Meanwhile, Velma, Henry, Alexandra, Stanley, and Sky were going into the hotel to check in for everyone and went to the front desk.
"Welcome to the Hotel Canard, how may I be of service?" The hotel manager greeted them.
"Yes, hi, we-" Sky began only to get cut off.
"We'd like to check in!" Barb and Lance said as they pushed them out of the way. "Barb and Lance Damon and Chrissy!"
"Hey!" Sky complained.
"Erm... Isn't there a fourth member of your party?" The hotel manager asked the Damon family.
"No, I don't think so." Lance replied.
"Your other daughter. Kasey. Remember?" Sky reminded.
Barb and Lance looked over to Sky.
"Just saying." Sky glared slightly.
"I'm here! I'm here!" Kasey piped up as she came to her family.
"Kasey! Didn't we tell you to get the bags?!" Barb complained.
"I have them, Mom." Kasey replied.
"Good, now be a good little pack mule and take them up to our room." Lance demanded.
"Yes, Dad." Kasey replied as she was carrying her family's bags, but she lost her footing and tripped, knocking down her parents' and sister's bags.
"WATCH OUT!" Chrissy told her sister.
"KASEY!" Lance scolded.
"Look at the mess you made, especially your sister's bag!" Barb added. "Now clean this up right now!"
"Y-Yes, M-Mom." Kasey shivered.
Chrissy crossed her arms as Kasey cleaned up the mess she made while Sky tried her best to contain her anger as she hated how the Damon family was treating this poor little girl.
"I'm sorry, this young lady was-" The hotel manager then said about Sky.
"Hey, are you giving us attitude?!" Lance glared.
"I think he's giving us attitude!" Barb replied.
"Listen, buddy, I want someone to take Chrissy's bags to the room now since Kasey is such a klutz!" Lance demanded to the hotel manager.
The hotel manager looked at the four teens.
"Go ahead... We'll wait." Velma replied.
The hotel manager then took a look at the form as a bellhop soon came to help with the luggage.
"Oh, Chrissy, are you okay?" Velma asked the blonde girl as she sat in the luggage dolly.
"Of course I'm okay," Chrissy rolled her eyes. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Weren't you scared of the Phantom?" Henry asked.
"You were screaming." Alexandra added.
"That wasn't a scared scream, stupid," Chrissy said with a laugh. "It was a happy scream because he told me I'm gonna win the competition."
"He told you?" Sky asked out of confusion.
"I'm gonna win," Chrissy smirked. "Even if he has to obliterate all the other contestants. Isn't that awesome?"
"Uhh..." Velma blinked.
"It's true. We have a genuine psycho on our side. Score." Barb said.
"And that's why the Phantom wrote, 'Christine must win' on that clipboard," Lance added. "Her name's Christine."
"But call her Chrissy." Barb then added.
"Only don't call her Chrissy because don't talk to her," Lance said. "You're getting your nerd and freak breath all over her."
"Getting really sick of your crap." Sky growled through her teeth, nearly sounding like a wolf.
"I'm with you on this one," Alexandra added as her eyes turned green from rage and anger. "I say we should break their spines!"
"Ahem!" Henry cleared his throat to warn them not to go overboard.
"Remind me to never make them mad." Stanley whispered, referring to Sky and Alexandra.
"Noted." Velma replied.
"Come on, Chrissy." Barb told her favorite child.
"But not you, Kasey, you're sleeping outside." Lance then said.
"But what about food?" Kasey asked.
"Don't you have some of your own money?" Barb asked.
"How are those people not in jail?" Sky sighed to herself. "Not even Aunt Pam is this heinous towards Sam!"
"I still say that we should break their spines." Alexandra suggested.
"Alexandra..." Henry said in a warning tone.
"Sorry, I just hate people who treat their own children like this." Alexandra replied.
"I know, but try to ignore them," Henry said. "We'll deal with them later, but right now, just think about that crazy Phantom and the mystery we have to solve."
"Hmph... It won't be easy." Alexandra replied.
"I know, plus, we have our performance to look forward to tomorrow." Henry said.
"Right." Alexandra replied.
"...Maybe Kasey can stay in our room?" Henry whispered.
"Oh, could she?" Alexandra asked hopefully. "I've always wanted a little sister."
"If that's what you want." Henry smiled softly.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Alexandra beamed as she hugged her boyfriend.
Kasey sighed to her neglectful family.
"Now just remember that Chrissy gets the best, you want the best for your sister, don't you?" Barb asked.
"Yes, Mom, of course." Kasey replied.
"And you're not gonna ruin this for us, all right?" Lance added.
"Yes, Dad." Kasey replied.
"And if you tell anyone about our special plans, it'll be the end for you." Barb threatened.
"Y-Yes, Mom." Kasey said.
Alexandra tried to control her anger, but right now, she felt sad to see Kasey treated so horribly by her own family. She wasn't sure who were worse, them or the Griffins whenever they all turned against Meg.
"Oh, they're unbearable, aren't they?" A man smiled as he came over.
"Yeah... Who are you?" Velma replied.
"I am The Great Pauldini!" The man replied before magicking up an egg. "My card."
"Uh, that's an egg." Sky replied.
"Okay, egg, card, whatever. I made it appear, right?" Pauldini defended. "Can you do that? No, you can't because you're not a magician," he then pulled out a bouquet of roses out from Sky's ear. "Who's a magician?"
"Uh, you are?" Velma replied.
"Oh, yeah, heh. Up high," Pauldini smiled before holding his hand up high until Velma high-fived him. "That's what I'm talking about."
"He's pretty unbearable himself." A voice said behind them.
"Tell me about-" Velma replied until she seemed to be alone. "Hello?"
"Ahem!" The voice cleared his throat until they were shown a short man who smirked to them. "Waldo: the ventriloquist," he then came to the luggage dolly to show a tall dummy. "And here's Hufnagel, my dummy."
"Hi, Toots!" The dummy greeted.
"And I sit on his lap," Waldo replied as he demonstrated. "It's funny. Not at all demeaning. Right?"
"Right." The others nodded.
"Right. Catch you later." Waldo replied before walking off until he ran into punk rock chicks who cooed to him.
"Oh, my gosh, he's adorable~" The green-haired one cooed.
"I am not adorable; I am not." Waldo smirked.
"I think I found Ashton Pitstop's friends." Sky commented to herself.
"More like Yumi's relatives." Henry replied.
"You know what? He kinda is~" The purple-haired girl commented.
"Totally." The blue-haired girl added.
"Um, I totally saw him first." The pink-haired girl told them.
"Hey, you guys are that band, right?" Velma asked.
"Yes, we are-" The green-haired girl began.
"GIRL-O-SAURUS REX!" The four girls then posed before roaring like dinosaurs, but the green-haired one giggled.
"Oh, my gosh, we are so metal, heh." The green-haired girl giggled.
"Cathy. It's so not metal to say, 'Oh, my gosh, we're so metal'." The blue-haired girl warned.
"Right. Sorry," The green-haired girl smiled bashfully. "We were a country act until three months ago."
"We agreed we weren't telling people that," The purple-haired girl scolded. Now, come on, look surly."
The green-haired girl then gave a gloomy scowl before going off with them.
"I think a lemon-scented ghost would fit right in with this crowd." Sky commented.
Kasey sighed and was about to go outside.
"Kasey, wait!" Alexandra called out to the redheaded girl.
"Huh?" Kasey replied.
"Kasey, you don't have to sleep outside." Alexandra said.
"Yes, I do," Kasey sighed. "My parents insisted on it."
"Well, I'm not letting you sleep outside." Alexandra told her.
"But what if my parents see me not sleeping outside?" Kasey replied. "There will be consequences for me."
"I don't care, you're not sleeping outside, you might get sick," Alexandra said. "You're gonna stay with me. You can think of me as your big sister."
"Gosh, I've never had a big sister before," Kasey replied. "I just have Chrissy, but she treats me like dirt and thinks that I shouldn't exist."
"Forget about Chrissy for tonight," Alexandra told her. "Just think about you and Alexandra."
"...Who's Alexandra?" Kasey asked.
"That would be me." Alexandra smiled.
"Gosh, I don't know what to say, but... Thank you," Kasey replied. "Wait, what if I get caught? Then we'll both be in trouble."
"Even if we do, you let me worry about that," Alexandra said. "Ooh... No offense, kid, but you kinda stink... Maybe you should take a bubble bath tonight."
"That sounds nice." Kasey gave a small smile.
Unknown to them, Chrissy was watching them, glaring. "Mom and Daddy won't like it when you're disobeying an order." she then smirked.
Alexandra soon walked with Kasey as they seemed to get along so far.
Meanwhile, with Fred's group...
Fred, Daphne, Brianna, Trent, Nazz, Ella, Suzie, Alan, Anne, and Tom were looking in a room together.
"This is creepy." Suzie commented.
"It is." Nazz agreed.
"Fred, why do ghosts and monsters and stuff turn up wherever we go?" Daphne soon asked. "Is it something about us?"
"No, this happens to everyone." Fred told her.
"What...?" Daphne blinked.
"It would be too much of a coincidence if this only happened to us," Fred replied. "So logically everyone must run into ghosts and monsters all the time."
"Really?" Daphne asked.
"Sure, it's simple math." Fred replied.
Everyone heard a crashing sound behind the door.
"Wh-What was that?" Nazz wondered.
"It came from behind the door." Trent replied.
"Let's go check it out." Anne suggested.
"Let a man do this, Anne." Alan said to his sister.
"Excuse you?" Anne glanced at her brother.
Trent went over and opened the door to find a chubby man with brown hair. Both the man and the group screamed.
"What are you doing here?" The man demanded.
"What are you doing here?" Trent replied.
"I'm Mel Richmond. I own this building, and I have a right to lurk in it," The man glared to them before glancing at them for a few moments. "You must be from the show, right?"
"Well, some of us." Suzie replied.
"We're here to support our big brother and his girlfriend." Tom added.
"Some of us are contestants." Fred added.
"Right. Well, uh, good luck to you," Mel smiled to Fred and Daphne. "You make a cute couple."
"See? Even he agrees, Daph." Brianna commented.
"We're not a cute couple. I mean, heh, we're not a couple, so we can't be a cute one, although we would be if we were," Daphne babbled nervously. "Which we're not. I mean, it's not that we don't like each other, we just don't 'like' like each other. It's not likely. Right, Fred? Or do we? We don't, right? Do we? Why are we talking about this so much? Can we change the subject now, please? This is none of your business."
"Uh, Mr. Richmond, do you know anything about the Phantom?" Fred then asked the man.
"Argh, that business again," Mel groaned. "Look, that was all way before my time. I inherited this place a few years ago when my father passed away."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Ella frowned.
"Me too, it's costing me thousands of dollars a week," Mel replied. "I can't do anything with it. People are still spooked by that Phantom nonsense and that was 35 years ago."
"What was 35 years ago?" Tom asked.
"Ah... It happened back in the 70's..." Mel sighed as he began to reminisce. "Before that there had been some oddities. But, you know, nothing scary. But when my father turned the place into a disco, all heck broke loose. The Phantom wreaked havoc every night. People thought it was part of the show. Despite the Phantom, the club flourished. Customers looked forward to seeing him. Even though it was said his mask hid a terrible deformity. No one was ever really hurt, but then the Phantom became more destructive. He even set fires. Then one night, he destroyed the disco ball. After that, no one came back. Finally, my father had to close the place down. I hadn't been able to rent it at all until the Talent Star people came around. Now they say the Phantom's back. Well, maybe I'll get lucky and he'll burn the place down, so I can collect the insurance money, eh? Heh, heh. Or maybe I should put on a cape and mask and do it myself, ha, ha," he then stopped laughing as soon as the others glared at him in suspicion. "What? Ah, now, don't look at me like that. You see, that's why I don't make jokes."
"Um... Thank you for your time, Mr. Richmond." Tom slowly blinked.
Meanwhile Shaggy and Scooby were taking Flip, Nancy, Mimi, Scooter, and Jessie to the library.
"You know why I like going to the library, you guys?" Shaggy prompted the others.
"The books?" Mimi guessed.
"Nope, the fact that it's far, far away from that phantom guy." Shaggy replied.
"This is nothing," Scooter said. "You should see some of the stuff we used to see on detective cases with Pop!"
"Whenever we split up, we get chased by all kinds of different monsters." Flip commented.
"So do we, and it's always someone who's just wearing a mask," Shaggy replied. "Though, we did run into some real monsters on our adventures. Like werecats who would drain your soul for immortality, a crazy warlock who tricked us into helping him find the book of his ancestor, and even found a witch from a whole different planet."
"Sounds scary." Mimi commented.
"Nothing we haven't seen before though... Though those adventures do sound intense." Nancy said to Shaggy.
"Plus it's nice that Velma trusts us with an important assignment," Shaggy then said. "Not to mention Henry and Sky who trust us to look after the little ones as well."
As they were walking, Shaggy and Scooby smelled something which made them smile as soon as they saw the restaurant.
"How can you guys think of food at a time like this?" Nancy asked.
"We practice." Shaggy and Scooby smiled.
"I am getting pretty hungry." Nancy had to admit.
"Me too." Jessie agreed.
"Pizza!" Shaggy and Scooby beamed.
The cowardly duo and the younger kids then went into the nearby pizza joint.
"Gimme eight!" Shaggy gushed.
"Right this way, sir." The waitress replied.
They followed her to a booth after accidentally knocking over a man.
"Do you have anything bigger than the extra-extra large?" Shaggy asked.
"Yeah, but it's not on the menu," The waitress replied. "Oh, and you have to sign a release saying we're not responsible if you die."
"We'll take it!" Shaggy beamed while Scooby nodded.
"Alrighty, but I'm gonna have to move you to another table." The waitress told them.
"Why?" Scooter asked.
"'Cuz this one is smaller than your pizza." The waitress replied.
This made Shaggy and Scooby smiled and high-fived each other. Soon enough, they sat down in a long table.
"Anne would love it here." Scooter giggled.
An alarm blared as the kitchen doors opened to show the ultimate pizza of the restaurant. One worker backed up with airport lights as the cooks brought out a very long table with the pizza on it. Shaggy looked at the pizza like he was in love.
"Gosh... Look at how long that pizza is." Jessie commented.
"I think I've died and gone to Heaven." Nancy commented.
"Like, me too." Shaggy agreed.
The waitress soon took a remote and clicked it on which levitated the pizza onto their table.
"If you don't mind, we'd like to be alone with the pizza." Shaggy smiled as he hugged the pizza.
"Okie dokie," The waitress replied. "We can wrap up the leftovers for ya."
"Leftovers?" Shaggy repeated, trying not to laugh.
The cowardly duo and the kids then ate the pizza like wild animals, even splashing pizza all over the walls and the people. The waitress looked a bit surprised. They soon finished within seconds, even though they left behind a rather big mess. The people seemed to glare at them at first until they soon applauded Shaggy, Scooby, and the Chan siblings for finishing the ultimate pizza.
"We'd just like to say that it's an honor to be in your presence." The waitress smiled.
"Aw, it was nuthin'." Flip replied.
"Yeah. Like, think nothing of it." Shaggy added.
The doors soon opened which made everyone look over. A bunch of bodyguards walked in and one tossed rose petals on the floor as a woman with violet-colored hair soon came in behind them. A photographer took her picture, and people surrounded her as they wanted her autograph, and chanted her name. Behind the woman was Johnny and Anne Maria.
"Annie, order whatever you want to celebrate my winning for making it to the finals of Talent Star." The woman told the teenage girl.
"Thanks, Aunt Lotte." Anne Maria replied.
"You too, Jeff." The woman said.
"Uh, my name's Johnny." Johnny corrected.
"Oh... Right... Right..." The woman replied.
"Who's that?" Scooby asked.
"That's Lotte," Shaggy replied. "She's on Talent Star, and she's already won a bunch of other talent shows."
"She was great on America's Got Singing, and Sing or Die, and Singetty-Sing-Song-Sing." The waitress added.
Lotte was still signing autographs, then she glared at the little girl who smiled at her hopefully. I do not sign for anyone wearing tights and shorts. Because it's wrong!" she then told the girl.
The girl gasped to that in horror and she soon broke down crying and ran off.
"Yeah, yeah, you better run." Lotte told her.
"Well, that wasn't very nice." Johnny said to Anne Maria.
"She was always like that, especially when she and Ma were kids." Anne Maria replied.
Lotte was walking towards the cowardly duo and the kids until the waitress blocked her way with a notepad and pencil. "Leave us!" she then demanded.
The waitress nodded and backed away.
"I want you to take a message to Daphne and Fred," Lotte said as she slashed her fingernails against the wall behind them. "Tell them they don't stand a chance! I will crush all who oppose me! I will feast upon their blood! And their families will weep over their smoldering corpses!" she then grabbed Shaggy while Scooby shivered. "I will leave nothing but their scars, SO SWEARS LOTTE! L-O-T-T-" she then signed her name in her nails on Shaggy's shirt before finishing on Scooby's fur in a menacing kind of way. "E! Lotte!"
"They are not the only ones in the competition." Flip spoke up.
Lotte dropped Shaggy on the ground and glared at Flip.
"Our big brother and his girlfriend are gonna beat you, lady." Flip then continued.
"Oh, is that so?" Lotte glared.
"Yeah, that's so!" Flip glared back.
"Then tell your precious big brother that I will destroy him and his girlfriend!" Lotte sneered as she grabbed Flip by his shirt.
"Fine! Then you can look stupid when he blows you away!" Flip glared.
"Fine!" Lotte glared back. She then signed her name into his shirt and dropped him as she gave an evil laugh as the others ran away before coming back to give their money to the waitress for the food.
"Keep the change." Scooby said.
They then ran back outside.
"I'm sorry, Johnny..." Anne Maria said. "My mother insists that Aunt Lotte's a good person, but... Eh..."
"She is scary." Johnny replied.
"She used to do that to all of the boys that Ma dated when she was a teenager." Anne Maria told him.
"Come on, Annie, pizza is on me. You too, Jacob." Lotte then said.
"Johnny!" Johnny corrected with a glare.
"Same thing." Lotte replied.
Meanwhile, Shaggy, Scooby and the kids ran back to the hotel as the others were in the room, looking at the laptop that Velma had. Soon enough, Shaggy, Scooby, and the kids came back. Mimi, Scooter, and Jessie hide underneath the covers in fright.
"Hey, guys." Shaggy said.
"Where have you been?" Velma replied. "The library closed hours ago!"
"Uh... The what?" Shaggy asked.
"Never mind, I've found plenty of information online," Velma rolled her eyes. "There was definitely a Phantom back in the 70's, but I don't think the one we saw was the same person. This is from earlier tonight."
"Where did you get that picture?" Nazz asked.
"It's all over the Internet," Velma told her. "Talent Star is really milking this for publicity," she then showed two photos to compare and contrast. "See? The outfit is different. What we saw today was someone taking advantage of the old stories for their own."
"But you saw him disappear, right?" Daphne asked. "He must be a real ghost."
"I saw it on a monitor," Velma clarified. "It could have been faked."
"So, who are the likely suspects?" Trent asked.
"Definitely Chrissy's parents." Sky replied.
"You're right," Fred agreed. "The Phantom seems interested in making sure Chrissy wins the competition."
"Not to mention they're jerks who should be in jail for the way they treat Kasey." Sky crossed her arms firmly.
"I say we should DESTROY THEM!" Alexandra demanded.
Everyone just looked at her blinking.
Alexandra then smiled sheepishly and sat back down. "Sorry." she said bashfully.
"And Brick Pimiento," Velma then said. "He was a little too quick to capitalize on the Phantom for publicity. Could he be doing this to boost the show's ratings?" she then wondered.
"What about Mel Richmond, the guy who owns the Opera house?" Anne suggested.
"You're right," Trent agreed. "Maybe what he said about insurance money wasn't a joke."
"What about Dewey Ottoman? He's creepy." Suzie commented.
"Does he have a motive?" Alan asked his sister.
"Isn't creepy a motive?" Suzie replied.
Velma rolled her eyes and Google searched the man.
"Ooh! Ooh! You gotta put Lotte down!" Shaggy suggested.
"You think Lotte is the phantom?" Daphne asked.
"I think she's scarier than the Phantom," Shaggy replied. "Put her down."
"Hmm... Everyone on this list but Mel Richmond and Lotte have been seen at the same time as the Phantom." Velma told the others.
Fred soon yawned and stretched. "Guys, it's getting late," he then said after yawning. "We have the dress rehearsal in the morning, and the big show tomorrow night. I say we get some sleep." he then suggested.
"Good idea, we gotta get up early in the morning." Henry added.
Suzie walked over and pulled over the covers back to find Mimi, Scooter, and Jessie hiding. "Okay, kids, it's time for bed." she then told her younger siblings.
"But what if the Phantom attacks us?" Mimi asked.
"Or Lotte?" Jessie added.
"She said that she was gonna destroy Henry and Alexandra in the competition." Scooter pouted.
"Don't worry about it right now, we'll deal with her later." Henry replied.
"I can get Jessie to bed." Sky said.
"Let me. You need some rest for the contest tomorrow." Suzie suggested.
"Thanks, Suzie." Sky smiled to that.
Jessie yawned a little as she sat on one bed.
"Here's your bunny." Sky smiled as she sat on the bed with her little sister, giving her her stuffed bunny rabbit.
"I'm scared." Jessie pouted.
"About what?" Sky asked.
"What if the Phantom gets you?" Jessie asked.
"You shouldn't worry about me, Jessie," Sky told her little sister. "I'm supposed to worry about you. I promised Mom and Dad I would take good care of you, no matter what it takes."
"You're the best, Sky." Jessie said.
"Aw, thank you, sweetie," Sky smiled. "Now, good night."
"Good night." Jessie smiled back.
Sky handed Jessie her stuffed bunny. Jessie yawned as she hugged her stuffed animal before turning over to go to sleep.