Chapter 10

Constance and Gordon passed the Alta Plaza Tennis Court, neutrona wands at the ready. They constantly swiveled their heads, scanning the area for any sign of the ghost of an evil Chinese emperor.

At the sound of rustling, they spun around and saw the nearby bushes tremble. Pointing their wands, they prepared to blast whatever came out.

The bushes suddenly parted and out bounded…a dog.

"Hey!" a voice yelled.

Turning around, they saw a man with a leash in his hand running up to them, a very angry look on his face.

"What's the matter with you?!" he demanded. "You were gonna shoot my dog!"

"Sorry," Constance said. "We thought he was a ghost."

"Does he look like a ghost to you? Touch one hair on him, and I'll make you sorry!"

With that, the man leashed his dog and walked enough, glancing back to give the Ghostbusters a very menacing-looking stare.

"Constance," Gordon said, "maybe next time you should just stop at the word 'sorry.'"

"But it was true."

"Do you really think they're gonna care?"

Constance sighed heavily.

Suddenly, a nearby tree fell down, nearly crushing them. They dove out of the way, and when they looked up, they saw Yang Chong approach them, looking very menacing.

"You made a grave mistake taking me on without your friends," he sneered.

"The mistake you made in life," Gordon replied, "was allowing your Mana Ola to be blackened by the corrupting touch of Morgana's power."

"How dare you insult me!"

"What did you say?" Constance asked.

Gordon shrugged.

Yang Chong charged at them, holding his Dao out, ready for a deadly attack. Constance and Gordon fired their proton streams at him. Gordon's stream hit Chong's Dao, the supernatural metal it was made of conducting the energy effectively. The energy traveled from the blade into Chong, causing him to cry out.

"Nice one!" Constance complimented.

Her look of satisfaction turned to horror when Gordon switched off his stream to look and smile at her. Deactivating the stream gave Chong the opening he needed to attack. Constance dove at Gordon, knocking them both to the ground just as Chong's Dao sliced through the air above them.

"Don't ever turn your stream off when you've got a good hold on a ghost like that," she told him.

"You only just hired me today," Gordon reminded her.

Constance slapped her forehead and shook her head when she remembered. She suddenly felt Gordon's hand push against her head, forcing it back down to the ground as Yang Chong swung his Dao through the air once more.

"You know what?" Gordon said, grabbing his neutrona wand. "I've had about enough of this."

Pointing his wand up in the air, he fired his proton stream, and it hit its mark perfectly. Yang Chong howled out in rage as he tried to escape the stream's capture cage.

Constance quickly got to her feet, grabbed the trap, and slid it beneath Yang Chong. She stomped on the pedal, causing the trap to open up. Gordon brought the stream down low enough to get Yang Chong caught in the trap's pull.

Yang Chong strained to escape, but the pull of the trap was just too strong. He was sucked in, and the trap snapped shut moments later.

Constance reached down and picked up the trap, which began to smoke.

"Is it just me," she said, "or was that too easy?"

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth," Gordon replied.

"Sometimes doing exactly that saves your neck. But I doubt that'll matter anymore when we're done."

She handed the trap over to Gordon, then pulled out her radio.

"Hogarth, Jefferson, are you there?" she asked. "Have you guys captured Werner yet?"

"We're a little busy right now, Constance!" Hogarth shouted into his radio. "We can't exactly talk and bust at the same time!"

He ducked behind Ecto-1SF as another pumpkin was hurled over his head. He could hear Werner laughing several feet away. Gripping his neutrona wand, he and Jefferson quickly rose up and fired their proton streams. Werner's horse galloped out of the way, and the streams only struck the nearby watermelon stand.

After Hogarth and Jefferson split from Constance and Gordon, they chased Werner to a farmer's market in Pacific Heights. But Werner attacked, causing Hogarth to crash Ecto-1SF into the corn stand.

Sam crouched behind Ecto-1SF next to Hogarth.

"Why is the Headless Horseman in San Francisco trying to kill us?" she hissed as Hogarth took cover behind Ecto-1SF again as Werner hurled several flaming squash at them. The squash struck the ground and exploded into fiery pieces.

"His actual name is Johann Werner," Jefferson said, "and he is a member of-"

"Like she's gonna have any clue what you're talking about!" Hogarth snapped. "I still don't, and you already explained it to me!"

Jefferson shook his head in frustration before rushing out from behind Ecto-1SF and fired his proton stream, capturing Werner in a capture stream.

"I got him!" he yelled. "Get a trap out!"

But as Hogarth reached for the trap attached to his belt, he heard a sound that he realized was Werner laughing. He looked up in time to see Werner's stallion rear up on its hind legs before turning and galloping away. The horse's strength was great enough to yank Jefferson off his feet and drag him behind the ghost.

"Hogarth, do something!" Jefferson wailed.

Hogarth let out a cry of frustration before rushing off after Jefferson and Werner with Sam right behind him. He turned and weaved through the stands of the market, knocking several shelves of goods over in the process.

As soon as he saw a clear shot of Werner, he grabbed his neutrona wand and fired, catching Werner in his capture stream. He planted his feet hard into the ground, pulling back hard on the stream as he could to keep Werner from dragging him like Jefferson.

Sam came running around the corner. Seeing Hogarth struggling to restrain Werner, she ran over, grabbed his neutrona wand and pulled with him. Hogarth was too busy wrestling with Werner to notice or even care that Sam was putting herself at risk.

Jefferson released his capture stream and rolled several feet away. Standing up, he grabbed the ghost trap he was carrying and threw it out beneath Werner, then stomped hard on the pedal. Jefferson caught Werner in his capture stream as the trap opened. With Hogarth and Sam's help, he brought Werner down closer to the trap's opening, causing the force of the pull of the trap on the ghost to increase significantly.

Suddenly, Werner pulled out a pumpkin from behind his back, and with a laugh, threw straight at Hogarth's head. It hit its mark, knocking Hogarth and Sam over, throwing off the capture stream. Hogarth laid dazed on the ground

"No!" Jefferson cried as Werner escaped the trap's pull.

Werner let out a wicked laugh and prepared to throw another pumpkin straight at Jefferson. But without warning, capture streams lassoed around his throwing arm and waist, holding him back: Constance and Gordon had arrived and fired their capture streams at him. They lowered their streams, bringing Werner back into the pull of the trap.

"Now, Jefferson!" Constance ordered.

Without hesitation, Jefferson threw in his capture stream, and with a hard yank, he flung Werner straight into the center of the trap's pull.

Werner let out a furious cry of desperation as he was sucked inside the trap, which snapped shut a moment later. Jefferson stepped over and picked up the trap as smoke began to seep out.

"Looks like we had the easier one with Yang Chong," Constance said.

"Then I wanna trade ghosts," Hogarth said as he helped Sam to her feet.

"Constance," Jefferson said, "we need to get Sam back to HQ to run tests. Those Prime Morganians were targeting her for a reason."

Constance nodded in agreement.

"The other Prime Morganians can wait," she said. "But that was still too easy. If they were fighting at full strength, we would still be fighting Yang Chong, and you guys would still be fighting Werner."

"We'll look into it later," Jefferson said. "Right now, we need to determine Sam's connection to all this."