Chapter 11
With the Mystery Machine at the start finish line, and the Werewolf Car in front of the van headed towards the starting line as well, the Monster of the Year road rally was that much closer to revving up as the case may be.
After speaking amongst themselves about the rules of the race and what the four sleuths and Scooby Doo might expect during the race, each of the members of the group began making their preparations for the long and grueling event.
The red haired young woman and her chestnut-haired friend and fellow college student then took the time to check and double check each component of the crimson colored van's electronics system to make sure it worked properly for the race.
Once the pair's check of the vehicle's electronics systems, radar, and other miscellaneous equipment were finished, Daphne and Velma waited for Shaggy, Scooby and Fred to start the race.
Actually, the pair of werewolves and Great Dane weren't the only ones that were waiting and were anxious to start the race.
In front of the werewolf car and way in front of the Mystery Machine, a line of monster cars prepared to put the pedal to the medal in their quest for the Monster of the Year trophy and the honor of being named the scariest Monster of the calendar year in Transylvania and the entire world as well.
But before the monster cars could start the race and before Daphne and Velma could help their friends win the racing competition, Dracula took it upon himself as the host of the event and the unofficial play by play announcer of the race to introduce each and every automobile that was to compete in said event, because if he knew that if he didn't he would be tarred and feathered by his fellow monsters, not to mention be embarrassed by mortal auto racing announcers as well.
Because if Larry McReynolds, Dr. Jerry Punch or any other mortal auto racing announcer ever found out about Dracula's race and ever found out that he failed to properly introduce the competitors for the event, he would surely be the laughing stock of sports broadcasting, whether it be mortal or monster, which is something that even the lord of vampires didn't want at all.
So with the gloomy Transylvania skies as the backdrop, Count Dracula began to introduce the field of competitors for the 718th (as he described it) Monster of the Year Road Rally(again, another name or phrase made up by Dracula himself).
First on the track was a rather unusual vehicle (although most of the vehicles, or rather all of the vehicles for that matter in this race were pretty unusual to be specific), but this vehicle brought new meaning to the words strange and unusual to be sure.
The vehicle in question was made entirely of… bones, which would have been a surprising sight to anyone mortal who would be watching the race, if they wanted to watch it that is.
Actually, the entire automobile looked like a skeleton, which made sense considering the driver of the vehicle appeared to be, you guessed it: a living skeleton; once he was introduced the strange skeleton appeared to take off an arm and wave it at the crowd who was watching the race from the sidelines, whatever those might be.
The next monster racer appeared to be something akin to the Frankenstein Monster, and in addition to him there seemed to be a creature similar in appearance to the Bride of Frankenstein in the car riding along with him.
The female creature seemed to be an exact double of the infamous Bride, even down to her rather unusual hair, which looked as if she had stuck her hand in a light socket, which was entirely possible considering her last name was Frankenstein.
This car as you might expect had a rather unusual appearance as well, in this case it seemed to have something akin to a large lug nut in the top of the front of the automobile; because the members of the gang were back behind the other monster racers, they didn't know quite what the lug nut's purposes were, other than possibly decoration of course.
The next monster racer looked to have an appearance similar to an old style horseless carriage, most of which were found in Great Britain, but were also found in the United States, except that in either country horseless carriages had not been used regularly since the early 1900s, which didn't seem to bother the racer in the automobile much.
However, there was something a little different about this monster racer; for the moment, he seemed to be almost human, but a few moments later he changed from normal to a creature similar in appearance to the infamous Mr. Hyde.
One would believe that this could not possibly be Mr. Hyde because that creature existed over a hundred years ago in England; but of course, this was Transylvania after all, and as the old saying goes: anything can happen, especially in deepest, darkest Transylvania.
The next racer onto the track, or racers for that matter were a pair of stereotypical, ugly old witches with wild looking untamed hair, green skin, while each of them wore a pointed witch's hat, and what looked like a long black cape or cloak.
Considering that they were witches, it probably didn't make any difference what they wore or what they looked like, especially because of their supernatural abilities and because they could cast a powerful magic spell on any person mortal or immortal that dared make fun of their looks.
The car however was something typical of witches, and people that used witchcraft, or at least people who used witchcraft in Transylvania that is.
In addition to the steering wheel, and typical parts of a car, the automobile seemed to feature a large black cauldron in the back, which seemed to be located in close to the same area that the trunk would be located if it was a mortal's automobile.
Other than those things, the automobile was fairly simple, well besides the fact that the two drivers were also carrying magic wands, which they secretly hoped to use on Scooby and company, who weren't any different then any of the other monster racers that were going to compete in the auto racing event.
The next racer onto the track was something out a dreadful nightmare to be sure, both the racer and the automobile were covered in a large amount of dark green slime, which gave the competitor and his car the appearance of something that might have been doused in a large amount of green slime, or a substance that might have come from a swamp somewhere.
This made sense because the car seemed to have a large green vine growing right on its side; although it was a rather unusual thing to have on a car, and as a result the vehicle probably would cause a regular mortal driver to want to drive off the road, or to avoid the automobile all together, but not the other drivers, because the other drivers were some of the most infamous monsters of all time.
The next monster race car in the field seemed to be made entirely of what looked to be wrappings, or to be more specific large bandages; in this case it made sense, particularly because the entire car seemed to be something right out of an old Egyptian tomb, or one of those old horror movies with a mummy.
Usually you would say that mummies only existed in those movies or were usually buried in a sarcophagus and usually whenever Scooby and company encountered one of them they were usually trying to chase the gang and were making a concerted effort to scare the group out of their minds, but this time the mummy wasn't trying to keep people away from somewhere, this time he was real and wanted to win.
Rounding out the field of Scooby, Shaggy and Fred's competitors was a car that for all intensive purposes looked like it belonged in a science textbook, or an old horror movie(which seemed to be a theme with all of the cars in this race); the car was colored entirely green, with a pinkish area on the windshield and a large green tail sticking out of the vehicle's back end.
Normally something like this would give the average race car driver a fit, or would cause them to make like a banana and split, but not Scooby and the gang; another mysterious and frightening thing about this race car and its driver was that it looked to be a large insect like creature, similar in appearance to a dragonfly.
Usually of course dragon-flies or other insects were smaller in stature and usually found in forests, swamps or other places that were crawling with insects of all shapes, sizes and descriptions, but this dragonfly was bigger then your usual insect, not to mention driving a race car.
However, as the gang knew, and would eventually find out, this was not going to be any ordinary automobile race.
A good example of that was the dragonfly racer that was heading out onto the track, not to mention the rest of the field, which was going to be a lot tougher then a regular automobile race, like the ones Shaggy Rogers usually competed in.
In this automobile race, the competitors were some of the most horrible and grotesque creatures in history, not to mention the subjects of the infamous Count Dracula, the most dangerous, sinister and clever vampire in the world.
Besides being the most horrifying monsters of all time, and servants of the most feared vampire in the world, these monsters had looks of determination on their faces, which meant that they came to win, and they would do anything and everything to stop the two mystery solving werewolves and their Great Dane from winning the Monster Road Rally.
As Shaggy drove the Werewolf car out onto the track, following behind the field of racers, he knew that his competitors were thinking just that and probably had all sorts of dirty tricks in order to stop the trio once and for all.
With the introductions of the field of Monster racers complete, finishing with Dracula introducing Shaggy, Scooby and Fred, granted with a bit of malaise in his voice, the most powerful vampire in the world stood in his broadcast position several hundred feet away from the start finish line.
"Well, it appears that Sha-Gee and his friends made it to the Starting Line for the race. Hopefully they'll enjoy themselves now, because they will not make it to the finish line alive!" Count Dracula said, before laughing sinisterly, while surveying the race course and the field of competitors for the Monster of the Year road rally.
"Now Draccy, don't try anything; remember, you said if Shaggy won you would turn him and his friends back to normal and send them home." Vannapira replied, looking over at her husband with an annoyed look on her face.
"Dear, this is the Monster of the Year road rally after all. So, if the other competitors try something to stop Sha-Gee and his friends from winning, it's not my problem." Dracula responded, showing off a toothy grin as he spoke.
"I know that, and you know that, but do the Monsters know it?" Vannapira asked.
"Yes, of course the monsters know it; why would I say that if the racers didn't know that?" Dracula answered with a question of his own, and his arms folded.
"Well, I just wanted to know if you knew it; now, as to that other thing you promised." Vannapira replied.
"Which was?" Dracula asked.
"You promised I could fire the starting gun and begin the race." Vannapira replied.
"Oh yes, I forgot; well, hang on and let me get it." Dracula remarked, before disappearing from sight.
A few moments later he returned and with a starter's pistol, similar to one that was used to start a track event; then, a few moments after that, he took Vannapira's hand and both of them vanished from their broadcast position.
Soon the two of them reappeared at the starting line and Dracula handed the starting pistol over to his wife, who held it in her hand and prepared to being the event.
Although unfortunately for Dracula, he happened to be standing very close to where his wife was holding the starting gun, which made him incredibly nervous.
Even though he was a vampire, guns made him nervous, especially since the last monster of the year race when Dracula let Vannapira fire the starting gun.
Needless to say, she nearly blew his head off, which he remembered distinctly as he moved a few feet away, out of the range of the pistol, which he hoped wouldn't do the same thing as it did last time.
Holding the starting pistol high in the air, Dracula's wife pulled the trigger and the gun made a loud noise that sounded as if it had been fired, but when Vannapira brought the pistol down for Dracula to see it, he saw that the gun barrel was twisted and possibly broken. Dracula wasn't too happy about this, so in a fit of impatience he grabbed the pistol out of his wife's hand and held it aloft, firing it himself.
Unfortunately for him, when he fired the pistol, it blew up in his face yet again, resulting in a face full of black soot, which Vannapira had a very good laugh about.
After firing the pistol, Dracula and his wife returned to his broadcast position, and prepared to describe the color, pageantry and what ever else was involved with a Monster of the Year race.
With the starting pistol having been fired, and Dracula and Vannapira doing the commentary from their broadcast perch, the race began in a flurry of smoke, exhaust and skidding tires.
In fact, all the classic elements of a great automobile race were involved in the Monster of the Year race, well, all except the classic command of Gentleman Start Your Engines; but of course, there was no way Dracula could ever get a mortal to give that command, unless he was to do the same thing he did with Shaggy and the rest of Mystery Incorporated.
Speaking of Mystery Incorporated, the male part of the group got out to an early lead as the Werewolf car zipped around the Dragonfly's automobile and the Mummy's racer, allowing Shaggy, Fred and Scooby to have a little breathing room for now.
Meanwhile, Daphne had driven the Mystery Machine onto the track and was following well behind the yellow vehicle reminiscent of a Volkswagen Beetle, while the bespectacled member of the group was on the vehicle's CB radio, making sure everything was OK with her boyfriend, Fred and Scooby Doo.
"Smarty Pants calling Wheely Wolf, Smarty Pants calling Wheely Wolf, do you read me Shaggy?" Velma asked through the CB radio, using the code names the gang had agreed on the previous night.
"Like I'm right here Velma, everything's going well so far." Shaggy replied.
"Good, how are things going with Fred and Scooby?" Velma asked, while in the werewolf car Fred took over the CB radio/walkie talkie from Shaggy.
"So far so good Velma, ditto for Scooby." Fred responded.
"Fantastic, maybe we won't have anything to worry about in this race." Daphne said, speaking aloud, which Fred, Shaggy and Scooby could hear clearly through the CB radio system.
But oh how Daphne would be wrong, for at the very moment she was speaking, the automobile of the Witch sisters as they called themselves was fast approaching the Werewolf car, not to mention it zipped right past the Mystery Machine like it was possessed, which the red head seemed to notice.
"Uh oh, spoke too soon; Shaggy, you and the guys have got some company coming up fast right behind you." Daphne said.
"Like what kind of company?" Shaggy asked, curious to know about what the red head was talking about.
Unfortunately for him, he would soon find out as he could hear the distinct sound of cackling coming from a few hundred feet behind the Werewolf car; knowing this was something he might need to find out about, Shaggy looked out the window for a few seconds and witnessed a sight that made him cringe with fear.
"Zoinks! like those creepy witches are coming up right on our tail!" Shaggy declared, keeping a firm grip on the wheel as he spoke.
"I see what Shaggy means, those creepy crones are going to pass us unless we do something quick!" Fred replied, looking out the window as he spoke.
"Roh no!" Scooby added, putting his paws over his eyes.
"Relax Scoob, I've got a plan to fix those witches wagons." Shaggy replied, secretly hoping he wouldn't end up as a toad or a frog.
"I hope so Shag, because they're about twenty feet behind you three now." Velma said, speaking into the van's CB radio once again.
"Don't worry Velma, like I said I've got a plan to clip those witches' wings, or brooms as the case may be." Shaggy replied, turning the wheel to the left, and then to the right, which the witch sisters noticed.
"What is that Shaggy kid doing?" the first witch asked, looking slightly confused at what the mortal turned monster was attempting to do.
"Got me, but whatever he's doing, it looks like he's trying to pass us up." the second witch answered.
"Well, we won't let that happen, now will we?" the first witch said, nodding her head at her passenger, before the two of them cackled with delight.
With the witches automobile quickly approaching Shaggy, Scooby and Fred at a rapid clip, the college age werewolf and his companions hung on as the driver of the werewolf car turned the wheel in a complete circle, and stepped on the gas pedal which all resulted in the Werewolf car's lead becoming ten, then eleven and then finally twelve car lengths, which the witches weren't too happy about.
"Darn that Shaggy werewolf, he's sped up so we can't catch him; now what are we going to do?" the second witch inquired.
"Simple, we cook up a little werewolf whammy and fix that wolf's wagon for good!" the first witch replied, before the two green skinned sorceresses engaged in yet another burst of cackling.
With that, the two witch sisters left the wheel temporarily and each retrieved a large wooden spoon from unseen places in the vehicle; with spoons in hand, the two witches began mixing up the strange liquid in the large black cauldron behind their seats.
After a few moments of doing this, they tipped the cauldron over and the peculiar looking purple liquid began spilling, or at least that's what Fred and Scooby thought as they watched the proceedings behind them.
"Those witches must be crazy, they're going to waste all that liquid or potion in the cauldron. I just can't figure out why they're doing that." Fred remarked, scratching his blond human hair as he spoke.
"Like why are you surprised Fred, these are monsters we're dealing with after all. Although I thought you didn't know or want to find out anything about magic and that kind of stuff." Shaggy replied.
"Well, I may not know much about magic, other then what I know from our time with Vincent Van Ghoul. But I do know that wasting anything is a silly thing to do, whether you're a monster or mortal." Fred explained.
"Good point Fred, good point." Shaggy replied.
While the two mystery solving werewolves and their Great Dane passenger were maneuvering their way through the cars on the race course, attempting to play a version of keep away, not to mention making sure the other competitors didn't get too close, Daphne and Velma in the Mystery Machine were getting an eyeful and an earful from the cackling witches who were spotted at first by the latter sleuth who was looking through the passenger's side window.
Though the witches were the first automobile that Velma spotted, she took the van's CB radio and decided to let Shaggy, Fred and Scooby know that the magical vehicle wasn't the only thing the two detectives turned werewolves had to worry about.
Specifically speaking, the bespectacled college student could see two more vehicles passing by the crimson colored van at a lightning pace, which was a weird coincidence considering one of the passengers in one of the vehicles was created in large part due to lightning, one Frankenstein Monster, and his bride.
"Jinkies, I think we might have some trouble in our midst." Velma said, with a bit of an alarmed tone in her voice.
"Jeepers, that's for sure; we've got to let Fred, Shaggy and Scooby about this, and quick!" Daphne replied.
Author's Notes: I wasn't quite sure how to end this chapter, however I think this is as good a point as any to finish this chapter.
By the way, for those of you who have stuck with me and are following this story and for those of you who have reviewed it, I am going to finish this; when I have no idea, but I will finish it someday.