The bell began ringing, and we all looked up from our meals, processing what was happening. The bell meant that we had gotten a call. Even though I now knew ghosts were real or at least that there wasn't anything I could think of to explain it, the fact that someone had actually called meant that other people had actually seen ghosts.
Looking at the faces of the others, I saw excitement from Dr. Stantz, confusion from Spengler, and irritability from Venkman since he more than likely realized he would have to do actual work.
"It's a call!" Stantz said, dropping his chopsticks and heading directly to the fire pole.
Venkman was heading to the fire pole but had picked up a box and was packing it to take with him on the drive to the location, even putting his chopsticks in his mouth. Spengler stood to straighten himself up, fixing his tie as he walked to the pole.
As the one sitting closest to the pole and with some of the swiftness from my last life seeming to kick in, I was first on the pole, sliding down using my arms wrapped around the pole to slow my descent.
When I got off the pole, I began putting on the jumpsuit we had made. It was similar to the flight suits I had in my previous life, so I was relatively quick putting it on. Stantz, after getting off the pole, seemed to have been disoriented by the decent Venkman, just casually walked to his locker while Spengler seemed to hate the pole with his discomfort clear as could be on his face.
Since I was the first one done putting on the outfit by tying the laces on the Vietnam-era boots, I began walking over to Janine to get the address of the location we were going to.
The Jumpsuit was a little big on me, but other than that, it was good for the work we would be doing since this would stop any of the ectoplasm I touched at the library from getting on our regular clothes.
The pistol belts were to hold other parts of our equipment, including some weird thing of wires and a computer board made from some old calculators we had lying around.
They only said it was the belt gizmo when asked what it did. There was also a holster for the P.K.E. meter, a key fob, and a walkie-talkie. While I miss having cell phones as I did in 2013, a walkie-talkie was still better than the phones I had in the Imperial Army.
Finally, the hose on the leg was for worst-case scenarios of either fright or inconvenience. Along with the elbow and knee pads, since ghosts could move physical items, the possibility they would throw people was considered, hence the pads.
"Have you seen my boots, Peter?" Stantz said, holding his boots.
"They're in your hands, Ray," Venkman said casually while having issues with a sleeve as Spengler lost his balance and fell backward.
While they were getting dressed, I went to Janine to figure out where we were going for this first job.
"What's the job, Janine?" I asked.
"Sedgewick Hotel, a ghost is bothering the guests. Talk to J. M. Shupp. He's the manager. Here's the directions. I reckon it will take about 30 minutes to get there. It's on the other side of town." Janine said, handing a clipboard.
"Thanks, Janine," I said, taking the clipboard and checking to understand where we were heading.
I heard the car door open, and turning, I saw Spengler dumping a stack of traps in the back of the car.
"Should I be worried?" Janine said, looking around me.
"Maybe a bit," I replied.
"Well, could you try to keep him alive for me?" Janine asked,
"Can't make any promises. I'm more worried he'll blow up New York." I joked.
"Egon, you're driving," Venkman said.
"Why can't Ray drive?" Spengler said, closing the back door.
"Because Ray hit his goods putting the belt on," Venkman said with a smile that he had just finished laughing.
"I still can't, Peter. I need to check some calculations," Spengler said, grabbing a clipboard from his locker.
"Alright, Tanya, you can drive, right? Course you can keys are by Janine's desk." Venkman said, hopping into the passenger side.
"Guess I'm driving the car," I said, grabbing the keys after setting down the clipboard.
"It's not a car. It's the Ectomobile," Stantz said as he carefully climbed into the backseat.
I walked over and opened the left door for the car, the Ectomobile Janine had rushed over to open the other door. Once opened, I hopped onto the driver's side. Before getting in the car, Janine stopped Spengler, who handed the clipboard I left at her desk, before kissing Spengler on the cheek and closing the door. With everyone in and the doors open, I started the car, putting it into drive while Venkman turned on the lights and siren.
"Careful, Tanya, she's a bit …" Stantz began saying as I tapped the gas, and we took off.
Touchy is what I think he was trying to say to me, and touchy the Ecto 1 was, luckily, I knew the first few streets to go through. But man, did the first turns become drifts. The second one was possibly the best drift I was able to pull off.
"Spengler gets your head out of the clouds and passes me the clipboard," Venkman said, holding his hand for it.
"Sure thing." Spengler handed the clipboard over.
"Would now be a good time to say I don't have my license," I Joked as I made another drift, going faster than I ought to, but hey, we got sirens, and it's midnight in a bright white car, Ectomobile with flashing blue and red lights.
"Certainly explains a lot of your driving. I think only Stantz could drive worse than you," Venkman said, slapping Stantz's arm.
"Nonsense, I bet I could go 120 MPH in downtown Chicago in the morning and be fine." Stantz Protested.
"Oddly specific, Ray, something you did in the private sector." Venkman Joked.
"Ray, according to my calculations, the ERM is widening," Spengler said, looking up from the clipboard.
"Really, well, this is great, maybe not for reality, but still, it's great," Stantz said, ignoring Venkman.
"Sorry, the what?" Venkman asked.
"The Cosmic eggroll, the wall between our reality and the ghost world. The main thing is we are going to be extremely busy." Stantz said excitedly.
"Oh good, we need more. We are about out of cash, if I recall your words correctly," Venkman said as he began opening the Chinese takeout from earlier.
While I should have been more frightened about the space between the two universes after dealing with them for a few months, this became the normal talk I expected. As long as they were excited, it was nothing to worry about.
About 20 minutes later, when Venkman had finished his food and was actually giving me directions without his mouth full, we had evidently made it. Still, it was close, just barely avoiding hitting a pedestrian as I parked the Ecto 1.
"Alright, wrap up your conversation about the spirit world, and let's get paid," Venkman said. Getting out of the while, I turned the car off along with the lights and sirens.
I stepped out of the car and went to the back of the Ecto 1, where Venkman opened the trunk door and pulled out the gurney with the main equipment we would use, the Proton Pack. From what I was informed of, in the simplest terms, the proton pack would fire literal protons at a ghost, destabilizing the ghost's molecular structure and making the ghost easier to capture since anything hit with lots of protons is easier to deal with.
Venkman grabbed a pack and held it for me to strap in since it was an awkward thing to put on, not just because of the bulkiness of the pack but because of the weight. The weight of the packs was 50 pounds. It reminded me of my time in the Imperial Army, but I looked after myself and trained to carry 70 so I could still move around better. I still hoped Spengler or Stantz could condense things to a more sensible weight, especially with Venkman's plan to turn the business into a franchise.
After getting my pack on, I helped Venkman put his pack on as Stantz and Spengler helped each other. After the packs were on our backs and strapped in and secured, Stantz grabbed his Ecto-Goggles. I also grabbed the other one. Since we would be going to the field for the first time, it would be better to go in with all the equipment available with the after-action report I was planning to write after this job.
I would determine what was better for me to carry personally. I, like Stantz, decided to carry a trap since knowing the total weight of what was to be expected to have would be ideal, and though being a subject was less than ideal, at least these scientists were not mad, crazy, devout, lunatics with no regard for safety.
After grabbing the rubber gloves, we headed to the hotel's main door. Though the weight wasn't too much, I recalled the spell strength, wishing it would work. Surprisingly, the kit did become a little lighter, but not by much. My P.K.E. meter also started to detect something faintly.
The doormen were clearly surprised at the sight of us but still opened the door for us. Venkman, as always, was the first through, with the rest behind Spengler on Venkman's right with Stantz and I on his left.
"Hey, anybody seen a ghost?" Venkman announced before staring and smiling at a girl walking by.
Well, that's one way for us to make an introduction. Venkman was lucky that I was next to Stantz and not him, or he would have gotten a punch in the arm.
Just then, a sharp-dressed man spotted us, ran around Stantz and me, and began talking to Venkman.
"Thank you for coming so quickly! The guests are starting to ask questions, and I'm running out of excuses." The man said who I was guessing to be Mr. Shupp, though when he began speaking because Venkman was distracted, he jumped a bit at the man.
"Has it happened before?" Stantz asked, taking the goggles off his belt.
"Well, most of the original staff knows about the twelfth floor; the disturbances, I mean. But it's been quiet for years! Up until two weeks ago. It was never, ever this bad, though!" Mr. Shupp Responded, rubbing his hands nervously. At the same time, Venkman put his arm around his shoulders.
"Did you ever report it to anyone?" Spengler asked, which raises the question of what did Spengler think they should report to. We'd only officially been in business for a few weeks.
"Heavens! No!" Mr. Shupp responded, sounding shocked and offended.
"Oh, no. You kidding?" Venkman sarcastically replied.
"The owners don't even like us to talk about it. I hope we can take care of this. Quietly! Tonight!" The Manager asked, seeming to be stressed about the whole thing.
"Yes, sir, don't worry. We handle this kind of thing all the time!" Stantz said, putting the goggles on his head. I also took it as the time to put mine on my head. The manager then left us at the elevators to handle the other parts of the hotel.
At the elevator, another man was waiting for it and was perplexed at the sight of us, which was natural, especially with the entrance we had. He looked at the pack and then at our uniforms before asking.
"What are you supposed to be, some kind of a cosmonaut?" he asked.
"No, we're exterminators. Someone saw a cockroach up on twelve." Venkman responded, chuckling to himself.
"That's gotta be some cockroach." The man said, eyes going wide at the thought.
"Bite your head off, man," Venkman said in as serious a tone as he could muster.
The elevator opened, and a couple walked out but had their backs to the wall, staring in confusion.
"Going up?" Ray asked the gentleman before going in.
"I'll take the next one." the man responded, putting a cigar to his lips.
In the elevator, I was in the back with Spengler with Stantz in front of me, who had Venkmn next to him. The back of the elevator had a no-smoking sign, which was fine since I didn't want to be stuck with these three smoking, and while they did cut back, it didn't mean they quit.
"You know, it just occurred to me we haven't had a completely successful test of this equipment," Stantz said after a sigh.
"Sorry, what?" I asked, now confused.
"I blame myself," Spengler said, sounding slightly defeated.
"So do I," Venkman said jokingly.
"No sense worrying about it now," Stantz said.
"Uh, no, there's very much sense in worrying about it now." I retorted, getting frustrated.
"Why worry, Tanya? Each of us is wearing an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back.
"It's nuclear? All you told me was that it would throw protons. How did you even fit a nuclear accelerator into something this small? I know you two are smart, but you never tested it." I yelled at them.
"It's fine. This isn't the first time we've built something like this." Stantz tried to explain calmly.
"Did any of them work?" I retorted.
"Not important. What is, is that it's completely safe. Switch me on." Stantz asked Spengler.
After a moment, Spengler turned the pack on, and a hum tone started rising in pitch before settling with a constant. Spengler immediately shrinks into the corner for me to pull him away from it.
"Oh, no, you don't get to hide away from it, I do," I said, hiding in the corner myself, turning him to face me so that I wasn't hiding from a nuclear accelerator with another nuclear accelerator. Sure, I was now aware I was strapped into one, but this calmed me after finding out.
After a moment, I was used to the pack being on, and since it hadn't exploded, it was safe for now, at least. I take back everything about them being safe now. I understand that science involves risk, but this was comically stupid.
The elevator dinged with the door sliding open, allowing Stantz to be the first out, doing what I can only assume to be his attempt at doing a military sweep into the hallway. Venkman followed causally, walking past Stantz and continuing down the hall.
Spengler took his Neutrino wand out and waited to activate his until he was in the hallway. As the last out, I reached back until I grabbed the handle of the Neutrino wand, lifting it out but not turning it on quite yet since I was going to be careful now, knowing the Nuclear capabilities of the device. I would only activate it when I spotted a ghost.
We began walking around to an area where we could split even if the other guys didn't know what was best. I thought the best was first to sweep this floor and then move on by leaving two on this floor while the rest …. Before I could even finish concocting the plan I was forming, the others turned and were blasting something.
While turning to see what they were blasting, I activated the pack, hearing the hum of the pack, only to see them blasting at a poor maid cart. Stopping myself from joining, I took note of the pack's product.
When activated and guided by the Neutrino wand, the pack made a fluctuating orange beam move like a loose rope but still arrive at the intended target, a cart in this instance.
Surrounding the orange beam was a blue coiling beam that seemed to go toward the pack instead of out, but it could be a misdirection of the eyes since when they stopped hitting the cart and deactivated the stream, the blue followed with the orange to the end. The effects of the blast on the ends of what the stream had hit were burnt and on fire.
"Hold it," Venkman was saying, trying to get Stantz and Spengler to stop. He went as far as holding his hands on both of their wands, pointing both down so it was no longer down the hallway.
After a moment, a little black woman crawled. From behind the cart, she was hiding behind.
"What the hell are you doing," She said as she started to pick up the burnt pieces of toilet paper that had fallen off their cart, spraying them with a cleaner fluid.
Venkman, Spengler, and Stantz began apologizing for it when I interrupted them.
"We're on an extermination contract, and some of the equipment is a bit touchy," I said, hoping to avoid a lawsuit.
"We thought you were someone else," Venkman said, turning around with the rest of us so as not to feel guilty.
"I'd call that a successful test." Venkman joked.
"Well, considering we haven't hit a ghost yet, let's not jump to a conclusion. While we're at it, don't apologize for things we clearly did. We are broke as is. The last thing we need is a lawsuit." I told them sternly,
"Okay, but that's going to be difficult. Let's split up for now." Stantz said, a bit worried about losing what he had just gained.
"Yeah, we can do more damage that way," Venkman joked, leading to me punching him in the arm. "Alright, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, you're killing me smalls," This also led to another small punch in the shoulder.
Stantz took the twelfth floor with Venkman on the ninth, I on the sixth, and Spengler on the third floor. Though the primary disturbances were on the twelfth, there was a chance the ghost could go to any floor. We hadn't quite figured out ghost movement patterns or the theory behind them. The best we had was some reports stating that they followed the path of their past lives either daily or on their last day alive.
There was the thought that those who did were lower-level ghosts and, thus, most likely would not be what was described since they would not interact with the physical world. The description also did not detail human characteristics. So, determining its level was difficult until any of us observed it.
Most likely, Stantz would encounter the ghost first and hopefully begin to destabilize the spirit for it to flee, in which case it would encounter Venkman, having not the time to gather more energy to stabilize, would continue to be beaten until it ran from Venkman, leading to me doing the same as Venkman in which case the ghost should be an easy capture. I noticed a small but noticeable spike as I scanned the floor for any Psychokentic energy.
Seeing this as the first opportunity to test myself with the P.K.E. meter without the prying eyes of Spengler and Stantz, I decided to test a few theories about my effect on the P.K.E. meter and what was going on. First, I turned off the mode Spengler had installed on the meter to avoid asking the undeniable question about my little spike from the first time I met the doctors.
Upon deactivation, the small spike that was there before suddenly shot up considerably. Noticing this, I focused on the weight of my pack and felt it getting heavier while the meter calmed down, steadily dropping. I then focused on the weight again until it felt like I was wearing a normal school bag, causing the meter to spike.
This confirmed my theory about Mana. In my previous life, I was cursed with an above-average amount of mana that was amplified by Being X. Clearly, I seemed to have retained some of the magic from it, hence why I could increase or decrease the weight of my pack, but it was different I was mentally doing the amount to lift a building to lighten my load.
Was this due to me not retaining the amount I had in my previous life? If that was considered normal, then how come no one can fly? Does anyone else have this ability, or is it just me and what of the feeling of the slime from the library? This is something different, I'm sure of it. It feels too different. Is the spells I'm casting, or is it a subconscious thing I control with the illusion of spell casting?
"Arrrgggghhhh," The radio projected, snapping me back to the situation.
I turned the Tanya mode back on and made a beeline to the staircase, hearing a sort of demonic-like scratch or growling from multiple floors above. I looked down to see Spengler looking up as well. I grabbed the Radio on my belt and began giving orders.
"Egon, go to the first floor. I'm going to try to meet up with it to slow it, but I think it's going down the stairwell," I blurted, heading up the stairs.
I heard a confirmation from Spengler. I unhooked the Wand from the pack and flicked it on hearing the hum signaling the activation. I stopped halfway to the seventh floor, pulled out a trap, and dangled it off so I could still trap it once I slowed it. I did the best knot without doing too much damage to the cable, and then I waited, watching, keeping an eye on the dangling of the chandelier in the stairwell.
Sure enough, I saw a green blob exit the ninth floor, belting something horrible. Seeing it, I activated the wand, sending the orange and blue stream first missing but later hitting the specter that roared in pain but continued its dissent. Noticing I was trying to avoid the chandelier, it dashed behind it. I stopped the stream before it hit, only hitting the walls and banister.
Quickly, it left from behind the chandelier, allowing for a clear shot. The shot hit, but the green blur grasped the stream and tugged against it, picking up speed. Even if only for a moment before releasing the stream, it pulled me over the banister. Focusing on the reaction spell did minor effects, but enough for me to grab the cable. I was swinging into the next floor.
The stream was broken, and I let go, luckily landing but slipping down the stairs with continued momentum. The ghost had escaped but was now slightly disabled, if only slightly. Personally, that reaction spell working was pure luck. It wasn't as strong as it'd been last life, but enough for last-minute attempts. After a moment of lying on the stairs processing everything, I took the Radio and heard Stantz on the Radio.
"He got Slimed!" was all I could catch.
"That's great, Ray, save some for me. Get down here right away. It just went into a ballroom!" Spengler said, "Also, check on Tanya."
"Thanks, Egon. I am just on the sixth floor after falling from the seventh." I said, grunting as I stood up.
"You what!" I heard all of them say.
"It's not that bad. I've fallen from higher and had fewer issues, though I'm taking the elevator. I'll catch you at the ballroom," I said tiredly.
With that, I walked back up to retrieve the trap and then to the elevator just in time to catch Venkman and Stantz in the elevator. As I walked in, Venkman was just covered in the slime, and it smelled awful.
"You know I don't pry with the weirder things you say, but I'm a little worried when you say falling from a seven-floor height is no big deal," Venkman said, nudging me.
"You also know I didn't immediately say you smelled like shit when I walked in the elevator," I spat back.
"Alright, touchy subject," Venkman said before smelling himself and then gagging.
We arrived at the ballroom, and Spengler was talking to the manager. When the manager saw us, specifically Venkman, he looked like he would faint. Taking this opportunity, we entered the ballroom, passing the sign for the Eastside Theatre Guild Midnight Buffet. As we all entered, Stantz turned around to the manager.
" Okay, sir. If you and your staff will just wait out here, we'll take care of it." Stantz said before closing the double doors with Spengler.
Once the doors were closed, we proceeded to lock them for no disturbances. Stantz turned around with a smile and placed the goggles over his eyes. I followed suit. To my surprise, the view included information such as radar and the level of P.K.E. in what I was looking at. Stantz looked at me, then seemed to look above me. Then, he looked down at the P.K.E. meter and flicked something on it. He then peered his head out the curtain between us and the door. I followed suit beneath him.
"There it is, on the ceiling," Stantz whispered.
I looked around, saw a green mist, and followed it to the chandelier. It seemed to think the chandelier was safe since I tried to avoid any unnecessary damage to the hotel.
"That's the one that got me," Venkman said as serious as I'd seen him in a while.
The specter was flying in circles around the top of the chandelier, making grunts. We walked through the curtain to different sides, facing the chandelier, being as quiet as possible.
"Alright, ready? Throw it!" Stantz said, causing all of us to activate, sending four streams to hit the chandelier. The green blob flew away before the first stream hit, causing the chandelier to receive the entire punishment. Sparks came off as the wiring lighting disconnected. Pops and cracks erupted from the glass shattering, and finally, the chain holding it up broke, causing the chandelier to crash down into the tables below in a bright collapse.
The ghost let out a howl. I then heard the sound of an attempted jiggle of the door behind me. Clearly, the manager worried after such a clear disaster. We all rush forward to see the fallen chandelier.
"I did that! I did that! That's my fault!" Stantz said apologetically.
"No, you didn't. Remember our talk from before," I said. "The ghost did this"
"It's okay, Ray. The table broke the fall." Venkman joked.
"There's something very important I forgot to tell you," Spengler blurted out.
""What"" Venkman and I said at the same time in both fear and anticipation.
"Don't cross the streams," Spengler said warningily.
"Gonna need a bit more info on that," I said.
"It would be bad," Spengler responded.
"I'm fuzzy on the whole good-bad thing. What do you mean, bad?" Venkman asked, walking closer to Spengler.
"Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light," Spengler warned.
"Total protonic reversal," Stantz said with a realization.
"All right, that's bad, okay. Important safety tip, don't cross the streams. Thanks, Egon. All right. Ray, take the left, and Tanya, try to flank it with Ray. Egon, take the right," Venkman said, pointing out the direction.
I wanted to ask Spengler and Stantz more questions on this, but we were in the middle of this thought, knowing that a simple fuck up could lead to what sounded like a slow and excruciating painful death. I'm glad it is a worse case, though, and not something that will be done on purpose.
I went with Stantz while Spengler took the right, and Venkman took the center as we walked to where the ghost went. The ghost was now downing bottles of wine. But seemed to forget that it could not retain the wine in the stomach; instead, it spilled wine everywhere.
"Okay, Ray. Give me one eye on the outside... Ray!" Venkman ordered, and Ray fired a stream at the ghost, causing it to spin uncontrollably away from the buffet section, with drinks destroying the table and the remaining bottles of wine.
"Egon," Venkman shouted, making Spengler activate the stream, destroying the cake and food buffet table. The ghost, in a panic, went behind the Bar. Spengler tried to follow it and blasted the bar to oblivion. The ghost shot out from the bar but was undetected by Spengler and continued to blast the bar.
"Okay, all right, hold it! Hold it! Hold it! Whoa! Nice shooting, Tex!" Venkman said, finally making Spengler stop the stream.
Oddly enough, the ghost stopped like it was out of breath, and just as I tried blasting him again, Stantz put a hand on my neutrino wand, lowering it.
"The last throw took something out of him, but he's gonna move! I need some; I need some room to put the trap down. Give me some room." Stantz said, motioning for us to move a table.
Spengler Venkman and I lifted and threw tables away from the center where Stantz wanted the trap. At this point, why not? The ballroom is already wrecked; what's a little more? Besides, this is still the cleanest fight I've been in. The roof is still on.
"We gotta get this in the clear!" Stantz said, readying the trap.
"Wait, wait! I always wanted to do this." Venkman said, grabbing a tablecloth from one of the few undisturbed tables left and yanking it, causing all the silverware and plates to go everywhere.
"And the flowers are still standing!" Venkman exclaimed in excitement. Sure enough, it was the only thing still standing.
Stantz had successfully deployed the trap below the ghost.
"Okay, on my go signal. Spengler, I want a confinement stream from you. Okay? Go!" Spengler put a stream out leading to the stream wrapping around the ghost after Stantz said, making it realize what was happening and reacting by trying to struggle free.
"Okay, hold him up there. He's gonna move. Hold him up. Go!" Venkman fired, strengthening the capture stream by connecting but not crossing.
"Okay, Tanya, let's make sure he doesn't slip away again," Stantz commanded, making me activate the neutrino wand and sending out a stream guaranteeing we had him.
"It's working, Ray," Spengler said, seeming surprised his theory was actually happening.
"Start bringing him down. Start bringing him down. You got him. Don't cross the streams." Stantz said, arms raised to react to new developments.
"Maybe now you'll never slime a guy with a Positron collider, huh?"Venkman said, then seemed to mumble something while looking at me. The ghost responded with a fart somehow.
"Venkman, shorten your stream! I don't want my face burned off!" Spengler shouted, struggling to hold it while lowering the stick and controlling the stream length. Venkman had to look at the controls to see what the hell he was doing.
"All right. I'm opening the trap now; don't look directly into the trap!" With Stantz announcing, he stepped on a pedal opening the trap.
"I looked at the trap, Ray," Spengler said, looking directly at the trap. I couldn't resist and snuck a peak. The trap had nothing wrong with it. It was just opened as it was when they were building it.
"Bring your streams off as soon as I close the trap. Get ready. I'm closing it now!" Stantz then stepped on the pedal with P.K.E. goggles on, looking to ensure all went well.
The trap came alive with multiple beams of light coming out so bright I looked away to avoid damage. The sound of beeps and technical sounds erupted from the source, and the room became dark once again after a moment. The trap was still there, and the ghost was gone.
A light near the front activated before a red light in the back started flashing and started beeping consistently. We all cautiously moved closer, wands at the ready. Spengler belt by the trap while Venkman nudged it with his foot where a few sparks and lightning bolts surrounded the trap to the sound of electrical crackle but remained closed.
"It's in there," Spengler stated, looking up.
"Hey," Venkman said, pointing the wand at the trap, not wanting to get slimed again.
"Well, that wasn't such a chore, now, was it?" Stantz said, putting his hand on his hips.
"Sure, Ray," I said, looking at the destroyed ballroom, broken tables, obliterated bar, and the remains of what looked to be a very expensive chandler.
Ray picked up the trap that was now smoking, and we walked towards the door. Though I was concerned about the smoking trap, Stantz must've been able to read my expression and informed me that it was just the excess particles and energy of the ghost that was harmless and was not necessary to reform the ghost so that it wouldn't reform.
Before I opened the door, Venkman stopped me and instead put his ear to the door, whispering that since it's the first job, they gotta make an entrance after the first successful job. After a moment, a smile came on Venkman, who unlocked and threw the doors open.
"We came, We saw, We kicked its ass."
"Did you see it? What is it?" The manager said, walking back the closer Venkman got, only to almost trip when Stantz walked right up with the smoking trap.
"We got it," Stantz said, holding it like one would a prize fish.
"What is it? Will there be any more of them?" The Manager said in fear.
"Sir, what you have there is what we refer to as a focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm or a Class Five full roaming vapor. Real nasty one, too!" Stantz said after coughing from the smoke. Venkman then cleared his throat.
"Now, Let's talk seriously, now. For the entrapment, we're gonna have to ask you for four big ones. Four thousand dollars for that. But we are having a special this week on proton charging and storage of the beast, and that's only going to come to one thousand dollars, fortunately." Venkman said, occasionally looking at Spengler, who had done the estimated cost of the simple trapping procedure.
"Five thousand dollars?" The manager said, in which case I spoke up.
"There is also the case of decontamination and dry cleaning for my colleague here as well as hazard pay since it tried pushing me off the seventh-floor staircase and damn well succeded until I caught myself, so that will be another thousand dollars," I said looking at Spengler for an estimation.
"Six thousand dollars. I had no idea it would be so much. I won't pay it." The manager said in utter shock and disgust at the amount.
"Well, that's all right! We can just put it right back in there. Though we'll still charge you at least three thousand." Venkman said, winking at me as he, Stantz, Spengler, and I all turned around.
"We certainly can, Dr. Venkman," Stantz said.
"No, no, no, no! All right! I'll pay anything!" The manager practically begged, turning Stantz around.
"Thanks so much," Venkman said, ripping the bill out and handing it to the manager.
"Thank you! Hope we can help you again! All right, coming through! Watch out! Class Five full roaming vapor! Watch out!" Stantz said to the manager before shooing people out of the way.
We all loaded up the Ecto one and got back in. This time Stantz was driving. On the way, Venkman turned around from the front.
"Good job, kid, that extra thousand should help us," Venkman said, patting me on the head. This would have been nice, except his hand was covered in slime, and it was now in my hair. "Got you." Still, it felt nice being a part of a group again.