MLRTG P2- "Ready Or Not"

"Ready Or Not" is the second Part of "Miracula Luxia: Returnin' To Gun Manor". It was released on 17.10.2020.
== Plot ==
Having gained entry into the mansion, Jared, Aleks and their new friend explore the area inside the massive building.
However, their progress is hindered by a massive barrier of ice that prevents them from going to the nearby elevator and explore the other two floors. And it is up to our three heroes to find out how to melt all of it without causing a major flood that can destroy the whole house and kill everything within, them included.
Maybe an area below them can be helpful. An area that leads to the basement of the mansion.
If only they could reach it...
== Story ==
Jared grabs the handle with his hand and sends the flames right onto it.
Suddenly, the handle turns fiery red. It seems like the general degree has increased by a tremendous amount, so much that a normal human being cannot touch it without getting severely burned in the process.
However, Jared does not seen to be bothered by this massive heat at all. Instead, he calmly holds the handle and waits.
A few moments later, a ghostly shriek pierces the night. And it seems to be coming from the other side of the massive door.
"Yaaaaaaagh!!!"- The ghost on the other side screams and lets go of the door, disappearing into nothingness.
The girl is very surprised.
"I didn't know that ghosts can actually feel pain!"- She says- "Is this... is this even possible?"
Jared smiles and looks at the door again.
"Even if they are slightly different than us, ghosts are still former humans, reanimated by the magical energy of the Beyond to haunt and torment us endlessly."- He says- "They can still be harmed by sources of powerful, damaging light, no matter how much they try to deny it. The Fire element is one of those powerful sources that can make them feel true pain."
He looks at her equipment and sighs.
"No offense, but your stuff cannot hurt them at all."- He continues- "It may harm them and drive them away for a bit, but it won't force them to stay away forever."
The girl shrugs.
"As a woman of science, I refuse to believe any the things that you just said."- She says- "Magic does not exist! There's no way those ghosts were brought back by just raw magic! Science was also involved! Right?"
"Right?"
Jared smiles and points at the door.
"So, you think that magic is not real?"- He says- "Then how can you explain what we just experienced? All the magic that I feel across the whole mansion that can also be felt on the outside? All of the malevolent energy that corrupts our thoughts and tries to scare us away?"
"This is no ordinary science paraphernalia, lady. This is serious magic."- He says- "And the only way it can be taken care of... is by someone else who knows about magic and how to handle it."
The girl glares at him.
"So... you're implying that I... I... "
Jared nods.
"You need me to defeat this ancient enemy."- He says- "And I would appreciate it if you could help me out while I do so. Such things can only be truly achieved if we work as a team."
The girl sighs.
"I guess you're right, kiddo."- She mutters and approaches the door.
Aleks smiles.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take care of those ghosts!"- He says.
The three of them enter the mansion.
As the door closes, the girl stops.
"By the way."- She says to Jared- "I didn't quite catch your names?"
Jared smiles.
"Well, I am Jared Kaos. I am a person who likes to help people in need. The people that I help regard me as some sort of a hero."
He points at Aleks.
"And this is my father- Aleks Kaos. Both of us are adventurers and heroes, righteous people who are always eager to help."
Aleks nods.
"You know it!"- He says.
The girl smiles and shakes Jared's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Jared Kaos."- She says- "Name's Florence Cunningham. I'm a member of the Cunningham Ghost Annihilation Services, hired by Mrs. Terri Gun herself to take care of her ghost problem."
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"Mrs. Gun?"- He says- "Who is she?"
Florence notices Jared's interest and smiles.
"Oh? You don't know about Terri Gun and her greatest invention?"- She asks her companions.
Aleks shrugs.
"Let me guess."- He says- "Is her invention the modern gun?"
Florence nods.
"Yes. But... how did you know that without knowing its creator?"
Jared and Aleks stare at each other. Then, they look at Florence again.
"Well, we come from a distant land. Far, far away from here."- Jared says- "But we do not really use guns there. Just swords, bows and other such lighter weapons."
Aleks decides to ask Florence something himself.
"By the way, Florence."- He says- "What year is it here? We traveled through a portal and we're not sure if we're still in the Present."
Florence raises her eyebrow.
"Why, it's 1895."- She responds- "Which year did you guys come from."
Jared and his father stare at each other again, this time very surprised.
"1895?!"- Jared says- "But this is... this is more than a century ago!"
Florence gasps.
"So, you are... from the future?"- She asks them.
Jared nods.
"The 2000s. Late 30s, to be more informative."
"We're from 2037."- Aleks adds- "We've made quite a jump in time, eh?"
Florence nods.
"What does the world look like? Is it... any different? More interesting than this one?"
"Or is everything the same as right now?"
Jared stares at the area outside and nods.
"It is much more different than what we see here."- He says- "We have much more modern homes. Access to magical teleportation devices called Portals. And, most importantly, we have actual cars."
Florence gasps.
"This... this is really exciting. I wish I was there."- She says.
Then, she looks at her gun and sighs.
"But... I guess that I'm stuck here now. Stuck with those horrible ghosts that I have to deal with."
"Ugh. I wish I didn't take this job. It's so... confusing."- She mutters.
Jared smiles and pats her on the shoulder.
"Do not give up just yet!"- He says- "You still have us to help you out. And, when we are together, those ghosts cannot defeat us!"
Florence smiles and nods.
"I guess that you're right."- She says- "Alright. Let's get 'em!"
As the two of them walk towards the next door, Florence shrieks and points at something to the left.
"Eek!"- She says- "A sp-sp-spider! Kill it!"
Jared looks at it. He is not impressed by what he sees.
From the looks of it, this is just a normal spider. Nothing really dangerous.
"This is just a small spider."- He says to Florence- "There is nothing to be afraid of."
Florence shakes her head and continues to point hysterically at the spider.
"Kill it! Kill it! Kill iiit!"- She yells.
Jared sighs and shakes his head.
"Fine! I will take care of this... little monstrosity."- He says and begins to cast the spell.
The little spider, seeing what is about to happen, shrieks, decides that it has better chances of survival elsewhere and quickly leaves the building through the open door that leads outside.
Aleks giggles and looks at Florence.
"See? The spider is more afraid of than we are of it. It wasn't that much of a problem."
Florence shrugs.
"It's easy for you to say!"
She turns to Jared.
"So, um... is it gone. Is it gonna come back later and... attack us?"
Jared smiles and shakes his head.
"I am sure that I scared it away for good."- He says- "It won't be a problem for us anymore."
Florence nods, still unconvinced.
The three of them enter the main hall of the first floor and notice that the whole left side is blocked by a massive wall of ice. 
Jared tries to melt it with a fire spell, but his father stops him.
"There's no need to waste your energy on it, son."- He says- "This is a magical fire. It can't be melted by magic."
Jared sighs.
"I see. So, what is the plan?"
Aleks points at a nearby door.
"That seems to be the only other way to go. Shall we explore it?"
Jared and Florence nod.
"Well, there doesn't seem to be anywhere else to go."- She says- "So, let's give it a shot."
The three of them attempt to open the door, but are unable to do it because something is stopping them.
Not a malevolent force or something like that. Just the fact that the door has been barred shut from the other side.
"So, I guess that our adventure has come to an end?"- Florence says.
Jared begins to cast a spell again.
"Not yet."- He says- "It would be a shame if something simple like this stopped us from proceeding.
He casts a fire spell on the door and sets it on fire.
Florence begins to panic.
"You fool! You're gonna burn the whole building down!"- She yells- "Are you outta your mind?!"
Aleks calms her down.
"No, Florence."- He says- "Look closer."
When she does, she notices that only the door itself is burning. The fire is not spreading to the walls around it.
In fact, it isn't spreading anywhere else.
Soon, there is nothing left of the door, but the smell of burned wood.
"The owners of this house have to excuse me, but this is an emergency."- Jared says.
He looks at his companions.
"Let us go in."
As they explore, they notice a trail of coal.
"This seems to lead somewhere. Let's see where it goes."- Jared suggests.
A few seconds later, they each the end of the trail and find a door.
When they open it, they notice two things. 
First, there is a big minecart with a huge lump of coal in it to the right of them.
Second, there is a massive coal ghost blocking the way to it.
"Oh my god!"- Florence exclaims- "It's a GHOST!"
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"A ghost?"- He says- "Is this one of the ghosts that we have to defeat?"
Florence shakes her head.
"No, no, no!"- She says- "It's a G.H.O.S.T- a Greater Haunt Originating from Spectral Transmissions."
Jared nods.
"I know about those!"- He says- "Those are more different than the normal ghosts."
Aleks raises his eyebrow.
"Care to explain, son?"- He asks him.
Jared smiles.
"Of course. I will be more than happy to explain."
He stares at the G.H.O.S.T which seems to ignore their presence. For the moment.
"The G.H.O.S.T is much more dangerous than a normal ghost, because of its superior ability to absorb damage of almost any source and to use the malevolent, dark force within its body to cloud the minds of its enemies, charming those with weak minds and terrifying those with stronger minds. The spectral energy that has brought it to life has somehow manipulated its genetic structure, thus making it much more dangerous. The fact that it is harder to defeat and that it is much more powerful than a normal ghost has exalted it above its reanimated brother and sisters, thus making it a formidable enemy, even for a band of experienced warriors such as ourselves."
Aleks and Florence stare at him, unsure if they actually understood the information that Jared just provided to them. 
The boy sighs.
"So, this is the G.H.O.S.T. Our weapons alone cannot defeat it and we need to find another way to defeat it."
Florence smiles.
"Fortunately, I know how!"- She exclaims, grabs something from her left pocket and shows it to Jared.
"This... is Bismuth. It's a powerful alchemical reagent that can help us defeat this monster once and for all."
Jared grabs it from her hand and inspects it.
"I can feel... powerful energies emanating from it. Energies of the element of... Light!"- He says.
Then, he breaks the piece of Bismuth with the palm of his hand. Suddenly, the energies coming from within the stone enter his body and make him stronger.
He begins to cast a spell.
"It would be a good idea if both of you left the room right now."- He says- "The light might blind those who are around the caster, despite only lasting for a short time."
Aleks and Florence nod.
"I hope that you know what you're doing!"- Florence says.
Jared smiles.
"Trust me. I know a lot about the element of Light."- He responds and sends them away.
Then, just as the G.H.O.S.T approaches him, he casts the spell on it, illuminating the whole room for three seconds.
Once he notices that the malevolent energy of the G.H.O.S.T is gone, he stops and stares at it.
What remains of it is just a bunch of mented coal. Nothing else.
Aleks and Florence enter the room again. They notice the remains of the enemy on the ground next to Jared.
"How in the world did you know how to defeat it without Bismuth?"- Florence asks him.
Jared smiles.
"Actually, the Bismuth helped me channel my spell and made it stronger than usual."- He says- "Bismuth contains unstable amounts of Light energies, so much that it can be very irritating when it is used to cast a spell. Fortunately, I am resistant to such irritations and they cannot hurt me at all. Although I am sure that the two of you are quite the opposite."
Florence shrugs.
"So, what now?"
Jared approaches the minecart and stares at the huge lump of coal within.
That is when he notices something at the other end of the rail- a hook.
Seeing that the minecart needs to be taken there, Jared starts to push it.
Or, at least tries to. The minecart is very heavy and he cannot move it even a single inch forward. He is not strong enough.
"Do you need any help, son?"- His father asks him.
Jared stops for a moment and sighs.
"I am ashamed to ask for help, but I can see that there is no way to take this minecart to the other side of the rail without breaking a leg... or an arm."- He says- "So, can you help me out?"
Aleks and Florence nod. They join Jared in pushing the minecart.
Their combined efforts seem to be having some success. The minecart starts to move forward, slowly at first, then much faster.
A few seconds later, it has reached its destination.
Florence looks at the huge lump of coal.
"So, I'm still not sure what to do with this thing."- She says- "Any suggestions?"
Aleks points at the door.
"Moments before we entered this room, I saw another door just to the left of this one."- He responds- "I think that it's worth checking out."
Jared and Florence agree with Aleks's plan. They leave the room and head further to the west.
However, they soon notice that a huge spider is blocking their way to the next room.
"EEK! It's so... big!"- Florence says and slowly stumbles away from it.
Jared draws his sword.
"Stay back! I've got this!"- He yells and charges as his companions stay back and watch.
Jared fights against the giant spider for a while. However, soon he manages to climb it and stab it in the back, killing it in the process.
Slowly pushing the dead spider's body away from the door, he opens it and sees what is inside.
"A boiler room!"- He exclaims- "Looks like this will help us melt the wall of ice upstairs!"
The three of them inspect the boiler in the middle of the room, unsure how to operate it. They start to push all the buttons, in an attempt to activate it.
Jared notices a green button on the top of the panel and pushes it. Soon, the machine springs to life.
Our heroes start to hear sounds that are coming from the other room. A few seconds later, the room gets warmer.
In fact, the whole mansion gets warmer- both upstairs and downstairs.
As Jared, Aleks and Florence leave the basement, they notice that all the ice that was blocking their way is gone for good.
"How is this possible?"- Florence wonders- "Ice is supposed to turn into water when melted. This doesn't make any sense."
Aleks smiles.
"Well, it seems like you don't know about magical ice at all."- He says.
Florence looks at him and raises her eyebrow.
"Magical ice? What's that?"
Aleks sighs.
"It's different from the normal ice, because it does not turn into water after melting. Instead, it simply disappears, leaving no trace that it was there, simply disappearing into nothingness."
Florence nods, trying to understand what she just heard.
"Nevermind that."- Aleks continues- "The good thing is that it's gone now. It's not going to be a problem for us anymore."
Florence nods.
"We can all agree to that."- She says.
They try to use the elevator, but their attempts to start the machine are refused by the control panel, which emits a harsh noise and zaps them.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!"- Florence exclaims- "That hurt, you know!"
Jared stares at it and sighs.
"It is broken."- He says- "Only an operator is able to repair it. This is way too far out of our league."
Florence nods.
"So, where do we find this oper-- "
Her words are cut short by a scream. It seems to be coming from a nearby room.
The three of them enter the nearby kitchen and hear where the sounds are coming from- the ice room.
Florence attempts to open the door, but she begins to shiver innediately after she touches the handle.
"It's so c-c-cold!"- She exclaims- "We can't go i-i-in!"
Jared shakes his head and casts a fire spell on the handle, normalizing its temperature in the process.
He opens the door.
"Stay here. I will rescue whoever is in there!"- He says and enters the room, intending to rescue to poor individual within while risking his own life in the process.
Florence turns to Aleks.
"Sir, I've gotta say this."- She says- "You're son's a really brave kid."
Aleks smiles and nods.
"He has always been like this. Always ready to help a person in need."- He says- "That's my son. He's such a loving, caring child."
Aleks and Florence watch as Jared looks around the room, trying to find the source of the scream.