The gang were upstairs in Maldor's throne room, but he wasn't there. No sign of him or his magic anywhere. The room was dark and mostly empty. The only lights there were everyone's flashlights.

"He should be around here somewhere," Daphne said.

"I don't wanna see him anywhere!" Shaggy gulped.

"Re either!" Scooby added, shivering uncontrollably and whimpering.

Meanwhile, Jayden noticed that he didn't know much about Asamad. In fact, he and the others didn't really know what actually made Asamad want to redeem himself. Sure, he did say that after he saw Vincent the night he was recaptured he began to regret his misdeeds, but he never really explained why. Jayden was wondering about it for almost the past month.

"So Asamad, how's the afterlife?" he asked the ghost.

"It's… lonely for the most part," Asamad answered. "Especially when you're locked up in the Chest of Demons. Sure, I had 12 other demons in there with me, but I was still locked away from the world. From everything I knew. After I started to want to redeem myself, I was completely alone. I didn't talk to them much and I was staying away from the other 12 ghosts as far as I could."

"Well that sounds... depressing," Jayden replied, "To be honest, I always thought the chest was more like a hellhole, but only for the top 13 worst people to ever exist."

"In a way, it is. No one liked being in there. Especially me. In fact, the 2 actual reasons that I started to seek redemption were because I had this terrifying vision of all the pain and damage I caused to everyone around me. When I saw that vision, I realized how I hurt so many people, especially how I hurt my friends, my wife, my son, and even Vincent."

"And what was the other reason?"

"The other 12 ghosts… they tried to do something to me," he admitted, "something that even I thought was too cruel."

"What exactly did they try to do to you?" Velma wondered.

"I don't really like to talk about it, which is why I didn't mention it before. All I can say is that they tried to do it to me because I lost to Vincent in a battle, due to him being just as powerful as I am. Let's just say, they didn't like that at all, so they tried to do something to me that was way too painful. And they say that I betrayed them? They have no idea how much they betrayed me! So, I decided I didn't want to be associated with them anymore. Or ever be known as Asmodeus ever again."

"Isn't it a little hypocritical for them to turn on you for losing to Vincent when they themselves couldn't defeat Vincent?" Jayden questioned.

"I suppose it is, yes. But, they were all rooting for me to defeat him. They said that I could do it, and when I lost, well…." he trailed off, remembering what happened that day.

Cheryl changed the subject, not wanting to upset the ghost.

"Didn't you say that after the night Vincent captured you back in the chest was when you started to seek redemption?" she asked him.

"Yes, and that was true. He was my biggest motivation to escape the chest one day and he did play an important role in my plan to seek redemption, watch over him, regain my human form, and then move on peacefully to the afterlife. If it wasn't for him, I'd definitely still be trapped in the chest and I'd still be evil," the ghost told her.

Vincent looked at him and merely smiled. It was nice to hear his ancestor say that. He can relate to Asamad on the fact that they've both been alone and separated from society, since he locked himself away in his castle. But of course, Asamad didn't choose to be trapped in the chest, and the reason why he was is because he was so evil and dangerous with his powers back then. Vincent however, locked himself away for a completely different reason. He did regret pushing people away, especially the kids. Vincent had already apologized for it on the way over to Maldor's place, and they forgave him immediately.

The room went silent for another moment, until Flim Flam asked a question.

"You know I've always wondered, why do ghosts even stick around on Earth? Why don't they cross over right away and find peace in the afterlife when they die?"

"Because we can't. Some of us don't want to, others have unfinished business, some can't rest without a proper memorialization or grave, maybe some of us are too attached to a worldly item or a living person, sometimes others don't even know they're dead. Sometimes, someone they love is mourning them too much, so they're still bound to this world. Some ghosts are even afraid of crossing over because they were awful people in life and they don't want to deal with the consequences of getting sent to an afterlife full of sorrow and pain. Whatever the case is, every ghost is different, so we all have our own reasons for not being able to cross over and rest in peace just yet," Asamad responded.

"Maybe your reason for not moving on is because you have unfinished business?" Daphne guessed.

"Technically, yes. I'm not done watching over and protecting Vincent and the rest of you yet. So until the rest of the ghosts are recaptured, and I know that I succeeded in keeping you all safe, I'll stick around."

"Is it also true that salt burns out the souls of ghosts?"

"It is," Asamad sighed, "Also, demons and ghosts aren't allowed near any objects that are considered to be holy or sacred. It can destroy our souls. So, I should probably stay away from all of that stuff, since I don't want to risk having my soul being destroyed or having it burnt out. It was already bad enough being in that chest for most of my afterlife. That's why you, the living, are so lucky. Yet, you don't even realize it. You don't have to worry about having your souls burnt out by salt and you're not supposed to be anywhere else than right here. Also, you don't have to worry about being too powerful for you to sustain a human form since you don't have magic. That's exactly how I got this demonic form in the first place. Sure, you can't comprehend eternity or the afterlife right now, but you don't have to since you don't live forever here on Earth anyways."

"That's somewhat interesting," Cheryl mentioned, "Considering the fact that souls, ghosts, and spirits can't die. Or at least they just can't be killed by mortals."

"You're right. Souls, ghosts, and spirits can't die. No one can kill something that's already immortal or dead. Since there is an afterlife, you're supposed to live on forever after death, which is why spirits are immortal. But having your soul destroyed isn't the same thing as dying. Although, it can feel like dying all over again depending on how slow, fast, or painful it is. Once, I heard that when you have it destroyed, you just don't exist anymore at all. Even memories and any proof of your existence are wiped from the Earth, as if you never existed. You'd just be gone. It's a fate worse than death itself in my opinion."

No one knew how to respond to that.

"Well Asamad, however long you have to stick around, just remember that you're one of the only ghosts and or demons me and Scoob aren't afraid of. Which is, you know, not very common," Shaggy grinned.

"Why thank you Shaggy."

"Like no worries."

"I wonder what the names of the other ghosts from the chest are," Velma commented.

"Well you've already heard of Maldor and you've met Asmodeus, who now goes by Asamad again," Vincent began, "The others are Queen Morbidia, Reflector Specter, Zomba, Captain Ferguson, Nekara, Marcella, Time Slime, Demondo, Rankor, Professor Phantazmo, and Zimbulu."

"Don't you mean ZIMBULU! LION DEMON!" Jayden laughed, and everyone else laughed along with him.

"Yes! I forgot that was how he pronounced his own name!" Cheryl giggled.

After everyone stopped laughing, Jayden then turned to Asamad, speaking to him once again:

"You know, I think we should get to know each other a little better, since you're gonna be around us for a while. I'll start. I'm an artist. I draw and paint pictures. I'm also a photographer and sometimes I even write stories."

"And I'm an editor," Cheryl chimed in, "I edit videos. I'm also a cheerleader at my high school. Jayden and I have been friends since we started 3rd grade. I met him after I moved from New Jersey to Staten Island."

"That's very nice. You two must be very talented at what you do," Asamad answered.

"We'll show you some of our work later," Jayden promised, "Got anything you want to tell us about yourself?"

"I do. But I think I should deal with Maldor first."

The temperature in the room suddenly dropped. It was a clear sign of Maldor's presence. It was common knowledge that when ghosts entered the room, the living would notice that the room would become cold.

The room went silent again, well mostly silent. The only sound left was the sound of Shaggy & Scooby's chattering teeth that filled the entire room.

Still, no one saw him until he appeared on his throne. With a look of death in his yellow eyes.

"WHERE IS THE WONDER WAND OF ZADGRAZ?" he fumed.

"Don't look at me, I don't have it!" Velma spoke, with her hands up in the air, showing that they were empty, "I don't even know what that is!"

"Rit's a magic wand that fills the world with beauty rwhen placed in the right hands," Scooby explained to her, reminiscing about what the wizard named Zadgraz told him back then.

"Listen Maldor, you're just not gonna get it. It's just not gonna happen. The only person that I believe is worthless here, is not Vincent, but instead, it's you," Cheryl scorned at him.

"YOU! How dare you say those words in front of me?" Maldor hissed, as he shot a blast of dark magic at where she was standing and she fell through the floor screaming.

"Cheryl!" the others called her name, rushing over to the hole in the floor where she had fallen. But she couldn't hear them, not when she fell so far down.

"She's gone…" Daphne sighed.

"What did you do to her?" Jayden questioned, worried for his best friend.

"DON'T QUESTION ME, MORTAL!" Maldor hissed, as he shot a blast of magic at him but then missed when Vincent put up his cape to protect Jayden.

"Thanks Vincent," Jayden spoke.

"You're very welcome," Vincent replied.

The demon laughed evilly now.

"Join us again, King Asmodeus," he said to Asamad, "and you'll only find peace. That's what you want, right?"

Asamad took a moment to fight his evil temptations. He struggled with them for a bit, then yelled "No! You shall not refer to me as Asmodeus anymore! My name is Asamad!" in response, and started to fight Maldor, blasting magic at him while Maldor fought back with his magic.

Vincent was protecting the others with his cape from some of Maldor's magic that was being thrown at them. He eventually tried to join in the fight and told the others to run, but everyone refused, and they kept pulling him back so he wouldn't get hurt.

Velma tried to sneak up behind Maldor and trap him in the chest, but then Daphne pulled her away as a fireball almost struck her right in the chest.

Maldor eventually disappeared again as Asamad shot one final blast of magic, just missing him and instead hit his throne, which broke down into pieces.

"Is everyone alright?" he asked them.

"We're fine," Flim Flam promised, "Cheryl's still missing though. There's no doubt that she's in serious danger!"

"Come on gang!" Daphne exclaimed, "We have to find her!"

Then, everyone ran out of the room, except Asamad, who just flew out, since he preferred to fly because he still had his demon wings.

Cheryl kept falling and falling until she landed on a bed. It had mostly clean, white sheets and a white pillow at the head of the bed.

She then noticed a small stain on the white sheets. A small red stain.

"Is, is that… blood?" She whispered to herself.

She screamed, hoping someone would hear her, and come save her from this.

But no one heard her. No one came in to save her.

She then looked around to see if there was a way out. A secret door or tunnel or something. But there was no way out.

"Wait a minute. Where am I?" she thought to herself.

She then remembered that this was the exact same place that Daphne was put under the sleeping curse. Just with different colored sheets and a different colored pillow.

Cheryl panicked now. She could feel her heart racing and her whole body shaking.

"Not this… I gotta get out of here."

Sure, Cheryl always looked up to Daphne. She always dreamed of being like her. But she never wanted to go through the same traumatic experiences that Daphne went through.

Before Cheryl could get off the bed, a large glass case appeared all around her, trapping her in the bed. She banged on the glass as hard as she could, but it was unbreakable.

Then, she saw him. Maldor, standing at the foot of the bed, smiling creepily at her.

"Let me out!" she ordered, banging on the glass again until her hands hurt.

"No, I don't think I will," Maldor said after he thought about it for a second.

Then, he recited the words of "The Sleep of the Centuries" curse.

"Spell of darkness," he began, his eyes turning red as she stared into them, "trance so deep. Now and forever. Sleep."

Cheryl tried to fight the curse, but she couldn't. She couldn't keep her eyes open, and she felt way too tired. So, she laid down on her back, closed her eyes, and fell asleep. She was now unable to move or speak.

"May you sleep until the end of time," Maldor stated, laughing evilly again.

And then all she saw was darkness…

Eternal darkness...