All rights reserved to Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Columbia Pictures. This follows year Three (1985) of the Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline. which can be found at The Ectozone. This story is based on The Boogeyman is Back, but is portrayed in a miniature 'Apochrypha Universe' in which the changes made to the show after show Producer J Micheal Straczynski left are either tuned down or completely eradicated.
Ghostbusters Apochrypha
The Boogieman is Back
Chapter One
New Yorkers like to believe they've seen it all, however, ever since 1983 when a team of professional paranormal eliminators set up shop in the trendy area known as TriBeCa, their beliefs have been put to the test time and again as the Ghostbusters had stopped ghosts, demons, poltergeists, Old Ones and even Gods. Had many New Yorks been out and about in Downtown around 10:00PM one night, they might've seen a series of odd flashes flaring up on top of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center. It would so happen to be that these flashes were from proton fire, for the Ghostbusters were stood on the roof tackling a paticularily nasty-looking cyclopeon octopod which appeared to be mde out of blue ectoplasm.
"We've got him!" Peter Venkman, Ghostbuster, shouted as his proton stream latched onto the monster. His beam was joined a minute later by those weilded by his friends and co-Partners in the Ghostbusters company, Drs Egon Spengler and Raymond Stantz. Floating off to the side making various shooting/battle sounds was the Ghostbusters' green ghost mascot, Slimer. If you had asked Peter Venkman why he'd allowed to bring the ghost along, he might slyly say: 'Slimer is excellent as a distraction for the spooks, especially if he actually attracts the ghosts from off of them and onto him (Slimer).' "Get the Trap, Ray!" Peter shouted. Ray nodded and reached his left hand back, jostling the bucking Proton Gun in his right hand as he unclipped the rectangular Ghost Trap from it's hook near the Pack's Ion Arm, with the devise in his hand he dropped it to the floor and kicked it along, managing to get it to slide directly beneath the monster. He then stomped on the activation pedal, sending up a prism of white light which confined the beast even further. Trapped, the monster howlled in a mixture of pain and frustration. Without warning, the beast shot a red bolt of energy straight at Slimer, the green ghost screamed as the bolt shot past Peter and Ray's heads and the small ghosts just managed to get out of the way as the bolt struck the metal railing behind him, however Slimer's over-reaction caused him to spin around furiously on the spot in the air. Now the three Ghostbusters had powered down their Proton Guns as the cyclopse was sucked into the Trap, however, it was able to get one last shot from it's eye before it was sent into the box. The bolt shot forward, missed Slimer who screamed loudly and exploded directly in front of Egon, sending him tumbling over the railing. Slimer zipped over to the railing and uttered something that sounded like 'Oh my God!', clinging onto the railing for dear life was Egon, his 'thrower trailing behind him, the railing itself the only thing preventing him from making a 110-story drop to the roadway below. Ray and Peter then charged over to the railing, Peter flinging his arm down to grab Egon, however the lunge was too late and before he knew what happened Egon had slipped and was hurtling towards the ground.
"Wooooooooooooo!" Egon yelled as he fell. Behind the helpless Ghostbusters, the Trap's Pedal slowly rised, closing the device and letting the cyclopse become free. Just when Ray, Peter and Slimer had fear all had been lost, the sudden roar of a gyrocopter caught their attention, and there, rising up to greet them was Winston, piloting Ecto-2 and with Egon hanging onto one of the gyro-copter's wings.
"Way to go Winston!" Ray cheered.
"Yaaaa!" Slimer cheered. However, the celebration was short lived when the cyclopse came in for the attack, shooting bolts of red energy at Ecto-2, Winston had to swing and duck through the air to avoid being hit. He then grabbed the handle of a new addition to Ecto-2's piloting controls, a newly-added Proton Cannon which was being tested. Piloting Ecto-2 with his right hand and firing with his left, he was able to knock the entity back towards the roof of Tower 1 where Ray and Peter were waiting, guns ready. As soon as the entity came into firing distance they both shot at the cyclopse, recapturing it in their streams.
"Hit it, Ray!" Peter shouted and Ray stomped down on the Trap's pedal once more, capturing the entity and sucking it into the trap. With the entity captured and the action over, Winston lowered the gyrocopter as close to the roof as he could, allowing Egon to clamber down onto the roof of Tower 1.
"Boy Egon, for a minute there I thought you were street pizza...I mean I like sky diving off of the sides of buildings as much as the next man...though...maybe with some rope." Peter greeted, Slimer then shot along and gave the blond-haired man a hug and a kiss, something Peter didn't envy.
"Yeah," Ray began, "you really scared us. Egon, are you okay?"
"I'm fine Ray, thanks for asking." Egon replied, even though he was trying to keep his emotions to a minimum, Peter could sense that the man had been shaken by the fall.
"Wow, if I were you I'd probably be shaking like a leaf." Ray replied, impressed that his friend hadn't looked more shaken.
"Nothing ever bothers Egon...except dropping his mushroom collection, or a certain red head..." Peter replied jokingly, clampping a hand on his friend's shoulder in a congratulatory manner. "Right Egon?"
"Err...right...absolutely." Egon replied, seemingly distant, however Ray and Peter didn't notice the distance in his voice.
"C'mon, let's go home, it's been a long day...and I'm sure I'm not the only one who can do with some sleep." Peter replied, giving a 'thumbs up' signal to Winston to head back to the Firehouse, as Ecto-2 flew away Peter, Ray, Egon and Slimer made their way back to the entrance to the roof.
Chapter Two
"Ouughhh...time to grab about fourty-million winks." Peter yawned as he stretched his arms before going to bed. Ray, Egon and Winston were already in bed, but weren't yet asleep. Above the carpet that ran down the centre of the room floated Slimer, similarily ready to fall asleep, the image complete with a nightcap pertched atop the green ghost's head. "Egon, I got to hand it to you, for a guy who fell of the top of the World Trade Center only a few hours before, you're one cool cookie. Nerves of steel."
"Yeah, you're one brave guy, Egon, we've been up against seven shades of living nightmares, but even some of the non-paranormal stuff still gets at us. If I fell off the top of the World Trade Center, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep for a month." Winston commented from his bed.
"All in a day's work, goodnight, gentlemen." Egon replied, he then removed his glasses and placed them on his bedside table.
"Goodnight." Peter wished as he snuggled into his bed.
With them wanting to go to sleep, Slimer floated along to the light switch and flicked the lights off...then on...then off again, then off again, the flickering of light provoked Peter to shoot Slimer a shot from his 'evil eye', the glare did as he'd hoped it would, and Slimer finally shut the lights off.
Egon was falling, the sheer, steel side of Tower 1 shot up past him as he fell, his lungs full of sound as he yelled as he fell.
Egon bolted upright, the nightmare had been almost real, sweat poured down his face and he decided he wouldn't be able to get to sleep anytime soon.
Egon eventually found himself in the Rec Room, a cup of cocoa in one hand and the TV remote in the other.
"Perhapse I just need to unwind with some warm cocoa and an old movie." He muttered quietly to himself as the TV booted up. On screen, a man waited beside a fire in a dense, shadow-filled forest in the middle of the night, cooking marshmellows. The film was an old black and white, and the sudden emergence of a man dressed in dark clothing seemed to show that it was a horror movie. Egon raised a hand to his face, almost as if a child, watching something they didn't want to see, yet were too captivated to turn away. Just as he'd suspected, as soon as the shadowy man lunged and ploughed his sharp teeth into the camper's neck it was obvious this was an old black and white vampire movie, something Winston or Ray might've stayed up for had they known it was on. Ray, Winston and Peter...they all had an infallible belief that Egon had come out unharmed from the World Trade Center incident, outside he may have appeared so, but inside he was shaking to the core. "This is rediculous! I'm not afraid of...some old movie!" Egon tried to reassure himself, however his faith in his own words was knocked down when a sudden fright from the TV made him jump, spilling the cocoa on the carpet.
Inside the sleeping quarters, within a dark corner of the room, something stirred, something that leaked an unusual light.
Somewhere...
"Ghostbusters...you have no right to seal me in like this." A husky voice replied as it tried a door, then another, all locked up, his portals useless. He tried another door, and was rewarded with the handle pulling away from the splintering wood. All these doors in his realm yet all were useless. "All my precious portals to children's closets, all useless now...but somehow, someway...I'll get out, and I'll make you pay!" The voice shouted as he then chucked a grand piano at another one of the useless portals, the piano shattered on impact with a protest of tuned wires and wooden hammers. The source of the voice then turned towards a door somewhere off in the distance. "Oooh...what's that? Fear! Delicious fear! Somewhere on earth, someone so frightened his terror is reaching me! I love fear! It makes me stronger!"
On screen, the words: THE END dripped like blood over a castle exterior shot, within moments the film had ended and another program began. Egon, who for some bizarre reason that he himself couldn't realise, had been cowering behind the couch.
"Get yourself together Egon...it was only a movie." Egon then reached forward, grabbed the remote and shut the TV off. "Get a hold of yourself, Egon, you heard the guys, you're brave." Egon muttered irrationally." He replied as he moved through the gloom towards the spiral staircase, he crept up it, careful not to make a sound. He peered through the circular opening at the top of the stairs. As he climbed up into the Third Floor landing a shape suddenly emerged from the gloom.
"Yiaaagh!" Egon cried in surprise and in the gloom something else screamed, as Egon lay on the floor he heard a creak as something above him swung, he looked up and there, splattered against the darkened glass blowl of the ceiling light was Slimer, a nightcap on head and a empty cup of water in hand.
"Slimer! What are you doing up?" Egon asked, a little annoyed at the sudden shock.
"Wawaa, am tirsty!" Slime replied, raising the cup for additional evidence.
"Oh you're thirsty, right, I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"Ughhh at's okaaie..." Slimer replied as Egon helped pull him off of the light fixture, leaving a green sticky mess that would need to be cleaned up in the morning.
"Goodnight Slimer." Egon replied.
"G'dnight Egohn." Slimer replied, frowned and then zipped down the staircase. Egon crept through the darkness to his bed, he then slipped into bed, neglecting to remove his glasses and began to drift off to sleep. However, the sound of the closet door opening and a sudden sharp light falling across his face caught his attention. He looked over and then suddenly pulled his blanket higher, there was something all to familiar to the heaving breathing he could hear, and then there was the silouette that he could make out against the light, it was...
"So! It was you!" The all to familiar voice replied in husky tones spoke as cloven feet walked out of the closet and into the sleeping quarters, the Boogieman had returned! "You who's fear gave me the strength to return." The Boogieman spoke as he walked past Peter's bed, the brown-haired Ghostbuster was fast asleep and didn't hear a word. The monster approached Egon's bed, however Egon had cover his head with the sheet, hoping against hope that it wouldn't see him, but it had, it knew he was there. Egon cautiously lowere the sheet, to see if it were true, and it was, there, standing in front of his bed with that large, leering, toothy grin, that pointed nose and that spikey ebony hair, was the Boogieman. "Because of you, I shall have my revenge!" Even with the evidence right in front of him and shaking in terror, Egon bolted upright in the attempt to shout and raise his companions, but he couldn't find his voice. Over by the door, Slimer entered the room with a tray laden with food, however he paused as his night mask fell down infront of his eyes, he paused to push it back up and saw the Boogieman stood right in front of him. The Boogieman turned and fixed his gaze on the spook. "Huh-hahahahaaa!" The Boogieman cackled.
"Aaaagghhhh!" Slimer screamed and made a bee-line for the wall, the tray and it's contents crashed into the floor, rousing the other Ghostbusters from their sleep.
"Hey!" Ray shouted in surprise.
"What is this?" Winston asked, they then focussed their collective gazes on the trespasser.
"Alright, what's going on!" Peter demanded.
"Woah...ahhh!" The Boogieman cackled, sizing up each Ghostbuster.
"The Boogieman's back!" Winston shouted, leaping from his bed and snagging the Proton Pack which was stored in the sleeping quarters.
"You're mine now, Ghostbusters!" The Boogieman shouted and began to charge at them.
"Hit it!" Peter shouted, Winston nodded and activated the Thrower at full stream, the blast from the beam sent the Boogieman flying backwards and crashing through the arched window at the front of the room, glass and wood rained down on the street below as the Boogieman fell and the Ghostbusters charged up to the recently-broken window.
"He's heading for the alley!" Ray shouted.
"Let's go!" Egon replied and they made their way to the staircase.
Less then five minutes later all four Ghostbusters were exiting the Firehouse, only having taken time to shove on their boots and for Peter, Egon and Ray to pull on their Proton Packs. They then charged across the street to the alleyway that stood between two buildings that faced the Firehouse, the alleyway that the Boogieman had hidden in.
"C'mon let's go!" Peter yelled as they filtered out into the alley, Proton Guns at the ready.
"He's gotta be here somewhere." Winston muttered as he checked a set of darkened windows above them, the shadows hung heavy, making it hard to spot potential hiding places. Ray made his way along one passageway leading from the alley. He turned and aimed behind him when to see if he was being followed but then shook his head once he felt something splatter on the back of his neck, he then turned back and came face to face with the Boogieman, hanging from an overhead fire escape.
"Aaaggghhh!" The Boogieman wailed.
"Hey!" Ray cried in surprise, sent realing back into Winston and Peter, knocking them to the ground, he soon followed quickly.
"Egon!" The Boogieman replied, casting his menacing leer on the remaining Ghostbuster. Egon tried to point his Thrower and press the fire button but for some inexplicable reason he'd frozen, terrified beyond rational thought.
"Egon!" Peter yelled as he tried to untangle himself from the trash and his fellow Ghostbusters. "Blast him!"
"Aaaaahhhh! BOO!" The Boogieman spoke, provoking Egon to break his paralysis and fire, however the sudden blast unsteadied him and sent him sprawling, the shot going wild. The Boogieman hissed, turned and galloped down the alleyway with that stupid leer pasted on his face, he turned the corner and vanished, followed by the sudden, angry protest of the horn of a Yellow Cab.
"Great, Boogie's back and he's loose in New York." Peter replied as he finally pulled himself up, he then helped Ray up.
"Right." Ray agreed. "And that means every kid in the city is in danger." Peter walked past Ray and Winston adns tood over Egon, who was just sitting there.
"And what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Peter--" Winston began.
"No, we need to get this straight, now." Peter interupted. "Well Egon, explain yourself, we need to work as a team, that means not letting things get to us...there's something bugging you Egon, you don't usually freeze like that..."
"I know." Egon replied as he pulled himself up.
"Good, because I'd like to know what's wrong, and I'm sure Ray and Winston would like to as well." Peter replied as they followed Egon back to the Firehouse.
"I'll explain soon." Egon replied as they entered the darkened garage.
Chapter Three
Greenwich Villiage...
A strange, monstrous shadow fell against a wall as two children huddled in their sleeping bags, the creature moved as it spoke...
"...then the horrible creature moved towards the bed, it's long, ugly toe claws clicking the floor." The story teller continued. "The Creature's yellow teeth glistened as it's slimey mouth drooled onto the bed covers as he reached out towards the boys." The story teller was twelve year old Donald Rodgriguez , of hispanic origin. The listeners were similarily aged Jason Rafferty, a ginger-haired boy with glasses and Catherine Mueller, a blond girl haired and with blue eyes. These were the charter members (And only members) of a small fan gathering known as the Junior Ghostbusters, the name had been Catherine's idea while the idea for setting up the club was Jason's. The small group of what could be called mis-led youths had decided to form the club after a school visit to the Firehouse on the corner of Varrick and Moore, they've been hooked ever since, to such an extent it seems that they owned custom made jumpsuits, Jason's being black with redish brown trim, Kateland's resembling blue with pink trim and Donald's resembling a very pale grey with brown trim. They even owned rings baring the recognisable no-ghost logo. Donald, the 'scientist' of the group possesed a PKE Meter, an old model which had been given to him by none other then Dr. Peter Venkman, against the wishes and possibly better judgement of the Ghostbusters' scientist, Dr. Egon Spengler. Part of the conversation that Donald had overheard was:
"...it's not gonna explode when he turns it on straight away...and he can shut it down if it becomes unstable...it's safe!"
"...that remains to be seen, Peter."
"Closer, closer! CLOSER!!"
"Donald! Stop!" Catherine replied.
"What's wrong Catherine...scared?
"'Cause not, it's just...that, that it's getting late."
"Yeah, late. My Mom says that if I don't get a good night's rest, no more sleep overs." Jason added. Over on the table, the lamp flickered and then went out.
"Hey, what happened to the lights?" Catherine asked as both she and Jason looked about.
"This isn't another one of your tricks, Donald?" Jason asked,
"Get serious, Jason. Some Junior Ghostbusters you are! There's nothing to be scared of!" Donald replied as he defended himself. On the floor beside his sleeping bag, Jason's PKE Meter began to beep while the lights flashed. He looked down at the device, he'd been working on it, replacing some of the components before the ghost story had started, but evidently he'd left it on and it was getting a signal.
"This old PKE Meter Dr. Venkman gave me...it's showing negative readings!" Jason replied in a more excited tone. Above them somewhere was an audible crash.
"What was that?" Catherine asked.
"I'm calling Dr. Spengler, just to get his advise of course." He explained as he picked up the phone's receiver, he the dialled in the number: 555-2020, the number for Ghostbusters HQ.
"Okay, here's the jackpot question: how did the Boogieman get out of his inbetween place? I thought it was locked up tight once the Ghost Bomb exploded?" Peter asked, they all stood in front of the door to the closet, however instead of the closet interior was a brightly-lit portal that led to the Boogieman's realm.
"I'm afraid it's my fault Peter, he sensed my fear..." Egon replied reluctantly.
"You, afraid?" Winston asked.
"That fall I took today terrified me...but the more I tried to hide it, the more frightened I became. The Boogieman sense that fear and drew enough strength to break out."
"It's okay Egon...sure we play up the 'man of steel' thing...but that's just banter..." Peter replied, understanding the situation Egon had been in. "But anyone who says that they have no fear is a fool to think that...it's dangerous."
"Yeah, what we gotta do now is nail that sucker."
"That won't be easy, the Boogieman isn't a ghost, he's a physical manifestation as you'll recall...the throwers on their standard settings won't do anything to him except burn him, and that'd be on the highest frequencies....in any case, to answer your ealier question Peter, the Ghost Bomb's effects would only work as long as the Boogieman wasn't very strong...as soon as I gave him the strength he was able to break the bonds enough on one door...our door...to get out into our world."
"Should we phone the parents of the Carter kids in case the Boogieman makes them a target?" Winston asked.
"No, we don't want to start a panic until we are sure that we have no other choice--" Egon paused as the phone on one of the nightstands began to ring. If the physicist had intended to say something else it'd have to wait until he'd answered the phone.
"Could be them now." Peter suggested with a shrug.
"Ghostbusters, Dr. Spengler speaking."
"Dr. Spengler? This is Jason Rafferty...I was at your place with my friends Donald and Catherine at your place on a school trip last month...Dr. Venkman gave me one of your old PKE Meters."
"Oh yes, I remember, what can I do for you?" Egon asked on the end of the line.
"I was doing some work on replacing some of the parts, when the Meter started giving me this weird signal...it registers Minus Nine, am I doing something wrong?"
"Minus 9?! That's the reading for the Boogieman! What's your address?" Egon asked quickly, motioning for a notepad and pencil. He scribbled down the address. "Get out of there, if you're getting a valence of Minus 9 then he's near you, get outside we'll be right over!" Egon replied into the phone quickly, he then dropped it into it's cradle and shot up from his seated position.
"What's going on Egon?" Ray asked.
"The Boogieman's heading for those kids who just called, let's go!" Egon explained and they charged for the firepole, careful to grab their Proton Packs before jumping into the Ecto-1.
"What did he say?" Catherine asked.
"He said...he said the Boogieman is coming." Jason replied, they all jumped when the door to the room exploded and a large shape leapt into the heavy shdow.
"Wrong my child, the Boogieman is here!" The thing replied with a husky voice and a leer that they could make out even in the gloom. The Boogieman chuckled as he narrowed his line of site on the three children. They gasped and backed away, only prompting the Boogieman to cackle even more.
Chapter Four
"Raawwwrrrr...Raawwwrrrr...Raawwwrrrr..." Ecto-1's siren blared as the car made it's way to Greenwich Village, specifically the address Egon had scribbled down before ending the phone call back at the Firehouse. The car turned a corner and made it's way down West 10th Street, stopping on a corner which held an apartment complex which had it's lower levels converted into apartments. Egon got out quickly, Pack already on his back, Peter followed quickly.
"It's definately the Boogiman." He replied as he studied his PKE Meter. Peter then charged for the staircase that led to the below street level entrance.
"Let's get him!" Peter shouted as he charged down the stairs. Egon, Ray and Winston quickly followed suit.
"Huhehehahahaha!" The Boogieman cackled as the children cowered in fear.
"Freeze Boogie!" Peter yelled, the sound of his voice and the whine of his Proton Pack powering up drawing the entity's attention.
"You!" The Boogieman began. "You won't stop me this time!" He then opened his mouth wider then humanly possible and screamed.
"Woah!" Egon replied in surprise as Ray, Winston, Peter and himself were catapalted back and crashed into a table holding a stereo. The Boogieman then leapt over their heads and crashed through the window and leapt into the night.
"That guy likes breaking windows, doesn't he?" Peter asked in a slight daze.
"Always said that Boogieman has a big mouth." Winston replied a she picked himself up and dusted himself off.
"Is he gone?" Jason asked, emerging from underneath his sleeping bag.
"For now." Egon replied, holstering his Proton Gun and snagging his PKE Meter from his belt, he began to scan the room.
"You kids okay?" Winston asked as he knelt down to look the three scared children in the eye.
"Sure..." Jason replied.
"Yeah..." Donald replied.
"I think so." Catherine
"Sure...sure, we're Junior Ghostbusters." Donald replied. Winston had to hand it to them, this 'Junior Ghostbusters' thing seemed to give them a bit more courage against the more scarier side of the paranormal then a lot of kids he'd met over the past few years.
"Huh, sorry about the mess guys, we'll help you clean it up later." Ray replied, giving the kids a thumbs up.
"Right now, let's head back to headquarters, I have an idea that might work against the Boogieman." Egon replied. Winston patted Donald's shoulder and then followed Ray and Egon out of the room.
"Anything else happens, anything at all, call us right away." Peter replied.
"Promise." Jason replied as the other two children nodded in understanding, Peter smiled and then left the room in persuit of his three fellow Ghostbusters.
Somewhere...
Out of the gloom walked a large, over-sized character, it's form grotesque and not of this world, it's goat legs clacked against the concrete as it approached a set of black, iron gates. A sign above the gates, complete with apple wearing a happy smile read: Big Apple Amusement Park. The creature raised it's arms up in front of the gates and lightning flashed in the sky and shot down, spreading unusual and unnatural colours over the amusement park and it's contents, had anyone been out in that area at that time of night they would have seen the park slowly shift and change. Within a short time the park had completely changed, as ghostly and somehow distored fairground organ music wafted through the now parted gates, the spellcaster looked upon his work and smiled an impossible smile.
"Aaah! The perfect place for fear to grow and thrive! Let the Ghostbusters come, now I'll be ready for them!" The Boogieman spoke, he then broke out into boughts of his loud, husky laughing.
Chapter Five
Egon sat in the lab, darkness falling around the small island of light created by the illuminated desk lamp. In front of him lay a Particle Thrower, a series of cables ran into a connector which was plugged into the very end of the yellow hose which would usually connect the Thrower to a Proton Pack. Egon worked on several connectons within the gun housing with a soldering iron, he then set aside the soldering iron, reached towards a portable power socket on the workbench and switched on the power. He then turned his attention to the modified Proton Gun and twisted the beam ratio knob on the side of the gun housing, a rythematic beeping changed pitch as he adjusted it to the left. His experiment appeared to be working, he just hoped it would work on the Boogieman. Something landed on his shoulder! With a sudden exhale of breath, Egon prepared himself and turned, readying himself for whatever might be lurking behind him...
It turned out to be Peter.
"Easy Egon, you've got to get some sleep." The psychologist replied as the ceiling florescents flickered on. In the background stood Ray, Winston, Janine and floating off of the floor was Slimer.
"No time for that," He replied as he removed a specially modieifed set of his red rimmed glasses with a magnifying lense and replaced them with his regular set.
"Great!" Winston replied enthusiastically. "What is it?" He then asked, loosing his momemtum.
"This is an Atomic Destabilizer." Egon explained as he held up the modified Particle Thrower, it's hose now disconnected from the temporary power source. "It can covert physical matter into it's ethereal counter-part, it's the next stage of thinking from the Molecular Destabilizer."
"Aren't you glad you asked?" Peter replied flippantly.
"Wow, this'll vaporize the Boogieman into a ghost, long enough for us to trap him like any other ghost!" Ray enthused as he collected the device from Egon's hands.
"Hold on." Janine cut in. "This thing isn't going to send you to the Nether World again, is it?" She asked, eyeing the device with skepticism.
"I've built in several saferty features based on the research Ray and I performed on the Molecular Destabilizer, in a perfect setting I could have even established a type of force field which could prevent the wearer from being sent to another dimension in the event they do suffer a backlash, but I'm operating on limited time, I'm glad I could implement what measures I could." Egon explained.
"As long as you're satisfied with it Spengs, now it's our time to put a scare into the Boogieman." He replied, emphasising the point with punching his fist, they then charged out of the lab, Egon taking the modified Particle Thrower with him.
"Yeah." Slimer floated along, practicing shadow boxing, that is, until for some inexplicable reason, his shadow boxed back. "Eah! Aiit or mee!" He then zipped off after them.
The Ecto-1 shot across the Brooklyn Bridge, even at this hour traffic wasn't dead as it slowly approached morning.
"One question Egon, just how are we going to find Mr.B?" Winston asked from the driver's seat.
"Fortunately, even though the Boogieman is not a standard ghost, he still leaves a strong supernatural trail," Egon explained as he turned on his ever-present PKE Meter, "and we're getting closer." As if to proove his point, the lights grew brighter as the beeping grew louder. The Ecto-1 shot through several blocks worth of Brooklyn backwaters before it drew to a halt, right outside the gates to the Big Apple Amusement Park.
"Boy, they don't make them like this, anymore." Winston replied as he climbed out of the car. They then closed their car doors as they walked towards the gates.
"Never did make them like this," Peter chipped in as the gates swung open ominously, "Boogieman's been redecorating."
"Eee...yuckh." Slimer spat, but then floated cautiously through the twisted park.
"Remember, the Boogieman has made this place his realm, it'll do anything he wants it to do, so stay on guard." Egon warned as Slimer floated towards a large, curved mirror, his reflection appeared in it, but it then scowled, leered at him and changed into the laughing face of the Boogieman, sending Slimer flyinf back...and into Peter.
"SLIMER!" Peter yelled, pointing at the mess of green slime on his jumpsuit, he then extracted a handkerchief from one of his pockets and began to clear up as much of the mess as possible as Slimer floated over to Ray and Egon. He then babbled incoherently as he flung his arms wildly in the direction of the mirror.
"Slimer's picked up on something!" Ray reported.
"Over there!" Egon agreed as he studied his readings, indicating a twisted Fun House, each mirror was filled with the Boogieman's laughing face.
"Blast him!" Peter shouted and all excluding Egon fired, melting the mirrors and the red, plastic Fun House letters, they soon vanished and were replaced by a weird face with an open mouth, apparantly some kind of door which the Boogieman poked his head out of. The four Ghostbusters gulped as the Boogieman raised it's claws and shot coloured lighing at a 'cute' looking but-shaped rollercoaster train, the train morphed into a fierce looking dragon-like creature with seating and it flew off the track, around the night air and then at them. it then swooped down and scooped them up, dropping them into the seats and then it took off on a rollercoaster ride from hell.
"Woah!" All four Ghostbusters yelled as they shot high into the air, and then fell into a break-neck drop, all the while Slimer clung onto the thing's tail for dear un-life. They then shot along the track towards a pair of giant, robotic clowns.
"Not clowns...I have a thing about clowns..." Winson moaned.
"Ha...Ha...Ha...Ha." Both clowns laughed as they removed the Ghostbusters' Proton Packs, dropping them where they couldn't be used. Unarmed, the Ghostbusters made the final descent, loosing Slimer in the process. The possessed train shot down and into the mouth/doorway, Slimer could only watch as the four Ghostbusters vanished into the doorway and it then closed up tight.
"Ooh noo!" Slimer moaned. He then screamed as he fled the amusement park.
"Wow, remind me never to come here on a full stomach." Winston muttered as he tried to disentangle himself from the pile the guys had landed in.
"Or and empty on!" Peter added. Ray managed to pick himself up but quickly covered his mouth to prevent himself from being sick. In front of them the red and black checkered floor moved and tore, an over-sized Boogieman poking out of the torn flooring. He raised up and lunged at them, waving his arms and wearing his most terrifying leer. The four Ghostbusters stood against a multi-coloured stripe wall.
"Did I scare you? GOOD! Especially you, Egon! because the more afraid you are," He began as rope-like things tore through the wall and wrapped themselves around the Ghostbusters, trapping them, "the more it feeds me!" The four Ghostbusters struggled against the rope-like things, they were too strong tp break.
"RRRRrrrrrggghhh!" The over-sized Boogieman growlled as he approached them menacingly. He then began to cackle hysterically as he wroght his hands in contemplation.
"I hope we make him sick to his stomach." Winston muttered.
Chapter Six
"Jannine! Jannine!" Slimer screamed as he approached the Firehouse, he splattered through the doors and zoomed towards Janine's desk.
"Slimer? What's wrong?" Janine asked, standing up from her desk. Slimer then explained in a quick, unintelligble babble that only Janine or Ray might have a hope of comprehending.
"Let me guess, the guys are in trouble." Janine asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Uuh huhh, Uuh huhh!" Slimer nodded enthusiastically.
"Typical." Janine muttered, she then kicked off her green pumps and strode over to the door near the back of the garage. "Between fake Gods and haunted apartments, seems I have to do everything myself." Janine replied as she pulled out a blue flightsuit (similar in blueness to that of Egon Spengler's) with orange trim.
"Give it up, Boogieman!" Peter yelled.
"Yeah, we're not little kids you can scare away!" Ray added in protest.
"On the contrary," The Boogieman replied as he tapped his bloated lip in contemplation, "I can scare you to death!" He turned around, menacing the Ghostbusters. He then raised his claws once more and shot lighting around them, and then everything went dark.
Moments later the Ghostbusters found themselves falling through smokey darkness, only just able to see each other as they fell, their voices falling on deaf ears.
"Ouch!" Egon protested as they landed in a vaery strange environment, it looked like a city setting, but everything was over-sized and exagerated, it would fit perfectly as the Boogieman's realm.
"Hey, wherever we are it sure isn't Kansas." Winston surmised as Egon knocked on the side of a giant fire hydrant. The sound of an approaching crowd drew their attention. They then scrambled, all except Peter who appeared to be catching his breath.
"C'mon!" Shouted Ray and Peter shot off at a sprint to catch up with them. They then ran towards a giant door with a giant, ugly door knocker. Peter leapt up onto the door step and then onto the knocker, it looked like he might actually be able to open the door, that is, until the knocker suddenly came alive and morphed into the Boogieman, startling Peter and making him drop back to the ground as the supernatural crowd approached.
"Uh-oh." Egon muttered as the crowd of monsters approached, close enough for the four paranormal eliminators to make out most of their gruesome detail.
Janine brought her car to a stop as soon as she saw the unmistakable shape of the Ecto-1, parked and unattended outside of the Big Apple Amusement Park where strange and terrifying sounds were filtering out into the night air.
"Huh," She replied sarcastically. "Maybe we should get the name of their decorator." She muttered as she locked her yellow VW Beetle. She then unclipped a PKE Meter she'd cliped onto her belt and activated it, it beeped loudly as the wings shot up, the area was nearly saturated with PKE, it would be a nightmare to try track down anything paranormal in the area...and setting the device was almost as futile. "...What was that setting Egon said to use for the Packs?" She wondered out loud, she twisted the dial on the side for a few moments before a small line of text on the screen read: Protonic Energy Source, proximity: 150 Metres. Using the device as a guide, she slowly began to walk into the Amusement Park, watching carefully in case something tried to get the drop on her. Over her shoulder floated Slimer, he wrought his hands as he tried to study everything at once, doing his best to ignore the temptation to fly screaming from the site. After five minutes of walking through the place and taking regular readings, Janine was able to track down the exact location of the source of the protonic energy, rewarded with the fact she'd been right to try for that setting, it had led her straight to the Packs. She shrugged on Pack on and carried another which badly weighed her down. She then ajusted the PKE Meter to read for human biorythems, the meter beeped quietly, as if the source was further away, and possible underground. "C'mon Slimer." She replied and made her way to the gateway which had now reopened, Slimer followed, a pack hanging from each hand.
Chapter Seven
"Fight it guys, fight back! Don't even think about being afraid, or he'll win!" Peter protested, pointing at the Boogieman and his crowd of ghostly co-horts.
"I...I can't help it, Peter!" Egon replied, sweat trickling down his brow. In front of them, coloured lighting flashed over the crowd as they became bigged and definately meaner, even the Boogieman sustained a growth spurt. As if to point out that the Boogieman's powers were growing, the strange rope creatures sprung from the wall wrapping up the Ghostbusters like they'd done before.
"Thats it!...More fear! I need it!" The Boogieman replied in sheer delight, feeling his powers expanding ten-fold.
"Ahahahahahahaha!" Janine and Slimer could hear a husky laugh as they crept through one of the passageways within the twisted Fun House. They were then brought to a sudden stop as the wall next to them lit up and then vanished, giving them a view of the Boogieman, his crowd of followers and the captured Ghostbusters. "Ahhhhh!" The Boogieman called as he turned his attention to the newcomers. Slimer began to scream in terror.
"Uh-oh!" Janine replied.
"Well well, the gang's all here...and it's little Janine, isn't it? They've even brought their little cap guns!" The Boogieman replied in sheer amusement, he then broke into laughter, followed quickly by his followers. "Now let's see some real fear, first you, then the Ghostbusters...then the children of the world!" The Boogieman replied as he approached Slimer and Janine.
"Leave...leave them alone!" Egon bellowed, loosing his temper.
"Muhahahaha!" The Boogieman laughed, sending a chill down Janine's spine.
"Don't touch them!" Egon shouted, he then struggled with the binds and was equally surprised as his friends were when the rope-creatures began to snap. He was then free and he took off at a sprint that would make a football player green with envy, he punched one ghost, leapt over another and used the leap to kick a third one in the face, he then hit the ground and threw himself forward, sliding between the Boogieman's cloven legs and towards Janine and Slimer. Janine, realising what he was doing knelt down and slid his Proton Pack with the modified thrower, it skidded along and he caught it, unclipping the gun and aiming it up at the Boogieman, he then fired a streame of converted energy that hit dead-on. The Boogieman howled in pain as the beam began to wrap itself around his inhuman form. With the Boogieman's power starting to deminish, the other Ghostbusters were able to free themselves, they charged foward as Egon shrugged his own pack on. Janine then handed her pack to Winston while Peter and Ray grabbed theirs from Slimer, Winston unclipped his Trap and slid it along under some of the ghosts, he then fired a confinement stream to capture and hold the ghosts over the Trap, Peter and Ray quickly followed suit. "You won't be terrifying any more children." Egon replied as he unclipped his Trap, dropped it to the ground and kicked it over so it slid under the Boogieman which was caught in the air by Egon's modified beam. As the other ghosts were sucked into the trap Egon stomped his boot onto the trigger, sending up a white prism which snared the Boogieman. Screaming in pain and frustration, Egon shut off his beam and watched as the Boogieman's form became less defined and he was then sucked into the Trap, the device sparking and smoking lightly as a red indicator light flashed on. "It's over." He replied in relief.
"Egon!" Janine replied, he looked up and she threw herself into a tight hug, glad to see the physicist was alive and well. Around them the Fun House shifted back to normal.
"Now Egon, you remember what we talked about?" Peter asked.
"Yes, there's no reason to be afraid of being afraid." He replied as Janine released her grip on him.
"Great, now let's get these babies back to HQ, there's a portal upstairs in the sleeping quarters we need to close, and I don't know what might happen if the Boogieman became physical while inside a Containment Trap."
"Agreed." Egon added as they exited the building.
"And we need some sleep, it's two in the morning and we haven't even been paid to do this." Peter added.
"Speaking of payment...should I be getting overtime and hazard pay for this?" Janine asked.
"Don't even joke about that." Peter replied as they neared the Ecto-1.
"Egon, I have to ask," Winston replied, "what if the Boogieman is like one in a series of spooks, could he come back? Or a new one take his place?"
"I've yet to come up on any notation of a 'Legion of Boogiemen' to take the place should one fall, I doubt there would've been any reason to have more then one, a Boogieman can only die if there is no more fear, and there's always been fear...however, it is a theory to keep in mind...we will just have to wait and see." He explained as they loaded their Proton Packs into the back of Ecto-1. "Oh, and Janine?"
"Yes Egon?" She looked up expantantly.
"Thank you for coming out here, I fear we may have failed had Slimer not gone for you."
"Yeah." Ray agreed.
"It was nothing, someone's got to bail you guys out." She replied in her usual 'typical' voice, not without a wink though.
THE END.