do. And there's a lot I wouldn't do" made me laugh pretty hard when I came up with it.

- Lastly, the gang going to solve a mystery at a museum featuring mummies was intended as a lead-in to the beginning of Witch's Ghost. Sort of a full circle thing I wanted to throw in there, like how Zombie Island was on Daphne's birthday and this fanfic ended around Daphne's birthday a year later.

Speaking of references, I tried to make this chapter a bit more reminiscent of the original Zombie Island film with some callbacks to the tone of the film. This would include how Scooby hates cats, Daphne saying she had been "saving these Scooby Snacks for a long time," and Daphne's snarkiness towards Fred.

One certain recurring rule I use for myself as a writer, which came out quite a bit in this fanfic, is to never date anything. This doesn't necessarily mean putting a literal date on it, but I tried to keep references to technology as vague as possible. For example, I just say "phone" rather than imply it's somehow a cell phone, so the reader can interpret it how they want, and it doesn't date the work at all. The only time I suppose I slightly broke this rule is actually this chapter, when Daniel says he's going to go work at Camp Rock. For those that didn't get the reference, Camp Rock is a Disney movie starring Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, was released June 20, 2008. (Fun fact: June 20 is also the date this fanfic started in 2014) I suppose it dates it a bit given that would mean this fanfic takes place after the movie was released, but I feel the Scooby franchise sort of has a timeless quality, so a little blip like that is probably okay. I would never physically state the year, however. I do this because you never know what the longevity of your fanfic is going to be. Someone could be reading this in the year 2100 from their holographic phone, and I don't want this to be dated for them haha.

In hindsight, I probably should not have teased the unsolved mystery thing at the end of the last chapter, as I'm sure it disappointed some people. My intent was more to just say that there would be a mystery in this last chapter, though I think I implied more than I meant and I apologize if anyone was legitimately disappointed by this.

I hope you all enjoyed the cameos from past characters. It was fun to go back and write for those characters that I hadn't written for in years. The only character I didn't fit in that I wanted to was Gordy the janitor from chapter 20, though there was only one brief joke scene with him in the entirety of the fanfic, and it wouldn't make canonical sense for Isabel to know to invite him. He also wouldn't likely come to the party given how little interaction he had with Daphne.

I also hope I did the Shaphne ship justice. I sort of left it up to reader interpretation, but the implication was that them "sleeping together" could be both literally sleeping, and/or the euphemism that they had sex. I'm leaving that one up to reader interpretation!

When rereading some old chapters to make sure I got details/personalities right, it amazed me how much this fanfic has evolved over the years. Like was mentioned in one of the reviews, this fanfic sort of evolved in chunks: chapters 1-5 included members of the gang (chapter 1=Fred, chapter 2=Velma, chapter 3=Shaggy and Scooby / Ethan Gorr, chapter 4=Velma, chapter 5=Shaggy and Scooby). Then there was a noticeable deviance from that beginning with chapter 6, because I decided I wanted to explore Daphne's character a little more separate from the gang. This is sort of when I decided to go with the underlying message about everyone in a friend group being important, because they all bring different things to the table. To do that, Daphne needed to interact with other people to better understand herself. So chapter 6-16 were purely her interacting with others and capturing footage of ghosts/monsters with them (chapter 6=Nick, chapter 7 & 8=Isabel, Saggy, Dred, Thelma and Sabrina, chapter 9=no one, chapter 10=Isabel and Nick, chapter 11-13=Isabel and Lorde Sumley, chapter 14=Lisa Vanoff, chapter 15=Isabel, Saggy, Dred, Thelma and Sabrina, chapter 16=no one). Beginning with chapter 17, we sort of began a new arc of Daphne realizing her own worth slowly, and starting to reconnect with the gang as well as still exploring friendships with others. (chapter 17=Shaggy, chapter 18 & 19=Isabel, chapter 20=Shaggy and Scooby, chapter 21=Isabel and Nick, chapter 22=Fred and Velma, chapter 23=Isabel, chapter 24-25=Isabel, Saggy, Dred, Thelma and Sabrina, chapter 26=everyone) I hope this shift made some symbolic sense, or at least it does now that you've read this fanfic all the way through.

The comedy style also made a pretty large shift. I'm the kind of person who's pretty quirky and silly, so I like that type of stuff in my comedy. Chapter 1-6 was just more typical comedy sprinkled throughout, then when we got to Dred and Saggy in chapter 7, there was sort of a shift to a more quirky, distinct style of comedy, at least in my opinion. Chapter 7 is sort of where I hit my stride, and truly understood what I wanted to do with the fanfic and where I wanted it to eventually ahead, though I'm not sure if it's visible to the common reader. I think certain chapters became very comedy focused because of certain characters, for example the Dred and Saggy chapters always became pretty silly because that's who he is as a character. The Mr. Messner chapter (20) also went pretty far off the wall because of how ridiculous his character is, which I think marked the final big shift of the comedy style. The comedy got a lot more absurdist and almost randomly ridiculous (which I love FYI, just really random ridiculous stuff happening for no reason is definitely up my alley in terms of humor). I think there was one last small shift in chapter 24, where there were sort of just these random occurrences that served no purpose to further the story, other than to make the reader laugh. I don't think scenes like the 1940s kid or the Polite Ghost would have flowed naturally if I just whipped them in chapter 2 or 3. It was fun to see that as I went back and reread everything to write this chapter. If you would have told me while writing chapter 1 that the last chapter of this fic would include a character called the Slam Dunk Ape who played a guitar solo, I probably would have said you must have been reading a different fanfic lol.

Can y'all tell I like to talk yet? Good, because I'm going to talk some more.

Let's get into the underlying messages in the story. The biggest takeaway for me is that you have to be your own unique person without being defined by your relationships to others. You are the one that defines yourself, not anyone else. I think Daphne learned this over the course of this fanfic as well, and eventually realized that she had a separate identity from just being a part of the gang. There were also little messages, like being yourself and not feeling the need to apologize for who you are. I hope these messages resonated with all you readers, as I know these things are very important to my life. Lastly, I sort of wrote Isabel's character after my own personality. I can be very quirky and unpredictable, just like I feel she sort of was. The first time we meet her, she's all perky and bubbly (not unlike myself) and in the last scene we see her, she's jokingly being all edgy and giving people the death glare in a silly way. I feel like, honestly, being quirky is the best way to be. It allows you to be fully yourself without worrying too much about what people think, and admittedly it usually makes people think you're super cute, so that's a bonus lol.

I really hope you've enjoyed this fanfic, and that you'll follow future fanfics from me. As of writing this, I have another fanfic called Fangs for the Memories that I'm currently writing on this site, so you can always give that a read if you're searching for a good fic now that this one's done.

And I just counted, I literally mention cuddling in 16 of the 26 chapters, and 4 of which end talking about cuddling. So it would be wrong not to end this chapter with cuddling too!

So always remember, be your own unique self, don't do anything Don Knotts wouldn't do, and go cuddle someone!