Later on in the firehouse the three Ghostbusters drew straws as they argued who was going on the next call, Winston drew the shortest one.
"Well Winston, looks like you're up next. Cheer up soldier!" Peter joked as he zipped his jumpsuit further open and pulled out his arms. "I'm takin' a hot shower and crawlin' into a warm bed, I'll be seeing you two ladies tomorrow morning."
"Man, shut up," Winston said as he rubbed his tired eyes and felt the raw itch in his throat from all the coughing he's done over the last few days. Even though he's still a bit under the weather he'll do his share all the same.
Peter stood up and pushed his jumpsuit down to his knees as he lifted one foot and tried to pull it free. "Hold on a sec, Pete. Egon's not come back yet and he's been out for five hours straight, and it's after dark," Ray said somewhat concerned as he looked at his watch and remembered the deal he made with Egon. "Egon agreed that if he hadn't returned after sundown, that we'd come and get him."
"Ray? I made no such deal, you did. So you go fetch our genius and I'll go to bed," Venkman replied as he picked up his jumpsuit and folded it into a mushy pile.
"Either you go with us or I'm draggin' you down the stairs by your hair," Winston said through another cough as he gave Peter the evil eye.
"Fine, fine, I'll come. Heck it'll be good to visit a hospital, got me a serious pain in the butt," Venkman sarcastically remarked as he unfolded his suit and lifted his right foot again.
Ecto-1A's sirens blazed as the three of them headed down to Amberhill Hospital, the hinges on the rack that held the four proton packs squeaked while the car drove. Both Winston and Peter were less than thrilled about heading out, both for their own reasons, Peter's reasons being that he simply wanted to do nothing except eat and sleep.
"Ray?" Peter asked as he leaned back into his seat with his arms behind his head.
"Yeah?" Ray replied as he chewed on a piece of cherry gum while he drove the car.
"If we find Egon and he's not in some kind of supernatural trouble, I'm slapping you."
"Oh come on, it'll be fun!"
"Headache, sore throat, a stuffy nose and you two. I think I've lost my damn mind," Winston sighed as he rubbed his tempels.
"C'mon ol' boy! A soldier like you has been through tougher things, and besides according to Ray here we'll be havin' fun!" Peter mocked as he turned his head and gave Winston a wink.
The sun had set for a good three hours now and the darkened sky made Ecto-1A's lights seem all the brighter as it pulled up in front of the old hospital. They got out as all three men stared up at the building and it looked like any other hospital, nothing out of the ordinary about it. Ray immediately plucked a pke meter out of the back of the car and began an outside scan of the area.
"This place is buzzing with pke energy! It gets stronger the higher I aim, whatever's happening it's all going down on the upper floors," Ray said as he raised his arm as high he could and tried to get an accurate scan.
"Yeah, I'm buzzing with excitment," Peter said while Winston helped him strap on his pack.
"So we get in and grab Egon, I still can't believe he went in without a pack or even a trap!" Winston remarked as he pulled the slime blower in positon as Ray came his way.
"Egon's a true scientist, you have to admire his devotion," Ray replied while Winston helped him strap on the slime blower.
They stood side by side in front of the building, Peter and Winston both wore a proton pack with a trap clipped to their belts whilst Ray wore a slime blower and held a pke meter in hand.
"Let's do it," they said almost simultaneously.
The hospital's front doors weren't locked as the lock had been picked several times since it had been closed down, so they opened as Peter pushed against them and the two doors swung open. Ray walked up front as he scanned for the source of the paranormal kinetic energy, his excitement sprang into high gear as the meter picked up on whatever demonic presence Egon had encountered earlier.
"Wow! Something big's here, really big," Ray whispered as he kept his gaze on the meter.
"Fine, point us to where this big ugly is hiding and I'll blast it in the face," Peter said as he pulled out his thrower and activated the pack.
The lights in the hospital weren't active of course and so whatever lights they had were the ones projected from their equipment. They walked the first floor and headed toward the staircase that was in the back, the same staircase where Egon had been sucked into the wall. The demonic presence that had been picked up on the meter had disappeared from the readings fairly quickly but a steady stream of psychokinetic energy kept growing stronger and stronger.
"So where'd you think our Spengs is hiding?" Peter asked as he aimed his thrower around whilst he strolled up the steps.
"Venkman, quiet," Ray answered as they came upon the third floor and he pointed his hand down the hallway, something was there or so Ray gestured.
Ray clipped the meter to his belt and readied the slime blower as he grabbed the gun that hung against his chest, positive slime at the ready with one pull of the lever. "Stay close you guys, something's here," Ray whispered over his shoulder to Peter and Winston who both aimed their throwers at all sides.
And just as Peter opened his mouth and wanted to sprout another sarcastic remark, his attention was drawn to a crooked painting on the wall to his left. He stopped in front of it and narrowed his eyes as he examined the painting, upon the canvas was painted a clown with big red hair and a puffy red nose. It wore a patch across its left eye and like all clowns it smiled with a toothy grin. Peter shook his head and turned toward Winston and Ray as he padded the painting. "Take a look at Patch Adams here, who knew even painted clowns could be down right disturbing," he said with a chuckle and turned away from the image.
All of a sudden a big ball of ghostly light shot across the hallway and flew past the three Ghostbusters and dropped itself down a few feet away from them. Ray immediately stopped and so did Winston as they stood side by side and aimed their equipment at the manifestation before them. The ball of light had a mist-like aura around it and it was that same aura that began to expand and take on a different shape, the light was engufled within the mist and suddenly there stood an exact replica of the clown that Peter had seen in the painting just seconds ago.
The light had become the clown's aura as it hung around it like a translucent blanket and the apparation began to clap its hands and kick its feet as it tried to entertain the three Ghostbusters. Peter stood in between Ray and Winston with an expression of disbelief on his face as he stared at the ghostly clown and slowly raised his thrower. "This...is just wrong. Ray, you take this one," Peter said as he nudged Ray with his elbow.
"I really feel sorry for the happy fella, I always like clowns," Ray confessed somewhat upset as he stepped forward toward the clown. He aimed the slime blower's gun and his hand grasped the lever.
As Ray came closer he noticed how the clown began taking on a more darker manifestation as its bright clothing darkened and the white on its face became a grey-ish faded color. He pulled the lever and pink slime sprayed from the gun's nozzle as it covered the clown's body entirely along with the floor and it roared as if the slime burned its skin and immediately it jumped aside and like a spider crawled up the wall. "This is a no crawling zone, Patchy!" Peter said as he and Winston aimed their throwers and two wild proton beams fired across the ceiling. The clown jumped down as it tried to dodge the streams but Ray caught it off guard as he gave it another layer of slime until the ghostly entertainer fell to its knees and simply melted into a pink and clear-white puddle of slime.
"Well, that's that. Smiley has been slimed," Peter said as he clipped his thrower to his belt and padded Ray on the head. "Daddy's proud of you."
"Interesting development, we've never seen a ghost react to the slime this way before. That's a first time we've melted one," Ray said surprised after Peter had ruffled his hair and he walked toward the puddle and examined it with the pke meter. "We destroyed it, there's little to nothing left here but some residual readings from the slime itself."
"That's all good, but where's Egon?" Winston asked as he stepped over the puddle and opened a patient room which of course was empty except for a bed and a table with a chair.
"How about we do it the old fashioned way? Simply yell his name and see if the old geek responds! EGON? EGON WHERE ARE YOU!?" Peter shouted down the hallway and turned his head to all sides and listened for a response.
"...Leaaaaaaveeeeeee..." said a voice that oddly enough sounded a lot like Egon's but with a deeper darker tone. It echoed everywhere and gave all three of them a real chill down their spines.
They each aimed and searched for the source of the voice as it could have come from anywhere in the building because that's what it sounded like, as if it came from every inch of the building. Peter's finger stroked the trigger on his particle thrower as he opened another room that said "Office" on the door and immediately stepped backwards as he saw a figure in the darkness. "Guys, I think I've found our boy," Peter said as he aimed his thrower at the figure and slowly he entered the room whilst Ray and Winston came his way.
"Egon, is that you?" Peter said as he approached the figure who's shape resembled that of a man and so he assumed that it was Egon.