The clock had officially struck midnight now as Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, and Asamad continued their search for the three youngsters.
"Flim Flam? Jayden? Cheryl? Can you hear us?" Velma called out.
"We've heard nothing from them. I think we should just call them on our phones," Shaggy suggested.
"Good idea," she said.
They both took their phones out of their pockets and waited for a few moments as they tried calling them one by one, before they all eventually went straight to voicemail.
"No answer. Maybe their phones are dead?" Shaggy shrugged.
"All three of them at the same time? I am not so sure about that…" Asamad commented.
"Ri think we rhould use rhe rystal rall to call rhem," Scooby suggested.
Asamad took out the crystal and made an attempt to contact them. They waited for a few minutes, and still, nothing.
"Why aren't any of them answering?" Velma sighed.
"Well, Phantazmo's powers did interfere with our crystal ball when I couldn't find his location," he told her. "I suspect his powers have interfered with the phones as well."
"So then, how are we supposed to find them and get them out of here? When we called out their names, they definitely did not answer any of us."
They all then heard a loud, echoing noise coming from close by.
"Like, what is that?" Shaggy trembled, covering his ears.
"I don't know, but it keeps getting louder!" Velma exclaimed, also covering her ears.
They all stood there in silence for a moment, realizing that it sounded like three people fighting, and the voices sounded too familiar…
"I think it is them!" Asamad announced. "But wait, they do not sound right." He crossed his arms. "I believe that Phantazmo may have put them under his spell."
"How do we snap them out of it though?" Shaggy questioned. "We still have to trap Professor Phantazmo in the chest and we have to bring them home too."
"I fear this will not be easily resolved by just capturing Phantazmo," he informed. "His powers must have become stronger during the time he was in the chest, so I may have to use my own magic to free the others from this."
Immediately after the red ghost said that, they heard screaming from one of the voices coming from upstairs as it echoed throughout the building.
"I think that was from Jayden!" Velma exclaimed.
"And it sounded like he got hurt!" Shaggy added. "We've got to help him!"
"Wait, it might be too dangerous for all of you, since this is Phantazmo's spell we're talking about," Asamad warned. "I must be the one to go. You three should stay right here."
"What!? No! We can't stay here and not do anything," Velma protested. "Those are our friends, no matter how dangerous it is up there. We're going."
Shaggy and Scooby protested along with her, until he had changed his mind.
"Alright, we will all go together," the ghost sighed. "Follow me."
They all looked at each other and nodded, and quickly followed him upstairs.
They hadn't seen much for a few moments, until they started following a trail of drops of blood that led to a large, empty room with the three teens standing there, just staring at them. Their garments were now tattered, and their hair was unkempt.
"Guys?" Shaggy called out. "Hey, it's us, your friends."
"Jayden, are you okay? We just heard you screaming," Velma said.
"We don't have friends," Cheryl lied. "Also, he wasn't screaming."
"Shut up!" Jayden scolded, right before he scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"We should've left this room before they came here," Flim Flam said. "That way they wouldn't find out anything!"
The others looked at each other, and then back at the teens.
"Rhat ris rhat on Rayden's forehead?" Scooby asked.
"It's an injury, and he's bleeding," Velma told him. "Someone must've done that to him."
"He, along with the other two, have a completely blank and dull look in their eyes," Asamad observed. "I was right, indeed, they are under a spell." He then paused for a moment. "Wait, if I remember correctly, before they left, Cheryl said that there would be adult supervision from some of her friends' parents. Now that I think about it, we didn't see any adults besides ourselves when we came here, which means she lied to Vincent, and she wasn't under the spell at that time. Now, she's lying to us as she is under the spell. Which leads me to believe that the spell isn't necessarily making her lie, it's only just making her lie even more."
"So, the spell is just bringing out the worst in her?" Shaggy figured out.
"Precisely," he replied. "The same goes for the others. I remember they said the party was going to end at midnight. I believe that is because the spell was cast at that time by Phantazmo."
His hands then started to fill with magic, putting his focus on the youngsters in front of him.
However, right before Asamad could begin reversing the spell, Professor Phantazmo had teleported in.
"You…" he hissed.
"Finally, I have now come to interact with the King Of Demons himself after these past few years," the demon sneered. "Tell me, how do you feel about the way your friends truly are?"
"That's not them," the ghost insisted. "They're only that way right now because of you."
"Oh, but it is them," Phantazmo said, arching an eyebrow. "The spell brings out all of their flaws and makes them worse, and they have become those flaws. Your friends were always this way."
"We won't accept it!" Velma exclaimed.
"Reah!" Scooby agreed. "Reave our riends alone!"
"Why were you only going after them tonight anyways?" Shaggy wondered.
"I'm not just going after them, although it is them especially, as I view them and you as threats for defeating me last time, so this is my revenge. I'm going after all of the teenagers here. Those three, and all of the other teenagers here, are more susceptible to my spells and weaker than their adult counterparts. Children have always been more susceptible to my spells ever since I was the ringmaster at my 'Circus Of Living Evil.' If I can have power over the minds of the youth, I will certainly have power over the minds of adults as well," the demon answered. He then laughed evilly. "Especially the ones in your group! Now, you'll have no choice but to accept this."
"No. What you will have to accept is us throwing you back into the Chest Of Demons!" Velma snapped back, trying to catch him in the chest.
Phantazmo made an attempt to teleport away to avoid being pulled in there, but Asamad pulled him back just in time.
"You still have great strength," the demon admitted, looking up at him. "However, I will win this time, make no mistake. As I have someone helping me… the only person you have ever feared."
Asamad's eyes widened, immediately knowing exactly who he was talking about.
"Covington…" he whispered in fear.
Phantazmo then looked over at the three teenagers, still standing there.
"Seize them!" he commanded, pointing straight at Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby.
They listened, and started running towards them.
"Ruh roh…" Scooby whimpered.
"NO!" Asamad yelled, letting go of Phantazmo and quickly using his magic to stop them and reverse the spell.
As soon as it was reversed, however, they fell to the floor, knocking them out in an instant.
Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby gasped and ran over to them in concern.
"Are you guys okay!?" Velma asked.
There was no response, except for one of them groaning and mumbling inaudible words.
Asamad looked back for a moment, concerned about how strong his magic must have been in order for it to knock them out, and if it had done any harm. Yet, his thoughts were interrupted by Phantazmo coming after him now.
He reacted quickly, pushing the demon into a wall with his magic and holding him there.
"Velma! Get the Chest Of Demons ready!" he told her.
"On it!" she responded, grabbing the chest in her hands.
She stood close to the demon and opened the lid. Asamad stopped using his powers, and Phantazmo started to get pulled in.
"Covington! Help me!" he called out, before he was finally pulled in and the lid closed.
Everyone made a sigh of relief, knowing there was one less ghost to worry about.
"Like I'm glad that's over with!" He then paused for a second. "Hey wait a minute… why was he saying 'Covington, help me?'" Shaggy questioned. "Who is that?"
"Well…" Asamad began, but was interrupted by Flim Flam, Cheryl, and Jayden finally waking up.
They all rushed over to the teens now, helping them up.
"Ugh, what happened?" Cheryl asked. She then looked down. "And why is my dress tattered?"
"You fell under Professor Phantazmo's spell and when Asamad reversed the spell, he accidentally knocked you guys out," Shaggy explained.
"I apologize for that," Asamad said. "I hope I didn't cause any harm."
"No, we're fine," Flim Flam told him.
Jayden then covered his forehead, feeling the pangs of the wound again.
"Remove your hand, Jayden. You're alright now, trust me," the red ghost told him.
The boy listened to him, and Asamad touched his forehead, healing the wound and making the blood disappear.
"Thank you," Jayden smiled. "I got it when we were trying to defeat the other teens under the spell and one of them hit me pretty badly."
"Of course. Now that Phantazmo is defeated and you three are safe, we should return home."
Flim Flam slightly gasped.
"We can't!" he exclaimed.
"Why?" Asamad questioned.
"If Vincent finds out about Cheryl lying about adults supervising at the party, or about what happened to us tonight, he'll be furious!"
"That's what you're worried about?" he laughed. "Oh please, he might be somewhat angry, I suppose. However, you know who Vincent is by now. His main concern would be your safety. The worst you could get is a 'do not lie to me ever again.' Now, let's go."
He took the crystal from his cape, and teleported himself and everyone else out of there.
The Next Morning:
Daphne woke up later than usual, and watched Vincent walk into the study room for a meeting with Flim Flam, Cheryl, and Jayden.
The warlock sat down in his chair, and looked at the nervous teens sitting across from him.
"So, about last night…" he began.
"I'm sorry," Cheryl blurted out. "I lied about there being adults to supervise us at the party because I wanted us to go. I wanted one night of just having fun and not worrying about ghost hunting, or Bogel and Weerd, or the safety of my friends, or anything." She looked down in shame and sighed. "I'm really sorry, Vincent."
Vincent couldn't help but smile at her.
"You are forgiven," he told her. "I understand, as I was once a teenager that wanted nothing more than to be normal and not have to worry about Asamad. However, that feeling eventually passes, it truly does."
"So, are you mad at her for lying or not?" Flim Flam wondered.
"I am disappointed," he admitted. "Yet, all the other things that transpired were Professor Phantazmo's fault, and my main concern is your safety, of course."
He then stood up.
"As a result of that, you will not be grounded."
"Yes!" the three teens exclaimed simultaneously.
"You will have to promise though, to never lie to me ever again," Vincent said.
"We promise," Flim Flam responded, as the other two nodded in agreement.
"Very well then, that's settled," he nodded, and then raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what happened to the other teenagers at the party?"
"Oh yeah, we got messages saying that they're alright and they went home after we did," Cheryl answered.
"By the way, how is Daphne feeling?" Jayden wondered. "We heard she got sick when we left last night."
"I'm feeling much better," Daphne smiled, as she walked into the room. "Thanks to Vincent, I am fully back to normal."
"Awww, you took care of her? That's sweet," Cheryl complimented.
"Yes, I did," Vincent told her. "Now, you three may leave. Cheryl, Jayden, you two must study for that test coming up soon."
"We will," Jayden sighed.
Everyone slightly laughed as the three teens left the room, and the rest of the day was as normal as everyone had hoped for.
Notes: "The Nightmare You Can't Escape" is officially done! I apologize for this one taking months to finish, and I will try to see if for the next episode I can make the wait for updates shorter. Episode 9, which is Rankor's episode, will be titled "Possession," and it will likely start at the end of this month or in April.