Chapter 24: Bridging The Gap

Serena sat across the table in the hotel, coffee cup before her in front of a man she barely knew and was even made fun of by the night before. Eduardo sat before a woman that up until two weeks ago didn't exist to him, even in the informational sense. Somehow, by some small miracle, they not only trusted each other, but were extremely open with each other, "That seems to explain a lot," Serena said to the New Yorker, "So, this dream to you was some sort of warning?"

Eduardo looked into his coffee mug and watched as the steam rose into the air, "My whole life I felt this odd feeling that if I were to, I donno, be put into a position of authority, all I'm gonna do is screw it up. After what happened to my father…" he couldn't finish his sentence. He sighed as he picked up his coffee and took a sip.

The story was extremely familiar to the point that Serena felt uncomfortable about it. It was clear there was something about this hispanic man in her presence that was making her think of Dan and what Lita had told her the day the Sailor Scouts met the Ghostbusters. She wasn't one to draw conclusions - mostly because it got her into trouble in her youth - but it was hard to miss this time around. She still had to ask, "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Eduardo put down his mug slowly, him shaking his head in confusion, "I donno. There's something about you that makes me trust you. Call me loco, but there's something familiar about you. When I look at you, the word, 'Serenity' keeps coming to mind. I donno know if it's just your name, but…" That was when an alarm went off in her head as her eyes went wide looking to the man that kept looking at the table. He finally looked up to her and asked, "Does that make any sense to you?"

Serena very calmly stood from her chair, revealing she was still in her pajamas, "It makes more sense than it should. Eduardo, I think we should go to your headquarters. There's something…" that was when beeps were heard in the next room. She looked back toward the bedroom and knew what the beeps were. Eduardo watched her do this, "What is that? A pager? Is your guy a doctor?"

She looked back, "Um… Something like that. I'll be back!" She ran toward the bedroom, closing the doors behind her. He raised an eyebrow, "That was a weird response." That was when his cell phone went off. Pulling it out of his pocket he looked at the screen. It said, "WORK" on the display. That was usually a bad sign, "Aw, crap."

In the bedroom, Serena opened her purse and retrieved her communicator. Turning it on, Amy's face appeared on the screen, "Amy? What's the matter?" "Serena, you might want to start heading toward the Ghostbusters' headquarters. We have an announcement we have to make." "Announcement?" The woman asked, confused. "Yes. We're going to reveal ourselves to the new team of Ghostbusters."

"Amy, are you nuts?" Serena was not liking this idea, "Why would we want to…" "There's a reason for it. Last night, their headquarters was attacked, and me and Raye had to transform." "What? Why?" "That's right, you weren't here. We learned the flying creatures were Negamonsters."

Serena's jaw dropped, "No way! I thought I destroyed the Negaforce!"

"That's why the Ghostbusters' equipment is ineffective against them. What's more, Raye just got back here and told us something that put all the pieces together for us. Dan's recalling all of the other Ghostbusters right now."

"Uh…" Serena suddenly felt her chest clench, "Eduardo's here right now. That, and Mina and Darien aren't here. Amy, you might wanna hear this..."

"What in the hell are you doing at Darien and Serena's?" Eduardo was uneased talking with Dan on his phone. The man rolled his eyes in a stressful manner as he looked to the ceiling, wondering if he should say it. He didn't have time when Dan started again, "You know what? It doesn't matter. If Serena is there, the two of you hop a cab and get here ASAP."

Upon hearing that, Eduardo grew concerned, "A-are you sure I should do that?" "Yes. She has to come here, too. I leave it in your hands." He was still worried. There was something in his brain that made him terrified to have Serena with him. Nevertheless, without much hesitation, he sighed as he gave his answer, "Yeah, alright. We'll be there soon." "Alright. Talk to ya then." The phone clicked and the call ended. He slowly put his phone in his pocket as a bad feeling started creeping up his spine.

"I thought Egon didn't want us in today?" Kylie was at home in her apartment on the phone with Janine. She sat on the edge of her bed with the landline phone on one side, and her cat Pagan on the other. The black and white cat laid beside her as she spoke again, "What changed?"

Janine reiterated what had happened, "The firehouse was attacked last night, and another of those big hulking Norse monsters was on its way to the firehouse this afternoon when Dan, Lita, Roland, and even Egon went and stopped it."

"I know about the attack last night," she said, somewhat pained by the memory of what happened after, "I was there holding the line, but another Draugr made its way up?"

"It's obvious we have a massive problem," the secretary's voice projected stress as she spoke, "Egon's requested that if you have any spare equipment at home, you bring it back. We're going to need all the traps we can find." The flip-flopping was causing the goth to pinch the bridge of her nose. She sighed, "Alright. I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Watch yourself out there," Janine's voice placed weight on the words, "Egon's saying these things are getting violent. They're even starting to target us." Kylie's eyes popped open and she released the bridge of her nose when she heard that. Now she knew it was serious; reading up on how the Original Ghostbusters we targeted in the past. She nodded, even though Janine couldn't see it, "I will."

"We'll see you here." The other end of the phone clicked. Kylie placed the handset on the hook, then turned to her cat, petting it, "Sorry, Pagan, mama's gotta go to work."

Roughly 10 minutes later, Kylie stepped out of her building wearing her full uniform; trap rig, trap, and Proton Pistol. In her hands was a full sized Proton Pack, "When he said all of it, I'm sure he means it. Geez," she hefted the pack up a bit to get a better grip on it, "I'm turning into Roland taking all this stuff home." With that, she walked to her bus stop.

Darien and Mina had been stuck in midtown traffic for some time. Darien had been fidgeting in his seat looking outside the cab as he stayed quiet. Mina had been looking over and watching him as he had his head into his hand. Something was bothering him as though a memory resurfaced.

"Darien?" she started softly, "Darien, what's this all about? Why are we going to the Ghostbusters HQ? Does it have to do with those headaches you keep getting?"

"Every time you mention Eduardo, it would start slow, then it would ramp up suddenly," Darien explained as he rubbed his temple, "There's something about him that's reminding me of Dan. I think I know what it is."

"You said you were responsible. Responsible for what?" Darien looked to Mina, pulling his hand away from his head a moment. He looked to the back of the seat in front of him in worried thought a moment later. He had a look on his face that spoke volumes, "I'm…"

The squealing of tires was heard as the cab came to a sudden halt. The Indian driver screamed in Hindi as he slammed on the brakes. Mina and Darien were thrown forward as their seatbelts caught them. Once the cab finally stopped, Darien yelled out, "Hey, what's with the sudden…"

CRUNCH! The roof of the cab went missing as glass shattered around them. The cabbie quickly undid his seatbelt and fled the cab, screaming out, "Forget fare! One for all, and all for one's self!" After uncovering themselves, they watched the Indian driver flee with the other people in the street. Darien couldn't help but comment, "Now I know why New Yorkers make fun of their taxi drivers."

The wind picked up above them as the winged monsters hovered, cackling as they looked down at their prey. Mina and Darien looked at each other, then quickly unbuckled their seatbelts. The monsters dove toward them as they narrowly escaped the cab out their doors. The weight and inertia of the beast slamming into the vehicle caused all four tires on the cab to blow. The two of them began running in line of the crowd away from the beasts causing the mayhem.

In another cab a few streets back, Eduardo and Serena were making their same trek toward the firehouse. Serena was now wearing a simple white dress under a faded denim jacket, her ditching the pink pajamas. Eduardo was still engaged with her in a somewhat intrusive conversation, "Okay, so your guy…" "His name," Serena interrupted, "is Darien." "Okay, Darien, is not a doctor, how can you afford the Stanhope Hyatt? Isn't that place, like, $1,000 a night?"

"Darien is working toward being a doctor," she sighed as she looked to the floor of the cab, "His mentor had to cancel his trip to New York right as we were planning our trip. He had already paid everything in full; so he allowed us to use his reservation."

"Dan said you two were a couple," Eduardo looked away from the window, "how far back you guys been together?"

"About six years."

"That far back?" Eduardo's eyebrow raised, "Dan and Darien look almost the same age." "They are the same age. They're both 26-27." "How old are you?" Serena looked to the Ghostbuster beside him with an offended look on her face, but saw how disturbingly Eduardo looked at her. She almost felt interrogated, "I-I'm 21. I met him back when I was 14."

7 years. Eduardo was no math wiz, but he knew how far back Dan met Lita. If Lita and Serena were the same age… "Oh… My… God. That's why…"

Suddenly the cab began rocking side to side. The rocking became more violent as outside the cab other vehicles began flipping on their sides. The Ukrainian cab driver saw what was going on outside and began ducking in his seat, "Coming in!" It was clear he didn't speak English.

The cab flipped onto its side. Serena slid from her side of the cab and fell onto Eduardo who was now laying on his door. Serena sat up, "That hurt. Good thing I landed on something soft." "Yeah," Eduardo groaned, "Me!" He unbuckled his seatbelt and pulled himself from under her, "Why weren't you wearing your seatbelt?"

The cab shook with a thud as the both of them looked above them and saw a Man-Bat screeching, it standing on the pillars of the vehicle's doors. Serena screamed in terror as she grabbed Eduardo by his jacket. Eduardo himself screamed like a girl as he covered his eyes with his arms. The beast took flight, the powerful wind of it's takeoff knocking the vehicle on its roof.

The bottom weight of the cab collapsed the roof's pillars and shattered the car's side windows and the front windshield. Serena, Eduardo, and the cab driver found themselves on the roof of the cab, disoriented from the chaos. Between the front and back of the cab was a plastic divider that was meant to protect the driver. The two passengers called out to the cabbie pleading for help. The cab driver looked to the busted front windshield, then looked back to his fare, "As they say old country, 'No get caught hitchhike with blue suit in Leningrad'!"

Eduardo and Serena looked at each other perplexed, then back to the driver, speaking in unison, "What?!"

The driver crawled out of the cab and started to flee. Eduardo screamed after him, "Hey! Help us outta here, you commie bastard!" He punched the plexiglass in rage. Serena looked about the cab and found that the only window that hasn't completely collapsed was the rear window. Eduardo waved his hand around as he noticed Serena beginning to crawl toward the cracked window, "What're ya doin'?"

She pressed against the window pushing against it, "We gotta push it out!"

"Get back!" She turned back to Eduardo and saw he pointed his feet toward the window. She backed away as he prepared himself and moved into position. While laying on his back, he started kicking the window, his boots clopping against the tempered glass. After several kicks, it looked as though the effort was doing no good, "Why isn't it breaking?" Serena asked, worry filling her voice.

"A lot of these cabs are old cop cars," Eduardo answered as he delt several more kicks to the window, "They laminate the rear window to deflect bullets from behind. So if a cop is at a traffic stop, no one can shoot the cop in his squad when he isn't looking."

There was another problem approaching. Through the other broken windows, a horrible smell began lingering into the cab. Serena instantly became grossed out, "Ew!" She slapped her hands over her nose and mouth, "What is that?" Eduardo smelled it. He stopped kicking and recognized the odor, "Aw, man, don't tell me…"

THUD! From outside the window the both of them witnessed something bobbing up and down behind the other vehicles on the road. THUD! THUD! The object became more clear over the horizon of traffic. A Draugr wearing a helmet and no facial hair approached, it carrying a large sword. Eduardo looked back to Serena, "You gotta help me!" Serena had her eyes bugging out of her head looking at the beast, "Eduardo? W-what is that?" "Our funeral if you don't help me!"

The Draugr approached, it stepping on cars and small pick-up trucks as it approached. It drooled as he looked to the people running away from it. It failed to pay attention and ended up walking to the back of a semi-truck. It lost whatever patience it had and proceeded to grab the trailer. It picked it up and threw it across the road into a building. People narrowly missed the abandoned truck crashing back into the ground as well as the debris from the now smashed building.

Serena was now helping Eduardo kick the rear window of the cab out, but both of them were kicking out of sync with each other almost panicking as they kicked frantically. Eduardo saw how quickly they weren't getting anywhere, "Wait a minute! Same time. Ready?" Serena looked to him and nodded. He started to command, "And… Kick!" Both made contact. It shifted the window. "Kick!" This strike dislodged the window around it's seal. "Come on, one more. Kick!" The window popped out of the back. The two of them rolled over and started to crawl out when they saw the Draugr was nearly on top of them.

"Dios bueno!" Eduardo saw the Draugr's foot about to crush the cab and saw they were only halfway out of the vehicle. He grabbed Serena by the back of her denim jacket she was wearing and with all his strength threw her clear of the cab. It wasn't much; Eduardo wasn't over-strong, but he managed to get her away just in time. One of his feet were still inside the rear window opening when the Draugr stomped on the vehicle. The metal folded in a way that trapped his right foot. He was able to flip over and tried to pull his foot loose, but to no avail, "Crap, I'm stuck!"

The Draugr heard him. The beast turned and leered at him, a blank expression on his face. Something was with this Draugr that made it different than the others so far.

Serena turned over and saw the beast staring at the Ghostbuster. She saw him sweating bullets as he laid on the ground under the trunk lid of the cab. It was clear he was terrified. She scrambled to her feet and backed away a moment. She watched as he turned back over and yelled out to her, "Go! Run!"

That didn't sound like something Eduardo would say. Even he knew it.

Nevertheless, Serena stood by. She had a sudden and quick debate in her mind. She didn't want to reveal herself to Eduardo, but she didn't have much of a choice. Still, not only was he a Ghostbuster, he was a friend of the team, and if what Amy said was true…

"I'm not going to let you hurt my friend!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a heart-shaped compact. Eduardo saw her raise her arm with the device in her hand, a sudden flair of panic rising within him, "What are you doing? Get outta here before…"

Before he could finish, Serena called out, "Moon… Cosmic… Power!" She waved her hand over the compact and it opened, a pink heart-shaped crystal shining out. Serena was suddenly enveloped in light, her body suddenly surrounded by ribbons of energy changing her appearance. Eduardo squinted as the light intensified. It became so bright, he covered his eyes with his hand.

The Draugr grunted as it covered its eyes from the light, it stumbling back as the light pulsed through the damaged street.

The light finally died down as Eduardo peeked through his fingers. As he did, he heard a voice call out, "Destroying a major city and hurting people are not very nice things to do! Being dead is no excuse to be evil!" Eduardo's eyes finally adjusted as he saw before him another woman in a sailor suit, it being trimmed in red and blue with a bow on her chest.

He looked at her and realized what he was looking at; it was the same design costume as the two women from last night; it was the same as the woman running away from Chelsea the day Lita came to the firehouse and Dan collapsed. Suddenly he noticed two things; the compact Serena was holding was now on this woman's chest, and she was standing in the same spot the woman she was traveling with was standing just a moment before. There was one last thing he noticed…

The buns on the top of her head, now encrusted with red jewels with long strands of blonde hair coming from them. It hit him like a pallet of bricks, "Holy sh…"

"I'm Sailor Moon! I will right wrongs and triumph over evil," she pointed at the Draugr, "and that means you!"

"It took this long," Eduardo commented calmly, "but Ghostbusting has finally driven me insane."