Ghostbusters International: Chronicles of Gozer

GBI Case File GBI-2004-22/001

Story by Fritz Baugh, Vincent Belmont, Ben King, Jeremy Hicks, TheRazorsEdge,

and Brian Reilly

Original Edit by Vincent Belmont; recut by Fritz Baugh


There was loud Eighties music playing...his whole party was listening to "Disco Inferno." All of his guests were picking at his makeshift snack table. No one was really even eating the smoked salmon. Why? It was REAL Nova Scotia smoked salmon. It cost him only $14.12 after tax...$10.00 less than the name brand!

The door bell rang, and he stopped dancing with the bubbly blonde in front of him. He opened the door to a rather gangly looking man and his squat wife. "Ted! Annette! Hi! Glad you could come! How you doing? Give me your coats. Everybody, this is Ted and Annette Fleming. Ted has a small carpet-cleaning business in receivership, and that's drawing a salary from a deferred bonus from two years ago. They've got fifteen thousand left on the house at 8%; so they're okay!"

He opened the door to the closet and tossed the Flemmings' coats onto his bed..."So, does anybody want to play Parcheesi?"

Something growled very, very loudly. And very, very angrily. It sounded like a lion, but that was a bit ridiculous...c'mon; lions in an apartment complex?

"Okay! Who brought the dog?" he asked.

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom exploded, showering wood and plaster board all over the assembled guests. Something large, evil looking, and horrible flew through the air and landed on the buffet table, crushing it beneath its enormous bulk. It looked like the horrific offspring of a gargoyle and a Doberman Pinscher, It was a hairless horror; horned, and walking on four legs.

He screamed and ran, opening the apartment door and closing it behind him. He wanted as much distance from this monstrosity as possible. He ran down the corridor, quickening his pace as he heard, and saw the door to his apartment explode. The monster hit the hallway wall, stunned momentarily, quickly shaking off its stupor.

He quickly pressed the button repeatedly to call the elevator to the 22nd floor. "Faster," he silently pleaded, "faster!" Mrs. Blum, the elderly lady next door, opened her door with an oft repeated scold on her lips and looked out after hearing the noise. She turned and froze. As she saw the monster she shrieked; the elevator doors opened and the terrified fugitive darted in; Mrs. Blum darted back into her apartment, slamming the door.

"OhGodit'safterme..."

He burst out of the entrance to 550 Central Park West, scaring a female tenant and the doorman.

"Help! There's a bear loose in my apartment! Help, help! Help!" He yelled, running across Central Park West and causing several cars to brake hard. He then tumbled over the wall bordering with the park.

"A bear in his apartment?" The doorman asked in surprise. Suddenly the monster charged through the foyer of the building, knocking over the door man and causing a couple to jump out of the way. As it ran across the street it caused a blue station wagon and a checker cab to break hard and swerve out of the way.

He ran through the darkened park until he saw the lights of "Tavern on the Green."

"I'm going to bring this up at the next tenant's meeting," he nervously muttered to himself, "There's not supposed to be any pets in the building." He ran up to one of the large windows, and began to bang on it. He then ran around to a glass door, but found it locked.

"There's gotta be in a way in." He crashed into some metal lawn furniture, then quickly got up and banged on the window, causing all of the people in the restaurant to look at him with some mild distaste.

"Somebody let me in!" He banged wildly.

He then sensed something behind him. He turned around slowly as a single bead of sweat curled off his brow and trickled to the end of his nose. Turned. There it was...prowling up on him, like a tiger, ready to pounce on its kill.

"Nice doggie. Cute little pooch. Maybe I got a Milk-Bone..."

He checked his pockets. Nothing. The monster let loose with a terrible guttural roar, a sound that chilled him to the very marrow of his bones. He screamed as he slid down the glass...


June 6, 2004
Two Days Until the End of the World
New York, New York; 1:14 AM


Twenty-one years later, Louis Bartholomew Tully, CPA, and Chief Financial Officer of Ghostbusters International, awoke screaming at the memory. "Just...just a dream..." he said faintly, his senses coming back to him. He looked around, gazing into the darkness of his room, and feeling his soaking silk bedsheets. He got up and turned the light on to his bathroom. He splashed some cold water on his face...and jumped about a foot into the air as the telephone broke the silence.

He checked the caller ID: 555-1013 Venkman, Dr. Peter...the number to Peter's apartment in the city. "I thought he was still in Los Angeles..." Louis thought, his first idea being that Venkman was bugging him with GBI business in the middle of the night, and not for the first time, either. "Unless..." he thought, and couldn't stop his heart jumping at the thought...

"Hello, Louis Tully, how may I help you?"

"Louis? I'm sorry to be calling so late, but...

It's her... Louis thought excitedly. Dana...

"Oh, no problem, Dana...I...um...wasn't sleeping too well anyway..."

There was a pause at the other end.

"You either? Louis...I don't know.I hope you don't think I'm crazy...but it's been years since this happened. And with Peter in LA I didn't know who else to talk too except you, because..."

"I'm here for you Dana. I always will be you know that."

"I had...I dreamed about Zuul tonight."

Louis dropped the phone. He scrambled to pick it up hurredly. "I'm sorry Dana, it's just...I had a dream about being chased by the Terror Dogs too..."

"Oh God..." she breathed. "Maybe it's nothing, but maybe it means something..."

"I don't know...maybe we should talk to Ray and Winston tomorrow..." Louis advised. "I'd say Doctor Spengler would be a better person to talk to but he's in England right now so Ray or Winston or even Doctor Jackson would be our best bet on that..."

"Yeah. I think...I think that would be a good idea. It may be nothing, but...well, what if it isn't?" Dana breathed hard, as if she were on the brink of tears. "I'm sorry to bother you...but in a lot of ways this is something Peter and the rest will never understand the way you do-because it happened to us, not them."

"I know..."

"I gotta go now, Louis...I need to call Peter in England...I just need to hear his voice right now." And with that, she hung up abruptly.

Peter...it's always Peter... he thought to himself ruefully as he sat back down on his bed. He sat in silent rage fueled by his feelings of jealousy. He had loved Dana Barrett from the moment they'd met. She was graceful, and refined, and intelligent...and of course, so achingly beautiful; But she was not to be his. The man who hunted ghosts...he swept her off her feet. And no one, not the Czechoslovakian models Louis dated in his "fifteen minutes of fame," could take the edge off of that. Then, Peter Venkman made his error. Dana left him. And now, she could fall into the arms...

...of violinist Andre Wallance.

Louis remembered their wedding with agony...the bittersweet mix of joy for her and sadness for himself when Dana announced her pregnancy...and he genuinely felt sorrow for her when Andre left her shortly afterward. How could a man do that to such a sweet child like Oscar? And he shook his head thinking about Oscar...the "baby" who was now sixteen years old, practically a man. He's a good kid, Louis had to admit, Even though his music gives me a headache..."

There was another woman who'd been part of his world...but hindsight made it more and more obvious there was no real love there; Certainly not from her. And deep down, he knew he never loved Janine Melnitz, either-there was just the unspoken bond of a common experience: pining away for the higher creatures they could never have.

Except Janine won in the end... he reminded himself. She got what she wanted...the happy ending...the marriage to Doctor Spengler...the two kids. And they're absolutely adorable...even if they hate my guts with a passion; And what do I have? Faded memories of a moment of glory...a six-figure stock portfolio. And a life that screams at me in it's savage emptiness.


Time - Unknown. Place -Unknown


Sarah found herself once again in the large, deserted wasteland with a violet-hued sky that had been invading her dreams for the previous week. All around her lay the ruins of some immense and colossal war...but there was something different...something wrong.

She walked around aimlessly, staring at the piles of rubble and eventually caught herself again with a sharp breath of air...leaning to one side in the distance, as if it were a parody of the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, was the scarred, pitted and mangled form of the clock tower more passionately known as "Big Ben," It's white frosted glass clock faces were cracked, and missing panes.

All around her stood the collapsing and degraded ruins of London. The dry Thames in front of her carried the ruins of Westminster Bridge, dust was carried up and sent blowing down from the tangled wreckage of the Millennium Wheel towards her...her home...England. It had been reduced to a smoking waste, and she was the last person alive...

Or so she thought...

She turned around, and there he was the man, Jeremy...he stared at her with a look which made her feel uncomfortable; VERY uncomfortable.

"Now it is the time to join the Gate Keeper and the Key Master." He replied in a voice which sounded much crueller then the one he had spoken with at the dojo.

"No...get away from me!" She hissed and ran.


8:51AM (England)


"No!" She sat upright with a start and then looked around. She could make out the furniture in the morning light. She was back at the HQ building of the Ghostbusters UK. She shook her head, realizing that it was simply a nightmare and climbed out of bed. She grabbed a set of clothes from her bag and made her way to the women's' showers on the same floor.

Once she was showered and dressed, she made her way down to the kitchen where she found several of both the British and American Ghostbusters debating different topics over breakfast.

"It HAS to be that, Fritz, otherwise we'd be dealing with a whole mess of new problems!" she heard from the voice of Dr. Vincent Belmont, who was in a very intense discussion with Dr. Fritz Baugh. She glanced over in that direction, and saw Vincent standing up, waving around a teacup menacingly, while Fritz flopped his left arm down on his paperwork in frustration, pointing at a spot on a map of England.

"Oh, Vincent" Jill had replied, "there's no need to get all upset over..."

Sarah managed to snag a bowl, spoon and a bottle of milk between the people moving about in the room...she was then able to snag a box of decidedly healthy breakfast food and made her way over to the breakfast/lunch/dinner/conference table and sat down next to the man she'd met the previous evening known as Dr. Jeff Nash.

"Morning." He greeted as he studied a copy of the Daily Telegraphbetween bites of breakfast.

"Morning." She greeted in return. She couldn't tell if he'd been up all night, or if he naturally had a pale complexion. Whatever the case he looked like he had had little sleep the previous night. Across the table from her, Iain Bennett, Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman debated what they'd need in order to start searching for the missing Ghostbuster. For several minutes this conversation continued until Egon broke subject in order to inform her of something.

"We would like to perform some more tests on you, Ms. Jones if you wouldn't mind." He asked.

"No." She replied before eating a bite of weetabix. "Just let me know when you need me." She asked.

"We will." Egon replied, he then returned to the discussion he had been taking part in with the Ghostbuster either side of him.


9:19AM (England)


"Alright, listen up," Vincent began as he took a moment to clear his throat. "We will be sending out a team of six Ghostbusters...three from the West Coast Ghostbusters...two from Ghostbusters UK and you...Dr. Venkman...are to lead them." Vincent turned to face Eric Rose who stood opposite him across the 'war room' table. The 'war room' being the nickname which the team had given to the RAF operations room set up near the reception room, which sported a large under-lit table which maps could be placed on for planning tactics. Vincent extracted a chart which showed several circles, the closer to the centre of London the smaller the circle became until a spot was set above the very centre of the city. "Eric, will you be able to take one of the smaller teams around London?"

"I should be able to...but I'll grab the A-Z from the garage anyway."

"Understood...Mr. Griffiths." Robert looked at Vincent. "How good is your knowledge of London?"

"I can get by." The blond haired man replied.

"Okay...with Dr. Venkman and Dr. Baugh's blessings, and with Dr. Williams' permission I will be assigning you to help lead him around this point of London." Vincent indicated one third of the centre of the city. "Peter...you will be accompanied by Iain and you will patrol this area." He indicated a second third. "And finally...Adam and Eric...you will patrol this third area...here." He indicated the final third. "You are to make your way to the central point, and if you don't receive any readings to indicate where Mr. Hicks may be, then you are to radio back to HQ and then return in the Ecto-GS...are we all clear on this?" There was a chorus of 'yes's and 'yeah's and then the search teams left the room in the direction of the garage.

"Iain," Peter asked as he walked with Iain out of the war room, "is it just me, or is Spooky a little edgy?"

Iain only shrugged.


9:35AM (England)


"...if nothing comes up in London they'll move on to Wycombe...Hazlemere and Slough. Then tomorrow it's...Reading...Amersham..." Ben King Sr replied as he read off the checklist. "However...we're gonna try Penkridge again tomorrow as well and hopefully hit some of the large towns down south tomorrow...but we only have three days to cover the whole frigging island." He added.

"We can hope the 'scanner' picks up his signature...we've programmed in both the PKE data Egon collected from 1983 and the biorhythm data...but either the two signatures have merged, or he's good at hiding his signature."

"It all depends what new power he has, now that he seems to be in the body of a Gozer cult descendent...plus my equipment wasn't as sophisticated in 1983-the readings may be erroneous. We can only hope that the team in London finds him and that he hasn't caused any injury." Egon agreed.

"Well...based on E.C.T.O. Canada's report, he seems to be fond of property damage but not causing injury to people." Tommy added as he studied some topographical charts displaying the country's lay lines.

"Any chance it might be Jeremy inside that thing, still fighting it?" Robert asked.

"Possible." Egon replied. "But that would become less of a factor as time goes by..."

"Whatever happens though..." Ben finished. "We have two days to try and prevent Jeremy from opening the portal..."


10:53PM (England)
London


"Search teams report...have you got anything? Over." Iain asked into his hand-held radio.

"Search team Alpha...nothing to report." Robert's voice replied.

"Search team Delta...no sighting." Eric reported.

"Keep on your toes guys...radio in if you see anything even remotely paranormal.

"Bloody duh..." Robert replied.

"Copy that, Beta." Eric responded, and the radio fell silent once more. With the communication over for the moment Iain, resumed talking with Peter.

"Anyway...you were saying?" Iain asked as they walked down the street. Each of them wore their respective jumpsuits and a black leather jacket with the No-Ghost logo on the right arm. Both were wearing fully charged Proton Packs.

"Yeah...well...I've been talking to Spengs about how well GBUK has been doing since you guys opened shop three years ago...and I'm gonna try for that franchise in Paris again." Peter explained as they walked down past the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square close to the centre of London, attracting some odd stares as they went. Iain studied his PKE Meter while Venkman's, which was programmed to Jeremy's biorhythm, was clipped to his field belt.

"Yeah? I thought the Paris idea would've worked after you saved the Eiffel Tower from blowing up." Iain asked.

"Sometimes things don't work out as well as you plan, the French are just...you know, so "FRENCH." Whatever happened before...I'm gonna get some plans scheduled with the French President...see if we can eventually get a Paris franchise off the ground." Peter explained.

"You do realise what they called the movie over there?" Iain asked with a raised eyebrow.

"SOS Fantames...or some crap like that...we can work the name if the talks go well." Peter replied flippantly.

"It wouldn't hurt to have someone watch over the 'tower...just in case." Iain agreed.

Suddenly his meter began to beep wildly.

"Jeremy?" Peter asked, he then studied his meter but it gave him a set of readings he couldn't definitely match with the biorhythm.

"Maybe...even if it isn't him...it's something with a hell of a lot of PKE." Iain replied as he unclipped the radio from his belt. "Search Teams Alpha and Delta...this is Beta...we're registering a large build up of PKE on our Meter."

"Roger...we've got it too." Robert replied.

"We're heading to the source...meet you in about five minutes, over." Eric reported.

"Roger that guys...see you in five." Iain replied as he clipped the radio back onto his belt and both he and Peter took off in the direction of the PKE energy source.

"You'd think they'd make these streets a little bit wider." Peter asked as they both ran through a series of crowded side streets through the centre of London. In the distance, the clock tower famously known as 'Big Ben' rose above the rooftops.

"You should see some of the passages we had to cover in the East End of town." Iain shouted back as the PKE Meter told them to take a left where they nearly crashed into Eric and Adam.

"Woah!" Adam replied as they ground to a halt. "Where to?" He asked.

"That way." Eric directed and they charged off towards the centre of the city where they found Robert and Joey standing on a street corner consulting their PKE Meter.

"Guys...what are you standing there for?" Adam asked.

"We're trying to find the source of the signal...we should be right on top of it." Joey indicated the PKE Meter. Iain checked his own.

"Mine matches yours." He agreed.

"Guys...maybe you should look up." Peter replied, they turned to look at him and he was gazing at the rooftops above them. They followed his gaze and saw what had made him go a bit pale in the face.

"You've got to be shitting me." Iain swore.

Perched on the rooftop was Jeremy Hicks...his eyes seemed to be glowing bright red behind his glasses and he looked monumentally pissed off. His hair flowed wildly, and snakelike, making him seem much like one of the snake-haired Gorgons of Greek myth. His form seemed to have grown as he arched his back, pointing an accusing finger at the Ghostbusters.

"I cam smell her all over you...heathen...but you shall not have Zuul...she is for one being alone... me!" Jeremy then jumped off of the roof as the six Ghostbusters extracted their Proton Guns.

"Fire at will guys!" Peter shouted and they released the streams of proton energy from their Proton Packs on the possessed form of Jeremy, who quickly vanished through a portal, causing the beams to smash into the building.

"CEASE FIRE!" Iain shouted, and the attack was halted.

"No fair...just being able to portal in and out like that," Eric complained.

"Maybe it's a good thing...do we know we can hit him with the beams and not hurt him?" Robert asked.

"Well...no." Peter replied innocently.

"Okay..." Eric replied.

"What do we do then?" Adam asked as smoking debris tumbled to the street.

"Peter...what's the frequency for knocking a human out?" Joey asked.

"Erm...I can't remember...why?" Peter asked.

"We could try sap his power so he can't teleport out when we're gonna hit him...then, once he's drained, we can then tie him up...or something." Joey explained.

"Sounds like a plan." Peter agreed. "...didn't Egon program in that frequency to these things anyway?" Peter asked.

"Oh yeah." Joey shrugged with a lopsided grin. "That is, if all of our Proton Packs are designed after those models. Okay...everyone...set your beams to the second setting...that should knock him out."

There was a loud "whooshing" sound and Jeremy stepped out of a portal behind them.

"Fire!" Robert yelled, and they all turned and fired. For several moments that seemed to drag on for minutes, they held Jeremy within the confinement of the beams but he managed to summon up enough energy to teleport out again. He disappeared in a flash. The Ghostbusters shut off their beams and looked around.

"This guy's a sneaky bastard." Iain swore.

"He's a lot more clear-minded then when he was in Louis' body...he was downright spaced out in '83." Peter agreed.

"Guys...I'm still picking up a large concentration of PKE...I think he's..." Eric was cut off as a portal opened behind him, Jeremy snatched the gun from his hand and aimed it at Peter. Jeremy shot a proton stream at Peter and then at Iain, knocking them both to the ground.

"Fucker." Robert swore and fired, managing to catch Eric in the beam after Jeremy pushed him in harm's way.

"Oh shit...sorry Eric." Robert quickly disengaged his beam. A moment later, a loud "whoosh" could be heard behind him, and he was picked up and then sent flying onto the roof of a nearby car. Jeremy turned and glared at Joey and Adam, the sole standing Ghostbusters.

"Do not try to stop my master, Ghostbusters." Jeremy spoke. "You will not be so fortunate this time." He then looked up in a direction behind him and sniffed the air. "Zuul awaits." He then opened one last portal, walked through it and both he and the portal vanished.

"Oww..." Robert moaned and both Joey and Adam ran over to help the Morcombe-born Ghostbuster off of the now dented roof. Nearby Peter, Iain and Eric were beginning to stir. "Did we bag him?" Eric asked.

"No...we lost him...what could two Ghostbusters do that six couldn't?" Adam asked.

"I'll tell you what...that Vinz guy is a real wanker when he's in Jeremy's body." Robert managed to crack a smile.

"Ow...too right." Iain agreed as he picked himself up, and then helped Peter up from the roadway. All around people were staring at the Ghostbusters after the short battle with the Key Master. A police officer thought of approaching them, but thought better of it after seeing the mess.

"We'd better head back to the van and report this to HQ...they're gonna want to hear this." Eric spoke as he hooked his Proton Gun onto his pack.

"Definitely..." Iain agreed as they began to walk back to where they'd parked the Ecto-GS.


10:56AM (England)


Ben King Sr studied his architectural book and compared notes with the set of plans he'd been sent from New York. He was just about to give up when he turned a page and did a double take. He searched around the littered desk top and eventually found what he was looking for; a set of architectural details for the stone statues of the Terror Dogs.

"Dammit...of course!" He replied and then slid his chair across to the phone on another desk. The book page displayed two photos, the first was of an identical statue of one of the Terror Dogs, placed in an office, the photo next to it depicted it being sold in an auction house, the sign of which was clearly visible.

Ben pulled out a battered but up-to-date copy of the Yellow Pages and started browsing the auction houses in London. He ran his finger down the list until he tracked down the name of the auction house, Alister Crown Holdings. He dialled up the number and waited for a reply.

"Alister Crown Holdings...how can I direct you call?" A female voice asked.

"Ah...hello...I'd like to track down an old auction you had in..." Ben picked up the phone and scooted the chair back across to his research. "1939."

"I'd have to put your through to our records room...Mr. Sampson is head of that department." The woman explained.

"Sure." Ben replied and waited as the line was connected to a different phone.

"Daniel Sampson - Records Department." A much more older, male voice asked.

"Oh...hello Mr. Sampson...I was wondering if you could run a check on an auction you had in 1939?" Ben asked.

"Depending on some circumstances." Mr. Sampson replied. "Who do you work for and why are you looking for a specific archived auction?" He asked.

"Mr. Sampson, my name is Ben King, I work with a company known as Ghostbusters...I was wanting to try locate a specific auction where a statue was sold in 1939. We're trying to identify where it came from." Ben explained.

"I see...do you have a picture of this statue?" Mr. Sampson asked.

"I do...I have a pair of photographs of it in one of my architectural books...that's how I found the auction house which sold it...I also have a set of architectural plans of the statue."

"A copy of the architectural plans should suffice..." Mr. Sampson replied.

"Excellent." Ben replied in turn. "Do you have an email address I can send the copy too? It's just that we're on a tight deadline and I'd be most thankful if you could get me the details of where the statue was found...hopefully before the 8th." Ben asked.

"Well..." Mr. Sampson paused as he cleared his throat. "Usually these things would take more time...however...depending on the quality of the plans...and the fact you knew the year it was sold it...and depending on the uniqueness of the piece...it may shorten the amount of places I'd have to look. Send the picture via fax to our office."

"Thank you Mr. Sampson...I'll send a copy of the plans to that email once I've finished this call with you." Ben replied as he scribbled down the email address.

"Understood...however you must bear in mind that I may not be able to locate the item you're after." Mr. Sampson explained.

"I know...any information you can get is better then none...thank you for your time." Ben replied.

"I hope I can find something...goodbye Mr. King." With the conversation ended Ben placed the phone back on his desk and collected the statue's plans and made his way over to the scanner. Five minutes after the phone call had ended he scanned the plans, cropped them and seven minutes after the end of the conversation Ben was typing up an email. With the explanation given, the plans attached and the address placed in the address bar he clicked on the send message and hope that Mr. Sampson could dig something up.


6:00 PM


The meeting room was alive with activity. Close to fifty folding chairs were placed neatly in a semi-circular fashion around an old wooden podium. Most of the seats were already occupied by Ghostbusters, and many of them were in the midst of discussions when the last few stragglers entered, followed by Vincent, Egon, and Fritz, all huddled around the Book of Gozer as they cut through the chairs like a ship throught the ocean of chairs. Iain stood over at a refreshment table with Peter, discussing events over coffee.

The buzz died down when Egon cleared his throat, and standing Ghostbusters sheepishly crept to empty seats.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Egon asked over the forest of heads in the room.

"Good. We can't afford to have anyone absent from this meeting. We have gathered here to discuss our findings and to assess the threat of a return of Gozer. As you all know, Dr. Belmont, Dr. Baugh, and myself have been studying the book, and posting bits of it on the bulletin boards. Our news is rather...disconcerting...Belmont?"

Belmont stepped forward clicked a button on a small remote, and the room went dark. A projector lit up the room with a dull luminescence, casting an eerie glow among the faces of the Ghostbusters. The projection was a pleathora of diagrams copied from the book. Vincent assisted his explainations with a small laser pointer.

"Without having to go into lengthy detail, the whole book is a ritual diagram and instruction manual, meant to summon two entities...Zuul, and Vinz Clortho...Keymaster and Gatekeeper of Volguus Zildrohar, more widely known as 'Gozer the Gozerian.' These two entities summoned to earth come in the form of pure energy, most likely by ectoplasmic manifestation. When the host is chosen, the posessor takes control, and performs yet another ritual...a rather bizzare ritual intended to bring Gozer to the respective world to consume and destroy it...my guess is that several 'worlds' have similar manuscripts that serve the same function as this one."

The hand of Jeff Nash shot up immediately.

"Jeff?"

"Is that Enochian? It looks different from the Sumerian the book was written in." Jeff asked.

"Very astute, Jeff," Vincent said with a hint of suprise, "it is indeed Enochian. For those of you who don't know, Enochian is an inherently magical language. The mere utterance of each word in the language manifests power, and each word forms a metaphysical pattern to shape that energy. Spells in enochian are very simple...pairing single verbs with nouns can create a pleathora of effects. Before Hermes Trismegistus' time, magi used this language to work magic...however, Enochian is unstable. Every action performed in Enochian evokes a reaction, and those reactions can be catastrophic...that is why I, and fellows like myself use Latin. It is structurally the most sound language on the planet. As always, GBI employees will NOT discuss magic, the Hermetic order, wizards, or any other occult academia with non-GBI employees."

There was a low muttering before the hand of Roger Kennedy raised.

"Roger?"

"So what does this ritual do, exactly? How does it bring Gozer here? I thought Gozer was destroyed." Roger asked. He held aloft a handheld audio cassette recorder.

Vincent hesitated slightly before starting the explaination. "Well," he stammered, "Gozer's form has obviously not been destroyed, if Zuul and Vinz are still present, then that means Gozer must still be a presence, albeit most likely dispersed. The ritual creates a beacon of sorts. This beacon calls out to all of the energies that is Gozer, and summons them to one point. What puzzles me is that it would need a 'vessel' to reform with...a phylactery of sorts. My guess, is that Gozer has a 'heart.' Another thing that concerns me is that my associates have seen activity near Stonehenge. Cultists are reconstructing what looks to be a portal edifice, that will open a gateway between one world and another. My only conclusion is that the summoners cannot perform a direct summoning of Gozer here. Gozer may be too weak to make the trip. If that is true, a swift strike may prove effective."

"A portal..." Roger asked, "...like in the movie?"

Vincent grunted with displeasure. "Yes," he mumbled, "like in the movie."

Jill Valentine stood up in the back and interrupted with a question that made everyone turn their heads.

"So how do they summon it? What's with the Keymaster-Gatekeeper" thing? Why do they need bodies to do this?"

Sarah stood up as well. "Yes," she said, her voice nervously wavering, "why me?"

All of the Ghostbusters in the room turned again to face the three men in the front. Vincent's face went even more pale than it was previously. he turned to Fritz.

"I'm not answering this..." Vincent whispered to Fritz. Fritz turned a shade of bright pink.

"Ummm...well," Fritz stammered, "the ritual needs a release of a tremendous amount of psychic energy from them...and there are only a few things that produce such enormous emotional psychic energy...one, is death. The thing is, they can't very well kill each other. Another, and the one mentioned in the texts, is..."

Fritz ran his fingers through his hair and mumbled sheepishly.

"...coital climax."

The room went deathly silent. Many Ghostbusters either went red in the face, or began to fidget in their seats.

"I'm sorry I asked..." Jill mumbled as she sat down.

Heads started to turn towards Sarah. Sarah was horrified.

"You're telling me that some psychopath is coming to RAPE me to satisfy some crusty ancient babble-balognian god?" she screamed, "Oh, this is NOT happening. I'm fucking OUT of here! I don't need the Ghostbusters, I need the police!"

With that, Sarah, stormed out of the room, slamming the doors against the wall as she went.

"Someone stop her..." Vincent snapped, as several Ghostbusters immediately got up from their seats. Adam Bestler and Rosey Collins set off after Sarah, leaving the other Ghostbusters in the room.

"Bottom line," Egon began again, " is that if worse comes to worse, we need a plan. In case we see a return of Gozer, we need a plan to prevent it from entering our world."

"We're open to any suggestions," Fritz mentioned as he started straightening his notes.

Some of the bewildered Ghostbusters were still taking in the abrupt departure of Sarah before they turned their attentions to the front. Some exchanged looks, and some shrugged their shoulders. Roger stood up.

"We'd offer suggestions, Fritz," he said, hesitantly, "but we're in over our heads now as it is. We have so little info to go on. We'll just go with any plan Egon has, I mean, he's the brains, after all..."

Vincent scowled and slapped his own forehead, looking up to the ceiling, asking God what it was that is wrong with his companions. He then gestured to himself and Fritz.

"Oh, holy mother of mercy...What are we, chopped liver?" he grumbled, "you're all grown up Ghostbusters, now. You're ALL capable of standing on your own two feet, and making decisions for yourselves! If we all thought to ourselves 'Oh Lord, I couldn't possibly be as smart as the great Egon Spengler,' would ANYTHING get done? No! Why in the hell would we call these meetings if we didn't want input?"

Only a couple of Ghostbusters noticed that Egon had blushed slightly as Vincent ranted. A murmuring of voices overcame the room as Roger sat down in his seat; his face slightly red. He sat in slight disgust at being reprimanded by one of his peers. Yeah, and we sign your checks, mate. He thought.

The murmuring turned into a a cacaphony of voices rising in volume, with various topics of problem solution in progress. Egon, Vincent, and Fritz then began to discuss things amongst themselves as the noise became louder, as some Ghostbusters shouted to be heard over the others.

The doors to the room opened, and Adam returned to the discussion immediately, as Rosey entered with Sarah crying on her shoulder. Rosey sat Sarah down and ran to fetch her a cup of coffee.

"Hey!" Tommy Simpson shouted over all of the others. Almost immediately, the conversation died down. Tommy Simpson stood up, as well as Robert Griffiths.

"Rob and I had an idea, but..." he stammered.

"Please, go on!" Egon interrupted, "we want suggestions."

"Yeah, but this is kinda a stupid question..." Tommy stated.

"No!" Vincent snapped, "spill it. There are no stupid questions...only stupid mistakes, which we are trying to avoid by discussing things here."

Tommy looked at Robert. Robert nodded.

"Well," Robert began, "question is, does Gozer have enemies? I mean, you mentioned in the briefings of the translations that Gozer fought with this Meketrex thing, and fought with some big crabby thing...uh..."Chur-gar," was it?"

Egon began to pace the room as he scratched his chin. "Yes," he said, "I think I know where you're going with this."

"Well...it seems pretty clear that the primal gods are good at taking each other out, they're like mob bosses, waiting to do the other one over...what if we found a primal god who isn't so...bent on the apocalypse?" Iain shrugged a little hesitantly, not sounding convinced of the idea himself.

Vincent's face went pale, and his eyes grew wide as he stared at Iain in horror silently for a few moments.

"I seriously doubt it," Egon mused, "even if we could find an entity which had enough power to combat Gozer, and if the entity even somehow knew Gozer from the wars when Earth was new...it would take an incredible amount of power to control an entity of that size. Vincent, is there anything out there about contacting something like that?"

"No," Vincent mumbled, "I won't do it. It's a bad idea amongst a long history of bad ideas. What you would be asking, is to make contact with an alien intelligence, and then invite the blasphemous thing to our world. Then, only then, one would have to reign it in, and that is much easier said, than done. That requires a much greater power than any one man can do alone. Magic is dangerous business...one screw up and you condemn yourself. Magic takes its toll, and the only spells I have ever known to do things like that require that I commit the very atrocities in this book that we are trying to prevent."

Vincent leaned against the wall and rubbed his forehead. Peter spoke for the first time during the meeting, and sparked the interest of everyone in the room.

"Uh, I hate to bring this up," Peter began, "but this all sounds really familiar. Wasn't this whole fiasco of "Clash of the War Gods" thing mentioned by that little cutie that called you "Spooky?"

"QUIT CALLING ME BY THAT INFANTILE NICKNAME!" Vincent roared.

"No, really, Vinny," Peter protested, "I'm serious this time. What was her name? Allie, Alena, Alexis..."

"Alexandra," Vincent mumbled; his voice now turning to solemn remembrance, "It was Alexandra Roivas. She prevented the coming of a dreadful 'god' in 2000. She performed the same feat when the Roman lich Pious Augustus summoned forth one of those 'things' they call the Great Old Ones."

"Then what's stopping us, Vinny?" Peter asked. For the first time since the trip, Peter looked serious; something that brought the room to complete silence. "You're the greatest wizard we've had the pleasure of knowing since Phineus Eventide. I know that Alex chick wasn't one of those pointy hat folk. I mean, come on! This is like Glenda the Good Witch versus Gandalf the White! If she could do it, it has to be cake for you...or is that, crumpets or something?"

Vincent looked over the whole room, and saw many of his co-workers nodding in agreement. He turned to both Fritz and Egon, who were doing the same.

"Peter," Vincent began, "Alex had access to an apparatus that amplified her personal energy thousandfold, even then, there was a supply of additional energy being pumped through living sacrifices in the..."

"Can it be done?" Egon interrupted, sounding almost impatient, "is there a way to gather the necessary requirements to complete something like that?"

"I would have to..." Vincent began to protest, but was quickly interrupted.

"We can get materials, Vince, GBI would pay for something like this." Fritz said.

"Yeah, but..."

"We're all willing to follow any instructions to the letter," Tommy chimed in.

"Yes, but you don't..."

"Is it money, Vince? If you're asking for money, we can pay you for this..." said Egon.

Vincent stared at Egon, furious. "How DARE you? In all of my years, I have served humanity with this job, and you think I do it for the money?"

More suggestions began to roll in, and soon, the room was into shouting again.

"Well-Why don't we cross the streams, seal the gate before Gozer can come through?" Eric Rose asked. This question almost seemed to provoke an adverse and almost completely alien reaction from Vincent...he appeared to be seething and his face had become quite flushed. To add to it, some in the audience could have sworn they saw a dangerous red flash in the wizard's eyes.

"DAMN IT!" Vincent roared. His voice seemed to boom and reverberate through the room, and his very presence seemed to grow, shrinking the room. His fury seemed to darken the room, and his anger struck the hearts of all of the audience. "You all put too much stock in a God damned Hollywood film! These are REAL lives were toying with!..." Vincent fumed to everyone's astonishment. "Crossing the streams only worked once. It was a one in a million shot that was never supposed to work, but by the grace of God, they did it...but whenever a problem breaks out, NOOO! We gotta cross the streams!"

"Now, wait a minute Vincent..." Roger protested, shocked at Vincent's sudden departure from his usual rationale.

"We have science now, Vincent. Man has come so far since the dawn of time..." Iain replied calmly, attempting to calm the raw emotions that were begining to take flight in the room.

"So far? God, you people! Humans are arrogant...there are some things that weren't meant for human comprehension...there are some things better left to..." Vincent protested, Peter and Egon both shared a worried glance, it looked like they were there for the ride.

"GOD... is that it?" Iain questioned with a stern voice and a raised eyebrow. Vincent stood still, completely speechless at the podium. As the furious wizard stared at Iain, the air seemed to grow heavy, and the shadows thicker. The very blood in everyone's veins seemed to turn to ice.

In the crowd Adam stood up to be able to get a clear view of Vincent. "Look, get off your high fucking horse, Belmont. You always bring spiritualism and religion into this..."

Vincent turned his glare on the Ghostbusters Independant member. "I will NOT be party to all of your madness...you already imperil me by asking me to summon a demon god..." he growled. In the corner of the room, Rosey, Sarah, Jill and a couple of others cowered in the corner. Other Ghostbusters nervously seated themselves, slouching in their chairs. Jeff Nash stood up, watching Adam and Vincent closely, looking for things to turn sour.

Dammit, this is ridiculous. He's right to be concerned, but you'd think a 'buster with Belmont's amount of experience wouldn't be so self-righteous as to think every ancient "god" is some demonic threat to his personal beliefs. We catalog and categorize these things for a reason. ? Jeff Nash thought sourly.

"...look at you, you hypocrite...didn't the Bible, YOUR book you hold so dear say 'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live?' Deuteronomy 18, verses 10 and following: 'Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who pactices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritualist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you." Adam retorted.

Vincent considered this for a moment, shortly before his left fist connected with Adam's jaw, the sheer force and surprise sent the younger Ghostbuster toppling backward. Vincent then leaped forward, raising both legs before him in a fan kick that was so swift that many didn't even witness it in the confusion. Adam toppled over Tommy Simpson and and Robert Griffiths, knocking them both over. Vincent then set of after Adam in magnificent fury.

On the podium Fritz and Egon grabbed a hold of Vincent's fists as Jeff Nash and Ben King Sr grappled to hold Adam amid the protests of Iain and Rosey. Adam swung blindly forward, barely missing Jeff as he was held down.

"Stand Down, Dr. Belmont." Egon with a steely firmness.

Vincent shifted his weight, and pulled on his right arm, throwing Egon over his shoulder. Egon cried out in pain as his form collided with the floor.

"What do you fools think you're doing?" Iain bellowed, the authoritive voice he used during his RAF days having set in, "We have mere DAYS before a demon god comes stomping down on my home, and we're having a sodding fist fight!"

Peter and Roger both tackled Vincent, forcing him to the floor. Vincent's legs connected with Roger and Peters' stomachs, and he rolled backward, kicking them both over him, sending them into a nearby desk.

As Vincent jumped to his feet, he felt the arms of Fritz Baugh enclosing him from behind tightly, his arms locking together. Vincent would have done something, if it hadn't been for another pair of arms grabbing him, and holding him; those of Jill Valentine.

"Vincent!" she cried, "Please! Stop it!"

Vincent relaxed, and he felt Fritz's grip recede.

"What was going on?" she pleaded, "I know you're upset, honey. We're scared, we're all scared. The comments were uncalled for, but those are your friends! They have as much to lose as you do, we all have. I know what you're going through...we all know."

"...and what would YOU know of loss or pain, woman? What would YOU know of spending every waking moment facing the unknown so people can go on with their happy, normal and completely oblivious lives?" Vincent hissed at her. The whole room went perfectly silent. All were in silence, staring at the couple near the front of the room.

That was when Jill slapped Vincent across the face, hard enough to leave a red hand print on the left side of his face, stunning him into silence. The truth was, he instantly regretted it, it was probably the coldest thing he had ever said to her, considering what had happened between them in the past.

"You bastard..." Jill uttered, evidently trying to hold back tears, she then vanished off somewhere in the direction of the kitchen. Vincent stood in silence, as his head turned toward the stunned onlookers. He then glanced at the door to the conference room. All of the people present in the room turned away quickly as if to say it wasn't their business. Damning himself, Vincent muttered something in a dark and unknown tongue and then made his way to the staircase, and from there, the second floor balcony.

"I think we should just probably postpone any further discussion for now." Fritz replied sternly as he adjusted his glasses,breaking the awkward silence. The group muttered a collective affirmative, some nursing their wounds, but there was still a nasty element in the air.


8:15 PM


Iain stepped out onto the balcony and paused, there was a man who looked like Vincent Belmont standing at the railing, resting his arms on it, with his glasses hanging off his fingertips. This man, however, just didn't seem like Vincent Belmont. For the first time since Iain met him, Vincent looked old; very, very old. He was sedate. He was a weary and broken man, leaning over a railing, staring up blankly at the setting sun. Iain saw his eyes as he approached the railing to join him. His eyes were both red and watery, and the rings under his eyes, and the drawn and pale face made him seem like more of a mummy than a man.

"Are you okay?" Iain hesitated, after what had happened before the meeting broke he wasn't quite sure what could happen, he was briefly reminded of a television catchphrase "Anything can happen in the next half hour!"

Vincent's only response were his eyes moving to acknowledge Iain's presence.

"I am not..." Vincent muttered after what seemed like an age.

"Well...we've been under a lot of stress," Iain shrugged, "what's eating you?"

"...the fact that I am a selfish and foolish man.' Vincent chocked.

"Selfish, eh?" Iain mused, "Well, we're all selfish at times. We all cater to our own whims on occasion, but I also see you as selfless, many times. Why are you selfish, Belmont?"

"That woman waited years to be with me after I selfishly left the country in a fit of rage. She passed up the chance at a life with numerous other men, even keeping a picture of me on her desktop in her office...while I have a sordid and meaningless relationship with a paranormally plagued police detective who decides that her cells are telling her that she doesn't want me and moves off to L.A." Vincent rested his head on the balchony railing.

"Yeah," Iain muttered, "so you had a bad relationship, and she waited forever for you, and it took a zombie-infested city to bring you two together. it doesn't make you selfish OR foolish, Vince."

"No, it makes me a coward..." Vincent scowled.

"Coward?" Iain chuckled weakly, "...the coward who took on evil sorcerers, ghosts, goblins, aliens, demons, the living dead, and evils incarnate? The coward who helped take down a corrupt megacorporation that almost unleashed an undead apocalypse? The coward that will stand and laugh in the face of the Illuminati? Oh, yeah. Okay. I can't wait to hear you convince me of this one."

Vincent only looked at Iain. He places his glasses on his face and took out a small locket. He popped it open, revealing a picture of Jill on one side, and a small girl on the other. Sitting between the two pictures was a diamond ring. Iain looked up at Vincent, quizzically.

"Who's the kid?" Iain asked.

"Her name is Cher- no. Heather. Heather is her name now. She's the girl that I..." Vincent explained. Iain's eyes grew wide.

"No way!" Iain exclaimed, "that's the little baby they found you carrying during that incident at...Silent Hill?"

Vincent looked a bit taken back.

"No worries, Mate," Iain assured him, "only a couple of people know...and they don't know the real story."

Iain then quickly looked at the ring, "That's for Miss Valentine, I take it?" Iain said, quickly wanting to change the subject, "C'mon! All men are cowards when it comes to the biggest, scariest question of their lives!"

Vincent only closed the locket and tucked it back in his shirt.

"Look," Iain said, now resting his arms on the railing, as both men stared out at the sunset, "I'm sure Jill will understand by tomorrow, and the rest of them have forgiven you already...well...except Adam, but that's debatable. You just haven't been yourself lately, Belmont. This whole thing has you pent up. The Belmont I know has always been level headed in these "end of the world" situations. We've postponed discussions until tomorrow. We're not giving up, yet."

"I...shall have to speak to Jill before I go to bed...I..."

In the distance, the sky was becoming overcast, but something small moved in the sky amongst the orange and purple clouds. Iain peered at the object for a few minutes before finally deducing what it was. It was a bird, a Red Kite to be precise, hovering easily in the air as it hunted for prey.

"Look at that." Iain replied quietly as he tapped Vincent's shoulder with the backside of his hand. Vincent looked up at Iain and then followed his gaze. He looked out at it for a moment, and removed his glasses again. For the first time since their conversation started, Vincent hinted at a bit of a smile.

"Red Kite..." Vincent muttered.

"It's funny really, it has no idea that it's world might end, all it's doing is what it was born to do." Ian commented wistfully.

Vincent's expression turned solemn for a moment, but his smile became obvious. "We're dangerously close to cliche territory here, Mr. Bennett." Vincent replied dryly. Both men chuckled, quietly.

"Okay..." Iain replied with a smirk. "But there's got to be something...so let's rule out the option of crossing the streams, what about the rival god option? If I remember that case file right, Ms. Roivas did something to cast away the creature that did battle with Pious' god for fear that it would instead bring about ruin."

"Like I said...even if we could find a god, I'm not sure we have the type of power to be able to control that creature to deal Gozer enough of a blow. My only other option is that We could use the summoned creature to keep Gozer preoccupied while someone else were to destroy Gozer's power source...but then the problem is...where is it kept?" Vincent explained calmly.

"What if we're looking in the wrong place?" Iain asked, a little cryptically.

"Even to perform these feats, I would need an energy source. I would also need something that is familiar to Gozer...something with that metaphysical link I would need..." Vincent mused.

"Well...Excalibur has been a godsend since it chose me in Avalon, and here I am. King Arthur, defending England from her foes..." Iain beamed.

"You and swords..." Vincent laughted heartilly, he then paused as a expression of thought fell across his face.

"Yeah," Iain laughed as he slapped Vincent on the back, playfully, "but every Arthur needs a Merlin! Look at us...Arthur and Merlin, champions once again!"

"Arthur...and...Merlin?" Vincent mumbled under his breath.

"What is it?" Iain asked, having an unclear message if the wizard was talking to himself or the only other Ghostbuster present on the balcony.

"Iain! You're a GENIUS!" Vincent exclaimed, grabbing Iain's shoulders and shaking him violently.

"'Course I am!" Iain grinned, "now, WHY am I a genius?"

"Think, Iain! Why is the cult building at Stonehenge? Who is rumored to have built Stonehenge? Where is a possible location that Gozer might have tried to enter planet Earth?" Vincent drilled Iain in rapid succession as he fumbled to put his glasses on, "I must speak with Egon, there's not a moment to lose!"

"Will this be on the test?" Iain asked, still unsure why Vincent had suddenly become manic.

Vincent wasted no time dashing through the balcony door and down the stairs, leaving a bewildered Iain behind. Iain looked out at the sunset one last time before he went indoors after Vincent.


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