Session 2: The House of Daphne Report

General Summary

Daphne's not in great shape, but she's alive, and more than a wee bit pissed at Fred for shooting her ... again. And we get a flashback to when that happened most recently: during the attempt to rescue Shaggy from the Ghost Pirates of Alcatraz.
We revisit exciting moments like:
That time Daphne was teleported mid-air. And...That time Daphne was shot by Fred when he was trying to shoot a ghost pirate. And ... well, that's about it, really.
Back in Baker City at the Grand Hotel, the gang is formally introduced to Linda and Valerie Vale, the latter of whom turns out to be a big fan of the old Scooby Doo show, which she watches on laser disk at the Hood River Argosy, which is where the sisters are from. They have come to Baker City looking for their mother and their Uncle Grandpa, Franz Glengold.
Their mother had been staying here at the hotel, but they cannot find sign of her. However, they haven't tried their uncle-grandpa's last known location: a fortified house up in the hills at the southwest edge of town.
As the gang arrives at this house, currently surrounded by a high, electrified chainlink fence topped with concertina wire, Daphne realizes that they have come to one of her redoubts -- one of her many sanctuaries around the world where she has stored weapons, gear, and vehicles. And that here, in fact, is stored the most impressive of her Apocalypse Cars.
Before they can investigate that, however, they are confronted by Franz Glengold, armed with a high-powered hunting rifle. But the presence of the Vale girls quickly calms him and the whole troupe is invited in for tea.
There, the Scooby Gang learns that as far as he knows, Franz is the last survivor of Baker City. Something -- ghosts -- come out, mostly at night, to hunt, absorb, and maybe even become that which they have eaten.
Light seems to keep them at bay. But Franz isn't sure how much longer he can hold out.
It is at this point that a full-on assault on the compound begins. The 'ghosts' in the form of strange, mutant creatures and humans, press against the outer fences, while sounds from below indicate that they are also trying to breach the aquaduct that runs beneath the house.
Daphne opens the secret garages of the house and the team arms up.
The resulting fight is a tough one, but the Scooby Gang prevails, causing the ghost substance ... which they determine is actually some sort of protoplasm, ancient, called by elder races 'the Enemy' ... to retreat back into the aquaduct. Brute Scooby force pushes the ones at the fence back.
Discovering that the Enemy is vulnerable to the same oil-eating bacteria that wiped out the petroleum (and plastics) in Utah (and thus creating the Mad Max-like wasteland that prevails there), the Gang collect some from the gas tanks of the Mystery Machine ... discovering in the process that the Winnebego has been thoroughly compromised by the bacteria and will never run again.
Prepared with a weapon against the Enemy, they just need a way to get back to the Grand Hotel and dump the bacteria in the Enemy's lair in a cavern beneath.
And so Daphne pulls the tarps off of ...
The Mystery Master.
Segmented. Armored. Multi-treaded. Flame Throwers. Rocket Launchers. Machine Guns. Infirmary. Moped bay. And more.
This was the very (and very operational) tracked tank used in the Jan Michael Vincent post-apocalyptic starrer "Damnation Alley" ... with "Mystery Master" painted on the side in the iconic Scooby Doo colors.
In it, there is nothing between the redoubt and the Grand Hotel that can stop them. And once there, Daphne doesn't stop, but drives right on into the old hotel.
After that, the team works their way down to the sub layers where the Enemy dwells. They are not unopposed, and Fred accidentally kills Veronica Vale during the firefight.
But in the end, the Scooby Gang prevails, the Enemy is defeated forever, and ... Valerie Vale appears to Fred as a semi-friendly spirit guide.

Report Date

04 Dec 2020