A Twisted Halloween II: Spectral Soiree

Chapter 18: That's Cute

Soon enough, Floyd, Ace, and Leona are able to scare the ghosts off, gather the mirror fragments they've dropped and are able to collect them. However, Epel has a scowl and disapproving look on his face, and glares at Floyd as he is still tied up to the tombstone.

Floyd happily says, "Woohoo! Check out this haul! There's got to be at least 30 fragments here." and picks them up.

Epel screams at him with rage, "FLOYD! What is wrong with you?!"

"Easy there, Guppy. I'm gonna share it with the rest of you. Now we've all hit our quota," Floyd says.

However, Epel angrily shouts, "THAT AIN'T WHAT I'M TALIK' ABOUT!"

Just then, Leona says, annoyed, "Sheesh, cut the yapping. I take my eyes off you two for one second and you start foolin' around."

"You know, you talk like you don't care, but the first thing to do was untie Epel. You actually look out for your people, don't you. I always thought Spelldrive would be way too tough of a club, so I never really considered it. But you as captain? I'm startin' to think maybe it wouldn't be so bad" Ace says.

"Yeah? You'd be welcome to join," Leona says.

"For real?!" Ace asks, surprised.

"Sure. I can appreciate a guy who's got some cunning," Leona says.

Leona smirks and says, "You knew Floyd was gonna use someone as bait, didn't you?"

Ace remains silent and then asks, "...You were onto me, huh?"

"Wasn't that hard to figure out. The way you asked if I was afraid of anything... You were trying to feign interest, but jumpin' to that topic was a real stretch. You probably thought you'd be safe if you stuck close to me. You made a calculated choice to abandon Epel to his fate and use me as a shield. That was pretty shrewd. I thought Heartslabyul was a dorm full of goody two-shoes, but you've proven me wrong."

"Why, thank you? But to be fair, I wouldn't say everyone in Heartslabyul is a goody two-shoes," Ace says.

But then Ace says to Leona, "I actually had some misconceptions about you as well. But hey..." And smiles, "I'll gladly take you up on that offer! It's you an' me form now on!"

Epel is not pleased by Ace's confession and says, "Rrrgh... That was real low, Ace."

Ace turns to Epel, "Oh, you caught all that, did you?" Then Ace begins to untie Epel, "Look, uh, I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"Oh, heeey. A door," Floyd says, pointing to the door, "This'll take us someplace else, right?"

"Yeah, let's blow this pop stand!" Ace says.

The group then heads to the door. Leona opens it and he and the others walk through. And soon enough, they find themselves in the strange staircase like before.

"More stairs? Floyd questions.

"We might be able to reach the headmage here. Let's report in," Leona says.

Suddenly, they hear footsteps and someone says, "Reporting in, eh? You wimps just looove followin' the herd. Pfft, pathetic."

Ace turns to the stairs, "Who's there?!"

"Wait! Someone's coming towards us down the stairs. It's..." Epel says, shocked.

"Bullying little weakling ain't exactly my cup o' tea..." the voice says, walking up the stairs.

And to the group's shock, the one walking down the stairs is Idia.

Idia says, "But maybe the strong are just destined to teach others their place."

"Idia?!" Epel says, stunned.

"Hey, Firefly Squid. What's up with you crossin' your arms and leaning against the wall all tough-like?" Floyd asks.

"It feels kinda stupid to go all out against a buncha small fry..." Idia says. He then grins and says, "But, whatever, I'll play with you. It'll give me somethin' to do. Why don'tcha try comin' at me?"

"I don't know if it's a ghost talking or what, but he's gettin' on my nerves more than usual," Leona says with his arms crossed.

"Oh, crud! Idia's been possessed by a ghost... And now he's acting like Leona!" Ace says, shocked.

"Wait, what?" Leona questions.

But Ace ignores Leona and says, "If we don't do something, we'll have to deal with TWO insufferably smug tough-guy styles! We gotta knock some sense into him!"

Stunned, Leona asks, "Hey... Hold on. Do I really come off like that?"

"He's like a clone," Floyd says.

"...Yeah, kinda," Epel agrees.

Leona remains silent to hear the three members of the group saying that the way Idia acts now, is like how he acts.

Leona soon scoffs, but shows irritation, "Tch. Now this radish spout's really gettin' on my nerves."

Then turns to Idia, "Look, you might be a blubbering coward... But you're not some weakling. These ghosts are no match for your magic and smarts. You ARE a housewarden, y'know. Try actin' like one instead of embarrassin' yourself. Wake up already. 'Cause I ain't gonna be able to put up with much more of this!"

Idia snickers, "Heh heh heh! You tryin' to start something with me? That's cute."

"I dunno what that little touch-your-face-and-laugh thing was, but knock it off," Leona says, annoyed.

Then Idia says, "I'll take on all of you at once. BRING IT!"