Chapter 18: Jeremy

9:13 AM

Ghostbusters HQ

Egon stood in front of Janine's desk. The end of the earthquake rattled a good number of nerves on the team except Lita; earthquakes was a way of life in Japan, so she was somewhat unaffected. The near-containment breach was a different affair. What Egon had just told them was ever worse, "Wait a minute, Egon," Kylie had a deep sense of dread in her voice for what she was about to ask. She looked down a moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She looked to her professor, "are you telling us that not only this has happened before, but there may be no way… to stop it?"

Egon Spengler - pioneer of paranormal research - co-inventor of the Ecto-Containment system and Proton Packs - savior of mankind several times over - had a look of dread that matched his student's sense, "Yes. This happened once before many years ago. Kylie, since you have read the files, this may be familiar to you; the Jeremy Whittington incident."

Kylie put her hand over her mouth and backed up in terror. Dan also had a look of terror on his face, "Wait a fucking minute! You said that name before!"

Egon was taken aback by his team-lead's statement, "I did?"

"At Starlight Tower! You mentioned it after the meter exploding when Venus was possess…" he caught himself. Lita looked at him holding her breath. Dan quickly corrected his speech, "That actress chick, whatever-the-fuck-her-name-is Venus woman. You said that man's name before. Who the hell is Jeremy Whittington?"

"Jeremy Whittington almost ended the world, Dan," Kylie turned to him as she spoke, a grim tone of voice coming from the team occultist, "He got ahold of an artifact that allowed him to play the Symphony of Destruction. He almost completed the song and put an end to things."

"Do you remember when there were massive title waves and storms that destroyed everything back in the mid-80's?" Dan turned to Egon as he asked. Dan searched back in his mind, "Yeah. I was almost 11. I remember there was this huge tornado that I would have sworn ripped Chicago apart. I never saw any of the damage the next time my family went into the city."

"Jeremy was convinced to reverse what he had done. What we felt today, and the readings I just took, emanate the same psychokinetic signature as when Jeremy attempted to end the world in Ragnarok," Egon closed his eyes and hung his head, his hand coming to the bridge of his nose as he tried to hold back his headache, "What I don't understand is, why?"

Roland spoke up, "You don't think this Jeremy is trying to end the world again, do you?"

"No," Egon looked back up and put his hand down, "The reason he did it was because his girlfriend at the time turned down a wedding proposal. His proposal. After what happened, things were different."

"Okay," Dan shook his head in annoyance, "I'm getting confused with the vague bullshit here, Egon," the blonde engineer put his hands on his hips and looked Egon right in the eye, "What the fuck are you saying?"

"He cast an incantation that gave him the recorder; He was right at the end of the final stanza when a friend of his and his girlfriend convinced him to stop what he was doing. His friend DyTyllio saved Jeremy's girlfriend Cindy from falling off the Karstick Building, himself almost falling off."

Dan had a look of terror on his face as it sunk in what that meant, "Wait a minute…" Lita knew it, too, "So what you're saying is: You didn't stop him."

Egon sighed, "Correct, Lita. DyTyllio hung onto the edge of the building. Jeremy went to pull him up, but he refused his help. That's what convinced Jeremy to stop and reverse the damage done. We couldn't stop what was happening; our Proton Packs had no affect on him, or the creatures he summoned. It was the only ace-in-the-hole, as Venkman would put it, we had to stop the destruction."

Everyone in the room tensed up as they heard that. There was still one lingering thought in his mind, so Garrett asked it, "You said you don't think it was Jeremy. Why?"

"Him and DyTyllio destroyed the last direct copy of the incantation used to summon the recorder. They did it shortly before him and Cindy got married. Any other knowledge that's left is only known to Jeremy, DyTyllio, Ray, and myself."

"That's unless," Roland looked to everyone else, then back to Egon with a very worried look on his face, "someone else knows."

"That's what I mean. Dan, Lita, Eduardo, you're going to go to his home and try to get answers. Last we heard, they're still living at her home at 427 South 15th Street. We haven't spoken with them in a while, but our answers would start there."

"I just hope they don't end there," Dan ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed, "Alright, that means we'd better get to work on the truck. Ecto-1 is gonna be tied up," Dan turned to Eduardo. The man had a paper towel to his lip the whole conversation. He looked to his co-pilot, "Eddie, you gonna be okay to work? You don't need a doctor or anything?"

The latino Ghostbuster removed the towel from his lips before he spoke, "I'll be okay, man. I might need some Tylenol, but I'm okay." Dan placed his hands onto his hips as he addressed his oft passenger, "Okay, but don't do anything that's gonna strain yourself, okay? I don't need you keeling over for some dumbass reason," he looked to Lita, " I don't know how much you've worked on cars, but we're gonna need help. Up for it?"

Lita look to him. She wasn't sure if she could, but she knew there was a lot at stake. She nodded her head, "I'll do what I can."

Several hours passed. The doors of the firehouse opened as the front grill of the F-150 poked out of the door. The sound of the engine starting rumbled the neighborhood. The truck lurched forward and pulled into the cracked street. People of all kinds cleaning up after the earthquake turned as the black pickup truck rolled into the street.

The yellow beacon light on the top was replaced with a red and white Whelen Edge 9000 light bar, upgraded spotlights on the bumper sporting a safari bar, and spotlights on a rear roll bar in the bed. The vehicle revved a thunderous rev; the 7.5L engine causing people to back away.

Inside the cab of the truck was Dan, Eduardo, and Lita in the driver, passenger, and back seats respectively. The looks the truck received put something of a smirk on Dan's face, "Everyone ready?"

"Yeah," Eduardo replied as he clicked his seatbelt, "Just don't put us in a ditch; already had that happen once today."

"Look at these people," Lita saw the people in the Tribeca neighborhood staring at the truck, "it's like they've never seen a truck before."

"Oh, they ain't seen nothin' yet," Dan put the truck into first gear and activated the siren and lights, "Yippee-Ki-Yay!" Dan dropped the pedal and spun the tires. The vehicle lifted slightly in the front as the vehicle rolled down the street, "Whoa, this truck is whiley! Putting that diesel engine turbo in here might have been a bridge too far!" The tires hooked as it took off down the road. Dan cut the wheel and drifted around the corner, "Next stop: uptown!"

427 South 15th Street. The truck pulled just outside of the house as Dan pulled the truck out of gear. It looked well kept, "Not a bad place," Eduardo said aloud as he looked toward the front. Dan turned off the engine and set the parking brake, "Yep. Alright, everyone, mind your matters." Dan opened his door and stepped out. Eduardo followed allowing Lita to push the seat forward and exit herself. They stood before the steps to the door.

Eduardo looked to the sidewalk and noticed writing in the concrete, "Hey Dan, check this out!" Dan looked down and found the original Ghostbusters signatures along with a crude drawing of the Ghostbusters logo in the cement. It was dated 1986, "From what Kylie told me, this must of been where Egon's meter exploded." Lita had made her way to the stairs, placing a foot onto the bottom step, "Come on, guys. The sooner we get this over with…" Dan and Eduardo looked to her. Dan sighed as he nodded his head. Dan walked up the stairs ahead of everyone and raised his hand to knock on the door…

The door opened to have a woman in her early-to-mid 40's gasp in a start standing in the doorway. It surprised her to see the three Ghostbusters standing there, "Oh, good heavens!" She placed a hand on her chest, her blonde hair waving about with her body motions. Dan put down his hand as he did a small jump back, "Dah!" He put his head into his hand trying to suppress the surprise he just felt, "Geez, I'm sorry!"

The woman looked back up as she got her bearings, "Goodness, I wasn't expecting anyone here today," she looked to the crowd on her front stoop, "Can I help you?" Dan had finally got himself in order as he took his head out of his hand, "Yes, are you Cindy Whittington?" The woman cocked her head to the side, "I am?"

"We're scientists," Eduardo stepped up a bit and spoke, "We were wondering if we could talk to Jeremy." Dan turned to him and gave him a look. Eduardo saw it and saw that Dan didn't like the way he asked. He quickly turned back to the woman of the house, "We're Ghostbusters, Ma'am. Dr. Spengler sent us. Look, I'm sorry if this is a bad time…"

"No, no," the woman had a look of sadness in her eyes as she looked down, "it's okay. Now would be the best time. Please, come in." She stepped away from the door and opened it wider for the three paranormal investigators to walk in.

The house was brightly lit. It was a bit disheveled. It looked part because of the earthquake that happened earlier that day, but also because there looked to be a young child living their as well. As the team entered the house, they saw a young boy of about 8 years old playing with legos on the floor in front of the couch. Cindy had closed the door behind them and came to the head of the group to talk, "Can I get you anything? Something to drink?"

"Uh, no, that's okay," Dan started as he looked to his host. Even in her older age, the woman before him was still radiant, but had signs of sadness and pain on her face. Something was bothering her and it started from the moment the team arrived, " I hate to have to rush this, but we need to talk to your husband right away."

"Wow!" They heard the kid behind them, "You guys really the Ghostbusters?" The team turned to the boy as he looked up to them, "Mom always told me you guys were friends of her and dad's!" Lita turned to the boy and kneeled down to talk to him, an almost motherly personality coming forth from her, "Hey there, lil' fella, what's your name?"

"I'm Scotty Whittington! I know you guys!" the kid pointed to the two male members of the team, "You're Dan Shannon and Eduardo Rivera! I see you guys on the TV and internet all the time!" he turned to the one female member of the team, "I haven't seen you before. You're not Kylie, are you?"

"No, goofy!" Lita said as she roughed up the kids hair playfully, "My name is Lita Kino. I'm new to the team."

Scotty eyed her up. He seemed almost perplexed looking at the woman, "You're awfully pretty to be a Ghostbuster." Lita blushed at that. Cindy could clearly see the Japanese woman turn red from her own kid's comment, "Scotty, honey?" "Yeah, mom?" "Clean up your legos and get ready to go; we'll be late otherwise."

The kid became excited, "We're gonna go see him?! Yes!" The kid scrambled back in front of the couch and grabbed his small amount of lego bricks. He then ran back toward the stairs and ran up them, his bedroom door closing with a slam. Lita watched the kid run by in a flash, "Hyper lil' guy, isn't he?" Once the door slam was heard, Cindy kept looking toward the stairs. She sighed, "We almost lost him," she turned to the others in the room with her as she spoke, "Scotty was born a month premature. Poor Jeremy stayed in the hospital with me and him every waking moment. I never saw a man so intent on staying behind to watch his son; he almost got arrested when he started fighting with Hospital security. It took DyTyllio almost an hour to talk the officer down from arresting him."

Dan looked to the floor avoiding eye contact. It got rather awkward quickly, "That's, uh… surprising, considering what I know of him. Look, Mrs. Whittington…" "He's not coming back." Dan looked up to find her with her head down and her eyes closed. He examined her body language. He shook his head, "Oh, don't tell me…" She looked up to the three Ghostbusters with tears in her eyes. She clearly felt pain about what had happened.

Jeremy Whittington was dead.

"It happened two years ago. We were at the park with Scotty when another kid's ball got loose and bounced in the street. A little girl ran after it and into the street. After what happened with him trying to end the world, he became a different person. He ran into the street and pushed her out of the way of a speeding delivery van…" She started crying as she turned away. After a moment of everyone looking at each other, Eduardo walked up to her and placed a hand onto her shoulder.

She looked at the hand and then looked to the young hispanic man. There was a look of sympathy in his brown eyes as he spoke, "My father was a cop; NYPD. One night a kid much like your son ended up taken hostage during a robbery at a 7-Eleven gone loco. My dad went in the back way to the store and managed to get one of the guys in the leg, but he was left with the one guy holding the kid. Guy had a record; even had done time for murder. Why he was back on the street, we'll never know. Guy used the kid as a shield. Dad was all alone and had no backup outside of his partner outside. He put his gun down and pleaded for the kid to be let free."

Dan and Lita listened as Eduardo told Cindy the story. He sighed hard, "Son-of-a-bitch shot my father in the chest." Dan closed his eyes as a look of sorrow came to his face. Lita looked as though she understood his pain; her father passing away as a child. Eduardo looked at Cindy in the eye as his story came to an end, "I knew that kid; to this day he blames himself for it. Good men do things that are bad for them. Sometimes they make mistakes," Eduardo looked to Dan, "but you have to know, sometimes, they're just hurt," Eduardo looked back to Cindy, "I don't know much about your husband, but I can tell you this; he was a good man doing what he did."

The whole situation took an awkward and unexpected turn. Everything that Dan had feared had happened; they hit a dead end at the beginning of the investigation. Him and Lita exchanged looks then looked to the two before them, "Look, we're sorry to have disturbed you, Mrs. Whittington; it wasn't our intention to upset you. We'll just show ourselves out. Eduardo?" Dan and Lita turned to the door as Eduardo looked back toward them, then back to Cindy with his sympathetic eyes. He looked down as he spoke, "We're sorry. You try to have a better day."

The Ghostbusters turned and walked toward the door. They figured they'd best find a new lead now this one had closed up. Cindy turned and watched as they approached the door. If only she knew anything Jeremy knew about the past that would help them. If it likely had to do with the earthquake that happened today… "Wait! Please wait!" The night team stopped as they turned to her, "Their might be someone who would know what you're looking for, if I'm to assume why you're here."

Lita was the first to ask, "Wait, with Jeremy gone, who else would…" Before she could finish her question, little Scotty ran down the stairs with his shirt removed holding two shirts, one in each hand, "Hey, mom? Which shirt do you think Uncle DyTyllio would like, the Pokemon shirt," he held up the red one in his left hand, "or the Mario shirt?" he held the white one in his right hand up.

The blonde haired woman looked to her son and looked at the shirts in her son's hands. She pointed to the red shirt, "Oh, the Pokemon one. After all, he got you that one for your birthday; he always loved seeing you wearing it." "Thanks mom! Hey, you okay?" The little boy's look changed to one of concern, "Are you crying again?"

"No, Scotty," the woman said, using her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes, "I'm okay. Now, go get dressed." The little boy ran back upstairs and closed his door again. Dan had a look of surprise, "DyTyllio! That's right, Egon said he'd know! Where is he?"

"Well, we were about to go visit him in the hospital…"

"Hospital?" Dan asked, "Did he get hurt in the earthquake?"

"No. You see, he's… Well…" Cindy turned and grabbed a picture from a nearby table. She handed it to Dan, "You see, DyTyllio has a medical condition," Dan looked at the picture and found a small malformed man holding a much younger Scotty on his lap. He had one eye that didn't look straight and an unusual complexion, "Because of his small form, his organs are outgrowing his body. The thing that's specifically harming him is Cardiomegaly; his heart is enlarged. Unfortunately, the doctors say it's terminal."

Eduardo looked over Dan's shoulder and looked at the picture, "Yikes!" Lita walked up to see the picture herself and saw what he saw. She instantly got offended and smacked him in the back of the head, "Eduardo!" Dan looked to her, "Don't do that! You'll kill whatever brain cells he has left!"

Eduardo rubbed the back of his head, "I'm surprised the kid ain't afraid of him."

"Why should he be?" Cindy asked offended, "DyTyllio help me and Jeremy raise him!" She approached the hispanic man in her home and pointed a finger in his face, "Jeremy saved his life many years ago, and in turn DyTyllio saved mine! Without him, this world would have been destroyed! It doesn't matter what he looks like, that man is a sweet soul and a member of this family! Don't you ever insult his appearance again!" Eduardo backed into the front door. He put up his hands in a halting gesture as he tried to get a word in edgewise, "Look, I-I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry!"

"Is this why you always tell him not to talk?" Lita asked. "I try," Dan responded, "It doesn't always work as you can clearly see," Dan approached Cindy and placed a hand onto her shoulder, "Mrs. Whittington, we need to speak with him. If he has an idea - any idea - of what Jeremy knew and what he had researched, it'll tell us what happened today."

Cindy had lowered her finger from Eduardo's face and turned to the Ghostbuster behind her. Her anger had melted as she looked into the man's eyes. Dan had a look of grave concern on his brow as she looked into her eyes. She may not have known the people in her home personally, but she knew the Ghostbusters of old and trusted them. If these three were sent by Egon… "Yes, of course you can." Although Dan had not asked permission, Cindy knew the extent of the danger New York, and the world as a whole, faced if it had to do with the power Jeremy had once commanded; she knew DyTyllio was the only answer.

Scotty had ran down the stairs with his red Pokemon shirt on also wearing his backpack, "Okay, mom! I'm ready!" Everyone looked to the little boy and saw how excited he was. The boy truly loved the small deformed man his father had saved some many years before his birth. Dan once again looked at the picture frame in his hand and saw how the family had lived this whole time. He unfolded the frame support and placed the picture back onto another table, "Sometimes, you tend to forget how important people are to others lives; they can sometimes be family without the blood."

"We were about to take the bus to Gracie Square…" Cindy had begun.

"Nonsense," Dan interrupted her, "We'll take my truck there. Eddie," he turned to Eduardo who still stood at the door, "You'll have to ride in the back with Lita." "I don't want to impose!" the woman began to protest.

"We can ride in Lucky Black?!" the boy said happily, "Alright!"

Dan had a grimace of pain grace his face, "Uh, I'm no longer driving that truck." The kid clearly didn't know the S-10 Xtreme that took the moniker of Lucky Black was destroyed nearly a week before. As a matter of fact, Dan hadn't even given a name to the new vehicle and was siding on not naming the new truck the same thing.

Everyone stepped out of the house, Cindy locking the door behind everyone. Scotty looked at the new pickup and gawked over its massive size, "Holy moly! This thing is huge! This is even better than Lucky Black!" Dan stood at the foot of the staircase handing the keys to Lita for her to open the doors of the truck and let their passengers in. Eduardo was bringing up the rear. As he began to walk toward the truck, Dan stopped him, "Eddie, can I ask you something?"

Eduardo stopped and turned to Dan, "Yeah, what's up?"

"That story you told; that kid you know who was…" Dan was having a hard time finishing his sentence. Eduardo knew what he meant, "Yeah?"

"Is he…?"

Eduardo sighed hard and looked to the ground, "It was Carlos." Dan winced hard as he placed a hand on his partner's shoulder. "He was riding along with my dad that night. They stopped at the 7-Eleven while it was being robbed. My dad and his partner were in the middle of doing paperwork in the squad out of sight of the window while Carlos went in to use the bathroom. My brother blames himself for putting our dad into that position. That's how it all happened."

Dan stated with remorse, "No wonder he's so gung-ho about police work."

"That's not the worst of it," Eduardo looked up and looked to Dan, "The reason he was trying to get Kevin into the youth training academy…" he averted his eyes, "...is because I dropped out of the criminal justice courses I was enrolled in. That's why he hates me for being a Ghostbuster."

Dan understood. Dan's brother was in the military; Marine Corps. Even though his brother was a computer programmer, he went into the Corps. to become a communications expert using the GI Bill to further his study. His brother looked at him almost the same way because Dan had pursued electronic engineering which was considered an idiot's field of technological involvement. All Dan had in terms of work potential was repairing toasters thanks to the market. Being a man of practicality, Dan's brother didn't believe in ghosts, either. When Dan mentioned his employment with Ameritech, he had more respect for him then when he was a Ghostbuster.

"Eddie, I'm sure he doesn't hate you. If anything, he just thinks you've wasted your potential," Eduardo looked to Dan with a look of annoyance on his face. Dan wasn't finished; he knew he needed to explain, "I'm not saying you wasted it, either. He looks at Ghostbusting as a snake-oil salesmen position; we're all, 'Stand-up Philosophers,' as Mel Brooks puts it."

"'Stand-Up Philosophers'?" the Latino asked, eyebrow raised.

"You know; Bullshit Artists."

"...Oh."

"Look, what I'm getting at is - now that I know what happened - Carl feels guilty for what happened to your dad. Explains why every time I've seen you two together he has to mention you… Well…" "Disrespecting my father's memory?" Eduardo had this pained expression on his face. Dan knew why his brother always said it now, "...Yeah. If anything, your brother is just projecting because he can't shake the feeling of guilt. He's just trying to run away from his issue. You need to stop letting yourself feel bad because you stopped those studies; you see how it's killing him inside, so you don't want that life." Eduardo's eyes opened wide as he realized what Dan was saying. He looked to his leader, partner… and friend… and realized Dan understood the situation better than he wished to.

Dan looked to his friend and conveyed one last thing before they proceeded to the truck, "If there's one thing I can tell you now knowing your family background, it's this: You are not wasting your potential. I've seen it from you a few times, and it's that you have the capability to be a very good investigator. Maybe even the best. After all, Ghostbusters are Paranormal Investigators; using that skill considering your background is absolutely vital to our work. Don't make Carl make you think you wasted any of that skill." With that, Dan put a friendly arm around Eduardo and started ushering him to the truck's driver-side door, "Come on, we have a couple of people to help out here."

Once inside, the vehicle roared to life. Dan slowly crept the vehicle forward as they drove down the street toward Gracie Square Hospital.