Chapter Three: Back in Black (And Blue)
It was a scene almost eerily similar to the event that occurred on the rooftop of the Tipton in 2004. The only exception was that things were ten times more terrifying as blue smoke emerged from beyond the temple doors, which looked as if they had been blown open by dynamite. However, the temple was not there; instead, there was a long, dark stairway leading to a black throne where none other than Hades, Lord of the dead, was sitting and smoking a cigar.
Mickey, Donald, and Goofy slowly emerged from the doorway leading onto the rooftop; their demeanors had changed almost instantly the moment they made it there. Their ghost-catching "equipment" was shaking in their grips as they crept across the smoking atmosphere. They fought hard not to breathe any of the smoke in, not knowing what kind of harmful effects it could have on them; Mickey breathed in a little and coughed hard. It smells like brimstone, he thought.
Hades, upon seeing the three "Wannabe Ghostbusters," laughed and said, "I ask for the Superstars of the Supernatural, and they give me just plain old superstars instead?"
"The jig's up, Hades!" Mickey exclaimed, doing his best to sound brave.
"Yeah!" Donald added, also trying.
"Leave the nice folks in this hotel alone!" Goofy demanded.
The calm, cool demeanor that had been on Hades' face quickly started to change into a heavily stressed, twisted look of sheer anger while the cigar in his mouth exploded; coincidentally, his attitude did as well. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR ANY MICKEY MOUSE JUNK!"
His body flamed up and his furious voice echoed throughout the creepy night atmosphere, making the trio in front of him nearly jump out of their skins (literally, in a toon's case). Between the shivers, Goofy brought himself to say, "I guess ya don't have time for any Donald Duck junk either."
"Will you shut up?!" Donald retorted.
The flames on Hades' body began to recede, forcing him to stay calm again. "Okay. Okay. Look. All I want is for you boys to get me the Ghostbusters. That's all. And I'll leave your pretty little realm alone."
"B-But, Hades," said Mickey, "The Ghostbusters have split up."
"They're retired." Goofy added.
Hades chuckled. "I don't think you guys heard me. I want the Ghostbusters…NOW!" On that last word, his body flamed up again—this time in the reddish-orange color. "I don't care if they're retired or expired…actually, that second one doesn't sound so bad…but, anyways, I want them here right here, right now!"
"How're we supposed to find them?" Mickey asked.
"You're the sorcerer…FIGURE IT OUT!" Hades' flame grew to immense proportions, shooting out towards Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. The three fell back from the staircase and headed back to the doorway.
As soon as they safely made it away from the rooftop, they took a moment to catch their breath. "Did you get him?" asked a voice that scared the living daylights out of the three exterminators. They turned to see Cody Martin, the boy from downstairs in the lobby, standing in the hall leading to the elevator.
"No, we didn't get him!" Donald complained. "He wants the Ghostbusters! Not us!"
"The Ghostbusters?" Cody said. "But they're…"
"Retired," said the three exterminators. "We know!"
Cody was silent for quite a while, and then he curiously asked, "So…what are you guys going to do?"
"What else?" Mickey hopelessly inquired. "Give 'im what he wants."
Cody's eyes widened in shock and surprise. "But you can't do that! Hades is the Lord of the Underworld! He'll destroy us all!"
"Well, we can't do anything. He's way too powerful for either of us." Mickey said.
"Gwarsh! If only we had those nifty machines that those Ghostbuster fellers carried around, we'd really be something!" Goofy remarked.
"Yeah!" Donald exclaimed. "Then we'd show Hades!"
Mickey scratched his chin in curiosity and then snapped his fingers with a look of revelation on his face. "Fellas, that's it! We'll just use their equipment! I'm sure there's some left at their old headquarters."
"Of course there is!" Cody cheered. "Zack and I skateboard through there every now and then. It's barely boarded up, so there shouldn't be any problem getting in." Mickey, Donald, and Goofy looked at Cody curiously, making him feel a bit sheepish. "What? It isn't a crime, if there aren't any signs."
Luckily for Alexis Embers, there weren't any signs outside the barely boarded up firehouse that was once housed as the headquarters for the Ghostbusters; only sections of it were sealed, such as the windows and garage door. The door at the side of the closed garage entrance was left untouched and unlocked, and it was how Alexis was able to get in that day to check out the old place.
She anticipated on it being completely empty and even a little dusty, but it was not as cluttered as she expected it to be. It looked like the Ghostbusters decided to just walk out and not pack up their things at all. Not like they had much to pack away, considering how in 2006, the city began purchasing and endorsing all of their equipment—which meant they owned fifty percent of it. Everything in the abandoned firehouse, even the Ecto-1 (which was still parked in the garage, but not covered in a tarp or anything), was untouched for reasons that were strange to Alexis.
As she moved between the front desk that belonged to Christina Melnitz (with her nameplate still sitting on there) and the lockers that contained the Ghostbusters' gear, she wondered what it had to have been like the first day they set up shop there. It could not have been easy, considering in interviews, each team member described the first day being "sheer hell." But they must have overcome it, since they really picked up after the first bust at the Tipton Hotel, where they seemed to have gotten the most calls.
While pondering this, Alexis stopped in front of the locker owned by Dr. Kimberly Venkman; she opened it and looked inside to find a locker that seemed like a high school student's locker. On the door were pictures of muscular, speedo-wearing male models with David Tennant's face glued over theirs and advertisements for a hangout joint called "Hoots" with an owl as the logo. Man! Dr. V was some woman, Alexis thought.
And, apparently, another unexpected visitor shared the same notion. "She was some woman, alright," she repeated Alexis's thoughts aloud. Alexis jumped as she heard the voice, turning in the direction of the doorway to see the 26-year-old Ghostbusters secretary, Christina Melnitz, standing there in a pair of blue jeans, a pair of sneakers, and a green sweater. "Sorry I scared ya, hon. Just didn't expect anybody to be here, after four years."
"Funny," said Alexis. "I was thinking the same thing."
Christina approached Alexis with a bright smile on her face, gazing over Kim Venkman's former locker. Getting a closer look at her, Alexis discovered she was a dirty blonde with blue eyes; she had a fresh, young face that would welcome any person off the street. It was how Alexis knew that she was indeed welcomed to the firehouse, even though it was restricted property.
"Kim was one of the craziest out of all us," said Christina. "Most the time she'd just sit on her butt and sleep."
Alexis chuckled. "She deserved it, busting so many ghosts all the time."
"J.G., Sean, and Diana did most of the busting...she was always lagging behind, grabbing some McDonald's and whatnot."
Alexis smiled and attempted to reach inside of the locker; before she did, she turned to Christina and requested, "May I?" Melnitz nodded with a smile, and Alexis reached inside to pull out Kimberly's old gray jumpsuit, which still had her red and black nametag stitched on, displaying her last name. "Wow. It's almost like I'm holding a piece of history here."
"Can't be too historical, considering the woman who wore it was a real…"
"Can I wear it?" Alexis suddenly asked, taking Christina by surprise a little.
She took a moment to think about her answer before giving it. "Uh, sure. No problem. There's a bathroom upstairs you can change in." Alexis smiled, and as she headed in that direction, Christina made sure to add, "Only a few minutes, okay? I'm really not supposed to let anybody mess with the stuff, ya know. Heck, even I'm not supposed to be here." Alexis was already upstairs by the time she mentioned that last part.
All alone in the garage area, Christina took a minute to soak in the memorabilia that surrounded her. So many memories in that one place, it was all a bit overwhelming to her. She smiled as she approached her old desk, which was cleared off (sans her nameplate and a red rotary phone). Blowing off some of the dust on it, she sat down at the chair and pretended to do her old job.
She picked up the receiver on the phone and placed it near her ear, careful not to get any dust in it or on her hair. "Ghostbusters, how you doin' today?" she playfully uttered with a chuckle. "Oh, really? You have a Viking skeleton terrorizing the local museum? Oh, my. That is a big…"
The door suddenly flew open again, only a lot faster than how Alexis and Christina had. It scared Christina completely as she jumped in the seat, dropping the receiver and letting it dangle at the side of her desk. On instinct, she ducked under the desk and hid there, while the new visitors (presumably the local authorities, arriving on notice of their being "perpetrators" in the old firehouse) entered; she only hoped that Alexis would stay upstairs long enough to avoid them seeing her.
However, she wondered what kind of police officers were there, as she heard one that sounded like a little kid. "They still keep them in their lockers, when I last checked."
Then she heard another that sounded exactly like Mickey Mouse. "You'd think they'd take better security measures, leaving the door open for just anybody to walk right in." It was Mickey—there was no mistaking a voice as high as his; that was, unless someone's been sucking on too much helium.
Knowing it was just another group of "perpetrators" like her and Alexis, Christina decided to climb out from underneath the desk, feeling like a complete idiot for even going there. That was until Alexis suddenly came downstairs (shoot!), wearing Kim Venkman's jumpsuit with a big smile on her face. That smile, however, quickly faded once she reached the foot of the stairs and noticed Mickey and his friends there.
"Uh…hi." She said, which made Christina roll her eyes in exasperation.
Rookie.
"Hi!" Mickey remarked. "You must be…" He looked closely at the name on the jumpsuit that didn't even belong to her, and an odd look appeared on the mouse's face. "Dr. Venkman?"
Alexis, realizing the mistake, shamefacedly gawked at the jumpsuit and smiled. "Oh, no. This isn't mine. It's just…"
"A-hyuck! I get it!" Goofy said. "You must be her next of kin."
Say what?! Christina thought in bewilderment.
Alexis was quite baffled herself—so much so that she could barely find the words to explain herself in this odd situation. What made it even more baffling was the fact that she was the perfect fit in Kimberly Venkman's old jumpsuit. The only issue was the upper part of the sleeves felt a little stretched out (Kim must've worked out a lot), giving them a baggy appearance; not to mention the "butt area" felt baggy itself (that was self-explanatory).
Before Alexis could even find the right words to say, a sudden tremor came and shook everything inside the firehouse, dropping bits and clouds of dust and debris over them. They also heard loud stomping coming their way, followed by the muffled screaming of a passerby outside the firehouse.
"I definitely don't like the sound of that!" Cody exclaimed.
All of the sudden, the garage door and everything else surrounding it blew away, forcing everyone to take cover as chunks of concrete and metal flew everywhere. From underneath the desk, Christina could hear loud thumps over her head as the chunks slammed her desk and landed on her chair, breaking it to pieces. Christina was more grateful to be safe from danger than saddened by the loss of her old treasures. Once the chunks had passed, she stuck her head out from under the desk and looked past the left side to see what had caused the sudden destruction: it was a humungous black three-headed dog, with red eyes and huge sharp teeth. The sight of it was enough to force Christina back under the desk and stay there until it went away, which seemed downright impossible.
Meanwhile, Alexis came out from inside Kimberly Venkman's locker, which functioned as her hiding place. Mickey and his friends, using the other three lockers as hiding places as well, came out along with Alexis to see the massive, monstrous, and unnatural dog.
"What the heck is that?!" Cody cried.
"It's Cerberus! Hades' guard dog from the Underworld!" Mickey yelled.
Alexis could barely believe she was seeing this creature before her. "What is it doing here?!"
"Hades sent it to come after us!" Donald screamed in horror.
"Not us," said Cody. "The Ghostbusters!"
Realizing this, the five of them let out a terrifying shriek, as they ran away from Cerberus. The monster didn't let them get away any further as it leaped over them and crashed against the staircase, keeping them from going upstairs. With the hole that the monster made where the entrance used to be, they took their chance to escape through it. Again, Cerberus foiled their attempt, letting out a fierce and powerful roar that connected to the roof of the garage and the other levels of the firehouse, shattering them away to rain down enough debris to completely seal up the hole.
There was no escaping at this point, as Cerberus had the mortals exactly where he wanted them. The monster snarled at them, drooling and fumigating the area with his horrible breath. At that moment, staring down in the mouth of death, Alexis wished she never came to the firehouse. Maybe if she just stayed away, this monster would never have come, and these people cowering with her wouldn't be in danger. This is the price one pays for having such an unhealthy obsession, she thought.
"Wait a minute!" Mickey said, as he realized they were standing near the lockers. "We have the tools to take care of this mutt!"
Alexis realized how right Mickey was; there seemed to have been some hope after all here, and she didn't hesitate any longer to take advantage of it. She dashed over to the locker that belonged to Dr. Sean Spengler and opened it, reaching through articles of his former uniform to get to a Proton Pack. Before she could even find one, Christina popped out from under her desk and shouted, "You won't find it there!" Alexis and the others looked in her direction; Mickey and his friends were surprised to even see her there. Christina waved in her direction and commanded, "C'mon! Follow me!"
They rushed over to her, dodging Cerberus as he lunged each of his three heads at them, attempting to catch an arm or a leg with his teeth. Luckily, the monster was unsuccessful in its moves, as the group was already at Christina's side before any more attempts could've been made.
"Now what?!" Cody said in intense panic.
"Downstairs!" Christina exclaimed before leading them in that direction through a staircase that was a little close to her desk. Cerberus lunged again, but missed as the group disappeared into the basement.
The room was a sprawling, two-story, warehouse-like space with a red, cylindrical machine built into the concrete wall. Alexis and Cody recognized the machine—from their previous visits to the firehouse—as the Ghostbusters' "Containment System," developed by Dr. Spengler and Dr. Stantz as a large facility for storing captured ghosts, but they seriously doubted if Christina brought them there for a tour.
A large amount of dust suddenly showered over Alexis, covering her hair and shoulders. She and the others then heard extremely loud scratching noises, obviously caused by the creature upstairs. "Uh, Chris?" Alexis said. "I don't think this is the best place to hide."
Christina walked over to one part of the floor and stomped on it hard four times with her right foot before it suddenly busted apart. She reached through the squared, well-carved hole with both hands and pulled out a cardboard box. The intense strain on her face and the loud grunts she made nonetheless signified how terribly heavy the box was. Once she set it aside, she took a brief moment to catch her breath.
The others looked on with great curiosity, wondering what was inside it. "There's a reason this building isn't as secured as most abandoned places should be," said Christina, while unfolding the box. "Sean told me the day after we 'disbanded' that we would need this equipment again, in case there was a threat bigger than any the world has ever faced before. He had the mayor promise him that one part of the building wouldn't be too heavily boarded to ensure any possible entrance. Trespassers, like ourselves, could come in but would not find anything good enough to take with 'em. Not even these bad boys…" She reached into the open box and pulled out a Proton Pack that was still in pristine condition.
Alexis, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Cody all smiled with joy and relief upon seeing the box full of Proton Packs. Christina handed the one she was carrying to Alexis; she nearly dropped it under its immense weight but was able to maintain balance long enough to put it on her back. It felt just as heavy there as it did while in her hands. "Man! How'd they get around in these things?"
"Ask me again later." Christina remarked. "Just try to lure that thing out of the firehouse."
Alexis's eyes widened in shock. "By myself?!"
"You're the only one who's big enough to handle these things," said Christina. "I'm gonna need the boys to help me carry out the other part of my plan."
Alexis swallowed hard, knowing exactly what it was like to step into the boots of a real Ghostbuster; she was extremely nervous and on the verge of wetting herself in Kimberly Venkman's jumpsuit. Of course, she maintained control over herself and reached inside to pull out that sense of confidence, remembering the moments she witnessed the Ghostbusters saving the world; finding inspiration from that, she reached behind her, detached the Proton Gun from the pack, and held it in front of her with a look of determination. Not saying a word, she headed back upstairs to the garage, seeing Cerberus continuing to dig his claws into the floor. Alexis did her best to stay as silent as she could, like a hunter going after a lion. Hiding behind Christina Melnitz's desk, she aimed the Proton Gun over it and, with her target dead in her sights, pressed the button that would unleash the proton stream.
Unfortunately, nothing came out.
As she fiddled with the machine, Christina and the others arrived at the scene, individually carrying ghost traps and trailing an incredibly long orange extension cord. Just as she spotted them, Alexis whispered to Christina, "It's not working."
"Flip the switch," responded Christina.
"Which one? There's like a billion of them on here."
"Try the one that's labeled 'on,' genius."
Alexis looked back down over the Proton Gun and spotted the one switch that indeed had the word "On" labeled beneath it. After rolling her eyes in annoyance, she flipped the switch, causing a loud humming noise to be emitted from the Proton Pack. This, however, caught the attention of Cerberus, as the monster stopped clawing at the floor and looked in the direction of the noise. Once he spotted his prey, he snarled again and roared at them.
"Don't think so, bitch!" Alexis yelled as she fired the proton stream from the gun directly at the center head of Cerberus. That particular head started whimpering, while the other two continued growling at Alexis. "Can't forget Larry and Moe!" She fired two separate steams at the other two heads, which resulted in Cerberus's entire body reeling back towards the blocked entrance.
Christina smiled as she realized how well the rookie was handling the situation. "You go, girl!" she exclaimed before refocusing her attention on her part of the plan. She turned to the boys and said, "Okay. Mick, you and Cody stay down here and connect the cable to the Containment Unit on my signal. Donald, Goofy, and I will head to the roof with the traps."
"But the stairs are gone!" Mickey pointed to the staircase remains nearby them. "How'll you get up there?"
She pointed to the pole behind them. "We're just gonna have to break the laws of gravity."
Goofy gawked at the pole, rubbing his chin. "Gwarsh. Shouldn't we get permission from that Newton fella…uh…Wayne?" The others just looked at him oddly, not bothering to waste any time on figuring his comment out. (After all, it's Goofy.)
Within seconds, Christina was climbing up the pole with Donald and Goofy, while Mickey and Cody stayed down near the base, waiting for Christina's signal. It was strain for the three to get up the pole at first; but, with a lot more effort put in, they were able to reach the second level of the firehouse. They were careful not to fall in the hole created by Cerberus's bark while heading into a portion of the second level that was still intact and contained a staircase leading to the third one.
By the time they reached the rooftop, Alexis was already successful in getting Cerberus near the massive pile of debris that blocked the entrance. Another blast from the Proton Gun sent directly at the monster's chest area was enough to make him collapse right onto that pile, breaking through the debris and reopening the gaping hole. Cerberus fell right into the empty street corner outside, roaring in great anguish and fury.
From the rooftop, Christina, Donald, and Goofy saw him rolling across the street, his roars echoing throughout the area. Perfect timing, Christina thought. She then commenced in throwing two ghost traps over the edge, dangling them fifteen feet down the side of the building and right near Cerberus's injured body. Donald and Goofy had done the same with the pairs of ghost traps they were carrying, totaling the eight traps dangling over Cerberus.
Down below, Alexis slowly walked outside and looked up to see what they were doing, and she smiled upon realization. She then gazed back over at Cerberus and noticed how he was getting back up again. With quick thinking, she fired yet another strong blast of proton energy from her gun, keeping him down long enough for Christina to execute her part of the plan.
Christina rushed back downstairs to the second level and shouted down towards the base of the pole. "Alright, boys! Plug 'em in!"
Following her cue, Mickey and Cody rushed back downstairs to the basement and plugged the extension cord that was connected to the traps into the Containment Unit, sending an incredible charge of electrical energy surging through the cord and feeding directly into the traps. All eight of the metal boxes automatically opened their split, hinged lids and collectively unleashed an intense light that engulfed Cerberus. The monster's form suddenly began to disintegrate, each and every piece of him sucked into eight different traps. As soon as all of him was inside, the traps automatically closed their lids before another surge of energy traveled through the cord and went into the Containment Unit.
Mickey and Cody watched the visible energy travel into the machine, and they spotted a green light attached to the containment system briefly activate, denoting a successful containment. "We got 'im!" Mickey cheered, exchanging a high-five with a thrilled Cody Martin.
Back upstairs, Alexis approached the pole, just as Christina slid down it safely. As soon as the two women came near each other, they smiled and shared a high-five. "Sweet thinkin'! Where did you learn all that?"
Christina seemed very bashful that moment as she blushed and said, "I learned it from Sean…I mean, Dr. Spengler." It was bluntly obvious to Alexis that Christina Melnitz and Sean Spengler must've had some sort of special relationship before the team split up. Whatever kind it was, it only mattered to her that it really helped save their lives on that very night.
Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Cody soon arrived, each of them filled with excitement. "Man! That was just as cool as riding ten thousand times on the Tower of Terror!" Cody shouted.
Alexis laughed. "You boys did marvelous," she said. "You're on your way to becoming some real ghost-busting heroes."
"And you're already there, hon." Christina told Alexis, who looked at her in surprise. "Don't tell me you didn't have the makings of a Ghostbuster back there."
Embers was about to make a protest until Mickey stepped in. "She's right! You could take on Hades single-handedly!"
"A-hyuck! And even make your Auntie Kimberly proud!" Goofy added, which made everyone turned to him again in an odd reaction.
Alexis shook her head and gave a flattered grin. "Wait, wait, people. I'm not who you think I am." She gazed at the Proton Gun that was still in her hand and chuckled. "I'm just an ordinary girl living her wildest fantasies here. I didn't mean to get caught up into any of this." She then motioned towards Christina and added, "Besides, it was the secretary here who thought up of everything."
"Yeah, but I don't know the first thing about nuclear accelerators." Christina remarked. "I just know all the tricks they taught me to busting ghosts."
"Well, somebody's got to stop Hades." Mickey said. "If not, he'll wreak havoc all over the city."
Alexis suddenly reminded herself of something that was said earlier during the Cerberus attack. "Didn't you guys say something about Hades wanting the Ghostbusters? The real Ghostbusters?" They nodded in response. "Then let's just go find them. Bring them back together, so we can take care of that 'hot-head' together."
"Are you kiddin' me?!" Christina exclaimed. "With the egos and different lines of work those four have now, it'd be a miracle to get them to work together again."
"Well, we have to try, Chris." Alexis said. "I mean, how hard would it be to convince four of the greatest heroes in New York to prevent another end-of-the-world threat?"
Christina looked past Alexis and at the parked Ecto-1, which had been heavily crushed as result of the Cerberus attack. Several large chunks of concrete had turned the vehicle into a pancake, rendering it totally useless. "I'd say it'd be as hard as repairing the damages to our old car."
Alexis, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Cody glanced over the crushed Ecto-1 and sighed in disappointment. Cody was on the verge of tears as he said, "She never even got the chance to wail her last siren." Goofy placed a hand over the boy's shoulder, taking off his green hat and placing it over his chest, as if he were mourning a living thing.
"Hey, c'mon!" Alexis said. "This car can be replaced...but we need the original Ghostbusters back…before it's too late."
END OF CHAPTER THREE