Chapter 6: A run-in with two phantoms and the unmasking
(Fred, Velma and Lieutenant Titley)
The whole ride to the Docklands of Coolsville Harbor was done in silence.
After a twenty-minute drive, the trio arrived at the closed down fish-processing plant.
As Fred and Velma got off, the former turned to Titley and asked, "Are you joining us, Lieutenant?"
Titley shook his head. "Not right now. I've got to make a call for backup in case the crooks are heavily armed, so stay put."
"Sounds good, lieutenant." Velma nodded as the two sleuths went to the entrance of the plant as Titley made his call.
A few minutes went by before Titley rolled his window down and said to them, "Sorry for the short notice, but I've been called back to headquarters to take care of something urgent, kids, so you'd better stay put until I return with backup."
He then rolled the window back up and drove away, leaving Fred and Velma behind at the entrance to the closed-down plant.
After the lieutenant left, the duo looked around for a way into the plant.
"Do you see any way in, Freddie?" Velma asked.
Fred looked around as he said, "No, not yet...wait a minute! That front window looks like a good way for us to sneak in!"
Velma turned and looked towards where Fred was pointing and nodded. The two sleuths sneaked over to the said window and climbed over the wide open gap, eventually making it in the plant.
"Now let's see if we can find Daphne in this plant." Velma whispered to her friend, who nodded.
"Right." Fred nodded in agreement. "Let's go!"
Cautiously, the two sleuths made their way through the closed down plant, and the smell of raw fish was evident, even though it has been months since the place closed down.
As the duo walked and looked around with their flashlights on, neither of them noticed a couple of dark shadows following them.
"Look at the machinery." Fred commented as they looked around. "They all look like they've been sitting idly for months. Nobody's been here for that long."
"Not quite, Freddie, look!" Velma said as she pointed at a nearby door to a storage room of sorts.
Fred looked and noticed the doorknob looked rather new.
"That doorknob looks new." He said. "Someone must be here recently!"
"And there must be something in the room." Velma added as she moved to open the door.
Behind the door was a dark room that looked empty. Except for...
"Jinkies, Freddie!" Velma exclaimed when she saw the middle of the room in the darkness. "Look!"
Looking towards where she was pointing, Fred saw a figure tied up to a chair right in the middle of the room.
"Daphne!" He exclaimed as the two rushed into the room towards the figure tied up to the chair.
Just then, one of the two shadows following them threw something into the room and then slammed the door shut.
"What was that?" Velma asked when they heard the door slamming shut.
"And what's that thing bouncing?" Fred asked when he saw the item that was thrown into the room.
At that instant, there was a mild explosion and the room was soon filled with a gas of some sort.
"Jinkies!" Velma gasped as they rushed back to the door, only for the knockout gas to take a toll on their strengths. "Knockout gas!"
Fred struggled to open the door, but by then, the effects of the gas was sinking in. The two sleuths lost their strengths and then collapsed to the ground.
The last thing they heard before everything went completely black was that of the doorknob turning and the door opening.
(Shaggy, Scooby, Tom and Jerry)
Meanwhile, the four were dropped off by Sam at the entrance to the Harbor Convention Center, which was located a few blocks away from the closed-down fish processing plant Titley mentioned.
The convention centre was closed for renovations, but the four were able to find an entrance and sneak in.
The main entrance door was locked, leading Shaggy to turn to Jerry.
"Like, there's got to be a way in if those crooks demanded that Mr. Blake drop the ransom off at here!" He said. "See if you can find a way in, Jerry."
The brown mouse nodded before heading off to find a hole that he may be able to fit through.
He soon found a drain pipe and squeezed his way into the building.
As the mouse tries to find the main entrance door, he looks around to make sure the area is safe for his friends to enter.
Seeing nothing suspicious, the mouse made his way to the front entrance where he managed to unlock the front door and open it.
"Like, we better be careful, guys." Shaggy said as they sneaked in. "In case there's an ambush."
As he was speaking, neither of them noticed that two pairs of glowing red eyes were watching them in a dark area nearby.
The four made their way into the convention centre. In spite of the news that the place was closed down for renovations, there doesn't seem to be any construction activity in the centre.
"That's weird." Shaggy remarked as they looked around. "This place was supposed to be closed for renovations, yet I don't see any construction activity around here."
Scooby, Tom and Jerry looked around and nodded in agreement. However, before either of them could respond to Shaggy's remark, they heard a growl.
"Like, are you guys hungry?" Shaggy asked. "I can hear your stomachs growling."
"Rhat wasn't me, Raggy." Scooby replied as Tom and Jerry shook their heads.
"It wasn't my stomach either." Shaggy said as they stopped before turning their heads.
Standing behind them were two phantoms, both of whom growled as they raised their arms and hollered, "Get out!"
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as Scooby, Tom and Jerry jumped. "T-t-two phantoms!"
The two phantoms marched towards the four and growled.
Swallowing, Shaggy said, "Let's get out of here!"
Immediately, they took off before the two phantoms could grab them.
The two phantoms chased the four throughout the convention centre in a rather comic fashion, chasing them into a room and passing by some large equipment in the process.
A few seconds later, the two phantoms emerged from another room and raced across the main floor while being chased by Shaggy and the trio.
Then, Tom and Jerry raced out of one room while Shaggy and Scooby raced out a second room and the two phantoms racing out a third.
The whole scene soon became messed up as the six parties involved in the chase race across the large convention centre main floor one way or another.
Eventually, the two phantoms chased the four down a hallway. As Shaggy, Scooby, Tom and Jerry ran on, they unknowingly crashed into a large cart, which then started moving towards the two phantoms.
The two phantoms stopped in their tracks when they saw the cart rolling towards them and reversed direction, trying to run away from the cart.
However, they weren't fast enough, and soon the cart crashed into them.
As Shaggy, Scooby, Tom and Jerry groaned from the impact, Shaggy looked down and saw the two phantoms trapped below the cart, unable to move.
"Like, let's take a close look at these two phantoms." Shaggy said as they leaned over to unmask the two phantoms.
Scooby, Tom and Jerry nodded as they pulled the masks off, revealing two faces familiar to Shaggy and Scooby.
"Officer Francis Poilievre and Officer Stephen Drumpf." Shaggy said as he recognized the two corrupt officers that are on his father's blacklist.
All will be revealed, but the adventure is not over yet! Stay tuned, and please read and review!
