Chapter Fifteen:

Unmasking the Truth


"Nice job, you guys."

Sticks approached the gang, smiling with satisfaction, having been undoubtedly watching their efforts as usual, and she seemed to be in a good mood.

Going off of that, this meant that Sonic and Mystery Inc were in the village leader's good graces more-so than they were the first time they faced the Ghost Biker, even though she wasn't too terribly upset after their failed attempt to catch him the previous night.

"All in a night's work for a hero, ma'am." Sonic nodded.

"Not quite yet." Velma said, "There is one more matter; the identity of the Biker."

The group looked at the Ghost Biker, who was still in the net, somewhat struggling to escape. And funny enough, the heat that his skull gave off didn't seem to be enough to burn the ropes. Regardless, nobody had forgotten what to do when it came to catching the villain and the gang knew what to do to close the mystery out.

"Let's see who our Ghost Biker is." Fred said. He walked over to the neat and reached over to grab the Ghost Biker's skull, only to yelp and pull back, clutching the palm of his hands as the Biker cackled maniacally.

"OW, OW, OW, OW!" Fred cried, "HOT!"

"That'll make ya think twice before ya touch my head!" The Biker cackled in a gravelly voice.

"Shut up!" Velma moved in to try removing the apparent mask too, only to cry in alarm as the mask burnt her hands. Apparently, whomever the Ghost Biker was, they'd done a good job making their own mask so burning hot to a point where anybody who tried to remove it would have a hard time.

"Ok, let me try." Sonic raced in and grabbed the mask, only to yelp and pull back as the heat singed his gloved hands.

"Well, this is gonna take a while." Amy groaned.

"Perhaps I can help..."

Everyone turned, seeing Batman standing close by, he must have been watching from the rooftops and without ANYBODY noticing. The Dark Knight must have been good at blending in with the shadows. He walked towards the Ghost Biker, who yelped in alarm and began pleading with the caped crusader, red eyes flashing wildly.

"No, no! NO! NO! NO!" Ghost Biker wailed, "DON'T TAKE THE MASK, DON'T TAKE THE MASK!"

"And luckily, my gloves are heat-resistant." Batman said.

"CURSE YOU, BATMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

The Dark Knight's hands reached around the mask without Batman even flinching, he closed his fingers around the skull and peeled it away as the flames and the red eyes extinguished. Batman pulled the mask of the Ghost Biker off, revealing the true face of the Biker, a very familiar mustached face.

"Doctor Eggman?!" Sonic cried in shock.

"And this is where I leave the rest to you." Batman said and walked away into the darkness, leaving Sonic, Amy, Shaggy, Fred, Scooby, Velma, Daphne and Sticks with the captured villain.

Sonic was shocked. After seeing the doc yesterday, he didn't expect the mad scientist to be the face behind the Ghost Biker, the one who rode into Resort Town FOR THREE NIGHTS STRAIGHT and escaping ONLY TWICE during each encounter until now. Eggman had caused trouble for years, but this was one unexpected surprise.

"Didn't expect to deal with me?" Eggman asked.

"We've been battling it out for years and I've always expected when you'd attack..." Sonic said, "But after seeing you ride around on a motorcycle, not even causing trouble, I didn't think we'd have to worry about you and you're the Biker?!"

"Technically speaking..." Velma said, "We did suspect a connection between you and the Biker, after you called yourself 'the Egg Ghost'..."

"Oh yeah." Sonic remarked, "Forgot about that."

"And you had a ghost decal on your bike." Amy added.

"Not to mention you showed up on your motorcycle the morning after our first encounter with the Biker." Fred added, "And then, we, namely Sonic, found one of your spy drones while we were meeting this afternoon to discuss how to capture the Ghost Biker, no doubt you wanted to prepare for when you encountered us again..."

"But hold on." Sonic held up his hand, "How the heck are you dressing up in the Biker outfit, you wore the mask really well, but YOU'RE FAT! HOW ARE YOU WEARING THE LEATHER OUTFIT THAT THE BIKER WAS SAID TO WEAR WHEN HE'S LEAN AND YOU'RE FAT?!"

"I'm not actually wearing the outfit..." Eggman explained, "It's a hologram. If you can get me out of the net, I'll show you..."

"Do not even think about trying to escape, doc." Sonic said, "You know I'll bust your escape vehicle."

"Yeah!" Scooby growled, "You better not pull a fast one."

The gang undid the net, freeing up the unmasked Eggman, who pulled back his sleeve to reveal a watch-like device on his wrist with the symbol of the Eggman Empire on it and tapped a button.

A blue light enveloped his somewhat lean leather-clad body and his fat stature appeared, wearing a black variation of his standard villain scientist's outfit but with leather boots.

Eggman then pressed the button again, and his convincing, Ghost Biker stature reappeared. Then he tapped the button one more time and he was back in his normal appearance. But with each shift in appearance, the chain Eggman had been using remained at his side.

"So, you used convincing hologram tech to give yourself a slimmer build so you could pass off as the Ghost Biker when disguising yourself as him?" Fred remarked, "At least the mask was real, how did you manage to pull that off...?"

"I built a chip into the mask that allows it to light up when I wear it, the flames and the eyes are off when I take the mask off..." Eggman explained, "As you saw when that guy removed it, the chip deactivated, the signal to the chip in the mask is in my glasses. I mean, after all, you are dealing with a scientist of an IQ of 300.

"And before anybody asks about the bike, yes, it is the Egg Ghost..." The gang noticed Eggman's motorcycle close by, almost surprised, that the doc had made it appear as the Ghost Biker's motorcycle and likely with the same technology he was using to change his fat appearance.

"Okay, now that things have been somewhat explained with how you managed to pull off being the Ghost Biker..." Amy asked, holding her hammer at Eggman's face as he yelped, "WHAT WERE YOU DOING DRESSING UP AS THE GHOST BIKER, ATTACKING A MILITARY BASE AND THEN RAIDING RESORT TOWN?!"

"Amy, calm down." Sonic said, "I'm sure Eggman's got a reasonable explanation."

"He better." Daphne said, "I'm sure his motivations involved more than just trying to take down Sonic again."

"I SWEAR THIS WASN'T PART OF SOME EVIL PLAN INVOLVING SONIC! First, you're right, my motivations didn't revolve around Sonic... until the day I came to town and saw him with you mystery sleuths." Eggman said, "Secondly, yes, I-I-I can certainly explain my actions in what I was doing.

"About a couple weeks ago, I received a note from the landowner's association threatening to shut down Eggmanland if I didn't pay them before midnight within several days time.

"Yes, I run an amusement park, a scientist has to have a hobby aside from world domination and I can assure you that this Eggmanland is absolutely harmless. Paying them is easy enough, but the problem was, I didn't have enough money and the loan costs a hundred and fifty dollars.

"I couldn't just threaten those landowners since they'd change their plan and have the park shut down IN HOURS. And so, as I thought of what to do, I looked at my motorcycle and then was struck by an idea; I would dress up AS THE GHOST BIKER!

"Oh ho-ho, I heard so many stories about that guy and the trouble he caused. And since I was a supervillain, what the heck. So, I gathered everything I needed and got myself a skull mask, then I made the Holo Body-Changer device, which I would use when I went out as the Biker.

"Planning took time, but the Egg-Ghost Biker was ready for action! And for a test drive, well, I terrorized a few villages before going further to attack the Area Eighty-Seven military base.

"With Resort Town, the plan was simple, I was going to attack the bank and steal the money from there. Then with the money I'd gotten from my antics, I would pay those landowners and save Eggmanland..."

"You did all of that Ghost Biker stuff to save a park you own from getting shut down?!" Fred asked.

"I'm desperate here and you just busted me!" Eggman shrugged.

"Dude, that's harsh." Sonic said, "Not the whole attempt to rob a bank, which we thwarted, I'm talking about your park. You must have put so much energy into making it, even during your world domination schemes, and the prospect of it getting shut down is sad. But at least its not being trashed by me."

"I HAVE TWO HOURS LEFT UNTIL EGGMANLAND GETS CLOSED DOWN, HEDGEHOG! AND I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY I NEED, BECAUSE OF YOU MEDDLING KIDS AND THAT BLASTED BLUE RODENT!" Eggman wailed.

"You sure?" Sonic pulled out a large dollar bill with a 'two-hundred dollar' sign on it.

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Amy asked, "Eggman has terrorized the world for years and just recently attacked a military base dressed up as the Ghost Biker and we just busted him in the middle of raiding Resort Town while trying to rob the town bank!"

Sonic looked at his girlfriend. "Doing the right thing, Amy." He said, "Villain or not, the doc is still a human being and nobody should have to deal with a park getting shut down.

"The Eggmanland I once saw was full of death traps, but if this Eggmanland is different from that one, then it's worth it. But what matters is, we still stopped him from robbing the bank."

Sticks and Mystery Inc looked wary, almost confused by what the speedster was doing. Eggman looked so surprised, he was at a loss for words.

The blue hedgehog approached Eggman, holding the check. "I found this laying around during one of my adventures and have been holding onto it, knowing it might be useful." The hedgehog said, "And now, I suppose this could be enough for you to pay those landowners and save your park, doc, if it isn't too much."

"Honestly..." Eggman hesitated, then he took the bill, "It's perfect..." He chuckled happily, "I got the money I needed in the end. And there's still time to save Eggmanland! Sonic, I... thank you! Let's hope the price didn't go up and those landowner twerps aren't pulling some sort of scam. HA-HA!"

Eggman tapped a button on his wrist device and engines filled the air. Seconds later, the doc's Egg Mobile landed and Eggman hopped into his hovercraft, waved in a friendly manner to Sonic and then flew away.

But then he came down a second later, picked up the Egg Ghost bike and flew off, leaving the gang with only the mask of the Ghost Biker along with a chain that Eggman dropped.

"So, uh, was the Ghost Biker only a legend after all?" Fred asked.

"Batman did talk about how he encountered him." Sonic quipped, "So, uh... I dunno, unless that was Eggman somehow..."

"No, friends." Sheriff Joe approached the group and all eyes were on him, "The Ghost Biker is real."

"Huh, okay." Scooby barked.

"I knew Steve when I was a boy..." Joe said, "In fact, him and my dad were buddies from school. It was Joe who taught me how to ride a bike, and I was there at every motorcycle rally he partook in, rootin' for my pop's good friend.

"They were like brothers when they were kids, hangin' out together, and he was like an Uncle to me. "After the one rally where Steve's bike crashed, I hoped he would be fine.

"And then, the day I saw him do well again, I talked with him and he told me how he figured it out and overcame the bad luck that was befallin' him. Admittedly, pop did voice his concern, especially in regards to that Maniphesterio fella who visited him.

"The night after the rally, pop and I were in Tabalo Town, enjoying a fine dinner, when we heard the sound of motorcycle engines and saw a guy in leather with a flaming skull, terrorizing people. Pop made a run for it right as the Biker came by, I was worried what was gonna happen when he stopped and noticed me.

"He got off his bike and leaned over to look at me, then he said 'look into my eyes.' His red eyes swirled and I got the case of the dizzy, passed out for a time. I woke up in time to see him drive off and pop found me, but interacting with the Biker and looking into his eyes...

"I knew it was Steve, that he was the Ghost Biker, but he wasn't the same guy anymore. The Biker doesn't appear that much, but he is out there, riding around the mountains and often riding through cities, giving people trouble.

"Make no mistake, he is certainly real. And if you see him coming, you steer clear of him unless you want a taste of his chain or his creepy eyes."

Sonic took it all in. After dealing with a Ghost Biker costume Eggman, part of him dreaded the day he would encounter the real deal. Even Shaggy and Scooby looked unnerved.

And the Biker's existence with Joe's story hammered home that Batman wasn't joking about his encounter with the Biker, and most of all, the Ghost Biker that had rode into Gotham was the real Ghost Biker, formerly known as Steven Wilson...