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Three weeks after the end of the world, Fred Jones had become extremely concerned about motel parking.
Daphne supposed everyone processed trauma differently.
Velma had spent the first week after leaving Crystal Cove filling three notebooks with everything she remembered about the old timeline, writing down names and places and deaths that technically had never happened. Shaggy had coped by eating continuously for nearly seventy-two hours. Scooby had taken to sleeping against somebody every night, usually Shaggy, occasionally Daphne, and once, memorably, on top of Fred.
Daphne had kissed Fred.
A lot.
That had helped.
Fred had apparently decided that having defeated an ancient extradimensional evil responsible for centuries of suffering, his new responsibility was protecting the Mystery Machine from badly designed parking spaces.
“This angle is terrible,” he said.
Daphne leaned against the motel railing with her coffee.
“It’s a rectangle, Fred.”
“It slopes.”
“It’s barely a slope.”
“Daph, this van has a newly adjusted rear axle.”
“You adjusted it.”
“Yes.”
“Yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“For four hours.”
Fred considered this.
“Exactly.”
Daphne smiled into her cup.
There were mornings when she almost forgot.
That was the strange part.
The world they had saved was beautiful.
Crystal Cove had been beautiful.
People who had died were alive. Parents who had become monsters were ordinary, harmless people. Cassidy Williams had a radio show. Ricky Owens wasn't Mr. E. Professor Pericles was simply an unusually intelligent parrot who had never murdered anybody.
Fred's parents were alive.
Marcie was alive.
Everyone was alive.
And nobody except the five of them seemed to understand why that sometimes hurt.
Daphne crossed the walkway and slipped her free hand into Fred's.
He stopped staring suspiciously at the parking space.
“Morning,” she said.
Fred immediately softened.
“Morning.”
“You sleep?”
“Most of it.”
“Nightmares?”
Fred hesitated.
“One.”
Daphne squeezed his hand.
He squeezed back.
That was another thing they had learned.
No pretending.
They had spent too long pretending.
Behind them, a motel door slammed open.
“Like, GOOD MORNING, AMERICA!”
Shaggy emerged carrying a paper plate containing enough pancakes to compromise its structural integrity.
Scooby followed with another.
Velma appeared behind them.
“You know those were meant for everybody.”
Shaggy looked genuinely shocked.
“They were?”
“Yes.”
Scooby swallowed an entire pancake.
“Ruh-roh.”
Velma stared at him.
“That phrase does not constitute legal immunity.”
Daphne laughed.
The sun was barely above the horizon. The Mystery Machine waited beneath them, bright and ridiculous and familiar, restored to the colours it seemed somehow always meant to have.
Miskatonic University was still several days away.
Fred had insisted they take the scenic route.
Then he had insisted they investigate three alleged hauntings, one phantom trucker, a motel poltergeist which turned out to be plumbing, and something called the Nebraska Corn Gobbler.
The Corn Gobbler had been a farmer in a mechanical turkey costume.
Nobody had asked.
Nobody wanted to ask.
For the first time in years, their mysteries felt small.
Manageable.
Normal.
Daphne liked normal.
She loved it, actually.
They piled into the van an hour later.
Fred drove.
Daphne sat beside him, one foot tucked beneath herself, occasionally reaching across to steal pieces of his breakfast sandwich. He complained every time while making absolutely no effort to stop her.
Velma sat behind them with her notebooks.
Shaggy and Scooby occupied the back bench beneath three blankets, despite the morning already becoming warm.
“Okay,” Fred announced. “Four hours until our next stop.”
“Food?” Shaggy asked.
“Mystery.”
Shaggy groaned.
“Food mystery?” Scooby offered.
“That I could work with.”
Daphne glanced at the map.
“What are we investigating?”
“Disappearing cars.”
Velma looked up.
“Probably insurance fraud.”
“Could be a portal.”
“Fred.”
“Just saying.”
Velma's expression changed.
It was tiny.
But Daphne saw it.
Fred did too.
The old Fred might not have.
This Fred did.
“Sorry,” he said quietly.
Velma looked back down.
“It's okay.”
They drove.
Fields rolled past.
Then woods.
Then long empty highway.
They had been travelling perhaps forty minutes when Daphne noticed the first snowflake.
It struck the windscreen and melted.
She blinked.
Another came.
Then another.
“Fred?”
“I see it.”
Velma leaned forward.
“It was seventy-two degrees when we left.”
More snow struck the glass.
Within seconds, dozens became hundreds.
The world beyond the windows whitened.
Fred slowed the van.
“Okay. Weird weather.”
“Really weird weather,” Daphne said.
Shaggy sat upright.
“Like, there's good weird and bad weird, right?”
Scooby pulled the blankets higher.
“Ris is bad weird.”
The sky vanished.
Not behind clouds.
It vanished.
One second it was grey-white.
The next it became something else.
Blackness filled the windscreen, streaked with ribbons of blue light. The highway stretched forward impossibly, bending upward like a strip of film caught inside a projector.
Fred slammed the brakes.
Nothing happened.
The Mystery Machine kept moving.
“FRED!”
“I'M TRYING!”
Velma stared through the windscreen.
“No.”
Daphne turned.
Velma had gone pale.
“What?”
“I've seen something like this before.”
The van shook violently.
Scooby yelped.
Shaggy grabbed him.
Fred fought the wheel as the highway disappeared beneath them.
“Velma!”
“The time stream!”
That was enough.
Daphne felt Fred's hand leave the wheel.
For one absurd second she wondered what he was doing.
Then his fingers found hers.
The Mystery Machine fell.
There was no road.
No ground.
No sky.
Just blue-white light and fragments of impossible images flashing around them.
Crystal Cove.
A castle.
A swamp.
A carnival.
A pirate ship.
A mummy.
The Mystery Machine itself, over and over and over again, painted differently, shaped differently, racing through dozens of worlds.
Daphne saw herself.
Older.
Younger.
Different clothes.
Different hair.
Fred beside her.
Then not beside her.
Scooby running across a screen.
Hundreds of Scoobys.
Thousands.
Velma screamed something about dimensional convergence.
Shaggy screamed something about sandwiches.
Fred simply held Daphne's hand.
And then—
Snow.
Real snow.
The Mystery Machine crashed nose-first into a drift.
Silence.
A hubcap rolled past.
Everyone remained motionless.
Scooby slowly raised his head.
“Ruh?”
Shaggy opened one eye.
“Like… are we dead?”
“No,” Velma muttered from somewhere beneath a suitcase.
Fred looked at Daphne.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You're bleeding.”
Fred touched his forehead.
“That's inconvenient.”
Daphne immediately pulled out a handkerchief.
Velma shoved luggage aside and crawled toward the doors.
“Everyone out. Now.”
The rear doors opened.
Cold punched into the van.
Shaggy screamed.
Scooby screamed.
Daphne nearly did too.
They stood beside the Mystery Machine.
There was no highway.
No motel.
No forest.
No America.
Towering white mountains surrounded them beneath a brilliant blue sky.
Prayer flags snapped violently in the wind.
Far below, clustered against the mountainside, stood a small Himalayan village.
Nobody spoke.
Fred looked at the mountains.
Then the van.
Then the mountains again.
He inhaled.
“Okay.”
Velma pointed at him.
“Don't.”
“I wasn't going to say anything.”
“You were going to call it cool.”
“I was not.”
Daphne raised an eyebrow.
Fred sighed.
“I was going to call it extremely cool.”
“Fred.”
“We travelled between dimensions!”
“We've already travelled between dimensions!”
“Yes, but this time we brought the van!”
Shaggy rubbed his arms.
“Like, could we celebrate after finding somewhere where my organs aren't freezing?”
“Raggy…”
Scooby pointed.
Something moved below them.
A tall shape.
White fur.
Huge shoulders.
It stood against the snow perhaps two hundred yards away.
Watching them.
Daphne's breath caught.
Velma adjusted her glasses.
Fred stepped forward.
The creature roared.
Scooby leapt directly into Shaggy's arms.
“YETI!”
The creature charged.
Fred grinned despite himself.
“Oh, this is definitely a mystery.”
Daphne grabbed his coat.
“RUN FIRST!”
They ran.
Behind them the Abominable Snowman thundered down the mountain.
The village should have felt comforting.
It had buildings.
Walls.
Doors.
Things that were not enormous snow monsters.
Instead Daphne found herself standing beside a yak while Fred attempted to explain alternate dimensions to a Sherpa guide named Pemba.
Pemba listened politely.
This was impressive because Fred's explanation currently involved two sticks, a piece of string, and three potatoes.
“This potato is our universe.”
Pemba nodded.
“This potato is your universe.”
Another nod.
“And this one—”
Velma took the potato away.
“We don't know what that one is.”
Fred frowned.
“It was the hypothetical universe.”
“You don't need a hypothetical universe.”
“It helps visualise.”
“It absolutely does not.”
Pemba looked between them.
“So you are travellers.”
“Yes,” Daphne said.
“From America.”
“Yes.”
“By automobile.”
“Yes.”
“Across dimensions.”
Daphne hesitated.
“Yes.”
Pemba nodded.
“I have heard stranger things on this mountain.”
Fred looked delighted.
Velma looked offended.
They had reached the village after losing the creature among a maze of ice-covered rocks. Pemba had found them shortly afterward, followed by Professor Jeffries, who had immediately become fascinated by Velma's account of their arrival.
Daphne immediately disliked him.
Velma did too.
Fred required another six minutes.
Shaggy and Scooby required approximately nine seconds.
“Bad vibes,” Shaggy whispered.
“Rad rives,” Scooby agreed.
Then someone shouted from across the village.
“HEY!”
Shaggy froze.
Scooby's ears rose.
The voice sounded familiar.
Very familiar.
A lanky figure in a green shirt came running around the corner.
Beside him galloped a Great Dane.
Shaggy's mouth fell open.
Scooby's mouth fell open.
The other Shaggy stopped.
The other Scooby stopped.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Shaggy pointed.
The other Shaggy pointed.
Scooby pointed.
The other Scooby pointed.
“Like…”
“Like…”
“Ruh…”
“Ruh…”
Then all four screamed.
Daphne covered her ears.
Fred stared.
Velma whispered, “Oh no.”
The two Shaggys circled one another.
“Are you me?”
“Are you me?”
“Like, I asked first.”
“No, like, I asked first.”
Both Scoobys sniffed each other.
Then simultaneously wagged their tails.
Within thirty seconds they were sharing a sandwich.
Shaggy watched them.
“Huh.”
The other Shaggy nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Honestly?”
“Could be worse.”
They shook hands.
Velma stared at them.
“That was alarmingly easy.”
Shaggy shrugged.
“Like, I've always wanted a brother.”
“So have I!”
They hugged.
The Scoobys joined in.
Fred looked at Daphne.
“Think mine will be that easy?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you're you.”
Before Fred could ask what that meant, an engine rumbled somewhere beyond the village.
A van appeared.
Painted green.
Orange flowers.
Blue accents.
Fred stopped breathing.
Daphne slowly turned toward him.
“No.”
Fred's eyes widened.
“No way.”
“Fred.”
“Daph.”
“Fred, don't.”
“DAPHNE, LOOK AT IT.”
“I am looking.”
“THAT IS OUR VAN.”
“No. That is their van.”
The Mystery Machine stopped.
Three people climbed out.
A young woman with glasses.
A red-haired woman in purple.
And—
“Oh my gosh,” Daphne whispered.
Fred Jones stared at Fred Jones.
Nobody said anything.
Wind passed between them.
The other Daphne stepped forward.
Her eyes moved from Daphne…
…to Fred…
…to their joined hands.
Daphne realised with horror that she and Fred were still holding hands.
Other Daphne looked at Other Fred.
Then back at them.
Her expression became fascinating.
MI Fred blinked.
“Hi.”
Other Fred blinked.
“Hi.”
Velma pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I hate everything about this already.”
Other Velma pushed her glasses up.
“Who are you?”
MI Velma looked at her.
Other Velma looked back.
Both frowned.
“Oh, absolutely not,” they said simultaneously.
Daphne nearly laughed.
Other Daphne approached her counterpart.
“So…”
“So.”
“Alternate dimension?”
“Apparently.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
A pause.
Other Daphne's eyes drifted toward Fred again.
“So you two are…”
Daphne immediately understood.
“Oh.”
MI Fred did not.
“We're what?”
Both Daphnes looked at him.
Other Fred looked uncomfortable.
Velma covered her face.
MI Daphne sighed.
“We're dating.”
Fred brightened.
“Oh! Yeah.”
Other Daphne stared.
Other Fred stared.
Shaggy whispered to his counterpart.
“Like, this is going to get weird.”
The other Shaggy nodded solemnly.
“Already there.”
The two Scoobys shared another sandwich.
Other Daphne smiled.
It was not angry.
Not exactly.
But there was definitely something happening behind those eyes.
“Dating.”
“Three weeks,” Daphne said.
Fred corrected her.
“Twenty-three days.”
Daphne looked at him.
“You counted?”
Fred went red.
Other Daphne's expression immediately softened.
“Oh.”
Daphne smiled despite herself.
“Yeah.”
Other Fred cleared his throat.
“Anyway! Snow monster.”
“Snow monster,” everyone agreed.
It took almost an hour to compare notes.
Shaggy and Scooby—both versions—had encountered a hunter named Alphonse LaFleur, who intended to capture the Yeti. Professor Jeffries had been searching the mountains as well. Pemba explained the village legends, the forbidden territory, and the crystal which supposedly protected the settlement.
Both Velmas became interested immediately.
Both Freds began designing traps.
This resulted in an argument over rope tensile strength.
Daphne sat beside her counterpart.
“They're doing it again.”
Other Daphne sighed.
“Mine does that.”
“So does mine.”
“Is dating him…”
She paused.
Daphne smiled.
“Complicated?”
“I was going to say exhausting.”
“Yes.”
They laughed.
Then Other Daphne's expression softened.
“But worth it?”
Daphne looked across the village.
Fred was crouched in the snow drawing a trap diagram.
He looked different from the boy she had first fallen in love with.
Not on the outside.
Inside.
There were things in his eyes now.
Loss.
Fear.
A childhood that had broken open and revealed itself as a lie.
Parents he had found, lost, and somehow found again in an entirely new universe.
Sometimes he woke at night and needed to check whether everyone was still there.
Sometimes Daphne did too.
Fred glanced up.
Saw her watching.
Smiled.
Not the big oblivious Fred grin.
Something smaller.
Private.
Hers.
“Yeah,” Daphne said.
“Worth it.”
Before Other Daphne could answer, both Velmas shouted.
“EVERYBODY!”
They gathered around.
MI Velma held one of the crystals.
It glowed faintly blue.
“I think we know how we got here.”
Jeffries stepped closer.
“What do you mean?”
Velma moved the crystal away from him.
His eyes followed it.
She noticed.
So did Daphne.
“Our dimensional crossing produced an energy signature,” Velma said. “These crystals have the same resonance.”
Other Velma frowned.
“They're ordinary minerals.”
“They were.”
“Were?”
MI Velma looked toward the mountains.
“Something changed when we arrived.”
The ground trembled.
Once.
Then again.
Pemba looked up.
The High Lama emerged from one of the buildings.
His face had gone pale.
Far above them, across the ridge, something enormous moved through the snow.
The roar that followed was deeper than the one they had heard before.
Older.
The crystal in Velma's hand flashed.
That night there were eleven members of Mystery Incorporated.
Nobody could agree whether Scoobys counted toward the total.
Both Scoobys insisted they did.
Both Velmas argued that wasn't the point.
The storm arrived shortly after sunset.
Wind screamed against the old building where the group sheltered. Snow packed against the windows. Pemba and Minga prepared food while both Shaggys attempted to help and were eventually banned from the cooking area.
The Scoobys were banned shortly afterward.
Fred sat beside Daphne beneath a blanket.
Other Fred was across the room working on trap designs.
Other Daphne watched him.
Daphne noticed.
Of course she noticed.
She remembered being that girl.
Waiting for Fred Jones to realise what was directly in front of him.
It felt strange watching it from outside.
“You should tell him,” Daphne said quietly.
Her counterpart jumped.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Sure.”
Other Daphne looked down at her tea.
“Does he ever…”
“Yes.”
“I didn't finish.”
“You didn't need to.”
The other Daphne smiled reluctantly.
“How long?”
Daphne considered the question.
“There isn't really one answer.”
She could have explained everything.
The engagement.
Fred breaking it off.
His obsession with finding his parents.
Her heartbreak.
Her relationship with Baylor.
Fred returning.
All the terrible mistakes and terrible timing.
The end of the world.
The new beginning.
Instead she said, “We had to grow up.”
Across the room Fred glanced toward her.
Daphne smiled at him.
He smiled back.
“Both of us.”
Other Daphne nodded slowly.
Nearby, the two Velmas were arguing.
“Your conclusion is based on insufficient evidence.”
“So is yours.”
“My evidence includes direct exposure to a reality-altering extradimensional entity.”
Other Velma paused.
“Okay, that's obnoxiously difficult to argue against.”
“Thank you.”
“That wasn't a compliment.”
MI Velma leaned closer to the crystal.
“Look.”
A faint pulse travelled through it.
Other Velma's irritation vanished.
“Regular interval.”
“Every eleven seconds.”
“Energy source?”
“Unknown.”
“External?”
“Maybe.”
They smiled.
It was slightly terrifying.
Shaggy whispered, “Like, they're becoming friends.”
Other Shaggy shuddered.
“We gotta stop them.”
“Too late.”
The door burst open.
Everyone jumped.
Del Chillman stumbled inside covered in snow.
Shaggy stared.
“Del?”
Both Shaggys stared.
“Del?”
Del stared at them.
Then at the two Scoobys.
Then at the two Freds.
Then at the two Daphnes.
Then at the two Velmas.
He removed his goggles.
Put them back on.
Removed them again.
“Man,” he said, “I have been alone at that weather station way too long.”
Explanations followed.
Del accepted alternate dimensions surprisingly quickly.
“Explains some radio interference.”
Velma froze.
“What interference?”
“Started this afternoon. Same voice on different frequencies.”
“What voice?”
Del's smile disappeared.
“That's the weird thing.”
He looked directly at MI Scooby.
“It sounded like him.”
Scooby pointed at himself.
“Re?”
“Except it wasn't saying words.”
Shaggy moved closer to Scooby.
The storm hammered the windows.
Del continued.
“More like… noises. Then I started picking up other stations. Stations that don't exist.”
Velma stood.
“What did you hear?”
“People talking. Music. News. Different years. Different places.”
MI Velma and Other Velma looked at each other.
“Dimensional bleed,” they said.
Fred stood.
“So our arrival cracked something open.”
“Maybe,” MI Velma said.
Other Velma shook her head.
“No. If they caused it, why are the crystals involved?”
Professor Jeffries spoke from the corner.
“Perhaps the crystals were always capable of this.”
Everyone turned.
Jeffries smiled thinly.
“These mountains have legends older than recorded history.”
MI Daphne folded her arms.
“And you're suddenly interested in legends?”
“I am an academic.”
“You're interested in those crystals.”
Jeffries' expression tightened.
Pemba stepped forward.
“I told you before. They are not yours.”
Jeffries raised his hands.
“I merely want to study them.”
Both Velmas immediately said, “He's lying.”
Jeffries glared.
“Excuse me?”
MI Velma pointed.
“Your expedition equipment includes mining explosives.”
Other Velma continued.
“You've repeatedly looked at the crystal whenever anyone mentions its value.”
MI Velma nodded toward his boots.
“Mineral dust.”
Other Velma finished.
“And you asked precisely zero questions about alternate dimensions until you discovered the crystals might be involved.”
Fred whispered to his counterpart.
“That's awesome.”
Other Fred nodded.
“They're terrifying.”
Jeffries stormed away.
Minga watched him go.
For the briefest second Daphne saw something strange in her face.
Fear.
Not of Jeffries.
Of the mountain.
Then the lights died.
Scooby yelped.
Someone screamed.
Possibly Shaggy.
Possibly both Shaggys.
A roar shook the building.
The wall exploded inward.
White fur filled the room.
Everyone scattered.
“TRAP!” both Freds shouted.
“There is no trap!” both Velmas shouted back.
“THEN IMPROVISE!”
The Snowman charged.
Chairs flew.
Shaggy grabbed Scooby.
Other Shaggy grabbed Other Scooby.
Then they realised they had each grabbed the wrong Scooby.
“No time!”
They ran anyway.
Daphne ducked beneath a massive arm.
Fred grabbed her around the waist and pulled her aside.
The creature crashed through another doorway.
“Everyone outside!”
They spilled into the storm.
Visibility was almost zero.
The Snowman followed.
Fred grabbed a rope.
Other Fred grabbed the other end.
They exchanged one look.
And somehow—
Daphne would never understand how—
they knew exactly what the other was thinking.
They ran opposite directions.
The rope tightened.
The creature hit it.
Tumbled.
Rolled down a snowbank.
Other Daphne threw a net.
MI Daphne helped.
The Snowman vanished beneath it.
“Got it!”
The creature struggled.
Both Velmas ran forward.
MI Velma grabbed the mask.
“Let's see who—”
The creature tore free.
The mask ripped partially away.
Daphne saw a face.
Human.
Female.
“Minga?”
Minga shoved Velma aside and fled into the storm.
Everyone stared.
Pemba's face fell.
“My sister?”
“Wait,” MI Velma said.
The crystal in her pocket suddenly burned bright enough to shine through her coat.
Another roar echoed across the mountain.
Everyone turned.
It had come from the opposite direction.
A huge silhouette appeared on the ridge.
Minga stopped running.
Slowly, she looked upward.
Her fake Yeti head dropped from her hands.
“No,” she whispered.
The silhouette rose to its full height.
Far larger than Minga's costume.
Far larger than anything human.
The two Velmas stared.
Fred stepped beside Daphne.
Shaggy hugged Scooby.
Other Shaggy hugged Other Scooby.
Del whispered, “That's not Minga.”
The real Snowman roared.
Then, the mountain cracked open.
Minga confessed while they ran.
It was not the ideal environment for an unmasking.
She had created the Yeti costume.
She had stolen helium tanks.
She had wanted Del to remain at the weather station.
She had been frightened he would leave once the mystery was over.
Del listened while running beside her.
“You dressed as a giant snow monster because you liked my radio show?”
“And you.”
“Oh.”
Minga looked mortified.
“Oh,” Del said again.
Other Daphne shouted from ahead, “YOU CAN DISCUSS THIS LATER!”
“Right!”
Behind them, the genuine Snowman crashed through the village.
The ground trembled with every step.
MI Velma clutched the glowing crystal.
“It isn't chasing us!”
Other Velma looked back.
“Then what is it doing?”
The creature ignored them.
It tore through the snow toward the upper slopes.
Toward the mines.
Jeffries.
“Oh, no,” MI Velma said.
They reached the entrance moments after an explosion shook the mountain.
Jeffries stood among broken rock surrounded by crates of crystals.
“You idiot!” Velma screamed.
Jeffries turned.
“What are you doing here?”
“Preventing whatever you've just done!”
“I've discovered something extraordinary!”
The crystals around him pulsed.
Blue.
White.
Blue.
White.
Each flash illuminated impossible images in the cave walls.
Different places.
Different worlds.
Daphne saw Crystal Cove.
Then Paris.
Then an old castle.
Then a swamp.
Then herself.
Dozens of herself.
Hundreds.
Some wearing purple.
Some younger.
Some older.
Some standing beside Fred.
Some not.
Fred stared too.
“What is this?”
Velma's voice shook.
“The walls between universes.”
Jeffries smiled.
“Exactly.”
“No,” Velma said. “Not exactly. You're destabilising them.”
“These crystals can access other realities!”
“And you used explosives!”
Jeffries laughed.
“You children lack vision.”
Other Velma stepped forward.
“And you lack basic geological competence.”
The mine shook.
A massive roar thundered behind them.
Jeffries' confidence disappeared.
The Snowman entered.
For once, nobody ran immediately.
The creature stopped.
It was immense.
White-grey fur.
Long arms.
Dark eyes.
Not angry.
Daphne realised.
Terrified.
Its gaze fixed on the crystals.
MI Scooby stepped forward.
“Scoob!”
Shaggy grabbed him.
“Buddy, no!”
Scooby looked at him.
Then back at the creature.
The Snowman made a low sound.
Almost a whine.
Scooby answered.
Other Scooby joined him.
The creature lowered its head.
Velma understood first.
“It knows.”
Other Velma looked at her.
“What?”
“It remembers.”
The realisation passed between them.
“The timeline changes,” MI Velma whispered. “The universes. The resets. Creatures like this—things outside ordinary human civilisation—maybe they don't experience reality the way we do.”
Fred looked toward the creature.
“You think it remembers other timelines?”
“I think these crystals do.”
Another explosion.
Jeffries ran toward the crates.
“No!”
He grabbed one.
The cavern split open.
Light erupted.
Everyone screamed.
Daphne felt Fred's hand catch hers.
Again.
Just like the highway.
The cave vanished.
They stood nowhere.
Everywhere.
Mystery Machines raced past them through decades.
Monsters appeared and vanished.
Black knights.
Ghosts.
Aliens.
Witches.
Robots.
Vampires.
Different Mystery Incorporateds running forever through different worlds.
Daphne saw them all.
Then she saw Fred.
Not the Fred holding her hand.
Other Fred.
Then another.
Then another.
Every version reaching for some version of her.
Not always romantically.
Not always successfully.
Sometimes they were just friends.
Sometimes strangers.
Sometimes something more.
But again and again—
they found each other.
Fred stared at the same impossible panorama.
“Daph…”
“I know.”
The light intensified.
Velma screamed.
“We need to close it!”
“How?!”
“The crystals opened the breach when our dimensional energy interacted with them!”
Other Velma understood.
“So send the foreign energy back!”
“How?”
Both Velmas turned.
Slowly.
Toward the two Mystery Machines visible through overlapping worlds.
Fred's eyes widened.
“No.”
MI Velma pointed.
“The van came through with us.”
“No.”
“It carries the same dimensional signature.”
“Velma.”
“We need to use it.”
Fred looked genuinely horrified.
Daphne touched his arm.
“Freddie.”
He looked at her.
“The van.”
“I know.”
“We just repainted it.”
“I know.”
“The transmission—”
“I know.”
Fred closed his eyes.
“This is the worst day of my life.”
Velma stared at him.
“You watched the universe end.”
“Second worst.”
They ran.
The cavern was collapsing.
Jeffries attempted to escape with a bag of crystals and immediately triggered one of LaFleur's abandoned traps, which hoisted him upside down.
Nobody stopped.
“HELP ME!”
Other Velma shouted, “We'll come back!”
“You can't leave me!”
“You're safer there!”
“THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!”
It did, actually.
They reached the Mystery Machine.
Fred slid behind the wheel.
Daphne climbed beside him.
The others piled in.
The alternate gang stayed outside.
Other Fred leaned through the window.
“What do we do?”
MI Fred looked at him.
It was strange.
Looking at another version of himself.
A Fred who hadn't lived his life.
Hadn't lost what he lost.
Hadn't learned what he learned.
MI Fred smiled.
“Build a trap.”
Other Fred smiled back.
Now that—
that translated perfectly.
“You got it.”
The Mystery Machine roared toward the breach.
Velma shouted from the back.
“When I tell you, accelerate!”
Fred tightened his grip.
“We're driving into the dimensional hole?”
“Yes!”
“Awesome.”
“FRED!”
“Sorry!”
Daphne grabbed his hand.
Fred looked at her.
“You trust me?”
“Always.”
The portal opened ahead.
Fred hit the accelerator.
Outside, the other Mystery Inc. worked.
Ropes.
Pulleys.
Mining carts.
Minga's helium equipment.
Both Scoobys barked instructions at each other across realities.
The real Snowman grabbed a collapsing support beam and held it above them.
“NOW!” Velma screamed.
The Mystery Machine hit the portal.
Reality shattered.
Daphne saw Crystal Cove.
Her mother.
Her sisters.
The old timeline.
The new timeline.
Fred crying.
Fred laughing.
Fred asking her to marry him when neither of them had been ready.
Fred ending it.
Fred returning.
Fred kissing her beside the Mystery Machine three weeks ago and asking, awkwardly and sincerely, whether they could perhaps try again without monsters, ancient curses, parental conspiracies or impending apocalypses.
She had laughed.
Then kissed him again.
The portal pulled at them.
“FRED!”
“I'VE GOT IT!”
The steering wheel fought him.
Scooby howled.
The Snowman roared.
Both Velmas shouted calculations.
Both Shaggys shouted because everyone else was shouting.
The alternate Fred released the trap.
A mining cart slammed into the crystal pile.
Minga's helium tanks lifted the largest fragments.
Other Daphne swung across the cavern and kicked Jeffries' explosive detonator into a crevasse.
The crystal network broke.
The portal collapsed.
Daphne felt Fred's fingers tighten around hers.
Then—
Silence.
Snow drifted gently through the cave entrance.
The Mystery Machine sat sideways against a rock.
Its bumper fell off.
Fred stared at it.
“No.”
Daphne touched his shoulder.
“Fred.”
“My bumper.”
“We're alive.”
“It was original.”
“Fred.”
He sighed.
“Okay.”
Outside the van, eleven mystery solvers slowly climbed to their feet.
The real Snowman stood near the mouth of the cavern.
It looked toward Scooby.
Scooby looked back.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then the Snowman turned.
And disappeared into the storm.
Professor Jeffries was arrested.
This pleased both Velmas enormously.
LaFleur reappeared at the village the following morning, bruised, confused, and insisting that something enormous had rescued him after his fall.
Nobody told him they already knew.
Del and Minga sat together outside the weather station.
Very close together.
Both Daphnes noticed.
Neither commented.
The portal had not completely closed.
A thin shimmer remained between two standing stones above the village.
According to both Velmas, it would remain stable for approximately thirteen minutes.
According to Fred, that was plenty of time.
According to Shaggy, it was barely enough time for lunch.
This resulted in an emergency sandwich operation involving both Shaggys and both Scoobys.
Daphne stood beside her counterpart.
Below them the two Freds examined the Mystery Machine.
MI Fred pointed toward the damaged bumper.
Other Fred nodded sympathetically.
Daphne smiled.
“They really are the same.”
Other Daphne laughed.
“Unfortunately.”
Then she grew quieter.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“What you said before.”
Daphne waited.
“About growing up.”
“Oh.”
Other Daphne watched her Fred.
“You think we'll be okay?”
Daphne considered telling her yes.
It would have been easy.
Comforting.
But she had learned something about promises.
“Not automatically.”
Other Daphne looked at her.
“You'll hurt each other sometimes,” Daphne said. “You'll get things wrong. He'll become obsessed with something completely ridiculous.”
“He already does that.”
“Yeah. That part doesn't improve.”
They laughed.
“And you'll get things wrong too. But eventually… if you're lucky… you stop loving the version of somebody you wish they were.”
Other Daphne looked toward Fred.
“And start loving who they actually are?”
Daphne smiled.
“Something like that.”
Fred approached.
“Our bumper may be salvageable.”
“Romantic.”
“I thought you'd want to know.”
“I did.”
Fred slipped his hand into hers.
Other Daphne immediately smiled.
Fred noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Why does everybody keep saying that?”
“Because we love you.”
Fred's expression softened.
“Oh.”
Daphne kissed his cheek.
Other Fred approached just in time to witness it.
He stopped.
Looked at Daphne.
Looked at his Daphne.
Looked away.
“Uh.”
Other Daphne folded her arms.
“Yes, Fred?”
“Nothing.”
She smiled.
Progress, Daphne thought.
Tiny progress.
Nearby, the Velmas stood facing each other.
“This has been informative,” Other Velma said.
MI Velma nodded.
“And annoying.”
“Extremely.”
“You're very stubborn.”
“So are you.”
“Your scepticism is occasionally excessive.”
“Your acceptance of extradimensional explanations is reckless.”
They stared.
Then hugged.
Briefly.
Immediately afterward both pretended it had not happened.
The Shaggys were worse.
They sobbed.
“Like, I'll never forget you, alternate me!”
“Neither will I, other me!”
“We could've opened a restaurant!”
“Two restaurants!”
“A buffet!”
“An interdimensional buffet!”
Both Scoobys wailed.
“Rooby!”
“Scooby!”
Nobody had the heart to point out they shared the same name.
Velma checked her watch.
“Seven minutes.”
Fred opened the Mystery Machine's doors.
“Everybody in.”
They climbed aboard slowly.
MI Scooby remained outside.
He looked toward the ridge.
The real Snowman had disappeared hours ago.
Yet Scooby seemed to be waiting.
“Scoob?” Shaggy asked.
Scooby's ears lifted.
A distant roar rolled across the mountains.
Not threatening.
Almost like goodbye.
Scooby smiled.
“Rooby-Rooby-Roo!”
An answering roar came back.
Shaggy wrapped an arm around him.
“Like, okay, buddy. That's enough interdimensional cryptid friendship for one vacation.”
They climbed aboard.
Fred started the engine.
Other Fred approached the window.
“So where are you going?”
“Miskatonic University.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Apparently we're enrolled.”
“All of you?”
“Even Scooby.”
Other Fred nodded.
“That actually makes sense.”
“It does?”
“No.”
They grinned.
Then Other Fred grew serious.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“You seem…”
He struggled.
MI Fred waited.
“Happy.”
Fred glanced at Daphne.
She was sitting beside him.
Waiting.
Then he looked into the rear-view mirror.
Velma.
Shaggy.
Scooby.
His family.
“I am.”
Other Fred nodded.
“Cool.”
“Yeah.”
Fred hesitated.
“You'll get there.”
Other Fred looked confused.
“Get where?”
Fred smiled.
“You'll figure it out.”
Daphne groaned.
“Oh, now you're being mysterious?”
“I've always wanted to do that.”
“Drive.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
The Mystery Machine rolled toward the portal.
The two gangs waved.
Both Scoobys barked.
Both Shaggys shouted goodbye.
The Daphnes smiled at each other.
The Velmas gave small nods.
The Freds exchanged one final salute.
Then snow became light.
Light became highway.
The Mystery Machine dropped three feet onto asphalt.
Fred screamed.
Everyone screamed.
The suspension screamed louder than anyone.
Then they were driving.
America stretched around them.
Dry road.
Blue sky.
Fields.
No snow.
No mountains.
No Yeti.
Shaggy slowly raised his head.
“Like…”
Scooby peeked from beneath the seat.
“Rome?”
Velma checked her watch.
“Same day.”
Daphne looked at the map.
“Same road.”
Fred stared ahead.
“We travelled into another universe, encountered alternate versions of ourselves, solved a Himalayan monster mystery, discovered an actual Yeti, prevented dimensional collapse and returned approximately forty miles from where we started.”
Velma nodded.
“Yes.”
Fred thought.
“That's going to make an incredible first-week essay.”
“You are not submitting that academically.”
“Why?”
“Because nobody will believe it.”
“Harlan Ellison will.”
Velma paused.
“Unfortunately, that's probably true.”
Shaggy crawled upright.
“So, like, important question.”
Everyone waited.
“Did anybody bring the sandwiches?”
Silence.
Scooby's face fell.
“No…”
They had left them in the other universe.
Shaggy put both hands over his face.
“NOOOOO!”
Scooby howled.
Fred laughed.
Daphne started laughing too.
Then Velma.
Then Scooby.
Even Shaggy eventually surrendered.
Fred drove.
The Mystery Machine rattled slightly from its interdimensional abuse.
Sunlight filled the windows.
After a while Daphne rested her head against Fred's shoulder.
He drove one-handed.
His other hand found hers.
“You know,” Daphne murmured, “you told him we'd get there.”
“Yeah.”
“Where?”
Fred was quiet for a moment.
“Here.”
Daphne looked at him.
Fred glanced around the van.
At their friends.
At the road.
At the ridiculous colourful vehicle carrying them farther from Crystal Cove with every mile.
“Not literally here,” he added. “That would've been confusing.”
She laughed.
“I know what you meant.”
Fred squeezed her hand.
They had saved the world.
They had lost one.
Found another.
Seen countless others waiting beyond the thin walls of reality.
Maybe somewhere another Fred was building a trap.
Another Daphne was rolling her eyes.
Another Velma was finding clues.
Another Shaggy was running from something horrible.
Another Scooby was running beside him.
Maybe they had always existed.
Maybe they always would.
But this road belonged to them.
Daphne closed her eyes.
The Mystery Machine drove east.
Impossibly far away, high in a Himalayan mountain range belonging to another universe entirely, an Abominable Snowman watched a green van disappear into the morning.
Then it turned toward the empty mountains.
And went home.
End.