Notes: this is the second piece I've written for today, on account of Vincent Price's 111th birthday, so enjoy this lighthearted piece!
In a truly ironic twist, it had been Daphne who was the most excited about Shaggy agreeing to start taking magic lessons from Vincent. When Vincent had announced that Shaggy would be starting with some readings, Daphne had sat down with him to help Shaggy learn them so that he could start his practical training as soon as possible with the Masamune sword he had acquired.
"You have it a lot easier than I did," Daphne was saying at the table one morning, as they finished up breakfast. "You only need to master four elements."
"That's still not easy!" Shaggy replied.
"Four elements, plus he needs to learn how to identify and avoid the Forbidden Arts as you did," Vincent said, calmly levitating the empty plates away. "And since he'll be using a sword as his mana source, he'll have to hone his reflexes, as well."
"Like, that part shouldn't be too bad—I used to be a track man and gymnast, after all," Shaggy mused.
"Then, perhaps, it would be wise to focus on that today," Vincent agreed.
"Great, I'll just hang out in the workout room."
"…I had something else in mind," the warlock mused. "You said that Lady Pallas blessed the blade so that it would reflect attacks like her Reflect Barrier?"
"Yeah—back when Daphne and I sought out her help to rescue you," Shaggy nodded. "She said I could use my sword to turn back any attack, even magical ones."
"She blessed my staff, too," Daphne added. "She said that my spells will never miss now."
"You both received two very powerful boons," Vincent mused. "But that means that your reflexes are even more important, Shaggy—not only do you have to master parrying, but you also have to learn how to reflect attacks since the sword can't cast the Reflect Barrier like Daphne's staff can."
"Yeah, like, that makes sense…" Shaggy said, thinking it over.
"I'm so glad you agree," Vincent smirked. "Today's training shall focus on that."
"Uh-oh, I know that look," Flim-Flam murmured to Scooby and Scrappy in an undertone. "Vince has got something sneaky planned…"
"Okay," Shaggy nodded, oblivious. "So what exactly were you thinking—ZOINKS!"
Shaggy gave a yelp as a large bubble of water conjured over his head—and then drop down on him. Daphne had to struggle not to laugh at the indignant look on Shaggy's face—Flim-Flam and the dogs didn't even try.
"Like, what gives!?"
"This will be today's lesson," Vincent declared, snapping his fingers to dry Shaggy off. "You will have to learn to hone your reflexes to deflect my water spheres!"
"You gotta be kidding!" Shaggy exclaimed, and now Daphne couldn't hold back her laughter any longer.
"Oh, I most certainly am not," Vincent returned. He arched an eyebrow as Daphne started to laugh—and conjured a water sphere over her head, as well.
Daphne's laughter turned into an equally indignant yelp as she got doused, and Vincent snapped his fingers again to dry her off.
"And did you think you were exempt from today's lesson, Daphne?" he gently chided. "This lesson is one you need to master, too."
"A little warning would've been nice!" she replied.
"Our foes aren't going to grant us the courtesy of a warning," Vincent reminded them. "And so, for the purposes of this lesson, neither will I. You'll have to learn to expect the unexpected at every turn—you can't let down your guard for a moment!"
He punctuated this with two more water spheres—Daphne dodged hers, while Shaggy got soaked again and had to be magically dried off once more.
"C'mon, let's get outta here before we're caught in the crossfire," Scrappy said. "I don't want another bath!"
"Sure—I've got a plan that'll help us cash in on this," Flim-Flam mused.
"Rhat do rhou mean?" Scooby asked.
"I'll explain once we're far enough away," the boy replied. "Okay, uh, we'll catch you guys later!"
He headed down the corridor with the dogs.
"Scoob!" Shaggy protested. "You're gonna leave me high and dry!?"
"Rhi don't think 'dry' is the right word, Rhaggy," Scooby teased, giving his distinct giggle.
"Wow… So much for Man's Best Friend—"
"Heads up, Shaggy!" Daphne warned.
Shaggy dodged the next water sphere.
"A valid stratagem," Vincent admitted. "Working together has always proved to save us multiple times—you two are welcome to combine your talents against mine." He smirked. "I won't be holding back—and remember, your goal isn't just to dodge my water spheres, but reflect them back at me. Good luck."
His last two words were almost in a sing-song tone as he teleported out.
"…He's having way too much fun with this," Shaggy said.
"No reason why we can't, too," Daphne replied, her staff transforming into its true form in her hand. "Come on; let's show him we can keep up with him!"
"I dunno, Daphne," Shaggy sighed, as he followed her. "This seems harder than it sounds; I mean, he's two thousand and one—I'm sure he knows way more about—"
"Reflect!" Daphne called, sending back the next water sphere.
Vincent reappeared on the balcony above.
"Reflect!" he called, sending the water sphere right back.
Neither Daphne nor Shaggy had been expecting that, and the water sphere, having gained energy from being reflected twice, had been large enough to douse them both.
"That's not fair!" Daphne protested, as Vincent dried them off again. "I reflected it—you didn't say you were going to reflect it back again!"
"Again, do you really think the forces of evil will give consideration as to what's fair or not?" Vincent reminded her.
"…No," she admitted.
"All is fair—keep that in mind," Vincent added, before teleporting out.
"…We don't have a chance," Shaggy sighed.
In spite of the fact that the duo had managed to avoid most of Vincent's water spheres over the next few hours, and despite the fact that Shaggy had begun getting used to reflecting the water spheres with his Masamune sword, neither of them had successfully reflected a sphere back at Vincent.
"I'm beginning to think you have a point," Daphne sighed. "He's the world's most powerful warlock, and even though he's been teaching me and will start teaching you, the fact is, we're still mortals."
"So?" Flim-Flam mused, appearing out of a castle corridor with Scooby and Scrappy hauling a wagon that was covered by a small towel. "Only one thing to do—use a few mortal tricks that he won't be expecting!"
"So you finally decided to help me after all, huh, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.
"We rhall did!" Scooby barked.
"Yeah, this'll give you two an edge for sure!" Scrappy promised.
"What've you got?" Daphne asked.
With a flourish, Flim-Flam removed the towel covering the contents of the wagon—
"…Water balloons?" Shaggy asked.
"Hey, you know what they say—turnabout is fair play!" Flim-Flam grinned. "You two wanna put one over on Vince, or what?"
"I say we give it a try—Vincent did say that 'all is fair,' after all," Daphne pointed out. "Thanks for your help, you guys!"
"Ah, there's just one little, tiny, miniscule detail…" Flim-Flam said. "A lot of time and effort went into these water balloons—"
"How much?" Daphne and Shaggy chorused.
"A hundred Nepalese Rupees—"
"Fine," Daphne said.
"—Each."
"Each!?" Shaggy exclaimed.
"Hey, given the exchange rates, it's less than a buck a balloon," Flim-Flam pointed out.
"Yeah, it's a real steal!" Scrappy grinned.
"Steal is right," Daphne sighed. "What do you want a buck a balloon for, anyway?"
"Food!" Scooby barked.
"Yeah, with this, we can hit the village for chaats and pakoras," Flim-Flam grinned.
"What!?" Shaggy cried. "Scoob, you'd go without me!?"
"Rhi'll bring some back… rhmaybe."
"Scoob!"
"Okay, here's 15 bucks," Daphne interrupted. "That should more or less cover it."
"…Can you make it 20?" Flim-Flam asked.
Daphne sighed, but handed him a $20 bill.
"Thanks! They're all yours!"
He ran off with the dogs, no doubt to stash away the American money and pull out some Rupees to take to the village.
"…I can't believe Scooby would go out for food without me!"
"I'll take you to the village for chaats and pakoras myself if we pull this off," Daphne promised him. "Now help me set these up in the hall—we're going to stage an ambush of our own!"
They got to work setting up a trap that would've made Fred proud, and after running around the ground floor of the castle to draw Vincent out of hiding.
The water spheres soon hurled at them from the center of the room; the duo dodged, trying to find where Vincent was.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed, dodging yet another sphere. "I think Vincent thinks we were planning something since we were hiding for so long!"
The trap hadn't been disturbed, Daphne realized—Vincent had suspected something, but he hadn't known exactly what, so he had just opted to make himself invisible. But the water spheres were still coming from the center of the hall…
"Keep reflecting the spheres!" she announced. "Don't stop until I tell you!"
Shaggy did so, and so did she; Daphne was slowly edging Shaggy towards the left side of the hall—where they'd tied a line to a torch bracket.
As she suspected, the water spheres now started reflecting back at them from a spot closer to the left of the hall, rather than the center.
"Now, Shaggy!" she instructed.
Shaggy dodged one of the two large water spheres and swung the sword to cut the trap line—and all of the water balloons found their invisible mark.
Vincent had let out an exclamation of surprise, becoming visible as he was caught unawares and his focus broke—
"Reflect!" Daphne called, sending back the second water sphere.
The water balloons had been the distraction they'd needed; with a defeated grunt, Vincent was hit by his own water sphere, drenching him thoroughly. He remained stoic and dignified, however, ever the graceful loser.
"And that's how it's done!" Daphne said.
"Way to go, you two!" Scrappy exclaimed.
"Reah—good job!" Scooby grinned.
Shaggy and Daphne looked in surprise to see them with Flim-Flam.
"I thought you three went to the village!" Daphne said.
"And miss how this ended? Not a chance!" Flim-Flam grinned. "Looks like my little ploy worked! …Not that there was ever any doubt, of course."
"I should have sensed your hand in this," Vincent lamented as he snapped his fingers to dry himself off. He glanced at Shaggy and Daphne. "Very well—you finally succeeded in pulling one over on me, but you had to resort to a subterfuge to do it."
"Like, you did say all was fair," Shaggy reminded him.
"…I suppose I did," Vincent admitted.
"And it's not really a subterfuge," Daphne added. "It's what we do best—work together."
Vincent's expression softened.
"Yes, I did say that has always been your strength."
"Our strength," Daphne reminded him. She smiled. "You wouldn't have set aside your day to train us in something so vital if you hadn't cared so much."
"Yeah, like, thanks for that," Shaggy nodded
"Well, then I think we can call today's lesson a success—you both still have a lot to learn with reflect and reflex training, so don't expect this to be a one-time thing," Vincent said.
The duo nodded.
"But I must offer you both congratulations again," he added. "And, to celebrate, we will all head down to the village for chaats and pakoras—it's on Flim-Flam."
"What?!" the boy protested, before realizing that he could afford to be generous, given that Vincent could provide them with anything they really needed. "Oh, alright. It was worth it to see that plan in action, anyway."
"Yes, and that reminds me… I don't say it as often as I should, but it cannot be understated how proud I am of all of you," Vincent said. "It's no small feat to get the upper hand over a powerful warlock, and you all did it by working together. Truly an excellent bit of work."
"Well," Daphne smiled. "We've had a great teacher with that powerful warlock looking after us and bringing out the best in all of us."
Vincent merely chuckled humbly, prompting everyone to crowd together for a group hug.
Indeed, they all brought out the best in each other—and that, no doubt, was what would carry them forward to face whatever lay ahead.