Chapter Nine: Welcome to the Caribbean

"Is he still in there?"

"Sounds like he is."

"Well…what do we do?"

"I don't know, but we gotta get him out before Mr. Moseby sees him."

Four boys stood in one of the corridors outside the students' cabin area of the S.S. Tipton. Their names – Zack and Cody Martin, Woody Fink, and Marcus Little. Each of them were members of a special Junior Ghostbusters unit established by Dr. Kimberly Venkman on the S.S. Tipton, in favor of all the excellent service the Tipton Hotel had received from the Ghostbusters in New York City. Zack and Cody, having already spent a whole year in the program, were on the verge of promotion, whereas Woody and Marcus still had another few months to go.

Of course, there was a possible chance for "extra credit" with a strange pirate ghost hanging around the cruise ship recently. They kept a close eye on him while doing their best to keep his presence a secret from Mr. Moseby, who would surely attempt to scare him off before he becomes scared of him. Currently, they had him trapped inside of Cody and Woody's cabin, from where he seemed to be only singing in some type of drunken slur. Although it was difficult to tell through the cabin door outside, but from what the boys could make out, the lyrics of the song sounded something like: "Yo-ho, yo-ho! A pirate's life for me!"

After listening to a few more lyrics, the boys were suddenly directed away from the music, just as Bailey Pickett and London Tipton – two other members of the S.S. Tipton's Junior Ghostbusters unit – showed up behind them. "Guys, guys! Mr. Moseby's on his way here!" Bailey warned.

"Yeah, and he's got a look on his face that goes like this." London added, just as she squint her eyes, frowned deeply, and scrunched up her entire face real tight.

Seeing the look she was mimicking, Zack asked, "Is that his angry look or really focused look?"

"It was tough to tell, but seeing that he just found out that punchbowl filled with rum punch was spilled all over the carpet in the banquet room, I don't think he's all too happy now." London stated, only making the others more and more nervous.

"Oh, man! What're we gonna do?" Woody anxiously inquired.

Before any suggestions could have been made…

"ZACK! CODY!"

Each of their backs was immediately to the wall at the angry sound of Marion Moseby's voice, which sounded very, very close nearby. Almost on the verge of crying, Cody asked no one in particular, "Why is it always us that have to be in so much trouble?!"

"Because it's us, Cody." Zack reminded him.

Within seconds, Mr. Moseby arrived in the same corridor that the kids were standing in, noticing them line up perfectly with their backs against the wall. The look on his face was exactly the way London depicted it – eyes squinted, deep frown, and a tight, scrunched-up face. "I just happened to be following a trail of punch stains and you know exactly where they led me?"

No one wanted to answer, except for London, who eagerly responded, "To the wonderful land of Oz?" On that response, everyone looked to her with dumbfounded expressions. "Well, if you hum a few bars, maybe I could get a clue."

Moseby, getting over London's ignorance quickly, refocused back on what he was saying. "No…it just happened to have led me here, outside the cabin of two of my most despised guests!"

Woody appeared very surprised from Moseby's words. "I'm despised…Cool!"

"No, not 'cool', because now I'll have to elicit extreme punishment on not just you two, but the rest of you for ruining a heavily important party for distinguishable guests only! Do you children have any idea how much you have…?!"

Moseby stopped as soon as he noticed the door to the cabin open up and the head of a man with brown dreadlocked hair and a goatee in two braids, wearing a red bandanna and numerous objects in his hair, peeking out through the cabin door and directing his attention to Moseby. "Excuse me, mate. Would ye mind keepin' it down a smidgeon? This rum isn't doin' many favors to me head." The man spoke with an English accent with several noticeable gold teeth in his mouth. From what Mr. Moseby could briefly make of him before he stuck his head back inside the cabin and closed the door, he looked as if he could have been a pirate.

A blank stare came upon Moseby's face as he asked the children, "Who the heck was that guy?"

"What guy?" Cody uttered, acting totally dumb (something he was not often used to doing, considering his vast intelligence).

And since it was Cody that was doing the acting, Mr. Moseby ignored his ignorance and brush past the children to enter the cabin. Once he did, he was suddenly met with a horrendously foul odor within the room, which smelled like a toss between what the boys' cabin normally smelled – especially with Woody as its occupant – and something that could only come from a bum off the streets. The Junior Ghostbusters sensed it as well upon entering themselves with Bailey and London covering their noses to preserve their sensitive noses from the odor. In the midst of it all, taking sips of a bowl of rum punch from a ladle and singing an odd pirate song.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me! We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves…Drink up me 'earties, yo ho! We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs…Drink up me 'earties, yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

The pirate was completely in a drunken state, consuming large portions of the rum punch – the very same punch that was in the banquet room of the S.S. Tipton. It was a sight – and smell – that Mr. Moseby could tolerate no longer, and he confronted the pirate head on. "I do not know how you got in here, but you will leave immediately or else I'll…"

"This is some really heavy rum, mate!" The pirate interrupted, walking over to Moseby with a ladle full of rum punch and putting his arm around the frustrated manager. Moseby could practically detect the foulness seeping from the pirate's open armpit. "My compliments to its maker." With that said, he took another sip from the ladle, slurping up the red liquid carried in it.

Observing the actions of the odd ghostly pirate, Zack and Cody were impressed of how real it appeared to be, making physical contact with Moseby and carrying odors that no ghost (unless they counted Slimer) should have. The boys truly wished Drs. Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler could have been there to witness such an intriguing spirit. Braving himself to go near the smelly pirate, Cody walked up and asked, "Excuse me, sir, but you wouldn't happen to tell us your name, would you?"

The pirate moved his arm away from Moseby, who gasped as soon as he did, and turn his attention to Cody. "Of course, matey. Name be Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack extended his hand out to Cody, and the Junior Ghostbuster was a bit hesitant at first to shake it before finally succumbing to do so. The captain had a mighty grip for a long-dead spirit, and Cody could practically feel his fingers getting numb from the brief handshake they share. "That is captain of the mighty ship know to many as 'The Black Pearl'. Have ye heard of it?"

"Does it actually carry black pearls?!" London excitedly asked.

Jack seemed a little loss upon answering. "Not to my knowledge, it doesn't? Why? Have you heard anything?"

Before anyone could answer what they could only guess was a rhetorical question from Captain Sparrow, Mr. Moseby interjected himself into the conversation and said, "Alright! This is quite enough! This man is a stowaway and a complete lunatic! We raise anchor in seven minutes and he is going off the ship this very moment!"

"But, Mr. Moseby, you can't throw him off the ship." Woody declared.

"Oh! And why not?"

Zack stammered a quick reply. "B-Because h-he's a…"

However, just as Zack attempted to finish his statement with the word "ghost," the group suddenly heard a loud roar of applause from outside. Red and blue lights flashed through the porthole inside the cabin. A heavily curious Moseby went to the porthole and gazed through it, the first thing he saw being the familiar sight of the Ecto-2K – the vehicle of the Ghostbusters – parked at the seaport with several passengers of the S.S. Tipton greeting them with smiles, handshakes, hugs, and autograph books. The sight of their sudden appearance drove Moseby batty, as he grumbled to himself and stormed right out of the room, completely forgetting about Jack Sparrow.

Watching him leave in such an angry way, Sparrow and the Junior Ghostbusters seemed very perplexed. Marcus even asked out loud, "What's gotten into him?"

"Must've gotten to the rum before I did." Sparrow presumed.


After a few minutes of hugging fans, shaking hands, and signing autographs, the Ghostbusters reached the sky deck of the S.S. Tipton, along with all of the guests. The sight of the cruise ship impressed all of them. It was long, big, and gleaming with the millions of dollars that Mr. Tipton endorsed in putting it all together. The Ghostbusters certainly felt like they were stepping back into the fancy Tipton Hotel back in New York City while walking across the sky deck and passing through several other guests who marveled at their presence.

"Aw, man! Ghostbusters!" One particular young male guest exclaimed, approaching the group with three other young men – all of whom looked to be members of a popular band. "We had no clue you'd be here. We're your biggest fans. Did you catch our video on YouTube?"

Kim, Sean, Diana, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all stared at the young men awkwardly, totally confused of who they were and what they were talking about. "Uh…I don't watch much MTV…who are you fellas again?" Venkman inquired.

Max, P.J., and Meagan, on the other hand, looked to be very ecstatic by the appearance of these young men. "Dr. Venkman, this is the band Hoobastank!" Meagan giddily exclaimed.

"Who-the-what-a-stank?" Diana uttered in bewilderment.

"This is Doug Robb, Dan Estrin, Chris Hesse, and Jesse Charland." Max introduced. "We met them one night at a club back in Manhattan and told them that we worked for you guys. They wrote a song especially for us."

"Yeah, we're performing in a little bit." Doug mentioned. "Maybe you guys will be here on deck when we're on stage and hear the song we made."

Just when Venkman was about to express her gratitude to the popular band, a familiar voice butted into the conversation and robbed her of the chance. "Ohhh, no, they won't!" All heads turned to see Mr. Moseby walk right in, hands frantically waving and a look registered on his face that was nothing but strict and serious. "The Ghostbusters are not on the guest list for our cruise. Therefore, effective immediately, they will force off this deck or else they will face serious consequences."

Kimberly didn't seem all too intimidated by the manager's threats and rather took his sudden appearance more positively, as if they were old friends who were reunited. "Moseby, what up, bro! I haven't heard from you in quite some time, man!"

"Oh, don't you play 'jive' with me, Venkman." Moseby retorted. "Just because you and I have more history together than anyone else on this planet doesn't mean you can waltz right in and pretend as if you're a guest here. I've already had enough shenanigans from your 'junior cadets' or whatever you call them."

"It's not another shenanigan, Moseby." Spengler said. "We're here on serious business. We believe that somewhere out in the Atlantic Coast there is a mystic artifact taken by undead warriors."

Moseby stared at Spengler blankly. "Whatever you've been putting into your Kool-Aid, you'd better lower the dosage."

"Hey, like Spengs said, this is serious business, Moseby." Venkman stated.

"Well, what do you want me to do? It's not like I could request the captain to steer this ship in any direction you want."

"Actually…that's exactly what we're askin' ya ta do." Goofy said.

"Well, I can't! Look, we are on a very tight course here." Moseby indicated. "And if we stray off that course, we could wind up stranded out somewhere in the middle of nowhere!"

Kimberly scoffed. "I take it Mr. Tipton could afford everything but a good G.P.S. system on this thing."

"C'mon, Mr. Moseby. It's the only way we'll be able to find the black cauldron we're looking for." Mickey begged.

"The Black Cauldron, you say?" The slurry voice spoke near the group and everyone turned to see Jack Sparrow present on the sky deck with Zack, Cody, Woody, Marcus, Bailey, and London standing behind him. "I've heard stories ye wouldn't believe of the Black Cauldron – and I don't just say that because I constantly make up stuff…which I've be told that I do every now and then."

Looking between the filthy pirate and the Ghostbusters, Moseby was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "Okay, that's it! All of you off the ship now!"

Ignoring Moseby, Kim pointed to Sparrow and asked her Junior Ghostbusters from the S.S. Tipton, "Who the hell is this?"

"His name's Jack Sparrow and he's the captain of a ship made of black pearls!" London excitedly answered.

Sparrow tried not to seem too annoyed as her corrected the young woman. "I think the lass meant to say is that I'm Captain Jack Sparrow and my ship is called 'The Black Pearl'. Savvy?"

"He's a ghost pirate." Woody told Venkman.

Moseby glanced awkwardly at Woody upon hearing what he said. "Say what now?!"

"Well, well, Mose…how long have you been keepin' this dirty little secret?" Kimberly asked with a grin.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on! I didn't know anything about this until now!" Moseby alleged. "And don't try and turn this into a ploy for you getting onto this ship, because I won't fall for your scheming tactics like the city of New York does daily. I already get that enough from these two!" He then pointed to Zack and Cody, who tried to look innocent in front of their superiors.

"Might I make an imploration, mate." Sparrow told Moseby. "These ladies and gents with the weird fancy and shiny effects wish to find the Black Cauldron, something I know much about, while the music band with the unusual name are performing a song for the ladies and gents with the weird fancy and shiny effects. If you ask me, I would think leavin' us all on the ship will be in great servitude for everyone here. How would ye say to that?"

Moseby expressionlessly gawked at the pirate and said, "WHAT?!"

"Okay, how 'bout this then? Leave us all here on the ship and I won't blow it up with my ghostly powers." Sparrow threatened, and his threat seemed to have gotten through the manager of the S.S. Tipton, as he just stared at the dirty pirate in wide-eyed fear. "Well, now, glad that's all settled. Now if someone could redirect me to where that wonderful room filled with the rum punch is. All this negotiating has appeared to dry my throat again."

"You mean the banquet room? Dude, we're headed that way now." Doug told Jack.

Sparrow shook the band leader's hand gratefully and responded, "You are a prince among true alcoholics, mate. Lead the way." Jack and the band then departed from the sky deck, leaving Moseby standing perplexed over all that had just transpired before his very eyes.

Seeing how confused he was, Venkman smiled and whispered to her companions, "I can tell I'm really gonna love havin' Captain Sparrow around."