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 #9: Entertainment and Escalation
The time was now 8:30 in the morning on November 22nd and Kagome and her family were just sitting down to have breakfast, along with Inuyasha who had stayed the night at her home after he had come back to return Mrs. Higurashi her digital camera. Kagome had slept in to get some additional sleep for the day so that she be well rested in order to continue with her schoolwork once she had finished eating breakfast, Inuyasha on the other hand was up bright and early; and he had decided to return to the Feudal era once he finished eating with Kagome and her family so he could be in Kaede's village in case any demons were lurking in the forest which surrounded the area.
"How did all of your Feudal era friends enjoy watching your video Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi asked curiously, catching Inuyasha's attention with her unexpected question.
"Shippo and Miroku both thought it was neat since they've never seen a digital camera before, they were both very amazed when they saw the moving images on the tiny screen and they really enjoyed it even though it was a short video. Unfortunately Sango wasn't there to see it because she was out for a walk and he had to go look for her, she probably saw it after I came back home yesterday night." Kagome answered as she turned her attention to Inuyasha with one of those looks which told him that she wanted something from him. "So what did Sango think of the video Inuyasha? Were you able to operate the camera and show it to her?"
"Yeah I was, I operated the camera just as your mother had taught me too; and I returned it to her in the same condition as it was in when she let me borrow it." Inuyasha answered. "Sango was really shocked when she saw the tall city buildings during the battle that Michiru was fighting at night while he was hanging from the top of the thirty-story building, she had never seen a sight like that before so it was a huge surprise for her; especially when she watched Michiru win against that giant monster and all of it's minions. But she enjoyed it very much and was happy that I showed it to her, even Kirara found it interesting since she was perched on Sango's shoulder so that she could watch as well."
"Well I'm very happy that all of your friends enjoyed it, Oh; the phone is ringing." Mrs. Higurashi replied, as she just finished picking up a pile of empty plates and dishes from the kitchen table and was unable to answer it.
"I'll answer it for you Mrs. Higurashi, so just continue." Inuyasha said with a hint of excitement in his voice as he walked over to the phone when he had gotten up from his chair, causing Kagome's mother to nod thankfully while Kagome herself had a look of shock on her face since the half demon was being unusually helpful today. "Hello? Hey Michiru! How've you been doing?"
As Inuyasha began talking with their Kururugi friend over the phone, Kagome immediately began listening in on their conversation since she was curious about Michiru as well even though she knew that it was very rude to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation. Inuyasha kept talking over the phone, asking for Michiru to tell him of any and all battles with ghosts and monstrous opponents since he obviously enjoyed listening to victorious battles which the Shikigami user had accomplished over in the far away country with the Ghostbusters. Kagome kept rolling her eyes as Inuyasha pressed Michiru for more tales; making her wonder if she would even get the chance to talk with Michiru at all. Since Inuyasha was going to be a while, she decided to go to the washroom and shower now that she was now done eating; she figured it would pass the time while she was waiting for her turn on the phone. As she was brushing her teeth, she could faintly hear Inuyasha telling Michiru of the video footage that she had seen and recorded recently; including when he showed it to Sango and Kirara when the half demon had traveled back to the Feudal era to show it to their friends.
"By the way, I've got a message for you from Sango; she said that she wishes she could help you out in any way she could even though she can't travel through the well like Kagome and I can." Inuyasha said, causing Kagome to accidentally gasp while drinking a cup of water in the washroom which was a short distance away from the kitchen; making her spill the cup's contents all over her shirt as she coughed over and over to clear the inside of her throat.
"R-Really?" S-Sango actually said that?" Michiru replied as he suddenly felt overjoyed at hearing Inuyasha say those words to him on Sango's behave.
"You bet, does that make you feel happy?" Inuyasha asked with a smile since he already knew how happy Michiru would be feeling right now.
"Yeah, happy and overjoyed would be a better answer." Michiru replied as his feelings for Sango were ignited by warmth caused from being suddenly overwhelmed with happiness and joy. "Thanks Inuyasha, it means a lot to hear those words even though Sango wasn't able to tell me herself. By the way, I was researching some information with Saya and Ilyssa; and all of us found a way for me to successfully use my Shikigami magic to travel back and forth through time."
"Wait, who's Ilyssa?" Inuyasha asked curiously, not knowing anyone by that name.
"Oh sorry, she's a friend I had saved during my battle against Stay Puft while hanging from the top of the thirty-story building which I'm sure you're familiar with." Michiru answered, telling Inuyasha that Ilyssa had been the woman he had seen Michiru save in the video Kagome had recorded. "She's now working with the Ghostbusters just like I am, she's nearly twice my age; but we get along and treat each other as friends. As a matter a fact, both Ilyssa and Saya were helping me research for clues about my Shikigami magic; and the three of us discovered a way for me to travel back and forth through time."
"Are you serious? You can travel back and forth through time just like Kagome and I can when we both use the Bone Eater's well?" Inuyasha asked in excitement as his eyes widened and his mouth gaped open with a grin. "That's great! So did you actually use your magic and try it out?"
"Yes I did, and it worked; even though I passed out for a few minutes later from overexerting my powers." Michiru answered. "But with more training and experience, I shouldn't have to worry about that for long; all that remains now is finding a way to return home to Japan so I can see my parents as well as you and Kagome. Once I do, hopefully I can travel back through time to the Feudal era and see Sango and everyone else in Kaede's village; then all if us can catch up on lost time."
"That would definitely make Sango and Kagome happy, they both miss you a lot; especially Sango." Inuyasha answered. "Well since you've found a way to travel back in time, I'd better head back to my world and return to Kaede's village; my useless bodyguard Myoga has bound to return eventually with Totosai which means they'll be telling me all about the sword Sounga that you and Saya travelled with."
"I had almost forgotten about that, since Sounga is safely imprisoned inside of a container we built; Saya no longer has to worry about restraining it or keeping it under control." Michiru replied. "Uh oh, I have to go now; there's an important meeting I have to attend for work tonight so I guess this is goodbye. Is Kagome there by any chance? I'd like to say high to her before I hang up."
"She's busy continuing with her homework so she can't come to the phone right now, unfortunately you'll have to try again some other time." Inuyasha answered after finding out where Kagome was from Mrs. Higurashi after only noticing now that the reborn priestess was no longer inside the kitchen. "Before you hang up, do you have a message for Sango that you'd like for me to pass on for you?"
"Yes please, tell her…" Michiru answered. "Tell her that I miss her a lot and thank her for the kind words she expressed, they really meant a great deal to me; I also miss Kirara as well. All the memories I have of spending time with both of them have helped keep me going, and I look forward to the day when we can finally see each other again, as well as you and Kagome too; that brief visit during lunch was far too short to spend with you and Kagome all because of that sword Sounga."
"Kagome and I can agree with you there, we were both really ticked when we found out you were taken to another country and trapped there for a while; but I'm glad you managed to find a way to travel back in time. Who knows, in a few days, you might even find a way to return home as well." Inuyasha replied.
"By the way Inuyasha, when you go back to Kaede's village; could you do me one more favour?" Michiru asked. "Could you hug Kirara for me and maybe feed her some fish if you happen to go hunting around for food while you're there?"
"No problem, I'll also pass on your message to Sango; I'll even tell her and the others that you've found a way to travel back and forth through time as well." Inuyasha answered. "That should make all of them excited, and then they'll know that it's only a matter of days until they can see you again; take care in the meantime and beat the heck out of some more ghosts for me while you're at it too."
"I will, thanks again Inuyasha, please say high to Kagome for me before you leave her house." Michiru answered. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye Michiru." Inuyasha said before hanging up the phone and going to the washroom where Kagome was. "Kagome? You still in there?"
"Y-Yes." Kagome answered back, after finding her voice which was momentarily lost.
"Michiru asked me to say hi to you for him, he has to go to an important meeting so he won't be able to talk to you until some other time later on; just wanted you to know." Inuyasha answered, standing on the other side of the closed washroom door; not wanting to walk in on Kagome and accidentally give her a reason to say sit. "I'm going back to Kaede's village today so I'll see you later on either today or tomorrow okay?"
"Okay, thanks." Kagome replied. "I'll be here at home when ever you drop by, take care Inuyasha."
"Goodbye Kagome." Inuyasha answered before walking in the direction of the front door so he could go outside and get to the well.
After the half demon took his leave, Kagome was sitting naked inside of the bathtub which was filled with warm water; her mind deep in thought. A moment of pause gave her a few seconds to gather her thoughts as a feeling of guilt suddenly came over her for what she had done, she had been eavesdropping over the phone and listening in on the conversation between Inuyasha and Michiru; her curiosity had gotten the better of her even though she didn't feel guilty about it until after it was finally over. She felt that it wouldn't matter much since Inuyasha had done it on her recently, but now she suddenly regretted her actions even though no one had caught her or found out that she had been eavesdropping; it had happened shortly after the moment when she had accidentally inhaled some water from a cup that she had been drinking out of when she suddenly gasped at Inuyasha's mention of Sango's message. It had caught her by surprise and made her cough in order to clear her throat and breath again, it also aroused her curiosity; so much in fact that she tiptoed out of the washroom in order to listen in on the conversation more closely by using the phone in the living room nearby.
Once she had picked up the phone and held it to her head, Kagome heard the rest of the conversation after Inuyasha had asked Michiru about actually finding a way to travel back and forth through time; her eyes widened when she discovered the Kururugi boy's most recent achievement. Although she was happy for him for being one step closer to returning home as well as to the feudal era to reunite with everybody he had made friends with, she was also suspicious as her mind began exploding with questions; more and more while the conversation continued. Once Kagome had hung up the living room phone about a minute before Inuyasha, she zipped back inside of the washroom to avoid being caught; the bathtub was now nearly full of warm water so she had shut it off and started removing her clothes so she could bathe herself. She had just finished getting unchanged when Inuyasha had called to her from outside, feeling guilty about eavesdropping had caused her to momentarily lose her voice for a moment which was why she answered rather nervously.
Was everything she heard actually true or was it just her imagination? Was there actually something going on between Michiru and Sango? Were the two of them slowly falling in love with one another? She didn't actually hear that over the phone when she had been listening in, but from the way Inuyasha and Michiru were talking to each other; it sounded as though there was no other logical explanation for why Michiru and Sango were drawn to each other. She knew that they had become friends; having spent time together during their days off in Feudal Japan over the course of their adventures as they traveled the lands in search of Naraku and Utsugi, but she didn't realize that the two of them had already become so close; let alone moved beyond friendship and possibly nearing the point of falling in love with each other. One thing was certain, they were both much closer than she had known or even dared to guess before she had eavesdropped on Michiru's conversation with Inuyasha; which meant Miroku's window of opportunity would soon be closed for good.
Although Kagome didn't know for sure whether or not Sango truly loved Michiru, she did know that Michiru had successfully found a way to travel back and forth through time. All that the Shikigami user needed now was a way to safely return home to Japan and at the rate events were occurring, she was positive that it would be only a matter of days until he finally did return. Once that was accomplished, then events would escalate to a whole new level; Miroku would lose his last chance of amending his relationship with Sango and Sango herself would have to make a final decision over which young man she would choose to spend the rest of her life with. Suddenly, Kagome had a flashback; recalling the moment when Inuyasha had asked her whether or not she had heard Michiru's final words before he was suddenly summoned back to the modern world in which he lived. Was it possible Michiru had told Sango that he loved her before he left? It seemed natural since he didn't know when or even if he could ever return and see her again, now everything she had heard over the phone added up and made sense. But what was she to do now that she pieced everything together?
A heavy burden suddenly took hold of the unprepared high school girl who still sat motionless in the warm water with her legs tucked together and her knees pulled against her upper body as she crossed her arms and rested them on top, continuing to think carefully about what she should do now that she had made such a dramatic discovery. Kagome sighed, there was nothing she could do without starting a confrontation between herself and her friends; Inuyasha would surely be cross with her for eavesdropping on such an important conversation which had passed between himself and Michiru. She wasn't able to do anything anyway, let alone travel back and visit everyone until after she had completed all of her school work first; which also meant she couldn't force Miroku to change for the better either. It was already too late for that, unless she could complete all her assignments before Michiru could find a way to return home to Japan. Kagome now most definitely regretted her actions, perhaps she should just pretend that nothing had happened; but she wouldn't be able to pretend forever once everyone was together again in Kaede's village; sooner or later she would have to face reality.
"Michiru…Why didn't you tell me that there was something between you and Sango?" Kagome said quietly to herself, wondering how could she have been so blind and not seen everything she had just discovered. "Why does Inuyasha know but not me? Do you not trust me? Sango…have you really fallen in love with Michiru? Have you actually given up on Miroku just like that? Why have you grown so close to Michiru all of a sudden? After everything we've been through together and after all the time you've shared with Miroku…why?"
It was a few minutes before 7:00p.m. In the afternoon on the 21st of November in the city of Manhattan located in the United States of America. At the Firehouse where the Ghostbusters lived, everyone was gathered together in the hopes that they could persuade their young Shikigami user to attend the party at the Museum as Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn's guest since she was the guest curator invited to the Opening Gala which featured the new Gozer Exhibit. Now as far as Michiru was concerned, he had nothing against Ilyssa; but he was being asked to do something which could accidentally give away his true identity and he wasn't willing to take that course of action since he didn't want to see all of his American friends go to jail. Unfortunately, no one was on his side in this argument; not even Egon or Venkman since the two of them found his embarrassment to be very entertaining as everyone could plainly see how red his face was when he tried talking them out of forcing him to go on this assignment.
Once the argument was lost and Michiru was forced to give up the verbal fight, the Kururugi boy now had to prepare for the upcoming engagement at the Museum which was now drawing closer with every passing hour. Michiru went to the washroom and had a quick shower to clean and wash up since this was an important evening and that he would be in the presence of a lady as well as all the other people who would be attending the Gala tonight. After putting on some deodorant and washing his face a second time just to get extra clean, the reluctant teenager dried himself off with a towel and began to brush his teeth for several minutes before washing out the inside of his mouth. Now that he was clean and dry, Michiru could finally get himself changed into some clothes; his school uniform was about the only attire that he could possibly wear for an evening engagement such as this, but he didn't think Ilyssa would mind since it included a tie which would make him look somewhat appropriately dressed while at the Museum.
While he was inside the washroom having a shower, Ilyssa and Ray were both formulating a plan so that they could accomplish everything without blowing Michiru's identity and so on in case Peck got nosey or if any ghosts suddenly crashed the party. Janine was present there along with everyone else as well just so they all understood what was going on in case things got out of control and that sort of thing. When Michiru emerged from the bedroom, now fully dressed in his familiar light brown pants and while short sleeved shirt with a blue tie and the school emblem on the left breast pocket; everyone greeted him as he came over to join them at the kitchen table were all of his colleagues were gathered together. Ilyssa and Janine both complimented the Shikigami user by saying how handsome he looked and that he would definitely pass as a young gentleman even though he was only a teenager. After the brief comments and remarks were over, Ilyssa went to the washroom so she could also have a shower and get cleaned up before dressing and going to the Museum.
"Listen up Mitch; we've devised a plan on how most of us are going to the Museum tonight so pay attention." Winston instructed. "Go ahead Ray."
"Right, Mitch and Ilyssa are going together as guests to the opening Gala; both of you will be taking a taxi ride to the Museum and you will get inside by using the main entrance. Dr. Rutherford, the assistant curator to the Museum; will get you inside because you are Ilyssa's office assistant at least while she had an office before it was destroyed by Stay Puft two nights ago." Ray explained as Michiru listened carefully to remember everything important since he felt as though he was walking into a lion's den by attending this event.
"Once you are inside, Ilyssa is going to give you a quick tour of the Museum so that you can familiarize yourself with the inside of the building." Egon continued where Ray had left off. "If you see or sense anything out of the ordinary, you can go to the washroom to change into your work uniform which you will have with you inside your backpack and then come and meet us at the loading dock near the service entrance of the Museum; we'll have your proton pack and other equipment on us to give to you once we meet up with each other inside of the Museum. And then amidst all the chaos and confusion, you'll be able to fight with us against any ghosts that appear without having to worry about being questioned or checked for ID."
"One last thing, Saya is also going to be hiding inside of your backpack with your cellular phone so that he can communicate with us in case you are being distracted by Peck; you'll have to teach Saya how to use your cell phone so that he can contact Janine back here and then she can alert us." Winston added. "You won't be allowed to use any of the hand radios that we normally have on us because it might draw suspicions so just have your uniform, Saya and your cell phone inside of your backpack when you go to the Museum."
"What if they open it up to search the inside and see the contents?" Michiru asked with concern.
"The Museum will have a scanning machine just like airports do to search people's luggage so you shouldn't have to worry about that." Egon answered. "Since you won't have any weapons, you'll have to rely on your magic if ghosts show up before you can find us and get your combat equipment so make sure to isolate yourself from the public before you cast any spells. Try not to worry Mitch; we're all sure that everything will turn out fine."
"I'll do my best, but that's all I can promise." Michiru replied, reluctantly agreeing to go along with this plan.
"If I'm spotted inside of Michiru's backpack when it gets scanned, should I make a scene and draw attention away from him so that he can call you in order to give you guys an excuse to come rushing in and save the day?" Saya asked with a laugh.
"That's not a bad idea, then Peck and the security guards would be focussed on us instead of Mitch which would save his hide if he was suddenly suspected of anything." Venkman commented. "While we try and catch you, Mitch could make an escape amidst the chaos and confusion so that works outs."
"I suppose if I'm caught, I'll just have to play the part of being a victim since I had a ghost hiding inside my backpack without my knowledge until it was too late." Michiru remarked.
"You'll do fine Michiru, and Ilyssa will be there with you to back you up and help you out." Janine said, trying to cheer up the young man.
"Alright Michiru, pull out your cell phone so you can teach me how to use it." Saya asked.
While Michiru was instructing his ancient spiritual friend how to use the small communication device, Egon and Ray continued reviewing all the data they had analysed and gathered so far after reading through the Gozerian Codex as best as they could. Winston and Venkman had loaded up Ecto-1 with all the equipment and proton packs so that the Ghostbusters were ready to go at a moment's notice if they were suddenly needed for an emergency. Janine had already finished returning calls from clients and people who were looking to book appointments later on into the last week of July and so she was able to stay up here and chat until the time came for everyone to depart. Once Saya understood how Michiru's cell phone functioned and that he proved he could use it, Winston asked Michiru how he had managed to come up with a spell for travelling back and forth through time using his magic even though he had nothing to go on except a theory which was based on what he had deduced after reading all the research he had found with Saya and Ilyssa earlier that day. The boy answered as best as he could until he ended his explanation by describing the connection between the Void element and his magic for casting such a difficult spell.
"The void is the most important element out of the five that are part of Japanese traditions, it stands above all the others because represents things which exist outside of the ordinary world; things composed of pure energy which can only be described as the quintessential creative energy of the world." Michiru answered. "When the void appeared as I cast my spell, it's power is what helped me to successfully travel back and forth through time; it was my own thought and spiritual energy that told it what I was trying to accomplish and that's why it was able to understand and assist me in the way I needed to successfully pull it off."
"Wow, that's some achievement you pulled off there man." Winston replied, pondering everything Michiru had just explained to him.
"Does anyone have any other questions about our plan for tonight before we get started?" Ray asked, hoping to wrap this up so that everyone understood what they were supposed to do.
"Yeah, how do I look?" a voice answered back from the bedroom entrance.
Everyone turned around and had their mouths and eyes gaping wide open at the sight in front of them. Standing in the doorway was Ilyssa, wearing a dark black evening dress that clung to her figure and was held on her shoulders by two spaghetti straps. She was also wearing a thin round silver bracelet around each of her wrists as well as a small red and white striped necklace around her neck, plus some very tiny earrings which were nearly invisible if one didn't concentrate and look carefully enough to spot them. Ilyssa had her hair done up the same way she normally wore it, and yet; it looked like it was a few shades darker in colour even though no one remembered her dying it at all. Perhaps it was a conditioner or something that she had used which could have changed the colour of her hair, which ever it was; no one would ever know. Just behind her ears were strands of hair that hung down from her head and reached just above her neckline, which somehow made Ilyssa look lovelier than she was already. To match her dress, she also wore a pair of high heels on her feet and was able to walk around easily without any discomfort or trouble; which was a surprise to Michiru since he had never seen a female wear or even walk in high heels before.
"Wow Ilyssa, you look…wonderful." Michiru responded, finally finding his voice after a few moments of uneasiness and shock.
"Well I had to make myself look presentable since we'll be together and that you're already so handsomely prepared for tonight." Ilyssa replied with a smile as she complimented the young blushing teenager yet again. "Janine, get out your camera and take some photos of us; we might ruin our outfits later tonight if we run into some ghosts so now's the time."
"You got it, Michiru; go stand beside Ilyssa and put your arm around her." Janine replied, activating her digital camera and aiming it at Ilyssa before she realized that the nervous Kururugi boy had not moved even an inch. "Well what are you waiting for Mitch? Get on over there; it's not polite to keep a lady waiting."
"Go on tiger, show Ilyssa what a handsome young stud you are. Ha! Ha! Ha!" Winston said encouragingly, lightly shoving the Japanese student over to where his female friend was standing. "If only you could see your face, you're about as red as a strawberry just ripe for picking."
"Give me a second to compose myself Janine, or I might ruin the photo." Michiru asked, trying to relax even though he was standing right beside Ilyssa who was just to his right; a few inches away waiting patiently for her guest to get ready.
"There's no need to be so nervous around me Michiru, I'm not going to hurt you so relax already. Ha! Ha! Ha!" Ilyssa said with a few laughs and giggles, unable to contain herself after stealing a glance at the poor boy's blushing and beat red face which was now glowing thanks to the temperature rise inside of his body all because of this embarrassing situation. "Seriously, how are you and I supposed to go to the Museum together if you can't even pose for a mere photograph? We haven't even left the Firehouse yet and you're as scared as a goose."
"I'm sorry Ilyssa, but I can't help it." Michiru replied, taking a deep breath and exhaling suddenly to relief himself of the stress he had undergone. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Three, two, one. Say cheese." Janine ordered, receiving a simultaneous reply from both colleagues as they smiled together before she clicked the camera and took a photo. "Put your arm around Ilyssa for this next one Michiru, and get closer together."
"Go on Mitch, I don't mind." Ilyssa said, letting the hesitant young man know that she was alright with it.
As Janine asked Ilyssa and Michiru to pose for more photos, everyone else was getting quite entertained by this event; Saya was having a hard time trying to contain himself. The old ghost didn't want to upset his friend by laughing at him, but he wouldn't be able to stay quiet while inside of Michiru's backpack during the Gala tonight and so it was probably best to let all of the laughter out now. Winston, Ray, and Venkman were all making short comedic comments as the two friends kept being photographed by Janine. Finally, Egon decided that they should get back on track and so he asked Janine to wrap it up so that Michiru and Ilyssa could both be on their way to the Museum. A honking noise from outside confirmed that a taxi had arrived to pick them up and drive them to their destination so now it was time to leave, Ilyssa got her purse while Michiru strapped on his backpack after sealing it shut with Saya inside. Before they left, each of them were accompanied by all of the Ghostbusters until they were downstairs at the front entrance door where they said their goodbyes and walked over to the vehicle that was to transport them to the Museum tonight. Michiru quickened his walking pace a little and arrived at the cab ahead of Ilyssa so he could politely open the passenger door for her.
"That was very nice of you Michiru, thanks very much." Ilyssa said nicely with a smile as she carefully entered the vehicle and sat down inside. "Take us to the Museum of Natural History please, there's an opening Gala tonight that we're both attending."
"Yes ma'am." The driver replied with a nod after looking through the rear view mirror and making sure that both of his passengers were now safely inside with their seatbelts fastened so that he could be on his way.
The drive to the Museum was a short, but pleasant trip for the two companions; they now had time to themselves without having to worry about work until they arrived. Michiru and Ilyssa chatted back and forth with one another as the female curator told a short story of how she had become a research specialist and why Sumerian and Gozerian culture had caught her interest. Saya was able to listen and hear the entire conversation and he couldn't help but wonder how embarrassed the Kururugi boy would be once they had all returned to the Firehouse only to be interrogated by all of the Ghostbusters just as he had been yesterday night after the fiasco with the ghosts of his ancestral grandparents. But the thought eventually left his mind as he relaxed and waited patiently for what would happen next, listening carefully in case he had to burst out and make an appearance when ever or if ever it was necessary. Another ten minutes later, the taxi pulled up to a halt; right in front of the Museum. Ilyssa paid the driver just before she got out of the vehicle and was delighted once again to find Michiru holding the door open for her, Michiru closed the door shut and the taxi drove away; leaving the two of them standing at the main entrance of the Museum of Natural History.
A gigantic and towering building made of concrete and stone stood in front of the two friends, its smooth pillars leading upwards with gargoyles and statues standing above on a surface which was supported from underneath. Before Michiru could continue looking in awe and amazement, Ilyssa took the unprepared Kururugi boy by the left hand and pulled him along up the stairs which lead up to the main doorway. Michiru protested, telling Ilyssa that he didn't need her to hold his hand since he was a teenager as opposed to a young child; making the female adult laugh in the process as she released her grip on her young friend's hand. Once they were inside, they were greeted at the door by a middle aged man wearing black dressed pants and fancy ink black shoes; a blue shirt with a yellow tie underneath his business suit which was also black. He was partially shaven, bald except for some hear on the sides and back of the upper part of his head and he also wore a large pair of glasses since his eyesight was obviously impaired.
"Good evening Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn, my name is Dr. Rutherford; I'm the assistant curator of the Museum of Natural History." The man said, welcoming the two of them as he approached. "And who is your young companion may I ask?"
"Thank you Dr. Rutherford, allow me to introduce Mitch; he's a foreign exchange student that I hired as an office assistant while I'm temporarily staying here in town." Ilyssa answered as the Shikigami user quickly shook hands with the grownup even though he was feeling nervous about accidentally blowing his cover. "We're also tutoring each other; I'm teaching him about Gozerian culture and architecture while he's teaching me about ancient Japanese culture and mythology; that's why he's accompanying me during the Gala tonight."
"Speaking of the Gala, would the two of you like to see the new Gozer Exhibit? Its all set up and ready in the main gallery." Dr. Rutherford suggested.
"Yes please, we've been looking forward to that since I was invited to the Gala." Ilyssa answered excitedly. "But before that, I'd like to give Mitch a tour of the Museum if that's alright with you."
"Yes, that shouldn't be a problem. Before we go, please come over to the security area so that your belongings can be checked; it's just to make sure no dangerous weapons are brought into the Museum." Dr. Rutherford instructed, leading the two of them over to a barrage scanner similar to the ones that airports have. "Just place your stuff on this conveyer belt and wait until they come out on the other end, it'll only take a minute."
Ilyssa placed her purse on the conveyer belt, followed by Michiru after he had removed his small backpack from himself; his cell phone and Ghostbusters uniform were both inside as well as Saya which Michiru hoped would remain invisible to the imagery screen in order to avoid causing a panic. Once that was over and done with, the two of them retrieved their belongings and prepared to explore the interior of the Museum; Ilyssa paid Dr. Rutherford some money for an admission fee which would allow herself and Michiru to get a tour of the Museum and all the Exhibits it had to offer. The grownup checked his watch and realized he had to go get ready for the Gala but he said he would join them later on once his preparations were all finished, Ilyssa and Michiru said goodbye and began walking together and viewing the exhibits on the first floor.
"Ilyssa? Not to be rude or anything, but why did you say I was a foreign exchange student?" Michiru asked curiously, hoping that her little fib wouldn't cause suspicion.
"It was all I could think of in the spur of the moment, you're wearing your school uniform so I thought it would be a believable ruse." Ilyssa answered. "Now that we have our admission tickets, let's take a grand tour of the Museum; we might as well take advantage of being here early and enjoy it since we've got the whole place to ourselves."
"But we don't have a tour guide, and Dr. Rutherford is away preparing for the Gala so what do we do?" Michiru pointed out.
"I've been to the Museum before, that's how Dr. Rutherford and I know each other; I do happen to be a specialist on ancient Mesopotamian cultures and architecture so its no wonder I was recommended by Peck to be here for the opening Gala." Ilyssa replied, turning to face Michiru with a gorgeous smile on her face. "Besides, now we can see the Museum together; you did say you wanted to see all the exhibits with me right?"
"Uh yeah, but…" Michiru replied hesitantly as a light blush appeared on his cheeks, making Ilyssa giggle.
"Oh come on, it's not everyday we get to spend some free time together; is it a date or what?" Ilyssa said, giving her nervous companion a reassuring smile. "Hey, the Ghostbusters aren't going to make fun of you for having a tour with me; this will just be between the two of us. And if they do, I'll be sure to give them all a good beating; that will make them keep their mouths shut."
"Ha! Ha! I'm sure lucky to have you for a friend Ilyssa; I don't know how I'd survive here in New York without you here." Michiru said as a few laughs slipped out in the process.
"That's the spirit Michiru, you're getting more comfortable talking with girls already; this will help you interact with Sango once you finally get to see her again." Ilyssa replied with a smile, padding Michiru on the back as they continued walking throughout the Museum.
"Yeah…I suppose so." Michiru whispered quietly to himself, walking along with Ilyssa as he wondered how the lovely demon slayer was currently doing back Japan's feudal era which was so very far away from him right now.
It was late in the morning and the bright sun was already up, indicating that another sunny day of summer weather and clear blue skies awaited the inhabitants of Kaede's village back in Feudal Japan; Inuyasha had returned some time ago and was presently chopping up fire wood so that the wise old woman Kaede could make a late breakfast for everyone who had slept in. Inuyasha was in a bit of a bad mood because he had been asked to do this work before he could take the opportunity of talking with Sango and telling her of Michiru and the recent achievements that the half demon's human friend had accomplished. But unfortunately he would have to wait until he was finished, for Sango had taken Kohaku and Kirara for a walk outside of the village and it would be a while before the three of them would return. Although Inuyasha could have refused to work, he didn't enjoy the thought of enduring numerous sit commands from Kagome once she returned after completing her schoolwork; so he thought he'd better make a good impression by helping Kaede out since Kagome wasn't here to do so herself.
"How much more firewood do you need Kaede?" Inuyasha asked, taking a break after having a huge pile of cut up lumber chunks build up to the size of a car sitting off to the side of the path leading inside of the village. "You can't possibly use all of this up just for cooking one breakfast, unless of course you plan on feeding an entire kingdom or something."
"That's plenty, thank ye Inuyasha; I just wanted to have some extra for all of the other villagers to have since most of them are currently busy tending to the crops and the mysterious fields." Kaede answered gratefully. "In another month or so all the crops will be ripe and ready for harvesting so that's why we have to pay more attention to our work in the fields, at least this gives you a reason to practice swinging your Tetsusaiga since you've managed to scare away any demons that try to attack our village."
"Hey, Inuyasha!" a voice called from above, making Inuyasha look up and see a giant round pink orb which told the half demon that it was Shippo's voice who had called out to him.
"Hey Shippo, what do you want?" Inuyasha asked with an annoyed tone of voice, not wanting to be distracted and put behind schedule.
"Kaede asked me to wake Miroku up so he could help her gather some medicinal herbs but I can't find him anywhere." Shippo answered, turning back into his little fox demon form as he landed on the ground. "You don't know where he is right?"
"I haven't seen him all morning, why don't you ask Sango if she's seen him; she shouldn't be too far from the village." Inuyasha suggested after answering Shippo's question.
"W-Well…I…" Shippo hesitated; turning a bit pink in the face and making Inuyasha wonder what was wrong with his suggestion. "I saw her below me while I floated over here, s-she was taking a bath with her brother in the river and I didn't want to scare or disturb them; especially since Kirara was there standing guard."
"If I know Miroku, he's probably up to no good again; let's go find him before something unpleasant happens." Inuyasha said darting down the pathway which led out of the village and into the forest, Shippo managed to latch on to the half demon's shoulder and keep a firm grip in order to tag along and not be left behind. "What are you coming along for? Its not like Sango's in any danger you know."
"Yeah, but Kagome asked me to keep an eye on Miroku while she was stuck at home in her time and that's what I'm going to do so that I can tell her everything he does during her absence." Shippo answered, making Inuyasha grin after recalling last night's events when the reborn priestess had given Miroku one heck of a beating; not to mention the scare of his life while she scolded him for being a lecherous pervert.
Meanwhile at the river, Sango had just finished dressing Kohaku after giving him a bath in the warm water and now she was ready to bath herself; Kohaku yawned and laid down for a nap beside his sister's belongings while Kirara stood by alert and ready for any unexpected intruders lurking nearby. As the demon slayer began to disrobe, the peaceful silence was shattered by the sound of a branch breaking; making Sango look up and stare straight into the eyes of a certain monk who happened to be watching her from the top of a nearby tree. Sango quickly pulled her kimono back on and around herself before she grabbed her Hiraikotsu and hurled it at the unprepared monk who was now a sitting duck waiting to be targeted; her weapon struck the tree with such force that Miroku lost balance and fell to the ground amidst the many broken twigs and branches that fell with him. Not wanting to give Kirara the chance of pouncing on him and sinking her sabre tooth like fangs into his flesh, Miroku ran for his life as fast as he could; until he fell on his back after colliding into someone else who had happened to cross his path.
"And where do you think you are going?" Inuyasha asked mischievously with huge grin on his face as he looked Miroku right in the eyes, making Shippo laugh as both of them got immense satisfaction at seeing how panicked the lecherous monk was. "You never learn do you? Honestly Miroku, I thought you would have listened to Kagome's words after the scolding she gave you; but it looks as though you didn't fully grasp everything."
"Hey? How do know about what happened last night?" Miroku asked in shock, backing away from the half demon that stood still staring at the helpless monk.
"That's not important, what is important is that you have to learn from your mistakes; it looks as though I'll have to punish you since Kagome isn't here to do so herself." Inuyasha said, drawing his Tetsusaiga with an evil grin and causing Miroku's eyes to widen with fear.
"Hold on Inuyasha, don't get carried away now; Kagome and Sango wouldn't want you to kill Miroku so put your sword away before someone gets hurt!" Shippo protested after jumping off Inuyasha's shoulder and standing between Miroku and the half demon.
"Its okay Shippo, I'm not going to kill Miroku; I'm just going to give him a friendly warning not to go bothering Sango again when she's bathing." Inuyasha said, walking around Shippo and kicking Miroku so that the monk was laying flat with his belly and face on the grass covered ground. "Since he obviously didn't heed Kagome's warning when she beat him up, the only way he'll learn is by allowing me to give him a warning as well, its been a while since I've used Tetsusaiga; I wonder if its still up for a fight."
"No Inuyasha! I beg you! Don't cut off my limbs!" Miroku pleaded, eyeing Inuyasha's razor sharp Tetsusaiga as the frightening memories of Kagome's ire flashed in his mind. "I haven't found a wife yet nor had any children! Show mercy!"
"Oh don't you worry Miroku, I'll show you plenty of mercy; just you wait and see." Inuyasha replied with a funny look on his face as he tried not to laugh. "Hey Shippo, I got a question for you. How many times to you think Miroku has groped Sango over the course of our travels together?"
"More than I can remember, but if I had to guess; I'd say close to a hundred." Shippo answered, enjoying Miroku's plight now that it was turning into one hilarious event; except for Miroku of course.
"Close to a hundred uh? Nah, we'd better go with one hundred just to be safe; ready Miroku?" Inuyasha said with a grin as he raised his Tetsusaiga up in the air for a strike. "Count to a hundred for me Shippo, ready…go!"
"One! Two! Three! F-Four! F-Five!" Shippo called out until he couldn't hold in his laughter any longer, rolling on his back laughing for a long time as he watched Inuyasha deliver a smack to Miroku's butt with the flat side of Tetsusaiga's enormous blade. HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"
Inuyasha continued spanking Miroku, counting each one inside of his mind since Shippo stopped counting due to laughing uncontrollably; Miroku cried out in pain until he no longer had the energy for it. The monk's eyes were watering and for the first time ever in his whole life, he regretted his lecherous actions; he only hoped that he could survive until it was over. Kirara came on the scene to see what the commotion was and when Miroku begged her to stop Inuyasha's onslaught, she simply shook her head and trotted back to the river without a worry in the world. After smacking Miroku's butt for the hundredth time, Inuyasha pulled the monk to his feet and told him to go walk back to the village and think about his lecherous ways on the way back; giving him one last smack with his sword to get him moving. Miroku instantly picked up the pace and started running even though it was painful, but he was willing to endure it in order to get away from Inuyasha; he didn't want to risk going through that experience again and getting another hundred smacks from the half demon's Tetsusaiga. Just after Inuyasha sheathed his sword, Sango appeared on the scene having returned from the river; she was now fully dressed which told the two of them that the demon slayer had finished bathing herself. Kohaku was following her, riding comfortably on the Kirara's back; the two tail was in her fighting form so that she could carry the boy.
"What was all that screaming Inuyasha?" Sango asked curiously. "I sent Kirara to investigate and she just came right back as if there was nothing wrong."
"Oh, well…You remember Miroku was spying on you when you were in the river?" Inuyasha asked, getting a nod from Sango.
"Well…I sort of…beat him up a bit so that he wouldn't try it again." Inuyasha answered, causing Sango to have a shocked look on her face before she looked at Shippo for an answer.
"He's telling the truth, but all Inuyasha did was spank Miroku on the butt; it was pretty funny." Shippo added, looking away after answering to hide his face and contain his laughter as Sango sighed with relief that spanking Miroku was all that had happened.
"Shippo, please go with Kirara and take Kohaku back to the village; I'll be there in a little while." Sango ordered, waiting for the three of them to be out of sight so she could reply to Inuyasha as she tried to keep a straight face. "Inuyasha…I know Miroku isn't always polite, but you shouldn't have done what you did to him; Kagome already gave him enough of a beating last night if you remember."
"Yeah, but Miroku obviously didn't heed her warning; so I thought I'd give him one too." Inuyasha countered. "I'm sorry for my actions Sango, but don't you think its time Miroku wised up a bit? You heard Kagome words and you know what she said was true; he doesn't act the proper way a real monk should. If you don't like him groping you or spying on you inappropriately, I suggest you tell him yourself because that's the only way it's going to stop; I'm sure Michiru would say the same thing if he were here."
"But he wouldn't have done what you did to Miroku, we both know that." Sango stated, not wanting Michiru to be caught up in this debate.
"I didn't say that he would, I'm only pointing out that Miroku's manners need amending; and that you need to be a little more honest with Miroku." Inuyasha replied. "When you catch him groping you or spying on you when you bathe, don't just slap him across the face or throw your Hiraikotsu; look him in the eyes and tell him not to do either one of those things to you ever again. Once you do that, you've drawn a line and if Miroku crosses it again; that's when you'll know he won't respect you or change for the better. Sango? Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"
"Yes…" Sango answered softly, not wanting this subject of discussion to go on any further. "Just don't do anything like that to Miroku again; I wouldn't want Kagome getting angry with you if she found out that you spanked him."
"I won't, and don't worry about me because I can take anything Kagome dishes out. By the way, I spoke with Michiru this morning over the phone at Kagome's house and I passed on your message to him. Do you want to know what he said?" Inuyasha asked, getting a nod from Sango as she stared anxiously at Inuyasha; wanting to hear everything he knew about how the Kururugi boy was doing. "Michiru asked me to tell you that he misses you a lot and to thank you for the kind words you expressd; they meant a great deal to him even though you couldn't tell him in person yourself. He also misses Kirara as well and all the times that he shared with each of you together have helped keep him going while he's trapped in that far away country. Oh yes, he also wanted me to give Kirara a hug and feed her some fish since he couldn't be here to give them to her himself; but she's back in Kaede's village so I'll have to go back if I'm to…"
"No Inuyasha, I'll give Kirara a hug for Michiru; you've already done more than enough for both of us." Sango interrupted as she smiled, being touched by the words and feelings of the Shikigami user who meant so much to her even though he was far away. "I'll feed her too; I practically do everyday anyway so you don't have to worry. Is there anything else you need to tell me while you're here?"
"Yes Sango, there is." Inuyasha explained, hoping that his answer would cheer up the demon slayer. "The woman Michiru saved from falling during his battle against Stay Puft goes by the name of Ilyssa, it seems as though she's also staying and working with the Ghostbusters people I told you about earlier shortly before Myoga left to go look for Totosai. She and Saya both helped Michiru research some information regarding his magic powers and he told me that he's recently found a way to travel back and forth through time just like Kagome and I do when we use the Bone Eater's well."
"Inuyasha? Are you trying to tell me that Michiru can return to our era and…see us again?" Sango asked nervously, trying to confirm what she heard was true.
"Yes Sango, that's exactly what I'm saying." Inuyasha answered excitedly, wishing that Michiru could be here to see how happy and overjoyed Sango had become as her face lit up after hearing that message. "Now he still has to find a way to return back home to his own country first, but that shouldn't be a problem as long as he keeps doing well and stays out of trouble."
"What's wrong Inuyasha?" Sango asked, now noticing that the excited look on the half demon's face was replaced with a look of caution.
"There's something approaching us at a very fast speed, I can't see anything and yet I can hear the trees of the forest shaking violently; we'd better get ready." Inuyasha answered.
"Inuyasha lets head back to Kaede's village; we'll be able to see what's coming without the trees obscuring our view." Sango suggested, breaking into a run and dashing back towards the village; Inuyasha reluctantly agreed in order to help protect Sango since he knew Michiru wouldn't want Sango to get hurt in anyway. "Were almost out of the forest, then we can look up and see what's chasing us.
"Oh bother and I was hoping it was a big demon I could beat up in a brawl." Inuyasha said with a tone of disappointment after looking up over the tops of the trees once he had emerged from the forest, Sango arrived just as an abnormally and overgrown gigantic black cow appeared just above her head and landed down on the ground between her and Inuyasha; revealing an old man clad in a green kimono with dark stripes on it who sat perfectly balanced on the creature's back without even a saddle to secure himself on during their flight through the sky together. "Hey old man, did Myoga manage to find you or did you come here for a brief visit?"
The old man in question leapt from his three eyed steed high into the air and landed on the ground perfectly without injuring his feet or legs, striking the unsuspecting half demon square in the face with a weapon that looked like a large mallet; except that the handle was as long as a javelin which gave its wielder even more momentum when ever he swung the mighty weapon around. Sango had stopped running after recognizing that it was only Totosai and his cow Momo, but she quickly resumed her pace after witnessing the old man assault Inuyasha with such brute force which was unnecessary; not to mention very rude since the old man had been welcomed by the half demon which didn't happen that often. She came up behind Totosai and tried in vain to stop him from slamming his hammer down on Inuyasha's face, Sango had to admit that the old codger was stronger than he looked considering how old and aged he was.
"How could you have been so stupid Inuyasha?" Totosai declared, yelling over and over as he struck Inuyasha again and again with his hammer; making the half demon stumble backwards in order to avoid the continuing blows to his face and head. "Why did you let Sounga fall into the unfortunate hands of a helpless mortal human being?" Answer me quickly or I'll relieve you of the Tetsusaiga after I've finished knocking some sense into that thick, stubborn skull of yours!"
"Ow! Just wait a…Ouch! Stop it! Ow! Hey! What did I…Ow! Inuyasha protested between blows as he was struck in the head multiple times until Sango managed to halt Totosai's onslaught. "ARE YOU QUITE FINISHED OLDMAN? I GREET YOU WITH A WARM WELCOME AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?"
"Totosai! Inuyasha! That's enough! From both of you!" Sango declared in a raised voice after Inuyasha delivered a punch to Totosai's head, leaving a large bruised lump where his fist had struck. "Let's head back to the village where we can talk things over, Kaede will probably have breakfast waiting for us by now. Your voice sounds funny Inuyasha, is your nose broken again?"
"Oh shut up." Inuyasha answered with a high pitched voice, making Sango laugh uncontrollably since this was the second time that the half demon had his nose broken by a mortal human being's attack.
"Hey Inuyasha, your voice sounds pretty funny; you must have sounded like that when you were just a little runt crawling on your hands and knees. Ha! Ha!" Totosai added with a laugh.
"I told you to keep quiet!" Inuyasha yelled, smacking Totosai on the head again. "You're lucky that Sango is here right now, otherwise I'd give you two dozen slugs to the head as payback for bashing me with that hammer of yours; you hear me old man?"
"Hello master Inuyasha, I found Totosai for you just as you had requested." Myoga stated, appearing out of nowhere and landing on Inuyasha's face; sucking out some blood until the half demon's hand palm flattened him with a quick smack and ending his morning meal. "A little thank you every now and again would be nice to hear master Inuyasha."
"Myoga, Inuyasha's had a rough morning; he's been busy helping me out with some difficult situations so I expect you and Totosai to cut him a break." Sango said as she walked along at the front, leading the way into Kaede's village. While Sango giggled after listening to Inuyasha's funny voice, she thought about Michiru until they arrived where Kaede was waiting to serve them a late breakfast or brunch as modern day people would call it.
It was now 9:30 in the evening in New York City where Ilyssa and Michiru were just sitting down to have a late night snack together inside the café at the Natural History Museum, all the walking around and travelling from floor to floor had tired the two of them out which made them decide to relax together where it was nice and quiet. The Gala wouldn't begin until ten o'clock so they still had plenty of time to enjoy themselves and talk together for a little while longer, Ilyssa was standing at the counter where the cashier was; looking over the small menu to see what ever foods were available. Michiru was looking as well, but his mind was elsewhere; thinking about Sango. He had enjoyed exploring the Museum with Ilyssa and lots of fun seeing all of the interesting exhibits which were on display, but he still would have liked to share an evening like this with Sango at his side; just the two of them at least for once.
"Sandwiches, salads, hotdogs, beverages and water." Ilyssa said softly after scanning the menu. "What would you like Mitch?"
"Hmm? Oh sorry." Michiru apologized as he stopped daydreaming. "A hotdog with some water is fine, thanks Ilyssa."
"I'll have a salad and some water please, add our orders together." Ilyssa asked.
"His order is $6.70 and yours is $9.70, which comes to $16.40 please." The cashier said, taking the money and handing them their snacks and bottled water. "There are your snacks and have a nice evening."
"Thanks." Ilyssa replied as the two of them gathered their food and drink before choosing a table to sit down at. "You're so quiet all of a sudden Michiru. Is there something on your mind?"
"What? No of course not, why do you ask?" Michiru said, trying to deny it so he didn't offend Ilyssa.
"You're thinking about Sango aren't you?" Ilyssa deduced, smiling as Michiru blushed with guilt and embarrassment. "You wish she could be here with you on a night like this don't you?"
"N-No! I-I…" Michiru replied with a sigh before he gave in. "Yes, I admit it; I just didn't want to offend you and spoil the fun you're having tonight."
"Hey, you won't offend me by being honest Michiru; I still had a great time with you tonight and you haven't spoiled anything so don't feel bad." Ilyssa said, trying to cheer him up as they both ate their snacks together. "You've come a long way since I first met you at the Sedgwick Hotel, you were beginning your first job with the Ghostbusters and today you've found a way to travel back and forth through time; now all you need is to find a way home and you've got it made."
"Yeah, I have you and Saya to thank for that; I couldn't have done it without help from the both of you." Michiru replied with a smile, feeling a bit better. By the way Ilyssa, there's an idea I've been thinking about since the time we looked at all those cursed artefacts back at the Firehouse together; but I didn't want to mention it in front of the others which is why I'm bringing it up now."
"Really? Ilyssa asked. "What idea is that?"
"Promise me that you would panic and just hear me out, please?" Michiru replied in a pleading tone, receiving a nod from Ilyssa who readied herself and paid close attention to what was about to said next. "We both know I can't use the Sounga in an attempt to return home because its far too dangerous, so I was thinking of training with my magic to try and devise a spell which could levitate that large Persian Rug that's rolled up and sitting inside of the bedroom back at the Firehouse. Tobin's Spirit Guide did indicate that it was used as a magic flying carpet by its original owner at one point in time so I think the best way for me to return home would be to fly back on that, which wouldn't be all that different from how I came here; but it would a safer way which also allows me to leave the country without having to put you or the Ghostbusters at risk for harbouring a foreigner. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
There was an uncomfortable silence which followed after the Shikigami user had spoken his mind, leaving Ilyssa deep in thought as they reach processed what her friend was proposing; it was a very serious subject since it involved an attempted trip around the world that would hopefully lead the Japanese boy safely home in Japan. While it was true that Ilyssa had given her word to do everything in her power to help Michiru return home safely, she didn't anticipate that he would try something like this; let alone so soon. Here was a fifteen year old boy who had already experienced so much at such a young age, a boy who was willing to risk his own life in an attempt to return home; it was too much for the woman to take. But in the end, she knew that he would have to try and return home someday; he endangered himself and those he was staying with as long as he remained in America and even she couldn't argue with that. Ilyssa took a deep breath and prepared to answer back as she tried to find the right words to express how she felt, Michiru would be risking his life and even if he did manage to make it home successfully; part of her would feel very sad to see him go after only spending just a few days together with him as friends. But Ilyssa was a grown woman and she knew had to make the right choice, she also knew that home wasn't the only place Michiru longed to return too; he especially wanted to return to Feudal Japan so he could be reunited with the special girl named Sango whom he had lost his heart too even though there was the possibility that she didn't love him back.
"I can see where you're going with this Michiru, a-and I-I'm ready to help you out in anyway I can just as I promised I would; I'm only sorry to see you leave so soon." Ilyssa replied quietly, forcing back a few tears that threatened to water eyes as she talked.
"Ilyssa, please don't be cry; you'll ruin that pretty face of yours before the Gala begins tonight." Michiru said, trying to comfort Ilyssa as she giggled lightly at him for the hint of sarcasm he included in his remark. "I never said I would leave tonight, I still have to devise a spell and practice levitating that Persian rug until I'm experienced enough to fly back to Japan. Which means until then, I'm staying here with you and the others; I can still stay and help rid the city of all the ghosts until everyone is safe and the danger is gone. During the rest of my stay, we'll still have a few more fun times ahead of us so there's no need for you to be so sad; please try and cheer up okay?"
"I'm fine Michiru, you've said more than enough to cheer me up; so don't worry. Until the time comes for you to return back home, let's celebrate how ever many fun times await the two of us in the future." Ilyssa stated as she and Michiru held and struck their water bottles together in a toast and drank the fresh cool liquid from inside. "It was an enjoyable experience working with you, I'll never forget it; and I hope we can enjoy the time we have left to spend together as friends."
"Likewise Ilyssa." Michiru replied, rewarding Ilyssa with a smile now that she was back in her cheerful mood once again.
"You know something Michiru?" Ilyssa asked with a devious smile, getting Michiru's attention. "Once you return home and then to Feudal Japan, you could always ask Sango out on a date and take her for a ride on the Persian rug you plan on using; I'm sure many girls from our era would dream of going on a romantic carpet ride and fly through the starlit sky with a well mannered young man such as yourself."
"T-That's not f-funny Ilyssa, please s-stop teasing me." Michiru quietly protested in embarrassment, making Ilyssa giggle at seeing the poor boy's face blush a deep dark shade of red; it was a priceless sight for the grown woman who was now even more cheered up than she had been just a minute ago. "S-Stop giggling, this isn't funny; Ilyssa please."
"I'm sorry, the thought suddenly came into my mind and I just couldn't ignore it." Ilyssa apologized even though she still needed a few more seconds in order to stop giggling completely. "You did admit that you wanted to spend a romantic engagement with her earlier tonight so you can't deny that my suggestion is a worthy idea for you to consider; I'm sure she would be delighted at the thought of you to invite her on such an enjoyable experience given the stories you've told me about her and Miroku."
"I'll keep it in mind Ilyssa, thank you for bringing it to my attention." Michiru replied, giving the woman a playful glare as he caught her trying to suppress her giggling all because of his embarrassed state which had caused his face to blush so red.
"You're very welcome Michiru, I'm glad I could help you again." Ilyssa said with a smile, watching Michiru check his watch for the time.
"Its been nearly two hours since we've arrived here, surely Dr. Rutherford has done all his preparations for the Gala by now." Michiru said as he finished eating his snack, wondering where the assistant curator has disappeared too since they didn't see or run into him during their lengthy tour of the Museum.
"You're right; perhaps we should go looking for him." Ilyssa suggested as she was almost done her salad.
"Uh oh, there's Walter Peck; I'm screwed." Michiru whispered as a nervous feeling shot throughout his body.
"Act normally and don't panic, I'll help you get through this." Ilyssa said reassuringly, trying to calm Michiru down as Peck approached.
"What are you doing in here Dr. Selwyn? I've spent nearly an hour looking for you; the guests are going to arrive soon so you have to be ready for the Gala." Peck asked with alarm as he only just took notice of Ilyssa's young companion who seemed familiar even though he couldn't recognize him. "And why is this young man here with you might I ask?"
"This is Mitch, my office assistant; he's also an exchange student from abroad who's temporarily under my employment." Ilyssa answered, making Peck turn to look at her with disbelief that she'd hire a mere teenager for such an important job. "I thought I'd give him a tour of the Museum tonight just before the Gala, Dr. Rutherford was okay with it."
"This Gala is for VIPs only, I'm sorry to say that he won't be allowed to attend tonight." Peck replied, eyeing the Kururugi boy suspiciously. "This isn't the kind of gathering for a teenage boy to be part off, I'm sure even you can understand that."
"Anyone with an invitation is allowed to bring a guest with them, Mitch is my guest." Ilyssa countered politely as she eyed Peck with a small grin, knowing she won this argument. "He stays or you can start your Gala without a guest curator; clear?"
"Crystal clear, have a fine evening; I'll see you around." Peck replied reluctantly in defeat, glancing back at Michiru momentarily before leaving the café.
"Let's hurry and find Dr. Rutherford before anything else unpleasant happens." Michiru suggested, not wanting to sit around any longer now that Peck was at the Museum. "I'd look around near the service area; it'll also give me the chance of contacting the Ghostbusters and say how we're doing here."
"I'll stay and keep an eye on Peck while I mingle and socialize with all the VIPs, good luck Michiru." Ilyssa replied with a wink, wishing Michiru the best before he left.
Michiru left the Café and paused to glance around to make sure Peck wasn't nearby before moving on, then he walked passed the new Gozer exhibit and into the main gallery where admission tickets were being sold. By now the guests were beginning to arrive which meant the Gala would begin shortly so the Kururugi boy left the main gallery, walking down the winding hallway until he came to an elevator; there was a strange paranormal slimy substance on the floor which suggested that something had come out of the elevator and was dragged down the hall. Although he didn't know the answers to this mystery, the teenager now had all the more reason to be extra cautious from here on in. Michiru removed his backpack and opened it up to change into his work outfit which he could quickly put on and wear over his other clothes, Saya floated over to the other end of the hallway to watch and warn if anyone was approaching; then they both got into the elevator and descended down to the lower level where they could search for Dr. Rutherford and later meet up with the Ghostbusters once they had arrived. As a precaution, Michiru placed his cell phone inside the left breast pocket of his uniform so he could feel it and always know that he had it with him; he didn't feel comfortable leaving it inside of Ecto-1 and risk accidentally losing it.
"So how was your evening with Ilyssa hmm?" Saya asked in a humorous tone of voice. "It sounded pretty entertaining from what I could hear while I was inside of your backpack. Ha. Ha. Ha."
"It was nice; we both enjoyed taking a tour of the Museum together." Michiru answered as the elevator continued downwards. "I'm glad she was with me when Peck showed up, I don't know how I would have gotten out of that jam if she hadn't been there."
"So I heard, I also heard about your plan to use that Persian rug as a means of transportation in an attempt to fly back home just as you did when you first came here because of Sounga; are you really that serious about trying it out?" Saya asked curiously.
"Yes I am Saya, you and I both know that Sounga is too dangerous to myself and others which is why I've been thinking about that rug ever since I first found it back at the alternate variation of the Public Library; I can't see any other option available other than that." Michiru explained. "I longer I stay here, the longer I put Ilyssa and the Ghostbusters in danger of going to jail so I'd like to leave as soon as I possibly can once I've mastered a magic spell that can control the rug in flight after its been levitated."
"I understand Michiru, I just think you should tell the others what you're proposing to do so they don't get worried or anything." Saya said.
"I can't tell them yet, not while there's a mission going on tonight; and I want to wait for the right opportunity so that I don't alarm them like the way I alarmed you when I said I might have to use Sounga as a last resort." Michiru replied. "Saya, can I trust you to keep this a secret until I'm ready to tell all of them myself?"
"Yes you can and I give you my word that my lips are sealed, oh; the elevator's slowing down." Saya pointed out just before it halted and the doors opened automatically.
The room that they had arrived at was used for storing shipping materials and other such products that belonged to the Museum which usually came packaged up in wooden crates of various sizes, it must eventually lead to the loading dock where the service entrance was located because the doorway was wide enough for a pallet jack to move in and out of with a large crate so this had to be the correct area that Michiru and Saya had been trying to get too. After stepping outside of the elevator, the two of them saw a lone crate in the middle of the room which was rumbling around as though someone or something was trapped inside trying to get out; but caution was more important than curiosity and so the teenager reluctantly moved on since he didn't have his equipment for combating paranormal opponents if one of them was in there. As they left and proceeded down the winding hallway which wasn't well lit up compared with the storage room, Michiru suddenly noticed that there were large spills of black slime all over parts of the floor and on the walls around them; he would have to be extra careful to watch where he stepped to avoid burning his runners since he didn't have his proton pack with him.
"This doesn't look good, black slime and I don't have my equipment to counter it with." Michiru said, shaking his head with worry.
"AH! Look out Michiru!" Saya shouted in alarm as a female looking ghost dressed in what looked like a black one piece swimsuit appeared out of nowhere, screaming her lungs out at the two of them.
"Shikigami attack!" Michiru countered, invoking his Shikigami powers and throwing a small ball of fire and magical energy at the paranormal adversary; striking her square in the face as she charged towards him.
"It didn't work!" Saya cried in a panic, watching at the teenager's first attack only succeeded in stunning and burning her for a little more than ten seconds or so.
"Oh flame burning bright! Turn into a sword of wrath!" Michiru called out as the ghost recovered herself and prepared to attack again. "Raging Flame!"
The spiritual entity grabbed Michiru by the neck in an attempt to force his mouth open so she could enter inside and possess him, but her assault unfortunately placed her at point blank range for the Shikigami user's next attack which would cause her a lot more agony than the first one had done. The teenager gritted his teeth, using his left hand to try and free himself from the female foe as he thrust the open palm of his right hand upwards into her face, striking a blow at the same time which would have broken her nose if she'd been a living person. Michiru's Raging Flame attack shot forth from his right hand; engulfing the floating ghost in an inferno of red and orange flame as she flew away in retreat; covering her face as her screams of agony echoed throughout the hallway until she disappeared into thin air. The Kururugi boy breathed a sigh of relief, he was lucky he could rely on his magic to protect him as long as his opponents weren't too powerful; but now it was time to call up the Ghostbusters since he had confirmed a ghost sighting inside the Museum which would put the attending people in danger here tonight unless it was captured.
"Hello…Janine?" Michiru asked, holding his cellular phone to his head after calling the Firehouse. "Michiru here, send the Ghostbusters; we've got a confirmed sighting here at the Museum. How long before they arrive? They're already on their way? Okay thanks, goodbye."
"They're on their way here already? That's a relief." Saya commented, floating just to the right of Michiru's head as he looked around for any sign of that ghost which had attacked and fled just now. "I dialled them so that they would know Peck was being a nuisance, they must have left while we were still inside the café with Ilyssa."
"Good thinking on your part Saya, pity I didn't have my PKE meter with me; I could have gotten an identification scan of that ghost which attacked us." Michiru said. "Lucky we scared her away, at least for now. We'll just have to find out what kind of ghost she was after we meet up with Ray and the others, let's keep moving on; please get inside my backpack and watch behind me for any more ghosts okay Saya?"
"You got it; I'll watch your back for you." Saya replied before slipping inside the teenager's backpack which was now empty and more roomy for the old spirit to hide in.
Michiru continued walking through the hallway and eventually came to the loading dock which was unfortunately pitch dark with now with no light to see except for the skylight which was located on the ceiling, luckily the Kururugi boy could use his magic to help see his way around; and so he summoned a small glowing red orb of Shikigami energy which gave off enough light to illuminate the area surrounding him as he walked about the spacious garage like room. In a few minutes or so, Michiru could clearly here the loud sirens coming from Ecto-1 as it drew closer and sure enough; he was delighted to see his fellow Ghostbusters arrive on time. Winston, Ray, and Venkman were all suited up for combating ghosts; most of the team was now here ready to take on anything that fate had in store for them tonight. As the three adults got out of the car to unload their equipment, Michiru removed his backpack and placed it on the right hand passenger seat in the front since he no longer needed it.
"Sorry Saya, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for the rest of the night." Michiru said as his old spiritual friend emerged from his backpack and found himself inside Ecto-1. "There could be confusion inside of the Museum; we'll all be firing our weapons at every ghost we can see."
"No need to apologize Michiru, I won't feel left out; I've done my part for tonight and the rest of it is up to you and the others." Saya replied, giving the Japanese student a smiling face to show he was cool with staying behind. "If anything, I can watch for more ghosts lurking around here while you're all gone and contact Janine so she can tell you; good luck inside of the Museum and don't work too hard."
"You too old friend, thanks again for your help tonight; I'll see you soon when this battle is over." Michiru said, wishing Saya best as he pulled on his proton pack that Venkman had brought over to him along with all his other necessary tools. "Thanks Peter, boy these things are a pain to put on and take off."
"You don't have to tell me twice, believe me; I know." Venkman replied as the teen had finished getting his equipment strapped on. "By the way, Egon modified your trap shortly after you and Ilyssa drove over here to the Museum together; he felt that you might need a new piece of equipment for catching any ghosts that threaten the guests during tonight's Opening Gala.
"Thanks very much, I'd take good care of it; especially when I test it out in the field." Michiru replied, taking the device from Venkman.
"So how was your time with Ilyssa?" Venkman asked, hoping to catch Michiru off guard and press him for answers.
"We had a nice tour of the Museum and got to see all of the exhibits together, including the new Gozer one which looks pretty abnormal if I may say so; then we both had a snack together inside of the café once we were done." Michiru answered politely with a normal tone of voice, hoping that he wouldn't be questioned any further than that.
"I see…sounds like the two of you had a pretty nice date, right Ray?" Winston commented with a grin.
"Yeah, until Peck came on the scene and budged in; luckily Ilyssa set him straight so Michiru wasn't in trouble." Ray replied as they walked around. "You mentioned you saw black slime and a female ghost shortly before we arrived didn't you Mitch?"
"Yes, I managed to drive her away with my magic; but I couldn't identify what class of ghost she was since I didn't have my PKE meter with me." Michiru answered as all four of them walked around spraying positively charged green slime all over the place to neutralize all the acidic black slime that was lurking all around them. "I imagine will eventually have a run in with her, but the strange thing is I still haven't been able to find Dr. Rutherford who mysteriously went missing a while ago sometime after Ilyssa and I arrived here."
"That's rather strange, Ilyssa told me that he would meet us here when we were devising our plan earlier this evening; then he would guide us through to the main gallery where you would be waiting with Ilyssa if all was going okay." Ray replied. "Oh well, I guess nothing goes exactly as planned; especially when paranormal activities are occurring. Keep neutralizing all the black slime you can see, it'll open up an inter-dimensional portal and that's how ghosts come through into our world; I'm not surprised you already encountered one ghost tonight down here."
As the Ghostbusters surveyed the loading dock and neutralized the all black slime spills that they could see around them, they noticed that there were broken crates and boxes among the shipping packages that were stored everywhere which made them wonder if any paranormal foes that may have smuggled themselves in here due to the wreckage that lay cluttered around. Michiru had been using the small energy ball he had summoned as a light source to see around in the dark, but he eventually made it vanish after finding and activating the power switch to turn on the lights so he didn't have to waste his magic which he might have to rely on again later tonight. The door Michiru and Saya had come through must have been locked automatically after closing which meant that it could only be opened from the inside, luckily they were able to reopen it again now that the power had been reactivated. They eventually travelled down the hallway, spraying green slime everywhere as they went; catching a glimpse of the female entity that had attacked Michiru and Saya a few minutes ago.
"Was that the ghost you saw Mitch?" Ray asked, getting a nod from the Kururugi boy. "She looked like a level seven class entity, maybe even more powerful than that."
"What ever happened to the good old days when we only encountered ghosts as high as class two or three? Winston asked as the four Ghostbusters entered an unlit and dark hallway which was wide enough to act as a storage area because of all the metal racks and shelves located against the outmost winding wall with various packages both on them and beside them on the floor. "They were easy to catch and that made combating ghost less dangerous and more fun."
"Sadly those good old days are gone, hence the need for the insurance claims and city contracts to satisfy the people so that we can conduct our business and avoid being shut down." Ray replied, making a wide turn around to the right in order to walk around an object covered in a blue tarp.
"Hey Ray, I'm detecting an active sample here." Michiru warned, causing everyone to gather around him and pull out their PKE meters.
"I got to hand it to you Mitch, you certainly have a knack for finding cursed artefacts; don't scan it yet because we all want to see what it is first." Venkman remarked as everyone pulled down their goggles in order to see better in the dark. "Okay, point it out to us."
"Just ahead in that left corner, its resting on that shelf right there in front of us; possibly just behind that stack of small crates." Michiru answered, trying to look carefully while holding his PKE meter in front of himself.
"Everyone keep your fingers off the scanning triggers, I'm going to give us a better look at this cursed artefact so hang tight." Ray warned, stepping forward and shoving the two small wooden crates out of the way before examining the object. "Wow, would you look at that."
"It looks like the figure of a triceratops' head or something, except with multiple eyes like an insect." Winston remarked as he looked.
"Not only that, its looks like its made of gold with emeralds in place for each pair of eyes." Venkman added before he commented further. "How could the Museum people overlook an artefact like this? I don't know about the rest of you, but this would certainly fetch a fine price on the market if anyone tried to sell it."
"Don't even think about it Peter." Ray cut in before ordering everyone to take a scan of the artefact so that it would be teleported back to the Firehouse for safekeeping. "Take a scan in three, two, one; scan."
"Ritual Mask of bad advice from the Pre-Columbian era, a faint whispering rises from it; now we know why its cursed." Winston remarked after reading the data from his PKE meter after everyone had simultaneously scanned the object with their instruments.
Once that was over and done with, the Ghostbusters resumed their journey so they could track down the ghost which they had spotted a minute or two ago. After they found their way inside the storage room where the elevator was located, all four of them gathered around the crate which was shaking around in the middle of the floor; a person's voice was mumbling inside which lead everyone to believe that a person was trapped inside. Fearing that it could be a trap, the team didn't approach it and stayed a few feet away as they observed and listen carefully in order to make up their minds about what to do next.
"Looks like we'll have to bust the lid off in order to free who ever is inside, stand back everyone." Michiru warned, discharging a proton stream for a split second at the lid; just enough to break it lose from the wooden crate without harming the imprisoned person. "Dr. Rutherford, what were you doing locked up inside of there?"
"Mitch? I had no idea you were part of the Ghostbusters? Well this is a surprise, I was down here doing a final audit on the shipping materials which had arrived this month and a frightening female looking ghost came out of nowhere. That's why I hid in here; but she nailed down the lid and locked me up inside so I couldn't get out until you came along." Dr. Rutherford answered as he climbed out of his crammed little hiding place in which he had been imprisoned. "Speaking of which; is that terrible, horrible thing gone for the time being?"
"Yeah she's gone for now, you feeling better now that you're out of that crate?" Winston replied as the assistant curator took some stretches to feel better after being trapped inside of that confined space.
"Oh yes, much better." Dr. Rutherford answered. "By the way, I'm a big fan; I had you over for my daughter's birthday party a couple of years ago."
"Really?" Ray stated. "I suppose we can get each of you some sort of souvenir after our work is over for tonight, we've got all kinds of stuff from coffee mugs to T-shirts and more."
"Oh that would be wonderful; my daughter would like that very much. Let's take the elevator and go upstairs where we can meet Ilyssa, she's probably waiting for you among all the guests who have gathered tonight to see the new Gozer exhibit." Dr. Rutherford replied, walking to the elevator and pressing the button to open the doors; revealing that same female ghost which had attacked Michiru and Saya earlier in the hallway. "There is it again! Please don't let her attack me!"
"Don't you worry; she'll have to go through me first." Ray stated, stepping in front of the ghost's path as she entered inside of his mortal body through his open mouth in order to take control of it; levitating him off the ground and causing his eyes to glow red like tiny brake lights. "AHH! Mwa ta natch calla worn ormon!"
"Ray's been possessed guys!" Winston shouted, spraying green slime on Ray's levitating body in an effort to drive the ghost out. "Hose him down with your slime blowers; it's the only way to free him from that ghost!"
"That's a nice trick; she would have possessed me if I hadn't driven her off with my Shikigami magic." Michiru exclaimed, just moments before the ghost was driven out of Ray's body which gave the teenager the chance of whipping out his PKE meter to take a scan of this new adversary. "She's a Possessor Ghost, but she can still be trapped and captured like any other spiritual entity."
"Good work Mitch, time for us to show this paranormal bitch how it feels to be trapped in a confined prison; blast her." Venkman shouted, as all of them discharged their proton streams at the floating female foe. "That's it, we've got her ensnarled; I'll throw out a trap."
"Alright! You guys rock!" Dr. Rutherford exclaimed with excitement, before turning to look at Ray who was shaking his head and recovering his senses. "But will Ray be okay after being possessed?"
"Hazza Buzza. Hazza Buzza?" Ray spoke, making everyone laugh when they heard the funny gibberish coming out of his mouth. "Bozza wazza shum."
"Oh don't worry; he'll be fine in a second." Winston replied, walking into the elevator as the others followed behind him. "Its been a couple of years since the last time Ray was possessed by a ghost hasn't it Venkman?"
"Aw Z!" Ray protested in embarrassment, making Michiru and the others laugh again.
"What? You said "she'll have to go through me first" Winston remarked with a grin. "And that's exactly what she did, we all saw."
"You're absolutely right Winston, and just like last time; it happened inside of this very Museum." Venkman added sarcastically, as poor Michiru was having trouble containing his laughter; just as Winston was.
"Things have been really strange since they started setting up the new Gozer exhibit, I can't begin to tell you the stories I've heard from the security guards that work here late every night." Dr. Rutherford stated. "This is our floor, from here we can get to the main gallery where the exhibit is being displayed; Ilyssa should be there waiting for us as well."
Once the elevator doors were open, Dr. Rutherford lead the team of paranormal eliminators through the hall until they entered the main gallery; and the Gozer exhibit was located in the middle of the other half of it which was divided by some columns. There were people dressed up wearing fancy expensive clothes and drinking champagne as they talked amongst themselves, enjoying their lives of luxury as well as the various alcoholic beverages; fancy foods and delicacies which were served on some tables located at the corners of the room. Michiru took a glance at all of them and wondered how these people could eat some of the bizarre looking snacks which he thought tasted pretty weird, but this was the type of food that filthy rich people eat and so their tastes must be different from his own. As the Ghostbusters entered the room, Walter Peck stormed over; shaking his head with disapproval since he didn't want any of them present tonight during the Gala.
"No, no, NO!" Peck stated, coming to a halt in front of the Ghostbusters with a security guard behind him on each side. "I want the Ghostbusters out of here immediately!"
"Where's his honour Pecker?" Venkman asked sarcastically as Ray bit into a snack he had grabbed from a table; the taste must have been terrible because he had a disgusted look on his face. "We've got some important paranormal information to pass along as well as a photo-op."
"The Major is indisposed right now; anything you have to tell him goes through me." Peck replied back. "No exceptions, Venkman."
"Well then, we'll just have to hang out here until he's sober enough to talk too." Venkman joked. "We'll sign some autographs and give these VIPs some photo-ops while we're waiting, I'm sure he won't mind."
"I saw a ghost earlier this evening, we've come here to ensure everyone's safety so that they won't be harmed if anymore ghosts are lurking somewhere inside the Museum; we've captured one already before we arrived on this floor." Michiru explained, trying to reason with Peck who was in no mood for listening.
"Wait, aren't you the young man I saw earlier with Ilyssa?" Peck asked as he suddenly had a flashback. "What are you doing with the Ghostbusters? Did you bring them in here?"
"My side job is working as Ilyssa's office assistance, but this is where I work full time; anyone can have two jobs." Michiru countered, already aware that it was useless trying to reason or negotiate with Peck. "Yes, I called them here after I personally confirmed a ghost sighting; so please let us pass so we can do our jobs and catch it before any of these people are put in danger."
"Oh really?" Peck declared. "Security, remove these men with excessive force and off the grounds of the Museum."
Before he could finish his sentence, Michiru picked Ilyssa out in the crowd as she fainted and begun levitating off of the floor and into the air; no one else noticed until she was suspended about twenty feet above the floor with her arms stretching out. Ilyssa almost looked like she had been crucified and tied to the top of the towering black obelisk which was the Gozer exhibit, but there were no ropes holding her; which proved that some invisible force of paranormal power was at work here and that the Ghostbusters would have to be prepared for the worst if they were to rescue her. Suddenly a blinding flash of white light appeared at the top where Ilyssa was at; shattering drinking glasses as multiple ghosts dived down and attacked the panicking guests like a swarm of predatory birds. Each of these Beauty Queen ghosts, according to Michiru's PKE meter; were dressed in pink clothing which glowed and they also had a faint purple aura around them which made them very easy to recognize. The Mayor arrived on the chaotic scene with two ladies at his sides and saw the commotion before making a getaway now that it wasn't safe with all these ghosts around, Michiru took a breath and exhaled to steady himself; this was going to be a long night.
"Look! Peck's been possessed by a ghost!" Winston shouted, catching everyone's attention as they saw him floating in the air and inviting them to fire their weapons at him.
"I never got to shoot him, this'll be fun." Venkman commented with delight, discharging his slime blower at the hovering human being until the ghost had enough and left Peck to recover from the paranormal experience. "I know what you're going to say, let's here it; let it all out."
"I'll see you all on Riker's Island for this! Just you wait!" Peck said threateningly before running away with the other guests who were fleeing before they could be possessed by the spiritual entities.
"Party's over folks! Clear the room!" Winston shouted, firing a proton stream at the possessor ghost which had been driven out of Peck a second ago. "They're attacking the guests! Mitch! You know what to do!"
"Gotcha Winston!" Michiru shouted back, manoeuvring into position and discharging a proton stream in order to help Winston bag and trap one ghost before things got to far out of control; his eyed widened when the ghost was sucked inside in just two seconds without having to restrain it inside the ultraviolet cone of pink light. "Wow! This new trap is awesome! It works just like the giant Super Slammer that sits on the roof of Ecto-1!"
"Egon named it the Slam Dunk trap, quite a handy cool tool isn't it." Winston added, picking out another ghost to target and firing his weapon again.
Michiru found himself on the floor and when he turned around as he got to his feet, he saw that a ghost was attacking him with a possessed body which was under its control; the teenager sprayed the human down in the hopes of driving the ghost out before it could strike him again. Once the ghost emerged, Michiru switched back to a proton stream and fired it at the spiritual entity; ensnaring it so that it couldn't get away. After a minute of slamming it several times, the Japanese student managed to pull it into the proximity of his new Slam Dunk trap that was lying on the floor; another ghost was imprisoned and accounted for. Michiru surveyed his surroundings and realized that this was a very difficult battle he was involved with ever since he became employed with the Ghostbusters; more difficult and challenging then any of the previous ones except for maybe his battle against Stay Puft. The possessor ghosts were taking control of the guests which meant that neither he nor the Ghostbusters could use proton streams in order to trap them until after they had been driven out of the people first, but the ghosts could still attack him and his friends; even while hiding safely inside of their hosts which were technically being used as both hostages and weapons.
The Kururugi boy took another look around and discovered that it wasn't just the guests that were in danger of being taken over, but the Ghostbusters as well; one possessed member of their team meant a loss in fighting power which was something they could not afford. And if that alone wasn't bad enough, they were also outnumbered; the ghosts were safe from attack as long as they remained inside of their hostages; a serious advantage which in turn spelled doom for the paranormal eliminators. Michiru had never been faced with such a position as this during combat, except for perhaps that one battle in Japan's feudal era when he and his friends had been forced to fight against the spirit of a fallen samurai named Yukimura who was being controlled against his will by Naraku. The Shikigami user knew he was in over his head; he definitely needed help to survive long enough until he could find a way to turn the tables in this battle. But his fellow Ghostbusters were being possessed just like the guests were, he needed someone who couldn't befall the same fate as them; and he knew who that someone was. As he repositioned himself in order to face everyone from the same direction, the young man pulled out his hand radio so that he could use it as soon as he had bought some time by stalling his enemies.
"Oh overflowing blue sky! Fill the space with chaos! Blue Sky Confusion!" Michiru shouted as he summoned his Shikigami magic, casting a spell on the people in front of him; stopping most of the people from attacking him except for three out of the crowd which were Venkman, Winston, and Ray. "Saya! Saya, do you hear me?"
"Michiru, yes I can hear you." Saya answered over the Kururugi boy's hand radio.
"Get yourself to where the Gozer exhibit is! There's an emergency that I'm going to need your help with!" Michiru shouted back, spraying everyone with his slime blower in an effort to free them from the possessor ghosts while they were temporarily confused and motionless.
Michiru had sprayed everyone that he could during the few seconds had after casting his magic spell on the people who were being possessed, but he still had to fight off his three coworkers who unfortunately weren't effected by it; they had ganged up on him which forced the Kururugi boy to mesh and dart around them in order to avoid being attacked by all three of them at once. After a minute and a half of close quarters combat, Michiru managed to knock Venkman to the floor and keep him pinned underneath his feet while he fired his comrade's slime blower in addition to his own at Winston and Ray as they attacked the young boy from both sides at once; Saya arrived on the scene just moments before all three of them were freed from the possessor ghosts. It took a moment for the three Ghostbusters to come to their senses, but Michiru was able to lead by example and get them back into the fight without any problems.
"Oh no, my outfit's soaking wet; I'm going to need an ion shower now." Ray complained, just noticing he was soaked in positively charged slime.
"What the hell happened man? Were all three of us possessed?" Winston asked looking around in confusion.
"Yeah, and I freed each of you even though I had to fight you off as well as the guests." Michiru answered as he helped Venkman get back on his feet now that he was alright again. "You guys are going to have to do as I say to turn the tables in this fight so listen close; everyone form a line from right to left and stay close together. Spray anyone attacking guest that charges us, then switch to your proton streams as soon as the possessor ghosts are forced out of them; lay all your traps down a head of you and spread them out to cover the floor around us. Ray, you and I are both at one end of our line so watching our flanks falls to us; you take the right while I guard the left. Winston, Venkman; you two guys hold the centre and make sure no one and nothing penetrate through. Saya, I need you to stay a little behind us and watch our backs from above; shout out if anyone tries to attack us from behind and I'll take care of them. Does everyone understand? Are all of you up to this?"
"Ready and waiting Mitch, you can count on us." Winston answered with a determined look on his face as he readied himself for battle.
"Who made you team leader Mitch?" Venkman remarked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he ensnared the ghost who had possessed him moments ago. "And what happens if one of us get possess again?"
"I'll free anyone who gets possessed so you don't have to worry, my Blue Sky Confusion spell is about to ware off on the possessed guest so get ready; here they come." Michiru replied, as the mortal human beings got into their assigned battle positions.
"Alright Peter, you heard the man so do has Mitch says and we all might live through this night." Winston remarked, taking the fight seriously after discovering that all of them except for Michiru had just been possessed by ghosts.
"Venkman, control your stream; none of us want to end up at the hospital in the emergency ward." Ray warned, helping to pull Venkman's ghost into a trap he had thrown out on the floor.
"There's a person behind you Mitch!" Saya warned, causing the Kururugi boy to turn around and raise his positron collider up just in time to block the possessed human from slamming both fists simultaneously into his head.
Michiru used his leg to shove the attacker back away from him once the possessed human had lost momentum, leaving it vulnerable to dose with the slime blower featured on his proton pack until the ghost was forced out; giving the determined warrior the chance of striking it with a proton stream so that it could be captured and trapped once it was pulled into position. Once another possessor ghost had been taken care of, Saya alerted Michiru that Winston had fallen victim to being possessed; forcing the Shikigami user to liberate his friend by spraying him with slime. Almost as soon as Winston was freed, Michiru was required to help out another one of his team mates so that the ghosts couldn't win by using his own friends as weapons; this was surely going to be one heck of a battle.
Nevertheless, thanks to Michiru new combat strategy and Saya's presence; the Ghostbusters were just managing to hold their own. While Michiru, Saya, and the Ghostbusters were still stuck in the same place fighting off paranormal opponents; Ilyssa was still mysteriously suspended twenty feet above the floor which made the Japanese high school kid worry just how tonight's events were going to play out; but he couldn't bother with that right now since he was up to his neck already with battling ghosts and protecting the Ghostbusters from being possessed so he had to put his worries aside in order to concentrate on the battle around him.
"Hold fast! Spray slime!" Ray yelled as all four of them dosed the group of attacking guests that had charged them, using their positron colliders to shield themselves before driving the people back until the possessor ghosts were forced out of them.
"Switch gears! Fire!" Michiru shouted, switching equipment and discharging a proton stream at a selected target as the liberated guests begun to flee for their lives.
"That's four ghosts we've bagged now, but there are still guests being used against us. How many more are going to keep coming?" Venkman asked, counting how many possessor ghosts they had captured in their traps so far as the battle waged on.
"Stop whining Peter! Check your targets before you fire!" Ray countered, watching another wave of possessed guests advancing towards them. "Time for Slime! Hose them down guys!"
"Switch gears! Fire!" Michiru ordered again, ensnaring a ghost with Winston and slamming it into a trap before it could escape.
Although it was a slow process to capture the ghosts because of the need to fight off and free the guests as well; the paranormal eliminators managed to hang on until the tide was turned. Eventually, no more guests were around for the possessor ghosts to use other than Dr. Rutherford who was now standing behind the four fighters where he was safe from attack; thus allowing the Ghostbusters to discharge their proton streams and capture any remaining ghosts that came in range of their weapons. Wanting to boost their morale as much as possible in the face of a long campaign of attrition, the four companions called out the total number of captured ghosts as soon as each of them had imprisoned one inside of their traps which were deployed along the floor in front of them. Saya was also doing his part by warning Michiru when any of their friends were possessed again since there were no more people left in the main gallery other than themselves; giving the team another advantage which they used very effectively to counter their paranormal opponents.
"Seven!" Michiru shouted, watching with determination and a small grin as he captured another possessor inside of the Slam Dunk trap.
"Eight!" Ray yelled with excitement, following Michiru's example and enjoying the moment as they neared the end of this first fight.
"Nine down and one to go!" Venkman cried with anticipation, waiting with the others for Winston to bag the last ghost left to imprison.
"Ten!" Winston replied with a grin, capturing the last remaining possessor ghost. "Yeah! Who's left standing on field now?"
"Ghostbusters!" All four of them shouted simultaneously in triumph, gathering up their traps and congratulating each other with high fives and so on as Dr. Rutherford smiled now that the danger was over.
The momentary pause for glory was over as all five of them as well as Saya watched a large overweight ghost appear out of nowhere high above the Gozer exhibit, he swooped down and snatched Ilyssa before disappearing into a doorway which lead to another area of the Museum; it wasn't going to be an easy task of tracking them down with so many rooms to hide in. But they had their PKE meters to pick up any paranormal activities so they would just have to follow as best as they could and hope that they were on the right path. Dr. Rutherford showed Ray to the security room in order to track Ilyssa's movements on the viewing monitors by using the security cameras displayed throughout the Museum, which would allow them to follow her and eventually make a rescue attempt once they had caught up with her and the spiritual entity who had abducted her.
"Ray, I don't feel too comfortable using my proton pack; all of these exhibits could get destroyed and I don't want that on my hands." Michiru said reluctantly as the four combatants approached the doorway where Ilyssa had travelled through; watching all the displays and info panels that went with them as they entered the new Museum section.
"I understand how you feel Mitch, but I'm afraid it can't be helped; we've got a job to do even if it means ruining priceless historical exhibits." Ray replied, knowing how the Kururugi boy felt. "You don't want that fat blob of a ghost to get away with Ilyssa now do you?"
"No, of course not. I just don't want to get in anymore trouble than I'm in now." Michiru answered, turning to the left and catching a glimpse of Ilyssa and her captor floating around before escaping again as an army of mannequins came to life and attacked the paranormal eliminators using the lethal spears they were armed with. "There's Ilyssa, let's go guys!"
"Mitch! Help!" Ilyssa shouted as she disappeared a second time from sight, motivating the Japanese student to charge his way through; bypassing and blasting any opponents he could along the way in an effort to gain ground and pursue his female friend.
"It's a mannequin ambush guys!" Winston remarked, blasting a boson dart and causing a destructive explosion which devastated all the attacking foes since the narrow hallway magnified the blast; damaging the Museum displays in the process as well. "Just blast them down to nothing so we can move on! Catch up to Ilyssa as best as you can Mitch, we'll take care of the remaining foes you leave behind and mop up as we follow!"
"Gotcha Winston, thanks!" Michiru replied gratefully, not wanting to fall behind and lose track of Ilyssa as he quickly lowered his PKE meter after scanning these new opponents; identifying them as possessed statues that were humanoid shaped mannequins with giant masks covering their heads which looked menacing from the multiple pairs of glowing red and yellow eyes that stared through them. "Ray, I managed to get a scan of the ghost that abducted Ilyssa; he's a Class Seven Ectoplasmic Entity identified as the Chairman."
"Good work Mitch!" Ray called back over the boy's hand radio. "I'll do a little digging while I'm on my way to the security office, catch you later once I've found some answers for you; over and out."
"That's another exhibit we've trashed so far, let's see if we can't wreck them all before the night is done." Venkman joked, walking along once he and Winston had finished off the remaining enemies inside of this exhibit section as they both followed Michiru through a doorway and into another.
"Can it Peter, Peck is pissed off at us already so let's not make things worse by causing unnecessary destruction; we're all being recorded by the security cameras in case you haven't noticed." Winston warned, making Michiru gulp with worry about having himself being taped during a battle against paranormal foes as he turned right and beheld the room ahead of him. "Look, another army; charge!"
Unlike the first exhibit which was a narrow winding hallway that was well lit up, this next section was an immense wide room that was very dark with only fake torches to illuminate the area; a large temple with a green ghostly aura around it stood at the opposite end and there was a doorway on either side of it which led to another exhibit section. The only way of getting to either door was to travel down the narrow walkways that led in a straight line towards the other exits and in order to switch to a different hallway that was divided by the giant tomblike surroundings was to cross one of several bridges which were located at different points of the spacious room, it appeared that the Ghostbusters would have to fight their way through if they ever hoped to catch up to Ilyssa; they had no other choice. Michiru raced through the walkway, using his shock blaster which was less risky for himself; but just as effective in destroying hordes of mannequins that ganged up on him to halt his speedy advance. Because of his running pace, he was constantly fighting at close quarters; but he would occasionally fire a boson dart to take out a horde of them from a distance before they got close enough to attack. In addition to the mannequins, there were also swarms of black flying skulls with green flames trailing behind them as they darted around above the heads of the three people; waiting for an opportune moment to make a suicidal ramming attack on a specific person.
"Saya, see if you can fly to the other end of the room and see which doorway Ilyssa and that ghost use to make an escape with." Michiru suggested, leaving his spiritual friend to soar through the air above the chaotic battle; allowing him to see everything with a bird's eye view.
"Take the fight to the bridge!" Winston shouted, blasting mannequins with a boson dart as he crossed a bridge and surveyed the battlefield before choosing what direction he should take next. "Hurry up Peter, we can't fall behind and leave Mitch to fight by himself."
"This close quarters combat is making it difficult to keep pace with him Winston, I'm not young like he is you know." Venkman replied, bringing up the rear as he continued shooting at various foes with his proton stream. "Ilyssa's gotten away again Ray, have you seen where she went by any chance?"
"We haven't made it to the security office yet!" Ray answered back as his voice echoed through all of their hand radios that they carried with them. "This Museum is crawling with so many swarms of entities, its tough to pick out Ilyssa in a mess like this."
"Roger that Ray, we're fighting our way through this mess as we speak and we fill like rats in a maze right now." Winston remarked. "We don't want to get lost or end up going in the wrong direction so try and get there right away."
"This exhibit looks like the same one we saw before the Mayan one, I hope that we're not going in circles here." Michiru commented as he led the way into a third exhibit area which was somewhat similar to the first one they had been through already.
"You should be familiar with these Mitch considering that you got to have a nice tour of the Museum with Ilyssa during your date long before we arrived." Venkman pointed out. "Or were you paying too much attention to her instead of where you were going?"
"I wasn't here on a date!" Michiru countered, making Saya laugh while turning a corner and seeing a broken skylight in the ceiling with rain lightly falling inside of the long hallway that they had ventured into it. "Uh oh, this doesn't look good; heads up guys!"
Michiru, Winston and Venkman were forced to funnel their way around the obelisks and stone monuments that lay in the narrow hallway as they battled more hordes of possessed statues armed with spears that appeared at every turn to oppose them; close quarters combat wasn't a very good experience because of the dangers of friendly fire in addition to the blasts from their weapons being magnified in such confined spaces. The good news at least was that it was easy to navigate through the area simply by following the hallway since it was narrow and therefore impossible to stray off course or get lost, until it ended and they had to enter a wider room where another exhibit was located; but this small upside vanished as soon as the three companions arrived at another entrance which was barred shut by metal security shudders that forced them to halt. Michiru wasn't particularly in the best of moods since Ilyssa was still in danger and also because of the destruction that he and the Ghostbusters were leaving behind as they travelled from one section of the Museum to another over and over again, fighting their way against paranormal opponents; feeling that there was no end in sight.
"Peter, come in." Ray asked over their hand radios.
"Hi honey, how was your day?" Venkman replied back humorously, getting a chuckle out of both Michiru and Winston. "Could you please open gate 3487 please?"
"Give me a sec…there you go." Ray answered as strange noises echoed from the security room he was in, telling the Ghostbusters that something was going on. "Uh oh, we're under attack so we'll get back to you later; over and out."
"What ever you do Ray, don't let yourself get possessed by any…" Winston warned, too late for Ray to heed his warning.
"Kazza gorba smotz corzig glump! Forga! Forga!" Ray answered back, making all of his coworkers chuckle after hearing his paranormal gibberish and confirming that he had gotten possessed yet again. ""Ah, well that was disgusting; I managed to drive the ghost out of me by spraying myself with slime before I lost control of my body. But it looks as though I accidentally scared Dr. Rutherford away during my possessed state, not that I blame him; anyone looks scary when they're possessed. According to the video monitors, you guys should be entering the American Civil War exhibit; Ilyssa just passed through there so you should be catching up to her soon."
"Got it Ray, thanks for the word; we'll take it from here." Michiru replied, looking around as they spread themselves out since this section was immensely wide. "Hey, my PKE meter's got another cursed artefact; I'll go look for it so I'll rejoin you guys in a minute.
Michiru wandered off from Winston and Venkman in the direction of where the paranormal signal seemed to be coming from, he wandered around a few exhibits until he arrived at the farthest right hand corner of the room where various civil war artefacts and objects were set on display with a summary plaque indicating the history of each one. After confirming which object was the cursed artefact, Michiru held out his PKE meter in order to scan it; but a thought crossed his mind which halted his actions and made him pause to question whether or not he was doing the right thing. Its true that every active sample which was collected helped to benefit the Ghostbusters, but this one was part of a display and the Kururugi boy didn't feel comfortable with the thought of being accused of theft.
"Uh Ray?" Michiru asked, talking into his hand radio. "I've found another cursed artefact, I know that we get paid extra for everything we scan and collect; but I don't want anyone from the Museum to come knocking on our door because one of their display pieces is missing."
"If it's a cursed artefact, then we're obligated to collect it and ensure that what ever curse its been affected with doesn't stir up any paranormal activity which could endanger the people of the Museum; and the city." Ray reminded, telling Michiru that it was perfectly alright to scan the artefact and teleport it back to the Firehouse. "I know it feels wrong and I share your concern, but its part of our work contract with the city to ensure the safety of the people which always comes first; regardless of what actions we undertake."
"Okay Ray, I just had to ask; that's all." Michiru replied back as he scanned the civil war musket which also had a bayonet fixed on the end of its barrel. "Over and out."
"Just warning you guys, I can't help but notice that the statues in this exhibit have guns; so maybe we should hurry on out of here before they come to life and attack us." Winston suggested, feeling a little uneasy about the historical significance of this particular exhibit.
"You just had to say it didn't you Winston?" Venkman remarked, watching the exit door slam shut with a loud thud as multiple Union and Confederate mannequins came to life before everyone's eyes; floating above the floor as they fought against each other. "Well there's something you don't see everyday, ghosts attacking each other instead of us; and with firearms as well."
"Stop standing about guys, scatter before you get shot!" Michiru said, ducking for cover as a Union ghost fired his musket at the boy; just missing him. "I never thought I'd be fighting against American Civil War soldiers, this'll be something to tell Kagome and the others when I get home."
"What the hell man?" Winston asked in shock as he ducked behind a model hill of grass about ten feet away from where Michiru was crouching. "Why are these ghosts fighting against each other and us as well? Can't they even make up their minds over who their fighting?"
"What are you complaining for Winston?" Venkman asked humorously, crouching behind some cover as well. "These ghosts are fighting each other so you could say that they're doing some of our work by not directing their full attention on us."
"Why don't we just take advantage of the fact that their fighting against each other and capture all of them before any of us get shot?" Michiru suggested, charging out and discharging a proton stream at the Union ghost who had tried to shoot him a moment ago. "Are you guys going to join in or do I have to catch these ghosts all by myself?"
Winston shook his head as he stood up and ran in to help out, reluctantly being forced to fight against ghosts of soldiers from the American Civil War; but it was the only way for them to move on if they were ever to rescue Ilyssa once they had tracked her down. Michiru knew that Winston wasn't entirely pleased with this particular brawl that all of them were involved with, so he repositioned himself in a closer location in order to help his friend capture ghosts at a faster rate; hoping that the battle would be over that much quicker. Cavalry buglers echoed throughout the exhibit as the Ghostbusters clashed with Union and Confederate ghosts in this skirmish size battle of the American Civil War, giving the three mortals a feeling that they were truly visiting history; considering that they were among American soldiers who were fighting against each other.
"Aw geez! I've been shot!" Venkman cussed, causing the others to look at him as they saw a large blue splat of slimy residue on the front of his uniform which had proven that he had been targeted and shot in the stomach. "I felt like I've been hit with a paint ball round, and I'm not even wearing any protective padding."
"Sounds as though you're going to pull through Peter, less talk and more ghost trapping." Winston commented with a grin, relieved that none of the ghost's guns could fatally harm any of them.
As the battle continued, Peter was shot multiple times which made his uniform extremely soaking wet and dirty from the blue paint ball like splats as well as from slime from the slime blowers when Michiru had to free him from being possessed. Winston was hit just two or three during the fight, but it was enough to give the man a small amount of discomfort considering that he'd been hit square in the chest. Michiru stayed on the move almost the entire time to avoid enemy fire except when he ensnared a ghost with his capture stream and was forced to stay still in order to pull it into the proximity of his trap which he frequently tossed out and retrieved during the battle between each time he relocated himself. Finally, the odds were evened and all three of the Ghostbusters were now pulling the last remaining ghosts into their traps; bringing this paranormal re-enactment to a final conclusion. Now that things were quiet again, Winston could breath a sigh of relief as he and Venkman followed their Japanese friend out of the Civil War exhibit.
"Looks like you took a lot of fire Venkman, you've got blue splats all over the front of your uniform." Winston pointed out after eyeing Venkman's sorry state.
"Yeah, hurt like hell too." Venkman replied. "I guess I must have targeted a commander, which might explain why so many rounds were fired at me."
"I was able to capture four Ghosts, did each of you guys catch any too?" Michiru asked curiously, joining in on the conversation.
"Yeah, we got our share." Winston answered, glancing at Michiru and only just noticing that he was still clean unlike them. "Hey Mitch, how the heck have you managed to stay clean all this time? You haven't even been dosed one with slime, and it looks as though you haven't even been shot either."
"You caught four ghosts and didn't get shot even once?" Venkman asked in disbelief. "How'd you do it?"
"I really hate to tell you this guys, but in case you haven't clued in yet; the three of us are dressed in grey." Michiru pointed out as he answered, causing Venkman to turn and look at the young teenager with utter shock. "The Confederate ghosts are dressed in grey as well, so I thought if I went after the Union ghosts; then the Confederates would think I'm one of them and leave me alone, and it worked."
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Winston laughed out loud before turning to Venkman with a grin. "Mitch sure knows his job eh? Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"You could have given us that tip before we joined in with you during the battle, try and remember that for next time." Venkman remarked, making Michiru laugh softly before using his radio. "Hey Ray, how are things looking on the security monitors?"
"I'm just figuring that out now, I've only just arrived at another security office." Ray explained, eyeing all the monitors to pinpoint the whereabouts of his friends as well as Ilyssa and her paranormal abductor. By the way, I managed to dig up some research on that ghost you mentioned earlier. In the early nineteen hundreds, this Museum was run by a board of trustees. Powerful guys, tycoons and captains of industry all of whom were probably filthy rich and ruthless. The Chairman of the Board was a man named Cornelius Wellsley who owned a major company called International Steel, that ghost you saw must be his spiritual entity. The board used the Museum as a respectable front to hide and obscure all kinds of dubious activities, they were mainly part of an elite club which was ruled and run by our favourite evil architect; Ivo Shandor. These board members hired women from the St. Nicholas Rehabilitation Mission for Wayward Angels, according to various and suspicious rumours; they conducted all sorts of nasty rituals and evil ceremonies using these women."
"Okay Ray, you can put a lid on it; I don't think I want to hear anything more given that Ilyssa is in the Chairman's captivity right now." Michiru responded, hearing quite enough of Ray's research data.
"I hear you Mitch, we'd better find her before that oozing tub of blubber can make his getaway; at least their both still inside the Museum." Winston added as the three of them entered into another exhibit room was much smaller than the Civil War one they had recently left. "Well, looks like we've arrived at the Egypt exhibit; brings back a lot of memories while I was working on my doctorate."
"There's lots of black slime in here." Michiru commented as flames appeared on the altar posts, lighting up the room while a black slime portal opened in the floor; releasing a swarm of flying skulls from a paranormal dimension. "Hose down the black slime portal and seal it shut!"
"You do it Mitch!" Venkman replied, firing his shock blaster at the aerial adversaries as they scattered around to attack the three of them. "Winston and I will cover you and keep these creeps off your back!"
Winston and Venkman spread out and drew the flying skulls away from Michiru in order to let him close up the black slime portal unopposed, once this was done; no more enemies would come through the floor and then they could all take out the flying skulls together. Because these opponents attack by ramming themselves during a suicide charge, the skirmish was over in half a minute or so; most of them were destroyed in flight before they could attempt it and none of the Ghostbusters were hurt. The paranormal eliminators moved onwards into a winding hallway with more Egyptian displays which indicated that the Egyptian exhibit was a very large one that had to be divided into different sections. After the three of them entered an immensely wide and spacious room which was nearly the size of the one which featured the American Civil War exhibit, the doors behind them slammed shut; and an enormous chunk of concrete fell down and blocked the entrance which would have killed them had they been standing underneath. Once they realized they were trapped, the trio watched with alarm as all of the Egyptian statues came to life; these new opponents were armed with round bronze shields and razor sharp pickaxe looking weapons that had extra long handles which made them as long as spears. The heads of the statues were carved and made to resemble the Egyptian God Anubis, which made these dangerous new opponents look very frightening; especially with their glowing eyes that burned orange like fire.
"Why do we always get locked in with these ghosts?" Does someone have that much of a grudge against us?" Winston remarked, using his shock blaster on one of them as they all charged down to take the fight to the possessed statues.
"Peck certainly does, but luckily he doesn't have the power to pull off something like this." Venkman replied, trying to humour his friend in the midst of battle as they found themselves surrounded on all sides.
"The Chairman must be responsible for trapping us here, I think I heard him laugh at us as the entrance behind us was closed and blocked off." Michiru added, using his capture stream to tear the shield away from a statue he was fighting against before blasting it into rumble with a boson dart. "Guys! Before you blast the statues with boson darts, use your capture streams on their shields!"
Michiru recovered the round bronze shield and secured it to his left arm before he raced over to aid Winston and Venkman who were both in danger of being attacked by numerous statues, try as they might; their boson darts were not strong enough to inflict harm as long as the predator like monsters had their shields to deflect the blasts with. The Kururugi boy wasted no time in firing a slime tether at each of his two friends and attaching the ends of them to a stone pillar located a short distance away, the sudden elastic force of the slime tethers pulled the unprepared Ghostbusters away from the scene; knocking down any statues caught in their path like a bunch of bowling pins. Michiru fired boson darts at the fallen foes who didn't have their shields in front of them for protection as he repositioned himself by his comrades who were now flat on their backs, a statue that hadn't been knocked down raised its weapon to strike a fatal blow at one of them; but was stopped by the teenager who saw the threat and used his shield to stop the attack. Next, Michiru shoved the monster away and finished it off with a shock blast at point blank range; thus ending the danger in order to face the other horde of statues as they advanced on his position.
The two older Ghostbusters slowly got back on their feet after the slime tether had worn off, both of them eager to return the favour and help out their young friend who was now outnumbered with a horde of monsters to face alone for the moment. Saya, floating in the air noticed that several Union ghosts that must have followed them from the Civil War exhibit were preparing to shoot Michiru; so the old spiritual entity flew up and spun in circles around both of the opponents in order to distract them from their original target. The Shikigami user was using his shield to push his opponents off balance as he slammed into them while looking for an opportune moment to blast them apart with his boson darts, the close quarters fighting made them all vulnerable to the shockwaves of the explosive blast even though each of them carried a bronze shield for protection; including Michiru. But once a blast would scatter everyone apart, the Kururugi boy could exploit their weakened states since the boson darts were being fired away from him and that his own shield would protect him as he continued to fight. By now, Winston and Venkman had returned to the fight and now all three of them could finish all of the possessed statues off; one at a time in a one on one fight until if was over.
"You certainly have a knack for this sort of job Mitch, you've saved us against and you haven't even tired yourself out yet." Winston commented, congratulating the teenager on his endurance.
"Uh guys, would someone mind telling me what Saya is doing right now?" Venkman asked, causing his two friends to look up and watch with astonishment as they beheld Saya taunting the two Union ghosts who were trying in vain to shoot him with their weapons; it was pretty funny to watch Saya buzz around and easily dodge the shots one after the other.
"Missed again, how many more will it be before one of you actually take me down?" Saya teased, buzzing around like an annoying housefly as he taunted the floating ghosts over and over again after each individual shot. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Come on, surely you get shoot better than that?"
"Okay guys, let's capture those ghosts before Saya lets down his guard and gets himself hurt." Michiru suggested with a chuckle as they all suppressed their laughter so they could concentrate on the task at hand. "Look out from below Saya!"
The two Union ghosts were so fixated on shooting Saya that they ignored the proton streams being fired at them, it was only after their PKE levels had dropped that they realized their mistake as they suddenly found themselves ensnared in the capture streams of the three Ghostbusters that were attacking them from below; their fates were now sealed as they were pulled into the traps and imprisoned until they would be transferred to the containment unit at the Firehouse once this campaign at the Museum was over. Now that there were no more enemies inside of this ruined rumble of an Egyptian tomb, the four friends made their way up some stairs and arrived at the far corner of west wall where they had hoped to fight a door leading out of here to the next room; their hopes were gone when they saw nothing but a blank wall located in place instead. In order to find another way out, Michiru pulled down his goggles and took out his PKE meter in the hopes that a paranormal occurrence would give a clue that could help them out; his prayers were answered as he saw what looked like a rectangular shaped purple aura in place of a giant slab which made up the wall in front of him.
"Ray, come in please; there's a purple paranormal fold of some sort located at the far corner of the west wall." Michiru said over his radio. "My PKE meter indicates that there's an invisible door in its place? We need to know how we can get the door open."
"It seems the ghosts have used their dimensional anomalous signatures to wrinkle the space-time continuum, you're seeing a fold in reality even though the door is still there even though the ghosts have removed the door from this plane of existence; your positively charged slime from your slime blower should dissipate the wrinkle and restore the door to its origin point." Ray explained. "Try it out."
"It worked Ray, thanks." Michiru replied, spraying green slime on the wall and feeling relieved that the doorway had returned. "Lets go."
Saya flew through the door entrance followed by Michiru and the others as they walked into a narrow hallway which was pitch black with lights flickering on and off which gave the need for Michiru to pull down his head goggles so he could see clearly in the dark; there were shelves of materials stacked here and there as well as black slime spills all around them including the walls and even the ceiling which made their slow advance a hazardous one. After turning left to continue down the hallway, Michiru's PKE meter buzzed off; indicating a cursed artefact was nearby because of the blue lights flashing on it for him to see; it was a giant stone shaped head inside of a plastic transparent garbage bag. After taking a scan, Michiru figured out from his instrument that it was from someone who went by the name of Azathotep; which sounded just as paranormal to the boy as Azetlor did.
The Ghostbusters found a water fountain and took turns getting a drink, their mouths were probably dry from battle so the cold water felt very refreshing to drink and when they were done; the four of them proceeded to the exit door which was just a few paces away. Upon opening it, they found another large room somewhat similar in layout to the Civil War exhibit even though it was much more narrow; all of them caught a glimpse of Ilyssa and the Chairman before they darted away and left more Egyptian statues and swarms of flying skulls to fight them off in a delaying action. Saya flew after the two of them while Michiru and the others clashed once again with these formidable foes; just how much longer would it be until they could actually fight the Chairman and rescue Ilyssa?
After a few minutes, the fight was over and the three combatants left the room and found themselves at a narrow hallway that was shaped like a T junction which meant that there were two paths going in the oppose direction; Michiru went left when he detected another cursed artefact and quickly scanned after seeing it inside of a glass display case. After finding out it was a red Phoenician Plague Vase made of clay, Michiru looked around to determine which direction to take; luckily Saya had waited for them so that he could lead them down the right way and this was confirmed when they caught yet another glimpse of the Chairman and Ilyssa. More Egyptian statues came to life on either side of the narrow hallway, but unlike in the Egyptian Main room; these opponents didn't have shields so it was easy for the Ghostbusters to defeat them quickly with their technologically advanced and destructive weaponry. Michiru was trying to stay on the run as he engaged the foes in his path to try and catch up to Saya who was still giving chase, but his ears suddenly recognized the beeping sound coming from his PKE meter and so he halted in order to find out what was being detected.
Coming to a halt and quickly looking around to make sure he wasn't in danger first, Michiru pulled out his instrument and found the artefact to the left which was hanging on the wall beside him; it was an enormous rectangular painting of the board of trustees which Ray had mentioned earlier over the radio when he had talked about Chairman Cornelius Wellesley. The familiar characteristic of the painting was that it also had the same paranormal feature as the one which Michiru also found at the Public Library, the image changed when looked at from another angle; the evil entities replaced the people and they were also surrounded by an aura of purple smoke. Now that the task was done, Michiru continued his chase and destroyed any and all foes that attacked him. As the Ghostbusters advanced from one hallway section to another, even Michiru and the others were able to see Ilyssa and the Chairman momentarily; which meant that their pursuit was succeeding and that they were catching up that much quicker. The last two foes in their path were both guarding a doorway which was barred by security shudders, although they had shields; they were no match for the three paranormal eliminators who were now used to fighting against them. Once they were quickly destroyed, Ray opened the shudders from the other side and let them through; it looked as though they had arrived back inside of the Gozer exhibit where the commotion had first begun.
"Look, there's Ilyssa!" Michiru shouted, racing over to where his female friend was laying unconscious on the floor beside the giant Obelisk. "Wake up Ilyssa, come on; that's it. Are you feeling alright?"
"Oh, what a nightmare." Ilyssa said softly as she woke up and found herself being held in Michiru's arms as he crouched down on the floor, looking at her with concern and relieve now that she was finally save and okay. "Mitch, we'll this is an unexpected surprise; I never thought I'd wake up to find myself in your arms."
"I-I'm just glad you're alright." Michiru replied as he helped her stand up, making her suppress a giggle as she noticed his face turn red.
"Ah, nothing beats being the hero and getting the girl after a long campaign of endless battles." Venkman commented with a grin.
"Why don't you just keep your comments to yourselves?" Michiru replied, eyeing each of them as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "When did you get here Egon?"
"I arrived shortly before all of you returned to the Gozer exhibit, I came as soon as I finished analysing all our data from the Library after reading through more of the Gozerian Codex; during which time I made an extraordinarily frightening discovery." Egon answered, getting everyone's attention now that the scientist had apparently had some bad news to inform them. "All my findings indicate that the Ghost world is pushing from multiple cross portals from their dimension into ours."
"By the way Egon, thanks very much for the new trap you made for me; it works great and came in very handy during tonight's campaign." Michiru said gratefully while complimenting Egon on the new piece of equipment which the scientist had invented and built.
"Not a problem, I'm glad it was helpful for you." Egon replied.
"Hey guys, check this out." Winston pointed to the floor, just moments before the ugly and overweight looking Chairman ghost appeared above them by entering through a fold in reality. "Uh oh, the big fat ugly dude is back."
The Ghostbusters's faces cringed with disgust as they finally got a good look at the Chairman ghost floating up in the air before them, calling him an overweight would be a huge understatement; this guy's gut was so large and round that he wouldn't be able to get inside of an elevator. His clothes, at least what remained of them were all ragged; no surprise considering that his waist size probably doesn't exist. He wore a ragged robe which was just enough to cover everything below the waist as long as it didn't tear by accident, and what was left of his coat was just the sleeves which were just held together from behind at the back; a bright yellow glowing orb like eye was located in the middle of the Chairman's chest and it looked as though it had some mysterious significance. Before any of the human combatants could make an attack, the Chairman suddenly swooped down and snatched Ilyssa from the floor; darting back up in the air and laughing as he had once again kidnapped his female hostage. Ilyssa cried for help and tried in vain to free herself from this horridly disgusting spiritual entity, as Saya and the paranormal eliminators spread out to block the exits and keep the Chairman from escaping.
"Don't let him escape with her again." Winston shouted, getting into position with the others; covering all escape routes. "Slime time!"
The Ghostbusters discharged their slime blowers at the Chairman who was now hovering above them in a stationary position, looking around in order to find where he could make a successful getaway; Saya had positioned himself above the Chairman at the tip of the giant Obelisk in order to see where he'd go if he flew upwards to one of the top floors just in case. But luckily for all of them, the Chairman wasn't going to get away this time; not without leaving Ilyssa behind anyway. A paranormal tear suddenly appeared in the floor near the Obelisk, and the Chairman took his chance; dropping Ilyssa and causing Michiru and Winston to race under and try to catch her before she hit the floor. They caught her in time even though her momentum gave them some sore muscles afterwards from the fall; but at least she was now safe again. The other Ghostbusters wasted no time in pressing their attacks, switching over to their proton streams and striking the Chairman for a few seconds before he made his escape; leaving a small heap of black charcoal bits all over the floor around the crack where he had miraculously gotten through.
"Winston, could you please take Ilyssa home before anything else happens?" Michiru asked with concern. "We don't want the Chairman to kidnap her again."
"No problem Mitch, I'll see that she gets home safe and sound; good luck to you hunting that slob down." Winston replied, helping Michiru set Ilyssa down on her feet. "Wait here, I'll just get the keys from Ray.
"I'll see you back at the office once we've dealt with the Chairman and the rest of the ghosts, stay safe Ilyssa." Michiru said, giving a reassuring look that everything would be fine. "And don't worry, I'll be sure to stay out of trouble."
"I know, just don't overexert yourself okay?" Ilyssa replied with a smile, getting a nod from the boy. "Good bye Mitch, and good luck."
"Okay, everyone. Any ideas how we can follow the Chairman through that little hole in the floor?" Venkman asked humorously.
"Yeah, goggles down." Michiru answered, pulling down his head goggles and holding out his PKE meter as he saw that the base of the Obelisk had a purple aura around it; his scan indicated that it was weakened and that it could now be destroyed. "Everyone stand back, I'm going to blast it."
Everyone backed away from the Obelisk and Michiru shot a boson dart at it once he was standing about ten feet away, the entire base shattered like a glass bottle and the rest of the towering structure came crashing down to the floor; scattering into multiple fragments of ink black rumble. Before anyone could say anything however, a gigantic pattern which was hidden in the floor underneath of where the Obelisk used to stand became to react with paranormal kinetic energy; a closer look at it showed that it was the same mysterious pattern which they had also encountered inside of the Public Library after their battle with Azetlor. All the circles, triangular, and circular lines began to glow bright blue as they moved around; shifting their positions all along the floor until the round centre section descended and transformed itself into a spiralling staircase which lead downstairs into a secret passageway that had been hidden for a very long time. Michiru took a deep breath to prepare himself, this was certainly going to be an interesting exploration, journeying underground through a secret hidden passage leading into the depths of hell for all anyone knew; but at least Ilyssa was going to be safe back at the Firehouse so she was now longer in any danger and that was one good thing which he could be thankful for.
"So, our we going down the stairs to see where this secret hidden passage leads?" Saya asked, floating down to Michiru's shoulder and looking at the mysterious staircase which had only just been discovered.
"Come on guys, we've got a Chairman ghost to capture; let's go." Egon replied, taking the lead as they descended downstairs one after another with Saya bringing up the rear until they reached the bottom.
Author's Note: This chapter was more difficult than usual to write about because of trying to tie game events together with other events in Feudal Japan and so on, I ended it here because it was already a little too long and also because this is where I will eventually plan out other events which will further change and escalate the course of adventures for Michiru later on in the future. For the record, Saya is here in the States as well and since he no longer has to subdue Sounga; I feel that its only fair he should get to have some adventure too. By the way, now that Kagome has stumbled upon possibly figuring out what's going on between Michiru and Sango; things are eventually going to get dramatic among the Inuyasha characters even though Michiru is currently still in America for a long while.
Orionpax09, I know you've probably been too busy to read these passed few chapters and that you also haven't been able to update any of your stories; I hope that you enjoy reading them whenever you eventually find free time to read them. Look forward to hearing from you soon, until then; good luck to you on what ever story or art projects you're currently working on.
Jetty1, I really don't like disappointing my fans, but sorry I didn't have enough room for including the lost parade level in this chapter; I ended this chapter in such a way that will allow me to incorporate that event into the next chapter. Just warning you in advance, the occasion of the parade will have to be a different one since there obviously isn't going to be a Thanksgiving given the fact that its late July as opposed to November; but I've got all the research material I need to tie everything together once I come up with an appropriate cause for the parade and so on. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter in the mean time; good luck on your Secret of the cursed Ring story when ever you work on it again.
Master of Death and Darkness, glad that you got a lot of laughs from Kagome unleashing her wrath on Miroku; it was pretty funny to read since she doesn't really do that in the anime even though it would have been entertaining to see. This chapter was a difficult one to write but I hope you enjoy all the events whether they're funny or not; look forward to hearing from you soon.
AeropostleKeyblade, I hope that you'll eventually find time to read and review this chapter even though you've been busy; take care.
Greymon Leader, thanks very much for all the suggestions and ideas you brought to my attention; I honestly don't know how I could have tackled all the writing blocks without your help. Now that chapter nine is completed, I can finally breath a sigh of relief and move on to chapter ten; I enjoyed talking back and forth with you about this story and let me say that I enjoyed reading your story which you yourself have only just begun. I look forward to hearing from you and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, I'm only sorry I couldn't writing it sooner.
