Hello, sports fans, and welcome to our final episode of the Laff-A-Lympics season. Our jam-packed playoff journey begins in Youngstown, Ohio. From there, we take a 156-mile [251 km] trip to Zanesville for our fabulous final round of competition. But that's not all; we'll end the day with an awesome awards banquet.

Both fans and teams are eager to begin, so let's join Snagglepuss and Mildew in Youngstown. Take it away, gentlemen.

"Thanks and let's welcome everyone as we start our playoffs," Snagglepuss said. As the screen displayed the tournament bracket, he added, "Our semifinal match features the third-seeded Rottens and the second-seeded Scoobies. The winning team advances to face the Yogis—for the championship even!"

As Mildew appeared on-camera, he stated, "Our semifinal event is a biathlon of sorts. First, our contestants will paddleboat their way down the Mahoning River until they get to South Avenue. From there, they'll run a short distance to the finish line at the Cavelli Centre."

"That's right Mildew. And because this is the playoffs, there will be no points awarded—only the right to advance to the next round. As always, cheating will be penalized. Today, any cheating is an automatic disqualification."

Most of the Rottens howled in disgust at the announcement.

"There goes our plan, Dread Baron," Mr. Creepley said.

"Don't be such a gloomy ghoul, Creepley. We actually want to win this event so we can get to the finals instead of those goody goods," Dread Baron replied.

"That actually makes sense. I guess all that's left to say is, 'Go team!'"

Back on camera, Snagglepuss said, "And to make the playoffs more interesting, today's contestants will be chosen randomly by our handheld computers."

Mildew examined his display.

"Well, Snag, it looks likes Babu has been chosen to represent the Scoobies," he said.

"Me? Oh shucks. I hope I can make you guys proud and get you the win," Babu said to his cheering teammates.

"And for the Rottens, we have Mr. Creepley."

"I guess it's all on me, huh?" Mr. Creepley said.

"That's right, so if you lose, it's all your fault!" Daisy Mayhem shouted.

"Brack!" the Magic Rabbit added.

A moment later, the contestants took their positions on the bank of the Mahoning River.

As Handel's Water Music played, Mildew said, "Alright you savages, there's your starting signal. Good luck!"

Both Mr. Creepley and Babu nimbly navigate their way down the Mahoning River. From our starting point by Center Street, Creepley has the early lead as we reach a small island in the middle of the River.

"I knew he could do, it," Dread Baron stated. "And he isn't cheating."

Mumbly snickered.

"I won't let that Rotten ruin my race!" Babu exclaimed as he paddled faster.

As our contestants reach the US-62 bridge, the Rottens continue to hold onto a slight lead. Can they advance to the championship?

"You know we can! Seriously, why would he ask such a stupid question?" Daisy Mayhem asked.

"Man, using a paddleboat is tiring. But boats don't have tires, do they?" Babu said.

While Babu ponders philosophical thoughts, Mr. Creepley reaches the South Avenue bridge and prepares for the foot race to the Covelli Centre. The Rottens look very eager to pull off the upset.

"Who's upset?" Mr. Creepley asked. "I may laugh all the way to the finish line," he added as he started to laugh evilly.

Babu made it to South Avenue and ran up the river back to South Avenue. Seeing his opponent in the lead frustrated him, yet he remained determined to catch up and ran as fast as he could.

Babu closes the gap, but it appears it might be too little, too late with Creepley approaching the finish line outside the Covelli Centre.

Mr Creepley turned his head and called out to Babu, "I hate to tell you the bad news, but it looks like you lose."

Hey, Creepley, look out for that...

Before he could react and turn around to face the finish line again, Mr. Creepley hit the left post of the finish line marker. The impact was such that Mr. Creepley fell flat on his back.

As small bats flew around Mr. Creepley's head, Babu stopped just short of the finish line.

"Sorry, Creepley, but it looks like the winner is me," he said.

Babu then took the last two steps over the finish line. As fans and teammates cheered his win, medical staff rushed to tend to Mr. Creepley.

"What happened?" he asked.

Daisy Mayhem was about to tell at her fallen teammate what happened before Mumbly and the Great Fondoo stopped her.

"All you needed was one more step to cross the finish line, but you turned and veered off to the side and slammed into the finish line post," Dread Baron replied.

"Oh man, I can't believe that. Sorry to let you down."

"Excuse me," one of the medical personnel said, "But we have to take him to the hospital for observation. We also have to check for a concussion... safety protocols and all."

"That's probably a good idea. I think someone rang my belfry."

As the medical personnel examined Mr. Creepley, Mildew interviewed Babu.

"Babu, did you think you had a chance? What were you thinking at the end?" Mildew asked.

Babu replied, "Gee, Mildew, it sure looked like I was going to lose to that creepy Rotten, Creepley, but I wasn't going to give up—no way! And when he knocked himself out of the race, that just made it easier for me. I didn't even have to use my Yapple Dapple."

On-screen, Babu's hat shrunk until it disappeared.

"Don't worry, Babu, I'm sure you can find a new one. But, I bet you're excited that you and your teammate will compete in the finals."

As the rest of his teammates joined him, Babu answered, "You bet! That was the best part."

Snagglepuss stood with Dread Baron and the rest of the Rottens—save Mr. Creepley.

"What do you have to say about this unfortunate ending?" Snagglepuss asked.

"Creepley did everything he was supposed to do, but focus on the finish. It's too bad we didn't win, but we still had fun this season, especially when we got caught cheating."

"You wouldn't be rotten if you hadn't said that. We do hope Mr. Creepley is OK."

"Thanks, darling," Mrs. Creepley interjected.

"And even though you won't compete in the finals, we hope you join us to cheer your favorite team and take part in the awards banquet."

"Oh, you can count on that, we'd never refuse free food, right guys?" Dread Baron asked.

The rest of the remaining Rottens cheered wildly.

"On that note, it's time to hit the road. We'll see you again soon—later today, even."

As we take this break to travel to Zanesville, we hope you come back for the excitement that is the championship round. Will the Yogis yell a victory cheer? Will the Scoobies stake a championship claim?

"Steak? Oh boy!" Scooby said, licking his chops.

As I was saying, find out more in the next portion of today's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics.

⁂

Welcome back to the final event of our Laff-A-Lympics season. For anyone that unfortunately missed the semifinal competition, Babu narrowly defeated Mr. Creepley in our paddleboat/foot race biathlon.

With the Rottens in the gallery, the second-seeded Scooby Doobies now take on the top-seeded Yogi Yahooeys. To tell us more, we return to Snagglepuss and Mildew.

"Thanks, and welcome back, even," Snagglepuss replied. "We saved the best event for last."

"That's right," Mildew stated. "As we speak, our randomly-selected contestants are being taken down to begin our event—something we call the amazing escape."

"Indeed. Both contestants will have to find their way out of an underground maze. In the event time runs out, whomever comes closest to the exit would be declared winner."

"And now, let's tell everyone who will bravely trek these tunnels. For the Yogis, Wally Gator was the randomly-selected contestant."

The Yogis briefly cheered at mention of their teammate.

"And for the Scoobies, Shaggy was the lucky person selected for this exciting event."

"Excuse me, Snag, but we've gotten word that we're almost ready to begin," Mildew said. On a closed-circuit monitor, Fred Flintstone—the guest judge—joined the contestants.

"Snagglepuss, Mildew, it's good to see you again. I've personally escorted our blindfolded contestants to the starting point. I'll be observing things down here to make sure neither team cheats, but somehow I don't think that will be a problem. Gentlemen, you may remove your blindfolds. May the best one win," Fred said.

"I hope it's me," Shaggy replied. "I hate dark tunnels!"

"I'm an alligator, so I'm not used to amazing mazes," Wally said. "But I guess swamps make good dark hiding places, so maybe that will help me find my way out of here."

"OK, you guys, I'm starting the countdown now. Good luck," Fred told both Shaggy and Wally.

"I'm off like the lid on a jar of mayonnaise!" Shaggy called out as he ran straight ahead.

"Well, if he's going that way, I'm going this way," Wally said, walking in the opposite direction.

We're ten minutes into our championship event, so let's see what progress our competitors have made in the maze.

Shaggy carefully peeked around a corner. Every time he thought he made progress, he felt as if he found every dead end turn inside the maze.

"Let's hope this gets me closer to getting out of here. The suspense of finding these dead ends is going to kill me," he said as he proceeded down a long, dark corridor.

Elsewhere, Wally jogged down a corridor until it ended, forcing him to choose between a left and a right turn.

"I guess the right turn is the right thing to do. But what if it proves to be wrong? I could go left, but what if I end up left out of first place? Decisions, decisions."

As Shaggy and Wally amaze us with their unorthodox logic, let's visit Mildew as he does an on-site interview.

"Thanks, I'm here with Wally's parents as they watch our thrilling championship. So tell me, what do you think of your son as he competes for the championship today?"

"I'm just so proud of him. It's nice to see him doing something fun and staying out of trouble," his mother said.

"Wally, a trouble maker? Surely, you jest."

"I'm afraid she's right," Wally's dad answered. "As a young gator, he was always getting into trouble and really testing our patience. Thankfully, he settled down, and he's now an impressive gentleman. At least he learned something good from me."

"So, do you think he has a chance at winning today?"

"It sure would be nice, but win or lose, we're still proud of him."

"If that doesn't make you tear up, I don't know what will."

"As sentimental as that is, Mildew, let's take a quick break and then check back on our championship," Snagglepuss interjected.

Welcome back as we check in on our contestants once again. With time slowly winding down, it remains to be seen who our winner will be—will it be Shaggy or Wally?

"Fred Flintstone, here. I've been stealthily observing our contestants. While I'm proud to say they haven't cheated, they seem to be spinning their metaphorical wheels. Let's watch."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say I was going in circles. Why didn't I bring chalk, a compass, or some Scooby Snacks to help me find my way?" Shaggy said. As he reached another junction, he stopped and sniffed the air.

"Hmm, I don't know what that is, but it seems interesting enough. Follow that smell!"

Elsewhere, Wally stopped and looked around. Just like Shaggy, his self-perceived lack of progress frustrated him.

"If I found Shaggy, I'd probably offer to quit and let him be declared winner, you know. Us gators aren't made for marching in mazes. But let's see where this passage leads. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll find Fred and tell him I'm willing to let Shaggy have first. There's always next season."

I don't know what happened, but Wally has worked his way to the main corridor leading the door leading to daylight and victory. Is this it?

"What do you know? I think this is it. No more aimless wandering for me," Wally said.

Before he could do anything else, however, a voice interrupted him.

"Wally? Is it really you? What are you doing here?" Shaggy asked in disbelief.

"Hold on there, Shaggy. I found the exit first—fair and square. You're not taking my victory away."

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Shaggy called back. "Can I at least congratulate you?"

"Sure, but first, let me do this."

Wally took the last couple of steps, opened the door, and found himself greeted by cheering fans and teammates as confetti fell from overhead.

With seconds to spare, Wally Gator has won the Amazing Escape—and the championship—for the Yogis!

As everyone cheered, Shaggy—who managed to exit before the clock hit all zeroes—shook Wally's hand.

"Congratulations. I can't believe you did it, but you deserve to win," Shaggy said.

"Thanks. I was all set to give up, but I managed to find the exit in the nick of time."

"Really? I was half-tempted to tell you the same thing."

"Well, isn't that interesting? I just hope they don't do anything like that any time soon. This was a bit boring for a championship event."

"You gotta face it, Wally. Maybe it was boring, but it was one of the more challenging events. If it wasn't for that weird smell, I might never have found the exit."

"You smelled it too?" Wally asked curiously.

"Yeah, but I never smelled anything like it."

"I guess I have to be more careful," Fred stated.

"Why's that?"

"I was hungry so I had a brontosaurus sandwich on rye while I was waiting to see who might win. I didn't realize the meat was that marvelous that you could smell it in the maze."

Wally chuckled, replying, "I think you saved us from a terrible fate."

"Wally is right," Shaggy added. "How can we ever thank you for helping us get out of that awful maze?"

"No thanks are necessary, guys. Just join us later."

⁂

At a local banquet hall, all 45 contestants—along with Fred, Mildew, Snagglepuss, and other distinguished guests—enjoyed dinner and dessert together. Once people had a chance to eat their fill, Snagglepuss stood up at the podium.

"OK, everyone, we have awards to present. So, let's get started, even."

People slowly sat down and looked on quietly. Even the Rottens behaved themselves and showed good manners.

"First, we're going to present awards for the regular season. Our Largest Laff award goes to the team that had the best finish during the season. As you know, we had two teams tie with their medal count, so we had to decide first place on points. Therefore, and thus, we award the Largest Laff to the Yogi Yahooeys for having the most points during the regular season."

As everyone applauded, Yakky Doodle came up to accept the plaque.

"Yakky, do you want to say anything on behalf of your team?" Mildew asked after handing over the plaque.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy." Yakky replied.

"I know, it's pretty awesome beyond words, huh?"

Snagglepuss addressed the teams again. "Just as we had a tie for first, we had a tie for second. That said, I'm proud to present the Silver Star award to the Scooby Doobies for their second place finish during the season and a tie for the most silver medals during the season."

The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt walked up together to accept the award.

"Well, big guy, do you want to say anything?" Mildew asked Blue Falcon.

"Thanks, Mildew. On behalf of my teammates, I can say it was fun to compete again and show everyone that even if you finish runners-up, you can still compete with good sportsmanship and class. Of course, we're hoping just maybe we can win a championship next time—if there is one."

"And he's not just flapping his fuzzy falcon wings, either, folks!" Dynomutt added with a silly giggle.

"Oh, Dog Blunder, just once I'd like to see you act appropriately. I knew we should have upgraded your personality module when we had the chance."

"And there you have it. Some things never change—and never should. OK, Snag, let's make the next presentation," Mildew stated.

"Thanks. Moving on and forward, it's time to present one more regular season award. The winners of the wooden spoon are the Really Rottens."

"What's up with that? Didn't we get one of those before?" Dread Baron asked, rising to brief applause.

"Dread, you made it through the season with no major injuries although you had your moments of underhanded, unsporting, and ghastly gamesmanship. So, we're proud to present your team with this small recognition of your accomplishments—or lack thereof."

"Enough with the sappy speech, fork it over!"

Dread took and held the spoon as if he had won the championship.

"So, do you want to say anything else before we continue?" Mildew asked.

"If I knew you had a wooden fork award for next year, we'd go out of our way to win that."

"Somebody please stick a knife in me, I think I'm done here."

"You can't do that yet, Mildew! We have the championship presentation and your own special presentation for us," Snagglepuss reminded his colleague.

"You're right, Snag. Let me join you so we can present the best award of the night."

Both Snagglepuss and Mildew picked up an oversize, gold-plated trophy. The former said, "For your narrow victory in today's championship, we present the Championship Cup to the Yogi Yahooeys."

The Yogis cheered as they collectively walked up to the front of the banquet hall to accept their trophy while the others applauded.

"Does anyone want to say anything about the season?" Mildew asked the Yogis.

"As I told you before, we were better than the average team, and we have the trophy to prove it." Yogi replied.

"And I helped you win that trophy, you know," Wally added.

"He's right. Wally proved to be the greater gator," Mr. Jinx said.

"Oh boy, if these puns get any worse, we might have to strip people of their awards tonight," Mildew muttered.

"OK, everyone, before we get too carried away, we have a special surprise for you. Mildew put together a StrongDot presentation for us with some random trivia about our season. So let's see what has for us, even," Snagglepuss announced.

Mildew opened up a laptop computer and prepared for the presentation. The front lights dimmed slightly so everyone could better see the screen.

As the presentation started, clips of previous competitions played. Team members clapped or otherwise showed enjoyment upon seeing clips of their wins during the seasons. Others groaned or laughed to see their embarrassing and awkward moments presented for all to see once again.

A short time later, the clips ended and the lights returned to their normal brightness. Now, Mildew, spoke to everyone.

"I know I can be a bit hard on you sometimes, but I thought you might enjoy that short montage of the regular season. It was one I may never forget, so I hope you feel the same way.

"As you can see on this world map, our competitions were truly global. If you look at our locations carefully, you may notice a couple of interesting details.

"First, we managed to compete on all seven continents. I know it wasn't fun having to freeze to death in Antarctica, but I hope it was worth it in being able to tell everyone you've all been to every continent.

"It might not be obvious at first, but if you look at our venues more carefully, you might notice that all 26 of our venues started with a different letter of the alphabet. Now, you can say you've been around the world... from A to Z."

A number of people reacted with surprise to this fact; they had no idea about the venue names until Mildew's comment just now.

As the screen displayed an ending slide, Mildew added, "I know our last season ended without any announcement or fanfare, so I thought this would be a nice way to recap and wrap up this season. Congratulations to the Yogis for winning the Championship Cup and to everyone else for making it through the season."

"That concludes our banquet everyone. We hope you enjoyed yourselves, and please get home safely, even."

Despite the announcement, members from each other three teams continued to mingle. Some even took photographs of each other or signed autographs.

So, as our banquet—and season—ends, we thank you for your support. What's in store next for our teams? I'm not sure anybody knows, but if they chose to come together for more crazy competition, you can count on us to cover it.

As the closing credits ran, Snagglepuss asked, "What are you going to do now, Mildew?"

"I really think I'll go back to my semi-pro team. Being a team mascot is far less stressful than any of this."

"Perhaps you're right, but I hope you had fun, too. I know everyone liked your presentation."

"Enough about me. What are you going to do, Snag?"

"I've been asked to be a substitute spokesperson for that pink insulation company. I think I may accept their offer, even."

"That sounds intriguing. Who knows, maybe you can sponsor our team and we can work together again—without all the stress from those silly savages."

"I'll see what we can do, Mildew."

Mock Social Media Updates

Official LAL Bogus Chirper Feed – Scoobies defeat Rottens; Yogis defeat Scoobies for our #Laff-A-Lympics championship. Congratulations.

Yogi Yahooeys MyBook Account – A picture of us with our Championship Cup. Wally Gator won the championship for us by finding his way out of a maze. Amazing, huh?

Scooby Doobies FacePlace Account – Runners up in our Laff-A-Lympics season wasn't too shabby, huh? Thanks to everyone who was a part of our successful season. Maybe we'll do it again sometime.

Really Rottens Stumbler Account – Creepley was so close to advancing to the finals. What do you think? Should we actually try to win in the future or just cheat the heck out of everything. Reblog with your thoughts.

Closing Commentary

First, let me apologize for the delay in posting the final chapter. I intended to finish the story before the Olympics ended. Unfortunately, I found myself spending most of a weekend troubleshooting and fixing a computer than wasn't working properly instead of writing this chapter. Also, my writing time became more limited after the Olympics.

Anyone that paid close attention in the chapters likely saw me spoof everything from social media platforms to celebrities and items from other franchises and other stories of mine. Anything is fair game in a story such as this.

I also brainstormed a shorter sequel, similar to Laff-A-Lympics' second abbreviated season. Time and interest will largely determine if I write it in the future... maybe for the 2018 Winter Olympics?

If you haven't already, I'd like to recommend reading my first Laff-A-Lympics story—Laff-A-Lympics: Oz & Kansas—a crossover in which Wizard of Oz characters compete with the other three teams. Knowing that I wanted to write this story for some time—and coincide it with an Olympiad, if possible—I wrote that story as a way to help me get more familiar with writing a story featuring the Laff-A-Lympics characters.

Finally, thanks to everyone that read and supported this story. I appreciate it.

END