A.N. - So what happened then? There were some little clues scattered in the previous chapter, but the biggest one was that after I spent a lot of time devoted to time-stamping the action in Chapter 24, in Chapter 25 that was largely absent and on purpose... well, you didn't really think that Daphne grabbed that phone and just switched it off did you?
"Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me, maybe, it's hard to look right, at you baby, but here's my number, so call me, maybe"
"For the love of God Daphne, just switch it off!" Velma pleaded. Almost as if in a trance Daphne continued to watch the phone vibrating on the dashboard as Shaggy and Scooby clamped their hands over their ears and shut their eyes.
"Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me... "
"I really think it might be something important guys," Daphne said, doubt filling her mind about whether to carry on ignoring it was even the right thing to do.
She was completely startled from her mini trance when Fred abruptly pulled the van over and turned to face her, yelling "TURN IT OFF DAPHNE!"
Daphne automatically flinched from the ferocity in his voice and the anger in his eyes but they were replaced very quickly with guilt as she knew he bitterly regretted it and he looked at her in shock at what he had just done. Too late now she thought.
Try to chase me...but here's my number so call me ma..."
"Fine," she whispered, reaching for the phone just seconds before the ringtone was about to cut off. Daphne didn't know what actually made her do it. It could have been a vindictive move on her part after Fred had yelled at her so devastatingly, but most likely it was her fear for the stupid mistake she feared they were all about to make. Whatever the reason was, it caught everybody completely off-guard when her finger that was hovering over the 'off' switch, suddenly dramatically hit 'answer' at the very last second instead.
"DAPHNE NO!" Fred shouted looking immediately panic-stricken. Daphne cradled the now answered phone to her ear and made a quick decision. Fearing from the look on his face that he might try and wrestle the phone from her, she quickly took advantage of the now parked van and hopped out of the passenger side, completely stunning Fred and the others.
"Ethan?" she hissed, turning onto the dark street.
"Daphne!" She was immediately shocked on hearing how absolutely frantic Ethan sounded on the other end and could even detect how choked up he was too. "Daphne oh thank god, thank god!"
Daphne had no idea exactly where they were when Fred pulled over but it was an abandoned part of town it seemed, everything was shut up and there wasn't a soul in sight. Fred, Velma and Shaggy had rapidly exited the van now and they began to converge towards her as a pack, and she found herself uneasily backing away from them down the street. They looked so angry and she was involuntarily reminded of the last time they had teamed up against her. Would they really hurt her now to stop her talking to Ethan? Would Fred really hurt her?
"Daphne, hang up," Fred commanded calmly as they tailed her slowly, but with his voice rising as his panic took over now. "You can't trust him!"
"Daphne? What's going on!?" Ethan asked her in alarm, having heard Fred shout at her. "Where are you?"
With everyone's eyes on her now willing her to stop talking to him, Daphne gulped, unsure what to do. Fred nodded at her encouragingly but Daphne couldn't ignore what her gut was telling her. I'm so sorry Freddy! she thought. "Ethan we're on our way to the Docks!" she suddenly blurted to him loudly but still looking at the gang so she saw their reactions. She saw Velma's hand smack the wall they were next to in frustration. Fred and Shaggy's faces dropped simultaneously and they just looked incredibly disappointed.
"So Justin was right! Listen Daphne! You must listen to me very carefully..."
Daphne did listen, even though she kept her eyes on the gang the whole time. When Ethan told her the reason why they shouldn't go, she almost crashed into a lamppost she had been unknowingly walking backwards into as she had tried to put safe distance between herself and the gang. "What?! I don't believe it!"
Fred was trying his best to appeal to Daphne calmly but unfortunately they were giving her the impression of cornering her like a frightened animal, causing her to move further and further down the street away from them. He became more and more frustrated as she kept the phone clutched to her ear the whole time, still listening to whatever lies Ethan was peddling her. He tried desperately to convince her as he saw her eyes suddenly widen like a startled deer's.
"Daphne, please!" Fred choked out, beyond desperate now. "You can't believe anything he says! You said that yourself, we are the only ones you can trust!"
"Daphne!" Shaggy appealed now too, also looking stricken. "Please, just listen to Freddy! Ethan hurt you both! How can you believe anything he says?!"
"Please Daphne," Velma said also pleading now. "Please just hang up Daphne, we have to go! Think about Madelyn! She needs us! Please Daph!"
Daphne was already wavering as the boys begged her not to trust Ethan but it was Velma mentioning Madelyn that caused her to speak out. She stared at Velma strangely, still unable to believe what Ethan had just told her.
"He said that Madelyn is safe," she told them all calmly but in total disbelief.
Velma put a hand to her mouth in shock, her legs giving way at what Daphne just claimed.
"What?!" Fred exclaimed but angrily now. "Daphne, this is getting ridiculous! Look at poor Velma!" Velma had slumped against the wall, a glazed look in her eyes and Daphne did look back guiltily at her friend but resumed the distance between them, inching a little further away, much to Fred's frustration. "Look at how he's messing with her head like this! We know that Devon has Madelyn! Don't listen to him! Just stop this!"
Daphne's mind was reeling now, she was so torn. "How," Daphne demanded Ethan quietly, feeling completely shaken now. "How can she possibly be safe Ethan? He sent us her screams!" She never took her eyes off the rest of the gang. Velma was in a fixed stupor now and Fred and Shaggy just looked truly desperate.
"Will! Will got them into a safe house! Look Daph, I've seen them with my own eyes. I've SPOKEN to them for fuck's sake! They're safe! I promise you!"
"He says it was Will," she told the others quietly, her head absolutely spinning now.
"Will?! Will's dead! You know he has to be lying now!"
"Daphne," Ethan instructed in frustration, hearing Fred's loud outbursts. "Put Fred on the phone now OK!"
Daphne eyed Fred nervously. She walked to close the short distance between them and held out the phone to him tentatively, telling him that Ethan wanted to speak to him. She feared he would just grab her and the phone, and throw it away but he took it calmly enough.
"Please just talk to him," she urged and was relieved when Fred immediately put the phone to his ear.
"Listen Ethan, of all the spineless shit you've pulled recently, this has to be the lowest! Playing on Velma's emotions like that and getting her hopes up!" he berated him instantly and Ethan rolled his eyes knowing the outburst was purely fuelled by the level of distrust he had in him right now.
"No, you listen to me Fred! I SWEAR DOWN ON DAPHNE'S LIFE that what I'm telling you is true and I am BEGGING you right now not to go to the Docks alone. He DOES NOT have Madelyn. He never did. It was all just a ruse to trap you!"
Fred was stunned by Ethan's bold proclamation, and he knew instantly what he was saying was true, and he reacted with astonished relief now. "She's really safe?"
"She really is. They both are. Will put them in a safe house. I went to see them. They're fine."
"Ethan that's just unbelievable, how the hell did you even work that out?"
Ethan smiled in relief that he had finally convinced Fred to believe him. "That's a long story and I promise I'll tell you later, but right now I need you to tell me where you are and I'll come to you." While Fred did believe Ethan was telling the truth about Madelyn, he wasn't sure if he was able to trust him fully again just yet, and Ethan sensed that hesitation. "Dammit Fred, come on, just tell me please!"
Making a snap decision, Fred looked around them and noticed for the first time they were right outside the old picture house. "We're by the Majestic Grand," he confirmed after a pause and he heard Ethan blow out his cheeks in relief.
"OK, thanks Fred. Now please just STAY THERE! I'll be there in five."
Fred hung up the phone numbly, still feeling absolutely bewildered but he took one look at Velma still shaking on the pavement and he grinned widely at her. "It's true Velma, it's really true, Madelyn's safe!"
Velma burst into tears of happy relief immediately and jumped to her feet giddily, where she was enveloped in Shaggy's warm embrace.
Fred handed the phone back to Daphne, with an uncomfortable silence between the two. "I uh, told him where we were. He'll be here soon," he stammered out eventually.
Daphne nodded coolly in response. "So I guess we better get going before he finds us then?"
"No," Fred said wearily. "Daph, I'm sorry but you were right all along. We can't do this alone. Furthermore, I'm absolutely horrified thinking about what I almost led us into."
"He had us all fooled...again." Daphne reflected with a sigh, remembering the bitter trick Devon had pulled to convince them his kidnapping of Fred was actually Fred running away of his own accord. Her hostile attitude to Fred melted away in an instant and she smiled at him. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
"But I've just treated you worse than in the entire time that we held you prisoner. I can't believe I even yelled at you like that, I'm so sorry!" He said turning away from her gaze in shame, and his shoulders dropped.
Daphne reached forward and gently cupped his cheek, forcing him to look at her again. She spoke directly into his eyes. "Fred, we've been through more in one week than what most people will ever go through in their entire lifetime! You've been shot, thrown out of a car, held prisoner again, and on top of all that we have both gone on the worst emotional roller-coaster as we discovered such a horrific betrayal by someone we both love. I'm pretty sure I can forgive you yelling at me in the heat of the moment! And yeah I guess Call Me Maybe can get pretty irritating after the second or third time too," she conceded with a cheeky twinkle in her eye.
"Ha!" Fred snorted. "Try on the first time. Honestly Daphne, I don't think I've ever heard a more awful but infuriatingly catchy song! I despise it!"
"I know you love it really," she winked, glad to have cleared the tense air between them. She kissed him quickly on the lips then and Fred was left wishing she had lingered an awful lot longer but he knew this wasn't the time, he was just relieved that she carried no resentment about what had just happened and after her vocal disapproval of what happened back at the base.
"God Daph," he said when she moved away, thinking for the first time about the fine margins of the consequences of answering or ignoring the call. "It's terrifying me to think what would have happened if you hadn't answered Ethan's call!"
"Believe me, I nearly didn't. I was so close to just shutting it off but something was telling me I had to listen to what he had to say."
That famous Daphne Blake gut instinct in action again!" He praised her. "That has served us so well over the years! I'm just so glad you ignored us! And that you were smart enough to get out of the van too! I think I might have tried to grab it off you if you hadn't," he said with a rueful shake of his head.
"Ah, I just thought you might, I'm always one step ahead of you!" she said playfully over her shoulder as she walked over to Velma, who Shaggy had got standing firmly back on her own feet. She quickly embraced her friend, squeezing her tightly. "I'm so relieved for you Velma!"
They all watched a little nervously as a car suddenly pulled up alongside their van and then only partly relaxed when it was Ethan who got out. (Looking properly like Ethan now with no disguise). He looked so relieved to see them all standing there, having obviously feared that they still wouldn't trust him and would leave.
"Hey," he said uncertainly, stepping forward cautiously, completely unsure of their reaction.
Fred was watching him closely, a neutral expression on his face and Shaggy was similarly showing no emotion. The girls had just broken from an embrace together and both stared at him now. Daphne had a smile on her face and all he wanted to do was go to her, but it was Velma who stunned them all by walking forward and hugging Ethan tightly. "Thank you so much for finding them," she said simply and the hug was over almost as quickly as it began.
"Uh, you're welcome Velma," he managed though he was still shocked by her emotionally warm reaction to him. "Could we get inside somewhere? You never know if anyone could be watching us."
"Sure," Fred said, nodding at the building they were standing alongside. "We solved a mystery here once, I'm quite sure we can still find a way to get in the back entrance."
Five minutes later, they were all sat together in the dusty main auditorium of the theatre, with Fred and Ethan having prised open an unsecure door at the back of the theatre. The cinema had been closed longer than most things in Coolsville having fallen into financial ruin long before the criminal uprisings began.
Ethan quickly explained to them how he had been given Will's notebook in amongst a pile of evidence and followed a 'feeling' all the way to Diagora Street culminating in the amazing discovery of Madelyn and her father.
"What is it with you Blakes and 'just having a feeling'?" Fred commented a little glibly and Daphne and Ethan shared a shy smile.
"Wow, that's quite 'spiritual' Ethan," Velma commented and Ethan reddened a bit, not wanting to share with them about the flickering of the lights, for fear of how they might react.
"I can't believe Will did that," Daphne marvelled with a huge smile on her face. "What an amazing selfless act. God I miss him and Stella so much! I wish they were here with us right now!"
"We all do Daphne," Fred said quietly and they all automatically reflected on their devastating absence once again.
"So, I'm guessing that he contacted you personally then Daphne?" Ethan asked, breaking the gloomy silence. "I should have guessed his tactic would be to just try and lure you all in alone and it almost worked!"
"You think he really has nothing Ethan?" Fred asked him suddenly. "That's an absolutely extraordinary turnaround if so."
Ethan shrugged. "Why else would he have to fabricate such an enormous bluff? I think we should definitely still be cautious but I do think he may well be on the ropes."
Daphne did not want to get her hopes up but couldn't help thinking along the same lines as Ethan. "He wanted us there at 10 PM, it's just gone 9.30 now," she commented, looking at her watch. "Boy, is he going to get a shock when we don't show! What do we do now?"
"We just sit tight. I called Rory and Justin to assist us when I was on my way here, they should be here soon," Ethan replied and then saw the panicked faces of the gang and raised his eyebrows in confusion. "What's the matter with that?"
"We don't trust them," Shaggy stated plainly. "Like sorry, but Justin seems super sketchy with him just disappearing out on you like that and as much as it hurts, but we can't 100% trust Rory either!"
Ethan was surprised by the shared suspicions of the gang but was impressed at how they had refused to let their guard down, detectives through and through. "Look, I know he comes across... well yeah 'sketchy' at times but I can one million percent vouch for Justin. We've come too far together, I firmly believe he is just as invested in this as I am, maybe even more so. As for Rory, I can't say for sure, but I don't get any vibe from him that he's at all untrustworthy. He's absolutely broken by what happened to Will and Stella and the rest of his colleagues. I think we have to trust him too."
Nobody wanted to let go of their suspicions that easily as questions certainly remained unanswered about both Rory and Justin's behaviour, but for now they were pacified by Ethan's testimony. In no time at all Justin and Rory soon arrived at the theatre and an already awkward atmosphere threatened to get even tenser but Ethan didn't allow any animosity to spill over, quickly getting Justin and Rory up to speed on all the developments instead.
"Holy hell," Rory exclaimed. "I knew you were good Ethan, but that shit is worthy of some top level Detective in a mystery story," he said when Ethan revealed just exactly how he had got the partial information from Will's notebook.
"Ah, well," Ethan said with a small smile in Fred and Velma's direction. "It was a little trick I learnt from the very best."
"I still can't believe Will pulled that off and told no-one! Not Stella?" Rory questioned.
"Not even Stella," Ethan confirmed. "If he had, I'm sure she would have told Velma herself when she was …ah recovering." He had faltered trying not to say 'on her death bed'.
"He really was the best," Velma reflected sadly. "I so wish I had got the chance to thank him for what he did. He didn't have to do that at all."
"Madelyn and John were beyond grateful," Ethan gushed warmly, causing Velma to raise an eyebrow immediately.
"John? Look at you on first name terms with my father. You never did tell me how they actually were. Do they know what's going on? I don't want them to be worried about me."
"They're fine, more than fine," Ethan reassured her. "Madelyn is just such a delight," he beamed. "I can't believe you kept her hidden away, though I guess you had uh, reasons."
Velma nodded, not at all wanting to elaborate but with her heart feeling truly contented by Ethan's words. "I didn't tell them about this mess." Ethan added. "They know you're back but they don't really know anything else. I thought it was for the best."
"So, when do we go and get the son of a bitch?" Justin suddenly interrupted, startling everyone with his venom. "If we're right and he truly has nothing to bargain with any more, then a full on assault will get the bastard for sure this time."
"We don't need to rush. We can take our time to scope out what's truly going on at the Docks," Ethan advised. "Remember, although we don't think he has anything in terms of leverage against us, he still has his army, the place will be crawling with his underlings." He added as a warning to anyone thinking they were on 'Easy Street' right now.
"It might be even worse than that," Rory said gravely. "In the last hour, another broadcast went out to everyone where he encouraged every single criminal in the town to rise up and join him. It was incredibly sinister actually."
"Doesn't he have everyone he needs by now?" Daphne said in disgust. "I can't imagine there's too many left in the town any more, criminal or otherwise."
"It was quite conniving," Rory continued. "He specifically called you guys out again and made a rallying cry to anyone who had ever been foiled by you basically."
"Oh fantastic!" Fred said dryly. "An entire villains league alliance against us! Just when I was hoping we might have been turning the tide a bit here," he finished desolately.
"Don't lose hope Fred," Ethan said. "To me, I don't see that as something to fear at all, it seems to me he is actually getting desperate. He fabricated the kidnappings to try and get you to him when he really has squat, and now he's making a last gasp push for allies. I still think we've got this."
"But how are we going to flush him out?" Rory complained. "Assuming he really is at the docks that still leaves plenty of places for him to hide. We could hit him with all we have left and he could still manage to escape from underneath our noses."
"Well," Fred suggested tentatively. "Between us, there's enough of us to cover plenty of ground. The gang and I already did some research to eliminate areas of possibility." The three older men at once turned simultaneously to the always spirited leader of the mystery-solving young gang.
"No Fred," Ethan stated firmly. "There is literally no reason at all for you to come to the Docks now. There is absolutely no point in any of you putting yourselves in harm's way. He doesn't have anything to hold over you. When you don't show in twenty minutes or so, he'll realise you know that and I don't want you anywhere near him when he does. No arguments Daphne," he said, seeing her about to protest too. "Rory, Justin and I will go and scope the situation out. We need to know exactly what we're up against and then we can gather our resources and remaining personnel from the base before a final assault. We cannot make the same mistake again. We need to have every single base covered before we can even think about going in for the kill."
Although Ethan technically wasn't a cop like Rory and Justin, he had become very skilled during his time in China and Justin looked at him admirably now.
"Ethan's absolutely right," Justin said decisively. "You guys need to stay here, safe and sound."
As the three began walking back down the aisle to the side door they had broken in, Fred shuffled awkwardly to catch up to Justin, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Uh Justin?"
The young cop turned around with a bemused look on his face. "Yes?"
"About what happened back in the base. I'm um sorry, I hit you and knocked you out. The gang and I made a real bad call back there."
Justin's eyebrows knitted together in amusement. "It was you then?"
Fred nodded sheepishly. "Yup."
"Well, it's cool, I guess we're even now," Justin said with a little smile. "I keep trying to tell you Fred, we're both on the same side here." Fred nodded at him, returning the smile and Justin walked away with Rory and Ethan, and with the gang reluctantly persuaded to stay. After the backstage door slammed noisily between them, Fred hurried back to the others and sat down with a little pout. "I still don't trust him," he announced sulkily in a loud voice.
They sat together in the cold, eerie theatre for about half an hour, reminiscing a little about the case they had solved here to take their mind off things.
"I swear to God those life size puppets still haunt my dreams to this day," Shaggy complained, getting a nod of agreement from Scooby.
"I loved this case," Fred reflected happily. "It felt like a proper classic mystery with an obvious motive." The gang had smashed an elaborate counterfeiting operation when they accidentally stumbled upon the theatre.
"Yeah, it was memorable," Velma added. "And nobody got hurt! An absolute rarity let's face it."
"Yeah, I think that's why I enjoyed it so much," Fred agreed, turning to look in concern at Daphne, who was wringing her hands in her lap, clearly distracted and not at all on the trip down memory lane. "They'll be fine," he assured her, squeezing her hands.
"It's almost twenty past ten now," she replied. "We're well past the deadline he set, we just don't know how he's going to react. I'm scared for them."
Mercifully for Daphne, it wasn't even five minutes later before they all returned. Led by Ethan, they all carried expressions of disbelief that instantly unnerved the whole group as they sat back down quietly in the theatre with the gang.
"What is it?" Daphne asked impatiently, the fear evident in her voice. "Do we even stand a chance?"
"More than that," Ethan said, his face breaking out into a smile now. "Daphne, Devon has NOTHING. Nothing at all."
The whole gang were utterly astonished by this declaration and urged Ethan to tell them more.
"When we got there, we expected the place to be absolutely crawling with his men but that wasn't the case at all. The whole place is pretty much deserted in fact."
"So he's not there then," Fred interrupted. "He's somewhere else?"
"That's what we thought initially," Justin said. "But eventually we did find trace of him and his 'acolytes'." Ethan and Rory sniggered.
"So, how many are we talking here? 30? 40?" Shaggy asked nervously and was completely floored by the single word answer from Justin.
"Two."
"Shut the front door," Fred exclaimed in disbelief. "You are absolutely joking?"
"Nope," Justin grinned.
"Well how do you know they were working for Devon? Couldn't they have just been two random guys and his operation is elsewhere?" Velma asked, still refusing to believe this at all.
"Well, there was something of a dead giveaway that they worked for Devon," Ethan said with a hint of dark amusement. "They didn't exactly look like your normal every day human dockworkers."
"They were dressed up?" Daphne guessed with wide eyes.
"Yep," said Rory, also smiling now. "Not just any old costume, they were dressed as... wait for it...werewolves!"
Fred immediately burst out laughing heartily, before managing to choke out a response. "No. Fucking. Way."
"I know," Ethan said. "How cliché right?"
"This is unbelievable," Daphne proclaimed. "And you're absolutely sure that there was only them? How could you possibly have covered enough ground? They could still be hiding somewhere. This firmly smacks of 'too good to be true territory' and I guess I'm still not ready to believe this yet."
"I completely understand Daph, we were all incredibly sceptical too but it wasn't just what we could see at the docks, we also had something of a tip-off on the way. Old 'friend' of yours in fact. Remember Buck Masters?"
"Buck Masters?! That's a blast from the past!" Velma commented in amazement.
"I thought so too. Anyway, Rory got a call from him. What he told us did indeed sound too good to be true but with what we already knew about the bombing, it actually started to make sense."
"Which is what?" Fred pressed, curiosity burning him up inside at how Devon could seemingly fall so spectacularly.
It's quite simple really. Devon Blake crossed a line the other night." Ethan stated a little darkly now. "Even criminals have something of a code to abide by and Devon's actions broke it twice. Nobody likes a 'Cop Killer' and this went far beyond even that. Not only that but he also actively turned on his own. He allowed that bomb to go off knowing that this own men were still inside."
"He killed his own?" Daphne questioned in astonishment.
"Yes." Rory confirmed, even though he knew he shouldn't be. "He let his own men die."
Daphne felt a chill go through her, he had obviously become beyond merciless in his time away. "Wow."
"Devon thought that the underworld would be queuing up to praise him for what he did, but it's exactly the opposite. He has been abandoned by virtually everyone now. That's why he made that final call to arms. He is absolutely desperate now. My guess is those 'werewolves' are the youngest, naïve ones he managed to convince to stay. Everyone else is long gone," Ethan revealed.
"Buck Masters told me that everyone wants this over now, it's gone too far. With half of the town fleeing, there's not even any crime to be had any more. He told me he wants it to go back to the way it was," Rory added with a small chuckle.
"And within minutes of Buck calling us, we had another call, anonymous this time, we think it was someone previously loyal to him," Justin continued. "He confirmed that Devon was holed up at the Docks and he told us to go and get him. Well, it was a lot more colourful than that, but I don't want to repeat it with the young ladies present," he smiled at Daphne and Velma.
"Please, we can handle it," Daphne grinned, the good news improving everyone's mood instantly.
"It was pretty coarse, you can guess what he said. Suffice to say this town is completely done with Devon Blake now. He has gone way too far," Justin replied. "God knows we are so done, he's taken enough innocent lives as it is."
"Well that's just excellent, it truly is," Fred beamed. "Who could have foreseen his big moment would actually be his downfall with villains past and present lining up to kick him down now."
"The question remains though, how are we going to play this?" Ethan said thoughtfully, looking around at everyone. "We know he's on his knees and has nothing to hold over any of us any more so there's no urgency there I guess. My fear now is, once he realises he's been sussed and the gang aren't coming that he just cuts his losses and moves on again. We CANNOT let him slip through our fingers. Not now. We owe it to Stella and Will and EVERYONE he has taken, to finally, finally stop him."
Everyone in the room was nodding their heads seriously, they all shared that sentiment but they knew it was true what Ethan said; if the gang didn't show soon, Devon may well just leave and they would lose their chance. The thought of him escaping was agony for all of them and they all quietly mulled over what their strategy should be now until Fred cleared his throat, tentatively speaking out.
"Um, I might have an idea? A very bad idea but I think it will work."
Ethan bit his tongue to prevent himself interrupting. He knew Fred like the back of his hand, it didn't at all surprise him that even in a room with adults considerably more experienced and skilled than him, it was Fred Jones who was the first to suggest a plan to trap Devon Blake. Despite his fears for what the blond was about to say, his heart was bursting with pride for his friend's courage and conviction once again, and he hoped with everything he had that they could eventually resolve their differences and repair their scorched friendship.
All eyes in the room swivelled to rest on Fred as he began to speak assuredly but even before his first sentence was fully finished, the protests against it began in earnest.
"I think if we're to truly flush him out, we're going to have to give him what he wants, which is us," he gestured to himself and the gang, who all looked a little started.
"Nope, no. Not happening. Non-starter Fred, forget it!" Ethan shut him down swiftly. "You are not putting yourselves at risk for nothing! I won't have it, and I know Stella and Will wouldn't either."
Fred noticed the cheap attempt to appeal to the others emotionally but shrugged it off, he had fully expected this response.
"Well, it's not for nothing, it's to draw him out. Without us going to him, there's nothing to lure him out, he could lay low and then leave," he pointed out calmly before attempting to explain his plan a little further to the scepticism of everyone else in the room. "Hear me out then shoot me down if you want guys," he challenged and was pleased to see nobody object so he continued. "We need to make him believe that he's getting what he wants, so how about if we are presented to him but it's not actually the 'bad guys' who even have us?"
At once, there was a sea of confused faces and it was Rory who first spoke up. "Sorry Fred, I really don't follow?"
"What I'm thinking is that we actually go through with the ruse as planned. We still turn up at the docks but we won't really be alone. Let's make Devon think he has the upper hand here still, really unsettle him and mess with his head for once. Imagine the look on his face when he realises one of his werewolves is Ethan, after all it won't be the first time the good guy is really behind the mask," he grinned. "His reaction for that alone will be worth the slight risk we'd be taking."
There was a deathly silence but Ethan looked at him in absolute astonishment before his own face broke into a grin as he understood the boy's plan.
"Fucking hell Fred that is disgustingly...brilliant! The idea of us being under the werewolf masks alone is sheer genius!" Fred beamed but he could see the caution on Ethan's face as his grin faded. "But I can't agree with you that you will be at slight risk! It is an enormous risk and one I'm still not willing to have you undertake," Ethan told him firmly. "You would be putting yourselves in Devon's cross-hairs and I can't allow that to happen on my conscience!"
"But you would be protecting us at all times. We could get this close to him without ever really being in danger," Fred argued, pinching his fingers apart to emphasise the distance they could get to Devon. "If you got rid of the original werewolves and took their place, you could fake 'capture' us, and we would be perfectly safe."
"Is he serious?" Justin asked aloud to no one in particular, looking absolutely shell-shocked at the proposal. "Is he usually like this? This reckless?"
"You get used to his hare-brained ideas after a while," Velma said with a disbelieving shake of her head as she too attempted to digest Fred's plan.
"Guys, I'm not crazy! If we don't go to him, I really do worry we will lose our chance and this could go on for years if we don't stop him now. The only sure fire way to draw him out is to give him what he wants. I say we do it, we give him us. What do you guys think?" he asked turning to Velma, Daphne and Shaggy who had been mostly quiet so far.
"Well, I'm not jumping up and down at the prospect Freddy, but I'd be a hypocrite if I said no. I said yes in far more precarious circumstances when we were armed with nothing but a monkey wrench and er, Justin's gun," Shaggy reddened in embarrassment at saying that in front of Justin but he didn't visibly react. "At least this way we would be safe -er I guess?"
"Daphne, Velma? You surely aren't OK with this recklessness?" Ethan asked them in consternation and left completely reeling at hearing Shaggy 'scaredy-cat' Rogers give Fred's lunacy his blessing.
"I think it could be a pretty solid plan actually," Velma said, turning to Fred with admiration in her eyes. "If we managed to pull it off, it would be our greatest capture ever. You said it yourself Ethan, Devon is on the ropes. He's not got an army protecting him any more. He is vulnerable now. This could be the knockout blow."
Daphne had yet to speak for the entire time that Fred had laid out his bold and ambitious plan and had been carefully mulling it over in her head. They would be the ultimate bait to trap the biggest fish.
"I think...it might be our best shot," she said smiling warmly at Fred and Fred grinned back at her. "I would feel quite reassured by being with you guys if you pull off subduing the original werewolves?"
"That wouldn't be a problem," Rory confirmed, slowly coming round to the crazy idea a little. "Taking care of them would be child's play. It's what happens after, I'm most worried about. Say we 'present' you to him, what's to stop him just turning around and killing you all before we even had chance to protect you?"
There was silence again before Daphne of all people came up with the craziest, boldest twist of them all.
"So you make it all on your terms then," she told a stunned Justin, Rory and Ethan. "We could stage it somehow so that you capture 'us' and you bring Devon to us not the other way around and then you offer to finish it for him. You 'kill us'.
The three men looked at Daphne like she had just turned purple and sprouted five heads and tentacles, even Fred looked completely mystified but Daphne was unperturbed by the gaping reactions. "I'm sure there's a way you could stage it so that Devon believes he has truly won. That we are gone and then when his guard is down...whoosh! You crash in all guns blazing!"
Ethan stared at his sister completely aghast. "What happened to you guys in Europe?! Did you all lose your minds?! Kill you?!"
"I know it seems wild but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. It will be the ultimate rug pulling feat!" her eyes sparkled in amusement and for a moment Ethan feared she was perhaps delirious but it was clear she was in fact deadly serious.
"Run by me with your thinking," Justin requested, looking intrigued to Ethan's abject horror, he wasn't seriously considering this was he?
"You go ahead to the docks ahead of us. Switch places with his werewolves. We get there, you follow us you 'capture' us, get Devon's attention. 'Kill us'. We return. Meanwhile you're going to get close enough to stun him and truly kick his arse."
"Isn't that going to seem a little obvious?" Rory asked. "That you get 'captured' right away, won't it make him suspicious?"
"Well, like Daphne says, we could properly stage it to really convince him. An argument maybe?" Velma suggested.
"That could work," Fred said, getting into the spirit of the plan now. "We get into a very visible 'argument' making us vulnerable and you guys then capture us."
"How are you going to know for sure that the werewolves who attack you are really us?" Rory asked. "This could go wrong very easily. As easy as it should be to pull off a switch, there's no guarantee that 'they' don't get you to first."
"What about some kind of code word?" suggested Daphne. "Something that seems discreet."
"Sure," Rory nodded. "We can come up with something. What are we thinking for killing you? We saw his goons had a radio, we could even just force them to contact him, and then fake him out by sending 'gunshots' through the radio. Then you wouldn't even have to be close to him."
"No that won't work," Fred shook his head. "He's never going to fall for that, he's going to need to see us 'die'."
Rory thought again. "What about blanks then? We have some but it might become obvious that you haven't really been shot and also they're not completely 'safe'. We would need to do it from a far enough distance to ensure you wouldn't get hurt."
"What about if you do it right by the water's edge?" Fred said. "The fall into the water would cover that up."
"Great suggestion Fred," Justin praised and Ethan continued to look at them all in amazement and worry that they really had just finally completely lost the plot. "I'm sorry am I in some parallel universe? We're actually considering this INSANE plan of theirs?!"
"He wants them Ethan, he wants them so bad. This is the only way to keep him there but keep them safe too. If we do it on one of the piers they could swim underneath until it was safe. It will be pitch dark in the water, he wouldn't see them." Rory offered his thoughts.
"Rory, have you lost your mind?! You're actively suggesting we just throw the kids at him and hope for the best? Because that's what you're actually all suggesting here! That man is so unpredictable, he could suss us out in an instant and then we really are screwed."
"So you dangle a carrot then," Justin pointed at Daphne suddenly. "Her. You keep her away from him at all times. You would hold all the cards here Ethan, you could protect them. I really do think it's the only way we can get close enough now to finish this. We have to take advantage while he's weak before he gets some other dumb schmucks on his side. He'll know he needs to regroup right now."
Ethan knew Justin had no bond with the gang at all so it was easy to see why he was willing to risk them as collateral so he could get what he wanted; Devon. Rory's compliance however was a lot more perplexing. He went back with the gang almost as far as Ethan did and he also seemed to be contemplating the insanity. He found himself yearning for the days of Fred's simple traps capturing a villain.
"Ethan, we have to move quickly whatever we decide," Rory advised with a look at his watch. "It's almost 10:40, if they don't get there soon, he could start to move."
Ethan felt like he was caught between a rock and a hard place, he desperately, desperately wanted Devon but not like this. He wanted the gang far away safely, like they were when the worst was happening in Coolsville the first time, but he was very reluctantly beginning to realise that the gang's involvement would be crucial to their chances.
"You're really happy with baiting yourselves like this?" he asked them incredulously and got four strong nods back.
"We know this is pretty reckless," Daphne said and Ethan had to stop himself from scoffing in her face. Pretty reckless?! "But we need to do this, before it's too late. It could be our best chance we have left."
"And you really think you can pull this off? It's going to need a fair bit of 'acting' to be convincing."
Daphne laughed at that 'concern'. "Oh Ethan, you know I was born to be on the stage really. That bit is a piece of cake. So what do you think?"
"I think you have all truly lost it," Ethan said honestly. "But I am worried about losing our shot so I guess...I'm onboard."
With that reluctant and shaky acceptance by Ethan, the plan was tentatively set in motion. There were still a few kinks to iron out along the way but the basic plan was in place. They also agreed on a fall back of a maximum of 15 minutes with Devon before falling back to bringing more in. Justin had volunteered to be the back up and was on his way back to base to recruit the rest of the astonished cops to back up the mission. Meanwhile, the gang were making their way to the Docks with Rory and Ethan ahead of them.
Having already seen the 'werewolves' earlier on their previous scout, it took them no time at all to subdue them. Dragging them into a container, Rory and Ethan were not at all surprised to find how young and inexperienced the two men were as they left them handcuffed together and locked in the container in just their underwear as they took the werewolf costumes and a radio from the unconscious pair.
"I don't think this will work," Ethan complained to Rory as they got kitted out. "What if he susses us straight away?"
Before knocking out 'Nick' and 'Paolo' they had made sure to eavesdrop on the nervous lackey's and picked up cues on how they spoke. The colour had drained from Rory's face on hearing the one he was to imitate was named 'Paolo', but it was obvious he wasn't native Italian at least.
Ethan at least was accomplished at taking on different identities but 'never left Coolsville' Rory was a little more hesitant at first.
They both were on edge when the radio suddenly crackled to life and they heard him for the first time, irritable and dare Ethan suggest it, jittery. It was not at all what they were used to.
"Nick!" Devon screeched. "Where the fuck are you two?! They're fucking late, have you or Paolo seen any sight of them?!"
"Uh, no?" Ethan said mimicking the laid back way he had heard Nick talk. "Not yet."
"Well keep an eye out! I'm starting to have serious doubts now. This is starting to fucking fall apart ever since someone blatantly tipped the cops off about the Dinkley girl! Christ sake. Call me the second you see them!"
Ethan made sure he turned off the radio before speaking to Rory. "Wow," he said. "I've never heard him like this. He's really losing it isn't he?"
"Big time," Rory agreed. "It's why this will be even more satisfying then merely just arresting him."
"Oh it will, I just have serious doubts that's all. Even like this, he could flip it around in a second if even one tiny thing goes wrong."
"I still can't get over how brave the kids are. I mean they always have been but to agree to this, that takes some serious guts."
"They're just as desperate for this to end as us. Essentially it all started with them, they have to be here to end it. You ready for this?"
"You've got the hardest job Ethan, I know you're not 'actually' shooting them but it's going to have to have look realistic. How are they going to pull off this fake argument?"
"I'm not sure too much fakeness needs to be put into that," Ethan chuckled. "There's still a lot of tension between them."
"I guess."
Ethan loaded up the blank rounds in his gun, and the weak frayed rope they were going to use to tie up the gang. It was important that they be able to snap it easily so they weren't impeded underwater. Fake as they were, he knew the bullets could still hurt like hell and they were still going to have to keep their wits about them in the cold water in the aftermath. "Let's go."
Almost half an hour later and everything was going surprisingly well and to plan. The gang had split up and after following Daphne and Fred, they had orchestrated some kind of argument so that she organically ran into Werewolf Rory. Rory grabbed her and after reassuring the two of them that it really was him, (Danger-prone one) Fred quickly gave up any fight and lured the others in as Werewolf Ethan also circled.
After rounding up Velma and Shaggy, they took them all down to the pier. While they were confident that they were not being spied upon or that Devon was anywhere near at that point, they never once broke 'character' speaking to the gang as if they didn't know them.
When Ethan nervously contacted Devon as Nick to say that they had captured the gang it was a tense moment. It meant that they were going ahead with this monumental risk and that there would be no turning back now. Devon was evidently surprised but deliriously happy by the news.
It felt like they all held their breaths waiting for him to arrive, the first time anyone there had set eyes on him in such a long time and Ethan and Rory had to do their best not to react when their ever instinct and sinew was to attack and it was tearing at their very fabric not to. Instead they 'played their roles' and 'Nick' presented the gang making sure he kept Devon a careful distance from them at all times. 'Paolo' kept Daphne in a comfortable hold in front of him.
Devon seemed delighted by the sudden competence and intelligence of his lapdogs and Ethan and Rory were put a little on edge that the turnaround in their ability was too much and he would be suspicious but it seemed his overall happiness at finally having the gang where he wanted them completely overwrote his ability to detect anything was amiss with his remaining henchmen.
His plan was clearly to move the gang on elsewhere but Rory and Ethan successfully dissuaded him and pushed him in the direction of their plan. When Devon agreed, Ethan swallowed hard, psyching himself up for what he was about to do. Even using blank rounds he knew they were taking a huge risk and they could really get hurt. They had all heard the horror stories about what had happened to people fooling around with 'fake' bullets on film sets.
After getting the go ahead, he walked a few metres away before 'shooting' Shaggy quickly and before he had the chance to lose his nerve. It had to look convincing or they were all in trouble. The bang was still deafening and as Shaggy pitched off into the dark waters below, he felt his stomach ripple in disgust. This somehow seemed worse than his betrayal of Fred and Daphne in China even though his actions here had the full blessing of all of the gang. He pushed away his feelings of repulsion and concentrated on the job at hand. Mistakes could be deadly. At Devon's request, he repeated the same hideous routine with Velma who disappeared quickly and was gearing up to do the same to Fred.
A flash of movement caught his eye though and suddenly Devon was stomping straight towards Fred and oh holy fuck, he had what looked like a machete as he babbled about 'taking this one himself'. Daphne's reaction was anything but fake now and it was this kind of thing he had been most worried about – that they could only control the situation so much.
Ethan leaped forward to get between Devon and Fred and saw the absolute terror in the boy's eyes now. This was all for real. He had to act quickly. With a wild-eyed Devon getting closer, he did the only thing he could think of in that moment to save Fred's life. Standing far, FAR closer than he would like or that he knew was classed as a 'safe' distance, he quickly shot Fred in the chest, who pitched off the dock so spectacularly from the sheer momentum of the close shot and Ethan reeled inwardly praying he hadn't done too much damage and that Fred would still be able to swim to safety unimpeded.
Devon's reaction was immense. He looked absolutely furious at being robbed of the chance to take Fred's life himself and Ethan scrambled to make up a reason why he had shot him after all, telling Devon that he looked like he was trying to get loose and he prayed hard that Devon bought it. He did.
The hard part was over now and it was all on Daphne and her acting skills. She was doing a very good job of 'grieving' her friends and Ethan braced himself for the signal, which they had agreed was whistling for Scooby Doo. He tensed again when Devon walked straight to Rory and Daphne, and felt his skin crawl when Devon reached forward and grabbed her chin.
"Kill me then!" he heard her suddenly taunt Devon and Ethan began to casually walk in closer to the three of them now. Careful Daph! Don't push it! Just whistle for Scooby! Let's get this party started! Having pulled off the tricky part with the gang, Ethan was getting a little cocky now and was absolutely itching to jump an oblivious Devon but the timing had to be just right. He knew Justin should be close to arriving with reinforcements too. This was actually going to work! he realised to his amazement.
He watched satisfied as she suddenly let out a piercing whistle for Scooby and while Devon was distracted in anticipation of the dog, Ethan got subtly closer to his abhorrent uncle. When he was sure Devon was least expecting it, he slugged him in the face with all of his fury that had built up now. Ethan watched in complete satisfaction as blood flew from his mouth instantly and he smashed to the deck floor. Rory needed no invitation to join in and let go of Daphne before absolutely launching into a brutal kick to Devon's ribs with his steel capped shoes. Devon flipped over mid-air from the force of the kick and flipped over onto his stomach. Rory wasted no time launching into another devastating series of kicks as between them and Scooby, they rendered him stunned and fully incapacitated. Enjoying the sight of the long coming beating, Ethan quickly snapped to attention again and jumped on Devon's back and viciously yanked his hands into a set of handcuffs and punched him again for good measure before dragging him onto his knees, his own knife at his throat.
Devon still looked absolutely stunned by what had happened as blood poured down his scarred face. Realisation finally dawned in his eyes when he saw Daphne very casually and calmly stand arm in arm with the 'werewolf' who had attacked him and Ethan knew this was the moment where Devon had finally twigged he had been played big time.
Ethan saw a blur of figures suddenly emerge from the darkness behind Daphne and he smirked in victory and relief when he saw three silhouettes move to stand with Rory, Scooby and Daphne.
"Surprise," he hissed in satisfaction into Devon's ear and he felt incredibly cheered when he felt every muscle in Devon's body tense as the fury flooded through him when he clocked the unharmed Velma, Shaggy and Fred stand with Daphne.
"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS GOING ON!?" he screamed, and Ethan tightened his grip joyously on the knife at his neck. Fred and Daphne were right. This was immensely satisfying and the best part was they were only just getting started. Devon Blake was about to get the shock and comeuppance of a lifetime.
To be continued