Chapter Ten

We were rushed to the mayor's office. A man went in to announce our arrival. We walked in and the mayor looked around.

"The Ghostbusters. Okay, the Ghostbusters." He said as we walked in. He looked around. "Hey, and where's this Peck?" he asked.

"Peck. I am Walter Peck, sir, and I am prepared to make a full report." Peck pushed his way through us. I stuck my tongue out at him. "These people are consummate snowball artists. They use sense and nerve gases to induce hallucinations. People think they're seeing ghosts, and they call these bozos who conveniently show up to deal with the problem with a fake electronic light show."

"Oh, God, you are so wrong." I shook my head, chuckling. Peter was shaking his head and chuckling as well.

"Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here." Ray explained.

"They caused an explosion!"

The mayor looked at Peter.

"Is this true?" he asked.

"Yes it's true." Peter answered. "This man has no dick."

I started laughing as Peck lunged for my brother, but they were both held back by almost everyone in the room. "Dickless!" I pointed at Peck.

"Hey, come on. Knock it off! Hey, break it up!" the mayor yelled.

"Alright, alright." Peck rolled his eyes.

"Well that's what I heard." Peter defended himself.

"This is City Hall." The mayor snapped. "Now, what am I gonna do here, John? What is this?"

John sat down slowly. "All I know," he started. "Is that was no light show we saw this morning. I've seen every form of combustion known to man...but this beats the hell out of me."

"The walls in the 53rd Precinct were bleeding." A man snapped at Peck. "How do you explain that?"

"Good afternoon, gentlemen." A catholic priest walked in.

"Oh, Your Eminence." The mayor stood, walked over, and kissed his hand.

"How are you, Lenny?" the priest asked.

"You're looking good, Mike. We're in a real fix here. What do you think I should do?" Lenny, the mayor, asked.

"Lenny, officially, the church will not take any position on the religious implications of these...phenomena. Personally, Lenny," at this I saw Egon raise his eyebrows. "I think it's a sign from God. But don't quote me on that."

"I think that's a smart move, Mike." Peter said.

"Well I'm not gonna call a press conference and tell everyone to start praying."

Winston cleared his throat and walked over to Lenny, who was now sitting at his desk. "I'm Winston Zeddmore, Your Honor. I've only been with the company for a couple weeks. But I gotta tell you, these things are real. Since I've joined these people, I have seen shit that'll turn you white."

Peter walked up. "Well, you can believe Mr. Pecker."

"My name is Peck." Peck snapped.

"Mr. No Pecker is more like it." I whispered. Ray held in a laugh. Peter continued.

"Or you can accept the fact that this city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions."

"What do you mean, "biblical"?"

"What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor. Real wrath-of-God type stuff." Ray explained. "Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, rivers and sees boiling!"

"40 years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes!" Egon added.

"The dead rising from the grave!" Winston added on.

"Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!" Peter said.

"Enough, I get the point!" Lenny snapped. He walked over in front of Peter. "But what if you're wrong?"

"If I'm wrong, nothing happens! We go to jail! Peacefully, quietly, we'll enjoy it! But if I'm right, and we can stop this thing...Lenny... you will have saved the lives of millions of registered voters." Peter shot a smile. Lenny looked over at Mike, who was nodding. Peck was in disbelief.

"I don't believe you're seriously considering listening to these people."

Lenny thought for a second. He looked at all of us and then pointed at Peck. "Get him out of here."

Peter smirked. "Bye."

"I'll fix you, Venkman, I'm gonna fix you." Peck threatened.

"I'm gonna get you a nice fruit basket. I'm going to miss him."

And with that, Peck left the room. Lenny looked at us.

"We got work to do. Now, what do you need from me?"

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We drove down the road, in our khaki jumpsuits, in Ecto 1. We had two cop cars and three police motorcycles in front of us.

"Come on, let's run some red lights!" Peter yelled. Behind us we had one cop car and some SWAT members. People were crowded around the building all praying in their own different religions. We stopped and got out. "Hello, New York." Peter waved. The people screamed and cheered as he greeted them. "Hello, everybody!" he saw Ray and held his hand up. "Dr, Ray Stantz, would you please? The heart of the Ghostbusters." Ray waved, a little shy. "Thank you. They love you. They love you here." Peter patted his back. He greeted a few more people and then we had to get ready. "Gotta run. Got a date with a ghost. Okay, whatever happens, let's be professional."

We got ready and then stopped in front of the building. We all looked up at the dark clouds and lightning above us. The wind picked up and we stepped back a bit.

"We might have to put a little overtime in on this one."

That's when the building began to fall apart and the road began to open up. We fell into the hole below us and I saw a cop car go forward a bit, making me scream, but it was stopped by some of the earth. I heard Peter groan and saw him try to pop his ear.

Suddenly, everything got quiet.