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Chapter Text

Prologue

April 17, 1906

The only indication that something was amiss was when the tide at Crystal Beach began to recede, not that many of the townsfolk in Coolsville would have noticed. After all, it was in the middle of April and the beaches would not have been opened anyways, and no one in their bright mind would be taking a walk along the coastline when the wind was chilly.

Despite the slight tremors in the ground, the mood was festive for the occasion of the silver jubilee of Coolsville’s incorporation as a town in 1881. And what better way to mark the occasion with the completion of the new Coolsville High School, along with the burial of a time capsule. Add in Coolsville’s elevation from town to City a couple months prior, and you have the cherry on the top of the silver jubilee celebrations.

It was in the preparations for the opening ceremony and burial of the time capsule that Prudence Prufrock found herself going through a mad rush through the halls of Coolsville High School, for it would seem the junior staff have once again misplaced the time capsule, and the ceremony was about to begin in five minutes.

As Prufrock strolled down the hallway, she stopped when Ezekial Gallows emerged from the adjacent office and adjusting his tie.

“Oh, stop playing with your tie, it’s perfect as it is, Ezekial!” Prufrock said as she reached over to adjust his tie for him, prompting him to raise his hands in surrender.

“Okay, Prudence.” Gallows exhaled. “You know me, I just wanted everything to go off without a hitch.”

“When we find the time capsule, it will definitely go off without a hitch.” Prufrock responded, prompting Gallows to sigh again.

“Did Scott just misplace the darn capsule again?” Gallows asked.

“I’m afraid so.” Prufrock said as she resumed walking down the hallway with Gallows joining her.

“That is unfortunate, though I’m afraid we’ve got more pressing concerns.” Gallows spoke. “The mayor and attending members of the city council have requested that we do a speech as part of the opening ceremony.”

“Of course they have.” Prufrock nodded. “And don’t you worry, I’ve got one whipped up.”

“That’s good, I will leave you to it while I find Scott.” Gallows said.

As usual, there were some in the crowd that have dozed off during the mayor’s speech, and both Gallows and Prufrock glanced around the crowd as they stood on the podium as window-dressing for the mayor’s speech.

“At least we don’t have to stand in the rain while the mayor rambles away our time.” Gallows whispered to Prufrock, who nodded.

“You can say that again.” Prufrock whispered.

As if the mayor or any member of the city council had overheard their whispers, the mayor finished his speech and turned towards the two co-founders of the new school.

“And now, a few words from the distinguished grammar teacher Prudence Prufrock, co-founder of the new Coolsville High School.” The mayor announced as he gestured towards Prufrock.

At the applause from the audience, Prufrock and Gallows exchanged looks briefly before the former made her way onto the centre of the podium, where she stopped briefly to shake hands with the mayor.

After the handshake, the mayor stepped off the podium and leave the spotlight to Prufrock, who placed her speech on the lectern and cleared her throat before speaking.

“Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Coolsville.” Prufrock began as she glanced up towards the assembled crowd. “It is my pleasure to be here with you all today for the wonderous occasion of opening the new Coolsville High School.”

The assembled crowd applauded in response, including the mayor, and Prufrock turned briefly towards Gallows, who nodded encouragingly.

Turning back to face the assembled crowd, Prufrock continued, “Education is the key to nurture the intelligence of our young minds for the future. It is the key to the frontier, to the challenges we face in this century.”

There were some murmurs in agreement from the crowd as the grammar teacher continued, “We owe it to the state government, the city, and the generous sponsors for their contributions that made this state-of-the-art school a reality.”

It was that moment that Gallows took out the time capsule and Prufrock said, “To mark the occasion and in tribute to the start of the new century, we have a time capsule to bury.”

There was applause from the crowd as Prufrock continued, “Letters, postcards, and other memorabilia, these will be our time capsule for the future generations. Gifts from the past.”

The crowds’ eyes then followed Prufrock as she and Gallows took the time capsule and stepped off the podium and onto the school grounds, where a couple of workmen were standing by with shovels ready.

The workmen proceeded to hand the two co-founders the shovels, and they were ready to dig into the ground when the ground shook from the aftershocks of the earthquake.

There were some silent murmurs from the crowd as Prufrock and Gallows exchanged concerned looks briefly, then they turned towards the mayor, who was conferring with a couple councilmen with one of them holding onto his top hat.

“That was quite the shaking.” Prufrock remarked as she exchanged looks with Gallows.

“You’re telling me.” Gallows agreed.

While the two co-founders of the school had their idle talk, the mayor and councillors received word from a messenger and the looks on their faces turned glum.

“We’d better head back to City Hall and coordinate the rescue efforts should San Francisco request them.” The mayor spoke.

After the remark, the mayor went to Gallows and Prufrock and spoke a few words into their ears, then after the pair nodded, he and the councilmen took their leaves.

“That’s terrible.” Gallows remarked. “The devastation from that earthquake, I mean.”

Prufrock nodded solemnly. “May the Lord rest the souls of those that didn’t make it.”

She then returned to the podium and addressed the crowd, “May I have your attention, please?”

When the crowd all turned towards her, Prufrock continued, “I have just been informed of the devastation in San Francisco from the earthquake whose shaking we just felt.”

There were some murmurs from the crowd, and Prufrock added, “The mayor’s gone to coordinate rescue efforts, and before we continue, we shall observe a moment of silence for the earthquake victims.”

As Prufrock was speaking, Gallows was the first to take off his bowler hat and placed it by his chest, near the heart. Prufrock followed suit, as did many in the crowd.

There was a somber silence as the church bells rang in the distance, and eventually everyone put their hats back on.

“Picking up from where we left off, we shall commence the burial of the time capsule.” Prufrock declared once she was back at the spot in the school’s front yard where the time capsule is to be buried.

With the shovels in hand, the two co-founders of the school had just struck the ground with them when some rumbling can be heard not far in the distance. Concerned, the pair exchanged looks.

Just then, someone in the crowd screamed and another shouted, “Run!”

Everyone promptly turned towards the source, who was pointing frantically towards the coastline while making a hasty run from the ceremony.

And when they saw what the person was pointing towards, there were more screams and people began to scramble away from the opening ceremony, including Prufrock and Gallows.

Because not far behind them were giant tsunami waves, each tall enough to engulf the whole town in its path.

The sight of the townsfolk scrambling to get away from the giant waves was the last thing both Prufrock and Gallows remembered seeing before everything went black.

Chapter 1: A surprise birthday party for Shaggy

April 27, 1969

That morning, Shaggy woke up at almost nine as usual and went through his usual routine of washing his face and brushing his teeth at the nearby washroom before returning to chance into his normal attire of a green shirt, brown pants and black sneakers.

As he made his way to the dining room, he thought that the house was awfully quiet before remembering that he didn't see Scooby still sleeping at his usual spot in his bedroom.

He saw no one in the living room, nor did he see anyone in the kitchen and dining room.

"Mom? Dad?" Shaggy called out. "Maggie? Scoob?"

He went to search the whole house, starting first with the basement before moving to his parents' bedroom.

The bedroom was empty, and the bed looked like as if no one has slept on it for the past while.

That's strange. He thought to himself. Mom and Dad aren't in their bedroom, nor are they anywhere else. I swear that I saw them entering their bedroom last night, and there's no way Pops will leave for work on a Sunday unless he's got an emergency to handle, but even then, that doesn't explain why Mom isn't here. She never leaves the house without waking Maggie, me, and Scoob.

Puzzled, Shaggy decided to check out Maggie’s bedroom, though as he left his parents' bedroom, he didn't notice the calendar date.

In his sister’s bedroom, Shaggy looked around. It was tidy, and her bed looked like as if she never slept on it the night before.

As he scanned his surroundings, his eyes came upon a note stuck on the closet doors.

"What's this?" He wondered as he took the note from the door.

It read: "Your sister is safely guarded in our place, Norville. Come to the Food Depot and you'll understand."

"Like, the Food Depot?" Shaggy asked himself. "It hasn't had a store branch in the neighbourhood and the nearest one is like across the city and takes a 30-minute drive. Not to mention that I haven't turned..."

He paused at mid-sentence when he remembered something and glanced at the nearby calendar.

"April 27!" He exclaimed. "I'm turning 16 today! After today, I'll be able to get my drivers license."

He then took another look at the note as he remarked, "So today's my 16th birthday, but where is everybody? And how could someone expect me to get to the Food Depot if he/she knew that I can't even drive to the nearest store branch?"

Then, it hit him.

"There's no way he or she asked me to drive there, so the food depot must be somewhere closer." He reasoned. "A place where the food is stored must be...the refrigerator!"

Immediately, he headed for the kitchen just as a shadowed figure walked out from the back door.

In the kitchen, he went for the refrigerator and spotted a note he didn't remember seeing when he was there earlier.

"Like, this note wasn't here when I searched the kitchen earlier!" He remarked. "Someone must be here recently, and I think I know why!"

He looked at the note and read, "Great work! If you're reading this note, then you knew that today's your birthday and you must be wondering where everyone is. Sugie and Scooby are in the Shaggy Snack Factory while your parents are in good company at the Industrialists Corner."

Puzzled, Shaggy scratched his chin as he scanned the note once more.

"Like, Shaggy Snack Factory?" He wondered. "I didn't know someone will produce a Shaggy Snack, and what's that anyways?"

Shrugging, he continued, "And Industrialists Corner...sounds like a hangout for industrialists, and the only industrialist I know is George Robert Nadley Blake, Daph's father! A hangout...some place like a club or even his home, and the handwriting of this note looks familiar..."

Scanning the note again, Shaggy thought something clicked in his mind, which travelled back to one of the more recent days where he, Scooby and Daphne studied together while waiting for Fred and Velma.

He remembered seeing Daphne writing stuff down on a sheet of paper, and the handwriting from her notes looks identical to the one on the note he's reading now.

"This looks like Daph's handwriting!" He snapped his fingers. "And a snack for me...like, Daph has whipped something up for me before and...that's it! The 'Shaggy Snack Factory' must be the kitchen at her place, which may also be where Mom, Dad and Scoob are!"

Without further adieu, Shaggy quickly grabbed his house keys, closed and locked the front and back doors before making his way to the Blake Mansion across the street.

When he arrived at the front door, he ringed the doorbell and within seconds, the door opened, revealing the familiar face of Alvin Jenkins, the Blake family butler.

"Ah, good morning, Mr. Rogers." The butler said. "I see that you're up early this morning."

"Good morning, Jenkins." Shaggy smiled. "Like, are Maggie and Scooby here? I received a message saying that they might be here."

"The young masters are indeed here." Jenkins nodded as he gestured towards the inside of the manor. "Right this way, sir."

After Shaggy stepped in and closed the door behind him, he followed the butler down the hallway before reaching the doorway to the main living room, which appeared to be dark.

"Wait here, Mr. Rogers." Jenkins says before taking his leave.

Shaggy did as he was told, but a few moments later, the main hallway went dark in a sudden.

"Zoinks!" He exclaimed. "Who turned off the lights?"

Just then, he could hear several ghostly sounding laughter.

"Like, what's that?" He asked as he looked around nervously.

Just then, he spotted two glowing phantoms, one of them looking like the Green Hornet and the other looking like Kato moving towards him.

"Norville Rogers!" The Green Hornet's ghost hollered. "You've watched too much television, particularly my shows! Give me and Kato a break, will you?"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed in fright as he backed towards the front door, only to bump into a female ghost standing behind him, who wrapped her arms around him.

Swallowing, he turned and spotted the ghost of Cleopatra as she hissed, "Shaggy Rogers! Study harder in your history class! Your low mark in ancient Egyptian history will not be tolerated!"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he teared himself free and raced into the dark living room, where he tripped over something and landed on the couch.

Oh...I'd better hide before those three ghosts get me! He thought. They must have grabbed Maggie and Scooby!

However, as he picked himself up, the lights suddenly switched on, revealing...

"Surprise!" Everyone in the living room, all sporting birthday hats, exclaimed.

"Happy birthday, Shaggy!" Fred said as everyone cheered.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy smiled and chuckled. "I didn't realize that we're having the party here!"

"Well, Daphne insisted on having your sixteenth birthday at her place, Norville." Maggie said as she and Scooby went over to him.

"Maggie! Scooby!" Shaggy exclaimed as he went to hug his sister and pat Scooby. "Like, I thought something happened to you two and Mom and Pops!"

"Oh, they're all right, Norville." Maggie smiled as she looked up to her brother. "Mom and Dad planned this all out with Mr. and Mrs. Blake and the rest of the gang."

"That's right, Shaggy." The ghost of Cleopatra, unmasking herself and revealing Daphne's face, said as she joined them.

"Oh, Daphne." Shaggy smiled as he went over to give his friend a long hug. "You almost fooled me with that Cleopatra ghost disguise."

"I hope I didn't scare you, Shaggy." Daphne smiled as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Ah, not really." Shaggy says as the other two ghosts unmasked themselves, revealing Alan Fredericton of Josie and the Pussycats, who was dressed as the Green Hornet’s ghost, and Henry Chan dressed as the ghost of Kato. "I knew it was part of my surprise birthday party all along."

"Yeah, sure you know." Velma commented as Shaggy chuckled at his remark.

"Come, Shag." Daphne said as she led him, Maggie, and Scooby to the kitchen. "The real surprise is in the kitchen."

"Oh, what is it, Daph?" Shaggy asked eagerly.

"Just wait and see, Shaggy." Daphne smiled and winked as she grabbed Shaggy’s hand and slowly leads him to the kitchen.

Shaggy simply smiled and nodded as Daphne leads him to the kitchen, looking forward to seeing what that surprise is.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 2: The surprise, the birthday cake, and gifts

As soon as Shaggy entered the kitchen, he was stunned by what was sitting on the kitchen counter, and he turned towards Daphne.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed. "I must be dreaming!"

On the kitchen counter were dozens of tall, skyscraper-high Shaggy sandwiches with everything he likes.

"Surprise, Shaggy!" Daphne smiled. "I've made dozens of your favourite Shaggy Snack sandwiches!"

"Shaggy sandwiches?" Shaggy asked. "Like, I didn't have breakfast, so this sure can fill my appetite!"

He then turned to her and added, "And thanks, Daph!"

"You’re welcome, Shaggy." Daphne smiled as she patted her friend's back. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you, Daph." Shaggy smiled back. "When your birthday arrives, I ought to plan a party like this for you."

"Great idea, Norville." Maggie smiled as her brother dug in. "It will be great to plan a party for Daphne."

During this time, the Blakes and the Rogers were watching their children interacting in the kitchen.

"This sure is one swell idea, George." Sam said to George. "Letting Daphne planning and throwing this party for Norville."

"Thank you for the kind words, Sam." George smiled. "I'm glad that Norville is enjoying the party so far."

"As well as our guests." Wendy added as she watched Tom taking part in pinning the pony's tail game with everyone else looking on excitedly.

"Come on, Tom!" Reddy said. "You almost got it!"

"I'm sure you can do it, Tom." Yogi said. "I knew you're smarter than the average cat."

Tom, who is blindfolded, nodded as he continued his attempt to pin the pony's tail.

His rival Jerry was occupied with another game to try to pull a prank on Tom, plus the cat and mouse duo were under strict instructions not to cause any mess in the mansion. If they chase each other and cause a mess, then they'll be responsible for cleaning up after the party, regardless on who started the chase, something neither of them were eager to do.

Soon came the moment for the birthday cake, which had sixteen candles lit.

"Alright, Shag." Fred said. "The birthday cake's ready."

"Coming!" Shaggy said as he raced over to the dining room, where everyone gathered around him.

Spike the bulldog, seeing everyone ready, snapped his fingers to signal the Mysteries Five to start playing their instruments while Shelly turned off the lights, leaving only the candle lights in the dark dining room.

With the music played by the Mysteries Five in the background, everyone started singing:

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Shaggy...happy birthday to you!"

During the singing, Daphne placed her hand on Shaggy's left shoulder, and after the singing, Velma encouraged, "Make a wish, Shaggy!"

There was a pause, then Shaggy blew out all the candles, leading to a cheer and applause while the lights returned on.

"Happy birthday, Shag." Fred patted his friend's back.

“Thank you, Fred.” Shaggy smiled as he cut a slice of the birthday cake and placed it on his plate.

Upon digging into the slice, Shaggy groaned and nodded as he turned towards George.

“This is the best birthday cake I’ve ever had, Mr. Blake! Where’d it come from?” Shaggy asked.

“You’d have to ask Daphne.” George only smiled. “She was the one that planned everything out down to the last detail, including where we order the ingredients for the cakes.”

“And my guess is that it’s probably a Blake family recipe.” Shaggy offered.

"It is, Shag.” Daphne smiled as she placed her hand on his back. “I knew you’d be excited with a certain combination of flavours in the cake, so I figured I dust off the family cookbook and, with Dad’s assistance, ordered the ingredients for it.”

"Thanks, Daph." Shaggy smiled. “It is really good!”

“You’re welcome, Shag.” Daphne beamed. “I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

After the birthday cake, it was time for Shaggy to open his birthday presents.

"Here, Shaggy." Henry said as he offered his present. "Open mine first."

"Okay, man." Shaggy smiled as he took the present and read the card attached to it. It read:

"From the Chan Clan: 生日快樂!"

"Wow, is that 'Happy Birthday' in Cantonese?" Shaggy asked Henry as he pointed to the handwritten "生日快樂" on the card.

"Yes, it is." Henry smiled. “It’s also universal across all languages in the Chinese language family, as far as I know.”

“Fascinating.” Shaggy nodded as he opened his gift.

It was a series of postcards with photos taken in Hong Kong, including a handful with the city's skyline, harbour, and its famous double-decker trams.

"Like, wow!" Shaggy remarked as he looked at the postcards. "These photos of Hong Kong look really great!"

"They sure are, Shaggy." Henry nodded. "I was impressed by the drawing of a neighbourhood block in Hong Kong you did in art class, so I thought you may like these postcards of the city."

"I do, man." Shaggy smiled as he turned to his friend. "Thanks for the postcards!"

"No problem, and happy birthday, Shag." Henry smiled back as he patted Shaggy's back.

After opening a few more birthday presents, it was Daphne’s turn to offer her present to him.

"Here's your present, Shaggy." The redhead says as she offered him the wrapped gift.

"Like, what is it?" Shaggy asked as he feels the box underneath the wrap.

"You'll see when you open it, Shag." Daphne smiled mysteriously.

Shaggy arched his eyebrows as he smiled back, then he proceeded to open the present.

Inside the gift box under the wrap, Shaggy found a stack of new musical records, including a handful Beatles records and several more classical music records, including a brand-new recording of Mendelssohn's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A-flat Major.

"Like, wow!" Shaggy remarked as he took out the records and looked. "I've always wanted these new records of the Beatles and this new recording of the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in A-flat Major for my birthday, Daph. Thanks!"

"You're very welcome, Shag." Daphne smiled as she shared an embrace with Shaggy. "Happy Birthday!"

During the interaction, Maggie turned to Scooby and remarked, "Am I glad that he didn’t receive another hideous-looking T-shirt for his birthday.”

“Raphne must’ve ret re rother present rivers straight.” Scooby remarked.

Maggie nodded. “And it seems Daphne sure knows what Norville likes and wants the most."

"Reah. She rure does." Scooby agreed.

"Like, thanks Daph." Shaggy smiled back. "I really ought to plan a party like this for your birthday."

"Ah, there's no need for that, Shag." Daphne said with her hand on his shoulder. "Having you as a friend is good enough for me, not to mention having a cute little sister like Sugie."

Shaggy smiled as they regrouped with their friends just as his parents walked over to him.

"So, what do you plan on doing before turning seventeen next year, Norville?" Sam asked his son.

"Like, besides completing Grade 10 and making it to the state finals for the gymnasium and musical competitions, I intend to get my learner’s permit." Shaggy replied.

"Oh, yeah!" Fred said as he remembered something. "You can get your learner’s permit and then make your way up for the full driver’s license."

"Oh, you guys are lucky." Henry remarked. "In Hong Kong and other East Asian jurisdictions, you have to be eighteen in order to be able to drive."

"I guess your old friends in Hong Kong might get jealous of you being able to drive while they have to wait another two years." Alexander Cabot III said to Henry.

"Ah, I don't think so." Henry replied. "My family moved to San Francisco when I was three, so other than my relatives and perhaps a few family friends living in Hong Kong, Rampoo, and Canton, I don't have anyone my age that will be acquainted with me back in Hong Kong."

"When are you planning on getting your learner’s permit, Shag?" Mark asked.

"Soon." Shaggy replied before turning to his friend Sharon Wetherby, who recently received her intermediate driver’s license a few days ago, and asked, "Speaking of which, how do you find the exam and the training course, Sharon?"

"It was alright." Sharon replied. "It is mainly the training class that follows that is the hardest, as for the first two weeks, there are classroom courses that takes up an hour everyday after school, where they teach you a lot of theory, such as vehicle maintenance, insurance and rules of the road. Then comes the actual driver's training, where you'll be paired with an instructor and he or she will ask you to do some moves, such as parallel parking, three point turns and emergency pullovers."

"Sounds easy to me." Velma remarked.

"Yeah, it is." Sharon nodded. "However, it helps more if you practice often outside of instruction hours, like practicing with your parents and using their car."

"Makes sense." Shaggy nodded understandingly.

"So, assuming you passed the exam for the learner’s permit, Norville, when does your driver's training start?" Maggie asked her brother.

"Monday, June 2^nd is the earliest I can book." Shaggy replied. "If everything goes well, I should be able to get my intermediate license by the end of the summer."

"I'm sure you can do it, Shag." Fred said to his friend. "You may be a class clown at times, but we know you always have the integrity to get things done and complete your goals."

"Such as you receiving your qualification in first aid." Daphne added. "I know you can do it."

Shaggy nodded as he smiled at his friends.

"So now what should we do?" He asked.

"Oh yes." Daphne smiled. "Game time!"

"Oh joy!" Maggie said excitedly. "What are we playing?"

"What about capture the flag?" Alan proposed.

"That will be fun." Velma said. "I propose we divide into two major teams."

"Since you're the birthday boy, Shag, you pick who will be on your team." Fred said.

"Why, sure thing Jones." Shaggy smirked with a tone of competition in his voice, indicating that he will be the team captain of the first team while Fred is the team captain of the second one. "I'll see to it that your team's flag gets captured in less than a minute after we start each round."

"You're on!" Fred replied evenly before the two rivals proceeded to pick their teammates.

Scooby, Maggie, Daphne, Tom, Jerry, the Teen Angels, Tinker, Debbie, Henry, Mark and the Mysteries Five volunteered to be on Shaggy's team while everyone else, including Velma, the Neptunes, Josie and the Pussycats went with Fred.

That night, Shaggy lied comfortably on his bed in his bedroom, his mind still thinking about the birthday party at the Blake Mansion earlier that day.

He was grinning about his team outsmarting Fred's team in capture the flag, even remembering how he managed to devise a strategy that caught Fred's group and the blonde off guard with the use of Tom and Jerry's fighting as a distraction.

Even after he and Fred became good friends and worked well together in solving those two mysteries, there's still room for competition between the school rivals, especially when it comes to games.

Overall, he was very happy about his sixteenth birthday.

His favourite part was when he initially entered the mansion and ran into three ghosts. The most memorable part was when Daphne, in her ghostly disguise, wrapped her arms around him. He still couldn’t stop thinking about how in the heat of the moment he barely tore himself free from her grip, as if she was a vampire and ready to take a bite.

He also liked Daphne's surprise and birthday presents, particularly with the new records.

The redhead sure knew what he likes the most. It was as if she knew how to read his mind.

Maybe his sister was right on her observation of Daphne back when they first met.

Those thoughts continued to linger in his mind as he drifted off to sleep.

At the same time in her bedroom, Daphne lied comfortably on her bed, her mind still thinking about the birthday party at the Blake Mansion earlier that day.

She was grinning about her team outsmarting Fred's team in capture the flag, even remembering how Shaggy managed to devise a strategy that caught Fred's group and the blonde off guard with the use of Tom and Jerry's fighting as a distraction.

Even after Shaggy and Fred became good friends and worked well together in solving those two mysteries, there's still room for competition between the school rivals, especially when it comes to games.

Overall, she was very happy about how Shaggy's sixteenth birthday party turned out.

Her favourite part was when she, in her ghostly disguise, wrapped her arms around Shaggy when he encountered her and the two other ghosts. She was amused with the way Shaggy tore himself free, it was as if he thought she was a vampire.

Shaggy sure liked her surprise and birthday presents, particularly with the new records.

She sure knew what he likes the most. It was as if she knew how to read his mind.

Maybe his sister was right on her observation of Daphne back when they first met.

Those thoughts continued to linger in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 3: A night drive and in the community centre

May 10, 1969

In the two weeks since turning sixteen, Shaggy had taken the exam for his learner’s permit and passed, but as his driving class doesn’t start until a month later, in the interim, his father has taken up teaching him how to drive.

The first week was spent teaching him the basics of the vehicle, such as components of the engine, the dashboard switches, gears, steering wheel, the pedals, the parking brake, turning signals, mirrors, just to name a few.

It was the second week that Shaggy began to practice driving after school, and it was one such drive that saw him driving his dad and Scooby to the North Point Park in the city’s north end after dinner that evening.

At the park, once Shaggy parked the car into the vacant spot, Scooby hopped off and Sam said, “Don’t wonder too far away, Scooby.”

“Ri won’t.” Scooby nodded before he headed down the pathway into the woods.

Once the Great Dane was walking down the pathway, Sam turned towards his son and said, “Nice weather tonight.”

“Indeed, Dad.” Shaggy nodded. “What, with the full moon and all.”

The police chief nodded. “Anyhow, I’m happy to see your driving improve over the past week, son.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Shaggy said. “I guess Sharon wasn’t kidding when she said that the hardest part was getting the hang of operating the vehicle.”

“First time’s always the hardest part.” Sam said. “With practice and with time, you will get the hang of driving. The key is situational awareness, whether be inside the vehicle or outside the vehicle with the surroundings, traffic signs and signals, other vehicles on the road, pedestrians, cyclists, your speed, and anything in your blind spot that you can only see through the side and rear-view mirrors.”

Shaggy nodded. “Good to keep that in mind.”

“And remember, even when you become more comfortable driving, it doesn’t matter if you have driven for five years, ten years, whatever.” Sam continued. “You always drive like it’s your first time driving.”

Shaggy nodded again. “Wise words to live by.”

His father nodded as they looked out the windshield and saw the nearby trees swaying with the night wind.

Outside, Scooby was wondering through the woods when the wind began to pick up speed, which prompted him to pause and look up towards the sky and saw the full moon slowly getting engulfed by the night clouds.

Scooby was starting to find the night air and wind chilly, though his fur has been keeping him warm thus far. It was followed by a light roll of thunder, though this thunder sounded like a rumble.

All it took was a brief lightning strike to raise the hair on Scooby’s back, though it wasn't because of the lightning itself nor the sharp thunder that followed. Rather, it was because of what was on the wooden sign on the top of a nearby iron gate.

The wooden sign, lightened up by the brief lightning strike, read, "North Point Cemetery".

At the sight of the cemetery's entrance, Scooby began to whimper in fear. Of all the places for him to end up walking past, it had to be a cemetery.

There were more lightning strikes to come, and though they were in the distance, Scooby’s eyes focused on two graves closest to the gate. The tombstones were shaking restlessly with the wind and the thunder, as if whoever was buried under in those graves were restless to get out.

The wind began to howl, and Scooby gulped as lightning struck again, but this lightning strike was different than the previous ones, because this one struck much closer and branched out, striking the two shaking tombstones.

As the thunder roared in the distance, amidst the smoke hallowing from the tombstones, two glowing green spectres raised up and floated into the air. The two spectres  morphed into a man and a woman, both dressed in Victorian-era clothing (though their clothes looked torn) and with pale, skull-like, rotten white faces.

At the sight of the two ghosts, Scooby’s eyes bulged in horror as the two ghosts exchanged looks with each other and chuckled hauntingly.

"Ripe!" Scooby exclaimed in fright as he quickly took off, briefly leaving behind his collar hovering in the air in the process before he reached back to grab it and took off.

Neither of the two ghosts took much notice to Scooby running away as they float towards the sky, and then the male ghost said, "Come now, Prufrock, the master has summoned us."

The female ghost responded, "What of the purpose of the summons?"

"It's not a question of what the master seeks from us, rather to what end does the master seeks our services." The male ghost replied. "The game's afoot."

"Follow your spirit, and upon this charge, cry, 'G*d for Harry, England and St. George!'" The female ghost nodded as they continued to float away.

Back in the car, Shaggy and his father’s idle conversation was interrupted by lightning and thunder, then the duo exchanged puzzled looks.

“That’s odd, the forecast didn’t say anything about overnight showers or a lightning storm.” Sam remarked.

When a lightning struck close to the woods, the father and son promptly became alert.

“Forecast or no forecast for a storm, we’d better go find Scooby and get him in before he gets caught in the rain, Pops.” Shaggy suggested.

“Good idea.” Sam nodded as they both unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car.

As soon as they were out of the car, Sam whistled and Shaggy called out, “Scooby Doo!”

When no response came, Shaggy called out again, “Scooby Doo, where are you?”

After the wind simply responded to his calls, Shaggy exchanged looks with his father and the latter said, “He’s probably deep in the woods, we may have to go in and find him.”

“In the dark like this, Pops?” Shaggy asked.

Before Sam could respond, both their heads snapped towards the pathway when they heard a familiar cry of fright speeding towards the parking lot.

Shaggy blinked. “Scooby?”

Just as Sam turned towards his son, Scooby came out of nowhere and slammed right into him and landed on top of him.

“Raggy! Rad!” Scooby said in fright as he pointed towards the woods.

“Scooby, easy now!” Sam said as he tried to get the Great Dane to get off Shaggy. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Rhosts!” Scooby exclaimed as his tail pointed towards the woods.

“Ghosts?” Shaggy asked.

When Scooby nodded, Sam exchanged glances with his son before he said, “Maybe you’ve had too much of the meatloaf for supper, Scooby.”

“Ri saw rwo ghosts, ronest!” Scooby insisted.

Sam sighed. “Could you show us where you saw them?”

Scooby gulped but obliged. He wasted no time leading Sam and Shaggy through the woods and then they stopped at the cemetery, much to Shaggy’s chagrin.

“Like, why did it have to be a cemetery?” Shaggy gulped.

“Well, let’s take a look around.” Sam insisted as he turned on his flashlight and walked through the iron gates, prompting Shaggy and Scooby to exchange glances briefly before they quickly followed him.

“And where exactly did the two ghosts show up?” Sam asked as he examined the nearby tombstones with his flashlight.

Scooby immediately went to the two graves where the two ghosts had raised up from and barked. “Rere.”

“Let’s see now…” Sam said as he shined his flashlight at the two tombstones and read their names. “Hmmm…’Prudence Prufrock’ and ‘Ezekial Gallows’, and both their tombstones showed signs of recent disturbance.”

“Like someone vandalizing their graves?” Shaggy asked.

The police chief frowned before he shook his head. “No, not that sort of disturbance. I was thinking something more…unexplained in nature.”

As the police chief made the remark, he turned towards Shaggy and Scooby with a knowing look.

“As in those two ghosts were summoned from their graves?” Shaggy offered.

Sam nodded. “The hair-width cracks on the tombstones suggests that they were struck by lightning.”

“Like the ones we saw earlier.” Shaggy snapped his fingers.

“Exactly.” Sam nodded.

There was silence between the trio, then Shaggy suggested. “Perhaps we should get out of here, Pops? I don’t think Scoob’s comfortable staying here for too long.”

“Reah.” Scooby agreed.

Sam nodded. “Let’s go.”

As the trio walked down the pathway back to the parking lot, Sam said, “At this stage, best that you keep this supernatural angle about the ghosts likely being summoned under your hats.”

Shaggy and Scooby both nodded as the police chief continued. “And obviously, don’t mention anything on how this explanation was put forward.”

“Of course not, Pops.” Shaggy said.

May 13, 1969

Throughout the weekend, Shaggy and Scooby remained puzzled by the discovery at the cemetery in the woods and what Scooby saw prior. Shaggy was still wondering who Prudence Prufrock and Ezekial Gallows were during lunch time when Fred, Velma, and Daphne joined him at their usual table. Scooby was meeting with friends at the dog park for lunch and thus wasn’t present.

“Hey Shag, is something eating you?” Daphne asked as she sat down.

“Yeah, you barely touched your sandwich.” Fred nodded towards his barely eaten sandwiches.

Shaggy glanced around before he said, “Like, do you guys notice something unusual last Friday night?”

Fred and the girls exchanged glances with one another, then Daphne shook her head.

“Can’t say we have, Shag.” Daphne said. “Did something happen last Friday night?”

“Well, I was practicing driving with my dad at North Point, and we took a break at the park.” Shaggy explained. “While my dad and I discussed my driving, Scooby wandered into the woods at the park. Next thing you know, there was thunder and lightning, despite the forecast not calling for any overnight rain.”

“The weather forecast can be wrong at times, Shaggy.” Velma pointed out.

“Yes, but after that, Scooby suddenly raced back to us and looking like he has seen a ghost.” Shaggy continued. “As it turns out, he wandered into a cemetery in the woods, and something happened that led to him racing back to us.”

“As in that something could pertain to the thunder and lightning earlier.” Fred stated.

“That’s right.” Shaggy nodded.

Daphne nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right, Shag, it does sound strange.”

“Yes, but the strangest part is the two graves purported to have given Scooby the fright.” Shaggy continued. “Like, somehow the lightning from earlier struck them and caused the spirits residing within them to raise up from their graves.”

“Oh Shag, you do realize that there’s no such things as ghosts.” Velma said. “Could be that Scooby mistaken something else in the cemetery for something frightening.”

“Maybe, but my dad and I went to check things out, and those two graves looked as though they were recently disturbed, despite how old they are.” Shaggy said as he produced a photograph of the two tombstones in question.

Fred and the girls leaned to get a closer look at the photograph in Shaggy’s hand, and Velma read the names, “Prudence Prufrock and Ezekial Gallows.”

She frowned. “Their graves are next to each other, but I don’t see any indication of a relationship. Curious.”

“Perhaps we could search that up in the public library after school?” Fred suggested.

“Sounds like a plan, Fred.” Velma nodded. “I do need to search for material for the history project anyways, so we can check things out at the library.”

A short while later after school, the gang and their friends were at the public library in the North Point Community Center. The building once housed the town hall for the former Town of North Point prior to its annexation into Coolsville in 1917 and has since undersaw expansion with the addition of recreational space, the local public library branch, and the office of the local city councillor.

It was also the closest library branch for the gang from their respective homes, which meant that it was easier for them to head home after they finished up at the North Point library rather than heading to the Coolsville Central library branch near their school and then head home, notwithstanding their homes being a ten-minute streetcar ride away from school.

After settling at their usual spots, the group promptly went on with their respective studies and other activities. Shaggy, Henry, Augie, April, Melody, and Debbie gathered to start with their history assignments, while Fred, Biff, Skip, Dee-Dee, Taffy, and Mark gathered for their science project.

Shelly, Daphne, Tinker, Brenda, Alexander, Valerie, and Clam were seated at a booth and working on their homework together, while Velma joined Bubbles, Alexandra, Josie, and Alan for their geography project.

Much of the next hour went by as usual for the group, and eventually the homework and school assignments gave way to them discussing what has been going on at school and outside of school as of late. One such topic was them discussing the election results for the special election for the student council and class president and vice president.

“It’s good to see that Linda and Mike were elected as the senior class president and vice president.” Alan was speaking.

“Yes, it is.” Brenda nodded. “While it remains to be seen how good of a job they’ll do, their first steps since taking office looks promising.”

“You can say that again.” Shelly agreed. “Not even a week in since their election and taking office, and I already find them a whole lot better than Gary and Ethan.”

“No kidding.” Skip said. “I really wonder how on earth did they get elected in the first place, given what we’ve found.”

“It sure makes you wonder what sort of pull Alice and her gang that has enabled them to get elected, and in turn appoint her as student treasurer.” Dee-Dee remarked.

Fred shrugged. “Beats me.”

It was at the tip of Fred’s tongue to continue when the lights in the library started flicking on and off.

As everyone looked up at the lights, Shaggy frowned and asked, "Oh, what's going on with the lights?"

Just as Shaggy finished his question, the inside of the library chilled significantly, which prompted Fred, Henry, Brenda, Debbie, Clam, and Augie to put their jackets on.

While the others shivered, Clam looked around. “I haven’t had ice cream for dessert, yet it feels as though it’s freezing in here.”

As everyone exhaled, Velma, Henry, Mark, and Dee-Dee were astonished to see fog coming out from his exhale.

"Something’s up, the climate couldn’t have gone anormal all in a sudden." Velma said as she adjusted her glasses. “Not like this.”

"Must be something going on with the weather system.” Henry offered. “Perhaps a low-pressure front is passing over us at abnormal speeds."

"Is there anything that can explain why this low-pressure system is passing over us at such abnormal speed?" Dee-Dee asked as he shivered.

“If you consider this abnormal, I think any abnormal explanation is the only way to explain this abnormal change in weather.” Mark quipped.

Hearing Mark’s remark, Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne exchanged looks with one another, though the calmness inside the library didn’t last long as it started to get windy inside and the bookshelves began to shake.

As the objects began flying around the library, the group promptly got up and took shelter under the tables and desks as books and other papers began flying around.

Hiding under the table with Henry, Augie, Daphne, Debbie, and Mark, Shaggy quipped, “I know we’ve had our fair share of storms as of late, but this is ridiculous!”

Just as he finished that remark, a thick book slammed onto the table at the stop just above him, prompting him to wince, given how loud the echo was from under the table.

“I was completely unaware that a tornado watch is in effect.” Clam was shouting. He was ducking under a table with Biff, Skip, Dee-Dee, April, and Brenda.

“Forget about a tornado watch, how is it that the walls and ceilings are still intact?” Dee-Dee asked.

And then, as quickly as the storm inside the library started, it died down and the group hesitatingly emerged from their hiding spots. When nothing of significant happened, they all got up and dusted themselves.

“Zowie, I wonder what on earth was that all about.” Taffy remarked.

But just as they had a chance to catch their breaths, a large book suddenly fell from the top and slammed onto the table, startling them. As it shook violently, the book opened itself and flipped through the pages with smoke emerging from them.

And then, the book stopped at two specific pages, and, to the horror of the group, two glowing green ghosts emerged from the pages.

As the group stared at the two ghosts in horror, the two ghosts floated forward and growled menacingly, prompting the girls to scream in horror as Henry shouted, "Run!"

Without any hesitation, the group and other nearby visitors of the library took off running as the two ghosts cackled behind them.

Meanwhile, over at the community centre’s gymnasium, a community event was well underway. The event was well attended and included community leaders, city officials, including the local city councillor Sheldon Deedle, a two-term member of the Coolsville City Council representing North Point, the Mayor of Coolsville, some county officials, and even the local representative in the state house.

“And now, it is my pleasure to announce that on June 1^st, the City of Coolsville, with support from the state and Grande Cristal County, will begin the restoration of the old Coolsville High School building in anticipation of the celebration of Grande Cristal’s bi-centennial in 1975.” The mayor of Coolsville was speaking.

The mayor’s announcement led to applause from the crowd in attendance, and he continued, “Like many in the city, the original Coolsville High School building was not spared from the fallout from the San Francisco Earthquake that triggered the Grande Cristal flood in 1906, of which Coolsville experienced the worst of the destruction. There were many casualties on that fateful day, including the then-mayor Jonathan Harris, and the two co-founders of the original school, Prudence Prufrock, and Ezekial Gallows.”

As the mayor spoke, in the hallways of the community centre, the group and various passersby were running like mad away from the two ghosts that popped up in the library.

“As a matter of fact, the two co-founders of the original school were going to bury a time capsule to mark the occasion when the flood hit. Ever since then, no one knows where the time capsule has ended up at.” The mayor spoke.

Pausing briefly to take a drink of water from his glass, the mayor continued, “For decades, the original school building was razed and buried as the town rebuilt after the flood, but now, with the bi-centennial of Grande Cristal approaching, there’s no better way to mark the occasion and dedicate to the memories of the big flood than to restore the old building.”

It was at the tip of the mayor’s tongue to continue with his speech when Shaggy, Scooby, Henry, Augie, Tinker, Clam, and Brenda sprinted into the gymnasium, followed by their friends, to the confusion of the mayor and the audience.

When everyone stared at them, Fred and the others came through the door and the blonde shouted, "Run! Everyone, run!"

Just then, the two ghosts hovered right through the wall above the door and the lights began to flicker, prompting everyone to realize what was going on as screams broke out.

With everyone scrambling to get out, the two ghosts cackled as they taunted, "Run, everyone. Run!"

In the ensuring melee, Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Velma, and Daphne stumbled upon each other as all the doors slammed shut, trapping everyone inside the gym.

Then, the lights completely shut down, and as everyone stood around and unsure what to do, a light explosion broke out, followed by a glowing green light turning on, accompanied by smoke.

It was then that a cackling hooded figure in black robes emerged from the smoke, much to everyone's shock.

"Citizens of Coolsville and Grande Cristal!" The hooded figure hollered. "Leave this place while you still can or pay for all eternity!"

As the hooded figure made that declaration, Shaggy turned to leave, only for Daphne, who was standing right beside him, to grab him by the shoulder and tug him back.

"Grave consequences await those who disregard my warning and choose to stay!" The hooded figure continued. "You hear? Grave consequences!"

The hooded figure then laughed evilly as another explosion occurred, and then it disappeared into the smoke and darkness as the green light was shut off.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 4: At the cemetery

It was not in Sam’s purview as the city’s police chief to join his men out on every call they received from dispatch. However, the calls from North Point Community Center in the aftermath of the crashing of the mayoral announcement made at the centre’s gymnasium were a different case, mainly because the mayor was present at the event at the community centre that was the subject of the call that came in.

But what really prompted Sam to decide to tag along with the responding officers was a subsequent phone call from Shaggy, and that’s what led to Sam to be on the police car and accompanied by a sergeant behind the wheel to North Point.

By the time he arrived at the community centre, the scene was already tended to by the responding officers and other first responders. A quick discussion with the fire captain on the scene revealed no fire of any kind, though the library and main hall were in a huge mess. No injuries were reported by the paramedics, who were soon the first to clear from the call.

The local division’s patrol lieutenant was at the scene, and Sam promptly walked over to him as soon as he disembarked from the car.

“What have you got, Lieutenant?” Sam asked. The lieutenant’s nameplate read “Affleck”.

“We got dozens of witnesses reporting a massive storm blowing through the library branch, followed by the mayoral announcement being cut short by a brief power outage and a ghost warning everyone to get out of this town.” Affleck reported.

“A ghost warning everyone to get out of this town?” Sam raised an eyebrow.

“That’s what the witnesses all reported, including the mayor himself, sir.” Affleck said.

Sam nodded thoughtfully. “And where’s the mayor right now?”

“He’s with his staff in Councilman Deedle’s office, sir.” Affleck replied. “I’ll show you there.”

The mayor Henry Walton was speaking with his chief of staff and the councillor when Sam arrived, and the mayor promptly turned towards the police chief.

“Good to see you, Sam.” Walton spoke. “It’s unfortunate that we have to meet at such circumstances.”

“I could say the same thing, Mayor.” Sam replied. “I understand that you were in the middle of your announcement when it all broke loose.”

“It did.” Walton nodded. “Two flying and glowing ghosts crashed the event, the lights went out, and then this hooded figure showed up through the fog and warns us to get out of town.”

“That’s what I gathered.” Sam said. “And what do you make of it?”

“Just someone looking for trouble and pulling a prank.” Walton replied.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Mr. Mayor.” Councilman Deedle interjected. “You saw the damage in the library, and considering the warning the ghost, we’d be fools if we don’t heed his warning.”

“And what exactly do we gain by doing so, Councilman Deedle?” The local representative on the state house, Calvin Grimes, raised an eyebrow. “Mayor Walton’s assessment is spot on when he said that it was someone looking for trouble.”

“Including those two ghosts that locked us in the gymnasium?” Deedle asked.

“Must’ve been the handiwork of multiple pranksters who locked us inside and caused all that damage in the library.” Grimes said as he glared at Deedle.

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t heed the warning, especially considering the legend about Gallows and Prufrock placing a curse on this place, warning that anyone who tampers with the school building of their school will be doomed.” Deedle said.

Sam’s eyes brightened up in recognition of the two names Deedle mentioned, though he said nothing as Grimes retorted, “That’s just an urban legend, supposedly conjured up to stop the site of the old building from being torn down and redeveloped. And even if this was true, what do their supposed ghosts have to gain from stopping anyone from restoring the old school building?”

“Gentlemen, please.” Walton interjected as he waved his hands in a calming gesture. “All this bickering about urban legends and superstitious matter is getting us nowhere.”

The mayor then turned towards the police chief as he continued, “I trust that Chief Rogers’ men are capable of getting to the bottom of this?”

“As in we’re looking into a clear case of sabotage and vandalism?” Sam raised an eyebrow.

“Exactly.” Walton nodded. “After all, what better way to crash the bicentennial of Grande Cristal with the delay of the restoration project of a building that is a part of this city’s history?”

Sam’s eyes slowly surveyed the office, first settling on the two bickering politicians, then to the mayor.

Eventually, the police chief nodded as he exhaled and said, “I will see what my men and I can do to get to the bottom of this.”

“Excellent.” Walton nodded as he patted the police chief on the shoulder.

After Sam finished up at the councilman’s office and had taken a first hand look at the mess and damage in the library, he was on his way back to his men when he saw his son chatting with his friends, and he promptly walked over to them.

“I really wonder what that third ghost really wants, or what his beef is with the town.” April was speaking.

“Search me.” Fred shrugged, and it was at the tip of his tongue to continue when they saw the police chief approach them.

Shaggy quickly turned to his dad as they all turned towards him.

“May I have a word with you and Scooby, son?” Sam asked. Then, seeing Daphne, he added, “You as well, Daphne.”

Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne turned towards each other with raised eyebrows before they followed the police chief to a private area.

Once at the private area, Sam turned towards Shaggy and said, “Norville, remember the night we checked out the North Point Cemetery after Scooby was spooked?”

“I do, Pops.” Shaggy nodded. “And you observed some cracks in the tombstones that were struck by lightning.”

“Yes, and it would appear that the two ghosts Scooby saw that night were the ones responsible for this mess now.” Sam said.

“Oh?” Daphne asked. “What made you so sure, Mr. Rogers?”

“There’s no way anything mortal like you or I is capable of causing that sort of damage, not even if dozens of rioters were to have done it.” Sam said. “And besides, Councilman Deedle brought up a supposed legend in which Prufrock and Gallows placing a curse on this place.”

“Re rame two reople whose graves rere struck ry rightning.” Scooby perked up.

“Yes.” Sam nodded.

“And this is significant, like how, Scooby?” Daphne raised an eyebrow.

“Ri raw rem raise from reir graves rafter rey were struck ry rightning.” Scooby said.

“As in you saw their ghosts raise from their graves?” Shaggy asked, prompting the Great Dane to nod.

After Scooby nodded in confirmation, Shaggy and Daphne exchanged looks briefly.

“Sounds like someone or something summoned their ghosts from their graves.” Daphne spoke.

“Exactly our thoughts as well.” Shaggy said as his father nodded. “Which means as much as I hate to admit it, like, it would seem we’re in for another trip to the cemetery.”

“And as I have said that night, be sure to keep this under your wraps.” Sam said with his eyes on Daphne especially.

“Of course, it would raise a lot of questions if we were to somehow bring up that the ghosts were somehow summoned, on the basis of the state of their graves.” Daphne spoke.

“Good.” Sam nodded.

Later that night, under the full moon, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne followed Scooby down the trail through the woods with the Great Dane sniffing on the ground.

"Well, I suppose it makes a lot of sense that Scooby could track down where those two ghosts came from. " Velma was saying. "After all, as much there’s not much empirical evidence to prove it, dogs do seem to possess a sixth sense of sorts that could detect anything unexplainable."

"Yes, and hopefully this could get us to the bottom of why exactly those two ghosts would cause the sort of trouble at the community centre." Fred agreed.

“What makes me more curious about is this alleged curse that is placed on this town.” Daphne spoke.

“Yes.” Shaggy nodded. “Like, based on what Dad gathered from the mayor and Councilman Deedle, it is alleged that this curse was put in place to discourage anyone from tampering with a school building that was torn down in the aftermath of the 1906 Flood.”

Daphne added, “And State Representative Grimes had also suggested that this alleged curse was conjured up to stop the site of the old building from being torn down and redeveloped.”

“Very interesting indeed.” Velma nodded.

As Velma was speaking, Scooby sniffed in two mushrooms, which became stuck to his nostrils and prompting him to sneeze them off.

While the Great Dane shook his head repeatedly, Fred and Shaggy both chuckled.

"What a ham." Velma remarked as she nodded at Scooby.

Fred only chuckled as he nodded in agreement, much to Scooby’s dismay.

After a while, as the gang walked past a hooting owl, Scooby suddenly stopped at the sound of metal creaking, and then he started barking, prompting everyone to flash their flashlights at the sign.

“Well, how do you like that?” Shaggy quipped as the cemetery sign came into view from their flashlights. “Even though this is the second time we’ve been here, the place doesn’t look any less spooky with the darkness.”

It certainly was dark and gloomy inside the cemetery as the gang looked around, and then Daphne asked, "And this is where you first spotted the ghosts, Scooby?"

"Reah." Scooby nodded in confirmation.

The others nodded and Velma observed, "Some of these graves are quite old."

She paused when she spotted one tombstone before walking towards it, and then she added, "This one dated back to the 1906 earthquake and subsequent flood."

The others looked around the cemetery with Fred staring at one tombstone, then he said, “It would seem most of the graves around here are dated from that fateful day.”

“Sounded like a lot of people died from the flooding, if they weren’t already killed by the structural and building collapses from the earthquake itself and the aftershocks.” Daphne remarked.

“Zoinks!” Shaggy gulped as he glanced around. “I sure hope there’s no earthquake of that scale on the horizon.”

“Especially one that could trigger a tsunami that caused the devastation of such scale like the 1906 flood.” Daphne agreed.

It was then that Scooby whistled and barked. “Rover rere!”

"Seems like Scooby has found them." Fred said as he walked towards Scooby.

Upon arriving at the two graves Scooby was pointing at, Daphne read the name on one of the tombstones. "Prudence Prufrock."

"And Ezekiel Gallows." Fred added. "I wonder who they are and why are they buried together?"

“Based on what Dad gathered from the mayor, Prudence Prufrock and Ezekiel Gallows were co-founders of the new Coolsville High School, whose original building was destroyed by the 1906 flood.” Shaggy spoke.

"That will make a lot of sense.” Velma nodded. “And that original building was slated to be restored in the run-up to the bicentennial of Grande Cristal’s founding before their alleged ghosts disrupted the announcement.”

"Curious that they would do so, or that they would even cast a curse on this place.” Fred said.

“Well, considering that they were about to open up their school when the flood hit, it makes some sense that they would supposedly place a curse on this place.” Daphne offered as she took out her camera and took photos of the two tombstones.

“That could be it, yes.” Velma nodded as she walked towards the two graves, while Daphne turned towards Scooby and Shaggy, and they all briefly arched their eyebrows.

As Velma began dabbing a sheet of paper onto the tombstones, Fred said, “Now that we have two of the ghosts accounted for, that leaves us with that third ghost.”

"Yes, and unless that third ghost was supposed to be buried in another cemetery, I don’t see any reason how there would be three ghosts crashing the event while there are only two graves here.” Velma said.

“And you are absolutely positive that you only saw the two ghosts when you wandered off here last Friday, Scoob?” Shaggy asked.

“Ru-huh.” Scooby nodded. “Ronly rwo rhosts.”

Daphne nodded. “Stands to me that the third ghost, the one that warned us to get out of this place, is an absolute fake.”

“Sounds reasonable to me, Daph.” Fred nodded.

“That’s using the good ol’ noodle, Daph.” Shaggy agreed. “Which means, like, who is responsible for crashing that event at the community centre, having the two ghosts cause all that mess there, and why stop the restoration of the original school building?”

As Shaggy was speaking, Velma had finished dabbing a sheet of paper onto the gravestones and collecting the particles on them and stood up.

"Well gang, it looks like we're up to our tombstones with another mystery in our hands." Fred declared as Velma placed the sheet of paper into her bag.

"Yes, and I think the first thing we need to do is dig deeper in Prudence Prufrock and Ezekiel Gallows’ backgrounds, as well as find out more about the fateful opening event they were taking part in when the flood hit.” Velma added.

“Sounds like a plan, Velma.” Daphne nodded.

“Anyhow, have we got what we came for here in the cemetery, guys?” Shaggy asked as he glanced at Scooby briefly. “I don’t think Scoob’s comfortable staying here for longer.”

"We’re finished up here for now, Shag.” Fred said as he headed for the exit. “Let’s go.”

“Rood.” Scooby said in relief as they followed Fred out of the cemetery.

As the gang made their way down the pathway in the park, Velma suggested, "Let's meet up tomorrow at lunch."

“Swell idea, Velma.” Fred nodded.

Eventually, the gang arrived at the parking lot and Fred and Velma decided to head their separate ways.

“Alright, see you guys tomorrow at school.” Fred said as he took his leave in heading west from the park.

“See you later, Freddie.” Daphne said.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Velma said as she took her leave in heading east from the park.

“Good night, Velma.” Shaggy said.

Once Fred and Velma took their leaves, Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne exchanged looks with each other briefly before they headed south. Along the way, Daphne took out the photographs of the tombstones she had taken earlier.

“Someone did summon their ghosts from their graves alright, guys.” Daphne spoke as she handed one to Shaggy, who took out a magnifying glass.

As Shaggy and Scooby studied the photo, Daphne pointed at a corner on the tombstone and said, “Notice the pattern of the crack?”

“Like, it looks like a signature of sorts.” Shaggy said. He and Scooby examined the crack on the other tombstone and then he added, “The cracks on both tombstones share the same distinct features.”

Putting down his magnifying glass, Shaggy added, “As much we hardly know much about magic or the supernatural, compared to…distant ancestors, I know that sort of crack when I see one.”

“Reah, rike Ralfred’s signature spell crack ron rour family rell book.” Scooby offered.

"My family’s spell book also has a similar signature crack, in our case from Katherine.” Daphne confirmed.

“Given what we know so far, what are the chances these signature spell cracks are like our written signatures and fingerprints?” Shaggy asked.

“Which leaves us with that fake third ghost.” Daphne said as they resumed walking down the sidewalk.

“Yeah.” Shaggy nodded. “Like, what does this third ghost want with Prufrock and Gallows’ ghosts and to what end?”

As Shaggy was speaking, he checked the time on his watch, only to frown.

"That's odd..." Shaggy said as he stopped.

"What is?" Daphne asked.

"Didn't even realize that my watch has stopped." Shaggy remarked as he looked closer at the time, prompting Daphne to also check her watch.

“Same here, guys.” Daphne said.

"Rhat time ris ron your ratch?" Scooby asked.

"Like, five to 4 o'clock." Shaggy said.

“That’s also the time my watch is stopped at.” Daphne said. "Now what were we doing at 3:55...?"

The redhead trailed off when she remembered that the event was held beginning at 15:30, before it was disrupted by them crashing it, followed by the ghosts and the Spectre.

And before that, they were running from those ghosts after the massive storm in the library, which began when the lights started flashing.

"Zoinks, there was definitely something supernatural, if not magical, about those two ghosts showing up that led to our watches stop." Shaggy said.

"Row interesting." Scooby remarked.

“Think it’s best that we keep this under our hats, guys.” Daphne suggested. “Between the ghosts showing up that made our watches stop and the distinct cracks on the two tombstones, I have no doubt there is magic involved in this.”

“Good point, Daph.” Shaggy nodded.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Back in the community centre

May 14, 1969

The morning went by as usual for the gang at school, although the events the previous day were still fresh in their minds. That had remained the case as Shaggy, Fred, and Daphne sat together at the usual table at lunch period in the cafeteria, where they were soon joined by April, Henry, Dee-Dee, Taffy, Brenda, Biff, Skip, Augie, Shelly, Mark, Tinker, Clam, Bubbles, and Debbie.

“Did you guys find anything after that scare at North Point?” Biff asked as they all sat down.

“Yeah, we went to check out the cemetery where Scooby first spotted the ghosts when they were raised from their graves last Friday.” Fred said.

“And you guys found who the ghosts were?” April prompted.

“Yes, Prudence Prufrock and Ezekial Gallows.” Shaggy said. “My dad and I were there that Friday night when Scooby got spoked, though we certainly didn’t expect those two ghosts to show up when they did.”

“They were among the casualties of the 1906 tsunami that came in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake that devastated the city.” Daphne added.

“Yikes.” Henry remarked. “But hang on, you guys said you found two ghosts at the cemetery, what about that third ghost that warned us to get out of town?”

“Scooby only spotted the two ghosts initially at the cemetery, and we found no indication there was a third person deceased that would be that third ghost.” Fred said.

As Fred was speaking, Velma walked into the cafeteria carrying pages of files, prompting the others to turn towards her.

“And it looks like Velma has found some information.” Dee-Dee said.

“I sure do.” Velma said as she placed the files on the table and spread them out. “I spent the morning at the county archives searching up our two ghosts.”

She then produced a photocopy of a newspaper article, dated April 16^th, 1906, whose headline read, "COOLSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL OPENS TOMORROW
Founders to Bury Time Capsule to Mark the Occasion"

“Well, 1906 was the year carved on the marble wall at the school’s main entrance.” Augie was quick to say after scanning the photocopy.

“Which is funny, since the school didn’t start holding classes and accepting students until 15 years later.” Mark said.

"Yes, that is because after the flood, when they rebuilt the school, they ended up deciding to move it to where Central High is now, and with Central High tracing its lineage to the old Coolsville High, it explains why 1906 is deemed as the year Central High was founded." Velma began.

“Interesting, so that would mean Prudence Prufrock and Ezekial Gallows were the co-founders of Central High, even though Coolsville High back then wasn’t at Central High’s present-day location.” Skip said.

“Yes.” Velma nodded as pulled up a photocopy of another news article, which was published a couple days later. "According to this article, they were about to open the school when the ceremony was disrupted by shaking from the aftershocks of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake."

"The same aftershocks that subsequently triggered the tsunami that led to the flood that destroyed the town." Biff interjected.

"Correct, and they both drowned as a result." Velma nodded.

As Brenda and Clam both gulped, Shelly quipped, "Talk about a spooky beginning for the school."

"It gets even spookier." Velma said. "As with the rest of the town, the lot where the old school stood was approved for redevelopment. However, they never fully got around to razing the old building to the ground, as legend has it that they have placed a curse on the grounds that prevented anyone from redeveloping the site. Land acquisition and zoning designation issues meant whatever plans for redevelopment of the site went nowhere, allegedly as a result of the curse."

"This is great, Velma." Fred said. "It certainly explains two of the ghosts. Now if we could identify the third ghost, because I can’t help but wonder if it is the reason why Prufrock and Gallows’ ghosts are willing to mess up the announcement of the restoration of the original building for the school they co-founded."

“That would explain plenty, Fred.” April nodded.

Seeing the look on April’s face, Brenda, Taffy, Dee-Dee, Augie, and Skip exchanged looks with one another.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, April?” Dee-Dee asked.

“Sure am.” April nodded as she looked at the others. “I think we should drop by the community centre again, perhaps there’s a clue lying around there that can help us identify that third ghost.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.” Dee-Dee nodded.

Everyone else all arched their eyebrows, and Velma said, “And how are you guys planning on achieving that? The community centre is closed until further notice.”

“Not entirely.” Taffy said. “There’s a play rehearsal going on tonight – the community theatre was not impacted by those ghosts crashing the community centre, so that could be our cover to check things out.”

Shaggy, Fred, Velma, and Daphne exchanged looks as they all nodded thoughtfully.

“Perfect, I was going to ask if any of you guys are interested in checking things out there tonight, but it looks like you’ve already beaten me to it.” Fred said.

“Do be careful, you’d never know what you’d find there.” Daphne added.

“We will.” Brenda said.

Later that night, over at the North Point Community Center, Elmo was the first to peek out from the bushes facing the main entrance, and then Skip and Augie were the first to follow suit.

The brothers were soon followed by April, then Dee-Dee, and finally, Brenda.

Despite some bicycles parked at the bike racks, there were no indications of any activities in the building, as all the windows were dark. Taffy did mention that the theatre club wrap up their rehearsals at around ten, and already it was ten minutes past ten.

The quintet waited outside patiently as a few more people left the building, and a few moments later, a side door opened, and some footsteps approached them.

“Hey guys!” Taffy’s recognizable whisper came through, prompting the others to turn towards her as she approached from the side door she had just exited.

“Hey Taffy.” April said as they darted towards her. “What’s with the sneaking and whispering?”

“I’ll explain later, let’s get in right now.” Taffy said, and the others promptly followed her back to the side door.

As soon as they were in the building, Taffy said quietly, “Right now, the director Mr. McLean is finishing up and as far as he knows, I have headed home for the night.”

“Good to know.” Skip nodded. “Perhaps we should wait until he heads home?”

“Wouldn’t be long.” Taffy said.

Sure enough, a few moments later, after taking a glance towards the theatre from their spot, Taffy saw Mr. McLean taking leave down the opposite direction, and once they heard the main entrance door close, the group promptly emerged from their hiding spot.

“So how would you guys like to approach this?” Dee-Dee asked as they stepped onto the hallway. “Should we split up?”

Brenda was quick to object. “I don’t think that would be necessary, the building’s already scary enough during the day, and besides, we're losing time if the plan is to be in and out of here as fast as we can and we start debating on how we're gonna split up."

“Brenda’s got a point.” Skip pointed at her as he nodded in agreement.

“Best that we stick together for now, after all, I don’t think there are many places we’re gonna search anyways.” Augie added.

"Works with me." Dee-Dee said as Brenda, Taffy, and April all nodded.

Without another word, Dee-Dee led the way down the hallway with the others following suit, but as they headed towards the gym, a nearby door opened and revealing a shadowed figure.

In the unmistakable voice of the Spectre, the figure pointed towards the door and ordered, "It will be trouble should they find what they are looking for, so go and get rid of them."

Immediately, Prufrock and Gallows both flew out from the door and proceeded to follow the gang down the hallway, and the door quickly closed.

Unaware that they were being followed, the gang walked past the main stairs leading to the upper floors, where there were three displays showcasing the city’s junior league sports team’s achievements over the years, including the cups they've won and various team merchandise.

And right by the displays were two mannequins with one wearing football gear and the other wearing baseball gear.

Prufrock’s ghost proceeded to possess the mannequin with the football gear, while Gallows’ ghost possessed the mannequin wearing the baseball gear. Gallows’ mannequin promptly come alive with a glowing green aura surrounding it, and its eyes were glowing red as it turned towards the gang.

Not suspecting a thing, April, Dee-Dee, Brenda, Taffy, Skip, and Augie continued walking on with Elmo in tow, though as Gallows’ mannequin came alive and turned its head towards the gang, the bulldog suddenly stopped as he began to get the feeling that he and the gang were being watched.

As soon as Elmo stopped, Gallows’ mannequin quickly reverted to its lifeless state, just in time before the bulldog turned towards them.

"Ruh?" Elmo growled in confusion.

Receiving no reaction from the mannequin, the bulldog snorted and turned. He was about to resume following the gang, only to thought of something and turned back towards the mannequins with a growl.

When the mannequin didn't respond to his growling, Elmo grunted in satisfaction before resuming following the gang.

As soon as the bulldog was out of view, the two mannequins returned to their possessed states and stepped out of the stand before proceeding to leap to the ground floor.

The gym was still the way it was left when the mayoral announcement was crashed earlier that afternoon, and the gang were careful to avoid the chairs as they made their way towards the podium.

"Alright, guys." Taffy declared. "We would need to find clues pertaining to the Spectre’s appearance here."

"And keep an eye out for any teeth lost from someone playing dodgeball." Augie added.

Deploying her ultraviolet flashlight, April proceeded to scan the surface with it, and Dee-Dee quipped, "Someone's come prepared."

"Just like a proper forensic investigator." Skip added, prompting Augie to chuckle.

April scanned the floor with the flashlight before she paused and frowned, then she promptly turned towards the others.

"Say, take a look at this, guys!" April announced as she put down the UV flashlight, which was shining at what appeared to be a large splatter of residue.

"What do you suppose it is?" Augie asked as they gathered around her.

"I'm not sure." Dee-Dee said. "But it is directly under where the Spectre appeared and then disappeared."

Grabbing a pair of small glass slides, April proceeded to collect a sample of the residue.

"I guess this is one instance where the slides you carried comes in handy, April." Brenda remarked.

April nodded as she said, "I’ve got my microscope back at home, and what good could it do without slides?"

As everyone else nodded understandingly, she proceeded to insert the slides to the slot in the microscope, and unseen by either of them, Gallows’ mannequin snuck onto the podium behind them.

A few minutes later, Skip asked, "See anything?"

April responded by shushing Brenda, then she turned and shushed Taffy, who then shushed Dee-Dee, in turn shushing Augie, followed by Skip, who then turned towards Elmo to shush him, and Elmo turned towards Gallows’ mannequin and growled.

For a moment, Elmo didn’t think much of the live baseball mannequin that he had just growled at, then it hit him like an anvil, and he quickly turned back to the mannequin.

When the mannequin growled menacingly, the bulldog yelped into the air, prompting the others to turned turn towards him, only for their hairs to spike in fright as they stood up in horror.

Gallows’ mannequin proceeded to wave at them with a "Boo!"

In fright, the gang proceeded to retreat off the stage and dart towards the nearby exit, only for Prufrock’s mannequin to enter through the door.

"Going somewhere?" Prufrock demanded.

The gang turned around, and they were frozen still as Gallows’ mannequin leapt off the podium and land in front of them.

It was Augie who quickly thought of something, and he darted towards the basketball rack and asked, "Hey, how about playing a few downs with me?"

Prufrock’s mannequin responded by stomping towards Augie as she growled, which the others quickly took as their cue to leave.

"Let's go!" Brenda shouted as they rushed out of the door, and right at the hallway, she, Dee-Dee, Taffy, and April rushed off towards the right while Skip and Elmo turned left.

At the door, Gallows’ mannequin looked both ways before grunting and sprinted after the girls.

Back in the gym, Augie squatted as he challenged, "Hey, come on!"

Upon adjusting her helmet, Prufrock’s mannequin demanded, "Care to play around?"

She then proceeded to sprint towards Augie in a bid to tackle him, only for the brown-haired boy to effortlessly jump in the air and leading her to tumble onto the floor.

“Come on!” Augie repeated. “I’m sure you can do better than that!”

Back at the hallway, the girls were running down a perpendicular hallway and Brenda asked, "Do you think we lost him?"

As she was asking, Gallows’ mannequin sprinted to the intersection behind them and looked in the opposite direction briefly before overhearing Brenda’s remark and turned towards them.

Looking over her shoulder, April grabbed Brenda by the hand and said, "I don't think so!"

As Gallows’ mannequin cackled, Taffy led the others towards the theater door as she said, "Come on!"

Back in the gym, Prufrock’s mannequin was clearly having trouble with the game as she stood up and adjusted her position.

"Oh, too low, princess." Augie said in exasperation. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

"Then, consider this the end of the road for your luck!" Prufrock responded as she once again tried to tackle Augie, only for him to duck under and leading her to crash into the chairs behind him.

In the costume room, April, Dee-Dee, Taffy, and Brenda were walking by the rows of costumes when they rounded a corner and stopped.

"Zowie, it's the Spectre!" Taffy exclaimed as she promptly delivered a kick at what they all thought was the Spectre standing in front of them.

However, Taffy’s kick instead only dislodged the costume and mask from their position, revealing a stand behind it.

"Why, it’s only the costume for the Spectre" Dee-Dee said, during which Gallows’ mannequin leaped onto the floor from the top of the stairs, prompting April and Brenda to turn towards the entrance.

"Better split up." Dee-Dee suggested as she quickly went with Taffy to the left and April and Brenda took to the right.

In the gym, Prufrock’s mannequin once again tried to charge Augie and tackle him in vain.

"Alright, no more playing around." Augie said. "Come at me!"

This time, Prufrock’s mannequin charged him in a fierce manner, only for Augie to deliver a punch at her head, leaving the helmet spinning as she got up after hitting the ground, prompting her to grab onto the helmet and stop it from spinning further.

In the costume room, Gallows’ mannequin was aggressively searching through the costumes and tossed through them as he said, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Meanwhile, the girls have regrouped at the back of the room when they realized that Gallows’ mannequin was blocking their way to the only exit.

"Oh no." Dee-Dee said.

Looking behind them, April saw something and said, "I got it, come on, girls!"

Though the girls were not in his sights, Gallows’ mannequin was getting close to where they were, and he aggressively charged through the costumes as he said, “I know you’re here!”

Back in the gym, after another failed attempt by Prufrock’s mannequin to take him down, Augie was saying, "Is this really all you got? Come on."

"Alright." Prufrock snarled. "Time for a different game!"

She then swung her arms and opened the supply room door, and then the tennis net came floating out towards Augie.

Before the brown-haired boy could react, he got caught in the net and got dragged to the wall behind, prompting Prufrock’s mannequin to cackle.

"Now we're talking." Prufrock said as Augie struggled to break free.

Picking up a sharp leg from one of the broken chairs, Prufrock’s mannequin proceeded to charge at Augie.

Thinking fast, Augie noticed the gymnastic harness hanging near him, and he promptly grabbed it. Then, just as Prufrock’s mannequin was about to be close enough to stab him with the chair leg, Augie quickly slammed on the harness release button, which sent him up just as Prufrock slammed into the wall.

Unable to stop, Prufrock’s mannequin collided with the wall, and she spun out from it and through the wall to the adjacent hallway.

Seeing the now-lifeless mannequin, Augie pumped his fist in victory and leaped back down. “Now that’s what we’re talking about!”

Now at another corner of the school, Prufrock recovered in time to see Skip and Elmo rushing into the banquet hall with a kitchen.

"Follow me, Elmo!" Skip said. "I know just the perfect place to hide!"

At the sight of that, Prufrock growled before flying towards them.

Back in the costume room, Gallows’ mannequin was still having no luck finding the girls, seeing nothing but endless piles of costumes.

With a frustrated growl, he slammed his hands on his legs and dispossessed the mannequin before flying off.

"Next time, ladies." Gallows growled.

Once Gallows’ ghost was gone, two horse costumes came to life and April said, "Come on, girls. Let's make tracks!"

"Right behind you, April." Taffy responded from the other horse as the quartet galloped away in their horse costumes.

Back in the banquet hall, Skip and Elmo were sprinting by the serving area when they saw the lids with steam and stopped.

"With all this running, I suppose we gotta refuel, eh, Elmo?" Skip said.

Elmo grunted as he nodded in agreement and Skip took the lid off, only for Prudence Prufrock's ghost to emerge from the tray.

"And just what were you expecting in here?" Prufrock growled, prompting Skip and Elmo to retreat in fright. "You think they would keep the food that was part of the banquet this afternoon overnight?"

Skip promptly raised his arms with a gulp. “Um, sorry!”

He promptly run off with Elmo and they hurried to a nearby door.

"Let's go, Elmo!" Skip urged as he opened the door, then they ran in and closed the door behind them.

Seeing all of that unfold, Prufrock’s ghost raised her hand and picked up the lock, then she inserted it into the slot and closed it, effectively locking the door from outside.

In the darkness, Skip and Elmo looked around just as the former heard the ominous click from outside, and then he gulped.

"Uh oh." Skip said upon hearing the click. "I don't like the sound of this click."

Elmo simply growled in confusion, as if he was asking where they are.

Managing to find a light switch, Skip turned on the light, only to be greeted by the cold fog and all the frozen food on the trays nearby.

"Figures." Skip gulped as he tried to push the door open, only to find it locked. "How do you like that? Undone by the very thing that keeps us alive."

Elmo simply stuck his tongue out in disgust in response while Skip began to pull down his sleeves.

Hope Augie and the others are alright and have gotten away. Skip thought to himself as he looked around.

Back outside, the girls were furiously sprinting through the main entrance.

"Giddyap, April!" Brenda exclaimed.

Moments later, Augie sprinted out of the entrance, in time for the area to be rocked by an explosion, accompanied by two massive flames shooting up with the two ghosts cackling.

"And never return!" Gallows shouted.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Aftermath

May 15, 1969

The following morning, Fred was chatting with Henry, Clam, Shelly, and Melody at their lockers when Augie approached them, and they promptingly turned towards him when they saw him.

“Hey Augie, you’re safe!” Melody greeted.

“Hope the adventure last night wasn’t too big of a hassle.” Henry added before he frowned when he saw the urgent look on Augie’s face.

“Say, what seems to be the matter, Augie?” Shelly frowned.

“Have you guys seen Skip or Elmo?” Augie asked urgently.

The others all arched their eyebrows briefly as they exchanged looks with one another, then Fred shook his head, “No, I haven’t seen either of them this morning.”

“Me neither, Augie.” Clam shook his head as well. “Did he not return home with you last night?”

“I was so pooped from all the running away from those two ghosts last night that I had assumed that they had escaped before me.” Augie explained. “And I headed straight for my room when I got home.”

Before the others could interject on the matter, Mark, Shaggy, Scooby, Brenda, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry arrived and at the sight of Augie, Brenda promptly rushed over to give him a hug.

“Augie, oh, thank goodness you’re okay!” Brenda exclaimed. “The girls and I were so caught up in trying to get out of the community centre that we didn’t even know if you made it out alright.”

“I’m fine and in one piece, Brenda.” Augie smiled reassuringly. “And I could say the same thing about you and the girls.”

“That was definitely a close shave.” Brenda said.

“Yes, which brings me to what I was asking the others.” Augie said as he nodded towards Fred, Henry, Clam, Shelly, and Melody. “Do either of you see Skip and Elmo this morning?”

“Skip and Elmo?” Shaggy asked as he exchanged looks with Mark, Scooby, Brenda, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry, who all shook their heads. “No, I’m afraid not, Augie.”

“They weren’t with us when we escaped last night…” Brenda said, only to trail off when a thought occurred to her, just as Dee-Dee, April, and Taffy arrived.

When the other girls saw Augie and Brenda, but no Skip and Elmo, they stopped in their tracks.

“Skip and Elmo didn’t escape with you last night, Augie?” Dee-Dee asked.

“I’m afraid not, Dee-Dee.” Augie shook his head as a thought dawned on him.

Seeing the alarmed looks on Augie, Brenda, Dee-Dee, April, and Taffy’s faces, Tom turned towards Jerry, Droopy, and Scooby, and said, “Uh oh.”

“Ruh roh is right.” Scooby said.

Seeing what the others were thinking, Shaggy said, “Zoinks, they must be still in the community centre!”

"That’s exactly it, Shaggy.” Augie nodded.

“You guys’ better head over right now and check on them.” Henry suggested.

Augie exchanged looks with the girls as they all hastily nodded.

“We should.” April agreed before they hurried off.

“Wait.” Shaggy said, prompting Augie and the girls to stop.

Nodding towards Scooby and Droopy, Shaggy continued, “Scooby and Droopy will come along with you guys, just in case.”

Scooby and Droopy both nodded as the former said, “Rabsolutely, rust rin case.”

“Good point.” Augie said with a nod. “We’d better hurry.”

Scooby barked in agreement as he and Droopy promptly joined them. Tom and Jerry exchanged looks briefly, then they quickly decided to join the two dogs.

“Better make it double, just in case.” Tom called out to Scooby and Droopy as Jerry hopped onto his shoulder.

The group hurried out of the school building just as Daphne arrived with Velma, Bubbles, Debbie, Tinker, Alexander, and they were puzzled by the hurried looks on their friends’ faces, more so with Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry accompanying them.

When they arrived at their lockers and saw the others, Daphne asked, “What’s going on with Augie, April, Dee-Dee, Brenda, and Taffy?”

“Yeah, we saw them hurrying out of the school with Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry.” Alexander added.

“It’s Skip and Elmo, they didn’t return with the others last night.” Shaggy explained.

“Yeah, they’re heading back to the community centre to see if they are okay.” Shelly added.

“Jinkies, I hope they are alright.” Velma said.

Over at the freezer in the kitchen attached to the community centre’s banquet hall, both Skip and Elmo were pounding on the door.

"Help!" Skip called out as Elmo howled loudly.

"S-s-someone help!" Skip continued. "H-help!"

It was then that a hand reached over to unlock the lock and remove it before opening the freezer door, revealing Skip and Elmo to be frozen.

With the door opened, Skip said in relief, "Oh, we're saved, Elmo!"

Elmo simply whined as their teeth chattered, and both their faces dropped when they saw it was a police officer who had opened the door.

As the police officer motioned them to step out, Skip gulped. "On second thought, Elmo, we're in big trouble."

Elmo only whined in response.

Outside the community centre building, the damage from the previous night's carnage became apparent as Augie, Brenda, Dee-Dee, Taffy, April, Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry arrived and the first thing they saw was black paint sprayed on the front wall and windows.

A massive skull was sprayed on the middle, accompanied by the word "Beware" to its left and the words "Never Return" to its right.

As Tom whistled at the sight in front of them, Taffy quipped, “Zowie, would you look at this.”

"Extreme makeover, ghost edition." April added as they surveyed the damage.

Besides the damaged billboard sign, the spray-painted words on the sign above the main entrance transformed what was "North Point Community Center, City of Coolsville" into "No Point of Return, City of Doomsville".

"Clearly, these two paranormal poltergeists and their handler meant serious business." Dee-Dee remarked.

"I hope Skip and Elmo are okay.” Augie said.

“In the meantime, we need to examine what we’ve gathered last night.” Taffy said.

"Way ahead of you, Taffy." April said as she pulled out her notebook. "That residue we discovered on the stage in the gym. Guess what it is?"

When the others arched their eyebrows, April said, "Magnesium chlorate."

“That makes a lot of sense.” Taffy said. "Magnesium chlorate is a highly combustible substance that can be used to create an explosion, similar to the Spectre’s smoke screen. The theatre club also uses it for smoke effects."

“Good to know, and that leaves us with another question.” Brenda said. “Why would the Spectre need chemicals to conjure up a smoke screen?”

"I think we already have the answer to that, Brenda.” Taffy said. “Because he’s an absolute fake who’s very much human, and the smoke screen residual we gathered confirmed it.”

"Not to mention when we thought we saw the Spectre in the costume room last night?” Dee-Dee added, “That was simply a costume for Death in the production of Romeo and Juliet.”

“Right, that makes more sense.” Brenda nodded thoughtfully. “Then, another question is, how did the Spectre fly?”

At Brenda’s question, Augie realized something and said, "Hang on, there were some gymnastics safety riggings in the gym."

When the girls turned towards him, Augie continued, "You know the thing they use for gymnastics?"

After the girls nodded, Augie continued, "When I was facing off against the ghost, I used the gymnastics harness to escape, and it certainly looked like I was flying. Couple that with the smoke screen and the cover of the darkness, that's how the Spectre flew at the announcement."

"Which further proves there is one mastermind working with those two ghosts behind the scenes." Brenda said as she stepped towards the main entrance. "One mastermind who is very much human."

“That settles it, now we need to go in and search for Skip and Elmo and hope they are alright.” Augie said.

The others all nodded as they quickly headed towards the main entrance, where Councilman Deedle was carrying a ladder and about to place it by the doors.

Augie called out, "Councilman Deedle, we have some-"

Before he could finish, the city councillor turned around with the ladder still on his shoulder, forcing Augie to duck down with a "Woah!"

As he got up, he continued, "-information about those ghosts."

“Information?” Councilman Deedle asked as he turned towards Augie and the girls. “What more information could we possibly need, other than the damage done to the community centre is yet another warning to us to heed the Spectre’s warning two days ago.”

“Uh, you see, Councilman-“ April began, only for their conversation to be cut short by the arrival of State Representative Grimes.

When Deedle turned around with the ladder still in hand, Augie quickly ducked down again.

"State Representative Grimes.” Dee-Dee said as they all faced Grimes.

Grimes merely nodded as he turned towards Deedle. “Councilman Deedle, no doubt the damage done to the community centre building is extensive.”

"It is.” Deedle spoke. “And it’s not too late for us to heed the Spectre’s warning from two days ago and get out of town.”

“And just what do we have to gain by doing that?” Grimes raised an eyebrow before he gestured towards the vandalized building and continued to, “This sort of damage can be simply explained as a clear case of vandalism and sabotage.”

“You don’t know how right you are, Mr. Grimes.” A voice from the inside of the building called out, and everyone turned in time to see the police chief came out from the main entrance with Skip and Elmo in tow.

Both were donning thermal blankets, and Augie, Dee-Dee, April, Taffy, Brenda, Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry all tensed despite the relief they felt seeing Skip and Elmo being safe and sound.

“Ah, Chief Rogers.” Grimes said. “I see you’ve got your suspects in this vandalism and sabotage case, no doubt all the damage caused to this building was their handiwork. Where did you find them?”

“Officer Stone found them this morning, locked in the freezer at the kitchen adjacent to the banquet hall.” Sam explained.

Grimes grunted with a nod. “By the looks of things, they must have been here all night, which is more than enough time for them to cause all this damage.”

“Maybe, problem is that there’s no evidence directly tying them to the vandalism, despite their lack of an alibi.” Sam frowned. “And not to mention we don’t have a motive.”

“Isn’t it obvious that they were simply looking for trouble and have found a convenient cover with this alleged curse?” Grimes asked.

Sam glanced at Skip and Elmo, then he turned towards Augie, Dee-Dee, Taffy, Brenda, and April.

"If that was the intent, then it’s mighty careless of them to get themselves locked in the freezer overnight.” Sam spoke.

“Not to mention considering the damage done, how do we know for sure that the two of them alone could cause all that damage?” Deedle offered, only to whither when Grimes turned his glare at him.

“We don’t know for sure how long they’ve been locked in the freezer, and we cannot also rule out the possibility that they’ve got accomplices.” Grimes said.

As the state representative was speaking, Skip glanced at Augie, Dee-Dee, Taffy, Brenda, and April, who tensed at his suggestion.

When Grimes turned towards Skip, Skip quickly said, “It was just the two of us that were here last night, Mr. Grimes.”

“Oh?” Grimes raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely sure.” Skip and Elmo both nodded, prompting Sam to place his hands on his hips.

“Hmmm.” Grimes grunted as he nodded thoughtfully, then he turned towards the duo and said, “I can’t say I admire your honesty and your loyalty to your friends, and I cannot say for sure if your cooperation on the matter would be sufficient for you to receive a lenient sentence for vandalism and sabotage.”

Seeing the look on the police chief’s faces, Augie, April, Dee-Dee, Brenda, and Taffy decided to step in.

“Actually, Mr. Grimes, they were not alone last night.” Taffy stepped forward, prompting Grimes, Deedle, and Sam to turn towards her. “I was the one that invited them over when I finished up the rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s Dream here last night.”

“And by them, that includes me.” Augie added.

“And I.” Brenda nodded.

“Same here.” Dee-Dee added.

“And it was my idea to drop by here last night to search.” April added.

Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry exchanged looks with one another as Sam turned towards Grimes and Deedle. The state representative thought for a moment before he nodded slowly.

“And what exactly were you searching for here last night?” Grimes demanded.

"Collecting evidence from when the Spectre appeared at the mayoral announcement." April answered. "There was fresh residue from right under where the Spectre was at, and it's magnesium chlorate, capable of creating smokescreens."

"And that's on top of using the gymnastic harness safety to fly." Augie added. "Again, a mastermind who is very much human."

"And you were absolutely sure that you had nothing to do with the damage here." Grimes stated as he gestured towards the graffiti.

"Of course we are, Mr. Grimes." Brenda replied. "The only purpose was to collect evidence and find more clues behind the Spectre, we certainly didn't count on those two ghosts showing up and chasing us away and locking Skip and Elmo in the freezer."

"As impressive as your motivations were, I'm afraid that doesn't excuse the fact that you kids have trespassed on City property outside operating hours." Grimes said.

“Not to mention taking the law into your own hands.” Sam said, though the tone in his voice wasn’t as stern as Grimes. “As good as it is you have in collecting evidence, there’re still the hazards you need to account for, like being found out by the real culprit, for instance.”

"Anyhow, if any of you were to be caught stepping foot on what is now a major crime scene, irrespective of your motivations for doing so, I will have you arrested for trespassing." Grimes warned as he briefly glanced at Sam. "Consider this the only time I grant the courtesy of offering you this friendly warning."

Without another word, the state representative proceeded to yank the thermal blanket off Elmo and Skip, causing them to spin like tops momentarily.

Before heading back into the building, Grimes glanced at his watch and said, "And if I were you, I’d be heading back to school right this instant.”

With a huff, Grimes stormed back into the building, and Deedle glanced at them briefly before he shrugged and followed suit.

Once Sam was left with the group, he turned towards them as April quipped, "That certainly went well."

Skip nodded before he said, "And thanks for not letting me and Elmo take the fall for all of this back there, guys."

“It was my idea that led you guys trapped in the freezer here in the first place, guys.” April said.

“Yeah, it won’t be fair for you and Elmo to take the blame for all of this, not that you guys were even responsible for all of this.” Dee-Dee agreed.

“Something about our two ghosts and the Spectre anticipating you kids dropping by here last night, eh?” Sam quipped.

“Yes, Mr. Rogers.” Taffy nodded.

Sam nodded thoughtfully. “By the way you kids have spoke earlier, it sounds as though you have collected definitive evidence that concludes the Spectre is very much alive, which begs the question, who?”

“Yeah, it’s not like we can directly point the finger at the likes of Bigfoot, Count Dracula, or the Mummy, eh?” Skip quipped.

“Definitely not, Skip.” April shook her head.

“And besides, there was some hubbub about budget cuts proposed to the local library and the arts programs here as of late.” Taffy added.

“Including the theatre club.” Brenda offered.

“Including the theatre club.” Taffy nodded.

“Was there anything explaining the reasoning behind those cuts?” Dee-Dee asked.

“No, but I have overheard some rumours about the discord between the councilman and the mayor and Grimes.” Taffy said. “And something about the councilman looking to primary either of them, presumably in protest of the budget cuts proposed.”

“Interesting suggestions.” Sam nodded. “However, if you kids are thinking about what I think you are thinking about, you can forget it. You heard what Mr. Grimes had said, this place is a crime scene right now and is completely off-limits to the public, and besides, you kids should be back at school right now.”

“We are heading back to school right now, Mr. Rogers.” Dee-Dee nodded.

Sam nodded again. “Anyhow, don’t make me have this conversation with you kids if you get caught, because if that happens and you get in legal trouble, my hands are tied.”

The kids only nodded before the police chief took his leave, then Augie turned towards the others. “Well guys, I guess that was that.”

Seeing Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry, Taffy shook her head. “Not necessarily.”

“Ruh-roh, not ragain.” Scooby almost took a step back.

“Not you, Scooby.” Dee-Dee said as they turned towards Jerry, who pointed a finger at himself with his eyebrows arched. “I’m afraid this is one time where we’ll need your help, Jerry.”

Elmo nodded as he joined Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry and said, “Sounds like they want you to go in and check out the building’s inside for clues.”

“Search for clues in the building?” Jerry asked. “That’s going to take all day.”

“Absolutely.” Tom nodded in agreement. “Unless we find someone to help Jerry out, it’s gonna take Jerry all day to find a clue.”

Just then, a voice said, “I won’t be so sure about that, guys.”

Turning around, Elmo, Scooby, Droopy, Tom, and Jerry saw Dawson, Cathy, Vicki, Neil, and Cheryl nearby, and Jerry visibly relaxed.

“Oh, hey guys.” Jerry said.

“What brought you guys here?” Tom added.

“We had some books to return at the library, though it would seem we will have to come back since the place’s closed.” Cathy explained.

“Well, it just so be that you could still do that while helping Jerry out.” Scooby said.

“Yes, we overheard you guys discussing what was going on.” Vicki said. “And we can help Jerry out finding whatever needs finding.”

Seeing the animals interacting, and then Jerry leading the way to the building with the squirrels and other mice following, Augie said, “I think they’re on with the search.”

Dee-Dee nodded. “Let’s head back to school, guys.”

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Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Some leads and a discussion

Augie, Skip, Elmo, April, Dee-Dee, Brenda, Taffy, Scooby, Droopy, and Tom wasted no time getting to their homeroom classes as soon as they returned to school. When Skip arrived at his homeroom class, Shaggy, Mark, Daphne, Shelly, and Henry all looked relieved to see him.

“Zoinks, thank goodness you’re okay, Skip!” Shaggy said as Skip took his seat.

“What happened last night, Skip?” Shelly asked. “And why are your clothes wet?”

“Elmo and I got locked in the freezer at the community centre by the ghosts.” Skip explained.

“Jeepers, poor you!” Daphne said. “You guys must be freezing!”

“We were, and thankfully, we were found early in the morning.” Skip said. “Unfortunately, the whole place was vandalized by those ghosts, and we were found by a cop.”

“That’s not good.” Mark said.

“No, and the state representative warned us that we will be arrested for trespassing if we were seen anywhere near the community centre, which is now a big crime scene.” Skip said.

“That’s a bummer.” Shaggy said.

“Yeah, and your dad was there as well, Shag.” Skip nodded. “He made no secret of his preference that we get back to school for our classes.”

“I imagine so.” Shaggy nodded. “Though I take it you guys got what you went for last night?”

“We did.” Skip nodded again. “There was residual of magnesium chlorate right under where the Spectre was ‘flying’ when he crashed the mayor’s announcement.”

“The same stuff used for smoke effects.” Shelly offered.

“Correct.” Skip said. “And Augie discovered how the Spectre was able to appear flying in the dark.”

“How?” Mark prompted.

“A gymnastics harness.” Skip replied.

“That makes sense.” Shaggy nodded. “So, at this stage, who do you guys think are the suspects?”

“Hard to say.” Skip shrugged. “But with talks about some budget cuts to the arts programs and the library and some bad blood between Councilman Deedle and both the mayor and State Representative Grimes, there are plenty of motives for someone who would want to sabotage and tamper with the building’s restoration.”

“Jeepers.” Daphne remarked.

Skip nodded. “Right now, we’ve got Jerry and the small crew searching around in the building.”

Mark nodded. “Let’s hope they find something.”

Back in the North Point Community Center, Jerry and his crew wasted no time splitting up to search around the building. While there were visible signs that some cleaning up efforts has been made in the library, like the rest of the building, the place remained off-limits to the public, where Jerry, Neil, and Dawson did the searching.

“Gosh, those ghosts clearly meant serious business.” Dawson remarked as they searched around the library.

“No kidding, even Tom and I can’t cause this sort of damage from our usual chases.” Jerry agreed.

“So, where do you suggest we do our searching, Jer?” Neil asked.

Jerry rubbed his whiskers, then he snapped his fingers when he saw the doorway leading to the back office of the library. “Since there was talk about the library facing budget cuts, perhaps a good place to start is the back office, guys.”

“Good thinking, Jer.” Dawson nodded. “Let’s go.”

After going into the office, the trio promptly searched around, which was relatively easier as the mess wasn’t as bad as the library itself. That didn’t stop them from having to clear through the papers on the floor, though.

Elsewhere in the community centre, the others were searching around for clues. Cathy, Vicki, and Cheryl were meticulously combing through the councilman’s office, which is currently empty as the councilman was over at the City Council for his usual duties while his staff were excused for the day, given the state of the building’s inside.

“When there’s barely anyone in here, this place is creepy, even during the daytime.” Cheryl whispered, her voice echoing slightly in the vast, empty space.

“You can say that again, Cheryl.” Vicki nodded in agreement.

Cathy, however, was unfazed. “It might be creepy, but it’s also the perfect place to hide something important,”

As Cathy was speaking, she started scrutinizing the drawers in the councilman’s desk by pulling open one drawer. In it, the first thing she saw was a book, followed by a magnifying glass.

Raising an eyebrow, the squirrel opened the book and soon found herself looking at various stamps in what was the councilman’s collection.

“Huh, looks like Councilman Deedle is quite the stamp collector.” Cathy said.

Vicki and Cheryl joined in and looked, and the former pointed at one specific stamp and said, “And not just any stamps. Look at this one.”

When Cathy and Cheryl arched their eyebrows, Vicki continued, “The One-Eyed Jack. Now look closely and tell me what you see.”

Cheryl and Cathy leaned closer and looked through the glass as they examined the stamp in question, then Cathy raised an eyebrow, “I see two jackrabbits.”

“Yes, and one of them has something unique if you look closely at it.” Vicki said.

Cheryl was silent as she examined the stamp, then she frowned when she finally saw it. “The jackrabbit to the right has only one eye.”

“Well, how about that.” Cathy quipped when she saw what Cheryl was referring to.

“Yes, it’s definitely a misprint.” Vicki nodded. “Given how rare they are, stamps like this one are among the most sought-after by stamp collectors.”

“Makes sense.” Cheryl nodded before Vicki closed the book and they resumed their search.

After several moments, the trio decided to take leave.

“Nothing else of significance, let’s hope the guys have better luck finding clues.” Cheryl said as they leave the councilman’s office.

Back in the library’s back office, after several moments of searching around, it was Dawson who spotted the book at where returned books were being processed. It was the book title that drew his attention, and he hurried over to flip it open. As soon as he got to the first page, what he saw was enough to prompt him to whistle for the others to join.

“What did you find, Dawson?” Neil asked as he and Jerry joined.

"Volume One: Ghostly Hauntings, A History." Dawson read the title as he flipped the book open, during which Jerry leaned closer and frowned when he saw something on the first page.

“And I think this book is the key to everything about these ghost appearances, guys.” Jerry said.

"Wha-?" Dawson enquired, only for Jerry to cut in.

"I'll explain when we get back to school, right now we gotta find the others and get outta here." Jerry said as he waved his arm towards the exit.

Dawson and Neil both nodded as they picked up the book and followed Jerry out of the library and back onto the hallway. When Cathy, Cheryl, and Vicki met up, Dawson asked, “You girls find anything at the councilman’s office?”

“Besides the fact he’s an avid stamp collector, no.” Vicki shook her head. “And what’s with the book you guys are carrying?”

“No time to explain, we need to get back to school and inform the others of what we found.” Jerry said.

When lunch period arrived, Shaggy, Fred, Velma, Daphne, April, Skip, Augie, Debbie, Mark, Tinker, Shelly, Bubbles, Biff, Clam, Dee-Dee, Brenda, Taffy, Henry, Scooby, and Elmo were seated at their usual table for lunch.

“I wonder if Jerry and the crew were able to find something, guys.” Fred remarked as he munched on his sub.

It was Clam who spotted Tom walking into the cafeteria with Jerry on his shoulder with a book in hand, and he said, “I think we’re about to find out, guys.”

Scooby and Elmo both perked up as Tom and Jerry joined them at the table, then Elmo asked, “You found something, Jerry?”

“We sure did.” Jerry nodded. “Couple of things, actually.”

“What is it?” Scooby raised an eyebrow.

“First, while the girls didn’t find any clues in the councilman’s office, they did find his stamp collection, and they noted one such stamp as a rare misprint.” Jerry explained.

“Interesting.” Scooby and Elmo both nodded. “And nothing else of note in the councilman’s office?”

“No.” Jerry shook his head. “Which brings us to the second thing we found.”

Tom nodded as he placed the book on the table, prompting the others to lean closer at it.

"What is this book about?" Skip asked as Tom placed the book on the table.

“Interesting title, it says ‘Volume One: Ghostly Hauntings, A History.’" Biff read the title on the book.

“Volume One, as in this book is part of a set of books on something?” Henry frowned.

Tom flipped open the cover and pointed at the first page, and when Dee-Dee read it, she said, "It's the first volume of a three-volume set of books on the supernatural."

“That makes sense.” April nodded as she and Debbie leaned closer to read the titles of the accompanying books in the set.

"Volume Two: Common Spells, Curses, and Hexes." Debbie read.

As Jerry nodded, Velma leaned over to read. "And Volume Three: A Practical Guide on Resurrection and its Applications."

At the realization, she added, "Given what we knew about those two real ghosts and the third ghost being the mastermind who is very much human, that third volume is one we need to get our hands on."

Tom, Elmo, and Scooby turned towards Jerry as he said, "Velma’s right, problem is that the third volume has been checked out from the library."

“And it seems that the check out slip holds the key to all of this.” Tom added as he pulled it out.

A quick glance at the slip was all Scooby needed to realize who checked the book out last, and he pointed at the slip and said, “Rand rook who recked it rout last."

Pointing at the slip, Scooby looked on as the others looked closer at the slip, and like the Great Dane, they all have the same looks of realization on their faces.

"Like, State Representative Grimes?" Shaggy asked.

"But that doesn’t make any sense." Shelly frowned. “Why exactly would he resurrect those two ghosts, if only to sabotage the restoration of the old school building that he has been pushing for?”

“Perhaps he’s the one that’s hiding something?” Augie offered. “After all, he was very bent on pinning the damage on troublemakers.”

“You’re telling me.” Skip said as he and Elmo exchanged looks.

"Anyhow, we'd definitely need to check him out." Fred said. "And the first thing we’d have to do is find out where his constituency office is at."

"That’d be a very good start.” April nodded. “And maybe we could find his home address, too, if nothing turns up at his office.”

“That’d be good, too, except that we’d technically be trespassing if we end up searching at his office or home.” Dee-Dee said.

“Maybe, except that’s a chance we’ll have to take if we want to get to the bottom of this ghost business.” Debbie pointed out. “As risky this is.”

“Well, one thing for sure is that April, Taffy, Dee-Dee, Brenda, Augie, Skip, and Elmo, you guys should stand down from this.” Velma suggested. “The state representative already recognized you guys, and the risk wouldn’t be as great compared to if you guys went.”

“No worries, I was thinking maybe the Neptunes, Debbie, Mark, and Tinker should go this time.” Dee-Dee said.

“Sounds swell, which brings us the next question as to how we’re gonna split up this time.” Debbie said as she turned towards Biff.

“I was thinking you guys maybe check out his constituency office, while we check out his home tonight for any clues.” Biff said before he turned towards Clam, Bubbles, and Shelly and asked, “What do you guys think?”

"As much I don’t like the idea of breaking into a state representative’s office, I feel it’s probably the only way for us to get to the bottom of this whole mess.” Shelly sighed.

“And I do hope there are clues lying around there.” Clam added. “Or we’d be in bigger trouble.”

Given the mess at the North Point Library, when the group were finished at school that afternoon, they headed downtown for the main library branch for their research on Grimes.

It took some digging, but eventually they located the address of State Representative Grimes’ constituency office, along with a roll of electors from the 1964 election, which established his home address. However, the bad news is that the state representative lives all the way out in Watson’s Pass, right in the east end of Grande Cristal County.

“And that’s assuming that State Representative Grimes didn’t move in the past five years.” Taffy spoke after they found the address.

Velma was holding an atlas of the county, and she placed it on the table for everyone to see with the page flipped to Watson’s Pass.

“And it’s not just any place in Watson’s Pass, guys.” Velma spoke. “It’s practically a cottage that’d be a good 20-minute walk away from the closest bus stop.”

"Which means we’re gonna have to drive to get there.” Biff spoke. It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes, which then brings us to the next stumbling block in that neither of us have a ride there.” Henry spoke. “Not to mention one of us would need to have a driver’s license.”

At Henry’s remark, Mark, Debbie, and Tinker exchanged looks with one another, then Mark said, “Actually, we may have something that could cover the issues with having a ride and needing a driver’s license, guys.”

“Oh yeah?” Fred prompted as they all turned towards the trio. “What do you guys have?”

“Remember that we mentioned visiting a research lab out of town during March Break?” Tinker asked.

“Oh yes, you guys ended up solving a mystery with the culprit responsible involved in industrial espionage.” Henry nodded.

"Yes, and as a reward, the lab gifted us something in gratitude.” Debbie said.

“Like, what is it?” Shaggy asked excitedly.

A short while later, the group were gathered at the garage at Tinker’s place, where the garage door was currently closed.

“Alright, guys.” Tinker said as he stood by the garage door. “Be prepared to be blown away.”

Everyone else exchanged looks with one another in anticipation, then Tinker pressed the button on the remote that opened the garage door.

When the garage door fully opened, they all saw Mark and Debbie standing beside an object covered in a large cloth.

The others all looked intrigued, and Debbie proceeded to pull the cloth off, revealing an orange buggy. At the sight of it, Biff, Fred, and Henry all whistled.

"Wow, you guys got a buggy?” Augie asked.

“And I take it it’s not just any buggy, isn’t it.” Taffy added as she leaned forward to take a closer look at the buggy.

“No, he isn’t.” Mark said. “The research lab is pioneering autonomous vehicles, and in gratitude for our assistance in capturing an industrial spy planted by Dr. Zin, they gifted us one of their newly built buggies.”

Tinker nodded as he turned towards the buggy and added, “Isn’t he right, Speedy?”

To the astonishment of most of the others, the buggy’s headlights suddenly lit up with blue eyes in them, and he excitedly said, “Sp-sp-sp-right you are, Tinker.”

“Jinkies, he talks?” Velma asked as she, Shelly, Brenda, and Henry each took a step back in surprise.

“Well, he is advanced with a smart chip that makes him sentient and can drive on his own, which is handy for when neither of us has a driver’s license.” Debbie explained.

“That makes sense.” Henry nodded.

“Sp-sp-sp-so I gathered you’ve got a place to visit tonight?” Speedy asked.

“Yes, we do, Speedy.” Debbie nodded. “A drive to Watson’s Pass for a mystery adventure.”

“Sp-sp-sp-splendid.” Speedy said excitedly.

Watching Tinker, Mark, and Debbie interacting with Speedy, Fred said, “I think you guys got that covered.”

“Yes, though I think Henry should go with you guys’ as extra backup.” Biff suggested.

Henry nodded. “Works with me.”

“And in the meantime, we’d be checking around in Grimes’ office for any clues.” Shelly said with her hands on her hips.

Velma nodded. “Hope you guys found something that would get to the bottom of this ghost business for good.”

Everyone else nodded as the scene shifted towards the afternoon sky.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 8: In Watson’s Pass

The Watson’s Pass Town Center was long deserted and closed tight when the Neptunes arrived that night around quarter after nine. Upon disembarking the streetcar at the town centre’s terminal, the Neptunes headed straight to the constituency office of State Representative Grimes.

Rather than trying the main entrance, the gang decided to go with the rear door. Biff tried to open it, but the door was predictably locked.

“This place is locked up tight during the night.” Biff said after a few tries. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“So, how do we get in?” Clam asked.

The others looked around before Biff looked up and said, “Say, there’s an open window on the second floor, guys.”

Everyone else followed Biff’s gaze and saw the open window above the rear door, and Shelly quipped, “Guess that’s our way into the office.”

“Yes, but how do we get up there?” Bubbles wondered.

The gang exchanged looks with one another, and Biff said, “One of us is gonna have to climb up the wall to get to the window.”

Their eyes all turned towards Clam, who was momentarily confused before he quickly took a step back and shook his head.

“Oh no.” Clam said as he vigorously shook his head. “No way, man!”

“Sorry, Clamhead, but you’re the only one athletic enough to get up to that window on the second floor.” Shelly said.

“Only because I’m tall and skinny, huh.” Clam rolled his eyes.

“You got any other ideas, Clam?” Biff asked.

Clam paused, then he shook his head and said, “Then, just get ready to lift me up.”

Biff and the girls nodded as they formed a triangle and knelt together while Clam took several steps back. The trio extended their right arms and placed their hands on top one another, then Bubbles turned towards Clam and said, “We’re ready, Clam.”

When Clam nodded, Biff said, “On the count of three, Clam, you run towards us and leap, and we’ll propel you up.”

After Clam got ready, Biff said, “One…”

Clam stepped forward with his left foot in front of the right foot as Biff continued, “…two…”

With the muscles in his right leg compressed like a spring, Clam blinked just as Biff barked, “…THREE!”

At Biff’s bark, Clam sprung forward and ran towards his friends. He leaped and his left foot got onto Biff, Bubbles, and Shelly’s stacked hands. The trio pushed up, which propelled him upwards into the air like a springboard.

With his arms stretched. Clam promptly grabbed onto the window frame and pulled himself up and through the open window. As quickly as he came, he disappeared into the building.

As they watched Clam swung into the building, Bubbles glanced up and said, “Maybe we should’ve thought of bringing a safety net of sorts, or a ladder.”

Shelly almost facepalmed. “That’d be nice to know in advance.”

Inside, Clam landed on the ground floor and surveyed his surroundings. He didn’t expect the second-floor window to instead be right above the rear hallway leading to the rear door. He was expecting a second-floor hallway above the rear door, though in hindsight, it also makes some sense that the window would be open.

While it is a weekday night, Clam found himself feeling unnerved by how still the inside is in the deep of the night. He promptly dusted himself and turned to unlock and open the rear door, silently hoping the office isn’t equipped with an alarm.

Nothing happened as the door opened and Biff, Shelly, and Bubbles stepped in.

“Golly, the office sure looks dead.” Bubbles remarked.

“You said it, Bubblehead.” Shelly nodded as Clam closed the door behind them. “The sooner we finish up and get outta here, the better it is.”

Although on the surface, Biff was referring to how dead quiet the office is at night, they all know that given they had just broken into State Representative Grimes’ constituency office, if they don’t finish up soon, the chances of them getting caught goes up.

“I think one of us ought to stay here and keep watch.” Biff suggested. “In case someone shows up.”

“Guess I can do it.” Clam said.

Biff and the girls all nodded as they walked into the rear offices. A quick check at the front revealed nothing beyond the receptionists’ desk, some chairs, and a couple of cubicles. The rest of the unit comprises of a washroom, the state representative’s private office, a small conference room, and a storage room.

The trio wasted no time deciding to search in the private office and go through the files.

“So, what are we searching for exactly?” Shelly asked as she rampaged through the drawers at the desk.

“Anything related to the restoration project of the old school building.” Biff said. “It seems to be the key to everything in this.”

Five minutes in, Bubbles was looking through the second drawer of a file cabinet when she stumbled upon something and frowned. “Guys, I think I might have something.”

Biff and Shelly paused from their search and turned. “What is it, Bubblehead?”

Pulling out the file, Bubbles said, “It is a letter dated last week.”

“And what does it have to do with the restoration project of the old school building?” Biff asked.

Bubbles merely shrugged as she handed the letter to Biff, who grudgingly took it nevertheless and looked. He took a moment before he said, “Hmmm, imagine that.”

“What is it, Biff?” Shelly asked as she placed her hand on her hips.

“This letter was dated May 9^th, last Thursday.” Biff said. “Here, the county’s development watchdog was responding to State Representative Grimes on a previous letter he has sent couple weeks ago concerning a redevelopment project in North Point.”

Flipping a page, Biff continued, “And here, in the original letter State Representative Grimes sent on April 26^th, he alleged that there were instances of favouritism in the city planning committee’s review of the redevelopment proposals for the old town centre, which included the site of the old school, with kickbacks involved in the process.”

“Wait a minute, Councilman Deedle’s the chair of the three-member planning committee on the city council, isn’t he?” Shelly prompted.

“He is.” Biff nodded.

Bubbles was searching through the drawer as the duo were speaking, then she pulled out another file and said, “And here’s some correspondence between the mayor and State Representative Grimes, guys.”

“When was it dated?” Biff asked as he and Shelly turned towards Bubbles, who handed them the file.

“The most recent was dated May 8^th.” Bubbles said.

Biff nodded. “And in it, the mayor concurred with Grimes’ concerns about Deedle’s favouritism towards Black Rattler Management’s proposal and has hinted on measures to be taken to strip Deedle from the chairmanship of the planning committee.”

Shelly was now reading the files, and she added, “And here, the mayor has confided with Grimes about the options he’s weighing before endorsing a primary challenger to Deedle for his seat on the City Council in next year’s elections, too.”

“I suppose that would explain the rumours about Deedle being deeply at odds with both Mayor Walton and State Representative Grimes.” Biff quipped as he took over in going through the files in the cabinet, eventually stopping at one and pulled it out.

The girls looked on as Biff read through the file he had just pulled, and then he whistled.

“Take a look at these redevelopment proposals submitted by the final contenders that were under evaluation by the planning committee.” Biff said.

When the girls followed Biff’s instructions, the first thing they noted was Black Rattler Management’s proposal of maintaining only part of the façade of the ruins of the old school building for a luxury condo building. Other proposals for the site area included similar high-end commercial development, a theme park centred on a professional sports stadium, complete with a casino and a racetrack.

“A casino in this part of town?!” Shelly said derisively, as if the proposal submitted by Black Rattler Management was akin to deworming all the dogs and declawing all the cats in town. “I don’t think I have enough toes or fingers to list out the reasons why this is so wrong on so many levels.”

“You’re hardly the only one, Shelly.” Biff nodded. “Especially when compared to the ultimate winning proposal that the planning committee, and the city council at large, voted to forward, which would restore the original school building and establish it as a community hub for activities, complete with parks and the usual residential development with apartments, fourplexes, triplexes, and commercial spaces, in addition to reusing the existing papermill building for a brewery and additional artists spaces.”

“Doesn’t seem as though it would rake in significant revenue compared to BRM’s proposal, though this one has the advantage of actually investing in the local community and providing a community hub.” Bubbles noted.

“It does.” Biff nodded. “Though given the development costs with the restoration of the original school building being the biggest source of costs in the project, it does give credence to Grimes’ concerns that the ghosts and the Spectre were there to sabotage the restoration project, and when we take in the real estate development competition angle, we’re looking at BRM vying for another shot with the ongoing delays of the restoration project.”

“And if this project were to be cancelled, BRM will emerge the biggest winners, and in turn giving Councilman Deedle a big win, given the discussions between Grimes and the mayor about Deedle’s unspoken plans to challenge either of them in next year’s election, either in the State House or for the mayor’s office.” Shelly added.

“Sounds to me, then, that Councilman Deedle is the one with the motive for conjuring those two poltergeists.” Bubbles offered.

Biff and Shelly nodded, which is when something occurred to them.

“And right now, Debbie, Mark, Tinker, and Henry are over at State Representative Grimes’ house. We gotta head over and warn them that their search is gonna turn up fruitless!” Biff said.

The girls needed no further urging as they hurried back to the rear door, only to find the door shut and Clam on the floor, not moving. Stunned, the trio stopped in their tracks.

“What on earth…?” Shelly began as Biff quickly jumped to Clam’s side.

“Clam!” Biff exclaimed as he patted his friend as he tried to wake him up. “Clam, are you alright?!”

As Shelly and Bubbles watched, neither of them noticed a pair of glowing red eyes in the dark shadows behind Bubbles. Abruptly, a pair of arms reached out from the shadows, covered Bubbles’ mouth, and dragged her into it.

A quick check of Clam’s pulse quickly established that he is breathing, just knocked out now, and Biff turned to Shelly.

“Shelly, Bubbles, we’d better get outta here, something’s going on...” Biff said, only to trail off when he saw Bubbles is nowhere to be seen. “…um, Shelly, have you seen Bubbles?”

“Sure, Bubblehead’s standing right next to me…” Shelly turned around, only to trail off when she saw Bubbles is nowhere to be seen. “…that’s funny, she was with me just a minute ago!”

Just then, the door behind her closed, and the duo turned around before Biff walked over to open it, only to find the doorknob jammed.

“It’s locked!” Biff said.

Shelly quickly walked to the back door and tried the knob, only to find it jammed as well.

“This one’s locked too, Biff!” Shelly said.

“But how?” Biff asked. “The back doors supposed to be locked from the inside, which is where we’re at, how can we get locked in?”

Shelly didn’t answer, for her eyes were focused on a couple of spray bottles that were floating in front of her.

“Huh, what’s with these spray bottles…?” Shelly asked as she reached over to touch one of them, only to get herself sprayed.

Coughing heavily, Shelly felt her legs buckle, and Biff quickly rushed to her.

“Shelly!” Biff exclaimed, only to stop in his tracks when he saw another pair of spray bottles floating in front of him.

Before he could act, he was sprayed. A few moments later, Biff was a crumbled mess on the floor alongside Shelly, Clam, and the now-reappeared Bubbles, all knocked out by the spray’s contents.

The mystery behind the floating spray bottles soon became apparent as the ghosts of Prufrock and Gallows appeared, and they exchanged looks with one another before floating towards the four unconscious kids on the floor.

Unaware of the developments taking place at State Representative Grimes’ constituent office, Debbie, Tinker, Mark, and Henry pulled up to the state representative’s house in the outskirts of Watson’s Pass on Speed Buggy per the address Velma had found.

After parking Speed Buggy at the side of the road, the gang all promptly disembarked from the buggy and gathered with their flashlights on.

“Alright Speedy, stay here and don’t leave your spot unless we call for you.” Tinker instructed the buggy.

“Sp-sp-sp-sure thing.” Speedy nodded before he looked at the house. “Though if I am, sp-sp-sp, say so, this sure looks bizarre.”

Seeing how dark the house is, Henry quipped, "The lights are not on, which could only mean two things.”

“Either he must be asleep right now, or he’s out planning another one of his late-night creep-fests." Debbie said.

"Well, there’s only one way to find out, guys." Mark interjected as he stepped forward.

Just as Henry and Debbie followed suit, Tinker stopped them as he said, "Wait a minute, guys, what's the plan exactly?"

As the others looked at him, he continued, "We can't just charge in with our arms swinging, not to mention we'd technically be breaking in and he could most certainly have us arrested."

"It's not really breaking in if the door's wide open." Mark pointed out as he shined his flashlight towards the front door, which was indeed wide open.

Before Tinker could interject further, Mark, Henry, and Debbie continued towards the house.

"Um, guys, maybe we ought to think this over carefully..." Tinker said, only to trail off as Mark, Henry, and Debbie continued without stopping, prompting him to exchange looks with Speed Buggy before he followed suit.

A short while later, the group were quietly tiptoeing their way through the hallway and into the living room of the state representative’s house with their flashlights on. The silence was rather deafening, and whatever tension that lingered can be cut with a knife. A couple minutes later, they shined their flashlights onto three figures, which given the facelessness of the trio and how dark the living room is, led to a brief scare.

It was Mark who, despite the initial scare, kept his flashlight on the three figures, revealing to be a trio of mannequins dressed in military uniforms.

"Guys, those are just mannequins." Mark said, prompting everyone else to exhale in relief.

"That’s good to know.” Henry added as he placed his hand on his chest.

The group surveyed the rest of the living room and upon seeing the model tanks, submarines, fighters, and bombers and the vintage maps decorating it, Debbie mused, "Looks like State Representative Grimes is quite the military buff."

“I’ll say.” Tinker agreed as he took a closer look at the three mannequins. The first mannequin was dressed in the uniform of an Army technical sergeant from World War II, the second mannequin was in the uniform of an Army color sergeant from World War I, and the third mannequin was in the uniform of a Union Army ordinance sergeant during the Civil War.

“Anyhow guys, I was thinking we could cover more ground in here if we split up.” Debbie suggested.

“What I was thinking, too.” Henry nodded. “Will take us less time to find something compared to if we stick together.”

"Sounds like a plan to me.” Mark said. “What about Tinker and Henry, you guys stay down here, while the rest of us search upstairs?”

"Works with me." Henry nodded again.

"No argument from me either.” Debbie agreed.

Tinker simply responded by raising his hand up for a mock salute, prompting Mark to respond back with a two-finger salute, then he and Debbie made their way to the stairs.

As he and Henry watched Mark and Debbie climb up the stairs, Henry turned towards Tinker and said, “Um, Tinker?”

“Yeah?” Tinker asked.

“Do you think it’s a good idea to keep Speedy parked outside?” Henry asked.

“Well, it’s not like we can fit him through the front door.” Tinker said. “Though I understand where you’re coming from with this.”

“Yeah, because the way the front door was left open when we got here…I don’t know, something’s telling me it’s too easy for us to get into the state representative’s house.” Henry said.

“Like this could be a set up?” Tinker raised an eyebrow.

Henry nodded, prompting Tinker to look around. He eventually turned back to Henry and said, “Better get to work so we can get outta here.”

“Good idea.” Henry agreed as he followed Tinker’s lead in searching through the bookshelves and the cabinets in the living room.

Upstairs, Mark and Debbie made their way to Grimes' study and began searching around.

Shining her flashlight at the nearby bookshelf, Debbie began reading the book titles she has found, "On the Road to WWII: Europe"

After seeing about a dozen more war-related book titles, Debbie looked around and saw another book with a title that read, "The Civil War: The Collapse of the Confederacy."

As Debbie read the book titles, Mark opened a vintage globe, which apparently stored some glass and a couple bottles of bourbon, before he paused and turned around, just in time for the redhead to turn towards him.

"There's one book titled here, Sitting Down with the Generals: A Guide to the Doctrine and Discipline of WWII Militaries"

Hearing the book title, Mark chuckled, prompting Debbie to follow suit.

“You called it when you said he is quite the military buff.” Mark said to Debbie.

Debbie nodded as they resumed their search around.

Back downstairs, Tinker and Henry were searching through the cabinets. Unseen by either of them, the two ghosts flew down from the ceiling and began possessing the two vintage fighter jets hanging from the ceiling near the stairs.

Walking towards one of the bookshelves, Tinker saw the books and exhaled. "Look at all these books."

Holding up one of the books, he turned towards Henry and added, “Debbie’s called it when she said Grimes is a military buff.”

Henry nodded as he looked through the books on the bookshelf he was searching through, and then he began to feel a presence behind him and started scratching his neck.

"Um, Tinker, I’d prefer if you don’t crowd me like this." Henry said without turning. "I can feel you breathing up my neck."

"I'm right here, Henry." Tinker responded as he searched through another cabinet at the other side of the living room.

“Huh?” Henry quipped. “Is this some sort of a trick, Tinker?”

“Perhaps you’d like to turn around and see for yourself, Henry?” Tinker offered.

Henry did as he was told and was quite confused when he saw that Tinker was indeed nowhere near him, let alone be in a distance where he could breathe down his neck.

"Say, if it isn't you, Tinker, then who just..." Henry said as he looked around, during which Tinker also turned around and yelped in surprise.

Upon turning around, Tinker was surprised to see two model Spitfires, one in a British RAF livery and the other in a RCAF livery, hovering right in front of his face.

"Yikes!" Tinker exclaimed as the two model Spitfires opened fire at him, prompting him to quickly duck down. The shooting damaged the books in the bookshelf behind where he was standing at.

Gasping in fright, Tinker and Henry quickly ran off, and the two possessed model Spitfires promptly gave chase. Scrambling to get away from the shooting Spitfires, the duo jumped and ducked at various occasions before they found a tabletop with a model battlefield. Without hesitation, the two boys quickly dropped to the floor and rolled under it.

As the duo catch their breaths, they both heard the glassware breaking from getting hit by the gunfire from the model Spitfires.

“Did you see that?” Henry panted.

“I sure did, and I still can’t believe it.” Tinker said. “Must be those two ghosts – Prufrock and Gallows.”

“You’re telling me.” Henry said.

Not hearing the engines of the two model Spitfires, the duo cautiously peeked out from their hiding spot and sighed in relief with the two model fighters nowhere in sight. They promptly got up and looked around. However, their relief was short-lived, for the table next to them housed several model tanks, and one of them, a Sherman, began to turn its turret towards them.

It was Henry that spotted the model Sherman turning its turret towards them, and he quickly grabbed Tinker by the collar as he shouted, “Duck!”

Tinker and Henry hit the floor just as the model Sherman opened fire, hitting the table leg behind them and causing the table above it to topple over. Looking up as the smoke cleared, the duo surveyed the mess and knew they had to get out of there.

"Gotta head upstairs, Tinker!” Henry shouted as he and Tinker promptly got up and sprinted towards the stairs. The model Sherman immediately turned towards them and opened fire, barely missing the duo as they scrambled up the stairs.

Up in the study, Debbie had finished searching through the bookshelf before moving to the desk, upon which she exclaimed, "Say, take a look at this, Mark!"

Mark paused before he joined her behind the desk, and she picked up the book on the desk and held it up.

Reading the book title Volume Three: A Practical Guide on Resurrection and its Applications, Mark said, "Looks like we were right about Grimes, and now we've got the evidence we need to prove his involvement in these ghost appearances."

Debbie nodded as she placed the book back on the desk and opened it, then she said, "First things first, we've got to find the right spell so we can break his control of those two ghosts."

"But we still don't know why he's doing all of this." Mark pointed out.

Debbie flipped through the pages before she stopped upon spotting some documents hidden within the book, and she said, “Maybe we do, Mark.”

Mark arched his eyebrows as he joined Debbie in looking through the documents, then he whistled lowly. “Well, well, what do you know. Grimes has been doing some homework on the opening of the original Coolsville High School.”

“And not just any homework.” Debbie said as she held up the scanned newspaper article chronicling the opening of Coolsville High School. It was the same article Velma had shown them the day prior, only that this one has a red circle on the photograph. “Look at what he has circled.”

Seeing the time capsule in the photograph being circled, Mark raised an eyebrow as he said, "Time capsule?"

"It's gotta be what he's searching for." Debbie said. "Remember? The time capsule was supposed to be buried on the school's opening day, but they never got to burying it as a result of the earthquake and subsequent flooding."

Mark's eyes lit up in recognition. "Right, and since the capsule was to be buried at opening day when the flood hit, what are the chances that it is still in the ruins of the old school?"

At Mark‘s question, Debbie turned towards him in amazement and their faces slowly began to beam in amazement. However, whatever celebratory mood they were in was short-lived, as Henry and Tinker suddenly pushed the door open and darted into the study.

As Tinker quickly closed the door behind them, Henry said, "Hey guys, we gotta get outta here!"

"Henry, what's the matter?" Mark asked.

As if to answer Mark’s question, the model RAF Spitfire flew right through the nearby window and into the study, prompting Tinker to point at it and shouted, "That!"

Mark and Debbie needed no further urging as the model Spitfire opened fire at them, and Debbie quickly grabbed the book before they all scrambled out of the study and down the stairs.

"Run!” Mark shouted as they made it to the ground floor.

Running through the living room, the quartet took turns ducking down as the two model Spitfires swarmed them repeatedly.

“I know the mosquitoes are bad during the warmer months, but this is ridiculous!” Tinker shouted before he quickly ducked down at a low-flying Spitfire.

Eventually, the group managed to exit the house, and they were about to make it through the front gate when they were all blinded by a sudden flash of light, and the Spectre appeared in front of them with his face glowing green and surrounded by smoke.

"Fools!" The Spectre cackled as he raised his arms and sprayed more smoke towards the group. "You persisted in your snooping around despite my warnings, and now you have fallen right into my trap!"

As the Spectre sprayed them with the smoke, the group all coughed as Debbie realized something. "I just...*cough*... remembered something."

“What…*cough*…is it?” Mark coughed.

"Magnesium...*cough*...chlorate has...*cough* *cough*...sulfur." Debbie said.

"Sulfur...*cough*…makes you...sleepy, doesn't...it?" Tinker began to slur.

"It...does." Debbie nodded as her legs slowly began to buckle.

“A fine…time to…find out on…that…!” Henry said as his legs followed suit.

Slowly but surely, all four of them slumped to the ground. The Spectre spraying its spray was the last thing they saw before they all blacked out.

"Sweet dreams, you kiddies!" The Spectre cackled.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 9: In the ruins and a close call

Tinker was the first to regain consciousness as he opened his eyes and looked around. The first thing he saw were the others still slumped on the floor.

“Guys?” Tinker called out before he coughed briefly and surveyed his surroundings.

To his surprise, they were all back in the gymnasium of the community centre. And the first thing he noticed was the large hole in the middle of the gymnasium, along with a length of rope by the side.

Slowly, Debbie was the first to stir, and Tinker quickly rushed to her side as she got up with her hand on her forehead.

“Debbie, are you alright?” Tinker asked.

Debbie nodded as she groaned. “What happened…?”

“I’m not sure.” Tinker said as he looked around. “One minute we were running away from the live models of vintage fighter jets, next thing we know, we’re lying here.”

Mark and Henry both groaned as they got up, and then the latter said, “We must’ve taken quite the spray from the Spectre.”

“You’re telling me.” Mark said before they gathered around the hole and looked down it.

"If I’m not mistaken, this hole must be the handiwork of the Spectre." Debbie mused out loud.

Just then, a familiar voice from behind cackled, prompting the quartet to turn around and see the Spectre walking on the elevated walkway overseeing the gym.

"Well, well, well." The Spectre chuckled as he walked towards the edge of the walkway. "Someone’s finally gotten the pieces put together."

As the quartet stared back at him disdainfully, the Spectre continued, "You were right, it was all about the time capsule, and you were even kind enough to volunteer yourselves to retrieve it for me and save me the trouble of getting my hands dirty."

Tinker and Debbie exchanged looks with each other as the Spectre continued, "Now isn’t this something? For something that didn’t happen at their school, you kids and your pals sure are eager in solving this, even if that meant potentially getting yourselves into trouble for playing detective."

The Spectre then pointed at the hole and barked, "Now, get down there and find the time capsule!"

"As if we'd ever help you." Mark sneered disdainfully as he stepped forward with his arms folded.

"Of course, I don't expect you kids to help find that time capsule, which is why I've got some insurance." The Spectre said as he pointed to his right, and a projected screen was turned on.

After the screen counted down from 3, a photo appeared on it, and as the quartet looked closer, they were surprised to recognize Biff, Shelly, Bubbles, and Clam, all tied up and gagged and appeared to be locked in a room.

Seeing the hesitation from the quartet, the Spectre continued, “Not yet convinced? Here’s more.”

The projected screen shifted to the next photo, which depicted Dee-Dee, Taffy, and Brenda likewise tied up and gagged. The third photo showed Augie, Skip, and April similarly tied up and gagged, while Elmo is locked in a cage with his paws tied up and duct tape over his mouth.

Pausing the presentation, the Spectre said, “All of these were taken within the past hour, and don’t pretend that they are not being watched, because they are. Naturally, if you still need any more convincing, here’s this.”

The next photo to show up on the screen shows Speed Buggy chained up and gagged, complete with parking tags on his tires. Worst, there’s a bucket of molten metal in the background, indicating that Speed Buggy’s likely held at a scrap metal plant of sorts.

"Now isn't this something?" The Spectre chuckled. "That’s quite the advanced sentimental buggy you’ve got here, so I will make this simple: Unless you agree to find that time capsule for me, you can say goodbye to him!"

"Speedy?" Tinker gulped before he stepped forward and yelled defiantly, "You won't get away with this, State Representative Grimes! Not after what we've gathered on your dirty deeds."

Tinker’s defiant stand only provoked more laughter from the Spectre, then he said, "Oh, you are so gullible. If there is one piece of the puzzle you have never figured out, it's his role in all of this."

Without missing a beat, the Spectre resumed playing the photos on the screen, leading to the final photo has State Representative Calvin Grimes, likewise tied up and gagged and locked in a cage next to the Neptunes. There is a bloody gash on his forehead.

As the quartet exchanged bewildered looks with one another, the Spectre continued, “Now if I were you, I won’t pin my hopes on someone coming to your rescue, as your other friends are currently being dealt with, so better make good use of your time and find that time capsule and then your friends will be released. Otherwise, you shall join them in being a warning to those that defy my warnings about this cursed town!”

As soon as the Spectre finished, another puff of smoke burst out and covered him, then when the spotlight was turned off, he was gone.

Immediately, Henry rushed over to the nearest exit door and pushed on the bar, however, it was chained and locked.

“We’re locked in!” Henry shouted.

“And assuming what that fiend said is true, he’s got our friends, too!” Mark added.

“And not just our friends, Speedy too.” Tinker said as he walked over to the edge of the hole and kicked the rope down, which formed a pole from the ceiling to the bottom of the hole.

Seeing Tinker holding onto the rope, the others approached him, and Debbie asked in concern, “Tinker, what are you doing?”

Tinker turned towards them and said, “I don’t trust the Spectre in letting our friends and Speedy go should we find the time capsule, but think about it, guys, do we have any other choice?”

The others exchanged looks with each other before Henry nodded. “You’re right, Tinker. This is no longer just some mystery, now. This is our friends we’re talking about, and if we were the ones that are tied up, would we want them to do the same thing as what we’re about to do, even if that means the risk of the Spectre would walk back on his word?”

Mark and Debbie thought deeply before they both nodded.

“Alright guys, then let’s do this for our friends!” Debbie said as she extended her hand.

Tinker extended his hand. “For our friends!”

Mark and Henry both nodded as they joined their hands.

Shaggy wasn’t sure what prompted him to wake up in the middle of the night, maybe it was an odd sensation he was feeling in his veins, or it could be from a dream that turned into a nightmare.

When he opened his eyes and sat up in his bed, he could’ve sworn he had the weirdest sensation. For some reason, the air in his bedroom was unusually still, and the silence in the house was more deafening than usual.

But what made this night more unusual was that when Shaggy woke up, he felt as though he had gotten a full-night’s sleep, despite it being shortly after midnight.

That can’t be right… Shaggy frowned when he saw the time on his alarm clock before he looked outside. It was very much dark outside, and he picked up the alarm clock and brought it closer to his left ear. It was still ticking. He did the same thing with his watch; it too was still ticking.

Like, something’s not right. Shaggy thought as he surveyed his room, pausing when his eyes settled on Scooby on his bed and the Great Dane stretching before getting up.

“Raggy, rou’re up.” Scooby said when he saw Shaggy standing by his bed.

“I am, Scoob, and, like, I don’t know why, but I feel like I just had a good night’s sleep even though it’s still the middle of the night.” Shaggy said.

“Rame rere, Raggy.” Scooby nodded just as the temperature inside the room dropped considerably, prompting them to shudder and Shaggy turned towards the window.

“Like, the window’s closed, yet it’s as freezing cold as it gets right now.” Shaggy said.

“Rhat’s roing ron?” Scooby asked.

“I don’t know, Scoob, but call this an instinctual feeling, something’s going on.” Shaggy said.

“Rou rink it could re about rose rwo ghosts?” Scooby asked.

Before Shaggy could answer, the bedroom window suddenly flew open, and in came the ghost of Prufrock. At the sight of the ghost, the duo leaped in fright.

“Come now, children.” Prufrock groaned as she motioned the duo to get closer to her. “You’re running late for an appointment.”

“Uh-uh!” Shaggy shook his head as he and Scooby scrambled for the door. “Like, who does an appointment in the middle of the night?”

“On the contrary, it’s an urgent appointment for a proper grammar lesson!” Prufrock said crossly as she raised her arms, which locked the bedroom door. “For instance, you never start a sentence with the word ‘like’!”

Finding themselves locked in their bedroom, Shaggy and Scooby’s hairs spiked in fright as Prufrock flew towards them.

“Now come with me this instant, or you’ll be sorry!” Prufrock growled as she directed a length of jump rope to tie the duo up. “You did not heed the master’s warning to leave this cursed town, so you shall face the consequences!”

“No can do, Miss Prufrock!” Shaggy gulped as he and Scooby tired to dart away from the jump rope. However, Prufrock’s ghost was faster, and the jump rope promptly coiled itself around the duo.

“That’s better.” Prufrock snarled before lifting the duo in the air.

Seeing that he and Shaggy are about to get hauled off, Scooby glanced down and noted his tail was unrestrained by the jump rope. Without missing a beat, his tail began to loosen the knot that tied and restrained him and Shaggy.

By the time Prufrock herself was out the open window, Scooby has untied the knot and set himself and Shaggy free, and the ghost stiffened when she felt her haul suddenly getting lighter. Turning around, the ghost snarled when she saw the duo had broken free.

“Get back here!” Prufrock demanded as she flew towards the window, only to stop when she was about to float through Shaggy’s left hand, which has two fingers pointing at her forehead.

Despite being a ghost, Prufrock felt immense pain the minute her forehead contacted Shaggy’s two fingers, and she recoiled before staring at the duo.

Seeing the ghost recoiling after contacting his two left fingers, Shaggy exchanged looks with Scooby briefly before the former said, “Get out of my house!”

Snarling, Prufrock made another attempt to use her telekinesis to grab the duo. “Not until after I get what I come for!”

This time, Scooby growled at the ghost with his tail now pointing at her, and the ghost froze when she felt she had hit a brick wall with her telekinesis. Then, Shaggy stepped in beside Scooby and pointed at her with his two left fingers again.

It would seem their gestures combined did something to Prufrock, as she involuntarily stumbled backwards and out of Shaggy’s bedroom. She attempted to reuse her telekinesis, but for some strange reason, she felt weaker.

Before the ghost could contemplate her next moves to grab the duo, she heard the summons from her master and she snarled, turning back momentarily to glare at the duo before flying off.

After watching Prufrock flying off and never to return, Shaggy exhaled as he said, “Like, it seems that little something from Alfred did the trick, Scoob.”

“Reah.” Scooby nodded just as the bedroom door flung open, and the other side stood Shaggy’s parents and sister Maggie.

“Mom! Dad!” Shaggy said as the trio rushed in.

“Norville, we heard some disturbance coming from your room.” Wendy said as Maggie rushed over to hug her brother.

“Are you boys alright?” Sam added.

“We are, Mom.” Shaggy said before he turned towards his dad and continued, “Pops, one of the two ghosts from the North Point Cemetery that Scooby saw tried to grab us.”

“Which one of them?” Sam asked.

“Rudence Rufrock.” Scooby explained.

“She clearly tried.” Wendy noted as their eyes settled on the jump rope on the floor.

“And how did you guys stop her?” Maggie asked.

Shaggy and Scooby exchanged looks with each other, then the former said, “Um, with the index and middle fingers of my left hand and Scooby’s tail.”

Sam, Wendy, and Maggie exchanged looks with one another before the police chief asked, “How?”

Shaggy and Scooby spent the next five minutes explaining their encounter with Prufrock, and after which Sam was nodding thoughtfully.

“By the way you boys described things, the mana in your bloodstream passed down from Alfred and Ælfweard is doing wonders.” Sam spoke. “It’s the only way to explain how you were able to banish Prufrock’s ghost when she tried to grab you boys.”

“Absolutely.” Wendy nodded. “But going back to the ghost, since she tried to grab you boys, it could only mean one thing.”

“What is it, Mom?” Shaggy asked.

“Only that the culprit responsible for raising these two ghosts from their graves is going after loose ends.” Wendy said. “As in going after you guys for finding out about how they were raised from their graves.”

Shaggy and Scooby nodded before something occurred to them. “Zoinks, that means Fred and the girls are in danger!”

“Re must ro romething!” Scooby added.

Sam nodded. “We do, though it’s not like I could deploy my men to intercept those poltergeists when they aren’t equipped to deal with them.”

“Not to mention you boys cannot risk revealing your secrets.” Wendy added.

As her mother was speaking, Maggie went over to pick up the jump rope, but as soon as she grabbed it, she felt something running through her veins and she gasped, prompting the others to turn towards her in concern.

“Mags, are you alright?” Shaggy asked.

Maggie panted before she turned towards her brother and parents and said, “I’m fine, just…some visions came into my mind as soon as I…touched the jump rope.”

“What visions?” Wendy prompted.

“Mainly that the ghosts have already grabbed your friends, including Fred and Velma.” Maggie said. “And that they’re…trying to finish up by…heading over to Daphne’s place.”

Sam nodded. “Must be the residual poltergeist mana from when Prufrock used her telekinesis to control the jump rope and bounded you boys.”

“Makes sense, and that means we gotta head over to Daphne’s place right now before she gets an unwelcome visitor!” Shaggy stated, prompting the others to nod.

“You boys go ahead and stop the ghosts before they can grab Daphne.” Wendy urged. “We’ll join you soon.”

Shaggy and Scooby both nodded before they promptly darted out.

After Shaggy and Scooby darted out, Sam turned towards Wendy and Maggie and nodded. “Let’s get ready.”

Back at the community centre, Henry, Tinker, Debbie, and Mark were climbing their way down the hole on the rope with Henry at the bottom, followed by Mark, Debbie, and eventually Tinker above him.

"Wow wee." Debbie remarked as she gritted her teeth and glanced down. The deeper they got in the hole, the darker their surroundings become, not that there was much light to begin with, but with the pitch darkness surrounding them, it's hard to tell how deep the hole is.

"I hope we reach the bottom of the hole before my palms start sweating." Tinker gulped.

"Best that we do not look down." Mark advised.

Despite Mark’s advice and against his better judgement, Tinker looked down and, in an instant, he felt his stomach drop and his palms began to sweat.

Unable to properly grip the rope with his sweaty palms, Tinker gulped as he began to slide down.

“Yikes!” Tinker shouted as he tried to get a better grip on the rope, however, it did little to stop him from sliding down further. On an impulse, he let go of the rope to wipe the sweat off his palms, which turned out to not be a wise idea as soon as he did so, as he immediately collided with Mark in his descent, and then Debbie, and eventually Henry.

Although the gang were already close to the bottom of the hole, it was still a very hard landing as everyone piled on one another upon hitting the ground.

"Oh, Tinker..." Henry groaned as he opened his eyes and tried to get up. However, when he saw what is in front of them, he involuntarily yelped in fright and scrambled to get up.

There were about a dozen snakes hissing near where they had landed, and at the sight of the snakes following Henry’s yelp, everyone else followed his lead in scrambling to get up.

"Oh, wow." Mark remarked.

"Must say that's one way to welcome us to the ruins of the old town." Debbie remarked as they turned on their flashlights and looked around.

Surveying their surroundings, Mark remarked, "Clearly the place hasn't been fixed up since that flood."

Glancing at a flood-damaged wall, Henry remarked, “Interesting assessment.”

Debbie nodded before she said, "Best that we'd better start searching for that time capsule, guys."

Henry nodded before he walked towards a nearby opening and said, "Come on, let's start this way."

The others all murmured as they followed Henry away from the snakes.

Slowly walking by the ruins and observing their surroundings through their flashlights, it was clear the ruins are in a very poor state, and at one point, Henry had to use a cloth to cover his nose and mouth.

“Golly, the air quality sure is poor.” Tinker said as he watched Henry cover his nose and mouth.

“Yeah, with all that water, it’s no wonder the place is very moldy.” Mark nodded.

"That certainly explains why the Spectre wanted us to be down here searching for the capsule." Debbie remarked.

"And since the time capsule was never buried, where do you suppose it's at?" Tinker asked.

"Hard to say." Henry shrugged. "But at this rate, it’ll take us all night to find it."

Debbie nodded, "It'd be like finding a needle in a haystack."

Debbie’s flashlight soon shined onto a nearby door with an old sign, and she frowned as eh walked towards it. The word on the sign has clearly faded from age, but she could roughly recognize the word "Storage" on it.

"Maybe the room behind this door is a start." Debbie said as she grabbed the doorknob and turned it, only for the knob to jam.

Shaking the doorknob furiously, Debbie then tugged it. However, the door refused to budge. “Of course.”

Watching Debbie struggling with the door, Henry walked over to her and said, "Here, let me give it a try."

Henry stretched his arms and continued, "I'm usually good at this."

Mark only raised an eyebrow as he exchanged looks with Tinker, while Henry proceeded to grab the doorknob and tug at it. While Henry was tugging the doorknob, Debbie frowned as she saw a directory beside the door.

Henry continued to grunt before he finally pulled the doorknob out, and then he turned around and, with the doorknob in hand, asked, "See?"

Tinker and Mark both chuckled as the former nodded back at Henry.

However, in trying to decipher the directory beside the door, Debbie didn’t notice the wall and doorframe in front of them groaning. The wall and doorframe then creaked as it tilted towards her, which led to a little shake that caught her attention, and she looked up and gasped. “Yikes!”

In a split second, two things happened at once. First, Henry was immediately pulled back by Mark, who shouted, "Get back!"

And second, Tinker quickly rushed towards Debbie and tackled her out of the way and rolled onto the floor, just as the wall completely fell over and the duo were left unscathed as the void in the wall corresponding to the door fell over them.

Once the dust settled, Tinker panted as he asked Debbie, “Are you alright, Debbie?”

Debbie nodded as she said, "Could've been worse."

Tinker nodded back as he and Debbie got up from the ground and dusted themselves.

As Debbie and Tinker dusted themselves, Mark said, "Henry’s got a point, guys, at this pace, that it will take us all night opening all the doors around here."

"Not to mention what sort of surprises there may be in store behind them." Tinker added in agreement.

"And even if we did find the capsule, there's no telling if the Spectre intends to keep his word, that is, if we can even trust him with his word at the first place.” Debbie pointed out.

“Not to mention our friends and State Representative Grimes are still behind held." Mark added. “And that there’s no telling if the Spectre intends to release them.”

Henry frowned before he thought of something and said, "Maybe we don’t need to search the whole area for the capsule."

When the others turned towards him with their eyebrows arched, Henry continued, "I've got an idea. Huddle up."

Immediately, the group huddled together for Henry to explain his plan.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 10: More developments

Over at the costume room backstage at the community theatre, the Spectre was seated in front of a mirror, where he watched Gallows securing a tied-up and gagged Fred and Velma in the same location as the Neptunes.

Once the ghost finished his work, he turned around and faced the Spectre through the mirror.

“Prufrock’s taking her time with that pesky pair.” The Spectre said. “You’d better go and take care of the other girl.”

Gallows simply nodded before he flew away, and then the Spectre was back to looking at his own reflection in the mirror. The brief silence in the room was interrupted when Tinker called out, "Um, excuse me, Mr. Creepy Spectre, sir?"

Upon hearing Tinker, the Spectre turned towards the gym as Tinker continued, "Can we have a quick word with you?"

At Tinker’s question, the Spectre grabbed the book in front of the mirror and hurried out of the room and darted towards the gym. He was approaching the hole when Tinker called out, “Hello?”

"I'm here, what is it?" The Spectre growled in annoyance as he looked down the hole.

Looking up towards the ceiling of the gym, Tinker said, "I think we've found it, but-"

"-but it's lodged in something heavy, and we can't get it out." Mark finished. "And we're gonna need some help."

"Of course." The Spectre nodded before muttering to himself, "Figures that those brats can't find and recover it on their own."

As the Spectre grabbed onto the rope and descended into the hole, Tinker and Mark high-fived each other as they quickly made their getaway.

Upon landing on the ground, the book felt out from the Spectre’s costume, and he grunted as he leaned down to pick it up and then looked around.

"Alright, I'm here." The Spectre called out. "Where is it?"

When no response was forthcoming, the Spectre surveyed his surroundings and called out, "Where are you kids?"

Unseen by the Spectre, who had his back towards him, Mark snuck out from his hiding spot and pushed a nearby pushcart towards him.

As Mark got closer, the Spectre was starting to sense that he may have been had, for he called out, “Is this some kind of a-?”

Before the Spectre could finish, Mark pushed the pushcart towards him and knocked him off his feet.

"All aboard!" Mark shouted as the Spectre landed on the cart, back first, and then he pushed him to the nearby debris.

“What is the meaning of this?!” The Spectre demanded, only for Henry and Debbie to emerge from their spots with Debbie wrapping a length of rope around the Spectre and the top tray of the cart.

"Looks like you’re gonna be tied up for a little while." Debbie said.

"And I'll be taking this." Henry added as he took the book from the Spectre.

“Stop it, you kids!” The Spectre bellowed, but the trio ignored him as Mark pushed him towards a door where Tinker was waiting.

"Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle." Mark said as the Spectre struggled to get up, only for Henry to shove him back on the cart.

“And you’ll be waiting here for the authorities.” Tinker added as he prepared to open the door. However, as soon as he finished and opened the door, they were completely caught off guard by the water that came splashing out from the flooded room behind the door.

With the water splashing out, the cart was pushed aside while the gang were knocked back and became soaked.

Despite Blake Manor being barely a block away from their home, it felt like forever for Shaggy and Scooby to reach the front gate, which was predictably locked.

Shaggy looked at the walls surrounding the Blake property. While they are climbable for a gymnast like him, there’s still the issue of scaling to the top and then trying to unlock the gate for Scooby to come through.

Glancing around to make sure no one else was observing them, not that anyone would be up and around at this time of the night, Shaggy said to Scooby, “As much as I don’t like to do this out in the open, I’m afraid this situation warrants us doing so, Scoob.”

“Rou raid it, Raggy.” Scooby nodded.

Shaggy nodded back as he and Scooby placed their left hand and paw respectively on the wall and concentrated. A moment later, they phased right through the wall and were in the front yard.

As soon as the duo got their bearings, they looked towards the manor in time to see a faint glow from one of the windows.

“That must be Daphne’s bedroom.” Shaggy pointed at it. “Come on, Scoob!”

Scooby nodded as he promptly followed Shaggy towards the manor. However, they were only steps away from the wall when the window with the faint glow burst open and out came Prufrock and Gallows with a struggling Daphne in tow. She was wrapped up with a jump rope and she shouted, “Help! Put me down!”

Seeing the ghosts with Daphne in tow, Shaggy and Scooby stopped and the former shouted, “Hey!”

The two ghosts paused and looked down as Shaggy continued, “Put Daphne down!”

“Reah!” Scooby agreed as he growled at the ghosts.

“So, you boys have broken free.” Gallows sneered as he stared at them with contempt. “I don’t know how you boys did it, but no matter.”

He and Prufrock then tugged Daphne further up and away before stopping and continued, “If you boys really want your friend so badly, see if you could catch her!”

Without warning, the poltergeists abruptly let her go, causing her to scream as she sailed down towards the ground.

“Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby momentarily panicked before they promptly raced around with their arms stretched to catch the falling redhead.

The duo managed to catch the redhead at the last moment, but as soon as they did so, the rope grew in length and promptly wrapped itself around them. Prufrock looked at Gallows with a concerned look.

Seeing the concerned look on Prufrock’s face, Gallows shot her a questioning look, prompting her to nod at Scooby, who quickly used his tail to free himself.

At the sight of the Great Dane freeing himself, Gallows stared in disbelief. “Impossible!”

“There’s something in the mutt and his companion that’s made them immune to our powers for whatever reason.” Prufrock said as Scooby proceeded to free Shaggy.

“I can see that.” Gallows said as he directed the rope to wrap itself around the duo once more.

However, Shaggy was quick to notice and jabbed the rope with his left index finger, which sent the rope into a retreat. Scooby did the same thing with the tip of his tail.

“Do you see?” Prufrock asked.

“I do, and I still don’t believe it.” Gallows said as the two ghosts directed the rope to further restrain Daphne and sent her flying into the air before Shaggy and Scooby could free her.

Gallows tried to think of what to do next with the duo, however, Prufrock quickly advised, “Let’s cut our losses and get out of here with the girl, we cannot take any chances with them using their magic to stop us.”

“Good point.” Gallows nodded as he and Prufrock quickly flew off with Daphne in tow. However, they didn’t get far, as Shaggy pointed the index and middle fingers of his left hand at them, and Scooby did the same thing with his tail, which stopped the poltergeists in their tracks.

“Daphne!” Shaggy shouted as the two poltergeists tried to continue, however, Shaggy and Scooby’s holds have momentarily frozen them in place.

Daphne blinked as her eyes darted first to the two poltergeists, then to Shaggy and Scooby. At once she got the idea and she wiggled her fingers on the rope. Without another minute, the rope released her, but being in the air, gravity quickly took over and the redhead sailed down towards the ground. “Jeepers!”

“Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed as he promptly rushed over with his arms stretched. Just as he was about to catch the redhead, though, she suddenly stopped and remain suspended in the air, just a couple of inches above Shaggy’s stretched arms.

Seeing the redhead floating in the air just inches above his stretched arms, Shaggy quickly dissipated his concentration, allowing Daphne to resume her fall right into his arms.

Upon catching Daphne and helping her to the ground, Shaggy asked, “Are you alright, Daphne?”

“I am.” Daphne smiled. “Thanks, Shag.”

“Don’t mention it.” Shaggy smiled back before their attention returned to the two ghosts, who have broken free from Scooby’s hold and are now flying towards them.

Without missing a beat, Daphne promptly snapped her fingers. In the process, the motion of her left thumb sliding by the index and middle fingers sent an energy wave towards the two ghosts, causing them to spin backwards in the air, as if the redhead just flicked them over with her fingers.

“Wha-?” Gallows exclaimed as he and Prufrock spun backwards.

“It’s not just the mutt and his companion.” Prufrock said. “There’s something with the girl, too!”

Before Gallows could say anything else, the two ghosts sensed something and exchanged looks with one another.

“The master’s in trouble; we need to head back.” Prufrock said.

Gallows nodded before he turned towards the trio with a withering glare. The trio merely stared back at the two ghosts before they flew off, and then they exchanged looks with one another.

“I wonder what that was all about?” Daphne asked.

“Search me.” Shaggy shrugged, which is when the living room lights turned on, followed by the front porch light, and then the nearby French doors slid open and out came Jenkins, who was followed by George and Elizabeth close behind.

“Daphne!” George exclaimed as he and Elizabeth rushed over.

“Mom, Dad, Jenkins!” Daphne exclaimed as she hurried over to her parents for a big hug.

As the Blakes embraced, George saw Shaggy and Scooby and said, “Jenkins alerted us to some bumps and screams coming from Daphne’s room, and when we got there, we saw Daphne getting tugged out through the open window.”

“You two young masters wouldn’t happen to have seen who the glowing fiends that attempted to grab her were, by chance?” Jenkins added.

Before Shaggy and Scooby could answer, their attention was drawn from the doorbell ringing, and Jenkins said, “Stay here, I’ll go check.”

George nodded as the butler hurried away. A few moments later, he returned with Sam, Wendy, and Maggie in tow.

At the sight of the police chief, George relaxed as Sam said, “Jenkins just filled us in on what just happened.”

Turning towards Daphne, Wendy added, “Are you alright, Daphne?”

“I’m well, thanks to Shaggy and Scooby.” Daphne nodded.

Elizabeth nodded. “I think some rewinding and providing a resume on what just happened is in order.”

“It is.” Sam agreed as his eyes settled on the discarded jump rope laying on the grass nearby.

Back in the underground ruins, the group tried to regain their bearings from the unexpected flooding, and as the Spectre coughed and surveyed his surroundings, he pushed the picture frame off his shoulder and spotted a tube-like item laying nearby and picked it up.

“A-ha!” The Spectre exclaimed triumphantly as he held up the tube. “The time capsule, it’s mine!”

Seeing the Spectre holding up the time capsule triumphantly, the group's expressions fell as they realized their plan have backfired on them.

"You kids think you’re smart, huh?” The Spectre taunted. “You kids thought you could pull such a trick and outsmart me, didn’t you? I bet you didn’t expect this trick to turn out the way it did!”

As Prufrock and Gallows flew down to his side, the Spectre continued, “But enough with the pranks, it would seem you kids have been misbehaving and are in need for some discipline.”

The group all gulped nervously as the Spectre continued, “Ah, I know just the thing that would teach you kids a lesson, and it just so happens we have a dozen of fresh graves with spots waiting to be filled!”

At the Spectre’s remark, the two ghosts hissed as they flew towards the group, and Mark promptly shouted, “Run!”

Tinker, Henry, and Debbie needed no further urging as they quickly took off running and the two ghosts flew after them.

Back at Blake Manor, Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne wasted no time providing a resume about Gallows and Prufrock’s attempt to snatch her and how they were able to get away. During the explanations, Maggie held up the jump rope the two ghosts had used in their attempt to snatch Daphne.

When everyone was up to speed, Shaggy turned towards his sister and asked, “You see something, Mags?”

“I sure do, Norville.” Maggie nodded as she held the jump rope. “Which was what I had saw earlier with the jump rope Prufrock used when she attempted to snatch you and Scooby.”

“That they have snatched your friends, including Fred and Velma.” George spoke.

“That’s right, but there’s more.” Maggie said. “Tinker, Henry, Mark, and Debbie have been ordered by the mastermind behind those two poltergeists to search through the ruins of the old town for a time capsule.”

“Time capsule?” Daphne prompted.

“Like, as in the same time capsule that the two co-founders of Coolsville High School were about to bury at the opening of the school when the earthquake hit and then the town subsequently destroyed by the flooding that followed.” Shaggy added.

Maggie frowned as she concentrated on the psychic connection from the residual telekinesis deposited from the two ghosts, and then she nodded slowly.

“That would seem to be the case.” Maggie said.

“Does the residual telekinesis provide you any clues as to who the Spectre really is, or what does he want with the time capsule?” Daphne asked.

Maggie shook her head. “No, however, I have detected a signature of sorts…”

She frowned as she tried to find the words. “I can’t quite explain it…not unless I…”

Daphne looked at Maggie expectedly as she trailed off, and without another word, she walked over and picked up the jump rope.

The others watched the younger redhead as she closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, then she opened them and turned towards Shaggy, Scooby, and their parents and said, “We need to return to the North Point Cemetery.”

A short while later, Daphne led Shaggy and his father Sam into the cemetery and the police chief asked, “What have you got in mind, Daphne?”

“When Sugie and I held the jump rope, we both detected the residual telekinesis left behind by the two poltergeists, and with it, memories of what they have been doing.” Daphne explained.

“And?” Shaggy arched his eyebrows as they arrived at Prufrock and Gallows’ graves.

“I felt a vibration when I was holding the jump rope.” Daphne continued. “It was…distinct, though not unique.”

“As in you’ve felt or sensed a similar vibration before?” Sam prompted as the redhead knelt in front of the two tombstones.

Daphne was silent as she first replicated what Velma did couple nights ago on the tombstones, then she placed her hands on the tombstones and concentrated, and Shaggy exchanged glances with his father. A few moments went by before the redhead opened her eyes, stood up and turned towards the father and son duo.

“Yes, and this trip to the cemetery confirms it.” Daphne said.

“Because the vibrations you’ve felt when you were holding the jump rope is also present here at the tombstones.” Shaggy said. “Just like the signature spell cracks that we spotted.”

“That’s right, Shaggy.” Daphne nodded.

“Which then points to the mana of a specific person.” Sam said. “Which in our case being the culprit behind the Spectre.”

Shaggy and Daphne both nodded as the former added, “And if I recall correctly from our family spellbook, with our level of mana, we could theoretically put together everyone’s mana and use the residual telekinesis from the two ghosts to replicate the spell that summoned them from their graves, and in turn reverse-engineer the mana of our mysterious mastermind and identify them.”

“Brilliant thinking, Norville.” Sam nodded as they took leave from the cemetery. On the way back to the parked car, Daphne concentrated to convey to Maggie, Wendy, Elizabeth, George, and Scooby on what they have just found. She was holding up the sheet of paper she had just dabbed the tombstone with.

When they got back to the car, Daphne paused when she felt something, and Shaggy and Sam turned to look.

“Anything?” Shaggy asked.

The redhead nodded as they boarded the car. “First off, we have the locations of where our two poltergeists have been to, which we can use to identify where our friends are being held.”

“Of course.” Shaggy nodded. “Anything else?”

“Thus far, Sugie has noted that the mana of the Spectre has indicated interactions with paper.” Daphne said. “But especially, envelopes and postcards.”

“Which means our mastermind is someone who does a lot of mailing, like someone who either works in the Post Office, or someone whose job involves writing a lot of mail.” Sam offered as Shaggy started the engine.

Back in the ruins, Debbie, Mark, Tinker, and Henry were scrambling to get away from the two ghosts, however, their movement was slowed by the unfamiliarity with the layout of the area, the darkness, and looking out for any objects on the floor or in the way.

“Henry, see if you could find a spell that can banish those two ghosts!” Mark shouted.

“I’m working on it!” Henry shouted back as he frantically flipped through the pages. In his haste to find the right spell, he didn’t watch where he was heading and he tripped over a fallen column, causing him to hit the ground.

As Henry groaned from the impact, Mark, Tinker, and Debbie stopped and turned towards him. “Henry!”

“I’m fine…” Henry said as he got up, though the concerned looks on the trio’s faces turned to horror when Prufrock and Gallows appeared, and before he could react, the two poltergeists lifted him up from the ground.

“Hey!” Henry shouted as he tried to break free from the ghosts. “Let me go!”

“I believe you have something that belongs to the master.” Prufrock hissed as she took the book from him, and Gallows proceeded to bring the Spectre over.

Seeing the horrified looks on his friends’ faces, Henry shouted, “Run, guys!”

“Henry, we can’t leave you here-!” Mark protested.

“Just run!” Henry shouted back, and the trio reluctantly heeded his advice and ran off.

When the Spectre arrived, Henry somehow managed to wriggle his left arm free from the ghosts’ grip and slammed his fist right into the Spectre’s forehead, forcing him to wince in pain despite his face was shielded by the mask.

As the Spectre placed his hands on his forehead momentarily, the two ghosts reinforced their grip on Henry, and he turned towards him.

“You still got a little fight in you.” The Spectre snarled at Henry. “Can’t say I admire that.”

Turning towards the two ghosts, he added, “And seems like there’s been some complications given your failure to bring in that pesky pair with the dog.”

“There was.” Gallows nodded as Prufrock handed the Spectre the book.

The Spectre nodded as he flipped the book open and said, “Seems to me we are going to need reinforcements.”

After flipping through the pages, the Spectre settled on a page and nodded before saying, “Lla dna sbmot rieht morf stsohg eht esaeler, Dlrowrednu eht fo rewop eht hguorht!"

The ground began to shake, and Henry gulped nervously. Whatever it is the Spectre just said, it can’t be good.

Shaggy was in the process of backing the car out from the parking spot when the ground began to shake, and Sam said, “Better stop, son. It’s probably an earth...”

The police chief trailed off when he felt something, and Shaggy was quick to shift the car back to park.

“Something’s happening, guys.” Daphne said as she held her hand by her forehead. “I can feel it.”

“So do I.” Shaggy nodded as he and his father exchanged looks.

The silence in the car was short-lived, as they all spotted something massively glowing from the woods.

“Something’s going on alright.” Sam said. “And it’s happening at the cemetery.”

Daphne was about to speak when she felt something, and her facial expression turned to horror.

“Shag, get us out of here.” The redhead urged.

Shaggy looked at her through the rearview mirror with his eyebrows arched, but something about the panicked look on Daphne’s face prompted him to shift the car back to reverse and pull it out from the parking spot.

Just as Shaggy was shifting the car to drive, a glance towards the woods led to a trio of expressions all at once from the car.

“My goodness!”

“Zoinks!”

“Jeepers!”

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Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Poltergeists Assembled

There was a whole army of ghosts that have risen from their graves, and a few were now flying towards them. Two of those ghosts looked menacing and, on an impulse, Shaggy shifted the car to drive.

“Get us out of here, Shag!” Daphne urged.

Shaggy needed no further urging as he slammed on the gas and the car lurched towards the parking lot entrance. As Shaggy kept his eyes on the road, Sam and Daphne looked out the windows. The two menacing ghosts were raising their arms towards the car, and the pair promptly pointed their index and middle fingers towards the two poltergeists.

The two ghosts promptly froze, and the nearby ghosts paused and glanced at them before turning their attention to the car. At the sight of more ghosts coming after them, Daphne said, “Step on it, Shag!”

Shaggy simply slammed on the gas pedal hard and sped up without another word, and though he was focused on the road, a quick glance through the rearview mirror quickly established at least a dozen ghosts flying after them.

While the streets ahead of them were deserted, given how late in the night it is, the parked cars on the sides of the road and the layout of the streets with the intersections ahead still provided challenges for them to lose the ghosts that are now after them.

“Hang on!” Shaggy shouted as he promptly made a left turn at the first intersection they’ve reached.

Sam and Daphne promptly grabbed onto the handles above the doors as the tires screeched from the sharp left turn Shaggy made, which left behind skid marks in the pavement, and then they promptly sped down the street with the ghosts behind them.

“Better warn the others about the ghosts.” Sam said to Daphne through the rearview mirror.

“On it.” Daphne nodded.

As Daphne concentrated, the police chief turned towards the pursuing ghosts and clasped his hands together with the middle and index fingers extended out, as if he was holding a gun.

With his thumbs acting together as a trigger, the police chief aimed his fingers at the pursuing ghosts and bended his thumbs in rapid succession, as if he was firing a gun towards the ghosts. Though his eyes remained focused on the road, Shaggy caught a glimpse of what his father is doing.

A trio of the pursuing ghosts attempted to use their telekinesis to freeze the car, however, the spells the police chief fired at them immobilized them completely in their tracks. Finishing transmitting her thoughts to the others, Daphne glanced at Sam and followed what he was doing. Shaggy saw the action unfold thought a glance at the rearview mirror, but when he turned his eyes back on the road, he shouted, “Zoinks, hang on!”

Daphne turned towards the front, in time to see a few more ghosts flying towards them from the front. Without hesitation, the redhead quickly fired her shots at the ghosts at the front. Although some of her shots missed, the two ghosts that were hit got pushed back significantly. With Shaggy having to dodge the swarming ghosts, it was difficult to aim.

Noticing Daphne and his dad firing away at the pursuing ghosts, Shaggy gritted his teeth as he attempted another sharp turn. “Hang tight!”

The tires squealed loudly as Shaggy jerked the steering wheel to the left and hit the brakes to slow down, and the car lurched towards the perpendicular street to the left. With the car speeding down the perpendicular street, the two groups of ghosts scattered while a select few quickly chased the car down the street.

Quickly glancing at the rearview mirror, Shaggy asked, “Did we lose them?”

His question was answered by Daphne and his father firing several shots at the pursuing ghosts, then the redhead turned to the front and said, “For now, we probably don’t have much time.”

“Better step on it, son.” Sam added.

Shaggy nodded as the car sped up down the street while the immobilized ghosts continued to hover above the ground, unable to continue their pursuits.

Back at the ruins, Gallows and Prufrock wasted no time restraining Henry and shoved him into a cage. The boy was tied in the hands and feet with duct tape applied over his mouth, and the ghosts paid no attention to his muffled protests.

After locking Henry in the cage, Prufrock said to Gallows, “Better tend to the others.”

Gallows nodded as the two ghosts promptly flew off, leaving Henry struggling to free himself in the cage. He was not sure if the others were still alright, but he hoped they had made their getaway from the Spectre and his ghostly henchmen.

Further away from the two ghosts, Mark, Tinker, and Debbie were scrambling through the ruins of the old town. The trio were still uncomfortable with the fact that they had left Henry behind, despite them continuing running at their friend’s insistence.

“We should’ve done something to help Henry.” Tinker was saying as they rounded a corner.

“Maybe, but it’s doubtful that the three of us are a match to two ghosts with supernatural powers and a human mastermind who very well could have magical powers.” Debbie said.

“That’s true, but I still felt we could’ve done something to help Henry.” Tinker quipped.

“Let’s save the debate until later, guys.” Mark urged. “Can’t let those poltergeists grab us.”

“And let’s find a place to hide.” Debbie added.

Tinker looked ahead and said, “Maybe that room would be a good place for us to hide and catch our breaths, guys.”

“Let’s go.” Mark nodded.

Without wasting a minute, the trio darted towards the doorway to the room Tinker had pointed at and quickly ducked under the window. Somehow, the smell inside the room was worse than outside in the ruins.

“Golly, what’s with the smell in here?” Debbie quipped as they covered their mouths and noses.

“Smells like an outhouse.” Mark concurred.

Tinker murmured as he glanced up briefly and then rolled his eyes towards his friends, then he stopped when he realized something and shined his flashlight up towards the ceiling and looked up.

“Outhouse or no outhouse, we gotta think of something fast to get outta here and find help.” Debbie continued.

As Debbie was speaking, Tinker gently tapped Mark in the shoulder, prompting him to turn towards him.

“What is it?” Mark whispered, only to pause when Tinker pointed up without keeping his eyes and flashlight off the ceiling.

When Mark saw what Tinker was seeing, he gently tapped Debbie on the shoulder and pointed up, and when Debbie looked up, her eyes widened. The ceiling was filled with bats hanging upside down.

When some of the bats flew down from the ceiling, Debbie managed to say, “Oh my holy-“

Before she could finish, the trio heard snarls and saw the glowing green lights accompanying said snarls from just outside the window. Sure enough, the two poltergeists floated right through the window above them and snarled menacingly at them, prompting them to quickly get up.

“Run!” Mark urged.

The others did not verbally respond to his urging as they were all scrambling to get up and run away from the two ghosts.

Back at Blake Manor, Maggie was concentrating as Scooby, Jenkins, Elizabeth, and Wendy paced around in the living room. Her eyes then widened, and she turned towards the others.

“I just got word from Daphne; she’s found traces of mana at the graves of Prufrock and Gallows.” Maggie said, prompting the others to pause and turned towards her.

When everyone else turned towards her, Maggie continued, “And they match the residual mana from the telekinesis I’ve detected off of the jump ropes from when Prufrock and Gallows tried to grab Norville, Scooby, and Daphne earlier.”

Looking at her mother and Scooby, Maggie then added, “And Norville’s suggested that we could use our powers together to first replicate the spell that summoned those two ghosts from their graves and in turn reverse engineer the mana of the culprit responsible.”

“Based on the residual mana from the graves and the residual telekinesis from the jump rope?” Elizabeth offered.

“Exactly.” Maggie nodded.

The adults exchanged looks with one another, and Wendy said, “For our level of magic, doing so could be physically taxing, but it’s something we’ll have to try.”

“I don’t see any other option, either.” Elizabeth concurred.

As Elizabeth was speaking, Maggie felt like something just got inside her, and she blinked before turning towards the adults. Scooby also had the same reaction as her.

“I think it’s our only option right now.” Maggie said.

“Is something wrong, Master Margaret?” Jenkins asked in concern.

It was Scooby that answered. “Ri rink romeone, likely rour rastermind, ras summoned an army rof ghosts.”

Scooby’s explanation was met by shock and horror from Wendy and Elizabeth, and Maggie said urgently, “I don’t think we have much time, because unless we move quickly to track down the mastermind behind all of this, Norville, Dad, and Daphne are gonna get overwhelmed.”

“Right, right.” Wendy nodded as the quintet promptly followed Jenkins down the stairs to the basement, and Elizabeth and Wendy promptly opened the safe and took the Blake family spell book out.

Once the spell book was placed on the table, the quintet gathered around the table and joined hands.

“Dearest all that have gathered.” Elizabeth began. “We have gathered today on the occasion of an emergency that has threatened the town we have came to call home.”

“An emergency in the form of a mastermind that has raised up an army of disturbed souls to wreak havoc on the town and kidnap innocents.” Wendy added.

“Your Devine Majesty Athena, give us your strength and wisdom to track down the dastardly mastermind and put an end to the emergency currently plaguing our town.” Elizabeth continued.

The two matriarchs then proceeded to recite the chant in Latin and the spellbook on the table started to glow. Everyone’s hands remained linked and Maggie‘s eyes began to glow with the spellbook. She then joined her mother and Elizabeth in chanting in Latin, and shortly after, she closed her eyes as she placed her hand on the spellbook.

Barring the humming from the glowing spellbook and Maggie’s closed eyes, all went silent as the air around them became still.

Then, right out of nowhere, the glow in Maggie’s eyes dissipated, while the glow on the spellbook lightened, and she frowned as she opened her eyes.

The others looked at her in concern as Maggie said, “Something’s not working.”

“What’s not working?” Elizabeth asked.

“I have connected to the other end and have transmitted what we have gathered, however, it seems like our powers combined isn’t enough to generate the momentum needed to reverse engineer the mana from those ghosts and identify the culprit.” Maggie explained.

“Could it be that we missed some steps for the process?” Wendy asked.

“Let me try if I could provide the push to generate the momentum.” Geroge said as he placed his hand on the spellbook, and he and Maggie closed their eyes. However, nothing changed, and Maggie shook her head before she opened her eyes.

“It’s not working.” She speaks.

“Which is quite peculiar, because this is the Blake family spellbook and I had done the enchantment and placed my hand on the book.” George said with a frown.

“We definitely need to figure this out and fast.” Elizabeth interjected.

Back in the ruins below, Mark, Debbie, and Tinker were trying in vain to lose the two pursuing ghosts. There was a pathway that seemingly connects to a set of stairs, and the trio raced over. However, when they got to the opened doorway leading to the set of stairs, Prufrock’s ghost emerges from the doorway as she hissed, “Thought you could get away, huh?”

“This way, guys!” Debbie quickly pointed at another direction, and the boys promptly followed her away from the doorway before Prufrock could grab them.

Just a few feet ahead, the trio made a turn onto a perpendicular passageway, only for Gallows’ ghost to emerge and said, “Going somewhere?”

“This way!” Mark shouted as they all pivoted towards another direction.

“Keep running, children.” The two ghosts taunted as they floated behind the trio in pursuit.

Debbie and Tinker followed Mark’s lead as they continued to try to lose the two ghosts.

“Hurry!” Debbie shouted as they hurried down the pathway.

It was difficult running straight, as debris was littering all over the pathway, and in narrow segments, the trio had to either leap over or duck under or do both. It certainly didn’t help them much in their efforts to get away from the two ghosts.

As they ducked under a collapsed wall, Tinker glanced behind his back and saw the two ghosts not far behind. The ghosts had it easy phasing right through the debris.

“Keep running!” Tinker shouted.

Despite having it easy snatching the trio from where they are at, the two ghosts continued to phase past the debris as if they never even spotted them, and being occupied trying to get as far away from the two ghosts as much as they can, Tinker, Mark, and Debbie paid no attention to the two ghosts flying and phasing past them as they struggled their way past the debris.

It was after they got to the other end of the debris did the trio found out – too late – why the two ghosts flew past them without stopping, for when they scrambled on their feet to continue running, they all stopped abruptly in their tracks when the Spectre stood in front of them and cackled.

“Going somewhere, kids?” The Spectre cackled as the two ghosts floated down to his two sides.

Startled to see the Spectre and the two ghosts in front of them, the trio backtracked.

“Seems as though you kids have reached a dead end.” The Spectre continued as he raised his hand to gesture the two ghosts to seize them.

Mark, Tinker, and Debbie tried to run and scatter off, but the two ghosts swiftly seized them.

“Let go!” Debbie grunted as she and the boys struggled against the telekinesis holds of the two ghosts, who hovered them over to the Spectre.

The Spectre studied the trio briefly, then he said, “Can’t say I admire your persistence, not that it would do much to stop what’s to come.”

The contempt in the Spectre’s voice was unmistakable as he made the remark, however, despite being seized and unable to free themselves from the ghosts’ grips, Debbie, Mark, and Tinker only stared back at the Spectre defiantly.

Before the Spectre could continue, he sensed something and paused. Then, he raised his hand and snarled, “Have these brats locked up for now and deal with them later, there’s been some complications.”

The two ghosts nodded as they swiftly have Debbie, Mark, and Tinker tied up and gagged before locking them in cages in a nearby room.

When they returned to the Spectre, he said, “There’s someone out there, presumably the brats that are still out there, who are out to identify the source of my summoning you all from your graves. They’ve already stopped your confederates from chasing them for now, but the spells won’t last, you’d better go in and strike while the iron’s hot before they can put a stop to the plans.”

Gallows and Prufrock both groaned as they nodded in reply before they flew off.

Meanwhile, the impacts of the demobilization spells Daphne and Sam had fired at the ghosts were short-lived, as the army of ghosts snapped out of the trances they were placed in and resumed their pursuit.

At the sight of the ghosts converging towards the car in close pursuit, Daphne said, “Step on it, Shag! They’re gaining on us!”

Shaggy simply gritted his teeth as he kept his foot on the gas pedal, as a quick glance at the rearview mirror saw the large army of ghosts getting closer to the car. And up ahead the road becomes windy as they entered a hilly part of town, and noting how the curved road necessitates a slow down in speed, Shaggy said, “Hang on!”

As Shaggy pressed the gas pedal deeper, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. His dad and Daphne continued firing on the pursuing ghosts, though given the windiness of the road, it was difficult for their spells to hit them.

The army of ghosts certainly took advantage of the car slowing down, and with Daphne and Sam’s shots missing them, they all bid their time to wait for the opportunity to swoop down.

That opportunity soon came when Shaggy was forced to slow the car down in the face of a sharp curve, and as quick as foxes, the army of ghosts all descended towards them.

After Daphne saw the ghosts closing in on them, she exclaimed, “Jeepers, they’re coming in fast!”

As Daphne was warning them about the army of ghosts closing in on them, Shaggy kept his foot pressed on the gas pedal, however, the car was slowing down instead of accelerating.

“Zoinks, something’s wrong with the car!” Shaggy said as he pressed harder on the gas.

“What is?” Sam asked.

“Like, I’m pressing on the gas pedal, but we’re not going any faster!”

“And you’re pressing on the brakes, Shag?” Daphne asked.

“Not at all!” Shaggy shook his head.

It was then that they felt the car stalling and slowly getting lifted into the air, and Daphne looked at the army of ghosts, who have now stopped chasing them and are instead hovering above them.

“Jeepers, they’re lifting us up into the air!” Daphne realized.

“Zoinks, talk about an impromptu flight!” Shaggy said as he turned the steering wheel in a panic.

“And it’s not like we can order those ghosts to drop us, either.” Sam added as he looked down and saw the pavement becoming smaller as they were lifted into the air.

Shaggy gulped when he looked down, then he looked up towards the army of ghosts. The two ghosts closest to the car simply snarled at him.

“Zoinks!” Shaggy gulped.

Back at Blake Manor, the quintet worked diligently in trying out various arrangements for the enchantment. That included consulting the old spell books passed down through generations that were tucked away. However, they weren’t having any better luck with the enchantment.

“Something’s going on.” George said in frustration. “We can’t seem to generate the spell needed to sustain the momentum.”

“Whatever it is that’s holding us back, we’d need to figure it out fast.” Maggie said. “Because Daphne, Norville, and Dad are in trouble.”

“And unless I miss my guess, there’s no doubt those ghosts will soon come for us as well.” Wendy added as she flipped through the pages of a spell book.

It was Jenkins who broke the news when he walked in urgently and said, “I’m afraid that ship has sailed a while ago, Master Wendy.”

As if on cue, the minute the butler finished speaking, the group noticed a faint glow from the stairs that was getting brighter, which could only mean one thing.

“Quick!” George urged as he hurriedly closed the door and locked it, then he placed his hand on the door as he uttered an enchantment.

After the door and the surrounding walls glowed briefly, he turned towards the others and said, “This will buy us some time to figure this out quick.”

Wendy, Elizabeth, Scooby, and Maggie all nodded firmly as they scrambled to flip through the pages of the Blake family spellbook.

Outside the room, the army of ghosts flew towards the door, however, the minute they reach the door, a sudden glow forced them back.

At the sight of the wall in front of them, Prufrock glanced at two workers who were each armed with a shovel, and the two workers nodded before they slammed their shovels at the door. Their shovels did not phase through the door.

Despite that setback, Gallows growled, “Whatever punny sorcery they’ve used won’t hold us off for long.”

Prufrock nodded as the other ghosts conjured up tools and pounded on the enchanted door. The non-stop pounding of the tools on the door can be heard inside the room as the group scrambled to figure out the spell.

“We are running out of options.” Elizabeth gritted as George stood up. He was now sporting a bandage on his right index finger.

“And it’s not like we’ve got much time to figure this whole thing out.” George frowned as he glanced at the door. The pounding from the ghosts using the tools were getting louder, and he winced as he felt the protective spell he had conjured on the door straining under the relentless pounding from the ghosts.

As the adults stared at the door and concentrated their willpowers there, Scooby and Maggie glanced at each other. Up until this point, the Great Dane didn’t participate on the enchantments for banishing the ghosts. It was while Maggie was staring at the spellbook in Elizabeth’s hand that something occurred to her.

Her eyes focused on the patterns of the decorative cracks on the book cover, and when she blinked, the cracks flashed and formed into a shape, and she snapped her fingers.

“That’s it!” Maggie said, prompting her mother to turn towards her.

“What is it?” Wendy prompted.

Before Maggie could respond, the door exploded into pieces, which sent George, Elizabeth, and Wendy towards the back wall of the room, and the army of ghosts peered in with Gallows and Prufrock floating in.

“My, my, what do we have here?” Gallows cackled.

At the sight of the ghosts, Maggie quickly turned towards Scooby and grabbed his paw. “Scooby, quick! Read the expulsion spell!”

“Ruh?” Scooby was confused as he looked at the spells. “Rha…?”

“How quaint, she thinks her little puppy dog can somehow banish us and track the master down.” Prufrock quipped as the other ghosts snorted in contempt.

“Hurry!” Maggie urged as a quick glance established George, Elizabeth, Wendy, and Jenkins were in no position to help.

“But enough.” Prufrock said as she floated towards them. “You are coming with us, and we can do this either the easy way or the hard way!”

Although his mind was confused by the sudden change in events, Scooby’s head darted first towards Maggie, and then towards the army of ghosts, and he quickly began reading the enchantment with his paw on the pages.

“Don’t be a fool.” Gallows bellowed as he flew towards Scooby. “You-“

Despite Scooby’s hesitation as he began the enchantment, as soon as the ghost got close to him, he was abruptly pushed back by an invisible force, and Maggie said, “Keep going, Scooby!”

As he saw Gallows getting expelled back by what seemed like an invisible protective shield, Scooby quickly picked up on the enchantment as a quick dart towards the back of the room saw the ghosts encircling the adults.

And then, just as Prufrock, a couple other ghosts, and a recovered Gallows were about to swarm Scooby and Maggie, the Great Dane, now more determined and confident than ever, said, “Stsohr, nruter morf ecnerehw our evah emar!”

As soon as the enchantment escaped his lips, the whole town was engulfed in a blinding flash of light.

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Chapter Text

Chapter 12: The unmasking and enter the Mystery Machine

When the blinding flash of light faded away, everyone had their eyes squeezed shut and the ensuing silence was deafening. Then, Scooby opened one eye, and when his vision adjusted, he opened the other eye, and he raised an eyebrow. “Ruh?”

As if on cue, Maggie also opened her eyes, followed by the adults, and when they did, they were astonished by the sight in front of them.

The army of ghosts were now completely frozen and shaking, it was as if they wanted to carry on with what they were doing but couldn’t.

At the sight in front of them, Maggie turned to Scooby and said, “You did it, Scooby! You’ve stopped those ghosts!”

“Ri rid?” Scooby perked up before he turned towards Prufrock and Gallows, who were trying to reach for him.

After seeing that none of the ghosts could reach him or the others, Scooby said, “Ri rid!”

“That was at the nick of time, if I may say so.” George spoke as he and the adults dusted themselves and joined Scooby and Maggie. “Great job, the both of you.”

Maggie beamed as they turned towards the ghosts, and Scooby cocked his head as he studied them, then he raised an eyebrow.

“Ri rink rere’s romething more ro re ghosts.” Scooby said.

Maggie frowned as she followed Scooby’s gaze at the ghosts, then she nodded. “Scooby’s right, there’s more to those ghosts.”

“As in they’re completely under the Spectre’s control?” Wendy raised an eyebrow.

Maggie and Scooby studied Prufrock and Gallows before they nodded. “It would seem that way. In fact, think about it, they were in the process of burying the time capsule when the tsunami hit, and maybe having unfinished business here has left them susceptible to getting manipulated and come under the control of whoever summons them from their graves.”

The adults exchanged looks with one another before they all nodded.

“That makes sense.” George nodded.

Maggie and Scooby nodded back before they turned towards Prufrock and Gallows, who both nodded solemnly. Then, as if an invisible force has grabbed onto the ghosts, one by one, all the ghosts began to fly away.

“You’d be doing us a great favour recovering and burying the time capsule.” Gallows and Prufrock both groaned as they were dragged away.

The sextet only nodded as Scooby raised a paw in goodbye.

Meanwhile, several blocks away, Shaggy, Daphne, and Sam found themselves back on the ground after they were blinded by that flash of light from earlier, and like Maggie, Scooby, Wendy, Elizabeth, George, and Jenkins, they witnessed their would-be ghost snatchers getting dragged back to their graves.

As they took a moment to take in what they had witnessed, Daphne concentrated, and then she opened her eyes and said, “I just got word from Sugie. She and Scooby managed to banish all those ghosts, and they also identified the mastermind behind all of this.”

“Oh yeah?” Sam asked. “Who and where is he?”

“Only that he has been sitting on the planning committee on the city council.” Daphne said, which prompted Shaggy to turn towards his father.

“Pops, you don’t suppose…?”

“I think we need to take a detour and meet up with State Representative Grimes and Mayor Walton.” Sam said. “They probably hold the key to all of this business.”

“Right.” Shaggy nodded as he started the engine and his dad grabbed the car phone and dialled a number.

While the police chief waited to be connected, Daphne picked up something and said, “Seems like we will need to swing by the community centre, because based on what Sugie gathered from the residual telekinesis from the ghosts, State Representative Grimes is behind held at the community centre.”

There was silence as Shaggy shifted the car to drive, and after Sam hung up the car phone, he dialled another number and placed the headpiece to his ear. After another minute, the police chief frowned as he hung up once more.

“That will explain why neither the home number nor office number are picking up.” Sam said before picking up the headpiece a third time and dialled another number.

This time, the police chief’s phone call was put through, and he said, “Good evening, Mr. Mayor. I hope I didn’t wake you up, but I will need to meet up with you at the North Point Community Center right about now.”

Down under the community centre, Debbie, Mark, Tinker, and Henry all had their eyes squeezed shut from the impact of the blinding flash of light, and for a moment or two, there was complete awkward silence.

Tinker was the first to open his eyes warily, and when he did, the first thing he saw was that he was no longer locked in a cage, nor was his hands and feet tied up.

“Guys.” Tinker said, and the others all opened their eyes and found themselves somehow free.

“What just happened?” Henry asked as they looked around.

Mark frowned. “Not sure, one minute, we were getting tied up and restrained in these cages, then after this blinding flash of light, we’re somehow freed.”

Debbie placed her hands on her hips. The ghosts were nowhere to be seen, and as she turned towards a corner, she spotted the Spectre lying on the ground motionless.

“If I have to hazard a guess, the others, namely Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne, somehow managed to find the spell to banish those ghosts.” Debbie said.

Tinker nodded. “That would definitely explain the flash of light earlier, and why the Spectre is on the ground unconscious.”

“Fair enough.” Henry said as they approached the Spectre cautiously.

Despite seemingly having the wind knocked out of him by Scooby’s enchantment, the Spectre abruptly got up, and he stopped the quartet by pulling out a dynamite stick with a lit fuse.

At the sight of the lit dynamite, the quartet scrambled back and the Spectre cackled. "You meddling kids may have ruined everything, but you’d expect that I will go down without a fight?"

As Debbie, Mark, Tinker, and Henry exchanged uncertain looks with each other, the Spectre glanced up, and whatever mirth he had quickly dissipated, as when he looked up the hole, Speed Buggy was hovering down with Elmo.

“Sp-sp-sp-splat the Spectre, Elmo!” Speedy spoke as he saw the Spectre looking up.

Elmo merely growled in response as he leapt from Speedy and landed on the Spectre and knocking the wind out of him. As the Spectre lost the time capsule and the dynamite stick, the quartet stepped forward with Mark catching the time capsule and Tinker catching the dynamite stick.

Tinker panicked briefly before Debbie managed to yank the fuse out, leaving the stick useless. In relief, Tinker tossed the now-useless dynamite stick aside.

With the Spectre dazed, Elmo grabbed onto the rope and proceeded to rapidly run around him and tie him up. He had finished securing the Spectre when Augie, Skip, and April arrived at the bottom of the hole. They were soon followed by Dee-Dee, Taffy, Brenda, Biff, Shelly, Bubbles, Clam, Fred, and Velma.

“Guys, you’re okay!” Henry exclaimed as their freed friends came down the hole.

“Henry!” Fred said as the kids all rushed over to embrace and comfort each other.

“We thought the Spectre got you guys.” Dee-Dee said.

“He nearly did.” Debbie said as she nodded towards the Spectre.

“And all because of the time capsule.” Shelly said as she nodded at the time capsule Mark was holding.

Everyone else nodded before Augie suggested, “But first, I think an unmasking is in order.”

“Augie’s right.” Velma nodded again as she pointed at him, and Mark walked over to the restrained Spectre. They can hear the panic settling into the culprit’s voice as he struggled and shook his head repeatedly.

"No...no!" The Spectre protested just as Mark pulled the mask down, revealing him to be Councilman Deedle.

"Councilman Deedle?!" The group all exclaimed in surprise, just in time for a few more people to join them.

Shaggy, Daphne, Sam, Mayor Walton, and State Representative Grimes all saw Deedle getting unmasked as they were sliding down the rope, and Sam said, “It would seem we just missed the unmasking.”

The quintet landed at the bottom of the hole as Deedle scowled. "You kids really screwed everything up. I almost had it, that time capsule was in my hands!"

Before any of the kids could say something, they saw the police chief arriving with the mayor and Grimes, and they promptly moved out of the way for the trio of adults to step forward towards Deedle.

“Hello there, Sheldon.” Mayor Walton  said in greeting.

Deedle simply scowled in response while Mark stepped forward with the time capsule in hand, and the police chief turned towards Deedle and nodded at the time capsule in Mark’s hands as he said, “Mr. Deedle, there’s must be something we’re missing here.”

“Yeah.” Grimes agreed. "What the blazes could possibly be in a time capsule that you would want to get your hands on so badly?"

"Perhaps we should open it?" Skip suggested.

Sam nodded as Mark handed the capsule to the mayor, and then the police chief said, "Would you do the honours of opening it, Mr. Mayor?"

“Of course.” The mayor nodded as he took the capsule from Mark and pulled open the cap. Everyone began to lean closer as the mayor reached into the capsule and pulled the contents out.

There was silence as he pulled out what appeared to be files, and when he looked at them, he frowned and said, "I don't understand.”

“What’s the matter?” Sam asked.

The mayor held up what he had just pulled out from the capsule and said, "It's just a bunch of old letters, newspaper clippings and stuff."

“Seriously?” Grimes frowned as he turned towards Deedle. “You went through the trouble of delaying the refurbishment and restoration of the community centre, all for these old documents, Sheldon?”

As the state representative was speaking, Clam frowned when he noticed one of the documents in the mayor’s hand, and he grabbed it from the pile and examined it closely.

Clam’s frown deepened as he examined the postcard, and then he said, “They’re not just any old documents.”

Everyone else turned towards him with raised eyebrows as he held the postcard up and continued, “These are postcards and letters with stamps. And look at the stamp on this one.”

Sam took the postcard from him and used a magnifying glass to examine the stamp, then he turned towards Clam and said, “It’s a misprint.”

"That's right." Deedle beamed, prompting everyone to turn back towards him. "The Eerie Stamp, one of the rarest, and thus most valuable, misprints in the world."

The frown on his face returned as he continued, "And it would have been mine if you blasted meddling kids and dog haven't gotten in the way."

“So, all of this was just for a rare misprint for you to add to your stamp collection, Sheldon.” The mayor said as he exchanged glances with the kids.

“That and looking to cash in on the sabotage of the restoration work and getting kickbacks from the runner-up proponent for a casino and racetrack as part of the redevelopment of the area.” Grimes added before he shook his head.

“What BRM proposed was sound and would’ve put Coolsville on the map with the racetrack and casino, it’s a shame many on the council are too shortsighted to see that.” Deedle protested.

“Not when BRM never adequately addressed concerns from the residents in the neighbourhood.” Walton spoke. “And that’s on top of the office of the ethics commissioner receiving multiple letters of concern regarding your dealings with BRM from not just your constituents, but also fellow members of the city council.”

“Investigations by the office of the ethics commissioner has only started, but word has it that their scope included investigating the sources of funding for the trip to the Rattling Casino Resort in Las Vagas, developed and majority-owned by BRM, may we add, during your summer vacation and whether kickbacks from BRM were involved, especially as this is one resort where a month-long stay for vacation isn’t supported on a councilman’s salary.” Grimes added.

In the face of the glares from the mayor and the state representative, Deedle spoke, “I think this is the part where I’d like to speak with counsel.”

“A wise decision, Mr. Deedle.” Sam said as he kept his arms folded.

May 17, 1969

By the time word trickled in on Councilman Deedle’s impending resignation from his seat on the Coolsville City Council and an impending special election being called to fill his now-vacant seat, the crowd at the North Point Community Center has grown for that morning’s burial ceremony, in which the time capsule is to be buried in the front garden per Prudence Prufrock and Ezekial Gallows’ last wishes.

The ceremony was spearheaded by both Mayor Walton and State Representative Grimes, who was sporting a Band Aid on his forehead. The original contents of the time capsule were supplemented by new memorabilia from the past century, and as a token of appreciation to the kids, they were chosen as the main guests of honour for the burial ceremony with each group having a representative to do the digging for the burial of the time capsule.

Scooby, Elmo, Speedy, Dee-Dee, Henry, and Biff were thus chosen to do the digging, and in his speech prior to the digging, Grimes expressed his appreciation to the group for their efforts in solving the case. Soon, the reporters were flooding the group with questions.

"To all of you kids, could you tell us how you got to the bottom of this mystery and uncovered the culprit responsible?" One of the reporters asked as she forwarded the microphone towards the assembled leaders.

Henry was standing the closest to the microphone, and he was the first to answer. “Oh, it was a team effort, really, Miss Cornfield.”

“Yes.” Fred nodded as the microphone was directed at him. “Mainly through a combination of our leadership.”

As Fred answered, the other leaders exchanged looks with each other briefly and nodded, and when the microphone passed on to Dee-Dee, she said, “Our analytical thinking.”

“Don’t forget resourcefulness.” April chimed in.

“Yes, that played a role for sure.” Biff nodded.

When the microphone passed on to Mark, he finished, "...and the most important of all, our friendship."

All the other kids nodded in agreement and there were applauses from the assembled crowd.

June 19, 1969

In the month since the case, Maggie, Scooby, Fred, Velma, and Daphne were in the waiting room of the local Department of Public Works office in uptown Coolsville as Shaggy undertook his driving test.

"I hope Shag's driving test is going well." Fred was saying as they waited in the waiting room.

“Same here.” Velma nodded. “Being able to drive is no small feat when there’s a whole lot to account for, not to mention paying attention on the road.”

“Well, I’m certain he’s got this test in the bag.” Daphne remarked as she watched Maggie paced back and forth anxiously. “After all, during that caper with the Spectre’s ghost, he sure did a great deal of driving to get us away from those ghosts.”

“Ah, yes, you mentioned that before, Daphne.” Fred said. “Think there was also a brief moment you guys were flying?”

“We did, and not by choice.” Daphne nodded. “It was quite dangerous.”

“Then it was a good thing we were able to figure things out in banishing those ghosts.” Maggie said, and Scooby nodded.

Before Fred or Velma could add anything to the matter, they saw the green car Shaggy got on with the Department's driving instructor fifteen minutes earlier pulled up into the lot, then the lights went out, and the gang anxiously watched Shaggy glancing at the instructor, who was writing something on a file on a clipboard.

A few moments later, the duo disembarked from the car and entered the building with the instructor leading the way. It was at the tip of Fred’s tongue to ask Shaggy about the test but given how fast Shaggy and the instructor were walking into the office, he decided to simply wait until he finishes up in the office.

The minutes that followed felt like years, and both Scooby and Daphne have joined Maggie in the pacing around.

“Hopefully it’s good.” Fred said as he and Velma watched the trio pacing around.

Velma murmured in agreement with her hand by her chin. Despite the chatter in the waiting room from the other visitors and the pacing back and forth, it felt as though there was a deafening silence for the group.

After what felt like forever, Shaggy exited the office with a piece of paper in his hand. His face gave away nothing as he joined the others.

Velma prompted him. “How did it go, Shag? Did you pass?”

Shaggy responded by flipping over the sheet of paper in his hand to show it to his friends and Maggie. It was a temporary driver's license with his personal information and signature on it, along with an expiry date.

"Congratulations, Shag!" Daphne exclaimed when she noted the issued date of the temporary license was May 30. "You've got your driver's license!"

"Way to go, Shag!" Fred patted his friend's back. "You did it!"

"I knew that you would get your license, Norville." Maggie smiled as she playfully punched her brother.

"It’s handy for us that you have your driver’s license now, Shag." Velma said as they exited the building and made their way to a nearby streetcar stop.

"Yeah, except that we still are going to need our own rides, gang." Daphne suggested. "Because we surely can't rely on our parents to lend us their vehicles all the time when we need to drive around."

"You've got a point, Daph." Fred said. "If we're really going to be driving around and, perhaps, be snooping around to offer help, we're going to need our own rides."

"Question now is, how are we going to get our own rides?" Shaggy asked as he rubbed his chin.

“I guess we’ll find out.” Fred said as they heard the bell from an approaching PCC streetcar.

June 23, 1969

It didn’t take long for the news of Shaggy receiving his driver’s license to spread among the gang’s friends, and on the following Monday at school, many of their classmates made the effort to congratulate him on receiving his driver’s license.

"Congrats, Shag!" Eric said to Shaggy at lunch period as he ran into him at the cafeteria entrance.

"You sure did it!" Tinker joined in. "Maybe you can drive us around someday."

“Ah, once we get our ride like Speed Buggy, then I can drive you guys around.” Shaggy said as Fred entered with Biff and Henry.

The blonde had obviously overheard parts of Shaggy’s remark as he said, “Speaking of which, I might have just the thing.”

“Oh yeah, what did Ronnie say, Fred?” Shaggy asked as they now turned towards the blonde.

“Only that we’re going to have an answer to the questions about our own ride.” Fred said, prompting the others to exchange looks with one another.

Later that afternoon after school, the group met up with the Mysteries Five, who led them to W.W. and Linda’s place just a few blocks away.

"So, what's this surprise about, guys?" Velma asked as they followed the Mysteries Five gang.

"You guys will soon find out." Kelly replied as Ronnie led the way.

The others simply exchanged looks with each other before they shrugged.

A short while later, the group arrived at W.W. and Linda’s home, where they were directed to the garage. The door was closed, and the group gathered on the driveway.

“Alright, guys.” Geoff said once everyone was assembled on the driveway and Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Velma, and Daphne were standing the closest to the garage door. “Meet your new ride.”

The gang and their friends exchanged looks with one another before the garage door opened, revealing W.W. and Linda standing at each side of a plain light green panel van. The twins promptly gestured at the van and said, “Ta-da!”

Mystery Inc. all blinked, as did all of their friends.

"And this is...?" Fred asked.

"Our old tour panel van." W.W. explained. "A 1964 Shulmanmobile Sportvan."

"Formerly known to us as the 'Mysteries Five Sportsvan'." Ronnie added.

"Ah, I read about the cars and vans produced by Shulmanmobile." Shaggy said. "They've got excellent gas mileage, and their maintenance manuals are quite straight forward on how to repair the engines."

The group exchanged looks with one another with some murmuring, and then Brenda asked, “And you guys are giving Mystery Inc. your old tour panel van?”

"That's right." Mike nodded. "You see, we've been using this panel van for quite a while for our band tours and mystery-solving, but it has become quite worn out from our dual activities."

"Then, a couple weeks ago, Linda took part in a contest and won a new van." W.W. added. "A new van that suits our needs better but leaves us with an extra vehicle that we weren't quite sure what to do with."

"That is, until Fred told me about Shag receiving his drivers license and your need for your own ride." Ronnie said.

"So, you're giving us your old Shulmanmobile Sportvan?" Daphne asked.

"That's right." Kelly nodded. "We figured that you guys, with your hanging-around, may need your own ride to get around."

The gang looked at each other, flabbergasted by the offer of the van from Mysteries Five.

"Why, we'll take the van." Fred finally said. "But how much will it…?"

"Oh, you don't need to pay." Ronnie waved his hand dismissively. "What we will like is Shaggy giving us all a ride with him driving the Sportsvan."

"Yeah." Kelly nodded. "We heard that he's an excellent driver, especially from that ghost caper last month, but we want to see that for ourselves."

All eyes were on Shaggy, who was silent for a minute before nodding, and W.W. tossed him the keys to the Sportsvan.

"Say, before we go, I think we've ought to give a name to the Sportsvan." Shaggy suggested.

"Reah." Scooby nodded in agreement.

"Oh, yes, right." Fred snapped his fingers as he turned towards the others. "What do you guys suggest?"

The group looked at each other before Augie suggested, “What about the ‘Teenage Drive’?”

"Doesn't sound right to me." Linda shook her head.

"Well, you guys are Mystery Inc., so you guys should name your van after your team’s name." Mike suggested.

"Like, you mean, the Mystery Van?" Shaggy asked.

"Rou mean, re "Rystery Machine'." Scooby corrected.

"Mystery Machine..." Henry thought for a while before he said to the others, “Must say the Mystery Machine has a nice ring to it.”

“Oh yes, absolutely.” Clam agreed as Tinker, Skip, April, and Taffy all nodded, as did everyone else.

“It suits you guys well.” Bubbles said.

“Can’t think of a better name than that.” Dee-Dee added.

Fred, Velma, and Daphne exchanged looks with one another, and then the blonde declared, “Then it’s settled. Mystery Machine, it is.”

"Leave it to Scooby for coming up with the name.” Shaggy added as he rubbed Scooby in the head.

"Raw...rit's nothing." Scooby said as he blushed.

“Perfect.” Kelly said. “Shaggy, are you ready to hit the road with us?”

Shaggy looked at the car keys in his hand, then he nodded.

“Let’s get going, guys.” Shaggy said.

“Awesome!” Everyone else nodded before they started dividing up by groups and line up to be taken out on a drive with Shaggy behind the wheel.

September 12, 1969

In the two weeks since the start of the new school year and the gang and their friends are now juniors at Coolsville Central High School, they have pretty much settled back into their usual routines following the two months of summer break.

By that point, Fred had also received his learner’s permit, followed by a summer of driving classes and passing the driving test, which meant the gang no longer needed to rely on Shaggy to do the driving around.

And as one of their first acts after they formally took ownership of the Mystery Machine, the van was given a new paint livery, along with mechanical tune ups.

It was on that note that the group found themselves chatting about their weekend plans after school.

“So, what plans do you guys have for the weekend?” Tinker asked as they all headed out of the school building.

“Just the usual for me.” Shelly spoke. “Nothing special planned beyond catching up on my beauty sleep.”

Tinker nodded as he looked at Augie, who said, “Skip and I are going fishing with our dad.”

“That’s nice.” Tinker said. “What about you, Henry?”

“Nothing special, really.” Henry spoke. “Besides doing some shopping with family.”

“What about you, Shag?” Tinker asked Shaggy.

“Well, nothing in particular, though Scoob and I are going to the movies for Star: Dog Ranger of the North Woods tonight.”

“Oh yes, I heard about that movie.” Tinker spoke. “Though I won’t be going tonight, as I’ve got some stuff to do.”

“Sounds like it’s an exciting adventure film, Shag.” April interjected.

“It is.” Shaggy nodded as Fred, Velma, and Daphne joined them, then he turned towards the trio and said, “Say guys, any plans for the weekend?”

“Just the usual for me with my reading, Shag.” Velma replied.

“Besides me and my parents meeting up with Geoff and Zelda for dinner tonight, nothing much going on for me.” Fred added.

“Just a quiet weekend with some reading and helping around at the house for me.” Daphne said. “We heard you mentioning you and Scooby going to the movies tonight.”

“We are.” Shaggy nodded. “Star: Dog Ranger of the North Woods.”

“Sounds like fun, hope you guys enjoy it.” Daphne smiled.

“Thanks, Daph.” Shaggy smiled back.

Later that night, Shaggy and Scooby ended up staying very late at the movies due to Scooby's insistence on watching the movie twice, and by the time they were finished, it was nearly midnight and so the duo made their way home through the park.

It was there that they stumbled upon an abandoned converter with an empty old suit of armour in the driver's seat, and...well, that's for another story.

As the final sentence suggests, this provides for the leadup to how the franchise premiere SDWAY's What a Night for a Knight! began with Professor Hyde White's disappearance and Shaggy and Scooby discovering his abandoned pickup while walking home from the movies.

You may have noticed that in that last sentence, a converter replaced the pickup in the original episode, which is part of my efforts to fix some of the inconsistencies or oddities seen in the episode in question.

For more information, stay tuned for D4 SDWAY: What a Night for a Knight!

Please read and review!