Standard Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy, or any of their related characters/concepts, nor any other properties whose characters/concepts appear in this story. This is a work of fan fiction.
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Author's Note: This is a sequel to Guardians of the Multiverse Book One. If you haven't read that this probably won't make much sense...
Guardians of the Multiverse
Book Two: "Wheels Within Wheels, Worlds Without End"
Chapter One
Earth-17. New York City. Will held tightly to her seat as the Ecto-One swerved around a corner at high-speed. "Sorry about the delay!" Kylie shouted back from the driver's seat, "But Ray reports that they've got a class seven specter on their hands. That's big enough to need the whole team!"
"No trouble." Will answered back, then under her breath mumbled "I just hope we survive your driving..."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Seemingly unperturbed by the nature of his student's driving, Egon asked "So let me see if I've got this all straight: You all came here from an alternate reality. You possess supernatural powers that you use to protect that world and others from evil. And you're here because a powerful enemy sent monsters here to cover it's escape to yet another reality."
"That about sums it up." Cornelia said.
"Not quite. What about these movies you mentioned?" Peter said.
"I guess that's how it works." Will said. "Latent psychics can see glimpses of actual events in other worlds, then make what they think is fiction based on them. So we get movies about the Ghostbusters, and probably some other earth out there gets a movie or something about us."
"Or maybe a cartoon. That'd be cool." Matt said.
Taking another hard left, Kylie said "But not me? I feel cheated."
"Not you." Cornelia confirmed, "Or these Garret, and Eduardo guys you mentioned. I think that's why we didn't recognize you guys at first."
Napoleon said "That said... I seem to vaguely recall Lillian watching some old Ghostbusters cartoon with other characters in it..."
"Like me?" Kylie asked.
"Dunno doll. I'm a cat. I slept through most of it."
"Well hang on, we're almost here!" Kylie took one more turn, then braked to a hard stop in front of a large apartment building. All of the doors and windows were busted out, and a nonstop barrage of clothing, furniture, and other items were being cast out from within.
"Seriously?" Will asked, staring at the mess. "All ghosts can think to do with their power is make messes?"
"Pretty much." Peter answered.
As they exited the car, the remaining Ghostbusters joined them. "Who's this?"
Egon gave the short explanation, only to be cut off by Ray. "Wow! Actual interdimensional travelers! This is great!"
"Ray we get visitors from other worlds all the time."
"Yeah but these ones are alive! And not trying to kill us!"
"Yo, can this wait? We've got a big job here."
"Eduardo's right." Egon said. "Let's bust this specter, then we can discuss our new friends and why they're here back at headquarters."
Egon, Peter, and Kylie went to the back of the car and began to strap on their proton packs. Matt and Will followed. "Can we help out?" Matt asked.
Egon shook his head. "I'm sure we'll need your assistance with the creatures you're here for, especially if they're not actually ghosts. I'm not sure what you could do against ectoplasmic entities though. Best you sit this one out."
"Aww..."
"Egon's right." Kylie said as she strapped a pair of ghost traps to her belt. "You didn't do so well against that first batch, remember?" She turned and ran into the haunted building.
Cornelia kicked a rock across the pavement. "Well phooey."
"No kidding." Caleb agreed...
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The Ghostbusters moved carefully through the evacuated building, weapons at the ready, alert for any sign of their quarry. "Heads up..." Egon whispered just loud enough for his teammates to hear, "I've got a reading, straight ahead."
"Um, Egon, straight ahead is a big wall with no doors." Peter snarked.
"Not a problem. Whatever it is, it's coming right for us."
Moments later, the ghost appeared, phasing through the wall. It was massive, with two heads, it's ectoplasmic form glowing a sickly yellow.
"Blast it!" Ray shouted, and eight proton beams landed out, seeking their target. The spirit's agility belied it's size, though, and it dodged through the thick of the beams, rushing Ray, who was pushed over by Winston just in time to avoid a hit.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, just mad." Ray answered. "How can something that big move so fast?"
"Well it is a ghost." Winston said, "Not having a physical body probably helps."
As Ray and Winston got back to their feet, three beams struck the spirit at the same time, holding it in place. "Got 'em!" Garret shouted. "Get the trap ready!"
But before Kylie could position the trap, something unexpected happened. The two headed ghost split down the middle, becoming two spirits, each of which moved apart, escaping the containment beams. Laughing, they vanished, one through the ceiling and the other through the floor.
"Well that's a new one." Peter mused.
"Interesting..." Egon said. "I suspect we have a case of two distinct spirits being somehow fused to each other. The weakening effect of the beams must have eroded the connection enough to allow them to split."
"But either way, we've got two ghosts now instead of just one, right?"
"Exactly. Let's split up. Winston, Garrett, Kylie with me, we'll check the basement. The rest of you head up."
Sometime later, creeping through the upper floors of the building, a thought occurred to Eduardo. "Hey! Is spliting up really such a good idea? I mean, the whole reason you guys wanted the whole team together was because of how strong this thing is."
Ray answered "I wouldn't worry. Now that it's broken in two, each half should only be half as strong."
"Don't be so sure Ray." Roland said, holding up his PKE meter. "I've just found our friend, and he's reading just as strong as he was in the first place."
"But that doesn't make any sense at all!" Ray exclaimed.
Peter carefully peered around the next corner, then looked back and whispered "If you think that doesn't make sense, have a look at this." Ray looked, and his eyes opened wide.
"But..."
"Yeah." Peter pulled out his walkie and switched it on. "Oh Egon?"
"What have you got Peter?"
"Well, remember what you said about this guy being two ghosts in one? Well, I think it's more than two. We've got our guy here, and he's got two heads again."
"Interesting." Egon mused. "Perhaps we have a melange on our hands."
"Definitions later. For now the question is, do we blast it again or not?"
"Most definitely not. The beams could split it again, maybe even more than once... Alright, everybody out. We'll regroup at the Ecto-One and come up with a plan..."
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Back at the car, Will and Caleb were still grousing over being left out. "The nerve of those guys!| Caleb said, "Like we couldn't handle ourselves just because we don't have their fancy equipment!"
"Could we?" Napoleon asked. "They were right about us not doing to well back in that clothes shop... We fight monsters, ghosts are a different ballgame."
"Yeah, but to just be left out..." Will argued.
"Heads up, here they come." Cornelia said, pointing to the doors where the Ghostbusters were emerging and heading back their way.
"That was fast." Matt said, "Guess you guys really are that good."
Kylie shook her head. "Afraid not in this case. We've got a more complicated situation on our hands." She explained about the splitting.
"That's enough exposition for now." Peter cut the girl off, "Egon, what's the plan?"
Reaching into the back of the Ecto One, Egon pulled out a large trunk, popped the lid, and produced a strange device similar to the hand-held wand of a proton pack but smaller. "The plan is this. Experimental boson dart launchers I've been tinkering with. They fire small charges of boson particles that detonate when they come into contact with ectoplasm. The charges should hold the combined spirits together long enough for us to trap them. But there's a problem..."
"Lemme guess, this is aother one of those 'X percent change of it blowing up in our faces' things isn't it?" Eduardo asked.
Egon shook his head. "No, I solved that problem weeks ago. The problem is, that the bosons won't really capture and hold the ghosts. We'll still need to carry the proton packs too, which means someone on each of our teams will have to leave thier pack behind."
"But we need four packs for ghosts this strong." Ray said.
Napoleon cleared his throat. "What about them?" He asked, indicating his teammates.
"Yeah! We could help!" Will enthusiastically agreed.
"Oh, I don't know..." Peter started to say, but Cornelia interrupted.
"Is it our age?" She asked. "Forget about that! We can handle ourselves, we've saved the world, several worlds actually, several times now."
"We can do this." Caleb agreed."
"Well, it would solve the problem of who carries the new weapons..." Egon paused, thinking for a moment, then said "Alright, come on, let me show you how these work." He produced three more of the boson dart launchers and instructed the teens on their use.
Soon, everyone was ready. The Ghostbusters again split along the same lines as before. Will and Matt went with Egon's team, Cornelia, Caleb, and Napoleon (who now had a ghost trap strapped to his back with the trigger held in his mouth) with Ray's group...
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Gripping the dart launcher in both hands, Will followed behind Egon and Kylie. The power to the building had finally gone out, and they were in near-total darkness, lit only by the flashlights Egon and Winston carried on their uniforms, and the glow from the display screen on the PKE meter Kylie was scanning with.
For some time, no one spoke. As they came to a closed door, however, Kylie whispered "Got a reading. Fifty feet ahead."
"Then lets show the new kids how we do it!" Garrett exclaimed. He started to rush forward, clearly planning to knock the door down with his wheelchair, but Winston stopped him.
"Hold on man! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."
"Right." Egon nodded. He spoke into his radio, "Ray, Peter, we've got a lock on ours. How are things on your end?"
The reply was Peter screaming "We're a little busy with him right now Egon! Call you back later!" In the background they could also hear Ray, Eduardo, and Caleb shouting and the screeches of the spirit.
"So much for me bein' the one getting ahead of himself!" Garrett grumbled. "Let's go already!" He kicked the door open and wheeled through.
Egon sighed and followed, Winston right behind. "Your friend does know he's in a wheelchair right!?" Matt asked of Garrett.
"I wonder sometimes." Kylie admitted.
From ahead, they heard the sounds of shouting. "There it is!" "Blast it!" "No, wait for the Boson Darts!"
Will and Matt exchanged a look. "We'd better get in there."
Running ahead, they found the ghost, trying to attack Garrett who was proving to be surprisingly manueverable in his chair. "C'mon! Come and get me!" He shouted.
"The darts!" Egon exclaimed. "Shoot it!"
Will nodded and took aim, firing a dart towards the marauding spirit, which dodged both her shot and another fired by Matt moments later. "Will! crossfire!" Matt exclaimed. Nodding again in understanding, Will took aim, just to the left of the Spirit's position. Matt fired first, to the right, and as the entity tried to avoid that dart it put itself directly in the path of Will's second shot.
When the boson dart struck home, it detonated just as Egon had said it would. The ghost roared in anger, but before it had a chance to move four proton beams latched onto it's spectral form. It struggled, fought, but couldn't break free. Then Winston noticed something. "Look at the spot between the heads! It's trying to split again!"
"Will, Matt, keep firing!" Egon shouted.
A steady stream of boson darts from both teens put a stop to the spirit's attempts to separate itself again, and after another minute, Egon said "Alright, I think it's weak enough! Throw the trap!"
Kylie stopped firing and tossed out a trap, which landed directly beneath it's target. She opened the trap, brilliant yellow light shing out as it sucked the weakened ghost inside. Moments later, it was over.
"Good job everyone." Egon said.
"Yeah. Especially you two." Winston agreed. "That was a rough one, you did good for your first ghost."
"Thanks, but really it was you guys' tools that did the trick." Matt said.
"Should we go check on the others?" Garrett asked. He switched on his radio, to the sounds of a continuing battle.
"Right." Egon agreed. "Let's move..."
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Peter would later claim that it was all Eduardo's fault. Eduardo, for his part, blamed Ray, and poor Ray simply took the blame on himself. The PKE meter Ray was carrying got a lock on their target's position at a range of seventy feet, apparently lurking behind a large boiler. They split up to go around from either side, Ray, Eduardo, and Caleb to the right, Peter, Roland, and Cornelia to the left. Being a cat, and thus low to the ground, Napoleon simply took the shortcut underneath.
As the two groups came around the far side, from opposite directions, Peter and Eduardo caught sight of movement and both fired. At each other. The beams barely missed, but completely missed the ghost who now knew they were there and, with an ear-splitting scream, attacked.
It swooped down towards Ray first, reaching out to grab him. Ray quickly ducked down, flipping onto his side and firing a proton beam which hit the ghost, driving it away. With shreiks from both of it's mouths, it flew straight up, vanishing through the ceiling.
"Well that was different... Even for us." Peter said.
"Talk later, for now let's go find it again!" Ray said.
Then, still screaming, the ghost returned through the ceiling and dived towards Caleb. He jumped to the side and fired a boson dart, hitting the ghost directly between the heads. Ray and Roland fired together, holding the ghost in place momentarily, but it managed to twist itself free and charged towards Peter who didn't get out of the way in time, coming away covered in slime. The ghost then circled around and floated facing everyone.
"Gah! Why is it always me!?" He exclaimed.
Egon's voice suddenly came over the radio. "Ray, Peter, we've got a lock on ours. How are things on your end?"
"We're a little busy with him right now Egon! I'll call you back later!" He switched off his radio and said "All right! I've had enough slimings for ten lifetimes! This guy is toast! Ray, Eduardo, break left! Roland, with me to the right! Kids, have those darts ready front and center! Let's do this!"
Moving into positions, the team carefully proceeded forward towards the waiting ghost.
"Three... two... one... Now!" Ray yelled. Four proton beams and darts from two boson throwers launched all at once.
The ghost tried to dodge the attack, but the number of beams was too much for it to have any hope of avoiding them all. Ray's beam connected first, then Roland and Peter, with Eduardo striking home last, accompanied by blasts from the two boson launchers Caleb and Cornelia carried. As had happened with Will and Matt, this team quickly saw that they would need to keep firing the darts; a single pair wouldn't be enough to prevent the spirit from splitting in two.
Switching off his proton beam, Ray pulled a ghost trap from his belt and tossed it to the ground underneath the ghost. "Hang on! Just a few more seconds and we can trap it!" He shouted. Then the ghost surprised everyone by roaring and throwing out a surge of PK energy that allowed it to free itself and move away from the trap.
"Look out! It's away from the trap!" Roland yelled. Everyone ducked down as the spirit flew overhead in a rage, weakened by the proton beams but still powerful.
"We've gotta get it back over the trap!" Eduardo said.
"I'm open to suggestions on how!" Cornelia snapped back at him.
Then, suddenly, from a spot nowhere near the trap Ray had thrown out but directly beneath the ghost, came the bright yellow light of an open ghost trap. Cornelia looked to see Napoleon, trap still on his back, holding the trigger button down with his front paws. The ghost screamed and fought, but couldn't break free as the trap sucked it in. As the screams fell silent, Napoleon stepped off of the trigger and the trap fell shut. "If the ghost won't come to the trap..." He said.
"Not bad little guy." Eduardo said.
Roland and Ray looked at Napoleon, then at each other. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Roland asked.
"Trained Ghosttrap dogs?" Ray answered. "It's worth thinking about."
"Hang on, why dogs instead of cats?" Napoleon wondered.
"Well, y'know, cats that aren't smart enough to talk are kind of..." Peter started to say, but cut off the pending insult as Napoleon casually extended his claws. "Cats are good too." He concluded.
It was then that the doors slammed open and the other team rushed in, weapons at the ready. "We're here! Where is it?" Garrett announced.
"In the trap, we're good here." Peter answered. "How are you?"
"We heard screaming on the radio after we caught ours!" Kylie said. "What happened?"
"It had one last trick up it's sleeves." Ray answered.
"At least we're all okay." Will said. "That's what matters right?"
Egon nodded. "That, and getting these guys squared away. Strong as they are, I'll feel a lot better when they're safely locked up in the containment unit..."