Notes: Episode 10 has officially begun! Taking place in early July 2021, so after "Spirits By The Sea" but before "No Matter What, Time Can't Separate Us."

Flim Flam couldn't help but concentrate on the crackling noise of the fire outside his tent and the sound of Cheryl singing by it. It was his idea to go camping tonight, as after all that happened with Captain Ferguson and his ship, there was definitely a different type of trip everyone could use.

Well, maybe not everyone, as Asamad did not seem to love the idea.

"Vincent, I do not understand! Why do mortals pick a few nights to sleep outside, and then they do not actually sleep outside? They sleep in a tent? That's not even trying to do what they said will be done!" he exclaimed.

"I do not fully understand it either, and I will admit, you are right. However, Flim Flam wanted to do this. No one's ever taken him camping before, he deserves this," Vincent reminded him.

"Besides, we're only doing this for one night anyway," Daphne added.

"I know that, though-"

"Do not argue with me or her, Asamad," the warlock warned him. "You know you will never win."

"Fine," he sighed and crossed his arms. "Though, I will not agree to do this again after tonight."

Daphne slightly rolled her eyes at that, before noticing the fire slowly starting to fade.

"The campfire needs more wood," she said.

"I'll go get some!" Flim Flam exclaimed, leaving his tent.

"I'll come with you then," she told him, and they both walked towards the woods.

A few moments passed, and suddenly they all heard a loud thunder strike, making Cheryl stop her singing and everyone turn around.

"Like what was that!?" Shaggy gulped.

"Huh weird, I don't think anyone said anything about there being a thunderstorm tonight…" Cheryl commented.

"That's because there isn't. The noise came from the woods," Vincent told her.

They then started seeing a dark cloud of smoke coming from the woods, and Vincent's eyes widened.

"Daphne!? Flim Flam!?" he panicked, and started running towards the woods.

"Vincent, wait for us!" Shaggy exclaimed, as everyone ran after him.

They then stumbled upon a burnt out fire, with piles of what seemed to be shoes and other personal belongings of some people all around it.

"What happened here?" Velma asked.

"It seems to be a ritual…" Asamad realized. "I remember those who worshiped me in the days that I was evil would perform rituals for me all the time."

"A ritual!?" Shaggy and Scooby both gulped.

"You don't think they did this for you, right?" Jayden questioned.

"No, it couldn't be," the ghost shook his head. "The markings by where the fire was here are different from the markings mortals used for mine, and no one ever disappeared after a ritual dedicated to me. At least not that I know of, anyway."

"Who are the markings for, then? And why did these people disappear?" Velma asked.

Asamad looked upon what was left behind for a moment before he finally put the pieces together.

"It's a ritual for an ascension," he told them. "These mortals wanted to ascend to some sort of higher level or plane of existence. I do not know if they succeeded or failed, though, I fear this may have something to do with at least one of the other ghosts from the chest. Some of them have had mortals in the past who have done rituals for them in order to ascend. As for the markings, they look very familiar. I remember seeing them used for rituals dedicated to Marcella before we were all locked in the chest the first time."

"Marcella!?" Vincent exclaimed. "Alright, well I think we should focus on this more after we find Daphne and Flim Flam," he suggested. "I do not like the idea of them being in the woods in the middle of the night, especially with the possibility of ghosts being around and now this whole ritual situation!"

"Alright, we'll come back to this then," Asamad nodded.

They kept following Vincent through the woods, calling for Daphne and Flim Flam for a few moments, until finally seeing them in the distance gathering wood.

"Are you two alright!?" Vincent exclaimed, running up to them.

"Yeah, we're fine, Vince. Why? Did something happen?" Flim Flam asked.

"We heard a loud noise and saw smoke coming from the woods after you guys left," Cheryl explained. "We thought something might've happened to you. We found out it was from an ascension ritual."

"I don't know anything about a ritual happening in the woods and I didn't see any smoke, but I did hear the noise though," Daphne said.

"Yeah, me too. Did you find anything else?" Flim Flam questioned.

"We found some things left behind by the people who were involved in it. Asamad thinks the ritual might have to do with one of the other ghosts from the chest," Velma informed him.

Daphne and Flim Flam looked at each other now.

"Which one? Do you know?" Daphne asked.

"He thinks it's Marcella," Jayden told her.

She nodded, and then looked back at Flim Flam.

"I'm sorry, but I think we're going to have to stop the rest of this camping trip for now," she informed him. "But, maybe we can continue it once we figure everything out and Marcella gets recaptured in the chest. Okay?"

"Fine," the boy sighed. "Of course something that means a lot to me gets pushed to the side…" He then walked away.

"Wait!" she called out, following him. "This doesn't mean we're giving it up!"

The others followed after them too, and everyone else looked at each other.

"Like wow, Flim Flam is pretty torn up about this," Shaggy commented. "I knew he liked camping, but I didn't know he liked it that much."

"Yeah, he doesn't usually get that upset when we have to stop doing something because of a ghost," Cheryl agreed.

"It's not just about camping itself," Vincent told them. "Before we met the rest of you, he confided in me about some things. Those things included issues with his family and not really having a home or any real friends before he met me. Like I said before, he's always wanted to go camping as he never had the chance to when he was younger since he never had someone take him before. Which is because he never had a-"

"A what? A family?" she interrupted. "Sorry to cut you off, but we're his family, he knows that. Doesn't he?"

"It's alright. He does," Vincent nodded. "What I mean is his biological family, specifically his mother and father."

"Rhat about rhem?" Scooby wondered.

The warlock sighed deeply.

"I promised him I would not get into it too much since he doesn't want me to, however, he's had a lot of issues with them, and with never having any friends before us as well," he explained. "He's been through a lot because of it, and I am sure that the only other one out of all of us he's ever really opened up to about it was Scrappy."

He then went right in front of everyone and stopped.

"Just please be patient with him for right now, alright?"

Everyone nodded, and Vincent nodded back in response before they all continued following Daphne and Flim Flam through the woods.