The Mystery Incorporated crew, the Mane 6, Sparky, Krypto and Tempest Nova climbed out of the crystal cave and back to the control room, letting the door behind them close.
Luckily, Tempest was beginning to figure out that she could use the necklace to change between her normal form and her superhero form, so Lex Luthor wouldn’t suspect anything when he returned.
When he did return, everyone was sitting at the table, looking at him expectantly. “Yes, I got lost again!” he groaned as he and Rex approached the table. “And before anyone makes jokes, I'll remind you, I have a wristwatch-disintegrator.”
“You're very good with science and technology, aren't you, Luthor?” Fred asked with a smirk, and Lex immediately got up in Fred’s face. “How do I put this so you'll understand…? Golly, gee, Fred, you betcha! Jimpies!”
“Uh… it’s jinkies?” Tempest spoke up. “Velma says ‘jinkies’.”
“Do I look like I care? Now, up, up, up,” Lex shoved Tempest out of her chair and onto the floor, making Misty, Scooby and Krypto glare at him as he sat down. “All right, what's the plan? Are we building a trap, or not? My driver is missing! Look how upset I am.”
Pipp looked at Lex’s emotionless face and leaned in close to talk to her sister. “Gee… I’m so moved…”
“Shh!” Zipp silenced her sister so they wouldn’t ruin the plan. “Oh, there’s no need for a trap,” Daphne told Lex. “Krypto figured it all out.”
Krypto barked excitedly and panted as Velma took the opportunity to explain. “The Justice League was called away for an emergency. That's all.”
“But…” Lex protested, “what about the phantoms?”
“...swamp gas,” Scooby shrugged innocently, causing Misty and Tempest to nod. This caused Lex to growl in anger and slap a chair away in frustration. “Swamp gas?!” he shrieked, causing Tempest to shriek. “That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! And I’ve seen Superman: The Musical.”
“Turns out,” said Zipp, “there’s no mystery here. Just a big misunderstanding.”
“So they won't be able to sell you the Hall of Justice after all. It's safe for tourists to come back,” said Daphne. “In fact,” said Sunny, pulling out her phone, “Mayor Fleming's on her way with a group now. Let's go!”
The group immediately left the room, and after they started walking for a short while (or flying, in Krypto, Pipp and Zipp’s case), Lex followed them, having just got off the phone with someone. “I just got off the phone with Fleming. She didn't say anything about this!” he said angrily. “What about Mercy and Grundy?”
“Oh, they’ll turn up,” Daphne shrugged. “They probably just got lost,” said Shaggy, “just like you did.”
Izzy stifled a laugh at this. “Nice one, Shaggers!”
However, Lex and Rex walked after them, Lex asking more and more questions. “This makes no sense. What about the food truck lady? And the valet?”
“Actually, their stories all checked out,” Hitch said. “As sheriff, I have the ability to run a background check like nopony’s business.”
“Well,” Lex huffed, “I would have liked to be consulted.”
“Well, golly gee, Lex,” Fred imitated the former’s earlier tone. “You’re not really part of the gang, are you?”
“Not like me,” Tempest winked. “Now, me and my NEW FRIENDS are going to be in the lobby and facing our adoring public.”
Lex was just about to fire a laser from his wristwatch when he suddenly stopped himself, remembering to keep his calm demeanor.
He had to figure out what was going on somehow… no matter what.
XXXXXXXX
As the two groups came into the main lobby, Mayor Fleming was already waiting for them with a large group of tourists. “And here they are now! The kids of Mystery Incorporated, the Unity Squad and their pal, Krypto the Super-Dog!”
Many tourists began to cheer and take pictures of the groups, and Krypto flying all over the room. This only seemed to increase Lex Luthor’s anger as he marched over toward the mayor. “We had a deal, Fleming!”
However, the mayor was too busy clapping to notice him. “Nothing to say?” Lex scoffed, just before Daphne turned toward Zipp and Velma. “I sure hope you two are right about this.”
“Trust us,” Zipp whispered. “It’s all going exactly the way we discussed.”
Suddenly, the phantoms began to appear in the room with all the tourists, and the other ponies stood ready to protect everyone, in case whatever Velma and Zipp had planned didn't work.
Luckily, Velma was already two steps ahead, looking over at Krypto, who was flying near the nearby tapestry. “Now let's see who the phantom really is!”
Krypto, Zipp and Pipp flew up and removed the tapestry, revealing who was behind it. “Lex’s driver?!” Misty and Scooby cried in shock at seeing Mercy behind the tapestry. “Mercy?!” Lex demanded angrily as he walked toward her, but Mercy actually began running in the opposite direction. “You’re letting her get away!”
“Oh, no we’re not!” cried Pipp. “Computer, deactivate all holograms!”
“Acknowledged!”
With this remark, all the holograms (the tourists, the fountain, the mayor and all the exits) began to disappear, and this caused Mercy to stop in her tracks, only to be picked up by Krypto. “It was a trap!” Lex realized. “Would somebody please explain what's going on?”
This caused Velma to clear her throat. “Everyone get comfortable,” she said before gesturing to Mercy. “Everyone get comfortable. “Mercedes ‘Mercy’ Graves, personal assistant, driver and bodyguard to Lex Luthor--”
“I already know all that,” Lex rolled his eyes. “But do you also know just how tired I am of being all of that?” Mercy suddenly snapped. “Of carting your ungrateful rear end from this board meeting to that red carpet charity mixer?”
That’s when she looked up at Krypto. “Can you just put me down for two minutes while I do this part?”
Krypto gladly did so, but stuck nearby in case she tried something. “Thank you,” Mercy said before clearing her throat. “Do you know how it feels to, every night, see the flashbulbs light up for you, Lex, then immediately go dark for me?”
“That was the paparazzi you were supposed to keep away from me!”
I wanted them to see me, Lex,” Mercy insisted. “Not just as the chauffeur of the man who started, and then dissolved, The Legion of Doom!”
“That was purely a business decision.”
“Exactly,” Mercy sneered. “Somewhere, Lex Luthor, between the Legion of Doom and the White House, you lost your edge.”
“HA!!” Lex scoffed. “Look at you,” Mercy taunted. “Paying back the Justice League for a few bags of chips?”
This caused Izzy, Hitch, Zipp and the rest of Mystery Inc to stifle their laughter. “How did you know about that?” Sunny asked out of curiosity. “I see everything, you miserable horse!” Mercy snapped before lifting the device in her hands. “Which is how I knew which of our LexCorp-run millitary storage facilities the mayor sent this to!”
Tempest gasped in shock, beginning to back away. “The phantom zone projector!”
“With it,” Mercy continued, “I could do something Lex Luthor never could. Step one, make the Justice League disappear! Step two, move into their precious Hall of Justice and convert it into a new supervillain headquarters! Run by me, and with free snacks!”
Immediately, Shaggy and Scooby liked the sound of this. “Like, dude!” Shaggy cried. “Where do we sign up?”
“Guys!” Daphne scolded. “Supervillains?”
“Daphne… snacks!” Scooby tried to counter, only for Zipp to swipe the projector and hold it away from Mercy’s reach. “ A passable plan,” said Zipp, “but then the tour groups started coming.”
“Mercy knew,” said Velma, “she'd never have the place to herself, so she used the projector on a low setting to create an illusion of phantoms haunting the old, abandoned Hall of Justice.”
“Which terrified the tourists and sent them running!” Hitch immediately figured out. “Every time Mercy brought you to the hall for your meetings with Mayor Fleming,” Daphne continued to Lex, “she'd sneak away and hide, then turn on the phantom projector and scare people off.”
“But,” said Tempest, “what about when Solomon Grundy got hold of the dogs?”
“When she thought the dogs were in danger,” Velma explained, “she used the projector on Grundy, sending him into the phantom zone, thus saving Scooby and Krypto!”
Scooby eagerly licked Mercy’s face as a thank you as Velma tossed the messenger bag down at Mercy’s feet. “Wouldn't have figured that out if you hadn't accidentally left your empty messenger bag at the scene, the same bag you've been hauling this baby around in for months.”
“So… wait a second,” Sunny said, beginning to piece things together, “if the projector sent Grundy to the Phantom Zone, then that means…”
“The illusion,” Fred interrupted, “of the phantoms wasn’t just an illusion.”
“It was the Justice League trying to break out of the Phantom Zone where Mercy imprisoned them!” Misty realized. “Right!” Zipp nodded as she held the projector. “And since we have this, we can bring them back!”
But suddenly, an unexpected event occurred-- Lex grabbed Zipp and tossed her onto the ground before grabbing the projector and pointing it right at the group. “Everybody, step back!”
“What are you doing, Luthor?” Fred asked in shock as the ponies gave ready poses. “What I've been planning all along,” Lex stated as if it were obvious. “Evil. And I'm really, really good at it.”
He blasted at the phantoms, causing the group to look away, and when their vision was restored, the 'phantoms' were gone. That’s when Lex confidently turned to them. “Did you think I, Lex Luthor, hadn't figured out the solution to this mystery months ago?”
“What are you saying, Lex?” Mercy asked in confusion. “I’m saying well done, Mercy,” Lex smirked. “I'm saying I'm proud of your ingenuity, if not your treachery. That's right! I've been two steps ahead of you from the beginning! Which is, frankly, very on-brand for me. But I let you have your fun as long as it got the mayor to sell me this land. Which she agreed to do earlier, on the phone, when you were busy setting this admittedly brilliant trap.”
“I-It was Krypto’s plan,” Scooby gulped. “But, we all helped!” Hitch declared, putting Sparky in Fred’s arms so he could protect Sparky if he had to go and fight. “Just like we’re gonna help stop you now.”
“Diabolical, and confident,” Lex smirked at the ponies and Krypto. “Any chance you'll switch sides and work for me?”
Krypto’s growling and the ponies glowing wings, hooves and horns was enough for him to get an answer. “Superman said the same thing…” he muttered before clearing his throat. “Land, kids. When I was six years old, my father said to me…”
“Like, ‘get out’?” Shaggy guessed, causing Scooby and Izzy to snicker. “Ha… ha…” Lex said sarcastically. “Before that, he said, ‘Son, stocks may rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no dang good, but they will always need land, and they'll pay through the nose to get it’! Remember, my father said…”
“Land!” Scooby suddenly interrupted. “Rat's right. Rand,” Lex confirmed before realizing his error. “I mean, land! This land, the former Hall of Justice and site of the future tallest building in the world, the all new LexCorp Tower!”
As Krypto and the Unity Squad prepared to defend their friends, Lex pulled out a remote and pushed a button, but… nothing seemed to happen. “Jimpies,” Lex sighed, “this room needs windows.”
“Acknowledged!”
And within an instant, and much to the shock of the others, windows formed so they could see at least 20 bulldozers lined up outside. “Much better,” Lex smirked. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
However, as the others were stunned at what they were seeing, Mercy only scoffed. “Bulldozers? See, this is my point, Lex. You're not having evil fun anymore.”
“Oh, no?”
Lex pressed another button on the remote, and as Tempest hid behind Krypto, the bulldozers began to morph into huge robots, and their insides glowed with an eerie green light that Lex knew and Krypto recognized…
…a Kryptonian’s one weakness.
Zipp felt her ears pin immediately in panic. “A robot demolition squad?!”
“Kryptonite powered,” Lex confirmed with a smirk. “And I have no intention of paying anyone for those Chipzees!”
Mercy immediately leapt into his arms. “Oh, Lex, you’re back!”
“Baby, I never left.”
Krypto felt his anger rising at this, and zoomed toward them, knocking Mercy off to the side, and Lex onto his back before he caught the phantom projector in his mouth.
Lex groaned as he tried to get out from Krypto’s rear end. “Get off of me you… you mangy mutt!”
Suddenly, Rex closed his eyes before opening them, revealing green eyes that glowed like something possessed. “Initiate defense sequence.”
“Rex Ruthor’s a robot!” Scooby yelped in panic. “Ruh-roh…” Izzy gulped. “Unity Squad!” Sunny cried, shifting into alicorn form as the ponies raced forward. “GO!!”
Lex threw a device that landed right before the ponies, shocking them and causing them to fall to the ground. “Ha! That’s my newest little invention!” Lex sneered as the ponies tried to stagger to their feet. “A device that can weaken even YOUR Equestrian superpowers! Pretty soon, you won’t even have the strength to light your little unicorn horns!”
“Ugh… he’s right!” Sunny said as she tried to stand, her alicorn form flickering in and out. “I-I don’t know how much longer my alicorn form is gonna last!”
As the gang tried to help their pony friends, that’s Tempest immediately noticed Rex preparing to make a leap right for Krypto…
…and that’s when something within her finally snapped.
No one was going to hurt Krypto, not on her watch!
Tempest placed her hoof on her necklace, transforming into her superhero form and causing her wings to form. “Not now… NOT EVER!!”
As Rex leapt to tackle Krypto, Tempest leapt a millisecond before, causing her to get caught in the crossfire, much to the ponies’ horror. “KRYPTO!!! NIGHT FAIRY!!!” cried Misty. “NOOOOO!!!!!”
XXXXXXXX
Tempest felt herself hit the ground repeatedly, like stones skipping on water before they finally hit the ground hard. When the dust finally settled, Rex stood before them, ready for a fight.
Krypto looked down at Tempest, who was staggering to get on her feet. “...Krypto, we can’t let our friends get hurt,” she muttered as she spread her new fairy wings. “If they want a fight… then a fight is what they’ll have.”