Author's Note: There has been instances where after I've begun work on a story, the dryness of the story's plot results in me losing inspiration to continue with it.

This installment, in its initial form of the gang travelling to Canada to testify in a court trial, is one of such stories, and after some thoughts, I've decided to revamp this next installment of my Dimension Four series.

This revamped story, originally titled D4 Scooby-Doo! Riddle of le Chevalier dans le Places des Arts, takes place four months prior to the events of Season 1 of The New Scooby-Doo Movies and is a second rewrite of the 2013 DTV film Stage Fright, only that the gang, in addition to the several other Hanna-Barbera mystery-solvers, participates in a music contest with the setting in Montreal, where they cross paths with my fictional alter ego Garfield Stephenson Wu.

For more information on Garfield Stephenson Wu, please go to my FictionPress Profile (Link provided at the top my Profile here) and check out his origin story, titled D4 Garfield and The Secret of the School Library!

As with that story, I want to note that the Garfield in this story is my OC Garfield Stephenson Wu, NOT his namesake: The title character of the comic strip Garfield. This is also the reason why this story isn't placed in the Scooby-Doo and Garfield crossover category.

Another thing to note is that given that this story takes place in Montréal, there's going to be a great deal of French being spoken here.

Considering my limited knowledge in the language, the dialogues where the sentences are in italic mean that the character is speaking in French.

I don't own Scooby-Doo and any of the other groups of meddling kids. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.

Chapter 1: A first impression and on the Canadian

August 28, 1971

The story began, well, late at night at the Place des Arts in Montréal, Canada. The concert venue was presently closed for the night, though it was clear that there were some activities going on in there.

And no, the activities aren't related to preparations for an opera performance or a concert.

Rather, at present, the people inside the concert hall are hard at work at something that doesn't have anything to do with music or concerts.

The scene then shifts to the main hallway of the concert venue, where the silent night was shattered by the sound of running and screaming.

Zooming closer, the source of the running and screaming was revealed to be none other than Shaggy and Scooby, who were at present running from a ghost chevalier who has been haunting the concert hall.

"Gangway!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby sprinted down the hallway towards the main reception room.

Over at the main reception room, Fred, Velma and Daphne were in the process of doing the finishing touches of a trap, and Shaggy and Scooby's screams from the main hallway was a clear indicator that the duo had baited the chevalier.

"The trap's all set, girls." Fred said as he gently yanked the rope in front of them briefly to test its tension.

"That's good, because Shag and Scooby are fast approaching at nine o'clock, Freddie." Daphne nodded. "We better get out of the way before they arrive and spoil the surprise."

"Definitely." Velma agreed as the trio quickly hid behind a nearby bust, in time to see Shaggy and Scooby engaged in a lung-busting run with the ghost chevalier in close pursuit!

"Like, I swear that chevalier doesn't understand a word we're saying, Scooby!" Shaggy exclaimed. "He doesn't respond to our demands to arrêtez."

"Ri know, Raggy." Scooby nodded as he continued running. "Ri know."

The chevalier continued to chase the duo until they managed to duck down underneath the rope, something which the chevalier couldn't see as its eyesight was blocked by the closed visor on the helmet.

Before the chevalier knew it, it tripped over the rope and fell over, in time for the rope to activate the net above.

From their hiding spots, the gang looked on as the net swooped down and caught the chevalier like a scoop that managed to swoop down and get some ice cream.

The chevalier, trapped and tangled in the net, struggled to break free to no avail as the gang emerged from their hiding spots.

"Yes!" Fred exclaimed as he and Shaggy high-fived each other. "We've got him!"

"And Garfield's pretty good with the timing, too!" Shaggy added as they heard sirens coming from outside. "The police are just a couple blocks away."

In mentioning Garfield, Shaggy was referring to their friend Garfield Stephenson Wu, who happened to be visiting Montréal when they were dragged into the mystery of the ghost chevalier haunting the Place des Arts, which also came as the Opéra du Québec was making preparations for an upcoming performance of Verdi's Macbeth.

The six spent the past day working together to solve the case, with Garfield also updating the local police on the progress of the investigation.

Garfield later left the gang to go fetch the police once they came to a conclusion regarding the identity of the culprit behind the ghost chevalier's haunting, with the intention of returning to the concert venue just as the gang captures the ghost chevalier.

A short while later, the gang were gathered in the main reception room of the concert venue with the chevalier handcuffed and restrained by two police officers on each side.

However, while a total of five police officers had responded to Garfield's update, Garfield was not among the group of officers arriving at the concert venue.

Noting Garfield's absence, Fred walked over to the police sergeant, who was issuing orders to the officers at the scene.

The sergeant finished issuing his orders in time to see Fred walk over towards him, and he paused and turned towards the blonde.

"Monsieur Jones, I presume?" The sergeant asked with a thick French accent in his voice.

"That's me, Sergeant." Fred nodded. "I was just wondering where our friend Garfield Wu is at."

"Oh, Monsieur Wu's on his way here with the detectives." The sergeant replied. "They had to leave the station last to go through the documentation related to the case, but they shouldn't take to long to join us."

The minute the sergeant finished, they all spotted a couple more cars pulling into the front parking lot, and in no time Garfield emerged from the first car, followed by the two investigators.

Detective Lieutenant Jean-François Clouseau and his partner Detective Sergeant Gérard Godbout both didn't look impressed one bit as they arrived at the scene with Garfield leading the way, and they both glared when they spotted the handcuffed chevalier.

"Ici votre Chevalier de Place des Arts, Lieutenant." (Here's your Knight of the Place des Arts, Lieutenant.) Garfield presented the chevalier as they stopped in front of him.

"Oui, je peux voir cela, Monsieur Wu." (Yes, I can see that, Mr. Wu.) Clouseau nodded as he and Godbout both take a closer look at the chevalier before they turned to the gang and speaking in English, the lieutenant added, "I have to hand it to you kids for taking down the culprit of this mess here in les Place des Arts."

"Glad that we could help, Lieutenant." Velma adjusted her glasses before gesturing towards the chevalier and continued, "You see, our man behind the armour plates of the chevalier adopted the disguise and took advantage of the legend of the chevalier roaming the grounds of the concert venue to cover up his involvement in staging the thefts of countless artifacts across the city and disguising them as props used for operatic performances."

"Right, right." Clouseau nodded. "The thefts also came as the Opéra du Québec has found itself facing a budget crunch in spite of being granted a significant sum for its budget by the provincial government, and you kids were key in uncovering evidence that someone in the organization was embezzling funds."

"Now all needs to be done is to unmask le chevalier." Godbout said as he gestured at the chevalier.

"Of course." Fred nodded before he proceeded to pull the helmet off the chevalier, revealing a man who they recognized as the prop master of the Opéra du Québec, Milton Rempel.

"Mr. Milton Rempel, just as we suspected." Daphne said in recognition.

"Yes indeed." Clouseau narrowed his eyes before he continued, "Monsieur Rempel, you are under arrest for embezzlement, grand larceny and conspiracy to commit fraud. You have the right to remain silent and seek counsel."

"And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids and that chien!" Rempel gritted his teeth as he glared at the gang while he was being taken away by the police officers.

As the gang watched the prop master being taken away by police, Daphne turned to Fred and remarked.

"I don't know what Monsieur Rempel was saying, but it sounds like he was using the usual 'meddling kid' line." She said.

"If that's really the case, then that's the first time we've been referred to as such in French." Fred nodded.

"Wouldn't be the first time for me." Garfield shrugged. "Oh, well. Another case closed, guys."

"Couldn't have make it without your help, Garfield." Velma said. "In fact, your insight in French was helpful in helping us decipher the accounting figures we've found in Rempel's office, along with the French news articles."

"It was my pleasure." Garfield smiled. "Though I was under the impression that you're familiar with many languages, Velma."

"At present, I'm only familiar with the Germanic languages." Velma replied. "Just started my studies in the Romantic languages this past winter, so hopefully, by next summer, my level of French should be on par with yours."

"Ah, okay." Garfield nodded thoughtfully. "Either way, are you guys enjoying your stay in Montréal so far?"

"After all of this, you can say that this city has left quite the impression on us." Fred replied.

"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "Like, and all of this came just as Scoob and I get to try out this 'poutine' thing we've heard so much about when we were walking around the city."

"I'm sure you guys are gonna get the chance to try some poutine before you guys return to the States." Garfield patted Shaggy in the back, earning some laughs from the others.

Shaggy chuckled before Garfield added, "By the way, did you know that there's a commune called Norville in the Normandy region of France?"

"I did not know that." Shaggy replied as he arched his eyebrows.

Garfield nodded. "Thought you'd be interested to know that you're sharing a name with a French commune, Shag."

"It's good to know." Daphne said as they all nodded thoughtfully.

August 30, 1971

That morning, the gang and Garfield arrived at Windsor Station in Montréal to take the train back to their respective homes.

While Garfield is due to take the CP Rail-operated local Montréal-Montebello-Ottawa train home, the gang will be riding on the CP Rail-operated Canadian to Vancouver, which will then be followed by a transfer onto the Amtrak-operated Cascades for the trip to Seattle and then the Coast Starlight to Los Angeles.

"Kinda a shame Amtrak decided not to retain the D&H Laurentian train service." Garfield remarked as they made their way down the pedestrian bridge over the platforms and tracks. "You guys could have taken it to New York, transfer onto the George Washington and get to Chicago, and then transfer onto the Super Chief to Los Angeles."

"Well, at least we get to have a direct train ride across the continent without the need for those transfers, Garfield." Velma shrugged as they stopped by the stairs leading down towards Platforms 7 and 8. "And besides, the scenery of the Canadian is beautiful, especially for the section through the Rocky Mountains."

"True." Garfield nodded thoughtfully before he looked down the stairs and spotted the pair of CP Rail Budd Diesel Rail Cars idling at the Platform 7 tracks.

Noticing the sign above Platform 7 reading "Ottawa via Lachute, Montebello", Garfield turned back towards the gang and then added, "Well, my ride's over there, gang, so I'd better be off."

"It's been fun hanging out with you, Garfield." Daphne smiled as she went to embrace Garfield.

"Tell me about it." Garfield smiled back, and after the embrace, he turned to Velma and added, "It's been a pleasure working with you guys, especially regarding the chevalier at the Place des Arts."

"I can say the same to you, Garfield." Velma shook his hand.

"Take care of yourself, Garfield." Fred smiled.

"I will, and same to you guys." Garfield patted Fred's back. "I'll be in touch."

Turning to Shaggy and Scooby, he then added, "Shaggy, Scooby, as usual, it's been a great pleasure."

"The pleasure's ours, Garfield." Shaggy smiled as he and Scooby took turns shaking Garfield's hand.

"Rindeed rit is." Scooby agreed.

Smiling, Garfield then made his way down the stairs to the platform as he added, "I'll be in touch, gang."

The gang all nodded back as they watched Garfield made his way down the stairs to Platform 7, where he swiftly handed his train ticket to the ticket inspector at the train door before being allowed onto the Budd Diesel Rail Car.

It was then that the Canadian, which was idling at Platform 1, sounded its horn, at which point Fred turned to the others and he said, "Well, our ride's here, gang."

The others all nodded as they quickly made their way down the bridge, rushed down the stairs and made their way to the Canadian.

As the ticket inspector allowed the gang to board the Canadian, the Budd Diesel Rail Car sounded its horn and as the gang looked on, the Ottawa-bound local train slowly began to pull out of Platform 7.

A short while later, as the Canadian was chugging along the CP Rail Westmont Subdivision, passing by the Montréal West Station, the gang saw the local train carrying Garfield slowly pulling out of the station platform and upon picking up speed, briefly caught up with the Canadian before turning northward at the junction and continued its way towards Vimont, Lachute and Montebello.

Watching the local CP Rail train disappearing in the distance, the gang then turned and relaxed on their seats as they look forward to the three-day journey.

May 12, 1972

Fast forward to almost a year later, where that afternoon, the eastbound Canadian was chugging along the CP Rail M&O Subdivision as it pulls out of Hudson Station, almost an hour away from its destination, Windsor Station in Montréal.

On board the train sat the members of Mystery Inc., who are all eagerly waiting for the train to arrive in Montréal.

Also onboard the train were members of the Neptunes, the Chan Clan, the Cavemen group and the Funky Phantom's group.

"It sure was interesting that we're all going to take part in this music contest in Montreal with the others, gang." Fred remarked as they watched the scenery go by.

"Indeed." Velma agreed. "It's gonna be interesting to see how this contest goes when the participants are mainly four, five groups of meddling kids."

"You're telling me." Daphne smiled. "As a matter a fact, I can't wait to see the disappointed look on Shelly's face when we clinch first prize in the contest."

As the redhead was speaking, the others can see the competitiveness in her eyes at the mention of Shelly Sandez of the Neptunes.

Shaggy chuckled as he shared looks with Scooby.

"Sounds like Daph's gonna do something in our act to knock Shelly's socks right off, Scoob." Shaggy said before elbowing the Great Dane and added, "Eh?"

"Reah." Scooby chuckled. "Re-he-he-he-he-he!"

Fred and the girls only grinned at the remark.

"Just wait and see, guys." Daphne said as her smile turned into a smirk. "When we finally clinch first prize, Shelly is sure gonna regret pulling that prank on me the other night."

In mentioning the prank, Daphne was referring to the prank Shelly had pulled on her while the Canadian was speeding through the Rocky Mountains on the first night.

As with most of the passengers on the train that night, the gang were sound asleep in their sleeping quarters.

Their sleeping quarters was basically an open section, where their daytime seats are converted into berths with beds for the night, and for that particular night, Shaggy and Fred were sleeping on one side of their quarters and the girls on the other while Scooby had set up his own hammock and slept in the middle of their sleeping quarters.

As the gang snoozed away for the night, Shelly, who clearly wasn't having any of Daphne's friendliness towards Biff, Clam, Bubbles and Jabber earlier that day, decided to get even by sneaking over to Daphne with a black marker in hand.

What followed was that Daphne, who had slept in the bottom berth that night, spent almost the whole morning in the washroom trying to get the black marker doodles washed off her face the next day.

And it wasn't without the other passengers noticing the doodles on her face, which led to some silent giggles behind her back as she rushed her way to the washroom when Fred told her what she has gotten on her face.

Since that prank, Daphne and Velma has swapped places with Daphne sleeping on the top berth in the nights that followed, and the embarrassment from the doodles on her face gave the redhead the resolve to get even.

"Anyways, now that we're almost at our destination, gang, we should focus our energies on preparing the finishing touches of our act for the contest." Fred announced.

"Yeah." Daphne nodded as they all looked towards Shaggy and Scooby. "I hope you guys are fully prepared for our act."

"Like, don't worry, Daph." Shaggy waved his hand dismissively. "Scoob and I got everything covered."

Then, nodding at his guitar case, he added, "We've, like, rehearsed for our act for like a hundred times, guys. There's no way we can't make it through the contest without getting stage fright."

"Maybe, but if we wanna clinch first place, we would definitely wanna double down on our efforts." Daphne said. "The last thing we need is Shelly goading us over them getting first place while we end up in second."

"And I'm sure we will when you put that pencil neck in charge of planning for the music for your act." A voice said, and the gang turned and Daphne narrowed her eyes when its source revealed itself to be none other than Shelly Sandez of the Neptunes.

With a smirk on her face, Shelly added, "When I hypnotize the audience and judges with my vocals, you guys are going down!"

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Daphne placed her hands on her hips. "Shag's quitar skills are gonna supercharge us into first place."

"Oh, yeah?" Shelly folded her arms.

As Shelly and Daphne continued with their back and forth bickering, the others shared looks with each other.

"Oh, boy." Velma remarked.

"You can say that again." Shaggy agreed before shrugging and added, "Oh, well. I sure look forward to having fun while getting around in the City of Festivals, guys."

"With the tons of food in the City of Festivals you and Scooby have yet to try out, Shaggy, I'm not surprised." Velma adjusted her glasses.

At the mention of "food", both Shaggy and Scooby's eyes bulged in excitement, which was something Shelly picked up as she and Daphne bickered.

"And it's gonna be a miracle if the city doesn't starve with those two walking appetites on the loose." Shelly weighed in.

Then, turning towards Daphne, she added, "See? That's why you guys are going down! Your music manager would be too busy horsing around the city and eating while missing out on practice, so it's a foregone conclusion that we're gonna win first place."

"With Clamhead and Jabber's appetites, I could really say the same thing for you guys." Another voice joined in, and the group turned and saw Stanley and Henry.

"Clamhead and Jabber aren't gonna be the stars of our performance in the contest." Shelly snapped as she turned towards Henry. "I am, not to mention that your clan has nothing much to offer."

Then, with a smirk, she then added, "Not unless your clan somehow decides to mix music with Bruce Lee."

Henry and Stanley shared looks with each other, then the latter smirked, "Maybe. When that happens, expect your socks to get knocked off literally."

As the bickering continued, the scene shifted towards outside the train as it pulls out of Dorval Station, with the city's skyline in the background.

Little did each of the group realize that there was a surprise in store awaiting them as the train eventually pulled into the platform of Windsor Station fifteen minutes later.

In that same time, over at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, which is located a few blocks away from Windsor Station and is part of the Place des Arts complex, the staff was continuing with preparations for the music competition.

Several technicians were busy testing the equipment while others were getting the stage cleaned up, during which an assistant manager can be seen hurriedly walking past the seats with a clipboard in hand.

"Make sure the stage is spotless!" The assistant manager demanded as he pointed towards the stage before turning towards the group of technicians and added, "And for heaven's sake, if this feedback continues, one of us is gonna go deaf sooner or later!"

The assistant manager then turned and looked around, frustration evident in his voice, as he added, "Ou-est Jean-Phillippe?" (Where is Jean-Phillippe?)

As an aide rushed over towards him, he added, "He was supposed to have the decorations ready an hour ago!"

"Calmez-vous, Monsieur Blaney." (Calm down, Mr. Blaney.) The aide urged. "Yelling and being angry isn't gonna get us anywhere."

"Easy for you to say that when you're not the one in charge of making sure this contest goes off without a hitch." Blaney snapped just as another aide rushed over towards him.

When Blaney turned and saw the aide, he shouted, "Jean-Phillippe! Why aren't the decorations set up?"

"Je suis desole, Henri." (I'm sorry, Henri.) Jean-Phillippe replied. "Mais I can't find the decorations. They seemed to have been misplaced."

"What do you mean misplaced?" Blaney demanded. "They were last seen in the storage room, am I right?"

"Oui." Jean-Phillippe nodded. "That's where I thought the decorations were at when I went over to set up the stage, but they're not there."

Blaney narrowed his eyes. "Did anyone went into the storage room during lunch break?"

"Non." Jean-Phillippe shook his head. "I was there and saw the decorations last before we broke for lunch, and I have the key on me at all times."

"And when you returned after lunch, the decorations were nowhere to be seen." Blaney said.

"Exactement." Jean-Phillippe nodded. "That's what I've been doing for the past couple of hours."

Blaney sighed as he wiped his forehead and gently rubbed his temple, but before he could respond, they heard groaning coming from above.

"Attention!" (Look out!) One of the stagehands shouted, and the trio looked up, just in time to see the giant light fixture above them crashing down.

Swiftly, Blaney grabbed the two aides at his side by the collars as he took off.

"Run!" He shouted as they quickly moved out of the way, and just in time, too, for a split-second later, the fixture crashed onto where they were standing at just seconds ago.

As the dust settled, the staff paused from their work to survey the damage, and Blaney only placed his palm on his forehead and sighed.

However, before anyone could say anything, a scream can be heard, and when everyone turned towards its source, they all gasped as a dark, shadowed figure was seen on the catwalk above the stage.

"Behold: The Phantom!" The figure hollered as it swung down from the catwalk, right towards Henri Blaney.

Before the assistant manager can react, the figure snatched the clipboard from his hand before swinging upwards towards the dark roof, where it disappeared.

With the figures haunting, sinister laugh in the background, the staff gathered around as they looked towards where that figure had disappeared at.

It was then that one of the aides turned around, looked towards the main screen on the stage background and gasped.

"Regardez!" (Look!) The aide shouted, and everyone followed her gaze and gasped as well.

The screen was now displaying the following sentence: "Christine must win!"

At the sight of the haunted-looking text on display on the screen, Blaney began to feel a little light-headed before he collapsed onto the floor and fainted.

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