#58 - "The Unreal Ghostbusters" | Halloween Special! (Originally Written In: 2011)
"We're not even in this one? What a rip!"
"Get back here..."
"Thank you, AJ. Now, as I was ABOUT to say... Hi, everyone. Clayton here, and I get to do the intro for this week. ... How do I do that?"
"Geez, Clayton. Way to screw it up."
"Sorry, luv."
"It's okay. So, yeah, while everyone's away, you at home are probably wondering what we're up to."
"Not really, no. It doesn't concern me, so I don't really care!"
"Oh, but it does concern you, dear."
"Aw, man. Johnny has to be in this, too?"
"Afraid so. Oh, and I'm back."
"And, you are...?"
"I'm Sandra, you tool. We went hiking, saw a monster, ran for our lives about twenty-something episodes ago. Ring a bell...?"
"Oh, yeah, Sandra! How've you been?"
"Well, after I got Chuck Cunningham'd out of this story, I fought my way out of the Void and, well, here I am."
"Ahem. I was doing an intro here, before you all came barging in."
"Yeah, whatever. Look, this is an actual Halloween special. It has no bearing in the overall story, but I'm in it, so that's all you need to know. Happy Halloween, and enjoy the show!"
"Aw, babe, you know how to get things moving so quickly!"
"Gag me. Can you see why I don't like him?"
"Don't I get to be in this, too?"
"Bloody hell. I'll be in my trailer."
"Clayton! Don't leave me alone with them! Come back!"
[ Reggie | AJ | Clayton | Larissa | Johnny | Carrie | Isaac | Sandra | Rainier ]
Larissa was sitting at Karone's desk, trying to catch up on paperwork, when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in!"
Clayton opened the door and walked in. "Did you forget what tonight was?"
She quickly looked at the calendar. "No, not really. What's tonight?"
"We were going to wait in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin!"
Larissa stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "That 'Charlie Brown' thing?"
"It's real, I tell you!"
"Okay, I think I'm going to take your DVD of that special away from you. I think you've seen it one too many times. There's no such thing as the Great Pumpkin."
"Fine! I'll prove it to you that he's real!" He turned around and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
"Someone's having their time of the month," Larissa said, looking around at the stacks of papers that were surrounding her on the desk. "Speaking of time of the month, I hate the first weekend of the month! Who thought of Half-Price Weekends?"
~*~
Clayton approached the end of the driveway into Sea World, when something caught the corner of his eye. He looked to his right to try and see what it was and could vaguely make out a round-shaped head. "Could that be the Great Pumpkin?" A lightning flash revealed that its head was orange and its body was green. "Round orange head... It has to be! I've got to follow it!" He turned right out of the driveway, and drove toward the field where he saw it going. He stopped his car and looked around, holding up his camera phone to try and get some proof.
After a few minutes, he heard a furious pounding on his car door. He turned around and was met face to face with a pumpkin-headed creature. "It's you! The Great Pumpkin!" He took a couple of pictures, but the flash was too much for the creature to handle. It ran back into the field. Clayton looked at the pictures. "Now, I've got proof, but who should I show it to?" He looked at the clock on his dash. "It's too late tonight. I'll go to the Café tomorrow. At the very least, I can get Carrie and her brother to come back here with me."
~*~
The next morning, Carrie, Isaac, and Johnny were decorating the Inside-Out Café, when Clayton came running in. "Guys! Guys!"
"We're closed, dude," Johnny said from atop a ladder. "Come back at 11."
"Johnny, it's Clayton, and it's got to be important, if he's running in like a lunatic," Carrie replied. She walked over to Clayton. "What's got your knickers in a twist?" Isaac snickered.
"Cute. You're not going to believe this, but I saw the Great Pumpkin last night!"
"Really?" Johnny jumped off of the ladder and ran up to him. "What's he like?"
Isaac, who was on another ladder across the room, stepped down. "Figures YOU'D like the Great Pumpkin." He walked over to the three of them. "Wait a minute. Isn't the Great Pumpkin from that Charlie Brown cartoon? It doesn't really exist."
"Oh, no?" Clayton asked, pulling out his phone. "Then, explain these pictures." Carrie, Isaac, and Johnny looked at the pictures in amazement. "Now, do you believe me?"
"THAT thing is the Great Pumpkin?" Carrie asked.
"If Linus only knew what would be coming for him, he wouldn't have waited in the pumpkin patch every year."
"So, why are you showing this to us?" Johnny asked.
"I want you lot to come with me to this same field tonight," Clayton explained. "We're going to capture the Great Pumpkin!"
"I'm in!" Johnny exclaimed. "How about it, Carrie? It might be romantic!"
"Hunting down some weird pumpkin creature in a random field in the middle of the night?"
"That's not romantic in the --"
"I'm in! Let's go!"
"-- Wait, what? You all can't be serious."
Clayton nudged Isaac. "Bring your friend, Sandra, along and make it a double date."
Isaac pondered that thought. "Okay, I'm in, but what are we going to use to actually, you know, CAPTURE this thing?"
"Isn't one of Sandra's relatives a cop?" Johnny asked. "Can't you get her to borrow some weapons?"
"No!" Isaac shouted. "I'm not even sure if she'll want to go."
-"Not sure I'll want to go where?"- Isaac turned around and saw Sandra walk into the restaurant, arm-in-arm with Rainier. "Everyone, I'd like for you to meet my new boyfriend, Rainier! Rainier, this is Carrie, Johnny, Clayton, and someone who never thought to call me again."
"I have a name, you know."
"We've met before," Carrie said. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, Sandra told me that you guys were gonna decorate for Halloween, so I thought I'd come by and see if I could lend a hand."
"Isn't he just so... Wow?"
Carrie rolled her eyes. "Oh, he's just SOMETHING all right."
"Sandra, we're going to capture a pumpkin monster tonight, and we need all of the help that we can get. Are you in?" Isaac asked.
"A monster? Isn't that why we have Power Rangers?"
"It's not a monster," Clayton interjected, "it's the Great Pumpkin. Geez! Get it right!"
"Sorry!"
"We've got some harpoons and the like back at Sea World," Rainier said. "I could bring those along."
Sandra squeezed him around his waist. "Isn't my baby just SO resourceful?"
"Gag me with Cleveland," Isaac muttered under his breath.
"So, it's settled. We'll all meet at the cornfield about two miles south of Sea World tonight at about 11:30," Clayton said. "Everyone, bring... Well, whatever you think will be appropriate. I'll see you all tonight!"
~*~
Later that evening, Clayton was parked on the side of the highway by the field, plotting out his course of action in his car. With his focus drawn away from his surroundings, he nearly jumped through the roof of his car when Johnny ran up and started beating on the window right next to him. He set his papers on the seat next to him, then rolled down the window. "What did you do that for?"
"No reason, really," Johnny replied, smiling. Carrie, Isaac, Rainier, and Sandra walked up behind him.
"We're here," Sandra said, "and my boo's brought all of the weaponry we'll need to get this monster... thing. Didn't you, snuggle bunny?" She kissed Rainier on the nose, in plain sight of everyone, including Isaac, who was now gagging.
"Dude, I brought EVERYTHING I could find: Tranquilizer guns, paintball guns, air rifles... It's all in my trunk!"
Clayton got out of his car. "Everyone, get your weapons ready. I'll try and lure him out." They nodded and went toward Rainier's car, while Clayton walked into the field. "Oh, Great Pumpkin! I'm here! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" He heard a rustling from a nearby bush. Clayton froze and looked over at it. "Hello? Great Pumpkin, is that you?" The gang slowly crept up behind him, as he backed up. Clayton motioned toward the bush, and everyone took aim. Suddenly, a figure in green with an orange pumpkin-shaped head popped up. "There he is!"
"Huh?" The figure looked at the lineup of weapons aimed at him. "Wait!"
"On three," Clayton ordered. Everyone took aim. "One..."
"No, you don't understand!" He reached for his pumpkin head, and tried to remove it.
"Two..."
He pulled his head off, revealing his true identity. "Stop! It's me, Vincent!"
"Who?" Clayton asked.
"Wait, I've heard of you," Carrie said, lowering her air rifle. "You're that jerk from Victory Ridge that tormented Reggie because he didn't go to that tennis tournament in your town." She looked at Clayton. "I say we fire on him, anyway."
"No, don't! I've reformed my ways!" Vincent exclaimed.
"So, you just go around scaring random people on the highway by standing in a field in a pumpkin monster costume?" Clayton asked.
"Even I know that this is worse than tormenting Reggie," Johnny said.
"You mean, I don't get to use my new paintball guns?" Rainier asked. "Man! This bites!"
"Hand one over," Clayton said, extending his hand out. "I can think of a good use for one."
Vincent tossed his pumpkin head aside and started to back up. "What are you going to do with that gun?" He watched as Clayton took the gun from Rainier and took aim. "Now, can't we talk this over like civilized people? No?" He ducked as Clayton fired a warning shot in his direction. "I guess not. Well, I can't say that this hasn't been fun, but it's late, and I need to go." Clayton fired again, hitting him in the shoulder. "Ow! Those paintball thingies hurt!"
"Hey, that looks like fun!" Carrie shouted. She grabbed one of the paintball guns. "This is for Reggie! Vengeance!" She and Clayton started to run after Vincent, firing their guns at him.
Everyone else stood and watched, laughing. "Serves you right!"
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