Notes: the names of Daphne's parents seem to change with each adaptation/timeline, particularly Mr. Blake. I went with Elizabeth for Mrs. Blake, as that was what Mr. Blake addressed her as in "No Thanks, Masked Manx," from The New Scooby and Scrappy Show, two series prior to 13 Ghosts. As for Mr. Blake, I went with George (his name in the "Behind the Scenes" featurettes early in the WB era) for two main reasons; one, for the Back to the Future reference (as Marty McFly's father is named George), and the other reason will eventually be revealed in-story.
As time ticked on, the guests at the banquet began to leave; the worry of the Time Worm coming back was enough to put an end to the festivities, much to Dr. Midori's disappointment. Nevertheless, he went home with his family and his two friends, stopping to thank Shaggy for helping Velma with the search—and hoping that they wouldn't find any evidence that might delay or cancel the launch.
Once the guests had left and the authorities began searching the place, Vincent seized the moment to use the Time Scepter to seal the holes; as the authorities ordered them to leave, they left without complaint, walking along the beach, waiting for the Time Worm to return.
"You're sure that thing will show up here and not at the base where the others are?" Shaggy asked.
"Quite sure," Vincent said. "Once it digs out of the space-time continuum, the worm is still limited by what substrate it can pass through—the solid floors of the base will be impossible for it to dig through. But that doesn't mean that the others are invulnerable; Asmodeus can still send other things to attack them." He sighed, silently chiding himself for not starting Daphne on her spellcasting lessons sooner. "Hopefully, Daphne will have the foresight to contact me if there's any sort of trouble…"
He trailed off as the ground shook.
"Get ready!" he instructed, handing the Chest to Shaggy.
Shaggy gulped, but nodded.
"Rhere it is!" Scooby exclaimed, pointing to where a large swath of sand was being disturbed.
The Time Worm emerged, hissing as it looked around, gnashing its pincers.
Flim-Flam stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly.
"Over here, you big bug!" Scrappy barked.
The Time Worm turned towards them, and Vincent seized the moment—
"Temporal Chains!"
The green chains of light appeared around the Time Worm, and Shaggy now attempted to draw the beast into the Chest. But the worm shrieked, bringing up sand and swirling energy from the Time Vortex around it—energy that dissolved the chains on contact.
"What…!?" Vincent gasped, his eyes going wide. It was the first time that spell had ever failed him.
The Time Worm now pulled away from the draw of the Chest, shrieking again, and Vincent regained his poise—
"Blizzara!"
The chilling blizzard served to drive the creature back further; between Vincent's power and Shaggy holding the Chest, the creature decided that Asmodeus's orders were lower on the priority list. With another shriek, it burrowed into the ground again, into another portal. Vincent quickly sealed the two new portals with the Time Scepter once more.
"Wow, Vince, that thing acted like it was afraid of you!" Flim-Flam commented.
"Once I realized its elemental weakness, yes, it quickly realized I was not to be trifled with," Vincent sighed. "But I should have realized that it could use the energy of the Time Vortex to nullify Temporal Chains… However, being subterranean creature, it still retains a weakness to ice-based magic—"
Scooby suddenly let out a yelp, now pointing frantically to the sky. Following his gaze, they saw Bogel and Weerd flying through the sky.
"Where are they going!?" Scrappy fumed.
"Ohhh, I bet they're headed for the base to get the others!" Shaggy fretted. "Mr. V—what do we do!?"
"I'm taking you to Velma's place, and I'll cast a protection spell there," Vincent insisted. "The Time Worm isn't likely to try again anytime soon, but I'd rather not take a chance on your lives. Once that's done, I'll intercept those two ghosts at the base."
"Oh… Okay," Shaggy replied, realizing that this was Vincent's way of telling them to stay out of it for now. He handed back the Chest over to him.
"Rhbe careful out there," Scooby pleaded.
Vincent glanced back at him and nodded in reassurance, teleporting them to safety.
Daphne was more or less quiet as Velma led her and Fred around the base, investigating everything and double-checking the computer logs.
"Let's see, no unauthorized logins or attempts at logging into the network," Velma noted. "Everything is routine."
"And that's the rocket out there on the launchpad that we saw driving in, right?" Fred asked.
"Yes, that's it!" Velma said, proudly. "The Minerva probe is attached to the main rocket; once we clear Earth's gravity, we'll separate the main rocket and let her continue on to Mars on her own rockets."
"What exactly are you hoping to observe?" Daphne asked, speaking for the first time in a while.
"Martian weather patterns, and how that effects the soil—all of this information is going to be incredibly valuable if we do decide to colonize Mars someday!" Velma exclaimed. "Even if we don't colonize Mars, it'll give us an idea of the dynamics of the climate of Mars, and how it could change over time; we can use that information to determine if there ever was a chance—or will be a chance—that Mars could've supported its own life, or may eventually be able to support it."
"…That could be reason enough to sabotage the project," Fred frowned.
"Except that we have no evidence of that thing being tied to the project in any way," Daphne pointed out.
"Daphne's right—and the computer logs prove that there haven't been any attempts," Velma sighed. "I suppose it is possible that the 'worm' we saw was something completely unrelated."
"Oh, I'm sure of it," Daphne insisted.
"Me, too, the more I think about it," Velma admitted. "If it was trying to stop the launch, it would've shown up near the base, not at some banquet hall on the beach; that place is booked solid with parties all through the summer—we had to work hard to snag it for tonight, and even then, it was because of a last-minute cancelation. We almost had it at a different venue that wasn't beachfront."
"What was the cancelation?" Fred asked.
"Wedding reception; the bride and groom decided last-minute that they wanted to have their wedding on the Keys and changed the location of their reception," Velma recalled.
"Maybe the worm was some kind of bachelor party prank that they forgot to move," Fred mused.
"That'd have to be one very elaborate prank," Daphne said. "And that worm seemed too dangerous to be a prank. That thing shouldn't be taken lightly—but I'm still sure that it has nothing to do with the launch."
Fred and Velma glanced at her in surprise.
"You seem really sure about that," Velma observed. "What makes you so confident?"
Daphne went slightly red.
"Um, well…"
She trailed off, but was spared from an explanation by her phone ringing again. Thinking it was Vincent, she took out her phone, and then frowned.
"It's my mom and dad again," she said.
"Again?" Velma asked. "Is everything alright?"
"I'm beginning to have my doubts…" Daphne said, taking the call. "What?"
Fred and Velma both stared, surprised at how frosty her voice sounded as she headed into the corridor to take the call.
"Maybe this is why she's sounded so stressed all this time," Velma sighed. "She's never really seen eye to eye with her parents."
"That's because her parents never really approved of the whole 'solving mysteries' thing," Fred added, recalling how George and Elizabeth Blake had, very reluctantly, allowed Daphne to go along with the others on their adventures, hoping that it was a passing interest that wouldn't last.
To the Blakes' chagrin, it hadn't been just a passing interest—and Daphne wanting to make a career out of it had been a very bitter pill for them to take, particularly when she had flatly refused to have anything to do with the family soap company.
Fred and Velma both jumped as they heard Daphne let out an indignant shriek—
"WHAT!? All this time, that's how you've really felt!?"
They awkwardly looked away, trying very hard to focus on something else and not unintentionally eavesdrop on their friend.
Fred suddenly froze as he glanced out the window. Frowning, he headed over to it, looking outside.
"What is it?" Velma asked.
"I thought I saw something," he said. "Two things, actually—they looked like two, glowing, white blurs."
"Headlights of a security vehicle?" Velma offered.
"Maybe…" Fred mused. "But those didn't look like any headlights I've ever seen. They looked vaguely like people." But why would they be glowing…?
Velma shook her head.
"No one can come onto the base without a pass," she pointed out. "If it's not one of our cars, it's a couple of animals—a lot of them have eyeshine at night, you know."
They cringed again as Daphne's voice was raised once more—
"No, there is nothing else to say about this!" she fumed. "Goodbye." To Fred and Velma's surprise, however, Daphne now seemed to be addressing someone else. "And what do you two want!?"
"Uh…" one of them said, clearly taken aback by her anger. "Uhhh… what did we want, Weerd?"
Fred and Velma exchanged baffled and concerned glances, now moving to cross the room and head for the door.
"Get with it, Dummy!" the other said. "You see, Miss, the illustrious Asmodeus requests the presence of yourself and your two friends—"
"Get out!" a new voice snarled at them. "You stay away from her—and the others! And tell Asmodeus that I refuse to allow him to come anywhere near them!"
The other two voices yelped and seemingly fled; by the time Fred and Velma joined them in the hall, it was just Daphne there, her phone still in her hand, giving a relieved look at Vincent.
"Are you alright!?" Velma asked, looking at Daphne in concern.
"What was going on here—who were those other two guys you were talking to!?" Fred exclaimed. "And where did they go!?"
"It's okay; Mr. Van Ghoul chased them off," Daphne assured them. She gave him another grateful look.
Fred now turned to Velma.
"I thought you said no one can get in here without a pass?" he asked. "How did those two get in?"
"I don't know…" Velma said, surprised. She looked to Vincent. "Come to think of it, how did you…?"
Vincent reached into his pocket and pulled out a pass he had just conjured.
"Being a historian has its privileges," he bluffed. "I've documented many an astronomical endeavor."
Fred let out a low whistle, silently wondering if he could end up doing things like that if he switched to nonfiction.
"I guess those other two must've been staff or something—they probably had been partying too much," Daphne said, jolting Fred out of his thoughts. "And I guess I didn't help with the mood I was in; I probably seemed like someone to talk to."
"I didn't recognize their voices—but I guess I couldn't possibly know everyone who works on base," Velma admitted. "You sure you're alright?"
"As far as those two are concerned, I'm fine," Daphne promised.
"Everything okay at home?" Fred added, noting how upset she'd sounded during the phone call.
Daphne's expression fell, and Fred and Velma, once again recalling her past troubles with her parents, looked back at her in sympathy.
"Daphne?" Vincent asked, concern evident in his voice, prompting Fred and Velma to look at him in surprise.
Daphne glanced back at Vincent again, giving him a slight nod and an I'll explain later look.
Satisfied, Vincent nodded back.
"Were you able to… complete your business?" Daphne asked.
"Unfortunately not—complications arose," Vincent muttered. "So I thought I'd take a look around here to prepare for tomorrow."
"Ah," Daphne said, not sure what to do now that the worm was still loose. Ordinarily, she and the others would willingly forego sleep to help him on his quest, but, sure enough, Velma spoke up—
"Well, if that's all, I think we should be heading back to my place," she said. "There isn't any firm evidence that would warrant canceling the launch tomorrow, so we've got a busy day ahead of us—we need to rest up."
"Shaggy says that he and the others are back at your place," Fred informed her, checking his phone. "They didn't find anything either."
"That settles it; we launch as scheduled," Velma nodded. She looked to Vincent. "I guess we'll see you here tomorrow?"
"You shall," he agreed, inclining his head in a polite bow. "Take care."
"We will," Daphne promised. "And you take care, too."
As she led them down the corridor, Fred glanced back at Vincent, giving him a brief wave, which the warlock returned.
"How long have you known this guy, Daph?" he asked, once they were outside and headed for the parking lot.
"Nearly two years—just after Shaggy and I started doing freelance work for the Chronicle." She paused. "I can vouch for Mr. Van Ghoul, if that's what's worrying you—I know Shaggy will, too."
"No, that's not it," Fred assured her. "It's just something he said back there—when he was telling whoever was bothering you to back off. He said something about telling someone named Asmodeus to back off, too?"
"Yes, I was wondering about that, too," Velma said. "Asmodeus is in a bunch of really old legends, right?"
"Yeah—I think the most famous legend is that he was the Demon King who faced off against King Solomon," Fred recalled. "But your friend back there acted like he really believed Asmodeus was a threat."
"He seemed really worried, too," Velma agreed.
"Oh. Well, you know…" Daphne said, shrugging. "I guess after you've familiarized yourself with all the old legends, sometimes, you wonder if something is real and has some sort of truth to it. I mean…" She gestured at a ladder that had been set up near a streetlight in the parking lot to change the bulb. "Walking under a ladder is supposed to be bad luck. We know it's just a superstition, but… anyone feel like walking under it now?"
"Nope," Fred admitted, as he unlocked the Mystery Machine. "Why take chances?"
"Exactly. I'm sure that's what it is," Daphne bluffed.
"That makes sense," Velma admitted, as they all got inside. Her expression fell. "But something is wrong back home, isn't it?"
"Yes," Daphne admitted, glumly. "I was worried that it was the same old thing starting up again, and that's what it was. Apparently, I've spent enough time with this 'silly journalism bit' and should prioritize my future by switching to a corporate career."
"I'm sorry," Fred said, in genuine sympathy.
"Me, too," Velma agreed.
"…They want to sell the old house back home," Daphne added, referring to the one in their hometown where she had grown up in. "Their names are on the deed—they have every legal right. They say it's because there's no point in keeping it when they're staying in the manor, but… I know it's because they know I stay there whenever I'm in town. If I can't stay in the house, they'll think I'll stay with them in the manor—that'll give them chances to convince me to switch careers." She exhaled. "I'll need to let Shaggy and the others know—they stay there a lot with me, too."
There was more, though—something else that her parents had let slip, and was tearing her from the inside-out. But she knew she couldn't bring herself to say it now; she merely listened as Fred and Velma offered more words of sympathy as she silently wished that she could consult Vincent for advice.