So, I just saw Ghostbusters Afterlife and was inspired to continue writing one more chapter for this story before it goes on hiatus for a while. Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 4: Cleanin' up the Town
Later that night, Cuphead, Mugman, and Silverworth sat around the table on the second floor of the firehouse.
There, the three rather glumly ate their dinner, which consisted of three boxes of chinese food.
"To our first customer." Cuphead said, holding up a soda.
"To our first… and only customer." Mugman sadly added, raising his own soda.
"I gotta take out some petty cash. I should take her out to dinner. We don't want to lose her." Cuphead said, using an excuse to go out with Angel.
Silverworth sighed. "Hate to break it to you, Cuphead, but this magnificent feast here represents the last of the petty cash."
"So it's official; we're broke." Cuphead confirmed before noticing that Mugman was beginning to stuff his face. "Hey, slow down, chew your food."
*Line break*
Downstairs, Chalice was having a rather quiet evening and was about to close up when the phone started ringing. "Hello, Ghostbusters?" She answered and paused. "Yes, they're serious." She paused again. "You do? You have one? No kidding? Uh-huh, well just give me the address." She paused as she began to write down said address. "Yes, of course. Oh, they'll be thrilled alright. Thank you." She then hung up the phone.
"WE GOT ONE!" She called before taking out a large mallet and slamming it on the alarm button.
As soon as the bell started ringing, the trio's heads shot up straight. "It's a call!" Mugman exclaimed before ditching dinner and rushing over to the fire pole with Cuphead and Silverworth close behind.
Riding down the pole into the 'locker room', the trio quickly changed into their new uniforms and set their equipment in the back of the Cadillac before getting in.
Opening the garage doors and turning on the siren, the car came out of the garage, made a sharp right turn, and sped down the road.
The drive there was mostly quiet as Cuphead decided to turn on some tunes, which kept them from getting bored as they soon arrived at the address;
The Sedgewick Hotel.
Pulling to the front of the hotel, the Cadillac came to a screeching halt before the trio got out of the car and entered the hotel.
"Hey, has anyone seen a ghost?" Cuphead called out to all the people, only to get several odd looks.
Just then, a large female bee came running up to them. "Thank you for coming so quickly." The bee, named Rumor Honeybottoms said. "The guests are starting to ask questions and I'm running out of excuses."
"Has it happened before?" Mugman asked.
Honeybottoms shrugged. "Well, most of the original staff already knows about the twelfth floor, the disturbances I mean. But it's been quiet for years, it was never ever this bad before… well, until two weeks ago."
"Did you ever report it to anyone?" Silverworth asked.
"Heavens no!" Honeybottoms said, appalled.
"Why not?" Cuphead questioned.
"The owners don't even like us talking about it, so I'm hoping we can take care of this quietly."
Mugman smiled. "Not to worry, Ma'am." He told her as he placed his special ecto-goggles on his head. "We handle this kind of thing all the time!"
Walking over to the elevator, the three stood there as they waited.
"What are you, some kind of cosmonaut?" An old man asked.
Cuphead chuckled. "No, we're exterminators. Someone saw a cockroach on the twelfth floor."
The old man looked surprised. "That must be some cockroach."
"Bite your head off, old man."
Just then, the elevator opened, allowing the trio to enter. "Going up?" Mugman asked.
The old man shook his head. "I think I'll take the stairs."
Mugman sighed. "You know, it just occurred to me that we really haven't had a fully successful test of this equipment."
"I blame myself." Said Silverworth.
"So do I." Cuphead added.
The blue mug shrugged. "Well, no sense in worrying about it now."
"Why worry?" Cuphead scoffed a bit. "Each of us is carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back."
"Yep." Mugman agreed. "Let's get ready. Switch me on."
Reaching over, Silverworth flicked a switch on the back of Mugman's pack. The pack turned on with a loud hum as various lights on the pack came to life.
Needless to say, Cuphead and Silverworth both took a step back from their comrade.
Eventually, the elevator reached the top floor as Silverworth turned on his pack, taking out the proton gun from the pack along with Mugman. As they moved into the halls, Mugman and Silverworth held their blasters tightly while Cuphead casually strolled by them.
Just then, they heard a sound…
… and Mugman and Silverworth whipped around and fired their blasters in a fit of panic, screaming as bright orange rays of highly charged energy blasted out of the nozzles like wild hoses and hitting the thing behind them.
"Hold it!" Cuphead shouted, forcing them to put down their blasters.
Putting down their blasters, the trio realized they had been shooting at a cart filled with dishes and appliances.
"What are you maniacs doing?" One of the maids shouted at them, peeking out from behind the cart
"Sorry!" All three of them replied.
"We thought you were someone else." Cuphead said sheepishly. He then turned to the others, "Otherwise successful test."
"I guess so." Mugman admitted. "I think we better split up."
"Good idea." Silverworth agreed.
"Yeah, we can do more damage that way." Cuphead added sarcastically as they split up down different halls.
Silverworth walked down one hall with the PKE meter. The arms on the meter seemed to only be about the same.
Down another hall, Mugman pulled out a small lollipop from his pocket and popped it in his mouth. Blueberry was the flavor, since it was his favorite. He strolled down the halls, his blaster still in his hands as he looked around for the source of the disturbance.
Just then, Mugman came around a corner and froze.
There it was.
Right there in front of him was the ghost; a plump transparent green thing that was indulging itself on some food carts, eating anything it could get it's grubby hands on.
Mugman was shocked as his mouth fell open, the lollipop falling out of it while he slowly backed away.
"Cuphead? Cuphead!" Mugman hissed as loud as a whisper would allow to his partner down the hallway. But there was no answer. He then looked back at the ghost as it grossly grabbed a huge plate of food and stuffed it in it's mouth, spilling it on it's wrinkly chin.
"Disgusting blob." Mugman muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "I'll have to hold him myself." He realized. He looked down at his blaster and flicked off the safety switch, making a soft humming noise that the ghost didn't notice.
With careful aim, Mugman aimed the blaster and fired. The blast from the nozzle was a lot more powerful than he expected as he reeled back, causing him to muck up his aim and hit the wall.
Startled, the flew off through a wall with a rumbling moan as the force of the proton beam caused the food cart to roll down the hallway and crash into the end.
Meanwhile, Cuphead casually walked around another corner thinking he wasn't going to see anything until he looked up and came to a full stop.
Right there was the ghost, emerging from the end of the hallway and now just staring at him.
Slowly, Cuphead reached for his belt and pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Come in, Mugman." He spoke dryly.
From over feedback, Cuphead heard his brother pick up his radio. "Cuphead! I saw it! I saw it! I saw it!" Mugman stated excitedly.
"It's right here, Mugs." Cuphead told him. "It's looking right at me."
"He's an ugly little spud, ain't he?" Mugman's voice came over the walkie-talkie, causing the ghost to perk up.
"I think he can hear ya, Mugs." Cuphead said nervously.
"Don't move, it won't hurt you." Mugman told him.
The slimy ghost then suddenly roared as it began flying towards them. Cuphead screamed into the walkie-talkie as he covered his face with his free arm.
"Cuphead? Cuphead!" Mugman shouted as he followed the screams, his heart lurching with fear for his brother. "Cuppy!"
He then rounded another corner and found his brother on the floor, covered in a weird green ooze.
"What happened? Are you okay?" He asked in concern, kneeling down.
"He slimed me." Cuphead deadpanned, more slime dripping out of his straw.
"That's great!" Mugman exclaimed excitedly. "Actual physical contact! Can ya move?"
Cuphead shuddered as he tried to sit up. "I feel so funky." He spit some more slime out of his mouth.
"Mugman. Mugman. Come in please." Silverworth's voice came over the walkie-talkie.
"Hey, Silvy! I'm with Cuphead! He got slimed!"
"That's great, Mugs, save some for me. Get down here right away, it just went into the ballroom!"
Down in the lobby, the ghostbusters entered the ballroom. "Okay, sir, if you and your staff will just wait out here, we'll take it from here." Mugman told Honeybottom's before closing the door and locking it behind them..
Now inside the ballroom, Mugman lowered the ecto-goggles over his eyes and scanned the room. The ballroom was huge with several tables already set up with glasses and flowers and napkins. He looked up towards the ceiling, and the goggles beeped as he looked to see Slimer (yes, that's what they were calling him), flying near the chandelier.
"There it is! It's on the ceiling!" Mugman exclaimed quietly.
Looking up, Cuphead nodded. "That's the one that got me."
Climbing out from behind the curtain, the three toon ghostbusters got into position, taking their proton blasters out and aiming them up at the ghost.
"Alright, boys, ready?" Mugman whispered, cocking his gun. "Throw it!"
The three fired their proton blasters, but the blasts being so strong once again caused them to miss, hitting the ceiling as the ghost flew away and the chandelier came down from the ceiling and crushed the table under it with a loud crash.
"I did that! I did that! That's my fault." Mugman winced.
Cuphead shrugged. "It's okay, the table broke the fall."
"There's something very important I forgot to tell you," Silverworth said, looking more serious than usual, "don't cross the streams."
The other two ghostbusters looked at each other. "Why?" Cuphead asked.
"It would be bad."
Cuphead frowned. "I'm a bit fuzzy on the whole good-bad thing. Whaddya mean 'bad'?"
"Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light." Silverworth said simply.
"Total protonic reversal!" Mugman gasped.
"Okay, that's bad." Cuphead agreed. "Important safety tip, thanks Silvy. Alright, Mugs, take the left. Silvy, you take the right. I'll go center."
The others nodded as they slowly crept up to Slimer, who was now drinking a whole bottle of root beer that passed right through him.
"Alright, Mugs, give me an eye on the outside… Mugman!"
Mugman fired his blaster and sent Slimer hurtling across the room as the particle beam destroyed everything in its path, shards of glass flying everywhere.
"Silvy!"
Silverworth in turn fired his blaster, destroying a whole table with a large cake on it and sending the slimy ghost over the counter of the nearby bar. He then fired again, the proton beam tearing a hole through the bar like an out of control jackhammer, continuing to fire even as Slimer flew up to the chandelier.
"Okay, all right, hold it! Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!" The porcelain brothers shouted which made Silverworth finally stop firing. "Nice shootin', Tex!" Cuphead remarked with a old-western accent.
Mugman then looked up and spotted Slimer at the center of the ceiling, not moving at all. "That last throw took somethin' outta him, but he's gonna move! I need some - I need some room to put the trap down!"
The best way to clear the way for the trap in Cuphead and Silveroworth's minds was to grab several of the tables and toss them aside, destroying several glasses and scattering flowers and silverware everywhere on the floor.
"Gotta get this in the clear!" Mugman took out the trap from his belt and unwound the cable.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! I've always wanted to do this!" Cuphead ran over to one more table and grabbed the cloth before yanking it out, knocking everything over except the flowers. "And whaddya know? The flowers are still standing!"
Mugman threw out the trap, sliding it under the ghost. "Okay, on my go-signal. Silvy, I want a confinement stream from you, okay? GO!"
Silverworth planted his feet and fired, catching the ghost in the bright orange stream as it wrapped around it like a rope.
"Alright, we've got him! Now hold him up there or he's gonna move! Cuphead, GO!"
Cuphead too fired his proton rifle, catching the slimy ghost in his beam and keeping him restrained.
"It's working, fellas!" Silverworth said.
"Start bringing him down! Start bringing him down! You've got him! Don't cross the streams!" Mugman told them.
"Maybe now you'll think twice about sliming a guy with a positron collider, huh?" Cuphead taunted with a smirk, feeling joy in finally getting some payback.
"Cuphead! Shorten your stream, I don't want my face burned off!" Silverworth yelled.
Cuphead went a bit pale before doing so.
"Alright, I'm opening the trap now! Don't look directly into the trap!" Mugman called, slamming his foot down onto the release pedal. The small trap then opened up, revealing a bright glowing light.
"I looked at the trap, Mugman!" Silverworth said, his eyes widening a bit.
"Bring your streams off as soon as I close the trap!" Mugman told them. "And closing it… now!" He slammed his foot on the pedal again, Cuphead and Silverworth ceased fire and looked away from the trap as Slimer was sucked inside.
With the trap now closed, the three ghostbusters lightly inched towards it, keeping their proton packs charged in case anything happened.
"It's in there, alright." Silverworth sounded astounded as he lightly tapped the trap with his blaster, the little box shaking and crackling with electricity for a split-second.
Mugman sighed with relief. "Well, that wasn't such a chore now was it?"
Outside the ballroom, Rumor Honeybottoms was not happy as she waited impatiently by the door.
"Mr. Brineybeard, I want that door open now!" She said and they were about to break down the door when it suddenly opened.
"We came, we saw, we kicked it's ass!" Cuphead announced proudly.
"Did you see it?" Honeybottoms questioned.
"We got it!" Mugman confirmed, stepping out the room with a smoking ghost trap as the whole crowd gasped in wonder.
"What is it? Will there be any more of them?" Honeybottoms asked.
"Madame, what you have here is what we refer to as a focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm, or a Class Five full-roaming vapor. Real nasty one, too!" Mugman stated, twirling the box a little.
"Now, let's talk about the dough now." Cuphead said, pulling out a pen and a notepad (which were slightly covered in slime). "Now for the entrapment, we're gonna have to ask ya for…" He looked over to Silverworth, who subtly held up four fingers, "four big ones, four thousand dollars. But we are having a special this week on proton charging and storage of the beast and that's going to come down to one thousand dollars, unfortunately."
Honeybottoms looked appalled. "Five thousand dollars?!" She sputtered in outrage. "I had no idea it would be so much! I won't pay it!"
"Well that's alright." Cuphead shrugged. "We can just put it right back in there." He motioned to his brother.
"Oh, yes, you got that right." Mugman was about to go back into the ballroom when Honeybottoms grabbed him in alarm.
"No, no, no, no! Fine! I'll pay anything!" Honeybottoms reluctantly agreed.
"Thanks." Cuphead smiled, tearing out a piece of paper with their number. "Feel free to call us anytime."
"Yes, thank you so much. Hope we can help you again. Alright, coming through! Watch out! One Class Five full-roaming vapor!" Mugman said as they made their way through the crowd and back to the Ecto-1.
It was time to clean up the town.
I finally finished this chapter! It took a lot of work.
