Fred let out another yelp of alarm as he found himself now lying facedown on a cold, metal floor.

"Who are you two guys!?" he demanded. "What do you want with me!? And where are we!?" He tried to get up, but soon found himself forced back down by an ice-cold hand upon his back.

"Pipe down, will ya!?" Weerd sneered at him, as he held him down. "Bogel, get me the rope you brought!"

"Here it is," the shorter ghost said, watching as Weerd now used it to tie Fred up. "But, uh, are you sure this will work?"

"It can't miss," Weerd insisted. "We trade Blondie here for the Chest—and since they've got a very limited window in which to act, they'll do whatever they'll have to in order to save him before time runs out."

"Time!?" Fred repeated.

"C'mon, let's go tell 'em the terms of our agreement," Weerd went on, ignoring Fred. He teleported out, and Bogel teleported after him.

Now alone, Fred struggled against the ropes holding him, but they were far too tight to slip out of. Deciding to get his bearings instead, Fred managed to turn over on his back, looking around.

Everywhere around him was metal—and, next to him, was a robotic rover, complete with weather measuring probes, that had Minerva printed upon it.

He stared at it for a moment as the full horror of his situation sunk in, now fully understanding what Weerd had meant by there being only a limited amount of time for the others to respond.

Somehow, he was in the rocket—and it would be blasting off in mere minutes.

Shaggy was panicking. What else could he do? The very thing that he and Daphne had struggled to avoid for the past 2 years had just happened, and he had been absolutely powerless to stop it.

He barreled back to the control center; he'd been calling for Fred along the way, but he knew it was hopeless—Bogel and Weerd wouldn't have left him anywhere within earshot to make it easy to find him.

"Shaggy, where have you and Freddie been?" Velma chided, as he ran back inside. "We blast off in two minutes!" She paused, realizing that Fred wasn't with him. "…Where is Freddie?"

Daphne stared at Shaggy with a horrified expression, and the look on his face confirmed her worst fears.

Scooby and Scrappy realized it, too.

"Freddie…" Scooby whimpered. "Roh no…!"

"Shaggy, what's happened?" Vincent asked, quickly putting the pieces together. "It can't be the worm, so it must be…"

Shaggy nodded, still trying to catch his breath.

"Please…" he choked out. "Can you help us find him?"

"I don't understand!" Velma cried, looking utterly lost and worried—she'd gathered that something had happened to Fred, but exactly what, she didn't know. "What's happened!?"

A voice over the intercom now crackled, "T-minus 90 seconds."

"Velma…" Dr. Midori began, but he trailed off, sensing her distress. Something had happened to her friend, and not even he could force her to focus on the launch.

And Vincent, realizing that the charade had to be cast aside for the sake of Fred's well-being, now reached into his cape pocket for his crystal ball.

But before he could pull the crystal out, Bogel and Weerd now materialized in the control center, much to the shock and surprise of everyone present.

"Who are you!?" Dr. Midori demanded. "How did you get here!? And what do you want!?"

"Quiet, Old Man, this isn't about you!" Weerd shot back, and he turned to face Daphne and Shaggy, smirking. "Lost something?"

"Where's Fred!?" Daphne snapped. "What did you do to him!?"

"He's perfectly safe! …Well, for the moment, anyway," Bogel informed her.

"T-minus 60 seconds."

"And if you want him to stay that way, you've got exactly that long to hand over the Chest before Blondie goes into orbit!'" Weerd taunted.

"WHAT!?" Velma shrieked. She turned to the viewing window, staring at the rocket on the launchpad. "Freddie's inside the rocket!? How!?"

"You didn't…!" Shaggy gasped, his voice cracking, as Scooby and Scrappy both growled at the ghosts.

"T-minus 30 seconds."

"Oh, we did!" Weerd grinned, relishing the moment. "So, what's it going to be? The Chest, or your friend?"

"This is a new low for both of you creeps!" Flim-Flam fumed.

"But it's effective!" Weerd boasted, noting the broken expression on Daphne's face. "Come on, Missy! You've got 15 seconds to decide!"

"Uh, Weerd…?" Bogel asked, staring at Vincent with absolute terror.

Weerd froze as he saw the expression of tranquil fury on the warlock's face, his hand still in his cape pocket.

"T-minus 10… 9… 8…."

"Uh, wait just a—" Weerd began, but he was cut off as Vincent now drew the Time Scepter from his cape.

"Total Temporal Freeze!" Vincent called, switching the Scepter to it "Time Freeze" setting. As it had once before—the last time he had used the Time Scepter—the entire space-time continuum was put into stasis, and everything stopped.

The warlock cast a glance around him, glancing at his little family, paused in time—at how furious Scooby and Scrappy were, how disgusted Flim-Flam was, how devastated Shaggy was for being unable to stop it, and Daphne's utterly broken expression to this new horrific worry on top of everything else she'd had to deal with.

Vincent's eyes narrowed, but he kept his temper in check; there were other priorities to focus on now.

An instant later, he had teleported to the interior of the capsule, a new wave of anger threatening to break through as he saw Fred bound on the floor, a look of panic and desperation on his face as he had, undoubtedly, been coming to grips with his fate.

Vincent now waved a hand across Fred's face, breaking him free from the effects of the Time Freeze. Fred, now un-paused, continued holding back the panicked cry he'd been trying to suppress, but he stopped as he now noticed Vincent standing above him.

"Please—!" he began, not even sure how he'd got there.

Fred was cut off again, though, as Vincent now drew out his emerald pendant, aiming a beam from it at the ropes binding Fred. The ropes fell away in an instant.

"…How…?" he began, utterly stunned.

Vincent didn't reply; he merely extended a hand to Fred, who took it. And as Vincent helped him to his feet, they teleported back to the control room, causing Fred to gasp in surprise again.

"What's happened to everyone!?" he exclaimed, still confused and shaken from his narrow escape. "And what happened to me!?" He stared at Bogel and Weerd. "They were the ones who…"

"Yes, I imagine you are desperate for an explanation," Vincent said, now calm that the danger had passed.

"You think!?"

"You'll get one, I'm sure," Vincent assured him. "But, first…"

He set the Time Scepter setting back to "Present," and now everyone and everything became un-paused.

"7… 6… 5… 4…"

"—Second!" Weerd finished, before staring at Fred standing there. "What the—!?"

"Freddie!" Shaggy and Velma exclaimed.

Scooby bounded over and hugged Fred as Daphne now stared, blankly at them, her expression unchanged.

"3… 2… 1… Lift-off; we have lift-off!"

Utterly confused by Fred's sudden reappearance, Dr. Midori now turned his attention back to his rocket.

"A perfect trajectory—everything according to plan," he sighed. "Well, except for one thing…" He looked at the scene behind him. Velma wasn't even looking at the launch; she was solely focused on Fred—and the two ghosts.

"Uh… Weerd, what now?" Bogel asked.

"Um, well…"

"What now!?" Daphne suddenly snapped, coming out of her trance. "WHAT NOW!? The two of you dare to stand there and have the gall to ask that!?" She took a step towards the ghosts—and they, intimidated, drew back. "I've put up with the two of you doing a lot of terrible things—but I will not stand for the two of you hurting my friends anymore! You've done it far too many times already, and I should've locked you in the Chest the moment the two of you almost let Vincent become a statue! And if I ever see you anywhere near any of my friends again, I'll seal you in that Chest so fast…" She trailed off. "…Why wait? Vincent, give me the Chest, please."

The two ghosts quickly teleported out in fright, and Daphne quickly lost her thunder once they had gone. She was also aware of all eyes in the room being upon her—Vincent, Shaggy, Scooby, Scrappy, and Flim-Flam looking on in concern. Fred and Velma were also looking on in concern mixed with utter confusion. And Dr. Midori and everyone else in the room were just confused.

She walked over to Vincent and then hugged him, and he returned the gesture.

"Thank you," she said, softly. "For saving him."

"There is no need to thank me," he insisted. "I am just relieved that your friend is alright. I only regret that what we'd hoped to avoid letting out did, in fact, become known."

"It was only a matter of time," Daphne admitted. "As much as I wanted to think we could keep it a secret forever, I knew—deep down—it was impossible."

She drew back from the hug, and Vincent gave her another encouraging nod.

Daphne then swallowed hard and faced Fred and Velma, who were still looking on in concern and confusion.

"…We need to talk—all eight of us," she said.