I got this idea after watching some old Scooby-Doo cartoons the other day. :)

Scooby-Doo belongs to Hanna-Barbera. Mythology belongs to its respective owners. Jocu and Optimo belong to guestsurprise. I only own Rachel.

A Knight Of A Friend

Rachel hummed happily as she did up the dishes, smiling as she saw the bright day outside. "I wish the guys were home. It's a beautiful day out," she said aloud.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Curious as she hadn't been expecting company, she dried off her hands and went to see who it was. She gasped in surprise as she saw two familiar faces and opened the door wide. "Scooby! Shaggy!" She said with a grin.

"Hi, Miss Rachel!" Shaggy said happily.

Scooby jumped at Rachel and licked her face happily, making her laugh. "Hi!" He said.

The young woman was still laughing. "What a great surprise!" She said. "What brings you guys here?"

"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood with the gang," Shaggy said. "We're actually taking some time off from solving mysteries. The last one really spooked us good."

Knowing how easily the two got scared, she nodded sympathetically. "What did you guys face?" She asked.

"A magician," Scooby said.

"A magician?" Rachel repeated.

"Yeah, one that seemed to have really bad magic, but it was all just special effects," Shaggy said. "Still, it was spooky. He even had holograms of monsters we had faced before in the past."

"No wonder you guys got so scared," the young woman said. "Special effects can get a little scary sometimes."

"Yeah," the young man said.

Rachel then smiled, knowing something that would cheer them up. "Well, you guys are just in time for lunch. I'm making stuffed crust pizza."

As she knew it would, the mention of food perked the two right up. "Like, can we help with anything?" Shaggy asked.

"Yeah. Help with anything?" Scooby echoed.

The young woman chuckled. "Thanks for the offer, but the pizzas are in the oven cooking and the salad's made," she said. "But perhaps you guys can help me find something. I lost one of my headbands around here someone and I just can't find it. Could you two see if you can find it?"

"Sure!" Shaggy said with a smile. "What does it look like?"

"It's fabric with a leopard print design."

Scooby immediately got to work and Shaggy followed while Rachel smiled at them, grateful for their help.

"Like, wow! It's kind of quiet without the others around," Shaggy said.

"Yeah, quiet," Scooby agreed before he caught a new scent. Curious, he gently tugged on the hem of his friend's shirt. "Raggy, new scent."

"You caught a new scent?" The young man asked. "Maybe it's one of the guys?"

"Uh-uh! Different," the Great Dane said.

"Different? Well, let's go see."

Scooby led the way to a room and Shaggy opened the door. Glancing around, they went further in, noticing the room looked like it was used mostly for storage. "Guess Miss Rachel's having this room used for storage," the young man said.

Scooby didn't reply as he caught sight of two black metal feet and he looked up to see a black knight that was looking at him with curious eyes. The dog froze for a moment before beginning to shiver. "R-Raggy!" He whimpered.

Shaggy turned around and his eyes widened too before he let out a yelp. "It's the Black Knight!" He cried out in horror.

The 'Black Knight' moved. "What are you talking about?" A deep voice asked curiously.

Seeing him move was the final straw. Screaming, both Shaggy and Scooby booked it out of the room as if a monster was on their heels. "Wait! Come back!" They heard the same voice cry out, but they didn't stop.

"Run, Scooby!" Shaggy cried out.

"I am!" Scooby whimpered fearfully as they ran down the stairs. Rachel, hearing the commotion, came out from the kitchen.

"Guys? What happened?" She asked, having heard their screams.

Both stopped quickly. "There's a monster upstairs!" Shaggy said. "The Black Knight! We stopped him before and now he's back for revenge!"

"The Black Knight?" Rachel repeated.

Before the young man could tell her more, Scooby yelped. "Monster!" He cried out.

The two adults turned to find a red-skinned being on the stairs and his green eyes were watching them closely. "Yikes!" Shaggy screamed and looked at Rachel. "Miss Rachel, we'll take a rain check on the pizza!"

She blinked as she saw them run for the door, but a black knight suddenly appeared in front of them, his arms held out to stop them. "Not so fast!" He asked.

Both Scooby and Shaggy screamed this time before falling over in a faint. "Shaggy! Scooby!" Rachel cried out in worry, running over to them.

Jocu looked rather curious. "I thought I sensed a great deal of fear," he said before his eyes widened. "These two are very afraid."

"I wonder why they called me the 'Black Knight'," Optimo said. "It was like they had seen me before."

"Black Knight," Rachel repeated before it hit her. "I think I might know. Can you guys get these two to the living room while I make a phone call?"

Nodding, Optimo picked up Shaggy and Jocu picked up Scooby, not seeming bothered at the fact that Scooby was a large dog. The tickle knight lay Shaggy down on the couch while the prince lay Scooby in a large dog bed by the fireplace.

Ten minutes later...

Shaggy groaned as he woke up. "There you go," a deep voice said. "Wake up."

The young man opened his eyes, only for them to widen in fear at seeing the black knight in front of him, but before he could scream, the knight quickly reached forward and pinned him down to the couch, keeping him in place. "No! Let go! Help! The Black Knight's got me!" Shaggy screamed.

The knight shook his head. "I'm not the Black Knight," he said gently. "Now, calm down."

But Shaggy was too much into a panic attack to listen, to which Optimo grew thoughtful. "Well, then you leave me with no choice," he said, reaching down and slipping one hand under the young man's t-shirt, his fingers wiggling into Shaggy's stomach.

Feeling the familiar tickling sensation, Shaggy began laughing. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!" He pleaded. "IHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI'M TOOHOOHOOHOO TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHISH!"

"I can see that," the knight chuckled. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo! Who is my ticklish prisoner?"

Shaggy squealed at that before arching his back with another squeal as he felt the knight began blowing raspberries into his stomach after moving the shirt up to expose the ticklish stomach. "Oh, is my captive just too ticklish?" He cooed, making the young man go crazy with laughter.

Scooby was in the same boat as he had woken up and had hunkered down in fear at seeing the red-skinned person, but Jocu had given him a gentle ear scratch before tickling the dog's stomach, smiling as he saw the Great Dane was ticklish.

Rachel came into the living room and smiled at the scene she saw. Shaggy saw her and reached for her. "RAHAHAHAHAHAHAHACHEL! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHEHELP!" He pleaded. "HEEHEEHEEHEE'S TIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHICKLING MEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!"

She giggled. "Well, of course he is, silly," she said. "Optimo is a tickle knight, after all."

Jocu chuckled as he and Optimo let their captives up and the prince gave Scooby another ear scratch, which the dog loved before rolling onto his back, giving Jocu a pleading look. "Oh, you want a belly rub?" The Lauhinian asked with a smile before he began giving Scooby a belly rub, the dog panting happily.

Optimo was helping Shaggy sit up as he was a bit weak from the tickle torture and the young man swallowed hard. "Like...if you're not the Black Knight, then who are you?" He asked.

"I am Optimo, captain of the Black Tickle Knights," the being said. "This Black Knight looks like me?"

Shaggy looked a bit sheepish. "Well, pretty close," he admitted. "He's really scary."

Rachel gently smiled. "It's okay, Shaggy. Optimo is gentle," she said. "As is Jocu."

Said Lauhinian came over with Scooby, who cautiously sniffed at Optimo's arm. The knight smiled and gave the dog a gentle neck scratch. Deeming the knight to be kind, Scooby panted happily while Jocu pounced on Shaggy, who yelped in surprise before laughing as the four-armed being tickled him.

"Now, don't worry," the prince said, smiling as the young man laughed happily. "Optimo is a trustworthy knight."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!" Shaggy begged. "PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE!"

Jocu chuckled and nodded, letting the young man up. Rachel came forward. "So that's what all the screaming was about?" She asked. "You guys thought Optimo was the monster knight you had faced before?"

"Yeah," Shaggy said before looking at her. "Wait, how did you know?"

"I called up Daphne and she told me about that case," the young woman said. "But don't worry, Optimo is harmless."

"Maybe, but he gives a mean tickle torture," the young man said.

"Thank you. I've had years of experience," Optimo said.

The timer went off and Rachel stood up. "Well, lunch is ready and those pizzas aren't going to eat themselves," she said. "Join me for lunch?"

All four nodded and Scooby giggled as Jocu's tail began tickling him again. "Hey!" He said playfully before pouncing on the being's tail, making him laugh as the two began horsing around again, making the other three smile before Shaggy saw something on a nearby table and smiled.

"Hey, Miss Rachel, is this your headband?" He asked, handing it to her.

"Oh, yes!" She said. "Thank you! Where did you find it?"

"Right here," he said, pointing to the table.

"I must have set it down and forgotten it," she said. "Thank you, Shaggy."

"Oh, no problem," he said bashfully, giggling when Optimo began tickling his sides.

"A good deed deserves a reward," the knight said as he continued tickling Shaggy while Rachel just chuckled, glad to see that the four were getting along well as good friends.

I just had to. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418