Chapter Eighteen: Who Ya Gonna Call?

Chapter Eighteen: Who Ya Gonna Call?

            The sky was an endless wave of blackness as the clouds formed and green lightning struck across them, hitting the Tipton rooftop most of the time. With all of New York glowing in a greenish hue and its citizens roaming around like mindless zombies, it really turned out to be an extraordinarily eerie scene. To top it all off, a strange purple vortex was forming right above the Tipton Hotel, growing exponentially by the second. Near the building’s entrance, all of the residents of the Tipton and New York were still gathered together, guarding every inch of the front; they all had their mouths gaped open, letting saliva ooze down the side of them, and were looking upward at the huge purple mist swirling above. And then, they heard the voice of a very sarcastic woman.

“Housekeeping!”

When they simultaneously turned their heads, a massive stream of peach-colored slime flooded them, coming directly from the Proton Gun/Sprayer of Genevieve Marie’s Proton Pack. She stood parallel with her teammates, spraying every single person blocking their path to the thorn-shrouded entrance of the Tipton. By the time she was done, they were all lying on the ground in a large puddle of ooze.

“Let’s go!” Natalie ordered before they carefully stepped over the downed citizens, who slowly picked themselves up afterwards.

Once they reached the Tipton entrance, Genevieve activated the Slime Blower feature of the Pack again, covering every thorn with the mood slime. The thorns dripped with it for moments until dissolving right before the very eyes of the Ghostbusters. They smiled, feeling extremely pleased to know that the slime could work as a counter-effect to Maleficent’s evil magic.

The team went through the revolving doors and into the abandoned lobby, some parts of which had been covered with thorns. Venkman eyeballed the elevators, which had been practically disabled from the enormous wave of thorns that busted through them. “Why is it that every time a supernatural event hits this place we’re forced to take the stairs?”

“It’d be best that we didn’t, even if they were available,” Sean advised. “Maleficent has control of every part of this building.” He ran his P.K.E. Meter through the thorns that covered parts of the lobby. “These thorns function primarily as surveillance rather than security.”

“So Maleficent can see our every move?” Genevieve inquired. “That could only mean she knows we’re already here.”

“No doubt she saw us coming a mile away,” Jacqueline presumed. “Probably expected our company.”

Suddenly, the lights in the lobby and the rest of the building went off. Everything went pitch black and forced the Ghostbusters to each switch on flashlights that were attached to one of the straps holding up their Packs.

J.G. shined a light over every portion of the room, hoping to find the door to the stairwell; and then, out of nowhere, he came across one eerie-looking door that was wooden and had a semi-oval shape with the face of a goblin carved in. It was conveniently left untouched by the bushels of thorns that covered the lobby. “Hey,” Stantz finally alerted his teammates on the discovery. “I’ve got something here.” The others shined their lights over the strange door that appeared out of nowhere. “Looks like you were right about Maleficent expecting us, Jacqueline.”

“Yeah, she made it easy for us to get to her,” Genevieve indicated.

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of this being a trap,” Sean stated.

“Well, why else would she place a door here for us?” Natalie asked.

J.G. already made his way towards it. “I don’t care about the specifics of its existence! All I care about is getting Vanessa back!” Once he approached the door, he quickly realized there were no handles on it; this, of course, brought out a great deal of anger. He pounded heavily on it and screamed, “YOU LET US IN, YOU WITCH! GIVE ME BACK MY GIRLFRIEND!”

The pounding continued until there was a sudden rumbling noise. Slowly, the door began to open upwards and an intensely bright white light entered the dark room. The Ghostbusters shielded their eyes from it as the voice of Maleficent echoed throughout the air.

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK, DR. STANTZ! THE FATE OF YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS WILL BE DETERMINED TONIGHT!

J.G. looked to his teammates, who all appeared to be more concerned about him than themselves. This situation became more personal for him by the second, and Natalie, Sean, Jacqueline, and Genevieve did not like it one bit. Detaching their Proton Guns from their Packs and gripping them firmly in their hands, the Ghostbusters cautiously went into the light. The team didn’t know what to expect, coming out on the other side; it could’ve either been another dimension, another period in time, or Hell itself.

However, they soon discovered that it was none of the above. Instead, they ended up on the Tipton rooftop…at least, they thought it was. The atmosphere was completely alien compared to their previous visit; it all resembled Hades’ lair in the underworld; but, with the addition of Maleficent’s thorns and her glowing staff protruding from Hades’ throne, it was more like hers rather than his.

“Haven’t they heard of ‘equal share’?” Natalie uttered.

The team ventured further out onto the rooftop, observing the eerie, haunting features that plagued it. Sean and Jacqueline noticed the stone statues that looked a lot like Pain and Panic and soon came to the realization that it was in fact them. They wondered what the idiotic minions could’ve done to bring Hades to the point where he could put that kind of a curse on them. It was then that Jacqueline pondered aloud, “Does he even have that kind of power?”

Spengler scanned the minions’ stoned figures up and down individually. “I’m not finding any readings here that indicate this is his doing.” He then turned and focused on the rest of the area, mostly the throne. “In fact…none of this shows any indication of Hades. It’s Maleficent…all of it.”

The other Ghostbusters exchanged curious looks.

“Then…where is Hades?” Genevieve searched.

They felt a chilling wind blow past them from the right and looked in that direction to see what caused it. J.G. was caught by surprise along with his teammates when he noticed Vanessa standing on the rooftop; she looked oddly calm and had a totally blank expression on her face.

“Vanessa!” Stantz cried as he ran to her and gave a warm hug, which was a stark contrast to how ice-cold her body felt. “Are you alright, baby? Did they hurt you?”

“I’m fine, my love,” Vanessa said in a monotone that everyone but J.G. noticed.

“We have to get you to safety,” he suggested. “This place isn’t safe.”

“Nowhere is safe, my love. Maleficent’s plan is already set in motion. Look above us.”

The group looked upward to the sky, seeing the purple vortex that had gotten wider than the building itself. Through the vortex, they could see clouds that were redder than blood, swirling along with the vortex. Body parts of different monsters and demons stuck out from the clouds, accompanied by their snarls and growls, which echoed through the air.

“It’s the apocalypse, darling,” Vanessa calmly specified. “The end of all life on Earth…and the beginning of a new one for all creatures of the underworld.”

Natalie raised an eyebrow at the girl. “Well, you sound pretty cool about it.”

“That’s because Maleficent helped me see the true glory of it all,” Vanessa remarked. “She’s saving us from Armageddon…an impending war between two powerful underworld forces that would last for centuries!”

“By destroying our world?!” Genevieve exclaimed.

“You don’t understand,” Spengler told Vanessa. “Creating this dimensional rift is going to wipe out both our world and the underworld…No one will survive this!”

“A sacrifice must be made,” retorted Vanessa.

J.G. reacted in shock to the way his girlfriend was acting towards this nightmare, although his teammates somehow suspected this behavior from her. In fact, it was Genevieve who finally realized something that had been on the minds of many who had met this strange woman. To put her suspicion to the test, she switched her “Combo Pack” from Slime Blower mode to Proton mode while aiming the thrower in Vanessa’s direction without anyone noticing. “I couldn’t agree with ya more, home-girl,” she said before firing a particle stream that struck Vanessa directly in the chest and throwing her several feet across the air. She soared far enough to be completely thrown off the rooftop.

The eyes of the other Ghostbusters widened in horror over what Genevieve had just done. J.G., who was the most mortified of them all, furiously turned to her and yelled, “ARE YOU LOCO?”

Before Genevieve could explain herself, there was an enormous quake that knocked the Ghostbusters off their feet; then another one came that sent dust falling from the ceiling; and then another and another followed until the source of the quakes was revealed when a huge black tentacle whipped up from over the edge of the rooftop and slammed down hard near the Ghostbusters. The tentacle just barely missed Hades’ throne and Maleficent’s staff when it demolished most of the rooftop structure.

When the Ghostbusters tried to get back to their feet, they were knocked down again just as another tentacle appeared and crashed down through the remainder of the rooftop’s structure. All that had been left of Hades’ fortress was his throne and the stoned figures of Pain and Panic. If the two minions were still conscious beneath that rock exterior, they would absolutely be stricken with extreme terror. This was especially when a gigantic purple face with white hair had slowly risen right in front of them, glaring directly at the Ghostbusters.

The eyes of the team, looking up at the looming form of Ursula, widened in shock and fear. It then dawned upon Venkman, Spengler, Zeddemore, and especially Stantz that this “sea witch” had been posing as J.G.’s girlfriend the entire time. And who better than Natalie to verbally express her amazement when she told J.G., “Aw, dude! Your girl really is a witch!”

Stantz was in too much shock to give a retort for that statement; he much rather demanded to be given a reason for this betrayal. “I don’t understand. Why me? Why use me like that to help Maleficent give revenge on us?”

And with an ominous, echoing voice, Ursula responded, “Because you are the heart of the Ghostbusters! And what a better way of weakening your precious little band than striking the heart!”

Ursula’s plan seemed to have worked as J.G. appeared to be heavily distraught by the fact that his one and only true girlfriend turned out to be another evil spirit. The other Ghostbusters noticed the despair on his face while he looked down at the ground. It was enough to make both Genevieve and Natalie angry at Ursula for doing this to him.

“Now that’s cold…even for you!” Natalie shouted. “My boy, Jay, is an awesome guy who knows how to treat a girl right! If there’s anybody who’s lost something great from this, it’s you!”

Ursula bellowed with laughter. “Oh, really? How do you figure?”

“Because love is a lot stronger than you can imagine,” Genevieve told her. “Dr. Stantz is a great man. I might not know him as well as these other guys do, but I know him well enough to admit this: If I had someone as special as him in my life, I’d cherish every moment of our time together rather than exploit it like you have!”

These words caught J.G.’s attention just as immediately as Genevieve said them. It reminded him of the great times he had with Vanessa when he wasn’t aware of it all being a ploy. It lifted his spirits again knowing that it was all coming from such a wonderful human being like Genevieve Marie. He only had the pleasure of knowing her for a couple of days, before seeing how great she was not only as a Ghostbuster, but as a friend.

“Oh, please!” Ursula’s booming voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Spare me the ‘love lecture!’ I had enough of it from that little mermaid!”

“Then maybe you’ll like a lecture in physics,” Natalie countered.

Without warning, the four original Ghostbusters opened fire on Ursula, their particle streams striking the face of the Sea Witch. She hollowed in pain as her hands went to her sizzling face and covered it; but soon that agonized hollowing was replaced with demented cackling as Ursula uncovered her face to reveal how it was not at all scorched from the blasts. Seeing this, the Ghostbusters started to feel like their chances of defeating this evil spirit was slim to none. Apparently, Ursula’s power was greatly amplified by Maleficent, making her practically immune to anything.

That was until Spengler thought about the extreme power that Genevieve’s Proton Pack had carried and knew there had to be a chance. Quickly, he told her, “Fire a short stream right at her chest!”

“You’d think it’d be enough?” she asked.

“Just do what the man says,” Natalie pressed.

Genevieve flipped the switch to the Proton setting and briefly fired a stream at the chest of Ursula. Its power was heavy and intense enough to knock the Sea Witch back, forcing all of the tentacles she had clinging to the building to pop off and leave her falling down the side. Jacqueline smiled over the result of the powerful blast. “Oh, sweet!” She looked to the Pack on Genevieve’s back and gently patted it with her black-gloved hand. “I don’t know where this little toy came from, but I’m sure glad that it’s here now!”

There was another tremor that shook the building, and the Ghostbusters had assumed it was a result of Ursula hitting the street far below. Realizing there were still citizens down there, possibly still recovering from Maleficent’s curse, the Ghostbusters ran to the edge and looked over to make sure the damage was not massive. Luckily, Ursula’s colossal form never reached the street. Unfortunately, she regained enough strength to cling back onto the building and begin climbing back up to the rooftop with much force and intensity. The furious expression on her face told how determined she was to get to her adversaries, despite the fact she was grasping onto prickly thorns to propel her climb.

“Got any more tricks under your hat, Sean?” Natalie quizzed.

Spengler gazed around at what was left of the demolished rooftop; he focused his gaze on the throne and the staff that hadn’t budged from it since it was stuck right in. “There,” he exclaimed as he pointed to it. “That’s got to be the source of Maleficent’s power!”

Venkman scoffed. “Obviously!”

Genevieve then stepped forward and aimed her thrower directly at the staff. “I’ll destroy it before you can say…”

FLOOM!

A wall of green fire suddenly shot out in front of them, its immense heat sending them falling back. When the flames subsided, the form of Hades appeared before them, standing in the way of Maleficent’s staff. The flames on his body had intensified, growing to at least four feet from all parts of him, and he appeared to be much, much taller than the Ghostbusters last remembered seeing him.

“Okay, seriously…somebody is sellin’ some type of supernatural drug around here to make these guys so jacked!” Natalie joked.

J.G. pointed a finger at the Lord of the Underworld and said, “We stopped you once before, Hades! We can do it again tonight!”

“But can you do it with Hades no longer here?” The evil god said with Maleficent’s voice echoing behind his, firing a huge fireball at the Ghostbusters.

The team dodged out of the way in time for the fireball to strike at the edge of the rooftop, causing a large chunk to break away and take the stoned figures of Pain and Panic with it. It all fell on the climbing Ursula, who swiped at it with one tentacle, smashing everything to pieces. Every piece of Pain and Panic was turned to dust and left floating into the wind.

The Ghostbusters hid behind huge pieces of debris to avoid the fiery blasts that Hades sent at them. This kind of power was unexpected from even him. There was no doubt that the god had been possessed by the spirit of Maleficent. Although that sounded remarkably unbelievable or improbable to them, it was the only explanation for all that was happening. Only the power of the “God of the Dead” could truly enhance the powers of a dead sorceress like Maleficent.

“You know, when the risks always get higher like this, it tends to be such a pain in my butt,” Natalie exclaimed as she hid behind a chunk of debris along with Jacqueline and J.G. Across from them were Sean and Genevieve, who both looked over the jagged edge at Hades/Maleficent. A fireball hurled in their direction, and they dodged in time for it to explode around them, flames cascading over the edges. The heat felt extremely intense and slightly scorched some parts of their flight suits (Genevieve’s already battle-damaged from her earlier excursion at the firehouse).

Angered by how defenseless they seemed to be, Genevieve no longer saw any point in hiding herself from this menace. Without a second thought, she rolled away from the hiding spot she shared with Spengler and got behind another that was a few feet closer to Maleficent. Spengler, seeing what she had done, knew she was bound to get herself killed with such a risky move; then he realized the opportunity of distracting Maleficent while Genevieve went after the staff.

As quick as he could, Sean stood up from his hiding spot and fired a stream at Hades/Maleficent. It connected with his/her shoulder, not enough to scratch it, but enough to make Maleficent angry. She turned to Spengler, just as he ducked back behind the debris, and attempted to unleash another fireball at his location. It was then that Venkman popped up and shot out her own stream, attracting Maleficent’s attention towards her.

Natalie ducked back down while Sean stood up again and fired another brief but affective stream. J.G. and Jacqueline saw what they were doing and began to catch on. “We’ll scatter across different spots,” directed Stantz. “Anyplace that would drive her focus away from the throne.”

Zeddemore and Stantz did just that, hiding behind two other separate chunks of debris and took turns firing streams at Hades/Maleficent with Spengler and Venkman. The four original Ghostbusters created different patterns while firing upon the entity, so that she would be too confused to figure it out. With her trying so hard to destroy them as the streams hit certain areas of Hades’ body, it was a good enough distraction to allow Genevieve to sneak in behind Maleficent and slowly approach the throne. The staff protruding from it was glowing brighter by the minute and the vortex that it pointed directly toward had engulfed half of the sky. All of existence depended on what Genevieve had done next.