Post by Doo on Aug 12, 2022 7:06:13 GMT -5
I’ve always been disappointed with how The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo ended with only twelve of the thirteen ghosts being caught. Although Warner Brothers did try to remedy this 34 years later with Scooby-Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost, the movie unfortunately suffered from significant continuity errors, and ultimately, a lackluster conclusion that implied the events of the series may have been all just a fever dream.
That’s what inspired me to write this fanfic. At least to my knowledge, there haven’t been any pieces of fanfiction that conclude this series that aren’t just a complete rewrite of the series. I wanted to try my hand at writing a proper conclusion to this series without completely altering major elements of it. I thought about making this fanfic multiple chapters like my previous Scooby-Doo stories, but I decided against it, because I wanted to make this feel like the finale episode of the series that many fans feel we should have gotten. Writing an overly flashy fanfic with tons of chapters didn’t really feel like it would stay true to the tone of this series, as I think if we would have gotten a finale, it probably would have been very similar to the style of the premiere, rather than a cinematic-level piece. Since my most major issue with Curse of the 13th Ghost was that it felt like they didn’t even attempt to stay close to the tone of the original film, I tried to keep this as close to the tone of the original series as I could. (That being said, I can absolutely understand why the writer of the film, Tim Sheridan, did what he did given the restrictions he had from Warner Brothers executives)
All that being said, I hope you enjoy this fanfic!
-----------
The full moon illuminated the area above the great mystic Vincent Van Ghoul’s castle. The harried adventurers were thrilled to have a relaxing break from ghoul-chasing after their recent adventures of traveling all over the world, between going coast to coast to retrieve an evil jewel that could turn people to stone, and traveling to Scooby’s home, Dooville, where a vengeful spirit had attempted to indoctrinate people into his circus of evil. This wasn’t even getting into the fact that they’d traveled into an alternate comic book universe and beyond the bounds of time. Albeit, the break from ghostbusting was temporary for Daphne, Shaggy, Flim-Flam, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. They still had a difficult job ahead of them: capturing the thirteenth and final ghost from a chest that housed 13 of the most terrifying ghosts on the face of the Earth.
“Like, this sure is a delicious dinner, Mr. Van Ghoul!” Shaggy exclaimed, chowing down on his last bite of spaghetti and meatballs.
“I’m glad you like it, Shaggy, but there’s much work to be done.” Vincent replied, a very serious tone present in his voice.
“Yeah! We’ve still gotta nab that last ghostie, don’t we Uncle Scooby?” Scrappy eagerly chirped.
“Reah…rut I rish re didn’t!” Scooby let out a nervous chuckle.
“Just think about it, Scooby! Once we’ve captured this next ghost, all thirteen will be back in the chest, and we can put this nightmare behind us!” Flim-Flam comforted his furry friend.
“Do you know anything about this last ghost, Vincent?” Daphne inquired, prior to eating a bite of meatball.
“Ah yes, I do.” Vincent nodded. “This ghost is particularly elusive, but she is also particularly powerful. The ghost’s name is the Crimson Skull.”
“Crimson Skull?” Scrappy repeated. “Any relation to the Red Skull?”
“Oh boy, like, don’t remind me about that guy!” Shaggy gulped. “Meeting him twice was too many times already; we don’t need a third!”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Vincent replied, before continuing his explanation. Vincent was certainly a man who liked getting down to business. “The Crimson Skull has the power to hypnotize anyone she touches into doing her bidding.”
“Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed. “I don’t like the sound of that!”
“What exactly does this Crimson Numbskull want?” Scrappy sassed.
“I believe she is looking for the Beast’s Jaw, a fabled jewel that allows the departed to open the Chest of Demons.” Vincent responded. “When the Ursolvania townspeople banded together and built the Chest of Demons, there was one citizen who revolted from the group. The man frequently dabbled in the dark arts, and created his own jewel using black magic. The jewel was designed to perfectly fit the demon trophy’s mouth on the front of the chest to open the latch, and is able to free the spirits within.”
“Do we know where this demon is, Vince?” Flim-Flam asked in between bites of spaghetti.
“If my hunch is correct, I believe she will be in the Cave of Confoundation.” Vincent revealed.
“What makes you think that?” Daphne inquired.
“Because that is where the jewel is hidden.” Vincent replied. “I do not know its exact location, but if you want to find the thirteenth ghost, that is where you should search. Even if she is not in the cave, it will still give you an opportunity to retrieve the jewel before the Crimson Skull does.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Van Ghoul! We’ll show that Crimson Skull what’s what!” Scrappy answered, as he took his last few bites of spaghetti. Everyone had finished their meals at this point, so Vincent stood up from his chair and began collecting plates.
“Like, don’t be so sure about that.” Shaggy gulped. “What if the Crimson Skull g-g-grabs us?”
“It is imperative you do not let that happen. Even a single touch will leave you hypnotized and completely under the Skull’s command. You will be nothing but a vessel, a mere slave, to whatever she wants you to do, which probably will include opening the Demon Chest.” Vincent’s expression became deadly serious.
“Ruh-roh!” Scooby gasped.
“Are you sure you won’t come along to help, Mr. Van Ghoul?” Shaggy asked.
“I’m afraid I cannot. You are the ones who opened the Chest, and therefore, you must be the ones to finish this.” Vincent firmly stated. “If you need any help, you know how to reach me.”
“Thank you for a lovely dinner, Mr. Van Ghoul.” Daphne politely said. “That cave is just about a few hours north of there, thankfully. At least we don’t have to travel far.”
“That’ll be a snap, right Uncle Scooby?” Scrappy said to his uncle. “We’ll be there in no time to splat that ghostie!”
“Reah.” Scooby laughed nervously.
“Thanks, Vince. We won’t let you down!” Flim-Flam assured.
-
It had been a relatively short trip. Scrappy, Scooby and Shaggy played cards in the back of the van whilst Daphne drove. Once they were within a few miles of the cave, Flim-Flam pulled out the Specter Detector and attempted to see if he could get a reading.
“Aww shucks, nothing.” Flim-Flam shook his head.
“Maybe we’re not close enough yet.” Daphne shrugged.
“Like, I would say we’re too close…” Shaggy gulped. “...for comfort, that is!”
“What makes you say that, Shaggy?” Scrappy inquired. “Like Flim-Flam said earlier, once we nab this ghostie, we’ll have all of ‘em back in the chest! Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah…I guess so.” Shaggy gulped. The idea of simply having to capture one more ghost frightened him enough where he couldn’t move past his fear to think about the long-term benefits it might have.
“I think this is it, guys.” Daphne pointed to an eerie-looking cave. The opening to it was shaped like a skull, which was ironically quite fitting given the name of the ghoul they needed to capture. A few nearby autumn-kissed trees swayed violently in the wind, their brown and orange leaves quickly falling as they were assaulted by the wind. On the other side of the road, a wooden guard rail protected drivers from accidentally falling in the large lake and waterfall. The tide of the nearby lake was moving quickly due to how high the winds were. The pouring rain streamed into the lake, each droplet causing a ripple. Just as a burst of lightning appeared in the sky, its frequent partner in crime, thunder, was quick to follow, causing a boom to resound through the purple night sky.
“What a rainstorm!” Scrappy gasped. “Looks like we’re going to get soaked if we go out there!”
“Ah shucks, guess Scrappy’s right! It’s raining too hard! Guess we can’t go outside.” Shaggy said with a light chuckle.
“C’mon guys, getting a little wet is nothing when you consider the good we’ll be doing. Think about it, we’ll be capturing one of the most evil spirits on Earth!” Flim-Flam reasoned. “Besides, the Crimson Skull is trying to open the chest, remember? If she does that, we’ll have to capture all 13 again! Wouldn’t you rather we just capture this ghost now and be done with it?”
“Like, you drive a hard bargain, Flim-Flam.” Shaggy accepted.
“Of course I do! I don’t have all that sales experience for nothing…” Flim-Flam bragged, before his attention immediately turned back to the Specter Detector when he heard a loud beep. “Oh! I’ve got a reading on this! It says our ghost friend is in that cave!”
“Zoinks! We better stay in here then and guard the van! You know, like, in case anyone tries to steal it.” Shaggy explained.
“Shaggy, c’mon. Don’t be such a chicken. Think of all the good we’ll be doing for the world by capturing this ghoul.” Daphne reminded.
“We’ll let you guys take the credit for that.” Shaggy sheepishly smiled.
“Reah. Re’ll stay here!” Scooby added.
“Would you two do it for a Scooby Snack?” Daphne inquired.
“Like, you found our weakness.” Shaggy chuckled. Almost as quickly as Daphne chucked two snacks up in the air, the cowardly companions gobbled them down.
“Re’re ready!” Scooby confirmed.
“Good.” Daphne smiled. “I just wish we would have been ready for this storm.”
“Not to worry, Daphne! It’s Flim-Flam’s unconventional umbrellas, to the rescue! Just a new invention I’ve been working on.” Flim-Flam said. Although the rest of the gang had no idea, Flim-Flam reached in the back seat and pulled out a group of five black umbrellas. He handed one to each of his friends, whilst keeping one for himself.
“Quick thinking, Flim-Flam!” Scrappy said, as he extended his umbrella. It was so large compared to his small physique that it nearly covered his whole body, but it still functioned.
“A little too quick, if you ask me.” Daphne said, as the others looked up at her umbrella to see it was disintegrating. Shaggy and Scooby’s umbrella were both following apart as well. The rain seemed to go right through the top of the umbrellas, causing them to melt.
“Zoinks! Like what is this, acid rain?” Shaggy gulped, as the rain dribbled through the fabric of the umbrella right onto his skin.
“Ah shucks. I shouldn’t have used paper!” Flim-Flam shrugged.
“It’s okay.” Daphne said, as she caught her breath from running through the rain once she reached the opening of the cave. “We’re here now.”
“Well, where should we start looking, guys?” Flim-Flam replied once he reached the cave’s mouth.
“I guess we should just go in and look around.” Daphne suggested.
Upon entering the cave, the gang saw rock walls for miles. On top of the walls, there were also numerous scraggly rock formations coming from the ceiling and cave floor. Vines hung from many of these rock formations, straddling from one stalactite to another. If all of this wasn’t spooky enough, a mist created a gruesome green glow throughout the cave, making it difficult to see.
“It’s so dark and foggy in here that I can barely see!” Daphne exclaimed.
“Not to fear!” Flim-Flam exclaimed. “I’ve got an invention that should fix this right up.”
From his baggy yellow pocket in his outfit, Flim-Flam pulled out a large flashlight.
“Let’s put some light on the subject.” Flim-Flam said, as he turned his flashlight on. “I call it: the Fabulous Flim-Flam Flashlight! I’m still working on the name…”
Flim-Flam’s flashlight was so bright that it illuminated the cave so they were now able to see more than a few feet in front of them.
“That’s great, Flim-Flam, but what if somebody sees us?” Shaggy gulped.
“Shaggy has a point.” Daphne agreed. “Is there a lower setting for that flashlight, Flim-Flam? We don’t want the Crimson Skull to know we’re coming.”
“Oh, but I already do!” a creepy voice hissed. The individual connected to it quickly emerged from the fog, revealing a terrifyingly skeletal body wearing a dark purple cape. Besides the cape, the Crimson Skull’s form was completely composed of bones unconnected to any skin or organs. The Skull’s face looked almost soulless, with her creepy grin and two holes for eyes that conveyed no emotion whatsoever except vacantness.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy screamed. “It’s, like, the Crimson Skull! She’s found us!”
“Yes, I have!” the Skull rasped. “I know what you seek, and you will not find it before I.”
With that, the Skull lunged at Daphne, causing her to leap out of the way in terror.
“In the words of the great Confused One…I’m outta here!” Flim-Flam screamed, as his four companions scrambled with him into the nearest cavern.
Unfortunately for them, it was so foggy that Shaggy and Scooby didn’t see where their three friends had gone, and ran into a different cavern. Thus, the groups were separated, and the Crimson Skull chose to pursue Shaggy and Scooby instead of the other three.
“Like, quick, Scoob, do you see any place to hide?” Shaggy asked.
“Rhere!” Scooby pointed to a large row of stalagmites affixed to the cave floor. They were thankfully large enough to hide behind without the Crimson Skull seeing them…or at least, that’s what the cowardly companions hoped.
Shaggy and Scooby’s bodies both tightened in fear when they heard the Crimson Skull’s footsteps walk past. Luckily for them, the thirteenth ghost didn’t think to look behind the stalagmites.
“Wherever you are, I will find you!” The Crimson Skull hissed, her eyes glowing a wicked shade of crimson in anger. “You cannot hide from the Crimson Skull for long!”
Shaggy and Scooby didn’t get up until a few minutes after they heard the Skull run into the next cave, just to ensure she didn’t return and discover their hiding spot.
“Phew, that was close!” Shaggy gulped.
“Reah! Rank roodness she ridn’t rind us!” Scooby breathed a sigh of relief.
“Like, what happened to Daphne, Scrappy and Flim-Flam?” Shaggy inquired of his cowardly canine.
Scooby glanced around frantically for a moment, before he realized that he was unsure. “Ri ron’t know!”
“They must have gone into the other cave!” Shaggy realized. “That creepy Crimson Skull shouldn’t come back through here now that she’s checked it. It should be safe to go back through the main cave. Let’s go back and catch up with them.”
-
Meanwhile, Daphne, Flim-Flam and Scrappy were still exploring the other cavern. The surroundings were much the same: tons of rock formations as far as the eye could see, a misty atmosphere, and that same strange eerie green glow.
“I wish we could see more than three feet in front of us!” Scrappy lamented.
“Not to fear, Scrap old buddy!” Flim-Flam exclaimed. “I can pull out my trusty Flim-Flam Fabulous Flashlight again and light the way…at a lower setting, of course.”
“I think it’s best we stay away from any inventions that might lead the Crimson Skull to us again.” Daphne replied. “Besides, we’ve still got to find that jewel.”
“Yeah, I wonder where it could be.” Flim-Flam pondered.
“Speaking of that, I wonder where Shaggy and Scooby could be. We lost them when we were running.” Scrappy pointed out.
“Hopefully they’ll turn up soon.” Daphne responded.
-
“Alright, Scoob, let’s turn here. I think this is the way back to the other cave.” Shaggy replied. “Now, whatever you do, stick close.”
“Rokay, Raggy.” Scooby agreed, as he put his paw on Shaggy whilst walking with him. He quickly felt a hand grasp his back as well. At first, he didn’t think anything of it, but then it hit him: if Shaggy was ahead of him, who was behind him?
Scooby flipped around in a frightened frenzy to see that a giant spider had placed two tentacles on him.
“Rikes!” he yelped, as he briefly looked at the huge spider’s menacing red eyes. The spider hissed at him in response, causing Scooby to run as quick as he could.
“Like, what’s the problem, Scoob…” Shaggy began speaking, before he quickly had a change of tune once he saw the imminent threat. “Zoinks!”
Shaggy and Scooby raced out of the cave they had ducked into, and scurried back into the main area of the cave that they had originally come in. The spider continued to give chase, galloping after the terrified duo vigorously.
“Scoob, look at those rocks! They look pretty unsteady.” Shaggy pointed to a large group of eleven stalactites clumped together, hanging directly over the cave that Daphne, Flim-Flam and Scrappy had gone into.
“Reah! Re should stay away!” Scooby gulped.
“Maybe if we rattle those stalactites enough, we could block that spider’s path!” Shaggy suggested.
“Reah!” Scooby agreed.
Shaggy and Scooby hustled over in the direction of the stalactites, and both put their arms up to tug on the hanging rocks. Once the stalactites began to sway back and forth unstably, both of them ducked in the other cavern and continued running to get out of the way of the falling stalactites. Much to the spider’s misfortune, the stalactites began to crumble and blocked the cave entrance, preventing it from chasing the frightened friends any further. It let out a hiss in protest.
“Like, thank goodness we’re rid of that spider.” Shaggy let out a sigh of relief. However, his face quickly sank, as his facial expression changed from relieved to panicked. “Wait a minute, though…like, now we can’t get out of this cave!”
“Roh no!” Scooby gasped, looking at the huge pile of rubble now blocking the entrance.
“I guess we’ll just have to hope, like, there’s some other way out.” Shaggy responded.
Scooby was about to look away from the rubble pile until something shiny caught his eye. Using his paws, he lightly dug through the pile until he found the source of the shimmer: a strangely shaped rock. It was a sickly shade of lime green, and had a solid rectangular base, with two medium-sized divots in the shape of triangles on the bottom. Towards the top, the rock was quite jagged, almost looking as if there were two large chunks taken out of the left and right side.
“What’d you find, Scoob?” Shaggy asked, seeing that Scooby had picked up the rock.
“Rock!” Scooby handed his red-shirted pal what he’d found.
“Like, what a strangely shaped rock.” Shaggy said as he examined it. “With those two chunks taken out of it, it almost looks like bat wings!”
“Reah! Rehehehe!” Scooby agreed, giggling a bit. His tone quickly changed when he saw the horrific sight that was above him: dozens of bats were gathered on the ceiling of the cave.
“You might even say that I’d bat on this rock being shaped like a bat.” Shaggy joked.
“Raggy! Rats!” Scooby shouted.
“You liked that bat pun? Well, I’ve got plenty more that’d drive you batty.” Shaggy chuckled.
“Ro! Rats!” Scooby pointed at the ceiling. The smile on Shaggy’s face from his corny jokes quickly dissipated when he saw the horrors above him.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy screamed. “Let’s get out of here!”
-
A loud scream could be heard from nearby.
“That sounded like someone calling for help!” Flim-Flam exclaimed.
“Not just anybody! I’m sure that was Shaggy.” Scrappy observed. “He and my Uncle Scooby must be around here somewhere.”
“I think they’re closer than you might guess!” Daphne pointed to Shaggy and Scooby, who were frantically racing towards them.
“Looks like they’re not alone, either!” Scrappy gasped, as his eye caught the group of bats swarming them.
“Just leave those bats to me!” Flim-Flam valiantly announced, as he pulled a vial marked Lotsa Luck Joy Juice out of his front pocket. “This’ll drive those little buggers absolutely bats.”
The black-haired child opened the bottle and tossed the rest of the contents at the bats, spritzing each of their wings with the mixture. The bats didn’t seem to enjoy this, as they immediately began retreating in the opposite direction.
“Like, thanks, Flim-Flam! How’d you do that?” Shaggy asked.
“Easy! Besides being a great source of luck and cure for werewolfism, it’s also a great bat repellant!” Flim-Flam explained.
“I’m glad you were able to find us.” Daphne smiled warmly. “Did you two find anything?”
“No, nothing. Well, I guess, except for this weird rock.” Shaggy pulled what he and Scooby had found out of his pocket to show it to the rest of the gang.
“Wait a minute…let me see that rock.” Daphne requested, a curious look forming across her face. “Can I also see the Demon Chest, Flim-Flam?”
“You got it!” Flim-Flam replied, as he dug the Vaccu-Spook, a TV, and a pair of rainboots out of his pocket before handing the Demon Chest to the redhead.
Daphne held the rock a few inches away from the Chest of Demons, before looking as if she’d had an epiphany. “A-ha! Guys, you found the Beast’s Jaw!”
“Like, what makes you think that?” Shaggy exclaimed in surprise.
“The chunks out of this rock aren’t actually missing at all…it’s designed to perfectly fit the mouth of the Demon Chest!” Daphne explained, handing the rock back to Shaggy.
“Hey, like you’re right!” Shaggy realized.
“Oh boy!” Scrappy shouted in excitement. “Thank goodness we found the jewel before that mean old skull did!”
“Don’t be so sure of that!” a creepy voice rasped behind the quintet, causing everyone to turn around.
“Like zoinks! It’s the Crimson Skull again!” Shaggy screamed.
“Thank you for finding the Beast’s Jaw for me. You have just made my plan exponentially easier!” The Crimson Skull laughed maniacally.
“Hold on, buster!” Scrappy snapped. “If you think we’re gonna hand the jewel over to you, you’ve got another thing coming!”
“Oh, I don’t think you will. I know you will!” The Crimson Skull cackled. “You have one last chance to hand over the jewel, or you’ll be sorry.”
“The only one who’s going to be sorry is you.” Flim-Flam snapped. “We’ll never let you have the jewel!”
“Then I’m afraid I will have no choice but to take matters into my own hands.” The Skull hissed, as she reached her bony, skeletal hand out and touched Flim-Flam.
“No!” Daphne cried.
In a matter of moments, Flim-Flam’s expression turned from feisty to a completely blank, soulless expression. He looked as if he had just been zombified.
“I gave you the chance to give me what I want. Now your friend is under my control!” The Crimson Skull let out a spooky cackle, before turning her vacant gaze to Flim-Flam. “You! Get that jewel and the Chest of Demons from your friends immediately!”
“Yes, master.” Flim-Flam replied in a monotone voice. The others were terrified to hear that there was not a single hint of emotion in Flim-Flam’s voice at all; only a vacant shell of the youthful boy remained.
“Guys, run!” Daphne screamed, as she began running in the opposite direction. Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy were quick to follow. After racing through the cave as quickly as they could, Shaggy got a stricken look on his face when he remembered an inconvenient detail.
“Oh no!” Shaggy exclaimed.
“Rhat is it, Raggy?” Scooby inquired.
“Like, I forgot that this side of the cave is blocked off! Scoob and I blocked it off to stop a spider from getting us earlier.” Shaggy recounted. “We’ll be trapped!”
“Uncle Scooby and I can dig our way out! Right, Uncle Scooby?” Scrappy eagerly said.
“Ri rope so.” Scooby whimpered, as the four friends came upon the pile of rubble blocking their way. Scrappy and Scooby vigorously began digging with their paws.
“Hopefully that spider’s not waiting for us!” Shaggy remembered.
“We’ll just have to take that chance.” Daphne replied. “Would you rather see a spider or have all thirteen of the world’s most terrifying ghosts released again?”
“Like, I’ll take the spider.” Shaggy sheepishly replied.
“I can see light, Uncle Scooby!” Scrappy exclaimed, as he dug enough of a hole that a bit of light from the main cave was coming through. Once Scrappy made this remark, it became clear to him and his uncle that the stalactite rubble had loosened enough that it would soon allow a path for them to get through.
“Ralmost rhere!” Scooby replied, as his paws picked up the pace.
With that, the wall of rubble blocking the way began to crumble and spread more evenly across the floor. Scooby, Scrappy and Daphne didn’t waste any time scrambling out of the cave and into the main cavern.
“Like, help! He’s got me!” Shaggy gulped. Scooby, Scrappy and Daphne spun around to see Flim-Flam had one arm held tightly around Shaggy’s torso, whereas the other hand dug through his pocket. Much to their terror, Flim-Flam grabbed the Beast’s Jaw out of Shaggy’s pocket, before pushing him to the ground. “One down, one to go!”
“Keep running! We can’t let him get the Demon Chest!” Daphne shouted to the others, as she clutched the chest tight in her arms.
As a grown man with longer legs than the yellow jumpsuited child, Shaggy was thankfully able to outrun Flim-Flam once he got back on his feet, so he could catch up with the rest of the gang.
“Rhere are we roing?” Scooby inquired of Daphne, who was still in the lead.
“Like, to the van, I hope! We gotta get outta here!” Shaggy exclaimed.
“Zombified or not, we can’t leave Flim-Flam at the mercy of the Crimson Skull!” Daphne argued, as she made a quick exit out of the cave. The autumn moon was shining brightly down on the lake, creating a bit of an additional source of light in the otherwise pitch black night. She led the rest of the gang up towards the lake they saw when they first arrived, as they ran past the van. All of them had to exert extra energy running up the steep incline near the body of water. As they got closer to the lake, the sound of rushing water became louder and louder.
“Oh no! Like, Daphne, you led us to a dead-end!” Shaggy gulped.
As the others glanced ahead, they quickly saw they were headed straight towards a section of the lake that was completely blocking the path. There was no land they could use to sidestep the body of water; the only way to get around it was to go back the other direction.
“Flim-Flam’s still chasing us!” Scrappy pointed out, as he quickly glanced behind him whilst continuing to run away.
The gang continued running as far as they could, but found it extremely difficult to continue fleeing when they reached a patch of slippery rocks.
“Oh no!” Scrappy shouted, as he fell down due to the wetness of the rocks.
“We’re trapped!” Daphne said. “These rocks are too slippery to run on.”
“The Chest of Demons! Give it to me!” Flim-Flam demanded.
“Like, what do we do?” Shaggy exclaimed in a panic.
“There is nothing to do, except give me the Chest of Demons!” Flim-Flam commanded.
“We’ll never give you the chest!” Scrappy snapped at his friend-turned-fiend.
Flim-Flam continued to advance on Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy, as all of them slowly backed up on the little bit of rock walkway they had left before the steep dropoff leading into the lake.
Daphne’s facial expression began to turn from a determined look of protecting the chest to panic and hopelessness when she realized they had run out of road. Flim-Flam continued to take steps towards them, and she couldn’t back up any further without falling in the lake. The sound of the rushing waterfall behind her made her heart begin to race with fear, knowing she had no other choice besides giving him the chest if she didn’t want to fall to her own watery demise.
“You have nowhere left to run.” Flim-Flam said in a monotone voice. His zombified state caused him to stare at the gang with blank eyes, no emotion whatsoever despite his determination to get the chest. “Now, give me the Chest of Demons.”
Daphne felt inklings of tears begin to form in her eyes, as she handed Flim-Flam the chest in defeat.
“You won’t get the chest that easy!” Scrappy demanded, as he lunged at Flim-Flam. Unfortunately for the young boy, the sudden pressure of Scrappy’s body projectiling at him caused him to slip on one of the rocks and lose his balance. Flim-Flam and the Demon Chest tumbled into the water, which was heading right towards the waterfall.
Scrappy nearly suffered a similar fate as he too tumbled with Flim-Flam, but thanks to a surge of adrenaline, he was able to grab onto the edge of the rock cliff which prevented him from falling into the water.
“Re’ll rave rou, Rappy!” Scooby promised, as he took careful steps over to the edge of the cliff. Once he was close enough, Scooby grabbed onto Scrappy’s paw that was grasping onto the rock for dear life, and pulled him up back onto the cliff.
“Phew, thanks Uncle Scooby. Thanks to you, I’m safe!” Scrappy hugged his uncle.
“Not for long!” a familiar terrifying voice hissed. The Crimson Skull was quickly approaching them as she sprinted up the hill towards the rock cliff.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Now we’re really goners!”
The Crimson Skull began walking towards the frightened four friends, her creepy skeletal toes clacking as they tapped on each rock. “Good work, my evil servant. Now, you must serve me one last purpose before you tumble through the waterfall to your demise. Open the Demon Chest, and let my fellow spirits free!”
“Flim-Flam, don’t!” Daphne cried. As her terrified eyes glanced down towards Flim-Flam, the tide was moving through the flow of the lake, leading him towards the waterfall. Sadly, she knew even in this moment of great danger, the Crimson Skull’s zombification would prevent Flim-Flam from feeling any emotion. Much to everyone’s horror, Flim-Flam began to try to fit the Beast’s Jaw inside the mouth of the Demon Chest as his body moved through the tide.
“Guys, this is gonna sound crazy, but I have a plan. You just have to follow my lead and trust me.” Scrappy announced.
Given they didn’t have any other option at this point, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby all nodded.
“1, 2, 3, go!” Scrappy shouted, as he jumped on the Crimson Skull, who had nearly reached the point where they were standing on the cliff.
Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby quickly realized what the brave little pup was doing: if all of them lunged at the Crimson Skull unexpectedly, the mix of the weight and the surprise would knock her down before she had a chance to react. Once they understood Scrappy’s plan, all three of them were quick to jump at the Crimson Skull, knocking the ghoul off of her feet. Unable to regain her balance, the thirteenth ghost plunged over the cliff. Scrappy was about to do the same, but in a quick move of bravery, Scooby was able to scoop up his nephew with both paws before he suffered the same fate as the ghoul.
In any other situation, the Crimson Skull could have simply retaliated against the gang once they all plunged in the water. However, now Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby gained even more appreciation for how truly ingenious the feisty puppy’s plan was.
Just as the Crimson Skull fell over the cliff, Flim-Flam fulfilled his master’s command and synced the jagged edge’s of the Beast’s Jaw with the demon trophy head’s mouth affixed to the front of the Demon Chest. The Skull fell several hundred feet through the air right towards Flim-Flam. The latch of the chest had just swung open, but it took a few seconds until the Skull realized what was about to happen.
“Nooooo!” she shrieked, as she landed directly inside the open chest. As soon as the Crimson Skull’s body fell into the chest, the spell she had placed on Flim-Flam through her touch broke.
“Flim-Flam, close the chest!” Daphne shrieked. He quickly heeded her request, and slammed the lid of the chest closed before any other ghouls were able to escape.
“Like, we did it!” Shaggy exclaimed. “We caught all thirteen ghosts back in the chest!”
“Help!” Flim-Flam shouted from below. Although he had successfully captured the last ghost, the quick-moving stream was about to push him over the waterfall, possibly to his doom.
“Flim-Flam!” Daphne gasped, pointing at the black-haired kid.
“We’ve got to save him!” Scrappy exclaimed.
“Raft! Raft!” Scooby shouted to his friend who only had seconds left before bursting over the waterfall.
“Like, Scooby’s right!” Shaggy realized. “Flim-Flam, use the raft!”
“Oh right!” Flim-Flam’s eyes lit up. “I figured this handy little duck would save us at least one more time.”
Quickly rustling in his pocket, Flim-Flam tossed out some unneeded stuff: a box of stale Scooby Snacks, an old video tape, and a vinyl record player. He quickly found the useful device that had saved their lives so many times on their adventures stopping the thirteen ghosts: the rubber ducky raft. Flim-Flam pulled the ripcord just as he tumbled over the waterfall.
“Oh no! Did he make it?” Daphne gasped. Because he had cut it so close to going over the waterfall, it was impossible for any of them to see if Flim-Flam had successfully pulled the ripcord before being sucked into the rushing water.
The four concerned friends cautiously walked among the rocks as quickly as they could without slipping. Once they had gotten back onto dry land, Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy raced over to the van. Daphne took the driver's seat, while Scrappy took the front seat, and Scooby and Shaggy piled in the back.
“There should be a vantage point to see Flim-Flam around that corner.” Daphne replied, as she put her foot on the gas pedal and drove about a quarter-mile up the road.
“We should be able to see from here.” Scrappy stated, as Daphne slowed down the van to a stop. All of them quickly rushed out of the van to get a view of where Flim-Flam was in the waterfall. The waterfall continued to rush at a fast pace, but to everyone’s shock, Flim-Flam was not triumphantly at the bottom of the waterfall in his raft, or lying injured in the water. He was simply not there.
“Oh no! Where’s Flim-Flam?” Daphne said with a look of shock forming across her face.
“I don’t see him anywhere!” Scrappy gasped.
“Oh no! Maybe, like, he didn’t make it!” Shaggy panicked.
Out of nowhere, Flim-Flam casually walked up beside Shaggy. “How’s it going, guys?”
“Like, not so well.” Shaggy sorrowfully admitted. “We can’t find our friend Flim-Flam and…Flim-Flam?”
Shaggy had to do a double take when he saw the young boy standing right by his side.
“Flim-Flam! We’re so glad you’re okay!” Daphne rushed up to the yellow jumpsuited boy and hugged him tightly.
“Leave it to good old rubber ducky to save me.” Flim-Flam smiled. “Forget about me, though! We just caught the last of the thirteen ghosts! The world is safe again!”
A chorus of cheering and excitement broke out amongst the five, who were all elated to have finished the mission they had been working towards for so long. The world would no longer have to deal with the mayhem caused by the thirteen most terrifying ghosts upon the face of the Earth; they were all safely locked away in the Demon Chest, and hopefully this time, it would stay that way.
-
The gang eagerly returned to Vincent Van Ghoul’s castle to share the news with him. Vincent was so thrilled by the gang’s valorous act that he whipped up a feast in celebration: a turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a pumpkin pie for dessert. All five of the exhausted adventurers sat at the table with Vincent and enjoyed a nice meal.
“Boy, Vince, it’s just like Thanksgiving!” Flim-Flam joked.
“Well, consider it my way of giving thanks to you all.” Vincent punnishly replied in return. “Although you were the ones who opened the chest in the first place, it takes a lot of bravery and courage to capture the thirteen most foul spirits on Earth. The world owes you all a great debt of gratitude.”
“Ah, it was nothing.” Flim-Flam shrugged.
“Let’s just hope they don’t get out again.” Shaggy gulped.
“Not to fear, Shaggy.” Vincent assured. “I have learned my lesson from last time, and will not be so foolish to house the chest in a place where there is no one to watch over it. The chest will now stay here with me in my castle. Hopefully that should prevent the chest from anyone who would be so naïve as to open it.”
Shaggy and Scooby both let out nervous chuckles in response.
“That should prevent anyone from trying to get the chest.” Daphne agreed. “They wouldn’t dare mess with such a great mystic like you.”
“Don’t be so sure about that!” a nasally voice laughed, causing everyone to look around to see where it had come from. Right in front of their very eyes, a skinny spirit with three spikes for hair, and a fat spirit with a large round head appeared in front of them.
“Yeah! We’re gonna get the chest, and then SAPS will let us in for sure!” the heavyset spirit said with a higher-pitched voice.
“Don’t tell them our plan, nitwit!” the spiky-haired spirit chastised.
“Oh no, not you guys again!” Flim-Flam lamented, as he realized the two spirits were none other than Weerd and Bogel.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.” Vincent rolled his eyes, a great lack of amusement present in his facial expression, as he reached in Flim-Flam’s pocket for the Vaccu-Spook and flipped the ‘on’ switch. The helpless spirits were quickly sucked into the vacuum cleaner.
“Let me see that Vaccu-Spook, Mr. Van Ghoul!” Scrappy requested, as the mystic handed it to him. Scrappy rushed over to the Demon Chest, which had been placed on the coffee table when the gang had first arrived at Vincent’s castle. He then turned the Vaccu-Spook on its reverse setting and opened the Chest of Demons, causing Weerd and Bogel to be sucked into the accursed box. The puppy then slammed the lid shut to lock them in. “If those guys like the 13 ghosts so much, they can join ‘em!”
Everyone let out a hearty chuckle at Scrappy’s delightful sass.
“A fitting end for those two spirits.” Vincent agreed. “So, now that you’ve caught all the spirits, where are you headed to now?”
“Well, there is still that vacation to Hawaii that we never took.” Daphne suggested.
“Like, yeah! I could use some fun in the sun after everything we’ve been through.” Shaggy nodded.
“Reah!” Scooby agreed.
“That sounds great!” Scrappy answered, before turning to Flim-Flam. “Do you want to join us, Flim-Flam?”
“Well…” Flim-Flam at first had a conflicted look on his face, but his face seemed to soften as he made a decision. “I think I’m gonna stay here with Vince. All this ghost chasing has made me realize: I wanna become a mystic just like him. I think it’d do the world a lot of good. If that’s alright with you, Vince.”
“Why of course it is.” Vincent smiled. “I’d be honored to teach you the trade. Just one request, though.”
“Anything you want, Vince! You say the word and it’s done!” Flim-Flam eagerly replied.
Vincent’s warm look quickly morphed into a much firmer glance. The tone of his voice conveyed an aura of extreme seriousness and complete unwillingness to bargain. “No more wacky inventions.”
“Well…” Flim-Flam blushed a little. “I suppose I could give up the inventions. I’m sure I’ll be making all sorts of cool potions as a mystic and all, which is kinda like inventing. Vince, you got yourself a deal!”
“Excellent.” Vincent reached out his hand to his new apprentice, as both of them shook on the deal.
“Before I forget though, you’ll be needing this in Hawaii!” Flim-Flam reached in his pocket and pulled out the rubber duck raft that had saved them so many times throughout their adventures. “I even made some modifications to make it better. It can now inflate to twice the size it was before!”
In an attempt to hand the duck to Scooby, Flim-Flam’s pinky finger accidentally became caught on the inflation cord. He was quickly able to get his finger loose when he tugged it out of the cord, but unfortunately, it was enough of a jolt that it caused the duck to begin inflating to an enormous size. It had nearly covered the entire dinner table and all of the food, and it still wasn’t even done inflating.
“Flim-Flam!” Vincent impatiently shouted, as the duck raft continued to grow in size exponentially.
“Hawaii-Dooby-Doo!” Scooby giggled.
That’s what inspired me to write this fanfic. At least to my knowledge, there haven’t been any pieces of fanfiction that conclude this series that aren’t just a complete rewrite of the series. I wanted to try my hand at writing a proper conclusion to this series without completely altering major elements of it. I thought about making this fanfic multiple chapters like my previous Scooby-Doo stories, but I decided against it, because I wanted to make this feel like the finale episode of the series that many fans feel we should have gotten. Writing an overly flashy fanfic with tons of chapters didn’t really feel like it would stay true to the tone of this series, as I think if we would have gotten a finale, it probably would have been very similar to the style of the premiere, rather than a cinematic-level piece. Since my most major issue with Curse of the 13th Ghost was that it felt like they didn’t even attempt to stay close to the tone of the original film, I tried to keep this as close to the tone of the original series as I could. (That being said, I can absolutely understand why the writer of the film, Tim Sheridan, did what he did given the restrictions he had from Warner Brothers executives)
All that being said, I hope you enjoy this fanfic!
-----------
The full moon illuminated the area above the great mystic Vincent Van Ghoul’s castle. The harried adventurers were thrilled to have a relaxing break from ghoul-chasing after their recent adventures of traveling all over the world, between going coast to coast to retrieve an evil jewel that could turn people to stone, and traveling to Scooby’s home, Dooville, where a vengeful spirit had attempted to indoctrinate people into his circus of evil. This wasn’t even getting into the fact that they’d traveled into an alternate comic book universe and beyond the bounds of time. Albeit, the break from ghostbusting was temporary for Daphne, Shaggy, Flim-Flam, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. They still had a difficult job ahead of them: capturing the thirteenth and final ghost from a chest that housed 13 of the most terrifying ghosts on the face of the Earth.
“Like, this sure is a delicious dinner, Mr. Van Ghoul!” Shaggy exclaimed, chowing down on his last bite of spaghetti and meatballs.
“I’m glad you like it, Shaggy, but there’s much work to be done.” Vincent replied, a very serious tone present in his voice.
“Yeah! We’ve still gotta nab that last ghostie, don’t we Uncle Scooby?” Scrappy eagerly chirped.
“Reah…rut I rish re didn’t!” Scooby let out a nervous chuckle.
“Just think about it, Scooby! Once we’ve captured this next ghost, all thirteen will be back in the chest, and we can put this nightmare behind us!” Flim-Flam comforted his furry friend.
“Do you know anything about this last ghost, Vincent?” Daphne inquired, prior to eating a bite of meatball.
“Ah yes, I do.” Vincent nodded. “This ghost is particularly elusive, but she is also particularly powerful. The ghost’s name is the Crimson Skull.”
“Crimson Skull?” Scrappy repeated. “Any relation to the Red Skull?”
“Oh boy, like, don’t remind me about that guy!” Shaggy gulped. “Meeting him twice was too many times already; we don’t need a third!”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Vincent replied, before continuing his explanation. Vincent was certainly a man who liked getting down to business. “The Crimson Skull has the power to hypnotize anyone she touches into doing her bidding.”
“Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed. “I don’t like the sound of that!”
“What exactly does this Crimson Numbskull want?” Scrappy sassed.
“I believe she is looking for the Beast’s Jaw, a fabled jewel that allows the departed to open the Chest of Demons.” Vincent responded. “When the Ursolvania townspeople banded together and built the Chest of Demons, there was one citizen who revolted from the group. The man frequently dabbled in the dark arts, and created his own jewel using black magic. The jewel was designed to perfectly fit the demon trophy’s mouth on the front of the chest to open the latch, and is able to free the spirits within.”
“Do we know where this demon is, Vince?” Flim-Flam asked in between bites of spaghetti.
“If my hunch is correct, I believe she will be in the Cave of Confoundation.” Vincent revealed.
“What makes you think that?” Daphne inquired.
“Because that is where the jewel is hidden.” Vincent replied. “I do not know its exact location, but if you want to find the thirteenth ghost, that is where you should search. Even if she is not in the cave, it will still give you an opportunity to retrieve the jewel before the Crimson Skull does.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Van Ghoul! We’ll show that Crimson Skull what’s what!” Scrappy answered, as he took his last few bites of spaghetti. Everyone had finished their meals at this point, so Vincent stood up from his chair and began collecting plates.
“Like, don’t be so sure about that.” Shaggy gulped. “What if the Crimson Skull g-g-grabs us?”
“It is imperative you do not let that happen. Even a single touch will leave you hypnotized and completely under the Skull’s command. You will be nothing but a vessel, a mere slave, to whatever she wants you to do, which probably will include opening the Demon Chest.” Vincent’s expression became deadly serious.
“Ruh-roh!” Scooby gasped.
“Are you sure you won’t come along to help, Mr. Van Ghoul?” Shaggy asked.
“I’m afraid I cannot. You are the ones who opened the Chest, and therefore, you must be the ones to finish this.” Vincent firmly stated. “If you need any help, you know how to reach me.”
“Thank you for a lovely dinner, Mr. Van Ghoul.” Daphne politely said. “That cave is just about a few hours north of there, thankfully. At least we don’t have to travel far.”
“That’ll be a snap, right Uncle Scooby?” Scrappy said to his uncle. “We’ll be there in no time to splat that ghostie!”
“Reah.” Scooby laughed nervously.
“Thanks, Vince. We won’t let you down!” Flim-Flam assured.
-
It had been a relatively short trip. Scrappy, Scooby and Shaggy played cards in the back of the van whilst Daphne drove. Once they were within a few miles of the cave, Flim-Flam pulled out the Specter Detector and attempted to see if he could get a reading.
“Aww shucks, nothing.” Flim-Flam shook his head.
“Maybe we’re not close enough yet.” Daphne shrugged.
“Like, I would say we’re too close…” Shaggy gulped. “...for comfort, that is!”
“What makes you say that, Shaggy?” Scrappy inquired. “Like Flim-Flam said earlier, once we nab this ghostie, we’ll have all of ‘em back in the chest! Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah…I guess so.” Shaggy gulped. The idea of simply having to capture one more ghost frightened him enough where he couldn’t move past his fear to think about the long-term benefits it might have.
“I think this is it, guys.” Daphne pointed to an eerie-looking cave. The opening to it was shaped like a skull, which was ironically quite fitting given the name of the ghoul they needed to capture. A few nearby autumn-kissed trees swayed violently in the wind, their brown and orange leaves quickly falling as they were assaulted by the wind. On the other side of the road, a wooden guard rail protected drivers from accidentally falling in the large lake and waterfall. The tide of the nearby lake was moving quickly due to how high the winds were. The pouring rain streamed into the lake, each droplet causing a ripple. Just as a burst of lightning appeared in the sky, its frequent partner in crime, thunder, was quick to follow, causing a boom to resound through the purple night sky.
“What a rainstorm!” Scrappy gasped. “Looks like we’re going to get soaked if we go out there!”
“Ah shucks, guess Scrappy’s right! It’s raining too hard! Guess we can’t go outside.” Shaggy said with a light chuckle.
“C’mon guys, getting a little wet is nothing when you consider the good we’ll be doing. Think about it, we’ll be capturing one of the most evil spirits on Earth!” Flim-Flam reasoned. “Besides, the Crimson Skull is trying to open the chest, remember? If she does that, we’ll have to capture all 13 again! Wouldn’t you rather we just capture this ghost now and be done with it?”
“Like, you drive a hard bargain, Flim-Flam.” Shaggy accepted.
“Of course I do! I don’t have all that sales experience for nothing…” Flim-Flam bragged, before his attention immediately turned back to the Specter Detector when he heard a loud beep. “Oh! I’ve got a reading on this! It says our ghost friend is in that cave!”
“Zoinks! We better stay in here then and guard the van! You know, like, in case anyone tries to steal it.” Shaggy explained.
“Shaggy, c’mon. Don’t be such a chicken. Think of all the good we’ll be doing for the world by capturing this ghoul.” Daphne reminded.
“We’ll let you guys take the credit for that.” Shaggy sheepishly smiled.
“Reah. Re’ll stay here!” Scooby added.
“Would you two do it for a Scooby Snack?” Daphne inquired.
“Like, you found our weakness.” Shaggy chuckled. Almost as quickly as Daphne chucked two snacks up in the air, the cowardly companions gobbled them down.
“Re’re ready!” Scooby confirmed.
“Good.” Daphne smiled. “I just wish we would have been ready for this storm.”
“Not to worry, Daphne! It’s Flim-Flam’s unconventional umbrellas, to the rescue! Just a new invention I’ve been working on.” Flim-Flam said. Although the rest of the gang had no idea, Flim-Flam reached in the back seat and pulled out a group of five black umbrellas. He handed one to each of his friends, whilst keeping one for himself.
“Quick thinking, Flim-Flam!” Scrappy said, as he extended his umbrella. It was so large compared to his small physique that it nearly covered his whole body, but it still functioned.
“A little too quick, if you ask me.” Daphne said, as the others looked up at her umbrella to see it was disintegrating. Shaggy and Scooby’s umbrella were both following apart as well. The rain seemed to go right through the top of the umbrellas, causing them to melt.
“Zoinks! Like what is this, acid rain?” Shaggy gulped, as the rain dribbled through the fabric of the umbrella right onto his skin.
“Ah shucks. I shouldn’t have used paper!” Flim-Flam shrugged.
“It’s okay.” Daphne said, as she caught her breath from running through the rain once she reached the opening of the cave. “We’re here now.”
“Well, where should we start looking, guys?” Flim-Flam replied once he reached the cave’s mouth.
“I guess we should just go in and look around.” Daphne suggested.
Upon entering the cave, the gang saw rock walls for miles. On top of the walls, there were also numerous scraggly rock formations coming from the ceiling and cave floor. Vines hung from many of these rock formations, straddling from one stalactite to another. If all of this wasn’t spooky enough, a mist created a gruesome green glow throughout the cave, making it difficult to see.
“It’s so dark and foggy in here that I can barely see!” Daphne exclaimed.
“Not to fear!” Flim-Flam exclaimed. “I’ve got an invention that should fix this right up.”
From his baggy yellow pocket in his outfit, Flim-Flam pulled out a large flashlight.
“Let’s put some light on the subject.” Flim-Flam said, as he turned his flashlight on. “I call it: the Fabulous Flim-Flam Flashlight! I’m still working on the name…”
Flim-Flam’s flashlight was so bright that it illuminated the cave so they were now able to see more than a few feet in front of them.
“That’s great, Flim-Flam, but what if somebody sees us?” Shaggy gulped.
“Shaggy has a point.” Daphne agreed. “Is there a lower setting for that flashlight, Flim-Flam? We don’t want the Crimson Skull to know we’re coming.”
“Oh, but I already do!” a creepy voice hissed. The individual connected to it quickly emerged from the fog, revealing a terrifyingly skeletal body wearing a dark purple cape. Besides the cape, the Crimson Skull’s form was completely composed of bones unconnected to any skin or organs. The Skull’s face looked almost soulless, with her creepy grin and two holes for eyes that conveyed no emotion whatsoever except vacantness.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy screamed. “It’s, like, the Crimson Skull! She’s found us!”
“Yes, I have!” the Skull rasped. “I know what you seek, and you will not find it before I.”
With that, the Skull lunged at Daphne, causing her to leap out of the way in terror.
“In the words of the great Confused One…I’m outta here!” Flim-Flam screamed, as his four companions scrambled with him into the nearest cavern.
Unfortunately for them, it was so foggy that Shaggy and Scooby didn’t see where their three friends had gone, and ran into a different cavern. Thus, the groups were separated, and the Crimson Skull chose to pursue Shaggy and Scooby instead of the other three.
“Like, quick, Scoob, do you see any place to hide?” Shaggy asked.
“Rhere!” Scooby pointed to a large row of stalagmites affixed to the cave floor. They were thankfully large enough to hide behind without the Crimson Skull seeing them…or at least, that’s what the cowardly companions hoped.
Shaggy and Scooby’s bodies both tightened in fear when they heard the Crimson Skull’s footsteps walk past. Luckily for them, the thirteenth ghost didn’t think to look behind the stalagmites.
“Wherever you are, I will find you!” The Crimson Skull hissed, her eyes glowing a wicked shade of crimson in anger. “You cannot hide from the Crimson Skull for long!”
Shaggy and Scooby didn’t get up until a few minutes after they heard the Skull run into the next cave, just to ensure she didn’t return and discover their hiding spot.
“Phew, that was close!” Shaggy gulped.
“Reah! Rank roodness she ridn’t rind us!” Scooby breathed a sigh of relief.
“Like, what happened to Daphne, Scrappy and Flim-Flam?” Shaggy inquired of his cowardly canine.
Scooby glanced around frantically for a moment, before he realized that he was unsure. “Ri ron’t know!”
“They must have gone into the other cave!” Shaggy realized. “That creepy Crimson Skull shouldn’t come back through here now that she’s checked it. It should be safe to go back through the main cave. Let’s go back and catch up with them.”
-
Meanwhile, Daphne, Flim-Flam and Scrappy were still exploring the other cavern. The surroundings were much the same: tons of rock formations as far as the eye could see, a misty atmosphere, and that same strange eerie green glow.
“I wish we could see more than three feet in front of us!” Scrappy lamented.
“Not to fear, Scrap old buddy!” Flim-Flam exclaimed. “I can pull out my trusty Flim-Flam Fabulous Flashlight again and light the way…at a lower setting, of course.”
“I think it’s best we stay away from any inventions that might lead the Crimson Skull to us again.” Daphne replied. “Besides, we’ve still got to find that jewel.”
“Yeah, I wonder where it could be.” Flim-Flam pondered.
“Speaking of that, I wonder where Shaggy and Scooby could be. We lost them when we were running.” Scrappy pointed out.
“Hopefully they’ll turn up soon.” Daphne responded.
-
“Alright, Scoob, let’s turn here. I think this is the way back to the other cave.” Shaggy replied. “Now, whatever you do, stick close.”
“Rokay, Raggy.” Scooby agreed, as he put his paw on Shaggy whilst walking with him. He quickly felt a hand grasp his back as well. At first, he didn’t think anything of it, but then it hit him: if Shaggy was ahead of him, who was behind him?
Scooby flipped around in a frightened frenzy to see that a giant spider had placed two tentacles on him.
“Rikes!” he yelped, as he briefly looked at the huge spider’s menacing red eyes. The spider hissed at him in response, causing Scooby to run as quick as he could.
“Like, what’s the problem, Scoob…” Shaggy began speaking, before he quickly had a change of tune once he saw the imminent threat. “Zoinks!”
Shaggy and Scooby raced out of the cave they had ducked into, and scurried back into the main area of the cave that they had originally come in. The spider continued to give chase, galloping after the terrified duo vigorously.
“Scoob, look at those rocks! They look pretty unsteady.” Shaggy pointed to a large group of eleven stalactites clumped together, hanging directly over the cave that Daphne, Flim-Flam and Scrappy had gone into.
“Reah! Re should stay away!” Scooby gulped.
“Maybe if we rattle those stalactites enough, we could block that spider’s path!” Shaggy suggested.
“Reah!” Scooby agreed.
Shaggy and Scooby hustled over in the direction of the stalactites, and both put their arms up to tug on the hanging rocks. Once the stalactites began to sway back and forth unstably, both of them ducked in the other cavern and continued running to get out of the way of the falling stalactites. Much to the spider’s misfortune, the stalactites began to crumble and blocked the cave entrance, preventing it from chasing the frightened friends any further. It let out a hiss in protest.
“Like, thank goodness we’re rid of that spider.” Shaggy let out a sigh of relief. However, his face quickly sank, as his facial expression changed from relieved to panicked. “Wait a minute, though…like, now we can’t get out of this cave!”
“Roh no!” Scooby gasped, looking at the huge pile of rubble now blocking the entrance.
“I guess we’ll just have to hope, like, there’s some other way out.” Shaggy responded.
Scooby was about to look away from the rubble pile until something shiny caught his eye. Using his paws, he lightly dug through the pile until he found the source of the shimmer: a strangely shaped rock. It was a sickly shade of lime green, and had a solid rectangular base, with two medium-sized divots in the shape of triangles on the bottom. Towards the top, the rock was quite jagged, almost looking as if there were two large chunks taken out of the left and right side.
“What’d you find, Scoob?” Shaggy asked, seeing that Scooby had picked up the rock.
“Rock!” Scooby handed his red-shirted pal what he’d found.
“Like, what a strangely shaped rock.” Shaggy said as he examined it. “With those two chunks taken out of it, it almost looks like bat wings!”
“Reah! Rehehehe!” Scooby agreed, giggling a bit. His tone quickly changed when he saw the horrific sight that was above him: dozens of bats were gathered on the ceiling of the cave.
“You might even say that I’d bat on this rock being shaped like a bat.” Shaggy joked.
“Raggy! Rats!” Scooby shouted.
“You liked that bat pun? Well, I’ve got plenty more that’d drive you batty.” Shaggy chuckled.
“Ro! Rats!” Scooby pointed at the ceiling. The smile on Shaggy’s face from his corny jokes quickly dissipated when he saw the horrors above him.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy screamed. “Let’s get out of here!”
-
A loud scream could be heard from nearby.
“That sounded like someone calling for help!” Flim-Flam exclaimed.
“Not just anybody! I’m sure that was Shaggy.” Scrappy observed. “He and my Uncle Scooby must be around here somewhere.”
“I think they’re closer than you might guess!” Daphne pointed to Shaggy and Scooby, who were frantically racing towards them.
“Looks like they’re not alone, either!” Scrappy gasped, as his eye caught the group of bats swarming them.
“Just leave those bats to me!” Flim-Flam valiantly announced, as he pulled a vial marked Lotsa Luck Joy Juice out of his front pocket. “This’ll drive those little buggers absolutely bats.”
The black-haired child opened the bottle and tossed the rest of the contents at the bats, spritzing each of their wings with the mixture. The bats didn’t seem to enjoy this, as they immediately began retreating in the opposite direction.
“Like, thanks, Flim-Flam! How’d you do that?” Shaggy asked.
“Easy! Besides being a great source of luck and cure for werewolfism, it’s also a great bat repellant!” Flim-Flam explained.
“I’m glad you were able to find us.” Daphne smiled warmly. “Did you two find anything?”
“No, nothing. Well, I guess, except for this weird rock.” Shaggy pulled what he and Scooby had found out of his pocket to show it to the rest of the gang.
“Wait a minute…let me see that rock.” Daphne requested, a curious look forming across her face. “Can I also see the Demon Chest, Flim-Flam?”
“You got it!” Flim-Flam replied, as he dug the Vaccu-Spook, a TV, and a pair of rainboots out of his pocket before handing the Demon Chest to the redhead.
Daphne held the rock a few inches away from the Chest of Demons, before looking as if she’d had an epiphany. “A-ha! Guys, you found the Beast’s Jaw!”
“Like, what makes you think that?” Shaggy exclaimed in surprise.
“The chunks out of this rock aren’t actually missing at all…it’s designed to perfectly fit the mouth of the Demon Chest!” Daphne explained, handing the rock back to Shaggy.
“Hey, like you’re right!” Shaggy realized.
“Oh boy!” Scrappy shouted in excitement. “Thank goodness we found the jewel before that mean old skull did!”
“Don’t be so sure of that!” a creepy voice rasped behind the quintet, causing everyone to turn around.
“Like zoinks! It’s the Crimson Skull again!” Shaggy screamed.
“Thank you for finding the Beast’s Jaw for me. You have just made my plan exponentially easier!” The Crimson Skull laughed maniacally.
“Hold on, buster!” Scrappy snapped. “If you think we’re gonna hand the jewel over to you, you’ve got another thing coming!”
“Oh, I don’t think you will. I know you will!” The Crimson Skull cackled. “You have one last chance to hand over the jewel, or you’ll be sorry.”
“The only one who’s going to be sorry is you.” Flim-Flam snapped. “We’ll never let you have the jewel!”
“Then I’m afraid I will have no choice but to take matters into my own hands.” The Skull hissed, as she reached her bony, skeletal hand out and touched Flim-Flam.
“No!” Daphne cried.
In a matter of moments, Flim-Flam’s expression turned from feisty to a completely blank, soulless expression. He looked as if he had just been zombified.
“I gave you the chance to give me what I want. Now your friend is under my control!” The Crimson Skull let out a spooky cackle, before turning her vacant gaze to Flim-Flam. “You! Get that jewel and the Chest of Demons from your friends immediately!”
“Yes, master.” Flim-Flam replied in a monotone voice. The others were terrified to hear that there was not a single hint of emotion in Flim-Flam’s voice at all; only a vacant shell of the youthful boy remained.
“Guys, run!” Daphne screamed, as she began running in the opposite direction. Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy were quick to follow. After racing through the cave as quickly as they could, Shaggy got a stricken look on his face when he remembered an inconvenient detail.
“Oh no!” Shaggy exclaimed.
“Rhat is it, Raggy?” Scooby inquired.
“Like, I forgot that this side of the cave is blocked off! Scoob and I blocked it off to stop a spider from getting us earlier.” Shaggy recounted. “We’ll be trapped!”
“Uncle Scooby and I can dig our way out! Right, Uncle Scooby?” Scrappy eagerly said.
“Ri rope so.” Scooby whimpered, as the four friends came upon the pile of rubble blocking their way. Scrappy and Scooby vigorously began digging with their paws.
“Hopefully that spider’s not waiting for us!” Shaggy remembered.
“We’ll just have to take that chance.” Daphne replied. “Would you rather see a spider or have all thirteen of the world’s most terrifying ghosts released again?”
“Like, I’ll take the spider.” Shaggy sheepishly replied.
“I can see light, Uncle Scooby!” Scrappy exclaimed, as he dug enough of a hole that a bit of light from the main cave was coming through. Once Scrappy made this remark, it became clear to him and his uncle that the stalactite rubble had loosened enough that it would soon allow a path for them to get through.
“Ralmost rhere!” Scooby replied, as his paws picked up the pace.
With that, the wall of rubble blocking the way began to crumble and spread more evenly across the floor. Scooby, Scrappy and Daphne didn’t waste any time scrambling out of the cave and into the main cavern.
“Like, help! He’s got me!” Shaggy gulped. Scooby, Scrappy and Daphne spun around to see Flim-Flam had one arm held tightly around Shaggy’s torso, whereas the other hand dug through his pocket. Much to their terror, Flim-Flam grabbed the Beast’s Jaw out of Shaggy’s pocket, before pushing him to the ground. “One down, one to go!”
“Keep running! We can’t let him get the Demon Chest!” Daphne shouted to the others, as she clutched the chest tight in her arms.
As a grown man with longer legs than the yellow jumpsuited child, Shaggy was thankfully able to outrun Flim-Flam once he got back on his feet, so he could catch up with the rest of the gang.
“Rhere are we roing?” Scooby inquired of Daphne, who was still in the lead.
“Like, to the van, I hope! We gotta get outta here!” Shaggy exclaimed.
“Zombified or not, we can’t leave Flim-Flam at the mercy of the Crimson Skull!” Daphne argued, as she made a quick exit out of the cave. The autumn moon was shining brightly down on the lake, creating a bit of an additional source of light in the otherwise pitch black night. She led the rest of the gang up towards the lake they saw when they first arrived, as they ran past the van. All of them had to exert extra energy running up the steep incline near the body of water. As they got closer to the lake, the sound of rushing water became louder and louder.
“Oh no! Like, Daphne, you led us to a dead-end!” Shaggy gulped.
As the others glanced ahead, they quickly saw they were headed straight towards a section of the lake that was completely blocking the path. There was no land they could use to sidestep the body of water; the only way to get around it was to go back the other direction.
“Flim-Flam’s still chasing us!” Scrappy pointed out, as he quickly glanced behind him whilst continuing to run away.
The gang continued running as far as they could, but found it extremely difficult to continue fleeing when they reached a patch of slippery rocks.
“Oh no!” Scrappy shouted, as he fell down due to the wetness of the rocks.
“We’re trapped!” Daphne said. “These rocks are too slippery to run on.”
“The Chest of Demons! Give it to me!” Flim-Flam demanded.
“Like, what do we do?” Shaggy exclaimed in a panic.
“There is nothing to do, except give me the Chest of Demons!” Flim-Flam commanded.
“We’ll never give you the chest!” Scrappy snapped at his friend-turned-fiend.
Flim-Flam continued to advance on Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy, as all of them slowly backed up on the little bit of rock walkway they had left before the steep dropoff leading into the lake.
Daphne’s facial expression began to turn from a determined look of protecting the chest to panic and hopelessness when she realized they had run out of road. Flim-Flam continued to take steps towards them, and she couldn’t back up any further without falling in the lake. The sound of the rushing waterfall behind her made her heart begin to race with fear, knowing she had no other choice besides giving him the chest if she didn’t want to fall to her own watery demise.
“You have nowhere left to run.” Flim-Flam said in a monotone voice. His zombified state caused him to stare at the gang with blank eyes, no emotion whatsoever despite his determination to get the chest. “Now, give me the Chest of Demons.”
Daphne felt inklings of tears begin to form in her eyes, as she handed Flim-Flam the chest in defeat.
“You won’t get the chest that easy!” Scrappy demanded, as he lunged at Flim-Flam. Unfortunately for the young boy, the sudden pressure of Scrappy’s body projectiling at him caused him to slip on one of the rocks and lose his balance. Flim-Flam and the Demon Chest tumbled into the water, which was heading right towards the waterfall.
Scrappy nearly suffered a similar fate as he too tumbled with Flim-Flam, but thanks to a surge of adrenaline, he was able to grab onto the edge of the rock cliff which prevented him from falling into the water.
“Re’ll rave rou, Rappy!” Scooby promised, as he took careful steps over to the edge of the cliff. Once he was close enough, Scooby grabbed onto Scrappy’s paw that was grasping onto the rock for dear life, and pulled him up back onto the cliff.
“Phew, thanks Uncle Scooby. Thanks to you, I’m safe!” Scrappy hugged his uncle.
“Not for long!” a familiar terrifying voice hissed. The Crimson Skull was quickly approaching them as she sprinted up the hill towards the rock cliff.
“Zoinks!” Shaggy exclaimed. “Now we’re really goners!”
The Crimson Skull began walking towards the frightened four friends, her creepy skeletal toes clacking as they tapped on each rock. “Good work, my evil servant. Now, you must serve me one last purpose before you tumble through the waterfall to your demise. Open the Demon Chest, and let my fellow spirits free!”
“Flim-Flam, don’t!” Daphne cried. As her terrified eyes glanced down towards Flim-Flam, the tide was moving through the flow of the lake, leading him towards the waterfall. Sadly, she knew even in this moment of great danger, the Crimson Skull’s zombification would prevent Flim-Flam from feeling any emotion. Much to everyone’s horror, Flim-Flam began to try to fit the Beast’s Jaw inside the mouth of the Demon Chest as his body moved through the tide.
“Guys, this is gonna sound crazy, but I have a plan. You just have to follow my lead and trust me.” Scrappy announced.
Given they didn’t have any other option at this point, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby all nodded.
“1, 2, 3, go!” Scrappy shouted, as he jumped on the Crimson Skull, who had nearly reached the point where they were standing on the cliff.
Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby quickly realized what the brave little pup was doing: if all of them lunged at the Crimson Skull unexpectedly, the mix of the weight and the surprise would knock her down before she had a chance to react. Once they understood Scrappy’s plan, all three of them were quick to jump at the Crimson Skull, knocking the ghoul off of her feet. Unable to regain her balance, the thirteenth ghost plunged over the cliff. Scrappy was about to do the same, but in a quick move of bravery, Scooby was able to scoop up his nephew with both paws before he suffered the same fate as the ghoul.
In any other situation, the Crimson Skull could have simply retaliated against the gang once they all plunged in the water. However, now Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby gained even more appreciation for how truly ingenious the feisty puppy’s plan was.
Just as the Crimson Skull fell over the cliff, Flim-Flam fulfilled his master’s command and synced the jagged edge’s of the Beast’s Jaw with the demon trophy head’s mouth affixed to the front of the Demon Chest. The Skull fell several hundred feet through the air right towards Flim-Flam. The latch of the chest had just swung open, but it took a few seconds until the Skull realized what was about to happen.
“Nooooo!” she shrieked, as she landed directly inside the open chest. As soon as the Crimson Skull’s body fell into the chest, the spell she had placed on Flim-Flam through her touch broke.
“Flim-Flam, close the chest!” Daphne shrieked. He quickly heeded her request, and slammed the lid of the chest closed before any other ghouls were able to escape.
“Like, we did it!” Shaggy exclaimed. “We caught all thirteen ghosts back in the chest!”
“Help!” Flim-Flam shouted from below. Although he had successfully captured the last ghost, the quick-moving stream was about to push him over the waterfall, possibly to his doom.
“Flim-Flam!” Daphne gasped, pointing at the black-haired kid.
“We’ve got to save him!” Scrappy exclaimed.
“Raft! Raft!” Scooby shouted to his friend who only had seconds left before bursting over the waterfall.
“Like, Scooby’s right!” Shaggy realized. “Flim-Flam, use the raft!”
“Oh right!” Flim-Flam’s eyes lit up. “I figured this handy little duck would save us at least one more time.”
Quickly rustling in his pocket, Flim-Flam tossed out some unneeded stuff: a box of stale Scooby Snacks, an old video tape, and a vinyl record player. He quickly found the useful device that had saved their lives so many times on their adventures stopping the thirteen ghosts: the rubber ducky raft. Flim-Flam pulled the ripcord just as he tumbled over the waterfall.
“Oh no! Did he make it?” Daphne gasped. Because he had cut it so close to going over the waterfall, it was impossible for any of them to see if Flim-Flam had successfully pulled the ripcord before being sucked into the rushing water.
The four concerned friends cautiously walked among the rocks as quickly as they could without slipping. Once they had gotten back onto dry land, Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy raced over to the van. Daphne took the driver's seat, while Scrappy took the front seat, and Scooby and Shaggy piled in the back.
“There should be a vantage point to see Flim-Flam around that corner.” Daphne replied, as she put her foot on the gas pedal and drove about a quarter-mile up the road.
“We should be able to see from here.” Scrappy stated, as Daphne slowed down the van to a stop. All of them quickly rushed out of the van to get a view of where Flim-Flam was in the waterfall. The waterfall continued to rush at a fast pace, but to everyone’s shock, Flim-Flam was not triumphantly at the bottom of the waterfall in his raft, or lying injured in the water. He was simply not there.
“Oh no! Where’s Flim-Flam?” Daphne said with a look of shock forming across her face.
“I don’t see him anywhere!” Scrappy gasped.
“Oh no! Maybe, like, he didn’t make it!” Shaggy panicked.
Out of nowhere, Flim-Flam casually walked up beside Shaggy. “How’s it going, guys?”
“Like, not so well.” Shaggy sorrowfully admitted. “We can’t find our friend Flim-Flam and…Flim-Flam?”
Shaggy had to do a double take when he saw the young boy standing right by his side.
“Flim-Flam! We’re so glad you’re okay!” Daphne rushed up to the yellow jumpsuited boy and hugged him tightly.
“Leave it to good old rubber ducky to save me.” Flim-Flam smiled. “Forget about me, though! We just caught the last of the thirteen ghosts! The world is safe again!”
A chorus of cheering and excitement broke out amongst the five, who were all elated to have finished the mission they had been working towards for so long. The world would no longer have to deal with the mayhem caused by the thirteen most terrifying ghosts upon the face of the Earth; they were all safely locked away in the Demon Chest, and hopefully this time, it would stay that way.
-
The gang eagerly returned to Vincent Van Ghoul’s castle to share the news with him. Vincent was so thrilled by the gang’s valorous act that he whipped up a feast in celebration: a turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a pumpkin pie for dessert. All five of the exhausted adventurers sat at the table with Vincent and enjoyed a nice meal.
“Boy, Vince, it’s just like Thanksgiving!” Flim-Flam joked.
“Well, consider it my way of giving thanks to you all.” Vincent punnishly replied in return. “Although you were the ones who opened the chest in the first place, it takes a lot of bravery and courage to capture the thirteen most foul spirits on Earth. The world owes you all a great debt of gratitude.”
“Ah, it was nothing.” Flim-Flam shrugged.
“Let’s just hope they don’t get out again.” Shaggy gulped.
“Not to fear, Shaggy.” Vincent assured. “I have learned my lesson from last time, and will not be so foolish to house the chest in a place where there is no one to watch over it. The chest will now stay here with me in my castle. Hopefully that should prevent the chest from anyone who would be so naïve as to open it.”
Shaggy and Scooby both let out nervous chuckles in response.
“That should prevent anyone from trying to get the chest.” Daphne agreed. “They wouldn’t dare mess with such a great mystic like you.”
“Don’t be so sure about that!” a nasally voice laughed, causing everyone to look around to see where it had come from. Right in front of their very eyes, a skinny spirit with three spikes for hair, and a fat spirit with a large round head appeared in front of them.
“Yeah! We’re gonna get the chest, and then SAPS will let us in for sure!” the heavyset spirit said with a higher-pitched voice.
“Don’t tell them our plan, nitwit!” the spiky-haired spirit chastised.
“Oh no, not you guys again!” Flim-Flam lamented, as he realized the two spirits were none other than Weerd and Bogel.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.” Vincent rolled his eyes, a great lack of amusement present in his facial expression, as he reached in Flim-Flam’s pocket for the Vaccu-Spook and flipped the ‘on’ switch. The helpless spirits were quickly sucked into the vacuum cleaner.
“Let me see that Vaccu-Spook, Mr. Van Ghoul!” Scrappy requested, as the mystic handed it to him. Scrappy rushed over to the Demon Chest, which had been placed on the coffee table when the gang had first arrived at Vincent’s castle. He then turned the Vaccu-Spook on its reverse setting and opened the Chest of Demons, causing Weerd and Bogel to be sucked into the accursed box. The puppy then slammed the lid shut to lock them in. “If those guys like the 13 ghosts so much, they can join ‘em!”
Everyone let out a hearty chuckle at Scrappy’s delightful sass.
“A fitting end for those two spirits.” Vincent agreed. “So, now that you’ve caught all the spirits, where are you headed to now?”
“Well, there is still that vacation to Hawaii that we never took.” Daphne suggested.
“Like, yeah! I could use some fun in the sun after everything we’ve been through.” Shaggy nodded.
“Reah!” Scooby agreed.
“That sounds great!” Scrappy answered, before turning to Flim-Flam. “Do you want to join us, Flim-Flam?”
“Well…” Flim-Flam at first had a conflicted look on his face, but his face seemed to soften as he made a decision. “I think I’m gonna stay here with Vince. All this ghost chasing has made me realize: I wanna become a mystic just like him. I think it’d do the world a lot of good. If that’s alright with you, Vince.”
“Why of course it is.” Vincent smiled. “I’d be honored to teach you the trade. Just one request, though.”
“Anything you want, Vince! You say the word and it’s done!” Flim-Flam eagerly replied.
Vincent’s warm look quickly morphed into a much firmer glance. The tone of his voice conveyed an aura of extreme seriousness and complete unwillingness to bargain. “No more wacky inventions.”
“Well…” Flim-Flam blushed a little. “I suppose I could give up the inventions. I’m sure I’ll be making all sorts of cool potions as a mystic and all, which is kinda like inventing. Vince, you got yourself a deal!”
“Excellent.” Vincent reached out his hand to his new apprentice, as both of them shook on the deal.
“Before I forget though, you’ll be needing this in Hawaii!” Flim-Flam reached in his pocket and pulled out the rubber duck raft that had saved them so many times throughout their adventures. “I even made some modifications to make it better. It can now inflate to twice the size it was before!”
In an attempt to hand the duck to Scooby, Flim-Flam’s pinky finger accidentally became caught on the inflation cord. He was quickly able to get his finger loose when he tugged it out of the cord, but unfortunately, it was enough of a jolt that it caused the duck to begin inflating to an enormous size. It had nearly covered the entire dinner table and all of the food, and it still wasn’t even done inflating.
“Flim-Flam!” Vincent impatiently shouted, as the duck raft continued to grow in size exponentially.
“Hawaii-Dooby-Doo!” Scooby giggled.
