Chapter 12: Unexpected
Fred and the girls stood at where they were, completely dumbfounded by what they were witnessing.
"Holy moly..." Fred trailed off.
"Jeepers..." Daphne agreed.
Standing on the podium were Shaggy and Scooby, who were both literally on fire with the flames containing their shadowed outlines.
However, in spite of being literally on fire, the duo didn't seem concerned about the flames at all as several more lightning rods struck the surrounding Parademons.
As Fred and the girls looked on, Shaggy and Scooby both stepped forward, and it was clear that their eyes are both surrounded by flames.
Turning towards the Parademons that were flying towards Fred and the girls, Scooby raised a paw, firing several lightning bolts and fireballs towards the swooping Parademons.
As the Parademons take their hits and crashes towards the ground, Scooby growled, "En garde!"
"Like, nobody messes with our friends!" Shaggy added as his fired shots struck more of the Parademons.
A couple of the Parademons managed to evade the shots from the duo and flew towards them, intending to swoop them away.
However, the minute those two Parademons got close to the duo, Shaggy and Scooby both generated lightning bolts surrounding their bodies, giving the two Parademons each a nasty shock and leading to them crashing onto the ground.
As that was happening, the hooded man stepped forward in surprise.
"What is this?!" He demanded as he stepped forward towards the duo. "This isn't supposed to happen!"
With one hand grabbing the Daemon Ritus, the man tried to summon another spell, only for Fred and the girls, who managed to approach him closely, to step in and grabbed him by the arm.
"I guess you didn't realize that the water spray, upon striking the Daemon Ritus, caused the lightning strike that was meant for you to be diverted towards the pole where you tied our friends at, Mister whatever your name is." Daphne smirked.
It was then that Professor Phibes joined them, during which Fred and Velma turned towards him.
"Professor, are the girls all right?" Velma asked.
"Yes, they just got back to your worried schoolmates at the school library!" Phibes nodded before noticing the Parademons and added, "Is everything okay?"
"I believe Shag and Scooby are taking care of things on that front, Professor." Fred said as he pointed towards the dwindling army of Parademons in the back with his thumb. "In the meantime, we've got your ex-research assistant."
"And good thing, too." Phibes narrowed his eyes as Fred and the girls forced the research assistant to turn around and face him.
Eying the Daemon Ritus in the man's hand, Phibes swiftly grabbed it away and said, "I will be taking this if you don't mind, Donald!"
With his eyes narrowing, the professor added, "No words can describe how deeply disappointed I am in you, Mr. Tkachuk."
"I take it that you thought that he had promise, eh Professor?" Velma interjected.
"He had." Phibes nodded. "That is, until he embezzled research funds for my latest project and I fired him, and now he kidnapped your schoolmates and forced them to work to find this treasure."
As the professor was speaking, neither him nor Fred or the girls noticed that Tkachuk's hand had managed to obtain a hidden blade.
"Well, why shouldn't I, Professor Phibes?" Tkachuk spat. "You always took credit for all of my findings and never acknowledged my work or contributions! I could've made a name for myself by finding this Daemon Ritus if you weren't constantly dismissing my work!"
"So you decided to get even with me by embezzling funds and kidnap those girls, huh?" Phibes retorted. "Is this what this is all about? Glory? Ego?"
"Coming from someone who himself has an over-inflated ego." Tkachuk responded.
Then, before the professor could respond, Tkachuk suddenly swung his right hand and gave the professor a cut, forcing the older man to stumble backwards in pain.
As Fred and the girls gasped, Tkachuk took advantage of the situation and snatched the Daemon Ritus away from him and moved back to the podium.
"Stay back!" He shouted as Fred and the girls tried to intervene, his other hand raised with its palm facing the trio and the professor. "I know the many secrets of the Daemon Ritus, and though the lightning strike hit those bumbling fools instead of me, it's nothing more than a mere delay in my plans!"
Fred and the girls stood at where they were, not sure what to do next.
"And now, to give those pesky duo a taste of their own medicine!" Tkachuk continued as he turned towards Shaggy and Scooby, who had managed to defeat the last of the Parademon army.
Without missing a beat, Tkachuk fired several antimatter shots towards the duo, knocking them completely out cold!
Fred and the girls gasped in horror.
"Shaggy!" Daphne shouted.
"Scooby!" Velma added.
"What did you do?" Fred demanded as he turned towards Tkachuk.
"Relax." Tkachuk replied with a humourless smile. "I merely put those pests to sleep!"
Then, with his left hand holding onto the Daemon Ritus, Tkachuk raised his right hand towards the sky as he continued, "And now, for the grand finale of the Darkopolypse Ritual!"
With Fred and the girls narrowing their eyes, the ex-research assistant began his chant.
"By the power of almighty-" Tkachuk was about to resume the ritual when the unmistakable sound of thunder began rolling in.
Fred and the girls shared looks with each other and looked up towards the sky, all while Tkachuk paused before he followed suit.
Noting that the clouds were getting darker, and with louder thunder approaching from the horizon, Tkachuk's face paled.
"Oh no..." He muttered.
Just as Fred and the girls turned around, it started to rain heavily.
Noticing the Daemon Ritus in his hand, the trio looked at each other before quickly running off.
The trio couldn't have picked a better minute to run off, as at that very minute, the Daemon Ritus began generating a large voltage of electricity.
"YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Tkachuk cried as the electricity from the Daemon Ritus began frying him.
Fred, the girls and Phibes all winced and partially covered their faces with their right arm while Tkachuk's skeleton began to flash.
Then, in a matter of minutes, smoke emerged from his person as the force generated led to the Daemon Ritus fly out of his hand.
During this time, Shaggy and Scooby managed to regain consciousness, and they both groaned and placed their hands over their foreheads.
"Oh..." Shaggy groaned as he and Scooby got up. "What...just happened, Scoob?"
"Ri don't know, Raggy." Scooby shook his head. "Rast ring Ri remember ris getting re lightning shock."
"Odd, that's what I remember." Shaggy nodded as they turned towards Tkachuk and took in the scene in front of them.
Tkachuk was still in the process of electrocution, and the duo saw the Daemon Ritus in his hand being the source of the electricity.
The duo then winced as smoke emerged from a mild explosion, which was then followed by the Daemon Ritus flying out of Tkachuk's hand.
Shaggy and Scooby then walked over as the electricity dissipated from Tkachuk's body, and the ex-research assistant collapsed onto the ground, completely smoking and covered in soot.
Fred and the girls uncovered their eyes just as Shaggy and Scooby emerged through the smoke.
"Shaggy!" Fred shouted. "Scooby!"
"Are you guys alright?" Velma added.
"Other than feeling like we were in some pretty weird dream..." Shaggy rubbed his forehead. "I think we're okay."
"Reah." Scooby agreed as his tail pointed towards Tkachuk. "Retter than rim, rin fact."
"I'm sure you guys are." Fred nodded.
Just as the rain began to dissipate, a sudden flash of light blinded the group.
The group winced and covered their eyes, during which a bright wormhole-like entity opened up.
Then, as the group slowly uncovered their eyes, they witnessed the downed Parademons getting sucked into the bright wormhole that has opened up in the sky.
Once the past of the Parademons had disappeared, the bright wormhole then closed, and the rain stopped.
As the clouds began to disperse and the sun started to shine, Shaggy and Scooby looked at Fred and the girls.
"So...what just happened?" Shaggy asked.
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