G5 Adventures in Scooby-Doo! and the Cyber Chase

Our pony heroes don't know it quite yet, but this adventure is going to take a serious turn. Especially after the encounter that they had with Officer Wembley, the head of security at the university that the gang's friend Eric was studying at.

Speaking of Eric, they finally managed to track down the computer lab and walked toward the building, and Eric was waiting for them at the entrance. “Guys! Man, it feels like it’s been ages since high school started,” Eric said as he hugged and high-fived the human gang members one by one before rubbing Scooby’s head and looking toward the ponies. “Are these the ponies that you told me about?”

“They sure are,” Velma nodded. “Eric, meet Sunny Starscout, Misty Brightdawn, Zipp Storm, Hitch Trailblazer, Sparky Sparkeroni, Izzy Moonbow and--”

“Pipp Petals, at your service, Eric,” Pipp said with a smile. “I mean, I have to be, since you included us in YOUR video game! AHH!! Can you tell how excited I am?!”

“What my sister means to say, Eric,” Zipp interrupted, silently scolding her sister, “is that it’s nice to meet you.”

“This is some campus you have here,” Misty said as she looked around. “It’s almost as big as Zephyr Heights! Maybe bigger!”

“Thanks,” Eric smiled back at the blue unicorn. “It is pretty great getting here on a full scholarship. Come on inside-- I’ll show you all around.”

Eric pushed open the doors and led everyone inside the building, guiding them through it until they reached a lab filled with computers, test tubes, beakers, books and files of every kind imaginable-- a real sight for someone as science-crazy as Zipp and as study-crazy as Sunny herself. “Wow, Eric. This lab is one groovy setup,” Daphne said as they walked along. “Yeah,” Eric responded. “We like it, too.”

But as they trailed at the back of the group, Izzy, Shaggy and Scooby stopped upon seeing the biggest tomatoes they had ever seen-- even in Equestria they didn't grow this large without earth pony magic to fuel up the process.

No one would mind if they took a small bite... would they?

But before they could take a bite, a voice interrupted them. “You don’t want to eat those.”

“Huh?” Shaggy and Scooby chorused as they and Izzy turned to see who was speaking to them, and the voice belonged to Bill. “Because,” Bill said, “they’re grown in radioactive soil.”

“Zoinks!!” Shaggy yelped as he wiped his hands off on his shirt, and Scooby did the same with his paws while Izzy ran them over Scooby’s fur. “Everyone,” Eric introduced as Bill came over, “this is my lab partner, Bill McLemore.”

“Nice to meet you,” Fred said as he shook Bill’s hand. “And thanks for keeping our friends from glowing in the dark,” Sunny said with a giggle. Eric then rubbed Izzy on the head, making the unicorn smile with pleasure. “We’ll go to dinner after the tour.”

“But first, can you show us your new video game?” Shaggy asked. “Totally! We’ve been dying to play it!” Izzy nodded enthusiastically. “Well… ever since we heard about it 30 minutes ago, that is.”

“No one’s playing the game until we get rid of our problem.”

The ponies and their friends turned in surprise to see a white haired man with glasses, Professor Kaufman, enter the room, looking rather serious while he spoke. “Professor Kaufman,” said Eric, “’d like you to meet the mystery gang and their pony friends I based my game off of.”

“Hello.”

“Hey.”

“Sup?”

“Hi.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Ah,” Professor Kaufman smiled at the gang. “The famous Mystery Inc and their Equestrian allies.”

“And over there,” Misty said as she pointed to Scooby, who was looking at some test tubes and beakers nearby, “is Scooby-Doo.”

Scooby giggled as he admired all the wonky reflections of himself that the beakers and test tubes gave off, causing Professor Kaufman to clear his throat. “Yes. Well, it looks like you showed up just in time for a mystery.”

This immediately peaked Velma and Zipp’s interest. “A mystery?” Velma asked first. “Why?” Fred questioned. “What happened?”

Eric approached the laser that he and Bill had built together, with Professor Kaufman and Bill standing nearby. “This is a hyper-energy laser,” Eric explained as Zipp brought out her magnifying glass to study it. “We’ve been using it to break down actual objects to project them into cyberspace.”

“Holy horse feathers!” Zipp immediately stood up, eyes wide. “You mean you can transport objects from the real world into the computer world?”

“Precisely, young lady,” Professor Kaufman nodded, unaware that Officer Wembley was listening by the door… and no one except Sparky, who just tilted his head, noticed. “That’s fantastic!” Daphne exclaimed. “It was,” Eric sighed worriedly with a frown, “until the laser beamed a monster into our world last night.”

This immediately caused Misty, Izzy, Shaggy and Scooby to go wide-eyed with fright. “A monster?!”

And just like that, Shaggy and Scooby bolted into hiding. “Yes,” Eric nodded regretfully. “The laser beamed a computer virus right here into this lab.”

“A really freaky looking thing,” Bill added before Eric continued. “He wiped out all the data from our computers just by walking near them.”

“This virus is also able to control and manipulate electrical objects,” Professor Kaufman added, just before Misty and Daphne walked over to Scooby to comfort him. “But where did it come from?” Daphne asked, rubbing Scooby on the head reassuringly. “Eric’s computer game,” Bill said without hesitation. “I don’t know much about computer games, but I do know one thing,” Zipp said with a serious look, finding Bill's answer rather suspicious. “Computer viruses don’t just appear. They have to be created by someone.”

“But I didn’t create it!” Eric protested, but Professor Kaufman put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “I’m sure it wasn’t Mr. Staufer here. But whoever created this virus is in serious trouble,” he said sternly. “Our civilization is so dependent on technology that this virus is a threat to the entire world.”

“And,” Hitch whispered to his friends, “it could mean big trouble for Equestria too, especially if the virus were to figure out how to get there.”

“You’re right,” Sunny nodded at the statement. “We have to do whatever we can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“But where would we even start?” Pipp asked in confusion. “I think I have an idea,” Fred spoke, eyeing the laser before looking at Eric and Professor Kaufman. “Can you show us how this laser works?”

“You can show them the demo,” Professor Kaufman said to Eric sternly, “but don’t start the game.”

“Yes, sir,” Eric said before moving over to the computer and pressing a few buttons, causing the title card with the title Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase appeared on it, along with cyber versions of the gang and the Mane 6. “Like, check it out!” Shaggy cried out. “Ha ha ha! We’re digital!”

“Yeah! Digital!” Scooby agreed with a laugh. “And man… I never thought I would say this to a computer version of me,” said Hitch, “but we look good! Right, Sparkeroni?”

“Mmm-hmm!” Sparky nodded enthusiastically from Hitch’s back. “We used the game to extrapolate 3-D data into quantum particIes,” Eric said, using words that most of the Mane 6 and the gang didn’t understand. “From there, it's child's play to reintegrate the molecular structure in virtual space.”

“Of course!” Zipp smiled. “It really is simple.”

“It is?” the others questioned in surprise, leading Velma to explain for them. “He used the Scooby game as the location in cyberspace to store physical objects.”

“See? That’s how you explain it to somepony who knows NOTHING much about science and video games,” Hitch said with a nod. “And, you’re sure,” Daphne said to Eric, “the virus came from the game?”

“Unfortunately,” Eric responded, “yes.”

“Well, there's no virus in my baseball game, and it's more entertaining,” Bill said as he played the baseball game he created off to the side. “Now, this is a game you can get into!”

“That’s really cool, Bill,” Fred said with a smile. “I'm a huge baseball fan myself.”

“You have good taste, Fred!” Bill responded with a wide grin. “I think it's the greatest sport in the world.”

“Eh, baseball is okay,” Izzy shrugged with a smile, “but it doesn’t have all of us in it!”

“The Scooby game has 10 levels,” Eric explained, grabbing a box of Scooby Snacks from the floor and standing up with it to bring it to a nearby table. “You need to battle monsters or villains whiIe trying to find a box of Scooby Snacks on each level.”

“Oh boy!” Scooby barked in a cheerful manner. “Scooby Snacks!”

“Okay, professor,” Eric said to Professor Kaufman as he put the Scooby Snacks on the table. Professor Kaufman then pressed a button on the remote, and instantly, the laser shot out a beam of green light that hit the Scooby Snacks dead on, and after a moment… they disappeared from view.

Needless to say, the others were completely shocked. “Whoa…”

“Now, check out the monitor,” Bill said, gesturing to the large monitor hanging nearby, and just like that, the Scooby Snacks slowly appeared on it, causing a bunch of reactions.

“Cool!”

“Jinkies!”

“Whoa!”

“Call me crazy if you want,” Misty interrupted with wide eyes, “but I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes!”

“Like, I don’t believe it either,” Shaggy said sadly, rushing to the table and glancing at the spot where the Scooby Snacks had been. “We didn't even get one Scooby Snack.”

Scooby whined sadly at this, leaving Misty to rub his back reassuringly. “Eric and Bill are sure to win the quarter-million-dollar grand prize,” Professor Kaufman said, “at the international science fair.”

“Whoa,” Sunny said in surprise while also developing a suspect theory in her mind. “That’s quite the prize!”

“It will be a reward for all their talent and hard work on the laser project,” Professor Kaufman added, causing Eric to smile. “We couldn’t have done this without you, Professor Kaufman,” he said. “You should share on the reward, too.”

“No, no, no,” the professor politely declined. “As a teacher, being able to guide young minds to their full potential is reward enough, Eric.”

“Like, speaking of rewards, is it possible to get the Scooby Snacks out of the game?” Shaggy asked, trying to ignore the look he was getting from Zipp. Eric typed on the keyboard for a few moments before the Scooby Snacks disappeared from the monitor and instantly appeared on the table again, thanks to the laser beaming it back in.

And no sooner than this happened, Shaggy and Scooby began to tug back and forth, trying to claim the snacks for themselves. “Is that the way the virus came out of the game, Eric?” Hitch asked, pointing to the laser. “Yeah,” Eric nodded. “It was pretty scary.”

“If it's just a computer virus,” Daphne then said, “what harm can it do in the real world or in Equestria?”

“From what we observed last night,” Professor Kaufman explained, “this virus has the potential to steal every computer program in the world.”

“And the virus made a telephone come to life, which attacked Eric,” Bill added. Eric moved his sleeve to reveal the mass of bandages underneath, causing Izzy, Velma and Daphne to gasp as Bill continued the story. “It kept coming toward us and we couldn't stop it.”

“Then I held up a magnetic bar in defense,” Professor Kaufman added on. “It seemed to have an adverse effect on the virus.”

“Yeah,” Bill nodded. “And it seemed like the magnet weakened him. Like kryptonite to Superman.”

“Creepy…” Pipp gulped nervously while the others either gasped out of shock or shuddered out of fear. “The security guards checked the campus,” Bill added on, “but they couldn’t find him anywhere.”

“I suspect,” said Professor Kaufman, “that he is still in this building somewhere.”

This news caused Shaggy and Scooby to stop bickering over the Scooby Snacks and become fearful. “Still here?”

“No more arguing, boys,” Sunny told them as Velma took the snacks away, leaving Shaggy and Scooby to pout. “Okay, so now that we know what we’re up against,” Zipp said, taking out her FlyPad, “what can we do to help, Eric?”

“Well, if you can lure the Phantom Virus into the lab,” Eric explained, “l can use the laser to beam him back into cyber-space.”

“Hey, that sounds pretty easy!” Misty smiled. “We’ll do it!”

“Oh, great,” Shaggy groaned. “Like, you want us to be virus bait? Like, no way, man.”

“Uh-uh,” Scooby shook his head. Luckily, Velma and Zipp smirked at each other, the former getting out the cowardly duo’s secret weapon. “Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?”

“Yeah!” Scooby nodded instantly. “Yeah!”

“Hold on, Scoob,” Shaggy frowned, sensing something fishy. “Only one Scooby Snack to go chase a phantom? I don’t think so.”

“Well,” Zipp said with a sly smirk, “what if we gave you each two Scooby Snacks?”

Scooby panted eagerly as he looked up at his best friend, and Shaggy eventually relented after a moment. “Okay, you got a deal.”

“Go long, guys!” Zipp said as she flapped her wings and sent the Scooby Snacks flying toward them, to which Shaggy and Scooby caught in their mouths. And once the snacks had been digested, Shaggy turned to Scooby to whisper in his ear. “This place is so big, we'll probably never see this virus anyway.”

“Yeah,” Scooby agreed with a quiet laugh. “How do we capture the Phantom Virus once we find him?” Velma asked Professor Kaufman, who pulled out a desk drawer and pulled out several large magnets. “The Phantom Virus is composed of electron magnetic energy,” he explained, pulling the magnets apart. “Get close enough to him with one of these… super magnets and it will render him helpless.”

Scooby took one of the magnets in his mouth, but didn’t expect several sharp thumb tacks to come flying in his direction, causing him to drop the magnets and run to hide as the thumb tacks hit the magnet dead on. “Oh, be careful, Scooby,” Sunny told the Great Dane gently. “Those are pretty strong magnets.”

“Oop… sorry,” Scooby apologized bashfully as Fred took one of the magnets with a confident smile. “Now let's really put them to the test.”

“I knew l could count on you guys!” Eric said, wrapping an arm around Fred and Shaggy with a smile. “Don’t worry about a thing, Eric. We’ll have that virus taken care of in no time,” Zipp smiled. “All right, ponies and Mystery Inc, let’s get moving-- we have a phantom virus to catch!”