Ghostbusters The Return by Sholly Fisch Read Free Book Online

in there?"

    Without warning, the toilets exploded. Four spectral alligators erupted out of the drains, amid a shower of water and shards of porcelain. One of them flew straight through Venkman's chest.

    Reflexively, the startled Ghostbusters recoiled from the barrage, but they recovered quickly. As the ghosts soared past them and out of the stalls, the quartet spun around with nutrona wands blazing. The mirrors over the sinks exploded into a cascade of broken glass under the force of the blasters' ionized bombardment.

    When the air cleared, the Ghostbusters could see that two of the beasts had been snagged in Winston's and Ray's ion streams. The other two were airborne and circling the room, snarling and weaving in close to snap their jaws at their would-be captors. Egon wasted no time, and immediately began throwing handfuls of paper towels on the floor.

    "Egon, I think they have janitors who can take care of the spill," Ray said.

    "I don't want to risk a short circuit," Egon replied. Satisfied that he'd used enough towels to see that the top layer remained dry, he dropped an ecto-trap on top of the pile.

    The third alligator cried out in anger out as Venkman wrapped it up in another ion stream.

    Egon triggered the trap, then took another shot at the final ghost. His first shot missed, taking out some ceiling tiles. The second one missed, too. But the third time proved to be the charm. The gator was trapped.

    One by one, they eased the ghosts into the trap, taking care not to cross their beams. It was more of a challenge in this confined space than it had been at Madison Square Garden. With a little effort, though, they soon managed it. The trap snapped closed, and the familiar indicator light flashed over to green

    Egon used his PKE meter to sweep the area. "All clear."

    That gave the Ghostbusters the breathing room to slip their nutrona wands back in their sheaths and assess their personal damage. "Everyone okay?" Ray called.

    Egon and Winston told him they were fine. They picked bits of toilet paper off their uniforms and waved the wet parts of their jumpsuits back and forth in a vain attempt to dry them quickly.

    With a stab of concern, Ray realized that Venkman hadn't answered. He stepped quickly over to Venkman's stall. "Peter?"

    "Oh, I'm just dandy," Venkman said. He stepped out to reveal that his head and torso were covered in dripping, funky-smelling ectoplasmic slime - a souvenir of the alligator flying through his chest. He swept a hand across his face, then shook it to dislodge a large glob of slime. "But can someone please tell me why I'm always the one who gets slimed?"

    Louis tapped his foot nervously. "For lunch, I was thinking maybe we could go to that macrobiotic restaurant on Greene Street. See, from noon to two, they have an all-you can-eat brown rice bar for only $12.95 per person."

    "That's fine, Louis," Janine said. "but I told you, I can't leave the office unattended. I have to wait here until someone else comes back."

    "Did you tell them we had lunch plans?"

    "I'm sorry, sugar bear, but it's an emergency. At a school."

    "Sure, I understand," he replied, checking his watch for the fourth time in about five minutes. "It's just that, based on my figures, if we each take three helpings at the buffet and it amounts to more than three cups of rice apiece, that would be a savings of twenty-three percent over the regular menu price."

    "Y'know, you can take your coat off and sit down if you want."

    "Oh, no, thanks I'll just leave it on, in case they come back."

    Janine ran an emery board around the edges of her thumbnail, then blew off the shavings. "Suit yourself."

    Louis kept tapping his foot. He hummed a bit, trying to appear nonchalant. But he couldn't contain himself. "Of course, if they're not back by two o'clock, then we'll miss the buffet. So in that case, we'll get a better deal if we go to Natalio's for their ten-percent-off Tuesday special. I have it all worked out on a