Chapter Fifteen: Reunited and It Feels So…Slimy!

Chapter Fifteen: Reunited and It Feels So…Slimy!

J.G. Stantz was practically in heaven when he was around Vanessa. She brought out a side of him that he never knew existed – that affectionate, enchanting side he figured only came from Natalie Venkman. Stantz was a scientist, not a lover. Most of his time was spent studying theories on the supernatural. Then this wonderful woman came into his bookstore one sunny afternoon, told him how alluring he was, and asked if he would take her to dinner and movie.

Incredible how that wasn’t very long ago and now look at how far we’ve come, he thought as he drove his Volvo V70 down the block with Vanessa there by his side. “The perfect car to drive the perfect girl in,” he once said after owning it for a whole year.

“So where are we going to next, my sweet?” Vanessa asked him.

Jay smiled and answered, “It’s my surprise.”

“Oh, come now,” Vanessa remarked with a laugh. “Our relationship is supposed to be based on trust.”

“Yes, and I know you trust me long enough to keep this a surprise,” J.G. reversed, and the couple laughed happily. It was a nice thought to Jay, being a couple with Vanessa. When could he honestly say that he…?

HONK! HONK!

The Volvo came to a screeching halt as a monster of a traffic jam had built up a few or so blocks away from Times Square. It was right in front of Pizza Planet, and there were several NYPD personnel blocking off the area and trying to get everyone to their individual destinations as soon as possible.

“Love, what’s going on?” Vanessa asked J.G.

Jay shrugged his shoulders, looking over the fleet of cars in their path. It was then that he spotted some familiar figures, running out of an alley and into the restaurant, undetected by the police. One of them he closely noticed was drenched in some kind of green liquid…and an unforgettable device strapped to her back. Stantz’s eyes widened with a mixture of excitement and surprise. “Uh, baby? Could you stay here para uno momento?”

Vanessa watched him in confusion as he parked the Volvo and jumped out, heading straight towards Pizza Planet. J.G. made sure he was careful in not being detected by the authorities, who would’ve been sure to stop him the moment they spotted him. Stantz ducked and rolled between cars, being careful not to inhale the exhaust fumes while hiding behind them. The former Ghostbuster finally reached his destination, ducking into the shadows of the alley that the figures emerged from; he looked around the corner to see if there were any cops keeping an eye on the entranceway.

A large, heavy model of planet Earth suddenly crashed through the entrance and rolled into the path of the officers, forcing them to dodge out of the way. It was a crude and harmful distraction, but J.G. would take it if it meant getting into the restaurant unnoticed. He was just about to run out of the alleyway, until something snagged him from behind and held him back. Turning around to see what it was, he was all but surprised to see Christina Melnitz standing there and holding a Proton Pack.

“If you’re plannin’ on goin’ in there, you’re gonna need this,” she told him.

J.G. smiled as he took the Proton Pack from her and put it on, getting that sense of nostalgia again. “Thanks, Chris.” Fully equipped, he dashed around the corner and snuck inside the building, which had become a battleground in less than two minutes.

There his former teammates were, together again and squaring off against the same green, onion-headed ghost that they first busted back in the Tipton Hotel, along with four others in bowler hats and cloaks that he didn’t recognize. Along with Venkman, Spengler, and Zeddemore was the “rookie” from the bookstore, showing off the same impressive moves. He suddenly noticed one amateur mistake she was about to make as she came close to where Natalie fired.

Immediately, he screamed, “DON’T CROSS THE STREAMS!”

Their attention shifted to him at the exact moment he cried out, drawing focus away from the streams in the process. Moving away from the ghosts, the streams went near a set of cables that suspended a larger-than-life model of a space shuttle. The cables snapped and the model fell twenty feet towards the Ghostbusters, forcing them to duck for cover. The model crashed down on the play area, destroying all of the arcade games and the games of skill in one massive crash. While the Ghostbusters were distracted by the sudden destruction, the onion-head ghost and his friends disappeared from the area, phasing through the nearest wall with a series of cackles (and belches).

As soon as the chaos passed, the Ghostbusters emerged from their individual hiding spots, totally unscathed. Needless to say, they were shaken and upset. The team started to approach J.G., almost threateningly. Realizing the stupid mistake he made, a sheepish Jay uttered, “Sorry…my fault.”

Natalie moved more briskly than the others, and J.G. almost figured she was going to strike him as she raised her arm. She did the opposite instead: give him a big hug. “Oh, you big oaf! How could I ever be mad at you?”

J.G. smiled and chuckled nervously as she let him go. “Man! You really had me goin’ there! For a second, I thought you were gonna…” He stopped once he realized that the clean, pressed, and white suit that he wore for his date with Vanessa was covered in the green slime that Natalie was drenched in. “Hey!”

“What?” she said in mock innocence. “Can’t a girl show an old friend a little love?”

J.G. glared at her while Spengler approached with his P.K.E. Meter still in hand. “You came back just in time. We’ve got a serious problem here.”

“How so?” J.G. queried. “They look like the same Class 5 free-roaming vapors to me.”

“Only the P.K.E. is reading them as something higher…way higher,” Sean notified. “According to it, they’re in the same class as Vigo the Carpathian.”

“Really? Wow!” J.G. exclaimed with a bug-eyed expression on his face. “This sounds like a real breakthrough! An actual ‘ecto-upgrade’ of some type! This could be like the next stage in paranormal evolution!”

Witnessing this ridiculously geeky display from the two men, Natalie and Jacqueline both hung their heads and put their hands over them in frustration. Before it could’ve gone on any further, Jacqueline finally walked right up to them. “I hate to break up your little ‘fanatic moment,’ but if you boys can take a minute to focus on this situa—”

A loud crash emerged from upstairs, followed by the sound of a woman screaming. Quickly, the team headed in that direction, knowing their ghostly adversaries were terrorizing someone who couldn’t make it out of the building on time, and they had to get to her before it was too late. The moment that the team reached the second floor, which was the level reserved for staff only, they were caught by surprise of the way it was designed. The wallpapers were fashioned to resemble constellations with alien planets around them and the doors to the offices, bathrooms, and closets were automatic and designed to look like something out of Star Trek.

“Okay, whoever runs this restaurant chain needs to get a life,” Natalie criticized.

A growling noise emerged from the door straight ahead, which was labeled “manager/captain” and had the name “W. Brewster” printed above. Again, the scream was heard; but, this time, it confused the Ghostbusters rather than alarm them. Natalie grinned as she asked Jacqueline, “Isn’t that your boss’s office?”

“He’s not my boss,” Jacqueline clarified. “He’s just a client who I was working for tonight.”

“Well, hopefully, he won’t mind if I do this.” Natalie aimed her Proton Gun and fired a quick stream, blasting away the door.

Jacqueline and the others could barely believe she even had the nerve to do that, knowing the cost of damage. It wasn’t like the old days when they could do whatever they wanted to catch the ghosts and the city would pay for the property damage. They weren’t even supposed to have on their Proton Packs. It was pretty much a risky situation the team was taking, handling this situation like rogues.

The group watched cautiously as dark gray smoke emerged from the wreckage; just as it had cleared, the onion-headed ghost and the other four phantoms flew out without warning. The Ghostbusters opened fire in the hallway, trying their hardest to capture the fast-moving vapors; they proved to be quite a challenge, leaving the team hitting nothing but wall and ceiling at every blast.

“Man! What’ve they been juicin’ on?” Jacqueline yelled in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Natalie’s focus was solely on her old nemesis: the green, slimy spud that nearly killed her a while ago; between that and getting covered with slime, she had about enough of him. Although her extreme rage blinded her from the fact that one of the bowler hat phantoms approached from behind. Before she could even realize it, the vapor had grabbed the back of her shirt and hung it over her head.

“Hey! What the…?” The revolting specters began laughing insanely as Natalie continued firing her stream, while totally blind. As it came over the heads of her teammates, they instantly ducked, not wanting to get their faces melted off.

With the blinded Venkman trapping everyone in her mania, the onion-head ghost and his companions took the opportunity to escape. However, just as they flew towards the starry wall, Natalie’s protonic steam came in contact with one of the bowler hat ghosts, capturing him. J.G. soon took notice of this unintentional success and triumphantly shouted, “You got him! You’ve got him!”

“Awesome!” Natalie muffled beneath her shirt. “Wish I was there to see it!”

J.G. detached the ghost trap from his Proton Pack and rolled it beneath the captured ghost that had apparently been abandoned by his “friends.” “Just hold still and try to keep your stream leveled, Nat! I’m gonna open the trap on the count of three!”

“Oh, forget countin’! Just open the thing!” Natalie retorted.

On her command, Stantz pressed down on the pedal switch with his right foot; the trap opened, consuming the bowler hat phantom into it. The moment the ghost was trapped, Natalie felt a great deal of slack given to her Proton Gun and was thrown back unexpectedly to the floor. Sitting there, she removed her shirt from her head and gazed on the smoking ghost trap a few feet away. “Did I get him?” she asked. “Did I get the spud?”

“No, it was one of those other creepies,” J.G. confirmed while kneeling down to check for any scratches or bruises on her. “Are you okay?”

Venkman looked directly at him, noticeably angered and disgusted. “He slimed me, dude. I am never gonna be okay, until I’ve kicked his butt for the second time in a row!” She then got to her feet, tightly gripped her Proton Gun, and ran back downstairs like a maniac.

“W-Wait! Venkman!” J.G. shouted as he and Spengler chased after her.

Genevieve and Zeddemore remained where they were, watching the three parapsychologists as they left. “Wow. She’s got a real vendetta against that little ‘slimer,’ doesn’t she?” Genevieve stated, just as Zeddemore dashed into Mr. Brewster’s slime-covered, ravaged office with Genevieve soon following.

“Mr. Brewster?” Jacqueline repeatedly called, but there was no answer.

Mr. Brewster did slowly appear from behind his desk, covered in soot and his clothes slightly charred. Jacqueline’s hand went to her mouth when she saw him this way, knowing it was all because of Natalie’s reckless firing. “Sir, I am so sorry about this. I promise that I’ll pay for damages as soon as this crisis has been averted. You have my word on that.”

Brewster attempted to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was a squeak. Jacqueline exited from the room, catching up with the others. Before exiting herself, Genevieve told Brewster, “Uh…nothing personal…but…if I was you, I’d consider having yourself checked out…because you really sounded like a woman from downstairs, dude.” Brewster couldn’t come up with a response to that, still being scared speechless.

Genevieve ran out of the tattered office and headed downstairs, only to have been met with a bright reddish-orange beam of energy that struck her body and paralyzed every inch of it. As she tried to move, she noticed how her teammates were in the same situation, their forms all shrouded by reddish-orange energy waves and standing paralyzed near the flight of stairs. Looking straight ahead, she saw the onion-head ghost and the three remaining bowler hat phantoms hovering in the air and doing…nothing; they just hovered there with mindless expressions on their faces, and their eyes glowed in a deep, dark reddish color.

What is wrong with them, Genevieve thought.

Her answer came as a dark form materialized in a puff of bright red smoke beneath the ghosts. Once the smoke cleared, Jafar appeared with his golden, cobra-headed staff in hand and his pet parrot/sidekick, Iago, perched (as always) on shoulder. There was a sinister grin on his face, as he glared over the five of them.

“Foolish simpletons! Indeed, the mighty have fallen!” Jafar exclaimed. “I knew controlling these foul-natured spirits would lure you all right into my trap…especially you, Dr. Stantz!” J.G. grunted in anger, still trying to get free of Jafar’s hold over him. “It’s all part of Hades’ plan to do away with you. Assist the ridiculous ‘fan girl’ and her impotent friends in reuniting the Ghostbusters and destroy them all under one roof. It’s so brilliant and yet so…”

“Oh, will ya just shut up and kill them already,” Iago interjected. “Geez, the more time you spend flappin’ yer gums, the more chances that something might go horribly wrong!”

Jafar cackled. “Come now, Iago. What could possibly happen? The Ghostbusters are at our mercy, we have the most chaotic ghosts in our control, and Hades’ master plan is only minutes away from coming into fruition. Not even the most ignorant goof can foul things up for us now!”

Directly after Jafar proudly made his declaration, Goofy ran right into the restaurant with Donald and Mickey following. “Don’t worry, team! We got yer ba—” That was when Goofy suddenly slipped on a slice of pepperoni pizza and began sliding extremely fast towards Jafar and Iago. “YAAAAAAA-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!”

Jafar turned his attention to the goof a little too late as he was already a few feet close to him when he lifted his arms in a protective manner and screamed, “Oh, no!”

“Oh, boy! Here it comes!” Iago screeched.

Goofy’s body smacked hard against Jafar’s, causing both him and Iago to collapse with the goof, while Jafar’s staff flew out of his hand and soared several feet across the air. The eyes of the Ghostbusters – the only things that weren’t in a paralyzed state – watched the staff as it descended towards a wall and finally crashed into it, shattering into many pieces.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Jafar cried.

This, of course, wasn’t much surprise to Iago. “What did I tell ya?”

At the exact moment Jafar’s staff had shattered, the Ghostbusters were free from its hold as were the four ghosts, who were (needless to say) puzzled over what was going on. Noticing this, the Ghostbusters took advantage of it and immediately fired their particle streams upon the ghosts. Considering that they were no longer under Jafar’s control, it was easy for the team to capture the ghosts in the streams since they were the same out-of-shape specters as before.

Sean threw in his ghost trap for the final blow and activated it to suck all four ghosts into it at the same time. The Ghostbusters shut off their Proton Guns and sighed in relief, approaching the ghost trap with Mickey and Donald. “Now that was hardcore,” Jacqueline exclaimed while J.G. picked up the smoking ghost trap and then shared a high-five with her.

“Just like the good ol’ days!” Stantz said.

Jafar scoffed at the victorious group as Goofy was sitting on top of him and Iago, pinning them to the floor. “Enjoy your win while you can, Ghostbusters. Hades isn’t far from executing his plan.”

“Tell us right now, Jafar,” Mickey demanded. “What’s Hades’ plan?”

“Yeah!” Donald bellowed. “And what’ve you gotta do with it?”

Jafar cackled. “I’ll tell you fools nothing!”

Natalie walked right up and aimed her particle thrower at his face with the intense humming sound from her Proton Pack adding to the intimidation. Instinctively, Iago screeched, “WE REALLY DON’T KNOW ANYTHING! HADES DIDN’T TELL US DIDDILY SQUAT!” Jafar glared at his timid and foolish pet parrot, who might as well have been born as a stool pigeon.

The team exchanged confused looks, hearing this. “I don’t get it,” said J.G. “Why would he leave you guys in the dark like that? Aren’t you major benefactors in his plan?”

“The deal was to reunite and destroy you all in exchange for ruling the entire Middle East under Hades’ ‘New Underworld’,” Jafar revealed. “Other than that deal, he did not tell us how he intended on making it happen.”

Spengler scratched his chin in a ponderous manner. “So he is intending on merging the realm of the dead with our world.” His eyes then widened behind his thin glasses while adding, “But if something like that were to be attempted, it could put both worlds in imminent danger.”

A worried look crept across J.G.’s face in reaction to Spengler’s hypothesis. “Oh, man! You’re right, Spengs.”

Natalie, Jacqueline, and Genevieve all looked confused; it was Genevieve who then had asked to ease the confusion, “What? What’re you guys talking about?”

Before either J.G. or Sean could explain, they all had heard each of their names being called out by a group of people. They noticed Christina, Cody, and Alex running into the now-demolished restaurant with panic registered on their faces.

“Jay!” Christina cried. “Someone’s taking her away!”

J.G.’s ears perked, and his eyes registering a state of alarm; he didn’t have to bother asking who it was that Christina was talking about. Without alerting the others first, he dashed out of the restaurant, not worrying about catching the attention of the NYPD officers outside. It had taken Natalie, Sean, Jacqueline, and Genevieve only a few seconds to realize that Christina was referring to Vanessa.

“Who was taking her away?” Sean asked.

“Some taxi driver,” answered Alex.

“Yeah, and he had yellow eyes, too,” Cody added.

Soon after Cody’s mentioning of it, one name uttered from the mouths of Natalie, Sean, and Genevieve: “Maleficent!” They were soon out of the restaurant themselves, leaving a confused Jacqueline to deal with the mess they were leaving behind.

“Why am I always the one who gets left out of the major stuff?”

“Don’t worry, Miss Zeddemore.” Mickey said. “We’ll take care of everything here, including handing Jafar over to the authorities.”

Jacqueline smiled at the mouse and her other friends. “Thanks for everything, guys. You’ve all been such a great help. I wish there was some way to repay you for your dedication.”

“Just kick some ghost booty for us, will ya?” Christina requested.

Jacqueline tightened her grip on the Proton Gun and grinned. “No problem.”

As Zeddemore departed from the ravaged Pizza Planet, Jafar and Iago both grumbled in despair. “Ya think the ‘Three Strikes’ rule counts for evil sorcerers and talking parrots, too?” Iago inquired, and Jafar’s only response was a raspberry to the parrot’s face.

Chapter Fourteen: Miss Zeddemore, I Suppose

Chapter Fourteen: Miss Zeddemore, I Suppose

            “I WANT ICE CREAM!”

            The stressed-out parents to a five-year-old boy did their best to satisfy their son’s needs; and they weren’t the only ones. Other parents, ones that came in pairs and ones that were single, had out-of-control children with them at Pizza Planet. Some kids cried and screamed. Others kicked and threw food while laughing uncontrollably. It was a nightmarish scene. In the middle of it all was the manager: a short, balding man with an apple-shaped body and a lack of patience.

            Doing his best to ignore all the chaos, the manager spoke over the phone with one of another business. “How long will it take Miss Zeddemore to get here?” He carried his voice over the noise to hear himself, placing a hand over his ear to hear the man on the other end. “With all due respect, sir, I’d appreciate it if she would’ve gotten here at least six hours ago!” A cheeseburger flew in from left field and connected with the hand holding the phone, causing him to drop it, as well as cover the whole left side of his face with pickles, ketchup, and tomato. “I knew I should’ve gone to college.”

            The manager kept his eyes on the entrance to Pizza Planet, waiting for “Miss Zeddemore” to arrive. For a moment, when the double doors slid open, he thought she had and felt greatly relieved. But, once he noticed two Caucasian women, a Native American one, an African American man, a blond boy, a Hispanic/Italian girl, and three Disney characters walking in, he sighed and returned to his nervous state.

            Natalie couldn’t suppress a smile as she gazed at the chaotic sight in front of her. It reminded her why she avoided having children (as well as stayed single). Of course, the real joy Venkman got out of the scene was the notion of her old teammate, Jacqueline Zeddemore, ending up in the middle of it all. Yet, she was a little disappointed when she realized that Jacqueline was nowhere around.

            “How come she ain’t here?” Natalie asked.

            Spengler glanced at his digital wristwatch. “She’s usually here at eight o’clock. She must’ve gotten caught in traffic.”

“Well, let’s at least make the best outta it,” said Mickey. He turned to Goofy, Donald, Cody, and Alex and instructed, “C’mon, fellas. Let’s go play a few games.”

Cody already headed in the direction of the arcade games. “I’m so gonna beat Zack’s high score on Aliens: Extermination!”

            Alex scoffed at this idea of Mickey’s. “I’m too old for little kiddie games.” She stopped once she saw a couple of kids playing rounds of intergalactic skeeball, in which a squishy “alien ball” was rolled down the lane and into the holes that resembled the solar system. “Although I did see a cute iPod on the way in that I could cash a hefty sum of tickets for.” And with that statement, she was off to grab a cupful of tokens.

            With the kids off and doing their own thing, the adults took position at the nearest booth that wasn’t occupied by rowdy children or exhausted parents. Genevieve gawked at the wild scene a little more closely than Natalie had. She couldn’t get past the notion of a former Ghostbuster working at a family restaurant as an entertainer for children, and it once again brought her to the question of how the Ghostbusters came to split up. “I guess now’s a better time than any to ask this, but…” She paused and swallowed hard, a little worried that bad memories might resurface from bringing it up. “How come you all disbanded the team? Weren’t you a successful, working team?”

            Natalie, Sean, and Christina turned to each other, exchanging disgruntled expressions. For a while, they were absolutely silent, obviously unsure of what to tell the rookie. Finally, Natalie said, “It wasn’t our choice to split up, kiddo. It was the city of New York’s decision.”

            Genevieve’s face scrunched up in confusion. “The city split you guys up?”

            “Well, it was the Mayor, to be more precise,” Sean stated. “He and his staff discovered that we caused billions of dollars’ worth of property damage, during one of the busiest years of ghost-busting we ever had.”

“So we shut down the business and each took odd jobs to help pay for all the damages,” Christina added.

Genevieve shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe the city would treat you all like that. I mean…don’t they know you’re doing it for a good cause?”

“When politics sticks its funky nose in, heroic deeds aren’t worth squat, hon,” Natalie stated. “All that matters are dollar signs and subpoenas…and we’ve seen enough of both to realize when we’re beat.”

Genevieve sighed. “I don’t get it. Why didn’t the news or anybody else mention this to the public? Your fans?”

“Think about it, rookie,” directed Natalie. “If you were mayor and forced one of the finest businesses in New York to shut down because of lawsuits and money over aging complexes, would you spill the beans to millions of fans?”

Genevieve nodded in understanding, but it didn’t make up for the fact that it was all pure baloney. After all the Ghostbusters had done for New York City, this was how they repaid them. It seemed to her that times really had changed since Gozer and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. The world’s greatest heroes were now reduced to regular citizens…at least until they reunite and become the team they once were again.

“Welcome to Pizza Planet, earthlings!” They turned and noticed how the waiter was dressed in a spacesuit. It was enough to make Natalie, Sean, Christina, and Genevieve lower their heads to save themselves from embarrassment. “How may I beam your order from Planet K to Spaceport C?”

Natalie looked to Sean and whispered, “Just when I thought you were a rare species.”

Spengler grinned at Venkman, while Christina told the unusual waiter, “We’ll just take four sodas, please.” The astronaut/waiter saluted the customers before walking off to his “home base”: the kitchen.

            The sound of the Pizza Planet entrance sliding open caught their attention, and they saw the next victim of the chaotic evening at the restaurant. The group was instantly surprised when it turned out to be Jacqueline Zeddemore herself, looking exactly the way they last saw her…well, sort of.

            Jacqueline wore an amateur copy of her old uniform, which looked as if it was a few sizes too small. This was obvious from the way her white socks and part of her shin were exposed, the front wasn’t zipped up all the way, and the sleeves were all the way up to her elbows. There was also the matter of treads sticking out from the seams, signifying a possible chance of it all coming apart with just the slightest bit of movement. She was careful as she stiffly walked in with an inflatable “Proton Pack” strapped on.

            Upon seeing her, Venkman, Spengler, Christina, and Genevieve felt almost disappointed to see what she had been reduced to. Zeddemore had always been the toughest of their team. To see her with an inflatable replica of a Proton Pack was beyond sad, and yet Natalie Venkman could not stifle a laugh. “Oh, man! This has got to be the best night ever!”

            Her laughing could be heard over all the screaming children in the restaurant. As much as the others tried to compose her, she had already generated enough attention from some of the other customers. Eventually, it reached Jacqueline’s ears and shifted her focus to their table. The sight of Natalie laughing her butt off was enough to create an uncomfortable feeling over Jacqueline—as if the costume itself hadn’t already.

            “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me,” she uttered.

            She was just about to walk towards her friends, until the Pizza Planet manager popped up right in front of her and blocked her path. “Miss Zeddemore! Where have you been? Little Andrew’s party has gone berserk! The parents are threatening to leave! And I’m…” SPLAT! Another meal came in contact with the manager’s face; ironically, the side of it that had just been cleanse of previous meal thrown at him. “I’m going back home to mother.”

            “Don’t worry, Mr. Brewster,” Jacqueline assured. “I’ll get right to entertaining the little sweeties as soon as possible.” Brewster unenthusiastically nodded in approval before returning to his office. Once he was gone, she approached the table where Natalie Venkman, Sean Spengler, Christina Melnitz, and their friend in the old, funky Ghostbuster jumpsuit were sitting. She made it pretty obvious that she wasn’t too happy when she asked, “What are you all doing here?”

“We came to see how far that poor excuse of an imitation rides up, before you start lose your mind,” Natalie answered, right before Jacqueline reached behind her to tug down on the seat of her jumpsuit, which was starting to ride up a bit.

Ignoring Venkman’s teasing, Genevieve stood up and extended a hand out to Jacqueline. “Miss Zeddemore, I’m Genevieve Marie. It’s really an honor to meet…”

“Oh, my goodness!” Natalie exclaimed as she got up from the table and stood behind Jacqueline, gawking at her fake Proton Pack. “Seriously, where did you get this thing? Couldn’t you have gone to one of those expensive geeks who’ve got way too much time on their hands?”

“Listen, Venkman,” snapped Jacqueline, turning to stare eye-to-eye with her, “The only reason I’ve had to tolerate this job for a whole year is because you couldn’t keep track on the finance of our business!”

“Of course not,” Natalie boldly admitted. “That’s Chris’s job.”

Christina rolled her eyes in disgust. “Gosh, thanks, Dr. Venkman.”

Genevieve quickly reinserted herself back into the conversation before it drifted off-topic. “Miss Zeddemore, the real reason we came here was to tell you about the threat our world is facing right now from Hades, Lord of the Underworld.”

Jacqueline was caught off guard by Genevieve’s statement. “Our old flame-headed friend from the Gozer incident? You’re kiddin’ me!”

“I’m afraid not, Jacqueline,” Sean declared. “Several bizarre occurrences have all pointed to a possible plot of revenge by Hades. He’s already used Jafar to attack J.G. at his bookstore; and even our first apparition, Maleficent, has made it clear that she’s somehow involved in this.”

“Man!” Jacqueline remarked. “You go out of action for a year and the whole world’s already a mess.” She then reminded herself of the mentioning of a fellow Ghostbuster by Spengler and realized he was not with them. “Where’s Jay?”

Natalie sighed. “That’s been the question of the week, apparently.”

“He’s been with this new girlfriend of his named Vanessa.” Christina said.

Jacqueline’s index finger went to her chin as she pondered for a second. “Now why does that name sound familiar?”

AAAAAHHHH!

            The scream didn’t come from any of the children in the restaurant; it came directly from the kitchen area and was enough to bring the parents and their kids to a stop. All eyes went to the set of doors leading to that area, just as the astronaut/waiter busted out, covered with some type of green ooze. The look on his face displayed a mixture of horror, disgust, and panic; he dashed through all parts of the restaurant until he reached the exit, which didn’t open fast enough to accommodate his escape, forcing him to crash through it instead.

Everyone stood in silence over the sudden incident, except for Venkman, who shouted to the fleeing waiter, “Hey! What about our sodas?”

Suddenly, more screams emerged from the kitchen as other employees fled the area; they were each dripping with the same type of funky-smelling ooze on their clothes. The smell that fumigated the air brought back some foul memories to Natalie and Sean. Immediately, Spengler pulled out the P.K.E. Meter and turned it on to pull up the readings that it detected from the kitchen.

Jacqueline turned to him as soon as she heard the device beep. “What’re you getting?”

Spengler’s eyes were focused on the meter, but they soon darted towards the entrance to the kitchen. A translucent green blob creature with two skinny arms, no feet, and several chins phased through the kitchen doors, leaving behind a glob of ectoplasm all over it. It opened its mouth to unleash a sound that was a cross between a roar and a belch. The smell it gave off was utterly revolting and enough to not only bring terror amongst the parents and children in the restaurant, but nausea as well.

While the parents and children all fled from the building with the employees, the Ghostbusters and their friends stayed behind, continuing to stare at the disgusting blob. Whereas the eyes of Spengler, Zeddemore, Christina, Genevieve, Cody, Alex, and the Ajax exterminators were filled with shock, the eyes of Natalie Venkman had nothing but intense hatred and anger in hers. She and this blob had quite an unsettling history that was difficult for her to forget, whenever she confronted a ghost as nasty as this one. Seeing him for the first time in four years, one word emerged from her mouth: “YOU!”

The blob looked directly at Natalie and grumbled, apparently recognizing her; its glowing yellow eyes had a frightening effect on Mickey Mouse, who said, “Oh, boy! He sure looks like a mean one!”

“Don’t worry.” Sean uttered. “He won’t hurt any of us.”

“No, he’d just gross the constitution outta ya with his nasty ooze!” Natalie sneered. “Look at the little spud! He’s tauntin’ me! Probably knows I’m gonna get him back for sliming me back at the hotel, four years ago!”

“Venkman, don’t do anything.” Spengler warned. “He knows you’ll try something if you…”

BBBBBBRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGGG!

The blob growled as it flew directly towards the group; it moved at a speed that was way faster than it had when Spengler and Venkman last saw it. There was barely enough time to move out of the way, as the blob came right at Natalie. She opened her mouth instinctively to scream, but that was her last mistake as the creature phased right through the upper half of her body. A wave of slime went right into her mouth while drenching the rest of her in it.

As soon as the blob had completely passed through her, Natalie collapsed to the floor and immediately slipped into unconsciousness. Spengler knelt down near her inert, slimed body and checked her pulse. “She’s not breathing,” he cried, which brought great concern over the others. Immediately, Sean began administering CPR on her, while the blob creature bellowed overhead, hovering around the ceiling and phasing through dangling plywood models of planets.

“I thought this thing wasn’t gonna hurt anybody!” Genevieve angrily yelled.

Spengler didn’t have a direct answer for her confusion; even if he did, he was too busy trying to revive his best friend. Something about the slimy blob was far different from when they last encountered it. The readings on the P.K.E. were totally different from last time. From what he deciphered, it almost rested in a class close to one Gozer and Vigo were in. It’s too improbable to be true, he thought.

Just then, another crash rang through the kitchen. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Cody, and Alex dashed over to the doors and opened them to see what was going on inside. Much to their surprise, there were four more ghosts causing havoc there in the kitchen; but these ones were different from the blob; they were more “cartoon-like” and highly familiar to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.

“Oh, no!” Donald squawked.

“Gwarsh!” Goofy cried.

“Oh, gosh!” Mickey exclaimed.

These ghosts were the same lonesome ones the exterminators squared off against all those years ago in that haunted house, during their first (and only) extermination. That much was obvious from the translucent bowler hats and cloaks the ghosts wore over their equally translucent forms. Like the blob, their forms were green, but only much paler.

As soon as they spotted their old exterminator friends, the phantoms sneered, and their eyes turned red (something totally new to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy); they grabbed several kitchen utensils (including forks and knives) and hurled them directly at the mortals. Mickey and the others quickly departed from the room, just in time for the utensils to strike the doors instead with the knives and forks stuck right in them.

“Whoa! They were never this mean before!” Mickey observed with surprise.

“Wonder what’s gotten into them.” Goofy said.

“Whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon!” Alex pleaded.

The group soon found themselves running for their lives again as the four phantoms phased through the kitchen doors and howled at them, chasing them away to where the Ghostbusters were. Zeddemore, Christina, and Genevieve noticed how they were chased by more vicious ghosts and could barely believe how crazy the situation turned.

Just after the exterminators, Cody, and Alex rejoined with the Ghostbusters, the four phantoms and the blob hovered close to one another, sixteen feet in the air, and glared at the group of mortals below. “They’re working together?” Donald questioned.

“Seems that way,” deduced Mickey.

Zeddemore shook her head at the sight above. “It can’t be a coincidence that they’re here at the exact same time we are.”

“Another trick of Hades?” Genevieve reckoned.

In response to Genevieve, the blob and the phantoms bellowed in unison, “YOU WISH!” They started to lunge right at them, howling eerily in the process.

At the same time, Venkman regained consciousness, coughing up huge amounts of slime. Quickly, Spengler turned her body sideways to let the ectoplasmic residue drain from her body, while he once again pulled out his P.K.E. Meter and aimed it right at the five approaching vapors. Flipping a small switch built in the back of the device, the winged arms had risen into a vertically paralleled position at the top of the P.K.E. Meter and emitted a shock wave of sonic energy that surrounded the attacking ghosts. The ghosts instantly came to a halt with their hands coming up to their “ears” and covering them from the high-pitched wailing noise that was unheard by human ears.

“What’re you doing to them?” Genevieve queried.

“Remember when I was fiddling with the meter back at Hoots?” Spengler responded with a question of his own. “I was actually upgrading a new feature to it: P.S.E. (Proton Shockwave Emitter). It affects their psycho-kinetic energy and submits them for at least twelve minutes.”

Spengler flipped the switch again and removed the shock wave, allowing the ghosts to slowly descend to the floor, where they continued to howl in agony. As she watched them writhe in pain, Jacqueline asked Sean, “You think twelve minutes is enough to grab some Packs and bust these jokers?”

            Natalie coughed up the last bit of ectoplasm in her mouth and stood on her feet, feeling angrier than ever. “I’ll say it is!”