Goosebumps Adventure

Chapter 24: Don't Go In the Basement; Friendship's Blossom and Die pt. 5

Noygog Chemical Testing Plant

At that moment, the much talked about Ivy was currently busy on her own plans. She had snuck in and seated herself behind on of the factories. Using her laptop, she was attempting to make contact with her 'business associates'. She had made a link and called them immediately, "Inke? You there? I've got another job for you and your buddy."

Not too far from her location, Grungie and Inke were currently working on their own project: dinner. So far, they had cleared out the entire chemical testing plant. And by clearing out, they had killed all of the guards and research division. Grungie was currently snacking on one of the female researchers. But by snacking, he had torn off her shirt and bra, flipped her over her back, and ate her back and started for the ribs. As he was eating, Inke felt her phone vibrate inside her, as she reached into her stomach, and pulled out her cellphone.

She answered it, as she knew who it was, "Well, Boss, I thought you'd call us some time."

"Listen well, Inke," Ivy's distorted voice spoke out, as she began. "I've got another job for you both. The Noygog Chemical Testing Plant; I'd like it if…"

"Yeah, that's a pretty big coincidence," Inke explained. "We're already here. Cleared the whole place out, and we'll be torching the place down. Just like you always ask us to." She then cleared her throat, and then got more businesslike, "And speaking about past jobs, we were awaiting for the cash to flow in, but… well maybe something's wrong with the system, but your checks' haven't been cashing in. are you trying to be stingy on us?"

"All I seem to hear is complaining from you, Inke," Ivy replied. "The only reason your payments haven't come in, is because the jobs were half-assed. I wanted the whole complex brought down, not just one building. You do that, and I'll pay you whatever you want. Just get the job done over here."

The two blinked at that, as Inke asked, "Here?"

Ivy cut the link, as she realized her mistake, "Oh, crap. Now they know I'm here."

"They?"

Ivy whipped around, and much to her surprise… she saw Courtney, with her arms crossed, and looking rather PO'ed at the moment. Ivy stood up, as she blinked in suprirse, "Cor? Wh-What are you doing here?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing," Courtney replied. But hten she pointed out the facts, "Inke and Grungie, eh? Two new friends of yours?"

"They're assoicates I met on the internet," Ivy replied. "You'd be amazed what you can find online these days."

"Really? Because I found out a few things without it," Courtney answered, as she seemed to draw to a point. "You ran away from home, you hired two mercenaries to take down a corporate because of their egological dangers." She then walked up, and yanked at Ivy's collar, showing the stolen pendant that Elsa talked about. "And you stole from the store I work at."

"Hey, we all can't work for the Man," Ivy huffed, as she explained. "Amityville's the corporate map on Noygog; here, I can take them out once and for all. And the best part is I've got two guys who'll believe anything to knock down the place for nothing."

"I defended you, I trusted you; I was practically the only one that believed you weren't a bad seed!" Courtney shouted out, looking at Ivy at this betrayal, "And yet here you are: sending a couple of thugs to bomb this place."

Ivy seemed a bit calm about the question, but shrugged at it and smiled, "C'mon, Cor. I told you: it's a whole new me."

"No, it's the same old you. Just using new tactics," Courtney shot back. She stepped back, as she stated, almost to the point of breaking her heart, "I can't help you. And I won't let you get away with this."

Ivy gave Courtney a disappointed half-smirk, as she concluded, "And here I thought we were two peas in a pod. Guess I was wrong." She turned around as she said, "See ya around…" but then bumped into somebody, as she rubbed her nose, "Hey! Watch where you're going, you…!"

But then she and Courtney paled, as they saw who it was that bumped into Ivy. There in front of them, chewing on the remains of the research girl, which was her breast-less and limbless body, as he was chewing on her shoulder. Inke was perched on his right shoulder, her legs crossed and her left hand leaning on Grungie's head for support. And both of them looked pretty pissed, as they looked at the two Goth girls.

"Well, well," Inke said, as she pointed her right hand at Ivy. Her fingers stretched out into black and blue ink-colored tentacles, and snatched her laptop from the stunned girl. She retracted them, as she examined the laptop, "Now let me check this out." She tapped a key on the console and spoke out, "Testing."

"Testing," the distorted voice came out.

It was then that Inke gave Grungie the computer with his free hand, as she looked to Ivy, "You're not at all how we pictured you…" And then Grungie smashed the computer with his only hand, as Inke spoke out with venom in her breath, "… Boss." Grungie then dropped the corpse on the ground, as Inke asked, "And I'm guessing the money you promised us… doesn't exist, right?" the two girls backed away, as Grungie lumbered forward, as Inke specified, "Well, here's the situation: if you can't pay…"

Grungie smashed his fists together, as he grunted, "Yoouuu paaaay…."

Hoping for a way to get out of this, Courtney pointed out, "No problem. A few bake sales or a discount at the Halloween stores could help you guys out." The two continued at them, as Courtney sighed, "No, eh? Alright…" and then forgetting Ivy was there, or rather didn't care, as she formed fireballs in both her hands, and shouted, "COME ON!" and fired them right at the two, as they exploded, sending the two quite far away.

"Ivy, come on, that's not gonna…" Courtney explained in a rush, but turned around as she saw Ivy high-tailing it out of there. She frowned, as she sighed, "Thanks for having my back, Ivy."

However, Courtney's attention was drawn by a guttural growl as she looked behind her, and saw two figures walking out of the fire. Grungie, who was smoking a little, ground his jagged, yellow, rotting teeth at the Wiccan girl. While Inke morphed her arms into tendrils with jagged dagger-sized axe blades, which tore up the ground in front of her as she whipped them. The two monster mercenaries strode fast at Courtney, who backed away, as Oogie popped out of her backpack.

"Cor! What are you doing," he screamed in panic, "Run!"

Grungie took notice of Oogie, as he licked his rotting lips, "Booogaart. Eat Booogaart…"

Oogie's eyes bugged out of their sockets, as he cried out in even more panic, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, COR! RUUUUN!"

Courtney spun around, as the bottom of her boots lit up, and she pushed off the ground, firing at speed like a rocket. Her hands ignited fire blasts that stabilized her as she flew to where Ivy was heading. She crashed right into her, as they crashed through the swinging doors, skidding across the floor.

Inside

Once the two wrighted themselves after crashing in, Ivy was freaking out at that moment. "Th-Th-Th-Tho…" she stuttered.

"Those," Courtney corrected for her friend.

"Those…" she started again, as she was on her feet, "We-we-we-we…"

"Those were monsters," Courtney corrected. "I know, I know. Took me a while to calm down mentally on all this about a few months ago."

Oogie then popped up on Courtney's shoulder as he commented, "I thought you were rather calm about my appearance, Cor."

Seeing Oogie caused Ivy to scream out in panic, as she pointed, "COURTNEY, LOOK OUT! THERE'S SOMETHING ON YOUR SHOULDER!"

Courtney looked, and saw Oogie, "Who Oogie?" She smiled as she scratched him behind his neck, "He's a Boggart; a boogie monster." She then nuzzled him cheek-to-cheek, "And I for one think he's adorable."

Oogie purred a little, as he sighed, "Oh yeah. Girls can't resist my charms."

Ivy, not believing any of this, as she asked, "Okay, lemme see if I get this straight: Monsters are real, two of them are out there, you've got one on your shoulder, and you're one yourself?"

Courtney shook her head, "No, I'm not a monster. I'm a Wiccan, a Magic User." She then petted Oogie on his head, "And he's only a monster when he gets agitated."

But then they stopped as they heard small moans come from behind Ivy. Oogie paled and went all wide eyed as he pointed behind them. Courtney looked behind Ivy, and paled as well, but Ivy didn't seem to get the idea or the notion on why the two were freaking out. But she turned around, and paled as well, as she now took a look of what the two were witnessing and freaking out over.

There, lumbering in the shadows, were the zombified staff of the Noygog Chemical Testing Facility. The half-eaten staff had become paler, almost bluish tint in their appearances. Their eyes blood shot and their teeth rotten yellow and black. They lumbered forward, either on half broken legs, crawled on the floor with no legs and their intestines hanging out, or just slumped forward. They reached out with their rotting hands, attempting to grab them and eat the flesh of the two young girls in front of them.

The two girls backed away towards the door, but heard a smashing sound on the other end. They turned around and saw Grungie's shadow looming at the door, and Inke slicing at the door as well.

Courtney gulped at this situation, as he spelled it out plain and simple. "Caught between a zombie horde and two angry monster mercenaries." She sighed in defeat, as she whined, "Why did I tell the guys to wait at the van?"

Courtney looked around, hoping to find them a way out of there, as the zombies slouched towards them. But then Oogie looked up, and spotted the stairway up to the higher level. "Cor! Up the stairs!"

Ivy quickly shoved Courtney towards the zombies, as she ran up the stairway. With Courtney ran up after her, as she yelled out sarcastically, "Hey, thanks a lot!"

"That's some friend you got there, Cor," Oogie commented, rather sarcastically.

The zombies however turned their attention, as they moaned out and shifted their way to the two. Courtney wasn't about to become someone's TV dinner, as her eye sparked. She then drew back her hands, forming a powerfully hot ball, and then launched it right at them like a hand grenade. It landed right in the center of the zomified zombies, and then exploded in a brilliant flash of light and heat. The girls and boggart ran up the stairs, avoiding the flames, as they slid over the floor and the zombies. The sounds of crackling fire and zombie moans filled the air as the two goth girls looked down at the burning corpses, as they slowly got on their knees, succumbing to the heat.

Courtney breathed a sigh of relief, as Oogie nearly fainted off her shoulder, but used his tails to support himself on her. Mainly by wrapping them around her arms like a backpack stuffed animal. While Ivy was quiet for a moment, until she finally cheered out, "WHOA! YES! GOOD RIDDANCE, YOU WALKING DEAD REJECTS! BURN, BABIES, BURN!"

SLAP!

Ivy stumbled back, as she looked to Courtney in shock, as she had delivered a powerful slap to her friend's face. Rubbing her sore cheek, Ivy shouted, "Why the hell did you do that?!"

"Because you were the one who put us in this situation!" Courtney screamed her head off. "Why the hell did you bring this to my hometown?! Why the hell don't you learn about this dumb shit?!"

Ivy, who was getting angry, shot back, "Yeah, well why didn't you tell me you could do that fire stuff?"

"Because maybe in the back of my head, there was this voice saying that you'd call me a freak and report me to Weird National. And then would have ruined my family's normal life," Courtney pointed out. And then stated, "Or maybe if you found out, you'd try to convince me to burn down the buildings for your own eco campaign."

Ivy was silent for a moment, and then contemplated on it, until she finally innocently shrugged, "… maybe."

Courtney huffed, as she stated, "See? That's the reason why I'm so mad. Because my friends were right about you; you'll never change, and you'll never learn. That's why I'm so pissed off now."

It was Ivy's turn to be angry and pissed, as she hissed out, "Oh yeah? Well, let me tell you this: I thought you were my friend; you were suppoed to have my back on this. I thought we were like sisters; blood thicker than water, right?"

"Yeah, but right and wrong is thicker than blood, and this…" Courtney pointed out. "This falls into that category."

Ivy huffed, as she crossed her arms, "Oh yeah? Well, then I guess we're not friends anymore!" and then shoved her out of the way, "Get out of my way…" but then stopped, as fear was written back on her face. "Um… Courtney… " And then pointed down the stairway, as Courtney gulped, "We have a problem…"

And sure enough, there was a problem. The zombies who had been cooked were still alive, only now they were on fire. They slowly shifted back to their feet, albeit a bit shaky, and then started to hobble back. They were slowly making their way to the stairwell, shifting like lumbering drunks who lost a bet. Ivy backed up, as she bumped into Courtney, as she asked, "Why aren't you running?"

And then Courtney pointed in front of her, as she stated, "They got in."

The two girls looked in front of Courtney's direction, and saw Inke and Grungie heading towards them slowly. With Inke on the uber zombie's shoulders, morphing her arms into whips with axe blades on them, making her twice as deadly, as Inke smiled, "Didn't I mention you pay?"

But then Oogie whimpered out, "Wha…? Wait! How did you two manage to get in here?"

"Back… door…" Grungie managed to maon out, as he smashed his fists together.

Ivy gets behind Courtney, and asks, "Any ideas?"

"Yeah, pray for a miracle," she gulped.

Suddenly, before the zombies could go further, as well as Grungie, they all heard the faint sound of tires screeching. And then the sounds of a revved engine, getting louder and louder. Until finally, the doors to the drive in way smashed down, and the Cerberus flailed its way in. It screeched on its side, plowing down a few of the zombies, as well as killing the fires. The vehicle stopped, as it nearly hit the wall, but came to a stop.

Once it did though, the back door opened, and out shot Leon in wolf form, pouncing and tearing apart the zombies that had already been put out from the fires. The zmobies tried to go at him, but he was too quick for the slow ones. The zombies lumbered towards the vehicle, but were met by someone hulking, as he and Elsa stepped out. It was Victor, and he seemed to hold in his hands a weapon which looked like a staff made out of a sledge hammer and a cement saw. The saw clicked on as it screeched to life, as Elsa's battle form awoke, and she charged at the zombie, smashing their heads in with either her armored hands or feet.

But Victor looked at the zombies lumbering to him, as he shouted, "ALRIGHT! If y'all are gonna bite, than I'm gonna bite back! BOOYAH!" And then began smashing and hacking his way through the zombies like they were flies.

Back on the stairs though, Grungie and Inke were slumping their way back to the girls. And they would have attacked them at that moment, but then suddenly, a gust of icy wind blew at the two, freezing them in place. Courtney and Ivy blinked a little, as they looked behind the duo… and saw Zazie there.

Courtney lit up, as she saw her friend coming in to save the day, "Zazie!"

Zazie simply let out a small smile, as she waved, and quietly responded, "Hello."

Ivy, on the other hand, nearly freaked out, as she judged out, "Did she just come out of nowhere ad freeze those two?"

Courtney groaned, as she sighed, "Yeah, she's a Yuki Onna; a snow woman." She then turned to the snow girl, and smiled, "Man, I'm glad you guys showed up." But then blinked, as she frowned, "Say, what kept you guys? We were knee deep in zombies."

"Justin said he needed to grab a few things since there's still a load of zombies out here," Zazie explained. But then smiled, "But don't worry; it's gonna be taken care of soon."

Courtney raised an eyebrow, as she asked, "Huh?"

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but the whole place is still surrounded by zombies, and we're all gonna get eaten alive," Ivy complained. "So unless you've got a nuke on you, Ice Monster Bitch, we're all screwed."

Courtney paled at Ivy's outburst, as Oogie gulped, "NO! Don't call her that! If you do…"

But then they felt it getting colder behind them, as the two turned around, and saw an icy aura appear behind her, as Courtney gulped, "Oh boy…"

"Normally, I'd rather freeze you solid, Blondie…" Zazie threatened, as ice started to form around her area. But then she calmly looked to Ivy, "But this plan revolves around Lilith getting to the water supply for the fire sprinklers."

Outside

At that moment, Lilith was flying overhead, looking around for what she was asked to look for. On her back was a backpack-sized container with what appeared to be several lemon juice bottles bolted on to it with pipes and hoses attached to it. Justin had given it to her and asked her to hook it up to the main water supply for the complex. She had been flying around for a while now, but then blinked, as she saw a main water tank, and smiled.

"There it is," she exclaimed with a smile. And then flew right down to it as fast as she could. She landed on the main water main, and pulled off the device. She then hooked up the hoses with the automatic drill bits that connected to the water, and then pushed a button on the pack's left strap.

Suddenly, it started pumping a mixture of what appeared to be salt and lemon juice. She then pressed on a comm device on her left ear, as she smiled, "Justin, the Lemon Filter is set up. Bring on the rain."

Back Inside

"Roger, Lilith," Justin replied in the driver's seat of the Cerberus, where he and Alex were waiting at with a pair of modified nail guns and shrapnel shotguns loaded with what appeared to be nuts and bolts instead of bullets. He then radioed Zazie, "Zazie, the filter's set up. Tell Courtney she needs to set the sprinklers off."

Zazie received the transmission, and then looked to Courtney, "Courtney, you need to set the sprinklers on."

Courtney raised an eyebrow, as she asked, "Huh?"

"What?! Are you out of your mind," Ivy shot back. She then grabbed Courtney's arm, as she tried to convince her otherwise, "C'mon, Cor, let's just get out of here! I say we take our chances and let your flame-throwing powers do the rest."

"Cor, you have to trust Justin in this," Zazie stated. "I know you and he have a falling out because he has a secret, but he didn't mean to hurt you on it."

"Cor, let's go, now!" Ivy insisted.

Courtney's head was swirling with what to do on this; she felt like she was being torn apart. But then Zazie pulled out her earpiece and stuck it on hers, right after she saw Courtney struggling with a decision. Courtney then stopped, as she heard Justin talking, "Courtney? Is that you on there?"

She responded, "Yeah, it's me, Justin."

"You have to trust this plan will work," he replied. But all he got was silence on the line. Before Courtney could respond, he replied, "Okay, I'll come clean. For the past few weeks… I've been training with Leon's pack on how to use the Kinsmir Blade better. Well, the werewolf side of it; the vampire side's more of a work in progress for now."

Courtney blinked on that, as she asked, shocked about the news, "You mean you and Leon were training? Well, why didn't you tell me about it?"

"You had your own training, and then there was this whole Ivy business to deal with," Justin explained as best he could. "I didn't want to break your focus on stuff. So I kept to myself, but I was going to tell you eventually. I just didn't find the right time for it, is all."

Courtney's shocked face dissipated, as a more relaxed face showed, as she made a sarcastic witty comment, "And you chose now to tell me during a zombie attack? Wow, talk dirty to me."

The two chuckled, as Courtney, looked to the girls, "You guys might wanna stand back. It's gonna get hot in here."

"What?!" Ivy said, as she backed away, and freaked out, "I was right; you are out of your mind! Screw all this, I'm out of here!" And then bolted away.

At that moment, Courtney shot both her hands up, as her powers activated, and shot up a wave blanket of flames to the roof. The heat and smoke touched the sprinkler system, activating it, as water was launched out of them. The whole room was being showered in the water, even the zombies were getting wet. But as soon as the water turned on, Leon grabbed Victor, pulling him in the back of the Cerberus. The zombies lumbered towards it, but then they stopped, as they saw their bodies starting to smoke… and then started to bubble and smolder.

The zombies cried out in pain and agony, as they lumbered weakly to try and get out of the water. Some collapsed on the ground, as their legs broke and oozed into puddles. Courtney and Zazie were watching the whole scene, as Oogie popped out, and lightly touched the water to taste it.

In an instant, he spat out a little, as he gagged, "Ugh, Salt lemon water?"

But then Courtney blinked, as she asked, "Salt and lemon?"

Zazie nodded, "Justin figured that whatever this was would involve zombies. And he remembered what you read from the Book; so he hooked up a device that would filter in lemon juice and salt into a water supply. He just needed to figure out the delivery system."

And then Courtney looked up the sprinklers, and smirked, "Remind me to compliment him on his genius."

Ivy was running down to the stairs, but then slipped on a melting zombie part, as she fell and crashed onto the stairs. Luckily, the stairway was slicked and built up bulk of zombie sludge. Unfortunately, it knocked her out cold, as she crashed on the ground. Once the sprinkers stopped, the zombie masses were nothing more than sludge.

Justin and Alex got out of the car, as they saw nothing remained of the zombies. Alex huffed, "Man, I was so ready to use these weapons."

"Well, these were just in case the Salt Lemon filter didn't work," Justin replied. But then smirked, "Really glad it did."

He then saw Courtney up on the ladder well, and then waved to her… to which she smiled and responded to wave back to him. But then Zazie pointed on her shoulder, as she pointed to her left, "Uh, Courtney…?" The two then looked, and saw that the frozen statues that were Grungie and Inke were long gone.

Courtney grumbled, "Oh man, and just when things were looking up."

An Hour Later

The police had arrived as soon as the fire alarm that was triggered by the sprinklers once they were on. Police and an ambulance as well as the fire department had arrived as well, and were cleaning up the situation. All the while, an unconscious Ivy was being escorted onto the ambulance, as she was cuffed to it. Her laptop's remains had been found, as well as her cellphone, and had been looked over for information. It seemed they had finally found their terrorist, but didn't find the equipment or crew of which she was working with or for.

Nearby on a grassy hill away from the Chemical plant, Courtney and the others were watching the scene sitting atop the Cerberus. Courtney sat next to Justin, as she looked in hopelessness at her friend's fate. Justin saw the look on her face, as he tried his best to comfort her, "I'm sorry, Cor. I know you didn't…"

"Shut up," she grumbled, getting everyone's attention. But then she embraced him with a hug, as she whimpered, "Just shut up, Justin…"

A bit stunned by it, Justin eased into it, as he returned the hug, and patted her on the head.

Lilith looked at the scene rather sympathetically, but Elsa asked, "You're not going to pull them apart?"

Lilith shook her head, "She really needs this, Elsa. Who am I to ruin the mood?"

Okay, I know what you're all thinking: what does this have to do with the battle of me, Lilith, and Elsa against Justin and Leon that you read during the beginning of this file? Well, this all started with Zazie, and it ends with her as well.

As the ambulance drove off on the road to lead into town, the vehicle was being followed. Something underground, crackling after it into little fissures.

But it also began with me, realizing that Stranger and I weren't the only Wiccans around.

Inside the ambulance, Ivy's body was hooked up to an IV, as she was safely strapped to her bed. Completely unaware of what was following the ambulance, as well as the drivers.

As well as showing what happens when we go beyond our powers.

And then suddenly, Ivy's eyes opened, with them glowing, as if something awakened deep within her. And whatever it was, wasn't going to be alright for anyone.

Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; Roses Wither and Die pt. 6

And to top it off again, here's a new profile for you all:

Name: Victor Cystone

Age: 18 (Aging has now stopped)

Hair: None

Eyes: Brown (right) Bloodshot Red (left)

Likes: Sports, Buttkicking, Pizza with maggots, grubs, cockroaches, Hot Dogs, Gummi Fungus

Dislikes: adjusting to being a zombie, losing his limbs

Family: Cystone Family (formerly when he was alive)

Background: Victor Cystone was a promising strong teenage athlete, before an accident that killed him after being attacked by the zombie, Grungie, and was brought back to life as a zombie. But since this new lease on life was not inconspicuous, he was shunned by his home environment and his friends, which frustrated him greatly.

As the Night-Bumpers went in to his mysterious death, after examining his body in the morgue, he awakens screaming from the moments of his death, in shock and denial… while he was missing his left arm. The transition was a bit too much for the young man to take in just like that, but he was trying, which was all that was important for him.

Personality: As a person, Victor is a very outspoken and fun-loving character who likes to enjoy life, especially since he found friends who consider him a person, not a monster. He likes to enjoy playing video games, tinkering with the vehicles along with Justin and eating. He also tends to be stubborn and has had some serious arguments with Courtney in the past, but he does make a capable right-hand zombie and a good replacement leader when either Courtney or Justin are out or incapacitated. He also frequently bickers with either Leon or Gil, mostly about the latter's culinary taste and habit of misplacing all manners of personal items, though the three entertain a close friendship. He takes on the protective big brother role to Elsa and either Max or Arte, getting quite upset when they get sad and tries his best to comfort them when he can. He hates losing battles, especially to seemingly insignificant opponents, and has been known to display emotions of anger (which he often takes out on his friends) frustration, and becoming depressed. What emotions he feels he feels deeply and passionately, but he also has a mature head on his shoulders at times.

He also possesses a tremendous appetite, and he will consume any edibles within his reach when hungry. His favorite food is barbecued hotdogs (yes, zombies can eat that stuff, even bologna) and he also especially enjoys other zombie-based foods.

Skills/Abilities:

Due to his zombie physiology, Victor's body is stronger and faster, due to his muscles loosening and his tendons tightening.

Invulnerability: As a zombie, he can't feel pain, but if shot in the head or cleaved in half, he could die.

Interchangeable Left Arm: due to him losing his left arm before he came back, he had it replaced with a Puerto Rican arm. Because of this, Justin has made interchangeable arms for him to use: Beast Arm, Metal Arm, Spikeball arm, etc.

Voice Actor: Khary Phayton