Notes: This is episode 1 of my reboot/sequel of The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby Doo titled "13 Ghosts Of Scooby Doo In 2021." Most of my episodes will be in a different order than the episodes of 13 Ghosts were. I'll write 12 episodes in total. I gave an explanation as to why Velma was skeptical and why she wanted to open the chest. What happened to Scrappy and why the gang left Vincent in my timeline is explained here. This and some other fics of mine will be a little darker and sadder than the original series. The gang will call Vincent by his first name because I feel like they're close to him enough to call him that. They'll call him Mr. Van Ghoul at some point. I love the found family trope, so the gang falls under that trope here and all of my episodes. I had Shaggy, Scooby, and Daphne be from California because I want to go there someday. Captain Ferguson is one of the 13 Ghosts in my 'verse. Jayden and Cheryl are my OC's and they'll be a part of the gang in my series. I'm referring to the ghosts from the chest as both ghosts and demons. In my timeline, the events of 13 Ghosts took place from September 2015 - December 2016 and my series will take place from March 2021 - March 2022. My fanfic, "A New Ghost In Town," took place in February 2021. (Of course, in a world without COVID)

Date: Sunday March 7th, 2021

It was around 9 in the morning. Vincent looked out the window of his study, seeing Daphne's red van parked right in front of his castle. He was relieved that the gang would move back in with him after all this time. He never thought he'd see them again after the abhorrent fight between him, Shaggy, and Daphne, until he called them last month on the crystal ball and they answered.

He couldn't stop thinking about how much he missed him after they left. Every day and every night he felt so guilty remembering every little thing he said during the fight, and how Cheryl, Jayden, and Flim Flam, who were only 11 years old at the time, just stood by with upset looks on their faces seeing the three adults they looked up to the most just yelling and screaming at eachother. To make matters worse, they had a close friend of theirs mysteriously disappear after they caught the 12th ghost.

And when the gang split apart, Flim Flam would be alone again on the streets of the Himalayas. Shaggy, Daphne, and Scooby all returned to California. Cheryl and Jayden both went back home to Staten Island. As for Vincent, well he would go back to being alone in his castle, as he was before he met them and ever since his sister passed away.

Now, things were different. Both him and the gang found their way back to each other. After all, he enjoyed having them around. He regretted pushing them away and arguing with them after Scrappy's disappearance. This time, he has to re-learn that he's not alone anymore. Not ever again.

The gang got out of the van, carrying their luggage. They flew over from Daphne's house to the Himalayas weeks after they dropped off Vincent at his castle when they were flying back to California. Then, they decided to drive the rest of the way over here, moving back into what they considered to be the best castle they'd ever seen. Cheryl was wearing a black leather jacket, a black t-shirt with the logo of one of her favorite bands, cuffed blue ripped jeans with a red and black flannel tied around her waist, and black knee high boots, with her hair half up in a bun and the other half down, while carrying a red suitcase.

Jayden, her best and closest friend since 3rd grade, was wearing a camouflage jacket, black jeans, white adidas sneakers, and a white long sleeve shirt and blue and black flannel underneath, while carrying a blue suitcase. He considered her to be family, and she did too. Although they've known each other for almost 8 years, it feels like they've known each other forever. Sometimes, he affectionately called her "Cher" and she affectionately called him "Jay."

Some said they were inseparable. Which could not be more true. Her and Jayden did everything together. She loved him, and he loved her too.

Today was, unfortunately, the 1 year anniversary of Cheryl's father's death. He died when she was still a freshman in high school. She felt so alone after her dad's passing, although her mother, whose name was Rose, her brother, whose name was Jack, Jayden and the rest of her friends from school were there for her. She stayed in bed and cried for days. Even though it's been a year, she never fully got over it. But she kept reminding herself to carry on and be strong.

The doorbell rang, or in this case, screamed, as it always did since Vincent claimed the whole castle to himself. He teleported to the front door, with his ancestor, Asamad standing right next to him, with his arms crossed. Vincent opened the door, seeing his old friends and his new friend Velma smile at him, and he smiled back.

"Welcome back to Castle Van Ghoul, I'll handle your luggage," Asamad grinned as he snapped his fingers and their things suddenly disappeared, neatly unpacked and put away in all of their bedrooms.

"Howdy ghost!, what can I do ya for?" Flim Flam exclaimed, walking over to shake the ghost's hand.

Cheryl rolled her eyes in slight annoyance, she knew Flim Flam always tried to strike up conversations with people with that ridiculous phrase. But, at the same time, she found it amusing. She'd be lying if she said she didn't miss it. She was surprised when he didn't say much the first time they met Asamad. That might've been because he was afraid of him like everyone else was. That is, until they found out he was seeking redemption, watching over and protecting Vincent and his friends, which made Vincent and the others feel a little better. Of course, they still don't fully trust him yet, but maybe they will as time passes.

"I am very glad to have you all stay here," Vincent said, in his usual polite tone.

"Well, we're glad to be back, right guys?" Daphne said, with everyone nodding in agreement, except Velma, who hasn't been here before.

They all went upstairs to the study, where Vincent was sitting in a big chair in front of the fireplace. Everyone except Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby sat on the large red couch that the coffee table was in front of. There was the sound of silence before Cheryl asked a question:

"Hey uh, where's Asamad?"

"I'm here," the demon said, suddenly appearing right next to Vincent.

Vincent then started speaking, looking directly in front of him.

"So, as most of you know, Maldor the Malevolent, whose location I have recently discovered, is the first ghost we have to capture."

"Ugh, I remember him." Daphne scoffed. "He put me under his 'Sleep Of The Centuries' spell."

"Yeah, and like we wouldn't have to hunt him down this time if somebody didn't decide to reopen the chest," Shaggy fumed, glancing right at Velma. Scooby also cast a glance at her.

"I apologized already!" Velma said, trying to defend herself.

"Rhat doesn't make it rokay." Scooby whimpered, still shaking in fear due to knowing that he has to hunt demons again.

"Shaggy, Scooby, you unlocked the chest too, stop being so hypocritical." Jayden said.

"But we were tricked into doing it by those two ghosts, Bogel and Weerd!" Shaggy reminded him, "Velma did it on purpose."

"Okay, that's enough." Vincent declared, "Now tell me Velma, why did you really open the chest?"

"I heard voices telling me to open it," Velma admitted.

"Voices?" Cheryl repeated in concern as she stood up.

"Yes! The voices sounded like they were whispers from the chest. But they were also screaming in my head and I just couldn't ignore them no matter how much i tried!" she shared.

Cheryl then sat back down to where she was, at Jayden's left side. She didn't know what to say. She just had an unreadable expression on her face. She did feel bad for Velma though. Now, she was less mad at her for opening the box, and so was everyone else.

"Is she going crazy?" Jayden whispered to her.

"Jayden!" she whispered back, "She's not crazy. She was just mind controlled or hypnotized or whatever it's called."

Asamad's expression changed, he knew this was the type of thing the other 12 ghosts would do.

"So you were tricked into doing it too?" Shaggy guessed.

"I guess so," Velma mumbled.

Asamad also knew that ghosts had the power to convince mortals that they weren't real. He then figured that it was Bogel & Weerd who used their powers to warp Velma's mind into believing that ghosts and magic didn't exist. They probably used their powers so much that her mind couldn't handle it, so she became overly skeptical. But now, she knew ghosts and magic were real. Still, it was unexplainable for her. No living mortal could ever actually explain the existence of ghosts, they could only accept it.

Velma looked down with a frown on her face, regretting how she acted. Daphne was the first to notice this.

"Velma, are you okay?" Daphne asked.

"I'm really sorry you guys," Velma sighed.

"It's okay, we'll fix this." Asamad promised.

"That's right," Vincent added. "We're going to have to stick together, is that clear? The last time we split up, tragedy struck."

Scooby whimpered once more, remembering what had happened on that day a few December's ago. His nephew, Scrappy Doo, mysteriously disappeared after they caught the 12th ghost. Everyone was so worried. They couldn't even tell Vincent at first they were so upset.

When Vincent found out what happened by Shaggy accidently telling the truth, he tried to push the others away, thinking they would disappear on him too if they were around him any longer. He thought he was too dangerous for people, especially mortals, to be around him. The others refused to leave him. Scooby was back to having a mental breakdown again, but now it was worse than before. He couldn't stop thinking about his nephew's disappearance, what could happen to him or what already probably happened to him, all the ghosts he faced, and about what would happen when they went up against the 13th ghost. He wouldn't even eat anything or sleep at night. Everyone else was so upset. They looked for Scrappy day and night, but he was nowhere to be found.

Somehow, Shaggy, Daphne, and Vincent got into a huge fight. With Vincent saying that ghost hunting is way too dangerous and they should leave him so that he can deal with the last ghost, Daphne disagreed with him, and Shaggy somehow got dragged into it all. They were eventually yelling and screaming at each other. Scooby was not happy about this at all, in fact it made him feel worse. The other three watched in silence, looking uneasy. Everytime they tried to stop them from fighting, they were either interrupted or ignored. So, eventually, after all that pain, and after all the fighting, the gang were forced to move out and go back home in mid January of 2017. Leaving and splitting up was the hardest thing they ever had to do. No one got over it.

"It's been almost five years, I still can't believe he's gone," Flim Flam sighed.

"It still hurts to this day," Daphne grieved while wiping the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

"Wait, who's gone? What happened?" Velma wondered, breaking the sad silence that plagued the room for a minute.

"Rappy disappeared a few years ago, after re caught the 12th ghost," Scooby told her.

Velma gasped and put her hand over her mouth in shock.

"And we haven't seen him since. I'm not even sure if we'll ever see him again," Vincent fretted.

Daphne seemed to frown from hearing that. "Don't say that," she cried, "Please don't say that. We have to find him one day, if we don't, what will we do?"

Nobody wanted to know the answer to that question.

"Exactly Daphne, and the rest of us aren't going anywhere," Jayden stated, "We're staying. I'm so lucky to know all of you and I'm so proud of you guys."

"Jay's right," Cheryl agreed, grabbing his hand and holding it tight, "We're gonna recapture these ghosts for Scrappy, without a doubt. We're gonna find him and bring him home. I believe that things will work out just fine. Our group, the 13 Ghosts Gang, always finds a way to make things work out." She then smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"We're all in this together, now and forever," Daphne announced, "We're a team."

"Yeah! Come on guys, let's show these demons what we're made of!" Flim Flam cheered.

"Like yeah, but can we stop for a quick bite to eat? Me and Scoob would love to get a pizza right about now." Shaggy mouthed.

"Reah! Can we?" Scooby asked, getting back to his old self.

"We'll see about that," Velma answered.

Vincent half smiled at this. This is what he missed. Daphne's love for her friends, Cheryl's faith and certainty, Jayden's words of affirmation, Flim Flam's energy, and Shaggy & Scooby's love for eating. He still missed Scrappy too, and so did everyone. But he knew things would be okay again, as long as the gang were here with him again.

Everyone then stormed out of the room to get in the van, except for Asamad and Vincent, who now stood up from his chair.

"I can tell you're happy to see them," Asamad said at last.

"Well of course I am," Vincent confirmed, getting his crystal ball ready.

"You've spent way too much time alone, those kids are the reason you won't be isolated from anyone ever again," his ancestor noted.

"Well, I wouldn't say that I spent way too much time alone-"

"Oh come on Vincent, everyone knows it. Look, I don't know what happened to you before we met, or how exactly many years you've spent alone, but I'm not going to let you suffer anymore, and neither are the others. I won't hurt you ever again, I swear. I won't hurt your friends either."

Vincent was satisfied at hearing this. And he stood there with a small smile on his face for a couple of seconds, until he finally spoke again:

"I really appreciate that, thank you. Listen, I can't tell you how pleased I was when you first told me that you were watching over and protecting me and the kids. It means the world to me that you, the person I used to have nightmares of when I was a child, learned the error of your evil ways and started to want to redeem yourself. I'm still surprised to this day."

"I know. I'm so glad it means a lot to you. I am very sorry for all the evil things I have done, and for giving you nightmares, and for hurting you and so many others. And by the way, don't you mean your family?" Asamad interrogated.

"I suppose I can forgive you, Asamad. It might take me a while to trust you just as much as I trust the others, but that doesn't mean it won't happen one day." Vincent stated.

"Thank you, my descendant."

"You're welcome. Wait," Vincent commented, acknowledging what he just heard seconds ago, "Did you say my family?"

"Yep. Your family. You literally broke the laws of time to save them from Time Slime, remember?"

"Well, admittedly I did do that."

"My point exactly. Once, I accidentally overheard them saying that you're their father figure. I assume they never told you, did they?" the demon speculated.

"No, they did not," he verified.

Then both the warlock and the demon teleported out of the room, joining the others on their ghost hunt.