Old Spanish Church

Old Spanish Church
Vital Statistics
Type	Church
Part of	Crystal Cove
Other Statistics
Haunted by	Obliteratrix Freak of Crystal Cove
Production Details
First appearance	SDMI: Where Walks Aphrodite

The Old Spanish Church is a ruined building in Crystal Cove that may have been built at the time of the conquistadors.

History

Early history

The original Mystery Incorporated investigated the old church after Brad Chiles had seen someone sneaking around it. They chased an unknown creature to the church one night, though Ricky Owens and Cassidy Williams suggested that they should call the police to investigate because of the danger. Professor Pericles flew into the rafters to investigate a sound. Believing Pericles to be in danger, Ricky tried to follow him by scaling the pipe organ, but caused the organ to fall apart and reveal a hidden diagram of the Planispheric Disk. The Freak of Crystal Cove looked on from the rafters, poetically stating that a curse had befallen them.

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated

Season one

Professor Pericles and Scooby-Doo visited the church so that they could collect pewter for Pericles' antidote to Aphrodite's love potion. After Aphrodite's defeat, Ed Machine played a recording that Pericles sent to Mr. E. In the message, Pericles revealed that he arranged Aphrodite's attack so that he would have an excuse to move around Crystal Cove unwatched and covertly steal several items, including an old Spanish ship's manifest from the old church.

The gang and H.P. Hatecraft followed clues from the Darrow Family Archives to the old church. They successfully opened a secret trap door in the narthex of the church, but were attacked by the Obliteratrix. Still believing rival author Regina Wentworth to be responsible for the attacks, Hatecraft attempted to bargain with her but was quickly subdued. Angel Dynamite arrived and defeated the Obliteratrix, who was revealed to be Alice May. May said that she attacked them under orders from Mr. E, who hoped to lure Pericles out into the open. Sheriff Stone arrived and arrested May. After the police were gone, Angel, with prompting from Velma, finally revealed to the gang that she was really Cassidy Williams from the original Mystery Incorporated. She told them how they investigated the church years before because Brad Chiles had seen someone going there at night. Though they found a treasure map at the church, they ultimately left town to escape the Freak of Crystal Cove. Angel implored the gang to stop investigating because the Freak would return and threaten them, too, but no one would listen to her because she lied about her real identity. As the gang drove away, the Freak watched them from the steeple of the old church, reciting a poem about how they had become cursed.

The gang returned to the church so that they could access the Crystal Cove Caves and retrace the movements of the original Mystery Incorporated. They opened the trapdoor and rappelled down into the caves beneath the building. After tangling with the Freak of Crystal Cove and Pericles, Fred triggered a booby trap that flooded the caves and washed them out into the ocean. The Freak, closely pursued by Fred, scaled the cliffs beside the church. The ground became unstable as they struggled, causing the back of the building to crumble and fall to the ocean below. The Freak saved Fred from falling to his death instead of making a getaway, resulting in his quick capture in front of the building. In front of Sheriff Stone, Cassidy, and the gang's parents, the Freak was revealed to be Fred Jones, Sr., Fred's dad. Mayor Jones confessed that he had been searching for the treasure at the church and conspired with Pericles to blackmail the original Mystery Incorporated, even taking Fred from his real parents, Brad and Judy, to use as a form of hostage. As the gang were forcibly split up and driven away by their parents, Professor Pericles took possession of the Planispheric Disk pieces from Scooby and flew away from the church.

Appearances

• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
  • 116. Where Walks Aphrodite
  • 125. Pawn of Shadows
  • 126. All Fear the Freak
  • 215. Theater of Doom

Notes/trivia

• In the flashbacks about how Fred Jones, Sr. conspired with Professor Pericles against the original Mystery Incorporated, it appears that they were outside of the old church when Jones knocked Pericles unconscious and left him for the police.
• In Pawn of Shadows, a flashback shows the original Mystery Incorporated investigating the Old Spanish Church. Ricky Owens, trying to follow Professor Pericles by scaling the pipe organ, caused the organ to fall apart. Though the church was already abandoned when the pipe organ was destroyed, when the gang went to the church to investigate in All Fear the Freak, the organ was fully assembled and there seemed to be no problems with it.