Part 4
Egon hurried back to Ecto and got in. Aunt Lois was quiet as he drove back to the hospital to see Peter. Normally, Egon was comfortable with quiet. He and Ray had spent countless hours in amiable silence, working on a piece of machinery or conducting laboratory tests. But as pleasant as Ray's aunt was, the situation made the silence unbearable. Finally, without taking his eyes off the road, Egon asked, "have you made any plans where you will be staying?"
"Yes. I'm staying with a friend." Lois fixed her eyes on the road ahead as well, still in shock after her visit to Belfe.
"Will you be safe there?"
"Yes Egon. When is Ray's hearing?"
"It's not really a hearing, it's an evaluation. I think it's Thursday, which gives us two days to find Favish."
"How are you going to find him?"
Egon's hands tightened on the steering wheel, and his eyes darkened. "We'll find him if we have to tear this city apart."
"What will you do when you find him? I believe Ray, but Favish looks nothing like him. How are we going to prove that it was Alan that did all those terrible things, and not my Ray?"
Egon thought for a moment. "We have to find that demon. I think Slimer can help there."
"I hope so. Do you think he would?"
Egon couldn't help himself, his mouth twitched into a wry smile. "Slimer would do anything for Ray. We're his family."
Egon pulled Ecto back into the parking lot of the hospital, and put the vehicle in park. "Well we're here. I'm not sure I want to face Peter right now."
As they got out a man and woman approached them. They were about the same age as Lois, and the woman was clearly distraught, wringing a rumpled and worn looking kleenex in her hands. "Lois!" She exclaimed, running up to them. "I was so worried about you."
"Oh hello, Helen. You know Egon, don't you?"
Helen turned her attention to the physicist, who fairly towered over the two women, and sized him up. Egon offered only a nod as acknowledgment. "Only by the news. We've got your stuff in the car. We have to get home."
"All right, Helen. Egon, I'll be at the hearing Thursday. Please find the you-know-what."
Helen looked shocked. "Lois! You're going to your nephew's hearing? After what he did?"
"Helen, Ray didn't do it."
"All right, dear, he didn't do it." Lois' friend adopted the tone of voice usually reserved for children or the senile. Lois just rolled her eyes.
"See you Thursday, Egon."
Egon nodded. After they left, he walked into the hospital and found Peter's room. Peter was sitting up and reading when Egon came in. Egon was mildly surprised to find the room empty of visitors, as Venkman loved to play the invalid for the attention.
"Where is everyone?"
"I sent them home. My Dad was driving me crazy, and if I had to hear Winston moaning about his guilty conscience much longer, I'd have hit him. So when does Ray get out?"
"Peter, it's not going to be that easy. There's going to be an evaluation on Thursday. The doctors will examine him, test him, and if he passes he'll be turned over to the police. If he's found insane they'll lock him up in that place for the rest of his life. Which will probably be less than a year."
Peter fixed Egon with a stare. Venkman was not used to hearing defeatist rhetoric from his longtime friend, who prided himself on his strict adherence to facts and to logic. "What do you mean by 'less than a year?'"
Egon found he couldn't return Peter's gaze, and so he looked out the window instead. "Peter, that place looks like a holdover from the sanitoriums of a hundred years ago. It's bad enough to rival Bedlam itself. Ray's ribs are broken, and when we found him, he was in severe pain. Only after I practically threatened the doctor with a malpractice suit, did they agree to treat him, and their treatment consisted of 40ccs of morphine. He's strapped to his bed, Peter."
Venkman's first instinct was to allow his rage to boil over, and lunge for his friend's throat. But something held him back. Mentally tossing aside much of Egon's story, Peter's mind focused in on the one point that didn't fit.
"Wait a minute. Lemme get this straight. You said Ray's ribs were broken. You told me he couldn't fire that gun, right? So it's case closed! No way Ray tried to kill me. And if he didn't try to kill me, that throws the rest of the suspicions on him in doubt, right?"
For once, Egon welcomed Peter's normally irritating habit of using logic to meet his own needs. "I wish it were that easy, Peter. Once a person is committed, there is a 72-hour process that must be followed. The psychiatrists will examine Ray on Thursday, and present their findings at a legal hearing. If Ray is found to be sane, he'll be turned over to the police. But if he's found to be insane..."
"But he won't be, right, Egon? I mean, okay, this is Ray we're talking about, here, but no way is he insane."
"The doctors might not share your view, Peter, if he tells them what he told me and his aunt."
And Egon proceeded to relate Ray's story, of being kidnapped, of being held in a motel room and fed chicken soup, and of Favish posing as him using the help of a demon disguised as a sixty-year-old woman.
By the time Egon had finished, Peter had adopted a stunned look. "Egon, they'll lock him up and throw away the key unless we find that demon."
Peter swung his feet around and got up. Egon grab him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting out of here. There is no way I'm staying here when Ray needs my help."
Egon placed his hand on Peter's shoulder and sat him back down on the bed. "Winston and I will help Ray. We'll look for Favish, and I'll ask Slimer to look for that demon."
******
When Ray woke up, his room was dark. His head felt like it would burst open, and he was shivering.
"You know, morphine can be addictive. Did anyone ever tell you that?"
Ray eyes had not focus yet but he knew the voice. "How did you get in here?" he rasped.
Alan gloated. "They've got so many orderlies here. It's easy to blend in. I just came by to tell you, I'm leaving the city after I take care of one detail."
Alan leaned over Ray, and propped his elbow on the bed. "Y'see, Stantz, Venkman was supposed to die. And since Flo stopped me from doing that, I'm going make sure to finish the job properly. This time, you're going to do it."
"You're out of your mind. You can't be me any more. I'm in here."
"I'm not going to become you. You're going to kill him yourself. QuarterMuxch! "
Suddenly, Ray could no longer feel his limbs. The cold that had made him shiver seemed to have penetrated to his very core. And to his terror, he realized that he was no longer in control of his body. Alan waved his hands in front of Ray's face, but Ray was immobile. "Ray, you're going to the hospital so you can kill Venkman. Do you understand?"
Ray's head nodded, while internally his mind was screaming.
"Good then let's go." Alan took out a small vial in which he had imprisoned the demon. "Okay you hag send us to Venkman."
The demon nodded her head sadly as she wave her hands. Blue smoke appeared all around .When it cleared, Alan saw that they were still in the ward. Enraged, he shook the vial violently. "I said sent us to Venkman!" he snarled.
"I'm trying."
"What's wrong?"
She looked at Ray. "He's stopping me."
"How?? He's supposed to be under my control!"
"I can't take away his free will. He's fighting me."
"Damn! Can you take us somewhere else?"
"Yes, just not to Venkman."
"Good. Take us ..... "
Suddenly, they could hear voices approaching in the hall outside. "I don't understand, Doctor Spengler, you were just here."
Alan looked at the closed door with a horrified look on his face. "Flo, get me out of here now." The demon waved her hand and she and Alan were gone, leaving Ray behind. When Egon and the orderly walked in, they found Ray free of his bonds, standing still in the middle of the room, his eyes wide open and unfocussed.
Egon hurried over to his friend. "Ray?"
Ray didn't blink. The orderly looked from Egon to the immobile Ray. "Man I see people freak out on that stuff, but he really gone."
Egon paid no attention to him; he was shaking Ray. "Come on, Raymond, snap out of it."
Ray slowly blinked his eyes and stared at Egon until his eyes came into focus. "Egon?"
"It's me Ray. Are you sure you're all right?"
Ray grabbed Egon's arm. "Egon, stop Alan. He's going to kill Peter."
Egon fixed Ray in an intense stare. "Ray, listen to me: Peter is safe, there's no way Alan can get to him."
Ray shook his head. "No, he was just here."
"Impossible. You are too heavily guarded. There's no way Alan could have gone undetected by the orderlies."
"I'm telling you, he was here, and he's going after Peter."
Egon nodded grimly. He wasn't going to take any chances. "Very well, Ray, calm down. I'll call Winston."
Ray nodded and sat down on the bed as Egon pulled out his cell phone and dialed the hospital. "Winston, this is Egon. I'm here with Ray. He told me that Alan Favish is after Peter."
"Okay Egon. Thanks for telling me." Winston hung up and turned to a nurse. "Can Peter be moved?"
"I'll have to check with the doctor."
"Then please do. His life is in danger."
It took some fast talking on Winston part to get the doctor to agree to move Peter. It took some even faster talking to convince Peter that moving him was a good idea. Venkman didn't want to be moved, but finally agreed when Winston pointed out to him he was too weak to fight Favish, and if something happened to him Ray, Egon and Winston would never forgive him, let alone themselves.
Meanwhile, Alan had appeared in the hospital with the forced help of the demon, had procured for himself a doctor's lab coat, and arrived at Peter 's old room. "Okay, we're here. Make sure no one can get here just in case Venkman tries anything."
The demon sadly nodded her head and place a wall blocking off the corridor. Alan walked in and saw Peter asleep under the covers. He looked around, and spotted an extra pillow on a chair. A malicious smile spread over his face.
"How convenient. Just what the doctor ordered." Alan snickered as he picked up the pillow and strolled over to Peter's bed. "With Venkman dead, Stantz will fall apart. So say good night."
"You say good night, chump." The covers were thrown back, to reveal Winston in full gear, armed with a proton pack. Alan fell back in shock.
Slimer swooped down from the ceiling, and snatched the vial from Alan's hand. "I take that, Bozo." he burbled triumphantly.
Alan quickly recovered his malicious grin. "So you caught me. So what? You got no proof I did anything."
"You just tried to kill Peter."
"I did? I don't see Venkman here, only you."
"Then you tried to kill me."
"Yeah? Prove it."
"I saw you too." Slimer growled.
"Oh yeah, that's gonna hold up in court. A ghost saw me 'try to kill' his friend."
"Why you..."
"Easy, Spud."
Alan turned to the sound of the voice. "Aww, Peter decided to join us. How nice."
"Favish, I'm going to kick your ass all the way to prison for what you did to Ray."
In his weak condition Peter was no match for Alan, and Alan knew it. The bigger man charged Peter. "Peter, no!" Winston cried out. But Peter wasn't listening. Years of playing football in college had stood him in good stead, and he took the tackle. Both men went down, and rolled on the ground, struggling. Alan barked out an order. "You hag, give me a weapon!" A knife suddenly appeared in Alan 's hand. He smiled at Peter coldly. "Now you die, Venkman."
"No! Not this time! No more!"
There was a sudden flash of white light, and Alan was suddenly in the fetal position on the ground, screaming and holding his hands. The vial in Slimer's hands was now glowing brightly. It was obviously hot too, as the little ghost dropped it like a hot potato. The vial smashed on the floor, and the demon emerged.
"I will not let you make me hurt any more humans."
"Stop, oh please, stop ! My hands!"
Peter looked at her. "Please stop. What you're doing to him isn't right."
"And what he did to your friend and tried to do to you was right? No, he deserves to be punished."
With some difficulty, Peter slowly stood up. "Yes, he deserves to be punished, but not by you."
"He 's turned me into a monster. He must pay!"
"And he will be punished, I promise."
Alan nodded from the floor. His hands the were covered in blisters. "Please! Help me!"
The demon place her hand on the collar around her neck. "Remove this from me so I can use my full strength, and I will make it stop."
Tears of pain were now running down Alan 's face. "The k-k-k-key is in my pants pocket ."
Winston took the key and walk over and release the demon. Suddenly the old woman became a beautiful demon. She walk over to Alan, and held her hand over him. "Vegata!" she commanded.
Alan abruptly sat up, and looked down at his hands. They were no longer blistered. He just sat there staring at them. Winston shook his head. "Now what?"
"We turn Alan over to the police and we go find Ray."
Peter turned to the demon. "We need your help. Because if I know Ray - and I do - he will tell that board the truth, and without proof, he doesn't stand a chance. Can you take us to Ray's hearing?"
The demon nodded her head. "Now hold on a minute, Pete. You're in no condition to go anywhere." said Winston.
"I'm going to go help Ray, and I'm not going to let anything stop me - not even you, Zed."
Winston shook his head."At least let's ask your doctor."
Peter looked towards Favish. "What about him?"
"I know what to do with him." replied the demon, regarding the cowering shoe salesman with a vengeful smile. In a twinkling, the shattered vial was restored, and a swirling mist surrounded Favish. Then, the mist was sucked rapidly into the vial, as though a sudden draft had picked up. The demon replaced the stopper on the vial, and gave it to Winston. "Do what you wish with him. Now, are you ready ?"
"Yes," replied Peter, before Winston could object.
The demon nodded and they were gone .
******
Propped up in a wheelchair, with a heavily bandaged torso underneath his straight-jacket, Ray was wheeled down a corridor to the room where his evaluation was to take place. He wasn't looking forward to this. He knew in his own mind and heart that what had happened to him was very real, just as all of the adventures that he had experienced with his colleagues were real. But this was not the first time a psychiatrist had listened with biased judgement as he told his story. He knew with frightening certainty that, no matter how mentally alert and capable he might prove himself to be, that his story was so outlandish, and the results of "his" actions so dire, that the authorities would find it impossible to believe him. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he wondered whether languishing in a mental institution would be any worse than languishing in a maximum security prison.
And he was still worried about Peter. Spengs had not given him an update on Peter's condition, mostly because he had been busy fighting with the quack at the institution that claimed to be Ray's doctor. He made a mental note to concoct some imaginative prank to play on the good doctor, if he ended up back at Belfe. He'd make sure that doctor would be hearing the hippocratic oath in his sleep. But his mind returned to Peter, who had been bloody and strapped to a gurney the last time Ray had seen him. What had happened to him?
When he was wheeled into the evaluation room, he sized it up. It looked too much like a courtroom for his comfort. There was a long table on one end of the room, with several chairs behind it, a microphone at each chair. Ray was placed in the middle of the room, at a smaller table, which faced the larger one and also equipped with a solitary microphone. He realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that this would be just like a trial, but that he did not have the right to a lawyer. Egon and Aunt Lois were seated in chairs to one side of the room. A few chairs down sat a bored and grumpy-looking Frump. He looked with growing panic at them. His friends just returned his gaze miserably.
The doors opened again, and jury of doctors entered the room, and sat down somberly. The lead doctor took the center seat, directly facing Ray. As he made his opening remarks, he looked straight at the unfortunate Ghostbuster. "We are here to see if Doctor Stantz should be held responsible for his actions. We are *not* here to determine whether or not the paranormal exists, or whether it was in some way directly or indirectly the cause of Dr. Stantz's actions. Let the record show that this jury does in no way believe in the existence of spirits or the supernatural, and will regard excuses to the effect that supernatural elements were responsible in this case with extreme suspicion."
Ray's heart sunk into the pit of his stomach. His goose was cooked for sure, and he wouldn't even get some of Aunt Lois' famous dressing to go with it.
The doctor began again. "Now then, Dr. Stantz. We have read the statement you gave to the police...". Suddenly there was a loud "crack!" and smoke filled the room. When it cleared, there were three more people in the room, standing just off to Ray's right side. Winston was propping up Peter, who was dressed in doctor's hospital scrubs. With them was a beautiful but decidedly *not* human looking woman, who Ray recognized as the demon in the picture Egon had showed him. The head doctor stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded hotly.
Peter may have been weak from his recent run-in with Alan, but he was still in the mood for a good scrap. "We're here to clear Dr. Stantz's good name and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that not only is he in his right mind, he's innocent."
Despite the fact that he was strapped down to the wheelchair, with handcuffs around his ankles and a straightjacket confining his arms, and several bruised and broken ribs impeding his movement, Ray nearly turned his wheelchair over in his surprise and relief. An orderly had to grab the wheelchair to prevent him from falling over altogether. "Peter! You're okay! "
Peter turned to his friend and offered him a smile. "It just a scratch, Tex."
The smile that Ray smiled in return could have lit up Long Island. The doctor stared at Peter. "Dr. Venkman, I presume? Aren't you supposed to be seriously injured and in hospital?"
"It's nothing. Look, we have proof of Ray's innocence." He gestured towards the demon. "She can tell you everything."
The doctor scowled. "Before I hear anything I want you all to sit down."
Winston and the demon took their seats at the side of the room, the demon sitting next to Frump. Frump began sizing her up, but quickly thought better of the exercise when she turned to look him in the eye. Never get involved with she-demons, that was the cardinal rule of ghostbusting, and one that Peter never seemed to be able to learn.
Peter, on the other hand, grabbed a chair from the side of the room, and plunked it down facing backward right beside Ray. He then parked himself, leaning on the back of the chair for support. "Hey, Tex."
Ray smiled. "Peter, what are you doing here?"
"Ray, when this is over you and I will both go back to the hospital and share a room. Then the others can pay us back by waiting on us hand and foot."
The doctor addressed the demon. "Young lady. You have something to say?"
"Yes. You must know first of all that I'm a demon. I was caught by a foe of Raymond, and was made to do evil against him." She paused and turned to Winston. "Please bring up the vial."
Winston came up and gave her the vial. "In this vial is the one who responsible for all the trouble: the attack at the restaurant, the fire, and the attempted murder of that man." She pointed to Peter.
Surreptitiously, Peter leaned over to Ray and whispered, "she wants me, I can tell."
The demon threw the vial down on the floor, smashing it and releasing a cloud of smoke. After the smoke cleared Alan Favish was standing there, shaking. When he realized he was in what looked like a courtroom, he panicked. He made a mad dash for the door, but was stopped by the two orderlies who guarded it. The doctor look surprised, but his _expression very quickly turned skeptical. "Young lady. That man looks nothing like Doctor Stantz."
"Watch." She said a magic word and right before everyone Alan became Ray.
The doctor stared at Alan. "How is this possible?"
"Because I'm a demon."
"This is preposterous!" The doctor spluttered. "I don't believe in demons! The stuff of superstition and fairy tales! We are scientists, we believe in empirical knowledge!"
If Flo was annoyed by the doctor's remark, she didn't show it. But calmly, she pointed to the doctor, and shot a few bolts of spectral energy at his feet. And the good doctor, who believed only in empirical knowledge, did a lovely little dance.
Frump had seen enough. He heaved his large frame out of his chair and approached Alan. "Then you're the one who did all of the things Stantz was accused of."
Alan snarled at him." I don't have to talk to you without my lawyer. I know my rights." Then he turned to the demon. "Turn me back!"
She met his gaze, and this time, it was Alan that backed down. "P..please?" He offered weakly.
She waved her hand, and he returned to his original form. Frump took his arms, bent them behind his back and began to read him his rights while he pushed the hapless Favish towards the door. As he left he looked over at Peter and Ray. "Sorry, but I was only doing my duty."
Peter started to say something but Ray stopped him by interrupting. "Let it go, Peter. Besides, just hearing Frump say he was sorry was surprising."
The shaken doctor returned to his seat and cleared his throat. Beneath the table, his feet were still jitterbugging. "Dr Stantz, in light of this new development, the jury finds that you are not in need of testing. The jury finds that you are of sound mind. I'm having you and Dr. Venkman return to the hospital."
Ray sighed as the orderlies began the process of untying him. "All I want to do is just forget this ever happened." Ray turned to the demon. "Can you make it so none of this happened?"
"No."
"Why not? You're a demon," Ray asked.
"For the same reason Alan couldn't get you to kill your friend, free will. Alan also has free will and even if I could do it he would still trap me and it would all still happen. I'm sorry." And with that, she vanished in a cloud of smoke.
*****
It had been over two weeks since the incident. Both Ray and Peter were home from the hospital and recovering well. Ray could tell, because Peter's whining got worse and more strident by the day. But they were all taking time getting over what had happened to them emotionally, and some were taking longer than others. Ray was sitting at the table eating when Winston walked in.
"Hey, Winston."
"Ray, how can you even talk to me after what I did?"
"Well I opened my mouth, and 'hey Winston' just came out. Winston, It's okay ."
"No it's not okay. We're supposed to be friends."
Ray stood up. "Winston, you thought I shot Peter. If I had been in your place, I would have done the same thing."
"Raymond, none of this would have happened at all if we had trusted you." Egon replied as he walk into the room followed by Peter.
"I was upset about it at first Egon, but it was something that just happened. Alan is going away for a long time and I want things to be back the way they were."
Peter place his arm around Ray. "They maybe someday kid ."
Suddenly the alarm went off. "Oh boy! We got a call! Let's go, guys!" Ray dashed away from Peter, leaving Peter with his arm in the air. Egon was about to follow Ray down the firepole when Winston grabbed him. "Egon, do you think it will be okay?"
Egon nodded. "If Ray thinks it will be, Winston, then so do I."
The End
Egon hurried back to Ecto and got in. Aunt Lois was quiet as he drove back to the hospital to see Peter. Normally, Egon was comfortable with quiet. He and Ray had spent countless hours in amiable silence, working on a piece of machinery or conducting laboratory tests. But as pleasant as Ray's aunt was, the situation made the silence unbearable. Finally, without taking his eyes off the road, Egon asked, "have you made any plans where you will be staying?"
"Yes. I'm staying with a friend." Lois fixed her eyes on the road ahead as well, still in shock after her visit to Belfe.
"Will you be safe there?"
"Yes Egon. When is Ray's hearing?"
"It's not really a hearing, it's an evaluation. I think it's Thursday, which gives us two days to find Favish."
"How are you going to find him?"
Egon's hands tightened on the steering wheel, and his eyes darkened. "We'll find him if we have to tear this city apart."
"What will you do when you find him? I believe Ray, but Favish looks nothing like him. How are we going to prove that it was Alan that did all those terrible things, and not my Ray?"
Egon thought for a moment. "We have to find that demon. I think Slimer can help there."
"I hope so. Do you think he would?"
Egon couldn't help himself, his mouth twitched into a wry smile. "Slimer would do anything for Ray. We're his family."
Egon pulled Ecto back into the parking lot of the hospital, and put the vehicle in park. "Well we're here. I'm not sure I want to face Peter right now."
As they got out a man and woman approached them. They were about the same age as Lois, and the woman was clearly distraught, wringing a rumpled and worn looking kleenex in her hands. "Lois!" She exclaimed, running up to them. "I was so worried about you."
"Oh hello, Helen. You know Egon, don't you?"
Helen turned her attention to the physicist, who fairly towered over the two women, and sized him up. Egon offered only a nod as acknowledgment. "Only by the news. We've got your stuff in the car. We have to get home."
"All right, Helen. Egon, I'll be at the hearing Thursday. Please find the you-know-what."
Helen looked shocked. "Lois! You're going to your nephew's hearing? After what he did?"
"Helen, Ray didn't do it."
"All right, dear, he didn't do it." Lois' friend adopted the tone of voice usually reserved for children or the senile. Lois just rolled her eyes.
"See you Thursday, Egon."
Egon nodded. After they left, he walked into the hospital and found Peter's room. Peter was sitting up and reading when Egon came in. Egon was mildly surprised to find the room empty of visitors, as Venkman loved to play the invalid for the attention.
"Where is everyone?"
"I sent them home. My Dad was driving me crazy, and if I had to hear Winston moaning about his guilty conscience much longer, I'd have hit him. So when does Ray get out?"
"Peter, it's not going to be that easy. There's going to be an evaluation on Thursday. The doctors will examine him, test him, and if he passes he'll be turned over to the police. If he's found insane they'll lock him up in that place for the rest of his life. Which will probably be less than a year."
Peter fixed Egon with a stare. Venkman was not used to hearing defeatist rhetoric from his longtime friend, who prided himself on his strict adherence to facts and to logic. "What do you mean by 'less than a year?'"
Egon found he couldn't return Peter's gaze, and so he looked out the window instead. "Peter, that place looks like a holdover from the sanitoriums of a hundred years ago. It's bad enough to rival Bedlam itself. Ray's ribs are broken, and when we found him, he was in severe pain. Only after I practically threatened the doctor with a malpractice suit, did they agree to treat him, and their treatment consisted of 40ccs of morphine. He's strapped to his bed, Peter."
Venkman's first instinct was to allow his rage to boil over, and lunge for his friend's throat. But something held him back. Mentally tossing aside much of Egon's story, Peter's mind focused in on the one point that didn't fit.
"Wait a minute. Lemme get this straight. You said Ray's ribs were broken. You told me he couldn't fire that gun, right? So it's case closed! No way Ray tried to kill me. And if he didn't try to kill me, that throws the rest of the suspicions on him in doubt, right?"
For once, Egon welcomed Peter's normally irritating habit of using logic to meet his own needs. "I wish it were that easy, Peter. Once a person is committed, there is a 72-hour process that must be followed. The psychiatrists will examine Ray on Thursday, and present their findings at a legal hearing. If Ray is found to be sane, he'll be turned over to the police. But if he's found to be insane..."
"But he won't be, right, Egon? I mean, okay, this is Ray we're talking about, here, but no way is he insane."
"The doctors might not share your view, Peter, if he tells them what he told me and his aunt."
And Egon proceeded to relate Ray's story, of being kidnapped, of being held in a motel room and fed chicken soup, and of Favish posing as him using the help of a demon disguised as a sixty-year-old woman.
By the time Egon had finished, Peter had adopted a stunned look. "Egon, they'll lock him up and throw away the key unless we find that demon."
Peter swung his feet around and got up. Egon grab him. "What are you doing?"
"I'm getting out of here. There is no way I'm staying here when Ray needs my help."
Egon placed his hand on Peter's shoulder and sat him back down on the bed. "Winston and I will help Ray. We'll look for Favish, and I'll ask Slimer to look for that demon."
******
When Ray woke up, his room was dark. His head felt like it would burst open, and he was shivering.
"You know, morphine can be addictive. Did anyone ever tell you that?"
Ray eyes had not focus yet but he knew the voice. "How did you get in here?" he rasped.
Alan gloated. "They've got so many orderlies here. It's easy to blend in. I just came by to tell you, I'm leaving the city after I take care of one detail."
Alan leaned over Ray, and propped his elbow on the bed. "Y'see, Stantz, Venkman was supposed to die. And since Flo stopped me from doing that, I'm going make sure to finish the job properly. This time, you're going to do it."
"You're out of your mind. You can't be me any more. I'm in here."
"I'm not going to become you. You're going to kill him yourself. QuarterMuxch! "
Suddenly, Ray could no longer feel his limbs. The cold that had made him shiver seemed to have penetrated to his very core. And to his terror, he realized that he was no longer in control of his body. Alan waved his hands in front of Ray's face, but Ray was immobile. "Ray, you're going to the hospital so you can kill Venkman. Do you understand?"
Ray's head nodded, while internally his mind was screaming.
"Good then let's go." Alan took out a small vial in which he had imprisoned the demon. "Okay you hag send us to Venkman."
The demon nodded her head sadly as she wave her hands. Blue smoke appeared all around .When it cleared, Alan saw that they were still in the ward. Enraged, he shook the vial violently. "I said sent us to Venkman!" he snarled.
"I'm trying."
"What's wrong?"
She looked at Ray. "He's stopping me."
"How?? He's supposed to be under my control!"
"I can't take away his free will. He's fighting me."
"Damn! Can you take us somewhere else?"
"Yes, just not to Venkman."
"Good. Take us ..... "
Suddenly, they could hear voices approaching in the hall outside. "I don't understand, Doctor Spengler, you were just here."
Alan looked at the closed door with a horrified look on his face. "Flo, get me out of here now." The demon waved her hand and she and Alan were gone, leaving Ray behind. When Egon and the orderly walked in, they found Ray free of his bonds, standing still in the middle of the room, his eyes wide open and unfocussed.
Egon hurried over to his friend. "Ray?"
Ray didn't blink. The orderly looked from Egon to the immobile Ray. "Man I see people freak out on that stuff, but he really gone."
Egon paid no attention to him; he was shaking Ray. "Come on, Raymond, snap out of it."
Ray slowly blinked his eyes and stared at Egon until his eyes came into focus. "Egon?"
"It's me Ray. Are you sure you're all right?"
Ray grabbed Egon's arm. "Egon, stop Alan. He's going to kill Peter."
Egon fixed Ray in an intense stare. "Ray, listen to me: Peter is safe, there's no way Alan can get to him."
Ray shook his head. "No, he was just here."
"Impossible. You are too heavily guarded. There's no way Alan could have gone undetected by the orderlies."
"I'm telling you, he was here, and he's going after Peter."
Egon nodded grimly. He wasn't going to take any chances. "Very well, Ray, calm down. I'll call Winston."
Ray nodded and sat down on the bed as Egon pulled out his cell phone and dialed the hospital. "Winston, this is Egon. I'm here with Ray. He told me that Alan Favish is after Peter."
"Okay Egon. Thanks for telling me." Winston hung up and turned to a nurse. "Can Peter be moved?"
"I'll have to check with the doctor."
"Then please do. His life is in danger."
It took some fast talking on Winston part to get the doctor to agree to move Peter. It took some even faster talking to convince Peter that moving him was a good idea. Venkman didn't want to be moved, but finally agreed when Winston pointed out to him he was too weak to fight Favish, and if something happened to him Ray, Egon and Winston would never forgive him, let alone themselves.
Meanwhile, Alan had appeared in the hospital with the forced help of the demon, had procured for himself a doctor's lab coat, and arrived at Peter 's old room. "Okay, we're here. Make sure no one can get here just in case Venkman tries anything."
The demon sadly nodded her head and place a wall blocking off the corridor. Alan walked in and saw Peter asleep under the covers. He looked around, and spotted an extra pillow on a chair. A malicious smile spread over his face.
"How convenient. Just what the doctor ordered." Alan snickered as he picked up the pillow and strolled over to Peter's bed. "With Venkman dead, Stantz will fall apart. So say good night."
"You say good night, chump." The covers were thrown back, to reveal Winston in full gear, armed with a proton pack. Alan fell back in shock.
Slimer swooped down from the ceiling, and snatched the vial from Alan's hand. "I take that, Bozo." he burbled triumphantly.
Alan quickly recovered his malicious grin. "So you caught me. So what? You got no proof I did anything."
"You just tried to kill Peter."
"I did? I don't see Venkman here, only you."
"Then you tried to kill me."
"Yeah? Prove it."
"I saw you too." Slimer growled.
"Oh yeah, that's gonna hold up in court. A ghost saw me 'try to kill' his friend."
"Why you..."
"Easy, Spud."
Alan turned to the sound of the voice. "Aww, Peter decided to join us. How nice."
"Favish, I'm going to kick your ass all the way to prison for what you did to Ray."
In his weak condition Peter was no match for Alan, and Alan knew it. The bigger man charged Peter. "Peter, no!" Winston cried out. But Peter wasn't listening. Years of playing football in college had stood him in good stead, and he took the tackle. Both men went down, and rolled on the ground, struggling. Alan barked out an order. "You hag, give me a weapon!" A knife suddenly appeared in Alan 's hand. He smiled at Peter coldly. "Now you die, Venkman."
"No! Not this time! No more!"
There was a sudden flash of white light, and Alan was suddenly in the fetal position on the ground, screaming and holding his hands. The vial in Slimer's hands was now glowing brightly. It was obviously hot too, as the little ghost dropped it like a hot potato. The vial smashed on the floor, and the demon emerged.
"I will not let you make me hurt any more humans."
"Stop, oh please, stop ! My hands!"
Peter looked at her. "Please stop. What you're doing to him isn't right."
"And what he did to your friend and tried to do to you was right? No, he deserves to be punished."
With some difficulty, Peter slowly stood up. "Yes, he deserves to be punished, but not by you."
"He 's turned me into a monster. He must pay!"
"And he will be punished, I promise."
Alan nodded from the floor. His hands the were covered in blisters. "Please! Help me!"
The demon place her hand on the collar around her neck. "Remove this from me so I can use my full strength, and I will make it stop."
Tears of pain were now running down Alan 's face. "The k-k-k-key is in my pants pocket ."
Winston took the key and walk over and release the demon. Suddenly the old woman became a beautiful demon. She walk over to Alan, and held her hand over him. "Vegata!" she commanded.
Alan abruptly sat up, and looked down at his hands. They were no longer blistered. He just sat there staring at them. Winston shook his head. "Now what?"
"We turn Alan over to the police and we go find Ray."
Peter turned to the demon. "We need your help. Because if I know Ray - and I do - he will tell that board the truth, and without proof, he doesn't stand a chance. Can you take us to Ray's hearing?"
The demon nodded her head. "Now hold on a minute, Pete. You're in no condition to go anywhere." said Winston.
"I'm going to go help Ray, and I'm not going to let anything stop me - not even you, Zed."
Winston shook his head."At least let's ask your doctor."
Peter looked towards Favish. "What about him?"
"I know what to do with him." replied the demon, regarding the cowering shoe salesman with a vengeful smile. In a twinkling, the shattered vial was restored, and a swirling mist surrounded Favish. Then, the mist was sucked rapidly into the vial, as though a sudden draft had picked up. The demon replaced the stopper on the vial, and gave it to Winston. "Do what you wish with him. Now, are you ready ?"
"Yes," replied Peter, before Winston could object.
The demon nodded and they were gone .
******
Propped up in a wheelchair, with a heavily bandaged torso underneath his straight-jacket, Ray was wheeled down a corridor to the room where his evaluation was to take place. He wasn't looking forward to this. He knew in his own mind and heart that what had happened to him was very real, just as all of the adventures that he had experienced with his colleagues were real. But this was not the first time a psychiatrist had listened with biased judgement as he told his story. He knew with frightening certainty that, no matter how mentally alert and capable he might prove himself to be, that his story was so outlandish, and the results of "his" actions so dire, that the authorities would find it impossible to believe him. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he wondered whether languishing in a mental institution would be any worse than languishing in a maximum security prison.
And he was still worried about Peter. Spengs had not given him an update on Peter's condition, mostly because he had been busy fighting with the quack at the institution that claimed to be Ray's doctor. He made a mental note to concoct some imaginative prank to play on the good doctor, if he ended up back at Belfe. He'd make sure that doctor would be hearing the hippocratic oath in his sleep. But his mind returned to Peter, who had been bloody and strapped to a gurney the last time Ray had seen him. What had happened to him?
When he was wheeled into the evaluation room, he sized it up. It looked too much like a courtroom for his comfort. There was a long table on one end of the room, with several chairs behind it, a microphone at each chair. Ray was placed in the middle of the room, at a smaller table, which faced the larger one and also equipped with a solitary microphone. He realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that this would be just like a trial, but that he did not have the right to a lawyer. Egon and Aunt Lois were seated in chairs to one side of the room. A few chairs down sat a bored and grumpy-looking Frump. He looked with growing panic at them. His friends just returned his gaze miserably.
The doors opened again, and jury of doctors entered the room, and sat down somberly. The lead doctor took the center seat, directly facing Ray. As he made his opening remarks, he looked straight at the unfortunate Ghostbuster. "We are here to see if Doctor Stantz should be held responsible for his actions. We are *not* here to determine whether or not the paranormal exists, or whether it was in some way directly or indirectly the cause of Dr. Stantz's actions. Let the record show that this jury does in no way believe in the existence of spirits or the supernatural, and will regard excuses to the effect that supernatural elements were responsible in this case with extreme suspicion."
Ray's heart sunk into the pit of his stomach. His goose was cooked for sure, and he wouldn't even get some of Aunt Lois' famous dressing to go with it.
The doctor began again. "Now then, Dr. Stantz. We have read the statement you gave to the police...". Suddenly there was a loud "crack!" and smoke filled the room. When it cleared, there were three more people in the room, standing just off to Ray's right side. Winston was propping up Peter, who was dressed in doctor's hospital scrubs. With them was a beautiful but decidedly *not* human looking woman, who Ray recognized as the demon in the picture Egon had showed him. The head doctor stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded hotly.
Peter may have been weak from his recent run-in with Alan, but he was still in the mood for a good scrap. "We're here to clear Dr. Stantz's good name and prove beyond a shadow of doubt that not only is he in his right mind, he's innocent."
Despite the fact that he was strapped down to the wheelchair, with handcuffs around his ankles and a straightjacket confining his arms, and several bruised and broken ribs impeding his movement, Ray nearly turned his wheelchair over in his surprise and relief. An orderly had to grab the wheelchair to prevent him from falling over altogether. "Peter! You're okay! "
Peter turned to his friend and offered him a smile. "It just a scratch, Tex."
The smile that Ray smiled in return could have lit up Long Island. The doctor stared at Peter. "Dr. Venkman, I presume? Aren't you supposed to be seriously injured and in hospital?"
"It's nothing. Look, we have proof of Ray's innocence." He gestured towards the demon. "She can tell you everything."
The doctor scowled. "Before I hear anything I want you all to sit down."
Winston and the demon took their seats at the side of the room, the demon sitting next to Frump. Frump began sizing her up, but quickly thought better of the exercise when she turned to look him in the eye. Never get involved with she-demons, that was the cardinal rule of ghostbusting, and one that Peter never seemed to be able to learn.
Peter, on the other hand, grabbed a chair from the side of the room, and plunked it down facing backward right beside Ray. He then parked himself, leaning on the back of the chair for support. "Hey, Tex."
Ray smiled. "Peter, what are you doing here?"
"Ray, when this is over you and I will both go back to the hospital and share a room. Then the others can pay us back by waiting on us hand and foot."
The doctor addressed the demon. "Young lady. You have something to say?"
"Yes. You must know first of all that I'm a demon. I was caught by a foe of Raymond, and was made to do evil against him." She paused and turned to Winston. "Please bring up the vial."
Winston came up and gave her the vial. "In this vial is the one who responsible for all the trouble: the attack at the restaurant, the fire, and the attempted murder of that man." She pointed to Peter.
Surreptitiously, Peter leaned over to Ray and whispered, "she wants me, I can tell."
The demon threw the vial down on the floor, smashing it and releasing a cloud of smoke. After the smoke cleared Alan Favish was standing there, shaking. When he realized he was in what looked like a courtroom, he panicked. He made a mad dash for the door, but was stopped by the two orderlies who guarded it. The doctor look surprised, but his _expression very quickly turned skeptical. "Young lady. That man looks nothing like Doctor Stantz."
"Watch." She said a magic word and right before everyone Alan became Ray.
The doctor stared at Alan. "How is this possible?"
"Because I'm a demon."
"This is preposterous!" The doctor spluttered. "I don't believe in demons! The stuff of superstition and fairy tales! We are scientists, we believe in empirical knowledge!"
If Flo was annoyed by the doctor's remark, she didn't show it. But calmly, she pointed to the doctor, and shot a few bolts of spectral energy at his feet. And the good doctor, who believed only in empirical knowledge, did a lovely little dance.
Frump had seen enough. He heaved his large frame out of his chair and approached Alan. "Then you're the one who did all of the things Stantz was accused of."
Alan snarled at him." I don't have to talk to you without my lawyer. I know my rights." Then he turned to the demon. "Turn me back!"
She met his gaze, and this time, it was Alan that backed down. "P..please?" He offered weakly.
She waved her hand, and he returned to his original form. Frump took his arms, bent them behind his back and began to read him his rights while he pushed the hapless Favish towards the door. As he left he looked over at Peter and Ray. "Sorry, but I was only doing my duty."
Peter started to say something but Ray stopped him by interrupting. "Let it go, Peter. Besides, just hearing Frump say he was sorry was surprising."
The shaken doctor returned to his seat and cleared his throat. Beneath the table, his feet were still jitterbugging. "Dr Stantz, in light of this new development, the jury finds that you are not in need of testing. The jury finds that you are of sound mind. I'm having you and Dr. Venkman return to the hospital."
Ray sighed as the orderlies began the process of untying him. "All I want to do is just forget this ever happened." Ray turned to the demon. "Can you make it so none of this happened?"
"No."
"Why not? You're a demon," Ray asked.
"For the same reason Alan couldn't get you to kill your friend, free will. Alan also has free will and even if I could do it he would still trap me and it would all still happen. I'm sorry." And with that, she vanished in a cloud of smoke.
*****
It had been over two weeks since the incident. Both Ray and Peter were home from the hospital and recovering well. Ray could tell, because Peter's whining got worse and more strident by the day. But they were all taking time getting over what had happened to them emotionally, and some were taking longer than others. Ray was sitting at the table eating when Winston walked in.
"Hey, Winston."
"Ray, how can you even talk to me after what I did?"
"Well I opened my mouth, and 'hey Winston' just came out. Winston, It's okay ."
"No it's not okay. We're supposed to be friends."
Ray stood up. "Winston, you thought I shot Peter. If I had been in your place, I would have done the same thing."
"Raymond, none of this would have happened at all if we had trusted you." Egon replied as he walk into the room followed by Peter.
"I was upset about it at first Egon, but it was something that just happened. Alan is going away for a long time and I want things to be back the way they were."
Peter place his arm around Ray. "They maybe someday kid ."
Suddenly the alarm went off. "Oh boy! We got a call! Let's go, guys!" Ray dashed away from Peter, leaving Peter with his arm in the air. Egon was about to follow Ray down the firepole when Winston grabbed him. "Egon, do you think it will be okay?"
Egon nodded. "If Ray thinks it will be, Winston, then so do I."
The End