Chapter 6

The Culprit Revealed

The Tar Monster searched around the strongman attraction known as the High Striker for anyone. He soon found Shaggy, Cyber Shaggy, Pinkie, and Sunset, but didn't recognize them, due to their disguises. Shaggy hit the Tar Monster with the High Striker's mallet, giving the four of them a chance to get away. Elsewhere, Rarity, Daphne and Cyber Daphne were exploring the Haunted House attraction in an attempt to hide. The three of them nearly fell down a trap down after one of them accidentally hit a button with her foot.

"Now I know why they call you Danger-prone Daphne!" Rarity remarked.

Daphne just glared at her friend. She then hit the button to close the trap door in front of them. Soon, they came to a couple of funhouse mirrors, where they encountered the Creeper. Just when it seemed like they were cornered, Daphne remembered the trap door. She hit her foot on the switch, causing the Creeper to lose his balance and tumble down the slide. Just then, all three girls noticed that he was climbing back up. Rarity hit her foot on the switching, trapping the Creeper.

"That door won't hold him long!" she said.

Daphne, Cyber Daphne and Rarity then decided to leave the attraction and find another place to hide.

Meanwhile, Fred, Cyber Fred, Applejack, and Rainbow were on the High Boy rollercoaster trying to escape Gator Ghoul. Suddenly, they all noticed that a portion of the rollercoaster track was unfinished.

"What do we do, now?" asked Cyber Fred.

"Jump!" said Fred.

"ARE YOU OUT OF MIND, FREDDY?!" shouted Rainbow. "WE'RE FIVE STORIES UP!"

"Down there!"

Fred pointed to the bounce house below them. Just before Gator Ghoul could reach them, the four of them jumped and landed on top of the bounce house safely. This left Rainbow pretty shaken.

"I… hate… rollercoasters."

They then slid down and saw Gator Ghoul go flying as he hit the bump in the track.

Meanwhile, Velma, Cyber Velma and Twilight were exploring the wax museum. They were creeped out by them, as wax figures tend to look surprisingly real at times. They then came to the area where the figures were made and encountered Old Iron Face. Before they could try to get out, all three of the girls ended up bumping into each other, knocking their glasses off. Old Iron Face tripped over Velma and fell into the cauldron filled with molten wax. Both Velma and Cyber Velma handed each other their glasses, while Twilight continued to search for hers. She eventually found them and put them back on. Just then, Old Iron Face emerged from the molten wax until he stopped. Unfortunately, not even hardened wax was enough to stop him. The girls decided to make a run for it.

Finally, Scooby, Cyber Scooby and Fluttershy were on a carousel trying to escape Jaguaro. Jaguaro wasn't so stupid, however, as he noticed the dogs posing as carousel horses. He eventually ran around so fast that he didn't see them get off the ride. Just then, the ride started to speed up. It turns out that Fluttershy was operating the control lever that changed the speed. She then cranked it up to full speed, which ended up flinging Jaguaro into the milk bottle toss stand. One of the milk bottles hit on the head, causing him to groan in pain.

"Bad kitty!" she teased before hi-fiving the dogs.

Just then, Fred, Cyber Fred, Applejack, and Rainbow walked up to them. The three of them were suddenly terrified.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked.

"B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Behind you!" Fluttershy shivered.

It was Gator Ghoul. Suddenly, Shaggy, Cyber Shaggy, Pinkie, and Sunset came running towards them. They ran so fast that they ended up trampling over Gator Ghoul.

"Like, the Tar Monster's right behind us," whimpered Shaggy.

"And boy, is he mad!" added Cyber Shaggy.

Indeed, he was. The Tar Monster slowly walked towards them while growling angrily.

"RUN!" Rainbow shouted.

And that's what everyone did.

Elsewhere, Daphne, Cyber Daphne and Rarity entered a saloon as they were being chased by the Creeper. Once the Creeper entered the place, the girls were now in old Western clothes, with Rarity taking on the appearance of a showgirl. They put cowboy-like clothes on him and gave him a flash-lamp. Rarity gave the thumbs-up and winked at Daphne, who was behind the camera. As soon as she took the picture, the flash powder exploded in his face.

Meanwhile, Velma, Cyber Velma and Twilight managed to make it to the petting zoo. Twilight saw one of the baby goats and started petting it. Suddenly, Old Iron Face starting chasing them until the adult goat rammed him with its horns. This caused him to go flying into the chicken coop. This resulted in a baby chick hatching on top of his hat, causing Twilight to giggle.

At the bumper cars, Fred, Cyber Fred, Applejack, and Rainbow were enjoying themselves until Gator Ghoul intervened.

"Hey, A.J., over there!" Rainbow said.

"You got it, Dash," Applejack nodded.

The girls got between Gator Ghoul's car and forced him to go flying into the dunk tank.

"He's all yours, Freddy!"

Fred took off one of his shoes and tossed it at the target. Once he did, the board hit Gator Ghoul on the head, knocking him out.

Meanwhile, Shaggy, Cyber Shaggy, Sunset, and Pinkie were getting cotton candy when they immediately noticed the Tar Monster. They then ducked behind the soda stand and blasted him with the soda, knocking him into the cotton candy machine. Both Sunset and Pinkie hi-fived each other at their success.

Scooby, Cyber Scooby and Fluttershy, on the other hand, were enjoying themselves on the log ride until Jaguaro showed up. The three of them started paddling until they noticed a waterfall ahead of them. Thinking fast, the three of them jumped off as the log went down. Jaguaro soon followed suit.

Later, everyone else had met up with each other and were looking for Scooby, Cyber Scooby, and Fluttershy. The three of them eventually reunited with their friends. Both Scooby and Cyber Scooby jumped on Shaggy and Cyber Shaggy and licked their faces.

"Now that we're all here, we've got one last monster to face," said Fred.

"The Phantom Virus," Daphne said in determination.

"And this is the final level, so the Virus won't be easy to beat," added Velma.

Just then, Shaggy felt a bulge in his pocket. It was the super magnet that Professor Kaufman gave him earlier.

"You're meaning to tell me that you had that thing in your pocket THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Sunset fumed.

"Yeah, I guess I was too busy being scared," Shaggy chuckled.

Just then, the entire Cyber Gang starting glitching out.

"I don't believe it!" gasped Twilight. "They're made of the same electromagnetic energy as the Virus! Shaggy, you better put that thing away, right now."

Shaggy put it away as Fred realized that the magnet was the key to defeating the Phantom Virus. Everyone then suggested that the Cyber Gang remain outside the video arcade while they went to go grab the Scooby Snacks. Just as Scooby went for the box of Scooby Snacks, the Virus emerged from the Scooby-Doo arcade cabinet.

"Ready to play some games?" he asked sinisterly.

He then shot out beams of electromagnetic energy at various cabinets, bringing them to life. The cabinets then starting attacking the gang.

"Shaggy! The magnet!" Velma shouted.

Shaggy got the magnet out after hiding behind a cabinet. Unfortunately, he was too far away and trembling in fear. The Virus, on the other hand, was blasting out electromagnetic energy like a maniac.

"Shaggy, toss it here!" Sunset called from behind a cabinet.

Shaggy tossed the magnet to his girlfriend, who then caught it in midair.

"Hey, you stupid piece of malware, try this on for size!"

She walked up to him with the magnet, which weakened him. Seeing that it was working, Scooby decided to try to go for the box of Scooby Snacks. Suddenly, Sunset tripped over a ball, causing her to lose the magnet underneath one of the cabinets.

"NOOOO!"

Just before she could get it, the Virus zapped the cabinet, causing its wires to ensnare Sunset's legs. It looked as if nothing could stop the Virus, now. To prove how powerful he had become, the Virus created a makeshift baseball to toss at them.

The Cyber Gang decided to try and help their real-world counterparts. Before they could, however, they all saw that the monsters were back. While the monsters chased Cyber Fred, Cyber Daphne, Cyber Velma, and Cyber Shaggy, Cyber Scooby decided to help the others. He pulled as hard as he could but couldn't get the wires off of Sunset's legs. Seeing the Scooby Snacks then gave Sunset a brilliant idea. After telling him her plan, Cyber Scooby told Scooby the plan. Cyber Scooby was to distract the Virus while the real Scooby-Doo went for the box of Scooby Snacks. The plan worked. Once Scooby grabbed the final box, the Phantom Virus was officially defeated.

"YEEHAW! WAY TO GO, SCOOBY-DOO!" Applejack cheered.

As the Virus shrieked out in pain, everything he controlled started reverting back to normal. Even the monsters outside the video arcade disappeared. Once they were gone, the Virus himself disappeared, as well. He was gone. The gang had won. Just then, the arcade disappeared and the gang's ride back to the real world had appeared. While they were sad to see them go, the Cyber Gang knew that the gang had to get back to their world.

"I guess this is goodbye," Velma said sadly as the gangs separated from each other.

"Thanks for all the help!" called Daphne.

After she said that, the entire gang was teleported back to the real world in the computer lab. Everyone was so happy to be home. No one was more happy to see the gang than Phantasma.

"YOU'RE BACK!" she shrieked. She flew up to Twilight and gave her a big hug as she cried spectral tears. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Everyone okay?" Wembley asked.

"I think so," said Velma.

"Well done! You've saved the world from a terrible menace!" Professor Kaufman congratulated.

"But did you find out who created the virus?" asked Bill.

"We've got a pretty good idea," said Fred.

"Good, because whoever created the virus must be punished!" said Professor Kaufman.

"I'm glad you agree with that, Professor, because YOU'RE just as much of a suspect as anyone else!" said Twilight.

"But I'm a scientist! I've dedicated my life to my students and this university!"

"But you also stood to make a quarter million dollars at the science fair," said Fred.

"If you stole the invention," Daphne added.

"Uh, shouldn't we discount him? I mean, he showed genuine concern when the virus attacked, after all," said Pinkie.

"Be that as it may, I think we have better evidence to prove his innocence. Don't we Velma?" said Twilight.

"Right," said Velma. "Once we were inside the game, we found some important clues."

"Our first clue came when we were on the moon level," said Daphne. "The Phantom Virus shouted play ball!"

"And on the colosseum level, we found some chalk lines like a large diamond," Fred added.

As the gang continued talking about the clues they found, no one seemed to notice Bill slowly backing away. That's when everyone realized that the culprit was Bill. He was the one who created the Phantom Virus. Bill tried to escape but was soon caught off guard by Phantasma. She materialized through the floor and made a scary face. It was so terrifying that Bill ended up knocking over his own workspace. Wembley handcuffed him for his crimes.

"Bill, you were my best friend," said Eric.

"And my best student," said Professor Kaufman.

"But you didn't pick my project!" Bill snarled.

"Bill, if you go into how long you've been here compared to us, I swear I'm going to smack some sense into you!" Twilight threatened.

"But it's true!"

Twilight slapped Bill out of anger.

"You invented that stupid virus just to scare Eric away! And then when my friends showed up, you beamed myself and them into the game, all because you were afraid that we'd find out that it was you who created the virus! That's low, Bill. That's really low."

After Bill was arrested, Eric took the gang to a restaurant for some lunch. While there, he explained to them that he put in some new playable characters. The gang took one look at his laptop and realized that he meant the Rainbooms in their outfits that they wore when they were in high school. There they were with the Cyber Gang, who were happy to see them. Cyber Sunset even went up and hugged Cyber Shaggy the same way that Sunset hugs the real Shaggy. It was quite the adventure. One that the gang will never forget.

THE END