"The analysis of the city's PKE levels leave no chance to doubt."- Egon commented handing a stack of papers to his friend.
Ray sat down and placed the huge amount of data analysis on the table, in front of him. He skimmed through some pages- "Egon, are we sure it is Tolay and not some other creature?" - he paused to pay attention to a specific graphic- "Might it be a similar entity? That time he held captive we did save Tolay's readings, but it's also true that our equipment was not advanced as it is now."- he traced with his index finger the line of the graphic he was looking at.
"I'm positive the analysis is correct. What is the chance that another entity of about the same characteristics as Tolay can exist within the same space-temporal cohordinates as him?"- the physicist shook his head- "It's a chance so small not to be statistically relevant."
"You should really be more careful when picking out enemies"- Peter said as he casually entered the lab. He plopped down on the nearest chair and lifted the opening ring-pull of his canned beer.
"Peter, please be carefu..." - Egon's words were cut off by the noise of the can opening. A small spurt of foam fizzled and dripped on the psychologist's hand. He licked his own hand before the liquid could hit the floor – or stain his shoes.
"Everything's under control."- Peter grinned right before taking a long sip of the cold liquid.
A happy tune started playing. "Guys! It's showtime!"- it was Winston calling from the TV area.
Ray ditched the papers in a second, glancing at the wall clock - "Wait for me!"- he yelled jumping up from his seat and rushing to the lounge. He reappeared after a couple of seconds, only to throw his lab coat on the rack.
Peter and Egon watched in silence, amused by the scene.
"Would you shut all of your gizmos off and watch tv with us poor mortals?"
The blond sighed- "I need to keep analyzing data. If there were even one chance my analysis' not correct..."
The smaller man smelled the lie at once- "Egon, what are you trying to hide?"
Egon's face got slightly pinker. He shrugged it off and decided to tell the truth although his original plan was to reveal his true findings once he was 100% sure about them. It would have probably been a foolish thing to do. Fidgeting with his suspenders, he took a couple seconds more to think.
"Egon?"- Peter was getting worried now. He put the can on the table and held the taller man's wrists. He smelled trouble.
"I... hid the truth from Raymond." - the man was feeling a bit ashamed- "At first I thought I had incorrectly calculated the PKE values. I may have to repeat the tests two more times, but by now I am quite sure Tolay's energy levels are about fifteen times higher than when we last met him. Which would be impossible. Unless he merged with one or more other entities."
Peter's stomach twisted. Fifteen times more powerful. Seriously?
"If my estimations are correct, then I can already tell you that our equipment would be unable to contain such power."- Egon paused before resuming talking yet again- "I don't want Ray – as well as you and Winston- to start worrying before I am completely sure. It's a matter of a few more hours."
He would have liked to add also that he was planning to offer his life to the demon to save his friends as well as the city (if not the whole planet). He refrained from giving Peter this particular piece of information.
"We've seen other ones able to suck in weaker entities, but is it really possible for him to grow so fast? Was it just 4 or 3 years ago when we took Tolay's readings?" - Peter really hoped his friend's huge brain was playing tricks on him.
"That's where my doubts lay."- Their data about the Netherworld was probably still not sufficient to establish what exactly had given Tolay such powers. If his powers were such at all.
"Let's face it, you're stuck right now."- Peter put an arm around his friend's shoulders- "Take the night off and rest. Tomorrow we'll figure it out. Together."- he squeezed his shoulder lightly before drawing away his arm and walking out of the lab to join the others.
Egon turned his computer off. Picking up the beer can, he drank the little left of it and threw it into the trashbin before turning off the light and following Peter downstairs.
Days passed and the guys never could find a moment to actually stop and work on the mystery. As it always happened before major trouble coming, ghosts seemed to be poping out everywhere at all times of day and night.
"I'm through! This is the third night in a row we ain't getting any sleep!"- Peter threw himself on the couch, covering his face with a pillow.
"Hang on, Peter."- Winston sat down offering him a cup of coffee- "Our two boygeniuses are onto something. Looks like they haven't been out of the lab since when we left, they're probably very close to figuring it out."
"Yeah, and we're getting to do the dirty job while they brainstorm."- Peter took an uncareful sip and yelped- "Ouch! It's HOT!"
"By the way, be careful. Coffee's hot."- Winston chuckled, blowing on his own cup.
"Thank you very much." - the psychologist sighed.
Night went and office hours came. It was all too quiet. No wind, no clouds. A perfectly serene November sky. The firehall was immersed in silence. Too quiet.
Janine was sharing a cup of coffee with two really tired Ghostbusters.
"You guys look awful. Had any sleep at all these days?"- she sounded worried. She was. Judging from Egon's pessimistic behaviour from that last night they had spent together, days earlier, something huge was up.
Peter's answer to her question was a soft snoring. He had fallen asleep sitting up, his face propped up by his hands.
She and Winston smiled, suppressing a laughter not to wake him up, but their effort was useless: thudding footsteps came from the upper floor and down the stairs. "This is bad!"- Ray yelled, waking Peter up abruptly- "This is SO bad! We need to call the Mayor!"
"Is he possessed?"- Janine wondered, sitting up in time to see the occultist rush to the nearest phone. No one had explained her what was going on so, seeing Egon rush down the stairs as madly as Ray had just done, made her realize something had to be incredibly wrong.
The call seemed to last for hours. Winston and Peter stood at Janine's sides, in silence, as the two scientists gave instructions to whoever had picked up the call. From what the redhead could make out of the hectic telephonic conversation, Central Park needed to be vacated.
Silence fell again over the firehouse when the call ended. They all remained silent.
"Guys."- Janine didn't feel like playing silence games- "Tell me real quick what's going on."
"Tolay's coming much sooner than we expected."- Ray was so upset he was almost yelling- "And we don't have anything powerful enough to trap him!"
"We might be able to seal the interdimensional portal if we act fast enough, though."- Egon was able to go back to his usual, collected, self. He still had his secret B-plan to hang on to if nothing else worked.
"Say what?"- Winston scratched his forehead- "Don't tell me it means we're gonna cross streams again."
"I'm afraid so, Winston"- the physicist's reply was simple, and scary enough to make silence engulf them once more.
Peter finished his cup of coffee and slammed it on the table- "Let's do it! I need sleep."
"I'm coming along." - Janine crossed her arms- "You look like you could use some extra help."
"No way, Janine."
The reply had such a harsh tone she couldn't believe it was coming from her boyfriend. She frowned, decided to fight- "Why can't I come? Don't forget I've had my share of experience too."- blood rushed to her head in rage because of the unpolite response, but she tried to keep it cool- "You're in no position to turn down extra help. I'm the only help you can have."
She was making a lot of sense. They hated it, but she was right. Ray was about to say something, but he got frozen by a meaningful glance from Peter: 'let them fix this between themselves'.
Egon took off his glasses and cleaned them with the hem of his shirt- "I'm sorry, I must've sounded harsh."- he put the glasses back on the bridge of his nose- "But please, just take a moment to reflect and then answer to my question: If we were to die, who would be the only living person familiar with the safety codes of the containment unit?"
Overhearing those words, Slimer got out of his hiding place and dived straight for Ray's arms. The man could only pat him as his quiet sobbing filled the room.
"I... didn't even think about that." - Janine admitted, lowering her eyes and biting her bottom lip real close to the point of wounding it with her canine. She closed her eyes and inhaled. Gotta trust them. Gotta believe in them. Exhaling, she felt her mind clear up enough to decide to obey- "Ok then. This time I'll stay here and babysit your precious unit. Don't make a habit outta it."
She smiled and her smile made a smirk appear on Peter's face. Mood had lightened, and it was time to take action.
"Are the packs ready?" - Winston asked, knowing they couldn't lose any more time in chitchat.
"Already been charged and loaded on Ecto."- it was Ray replying, still busy trying to calm down their domestic ghost- "We got ready the destabilizer too. Just gotta go grab it. Oh and let's not forget to wear the exoskeleton suits."
"Suits?"- Peter echoed, his voice annoyed - "You know I don't like it when you two guys play fashion designers."
"Aw, Peter, I know you'll like 'em! Took us months to assemble them but never got a real chance to test."- Ray's eyes were full of excitement, the thought they were gonna try their latest toys making him bounce as if they were about ready to go picnic.- "They're made of a special reinforced ceramic as well as..."
"Gimme a break, will you?"- the psychologist groaned, definitely NOT happy to be guinea pig- "Let's just get ready and get going."
Everyone wore their 'suit' and the destabilizer was carefully transferred from the lab to their car. A few minutes later, Three Ghostbusters and a ghost were waiting next to the converted hearse, checking equipment one last time before leaving. They had decided to quietly give some room to Egon and Janine still lingering upstairs: it could have been their last goodbye, everyone was well aware of it. Parting wouldn't have taken long, it wasn't their style. Especially during a major emergency.
The couple walked down the stairs together, her arm around his waist and his arm around her shoulders. The weight of what was about to come pressed heavy on the observers' guts as they observed them descending down the staircase, a tad too slowly to be their normal pace.
As they were commanded by the Major, police and army's joined forces were closing Central Park off fairly quickly.
The green scenery of the park had just started to be tainted by a blue mist, spreading from the area where the portal was about to be ripped open. Colour started to dense mid-air, forming a deep blue stain hovering at about 7 feet from the ground.
Ecto1's brakes skreeched when Winston abruptly stopped 80 or 90 feet away from the portal. In a second they were out of the converted hearse and walking towards the quivering stain.
"This thing is heavy and makes me wanna scratch myself."- Peter moaned, scratching his shoulder from under his 'suit'.
"Sorry, we realized too late we should have bought tights or something"- Ray chuckled, imagining themselves wearing tights.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer the itch"- Peter replied, extracting his rifle.
"These exoskeleton suits will prevent us from suffering critical physical damage if involved in falls or if hit."- Egon commented – he was pretty proud of their invention- making Peter groan once more.
They walked in silence until they found themselves standing maybe 20 feet away from the opening portal.
Egon lifted his eyes from his beeping meter- "Gentlemen, power up. He's here."
They lined up, never taking off their eyes from the blue portal turning of a vivid red. A horned head came out first, then long dangerous arms and last his lower body. His eye locked on the four men right in front of him, but he didn't attack. He let go to a ghastly laughter, then he spoke:
"This is the day I avenge my brother's dishonourable capture. And get rid of you." - his unmoving mouth was frozen in a demonic grin as he pointed at the blond Ghostbuster- "Lay down your weapon and come to me. I might even gift you with a quick death if you follow my orders."
"No way."- Peter was the first to talk- "It's you who is gonna have the chance to quietly go back to where you belong... before we decide to kick your ass."
"How delightful... so much energy!"- The demon laughed again his laughter, not moving from where he stood, shielding the portal with his body.
"What now?"- Winston whispered- "People is still being evacuated from the Park."
"We need to buy time"- Ray uttered his reply, glancing around to make sure at least no one was in that particular area.
Tolay's patiently waited for their exchange to be over before speaking again- "All I want is to take my revenge."
He sounded different. He sounded... wiser. Older. Do demons even age? Winston cut that line of thinking before starting to sound ridicolous to himself. He didn't need any stupid thoughts sidetracking him from his mission.
"Do you not believe me?"- Tolay grew in size, towering over them, blocking sunlight from shining on them- "Foolish humans are nothing to me. I do not have interest into slaying your kind. Although it would derive me an incredible pleasure."
The four men didn't reply, just glared at him from where they stood. They still had a chance. Clear the portal, destabilize it.
"I see your little ants are willing to sacrifice your precious little lives to protect my prey."- the demon went back to his original size- "I will not repeat myself again: hand over that man for me to take his life. I will spare your world and your lives and never come back again."
"Wouldn't it be more convenient for you to demand your brother's freedom?"- Peter yelled, his voice fighting against a strong wind, blowing from the point where the demon stood.
"You have no right to ask me questions!"- Tolay's voice roared. A ball of energy appeared above his head, charging up with the power of that supernatural wind- "You fed me up. I shall play with your lives."
He was incredibly fast. So fast they could barely see the pure energy hit the ground and split it open, separating the physicist from his companions.
Shockwave was so strong Egon needed some seconds to stand up again, the voices of his friends reached his ears, still too stunned to manage to process what their words meant.
Struggling not to give up to a wave of vertigo making him sick, he saw them being imprisoned by an energetic field in the form of a barred cage. Tolay sure loved medieval looking stuff. - "Free them immediately"
"What if I do not?"- was the defiant reply of the entity.
"I'm going to blast you"- Egon simply stated, slowly reaching for the 'overload' button on his pack.
"What the hell is he thinking?"- Peter realized what his friend was planning to do. He grabbed the metal-looking bars and yelled at the top of his lunghs- "Run! Run away!"
"I'm sorry Peter, but I'm not running away this time!"- Egon yelled back, never taking his eyes off the creature.
Tolay took a step towards him and a proton stream flashed, hitting his arm.
"Peter.."- Ray put a hand on the psychologist's rifle, shaking his head. One stream was barely strong enough for the demon to feel it. Then Ray nodded in Egon's direction, Peter followed his stare: their friend's hand was sliding on his abdomen to slowly unfasten the proton pack's safety belt.
The demon was in no hurry. He turned to face his prisoners- "You'll be my next game. Until then, do not interfere."- to Tolay's will the cage turned in a solid rectangle, preventing them from making any attempt to help their colleague.
Egon glanced sideways to look at them. He could see them moving their mouths, probably yelling something to him, but he couldn't hear them anymore. Any sound was being blocked by the barrier.
He shot them an apologetic look, taking the pack off his shoulders.
"I give up. Please don't hurt my friends." - he faked a pleading voice- "See, I took off my weapon. I accept your offer."
Tolay's unmoving mouth stretched to form a satisfied grin, another glob of energy forming over his head -"I shall keep my promise then."
Egon took a step towards him, then another. Slowly counting the seconds missing to the complete overload of the proton pack as he held it by its straps. He might have died, but he was the only one still having a chance at closing the portal. He would have complied at all costs.
On the count of 'nineteen', the man hastily sprinted to the side, managing to throw the pack very close to the portal. An astonished Tolay glanced back and forth from the portal to the man for a long second before light invested everything, uprooting trees and cracking up the ground.
The field caging the other three Ghostbusters slowly started to fade, but still protected them from the explosion: they could do nothing but cry the name of their friend, knowing they couldn't be heard.
Dust settling, they could make out Egon's crouching form – had the exoskeleton protected him from the deflagration?
The portal closing and already sucking the demon in didn't prevent him to wail in pain and rage.- "You...!"- he growled, his gigantic hand releasing a bolt of energy as he was mercilessly dragged back to the place he belonged by powers greater than his.
Seeing the column of red light being shot right at him, the only thing Egon could do was uselessly curl up and shield his head with both his arms.
"This is the only thing left for me to do"- Egon thought as he threw his overloaded pack as far as his muscles would let him to. He just needed the pack to land close enough to the portal... the portal would have absorbed the pack's full power and be destabilized enough to close up... maybe it would have broken up the energetic field, letting the guys out.
Thoughts crowding his mind, he used up those few instants separating him from the explosion to jump away as far as he could.
The explosion caught Tolay unprepared, but he managed to take hold of the man with one hand, lifting his body as if it was a weightless ragdoll and throwing him away in rage.
Harsh ground wounded the physicist's hands and face as he rolled over and over for countless seconds. He mentally thanked the suit he was wearing under his now torn jumpsuit.
The moment he lifted himself up to crouch, he saw the column of red light being shot towards him: instinct took over reason and adrenaline made him lift his arms over his head. Then something happened.
A silhouette interposed itself between him and the lethal stream for an endless fraction of a second.
Egon could recognize the shape of a young woman facing the portal; a shield of white energy shone and nullified the powerful attack that would have burned him to ashes.
Time slowing down, she looked back at him with pure blue eyes, her long dark hair flowing in the shockwave produced by the explosion.
He blinked and she was gone. Tolay was gone. The portal was gone. Barely able to keep sitting up, the man couldn't stop staring at the spot where the girl had appeared and disappeared.
He was distracted by the noise of running footsteps and by the voices of his friends calling his name. The sting of his many little wounds and cuts made him realize he was still alive. He remembered to blink a few times.
Adrenaline rush over, warm tears escaped his burning eyes, surprising him – just not enough to force himself to lift his hands to dry them.
"EGON!"- Peter cried out throwing himself to the ground to hold his friend. He was alive. He didn't know why or how, but there he was, in his arms. Shaken, wounded, but alive.
The blond closed his eyes to reopen them when someone rubbed his aching face. It was Ray, trying to clean his cheecks with a handkerchief- "How are you? Where does it hurt?"- Ray's voice poured into Egon's ears and he could barely understand those words but he knew now he was safe. The anti-gravity muscles in his torso decided to stop working and he gave up, collapsing onwards into Peter's arms.
"I've called 911"- Winston said, kneeling behind the shocked man and covering his shoulders with a blanket he retrieved from their car. His words made Ray and Peter relax infinitesimally. Even if Egon did have some bad injuries under that hard exoskeleton he was wearing, they would be taken care of real fast.
Adjusting the blanket around him, Peter shifted him to lay more comfortably in his arms. His eyes were still closed, but he was breathing and a vein was pulsating strongly under the skin of his pale neck.- "Egon? Open your eyes. Look at me, ok?"
The three of them expectantly waited for him to move, give any sign he was ok enough to reassure them. Sirens approaching in the background, Egon's eyes opened to see the sky - "'m okay"- he uttered- "...'m okay.."