Egon and Ray rose from the table and stared through the large window of the second floor as they studied the gathering dark clouds of an ethereal storm brewing over the city. The sky darkened and a cold breeze blew through the city streets causing many citizens on the sidewalk to hunker down and protect their faces from the stinging wind while seeking shelter. Scattered newspapers and bits of garbage had been stirred up in the wind and now danced about the hastily vacated streets.

"Egon, this looks bad." Ray observed in a low, even voice as he stared with pure fascination at the sky outside. "What do we do to handle this?"

Shaking his head slightly Egon answered in a low tone himself. "We need to get a reading on the storm and we need to find a way to stop, or at the very least contain it."

Abby turned on the TV in the corner of the rec room and easily found a news report covering the manifesting storm. "Hey guys, check this out."

Erin and Patty stood beside Abby while Holtzmann craned her neck from the table. Ray and Egon turned where they stood and watched the news coverage from the window. Erin crossed her chilled arms nervously as she stared at the live footage of the storm. "Same type of thermal displacement energy during Rowan's attack."

Abby agreed with Erin. "I think that portal Rowan created has been re-opened."

"Ley Lines?" Erin inquired with a curious lilt in her voice.

"Maybe."

Egon's shoulders sagged as he began to theorize about the unexpected event. "Perhaps my untimely arrival disturbed the natural barriers between the worlds and has resulted in a destabilized gateway."

Ray gave his friend a curious glance. "When I went to the other world the gateway wasn't unstable. What makes this different?"

Egon shot Ray a highly inquisitive look. "You have memories of traveling to a second world?"

Ray blushed a little stammered over his words. "Y-Yeah... I guess I do."

"How is that-"

A bolt of bright green lightning streaked through the sky and caused the power in the firehouse to flicker, dim and resume normal illumination. The muffled cries of fear from the onlookers outside caught the attention of the Ghostbusters as they braced themselves for the incoming storm.

Holtzmann looked up at the light in the ceiling above her as it steadily regained its proper illumination. "That's not good."

"No. It's not." Ray readily tagged on. "Do you have any scanners that can take a reading on the storm? We need to check out the power that this thing is creating."

Holtzmann motioned with her thumb over her shoulder to a massive metal locker filled with her favorite 'toys'. "There's a gigameter that can get a clear reading on the electrical activity in the air. We also have a PKE meter if you want to check for paranormal disturbances."

"We better take both." Ray walked over to the locker and eyed the various meters, scanners and gauges. "Uh... which is which?"

"Here." Holtzmann met Ray by the locker. "Let Holtzmann hook you up with the good stuff."

Egon slowly walked over the television and watched the news report along with the other Ghostbusters. The report went into great detail on how the people were beginning to panic and flee, but there was little to no information about the storm itself.

Patty's eyes widened. "Aw man, look! The storm is sitting right above the Mercado! I knew that place wasn't to be trusted!"

Abby pointed to the guest being escorted out of the building. "Something's happening there, why else would they be evacuating the guests?"

"We need to get down there." Erin decided as he nervously glanced out the window by peeking over her shoulder. "We need to get a more accurate reading."

Ray, now holding the proper equipment, joined the others by the TV. "I'll go. I want to get a good look at the storm."

Nodding Egon took one of the two devices from Ray's hands. "I'll go as well."

"Okay, good." Erin nervously let of a shaking breath. "We'll go check out the hotel and you guys stay here and keep an eye on the news. Whatever is happening is our responsibility."

"Right, no problem." Abby's eyes were fixated on the TV screen. "Get a reading and come right back, I don't want the mayor bothering us again."

Erin lead the way from the second floor to the garage with Egon and Ray accompanying her. The trio acted as a single unit as the three very different people had the same goal in mind; uncover the dark and all but forgotten secrets of the Mercado.


Peter attempted to stifle a deep yawn with his hand as he stared with heavy eyes at the static portal that continuously glowed with ionized light in the basement. He had been keeping an eye on the portal for three hours now and the novelty of the situation had run its course about two and half hours prior. Flicking a deck of playing cards, one by one, into an old mop bucket in the corner of the room Peter casually glanced back and forth from the portal, to the bucket and to the large camera stationed in the corner of the basement that was aimed at said portal.

"Glad I'm getting paid for this." Peter lamented as he flipped the three of diamonds into the bucket. "This is a test of mental endurance and emotional fortitude. Good thing I went crazy years ago..."


Erin drove the hearse down the street with Egon and Ray riding passenger. The drive itself was slow as the streets were crowded with people attempting to get away from the heart of the storm flooding every possible opening. Police were keeping control of the situation and keeping the already frightened New Yorkers calm as they escorted the mass of vehicles down designated routes.

"This very bad." Ray noted from the back of the hearse as the gigameter was already picking up high electrical readings. "This storm is very, very powerful. And it's unnatural."

"Supernatural?" Erin asked as she slowly made her way down the street.

"Possibly. Is the PKE meter detecting anything?"

Egon had easily figured out the alternate design of the meter and powered it up accordingly. "Trace amounts of PKE residue. I cannot locate the original source but I have a feeling we'll find it with little difficulty."

The sky continued to darken and the air became colder with each passing minute. Erin turned on the heater in the car and watched her escaping breath disappear into a cloud before her eyes. "Temperature change present."

Egon nodded as the meter continued to record psychokinetic activity. "This is a very powerful entity. Almost as powerful as the terror dogs."

"Terror dogs?" Erin asked as she eyed the storm overhead warily.

"Two of Gozer's lieutenants." Egon answered firmly. "Very powerful monstrous creatures that had the ability to possess and control human hosts, using the hosts as vessels to house the necessary energy required to allow Gozer to cross his dimension into ours."

"Oh..." Erin gave Egon a nervous look. "I might be allergic to dogs... Is it too late to say that?"

Ray smirked a little while Egon didn't give her a response. Reaching up from the backseat Ray put a reassuring hand on Erin's shoulder. "You'll be fine. Just because we're getting similar readings to the terror dogs doesn't mean we'll actually encounter the terror dogs."

"I hope you're right." Erin sighed as she pulled the hearse along the block of the hotel and put it in park. "I don't think I can handle a dog attack today. And I don't want this experience to ruin puppies for me..."


Abby, Patty and Holtzmann were still gathered around the TV together in the rec room. The news story was almost as hypnotic as the storm swirling in the sky outside. The hotel had been evacuated, citing power failure as the cause, but the three observant Ghostbusters knew better than that.

"Can you believe this?" Patty motioned at the TV with complete irritation. "They seriously think we'll buy this whole power outage lie without battin' an eye!"

"People are stupid." Holtzmann stated firmlyas she fell back onto the couch. "And when people are afraid the become twice as stupid. They'll believe anything until they have a reason to stop."

Abby sighed and took a seat on the couch beside Holtzmann. "I just can't believe this is happening again! Did we miss something during our first investigation or is there some other sad pale man trying to take down the city?"

"Uh, honestly Abby," Patty joined her on the couch. "since we're talking about New York I wouldn't be that surprised."

Kevin had clocked in for his shift for the day and had managed to creep up the stairs and wander into the rec room unnoticed. He stared at his three bosses as they watched the TV without acknowledging his arrival.

"Hey guys?" His loud voice caused the Abby and Patty to jump in surprise, while Holtzmann didn't even flinch. "Did you see the sky this morning? It looks kinda' weird."

Patty and Abby exchanged annoyed glances with each other before looking back at Kevin over the couch. "Yes Kevin." Abby confirmed. "We noticed..."

...to be continued...