Chapter Eight: Miss Zeddemore, I Suppose

"I WANT ICE CREAM!" shouted a five-year-old boy to his stressed parents, who were doing their best to satisfy their son's needs; and they weren't the only ones. Other parents, ones that came in pairs and ones that were single, had out-of-control children with them at Pizza Planet. Some kids cried and screamed; others kicked and threw food while laughing uncontrollably. It was a nightmarish scene, and in the middle of it all was the manager: a short, balding man with an apple-shaped body and lack of patience.

Doing his best to ignore all the chaos, the manager spoke over the phone with one of another business. "How long will it take Miss Zeddemore to get here?" He carried his voice over the noise to hear himself and placed a hand over his ear to hear the man on the other end. "With all due respect, sir, but I'd appreciate it if she would've gotten here at least six hours ago!" All of the sudden, a cheeseburger flew in from left field and connected with the hand holding the phone, causing him to drop it, as well as cover the whole left side of his face with pickles, ketchup, and tomato. "I knew I should've gone to college."

The manager kept his eyes on the entrance to Pizza Planet, waiting for "Miss Zeddemore" to arrive. For a moment, when the double doors slid open, he thought she had and felt greatly relieved; but, once he noticed three Caucasian women, an African American man, a blond boy, a Hispanic/Italian girl, and three Disney characters walking in, he sighed and returned to his nervous state.

Kim couldn't suppress a smile as she gazed at the chaotic sight in front of her; it reminded her why she avoided having children (as well as stayed single). Of course, the real joy Venkman got out of the scene was the notion of her old teammate, Diana Zeddemore, ending up in the middle of it all; yet, she was a little disappointed when she realized that Diana was nowhere around.

"How come she ain't here?" Kimberly asked.

Spengler glanced at his digital wristwatch. "She's usually here at eight o'clock. She must've gotten caught in traffic."

"Well, let's at least make the best outta it," said Mickey, before turning to Goofy, Donald, Cody, and Alex. "C'mon, fellas. Let's go play a few games."

Cody was already heading in the direction of the arcade games. "I'm so gonna beat Zack's high score on Aliens: Extermination!"

Alex scoffed at this idea of Mickey's. "I'm too old for little kiddie games." She stopped once she saw a couple of kids playing rounds of intergalactic skeeball, in which a squishy "alien ball" was rolled down the lane and into the holes that resembled the solar system. "Although I did see a cute iPod on the way in that I could cash a hefty sum of tickets for." And with that statement, she was off to grab a cupful of tokens.

With the kids off and doing their own thing, the adults took position at the nearest booth that wasn't occupied by rowdy children or exhausted parents. Alexis gawked at the wild scene a little more closely than Kimberly had; she couldn't get past the notion of a former Ghostbuster working at a family restaurant as an entertainer for children, and it once again brought her to the question of how the Ghostbusters came to split up. "I guess now's a better time than any to ask this, but…" She paused and swallowed hard, a little worried that bad memories might resurface from bringing it up. "How come you all disbanded the team? Weren't you a successful, working team?"

Kim, Sean, and Christina turned to each other, exchanging disgruntled expressions; for a while, they were absolutely silent, obviously unsure of what to tell the rookie. Finally, Kim said, "It wasn't our choice to split up, kiddo. It was the city of New York's decision."

Alexis's face scrunched up in confusion. "The city split you guys up?"

"Well, it was the Mayor, to be more precise." Sean stated. "He and his staff discovered that we caused billions of dollars' worth of property damage, during one of the busiest years of ghost-busting we ever had."

"So we shut down the business and each took odd jobs to help pay for all the damages." Christina added.

Alexis shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe the city would treat you all like that. I mean…don't they know you're doing it for a good cause?"

"When politics sticks its funky nose in, heroic deeds aren't worth shit, hon." Kimberly stated. "All that matters are dollar signs and subpoenas…and we've seen enough of both to realize when we're beat."

Alexis sighed. "I don't get it. Why didn't the news or anybody else mention this to the public? Your fans?"

"Think about it, rookie," instructed Kim. "If you were mayor and forced one of the finest businesses in New York to shut down because of lawsuits and money over aging complexes, would you spill the beans to millions of fans?"

Alexis nodded in understanding, but it didn't make up for the fact that it was all pure bull crap. After all the Ghostbusters had done for New York City, this was how they repaid them. It seemed to Alexis Embers that times really had changed since Gozer and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. The world's greatest heroes were now reduced to regular citizens…at least until they reunite and become the team they once were again.

"Welcome to Pizza Planet, earthlings!" They turned and noticed how the waiter was dressed in a spacesuit. It was enough to make Kim, Sean, Christina, and Alexis lower their heads to save themselves from embarrassment. "How may I beam your order from Planet K to Spaceport C?"

Kim looked towards Sean and whispered, "Just when I thought you were a rare species."

Spengler grinned at Venkman, while Christina told the unusual waiter, "We'll just take four sodas, please." The astronaut/waiter saluted the customers before walking off to his "home base": the kitchen.

The sound of the Pizza Planet entrance sliding open caught their attention, and they turned to see the next victim of the chaotic evening at the restaurant. The group was instantly surprised when it turned out to be Diana Zeddemore herself, looking exactly the way they last saw her…well, sort of. Diana was wearing an amateur copy of her old uniform, which looked as if it was a few sizes too small; this was obvious from the way her white socks and part of her shin were exposed, the front wasn't zipped all the way (creating some cleavage), and the sleeves were all the way up to her elbows. There was also the matter of treads sticking out from the seams, signifying a possible chance of it all coming apart with just the slightest bit of movement; but Diana was careful as she stiffly walked in with an inflatable "Proton Pack" strapped on.

Upon seeing her, Venkman, Spengler, Christina, and Alexis felt almost disappointed to see what she had been reduced to. Zeddemore had always been the toughest of their team; but to see her with an inflatable replica of a Proton Pack was beyond sad, and yet Kimberly Venkman could not stifle a laugh. "Oh, man! This has got to be the best night ever!"

Kim's laughing could be heard over all the screaming children in the restaurant; as much as the others tried to compose her, she had already generated enough attention from some of the other customers. Eventually, it reached Diana's ears and shifted her focus to their table. The sight of Kimberly Venkman laughing her ass off was enough to create an uncomfortable feeling over Diana—as if the costume itself hadn't already.

"Oh, damn." Diana uttered.

Diana was just about to walk towards her friends, until the Pizza Planet manager popped up right in front of her and blocked her path. "Miss Zeddemore! Where have you been? Little Andrew's party has gone berserk! The parents are threatening to leave! And I'm…" SPLAT! Another meal came in contact with the manager's face; ironically, the side of it that had just been cleanse of previous meal thrown at him. "I'm going back home to mother."

"Don't worry, Mr. Brewster." Diana assured. "I'll get right to entertaining the little sweeties as soon as possible." Brewster unenthusiastically nodded in approval before returning to his office. Once he was gone, Diana approached the table where Kimberly Venkman, Sean Spengler, Christina Melnitz, and their friend in the old, funky Ghostbuster jumpsuit were sitting. She made it pretty obvious that she wasn't too happy when she asked, "What the hell are you all doing here?"

"We came to see how far that poor excuse of an imitation rides up, before you start lose your mind." Kim answered, right before Diana reached behind her to tug down on the seat of her jumpsuit, which was starting to ride up a bit.

Ignoring Venkman's teasing, Alexis stood up and extended a hand out to Diana. "Miss Zeddemore, I'm Alexis Embers. It's really an honor to meet…"

"Oh, my god!" Kim exclaimed as she got up from the table and stood behind Diana, gawking at her fake Proton Pack. "Seriously, where did you get this thing? Couldn't you have gone to one of those expensive geeks who've got way too much time on their hands?"

"Listen, Venkman," snapped Diana, turning to stare eye-to-eye with her, "The only reason I've had to tolerate this job for a whole year is because you couldn't keep track on the finance of our business!"

"Of course not." Kim boldly admitted. "That's Chris's job."

Christina rolled her eyes in disgust. "Gosh, thanks, Dr. Venkman."

Alexis quickly reinserted herself back into the conversation before it drifted off-topic. "Miss Zeddemore, the real reason we came here was to tell you about the threat our world is facing right now from Hades, Lord of the Underworld."

Diana was caught off guard by Alexis's statement. "Our old flame-headed friend from the Gozer incident? You're kiddin' me!"

"I'm afraid not, Diana." Sean declared. "Several bizarre occurrences have all pointed to a possible plot of revenge by Hades. He's already used Jafar to attack J.G. at his bookstore; and even our first apparition, Maleficent, has made it clear that she's somehow involved in this."

"Man!" Diana remarked. "You go out of action for a year and the whole world's already in deep shit." She then reminded herself of the mentioning of a fellow Ghostbuster by Spengler and realized he was not with them. "Where's Jay?"

Kim sighed. "That's been the question of the week, apparently."

"He's been with this new girlfriend of his named Vanessa." Christina said.

Diana's index finger went to her chin as she pondered for a second. "Now why does that sound familiar?"

AAAAAHHHH!

The scream didn't come from any of the children in the restaurant; it came directly from the kitchen area and was enough to bring the parents and their kids to a stop. All eyes went to the set of doors leading to that area, just as the astronaut/waiter busted out, covered with some type of green ooze. The look on his face displayed a mixture of horror, disgust, and panic; he dashed through all parts of the restaurant until he reached the exit, which didn't open fast enough to accommodate his escape, forcing him to crash through it instead.

Everyone stood in silence over the sudden incident, except for Venkman, who shouted to the fleeing waiter, "Hey! What about our sodas?"

Suddenly, more screams emerged from the kitchen as other employees fled the area; they were each dripping with the same type of funky-smelling ooze on their clothes. The smell that fumigated the air brought back some foul memories to Kimberly and Sean. Immediately, Spengler pulled out the P.K.E. Meter and turned it on to pull up the readings that it detected from the kitchen.

Diana turned to him as soon as she heard the device beep. "What're you getting?"

Spengler's eyes were focused on the meter, but they soon darted towards the entrance to the kitchen. A translucent green blob creature with two skinny arms, no feet, and several chins phased through the kitchen doors, leaving behind a glob of ectoplasm all over it. It opened its mouth to unleash a sound that was a cross between a roar and a belch. The smell it gave off was utterly revolting and enough to not only bring terror amongst the parents and children in the restaurant, but nausea as well.

While the parents and children all fled from the building with the employees, the Ghostbusters and their friends stayed behind, continuing to stare at the disgusting blob. Whereas the eyes of Spengler, Zeddemore, Christina, Alexis, Cody, Alex, and the Ajax exterminators were filled with shock, the eyes of Kimberly Venkman had nothing but intense hatred and anger in hers; she and this blob had quite an unsettling history that was difficult for her to forget, whenever she confronted a ghost as nasty as this one. Upon seeing him for the first time in four years, one word emerged from her mouth: "YOU!"

The blob looked directly at Kim and grumbled, apparently recognizing her; its glowing yellow eyes had a frightening effect on Mickey Mouse, who said, "Oh, boy! He sure looks like a mean one!"

"Don't worry." Sean uttered. "He won't hurt any of us."

"No, he'd just gross the constitution outta ya with his nasty ooze!" Kim sneered. "Look at the little spud! He's tauntin' me! Probably knows I'm gonna get him back for sliming me back at the hotel, four years ago!"

"Venkman, don't do anything." Spengler warned. "He knows you'll try something if you…"

BBBBBBRRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGGGGG!

The blob growled as it flew directly towards the group; it moved at a speed that was way faster than it had when Spengler and Venkman last saw it. There was barely enough time to move out of the way, as the blob came right at Kim; she opened her mouth instinctively to scream, but that was her last mistake as the creature phased right through the upper half of her body. A wave of slime went right into Kim's mouth while drenching the rest of her in it, even staining her clean Hoots shirt.

As soon as the blob had completely passed through her, Kim collapsed to the floor and immediately slipped into unconsciousness. Spengler knelt down near her inert, slimed body and checked her purse. "She's not breathing!" he exclaimed, which brought great concern over the others. Immediately, Sean began administering CPR on her, while the blob creature bellowed overhead, hovering around the ceiling and phasing through dangling plywood models of planets.

"I thought this thing wasn't gonna hurt anybody!" Alexis angrily yelled.

Spengler didn't have a direct answer for Alexis's confusion; even if he did, he was too busy trying to revive his best friend. Something about the slimy blob was far different from when they last encountered it. The readings on the P.K.E. were totally different from last time. From what he deciphered, it almost rested in a class close to one Gozer and Vigo were in. It's too improbable to be true, he thought.

Just then, another crash rang through the kitchen. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Cody, and Alex dashed over to the doors and opened them to see what was going on inside. Much to their surprise, there were four more ghosts causing havoc there in the kitchen; but these ones were different from the blob; they were more "cartoon-like" and highly familiar to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.

"Oh, no!" Donald squawked.

"Gwarsh!" Goofy cried.

"Oh, gosh!" Mickey exclaimed.

These ghosts were the same lonesome ones the exterminators squared off against all those years ago in that haunted house, during their first (and only) extermination. That much was obvious from the translucent bowler hats and cloaks the ghosts wore over their equally translucent forms. Like the blob, their forms were green, but only much paler. As soon as they spotted their old exterminator friends, the phantoms sneered, and their eyes turned red (something totally new to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy); they grabbed several kitchen utensils (including forks and knives) and hurled them directly at the mortals. Mickey and the others quickly departed from the room, just in time for the utensils to strike the doors instead with the knives and forks stuck right in them.

"Whoa! They were never this mean before!" Mickey said with surprise.

"Wonder what's gotten into them." Goofy said.

"Whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon!" Alex pleaded.

The group soon found themselves running for their lives again as the four phantoms phased through the kitchen doors and howled at them, chasing them away to where the Ghostbusters were. Zeddemore, Christina, and Alexis noticed how they were being chased by more vicious ghosts and could barely believe how wild the situation was becoming.

Just after the exterminators, Cody, and Alex rejoined with the Ghostbusters, the four phantoms and the blob hovered close to one another, sixteen feet in the air, and glared at the group of mortals below. "They're working together?" Donald questioned.

"Seems that way," deduced Mickey.

Zeddemore shook her head at the sight above. "It can't be a coincidence that they're here at the exact same time we are."

"Another trick of Hades?" Alexis reckoned.

In response to Alexis, the blob and the phantoms bellowed in unison, "YOU WISH!" They started to lunge right at them, howling eerily in the process. At the same time, Venkman regained consciousness, coughing up huge amounts of slime. Quickly, Spengler turned her body sideways to let the ectoplasmic residue drain from her body, while he once again pulled out his P.K.E. Meter and aimed it right at the five approaching vapors. Flipping a small switch built in the back of the device, the winged arms had risen into a vertically paralleled position at the top of the P.K.E. Meter and emitted a shock wave of sonic energy that surrounded the attacking ghosts. The ghosts instantly came to a halt with their hands coming up to their "ears" and covering them from the high-pitched wailing noise that was unheard by human ears.

"What're you doing to them?" Alexis queried.

"Remember when I was fiddling with the meter back at Hoots?" Spengler responded with a question of his own. "I was actually upgrading a new feature to it: P.S.E. (Proton Shockwave Emitter). It affects their psycho-kinetic energy and submits them for at least twelve minutes."

Spengler flipped the switch again and removed the shock wave, allowing the ghosts to slowly descend to the floor, where they continued to howl in agony. As she watched them writhe in pain, Diana asked Sean, "You think twelve minutes is enough to grab some Packs and bust these jokers?"

Kim coughed up the last bit of ectoplasm in her mouth and stood on her feet, feeling angrier than ever. "I'll say it is!"

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT