A cool fall breeze was in the air in the tri-state area. The Grant-Gomez family mini-van rolled into the parking lot of the city's convention center. A convention was in full swing this weekend and a large crowd was gathered outside as the doors opened. From the back seat Gretel Grant-Gomez looked at the convention goers. Her older brother Kevin Grant-Gomez was extremely excited. The writer for one of his favorite comic book series was doing a signing today. Bailey Carter, Gretel's best friend was with them too.
"This is gonna be so cool!" Kevin said with excitement. He got out followed by Bailey, and Gretel who was carrying her pet hamster, named Hamster. "Mega-Fun Con is one of the best conventions in the Tri-State Area!"
"But this is like the fourth one they've had this year," Gretel sighed. "Haven't they had all the big names?" Kevin brushed off the accusation. Inside they saw a lot of fans standing in line, but not the thousands of fans Kevin had told them to prepare for.
"They should have asked you and Hamster to be featured guests" Bailey commented quietly, nobody heard her. She was aware her best friend was secretly a superhero.
"Bailey, this is a gathering of sci-fi and fantasy superfans, they probably didn't want to distract from all the celebrities who came from out of town" Gretel replied. But Bailey rebutted by pointing to a sign that said their supervillain enemies Fistpuncher and the Destructress had their own photo-op. "Well that also supports what I said about them running out of big names."
"Well I suggest we choose one of these reasonably sized names to meet, because Kevin is clearly gonna be waiting for a while," Hamster said, having already snagged himself a soft pretzel from the snack stand.
The friends looked at the directory brochure to choose where to go. One booth in particular made Bailey super excited. "Oh my gosh! Mystery Inc!"
"Who?" Hamster asked.
"They're famous ghost hunting teenaged mystery solvers, and they have a talking dog!" Bailey explained. Gretel had to admit her curiosity was piqued so they headed across the convention center to meet the gang.
Mystery Inc. had arrived late to the convention. Daphne was directing Shaggy and Scooby who were carrying a large box towards a display area with some posable dummies provided by the convention hall. "I can't believe they asked us to make an appearance here!" Velma said.
"I know, it's nice to get some recognition," Daphne agreed. She began pulling out costumes from their past unmaskings to dress the mannequins.
"Like are you sure bringing these was a good idea?" Shaggy replied, pulling out the costume worn by the Phantom of haunted isle.
"It's like when a baseball player brings his trophies and baseballs to conventions" Fred added as he dropped a stack of photos, in case anyone wanted an autograph. "And besides that one fits the easiest into the box." They continued unpacking and dressed up two more mannequins in different costumes
15 minutes later they were all set up and ready for the public. A girl with pink pigtails and a headset came over to the gang. "Alright Mystery Inc your meet and greet time officially starts now; if you need anything I'm at the volunteers' booth, ask for Hiromi" she replied. The gang thanked her and prepared for their fans. After about five minutes with nothing, Mystery got their first visitors to their booth, in the form of two girls and a domesticated rodent. Bailey was giddy with excitement! "Oh my gosh! You're Daphne, and Fred, and Shaggy, and Velma and Scooby Doo" she exclaimed, pointing as she called out their names.
"Rello!" Scooby greeted while bending down so the shorter girl could pet him.
"Whoa he really is a talking dog!" Gretel said with surprise. Hamster looked up at her, as if to remind her that talking animals are not a new thing.
"Wow, if I had a nickel for every time I met a crime fighting team with a talking animal, I'd have two nickels. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but it's awesome it happened twice!" Bailey exclaimed.
"Well, we're glad to meet you too" Daphne said. And if you want, Scooby can also take you kids into the next booth where we've set up a display of some of the disguises of the bad guys we've foiled." Bailey jumped at the chance, grabbing Gretel and they followed Scooby. They looked at the three costumes: first the Phantom of Haunted Isle, second the Apeman and third Old Iron Face.
"So real bad guys actually put these on, to commit crimes?" Gretel asked. Scooby nodded.
"And like they were absolutely terrifying when they're chasing after you!" Shaggy added, sticking his head through the curtain. "Old Iron Face there actually rode sharks!"
While the girls and Scooby were distracted on the tour, a man in a trenchcoat, hat, dark sunglasses, and a walking stick came up to the Mystery Inc booth and began talking to Fred, Daphne, and Velma. "Been following your ghost chasing stories quite some time," he said with a somewhat sinister undertone.
"Umm thanks," Daphne said. "Did you want a picture or an autograph?"
"Might as well" he began, then threw off his disguise to reveal his bald head, and purple and blue costume, "sign it to the Nightmarionette."
The gang was confused, but Gretel and Bailey were alarmed. Gretel gave her best friend a signal to stall while she and Hamster ducked away. Bailey, staying behind Scooby, questioned the supervillain, "who let you in? Never mind that, how did you get out of jail?"
"It's amazing what can happen in the aftermath of taco Tuesday" the Nightmarionette said with an evil laugh. Scooby and Shaggy gulped with nervousness. As the rest of the gang tensed being in the presence of who they now knew was a supervillain.
Now in superhero attire, Gretel flew down behind the villain with Hamster and declared, "Well you'll be back in jail before chicken soup Sunday!"
"Hamster and Gretel!" the Nightmarionette exclaimed. "You won't stop me this time!" He held up his superpowered staff, they noticed the light it was giving off was a different color this time, "this city will soon be at my mercy!"
"You and what army?" Fred asked. Shaggy, Scooby and Bailey looked at him, and silently communicated how stupid it was to ever ask a supervillain that question.
"The one you kindly brought!" the villain replied vaulting over the table and firing staff behind the curtain to where the costumes were displayed. Mystery Inc and Hamster, Gretel, and Bailey watched in amazement at what happened.
Meanwhile Kevin was growing impatient as the autograph line crept at a snail's pace. He watched his friends and classmates all around him having fun at the convention. He counted as the line shrank from eighteen to eight until there were only two people ahead of him. He muttered 'come on' over and over again. But right before the last fan in line ahead of him finished, the comic writer looked to the left and screamed. He jumped away as a trash can smashed into the table. "Oh come on!" Kevin exclaimed, but when he looked to the left, he could not believe what he was seeing.
A furious gorilla, a burly pirate with an iron mask, and a floating sheet with eye holes were terrorizing the convention center. Everyone was running for their lives. At first, he thought they were part of the festivities but when he spotted the Nightmarionette laughing it quickly disproved that hypothesis. The Apeman picked up a large plaster statue of the superhero Bull Boy and hurled it in Kevin's direction. But before he could try to move out of the way he felt his shirt being pulled as his sister flew him out of the way.
"You were right Kevin; this is a pretty exciting con" she said. The flying white ghost flew straight at them, but Gretel flew away. While Hamster chased the Phantom, Gretel deposited Kevin with Bailey and Mystery Inc who were watching from behind the table. "Everybody, stay here until it's safe," she instructed before flying back to the fight. Shaggy and Scooby quickly complied and ducked under the table.
Hamster flew straight at the Phantom but overshot, passing right through the transparent ghost. As Hamster collided with a balloon the ghost let out his signature cackling laugh before phasing through a wall out of sight. Gretel and the Apeman squared off, he growled and roared before grabbing a folding table and trying to swat her with it. After a pair of misses Gretel caught the table mid-swing and swung it the other way, sending the Apeman tumbling away. Old Iron Face meanwhile had the rest of the convention goers running in fear out the door before smashing through a wall and escaping. Looking around, they realized the Nightmarionette had slipped away during all the action. After she and Hamster made sure the convention center was structurally sound they flew back down to where Kevin, Bailey and the Scooby Gang were waiting.
"Is everybody okay?" Gretel asked.
"I think so," Daphne said "Jeepers I don't know what's wilder, a supervillain making the monster costumes from our old mysteries come to life, or meeting Hamster and Gretel."
Bailey and Velma pulled Shaggy and Scooby out from under the table where they had been hiding. "It's okay guys they're gone now" Velma reassured, but the two cowards continued shaking.
"Gang that Nightmarionette is up to something, we've got to help find out what." Fred declared.
Bailey squealed with glee, "a team up between Mystery Inc and Hamster and Gretel, pinch me I must be dreaming." Gretel obliged, but gently without using any superhuman strength so Bailey's arm was fine.
"Okay well we've got three different monsters that were supposed to be costumes on wooden dummies on loose: and a supervillain who is puppet mastering them" Kevin recapped.
"Oh, that's what he meant when he chose that name," Gretel said, finally making the connection.
"There's only one thing to do," Fred declared.
"Go back to the hotel and see what the evening news says?" Shaggy asked even though he knew that wasn't it.
"No Shaggy, we have to solve the Mystery" Daphne replied, before turning to the superheroes. "Superhero Gretel, we're here to help."
"Thanks citizens," Gretel replied. Kevin was sort of nervous about being responsible for so many more people; but Bailey's endorsement was good, and he gathered Mystery Inc would be investigating the crime either way. "Okay, well we need to get out and patrol the city in search of those ghost/monster things or the Nightmarionette."
Shaggy and Scooby joined Kevin in the minivan to patrol one side of town with Hamster flying overhead; while Gretel flew over the Mystery Machine with Fred, Daphne, Velma and Bailey inside.
Kevin was on the cell phone for a few minutes as Shaggy and Scooby talked with Hamster who had some critiques of the designs of the now animated costumes. "So let me get this straight, the costume was literally the same one he was hired to wear for the Apeman movie?" he asked, flying next to the window.
"Yep, old Carl the stuntman really didn't think it through very well" Shaggy replied.
Kevin covered his phone and reported to the others, "Okay, according to Fred, the Phantom was spotted by our high school where the Beef Buggy is parked."
"Reef Ruggy?" Scooby said, with his ears popped up.
"No Beef Buggy. It's a food truck that serves lots of beef and one salad," Kevin replied.
"Like you had us at food truck, step on it!" Shaggy exclaimed.
When they arrived, the guests were being plagued by the ghost flying around. A brunette girl with mauve colored glasses and a blank expression waved at them as they parked. Shaggy and Scooby were confused, expecting their friends to be there; then Kevin introduced his and Gretel's cousin Fred, short for Winifred, who had been the one to call them.
"So does anyone want to explain why a sheet with eye holes cut into it is attacking the school?" Fred asked.
"Well like there was this ex-stage magician that was hiding out on a haunted island looking for pirate treasure; and he rigged a floating ham sandwich that..." Shaggy began.
"Any more recent history Shaggy?" Kevin replied hoping for some focus.
The phantom flew right over them with Hamster in pursuit. "Ahahahahaha-woooooooo" he laughed. They followed him around the corner of the building where he was cornered. "Now you'll not escape me!" the phantom threatened.
Kevin did not understand how this ghost could possibly believe he had them cornered. Shaggy was meanwhile cowering behind the cousins. "Like how are you guys not freaking out? That is a real living ghost costume!" He said.
"It's very difficult to take him seriously when my Uncle Dave did the same thing for Halloween two years in a row" Fred replied. Kevin's eyebrow arched as he remembered his Dad dressing up in his homemade ghost costume. Suddenly there was a loud crash that drew everyone's attention and when they turned around the Phantom was gone, after phasing through the wall. "That came from inside the school, come on!"
"Wait, like where's Scooby?" Shaggy asked. The worry was short lived as Scooby turned the corner with a massive brisket sandwich.
Hamster flew up to inspect the sandwich, "I hope they gave you our discount" he noted observing the massive pile of meat on the sandwich. With a single claw Scooby cut Hamster a third, and then one for Shaggy.
"Risket with rustard, rickles, ranilla ice cream." Scooby explained.
"Vanilla ice cream on a brisket?" Kevin said with disgust.
Shaggy however gladly accepted the third and after tasting exclaimed; "Scooby, that is brilliant!"
"I'm not gonna complain about free food," Hamster added before trying the sandwich.
"While you guys celebrate your culinary sense of adventure I'm gonna follow the ghost inside" Kevin said. Fred and Hamster dragged Scooby and Shaggy inside, there was no sign of the Phantom, but they found the school cafeteria ransacked. Inga the lunch lady was in a daze, "what happened?" he asked her.
"Big gorilla steal our new oven!" The lunch lady replied.
"Zoinks! the Apeman was here too!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"No it was gorilla, not apeman, apeman means half ape and half man, this was plain angry super strong gorilla!" Inga snapped.
"She does have a point," Kevin replied to Shaggy. "But why does a monster need an oven?"
"Got it on sale from the industrial smelter going out of business. Now we will have cold salmon quesadillas for lunch tomorrow!" The lunch lady held up the tortilla filled with cheese and smoked lox. Scooby happily gobbled it down.
"Okay so the Phantom was the distraction to steal the oven, but why?" Fred asked. Shaggy thought to himself, 'girl-fred' was like a combination of Velma and boy-fred; but he was too intimidated to give her the compliment.
Meanwhile on the other side of town. The Mystery Machine accompanied Gretel as she followed the initial destruction and dirty footprints left in the wake of monsters escaping. The gang and Bailey got out of the van when the trail stopped right outside a mechanics garage. Gretel lifted the drop-down door from the inside, "come on, it's clear" she announced.
Inside they began their search. "Looks like they went down into the grease trap and escaped" Velma observed the tunnel that seemed to have been dug inside.
"First time we've ever seen a ghost escape using a trap!" Fred said as he looked down the tunnel.
"Look, here's all the dirt!" Bailey said. She was staring at a pile of dirt as tall as the mystery machine. Daphne stood next to her and noticed something shiny in the dirt. Grabbing a nearby shock vacuum she sucked some of it up revealing a chrome wheel. "Whoa! there's a truck buried under all this dirt" she observed.
"It's a delivery truck, look there's the top of the back door" Bailey added.
"We need to go back and get the others before we follow this tunnel" Gretel determined. "We have no idea if we'll be able to call for help down there; also we don't know what the Nightmarionette and his monster minions might be planning down there."
"Good plan," Fred said and called Shaggy. But when Shaggy picked up his mouth was full of food from the beef buggy. "Shaggy I can't understand you," he complained, then he heard a new voice. "Who is this?" Fred asked, "no I'm Fred who are you? Okay this is very confusing."
"Oh, Kevin must have called our Fred," Gretel said.
"You have a Fred?" Velma asked.
"I guess every great team does," the pint-sized superhero replied. "Come let's get back to the convention hall!"
(Idiosyncratic wipe of the Mystery Machine)
Half an hour later both vans pulled up the convention center where a tv news team was filming. "This is Veronica Hill reporting live from Mega-Fun Con, where the remainder of the first day's events have been canceled so the organizers can finish the clean up. What started as a dream day for fans turned into a nightmare thanks to the Nightmarionette and a strange band of traveling monsters. The organizers did not comment on whether or not the rest of Mega-Fun Con would happen, but they did say they'd have a truckload of action figures they won't have time to sell." The reporter spotted the heroes and Scooby Gang approaching and moved to get an interview on camera. "Superhero Gretel any luck locating the villain or his living monster costumes?"
"Not yet, but we're hot on the trail," Gretel replied.
"And we also have here the individuals who brought the costumes; Mystery Inc tell me, why would you bring such terrifying things?" Veronica asked.
"Like lady, not a day goes by that I don't ask that question myself!" Shaggy replied.
"But it's me asking this question right now. So tell us, can we expect any more of these strange monsters?"
"Um no mam, we only brought those three costumes to show at the con." Fred replied.
"Let's hope so, because the Phantom, the Iron Faced man, and the gorilla are more than enough for a non-October Friday."
After Veronica bid the kids goodbye they began regrouping. "Okay so we've got a secret tunnel inside that garage and no clue where it leads" Velma recapped. "Gretel if you and Hamster take a camera in with you, we can watch the feed as you go."
"Great idea!" Gretel exclaimed.
"Scooby, Shaggy, go get my webcam, it's in one of the boxes we took into the convention hall," Daphne instructed. Shaggy and Scooby headed back inside, spurred on by the promise there was a box of Scooby Snacks in the same box as the camera. While the others continued planning the two Freds were still staring at each other.
"You know something Scoob, they say things get easier the more you do it; but these monsters are somehow even scarier the second time around. Granted that guy with the magic staff bringing them to life adds a whole new level of terror" Shaggy said as they walked through the now empty convention center.
As they turned the corner Scooby saw one of the drapes moving; and froze. Thinking one of the ghosts was getting ready to ambush them; he crouched getting into position to get the drop on them. Just as Shaggy noticed the movement Scooby pounced; the great dane brought down the curtain on top of whoever was behind them.
"Ow! Hey! What the?" Shaggy heard from under the curtain. Upon looking at the space Scooby had just jumped into he saw a bunch of autograph materials and a big banner that said "Meet Fistpuncher and The Destructress" in orange letters.
"Excuse me," Shaggy turned to see a girl in an orange, blue and teal costume complete with cape staring at him. "Could you kindly get your dog off of my brother," the Destrucress asked as if ordering Shaggy.
"Rorry radame," Scooby said, jumping off the curtain.
Fistpuncher tore off the curtain; his costume matched his twin's but his face was red with anger. "You crazy dog, give me one reason not to hurl you from here to China!" he yelled. Scooby began quivering with fear.
Shaggy, petrified with fear, was trying to come up with a way to reason with the disgruntled teen supervillain. But it was the villain's sister who spoke first. "I'll give you two very good reasons bro." Shaggy, Scooby and Fistpuncher turned to face her. "First, we don't get our thousand dollars if anyone gets hurt, that was in the contract."
"Hold up, you guys are getting a thousand? Scooby and I are only getting 200 and meals" Shaggy exclaimed. Granted they would likely eat enough to equal the supervillain's payday.
"And the second reason?" Fistpuncher interrupted, still holding Scooby by the collar. Just then he felt a tapping on the top of his head. He and Scooby both looked up and saw Gretel flying right over his head. "Oh" he said, letting his grip go. "You guys are so lucky!"
Scooby and Shaggy let out a chorus of zoinks and rikes. "What gives, he just said he wasn't gonna clobber you?" the Destructress said, while checking her cell phone.
The two cowards pointed past the supervillains, as they and Gretel turned to see Old Iron Face jump from the catwalk and land on the convention floor. He growled through his iron mask and looked ready to grapple. "Ok this is not gonna be a talkative villain," Gretel declared, "OLD IRON FACE Punch!" She flew straight at the monster and her fist connected with his mask. The monster rocked across the convention hall before smashing into the metal back door.
"No fair, why does she get to punch stuff!" Fistpuncher complained. But then Old Iron Face got up again; he turned to see a display of massive reproductions of movie weapons, grabbed a hefty hammer with a handle that was taller than Shaggy, and began swinging the 500 pound weapon around like it was made of cardboard.
"Hey if you want a swing at him, be my guest!" Gretel said as she kept flying the breakable collectibles out of the path of destruction. So Fistpuncher flew straight at Old Iron Face but got caught by the hammer and got launched through the window screaming.
After watching her brother flying out of sight, the Destrcutress looked first at Old Iron Face, and then at Gretel, Shaggy and Scooby. "Well, I'd love to stay and see how this turns out, but I better go make sure he lands safely" she said with a twinge of nervousness then shot off through the hole Fistpuncher had made when he crashed.
Gretel used heat vision to burn through the hammer handle. It snapped in half disarming the villain; who grunted angrily. "Let's try this again!" Gretel said, this time the punch sent Old Iron Face back through the door; this knocking them off the hinges and crashing into the alleyway.
The sound of the crashing brought Hiromi back from the volunteer's booth, she went over to Gretel, Shaggy, and Scooby. "L-like sorry," Shaggy said hoping she wasn't mad about the mess, Scooby mirrored his embarrassed grin.
"Hey, don't worry, this town has great superhero/villain insurance deals" reassured Hiromi. All four of them stared out into the parking lot. The wooden mannequin was discarded in the middle of the alleyway. The Iron Mask having been thrown off the rest of the costume had rolled down to the corner. The mannequin wearing the clothes had smashed a dumpster which popped open revealing hundreds of Yuko Cheerleadeing Warrior Attack 7 action figures.
"Man, what's wrong with all of these?" Shaggy said examining the toys in the trash.
"They look fine to me," Gretel said, picking one up.
"They are, in fact, they're brand new. What monster threw them in a dumpster! They're resale value is going to be half what we could have sold them for" Hiromi exclaimed, before going back inside to check the supply room for the other crates of convention memorabilia.
Gretel meanwhile picked up the mannequin, "why did it stop moving? Come on let's get this to the others. Scooby could you go grab the helmet?"
Scooby obliged and went over to the end of the alley where the Old Iron Face mask was lying. He was about to get it, but a gloved hand reached out and snatched it off the ground. Looking up Scooby came face to face with a towering woman wearing coveralls, balaclava face mask, and welders goggles. "Rikes" Scooby took off back down the alley, and the figure slipped back out of sight.
By the time Scooby got back the rest of the gang had arrived at the scene. Shaggy saw Scooby was empty handed and shook. "Scoob what happened?"
"Rhe rabbed it!" Scooby exclaimed!
"Uhh, translation?" Kevin asked.
"He said she grabbed it," Hamster replied dryly.
"Who's she? What did she look like Scooby?" Daphne asked. Scooby did his best to explain that the mystery woman was wearing bulky clothes and a mask.
"Well, I'm not sure why anyone would want the mask. But it seems taking the mask off this mannequin was the only noticeable change to this meaning the loss of the headpiece broke the Nightmarionette's enchantment" Fred Grant said as she held up the now limp wooden dummy frame.
"So what you're saying is that the secret is unmasking the ghosts?" Gretel asked for clarification.
"Sounds like how most of our mysteries wrap up," Fred Jones replied. "And now one of three is already unmasked."
"Don't forget the massive clue it smashed into," Velma said pointing to the dumpster filled with the discarded toys. Everyone looked at her puzzled. "Superhero Gretel, while you go back to the tunnel, I need to check the convention center's supply room."
"Okay, but take backup in case that mystery lady Scooby saw is still snooping around," Gretel instructed. So Bailey, Shaggy and Scooby went with Velma into the merchandise storeroom. The dozens of packing crates and boxes were arranged in a maze-like fashion. The contents of the boxes were on the packing labels.
"Hmmm, that's strange, here are the boxes of action figures. But it looks like all the boxes are full." Velma observed.
"But that's impossible, there were at least five hundred of them in those trash cans" Bailey said while trying to pull one package out of the crate. "Wow, this must weigh fifteen pounds."
"Like that's ridiculous," Shaggy said as she dropped it down into his hands. He almost dropped it after being surprised by the weight.
"This mystery is just getting more and more mysterious," Velma said.
"I hope Gretel and the others have found something at the garage," Bailey replied.
"I wonder if anyone else has access to this room besides Hiromi and the other volunteers. Shaggy you and Scooby keep an eye in here, while Bailey and I go see if there was camera facing the door" Velma instructed.
After the girls left the room, Shaggy and Scooby opened a pack of caramel kettle from the snack bar to pass the time. As Shaggy ate from the top of the bag, Scooby snipped the bottom and gobbled the bulk of it down. Looking down into the empty bag, Shaggy gave Scooby the stink eye. He pulled out the last piece but before Scooby could snatch it Shaggy flipped it down across the room, inviting Scooby to fetch it. Scooby chased the snack, leaving shaggy in peace to open a fresh bag for himself. The popcorn came to a stop but before Scooby could eat it, a foot stomped down crushing it; Scooby first looked at the shoe, gulped then looked up. The Nightmarionette was staring down at him, smirking. He stifled a chuckle before saying, "boo." It was enough to send Scooby running.
He knocked Shaggy and the rest of the popcorn over as he ran from the supervillain. Shaggy got back to his feet, spotted the Nightmarionette and turned to follow his friend. "Zoinks! It's the crazy puppet man!" he exclaimed as he ran.
"I am not a puppet!" the Nightmarionette said, chasing them. He fired his staff at the door, and a giant spectral bat appeared to bar escape. Shaggy and Scooby headed back among the crates to try and find a place to hide. Wandering through the maze of boxes, the Nightmarionette kept pointing his staff left to right.
"Cheeseburger, cheeseburger!" Shaggy called. The Nightmarionette jerked around to see Shaggy and Scooby who had pulled a vendor's cart from nowhere and were posing as burger sellers complete with fake mustaches. The villain started to open his mouth but Shaggy cut him off. "Chop chop, you get cheeseburger, now you want lettuce?" Without thinking the Nightmarionette nodded. "Bacon? Pickles?" Again nods as Scooby built the burger in the villain's hand. "Ketchup?" Shaggy asked. At this point the Nightmarionette had forgotten he was chasing them and held up the burger requesting the condiment. Scooby aggressively squeezed the bottle and ketchup went flying, blinding the villain temporarily. Scooby and Shaggy then took the opportunity to split, ducking into an open crate. By the time the Nightmarionette wiped his eyes clean, he had lost them.
Shaggy and Scooby tried to be as quiet as they could be inside the crate. Through a single peep hole they took turns watching him look around. When it looked like the Nightmarionette was coming towards them Scooby jumped back backwards hitting a secret switch in the crate. "Ding," they heard. And the floor of the crate began going down as a secret elevator. "Zoinks, Scooby, something tells me this brings a whole new meaning to mail drop!"
Back in the storeroom the Nightmarionette pounded on the crate, but the secret elevator had already left. Furious, he pulled out a cell phone. "It's me, the skinny boy and the talking dog found the elevator, they're heading your way!" the person on the other side talked for a minute, then the villain replied. "Just keep them there until I get there! We're so close!" He hung up and sighed, "good help is so hard to find."
From right outside the cracked door to the storeroom, Bailey and Velma had heard everything. "Jinkies, this isn't good."
"We've got to get to Hamster and Gretel before they go into that tunnel!" Bailey exclaimed.
(Idiosyncratic wipe of Velma and Bailey)
Back at the garage, before Hamster and Gretel could venture down into the mysterious tunnel the gang discovered treads.
"It's like they moved something; the tracks are too small for a car," Daphne noted.
"Like a wagon, or one of those flat carts they have at the garden center," Kevin said. "And they dig into the ground here."
"What could they have been moving that's that heavy?" Gretel asked. "Any ideas Fred?"
"Well…Hey she was talking to me!" the two Freds replied simultaneously.
"Okay this cannot continue," Daphne interrupted, "Freddy we already call you Freddy most of the time, anyway." Kevin, Gretel and Hamster all voiced agreement; and the same name duo shook hands.
"Okay now that's taken care of, any ideas of what they could be moving Fred or Freddy?" Gretel asked.
"Maybe that enormous pile of dirt behind us," Fred replied.
"That would take a lot of trips!" Gretel replied.
"But look at those tire tracks, they're clearing going down into the tunnel," Freddy added.
While they contemplated Daphne stepped away when Velma called her cellphone. Hamster meanwhile was drawn to a digging sound on the other side of the dirt pile. Flying to the otherside he spotted the Apeman down at the dirt mound to reveal the front end of the delivery truck buried beneath. "Uhh, I think this might count as a clue!" he said. Freddy and Fred looked around the corner just as Hamster tried to grab the Apeman. Unfortunately the monster saw him coming and swatted him away like a fly. He pounded on the dirt pile angrily causing the entire mound to shake. It began to collapse, sending an avalanche of dirt and kick up dust. "Stand clear!" Fred and Freddy saw Hamster come from behind and knocking the Apeman into a wheelbarrow which barreled down the street. "Sorry to do that to endangered species" Hamster said dusting his hands off.
"That's okay Hamster, it's not a real Apeman" Freddy replied.
"Technically it's just a gorilla not an Apeman" Fred replied, agreeing with her lunch lady's previous observation.
Kevin, who was down at the base of the tunnel trying to see if there were any more clues, looked up at the sliding dirt. The truck that had been buried under the dirt was finally loosened and started rolling down into the pit. He screamed, immobilized by fear. But his sister noticed and flew down pushing him back out of the way. The collapsing dirt covered the pit.
"Kevin" cough, cough "are you alright?" Gretel asked. The pair caught their breath and looked back. They had evaded the landslide but the dirt had buried them in the tunnel. And now the delivery truck was uncovered partially but also blocking their exit. Kevin shined the light, but could not see a way out. "Hamster," Gretal called over their earpiece communicator, "we're safe but our way back up to you is kind of gone. We're gonna follow the tunnel…What! Okay keep us posted." She hung up. "Kevin, the Nightmarionette trapped Shaggy and Scooby in some sort of secret elevator! They're heading back to the convention center."
Kevin was half listening as he tried to get the headlight in the truck to start. Finally succeeded they could finally see more of their surroundings then they had with the cellphone light. "Wow! This tunnel looks like it goes on for a mile" he exclaimed.
"I wonder how long it took to dig it?" Gretel pondered. The motor on the truck revved but Kevin could not make it budge. It was still buried in the back but they could now see the logo on the hood. "ACME armored trucks, hmm."
"Well we better start walking if we're gonna get to the other end," Kevin said. But Gretel grabbed the back of his shirt,and flew down the tunnel.
Meanwhile at the other end of the tunnel, an underground room was filled with heavy machinery including a conveyor belt and a forklift. A lone worker was operating a control panel, it was the same woman Scooby had seen when she pocketed the Old Iron Face mask. She quickly powered down the machine and ducked out of sight as a door opened. Shaggy and Scooby exited the room where the elevator had deposited them.
"Man, like wow! This is like some sort of factory." Shaggy said, looking around. The mystery woman watched from the shadows as they looked around. "Looks like this is where that nightmare puppet guy had the Apeman bring that cafeteria oven. I wonder what he's cooking?"
They didn't get any further in their investigation, the sound of muffled voices made their hands stand up and they ducked behind some crates. The braced for the Apeman or the Nightmarionette to appear. But from a large arched doorway Gretel and Kevin flew into the room. "Wow, look at all this," Gretel exclaimed.
"Whoa this must be one of those department store basements they accidentally buried with cement in the eighties, like the arcade under the mall" Kevin said, marveling at the size of the room.
Recognizing the voices, Shaggy and Scooby felt comfortable emerging from their hiding spot. "Boy, are we glad to see you," Shaggy said.
"Shaggy and Scooby, what are you doing down here?" Gretel said, petting Scooby on top of his head.
"Like we went down a secret elevator trying to get away from that scary puppet guy. But what kind of factory is this?" Shaggy asked.
The answer came from above. "Well, what it is, won't really matter, because you're never getting out!" They looked up to see the mystery woman, leaning against the rail. The Phantom was behind her to the right.
Gretel noticed the Old Iron Face mask on the woman's belt. "Scooby, is she the one you saw?" the great dane nodded.
"Yep, and this time you won't get away you meddling dog!" She exclaimed, ripping off the face mask. She had red hair tied in a tight bun, and Scooby and Shaggy immediately recognized her.
"Zoinks! Mama Mione!" Shaggy exclaimed, Scooby echoed his surprised.
"Who?" Kevin asked.
"She was like the one who wore the Old Iron Face disguise the first time, the one who rides the sharks!" Shaggy replied, thankful there were no sharks around.
Mama Mione picked up the Old Iron Face mask and put it on. "You're too little too late on your meddling; see, Nightmarionette may have powered it up for the mannequins, but the power is all in this mask!" She ripped out the steel guardrail and bent it into a knot. Shaggy and Scooby let out fearful cries before running. The woman pointed and ordered the Phantom to give chase which it did.
"Well, here we go again," Gretel said, preparing to punch the Old Iron Face mask yet again. But Mama Mione dodged, taking a different technique from the mannequin. The Phantom meanwhile flew back and forth chasing Scooby Shaggy and Kevin. Suddenly the Nightmarionette arrived in the elevator.
"What is going on here?" He demanded.
"We're blown! Get that shipment loaded, we've gotta get out of here!" Mama Mione said before kicking the oven to flare up the fires to block Gretel.
Scooby Shaggy and Kevin were now running together with the Phantom hot on their trail. "So wait, if the Phantom is completely intangible, then why are we running? He can't hurt us if he can't catch us?" Kevin asked. "And to reiterate, why are we even scared, it's a flying bedsheet?"
"Like we don't give it that much thought, the running is just an impulse!" Shaggy said. "We run he chases; that's how it works. Whether not he ends up solid is beside the point"
Kevin's brain started racing as a plan formulated. "That's it, Scooby when we duck out of corner duck out of sight!" When they did Scooby leapt behind a tower of boxes as the Phantom continued chasing Shaggy and Kevin, they ran the same path but when they reached that corner, Kevin pretended to trip and fall. Shaggy kept going but the Phantom stopped and hovered before Kevin. As he reached for the boy, the Phantom's transparency faded, and Kevin saw it become whole. He silently nodded to Scooby On instinct Scooby shoved the boxes which buried the Phantom. As quick as possible Kevin yanked the sheet out from under the pile. "When it felt safe it was solid!" Kevin explained and Scooby nodded laughing at the floppy sheet. Shaggy ran another loop, before realizing the Phantom had been beaten.
Meanwhile, Gretel was still fighting Mama Mione in her Old Iron Face mask. As they fought, the Nightmarionette loaded the cart of boxes into the elevator . Gretel knew that if she was gonna get them both, she had to throw one of them off. "Hey if you two are working together, who hired who? You gave him an order, but there's no way he was intimidated by you before you had that mask back."
"When you've got a brilliant plan, fear's not a factor!" Mama Mione replied with annoyance.
"Really? And what is that plan? You know Nightmarionette brought visual aids the first I fought him I don't suppose," Gretel continued before Mama Mione cut her off.
"Listen here Shirley Temple, you can't expect every villain to explain their entire plan to you now stop stalling and fight!"
"Fine I already stalled long enough for Hamster to sneak in through the vents," Gretel replied. Mama Mione turned around but Hamster was above her and yanked the iron mask off her head. Gretel flew up and ripped the track off the conveyor belt and tied her up. "I think you lost track and got wrapped up in your angry rant!" Gretel joked before hi-fiving Hamster. Shaggy, Scooby and Kevin cheered.
"Uh-oh, time to go!" Nightmarionette said as he hit the up button on the elevator. As the door closed, Mama Mione gave a panicked look at her partner as he left her behind.
Scooby began frantically pressing the button for the elevator to come back down. "Hamster when it gets back take Mama Mione to the police, we'll take care of Nightmarionette," suggested Kevin.
"Don't worry he won't get far" Hamster reassured. "I was assured by the guy with the ascot that trap was foolproof."
At the top of the elevator the Nightmarionette pushed the cart the boxes toward a waiting 18-wheeled truck. He chuckled at his near victory. But as the heavy box neared the truck the engine started. In the rearview mirror, Daphne saw the Nightmarionette look dumbfounded. She put the truck in drive and went forwards two feet. The heavier ramp end fell the ground propelling the villain up and into the convention banner. As he held onto the banner trying not to fall when he heard Bailey call "yoohoo" from the window. He looked just as she untied the banner which now had a bottle rocket attached. The fabric spun with the villain still attached. He screamed as the banner fabric looped around his body. The rocket wrapped him like a burrito.
Freddie then hit the button that lowered the other end of the banner. Velma and Fred waited with a trashcan which they caught the Nightmarionette in. "Be honest, do your traps always go this well?" Fred asked, amazed by the performance of the rube goldberg trap.
"Literally almost never!" Velma replied. The Nightmarionette frowned, thinking it was just his luck.
Moments later after the rest of the group had come back up in the elevator; Veronica Hill arrived with the news camera and the police. "Excellent work Hamster and Gretel, and other kids! You've caught the villains and stopped," the reporter stopped realizing she didn't know what the villains had been doing. "I'm still not exactly sure what was going on."
Velma addressed the camera first. "It's quite simple, Mama Mione and the Nightmarionette met after escaping prison; together they hijacked the ACME armored truck full of gold bricks."
"That was the delivery truck they buried under all that dirt in the garage," Freddy added.
"They hid their loot in the secret room under the convention center."
"And where is this loot now?" Veronica asked.
"They melted them down to change their shape." Daphne replied.
"Wait, is that why they stole the oven from our school?" Fred asked.
"The lunch lady did say they got it from a smelter," Kevin answered.
"I mean think about what's more obvious driving a truck full of gold bars or a truck full of Yuko Cheerleader action figures?" Gretel said and she and Hamster sat down the packing palette of action figure boxes. "That's why they were so heavy!" She applied a mild dose of heat vision to melt the paint off and reveal a golden cheerleader.
"That gives new meaning to the term mint condition" Veronica replied.
"And then like the Nightmarionette used his staff on the old monster costumes to scare everyone away" Shaggy said. "That way they could ship it out and pretend it was the unsold action figures from the convention and that they were heading to the charity place or something."
"Too bad the Old Iron Face mannequin came back to the convention center through the secret elevator" Bailey added.
"We'd have gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for you meddling kids, Hamster and Gretel and that mangy mutt!" The Nightmarionette shouted as the police took him and Mama Mione away. His co-conspirator was staring angrily at him, after he tried to leave her behind. He gave an innocent smile but it did not diffuse her anger.
"Well this has certainly been a strange mystery," Daphne said as she folded the Phantom sheet. She sat it in their box next to the Old Iron Face mask. "Wait! What happened to the Apeman?"
Everyone looked at Hamster who was the last one to deal with it. "What?" As if on cue the Apeman rose up at the table behind Hamster and his burrito and roared. Shaggy jumped backwards into Velma's arms, and Kevin, who had been standing closest to the table, jumped into Gretel's arms. Then the mask came off and Scooby was revealed. He and Hamster laughed; soon joined by Daphne, Freddie Bailey, and Fred.
"Scooby Dooby Doo!" Scooby said, and the words appeared in comic font over his head.