NEW CHAP and stuff. And LEAVE A REVIEW PLEASE I NEED THEM TO KEEP GOING. REMEMBER, JESSE DOESN'T KNOW ITS THEM UNDER THE MASKS, SO I'M STILL GONNA SAY THEIR NAME BUT JESSE DOES NOT KNOW. Also, this has a lot of dialogue, not much action, but that makes the wait more exciting! Besides I plan on immediately starting on the next chapter when I'm done! Enjoy guys! :D

ALSO THIS CHAP HAS A SMALL CHUNK FROM THE LAST CHAP, BUT IT'S REWRITTEN AND IN BETTER FORM, SO DON'T GO CRAZY IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE. Also, the f word is used, once. So be warned!

"Wait," Dan began. "What if the killer is after us now?"

Lizzie visibly began to shake. "Omygosh," What if Dan's right?!"

"Whoever did this could be hunting us," Stampy exclaimed.

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Relax. I've dealt with worse. Much, much worse."

Dan simply glared at Jesse. "Inspiring."

Ivor chuckled. "More than you, that's for certain."

Stampy turned and lumbered to the table. "All this danger talk is getting my stomach all queasy."

Stacy however had other ideas. "Hey, Stampy. I need to talk to you about something."
Dan sat down and turned around. "Psssst. Lizzie, over here."

That was enough to put Ivor on edge. "The more I think about it, there's something these people really don't want us to know about."

"Gee, ya think?" Petra said, a tip of sarcasm on the edge.

"Whatever lady," Jesse said. "I think it's time to play detective.

Gabriel frowned at Jesse's sudden moves. "I think you should be cautious, one slip up could ruin everything."
Magnus smiled at his comment. "Yeah, no pressure buddy. Go get em."

Their comments didn't help Jesse one bit. He still remembered how he didn't like talking to strangers.

Jesse calmed his nerves, and walked up to Lizzy and Dan.

"Lizzy, Dan. I've got some questions if you don't mind?"
Dan and Lizzy shared a look. "Sure, okay."
"Lizzy, you didn't seem to be the biggest fan of TorqueDawg, what's up with that?"

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, you saw him. Nobody liked him. I'm just the only one who will admit it."

Dan found himself nodding. "Yeah, he wasn't the nicest person."

Jesse had no response. He continued. "Seems like people were really interested in his stuff, any idea why?"

Lizzy answered quicker then Jesse liked. "Someone like him could have all sorts of cool stuff."

Jesse narrowed his eyes. "Uh huh." Jesse said.

They looked a little nervous. Too much for Jesse's liking. "Ok, why do you think someone would target him?"

Dan sighed. "Well, he was bragging about having some 'rare item', but wouldn't show any of us it."

"Well," Jesse said. "What can you tell me about it?"

"We, actually don't know anything about it," Lizzy said sadly. "Sorry."

"Okay. That's it for now."

Jesse got up, and walked over to Petra. "Hey."

"Hey dude. What did you find out?"

"Not much lady, but Torque said he had some sort of treasure, rare, but refused to show it."

Petra frowned under her mask. "Nothing like that was in his inventory though..."

Jesse found himself nodding along. "Yeah, something is not adding up..."

He turned and walked towards Cassie and Stampy, who were whispering just as suspiciously as the other two.

"Stampy, and Cassie?"
The redhead smiled and nodded. "Yep! That's me!"

Stampy waved.

"Mind if I ask you guys some questions?"

Cassie shook her head. "Nope! Ask away!"

Jesse sighed. "You seemed pretty defensive about what was Torque's inventory."

Cassie frowned. "I was?"
"Yep." Jesse said narrowing his eyes. "Why was that?"

"Well," Cassie began. "It's just, so insensitive, you know? I mean he just died and she was all curious about what was in his pockets. It just made me mad I guess."

Jesse nodded thoughtfully. "Any guesses on why someone would want to kill TorqueDawg?"

Cassie sighed and thought about for a moment. "Well, he was kinda prickly around the edges. You'll have to ask the others, I didn't know him that well."

"Uh huh." Jesse said.

Sparkelz suddenly cut in. "I know it's rude to say something ill of the dead, but you've seen him right? He was kinda a huge jerk."

Jesse nodded, and continued. "There seemed to be some drama between Lizzie and TorqueDawg, got any insight on that?"

Sparkelz shook his head sadly. "Sorry, I'm not getting wrapped up in that since, y'know..."

"But it's weird right?" Cassie said. "Definitely seemed like there was some beef going on. Not that I want to spread any rumors or anything."

Jesse sighed, and stood up, thanked them for the time and walked back to masked Petra.

"Get anything out of them?" Petra asked.

"Found out this group is keeping a lot of secrets."

Petra lit up. "That's definitely something." She didn't really care about the new people. She just wanted to keep talking to Jesse. Her heart always fluttered a bit now whenever she talked to him.

Unknown to both of them Petra's cheeks were tinted pink and could have been for all to see if it weren't for the mask.

To Petra's dismay, Jesse turned and walked over to the last two.

"Hey guys," Jesse greeted. "Stampy and Stacy, right?"

Stampy waved. "Uh, Hello!"

"Hey Jesse." Stacy greeted. "What's up?"

"I know things are kinda screwed right now, but I have some questions."

"Oh?" Stampy stuttered. "Really? What?"

"Well," Jesse began, "Can you think of anyone who would want someone bad to happen to TorqueDawg?"

"Um, I never had a problem with him in my opinion," Stampy said. "But I know other people who would. Actually, quite a few. Don't know if you noticed but he was a bit of a griefer."

"Yeah," Stacy chimed in irritably, "And a thief."
That seemed to grab Jesse's attention. "Thief huh? Interesting."

Jesse glanced from side to side, then leaned in a bit closer. "Stacy, you seemed a bit interested in his stuff, what's up with that?"
Stacy didn't seem the least bit nervous. "Well, he was a notorious thief, I was just interested in his stuff, that's it."

"Mmmhmm." Jesse said. He shot a look at Lizzie who had her back turned. He turned back. "Seems like Lizzie and TorqueDawg really didn't like each other, what's up with that?"

Stampy sighed. "Oh that, Real shame, real shame."

Stacy picked where Stampy left off. "He stole a bunch of her stuff from her house one night. She got super upset about it."

"You don't say..." Jesse said. "Thanks you two, this has been...enlightening."

"No problem," Both said.

Jesse got up and walked back over to Petra, where the thieves had joined in.

"So, did you find anything out from Stacy or Sturdy Cat?" Lukas stuttered.

"Apparently he was a well known thief."

"Yes," Ivor chimed in. "I suspect you guys would know more about thievery than any of us!"

They rolled their eyes at Jesse's comment.

Jesse began to pace and mutter to himself. "So TorqueDawg was a thief, and supposedly had a rare item. But...it feels like there is something missing. No one will tell us what this 'rare item' is."

A voice from behind grabbed Jesse's attention. "Perhaps I can shed some light on that."

It was Sparkelz.

"Well," Petra said. "Now my curiosity is piqued."

"No kidding," Ivor said.

Jesse was relieved. "Oh thank goodness, finally someone can give me a direct answer. Thank you."

Sparkelz continued. "There's a temple, way out in the middle of nowhere. No one knows who built it. People have been trying to track it down forever because they want that treasure."

Jesse tensed. That sounded...oddly familiar...

"Now, the treasure looks like an ordinary flint and steel, but it's super rare, and it's got this enchantment..."
"That opens portals to other worlds?" Jesse finished.

"Yes! Exactly!" Sparkelz said. "Wait, how did you know that? Have you seen it? Today?"

Jesse didn't want to be hiding anything, he pulled out his flint and steel.

Sparkelz eyes went wide in panic. "No no no!" He whispered fiercely, ushering Jesse to put it away. "Don't let anyone see that. It might cause trouble."

Jesse gave him an odd look but pocketed the flint and steel.

"But now I think I'm starting to figure out why we're all here," He said, and turned and walked away.

The group just glanced at each other.

Sparkelz walked to the end of the table, and sat down in the main chair. "Everyone!" He called. Everyone sat down in a single seat and looked at him expectantly.

"Whoever killed TorqueDawg, whoever invited us, they were after the enchanted flint and steel!"

Suddenly, his chair tipped on it's back, and some blocks split to reveal an opening.

Which sand blocks promptly fell on.

The room went black.

"Panic panic panic!"

"What's going on?!"

"Sparkelz?"
"Someone get the lights," Jesse cried.

The room lights came on, but in a blue dimmer setting.

"Greetings, 'Adventurers.' I, am the white pumpkin."

The sand blocks pushed up Sparkelz items.

"One of you has the treasure I desire, and I will not rest until it is mine. Even if I have to resort..."

The room went pitch black.

"To MURDER."

Lightning crackled, to reveal a figure wearing a pumpkin head.

Mostly everyone began to panic and scream, while Petra looked in wonder. She noticed it looked a lot like Stranger's.

She was deep in thought until she heard a scream. While she was daydreamin, the redhead and her cat had bolted out of the room in fear.

She rolled her eyes. "So much for a nice dinner party..." Petra muttered.

The gang chased after the girl, but Petra held Magnus and Gabriel back.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" Magnus snarled.

"Yes, what are you doing?"

"Why are you not saying anything? You've both barely spoken."

"Well, we can't reveal our identity..." Gabriel started.

"Yeah," Magnus piped up. "And to be fair, our voices kinda stand out. You'd be surprised how much I hold in."

Petra nodded. Jesse probably could recognize their voices if he heard them enough.

"Well let's go see what's going on," Petra said, and led them into the room.

They saw the group walking towards the panels.

"Hey guys, what did I miss?"

"Lizzie tried going outside."

Magnus facepalmed.

"Anyways," Stacy began. "I heard something about a flint and steel?"
"Oh please," Stampy said. "Not this again..."
"Hey," Lukas said, trying to act natural. "Jesse dude?"
Jesse looked up.

Lukas was standing infront of the portraits.
Sparkelz now had a big red x on it.

But worst of all, Ivor's portrait was next.

"Well." Ivor said. They looked at him blankly.

"I guess I'm next then."
Jesse tensed up. "No. Whoever this 'White Pumpkin' is, if they lay a finger on you, they are fucking dead."

The group was shocked by Jesse's aggressive statement. Even Cassie took a step back.

Ivor nodded. "Thank you Jesse. He won't stand a chance against us as a team."

"Well," Lukas said. "I'm sure there is a logical explanation for all of this."
Later...(I don't feel like writing Jesse walking around and the interrogation, you want to see the action)

After examining the traps and finding a button, they found out someone in the room was the killer, and after interrogating the ones near the buttons, the people fed up with Jesse, walked into the library.

Jesse investigated and found a portrait. He was alone. Good.

Jesse wouldn't be the one to kill the White Pumpkin, it would be a stranger. The Stranger, to be exact.

He walked through a secret hallway, and saw a painting with eyeholes in it. He peeked through.

Meanwhile...

The White Pumpkin peered through his secret peephole in the library. Things were getting tense to his amusement.

Lizzie and Dan were talking, and Petra and Ivor walked in, asking what they were doing, obviously suspicious of their small talk.
Words were traded, angry, panicked.

White Pumpkin was about to leave until something caught his eye.

His second painting with a peephole, across the room. It was a bunny portait.

It's eyes were glowing...blue?

He didn't remember installing that.

Then he noticed that sent chills even down his spine.

The eyes blinked. They stared at him.

He glared at the intruder, hoping to scare them off.

The eyes didn't have any expression, to the White Pumpkins discomfort.

They just stared right back at him, as if he was listening to a boring conversation and was day dreaming.

Suddenly the painting went down, and a blur of orange and glowing blue rushed at his portrait, and a hand broke through, and pulled him out.

Out of desperation, he flicked a switch releasing spiders.

"What?" Lizzie and Dan cried out of shock?

White Pumpkin was thrown to the ground, and he turned enraged, only to be stopped momentarily.

It was almost identical, except this person's mask was an orange pumpkin, and the eyes glowed a soft, yet eerie blue.

"Hey." The Stranger said idly, their voice just as garbled as his.

"Quite a party you have here, 'White Pumpkin.' Whadda shame that this is your end."

The stranger began shuffling over creepily, with an enchanted diamond sword in hand.

However, lady luck sang another day, for the spider's devoured Lizzie to Dan and the group's horror.

"Heh heh heh." The White Pumpkin chuckled, pulling out a diamond axe and advanced to the Stranger.

They clashed.

BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUMMM! That's it, it's finished! What a cliffhanger! I hope you enjoyed this episode, and the nudge of Jetra! :3 heheeheh! Please leave a review! It will keep me going!