Chapter 3

Ghoul Room

Gathering in the courtyard, Josette had butterflies in her stomach. She had longed to become a fully fledged Ghost Master, but now that the time had come, earlier than it should, she was very nervous about the task that laid ahead of her, not to mention that she would be alone, aside from her team. Still, she put on a brave face, 'cause there was no backing out now, she would succeed.

A green vortex suddenly opened in the air in front of her and her team, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"There, this portal leads to high above the city. You should have a good view from there, in your search for a suitable base location." said Charles. "But I must ask you to hurry, the nights in Sunshine Valley are a bit on the short side, being that far south and summer right now."

"I understand. Do you have any more advice?"

"I do." said headmaster Archion. "Trust in your team and yourself, and remember what I've taught you."

"I will, headmaster, thank you." she then looked at her team, they looked too a bit nervous, but mostly they were eager to get to work. "Time to head out, boys."

The five ghosts entered the green swirling portal, and in a blink, they were gone and the portal closed.

"You are worried about her, are you not, headmaster Archion?" Charles said.

"Is it that obvious? Well, it is true, I do worry for her safety, especially since that incident with the Ethereal Bomb in Gravenville."

"Understandable, but I think this goes deeper than just teacher student relationship."

"She… reminds me of my daughter, back when I was still alive. We had a falling out after she turned twenty and I never saw her again. Josette fills that void left after losing my daughter, and I see her as that."

"So that is the reason. Hmm. If it will make you feel more at ease, I will keep a close eye on her and any possible threats. If I find anything, I will report it to you as well as the Committee."

"Tank you, lad."

In a flash of green light, a group of five spirits manifested in the sky above Sunshine Valley. Such a spectacle would have attracted a lot of attention, but despite the power of the portal, mortals were unable to detect it, let alone the ghosts arriving through it. Only when a ghost or spirit taps into the powerful plasm generated by the mortals themselves, to use their powers, could a select few mortals pick up on the otherworldly presence.

"There is a lot of ground to cover." Josette said as she let her eyes sweep over the city beneath her and her team.

"So where we start, mon?" Jabu asked in a thick Jamaican accent. Josette thought for a moment.

"We will split up, each going in one direction. Be on the lookout for any building that looks… homely, and is a bit out of the mortals' way, but be careful. We meet back her at midnight, that gives us a few hours."

With that, the group scattered, each of them keeping their eyes peeled for a suitable place. But as Josette returned without having found anything, so did Jabu, Twitch and Firecracker, all three of them with the same result, nothing. But Swarm had yet to return, but with all hope laying with a collection of insects, Josette wasn't overly hopeful. She was however pleasantly surprised when Swarm returned, seemingly excited, though it was hard to tell over what.

Swarm buzzed loudly as it moved wildly in front of the others, and the insects formed an exclamation mark in a cartoon-like fashion.

"Have you found something?" Josette asked with renewed hope.

Taking the form of a hand giving thumbs up, Swarm then formed an arrow and pointed to the north, along the coast before leading the way.

They travelled for more than an hour, reaching the outer rims of the city, and finally they saw what Swarm had found. An old and worn apartment building with a café on the entire bottom floor, five additional floors above as well as a basement, all of it walled off by a tall wooden fence built when the building was abandoned, giving it a small courtyard where a few trees grew. All windows were boarded over, though a few boards had either fallen off or been broken by someone, but it was still almost impossible to see inside.

But blocked windows and locked doors were no more of a hindrance than an open field for a ghost, and the five ghosts entered the building through the southern wall to inspect the place. But they were not the only ones there.

A group of seven mortals, dressed in typical gang clothing and each with a tattoo of a purple, serpentine creature, the symbol of their gang. From their behaviour, it was easy for Josette to determine that they were criminals, most likely hiding from the law. But it didn't matter who they were, if they were good or bad, they were not welcomed in what would become the Ghoul Room.

Taking a few minutes to survey the area, she learned the layout and where the thugs slept, kept their loot and more. Most of the time, the criminal mortals kept mostly on the second floor, and if they could be kept from going higher up in the building, it would easier to get rid of them.

"I got a plan." Josette said to her team, and started to delegate the tasks to the others.

The mere unease of the present mortals gave the ghosts enough power to be able to manifest. Taping into the plasm to fuel their powers, Swarm made the first move.

Going over their latest haul of stolen loot, jewellery mostly, the mortals noticed a faint buzzing sound above them. Looking up, they all were shocked to see a large area of the ceiling covered by crawling wasps. While they looked, the insects took off and flew against the mortals, causing a panic.

"Where the hell did these bugs come from?!" one yelled out, ducking under the swarm.

"I don't know, but I'll roast them good!" said another, picking up a can of spray paint and a lighter, planing to use them as an improvised flamethrower. But shortly after lighting the lighter, the small flame flared up and streams of fire shot out in every direction, lighting the entire room on fire.

To make matters worse, many of the loose burning objects suddenly started flying around in the room. Between that and the raging insects, that seemed unaffected by the fire, a few of the thugs lost it and headed downstairs to try and escape the place, screaming as they fled out and climbed over the fence.

As sudden as the fire had started, it all died out, leaving no marks on anything that had been burning. All the bugs were gone as well, and the flying objects landed here and there, leaving the remaining mortals confused.

But before anyone had the chance to do anything, a ghost appeared out of nowhere and got right up in the face of one of the thugs, scaring him out of his mind. As the man ran for the exit, the hat wearing ghost pursued him, making sounds as he did so, but once the man was outside, the ghost vanished.

The remaining three mortals looked around nervously, as it had become eerily quiet. Then the swarm appeared again, taking the shape of a giant monstrous head, and once again swooped against the men. By now, they had had enough and headed down to the bottom floor, closing the door behind them to stop the insects from following them, and it seemed to work. But they were not as safe as they thought.

Being in the old café, where the electronics and devices were still functional and powered, as the city had never bothered turning off the electricity to the building, a certain gremlin had the perfect tools at his disposal. Before the mortals could get a chance to calm down, Twitch tapped into the plasm and drew all the power he could, unleashing a shockwave of energy, unnoticeable to the mortals, but the effects weren't. Every electrical appliance in the large room, from the toaster-ovens and coffee-makers to the fridges and ovens, came alive and moved in way not physically possible.

Not capable to handle any more, the last thugs fled the field the same way their comrades had before them.

"Screw this! The boss can get that thing himself!" one cried as the climbed over the fence.

Looking at the scared mortals run for their lives, the ghosts were having a laugh, really enjoying their job.

"Look at dem run, mons!" Jabu said.

"That was fun." said Firecracker. "I'd say we got our Ghoul Room now."

"That is right. Great job everyone." Josette complimented, proud over the success of both her plan and team. "I believe we have all earned some rest, so use the time well until we get our first mission."

Now that they have a proper base, Josette and her team can get to work for real. Just what kind of missions will they be given, and what difficulties will they have to face? Find out more, next time.

Also, anyone notice the little reference to another series that I work into this chapter? If you've read some of my other stories, you should know this. Hint; it has to do with the thugs.