Janosz, brush in hand, walked merrily up to the baby and carefully began painting mystical symbols on its little arms and legs.
Dana felt faint.
The symbols were identical to the ones Janosz had uncovered on the ancient portrait.
Unable to take it any longer, she made a mad dash for her child, arms outstretched.
Before she could make it to little Oscar, she was hit full force by some sort of invisible energy. She was thrown across the room, back into her chair.
She collapsed in a heap. What had happened to the Ghostbusters? Why hadn't she heard from Louis?
Louis Tully stood proudly in the Ghostbusters' fire- house. With Janine watching adoringly, he slipped into a Ghostbusters uniform and slung a heavy proton pack onto his back, nearly knocking off his glasses. Louis tested out his mobility, waddling around the lab area on a slight angle. Janine was now worried. There was too much power pack and not enough Louis.
"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," she told him. "Do the others know that you're doing this?"
Louis nodded. "Oh, yeah, sure... well, no. But there's really not much to do here, and they might need some backup at the museum."
He adjusted his glasses, pulled up his socks, and headed for the front door.
Janine ran up to him. "You're very brave, Louis. Good luck."
Janine kissed Louis tenderly.
His glasses fogged. "Uh, well, I, uh, better hurry."
Louis dashed out of the firehouse fully armed and marched manfully into the night... . Where, fifteen minutes later, he caught a bus to take him to the museum.
"I'm not sure I have the right change here, but believe me this is important and—"
He sniffed the air.
Behind the steering wheel of the bus was Slimer.
Slimer sent the bus roaring down the street.
"You're going in the wrong direction!" Louis whined. "I bet you never even got a real driver's li cense!!"
30
Venkman , Stantz, Spengler, and Winston stood apprehensively in the observation windows of the Statue of Liberty. Perched in the crown of Lady Liberty, they gazed down at Liberty Island, far below them.
"It's now or never," Stantz whispered. He plugged in a huge cable that fed into a portable transformer. He checked his watch. "It's all yours, Pete. There's not much time left."
Venkman nodded and attached a speaker cable into his tiny tape recorder. He snapped his fingers and tapped his left foot. "Okay, a one, and a two, and a three, and a four!"
He pushed the play button on his Walkman, and instantly the interior of the statue was filled with the soulful strains of Jackie Wilson.
As the sweet soul music echoed through the sta tue's hollow interior, the slime dripping from its sides began to vibrate.
Slowly, magically, the head of the Statue of Liberty turned this way and that. The Ghostbusters held on to the railing of the observation deck for dear life.
"She's moving!" Stantz exclaimed.
Winston was awestruck. "I've lived in New York all my life and I never visited the Statue of Liberty. Now I finally get here and we're taking her out for a walk!"
Spengler clutched his Giga meter. "We've got full power."
Stantz picked up the control paddle from a home video game and started pushing buttons. Venkman picked up a hand-held microphone. "Okay, Libby," he commanded, "let's get in gear."
The statue quivered in response. Lady Liberty raised a titanic left foot and brought it splashing down into the Hudson River. Her right foot followed suit.
Soon Liberty Island was deserted.
New Year's Eve celebrants on the shore of New York City, waiting for the traditional fireworks display, were astounded. The Statue of Liberty was swimming toward New York!
Lady Liberty walked calmly across the bottom of the Hudson, almost completely submerged. Only her head, from the nose up, was visible, the four Ghostbust ers navigating her movements from the observation deck.
The water seemed to be rising rapidly toward them.
"How deep does it get?" Winston asked. "That water's cold and I can't swim."
"It's okay. I have my senior lifesaving card," Venk man said reassuringly.
Spengler couldn't help himself. He started calculat ing. "Let's see, with a water temperature of forty de grees, we'd survive approximately fifteen minutes."
Stantz had a maritime navigational chart spread out
before him. "I'll keep to the middle of the channel. We're okay to Fifty-ninth Street. Then we'll go ashore and crosstown and take First Avenue to Seventy-ninth."
"Are you kidding?" Venkman replied. "We'll hit all that bridge traffic at Fifty-ninth. Take Seventy-second straight across to Fifth. Trust me, I used to drive a cab."
Stantz continued to maneuver the statue. Jackie Wilson's voice boomed within Lady Liberty's hollow shell. The mood slime continued bopping.
In Times Square, thousands of people stood shoul der to shoulder, noisemakers and confetti in hand. All eyes were glued to the gigantic clock high above their heads. In ten minutes the crowd would begin the count down for New Year's.
Suddenly one spectator pointed.
Then another, and another.
From downtown, heading north, marched the most magnificent of sights. The Statue of Liberty was walking up Broadway, striding in step to the superamplified song "Higher and Higher."
A great cheer arose from the crowd. Party hats and confetti were tossed into the air as the crowd began to dance and sing along with Jackie Wilson.
Inside the observation deck, Spengler grinned, checking his Giga meter. "Listen to that crowd! The positive GEVs are climbing."
Venkman patted the statue. "They love you, Lib. Keep it up."
The colossal statue headed up Broadway toward Central Park. From there Lady Liberty would be a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Manhattan Museum of Art.
Much to Venkman's amazement, half of the New Year's Eve celebrants from Times Square decided to follow Lady Liberty. He couldn't blame them. They probably didn't get a chance to see something like this too often.
Lady Liberty and the throngs proceeded toward the museum.
Farther uptown, the museum, still slime-encrusted, stood, guarded by police.
Inside the darkened building, Dana watched her child dangle in midair before Vigo. Janosz walked up to her, smiling. "No harm will come to the child," he assured her. "You might even say it's a privilege for him to be the vessel for the spirit of Vigo. And you... well, you will be the mother of the ruler of the world. Doesn't that sound nice?"
"If this is what the world will be like, I don't want to live in it," Dana vowed.
Janosz glanced over his shoulder at Vigo. "I don't believe we have the luxury of choice."
"Everybody has a choice," Dana said, simmering.
"Not in this case, my dear," Janosz pointed out. "Take a look at that portrait. That's not Gainsborough's Blue Boy up there. That's Vigo."
"I don't care who he is. I may not be able to stop you, but someone will!"
Janosz smirked. "Who? The Ghostbusters? They are powerless. Soon it will be midnight and the city will be mine ... and Vigo's. Well, mainly Vigo's . .. but we have a spectacular opportunity to make the best of our relationship."