We managed to get to the Stock N Shop in the late hours. I decided to wear my black tracksuit with a white tank top and my worn-out sneakers. I get the feeling I'm gonna run a lot. I even switched my prosthetic to use my Iron Fists protocol. I refixed my hair to a lower ponytail as well. I know I'm gonna need a lot of coffee after this. The turtles managed to open the ventilation shaft. We crawled through the vents like blind mice, except for me since I also have night vision in my lenses. Easy enough for me. It would've been an easy travel if Mikey hadn't brought a vacuum cleaner. Why do you ask? I have no fucking clue.

I kept telling them which direction to take but April went to her let instead of mine and the dumbasses that we are, we followed and fell through the shaft landing inside the supermarket. I landed on my back, and I was certain Leo fell on top of me.

"I'm gonna feel that in the morning", I groaned. Leo sat up. Our eyes locked for a second until Leo yelped and crawled away. I chuckled, standing up. I almost tripped over Mikey's vacuum. "Ugh! Mikey! Why did you bring this piece of shit along?"

"I had to!" Mikey argued, "It's to defend ourselves against the Gumbus. It's lined with tin foil inside so it's extra durable."

"Just because you've seen Ghostbusters doesn't mean it's gonna work!"

"Then how am I going to suck up the ghosts?"

"That's what he said."

Leo elbowed my side.

"Check this place out!" April gushed, flashing her flashlight throughout the entire space. We lit our flashlights. "It's like Christmas morning for food!"

Mikey clutched the sucking tube. "This place is creepy!"

"Creepy or awesome? Answer, both."

"Let's just get this over with it", I said taking the lead.

The box turtle bumped into me while shrieking. "What was that?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What was what?"

"I heard something! Merrill, catch me!" Mikey leaped intentionally expecting me to catch him.

I stepped back instead causing him to fall. "Nope."

"It's probably the Gumbus", April frantically searched the area. We heard a noise. We flashed toward the mysterious sound. It was a toy train running on its tracks.

"Oh, look. It's a model train", Leo said with praise, "convenient for a supermarket." He walked away.

I followed. "Not all supermarkets, dipshit."

"I think we should divide and conquer", the African American girl suggested.

"That's a terrible idea, Aps!" Mikey bellowed.

"Scaredy turtle is right", I agreed, "Horror Movie 101: Never split up. Easier for the killer to pick their victims one by one." Mikey nodded with a lot of velocity.

"No worries. We divide by two. I go with Mikey while Leo stays with you", April said, pulling the scared turtle close to her.

"I get the feeling you want us to be alone."

"Me? No! Mikey needed someone strong as a partner and Leo needed some protection. Also, I have more respect for you since you're still a virgin."

I growled and glared at the box turtle. "Mikey!" the said turtle hid behind his friend.

April approached me with no fear. "It's okay. If you manage to pull through the shit, I've heard you've done, you're alright in my book."

"You could've accepted me sooner but sure."

"Don't get me wrong. If you hurt Leo, I will hunt you down, use your knife to slice your dick, and shove it down your throat."

There's the threat. "Sounds hot. I can't wait", I smirked at her frown.

April groaned. "Leo, I wish you luck."

Leo sighed. "April, Merrill and I are friends…"

"Possibly with benefits", I glided in.

Leo gave me a side glare. "Shut up. April, why are you insisting like Mikey?"

April shrugged. "Hey, I don't mind a rich ally. Think of the benefits we'll have."

I narrowed my eyes. "It sounds like you viewed me as a personal piggy bank."

She shrugged again. "Potato, patato." We continued walking through aisle by aisle searching for any trace of the Gumbus. Our search wasn't successful. Throughout our search, Mikey kept getting scared out of every aspect of the hunt. And with every shriek, my patience was wearing thin. The breaking point was when accidently sucked my jacket out of fear.

I growled, pulling my jacket free from the vacuum's suction. "One more shriek, yelp, or cry, and I will break your vacuum and duct tape you to the ceiling. You're lucky my jacket doesn't break easily. Otherwise, you'll be paying for it."

"I'm sorry", Mikey cowered, "It's just so creepy here, especially in the dark!"

I rolled my eyes. "Then just hug April or your brother. I'm here to just to settle a bet."

"Ooo~ what bet?" April said,

"Merrill and I made a bet to see who chickens out first", Leo said, "Loser becomes a maid and serve us. Maid uniform and all."

"So, you're telling me they have to do whatever we say while being a maid? Interesting, very interesting."

"I'm gonna say this a head of time, Lee", I warned, getting close to the slider, "be careful what you wish for." He merely shoved my face in annoyance. My scanners picked up movements behind Leo. A mop head raised over his head. I quickly grabbed the mop and yanked hard. The stranger happened to be the Youtube boy who was supposed to be "captured" by the ghost.

"Omigosh, omigosh! Stockboii!" Mikey said with sudden glee.

"Sorry! I thought you were the Gumbus!" Stockboii adjusted his glasses, "Wait, are you turtles?"

"We don't go into labels. We're such huge fans!"

"Fan. Non-plural. Him", I said, pointing to the only fanboy in the group.

"So, it was this kid the whole time. Mystery solved", Leo said.

"And this is the part where you say, "I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"" I imitated the line from Scooby Doo.

"What? No! I managed to get away," Stockboii protested. How interesting he managed to escape the ghost. I've stated this before, and I'll say it again; this screamed bullshit.

"Excuse my brother", Mikey approached the little boy, "he doesn't believe in ghosts, but we do."

Stockboii's face grew grim. "Oh… this is bad. This is really, REALLY bad." Leo and I shared a glance. We didn't need words to know what's indicated. "If a mortal soul doesn't complete his dying wish, then the nonbeliever will face a dire end."

Mikey cried a girly scream.

"Whelp, Leo's going to be a sacrifice. Kinda saw that comin'", I said.

"Still a jerk", the slider commented, censoring himself.

And yet we have a great relationship.

"You're viewed as a damsel in distress", I simply told my turtle friend, "don't worry. If you're scared, you can just say it and admit defeat."

"In your dreams, Goth Boy."

Stockboii stared at us. "Are you together or…"

"We're friends."

"So, what is the Gumbus?" April asked the small boy.

"I was just about to vlog about it." I rolled my eyes seeing the little brat pulled his cellphone already recording. Yep, bullshit. "The Gumbus is not a what, but a who. It all goes back to ancient times, 1987!"

Mikey opened his mouth, but Leo and I covered his mouth. "Continue", we said together. We saw our hands overlapping. Then, we immediately pulled apart looking elsewhere but each other. I could feel Mikey's eyes staring at our behavior.

"I'll spare you the gory details… the greatest stockboy this store's ever seen, Jeremiah Gumbus…" he panned over to a shadow with chains nearby behind a window. "The crunch of the chains of the milk processing plant!" Even the story didn't have the gore I wanted. April screamed in ecstasy. I couldn't contain the yawn out of boredom.

"What happened to sparing the details?" Mikey cried, again.

"Dude, that wasn't even scary. There wasn't a trace of gore in that story", I told him. "It could be a bit more creative, though."

"Chain and soul combined, and now, as the chain laded Gumbus, he haunts the aisles of the store. Legend has it the only way to free te Gumbus from eternal torment is…" chains appeared and grabbed Stockboii. "The Gumbus!" He was pulled away. I was getting déjà vu vibes. We all gaped at what just happened.

"Ya'll just saw that, right?" April asked, finally getting her voice out.

"The fact that we witnessed a kid being pulled by ghostly chains while we stand here staring like a bunch of gawking chickens doing absolutely nothing said we all saw that", I retorted.

"The Gumbus grabbed Stockboii! And Leo's next!" Mikey cried.

"Why am I being picked as the next victim?"

"Because you're the nonbeliever!"

"There's a logical explanation for this!"

"Alright, everyone backup and hold your titis", I said as I laid one hand on April's breast while the other on Leo's plastron. They both glared.

"Seriously?!" April yelled.

"What? I gotta make myself laugh." They both slapped my hands.

The scared turtle stared at my action. "Do people do that if they're scared?"

"Yes."

"NO!" Both girl and slider turtle protested.

Leo cleared his throat. "Look. It's probably a hoax. Tricked wires. It's all the rage."

"Um… Leo. We all saw Stockboii disappeared…" Mikey was uncertain. To be honest, so was I.

Leo went to a small tower of stack cans. "You mean behind this stack of cans." He slapped it away only to see a spot where his glasses were evident and a message that said HELP ME! He looked at the wall. He gasped. "No, no, no! This doesn't make sense! Merrill, scan the wall. You can probably see where he went."

I became skeptical. "I don't know…"

"Just do it!" I obliged and scanned the wall. The heat sensors picked up minimum traces of heat. Overall, the kid's not there. I deactivated my sensors. I shook my head. "This isn't real! That's right! We're being Punk'd. Haha! It's all for show."

I slowly walked up to the doubtful turtle. "Lee… I think we should just find the Gumbus and honor Stockboii's memory." We heard a squishy sound. We traced our flashlights to the sound. We saw nothing until we reached it close to our perspective. It was a turkey.

"…a turley…?" Leo bravely went close for a closer inspection. It jolted to life.

"I'm alive!" it screeched. We yelled at the unexpected jump scare. Leo jumped into my arms, and I instantly hugged him. "Guys, it's me. Stockboii! Trapped inside this body!"

That was fast…

"Let me smash it!" April was ready to use her baseball bat which I'm surprise she had it with her.

"Don't! You'll destroy my soul along with it! I know how to appease the Gumbus! We have to fulfill his dying request. Completing the Lady Liberty stack! In order to do so, you need to subscribe and donate…"

"I've watched your videos a hundred times for free!" Mikey encouraged, "I'll finish the Gumbus' work.

I spotted the magenta chains snaking around the corner of my eye. "Guys, take care of it", I told them, "I'll be right back." I dashed, ignoring them calling my name.

I ran after the retreating chains. They went deeper into the darkness. I lost them over the pharmacy area. I activated my heat sensors. No sign of Stockboii or the chains. It was like Stockboii vanished into thin air. Or was I overthinking this? Maybe I should switch to X-Ray vision. This whole thing doesn't fit right. I've seen enough Supernatural to know when a ghost appears. The temperature would've dropped below average. The shadows whispered in my ear. It was unsettling until I focused on what they were telling me; they kept saying it's a hoax. I researched Jeremiah Gumbus. And what my sources told me confirmed my suspicion. I turned around to return to the gang.

Suddenly, I was struck with a blunt object causing me to lose focus. I fell with a heavy thud on the cold floor. My vision blurred switching between focus to white noise. All I saw was magenta chains before completely losing consciousness.

…I was offline…