Page Index Toggle Pages: 1 Send TopicPrint
Normal Topic There will ALWAYS be Ghostbusters! (Read 1019 times)
Penthesilea
Forum Administrator
*****
Offline


Warrior Queen, DarkLady,
Phoenix, Ghostbuster

Posts: 47422
Location: The Castle.....
Joined: Jun 21st, 2006
Gender: Female
There will ALWAYS be Ghostbusters!
Sep 16th, 2017 at 2:00am
Print Post  
Early 1992.....

     The Ghostbusters were worried and didn’t bother to hide it, at least not from each other.

     “These readings don’t make sense,” Ray muttered as he once again went over the reams of data that they’d been collecting for the last six months. Not only were the spectral energies they routinely monitored erratic, swinging from impossible highs to nearly non-existent lows, the sun was acting up -- sunspots appearing, throwing out massive amounts of plasma then disappearing in a matter of a few hours -- and the electromagnetic field of the planet was also fluctuating wildly. NASA and other scientific bodies were also working on the problem and quietly sharing their data and conclusions -- such as they were -- with the Ghostbusters. Stantz and Spengler might be in an unorthodox field but no one doubted their expertise when it came to unexplained phenomena.

     More alarming were the reports of small areas, usually less than a square mile, disappearing only to return later with “alterations”. So far all of the affected areas were in remote locations but they were becoming more frequent and it was only a matter of time in the Ghostbusters’ opinion before an inhabited area was affected. The government, for once realizing that they were out of their depth, had started reporting every such incident that came to their attention to the Ghostbusters.

     Then the nightmares started. There were only a few at first, mostly among the “sensitive” but they soon spread to people with no psychic talent at all and many, too many, were being driven mad and to violence. Venkman with his Doctorate in psychology got the job of analyzing the reports. It didn’t take him long to spot the common thread.

     “The name ‘Ar-kan-ora’ is common to all the reported nightmares,” Peter said, uncharacteristically serious. “Everyone reports some variation of a hellish earth ruled by demons. About half of those who’ve been committed scream ‘Ar-kan-ora is coming!’ before being sedated. One poor bastard cut his wrists with histeeth and wrote it on the walls of his cell before he bled to death.”

     “I’ve never heard of Ar-kan-ora,” Ray said quietly.

     “Neither have I,” Egon said. “And I think we need to correct that and quickly.”

     It was Kylie Griffin, she of the photographic memory and killer research skills, who found what they were looking for after a week’s searching that generated a mammoth phone bill and the Ghostbusters gathered in the back room of Ray’s Occult Bookstore at her summons.

     Kylie got straight to the point. “Ar-kan-ora, also referred to as ‘She who shapes’, was a rival to the Great Old Ones. She challenged their rule and almost won. They had to combine their powers to beat her. They banished her,” Kylie continued. “To what sounds like a black hole -- that part of the tablet was damaged so no one is sure. The tablet goes on to say that she’ll be held there until the end of time.”

     “Why do I have the feeling that was optimistic of them,” Winston remarked dryly.

     “Because the tablet also suggests that there is a way to free her from her confinement.”

     “Let me guess,” Peter interrupted, “that would be ‘bad’.”

     “You’re brilliant, Venkman.” Kylie sassed. “Those sources that mention her -- and there aren’t many -- agree that given the chance, she’s make the Great Old Ones look like a pack of kindergardeners.”

     “Worshippers” Winston asked, getting to the point.

     “She had a small but dedicated cult among some tribes in what is now South America. They were most active about thirty thousand years ago but there were reports of activities that ‘could’ be attributed to them as recently as two thousand years ago.”

     “Any chance they’re still around?”

     “Given what’s been happening,” Egon observed. “I’d say that it’s a virtual certainty.”

     The Ghostbusters had contacts at several government agencies as well as non-government ones. They got on the phones and soon their network was actively looking for any clue as to the existence, activities and location of Ar-kan-ora’s followers. While they waited, the Ghostbusters organized the information they had, looking for any kind of pattern. When new information came it, they added it to the pile and looked for new patterns as the reports of maddened people screaming Ar-kan-ora’s name and “changed” areas continued to come in.

     Professor Daemon Alexander had been an archeologist well before anyone had heard of Indiana Jones and while his career hadn’t been nearly that exciting he’d had his share of adventures. In his later years, he’d specialized in the rare and obscure so when word reached him about his old friend Ray Stantz’s urgent search for modern day worshippers of the demon goddess An-kor-ora, he had a decent idea of what to look for and where to start looking.

     When he’d started his inquiries Professor Alexander knew how things might turn out -- it wasn’t the first time he’d “poked a bear” -- and for that reason, he’d made appropriate preparations. As soon as he was aware that they’d entered his home, he’d retreated to his study which he’d prepared, along with other rooms in his house, with a nasty surprise. This room had a gas fired fireplace which had been fitted with an automatic shutoff to prevent gas from escaping into the room if the pilot light went out. The professor had long ago disabled that device in anticipation that some day he might need a room full of explosive gas. That day had arrived.

     He heard them searching for him as he closed and locked the door, then he went to the fireplace, put out the pilot light and opened the valve on the gas line as far at it would go. Then he waited.

     It was a good, full life, Professor Alexander thought as the cultists took an axe to the study door. And this is better than dying in bed of some damned, infernal blight of old age! I hope Trevor makes it, he thought as the blade of the axe penetrated the wood. I gave him an escape if he needs it and if he does need it, we’ll meet on the other side. Another chunk of the door fell into the room. I’m coming, Audrey, At last I’m coming. Get the champagne ready. As the first of the cultists charged into the room, he set off the gas.....

     Trevor Donovan had been Dr, Alexander’s research assistant and “leg man” for some years and he knew how important it was that the package his dead mentor had given him reach it’s destination. It was supposed to be delivered directly into the hands of Egon Spengler or Ray Stantz but he knew that wouldn’t be possible. The cultists were on his trail and while he’d evaded them so far, he had no illusions. They were close. He was going to die, maybe horribly, and if he didn’t do something quickly, the materials he carried would never reach their destination and humanity would be destroyed.

     Desperate, he walked quickly down the street looking for some way, any way, to get the information he carried into the Ghostbusters’ hands even if he couldn’t deliver it himself. Then he saw the sign and ducked into the mammoth office building. There, in the lobby and off to one side was a small post office. He pulled out the package which already had the address of Ray’s Occult Bookshop on it and went up to the window. Moments later, he left the building without the package. He’d paid extra for next day delivery -- it was too late for it to be delivered that day -- confident that now that the Postal Service had the package, the cultists wouldn’t be able to find it among the millions of packages working their way through New York City’s part of the postal system. His next goal was to put as much distance between himself and the post office as he could. He hailed a cab and told the driver to head for Central Park. Once there, he caught another cab and after that, the subway.

     Five hours later, the cultists caught up with him on a bridge over the Hudson River. As they closed on him, Trevor, knowing that they’d torture him until he revealed the location and destination of the package, swallowed the poison pill his mentor had given him and committing his soul to God, went over the railing into the dark water to a clean death, taking his secrets with him.

     Trevor’s faith in the United States Postal Service was justified. The package that he’d died to deliver arrived at Ray’s Occult Bookstore barely an hour after his body was pulled from the river. Kylie opened it, scanned the contents and called the firehouse. Then she closed the shop and waited, wearing her proton pack and with a .357 magnum and a 12 gauge shotgun close at hand.....

     A quick phone call confirmed that Ray’s old friend was dead. Slowly, he hung up the phone and went back to reading the documents he’d sent.

     It was laid out in the dead man’s precise hand. The stars were coming into an alinement that would permit her cultists to change reality enough to permit the breaching of Ar-kan-ora’s prison. A ritual, including blood sacrifice, would need to be performed at a specific location during the extremely narrow window -- two of the required stars were a binary system and both had to be in the required positions with the smaller star eclipsed by a planet in the system -- to set her free. By the time he’d finished reading, Venkman and Egon had arrived and he gave them the bad news. “If Ar-kan-ora’s cult succeeds in reshaping reality enough to free her, she’ll return and the Earth will be a demon ruled hell. Those humans unlucky enough to survive will be slaves, playthings and... food for their rulers.” Ray said quietly. “We can’t let that happen and to stop her, we’ll need every Ghostbuster we can get.”

     And the call went out....

     Every ally the Ghostbusters had, everyone who could carry a proton pack and fire it answered their call for help. Even Dana who knew more about ghosts than any normal person should left her son with her sister and brother in law, gave them a copy of her will that designated them as his legal guardians, kissed Oscar goodbye and went to join the Ghostbusters.

     It had taken considerable arm twisting on Janine’s part to charter them a plane large enough and fast enough to get them to where they needed to be. The fact that their destination was in a mountainous area covered with jungle and in a foreign country didn’t simplify matters. It took precious time and several calls to their government contacts to cut the strangling red tape and get the Ghostbusters and their allies on their way. After a twelve hour flight to a remote airstrip -- with a stopover in the capital for refueling and bribe paying -- they arrived, paid more bribes to obtain transport and headed for their destination on what could be called a “road” only by stretching the definition of the word to the breaking point.

     “It will be close,” Ray said after consulting a map and the time. “But we should get there before they can start the ritual.”

     Famous last words.....

     Word that a group of obviously wealthy Norte Americanos had arrived and were heading into the jungle had spread. The “backpacks” they were all carrying were incomprehensible but they had to be valuable judging by the care that was taken in loading them and, of course, they’d been seen to have considerable cash on them.

     “Oh, oh,” Winston said as the truck’s headlights revealed a large tree across the road.

     “What,” Peter asked, then he saw the tree. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

     “You know it,” Winston replied. “Head’s up,” he yelled to the Ghostbusters in the back while Peter used a walkie talkie to alert the truck behind them. “A tree’s blocking the road. We’ll have to move it out of the way.”

     “Maybe not.” Janine quickly shouldered her pack and exited the back of the truck. Two of her companions, aware that they could be under observation, pulled on their packs and took up guard positions while Janine stepped in front of the truck and powered up her pack.

     The proton beam she fired was low power but it did the job. The middle of the tree took the hit and flew into a million pieces, leaving a hole more than big enough for the trucks to pass through. Satisfied, Janine and her guards climbed back into their truck. The little convoy proceeded without further incident or obstruction, their would be ambushers, having seen what the strange backpacks
could do, decided that there were easier and less potentially lethal people to rob.

     “There,” Egon said quietly and pointed down toward the slowly expanding circle of energy on the valley’s floor.

     Ray consulted his PKE meter. “We should hurry,” Ray said and started down the trail with Egon and Janine on his heels. The others followed.

     It wasn’t long before they met opposition -- members of the cult that weren’t directly involved in the summoning who’d been charged with protecting the ritual area. Ray, Egon and Peter had always been academics but that wasn’t true for the rest of the Ghostbusters and with Winston in the lead, those Ghostbusters who were combat veterans, former law enforcement and martial artists charged the cultists.

     The cultists were fanatics and fought without concern for their safety but ultimately they were no match for the Ghostbusters. Once the way was clear, the Ghostbusters ran, weapons at the ready, led by to the spot where the PKE readings and an otherworldly glow told them that the ritual was taking place.

     The site proved to be a temple built out of native stone and imbedded in a hillside. Cautiously, Ray, Egon and Peter looked inside. A few feet from the doorway they could barely make out another doorway.

     “It’s a trap, of course,” Peter groused.

     “That’s a safe assumption,” Egon replied, “but we can’t let that stop us.”

     They’d come prepared for any eventuality and in short order, everyone had their headlamps on and with Ray and Egon in the lead they entered the temple. They quickly realized that they were in a maze and even using PKE meter readings as a guide, they were still making too many wrong turns and time was running out.

     “Another dead end,” Peter said, disgust plain in his voice.

     “This is taking too long,” Ray said, fired up his proton pack and blasted the
wall in front of them. A gratifyingly large hole appeared and the Ghostbusters made use of it, blasting  a direct route through the maze.

     They were too late.

     Nine sacrificial victims: three men, three women and three little children were hung up over a circle, their blood draining from their slashed throats into channels carved into the stone floor. The blood filled the channels with unnatural speed and from those channels that were already filled rose a blood red vapor that twisted itself into grotesque patterns in the air. Off to one side of the circle of channels a priest stood chanting as he moved his hands in complex patterns and no one needed to be told that when he was finished, when the channels were filled with steaming, smoking blood, Ar-kan-ora would return to earth and shape it as she would. Even as they watched, horrified, the red vapor formed a window through which they could see the vague shape of “something” incomprehensible squirming out of a pit of absolute blackness -- a window that would become a “door” when the ritual was complete.

     Desperate, the Ghostbusters set their proton packs to the highest possible energy settings and fired at the priest. The beams splashed harmlessly against an invisible shield, the priest’s last line of defense as he worked to bring his goddess back to earth.

     “Cross the streams,” Ray yelled. “It is our only chance!” No one hesitated and the beams began converging.

     For Egon, time seemed to slow down. The normally twisting beams were frozen in place, as unmoving as his companions. “There is a way,” A woman’s voice said in his head and he knew without question that it was the planet itself that spoke to him, “but there is a price now that the ritual has started.” Then the information was just “there” in his brain as if he’d always known it. Perhaps he had. He knew what had to be done, how to do it and.... what it would cost.

     There was no time to do anything, not even say goodbye. Egon spoke the words that he’d been given as he fired his proton gun at the priest, killing him, and with the horrified shouts of his friends ringing in his ears, he charged through the temporary gap he’d made in the shield which snapped closed behind him. Egon stepped into the priest’s place and took control of the reality that he’d been shaping to permit Ar-kan-ora’s return and guided by his new knowledge quickly undid much of what the priest had already done.

     As expected, the demon-goddess fought him. It was a mental battle, will against will. Egon had never realized how strong his will was. Honestly, he’d never given it much thought being more concerned with other things that were more interesting to him. Now, in a battle with a primordial demon-goddess he found it within himself to hold her at bay, to deny her entry into the world he defended.

     But his will alone was not enough to force her back into confinement and unless that was done before the stars moved out of alignment, she’d be free to roam the universe as she willed, spreading destruction and horror as she travelled until, sooner or later, she found Earth again...

     “I’ve failed,” he thought as he held her back. “I can’t do it alone.”

     “You don’t have to,” the woman’s voice said. Then somehow, by some miracle, they were with him, his dearest friends: Ray, Peter, Winston and Janine. Dear Janine. He’d never had the courage to tell her how important she was too him and now it was and would always be, too late.

     “I know,” he heard her whisper to him. “I love you too.” Then the rest of the Ghostbusters joined with Janine and the original four and with all of their wills joined with his own, Egon forced the primordial demon-goddess back into her prison as the stars moved out of alignment and the time for her return passed. It would never come again, key stars would explode into incandescent gas before the next alignment came.

     “They shall cease and so will you,” Ar-kan-ora screamed as her prison began closing. “There will NEVER be Ghostbusters! And without them sooner or later, humanity is doomed!”

     “There will ALWAYS be Ghostbusters!” Egon shouted in reply.

     Then Ar-kan-ora was gone and a dying Egon used the last vestiges of her power -- paid for with the sacrifice of his own life -- to save his friends. He couldn’t undo what had been done to make humanity forget the existence of the Ghostbusters and that the paranormal was real - there wasn’t enough power remaining - but he could save his friends’ lives and make provision for the future protection of humanity and he did.

     With Egon’s last breath reality was fixed. The Ghostbusters woke up that morning to lives they believed they’d always lived, their former lives a rapidly fading dream. Different names, different jobs with no memories of each other or of saving the world. No one remembered the Ghostbusters and no record of them remained but Egon had saved their lives -- everyone’s lives -- at the cost of his own.

     Ray was a cabbie, well established and happy in his job. Peter was the grandson of a famous paranormal researcher and after finding out there was no money in research decided that “debunking” the paranormal would be more lucrative. Winston was starting his own mortuary business, Louis was setting up a law practice on the West Coast, Janine was studying hotel management and Dana, the most artistic of them woke up to the life of a graduate student in physics -- with a fondness for art and classical music. Her son Oscar was raised by his aunt and uncle who believed him to be their own. Egon’s students woke up in the lives they would’ve had if they’d never heard of him as did the Ghostbusting teams that they’d trained. The world which had come to believe in ghosts and the paranormal forgot that ghosts were real.

     And Egon Spengler was never born....

     “There will always be Ghostbusters!” Egon had declared and using Ar-kan-ora’s reality shaping power as he’d been when he said it, it was imbedded into the new reality. When the time came, when the need arose, Abby, Erin, Jillian, Patty and Kevin would be ready.

     Ghostbusters........
  

Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send TopicPrint