Peter forced himself to walk at a calm pace and kept his head held high. Refusing to continue to sit idle while his friends worked tirelessly to find Ray and understand what had happened back at the museum Peter boldly marched down the stairs and made his way over to Egon's lab, just as Egon himself had exited the isolated room with a focused stare in his eyes.

"What've we got Spengz?" Peter asked trying to sound as casual as possible. "Where, oh where, has our little Ray gone?"

"Venkman?" Egon paused mid stride and looked over at his reclusive colleague with a somewhat concerned lilt in his voice. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was. I woke up." Venkman blatantly stated. "How do we find Ray?"

Egon stared at Peter taking in his current appearance; pale complexion, glassy eyes, mild trembling. "You are ill."

"I am fine."

Knowing that Peter wasn't the type to back down or admit defeat Egon let the issue slide. For the moment. "Very well. Winston and I had discovered the cause for Ray's disappearance and may have found a way to locate him."

"How?" Peter asked as he leaned casually against the side of Ecto-1.

"We need to go back to the museum." Egon explained as he checked on the two prototypes packed in the rear of Ecto-1. Winston joined him shortly after as he set extra power supplies and sources in the rear compartment. "We need to recreate the past incident as closely as possible."

"Recreate?" Peter's brow arched while his face remained stoic. "You want to initiate round two of prototype pandemonium?"

"Yes." Egon replied firmly as he stood up straight and slammed the compartment door shut.

"Well alright then." Peter didn't ask anymore questions as he pulled open the rear passenger door of the car. "Let's go."

"No." Egon put his hand on the door and held it firmly to keep Peter from pulling it open fully. "You are staying here."

"No." Peter took a step back and turned as he walked over to his locker. "I'm going with you. I haven't been able to do anything to help Ray." Peter all but shouted as he crossed the room and retrieved his jumpsuit. "I'm not going to stay behind and miss his homecoming."

Winston discreetly opened the driver's side door of the car and silently observed the conversation. Egon looked over at Winston as if pleading for help in convincing Venkman to stay at the firehouse, while Janine walked down the stairs and watched at the bottom step. She gave Winston a nod of approval which was all he needed to know that it would be okay in the end.

Giving Egon a silent affirmation Winston sat down behind the steering wheel and turned on the engine. "We better get moving."

Knowing that he'd lost the argument Egon reluctantly allowed Peter to join. "Okay, you can come."

Peter smiled as he zipped up his jumpsuit and rejoined his colleagues. "I knew you couldn't stand to go anywhere without me."


Gathered in a pile of metal and wires the proton packs, extra power sources, extra slime and a dozen traps would serve as the only weapons to defend the mortal men against the immortal resurrected tyrant and sorcerer. The magnificent devices seemed pitiful only in comparison to the damnable strength of the spectral abomination that was Vigo the Carpathian.

The ferry ride was as unsettling as it was familiar to the wayward engineer. Ray remembered the night that his team, including 'The Rookie', had all ventured out to Shandor Island after ethereal powers caused the once sunken island to rise from its forgotten watery depths by the power of Gozer and his followers. The overwhelming darkness of the night, the fog, the choppy waters had left an aesthetically scarring impact on the engineer's psyche from that fateful venture onward. Ray hadn't even set foot on the island, and yet he still felt a sense of foreboding dread from the memories alone.

The island itself was bathed in shadow and remained an menacing black silhouette against the natural light of the surrounding day. Jagged rocks broke through the water creating a barrier of algae covered stone that shielded the island from incoming intruders.

"Where do we make land?" Ray asked as watched the island in the distance.

"Western bank." John replied as he steered the ferry accordingly. "We had to circle the island at least three times before we spotted an opening."

"How long were you on the island?"

"Not long." Hank answered as he sat down on a bench and folded his hands together nervously. Bowing his head he took in deep breaths to settle both his nerves and his stomach.

Ray sat down beside Hank empathetically. "Seasick?"

"Something like that."

"I get seasick a lot, too. Fortunately it didn't happen to me when my team and I went to the island about a year ago."

"How long were you on the island?"

"To be honest," Ray grinned sheepishly. "I never got on the island. I piloted our boat, Ecto-8, and the rest of team explored the island while kept the boat at a safe distance from the crumbling ruins of the island."

"Well, then you're in for a real treat." Hank attempted and failed to joke to lighten the mood. "Excuse me."

Ray watched as Hank rushed to the side of the boat and proceeded to throw up into the river churning below.

John called out to his friends from the interior of the ferry's cabin. "Get ready boys, were making port."

Hank leaned weakly against the side of the ferry with one hand over his mouth and his eyes shut. Ray walked over to his nauseated friend and patted his back. "You'll feel better once you're on stable ground."

"I hope so..."

The ferry struggled against the strong waves that threatened to capsize the boat beneath a devastating wake, but John expertly guided the lone vessel to the island and tied off the boat around the nearest rock. The darkness of the island and decrepit ruins of the castle were the only hazards that the trio would have to endure.

"Let's just hope the ferry doesn't get damaged by the waves." John stated as he turned off the engine. Leaping over the edge of the boat his boots made contact with the rocky beach of the haunted locale. "Welcome to Shandor Island."


Much the museum curator's chagrin the Ghostbusters had requested privacy at the scene of the bust for the third, and hopefully, final time. The trio gathered their equipment and proceeded to the isolated area. Repairs were an inevitability in the damaged corridor and had been sectioned off from the rest of the public.

"So what's the plan?" Peter asked as he watched Egon and Winston set up the first prototype and used the concentrated slime to create an ideal perimeter of controlled psychokinetic energy. "Mess up the place and blame Ray? Sounds like college all over again."

"No." Egon wasn't in the mood to joke around. "We need to open the portal and send a message through to contact Ray from whatever plane of existence he has become stranded within."

"How do we do that? Toss in a paper airplane or phone?"

Winston answered on Egon's behalf as he systematically covered the floor in slime. "We're going to send through a PKE meter with our recorded data and coordinates along with the second prototype. If Ray can find it he can activate it and find his way back."

"Oh. Sounds simple enough." Peter blinked a few times as his headache suddenly flared up in intensity. "How long do we wait for Ray to return?"

"Unknown." Egon nearly lamented as he finished setting up the scene. The room carried the distinct stench of ectoplasm and ozone, which only aggravated Peter's lingering headache further. "It could be a few seconds, it could be a few..."

"Days?"

"Years."

"Oh." Peter rubbed at the back of his neck and tense shoulder muscles impatiently. "And how do we know that the equipment will make it through the portal?"

"Ray's equipment disappeared along with him." Egon's reply was cold yet reassuring. "Ready?" Egon addressed Winston as he stepped back and prepared to fire up the first prototype.

"I'm ready." Winston stepped back and double-checked the second prototype for any potential failures. "It's all good to go."

"Opening the trap." Egon hovered his hand over the trigger and prepared to look away from the intense light.

Peter eyed the prototype in Winston's hands, eyed the distance between himself and the prototype on the floor and eyed how focused Egon was on the experiment at hand.

"Trap open." Egon pressed the button and Peter made his desperate move.

"Venkman!" Winston shouted as Peter snatched the prototype and PKE meter from his hands rushed with his eyes closed toward the opened prototype on the floor.

"Peter! Get back!" Egon called out desperately as he watched the stubborn psychologist rush into danger. "It's too risky!"

Without breaking stride or hesitating, Peter leapt into the painfully bright light of the opened prototype with the second prototype and meter clutched in his tight grip. Just as Ray had done two days prior, Peter suddenly disappeared from the museum in a bright flash of light and into the infinitesimal unknown.

...to be continued...