The Ghostbusters were very busy for the next few weeks. Call after call came in, reporting ghosts seen throughout San Francisco and the surrounding area.
Each time Hogarth, Constance and Jefferson returned from a job, Amy had received five more calls at least. The jobs were beginning to pile up.
Hogarth barely had time for study groups with Sam. As soon as they were finished, Hogarth was immediately called away to another job. In addition to the increased number of jobs, each one has also become more difficult than the last.
One particular day, the Ecto-1SF pulled back into HQ, and the Ghostbusters climbed out, all of them covered in slime. Hogarth rubbed his back as he shut the door and headed inside with the others.
"I just can't seem to catch a break lately," he moaned.
"Join the club," Jefferson said, dropping several traps on a nearby table.
"Come on, guys," Constance said, "show some more spirit. We're doing an excellent job."
"The concept of excellence comes from a need for rest and relaxation," Hogarth said philosophically. "It is logically impossible for one to produce excellence from exhaustion and fatigue."
"Since when did you become so all-knowing?"
"Since I've been going out on calls without a good, long sleep."
"Oh good, you're back," Amy said, standing up from her desk. "I've got six new callers for you. Two of them are in the Tenderloin, another one in Little Russia, and three scattered around the Marina District."
"Oh, come on, those are scattered across the city," Hogarth protested.
"Oh, and this man is Gordon Makali," Amy said. "He's here about the job offer."
The Ghostbusters turned around and saw a man of Hawaiian heritage stand up. He was dressed for an interview (shirt and tie included), and his long hair was in a ponytail that went down behind him.
"Awesome, you're hired," Constance said. "Constance Rachlyn, Hogarth Strange, and Jefferson Edevane."
"I had only started my job interview," Gordon said in disbelief.
"And we decide who we want to hire and not hire, and you've been hired. Do you want to pass up this job offer?"
"No, no. I'll take it."
"Good. In that case, welcome aboard."
Jefferson stepped over and handed the smoking ghost traps to Gordon, who brought his head back as far as he could.
"Are these things about to go off?" he asked.
"No, they just smoke like that when there's a ghost inside," Jefferson told him. "Once you're done helping Dr. Rachlyn, head upstairs to get a uniform."
With an uneasy look on his face, Gordon followed Constance into the basement. Jefferson turned and headed up the stairs.
At that moment, Hogarth heard his cell phone ring. Seeing it was Sam calling him, he answered.
"Miss me?" he asked playfully.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to be available tonight would you?" she said.
"Actually, tonight's workload is gonna have me all over. What's up?"
"Well, I have this test in my History class on Monday. I know we're not in the same class, but I was hoping you could help me go over some of my notes and texts."
"It isn't until Monday after all, so we have the whole weekend to do that. I'll let you know if I have time tomorrow."
"That would be so helpful. Shoot me a text the second you figure it out."
"Sure."
Hogarth hung up just as Jefferson came back downstairs. He was reading the large book he held in his hands and appeared to be not paying attention where he was going.
Hoping to cause a little mischief, Hogarth silently stepped into what he presumed would be Jefferson's path. But to his surprise, Jefferson maneuvered around him without looking up.
Hogarth couldn't understand how Jefferson could have done that without looking. As if the latter read the former's mind, Jefferson said, "I can still see where I'm going, Hogarth."
"So what are you reading?"
"Tobin's Spirit Guide. Tobin actually did almost as much research on Morgana Le Fay as he did on Gozer the Gozerian."
"Who's Gozer?"
"An evil Sumerian deity that once attacked New York City in 1984. Point aside, I believe Morgana is trying to return so she can conquer the living world."
"How so?"
Jefferson dropped the book on Amy's desk, flipped to a certain page, and pointed at it with his finger.
"With this," he answered. "A spell called 'The Deathless Rising.' It'll allow Morgana to summon an evil metaspecter called the Deathless One, who leads a legion of the undead and will unleash terror on our world, cleansing it of all life, with the survivors being enslaved. With the support of the Order of Morganians and the Prime Morganians, she has the capability to succeed spectacularly."
"I'm sorry, but what are Prime Morganians?"
"The Prime Morganians are five of Morgana's disciples who show great power and loyalty to their Mistress, so much so that they have been pictured on the Great Seal of Morgana with Morgana. Each of them has also made a name for themselves, each having been at a terrible but significant moment in history."
Jefferson flipped the page to one displaying the Great Seal of Morgana. He pointed to the picture of each Prime Morganian as he told Hogarth their name and who they were.
"John Wilkes Booth, considered the deadliest of the Prime Morganians. He has been responsible for every successful presidential assassination in American history. He re-manifests in a new corporeal form whenever an old one is apparently killed, but he returns to his original appearance in his ethereal form.
"Abigail Williams, a dangerous witch known for igniting the Salem Witch Trials when she accused her neighbors of witchcraft when she was the one committing such acts. She is a clever shapeshifter and can mimic any person she sees perfectly, down to the tiniest personality trait, but she can be detected with a PKE reading.
"Johann Werner, a wicked warlock who became a Hessian officer during the American Revolution and was decapitated, becoming the legendary Headless Horseman. He terrorized Sleepy Hollow for years, claiming heads of innocent victims while leading a group of members of the Order within the town.
"Yang Chong, who became known as Yang Guang when he passed himself off as Emperor Wen's son and became the last emperor of the Sui Dynasty after killing Wen and Wen's true son Yang Yong. He destroyed the dynasty and left China in shambles, as its army posed a threat to the Order's activities within its borders.
"Edward Teach, more famously known as Blackbeard the Pirate. His powers of sorcery came from a cutlass said to have been fused with the soul of a demon, giving the blade its power. It allowed him to command the world around him with a thought. His ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was unsinkable."
"Like the Titanic," Hogarth thought out loud. "Did he get the idea of a magic sword from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?"
"I think the movie actually got it from him."
"Jefferson, what does this have to do with Morgana?"
"The Prime Morganians are supposed to appear long before Morgana does, in order to ensure her arrival. If all the supernatural activity we've been having lately is caused by attempts to bring about Morgana's return, then the Prime Morganians will appear soon."
"Great," Hogarth grumbled. "Sounds like more overtime for us."
At that moment, Constance and Gordon came downstairs. Hogarth and Jefferson had not noticed them go by while they were talking to each other. Gordon was now dressed in a flight suit with his surname stitched over the left breast pocket.
"Looking good," Hogarth said. "How were you able to make your proton pack so fast?"
"What are you talking about?" Gordon asked.
"He doesn't have to make anything," Constance said. "We've already got one waiting for him in his locker."
"Seriously?!"
"What's his problem?" Gordon asked.
"It's nothing," Constance told him. "We'll hit the Tenderloin jobs first, then deal with the other ones. Now let's get going."
Gordon grabbed his gear out of his locker and followed the others to the garage.
~GB~
Hogarth pulled up in front of the Tenderloin Speakeasy Museum. It didn't look open: The building's windows were all shut tight, the museum sign wasn't even lit.
"You sure this is the place?" Hogarth asked as he and the other Ghostbusters got out.
"This is the address they gave Amy," Constance said.
"Back on Maui," Gordon said, "we were told to stay away from the ancient burial sites of our ancestors as children because they were haunted by the ghosts of witches. The stories terrified us. But the ill feelings those places gave me were nothing compared to what I'm feeling now."
"Were the stories about the witches true?" Jefferson asked with interest.
"I doubt it. It was probably just meant to convince us to stay out so the dead can rest peacefully. We often explored and played in places that made us curious."
"Yeah, well," Hogarth said, pulling on his proton pack, "I'm pretty sure you were right when you said this place gives you badder feelings than those graveyards did."
"Try not to use the word 'graveyard,'" Gordon said. "I find it disrespectful to my people."
"Amy, are you sure this is the right place?" Constance said into her radio. "It's definitely a speakeasy museum, but it looks like it hasn't been open in at least a year."
"That's what the caller said," Amy told her over the radio. "I've been trying to get back in touch with the caller, but they haven't picked up, so I'm reaching out to former employers of the museum. I'll contact you when I have something."
"Thanks, Amy."
The Ghostbusters made their way over to the front door. Just as Constance was about to knock on the door, it suddenly opened. A man dressed in an Italian suit stood in front of them.
"Thanks for coming," he said. "I'm the museum curator. Please come inside."
"Like we haven't had enough curators lately," Hogarth muttered.
The Ghostbusters stepped inside, and the curator shut the door behind him.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, sir," Constance said, "but I couldn't help but notice that your museum looks like it's been closed for some time."
"Oh, we had a fire in the middle of last year," the curator explained. "Burned a great deal of our exhibits. We haven't been able to get repairs done since we don't have much funding for it. The museum was its own source of income; and this ghost isn't helping matters."
"When did it first appear?" Jefferson asked.
"A couple weeks ago, right around when you guys first started your business. If this keeps up, we'll never be able to reopen."
"We'll gladly catch it for you, but we are very expensive," Hogarth said.
"Relax. As soon as you get that ghost, you're paid. Just be careful. From what I saw, that ghost is pretty dangerous."
"Don't worry about us," Constance said as she and the others looked down the hallway. "We're pretty good at our-"
But when they turned around, the curator had mysteriously disappeared.
"-jobs," she finished.
"They never stick around," Hogarth commented. "How rude."
"All right, let's split up," Jefferson said. "The hallway goes into two different directions at the end. Hogarth and Gordon, you can head left, and Constance and I will head right. If you see anything, radio us."
"Aye, aye, sir," Hogarth said.
The Ghostbusters headed down the hallway. Once they reached the end, they split up and headed in different directions.
~GB~
"Hey, I know this place!" Hogarth said as he and Gordon entered the bar exhibit.
"You do?"
"Of course! This is where all the fun in speakeasies happened! They served beverages to customers, while beautiful women in loose dresses heated things up onstage!"
"Sure, if the police hadn't heated things up already," Gordon said, stooping to look under the tables in the exhibit.
"I can see why this place didn't generate that much money. It wouldn't have been the ideal place to take a kid to."
"Museums aren't always meant for people of all ages, Hogarth. They're often meant for people of a particular interest; and I thought you were helping find the ghost."
"Didn't Constance show you how to work a PKE Meter?"
Gordon rolled his eyes and pulled his PKE Meter out and switched it on. As he held it out, the display began to light up.
"Huh," he said. "If I remember how Constance taught me to use it correctly, I'd say there's definitely something here."
"Oh yeah? What does the readout say?"
"Hey guys," a voice said.
Turning around, they saw Constance walking up to them.
"I thought you went with Jefferson," Hogarth said.
"Place is clean," Constance said. "We looked around and didn't find anything."
"But we only just started."
As Hogarth and Constance kept arguing, Gordon noticed that the reading on his PKE Meter was getting stronger. As he held it up in the direction of Constance, the signal only increased.
"Dr. Rachlyn, I don't know what you did to look around," he said, "but I don't think this place is ghost-free."
"There must be some mistake," she replied.
Hogarth looked at Gordon's PKE Meter and saw the arms rising up.
"Constance, you said Jefferson's equipment never makes a mistake," he said. "You said it was never flawed."
"Well, something's wrong with it."
"Hey guys, Jefferson and I are getting some PKE readings, but they suggest that the source is not near us. Are you getting anything stronger?"
Hogarth and Gordon froze. That was Constance they just heard on the radio. She was on the other side of the museum. But if she was there….
"Ah, nuts," Hogarth said.
He quickly reached for his neutrona wand, but he and Gordon were blasted back and knocked to the ground before he could get it. Looking up, they saw a young girl dressed in Pilgrim clothing hovering the air, a blue glowing aura around her.
"Who the heck is that?" Gordon shouted.
"Abigail Williams!" Hogarth said. "Jefferson told me about her just before we left for this job! She's a shapeshifter and one of Morgana's top lieutenants!"
"Morgana, as in Morgana Le Fay?"
"Just point and blast, Gordon!"
Hogarth grabbed his wand and fired his proton stream at Abigail, and Gordon did the same thing. The streams wrapped around Abigail like lassos, but she flung bolts of energy, knocking them further back.
"You are interfering with the return of my Mistress," she said. "Cease your activities, or suffer the consequences."
Hogarth pulled out his radio.
"Constance," he said, "we need you and Jefferson to get to our location now! We found our ghost, and it's Abigail Williams!"
"We're on our way!"
Hogarth quickly helped Gordon back up, then fired a proton stream at Abigail, only to miss as she flew out of the way. Gordon fired his own stream, cutting off her path, but she ducked under it.
"Nimble little daimonio," Gordon muttered.
He and Hogarth chased Abigail as she flew out of the room and down the hallway. They fired at her again, but she rounded a corner before they could hit her, and their beams nearly struck Constance and Jefferson instead.
"What did you do that for?" Constance snapped.
"I was aiming at the ghost, not you!" Hogarth exclaimed.
"Come on!" Jefferson said.
They chased after Abigail down the hallway, coming into another room. All of the objects inside of it were covered in sheets.
"Oh, great. A room full of ghosts," Hogarth said sarcastically.
"She's in here somewhere," Jefferson said.
"That ghost told us to 'cease our activities, or suffer the consequences,'" Gordon said. "Do you know what she meant by that?"
"She wants us to stop being Ghostbusters," Constance said. "And that's not gonna happen."
Jefferson held his PKE Meter over a cloth covered table. He watched as the readings on the screen spiked.
"Found her," he said.
Suddenly, the table exploded, knocking Jefferson back. Abigail emerged and hovered above them. The Ghostbusters quickly grabbed their wands and fired their proton streams at her.
Bringing her hands close to her body, Abigail threw them outwards, unleashing a powerful blast of energy that knocked the Ghostbusters onto the ground.
"Would you stop doing that?!" Hogarth roared.
"This is your only warning," Abigail said. "Leave us and our activities alone. You cannot stop the return of Morgana Le Fay."
"Over our dead bodies!" Constance shouted.
Abigail smiled maliciously.
"Exactly," she said.
With that, she flew out of the room and disappeared.
"She's getting away!" Constance said.
The Ghostbusters rushed outside and saw Abigail flying away down the street.
"Everyone, get in the car!" Constance ordered. "Jefferson and I will take the backseats! Hogarth, you're driving!"
"What are you talking about!" Gordon said.
"You'll see," Hogarth told him, getting in the driver's seat. "Now, get in!"
Gordon threw his hands in the air for a moment before climbing into the front seat next to Hogarth. Hogarth started the engine, turned on the siren, and sped off.
"Find her on the PKE scanner," Constance said.
"On it," Hogarth said, flipping a switch on the dashboard. A screen appeared, showing a radar readout of San Francisco. A small blip appeared on the screen a few blocks away.
"There she is!" Hogarth said, then made a hard left. Ecto-1SF quickly sped around the tight corner, which brought Abigail's ghost back into sight.
"All right," Constance said as she and Jefferson strapped themselves into their seats and pulled on headsets, "take us out."
"You got it."
Hogarth pulled a lever next to his seat, and a moment later, the backseat doors were opened, and Constance and Jefferson's chairs were pushed out of them.
"What was that?!" Gordon said.
"Gordon, how good are you at driving RC toy cars?" Hogarth said.
"Why?"
Hogarth pulled out a large remote control and handed it to him.
"Because you're gonna have to maneuver the trap under Abigail."
"What?!"
"We need that trap to be under Abigail in order to capture her," Constance said into her headset. "The RC traps are meant to catch ghosts in motion. Get the trap under there, open it up, and we'll take care of the rest."
"Jeez," Gordon muttered as he took the remote.
"I'm releasing RC Trap Alpha," Hogarth said. "Switch the remote's frequency to Channel Three."
"I got it, I got it!"
Gordon turned the knob until the readout screen had number three on it. Hogarth reached over and pushed the button with the Alpha symbol on the dashboard.
Beneath the rear end of the Ecto-1SF, a trap door opened and a Ghost Trap with wheels was dropped onto the ground.
"Alpha's on the ground!" Hogarth said. "Punch it, Gordon!"
Gordon pushed the control sticks on the remote control forward and Alpha sped out from under Ecto-1SF and towards Abigail.
At that moment, Constance and Jefferson activated the proton units that were built into the gunner seats they sat in. They grabbed the neutrona wands that emerged from behind their seats, pointed them at Abigail, and fired.
Abigail screamed in pain and anger when she felt the proton streams hit her. With a flick of her hand, she flung a burst of energy at a nearby parked car, sending it flying into the air towards the Ghostbusters. Hogarth's eyes widened and he pushed down on the gas pedal. Ecto-1SF narrowly missed being struck by the projectile. The incident, however, had forced Constance and Jefferson to release their blast streams.
Constance aimed her wand at Abigail again and fired. This time, Abigail grabbed the proton stream, wrapped it around her arm, and yanked. The force was so powerful, it forced the Ecto-1SF into a spin, turning it in the opposite direction.
Hogarth quickly shifted into reverse, floored the gas pedal, causing Ecto-1SF to move quickly backwards.
"Hogarth, turn us around!" Jefferson shouted into his headset.
"I can't maneuver this thing when I'm moving backwards!" Gordon bellowed.
"Just give me a second!" Hogarth roared.
As the Ecto-1SF entered an intersection, he jerked the wheel hard to the right, causing the car to spin. Cars swerved this way and that to avoid colliding with the Ghostbusters. In the midst of the one-eighty, Hogarth quickly shifted back to drive and floored the gas pedal. Ecto-1SF chased after Abigail again, facing forward this time.
"Get that trap into position, Gordon!" Constance ordered.
Gordon maneuvered Alpha in front of Ecto-1SF, close to being beneath Abigail. Constance and Jefferson captured her in their captured streams, ignoring her cries. They fought furiously to restrain her as she tried to break free.
"Got her!" Gordon yelled.
He moved Alpha beneath Abigail and punched the blinking red button on the remote control. The trap opened, and Constance and Jefferson slammed Abigail into the opening with their capture streams. She fought relentlessly to escape, but the pull of the trap was too strong and she was sucked in. The trap slammed shut and beeped.
"YES!" shouted all the Ghostbusters simultaneously.
Gordon maneuvered Alpha back to the Ecto-1SF, and Constance scooped it up before Hogarth brought her and Jefferson back into the car.
"Prime Morganian tagged and bagged!" Constance cried.
"I hope the cops will understand how important that is after that stunt I had to pull in the intersection back there," Hogarth said.
"I think the cops are going to be the least of our problems," Jefferson said. "The arrival of a Prime Morganian can only mean that the others are nearby, and that Morgana is about to return to our world."
"Then our top priority should be finding the others and capturing them immediately," Constance said.
"Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?" Gordon chimed in. "Even the elders of us kama'aina would believe you lost your minds."
"Your people's elders are probably not familiar with the legends of Morgana Le Fay and her followers," Jefferson said. "Otherwise, they would be more afraid of her than even the most evil spirits of your mythology, and I know that some of them can leave you with nightmares."
"You don't know the half of it," Gordon said.
"All right," Hogarth said. "Can we just get back to the garage? I need to order some pizza."
~GB~
"Amy, what did you find about that speakeasy museum?" Constance said as she and the other Ghostbusters came in from the garage.
"I managed to track down some former employees, though it took me quite a while," Amy answered.
"Did you say 'former?'"
"Yeah, turns out that the museum went out of business last year after a nasty fire burned a number of exhibits. The owner's been trying to sell the place since. He wasn't too happy when he learned you were trying to catch ghosts in there."
"Shoot, then it was Abigail who was disguised as the museum curator. She was trying to lure us into a trap all along."
"And it seemed all too easy," Jefferson said.
"You call what I had to do to keep up with her 'too easy'?" Hogarth said, not believing what he was hearing.
"Readings showed she was a full-strength Class Seven apparition," Constance said. "If we were fighting her at her peak, we would have torn down at least half of San Francisco just to even try to restrain her."
"It's all right, I'll take care of this," Gordon said, holding up the smoking Alpha Trap. When nobody responded, he sighed and headed down to the basement.
"What? You think she wanted to be caught?" Hogarth asked.
"Maybe," Jefferson said. "But our Containment Unit is inescapable. As long as it stays on, Abigail's not going anywhere."
"Not if we don't stop all this," Constance stated. "Morgana's still going to enter our world with or without Abigail by her side. The Prime Morganians aren't needed to complete her acquisition of unlimited power."
"What does that mean?" Hogarth asked.
"It means that we're still a whole heap of trouble," Jefferson said, dropping Tobin's Spirit Guide on Amy's desk.
"Mind telling me what this is?"
Jefferson flipped open the book to a page with an image of Morgana standing on top of a mountain, arms outstretched like a god, and with a horde of zombies beneath her.
"Tobin did extensive research into Morgana. She terrified him almost as much as Gozer did. He learned that there was a certain spell that could give her unlimited power and control over a powerful metaspecter if it is performed with the right components. To complete the spell, Morgana needs an unimaginable amount of supernatural energy and a member of her bloodline."
"You mean a descendant?" Hogarth asked. "Morgana died centuries ago. Where in the world will she find a member of her bloodline?"
"Chances are that the Order of Morganians already found that person," Constance said. "The last descendant of her bloodline is somewhere in San Francisco. Why else would they ensure she shows up here?"
"So what are we supposed to do?" Gordon asked, returning from the basement. "Go around town and ask people if Morgana Le Fay is their ancestor?"
"The person being targeted would have no idea. Not even a DNA test would help because it's never been collected from Morgana's remains. We'll just have to wait until they go after the person and hope that we can rescue them."
"That is the worst plan I have ever heard," Hogarth said. "I can't believe you want to do that."
"It's the only plan we got," Constance told him.
Hogarth shook his head. As he turned away, he heard his cell phone ringing. Pulling it out, he saw it was Sam and answered it.
"Hey Sam. You interested in meeting up for another study group this weekend?"
"Hogarth, I need help!"
Hogarth suddenly felt panic racing through his bloodstream as he realized Sam was in real trouble.
"Sam, are you okay? What's going on?"
"Ghosts showed up at my house! They came looking for me, and when my parents refused to let them have me, they attacked them, and now, they're chasing after me!"
Hogarth quickly turned to the others, pointed at his phone, and put it on speaker.
"Tell us where you are so we can find you."
"I'm in a back alley, somewhere near Alta Plaza Park. I didn't run with any place in mind, I just wanted to get away from those things!"
"Sam, try to head for the park," Constance said. "We'll find you. Whatever, you don't stop running."
"Please just hurry!"
Hogarth hung up and hurried out to the garage with the others right behind.