Chapter 2
After visiting with Scooby's parents Mystery Inc. began pondering their next move, the group of ghost chasers realized that maybe they should stick around the circus for a while; the gang also knew that they needed a break from tracking down ghosts and figured that the circus was as good a place as ever to take that break.
Realizing that there were numerous food concessions, thereby providing tons of opportunities for snacks Shaggy and Scooby immediately knew what they wanted to do.
"Like maybe we should investigate the circus grounds, right Scooby?" Shaggy remarked winking at his cowardly pet.
"Reah, rinvestigate" Scooby said winking back at his cowardly master.
"I don't know Shaggy we should really take Scooby's parents and head back to the Doo's house; I'm sure they still have some kind of celebration planned for Scooby's homecoming" Fred commented.
"Rome on Reddie" Scooby remarked with a hopeful tone in his voice.
"Like yeah Fred, besides I'm sure there will be tons of treats that Scooby and I can enjoy; heck Velma could join us if she wants, not only that but Scoob and I don't mind sharing right Scoob?" Shaggy said.
"Reah, re'll rhare rith rou Relma" Scooby replied with a smile.
"That's very nice of you two to offer, I would be more than happy to join you two" Velma said.
"I think Velma, Shaggy and Scooby are right Fred; after all if we stick around we might learn more about this circus and where that strange music was coming from" Daphne added.
"We're greatly enjoying our time here and we would love to stay, so what do you say Fred?" Mr. Doo asked.
"Pretty please with sugar on top?" Mrs. Doo added.
"Oh, alright; after all I can't say no to Scooby's parents" Fred remarked.
"Thank you Fred, you're wonderful" Mrs. Doo said quite jovial.
Mr. and Mrs. Doo then walked over to Fred and began hugging the blond teenager, Scooby Doo also joined in as they all looked quite happy that the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. had decided for the gang to stay at the circus.
"Gang I think it's time we split up and start searching the circus grounds; now here's what we'll do: Daphne, you, Flim Flam and I will look for clues, plus I think we should try and track down this Professor Fantasmo and try to talk with him; Mr. and Mrs. Doo, you two go ahead and enjoy yourselves, finally Velma, Shaggy and Scooby you three search for clues as well and if you guys do decide to have a snack or something just make sure you don't eat everything in sight" Fred explained.
"Like don't worry we won't" Shaggy said.
"Reah re ron't" Scooby added.
"Just in case I'll do whatever I can to keep Shaggy and Scooby in line, right guys?" Velma remarked.
"Right" the cowardly pair replied.
"Now let's get started" Fred declared.
With that Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam headed off in one direction, while Velma, Shaggy and Scooby headed in the opposite direction while Mr. and Mrs. Doo went in search of food, rides and fun.
The blond teen and his two companions walked through the circus midway all the while looking for anything suspicious or supernatural, after the trio had been walking for some time they came upon a medium sized red trailer.
Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam then walked up to the trailer for a closer look; upon doing so they noticed some writing in large fancy golden letters on the door.
"Professor Fantasmo's Circus Fantastique, Office" the redheaded teenager said.
"Well gang, let's go see if the Professor's in" Fred declared.
The blond teen knocked on the trailer door and waited for someone to answer; the door opened and a man wearing a dark red ringmaster's uniform, as well as gray pants, a black top hat and carrying what looked like a walking stick or cane answered.
"Well well, it appears that I have visitors; and what a lovely young lady to boot" the man remarked walking over to Daphne and kissing her hand.
"Why thank you sir" the redhead replied blushing.
"So you're Professor Fantasmo" Fred noted.
"Yes sir Professor Fantasmo, owner and operator of Professor Fantasmo's Circus Fantastique, the most fun you'll ever have in your life; now what can I do for you kids?" the professor asked.
"Well, my name is Fred Jones, this is Daphne Blake and Flim Flam," the blond teen explained.
"Ah it's very nice to meet the three of you" the professor replied.
"Likewise, listen professor if you're not too busy we would like a tour of your fine circus" Fred explained.
"Yes and we would also like to learn why this circus has free admission for tonight" Daphne added.
"Well kids I can certainly comply with your request, just let me tidy up a few things in my office and we'll start the tour," the professor explained.
"Sure professor we'll be waiting right here" Fred replied.
Professor Fantasmo walked back into his trailer for a few minutes and after gathering up a few things, and moving a few things around walked back outside to join the teenage sleuths.
"All right kids let's get going, I'm quite busy and I would like to get this tour started ASAP" the professor explained.
"OK professor" Fred remarked.
Professor Fantasmo then joined Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam as they began walking around the circus grounds; the two teenage sleuths and their young friend could see numerous tents, as well as food concessions and other circus type attractions.
"This certainly is an interesting circus Professor Fantasmo, how long have you owned and operated it?" the redhead teen sleuth asked curiously.
"I've owned this circus for many years now, it's sort of my pride and joy" the professor replied.
"Interesting, why exactly did you decided to come here to hold your circus and why would you want to make everything free?" the blond teen asked.
"Well I just figured these small town folks could use some excitement in their lives, as for making everything free I realized that maybe these folks couldn't afford full price admission and food so I decided to treat the entire town to a free circus; because I feel that in this day and age cheap entertainment is so hard to find, what with movie tickets, cable television and professional sports being so darn expensive" Professor Fantasmo explained.
"That's very generous of you Professor, it's too bad more business owners aren't like you" the young redhead stated.
"Thank You my dear, I'm pleased to hear you approve of my work" Professor Fantasmo replied.
"Professor, I'm curious to know as to what that… that music is that we've been hearing ever since we arrived here, I don't know what it is but I just can't get my mind off it, it's out of this world" Fred remarked, a little dazed from having the strange melody continually running through his head.
"Ah, I'm pleased to know you like my music, It comes from my special calliope, one of the best calliopes you'll ever find in a circus in my humble opinion," the professor explained.
"Just what makes your calliope so special Professor Fantasmo?" the redhead asked.
"Well it's funny you ask that my dear, I had it specially built and imported over here from Europe; it was built by one of the best Calliope makers on the continent" the professor explained.
"That must have cost you a pretty penny, Professor" the redhead remarked.
"It certainly did my dear but it was worth it, besides you would be surprised how many visitors my calliope attracts to this circus," the professor explained.
"So I guess the circus business must be pretty good, after all you've been running this circus for years and you seem to be happy about it" Fred replied, having snapped out of his temporary daze.
"I certainly am, and I feel that the circus life is the most exciting life of all" Professor Fantasmo noted.
"I don't know about that Professor, have you ever tried the life of a Ghost Chaser?" Flim Flam spoke up.
"Ghosts, why there's no such thing as ghosts young man" the professor stated.
"Says you, I just happen to have a genuine Chest of Demons right here" Flim Flam declared as reached into his sweatshirt pocket and pulled out the box that once held the thirteen most dangerous ghosts on the planet, but were now of course roaming the planet.
"That is certainly an intriguing item, and it would make a fine addition to my sideshow" Professor Fantasmo said, admiring the strange red and gray container.
"Actually professor it's kind of important to us that we keep a close watch on it" Fred explained.
"Oh come now, surely you guys can let Professor Fantasmo borrow the chest for a while" Flim Flam said with a hopeful tone in his voice.
"Sorry Flim Flam, Mr. Van Ghoul would go crazy if we let someone take the chest even for a few hours" Daphne replied.
"Daphne's right Flim Flam, actually now that I think of it we haven't seen our friends in a while so we should really get going" Fred explained.
"Oh that's too bad, well hopefully you'll stick around the circus for a while" Professor Fantasmo replied.
"We'll certainly consider it, I guess we can stay just long enough to see a few sights and then we can leave" Fred commented.
"Excellent, well hopefully you kids can stick around and I look forward to speaking with you again" the professor replied.
"You never know, our paths might just cross again professor, anyway thanks for the tour and good bye" Fred said.
"Good-bye my friends" the professor said.
Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam headed off to explore the rest of the circus grounds; meanwhile the professor stood in the middle of the circus and smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile, it was in fact more of a sinister smile as the owner of the circus thought about his good fortune.
"Those kids might be of some use to me, I might just have to keep my eyes and ears on them" Professor Fantasmo remarked.
Meanwhile Shaggy, Scooby, Velma and the Great Dane's parents were having the time of their lives; Momsy and Daddy Doo were sampling some of the circus rides, Scooby Doo was riding on a carousel and Velma was playing a carnival type game; Shaggy was standing in between the concessions that the rest of the gang were taking part in, eating a candy apple; however the cowardly teen was unaware that the crystal ball he was holding was beginning to glow.
"Shaggy, Shaggy!" said a voice coming from the crystal.
The lanky teenager looked at the crystal and saw that a picture of Vincent Van Ghoul, the gang's warlock friend and ally was appearing; the cowardly sleuth was confused by why the mystic wanted to speak with him but decided to indulge the powerful sorcerer's curiosity.
"Hi Mr. Van Ghoul, what's up?" addressed Shaggy.
"Nothing much, I've just been trying to contact you kids and Scooby for several hours now" Vincent replied sounding impatient.
"Like that's weird, I didn't know you were trying to contact us; we've been pretty busy you know, we took a train trip out to see Scooby's parents and got sidetracked" Shaggy explained.
"Sidetracked by what? You should all be chasing the thirteen ghosts, not doing whatever you're doing; by the way where are you anyway, and what is that music? It just goes on and on, I've heard better music at a funeral" Vincent replied.
"Oh like we're at Professor Fantasmo's Circus Fantastique, we're having loads of fun and it's too bad you're not here, you would really enjoy this place" Shaggy remarked.
"Yes, free food, free rides, everything's free" Scooby's father explained, both of the Great Dane's parents giggled and laughed as they continued to explore the circus.
"Hmm… why have I heard that name before? Just to be safe I think I'll do a mystic check on this Circus Fantastique and on this Professor Fantasmo" Vincent remarked as his image disappeared from the Crystal yet again and walked away from the desk where his crystal sat.
While Fred, Daphne and Flim Flam were continuing to explore the vast circus grounds, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby were also exploring the circus in the opposite direction, sort of; after Velma had finished at the various game booths, she decided to rejoin her cowardly comrades, except that Shaggy and Scooby were no where around.
Meanwhile Bogel and Weerd who had been unsuccessful in disposing of Mystery Inc. previously materialized near the Fun House; the two ghosts noticed that the attraction was closed and decided to plan a trap for the two perpetually cowardly and perpetually hungry sleuths.
"Hey Bogel, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Weerd asked.
"I sure am Weerd, but why don't you tell me so I can understand what you're thinking" Bogel replied.
"Fine, just fine; this Fun House will make a fun place for a trap to capture Scooby Doo and his friends" Weerd explained.
"Oh I get it, ha ha; we'll sure put one over on Scooby Doo!" Bogel replied.
"You said it Bogel old buddy" Weerd laughed as he replaced the closed sign with one that read Free Pizza, which knowing the two cowardly sleuths was a sure fire way to trap them inside the Fun House.
As the two ghosts disappeared into the Fun House, Shaggy and Scooby headed towards said attraction and noticed the sign that the two ghosts had placed on the entrance of the Fun House.
"Scooby, like look!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"Rhat is it Rhaggy?" Scooby wondered.
"Free Pizza Scoob!" Shaggy remarked.
"Roh roy, ret's reat!" the canine replied.
With that Shaggy and Scooby opened the door and entered the Fun House, still figuring to dine on some pizza pie; however they were unaware that there was no pizza to be had inside the building, in fact they would be in for a most unwelcome surprise.
"Like I don't know about you Scoob but I don't think I want to see the kind of pizza they make here" Shaggy commented with a gulp.
"Reah, re reither" Scooby replied with a whimper as he turned to the door to attempt to get it open.
"Like let me give you a hand Scoob" Shaggy said as he walked to the door and attempted to help his canine companion out in opening the door.
Meanwhile at this same time Velma was walking towards the Fun House attempting to locate her missing comrades; the bespectacled teen then walked to the front of the attraction and noticed the same sign that Shaggy and Scooby had seen.
"Hmm, Free Pizza; well if I know Shaggy and Scooby they're probably inside, except for one thing; this place doesn't look like a pizza parlor or restaurant; uh oh, if I know those two they're probably in trouble, well I guess I should try and get this door open" Velma thought to herself as she attempted to get the door open, however whatever she tried didn't work and she found the door locked up tight.
"Jinkies, looks like someone doesn't want me to get inside there; well somehow I've got to get inside and see if Shaggy and Scooby are okay, wait I know!" Velma said as she snapped her fingers; afterwards she brought out a small bobby pin from her hair and put it inside the keyhole of the door.
It was just the bespectacled teen's luck that at the exact same time as she was opening the door, Shaggy and Scooby were attempting to do the same thing, albeit they were trying to get out while Velma was trying to get in; finally the intelligent teen was able to open the door, unluckily for her it opened from the inside, the door being opened then caused her to stumble and lose her balance as she landed right on top of her two friends.
"Jinkies, what happened?" Velma wondered.
"Like I know what happened, you're on our back Velma" Shaggy remarked.
"Reah Relma" Scooby added.
Suddenly Shaggy and Scooby realized that their bespectacled comrade was now in the Fun House with them and decided to ask her what was going on and why she had decided to join them.
"Velma, like what are you doing here?" Shaggy said he walked over and hugged her in a gesture of friendship.
"Reah, row rome rou're rin rhere Relma?" Scooby added as he licked Velma's face.
"Okay Scooby and Shaggy, you guys can stop now, it's nice to see both of you guys again too; well a little a while ago you guys ran off and I decided to see if I could find you guys, besides I'm starting to get a weird feeling about this place again" Velma replied.
"Like no kidding, especially since Scooby and I fell for a trap; somebody or something placed a free pizza sign on the entrance of the fun house so we walked inside and didn't see any pizza, only a creepy fun house" Shaggy explained.
"Reah, reepy" Scooby added.
"It figures" Velma replied.
"Like there's one thing I don't understand Velma" Shaggy commented.
"What's that Shaggy?" Velma asked.
"Well if Scooby and I couldn't get out, how come you were able to get in?" the cowardly teen replied.
"Oh that, I used a bobby pin in the keyhole and I can use it to get us out of here; wait, oh dear" Velma replied before she realized something was wrong.
"Like what's the matter Velma?" Shaggy asked.
"I just realized something; when I fell through the door, I must have dropped the bobby pin" Velma replied.
"Oh, like that is bad; but don't worry we can open this side of the door to get out" Shaggy commented.
"Good thinking Shaggy, come on I'll help the two of you out" the bespectacled girl replied as she walked over to the door as the three of them attempted to open it.
The trio of sleuths pulled and pulled but they just couldn't open the door, in fact the doorknob turned into an inflatable snake and as the trio pulled it out, they flew over against a nearby wall with three masks hanging on it.
"Jinkies, if this is a Fun House, it sure isn't too much fun for me" Velma remarked.
"Like no debate there Velma" Shaggy replied.
The impact of the trio slamming into the wall caused the masks to fall right onto each of the sleuths' faces; with their temporary loss of sight the three detectives walked blindly through the Fun House, not knowing where they were going.
"Zoinks, like who turned out the lights?" Shaggy asked in a muffled voice, speaking through his mask.
"Reah, ri ran't ree anything" Scooby added in a muffled voice, speaking through his mask.
"You and me both Scooby, I can't see a thing even with my glasses" Velma commented, in a muffled voice, speaking through her mask.
The trio of sleuths, now wearing decorative and very frightening disguises were now heading for another room where Bogel and Weerd had set up a net inside the room; Bogel saw the trio of investigators enter the room and nervously tapped his partner on the shoulder.
"W-weerd, look!" Bogel commented nervously as he attempted to get the ghost's attention.
"Don't bother me now Bogel, can't you see I'm testing our trap" Weerd replied, clearly not paying any attention to his fellow specter.
"B-but Weerd!" Bogel remarked.
"I said don't bother m-m-meee!" Weerd stammered as he saw what Bogel was talking about, mainly Shaggy, Scooby and Velma wearing monster masks and heading straight for them.
With that Bogel and Weerd made like rockets and headed straight for the roof of the Fun House while Shaggy, Scooby and Velma walked right past the ghosts' trap; meanwhile Bogel and Weerd floated down towards the floor, but they were unaware that they were heading for their own trap.
"Phew, that was close" Weerd commented as the net caught he and Bogel; the net trapped them and it went straight back up to the ceiling; meanwhile Shaggy, Velma and Scooby had entered into another room, albeit one where everything was topsy turvey and there was furniture on the ceiling and vice versa.
"Jinkies, let me out of this mask" Velma said as she removed the mask from her face.
"Like yeah and out of this place" Shaggy replied, doing the same as his bespectacled comrade.
Shaggy, Scooby and Velma then attempted to figure a way out of the fun house; finally the cowardly Great Dane pointed towards a glass window and Velma realized that it was probably the best way out.
"Good thinking Scooby, we'll get out through the window; come on guys" Velma remarked as she and her two friends walked over to where Scooby was pointing; Shaggy, Scooby and Velma were just about to about the window to try and escape when they saw one of their fellow comrades walking by.
"Hey like its Fred, hi Fred!" Shaggy yelled through the window.
"Oh hey guys take a look at what I won at one of the game booths while Daphne, Flim Flam and I were walking around" Fred explained.
The blond teen was carrying a giant teddy bear, except to him that's what it was; Shaggy, Scooby and Velma however saw a giant monster where a doll should have been and became quite nervous.
"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed.
"Like yeah I see it Velma and I don't like what I see!" Shaggy replied.
"Well, I have to get going, there's a lot more things to see here; I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" Fred said as he walked away.
"Zoinks, l-like Velma, Scooby take a look at that!" Shaggy exclaimed as he looked over at the merry go round.
For a few moments it looked like your average everyday merry go round, however after a few more moments the gang noticed that it was far from ordinary, it was in fact full of monstrous creatures.
"That merry go round doesn't look too merry to me" Velma commented as she rubbed her eyes in addition to doing a double take while looking over at the carousel.
After that Scooby looked over and noticed that his parents were at an ice cream concession, which wasn't strange except for the fact that it was being run by a strange blue, horned monster.
"Care to split another banana split Momsy?" Scooby's father asked.
"I'd love to Dada" Scooby's mother replied as the two of them walked away.
"Jinkies, I don't know what's going on around here, but it seems like we're the only ones who are seeing it" Velma remarked.
"Like yeah and I've seen enough!" Shaggy replied.
"For once I'm with you two, if we can't find an exit in here, then we'll just have to make one!" Velma explained as she, Shaggy and Scooby ran out of the Fun House, crashing through the front door screaming after hearing some of the strange and ghostly noises that resonated throughout the Fun House.
Meanwhile Bogel and Weerd remained trapped inside the net that had constituted their trap and were attempted to chew through it in order to escape; the two dimwitted ghosts had been doing this for several minutes before finally making a realization about their situation.
"Wait a minute, what are we doing? We could just get out of here by disappearing" Weerd explained as he vanished from inside the net.
"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that" Bogel replied as he vanished from inside the net and joined his fellow spirit back on solid ground.
"I have to admit, that was pretty smart" Weerd remarked; of course his joy was short lived as the net dropped right onto to the two ghosts once again.
Meanwhile in another part of the circus grounds, Velma and Shaggy had located Fred, Daphne, Momsy Doo and Dada Doo and were carrying them out of the circus just as fast as their feet could carry them.
"Hey put us down" Dada Doo remarked.
"Shaggy, Velma, what's the matter with you two?" Fred asked.
"Sorry guys, but we've got to get out of here and now; Scooby, go see if you can round up Flim Flam and then we can split" Shaggy explained.
"Right Rhaggy" Scooby replied.
With that the Great Dane ran as fast as his paws could carry him and gathered up the young boy, while he was in the midst of speaking with the ringmaster of the circus.
"This is a pretty awesome circus, I could stay here forever" Flim Flam said; however after he spoke, Scooby had reached him and was escorting the young man back towards the exit of the circus.
"Rih roh Rooby raway!" the canine exclaimed.
"Wait, where are you taking them?" Professor Fantasmo wondered as the Great Dane ran out of sight.
"Rar away!" Scooby answered.
"But I don't want to go Scooby; can't you recognize a happening place when you see one?" Flim Flam replied.
Scooby, Shaggy and Velma were continuing to run as fast as their feet and paws could carry them as Flim Flam attempted to reason with the Great Dane; when that didn't work Flim Flam called back to his new friend to try and speak with him.
"Professor Fantasmo!" the young boy yelled.
"Don't leave yet my friends, the fun is just beginning!" the professor yelled back.
"Somehow I think that kind of fun we can do without, step on it guys!" Velma declared.
"Flim Flam, do come back you hear!" the professor yelled.
However by this point it was all for not as the Great Dane and his friends were far down the street and were in the midst of running back towards Scooby's parents' house; Shaggy, Scooby and Velma opened the door and ran inside, still carrying Fred, Daphne, Flim Flam and the Great Dane's parents.
Finally with the gang safe, the Great Dane stood at the door, hoping to avoid anyone getting the bright idea to leave the house and get themselves into serious danger; Shaggy and Velma then took the Chest of Demons and joined the Great Dane as they sat on the chest and looked quite relieved that they were safe for the moment.
Fred and Daphne were clearly confused at this turn of events and were attempting to figure out why their friends had returned them to Scooby's folk's house.
"Would someone please tell me what in the world is going on around here?" Fred asked.
As the old saying goes ask a silly question, get a silly answer and the blond teen and his female companion were about to find this out as Shaggy and Scooby were performing a series of pantomimes, where they were acting like monsters; after a few moments Velma decided to try and give a more accurate description of what happened, unfortunately the shock of seeing so many monsters in one place caused the intelligent teen to speak incoherently; finally Fred and Daphne had heard enough and shook their heads as they were officially confused as to what was happening.
"Well that made a whole lot of sense and I really understand now" Daphne commented.
"All I know is that we were having the time of our lives until you guys and Velma took us away" Mr. Doo explained.
"It was fun, wasn't it?" Mrs. Doo added as the two of them began crying.
"Raw, ron't rry Romsy, Rada" Scooby replied as he began crying along with the two of them.
"I hate to break this up but does anyone seem to know what happened to Flim Flam?" Fred wondered.
"I don't know wasn't he with us when we left the circus?" Daphne asked.
"I thought he was with us too, but I guess he's not" Velma added.
"Well if he's not here then that means…" Shaggy started to speak before stopping in mid sentence.
Meanwhile back at the circus Flim Flam was feverishly trying to catch up with the ringmaster of the mysterious circus.
"Hey Professor, wait up!" the young boy yelled.
"Flim Flam, my boy glad to see you're back" the professor remarked.
"I made up my mind Professor, the circus life is the life for me; I came back here to look for you and to tell you my decision" the young boy replied.
"Excellent my boy, this will be the best decision you will ever make" Professor Fantasmo replied, laughing evilly under his breath as he was preparing to spring an unpleasant surprise on the young boy.