Chapter 19: The discovery, a massive chase, the capture and unmasking
After Fred opened the door, the group peeked through the crack and investigated the room nervously.
To their relief, there were some machinery and equipment inside the room, which appeared to be in a rather big mess.
"Wow, look at all of this equipment!" Skip whistled as they entered the room.
"Like, someone's sure a messy housekeeper." Shaggy remarked.
"It looks like a printing shop." April observed as they looked around the room.
Velma's eyes soon settled on a printing machine where dozens of dollar Notes were produced, and upon grabbing a finished Note, she said. "And I believe this is what is being printed by the printing machine, guys."
"Let me a wild guess, it's counterfeit money." Clam said.
"That's one devil of a wild guess, Clamhead." Shelly said as she spotted the misprint of President Lincoln's hair style on the Note. "So. this is the workshop where the counterfeiters were producing the counterfeit money!"
"We'd better fetch the police, guys." Fred says.
"You said it, Fred." Dee-Dee nodded. "No doubt Shaggy's dad is not going to be impressed when he hears about this."
Shaggy nodded, having had gathered from his dad about the police department's ongoing efforts to shut down counterfeiting operations in the city.
"Nor would the Treasury Department be impressed either." Shaggy added.
"Better hurry, guys." Henry advised as the group quickly made their way for the door, only to find a surprise awaiting them on the other side of it.
It was the phantom, who was now accompanied by a pair of zombie-like accomplices.
"Not so fast!" The phantom hollered.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed. "The Phantom of the Library and two z-z-z-zombies!"
"Ripe!" Scooby exclaimed as he leaped into Shaggy's arms.
"Jeepers!" Daphne said when she saw the zombies.
"Zowie, those zombies must be the students that failed to return their books on time!" Taffy remarked.
"Good guess." Biff remarked.
"Let's get out of here!" Henry shouted.
The others needed no further urging as they all bolted out of the door and raced down the hallway before the three creeps could grab them.
"Don't just stand there, you fools!" The Phantom ordered. "Get those meddling kids!"
The two zombified accomplices only growled in acknowledgement as they give chase to the group.
Racing down the dark hallway, the group reached the stairs and raced up, eventually arriving at the library.
"Whew!" Skip panted as they stopped to catch their breaths. "I think we've lost them, guys."
However, just as he finished the remark, they heard the ghostly-holler and footsteps from the secret passageway.
"But not for long, Skip." Brenda said.
As the zombies and the phantom came into view, Shaggy shouted, "Gangway!"
Immediately, the group took off just as the three spooks managed to enter the library.
Racing out of the library, they reached the main hallway and spotted Droopy walking nearby.
"Droopy!" Fred shouted, getting the dogs attention. "Call the police!"
Seeing the three spooks chasing the group, the poodle turned towards the fourth wall and remarked, "I am frightened by those three spookies that I am calling the cops."
He then left the scene just as the three spooks chased the group to a straight hallway with several doors on both sides of it.
Seeing the doors, the group quickly split up and ended up entering different classrooms where some of the other after-school clubs were taking place.
Not sure which door to pick, the three spooks picked the first on the right and entered just as a section of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue started playing in the background again.
(The following chase sequence is taken from the old Cartoon Network bumper that took place in a hotel and used the music in the background for the chase sequence. In fact, like the old bumper, a lot of different characters, including the gang are going to be involved, except that for this sequence, only Hanna-Barbera characters will be featured)
A short second later, that door opened, and Tom chasing Jerry exited from it and entered the door across the hallway.
Then, from the second door on the right, Top Cat raced out of it with Officer Dibble in close pursuit as they raced across the hallway.
After that, the Flintstone Flyer flew out from the third door to the left, with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble on board, followed by Wilma and Betty in close pursuit. Fred was flapping his arms with Barney peddling hard while Wilma was armed with a bowling ball and Betty with a club.
Then, Daphne exited the fourth door as she was chased by one of the zombies across the hallway.
That zombie soon exited the third door on the left as it was chased by Velma across the hallway.
After that, Quick Draw McGraw emerged from the fifth door, armed with his pistols and ready to fire, but before he could reach the door across the hallway, he ended up getting hit by a shot from nowhere, leading him to about turn and race back, only to get hit.
That went on before he finally fired a shot that put a stop to him being hit by those three shots, where he then returned to the door he just exited.
Then, April exited the fourth door on the left, followed by the Phantom chasing Fred out of the third door on the right, which was then followed by Biff racing out from the second door on the left.
After that, Augie exited the fifth door on the left, followed by one of the zombies chasing Debbie out from the fourth door on the right, which was then followed by Velma racing out from the third door on the left.
Eventually, Shaggy and Scooby zoomed through several of the doors before entering the sixth door on the right with the phantom in close pursuit.
However, just as the phantom reached the door, the school bell suddenly rang, and it hardly had time to react before a stampede of students emerged from the door and mowed it down, and the other students exited the other doors and raced across the hallway.
It was followed by Yogi Bear and Boo Boo Bear silently sneaking towards the fifth door on the right with a picnic basket to avoid getting caught by Ranger Smith.
After that, more students raced across the hallway from different doors before the group finally regrouped and raced down the hallway, followed closely by the phantom and the two zombies.
Soon, the group reached a corner and made the turn onto the perpendicular hallway. However, Shaggy and Scooby happened to have stepped on a puddle left behind by the janitor that was moping the floor and slipped.
"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby slipped towards a nearby cart full of cleaning supplies and bumped into it, leading it to take off and speed towards the approaching spooks.
"Shaggy! Scooby!" Velma shouted as she, Daphne, and Fred turned and saw the duo on the cart heading for the spooks. "Look out!"
During this time, the Phantom and the two zombies saw the approaching cart with Shaggy and Scooby on board and stopped in their tracks before racing off in the opposite direction.
However, they couldn't get away fast enough, and the cart and the duo crashed right into them.
Rushing over to the crash scene, Fred and the girls found a large mess in front of them.
Shaggy and Scooby were lying on the floor with some of the cleaning supplies on their backs, while a bucket was on the phantom's head with the overturned cart above the two zombies.
"Are you guys alright?" Daphne asked as she helped Shaggy up while Fred and Velma moved to Scooby.
"Like, we just had an accident." Shaggy laughed nervously. "Other than that, I think we're okay."
"Reah." Scooby agreed as he got up.
"Well, at least you guys captured the phantom and the two zombies." Velma remarked as sirens can be heard from outside and the rest of the group approached.
Moments later, the school faculty and the gang were at the school's front parking lot as the authorities arrived with the three spooks handcuffed.
"We came as soon as we received the phone call from Mr. McPoodle." The patrol sergeant said as he gestured towards Droopy. "And it looks like we've got ourselves a lady phantom and two zombies."
"Actually, sergeant, they're not a phantom and two zombies." Fred clarified as Biff and Dee-Dee moved to the spooks and prepare to unmask them. "They're really..."
At that moment, the duo pulled the masks off, and everyone gasped as they recognized the woman behind the Phantom's mask.
"Ms. Christopherson?!" Everyone, except for the police officers, exclaimed as the librarian is revealed to be behind the mask.
"I don't get it!" Principal Spears said. "Ms. Christopherson is usually a quiet person and never likes rough activities."
"You're right, Principal Spears." Henry agreed as he pointed at her face and said, "There's someone else behind the mask."
"There is?" Principal Spears asked.
Dee-Dee and April both nodded as the former pulled the mask off, revealing another lady behind the mask.
There was some silence before Mr. McDabble recognized her face and said, "Why, I know that woman. She's Alice Marcel, a former chemistry teacher that used to work in the school's science faculty before she was fired by the school board after she was suspected of stealing chemicals for her personal use."
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