A Ghostly Tale

Author's Note:

This chapter is to show some AU parts of the MC's universe.

I hope you like this.

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My next destination of note is a nearby carnival attraction going on by a pier. Grandpa gets out a few things from the RV, and you all group together, looking at the attractions.

It's all well and good until...

"Alright people, this is a holdup!"

Some man with a beanie atop his head an a gun clenched in his hand points his weapon at the gift shop vendor.

I look , almost in disbelief, before I gain a grin on my face. You have just the right hero for this one

My transformation goes as per usual, with the difference largely being the change in texture across your skin, suddenly feeling stiffer than you've ever been before.

"Oh crap, this is still cool," you say excitedly, looking down at the crystallized material that replaced your skin. Then you look to the robber, of whom hasn't even noticed your presence, hand shaking as he holds up a gun to you.

Someone from the crowd approaches carefully, hands held up.

"Okay m-man, let's just talk about this. Put down the gu-"

The robber panics, swiveling the weapon over to the new man, fishing out something from his wallet with one hand and pulling it out to reveal a lighter. His eyes are feral, and it's only now that you notice the stream of gasoline next to the mans feet, something you hadn't given much thought until now.

"Don't take another step, or this entire place goes up in flames!" He motions his gun to the floor, signalling the man to get lay down. "O-on the floor! Dump your wallet to the side, no sudden movements or things are gonna get real hot, real quick."

Grandpa Max is keeping people away, helping get them off of the scene; he turns to you and offers a nod, while he pushes Gwen along by the shoulder to help him. She seems none to pleased being sidelined but relents.

I stick my arms directly into the wooden flooring, extending out a wave of crystal that quickly cover the flooring. The man hardly has any time to move when your wall pops up, surrounding the man and entrenching him within it.

He lets out a muted yell, firing his gun, leaving hardly even a scratch against your crystals. However, the deafening sound that comes from firing a gun in an enclosed space leaves him falling to the ground, lighter dropping along with him.

Unfortunately, the man seems to have gotten some gasoline along his pant leg, and you watch with a level of disgust as it quickly catches, his pained screams barely audible in his prison. Well... that could have gone better.

Luckily, your grandpa comes in from the side with an extinguisher, and you lower the wall, as he gets smothered with the foam.

Nearby citizens watch on in awe, and they begin to murmur among each other, as a few cameras come out to snap photos of you.

I feel a tap on your leg, and find... a little kid, no older than five, jaw dropped as he holds out a comic book.

"Can you sign this please, mister hero?" He asks you sheepishly, voice a whisper.

People watch on, waiting for you to act.

You kneel down, giving the kid a dashingly heroic smile.

"Sure thing little guy. Who's this one going out to?"

"J-Jimmy ," he says hesitantly, though his eyes are wide and practically dancing with anticipation.

"Well Jimmy, " you say, adding an extra flourish to your signature as 'Diamondhead' that you hope comes off looking cool, "it's great to meet a fan. Name's Diamondhead; I'm sure you'll be hearing lots about me." Holding out a hand, I gotta wonder whether this will work, but my instincts haven't steered me wrong thus far, and so you summon a small crystalline figurine in your hands, in the shape of Diamondhead.

I hand it to the kid, who grasps it with shaking hands, while you do your utmost to refrain from laughter.

Then, I hear clapping begin to take form in the crowd, turning to see a collection of people gathered to witness the kind display.

When they start to cheer your name, 'Diamondhead', I have the oddest sensation of flushing, as your crystals are dotted a light pinkish hue. Then, you hold up a clenched fist, grin wide upon your face.

"Who's your hero?!"

When breaking from the crowd, I struggle finding a place far enough away to avoid any prying eyes. However, I find a spot hidden further away, and take the opportunity to regress back into human form in peace.

Meeting grandpa and Gwen in the RV, grandpa gives me a proud look, while Gwen has a fairly gentle smile on her face, though she does her best to wipe it from her visage when you glance to her, trying her best to look indifferent.

"Such a showoff," she chides you, though it holds no venom and I can't help but grin, bumping shoulders against her teasingly.

"Sorry Gwen, you must be sore that I didn't get you your very own Diamondhead too," I say teasingly, while she scoffs.

"As if I'd want a reminder of your huge ego." She retorts, while you gasp in mock horror.

"I'll have you know that my humbleness is one of my many wonderful qualities." You respond back with a complete lack of shame, while your cousin gives you a once over.

I laugh.

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The time comes for the three of you to get a move on towards you next destination, though before you set off Grandpa Max gets a call from an old friend, or friends if the multiple voices on the other end are any indication.

"Hey Venkman! Long time no talk, how are things? Wait wait, slow down a bit, I can barely understand you. What do you mean there's a haunted amusement park you're checking out? Why do you need my help? Isn't this you guy's area? I just helped you guys out the once. I guess I do owe you guys one after that one time in Albuquerque...fine, guess I'll be there in a few days." Grandpa Max says over the phone.

"Alright kids, change of plans, we're heading to an abandoned amusement park to meet a couple of old friends of mine, so buckle up back there would you?" He says, turning to look back at the both of you.

"Sure thing Grandpa, what's the name of this place anyways?" You ask as you get yourself seated.

"Oh the name? I think they said it was Funzo's Funland or something like that." He says, turning back towards the steering wheel. Gwen and I look at each other for a moment at the familiar name before she pulls out her laptop to do some quick research on the location. It only takes a moment of her looking into this place before she shouts at Grandpa Max.

"Grandpa why are you taking us to a notoriously haunted amusement park!?"she asks him.

This prompts a laugh from him before he answers her question, amusement still clear in his voice.

"Relax Gwen, those friends of mine are experts on dealing with things like ghosts, they just need an extra set of hands, or three, to take care of this place." Is his reply from the front as he starts up the Rustbucket.

"Grandpa!" Me and Gwen cry in unison, which prompts a loud laugh from him after a moment.

It takes a few days for the three of you to reach your destination, which happens to be an old decrepit metal gate, which already has another vehicle parked near it. I call it a vehicle because I have no idea what it's original design was supposed to be.

It resembles the Rustbucket, somewhat at least, which tells you that it was likely originally meant to be an RV, but the extensive modifications to it have turned it into something else entirely.

The image plastered onto the side seems familiar to you for some reason...but you can't quite remember it right now.

Hmmm.

Grandpa Max pulls up close to the other vehicle, stopping the Rustbucket and getting out once he's put it in park. Me and Gwen get out after him, and watch as he steps up to the door of the other vehicle, pressing a doorbell that they installed for some reason.

"Just a second!" A voice calls from inside, followed by a series of crashes and cursing before the door finally opens and a face pokes out.

No. Way.

"Max! Good to see you man! I guess these are the grandkids then? Nice to meet you two, Peter Venkman, founder of Ghostbusters Incorporated." The man says, opening the door fully and leaning over to shake you and Gwen's hands.

I honestly blanked out for a while from shock .

"- Grandpa here actually helped us out with one of our cases a long time ago." He says, wrapping an arm around Grandpa's shoulders.

"Really? But you don't look nearly as old as you should in that case. No offense Grandpa." Gwen says.

"Haha! True, me and the others might not look it but we're just about the same age as your Grandpa here, turns out ectoplasm makes for a really good wrinkle remover if you know what you're doing, and Egon definitely knows what he's doing...never really took him for a skincare guy though." Peter says in answer.

I'm still in shock

"Anyways, it's probably best that we talk out here, the Ecto-Ten is a little bit of a mess right now, Egon's been working on something to try and help us with the park." He says, gesturing for you all to step away from the...Ecto-Ten he called it.

This is when I finally break out of my daze.

"Alright so here's the situation Max, this place has always been haunted since it was abandoned, but according to Egon it was small stuff, minor apparitions, small objects moving on their own, things like that. That is until about a week ago, a couple of thrill seekers came by looking to get spooked a little, but came out screaming a few minutes later saying the entire park was pretty well overrun with visible manifestations. Word spread and eventually it reached us, so we came by to check it out, and sure enough the park's full of ghosts. Thing is, the readings from some of Egon's detectors keep going up, which means the park is filling up with more ghosts as time goes on, which means one of two things. We got a situation similar to what happened in New York and something big is coming...and soon. Or, someone is bringing them over. " Venkman says, tenting his hands in front of his face.

"Now I'm sure you're probably wondering why we called you about this rather than get someone else, and the answer to that is you're really lucky." He continues.

"What? You called me cause you think I'm lucky? Sure my luck is a bit...weird sometimes, but surely you know someone else that is better suited for this?" Grandpa Max asks.

"If you wanna call literally stumbling over the thing that helped us close the case weird luck then sure you're luck is weird, but Max, we really don't have anyone else we can call. Do you think I'd have bothered you if I did?" Peter replies earnestly. This prompts a heavy sigh from Grandpa Max, as he pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment before replying.

"Alright, what do you need my help with?" He asks Peter.

"That's where I recognized the symbol! You guys saved New York from a giant marshmallow monster years ago!" I shout once he introduces himself, finally remembering where you had seen the symbol on the side of the vehicle before but pretending that was where you seen them.

"Ahaha! I see you're a fan, yeah that was us, glad we really haven't need to deal with anything on that scale since then. Your Grandpa here actually helped us out with one of our cases a long time ago." He says, wrapping an arm around Grandpa's shoulders.

"Really? But you don't look nearly as old as you should in that case. No offense Grandpa." Gwen says.

"Now I'm sure you're probably wondering why we called you about this rather than get someone else, and the answer to that is you're really lucky." He continues.

"What? You called me cause you think I'm lucky? Sure my luck is a bit...weird sometimes, but surely you know someone else that is better suited for this?" Grandpa Max asks.

"Alright, what do you need my help with?" He asks Peter.

"Well that's a little bit of a complicated question to answer Max. The truth is we really don't know exactly what is going on here. We've been parked outside the gates these last couple of days, dealing with all the ghosts that try to get out. The problem is that they just keep coming, and we have no idea why. Egon thinks there has to be some sort of rift in the fabric between our world and the afterlife, and honestly at this point I'm starting to believe him. None of the ghosts we've seen here so far have any connection with each other. We've seen modern sailors, Pilgrims, Native Americans, Cowboys, and whole host of others from different time periods, even seen a ghost dinosaur or two at one point. Simply put, we're just a little bit outnumbered here, and we could really use the help, both to contain the ghosts and figure out what the heck is going on and stop it." Peter says, launching into a bit of a rambling explanation.

"That does sound concerning, I have no idea what's going on here, ghosts were always more you guy's thing, but if you need help you can count on me. And my grandkids too, right kids?" Grandpa Max asks, turning to look at the two of you.

"Are you kidding? A chance to help THE Ghostbusters? Of course I'm in!" I answer excitedly.

"I'm not too sure about this Grandpa..." Gwen says hesitantly, prompting a mocking response from yourself.

"What's wrong Dweeb, scared?" You say.

"N-no! I'm just not sure this is the greatest idea is all." She stutters for a moment, turning away from you.

"Hey guys, look who finally showed up." Peter says once you enter the room, causing the other occupants to look up from their various bits of work.

"Hey! It's Max! And these must be those Grandkids you mentioned the last time we saw each other." The redheaded man says jovially.

"That they are Raymond, this is my Grandson Ben, and my Granddaughter Gwen. Kids, this is Raymond Stantz. The man with the glasses is Egon Spengler, and the man currently putting away the proton packs is Winston Zeddemore." Grandpa Max says, gesturing to each of the men in turn.

"Nice to meet you two." Winston says, shaking both of your hands.

"I must say, that's a rather odd looking watch you're wearing there, might I take look at it?" Egon asks from off to the side.

"I'd rather you not, I found it in this neat curiosity shop and I've grown rather attached to it." I reply, bringing your arm closer to your chest to try and hide the Omnitrix from view. The man narrows his eyes behind his glasses for a moment before relenting and turning back to his work.

"Please excuse Egon he's...a bit of a headcase when it comes to technology sometimes." Peter says.

"I'd prefer to be called 'dedicated to the advancement of science' rather than a headcase Venkman." Egon says, not even looking up from his work fiddling with a disassembled proton pack.

I wander over there after a moment, and take a look at the pack from over his shoulder.

The moment you do you start piecing together the design and mechanics behind the pack, you're mind going into overdrive. Your eyes dance over the components, your brow furrowed in concentration, before you notice a part that looks on the verge of failing.

"One of your part there looks like it's about to fall apart, if it does that's going to throw off all of the alignment for your containment field to keep the protons directed. Might want to replace that soon otherwise you're likely going to end up with a non-functioning pack at the best and an explosion waiting to happen at the worst." You say, pointing at the part in question over the man's shoulder. He jerks back for a moment in surprise, before leaning closer to inspect the part you pointed out to him.

"You're right, thank you for pointing it out." He says almost absentmindedly, before the rest of your statement registers in his mind. "Hold on a moment, you understand how this works?" he asks gesturing to the parts laid out on the table.

"Somewhat. The exact mechanics escape me, but the basics I understand. It's supposed to accelerate and direct protons out of the wand there, but anything beyond that escapes me." I answer.

[Synchronisation 88%.]

Wait. How ....

"Still, to understand that much from just a quick glance at the parts...impressive to say the least." Egon remarks, voice filled with a mix of respect and...awe?

"Looks like you're grandson has a promising future there Max. Come one guys, help me get the kids set up with some gear and give them a crash course on how to use them would you?" Peter says.

"Aw man, and I just put them away too." Winston says, his shoulders slumping slightly.

"Sorry Winston, come on kids, lets head back outside and let them get stuff ready alright?" Grandpa says ushering the two of you outside.

So , after some quick research in response it seems that Post GB2, rather than shutting down and fading into relative obscurity, the Original Team finds that occult activity is on the rise across the nation. Peter, being the mad genius that he is, convinces the others that the only option is to franchise their brand, or be run ragged by the constant calls.

To that end, Ghostbusters Ltd. was established, and you are now the most recent employee of the fine establishment.

"Have there been any particular events or entities locally that might be connected?" you ask somewhat worriedly. She actually laughs at that.

"There's so many legends and people of note in this city that it's hard to sort the real from the facade that the city has built up over the years. We're probably going to be getting a lot of false calls and complaints... though I guess consultation fees will help cover our basic utilities until a real bust comes in."

"But I can tell you that there's at least one ghost here in the building. We're not sure if it's a former customer, one of the, ahem, working women, or one of the Madame's that decided to hang around. All we really know is that they've definitely tied themselves to that bell as a focus point, but their general influence is spread throughout the building. Thankfully so far they appear to be relatively benign, if a bit, hands on. They only really get active after someone rings the bell."

"I'd heard a bit about that, but not the whole story. Is the bell itself haunted, or is it the building?"

Lilian flushes, apparently realizing she's been rambling. "To answer your original question, the entire building seems to be suffused with un-aspected PKE, while the readings affiliated with the bell are more contained. I think we may be on a minor hotspot, and the spirits are taking advantage of it."

As she finishes talking to you, you both jump as a small alarm goes off.

Now to cut the thought at the bud , I won't go any further with Ghost Busters.

It will be a type of Noodle Incident or Budapest.

I might change my mind and make a OMAKE of it or Flashback it but we all know whatever ghost attack , it would've been over in seconds with Ben there , this is just to explore something.

Ben 10 exists in a multiverse.

While I won't add Marvel/DC or anime stuff , Warner Bros left a lot of fandoms that can fit just nicely.

A hint on what I mean.

The idea was from a video game.

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