Hogarth finished tightening the last screw of his proton pack just as Constance and Jefferson walked into the room.
"Please tell me I don't have to make any more of these," he said desperately. "One was bad enough."
"Relax, Hogarth," Constance said. "We each made our own packs. Did you make the trap that was in your box?"
Hogarth glared at her, but reached beneath the table and deposited the box-shaped trap on the table.
"He did make it," Jefferson said. "You owe me five bucks."
"Constance, I gotta be honest," Hogarth said, pointing at a dial on the neutrona wand, "I really don't think we need this regulator-"
"Do not mess with that regulator," Constance warned as she handed Jefferson five bucks. "That controls the strength of the proton stream that's emitted from your neutrona wand. If it's compromised or switched off, the energy expelled will be too powerful and do serious damage before it rips you apart."
"Great. Well, thanks for the horror story and the danger to my very existence. If you need me, I'll be downstairs."
With that, Hogarth went downstairs to the ground floor. He walked over to a nearby table cluttered with the tools he had been using to fix the car. Now that it was finished, he no longer needed them cluttering the garage floor. He began putting them back in the toolbox when he heard the phone at Amy's desk ring.
"Ghostbusters San Francisco," she answered. "Yes, they're serious. Wait, what?"
Hogarth looked over his shoulder at Amy with a raised eyebrow when he heard the last comment. Amy began writing on her notepad while nodding and listening to the person on the other end.
"They'll be right over," she said. "Thank you so much."
Hanging up the phone, she slammed her palm on a large red button lying on top of her desk. Hogarth clapped his hands over his ears as a loud alarm sounded through the building. Constance and Jefferson came running down the stairs.
"What are you doing?" Constance said to Hogarth as she ran to her locker. "Let's go!"
Hogarth rolled his eyes, then grabbed his proton pack and ghost trap out of his locker while Constance and Jefferson scrambled to put on their jumpsuits.
Constance grabbed the slip from Amy before following the others into the garage. Idling in the garage was the Ambassador. Hogarth had fixed it in a matter of hours once he had received the parts he needed. The vehicle was painted snow-white, with a red stripe above the groove on the sides. The Ghostbusters insignia was painted beneath that same groove. On the roof of the car, green and purple warning lights were mounted, along with a number of strange-looking apparatuses that Hogarth was not familiar with. The Ambassador's license plate read, "Ecto-1SF."
"Why did you put green and purple lights on the car, Jefferson?" Hogarth asked as they put their equipment in the back of the car.
"Because they were the only colors not used by emergency vehicles," Jefferson answered.
"But green is used by Homeland Security, you dope!" Hogarth cried.
"We'll worry about that later," Constance said. "Let's go already!"
Hogarth climbed into the driver's seat, while Constance climbed in next to him. Jefferson got in the back seat.
"Do you know how to drive, Hogarth?" Constance asked.
"Street racer, remember?" Hogarth replied.
Once the garage door had opened, he flipped on the siren and floored the gas pedal, causing the Ecto-1SF to roar out of the building.
"Cheese and crackers!" Jefferson cried, gripping his seat belt to avoid being flung around. "How fast can you make this thing go?"
"You ain't seen nothing yet!" Hogarth exclaimed.
He flipped open a small, thumbprint-sized case on the dashboard and pushed the button inside. Suddenly, the Ecto-1SF shot forward as it accelerated rapidly.
"Was that the NOS I got for you?!" Constance cried. "You said it was absolutely necessary!"
"It is!" Hogarth replied. "You wanted me to make sure the car could go fast, this is how I made sure!"
"Not that fast! Slow down! You're gonna get us arrested!"
"Will you calm down, Constance?! I know what I'm doing! Now, where are we going?"
"Francisco Middle School," Constance said. "Apparently, something's been manifesting in the building."
"Well, that's very descriptive," Hogarth said. "No worries, I know how to get there."
~GB~
Several sharp turns and NOS bursts later, Hogarth sped into the Francisco Middle School parking lot. He quickly swung into the first available parking space and did so without a hitch.
"Maybe next time, I drive," Constance said as they put on their proton packs.
"Then we won't reach our next client in record time," Hogarth said.
"I'd like to reach them in one piece."
"I got us here in one piece, didn't I?"
Constance merely rolled her eyes.
Once they were suited up, the Ghostbusters walked over to the middle school and went through the main entrance. In the lobby, people were dressed formally and talking amongst one another. Looking over, Constance saw a poster for what appeared to be a stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.
"Thank you for coming so quickly!"
The Ghostbusters turned around and saw a man in a tuxedo walking up to them.
"It's our job, sir," Constance said, shaking his hand. "You're the one who called us?"
"Yes. I'm Mr. Fredericks, the school principal. The issue is becoming worse and worse with each passing moment."
"Tell us about what's going on."
"Well, it all started when the janitors began hearing things in the boiler room in the basement. Then, the noises grew louder, and they began seeing things that weren't possible. Just a week ago, it began happening throughout the school during classes, even appearing in classrooms and frightening teachers and students."
"Sounds like a Class Five menace," Jefferson said, pulling out his PKE Meter.
"The school's stage production group is performing their production of The Wizard of Oz tonight," Principal Fredericks continued. "This is the most important night for them: Parents have come to see their children perform on stage. Please take care of this as quietly as possible."
"Don't worry," Constance said, putting on a pair of weird-looking goggles, "we handle this kind of stuff all the time."
Hogarth gave her a look as the principal walked away.
"All right," she said, "let's split up. Jefferson, you investigate the boiler room and see if our ghost is there; Hogarth, you check out the second floor of the school; and I'll look on this floor. Radio in if you spot it."
"Roger, roger," Hogarth said before heading towards the nearest stairway.
Jefferson nodded and walked off.
~GB~
Constance rounded a corner and opened the classroom door that was closest to her. The room had five rows of desks with four desks in each row, but no ghost. She closed the door and moved on to the next room.
Constance had looked in four classrooms when she began hearing strange noises. It sounded like something was tearing up one of the classrooms. Glancing ahead, she saw an eerie orange glow coming through the glass of a classroom door.
Opening the door, her eyes widened. Floating near the white board was the ghost. It had purple fur and wore orange overalls and a pair of bowling shoes. It was making a mess on the white board with the dry erase markers. Desks were scattered all over the room.
Constance slowly pulled out her radio.
"Guys, are you there?" she called.
"What's shakin', bacon?" Hogarth replied.
"I found the ghost. He's in room 12B here on the ground floor. I need you here to help me put him in a capture stream."
"Roger dodger, caped ghost-crusader. I'm on my way."
Constance put her radio away, grabbed her neutrona wand, and switched on the pack. The noise of the pack turning on seemed to catch the ghost's attention. When it turned around, Constance saw that it looked a lot like a cartoon cat. It glared and bared its teeth when it saw her.
Constance pointed her wand at the ghost and pushed the "Intensify" button. A bright orange stream shot out of the wand and struck the white board.
"MREOWWWRRRR!" cried the ghost, before it sped through the wall and disappeared.
Constance rushed over to the door and looked out into the hallway. But the ghost was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, she heard Hogarth screaming over the radio. Sensing trouble, she immediately rushed down the hall, turning the corner and heading towards the nearest staircase, only to see Hogarth come down a moment later. His entire uniform was covered in shreds.
"Are you okay?" Constance shrieked.
"Do I look like I'm okay?!" Hogarth roared. "That stupid ghost shredded my uniform!"
"That's incredible! Actual physical contact with a Class Five!"
"Incredible?! Maybe you're not hearing me correctly: MY UNIFORM IS IN SHREDS!"
At that moment, there was a loud meow coming from behind them. They turned and saw the ghost fly right past them, being chased by Jefferson.
"Come on!" he said. "That thing's getting away!"
Hogarth grabbed his neutrona wand and fired at the ghost just as the others did. The glass of a display case full of trophies shattered as the beams stuck it. The ghost shrieked and shot around the corner ahead.
The Ghostbusters bolted around the corner, but the ghost was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is that little menace?" Hogarth snarled. "I wanna blast him into next week!"
Jefferson holstered his wand and pulled out the PKE Meter. He followed the reading until he was standing in front of a set of double doors.
"According to this," he said, "our little friend is in there."
He pointed to the doors. Constance and Hogarth looked and saw that it was the entrance to the auditorium.
"But the musical is in progress," Constance said.
"Then we'll have to try to be quiet," Jefferson said.
Suddenly, a meow loud enough to force the Ghostbusters to clap their hands over their ears sounded from the auditorium. Moments later, parents and kids burst from the room, running and screaming in terror and nearly knocking the Ghostbusters over in the process.
"Guess we don't have to be quiet anymore," Hogarth said.
"Come on, before that pussycat causes more havoc!" Constance said as she rushed into the auditorium.
Hogarth and Jefferson looked at each other before following her inside. The auditorium was a complete mess. Chair were scattered and knocked over; the Munchkin village set pieces were shredded; and the orchestra section was in tatters. The ghost hovered near the ceiling, meowing and hissing and apparently throwing some kind of fit.
"Hang on," Jefferson said, holding up his hand. "There's something I forgot to tell you before we left: Don't cross the streams."
"Why?" Hogarth asked.
"Because the resulting blast would be powerful enough to incinerate all of us into ash. If we did that with the regulators off, it would destroy everything within ten city blocks."
"Yeah, that sounds bad."
"All right," Constance said, "let's do this right. Blast him!"
The Ghostbusters fired their proton streams at the ghost. Its hair stood on end and hissed before flying out of the path of the streams.
"Oh, no you don't!" Hogarth roared. He directed his beam at the ghost as it began flying towards him, and the stream found its mark.
The ghost meowed in anger as it tried to break free of the capture stream, but the stream's hold was too strong. Jefferson fired his wand, catching the ghost in it, too.
"Ha! Maybe now, you won't shred a Ghostbuster's uniform!" Hogarth exclaimed.
"Keep it still and don't cross the streams!" Constance ordered. "I've almost got the trap ready!"
She unhooked the ghost trap from her belt and slid it beneath where Hogarth and Jefferson were holding the ghost with their capture streams.
"Get ready!" she cried, and stomped her foot on the pedal.
The trap opened, creating a powerful force of suction. Hogarth and Jefferson broke off their capture streams. The ghost desperately tried to escape the pull of the trap, but to no avail. It gave out one final meow before it was sucked into the trap. The trap snapped shut.
Hogarth, Constance and Jefferson looked at the trap. A little red light on the trap began blinking. Hogarth nudged it with his foot, causing a brief arc of blue electricity.
"It's in the trap," Jefferson said.
"Do you know what this means?" Constance asked with a big grin. "We actually caught a ghost!"
Hogarth gave a wide smile and laughed in disbelief.
"Yeah, we sure did!" he said.
Jefferson couldn't help but smile as well.
"We really did catch a ghost!" he cried.
Constance grabbed the trapped by the handle and strode over to the doors they had first entered. Hogarth moved in front of her and threw the doors wide open.
"Score one for the Ghostbusters!" he cried out to the group of people waiting outside as he and the others exited the auditorium.
"Did you get it?" the principal asked, coming forward.
"We got it, all right," Constance said, holding the trap in front of his face. Smoke began to seep out of it.
"What in the world was that thing?"
"Sir, we've determined this thing to be a focused, Class Five vapor. The anthropomorphic cat appearance made it hard to classify between Class Five and Six. Luckily, none of your students or faculty were hurt by this thing," Constance told him.
"Okay, let's talk finances," Hogarth said. "For our services, your total comes to, oh, what number, Dr. Rachlyn?"
"About six thousand," Constance said. "But you gotta factor in the needs for initial business setup, so that means an additional thousand dollars."
"Seven thousand dollars?" shrieked the principal. "That's a third of this year's school budget!"
"Well, if you don't want to pay it, we can always put the ghost back," Jefferson chimed in.
"What?!"
"Absolutely," Constance agreed. "And it's really no problem at all."
"Stop! All right! You want seven thousand? I'll pay you seven thousand! I just hope you're happy that we're going to have to cancel the spring dance this year!"
"What's wrong with hosting it on the roof?" Hogarth asked.
"We'll expect full payment delivered to our address within the week," Jefferson said, handing the principal the invoice. "Enjoy the rest of the play."
With that, the Ghostbusters turned and departed for Ecto-1SF.
~GB~
"Can you believe that guy was so shocked by our price tag?" Hogarth asked. "He thought we were garden variety exterminators!"
"Except that we don't get rid of mice or ants," Jefferson said, inserting the ghost trap into the containment unit slot. He pulled on the lever. A red light above the slot lit up. There was the whirling of loud machinery, followed by a suction noise, then the red light turned green. Jefferson pulled the trap out of the slot.
"You should have seen the look on his face!" Hogarth said. "Priceless!"
"All right," Constance said, putting her hands on her hips, "let's not try to make fun of our clients. We did good work tonight."
"Doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet," Hogarth said, folding his arms.
"This probably won't be the last supernatural activity we'll hear about," Constance replied. "This ghost we caught appeared only days after our encounter with Alison Hodges' ghost at the Old Mint. That can't just be a coincidence."
"Mr. Strange," Amy said, coming down the stairs, "there's a woman waiting upstairs. She wants to talk to you."
"Who is it?"
"Your mother."
"What?"
Hogarth hurried up the stairs. Constance and Jefferson looked at each for a moment before running after him.
When Hogarth got to the ground floor, he saw Stephanie standing near Amy's desk with her arms crossed and looking extremely angry.
"Mom, what are you doing here?"
"Let's go," she snapped, stepping forward and grabbing his arm.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're done working here! What were you thinking, driving that recklessly? You could've killed someone! And then you destroyed a middle school auditorium while kids were in the building!"
"Uh, Mrs. Strange," Constance said, stepping closer, "Hogarth actually did a good job helping us."
"You stay out of this!" Stephanie roared. "He's not your worker, he's my son! You're lucky I'm not arresting you for all the mayhem you caused tonight!"
"Mom, you asked me to get a job, and I got a job!" Hogarth exclaimed, pulling his arm free.
"I meant a job that can help others, not put them in harm's way! This job is putting innocent people in danger!"
"We caught a ghost, Mom!"
Stephanie went silent and looked at Hogarth with complete shock and disgust.
"Hogarth," she said in a low and terrifying voice, "there is no such thing as ghosts. And you are a recidivist street racer! Driving like that and working with these people will get you put in prison, the very thing your father sent you here to avoid!"
"This was the only job where they didn't reject me because of my record," Hogarth said. "If some other place had hired me, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
"Believe it or not, ghosts are real, and I've seen them with my own eyes, and you would too, if you were there with me. And like it or not, I'm staying, because I believe that with them, I can do good for this city. I love you, Mom, but this is your only warning: Either you get with the program or get out of the way."
Stephanie glanced at Constance and Jefferson for a moment before looking back at Hogarth.
"Don't make me regret it," she said.
With that, she turned and left.
"I did not know you could talk to a cop like that," Constance said.
"Neither could I," Hogarth said.