Chapter One
She-Devil
Crystal Cove
February 5, 2014
10 Months since the Entity's release...
It had been a few hours since the sun had settled in Crystal Cove, making the town look deserted and abandoned in the night. Though the red full moon shone, it's threatening light into the town, giving the dreaded feeling of danger to anyone who'd dare to step into the ghost town.
"Velma, wait!" Marcie yelled across the street, staring at the amateur sleuth.
Velma stopped her tracks quickly, not willing to look behind her. "You shouldn't have come back… You have nothing here…"
"Why Velma… Why all this?!"
Velma looked back towards Marcie finally, her eyes with a slight tinge of green on them. "I've told you, It's for a good cause."
"What good cause?! All you're doing is hurting people! This isn't you!" Marcie exclaimed.
Velma frowned, clutching her hands into fists. "You don't get it don't you? Everything that's happened is for a reason. A stupid prohecy that everyone wants us to follow, I'm done being used for such things."
"You're just letting them get what they want!"
"No Marcie, I'm getting what I want. They deserved this outcome, and I will give it to them no matter what… With or without you."
Marcie ran after her, "They don't deserve this! They didn't know this would happen! They didn't know you'd see everything that will happen!"
"I have no choice. Marcie, it's either this or seeing you die again. And I intend to not let you die a second time. If you're willing to sacrifice everything I've worked so hard for to keep you safe, then so be it…"
"It's your decision… Not mine anymore…" Velma admitted, before she walked towards Daphne. Who was waiting for her in what seemed to be a black hole some sort.
"Velma! Wait! I can help you..! Just come back home! Velma!"
Velma stepped into the black hole, looking back at Marcie as her eyes glowed green from the Entity's power over her. "You can't fix this Marcie. There's no way around it. You can't escape your fate even if you try… And I tried… Many times…" The black hole disappeared with both Velma and Daphne, leaving Marcie alone in the darkest part of town.
Marcie fell to her knees, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her throat hurt, and her ears began to ring. She didn't notice quickly that the ringing in her ears was actually a scream, her scream.
She didn't realize it until it was too late...
Crystal Cove, Fleach Residence
Four hours before sunrise...
Marcie sat up from her bed, screaming at the space of the room. She took deep breaths, trying to stop her heart from literally jumping out of her throat from the nightmare. She covered her mouth, shaking when she remembered what the nightmare was about.
"They get worse and worse each day…" Marcie whispered to herself. She could feel the tears in her eyes beginning to spill at the thought of Velma being in danger. "They feel so real, it's like they actually happened… V… Where the heck are you… Why haven't you turned up already?" she whispered again, her breath finally calming down.
Looking up at the door, Marcie saw her father- Winslow Fleach opening it frantically. From what Marcie could unfortunately understand— she had woken him up again, for the fourth time this week, too.
"Marcie, dear, are you okay? I heard you screaming." Mr. Fleach said worryingly, sitting down on the side of Marcie's bed. "The nightmares again?"
Marcie nodded at that. "Yeah, if this goes on for much longer I might never sleep again."
Winslow shook his head; he knew some of the nightmares that Marcie had. Mostly, they consisted of the appearance of the Evil Entity—and how it would destroy everything. But recently, they have started to be about the gang more than the menace hovering over their heads at the moment as Marcie put it…
She didn't tell him about the recents ones where Velma had been pushing her away though… It was too personal and it wouldn't sit right talking about it now… But that they kept showing up again and again it was too hard to ignore them now...
She was already worried about them failing to destroy the alien being… If they actually had fallen into the Entity's hand that easily, then the shit really hit the fan for Crystal Cove.
And if she was correct, only she knew about it.
"I'm sorry dad," Marcie said, twiddling her thumbs in a circular motion. "I know how much you worry for me, much now that I'm always talking about something… More than meets the eye..."
"Marcie… Whatever trouble you and those friends of yours are in… I won't stop worrying for you. You are my daughter, and it's my job as a father to worry for their child."
"Right… Uh… I just need a little more time that's all…" Marcie muttered looking away from her father. "More time to… 'Get in touch with reality.'"
"Take all the time you need."
Crystal Cove Caverns
In the depths of the caverns of Crystal Cove, the doors to the Dream World opened. The demon clad in metal, known as Angelo, stepped out of the Dream World and took a look at his surroundings. "Same as ever. I'll be damned if something has changed…" he whispered.
Behind him, another fellow took a step out of the Dream World, giving a small chuckle. "Everything will change once we are done with it. Have some patience, Angelo."
"I do not care whether you break whatever is left of the world or torture it. Do what you have to do and let's go. Unless you want me to teach you how irritated I am about all this-" Angelo growled towards his companion, irritation audible in his raspy voice.
Yet, his companion felt indifferent about the threat. Staring at the metal figure from the corner of their eyes, they gave him a slight smirk. "Threaten me all you like, Angelo. But you know you cannot do anything while in the hands of our creator."
"…You're right… Feralle…"
"We cannot release the plague yet, but we do need to test it. We need a few subjects for it." Feralle said, their eyes still on Angelo like a hawk.
"Of course. I'll gather a few wild animals and bring them to you… but if people find out about our little… work…"
"I doubt it; they aren't intelligent enough to know what's going to happen. They're busy with their lives now that they are free from the parrot, though… With the earthquakes some of them are on their toes." Feralle muttered, loud enough for Angelo to hear. "But what's wrong with a few people knowing, and not being able to do anything about it?"
"Nothing wrong with it, in my opinion. Why? Have you finally decided to test it on them?"
"No, not yet. But I am curious as to what types of symptoms it may cause if it was to… Accidentally spread." They smirked, thinking of the possibilities of what the plague could do to a person. Could it be that once infected, humans could become much more violent than the common man can express? Could it turn a human rabid, to the point of not knowing what it's doing?
These questions lingered around Feralle's head like mad; they would need to acquire a specimen to experiment with and take notes for research.
"Whatever the case, it shouldn't be a problem for you to gather a few lab rats… Please don't bring literal lab rats." Feralle laughed darkly, the mischievous laughter echoing through the caverns. "And after that… we'll start the sieges on the pitiful town, one by one… Like you've always wanted."
"Finally."
In the last few weeks since the Entity was out of its sarcophagus, the town of Crystal Cove had turned into a ghost town. If Professor Pericles' damage to the town was kidnapping its citizens to be used as workers in the caverns—
To Angelo's suggestion, the Entity decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to make a few sieges towards the town that it had been trapped under for centuries as revenge.
It would bring more destruction than the parrot could ever pull off with his robots, for the Evil Entity's servants are more equipped at the moment for their attacks on the town. The first siege will be decided soon, as the Entity has suggested to them. From what it had said it would be a.. "Surprise" for the minions…
The second siege will be a flood that will cover the town in seconds, leaving no room for preparation for the townies… Of course, Angelo and Seraphim will have to convince the water world's inhabitants to make it happen.
Feralle wasn't too fond of the idea that a flood would be the best way to show the town what it was facing. "It's too quick to send a flood to a town, At least leave something for my experiments…" Is what she kept telling everyone, they didn't care obviously. Why would they? They weren't going to be merciful at the end of the day...
Some of the townsfolk will be wise to leave, others will not. The third siege will start in the fourth year. It'll be a category 5 hurricane that will hit the town just as it heals from the flood, destroying what little repair the town will have done to keep itself afloat. Angelo was very fond of the idea of him finally using his abilities to good use. Anything to keep himself moving for the time being.
It will make what little of the citizens it had in the town finally realize it was dangerous to stay, and leave everything they've worked so hard for behind to warn more cities about the great chaos that's coming to them.
In the sixth year, the Entity and its minions decided that the plague will be the next siege, 'If Feralle makes it as worse as the Bubonic plague… We won't have to wait any longer for the pests to be eradicated.' Those were the words Angelo last heard from the mouth of the Entity.
The last siege wasn't yet spoken of; their master told them it would be considered as the years go by…
But Angelo understood that the last one would have to involve a fire…
Whatever it was…
It wouldn't be good for anyone in the world…
Crystal Cove
Crystal Cove Maximum Security Prison
Before the Krampus Case began...
…
"You're crazy if you think I'll ever do anything for you again!" Alice May screamed into the phone, growling at the man at the other end. "Do you know what I've gone through to destroy Mystery Incorporated?! Why should I do any more work for you?!"
Normally, she would be calm during a phone call in prison, but this wasn't one of those days; she was tired of being in the "hellhole", as she called it, just because of a mistake she made against Mystery Incorporated the Second. She growled when a familiar voice was heard from the phone after the same voice sighed.
"Because, Alice, you are still working for ME. I don't care if you're still in jail or outside, doing god knows what. I still have you under my contract, and your work is not yet finished here." The man's voice sounded irritably displeased, she could almost hear the slam of a hand hitting on the table.
This made Alice cringe, she was getting tired of the work she was being pulled into, "I can't get out of here on my own, there are more guards— more security! All because you couldn't wait to plan things correctly, and instead you try to pull your stupid friend out of hiding by almost killing Mystery Incorporated!"
"My reasons for that particular event are only for myself; you were just told what you were supposed to do. It's not my fault that they were going to catch you with Dynamite."
"Oh great, you know the fucking DJ." Alice rolled her eyes, clutching the phone tighter than before. "I'm not doing your dirty work again. That is what got me jail time."
"If you're worried about getting your hands dirty again, then you're in luck… You won't get your hands dirty on this next job, Alice."
"I want you to send a message-"
"I am not your messenger you ass. Why can't you send Ed Machine? He's a better messenger than I am!"
"Ed Machine is dead, Alice."
Alice May frowned, gritting her teeth once she heard the news. Ed Machine—who felt like a father to her, was dead. The parrot had killed someone who she trusted more than anyone in the world.
"A mistake I'm willing to fix… with your help, that is."
"… Fine… you win. What do you want me to do… Mr. E?"
"A simple request, my dear Alice." Mr. E's voice sounded calmer than before, giving Alice a sense of relief for a while.
"And that is?"
…
Current Time
Prisoners being released for their break...
Alice May leaned into the bars of her cell, waiting for the guards to release her like the others. She didn't think much of it; the guards would release the prisoners from time to time for a break, but prisoners weren't returning from this two-hour break.
And that's what was bugging Alice about the situation.
From the corner of her eyes, Alice noticed a guard being escorted by two other guards coming her way. She built up the courage to try and get his attention. "Hey, what's happening—why is-" She stopped when she noticed the emptiness in their eyes. She waved her hand at them, the guards not flinching from their empty gaze.
The guard opened her cell, pulling her out of it at once with full force; this made Alice May fall to the ground hard.
"Hey, what the fuck?! What's wrong with you-"
"Yeah, this one will work just fine." The she-devil cut off, looking down at her. "She'll do nicely in our experiment."
"What are you talking about?" Alice asked, standing up slowly. "What did you do to them?"
The female devil leaned onto one of the guard's shoulders, smirking to her handiwork. "Oh, the prison guards? Nothing but a little… hmm, let's say, mind bending. You know how it is; some people don't do well with irregular hour shifts." She gave a mischievous laugh, snapping her fingers for the other guards to restrain the defenseless Alice.
"I meant the others…" Alice muttered, as she stared into the she-devil's green-ish eyes.
"Oh, don't worry… they're fine… You'll join them soon."
Her eyes widened, realizing the situation she was in, and dodging a guard that had lunged at her. She grabbed the downed guard's baton, hitting the second guard that was lunging at her in the gut, then in the head, hard, knocking them out cold.
Alice held on to the baton at the menacing devil, fearlessly staring at her emotionless dead gaze for a reaction.
The she-devil smirked, "Fighting me won't do you much good, kid… Playing with fire will just burn you."
"I'll take my chances." She took a run for it, dodging the fireballs thrown at her from behind. She could hear the devil running after her as soon as she was out of the jail cells. Having an idea popping in her head, Alice closed the door to the cells as soon as possible. The humanoid devil slammed into the door, breaking part of it with a fist full of flame.
Alice ran, leaving the creature on her own. She frantically looked around for a way out, to bust out of the prison and do the last job Mr. E had asked her to do. She looked back at where she had left the female demon, seeing the metal door slowly melt into a liquid from her touch.
She cursed herself for thinking the door would keep the devil long enough for her to escape.
"What the fuck are you?!"
The devil smirked. "What am I? I am Seraphim… one of the Entity's servants that feeds on this wretched land that you call home. My master made us his chosen ones to rid this land of everything it has for him! To give him the meal he so pleasantly deserves!"
"Ok, no, that sounds fucking stupid."
"But it is the truth; my siblings and I have destroyed countless groups of mystery solvers for thousands of years! Including your dear enemies, the group that was going to destroy our dear master, Mystery Incorporated the Second! … Well not destroy them persay… But we have them on our grasp..." Seraphim smiled darkly, taking a deep breath at the memory. "Oh, their screams were so delightful…"
"Listen sparky, whatever you're planning is going to fail! I know some very influential people, and they are already planning an attack on yo-"
"Do you mean Destroido? It has been weeks, my dear Alice May… we dismantled the facility long ago." Seraphim boasted laughing, the laughter giving a slight echo into the building. "Your chances of surviving this fateful day are none without their help, and even if they did—they wouldn't help a worthless child like you!"
Alice frowned and gave a low growl. "You like to underestimate people a bit too much…" She stood her ground, staring directly at the she-devil's eyes for any movement.
Seraphim grinned and licked her lips, her hands clutching into fists as fire came out of the folds on her arms. Her eyes glowed in a threatening green, signifying Alice that she was in for the fight of her life.
Alice's eyebrows furrowed, not backing away from the threatening being in front of her. "Come and get it, bitch." Alice taunted, giving a small smirk towards her.
Seraphim gave a battle cry, running towards Alice at full speed.
Alice noticed Seraphim getting closer and closer the more speed she got. "Fuck, I can't…" Alice muttered, running away from the devil once again.
Seraphim laughed, stopping the minute Alice was far away from her. She rubbed her hands against each other fast, creating a ball of fire big enough to be sent to the blond female. "This is what happens to people who think they can take the Evil Entity head-on, kid…" the she-devil said, releasing the huge wall of fire towards the escapee.
Alice looked back, seeing the wall of fire moving closer and closer towards her. She jumped, trying to get a head start towards the closest cover—but failed as the wall of flames caught up to her, sending her and a wall out into the outside of the prison.
"That reminds me… I have some visits to make…"
Proud of her handiwork, Seraphim smirked and walked back into the darkness from where she came from. She decided that the deed was done and that Alice May, the accomplice of Mr. E, was definitely dead and wouldn't come back.
Blake Mansion, Crystal Cove
Both New and Old threats show up at the doorsteps...
Her bedroom in the Blake Mansion was a mess, newspapers from months ago until the current date were scattered around the floor like someone had looked through everything in a haste and left them there.
Daisy Blake stared at the picture of the she-devil she saw in the hospital, concentrated on the horned face of the being that had attacked her months ago. She bit down on her hand in habit, anxious from the troubled memory of that fateful event, her stare focused so much on the photo that she could almost hear the female creature's laughter.
'How did she even know my name…?' Daisy pondered, '… Does it have to do with Daphne…? Do they even have her? Could they be torturing her? N-No… she'd have taunted me about it… right?...'
A knock on the doorframe broke her from her thoughts; the redhead looked towards the door to see another redhead leaning onto the frame.
"Not now Delilah, I'm busy." Daisy waved her twin sister away, "I don't have time for whatever you have in mind. You're dismissed, or whatever it is your Military Commander always told you…"
Delilah rolled her eyes at the dismissal. "I already told you, I don't work for the military anymore. I just need your help. It's my arm again." She smirked, knowing that it would irritate her to no end.
Daisy groaned once she heard what it was about. "I swear you're just doing this to irritate me."
"Just check it for me please? I think I need a cast for it—but you're the doctor."
"… Fine, come on. Sit down on the bed, but don't touch anything, got that?"
"Roger." Delilah said, giving a small smile and going to the bed without question. She noticed the newspaper cut-outs all over the floor and looked up at her twin. "Daisy, I understand that you saw something that didn't appear human and all, but…"
"But?"
"You may be having an obsession with this monster."
Daisy sighed, getting her equipment out of her bag and placing them on the bed beside her. "It's not an obsession, it… it's just that… that thing I saw? The monster you think I'm obsessed with? It looked familiar… Too familiar.."
"Familiar ho-OW!" Delilah exclaimed as she felt her damaged arm being yanked. "Daisy that fucking hurt!"
"Oh fuck off with that Delilah." Daisy groaned, "You've been shot in the knee twice, almost got your eye burned from training, and you're telling me THIS is hurting you?"
Delilah rolled her eyes, "Just don't pull it so hard! Geez! I'm not a dummy."
"Whatever."
"So, you were saying she looked familiar to you. How familiar?"
Daisy chuckled, "I don't know… I feel like it could be Daphne you know? That she's just playing with us to get back at us for everything we did to her… But…"
"But?"
"It's too easy, Way too easy Delilah. But it could be her and we just… Don't know."
Delilah stared, wide eye at her twin. "Wow, that's really deep sis. Didn't think you were like that."
Daisy punched her arm hard, slowly getting irritated by her comments. "Focus asshat, I'm pouring my heart out here and your comments are getting really annoying."
"Ow."
The ground shook again, the two women barely kept their balance from the tremor. Daisy and Delilah each held their side of the bed, their grip hardening as the tremors stopped. Daisy felt her heart beat faster, the sound of it ringing in her ears. "Oh no."
"What?"
"It's them."
"What are you talking about?"
Daisy ran towards the hallway without a second thought, going towards the main hall. Delilah followed close behind, wondering what had gotten Daisy scared all of a sudden. They stopped once they heard a woman's scream coming from the dining room.
"That was mom!" Delilah sputtered.
"It has to be her! The monster from the hospital, I knew it!"
"Go, I'll get dad's gun!" Delilah said, running in the direction of her father's office.
"Fucking sure! Leave me with the fire bitch why don't you?!" Daisy screamed in the direction Delilah took off to. She sighed and shook her head when she saw Delilah wasn't in the hallway anymore and took off to the dining room.
She opened the doors, slamming into the ground in case the demon was expecting her. Her eyes widened when she saw a clawed hand close to her face. She looked up to see the same demon she had encountered in the hospital—having an arm around her mother's mouth to quiet her.
'Shit…' Daisy thought as she stood up. 'I swear… I've seen her before… Before the hospital even… It can't be Daphne… No, she's isn't the type to be like this… Isn't she?'
"Hello again, Daisy. We finally met again." Seraphim smirked, "I took the liberty of entering through the back door… As you can see, I took care of the… inhospitality…"
Taking a good look around the room, sure enough… Jenkins was on the floor unconscious, as well as the other personnel in the household. Her father and her other sisters minus Daphne and Delilah were gathered around the room.
She growled, taking a stance to make it seem like she wasn't scared. "Whatever you have against me, we can settle it between us. You know… like functioning adults."
"I'm not here for you, oh no… I'm here for everyone in the family. I have an announcement to make for you people. I'm sure you've all been missing your dear little family member… The one who risked heart and limb to save you from the parrot, to defend you in your times of need..."
"D-Daphne?"