Chapter 7: The newspaper clip and the chase
A short while later, the gang were back at the entrance to the main administrative building where Mr. Blake was still in his meeting.
"It sure is a good thing we've lost this Phantom, gang." Fred remarked as they meet up and catch their breaths.
"Yeah, except that we're nowhere close to solving this mystery." Velma said.
"What does a phantom who was supposed to be reminding the railway company the importance of safety be sabotaging the control systems in the yard?" Daphne asked. "Not to mention what does a phantom need with stolen switches?"
Everyone else nodded in agreement with Daphne's questioning, but other than that, they were quite baffled by the mystery itself.
"I guess we should just head inside the building and wait for Mr. Blake, gang." Fred suggested.
"Like, good idea, Fred." Shaggy nodded before they made their way into the building.
As they reached the reception desk to wait for Daphne's father to finish his meeting, Shaggy and Scooby looked around and noticed the company announcements bulletin.
Leaning over to look at the bulletin, Shaggy noticed a newspaper clipping and scanned through the news article before raising an eyebrow.
"Hey gang, take a look at this!" Shaggy said as he gestured towards the newspaper clipping.
Velma leaned over to read as everyone looked on.
"CITY HIT BY COPPER THEFT RING
Police investigating after a near-miss at West Coolsville Yards was attributed to the theft of a critical switch in brand-new signalling system"
"Jeepers!" Daphne remarked. "That's similar to the theft Mr. Jaffe was checking on this afternoon."
"And that's not all." Velma said as she continued reading. "It says here that the thefts came as the railway company recently fired a signal technician for suspicion of being involved in a money-laundering racket."
"Hmmm..." Fred thought for a while. "I've got a feeling we may have reached the bottom of this, gang."
"Right." Velma nodded in agreement. "Now what we've got to do is catch the Phantom."
"But how do you suppose we can catch this Phantom?" Shaggy asked. "You know, this yard is so huge it would take the whole night for us to find him."
"Reah." Scooby agreed.
It was then that Fred and the girls gave them weird, creeping-looking looks.
Seeing Daphne's face expression, Shaggy and Scooby both swallowed.
"Was it something I just said?" Shaggy asked nervously.
A short while later, Shaggy and Scooby were donning uniforms and armed with a tool kit, along with their helmets with headlamps.
"I just have to open my big, stupid mouth." Shaggy remarked.
"You and Scooby all set, Shaggy?" Fred asked.
"Like, what's the plan again, Fred?" Shaggy asked.
"It's simple, Shaggy." Velma sighed as she explains the plan one more time. "You and Scooby pose as signal technicians and go work on a signalling device. Then, the Phantom will spot you, as he did when Mr. Jaffe went to check on the signal box earlier this afternoon."
"Then, when he tries to grab you guys, you'll run to the maintenance yard." Fred continued as he pointed towards the yard in question. "Where the girls and I will be waiting with our trap."
"Oh boy." Shaggy remarked. "I don't like the sound of this."
"Re neither." Scooby agreed. "Rin fact, Ri don't reel like roing ris."
"Come on, Scooby." Shaggy said. "I know this may be something silly for us to do, but if we do this, I can be back in my cozy bed soon."
"Ruh uh." Scooby shook his head. "Ri'm not roing ris."
At that moment, Shaggy thought of something as he pulled something out from his pocket.
"What's that, Shaggy?" Velma asked when she saw the small package Shaggy pulled out from his pocket.
"Like, it's a bag of Scooby's favourite treats." Shaggy explained before turning to Scooby and added, "Will you do this for a bag of Scooby Snacks, Scoob?"
"Scooby Snacks?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Mags and I just call them 'Scooby Snacks', Fred." Shaggy shrugged. "It just kind of stuck."
"Scooby Snacks?" Scooby asked. "Rokay."
"Perfect." Velma smiled as Shaggy opened the package and tossed the snacks into Scooby's mouth.
Scooby chewed and swallowed before barking, "Let's roll!"
A short while later, Shaggy and Scooby came upon a broken-down signal light at a siding.
"Looks like this signal's bulbs need to be replaced, Scoob." Shaggy observed after taking a look at the signal light in question. "Screwdriver."
Scooby nodded as he passed the screwdriver to Shaggy's waiting hand, who proceeded to disassemble the signal lights.
"Light bulb." Shaggy then said, and Scooby passed the light bulb to him.
During this time, the Phantom emerged from the shadows and floated his way to the duo, growling.
Hearing the growl, Scooby swallowed nervously as he turned and saw the Phantom approaching them.
"Uh...Raggy?" Scooby tapped Shaggy's shoulder as the Phantom approaches them.
"Not now, Scoob." Shaggy said. "I'm having some trouble getting this light bulb installed."
"Raggy, rantom!" Scooby barked as he tugged Shaggy's safety vest.
Shaggy didn't respond as he carried on with his work. Finally, he said, "Screwdriver, Scoob."
At that moment, Scooby has already took off running while the Phantom stood behind Shaggy growling.
"Screwdriver, Scoob." Shaggy repeated as he reached his hand back and the Phantom handed him the screwdriver.
"Thanks, Scoob." Shaggy said as he took the screw, only for the Phantom to growl.
"Uh...there's no need to growl like that, Scooby." Shaggy said as he used the screwdriver, only to find no response from his friend. "Uh, Scooby?"
Having had finished the job at the moment, Shaggy turned and saw that Scooby was nowhere to be seen while the growling continued.
"Scooby-Doo, where are you?" Shaggy asked before hearing the growling and turned and found himself face to face with the Phantom.
The Phantom growled as Shaggy laughed nervously.
"Like, take this!" He quickly tossed the Phantom the screwdriver before taking off running, while the Phantom looked at the tool confusingly.
The Phantom then tossed the screwdriver aside and took off after him.
"Gangway!" Shaggy shouted as he caught up with Scooby.
The Phantom chased them into the maintenance yard, where Fred and the girls were waiting with the trap.
Looking through the binoculars while stationed on top of an parked freight car, Fred saw them approaching.
"Here they come, girls." He said to Daphne and Velma.
"We're all set, Freddie." Velma nodded.
"Let me get a look, Fred." Daphne said as she asked Fred to pass her the binoculars. "Just to make sure that we don't end up catching Shag and Scooby by mistake while the Phantom is far behind."
"Sure, Daph." Fred nodded as he passed Daphne the binoculars.
However, as she took the binoculars, Daphne accidentally lost her balance and slipped.
"Daphne, look out!" Velma shouted, but it was too late.
Daphne fell off the freight car and landed right on the wooden see-saw that was part of the trap, causing her to activate the trap and the net that was meant for the Phantom was fired towards Fred.
Fred didn't have time to duck, and he ended up getting caught in the net, much to Daphne and Velma's shock as the former heard his "Gah!" as he got caught in the net.
"This clearly wasn't supposed to happen." Daphne said from below.
"Danger-Prone-Daphne did it again." Velma sighed as she looked at Fred.
"Sometimes, I feel like a slice of ham." Fred grumbled. "Mind if you girls help me get out of this net?"
Before Daphne could climb back onto the car, Shaggy and Scooby have reached the car with the Phantom behind them.
"Like, what happened?" Shaggy asked as he looked up to Velma, who was trying to help Fred get free.
"We had an accident, Shaggy." Velma replied. "You guys are going to have to fend for yourselves while we get Fred free."
Before Shaggy and Scooby could respond, the growl from the Phantom reminded them to carry on running.
"Like, it looks like it's up to us, Scoob." Shaggy said to Scooby. "Gangway!"
The Phantom hollered as he continued to chase the duo while Velma and Daphne struggled to get Fred out of the net.
However, the struggling with the net ended with Velma and Daphne tangled up in the net with Fred.
"Great." Velma sighed. "Now what?"
"We've got to get help." Fred said as they rolled off the freight car, but Fred managed to break their fall by grabbing onto a handle on the side of the car and allowing them to land on the floor on their feet and standing up.
At that moment, Shaggy and Scooby were racing down that corridor with the Phantom close behind.
"Shag! Scooby!" Velma shouted. "We're having trouble with the net!"
"Can you guys get us out?" Daphne asked.
"Like, Scoob and I are having trouble losing that Phantom!" Shaggy shouted back as they raced towards them. "But we can maybe carry you guys and get out of here!"
Before Fred or the girls could respond, Shaggy and Scooby swiftly swooped over to pick their friends up and took off with the Phantom behind.
The chase soon brought them outside the maintenance yard and then Shaggy and Scooby stopped under a tree to catch their breaths after they were sure they had lost the Phantom.
"I think we've lost him." Fred said as they looked around.
Just then, Velma saw something and exclaimed, "Jinkies! I don't think so!"
The gang turned and looked. The Phantom was coming after them and driving a golf cart and laughing evilly.
"You kids cannot escape!" The Phantom hollered as he sped towards them.
Looking around, Shaggy saw a van parked nearby and got an idea.
"Like, I think we've got a ride waiting for us, gang." Shaggy said. "Come on!"
Without hesitation, he and Scooby picked up their friends and raced to the van, where Shaggy saw that the key was still in the ignition switch.
"Someone must've been in a hurry and left that key in the switch." Daphne remarked when she saw the key. "But what matters now is getting away from that Phantom."
"Shag, do you think you can drive us out of here?" Fred asked, eying the fact that Shaggy is seated on the driver's seat.
"Like, we're about to find out." Shaggy said as he quickly buckled up, adjusted the seat and mirrors and started the van before adding, "Scoob, try freeing Fred and the girls from the net, will you?"
"Rokay." Scooby mock-saluted before getting a claw ready and prepared to work on the net to free Fred and the girls.
"Hang tight, gang!" Shaggy said as he shifted the van into drive and slammed on the gas pedal, causing the van to take off with the golf cart close behind.
Scooby wasted no time getting Fred and the girls free and they were able to move once again.
"Thanks, Scooby." Daphne said as she was freed.
"Ro problem." Scooby nodded and smiled as Fred and Velma took a look at the back of the van.
"It looks like we're on a maintenance van, guys." Fred remarked. "The back has a lot of tools and some paint cans."
"And that Phantom is still behind us!" Velma added as she looked through the windows on the rear doors and saw the golf cart gaining on them.
Just then, Scooby got an idea when he saw one of the paint cans.
"Ri've got ran idea." He said.
"What is it, Scooby?" Daphne asked.
Scooby responded by holding a can of paint and grinned as his tail pointed towards the golf cart chasing them.
Seeing what Scooby meant, Fred nodded. "Good idea, Scooby!"
"Shag, slow the van down." Daphne said. "Scooby's got an idea."
"I can see that." Shaggy nodded, noting the fact that Scooby is holding a paint can from the rear mirror.
The Phantom grinned as he watched the van's rear doors open, but an eyebrow was raised when he saw Scooby grinning and holding what appeared to be a can.
Before the Phantom could enquire, Scooby suddenly launched something wet from the can and that something landed and covered the golf cart's windshield.
As it turned out, that substance in question is black paint and it completely blocked the Phantom's eye sight.
As the Phantom struggles to see what's ahead of the golf cart, he didn't realize that the van he was pursuing had made a turn and a small wooden shed was approaching.
At the van, the gang looked towards the front as they heard a crash coming from behind before Shaggy made a U-turn and drove towards the shed they managed to lure the Phantom to.
Soon, the van came to a stop and as they got off the van, they saw the Phantom trapped in the debris as a result of the crash.
"Way to go, gang!" Fred said. "We've captured the Phantom!"
"And that was some brilliant driving, Shag." Daphne added and smiled, "As well as some quick thinking for Scooby."
"Like, it was nothing, guys." Shaggy smiled back. "Just putting my driving practice into full use."
"Something tells me you're ready to get your driver's license, Shaggy." Velma said before Fred and Daphne went over to the main administrative building.
One more chapter to go, folks! Please read and review!
