AN: Hey, look that! Another update in three days! I'm on a roll! Here's an extra long chapter for all of you! Also, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year! (Or if it's not your New Year, the have a wonderful day.
Encountering the Ghoul
After managing to put the pedestal back in its place and, somewhat, fixed the vase that Shaggy broke when he walked right into it, the two members of Mystery Inc. and the Pokemon gang decided to take a look around the hotel. They stared in awe at some the textures on the walls.
"So… Ash, right?" Shaggy asked, figuring he shouldn't try to get Taku's nephew's names wrong. When Ash nodded, he continued, "What's it like being the nephew of a billionaire?"
"Millionaire," Ash corrected. "Well, it's kind of hard to notice that your family has so much money when you live the way of life my mother lives in."
"Like, so you're a country boy?" Shaggy asked.
"Kind of, I mean, I've been around electricity when I was younger. But I guess if you look at that way, than yeah." Ash shrugged.
"I have admit Ash, I can't really imagine you being surrounded with so much wealth after knowing you during our journey." Clemont commented, making Ash laugh a little.
"Yeah, me neither."
"But we like you either way though," Serena said, with a slight admiration. Something that everyone but Ash noticed. The two Luminous siblings shot each other knowing glances while Shaggy and Scooby shot confused glances at each other.
"Okay, like, what about your Dad?" At the mentioning of that last word, Ash's face suddenly became blank, but Shaggy didn't noticed as he continued, "I mean, is he rich or something?"
"How should I know?" Ash's voice suddenly became cold as his hat began to cover his eyes. This surprised everyone, making them suddenly stop walking while Ash continued to walk down the hall. Pikachu looked towards Ash, concerned, before walking after him.
"Like, was it something I said?" Shaggy asked the remaining people.
"Well, we don't really know…" Serena mumbled.
"He never talks about his personal when we were with him." Clemont said.
This made Shaggy whimpered a little as he looked at Scooby nervously. So much for getting along with Taku's nephew. Thinking quickly, Shaggy hurried over to Ash and began to converse with him.
"Like man, sorry if I said anything bad." When he got no response, Shaggy quickly got an idea. "Hey, I heard there's some delicious food at the kitchen. Maybe me and Scoob can treat you and your friends for a little grub?" That at least made Ash looked up at him with curious eyes.
"Really?" This made Shaggy smile.
"Like, really. Me and Scoob are the best chefs than you can imagine!" This broke a smile onto Ash's face.
"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He said enthusiastically before hurrying down the down the hall with Pikachu trying to catch up with him.
"Wow, you really know how to cheer him up." Serena said, before she and the two siblings quickly hurried after their friend.
"Uh-huh!" Shaggy said proudly as they pass him. Scooby could only look confused at Shaggy.
"How did you know?" He couldn't help but asked.
"Like, if there's one thing that I know about kids, is that they like to eat!" Shaggy declared. "And besides, I kind of wanted to go to the kitchen in the first place." At that whispered part, Scooby couldn't help but giggled.
As they continued after the kids, they failed to notice the two glowing eyes watching them from the ceiling. Whatever were those eyes are, they suddenly began to rapidly follow after them.
"As you all know, the Ancient Lodge Hotel was rumored to be one of the most haunted places in the World." Taku began. He and the rest of Mystery Inc. were seated in his office, which held a wildlife interior with all the stuffed animals and the large window behind the desks. Taku was sitting in a large red luxury chair while the gang were sitting on light-brown accents chairs.
"When I first bought this place, I didn't believe those rumors." Taku continued, sighing as he rubs his forehead in exhaustion.
"So what changed your mind?" Fred asked. Taku sighed once again before reaching over and pressing a button on the monitor on his desk. The screen turned on and they saw two of Taku's security guards, Phil and Aisha, running down the hall screaming and flailing their arms wildly.
The gang was confused at first , but their eyes widen once they saw a gigantic skinny figure came running down after them. They couldn't see it well because of the figure looking dark and shadowy, but they could see the glowing white eyes as it passed the camera.
"A few nights ago, two of my best security guards were chased by a strange figure. Now, I'm starting to think those rumors about the ghoul are true." Taku continued. He sighed before continuing, "Not only is my business is at stake if this hotel isn't successful, but my nephew and his friends are in danger. If anything happens to them, then I'll never forgive myself."
"What's the story about the Ghoul, Mr. Ketchum?" Velma asked after pausing the screen where the ghoul was running after the security guards.
"Honestly, I don't really know." Taku admitted. "I don't usually pay attention to all the rumors and the myths. But I think my assistant, Peggy, would know. She always research on everything on that Pad of hers. Try to ask her."
A small ringing caught everyone's attention. The gang looked towards Taku, who took out his phone and looked through it.
"Oh, it's my partners. They need me to leave right away." Taku said as he got up. Before he could leave through the door, he turned towards the gang and asked, "If you seem my nephew, tell him I'll see him as soon as I can." With that, Taku walked away.
"You know, for billionaire-"
"Millionaire, Fred." Velma corrected.
"Right, millionaire business man, he sure cares about his nephew." Fred commented.
"Yeah, enough too not even worried about his own business about to be shut down. Interesting…" Velma mumbled.
"Anyway, shouldn't we look for that weird assistant?" Daphne asked. The two nodded and headed out of the office, intending on finding Peggy White.
"Like, Bon appétit!" Shaggy shouted as he bursted through the door, he and Scooby were both dressed in chef clothing as they moved a three-tray food cart full of the meals they planned for our heroes. The children were seated at one of the big white tables in the dinner room.
After a few moments, they finally manage to find the dinner room and the kitchen. The dinner room looked like a standard fancy restaurant with all the tables being round and them and the chairs all covered in white sheets.
True to Shaggy's word, he did make made meals for Ash and his friends in order to make it up to Ash. While Ash eventually got over it and now returned to his usually selfless attitude and said he didn't have to do it, but Shaggy did it anyway.
"Wow…" Serena mumbled in awe at the food the two had created. Even she couldn't make anything fancy like that!
"Like, from the kitchen's best chefs, a plate full of decorated rice balls with an added bottle of soy sauce for the Manager's nephew." Shaggy announced in a French accent as he set Ash's food in front of said boy.
"Awesome, thanks!" Ash cried.
"For the young lady, a double pound cheese soufflé with strawberries on top." Serena's hummed in delight as her dish was placed in front of her.
"Oh, merci!" She thanked.
"For the genius inventor, a light salade aux lardons, added with a glass of water." Clemont's eyes widen at the dish that was just placed before him.
"Why, thank you!" He said, completely in awe while Bonnie nearly gagged by smell of it.
"And for the little lady, a batch of freshly made macarons with a variety of flavors. Along with some french apple pie." Bonnie's eyes gleamed in delight at the meal before her.
"Yummy!" She cried in delight.
Seeing the two Pokemon downed faces, Shaggy continued. "And, for the incredibly gifted species, a batch of... Pokemon Food?" He shout questioning glances at the kids to ask if he got it right. When they nodded, Shaggy placed the food at the Pokemon, who cried in delight.
"Wait, so what are you guys going to eat?" Ash asked, which made the two smile.
"Like, don't worry, Scooby and me always have something prepared for this type of occasion!" Shaggy reassured, returning back to his normal voice. He suddenly lifted the silver plate when what looked like a tower of Scooby Snacks, Whipped Cream, Cottage Cheese, and grape jam.
"Like, a batch of Scooby Snacks, whipped cream, cottage cheese, and grape jam will be enough to fill Scooby and me!" Shaggy said, before he and Scooby launched their faces in the tower and began to chow down.
The kids and the two Pokemon could only blink their eyes in astonishment at the scene before them.
"Well, as long as it keeps them happy." Clemont said unsurely, before he and the rest of their friends began to eat.
A little while later, they were interrupted by a loud "ACHOO!"
This made everyone turned to the source, which turned out to be Ash, who was rubbing his nose sheepishly at the scene he caused.
"Eh, bless me." He laughed a little, before being followed by another "Achoo!"
"Like man, are you okay?" Shaggy asked, noticing Ash's eyes were getting red and watery.
"Yeah, I'm- Achoo! Achoo! ACHOO! ACHOO!" Ash continued to sneeze uncontrollably, making Serena rub his back in an attempt to comfort him.
"Uh, Scooby, do you mind getting Ash a few napkins?" Shaggy asked once he saw Ash sniffing. Scooby nodded as he walked away from the table.
"Uh… Napkins...Napkins...Napkins." Scooby muttered to himself as he searched the long table. He quickly winced whenever he heard a loud "Achoo!" from the other end. Scooby was about to move to another place, but then hand suddenly stuck out a nice neat layer of napkins in front of him.
"Oh, thank you." Scooby said, about to take the napkins when he suddenly felt the holder's skin. It felt dry and wrinkly, not to mention icy cold when he first touch it. Taking a risk to look up, Scooby was face-to-face with the glowing white eyes of the Hotel Ghoul.
The Ghoul soon let out a roar, letting it's gross, green saliva all over Scooby. Scooby could only grin sheepishly, before running over to Shaggy.
Shaggy suddenly groaned at the sudden weight on his back and the paws nearly covering his whole. He looked up and glared at Scooby, who was chattering his teeth like crazy at the thing he was looking at.
"Like, what's the matter with Scooby-Doo?" Shaggy asked annoyed. "I thought I told you to get the napkins for Ash!"
"The Ghoul!" Scooby shouted, pointing at the thing he was looking. This made everyone turned to where he was pointing and their eyes widen once they saw the Ghoul.
The Ghoul let out a roar before lunging at them. Luckily, they all manage to dodge right away, with Shaggy and Scooby managing to save their food tower. The Ghoul crashed into the table, making the food splattered all over it. It groaned a little at the mess before turning over to the people who were close to it, which was the children and the Pokemon.
"Quick, Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered his small partner, who quickly nodded and sent a large thunderbolt at the Ghoul with a loud "Pika-CHU!" Unfortunately, as the Thunderbolt hit the Ghoul, it only bounced off it like it was a ball.
"The Thunderbolt had no effect!" Clemont gasped as everyone stared wide-eyed at what just happened. The Ghoul soon lunged at them, but they all manage to run out of the way just in time, making the Ghoul's mouth get stuck on a table it landed it on.
Ash and the others ran into a corner at the same time, the Ghoul managing to free itself from the table(while spitting out a few broken teeth) and began to walk slowly over to them as they cowered at the corner as far as they could.
Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby(who were hiding behind an overturned table the whole time) watched as the Ghoul trapping the kids in the corner. They looked down to their tower before looking at each other.
"Prepared for this type of occasion?" Shaggy quoted about what he said earlier. This made Scooby sighed, but they knew they had to do this.
Back with the others, they closed their eyes and held each other tightly preparing for the worst as the Ghoul continued to walked slowly, taunting them.
"Hey, you!" The Ghoul turned, only to be meet with chunks of the Scooby Snack tower in its face. It growled, trying to get the sticky substance out of its eyes. Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby were able to grabbed Ash and the others ran as fast as they could towards the main kitchen's doors.
The Ghoul was finally able to get enough the substance out of its eyes only to see the main kitchen's doors slammed shut and being locked.
"Like kid, why is your uncle letting a ghoul running around?" Shaggy yelled frantically, he and Scooby whipping around to face the children, who were farther in the dark kitchen while gripping each other as they sat on one of the tables.
"You think I would be acting this way if I knew?!" Ash asked rhetorically while there was a look of panic in his eyes.
"Oh… Good point." Shaggy muttered, before he screamed along with everyone else once they heard banging from the doors.
There were a few more bangs until the door finally open with the Ghoul going through it, ready to get the people who entered its hotel. Only it was meet with no one in sight.
It scratched its head confusingly. It could have sworn it saw those people run in here. A small clang! got it's attention, turning its head to see a dipper spoon on the ground. The Ghoul moved slowly over to it, getting down on all fours as it tries to sniff.
Unknown to it, but Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, and Dedenne were right near where the Ghoul was. It only couldn't see them because they were all hiding inside a metal cabinet door that was big enough to fit all of them. They were sweating suspense as they hoped that the Ghoul wouldn't turned to this corner and see them. Luckily, the Ghoul decided to turn to a different direction, making them sigh in relief softy.
Back with the Ghoul, it was still sniffing out the intruders. It suddenly landed on top of a large kitchen food cart to get a better chance at sniffing. Unknown to it, Ash, Pikachu, Shaggy, and Scooby were right underneath the Ghoul as they hugged each other tightly in hopes the Ghoul doesn't see them.
Suddenly Ash's nose began to twitch violently. He tried to fight off the feeling that was coming up, but it was too strong.
"Ah… Ah… Ah…!" Before he could even sneeze, Scooby quickly put his finger under Ash's nose. The three remaining figures quickly kringled, waiting just in case it didn't work and they've been discovered. But soon Ash quickly nodded to tell them he was fine, which made them sigh softly in relief while Scooby removed his finger from Ash. However…
"ACHOO!"
That loud noise made the two humans and two animals meet face-to-face with the Ghoul's face as he it glared at them upside down.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy shouted while the others just screamed. Thinking quickly, they came out of the cart through the other side and began to run for their lives, with the Ghoul following after them.
"No Ash, this way!" Shaggy called out when Ash and Pikachu try to run into a empty cabinet. Realizing it would be pointless to hide in it because the Ghoul already saw them, they both quickly made a L-turn from the cabinet to Shaggy. At the same, the Ghoul made a lunge at him, but only to crash into the cabinet when Ash made a L-turn.
The Ghoul got up in a slight daze, but it soon regain its conscious when it saw the door being slammed closed and the humans and three animals were running out of the dinner room.
Back with Fred, Velma, and Daphne, they were busy looking for Peggy.
"Say, where do you think Shaggy and Scooby are with those kids?" Fred asked.
"Knowing those two, they probably dragged them off to find the Kitchen." Velma laughed. As they all turned a corner, they heard two voices arguing.
"I told you, I'm not allowed to give any personal information to strangers!"
"Come on, Peggy! You and me are the same! We've been put under Taku's shadow for far too long! Imagine what we could do once we own his company!"
"Hey, I've made a pretty decent life the way I've already work. At least I don't spend the rest of my life eating donuts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"
There was an appalled gasp. "How dare you." Soon they found Derek stomping by them, looking completly fummed while muttering to himself. Suddenly he turned back to face Peggy one last time.
"Let's see how well you do without me, Peggy White!" With that, he stormed down the hall where Mystery Inc. just went through.
"Well, he sure is demanding." Daphne murmured.
"Oh, you have no idea…" Peggy muttered before she began to look back into her IPad.
Seeing Derek acting that way made Velma thoughtful and suspicious as she rubbed her chin.
"Um, Mrs. White?" Fred asked, making Peggy sighed and looked up from her IPad.
"Yes? This better be important." She said hurriedly.
"We just want to know about the Ancient Lodge Hotel Ghoul history." Fred explained, this makes Peggy sigh once again.
"Of course…" She muttered as she put her IPad in her bag. Once that was done, she turned to the teenagers. "Well, there's isn't much I can say about the Ghoul. Only that it's been around as long as this Hotel."
"But Peggy, there must be more about the Ghoul that we need to know about." Velma pressed on. Peggy looked like she was pondering it for a moment, before eventually caving in.
"Well, there are some old photo records of the how the Ghoul became to be. I can show you them if you like." This made the gang smile.
"That would be great, Peggy." Velma said.
"The records are in Taku's office. If you will follow me, please." The gang followed as Peggy lead them to Taku's Office.
Somewhere in the hotel, walking-cane suddenly came out of a corner, swinging rapidly as if there was something at the corner. After that, Shaggy's head popped out and took a quick look around.
"Alright, the coast is clear." He told the people behind him. Soon he, Scooby, Ash, and the others began to walk slowly down the hall. Due to the events that happened before, the others thought it was best for Scooby to cover Ash's nose and mouth just in case he sneezes again, something that the later didn't find it appealing at all.
"Do you think we lost it back at in the kitchen?" Bonnie asked, she was trembling as she gripped her brother's jumpsuit tightly.
"Like, it's never that easy." Shaggy told them. "Whenever me and Scoob escape our first encounter with the monster, we usually ended up in a dark corridor like this. We think we're safe, then… THE MONSTER COMES OUT AND TRIES TO EAT US!"
At that part, Bonnie screamed and hid her head in her brother's suit. The people that know her shot a glare at Shaggy, who grinned sheepishly.
A while later, they continued down the dark corridor with Shaggy in the lead, often swinging the walking-cane around just in case. By the second, Ash was getting more annoyed that they have to keep him on 'sneeze-watch' when he already feels better!
Finally having enough, he quickly pushed Scooby's hands off him. "You don't have to do that anymore! I felt better ages ago!" He whispered-yelled. Scooby gave him one last suspicious look before following after the group.
Ash sighed as he took a gulp of hair before he followed after them. However, heavy breathing on his neck began him to make him feel uncomfortable. Wow did his uncle have to install a heater in the corridor? It's already making him sweat.
Wait, everyone but him weren't sweating. Why was it just him sweating? Unless, it's not a generator… it's probably someone breathing on him. But, if there's someone else with them, then that means…
Taking the risk, Ash stopped and slowly turned his head around. Once he saw the two glowing white eyes that seemed to be staring right at his soul, he could've have sworn his heart stopped.
"Gh…..gh….gh...gh…" Ash stammered as his whole body shook. His stampering caught the attention of the others.
"Hey, Ash, what's the matter? You sound like you saw the gh…." Shaggy trailed off as he and the others grew pale once they saw what he was looking at. It was the Ghoul! It found them!
The Ghoul let out a loud road, but before it could bite Ash, Serena and Clemont quickly pulled the petrified boy out of the way. It gave Shaggy a chance to stick the cane into the Ghoul's mouth, leaving the Ghoul to be mouth-opened.
"Like, RUN!" Shaggy called out, snapping Ash out of it. They all quickly ran away from the Ghoul as it tries to pull the cane out of it's mouth.
"This was supposedly destroyed when the Ancient Lodge Hotel was beginning to sink." Peggy began as she placed an old worn photobook in front of the three teenagers as the sit near Taku's desk. "But luckily Taku was able to recover it before it be really be destroyed."
"Thank you, Peggy." Velma said as she opened the book and began to skimmed through the delicated photos. She stopped once she caught sight of a man that oddly reminded her of Dewey Ottoman, with his long hair silk back and wearing a nice tailored-Victorian suit. He appeared to be proudly holding a gigantic key as he stood in front of an older version of the Ancient Lodge Hotel.
"Who's this" Velma asked, pointing at the picture as she showed it to Peggy. Peggy adjusted her glasses as she looked at the picture.
"That's Thomas Williams. The original owner of the Hotel." Peggy answered.
"What happened to him when the Ghoul came?" Daphne asked.
"Nothing," Peggy said, before turning a couple of pages, revealing the a photo of the Ghoul, dressed in Thomas's clothing while it was chasing a few people. "Because he is the ghoul."
"Whoa…" Fred muttered in astonishment as he gaze at a picture where the Ghoul was lifting a desk and was about to throw it at running victims.
"How did he become like this?" Daphne whispered, horrified at what the man had become.
"Well, there was this bad blizzard in 1891, Thomas found himself trapped in the hotel for months. At that time, food was running low, and Thomas was beginning to suffer from cabin fever. He… Well, I'm sure you all heard of the Donner Party, right?" At the mention of that historical event, it made the gang gulped, already knowing what she meant.
"After that incident, the Ancient Lodge Hotel was shut down. Everyone was too scared to face the Ghoul of the Hotel." Peggy continued.
Velma skimmed through a few more pages, before she closed the book and nodded towards Peggy.
"Thank you, Peggy." The woman nodded before she began to put the book away.
Velma turned to her friends and said, "I think it's time to find Shaggy and Scooby."
"Yeah, we need them to help find some clues." Fred agreed, but before any of them could leave the office, they stopped dead in their tracks once they heard Shaggy and Scooby's screams, followed by the screams of the children and the Pokemon.
"That sounded like the guys!" Fred called out.
"And Ash and his friends!" Peggy yelled, for the first time actually feeling concerned for her boss's nephew.
Suddenly, Ash, Shaggy, Scooby, and the others made a sudden big turned from the far end of the hall and began to run towards the office. Behind them, the Ghoul was closing in on them. It arms swinging wildly as it chased its victims.
"FRED! VELMA! DAPHNE! HELP!" Scooby called out.
"IT'S THE GHOUL! HE'S REAL! HE'S COMING! HE'S SO SMELLY!" Shaggy cried hysterically over the panic screams of the children as they all ran as fast as they could from the Ghoul.
"Shaggy, Scooby, in here!" Fred yelled, opening the door wider for them.
While he was busy being dragged by Bonnie in hopes he would keep up, Clemont dared himself to turned around to take a look at the Ghoul. However what he saw only confused him instead of terrifying him. The ghoul wasn't wearing the Victorian male corset, but he could've have sworn when the Ghoul first chased them, it had the corset on. That was strange…
"Come on, Clemont!" Bonnie shouted while tugging on him even harder, making Clemont realize what sort of predicament they were in and continued to run as fast as he could.
"Hurry!" Daphne shouted. Though they were doing there best, it seemed the Ghoul was faster as it tried to bite on Scooby's tail. Luckily, Scooby was able to move it out of the way and that scared him enough to go faster. His legs began to move rapidly like a motorcycle as he zoomed down the hall, while unintentionally putting everyone on his back as he bumped into them.
"Scooby, in here!" Velma shouted as Scooby finally made it in the office. As soon they were all in the office, Fred quickly slammed the door and locked it as the Ghoul came barreling into it.
"Shaggy, a little help?!" Fred pleaded as the Ghoul kept on slamming the door in an attempt to break in. Fred was putting his back behind the door in hopes to keep it in place, but he only lost his place every time the Ghoul kept on slamming into the door.
Shaggy nodded, though his teeth were chittering like mad. After making sure Ash and Serena(who were both holding each other tightly) are going to be alright, Shaggy quickly hurried over to the door put his hands on the door.
Everytime the door kept on banging, Bonnie kept on screaming while Velma was trying to comfort her. There were have more bangs until, there was silence.
Fred put his ear on the door while everyone hold their breaths, not daring making another sound in case the Ghoul was still there.
"I don't hear anything." Fred finally whispered after a few moments. "Maybe it left…"
Fred began to slowly unlock the door, despite the whispered protests of the children. As he slowly opened the door, Fred poked his head out of the small opening and took a look around. There was no body in sight...
AN: DUN! DUN! DUUUUNN! Did it put you all in the suspense? It did for me! Here are the clues so far-
Clue 1#: Someone hacked in Taku's email, stopping him from delivering a message to Delia that Ash and his friends couldn't go to the hotel. Who would do that?
Clue 2#: There is a Ghoul who's wearing a Victorian Male Corset, but one without it? What could that mean?
SHOTOUTS-
FanficFan920: Hmm, we will see when the Gang traps the Ghoul.
Joltile: Wow, that's really good detective work there, my friend! Sadly, I can't tell you if you're right or not. You'll have to find out when the Gang captures the Ghoul, but you can keep on working on to solve the mystery! And thank you, by the way. But the Ghoul is not plaguing my nightmares, it's my daydreams that Ghoul is haunting me...
Matt: You'll know by the end, but keep on searching!