"I think it's about time to put this mystery to bed," said Fred.
"What are we gonna do with the ghosts?" asked Shaggy.
Neo put his gun away, eyeing the twin and the Merovingian as the twin and the Merovingian eyed them. "Leave this one to me." He cracked his knuckles.
"Careful, Tom!" Daphne exclaimed. "He looks nasty!"
An impromptu ring of spectators formed as Neo and the twin moved forward slowly. The pale exile shook his head, dreadlocks cascading around him. They circled each other, sunglass-veiled gazes locked. For a moment they froze, separated by little more than an arm's length.
Then the twin attacked.
The gang watched, enraptured, as Neo dodged and weaved, unbelievably fast. Some of the twin's attacks missed him by less than an inch, while for others Neo was already far to one side by the time the motion was finished; either way, the dreadlocked man hit nothing but air.
After leaning back to avoid a punch aimed at his chin, Neo shifted his weight and counterattacked. He hit the twin in the solar plexus with the edge of his hand, knocking him back a step; he followed with two straight punches which the twin blocked, before landing another glancing blow to the twin's side. Neo spun and threw a roundhouse kick at his opponent, but the twin's upper body became insubstantial and his shoe passed through the mist just above the twin's heart. The exile threw himself into a back flip, trying to stay out of Neo's longer reach; the man in black moved in again, leading with a short kick aimed at the twin's stomach.
The man in white leapt aside and jabbed at Neo's face. The taller man planted his feet and grabbed a hold of the twin's arm. For a moment it seemed he now had the advantage, but in a flash a knife appeared in the exile's other hand which plunged towards Neo's stomach.
The spectators held their breath.
The Merovingian smiled in triumph.
Daphne gasped in shock.
Neo, however, surged straight into the air, arms straining as he pulled himself forward and over the twin's head, landing lightly behind the man in the white coat. Before the exile could recover, Neo hit his legs with a sweeping kick that knocked him off his feet. A split second later, he kicked the twin again, sending him across the room in a low, flat arc. Some of the partygoers dodged him, but he pulled some of the slower ones off their feet and into a pile on the floor.
"Whoa!" Scooby rubbed at his eyes with his tail.
"You got the Indian ghost, Tom!" Fred exclaimed.
"That was amazing!" Daphne marvelled.
"Wait!" Velma cautioned. "Where's the other one?"
"Right here," Trinity emerged from the hall. "I got some unexpected help." And she stepped aside just as her mysterious helper shoved the other twin to the floor.
Persephone planted her feet, hands on her hips, the floral pattern of her hippie dress fluorescing in the half-light. "Will someone tell me," she demanded, "what is going on here?"
"Gladly, ma'am," Velma answered confidently. "I think we have everything we need to wrap this mystery up."
The spectators who had watched Neo's showdown with the twin began to disperse, leaving the gang standing alone in the middle of the dance floor. Mary Sue hurried up to them as the twins staggered uneasily to their feet. The Merovingian's expression was sullen, his hands jammed into the pockets of his jacket.
"The biggest clue," said Velma, "came from this datebook and letter I found in Mr. Wilson's office."
"That is my private correspondence!" the Merovingian raged. "You have no right to read it, girl!"
"Shut up," Persephone snapped. "Please continue, dear."
"I noticed," the teen continued, "that Mr. Wilson wrote in all these meetings with someone named Heather North." Persephone raised an eyebrow. "Once I translated this letter I found in the front cover, I found out that's the name of a real estate agent."
"Yes, she is a real estate agent. Is it a crime to talk to real estate agents?"
"Right," Persephone muttered, "'talk.'"
"I remember that name," Mary Sue chimed in. "She works for Mega Realty. I first met her when I was a little girl and my father bought the nightclub."
"Right," Fred said. "According to another of the letters, she's been helping Mr. Wilson find cheap deals on prime real estate here, downtown."
"He owns about six whole blocks. He's making a fortune from people paying rent," Daphne added.
"Mr. Wilson decided he wasn't going to wait any more for people to sell," Velma continued. "He's been taking over abandoned and derelict properties by having his employees steal or counterfeit keys," Fred shook the guard's key ring, jingling the heavy mass of metal, "and having Mega Realty fake up the documentation. Once he learned from Ms. North that Mary Sue's parents were leaving, he saw a chance to get her property, too."
"He had his two employees here pretend to be Indian ghosts and steal her keys," Fred explained. "Mr. Wilson figured that once Mary Sue thought she was being targeted by the Indian ghosts for retribution, she would be too frightened to keep her club open."
"And then he could, like, buy the property for practically nothing," Shaggy finished.
"Of course," Trinity deadpanned. "It's all so simple."
The Merovingian whipped his hands out of his pockets. "I would have gotten away with it, too," he snarled, "if it weren't for you meddling kids."
"It's over, darling,"Persephone said caustically. "I suggest you return this girl's key, and call off your little masquerade here. You and I need to have a long, boring talk about everything you've been doing with your 'real estate agent.'"
He glared venomously at all of them, but fished Mary Sue's key out of his pocket and tossed it at her. Persephone took him by the upper arm and practically dragged him towards the back rooms.
"As for you," she purred in Shaggy's direction, "you really must show me the secret of your aunt's steak sauce, sometime." Then they were gone.
"Like, what a night," Shaggy sighed.
"What a morning, you mean!" Fred exclaimed. "It's almost four o'clock!"
"So tired!" Scooby exclaimed. Mary Sue nodded and yawned.
"I think we can fix that," Velma smiled. "Who's up for a meatball hero?" The Great Dane perked up immediately.
"Meatball heroes?" Trinity mused. "For breakfast?"
"If you've never had meatball heroes for breakfast," Shaggy laughed, "then you've never had breakfast!"
Neo glanced at the earnest faces of the four teens, Trinity's serious and confused expression, and the twins still trying to slink away, and realized he was grinning. "I'm buying."