Daphne

Van Ghoul gave him a moment and then gently touched Scooby's shoulder and adjusted the scepter to transport them to a different place

where they would see another of Scooby's friends. Power mounted in the staff and the dog and the warlock once more found themselves

spinning through time. The trip was different this time – Scooby caught sight of Daphne, trying to tell him something with a look like

forgiveness in her eyes. The only indication that Van Ghoul had seen this was a slight catch in his breathing, but his eyes revealed a hint of

pain at the thought of the future Scooby was about to witness. Once again, time righted itself with a jolt and Scooby and Van Ghoul found

themselves in a dimly lighted hall. The mystic remained stationary for a moment, allowing time for their eyes to adjust to the darkness and

for Scooby to regain his steadiness and then he led the hound along several passages and past many dark rooms that smelled stale and

unused. Abruptly, Van Ghoul halted as a new sound raised into the air – through the emptiness of the tunnel ahead, a thin, frail voice

quavered, the words swallowed by the darkness before the listeners could make them out. The mystic's heart dropped; the future he had

foreseen was correct. Oh how he had hoped that he was wrong. Gritting his teeth, he led Scooby around the final corner. In the gloom,

an old woman crouched painfully on the floor, occasionally reaching the sponge she scrubbed with into a bucket of soapy water set

against a wall of the passage. As she worked, the onlookers could see that her fingers were terribly gnarled and her knees swollen from a

cruel arthritis which made her movements stiff, clumsy. Her white hair contained yellowish stains suggesting that she once was a redhead

and her ragged clothes concealed the gaunt frame of one who slowly starves. Occasionally, she seemed to hear a noise in one of the halls

or rooms around her and her dull eyes would dart fearfully all around her before she would continue her work. All the while, she sang her

ode to Time Slime in a high pitch that bordered on panic, raising her voice so that it bordered on a shriek any time that she heard or

imagined someone nearby. At times, the voice of her mind would stutter and her song would trail off into the mumbling of nonsense

words. Next to Van Ghoul, Scooby was shaking his head in disbelief, "That's not Daphne" he averred. Van Ghoul answered heavily,

"Yes it is". Scooby swallowed painfully, "How many years has it been since the time we saw Shaggy?" he asked. "None," Van Ghoul

sighed, "Time Slime can warp the fabric of time into whatever form he wishes". Many years after the desertion of Scooby Doo, Time

Slime had discovered the identity of one of the mortals who had taken his time scepter – Daphne Blake. Cunningly, the ghost had waited

until Daphne was alone, away from all help and then he had taken her. She told Time Slime that someone would come to rescue her, but

he told her that if she somehow escaped, he would rip the world apart looking for her and the deaths of those innocent people would be

on her head. When the rescue attempt happened, Daphne met them, free of chains and told them that it was her choice to remain as a

part of Time Slime's army. They had not been convinced and so despairingly, Daphne had done the one thing that she could think of to

make them believe her – she had called for the guards. Van Ghoul's magic was the only thing that prevented her friends from being

captured as well. Shaggy and Flim-Flam did not believe that Daphne would have joined Time Slime of her own free will and Van Ghoul

agreed with them. There was no way to find out what had been done to her – when set to the past, the scepter of time could only show

the past of the person using the staff – and so Daphne's friends were helpless to counteract that wrong. Heartbroken, Shaggy and

Flim-Flam had returned to Jace and his other rebels and Van Ghoul had gone back to his search for a way to bring an end to Time Slime.

Unable to deal with the horror of what she had done to her friends, Daphne had retreated deep into her mind – it was a broken woman

who crouched in front of Scooby and Van Ghoul. Deep sadness etched on his face, Van Ghoul whispered something under his breath.

Daphne's pain seemed to lessen, a slight look of relief briefly lighting her face, smoothing out wrinkles. Van Ghoul turned away and pulled

Scooby around with him, "All right, now you have seen enough to realize just how important you are. Your actions will have great

ramifications in the future." He began resetting the staff to take them home. Scooby turned to stare at Daphne again and then he seemed

to realize something – he turned back to Van Ghoul with a strange look on his face. "What happened to you?" he asked. Van Ghoul

made a dismissive motion with his hand, "It doesn't really matter" he said softly without looking up. Scooby's face showed confusion and

a growing suspicion as he insisted "I want to know". For a moment, the look on Van Ghoul's face was complex, weary and

self-deprecating and then his expression became impassive once more. Scooby once again asserted his demand and after a brief

hesitation, Van Ghoul nodded once and began his preparations for the journey.