The next day had arrived quickly, and the gang had soon found the location of a familiar demon.
"Rankor," Asamad said. "I am not entirely sure what he's been planning yet. However, he seems to be dwelling around the darkest cave on Earth, the Krubera Cave, according to the crystal."
"Okay. Anything else you found?" Cheryl questioned.
"He seems to be alone, so there's no army of his that we will see for now," he told her. "It's a possibility that he's been there for months."
Velma started grabbing her bags and her coat.
"Alright, well I guess we should be leaving quickly. It's going to be a long journey to get there," she pointed out.
"We should. Do you have the chest on you?" Daphne asked.
"Always," she smiled, holding it out in front of her.
"Good, then let's head on out!"
Everyone else grabbed their things and started to leave the castle, and Daphne waited by the doors for Vincent, the last one out.
"Thank you for waiting for me," Vincent told her.
"No problem," she responded. "Hey, I'm glad you're feeling more like yourself now. Everyone noticed you were a little off yesterday."
"Yes, I was," he smiled, and then his smile faded as he remembered the reason why. "I am sure that Asamad informed all of you about what happened that night…"
"He did," she sighed. "I'm sorry for reminding you of it."
"Oh no don't worry, I feel a lot less distressed about it now. I've dealt with many nightmares throughout my life, why should this one distress me any longer?"
She gave him a small smile.
"I'm happy for you. Are you ready to go?" she asked.
"Of course I am," Vincent said. He then paused and raised an eyebrow. "However, you aren't. You don't have a coat on. Daphne, we live in the Himalayas and it's January."
"You're right! I forgot to grab mine, hold on, I'll go get it."
"No, you don't have to. Here," he said, taking off his cape and wrapped it around her.
"Thank you," she smiled again.
"You're welcome. Before you ask, yes, I have a spare cape," he told her, before he conjured up another cape for himself to put on. "Now, we can leave."
They both walked together out of the castle, closing and locking the doors behind them before joining the others on the plane.
Location: Abkhazia, Georgia
The Krubera Cave was getting closer into view as the Mystery Flying Machine slowly started descending to the ground.
Everyone got off the plane soon after landing, and lit up their flashlights as they grabbed onto their ropes and carefully made their way into the cave.
"Are you sure we have to be in here?" Shaggy gulped, pointing to the deep, dark hole.
"Reah, ro we?" Scooby trembled.
Daphne stopped for a moment and turned around to look at them.
"Guys, I get that you're scared, I am too. This cave is the deepest cave I've ever been in. But, we have to do this. There's no telling what Rankor's up to this time. Plus, we'll be sticking together the whole time and we have our ropes to prevent us from falling. We have our flashlights and the crystal ball as our sources of light," she told them. "Okay?"
"Okay," the two responded, before everyone continued descending deeper into the cave.
They carried on for a few moments, before they heard a loud, echoing thump.
"What was that!?" Jayden exclaimed.
"I don't know. I think it came from below us," Flim Flam said.
"Do you think it's-" Velma tried to ask, but was interrupted when they heard the noise again.
"The ghost?" Shaggy trembled. "Definitely."
Everyone waited for a few minutes, and when it seemed that the noise had stopped completely, they slowly continued climbing down, aiming their flashlights and the crystal at different parts of the cave.
Vincent kept holding the crystal out in front of him, and looked back at the others at times to make sure they were alright. He began to feel something on his shoulder, a tight grip. He turned to look at it, seeing that it was a red hand with sharp claws.
"Asamad, could you please loosen your grip on my shoulder? It's very tight," he commented.
"I would, however, that is not my hand," Asamad responded.
Vincent's eyes widened, if that wasn't Asamad's hand, then it had to be…
"Rankor!" he whispered in fear.
Everyone gasped and rushed over as he was suddenly lifted up, and the demon wrapped both of his hands around his neck.
"I will have you this time, Van Ghoul," he whispered in his ear.
"Vincent!" the others had called out, rushing over to him.
"Let him go!" Asamad ordered, grabbing Rankor and tossing him aside, watching as he fell down the hole.
Vincent screamed as he felt himself start to fall before Asamad quickly grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and directed him and the others to stand on a large piece of rock a few feet away from them.
Rankor was heard laughing evilly as he flew up to where they were standing.
"I have been waiting a century to get my revenge on you," he sneered, staring directly at Vincent. "I almost had it last time, before you were saved at the last minute. Now, it will be different. Since I could not get rid of you, I must control you instead!"
A swarm of bats and a mist came towards him, surrounding both him and the warlock.
"W- What's happening!?" Velma trembled.
"He's casting a spell on Vincent!" Cheryl realized. "We have to stop him!"
Asamad attempted to cast a fireball at Rankor, but his spell deflected it, and it almost hit the others, but they moved out of the way just in time.
The demon inched closer to him, and looked directly in his eyes.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" he evilly smiled.
Before Asamad could go straight at him, more bats and mist came Vincent's way as Rankor spoke again.
"Lived for centuries on this Earth
2,000 years since this warlock's birth
He trapped the ghost inside an inescapable prison
Who has now been freed and risen
Darkness shall consume the warlock
With every second, it will not stop
And the red ghost's soul
shall make this warlock's body its eternal home!"
Vincent's eyes widened again, those were the exact words he heard in his nightmare…
He immediately fell on the stone and everyone surrounded him.
"Vincent!?" He heard them call out, but he found himself barely able to speak.
"I-" he coughed, before he screamed as he felt himself losing feeling in his body.
"Vincent! Please stay with us! Please!" Daphne begged.
Asamad started seeing the bats and mist surrounding him too, and felt himself being lifted up, along with Vincent's body.
He too started screaming now, and the others looked up at him.
"Rasamad!" Scooby exclaimed in horror.
Asamad started gaining feeling in Vincent's body, and as he was being pulled into it, he felt Vincent's heart beating very fast and heard him panting now for a few moments.
The last of Vincent's screams and panting was heard before the bats, the mist, and Rankor all disappeared, and the body fell down on the stone, causing Asamad to go silent.