Chapter 19: The Challenge

October 25th, 1995

Cherry Hill Temple

4:52 PM

Ecto-1 and Lucky Black are seen screeching to a halt at the front steps of the temple. Everyone exited the vehicles and began making their way to the main path of the temple. Although dressed in their uniforms and equipment belts, they left their major equipment behind in the vehicles as they rushed to the front entryway. Peter took point and knocked onto the door. The door slid open revealing the short old man wearing temple robes that answered the door yesterday when Egon visited. Peter began talking as he attempted to be as smooth as he normally did, "Hello, sir, we're the Ghostbusters. We're here to see your granddaughter?"

Almost immediately the man turned red. He started yelling, "You again?! I told ya once, you bunch of…" Dan stepped forward and attempted to calm the man down, "Look, sir, I'm sorry about the accident. I'm the one that went through the roof. I had no control over the situation. I am incredibly sorry about the mess…"

The old man's eyes went wide when Dan said that, "You're the one? You're the one?!" The old man reached into the door and grabbed a broom, him spinning it around like a quarterstaff, "I'll annihilate ya, ya punk!" He started approaching Dan, making the Ghostbuster back up with his hands out in a halting gesture, "Woah, wait a minute, Donnatello! I'm not here to fight!" "Feel the wrath of 8 generations of the Hino family, you dumb…"

"Grandpa!" The old man stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the voice of his granddaughter calling out to him. He refused to turn and actively had a look of guilt on his face. Raye ran down the stairs - also in her robes - and took the broomstick away from him berating him as she did, "Grandpa, I told you these men were coming over to talk about the roof. I was the one that witnessed it, after all."

Raye's grandfather didn't speak aloud. He instead mumbled under his breath. It was inaudible, but it was most likely obscene. He walked back into the temple as she looked back to the Ghostbusters, "He's still a little sore from the damage to the roof." Dan rolled his eyes as he nodded his head, "He ain't the only one," he started rubbing his injured arm, "I'm assuming by that little story you told your grandpa, you got our message?" Raye looked worried. She nodded, "Everyone's inside the main prayer chamber. Follow me."

Raye led the Ghostbusters inside. Once inside the main shrine they saw all of the girls and the cat guardians together. Lita turned and saw Dan walking in with the rest of the men and promptly rushed over to him. She hugged him, him returning it in kind, "We got your message." "We sure did," Mina stated as she stood before them, "what did you want to see us about?"

"First," Ray began, "we want to apologize about last night. When that image appeared in the sky, the American Ambassador to Japan instructed us to go to the airport. We weren't sure what to expect." "We're sorry, too," Raye responded, "but when you recognized us we were a little freaked out by it. Normally people can't see us for what we really look like." "We don't think of you as an enemy," Amy also spoke out, "We weren't sure what you thought of us and if you would attack us. We were just being cautious."

"Honestly, we kinda figured," Winston stated, "Ray interviewed the French Ambassador and told us about you being involved in stuff in this neck of the woods. It's just a little annoying we never heard of you guys before."

"That's only because of the international perception of Japan, Mr. Zeddemore." Winston looked down and found two cats approaching him and the other Ghostbusters as they spoke. Dan and Egon showed no reaction to the two, but Ray, Winston, and Peter all raised an eyebrow. Ray immediately knelt down, "You guys can talk?" Artemis and Luna stopped, looking a little intimidated as the man stared at them. Luna tried to keep the man calm, her remembering Dan's reaction from the night before, "I assure you Dr. Stantz, we are not…"

"This is great!" The man's gleeful reaction was actually more off putting for the cats than it was for the occultist, "You're the ones that were the advisors to Queen Serenity, weren't you?" Artemis was more bothered by Ray's reaction than anyone, "Shouldn't you be just a little more bothered by talking cats than this?" "What ya mean?" Artemis looked up to Peter as he responded, "This is just another day at the office for us."

Dan was getting annoyed, "We're getting nowhere in a damn hurry. Can we get to the point here?"

"Yes," Egon began explaining the situation, "For the last few days we've been collecting data on a grouping of disappearances that have been happening since last year. They seemed to be concentrated on Arisugawa-No-Miya Park, but it seems now the energy is building to a dangerous level through the rest of the city. After our little escapade last night it appears Jedite, the disappearances, the city-wide energy spikes, and all of us are connected. It looked as though Jedite originally had a grudge against just you. Now that we interfered we're expecting to be targeted now as well."

There was a sharp temperature drop in the room as a new voice appeared behind the Ghostbusters, "And you would be correct." Everyone turned to the voice to find Jedite behind them in the corner of the shrine. Amy, Serena, and Raye were especially bothered by the man's presence, all three of them speaking in unison, "Jedite!"

Dan felt Lita grab his hand from behind him. Dan felt her anxiety spike as he himself watched the man walk forward. He felt as though he made an egregious oversight, "We picked a hell of a time to leave our Proton Packs in the car!" "It wouldn't have mattered if we didn't," Dan looked to Egon to see him holding his PKE meter, him completing a scan already, "He's just a projection. The bulk of his signal is not in the vicinity."

"But of course?" Jedite stopped his approach and eyed the three Sailor Scouts he faced that last night he was alive, crossing his arms, "Would I be foolish enough to Waltz in here myself just to let a bunch of trigger-happy humans and five Sailor Brats get ahold of me?"

"'Sailor Brats'?" Dan repeated disgustedly, "What the hell are you, a Saturday morning cartoon villain?" Lita gripped his hand and muttered for him to stop, afraid of retaliation for his antagonization. Dan was determined to keep insulting the dead General, "When we do eventually kick your ass, what are you gonna scream? 'Curses'? 'I'll get you next time, Gadget'?" The Scouts became overly tense as they were expecting the dead man in the room to become angry…

Jedite chuckled. He kept chuckling until it began to slowly build into a hardy, bone-chilling laugh. The laugh echoed through the prayer space with the girls taking a step back. The Ghostbusters on the other hand were not impressed, all of them rolling their collective eyes. Jedite addressed the room while pointing to Dan, "I like him. This man has some spunk. This is a challenge I can't wait to see start."

Lita finally rounded Dan and stood in front of him, confronting the General with tenacity, "What do you want? Why are you here?"

"I'm offering a challenge," he stated, his hand extended out as though he was metaphorically offering an object in his hand, "In one hour I want you to meet me at Starlight Tower. Upon entrance I will give you further instruction. If you are even one minute late your fate will fall upon the city, and yes, I am very serious. Remember: Starlight Tower. One hour. All ten of you. You become a no-show, I will turn this city into ashes." With that, the image of the Negaverse General faded and disappeared from sight.

Peter nodded his head, "I'd say that went well. Kinda funny you referenced Inspector Gadget, Dan; Ray here can do a really good Dr. Claw impression." Ray growled at Peter, "You said you wouldn't mention that to anyone!" Dan looked at both of them strangely, "We just had the whole city threatened to be rendered to dust and you're talking cartoons?" A look crossed his face after realizing what he just said, prompting a new question, "Why are the two of you watching a kids cartoon, anyway?"

The two senior Ghostbusters looked at each other then averted their eyes. Peter started whistling and Ray cleared his throat. Winston walked beside Dan and sighed as he put a hand on Dan's shoulder, "And these two sign our paychecks, that's the pitiful part."

The Scouts didn't like it, Raye being the first to vocalize, "Starlight Tower? Again?"

Winston turned to her, asking, "Where's that?"

Leading everyone outside, all five of the Scouts pointed out the tallest building in the skyline. The building looked like a large crystal spire reaching into the heavens. Peter whistled in amazement, "Maybe I've been getting rusty in the observation department, but how is it I don't remember that building from the last trip here?" "They were still in the middle of building it when we were here last," Egon answered, "If anything the effects of the Silver Crystal might have made us forget that little tidbit."

"That would make sense," Mina said with a sigh, "We did kinda destroy it about a year ago."

Dan's eyes went wide as he looked at the building, his memories of a few months back flooding his mind again like a bad wide-awake nightmare. He thought of what he thought were his last moments being thrown from the Empire State building's observation deck, "I don't think I can do this." Serena looked up to the American man and saw the look on his face. It was one of the more upsetting looks she's seen on a person. There was fear; a look that said how close to death he had come to. She asked him, "Why? What happened?"

"We were in a building a few months ago. I don't think I can…" a look of epiphany reached his face as he remembered, "Unless…" Dan began running down the path toward the street. Everyone began looking at each other wondering why he just suddenly picked up pace. They needed to get to the vehicles anyway so they took Dan's lead and followed him to the street in front of the shrine grounds.

Once they reached the street they found Dan in the back of the truck's bed with the tonneau cover open. He looked back to the crowd that gathered and looked specifically to Winston, "Zee, give me a hand with this." Winston came to the edge of the tailgate and saw what Dan was reaching for. It was the third Proton Pack that sat in the bed of the truck. He saw what Dan was doing and immediately commented with protest, "You're seriously not thinking of using that thing!"

Dan unbuckled the device from the bed and stood it up, "What choice do we have? Besides, Egon wanted me to use it in extreme conditions." "I told you to test in extreme conditions," Egon corrected him, "Extreme, but controlled. This wasn't the intended parameters for said experimentation." Dan began putting the modified Proton Pack on with Winston's help, "We don't have time to play this cool, Egon."

"There's always time to be safe with experimental hardware."

"We have 45 minutes to get across a major city," Dan clicked the belt of the pack then grabbed a set of fingerless gloves that had wiring looms attached to what looked like control thumbsticks. They sat upon grips permanently affixed to the palms. He put them on then reached for a control on the left strap of the pack, "We only have enough time for a crash course and systems check." Egon didn't like it, but it was looking more and more like his junior member was determined to make this the plan and that he might be correct in doing so. He reluctantly nodded and started checking the pack over.

"I don't get it," Raye asked as she looked at the pack, "What's so special about it?" Dan toggled a switch on the left strap and turned a dial attached to a box with a digital display. A set of aluminum wings unfolded from behind the support frame of the pack and extended outward. The girls stood in awe at the sight of the equipment, Lita knowing exactly what it was, "The Flight Pack!" Dan explained, "This is an experimental muon/meson collision system. The system takes the stray particles that are usually byproducts of the cyclotron and uses it for thrust. If we're going up there, I'm going prepared."

Egon was looking at the pack to check all power levels and connections. The device looked good in his eyes, "Everything is nominal," he walked around Dan and faced him, "Remember that your left controller is for all directional control. The top left button is to switch between flight and hover modes. The bottom left button is for emergency speed boosts only! You will only have a 15 second burst; any more than that you will melt the discharge ports. You can only sustain flight for a maximum of 10 minutes at full power. You can control speed with the right stick. Under no circumstances do you attempt to fire your particle thrower while the system is in use. It is a pooled isotope resource. Do you understand?"

Dan nodded.

Egon wanted Dan to reaffirm so he asked more stiffly, "Are you sure you understand?"

Dan spoke with indignance, "Yes, goddamnit! Limited resources! Got it!" Egon had one more thing for him, "You and Winston go on ahead of us. If you get there before us, wait for us in the main lobby of the tower. We'll take the Scouts with us in Ecto-1." Both Dan and Winston nodded. Dan deactivated the pack's flight systems allowing the wings to fold back in. Before the two Ghostbusters stepped into the truck Lita stopped Dan, "Wait," he turned to her, "be careful out there. You need to go toward the Chuo border to reach the tower and it's still busy this time of the evening."

"I've navigated through Lake Shore Drive during rush hour," Dan said with confidence, "Manhattan gridlock is cheesecake next to that; this place is nothin'."

"Especially if he's drivin' through it," Winston commented, "it'll become nothin'."

Dan rolled his eyes in annoyance, the look of confidence leaving his face, "How'd you like to get out of the truck while it's still moving, smartass?"

Egon called out from Ecto-1 as everyone else loaded into the car, "We'll call the Ambassador and instruct them to clear the area around the tower." Dan gave him a thumbs up then turned back to Lita, "You better get in Ecto-1 with everyone else." Lita nodded. The both of them locked eyes again. This was only the beginning and they both knew it. Hey hugged each other once more. Once Winston called out, they quickly broke apart. Dan started moving toward his driver door as he yelled out, "I'll see you there!"

Lita stood for a moment as she watched Dan get into his vehicle with Winston and prepare to get the vehicle rolling. The other Scouts called out to her to get into Ecto-1, her looking to them as they shouted. She looked back to the black Chevrolet for a moment before turning to run to the Cadillac.

Seatbelts locked and engine started, Dan gripped the wheel as he addressed Winston, "This is going to be a really difficult ride. There's going to be traffic and we have no time to dick around. I'm going to do what it takes to get us there with no idling. If we get there with time to spare," he turned to look at his superior in the passenger seat, "you owe me one huge ass apology."

"If you somehow even get us there alive," he retorted, "I'm gonna start going to church again!"

"Does that mean you're ready?"

"Not really, no."

Dan activated the lights and siren, "Well, to that I say," he then forcefully shifted into first, "'Tough shit!'" He revved the engine high as he dropped the clutch. The tires smoked as the truck started moving from it's standstill position and did a half-donut in the street. Dan straightened the wheel as he changed gears. The truck found traction and started flying down the street away from the temple.

All of the Scouts watched from the windows of the Ecto-1 as the truck sailed past them. The girls watched as he hit the corner hard and fast as the tires continued screeching out of sight. The four of them looked at Lita with an almost stunned look on their faces, Serena putting words to the thought, "And you fell in love with that?"

Lita put her hand to the back of her head and nervously chuckled, "Okay, so he's a little hyper behind the wheel. That doesn't make him a… what I mean is, he isn't a…" Peter turned in his seat and looked at her, "I think the word you're searching for is 'Maniac'."

The truck slid sideways as it hit another corner and started barreling down. Swerving into oncoming lanes and blowing through traffic lights people moved out of the truck's way as Dan and Winston came screaming through the streets of Juban. They were going through the area near Arisugawa Park when a semi-truck blew a redlight in front of them blocking the intersection. Dan cut the wheel and went through the park's fence.

Instead of stopping and finding another way around Dan just began speeding through the park instead. Driving down the running path they found their way through a tunnel that led under one of the passing streets. People heard the truck coming and immediately got out of the way, screaming as they did. Winston didn't like it, and it wasn't without reason, "Watch where you're going, man! You're gonna kill someone doin' this!"

"That's why God made emergency sirens! Hangin' a Lucy!" Once they cleared the tunnel Dan took a sharp turn up a hill off the walking path and toward the street. Skidding over the sidewalk and back onto the street Dan hit another corner.

Looking to the skyline he kept his eye on the tower to make sure he was going the right way. The building was still a good distance away - roughly 3 miles. In normal on-the-highway terms that would only take a few minutes to travel. In city terms that was an eternity, especially with the traffic that was lining up on the only straight away that led them to the tower.

Dan hopped the median and went back into oncoming for a moment before sliding making a left around the corner on the next street. It looked like an open street. Dan turned into it and found the road had ended. Winston exclaimed, "Dead end!" Dan slammed on the brakes and skid to a halt. When the truck finally stopped Dan slammed his head into his seat's headrest in anger, "Damnit! We're not gonna get anywhere at this rate!" "Makes me wish we didn't destroy Ecto-Ichi," Winston said with irritation in his voice, "We could have flown over this crap!"

Dan was looking over to Winston to respond when he noticed something in the rearview mirror, "Hey, Zee, how ya feel about taking the subway?" Winston looked at him with an eyebrow cocked about to say something when he saw what Dan was looking at. Looking out the back window Winston saw the Azabu-Juban Station entrance. He looked at his junior, "No…"

Dan slammed into reverse and the truck launched backwards. Cutting the wheel Dan flipped the truck into a Rockford and put the truck forward. Winston didn't want to see it. He covered his face with his arms as Dan drove down the stairs. The truck hopped as it hit the stairs and subsequent landings. The brake lights lit as the truck skidded around the corner and headed down the exit tunnel toward the platforms.

Dan blew the horn over the siren as people hugged the walls of the wide exit tunnel. They came upon a hub that split into two different platforms. The tires screeched as Dan powered down the siren and stopped, people around them turning and jumping away from the vehicle's presence. Dan rolled down his window and asked the subway travelers, "Which way is the best way to get to Starlight Tower?" The Tokyo citizens looked at the American before looking at their fellow citizens confused. Some of them started running away from the truck. Dan watched as they ran away, "It's because I'm a tourist, isn't it?"

Dan looked ahead of him and saw what he needed. He moved the truck forward and stopped in front of a subway network map. He hung himself out of the window as he got close to the map. As this was happening people were starting to gather around the vehicle curious as to why an American made vehicle with emergency lights was in a subway station. Winston sank in his seat as people looked into the truck. He was more self-councious about not only the ridiculous situation they were in, but the fact he had to have been the only black man within 10,000 miles being involved with something this stupid. He nervously smiled and waved to the people outside the truck as he reached over and grabbed the back of Dan's uniform, tugging on it to get his attention, "Dan? Can we please get the hell outta here?"

Dan found the information he was looking for, "Got it! We can take the E line!" Crawling back in he reactivated the siren and blew the horn. The people moved as the truck started moving hastfully toward the platforms.

People were standing at the ticket gate when they started hearing something echo from the stairwell. What looked like strobing red and white lights followed the sound getting louder as people looked toward the stairs. The rumble of an engine and the squealing of rubber on tile started to become more prominent as people started looking back to the tunnel along with the operators of the ticket booths. Just as they became too curious…

SCREEEECH! A black 1992 S-10 hit the floor and started moving toward the booths. The travelers and booth operators got out of the way just as the truck ran through and destroyed the booths and turnstiles. The security guards came out and started assessing what just happened, lost to the situation. Winston was watching all the destruction Dan was performing on the subway, "We are gonna be in so much trouble for this! I mean, the damage alone…"

"After the way Flint yelled at us last night," Dan was a rather bit angered at even bring up the damage, "he can fuck himself. We got a problem bigger than some dipshit damage," dropping another level, they approached the platform. He saw what side he needed to go to, "We gotta head toward Daimon Station!"

"What are we doin'?" Winston asked, "Leavin' the truck?"

"Nope, we're taking the tracks!"

"What?!"

The truck's brush guard knocked the track tunnel guards out of the way as the truck dropped onto the subway rail. Driving over the monorail the ride became rough as the two Ghostbusters were jolted around the cab. Dan maintained control as the vehicle traveled the darkened tunnel. Dan hit the spotlights so they could see ahead of them. Winston didn't like where this was going, "I hope you're planning on swerving when the 5:35 comes down!"

"This is the counter-clockwise track," Dan kept his focus on the center rail to keep aligned, "We're currently ahead of the train." "How do you know? You've never been to Tokyo before!" That's right, how did he know that? He thought back to early this morning, "Uh… Lita knew it." Winston gave a frightened but snarky inquiry to that statement, "So, you always talk about a town's subway system when you date someone?" Dan had a moment of silence as he tried to think of something. All he could get out was, "It's complicated. You gotta admit though; Tokyo's transit system is pretty damn efficient!"

They passed the Daimon Station, people at the platform looking over the guardrails as the Lucky Black sailed by with lights and siren activated. Winston saw the confused faces as they sped past the people in the station, "Yeah, they're committed to quality, whereas you should just be committed!"

The truck exited the tunnel and both occupants saw they were on an elevated platform. Winston got close to his window and looked over the edge of the elevated tracks, "Great! How ya plannin' on getting us down, Evel Knievel?" Dan looked around and they were approaching a station that was under construction. Beside the platform was a parking garage, "I think I got an idea." Winston's face became etched with terror even before he turned to see what Dan was looking at. That phrase was all too common in this company as it was, but when Dan said it it was even more nerve-wracking. He swallowed in fear and turned his head and saw the garage's open top platform. He facepalmed, "Man, I really need to shut up!"

Dan hit the exchange in the monorail and jumped the truck off the track toward the garage. Time seemed to slow down as the truck flew through the air. Winston gripped anything he could on the inside of the vehicle as Dan gripped the wheel as tight as he could. It was too close to call. The rate of their descent made it look like the truck was going to fall short of the edge of the garage roof. It was a heart stopping moment as the truck nosed closer and closer to the garage, it looked as though the vehicle wasn't going to make it…

SLAM! The front of the truck hit the concrete of the garage, the suspension gave from the force enough to bottom out the vehicle and throw sparks. The back wheels hit soon after and the vehicle bounced causing the rearend to get loose. Dan corrected as he drove, still at speed. He quickly came to the end of the garage and saw the ramp down. He pulled his emergency brake handle and locked the rear wheels to pitch the truck into a drift. Counter-steering he followed the path down the garage level by level. Dan saw the exit of the garage with the ticket gate arm down. The truck hit the speed bump inside just in front of the gate sending the truck back into the air and through the gate arm. The truck flew out of the garage and into a one-way street causing at least a few cars to stop abruptly.

The whole trek through the garage Winston had his one arm over his eyes as he was holding on the roof handle. Dan called out, "You can uncover your eyes, Zee." Winston lowered his arm and peeked over the top of it with one eye, "Heaven looks a lot like Tokyo." "That's because we're not dead, dude."

"You sure? Maybe we should get a PKE meter and check?"

Dan got an indignant look on his face, sighing to himself, "You know, you suck sometimes Winston."

Winston turned and yelled in terror at the man at the wheel, "Says Bo Duke over here!"

"Yeah, like you never launched the Ecto-1 before!" Before Winston could respond to that Dan saw a set of police detour barricades, "Hold that thought!" Dan slammed the brakes again and sent the truck through another intersection making another turn. Right at that moment they saw a set of tricked out Hondas and Toyotas that blew into the intersection, wrecked and on fire. Behind them were a set of police lights. It looked like Dan and Winston joined the aftermath of an illegal street race and subsequent police chase. Winston looked around him, "Oh, this is gonna end well."

Dan hammered the brake pedal again and brought the vehicle to a stop. The intersection was completely blocked. Dan crawled out of the window and sat on top of the door as he called out to the police that were on the scene, "Hey!" he waved his arms to get the officer's attention. One of the patrolmen saw the Ectomobile and began running over. The officer slowed as he looked at the truck, confused at the design and the damage on the front of the brush guard.

"Hey, we need to get to Starlight Tower five minutes ago, you know what I mean?" Dan announced, "Is there any way around this?"

The officer finally reached the truck's driver and addressed the man, "No. There was an illegal street race that came in as we were given an order to evacuate the area. We still can't let anyone in after we clear it," that was when the officer noticed the logo on the door of the truck, "Wait, you're Ghostbusters?"

Winston joined Dan crawling out of the window the same way, "How long is it gonna take to clear the intersection? It's an emergency!" The officer was looking back and forth between the wreck and Winston, "I donno. Maybe 30 minutes. They still have a fire further down the street so the Engines are in the way," Dan slammed his fist on the roof of the truck as the officer continued, "No way around, either. The evac order is blocking the district. Unless you can fly, I don't know what to tell you." The officer turned and started to walk toward the accident as Dan and Winston crawled back into the truck.

Dan immediately grabbed the mic of his radio and began radioing back to Ecto-1, "Black Rouge to White Knight, come in." "White Knight," Egon's voice came out of the speaker of the radio, "Go ahead." "Egon, we got a friggan mess here. We're less than a mile from the tower and a major intersection is blocked. You're gonna have to devert." "There's no way around from where you are?" "Negative," Dan started surveying what he saw before him, "We've got cars on fire, fire trucks, police cars, and we've got at least one flatbed tow… truck." Dan slowly had a thought as he saw the tow truck pull onto the scene and begin loading up the first put out car.

"Understood, Shannon, we will devert. White Knight out." "Black Rouge out." Dan put the radio mic back on the radio as he watched the flatbed tilt it's bed down. Winston looked at the destruction as he commented, "Man, how are we gonna get through all of this?"

"I've got an idea."

Winston heard Dan's words and felt his heart nearly stop. He looked and saw the flatbed tow truck, "Oh, no. No! Nononono!" Dan backed the truck up as far as he could in the incoming lane and lined the truck up. The flatbed driver was about to start chaining up the vehicle to the wench, "Okay, it's now or never." Winston really didn't like this idea, "Come on, man, there's gotta be a better way!" "You heard the guy, Winston," Dan shifted back into first and revved the engine, "that's 30 minutes we don't have." Winston groaned, "Why didn't I just stay a construction worker?" Dan revved the engine high…

"Yippee-Ki-Yay!"

Dan dropped the clutch. He laid on the horn to warn the police and the tow driver to get out of the way. Dan gripped the wheel just as the tires hit the edge of the bed and climbed up at high speed. Winston bent down and covered his head with his hands all while screaming in fear, "Oh, shit!"

The truck broke through the guard at the top of the bed and took to the air again. Police and firefighters jumped away from the tow truck as the pickup flew up then over a fire engine just beyond the vehicle. The truck's rear wheels narrowly hit the firetruck's lights and hit the ground at speed. The truck swerved as Dan fought to get the vehicle under control attempting to avoid the vehicles stuck in the traffic. The truck finally straightened out and picked up speed.

Dan started to breathe again after getting the truck to stop waving around, "You can get up now, dude."

"No no, that's okay," Winston said with a whimper, still sitting with his head down, "I'm rather happy not seeing death coming. Ugh, sushi was a bad lunch idea."

"You puke in here, you're walkin'."

He turned his head to look at the driver while covering the back of his head still, his words dripping with sarcasm, "Don't threaten me, now."

"Oh, bite me."

They arrived. Roughly two blocks outside the Tower's perimeter was a quickly erected police barricade made of some wooden sawhorses and police cars. The cops standing nearby heard the siren and looked to the lights approaching. The officer looked to the other standing nearby and instructed him to move the barricades with him. They hastily pulled the wood barricades out of the way just as the truck roared passed.

Dan pulled on the emergency brake and threw the rear end of the truck into a slide. The truck spun into the curb in front of the main doors of the Tower with both passenger-side tires hitting the gutter. The siren powered down, the emergency lights turning off soon after. The two Ghostbusters emerged from the vehicle and looked up the side of the tower.

The last specks of sunlight reflected off the angles of the building, it's strange and unique architecture piercing the clouds above the late autumn sky. The tower was enormous. Dan finally got a feel for the situation and it didn't bode well. It didn't for Winston, either. The junior Ghostbuster on scene commented, dread in his voice, "This is gonna be a long night."