Chapter One: Out With The Old

Dimension A

"My name is Doctor Peter Venkman. My associates – Doctor Ray Stantz, Doctor Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore – and I have come to protect this dimension from a threat that we've tracked directly to this city. And you can bet your ass that we won't be leavin' this town until that threat is dealt with. From this moment on, we are your Ghostbusters!"

Peter Venkman replayed the footage from the interview with Ciciley Michelle for what felt like the zillionth time to Christina Melnitz. It was his Ghostbuster team's grand introduction into New York City, arriving from "parts unknown" (as Peter described it at the end of the interview), and he was so pleased to have executed it brilliantly that he was practically misusing the power of TiVo – a modern invention that he seemed to have just found out about. Even the perfect clarity on the flat screen television set added to his boastful attitude.

"Now that is how you make an entrance!" Peter exclaimed, pointing to the image of him on the screen. "In-your-face and in…in…" He turned to Phineas, who stood with him at the firehouse's entertainment center with his fellow Senior Ghostbusters (formerly Junior Ghostbusters), and he asked, "What did you call this again?"

"High Definition TV?" Phineas answered.

"Right! High Definition TV!" Peter continued to admire the fancy television set. "Y'know, Egon, you almost came up with one of these back in Columbia. Said that it'd make us a fortunate."

Egon Spengler had been standing in the office that belonged to the "Other Venkman" with Ray Stantz, looking over the blueprints of Phineas and Ferb's Ecto-Relayer. "The idea's not dead, Venkman. Not in our dimension."

"O.K., hold up for a sec!" Alex Russo demanded in frustration. "I'm still not getting the fact that you guys are Ghostbusters from another world. How is that even possible?"

Christina was thankful of Alex for asking that question, since she was curious about it herself but could not bring herself to address any of these "new" Ghostbusters, especially Egon. She looked on as Phineas turned to Alex and explained: "The Ecto-Relayer must've brought them here from the way it's tearing apart the fabrics of space and time."

"Phineas is right." Ray confirmed. "This Ecto-Relayer they've designed is much similar to our earliest designs for the Ghost Trap. It worked just like the Traps we made later in our ghost-busting career with one major glitch."

"What kind of glitch?" CeCe asked.

"Well…" Ray pointed out the nearest window. "You're seeing it right now."

Rocky approached Egon and Ray and joined with them in looking over the blueprints, even though she had no idea what any of the schematics meant. "But it wasn't Phineas and Ferb's invention that caused all of this." She then turned to Christina and asked, "Isn't that what you said, Miss Melnitz?"

Christina was caught off guard as all eyes focused on her. "I-It's not. I mean…I've seen this all happen before…but it has to be…Maleficent."

"But I thought we destroyed Maleficent." Alex said. "Can she be back?"

Christina shrugged. "I don't know." She then glared towards Egon as she added, "If the real Doctor Spengler were here, he'd know."

Egon noticed her glare and felt a little awkward. Doing his best to get past it, he cleared his throat and stated, "The only possible way of shutting down the Relayer would be to open it like the usual Ghost Traps."

"But wouldn't that suck all of reality into it, along with itself?" Ray inquired – it was a possibility that greatly worried the others.

"Not unless we use a concentrated blast from our proton streams to counteract the force field once it's unleashed from the Trap." Egon deduced.

Listening to the plan, Venkman wondered aloud: "You're not talking of crossing the streams again, are you, Egon?"

Egon shook his head. "No, of course not. Merely using a similar approach in closing the dimensional portal."

Clearly, Egon's words were not reassuring enough for Peter. "So our lives could be in considerable danger once again. Terrific."

"Our lives won't be in any danger, Venkman," clarified Ray, "but we are talking of chances that we'll never make it back to our dimension once the portal is closed. We could very well be stuck in this world for a very long time."

The Ghostbusters stood in silence as they pondered over the idea of living a new life in a different version of the lives they left behind in their own New York City. Obviously, it was a hard decision; but they arrived there in that dimension with the purpose of saving it while the "Other Ghostbusters" were currently M.I.A. Finally, Peter broke the silence by slapping his hands and saying with a nod, "Let's do it! I love this world already! Movies in 3D, that Megan Fox chick, and high gas prices!"

This sudden decision from the "new" Ghostbusters did everything but please Christina, who did not want them to replace the Ghostbusters that everyone in this world already knew, despite the bad reputation they developed recently. She admitted that with her friends' absence that these "new" Ghostbusters were the only team everyone could depend on; but it still did not make their presence there feel right, especially now with the chances of them being there presumably forever.

"Phineas, your blueprints say that the Relayer comes with a controller?" Ray indicated.

"Yep." Phineas affirmed. "It's upstairs. I'll grab it real quick to bring it with us."

Before Phineas could head upstairs, Ray quickly told him, "Whoa, whoa! I don't think it's best for you kids to come." He saw the disappointment on Phineas and the other faces of the newly christened Senior Ghostbusters – with the exception of Candace, who seemed highly relieved. "Look, you kids have been a huge help, and you'll be an even greater help once this is all over. We'll need you to stay here where it's safe. Ok?"

Phineas sighed and nodded. "Ok, Doctor Stantz."

Ray smiled. "Thanks, kiddo. I'll go and grab the controller."

While Ray headed upstairs right away, Winston Zeddemore (who had been examining the lockers of the "Other Ghostbusters") emerged with a framed photo he uncovered of Kimberly Venkman. "Hey, Peter. Did ya get a good look at your counterpart?"

Peter took the framed photograph out of Winston's hands and looked at the face of the young redhead, his own face reflecting off of it. His eyebrows rose with admiration as he said, "I always figured I'd have a female counterpart, but not a redhead."

"No kidding." Winston mockingly remarked. "Well, I didn't figure there being a female counterpart of myself at all – and a white one at that." He gestured to the opened locker of Diana Zeddemore that had a photo of her taped to the inside of the door. "I don't have to imagine how easy it is for her to get a cab."

Ray found the Ecto-Relayer controller on the pool table in the second-floor laboratory; he was amused over how similar the lab of the "Other Ghostbusters" looked to theirs – even the pool table was in the same place (there was a pool table period – how cool was that?). With the controller in hand, Ray was ready to leave; but just as he turned…

"It's not gonna work."

He quickly turned as soon as he heard the young woman's voice, seeing her standing at the other end of the pool table. She was a beautiful girl with lips as red as a rose and black hair, donned in the standard Ghostbuster uniform. At first Ray thought she was another cadet like Phineas, Ferb, or any of the other kids downstairs; but then he saw something very peculiar: her nametag had the name "Stantz" stitched on it. From the quick education they got on their counterparts upon entering their firehouse headquarters, Ray understood that his was a young man named J.G. Stantz; and unless J.G. had a sister he did not know about either, this girl was a mystery.

"Where did you come from?" Ray asked, not remembering ever seeing her in the room when he entered.

"I don't have much time to explain, Dr. Stantz." The girl hurriedly said. "You'll just have to trust me on what I'm about to say." She commenced in removing the Proton Pack that was strapped to her back and placing it on the pool table. It looked like all of the usual packs that both Ghostbuster teams used in their respective worlds. "Where I'm from, this Proton Pack is designed for stitching those tears in the dimensional fabric. You can only use it for 'special occasions' like this. It's not for fighting ghosts of this dimension."

Hearing how she talked of parallel worlds, Ray grew suspicious. "Who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious, Ray?" She tapped at her nametag with her right index finger for clarification.

"Who are you really?"

The young woman grinned. "So dedicated in figuring out the unexplainable. If you have to really know, my name is Maryl-Lyn Stantz – no relation to J.G. Stantz or even you. And you'll be seeing a lot more of me in the future, Ray." She winked at him; and, as if the wink was tied directly to it, she disappeared in a quick flash.

The supernatural departure of the mysterious young woman made Ray jump in surprise. He wondered if the person he'd just spoken with was a spirit of some kind. But what kind of spirit dressed like a Ghostbuster and even left Proton Pack – that was evidently real from the way it felt under his touch – specifically for him. If only he had a P.K.E. meter on him at the time, he would have scanned the strange woman to see if she was in fact a ghost. With very little time to waste, he could only use his good judgment to find out how "helpful" she was.