Kylie scanned around the room, looking for Egon and Janine. She found them, only twenty yards from where she was. Small spikes were starting to tear through their clothing. She looked the huge cavern over once more; that's when she saw them.

About fifty yards to Kylie, Eduardo, and Slimer's right were Roland and Garrett, hiding behind a stalagmite. Kylie realized it might be a good idea for the three of them to hide as well. Crouching down behind a large stalagmite, Kylie, Eduardo and Slimer waved their arms frantically to get Roland and Garrett's attention. Garrett looked towards them, a look of surprise and happiness creeping up his face.

Garrett nudged Roland and pointed toward the trio. Cautiously the two made their way over to Slimer, Eduardo and Kylie. As the two approached, Eduardo slinked back into the shadow of the large stalagmite.

"Kylie!" Roland whispered with delight, "Thank goodness you're here! Garrett and I were trying to figure out a way to defeat this thing," he motioned at the leader, "without a trap."

Kylie's smile faded. "Uh, I'd keep thinking if I were you; when I rescued Eduardo, I used the trap on a Marinzean."

At that, the others quit smiling, too. Garrett tried to lift the tension by changing subjects. "So Ed, how's it feel to be rescued?"

A popping sound came from Eduardo's bones. He replied through clenched teeth. "I've felt better, chico." He stepped out of the shadow of the stalagmite, showing his horrid new form to Garrett and Roland. The both tried to hold in their gasps.

"I was a tad bit late in rescuing him," Kylie said.

"Don't worry, Ed," Garrett said, "we'll find a way to change you back as soon as we get out of here."

"Right," Kylie assured him. "But right now we have to get Egon and Janine."

"So, what's the plan?" Garrett asked.

"Somebody will distract the leader while we sneak them out."

"But who'll do the distracting?"

Eduardo stepped up. "I'll go. I..." A one-inch bone fragment pushed its way out of his neck. A small trail of blood ran down his neck, soaking the collar of his shirt. He held his neck and fell to his knees in pain.

"Garrett helped him to his feet. Kylie bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her concern for him hidden.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, Eduardo," Roland said. "You may not be able to run from it before it gets you in the shape you're in."

Kylie offered her shoulder for Eduardo to lean on. He accepted, feeling a little awkward putting his arm around her. He looked over at her. She was staring at him, but not in horror or disgust at his current form' she stared in his eyes, looking inside of him. He felt she could see into his very soul, see his true feelings for her, and he liked it.

Slimer volunteered to go.

Both Kylie and Eduardo had been so lost in their stare they forgot what was going on. They broke their stare, remembered where they were, and decided now wasn't the time.

"What's the spud saying?" Eduardo asked.

"He said he'll be the distraction," Roland answered.

Eduardo sat down, leaning back against the stalagmite. The pain began shooting up and down his body so hard his ears were ringing and different colors began dancing in front of his eyes. His temples were throbbing. He felt like he was falling, his body spinning into darkness. After a second it felt good, welcome; he was relaxed, the pain couldn't follow him here.

"Eduardo! EDUARDO!" Kylie spoke as loud as she dared in the cavern.

"It's no good," Roland said, "He's unconscious."

Another popping sound emanated from Eduardo. Garrett looked down at him. "The longer we wait," he said," the worse these people are getting. I say it's time for some action!" Garrett drew his proton blaster and turned it on. It came to life with its gentle hum as usual. He loved that sound, lived for it. That sound always meant they were going in for battle. He was psyched!

Slimer slowly hovered over to the head of the enormous leader. As planned, the leader wasn't happy to have an intruder while feeding. The leader charged at Slimer, but due to its great size, moved fairly slowly.

Kylie looked down at the bodies, noticing that with the leader distracted, the draining of their life force had also been distracted. Before she could stop him, Garrett rolled toward the bodies.

Garrett turned his wheelchair around to face Kylie and Roland. "C'mon guys, time to save the world again!" He turned back, blaster still drawn, aimed at the leader in case it should see them. Roland and Kylie looked at each other, drew their weapons and followed.

Roland and Garrett approached the closest victim and drug him back by the stalagmite. Kylie, however, went straight for Egon.

When she reached for Egon she couldn't hold in her gasp of surprise; Egon was worse than Eduardo! His eyes, even closed, were about three times larger than normal. Blood had dried around the skin that had been torn by the bone fragments sticking out of his body.

Kylie was reaching down to carry him back when she noticed his shoulder; from the hole in his clothing the bone spikes made, she could see that his entire shoulder was swollen and purple. The shoulder was bent in an unnatural angle. *Looks like a dislocation*, Kylie thought.

She motioned to Roland to come help her move Egon's body. As they slowly picked him up and moved him, he let out a low moan of pain. Kylie and Roland paused, looked at each other in alarm, and then looked over towards the leader. Slimer was flying in circles around the leader, leading it further and further away down the cavern. Looking back at each other, Kylie and Roland sighed in relief. They continued moving Egon, Roland walking backwards holding Egon's torso and good arm, Kylie holding his legs. Roland, concentrating on avoiding contact with Egon's injured shoulder, stepped back on another victim's hand, lost his footing and fell backwards, dropping Egon.

Egon's proton pack hit the ground first with a loud crash. Kylie and Roland, eyes wide, looked on in terror, knowing there was nothing they could do about it. They both had thought the loudest noise would be the sound of the pack hitting the ground, but a fraction of a second later, Egon's dislocated shoulder hit the pack, all the weight of his body bearing down on it. Egon's low moan turned into a shout of intense pain, echoing throughout the cavern.

As his shout died down, the entire cavern seemed perfectly still. Garrett, who had been moving a victim towards the stairwell, stopped dead in his tracks, not moving a muscle, just staring at the thirteen-foot creature towering over everybody. Roland and Kylie stood frozen with fear, Roland staring up at the leader and Kylie dividing her stare between the leader and the injured Dr. Spengler. Slimer stopped circling the leader, just hovered a few feet away from it while staring at his friends. The only one who moved was Egon, who was slowly regaining consciousness.

After a few seconds of dead silence, the leader turned to face the team. It saw them and, forgetting about Slimer, started its advancement toward them. It opened its mouth and let out an enormous roar that shook the cavern, causing Roland and Kylie to lose their footing and nearly topple over.

Garrett's blood pumped with anticipation as he aimed his proton blaster and fired. The bright stream of energy lit the entire cavern as it struck the leader in the chest. It stopped its charge and shrieked with rage. Kylie and Roland took the leader's temporary distraction as an opportunity to pull out their blasters, charge them and fire. The creature struggled to escape the grasp of the proton streams, using all its strength to continue charging them. It slowly continued moving toward the two closest, Roland and Kylie.

"This one's strong!" Roland yelled to be heard over the firing blasters. "Aim for his chest."

Garrett, Roland and Kylie moved their streams toward its chest, weakening it to a stop. "Now what do we do?" Garrett called out.

Slimer, keeping his distance from the proton streams, saw Egon waving his good arm in the air, trying to get his attention. Slimer flew over to where Egon was laying.

"Slimer," Egon gasped as pain continued to rack his body, "it's up to you. They're too busy keeping the leader from attacking." Egon's eyes began to close as he struggled to remain conscious, sweat dripping down his face and neck. "Janine...has a trap...on her back...It's up...to you, Slimer...It's...up..." Egon never finished the sentence, slipping back into unconsciousness.

Slimer laid his gooey hands on Egon's wrist, feeling for a pulse. Satisfied he was all right, Slimer hovered over to Janine's sleeping body. Turning her over, Slimer unfastened the ghost trap from Janine's back.

Slimer held the cool metal trap in his hands, looked at the leader, then back at the team. He could see his reflection in the trap's surface. For a moment, while looking at his reflection, he thought about what he was, which side he belonged on. At times when they acted like he didn't exist, he felt like he didn't even quite know why he had betrayed his own kind, gone with the enemy. He would think back to his days as the enemy, before he decided the best option would be to join a team of humans who busted ghosts like he'd been. He thought of those moments of pure hatred when he'd wanted to go to the basement, pull the release for the containment unit and free all those of his kind who he had watched get zapped and trapped. He could be the hero, he knew, for either side at this point. But he only thought this for a moment.

Flying at top speed he placed the trap at the stunned leader's feet. He looked over at Roland, Kylie and Garrett, saw them smile at him, cheer him on, and knew why he'd joined them. Determination replaced doubt as Slimer hit the switch to open the trap. A brilliant light poured out of the ghost trap, causing Slimer and the team to temporarily avert their eyes. As Slimer kept his eyes away from the bright light, he could hear the leader's furious cry as it was sucked down into the trap, as well as feel a slight tugging himself, due to him still being so close to it.

Then there was a stronger tugging that alarmed Slimer. "Slimer, look out!" "Behind you!" He heard their warnings and turned around in alarm. The leader had grabbed Slimer on the way down into the trap, pulled him into the trap's ecto-magnetic field. There was nothing he could do, but listen to his friends' cries, and dread what the traps were actually like. The brilliant light that had been the team's salvation started fading into a darkness that would be his fate.

The trap closed.