I own nothing pertaining to Ghostbusters! Only my OC.
By morning, New York City had it's power restored, and The Ghostbusters had their hands full. Juliet leaned forwards from her seat next to Winston and spoke to her friends over the counter.
"Okay, so tell me everything that happened before this trial starts." she said to them and suddenly both Egon and Ray started to explain to her what happened. It was kind of difficult to catch everything but they didn't have the time to stop and start over.
"So that's what is in that jar?" Juliet pointed to a jar with a pink substance on the table with all of their equipment.
"Yeah," Ray nodded. "I found a whole river of that stuff! It was amazing!" he said, his eyes bright with excitement.
Juliet smiled. Only Ray could get excited over slime. "Do you think that could be what caused Dana's buggy to go running into the middle of the street by itself?"
"Maybe." Egon said. "But we didn't get a chance to study since Ray," Egon sent him a glare and he shrunk in his seat. "Broke that power line and got it taken away."
"Well no sense worrying about it now." she said with a sigh. "We're screwed."
At that moment, the bailiff came in front of everyone and spoke. "All rise."
Everyone in the courtroom rose to their feet as Judge Stephen Wexler strode into the room. Juliet felt her heart sink further as she got a look at the Judge. He did not look like a very nice man.
The Judge graveled the courtroom into secession and they all sat back down.
"Before we begin this trial I want to one thing very clear." The Judge began and his voice was just as intimidating as he looked. "The law does not recognize the existence of ghosts. I don't believe in them either. Don't wanna hear a lot of malarkey about goblins and spooks and demons. We're gonna stick to the facts in this case and leave the ghost stories to the kiddies, understood?"
The prosecutor grinned. "Understood, Your Honor."
"Uh-huh." Louis Tully muttered weakly.
"Wow. Sounds like a pretty open-minded guy." Winston whispered to Egon and he scoffed.
"Yeah, they call him The Hammer." he said and Juliet groaned as pinched the bridge of her nose.
"What can we do?" Ray said with a shrug. "It's all in the hands of our lawyer now."
Louis started to leaf through one of the many books he had brought, looking very nervous. Juliet wanted to grab one of the books and bash her head with one of them.
"I think you guys are making a big mistake. I mostly do tax laws and probate stuff occasionally. I got my law degree at night school!" he told them nervously as he glanced up at them over his glasses and Ray gave him a small smile.
"Well, that's fine, Louis. We got arrested at night." he then sighed and slammed his head down on the table. He obviously saw how doomed they were.
Peter looked over his shoulder, obviously bored with all of this and was a little surprised when he saw Dana in the visitors gallery. He muttered something to the others about being back in a few minutes and got up, walking over to her.
Juliet rolled her eyes and she looked over to the prosecutor's table. Her eyes narrowed when she saw some snobbish looking man talking to the woman who would for sure put them away pretty quickly, judging by how professional and tough she looked. Juliet strained her ears to hear what he was saying to her.
"How are you doing, hon?" the man asked. "Just put these guys away fast and make sure they go away for a long, long time."
Juliet didn't even know who this jackass was but there was no doubt that she wanted to bash his head in with one of Louis's books instead of her own now.
"It shouldn't be too hard with this list of charges." the prosecutor replied.
"Good." the man smiled. "Very good. The mayor and future governor won't forget this."
When Peter came back, Juliet leaned over to him.
"Hey, Venkman, who's that guy over at the prosecutor's table?" she asked him and Peter looked over to where she was pointing. He scowled.
"That's the mayor's new aid, Jack Hardemeyer." Peter told her and Juliet groaned.
"Oh great. Another pain in the ass we have to deal with."
"Yeah." Peter muttered and glared at that certain person as he walked slowly over to their table.
He looked down at them and smirked. "Nice going, Venkman," he cooed. "Violating a judicial restraining order, willful destruction of public property, fraud, malicious mischief…smooth move. See you in a couple of years - at your first parole hearing."
Juliet was seething. She was a little grateful that she wasn't on trial because that meant that she could have the chance to beat the shit out of him.
Hardemeyer gave them one more smirk and turned, marching out of the room. Louis watched as he walked out and gulped, his face now having the color of damp chalk.
"Gee, the whole city is against us. I think I'm going to be sick." he said, his voice in high-whine mode. Juliet reached across the aisle and offered him a waste basket that was there.
Peter put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. They'll never take us alive." he joked to them but all they could offer were very weak smiles. The judge called for opening statements and Peter nudged Louis, reminding him that he was first. Louis blinked, gulped, and stumbled in front of the courtroom.
"Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the- of the audience. I don't think it's fair to call my clients frauds! Okay, so the blackout was a big problem for everybody, okay? I was stuck in an elevator for two hours and I had to make due the whole time. But I don't blame them! Because one time I turned into a dog and they helped me. Thank you." he rambled out. He quickly walked back to the table and sat down. He looked at the others to get feedback and Egon sighed.
"Very good, Louis. Short but pointless." he said.
After watching that, Juliet then considered using the waste basket herself as the prosecutor called her first witness. This was going to be painful.
A con-ed supervisor sat at the stand and was being examined by the prosecutor. Juliet just wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
"Mr. Fianella, please look at Exhibits A through F on the table over here." she pointed to her table. Spread out on it were the basic tools of the Ghostbuster trade. Four proton packs and particle throwers. A few unsprung ghost traps and both the Giga and PKE meters. "Do you recognize this equipment?" she asked.
The con-ed man nodded vigorously. "Yeah. That's the stuff the cops took from their truck."
"Do you know what this equipment is used for?" she asked and the man shrugged.
"I don't know... catching ghosts, maybe? I dunno." he said and the prosecutor whirled around to face the judge.
"May I remind the court that the defendants are under a judicial restraining order that strictly forbids them from performing services as paranormal investigators or eliminators."
The judge nodded. "So done."
She smiled and walked over to her table. She picked up a jar of the pink slime and showed it the con-ed man.
"Now, Mr. Fianella- can you identify the substance in this jar marked Exhibit F?"
"Yeah, that's the stuff, all right." he said and looked over to the judge. "Your Honor, I've been working underground for Con Ed for twenty-seven years. I never saw anything like this in my life. Whatever's down there, they must have put it there."
"No, we didn't!" Ray yelled, furious at the accusation, shooting up from his seat. Peter and Egon held him back as the judge slammed his gavel down.
"Shut up!" he yelled. Juliet felt like sinking down into her seat but she noticed something. Something very interesting. The slime in the jar twitched and bubbled slightly and she stared at it confused. What the hell?
After two very, very painful two hours of watching Louis get destroyed by the prosecutor, both Egon and Ray had been questioned by her and it was again Louis's turn. Juliet was playing with the hem of her black pencil skirt when she heard her name called. Her head shot up and the others were staring at her in surprise.
"Ms. Barlow, sometime today please." the judge said to her. She slowly stood up and walked over to the stand. What the hell was Louis thinking?
She swore in and sat down. She glanced over to the guys and they shrugged at her. Great. Thanks for the support guys.
"Ok, um, Ms. Barlow...s-so you worked with these men s-since they started, right?" he asked. She smiled as she nodded. He was a terrible lawyer but dear god, he was trying and she really couldn't be mad at him.
"Yes, I have."
"O-ok, s-so you have had experiences with ghosts and can s-say that for sure they aren't lying because you worked with them?" he asked, stuttering.
"Of course. Saying that they're lying would be calling myself a liar." she responded and Louis nodded.
"N-no further questions your honor." he said to the Judge. "Your witness, Mrs. Prosecutress."
Juliet felt like asking the judge if she could use his gavel. It was looking like a very good escape option.
The prosecutor walked up the her and smiled. "So, you say you've worked with these men before?"
"Yes. I have. Ever since we started in 1984." Juliet answered.
"Is that the extent of the time that you've known them?"
"No. I've known Ray Stantz since I was eleven years old." she said and looked over to Ray who gave her a smile. She felt her heart flutter a little but forced herself back to reality.
Peter nudged Ray and he looked at him, taking his attention from his friend.
"You've known her for that long?" he asked him, surprised. "And never asked her out?"
Ray glared at him. "Yes, Peter. Get off my back about it."
Peter shrugged. "I'm just surprised. She must really like you to stay friends with you for that long. I would have asked her out years ago…."
At the sight of the death glare Ray sent him, Peter took the hint and shut his mouth.
"Now, where were you when the defendants committed this crime?"
"I was at home after finishing my work at my school. I'm a history teacher." Juliet answered.
The prosecutor smiled at her and motioned a hand at the equipment behind her. "Do you still recognize these tools?" At the sight of Juliet's nod, she continued. "Can you explain what it is for?"
"The pack is to shoot, wear down, and hold a ghost so we can capture it in a trap, like those." Juliet pointed to a trap at the table.
"How dangerous would you say they are?"
"Very." Juliet said and then smirked. "In the hands of someone who doesn't know what the hell they're doing like you, of course they are. For a professional like me or my friends over there, they're just really, really fun toys."
The three men sitting at the table, smiled at her and she sent them a wink.
This made the prosecutor's steady smile fade a little and she showed her the jar with the pink slime.
"Do you know what this is?" she asked.
"No. Not really." Juliet said and grinned. "You found a whole river of this? Man, that sounds awesome. Wish I had gone." she said, looking at Ray.
Ray chuckled at her enthusiasm but the Judge thought different.
"Please, Ms. Barlow. Stay focused on the present matter." he growled from his seat. Juliet clear her throat and nodded. The prosecutor asked her a few more questions but Juliet only answered with half-truth and half-sarcasm. The lawyer saw she was getting nowhere allowed Juliet to go back to her seat.
As Juliet sat down, she felt a her heart pound in her chest with nervousness. Peter was called up after her and she knew this wasn't going to be good.
At the current moment, Juliet was regretting not getting a major in law and becoming a lawyer in college instead of her BA in English and major in History.
The courtroom watched as Louis rambled on and on as Peter whispered the things he should say to him from his seat.
"So you were just trying to help out a friend, who was scared of what was happening to her, when you're scared, there was no evil intended, no malice, because you live here and when you live in a place and you love it like you do you don't want nothing bad to happen, because it'll never happen again, it's an isolated incident, it's a one shot deal-" Louis stammered.
"Objection, Your Honor!" the prosecutor interrupted.
"What?" Louis asked, turning around.
"He's leading the witness!" she and the judge sighed, nodding.
"More like the witness was leading him." Juliet muttered under her breath making Winston chuckle beside her.
"Sustained."
Louis gave the prosecutor an exasperated look. "Give me a break, we're both lawyers."
"Mr. Tully, do you have any questions for this witness that might have some bearing on this case?" the judge asked him, trying to end the case already.
"Do I?" Louis asked Peter and he smiled at him.
"No, we've helped them out enough already."
"No, Your Honor." Louis said and walked back to their table. "Your witness."
The prosecutor rose from her seat, practically salivating at the prospect at destroying Peter's credibility. Peter was prepared though. He'd seen these kind of women before. He'd dated a few of them in college.
"Dr. Venkman," she began. "would you please tell the court why it is that you and your co-defendants took it upon yourselves to dig a very big hole in the middle of First Avenue?" she asked him and he smiled.
"Well, there are so many holes in First Avenue, we really didn't think anyone would notice." he answered and the people in the courtroom laughed. Juliet grinned and shook her head.
The judge though, found none of this funny. "Keep that up, mister, I'll find you in contempt."
The slime in the jar bubbled but no one noticed as Peter offered the judge a shy grin. "I'm truly sorry, Your Honor, but when somebody sets me up like that, I just can't resist."
"I'll ask you again, Dr. Venkman," the prosecutor said, going in for the kill. "why were you digging the hole? And please remember you're under oath."
Peter tried (unsuccessfully) to copy the concerned way Egon would usually talk about things like this. "I had my fingers crossed when they swore me in, but I'm going to tell you the truth. There are some things in this world that go way beyond human understanding. Things that cannot be explained. Things that some don't even want to know about! That is where we come in."
He nodded to Ray and Egon as if to say, I got this fellas.
"So what you're saying," the prosecutor had a grin similar to that of a shark or barracuda. "is that the world of the supernatural is your exclusive province?"
"Kitten, I think that what I'm saying is that," Peter explained. "sometimes, shit happens, someone has to deal with it, and who ya gonna call?"
The gallery began to cheer. Peter stood and took a bow, flashing a very proud grin to his friends. Juliet clapped very happily as she cheered with the rest of the gallery. The moment was short lived though as the judge slammed his gavel to silence the crowd.
"Shut up!" he yelled. The slime in the jar on the table bubbled some more.
By the time the trial ended, Juliet was slumped in her seat and her head was on Winston's shoulder. That was it. Her best friend which she had known for almost twenty-two years was going to jail. Great. Part of her was angry that she didn't go with them. The other was heartbroken and regretful that she never told him how she felt. Oh well. She could send letters, right?
The judge glared at them as he spoke. "Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler, stand up. Get up! You too, Mr. Tully." he said with a sigh when Louis stayed in his seat. Louis stumbled to his feet and the judge continued.
"I find you guilty on all charges! I order you to pay fines in the amount of $25,000 each!"
Ray lifted his gaze from the ground and his eyes caught the slime in the jar still on the exhibit table. It bubbled and he nudged Egon. The judged continued.
"I sentence you to eighteen months in the city correctional facility at Rikers Island!"
Egon turned to where Ray was looking at and his eyes widened.
"I'm not finished!" The judge screamed, getting angrier and angrier with each word. The slime grew more animated as his voice rose. "On a more personal note, let just me go on record as saying that there is no place for fakes, charlatans-"
"Uh, Your Honor?" Egon tried but the judge wasn't going to be interrupted.
"Shut up!- and tricksters like you in decent society!"
"Your Honor, this is important!" Peter tried as well but was ignored. Juliet and Winston looked at the jar of slime as it started to bubble even faster. They shared a look and both uttered,
"Uh-oh."
"You prey upon the gullibility of innocent people!" the judge screamed, his face red.
"Yes, sir." Ray spoke up, now sending the jar nervous glances.
"Be quiet!"
"But-" Ray tried to point his attention to the slime which was now starting to overflow from the jar.
"And believe me, if my hands were not tied by the unalterable fetters of the law! And I would indulge in the tradition of our illustrious forbears…"
Ray now motioned for them to hide under the table and Juliet and Winston followed suit.
"... reach back, to a purer, sterner justice, and have you burned at the stake!" The judge slammed his gavel down, hard, on his desk and at that moment, the jar exploded, a fierce, ethereal whirlwind whipping above everyone's heads.
Ray gazed at the spectacle with childlike wonder as he gasped. "Wow!"
"Winston, go get everyone out safely! I'll help the guys!" Juliet yelled at Winston over the noise. He nodded and stood, and ran to the doors. He pushed them open and the crowd of people in the courtroom scrambled to leave. Juliet leapt over the railing and went in between Peter and Egon.
A pair of ghosts shot out of slime, their fingers crackling electrical sparks, their hair sparkling as well. The judge recognized them immediately.
"Oh my God, the Scoleri brothers!" he yelled in surprise. The brothers glared down at the timid judge and emitted a loud eerie laugh. The two floating apparitions positioned themselves high above either side of the judge's desk and then shrieked down into the desk, sending the large wooden frame sailing across the room in pieces.
The judge found himself sitting behind the smoldering ruins of his desk. He realized he was defenseless and crawled over to the Ghostbusters' table. "The Scoleri brothers!"
"Friends of yours?" Juliet asked him.
"I tried them for murder! Gave them the chair!" the judge said and turned to them. "You gotta do something!"
"Why don't you tell them you don't believe in ghosts?" Egon suggested sarcastically. Juliet would have laughed but didn't have time as their table was lifted high up into the air.
They ran over to the jury box and dove behind the heavy oak wall. They ducked as the brothers tossed the defense table at the wall above their heads.
"These boys aren't playing around." Juliet noted, a slight smile on her face. After a whole morning of being bored, this was a very welcoming change.
"You gotta do something! Help me!" The judge screamed at them. Ray blinked innocently at the judge.
"Don't talk to me, talk to my attorney." he said simply and Louis stepped forwards.
"And that's me! My guys are still under a judicial restraining order! That blue thing I got from her! They could be exposing themselves!" Louis shouted angrily. The judge stared at him, as if he still didn't take him completely seriously.
Peter put a hand on Louis's shoulder and grinned. "And you don't want us exposing ourselves."
They move their attention for a bit over the barrier as they hear the prosecutor scream. They watch as the plumper of the two ghosts holds her up by her foot and tosses her out of the room, her screaming all the while.
The judge groans in both frustration and fear.
Peter points at him and grins. "You're next, bubbles."
The judge gave one more look over the barrier and sighed in defeat. "All right, all right! I rescind the order! Case dismissed!"
Louis grinned and jumped up. "Hooray, we won the case!"
"Now do something!" the judge said, fuming.
The three Ghostbusters grinned at each other and leapt over the barrier. Juliet ran around instead and rolled her eyes. They always liked to be dramatic.
They went over to the evidence table and they grabbed the four proton packs. Egon and Ray slipped on theirs and Peter and Juliet followed as Peter let out a huff.
"Oh... oh, I always hated this part of the business." he said and Juliet smiled. It was very heavy but really, she couldn't have been happier to be wearing it again.
"You know, it's been a couple of years since we used this stuff. I hope it still works." she said as she grabbed the particle thrower, relishing the feel of it in her hands once again.
"It should." Egon nodded, confident. "The power cells have a half-life of five thousand years."
"Well, there's no time for a bench test!" Ray said as he grabbed his own particle thrower. He grinned. "Heat em up!"
Peter turned up his pack and at the sound of the low hum, he grinned. "Doe…"
Ray grinned at him and did the same when his pack was on. "Re…"
Egon turned on his own and grinned when he said his part. "Egon!"
Juliet let out a laugh as Egon sent them a smirk. She really had missed this. But now, it was time to get to work.
"All right, throwers," Ray said as he switched on his thrower and raised it. "Set for full neutronas on stream!"
The others followed and they raised their throwers. They remained on standby though. Everything seemed to be silent and even a little normal.
Suddenly, from the back of the courtroom, chairs began to fly up into the air and then drop back onto the floor.
"On my signal." Ray said as he smiled. He was starting to have some fun. A bolt of energy suddenly shot across the ceiling above them and then the two brothers came floating out into the room.
"Open em up!" Ray yelled. "Now!"
The four of them shut their eyes as their wands emitted the familiar powerful streams of energy. But since they of course hadn't used them in so long, they weren't exactly the best marksmen at the moment. The streams fired wildly and the Scoleri ghosts easily dodged the four streams. The ghosts let out a loud cackle and then promptly dematerialized.
Juliet turned off her gun but the other three didn't seem to notice. She sighed and yelled for them to stop. They heard and shut of the wands, staring around the courtroom in a daze.
Peter had taken out an overheated lamp. Egon blew up the courtroom railing. Ray managed to obliterate half of one of the courtroom's towering pillars.
"That ought to do it, boys. Well done." Juliet said with a smirk. The three men smiled sheepishly and she chuckled. "Okay, so we don't cause anymore damage, Spengs and I will take the door. Ray, you and Peter try to work them down and into a corner."
They nodded at her and working as a team, they fanned the area.
A howl shook the air and the Scoleri brothers reappeared. They swept down and Peter and Ray moved out of the way. Ray fell onto the floor as Peter let out an undulating stream of energy that effectively trapped the fatter of the two ghosts within its force field.
"Nice, Venky!" Juliet cheered.
"Watch your streams. Hold him there." Egon yelled and they both moved towards the evidence table where the traps were.
Egon grabbed one of the traps and picked it up. He threw it into the middle of the room and watched as Peter maneuvered the ghost to the center.
"Easy, Peter."
"I got him." Peter nodded nervously.
A high-pitched scream filled the room and Egon saw the other ghost flying towards them. Ray leapt to his feet and yelled, "Duck, guys!"
Both Egon and Juliet got out of the way as Ray opened fire. The ghost let out a laugh as it dodged the stream.
Ray grit his teeth and let go another stream. This time the stream hit the ghost and it trapped the shrieking and enraged ghost.
"A little help." Ray grunted as he struggled to hold ghost. Juliet raised her wand and shot out her own stream. It hit the ghost and trapped it between both streams.
"Any day now, Egon!" Peter yelled over the shrieks of the ghost.
"Okay, trapping….trapping...now!" he yelled and stomped down on the button of the trap. The small doors of the trap opened up and a bright blue light streamed out of the rectangular box.
"Alright! Cease fire!" Egon yelled and the other three turned off their proton guns, lowering them slowly. The blue light captured both ghosts and gradually, the ghosts dissipated and then suddenly zipped into the trap. The doors on the trap snapped shut and the LED light on the outside flashed brilliantly.
The four of them go to the trap and grin.
"Two in the box!" Ray says playfully.
"Ready to go!" Peter said, joining in.
"We be fast…" Egon and Juliet added and the four of them all said together,
"And they be slow!" all pointing at the trap.
Louis came out from behind the barrier and went up to the trap, looking at it in awe. "Wow!"
"Guess we're back in business, huh boys?" Peter said with a grin as Egon lifted up the trap.
Ray shrugged with a grin and Juliet felt herself practically shake with the same adrenaline she felt the first time she had busted a ghost. She turned to Ray and tackled him into a hug. He let out a 'umph!' from the surprise and before he could respond to the hug, she pulled back, cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. Hard.
Egon and Peter grinned at each other as Ray's eyes widened in surprise. His brain finally caught up and he shut his eyes, kissing her back.
A cough from Peter made them separate, their eyes dazed and faces flushed.
"Well, as much as both me and Egon are happy to see you too finally together, we do have two ghosts inside this trap that we need to put away." he said and both Ray and Juliet blushed.
A few minutes later, Peter kicked open the doors of the courtroom to be met with a crowd of reporters.
Peter grinned. "We're the best, we're the beautiful, we're the only- Ghostbusters."
"And we're back!" Ray cheered as he raised a triumphant fist in the air, his other arm around Juliet's waist as she grinned.
Hey everyone! Yay! I was able to get this chapter out faster than the other! And finally Ray and Juliet kissed! I had that planned for a while now so I was so happy to write it. I am actually pretty happy with how this one turned out and I hope you guys do to! Please, as always, please leave a review! They really help me get these chapters out! Until next time guys! Love you all.