Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Ghost Fighters ❯ First Day on the Job (Duty-Time) ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 4: First Day On The Job

Part 2: Duty-Time

 

Minutes later, they arrived at Swank Hotel where dozens of people stood outside the main entrance, watching the building in fear. Cheers erupted as they got out of the car and slung their proton guns over their shoulders.

 

“Ok, gang,” Peter said, taking charge as usual. “The manager reported four of them, wandering around on the 13th floor.”

 

“Figures,” Winston mumbled. “They always pick that number.”

 

“Ok, we'll spilt up. Egon, you take the pacifier kid. Ray, you take carrot-head over there. Winston, you take the punk and I'll take the girl.”

 

“Hey, we do have names, you know,” Yusuke protested. “And Kurama's not a girl.”

 

“Move out!!” Peter yelled and ran into the building.

 

 

Egon and Koenma tiptoed carefully around the rooms, keeping their eyes out for a ghost. Egon directed his PKE (Psycho-Kinetic Energy) meter around the place while Koenma fidgeted nervously. He followed behind the Ghostbuster closely, tightly gripping his proton gun. Feeling uneasy, he turned around to look behind him, expecting a ghost to appear right in his face.

 

And it did.

 

“Whooooooo!!” it screamed, scaring the wits out of Koenma.

 

He yelled as he stepped back into Egon, bringing them both tumbling to the ground. Koenma just sat there on top of Egon, staring dumbfounded at the purplish long-necked ghoul as it circled above them. After a few seconds, it then came charging towards them, showing rows upon rows of yellow jagged teeth. Koenma still stared at it with his eyes wide open and his jaw hanging slackly.

 

“Koenma, your gun!! Use your gun!!”

 

“H… Hai. I… I mean, yes.”

 

“NOW!!”

 

At the last possible second, he aimed his gun, closed his eyes and shoot. He flew through the air and banged into the opposite wall as the force of the energy ray blew him backwards. The ghoul was miraculously caught in the beam and wailed, squirming and fidgeting with all its might.

 

Koenma has just bagged his first ghost!!

 

Egon threw the trap underneath the captured ghoul and told him to bring the beam down slowly. In a few seconds, it was safely in the trap.

 

“Congratulations, Koenma,” Egon said, slapping the lad on the back. Koenma looked up at him, dazed and blank then looked back at the smoking gun he held in his hands.

 

 

Meanwhile, in the east section of the floor, Winston and Yusuke were tiptoeing from room to room, keeping a sharp look-out for the ghost. Soon, the corridor they were walking on separated into two sides. Without a word, they spilt up. Yusuke inched slowly and quietly along the corridor. After a few minutes, he was suddenly aware of an extra pair of feet walking behind him. He stopped suddenly and the noise stopped too.

 

:Must be my imagination.: he thought.

 

But as he started walking again, the footsteps resumed. Stopping again, he glanced behind him and to his amazement, a pair of sneakers stood silently behind him. Curious, he poked at them and received a sharp kick on the nose.

 

“OWW!! Myd nosd,” Yusuke yelled. “Why, you stinking….” That received a kick in the stomach. As Yusuke doubled over, the sneakers jumped up and down, as though pleased with themselves.

 

“Ok, that does it,” he mumbled angrily as he got up. “Rei Gun!!”

 

The sneakers froze as a shimmering golden light shot out from his finger and headed straight towards them. A micro-second before the light reached them, they jumped out of the way and it struck the floor. As the dust settled, a big hole appeared that reached all the way to the basement.

 

“Uh-oh.”

 

“Yusuke?” Winston called as he rushed to the scene. “Man, what happened?” he asked as he saw the hole.

 

“Ehehehe,” Yusuke laughed uneasily. “Urm… oops?”

 

“Never mind. Where's the ghost?”

 

A big kick on the butt answered his question.

 

“Hey,” Winston protested as the sneakers skipped away. “Come back here, you cheap rubbery soles you.”

 

The chase was on. The sneakers skipped past room after room with Winston and Yusuke right on their tails. Soon, they reached a dead end and the sneakers screeched to a halt.

 

“Hah. Now we got you,” Winston said, holding his Proton Gun. They fired simultaneously at the shoes. Bringing the beams upwards, a ghost yowled in captive and was sucked into the trap, leaving the sneakers burnt and deep-fried. Holding the trap by the wire, Winston flashed a thumbs-up sign at Yusuke.

 

“Alright,” they yelled, exchanging high-fives.

 

 

Kuwabara walked confidently down the hallway, stopping every few seconds to gather his bearings. Like Egon, he was using a sensor; his psychic sense. Ray followed him from behind, staring quizzically at Kuwabara's back as the latter sniffed at every door like a dog, muttering, “Not here. Not here either.”

 

:Sheesh, this guy is a regular bloodhound, only he sniffs out ghosts instead of rabbits.: Ray thought silently.

 

Suddenly, Kuwabara stopped in front of door 1332. Nodding silently at each other, they kicked the door open and rushed in. But there wasn't any ghost in sight. Just as they were about to leave, they heard running water and humming coming from the bathroom. Creeping quietly inside, Ray saw a figure in the bath-tub, hidden from view behind the shower-curtain.

 

“Okay, we'll surprise it,” Ray whispered silently at Kuwabara. “On the count of three, we'll pull the curtain aside. One… two…. three.” They pulled.

 

“EEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!”

 

Ray and Kuwabara froze as an old wrinkled yellowish woman in the tub screeched loudly. “How dare you!! You… you young whipper-snappers. Get out of here. Scoot. Ske-daddle.” Shampoos, soaps and other assorted stuff were thrown in their direction, some hitting the intended target.

 

“Ermmm…. I'm very sorry, ma'am,” Ray muttered as he retreated slowly. A wet sponge hit him smacked on the nose as the lady yelled a last “OUT!!!”

 

As they closed the bathroom door, they looked at each other, each thinking the same thing. “Hey, wait a minute.”

 

Reopening the bathroom door, a wave of bubble-sudded water crashed over them, drenching them from head to toe as the yellow ghoul flew out the bathroom, screeching in delight. Kuwabara was about to call upon his Reiken when he suddenly remembered Koenma's lecture on not ever using their powers in public. Gripping his Proton Gun, he aimed, shot and flew straight into the awaiting tub.

 

Meanwhile, Ray was doing a little jig, trying to avoid the gun's beam as it twisted from side to side, totally destroying the room. Finally, it caught the ghost but since Kuwabara was still struggling to get out of the slippery tub, the ghost was flung back and forth and side to side, banging everything in sight. When Kuwabara finally got out from the tub, the ghost was too dizzy to protest as it was sucked into the trap. Ray grinned at him as they sloshed themselves out of the room, victorious at last.

 

 

Kurama rolled his eyes as Peter shushed him for the eleventh time. He was as patient as the next guy (in fact, more than patient) but this was getting ridiculous.

 

They have been scouting the south section of the floor for the last twenty minutes and all Peter has done was to hush and lecture at him every minute. If he tried to say a single word or even took a deep breath, Peter would waved his hand at him and let out an annoyed “Shhhh!!”

 

Right now, they decided to search the rooms since they had come up empty-handed while scanning the hallways.

 

“Alright. We'll spilt up. You search that side of the hallway and I'll search this side. And try not to make _too_ much noise, huh?”

 

Kurama let out an exasperated sigh and started towards the first door but not before hearing Peter's annoyed voice muttering, “Amateurs.”

 

 

Peter had opened twelve doors so far and there was still no sign of the ghost. Well, he wasn't about to give up. Warily opening the thirteenth door, he sneaked in, gun pointed and ready.

 

:Hmm, all's clear here.: he thought as he wandered around the large honeymoon suite.

 

BAM!!

 

Peter jumped as the door slammed shut. Rushing towards it, he tugged at the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. He tried banging the door down but it only gave him a sore shoulder.

 

“Alright, you slime ball. Come out, come out wherever you are,” Peter sang as his eyes darted left and right, his gun ready.

 

“Why, hello, lover-boy.”

 

Turning in surprise, he looked towards the bed where an extremely (ahem) _gorgeous_ lady sat, draped in a sheer light blue nightie.

 

“Ermm… have you….” His voice came out in a squeak. Peter cleared his throat uneasily and tried again, “Have you seen a ghost around, lady?”

 

“A ghost?! Why, golly, no, I haven't,” she replied in a strong southern voice. “But I'm sure that big, bad ghost won't come here. Not with a big, strong, handsome man like you to protect me. Hmmmm?”

 

She glided gracefully to him and put her arms around his neck. Dazed and bewildered, Peter hardly noticed as his gun dropped to the floor with a light thud.

 

“Why don't you relax and give me a nice, big _KISS_!!!!”

 

With the last word, the gorgeous lady transformed into an ugly, _hideous_ (no, I'm not exaggerating) monster with long tusks and red scaly skin, puckering her green lips at him.

 

“ARRRGGGHHH!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”

 

“Oh, come on, darling,” she drawled, her southern accent still intact. “You're not afraid of little ol' me, are you?” She broke out into a loud cackle and flung him on the bed, her diluted eyes gleaming with evil.

 

Peter gulped as her long, sharp fanged lips came into view. Just as he was about to scream again, he felt himself being jerked out from underneath her. The ghoul turned and snarled, furious at the interruption, just as an energy ray held her captive.

 

As Peter shook his dizzy head, he noticed with a blur that a vine from the nearby potted plant had mysteriously looped itself around his ankle.

 

:Now, how did that happen?: he wondered curiously.

 

Hearing a loud scream, he glanced towards the bed where Kurama was trapping the ghost with ridiculous ease as though he had done it a thousand times. Walking towards him with the trap, Kurama looked down at him with a teasing smile.

 

“Not bad for an amateur, huh?”

 

Peter dropped his head back on the floor with a loud thud and groaned.

 

 

Not long afterwards, the whole group came out from the hotel, each two carrying a smoking ghost trap. Cheers erupted again from the crowd as the Ghostbusters waved to them and gave the all-clear sign.

 

As Egon and Peter were discussing the bill with the hotel manager, Peter sneaked a glance at Kurama, who was chatting away with the rest of his friends near the Ecto-1. His face scrunched up into a frown as he remembered asking Kurama about the vine around his ankle as they were heading towards the entrance. That sly guy had eluded his questions with a short explanation on how he had roped and threw the vine around his leg to pull him away. Seem logical enough but there was a nagging thought troubling him at the back of his mind. Something just didn't seem right.

 

“Hey, Egon,” he called as the latter received the pay. “Point the PKE at our new-comers. I have an idea.”

 

“Sure, if you say so. But for what, may I ask? They're not ghosts.”

 

“I know that,” he cried exasperated. “But there's something weird about that long-haired dude. What's his name?”

 

“Kurama, and I think you're being paranoid.”

 

“Oh, just do it, will you?”

 

With a sigh, Egon pointed the meter directly at Kurama. The meter began blinking and the antennas started moving up and down.

 

“Well, what does it say?”

 

“Hmmm. Interesting. There's a slight reading of psycho kinetic energy but I don't think it's anything major.” Egon threw an I-told-you-so look at Peter who had an unreadable expression on his face. “Now may I know what's going through that head of yours?”

 

“Never mind,” he answered, quickly turning towards the car. “Let's just go home.”

 

 

Meanwhile, as the Ghostbusters pulled up into the firehouse's garage, the hotel manager was sobbing away over the damages that they have done while his accountant calculated the cost of damages on his trusty calculator. Seeing the destruction of room 1332 that was made by Ray and Kuwabara, he finally fainted.