First Spark

<"I need you all to pop out," the phantom said to the nearly empty room, "I want them to get deeper in. I can't scare them away. I... I need them to come back.">

"Find anything?" Randy asked, not really wanting to step in another slime.

"Not yet," Abe replied as he worked over the floor with the stick.

If any traps or weird things were in here, he'd try to find them. Behind him, he heard the rest shuffling back in. A few more people went to get their stuff from the vehicles and were just now making their way back to the group. His train of thought was broken as he felt the stick get stuck in something. Pulling the stick up, he noticed a familiar pink goop.

"We got hostiles!" he called out as he flung the goop deeper into the room.

George and Jason moved to the front and Marie poked around him with her phone, trying to light up as much of the room as she could and making two depressions visible on opposite sides of the room as well as a door on the wall opposite them. They were able to see two of those pink slimes jiggling around. George stepped forwards to rush them. His weapon didn't seem to hurt them, but he could easily draw their attention. He stepped into the room, took a stance, then fell on his ass the moment he went to move deeper.

The slimes bounced forwards. One landed on his leg and the other barely missed his head. Abe swung the stick and bashed the slime away from his head, the slime sliding a few feet away. Jason moved forwards slowly, noting the slick floor, and swung at the slime Abe had pushed. The slime easily avoided his swing and slipped away.

George winced and whacked the blob off of his leg. The pink gel had started eating through his pants and his skin had started to sting. He struggled to get to his feet, his every movement unsteady due to the slick floor. He smiled as he watched the ball of slime bounce towards him. He readied his bat and prepared to splay the blob against the wall.

Suddenly a knife flew through the air from behind him and sunk into the gel coming towards him. He glanced back and saw Randy in the archway. The blob undulated and tried to push the knife out, but George had moved over and swung his bat like a golf club. The impact landed directly against the knife and broke the jelly ball open like an egg. Jason yelped and the sportsman looked over to see him on his back with the remaining gel on his chest.

Jason managed to sit up and tried to swat the thing off of him, only succeeding in getting his hands stuck to it. Randy moved over. Seeing the axe on the ground, he grabbed it and got the hunter's attention. With a shared nod, the thug brought the axe down and cut the pink snotball in half. Marie came over and doused him with her water bottle to get rid of the tingling slime covering him while Devon tended to George.Thankfully it had only dissolved his jacket and, other than his hands, hadn't touched his skin.

Marie looked at the remnants of the slime thoughtfully. It ate through clothing quickly but seemed to have trouble with flesh. Or at least, it took much longer to dissolve flesh. And how was it so weak to water?

"Does it matter?" asked Jason, looking at her blankly, "I'd consider us lucky that it doesn't eat through flesh as fast as it does clothes."

She was thinking out loud again. She really did need to learn how to keep her mouth shut.

"I'm just wondering. If only I'd brought some vials. I'd love to get a sample to test things with."

Jason nodded and she helped him up. Devon and Ross were scanning the room with their lights, finding two doors where the depressions were. Of the three doors, two were plain and one was fairly ornate with detailed carvings in the shape of a crown and two orbs. Randy, Abe, and Jesse spread out to check the doors.

"Locked" said Randy as he tried one of the plain doors.

"Same here," Abe said, stepping back from the other plain one door.

"This one's not," Jesse added, finding that the door knob of the ornate door easily moved under his hand and the door nearly opened by itself.

"Well that's not suspicious at all," Devon stated plainly.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.

The metalhead looked at her, "the only unlocked door in the abandoned bunker deep in the forest guarded by living slimeballs is carved with two orbs and a crown."

Morgan nodded as he laid it out.

"And," he noted after swinging his light onto the door, "it looks like it's covered in gold paint. That giving anyone else alarm bells?"

The group had to agree. It was suspicious. Randy knelt down by his door and started fiddling with it. Abe noticed and made his way over, minding the slick floor.

"Whatcha doin?" he asked once he got closer.

"Trying to pick the lock" Randy answered simply.

"You know how to do that?"

"I'm a little rusty, but I used to be pretty good at it."

"Need me to shine the light?" Abe offered as more of the group started filtering over.

"Nah, I've almost got it. Besides, it's mostly feel and techniq-" there was a click and the door shuddered as it slightly opened, "got it!"

The group gathered around as the door was opened. Randy took a step inside, knife at the ready, and a light turned on. Then another. And another. The sudden bright light blinded them for a few seconds.

When their eyesight cleared, they were met with a room completely alien to their surroundings. A large room with multiple ceiling lights, pink carpet, a hot pink roof, and white painted drywall. Shelves of shoes and accessories lined the walls while a circular hanging rack nearly bursting with clothes filled the majority of the room. An ornate mirror and fitting chair sat in the far corner, almost obscured by the clothes rack. The group of seniors was stunned.

A moment later, Marie entered the room. She looked around, taking in the various revealing styles and materials. She was joined soon after be a few more, but by then she'd started trying to figure out how the lights were powered. She didn't see any wiring outside the room, but it's possible it was behind the cinderblocks. She moved closer to the door, looking for a sensor that could have caused the lights to turn on but came up empty. She let loose a soft questioning grunt and was about to ask how it was possible when Abe spoke up.

"We shouldn't touch anything" said Abe

"Why not?" asked Morgan, stopping just before picking up a chain necklace that was sitting next to a pair of leopard print guitar pick earrings.

"It could be cursed for all we know" he replied.

Marie rolled her eyes and started to move away. "I wouldn't touch anything anyways. It's too..."

"Too what?" Abe asked.

"...Tacky" she said in a disdainful voice.

<"Tacky? Tacky?! How dare you!?" Pinky yelled at the rude intruder. "I did not go to college for fashion design and create expensive materials for my clothes to be called 'tacky' you little bitch!">

Despite being unable to hear the spirit's tirade, George felt as though the energy in the air shifted slihtly and grimaced. Attempting to diffuse the situation he piped up.

"Perhaps it'd be for the best that we not, ya'know, piss off the ghost. After all if she was locked in here then these are probably hers and if they are then insulting her sense of style probably won't do us any favors."

Marie sighed, "you're right. There's probably not a ghost or anything, but mocking a dead girl's sense of style's not gonna do anything good." She looked up and spoke steady and loud, "Patricia, I'm sorry for insulting your fashion sense."

The group moved out of the room, their eyes struggling to adjust to the gloom after being in such bright light. No one had taken anything, either due to not wanting a mad ghost, not liking the style, or just simply not needing clothes like that. The group made their way to the other plain door, getting there just as Randy managed to pick the lock. They expected another blindingly bright room, but were instead met with a somber light that filtered through the slowly opening door.

Inside was a small fountain pool filled with water that was ringed with various flowers and small lights. In the middle of the pool was a stone statue of an old man with a kind face wearing a pressed suit with a cane in one hand and a small dog in the other. A plaque was situated on the base below his feet and between the small fountain nozzles that read:

"Jenson H. Millicent

Beloved Father, Philanthropist, Animal Rights Advocate, and Gourmand

He will be sorely missed"

"What the hell?" asked Randy, jaw hanging open.

Devon entered in behind him, his eyes scanning the walls for any other info. When his eyes drifted over the statue he noticed the plaque and read it aloud, drawing confused looks from the rest.

"Wait, wasn't he supposed to be a monster?" asked Jesse, peeking from around the door frame.

"Yeah," replied Ross, "he was a total ass. Locked his daughter away for his own selfish desires and kept her chained in a gilded cage. Even had her hunted down when she ran away."

"That's not the vibe I'm getting from this place," Morgan stated hesitantly.

"Tell me about it," added Randy, "it's like a memorial or something."

"Well no shit," Devon said while glancing at the thug in annoyance, "obviously it's a memorial. The question is, who made it?"

"It couldn't have been Patricia," reasoned George as he leaned in from the doorway, "she died before he did."

"Do you think it was prearranged?" added Ross, moving closer to the statue.

Marie shrugged, having entered the room as the space became available, "it's possible, but why would it be here? Why not somewhere that it could be seen? Like over by Patricia's statue or outside?"

"Wait, what's that?" asked Ross, intently staring at the statue's face before shining his light on it for a better look.

There was a pink kiss mark on the statue's right cheek.

"What in the actual-" Randy started before it died on his lips.

"Is that a...?" George began but quickly quieted down.

The room was silent except for the sound of flowing water. A pin could have been heard dropping against the flagstones. Glancing at one another, the group silently shuffled out. Not one of them sure how to parse the strange room.

Abraham Cortes

Stats

-Strength - 3

-Intelligence - 5

-Nimbleness - 3

-Acumen - 4

-Physique - 2

-Synchronicity - 3

-Empathy - 3

Skills

-Dodge 2, Stealth 1, Swim 1, Gather Information 3, Knowledge (High School, Varied) 4, Perception 3, Technology 4, Craft (electronics) 2, Disable Item 4

Equipment

-Phone, Wallet, Backpack, Keys, Camera, Notebook, Pens, Pencils, Textbooks, Folders, Papers, Sketchbook, Fantasy Novel, Snack, 10-Foot Pole/Branch.

Description

-Slightly overweight but holds it well. Black hair, Brown Eyes, Golden Skinned Iuiqui, wears Glasses, Movie T-Shirts, Jeans, and Sneakers.

-Born to a lower middle class family, his parents were old geeks who got into computers when they were first coming out. His parents introduced him to sci-fi and fantasy classics at an early age and he spent a lot of his youth gaming. He first played CnC with his cousins and was hooked ever since. He never had too bad of a time at school, though he had the occasional bullying incident. The only real bad incident was defused by the quarterback of the football team threatening the bully and he backed off. Later on, that quarterback would join the CnC club he started in high school. Has never had a girlfriend.

-Quiet but thoughtful, always doodling something or jotting down ideas. Built his own computer and was in the robotics club, even had a side gig jail-breaking phones for students. Pretty shy, but not awkward.