Chapter 11: A Hockey Mystery

Tucker and Velma took their seats at the hockey stadium. Tucker would feel better if her friends weren't with them. He didn't even want to question how they got their dog in. "Where did they get our tickets?" Tucker asked.

"Daphne's family owns the team we're rooting for." Velma explained, shocking Tucker.

"Wait a minute." Tucker asked. "Is Daphne one of the Coolsville Blakes?"

"Yep." Daphne answered. "You should've seen their faces when they learned they own the team."

Tucker was confused. "Your family owned a hockey team without knowing it?"

"That's nothing." Daphne simply replied. "We actually forgot we own an ancient castle in Ireland until somebody tried to buy it from us."

Before Tucker could think over what Daphne's just said, they heard Fred cheering on in spite of the game not beginning yet. "Come on, break his leg! Twist his neck!"

"Fred, the game hasn't begun yet and the field is that way." Daphne pointed out.

"I know." Fred explained. "I'm watching those guys fighting at the snack bar."

'Nicer than Dash, perhaps, but not much brighter.' Tucker thought.

The players showed up but, before either of them had a chance to hit the puck, smoke came out and some sort of creature wearing a hockey outfit showed up. "You'll pay for rejecting me." The creature said.

Practically everyone ran away. Shaggy and Scooby tried to run away as well and would have done so if not for the other meddling kids. "You'll stay with us, you pair of chickens." Daphne said.

"No way!" Shaggy said while Scooby said "Ro ray."

"Would you stay for a Scooby Snack?" Velma asked.

"No." Shaggy said.

"Two snacks for each of you?" Velma offered more.

"That's, like, different." Shaggy replied with a smile while Scooby nodded.

One bribe later, the gang and Tucker went to talk to the coach. "First of all, I'm only bothering to listen to you kids because Ms. Blake's family owns the team." He said.

"Well, for starters, who could this so-called ghost be?" Velma asked.

"That's obvious." The coach said like he's talking to an idiot. "That's the ghost of Albert O'Sullivan."

"Who?" Fred asked.

"Albert O'Sullivan was a former star of this team decades ago until being banned for throwing a few matches for money." Velma explained.

"You know your history." The coach commented with a smile. "Good."

"The last anyone heard of him was claiming he'd get his revenge someday." Velma stated. "But I never heard about his death."

"The general public forgot about him." The coach explained.

"Which means whoever is pretending to be his ghost must be really into hockey." Fred deduced.

"Assuming it's not, like, a real g-g-g-ghost." Shaggy commented.

"Well, it's Amity Park." Tucker said. "If at least I thought about bringing a Fenton Finder with me."

"A what?" The gang asked.

"A device invented by Jack and Maddie Fenton to locate ghosts." Tucker explained.

Velma then drew the PDA. "At the moment, I'd like to know what became of O'Sullivan."

"I'm way ahead of you, Velma." Tucker replied with his own PDA on hand. "Ooooohhh!" Both techno geeks exclaimed.

"Well, let's split up, gang." Fred said. "Daphne, you and Velma keep checking this area. Shaggy, you and Scooby check the other team's locker room. Tucker, you check the corridors with me. We'll meet at the field."

As Tucker and Fred were walking around, the latter addressed the former. "So, what's your deal?"

"What?" Tucker asked in confusion.

"We've checked your profile on the web, Mr. TooFineTucker." Fred stated with a frown. "So many girls complained about you using a fake profile we find it hard to believe all of them were liars."

That was a new for Tucker. A jock (or someone with a jock build) with a legitimate grievance against him. "Look, I might have exaggerated a little with my original profile but I've learned my lesson." He explained.

"We'll see about that." Fred said. "Now let's keep looking for clues."

"Look!" Tucker exclaimed. "Somebody's coming that way."

"Hurry!" Fred said and went after the newcomer, only to find a girl wearing some sort of red armor.

"Who are you?" Fred and the girl asked each other.

Recognizing the girl, Tucker decided to intervene. "Red Huntress, this is Fred Jones, of Mystery Incorporated." He said. "Fred, this is Valerie Gray, the Red Huntress"

"Red Huntress?" Valerie asked in confusion.

"That's a fan nickname." Tucker explained. "If you want a particular name for you to known as, announce it like Danny Phantom announced his during the Ghost King incident."

"And how do you know my name?" She asked with a frown.

"Because your current suit doesn't hide your face like your old one used to." Tucker uneasily answered.

"True, you don't even wear a domino mask like other superheroes do and I still wonder how those do the job." Fred commented.

"Fine, but what're you doing here?" She asked.

"My friends and I are trying to catch the hockey ghost." Fred explained.

"You should leave the real ghosts to real ghost hunters but what about you, Foley?" Valerie asked.

"I'm dating Velma." Tucker explained.

"It figures." Valerie commented. 'She's as much of a nerd as he is.'

They then heard a scream from where Fred had sent Shaggy and Scooby to investigate. "The g-g-g-ghost!" Shaggy screamed and he and Scooby ran by. "Scoob, isn't that, like, the Red Huntress?"

'I've got to admit it's a catchy nom de guerre.' She thought. "That's me" She then saw the ghost coming. "Stop, ghost." She commanded and readied a weapon on him.

The ghost kept approaching. "Okay, creep. You asked for it." She gave a shot that the ghost dodged. Seeing the damage it caused, the 'ghost' became terrified. "Wait! I'm not a ghost!" He exclaimed and unmasked himself. "See?"

"Rather anticlimactic." Fred commented.

"Would you rather meet a real ghost?" Valerie asked.

"Yes." Fred answered while Tucker and Shaggy said "No." and Scooby said "Ro."

'Did that dog just talk?' Tucker mentally wondered. 'Well, it's not like it's the weirdest thing I ever met.'

With the villain surrendering, the cops and the rest of the gang reunited. "But how did you know the team's former janitor was the ghost?" The coach asked.

"We didn't, Coach." Velma answered. "He simply surrendered when the Red Huntress showed up."

"But like, why was he doing it?" Shaggy asked.

"Revenge because the coach got me fired." The unmasked 'ghost' said.

"I caught you trying to rob the team's valuables to pay gambling debts." The coach explained.

"And I would've gotten away with my revenge if not for that meddling… Red Huntress." The villain complained.

"It's rather anticlimactic when the bad guys don't call us "meddling kids"." Daphne sadly commented.

"I didn't even have a chance to set up a trap." Fred added.

'What are they?' Tucker thought. 'Protagonists of a strictly formulaic cartoon show?' He then saw something that made him even more surprised. "Is that cop reading rights from a card?"

"That's how it's done, Tucker." Velma explained. "Any deviations from the official text might invalidate the part about being used against the bad guy in a court of law."

"Okay." Tucker replied and took a picture of the villain next to Velma. "I'm sending it to Danny."

"Honestly, it takes a very stupid villain to impersonate a ghost in Amity Park." A cop told the bad guy. "Mayor Masters is even trying to pass a law against ghost impersonations even during Halloween."

"He's just jealous because most kids would rather dress like Danny Phantom." Tucker snickered. Upon noticing the confused looks, he added "Mayor Master's friends with Danny's parents. Danny Fenton's parents, I mean."

The others figured out it must be some sort of inside joke and left it at that. "So, what about the game?" Shaggy asked.

"It has been rescheduled." The coach explained. "The match will be played three days later."

"It's a date." Velma said and Tucker agreed.

"Scooby Dooby Doo." Scooby said.

Later that night, Danny and Tucker shared tales of their respective dates. "So, Valerie scared the fake ghost into confessing?" Danny laughed.

"Yes." Tucker answered while still laughing.

"By the way, Barbara says Velma and her friends have met some Leaguers." Danny commented.

"No way!" Tucker exclaimed and checked his PDA. "Oh, it's here! I didn't memorize the names when I first learned of them helping Batman to prevent the Joker from stealing Bruce Wayne's fortune! I wonder if they can get me his autograph!"

Danny rolled his eyes at that. 'Won't he ever give up?'

"They've also helped Wonder Woman to catch a thief who dressed like a minotaur to steal an artifact." Tucker said, even more amazed at his girlfriend and their friends.

"Did Wonder Woman give him the same trouble Valerie gave today's villain?" Danny asked, not sure if he believed Tucker or not. "As an Amazon, she likely fought enough minotaurs to make it hard for her to believe it wasn't another real one."

"If you find it hard to believe, look at the amount of times the Flash captured villains Velma and her friends tried to unmask." Tucker commented and showed the story on the PDA.

"Wow! It's like behind his mask there's a friend of theirs wanting them to have more time to spend with him." Danny commented.

"What about you?" Tucker asked. "I've received news on the PDA that Starfire and the original Robin showed up to help while Batman and the current Robin were in Metropolis. Did you meet them?"

"I sure did." Danny proudly answered.

"Was it awkward?" Tucker teasingly asked. "Did Starfire even know Barbara is Batgirl?"

"If she knows, she hides it really well." Danny answered. "By the way, she and the original Robin met us as Danny Fenton and Barbara Gordon."

"Did Robin become jealous that both girls in his life prefer you?" Tucker asked and snickered.

"Probably." Danny answered while wondering if his luck will make him face the wrath of a jealous caped crusader.

Meanwhile, at Arkham, Edward Nygma a.k.a. the Riddler was talking to the inmate from the cell next to his. "Crane, I'm talking from genius to genius. Join the Legion of Doom. With Batman teaming up with other superheroes, we'll need all the help we can get."

"The only help I care about is to get out of here." The Scarecrow commented. "I never thought I'd say this at a time Arkham isn't run by Lyle Bolton but escaping is harder than it seems."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance." A new voice phased inside the Scarecrow's cell.

"A-a-am I really going insane?" The Scarecrow couldn't believe what he saw. "Are you a vampire?"

The new voice briefly frowned at this 'vampire' comment. "Ghost, actually, Mr. Crane. But you and your fellow intern Mr. Nygma may call me 'Plasmius'. Now, tell me more about the Legion of Doom."

End chapter.

Answer to Leonardo (Guest): Só referências mesmo. Pelo menos até que alguma idéia com base nelas me venha à cabeça.

Author's Note: I'm posting this chapter in the very same day I learned of Chadwick Boseman's death so, RIP Black Panther.