"Come on Slimer, you know you want it." Garrett held out the candy bar towards the ceiling.
Slimer was half in and half out, looking at the candy, and worrying that it was a trap.
"We aren't going to hurt you," Roland said. "We just want to know who did this."
The little ghost whined, and scooted up an inch back up to the ceiling. Eduardo sighed.
"Look we don't have time for this. Janine's hurt bad, we need to know who did this so we can hurt him back."
"Hurt bad?" the ghost asked.
"Real bad." Kylie answered. Slimer flew down into the crowd and took the candy. Then he looked around the room.
"Zocodobe," he said. "Zocodobe made mess, scare Slimer. Scare Janine. Hurt Janine."
"Zocodobe," Garret said. "Are you sure?"
Slimer nodded, clutching the candy to him. Kylie smiled.
"Thanks Slimer. We owe you."
The little green ghost swallowed the bar whole, then disappeared into a wall. The four looked at each other.
"Zocodobe? We've never fought anyone by that name," Garrett said.
"It doesn't even sound familiar," Kylie said, flipping through her Spengler's Spirit Guide.
"Why would it want to hurt Janine?" Roland asked. "It must have been a ghost the others fought," Garrett said.
"Well, we can't go ask Egon," Eduardo said. "The others won't let us within a mile of him. And if we told them..."
"We'd get bumped off the case," Garrett finished. "We'll have to crack Janine's computer." He looked at Kylie.
"How good are you with computers?"
"Roland's better. I can check her files. Maybe there's something on paper." she said.
"I can be the watch," Eduardo said. "If they see what we're doing, we'll have to tell them what we found."
"Good idea," Garrett said.
"Yeah, I have them once in a while," Eduardo retorted.
"I can't believe this happened," Ray said. "Who would do this to Janine?"
"Not who, what," Winston corrected.
"I don't care what it is," Peter stated. "When we find it, it's gonna wish it had never heard of the Ghostbusters."
Winston looked at the other two. "How the hell are we going to find out who did this? The trail's already too cold, and we can't tell by the ectoplasm trail exactly who it is."
"And we don't know when Janine's going to regain consciousness." Ray added miserably.
"I doubt she knew who it was. Slimer was our only hope," Winston concluded. Peter shook his head.
"He was too busy hiding to even catch a glimpse of what attacked Janine. He's no help."
"We could ask the kids," Winston suggested. "Maybe they have an idea."
"No, we leave the kids out of this. We bust this ghost," Peter said.
"Peter, we tried that once, and Janine had our butts for it too," Winston said. "If we try to keep them from this one, not only will they be pissed, but so will Janine when she wakes up."
Ray sighed. "He's right."
Peter thought about it. "Okay, we let them help. But we run it or nothing.""Come on Roland, hurry up," Garrett said, looking over his shoulder. Roland looked at him.
"It would be easier if you'd quit breathing down my neck."
Garrett backed off a bit. "What's the problem?"
"She's got a password on her computer. Any suggestions?"
Kylie looked up from her files. "Ghostbusters?"
Roland typed it in. "Nope. Next?"
"Egon?" Garret offered.
"Nope."
"Spengs," Eduardo offered. The other two looked at him.
"Spengs?" Garrett asked. "What the hell is that suppose to mean?"
"I heard Venkman call Egon that once the last time they were here."
"That's the most ridiculous..." Garrett started.
"Hey it worked!" Roland said. "We have access." Garrett looked over at Eduardo, who looked smug.
"Like I said Eddie, great thinking."
Roland quickly went through the files until he found the name Zocodobe. "I'm cross-referencing the name with any files she may have on him." The files came up and Roland started reading through them.
"Guys, you have to see this. This is incredible."
The others crowded around Roland, silently reading the files in silence.
"My God." Kylie said softly. "This was what got Janine?"
"How are we suppose to get this thing?" Eduardo asked.
"Kylie, there's a file in the cabinet under ma1274c9." Roland said. Kylie pulled the file, and opened it.
"Look at this thing!" she exclaimed, placing it on the desk. The others looked in horror at the creature that had attacked Janine The creature was a class nine full-bodied entity, with a large red body and a huge tail. Spikes, lesions, and slime oozed from its body. The thing dripped evil.
"It says that the Ghostbusters captured its mate and sent her back to the Neitherworld, and sealed this thing in a cross-dimention rift." Roland read.
"Yeah well, it's back and it's pissed, "Garrett stated.
"You think it wants a life for a life?" Eduardo asked. They looked at him.
"What?" Garrett asked.
"Well, I mean, the Ghostbusters took its girlfriend. Maybe it wants to turn the tables." Eduardo continued.
"Take out the only female of the Ghostbusters at the time." Kylie said. "Eduardo, you're a genius."
"Well, I..." he started. Garrett slapped him on the back.
"Eddie, you're scaring me," he said. "You keep coming up with these ideas, and we're going to have to make you the brain of the group."
Roland snorted. "Not likely. No one's watching the stairs."
"Shit!" Eduardo said, running back for the stairs, but it was too late. Three pairs of feet were walking down at that time. Roland quickly closed out the computer, and Kylie shoved the file back in it slot, and shut the cabinet, as the three older Ghostbusters came down.
"What are you kids doing?" Ray asked. "Kids? I don't see no kids here," Eduardo said. He looked at Garrett. "You see any kids here?"
"Nope." Garrett answered. "Just Ghostbusters."
"We're just doing a little cleaning." Roland said leaning back in the chair.
"On the computer?" Peter asked.
"Hey someone's gotta do the paperwork while Janine's gone." Kylie said.
"All right, what's really going on?" Peter said. The four younger Ghostbusters looked at each other.
"You're so smart, you figure it out." Garret said, wheeling towards the lift.
Ray looked at them. "You know who did this, don't you?"
"So what if we did?" Eduardo asked, walking past them. Kylie and Roland followed; the older Ghostbusters followed after them.
"What do you know?" Ray asked.
"Ask Slimer." Kylie said, walking into the kitchen, and getting a soda. She handed one to Roland.
"Okay guys," Winston said, sitting down. "Let's talk. What do you know and what do you want?"
"We want to be let in on this," Garrett said, wheeling into the kitchen. "We know that if we give you the information, you're gonna take off and leave us here just like the last time."
"It's too dangerous for you kids," Peter said. "Leave it in the hands of the professionals."
"We are the professionals," Eduardo stated.
"We're the new generation. We are the Ghostbusters now." Garrett added.
"We've handled everything from haunted dolls, to houses that try to eat people, to full blown possession on our own kind." Roland continued.
"Besides," Kylie finished. "We have the information, we have the tools. Janine's our friend also. We don't assist, you don't go."
Peter stood up, eyes glinting dangerously. "You can't handle it!"
"You think?" Garrett asked, his eyes looking just as dangerous. "Don't you think that we know what you see when you see us? You see two guys that could probably handle themselves if they weren't bogged down with a girl and a cripple. We do our job, and we do it great. Egon doesn't have any problem sending us out to these places, why should you?"
Peter was about to protest, when they heard a new voice.
"Garrett's right, Peter." Egon said, walking into the kitchen. Kylie got him a chair, and he glanced up at her gratefully. Then he looked back at his friends.
"I'm more than impressed with their competence as a fighting team. I wouldn't let them go out if I didn't think they could handle themselves. I trust them with my life Peter. I think you should trust them with Janine's."
Peter looked at Egon, then at the kids. Then he sighed. "You're right." He looked at the kids. "I'm sorry. We have to start working together if we want to get this...whatever."
"Zocodobe," Roland said. "It was a class 9 called Zocodobe."
The older Ghostbuster's eyes widened in shock.
"Zocodobe?" Ray asked. "Are you sure?"
"That's what Slimer told us," Kylie said. "We looked it up in the computer and in the files. You guys had a run in with him and his mate about fifteen years ago, and sent her back to the Neitherworld."
"We think he got out and took revenge." Garrett added.
"Yeah, you took his girlfriend, he takes yours," Eduardo finished. "Or the next available female."
"Janine was here when we sent him to that rift," Ray said.
"And he got a look at her," Winston said.
"I just had a horrible thought," Peter said. "What if he isn't finished? We sent his mate to the great beyond. What if he wants to return the favor?"
All color drained from Egon's face. Ray touched his arm, as Kylie took a stand behind his chair.
"There should be one of us with her until she gets better or we catch this thing." Roland stated.
"Definitely." Winston agreed. "Who's first?"
"I'll do it," Eduardo said. The three younger Ghostbusters looked at him. He looked back at them.
"What?"
"Is today your special day or something?" Garrett asked.
"Hey, this is Janine," Eduardo stated. "Nobody messes with Janine."