The Curse of the Centaur’s Ring

A Scooby Doo Mystery Fannovel

“Jinkies, Shaggy. Are you really going to eat that triple-deluxe, everything-including-hot-sauce, sandwich?” Daphne asked as she stared amazedly at the behemoth that was currently sitting on Shaggy’s plate.

“If he eats that, we’re going to have to carry him out.” Fred joked. He resumed drinking his strawberry shake.

Shaggy scoffed at his critics. “No sandwich has ever outdone the great Shaggy Rogers. This one will soon be in my stomach too!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out some string. “It just needs a little bit more.” He contended. Wrapping the string around the sandwich, he looked for some way to tie the knot. “Scooby, come put your paw here a second, please.” He asked cheerfully. The Great Dane placed his paw on the string. “Okay, I think that’s got it.” Shaggy said as he finished tying a small bow. He picked up the sandwich, which had been crushed down to the size of a large burger. “Mmm, yummy!” he said eagerly.

As he pulled it towards his mouth, there came a powerful tug on his sandwich, yanking it out of his hands. Shaggy felt his teeth click together where he was supposed to be eating. He opened his eyes and glanced around the table. Scooby sat there with a long string and a smile on his canid face.

“Scooby!” Shaggy started angrily.

“Rorry, Raggy” Scooby barked happily.

“Ah, it’s okay. Just help me make another sandwich for myself, huh?” Shaggy smiled.

“Rure ring, Raggy!” Scooby began piling the ingredients while Shaggy went to talk to the waiter.

“Hey gang, listen to this!” Velma interrupted. She held up the paper for everyone to see. “It’s about the Centaur’s Ring. It says that ‘persons or persons unknown have attempted to steal the ring from the Coolsville Gemstone Museum where the Ring was placed on display earlier this week. The ring was found lying on the floor, with no signs of the culprits. Police suspect that a guard walking in caused them to panic and drop the ring.”

Daphne looked interested. “Do they think there will be another attempt?”

Fred set down his drink. “It’s certainly worth a look. What do you think gang?”

“I’m in.” Velma chimed in.

“Me too.” Daphne said.

“Excellent.” Fred said happily. “It looks like we have another mystery on our hands.” He looked thoughtful. “Our first step should be to stop at the museum and have a look at that ring.” He looked at Shaggy and Scooby as he stood out of his chair. “Come on guys. You can eat that on the way.”

“Huh?” Shaggy looked up as the others left. He looked at his sandwich. “Uh, oh. The gang’s about to splitsville.” He glanced at Scooby. The two glanced at each other. A second later, the sandwich was gone and Shaggy was running out the door with Scooby on his heels. “Hey gang, wait up!” he called.

The Coolsville Gem Museum was an imposing edifice of Redstone that had been brought from the local quarry. It stood three stories tall, the windows sparkling in the bright sunlight as the Mystery Machine pulled up to the entrance. As the gang got out and walked up to the door, they passed two Grecian columns that supported a glass archway fifteen feet above them.

“Man, I’d hate to be the one to clean those windows!” Shaggy joked as he and Scooby stared up at the sight. He realized that the gang had already walked inside the building and ran after them.

Catching up to them inside, Shaggy glanced around the inside and suppressed a whistle. Rocks of every shape and size were set on pedestals or in glass cases, hanging from the walls and carved into benches or other strange art forms. “What I wouldn’t give to see one of these fancy rocks carved into a triple-decker burger now.” He muttered dejectedly.

“Actually, young man. There’s the Food Rocks exhibit down the hall, but I wouldn’t recommend eating there.” An amused voice sounded behind him.

Shaggy turned and blinked at the apparition before him. Dressed in Khaki shorts and t-shirt with an enormous Australian slouch hat perched on his head, the six-foot two inch figure looked more at home wrestling alligators and crocodiles than working in a museum.

“Who are you?” Fred asked as he and the girls walked up.

“Dr. Martin Granite, at your service.” The doctor said cordially.

“I’m Fred, this is Daphne and Velma.” As Fred pointed to them in turn, each waved and said hello. “And you’ve already met Scooby and Shaggy.” Shaggy waved and Scooby wagged his tail.

“Well met indeed.” Dr. Martin said cheerfully. “Have you come to enjoy the museum?”

“Actually, we were wondering if you could tell us more about the robbery.” Velma said.

“Ah, yes, that was a terrible affair.” The doctor commiserated. “The thieves apparently broke in from the loft and ransacked several of our more valuable specimens, including a large ruby from our Indian exhibit. For some reason they apparently tried to take the Centaur’s Ring, but were frightened off by something. They left all the jewels behind, including the ring. The police were clueless. I think they’re writing it off as some kind of prank.”

“And what do you think?” Daphne pressed.

“I think they might have read the legend.” The doctor told them plainly.

“Like, what legend?” Shaggy asked.

“Well, I don’t believe in it myself, but it goes a lot like this.” The doctor pushed his hat back from his forehead and began to recite:

The legend goes that in Ancient Crete, there was a young thief who broke into a dead mage’s crypt to loot the body. However, the mage had set a bodyguard to protect his tomb. As the thief approached the riches, he was brought low by a snorting beast/man that had the back half of a horse and the front of a man. As the thief sought to regain his footing, the centaur turned back and attacked him. The thief was able to roll to the right, knocking a bit of the treasure down. Plucking a ring from the gleaming horde, he fled the tomb with the centaur on his heels. However, the passageway was only big enough for a man to get through, and as the thief climbed out, he heard the roar of the centaur beneath him. Thinking himself to be free, the thief placed the ring on his finger and began boldly walking back to town. However, before he had gotten very far, the spirit of the mage appeared before him. Angrily, the mage declared that he would pay for his crimes. He cursed the ring, which began to emit a green glow. The thief found himself turned into a centaur. “And this is how you shall remain, for the rest of your life unless you can break the curse by removing my ring!” The centaur thief was unable to remove the ring, despite his very best efforts, yet the worst was still to come. Slowly, the thief began to lose his will to the form, until he was driven to return to the tomb and guard it for eternity as the Centaur.

“Some say the curse still lingers, and that if you take the mage’s ring from him and wear it, you will turn into a centaur yourself and be unable to turn back until you break the curse.” The doctor finished. They were gathered in front of the pedestal on which the ring sat gleaming under glass. It was such a simple ring really, a small band of silver upon which a great emerald shone, cut in the shape of a centaur.

“What do you believe?” Daphne asked.

The doctor laughed. “I’m afraid I don’t put much stock in curses. I can’t in my line of work. But maybe the thieves believed in the curse.”

“Have you ever worn the ring?” Velma asked, gazing at the ring.

“No, and for a very good reason.” The doctor replied.

“What’s that?” Shaggy probed.

A short laugh came. “It’s sized for a woman’s hand. I’m afraid that it wouldn’t fit on my hands.” He held up his thick-fingers. They seemed as large as Shaggy’s whole hand!

“Anyway, if you kids want to stick around, I’ll pull up some more literature on it for you. I’ve got to lock up first though.”

“No problem. We’d like that.” Fred said sincerely.

“Okay. Wait here while I lock up and get the book.”

“It sure is a lovely ring.” Velma said as she looked at it.

The doctor shrugged. “You could wear it for a couple of minutes, I suppose. Just don’t take it out of the museum.” He passed the key over to them and walked out the exhibit.

They could hear him locking up as they stared at one another. Velma stared at the key for a moment. “Wow, he really isn’t concerned about someone taking that ring, is he?” she said slowly.

Shaggy shrugged. “It might have something to do with the fact that it has a curse! I mean, why are we even here?!”

Rah, rhy?” Scooby echoed. He cocked his head and wagged his tail.

“Come on guys, you don’t really believe in that curse stuff, do you?” Fred asked jovially.

“Uh, yeah. It’s a curse.” Shaggy shot back.

“Come on, it’s not real.” Fred laughed.

Shaggy opened his mouth to reply when a crash from the back room interrupted him. The gang spun around. “Help!” came the shout from the back room.

“Let’s go!” Fred shouted. The gang took off. Their footfalls echoed loudly off the walls as they ran. They found the office door ripped off its hinges and the sounds of a struggle coming from inside. They charged through the doorway and stopped dead, stunned at what they saw.

The desk had been broken in two from a strong blow, its halves lay where they had been thrown by an immense force. The chairs had been thrown randomly around and papers floated in the air, making it seem as if it was snowing around the struggling figures in the middle of the floor. One was clearly Dr. Granite, his slouch hat missing and his shirt torn slightly at the collar, exposing his thickly muscled chest, his teeth were clenched with effort as he grappled with his opponent. The other was a black haired man with a dirty, unkempt beard and a square face. His nose was broad and straight, flaring at the nostrils. On his head, twitching in agitation, were the ears of a horse. His body ended about mid-stomach, where the body of a horse began. His coat was of the deepest midnight black, and it filled the entire room.

“Jinkies! It is a centaur!” Daphne cried in shock.

The centaur turned to them and bellowed in anger, a strange cross between a human shout and a horse’s whinny. Lunging forward, the gang dove out of the way as the centaur charged through the door.

“After him!” Fred shouted. The gang scrambled out of the room, chasing after the fleeing centaur. Displays and exhibits blurred as they rushed along. A splintered crash came from in front of them. As they came around the corner, they found the display case of the Centaur ring smashed and the ring missing. The centaur was on the other side of the room, near the back door and running at full tilt. He hit it at a gallop, destroying the door in an explosion of splinters.

“He’s getting away!” Fred shouted.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Shaggy puffed.

They reached the street, but the centaur was already gone. They searched the alley, but couldn’t find any sign of him.

“He’s gone.” Fred said, incredible.

“Let’s go back inside and ask Dr. Granite about the ring.” Daphne said.

“Okay.” Fred led the way back into the museum.

In the room, they found the doctor pacing the room in deep thought. “Incredible.” He kept saying over and over. “Simply incredible.” He looked up at them in shock as they walked back into the room. “The legend is real!”

“Apparently so.” Fred nodded. “And he’s got the ring!”

“Not yet, he doesn’t!” the doctor crowed triumphantly. He was grinning from ear to ear.

“What do you mean?” Fred asked him.

“It’s very simple. After the first robbery attempt, I decided that the ring was too exposed out there on the main floor. So, I had a copy made of the ring, and I placed it on display. The real one is here in this room, in a safe behind this painting.” The doctor pointed at a hanging of Leonardo Da Vinci. Walking over, he removed the gilt-framed piece and revealed a large wall safe behind it. Quickly spinning the knob, he opened the heavy door and pulled out an exact replica of the ring that had been stolen.

“Marvelous!” Daphne applauded.

“Amazing!” Velma echoed. She leaned in to get a closer look. “The resemblance is perfect.”

“Thank you.” Dr. Martin basked in their praise.

Fred looked serious. “It won’t take the thief long to figure out that the ring he got is a phony. We had better split up and look for clues. Doctor, could we take a closer look at that ring?”

The doctor shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Can’t hurt at least.”

“Thank you.” Velma said as she accepted the ring. She looked at him. “Didn’t you say you had a book on this ring?”

The doctor looked blank for a moment before brightening. “Ah, yes. I was looking for it when that centaur showed up. Now, where did it go?” He searched the room for a minute before bending over a pile of hardcovers. “Ah, here it is. The Legend of the Mage’s  Centaur. It’s actually quite good.” He handed the book over to Velma. She began perusing it intently, flipping through the pages.

“Ah, hah.” She looked triumphantly up. “Here’s the passage on the legend itself. You were right professor, except on one key detail.”

“What’s that?” The doctor asked.

“It says that the curse can be broken through an act of selflessness.” Velma read aloud.

The doctor frowned. “What? I’ve read that book a hundred times. I’ve never read that in there!”

“See for yourself.” Velma said as she passed the book back. The professor snatched it back and began furiously reading. As his eyes swept down the page, he abruptly growled. “Where did you read that part? I don’t see it in here.”

“It’s right―oops!” Velma’s eyes widened as she slipped on a loose paper that was on the floor. As she fell, the ring flew out of her grasp. She hit the floor and bounced, reaching up to catch the ring. The ring reached the height of its arc, and began tumbling down. She tried to grab it, fingers stretching for it. The ring caught on her index finger, sliding around and around as it settled onto her hand. There came a flash of light and a crack of thunder! A shockwave bounced them into the air. The last thing Velma saw was the ground rushing up to meet her.

Velma woke slowly, fighting dizziness and nausea. She felt a little funny, maybe a little heavier than she normally was. As she struggled to sit up, she found that she couldn’t feel her lower body. Uh-oh. Velma was terrified to look. She imagined the possibilities, from a dislocated spine to broken legs. Fearfully she risked a look at her legs. Her mind blanked at the sight. From her stomach down, was the body and hindquarters of a strawberry roan Mustang. She looked up and her horrified gaze met Daphne’s who was lying across the floor and staring at her. 

“Velma…what?...How?” she stammered.

“I…I…I don’t know.” Velma replied. She stared down at herself again. “It must be the ring.” She realized slowly. “The curse must be real.” She watched in horrified fascination as her tail swished across the floor.

“Then that means the centaur that attacked us…” Daphne began slowly.

“Was the thief.” Velma finished. She slowly stretched out her forelegs, getting ready to lever herself up. Drawing her rear legs under her, she pulled herself up and stood up on shaky legs. A groan made the girls turn around. Fred and Shaggy were groggily pushing themselves off the floor.

“Oh!” Daphne said. She got up and rushed over to Fred to help.

Velma rushed over to help Shaggy, the floor shaking slightly as she ran. Shaggy looked up at the sound of her hoof beats and yelped in right as she tried to stop. Tried, because the floor turned out to be very slippery for hooves and her legs went out from under her. Giving a scream of her own, she smacked into Shaggy and together the two slid nearly to the wall.

“Oof!” Shaggy struggled to regain his breath. “Velma?” he asked incredulously. “Like, is that you, man?”

“Yes.” Velma told him as she struggled to pull herself back to her feet…er, hooves. It was such hard work, how did horses do it? After the quiver in her legs died down, she noticed Shaggy staring up at her with his mouth open. Velma frowned at that, just because she had gone and turned into a centaur was no reason to gawk like a fool! Shaggy must have caught sight of her frown, because he scrambled to his feet and began studiously looking around.

“Like, man, has anyone seen Scoob?” He asked.

The gang began checking the room for Scooby, but saw no sign of him at all. As the others began another search for him, Velma walked out of the room to check the rest of the museum. After all, she reasoned, He was probably so scared of the ring, he ran out of the room to get away. She noticed Daphne coming out of the room with her and twisted her upper body towards her.

“Come on Velma. We’ll check downstairs.” Daphne said encouragingly. Velma shrugged. Why not? It wasn’t like she had a better idea of where to search.

They came to the stairs and Velma tried to start down them. The first stair was okay, but as she went down the next, she felt her body mass shift downward, her front hooves locking up as she began to lean back to keep from falling down. “Umm, I don’t think this is going to work.” She spoke quickly, as she tried to keep from going down on her face again.

Daphne was four steps ahead of her and turned to look back up at her. “Why not?” her face wrinkled in a frown.

“Because, I just remembered that horses can’t go down stairs!” Velma gasped. Panic filled her, and she lunged backwards, almost causing her rear legs to go out as she pulled out of the well. Once she was confident that she was safe on the main floor, Velma stopped trembling.

Daphne came back up the stairs, looking distressed. “It’s Okay Velms, we’ll figure out something else.”

Velma was about to reply when a sign above them caught her eye. She felt like kicking herself, if she could figure out how! “Uh, Daph, what do you say we use the freight elevator?”

“Huh?” Came the clueless response. Velma pointed above them, where a small blue placard indicating the direction of the Museum Freight elevator hung. Daphne’s mouth hung open for a second as she stared at it, and then gave a nervous giggle. “Well, I guess that makes more sense, doesn’t it?”

Smiling at one another, they made their way to the elevator. It was a typical large platform elevator with a cage surrounding it inside and a large door for entry and exit. Daphne held the button down for the second floor as Velma walked to the center of the lift. The door clanged shut behind them and the lift decended to the basement.

Stepping off the lift, Velma considered their options. The basement was large, and not very well lit. There were a couple of street-level windows and what appeared to be a large door set up for deliveries that led up a ramp to the outside. The door was closed, it appeared, but that was all she could make out.

“This place is enormous.” She said in awe. “We’ll have to split up to cover it all.” Velma was resigned.

Daphne was unsure. “Velms, are you sure that’s such a good idea?” she asked nervously.

Velma shook her head. “No, but I don’t thin-nnnneigghh!” Velma clapped her hand over her mouth in shock, her eyes widening. Daphne’s head whipped around from ppering at the basement and looked up at her friend in horror.

“Velma!” she squealed in fright. “Was that you?”

Velma only nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

“Oh my gosh, we’ve got to hurry!” Daphne uttered in fear. “We don’t want you to become a centaur forever!”

Velma couldn’t help but agree, being a centaur for the rest of her life was not an option. There had to be a way out of this, and the only  way to do that was to solve this mystery.

The girls quickly split up to look for Scooby. Velma risked her voice to call him, and was relieved when her normal voice broke through. ‘Scooby! Scooby, where are you?” across the room, she could hear Daphne calling as well. As she walked, her hoofsteps echoed loudly. Velma frowned, there was something…off about them. Pausing a moment, her eyes widened as the hoofsteps continued! The other centaur was there!

Velma reared onto her hind legs, hair brushing the ceiling as she tried to turn around. She was able to get her upper body halfway turned, her head twisting to look behind her. Too late! All she could glimpse was a shadowy form rushing out from behind a pile of Egyption pots. The impact came on her left side and bowled her off her hooves. Slamming onto the cold, hard concrete ground hard, she felt the air leave her lungs in a great whoosh!

Feeling groggy, she put her hand to her head and looked up. A blurred shape was standing above her. Oh, no! I’ve lost my glasses! Desperately, she reached down and began frantically searching, trying to find them. She gasped as the glasses were placed on her nose. She could see! A groan left her lips as she realized it was the other centaur. He was glaring down at her with his hands acrossed his chest, eyes hot and scolding.

Grateful for the moment he had granted her, she heaved herself up onto her feet. “Thank you.” She said quietly

The centaur took a step back, eyes widening. “What did you say?” he asked hoarsely.

Velma frowned. “Thank you for finding my glasses for me. I can’t see without them.” What was the big deal here?

“Y-you’re welcome.” He whispered. His eyes glistened. “I’m free.” Velma’s jaw dropped as what appeared to be a pool of white light emerged from the floor. It rained upwards, creating a translucent curtain of light that quickly consumed the other centaur. In mere moments the light fell away, revealing a rather ordinary looking man, with a short crew cut and a spider tattoo across his forearm, sitting on the floor and looking stunned.

What happened?! Velma struggled to think. Slowly, she arrived at the only logical conclusion; by helping her find her glasses, he had somehow broken the curse and been saved.

The thief opened his mouth to say something, but they were both interrupted by a loud crash and a sudden scream! Looking in the direction the cry had come from, Velma felt like screaming herself. Scooby and Daphne were crouched in the center of a small circle, Daphne trying to claw a iron collar of Scooby’s neck as a huge statue of Zues tottered above them, appearing ready to fall over at any moment.

The thief cursed and got to his feet, but Velma was already running. Please, don’t let me be late, please oh please don’t let me be too late! She urged her feet to run faster, the floor flashed beneath her as she raced the falling statue. Ahead of her, she could see Scooby trying to puch Daphne out of the way, but the stubborn teen had a death grip on the chain connecting him to the floor, and was refusing to let go.

She entered the clearing with seconds to spare. Her arms stretched out, hands straining to reach. Everything seemed to be moving through molasses, the statue taking a leisurly pace to the floor, Daphne and Scooby frozen in mid scream, her body crossing the space so slowly.

Her upper body impacted Scooby, her hands closing on the cruel links that held him. The momentum combined with her sudden burst of strength tore the chain in two. Daphne screamed as she was lifted off the floor with Scooby, and both were suddenly being carried in her arms. Velma felt the tremendous impact of the statue behind her, the force of the impact sending them sprawling across the floor.

Velma waited for her hearts to stop trying to beat themselves out of her body. When she was sure she had calmed down enough, she shakily got to her feet. Daphne and Scooby were lying on the floor. Afraid, she reached out and touched Daphne’s neck. Velma about gasped in relief when she found a pulse. A moment later, Daphne groaned and opened her eyes. “Velms, is that you?” she asked weakly.

“Of course it’s me, silly. Who else do you think it would be?” Velma chided tearfully. Scooby was dragging himself onto his paws.

Velma was so happy that her friends were all right, she didn’t notice the light shining beneath her until it’s glow grew to near-blinding proportions.

“Velma, what?” Daphne asked as she stared at the rapidly growing pool of light underneath Velma.

“Wha- I think…” Velma began, but was cut off as the light suddenly enveloped her. There was a brief flash of pain…a strangled cry…and then it was over. Velma felt the cold concrete on her bare legs. Happily, she stared down at her two human legs.

“Velma!” Daphne shouted joyfully. Throwing her arms around her in a hug, the two girls clung onto one another. Scooby soon wormed his way into the embrace, and the three friends held onto each other for support.

“Well, I suppose we should go upstairs and see how Freddy and Shaggy are doing.” Daphne was the first to break the silence. They pulled apart and stood up. It was then they realized they had an audienc.e

The thief waved slightly bashfully. “Um, hi?” he said quietly.

Velma studied him in surprise, he was not at all what she expected. Other than the tattoo and the crew cut, he was very skinny and small. Hardly the sort to she expected to be the centaur. Of course, there I was being one as well. She realized ruefully, that when magic was involved, real magic, anything truly was possible. “Hello.” She said cautiously.

“Umm, I don’t suppose I could get out of here with you guys? ‘Cause, I’m not quite sure where I am.” The thief admitted honestly.

“You don’t know you’re in the museum?” Daphne asked in surprise.

The thief shook his head. “The last thing I remember, I had just started…” His mouth opened in an “O” of surprise. “I had just started to steal the ring when everything went kind of grey. I woke up on the floor as a centaur, with the alarms howling at me. I tried to run away, but the longer I was out, the harder and harder it came to think. Finally, I couldn’t think at all, and I stopped remembering.”

“Well, I think you need to come with us.” Velma said firmly.

“Oh, right.” The thief nodded meekly. “Honestly, I don’t ever want to steal again.” He confessed. “After this, it’s just too risky.”

Velma surprised herself by laughing. “I know the feeling.” The four stood in the elevator as its door closed and whisked them back to their waiting friends, the mystery of the Centaur’s Ring solved.

Out in the cold street, a figure stared at the museum with a slight smile on his broad face. He shook his head and nodded to himself, as if at something or someone nobody else could see. “They did remarkably well.” He spoke casually to a passing gust of wind. “It shall be interesting to see how these mortals do during their next mystery.”

He paused a moment. “No.” he said finally. “I don’t think the statue part was overdoing it. It had to happen for her curse to be broken, otherwise she would have succumbed to the mind of the centaur and become another mindless beast.” Another gap. “No great loss, there are too many statues anyway, and that one was a bit gaudy. He sighed. “Yes, of course you can arrange the next one. Let’s wait a bit though, before we give it to them. It wouldn’t do for them to get suspicious before hand, hmm?”

He gave the museum a last lookover before turning down the street. “Don’t worry, mortals,” he said with a secretive smile on his face. “We’ll meet again very soon.” A bolt of lightning struck the street where he had been walking. When the light faded, he was gone, the crack of thunder missing entirely. The street was left eerily emptily. `