Part 1: The Detour
The bus drove through the winding roads into Barbera County, Florida. This, however, was not the main road, that had been closed due to flooding. Even on this, back road, detour the ground was slick and the bus was hard to maneuver. Jack McKnight, the driver, skidded to a stop as he almost ran into a deer. By now the music from the back of the bus had ceased, Sally and her friends were finally asleep. He still didn't dare put on any of his own music, if he became distracted he could risk running the bus off of the road in this rain storm. Why was it that a band had to travel in a bus, his station wagon would be much less cumbersome, but the music company had given them a bus, so they drove a bus. Now they were sending his daughter and her friends to this little Florida town, 'the perfect setting for a Halloween concert', the man had said. The brochures made it look nice, quaint and peaceful, so much like his home town in Massachusetts. He skidded to stop again just as a shape dashed across the road, but this one had left something; a trail of fire was blocking his path across the road. He tried to skirt around it but he ended up driving off of the road. The bus crashed through trees and splashed through flooded areas of swamp. The ride was becoming bumpier and he had no doubt that Sally and her friends would wake up soon. He looked into his rearview mirror and saw the silhouette of what had been chasing them. Somewhere in the back he heard his daughter's friend Theresa.
"We're going to crash!"
Jack looked ahead to see a white wall coming ever closer. Then, they hit it.
Part 2: The Drive In
In many ways the town of Coolsville was a lost world, it was as though it had remained in the sixties but had taken the best parts of all of the following decades. The perfect example was the Coolsville Drive- In Theater. It showed new movies but on nights like tonight, it was dedicated to the classics, or at least some people's version of the classics. On this particular night Shaggy was taking his little sister Maggie, as well as Velma and her little sister Madelyn to a showing of classic Disney movies. Shaggy had taken his car, a convertible, perfect for a drive in. The only problem was that the car didn't actually have a roof to put up. After his parents had taken a sizable amount of his money from the Sanders inheritance for a college fund, all he had been able to afford was a used convertible with no roof. Shaggy was bundled up for the October wind.
"I'm cold, how much farther is their house?" Maggie asked.
"Like, two blocks, you've been there before." He answered.
"So, are you excited for your date?"
"Like, it is not a date."
"You're taking a girl to a Drive- In, in a convertible, it's a date."
"No, I'm taking my little sister, my dog, my friend, and her little sister to see 101 Dalmatians; in a car with no roof."
"Rits a Rate" Scooby said to Maggie.
"Like, e' tu Scooby"
When Shaggy pulled up to Velma's house, he could see she had also just finished a conversation with her sister.
"What were they talking about Scooby?" Maggie whispered
Scooby, being a dog had heard Velma's conversation before they even arrived at the house.
"Rame ring ree rer." Scooby answered.
Velma and Madelyn got into the car. Madelyn sat in the back with Maggie and Scooby, Velma sat in the front next to Shaggy.
"Like, all right, everyone ready, I've got the heater on but there's no roof, so, like, try to stay warm.
He drove off and into the hills toward the theater. They had finally settled down into the car when it started to rain.
"Oh, great." Maggie said.
"Like don't worry, I planned for this.'
"You did?" Velma asked.
"Okay, Fred planned this for me." He admitted.
Two minutes later there was a tarp taped to the windows and back of the car, shielding them from rain.
"I told you it was convertible." Maggie said.
About half a half hour into the movie Maggie and Madelyn had fallen asleep. Scooby was also asleep curled up next to Maggie. Shaggy was just about say something when the screen ripped, a bus came through the screen and landed in front of it. The three sleeping figures in the back had been awoken by the noise. After some urging from Velma, Shaggy maneuvered through the parking lot towards the bus. When they arrived Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma ran towards it, together they pried the jammed door open.
"Like, hello."
"Reneybody rere."
"Over here, we're okay, shaken, but okay." A man answered.
"Like, good, um hey you're the Hex Girls."
"You recognize us?" One of the girls said.
"Like, yeah, you guys are pretty good."
"Reverybody roff row." Scooby barked.
"Like you better listen to him. Everybody gang way, clear out now!"
Cars started and drove off as fire encircled the bus. The nine of them squeezed into the car. When they were a good fifty yards away they saw a fireball go up as the bus exploded.
Part 3: Police Intervention
Three months ago, the Coolsville police station was a relatively quiet place. Crimes were rarely committed in the tiny town. That is not to say that the town was unfamiliar to crime, certainly criminals had come here. They were mostly from the neighboring towns though, Crystal Cove had a modest crime rate and Gatorsburg was pretty sleazy compared to the other two towns of Barbera County. In the last three months, however, things had been escalating. Tonight, the station was bursting with activity. Someone was calling about lost road traps. Calls were ringing in from all over town about an explosion at the drive in theater. When the news reached Samuel Rogers who was just arriving for a night shift he practically jumped from the building to his squad car. His partner Detective Neville barely had time to get in.
"Shaggy is clever and fast Sam, they'll be fine." Neville said in his distinct Southern accent, trying to put his friend's mind at ease.
"Norville, Maggie, my God." Sam said oblivious to his partner's words.
The squad car careened through the streets at full speed; siren blaring. The combined speed and stress caused Sam Rogers to nearly miss seeing his son's car as it sped down the road. He hastily maneuvered a U- turn and motioned for his son's car to pull over.
When Shaggy saw the police car motioning for them to pull over he couldn't believe his luck, after saving all of these people they were going to be pulled over for having too many passengers. Then he realized it was his father driving the car. He breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled over. Shaggy exited the car carrying his sister and ran toward his father. Sam Rogers embraced both of his children for what seemed like forever, then he took Maggie into his arms and looked Shaggy in the eyes.
"What happened?" He asked.
Part 4: The Message
Fred pulled the Mystery Machine into the parking lot at school. Daphne was seated next to him. This was not unusual, technically it was her van, but recently the rides had become more… uncomfortable. One week ago in the music room of Sanders Manor, when they were about to be crushed by enclosing walls, Daphne had kissed him and them saved them all. The boat ride back had been rather awkward. Since then, neither of them had really spoken to the other, Fred's mother said Daphne was probably embarrassed, Fred was simply confused. Whatever the case, they both needed see Shaggy and Velma, after what they heard had happened last night. Neither actually got the chance to see Shaggy or Velma until lunch. When they got to their usual spot by the window, Velma and Shaggy were conversing with Scooby through the window. Scooby wasn't actually allowed in school, but Velma had convinced the janitor (whom they had helped clear of a criminal charge) to leave the window open so they could talk to Scooby. Fred and Daphne walked to their table and sat down.
"Are you three okay?" Daphne and Fred said at the same time, they glanced at each other quickly then looked away.
'Humans' Scooby thought.
"Yeah, we're fine, thanks to Scooby, he alerted us to the explosion in time." Velma answered.
"What happened?" Fred asked.
As Shaggy and Velma explained the night's events, Scooby walked from the window out onto the grounds of the school. He stretched out on the grass, thinking of many things. Soon most of these thoughts were replaced by thoughts of Scooby Snacks. In seconds, he was asleep. Mostly, his dreams were about food. Hamburgers and hotdogs floated into his field of vision. He could feel the heat from the food. It blew across his face like wind. He sniffed, trying to take in the smells of all his favorite foods. It smelled like…tar.
His eyes snapped open. He sniffed around before his eyes had even adjusted to the light. He smelled burning tar. Scooby looked toward the smell. The road in front of the school was on fire. It was burning letters into the ground. Scooby had learned many things from his time with the gang; reading was not one of them.
"Raggy!" He barked.
Scooby was almost certain that he had seen these words before. As he contemplated this Shaggy came running, even though he was a coward he always led the charge when one of his friends was in trouble. The gang circled around the now dying flames in the road. Now that the flames had died down Scooby could almost recognize the writing in the ground. He was sure he had seen it recently. His chance to read it for himself was cut short by Fred.
"P/1, HEX/0"
Now Scooby remembered where he had seen the writing before, on the bus last night, The Hex Girls. Below the flames was a scrap of paper. Velma snapped a picture of it with her phone. Then, as sirens began to sound in the distance Velma frantically grabbed Scooby's muzzle and held it to the paper.
"Sniff Scooby, take in every detail, every scent quickly."
Scooby did as he was told. He closed his eyes and sniffed at the paper taking in every detail. There was a smell like gasoline, and fire, tar, and something that reminded him of Shaggy's coffee table. Once he had finished Velma told him to repeat everything he had smelled. Shaggy took notes as Scooby did this.
"Like, okay, we've got gas, tar, fire, and my coffee table." Shaggy finished putting a disbelieving emphasis on the last smell.
Police cars were coming closer now.
"After school everyone meet at my house. My parents are going to be at the book shop for a work party."
Everyone agreed to meet at Velma's house. The rest of the school day was cancelled so as it turned out, they ended up at Velma's house rather quickly.
Part 5: The Flyer
As Fred walked up to Velma's house it occurred to him that he had never actually been there before. He had seen Daphne's house, but he had never seen Shaggy or Velma's houses. The house on the outside looked normal enough. It was only one story and was painted an unassuming beige color. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Velma answered rather quickly. She led him inside the house. Shaggy and Scooby were already sitting on the couch. They had double headphones hooked up to an iPod and were silently mouthing the words to what looked like a rock song.
"Just sit down a minute I'm almost done." Velma said, waving a hand toward the couch.
As Fred sat down on the couch, Velma sat down at a computer and ran through some pictures of the scrap of paper from the crime scene. He tapped Shaggy on the shoulder. Shaggy popped out the headphones and did the same with Scooby's. Fred looked down at the iPod, Shaggy was listening to KISS. 'Huh, learn something new every day' Fred thought. Fred was more of an Elvis man himself. He knew Daphne was into all of those modern pop artists. Fred looked around the living room for any indication of what kind of music Velma liked. All he could see were science magazines stacked neatly on the coffee table and a bookshelf full of mystery novels. Finally he stopped his analysis and turned to Shaggy and Scooby.
"Is Daphne here yet?"
'Like, I thought you two would be coming together, she hasn't gotten here yet." Shaggy answered.
As Shaggy said that, the doorbell rang. Shaggy motioned to Velma that he would get it. He did but to his surprise it was not Daphne but instead the mailman.
"Hi there Shaggy, I just wanted to drop off this package for the Dinkleys, and here is the mail. Are you kids going to be at the concert on Saturday with that group from Massachusetts? I hear it's going to be quite the Halloween party."
"Halloween party?" Shaggy inquired, baffled.
"The Halloween party at the theater. That group from Massachusetts, The Hex Girls. That is if it happens, I hear the group got into some trouble on the way over. Anyway, have a nice day." The mailman left patting Shaggy on the arm.
As he walked away Daphne pulled up the drive way in a purple convertible, unlike Shaggy's it was new and fully functional. Daphne's family was one of the wealthiest in the world. Their fortune came from the treasuries of Scottish and French nobility. After coming to America the fortune had been replenished through a number of successful business ventures. The car she was currently driving was one that her parents had just bought her for her birthday. In addition to the sports car she was also in possession of her father's old van. It was not a very stylish van. George Blake had owned it for a delivery job when he was eighteen. Today the gang used it to get around town for cases. The van, like the gang, had gained a certain level of celebrity in Barbera County. The distinctive flower pattern made it instantly recognizable. Today Daphne had left it at home in favor of her new toy.
She exited the car and walked up to the door. Once everyone was seated Velma stood up and handed printout sheets to each member of the gang.
"Now that you are seated comfortably I will begin" Velma said. She clicked a remote and her television displayed an enlarged picture of the scrap of paper from the crime scene. It was surprisingly not burnt despite being so close to the flame.
"As you can see this is a flyer for a concert by The Hex Girls being performed on Saturday for Halloween. A message has been typed over the flyer which reads 'The first round has gone to me, first to get three wins.' The note is signed The Phantom."
"But, what does that mean, who are the Hex Girls anyway?" Daphne inquired.
"The Hex Girls are a small band out of Oak haven, Massachusetts. They play mostly rock songs with environmentalist messages. The lead singer is a practicing Wiccan." Velma clicked a button and a short clip of music played. It was being sung by what sounded like three girls.
Shaggy had heard the song before; he listened to a lot of small bands like that. He found The Hex Girls pretty good, if a little creepy. Velma, however, looked like she was about to start dancing.
"I don't know what the first point is from, but it looks like whoever this is, is trying to turn what they're doing into a competition."
"Wait a minute, wasn't it The Hex Girls tour bus that blew up at the drive- in?" Fred said.
"Was it, I didn't actually get a good look at the bus." Velma said. "Shaggy, Scooby was it the Hex Girls.
Shaggy did not respond for a moment, and then he began to sing.
"Should I stay or should I go now," his singing was backed up by the sound of Scooby howling a half reminiscent version of the melody of the old song.
After a moment Fred pulled the headphone plug out of the iPod.
"Like sorry guys, we kind of tuned out after phantom."
"Reah, runed rout" Scooby barked, backing up his friend.
"Hey, the Hex Girls, they were the ones whose bus crashed at the movies." Shaggy said, oblivious to the fact that he had been asked that question only a moment ago.
"Well, I think it's time we paid them a visit" Fred said.
Part 6: The Theater
After stopping off to get the Mystery Machine, the gang drove to the Coolsville Theater. It was a very old building that mostly hosted live shows and concerts, but since the incident at the drive- in it was also playing films.
The gang walked up to the front desk. The attendant was a skinny older man. He was balding, but what little hair he had was completely white. He sat with his feet propped up on the front desk.
"Excuse me" Fred said, the man ignored him "We're um here to interview the Hex Girls for our School Paper." Fred hoped the lie would get them in; it was never something he was particularly good at. The man at the counter responded without even looking up.
"No appointment, no entry."
"Hi, I'm Daphne, George Blake's daughter, can we please be allowed in?"
This time the man looked up just enough to make sure he wasn't being lied to, and then he stood up straightened his shirt and spoke as though he were addressing royalty (which if you went back far enough he probably was).
"Ms. Blake, Sorry I didn't see you before. Of course you and your friends can come in."
"Thank you Sir" Daphne said as she led the others into the theater.
Fred was about to ask exactly how she did that, until he saw a portrait of her father hanging on the wall among other people who had made donations. He wondered if she even would have answered him, she seemed to have been avoiding him lately.
They walked into the main part of the theater were a concert rehearsal was already in full swing. The gang took seats in the back and watched. The band was indeed the same three girls from the tour bus. The one in the lead was rather pale with dark brown hair highlighted with red. The drummer had darker skin and hair dyed a dark red. The keyboardist was blond with her hair tied in pigtails. The man who had been driving the bus was leaning against a wall off to the side observing. He had his forehead wrapped in a bandage. The concert ran for another half an hour. Once it was over, to their great surprise, the gang was invited up to the stage to meet the band.
The bandaged man greeted them first.
"Hello, Norville, Scooby, and Velma, right, I'm Jack McKnight, Sally, the guitarist is my daughter. I just wanted to thank you three for saving us."
"Hey, it was nothing" Shaggy answered.
"Hey, you're the guys from the bus" said the guitarist, Sally.
"Yeah, and, like, these are our friends Fred and Daphne"
"Hi"
"Hello"
"Cool, I'm Thorn, this is Dusk, and Luna" She said, indicating the redhead and blond.
"They enjoy, their band nicknames" said 'Thorn's' father.
"Dad, we like these names' said Thorn.
"Hey, no problem, I'm partial to Shaggy myself"
"So, you guys gonna come to the concert on Saturday?" Thorn asked.
"We'll be there, but we were wondering, did you guys see anything unusual when you crashed?" Fred asked.
"In the road, there was man" Mr. McKnight said.
"Dad, the cops said it was probably just an animal.'
"I know what I saw."
After another hour with the band, the gang left the theater.
"I think we should check out the mechanic shop, maybe they can tell us how the tour bus exploded."
As they left Fred glanced again at the donor wall, the largest picture was of a bearded man is a suit, the plaque underneath read 'In Memory of Alonso Reilly 1900-1950'
Part 7: The Bus
The gang piled into the mystery machine and drove to the Mechanic shop. This, being the only garage in town was where the police would have taken the remains on the tour bus. As they pulled into the parking lot they saw one of their friends from school.
Minga had been born in Tibet, but had moved to the States when she was nine. She was a real grease monkey and worked at the garage part time.
"Guys, you didn't crash the van again did you?"
"No" Fred answered defensively.
"We came to ask about the tour bus that got blown up." Daphne clarified.
"Oh, I had a feeling you guys would want to see that."
She led them to the very back lot, where the charred remains of the bus stood. It was little more than a frame. The tires had been melted down and the windows had been knocked out by the force of the blast.
"The explosion was caused when fire came into contact with the gas tank. The bus was blasted into the air by the force of the tank exploding underneath."
"Huh, like just like in movies" Shaggy mused.
On the opposite side Fred was surveying the remains with a gleeful enthusiasm, taking in every detail. His overactive brain was working its fullest to catalog the damage. This kind of thing was what he lived for, the culmination of seemingly random facts or objects to a single conclusion. It was what made him such an effective trap designer, he could see the uses and causes of things and figure out the best way to put them together.
"The thing about the movies" Minga spoke up 'is that they're inaccurate. Generally a gas tank is secure enough that driving over flames won't blow you up, unless you're driving a Pinto. The gas tank on this bus was ruptured beforehand."
"But, the bus didn't explode until after everyone was away." Velma said.
"Exactly, it wasn't the fire that ignited the tank. It was that." Minga said, pointing to a pile of ashes on the part of the bus that used to be the floor.
"What is it?" Daphne asked.
"Bits of flash paper, the kind of thing they use for movies and stage shows to create fire effects." Minga answered. "The cops found a whole bunch of it down by the Drive In."
"So somebody put flash paper on the ground to ignite the tank when it hit." Fred said energetically. "That's genius!"
"Like it scares me when he admires the criminal's handiwork" Shaggy whispered to Scooby.
Scooby nodded his agreement. Then he began to sniff around the bus. He perked his head up when he came to gas tank.
"Roffee rable!" he barked.
"Oh, like, come on Scoob, you're not smelling my coffee table again are you?"
"Reah, Reah!" Scooby barked wagging his tail.
Velma sniffed at the remains.
"It's, wood polish, May I?" Velma asked, as she pulled a scraper from her pocket.
"Go ahead; the police are done with it."
Velma scraped the dust into a little plastic vial. She held it up to her face.
"Oh no Velma, I know that look" Daphne said.
"Chemistry is my last class tomorrow, I'm sure Mr. Sims will let me run some tests."
Part 8; Chemistry
Fred took his seat in Mr. Sim's Chemistry class. The tables were arranged for four people each. Fred's table was also occupied by Jimmy Proudwolf, Dell Chillman, and Shaggy. Next to them, Daphne was seated with Velma, Minga, and Sharon Weatherby.
"Good morning class" said Mr. Sim's. "Today in the spirit of Halloween, I thought we would do something fun." He held up a beaker of bubbling green liquid, then he poured water in and it turned into goo. "This is something with a very complicated name, for all intents and purposes, it is slime. These are the directions." He said, holding up a packet of papers. "Mr. Norton, would you please pass these out?" He said to a skinny bespectacled boy in the front row.
Norton dropped one at Fred's table. Jimmy looked at it for a moment and then sent Fred to get the ingredients from the store cupboard in the back of the room while he began heating the chemicals that had already been prepared. Fred got up and walked back. Velma had sent Sharon back for ingredients as well. She gave a little smile at Fred which he returned. He heard Daphne make a sort of derisive grunt.
As he retrieved the chemicals, he noticed Daphne giving a very menacing glare toward him and Sharon. He tried to ignore it. He did not really know what had gotten into Daphne. She used to be very fun to hang out with, but since the island, she had been different.
"So Freddy" said Sharon "Are you going to be at the Halloween concert?"
"Yeah, maybe"
"Well, save me a dance"
"I'll, uh, try"
Daphne dropped the beaker she was holding, and Minga had to dive to stop it from falling.
"You'll try, what do you mean, you'll try?" Daphne yelled at him.
Fred was taken aback, he really had no idea what was going on; human interactions were not his strong suit. Sharon backed away cautiously.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get into the middle of this. I didn't know you two were together" She said, truly apologetically.
"You stay out of this" Daphne said even louder, her voice was going more Scottish as she yelled; it was a remnant of the summers she used to spend there with her family.
Fred was getting rather fed up as well, clearly something was wrong. Daphne had not told him, so how was he supposed to know what it was?
"Daphne calm down, what's wrong?"
"What's wrong is that I did something very personal on the island, and you haven't mentioned it since."
"Neither have you!" Fred yelled back.
"No, because I was hoping that you might have something to say without me having to coax it out of you!"
A crowd of students had assembled to watch the shouting match. Shaggy and Velma were frantically trying to break through it to calm their friends down. Minga and Dell were also trying to get back to the store cupboards because without the ingredients they had sent for; their chemicals were becoming dangerously volatile. Jimmy was the only one hanging back trying to put out the increasingly large flames.
"Daphne, I'm sorry that I can't read your mind, I don't know what you want me to do"
"Of course; the man who can build a net launcher out of table scraps doesn't know what to do."
A loud spraying noise came from the other end of the room. Mr. Sims had taken a fire extinguisher to the chemicals and was looking very angry.
"Mr. Jones, Ms. Blake, I'd ask if there was something you'd like to share with the class but you've already done that! Please, come and take your detentions. Listen, I don't mind a bit of conversation in my class, I think it's healthy, but when it starts to put people in danger then it has to stop."
Fred and Daphne took the yellow slips from the teacher and sat back down. The rest of the period was spent in silence. After school Fred and Daphne said separate goodbyes to their friends and walked back into the school for their detention period.
"Rhut rappened?"
"Like, I don't know Scoob" Shaggy said as he heaved his backpack in to the back seat of his car. Velma climbed in beside him and the three of them drove off.
An hour later; Fred and Daphne were released and made their way into the parking lot. Daphne made her way to her car. Fred decided it was best if he just walked home. Just as Daphne was getting in to her car Fred saw someone in black approach her. The figure struck her over the head and she crumpled to the floor. Fred ran over to her and tried to tackle the figure but was struck as well. Everything went black.
Part 9: Round Two
Shaggy and Velma sat in the bookstore with Scooby lying on the floor. Shaggy was scanning his math book for anything useful for his homework, Velma, who had already finished her homework, was reading a Sherlock Holmes story from the bookshelf. Velma's Uncle was tending to the shop window when they heard him gasp. The three of them ran over to see what had happened. Across the street at the theater was a strong wind blowing. Velma stuck her head out the door; there was not even a breeze outside. She and Shaggy and Scooby ran across the street towards the theater.
They pried the doors open against the wind and went inside. On stage they saw the Hex Girls, as well as Mr. McKnight. There was another person on stage to, he was cloaked in black and his face was hidden by a white mask; half cackling, half frowning. Flames bellowed behind him.
"I am the spirit of this theater and all of the souls who perished in it. You offend us with your presence. However, the spirits are willing to give a chance to prove your worth. I have taken the first point on the cliffs when I destroyed your chariot in the trial by fire. I give you this second challenge; survive the trial by air, and for you interloping youths I have given two of your number the trial by water." The figure spoke with a deep, resonating voice. As its speech concluded it disappeared in a swish of its cape and a swirl of smoke.
The winds were picking up now; heavy pieces of equipment were blowing off of the stage. The doors were shut hard. Shaggy grabbed a rope that was tied down at the stage and tied it around Scooby and Velma. Then he climbed hand over hand along the rope. Despite what Shaggy would have most people believe, he was a superb athlete. This was evidenced most in his running ability, but he was also a champion gymnast who could handle the strain the winds were putting on his arms. Ordinarily this level of strain would be very painful, but at the moment Shaggy had too much adrenaline coursing through his veins to notice.
On the stage the Hex girls were hanging on to the curtains and flood lights. Mr. McKnight was holding on to his daughter's hand as well as a piece of the ceiling support. Shaggy finally got to the end of the rope at the stage. He tried to steady himself in a standing position but the winds were too strong.
Meanwhile, Velma had retreated deep into her thoughts to figure out where these winds were coming from. She felt the wind against her face; they were coming from the stage. She tried to climb up the rope to but as she did it snapped. Scooby locked his teeth onto the back of her sweater. Then he sunk his claws into the thick rope. He pulled with all his might and climbed, just like Shaggy, paw over paw to the stage.
When he got there he made sure Velma had tied herself on to another rope before clawing at the curtains to reach the Hex Girl who called herself Dusk who was clinging to a stage light high above the ground. As he climbed a wooden puppet hit him square in the muzzle and he almost lost his grip. He finally made his way up to her and locked his teeth onto her back collar. Far below, Velma was trying to yell directions to Shaggy over the roar of the wind.
"The wind is coming from back stage!"
"The Backstage Rage?"
"No, the wind is coming from backstage!"
"Like, right!"
Shaggy climbed the rope toward the back, he saw some of the wall panels were shaking, and one came loose and almost hit him. Then he saw it, two large fans were positioned behind wall panels with slits cut into them. He climbed farther into the wind until he was finally close to the fans. He reached out a hand and grabbed the switch on the closest fan. He pulled and it stopped. The winds died down enough for him to pull the second switch. The winds died completely. A crash sounded as everyone fell to the floor. Scooby was clawing his way down the curtains with Dusk. Velma walked over to the fans. She brushed the hair out of her eyes as she bent down to examine it. Scooby and the band came in. Scooby's fur had blown around his face making him look a bit like a cross between a lion and a dog.
"Those are stage fans" Said Thorn. "We use them for wind effects."
"I'm more interested in what our masked monologue maker was talking about when he mentioned about the souls of those who perished."
"Like, you don't know?"
"No, do you?"
"Of course."
"Well don't just stand there, tell me!"
Shaggy led them into the lobby and showed them the donor wall. He directed their attention to the largest portrait, Alonso Reilly.
"So, like, this guy was one of Coolville's biggest actors, he was staring in an Opera called Battle of the Elementals when a fire broke out on stage during the first ever performance on Halloween night, 1950. It engulfed the entire theater, the whole cast and died except for Gunter Moran, the youngest actor in the show, he was only ten, and Christopher O' Flannery, a stage hand. Alonso Reilly, the show's star pulled them out, but he died going back in for the others."
"Hmm, isn't Gunter Moran, the old man who takes care of the boathouse at the lake?"
"Hey, like, speaking of lakes, didn't that creepy caped guy say he'd given two of our number a trial by water? Because, I haven't heard from Fred and Daphne."
"Oh my gosh!" Velma said quickly.
They ran from the theater towards Shaggy's car.
"We should check the lake" Velma said "It's the most logical place that he would have taken them."
"Great, like, just in case, call the cops."
"Shaggy, one more thing, how did you know so much about the fire?"
"Oh, um, like my great grandfather was Christopher O' Flannery."
Part 10: The Trial by Water
Fred woke up first, his head was throbbing. He looked over; Daphne was stirring next to him. He looked around; they were in Daphne's car. It must have been night time because it was dark outside, except, it was like the light was split. The farther up he looked out the window it looked like sunset, but the farther down it looked like night. He felt around and realized that he was strapped on to the seat with the seat belt. Fred just now also realized that his feet were very cold. He looked down; there was water on the floor of the car. He tried looking out the window again and realized that the light had now completely given way to a dark murky blue. Fred pressed his hand to the glass, it was cold.
"Where are we?" Daphne said groggily.
"I think we're underwater" Fred answered.
"What?"
"I think we're in your car, underwater."
Daphne looked around frantically. Her eyes widened with the comprehension of what exactly was happening. She tried to force the door open.
"Don't bother; the doors won't open until the car has filled up completely with water. Even if we got out the force of the water filling in the empty space of the car would drag us down. Then we would have to swim up through the lake which, assuming we're still in Florida, is filled with gators."
"Why can't you just think positive?"
"I said there would only be gators if we were in Florida."
"You jerk"
"Well, that's not helping" Fred said rather nonchalantly.
"Are you even worried that we're going to die?"
"I am very worried. I don't want to die right now, but I am trying to find a way out of this. I need to concentrate, I need to think." He said. His voice was becoming tenser with each word.
"Freddy, I'm sorry I got upset with you. I just… I just didn't want to feel like you didn't care what happened between us."
"Daph, I'm sorry I didn't say anything" Fred answered. "I didn't know how to process what happened. It just surprised me, and in the heat of the moment I just got put into shock."
"It's okay; I may have pushed you a bit much."
"Daph, for the record, I'm not interested in Sharon. I just… I… Hairspray!"
"Excuse me?"
"Is that hairspray in the cup holder?"
"Yes"
"Great, okay, I need a way to… Daph, does this car have a gas tank?"
"Um yes" Daphne said, confused.
"Excellent" Fred said pulling out a pocket knife. His voice was becoming more excited now, and despite herself, Daphne was beginning to gain hope.
"Okay, so if the engine is there, then the gas tank must be there" He said indicating a spot in the floor. He stabbed the knife through the floor. Then he took some materials from his backpack and set to work.
Water was slowly filling into the front of the car. Whoever had pushed them in had driven them in front first, so the part of the car where Fred was working on the gas tank was still dry. Fred was barley coherent now; Daphne only got snippets of sentences.
"Brake the surface tension… should clear out the gators… propel us out"
Daphne barely said anything until Fred was almost done; finally she saw something that made her speak up.
"Freddy, is that a lighter?"
"Yeah, family heirloom"
"What do you use it for?"
"Oh, you know, food, light, explosives, that sort of thing"
"Okay"
"I don't smoke; I know that's what you're thinking. It's a family heirloom, look." He held the lighter up to her; it had the name H.W. Jones engraved into it.
Fred finally finished what he had been working on. He pulled a long strand of string from a bag that he had wrapped around the hole in the gas tank. The water had risen very high now.
"Daphne, when the water fills up the car, open the door. Once we swim out, I need you grab my hand and close your eyes. Okay."
"Okay" She said as the water rose up their necks. "Freddy, if we don't make it…"
"We're gonna make it" He reassured her confidently.
They each took a large breath as the water rose above their heads. Daphne pushed the door open, and, hands held, they swam out. They swam for at least three yards until Fred motioned for her to close her eyes. The last thing she saw was Fred pulling on the string he had been holding. Then she shut her eyes and felt a tremendous force push her upward. She could feel an immense heat at her back, and then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped. Daphne opened her eyes; they were on land. They were safe on nice, semi- dry Florida swamp land. She looked over at Fred; he was lying on his back laughing happily. It was not long before Daphne joined in as well.
"We're alive!" She yelled.
"Yep"
"But, how?"
'I used the hairspray and the lighter to ignite the fuel tank. Once we were far enough away, I pulled the string that opened the lighter and blew up the car, propelling us out. I'm, uh, sorry about your car."
"Oh please, the hairspray cost more."
They both started laughing again. Then, they embraced each other and kissed. They kissed for a much longer time than they had on the island. They were so focused on each other that they didn't notice the people walking toward them.
"Ahem"
They looked up to see Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby standing over them.
"Sorry to interrupt" Velma said "We thought you might be in trouble."
"You were a couple of minutes late" said Fred, standing and straightening his shirt. Shaggy and Scooby were snickering quietly, Velma herself had am amused smirk on her face.
"What?" Fred and Daphne said in unison.
"Nothing; Velma replied. "It's just about time is all."
It was hard to tell under the mud and sweat, but it looked like Fred and Daphne were blushing. It was only now that Fred was searching for a way to change the subject that he noticed and older man standing behind Shaggy and Scooby.
"Who's that?"
"This" Velma said, indicating the man "is Gunter Moran, he was one of the people caught in the theater fire."
"I feel we've missed something" Daphne said.
Velma hastily recapped for them the events of the day. There was some minor disagreement on whose day had been worse, Fred and Daphne had minor singes on their clothes, but Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma had had their faces beat up by flying debris.
"You guys didn't happen to call an ambulance, did you?" Fred asked, looking at his and Daphne's singed clothes and scrapes.
"We tried the police, but they said we didn't have enough evidence to back up the report." Velma answered.
"I have a first aid kit in my house" Gunter said, speaking up for the first time since Fred and Daphne had seen him.
Gunter led them down his shack next to the boat house where he patched up the bruises that Fred and Daphne had taken in the attack.
"Who did this?" Velma finnaly asked when they were all seated around Gunter's kitchen table with warm mugs of hot chocolate.
"I don't know, he was all dressed in black, I didn't get a good look at his face." Daphne answered. Fred just shrugged his agreement. Velma could see their arms slanting towards each other under the table and guessed that they were probably holding hands.
"You told me that the man at the theater was giving you trials by elements, and that he was making it into a contest." Gunter said.
"Yes, the exploding bus was the trial by fire, the stage fans at the theater were the trial by air, and this was the trial by water." Velma said.
"Well if they're going by the script" Gunter said, pulling a book that had Battle of the Elementals, By Pietro Paoli written across the front. "Then you still have earth and metal left, in that order."
"Like, I'm sure I know the answer, but are you guys still going through with this case even after what's happened." Shaggy said. The rest of the gang nodded in agreement. "Yep, thought so, just felt like I should ask."
"We need to go check out the theater again" Fred said. "Mr. Moran, could we keep that script?"
"Sure, I've got plenty of them."
Part 11: Valley of the Dolls
After a stop at Daphne and Fred's houses for fresh clothes and the Mystery Machine the gang was off to theater. When they arrived they were surprised to see that the Hex Girls were still practicing for the concert.
"We thought you guys would've left by now" Fred said, once the Girls had finished their practiced session.
"We don't scare that easily" Thorn said, giving a little smirk to show off the false vampire fangs that she was wearing.
"Has the man who threatened you shown up again yet?" Daphne asked.
"Not since you guys left" Thorn said.
"You don't have any idea who could be behind this?' Fred said. The three girls shook their heads.
"Whoever it is playing out whatever they're doing like a bad movie plot." Dusk said.
"What do you mean?" Velma asked.
"Well, the whole element contest thing, and the spirit of the lost souls, it's like someone is just straining for a gimmick to haunt the theater." Luna explained.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!"
"Like, what was that" Shaggy yelped as Scooby jumped into his arms.
"It came from over there" Fred said pointing backstage.
They all ran backstage to see the doorman from the front desk being pulled down a trapdoor by what looked like a skeleton. Fred tried to grab the man's hand but it was too late, he had disappeared beneath the stage. Fred peered in to look down the hole, and as he got closer a white face, half cackling, half frowning appeared in front of him and shut the trap door. A message had been burned into the wood of the door; P/2 H/2, I have taken the guardian, round four is mine. Together they were able to pry the trap door open.
"Alright guys, I have a plan. Shaggy, Scooby; you two need to go down there and lure that thing up here." Fred said.
"Like, no way man, we know how this works. We've seen the movies, and we don't make it out."
"Guy's, a little help here" Fred said to the others.
"Would you two do it for some Scooby Snacks?" Daphne asked, waving a small sandwich bag of homemade treats in front of them.
Shaggy and Scooby both agreed with the air of two people who knew they would be going into the tunnel and just wanted to see what they could get for it. Shaggy climbed slowly down the ladder. Scooby leapt down a moment later into Shaggy's arms. Fred tossed down flashlight and two way radio that Shaggy caught. He flicked the flash light on and cast the beam around the dark room. He could see some ropes and levers. A couple of broken lights were scattered around the edges of the wall.
"Like, what is this place?" He said into the radio.
"Some theaters have areas under the stage for performers to come out of." Velma answered.
"Roor, roor" Scooby barked.
"Like right, okay we're walking toward a door, it's unmarked.'
Shaggy turned the knob with Scooby lingering behind him. His hand was shaking with fear. He pulled the door open quickly and as he did a small man jumped out at him. He flailed around as the small figure grabbed at his face. He grabbed it and tossed it toward the middle of the room. Scooby pinned it to the floor and growled, then he sniffed it for a moment and his face broke into a grin.
"Rits ra ruppet" He declared as Shaggy knelt down by the, now motionless, wooden puppet.
He shined his flashlight toward the doorway and saw broken wires where the puppet must have been hanging before he threw it. Together they walked through the doorway. Shaggy aimed the flashlight in front of them and saw many more puppets hanging from the ceiling. The light was contorting their faces into strange expressions and at one point Shaggy thought one might have winked at him. He also noticed that the walls were made of dirt. The tunnel must have been dug out under the theater.
"Roffee rable" Scooby barked.
"Yeah, like, I smell it too." Shaggy said, referring to the wood polish that was no doubt on all of the puppets.
"Guys, are you alright down there?" Velma asked worriedly.
"Yeah we're fine" said Shaggy "We're in the valley of the dolls down here."
"What?" Fred said, taking the radio from Velma.
Shaggy was about to explain when he noticed Scooby's ears perk up. He could feel it to, something was close. Then they noticed a little sliver of light that wasn't from the flashlight coming from a door cracked open at the end of the hall. They walked cautiously toward it and pushed it open.
Inside it looked like the temple from the end of the second Indiana Jones. Everything was lit by red lights and in the center was an altar with some candles and an open book. Shaggy walked toward the altar and moved to touch the book. The moment his fingers felt paper, Scooby bit at the back of his jacket and yanked him away. Shaggy grabbed the book as he was pulled back. Then he saw a large scimitar come down where his hand had been.
He looked up to see the same figure who had threatened them earlier that day standing over them. He and Scooby ran toward the door. Shaggy pushed some of the puppets into the figure's way. However, some of them would not move back, instead they came loose from the dirt ceiling and loosened large chunks of earth. Shaggy and Scooby ran faster to avoid being buried. Once they were out of the tunnel they looked back to see that their pursuer had also managed to evade the cave in. They hurried up the ladder towards the stage. The figure climbed out next. Fred and Daphne threw a net over it as Velma and the Hex Girls heaved the trap door shut.
"Time to end this" Fred said as he pulled the mask away from the figures face.
Beneath the mask was the doorman from the front desk. The crowd stared at him for a moment.
"Like, anyone else see that coming?" Shaggy asked. Everyone shook their heads.
The man on the floor was laughing as though he was sharing a rather humorous private joke with himself. He lolled his head around. In the uneven lighting from the stage his face looked skeletal. Velma pulled a wallet from his robes.
"Pietro Paoli" She read from his ID.
"Pietro Paoli, the writer for Battle of the Elementals" Daphne said.
An hour later the police had come to take Paoli to jail. He laughed to himself the entire time. An ambulance had been dispatched as well, once everyone's parents found out what they had been doing all day they agreed everyone needed proper medical attention.
"How can you guys do all this?" Thorn asked, nursing a cut on her finger from when she had pushed the trap door closed. Once the bleeding had stopped, she threw it into a waste basket.
"We enjoy it" Fred answered as a paramedic wrapped a proper bandage around the burn on his arm.
"Well thanks anyway guys, we owe you, you're gonna be at the concert tomorrow right?"
"Absolutely" They all answered.
Part 12; Interrogation
Officer Neville sat across the table from Paoli. He had been secured in a straight jacket after trying to attack some officers on the way to the station. He had punched out two guards before they had secured it. Paoli was deceptively strong for his age; almost 83. Neville now stared down the man who had single handedly terrorized the city for a week.
"So, let's start simple, what's your name?"
"Pietro Paoli" The man said, through fits of muffled laughter.
"Are you the Pietro Paoli who wrote the opera, Battle of the Elementals?"
"Yes, it was a ceremonial offering"
"What kind of ceremony?"
"The gods demanded an offering on the sacred night; it would have been completed if not for that meddling actor."
"What he's saying doesn't match any religion we can find back here" Rogers said into the earpiece Neville was wearing. Neville looked toward the two- way glass were the other officers were observing and could just imagine his partner shrugging at the lack of information.
"But we will complete it, the ceremony will commence. The sacrifice shall be made." Paoli screamed as Neville exited the interrogation room.
"What do we do with this?" Rogers asked, referring to the book his son had taken from the theater. "It looks pretty old; should we bring in an expert?"
Neville looked over the book, it was old, and it was written in Latin. They both could probably read it, but perhaps a more credible expert was required.
"Call Dinkley" He said "Give it to him to look over."
Part 13: The Package
Velma finally said goodnight to her parents around one o' clock at night. They had been reluctant to let her out of their sight after all that had happened.
"Velma, what's this package here?" her father asked.
"The mail man dropped it off yesterday" She answered as she walked to her room.
Velma changed into her pajamas, put the CD the hex girls had given he on her desk, and got into bed.
Downstairs her father set aside the book that the police had given him to look over. He took out a box opener and opened the package. He removed another box; this one was smooth and black. He looked at his wife next him.
"Not mine" She said.
He turned the box over and noticed a black lens and a speaker. A cold mechanical voice came from the box.
"Kurt and Natasha Dinkley, your daughter has meddled in our ceremony. She will pay, as will her friends, but tonight you will be taken as sacrifices to the gods.
Smoke came from the box. Kurt tried to shield his wife but the smoke filled the entire room. They both coughed as the door opened and a man in black entered. Both Dinkleys immediately rushed him, intent to protect their daughters. They never laid a punch, the gas spread through their slender bodies quickly and the man moved pulled them into his car. Kurt Dinkley's last action before passing out was to shield his wife before his head crashed to the floor snapping his glasses in two. The figure grabbed them and the book and moved toward the black car it had parked outside.
Velma awoke late the next morning. She had fallen asleep as soon as her head had hit the pillow. She showered, dressed, and walked downstairs.
"Mom, Dad" She called. There was no answer. "Huh, must have gone to work already"
She looked at the clock; four pm. Her parents were definitely at work by now. Velma wrote a note for them and put in on the fridge, and then she went back up to her room to get ready for the concert. As she passed her sister's room she realized that her parents had not made arrangements for her to be watched while Velma was away. Velma took out her phone and dialed Shaggy's house.
"Hello, Mrs. Rogers, could you do me a favor and watch Madelyn for a little while… okay thanks, I'll bring her right over."
Part 14: The Ceremony
By the time Fred arrived at the theater everyone was already there. He straightened his fedora and walked into the crowd. He could see Shaggy and Scooby toward the snack table; they were both dressed as pirates. Velma was leaning against the wall wearing set of safari clothes, knowing Velma's parents, they were completely authentic. Fred could also see Daphne through the crowd now; she was dressed as Catwoman, her favorite comic book character. Fred could not help noticing that she filled out the costume rather well.
"Like you decided to come as Indiana Jones, clever" Shaggy said as Fred walked up to them.
"Yeah, well it was either this or Davy Jones, and I didn't want to glue tentacles to my face."
Fred took a cup of punch and looked around at the other costumes. He saw Dell dressed as Bigfoot, Jimmy was dressed as Spider- Man, and, Fred did a double take, it was the mask that Paoli had been wearing. This must be a joke. He motioned for the others to look; it took a moment to get their attention over the Hex Girls music. By the time he had gotten their attention the figure was climbing up a ladder near the side of the stage. Fred chased after it up the stage. As he ran a face appeared, projected, on the back curtain. It was the same face that was on the mask.
"Sacrifices, today you will complete a ceremony that began almost 60 years ago this very night. This hall shall be consumed with the cleansing fires."
At these words, fire broke out along the walls. People were running frantically around the theater trying to find a way out, but all of the exits had been blocked.
"You three need to find way out of here." Daphne said.
"Okay, what are you going to do?" Velma asked.
"I'm gonna go find Fred."
Fred chased the figure up a ladder back stage and onto a catwalk high above the ground. When he looked around he couldn't believe his eyes. Someone had set up a larger platform on the catwalk, and on it they had built an altar just like the one Shaggy had described in the cave. He looked up and saw clamp secured tightly around a water pipe, that must be why the sprinklers had not started. Fred crouched low behind a sandbag as he saw the black cloaked figure. It was standing in front of the altar reading from the book that Shaggy had taken from the cave; Fred wondered how he could have gotten it back from the police. Then he got his answer, tied up near the edge of the platform were Velma's parents, the police must have given the book to them. Fred silently crept out of his hiding place and moved toward Velma's parents. When Velma's father saw him he almost spoke up, then he seemed to think better of it. Fred pulled his pocket knife from his pocket and went to work on the ropes.
"Blood of the Wiccan" the Figure said at the front of the platform as it burned a small piece of tissue; when Fred looked closer he saw that it was the tissue Thorn had been wiping her cut finger with. Fred finally cut through the ropes and motioned the Dinkleys to the ladder when the Figure turned around with a large curved knife raised above its head.
"Flesh of the scholar"
Fred almost pushed the Dinkleys off the platform trying to get them to safety. He thought about attacking with his pocket knife but realized it would not do much good. Instead he unclipped the whip he had strapped to his belt as part of his costume. He unfurled the whip and snapped it at the Figure. He saw it recoil just a little. He cracked the whip again, instead of retreating the figure came at him with the knife.
Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby had overturned all of the punch bowls over the flames at the front entrance, but nothing had worked.
"We, like, need to see where these flames are coming from" Shaggy panted through the ever increasing smoke.
"Roffee rable"
"You mean wood polish" Shaggy panted.
"That's it, its wood polish. This whole time all the fire has been wood polish as an accelerant and flash paper as a starter. That means that if I can…" But Velma's words were drowned out by the continued screams. Shaggy had almost lost track of Velma until she grabbed him by the shoulders.
"We need something to blow the fire out"
"But, like, wouldn't more air just make it bigger?"
"Not if we give short strong burst, like birthday candles. I just don't know where to get it."
"Rans"
"Like, the fans right"
Shaggy ran up to the stage, to where the Hex girls were. As he got up he also saw Velma's parents climbing down the ladder, but he figured questions were best left until after they were all safe.
"We, like, need the stage fans; we need to give a short burst to the fires"
Everyone pitched in to move the fans into positions. They all flipped the fans on simultaneously, and then off again, and the flames at the door went out. Everyone rushed for the exit. A room had never been cleared so fast.
Fred backed up toward the edge of the platform. Below he could hear cheers of joy. He hoped that meant everyone had gotten out. The Figure advanced closer to him. The knife was raised high about to strike; overall the man had the appearance of a giant scorpion. Then a whip came out of nowhere and knocked the knife away. Fred looked over to the side and saw Daphne raising her Catwoman whip to strike again. The figure came at her and she kicked it in the stomach. Then she punched it in the jaw. Fred took the opportunity to wrap his whip around the Figures neck; he pulled with one hand while the other groped at the mask. Finally he pulled the mask off of the Figure's face. The Figure pushed back toward the edge of the platform where a wire was securing a camera to a projector at the other end of the building. Fred and the Figure fell off and without thinking Daphne dove after them. She threw her whip around the thick wire and slid down it like a zip line with one hand while she caught Fred by the jacket with the other. The Figure was hanging on to Fred's leg. Then it pulled another knife from its robes and pulled back its arm to throw it. Fred slid his arms from the jacked and let himself and the Figure fall. He punched at its face as they sped towards the ground, and then they hit and Fred heard a sickening crack from his leg. Daphne dropped from the cord and ran over to where Fred was lying with the Figure next to him moaning. She glanced at it quickly and saw that it was the mail man she had seen leaving Velma's house after the message at the school. Then she turned her attention back to Fred who was clutching his leg in pain.
"It's okay Freddy, it's gonna be okay."
Part 15: Epilogue
Fred woke up in the hospital on what the doctor told him was Sunday. Shaggy, Scooby, Velma, The Hex Girls, His parents; they were all there, but the one person he was really happy to see was Daphne. When everyone else had gone home; and his parents had gone down to the cafeteria to get him some food, Daphne stayed with him.
"Freddy, back when we were in the car, when I thought we were going to die… again, I was going to say…"
Fred never let her finish, he sat up from the bed and kissed her. At the moment, he did not care about how bad his leg was; he was as happy as he believed he could be.
The doctor eventually had to make Daphne and Fred's parents leave for the night. Fred picked up the copy of the police report Shaggy had left for him. He read all about how the doorman had recruited the mail man into his twisted amalgamation of religions. He read how the fire in the fifties was meant to be the sacrifice, but was never completed. He read how they had stolen road traps to puncture the gas tank of the bus, and used the flash paper and wood polish to light it. Finally he set the report down and prepared to go to bed, until he saw a note and a box lying on the table next to him. He picked it up and read it. Found this by the shore, it's pretty tough, thought you might want it back, Gunter Moran. He opened the box and to his amazement he saw his lighter, polished and good as new. He laid his head back and went to bed.
The End