possibly get any more amazing, Scooby began his real show: fire eating, throwing knives, and a dozen other tricks that no one had ever seen before.
âRa daaaa!â he cheered at the end. He was barely even out of breath.
The crowd went wild.
Shaggy looked at Scooby and grinned. âThank you, thank you!â he shouted at the audience. âIâm Shaggy, his, uh ⦠trainer!â
Somehow, the crowd got even louder then. âShag-gy! Shag-gy! Shag-gy!â
Scooby looked at Shaggy, and then pointed to himself. âRhut rabout re?â
Shaggy just soaked up the cheers.
âThat went well,â Marius called as they bowed and stepped out of the main ring.
Now it was Velmaâs turn. âYouâre up, Human Comet!â Marius told her.
Velma shook with nerves. âI canât do this!â
âDonât worry,â Archambault reassured her as he carried her toward the cannon. âYouâre going to be fine.â
âYou think so?â Velma asked.
âEh.â Archambault shrugged. âFifty-fifty.â
But before Velma could be shot through the air, a scream tore through the big top. âWerewolves!â a woman in the audience shrieked. âWerrrrrewolves!â
Everyone turned in time to see two werewolves dash across the center of the main ring. The audience began to applaud. âThose costumes are awesome!â someone yelled.
Shaggy and Scooby peeked out to see what was going on. The werewolves that had chased them out of the museum were now snarling and snapping and running through the circus.
The audience laughed. âWerewolves! What a great idea!â they called. Everyone thought the werewolves were just actors in the circus!
âEverybody out!â Marius called out to the audience. âFollow the ushers. Please evacuate in an orderly fashion!â
The crowd still believed the werewolves were just part of the act. They cheered and clapped as they left the big top.
âAahhh!â Shaggy yelped as the werewolves drew closer to him and Scooby. âLike, donât bite us! I donât wanna be a werewolf!â
âRiâm ralready a dog!â Scooby whimpered. He and Shaggy hopped onto Daphneâs motorcycle, trying to outrun the werewolves.
âGet away. Shoo!â Shaggy snapped at the werewolves. âGo chase a cat.â
The motorcycle tipped as Shaggy and Scooby zoomed awkwardly around the big top with thewerewolves right behind them. â Ahh! No bitey!â Shaggy scolded. âLike, I am not a chew toy!â
âThere has to be something we can do,â Marius said helplessly.
Fred thought for a moment. âUsually I drop a net on ââ He looked up and saw the trapeze actâs safety net. âOoh, thatâs a big net! Shaggy! Scooby! Lead them over this way!â
âIâll try,â Shaggy yelled, shaking his leg at the werewolf. Scoobyâs arms were wrapped around Shaggyâs head, blocking his view. When he realized his buddy couldnât see, Scooby reached his feet around Shaggy and steered the bike toward Fred.
âNow!â Fred yelled to Marius. They pulled at the ropes on either side of the safety net and it dropped on the two werewolves. âGot âem!â
Everyone ran over and began to dig through the piles of netting â even Sisko, Oliverio, and Lena. âCome on,â Marius said as they dug through the trap. âThey have to be here.â
But when they got to the bottom of the pile, it was obvious that the trap had failed.
âHow could they just disappear like that?â Doubleday asked, appearing out of nowhere to help with the search.
Sisko honked twenty-six times.
âMaybe â¦â Doubleday said. He obviously understood what Sisko had been trying to say. âBut where would they hide the forklift?â
Velma paced near Marius. She was still trying to figure out why the werewolves had attacked during the
Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, P. N. Elrod, Katie MacAlister, Rachel Caine, Marjorie M. Liu, Lilith Saintcrow, Caitlin Kittredge, Ronda Thompson