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The roars of the winged beast echoed throughout the town square as it sat perched atop a stone statue, mixed in with the cries of the general public as they ran away. The familiar screech of the ECTO-1 siren drew closer to the scene, and the iconic car was parked near a curb. All four Ghostbusters poured out of ECTO-1 and positioned themselves a mile away from the statue. They all finally got a good look at the beast they were going to be dealing with. At first glance, it appeared to be a monstrous hybrid between an eagle, serpent, and some other animal, either a lion or a tiger. It had three huge heads, wings that stretched out 50 feet, and sharp talons that dug into the stone beneath it and created huge cracks that ran down the statue’s body. Immediately upon entering the beast’s vision, it locked eyes with them. Just as soon as it did this, all of them felt a shiver up their spine. Egon placed two fingers to his neck and noticed that his pulse had increased twofold from a minute ago. Peter glanced to the other Ghostbusters and saw that Ray’s hands fidgeted as he held the proton gun near his side, taking in the beast with a fearful eye.“Anyone else feeling a bit nervous?” Winston shouted out to his colleagues. Upon noticing, Peter did admit to himself that he felt his mouth go dry, but he decided to brush off his anxiety with a crude laugh. He turned on his proton pack, focusing on and enjoying the melodious hum as it warmed up. He could hear the others follow suit. “Like our slogan says, we ain’t afraid!” He lifted up the proton gun and aimed it at the beast. “Blast him, boys!”They all fired in coordination, and the lightening shaped streams zipped through the air and wrapped themselves around the beast with a tight grip. Peter let out a howl of excitement upon seeing it worked.However, its grip began to loosen, and it began to struggle to break itself free of the proton streams. “Ray, what’s going on?” Peter yelled, tightening his grip on his proton gun. “Aren’t they supposed to be weakened by this damn ionized stream?” “It’s very strong!” Ray grit his teeth. “If we didn’t need four streams, I could check its PKE. It’s probably off the charts!” Winston dug his heels into the ground. “Go back, you guys!” He began doing so. “Maybe we can hit it against the ground to weaken it!” “I agree with Winston!” Egon shouted above the buzz of the proton streams. “Fall back!” With effort, they all took one step back in unison. They were about to take a second one, but the beast had other plans. With a firm shake, the Class VII shook off the streams with little to no effort, sending the Ghostbusters flying several yards back. Luckily (or unluckily, considering the jolt of pain that shot through his ankles), Peter landed on his feet and squatted down on the ground. He could feel his knees shake and hissed in pain. He then got up, ignoring the feeling that his legs were going to buckle in at any moment. “Sound off, who’s injured!” he called out, his eyes darting around to spot the other Ghostbusters. “I’m fine!” Ray responded as he laid stomach-down on the ground. He lifted his face to reveal a busted nose and blood dribbling down his chin. His tone was much more nasally. “Apart from the nose.” Peter winced at the amount of bleeding. “Jesus…. what about you Winston? Egon?” Both of them were by ECTO-1. Winston laid against it, rubbing his shoulder. “Got thrown against ECTO. Haven’t experienced that kind of throwback since my Marine days!” He then looked to his right. “Egon looks fine too!”  Egon was sitting a few feet from him on the ground cross-legged as he studied his PKE meter intensely. All three of them ran to him and looked over his shoulder at the meter. “Spengs, what readings are you getting?” Ray asked. Even with quick glance, he could see that the readings were fluctuating madly. With a closer look, they could see Egon’s injuries. The man’s glasses were busted and a huge yellowing bruise was forming under his right eye. There was a spot of blood on his chin, which Egon wiped off with a gloved hand. Ray took the meter from Egon and got a better look at the reading. “Jesus Christ, that’s why it was able to throw off the streams! These readings are way higher than everything we’d ever seen!” Anothe ungodly roar from the beast shook the very ground they were on. “Define high, Ray!” Peter shouted, covering his ears to keep his brain from spilling out of his ears. “Well, imagine that for reference, the baseline is around…. 5.” “Uh huh. And what’s this beast?” “Well, this one’s giving off readings at around….” Ray moved his hands around as he did some mental math in his head. “Around 10,000.” Winston’s eyes widened as he looked up at the beast with a newfound fear. Peter himself could feel his stomach lurch, but kept a straight face. He then swatted Ray on the back of the head. “Ow! What was that for?” Ray nursed where Peter struck him. “Stop being a baby. It wasn’t even that hard!” “To you maybe-”“Well, I’m sorry!” He didn’t know why he was yelling (or why he hit Ray), but it sure felt good. The adrenaline in his bloodstream was pumping madly, and perhaps both actions allowed him to redirect his nervous energy elsewhere. “Lower your voices,” Egon muttered through gritted teeth. They were so close that they were practically yelling in his ear. “Stop arguing!” Winston snapped. “Is there a way to adjust the packs to compensate for the extra PKE?” “There might be if I could think of one.” Ray snapped his fingers a few times in succession. “Come on, Ray, think, think.” He then gulped. “God, I’m nervous. Why the hell am I nervous?” “It isn’t just you, Ray,” Egon noted, taking the meter from Ray and going through the readings with a quick eye. “I’ve even noticed that my heart rate increased rapidly upon being in contact with the hybrid.” He then took out a small calculator, punched in some numbers, then held it up so that they could see the resulting number. “There is a way to adjust the stream’s polarity to give them more power, thus making them stronger.” They all then heard a loud noise and jerked up their heads, scanning their surroundings. Nearby was a van that was ablaze with flame, and the beast sat atop of it, not minding the fire as it eyed them with murderous intent. If telepathy was possible, one could have heard a “Shit!” yelled in unison in all four Ghostbusters’ minds. The eagle head then opened its mouth and emitted a large electric beam. Without hesitation, Peter shot a stream in the direction of the beam. The two met in the center and danced around in a twisted battle to push forward of the opposing energy. With some force, the proton stream won, and the electric beam jerked back, hitting the beast with some force and sending it back. It was down, it seemed, for the moment. “Take that, you asshole!” Peter then let out a maniacal laugh.Ray wiped the sweat off his forehead, for his face grew warm from the heat of the streams, since they were only a few inches above his head. “You do realize that if that went wrong, you could have possibly killed all of New York?” Peter knelt back down to his original position, shooting a scowl at Ray. “Keep complaining, and I’ll do the same thing I did to that thing to you.”The tone of Peter’s threat edged a bit too close to serious, so Ray immediately shut up. “Noted.”  “Now, how do we adjust the stream settings to make them stronger?” Winston asked.Egon began taking off his pack. “The signature is nothing like I’ve seen before. I’ll need some time with the packs to adjust them to the correct setting.” Peter was the loudest (and only) objection. “You’re got to be kidding me, Spengs. You are not taking my pack!” his voice rose as he continued to speak, “Roasted Peter is not going to be on that ghost’s menu tonight!” “Stop being loud,” Egon whispered again, but no one heard him. “Well, we have no choice, Peter,” Ray responded. “So how the fuck are we supposed to defend ourselves without our packs?” “We have other weapons, Peter,” Winston said. “Just calm down, I’m sure they’ve thought of backups.” “Like?” Peter pointed at the beast with emphasis, “I really don’t want to be burned alive by… that thing!” Egon finally found the strength to snap “Gentlemen, not now!” in an uncharacteristically agitated tone, for he could feel a migraine coming on. “Hey, are you good, man?” Winston asked, glancing to see that Egon gripped the meter so tightly his knuckles were turning white. “You seemed stressed.” Egon ignored him and shook his head to focus himself. “Here’s the plan. Winston keeps his pack, and Peter will distract the monster. Ray, stay with me and we’ll adjust the power setting on these packs to maximum yield.” “Sounds good,” Winston tightened the grip on his proton gun.“Wait, what do I defend myself with, Spengs?” Peter threw his proton pack to the ground, and Ray opened it and began to follow what Egon was doing. “Winston gets a gun, but Petey gets nothing!”Egon scrambled to get two grenades out his pockets and handed them to Peter.“Will these even work? Aren’t they a bit small-”“Venkman!” Egon shot Peter a murderous glance. “Just go!” “Fine, fine.” Peter tossed one grenade up and down in his left hand. “You know what, yeah! I love improvisation. This plan is great!” He and Winston then ran back out into the battlefield. With a frustrated sigh, Egon began messing with some switches on his pack. “Egon, are you sure you’re fine?” Ray asked. Egon rubbed his temples, but it did nothing to aid his growing migraine. “Ray, please, just follow my lead,” he said tiredly. He pointed to a wire inside Ray’s pack, “No, move the yellow wire here, and then move that dial 30 degrees to the right.” -------------------------------------------Squeezing the grandes in his hands, Peter took a steadying, deep breath, then studied the beast.  What’s it like to have three heads? he wondered to himself. How do they even coordinate themselves? Which head got more of the thinking space? I imagine if they had psychologists, they would have a field day.  Something then caught his eye. The serpent head seemed to be a lot more distracted than the other two. It moved around erratically, almost as if confused. A confident grin spread across his face. And they said he was only the mouth of the group. Peter made eye contact with Winston. He then moved his arm in a snake-like motion, pointed to his own head, and then mimed shooting the proton gun. Winston tilted his head. “Huh?” Peter smacked his forehead. “Just aim for the serpent head!” “Then just say that!” Winston fired a stream, which wrapped around the serpent’s head. Same as before, he dug his feet into the ground and started moving back. “Where’s the fun in that?” Peter shot back.  “Not right now, man! My heart’s going ten miles a minute!” Peter switched on the grenade and, with a powerful throwing arm, threw it at the eagle head. There was a large explosion, and the beast shrunk back in pain, unable to throw off the stream. “Yes!” Peter pumped his fist up, “Throw it down on the ground now, Z! Now!” “Easier said than done, Peter! This thing is strong!” Winston grimaced as he stepped back, successfully pulling the Class VII off the burning van. It landed on the ground with a huge BOOM. It then got up and the eagle head opened its mouth again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” While he pressed the button activating the other grenade, Peter looked over his shoulder. “We done over there, eggheads? Now would be a nice time!”“10 seconds, Peter!” Ray cupped his hands around his mouth while he yelled, “We’re configuring your pack right now!”Peter gave a thumbs up. “Don’t break it!” Egon reattached the plugs with a shaking hand. Everything seemed 10 times louder, even when Peter and Ray were talking. His fingers were twitching, and he felt the strong urge to rip out his hair.   Suck it up , he thought, You could decompress in the car.  “Egon, are you sure-”“Not now,” Egon seethed, “Just snap that last junction into place.” Peter then pelted the second grenade at the eagle head while Winston battled with another electric beam. Luckily, the grenade helped weaken it so that two positron streams weren’t needed. It again was thrown back. “Peter and Winston two, ugly beast zero!” Peter jumped up in the air and landed on his feet with his hands spread out in a victory pose. “Stantzy, are they ready?” “We’re ready!” Ray yelled back. Peter jetted towards them and quickly threw his proton pack on, then spun around. “Ooh baby, I missed ya,” he then pointed to the beast, “Let’s go catch us a Greek myth!” Winston fell back, pulling out a trap and holding it by his side. “Lemme know when to toss it!”Ray gave a thumbs up. “On three!”“Three!” they all yelled as they aimed the streams at the beast. This time, the stream was more zig-zagged in shape and much thicker in width, crackling as it shot through the air. Every one of them felt the pushback and dug their feet into the ground. They spread out and positioned the beast in the trajectory of where the trap would go. Peter saw that the serpent head was tossing itself around, likely confused by the proton stream that wrapped around it. Its cries of pain filled the air, and its throat began to swell up. -------------------------------------------“Uhhh guys,” he shouted, “What the hell is it doing? Before, it was the eagle head.” “Not sure!” Ray shortened his stream. “Winston, toss the trap now!” The serpent’s jaw unhinged as it locked eyes with Egon. A stream of venom was released and headed towards the scientist at lightning speed.  Even if any of them had the time to yell out his name to warn him, Egon couldn’t hear anything now. Everything mashed together into an unholy cacophony, and it felt like his head was being cracked open. He could feel himself hyperventilating as his vision blurred and his face got warm. Even his chest felt like it was going to burst open with the rate his heart was racing at. Then, he felt a forceful impact with some sticky substance. He was launched back, and his body was slammed against Ecto-1.All their fear that was diminished because of their handle on the situation suddenly came flooding back with force. “Egon!” Peter and Ray cried out in unison, but Winston stopped them. “Trap this son of a bitch first, then check on him!” He tossed the trap under the beast, then stamped his foot onto the pedal to open the trap. However, the trap wasn’t strong enough. The beast shook off its ionized beam and their positron streams with little effort. It then glided towards Egon, whose body lay curled up on the floor with a stream of blood running down his face. Alright. They couldn’t trap it. But perhaps they could annoy it. “Hey, stay away from him!” Winston changed his settings so that the proton gun shot out short bursts that hit the beast. It hissed loudly and started backing away from Egon. Peter and Ray adjusted their proton packs and joined Winston. Soon, they beast began backing away from Egon. Eventually, it let out a blood-curling roar and left. Peter and Ray immediately ran to Egon. Winston went to grab the trap and then ran to join them. “What happened?” he asked. Peter took the smoking trap from Winston. “Not sure. The venom’s gone. But it was so much, it couldn’t have disappeared like that.” Egon opened his eyes, and all three breathed a collective sigh of relief. “It’s possible that it could have been absorbed through his skin.” Ray used his arm to help support Egon’s left side, while Winston supported Egon’s right side. Winston felt that Egon was oddly warm and pressed a hand against his forehead. “He’s burning up. I don’t like this, guys.” Egon was suddenly hit with a strong wave of nausea. He leaned over, opened his mouth, and vomited near his shoes. Peter stepped over the puddle of vomit and opened the back door of Ecto-1. “Soooo, it definitely went through his skin.” Ray helped Egon inside. “We need to get to the firehouse. Now .”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

They all piled into ECTO-1, with Peter taking the wheel while Ray, Winston, and Egon sat in the back. While it was rare, they did have a protocol for when Egon shut down. Normally, Peter would have blasted their radio to high hell to provide some background noise while dealing with the mindnumbing New York traffic. But the radio was off, leaving the car dead silent. Egon also sat alone. He didn’t like physical contact, even more in this state. They only helped him up because the man was weak on his feet. So, Winston and Ray sat across from him. And the final rule was to let things run their course. Egon insisted that he was perfectly fine to get himself through this, and that they could carry on with whatever they were doing. They didn’t need to grind everything to a halt for him. The only time someone should step in is if he was harming himself or others. The others did not want to delve into the situation or situations that deemed this an important rule, so they didn’t press further. Meanwhile, the man was completely withdrawn from his surroundings. The only sound in the car was his deep breathing in an attempt to ground himself. He had his knees pressed against his chest, and his arms wrapped around them as he tightly squeezed himself. But the cool exterior betrayed his inner mind, which was still in turmoil. While the fear he had at the scene subsided, he still felt physically ill. A constant ringing buzzed in his ears and the sticky feeling of the venom still clung to him, violating every sense he had. His chest hurt, the nausea swam in his stomach, and he could feel the adrenaline still coursing through his blood. On top of that, he could feel himself burning up, adding to the sensory hell that the feeling of the venom was causing.He hadn’t had this bad of a shutdown in a while. Normally, he was good at detecting them, and doing his best to mitigate the effects. He should have told the others that they were getting too loud, but everything around them was loud as well, so they likely couldn’t hear them. He didn’t blame them for yelling. The situation was absolutely frightening; even his stress was running at an all-time high. They had never encountered a ghost that shook off the proton streams that strongly. Hell, he didn’t even know what the creature was. And so much was happening all at once. Being thrown around, the aching pain in his body, the beast’s roars, so much more. He couldn’t abandon them because he was feeling overwhelmed. So, he pushed himself, and he forced himself to fight. And perhaps he pushed himself a bit too far, resulting in his current state. Peter glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that Egon was still sweating buckets, despite him having his jumpsuit unzipped with the sleeves laying besides him. “Hey Egon, you doing good?” Egon didn’t want to speak right now. Hell, he didn’t have the strength to. Instead of answering, he just buried his head into his arms. “Hey,  you don’t have to speak. Maybe just tap your finger on your knee?” Ray found a rag and wiped the blood that dried against his skin. “We just want to make sure you’re doing okay.”  Egon did so, but Winston noticed that it seemed to take all of the man’s strength. Peter saw the gesture in the mirror. “Got it.” Winston kept his voice low as he told Ray, “I’ve never seen him this bad. I mean, it’s happened before, but not to this extent. I feel bad, especially considering I noticed he was getting stressed out, but didn’t do anything.” “I wouldn’t blame yourself, Winston,” Ray said, “All of us got overwhelmed. Even I noticed that someting was off and should have pressed him harder. But it’s just… we were all focused on defeating that damn thing.” Peter chimed in with, “Besides, beating yourself up isn’t going to get us anywhere. The main thing is that this is a future lesson for us. Just gotta work around it and prevent it from happening agiain.” “You’re right, Peter.” Winston patted Peter on the shoulder. “Thanks man.” “Gotta use that psychology degree somehow, Z. And you, Stantzy, any idea what the hell that creature was?” “Nope.” Ray shook his head. “ I’ve never seen anything like it, or even read about it. And that’s what frightens me the most, especially considering the venom. We don’t know what effects it has. I’ll need to run some tests, consult the literature-” Peter then realized the car in front of them was getting a bit too close, so he slammed the brake. All four of them slightly moved forward. “Shit,” he gave a weak laugh, “Sorry about that.” ---------------------------------  Janine was at her desk on the phone where she heard the firehouse doors swing open and ECTO-1 drove in. The car was parked and she saw all of the Ghostbusters exit, but noticed that they were all oddly huddled around Egon. Without warning, she immediately hung up the phone. “What’s going on?” she asked as they approached her desk, “Is Egon okay?” She took a look at Egon and his eyes met her, but he looked horrible. He appeared absolutely exhausted and even unaware of anyone’s presence around him, even Ray and Winston, who stood at both of his sides ready to catch him if he grew faint. And his glasses were cracked too. “Not really, Janine,” Peter leaned against her desk, “Cancel our appointments for the rest of the day.”  “What the hell happened?” She opened a drawer in her desk and searched for a spare pair of glasses. They may have a few leftover pairs from their run-in with the ghost of an old opera singer. Her high notes kept breaking Egon’s glasses, and without them he was apparently as blind as a bat. “Got tossed around by a Class VII,” Ray explained. “And he got hit by some-” Janine saw Egon lurch forward and heard retching noises. On a reflex instinct from her days babysitting for extra pocket money, she grabbed a wastebasket by her desk and handed it to Egon, who vomited into it.“-Venom. He got hit by venom.”  “That sure was fast, Janine,” Winston said. “I’ve had too much experience with it,” she grimaced at the strong smell of vomit, “And too many ruined shoes.” She then saw Egon clutching onto the bucket for dear life. “Is he going to be okay?” She then realized that all of them were roughed up. Ray’s nose was twisted into some odd shape and was turning yellow, Peter walked with a limp, and Winston kept nursing his back. “Holy shit, what the hell did that ghost do to you guys?” “A lot,” Ray and Peter said in unison as they headed towards the stairs, with Egon following them. “We should get some rest before running the tests on Egon,” Janine heard Ray say as the trio were halfways up the stairs. Winston stayed behind besides Janine. “I think I agree with him. Some rest may good for all of us.” He then let out a sharp wince. “That son of a bitch was tough.” He then looked over at Janine. “You doing okay?” “Why do you ask that?” “You look worried. Reminds me of my girlfriend whenever I come home from a particularly tough mission.”“It’s cause I am worried.” She then shook her head. “Go rest, Winston. You all look beat up. Hopefully we have some electrolytes. That poor man is going to need it, considering how much he’s vomiting.” “Bless you, Janine.” Winston headed for the stairs and made his way up to the next floor. “Give me a raise first,” she said under her breath. But truth is, she wasn’t just worried. She was frightened. She had never seen Egon that vulnerable.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

As soon as they all arrived upstairs, the first-aid kit was taken out and Winston took to checking over Egon’s injuries, with Ray handing him the supplies he needed.

Since they wanted the man to rest, the examination was brief. Luckily, the man was only bruised up, and there was no sign of a concussion.

Peter came in with a bottle of pain medication and a glass of water. Egon was sitting on his own bed, and accepted both. He took two pills and washed them down with a sip of water.

“Anything else?”

Egon shook his head.

“Alright then.”

All three of them left to give Egon some quiet so that he could fall asleep.

Janine walked upstairs to see that each man was now ravaging the first aid kit to treat their own injuries.

Ray had a cold compress pressed against his nose to stop the swelling. Winston took some ointment and applied it to his shoulder cause his old war wound was acting up. Peter had his feet in a tub of ice, enjoying the cooling feeling against his bruised ankles.

And each one took their turn with the pain medication, popping it like Pez candy and tossing it to the next person.

Janine shook her head. She made a mental note to book their physical checkups for next week (and couldn’t help but to smile at what she imagined the doctor would say upon seeing the results), then went into Egon’s lab. She grabbed a chair and sat by his bed, watching him as he slept.

It didn’t take that long for Egon to fall asleep. He was covered with a blanket, but his body temperature was still high, so he was sweating madly. Janine had noticed and took off the blanket, her fingers briefly brushing against his skin.

She ignored the blush that arose in her cheeks and focused her attention instead on folding the blanket and setting it aside.

She must have been there for several hours, for each Ghostbuster came by occasionally to check up on Egon’s physical state as well as to offer to take over for Janine.

“Janine, are you okay? I think it’s stressing you out to stay here,” Ray said, placing a hand on the chair. “Maybe go for a nice walk? I could take over and update you if anything new happens.”

“I don’t mean this in a bad way, Janine, but you look like you haven’t slept in days. And it’s only been 6 hours.” As he spoke, Winston cracked his knuckles, “I’ll take over, and you go shut your eyes for a few moments.”

“You really care for Egghead, don’t ya?” Peter took to doing some light-hearted ribbing, “It’s valiant, in a way.”

And each time, she refused.

Peter came in later that afternoon. He glanced over at the unconscious Egon, then turned to Janine.

“You want anything to eat?” he asked. “The guys ordered takeout.”

“Sure.”

He left and returned with a plate of Chinese food. He handed it to her, then left without a word.

Soon, it was around midnight. Janine could feel her eyes droop from exhaustion, but she refused to give in. She shook her head and slapped her cheeks with force, blinking the tiredness out of her eyes.

About an half an hour later, Ray stood in the doorway, looking at Janine’s back.

“Janine, it’s getting late.”

“I don’t care,” she stubbornly replied.

“At least let me drive you home so that you can get some sleep.”

“I’m

fine

.”

He shook his head and let out a resigned sigh. “Alright then. How about a cup of coffee then? Least I can do.”

She then turned to look at Ray, whose face she could faintly see due to the light from the hallway spilling into the room. He was bouncing his foot up and down, a subconscious habit he always did whenever he was nervous.

And he also looked tired.

“I’m sorry.” She then turned back to Egon, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. “I’m probably worrying you guys with my stubbornness about staying here.”

Although she couldn’t see it, Ray had a faint smile on his face. “It’s fine, you care for him. We all do.”

“He’s going to get better, won’t he?”

The question carried a childlike fear with it. She looked up to Ray, seeking assurance in his answer that ‘Yeah, everything’s going to be fine. He’s going to wake up something and none of this ever happened. It’s all a bad dream.’

Somehow, Ray unconsciously sensed that fear, for he answered, “He’s been through a lot worse, Janine. Don’t know who, but someone’s got our backs out there and refuses to let us die on this job. At least, that’s what gets me through it.” He couldn’t help to laugh. “I think our guardian angels have a twisted sense of showing that they’re there and they do work.”

Janine smiled. “Very twisted, indeed.”

A pause. “You still up for that cup of coffee?”

“I would love one.”

“How do you like yours?”

“Two sugars, please.”

He came back a while later with two cups and pulled up another chair. They sat together and chatted, letting the coffee warm their hands as they watched over Egon.

---------------------------------

Janine’s body eventually betrayed her, and she dozed off for a while. She woke up to see that Ray’s chair was empty.

She then noticed that her back wasn’t normally aching like it usually did whenever she slept in a chair. Her grandfather being in the hospital for a week was how she learned that unfortunate fact.

This was because a pillow was placed behind her back. There was a faint scent of cologne on it, one that she remembered teasing Peter once for wearing when he was preparing for a date with Dana.

It was around an hour later that she saw Egon stirring in his bed. Her heart skipped a beat as moved her chair closer, to where she could see his face.

He then used his arms to lift himself to sit up on the bed. His eyes were half-open, partially from exhaustion, but also from the fact that without his glasses, everything was blurry.

She then clasped her hands in prayer. “Oh thank God, you’re okay!”

Without a second thought, she embraced him in a tight hug. She heard a small wince from the man, so she slightly loosened her hold. But honestly, she didn’t care.

She was just happy that he was finally awake.

He sat there awkwardly, then gave her a small pat on the back.

“Where am I?”

She then broke the hug and stared at Egon in confusion. He only looked back at her innocently. She then remembered that she had some glasses in her pocket, and took them out to hand to him. He put them on and pushed them up to their usual position.

“Where am I?” he repeated, “This doesn’t look like a hospital setting.” He then pointed at Janine. “You sure don’t look like a nurse.”

He then moved his hands to his torso and pressed gently against it, wincing in between his teeth.

“Possibly some broken ribs. Guess it explains why my chest hurts for some reason.”

“You… you….” she was at a loss for words, “Do you not recognize the firehouse?”

With a scoff, he replied, “Why the hell am I in a firehouse?”

“Egon, you work here-”

He waved it off. “No, I don’t. I work at…..”

His voice trailed off. “Why is my mind going blank? I work at…..” He swung his feet to the side of the bed.

“Why don’t I remember anything?” he said in horror to himself.

He tried to get to his feet, but he was still weak, and so he fell back onto the bed.

Slowly, Janine got up. Something was wrong,

horribly

wrong. Her gut feeling was telling her to just leave and go get the others.

She headed to the doorway.

“Egon, you might need to lie down a bit more. You were pretty beat up from that job you guys did.”

He rubbed his arms, glancing around the room in confusion. “Wait, please don’t leave. You seem really nice. I need you to tell me what’s happening.”

“Just… just give me a moment.”

She headed out of the room, much to Egon’s protest. She needed to find the others. Now.

“Wait, wait! What is going on? Why am I here? Who am I? And why cannot I remember anything!”

With some effort, he forced himself to get up, ignoring his pounding headache and chest pain. Eventually, he managed to steady himself and exited the room.

---------------------------------

“Ray, Peter, Winston!” she called out, “Come here now!”

Upon hearing Janine’s shouting, all three Ghostbusters headed up the stairs and made their way into the living room.

“What’s going on, Janine?” Winston asked with concern, “Don’t tell me his condition got worse.”

“Not exactly,” she said, “He woke up. But something’s wrong. He’s acting weird. Like really weird.”

“Define weird. This is Egon we’re talking about,” Peter snickered, “Oh, the Columbia stories I could tell you and Winston. One of them involves him trying to drill a-”

“Peter, this is serious. He doesn’t seem to remember anything.”

For once, Peter was at a loss for words as he took in the information. Janine appreciated the silence, as momentary as it was.

“Huh. That’s new.”

“He was really confused. He didn’t remember my name or his name, or even where he was. He seems lost.”

“You know, when we started this business, I didn’t think we’d be dealing with amnesia-”

“This is worrying, Janine,” Ray interrupted, “I’m not sure if it’s the effect of the venom, or all the hits he took during the bust. Either way, we need to run those tests, as soon as possible.”

“You wanna tell him that yourself?” Winston pointed to Egon, who was now standing in the hallway.

They all turned to see that Egon was in the room, his fists clenched as his eyes darted from one person to the next.

“What is happening?” he asked in a scared tone, “Why won’t anyone answer my questions?”

Peter turned towards the stairs. “You guys can deal with this. I’m taking a nap at my desk.”

Winston grabbed Peter’s arm and smacked the man on the back of the head.

“Ow, Winston, what the hell?”

“Cut it out, man,” Winston said curtly.

“I cope with humor,” Peter rubbed the back of his head, “We all know this.”

“Not the time, man.”

Egon then faltered on his feet, and he felt his throat burn up.

“I’m going to be sick.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ray’s eyes widened in alarm as he quickly grabbed Egon’s arm and dragged him over to the sink. Egon kneeled over and began dry heaving.

“Let it out. Let it all out.” Ray leaned against the counter. “Thank God I did the dishes yesterday.”

Egon finally stopped and curled up against the counter, letting himself sink to the floor.

The other Ghostbusters and Janine all walked over to see Egon on the ground, hugging his legs which were pressed against his chest. Janine pressed a hand to Egon’s head.

“He’s still burning up. I’ll see if I can find some Tylenol.”

While she did that, all three Ghostbusters knelt so that they were at eye level with Egon.

“Would someone please tell me what is going on?” he begged. “Everything hurts and I can’t remember my name.” His voice dropped down to a whisper. “I can’t remember anything.”

Ray sat besides him. “Egon, it’s us. Your friends.”

“I don’t know you guys.”

Egon continued to shrink into himself and tucked his head into his knees.

A pause. Then a really sad, “You really don’t remember us?”

No response.

The whole situation reminded Peter of Oscar during his first day of preschool. The poor boy was absolutely frightened and ran away from Dana to a little corner in the schoolyard. He wouldn’t move no matter what as he bawled his little eyes out.

However, with a little bit of talking, Peter coaxed him into going to the classroom. Perhaps something similar could work.

He moved himself closer to Egon and cleared his throat.

“Hey, man. I see you’re scared of us. But you don’t need to worry, we don’t bite.” He held out a hand. “Name’s Peter, by the way.”

Egon didn’t shake it, so Peter tucked his hand back into his pocket.

“Not a handshake guy, huh? Me neither,” he said with a laugh. “How about a fist bump? Air guns?” A pause. “Man, tough crowd, nothing seems to be working. What about a nod? Could I get a nod?”

Egon then lifted his head up and nodded.

There we go

, Peter thought to himself.

“Peter…. is that right?”

Peter nodded. “Right on the money, boss.”

“What’s going on?”

Man, Janine was right about the weirdness. Never thought I would be explaining stuff to Egghead.

“I know this is going to sound really weird, so here’s the gist.” He then sat down on the floor since his ankles still hurt from yesterday, and squatting only worsened the pain.

“There we go. You got attacked by a ghost who shot some venom at you. Looks like it wiped your memory, hence all the confusion. But now you’re here, at Casa Ghostbusters, getting some good TLC.”

He then saw Janine come in out of the corner of his eye. She held a mug and two Tylenols.

“Speaking of TLC, thank you Janine.” He gestured to the mug. “Just some tea.”

Egon let himself sit cross-legged and looked up at Janine. He held his hand out, but then hesitated.

“How do I know the tea is safe?”

“She’s not going to poison you. Trust me. And if she does, I’ll dock her pay.”

Janine resisted making a face at Peter as Egon accepted the tea and Tylenol. He then placed one on his tongue.

“Ghosts? Venom? Is this a cult or something?”

“Not really. Although I do think I could form one, what with my charisma and all.”

Egon took a sip of the tea and swallowed the Tylenol.

“You’re very sarcastic, Peter.”

“I try my best.”

Egon then placed the second Tylenol in his mouth. “So, if this isn’t a cult, who are the rest of you then?” He then washed it down with another sip of tea, looking at all of them for an answer.

Peter looked around him. “Well, don’t be shy, guys. Introduce yourselves.”

He then elbowed Ray, which the latter took as a sign to begin talking.

“The name’s Ray. And well, you’re part of a team and we bust ghosts. With equipment that you and I built.”

“Ray.” Egon tilted his head. “What kind of equipment?”

Ray got an eager glint in his eye. “Proton packs. They use a nuclear core as an energy source.” His pace began to pick up. “And it shoots out a proton beam that wraps around ghosts. Since ghosts have negative energy, it works to contain them, kinda like a lasso. We then place them in a trap that has an ionized beam to pull in the ghosts inside.”

“Alright, Ray, slow down,” Peter warned, “You’re talking a mile a minute.”

Egon blinked.  “And we developed all of this… how?”

Ray couldn’t help but to laugh at Egon’s bewildered expression. “Most of it was your work. You’re an absolute genius when it comes to this stuff. Proud to be there during all of those sleepless nights in your office.” He then rubbed the back of his neck and added nervously, “Even if we nearly burned your office down a few of those nights.”

Egon took another sip of tea. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Welcome to my world,” Winston held out a hand. He went out on an instinct that Egon was comfortable enough for one. After some hesitation, Egon shook his hand back.

“And your name is?”

“Winston. I joined the team a bit later because of an ad you put out in the paper.”

“Winston,” Egon repeated with emphasis, trying to commit it to memory. “You heard all of this, and you wanted to help out?”

Winston shrugged. “After a while, you get used to it. Besides, it’s good work.”

“I see.” Egon then pointed to Janine. “And who is she? You make very good tea, by the way, even if you’re horrible at answering questions.”

“Janine.” She ignored the last remark for the moment. “And sorry for not answering your questions. You’re not usually this panicked.”

Egon’s eyebrows rose.“What am I usually like?”

Janine counted on her fingers as she listed off the traits. “Calm, methodical, intelligent, serious, brave,” She switched to another hand, “Passionate, driven-”

“Alright, alright, Janine, I think he gets it now,” Peter teased as he rolled his eyes. “We don’t have all day. We need to run those tests.”

Janine blew a raspberry in his direction.

“Never thought I said this, but Peter is right,” Ray got up from the floor and held a hand out for Peter.

Peter accepted it and got up. “You know, I resent that remark.”

Winston held out a hand for Egon, who was still weak on his feet, but managed to keep his balance. He then rubbed at his temples with a small wince.

“This headache is killing me.”

“Speaking of, you know the venom we mentioned?” Ray asked Egon.

Egon nodded.

“So, we’re not sure what it does. Now that you’re awake, I want to run some tests in the lab so that we can learn more. If you don’t mind.”

Egon shrugged. “As long as it helps this headache.”

“The tests won’t help with that,” Winston said, “But some aspirin might. You have a bottle of it in the lab.”

“My lab? I have a lab?”

Winston nodded.

“Wow. I wonder what kind of experiments I run.”

“Ones that blow up half of Manhattan,” Peter said with a snicker.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Before he could begin to process the implications of that remark, Egon felt a bottle being pressed into his hand. He turned to see that it was Janine that did this as she also took away the empty mug.

“What’s this for?” he asked, gesturing to the bottle, which contained a red liquid.

“Whatever the cause of your sickness is, you’re still vomiting. The electrolytes will help.”

Egon took a sip of a Gatorade. “Thank you…..” He made a face as he struggled to remember her name. “I’m so sorry, you all threw your names at me at once.”

Her mouth fell into a frown. “It’s Janine.” She then began to walk off.

“Is something the matter?”

“It’s nothing.” She was now at the top of the stairs. “I’ll be at my desk if anyone needs me.”

“Janine, you can take the day off.” Peter crossed his arms. “I don’t imagine we’ll be taking any calls.” There was also a note of concern in that, but Janine knows she would have to beat Peter to get him to admit that.

“I can’t do that, Dr. Venkman.” Her eyes briefly shot over to Egon, then returned to Peter’s. “I’ll stay here if you need me for anything else.”

She was about halfway down the stairs when a voice stopped her.

“Even though I can’t remember you, I wanted to thank you for your kindness.” Egon was standing at the top of the stairs. “And for staying by my side the entire time I was asleep.”

He gave her a small smile in response, and she couldn’t help but to laugh. It felt good, like she hadn’t done it in years.

She then saw Egon’s puzzled expression, and made a mental screenshot in her mind.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“It’s nothing.” She crossed her arms. “Just remembered something after you guys defeated Gozer.” She saw him raise an eyebrow. “Sumerian demigod. Trust me, not the craziest thing you boys have dealt with.” She then continued. “When you guys came out of the apartment building, I ran to you to hug you. It was nice. I would have thought it was the only time I saw your smile. But your smile right now reminded me of that moment.”

She then waved goodbye and resumed going down the stairs. Egon’s eyes followed her as she did so.

“She has a crush on you by the way, if it wasn’t painfully obvious.”

Egon looks up to see that it was Peter (he thinks) that spoke.

“A crush?”

“It’s one-sided, but yeah.”

“Really?”

“I know she’s nice and all, but please don’t lead her on in this amnesia state of yours. I don’t want you to get your memories back, and then she gets her heart broken again because you kept encouraging her.”

He felt guilty. “I’ve broken her heart before?”

“Not necessarily. More like you just ignore her very obvious hints.” Peter shrugged. “Like incredibly obvious.”

Both of them then began walking to the lab, where Ray and Winston were setting up the equipment.

“Like I said, just don’t give her any hints. I don’t want her to misinterpret you being friendly now and be upset later on.”

“You seem to care a lot about her.”

Rolling his eyes, Peter opened the door to the lab and made a gesture for Egon to go in first. “She answers our calls and handles all of our invoices. Can’t afford not to.”

---------------------------------

Upon entering the lab, Egon spotted a huge machine with a ton of buttons, wires, and flashing lights. From it emerged a long wire with a helmet at the end, which looked almost like a colander. He saw that there was a seat besides the machine. With some hesitation, Egon gingerly sat down and drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair. He found the motion somewhat calming.

“So what does this machine do….” He found himself at a loss, and cursed himself. “I’m really sorry. I did the same with her.”

“It’s Ray.” Ray held up a bunch of electrodes in one hand. “What this is is a very rudimentary EEG machine. It will analyze your brain waves and give us some readings. Hopefully it can tell us some more about what’s going on with you.”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“Nope.” Ray began untangling the electrodes. “Just gonna place the electrodes on and let the machine do its thing.”

He began placing the electrodes on Egon’s neck, head, and chest.

“So, what’s the plan, Ray?” Winston asked.

“Well, first I’m going to run some tests.” He then handed Egon the colander. “Just place this on your head.”

Egon did so, and Ray then flipped a switch, and the machine then emitted a low hum.

Egon felt goosebumps on his arms. “Ooh, it tickles.”

Ray messed around with some switches, making sure that the settings were correct. “Hopefully, the tests give is some information about what’s affecting Egon here.”

“You guys keep saying Egon. Is that my name?”

“Yep,” Peter said while popping the ‘p.’

“It’s a strange name, isn’t it?”

“Odd name for an odd fellow. Blame your mother if you wanna change it.”

Winston tsk-ed. “I’ve heard stranger. Knew a dude named Horatio.”

At Peter’s blank expression, Winston explained, “You know, like the Shakespeare character?”

“In what play?”

“Hamlet. Don’t you read?”

“Not really.”

“But you have a Ph.D. How the hell have you never heard of Hamlet?”

Peter then shrugged in response, and before Winston could backhand the man, Ray snapped his fingers. “

Focus

,” he stressed with the tired tone of a mother with 7 children. “While I run these tests, I want you two to go out to the bookstore and do some research. I’ll call Kylie and let her know you’re coming.” He then did a quick glance at the machine and saw that the test was still running. “Hopefully, once I run these tests, I can identify where the venom is in Egon’s body and make an antidote. I’ll also adjust the traps since they didn’t work last time when Winston used them.”

“Isn’t that a lot, Ray?” Winston asked, “Making an antidote and adjusting the traps?”

“Well, the situation isn’t ideal right now. We’re down a man, and so I have to double up on work. Not much we can do about it.”

Egon took another sip of the Gatorade. “Sorry I can’t help.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“If you’re overwhelmed, Ray, call up someone from another dimension,” Peter suggested.

Ray raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, that time Egon was zapped by that one ghost, we brought over blonde Egon. Why not just open the portal, call him over, and explain what happened? Besides, you need an Egon to help you out. While this one can’t do that for you,” he pointed to Egon next to him, “The next dimension’ll do.”

Ray pondered the decision.

“You know, Peter, that may actually be a helpful idea. I’ll do it after I finish here.”

“You guys have a portal that travels dimensions?” Egon asked before being interrupted by an array of flashing lights and beeps from the machine. “Could I see how it works?”

“You know, you devised it, Egon,” Winston saw the machine produce a long piece of paper with waves of various frequencies and amplitudes, “Came up with it while trying to bring the mutant turtles home.”

Egon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Mutant turtles? Did I heard you right?”

Winston nodded in affirmation as Ray ripped the paper from the machine’s slot.

“I wish I could remember all of this,” Egon said in awe, “Is there anything we haven’t done?”

“Encounter aliens.”

“Although that could be an entire discussion that we shall save for another day,” After a quick skim of the results, Ray whistled. “Interesting. These brain waves are entirely off.”

Peter made a mock shocked face. “Really? No shit, Sherlock!”

Ray frowned. “The memory part of his brain is all wonky. These waves are way off from the baseline.” He then threw the paper onto the table besides him. “I’ll study them in more detail later once I know more.”

Winston helped Ray remove the electrodes and turn off the machine. “So, basically we’re screwed.”

Ray tapped the side of his nose. “Don’t be such a negative Nancy, Winston. The blood tests will probably tell us a lot more. Especially since the venom absorbed through his skin.”

“Blood tests?” Egon repeated to himself, his face turning white. He then turned to Ray eagerly. “C-Could we turn on that portal thing, then do those tests? I really want to see how the machine works.”

“That would be wise. At least I can get help with the rest of the tests from their Egon.”

“Alright! Let’s go!”

Egon shot up from his seat and bolted to the door, then stopped.

“I can’t remember the way.” He then waited for all three of them to leave, then followed behind. “I’ll just follow you three then.”

Yep,

Peter thought,

This was going to be weird.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

All of them made their way down to the basement. Egon trailed behind Winston, and the latter couldn’t help but to laugh at hearing Egon’s whispers of “Whoaaaaa” behind him as Egon looked around in amazement. He then felt someone tapping on his arm.

“What’s that?” Egon asked him, pointing at the containment unit.

“It’s the containment unit. It’s where we store the ghosts after we capture them.” Suddenly, he couldn’t help but to recall the infamous ‘Twinkie’ conversation he had with Egon when he first started working here. “You and Ray also built that.”

“Fascinating.” Egon started working towards it to get a better look, but Winston grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Don’t touch it. Last time someone messed around with it, we nearly unleashed Armageddon.”

“Got it.” A beat. “We seem to attract a lot of danger.”

“Tell me about it.”

Meanwhile, Ray was at a panel covered with buttons. He flipped on a few switches, which lit up the entire console. All of the buttons shone in different colors, each with their own beeping noises. He then typed in ‘68-R’ into a keyboard, and then pressed a huge red button.

“And that’s it, Egon. Now we just wait for the particles to move together to form a picture. Once it does that, we have successfully opened a portal to another dimension.”

Suddenly, a small ball of energy formed in the center of the portal, emitting a light blue light and some level of heat. A scene then appeared. It looked to be a living room, and all four Ghostbusters of Dimension 68-R were sitting on a couch, relaxing and watching some television program.

Slowly, Egon approached the portal with his hand held out. He stuck it through the portal, and then withdrew it, looking at his hand in absolute glee.

“It tickles.”

Winston felt someone nudge his side. “Like a kid in a candy store.”

He then saw that Peter was standing next to him, rolling his eyes.

---------------------------------

Egon kept putting his hand in and out of the portal, which caught the attention of one of the 68-R Ghostbusters.

“Oh great,” Peter-R said with a loud groan. He got up from his seat on the couch and walked towards them, still keeping to his dimension. The other Ghostbusters noticed Peter had gotten up and turned to face the portal as well.

Peter-R ignored Egon and looked at his Prime Counterpart with a scowl.

“Could you give us a warning next time? We’re in the middle of something important.”

“Really?” Peter looked back to get a glimpse of the TV in the alternate dimension, “You’re watching Jeopardy.”

“Hey, we had a rough week,” his 68-R counterpart shot back, “Besides, I don’t imagine you’re solving the Riemann hypothesis in your spare time.”

“Ooooo, big words we’re using, aren’t we?” Peter remarked with a smirk. “Didn’t know that you could read books that don’t have pictures. “

“Egon!” Peter-R shouted, “Would I be tearing a hole in dimensions if I punch myself?”

“Nope,” Egon-R responded with an eyeroll and the tone of a man who has had to answer this questions many times before.

“Hey, man, cut it out,” Winston tugged on Peter’s arm. “Besides, we’re not supposed to keep this thing open for long. Unless you want ghosts to bust that no one’s gonna to pay us for.”

“Well, he started it. Or I started it,” Peter pondered for a moment, “Never mind. I’m going to give myself a headache if I think about this.”

Peter-R crossed his arms. “Your Winston has a point. I don’t want to do free work. So, what’s wrong?”

“What happened to hello? Hi? Good morning? How are you?”

“We’re past that point. Anytime you conquer up…

this

,” Here, he gestured absentmindedly to the portal, “There’s always something wrong. You never do this to check up on us or slip us tips on what teams to bet on.” Here, he held a hand to his forehead dramatically, as if in a telenovela. “It’s like you don’t care.”

“Here’s a tip. Don’t bet on the Red Sox.”

“You have to be an idiot to do that. Regardless of what dimension you’re in, it’s just common sense.”

“True.”

Ray-R broke up the conversation by asking his counterpart, “So what’s the problem then?”

“We need to borrow your Egon for some help,” Ray explained, “Ours got am-”

He was suddenly interrupted by Peter clearing his throat loudly. “What the hell was that for-”

Upon turning back, he saw that Peter moved his hand across his neck in a slicing motion.

“Oh, ummm….” Ray trailed off in his speech for a bit as he thought of an excuse. “He’s a bit…. off?” He liked it, and repeated it with more confidence, “Yeah, our Egon’s a bit off.”

Egon looked up at the mention of his name. “Hello.”

“Oh gosh, that’s an awful bruise,” Ray-R remarked, looking at Egon’s right cheek, “Do you need ice or anything?”

“We’ll get him some,” Winston answered, grateful that they hadn’t caught on to anything off.

“Like I said, always knocking our door whenever there’s an issue,” Peter paced on his feet while he spoke, “Borrow our Egon because their Egon’s a ‘bit off.’ It’s Egon. He always acts weird, regardless of the dimension. Yours especially.”

“Hey, man, knock it out,” Winston-R said, (“Hey, that was mean,” Egon muttered) “It’s probably something important.”

“On our one day off, no less,” Peter-R scowled.

He then saw that Egon kept sticking his hand in the portal and then removing it.

“Do you mind?” he snapped at Egon, “We’re trying to have an important conversation here.”

Egon then brought his arm to his side. “Apologies….” He stuck out his tongue as he struggled to recall the name. “Whoever you are?”

Peter-R could feel his jaw drop to the floor, then turned to his fellow Ghostbusters. “I can’t believe this! What do you mean you don’t know us?” He spread his arms out and gestured to their group. “We’re you guys, but better! Met when we were fighting a Greek god. Could have even made a whole comic about it. Maybe even stretch it across 4 issues or something.”

Egon shook his head. “Sorry.”

“We told you he’s acting weird,” Peter said with a shrug.

---------------------------------

Egon-R approached his counterpart, tilting his head as he studied him. “Interesting.”

He then pulled out a PKE meter, adjusted it, then held it out towards his counterpart.

“A faint signal, but nothing serious.”

Egon grinned as he looked at Egon-R’s hair. “How do you get it to do that?”

His counterpart looked back at him in absolute horror.

“I’ll help you.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, he stepped over the portal and entered their dimension.

“Egon, get back here!” Peter-R yelled, “We were going to play a game of poker after this, and I need you on my team!”

“Why the sudden enthusiasm?” Winston asked Egon-R, “You don’t even know what we need you for.”

Egon-R shut off the PKE meter and put it into his pocket.

“Well, to be honest, gentlemen. I’ve never seen a Spengler smile that much in their entire life. And

that

frightens me.”

He said this in such a serious tone, the Prime Ghostbusters couldn’t tell whether he was joking or not.

“Solely based on that, I believe you when you say something odd is happening. And I’ll do what I can to help.”

Egon-R turned to the 68-R Ghostbusters. “I will be back. Don’t hesitate to conjure up the portal if you need my assistance with anything.”

“Will do, Egon,” Ray-R said with a grin. “And we’ll hold back on the poker game until you return.”

“Besides, I don’t want to hear Peter’s whining,” Winston-R joked. “Especially when I beat him.”

“I resent that,” Peter-R crossed his arms, “But good luck, Egon. Hope you can cure… Egon.” He looked at his Prime Counterpart. “Man, you’re right, my head hurts just thinking about it.”

Peter shrugged in response. “Join the club.”

Ray then shut off the portal with a few flicks of some switches.

“Well, gentlemen, we should get started. We do have our work cut out for us.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Kylie was at the front desk, dusting the shelf behind her when she heard the front bell ring. She then turned out and said in her best ‘customer service’ voice, “Ray’s Occult… how can I-”

She then saw that it was Peter and Winston. “Oh, it’s just you guys.”

“Well, you don’t need to act disappointed, kid,” Peter said in a mock hurt voice while he studied a book with a bleeding eye on its cover. “Sorry I’m not Elvira.”

Kylie glared at him for the last remark and was about to say something, but Winston stepped in to prevent an argument.

“Since it’s kinda crowded up here, should we work in the back room?” he asked, “Ray mentioned you have one.

“That we do have,” she answered. “We mainly use it as a breakroom. It used to open for community use, but not anymore since some idiot held a séance in there and summoned their dead aunt.”

Before Winston could inquire further, Kylie left her place at the front desk and looked around the store. “Speaking of idiots, where the hell is he?” She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Eduardo? Eduardo!”

Eduardo stuck his head out from behind a wall, then stepped out to reveal a tall stack of books in his hands.

“There you are.” Kylie pointed behind her at the front desk. “Take over for me; I’m doing some research.”

Eduardo shook his head. “Can’t. I’m busy restocking shelves.”

Kylie frowned in response. “This is Ghostbusters business for the boss. You can save the restocking for another time.”

Eduardo put down the books and headed to the front desk.

“Man, this isn’t fair,” he protested, “I don’t like dealing with the customers. They’re really creepy.”

“It’s only for a while. I just don’t want to crowd the front with all three of us and the books.”

“You know, you just get to do what you want because you’re his favorite.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Eduardo, you’re being ridiculous, no, I’m not.”

“Can we get back to work, please?” Winston said in an exasperated tone.

He already had to deal with three grown men bickering on various subjects. From whether they should take on other dimensions’ classifications systems for ghosts, if mold could absorb ectoplasm, even Monopoly games.

The last one was mainly because on his first night at the firehouse, a huge fight broke out because Egon and Ray suspected Peter was cheating. Turns out he was. Monopoly was shortly banned afterwards from the firehouse.

So, he didn’t need to hear teenagers argue as well.

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not,” Kylie shot back.

Peter soon joined in Winston’s annoyance and stepped in between the two.

“Alright, kids, Uncle Petey says to stop fighting. Break it up.” He then turned to Kylie. “Come on, the sooner we get this done and get Egon’s memory back the better. For all of us.”

Suddenly, Kylie felt like she was caught under a disappointed father’s gaze and crossed her arms. “I hate when you’re right.”

“Wait, what’s wrong with Spengler?” Eduardo asked.

“Amnesia by venom,” Winston explained.

“Ewww. Should I tell the Chicago branch then?”

Peter raised his eyebrows. “What do they need over there?”

“They had some issues with a ghoulie,” Eduardo answered. “Wanted a phone consultation with Spengler and Stantz.”

“When did they call?” Kylie asked, “I was at the front all day. I would have surely heard the phone ring.”

“It was when you were in the back getting a book for that weird dude. You know, the one obsessed with chickens.” Eduardo then felt a physical shudder go up his spine (“Did he say chickens?” Winston asked Peter, to which the other nodded). “I heard the phone ring, answered it, and it was them. So, what should I tell them if they call back?”

Peter saw both Winston and Kylie look over to him for guidance. He then pinched the bridge of the nose as he leaned against a shelf, much to Kylie’s silent protest.

“Tell them we’re busy with something and that we’ll call back when we can. I don’t need word spreading around that we’re down a Ghostbuster. Only ones that need to know are us and blonde Egon.”

“Why don’t you want them to know?” Winston asked.

“Well, first of all, it’ll probably cause a stink if Egon’s down, since that man has projects in every damn dimension we have.” There was a beat. “Second is cause of Ron. I don’t want him auditioning to be our replacement if he knows. God forbid I have to see that man on a regular basis.”

“Dealing with an annoying man? Can’t imagine what that’s like,” Kylie shot daggers at Peter with her glare, “Get off the shelf.”

Peter stopped leaning against it and held his hands up. “Pardon my French.”

“So, if they call back, just tell them you’re busy?” Eduardo repeated.

“Attaboy. Here, have a candy.”

Peter dug into his pocket, took out a small piece of candy, and tossed it to Eduardo.

He then went ahead of Kylie and Winston. “Come on, we’re burning daylight.”

---------------------------------

It was a standard break room. There was a coffee table, some plastic folding chairs, one chair with wheels on it, and a few chips on the counter. Peter claimed the rolling chair and grabbed a bag of chips. He opened the bag, then held it out to Winston.

Winston refused, to which Peter shrugged and shoved a handful of chips in his mouth.

Meanwhile, Kylie was searching in some drawers for a notepad and pen. She sat across from them and rested her leg on her knee.

“Since you guys are new to research, here’s how it usually works. We need to know what the beast is. Normally, this step’s easy cause the boss knows his creatures.”

“Memorization was always his strong suit in college,” Peter noted, his sentence muffled because of the mouthful of chips.

Kylie flipped to a new page; her disgust was clear on her face. “Uh huh. However, he’s at a loss here. So, that’s where you two come in.”

She then clicked her pen and rested it against the page. “So, try your best to describe it. Even if the detail seems pointless. The number of creatures is vast, and it’ll be helpful to narrow it down to what we’re looking for.”

Winston started. “Well, it was a hybrid creature.”

“Uh huh,” She wrote something down, “How many creatures were in the hybrid?”

“Does that matter?” Peter asked.

Kylie’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh absolutely. Hybrid creatures are very nuanced. You have some with human heads, but the body of an animal. Lot of Egyptian deities are like that. You have the front of an animal, but the back of another animal. Like a griffin. You have hybrids between only two creatures, hybrids between three creatures, hybrids between four creatures. Hell, you can even have a mix of 9 different animals. That’s a Navagunjara, now that one is interesting-”

She was interrupted by the crinkling of an empty chip bag as Peter punched his into a small ball. “Earth to Ray Junior! You’re monologuing.”

He then tossed the chip bag into a nearby trash can.

“And he scores!” He pumped his fist in the air, “Oh, the thing had three heads. Does that help?”

With an annoyed glare, Kylie noted that down. “What kind of heads?”

“A snake, an eagle, and either a lion or tiger.”

“What about its body?”

“It had eagle feet and huge wings,” Winston spread out his arms as far as he could, “Its wingspan was as big as a school bus.”

“Oh, and it spits out electricity and venom. Venom that apparently causes memory loss.” Peter leaned back in his chair. “Can’t forget that.”

“Jesus, how strong was this thing?” she asked.

“Pretty strong. We were all scared shitless,” Winston recalled, “We were all yelling and panicking. Even Egon got overwhelmed. Like really bad.”

“Interesting.”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “I think you’ve been hanging around Ray for too long. Why is that interesting?”

“How would you describe the fear?”

Peter hummed as he tried to recall. “Really bad. Like it struck the core of my soul. It was a different kind of fear. Like my entire body was subjected to it.”

“You didn’t seem frightened,” Winston said, “Hell, you were cracking jokes the whole time.”

“It’s how I deal with stress. You should have seen me during finals at Columbia; I was a regular Seinfeld.”

“I imagine it annoyed Egon and Ray.”

“It did, in fact. But I did pass at the end of the day.” The last sentence was said with a smug grin.

“Going back to my point,” Kylie continued, “Perhaps it works off of fear.”

“Judging by the readings, it must have been having a buffet off of us,” Winston’s eyes darted up to the ceiling as he tried to recall the reading, then snapped his fingers, “Ray easily said the PKE reading was over 10,000.”

“Over 10,000!” Kylie shouted.

Peter covered his ears. “Jesus, keep your voice down.”

“Sorry,” she then lowered her voice, “That is definitely strong. It could even explain making Dr. Spengler sick and giving him amnesia. It would increase the anxiety of the individual and make them easier to kill and siphon fear off of.”

“So, we can fight it then,” Peter rubbed his hands, “Payback is going to be a bitch.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, Dr. Venkman,” Kylie clicked her pen and scribbled some notes down. “The whole fear thing is a working theory, so don’t go running with a plan to fight it yet. Give me some time, and we can narrow it down to something.”

“Wait, wait, what do you mean, we?” Peter jabbed a finger into his chest. “I don’t do reading. Especially since college.”

“We need all hands on deck, man,” Winston retorted. He saw that Peter remained stubborn, and added, “Come on, at least that way Ray can focus on finding a cure for the venom. He’s already doing a lot, even with blonde Egon helping him.”

“Alright.”

“And we need to help Egon-”

“Winston!” Peter yelled, “I already said yes.”

He then raised his hands in surrender. “But I won’t like it.”

“Guess Eduardo’s gonna be out there longer than I thought if we’re doing our research here.” She went to the doorway, stuck her head out, and yelled, “Hey Eduardo, can you take over for me for the rest of the day?”

“Aw come on, Kylie, you only said it was for a while!” he yelled back.

“Please?” she pleaded, “I’ll buy you lunch later!”

Silence. Then a “Fine!” was heard.

“Thanks!” She then went to the shelf and grabbed three books.

“We can start with Tobin’s Spirit Guide, Volumes 1 through 3.”

With a grin, she dropped the heaviest volume onto Peter’s lap and heard him wince in pain.

“Go nuts.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“They’re busy? What the hell do you mean they’re busy?”

Ron had the phone receiver on his shoulder, pressing it against his ear. This left his hands free to sign the conversation to Rookie, who sat across from him.

“Alright, then tell them that we took care of it, but barely. Tell them that we were nearly killed.” There a pause. “Oh, go to hell.”

He slammed the phone down with force, nearly breaking the phone base.

“Sons of bitches, the lot of them.” The scowl on his face only deepened as his anger continued to stew.

Rookie shook his head.

You were exaggerating. We weren’t nearly killed.

“Well, at least it’ll make Stantz feel guilty.” Ron then stuck out his tongue and mimicked gagging. “Alwas a bleeding heart, that one. Makes me sick.”

Oh yeah, cause lying about the consultation details will

definitely

work in your favor.

“That’s not the point, Rookie.” Ron shot up from his chair and began pacing angrily. His hand motions became more jerky as his signing quickened in pace. “You know, trust goes in

both

directions. They never tell us jackshit about what they’re doing over there. Not like we’re on the same team or anything. Nope, no sir, Ghostbusters New York need to keep everything secret. Their missions, their inventions, no sharing with the other children, no sir!”

Rookie wasn’t moved with the monologue.

Reminder that you’re only here cause you stole their blueprints and attempted to replicate the equipment on your own. Emphasis on attempt.

Ron shot him a murderous glance. “Oh, shut up.”

Besides, they’re probably dealing with some horrible. They always attract that kind of stuff, whether it’s a ghoul, demon, interdimensional monster, or something else. Maybe they’re busy dealing with that and don’t have time for the consultations. The PKE in New York are way higher than here in Chicago.

“And how do you know that?”

I started out with them, dumbass. My first week there we had to fight Shandor and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Ron raised his hands in the air as if in worship. “Apologies. Let me bow down to your excellence.” He did a mock bow. “You’re much better than all of us. If only I could get an iota of your knowledge and talent, then I’d be much better off.”

And you wonder why they don’t like you.

“Well, then shut up about your history with them. It’s annoying.”

Pot calling the kettle black.

Ron didn’t bother to respond. He was deep in thought, then snapped his fingers.

“You know, maybe I’ll give Redhead a call.”

Rookie shook his head.

Don’t do it. If they’re busy, they’ll get even more pissed off if you keep blowing up their phones.

Ron ignored the suggestion as he produced a small black book from one of the drawers in the desk. “That time I called the bookstore cause that’s where Stantz and that weird goth girl usually are. But they’re much too busy for us common folk.” He flipped through some pages and finally found the one he was looking for.  “Ergo, we call Redhead. She doesn’t do much, so she’ll probably answer.”

Rookie shot him an offended look.

First of all, Janine does a lot for them. She basically helps keep the business afloat. The Ghostbusters wouldn’t be nothing if Janine wasn’t there helping them out.

“A bit defensive, aren’t we?” Ron scoffed. “Go date her if you like her so much. Egon’s certainly not gonna do it anytime soon.”

He dialed the phone number, glancing over to see a rude gesture from Rookie. “And I saw that middle finger.”

It was meant for you, jerk. Apologize.

Ron covered the transmitter as he heard the dial tone.

“Apologize for what? I didn’t even say any of that stuff directly to her-”

The phone then picked up and Janine’s voice was on the line.

“What didn’t you say to me?”

To hide his surprise, Ron held out the phone. “You wanna tell her?” He then waved it around in a taunting manner, then brought it back to his ear. “Oh wait, you can’t.”

Fuck off.

“Exactly what I thought.”

“Listen here, you spiky-hair loser,” Janine’s voice held a still anger, “I can hear you bullying Rookie. Keep it up, and this number’s getting blocked.”

Ron gritted his teeth. “Alright, alright. Sorry, Rook.”

Rookie held a hand to his ear.

What was that? I couldn’t hear ya.

“Sorry,” he hissed between his teeth, “Ya happy now?”

Ecstatic.

---------------------------------

Ron rolled his eyes at the smug look on Rookie’s face.

“Now, Redhead, how are you doing on this fine afternoon-”

“Spare me the compliments. What do you want?”

Ron blinked in response to the abrupt question. “Uh, listen. Stantz didn’t pick up on our calls. We were trying to do a phone consultation earlier. Everything worked out with the ghost in the end,” Here, Ron put on a sickeningly sick sweet tone, “But I just wanted to check in and make sure everything was fine.”

Rookie pointed his finger to his mouth and started made gagging noises.

“Everything’s fine,” Janine said, “They’re just busy at the moment. Dealing with a Class VII. It’s their top priority right now.”

“A Class VII, huh?” Ron raised an eyebrow. “Nothing else?”

“Nope,” she said quickly, “Have a nice day, Ron.”

She then hung up.

A Class VII? Man, I’m glad we don’t get anything higher than a Class V here.

“She was lying to us.”

And how do you know that?

“The inflection on her ‘Nope.’ She said it way too quickly. Trust me, I can sense stuff like this.”

From all the women who rejected your advances?

“Something’s going on over there.” He drummed his fingers on the desk. “It must be bad if Stantz is too busy to babble like an

idiot

about whatever ghost we were facing. He practically lives off these consultations.”  
Ray isn’t an idiot. Hell, he’s a lot smarter than you’ll ever be. 
“Forgot I was insulting your New York buddies.” A pause. “What’s our schedule this week?”

Next appointment is in 5 days from now. It’s Miss Faversham again.

He then spotted an evil glint in Ron’s eye.

I don’t like that look. What’s going on?

Ron rubbed his hands eagerly. “If they won’t answer my question, perhaps I’ll go over there and see what’s the matter.”

Ron, don’t you dare. You’ll just cause more trouble.

Ron waved him off. “It’s our moral duty to check up on our New York Ghostbusters. What if someone happens to them? God forbid they get hurt.”

Well, that’s a load of shit if I’ve ever heard it.

“And who says I can’t have a change of heart?”

Rookie shook his head.

We’ll ignore that you just insulted them. What if they are actually dealing with a simple Class VII, and they get mad because you’re butting in?”

“Then they have extra help. It’s a win-win scenario.”

I don’t like it.

“Doesn’t matter what you like. I’m doing it.”

Fine,

Rookie threw up his hands in surrender

, Then you’re paying for it. This isn’t coming out of Ghostbusters funds.

“Fine. And if it is an emergency over there? Do I get reimbursed?”

A beat.

Only if it’s an actual emergency.

“Just what I thought. I’ll pack up and leave on a flight tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, I’ll get there by the evening. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to pack.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Amnesia, you say?” Egon-R took off his red spectacles and cleaned them with a small cloth.

Ray nodded. “Looks like it.”

“Interesting. I can imagine how that would be most inconvenient.” He then placed his glasses back on and pushed them up. Turning to his Prime counterpart, he asked, “What’s your earliest memory you can remember?”

Egon adjusted the ice pack that he currently held against his right cheek. He strained to remember, but nothing came to mind. He was a blank slate.

“I can’t tell you. Nothing’s coming up.”

Egon-R tried to hide the surprise in his voice. “You don’t remember anything?” His counterpart shook his head. “Not even your first scientific experiment? Your days at college? Fighting Gozer?”

Again, his counterpart shook his head. “Nope.”

Egon-R turned to Ray. “This is indeed serious.” He then saw that Ray had a notepad and was making a list. “I could see why you didn’t want the others to know.”

Ray scribbled down some stuff. “Peter’s right, it would cause too much of a stink. Besides, we have a lot of work to do, and I can’t deal with answering any questions the other dimensions may have. We’re already ghosting our Chicago branch as it is.”

“Do you at least know what the beast is?”

“Nope.”

“Well, that definitely doesn’t help matters.”

Ray then handed Egon-R the notepad. “Here’s a list of the tests we need to do. I’ll take the left column, you take the right.”

Both of them immediately got to work. They went to the lab sink, washed their hands, and snapped on some latex gloves.

Egon-R grabbed a small pack that had hospital equipment. He took out a thermometer and gestured for Egon to open his mouth. He placed it under Egon’s tongue, then took it out and glimpsed the reading.

“100. He’s running a fever.”

“The Tylenol should kick in soon.” Ray grabbed Egon’s arm and positioned it so that Egon’s palm was facing upwards. “If it doesn’t, we’ll give him some Advil in 90 minutes.”

He then rolled up Egon’s sleeve and grabbed a small wipe. Egon quickly realized what test Ray was going to perform and his face whitened.

“Ray, do we have to do the blood test?” he protested.

Ray glanced up and saw how frightened Egon looked. “That’s odd. You’ve never had a fear of needles before. At least, not one that I recall you mentioning.”

“Well, I don’t like them,” Egon tried to wriggle his arm away, but Ray kept a firm grip. “Surely there’s another way we can do it?”

He then felt something poking into his ear. He looked to see that Egon-R was looking into his ear canals with an otoscope.

“I’m afraid not, Egon.” Ray looked for a vein and found one. He then started cleaning the spot with an alcohol wipe. “We’re going to have to use the needle.”

“Canals are clear,” Egon-R announced, “Moving to the left ear.”

Egon squirmed in his seat. “I can’t do it.”

“Oh, come on, Egon.” Ray pointed to Egon-R. “The other you isn’t afraid of needles.”

Egon-R rolled his seat over to Egon’s left. “Well….”

“Oh God, don’t tell me you’re afraid of them too?”

“Reminds me of the time I was studying mice in my Uncle Cyrus’ lab during high school. I hated doing injections on the mice.”

“You were doing research in high school?” Egon asked.

Egon-R shrugged, then placed the otoscope in Egon’s left ear. “My uncle had high expectations for me. Regardless, I felt bad whenever the mice squirmed when I inserted the needle. Can still hear their squeaks to this day.”

“Ray, I really can’t do this,” Egon protested further.

“You’re not helping,” Ray said, shooting Egon-R an annoyed glare. He then let go of Egon’s arm and sat in thought. “What to do? What to do?” After a moment of silence, he then snapped his fingers. “I got it! Egon, if you do this blood test, I’ll give you some candy.”

Egon’s ears perked up. “What kind?”

“Uhhhh….” Ray tried to recall what pieces of candy Peter had in the bag that was under his bed, but couldn’t remember any. “Here, I’ll bring the bag. It’s in the other room.”

Ray then exited the room, and Egon-R shook his head at his counterpart.

“What’s that expression for?” Egon asked.

“Open your mouth, I’m going to check your throat.” Egon-R used a popsicle stick to press down on Egon’s tongue, “I can’t believe you’re being bribed with candy.”

“Ga I ha a swe ooth.”

“Everything looks fine.”

Egon-R removed the popsicle stick.

“Guess I have a sweet tooth.”

---------------------------------

Ray returned with a small bag of candy.

“Alright, alright….” He dug through the bag and pulled out some pieces of candy. “We got Hershey’s, Snickers, and the classic Crunch bar.”

He then saw that Egon was eyeing the Crunch bar with interest, and he grinned in response.

At least that’s still the same

, he thought.

Egon pointed to the Crunch bar. “That one.”

Ray took the Crunch bar and placed it on the table. “Fine then. You get this after we do the blood tests.”

He then took a piece of candy for himself and offered the bag to Egon-R. “Care for one?”

Egon-R waved it away. “I’m perfectly fine.” He decided to take a break to offer some moral support to his counterpart while Ray collected the blood sample. “Besides, I can’t stand junk food.”

“Really?” Ray grabbed a small side table and set it up between him and Egon. “Our Egon practically runs on it.”

“I can see that.”

On the table, he placed some gauze, a piece of cotton, and a needle attached to a small vial wrapped in plastic. “Venkman even gave him a candy bar after he showed us the calculations for trapping a ghost.”

He gestured for Egon’s arm, grabbed it, and positioned it like he did before. “Ironically, it was a Crunch bar,” he added with a small laugh.

Even with the promise of the candy, Egon still appeared nervous, and he fidgeted in his seat.

“You’ll be fine.” His counterpart placed a hand on his shoulder, taking away the ice pack for the moment.

With a finger and a careful eye, Ray tried to refind the spot he identified before.

He finally did. “Hand me the needle, Egon.”

Egon-R peeled off the plastic wrapping and gave the needle to Ray in his right hand. With his left hand, Ray pinched the skin near the vein he would draw blood from.

“Your hands are surprising still for this,” Egon-R complimented, “Almost like a surgeon’s.”

“We’ve done so many of these because of all the damned things we run into. At least each of us has been possessed a bare minimum of 3 times.” He added with a laugh, “I can do it with my eyes closed,”

“Please don’t do it with your eyes closed.” Egon shifted in his seat, and his breathing got quicker.

“Don’t worry, Spengs, you’ll be fine.”

“You’re doing a lot better than I would have,” Egon-R encouraged. “I would have fainted by now.”

Again with the deadpan delivery. Ray couldn’t tell if Egon-R was exaggerating or not. Regardless, Egon seem to take the statement in full earnestness.

“Alright, Egon, I’m going to put the needle in. You don’t have to look.”

Egon shut his eyes tightly, preparing for the worst. He took deep breaths, then felt a small pinch.

He opened one of his eyes.

“Is it in?” he asked. “Or are you still waiting?”

No response. Egon then opened both of his eyes and saw Ray holding a small vial filled with a crimson liquid.

“Nope, we’re done,” Ray then reached for the Crunch bar, “And here’s your reward.”

Ray handed him the Crunch bar, which Egon unwrapped and nibbled on.

---------------------------------

“How good are you with doing a blood smear?” Ray asked, handing Egon-R the vial.

“It’s been a while, but I shall try to do my best.”

Egon-R then began setting up at another part of the desk. He wiped down the counter with some disinfectant, then put down a microscope and plugged it into an outlet.

With a mouthful full of Crunch bar, Egon asked, “Is that it?” He then swallowed. “Cause I need to use the restroom.”

“Perfect!” Ray shoved into his free hand a small plastic jar with an orange lid. “We actually need a urine sample as well.”

Egon looked at the jar. “You want me… to pee in this?”

“Uh huh.”

“And then that’s the last test?” Egon said with some hope.

“Oh goodness no!” Ray began ticking off the other tests on his fingers, “I need a nasal swab, cheek swab, saliva sample, and skin sample. And maybe another measure of your brain waves. Now that it’s quieter around here, perhaps that’ll give us more accurate results.”

Egon shook his head. “I feel like a lab rat.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” Egon-R added a drop of blood onto a slide, then grabbed another slide. “At least you’re not being dissected, having your organs harvested, and stored in Trizol. And then having those same organs are being run through extractions, put through a Ussing chamber, or stored in paraffin wax and then sliced to be placed onto slides for further study.”

He then noticed that the room was unusually silent, and looked up to see that Ray and Egon were looking at him with great concern.

“Perhaps I’ve overshared.” Egon-R then turned his attention to adding a dye onto the blood smear and letting it sit.

“Your uncle really traumatized you, huh?” Ray asked.

“I went back to research for him for around two weeks a few months ago. Something about fulfilling a promise I made to him a few years ago, before I started being a Ghostbuster.” He then moved the slide to the side to let it air-dry. “Let’s just say thank heavens that I’ve never thought about pursuing any of the neurosciences.”

“I wonder if that’s why I’m afraid of needles,” was all Egon had to say.

“Perhaps.”

“I mean, I couldn’t tell you.”

Ray then saw Egon get a frightened look on his face.

“Egon?”

“I can’t remember

anything

, Raymond. Not even my

own

family.”

The room now suddenly held an even more unbearable silence than a few moments ago.

“You know, it’s getting kind of quiet around here. I have a record player and some blues records in my room. I always play them whenever we work, and you really like them.” Ray pointed to the door. “Do you wanna go get them, Egon?”

“Um, sure.”

“It’s by my bed. Just go in the hallway and it should be the first door on your left. Huge record player, you won’t miss it.”

---------------------------------

Once Egon left the room, Ray let out a loud sigh.

“I’m really worried about him,” he said quietly.

However, Egon-R caught it. He approached Ray and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

“It feels… weird interacting with him. It’s like talking to a g….” Ray then stopped himself. “And what if he doesn’t get his memory back? He’s an important part of the team. Hell, we’re falling apart without him.”

“Is that it?” Egon-R felt that Ray had more to say, but likely was holding back because he didn’t want to say anything in front of his team earlier. Likely cause it would only add to their own worries about their friend.

“It’s not just losing a member of the team. He’s a good friend. I’ve known him since college. All those memories, and they’re just gone.”

“In some cases of amnesia, those memories are indeed gone forever. But I have a feeling it isn’t that way with him.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The way he reacted to the candy. There was something in his subconscious reminding him of that memory with your guys’ Venkman. That’s why he chose it.”

“You’re right.” Ray had a glimmer of hope, but it quickly disappeared. “But what if-”

“Raymond.” Egon returned back to the microscope. “Hopelessness isn’t going to get us anywhere. Take your fear and put it into your work. Find a way to cure him and to bring those memories back.”

Silence. Then, “You’re right. Let’s get back to running those tests.”

Unbeknownst to Ray or Egon-R, Egon was hanging by the door and caught every bit of the conversation.

“He’s right. Who am I?”

He then felt a wave of nausea wash over him and he ran quickly to the bathroom to vomit.

Leaning over the toilet bowl, he didn’t feel any better than before he took the Tylenol.

Something’s wrong,

he thought.

Very wrong.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Have I been reading the same passage for the past 10 minutes?

Stretching his arms outward, he then looked at the page he was on.

Yep. And the damn thing still doesn’t make sense.

With a yawn, he glanced at the clock, and then did a double take. There was no way in hell they had been in here researching for several hours and still hadn’t discovered anything.

To be fair, he did take a nap at some point.

But it couldn’t have been that long, right?

He looked around the room. To his right, he saw that Winston was fast asleep. On his left, Kylie was engrossed in some text. It appeared to be something in Latin.

Where do they even teach Latin? Can’t imagine it’s in that high of demand. Maybe I should learn some it to impress Dana. She’s always been into high class stuff.

He picked up the book from his lap and stood up. He opened the book, then closed it with a huge SLAM.

Winston jerked awake with a startled gasp. He clenched the arms of the chair, his eyes darting everywhere to take in his surroundings. Finally, it clicked in his brain that he was inside the bookstore, and not in danger. With a deep breath, he let his body physically relax.

Kylie, meanwhile, flinched harshly, as if someone grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a violent shake. She let out a loud curse through gritted teeth as she narrowed her eyes at Peter.

Peter saw that Winston was also giving him a nasty glare.

“Don’t ever do that again, my man.”

Peter gave Winston an apologetic pat on the shoulder. “Sorry, Sleeping Beauty,” he teased, “But it’s getting late. We should be getting back to the firehouse.”

“What time is it?” Kylie asked, rubbing her eyes.

At that moment, Eduardo peeked his head into the room. “It’s ten o’clock, Kylie.” The name was said with a slight accent. “We gotta close.”

He then saw how exhausted everyone looked. “Did you guys find out anything?”

“Nope,” Kylie groaned, “This is going to be a lot tougher than I thought.”

“You said it.” Winston got up from his seat and returned his book to the shelf. “Man, I’d kill for a cup of joe right now.”

“Maybe I’ll grab some books and continue my research.”

All of them exited the room. Kylie took out a key ring, picked out a key, and tried to put it in the keyhole. It didn’t work. She then tried two more keys. Also failed.

Peter held his hand out. “You’re tired, kid.”

She handed him the keys, and Peter locked up the break room.

“You’re gonna be no help if you’re exhausted. We’ll give you a ride home. Get some sleep, and we’ll continue working tomorrow.”

“I can walk to my place just fine,” she protested, suppressing the urge to yawn. “I don’t live far from here.”

Eduardo tsk-ed. “I’ll walk you there, Kylie. You look like you’re about to collapse.”

“And they say chivalry is dead,” Peter teased, amused at how embarassed Eduardo suddenly became, “I’ll join you on the walk. Might do me some good.” He put on his jacket and popped his collar. “Still don’t know how Ray and Egon do this for hours at a time.”

“Where do you live, Kylie?” Winston asked.

“Two or three blocks away. I’m in East Village.”

Peter laughed. “East Village, huh? Schmoozing with the beatniks, aren’t we?”

“Really showing your age, aren’t we?” Kylie shot back as she threw on a leather jacket. “Come on, Eduardo, we gotta close. Besides, I promised I would buy you dinner.”

“We could save it for another day, Kylie,” Eduardo followed behind her as they all headed towards the front of the store. “I have food at home.”

“I insist. Besides, there’s a café near my place, and they make

really

good coffee.” She pointed to Winston. “You like medium roast?”

Winston nodded.

“That’s their best.”

Peter opened the door. “We’ll wait for you two outside.”

He and Winston left the store. Meanwhile, Eduardo and Kylie got started on closing up.

---------------------------------

Peter stamped his feet. “I hope that café of hers is good, cause I could kill for a sandwich right now.”

“Never mind food, man. We’re still nowhere on our research. All that time, and we couldn’t find anything to help us. Not a single damn clue.” Winston let out an angry exhale. “And the longer we take, the longer that beast is roaming around. What if it hurts someone else, like it did Egon? What if other people are walking around with their memories wiped from them?”

He looked down at the ground. “We’ve lost a good friend. And who knows if we’ll get him back? I’ve lost people before, but never like this. At least the folks in my squadron are dead. At least they aren’t still here, reminding me of their presence. With Egon, it’s like interacting with someone who has dementia. I’ve just been trying to keep positive because I can’t imagine how frightened Egon is. Feeling like you’re in someone’s else shoes, but they’re your shoes.”

His voice got quieter. “And I’ve only known the man for a while. I can’t imagine how Ray, or you, are feeling. Knowing him since college.”

He looked at Peter again for a response. The man looked lost in thought.

“You’re not even liste-”

“Panic isn’t going to get us anyw-”

“That’s all you can say?” Winston shot him an incredulous look and he could hear his voice rise in anger. “I feel hopeless. At least you, Ray, and Egon have the know-how to deal with this. I don’t know the next thing about all of this or even what to do.”

“Winston.” The name was said sternly, and it shut Winston up immediately.

“Like I said, panicking isn’t going to help us. Alright, Egon lost his memory. It happened. Unless Ray’s hiding some blueprints for a time machine, there isn’t much we can do about it.”

“And you’re not worried out of your mind?”

Peter let out a rueful laugh. “Oh, believe me, I absolutely am. But why worry myself into oblivion when I can do something instead? Sitting giving myself anxiety isn’t going to cure Egon faster. The best thing we can do is take the shit we’ve been dealt with and work our way out of it. We bounce back.”

Winston considered the advice.

“You’re right,” he said.

“I know I am.”

“But the research-”

“Listen, we’re been overworking ourselves. That’s probably why you’re feeling guilty. Just….” He paused to find the words, then yawned. “Let’s just take a break and then we continue tomorrow.”

Winston crossed his arms to keep himself warm. He didn’t realize how cold it was outside. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess I just got worried because— usually Egon comes up with the solution whenever we’re in shit.”

“You know, you’re discrediting yourself. You’re just as valuable as the rest of them.” Peter turned to Winston. “You’re smart, Winston, even if it’s not in knowing how to read a stupid PKE meter or other parapsychology bullshit. You’ll think of something.”

“Like?”

“Well, I don’t know.” Peter put his hands in his pocket. But you will.”

“You’re right.” Winston felt odd repeating himself, but it was the only thing he could say. “I guess I’m just nervous.”

“I mean, that’s completely normal. A lot has happened in the past few days.” A beat. “Isn’t it weird?”

“Is what weird?” Winston asked.

“Well, think about it. Isn’t it interesting that the monster’s been laying low lately?” Peter tapped a finger on his chin. “Normally whenever we get a beast like this, they have a ‘on the rampage, destroy New York, avenge my death’ type mentality. Not this one.”

“You think it’s laying low, waiting for Egon?”

“Perhaps.”

“Well, how is it going to find him? This city’s huge, and I doubt it can read phone books to find our address.”

“Not sure. But, you know what, I’m not complaining. It’s giving us time. Let’s use it to gather our supplies, then we launch an attack.”

“Huh. Never thought of it like that.”

“Jesus, where the hell are they?” Peter groaned, walking to the door and knocking loudly on it. “Come onnnnnn! Petey needs sleep!”

Once Peter stepped back from the door, Kylie and Eduardo exited the store.

“What the hell took you so long? We’re freezing our asses off here.”

Eduardo took out a key and locked up the store. “Sorry man. We finished a while ago, but we heard arguing.” He tested the doorknob, tugging on it to make sure the door was locked. “Didn’t wanna butt in.”

---------------------------------

“So where’s this café of yours, Kylie?” Winston couldn’t stop his teeth from chattering, so he wrapped his jacket tighter around himself. “And you better be right about that medium roast.”

Kylie pointed to a storefront. “There it is. And I’m always right.”

They stepped in and found a scene of various characters.

In one corner was young NYU students studying for some sort of exam. They have books strewn out on the table in front of them, medical textbooks with figures drawn in graphic anatomical detail. Cups of coffee were perched on the corners as they were quizzing each other.

Another section had some punks, all dressed in black from head to toe. The only thing that stood out was their brightly colored hair. They laid hunched over shots of espresso as they eyed everyone around them with an angry eye. Yet, behind the fire that burned, they laid an insecure teenager trying to navigate the cruelty of the real world. They were hunched over for a reason.

And finally, next to the table that the four sat down at, were a few poets and activists. They talked over texts of Angela Davis, Edward Said, and other revolutionaries. They were talking in low tones, but Peter could catch snippets such as ‘pigs’ and ‘embassy.’

He grinned as he leaned back in his chair. Man, he loved Manhattan. Where else would such an eclectic bunch gather in one location at 10 at night?

A waitress came to their table and took all their orders.

Kylie crossed her arms on the table and laid her head to rest on top of them. Eduardo took in the scene around him, feeling slightly out of place. Winston, who sat next to Peter, took out a small book.

“What the hell are you reading?” Peter asked Winston as he glanced over his shoulder with interest.

“Shakespeare.”

“Which one?”

“Richard III. Rookie recommended it.”

“Huh. Never read that one.”

Winston soon fell into reading, and Peter decided not to bother him. Based on their talk, he felt that the man probably wanted a moment to himself.

Soon their coffee arrived.

Winston put his book down to pick up his mug and took a long sip. He took joy in the warm beverage, and he could even feel the slight notes of a caramel flavor, but it wasn’t overpowering.

It felt and tasted wonderful.

“Kylie, you were right,” he held the mug, enjoying the heat on his hands, “This is really good.”

However, the book he was reading didn’t have a broken spine, and so it closed.

“Aw, come on.” Winston then flipped through and eventually found the folded corner of the page he was on. He then picked back up on the line he was reading last time.

O ill-dispersing wind of misery!

O my accursed womb, the bed of death!

A yarinx hast thou hatch'd to the world,

Whose unavoided eye strikes feareth into the core of sir.

A feareth yond consumes the spirit and makes the strongest of forces fall akin to Rome.

Wait a minute. He read the passage. And then he read it again. And again.

Peter watched a look of realization spread across Winston’s face, mixed in with some bewilderment.

“It can’t be….”

There you go, Winston. Told you you’d find something.

Peter took a long sip of his coffee.

“Spill, Winston. I know Shakespeare isn’t that interesting.”

Winston placed the book in the center of the table and pointed to the lines he was reading. “This passage. It describes a creature that strikes fear into the heart of man.”

Now Peter’s interest was piqued. “That definitely sounds familiar.”

Kylie immediately got up out of her seat with a start, bumping against the table and almost spilling her cup of coffee.

“Kylie, watch out!” Eduardo held out a hand to catch the cup from shattering onto the floor.

Ignoring Eduardo, she grabbed the book. “Let me see it.”

Her eyes ran over the passage, then widened in realization.

“Winston, you genius!” she yelled, gripping onto the book for dear life, “You absolute genius!”

Everyone in the café heard the loud shriek and turned to look in their direction, their conversations grinding to a halt. Eduardo put a hand on Kylie’s shoulder and pushed her back into her seat.

“Keep it down, Kylie. You’re being weird.”

Everyone then went back to their own conversations and the room was soon filled with noise again.

---------------------------------

Peter took out two pieces of candy and tossed them to Winston and Kylie.

“So….” Peter began, “whatever the creature is called-”

“A yarinx,” Kylie interrupted.

“Whatever. Do you know what it is?”

She popped the candy into her mouth. “Nope.”

“No?” Peter’s grin fell, “So we need to do more-”

“Yep, more research!” Kylie said over Peter’s groans.

She jumped up out of her chair eagerly. “But at least we have a lead now. May be completely wrong, but it’s better than going in blind. Come on, we need to go now!”

Kylie nearly ran out of the café, but Peter grabbed her arm.

“Ah, ah, ah. Hold on a minute, kid.” He pulled her back to the table. “It’s late. We’re all exhausted. We need to eat.”

She struggled under his grip. “But Dr. Venkman-”

Peter caught the eye of their waitress and waved her to their table.

“Hey, can you make our orders to-go? Something came up.”

“Wait, what?” Kylie spluttered as he let go of her arm, “What happened to, ‘We’re all exhausted? We need to all it quits?’” As she said this, she did an impression of his voice.

“First of all, that was a shitty impression, but that’s not the point.” He took out the keys for ECTO-1 and spun the ring around on his finger. “Second, I am

still

very much exhausted. Hence, here’s the plan. We go back to the bookstore, grab some stuff, then head to my place. I have a comfy couch and a spare cot. We sleep, then pull an all-nighter.”

“I agree with this plan,” Winston let himself yawn, “Especially the sleeping part.”

“Do I need to come?” Eduardo asked, finishing his mug and setting it to the side.

“Not really,” Peter held his hand out, “Give us the key to the bookstore, and you’re free to go.”

Eduardo took out the key and gave it to Peter.

“Wait, why your place?” Kylie asked, “Why don’t we just return to the bookstore?”

“Great question.” As Peter listed the reasons, he held a finger up for each one. “First. I’m not staying in a store with occult stuff at night,

especially

if Ray’s the one collecting it. Recipe for disaster. Two, I want to sleep in

my

bed, not in those shitty chairs. Three, I make amazing coffee.”

The waiter then came by with some cardboard boxes in a plastic bag. Peter threw down some money to pay and took the bag.

He gestured to the door. “So, are we good with the plan?”

All of them were sleep-deprived, so there wasn’t much of an argument.

“Great. Now let’s go.”

The rest got up and followed Peter outside.

“Since you’re leaving us Eduardo, get home safe,” Peter said.

Eduardo did a mock salute. “Got it, boss.”

As they all headed to ECTO-1, Peter clapped Winston on the shoulder.

“Good job, Z. Told you you’d find something. Even with their Ph.Ds, Ray and blonde Egon couldn’t have figured it out.”

Winston got into the driver’s seat, with Peter taking shotgun and Kylie sitting in the back.

“Even if you’re a total nerd for reading Shakespeare.”

Winston was in too good of a mood to swat Peter on the head for that remark.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The grooves on the vinyl, which was a deep blue color, spun around and around, creating an almost hypnotizing effect if one looked at it.

Egon sat in front of the record player with his legs crossed. His cheek rested in the palm of his hand, and he hummed along o the song.

The singer’s suave voice was deep and went along in beautiful harmony to the bass guitar. Occassionally, a harmonica and trumpet cut through everything and added a wonderful pop to the song.

So far, he had to increase his Advil and Tylenol usage, along with taking more electrolytes, but the nausea spell from before seemed to have subsided. And his headache still throbbed, but it was a minor one for now.

He then felt someone tap his shoulder, which broke his intense concentration on the song. He then heard Ray’s voice say, “We still have some more samples to collect.”

Egon groaned internally but forced himself to keep a neutral face.

“It’s only one more, I promise.”

“Fine,” Egon sighed, getting up off the floor. He then took his familiar position in the chair and glanced at the table besides him, which was covered with all the samples they took from him.

At this point,

he thought,

There’s more of me on that table than there is on my actual person.

He then noticed that Egon-R was working with the microscope and had a small notebook by his side. On the pages were crude illustrations of what he saw through the lens, along with observations written in a small script. He then took out a box of slides, selected one blood smear, and placed it on the stage of the microscope.

With precision, he used the coarse lens to set the stage in place mere millimeters from the 10x lens. He then focused the image, then clicked over to the next lens, and repeated his actions.

Egon was fascinated by the smoothness of the action. It was done meticulously with a beautiful flow, as if it came second nature to his counterpart. And although it wasn’t obvious, he seemed to take great joy in this, as evidenced by his intense focus on his task.

Egon wanted to take the notebook and read the observations his counterpart made. Hell, he wanted to join in on what his counterpart was learning, what information he was gathering through looking at all of this data. He wanted to piece together the puzzle, to figure out the mystery.

He then wonders if he also took great joy in doing this kind of research. But basing on the subtle feeling of jealousy he felt seeing his counterpart at work, he imagines he did.

“Egon?”

Egon snapped out of his thoughts to see Ray holding a Q-tip.

“Just open your mouth. I’m going to take a cheek sample.”

He did so and Ray took the sample.

Once he was finished, Egon then asked, “Ray, what was the song playing when you asked me to come here?”

The song was on its final notes, but Ray listened to it and caught the final few moments.

“‘She Caught the Katy.’” He placed the Q-tip inside of a tube. “It’s one of my favorites.”

“I really enjoy this music. Where did you get all these records from?”

“My brother John got them for me.”

“Is he also interested in science, like you?”

“Not really.” Ray couldn’t help but to laugh. “Furthest thing from it. He was never interested in the paranormal; that was always more my cup of tea. He always listened to me whenever I’d go on tangents about it, but I don’t think he was ever a true believer.”

“So, what does he do?”

“He’s an actor. Part of some sketch show group in Chicago. It’s mainly comedic skits and stuff.”

“Have you ever seen any of his work?”

“I caught a show once. He did this diner sketch where he plays the owner and he does this accent and stuff. It’s a really good performance; it’s 100% his father.”

“So you guys are half-brothers?”

Ray glanced up from his work. “Yeah, pretty much. Different dad, same mom. Although it doesn’t matter. He’s still a brother to me regardless.”

Egon-R then hummed. “This is interesting. Ray, come take a look at this.”

“Alright.” Ray went over to the microscope and peered through the lens. What he saw  were small, fat-like globules in the blood. They were a clear, beige color and opaque in appearance.

Exactly like the venom that was shot at Egon.

“I think this is what we’re looking for.” A grin tugged at Ray’s lips. It was the happiest Ray had looked in a while, both Egons noticed.

“Based on my analysis of all the samples, it seems to solely be located in the blood, which is good news. I’ll check the cheek samples, but I doubt it will be different from this pattern I’ve been noticed. So, the antidote only needs to be administered in the blood. But what you saw was the venom?”

“I believe it is,” Ray confirmed.

“The only question is, how do we isolate it from the blood?”

“We could use some type of chromatography method. Perhaps polarity based, since the red blood cells have a negative polarity, and the venom appears to be fat-based. Lipids tend to be non-polar, so it’ll run right through the column if we stick something that’s positive.”

“What should we make the column with?”

“I was thinking we could use….”

They launched into an animated conversation that went way too fast for Egon to understand. Egon only half-listened, for while this stuff was all fascinating to him, it worsened his headache if he tried to understand their scientific discussions. He considered going back to the record player and turning the music back on.

But before he could get up, he noticed that their conversation drew to a standstill. It piqued his interest, so he tuned back in so he could hear what they were saying.

“Have you ever created an anti-venom?” Egon-R asked Ray.

Ray’s eyebrows shot up. “I have not.”

“Neither have I.”

Egon saw Ray furrowed his brows and Egon-R tightened his jaw.

“Oh God.” Ray walked off and began to pace. “Where would we even find the protocol to do that?”

“Not even to mention the time it would take,” Egon-R gestured to the clock on the wall, “I imagine it’s a long and strenuous process. And we’ve been at this for several hours. It’s nearly 6 pm.”

Suddenly, Egon felt himself violently jerked back, even though he was still. It was as if someone grabbed his head and pushed it back with a sudden force. He now felt dizzy, and he could feel himself get feverish.

“You’ve never done long periods of research?” Ray asked.

“I have, in fact,” Egon-R replied, “But we do need to take a break. Especially you.”

“No, it’s fine,” Ray shook his head, “Let’s find the protocol first, then take a break.”

Egon-R’s brows knitted in concern. “Very well, then.”

The conversation had a lull, so Egon offered some help, something to indicate that he was still there and not feeling like he was free-falling.

How would I even help? I don’t know how to make anti-venom.

“We should be fine, Egon.” Ray was now combing through their bookshelf. “You can take a break if you want to.” He tossed a textbook to Egon-R. “We do have some texts on toxicology. Hopefully it’ll be in there.”

Egon took that opportunity gladly and headed down to Janine’s desk with the wastebasket in his hand. He could feel himself growing sicker.

---------------------------------

Janine was at her desk when she saw Egon approaching. His face was fully white, and he stumbled on his feet, as if he was walking blindly.

“Egon!” she ran to his side. “Are you okay?”

She saw that he had beads of sweat on his forehead and pressed a hand against it. She immediately pulled it back because the man was burning up.

“Your fever isn’t getting any better.” She dug into her drawer and took out an instant cold pack. While they were doing their research, she took the opportunity to go home and grab some more medication (which she was now grateful for). She snapped it, then handed it to him.

“It only just started now,” he placed the cold pack on his forehead, “ I feel like I’ve been spinning around and around for 10 years.”

“Why didn’t you tell them?”

Egon shook his head. “They were busy.”

She then grabbed Ibuprofen and another bottle of electrolytes. “We’ll go to the basement. It’s much colder in there.”

They descended down the stairs and found some chairs. Egon fell into his, and accepted the electrolytes. Janine poured out two pills into her hand and handed them to him.

“How long ago did you take the Tylenol?” she asked.

“An hour ago. Along with some Advil.” He swallowed the pills with a swig of Gatorade.

“And it’s not helping?”

“Nope.”

“You need to tell them,” she said angrily. Honestly, Janine wanted nothing more than to grab Egon’s arm and drag the man upstairs. However, him looking like he was abou to collapse stopped her, and she decided instead to sit besides him and stew in her frustration.

He shook his head. “Later. They’re looking for some protocol.”

Egon tucked his head in between his knees and took long, deep breaths.

“You’re really stubborn, you know that?” she said.

“They’re very stressed out, Janine. I don’t want them to worry further. Besides, it isn’t constant. It seems to be in waves.” He took another deep breath. “Let’s just give it a minute.”

Janine watched him with concern. “If you say so.”

After around half an hour of silence, Egon lifted his head up. “I believe the medication is working. I do feel slightly better.”

Janine could see that Egon regained some color in his face. “You’re now on three medications. I should hope that they’re working.” She pressed a hand to his forehead. “You at least seem cooler than before.”

“The basement certainly helps. It’s freezing down here.”

Suddenly, they heard some beeping, and both of their eyes turned in the direction of the portal.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The panel was going off, each button flashing its own colors with its own beeping sounds. It seemed to be going haywire.

Egon, panicked, looked to the stairs and considered running up the stairs for help. However, he still felt somewhat weak. So, going off an instinct, he held a protective arm out in front of Janine.

“What’s going on?” he asked her.

The question remained unanswered, however, as another scene cast itself in front of him. It was the same firehouse as before. However, there were some differences.

For one, the equipment looked a lot more modern. In addition, the colors of everything were more washed in warm tones, like a filter was set on it.

And there was a group of what appeared to be 4 college students. One of them was much shorter than the others, and she had black eyeliner and spiked black hair. A man was next to her, and he had a goatee and was much taller than all of them. The man next to him was a redhead in a wheelchair, and behind them was a black man wearing a sweater vest.

And in front of them was what seemed to be their mentor, Egon guessed, based on the age difference between then. He was also blonde like Egon-R, but with less…. animated hair. It was tied back in a simple ponytail.

“Roger?” Egon could hear Janine whisper to herself.

Egon-E stepped over the portal to enter the Prime Dimension.

“Who are you?” Egon asked.

The group of students began to whisper amongst themselves.

“Uh, what’s happening?” Garrett asked, “Their Spengler’s acting weird.”

“I don’t know. But I don’t like it.” Eduardo-E walked over and grabbed a baseball bat. “I’m going to cross over. Cover me, Garrett.”

“Surely you didn’t forget our weekly meeting to exchange data,” Egon-E said to his counterpart, “You, I mean myself, are usually very punctual.”

“Myself?” Egon’s eyes widened. “Are you another version of myself?”

“He is, Egon,” Janine answered.

“But you said Roger.” Egon shook his head. “I can’t imagine how the hell I was able to keep track of all of this crap.”

“What is going on?” Egon-E asked. “You’re acting really strange.”

Egon was about to ansswer, but he recalled the side conversation Peter had with Ray and Winston about not letting the other dimensions know what was happening. So, he remained silent.

Egon-E repeated the question, but he got the same response.

Now Kylie-E was getting worried. “I think something is going on, you guys.” She stepped over to Garett’s side, ready to help him over the portal entrance. “Maybe you two should go. It could be dangerous.”

“Guys, I think we’re blowing this out of proportion,” Roland suggested. “I mean, so he didn’t answer our question. Maybe if we let him explain himself, we’ll get an answer.”

“Nah, man, we gave him that chance, and he didn’t do it.” Eduardo-E stepped over the portal, brandishing the bat over his shoulder.

Garrett followed by Eduardo-E’s side. “Maybe it’s a clone pretending to be him.” He then waved his hands around in a menacing manner. “Or a ghost that snatches bodies.”

Roland did a facepalm. “I swear this is the last time we’re watching sci-fi B movies for our movie nights.”

Egon-E could see both Eduardo-E and Garett out of of the corner of of his eye. He held up a warning hand. “Eduardo, step back. You too, Garrett. If it is dangerous, I’ll handle it.”

Eduardo-E snickered as he tightened his grip ont he bat. “Hey, Egon, no offense, but you couldn’t hurt a fly.”

Janine saw both of them getting closer and decided to step in.

“Alright, stop!” she yelled out. “He has amnesia!”

Everyone stopped in their steps (or in Garett’s case, wheels).

“God, I always hated miscommunication in dramas, but this is ridiculous.” Her Brooklyn accent got stronger whenever she was pissed off. “There, you got your answer. You satisfied?”

“It’s absolutely uncanny how similar this Janine is to ours,” Roland whispered to Kylie-E.

Eduardo-E lowered the bat. “That’s it?”

Garrett scowled. “Man, I was really looking forward to beating an evil clone up.”

Egon-E glared at both of them disapprovingly. “Not helping. This is precisely why I come over on my own. And only me.” He pointed back to the portal. “You two can leave.”

“Aw man, we never have fun,” Garrett went back, followed by Eduardo, who agreed with a “You said it, man.”

Egon-E turned to his counterpart. “You having amnesia is a pretty big deal. Why wouldn’t you guys inform the other dimensions?”

“Peter made the call,” Janine explained. “We didn’t want to raise any alarms. Besides, it’s our mess, and we can handle it ourselves. So, don’t go blabbing about this to the others, got it?”

“Horrible decision, but I trust you all have your own reasons.” Egon-E ignored the offended expression on Janine’s face. “We can push back our meeting to another time then.”

Egon-E was about to leave when his counterpart stopped him with a, “Wait!” When Egon saw he got Egon-E’s attention, he asked, “Could you actually help us with something?”

“What is it?”

“It seems that the amnesia is being caused by a venom. Ray and the other blonde Egon are working on an anti-venom, but they don’t have the steps for it. Seeing as you’re another version of me, do you know how we can get the protocol?”

Egon-E rubbed his chin in thought. “Not familiar with the process. But, I do have a colleague at the university that may be of some help.” He turned to Roland. “Keep this portal open and watch out for any ghosts that come near it. I’ll be right back.”

---------------------------------

“Soooo… how did you get amnesia?” Kylie-E asked Egon.

“I got attacked by a ghost and had venom shot at me.”

“Ewwww, ghost snakes?” Eduardo-E felt a shiver go up his spine. “I’d hate to deal with those nasty things.”

“Well, what kind of ghosts do you deal with?” Janine asked. “I’ve only been curious if it’s the same level of intensity across dimensions. I know our Chicago branch doesn’t get anything higher than a Class V.”

Kylie-E answered, “Well, we deal with one last week that stole people’s eyes.”

“Huh?”

“And we fought one once that sucked people’s souls out,” Roland added.

“Oooo, can’t forget the one that Sphinx dude,” Garrett recalled, “Turning people into vegetables if they couldn’t answer his riddles.”

“Like corn and broccoli?” Egon asked.

“Nope,” Eduardo-E said with a smirk, “More like, human vegetables. Like they couldn’t function on their own.”

They all then saw that Janine was looking at all of them with absolute horror on her face.

“Would this be a bad time to mention those three ghosts that were surgeons and were trying to ‘fix’ people into being twisted versions of themselves by altering their bodies?” Eduardo-E asked.

“Yes, it would be a bad time,” Kylie-E answered.

“Holy shit,” Janine whispered to herself.

“Is something wrong?” Roland asked.

“You guys have children dealing with this?” She shook her head. “Isn’t there a Peter, Winston, or Ray in your dimension?”

“They retired, man,” Eduardo-E answered, “They’re too old.”

“Too old?”

“They’re like in their early thirties.”

“Children fighting monsters.” Janine held tighter onto Egon’s arm as she repeated that sentence in disbelief. “Children fighting monsters. I can’t believe this. They have children doing what you guys do on a daily basis. And they’re even worse than what you guys deal with.”

“I mean, we’re not children,” Kylie-E said weakly, realizing in real time that yeah, they were teenagers fighting Eldritch horrors on the daily. “We’re college kids.”

“Honey, you can’t be older than 21.”

“Roland’s 21. Garrett and Eduardo are 20. I’m 19.”

Egon-E then came back with the notes in his hands and saw the angry glare Janine was giving him.

“What happened?” he asked his team.

“I think she realized you recruited college students to fight ghosts,” Roland explained.

“Oh….” Egon-E held out the notes, and Egon took them. “Well, they’re doing it for college credit. And it’s not like I’m forcing them.”

Janine spluttered over her words as she looked at Egon-E in aghast disbelief.

“Besides, it’s super fun to kick ghost ass!” Garrett chirped in.

He then realized that did nothing to help the situation, and immediately shut up.

Sensing the awkwardness of the situation, Egon tapped on Janine’s arm. “We should go. I think this will definitely help Ray and the other Egon.”

Janine stepped over the panel. “Agreed. I’m going to hit someone if I stay here any longer.” As she pressed some buttons, she seethed, “Having children fight your battles. Hell, Egon’s in his mid-forties and he’s still doing this.”

Egon-E had a guilty look on his face. “Mid-forties?”

“Have a nice day.” Without hesitation, Janine turned off the portal, leaving Egon-E without the last word.

---------------------------------

Egon-E looked over at his students. “You guys enjoy doing this, don’t you?”

He looked to them for reassurance. At an point, any positive response would do, and perhaps get rid of the guilty pit that sat in his stomach.

“We do, Dr. Spengler,” Kylie-E held a hand to her chest. “We do it because who else would?”

Roland added, “Besides, we get an opportunity to work with the famous Ghostbusters and their equipment. Who wouldn’t want that?”

“Ehhhhhh….” Eduardo-E made a ‘more or less’ gesture with his hand, “I mean, if we got paid, it’d be a lot better.”

“Eduardo!” Kylie-E elbowed him.

“He has a point. Some extra credit would be nice,” Garrett said under his breath, “I mean, I miss one paper and my grade goes down a letter grade. And that week we were fighting a golem. And the paper was in your class, Egon.”

“I think we should unionize,” Eduard-E muttered under his breath. “The benefits here suck.”

Before Egon-E could respond, the fire alarm suddenly went off.

“Saved by the bell,” he said quietly to himself. Then he cleared his throat and said much louder, “You guys should go answer that. Report back to me on the radio when you get to the scene.”

“Got it, Egon.” Kylie-E then left, and the others followed her.

“Kiss ass.” Egon-E could hear Eduardo say, followed by a huff from Kylie-E.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“You need to tell them.”

Egon wanted to protest, but then he noticed how slowly Janine walked up the stairs. And the bags under her eyes.

She seemed exhausted. When was the last time she slept? Was she really that concerned about him? He then remembered what Peter said to him, and came to the conclusion that yeah, she definitely was.

“Will it help you sleep better if I tell them?”

She nodded her head.

“Very well then. I’ll do that right now.”

“Thank you.” An admiration shone in her eyes, and Egon cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact.

He peered into the lab to see Ray and Egon-R at a table, absorbed in the textbooks they were reading. He knocked on the door, and both of them looked up.

“There you are, Egon.” Ray pushed the book to the side. “Where were you?”

Egon could feel Janine side-eyeing him, so he answered, “I went to Janine because my symptoms are getting worse.”

“Wait, what?” Ray turned to Janine. “How bad is it getting?”

“Well, he’s on three fever-reducing medications, and he’s still burning up. Along with the dizziness.”

“And the vomiting,” Egon added. “Still doing that.” A beat. “And the headache.”

“Wait, you didn’t tell me about the headache, Egon,” Janine scowled. Egon only shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

“Or that the medication isn’t helping,” Ray said, “Egon, why didn’t you tell us your symptoms were worsening?”

“You guys were busy finding the protocol,” Egon answered, “I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Egon, this could mean that the venom is starting to become dangerous. I mean, if you didn’t tell us and something happened, what the hell can we do?” Ray paced around the room. “The venom’s emitting a stronger effect. This is getting bad, really bad. I mean, who knows what’s going to happen next? Your body can’t handle being in a fever state this long-”

Egon-R cleared his throat and gave Ray a ‘please shut up’ look, gesturing to Egon, whose face went pale.

“I don’t believe reflecting on all of this is going to do anyone good besides causing even more anxiety. I propose that we take a break.” Egon-R crossed his arms. “We’re all exhausted, and we’re no good to anyone if we’re tired and hungry.”

He side-eyed Ray as he said this last part. Ray only responded with a weak laugh.

“Sorry, Egon,” he said to his anxious friend. “He’s right, we need a break.”

“Right, right.” In his fear, Egon had forgotten about the papers in his hands and handed them to Ray. “Uh, we got the protocol for the anti-venom.”

“Wait, this is great!” Ray skimmed over the notes. “I think we can work with this.”

“Where did you get these?” Egon-R asked his counterpart.

“The other blonde version of me. Apparently, we meet up weekly to work on a project.”

“Ah, our sister dimension,” Egon-R looked over Ray’s shoulder to see the notes for himself. “Certainly an… interesting bunch.”

Janine couldn’t help but to huff. “You can certainly say that. Thank God our dimension doesn’t use child labor. I mean, our youngest member is 25.”

Egon-R couldn’t find a response to that, so he decided to stay quiet instead.

“Well, either way, this helps out a lot.” Ray placed the notes on the table, then he turned to the others. “Are we up for Chinese?”

A chorus of ‘Yeah, sure’ confirmed their dinner choice for that evening.

“Alright Janine, can you call them for delivery? My wallet’s on the dining room table.”

Janine left to do so, and Ray turned to Egon.

“How bad are your symptoms?”

“They seem to be fine at the moment,” Egon answered, “They mostly come in waves, and then they subside. But then they come back.”

“Don’t tell Janine this, but we may need more blood from you.”

Egon began to groan. “More blo-”

Egon-R put a hand over his counterpart’s mouth. “We said we didn’t want Janine to know.”

“It’ll worry her,” Ray explained, “So shush.”

He got a muffled ‘Got it’ from Egon, so Egon-R removed his hand from Egon’s mouth.

“Got it.”

“We’ll put the blood back, honest,” Ray continued, “But we need it so that we can extract the venom. I’ll keep a vital signs monitor on you during and after so that we can check on your health. It’s not a lot of blood we need, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Janine came back into the room. “They’ll deliver it in 20 minutes.”

“That’s great. We’ll eat, and I’ll call a cab to take you back to your place.”

“I’ll stay here, Ray,” Janine protested. “Egon’s still in-”

“Janine.”

Ray felt bad. He didn’t want Janine to leave solely because they planned on extracting blood from Egon. He could see how exhausted she was.

“You’ve been awake for the past 2 days. This part of the venom making is easy. All we have to do is run it through a machine. Me and the other Egon will take shifts watching over him to make sure he’s fine. In the meantime, you need to go home and rest.”

He took her hands in his and patted them gently. “If anything happens, you’ll be the first person we will call. I promise.”

“What about you guys?” she asked, “You need to rest too.”

“We will. As soon as we eat.” Ray held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

“Alright then.” Janine surrendered, but solely out of exhaustion. She didn’t have the energy to continue arguing.

---------------------------------

After they ate and Janine was sent home with the promise that she’d call them as soon as she got to her apartment, they got to work on the blood extraction.

They hooked up Egon to the vitals sign monitor, and Egon-R kept an eye on it while Ray set up everything. This time, Egon was also exhausted, so he didn’t feel as frightened doing it this time. Although, Egon-R still kept close for moral support regardless.

Egon felt slightly weak after, and so Egon-R handed him a water bottle and told him to keep sipping it constantly.

After collecting Egon’s blood, they set it aside and began to construct the HPLC experiment. Both Ray and Egon-R decided that the mobile phase would be a nonpolar buffer, since that would be easy to prepare. For the stationary phase, they decided to go with simple sodium ions, since it was a simple cation and would bind to the negatively charged blood cells. As a result, the fat-based venom would elute first, and they could collect it from there.

As for the equipment, it was a combination of theirs along with some items from Dimension 68-R, since they still had some connections to the university (apparently, their work didn’t excommunicate them from the world of academia, which Ray was slightly jealous at).

They then hooked up the machines in Egon’s lab and set up the computer, which would detect what was eluted through different peaks.

The blood would be done in batches of three, each of which would run for an hour. Each sample would be collected prior to running it, so that it would be easier on Egon’s ailing body.

By the time, they had finished setting everything up, it was around 8:45 pm.

All of them held bated breath as Ray turned the machine on. The mobile phase moved through the tubes, taking the liquid blood and moving it through the column. Some minor peaks appeared on the computer, although they were incredibly small.

Ray let out a cry of happiness as he fell into his chair.

“It works! It really works!”

And then he felt all the exhaustion he had accumulated over the past few hours hit is body like a brick. He felt heavy and he leaned forward, feeling the fatigue deep in his bones.

“Ray, are you okay?” Egon asked.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, just a bit….” Ray suppressed a yawn and didn’t finish his sentence.

“It’s getting late, Ray,” Egon-R said, “The test won’t be complete for another hour. Perhaps go get some rest.”

Ray couldn’t find the strength to protest, or get up, so both Egons put both their arms under his and supported him. He leaned on them for support as they took him back to the common bedroom.

“Which one is yours?” Egon-R asked.

Egon pointed to a bed. “That was the one the record player was by.”

They took them there and Ray was knocked out as soon as his face hit the pillow. Soon, his loud snores filled the room.

“Man, he wasn’t joking.” Egon grabbed a blanket and draped it over Ray’s sleeping body.

---------------------------------

“Can I ask you something?”

Egon-R was snapped out of his intense concentration on the machine, which hummed in the background.

“Go ahead.”

“It’s just…..” Egon wanted to find the words, but his mind was stuck. He shook his head. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Egon-R leaned back in his chair. “You know, we never really got to talk much. Before all of this, I mean.”

“Really?”

“I mean, last time we met, we were so busy trying to find a way to get my guys home. We never had the time to, you know, talk. It’s always work with us Spenglers, work, work, work.”

“Right, right.”

Egon-R laughed. “You know, considering all the information we’ve thrown at you in the past few hours, you’re taking it very well.” He steepled his fingers. “I would have thought with all your memories gone, you would be panicking constantly upon hearing about all this. I mean, ghosts, inter-dimensional travel, ectoplasm, PKE meters. But you’re not. Any normal person would have run out of here screaming.”

Egon couldn’t help but to laugh along. “Guess we’re not normal, are we?”

“Doing work in this field requires a certain…..” Egon-R looked for the words. “Suspension of disbelief.”

“It seems like it. But, and I don’t know why, it seems… comforting. Even with all my memories lost, all of it fascinates me. It’s like a whole new world of discovery. It fits in with our natural world, and yet it seems to defy it in every aspect. Like every rule we have here in the natural world is broken in the ghost world, and yet they have their own set of rules that they enforce. And studying all those rules and figuring them out seems really fun. It’s like a puzzle, and we’re blazing our own path in this field.” He paused to take a breath. “And all of these discoveries only make one want to learn more and more. Like being a sponge full of knowledge.” Another pause. “And all of that knowledge in me is gone.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Like I said, I’m lost. I heard you and Ray talking earlier.”

“You did?”

“I mean, he’s right. I’ve lost all of those memories.” Egon pulled out a Twinkie from his pocket and opened the plastic wrapping. “I don’t know who I am.”

“And like I said in that conversation, I don’t think that is the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not fully lost.”

Egon took a moment to take in the statement. “But I am.”

“No, you’re not. You’re still in there. I told this to your Ray, and now I’m telling it to you.” Egon-R jabbed a finger into Egon’s chest. “Your memories, your personality, they aren’t gone.”

“But they are gone.”

“No, they’re not. The way you were talking about this field just now. The passion you had for it, the way you were able to articlate those feelings. Someone with their memories gone wouldn’t be able to say all of that for a field they don’t know. Although it’s very hidden, all of that love for Ghostbusting and science and parapsychology is still in there.”

“Well, me talking doesn’t mean anything.”

Egon-R crossed his arms. “And it’s there subconsciously. I saw the way you were looking at me when I was working with the microscope. That wasn’t a conscious choice, you couldn’t help it. Even when you’ve lost everything, you’re still drawn to all of this. Because no matter what happens to Egon Spengler, he was always be a Ghostbuster.”

“But is that it? Am I just the brains of the team?” Egon shot out of his seat. “Am I only valued for my intelligence? What are my interests, my hobbies, what do others think of me? Do I even matter to the others, they seem to be getting along without me-”

He was then stopped with a violent slap. His hand immediately rose up to his cheek, which was red.

“What was that for?” he snapped.

“You’re much more than your intelligence, Egon Harold Spengler. You’re much more than that.”

Egon-R drew a shaky breath. “Look at all the things your friends are doing for you.” With each person he listened, he jabbed his finger into Egon’s chest. His baritone voice took on an uncharacteristically angry tone.

“Ray nearly pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion just to make this anti-venom. We nearly fought with Janine just to send her home and get rest because she’s so worried about you being sick. Hell, Peter and Winston are pouring through ancient texts just to find something. Do you know how hard it is to get

Peter,

of all people, to read? They’re doing that for you. You matter to these people, Egon. They’re willing to go through hell and back for you. Hell, they crossed dimensions just to bring me along to help. Why would they do that if you were only the brains of the team? They could have just taken another Egon from some dimension without the Ghostbusters and brought him here, have him spit out their equations and formulas and blueprints.

But they didn’t

. That’s what you mean to them. Even if you can’t remember that, know that it’s true.”

A silence permeated the room. Egon then spoke.

“I hope we can get my memories back. I’d like to be able to remember things if my work and team matter that much to me.”

Egon-R placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll get your memories back. Promise.”

---------------------------------

They were interrupted by the machine beeping.

“Is it done?” Egon asked.

Egon-R nodded. He looked at the computer screen, studying the peaks. His eyes skimmed over all of the numbers. He then took the tube and swirled it, looking at the contents.

“It worked.” He turned to Egon. “It actually worked.”

Egon couldn’t help but to grin. “Really?”

He then took the Advil bottle out of his pocket and dry-swallowed two tablets.

“We’ll start the other test immediately. I can draw the blood, since Ray’s asleep.”

“Shouldn’t you also get some rest?”

“We’ll have to freeze-dry the venom once we collect all of the samples. I’ll sleep then, and Ray will take over.”

Egon-R went to the sink, washed his hands, then donned some gloves. He then grabbed the materials he needed and gestured for Egon’s arm.

“To take your mind off of this, would you like to hear some stories about the adventures my team has gone through?”

Egon nodded.

“Well, there was the the time Winston had to play a baseball game to win his soul back….”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Despite the hallway being completely drenched in darkness, Peter managed to slip his key into the lock of his apartment door with little to no effort. Hell, it wouldn’t be the first time he brought someone back here at the dead of night. A small memory of him and Dana on their first official date came to mind. It was the week after Gozer was defeated, and it was him who asked her out. And well… a small smile crept up on his lips. She looked absolutely beautiful in his arms when they were dancing around to the radio in his kitchen. He then realized he forgot to turn the key to open the door, and likely looked like an absolute idiot just standing there. He then cleared his throat, hoping the situation wasn’t as awkward as he was making it out to be. “Well, welcome to Casa Peter.” He swung the door open. “Make yourselves at home.” It was an average looking apartment. The living room was small and had an olive green sectional sofa, a small coffee table made from oak, and a huge, clunky TV stashed away in the corner. Next to the living room was a kitchen with wooden cabinets and a small island. The fridge was one of those old white ones and had a ton of cardboard boxes stacked next to it. The kitchen also had a tile floor, but the rest of the place had a horrible grey carpet.  Kylie threw the duffle bag full of books onto the island. “It’s….. depressing.” Peter feigned a hurt expression. “Well, what were you expecting, the Playboy mansion?”“I mean….” She pointed to the coffee table. “Do you not have a proper dining table?” “Nope.” He shrugged his shoulders in an attempt at a half-assed apology. “Anyways, I’m starving. Let’s eat.” “You said it.” Winston placed the bag of food on the coffee table, then sunk into the sofa. “At least the couch is comfortable.” “You wanna take it, Winston?” Peter asked, taking off his coat and throwing it on a coat rack near the front door. “Sure.” “What about me?” Kylie asked as she unboxed her food. Peter pointed to a closet that was in the hallway. “There’s a cot in there. I’ll put in my room to give you some privacy and stuff.” He then sat down and grabbed his box of food. “Maybe I’ll move the coffee table and put some pillows on the floor. I dunno yet.” “You sure you don’t want the couch, man?” Winston asked.  Peter shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I snore really loud, though, and I talk in my sleep. Sometimes I even walk, so watch out for that.” He ignored Winston’s side-eye and took a huge bite of his sandwich. “Damn, that’s good. Needs some mustard though.” He got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen.   “Anybody want anything else from the fridge?” A beat. “Nope? Suit yourselves.” He leaned against the fridge as he he scanned the shelves on the fridge door for the mustard bottle. “Still don’t know how you have this much energy.” Winston leaned back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. “I feel like I’ve been up for ages.” “Z, you had two cups of coffee.” Peter grabbed the mustard bottle, tossed it in the air, then caught it in his other hand.“And they’re not kicking in.”“Then get some rest. I’ll start on the research. Maybe I’ll start withhhhhh-” He took a book out of the duffel bag and read out the title. “Elizabethan Mythology: Guide to the Beasts of Shakespare.” He placed the book on the island, then went back to reclaim his spot on the couch. “You think it would make the New York Time’s Best-Seller List if they had that in ancient times?” He was met with silence. “You know, I’m wasting my best material on you guys.” “Peter, it’s 11 pm.” Winston finished the last bite of his burger, then got up to toss the box in the trash. “Alright, alright. Man, you guys sure are cranky when you haven’t slept, are you?” Both Kylie and Winston gave him tired looks as an answer, so he decided to shut up. The rest of the meal was conducted in silence. ---------------------------------  Peter went into the hallway closet and took out the cot. “Grab a blanket and some pillows, kid. I’ll go set this up.” He then went into his room and with a glance, realized that he should probably tidy up first. He tossed his laundry into the bedroom closet where it was out of sight and tried his best to make his bed so at least it looked presentable. Once it was somewhat organized, he began to tackle the task of setting up the cot. Kylie came in once he had it all laid out. She tossed the blankets and pillows on top of the cot. Peter then went into the bathroom to see if it also needed cleaning. “Do you want a pair of pajamas?” “Uhhh….” Kylie hesitated on her answer. “I have a spare pair that Dana uses when she stays over. It’s in the dresser. Second drawer from the bottom.” Kylie went to the dresser and found a pair of light purple pajamas. Dana was way taller than her, so they would be likely too big, but the material felt nice. She threw them onto the cot. Peter left the bathroom and pointed behind him. “Bathroom’s here if you need it. I guess holler if you need help with anything.” As he made his way out of the room, he was stopped by something Kylie said. “You really should sleep.” It had a sincereness in it that she usually didn’t have with him. Maybe with Ray, but Peter? She doesn’t know why, perhaps it was the sentimentality of the situation they found themselves in. All of this, this entire setup, reminded her of sleeping at your divorced uncle’s house. All it was missing was a SNES looked up to the TV and a box of sugary cereal in the cupboard. And maybe it was the added note of Peter looking aged by all of this, even if this has been only going on for two days.    He clapped his hands together and let out an awkward laugh. “In a bit, in a bit. I just want to call the Three Stooges and update them on our progress.” Kylie sat down on the cot. “This feels so weird.” “Tell me about it.” “Are you not scared?” “Scared?” he let out a scoff. “Like I told Winston, we’ll get through this. We always get through shit like this.” “No, I mean… I’ve been thinking about it the entire time. I can’t imagine having amnesia.  Like, what if it happened to me? What if it happened to you? ” Peter was taken aback by the question momentarily.  What if it did? he thought. What would happen if I forgot Dana? Forgot Oscar? The guys? Pop and Mom? He then shook his head to snap himself out of his ruminations. “Well, it doesn’t matter, cause it happened to Spengs. No use in wasting head space on hypotheticals.” A beat. “Get some sleep, kid. I think you need it.” Before Kylie could say anything further, Peter did a mock salute and left. She then went up to close the door and lock it.  Classic Dr. Venkman, she thought to herself. --------------------------------  He returned to the living room to find Winston asleep on the couch. He got another blanket from the hallway closet and draped it over Winston, making sure that he was covered. He then went to the phone and dialed the number for their front desk. He held up the receiver and listened to the dial tone, waiting for a response.Someone picked up. “Hello?” Why the hell did both Egons have similar sounding voices? It was especially odd, considering  considering none of the other 68-R Ghostbusters sounded remotely like their Prime counterparts.  “This is blonde Egon, right?” “It is indeed, Peter.” “Correct on the first guess.” Peter grinned, then put on a fake Jersey accent. “Anyways, what’s going on? How are things back at the ol’ firehouse? With you three there, I’m surprised the place hasn’t blown up already into smithereens. ” Again, he was met with silence. Peter sighed dramatically. “None of you are any fun.” “It is 11:15 P.M., Peter.” “Fine.” Peter dropped the accent. “Any progress on all those tests you’ve been running?” “We have made some, actually.” Peter groaned internally because he could tell Egon-R was about to go into lecture mode. Seems thing didn’t change across dimensions. “We discovered the venom in Egon’s bloodstream. It appears to be lipid-based, so we decided to go with chromatography since blood cells tend to have a negative polarity, and it would be easy to separate the components based on polarity. We are currently on the third batch, and the process should be done in about half an hour.” “So then we’re good?” “Not yet. Once we extract the venom, we can then make the anti-venom. We’ll need to freeze dry it, make antibodies using some sort of animal model, then insert those antibodies back into Egon. Hopefully, it will work to counteract the venom’s effects on his body and health.” Peter heard another voice in the background. “Couldn’t we use your uncle’s mice? Didn’t you mention he had a lab?” “You make a good point,” he heard Egon-R say, “I shall call him after this.” “Was that our Egon?” Peter asked.  “Yes, it was. He says hello by the way.” “Tell him I say hi back. Now about the mice. How long do you think it will take to make the antibodies?” “Likely another day. Antibodies take a while to make. It usually takes weeks, but I know my uncle has a strain of mice that make antibodies unusually fast, so I’ll ask if we could use those.” “Another day? Isn’t there a way to speed up the process?” “Science cannot be rushed,” Egon-R replied. “Speaking of, how is your research going?”“It’s going,” Peter twirled the phone cord around his finger, “We’re running on a hunch right now. We think it’s a yarinx. You ever heard of it?” Egon-R rubbed his chin in thought. “Not that I can recall.”“We’re definitely fucked if the ghost history nerds don’t know what that is.” “I may have a tip that can help.” “Really?” Peter said eagerly, “Well, what is it?”“You likely aren’t dealing with the actual creature,” Egon-R responded, “I had a chance to look at the PKE readings your Egon took at the scene of the bust. It seems to be a spirit that took on the identity of the creature. Both its physical characteristics and other attributes.” “Meaning?” “If you can find out how in mythology the creature is defeated, it is likely that the spirit will be ‘defeated’ by it as well.” Although Peter couldn’t see it, Egon-R used his hands for air quotes. “Although you will still need the proton packs and the trap considering it is still a spirit at the end of the day. At least, that’s the best explanation I can offer at the moment.” “Looks like you’re spot on.” Peter grinned. “And they say blondes are dumb.” An exasperated sigh was heard from Egon-R’s side. “The traps also will need to be adjusted. Ray and I will get to that while the mice are producing the antibodies.” “Cool then.” Peter then remembered his observation that he told Winston. “Hey, speaking of, have you gotten any calls about the beast showing up?” Egon-R paused. “I don’t believe so. I believe Janine would have told us if there was.” “Isn’t it odd that the beast is laying low?” “It definitely is.” “How is it planning on finding Egon? I mean, New York is a pretty big state.” “I’m not sure. Perhaps your research will reveal something.” “Hopefully. How’s he feeling?” Egon-R tsked. “Not much better. It appears he is getting sicker.” Peter’s eyebrows shot up. “Explain.” “His fever hasn’t gone down, and he’s thrown up a couple of times.” Peter then heard someone retching in the background. “He also has a massive headache, and gets body aches every now and then. And his white blood cell count has gone up an incredible amount.” Peter stopped playing with the phone cord. “And what does that mean?” “Well, white blood cells are used by the body to fight infection, With each blood sample that we’ve taken and filtered, the data is showing that more venom and more white blood cells are being produced. His body thinks the venom is some sort of infection or parasite, and so it’s trying to fight it.” “Well, is he taking any medication?” “Peter, we have him on a constant rotation of Advil, Ibuprofen, and Tylenol, along with electrolytes. Nothing’s helping.” Peter could feel his mouth go dry. “Really?” “It appears to come and go. However with each period of sickness, they seem to be more frequent and get worse. Janine had to take him to the basement because his fever was running at a dangerously high level.” Peter then heard talking in the background. “I need to go. I’ll update Ray with your progress once he wakes up.” “And I’ll update the others as well.”  Peter then hung up the phone, then looked at the time. 11:30 P.M. Guess the nap was going to have to wait. He stretched his face and slapped his cheeks lightly in an attempt to wake up. Walking over to the island, he grabbed the book. He then went over to the closet and searched for a flashlight. With both items in hand, he plopped down on the floor and crossed his legs. Switching the flashlight on, he then pointed it at the book. He went to the back to see how many pages it was. 500 pages. “Goddamn it,” he muttered to himself. He then went back to the first page and began poring over the words.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taking inspiration from Kylie, Peter decided to keep a notebook by his side to jot down the facts he found through his research. After a few hours, he did know a lot more about the creature than before.

First, the etymology of the creature’s name was interesting. While there were different theories, the most prevalent one was that its name was Semitic in origin.

More specifically, its name was derived from an old Hebrew verb,
 
ירא (

yārēʾ).

What was more interesting was one of its definitions, which was ‘fear, or to be afraid.’ Perhaps this hinted at the beast’s method of making its prey afraid, thus easier to catch.

There were apparently four different types of yarinxes. Each of them had a different

modus operandi

, each one more terrifying than the last.

The first type did not harm to humans, but simply burned down everything that it touched.

The second type struck fear by meeting the eye of its prey, and it seemed to thrive off that fear as a form of sustenance. This was perhaps the type that they encountered, which Peter was thankful for as he read on about the other two.

The third type killed anything around it with the emittance of a loud cry, and apparently the mode of death was entirely random. It was based on what the person was afraid of dying from, so it could range from drowning to going slowly insane.

As for the fourth type, it could melt the skin off the human it came into contact with. One ancient text described it ‘as if the fires of hell were administered by Satan himself.’

Jesus,

Peter thought to himself,

This could have been so much fucking worse.

Some further research explained how the creature fed off fear. Apparently, the more fear present in its prey, the stronger it would become. It would explain why at the beginning of the battle, it was able to throw off the streams with such ease. He could only imagine the fear they were emitting upon seeing the creature initially was as stronge as intense as the putrid smell of body odor.

But it also explained something else. For some reason, perhaps it was a coping mechanism, Peter could feel himself become less afraid when he had the grenades. Maybe it was because he had a false hope that he discovered a way to fight the creature through having Winston shoot at one of its heads, who knows? Either way, his confidence had a boost; he even cracked a few good jokes. As a result, they only needed one stream to fight off the beam that time.

Peter noted this factoid in the margin of the notebook. Perhaps they could use it when fighting the creature in the future.

In fact, because they able to land a blow on the creature, their movement as a group became a lot more stronger. It was unspoken, but they became more assertive, like they were sure that they could fight the battle and win it against the yarinx.

And then the venom took down Egon. In that moment, all of their building confidence disappeared like flakes of salt in a cup of water.

The attack now made sense. Aside from giving them all a scare, Egon became incredibly disoriented after the fight. No doubt as much as they were all scared, Egon was tenfold that.

And then the creature went over to him, likely to feed off all that fear Egon was emitting. Considering the state Egon was in after the fight, he was probably a filet mignon meal to the yarinx. It was only cause of Winston’s quick thinking that they scared the beast and saved Egon’s life in the process, along with all of theirs.

But therein lied the confusing part. True, the beast was frightened away. But why didn’t it just kill all of them shortly after? Why hide away and wait? How would it be sure that it could find and kill them again?

“Maybe it slapped a ghost GPS on us,” Peter joked to no one in particular. He then made another note in the margin.

As for the yarinx’s venom, it seemed to spread throughout the body via the bloodstream. It would ‘infecteth first the brain, and is from thence communicated unto the heart.’

Based on Ray’s reaction when looking at Egon’s brain waves, it seemed it had already gotten there. It could also explain any possible uncharacteristic behavior Egon showed, such as increased emotions.

As for the heart part, that confused him. Was that the endpoint? Meaning, once the venom took its full effect on Egon’s heart, does that mean the man would die? Or would he simply go into a coma like state until the beast found him? Perhaps the latter would be more likely since Egon dying means that the yarinx would lose a good meal.

And did the term communicating have any significant meaning to it? After a bit of thinking, Peter realized none of this was getting him anywhere.

He just chalked it up to classical texts enjoying figurative language a

bit

too much and moved on. Dana in particular enjoyed classic books. From all the small snippets he would catch from reading over her shoulder, all these authors seemed to enjoy waxing on and on and on about insignificant details instead of just getting to the point.

It was approaching sunrise by the time he got to how they could defeat the goddamn thing. He sipped at a tepid cup of coffee that lay at his side, grimacing at the taste. It reminded him of drinking hose water for some reason.

His eyes were drooping, and his body threatened to collapse from exhaustion at any moment. But he carried on nonetheless, especially since he was so close to the end. With one hand, he held it up to shield his eyes from the rays of sunlight that peeked through the curtains of the living room. With another hand, he guided himself through the passage.

And how were they going to defeat this monstrous beast, with the ability to scare all of them like little girls?

A rooster. Specifically, the sound of its crow.

In the past few years of him being a Ghostbuster, he could personally attest that his bullshit meter had broken beyond repair. He was willing to accept anything at this point.

Sumerian demigods being real? Sure, makes sense.

Marshmallow men? Okay, just roast them into oblivion.

Having the ghost of JFK bug them about having something other than an airport named after him? Peter somewhat agrees with him, but never got around to asking him about what really happened that November day. Mainly because both Winston and Ray zapped JFK before he can answer since knowing Peter, he would turn this into a cash-cow opportunity.

Which is true, but he resents the assumption.

But a rooster? For some reason, this seems to be the breaking point.

Maybe it’s the sleep deprivation, but it really pisses him off for some reason.

Slamming the book closed, Peter tilts his head back so his eyes are now on the ceiling. He clenches his teeth and lets out an angry sigh in between them, which almost sounds like a hiss.

“Where the fuck are we going to get a rooster? We’re in Tribeca; there’s no farmland for miles!”

As he continued muttering to himself, his volume got louder and louder.

“Why couldn’t it be the coo of a pigeon? Oh, now those fuckers, we could find within 5 feet of any damn place in this city. Why couldn’t you be afraid of them, you damn thing? There’s good reason to. I mean, the amount of disease they carry outcompetes a rat, and those things carried bubonic plague!”

At this point, he was close to yelling.

“And the fact that you never see a baby pigeon? I mean, seriously, what’s the reason for that? Do these things just spawn out of the ground or what-”

---------------------------------

“Peter!”

At the mention of his name, Peter snapped out of his monologuing and darted his eyes to the couch to see that Winston was sitting up and clearly awake.

As well as giving Peter a

very

concerned look.

“Why the hell are you ranting about pigeons, man?”

Before Peter could answer, he saw out of the corner of his eyes that Kylie was entering the living room from the hallway. She had a blanket wrapped around her and her eyes were half-open.

“What the hell is all the yelling for?” she said through a yawn.

Winston then saw all of the books that surrounded Peter, each one opened to different pages.

“How long have you been awake?” he asked.

It took a moment for Peter to comprehend the question. “What time is it?”

“It’s 5 A.M.,” Kylie answered. “Don’t tell me you’ve been up all night— or morning. I mean, you get my point.”

Based on Peter simply blinking in response, Kylie took that to be a ‘Yes.’

Peter then got up from the floor, stretching his arms outward. “Alright, alright, I have. But I found our solution. It’s a rooster.” A beat. “The key to defeating the beast is the crow of a rooster.”

Peter had such a crazed grin on his face, Winston wasn’t sure whether he was being serious. But based on the silence afterwards, it hit him.

Oh, he’s not joking,

he thought.

Kylie tilted her head. “Fascinating. Almost similar to a cockatrice. Guess creatures in Elizabethan works really hate chickens.”

“Question is, where the hell are we going to find a rooster in New York?”

“There may be someone who can help us. Remember the client obsessed with chickens, the one Eduardo was creeped out by? Oddly enough, he knows the location 
of every chicken farm within
a 50 mile radius of where he lives. If anyone knows where we can get a chicken, it’ll be him.”

“And why does he know this?” Winston asked.

“Based on his last few bookstore orders, he keeps trying to curse them away. Problem is, the guy’s an idiot and doesn’t know his mythology. So, he keeps ordering the wrong books, and the rituals he does are completely wrong for what he wants. The boss noticed it after the first three orders, asked him, and got this whole schpiel.”

“But why?”

“He lives near a chicken place and the smell apparently drives him insane.”

“Why doesn’t he just move?”

“Lives in a rent controlled apartment building. His rate’s been locked since the ‘70s.” She then cleared her throat. “We have the address on file . We’ll just pop on by, make up some excuse related to the bookstore or something, and get him talking about chickens. Won’t be that difficult. Then, we get our rooster and next time we come across this thing, we’ll be ready.”

Peter failed to suppressed a huge yawn. “You do all that. I’m going to catch up on some sleep. Here’s the notebook.”

He tossed Winston the notebook, and Winston skimmed through the pages.

“Peter, I can’t read a damn thing on this page.”

“Really?” Peter asked.

Kylie looked over Winston’s shoulder. “It’s worse than the boss’ handwriting.”

“Alright then, we need to go to the firehouse then. Maybe the 68-R counterpart of Peter can read this handwriting.” Winston pocketed the notebook. “Besides, I think it’s time we all have an in-person meeting to see what progress we’ve all made.”

Peter did a salute and headed down the hallway. “Egon’s getting sicker, so that might be a good idea.”

“Wait, what?” Winston did a double take. “Is he ok?”

“Seems like it’s coming and going in waves.”

“Alright, me and Kylie will head over there now.” Winston went over to the phone and punched in their front desk number. “I’ll let them know we’re on our way.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Janine got out of the cab and headed straight into the firehouse. She bolted up the stairs and found Ray standing in the doorway of the lab. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Egon curled up on the bed, fast asleep.

“What’s going on with him, Ray?” she asked as she tried to get inside. However, she was stopped by Ray holding her arm.

“Janine, let him rest. He didn’t get any asleep last night.”

“He hasn’t slept all night?” she all but yelled, her eyes darkening in anger. “That’s probably why he’s getting worse!”

She tried to fight him off, but Ray kept a firm grip on her arm.

“The amount of the venom is increasing in his body. It’s why he’s been getting sicker despite all of the medications. We’ll still give them to him, at least until the antidote is ready. But the periods of sickness will only continue to increase.” He then slightly loosened his grip upon seeing that Janine was no longer resisting. “And the symptoms will worsen. He mainly is dealing with a fever at the moment, but it seems it’s progressed to a cough and soreness all over his body.”

Janine took in the information. “How long has this period of sickness been?”

“Around 5 hours.” He started walking back into the living room, and Janine followed besides him. “If you want more details, the other Egon can give them to you. I need to head to the basement to open a portal to Dimension 68-R.”

“Wait, why are you doing that?”

“Peter’s made some progress in his research last night. We’re meeting to do in-person updates just so everyone’s on the same page.”

He then descended down the stairs, and Janine made her way to the kitchen to prepare some coffee. Egon-R was at the table fiddling with some machine that sat in front of him. Janine took the Mr. Coffee and began filling it up with water.

“How’s he doing?” she asked him.

“He’s resting now, finally. He only dropped off around 2 hours ago.”

“Is it getting worse?”

Egon-R nodded. “He seemed to be fine when I was talking to him while I was running the machine, apart from some vomiting. But around 4 A.M., I guess I fell asleep, because I was awoken by a huge coughing fit from him. Luckily, we managed to get control of it and give him some coughing syrup. But it took a while for him to fall asleep. The fever mainly kept him up; he seemed to switch from burning up to freezing cold.”

Janine added the coffee grounds. “I can’t believe it’s getting this bad. He was only sick for an hour yesterday.”

“When was this?” Egon-R asked.

“Around the time that 68-E gave us the notes for the anti-venom.”

“I see.”

A silence fell between them, only occassinaonally interrupted by the drip of the coffee as it fell into the carafe.

“You know, I’m worried. Why is it progressing so quickly?” she asked.

Egon-R got up and joined her by the counter. “Perhaps the venom is multiplying now exponentially in the blood. Were we not fighting against the clock here, it would be interesting to study its effect. I’ve never seen it before and I’d be fascinated in seeing how it worked.”

“Can’t you just do that now?”

Egon-R shook his head. “Not unless we were taking constant blood samples. And in this state, I don’t think that would be the best decision. He was a bit weak earlier; I cannot imagine how his body would react now in this state.”

He then heard Ray calling his name from downstairs, along with another familiar voice.

“My uncle is here. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to help Ray downstairs.”

“Why’s your uncle here?” she asked.

“I had Janine—

our

Janine, I mean, call him. His flight from Ohio arrived 1 hour ago in their time. His lab has the mice we need.”

“Mice?” she asked herself as Egon-R headed down the stairs.

She placed a mug on the counter and filled it to the brim with hot coffee, then made her way to the lab.

--------------------------------

She pulled up a chair beside Egon’s bed. Cradling the mug in her hands, she watched the man as he peacefully slept.

It took everything in her not to start weeping at how dead the man looked.

She knows she shouldn’t give in the doom of the situation, but she couldn’t help it. Even if Ray and the other Egon were almost there in terms of a solution, there was the matter of fighting the beast. Who’s to say that when it found Egon, it wouldn’t just finish the job?

And what would the Ghostbusters be without Egon? Hell, what would she be?

Even if the romance was incredibly one-sided, and she means incredibly, Egon was still a wonderful man to know. True, they had limited interactions because he was mostly busy working, but they did have their moments.

Him falling asleep one night while at his microscope studying some slides, and her gently shaking him to wake him up. Him holding her hand as they ran out of the firehouse after that asshole Peck shut off the containment unit. Her giving him a lucky penny from the Chicago World Fair before he went off to fight Gozer.

Even if it was hidden deep down, Egon did care about others, and it was authentic. While he was reserved, he was the glue that held the team together.

Peter was the unofficial leader, but sometimes the team could get caught up in the moment with their brash personalities. Fights would break out between them, but it was Egon and his Vulcan-like adherence to logic that would bring them back to the table.

But, to be fair, Egon could also get lost at times. Janine could see it, especially when he was caught up in his work, spending multiple hours at a table, poring through PKE logs, ancient texts, and tied up in wires of various prototypes.

He was passionate about what he did. There was a realness to him, and Janine thinks that was what drew her to him.

Maybe that was kept him persisting through this terrible sickness. That stubbornness to keep living, to keep learning, to stay with his research and his friends. At least, that gives Janine some comfort as she sits in her familiar position, by a Ghostbusters’ side as they fight yet another battle with death.

Every week, one of the four of them got knocked out. Whether it was possession, a tripe to the ER, or the common cold, it seems that life could never deal these men a break. Perhaps it was punishment for messing with the natural order of things, who knows? All she knows is that it isn’t good for her blood pressure to be worrying constantly.

These thoughts seem bitter, but honestly? She wouldn’t have chosen any other job for the world.

She walks closer, and presses a hand to his forehead. He was still burning up, despite wearing only a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

She doesn’t know why, or maybe she does, but her hand moves down his face. She now holds his cheek in the palm of her hand.

She brushes her thumb against his face, feeling the warmth of him.

“We’ll cure you, I promise,” she whispers. She then uses her other hand to sweep back his voluminous hair, and kisses him on the forehead.

She then hears a baritone voice. God, it’s uncanny how the other Egon sounds eerily similar to theirs.

“The others have arrived Janine, if you would like to hear their updates.”

Janine gets up and smooths out her blouse. “I’ll be there.”

“We’re in the living room.”

Egon-R left as quickly as he arrived.

Janine took one last glance at Egon. “And I never break my promises.”

She then made her way to the others in the living room.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

She entered the living room to find that everyone was already seated.

On the couch was Egon-R, an older gentleman that she assumed to be his uncle, and Peter-R. The latter played with a notebook in his hands, flipping through the pages.

On their makeshift coffee table sat Ray and Kylie. Winston was the only one who was standing.

Janine pulled up a chair and sat beside the coffee table.

Egon-R snuck a quick glance at his uncle. All things considered, he was taking all of this surprisingly well. Egon-R was impressed, especially considering how long it took to convince his uncle that ghosts were real and that Ghostbusting was a valid business.

Although to be fair, the act of stepping through the portal and finding other versions of Ghostbusters probably helped out a lot. After they showed their IDs to confirm that yes, this was another version of Ray, Winston, and Peter.

Cyrus’ only response? He raised an eyebrow and muttered about how he was going to have ‘absolute fun’ explaining all of this to his employees once they were done with their work in the Prime Dimension.

Peter-R started with the updates as he interpreted the unintelligible scribblings of his counterpart’s handwriting. As he read along, each of them nodded along as they took in the information.

“So I was right about it working off of fear,” Kylie said with some pride once Peter-R read off that section of the research.

“It would definitely explain our heightened sense of fear at the sight,” Ray responded, rubbing his chin, “My adrenaline was going off a mile a minute.”

“So how are you guys going to combat that next time you go after him?” Janine asked. “It’s not like you can just shut off your emotions.”

“No, but we do have the next best thing. The mood slime, when used, can definitely adjust the emotional state of someone, heightening either joy or negativity, depending on what charge we can use.”

“Mood slime?” Peter-R asked. “What the hell is that?”

“We discovered it back in 1989 under the city of New York,” Ray explained, “Essentially, it takes up either good vibes or negative vibes. We have a bunch in the firehouse here that we saved for research.”

“Boy, was that research interesting,” Winston chuckled, “Dancing toasters, finding out Egon slep-”

Janine cleared her throat quickly, whether to spare the others the horror of finding out or to prevent the memory of Peter telling her from popping into her mind, she couldn’t tell.

“Either way,” Ray continued, “If we douse ourselves in the positively charged slime, perhaps not as much as I got after defeating Vigo, it could help in reducing our fear without affecting our fighting skills. Won’t stop the beast entirely, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Huh. Thank God I’m not fighting this thing.” Peter-R shook his head. “The little spud already slimes me enough. I can’t imagine willingly subjecting myself to that.”

“The canisters are still in the basement, Ray?” Winston asked.

Ray nodded.

“I’ll load them into ECTO-1 after the meeting. We’ll need the car to go find a rooster.”

“Rooster?” Egon-R asked.

“Apparently the crow of a rooster can defeat the beast this spirit thinks it is.” Peter-R flipped ahead to a new set of pages and looked up at Winston. “Please tell me that your guys’ Peter is getting some sleep.”

“He’s knocked out right now,” Winston answered.

“Thank God. Cause he has five whole pages complaining about roosters.”

Peter-R flipped the book around and showed them the two entire pages of notes, complete with some very rough sketches of what looked like a rooster. Either that, or a deformed dog.

“And where do you plan on getting a rooster?” Janine asked. “We’re in the middle of the city. There isn’t a farm for miles.”

Kylie stepped in. “We have a client at the bookstore who can help us.”

“You’re talking about Cubby, aren’t you?” Ray asked and saw Kylie nod in response.

“You think it’s the same guy?” Peter-R said quietly to Egon-R. “I mean, the same one we stopped last month?”

Egon-R simply shrugged, then resumed paying attention to the current conversation.

Ray then took out a small book from his pocket. “I can give you the address. What’s your plan?”

“We were thinking of going to his place and making up some lie about a fine or something. Get him talking about chickens, and hopefully he can tell us where we can get a rooster. Then, we nab it and keep it around until we need it.”

“Keep it?” Ray asked. “I don’t think we have the space here to keep the rooster.”

Winston nodded. “I signed up for a lot of stuff, but rooster sitting was not one of them.”

“Could you not just record the rooster crowing?” Egon-R suggested.

“And where will we get the recording equipment?”

Peter-R snapped his fingers. “You’re in absolute luck, my Ghostbusting comrade. I just happen to have some recording equipment and a very large speaker.”

“You make music?”

“In my spare time.”

“Recording a rooster crowing may be an improvement,” Egon-R noted, “At least we won’t get calls complaining about a dying animal on the premises.”

They all couldn’t help but to laugh as Peter-R scowled at Egon-R, then crossed his arms across his chest.

“You guys just don’t recognize my true talents. I imagine they said the same thing to Michael Jackson when he started out.”

Ray held up a hand. “Alright then. Peter, you can go with Winston and Kylie to get the rooster. I have a small hand-held portal opener I can give you. That way, you can just pop in and out of your dimension to make the recording. A bit easier to move around, especially considering the rooster and all.”

“Finally, my time to shine.”

---------------------------------

They then moved on to discussing their plan for making the anti-venom.

“We already have the venom extracted, and the next step in the protocol is to make antibodies in some animal model.” Egon-R then turned to his uncle. “I’ll let my uncle explain since it’s his mice.”

Cyrus entered lecture mode quickly. “The plan of action so far is that we’ll dilute the venom with distilled water. We’ll add some sort of adjuvant, perhaps Freund’s adjuvant. A mixture of CFA and IFA. This will trigger the immune system to react and make antibodies.”

“Are you planning on using the LaMarche strain of mice?” Egon-R asked.

“Yes. That strain produces antibodies in around 4 hours. The mixture will be injected into the mice, and we’ll monitor their health over the 4 hours. It’s a lot of injections, so I’ll need someone else to help with that. After that, we’ll filter the blood, separate out the anti-venom and antibodies, break down the antibodies with an enzyme like pepsin, and then freeze-dry it. After another 2 hours, it’ll be ready for use on your colleague by afternoon your time.”

“Are you sure this is even safe? Don’t products like this go through years of approval from the FDA?” Janine asked.

“Considering the Egon of your dimension is getting sicker and sicker, I don’t believe we have that privilege, madam,” Cyrus answered. “But I assure you, I have a well-skilled team. We will take the necessary precautions needed.”

“Janine, I assure you that he has one of the top labs in the Midwest. If anything, I trust him entirely to make this,” Egon-R said.

“Alright.”

“As for the injections, Ray can help you with that, uncle. I will do everything after,” Egon-R suggested, perhaps a bit too quickly.

“You’re afraid of needles, huh?” Winston asked Egon-R.

Egon-R didn’t respond, so Winston took it as a yes.

“Alright, so that’s our plan!” Peter-R shot up from his seat, then turned to Ray. “Can I get that hand-held device?”

“I can get it for you, Peter,” Egon-R said. “I’ll go downstairs to refill Ecto-1 with the mood slime canisters,” Winston said.

All of them immediately launched into their plans. Cyrus and Winston headed downstairs, while Peter-R waited at the top of the stairs. A small device was then tossed to him, which he slipped onto his wrist with ease.

“Thanks,” he said with a grin. He then leaned on the stairwell and yelled out, “Shotgun!”

Janine, meanwhile, took her place beside Egon’s bed. She wanted to watch over him while everyone was busy with their own assignments.

The slime canisters were loaded and the wail of ECTO-1’s siren grew faint as Peter-R, Winston, and Kylie drove off to their destination courtesy of a small piece of paper with an address Ray scribbled on.

Ray headed to Dimension 68-R with Cyrus to head over to the lab to start producing the antibodies.

“Good luck, you guys,” Janine said to no one in particular as she kept a careful eye on Egon, who was still asleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“There it is,” Peter-R said, pointing to a dilapidated building.

It was a horrible beige-green color, and most of the windows were either broken or boarded up. Graffiti lined the walls of the first floor, the spray paint added a much improved pop of color.

Winston parked ECTO-1 in the parking lot of the chicken restaurant. All of them got out of the car. Peter-R leaned against ECTO-1 and looked at the large chicken statue perched atop the restaurant. Same design, same colors, even that one scratch on its right wing from someone throwing a rock at it was there.

“Talk about déjà vu,” he said to himself, then turned his eyes to take in the apartment building in all of its hideousness.

Winston shook his head. “Man, this building is ugly. When was the last time it was renovated?”

“Probably when sliced bread was invented,” Kylie answered, double-checking the room number. “He’s in room 548.”

They all walked up to the stairs, which Peter-R stared at with misery.

“Isn’t there an elevator or something?” he asked.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Winston answered, “The ADA would have a field day with this place.”

“It’s always stairs,” Peter-R grumbled under his breath, placing his foot on the first step, “Why stairs?”

“It’s only five flights, you big baby,” Kylie teased, going past Peter-R and already ahead of both of them.

By the time they got on the second floor, Peter-R paused to catch his breath.

“You know, if it means we can get an elevator installed here, perhaps I’ll call that thing you mentioned earlier.”

“The ADA? You guys don’t have that?” Winston asked, and Peter-R shook his head in response.

“I try to keep track of our government agencies. Don’t wanna piss them off like last time.”

“So your guys’ dimension is before 1990,” Kylie mused as she ran up the third floor and stood at the top of the stairs waiting for the other two. “Fascinating.”

“It’s 1987, if you wanna get into specifics,” Peter-R clarified.

“Huh. Guess you guys didn’t get shut down after the Gozer incident,” Winston said.

Peter-R made a face. “You guys got shut down?”

“Yep. Got sued beyond oblivion. Every city and county in this goddamn state, all because of the damages caused by Stay Puft.” A pause. “Still don’t know why. I mean, the judge wouldn’t acknowledge ghosts, but we were getting sued for property damage because we conjured a ghost.”

“Wait, that doesn’t even make sense,” Kylie said once they reached the fourth floor.

“The government never makes sense,” Peter-R mused, “That’s why it’s the government.”

“You said it, man.” Winston then looked at the apartment number besides him now that they were on the fifth floor. “510. So, it’s probably down the hall.”

They eventually found the door, and Kylie knocked on the door and stepped back.

Peter-R tapped his foot impatiently. “Jesus, is this guy going to answer the door soon or what? Maybe we should have said we were the police or something, you know, give him a scare.”

“We don’t want to frighten him,” Winston said.

“Honestly, if he’s like the guy back in our dimension, it’ll be the other way around,” Peter-R felt a shiver go up his spine, “At least in our dimension, he’s an absolute creep. What was it that Egon said? Shallow end of the gene p-”

The door then swung violently open, and Peter immediately shut up as all three of them took in Cubby, who stood in the doorway.

Same hooked nose, same spiky haircut, even the same horrible case of scoliosis that would give the Hunchback of Notre Dame a run for his money.

Holy shit, it’s absolutely uncanny,

Peter-R thought to himself.

“Can I help you?” Cubby asked.

He even speaks in that same nasally voice! Man, Ray would have a field day if he saw this. He and Egon would probably start another study with the Egon from this dimension.

Kylie held out a hand. “Hello, I’m Kylie from Ray’s Occult. There was an issue with your last book order.”

“What was the issue?” he asked curtly, not returning the handshake.

Kylie returned her hand to her side. “It was….”

What was the excuse she thought of earlier? She looked to Winston for help, but then Peter-R stepped forward with an outstretched hand.

“And who are you?” Cubby asked, again refusing to shake hands.

Trying not to gag at the permeating odor of cooked chicken that emanated from the man, Peter-R answered, “I’m in training under her. Boss needed some extra arms, and I need some cash, so here we are.”

He then clapped his hands. “As for your order, there’s going to be a slight delay.”

“By how long?”

“Around another week.”

Cubby seemed disappointed. “Darn. I was hoping to get it soon. Did they say why?”

“Why? Why?” Peter-R moved his hands around nervously. “They…. had to do an exorcism on it.”

Cubby raised an eyebrow. “An exorcism?”

Peter-R shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, I don’t question the experts. Besides, I’m not the one ordering books to summon demons.”

“This book isn’t for summoning demons. It’s a book of spells I need.”

“Spells?” Peter-R glanced at Winston with a look that screamed ‘Bingo’ and also ‘Come on, speak up, I did my part.’

“What is this book of spells for?” Winston asked.

“You see that restaurant near there?” Cubby pointed at it with a bony finger. The smell of chickens haunts me day and night. I want to get rid of all the chickens in the world be-”

Winston interrupted what would have likely been an animated monologue. They had other things to do.

“Don’t you have to be near a chicken farm to do that? There’s not one for miles.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” Cubby said with utter delight, “With this book, I can cast this spell from the comfort of my own home.”

“Don’t you just love it when modern witchcraft is so convenient?” Peter-R then raised an eyebrow. “But I mean, if you were

that

devoted to your mission, I would travel the distance. Doing it from home doesn’t really show you’re that passionate about it. Surely it can’t be

that

far.”

Now Cubby grew angry. “The nearest chicken farm is 30 miles from here. Charlie’s Chicken Farm, it’s the biggest one in the borough. I’m not going to waste valuable time traveling to see these…. things.” There was a pause. “Besides, I don’t have a car.”

“Could take a taxi. Everyone else in New York does.”

“I don’t have time to argue with you,” Cubby said with a scowl, “Unless you have any other news about my order, you’re done here. Good day.”

He then slammed the door in their faces.

A beat.

“I’d say that went well,” Peter-R said sarcastically. “Also, I call shotgun. Don’t wanna spend 30 miles crammed in the back of the car.”

---------------------------------

Once they got past the city limits, the view outside the car became pleasant to look at as it was mainly fields that sprawled for miles and miles.

Peter-R stared out the window, taking in the grass blowing, the deep blue of the sky, the clouds.

He then held a hand to his heart.

“I can feel my power draining the further we get away from the city,” he winced, trying to sound injured. “Getting weaker and weaker.”

With a huge grin, he then glanced over to see that Winston looked annoyed.

“You know, it’s absolutely uncanny how similar the two of you are,” Winston noted.

“I take offense at that,” Peter-R said in a mock hurt tone. “I’d like to think I’m a bit better. I mean, I am the better looking one. I mean, look at this hair.”

“Ego’s still inflated as ever,” Kylie said under her breath.

“I heard that.” He then drummed his fingers on the dashboard. “Are we there yet?”

“Should be another 10 minutes.”

“Neato.” Peter-R turned on the radio and started flipping through the different channels. “Goddamn it, where’s the classic rock?”

By the time he could settle on a song, they had found themselves at the entrance of Charlie’s Chicken Farm. He looked up to see the huge sign greeting them, then switched off the radio with a frown.

---------------------------------

Charlie himself was waiting at the entrance when they pulled up in ECTO-1, courtesy of a telephone call Kylie made in advance letting them know that they were coming on behalf of the Ghostbusters.

He seemed like your typical farmer. He had short brown hair which was tucked into a red baseball cap. He wore blue overalls that were completely caked with mud on his pants legs, and even muddier boots to match. He had a huge grin on his face as he waved to them.

All three Ghostbusters got out of ECTO-1 and walked over to Charlie.

Kylie held out a hand. “Kylie. I’m the one you spoke to on the phone.”

He shook her hand back. “I know all about you guys. It’s always all over the newspapers. Needless to say I’m humbled that the Ghostbusters need me for a service.”

“Well, we don’t have roosters in the big city, so yeah,” Kylie laughed.

Charlie started leading them into the farm. “So, it’s just a rooster you guys need, correct?”

“Yep,” Winston answered.

“What on Earth do you need a rooster for? Is it to hunt some ghost?”

Peter-R held up a hand. “We’re not at a liberty to say. It’s top secret, classified stuff. Official Ghostbusting business.”

Both Kylie and Winston resisted the urge to roll their eyes as Charlie shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Whatever you say. I have about five roosters on this here farm. Any particular kind that you guys want?”

“Well, we want a nice one, one that’ll be calm. So maybe a Salmon Faverolle. If you have one, that is. We’ll also take a Brahma.”

Peter-R then saw Winston and Kylie look at him with confused expressions.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why do you know so much about rooster breeds?” Winston asked.

“Oh that?” Peter-R shrugged. “Our Ray grew up on a farm. He talks about it from time to time. A bit too much, if you ask me.”

“Really?” Kylie said, and Peter-R nodded in response.

“Has this really nasty scar on his left ring finger from the time one of them tried to peck his finger clean off his hand.” He pointed to his own finger. “Like around there.”

“In that case, you’ll probably want Daniel.” Charlie pointed to a chicken coop in the far off distance. “He’s in there.”

As they walked, Charlie gestured to the other coops. “I keep each rooster in a separate coop with their hens so that they don’t fight. Roosters tend to be very competitive over their mates.”

Peter-R whistled. “Talk about getting action.”

“Yeah. We’ve had to build more coops because sometimes they want to inbreed. Can’t stop it, but it gets weird after 3-4 generations of it, so I nip it in the bud when I can.”

“Oh.”

Charlie laughed. “They’re animals. They can’t tell the difference.” He then stopped in front of one coop. “I’ll go in there and get Daniel. You guys just stay out here.”

As Charlie opened the coop door, all three of them tried to peek in. It was a long corridor with many different nests. The smell of the chickens and the hay hit them at once, and Peter-R stepped back to resist gagging.

“How many of those hens do you think are both his daughter and wife?” he asked.

Kylie made a sound of disgust. “Oh, that’s- why would you ask that?”

“I mean, he just said-”

“I know, but I don’t want to think about that-”

“Can we please stop talking about chicken incest?” Winston snapped. “I’ve heard weird conversations, but I draw the line at this.”

Charlie came up with a huge rooster in his arms. It had a red comb and a white hackle. But as you moved further down, its wing and lower part were a dark brown. Its tail feathers were also a brown color, but they also were tinged with some red and green.

“Just hold him tightly, keep a firm grip. These things sense fear, and they will move if you don’t have a strong hold on them.”

He gave the rooster to Peter-R, who accepted it with a bewildered expression.

“Why me?” he asked.

“Well, you seem to be the rooster expert,” Winston joked. “What type is that one?”

A beat. “I think it’s a Brahma.”

“Thank you, Charlie,” Winston held out his hand, “We appreciate it, man. We’ll have it back within the hour.”

Charlie accepted the handshake. “Still don’t know what you need it for, but happy to help.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

They all headed back in the general direction of the car. They tried to be out of view of Charlie, since they were going to open an inter-dimensional portal back to Dimension 68-R, and they didn’t want to frighten the man.

Or answer the many questions he would doubtlessly have about inter-dimensional travel.

“You have the device, right Peter?” Winston nodded.

Peter-R nodded in reply. “It’s on my wrist, but clearly, my hands are occupied at the moment.” He kept a firm, but gentle grip on the rooster so that it wouldn’t fidget. “Could you possibly switch it on?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Winston walked over and ducked his head so that he was eye level with the machine. He then punched in some numbers, and a small portal opened in front of all three of them.

Peter-R was the first to step through the portal and called out in a sing-song voice, “Oh boysssssss! And Janineeeeeeeee! Petey’s homeeeeeeee!”

The rest of the them also entered the dimension as the portal behind them closed. Ray-R and Winston-R came running at the sound of Peter’s voice, likely curious as to what Peter-R was doing for the Prime Ghostbusters. But instead of answering questions, the scene in front of them only introduced more.

“Peter, why the hell are you holding a rooster?” Winston-R asked.

Peter-R looked down at his hands. “Oh, this small thing?”

The ‘small thing’ in question weighed around 12 pounds.

“It’s for our buddy Ray here, since he’sbeeing home and all.” Peter-R placed the rooster in Ray-R’s arms. “Happy birthday, bud!”

Ray-R only stared at Peter-R in abject confusion. “Uh thanks, Peter. But my birthday’s in March. That’s next month.” A pause. “Besides, I wouldn’t ask for a rooster. I’d ask for…. you know, comics or something useful like that.”

“Well, consider this an early birthday gift,” Peter-R grinned and patted Ray-R on the shoulder.

The entire interaction oddly reminded Winston of a younger brother being tricked by his older brother. Perhaps it was the youth of this group, who looked no older than 30, maximum.

“Now come on, bring that thing upstairs. We’re making music!” Peter-R started up the stairs, and Ray-R and Kylie followed behind him.

Winston was about to join them, but his 68-R counterpart grabbed his arm to hold him back behind.

“I’ve already asked this, but why the hell is there a rooster in the firehouse? And I hope you’re not expecting us to take care of it.”

Winston raised his hands in assurance. “It’s not that. Apparently the spirit can be stopped by a rooster crow. So, we’re borrowing your Peter’s recording equipment to make a tape.”

“Does this have to do with your guys’ Egon acting off?”

Winston nodded.

Winston-R drew a heavy sigh. “Why am I still surprised at this point? At this point in the job, my therapist is going to need a therapist.”

Winston laughed. “Join the club, my man. Now come on, someone’s gotta watch them and make sure they don’t blow something up.”

“Right behind you.”

---------------------------------

Tucked away in one corner of the common area was a small recording studio. Well, at least it would be one if everything wasn’t haphazardly thrown onto a table and its sides with no sense of order.

A small Atari 1040ST home computer sat perched atop some other huge brick of machinery. There was a synchronizer, which was a small, thin rectangle with some holes for other wires. A polysynth and mixer were also present, the huge panel being filled with different sliders that one could move up and down for some reason.

In one corner of the table was a cassette recorder and a microphone perched on a stand.

“Are we going to need all of this?” Kylie asked.

Peter-R shook his head. “Probably just the microphone and cassette recorder. We’re in a time crunch, so the audio doesn’t need that much mixing or editing.

He pushed the chair to Ray-R, who sat down, still holding the rooster in his hands. Peter-R then moved the microscope so that it was near the rooster and catch onto its sound.

“Alright, let’s just switch some stuff on.”

He flipped some switches on, and now the microphone was on, as indicated by a small green button.

Kylie noticed the cassette recorder was off. She asked why.

“Cause I only have two cassettes at the moment, andwe don’t have the time to edit the audio,” Peter-R responded, “So, this is going to be a one attempt thing, so it better be a good crow, you stupid rooster.”

He clapped his hands together. “So come on, let’s do it.”

Silence.

“Come on, Daniel, the life of a Ghostbuster hangs in the balance.”

“Don’t say that,” Kylie shot back, “I hate saying that kind of stuff.”

“Why?”

“It feels like manifesting it, and we really don’t need that right now.”

“Well, we need to bump up the tension somehow and let the rooster catch on.” Peter-R waved a hand in dismissal. “So let me focus. Come on, you dumb rooster, crow, damn it!”

The rooster only responded by clucking quietly into the microphone.

Peter-R smacked a hand to his forehead.

“Ray, you’re the rooster expert. How do we deal with this?”

“Well, roosters usually crow at the crack of dawn.”

“I’m not waiting for sunrise to get a recording,” Peter-R shot back. “Anybody else have bright ideas?”

“When do roosters usually crow?” Kylie asked.

“Well, they crow for several reasons,” Ray-R explained. “They do it to establish their territory, attract mates, and to sort of warn any potential predators that there’s a strong protector in the area.”

A beat. “We’ll have to mimic the sunrise, won’t we?” Winston-R asked.

Ray-R nodded. “Likely.”

“Maybe not,” Winston said, “Don’t these things get scared of stuff?”

“Yeah, they can. And they could… crow when they’re in danger!” Ray-R exclaimed, tightening his hold on the rooster. “But what do we scare him with?”

“Don’t you guys have the Sedgewick ghost just roaming around?” Kylie asked, “At least, that’s in these guys’ notes on your dimension.”

“Oooo, you have notes on us?” Peter-R asked. “Could I see what my file says?”

“No,” Winston said. “And they do. Couldn’t we use him to scare the rooster and get a crow?”

“We could,” Ray-R said. “And here’s how we’ll do it.”

---------------------------------

All of the lights were turned off in the common area, hiding everyone as they sat in their positions.

Kylie and Winston stood in the doorway, holding back Slimer.

Peter-R stood by the recording equipment, a finger held above the recording button for the cassette player. Winston-R also stood by, just in case the rooster got too overwhelmed and turned away from the microphone. So, he kept a steady hand on it, making sure to keep it near the rooster’s beak.

“On three,” Peter-R said, holding a moment of suspense. “Three!”

Kylie flipped the switch and Winston removed his arm, which was a barrier for Slimer.

Slimer darted towards towards Ray-R and Winston-R.

As expected, the rooster got terribly frightened, and began crowing loudly.

Peter-R switched on the recording machine, and Winston-R held the mic near the rooster.

Ray-R kept his mouth shut, but his face was completely white as he tried to keep a firm grisp on the rooster, which was squirming madly in his arms.

After a while, Peter-R made a stopping gesture with his hands. He stopped the recording with a click.

Ray-R let go of the rooster, who was running madly around. The others tried to stop it, but Ray-R held up a hand.

“Let it run around. You’re going to frighten it if you touch it. Take Slimer out of the room, maybe that’ll help.”

“Alright then, beat it spud!” Peter-R called out, “Janine has your reward downstairs!”

With some gibberish, Slimer darted downstairs and was out of the sight of the rooster. Once the rooster calmed down, Ray-R picked it back up again.

“Don’t worry. I have some leftover spinach if you want.”

Ray-R exited the room, and the others gathered around Peter-R, who took out a cassette player. He loaded the cassette inside and pressed play.

Suddenly, the room filled with a loud crowing noise.

“And there we go.” Peter-R produced a marker and wrote a note on the cassette.

“Thank you, Peter.” He waved the cassette around, clearly looking for a response.

“Thank you, Peter,” Kylie repeated with a forced grin, snatching the cassette out of his hand. “You’ve been a real help.”

“It’s no problem,” Peter-R said. “Always happy to help out a fellow Ghostbuster.”

“We should get going now,” Winston said, “Hopefully they have made some progress on the anti-venom.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Once they landed at the airport, they took a car immediately to the Cyrus Laboratories.

Egon-R and Cyrus sat in the front, quietly talking amongst themselves, although Ray could catch words such as ‘antibodies’ and ‘vivarium.’

Ray took the back seat and kept the ice chest of venom by his side, wrapping an arm around it so that it didn’t tumble in the car.

The car ride was somewhat long, so he passed the time by looking out the window, tuning out the conversation in front of him.

It all felt odd to him, looking outside and seeing familiar objects, yet everything felt a degree off. Everything in general had a brighter look to it, mainly because of the animated style of the dimension. Although it could also be because they were now in the Midwest with its sprawling fields and clear blue skies instead of the grimy streets of New York.

Honestly? He preferred the latter and wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

Big cities just seemed to be in the Stantz bloodline. His brother had Chicago, while Ray had New York.

Besides, big cities meant more people, which meant more ghosts, and more material to study and sink his teeth into.

The car stopped in front of the entrance at the laboratory. All of them got out the car. Cyrus held up his card to the reader, which beeped in response and unlocked the door to let them in.

Ray walked in and immediately took in his surroundings.

Everything seemed so sterile. There was a long hallway, and from it was multiple hallways that all branched off to different departments. All of it was drenched in white, the walls, the floors, the doors, everything, as if the color was bleached from the surroundings.

People donned in white lab coats paced the halls every now and then. Ray suddenly felt out of place in his scruffy polo shirt and unkempt hair.

This fish out of water feeling felt familiar and reminded him of his days in Columbia. Even then, he felt like an eyesore compared to the rest of the stuffed suits in the science departments. Although Egon was the only one of them that looked the most like those stuffed suits, by mere association with him and Venkman, he also stood out.

Being in this stuffy environment reminded him of a good that being kicked out of Columbia brought them. Although having the funds and the huge space was really nice, he also felt limited. The origins of their Ghostbusting equipment was not approved by the university, so they had to work on it in their spare time. The only thing the university approved was the occasional ESP experiment, which Peter volunteered to get the data for, which he mainly used as an excuse to fraternize with his female volunteers.

Ray didn’t mind since his focus wasn’t on that ESP experiment. His pride and joy was the Ghostbusting equipment he and Egon worked on, like the PKE meter. He still remembers working on it, with Peter standing in the doorway mocking them for their superstitious beliefs. Ray and Egon mostly ignored him, although there were a few times Ray saw that Peter looked interested on some occasions when he was babbling on about how the PKE meter worked. A fleeting moment, but it was still there, nonetheless. It was how, although he protested greatly, he did join them in the New York Public Library on that fated day.

Ray shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts. Looking back only made him sad. Although things seemed to be taking a turn for the better, Egon’s health recently taking a turn for the worse had brought up the small doubts he had at the beginning of all of this.

He decided to shove those feelings down and focus on his work.

---------------------------------

They headed down to the basement where the vivarium was. Each room in the vivarium had rows and rows of mice cages.

They entered one of these rooms and Ray immediately was assaulted with the odor of fur and pellets. He also noticed how warm the room was.

Cyrus gestured to one row of cages. “These are the mice that we shall be using. The gloves, hair nets, and disposal scrubs are in the corner over there. I’ll head out. I need to inform one of the specialists to monitor these mice once they have the venom injected in them. Can you two can handle the injections?”

“Yep.” Ray already began blowing into a glove to expand it so that he could slip his hand inside.

“Alright then.”

As soon as Cyrus left, Egon-R drew in a long sigh, looking around the room with absolute dread.

“I promised myself I would not find myself back in this room,” he said in his deep, baritone voice. “If it wasn’t for the circumstances, I would be running out of here immediately.”

“I’ll handle the injections then,” Ray suggested, “Just maybe watch over my shoulder so that I don’t mess up. How many mice are we working with?”

Egon-R, donned in PPE, knelt down to look at the cards that were attached outside of the mice cages. “Around 13, it looks like.”

“Neato,” Ray went over to the biosafety cabinet and began sanitizing it.

Egon-R grabbed the first cage and placed it besides Ray’s arm. “This first one had 4. I’ll grab another cage to use as a container so we don’t inject them twice by accident.”

He walked over to a 3-tier stand and grabbed a cage from the bottom. He then went over and placed it to the side.

Ray then opened the cage and scooped out the first mouse with his hands.

“So, what you’ll want to do is pinch it by the scruff. This lets you have a good hold on the mice and prevents it from turning its head and biting you.”

“How much do the bites hurt?” Ray asked.

“According to the card, these mice are relatively young, so it won’t draw blood. It’ll be like a pinch. A pinch that hurts, but a pinch nonetheless.”

Egon-R took out the venom with the adjuvant added from the ice chest and took out a pile of syringes. “I’ll prepare the needle and give it to you. You want to aim for either its rump or the back of its neck since its lymph nodes are there and it’s more likely to generate an immune response. I’ll then take the needle from you and you put the mouse back in the second cage and so on.”

“Got it.” Ray then laid the mouse on its back, letting it spread out its paws until it almost looked like a starfish. He then grabbed the scruff, but found that it was difficult to keep a firm grip because the mouse kept squirming. He then pinched it harder, and the mouse went completely still.

“What the hell happened?” Ray asked.

“It has likely frozen up out of the shock because of the force you’re using, as well as being generally terrified.”

As if in response, a few drops of urine formed under the mouse as it sat there shivering.

Ray widened his eyes. “Holy shit, this feels cruel.”

Egon-R shook his head. “It’s precisely why I chose to leave this place as soon as possible. At least when studying ghosts, they no longer feel pain.”

He then took out a syringe with a fine needle at the end and drew in a few milliliters of venom.

Ignoring the pit in his stomach, Ray took the needle from Egon-R and slowly inserted it. The mouse then squeaked in pain as Ray injected the venom inside. Quickly, he removed the needle and placed the mice back in the cage.

Ray took in a deep breath and wiped off the sweat on his forehead using his wrist to not contaminate the gloves.

“Dear God, that was difficult.”

“We have 12 more mice to go, Ray.” A pause. “I can take over if you’re genuinely that frightened from this.”

Ray shook his head. “Nah, nah, it’s fine. It’s only 12 more.”

He then grabbed the second mouse by its tail and laid it out on the station. “Hit me with another needle.”

--------------------------------

Eventually, they had finished injecting the mice. Egon-R took to marking the cages that they had used with a blank card that had written on it ‘Antivenom’ in small, neat handwriting.

Ray took off his PPE and disposed of it in the biohazard bin. He then went over to the sink and washed his hands.

“How long do you think this process is going to take?”

Egon-R also dumped his PPE into the bin. “A few hours, at most. The specialists will take over at this point. They’ll mainly come in every hour and check on the mice to make sure they haven’t developed any adverse symptoms. I’ll let my uncle know that we have finished.”

Ray suppressed a yawn. “Good. I need some rest. I’m absolutely exhausted.”

“I can imagine. You’ve hardly slept.”

And out of the corner of his eye, Ray saw Egon-R also suppress a yawn as well.

“Pot calling the kettle back. You need rest too.”

Egon-R waved a hand. “I will, I will. My uncle’s place is nearby, and he has a guest room. You can take it, and I’ll take the couch.”

“You sure you don’t want the room?”

“I’ll be fine, Ray. It isn’t the first time I’ve crashed out on his couch.”

He then left the room and pressed on a small button on the wall. His uncle’s voice came on the intercom.

“Are you boys finished with the injections?”

“Yes, uncle. I’ve marked the cages we’ve used for the specialists.” He then suppressed another yawn. “It’ll be a few hours. Do you mind if we take the opportunity to rest at your house?”

“That’s fine with me. I was, in fact, going to insist upon it. You look dead on your feet when I saw you back in New York, Egon. You barely even slept on the flight too.”

Ray found the situation amusing. Even if the concern was delivered coldly, he imagined it was Cyrus’ way of showing concern over his nephew, and it was somewhat touching.

Egon-R pressed his lips.

“I will, I will. Promise.”

“The keys are on my desk. Let the other one drive.”

Ray frowned in response at this last part, and Egon-R let go of the button.

“He knows I have a name, right?”

Egon-R shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t feel bad. He doesn’t even know the Ghostbusters of this dimension, let alone other dimensions.”

“But aren’t you guys in the newspapers all the time? I mean, at least in our dimension, we are.”

“We are. He’s much too busy to read that, though. Apart from the science section. Trust the man to memorize the structure of all 20 amino acids, but names?” Egon-R couldn’t help but to laugh. “Forget about it.”

Ray began walking ahead. “Guess it’s a Spengler thing.”

“Indeed it is.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The taxi driver stopped in front of the firehouse. Ron took out some coins and handed them to the driver, then stepped out.

The front door was unlocked, so he easily strolled in. He noticed that Janine’s desk was unusually empty.

“Where the hell is Redhead?” he said to himself, approaching the desk. He saw that there was a note on it, and he picked it up to read it.

Stepped out to get Peter and get some soup for Egon. Won’t be long.

-Janine

Come to think of it, it was unusually quiet in the firehouse. No one walking, no talking, no one yelling at him to leave immediately. Guess that Class VII was a lot more serious than he thought.

But the soup part drew his attention. Why would Spengler want soup? He didn’t think the scientist would be that picky that he couldn’t make his own food. And why was Venkman separated from the group?

Perhaps they got sick of his shit,

Ron thought maliciously.

But seriously, where the hell is everyone?

He then heard a loud cough upstairs.

“Hello?” he called out, only to get no reply, as the person upstairs was now having a coughing fit. And it sounded bad, all gritty and mucus-y.

He then ran up the stairs and approached the living room. No one was there. It seemed the coughing was in a different room.

He went to the fridge and poured out a glass of water, then started walking towards what he believes was Egon’s lab. And the man was there, sitting on a chair, kneeled over in a horrible coughing fit.

Without a word, Ron set the glass of water by the man’s arm. Egon glanced up, saw the water, and accepted it, taking a large gulp.

The coughing seemed to subside for now, and Egon then looked up. Ron had a chance to study the man’s face.

And holy shit, he looked abysmal.

His face was completely white and dotted with sweat. All the color was drained from it. His entire body seemed to shake, like he was in sub-zero temperature. Egon was trying to form a fist, but it seemed he was way too weak to do so.

And his eyes. His eyes were completely bloodshot, coated in a sinister red.

He looked miserable.

“Spengler, what the fuck happened to you?” Ron asked, then took a few steps back. “Shit, I hope it’s not contagious.

“It isn’t.” Egon’s voice was raspy, as it hurt him to speak because his throat was so sore. “Who are you?”

“It’s Ron. Ron Alexander of the Chicago branch.”

Egon shook his head. “Don’t remember.”

Now Ron took alarm. “What do you mean you don’t remember?” He tried to connect the dots but failed. “What’s going on, Spengler?”

Again, Egon shook his head. “The others said not to tell.”

Ron cursed, kicking at the ground. “Oh course! Keep it to you guys to keep everything secret and under covers. Even when one of you seems to be at the edge of his deathbed. Some team, to leave you alone like this.”

“Janine just stepped out to get some soup.”

“I knew that woman was lying! Class VII, my ass! This team’s down for the count and rather than just buck up and accept help, you guys are too proud for that, aren’t you? No, no, no one can help the great New York Ghostbusters, no sir!”

Egon tilted his head. “You seem upset.”

“Yeah, I am kind of fucking upset!” Ron seethed, “I mean, it’s like we’re an afterthought. We deal with it back in Chicago, and now we deal with it in the other branches. We get no respect no matter where we go. Hell, even the Chicagoans don’t care about us, don’t even bother to appreciate us. Shitty people with a shitty pizza.”

“I’m sorry.”

A pause. “Spengler, do you even know what you’re apologizing for?”

“No.”

“Man, you’re off your game today? You’re usually smarter than this. What happened, you bumped your head and now your brain’s all kooky or something?” It then clicked. “Did you actually like hit your head or something and get amnesia?”

The silence gave Ron the answer he needed.

“I’m giving them an earful once they come back for not telling us this. I mean, I personally don’t care, I just want to be in the know for stuff like this.”

Egon took all of this in, and shortly came to the realization why they perhaps may have been hesitant to tell the Chicago branch. If any of them were like this guy here, then perhaps his friends had reasons now to fraternize with such rude people.

“So you don’t remember a single thing?”

Egon shook his head. “No.”

---------------------------------

“Man, what a waste of time!” Ron pulled up a chair and sunk into it. “My flight got delayed for a few hours, and then I sat next to this unbearable man. Absolutely gross, no sense of hygiene! And what a blabbermouth! All he would do is fucking talk about his stupid curtain rings, which apparently people sell in this century. All of that, and what am I getting from this trip? Nothing!”

Crossing his arms, Ron pouted and looked at the table across from him. It mainly was filled with torn apart machines with wires spewing out from every odd place, papers with scribbled calculations, and a microscope slide.

An idea then hit him.

Egon doesn’t remember anything, right? So, I could take anything I wanted right now and he couldn’t stop me. I wonder if he remembers where the plans for that memory erasing machine are. Couldn’t hurt to ask, could it? Besides, I’m in New York. I need a souvenir of some kind. And the cheap globes in Times Square won’t cut it.

Ron then cleared his throat. “Hey Spengler, can I ask you something? Is there like a cabinet where you guys keep your blueprints or something? You were going to give our team some for a memory erasing machine, and that’s why I’m here.”

Egon was confused. “They haven’t mentioned anything about someone coming. Besides, wouldn’t they have canceled?”

Ron waved his hands. “Hey, they were probably too busy dealing with the thing that did this to you to worry about something small like that. But I mean, I did have a long journey. And I don’t know when the next time my calendar will be clear, so it’ll be difficult to come back. So, can I just get the plans and I’ll leave a note or something?”

“Are you sure? This all seems odd. You were just talking about how you were seen as an afterthought.”

Shit, he’s right. Goddamn it, even without his memory, this man is still a pain in the ass.

“Oh that? It’s before I really took in what happened. I mean, I didn’t know about any of this. Before I saw you, I just assumed that they didn’t honor their appointment with me. Doesn’t that seem rude, if you’re looking at it from my point of view? I mean, you can see that, right?”

“I must admit, it definitely does seem rude on their end. But still, they would have mentioned something.”

“Spengler, have they been telling you anything in terms of progress since you lost your memory?”

A pause. “Not really.”

“So who’s to say that this appointment was just another thing they didn’t tell you?”

A beat. “Perhaps you’re right.”

Egon then tried to get up and struggled, even with the assistance of a cane. It took nearly all of his energy, but he ended up falling back into the chair he was in, which was mere feet besides his bed.

“Janine has a bunch of keys in her desk. Perhaps those might help you open the filing cabinets we have. I’d offer to walk you over, but my body feels like it’s been beat up ten times over.”

“It’s fine, Spengler, I’ll do it on my own. I owe you, buddy. You were always the nicest out of all of them.”

“Really?”

Ron had to force a smile and curtly nodded. “Yep, yep. Anyways, I’ll be right back.”

He then immediately stepped out of the room to keep himself from breaking character and laughing himself until his sides ached.

He went to Janine’s desk, grabbed the ring of keys, and started making his way through every single filing cabinet. After about 20 minutes, he found the blueprints that he wanted.

“Success!” he exclaimed, laying them all out on the table. He then took out the camera in his pocket and began snapping as many pictures as he could. He’d worked with way shittier sources when replicating the Ghostbusters equipment, he was used to making do which what he had.

But then he heard a loud thud upstairs, as if someone fell.

“Spengler?” he called out.

No answer.

“Spengler?”

Again, nothing.

“Shit!” he said to himself as he put back the blueprints, threw the keys into the drawer, and began making his way upstairs.

He ran into the lab to find Egon unconscious on the floor with the blare of the PKE meter blasting in the background, nearly deafening Ron with its annoying squeal as it went absolutely haywire.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ron pressed his fingers to Egon’s neck to check for a pulse. After a while, he did hear one, albeit it was incredibly weak. He then let out a sigh of relief. So the man was just unconscious for now, not dead.

But why the hell was the PKE meter going crazy? Nothing in the room could be generating that much PKE, at least nothing visible.

Ron walked over to the table and took the meter in his hands, refining it to identify the source. After twisting some knobs, he then found that the source was near Egon.

Walking over towards Egon’s body, the dial began spinning 360 degrees quickly, and the wailing got louder. So it seemed that the source was Egon himself. Gritting his teeth, Ron did his best ot adjust the volume so that the meter wasn’t screaming in his ears.

He then passed the PKE meter over Egon’s body, and found that the strongest readings seemed to be emanating from his chest, more specifically near where his heart was.

He didn’t know at the moment what that meant, but he saved the observation for when the others showed up.

Speaking of, he heard the firehouse doors swing open as ECTO-1’s siren drew to a screeching halt. Ron ran to the front of the stairs to see who was there.

Peter-R, Kylie, and Winston exited ECTO-1. Kylie was the first to spot Ron and frowned in response.

“Ron, what the hell are you doing here?” she asked, “And where’s Janine?”

“Never mind that,” Ron said, ignoring the fact that Peter-R was there (oh, so they can ask for help when it’s convenient), “Egon just collapsed upstairs and he’s emitting some form of PKE. It’s really strong, around 10,000.”

“10,000?” Kylie yelled in disbelief, already halfway up the stairs. Peter-R and Winston followed her, concern splashed over their faces.

All four of them made their way into the lab, where Egon laid on the floor. Kylie knelt on the floor, checking Egon’s pulse, and letting out a sigh of relief when she detected it.

Winston took the PKE meter and looked over the readings. “Tell us what happened Ron.”

Ron then launched into a brief explanation of what had happened, along with the factoid that the PKE concentration seemed to be strongest around Egon’s heart.

“You know, next time, you guys should tell us when something like this happens,” he growled, a scowl forming on his face.

Peter-R snapped his fingers. “It was in the notes. Your guys’ Peter said something about the venom reaching the brain, and then communicating unto the heart.”

Winston handed the meter over to Kylie, who was gesturing with her hands for him to hand it to her.

“You think that the beast is going to show up?” he asked Kylie.

She fidgeted with the readings and zeroed in on a moving object. “I think so. I isolated all the signals in the city and it looks like something is coming here, and it’s moving fast.”

“So, that’s how it was going to be able to find Egon. It’s sending a signal through the venom. so that if it doesn’t catch its prey, it’ll do it eventually.”

“So a Class VII is on its way to the firehouse?” Ron asked.

All three of them then widened their eyes as they took in what Ron said.

“We need to get out of here, now,” Winston demanded, using his hands to pick up Egon and carrying him in his arms. “We need to move somewhere where there’s not a lot of people, otherwise it’s going to wreck havoc on the city.”

“The park. It’s not that far from here and has a lot of open space,” Peter-R suggested. “How much time do we have left?”

“It’ll be here in 10 minutes,” Kylie answered.

“Alright then.” Winston took immediate charge on the situation. “The slime is in ECTO-1, so we should be good to go on that. We have the cassette tape of the rooster, so we need a speaker. I believe our Peter has a spare. Kylie, go get it. As for Peter-R, go back to your dimension and let Ray and your guys’ Egon know that we need that anti-venom ASAP.”

“What about the traps?” Kylie said. “I think Ray said he was going to fix them, but I don’t think he had the chance to.”

Winston turned to Ron. “Are you busy?”

Ron shrugged. “Not at the moment.”

“Good. Take the PKE meter and study the readings. Throw the traps inside ECTO-1 so that you can work on them on our way to the park. We need to leave here in less than 5 minutes, so get to it, people.”

He then heard no answer. “Is that clear?” he said angrily.

“Got it,” they all said in unison as they immediately launched into their tasks.

Winston headed downstairs with Egon in his arms and placed him in the backseat of ECTO-1. He tried to lay him so that he wouldn’t bump his head.

He then went to the telephone and dialed Janine’s number. When he got no response, he then dialed Peter’s number. Luckily, the man picked up.

“Who is it?” Peter said. The man sounded well-rested.

“No time to explain, but Egon’s unconscious. Meet us at the park. We need all hands on deck.”

“Wait, what-”

“We’ll bring the equipment. Just head to the park.”

Winston hung up before Peter could have a chance to ask any additional questions.

Once they had the proton packs, traps, and slime canisters in the car, Winston was at the wheel and started heading directly to the park. Kylie sat with the proton packs, going through the modifications Egon and Ray had made when they first fought the beast. Ron, with a screwdriver, began adjusting the traps, albeit not without a lot of complaining and cussing whenever Winston made a really sharp turn.

---------------------------------

Peter hung up the phone.

“Who was it?” Janine asked.

“It was Winston. I guess Egon’s unconscious now and we need to head to the park.”

“What?” Janine shrieked in utter disbelief.

“I’m not 100% sure, but I imagine we’re going to be fighting the beast. I don’t think it’s too much of a coincidence that Egon just happens to fall unconscious and now the beast decides to show up.”

“I’m going with you,” Janine said, but she was held back by Peter.

“Nuh uh, Janine, it’s much too dangerous,” he protested, struggling to hold her in his arms. “Go back to the firehouse and stay there.”

“No!” she yelled out, “I want to help. I can handle a proton pack!”

Peter tightened his grip on her arms. “Someone needs to stay behind. Didn’t you say that Ray and the blondie were working on the anti-venom? Someone needs to be there to meet them and set it up.”

Janine stopped struggling. “He’s gonna be okay, right?”

Peter patted her back. “I promise, Janine, we’re going to kick this thing’s ass and send it to back to whatever hell it came from. And don’t worry, I never break my promises.”

“You always promise to give me a raise, yet you never do.”

At that retort, Peter weakly laughed. “Well, this time I’m serious. Take a taxi back to the firehouse and get everything ready for when we bring Egon back. Can you do that for me?”

At Peter’s pleading gaze, Janine let herself stop fighting, and Peter let go of her arms.

“Alright.”

“You’re a doll, Janine.” He went into his closet and grabbed a spare beige jumpsuit, which he threw on. He then zipped it up and threw on his black boots.

Janine opened the door for him and he left. She ignored his smart remark of, “What, no lucky World Fair penny for me?” as she slammed it behind him.

---------------------------------

“So how long do you think the anti-venom’s going to take?” Peter-R asked. “Cause it’s kinda pandemonium back at the Prime Dimension.”

“The mice just had their blood extracted and we’re using the enzyme right now to break everything up,” Egon-R answered. They were still at Cyrus’ house, and Egon-R had just gotten up. He felt much better rested, but he suddenly felt hungry. In fact, he was in the kitchen preparing a sandwich when he heard the phone ring and went to go answer it. “Once that’s done, we’ll take the first plane back. So maybe 3 hours.”

“Alright then. I’m going back to their dimension and offering a helping hand. I imagine they’ll need one, since their Ray is with you guys.”

“Got it. Hopefully they’re able to defeat this thing.”

“I know. Hey, if they get destroyed during all of this, do you think that has some effect on all of our dimensions since they were the original branching point for all of us?”

Egon-R was silent as he thought about all of this. “I’m not sure, Peter. I have not thought about that.”

“Well, I have to go.”

Peter-R hung up the phone. Egon-R was left in the kitchen with a half-prepared turkey sandwich. He considered waking up Ray, who was fast asleep in the guest bedroom, and telling him the news, but decided against it. Right now, he didn’t need to deal with a panicky Ray. That wouldn’t help any of the Ghostbusters at the moment.

And while he prepared the sandwich, he thought back to what Peter-R had said. If it was indeed true, why was their fate left in the hands of the Prime Ghostbusters out of all the Ghostbusters? Who seemed to run on impulse and luck rather than logic?

But perhaps it was their impulse and crassness that led to them being the first of the Ghostbusters. Fate did indeed have weird ways of working.

He looked at the clock. The anti-venom would likely be finished in another half hour. Hopefully, it worked. If his Prime Counterpart died, he doesn’t know if he would be prepared to deal with that existential crisis of attending your own funeral while still alive. Or the guilt of still walking around and living while a version of you was buried 6 feet under.

Snap out of it, Egon. These ruminations aren’t productive, and won’t get you anywhere.

But sometimes, despite telling yourself that, the human mind still had a tendency to focus on the negative thoughts and let them stew.

Egon-R hated that part about himself.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

They finally arrived at the park and parked ECTO-1 near a curb. They all poured out of the car and began suiting up and taking the equipment out.

“Where is the beast?” Peter-R asked. “I thought it was supposed to be here.”

“It’ll be here soon,” Kylie answered as she threw on a proton pack that was modified with the correct settings, courtesy of Ron. “As long as we have Egon, it’s essentially a GPS for the beast to find us.”

Peter-R looked back at the man who was lying down in the back seat of the car. “So I guess that’s what it meant by ‘communicating unto the heart.’ And here I thought it was just some flowery language the classics like to use.”

Winston threw on his proton pack. “Did you bring the speaker, Peter?”

Peter-R gave a thumbs up. “Yep. I’ll set it up right now.”

He opened the trunk and took out a small speaker. He produced a cassette tape from his pocket and put it inside. He then pressed play to do a test run, and the sound seemed to be working. He then pressed paused, then increased the volume to the maximum that it could go.

Another car pulled up beside them. It was an older, beat-up car. Peter poured out of it and came by the ECTO-1.

“I’m here, guys. So what the hell is happening?” he asked.

While he grabbed his proton pack, he got a very brief explanation from Kylie, who was setting up the slime cannons at the same time.

When she finished, Peter smirked. “I guess that’s what it meant by ‘communicate unto the heart.’ And here I thought it was some symbolic bullshit.”

Kylie made a face at the deja vu she just experienced at that moment. Once she had the canister set up, she then told each guy to form a line.

“It should only be a little bit. Just enough to inhibit the fear factor in you guys, but not enough to affect your fighting skills.”

Winston was the first to step up, and grimaced at the slimy feeling that he experienced upon the slime making contact with him. The slime felt cold against his skin, and his clothes clung to him in a way that violated all of his senses. Not to mention the slimy texture that seemed to permeate each pore of his skin. He shuddered and hoped the battle wouldn’t be that long. The thought of a warm shower at least kept him going while he swallowed his discomfort.

Then it was Peter, Ray, and Ron.

The latter complained the entire time. “Jesus, how do you guys deal with this?” he whined as he grimaced against the mucus-y feeling that crawled up his back.

“By shutting the hell up,” Ray muttered as he leaned against ECTO-1.

Peter heard the remark and tried to suppress a snicker by biting his tongue. Unfortunately, the bite was a bit too sharp, and he soon felt a faint taste of iron in his mouth.

“Goddamn it.”

But then he realized that the feeling of pain was somewhat numbed. Perhaps due to the effect of the slime? He then shrugged. At least it would be useful during battle when they would no doubt be getting tossed back and forth like ragdolls.

“Where’s Janine, by the way?” Ray asked. “I’m surprised she didn’t come.”

“I convinced her to go back to the firehouse. I told her that she could get the place ready when we brought back Egon. Besides, the situation was hell with just four people. I didn’t want to involve a civilian and worry more than I need to.”

“Aw, you guys care so much,” Ron mocked. “Such a valued member of the team.”

Peter sensed the anger in that statement and stepped up to Ron. “Anything you wanna tell us before the beast comes?”

“Yeah, actually, I do. Why the hell didn’t you guys inform any of the Ghostbusters of this? Especially us, since we called you guys for a consultation?”

Peter groaned internally and resisted the urge to strike Ron in the jaw. “We didn’t want everyone to worry and create more confusion than needed. We were already panicking here, and we didn’t want to bring people into it.”

“But no explanation? It only creates more worry-”

“I highly doubt that you came here solely to check up on us,” Ray snapped. “You likely came because you were nosy and wanted to see what was happening. Like a child walking by the adult’s table during Thanksgiving dinner hoping to hear their conversation.”

Ron immediately shut up, and Peter and Winston laughed as they patted Ray on the back.

“We’ll talk about this,” Ron said with a deep scowl on his face.

“Got it,” Winston said absentmindedly, looking around him. “Man, when is this supposed to show up?”

A loud roar was then heard, and all six Ghostbusters turned around to see the source of the noise.