A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 6: Different Set of Rules

Meanwhile, at the Hollow Graveyard, Riddle, Ortho, and Ruggie are searching around for the others, any clues about the disappearing students, and how to get to this Halloween Party.

Riddle spots out, "Ah, I spy a small building. Is it a mausoleum?"

"It looks pretty suspicious. Maybe those ghosts from before are hiding in there!" Ortho says.

Ruggie reaches the doorknob and turns it a bit, "Doesn't look locked. Let's check inside.

Ruggie then turns the knob fully and opens the door. Soon, the two walk inside to see what they can find.

"What?!" The group says in shock.

Soon, the group find themselves in some strange deserted town. There are also old fences, old leafless trees, and old buildings. This place is known as the Haunted Ghost Town. This has come to a shock to the group.

"I'm positive we went into a building just now. So why are we outside again? That door must've led us to an entirely different location," Riddle says, shocked.

Ruggie turns his head to see the door has disappeared.

He says, "Well, the door's gone now. I guess the Spectral Realm operates on a whole different set of rules."

Ortho looks ahead and says, "There's a gate! We should check it out!"

The three walk forward and past the gate, and soon look to see small houses and other small buildings.

"I see some little houses scattered about. This must be a small village of some kind," Riddle says.

Ortho looks at the small houses and says, "Those houses look like they could collapse at any moment..." Then sadly says, "Speaking of which, I hope Briar, Grim, and the others are okay."

"Yes, I was just thinking the same thing," Riddle says.

"What, seeing rickety old buildings make you think of Briar?" Ruggie questions.

He looks at the buildings and says, "Though to be fair, they do look like Ramshackle Dorm. They're ancient, look totally abandoned... Oh!" But something catches his attention.

Ruggie calls out, "Guys, over there! Check out the town square down the road."

Riddle and Otho look over in Town Square to see a few ghosts frantically searching for something.

The first ghost says, "Fragments... Where are the mirror fragments?"

"We have to find them and get them to the boss quickly!" The second ghost frantically says.

"There's a bunch of ghosts there," Ortho says.

"They seem to be searching for mirror fragments," Riddle says.

Then says, "Very well, let us subdue them so we can question-"

But Ruggie stops them, "I'm going to stop you right there, Riddle! We have no idea how many ghosts there are! We'll get tired real quick if we go after every single one."

"Ruggie Bucchi's got a point," Ortho replies. "Our magic reserves aren't infinite... And without a place to recharge, my battery can't run indefinitely either. Conserving energy will improve odds of survival. For us, the other students, and my brother as well.

"True enough," Riddle says, "All right, then how about this?"

And Riddle explains the plan, "Our present objective is to find the clues that will lead us to the mastermind behind this plot... Namely, the mirror fragments mentioned in the invitation. It would be pointless to fight ghosts who don't have any. So we'll avoid that. Instead, we'll simply find the mirror fragments before they do. We'll preserve our energy as much as possible while making our way to the Halloween party, where the mastermind awaits. Once we get there, we cut off the problem at the source."

"Right! And that means we'll stop the ghosts from getting the mirror fragments too!" Ortho says.

"Then we're in agreement. We'll search the ghost town for fragments," Riddle says.

"Yeah!" Ruggie happily says with a grin.

Riddle notices it and asks, "...Ruggie, may I ask why you're grinning from ear to ear?"

Ruggie snickers, "Shyeheehee! We're going on a treasure hunt in a ghost town! How could I NOT be excited? And speaking of treasure, that's just the sort of thing you'd find in a place like this!"

"Treasure?" Riddle says, confused.

Then says, "This is a ghost town. There's no way it has the kind of treasure you want."

"Riddle, you're missing the point. We're on an adventure!" Ruggie says.

"An... adventure," Riddle baffled.

"Yeah! Old graveyards, empty museums, murky swamps, abandoned ghost towns... It's in desolate places like these that we could find an entrance to a city of gold or something!" Ruggie explains.

"Ooh, you like treasure hunts? My brother plays this one adventure game where the main character's a treasure hunter. You brave the high seas, deserts, and forests, gathering companions, collecting hints... It's thrilling!" Ortho happily says.

"Right?! And then the heroes find the motherlode and get filthy rich. MAN, I wish that were me! I remember a story like that in this manga me'n my neighbors swapped around when I was a kid. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. You'll never find treasure if you write it off in the first place, y'know!" Ruggie says with a big grin on his face.

"Really?" Riddle questions, "I'm not too familiar with any of this..."

"Only one way to get familiar then! Let's start with that house, the one that looks like its roof's gonna cave in!" Ruggie says in excitement.

The three then walk into the house where Ruggie points to. Soon find out that they're not the only ones with the same idea. What they see is a female ghost searching for something, probably another mirror fragment.

However, when she turns and sees the boys, the ghost screams, "EEEK!"

Riddle exclaims, "A ghost! They're in the houses too?!"

"Who do you think you are, barging into a lady's abode without permission?" The female ghost says, clearly upset.

Shocked, Ruggie asks, "You actually live in this DUMP?!"

That just makes the ghost mad, "You scoundrels! I won't abide thievery!"

And the ghost swoops in to attack them.