"Have you found anything, Shaggy?"
"Only the kitchen, Velma. There's not much food."
"Typical!
"Mr Mason doesn't live on site and there's a nearby teashop that he owns. He offers reduced rates there for the tourists. Their coronation chicken baguettes are to die for, according to Jigger, whatever that means."
"They are dead good?!"
"Not the "to die for", Shaggy! What's "coronation chicken"?"
"Ri ron't row, Relma!"
"Fair enough, Scooby. I've found nothing. Perhaps Fred and Daphne are having better luck?"
"There must be a clue, Daphne, and normally two or three. How else can we…?" Daphne coughed. "OK, how else can Velma solve this mystery?"
"Well, this appears to be an office. Perhaps there's a mysterious document lying around?"
"Good idea. Hmm, nothing obvious. All the drawers and shelves seem to be empty."
"Perhaps there's a library?"
"Maybe."
There was indeed a library. Velma, Shaggy and Scooby had just found it. Judging by the dust, most of the books hadn't been touched in years!
"There's nothing here, guys!"
"As usual." Shaggy groaned. "I wish we could leave a mystery alone just once."
"Well, there's nothing here… Wait, what's that?" She saw Scooby sniffing a new looking letter on the floor. "Well, it seems that Mr Mason is still getting good offers to sell this creepy old house.
"That's interesting. This company has a logo. It seems to be a blue and white cap."
They left the library. Scooby sniffed the air. That's funny. I smell sulphur. He looked around, hackles raised. "Raggy! Relma! Remon!"
"Sorry Scoob. What did you…? Zoinks! It's the demon!"
"Jinkies! Run!"
"You don't have to tell us that, Velma!"
They then proceeded to take a weirdly circuitous route at high speed through the house, with the demonic figure floating behind them. Eventually, they lost him and met up with the others.
"You look as if you have had a good run, Scooby old boy!" Baskerville said in Dog.
"Just the usual being chased around a spooky old house by a ghost, monster or whatever, Baskerville."
"Ooh arrh?"
"Timmy, Baskerville, have you noticed that change in the atmosphere and the slight smell of sulphur immediately before that demon appears?"
"Silly humans! You know old Macbeth?" Macbeth was the venerable old Scottie that belonged to Richard Morton's twin sister (and fellow Lone Piner) Mary Whiteflower nee Morton. The twins' father had dubbed him Macbeth as a puppy, because he was a Scottie whose incessant nocturnal barking "murdered sleep"! "He always says humans never use the noses they were born with! They are worse than," Baskerville shuddered in revulsion, "cats."
"What do you make of this, Dan?"
"Hmm, it's a logo for some land and property company, Velma.
"Wait. George, didn't you say the bloke who hired Rentaghost ten years ago was related to William Brown?"
"Yes, Dan. Why?"
Dan passed George the letter. She studied the logo and started. "Isn't that the cap of the grammar school that that notorious tearaway attended? He was rarely shown without it on his head, dirty and askew."
"Exactly. Now to look into this company. I think our crooked developer is breaking his ban on being a company director at the very least."
"That's all well and good, Dan," Jeff commented. "There's still a mystery. How does he conjure that demon?"
"I haven't the foggiest, Jeff. Liz has gone to speak to the various authorities, whilst Jon and Rex are visiting the McWitch…"
"How can I help ye both, laddies?" The cheerful phantom sorceress was waiting for Jon and Rex in the head office of Rentaghost.
"What are these sympathy cards for?" Rex asked.
"Mrs Meeker, the first one, died recently. She passed over quickly, the poor old dear."
"I'm sorry to hear it.
"Miss McWitch, can you remember that time a Mr Brown hired you to haunt an old house? We ended up investigating the haunting?"
"Aye, laddie."
"Well, that same house has now acquired a demon.
"I know you don't have one on your books, so it isn't you."
"Indeed," Jon took over the interview, "but you may remember something that could help us. Have you heard from him since his release from prison?"
"No, dearie. Young Mr Meeker doesn't work with rogues if he can help it.
"Oh, the shame of it! Poor innocent ghosties used to aid a crime. We were a reputable firm…"
"You still are," Jon assured her. "It was accepted that you were conned by a criminal. There is no blot on your escutcheon whatsoever.
"What we want to know is can you remember anything about the bounder?"
"Ach, no. Sorry."
"No problem, Miss McWitch." Rex thought for a second. "Could you ask Timothy Claypole, Nadia Popov, Fred Mumford, Susie Starlight, Hubert Davenport, Tamara Novek, Catastrophe Kate and the rest to keep their eyes and ears open for anything odd about that house?"
"Aye laddie, but…"
"Greetings, Masters Milligan and Warrender." Timothy Claypole appeared. "Is Mistress Warrender in full health?"
"Newpenny? She's well, thanks. I'm commuting back to Rye each day. The Gay Dolphin is thriving under her management."
"Mr Claypole," Rex said, "can you remember anything about Master Robert Brown, the scoundrel who tried using you to cheat a man out of a property?"
"Of course, Master Milligan. I'm sure Young Master Meeker kept his address somewhere."
The poltergeist vanished. A few moments later, he reappeared carrying a strangely carved candle. "Master Meeker did keep a record of the address. I entered his abode, where I found this."
"Without a search warrant?" Rex tutted. "Still, I guess the various Criminal Evidence Acts were not written with poltergeists in mind! It might make this evidence inadmissible in a court of law though."
"More to the point," Jon asked, "what is so special about a candle?"
"It's magical, dearie," the McWitch answered. "That's what drew Mr Claypole to it.
"This reeks of the darkest of magics. There be devilry afoot…"
"Sadly," Rex told her, "that confirms what we already know!
"Still, this is useful. Mr Claypole, Miss McWitch, thank you. Come on, Jon. We need to speak to the others."
Meanwhile, Liz was at the Tower of London. Kate Stewart, head of the UK division of UNIT was facing her.
"Can you assist, Kate?"
"Not really, Liz, sorry. We at UNIT deal with extra-terrestrials, not sub-terrestrials! You need someone like Rupert Giles, John Strange…"
"I always thought it was Stephen."
"Not the Sorcerer Supreme, Liz. John Strange is a former priest turned demon hunter. Failing that, I have Merrily Watkins' number. She's a Church of England priest trained in exorcism.
"Alternatively, I could use the Time-Space Telegraph?"
"The Doctor?" Liz grinned. "Now you're talking!"
"I'll also contact Shane Weston of the W.I.N. I'm sure he said Mac had John Strange's brain-patterns stored in the B.I.G.R.A.T.'s archives.
"Joe is considerably easier to deal with than the defrocked cleric…"
"So," Velma announced, "we have two clues. First, this invoice."
"I've checked," Dan said. "It took some effort, but the company is linked to Robert Brown. We can contact the police and CPS."
"Who?" Shaggy asked.
"The Crown Prosecution Service."
"Thank you," Daphne nodded. "What about the candle?"
Rex produced his mobile phone and selected a contact. "Hi, Luna. How are you, Rolf and the twins? …. That's good. Could you come to this address and take a look at something for us please?" He gave the address. "You can? … Excellent news! … See you soon. Bye."
A few minutes later, a blonde woman with protuberant glue eyes appeared. "Hello everyone. I feel something is very wrong here and it isn't the nargles!"
"Can you identify this for us, Luna?"
"Of course, Rex. It's a candle, scented lightly of sulphur and covered in carvings that match no rune system I've ever encountered." She produced her wand and cast a few diagnostic spells. "This candle is imbued with Dark Magic. I've never known anything like it before.
"Where did you find it?"
"In a flat belonging to a crooked developer who has gone AWOL. Since then, a property he was trying to obtain at a cut-down price ten years ago has mysteriously acquired a demon. We believe the two might be linked.
"Can you speak to Ron Weasley, Luna? We might need magical assistance."
"Of course, Rex. It was good to see you all again."
"What have you got for me today, Uncle Sam?" Joe McClaine asked, as Sam Loover of the W.I.N. drove into the driveway of the thatched cottage of Joe's adoptive father, Ian "Mac" McClaine. The cottage was at Culver Bay on the Dorset coast, overlooking Kirrin Island. Kirrin Cottage, George's home, was next door.
"Hi Joe, Mac, Chloe." The latter was an Amazon, a younger friend of Athena's, and also Joe's girlfriend. "We need John Strange's brain-patterns, Mac."
"That ex-cleric who kept saying that the murders he was accused of were committed by demons, Sam? What on earth for?"
"There is a genuine demon in an old London house. Shane wants us to look into the matter. George Kirrin and her Paranormal Investigations Bureau are on the scene, alongside Rex, the Irregulars and Mystery Inc."
"Auntie George?" Joe beamed. "Well, anything to help a neighbour…"
With a strange wheezing and groaning sound, what appeared to be a 1960s London blue police box materialised out of nowhere in the Irregulars' headquarters in the grounds of Old Park House. This was quickly followed by Mac's faux-vintage green Jet Air Car landing next to the old outbuilding.
The Doctor, untypically, got straight to the point.
"Kate says you want my assistance to investigate a demon."
"Yes, Doctor," Velma said. "Have you seen anything like this before?"
"Wax, slightly burned, with a wick at one end. It's called a candle, pudding brain! They used them for lighting prior to the harnessing of electricity.
"It's scented. Wait, what numpty scents a candle with sulphur?! A fire and brimstone range? It's too early for Samhain." He pronounced the pagan festival correctly as "sow-in".
Joe looked at it, his spectacles allowing him to access John Strange's memories and skills. "There is something evil about that candle…"
"So everyone keeps saying," Fred observed testily. "Still, it is a clue. We have found…"
"There's that we business again, love," Daphne told her fiancé. "Scooby and Velma found one and a poltergeist provided the other!"
"Sorry, Velma, Scooby."
"That's OK. Isn't it, Scooby?"
"Right, Relma!"
"Joe."
"Auntie George?"
"Why is it evil?"
"Those markings. John Strange couldn't decipher them, but they only showed up when there was real devilry afoot."
"That's the second time I've heard that today," Rex noted.
"What's this candle?" Athena asked. She, Louise, Nicholas, Reuben and his parents were all present.
"Maybe you might know something," Fred mused handing it to her. Athena paled. "Do you recognise it?"
"I've heard of these candles. My Aunties Diana and Donna have encountered the demon Neron on a number of occasions. Light the candle. Make a wish. He gives it to you, in return for your mortal soul. That's the legend, but it's not quite that simple.
"Batgirl and Nightwing were telling me once of an old member of the Bats' rogues gallery. Someone named Drury Walker, who called himself Killer Moth. Walker was a small-time crook and wannabee inventor, who dreamed of making it big. So he chose Gotham City, a place with more than enough nutjobs already. He was little more than a joke!
"So he made a deal with Neron. He wished to be feared and not laughed at. Neron turned him into Charaxes, a giant brown winged moth-like human, or is that human-like moth?
"That's the thing when dealing with Neron. He gives you what you ask for, but always a very twisted version of it."
"Right," the Doctor concluded, "contact your aunts, Athena. If this Neron is involved, then we need at least one person who has encountered him before.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Rex gave him the potted history of the case.
"This Brown has vanished?"
"Yes, why?"
"Athena, what did you say happened to this Killer Moth?"
"He became Charaxes, a Killer Moth."
"And this Brown wants to scare Mr Mason into selling his property?"
"By summoning a demon?" Reuben asked.
"No, by becoming one!"
"Great!" Fred was enthused. "We set a trap, use Shaggy and Scooby as bait and unmask Brown."
"Like, Fred, why are we always the bait?"
"The rest of us aren't tempted by Scooby snacks," Daphne informed Shaggy sweetly.
"And Daphne and I aren't crazy enough to enter anywhere Fred has booby-trapped," Velma added.
"Rey rav rus rare, Raggy!"
"Sure, old pal. May I remind you, Fred, that if the Doctor is right, Brown is a genuine demon. How do you trap and unmask a real demon?"
"I'll think of something, Shaggy."
"Who knows," Rex interjected, "this time one of your traps might actually work…"
"Even if one did," Jon agreed, "how do you keep a genuine demon, who can fly and shoot sparks from his pitchfork, a captive in one? Do we know if he has enhanced strength or can walk through walls?"
"Well," Fred answered cheerfully, "we can talk about those details later."
Diana Prince was checking up on little Lara Lane-Prince-Kent. She then went to the master bedroom, where her husband and her wife awaited her in bed.
"She's fast asleep, thank Hera!"
Lois chuckled. "Your cell phone received a text, Diana."
"Thanks, sweetie." She checked her messages. "Suffering Sappho! Neron!"
"Where?" Clark asked.
"Possibly in London, my love. Athena's text was to say that one of his candles has turned up when some of our friends were investigating a demon in an old house.
"They think a crooked property tycoon has made a deal with Neron…"
"Idiot!" Lois interjected.
"…And is now a demon haunting the property he wished to buy cheaply to turn into an apartment block."
"Serves him right!"
"True!
"Clark, Lois, I guess we had better contact Steve and Perry. Tomorrow, we take the Invisible Jet to London."
"I could fly…"
"Yes, but if we fly together, you can help look after Lara, Smallville."
"I could even prepare a picnic basket?"
"You spoil us, Themyscira!"
"I'll call Bruce," Clark decided. "Having a few Bats with us could be useful."
"Actually, if we stop at Themyscira en route, we could pick up some additional support," Diana mused. "Mother said some old friends were visiting…"