The others had been struggling to communicate with Young Vincent—Flim-Flam had resorted to speaking in Nepali, which Vincent was able to follow somewhat, as it was a derivative of Sanskrit, which he knew a little of.
"This should solve our problems," Daphne said, holding up the talisman.
Young Vincent looked to her in surprise, suddenly able to understand her now.
"Where did you get that?" he queried, his eyebrow arched.
"From you—the future you," she said. "I don't know if you realized, but you're in the future—far into the future."
"Yes, I surmised at much when I saw your manner of clothing, plus your speaking a language that made no sense," he commented. "But you are mortals—what are you doing with my things?" He stared, pointedly, at the emerald pendant and the crystal ball. "And why did you summon me?"
"Well, you've let us use some of your things before," Daphne said. She decided she might as well try a direct approach. "There was… something going on a little while ago, and, long story short, you—the you from this time period—accidentally ended up in the past. You—he—was coaching me on using this Time Scepter with your crystal and emerald to try to find you. and it worked, except… I found the wrong you. This is all just a big misunderstanding, so if you just go on back to Miranda, I can find the right version of you to bring back to this time—I know I'll get it right this time!"
But Young Vincent looked fascinated, and didn't seem at all interested in going back just yet.
"You are a mortal," he pointed out again.
"Yes, that's right," Daphne said. "The rest of us are."
"And I, a warlock, was coaching you on how to use magical items?"
"Yes," she said, nodding again.
Young Vincent looked away for a moment, marveling at something he was mulling over in his head.
"What wonderous bridges have been built between the societies of mages and mortals in this future!" he exclaimed. "All that my instructor claimed was a lie—the mortals will accept us! I knew it!"
"Uhhh… we're not exactly, like, your typical mortals," Shaggy said. "I mean, at this point in time, most mortals don't really believe mages even exist."
"…Ah, so we are living in secrecy still?" he sighed, disappointed again. "…But how did you find me?"
"It's a long story, and we don't really have the time for it," Daphne said, before Flim-Flam could reveal that he had introduced them to him. "You need to go back to your own time so that I can bring back the you that we know."
"What's wrong with me?" Young Vincent asked, with a frown. "I am the same person as the one you know, am I not?"
"…Yes, but no," she said. "It's you, but… it's not the same."
"More than that, your presence outside your time period could disrupt the space-time continuum if you cause a paradox," Velma added.
"Rheah, rharadoxes!" Scooby agreed, with a nod.
"Hmph!" the young warlock scoffed. "It is evident that my future self has not revealed to you the true capabilities of my powers. Should any paradoxes occur, I can use my powers to stabilize the continuum myself!"
"But you're not supposed to be here!" Daphne exclaimed. "Why did you even come here!?"
"Because I heard someone—you—calling my name with such urgency!" Young Vincent reminded her. "I surmised that if someone was desperate enough to call me from across time and space, then I had best attend to the matter. And so, without any regard for my personal well-being, I immediately answered the call. And now I find myself here…" He trailed off, looking around at the beach—and the large buildings inland. "…Where in the name of Olympus am I, anyway?"
"You're an ocean and few seas away from Athens," Fred said.
"Yes, I surmised that, too," Vincent returned, glancing at Fred's outfit again.
"This place as we know it doesn't exist in your time; its name will mean nothing to you," Daphne said. "Look, I told you, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. It's not that I'm not grateful that you were willing to see what help I might've needed—but if you really want to help me, you'll go back to your own time. If you stay here too long, your timeline will change, and… the you I'm trying to bring back will be gone."
Unconsciously, she was holding present-day Vincent's cape closer to her as she spoke, in clear distress; Young Vincent saw this and arched an eyebrow.
"Just what am I to you?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"Rha friend!" Scooby said.
"A teacher!" Scrappy exclaimed.
"A mentor!" Shaggy threw in.
"A leader!" Flim-Flam added.
"…Like family," Daphne finished, more subdued than the others.
"Velma and I have only known you for a very short time, but we can easily see how much you mean to the others," Fred added.
"…And how much they mean to you," Velma pointed out. "I mean… from your perspective, you just met Daphne, and even you can tell how much you mean to her—and I can see it in your face that you don't like to see her upset."
Young Vincent looked to Velma in surprise, and then glanced at Daphne.
"Daphne? Is that your name?"
"Yes, that's right."
"…A very Grecian name for someone who doesn't know the language," he noted. "Hmm…" He turned away for a moment, deep in thought. "You are obviously distressed, and for that, I am sorry. But I, too, have concerns. Your plan to retrieve my future self from the past clearly failed. How do I know you will succeed if I return?"
"…Your older self had faith in me," Daphne replied. "I was so close last time—I only got thrown off because I didn't realize until it was too late that you would also be in that same time period. I'm sure I can get it right if I try again."
"Perhaps, but you are still a mortal—inexperienced with the ways of magic," he pointed out. "For all I know, my future self could be forced to remain stranded in the past—I cannot risk accepting such a fate."
"…What are you saying?" Shaggy asked, his eyes growing wide as he realized that he already knew the answer—and wouldn't like it.
"I am saying that, perhaps it is best if I do alter my timeline," Young Vincent said. "There is much in this new, future world for me to explore—and that is what I crave the most. Am I to assume that these palatial buildings were all constructed by mortals?"
"Yeah, but—" Flim-Flam began.
"The mortals of my time would be utterly incapable of constructing these," Young Vincent declared. "Mortals have adapted and learned across centuries to create such marvels! There is much for me to study here. And there is the uncertainty as to my future self's fate. And so, I choose to stay."
There was a horrified silence among the others.
"But you can't!" Daphne exclaimed, at last.
"There is nothing I can't do," the warlock boasted.
"But what about Miranda?" Shaggy exclaimed.
"And all your other buddies—Mr. Voudini and Mr. Befuddle?" Scrappy asked. "And Mr. Kreepoff and Miss Lancaster?"
"Rheah, what rhabout them?" Scooby agreed.
"Well, that's obvious, isn't it?" Young Vincent asked. "I'll go back just long enough to bring them all here!"
"…You sure they'd want to go?" Fred asked, baffled. "I mean, I'd have reservations if one of the others wanted me to relocate into the distant future…"
"Oh, I'm sure I can talk them into it," Young Vincent replied, giving a wave of dismissal. He turned to Daphne and indicated the Time Scepter. "I'll be taking that now."
She continued to clutch the scepter, unwilling to give it up.
"You don't understand," she said, still blinking back tears. "We've been through so much together in the last two years—us and your future self. Your future self wouldn't want that to change—he even said so one time when we were talking about the possibility of changing time. But you just want to throw that all away—even when you know it would devastate us? …Devastate me?"
Her mind briefly went back to their adventure in Marrakesh, when they'd been tracking down the Reflector Spectre—and Vincent had shown up in disguise as an antiquities seller to give Daphne the protective amulet they'd need to escape the Mirror World. Not recognizing him at the time, Daphne had asked what he'd wanted for the amulet, but she remembered that moment, and his reply—
"Only your happiness."
He'd been true to his word; practically everything he'd done for them in the past two years had been done with the motivation to keep them all happy and safe. But now, that version of Vincent was doomed to disappear—and all that was left would be this younger Vincent, looking at her with the eyes of a total stranger…
"There's no reason to be selfish!" the young warlock now quipped.
Daphne looked up at him in a fresh horror.
"But, I'm not…! This is what he—what you—wanted!"
"It's not what I want now," Young Vincent reminded her. "You wish to cling to the way things are as you know them—in spite of my insistence of ensuring my self-preservation. You are willing to risk stranding my future self in the past just because you want to ensure that your little world will stay the same? I regret having to cause you this distress, but, surely, you cannot fault me for wanting to ensure my well-being? For allowing me to take control of my destiny and seeking a different life in which I know I'll be fulfilled and happy? Or does that mean nothing to you?"
There was another wave of stunned silence; somehow, Young Vincent had succeeded in turning the whole conversation around to support his argument.
"Perhaps I sound callous," the warlock continued. "Perhaps you think me heartless, as well. But I must put myself first."
And all Daphne could think about were all of the things that she knew Vincent had been through in his original timeline—his disastrous mountaintop duel with that desert warlock, the fallout from that and his breakup with Miranda, his pushing away the rest of his gang, his accidentally opening the Chest of Demons the first time, the sacking of Athens, nearly being burned alive by witch hunters, his three-hundred-year exile, Shaggy and Scooby opening the Chest again, Nekara putting him under a love spell, Rankor putting him under a petrification curse, the desert warlock trying to get his revenge, the ghost of the leader of the witch hunters trying to get his revenge…
She exhaled, letting out a shuddering gasp. And, to everyone's surprise—Young Vincent's most of all, it seemed—she handed over the Time Scepter to him without any semblance of a fight.
"Guess your future self was wrong," she sighed. "I wasn't able to pull this off. I'm sorry, Vincent."
She was apologizing to the Vincent she knew, of course. Dejected, she turned and walked away.
"Daphne?" Shaggy asked, concerned.
"I need to be alone," she called back, walking down the beach.
"Daphne, wait!" Young Vincent exclaimed, not sure of what to make of her sudden surrender, which he hadn't expected at all. "I didn't mean…! That is to say, if we were as close as you claim, I see no reason why our friendship cannot begin anew, in this new life of mine, as I get to know you!"
"That's a bit cold, Vince," Flim-Flam said, quietly.
"Yeah, like, they're right," Shaggy sighed. "You don't know what we've been through, Mr. V." He winced; even calling him that felt weird now. "You really don't know what you're throwing away. But I guess that isn't really your fault. But getting to know you again isn't going to come easy to any of us—but especially Daphne."
"Yeah, you really meant a lot to her," Scrappy added, looking pained to have to use the past tense.
"Rheah, rhou were gonna teach her—" Scooby began, but he was cut off by a sudden, loud crack of thunder.
"Jinkies, look at that!" Velma exclaimed, pointing in the distance down the beach in alarm.
Strikes of unnatural-looking, pitch-black lightning filled the air. And, barely visible in the lightning, was the shape of a large, winged demon—flanked by two smaller ghosts on either side of him.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy cried.
"What, in the name of Olympus, is that!?" Young Vincent asked, wide-eyed at what was, to him, still an unfamiliar being.
"Uhhh, I'll get back to you on that," Shaggy replied, deciding that "your ancestor" was not the best response. "…Wait! Daphne!"
Daphne, several yards ahead of them, had seen it—how could she not have? But her instinct had been to run towards it, her better judgment unfortunately skewed by her current emotional state.
She was running to confront Asmodeus on her own.