Ghostbusting Rangers – Welcome Aboard, Ranger!
The setting of this story is in 1994, 3 years after the events of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. The Ghostbusters have looked to franchise their business of paranormal investigations and eliminations all over the United States. One of their newest locations? Dallas, Texas.
NOTE: Ghostbusting Rangers began writing before Ghostbusters: Afterlife was made. As such, anything that is brought up in that film will be ignored.
A taxi cab pulls over to the side of the street. After a moment, a man gets out from the back and steps onto the curb, taking his bag of luggage with him. Adjusting his glasses, he looks at the building that is just nearby. It appears about three stories tall, and would otherwise be an unassuming sight if it weren't for the sign that has a ghost with a red circle and a line crossing through it. This was the right place.
The man takes his bag and walks right into Ghostbusters Dallas HQ. First impressions of the interior leaves a lot more to be desired. It felt like it was a warehouse full of furniture to give the impression that people work in this space like an office. If he didn't know better, this place would feel like the beginning of a scam. Not helping the fact is that this place absolutely stinks, no thanks to the car parked near the front of the room.
He continued onward and saw a front desk that wasn't too far away. He saw another man, with blonde hair and glasses reading an electronics magazine. The door made a big slam that echoed throughout the building, and it startled the blonde man to attention.
"Huh? A customer?" The guy looked up suddenly from his reading material and noticed the other guy standing right at this desk. "G-good morning, sir!" He stood up to greet politely. "How can we help you today?"
The 'customer' adjusted his tie and introduced himself. "Hello. My name is Carl Anderson. I'm working here as of today. Nice to meet you… mister…"
"Oh. Gould! Marcus Gould!" The youngster shook the guy's hand. "Honestly, I was hoping for a customer, but another employee, that's good too!"
"Of course. You can let go of my hand now…" Carl said politely as possible. Gould's grip was actually starting to hurt him.
"Ah! Sorry!" Marcus said as he let go. "I'd show you upstairs, but I really should be waiting in case any customers show up." Marcus then pointed up the staircase. "The room upstairs is the 'main base of operation.' You'll understand when you get up there."
"Thank you." Carl said as he began to take his stuff upstairs.
Marcus was about to sit back down when he remembered something. "Oh, right! Someone else is up there already. He'll help you in anyway he can! I'm… sure of it anyway…"
"Or course." Carl continued walking upwards, and soon he entered into the big room. There were a ton of electronics, some of which were of the cutting edge. Carl kind of hoped it would be more simple than that, his main degree was in biology, not electronics. Then again, when he had been interviewed and considered for the firehouse, his degree was the thing that stuck out to them, something 'fresh and unique' into the world of the paranormal.
What, parabiology? Carl wanted to snark, but he knew better. Besides, he had his foot in the door. No sense closing it now. Looking at one of the tables, there were unfinished proton packs. An arcade machine of Pac-Man was over at the corner. There were beds on the opposite side of the room, with the couch and television not too far away. There also was a gray device plugged into it besides the box that allows quality TV time. It had a controller too.
After taking it all in. Carl went over to the beds to put up his stuff, when he heard a door that led to the bathroom open.
"Who goes there?" The man who cam out said loudly, pretending to be holding a gun using his fingers. Carl turned around suddenly to see this sight, in fear. After a second, the man, who was about the same age as Carl, laughed and started clapping.
Carl was not happy. "That wasn't funny at all! That's how you greet your new coworker?"
The man recollected himself. "Ah, spoilsport… so you're the new guy they hired, aren't ya?" He walked over to give Carl a handshake. "I'm Frank. Frank Baker. My friends call me Frankie."
Carl shook Frank's hand, albeit reluctantly. "Carl Anderson."
Frank took note of Carl's attire. "Smart guy, eh? We definitely could use one of you around here in the Ghostbusting Rangers." They had stopped shaking hands at this point.
"Ghostbusting… Rangers?" Carl asked.
"It's a little something I came up with. You know, it's like the Texas Rangers."
"The baseball team?"
Frank stifled a laugh. "No! The police Texas Rangers. Like Walker, Texas Ranger?"
"Ooooh… I had no idea."
"Seriously? We'll rectify that when prime time comes along." Frank said. "I'll let you put your bag down. I've got a game of Yahtzee waiting for me over there."
Frank walked over to the table in the middle of the room and took a seat. As a roll of the dice started up, Carl took the only unoccupied bed of the three and put his bag down next to it.
Carl spoke again. "Forgive me Frank, but you said before that this place could use a smart guy like me. Yeah?"
"That I did." Frank said without looking.
"You mean to say that anyone who wanted to could apply to work here?"
"I admit, I'm not up to par with the science like you or Marcus seem to be…" Frank then made gestures off to the side like he is holding a sniper rifle. "But they needed someone who was a good shot, and who knew how to work in a team."
"So what were you?" Carl closed his bag with force. "Some kind of cop?"
"Cop? Nah, those are wannabe superheroes. I was actually a hero. Fought in the Gulf, you know?"
"I see…" Carl noted. "And now you've enlisted in the Ghostbusters."
"I guess you could say that!" Frank laughed, and then clapped his hands together. "Well, I've talked about my life story. How about you?"
Carl paused for a moment. "There really isn't a lot to talk about."
"Oh come on. Surely there must be a reason for why you are here, huh? What is it? Fame? The fancy gadgets? … The ladies? There has to be a reason."
Carl tried to find the best way to put it, then gave this as a response. "Gotta feed the kids somehow. Even when they are far away in another state. I work at the university, and now here too."
Frank took a while to process what Carl said. It wasn't the answer Frank was expecting to hear. Before he could say anything though, Carl grabbed the remote.
"There is too little noise in here, it's driving me mad." Carl said aloud. He turned it on and put it onto the morning news. This was mainly for noise, Carl didn't care what was being said.
"We'll be back after the commercial break. Stay with us."
Then there was black for a second, before a voice came out again from the speakers.
"Hey you!" Then a flashlight came on to reveal a familiar face of the New York City Ghostbusters. Ray Stantz. The imagery was supposed to give the impression of the paranormal, but it still looked like amateur hour, even after all this time as a franchise.
Ray continued. "Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?" He pointed to the camera and spoke with energy.
The scene went dark again, and then the flashlight came on again. This time, it was Egon Spengler holding it. "Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?" He looked a little stiff.
Dark again, flashlight again. It's Winston Zeddemore's turn to speak. "Have you or any of your family members ever seen a spook, specter or ghost?" He said like a natural, like he didn't even need to rehearse the lines.
All three of them are now in frame. They turn off their flashlights, and a light from out of view takes over. Now revealing their full faces and Ghostbusters uniforms.
Ray spoke again, with the same energy. "If the answer is yes, then don't waste another minute! The Ghostbusters are now available in your area!"
Close up on to Winston. "Our staff is on call, 24 hours a day to serve all your supernatural elimination needs." The words Ghostbusters Dallas appear under Winston, along with its phone number.
The three of them then point at the screen with their right hand, hands on the hips with the left.
They all then conclude with: "We're ready to believe you!"
The three of them fade out, and then a picture of the ghost from the logo appears, the red circle starts forming around them, then the slash comes through very quickly. The next voice that spoke was Marcus, reading out the number for those who couldn't see the screen. For the entire commercial, the jingle for the company had been playing. Some 80's pop to signify the age of the company.
The commercial ends, and it moves onto something else. Carl sat back in his chair.
"It just occurred to me what I've just gotten myself into…" he said, hand to his mouth.
"Ah, you'll figure it out in due time." Frank said. "We've hadn't had a call in weeks since we started anyway."
Just then. Marcus came up and spoke. "Hey! Frank! Since you two are not doing anything, It might be a good time to show Carl here how to use the proton pack."
"Oh, alright. Hold your horses…" Frank got up slowly. "You heard the kid."
Carl turned off the TV and got up.
"And uh, Carl?" Frank asked.
"Yeah?"
"Welcome aboard, ranger."