Fiction:"Busted - The Beginning" by Deaditebuster

It was another boring school day, just like all the rest. The majority of the student body was crammed into the auditorium, with barely enough room left to breathe. On the expansive stage at its front, the strict principal gave a speech that put the kids hopped-up on energy drinks to sleep.

'Hello, my staff and students,' he started in his shaky voice. A rowdy teen in the back coughed. No other noise or movement was traceable. 'I'm sure you're wondering why you're here. Well, we're here to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of our fine establishment, Wrothsmoore High School.' The teachers half-heartedly clapped, defying their close resemblance as statues. But as the principal finished those final words, an ear-splitting growling emerged from the basement beneath the stage. The flimsy stands rattled wildly. Although in his later years, the principal sprinted off the theater floor.

From the crack beneath the stage, a blood red light decanted, adding unusual excitement to this otherwise dull day. The glow burned brighter, blinding everyone in the room. Then, immediately, the funnel of scarlet brilliance blasted through the wooden planks of the stage, spiraling intensely. It was then that the kids realized that this was not a special effect but some sort of tornado. The whipping winds battered the retreating students, faculty, and principal as they scrambled outside. The growling soon got louder, prompting all eyes to turn back to the twister.

Ghostly beings corkscrewed from the funnel, shrieking and howling above the terrified crowd. The principal watched in horror as a student was picked up by a spirit, swinging in the air. 'What's going on?!?!' he screamed as he was shouldered outside.

'So what do we got?' Peter asked, with an added New York accent.

'At least two class fives, could be more,' Ray explained, staring up at the unusually silent school. This rare quiet was broken by a demonic cackle. It bellowed from somewhere deep, somewhere away from here, somewhere in another world.

'Sounds like some twerp's been messing with a Quija Board,' Peter quipped. 'Let's can this sucker before it gets to the Girls' Locker Room, alright?'

'I thought you'd look forward to that part,' Ray came back.

'I spent too much time in there during my high school experience,' Pete said, in all truth.

'I remember my first day of High School,' Egon stated in his nasally voice.

'Yeah, you were, what? 10? 11?' Pete joked. Egon passed by his companion, Proton pack swaying slightly.

'9,' he corrected in one of his bouts of arrogance. Pete rolled his eyes and followed Dr. Spengler. Winston dropped in line next to Ray.

'Was he really 9?' he asked sincerely. Ray just shrugged as they filed inside.

Ray read the various colorful bulletin boards as they marched down the halls.

'Winter Formal' bring your special someone. Hmmm,' Ray quoted. 'Hey Spengs, did you have a 'special someone? Peter stopped, turned, and waited for this interesting answer.

'Yes. I did,' Egon stated, still waving his PKE Meter around the walls.

'Well who was she?' Winston wondered, jumping into the conversation.

'Allison Walker,' he answered mechanically.

'Well? What happened?' Peter nudged.

'She retired.' Ray let out a forced, uncomfortable breath and unslung his neutrona wand. Peter patted Egon on the back, somewhat disturbed expression on his face.

'And you're supposed to be the smart one,' Peter said disapprovingly. The rest of them drew their particle throwers, ready for action. The nuclear hum of the cyclotrons echoed, challenging the clap of their boots. Then, from one door, an amorphous blob burst out, dripping purple liquid on the otherwise shiny floor.

'NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!' Pete exploded as he flipped the switch and unleashed a dancing red and blue beam down the corridor. Ray and Winston joined in the barrage as Egon eyed his meter suspiciously. The streams skipped around the walls, catching up with the pudgy pile of paranormal sludge. The slime ball disappeared through the wall. The still flowing torrents slammed into the glass wall of the school office, scattering shards across the lobby. The Busters dropped their blasts, hearing the trademark phasing sound of an ended discharge.

Peter inspected the damage. 'Looks like what you did to the science lab back in the day, Stantz,' he accused jokingly.

'According to New York police files, that never happened,' Ray countered, his finger waving in the air.

'Guys, I hate to interrupt your trip down memory lane, but I think I've found something,' Egon tossed out.

'Like what, Winston wondered, also pondering what Ray did back in school.

'The psychokinetic energy is concentrated around a single point, down,' he started, intently staring at the device, ' that way.' He pointed down the lobby to a series of doors. Winston was still a little foggy as to what that meant.

'So, there's a cross-dimensional tornado?' Egon rubbed his chin for a moment, flared his nose, and answered to the best of his knowledge.

'In a manner of speaking, yes. Class Fives, as you know, materialize do to rituals of the supernatural. I believe someone opened up an entire hole to the Underworld,' Egon explained, too unexpressive for his own good.

'There doing a little more that Quija, Venkman,' Ray joked, with some seriousness. As if on cue, a teenager came dashing from the hall, screaming in an awkwardly high-pitched voice and flailing his arms. He ran towards the Ghostbusters, headed for the doors. Pete reached out and snagged the kid's collar.

'And what do you think you're doing?' Venkman asked, somewhat sarcastically to the black-clad teen.

'I- I- I- di'nt mean to! I never thought the book would work!! I was jus' messin' around with it! Honest! I swear!!!' He finished as Pete loosened his grip.

'Well listen up kid,' Ray began. 'You just knocked on the door to Hell and, what a surprise, it opened up. Who knows for sure, but you could have just unleashed the flaming demons of Hell upon this fine city and the rest of the world. Now, next time do you think you'll stay away from 'hocus-pocus' and 'abracadabra? The kid's terror of the ghosts was replaced with his horror of this crazed stranger. For a moment, no one said a word. Ray just stared the kid down.

'AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' The gothic punk yelped as he sped out the doors, nearly tripping over himself.

'Nice job, Ray,' Pete encouraged. 'But you might have scarred that one.'

'I'll do better next time,' Ray joked. 'He shouldn't have been playing with the paranormal. We all know that sometimes it plays back. The little yuppie larva these days just don't care about that stuff,' he finished, somewhat saddened.

'Don't worry,' Pete reassured, charming grin on his face. 'Egon cares.' The four turned around and kicked open the doors to the energy tornado. Winston was the first to comment on what appeared before them.

'I'm no expert on the paranormal, but as a New Yorker, I'd say that's pretty screwed up,' he stated in his calm voice. The Ghostbusters stared on in awe as they saw what used to be an auditorium.

A swirling funnel of scarlet energy coursed on the far stage. Red, almost fungal, growths scoured the walls. Flames exploded from exposed portions of floor. Half the room was gone, replaced by dungeon-like stonework. Grotesque wall sconces in the form of goblins let out blue pyres.

'Uh, Egon? How's the damage looking?' Pete inquired for everyone's benefit.

'Whatever was read was extremely powerful,' the bespectacled scientist replied.

'Thank you, Captain Obvious. That was immensely helpful,' Venkman sarcastically added. 'Anyone else wanna give it a shot?'

'That brat actually opened up a portal to some other world. I didn't think that was even possible outside of ancient Sumerian legends. This is fantastic news!' Ray gushed, his child-like excitement taking over. Pete smirked.

'Let's just see how much work we have to do,' he ordered as he led the way. He felt the polished floor panels creak under their weight. Winston was the only one who was reluctant to set foot on a floor where flaming pits spontaneously appear. Pete, as usual, was the first to offer some encouragement. 'C'mon, Zeddemore, it's not like we're walking into Hell.' Winston shot Peter an unamused look. 'Well, I guess it is, but we're Ghostbusters. We deal with stuff like this everyday.' Winston shook his head.

'I don't know guys. I still don't like this. I mean remember Revelation 18:2? 'With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.

'Yeah, but that's Babylon. I'm no geography major but that's at least in Jersey,' Pete countered as flames erupted next to him.

'Venkman, you're on fire,' Spengler pointed out. Pete looked down at his hip. Black smoke wafted from a smolder spot in the fabric. He slapped it out and sneered.

'And I was just getting used to this one,' he complained. Never mind that all the jumpsuits were, in essence, exactly the same.

'Oh guys!' Ray shouted, already to the red vortex. He was staring into the gaping hole below the twister. The rest of the team clambered onto the stage (which was now musty, charred brimstone). They all simply looked into the depths.

It was a nebulous smattering of unearthly gray clouds, with spectral lightning cracking across the expanse. But suddenly, the overcast gloom scattered. An ancient, almost gothic city appeared before them. Twisted, demonic spires reached from castles of crumbling brick. Spooks of all size, shape, color, and class zipped around this world, populating it like New Yorkers would. But, as if uncaged, the ghostly masses turned to the portal. Rushing like a spectral stampede, the exodus was headed straight for our world. Egon shook his head in utter disbelief.

'They have a clean door to our world,' he stated with some defeat in his voice. 'Their world will soon merge with ours.'

'A cross-dimensional rift,' Ray defined.

'And that would be?' Pete pondered.

'It means that if we don't do something, New York is going to get a lot slimier,' Ray said.

'Well than let's introduce them to the Ghostbusters,' Pete shouted with excitement as he aimed his wand down into the hole, filling the room with the shimmering glow of ion beam. The rest of the Busters joined in, tearing the world below. They kept firing, but watched in horror as the horde sped up.

'HIT THE DECK,' Ray yelled as the deluge poured from the hole. The phantoms spread in all directions, soaring through the walls. Pete watched as he lay on his stomach. His eyebrows were raised in utter disbelief.

'So much for a vacation

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