A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 9: Make It Fun for Me

Riddle, Ortho, and Ruggie fight off the ghosts with their magic, especially Riddle with his fire magic. However, there are so many ghosts that Riddle is using a large amount of his magic.

Riddle says, "We're taking them out, but they just keep coming..." He unleashes his fire as he shouts, "KNOCK IT OFF!"

Otho and Ruggie notice that Riddle is going all out, and unleashes a powerful fire magic.

"Whoa, what happened to conserving our energy?!" Ruggie asks, shocked.

Ortho notices a building and says, "There's a building to our right that looks in decent shape! Let's take shelter there and regroup!"

And with that, Riddle, Ruggie, and Ortho are able to dodge the ghosts and rush to the building. Riddle quickly opens the door and he along with the others hurry inside and the door closes behind them.

Riddle turns around and questions, "What just-?!"

Soon enough, the three friends find themselves in the strange and mysterious staircase.

"Where are we?!" Ruggie questions.

"A completely different place, I'm guessing," Ortho says.

Riddle looks around the staircase, "What nonsensical architecture. I see this place is just as strange as the rest."

"Doesn't Hearthslabyul look like this?" Ruggie questions.

Riddle feels offended, "I resent that! Heartslabyul's design strictly adheres to traditional -"

Suddenly, they hear a voice saying, "Ooh, what have we here?" Followed by footsteps.

"Hm? Did a ghost follow us?!" Riddle questions, and remains on his guard.

But Ortho says, "It's not a ghost. My sensors are picking up a heat signature..."

And notices someone walking up the stairs, "Ah, look on the stairs!"

They see someone walking down the stairs, and to them. From the looks of it, the person is Floyd Leech.

Floyd says, "Ahaha. 'Sup, guys? What'cha doin' all the way out here?"

"No mistaking that slimy chuckle... " Ruggie replies.

And says, "Heeey, Floyd! Glad you're okay!"

However, Riddle quickly says, "Wait! Stay back!"

"Huh?" Ruggie replies.

Floyd remains silent.

Then Riddle says "That isn't Floyd."

"What? How do you know?" Ruggie asks, confused.

"Jade told me something once, right after I first enrolled..." Riddle explains.

Flashback: Over a Year Ago: Interior Hallway

Riddle is running down the halls until he bumps into someone.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I was in a hurry and wasn't looking where..." Riddle explains.

But flinches, "Ugh, Floyd?!"

However, he says, "Actually, I'm Jade."

"Really?" Riddle questions.

And feels a bit embarrassed, "Augh, I'm sorry. You two look so much alike, and I haven't learned how to tell you apart yet..."

"I can hardly blame you. Plenty of people get us mixed up," Jade says.

Then leans to Riddle, "Would you like a helpful hint? Look closely at my face. Floyd and I have many differences - eye color, the angle of our eyebrows, the thickness of our earlobes..."

"Those might as well be rounding errors to me," Riddle points out.

"But the easiest difference to spot is the way our highlighted locks of hair fall. My highlighted section falls to my left - your right - while Floyd's is on the opposite side... Have you figured out the hint yet?" Jade adds.

"Is there some..." Riddle replies and looks closely.

He soon realizes, "Ah! Wait, is it...?"

Jade calmly smiles and says, "Correct! My hair falls in a curve that forms a 'J' from their viewer's perspective."

"I knew it! That is rather simple," Riddle says with a smile.

"Just remember: a highlight on your right makes a J for Jade. Heh heh heh..." Jade replies with a chuckle.

Flashback Ends:

"And there you have it," Riddle concludes.

Ruggie looks at the Leech boy standing before them carefully, "Now that you've pointed it out, his highlighted streak DOES look like a J." But soon grows confused, "But he's acting completely out of character, right?"

"...Visual comparison complete," Ortho replies.

Then looks at the Leech boy and says, "I compared his appearance against the images in my memory banks, and his eye colors are a perfect match for Jade Leech!"

The boy revealed as Jade Leech begins laughing, "Aha... Ahaha... Ahahahahahahahahahahahahah! "Then says, "What's it matter who I am? Seems to me like you guys should worry a lil' more about yourselves!"

Suddenly, Jade brings out his magepen and begins attacking them with his magic. Everyone quickly dodged the attack.

Ruggie yelps, "Whoa! He's attacking us!"

"Come at me, small fry! And hey... make it fun for me, will ya? Ahaha!" Jade says with laughter.

"This has got to be Floyd, Right?!" Ruggie asks.

"I'm starting to feel less confident in my assessment. Maybe it is Floyd, and he just flipped his hair to the other side..." Riddle says.

Jade shouts, "EAT THIS!" and begins to attack.

"He's coming at us again!" Evade!" Ortho calls out.

The three quickly dodge the attack.

Riddle grows frustrated and says, "Rgh... Whether it's Jade or Floyd is irrelevant. When someone gets violent with me, my response will always be the same... I'll hit them right back!"

With no other options, Riddle, Ruggie, and Ortho bring out their pens and begin to attack Jade because he's attacking them back. They fire their magic as Jade fires his, hard to tell which will win at this point.