Chapter 12: Nameless
On the road at night with the sirens of Super Ecto-1B going off, the gang is currently going to their second call of busting, when Callie informs them that the location is at that newly built medium-sized museum. The five have already got their personal one-on-one time with Walter Peck and none of them liked the conversation with the man. But John told the four that they need to get off of that BS and accept the fact that PCOC is here to stay, let alone will be on their asses to the day they die. Currently, Phoebe is looking at the tablet for the information on the location that they were reaching as she looked at the online brochure.
"We are heading to the Whitestone Museum of Nature and Science. They opened the place last year." informed Phoebe, before handing the tablet to Podcast.
Podcast looked at the information. "Cool, they have a dinosaur exhibit. We should check that out."
"When we are done our job." Lucky, who is sitting up front, said.
Trevor made a turn once hearing the GPS tell him to take that turn. "John, the Ecto-1 drives a whole lot better than it did in Summerville."
"That is because this baby has a brand-new engine. Plus, it is all electric. We never have to worry about gas or recharge since the battery life lasts 5,000 years." said John, currently examining his PKE meter.
As they pulled up to the museum's parking lot the five noticed a few people standing around with panic looks on their faces. Telling them that they have seen the ghost that they were about to capture. Once getting out of the car and heading to open the trunk to retrieve their packs and traps, one of the security guards that works in the museum came up to Phoebe and spoke with anxiety.
"Are you guys going to get that thing?."
"Do not worry, sir, we dealt with these things all the time." Phoebe lied, learning about lying on the job from John for the sake of keeping people calm.
"This shouldn't be too difficult." said Podcast, once putting his pack on.
John led the way since they had to take a walking path to reach the building. They talked a bit before reaching the front entrance. John opened the door to let the others in as Phoebe opened the second door. Upon fully entering they all stopped dead when looking at the environment and condition of the museum. The place looked completely scary with things looking dim along with feeling wind being picked up as they were seeing a few light objects floating around. Lights flickering and some of pillars are covered in thick pink slime, which is oozing down as if a giant had sneezed all over the area.
"The fuck?." Lucky took a good look at the place. "What happened?."
Trevor stepped forward to have a full around look of the haunted museum. "One ghost did all this?."
John took a look at their work before doing it as he turned to face his team. "Yes, a ghost did all this. Everything has its nature. And everything can change the environment to their liking. Even ghosts."
"You never mentioned anything about this before John." Phoebe looked at John.
"That is because I never got around to it." John honestly spoke. "You see, any ghost can morph the environment of the living by simply just possessing objects in any room and even freaking scare the pants off any civilians. Forcing them to leave the place itself immediately. A ghost or ghosts can channel their ecto energy to change the atmosphere when doing this. Experts call it the 'build haunt'."
"Freaky." Podcast comment. "So what is the call play, dude?."
"You and Phoebe will pair up and go in that direction. Lucky. Trevor. You guys take the ocean exhibit." John pointed at himself. "I am going to the Egypt exhibit."
"So, you are going by yourself?. John, that is dangerous." Phoebe protested.
John sighed. "Baby, I will be fine. We are dealing with a regular ghost. Not a ghost powered up by black slime."
Phoebe crossed her arms. "You are not going by yourself."
"Are you seriously wanting us to have this talk on the job?. Can we talk about this at the firehouse?. After we are done with the job?."
"Forget it." Phoebe gave a pout facial expression. "Unless, I come with."
"Can you talk to her?." John looked at Lucky.
Lucky put her hands up. "Hey, I do not get involved with your marriage, cuz. Take advice from a girl. Happy wife. Happy life."
"Fine." John motioned Phoebe to follow. "Let's go, Phoebe. Podcast, stay with Luck and T."
Phoebe lifted her head up high with a big smile on her face. Yeah, she has to admit one thing. She is spoiled rotten. And it is John that is spoiling her since the day they became a couple. Even John had unfortunately admitted that he too has spoiled his autistic wife to no limitations whatsoever. Something about Phoebe just makes him not put his foot down.
The two entered the haunted Egypt exhibit with John pulling his PKE out and Phoebe pulling out her particle thrower ready to fire. They took their time in the room and did not overlook anything when taking the time to move. John told Phoebe that the ghost is either hiding or somewhere in the museum while on their hunt down for it. They went almost around the exhibit until the PKE picked up a spike.
"This way." John whispered when leading the way.
Phoebe stayed close while on the lookout of anything moving on its own. John looked at the meter and the arms that were slightly up and stopped when seeing the screen show a reading. John looked to see they were looking at ancient artifacts that are on the shelves and behind a glass. John slowly moved the device in finding the source of the spike. Phoebe looked at what John had found when he stopped searching.
"Baby, shoot the glass down, please." John instructed.
Phoebe hesitated a bit before doing what she was asked to do. She blasted her stream and shattered the glass and stopped firing. Next, she watched John come up to the shelves and grabbed an object that appears to be an old black khopesh with gold outline details.
John looked at Phoebe with a smile. "We found our very first cursed artifact."
Phoebe looked at the ancient knife in wonder. "Do you know the history of it?."
"No, but once Ray or Eddy takes a look at it then we will know. Till then, we are going to put it right here and come back for it once we get the ghost."
Podcast radio in. "Guys, we have caught sight of the ghost."
Phoebe pressed the button on her radio. "Where?."
"It was in the dinosaur exhibit but it flew away once one of its eyes caught sight of us." Podcast radio back.
John got suspicious. "One of its eyes?."
"Uh, huh, and it looked kinda cute, to be honest." said Podcast.
Phoebe looked back at John. "We should keep going."
Before John can even say a word he saw the ghost calmly floating above them once it made it to the other side of the exhibit that they were currently at. What stands out about it is the ghost itself, as John saw the exact same ghost for unexplained paranormal reasons when he got temporarily sucked into the Ghost World version of Ray's bookstore. He was not imagining that moment, not one bit.
John pulled his particle thrower out. "More like we need to stay and catch."
Phoebe followed where John's eyes were and aimed. "There it is!."
The multiple-eyed pink ghost responded in self defense as it bubbled its slime from its mouth and then released right on Phoebe. The autistic ghostbuster is covered in full pink ectoplasm as she slipped on some of it and fell down. John blasted the pink ghost in order to get it away from Phoebe as the ghost growled as he started shooting ecto spit at him.
"Ah, I can't see!." John stopped shooting.
The ghost quickly floated out of sight and headed to the lobby. John managed to get the slime off of him before helping Phoebe back to her feet. They radio in the others on the current location of where the ghost is. Podcast, Trevor, and Lucky came from the cafe and spotted the ghost and fired but ended up aiming at the Egypt statue in glass. The five followed the pink class five free roaming vapor into the ocean exhibit.
"Spread out and zap it." John threw his trap out.
"My capture." Phoebe said when aiming and firing.
Phoebe's stream is touching the pink ghost as she hopes her stream will enter the capture stream before things kick off out of reach. Her anxiety had become a reality. The pink ghost charged its ecto energy and then fastly twirled around. Thus, creating a big tornado made of its own ectoplasm as the five were caught right in it and covered in pink slime.
"Gross!." Lucky tried to pick herself up while having a thick coat of slime on her.
Trevor had to grab onto an information machine to get back to his feet. "John, did you know that a ghost can do that?."
John rubbed the slime off his face and even spit some out from his mouth. "That is a new one for me, T."
"This is cool and gross at the same time, dude. I'm really starting to love this line of work." said Podcast, currently trying to clean the button of his particle thrower.
Phoebe, who has her hair soaked and covered in pink slime as it dripped like thick corn syrup, looked at the pink ghost who is currently laughing at their misfortune in delight. This motivated her to pull her trap to the other side of her before pointing her thrower at the still laughing ghost.
"Try laughing at this." Phoebe fired her stream and got the ghost in the capture stream. "John!."
"Right behind you." John managed to get the slime off his gloves and successfully pressed the button.
When he fired his stream it too entered the capture stream as the ghost who was trying to fight and break the capture stream, is now stuck with more than one. Podcast fired his stream and caught the capture stream. Phoebe holds tight to her tether when pulling the pink ghost toward where her trap is as the wireless trap instantly opens itself up.
"Almost there." Podcast said as he helped push the ghost.
"And contact." John stopped firing once the ghost made contact with the trap's pull and then got sucked in with the lids of the trap closed instantly. "That was a fun activity."
"If you say so." Trevor cleaned himself off.
"Peck is going to be on our butts for this." Lucky looked around the wrecked area.
John responded when watching Phoebe coming down the steps with the steamed trap in hand. "The place was already in the current condition before we even got here. I will type that in the report. Come on and let's go so I can show you guys how to properly empty your trap. That, and show you guys what I did to the containment unit."
With that said they all exit the former haunted museum while taking a quick moment to take pictures and take a few interviews before riding off. When, and after Trevor pulled the car back into the firehouse, the five along with Callie,Gary, and Catt went down to the basement where the newly upgraded containment unit is located. The new containment unit appearance is the same appearance as the original unit, except for it being medium and has a screen in the middle that reads 'READY.'
"My version of the containment unit is based on the original unit when the Ghostbusters got started with a built-in viewer system in 1991." John looked at his beloved storage device before looking at them. "Unlike its predecessors, the super ecto containment unit has unlimited storage space. You guys already know about the Ultra Slammer. So, whenever the slammer is active the door to the unit will automatically lock itself with the screen showing the logo of the slammer with the words 'Ultra Slammer In Use'. It will unlock when the slammer is inactive. That is if we ever get the opportunity to use it."
"Man, John, you really put some thought into this unit." Catt approached the device.
"Yeah, ghost head, you outdid yourself this time." Phoebe smiled.
Podcast went up to touch the screen on the unit with a look of excitement. "Dude, this is the next level of cool."
John lifted up Phoebe's trap and showed them how to clean the trap. "It is really simple. You open the door like this. You put the trap inside all the way in so the grips can grab the trap box. You know you did it right when you pull out and the storage box is inside. After this, you closed the door and locked down the handle. Press the buttons that I have labeled from above. Press the entry grid, then press the neutronize field. After that you pull this mechanical level. From there when you see the light is green, the trap is clean and then you unlock the door and retrieve your trap."
"Question. Does this unit have an off switch?." Gary asked when checking the machine. "I really do not want to have a repeat from 1984."
"Oh, I forgot about what stands out about my unit. I did not install an off switch." said John.
"Seriously?." Callie looked at her son in law with a small surprised facial expression.
"Yep." John put his arm around Phoebe. "Like what Gary said. We are not going to have another repeat from either 1984 and 1991 events. Especially the 1991 incident."
Phoebe looked at John. "I am getting the funky feeling that we all are going bust our asses off during our time running the business."
John grinned at his wife. "If your grandfather and the other four ghostbusters can do it, then we can do so too. Come on, let us bust it to the afterlife."
"I'm right behind you, homie." Podcast said joining the others back out of the basement.
And it is exactly what the five Ghostbusters did in the next couple of months. They were all over the news, not just in New York. The five were busting all kinds of ghosts. Each of them captured more than four ghosts per busting location. The five were living the high life as celebrities, with them featured in magazines, talk shows, podcasts, radio, commercials, and even appearing on Saturday Night Live.
Callie and Gary were nonstop taking up calls along with the help from the PKE satellite dish that Catt was talking about, after Eddy had finished building and installing it on the roof. And boy, how fatigued and slightly irritated Callie was when listening to the caller while asking some questions to see if they did have an encounter with a ghost. Ray and Kylie were getting busy at the bookstore after some of the customers mentioned three of the Ghostbusters having an advertisement patch on the sidearm of their jumpsuit, assuming it is from John, Phoebe, and Podcast.
As for Winston. Well, he is running his company while taking interviews about being the owner and being the main source of Ghostbusters operations. Even Walter Peck is being a real peck when being notified about the damages being done and often comes around the firehouse and gets on John's case. Heck, Phoebe had to put her foot down in defense for her lover while John managed to keep her from doing something that she will regret and affect the whole team. The five were fatigued as fuck.
Day in and Day out. Night to Day. Day to Night. Shit, the five sometimes often do not return home till the next day or night due to being on the road to faraway places where ghosts are haunting the place. They barely get out of bed when the bell either rings from Callie pushing the button on her and Gary's desk or it rings automatically from the PKE satellite when finding the exact paranormal activity location. In other words, they ate more than what they could chew.
Currently in the night the five were driving back home thankfully after busting fifty ghosts in a massive warehouse facility of Amazon. Their jumpsuits are soaked in slime and they all need showers before getting a nice long deserved sleep and not being bothered. Podcast was knocked out as he snored and had his head leaning to the side. Lucky is behind the wheel driving Ecto-1 after taking her turn to let Trevor sleep. John is currently listening to his recent one on one interview with a local talk show, as Phoebe had the tablet in her hands and was watching the video.
"Like I told you sir, The Ghostbusters can tackle any task that any ghost can throw at us." John, who wore a clean tuxedo, looked at the audience as they applauded him as he did not get nervous before looking back at the host. "We are open and working 24/7 hours a day. However, we are closed on weekends and holidays so do not be surprised when your calls go straight to voicemail."
The white man with all gray hair nodded in understanding while taking a sip from his bottle of water. "Right, Right. Now, young man, I have two important questions that everyone in the studio wants me to ask you. Based on your claims you are an expert in what you do when it comes down to ghosts and anything supernatural and there is no doubt that you are the right person to get a straight answer from."
John looked at the man with his arms crossed. "Which is?."
The man looked at John and said it. "How is the King of Pop, Michael Jackson doing, and has he been making new songs doing his time in the afterlife?."
John had an uneasy facial expression as he had no answer for that nor has he ever encountered the actual ghost of Michael Jackson. "I am going to have to take a pass on those two questions."
Phoebe paused the video and got out of YouTube before looking at John with a smile. "That look you made after hearing that question just makes me smile."
"That is after you laugh backstage and laugh some more when we return home. Who on earth would ask such a question to a person like myself?." John took the moment to drink his soda.
Phoebe adjusted her glasses. "Someone who is a Ghostbuster. The name says it all."
John tiredly smirked. "Whatever."
Phoebe winked and came over to John, and then lay on him with her smile on her face. As they rolled up inside the firehouse, Lucky and Trevor helped each other up the stairs to head for bed and not caring about needing to take a shower. Podcast yawned as he joined the others as Phoebe is right behind him, after John told her he will join her in their bed once he gets done emptying their traps in the containment unit. John held the five traps by the safety cords after connecting them to the traps and approached Catt, Callie, and Gary who had facial expressions that says 'We Have To Tell You Something'.
"Guys?." John set the steamed traps on the desk. "What is wrong?."
Catt looked at the two. "Should I tell him or should we all tell him?."
"I think it is best to share it, Catt." said Callie.
"Um, John, we had a package sent here five hours ago." began Gary, trying not to look too guilty.
"Oh, word?." John crossed his arms. "From who?."
"Dr. Venkman." answered Catt.
This made John excited. He pulled up a seat to get comfortable. "What did he send us?."
"An old-ass ghost trap from back in the day when he was still an active Ghostbuster." Callie picked up his small glass of wine. "We figured that he wanted us to clean whatever is inside his trap."
John nodded. "Ok, so what is the issue here?."
Gary took an exhale. "I volunteered to clean the trap. When I got to the unit and put the trap inside and did the steps right in cleaning the trap. All of sudden the containment unit screen read error and the light turned from red to green, right after I pulled down the lever. Now, I tried repeatedly pulling the level till the door started shaking and out came the ghost that was in the old trap."
"I see." John relaxed and got up. "Looks like I need to do some tinkering to the unit. But do not worry about the ghost. Will get it eventually."
"More like it is upstairs with Eddy." spoke Catt.
This made John stop when hearing this as he let Catt guide him upstairs. From there they head inside Eddy's department and see Winston tied down in a chair. What stood out is that Winston was not being Winston. Instead, Winston was in fact being taken over by the exact ghost that luckily escaped the containment unit.
"The fuck?." John looked at Winston. "Who is inside and running Winston's body?."
The ghost that controlled Winston with red eyes looked at John. "I do not have a name, mortal!. So, just call me Nameless!."
John looked at Eddy. "What is his class?."
"Class five based on the readings from the PKE." informed Eddy.
John sighed. "I want to go to bed and snuggle with my wife." He looked at a grinning evil Winston. "Not come home to a possessed ass Winston Zeddemore. Damn."
"Based on the detailed description from Gary, this ghost did not have a physical form like the ghost we have been capturing." Eddy walked to John while eyeing possessed Winston. "Gary said that Nameless bust out of the containment unit in the form of a bright orb."
"You do not say?." John gave a yawn before looking at Eddy. "Then we are dealing with a class negative five. Class negatives are ghosts who do not have a bodily appearance and are much weaker than the class positive."
"Weak?!. Weak?!." Nameless spoke angrily. "You bag of flesh, you have no idea what I am capable of!."
"Yeah, whatever." Catt looked at his second boss. "John, Ray mentioned that he does not recall capturing this ghost. I hope you kinda know when they trapped Nameless."
John gave it a thought and thought about the other version of Ecto-1 last version. "I'm assuming that Peter had trapped this ghost by himself during the time they were going out of business. I bet he forgot to throw the trap into the unit and have Nameless here properly contained with all the other ghosts."
"So, what do you suggest we should remove Nameless out of Winston?. Because this ghost is somehow unable to do so." said Eddy.
"I am not going to ask why." said John.
"Then we can use your pack and fire the slime blower." suggested Catt.
"Sounds good but I rather allow Eddy to use his new kinetic endothermic actuator to remove and obtain Nameless out of Winston." John looked at Eddy tiredly. "Inform me on everything that Nameless says and let me know when you are ready to use your new toy."
"Right." Eddy nodded as started to get to work on finishing up the finished touches.
Catt got worried as she looked at John. "Don't you think that is too dangerous?."
"We now carry a now officially licensed nuclear accelerator, Catt. Plus, the OG's did hire an Experimental Equipment Technician, who so happens to be the former rookie." John looked at Catt tiredly. "Compared to what I said, Eddy's new toy is considered harmless. For now at least. Night, y'all."