Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Ghostbusters creators, producers, or directors, or of the movies/tv shows themselves. This is only a fanfiction devoted to the movies which I love.

Author's Notes: Hello all GB fans out there! This story is basically about a strange girl, more ghostly hauntings, and the ever-so-loved Ghostbusters! In this story there is action, humor, supernatural activities, romance, thriller, and suspense. I'm hoping this story comes out as well as I want it to be. This fanfiction is based on the movies, for I have only seen the cartoons twice and forget what they are about. Anyways, enough chatter, on with the show! ((On with the book!))

may be slightly OOC. Takes place after both of the movies.

Ghostbusters: Toxic Requiem

Act One:

Breadless

The street lamps dimmed subordinately from the growing darkness of night. A whispering breeze wound itself around the leaves, rustling them ever so gently as to make them dance hypnotically. Most people tongight were either at home sleeping or working the night shift. New York City calmly inhaled the new day as the clocks struck twelve a.m.

An old brick firehouse contained four slumbering bodies familiar to the world as heroes. Dr. Raymond Stanz, Dr. Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore were the familiar heroes. They were the Ghostbusters. With bravery, enthusiasm, spunk, and an everlasting faith, these four friends conquered over all supernatural forces. Twice had New York City been saved from near-destruction, and from then on praise and gratitude showered upon them.

Ray usually had odd dreams that he never shared with the others.. Tonight, as the half moon gleemed over the earth, his dreams seemed stranger than normal. A blurred image of a person hovered over Ray's immobile body, floating without a sound. Instantly, the blurred image pressed something sharp into his side, sending a current of both pain and pleasure through his disappearing body. Then Ray saw Slimer pour a sticky green slime all over his head. This immediately awoke Ray, and shocked him when he found Slimer flying about the room frantically. Feeling his head, Ray realized he hadn't been slimed after all. Now he needed to fall back asleep.

And failed miserably..

Rubbing his coffee brown eyes, Ray chose not to try and attract the Sandman to his bed anymore. Instead, he gathered himself and walked groggily downstairs and into the kitchen for a late night snack. The overly dark kitchen was indeed eery, but the Ghosbusters had gotten used to feeling an eeriness about them at all times. After all, supernatural hinderances dwelled everywhere, you just needed to be prepared in case they came your way.

"Shit.." Ray swore under his breath as he realized there was no more bread left in stock. He was sure to get stuck in the morning for grocery duties.

Replacing the idea of making a sandwich with an idea to reheat some pasta, Ray headed for the refrigerator. This wasn't the first time he couldn't sleep. On some occasions he would painstakingly try to fall asleep while hearing the annoying snores from his fellow teammates. One particular time became so awful that Ray threw a pillow at Peter to stop the noise.

Taking the pasta out of the microwave, Ray regretted not turning the light on. He could barely hold the steaming plate without almost dropping it while he walked to a table. He sat down and began to eat blindly, chuckling at himself as his bad aim brought the fork to his nose. A creaking noise was audible, but Ray made nothing of it. He figured it was Slimer. Sure enough, Slimer soon swung into the room holding a flashlight. He dropped it into Ray's pasta, sending sauce everywhere.

"Slimer!" Ray yelled, "You are such a jerk! I can't see, and you know very well I can't. What is wrong with you?"

The green floating blob answered, "Nahhh-thinnnng."

Ray stumbled in the dark to try and find a napkin. This was very odd because he could have just put the light on in the first place! Slimer laughed maliciously and flipped the kitchen light on. This sudden change of atmosphere caused Ray to crash into a counter. He grabbed some napkins and grunted angrily.

"Thanks a lot Slimer," Ray demerged his eyebrows to show he was irritated.

After cleaning up, Ray ate the remainder of his little snack and went to his bed. It didn't take him very long for the rush of exhaustion to drown him in slumber. The night moved on with no more disturbances or strange dreams.

Morning approached with its rising sun, pinkish clouds, and tainted blue sky. Peter Venkman awoke first, quickly making coffee before the rest of the crew woke up to the new day. Janine, the Ghostbusters' secretary, arrived in her common uninterested mood. The clocks read seven a.m. 'Twas time to start the business day.

"Slimer attacked me with the damned flashlight last night," Ray opened up the newspaper and glanced in the obituaries.

Peter retorted, "That's why it's so dirty.. It's covered in dry sauce. What were you eating? Pasta?"

Ray nodded, soon trailing off deeper into the newspaper.

"Ray," Egon called warningly, "you kept the lights off again, didn't you?"

Silence.

Sitting at the coffee table in the kitchen, Egon pressed on, "You know that is a really irresponsible habit. One day, Ray, one day you will trip and fall just because you prefer the dark. That's when we will be forced to laugh in your face. I'd hate to see that day."

"No you wouldn't, Egon. You would laugh too." Winston enetered the kitchen, grabbed a cup of coffee, and downed it within fifteen seconds.

Now ignoring the bunch, Ray pretended to read the sports columns. He crossed one leg over the other and sighed.

Peter opened a cabinet and searched for bread. . . He looked dumbfounded and turned to face the others.

"Where's the bread?" He asked, still wondering how he would make toast without the one main ingredient.

Popping his head over the paper, Ray stated, "There's none."

At this time, Slimer flew into the kitchen, dripping his clear, snot-like goo on Peter's shoulder.

"What the hell? Man, that blob hates me!" Peter half chuckled, half whined. He didn't want to change the subject though. "How can there be no bread? There was at least a third of a loaf left. What'dja do, Ray, have a french toast party last night?"

"Yeah," Ray declared sarcastically, "I had a party with french toast and pasta. Bad mix, Pete. I don't think I could have that much bread in one sitting. Maybe Slimer ate it."

"Blagh! Noottt mmee!" Slimer flew back into the kitchen and hovered over Peter.

Jumping away from the green blob, Pete shouted, "Don't come near me you booger! I don't want your snot all over me anymore. Ruining my shirts day after day. I can see if you hate me, fine, but don't go around blowin snots outta your ass at me!"

"Look," Winston chimed in, "Who cares who ate it? We all sleep and eat here every friggin' day. Who's to say we all didn't eat it? Loaves of bread aren't going to just walk away. Besides, I recall us all making a huge breakfast the other day. Maybe that's when it was eaten and we don't remember. All I know is we have to go grocery shopping sooner or later. Our cupboards are more bare than a prostitute in downtown New York. So... Who's going shopping today?.."

Pete smiled, "Not it!"

A few others rang in, "Not it!"

"Not me.."

"Not this time..Not it."

Ray, unfortunately, had been too late with his, "Not it." Even if he hadn't had to go, someone was bound to threaten or bribe him to shop instead.

"Great.." He stated, folding up the newspaper. Ray continued, "I'll only go if you write a legible list of what we need. I hate going without a clue of what to buy."

Egon sipped his black coffee, "We need bread."

Giggling, Janine added, "Yes, we need bread." Her mood seemed to lift.

Adding onto the teasing, Pete blurted, "We need bread, Ray."

Apparently fed up with the situation, Winston spoke up, "I'll write you a list, Ray. Just wait a sec. and I'll have it for you."

With a smile, Ray asked in a over-perky voice, "Will you come with me, Pete? I need some company."

"I'm supposed to visit Dana and Oscar today." The room went quiet after Pete spoke.

After about three months together, Dana met someone new and far more responsible than Peter. She cancelled her and Pete's wedding, which wouldn't of worked out anyways, and told him he could visit Oscar whenever the need occured. Pete avoided all communication between them for a month or so, until he swallowed his pride and tried to get over it. A week ago, Pete arranged a meeting time every week to visit Dana and Oscar, to at least keep their friendship. He felt awkward though, for Dana was already planning to marry the new man in her life. She told Peter she would have him meet the new man for a second opinion before she got too close. Dana knew that all men had some special bond in them to talk about everything...including what they thought of their new girlfriends.

Standing up, Ray said, "I can drop you off after we shop. Where do you need to be?"

"Dana's meeting me at a cafe on the corner of Central Park. I'm supposed to meet the new guy today. Not looking forward to that."

"That's on the way back, too," Ray took the keys to Ecto-1, "Let's go."

Winston grinned, "Beat that asshole up for us, Pete, whoever he is."

Walking out of the firehouse and into the chilly autumn environment, Ray and Pete stepped into the Ecto-1, their Ghostbusting car. Ray started up the engine and drove off towards the nearest grocery store. The car radio was playing a classic rock song, urging the listeners to sing along. In no time, they were at the most well-known grocery store in New York City. As usual, the parking lot was packed beyond belief. Eventually, there was an open spot to park in.

"Come on," Pete sighed, "Let's get this over with. Winston gave me the list.. We need bread obviously, milk, lettuce, tomatoes, cold cuts, and a bunch of other bullshit. I'll take the bottom half of our long list and you take the top. Alright?"

"Yeah, sure," Ray agreed as they both took a carriage and entered the stately store.

First thing first, Ray headed towards the breads isle and Pete headed in the same direction for doughnuts. This wasn't on the list, but he figured the Ghostbusters needed a treat once in awhile. Laughing, Ray spotted Pete grabbing two boxes of sugar-covered doughnuts and a package of Swiss Rolls. He knew this would be an interesting experience, shopping with a junk-food lover.

"You need the carriage more than I do, Pete." Ray laughed again.

Turning to face his friend, Pete answered, "I didn't even see you there. This...stuff is for...umm..Oscar."

"Give me a break! Oscar isn't allowed to eat that junk. It's alright if you smuggle in some treats. I'll pretend I didn't even see it."

Some time went by and the two men separated to finish the rest of the groceries. Pete sauntered towards the vegetables, picking up the lettuce, tomatoes, and whatnot. It was there where his attention was drawn to a female who was currently taking cucumbers.

The woman's dark brown hair was held up by a large clip, leaving some strands swaying freely. Her hazel eyes studied each cucumber for flaws, and her lips pursed in concentration. The rest of her body, oh Heavens, Pete studied the slenderness, the curves, the utterly attractive everything. Hooked like a fish, Pete yearned to hear her name. He wanted so badly to kiss those beautifully luscious pursed lips. However, he knew just plainly walking up to her wouldn't be such a good idea. He would follow her discreetly for a few, and make sure she didn't have a macho boyfriend who could kick the shit out of him.

On the other side of the store, Ray was picking up the cold cuts. Bologna, roast beef, cheese, salami, and a couple of other things that the other guys liked. He also bought some sliced turkey for Janine. Pushing the carriage, Ray walked towards the drinks and cereal isles, which were pretty close to one another. Upon entering the cereal isle, Ray noticed a woman carrying an over-stuffed basket of food, mostly healthy. Pete walked into the isle and spotted his accomplice immediately, and ran over to him while still holding some vegetable items.

"Here," Pete plopped the food into the carriage and glanced back at the wonderful woman, "Ray, you see that girl over there?"

Ray looked at the woman again, but this time realized just how gorgeous she was. "What the hell is she doing in this place? She's too pretty to be in this neck of the woods. What a beauty."

"Yeah," He nodded and grabbed a box of Cheerios, "and she's mine. Watch and learn, Stanz."

Oh no, here we go again. Ray knew how Pete became with the women. There was always a certain cockiness in his attitude when asking a woman out. This is how most of Pete's problems came about.

"Hello there," Pete started at the woman with an over-friendly voice, "I'm Peter."

The woman looked up from the cereal box, studied the man in front of her and answered softly, "Hi."

"I know you are going to think this is crazy, but...I've fallen madly in love with you just now. I cannot picture my life without you."

"Then," responded the woman, "Don't put your life in a picture."

Pete frowned, "We started on the wrong foot..What's your name?"

"Look," The woman placed a box of cereal in her basket, "I'm glad you are so enthusiastic to hit on me, but I cannot respond to this immaturity. How about you go back under your rock and wait for a desperate woman to come along."

"Ouch!" Pete, still frowning, chuckled a bit, "You are definitely my kind of woman."

She sighed and glared into Pete's eyes, "Too bad, so sad." Walking along the isle, Pete followed behind.

Ray giggled as the woman and Pete came closer. He decided to step in.

"Pete," Ray stopped his friend, "I think it's time you leave this woman alone. Obviously you are not her type. Why don't you go back to the snack isle..." He peered into the beautiful woman's eyes, "I'm sorry, miss.. Sometimes Pete is a bit...over-confident with women."

"It's alright," She answered, shooting a pleasant smile at Ray, "Thank you for stepping in though. I don't know how much longer it'll take before I really get angry. My name's Samara."

"I'm Ray.." His face turned a slight shade of pink. He was always shy with women.

Taking a deep breath, Samara went on, "Maybe we'll pass paths again sometime. It was nice meeting you. Good luck handling your obsessive buddy." With a grin, she began to walk away after Ray bade farewell.

Now shocked, Pete seemed defeated, "So ends another chance with a female. Let's checkout now."

The grocery adventure was over, and the Ghostbusters were no longer breadless. Ray dropped Pete off on the corner street near Central Park just as Dana, Oscar, and the new guy arrived. Pete knew this was going to be an adventure all on its own.