Scooby Doo AU: The Collapse
“God, I'm s-stuck...”
The chasmic groan of compressed air presses in on Shaggy’s ears… the agonized cry of a place forgotten by time, forgotten by everyone. The sterile echo of absence.
Evidence of the collapse is all around him; massive pieces of rock and earth spill from the former opening in the ceiling. Even now it bows towards the site of the incident, threatening a second cascade - and this one might be lucky enough to do what the first one had just tried to do - bury him alive.
Shaggy splutters, trying to lift his head. A hewn slab of limestone sits just above him, pressing down on his ribcage, restricting motion and respiration. He struggles for each breath, none of them full, all of them stale and laced with the remaining dust and grit that has yet to settle to the dusty ground a few feet below him.
None of them know I’m here.
Panic seizes him and he scrabbles desperately at the rock above him, trying to shift it, move it. It doesn’t budge.
“I’M DOWN HERE! HELP! HELP…” His cries are feeble and send him into a half-coughing, half-sobbing fit. The free space he has to breathe seems to shrink as he hyperventilates. Sucking for air, for freedom, kicking at everything around him, pushing against the stone - his coffin lid. Tears spill down his cheeks.
Nobody knows where I am. I’m going to die down here.
His limbs go limp and he sobs. Occasionally the sniffling is broken by another futile cry for rescue.
No answer comes.
Why did I have to be brave?? It’s only my luck something like this would happen… and did I even learn anything? I’m still here sniveling like a baby. I’ll always be a coward.
He squeezes his eyes shut - it’s not like he can see anything anyway.
“I was just… just trying to help,” he says to the hollow darkness. “I’m always running off and hiding, and, and leaving all the hard things for them to do. Fred ‘n the girls. Figured I sh.. should, like... start pulling my weight, you know? The dog is more helpful than I’ve been, but… just, just look where it landed me.”
A second frantic heave is unleashed against the rock. No dice. It’s either firmly lodged in place, or simply too heavy to be budged. He has no idea how much rubble is above or around it… if only he could see!
His eyes snap open. He blinks tears away, blood tingling beneath his skin. The weight of cool metal presses against his outer thigh.
There’s a flashlight in my pocket.
Unable to sit up, he knows he’ll have to reach for it. He pushes a scrap of wood to the side, dropping his shoulder to the left as far as he can, extending his long fingers to the point of strain.
His fingers just brush the pocket flap.
Tears reappear in his eyes and his breathing begins to pick up again -
Think about the girls - Vee and Daffy! Think of Fred! Think about that… that double decker meatball abomination you made with Scooby that one time. Remember how fast he ate it, and how he forgot to save you a bite?
It’s not much of anything, but his harried breathing slows. Try again. Do it for them.
With a grunt he shifts his shoulders and reaches a tad further than the first attempt - but it’s still not close enough. He exhales forcefully and tips his head to -gah, no, it’s still too dark to see, you mook. He waves his arms along the rough surface beneath him as if he were making a snow angel -
His fingers bonk into that piece of wood he’d brushed aside. Immediately he grasps it and pulls it closer to his body. With a shaking hand he feels it. Yes, it’s plenty long. It’ll reach.
Holding the oversized splinter out at a forty-five degree angle, he’s easily able to stab it into his pants pocket. Now his heartbeat accelerates with hope. He continues jabbing at the pocket, using the fabric as a flimsy fulcrum to leverage the flashlight up, up, and out. With a sharp exhale he relaxes as the flashlight rolls out of his pocket - And continues rolling -
With a yelp he jerks his leg out, slamming his knee against the stone in the process - but he catches the flashlight, barely stopping its escape with his kneecap. He kicks the light up to his hand, eagerly closing his fingers around the metal casing with white knuckles.
He switches the light on with an apprehensive gulp.














