Chapter 10
Somewhere in one of the numerous hallways in the mysterious mansion that belonged to a sinister warlock named Jonathan Steele, a blond haired young man named Fred Jones stood at a crossroads, both literally and mentally.
Mentally Fred was faced with a decision, possibly one of the most important decisions of his life; on the one hand, he could seek out Mr. Steele and join up with him, which would no doubt save his friends from any harm that might come to them, but on the other hand he was a good, kind hearted young man, and didn't want to associate with anyone as incredibly evil as Mr. Steele.
While his literal crossroads was trying to figure out what to do with his amulet, a powerful magical artifact that he had purchased during a festival in Salem, Massachusetts; originally he and his friends were going to see the Goth Rock band known as the Hex Girls perform in concert, but now the young man was trying to not only decide what to do with the amulet, he was also trying to figure out a plan to find his friends, who had probably come searching for him since he had been kidnapped by said warlock already.
"Boy what a creepy mansion; although I have to admit, it's not as creepy as some of the places I've been in my life; but still, there is something evil about this place, ever since I was brought here I've figured there was something dark and sinister about this place" Fred said to himself, while walking down a long corridor.
"After all, I've already seen a sea monster and some, some creature that looked like it belonged in a nightmare; is it possible? Is it really feasible that there really are monsters, and that I might meet up with other strange beings in this place?" Fred asked himself, while continuing to walk down the hallway, his brown boots making loud, echoing noises with every step he took.
The young blond warlock held the amulet with his right hand, his index and middle finger moving slowly across the shining green emerald of the strange magical artifact as he continued to walk down the corridor, which he hoped would lead to whatever room Mr. Steele called home, or wherever Mr. Steele did his dirty work from.
Fred had been in some nervous and frightening situations before, facing the thirteen most evil ghosts on the planet along with his friends, facing down three sinister catch creatures with his friends, and standing toe to toe with all manner of villains, both real and merely people in frightening costumes and masks.
But this was one of the few times, maybe the first time that Fred was going to go into a scary situation without his friends, without their guidance and without the people that he had worked with so many times in the past, in short he was alone and even though he was brave and was the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc., this was the first time ever that he was truly and genuinely afraid of something.
"For some reason I feel almost cold, like I'm shivering; but it's not cold weather, it's warm outside despite it being October, and I shouldn't feel that way, although maybe I'm cold because I sat on that dungeon floor for a while, thank you very much Mr. Steele" Fred remarked under his breath, while leaning on a nearby wall.
"You've very welcome Mr. Jones," a familiar male voice said from somewhere in the room.
The blond young adult and now warlock searched the entire corridor, both low and high for the source of the voice, which he knew belonged to Jonathan Steele, the sinister sorcerer that had been trying to take his magic amulet since he got it; however, Mr. Steele remained hidden in the shadows, sight unseen, while his voice continued to taunt the budding young warlock from his secret hiding place somewhere in the mansion.
"Where are you Mr. Steele, show yourself!" Fred declared, feeling the anger build up inside him as he spoke.
"Very well Mr. Jones, I guess since you did say thank you to me I suppose I should make myself known" Mr. Steele replied.
Just as Mr. Steele finished speaking there was a tremendous flash of light and a large burst of red smoke in the hallway; after a few moments, a somewhat determined Fred saw the smoke disappearing from view, and being replaced by an all too familiar black haired man wearing a red suit, black slacks and black shoes.
"Hello Mr. Steele, although I guess that's somewhat of an oxymoron, because I'm not happy to see you right now, nor would I be at any time" Fred remarked.
"Too bad Mr. Jones, because I'm happy to see you; now I can deal with you in person, rather then waiting for my monsters to destroy you" Mr. Steele replied.
"Yes, using monsters to do your dirty work seems to be a theme for a lot of villains my friends and I face" Fred remarked, while glancing at his amulet, which at the current moment happened to be glowing a bright green color and seemed to be lighting up every corner, nook and cranny of the corridor itself, which the sinister sorcerer noticed.
"I warned you about that temper of yours Fred, you wouldn't want it to get you in more trouble then you're already in now would you?" Mr. Steele asked, mentally licking his chops as he spoke.
"Just what are you implying Mr. Steele?" Fred wondered aloud.
"Simply this Frederick, your temper could someday cause you and your friends great harm; as a matter of fact, there are other things that could get your and your friends in trouble, if you know what I mean" Mr. Steele remarked, with an evil glint in his eye.
"Just what do you mean? And just why do you sound like you're talking in riddles?" Fred asked.
"I am not talking in riddles Mr. Jones! And if I were you I wouldn't joke about your current situation, after all I seem to have the upper hand at the moment" Mr. Steele declared, walking over to a nearby wall and leaning on it as he spoke.
The sinister warlock's next move was something that Fred didn't expect, because the next thing that the evil sorcerer did was to look up at a painting that was hanging on the wall; he seemed to be admiring the work of art, which confused the blond young adult to no end.
As Fred watched the sinister warlock view the painting, he was somewhat furious and looked to have a great amount of anger in his eyes, while he clutched his amulet and prepared to use the magical artifact's powers to send the villainous Mr. Steele into the next state, or possibly into the Atlantic Ocean, but in reality Fred didn't want to do something like that, because he was a friendly person and didn't believe in violence.
However, there was still part of the young man that desperately wanted vengeance, and wanted to trap the evil warlock once and for all, no matter what it took; as Fred watched the sorcerer intently, he noticed that the man seemed to be looking at something specific in the painting, although Fred wasn't sure what specific thing he was looking at.
Was it something on the painting? Was it an imperfection or something that would make the artwork more valuable? Or did the evil warlock simply not want to look at Fred, because they were enemies, one using magic for evil purposes and the other using magic for good purposes; after what seemed like hours, the sinister sorcerer began speaking to the young man once more, but with his back turned to Fred and his eyes still on the painting.
"What a marvelous painting, don't you think Mr. Jones?" Mr. Steele asked.
Fred didn't respond to the sinister sorcerer, which left the villain with no other alternative but to continue gazing at the artwork and speaking to the young adult as if he was going to listen to the criminal, which he knew he wasn't going to do.
"Not very talkative are we Mr. Jones? No matter, I happen to enjoy the finer things in life: a magnificent piece of art, a fine wine, and on occasion a cigar, although considering my line of work, it doesn't really make any difference if I smoke or not" Mr. Steele explained, still with his back turned to the young man.
"You know Mr. Steele, I don't smoke and I don't drink at all; now if you don't mind, I would like to speak with you face to face, and not have to listen to your little diatribe about art" Fred replied.
"Very well Mr. Jones, I can oblige you in your little request" Mr. Steele replied before turning around and facing Fred Jones yet again; as he watched the blond warlock, his dark eyes seemed to pierce through the young man's very soul, which gave him a feeling of absolute terror, almost as if the embodiment of pure evil was speaking with him at this very moment.
"Now that you've decided to face me, I want some answers: for starters, how long do you intend to keep me in this… prison!" Fred declared.
"Now now, remember your temper young man, I wouldn't something to happen to you; for your information you are free to leave anytime you want, after you give me the amulet" Mr. Steele replied.
"And if I refuse?" Fred asked.
"If you refuse… well, I'm such a nice person, that even if you do refuse to give me the amulet, you can still leave here alive" Mr. Steele replied.
"Somehow I don't believe you, I know there's a catch somewhere; so just what's the catch?" Fred inquired.
"Good for you Frederick, you've figured it out; yes, there is a catch: you see, if you don't give me the amulet, then you will never see your friends and especially Miss Blake again" Mr. Steele said with an evil sneer on his face.
"You… you… monster! What have you done with Daphne and the rest of the gang?" Fred asked, his amulet glowing a bright green yet again as he spoke.
"Very simple Mr. Jones, I have them locked up in the same dungeon that I had you locked up in earlier" Mr. Steele replied.
"You black hearted, evil, manipulative scoundrel! What did the rest of the gang and especially Daphne ever do to you?" Fred inquired.
"Oh, not much; all they ever did was become friends with you, and by the way: I can see that your amulet is glowing brighter and brighter; it seems like your magic energy is growing, I'm quite impressed" Mr. Steele replied.
"Don't compliment me on my amulet's power Mr. Steele, I could just blast you right here and now and be done with it, you wouldn't stand a chance" Fred said as he placed his hands on the amulet, making sure to focus the green emerald embedded in the middle of the artifact on his foe, in this case Mr. Steele.
"Don't waste the powers of your amulet Frederick, you'll need them to defeat me; now, would you like to see where your friends are?" Mr. Steele inquired.
"I already know where they are, they're in the dungeon where you put them" Fred replied.
"Yes, but you don't know where the dungeon is; come with me, and I'll take you to them" Mr. Steele remarked.
"Hmm… I still don't trust you, but all right" Fred replied, unsure of what else to do, considering the sinister warlock had his friends trapped.
"Very well, follow me" Mr. Steele said, as the blond young adult followed the evil sorcerer down several corridors, each one as long, or longer then the previous one.
Luckily for Fred Jones, he was standing behind Mr. Steele during the entire time that the two of them ventured towards the dungeon, which meant that the younger warlock was able to keep his eyes trained on Mr. Steele, just in case he wanted to or tried to pull something, or trick the younger sorcerer.
But considering the fates of six innocent people and one Great Dane were in the balance, even someone like Mr. Jonathan Steele would never stoop to such a level or would ever pull an evil or sinister trick on the young adult; his friends however, well that was an entirely different kettle of fish altogether and just in case the evil warlock did try something, Fred made sure that he would be able to put a stop to it before something happened.
Soon the pair of warlocks found themselves in a familiar looking hallway, which Fred managed to recognize as the exact hallway that contained the dungeon in which he was locked up in at one time; the blond young adult's heart soared for a moment as his eyes met the eyes of a certain beautiful redhead, who was as glad to see him as he was to see her.
"Freddie, you're okay!" Daphne exclaimed.
"I sure am, what about you Daphne? Did this creature harm you in any way?" Fred asked, glaring out of the corner of his eye at the sinister warlock as he spoke.
"Don't worry about me Freddie, Mr. Steele didn't hurt me; but it was very rude of him to kidnap you and then open a trap door which caused all seven of us to fall through the floor and into this damp, dreary dungeon" Daphne noted.
"I'm quite sorry about trapping you Miss Blake, and your friends; but I had to do something, how else could I get Frederick here to my mansion and trap him so that I could take his amulet for my own and use its powers to take over the world" Mr. Steele explained.
"Are you still on that Taking my Amulet and using its powers to rule the world kick?" Fred inquired, somewhat annoyed as he spoke.
"Yes I am Frederick, and I believe it's high time to end our little rivalry once and for all" Mr. Steele remarked.
"Rivalry? What are you talking about Mr. Steele?" Fred asked.
"Simple young man, I would like to propose a way to end this little battle of warlocks, fairly and with an outcome that will please the both of us" Mr. Steele replied.
"I'm listening…" Fred remarked.
"Very well Mr. Jones, here is what I propose to you: I challenge you here and now to a battle of warlocks, a magical showdown if you will; my powers of darkness against your powers of light from that amulet" Mr. Steele explained.
"Hmm… I'm not sure about this; how do I know you won't trick me or try and take my amulet without even giving me a chance to defeat you?" Fred inquired, sounding unsure of the evil warlock's motives as he spoke.
"Mr. Jones, you have my word as a warlock and a gentleman that I would never trick you or try and take your amulet; after all, that would leave you defenseless against me, and we wouldn't want that now would we?" Mr. Steele asked, while holding his hand behind his back.
Coincidentally enough his fingers were crossed, which Fred didn't see, actually no one else in the group saw it either, but once the members of Mystery Inc. that were locked in the dungeon saw the look on Mr. Steele's face, they knew they needed to warn Fred of what he was doing, so Daphne called the young man over and give him whatever advice he needed in order to defeat the sinister sorcerer.
"Freddie, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Daphne asked.
"I have to Daphne, if I don't Mr. Steele could keep you guys here forever, and then he could use his powers to control the planet, so I have to stop him before it's too late" Fred replied.
"OK, if you insist Freddie, but let me give you something for good luck" Daphne said as she walked over to the bars of the cell and kissed her male companion through the bars, mainly for good luck, but they both knew it had a lot to do with love and just in case either of them didn't make it out of Salem alive, they both wanted to make sure they revealed how they felt about each other.
"Thanks Daph, I love you" Fred replied.
"I love you too Freddie" Daphne remarked.
After sharing his affection for his red haired companion, the young warlock walked back over to face his powerful enemy and hoped that after today Mr. Jonathan Steele would no longer be a threat to him, his way of life, or his friends.
"All right Mr. Steele, so you want to have a battle of warlocks? Fine by me, but just what kind of battle do you want to have? And what stakes do you want to have in this battle?" Fred queried this sinister warlock.
"I'm glad you asked Mr. Jones; you already know that I want to face you in magical combat, you with your amulet and its good magic, and myself with evil magic, basically a traditional battle of good against evil if that's all right with you" Mr. Steele said with his arms folded, looking a bit impatient with the blond wizard.
"That's perfectly fine with me; what about the stakes?" Fred responded.
"Very simple: if by some small, slim chance that you defeat me, I will let your friends go free Frederick, and I will never bother you again" Mr. Steele replied.
"And if you win Mr. Steele, what do you want?" Fred asked, greatly afraid of what the sinister warlock was going to answer him with.
"Only this: if I win, I want your amulet and you and your friends will never see the light of day again!" Mr. Steele explained.
The blond young adult waited a few minutes before answering his opponent; during the time he spent thinking, he had the appearance of any NFL or college football head coach, trying to determine what play to call in a high tension situation, only this situation was much different then a mere football game, Fred's decision here could affect not only his life, but the lives of his friends and possibly the entire world, if he wasn't careful.
Finally, the blond young adult was ready to make a decision, which he hoped wouldn't make him a sitting duck at the hands of the evil warlock; so, he turned around to face his magical foe and looked him right in the face, before he knew it Fred was getting ready for the biggest battle of his life, one that he hoped to win, not only for himself, but for the rest of Mystery Inc. and the entire planet Earth as well.
"Mr. Steele, you have yourself a challenge, and believe me: it won't be as easy as you think" Fred remarked.
"Oh, I know we're going to have a battle for the ages Mr. Jones, now prepare for my wrath young warlock!" Mr. Steele declared, rolling up his sleeves as he spoke.
"Don't worry you fiend, I'm ready" Fred remarked flatly.
"Good, good now let us begin our battle of good Vs evil Mr. Jones; and I'll start things by doing this!" Mr. Steele said as he raised his arms, pointed his hands and cast his magic directly at Fred, who stood firm and didn't flinch at the sinister warlock's attempt to attack him.
However, while the elder warlock attempted to dispose of the younger one, a certain red head watched along with the rest of her friends from the inside of the dungeon cell and silently hoped that her boyfriend could prove himself by defeating the older sorcerer.
"Come on Freddie, you can do it, you can beat this guy!" Daphne thought, crossing her fingers while she watched the unofficial leader of Mystery Inc. engage in one of the toughest struggles of his life.
Daphne's cheering, even silently must have awakened something in Fred because as the magic headed towards him, the young warlock reached down, activated his amulet and before his opponent knew what happened, the blond young adult had disappeared from view, which baffled the sinister sorcerer and the rest of the group to say the least.
"Why you, meddling brat! Where are you, where are you?" Mr. Steele asked angrily.
"What's the matter Mr. Steele? Can't find an invisible teenager?" a familiar, but unseen voice asked.
"Mr. Jones? I don't believe it; how is this possible, how did you master the skills necessary to use your magic to turn yourself invisible?" Mr. Steele asked, clearly displeased with the younger sorcerer.
"Let's just say I'm a lot better with magic then you'll ever be Mr. Steele; although I guess it would be a fairer fight if I made myself visible" the still unseen Fred replied.
"Indeed, it would be" Mr. Steele remarked simply.
With that there came a strong green glow from somewhere inside the room, although as the sinister warlock soon discovered that the glow was only a few feet away from him; so he backed up a few steps until the glow disappeared, which it did a few moments later, revealing Fred Jones magic and all.
"So what do you think of my powers Mr. Steele?" Fred inquired, looking directly at the sinister warlock, not blinking and an appearance of sheer and utter determination on his face.
"Not bad Mr. Jones, not bad; as I said before, you're mastering the skills necessary to become quite an expert in the arts of magic, witchcraft and sorcery, it's a shame that we couldn't team up, because if we did we would be quite the formidable pair" Mr. Steele replied, laughing evilly as he spoke.
"Sorry Mr. Steele, I don't like you; in fact I can't stand people that would lock up my friends and keep them in a dungeon, now if you don't mind I'm going to use my powers to let my friends go" Fred said as he began walking towards the dungeon cell, however he was stopped my the sinister warlock as he raised his arms, closed his eyes and cast a spell to stop the younger of the two sorcerers from completing his mission.
Once Mr. Steele finished up his spell, Fred found himself walking into what felt like a barrier of some kind, only he couldn't see it because as he himself had been a little while ago, the barrier was in fact invisible, which aggravated the young warlock to no end, as his plan to save his friends had been thwarted for now.
"Well Mr. Jones, it appears that once again I have stopped you from rescuing your friends; and it also appears that I continue to perplex you and make you look like an absolute fool, it's really a shame because I thought that you were going to be a tougher opponent and I really thought you were really going to be more of a challenge for me, but now I see that you're nothing but a rank amateur" Mr. Steele declared, almost laughing in the face of Fred as he stood behind the barrier.
Although Fred's opponent was a sinister sorcerer, he felt sorry for the younger warlock, so he decided to cast another spell and remove the invisible barrier which held Fred in place; now that the barrier was gone, the blond sleuth decided now it was the right time to attack the elder warlock, but before he was able to do so Mr. Steele held his hand up, stopping Fred in his tracks, which made him angry.
"Look you creep, if you're going to continue to play games with me then I'm going to use the full force of my amulet's powers to lock you away where you can't do anyone any more harm" Fred declared, while he could feel his face getting redder and his blood boiling once again.
"Games? Now that's a fine idea Mr. Jones, why didn't I think of it first?" Mr. Steele mused.
"Just what are you planning now, you villain?" Fred asked.
"Villain? Oh that was a really original comeback for someone whose supposed to be a meddling kid and who has helped send who knows how many lawbreakers to jail, bravo Mr. Jones, bravo!" Mr. Steele replied, clapping as he spoke, although everyone in the room including Fred could tell he was doing it sarcastically.
"So what did you mean by games Mr. Steele?" Fred asked.
"Very simple young sorcerer; I have decided to make our little battle interesting, what do you say I give you an, oh five minute head start and then I am going to track you down and destroy you, what do you say to that?" Mr. Steele questioned.
"I say game on, you fiend" Fred replied.
With that Mr. Steele sent the younger warlock into the mansion, while in the dungeon the rest of Mystery Inc. and the sinister warlock waited for the villainous sorcerer to go after the young adult; once the five minute head start was up, Jonathan Steele cast a spell and vanished from the dungeon room, presumably reappearing somewhere in the expansive house.
Inside the dungeon cell, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby along with the Hex Girls realized they needed to do something to help their friend, even though four of them had no magical skills whatsoever, while three of them had some Wiccan based skills, but not as much as the two warlocks.
"Gang, we've got to figure a way out of here; if Mr. Steele catches Fred, he could take away his amulet and powers, or worse…" Daphne remarked, starting to tear up as she spoke.
"Don't worry Daphne, we'll find a way out of this dungeon; then we can help Freddie, I hope" Velma replied.
"Like that's all well and good Daphne, but if we're locked in dungeon and an evil warlock put us here, then wouldn't there be some kind of spell on this cell?" Shaggy asked.
"I don't know Shaggy, Mr. Steele seems to be the type of warlock that while he seems to be powerful, he can sometimes forget things" Thorn chimed in.
"Like how can you tell Thorn?" Shaggy inquired, looking over at the leader of the musical trio.
"Trust me Shaggy, when you've been involved and interested in magic as long as I have with my Wiccan background, I can sense when people are lying about magic, or are saying something they don't mean" Thorn replied.
"Wow Thorn, like that's pretty good; I didn't know you knew that much about witchcraft" Shaggy remarked.
"It helps to have a mother and grandmother who know about natural magic, plus there is the fact that it kind of runs in the family" Thorn noted.
"Cool Thorn, I might have to visit your family some day" Shaggy replied.
"I think they would like you Shaggy, but you would have to probably not be as chicken as you are now" Thorn remarked.
"Like I don't know about that Thorn, but I'll certainly give it a try" Shaggy replied.
"I know I would definitely appreciate it if you did" Thorn said with a smile on her face while she looked over at the cowardly young adult, who of course smiled back at her.
"As much as I would like to sit here in this dungeon all day and night, we've got to figure a way out of here so we can help Fred" Velma said, placing a hand on Shaggy's shoulder as she spoke.
"Like that makes sense Velma, but there's one other problem that we have to solve" Shaggy replied, looking over at Velma as he thought over the group's dire situation.
"What's that Shaggy?" Velma asked.
"Like we still have to get out of this dungeon cell and find Fred so we can help him" Shaggy replied.
"True Shaggy, very true" Velma remarked.
"But like there's still the problem of how we're going to get out of this dungeon so we can find Fred" Shaggy noted.
"I anticipated that, and even though Fred's not here to help us, I think I have a plan that he might like" Velma replied.
"Like what Velma?" Shaggy inquired.
"Simple: Scooby can undo the lock of our cell, then we can get out of here" Velma explained; however, as soon as the bespectacled young woman mentioned Scooby's name, the chicken hearted Great Dane began whimpering, and looking scared as he usually did.
"Ruh-uh, ro ray, rot re" the canine detective said, shaking his head as he spoke.
"Come on Scooby, you have to use one of your claws to undo the lock, it's our only way out of here" Velma said, trying to reason with the Great Dane.
"Rell, ri ruess ri rould" the canine sleuth replied, before being hugged by Velma; Scooby Doo then reciprocated the young woman's affection by licking her face, which made her smile.
"OK Scoob, get to it" Shaggy stated; so with that the canine member of the group reached his paw out in front of the cell and specifically the lock in order to try and open the dungeon for his friends.
After a few tense moments of trying to trick the dungeon's lock, the canine mystery solver and his friends heard the distinct click of a lock, which meant that the dungeon cell was now open, which also meant that Scooby and company could exit their ghastly prison and could freely move about the room.
However, after the initial joviality from the gang they knew they had a specific reason why they wanted to get out of the dungeon, and that was to help their newly magically endowed friend in his battle against Jonathan Steele, which was probably going on as they spoke.
"Well gang, we're finally out of that creepy prison" Velma remarked.
"Right, and now that we're out of there it's time to help Freddie before something happens to him; I just hope we can find him before it's too late" Daphne replied.
With that Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby, followed closely behind by the trio of musicians known as the Hex Girls exited the door of the room that contained the dungeon cell where the Great Dane and his friends had been trapped only a few minutes before.
The members of Mystery Inc. had a great sense of urgency as they prepared to assist Fred Jones in his quest to defeat the sinister sorcerer, and hoped that whatever they did it would be enough to assist the young warlock, and hoped that this strange mystery that had started when the members of Mystery Inc. traveled to New England to see their musical friends the Hex Girls, would soon end in a favorable outcome for all.
However, the members of the detective agency were unaware that once this mystery ended, another mystery would begin, only this mystery wouldn't be solved as easily as most of the gang's cases; in fact, this new mystery might not ever be solved, and in addition to that it would change one of the members of Mystery Inc.'s lives forever.
Author's Notes: Well, here we are at the end of Chapter 10… and the story's not over yet; oh well, at least it's a good story. Hopefully Chapter 11 will be the final chapter in this story, at least that's what I'm planning on; if not, then I'll keep going.