TF: Slimer In The Machine

Galvatron sat in his throne with a surly look on his face. Not that his current expression was anything out of the ordinary--far from it--but in this case there was a special reason for it. He had no recharge sleep for days. All because of....him..........

"Blast it!" Galvatron screamed into the empty air, "WHY can't you leave me ALONE???!!!"

"I'll NEVER leave you alone," the all-too-familiar high-pitched voice taunted him, "NOT until I get back what is rightfully mine. How ironic that by destroying me, you ensured that I would be a thorn in your side for all eternity!!! Ah, hahahahaha!"

"STAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRSCREEEEEEEEEAM!!!!!"

*

Cyclonus and Scourge rushed into the room. "Mighty Galvatron, what is wrong?" Cyclonus exclaimed.

The entity cackled and disappeared, off to work mischief elsewhere.

"Starscream showed up again, didn't he?" Scourge growled.

"I do NOT need your help to deal with Starscream," Galvatron snapped.

"But we cannot destroy him," Cyclonus said, "There is no way to stop him."

Swindle walked through the open door. "Hey guys I couldn't help overhearing," he said, "But I think there's a way we can get rid of Starscream once and for all."

"I'm listening," Galvatron said crossly.

"Well on Earth, there are these Humans that call themselves the Ghostbusters," Swindle explained, "They get calls to go and capture ghosts. That's how they make their money. If we could hire them, I'm sure they could take care of Starscream in no time."

"Hmmmm," Cyclonus mused, "Your idea is a good one, Swindle. What do you say, Mighty Galvatron?"

"It's probably the only way to stop Starscream," Swindle stated.

"Very well then," Galvatron agreed reluctantly, "Go and hire these Ghostbusters. Bring them to Chaar and order them to take care of Starscream's Ghost."

****

The phone rang at the Ghostbusters' firehouse.

"Ghostbusters!" Janine answered, "How may we help you? Uh huh? No kidding eh? All right, I'll tell them." Janine put down the phone, then hollered towards upstairs.

"Guys! HEY GUYS!! Come down here, you're not gonna believe this!"

Slimer appeared, having passed through the ceiling and leaving a puddle of slime in his wake. "Nah gana bllllllllll-l-l-l!" he babbled.

Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston came downstairs.

"What is it, Janine?" Ray asked.

"The Decepticons want to hire us to bust a ghost," Janine stated.

"Are you serious?" Ray continued.

"Hmph. Maybe it was a prank call," Winston said doubtfully.

A voice came from behind the huge doors to the Firehouse. "I assure you gentlemen, this is no prank."

Both doors swung open and there stood Swindle. "We have a really serious ghost problem on Chaar," Swindle continued, "And you're the only ones that can help."

Peter and the guys gaped at seeing a real live Decepticon standing at the door to their firehouse.

"So assuming we take the job," Peter said, "How can we trust you to take us back to Earth?"

"You really don't have a choice," Swindle stated. At that moment, Ratbat flew through the open door and headed straight for Janine. He grabbed her and carried her out, with Janine screaming the whole time.

"JANINE!" all four Ghostbusters--and Slimer--hollered.

"You see, if you don't help us, you don't get to see your friend again," Swindle told them.

"Well guys, I guess we're taking a trip to another planet," Egon said in defeat.

"Excellent," Swindle said, "Just follow me in your car there. And don't try anything funny."

Swindle led Ecto-1 through New York, then outside the city to an abandoned field where Astrotrain was waiting in Space Shuttle mode. Ray, Egon, Peter, and Winston unpacked the extra gear from Ecto-1 and got on board with it. Swindle came along as well.

Slimer had secretly stowed away on Ecto-1 when the guys had left, and now he went through the closed shuttle door. He hid himself under the floor so nobody would see him.

"I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna take a nap," Peter announced, "Wake me up when we get there."

*

The long journey was finally over. Fortunately, Astrotrain encountered no Autobots--Galvatron had sent most of the Decepticon forces to keep the likes of Skylynx and Rodimus Prime busy--and Galvatron had hoped the Autobots would not interfere in his current affairs anyway.

*

The first thing the Ghostbusters saw upon exiting Astrotrain was Cyclonus and Galvatron standing over them.

"So I understand you want us to bust a ghost," Peter began.

"Yes." Galvatron replied.

"It might help if we had some background on this ghost," Egon said, "Who he is, how he became a ghost, you know, that sort of thing."

"The ghost in question is a former lieutenant of mine named Starscream," Galvatron informed them.

"And how did he die?" Egon continued.

"I blasted him into oblivion--twice," Galvatron replied, "The second time, he had convinced Unicron to re-create his old body."

Egon got out his PKE meter. The yellow lights on the end of the PKE meter's raised antennae began flashing and the meter sounded its warning beeps.

"I'm getting a reading," Egon stated, "He's over there someplace." He pointed in the direction just past Galvatron and Cyclonus.

"You can actually detect ghosts with that device?" Cyclonus asked in amazement.

"Of course," Egon told him, "This is a Psycho-Kinetic Energy meter. All ghosts give off Psycho-Kinetic energy. It's what gives them their unusual abilities--like going through walls or levitating objects. The stronger the reading, the closer the ghost is. It can also tell me how powerful the ghost is. Strong ghosts are harder to capture than weaker ones."

"I don't know about you, but all this talk about ghosts is giving me the surges," Astrotrain interrupted, "I'm outta here." He transformed to robot mode and noticed something. "Ewww yuck how did all this SLIME get on me?" Astrotrain shouted.

"SLIMER!!!" Peter called out angrily.

Slimer stuck his head out of Astrotrain's side. "Nyoooo cah me?" Slimer asked.

"AAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Astrotrain screamed, "Get this thing OFF ME!!!"

Galvatron glared at Peter. "Am I to understand that this thing BELONGS to you?"

"Ummm, more like he just kinda hangs out with us," Peter said nervously.

"Keep it away from me!" Astrotrain demanded.

"Slimer, come here," Ray scolded.

"Ahhh okay Rayyyy," Slimer said, and floated out of Astrotrain.

*

Galvatron suddenly fired his weapon at Slimer. But the beam passed through him harmlessly. "AAAGH! Why can't I destroy that miserable flesh creature?" he snarled.

"First of all, he's not a 'flesh creature,' he's a free-floating ectoplasmic entity--Class 5, to be exact," Egon said, "And secondly, he's already dead."

"You mean to tell me that thing is a GHOST?!" Galvatron shouted.

"Precisely," Egon replied.

"Then why haven't you caught him?" Galvatron wanted to know.

"He's kinda our friend," Ray told him, "Plus he can help us out a lot. It takes a ghost to know one, I always say. Who knows, maybe he can help us catch this ghost."

A strange smile spread across Galvatron's face. He then turned and walked towards the command center.

*

"So what will you do with Starscream's ghost when you catch him?" Cyclonus wondered, "Can you destroy him?"

"Scientifically speaking, it is impossible to destroy a ghost," Egon explained, "But what we can do is contain them. We have a storage facility on earth that basically mimics the Underworld. Ghosts are prevented from escaping by a special forcefield within the Containment Unit. That's where we will put this ghost."

"And he'll never bother us again?" Scourge said eagerly.

"Not unless the Containment Field is breached," Egon told him.

*

"Okay now, where were we..." Egon said, "Ah, yes. The PKE reading. Let's go." He slowly walked in the direction that the PKE meter indicated. Ray, Peter, Slimer, and Winston followed. Pretty soon they saw what looked like brilliant sparkles of light.

"That's it!" Egon shouted, "This ghost appears to be a free-floating vapor, and he's at least a Class 7." Everybody switched on their proton packs.

"All right, let's go get him!" Peter announced. He fired his proton stream at the sparkles of light. The sparkles quickly coalesced into Starscream's visible form, and he quickly evaded the stream. The proton stream hit a chunk of rock and blew it apart.

"So Galvatron is sending flesh creatures to do his dirty work for him, is he?" Starscream stated. Ray and Winston both tried to nail Starscream but he was too fast.

Cyclonus came running up. "I don't understand--how does he know to avoid the beams?" he asked.

"Good question," Egon commented.

Starscream dissolved again and seemed to disappear.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Ray wanted to know. Suddenly the sparkly lights showed up around Cyclonus' feet. Moments later, Cyclonus raised his weapon and aimed it at Egon.

"Egon, WATCH OUT!!!" Ray shouted. Egon turned and jumped out of the way just in time.

"Why did he do that?" Peter wondered.

"Because he's possessed," Egon said matter-of-factly. Starscream was still using Cyclonus to fire at them and they all had to take cover.

"Oh great," said Winston, "Now what do we do?"

"RUN!" Egon announced, as the possessed Cyclonus approached.

"Wait, I've got an idea!" Peter said brightly, "Slimer--GO GET HIM!!!"

"Aye Aye Peetah," Slimer said, and saluted. Then he turned and headed right for Cyclonus.

"Slime him good!" Peter added.

Slimer smacked right into Cyclonus' chest, and made the biggest splash possible.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH, YEEEEEEEUCK!" Starscream hollered, and quickly vacated the premises.

"Now's our chance!" Ray exclaimed, and everybody aimed their proton streams.

They hit Starscream just as he was leaving Cyclonus. When the beams hit him he screamed louder and shriller than he ever had before. Ray reached behind his back, pulled out a ghost trap, and slid it underneath Starscream. Then he stepped on the pad to open the trap, and Starscream was sucked inside. The trap closed and the heat evaporating off of it made a bit of steam rise into the air like smoke. Cyclonus stirred, as if waking up from a sound slumber. "What happened...last thing I remember was..." he cut himself short when he noticed he was covered with Slimer's slime. "UGH, THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Cyclonus protested, as he tried to shake as much of the slime off as possible from his arms and legs. He looked at the Ghostbusters, and saw Ray holding up the steaming trap.

"WE GOT HIM!" Ray gloated.

"Excellent, Galvatron will be pleased," Cyclonus stated, "But was this really necessary?" He indicated all the slime that he was still covered in.

"Oh absolutely," Peter assured him, "If I hadn't got Slimer to slime you, we probably would have had to use these babies on you." He patted his proton pack.

"What would have happened to me if I got hit with one of those beams?" Cyclonus wanted to know.

"Your individual atoms would be taking separate vacations," Egon finished.

*

The Ghostbusters brought the trap to show Galvatron.

"And Starscream is in that trap?" Galvatron asked.

"Yep," Winston replied.

"Good," Galvatron said, and pointed his cannon at Ray. He charged it up.

Ray noticed, dropped the trap, and jumped out of the way just in time. Galvatron's beam hit the trap and blew it apart.

"Uh-oh," Egon began.

*

"Ah, hahahahaha!" Starscream laughed when he realized he was free. He then quickly disappeared into the ground before the Ghostbusters had a chance to use the proton packs.

"I don't understand why you did that," Egon told Galvatron, "By destroying the trap, you made sure he escaped."

"BAHHHHH!" Galvatron hollered, "I was trying to DESTROY him!"

"That's impossible," Egon said matter-of-factly, "All you did was destroy the one thing that was keeping him from roaming around freely. Now we have to start all over again." He got out his PKE meter again and he led the other Ghostbusters off to search for Starscream again.

"Man that Galvatron guy seems to be malfunctioning," Ray stated when they were some distance away, "We already told him that you can't destroy a ghost. It's as if he never heard a word we said."

"Hmmm..." Egon mused, "I wonder if Starscream ever tried to possess Galvatron."

"Well, why don't we ask?" Ray suggested. Scourge was nearby, having followed them. Ray turned around. "Excuse me, we need to ask you something."

"What is it?" Scourge growled.

"Did this ghost ever try to possess Galvatron?" Ray wondered.

"No," Scourge said flatly.

"I wonder why that is," Ray said.

"Galvatron is insane," Scourge replied, "But you didn't hear that from me."

"We noticed," Peter commented.

"Oh, just one more thing," Ray added, "What did Starscream do to deserve getting vaporized?"

"He tried to usurp the position of Leadership," Scourge informed him.

"He wanted to be the LEADER?!" Winston exclaimed, "That might help us catch him!"

"And, if we do this right, he may automatically get sent to the Spirit World," Egon said, "Either way, you're rid of him for good. However we will need Galvatron's co-operation. Now here's my plan..." Scourge and the Ghostbusters then went to see Galvatron again and told him of Egon's plan.

"WHAT?!" Galvatron screamed at the top of his lungs, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?! I will NEVER give up Leadership of the Decepticons to that traitor!"

"Listen, do you want to be rid of Starscream, or not?" Peter told him.

"AAGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!" Galvatron growled.

"It makes perfect sense," Egon said, "Many ghosts haunt the living because they are trying to finalize something they never fully accomplished in their life. The reason Starscream is haunting you is because you destroyed him just as he was about to fulfill his greatest wish--to lead the Decepticons. If we give him what he wants, one of two things will happen. One, we get a chance to surprise him and catch him. Two, he dissipates completely and is sent to the Spirit World--and that's a one-way trip. Either way, your problems will be over."

Galvatron sighed. "Oh..........very well," he conceded reluctantly.

"Good. Now all we have to do is find him," Peter said.

Galvatron followed the Ghostbusters this time. After walking around for awhile, the PKE meter zeroed in on Starscream's location.

"He's very close now," Egon stated, "Ok, let's do it."

"Starscream!" Galvatron called out, "Show yourself!"

"And why would I want to do that?" came the answer.

"I have something to tell you," Galvatron said.

"Oh, and what is that?" Starscream sneered.

"I have decided to...allow you.........to lead the Decepticons," Galvatron said, but his facial expression was indicating a Transformer's equivalent of turning a livid shade of purple.

"This is some sort of trick, isn't it?!" Starscream stated, "I know you would never willingly give up your position, Galvatron."

"I assure you it is not a trick," Galvatron told him.

"Then tell those flesh creatures to deactivate their weapons," Starscream demanded.

"Shut 'em off, guys," Peter ordered. All four Ghostbusters switched off their proton packs.

"There," Starscream said, "Now is the time for us to finally finish the Autobots!"

"Fine," Galvatron said, but the expression on his face plainly showed that it was not fine with him.

Starscream then appeared in his visible form, and Galvatron led everybody to Trypticon.

Scourge had told the other Decepticons of the plan to catch Starscream, so that the plan would work. They needed to convince Starscream that he really was the Leader now, so everyone needed to play along. Cyclonus and Scourge then had all the Decepticons assemble just outside Trypticon.

"Decepticons, hear me!" Starscream called out, "I am now YOUR NEW LEADER!! As your leader, we will FINALLY wipe out the Autobots ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

"Okay, he's the Leader now, why isn't he dissipating?" Winston wondered.

"He has been the Leader before," Cyclonus told him, "But his wish was to obliterate the Autobots and rule the Universe. Galvatron was never able to do that."

"Oh great," Ray moaned, "Now the only way he'll dissipate is if the Autobots are destroyed and the entire Universe is conquered. That'll take way too long!"

"And my first command is, destroy those flesh creatures!" Starscream ordered.

A few of the Decepticons tokenly raised their weapons and pointed them in the Ghostbusters' direction, but by then Peter and Ray had secretly switched their proton packs back on. The beams hit Starscream, causing him to cry out. Winston got out a trap and threw it under Starscream. It opened when Winston stepped on the remote switch, and Starscream was pulled inside. The trap shut of its own accord, and steam began evaporating from it.

"Now this time, DON'T SHOOT THE TRAP!" Ray shouted.

"Let's get this baby home," Winston said as he picked the trap up.

Egon looked up at Swindle, who was standing there with the rest of the Decepticons. "What about Janine?" he asked.

"Umm..." Swindle stammered.

"Look, if we don't get Janine back, I'm gonna open this trap right back up..." Egon began.

"No, don't do that!!!" Galvatron shouted, "Very well! I will order the release of your friend. Astrotrain--take them back to Earth."

Astrotrain balked, but one dirty look from Galvatron made him give in. He transformed, and the

Ghostbusters got in. "Well at least I don't see that green slimy thing with them now."

"Hey that reminds me, has anybody seen Slimer?" Ray wondered.

"Heah I yam," Slimer called out, and came out of nowhere.

Astrotrain groaned.

****

Back on Earth, Janine was sitting behind her desk.

"Janine, thank goodness you're alright," Ray said.

"Yeah, they let me go a few hours ago," Janine told them, "But it wasn't any fun being in a little glowing cage guarded by a robot bat, bird, cat, and two little punks that kept making fun of me. And the big guy sounded like a Cylon off of that old Battlestar Galactica show." She sighed. "Well at least they didn't hurt me, but I was starving by the time they took me back, so I ordered in some Chinese food. Anyone want any leftover Kung Pao Chicken and Pork Fried Rice?"

"Meeeeeeee!" Slimer called out, and rushed towards the food.

"Hold it Slimer," Ray said, "We haven't had anything to eat, too. Let's share it, okay?"

"Okayyyyyyyy Rayyyyyyy," Slimer said reluctantly.

Peter loaded the contents of the ghost trap into the containment unit in the basement. "Have fun making new friends!" he called out as the upload was in progress.

Starscream found himself in an eerie, artificial ethereal world. Ghosts of all imaginable types were roaming around. With some it was obvious that they had been flesh creatures. One of the more powerful ones came up to him.

"Well well, look at the newbie," the ghost said.

"Agh! Get away from me you disgusting flesh creature!" Starscream snapped.

"Correction--ex- flesh creature," the ghost told him, "And that's too bad. Looks like yer stuck with us."

"Hi. Wanna be my friend?" a dopey voice behind Starscream said.

Starscream turned to see a ghost that was roughly Devastator-sized--the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Starscream hollered, half in anger, half in despair.

*


"So why were you gone all that time Slimer?" Ray wanted to know.

"Hungry," Slimer said, grinning like the cat that had just swallowed the canary.

"Yeah, I'll bet," Peter snorted, "What on earth would there be to eat on a dump planet like that?"

*


"AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!" Galvatron screamed, "THE ENERGON CUBES!!! WHAT IS THAT DISGUSTING GREEN SUBSTANCE ALL OVER THEM???!!!"

*

The End