Scooby gave a shriek of fright and leaped into Shaggy's arms, who had joined him in yelling his fear, as they saw the figure in the smoke. The figure wore a black cloak and a dinner suit, but it was his face that caused the scream. For the face was horribly disfigured, the skin burnt and missing in places to reveal the muscles and bones underneath. The eyes were protruding from their sockets and emitted a freaky red glow. All in all, it was the face one would expect to find on someone who had died in a fire, not on someone still moving about.

The figure advanced to with a few feet of Victor before saying, "Victor Broderick, I have come to have justice. I shall take everyone that you care about, and when you are at your lowest, I shall take you." The figure burst into chilling laughter as he reached out and grabbed Todd, a burst of light emanating from the hand holding Todd indicating the electricity which shocked Todd into unconsciousness.

Victor couldn't move, too overcome by shock, but his brother Samuel reacted and tried to grab the Todd back from the figure. But before he could touch Todd, the figure swung his other hand in front of the two of them, a wave of flame shooting forth from that hand to create a wall of flame between them and the rest of the group. As everyone backed away from the roaring fire the sound of his laughter could still be heard, added with the screams of Todd, tinged with desperation and fear.

Seconds later the flames faded away, revealing the empty hole from which the figure had entered surrounded by devastation, but with no sight of either the figure or Todd. As everyone stared at the ragged exit, no one spoke as the shock was still too intense. Finally Fred spoke up, saying, "What was that?"

Later that evening the gang met in the kitchen, where Scooby and Shaggy were enthusiastically eating to quell their fear. Daphne stared at the two scarf down the food, amazed once again at the amount they could eat and yet still be able to remain as thin as they did. Just then the kitchen door open and Fred and Velma walked in, serious expressions on their faces. As they sat down Daphne asked, "Have you discovered what is going on here?"

Velma shook her head as she said, "Sorry, no. We tried to talk to Victor, but he refused to talk to anyone, and no one else knew what is going on." With a sigh she leaned against the table and added, "I guess we're completely in the dark on this one."

"That's where you are wrong young lady," a voice cried out. As they all turned the heads they saw on elderly gentlemen step in from the pantry, carrying in his hand a flask of brandy. He took a swig and said, "Old Phil knows."

Shaggy put down his food laden fork and said, "So, man, can you tell us how that was and what is going on."

Phil took a swig from his bottle and said, "That was the ghost of Henry Pats, otherwise known as the Mysterious Mage."

Scooby said, his voice quivering, "A rhost?"

Phil stared at Scooby for a second before saying, "Yes, a ghost. And I have all the dirt on him." Phil took a seat and another swig from his bottle before continuing. "You see, it took place years ago. Henry was the one of the best magicians around. Some considered him to be a worthy heir for the position Harry Houdini had, so you can guess how good he was. He lived in these parts, and had a young beautiful wife called Gloria, considered to be the best looking one around. There were many a men who were interested in her, and felt that with all the time that Henry spent out of town on his act that she would be interested in a little side action, but there was never a more loyal wife than her.

Among the many who desired after her was Victor Broderick, who was a young arrogant pup who believed that his money made him above the law and irresistible, which hasn't changed much since then. Anyway, every single time that Henry left he would be all over her, trying to get her interested him, and constantly failing. All of these failures piled up until he couldn't even stand to hear Henry's name.

Well, one night it all came to head. No one knows what exactly happened, but what is known is that Henry's car was involved in some sort of accident with him and Gloria in it. Victor showed up soon after and was able to rescue her, but the car blew up before he could get to Henry. He took her in and cared for her, some said in an attempt to win her heart. Whatever his reason it all came to nothing as a couple of days later she vanished, never to be seen again."

Phil shivered a little before taking another drink from his bottle. After smacking his lips he continued, "Ever since then people have said that his house has been haunted by a horribly burnt ghost that wears the clothes that Henry would wear in his act. Whenever anyone would go to that house that would wind up later stumbling about with no recollection of what happened except for a desperate sense of their lives being threatened. Others have said that they have seen Gloria wandering from room to room, as if searching for any sign of her husband."

The group stared at Phil in stunned silence over what he had said until Fred asked, "You said that people have seen this ghost at his old house. Can you tell us where that is?"

Phil nodded and said, "Sure, you head down the road till you see the only hill in the area. The house is on the top of that hill." With those words he headed back into the pantry, drinking from his bottle all the way.

Fred turned to the gang with a smile on his face as he said, "Well gang, it looks like we have a mystery on our hand."