Chapter 3

Fifteen minutes had passed since the team from Mystery Inc. arrived back at the Merlin Brothers Magic Academy, which was the scene of one of the gang's most unusual cases: one involving a strange griffin which turned out to be nothing more than a large puppet, of course the gang didn't think there was a real griffin at all and thanks to their sleuthing skills, the school was saved, but now there was a another mystery to solve, and this time it wouldn't be as simple as just a phony griffin puppet, this time it was something much more sinister and much worse than then what the gang encountered during their last visit to the school.

Whirlen Merlin, Marlon Merlin, Crystal, and the rest of the school's staff were able to round up all the students at the school, with the exception of one that is; however at the moment the more pressing issue was with why Vincent had called the team of detectives back to the Merlin Brothers Academy and what kind of mystery the gang was in fore this time; with the skill of a teacher, Whirlen Merlin silenced the voices of each person inside the school's office, many of whom had pressing questions about what kind of danger the school could be facing this time.

"Now if everyone will pay attention, we can get started; pupils and staff, this is Mr. Vincent Van Ghoul, a real life wizard and he has informed me that this school is in great peril from the last of the 13 Ghosts from a container known as the Chest of Demons" Whirlen explained.

Most of the students and staff members gasped, whispered to each other and said various other things to one another after Vincent Van Ghoul explained the situation to the occupants of the castle; once the wizard had clarified about the danger that was about to befall the school, he had Whirlen Merlin inform the students and staff to return to their rooms and begin packing immediately, he then explained that if most of the students wanted to go home, the staff would arrange for their parents or guardians to pick them up, while Whirlen then explained that Vincent Van Ghoul had room in his castle and any students who wanted to join him, were more than welcome to.

Whirlen then mentioned that the staff of the school were to report to Vincent's castle after packed their belongings; naturally, Vincent would open up his abode as a safe house so to speak for the staff to stay, that is until they danger passed, with all that said the students of the school began heading back to their rooms to begin packing for wherever they were going to go, meanwhile the Merlin Brothers, the other staff members of the school which included Crystal, in addition to Vincent Van Ghoul stood in the small office waiting for the bespectacled teenager's sister to come down, although at the moment they had been waiting for at least fifteen minutes, maybe longer, which concerned the gang to no end.

"Jinkies, I wonder where Madelyn could be? It's not like her to be late for things, especially something like this" Velma said.

"Like don't worry Vel, I know she'll be here" Shaggy replied as he put a comforting hand on the intelligent teen's shoulder.

"I really hope so Shaggy, I really hope so, I just don't w ant anything to happen to her" Velma said, tearing up a little as she spoke.

"Like Velma, I know Madelyn and she will be here" Shaggy replied.

Scooby and company continued to wait anxiously for the bespectacled teen's sister, hoping that nothing ghostly or sinister happened to her; luckily for the gang, especially for Velma, they were about to receive their answer.

A few moments later the gang could hear footsteps echoing through the castle, soon the source of the footsteps began approaching the office and within a manner of about five minutes, the door opened and standing at the doorway was Madelyn Dinkley, which made Velma very happy, in fact she was so happy that her sister was okay she ran over and hugged her to no end.

"Madelyn!" Velma exclaimed.

"Velma!" Madelyn replied.

"Boy I am I glad to see you, when I got the call from Whirlen Merlin I started imagining all sorts of horrible things that might have happened if we hadn't gotten here in time" Velma said as tears came out of her eyes.

"Like its okay Velma, its okay, we're here and Madelyn's all right, everything will be okay" Shaggy replied, after he wrapped his arms around her waist and began comforting her with a warm hug.

"I know Shaggy, I know, it-it's just that, Madelyn means a lot to me, I mean she is my only sister and she means more to me than you'll ever know" Velma said as she relaxed herself in the arms of her boyfriend.

"I understand Velma, I understand, I feel the same way about Maggie; if anything ever happened to her, I don't know what I would do, I mean she's like Madelyn, she's my only sister after all" Shaggy replied.

"Thanks Shaggy, I really love you" Velma said.

"I know, I really love you too Velma" Shaggy replied.

After a quick kiss between the two of them, the topic quickly changed back to the danger that Vincent Van Ghoul had told the Merlin Brothers about as well as the rest of the staff; although before Vincent could tell them about what was going on, Madelyn wondered what was going on between her sister and her childhood crush.

"Um Velma, Shaggy, what's up between you guys anyway?" Madelyn asked.

"Oh, well Madelyn, some time ago Shaggy and I decided that basically we have a lot in common and we had been friends for such a long time; not to mention, we both decided we had genuine feelings for one another, so we decided to start dating, and eventually things went so well with us that we became boyfriend and girlfriend" Velma replied.

"Oh, that's nice to hear Velma, I'm glad to hear the two of you are getting along so well" Madelyn said, somewhat disappointedly.

"Well now that that's taken care of, hopefully Vincent can tell us about just what's going on around here" Fred remarked.

"Yes, I'm curious to know as well" Whirlen added.

"That's what I want to know as well, and I would also like to know, who, who is that?" Madelyn asked, looking towards the gang and specifically the newest member of Mystery Inc.

"Oh, you mean Flim Flam?" Velma asked.

"Yes that's him, he, he…" Madelyn replied, although fairly soon she became speechless; her eyes locked onto the young black haired member of the group's eyes and within a manner of moments, she looked like a love sick puppy, which Velma noticed.

"Madelyn, Madelyn, what's the matter?" Velma questioned, while her sister walked over and stood next to Flim Flam.

"I think I know what's going on Velma, I think Madelyn's crush on Shaggy is over, and something tells me she's now got a crush on Flim Flam" Daphne replied, although with a somewhat surprised tone in her voice.

"Oh brother, well at least she's gotten over Shaggy rather quickly" Velma quipped.

"Hi" Madelyn said as she leaned over to look at Flim Flam once again, specifically his eyes.

"Um, hi" Flim Flam replied somewhat coyly.

"What's your name?" Madelyn asked.

"His name's Flim Flam Madelyn, and he's Daphne's and mine's adopted son" Fred explained.

"Ah, so that's who he is; you know Flim Flam, you have a really cool name" Madelyn said, moving closer to the black haired young man.

"Thanks, I, uh like your name too, Madelyn right?" Flim Flam asked.

"Right and I'm Velma's sister by the way" Madelyn replied.

"Oh, I see; well if you're anything like Velma, I think we'll get along great Madelyn" Flim Flam remarked.

"Thanks Flim Flam, by the way did my sister ever tell you about why I'm here?" Madelyn asked.

"I think so; she said that you were studying stage magic right?" Flim Flam answered.

"Right and I hear from Velma that you studied real life magic under a warlock named Vincent Van Ghoul right?" Madelyn asked.

"That's correct" Flim Flam replied.

"Wow, that must be so cool, I've always loved magic, in fact that's kind of the reason why I decided to enroll here at the Academy" Madelyn remarked.

"Sounds cool, so what do you and the rest of the students do here at the academy?" Flim Flam asked.

"Well, we learn all kinds of illusions, you name it we probably learn it" Madelyn replied.

"Neat, so why did you want to learn magic anyway?" Flim Flam inquired.

"Well like Velma and mysteries, I like to uncover the secrets of magic and how each trick is done, you know things like that" Madelyn replied.

"Wow, that all sounds really awesome, you must really like magic then if your parents let you attend a school for magicians?" Flim Flam inquired.

"Sure do, my folks are pretty nice; by the way, what about your folks?" Madelyn asked.

"Actually I'm an orphan, although Fred and Daphne are my adoptive parents so they're really the only thing close to parents that I have" Flim Flam replied.

"That stinks, although if Fred and Daphne were my parents, I would be pretty happy; by the way, since you know real magic, I wouldn't mind seeing some of it, do you think you could perform a quick illusion?" Madelyn asked.

"I suppose I could, what do you think Fred and Daphne?" Flim Flam inquired.

"Sure why not, what about you Vincent?" Fred asked.

"That sounds fine to me, in fact maybe Madelyn will want to learn sorcery in addition to stage magic" Vincent replied.

"That's not a bad idea Mr. Van Ghoul, although I can't see my little sister as a sorceress; but if she really wants to do it, why not?" Velma added.

"Thanks you guys, okay Flim Flam, show me what you can do" Madelyn said.

"Okay Madelyn, let me see, why don't we start with something simple, like this" Flim Flam replied as he closed his hands, when he opened them a small dove flied out into the room, which surprised Whirlen Merlin and the rest of the academy's staff.

"My my Flim Flam, that was quite impressive, you know you might a perfect student for our academy that is if you would like to learn more about magic" Whirlen explained.

"Thank you sir; why don't I show Madelyn another trick I learned" Flim Flam replied.

"All right Flim Flam, go right ahead" Whirlen said.

"Okay, here goes" Flim Flam said as he closed his hands together, but this time when he opened them there was a small red rose in the palm of his right hand.

"Neat trick Flim Flam, I wish I could do that" Madelyn replied.

"Thanks Madelyn, oh by the way this is for you" Flim Flam said as he handed the rose to Velma's sister.

"That was really nice of you Flim Flam, and thank you" Madelyn responded as she put the small rose in one of the pockets in her dress.

"You're welcome Madelyn and I was glad you liked it" Flim Flam replied, blushing a little as he spoke.

"Aw, isn't that cute Freddie, I think Flim Flam's blushing" Daphne remarked.

"Yeah, it looks like he is" Fred replied.

"And you know something, judging by the way Flim Flam and Madelyn have been looking at each other since we got here, I think those two are in love" Daphne added.

"Funny, like all the time I thought Madelyn was interested in me, but I guess she's got more in common with Flim Flam, oh well" Shaggy quipped.

"Well, something tells me that having a girlfriend will be great for Flim Flam, and I think having a boyfriend will be great for Madelyn, so let's try and encourage their relationship as much as possible, okay Shaggy?" Velma remarked.

"Sounds good Velms" Shaggy replied.

"So Flim Flam, you're really good at real magic right?" Madelyn questioned.

"Sure am, why?" Flim Flam asked.

"Well, would you like to learn more about stage magic?" Madelyn inquired.

"Are you kidding, of course I would! What about you Madelyn, I mean would you like to learn more about real magic and sorcery?" Flim Flam questioned.

"Of course I would! Actually I think being a sorceress would be really cool" Madelyn replied.

"Sounds good, maybe after all this is over, I can teach you all I know about real magic and maybe you can train with Vincent Van Ghoul, that is if he wants to have you" Flim Flam commented.

"Sounds great and maybe I can teach you about being a stage magician, and you can attend school here, that is if Whirlen Merlin would like you to be a student, what do you think guys?" Madelyn asked.

"Yeah guys I think those are great idea, you think we could do both?" Flim Flam questioned.

"Absolutely Flim Flam and I think Whirlen Merlin will be a great teacher for you, like he was a great teacher for us" Velma said.

"I agree, and I believe Madelyn will make a great pupil, and something tells me she'll be as great a wizard as I am, that is with the right teaching, which I will provide of course" Vincent replied.

"Sounds great Mr. Van Ghoul, although we'll have to let my mother know of this, that is once we finish up with catching the remainder of the 13 ghosts" Velma commented.

"Right, we still don't know what we're up against, so what are we up against Mr. Van Ghoul?" Fred asked.

"Very simple Fred, and now that all of you are here I can share with you what the danger is; you see as I mentioned to the Merlin Brothers and you Velma, according to my equipment and spectral charts, in the last several months I believe I have pinpointed the locations of the remainder of the ghosts from the Demon Chest" Vincent replied.

"Jeepers, what can you tell us about these ghosts Mr. Van Ghoul?" Daphne asked.

"Well for starters, the remainder of the ghosts are led by a spectral being that is the embodiment of evil itself; in my books, the only pictures of him are nothing but shadows or blackness, in other words he is and has been impossible to photograph, even by other wizards" Vincent said.

"Jinkies" Velma replied, trying to fully comprehend what their warlock friend was telling them.

"So do these ghosts have names or any powers that we should know of?" Flim Flam asked.

"Yes Flim Flam, the first is a winged creature called Zoleria, and his powers include the ability to fly and the powers to create ice and snow to use against his enemies, I have pinpointed his location as somewhere in the Canadian province of Quebec, and I strongly suggest that is where you should start your investigation" Vincent replied.

"Sounds like a plan" Fred remarked.

"However" Vincent said.

"However?" Velma asked.

"There's much more that I know and need to share about the remainder of the spirits, in total there are four ghosts that are on the loose and Zoleria is only the first of the ghosts that all of you have to contend with" Vincent explained.

"L-like who are the other ghosts Mr. Van Ghoul" Shaggy replied.

"Yes Shaggy, there are other specters, the second spirit that you need to track down is called Montera, his powers include the ability to create fire and believe me from is said about him in my books, he is very hot to handle; as for the specter's location, I have managed to pinpoint it as somewhere in the Southwestern United States, possibly Oklahoma, Texas or New Mexico" Vincent said.

"Jeepers, he sounds like a tough customer, that's for sure" Daphne replied.

"Yes Daphne, indeed he is; the third of the ghosts that are on the loose is called Lerezia, this final ghost is a female spirit and her powers include the ability to create lightning to use against her enemies, I have also managed to pinpoint her location to be somewhere in Northern Europe, possibly in Scandinavia" Vincent commented.

"Jinkies, Quebec, the Southwest United States and Northern Europe? Looks like we'll be doing some major globe hopping this time around" Velma replied.

"Like it sounds that way to me Velma, but one thing's still bugging me: Vincent, we know you summoned us here, and you mentioned that the school was possibly in danger again, but what I want to know is from what" Shaggy remarked.

"That's true Shaggy, we know about the ghosts and their powers, but we don't know what they want and why they intend to congregate at this castle" Fred replied.

"Yes Vincent, we're all eager to learn what kind of danger the castle is under" Whirlen Merlin commented.

"Very well, I can now tell you the rest of what is in store for all of you from the last few ghosts from the Chest of Demons; you see it all started centuries ago, when I was first starting out as a warlock, I was around the same age as Fred, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy actually when this happened, specifically it was in college" Vincent Van Ghoul stated.

"What happened while you were in college?" Velma asked.

"Well Velma, you may be surprised to learn first of all that I have superiors in the warlock field" the elderly warlock replied.

"Jinkies, you mean there are warlocks more powerful then you?" Velma inquired.

"Right; you see, collectively they are known as the Grand Society of Witches and Warlocks, in fact it is the oldest and largest group of sorcerers and sorceresses in the world; one day many years ago, several centuries ago as a matter of fact, the society saw that there was so much evil, corruption and overall wickedness in the world that they decided to do something about what they saw; so together they created what became known as the Gems of Time, four mystical jewels that when brought together in a certain place at a certain time, would give anyone who possessed them unlimited power" Vincent explained.

"Jeepers! You mean those jewels would make someone all-powerful? Maybe I should check through my jewelry drawer at home and see what I have that could give me magic powers" Daphne remarked.

"Very doubtful Daphne, but go right ahead; you see after escaping from the Chest Of Demons, the spirits from the chest roamed the Earth in search of the jewels, hoping to find them, which if found by these spirits would give them the power to rule the Earth and send the planet into a new Dark Ages, an era of unspeakable darkness and horrors" Vincent commented, sounding quite serious.

"I think I understand, although I still can't get the connection between the jewels and the ghosts, if we know where the ghosts are, then where are the jewels?" Fred wondered.

"Fred, I can answer that; you see when the Grand Society created the jewels they knew they had to keep them safe, so they appointed a pair of guardians to hide them from evil and to make sure that nothing happened to them; which leads me to a secret that I've been hiding from all of you for years" Vincent replied.

"What is it Mr. Van Ghoul, what's the secret?" Daphne asked.

"The secret has to do with the guardians of the gems; because the society was composed of male and female members, two guardians were chosen: one of them was a young warlock who attended Terror Tech and who is standing in this very room, I'm sure you can guess who that is" Vincent replied, taking a deep breath.

"You? Mr. Van Ghoul, you were one of the guardians?" Velma asked, taken somewhat aback at the warlock's statement.

"Correct Velma, I was; but the secret has to do with the other guardian, she was a young witch about the same age as me, with the most beautiful brown hair you could ever imagine, gorgeous green eyes and she would wear the most beautiful cloaks, always maroon and violet if I'm not mistaken; her name was Rebecca Patterson and I met her the first month I attended Terror Tech" Vincent explained, closing his eyes every couple of seconds to picture the young woman.

"Like wow Mr. Van Ghoul, she must have been a very pretty girl" Shaggy replied.

"She was Shaggy; now while I had been on many dates with many girls of all kinds and descriptions at Terror Tech, Rebecca was something else entirely, she was captivating, magnificent, and a wonderfully talented sorceress, in fact in most of the conjuring classes at the school, she was always the top female student" Vincent remarked.

"Jinkies, she sounds like a great person, so what happened to her Mr. Van Ghoul?" Velma asked.

"That leads me to my secret; you see one day I talked to Rebecca, we discussed our favorite spells, incantations, amulets, basically all the things that a young witch and warlock would talk about in school; while we were talking I began looking at her in a way that I never looked at another girl while I was there, I found myself lost in her eyes, and she was lost in mine, so I decided then and there to ask her on a date, which I must say she accepted" Vincent said.

"Vincent, you sly dog, I always knew I had it in you" Flim Flam remarked, smiling at the warlock and the fact that he had a girlfriend.

"Thank You Flim Flam; now, when we had our first date, it was a pardon the pun, magical evening, we went out to dinner, we took a moonlight ride on her broom, it was wonderful; in fact it went so well that we decided to have another date, and we had another and another and soon we were inseparable, so much so that we eventually became boyfriend and girlfriend" Vincent replied.

"Aww, that's really sweet Mr. Van Ghoul, what happened next?" Daphne said, holding her hands together near her face as she spoke.

"Well eventually we became so inseparable that we both realized we were in love, and one day about six months after we met, we got married, it was a wonderful ceremony and we both had such a fun time, which now brings us to the other guardian; after the Grand Society saw that we had gotten along so well, they decided to make Rebecca a guardian as well, so we became the co-guardians of the Gems of Time" Vincent replied.

"Mr. Van Ghoul, we had no idea you were married and to a woman who sounds like she was the perfect match for you, so what happened to her?" Fred asked.

"That has to do with the final few ghosts from the Chest; many years after the jewels were created, I discovered that there was a chance that the specters and spirits may try to harm Rebecca in order to get the jewels so she and I hid them from the demons of the chest, just in case they tried to get their hands on them" Vincent replied.

"Good idea Mr. Van Ghoul, but what happened to Rebecca?" Velma inquired.

"It's simple, when I discovered that she and the jewels were in danger, Rebecca and I agreed that she would go into hiding while I stayed behind at my castle in the Himalayas to keep an eye on the situation; she must have hidden well, because I haven't heard from her in some time, but I have a feeling that she might be in danger once again, if the final remaining ghosts from the Chest are roaming about" Vincent replied.

"I'll bet; so Mr. Van Ghoul, what can you tell us about the jewels and their hiding places?" Fred inquired.

"Yes and what are these jewels?" Daphne added.

"You see the four gems represent four different elements of the Earth and four of the most abundant types of jewels in the world: the sapphire, which represents sky and water, the ruby which represents fire and the sun, the emerald which represents the forests and various terrains of the planet, and finally the diamond, the most priceless jewel on the planet, which also represents the purity and light the Earth gives day in and day out" Vincent explained.

"What about the gems locations Mr. Van Ghoul?" Velma asked.

"Well luckily I was able to put a mystic tracker on each gem before I magically transported them to the four corners of the Earth; from my tracking equipment and radar I have determined that the Emerald is somewhere in the province of Quebec in the country of Canada, the ruby is somewhere in the Southwest United States, the diamond is somewhere in Northern Europe and the sapphire is somewhere on the grounds of this very school" Vincent replied.

"I get it, so three of the gems are located where the ghosts form the Demon Chest are located" Fred commented.

"Exactly, and the fourth gem is somewhere on the grounds of the magic school" Vincent added.

"Any idea where this sapphire is Mr. Van Ghoul?" Fred asked.

"That I do not know Fred; it could be anywhere, in any room…" Vincent replied; suddenly Vincent stopped speaking and he held his hands to both sides of his head.

"Like what's the matter Mr. Van Ghoul?" Shaggy asked.

"I don't know Shaggy, I-I can feel vibrations coming from somewhere in this room" Vincent replied.

"Vibrations? Jeepers, like what Mr. Van Ghoul?" Daphne inquired.

"You see Daphne as a mystic in touch with the powers of the occult, the supernatural and the macabre I can sometimes feel the vibrations of certain beings, or certain objects" Vincent explained.

"Like you mean sort of like a fortune teller right Mr. Van Ghoul?" Shaggy asked.

"In a way Shaggy, in a way; however when I get a vibration it is truer and more powerful then what a fortune teller would go through" Vincent replied.

"Jeepers, Mr. Van Ghoul do you think the vibrations might be coming from the first of the Gems of Time?" Daphne inquired.

"It's possible Daphne, it's possible; because of the powers of the jewels, and because they were created by some of the most powerful witches and warlocks on earth, the vibrations coming from the jewels would make them easy to track down" Vincent replied as he began walking around the room attempting to locate the jewel.

The powerful mystic then moved over to the desk that Whirlen Merlin had been sitting at earlier and placed his hands on the sides of his head once more; Scooby Doo and company were a little confused as to why their warlock friend had done this, after all: what magical object or objects could be hidden in an ordinary desk? Although considering their history with Vincent Van Ghoul, Scooby and his friends knew that when Vincent was onto something, he was usually right.

Vincent Van Ghoul then stood in front of the desk looking almost as if he was in a trance of some kind, the members of Mystery Inc. found themselves curiously watching their magical comrade, trying to figure out just why he had such a strange look on his face, finally after what seemed like hours but in reality was only a few moments the warlock open the drawer of the desk and looked through the items inside.

"Vincent, are you sure the sapphire is in my desk?" Whirlen Merlin asked.

"Trust us Whirlen, Vincent knows when he's looking for a mystic item" Daphne replied.

"If you say so Daphne, if you say so" Whirlen remarked, still looking a little confused.

A few moments after Vincent Van Ghoul had commenced his search, he began smiling and a few seconds later the powerful warlock pulled out a flawless blue gem that seemed to sparkle in the over head lights of the Merlin Brothers office; as the great warlock held the blue jewel in the palm of his hand, Scooby and friends could tell right away that it was more then an average ordinary jewel, specifically when Velma gazed at it, it seemed to her that the jewel was so unblemished that it seemed to be unaffected by the passage of time, which in fact it hadn't.

"Jinkies, Mr. Van Ghoul is that the one of the gems of time?" Velma asked.

"Yes Velma, it is the very first of the jewels; the sapphire, as I explained before it represents the skies and the water of the Earth, and it is the jewel that the ghosts from the chest must possess to gain the power to rule the world" Vincent replied.

"Like t-that's not good, although if we have the jewel doesn't that we're in the clear?" Shaggy asked nervously.

"Yes and no Shaggy; even though we do have the jewel for now, those ghosts will stop at nothing to get it, which means none of you are safe until this mystery is solved, all the ghosts are captured and the jewels are found; now you must get going immediately before those ghosts find you, and try to capture you and the jewels" Vincent replied.

"Mr. Van Ghoul, like won't we need the Chest of Demons to capture the ghosts in when we catch them?" Shaggy asked.

"Yes Shaggy, that's an excellent idea; actually I have it with me right now, if you will wait a few moments I can get it" Vincent replied; Shaggy was a little confused as the warlock turned around and faced the walls of the office, a few moments later the warlock produced a small plume of white smoke and when he turned around he held the demon chest in his arms, which amazed the teen sleuths and their companions.

"Vincent, that was very impressive, how did you do that?" Whirlen asked.

"Simple, first off I never reveal my secrets like any good magician and second, I happened to bring it with me" Vincent replied.

"Like that makes sense" Shaggy responded.

"So I guess that means we should get going to track down those ghosts huh?" Flim Flam asked.

"Yes Flim Flam, that is a good idea; and I believe it would be a good idea for Madelyn to go with all of you on your quest" Vincent replied.

"But Mr. Van Ghoul, wouldn't Madelyn be safer here at the school then with us?" Velma asked.

"No, not really; you see since the school is the place where the ghosts are going to congregate, and since the teachers and staff are coming with me, I believe that the safest place for Madelyn is with you and your friends Velma" Vincent explained.

"OK Mr. Van Ghoul, if you insist; I just hope we can keep an eye on Madelyn and keep her safe from harm" Velma replied.

"Don't worry Velma, I'll watch over Madelyn too and I won't let anything happen to her" Flim Flam said as he smiled at Madelyn.

"Thanks Flim Flam, you know I really think we're going to become great friends on this adventure, and who knows maybe we'll become more than friends" Madelyn replied as she smiled at Flim Flam.

"Yeah, I'd like that" Flim Flam remarked.

While Flim Flam and Madelyn continued looking at each other's faces and into each other's eyes Vincent Van Ghoul then cleared his throat and began speaking to the group once again.

"I hate to break up such a nice scene, but it's time for you seven to start your journey; and more importantly I need to…" Vincent said, however he cut himself off in mid-sentence because as soon as he began speaking he and everyone else inside the castle could feel a strong rumbling sound, similar to lightning but a lot louder; as the noise began to permeate throughout the school Fred and Daphne held on tightly to each other, as did Shaggy and Velma, and Flim Flam and Madelyn, each couple wondering just what was happening in the magic school.

"Jinkies! W-what's happening?" Velma asked somewhat uneasily.

"I have a feeling that the seven of you are about to encounter the final spirit from the Chest of Demons" Vincent replied, although being a warlock he was more used to this kind of supernatural terror then the gang; a few tense moments later, each light in the school went out one by one, which led Vincent Van Ghoul to command Mystery Inc., and the teachers and staff of the school to make sure they had everything they needed and then follow him through the halls of the castle.

During the next several minutes hundreds of panicked students, who were packing and heard and felt the noise as well as witnessing the lights going out streamed down the staircases and followed Vincent, the staff and the team of sleuths outside the castle onto the front lawn of the structure; once everyone was outside they noticed that an immense black cloud, almost similar in appearance to a thick fog covered the grounds of the school, but that wasn't what was causing the noise, in fact the gang and Vincent were soon about to discover what the source of the noise was and the appearance of the 13th and final ghost from the sinister Chest of Demons.