Chapter Seventeen: Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Chapter Seventeen: Why Can’t We Be Friends?

            By the time she reached the streets that intersected the Ghostbusters’ firehouse headquarters, Genevieve was drenched in her own sweat. Her heart was practically beating through her ribcage, and her pulse raced faster than a horse at a track. She was on the verge of regurgitating, and a great deal of numbness overwhelmed her legs. Despite all the strain she went through getting there, she couldn’t give up, especially with her cursed teammates gaining on her. The firehouse was still partially intact with the exception of the front entrance having a massive gaping hole in it. The only area that she was concerned about at the moment was the basement where the “Containment System” and the secret compartment opened by Christina were located (the latter being her primary focus).

BOOONNNNGGGGSSSSHHHH!

Two particle streams suddenly zapped over her head and connected with the side of the firehouse, taking out huge chunks of brick and concrete. It appeared that their “Ghostbuster Instincts” started to kick into high gear, and they were using them on her. If those streams hurt the ghosts they busted, then she could only imagine how much damage it could do to a human being. This situation proved itself to be more vicious and deadly by the second.

Dodging another fierce blast of energy fired from J.G. Stantz’s Proton Pack, Genevieve crawled into the ravaged firehouse. She pushed through lots of debris to get to the staircase leading to the basement; unfortunately, when she was just a few feet from it, four particle streams cut her off, and she nearly got her face burnt from one. She turned to her right and saw the possessed Ghostbusters standing on a massive pile of rubble, aiming their throwers directly at her.

“End of the line, rookie!” J.G. exclaimed, his voice eerily overlapped by Maleficent’s.

“You’re dead meat, sucka!” Natalie added with a sinister grin on her face, her voice also overlapped by Maleficent’s.

It was frightening for her to realize that their subconscious was amalgamated with the wicked persona of Maleficent, turning them into the perfect slaves. This must’ve been how every possessed citizen of New York turned out after the “plague.” If that were so, then pretty much everything did depend on her at the moment. New York City needed the Ghostbusters now more than ever to save it from this remarkable threat. The unlicensed nuclear accelerators on their backs hummed with intensity stronger than usual. Genevieve would like to think they were currently charged with evil, ghostly energy to make them a thousand times more powerful. Whatever the case, she was going to be the main target of its power, unless she got out of dodge immediately.

BOOONNNNGGGGSSSSHHHH!

The instant that the streams came, Genevieve was already airborne, diving to the staircase rather than running to there. The particle streams whizzed all around her soaring body, but neither of them made any contact. One, however, got close enough to burn right across the upper half of her right sleeve, disintegrating the Ghostbusters logo patched on there and leaving a gaping hole that showed unscathed flesh.

Although she was left unharmed by the streams, the fall she had taken down the staircase was enough to wrack her body in pain. It was the sacrifice she took to avoid the Ghostbusters’ streams, choosing bruises over third-degree burns graciously. By the time she hit the bottom of the stairs, she could barely believe that she was even still alive. After getting cut on the hand, running fifty blocks, nearly having been set on fire, and falling down a flight of stairs, she hoped to God that there was something in that secret compartment that would bring her teammates out of their possession.

She heard footsteps approaching the top of the staircase and quickly got to her feet, wincing over the slightest move she had taken. While she dashed over to the squared, well-carved hole straight ahead, the Ghostbusters were already climbing down the stairs, their Proton Guns firmly gripped in their hands. If this did turn out to be Genevieve Marie’s last stand, what a fitting place for it than in front of the “Containment System” where all of the ghosts captured by the team met their demise.

Genevieve collapsed as soon as she had reached the hole, exhausted and pain rapidly taking over. Looking right inside it for some glimmer of hope, the only thing she found was a Slime Blower, the same device completed with a metal tank and sprayer that projected the psychomagnetheric “mood slime” used against Vigo the Carpathian. She was familiar with this device and its effects after witnessing Jafar’s reaction to it while being placed under arrest in the aftermath of the Museum of Natural History incident; it was a sure bet that it was the key to curing the Ghostbusters.

“Prepare for eradication!” She heard Spengler say, not daring herself to turn around to see how close they were. They had to be pretty close, considering the fact that she felt the intense heat of the Packs seeping her way.

Her hand was already on the Slime Blower’s sprayer as the Ghostbusters had her cornered. “You guys wanna know the best part about this job to me?”

“Eh…no, not really,” answered Natalie.

Ignoring her response, Genevieve provided one of her own, “It’s all the slime you want!” And with that, she twirled around as fast as she could and unleashed a geyser of mood slime their way. The pressure was almost as high as a fire hose and enough to push all four of the Ghostbusters back, knocking them down on the floor. Once she realized that they had (literally) slipped into unconsciousness, she immediately shut off the sprayer.

The Ghostbusters were sprawled across the slimy puddle on the floor, their clothes practically drenched in the mood slime. For a moment, Genevieve feared that she might’ve killed them, seeing how inert their forms were; but then she noticed J.G.’s arm move and Jacqueline lifting herself off the wet floor. Soon all four of them were on their feet with their eyes still closed, due to the slime that covered them. Genevieve kept the sprayer still aimed directly at them, in case those eyes were still glowing green once they were opened.

Wiping slime away from them, the Ghostbusters opened their eyes to reveal their individual eye colors. Genevieve smiled, feeling a wonderful sense of relief that she was able to break the spell with the Slime Blower. However, she didn’t quite expect what happened afterwards when Natalie opened her mouth and started joyfully singing:

“Hello world, here’s a song that we’re singin’…”

And then the other three joined in, adding a psychedelic dance to it:

“Come on, get happy! A whole lotta lovin’ is what we’ll be bringin’…We’ll make you happyyyyyyy!”

Seeing this incredibly odd display, Genevieve almost wished that she had her cell phone with her to capture it on video and (maybe) put it on YouTube. She could see the million hits right now on a video aptly titled “The Partridge Busters.” The best she could’ve done was depend on her photographic memory and try to keep this incident to herself.

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            Some quick showers were the best remedy for snapping the Ghostbusters out of their happy moods. They had to burn their slime-drenched clothes for the sake of avoiding ectoplasmic contamination, according to Spengler. This forced them to wear their old uniforms stored in the lockers, a choice they welcomed graciously. Natalie, whose uniform had been worn in a tattered and somewhat odorous manner by Genevieve, had to pull out her spare one, which she always kept hanging next to the other in the case of a messy bust (something that occurred all too often). Putting these old uniforms on again brought back a sense of nostalgia that they each had been feeling for the past days; only this time, it was much greater, almost as if they had never given up being Ghostbusters. And it was all thanks to Genevieve, this one special young woman who brought them back together to stop the threat that now loomed over them.

While gathered in the ravaged garage area, the Ghostbusters surveyed all of the damages, including those done to the Ecto-1. “Eh, it was getting to be a piece of junk anyway,” noted Jacqueline, who gave a slight kick on one of the front tires.

“Even if it was, we sure had a lot of fun driving it around,” Natalie lamented.

“What do you mean ‘we’?!” Jacqueline snootily asked her. “It was me who did most of the driving.”

Natalie smirked. “Hence the reason it was so much fun.”

Jacqueline shook her head at Venkman as they joined up with the others, who were gathered together in Natalie’s adjacent office. On her desk was the Slime Blower device, which was being inspected by Spengler; he sat there with Genevieve standing right next to him. Meanwhile, J.G. was at the corner of the room and staring off into space, no doubt thinking about Vanessa.

“Excellent idea on using the Slime Blower to break the spell, Genevieve,” complimented Sean. “It amazes me that Maleficent’s power had no effect on it whatsoever. Its positive charge of ectoplasm could possibly have something to do with that.”

“It was nothin’,” Genevieve sheepishly remarked. “Any of you guys would’ve done the same thing, if you were in my position.”

“Exactly the point,” said Natalie. “It took thinkin’ like a real Ghostbuster to save our butts like you did, Rookie.” Sean and Jacqueline both nodded in agreement with Venkman, making Genevieve blush and smile. “Don’t you think so, Jay?”

All heads turned to Stantz, who didn’t respond to Natalie’s question at all. He still continued to focus on the floor, his mind drifting off on what could be happening to Vanessa at that point in time. Genevieve noticed the concern on his face, as well as the anger and fear of losing the love of his life; she wished there was something she could’ve told him to help make the anger and fear go away. Even if she could at the moment, he wouldn’t have let her have the chance as he abruptly asked Spengler, “Is the Blower that we need to break through those defenses?”

Sean was caught off guard for a moment, expecting J.G. to at least acknowledge Genevieve’s success also. “The positive charge of the slime makes it a powerful weapon against any evil, including Maleficent. It’s also enough to break the spell over everyone else.”

Briskly nodding his head, J.G. picked up his Proton Pack and strapped it on. “Then let’s not waste time making comments. We’ve got a world to save.” He was already making his way towards the exit, not choosing to wait on his teammates to get prepared.

Sighing in despair over their friend’s reckless behavior, Natalie and Jacqueline picked up their own Packs and strapped them on. As they followed J.G. out of the firehouse, Natalie walked up to Genevieve, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said, “And this is why I never take my relationships too seriously.” With a wink and a smile, she dashed right out of the headquarters.

Genevieve prepared herself for departure as well until Sean stood up and addressed her. “Before we leave, I have to give you something.” He headed over to his locker and opened it, pulling out a large steel trunk. Entering the combination on the lock that kept it securely shut, he opened the trunk to reveal what had been kept inside for a whole year: a highly-advanced Proton Pack, equipped with devices that combined all of the equipment used by the Ghostbusters, including the Slime Blower.

Gazing on this Proton Pack that was more supped up than the others, Genevieve almost felt like a technological geek at a Sharper Image store. “Oh, wow! What is this?”

“You remember when I said how we were going to need powerful tools to fight otherworldly forces like Maleficent?” Sean inquired, before patting the advanced Proton Pack. “This is precisely what we need.”

Genevieve shook her head and smiled. “Why didn’t you mention this after we first met back in the college?”

“Because I never quite tested its functions once I finished work on it,” Spengler replied. “A day after its completion, the Mayor shut down our business.”

“Well, I’d say now is a better time than any to put it to the test.”

She was about to pick the machine out of the trunk, but Sean had gotten to it before her, quickly and yet cautiously lifting it out. “I feel it’s in my duty as not just a Ghostbuster or a scientist but a human being to inform you of the extreme risk you’d be taking when using this device.”

“With all due respect, Dr. Spengler, I already know about the whole ‘Not Crossing the Streams’ thing.”

“It’s more than just that. The levels of protonic energy in this Pack are higher than the others. Even two minutes of firing a particle stream will possibly eradicate every living molecule within sixteen feet.”

Genevieve’s eyes widened in caution over this information; here it was – the most powerful defense against Maleficent and every other supernatural force in their way – and the only con to using it would be death. It didn’t seem quite fair. But what more could she expect from a situation like the one they were currently in?

Maleficent needed to be stopped. If that meant sacrificing her life and (possibly) the lives of others, then so be it. She only hoped that it really would be just her life that would be on the line. Compared to these great heroes of New York City, she was just another schmuck off the streets, wanting to be part of the in-crowd more than anything else. If she died tonight, then not very many people would care.

“I knew the risks comin’ into this, Dr. Spengler,” she admitted. “I’m not gonna let some little setback like this keep me from doing what I’ve gotta do to save this world.”

Sean nodded, still feeling unsure about handing this responsibility over to her; he was just glad that she had the true spirit of a Ghostbuster to take it head-on. While handing the advanced Proton Pack over to her, he instructed, “Just keep it on the Slime Blower setting and you’ll be fine. And if you do happen to use the Proton setting, keep your blasts very brief.”

Genevieve strapped the machine to her back, surprised that it wasn’t nearly as heavy as the other Packs were, despite the additional functions it had. Detaching the particle thrower from it, she flipped the switch and it hummed stronger and deeper than the average Proton Pack. “Let’s do this,” she said with an intense determination registered on her face.