Curse of the One-eyed Phantom
Chapter Six:
Colby and Pia were sneaking their way into the kitchen. It was late at night; four in the morning to be exact. They weren't hungry really, but a kitchen at four in the morning was a good place to talk if you wanted no one else to hear. They tip-toed gently down the stairs, being careful about Colby's mechanical baby that was of course going with her. She'd called the teacher saying it was an emergency, but the teacher wouldn't turn it off just because they were in America for a while. Colby swore beneath her breath and she nearly tripped and fell down the last four or five steps to the first floor landing. Pia caught her arm before she could fall and Colby took extra careful steps until they reached the door of the kitchen.
They creaked it open and stepped inside. Surprisingly, the lights were already on, not so surprisingly they saw it was Shaggy in the kitchen. "Like, hey guys. Couldn't sleep either?" They shake their heads and Colby sets the baby on the kitchen counter. "Here," He hands them each an empty ceramic mug and fills it with a steaming liquid from a pitcher sitting on the counter. They take a whiff, its hot chocolate. "Marshmallows?" They nod and he pours some into each of their cups from a bag on the counter.
"How long have you been down here?" Colby asks as she takes a sip of the creamy hot chocolate.
"Since about midnight. I've been thinking about this mess."
"So have we, we think we may have picked up on something from one of the phantom's messages." Pia says, setting her mug aside and reaching into Colby's 'diaper bag.' She pulls out a spiral notebook and sets it on the counter, flipping through until she reaches the page containing their notes.
"You see," Colby begins, "We believe the phantom is truly only after one person."
"Right, and that's Velma." Shaggy states as if it were the obvious. Colby shakes her head.
"No, it's not. If the phantom were truly only after Velma, she could have easily broken into the hospital and done away with her. No, the phantom doesn't want to hurt Velma."
"Shaggy," Pia says, using the nick-name that she and her sisters had created so long ago, "The phantom's after you."
Part Two:
Madelyn Mace Dinkley was sitting at home with her parents, Harold and Marilyn Dinkley, when it happened. Just as Madelyn was heading out for errands, she came running in with a tape recorder. Her parents told her not to play it and they drove immediately over to the Blake mansion. She rushed inside with the tape and handed it over quickly to Mystery Inc. (plus a few). They played the tape and Velma readied herself with a notepad.
'Mystery Incorporated, I've warned you one time too many, and this warning will be your last. To the brats that ignored the tape I made especially for them, know that you've tipped the tables in favor of the Games. One by one, each of you will go missing late at night from your beds, one by one each of you will be thrown into the Arena. By the way, you brats were pretty close to just beginning to unravel this mystery last night. That's right, I was there and you had better behave yourselves. Wouldn't want anything bad to happen to a certain uncle of yours, now would we?'
Colby, Pia, and Jaz stare at each other in disbelief; the phantom had the only person that had raised them for as long as they could remember, the phantom had Uncle Stan.