Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, Ghostbusters, or anything associated with either of them. This story is being written just for fun and enjoyment.
Chapter #2: On the job Training
At Kagome's house, everyone was still shocked about Michiru's sudden phone call when they had found out that he was transported to New York City in the United States. Although he said he was alright and that he had found a place to stay, they couldn't believe the fact that he was with the Ghostbusters. Mrs. Higurashi had been dreading that she would have to inform Michiru's parents of their son's current whereabouts and then explain how he was flown half way around the world in less than an hour by a magic sword. Fortunately for Mrs. Higurashi, Kagome had said that Michiru would call his parents himself after he finished his brief talk with Kagome when he had first contacted her house which would save her the trouble. It was now 12:40p.m. on November 21st and everyone was sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch. The reincarnated priestess had come down for a breather after she had properly organized all the homework assignments that Sota had left cluttered all Kagome's room and she wasn't in the best of moods, her long absence had created a mountain of homework to do and she would be darn lucky if she could finish it all in time so she wouldn't fall behind a grade in school so needless to say; she wasn't very happy about it. Kagome tried calling the Ghostbusters in order to talk with Michiru just a moment ago, but regrettably; the Shikigami user had just departed about five minutes or so when she phoned and all she could do was leave a message with Janine and wait for her friend to call back once he had returned after doing a late night job at some hotel.
"Kagome, I think it best that you stay home everyday so you can do as much of your homework as possible during most of the day so it will be easier for you to work; Sota can bring home all your new assignments from school and then you can complete those ones in the late afternoon and that way you can at hand them in on time to avoid losing marks because of being late." Mrs. Higurashi suggested.
"Why did that stupid sword have to come to life and transport Michiru half way around the world anyway? Kagome complained. "He's been waiting four and a half months to see Inuyasha and I, but now we're the ones stuck here waiting for him to return home and we've only had less than an hour of time together."
"Now don't fuss over what can't be changed Kagome, at least he can still talk to you and Inuyasha over the phone when he has free time." Kagome's Mom said, trying to comfort her daughter. "Imagine how difficult it must be for him to be in another country far away from his own home, and think how worried his parents must be right now. They have to wait as well, never knowing when or even if their son will come home safely. I myself sometimes worry a great deal about you while you're in the feudal era for a long time, just as anyone would worry for someone they care about. You should be happy that he's made some friends and has found a place to stay over there while he's trying to find a way to return home. Its been almost a full day since his journey across the world, so just be patient and try not to worry."
"Thanks Mom." Kagome said as the two of them hugged one another while Inuyasha sat in a chair looking at a world map that Sota had laid over one half of the table for the half demon to look at. "Inuyasha, you might as well stop trying to follow Michiru and meet him in the United States. He's in another country that forbids people from entering without permission; things are a lot more complicated in our era than in your era so just give it up already."
"I'm aware of that Kagome, but that doesn't change the fact that Michiru was flown over there by that sword." Inuyasha countered, trying to control his temper as he studied the map intently after Kagome's Mom had pointed out where Tokyo and New York City were both located. "If he can survive in another country, than I should have no problem either. And I for one, am not comfortable just sitting here waiting for a friend who might never return all because of that sword which carried him away."
"None of us like waiting anymore than you do Inuyasha, but we can't do anything else." Mrs. Higurashi said, trying to put Inuyasha's mind at ease as she continued. "Even though you could dress yourself in modern day clothes, you just can't leave our country and go to another without getting caught. If you did that, it would only make things worse for yourself and for Michiru. I may not know him as well as you and Kagome do, but I know he would say the same thing. If waiting bothers you so much, perhaps you should spend a day in the feudal era for a break; maybe that would help you to pass the time while you wait for Michiru to call us."
"No, I'll tough it out and stay here if it's alright with you and Kagome." Inuyasha replied in a calmer voice. "I won't return to the feudal era until after I've had the chance to have a long talk with Michiru when he calls back on that phone of yours. Once I know how he's doing and how things are in that far away country, then I'll take a break and go relax in Kaede's village for a bit."
"Good, I'll get you a pillow and a blanket so you can sleep on the couch in the living room if you decide to stay the night." Kagome said, feeling better now that Inuyasha had calmed down. "I asked Janine, who works for the Ghostbusters to tell Michiru that I called so we shouldn't have to wait that long for him to call us back once he returns from a job."
Even as Kagome tried to cheer up Inuyasha, her words didn't exactly have the desired effect; for the half demon didn't change his mood or facial expression. For once, Inuyasha was forced to abandon a choice he would have gladly made; but he now knew that it was both dangerous and impossible to even attempt travelling over to the far away country just to try and find his Kururugi friend. The map laid out on the kitchen table was proof enough that the world was much larger place than he had dared to imagine even after all the travels he had done in his life time throughout Feudal Japan, but one look at it showed that the half demon had only travelled within a tiny spec of what was known as the city of Tokyo to all those who lived in the modern world. As much as he would have liked to go help his friend, he was now forced to give up and admit defeat; he would reluctantly have to wait it out along with Kagome's family until Michiru could somehow find a way to return home on his own. Inuyasha had great faith in his human friend so he knew that Michiru would soon return, but the circumstances of the Kururugi boy's new predicament were different than those he had found himself in during his arrival to the Feudal era for the first time; so that meant it wouldn't be easy to return home alive. Inuyasha now remembered Michiru saying that he had spent a duration of four and a half months in the Feudal era so how long would it be until he could find a way to return home?
But while that was the number one question on everyone else's mind as well, there was another matter of even greater importance which was also occupying Inuyasha's troubled mind, one he strongly hoped that no one else was presently aware of until the problem of returning Michiru safely back home had been solved first; otherwise some serious consequences might befall the group of friends who were now faced with the task of recovering themselves after all the terrible experiences they had to endure over the months and years because of Naraku. The matter which weighed heavily on the half demon's mind was both delicate and serious; one which had to be dealt with eventually. But Inuyasha knew he wasn't the one who would have to deal with it, someone else would be the one forced to make a dramatic decision which could lead to unpleasant events; that someone was Sango and the decision would be choosing who she wished to pursue a romantic relationship with. This had all been caused by Michiru Kururugi because he had fallen in love with Sango, he had told her face to face and word for word that he loved her a mere moment before he was translated into the mysterious light which had magically returned him to his own home back in his own world; this was the action that now created the love triangle between two young men whose hearts both yearned for the same beautiful woman they had each become so attracted too.
There was no doubt in Inuyasha's mind that his Shikigami friend must have been suffering on the inside due to being separated from Sango and his other friends for four and a half months; and Michiru's suffering would unfortunately get worse because of his inability to return to the Feudal era and also because of this new predicament of being trapped inside of a foreign domain far away from his own home and family. All these factors would have an enormous effect on Sango's decision, it had only been a few days since Michiru departed from the Feudal era and Sango was probably suffering on the inside just as Michiru was; though it was a different kind of suffering altogether which she undoubtedly kept hidden to herself so that no one would question her if they suspected that she was in some sort of pain. Regrettably, Inuyasha knew that he would have to question Sango sooner or later because otherwise she wouldn't be mentally prepared if others already knew about the Kururugi boy's feelings towards her; something Inuyasha especially knew Kagome would be unwilling to ignore due to her interest in matching Sango and Miroku up together as a couple which could lead to violent verbal arguments that would include her sit commands if she ever became cross with any of Inuyasha's remarks that she found offensive.
Inuyasha sighed quietly, taking a deep breath as he thought to himself; for now his only option was to wait for Michiru's return and carefully observe the actions of his companions so that he could at least confirm that he had been the only person to hear the Kururugi boy's last words before his unwanted departure. That would postpone the troubling matter that lay ahead in the future and give Sango time to figure out her own feelings while Michiru could search for a means to find his way back home again and finally to the Feudal era as well where he could be reunited with her; that sounded like the best course of action to take which would avoid any unpleasant confrontations until Sango was finally ready to choose between Michiru and Miroku and save everyone as well as herself the emotional pain of making such a difficult decision that would affect the three of them for the rest of their lives.
In New York City, it was 10:50 in the evening on November 20th and the Ghostbusters's car known as Ecto-1 sped down road heading for the Sedgewick Hotel; Venkman's driving caused the passengers to move side to side as the vehicle made sudden turns to change direction at nearly every intersection. Regardless of being shaken about, the Kururugi boy's mind was deep in thought and almost unaware of the velocity that Ecto-1 was moving at. He couldn't get Sounga out of his mind, and the fact that he had survived being possessed by its evil power. As Michiru began to ponder the possible theories that Saya had come up with to help explain the miraculous survival from his encounter with Sounga as well as travelling at light speed half way around the world, his mind began to explode with other questions. Although he had theoretical answers to explain those two events, he still didn't have any information about how Naraku or Utsugi had summoned him back to the feudal era. In addition to this, he felt even more far away from Sango and the others than he did when he first returned home to modern Japan just over two weeks ago. He had told Sango just before he left that he did love her, but when would he ever see her again? And even if he could find a way to return to the feudal era, would she feel the same way about him? The troubled young teenager's thoughts were interrupted by Janine's voice coming in on the radio located on the dashboard in front of the forward passengers located at the front of Ecto-1's interior.
"Michiru? Janine asked. "Are you there?"
"Huh, um. Yeah Janine, go ahead." Michiru responded, grabbing the radio com and holding it in front of his mouth as he talked.
"A girl called for you a few minutes ago and said her name was Kagome Higurashi, I told her that you were out doing a job with the Ghostbustas." Janine answered. "She asked me to inform you that she called so you would call her back as soon as you can once you return from work, I just thought I should let you know."
"Okay Janine, thanks very much." Michiru said. "See you when we get back, over and out."
"Who's that girl Kagome that Janine was talking about?" Ray asked. "Is she one of your friends from feudal Japan?"
"Yeah…sort of, she's one of the two girls I met in the feudal era." Michiru answered. "But she was originally born in modern Japan and also lives in Tokyo just like I do. I'm so envious of her, even though I've never told her. Kagome can travel back and forth from modern day Japan to feudal Japan in the blink of an eye when ever she pleases using an ancient well built on her family's shrine that connects both time periods with one another. She inherited just one of many powerful abilities that she can use from a priestess named Kikyo who comes from the feudal era, since she is the reincarnation of Kikyo; she naturally possess almost or all of the same magical powers."
"Can't you use your own magic on the well at her shrine so you could travel to the feudal era as she does?" Egon asked.
"I've tried jumping down the well once already, only I was in the feudal era trying to return to the present day." Michiru answered regrettably. "It didn't work for me, and it probably wouldn't work even with my own magic because I don't know any spells I could to try to use for travelling through time. Besides, Kagome's magic powers are far different than my Shikigami powers not to mention the fact that I was summoned back in time to Japan's feudal era by an ancestor of mine named Utsugi who needed to combine his own powers with those of an evil demon named Naraku in order to summon me back successfully. My friends and I defeated managed to defeat Naraku in battle, but Utsugi died shortly afterwards. I was teleported back home to modern day Japan at the exact moment I had left before hand, shortly after my friends and I buried Utsugi at the Kururugi Cemetery. I never did discover how the two of them managed to summon me back to the feudal era, that's one unanswered question which will bother me for the rest of my life."
"Well, you did travel half way around the world at the speed of light even though you had no idea you were remotely capable of using your magic for that." Ray commented. "Even though you don't know the full potential of your magical powers yet, you have to remember that you being here in this country is proof enough that you're still discovering new abilities. So always remember the positive experiences of your life no matter how small or how few in number they are compared to the bad ones, because you never know when you'll be hit with a golden opportunity that will change the course of your life forever. Once that happens and you change everything for the better, you'll look back and say how glad you were when you took that chance. That's what life is all about, whether you have magic or not. You're still so young Michiru, so try not to let the advantages or abilities of someone else degrade you."
"Thanks Ray, I'll try and remember that." Michiru replied, feeling a little better after hearing those words.
"Now Mitch, getting back to this girl Kagome you know from Tokyo."Venkman cut in, slightly turning the steering wheel as he drove.
"What about her?" Michiru asked in confusion, wondering what Venkman was getting at.
"Is she hot?" Venkman asked, catching the teenager completely by surprise with the question.
"Wh-What? Michiru cried out in shock as his face started blushing.
"Is she single? Have you seen her in one of those short skirts like all the high school girls wear in Japan?"
Egon and Ray could only listen in silence as Venkman was causing the poor Kururugi boy to feel very uncomfortable at being interrogated on the subject of girls, the two of them thought silently in vain for the proper words to shut up their colleague behind the wheel before he caused Michiru a great deal of stress. Although they wanted Peter to stop, the last thing they wanted was to start an argument which could lead to a car accident just because he wasn't keeping his full attention on the road in front of him as he drove.
"What about the other girl you met from the feudal era, is she hot too? Venkman continued, glancing at Michiru's face every few seconds to see his reaction even though the poor boy was too embarrassed to speak properly. "Have you also seen her in a short skirt? Is she just as hot as Kagome? No wait, is she hotter than Kagome? Is she single as well? Come on you tell us, we're your friends."
"Y-Yes, N-no! Yes….yes, no; I mean….!" Michiru mumbled uncontrollably with a loud panic stricken voice as he tried to survive the embarrassing situation he reluctantly found himself in.
Of course, his mind was flooding with memories of being with Kagome and Sango which only made the Shikigami user more uneasy. Although Kagome was just a friend, he couldn't deny that she was attractive and pretty; the memory of her hugging him tightly caused Michiru to feel nervous. He had never been in such close contact with a girl before, except on one small occasion on Asagiri island in the feudal era where he had picked up Sango in his arms just for a minute so he could prevent her from worsening her injuries after she had been hurt and unable to move or stand up from an explosion that separated the two of them from the rest of their comrades. The most resent event however, which involved Kagome was somewhat different than the one from the feudal era; this was when she had thrown her arms around him in a warm hug to express her gratitude for him offering to help her complete all the schoolwork she missed while she was in the feudal era. Michiru had never been hugged or held by a girl his age until that moment, not even during his adventure in the feudal era. And if that event wasn't troubling enough for the Kururugi boy's mind during his interrogation inside Ecto-1, the next few minutes would be the worst to come.
"What? I didn't catch that Mitch; you have to speak more quickly." Venkman responded, getting a good laugh from Michiru reactions. "Do you mean, Yes the other girl you met is hot as well? Did you also see her in short skirt or not? Which is it, yes or no?"
"Yes! She's just as hot as Kagome!" Michiru angrily shouted, hoping to shut Peter up without thinking of the right words to use in his sentence first. "No! I didn't see her in a short skirt because she wasn't even wearing one!"
"Really? So what you're trying to say is that you've seen her naked?" Venkman asked as he turned to look Michiru in the face, causing the boy's eyes to widen and making him regret shouting out loud. "Oh man, I didn't think you had gotten that kind of view. Mitch, you are one lucky dude if you got to see a hot teenage girl in the nude at your age. You have no idea how lucky you are man, how the devil did you stumble into an opportunity like that? No wait, let me guess; you snapped your figures and made all her clothes disappear. Am I right? Come on, answer the question."
Michiru's face began to turn a deep shade of red; one would think that the boy's head was going to explode from too much internal pressure trapped within. The Shikigami user rolled down the right hand window in the front of Ecto-1 to get some fresh air as they drove by, hopefully to keep himself from passing out from sheer humiliation. The night breeze blowing by was luckily enough to cool down the young man's head which felt as though it would explode in a minute or two as the bombardment of questions continued. Remembering the incident of accidentally catching a glimpse of Sango naked while she bathed in the river caused the boy's face to blush redder and redder as Venkman's questions continued to impact on Michiru's already troubled mind. Even though he could have told Venkman that Sango wears clothing from Japan's feudal era and nothing like Kagome's modern day clothes or school uniform for that matter, the Kururugi boy decided to keep his mouth shut for fearing that he would make his present situation a lot worse by encouraging Venkman even more.
Before anyone could utter another word, the car turned sharply to the left shaking everyone violently. "We've got all night to drive around until you answer all the questions, this can all end if you just say a little yes or no to everything I've asked." Venkman commented, spinning the wheel and making another sudden turn. "Oh no, we've run out of time folks. The Sedgewick Hotel is coming up on our left, please hang on and brace for parking. And….here we are. Thank you for traveling Ghostbusters Shuttle Service, all passengers please remember to take all your belongings before exiting the vehicle. Please put on your proton packs and proceed through the entrance of the Sedgewick Hotel to await further instructions, we hope you've enjoyed the ride and look forward to seeing you again soon. Thank you and have a nice day. Hey, don't die on us now big shot, you still have to help us catch Slimer."
"Very funny Venkman, you would make an entertaining commercial pilot and as a bonus you could flirt with all the pretty young flight attendants when they aren't busy with the passengers." Ray responded. "But before you fantasize on that, get our proton packs out of the back for us while Spengler and I check and see how Mitch is after your interrogation."
"Congratulations Peter, you've successfully immobilized our irreplaceable employee thanks to your physiological warfare." Egon stated, after scanning Michiru's face and forehead with some sort of mental stress reading device similar to a PKE meter. "Luckily for us, he'll recover after a minute or two of relaxation."
"I was only trying to strike up a good conversation, I didn't mean any harm." Venkman countered, getting a look from both Ray and Egon. "Fine, I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, the new kid can avenge himself when ever he wants; where ever he wants as long as he doesn't use any of his magic. Deal?"
"We'll hold you to that Peter, so just remember that you gave him permission." Ray replied. "You hear that Mitch? Peter Venkman is letting you have a free shot at getting even with him. If I were you, I wouldn't pass it up."
"How do you feel now Mitch?" Egon asked. "Are you recovered enough to come inside with us and help capture Slimer?"
"Yeah, I'm much better now." Michiru answered.
"That's good to hear, I didn't think you'd recover at all after the stress level readings I took just a minute ago." Egon commented. "But now that Peter's verbal onslaught is over, I guess it's easier for your mind to calm down and return to its normal condition."
"Egon, could you please show me how to adjust the power output on my proton pack in case I have to increase or decrease it while I'm using it in the field? Michiru asked with concern. "Slimer was nearly impossible to catch even with Ray and me trying to ensnare him with both of our proton streams together, so I just wanted to ask in order to prevent him from escaping again."
"Sure, not a problem." Egon answered.
As Venkman brought over the proton packs and everyone began to strap them on, Michiru was calm again after taking a few deep breaths to steady his nerves. Once his head was clear thanks to the cool night air, he watched as Egon showed him the output controls on his proton pack and told him how to adjust the power capacity. After everyone was fully equipped with their packs, traps and tools; the Ghostbusters strolled through the main entrance and into the lobby of the Sedgewick Hotel. The four of them were met almost immediately as they entered by a man dressed in a black suit, white dress shirt and a light blue tie, Michiru could only assume that the person was the manager of the Sedgewick Hotel. It was now ten minutes after midnight on July 22nd and time to hunt a ghost.
"That disgusting green blob is up on the twelfth floor again reeking havoc, I demand a refund right now." The man fumed, waving his arm and clenching his fist in anger.
"Sir, if you check the fine print on our invoice..." Venkman replied. "Invoices" Ray cut in to correct him.
"Right, invoices." Venkman continued. "You'll see that your warranty on re-haunting expired some time ago, you should have taken the extended service agreement. "Don't worry though; we'll bag that slimy spook before he tries to eat all the food in your hotel."
With that, Ray jogged forward into the immense lobby of the Sedgewick Hotel followed swiftly by Venkman; Michiru and Egon. The lobby itself was so large that it was divided into two separate areas by a wall with many open doorways leading in and out of either half. The main lobby which the Hotel's main entrance led in and out of was where people would enter and exit the Sedgewick Hotel. Inside the other area was mainly where people could relax, were many luxurious pieces of furniture including stools, couches, and chairs. In addition there were also pianos and tables with lamps, pottery or both resting on them. Everything looked brand new with no sign of age or wear on any surface, such was each piece of property maintained and cared for by employees of the Sedgewick Hotel. The company strode off, cutting into the right hand section of the lobby and headed down a narrow hallway to get to the elevators. This was only the lobby, the Kururugi boy's eyes were captivated by the sight around him as he imagined how inviting and luxurious the rest of Hotel's interior must look.
"I'm getting some interesting PKE spikes here." Egon commented as he studied his PKE meter while he ran alongside Michiru's right, following Ray and Venkman towards the elevators. "Disturbances don't seem to be exclusive to the twelfth floor, I'd like the chance to look around the building a little more."
"Good, dig up what you can." Ray replied, as Egon came to a halt to look around the lobby with his PKE meter. "That little greenie shouldn't cause us too much trouble."
As Ray and Michiru headed down the hallway, the doors of the elevator Venkman was waiting at began to open. Standing inside the elevator was a very attractive young lady probably in her late twenties, wearing black boots that came up just below her knees. She also wore black stockings hidden underneath a black leather skirt which hugged her figure and came down just above her knees. Dressed in a dark red sweater underneath a white blouse and covered by black leather jacket which matched her skirt. Her light brown hair matched the color of her eyes and nearly matched the same color of Michiru's hair. She wore thin round silver earrings and was just lowering her hands and arms to her sides after holding her forehead as if she had a light fever or felt dizzy. Unable to resist the opportunity, Venkman made a move on the light brown haired beauty that stood in the elevator.
"Well hello, you're perfectly save now Miss. The Ghostbusters are here." Venkman said, hoping to reassure and impress the lady standing before him.
"Back off loser, never going to happen." she replied in disgust, waving her left arm at Venkman once as she walked out of the elevator passed Michiru and Ray in the direction of the lobby.
"That approach rarely works with me; I'll show you why later if we meet that lady again." Venkman quietly as he chuckled to himself, completely unaffected by the young woman's harsh rejection. "Hey Mitch, don't get any ideas cause that one is way out of your league buddy."
"I didn't say anything; I was just looking at her; that's all." Michiru countered, after glancing at the beauty for a moment as she left. "Besides, she's ten years older than I am at the very least. She may be pretty and good looking, but I'd rather date a girl my own age; even if it takes a while of looking for one."
"Relax, I was just joking. " Venkman countered and he stepped into the elevator, followed by Michiru and Ray before pressing the button to select the twelfth floor as their destination. "Just remember you can't just look for one, you also have to try and make a move now and than when you meet a pretty girl. Otherwise, some other stud will come by and steal her away from you before you know it and your chance will be lost. You also have to make a move quickly so that you'll know if she's interested in you or not. Because if she isn't, than you can go looking for another girl. And the more you try the more confident and experienced you will become when it comes to interacting with the ladies. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you Mitch?"
"Yes, I understand." Michiru answered, thinking about his last words to Sango as the elevator rose up. "But all that is easier said than done, not even my Shikigami magic can help me with getting over that challenging obstacle. Anyway, I can't think about that now while I'm here thousands of miles from home in a foreign country. While I'm still here, I should be focussing on catching ghosts and researching any clues about my magic so I can return home and… t-to the feudal era where my friends live if I ever find a way."
"Don't you worry Mitch, I'm sure you'll get yourself a girlfriend eventually. Try not to think about it now though, because we've got a ghost to catch." Ray commented. "That Slimer is an elusive little spud, but at least he's easy to spot in a crowd of people or other ghosts. Alright tough guy, get ready because we're almost at the top floor."
"Ray, I just realized that we're going to be hunting for a ghost inside lots of hallways and hotel rooms." Michiru stated. Unlike in the subbasement back at HQ, we aren't going to have very much room to move or fire our positron colliders. Isn't that going to affect our performance while we try and catch Slimer with our proton streams before we slam and trap him? I for one do not want to get sued or in trouble for causing internal damage this hotel just for the sake of recapturing one ghost."
"Yes, our performance is always affected by the environment in which we combat all spiritual entities." Ray replied. "You don't have to worry about causing any damage though, because the city pays us for capturing ghosts and covers the damages with insurance money. But if you're uneasy about fighting a ghost in a crammed hallway, I'm afraid that there's nothing we can do about it so there's no sense in worrying."
"Why worry?" Venkman said sarcastically. "Each of us could accidentally hit each other with friendly fire and cause the nuclear accelerators on our backs to explode if we don't get killed crossing our proton streams first while we fight Slimer."
"These proton packs are nuclear powered!" Michiru suddenly replied in shock as his eyes widened with fear. "Why aren't we wearing any protective suites? We could get radiation exposure!"
"Relax Mitch, this equipment is safe." Ray countered in an effort to calm down the frightened teenager. "Peter, shut your yap about getting killed on the job would you. Otherwise, I'll give Michiru permission to use his magic on you if you don't put a sock it."
As the elevator halted and the doors automatically opened, Michiru strode out casually with Ray and Venkman as they both told Michiru the rule about keeping their proton packs turned off in public areas in order to minimize city liabilities. This was brought about because of the incident many years ago when the Egon, Ray and Venkman first came to the Sedgewick Hotel during their first official paranormal investigation. This incident occurred when they accidentally fired proton streams at a cleaning maid, who they mistook for a spiritual entity, causing minor damage around her in the hallway. Although she was unharmed and they apologized for their error, she filed a restraining order on the Ghostbusters which brought about the rule that they now had to follow. As they continued walking, Ray shouted in alarm, causing Venkman to fire his proton stream prematurely at the corner of the hallway without checking what or who he was shooting at. A baggage cart which had rolled into view was blasted as its contents scattered around violently, the stream from Venkman's positron collider struck the ceiling causing sparks and leaving burned black scorch marks on the surface. A man cried out, running passed the open space of the hallway in an effort to escape being hit by the proton stream as Venkman shut it off after realizing his error.
"Nice, now we've got another sue happy person from the Sedgewick Hotel." Venkman said. "Let that be a lesson Mitch, not to shoot a proton stream at anyone other than a ghost. And don't even think about shooting me from behind with one either, cause you'll be in a lot of trouble if you do."
"I may not have figured an appropriate way to get even with you yet Peter, but I'm not low enough to shoot you from behind with my proton pack at point blank range like some backstabber from an old action movie seeking vengeance." Michiru countered. "It never even crossed my mind, let's put that matter aside for the time being and concentrate on catching Slimer while we're inside this Hotel."
"Well said Mitch, you have a good conscience." Venkman commented. "If it makes you feel any better, you have the qualities of a well mannered young man with a good sense of morals. Girls like that in a man they wish to date or marry, remember that."
The Shikigami user thought silently to himself as the two of them followed Ray down the hall, it's true that girls did look for boyfriends who were well mannered and acted morally; but regrettably those weren't the only qualities that most girls look for in a young man. Even though he had seen Sango slap Miroku on more than one occasion for rudely groping her lecherously, he knew that she still had feelings for the perverted monk. He had also seen and listened as Kagome scolded Inuyasha for multiple reasons whether he was at fault or not as they argued, and he knew that she still cared very deeply about the half demon even though she would never admit it publicly to everyone. The Kururugi boy's mind was brought back to reality as he turned around a corner and caught a glimpse of pale green light shot passed and dropped down the staircase to the left of them as they approached.
"Watch it! Contact!" Ray shouted as multiple objects such as chairs and vases flew up from the bottom of the staircase where the mysterious green light had fled; nearly striking each of the Ghostbusters who were standing by the railing. "Argh! Yeow! Geez!
"We're being targeted Ray, can we hurry along so we can bag the green slime bucket and go home?" asked Venkman as the three of them scurried down the hall now that the sudden barrage had ended. As they darted around the right hand corner to exit the hallway by the staircase, Ray came to a halt and motioned for the others to come up quietly. About ten feet beyond the left hand corner of the hallway where Ray had stopped, was Slimer floating above a room service cart loaded with bottled drinks and plates of food. Michiru watched quietly as the green spiritual entity was stuffing his face and making load grunts and gulps not even caring about his lack of table manners or the filthy mess of broken plates and chunks of half eaten food that laid on the floor beneath him.
"Alright, show time." Ray whispered. "We wear him out, and then capture him; that's what your proton stream is for."
Michiru didn't want Slimer escaping a second time, so he rushed around the corner and towards his opponent before firing his positron collider. Although the spiritual escapee was almost immobile and unaware of the danger he was in, he screamed in a panic as the Kururugi boy's proton stream struck the wall right beside him in a violent flash of sparks and smoke. Slimer darted down the hall and vanished as he went through the wall ahead of his pursuing attackers, leaving a large green stain of stinky wet slime behind on the surface. The Shikigami user was getting annoyed at how easily the green monstrosity had escaped, and darted through a nearby door entrance to track down the sneaky spirit.
"We've got him on the ropes! Come on! Peter! Ray shouted with excitement, following Michiru as his young friend chased after the slimy spud who had managed to get a way again.
"Nah, I've had it with recapturing that little spud over and over again. You follow Slimer and teach Mitch the basic skills he needs for tracking down ghosts before you try recapturing him." Venkman replied with a hint of sarcasm. "I'll cover the elevators and escort any ladies to their rooms and downstairs where they'll be safe."
"What?" Michiru asked with disbelief, reminded of Miroku by Venkman's words. "You're not going to help us catch Slimer, or even try to stop him from escaping again?"
"As a Ghost buster, I'm doing some good here." Venkman countered, trying to think of a good excuse. "I can clear the floor of any people that are still up here so that they will head downstairs where it's safe. I for one want to avoid as many friendly fire incidents and restraining orders as possible, so that's another reason why I'll stay close to the elevators. If all the people are cleared, then it'll be easier for you and Ray to find that little spud without having to worry about shooting someone by accident."
"Yeah okay, this is a good opportunity to teach Mitch how to use a PKE meter." Ray said as he pulled down his head goggles and started scanning with his PKE meter.
Michiru on the other hand, followed Venkman in an effort to change his course of action so that the three of them would stay together. They had already left Egon downstairs and were short handed, the last thing that they needed was to split up and give Slimer the opportunity of attacking the Ghostbusters while they were divided and separated from one another throughout the Hotel. After a quick walk, the Kururugi boy caught up with Venkman who was walking through the wreckage on the floor by the staircase where the objects had flown up and hit them earlier. Although Venkman was a member of the Ghostbusters, it seemed to Michiru that the man didn't like to get involved when there was work to be done. But there could also be another reason that the Shikigami user was unaware of, whether it was a good reason or not.
"Come on Peter, we need your help if we want to catch Slimer successfully." Michiru asked. "The sooner we catch him, the sooner we can go home and rest if lack of sleep is what's bothering you."
"I said I would guard the elevators and that's just what I'm going to do; besides you don't have the seniority to give me orders since you've only been employed for over an hour or two." Venkman replied, not wishing to change his mind.
"Since you're not in the mood for catching ghosts than I might as well accompany you since you're obviously in the mood for catching ladies." Michiru countered as he grinned, knowing that he had caught Venkman in a similar situation that he himself had experienced in the car on the way here just a short time ago. "I might be able to learn how to interact with girls if I watch your actions, as long as you don't make the wrong kinds of moves like you did on that beautiful lady we met leaving the elevator when its doors opened."
"You can't make me change my mind Mitch, not even with that smart aleck attitude of yours." Venkman boasted, turning once to glance at the teenager as they continued walking. "That's it, end of story. And stop grinning at me; you're creepier than that ghost. You've had your moment of fun; go down with Ray so he can show you more training."
The young man reluctantly gave up and retraced his footsteps so he could rejoin Ray who was presently looking for the elusive ghost which had for the moment, escaped captivity. After dashing down the hallway and turning right and then left, the Kururugi boy found Ray scanning a door to a Hotel room with a PKE meter as the antennas on the little instrument moves up and down making little noises.
"He won't change his mind; it looks like we'll have to hunt Slimer down ourselves." Michiru asked. "How does this PKE meter help to catch ghosts anyway Ray?"
"Put your goggles on and turn on your PKE meter using this switch here." Ray answered, without taking his eyes off the device in his hand. "Your meter will flash and buzz when it detects a potential signal; a pair of goggles is connected to your active PKE meter. This allows you to see otherwise undetectable phenomenon while you track it, ghost trails; object auras and all kinds of cool events. Now when your center bar peaks, you're headed in the right direction. When it's flat, you're following a cold trail. Line the target up inside the smallest circle for the best scan. Oh no, I'm losing the signal."
"What about here?" Michiru asked as he scanned the large stain of slime left on the wall where Slimer had escaped through.
"Okay you got it, now just take a scan." Ray instructed, running up to see where the young man was looking.
"Like this?" Michiru asked as he pressed a button on his PKE meter, and seeing what looked like a camera snapshot through the goggles over his eyes.
"Way to go!" Ray answered with delight. "If you look at the flashing coloured lights on your PKE meter, you'll notice they change colour from time to time when you scan for different things. Red signifies a hidden ghost, green indicates an environmental paranormal anomaly and blue means an active sample."
"The lights have changed from green to red Ray." Michiru replied, looking around with his PKE meter as he walked down the hallway with Ray close by.
"Don't be alarmed, that just means Slimer is hiding nearby and we're getting closer to locating him." Ray replied, trying to assure Michiru that everything was under control. "Just use your PKE, watch the lights; the antennas and listen for the buzzing to confirm that you're getting closer and closer to your target."
"Ray, aren't you coming with me to help find this ghost of yours?" Michiru asked, turning around to look at Ray who was still standing by the T intersection at the start of the hallway.
"Sorry Michiru, but this is part of your training; I'm testing you to see if you can locate the slimy spud by yourself without my help." Ray answered back. "You have to learn how to properly use every piece of equipment that's given to you, there may come a time when you'll be searching and catching ghosts on your own. Besides that, if you do locate Slimer; I want to guard the doors to my left and the other hallway on my right in case the green slime bucket tries to escape again. Don't worry, you'll do just fine. We can still talk with our hand radios attached to each of our left shoulder straps in front of us, if you're stuck or have any questions. I'm standing only thirty feet away from you so I'll be close enough to help you out if things get out of hand."
"O-Okay, I'll see if I can find him." Michiru said, continuing onward ever more cautiously.
The Kururugi boy understood that he needed training in order to sharpen his skills as a new member of the Ghostbusters, but he didn't like the feeling of catching Slimer by himself and getting covered in the ghost's regurgitated slime and possibly food. Walking and turning slowly to avoid losing the signal he was trying to trace, the Shikigami user glanced back and forth from his PKE meter to directly in front of him as he moved further down the hallway in an effort to find his target without alarming him as he did before.
"Getting warmer." Ray hinted, trying to help out his friend overcome the training as best as he could without leaving his position. "Warmer."
Unfortunately, the Kururugi boy was having a difficult time locating Slimer. There was a room on the other side of the wall and he thought that the ghost had taken refuge inside of there rather than somewhere in the open hallway where he was looking. The slightest turn in the wrong direction would cause Michiru to loose the signal and force him to start over after taking a few steps back.
"You're red hot!" Ray shouted excitedly, startling Michiru ; and making him turn quickly left and right before slowing down again to pick up the signal and home in on the target. "Woops, sorry for startling you Mitch. Your red hot, just take it slow and easy. You'll find it eventually, so take your time."
As the Shikigami user came to a halt, he was scanning one different object after another on his right hand side against the wall. First a stool on the floor, then a lamp on the wall and finally a table with a vase resting on top of it. After a few seconds of standing still, the PKE meter indicated that the vase was the hiding place of the ghost they were looking for. Suddenly, Slimer emerged from the vase; evidently startled or stunned by the close range scan Michiru had just taken.
"Careful!" Ray warned, as Slimer fled down the hall in Ray's direction where he had been found earlier stuffing his face. "Getting a good scan is sort of like taking a good snap shot, be sure not to get too close to a ghost's hiding place when you find them. Otherwise, the snap snot effect of your PKE meter will cause them to panic and either escape or run to attack you."
As the eager paranormal eliminator darted back to pursue the ghost and join Ray, Slimer levitated away through the closed doors where Ray was standing with his PKE meter in hand. Ray opened the doors and walked casually down the other hallway where the elusive target had gone, Michiru rushed up to join him and was beginning to get frustrated by the repeating cycle that he felt the two of them were presently stuck in.
"Ray, why didn't you try and ensnare Slimer with your proton stream when he flew passed you?" Michiru asked, puzzled by Ray's inaction. "I thought we we're getting paid for every ghost we catch, not for every hour we work. If this continues over and over again, we're going to be playing hide and seek in this Hotel until breakfast time."
"I understand your concern Mitch, but I couldn't catch him because I was using my PKE meter when he floated passed me." Ray answered as they continued walking down the hall. "I didn't have enough time to pull out my positron collider, and I couldn't fire it even if I was holding it at the time. Otherwise I could have struck you accidentally with my proton stream since you were racing up behind Slimer in an effort to catch him from escaping again. I wouldn't risk harming a fellow co worker or anyone else just for the sake of catching one little ghost, neither should any member of the Ghostbusters."
"Sorry Ray, I just got fed up with Slimer getting away." Michiru apologized, feeling a little bad for criticizing his teacher.
"That's alright, don't worry about it. Wooah! Look at this filthy mess; he's definitely been feeding in here." Ray replied, looking to the left inside a small room with two vending machines in it as he activated his PKE meter.
"What's this here Ray?" Michiru asked as he crouched down to examine an object on the floor with his own PKE meter which was buzzing at as the object was scanned.
"Oh, that's an active sample." Ray answered before explaining in detail. "If you check your PKE meter, you'll notice its buzzing and its lights are flashing blue. And when you get a great scan, your PKE will identify the object you're scanning as well. An active sample is something you can collect like a cursed artefact, we get paid extra for everything we scan and collect. Then we roll it back into research and development, the extra funds let us experiment with new equipment and offensive technology. Which in turn, you get to wear on your back to test."
"Hey, it just vanished into thin air after I scanned." Michiru stated with a shocked look on his face. "How is that even possibly?"
"Remember I said that taking a good scan is the same as taking a snapshot?" Ray replied, getting a nod from Michiru before he continued with his explanation. "Ghosts can be startled when they are scanned just as you saw how Slimer reacted a few moments ago, they'll either attack you or make a run for it before you have the chance to capture them which is why we have to be so careful when we track and hunt any spiritual entities. Cursed artefacts on the other hand are just plain physical objects with no consciousness of their own, but they still possess a high amount of PK energy which is why we're able to detect them; this is due to the artefacts' origins which revolved around some sort of paranormal activity that occurred some time in the past. Because of the PK energy that these cursed artefacts are giving off, we're allowed under our contract with the city to relocate each of them back to our Firehouse for observation and safe keeping to prevent any paranormal occurrences which could cause harm to people or property. Egon discovered a convenient way to transport them from the place that they are found back to our Firehouse where they can relocate themselves, so we can avoid wasting time; energy and manpower to move them and fall behind schedule or risk damaging ourselves or the artefacts. Basically, once a cursed artefact is scanned; the paranormal reaction of the PK energy around the object causes it to instantaneously cross over into another dimensional plane of existence so it can travel to our Firehouse and return back to our world without causing damage to itself or our environment. In a way, it almost sounds like the way you might have travelled back and forth through time from our Modern era to Feudal Japan; theoretically speaking of course."
"So the frequency of the scanning waves coming from my PKE meter are specifically and automatically set to cause that kind of paranormal reaction when ever I scan a cursed artefact, thereby teleporting it back to the Firehouse in an instant; I think I understand it now. It must have taken Egon a long time to figure out how to accomplish such a task, I wouldn't be surprised if he was awarded a prize for making such a scientific discovery" Michiru stated. "But I don't think it would be the same for either myself or for a ghost because we both have a soul and I don't think you could cause the same paranormal reaction due to the fact that a spiritual entity or a living person wouldn't survive such a teleportation like that, besides; the PKE meter has a different colour code for scanning each different thing whether it's a ghost, a cursed artefact or a paranormal anamoly. Pity I can't use this PKE meter to teleport myself back home, you guys are risking an awful lot just to keep my presence a secret Ray and I appreciate it; but I really hope I can leave soon so none of us get into trouble."
"Don't worry Mitch, you've learned and accomplished so much over the passed four and a half months; I think I can speak for the others when I say we're all positive that you'll eventually find the answers you're looking for to solve all your problems and return home again safe and sound." Ray said encouragingly. "By the way, now that you've scanned that cursed artefact; your goggles should show you a briefing history lesson from your Tobin's Spirit Guide.
"According to my scan, the object is a very old silver, smoke-stained room service tray. Wow, I can read the data info through my goggles; this PKE meter is so cool! I guess collecting active samples as well as building and testing new equipment is also part of my job that I'll get to enjoy, since you've dubbed me as your Experimental Equipment Technician." Michiru said excitedly as he and Ray walked back the way they came to try and find Slimer once again. "I flew half way around the world on Sounga which I would label as a very dangerous cursed artefact, captured that Sloth ghost with a proton pack that you and Egon had only finished tuning up and adjusting. And on top of that, the three of us built that new containment unit which Sounga is now imprisoned inside of. I never thought I would be in a foreign country capturing ghosts, none of my classmates would never believe that | was working in the U.S. with the Ghostbusters. This unexpected trip of mine to New York is really turning into one memorable and paranormal adventure wouldn't you say so Ray?"
"Ha! Ha! Ha! It certainly is Michiru, it certainly is." Ray laughed quickly before responding. "Remember, you can always review techniques; tutorials and equipment in your online Ghostbusters' field manual. It's all accessible from your PKE meter; make sure you wear your goggles over your eyes so you can read everything you might need to know when you're in the field."
"Ray! AAH! AH! I'm being ATTACKED HERE!" Venkman cried uncontrollably in a panicked tone, bringing the conversation of the two friendly coworkers to an end as they put away their PKE meters and pulled out their positron colliders.
"Peter? Come in, you okay? Ray asked with concern before taking the initiative. "Uh Oh! Man down, we've got a man down! Let's go Mitch!"
As Michiru rushed back in the direction of where he had last seen Venkman, Ray kicked open the doors to the other hallway which led to the elevators on the floor they were on. Although it was an emergency, the speed and mobility of the two paranormal eliminators was limited by the weight of the proton packs strapped to their backs as they tried to hurry and find their fellow employee.
"Come on, shake a leg! You can move faster than that can't you? Double time Mitch!" Ray urged as they sprinted as fast as they were able without losing balance or any of their tools. Coming into the room where the elevators were located, they found Venkman lying down on the floor with his proton pack venting smoke and sparks.
"He's been slimed! Again! Ray added in astonishment, which told Michiru that this wasn't the first time Venkman had been slimed either. "Hustle over here and help him up will you Mitch? When one of us goes down, we always help each other out; it's all about teamwork."
"How did this even happen?" Venkman complained with disbelief and disgust as the Kururugi boy helped to lift the green slime covered casualty to his feet. "I was busy covering the elevators! That mutant Stromboli snuck up on me, yuck, covered in slime again."
"Well Peter, perhaps I should have stayed with you instead; it looks like you got a handful of big wet kisses from some of the lovely ladies you were referring too when you said you would escort them safely to their rooms." Michiru stated sarcastically, trying not to burst out laughing at Venkman's current predicament or that he had discovered Venkman's motive for wanting to avoid contact with Slimer. "Or did you suddenly take a liking to Slimer after being rejected by that leather clad beauty we met downstairs earlier? Don't try to deny it because we can see the slimy green evidence all over the front of your clothes. What an unexpected turn of events, vengeance is mine, and you're soaked in slime."
"Shut your yap Mitch, because this means war. And in this war, that ghost's going down." Venkman countered, wiping the slime off his face as he spoke. "No ghost pukes on Peter Venkman and lives to get away with it. That little green gas bucket already has two strikes on his record, and I intend to bag his slimy hide before he gets a third."
"You guys need to get down here immediately, our elusive escapee is tearing apart the lobby and he's not alone." Egon said over each radio belonging to the three Ghostbusters.
"More ghosts? Ray asked in surprise. "But we gave this Hotel a clean bill of health five years ago. How could there suddenly be more ghosts now Egon?"
"New people die everyday Ray." Egon replied, trying to give a logical explanation to answer Ray's question. "But the number of ghosts that emerge over the course of time doesn't solely depend on the number of people dying. The cause of death and the circumstances of death can greatly impact the spiritual entity of a person which therefore determines whether or not they rest in peace or roam the world of the living for all of eternity."
After hearing Egon's explanation, the Kururugi boy was having another memory from his adventure in the feudal era. When he was inside a ruined castle, he and his friends were attacked by walking corpses that were under Naraku's control, including a samurai named Yukimura. Tragically, Yukimura was killed while he bought them time to escape during a deadly battle against Naraku that occurred much earlier before the castle and the town around it decayed into ruin. During their second visit to the castle, Naraku was controlling all the corpses by using Yukimura's body and spirit so he could pit them against Michiru and his companions. With no other choice left available, the Shikigami user and his friends were forced to fight against their friend in order to set his soul as well as all the others free. It was a painful experience, being forced to fight against a friend whether they were alive or dead. Not wanting to think about it any longer, Michiru decided to block it out of his mind so he could concentrate on the more important matter of catching Slimer and the other ghost which Egon reported were downstairs in the lobby causing a lot of trouble and destruction.
Ray, Michiru and Venkman entered the elevator and began to descend until it shook with a sudden stop. It was thought that the elevator had either malfunctioned or that Slimer had sabotaged it so they would remain trapped inside without a way of escaping. After a minute or so of bickering and humorous talk, they thought Slimer was going to attack them since they couldn't run or use their positron colliders in such a confined space. Venkman had no desire no be slimed by Slimer twice on the same morning and shouted at Ray to fire a proton stream as the elevator doors opened. Instead of seeing Slimer on the other side, Egon appeared to have opened the doorway once they arrived down on the main floor. Venkman made a sarcastic comment about Ray's failure to take action in a tight spot yet again, which gave them all a good moment of humour before they had to exit and tackle all of the ghosts that Egon had reported inside the lobby.
As the three Ghostbusters walked out of the elevator and followed Egon back into the lobby, the chaos before them was unbelievable. At least half a dozen ghosts, including Slimer were floating around and causing chaos. People were fleeing for their lives to get away from these restless souls who were attacking like a swarm of angry wasps darting back and forth as they took turns targeting one different person after another. This wouldn't be an easy clean up job like the single Sloth ghost in the basement back at Headquarters was, and the arena was also much more vast and wide not to mention the numerous escape routes that the ghosts had available to them both around and above the main floor of the Sedgewick Hotel.
"Never mind the onion head for now, the ghost with the red cap is fighting hard to hold stasis." Ray commanded, firing his proton stream at a nearby ghost. "Let's catch every other ghost in here first, check your aim when you shoot at these ghosts so you don't hit each other. Watch carefully so you don't cross the streams, otherwise its game over for all of us."
"Come on, he's a New York Bellhop; just tip him." Venkman said, trying to add a tidbit of humour to the destructive situation that the Ghostbusters now found themselves in. Not only were these Bellhop ghosts nearly as manoeuvrable as Slimer, but they were just as well organized as the Ghostbusters themselves. They darted in and out with hit and run attacks and they even hurled themselves and pieces of furniture at each of the four paranormal eliminators as the conflict intensified, spreading throughout the two sections of the main lobby. Michiru and his fellow combatants had to work together and help each other out frequently just to stay in action during the battle.
Each of the Ghostbusters including Michiru was knocked to the floor as many as two or three times in this brief conflict alone. Everyone had to keep their eyes and ears open for one another so that anyone who needed help getting to their feet again could be assisted while they were protected by their friends in the thick of the fighting.
Michiru was no stranger when it came to fighting a hard battle; he had learned this from his experiences in the feudal era. Although he was now in the modern age fighting against ghosts instead of live demons, the basic lessons of combat remained the same. He had to beat the enemy force one foe at a time and simultaneously keep an eye on his team members to prevent them from being injured and unavailable for more important battles later on. The present situation wasn't a good one in the eyes of the Shikigami user, it could have been a lot worse if there were more ghosts or if the ghosts they were fighting were better organized. Each Bellhop ghost possessed impressive strength even after it had been slammed and could still move enough to escape from being drawn into an activated trap. This advantage prolonged the conflict and prevented the Ghostbusters from having a quick battle as they would have preferred. As long as the ghosts could avoid captivity, they could wear out the four paranormal eliminators until their strength depleted; leaving them vulnerable to the spiritual entities.
"Everyone listen up, we don't have the strength to face these ghosts one on one." Michiru said into his radio attached to his left shoulder strap as he fired a capture stream at a Bellhop ghost currently entangled in Egon's stream high in the air. "Its going to take at least two of us working together to capture and hold each ghost long enough to be pulled into the trap so they can't get away. Egon, let's put this guy in prison so we can help turn the tables in this fight. Venkman and Ray, you guys keep the other ghosts occupied so we can even the odds here."
Egon and Michiru guided the ghost into position and pulled their streams in different directions to restrain their struggling opponent whose high pitched cry echoed throughout the lobby as it was sucked inside of the trap in a brilliant flash of light. Finally after a long minute and a half, one Bellhop ghost was bagged and trapped.
"Great thinking Michiru, well done." Egon commented as the two of them redeployed themselves to confront the other remaining ghosts still in action throughout the lobby. The tactic worked again, as the Kururugi boy fired a capture stream at another ghost that was fighting to escape from Ray's captivity. After a tug of war, a second Bellhop ghost was imprisoned and accounted for.
"That convulsion PK shock wave really stirred the nest, man this lobby is so wrecked." Ray said as Michiru recovered the trap from the floor.
"Can we please call Winston and tell him that his night off as officially ended?" Venkman asked, hoping that the work would end sooner with all of five Ghostbusters working together to tackle any and all ghosts that would be encountered during the early morning.
"More of them!" Ray warned, after hearing laughter from the centre of the lobby. "They've split up and fled."
"Ray, follow me; the others are floating back upstairs." Egon instructed. "Venkman, you two pull our friend Slimer into a trap as fast as you can. There's a massive bulge in these spikes indicating this isn't just some routine clearing job."
"He gets so bossy when he hasn't had his nap." Venkman whispered to Michiru as Egon and Ray chased after the retreating Bellhop ghosts. "Hey Mitch, where are you going? We're supposed to go after Slimer."
"I know Peter, its just that I'm picking something up on my PKE meter and it isn't a ghost." Michiru replied, walking toward the section of the lobby which lead to the elevators as Venkman followed.
The Shikigami user adjusted his movements in order to home in on the signal and arrived at the reception desk where customers would book their hotel rooms and so on, as he leaned over the desk; his instrument confirmed that the cause of the paranormal signal was coming from an antique service bell which was resting on the surface of the desk counter. In a split second, the cursed artefact vanished as Michiru took a scan of the object; causing the supernatural reaction which was triggered by the PK energy's response. Venkman watched in astonishment and blinked his eyes several times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but Michiru was able to tell him what he had witnessed by explaining everything that Ray had told him earlier when the teenager had scanned the silver tray upstairs which was shortly before both of them had been alerted of Slimer's attack. Once that was over and done with, the Kururugi boy followed Venkman back to the main lobby, heading for the main entrance before turning right and walking into a hallway which was leading to a private ballroom which was where Slimer had gone to.
"Hey now? Is that honey glazed ham and prime rib I smell? Mm, tasty." Venkman said to him as the two of them rounded the corner and were surprised to see the hotel manager locking the doors leading inside the room where the delicious aroma of freshly made food was coming from. "There, the Alhambra Ballroom, no way he could pass that up. Now that I smell the food, I'm getting hungry too."
"Absolutely not!" the man said, turning around and blocking the closed doors. "You can't go in; the Rodriguez Bar Mitzvah is set to start in half an hour."
"I'll bet the Beef brisket is today's special." Venkman commented with a smile.
"And you've done quite enough damage already, I'm sure the…thing will just go away." the manager protested as Slimer's laughter could be heard from behind the locked doors. "I-I'm willing to risk it, you're not going in there."
"That's all we needed to hear, alright we're out. Coffee time everyone, service has been declined beyond this point." Venkman replied, turning around and walking back to the main lobby. "Let's go Mitch; I'll get each of us a cup of coffee until Mr. Whiney changes his mind."
"Sounds like the Alhambra Ballroom is off limits, so do we just leave Slimer in there and let him eat to his hearts content?" Michiru asked with an annoyed tone of voice as he walked beside Venkman.
"This isn't the end of it Mitch, not by a long shot. No one slimes Peter Venkman twice and gets away with it." Venkman answered, as the two Ghostbusters sprinted to the far left end of the main lobby and went down a short hallway before stopping at a small door on the right hand side. "We're going to take a short cut through the kitchen. If that Slimy green blob is still hungry once all the food in the Ballroom is gone, he'll probably scavenge in here for more until his gut his full. The Alhambra Ballroom should be right through here."
As they entered, they wondered down a short narrow hall and after taking two left turns, they came inside the first room of the kitchen where there were pots and pans hung from an overhanging rack attached to the ceiling. Below the rack on the floor was a giant counter table for service trays and cooking utensils. There were also tall tray shelves and service carts all with wheels built on them so they could be moved anywhere in the room or elsewhere if need be.
"Okay Mitch, you take point for a while." Venkman said, just as all the objects in the room levitated straight up above the floor by a foot and crashed down again; making a mess and causing the two Ghostbusters to pause with caution. Michiru pulled down his goggles and activated his PKE meter to scan for any abnormalities that might have been responsible for that little event and came across a large stain of black slime spread out on the wall on the way to the other section of the kitchen. "Alright, don't touch the slime. It's slimy and it's extremely dangerous."
"I wasn't going to touch it." Michiru countered, taking a scan as they moved on into the next room.
"Yikes!" A startled Venkman cried out as a metal shelf to the left against the wall began to fall forward, lightly striking Michiru in his left side before landing on the floor. "You'd think I'd be used to that stuff by now. You alright Mitch?"
"Yeah I'm fine, but I can hear voices. And Wooah!" Mitch said as a small explosion erupted about six feet ahead of him, which knocked a fridge over and set the burners of a nearby stove alight after shaking the oven lid off of the appliance.
"Nothing to worry about, most kitchens have self starting fires." Venkman said, trying to calm down the young boy.
"I'm worrying about what ever it is that my PKE meter is detecting." Michiru replied walking around the room. "Even with my goggles on, I can't see anything abnormal except for a few small flashes of red and orange light up near the ceiling."
"Heads up, the door's open." Venkman said, causing Michiru to turn around and look with disbelief at the two doors at the far left corner of the room which had been locked shut moments ago. "Come on Mitch, let's hurry and get to the Ballroom."
The Kururugi boy followed Venkman into the other room which was larger than the other two rooms they had seen, not to mention that every rack and counter was located against the walls around them which left a vast empty space in the middle of the room. As Michiru walked ahead hoping to get to the other room, a giant storage container mysteriously slid in place from outside and blocked the entranceway. This made the Shikigami user more cautious and uneasy, as he turned around just in time to see the back doors close shut; trapping him and Venkman inside this section of the massive kitchen. Suddenly, Venkman fired his positron collider at the counter just below the open tray slit cut into the wall between this room and the next. Unable to see what he was targeting, Michiru held up his PKE meter in the hope of getting a scan to identify the dangerous entity or entities in the room.
"Okay you spooks, this turf is ours." Venkman said to made fun of his enemies as Michiru finished getting a scan and pulling out his positron collider to join his associate in the fight. The two of them blasted what appeared to be dead fish fliers that swam through the air just as ordinary fish would underwater, their light blue appearance made them easy to see when they became visible and they burst into nothingness after a direct hit with a discharged proton stream. The quick skirmish was over after about thirty seconds, but now the two Ghostbusters had to find a way of removing the massive obstruction in the doorway in front of them.
"Alright Mitch, check this out." Venkman said, showing the teenager the controls on his positron collider. "You can capture and move an object the same way you would with a ghost before you prepare to trap it. All you have to due is shoot a capture stream at the object you desire and pull in the direction you want to move it, its very simple so go ahead and try it out."
"I don't know, this is a much bigger and heavier object than a ghost." Michiru responded hesitantly as he fired a capture stream at the obstacle and enveloping it after a few seconds. "Like this?"
"That's all there is to it, you just throw the junk anywhere." Venkman answered as the container and shifted back about four feet before it fell backwards on its own once the doorway was cleared. "Mitch, have you picked up another cursed artefact? If you scan anymore of those, we're going to fall behind; Slimer's going to get away if you don't hurry."
"Just give me a minute please Peter, Ray said that we get paid extra for everything we scan and collect; I have to do this in order to make money for you guys as long as I'm living at your residence so I'm just trying to earn my keep that's all." Michiru replied, turning right and walking down the hallway which lead in the opposite direction of the ballroom as he followed the trail around another turn to the right where he found the cursed artefact. "Hey Peter, you may want to come and look at this thing; it looks more like a fat doll rather than an artefact."
"Well I'll be a…" Venkman commented as he came around and saw the small white coloured toy which was humanoid shaped toy standing on a metal table, unbeknownst to Michiru; the adult instantly recognized who it was modelled after. "Mitch, take a scan of the artefact; but don't mention it to Ray or Egon okay. It could give them a scare so it's a secret we have to keep to ourselves okay?"
"Okay, if its really that serious; then I understand." Michiru replied as he took a scan and watched the cursed artefact disappear, leaving the table with only a few service trays on top of it.
"Good man, okay then; lets go after Slimer." Venkman ordered as the two coworkers retraced their steps and returned to the kitchen entryway where they had been before. After walking around the giant storage container which laid on the floor, Michiru followed Venkman and turned left and right as they made their way through some wide hallway leading to other areas until they finally arrived at the Alhambra Ballroom.
What a magnificent sight it was for the Shikigami user, his imagination ran momentarily wild at seeing the interior of the walls, floor and ceiling. The floor was beautifully carpeted and the walls were decorated with deep red curtains and well crafted posts coloured differently than the walls but made the room look more colourful and inviting. A huge chandelier hung from the centre of the ceiling below a massive rectangle of electric lights shining through about two dozen translucent square shaped pieces of glass built into the ceiling. On the far side of the Ballroom was the long buffet table where various dishes of luxurious food would sit waiting to be served along with many bottles of various alcoholic beverages that were always served at occasions like this. To the end of the Ballroom, opposite from the service entrance that they had entered from was the main entrance for the guests to come and go as they pleased. This was evident because of the clear open space at that corner of the Ballroom which made it for roomy for a crowd of people.
There were about six to eight round tables neatly spread around the rest of the room, each with a white tablecloth, eating utensils with five napkins and flowers in the centre of the table. Each table had about eight chairs, which meant that there would be about fifty to seventy guests attending. Michiru imagined how fun it would be to have all his friends from the feudal era dining together at their own table in a Ballroom like this; they could also dance together during the evening after diner, if such a thing was permitting during the occasion. No doubt Miroku would introduce himself to as many young ladies as he possibly could, and Inuyasha would stuff his face full of all the food his stomach could contain. But Michiru felt quite sure that Kagome, Sango, Kirara and Shippo would enjoy a get together like this where they could relax and not have to worry about the everyday troubles that they constantly had to deal with in the feudal era. The only time all of them did get together was during the annual drum competition in the feudal era at Tsuzumi Village, which was definitely an exciting and memorable experience for all of them. Unfortunately, the moment of fantasizing was brought to an end as Slimer emerged from behind the long buffet table and was throwing handfuls of cake into his mouth from a beautifully baked but tall white cake with what looked like red apples around and on top of it. The Shikigami user felt a sense of pity for the hard working bakers, whose colossal dessert was being devoured and ruined by the green slimy ghost whose appetite seemed to have no end.
"Would it kill him to eat a green salad once in a while?" Venkman asked sarcastically. "I'm going to take back up position, you blast him until he's dazed; than use your capture stream on him so he can't get away again."
"After all that talk about payback, you're throwing it all away now?" Michiru asked in disbelief, glancing at his partner. "I know its disgusting to get slimed, but now you're chickening out when you finally have the chance to trap Slimer?"
"You need the training, so get in there and show that spud what you're made of." Venkman countered as he fired his positron collider at Slimer, causing the beautiful cake to burst in a violent explosion. "I can't waste my precious energy trying to wear out that green blob, not when there might be more ghosts to fight later on tonight. You're the young one; you've got plenty of stamina so you shouldn't have any trouble putting this guy in the box."
The two Ghostbusters fired their weapons at the ghost and struck the ceiling when ever the elusive entity managed to dodge any direct hits from both proton streams. What really ticked off Michiru was that Slimer disappeared again after just thirty seconds of combat; it was time to pull out the PKE meter and locate the troublesome sneak before it could leave the Ballroom. After a few seconds, the Shikigami user had quite enough of playing hide and seek for one morning with the same spook time and time again. In an effort to take out his anger, the Kururugi boy discharged a proton stream at one of the round dinner tables; completely scorching the wooden surface after burning the white tablecloth. Luckily for Michiru, he figured out it was Slimer's hiding place because of the noise and movement from underneath. Once the table broke in half, Slimer emerged from the wreckage and floated up in the air again to face his opponents; now it was payback time for the paranormal eliminators. The proton streams caused burning scorch marks all over the Ballroom's interior and destroyed anything too weak to withstand a blast as the battle continued.
"Good, good. That's it buddy, you've got the floating blob nearly exhausted." Venkman stated, letting Michiru know that Slimer was losing energy and would quickly be vulnerable. Suddenly the green ghost darted downwards to strike the Shikigami user before making a run for the guest entrance, Michiru dodged just in time and fired a well aimed shot as he turned around directly into the path of the fleeing monster. A moment later, the ghost was finally caught in a capture stream and unable to get away.
"Great shot Mitch!" Venkman stated, as he ensnared Slimer with his own capture stream in order to help Michiru restrain the ghost. "Good, now try to hold him still so we can wear him down. When he's tired, you'll be able to put this slimy critter in prison for good."
As Michiru did his best to restrain Slimer, Venkman deactivated his positron collider so he could set a trap down on the floor in front of them. Even after several hard slams to the floor, Slimer was still very persistent to break free. Perhaps he gained all the energy from the food he had eaten in the Sedgewick Hotel, but there was no proof that a ghost could reenergize himself by consuming food from the world of the living. The trap automatically activated once Slimer was guided into position and started to vacuum him inside, and this time there would be no escape for the green monster. Slimer's cries for help and mercy went on deaf hears, causing the Shikigami user to momentarily feel pity for the ghost as it was locked inside once the trap's doors had closed shut. Michiru walked forward to recover the trap from the floor and hand it back to Venkman as the two of them vented their positron colliders now that this fight was over.
"Yeah, perfect. See? That's a big wow, that'll teach that pitiful goop-sack to slime Peter Venkman. And by extension…you. Perhaps the place sitting disturbed, still ready; full go for the Rodriguez blow out." Venkman declared, feeling great now that Slimer was recaptured.
"Not just yet, my PKE meter is picking up another cursed artefact somewhere in here; I'll have to find it before we leave." Michiru responded after having checked his scanning instrument and discovering the presence of another active sample inside of the ballroom.
"The Alhambra Ballroom! The Bar Mitzvah! What have you done? The guests are arriving in fifteen minutes!" the hotel manager complained, running into the Ballroom to survey the situation after unlocking the closed doors once he heard the destructive battle coming from inside. The once lovely Ballroom was in shambles and needed a major clean up as well as interior repairs, so no one could blame the Hotel manager for being upset considering the predicament he was now faced with.
"What seems to be your problem?" Venkman asked, looking at the Hotel Manager in surprise for his ingratitude while Michiru was having trouble pinpointing the exact location of the cursed artefact which was eluding him for the time being because of where it was hidden. "Thanks to me and my new partner, the festivities can now proceed in an entirely ghost-free environment. So…you're welcome…eh?"
"NOOOO! Stop your partner from destroying that bar stand! Is he trying to ruin me?" The hotel manager asked in a furious tone, watching in dismay as the Japanese student was blasting the beverage shelf with all the alcoholic drinks to smithereens, making Michiru shut off his proton stream and turn to look back with an apologetic expression on his face since he heard the man's yelling.
"Keep your shirt on, you're insured." Venkman countered. "Its alright Mitch, carry on with what you're doing; everything's cool!"
"What do you mean everything's cool? He's wilfully destroying hotel property! This is an outrage! The guests are going to complain and my hotel is going to lose face because of all this destruction!" The man said in a panicked state, looking as though the world would end.
"Hey, relax buddy. Take a drink and calm down, we're just removing a cursed artefact so that it doesn't cause any supernatural activities that might draw more ghosts into your hotel; you'll thank us later when you finally have no more paranormal disturbances." Venkman explained, trying to calm the manager down so he wouldn't have a heart attack or go into shock from his current state.
The Shikigami user was finally able to figure out why he couldn't see the artefact even though his PKE meter could still detect its presence, it was located inside of a secret room hidden behind the wall where the bar stand stood; which is why he had to blast it apart in order to bust a hole large enough for him to pass through to the other side. After the determined teenager had done enough damage to the spot on the wall, Michiru carefully stepped through the narrow opening he had created with his proton stream and found himself standing inside of a dark room which was so small that it felt claustrophobic. Luckily, Michiru had a flashlight attached to his shoulder strap which enabled him to see in the dark; and his goggles also enhanced his visibility as he finally got a good look at what the cursed artefact was. Although it looked like a huge treasure chest at first glance, his PKE meter confirmed that the object was actually an old fashioned suitcase covered in travel stickers from around the world; much to the young boy's disappointment. After taking a scan, the piece of luggage vanished before his eyes; allowing Michiru to exit the cramped compartment in which it had been hidden. Now that this job was over and Slimer had been successfully recaptured, Michiru and Venkman could meet up with Egon and Ray. As the Kururugi boy left the remnants of the destroyed bar stand and met up with Venkman on the other side of the ballroom, he could remember hearing how panicked the hotel manager had been about all the damages that had been caused and he wondered if every customer or client was as unsatisfied with the Ghostbusters if they always left a mess as bad as what he had seen throughout the Sedgewick Hotel so far.
"Are you guys always this popular at everywhere you do business?" Michiru asked as the two Ghostbusters left the ungrateful manager to sulk inside the Ballroom. "I'm just asking out of curiosity, just so I'm prepared to take more scolding from any unsatisfied customers that we might encounter later on in the future."
"It really depends on customer's attitude and the resulting aftermath once the job is done. There are those who like us and those who hate us, its as simple as that." Venkman answered as the two of them exited the ballroom which was now in shambles.
"Nice of you guys to join us. Did you grab the little spud?" Ray asked, making a surprise appearance in the hallway as Michiru and Venkman headed towards the main lobby.
"Don't worry Ray, Mitch and I have got this one locked inside and under control." Venkman answered as proton discharging sounds echoed throughout the lobby as the three Ghostbusters entered by the main entranceway.
"Uh oh. Heads up, your initiation is over. Now give us a hand, we've got a gang of really persistent troublesome spirits here." Ray instructed, looking around at the Bellhop ghosts which had returned and were fighting Egon. "These ghosts sure want a fight!"
"Multiple contacts, those Bellhop ghosts we fought earlier have now come back to finish us off." Egon warned, firing a proton stream after selecting a target. "Look out behind you Mitch!"
The Shikigami user turned around just in time to see a Bellhop ghost fly into him, the sudden impact from the spirit's momentum knocked Michiru on to the floor and left him winded for ten seconds or so before Ray came over and helped the young boy to his feet.
"Thanks Ray, ouch." Michiru said as he stood up. "I guess I wasn't expecting a ghost's form to be just as solid as a mortal person, and I thought it would pass through me the same way Slimer did when he escaped from us on the twelfth floor a short while ago."
"No need to worry Mitch, everyone gets knocked down a few times here and there in a fight. Now that you're back on your feet, let's teach these restless souls a lesson using that tactic you came up with during our first battle with these Bellhop bozos." Ray replied, as the two of them fired proton streams at the closest ghost which had knocked Michiru on his feet just a moment ago. With the two of them working together, the troublesome target was quickly worn out and captured inside of Ray's trap on the floor.
"I'll help out Egon, you help out Venkman. With any luck, we'll wrap up this fight in a few minutes. Watch out on the right!" Ray shouted, as Michiru turned around and ensnared a worn out Bellhop ghost after firing a well aimed proton blast from his positron collider. "Nice streaming Mitch, you're getting the hang of it."
As each Ghostbusters was currently slamming a captured ghost in their streams, some of them were giving in to their success and shouting insults at the spirits and occasional words of encouragement towards each other. After several slams left and right, up and down; the remaining Bellhop ghosts were guided into proximity of the traps laid out on the floor and they all cried out with high pitched screams as they were pulled inside the small devices where they would be sealed until they were transferred into the main containment unit back at HQ once the Ghostbusters returned home after the work was completed. Now that the commotion was over and it was safe for the time being, the hotel manager returned from the Ballroom to complain about the destruction of the lobby.
"Well that wasn't such a chore now was it?" Ray commented, as Michiru looked around at the rubble that lay cluttered all over the floor of the once clean and tidy hotel lobby.
"Who is going to pay for all of this?" the angry man asked in a worried tone of voice as he looked at all the burn marks everywhere. "I for one refuse to pay you a cent, you've caused more interior damage than all of those ghosts did!"
"We bill the city directly to pay for all captures and eliminations, any damages are covered by insurance with every job we do as are all of our other clients who require our services. But if you're not satisfied, then perhaps we should just leave the ghosts here if that's what you would prefer sir?" Venkman replied, already knowing the man's reaction and causing Michiru to laugh momentarily at his words.
"No! no." The manager cried out before calming down. "But please, be more careful from now on when you catch ghost in this hotel."
"We'll try our best sir…" Ray replied before being interrupted by the loud laughter of a huge white ghost with a fishing rod darting out of the hallway from the kitchen at the left hand corner of the lobby and flying passed the Ghostbusters while they were crowded together. The massive spirit tried striking them as he flew passed above their heads twice before disappearing once his grand entrance was made. "Wooah! Where did he come from?"
"I suppose we should go after him, unless you'd rather discuss it first?" Egon said, turning to look at the manager who had fled and was already racing back to the Rodriguez Ballroom where he thought he would be safe from this new ghost that had just emerged.
"Mitch, go with Dr. Spengler; check out the angry fisherman." Ray ordered. "Venkman and I will remain here for a bit and deal with anymore new spooks that might arise, good luck to you both."
"Thanks Ray, we'll need all the luck we can get this morning on a job like this." Michiru replied before taking out his PKE meter and following Egon to track down the huge fisherman ghost. After making their way down the hallway where the elevators were located, Michiru and Egon arrived in what looked like a small lounge area and turned to the right, heading for a doorway which lead to the stairway of the Sedgewick Hotel.
"This way, it looks like he's drifting upstairs." Egon stated, checking his PKE meter as the two of them pushed open the doors to look up the long dark red carpeted staircase leading up to the twelfth floor. "Shh."
Michiru turned to look at Egon after hearing the signal to keep silent, the Doctor used his left hand to point at the Kururugi and then at the stairway. The Shikigami user nodded quietly to show that he had understood Egon's instructions to move up the stairs as cautiously as possible without making any noise in the hopes that they could get the jump on the fishermen ghost before he escaped. The fisherman ghost was located on either the fourth or the fifth floor as Michiru and Egon were making their way up the stairs to get to the third floor. Michiru was taking point as he walked up the stairs while Egon followed some distance behind so that each of them could view the staircase above and below from different locations as they slowly ascended, leaving no blind spots except when they weren't looking in a certain direction. The fisherman cast his fishing rod and locked the hook at the end of the line around the railing of the section of stairs built into the wall directly above where Michiru was walking; a sudden tug ripped the structure and the stairs from the wall and caused them to fall as they came apart.
"Look out!" Egon shouted after glancing up to see the danger his young friend was in. Michiru looked up and sprinted up the stairs, arriving at the third floor just in time to avoid being crushed to death by the falling debris landing where he was a moment ago. Although Michiru had escaped getting killed, he was now trapped on the third floor and Egon was unable to join him because of the fallen wreckage that blocked the stairway. "I can't get across there, move. You'll have to take the lead from here, catch this trap once I throw it to you, I'll get Ray and Venkman so we can find a way to join you later. Try and track down the spiritual entity on your own until we locate you, just contact us using your radio if you have any questions. Get going Mitch, and don't let that ghost get away."
Egon left down the stairs to rejoin the other Ghostbusters, leaving the Shikigami user by himself before he could say anything as he caught the trap. Not wanting to waste any valuable time, the Kururugi boy pulled out his PKE meter to scan for info as he walked ahead; but is instrument picked up the signal of another cursed artefact instead of the ghost he had been told to track down. It wasn't going to hurt if he took a minute or two to find the object; and each new active sample that was collected would undoubtedly provide useful data for Egon's work on developing new offensive technology so it was worthwhile to investigate. Michiru carefully ascended up the winding staircase, listening closely for any noises in case it would suddenly fall apart and collapse like the other section of stairs had moments ago; keeping his eyes on the PKE meter as he moved along until his eyes caught sight of an old painting which he now knew was the artefact in question. It was beyond doubt that this painting was what he had been looking for, because it changed its appearance slightly if Michiru adjusted his position to glance at it from a different angle; the surface of it looked like it had changed into a TV screen as the picture began to mysteriously catch fire without causing any damage or heat to itself or the wall on which it was hung.
This was indeed creepy for the Japanese student, so he quickly took a scan; making the cursed artefact vanish so that he could resume his mission of tracking down the ghost as Egon had instructed him too. Once he had retraced his path back down the stairs, Michiru decided to follow the hallway and then take a left in order to get to the elevators. Just before arriving at the turn to make a left, a bright purple light shown from around the corner of the other hallway. As Michiru dashed around to prepare himself for an expected ghost attack, a giant wave of water crashed from another hallway to the left just before the elevator room; washing away furniture and everything in its path as it made contact. The lone paranormal eliminator had just enough time to take a scan of the Pappi Sargassi fisherman ghost as he flew passed before the water's momentum washed Michiru away back to the stairs where he had been before. The water flowed down the stairs and through the railing built on the floor until most of it drained away at the bottom of the main floor of the Sedgewick Hotel, leaving a soaking wet teenager surrounded by debris, water and what looked like seabed soil with ocean vegetation all over the floor. As the shivering young man got to his feet and continued to go down the hallway where the water flood had originated, the voices of his fellow Ghostbusters were heard over his radio.
"Is there a bathtub overflowing up there?" Ray asked.
"More specifically, a seven thousand cubic meter bathtub filled with protonically charged seawater. And um…sea cumbers" Egon answered.
"Egon, I'm soaked in this freezing cold water. There aren't any negative or paranormal effects that might affect me are there?" Michiru asked worriedly as he walked with his PKE meter in hand.
"I shouldn't think so, you can always decontaminate yourself and your clothes by taking an ion shower when we return home to HQ just to be safe if that makes you feel better." Egon answered. "We're making our way to the elevators, so we should get to the third floor in five minutes or so. Try and locate that angry fisherman ghost until we arrive, good luck and don't get lost up there."
"Okay thanks Egon, see you guys in a bit." Michiru replied just before his PKE meter was detecting something to the left. Although he wanted to head for the elevators which were ahead and to the right, the young teen turned left in the hopes that he could find the fisherman ghost. As he came to a T intersection in the hallway, Pappi Sargasso (the name of the fisherman ghost identified from the PKE meter) appeared instantaneously in front of the boy; laughing as if he was high and mighty. The Kururugi boy fired his proton stream at the spiritual entity, striking it as it flew passed him and out of sight. As Michiru ran back and to the right to quickly check the elevator room before searching the maze of hallways on the third floor, his radio echoed again with the voices of his coworkers.
"Ray, did you tell Mitch about semi-dimensional rift entities? Egon asked. "This type of highly agitated environment is a likely manifestation point."
While the Shikigami user wondered what Egon was talking about, he found his way into the elevator room. His PKE meter started beeping, causing the boy to stop in his tracks to scan the room's interior for any hidden abnormalities. Even though he could have sworn that the bright blue and white round spook went to the right, Michiru begun to sense that the angry fisherman ghost wasn't the only adversary he had to worry about. He held up his tool trying to locate the source of the unknown presence and scanned a small brass lamp with four limbs each holding a fake candle with a small light bulb protruding from the top. After the Kururugi boy identified the abnormality as a candelabrum crawler, the lamp suddenly detached itself from the wall and landed upside down on the floor and charged forward like a four legged animal. The shocked teenager grabbed his positron collider just in time and fired a proton stream at the metallic menace, destroying it with an explosion after a few seconds and scattering the pieces of the device on the floor in front of him.
As a small orb of green light which must have been the spiritual entity floating away, the teenager realized that there would be a lot more of these new opponents to deal with. There were about two to four of these lamps in the hallways he had walked through, it seemed logical that these would come to life and attack him just as the first one had. Michiru was alone against all of these enemies and that numerical superiority was a serious advantage inside a hotel room with hallways that were cross connected and that he could easily be attacked from in front and behind at the same time. To make matters worse, his proton pack needed to be vented if he overheated it during a battle; giving his opponents an opportune moment to strike when his weapon wasn't operable. However, he did possess his Shikigami magic; something his enemies would not expect. Although he had be warned not to use it for fear of drawing unwanted attention, he was all alone and surrounded by just spiritual entities which gave him the option since no people were around to see him using his magic.
"Oh great, more creepy crawlies. Shikigami attack!" Michiru shouted as more of the candelabrum crawlers swarmed from the hallway where Pappi Sargassi had fled. These agile adversaries were scurrying towards the Kururugi boy on the floor, both walls and even the ceiling; making it even more difficult to target them as they charged the lone teenager. As Michiru fired his proton stream at the crawlers on the floor, he used his Shikigami magic to throw small fireballs at those on the ceiling. The ones that weren't destroyed were forced to come down on the floor with the rest, allowing the Shikigami user could concentrate his firepower on each of them as they attacked.
"Oh flame burning bright! Turn into a sword of wrath! Raging Flame!" Michiru shouted, summoning his Shikigami magic and cast a raging flame to roast the remaining candelabrum crawlers as his proton pack began to overheat. Once the bright orange fire extinguished itself and his proton pack was vented and ready again, the Shikigami user finished off the last two attackers with a proton stream. Eight candelabrum crawlers accounted for including the one he had scanned before this battle and so far things weren't going too badly. The Kururugi boy walked down the hallway to return to the stairway where the fisherman ghost must have gone, but caught sight of another metallic quadruped crawling on the ceiling where Pappi Sargassi had been before he fled. His curiosity got the better of him and the Shikigami user walked back to the T section to follow the spiritual entity which had gone left and down another hallway to the right a few steps ahead.
As the cautious young man walked down the hallway keeping his eyes and hears open, he came to a cross section in the middle of the hallway with three different directions available to him. After standing still and scanning in each direction with his PKE meter, the Kururugi boy chose the right hand hallway leading towards a small room where a soda machine and a vending machine stood. Before venturing into the hallway, Michiru fired his positron collider at each of the three lambs attached to the left wall in order to destroy them so they couldn't be used by any spiritual entities lurking about. Once he was sure that it was safe enough to approach the room, the Shikigami user The vending machine had been raided and smashed by Slimer who had emptied the contents of snacks inside earlier when Michiru and Ray were both hunting him earlier. But the soda machine was still intact, until it fell forwards as Pappi Sargassi emerged from his hiding place and darted down another hallway to the right that was impassable to humans because of the debris and solidified seabed soil coated all over the floor and partially the walls and ceiling.
This left Michiru in a bad situation, he would have to find a longer route to get to that area just to try and catch up to the elusive fisherman ghost who had the advantage of speed and mobility; not to mention a head start. This adversary was much more dangerous and difficult to find and fight than Slimer had been, and he had the candelabrum crawlers on his side as well which could lead Michiru in the wrong direction or attack and defeat him before he caught up with Pappi Sargassi. As Michiru arrived back at the cross section of the hallway and looked to the left and right, his PKE meter suddenly beeped and flashed blue on the screen; there was another cursed artefact down to the right of where the hallways intersected. As he cautiously followed the trail, he could easily identify that the object was a toaster; which was conveniently resting on a pile of seabed soil just a few feet in front of him. The teenager quickly scanned it so it would teleport itself through a dimensional plane and arrive back at the Firehouse where it could be kept safe and sound, now he had to carry on with his primary task of finding that ghost who had gotten away again; and he was getting frustrated at having to search through this maze which was flooded with seawater that had made him soaking wet and cold.
Michiru retraced his steps to where he was standing at the cross section of the hallway before he had detected the cursed artefact with his PKE meter and as he looked to the left and right, more of the metallic monsters coming from two different directions in an effort to trap him in a pincer movement; which wasn't good for the lone warrior. They had however, unintentionally given away the best route to catch up to the angry fisherman who had escaped just moments ago. Although this helped out Michiru, this new advantage would be of little use if he didn't survive battling with the horde of possessed objects first. There was nothing else for it, the Kururugi boy ran to the left as he fired his proton stream at the menacing attackers until he was forced to stop in his tracks and engage in a two front battle against these deadly enemies that were now surrounding him.
"Oh brightly burning light! Turn into a sword of wrath! Raging flame!" Michiru shouted as he cast his magic once again to launch a fire attack with its flamethrower like effect, hoping to blind and damage the enemies behind him for a few seconds so that he could deal with the ones in front with his proton stream. After about ten seconds, the magic assault was over as all of the remaining candelabrum crawlers encircled the Kururugi boy in an effort to overpower him using their advantage in numbers. Although his energy and strength were being pushed to the limit in this intense close quarter's conflict, the Shikigami user wasn't going to give up or give in. Michiru used his magic to throw small balls of fire at his enemies; he even used his positron collider as a tool to block and strike his opponents as he waited for it to reset itself before he could discharge a proton stream again. After what seemed like a long battle, all fourteen of the abnormal adversaries had been destroyed; allowing the temporarily tired teenager to resume his pursuit of the angry fisherman.
After turning left and walking down to the end of the hallway, the Kururugi boy made another left and found himself walking through a hallway that looked more like an underwater cave tunnel because of the solidified sea soil and vegetation all over the walls, floor and ceiling. But there was a light source up ahead at the end of the hallway and upon arrival, Michiru realized he was at a completely different elevator room located somewhere else in the Sedgewick Hotel. It was beautifully lit up and absolutely clean, which was a nice change of scenery after walking back and forth in a maze of flooded hallways with dangerous critters lurking about. As he followed the pathway, he stopped at entrance to what looked like a private Pub with a huge sign posted outside labelled: Sargassi. The Kururugi boy was relieved now that he had come to the right place to track down Pappi Sargassi, and he could finally fight him without the candelabrum crawlers or the seawater causing him trouble.
Once he stepped inside, he could see tables and chairs all over the floor for guests and an elevated stage at the end of the Pub with more tables and chairs for people to sit and enjoy themselves. In the centre of the room was an elevated stage, very small and round to hold a piano on top so a performer could play music and entertain everyone all around the room. The Bar stand was to Michiru's left with a long counter table with racks behind holding various bottles of spirits and other alcoholic beverages as well as clean empty glasses to serve them in. To the right was the wall with large glass windows looking out of the Hotel which gave an excellent view of the outside considering that the Bar was located on the third floor of the Sedgewick Hotel. Unfortunately, Michiru's survey of what he had deduced to be the Fisherman's Pub was cut short as Pappi Sargassi made an appearance with his long fishing rod as he floated about near the ceiling which made it difficult for the Kururugi boy to strike him continuously with a proton stream. In order to get a better vantage point from which to look and shoot around the Pub, Michiru raced passed the Bar stand and up one of two small sets of stairs leading to the elevated stage at the end of the room. Now that he was in a better position, the Shikigami user fired another proton stream at the angry fisherman as it disappeared just before the other three Ghostbusters burst through the door entrance with their positron colliders out and ready.
"Good work. Are you alright?" Egon asked, as the three paranormal eliminators walked forward to rejoin their friend at the other end of the Pub.
"My clothes are still wet and my feet are ice cold, but other than that; I'm doing alright." Michiru answered with a hint of frustration. "Oh by the way, I found six cursed artefacts here inside the hotel; I scanned each of them and they're probably back at the Firehouse right about now."
"That's great! Nice going Michiru. You might really be the right person for this job as the experimental equipment technician." Ray said as he congratulated the teenager for surviving on his own and successfully tracking down the angry fisherman ghost through a flooded maze of hallways filled with other spiritual entities.
"Yes you have destroyed a significant section of a five star New York hotel, in under three hours." Venkman replied sarcastically.
"Has it really been close to three hours? Michiru asked in surprise. "I had no idea that we've been here for that long."
"I've got something on my PKE meter, let's track it down." Egon replied, completely ignoring Venkman's comment as he tried locating the spiritual entity in order to capture it and get the job done.
As Michiru used his PKE meter and walked down the stairs to head for the Bar stand, the closed entranceway to the kitchen burst in pieces in a violent explosion. Out of the kitchen walked a colossal humanoid shaped giant, made up of a cook oven, a small furnace; and various other cooking and eating utensils that were gathered together to create the body of this spiritual entity. This opponent identified as a Kitchen Golem by Michiru's PKE meter, stood eight feet tall at the very least and was using brute force as its main weapon, making it very dangerous for anyone who was too close to this new menace, whose body was solid as a rock in the eyes of the comparatively small Ghostbusters.
"Holy smokes! What kind of a ghost is that?" Venkman replied, backing up in fear as the enormous metal monster stomped forward to attack the Ghostbusters.
"Some type of highly focused anthropomorphic animator, an entity that attracts familiar objects to itself so it can materially manifest it's rage." Ray answered as everyone redeployed throughout the Pub in order to distance themselves from the dangerous being before they could engage it. "Unfortunately, it looks as though it wants to take out it's rage by pummelling us."
"It's generating a field of attraction so strong that it's able to reassemble it's component parts." Egon added, firing a proton stream at the enemy as it roared like a wild angry beast. It'll take all four of us to wear it down so we can defeat it; everyone spread out and be extremely careful."
As the battle raged out of control and completely trashed the interior of the Sargassi Pub, Michiru was unfortunately selected as the Kitchen Golem's first target. Although this powerful opponent could be attacked by one of the teenager's more powerful magic attacks, the Shikigami user didn't want to risk using his magic in against an opponent whose body could explode and possibly injure the Ghostbusters with shrapnel like effect from all the metal devices. In addition to that, the ceiling above them could collapse on top of them if it was damaged by the sheer force of the magic spell which could mean the death of everyone in the room. The Kururugi boy positioned himself behind the piano stage in the centre of the room so as to keep the metal monster from approaching him in a frontal assault as he fired his proton stream. This would force the giant to walk around, allowing Michiru to simply move left or right around the stage to stay shielded from the Kitchen Golem as it walked about the room.
After continually blasting the armoured adversary, the tide slowly began to turn in favour of the Ghostbusters. The round metal object perched at the top of the body began to glow bright red, obviously being the head of the monster and possibly the vulnerable Achilles heel of the spiritual entity's body. All of the Ghostbusters entangled the red object with their capture streams and pulled as hard as they could, but were unable to separate it from the rest of the body. Michiru finally decided to use the Slam meter to gain additional momentum and strength to accomplish the task, tearing the head clean from the body of metal objects in one swift motion as it slammed against the wall on the other side of the Pub. As the body collapsed to the floor and scattered the remaining metal devices all over the floor, Pappi Sargassi emerged from the wreckage as the spiritual entity from inside the Kitchen Golem. Now that he had been weakened from the battle and his assembled outer body of metal armour was gone, he would be an easier opponent to take on. Just a minute or so later, the four paranormal eliminators had the round ghost ensnared in their capture streams and Michiru was slamming the angry fisherman up and down against the floor continuously in an effort to wear him out.
"Ha! Nicely done Michiru." Egon congratulated.
"That's the stuff, teach that ghost a lesson." Venkman said. "Oww! Painful."
"Ohhh! You owned that creep!" Ray commented, watching the Kururugi boy slam the spiritual entity against the floor with a painful impact. "They felt that one in Pittsburgh."
"If you don't mind, would you guys knock it off with the spectator comments and through out a trap so we can bag this ghost before my proton pack overheats?" Michiru replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I've had enough of chasing this particular entity around a maze of seawater filled hallways infested with candelabrum crawlers thank you very much."
All three paranormal eliminators shut their mouths and looked at each other in surprise after hearing the Kururugi boy's words. Ray tossed a trap out on the floor while Egon and Venkman helped the Shikigami user guide the worn out fisherman into proximity so it would be imprisoned. Pappi Sargassi realized too late what was happening and had no strength or energy left to escape from the powerful vacuum effect of the device underneath him, his screams died out as he was pulled inside of the trap until the doors closed shut.
"I thought I didn't like knives and forks flying at me, but having knives and forks form together to become an angry giant is a lot worse." Venkman commented as he looked at the mess of eating utensils and cooking equipment scattered around the room.
"Happens everyday right? Anybody hear from Zeddemore yet?" Ray asked, picking up his trap as the entire floor shook from what sounded like a giant impact close by the Sedgewick Hotel.
"Uh guys? I'm right outside, and so is something else." Winston answered over Venkman's hand radio. "You need to get out here fast."
"Glad you could make it here Winston, but first…how was Aida?" Venkman asked humorously, turning to look at Michiru as the floor mysteriously shook again and again. "We've had to catch ghosts with this new employee and train him properly while on the job too."
"I've been trying to get here for over FOUR HOURS Peter! Traffic is a little BLOCKED right now!" Winston answered in a frustrated tone of voice, not liking Peter's humour at all. "And what's this about a new employee? Did you hire a new guy while I booked today off?"
"Wait…I know that thud…" Ray said worriedly as his face paled.
"Winston, what's going on down there?" Egon asked seriously after grabbing the hand radio from Venkman. "What do you see outside?"
"Its big, its fat, and none of you are going to like it." Winston answered, making Michiru wonder if the Ghostbusters had encountered what ever it was that Wintson was referring too. "I suggest you warn your new guy not to panic or flee in fear once it comes into view."
"No, this is not possible. Not here, not now, not again!" Ray responded as everyone turned to look out the windows at a giant while being walking outside by the wall of the Sedgwick Hotel. Michiru's eyes widened as he stared through the window. In all his adventures, the Shikigami user had never encountered an enemy being of this colossal size before; nor had he ever fought against one.
Author's Note: I plan to have the scenes with the Inuyasha characters in the next few chapters to be a little longer than the brief one at the start of this chapter so please don't worry about not seeing them while Michiru is in the states with the Ghostbusters. Once Michiru has assured everyone that everything is okay for the time being, than Inuyasha will travel to the feudal era so some of the other Inuyasha cast members can appear every now and then as the story progresses.
Jetty1, I regret to inform you that I haven't seen any of the Lethal Weapon movies so I won't be writing a Cursed Mask cross over with them. However, I do plan on having Michiru travel to Los Angeles during his later adventures in the U.S. after this cross over is finished. I've already chosen at least a dozen or more different shows for cross over stories, and every one of them has been chosen for a specific reason. My main problem is arranging them in the proper order so I can accurately tie them all together without causing any problems. As for interactions, you'll be seeing some funny moments involving Michiru, Illysa, and Peck in next chapter.
Orionpax09, I hope that this second chapter is somewhat of an improvement compared with the first one. As you already guessed, Michiru will be using his Shikigami magic in certain stages of the game when the need forces him to do so as long as he doesn't get caught by people who might rat him out. And you're right about Illysa taking an interest in him thanks to his magical abilities, I figured she can help him research for clues about his Shikigami powers and his paranormal experience travel from Japan to the states. I'm pleased that you're enjoying the friendship moments and interactions between all of the characters; I'll try and keep that going as I continue the story.
