Chapter 6
While William, Fred and Daphne were venturing ever closer to the grounds of the Coolsville Halloween Carnival, Shaggy, Velma, Scooby and Linda were waiting walking towards the area where the Grim Reaper Railroad was supposed to stop, according to what the friendly Mr. Gibbles had told them earlier.
As the trio of sleuths stood in the clearing waiting for the supernatural train to arrive, Velma wondered just what she could do to pass the long amount of time that was sure to go by until said train arrived. Being naturally curious and inquisitive, the bespectacled brunette decided to take the opportunity given to her to do what she usually did in a situation such as this, mainly to interview her newfound friend further.
Usually Velma didn't quite believe in the supernatural, and usually Velma would be right in line with her friends in wanting to uncover a mystery. But this time was different, this time Velma, along with her companions had found out that magic and monsters really existed, and that there was entire world no less of the supernatural out there.
However, the bespectacled brunette was going to make sure that since she knew the real truth about ghosts, monsters and especially witches, she wasn't going to say anything that would hurt any of her newfound friends.
In addition, she was going to make darn sure that any and all questions that she asked Linda and William were appropriate; not to mention, she ran every possible idea for a question through her head first before finally deciding to speak again.
"Linda, is it really difficult being a witch?" Velma inquired, while mentally crossing her fingers, hoping that she wouldn't offend her new friend at all.
"How so Velma?" Linda replied.
"Well, there's probably a lot of work involved right? Studying spells, potions, hexes and all that, it's probably a lot of hard work." Velma remarked, mentally taking a temporary deep breath, and hoping that Linda wouldn't think it was a terrible question.
"It certainly is Velma. I mean all that studying, all that reading, all the long hours standing in front of a cauldron, it's a lot more demanding then most people think" Linda replied.
"Jinkies, it sure sounds like it" Velma commented, mentally breathing a sigh of relief once again; clearly Linda wasn't offended at all with Velma's questions, she really liked talking to her, at least it sounded that way to her.
"Yeah, but why are you so curious about being a witch and witchcraft in general Velma?" Linda asked.
"Well, science, botany and technology have always been among my main interests and hobbies. I guess since in a way, witchcraft and sorcery are a different kind of science, I've always been curious and I've wanted to learn about as much about it as possible" Velma replied.
"I guess for someone who likes science as a hobby, magic would be a nice change of pace, kind of a fantasy type of thing to relax you and make you not seem as nervous as you might be otherwise." Linda remarked.
"Well put Linda, that's exactly why I'm interested in magic; plus being able to make things appear out of nowhere sounds pretty fun, in certain cases and situations that is" Velma replied.
"True, but magic's a lot more then just making things appear out of nowhere. Although I'm curious, if you were a witch Velma, what would you do with your powers?" Linda asked.
"What would I do with my powers? Hmm… I would have to say if I had any, I would probably use them to help the gang solve mysteries, and to help the world with it's problems, maybe NASA could use a young sorceress for some of their projects" Velma replied.
"That's very nice of you Velma, and a very generous offer to be sure. Although, I don't know if NASA would want to have a witch on their payroll, although you could sure save on transportation and a few other things" Linda remarked, chuckling as she spoke.
"Yeah, I could just ride a broom to work; I wonder, do you think my superiors would have minded it much if I practiced witchcraft?" Velma asked.
"Velma, considering they're all about science and space travel, I don't know." Linda replied.
"Linda, I'm wondering something about you and William" Velma remarked.
"Well, I'll sure try and answer it, but maybe you can answer something for me first." Linda replied.
"Sure, go right ahead Linda." Velma commented.
"Well, you mentioned NASA a couple times Velma, and I'm wondering, did you work for NASA at any time?" Linda asked.
"Sure I did, back when the gang were separated for a while. I mean it wasn't because of anything bad, we just wanted to pursue separate careers and take some time away from solving mysteries" Velma replied.
"Take time away from solving mysteries? Why?" Linda inquired.
"Well, we liked solving mysteries, but after doing any kind of job, or when you're in any kind of career, you tend to want to take some time off. Basically mysteries were kind of a hobby for all of us, so we basically just decided to go into different hobbies, Daphne and Fred took up writing, I went to NASA and Shaggy and Scooby took up various things, cooking, all kinds of things right guys?" Velma asked, looking over at her two cowardly companions.
"Like we sure did, and then we all got back together for college, and then there was the thing with the 13 ghosts, the thing at my uncle's house down South, that whole Dracula thing and the Ghoul School." Shaggy explained.
"Wow, I had no idea you guys had such an interesting career and solved such interesting mysteries. I guess since you worked at NASA Velma, you probably made a lot of friends right?" Linda asked.
"Sure did, I wonder how all of them would react if I told them about you and William though" Velma remarked.
"Well I hope they don't want to burn us at the stake, I am so sick of that cliché, people haven't burned witches at the stake since the 1700's and I don't want them to do it this time either" Linda replied.
"Trust me Linda, people at NASA are really cool, and they would never want to burn someone at the stake." Velma commented.
"Right, now Velma, you wanted to know something about me?" Linda asked.
"Sure did; I was curious how your classmates in high school and college treated you guys." Velma replied.
"Hmm… well, I guess we were treated rather nicely in school; problem is all the students in our high school and college classes always wanted things from us, it's like I told you guys already, they never left us alone, we could never get a moment's peace" Linda remarked.
"Jinkies" Velma replied.
"Tell me about it, but why did you want to know about our high school and college lives Velma?" Linda asked.
"Well, I was always pestered by my classmates because of my intelligence, everybody always wanted to cheat off me and look at my answers, just because I'm smart, in fact the only people who never treated me like that were Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Scooby, they always treated me like a friend, someone who was a major part of the gang; heck, my intelligence is probably why we've solved so many mysteries" Velma replied.
"Really?" Linda asked.
"Yep, because the gang always treated me like a person, the five of us, and now the seven of us became such great friends, especially Shaggy; Shaggy's always been there for me, if I had a bad day or a bad date with a guy, Shaggy was there to pick me up and make me feel like I was special, maybe that's why he's such a good boyfriend" Velma replied, looking over at Shaggy and smiling as she spoke.
"Like thanks Velma" Shaggy remarked.
"No problem Shaggy, now we have to find the Grim Reaper Railroad and get to the world of magic so we can get the Goblin King's scepter, remember, we still have to save the princess Fairy Willow as well" Velma replied.
"Yeah, that poor princess; I would really hate to be in her shoes right now" Linda commented.
Meanwhile as the twenty something year old sorceress, Shaggy, Scooby and Velma began making their way towards wherever they were going to catch the strange locomotive that would carry the group to the world of magic and the supernatural. In the aforementioned world of magic, a certain powerful individual was sitting on a large stone throne and was looking inside a mysterious crystal ball, but he was not happy by what he saw.
"So, it appears that mortals and their dog want to acquire my scepter, no doubt for some nefarious purposes, well I shall soon fix that" the strange figure said, preparing to think up something rather unpleasant for Scooby and the gang.
The mysterious figure was one of the strangest creatures you would ever see in your life, specifically his face was an eerie shade of green, and he was dressed in red from head to toe; he also sported two strange horns coming out of his head, and looked surprisingly somewhat regal as he sat on his throne, which would make sense, considering he was in fact the Goblin King, and the ruler of all supernatural and magical creatures.
"It amazes me how mortals think that they can just, to use a mortal cliché: waltz into my castle and take my scepter. Well, when I get finished with those fools, they will wish they had never set foot in the..." the Goblin King declared, before stopping himself in mid sentence.
The strange horned creature, clad completely in a dark shade of red sat back in his throne, almost silent in thought; as a matter of fact, if one were to look upon the king's face, it would be apparent that he was seriously questioning his previous comments, and seriously considering his place in the world of the ghosts, monsters and things that went bump in the night, which was about ninety percent of the magic world's inhabitants, if not one hundred percent.
The great and powerful leader of the world of magic and monsters was soon to be joined by one of his peers however, as he could hear the distinct sound of high heels clicking along the well polished marble floor of his castle. The clicking footsteps echoed through the halls of the mysterious structure, as the Goblin King wondered who would want to enter his presence, especially during one of the most important events of his centuries long life.
"Who's there?" the leader of the magic world inquired, still listening to the clicking sound of this mysterious intruder's shoes.
Soon he would get his answer, as a few moments after he spoke, a beautiful woman who looked to be in her thirties entered the throne room. The woman was wearing a radiant white, almost cream colored dress, a pair of cream colored high heels, and had two silver colored wings that resembled those of an insect protruding from her back.
As she approached the throne of the Goblin King, she noticed that he was holding his arm up to his chin, while stroking it softly. To the visitor to the throne room, it appeared that the powerful leader of the world of magic and monsters was either thinking of something to do to someone, or had a matter of great importance on his mind.
So, realizing that quite possibly the Goblin King needed some help, the female visitor to the leader of the magic world's domain decided to walk up alongside the large stone throne and ask him just what he was thinking about, and why he looked as if he was doing a perfect magic world imitation of The Thinker.
"Dear?" the woman asked, in a soft, settling voice.
"Yes?" the mighty leader of all monsters answered.
"What are you doing?" the woman inquired back.
"Trying to think of something to do about what I'm seeing in my Crystal. You know, sometimes I really wish I didn't have all this power." The Goblin King remarked with a deep sigh.
"But why dear? Why do you wish you didn't have all that power?" the woman inquired.
"Because it seems like other monsters and mythical creatures, or sometimes mortals, are always trying to come here and capture my Scepter. Just what is it about this Scepter that makes people go crazy anyway? Does it have to do with what it does? Does it have to do with what it represents? What?" the powerful monarch asked, as he sat back in his throne while his female visitor walked over to the area behind the stone throne and began rubbing his back.
Normally this might seem to be a little odd, but in this case it was something that the leader of the monster world was happy about, not to mention he seemed to have a look on his face that meant he was actually looking forward to this as well. As for the woman who was standing behind his throne, she was a very familiar figure to those who lived in the worlds of monsters, magic and the supernatural.
In fact, you might say she was as recognizable a figure as the Goblin King was, which made sense considering she was also a member of the realm's royalty. For this woman, was the Fairy Queen, wife of the Goblin King, and mother of one Princess Fairy Willow, who was now deeply entrenched in the Amazing Krudsky's crutches, although neither of them knew it at the moment.
The fairy queen was not as short tempered, or angry, or otherwise unpleasant as her husband at all. In fact, she was rather nice, kind, and benevolent. She had always raised her daughter to obey her parents wishes, and to never get in trouble either in, or out of the realm, but despite her mother and father's wishes, she would always get into mischief. Which of course is how she got into her current predicament of course.
"Dear, you mustn't blame yourself at all. Many a monster, or mortal knows about your scepter's power, and many a monster or mortal has tried to capture it in the past several centuries. Who knows why people are always after it; we certainly won't know that any time soon, and we certainly won't find out if you're sitting in your throne grumping about a group of mortals who probably just lost their way and are not harming anyone for that matter." The fairy queen explained.
"You know dear, you're right. That backrub, and talking to you is exactly what I needed in a situation like this." The Goblin King declared, bolting upright, now standing in front of the throne, to the surprise of his queen.
"Dear, I know you're happy and content now, but could you be careful next time you decide to get up. You could hurt someone when you get up quick like that." The fairy queen replied, trying to steady herself after being almost knocked to the ground.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, here, let me help you up." The Goblin King remarked, as he took his bride's hand and before they both knew it, she was now standing back on her feet again.
"Thank you darling, I almost broke my wings when I fell to the floor." The fairy queen replied, with a smile on her face.
"Not a problem dear, not a problem at all." The Goblin King responded.
"Dear, if it's all right, would you mind if I asked you something?" the Fairy Queen inquired.
"Certainly my queen, go right ahead." The ruler of the realm replied.
"All right, just what were you doing when I came in here? And why were you sounding so upset?" the fairy queen inquired.
"Well, it's like I told you: I was looking inside my Crystal Ball, and I spotted three mortals and a large dog heading for the Grim Reaper Railroad. No doubt heading for the castle where they will try and take away my scepter." The Goblin King explained.
"Dear, are you certain the mortals and their dog are heading here for that purpose?" the fairy queen asked.
"What other purpose could they possibly have for coming here?" the Goblin King replied back.
"I'm not sure. But I seriously doubt they would be coming here to cause you or any of the realm harm. Believe me." The fairy queen said, gently taking her husband and the ruler of the realm by the shoulders and looking into his eyes.
The Goblin King wasn't sure what it was, but as he glimpsed into the Fairy Queen's eyes, he knew she was telling the truth about what he had been watching earlier. Even if the Fairy Queen hadn't seen what her husband was watching, something about her was trustworthy, at least in the Goblin King's eyes.
Ever since the two of them were married, the Goblin King and the Fairy Queen had always had a bit of an understanding. Either of them would always listen to what the other was saying, or if one of them knew something, the other figured the person that knew something probably knew what they were talking about.
Either way, the King and Queen of the realm of monsters, magic and the supernatural were probably one of the best and most compatible married couples in history. However, in this case, considering it was Halloween, the one night and day of the year that monsters, magic and the powers of the supernatural were all at their highest, the Fairy Queen figured that her husband had a reason for the thoughts in his mind earlier.
So, against her better judgment, she decided to ask the ruler of the realm more about what he had seen in his Crystal Ball.
"Sweetheart, if it's all right with you, I would like to see just who these mortals are that are trying to travel to our realm." The Fairy Queen stated, with her hand on her husband's shoulder.
"Do you really think that's wise dearest? I mean they could be evil, and they could mean to do us harm…" the king replied, before being cut off by his bride.
"Like I said before, what harm could they do anyway?" the queen inquired.
"Oh... all right, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to let you look in the Crystal. But I must tell you, I have to be there next to you, just in case…" the king responded.
"That's fine dear, now come on, I must see these mortals." The queen replied, somewhat impatiently, before her husband retrieved his crystal ball.
Luckily for the pair, the Goblin King's Crystal Ball was not very far out of reach, which meant the couple were able to glimpse at what the Goblin King had seen earlier within mere moments. However, while the Goblin King and Fairy Queen were glimpsing at what was happening with Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo, along with their sorceress friend, elsewhere in the realm, a storm was brewing, metaphorically speaking of course.
Deep within the catacombs of the Goblin King and Fairy Queen's castle, two very formidable, albeit clumsy goblins were sitting, and talking. Unfortunately for the two of them, they were also very bored and were wondering if this Halloween night was going to be like every other Halloween night in the past couple centuries they had been working for the Goblin King, mainly as dull as watching paint dry.
"Hey Glob, you awake?" asked a goblin who was dressed in armor, and clad in a red shirt with a spear in his right hand, while other weapons sat nearby.
"I think so, but if something doesn't happen soon Glum, I might just fall asleep for good. At least as far as the rest of the night goes." Replied a second goblin after stirring a bit, and who had pretty much the same description as his comrade.
"You know something Glob, it seems like it's this way every year isn't it?" said the first goblin, who by this time had stood up and was walking across the cold and clammy room, with hundreds of stones composing the floor.
"Sure does; every year we have to be on guard duty on Halloween. Making sure the princess is OK and that no harm ever befalls her and stuff like that." The second goblin replied, as he was now in a sitting position against the wall.
"Yeah; even though the princess always seems to get out of the kingdom and spend time in the mortal world. And who could really blame her, I mean the mortal world has Halloween parties, candy, snacks, trick or treating, all the stuff that we've only read about in the Goblin's Almanac." The first goblin responded.
"Sure; meanwhile, we have to go and get her when the King finds out she's missing. Even though every single year it turns out she has the time of her life flying around, and visiting people. And she never gets hurt, or harmed." The second goblin replied.
"Got that right, it's enough to make an old Goblin cry." The first goblin remarked, as he was now joined by his comrade.
"Amen to that brother. You know for once, I would love to have an exciting Halloween, like the people in the mortal realm do. And I'm sure getting tired of being one of the King's personal guard goblins; I want to do something more, like, like being the ruler of the realm." The second goblin replied.
"Good luck with that Glob, good luck with that. If the King ever knew you were saying something like that, he would have you beheaded." The first goblin said, hoping that his fellow creature would never enact something like that as long as he lived.
While Glob and Glum conferred with each other, somewhere in another portion of the realm of monsters, magic and everything supernatural, there was yet another ancient castle. This castle was almost similar in appearance to the home of the Goblin King, his wife, and his daughter.
However, the inhabitants of this particular castle, or rather inhabitant was nothing like the Goblin King. In fact the inhabitant of this castle was someone who, while he held as much power as the aforementioned ruler, was not as generous, or nearly as pleasant to be around as the Goblin King.
Deep within the bowels of this ancient castle, a dark haired man wearing a dark black cloak sat on a throne, almost identical to the one in the Goblin King's castle. The man had a look on his face that was a strange combination of anger, annoyance, discouragement, and a small amount of exasperation added onto everything else as well.
"That meddling Goblin King, he thinks he knows everything. He thinks he's so powerful with that stupid scepter of his; I tell you what, if I got my hands on that scepter things would be a lot different around here and in the magical world for that matter." The man remarked to himself, while brooding a bit on his throne.
While it may seem that this particular man may seem like a brooding, angry and all around vengeful person, he is more than all of those things put together. In fact, this particular individual is a dark sorcerer, or more specifically one of the most despicable sorcerers the world has ever known.
The sorcerer's name is Jonathan Ravenhurst, but most people in the magic world only know him as a warlock whose power vastly dwarfs the ruler of the land. As he sits on his throne brooding and thinking of someway to get vengeance on the entire realm of monsters, supernatural creatures and magical beings, he suddenly gets an idea and decides to bring a nearby crystal ball to him.
"Ah excellent, my power seems to be growing each time I cast a spell. Now that I have my crystal at arm's length, I can see what that excuse for a ruler is up to." The sinister warlock remarked as he passed his hands over the top of the crystal.
As fast as you could say abracadabra, the crystal activated and showed a clear picture of events that were happening at the present time. However, it wasn't displaying the Goblin King's castle at all, actually it was displaying a picture of a certain part of the mortal world, in this case it was displaying a certain Halloween Carnival, and a certain magician walking around the grounds.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The sorcerer commented as he watched the Amazing Krudsky walk the grounds, seemingly searching for someone.
"Those meddling sorcerers are going to get quite a taste of real magic when I find that Goblin King's scepter. And since that magic shoppe owner is out of my hair, I should be able to find it with ease. Then once I get it, no sorcerer or mortal will stand in my way of becoming the greatest magician of all!" Krudsky declared, laughing menacingly as he spoke, all of which was seen by the evil warlock through the courtesy of his crystal.
"Well, it appears someone else wants the Goblin King's scepter. Judging by what the individual in the crystal ball said, it sounds like he is a magician. I would also guess that he wants the same thing as me: power." The sinister sorcerer remarked, grinning devilishly as he spoke.
"Maybe this magician could help me in my quest to gain the King's scepter. Wait, I've got it! I can contact this magician and he can assist me in my plans! It's really the perfect plan." The warlock continued, smiling like a Cheshire cat all the while.
So with that, the dark haired warlock went back to his crystal and passed his hands over the top of it in an attempt to contact the carnival magician. Back at the carnival grounds, the Amazing Krudsky had returned to his tent in order to contact the Goblin King, so that he could arrange a trade with the aforementioned ruler of the magic world and get the scepter in exchange for Princess Fairy Willow.
However, Krudsky was going to have to wait a short period of time, as while he prepared to put his plan into place, he could hear a distinct ringing sound coming from somewhere inside his tent.
Knowing that if he didn't track it down it would bleed through his ears, he decided to search for the source of it, hoping that it would be important. After a few minutes, he found that it was coming from a crystal ball that he sometimes used in his act; as he took out the crystal, he was curious as to why he was being interrupted when he had some plans to make and some fish to fry as it were.
"Yes? Who's this, and what do you want, I'm very busy." Krudsky remarked in a somewhat perturbed tone of voice.
"Oh? Are you too busy to talk to someone who has the same goals as you do Krudsky?" the warlock asked.
"Who is this?" the magician inquired.
"Since you have some work to do, let me make this short: my name is Jonathan Ravenhurst, and I am someone who is interested in the same things as you are. For example, I've been watching you and I know you are a magician; while I am a dark sorcerer that lives here in the magical world, and have done so for centuries." The warlock replied.
"A sorcerer? Sorry Mr. Ravenhurst, I don't know if I can talk to you; I had two teen sorcerers, well a sorcerer and sorceress, spoil my act earlier tonight, so whatever business you have with me…" Krudsky remarked.
"Wait and listen to me for a few moments. I know what happened to you earlier tonight, as I've been watching and keeping track of you. I saw those brats make sport of you in front of the entire audience at the Coolsville Halloween Carnival, and I saw those other meddlers help the sorcerer and sorceress out of the tent where the magic show was taking place." The warlock responded.
"Yes, and?" the carnival magician asked.
"Listen Krudsky: I overheard what you said. I know you want the Goblin King's scepter, and I know you want to be powerful; in fact, those are the same things that I want as well, I want the Goblin King's scepter and I want to be the most powerful person or being in both realms." The warlock replied.
"Hmm… I think I understand. So, what are you suggesting Mr. Ravenhurst?" Krudsky inquired, now very curious as to what the warlock had to say.
"Simply this: a team up. You, the Amazing Krudsky, a great magician, whose time in the spotlight has come, and I, Jonathan Ravenhurst, one of the most evil sorcerers on the planet. Together, sharing the power of the Goblin King's scepter between us, we can become the two most powerful beings in the world." The sinister warlock explained.
"I see what you mean. And I like the idea; since those young sorcerers are two of a kind, then maybe it will take two people to defeat them and those other meddlers as well." Krudsky replied.
"Exactly! So what do you say Krudsky? Want to team up and take over the magical world?" the sinister warlock asked.
"And get vengeance on those meddling magic users as well? I would love to." Krudsky replied.
"Wonderful. You know Krudsky, I think this is going to be the beginning of a very evil friendship." Jonathan Ravenhurst declared as he began chuckling devilishly.
"Indeed, and I couldn't have said it any better myself." Krudsky said as he laughed along with the evil warlock, pretty much at the same time as him.
So with that exchange, a partnership unlike any other was founded. Together, an evil carnival magician and an equally evil dark sorcerer from the magical world had agreed on a common goal, to eliminate Linda and William Christensen and the members of Mystery Inc. once and for all. And while they were at it, they hoped to gain the Goblin King's scepter, and with it power over the entire magical world and hopefully the mortal world in the process.
While these two villains were plotting and scheming, the members of Mystery Inc. were trying to figure out how to solve the rather peculiar mystery they were dealt. Needless to say it was going to be rather difficult, and the gang would definitely need the help of their new magical friends; however, before long Scooby and company would find themselves in a rather sticky situation, just like the sibling sorcerer and sorceress that they just met, whether they liked it or not.
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone for hanging on through me writing this story. I've had a lot of computer problems, but I've managed to do a pretty good job on this fan fic so far I think; hopefully all of my fan fiction friends think so as well.
By the way, I got the idea of having a warlock from the Goblin King's realm assisting Krudsky from another fan fic version of Scooby Doo and the Goblin King. I thought the idea worked there, so I figured it could work here as well. Thanks for reading everybody, and hopefully you'll stick with me through the rest of the fic and the conclusion; I don't know when it's coming, but it will come eventually.