Chapter 6 – Rivals & Puns on a Time Limit
Ringo's POV
"Hey…you feeling any better?"
"*sigh* Only a little…" I replied to Raffina after she had to check up on me. I needed some time to myself after what I had just learned about my best friend/girlfriend.
Arle…really did kill someone. Sh-She ended someone else's life…a-and never said a damn word about it! I get that she was only a kid, but still…THAT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU KEEP INSIDE YOU FOR OVER A FUCKING DECADE!
…
B-But…m-maybe she had a reason? Maybe she was just as traumatized then as I am now? That could be a possibility, but…
…
GAAAAAAAH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO BELIEVE ANYMORE!
"RINGO!"
"H-Huh?! What?" I came out of my trance after Raffina shouted my name.
"*sigh* Look, I know you're going through some things right now…but we're running out of time. We really need to find Arle and Amitie."
"R-Right…that…" I then stood up from the ground and took a few deep breaths. "…O-Okay…I'm ready."
"You sure? You don't have to push yourself."
"I-It's fine." I then went silent for a bit. "Once we rescue Arle, I'll confront her myself. Face-to-face. Then, after hearing her side, I'll decide for myself."
"W-Wow…that's gotta be the bravest thing I've ever hear you say, Ringo."
"That surprising, huh?"
"Yeah, totally…and here I thought you were nothing but a pansy most of the time. Glad I was wrong about you."
"Gee…thanks, Raffina." I gained an exasperated sweatdrop.
"Hey, guys! Come check this out!" Witch called out to us from near the courtyard booths with the others.
"What? You guys found another clue?"
"Well, we're not sure if it's a clue, but…" Marvett said before showing us the diary. That was when we saw the strange huge red emblem taking up the entire two pages it was on. Shining so bright that it was actually blinding us a bit.
"Wh-What the hell is that?" Raffina asked.
"It seems to be some kind of seal." Marvett said. "Whenever we try to turn the page, this thing keeps preventing us from doing so. Meaning that we're stuck."
"*sigh* Great…now, what do we do?"
"Should we try finding a way to break this seal?" Marle asked.
"As if we have time for that!" Witch yelled before going silent for a bit. "…But…what choice do we have at the moment?"
"Play some games?" Raina asked.
"Raina…we don't have time to be playing games." Raffina said to her dense clone.
"*whine* But I'm bored~! I wanna play some games~!"
"We're trying to save Arle and Amitie before they both DIE! That's way more important than playing games!"
"Can't they do it themselves?! As if they haven't been in worse problems before!"
She has a point, but still… I gained a mental sweatdrop.
"Ugh! You can be a real pain in the ass sometimes…" Raffina mumbled to herself. "Fine, Raina…we'll play ONE game. Then, we get back to what we're doing. Got it?"
"Yay! We get to play a game!" Raina cheered as she started looping in a circle in pure glee (something she does a lot).
"Raina's priorities are questionable as always…" Both Marvett and Marle gained huge sweatdrops.
"So, if we're really doing this, what game should we play?" I asked.
"There's a ton of the out here." Raffina said. "Let's just pick one and get it over with."
"You make it sound easy, but…"
"If it's a game you're looking for, then we've got the PERFECT one for you all!"
"It's fun."
"Meow."
"Oh. Hey, Yu. Hey, Rei." Raffina said after the twin ghosts had appeared in front of us.
"Yay! Kat's here!" Raina cheered as she grabbed Kat from on top of Rei's head and began cuddling him.
"Meow."
"W-Wow, what's with the sour atmosphere?" Yu asked with a somewhat pale look on her face.
"You can tell?" Witch asked.
"All within your souls is just nothing but doom and gloom right now. Even though I'm alive, I can still feel those moody tensions."
"Huh…"
"That's interesting." Marle added.
"Yeah…plus, there's the fact that Rei's been here for more than 5 seconds and Ringo isn't screaming like a pansy."
Why does everyone think I'm a pansy?! I gained a pissed-off look.
"So…why the bad mood? Nothing here made you piss yourselves scared?"
"Wh-What? No! what happened was…" Raffina then explained what had happened to Arle and Amitie and how our rescue attempt got us stuck with this language barrier diary with the other half of it blocked by a seal.
She left out the part about us finding out that Arle had killed the owner of this diary. Probably to save me from any more emotional damage.
She may not show it often, but Raffina does care about others…
"Damn…a ghost seeking revenge? That hasn't happened in years."
"Was this a common thing?" Marvett asked.
"Oh, totally! Whenever somebody dies in a cruel and undeserving way, the ghost would want revenge on the person who did them in. it's a cliché in the paranormal world. Hell, even I wanted revenge on someone…"
"What?"
"I-I mean…i-it's super totally common! Yep! Hehhehhehheh…"
"Yu…" Rei gained a sweatdrop.
Never gave this much thought before…f-for obvious reasons…but how did Yu & Rei originally die?
"Anyway…" Raffina continued her explanation. "…we're trying to figure out what to do about this seal. Hopefully, before the night ends."
"A seal, huh?" Yu said as she took a look at the diary pages in question. "Wait…something about this seal looks familiar…"
"Yu. That's the same seal attached to that key we found earlier." Rei said.
"Oh, yeah! I remember now!"
"A key?" we all asked.
"Earlier, we were looking for last-minute prizes for our game booth and we found this strange key in a dumpster somewhere. It looked valuable enough, so…"
"D-Do you still have it?! Nobody took it, right?!" Witch asked in an excited tone.
"Yeah, we still have it. Nobody's been coming over to our booth because people started rumors that the riddles we made were hard as hell. IT'S NOT OUR FAULT YOU PLEBS DON'T UNDERSTAND HALLOWEEN PUNS!"
"It's been getting to her." Rei said in a calm manner after Yu began shouting in anger.
"Yeah…we can tell…" Most of us gained huge sweatdrops.
"Hey, hey. Sis. Let's play Yu & Rei's game!" Raina said as she was tugging on Raffina's arm."
"Seriously? Can you even make a pun correctly?"
"I don't know what a pun is…but it sounds really fun! Plus, we need that key thingy, right?"
"That's true…"
"Why can't we just grab the key and use it right away?" Witch asked. "Do we really need to play a game for it?"
"Come on, PLEASE!" Yu was basically begging at this point. "We'll totally give you the key…i-if you win, of course."
"What, you're sayin' we won't win?"
"Well…people are saying our riddles are hard. Not sure if you guys would fair any differently…"
"Ohhoho! Well, that's where you're WRONG, Yu!" Witch gloated before suddenly placing her arm around my neck. "We've got a certified geek on our side! No way would we lose to such trivial riddles!"
"Certified geek?" I asked in an exasperated tone.
"W-Witch…you really need to work on your compliments." Marle said with a sweatdrop.
"So…you girls are after this key as well?"
After suddenly hearing a new voice, we turned to see a group of three walking up towards us. The Dark Academy Vice-President (and often all too serious) Lisette, the Discipline Committee member (who obsesses over everything trendy) Nina, and this strange-looking turquoise-haired boy. And while the two dark angel girls were wearing identical black nurse outfits, the strange boy was simply wearing a black jumpsuit with light blue spots all over it.
…
Also, he was drooling. A lot.
Reminds me too much of Ecolo…
"Well, well…the stubborn no-fun vice-prez actually shows up after rejecting our invitation." Raffina said with a smug look on her face. "Never would've thought that "hypocrite" would be a personal trait of yours. Oh, La-Ti-Da!"
"Tch. Don't start with me." Lisette replied in an agitated tone. "I only came here solely to take care of some personal business. Nothing more."
"Aside from the fact that Edgar is here with the other boys helping out with the festival~…"
"N-Nina!" She then yelled at her friend with a huge blush.
"Oh, come on, Lisette. Everyone knows how much you're crushing on Edgar."
"I-I am NOT! The relationship the President and I have is STRICTLY platonic! Nothing more!"
"Sure it is~…" Nina said with a cheeky grin.
"*giggle* The look on your face right now, Lisette…now I'm glad I decided to tag along with you girls." The boy added.
"Y-You shut up!"
"Ha! Predicable as always!" Raffina gloated.
"You're one to talk, you pseudo-hetero!"
"Wh-What did you call me?! You must really want my foot up your ass huh, angel girl?!"
"Bring it, you snobby bitch! BRING IT ON!"
"Aw, geez…not again!"
"Stop it, you two we don't have time for this!" Marvett and Marle shouted in a panic as they both tried to stop the duo from fighting each other…again.
"Their hatred for each other is as strong as always…" I said with a sweatdrop.
"Probably stronger than her hatred of Klug…" Witch added with a sweatdrop of her own.
"*clears throat* Anyway…" Lisette said after avoiding a fistfight with Raffina. "…What reason do you all have to acquire this key in question?"
"We should be asking you. Why are you after the key?"
"It's Student Council matters. None of which is any of your business. Now, if you continue to be trivial about it, then you can stay out of our way."
"Th-The hell?! Yous the one being trivial about it! Comin' in interferin' with us tryin' to rescue Ami!"
"W-Witch, your accent broke though again!" I yelled in a panic.
"Rescue Amitie? What are you talking about?"
"*sigh* Well, you see…"
*ONE EXPLANATION LATER…*
"No WAY! Amitie got possessed by a ghost?!" Nina shouted in pure shock.
"And this ghost kidnapped Arle and wants to kill her." The boy said. "Hahahahaha! Wow…you girls sure do get into crazy stuff huh, Ringie?"
"I don't see how any of what I said is funny." I retorted with a slightly pissed-off look. "And what's with that nickname? How do you even know who I am?"
"Huh~? You mean you don't recognize me, Ringie? I'm your biggest fan~. *giggle*"
"Biggest fan? What kind of creepiness is…" I then stopped mid-sentence after some form of déjà vu from hearing that "compliment". As I knew only one person who would say that kind of stuff. Regardless of how much I hated it.
"W-Wait…Ecolo?!"
"Hahahahaha! In the flesh! Check out my TOTALLY UNSUAL Halloween costume!"
"TH-THAT'S a Halloween costume?!" Raffina yelled in shock.
"You look like a completely different person!" Marvett added.
"That…is…so…COOL!" Yu and Raina cheered.
"*giggle* I know, right?" Nina gloated. "It's thanks to this super-special spell we learned in school one day. It can turn anyone into an unusual version of themselves for an entire day. I've been using it to get out of classes early so that I can do more trendy stuff."
"So, you're using it to skip school…" I said with a sweatdrop.
"Hey, those fresh styles and gourmet donuts aren't going to enjoy themselves. I've got priorities."
"Very questionable priorities…" Lisette said with a sweatdrop of her own.
"Okay!" Witch shouted out. "Pushing aside the mental shock of seeing Ecolo as a human…we're not gonna have you three get in our way of saving Ami and Arle! That key belongs to us!"
"Is that so? Then I hope you're all ready to be publicly humiliated for it. I'll show no mercy to anyone who interferes with…"
"…Me getting in the sack with Edgar~."
*POW*
"Owie…" Nina whined after receiving a bash in the head from her friend.
"Oh, you're SO on! Come on, Ringo! Get your geek up!"
"Quit calling me a geek, damnit…" I said with an exasperated tone.
"ALRIGHT! We got ourselves a game!" Yu cheered in excitement. "For the first time all night all night…YU & REI'S SPOOKTACULAR PUN-A-THON IS OFFICIALLY A GO!"
"Yay." Rei cheered in his usual stoic voice.
"Meow." With an added meow from Kat.
Amitie's POV
"Wow~…so, this is what people nowadays refer to as "Halloween"~. Such an intriguing event, from what it looks like~."
"Uh…hey, Julia…" I said to her. "Weren't we heading for the library to look for your diary? Why are we outside?"
"I will admit~…my original intentions were to see this "Halloween Festival" with my own eyes~. But as I made myself out here~…I began feeling a familiar aura~. The same one that my diary has~."
"Really? So, you're saying it's out here somewhere?"
"Quite possibly~…it seems that someone had found it before us~. I sure hope~…they have not read anything~." Julia then gained a light blush of embarrassment.
"K-Kinda too late to be embarrassed about that, Julia…" I replied with a sweatdrop.
"*intense thinking*"
"Hey, Satan…you okay?" I asked him. "You've been spacing out for a while now."
"Hm? Oh, my apologies. I myself am okay…but…honestly, I can't shake off this bad feeling I'm having."
"Bad feeling?"
"I don't know why…but I've been feeling this strangely bad aura recently. Almost…traumatic, even."
"Traumatic?"
"I'm sure it has nothing to do with our current situation…but the fact that it's been lingering around for this long is truly concerning."
"Get real…" I said with a concerned look of my own. "…W-Well, hopefully it really doesn't get in the way of what we're doing. I honestly don't want this situation to get any worse."
"I can agree with that." Satan then looked around the area. "By the way…where did Julia run off to?"
"Huh?" As soon as that was said, I also looked around for Julia. And she was nowhere to be found. "Aw, geez! Where did she go?!"
"Ami?"
"M-Mom?!" And just as I thought my stress couldn't get any grander…here comes Mom. Wearing a Halloween costume that, once again, makes me question what age does she think she is mentally.
So, this year's a slutty witch, huh? I'm so glad none of my friends are around to see this…
Now…the most normal reaction from a mother when she sees her child is as see-through as a ghost when they CLEARLY didn't leave the house that way would be "OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU?!" or something like that.
"Woah…check you out, Ami. You're all hollow." Mom said before shoving her whole hand through my head. Specifically my mouth. "*giggle* Check it out. It's like you're trying to vore me. Ami, you naughty girl~…"
"KNOCK IT OFF!"
Unfortunately…my mother is not normal.
"Okay, geez. No need to yell." Mom said after I violently shoved her hand away. "So, how'd you end up like that, anyway?"
"*sigh* A ghost stole my body and is using it to kill Arle in an act of revenge. If we don't find and stop her, she'll do the same thing to the rest of us."
"We were with a girl named Julia Rycroft. The previous owner of this vengeful soul." Satan added. "But we seemed to have lost her."
"Really now?" Mom went silent for a bit. "Does this girl look like a puppet, walks like a zombie, and has creepy AF eyes like Chu whenever she stares at her butterfly?"
Wow, way to make a jab at an 11-year-old, Mom…
"Y-You've seen her?"
"I saw her heading down to where the games were. Her head kept popping off every few steps. Didn't think much of it."
"I'm pretty sure anyone would be concerned that someone's head kept falling off as they walked…" I gained a sweatdrop.
"Never mind that!" Satan yelled. "We need to find her quickly! There's only 3 hours left until midnight!"
"Crap! You're right! Thanks for the help, Mom! I'll totally get my body back before the night ends!"
"Good luck with that, Ami." Mom said as she saw us off. "And if you see Rivi, tell her to come check out her mom's sexy Halloween costume. I'm sure I'll get a good reaction out of her~. *giggle*"
"NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!" I shouted with the utmost frustration.
Like I said…my mom is NOT normal!
Ringo's POV
10 minutes into this "pun-a-thon" and I was already close to questioning life and logic as a whole. Earlier, Yu complained about nobody playing her game because the questions were too difficult…but there's a whole different side to that.
First off…these "Halloween-themed questions" were less trivia questions and more so riddles they got off of the internet. And second, you had to answer them with a pun. Hence the name "pun-a-thon".
Now…my IQ may be grand and I get pretty high grades in all of my assignments (both here AND back in Suzuran)…but this game was really starting to get to me. And it was about the same for everyone else.
…
Well…almost everyone. Because believe it or not, the only person getting these answers right was…
"Next question! How did the zombie become SO great at trick or treating?"
*BUZZER SOUND*
"It took some dead-ication! *giggle*"
"CORRECT! Next up…who does a werewolf go trick or treating with?"
*BUZZER SOUND*
"He asked his cousins…What wolf and When wolf! *giggle*"
"CORRECT! And the final question is…how would Witch know the best time to go trick or treating?"
*BUZZER SOUND*
"Oh, that's easy! She checks her witch watch! Hahaha!"
"YES! YES! A THOUDSAND TIMES YES! FINALLY, SOMEONE AROUND HERE UNDERSTANDS AND APPRECIATE THE TRUE VALUE OF PUNS! YOU'VE TRULY MADE MY NIGHT, ECOLO!"
"Hahahaha! Glad you enjoyed it, Yu!"
I seriously lost to Ecolo in a trivia game. This is truly a slap in the face…
"Ugh…are we done now? I can't take any more of these corny-as-hell puns…" Raffina complained.
"The fact that I was named-dropped in one of these corny-as-hell puns makes it even worse…" Witch added.
"*sigh* Alright, alright." Yu said after she had calmed down from her excitement. "*clears throat* Congratulations on winning the Spooktacular Pun-A-Thon, Ecolo! Your prize for coming in first place is…"
And as Yu held the key in her hand…
"MY KEY~!"
"GAAAAH!"
…A girl with puffy purple-ish hair just phased through the sigh the twins had and scared the crap out of us.
"Ah~…"
*POP*
Only then for the girl to fall over. Causing her body to break apart into pieces as if she were a skeleton.
…
…
…
"Wh-What?" We said in total confusion.
And we only gained even more confusion as we then watched the girl's body pieces putting themselves back together.
Wh-What is with this girl?!
"Sorry you had to see that~…my body is still quite rusty~." The girl said.
"Rusty? What are you, some kind of puppet?" Raffina asked.
"*sigh* Please do not call me a puppet~. I may be dead~…but I am not lifeless~."
"D-Dead?!" Most of us yelled in shock.
"W-Wait a minute…wh-what's your name, if you don't mind me asking." I said.
"My name~? It is Julia~. Julia Rycroft~…"
…
…
…
"WH-WHAAAAAT?!" Those of us who knew that name shouted in disbelief.
Y-You've gotta be kidding me?! THIS is Julia?! B-But she's supposed to be dead! WHY IS SHE HERE?!
"Julia! There you are!"
And if that wasn't shocking enough, we heard a familiar voice as it came closer to us. Once we saw who it was…
"AMI! YOU'RE…s-see through…" Witch tried to hug her best friend, only to realize the one strange change about her.
"Woah…you're totally see through like a ghost, Amitie!" Nina said before shoving her hand through Amite's mouth. "*giggle* Check it out, Lissete! I'm being vored!"
"Stop that!" Lisette yelled.
"Again with the vore jokes?" While Amitie gained a sweatdrop.
"Amitie…how did you escape possession?" I asked. "And what happened to you?"
"Truth is…I didn't escape it completely. The ghost still has my body and I only managed to get my soul free from its control."
"And it's about to get very much worse if we don't stop it." Said another familiar voice as he joined us so suddenly.
"Satan?"
"Yeah…he's been helping me out so far." Amitie said. "M-Mainly because it involves Arle being in danger."
"I see…"
Arle's definitely going to be pissed, but…the more help the better.
"S-So…i-is this girl REALLY Julia Rycroft?" I then asked while looking at the mysterious new girl.
"You guys know about her?"
"We've been reading her diary all night trying to figure out how to rescue you guys." Raffina said. "Never thought she would actually come to us…"
"*sigh* So~…my diary was read~." The puppet girl named Julia said in an emotionless state similar to Chu's. "All of my secrets revealed to the modern world~…I honestly do not know how to feel about this~."
"Hey, don't get mad at us! You're the one who kidnapped Arle and possessed Amitie to do it!"
"Kidnapped Arle~? I truly had nothing to do with that~."
"Wh-What?! You've got a lot of nerve to…"
"R-Raffina…Julia's telling the truth." Amitie said.
"H-Huh?!" We all said in shock.
"I'm sure you all want to hear the full explanation…"Satan said. "…But we'll have to abridge it for now. The time limit we have to rescue Arle is dwindling the longer we dawdle here."
"Satan's right. Once midnight comes around, we're all screwed." Amitie added.
So, we truly only have until midnight…just like we've been thinking. I really don't understand any of this now. The girl from Arle's past…the one she KILLED…she's here…but also possessing Amitie's body. Doing who knows what to Arle as an attempt to kill her for revenge.
I don't get it. I really don't get it. My morals for killing people are telling me to forget this and leave…b-but Arle's my best friend. My GIRLFRIEND, even. My heart will be broken forever if she truly dies from all of this.
What do I do? What do I do?! WHAT DO I FUCKING DO?!
"RINGO!"
"H-Huh?! Wh-What?" I came out of my mental panic attack to realize that Amitie was…st-standing…o-or maybe floating…p-point is, she was right next to me.
"I know you're like totally lost on what to think and do, but…you really should hear the full story. If anyone deserves to know, it's you."
"Th-The full story, huh?" I then went silent for a good while. Thinking about this carefully and logically.
…
…
…
"O-Okay. I-I'll hear you out."
Author's Note: An unexpected (and somewhat cringy) pun game ends up being Ringo's group's biggest lead yet…when Julia herself shows up out of nowhere. Along with a see-through Amitie and, oddly enough, Satan.
Okay, first off…I'm REALLY sorry for the extremely long wait! I had trouble writing for a good while…debating on whether or not I wanted to continue this story. But in the end, I decided to keep going. It may be WAY past Halloween, but I really need to get this one out of the way.
That being said, I'll definitely try to not have another long gap being chapters like that. After all, there's only two left.
Thanks for reading. Later.