SECRET OF THE MANDALA

CHAPTER V: Sargassi's By The Sea

"Hey! Is that a bathtub overflowing up there?" Ray's voice crackled over the radio clipped to Marty's right shoulder strap.

"More specifically a 7,000 cubic meter bathtub filled with psychokinetically charged seawater and, um, sea cucumbers?" responded Egon's voice, slightly confused.

Marty thought it was odd as well; he should have thoroughly soaked by the deluge but he wasn't. Maybe the water was more ethereal than actual? Part of the ghost's tricks? In any case, as he trudged down the halls in the ankle deep "water," he saw that the floor had undergone a radical change. It looked more like pictures he'd seen of the inside of underwater wrecks, covered in coral, barnacles and the sea cucumbers that Egon had mentioned. Also the deluge had knocked out most of the lights, leaving the halls in uncomfortable semi-darkness.

"This is getting more like DOOM by the minute..." Marty muttered.

Suddenly, the Fisherman came roaring around a corner and blew past Marty, stinking of dead fish so strongly the twenty-three-year-old almost threw up.

"Gah! Oh that does it, you're mine now, you fat, stinking son of a..." snarled Marty but the Fisherman was already gone. This time, Marty remembered his PKE Meter and goggles. Using them, he tracked the ghost to the elevators. Egon's voice crackled through his radio as he homed in on an ornate lamp fixture on the wall between two of the elevator doors.

"Ray, did you warn the Recruit about semi-dimensional rift entities? This type of highly agitated environment would be perfect for them."

Marty was about to ask what the hell a semi-dimensional rift entity was when the light fixture tore itself off the wall, contorted into a vaguely insect-like posture and scuttled angrily in Marty's direction. Marty yelped, grabbed his proton gun and fired just as it leapt up towards him, destroying it outright and releasing a glowing ball of light that floated upwards and then faded away.

"I guess THAT was a semi-dimensional whatever," said Marty breathily. And then he heard more scuttling. He poked his head around the corner and saw at least a half-dozen more of the things heading straight towards him, like Lumiere's deformed Satan-spawn.

"You've GOT to be kidding me..." Marty groaned.

About ten minutes later, after some jump scares and another attack by the candelabra crawlers, Marty found himself in one of the Sedgewick's restaurants, a place called Sargassi's, which was decked out entirely in a nautical theme. Marty was just thinking this would be a great place to find the Fisherman, when said Fisherman rose up out of the floor, cackling madly.

"Oh I am beyond not in a laughing mood, Fatboy," snarled Marty as he aimed his proton thrower at the ghost. The Fisherman was wily and used the furniture and decorations of the restaurant to hide from Marty's proton beam but the young time traveler managed to blast a few good times, causing the ghost to retreat into the kitchen. Marty was just about to follow him when the doors to Sargassi's were kicked open and Ray, Peter and Egon burst in.

"Great work cornering him in here Kid!" said Ray, grinning at Marty who could only manage a small smile in return; he was way to stressed and tired for much else.

"Yes, you have destroyed a significant section of a five-star New York hotel in just under three hours. Your mother and I are so proud, aren't we Egon?" snarked Peter. Just then their PKE Meters flared to life.

"Significant spike! Let's track down the source." Said Egon. But they didn't need to bother as the source came bursting out of the kitchen doors, tearing them off their hinges and a good chunk of the wall as well. At first Marty thought it was some new creature they would have to fight and it was in a sense, but creature was not quite the right term. It was shaped like a humanoid but it was made out of objects. Pots, pans, dishes utensils, colanders, pipes, a cooking spit of lobsters and an oven all made up the creature. A familiar roar bellowed forth from it and it charged at them, causing the Ghostbusters to scatter.