A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 16: Get Digging

Meanwhile, opening the door, Ace, Leona, Epel, and Floyd walk through and find themselves in the Hollow Graveyard.

"So we're in a graveyard now?" Ace asks, shocked.

Unsurprised, Leona says, "This place has Spectral Realm written all over it."

"It's gonna suck tryin' to find any ghosts in this fog. It's like swimmin' though soup," Floyd says with a frown.

Epel turns to Leona and asks, "What's our plan, Leona?"

"All right, listen up," Leona says, grabbing the others' attention.

Then explains the plan, "I don't care how you do it - rob some ghosts, dig up the ground, whatever. Just get some mirror fragments. I expect five from each of you."

"That's it?!" the group asks, dumbfounded.

"What? You all got a problem with that?" Leona questions.

Ace then asks, "How is that a plan? That's just crossing our fingers and hoping for the best."

"What do you want from me? SOMEONE keeps running any strategy I come up with," Leona questions.

"That guy sounds messed up," Floyd comments.

Shocked, Ace says, "Wow. Not a shred of remorse."

Leona glares, "I learned a valuable lesson in the lab: none of you are capable of handling anything as organized as a plan."

He then notices something useful, "Well, would you look at that. There's a shovel on the ground. I couldn't think of a more perfect tool for a skeleton."

Then turns to Ace and commands, "Get digging. Work methodically and find those fragments."

"Easier said than done. Those things are tiny. I'm bound to miss them in all this dirt," Ace says,

Epel asks, "Why do we need them for the Halloween Party, anyway?"

"Good question. Having to wear a costume makes sense, but not that," Ace says.

Then Floyd says, "I've tried to squeeze the reason outta the ghosts, but they all just disappeared on me."

Leona huffs, "Hmph. Who cares what the reason is? Whoever's doing this, they've taken hostages, which means our only option is to abide by their terms. That said..." and remains silent.

"Yeah?" Everyone asks.

"Mirrors have been used in a whole slew of magical artifacts. Think about it. There's the school's Dark Mirror, the Hall of Mirrors, the Viewglasses. The list goes on. In most of those cases, the mirror connects two places together. If these fragments turn out to be part of a magic mirror that's as powerful as the Dark Mirror... Collecting and reassembling them could spell trouble," Leona explains.

"What kinda trouble?" Floyd asks.

Leona explains, "I could make a few guesses. Like, maybe the mirror connects the Spectral Realm to our world, and lets ghosts take the place of living people."

This shocked everyone after hearing Leona's hunch. If what Leona said is true, then the ghosts are free to roam the living world.

"So these mirro fragments could be seriously dangerous?" Ace asks, shocked.

But Leona says, "Don't go gettin' ahead of yourself. It's POSSIBLE, but remember this is all speculation on my part. Either way, if we wanna avoid the worst-case scenario, we gotta find all the fragments we can and take these guys down. Now get to searchin'."

Ace sighs, "Ugh... Halloween's supposed to be fun. Not whatever this is."

I hear you," Epel says.

But also says, "But we just have to buckle down for now, right? Let's find those mirror fragments, and fast."

"We should probably split up," Ace suggests.

Then turns to Floyd, "Where are you gonna look, Floyd?"

"As long as I'm getting mirror fragments, what's it matter? I'mma do my thing. You guys do whatevs," Floyd answers, unamused.

Then Floyd takes his leave to find any mirror fragments. Epel takes his leave as well.

"Guess I should've expected that..." Ace replies, shaking his head.

Then asks, "How about you, Leona? You wanna take the left or the right?"

"I'll stand guard," Leona answers.

Unsurprised, Ace says, "Typical. Skipping out on the actual work. Aren't you supposed to be a housewarden? How about showin' some leadership?"

"What did you say?" Leona questions with a frown and a vicious glare.

Ace grows uneasy, "Erk, I mean... You don't have to glare at me! Look, uh, I'm sorry, okay?!"

Suddenly, Leona roars at Ace, "RAWR!"

"Ack!" Ace yelps.

Just then, they hear a "GYAAAH!"

Ace quickly turns around to see a ghost, and the ghost quickly runs away.

"A ghost?! Ace exclaims.

"How did it sneak up behind us?!" Epel asks, shocked.

But Leona says, "Look alive. There are more of 'em."

And Leona's right, more ghosts begin to appear before them.