Notes: posting this chapter a day early as it's both the anniversary of the 13 Ghosts premiere, plus Don Messick's birthday!
Asmodeus had been watching through his scrying pool with Bogel and Weerd as everything happened, and his expression grew more and more triumphant as it did—culminating into a rather frightening grin as the Time Worm pulled Vincent into the wormhole, leaving the mortals behind—and leaving Daphne inconsolable.
"Behold," Asmodeus indicated to the two ghosts. "The Time Worm has succeeded in carrying out my orders, while you two consistently fail! Soon, he will do the rest of my bidding, and return to lay waste upon those mortals!"
He waited, watching through the scrying pool as Bogel and Weerd floated over his shoulders to take a look, too.
Nothing happened; Daphne was still sobbing into Vincent's cape as the Shaggy, Velma, and Fred tried, in vain, to console her. Scooby and Scrappy were fruitlessly digging where the wormhole had been, as though hoping they could reopen it and allow Vincent to return—though they knew it was no use. Flim-Flam looked just as torn-up as Daphne; he merely hugged her, unable to offer any words of comfort when he, like her, had just lost the closest thing he had to a father.
"…What's keeping him!?" Asmodeus fumed, growing impatient that the Time Worm had not returned to attack them.
"…I'm no expert…" Bogel said. "But, uh… maybe Vincent got the better of the Time Worm?"
"Yeah, I mean, it would've just the two of them, mano-a…worm-o?" Weerd finished, prompting a dark look from Asmodeus.
A wormhole now opened in the cave, and the three of them stared as a very weary, battle-damaged Time Worm emerged from it, fleeing to a corner of the cave to curl up and tremble in fright.
"Looks like I was right," Bogel commented.
"Where is the traitor?" Asmodeus demanded.
He received no answer and, desperate to make sure that Vincent couldn't return via the same wormhole, Asmodeus cast a seal upon it to prevent Vincent from using it.
"Fine," he snarled. "I will deal with those mortals myself! And I'll start with that girl the traitor dared to declare as his heiress!"
He flew out of the cave, heading for Cocoa Beach. Bogel exchanged a glance with Weerd, who merely shrugged in reply, and the two of them followed behind him.
Daphne still hadn't moved; she'd still been trying to internalize everything that had just happened, and all of it was returning to the horrible fact that Vincent was lost somewhere and somewhen. Her grip upon the cape tightened, as though she was unwilling to let go of this last remaining reminder of him.
"What are we going to do…?" Shaggy asked, sounding just as heartbroken as Daphne looked.
"I don't know…" Velma replied, sounding horrified. "The space-time continuum is infinite; we could search for the rest of our lives and not even come close…" She trailed off. "…And it's all my fault. I'm so sorry; if I hadn't gotten caught in the sand vortex—"
"No," Daphne said, speaking for the first time. "That worm was trying to get at all of us—it knew Vincent would step in. It was waiting for him."
Flim-Flam sniffled, still hugging her.
"Why hasn't Vince just teleported back…?" he asked, sounding uncharacteristically meek.
"I don't think he can," Daphne said, reaching into one of the cape's pockets and pulling out Vincent's emerald pendant. "Remember how he said that teleporting between dimensions is harder than teleporting within the same one, and how he needs this pendant to pull that off? Space and time are dimensions, aren't they?"
"They are," Velma said, with a nod. "The third and fourth dimensions."
Scooby now bounded over, frantically pointing to the Time Scepter in his mouth.
"Uncle Scooby's right!" Scrappy exclaimed. "We have the pendant, the Time Scepter, and both of the crystal balls! Maybe we can use them to bring Mr. Van Ghoul back here where he belongs!"
Daphne paused, now pulling Vincent's crystal out of another one of his pockets. It was glowing steadily.
"Wherever—or whenever—he is, he's clearly fine; the crystal would be… dead if he was," she said. "Maybe there is a way…"
"And if there's anyone who could find it, it'd be you, Daph," Fred added.
"…Really?"
"He's right," Shaggy agreed. "Mr. V saw something in your abilities—that's why he was going to teach you how to use magic, too!"
Daphne nodded, hope slowly rekindling in her heart.
"But… what do I do?" she asked. She held the glowing crystal in her hands and mentally tried to reach out to him, knowing that the crystal was connected to his mana. Vincent, please—I need help. How do I get you back home!?
She concentrated, trying to focus on receiving a reply.
"…Daphne…?"
She struggled to hold back her emotions as she heard him, still trying to focus on their telepathic connection.
Yes, it's me, she mentally transmitted, as a few more tears slipped down her face. Are you alright!?
"Yes, I'm fine," he assured her. "But I'm afraid I'm… stranded. The Time Worm left after I fought it off, but the new wormhole it created has been sealed off to prevent me from following."
Daphne's heart broke again.
Then… that's it? There's no way to get you back home?
"There is still one way," Vincent said. "I'm not exactly sure where I am, but I've most definitely gone back into the past by a considerable amount. Even so, you should be able to use the Time Scepter to find me in the past."
How!?
"A mage's mana is unique—like a fingerprint. All you need to do is focus on a magical energy that is the same as the one in the crystal by using the crystal in tandem with the Time Scepter. Once you pinpoint my location in the continuum, use the Time Scepter to open your own time portal to allow me to return. Use my emerald for a backup if you feel you might need it."
Right, Daphne promised.
The others watched in surprise as Daphne's expression now changed to a determined one. She placed the emerald pendant around her neck, and then held Vincent's crystal ball in one hand and the Time Scepter in the other. She took a deep breath, trying to stay calm; so much was riding on this…
"Daphne?" Shaggy asked.
She looked to him and nodded.
"I was able to speak to Vincent telepathically," she confirmed. "He told me what to do—I have to use the Time Scepter to look into the past and find where his mana is coming from. I just hope I can do this…"
"Rhou can," Scooby encouraged.
Daphne gave him and the others a look of gratitude as they all nodded in agreement. She then closed her eyes and concentrated, raising the Time Scepter and the crystal ball, touching the scepter to the crystal.
In her mind's eye, she was now in the vast expanse of the Time Vortex.
"I need to find Vincent," she said, out loud. "I need to look into the past."
She felt her mind's eye traverse the vortex, heading for the past—as she looked around the vortex, she could see glimpses of the years as she went back—people, places, and things she had seen in history books and documentaries, as well as people, places, and things that she didn't recognize—glimpses of life in other worlds across space and through time.
"Where are you, Vincent?" she asked aloud.
The crystal seemed to resonate more and more as she traveled further into the past, when, suddenly, it began to glow with a brilliant green light.
"Vincent!?" she called.
"Daphne? You're very close; I can sense it!"
"I'll open the portal!" she said, and, using the Time Scepter, willed the time portal to open. She was back on the beach with the others now, all of them staring at the open portal. The crystal ball was glowing even more brightly now. "It's open, Vincent! You can come through now!"
"…But, I don't see it," Vincent replied, sounding confused. "You sounded close a moment ago, but not quite close enough. You've got the right year, but not the right location."
"But the crystal was reacting to your mana—it still is; this has to be the right…"
She trailed off as a hand extended from the time portal, cautiously feeling around to make sure it was safe before stepping through it fully. The crystal ball resonated even more intensely, and Daphne could only stare as she found herself looking at a young, dark-haired man in an ancient Grecian tunic and black cloak, and a crown of gold-plated laurel leaves on his head. He was staring back at her with the same amount of confusion—but he was staring at her with a pair of unmistakably familiar blue eyes.
"…Vincent…?" she asked, in utter disbelief.
"Ναί," the young man responded in Greek, with a nod. His voice was also the same—albeit slightly higher-pitched than Daphne was used to. He then launched into a series of questions—in Greek again.
"Wait! Wait, stop!" Daphne exclaimed. "English, please, Vincent!"
She looked back to the others, who looked just as stunned.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed. "Like, there must've been two Vincents existing in that year because ours got sent back in time by the Time Worm!"
"…And I brought back the wrong one!" Daphne realized, horrified. She looked back at the younger Vincent, who was still asking questions, and getting a bit frustrated at not getting any answers. "Vincent, I'm sorry, but you aren't supposed to be here—I was looking for an older version of you! You need to go back to your own time." She pointed at the time portal. "You've gotta go back!"
Vincent looked at the portal as she pointed to it; he turned back to her, gesturing to it and to the crystal ball, pointing at his pendant that Daphne was wearing, again asking questions in Greek.
"Daphne… He's two thousand years old, right?" Velma asked, her hand on her forehead. "That means he's older than the English language—talking to him in English isn't going to work; he probably only understands Greek at this point in his timeline!"
Daphne let out a helpless whimper as Vincent continued to demand answers as to why she'd summoned him here (or so she assumed). Scooby, who was still utterly baffled by this turn of events, now walked up to Vincent, sniffing at his hand as though to confirm that he had the same scent.
This distracted Vincent somewhat, surprised at Scooby's behavior; he asked something in Greek, sounding more curious than anything else, and extended his hand to allow Scooby to sniff it some more.
"It is rhou!" Scooby exclaimed. Joyfully, he got up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on Vincent's shoulders; Vincent hadn't been expecting it, however, and Scooby ended up knocking him flat on his back. "Rhwoops…"
But this younger version of Vincent didn't seem upset by it at all; even as the others looked on in a panic, he sat up, grinning, and started giving Scooby some ear skritches, saying something in Greek again that was punctuated by genuine laughter. Scrappy ventured forward after a moment, and also found himself on the receiving end of skritches—not knowing quite how to react to it.
"Wow, Vince sure was… different when he was younger," Flim-Flam commented, wide-eyed.
"Like, that is an understatement!" Shaggy replied.
Daphne now held the crystal close to her while Young Vincent was distracted, desperate to get back in touch with the Vincent she knew.
"Mr. Van Ghoul, HELP!"
"What's happened!?" she heard him ask in his deeper voice—and in English. "I thought you said you opened the Time Portal after the crystal reacted. But I never saw it open."
"Yes, because the crystal reacted to the wrong you!" she mentally replied. "A younger version of you showed up through the portal, demanding answers—but he… I mean, you don't know English yet, and we don't know Greek!"
"…Oh dear… Quickly, tell me—what am I wearing?"
"A tunic, a black cloak, and one of those wreaths of laurel leaves—only it's golden."
"…I received those golden laurels when I graduated in 36; I was rather proud of them, so I wore them for the next five or six years—until my duel on the mountaintop," Vincent recalled. "So, it can't be too long after my graduation. …Am I wearing a ring?"
"…Yes. Is that…?"
"…My engagement ring? Yes, it is," he sighed. "So, this must have been me from the year 41; I was 25 years old, just before I went on that journey that led to that mountaintop duel. I imagine my younger self must be… rather belligerent."
"Kinda."
"I apologize in advance for the difficulty you're going to face, but you've got to get him—me—back to 41 before any changes to my timeline are made!"
"The language barrier is going to get in the way of that," Daphne sighed. "Can't I bring you back, and you tell yourself to get back to 41?"
"NO!"
His sudden exclamation caused her to jump, startled.
"Forgive my sharpness, but while I've flaunted some of the Laws of Time before, this is one Law that must never be broken—two versions of the same person cannot exist in the same point of space and time at once. The repercussions could damage the continuum if something were to go wrong. You'll have to send my younger self back to 41 before you can get me back to 2016."
"But, then, how am I supposed to—?"
"Do you recall that translation talisman I gave you when we went up against the Gorgons back in March?"
"Oh, that's right! Do you have another in your cape pockets?"
"Yes—use it, and it will solve the language problem. …However, you'll be faced with another problem soon, and I fear I don't know how to contend with that."
"…What do you mean?"
"…My younger self is both highly prideful and very stubborn—two qualities that got me into much trouble in my youth, I'm afraid. Being told what to do isn't exactly something that will go over well."
"…So what do I do?"
"There isn't much you can do—you are a mortal, and my younger self is a vainglorious warlock," Vincent replied, flatly. "We must… Well, you must be prepared to fail. Accidentally destroying that peak was got me to change—as you can see, nothing short of something drastic will get me to change my mind that easily."
"…What'll happen to you if I fail in getting him to go back?"
"My entire timeline will get rewritten… and this version of me that you know will cease to exist."
Daphne's blood froze in her veins for a moment.
"I can't accept that!" she exclaimed. "After everything I've been going through with my parents, I need you—the real you—more than ever!"
"I believe that if there's any mortal who can get through to my younger self, it would be you, Daphne," he assured her. "Just keep bringing up Miranda, and how she'll be waiting for him—me—to come back."
"Sure, only to break up with her later, anyway…"
"…You absolutely cannot reveal that."
"I know," Daphne sighed. "I just feel bad, knowing you're going to go through all that stuff, and I can't even warn your younger self about it."
"If you wish for my timeline—and this version of me—to stay intact, then you can't divulge any details of my future to my younger self—that's all there is to it."
"Right…" she transmitted. "Well, I caused this problem, so I may as well get to work trying to fix it."
"This isn't your fault, Daphne—no matter how this ends, I need you to know that."
"I'll try to keep that in mind," she promised.
"Good luck."
With a sigh, she put the crystal away and picked up the translation talisman from Vincent's cape, heading back to the others, hoping she could pull this off.