BEGINNING OF MYSTERY ARC.
Chapter One: Stacy's Secret.
"There you go, guys!" Captain Sparklez cheers "teamwork, makes the dream work!"
"Ohhh!" Stampy whines "all of this danger talk has my stomach all queasy!"
"Stampy! come over here." Stacy invites him away "I need to talk to you about something."
"Lizzay, pssst! Lizzie...!" Dan coaxes LDShadowLady to join him at the table.
Cassie and the Captain take seats by themselves away from each other.
"Let's regroup." Lukas advises to Jesse.
"Yes, yes, of course." Jesse nods agreement.
Jesse, Lukas, Ivor, and Petra all gather away from listening ears.
"It looks like someone else had the same idea, huh?" Petra comments.
"I've used a similar tipped arrow trap before." Lukas remembers "it's okay, but there's lots of better traps."
"I like watching these young, arrogant little 'celebrities' scream and scramble with panic." Ivor remarks "that Captain fellow practically pissed his nice suit when the muscle-bound meathead turned himself into a pincushion... too bad that wasn't our work."
"Glad none of us wandered into it, we've never had to deal with these kind of surprises before." Jesse puts in.
"Meh, I would've saved you." Ivor shrugs "...but not TorqueDawg." he smiles smugly at the fact that TorqueDawg is only dead because Ivor didn't help him.
"What are we going to do, Jesse?" Lukas questions "you're the boss."
"Well, I certainly don't want to leave." Jesse establishes, "we'll just watch where we step and hope for the best, besides, if TorqueDawg had so many enemies then he very well may have been the only target, and any other traps they had set up could be deactivated, so until someone else dies we're looking pretty good."
"Okay." Lukas nods "I'm cool with that, but what do we do next? for now?"
"Hmmm..." Jesse thinks it over "you guys just chill here for a bit, stay outta trouble, I'm gonna go get to know our... heh, heh, victims, a little better."
All three of her compatriots grin wide, raise their eyebrows, and nod.
Jesse turns around to view her options.
1. Lizzie and Dan, who are talking.
2. Cassie, sitting by herself.
3. Captain Sparklez, going Cassie with it.
4. Stampy and Stacy, who are... talking?
Jesse raises an eyebrow in interest, she creeps a little closer to the latter duo. They looked... kind of like they were talking, but there was something off about it, and as Jesse approaches, her heart beats with immediate arousal as she realizes that they're kissing.
"Mwah-mwah...!" Stampy purrs as he smooches the girl of his dreams.
"Mmmmmm...!" Stacy hums as she smothers her long-time crush, the two of them had been secretly dating for a while, and it has been wonderful.
"EEEEEE! oh-my-god, are you guys, like, a thing?" Jesse runs right up into their personal space and quietly asks them invasive questions.
"Uh! w-what!?" Stampy's very startled, "we, uh, well...!"
"You were KISSING." Jesse giggles "I, saw you."
"N-no we weren't!" Stacy blushes.
"Yes, you were, I witnessed it first hand." Jesse pushes, "what's the matter? is it a... secret?"
Stampy's and Stacy's eyes both go very wide, and their cheeks very red.
"...n-" Stampy starts.
"Yes!" Stacy hisses, knowing the jig is up and that Jesse isn't going to forget it "it is, okay? so what?"
"I want in." Jesse states.
"In?" Stacy repeats "you mean... on the secret?"
"I mean... can I join?" Jesse proposes, raising her eyebrows up and down flirtatiously.
Stacy's jaw drops.
"Whaaa!?" Stampy's shocked "join!? as in, j-join our, our kissing...!?"
"And anything that comes after." Jesse leans in close and stares into Stampy's shaky eyes.
"Um, excuse me?" Stacy doesn't like Jesse so close to Stampy "first of all, there wasn't going to be anything 'after', and second, why do you even want to?"
"I like the two of you." Jesse replies, "you're... sexy."
Stacy's eyes widen slightly, taken aback by such a straightforward response, and a little creeped out.
"A-are you referring to, BOTH of us!?" Stampy's surprised "I mean, I can get her, but... ME?"
"Stampy...!" Jesse looks at him seriously, "you're BETTER than Stacy."
Stampy gapes, "B-but I'm Stampy Cat!" he freaks "I'm supposed to be CUTE."
"Oh, you are, in the sexy way." Jesse assures.
"Oh... whew, thank goodness." Stampy's relieved by this.
"Well, I don't know how comfortable I am with that." Stacy asserts "we barely know you, Jesse, and we were only kissing a little."
"Add me, and you'll be kissing a lot." Jesse grins.
"Still not comfortable." Stacy rolls her eyes.
"Well, what about you, Stampy?" Jesse asks, "are you into it?"
"Ummmmmm..." Stampy's a nervous, sweating wreck "...n-n-n-no-o-ot r-r-real-l-ly, um, th-this isn't a g-g-good time."
"But are you... opposed, to the idea?" Jesse just won't take a hint.
"...I mean, uh..." Stampy's not sure how to answer, but he wants to keep her happy "I, g-g-guess I'm not... as long as Stacy isn't." he covers his bases.
"Stacy?" Jesse keeps pushing for something that isn't a flat out 'no'.
"..." Stacy thinks about her answer carefully, given their current situation in a mansion where people are dying, she really doesn't want to make Jesse upset, "Honestly, Jesse, I'm opposed to it right now, because we just met you, okay? maybe if we get to know you better I'll reconsider it, but at this time my answer is 'no thanks'."
Jesse heaves her shoulders in a sigh.
"For real?" she questions.
"I just said-" Stacy grinds her teeth.
"YES." Stampy squeaks, his voice high-pitched from anxiety "for real!"
"Fine, fine, if you need space, I'll leave, but I do encourage you to consider my offer." Jesse finally gives in.
"WE WILL." Stampy nods enthusiastically, excited to finally see her leave.
"Thanks." Stacy acknowledges, not smiling.
"I'll see the two of you again later, have fun kissing." Jesse waves, then ducks close again to whisper, "take some time to imagine me while you're at it, you might be... surprised." then turns and walks off without another word.
"Uhhhuhhh...!" Stampy whines uncomfortably.
"Don't." Stacy instructs.
"I won't, I won't!" Stampy insists.
"Good." Stacy smiles a little, "now come here, let's get our minds off of her and pick up where we left off." she pulls Stampy into an embrace, feeling extra territorial of him now, after Jesse's advances.
.
Authors' Note: Hey, readers! do you like the story so far? if so, there's even more fun to be had! we're creating a poll so that YOU can vote for your favorite characters! the poll will provide a list of all the characters that appear in the story, you may select your top three favorites, to vote, simply go to our profile page and find it there, it should be right at the top.
The poll is just for fun and will not have any effect on the future of the story whatsoever, as such, we personally request that you vote only for your legitimate favorite characters and do not let whatever the poll's current results are sway your vote, we appreciate genuine, accurate results from you guys.
Alternatively! if you would like to save your actual vote for after the end of the story, why not include your list of top three faves in your review for the chapters? this works great for us, as we are particularly curious as to how your list may change over time as you read more and more. For instance, one chapter your favorites might be Jesse, Stampy, and Petra, but then you read the next chapter, and now the awesomeness of Lukas has blown him way up into the #1 spot! we greatly appreciate any and all of you who would be so kind as to document your preferences in this fashion.