12th CENTURY ENGLAND
THEN

The skies rumble violently over the massive ancient castle sitting on the end of a cliff. Lightning strikes, casting light over the otherwise dark countryside. Two knights ride up out of the woods and climb the hill on their horses towards the castle. They are Sir Reginald and Sir Frances. Their armor is far from pristine, looking like it was only recently in heavy battle. Both wear the tattered colors of opposing kingdoms fighting in the crusade. Ordinarily these men would be adversaries, locked in heavy battle until one of them was dead. But, there's a far greater threat than their holy war; something even their warring leaders recognized. These two men have been charged with the task of stopping it.

The knights slow their horses down as they draw nearer to the castle. They look up at its awesome size and wonder the kind of power it must have held and represented once. They dismount by the entrance and Sir Reginald points towards it.

"Quickly! We must dispatch the creature before the lighting strikes!" Sir Frances grabs a sack off his horse and follows his partner inside. The knights make their way through the castle and climb up the round staircase inside one of its spires towards the parapet, carried torches lighting their way. They reach their destination and emerge to see their quarry; a green scaled, winged demon standing in front of a large, ornamental mirror…a demon known as…T'MANETH! She turns towards them, wings extended and pointing at the knights.

"YOU ARE TOO LATE! THE LIGHTNING SHALL STRIKE AND THE MIRROR REALM WILL OPEN, RELEASING AN UNLIMITED ARMY AT MY COMMAND! YOUR PATHETIC VANITY WILL BE YOUR UNDOING!" The knights look up as the lightning gets closer and fiercer. They look back at T'Maneth.

"Nay, foul demon!" Sir Reginald says, "Thy reign hath come to an end!"

"AND WHO IS GOING TO STOP ME, HUMAN WRETCH? MY MIRROR WAS FORGED FROM THE FIRES OF HELL AND DAMNATION! NO MERE MORTAL WEAPON CAN DESTROY IT!" Sir Reginald looks at his partner and nods. Sir Frances reaches into the sack he carries and pulls out a circular object with oriental designs and dragons painted on it.

"Then let us try an unusual weapon…a gift from the Emperor of China!" He holds out the object where his partner lights a line running out of it with his torch. Suddenly, a bolt of lighting comes down from the heavens and strikes the mirror. Quickly, Sir Frances rears his hand back and lets the object fly.

GHOSTBUSTERS
PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS
#2
"MIRROR MIRROR PART 2"

CHRIS BUCHNER & BRIAN REILLY-Concept
CHRIS BUCHNER-Writer & Editor in Chief
ROLANDO MUNOZ-Artist
BEN KING-Letterer & Inker
ADAM BESTLER-Colorist
DAN LIBERG-Editor
FRITZ BAUGH-Cover Artist

NEW YORK CITY
TODAY

It was just another day in the life of the Ghostbusters. They had just taken care of a ghost bothering a local orphanage when on the way home Egon had gotten some strange readings from a mirror shop they were passing. When a certain mirror tried to drag Winston in using his own reflection, the boys responded in kind by blasting it. Unfortunately, aside from saving him it also seems to have caused glowing, ghostly zombie versions of their reflections to come out of every mirror in the store and surround them, as well as revealing the shop keeper's true identity as a flying, green scaled demon.

"PREPARE TO JOIN MY COLLECTION OF SOULS, GHOSTBUSTERS!" T'Maneth declares as she hovers above the surrounded boys in gray as they stand with their backs to each other, looking at all their ghastly warped reflections.

"Now what, big brain!" Peter asks Egon.

"What else?" Egon answers, "RUN!" The Ghostbusters begin to quickly force their way through the sea of impostors towards the front door. An evil Ray makes a play for Winston, but he smacks it upside the chin with his positron rifle. Egon ducks below the grabbing hands of an evil Peter then quickly presses forward before an evil Winston tackles him. Ray swings his positron rifle like a bat, clearing the road in front of him with Peter right on his tail, using his petrified spiked hair to poke out the eye of an evil Winston on his case.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU FOOLS! GET THEM!" T'Maneth shouts.

"WITH PLEASURE!" an evil Ray says with a smirk. A group of them with positron rifles in hand turn on their proton packs, filling the entire store with a familiar mechanical hum. Ray looks back just in time to duck under a proton stream.

"Damn! Their packs aren't just for show!" Ray exclaims. The door to the store bursts open as Egon and Winston push two duplicates out of it. Proton streams fly over their heads as Peter and Ray run out after them, ducking. "Stay low!"

"Just get in the damn car, Ray!" Peter growls. Ray reaches Ecto-1's driver's door and grabs the handle, the reflection of it appearing in Ecto's mirror. Suddenly, the reflection changes and Ray's own hand shoots out of it, taking on an undead appearance as it leaves the confines of the glass and grabs Ray's wrist.

"GAH!" Ray exclaims.

"WHERE YA GOIN'?" his reflection asks from the mirror. Inside the store, several evil duplicates smash out the store windows and begin firing their proton streams. One catches Ecto's mirror causing it to explode. Ray turns away and shields his face with his free hand as the glass and metal goes flying. He turns back to find his reflection's arm still holding on to his wrist, the end that was still in the mirror severed and smoldering. He flicks it off and quickly climbs inside the car, starting the engine and speeding off just as the horde of evil reflections close in on the spot where it was.

Inside Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters breathe a sigh of relief, realizing they narrowly escaped with their lives.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now leaving Night of the Living Dead Land. Next stop: what the hell is going on!" Peter demands.

"I'm not sure. We need to get back to the firehouse so I can find out more," Egon states. They all look around wide eyed as a bunch of people are running through the street every which way, each one being chased by evil duplicates of themselves.

"If there's a firehouse to get back to…" Winston mutters.

On the lower east side two teenage lovers spend some intimate quiet time together inside the boy's car. Their romance is soon interrupted by their reflections in the rear view mirrors reaching out and grabbing them.

"Get it off! Get it off!" the boy cries.

In an upper west side apartment, a man holds fast against his reflection's hand grabbing him tightly. He had the unfortunate luck of picking this moment to shave, allowing his reflection to hold a sinister looking razor.

"HOW ABOUT A CLOSER SHAVE?"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Inside a small supermarket, patrons mill about the aisles with their carts full of various items, trying to get in that last bit of shopping before all the markets close. Like most stores, this one has large round mirrors suspended above the aisles to let employees keep a subtle eye on any potential shop lifters. Tonight, however, those mirrors are used against them as reflections of passing patrons drop down and give chase to their living counterparts.

Inside a posh midtown hotel, a newlywed couple rides in an elevator with reflective doors to begin their honeymoon. Their joy is soon interrupted by their reflections jumping out and grabbing them, pulling them towards the doors.

Everywhere in the city, reflections are coming to life out of any mirrored surface and attacking the people who own them. T'Maneth happily laughs, enjoying the power the suffering and fear from the 8 million people give her.

THE FIREHOUSE

The building lies quiet and dark on the otherwise noisy street as people run from their evil duplicates. The Ghostbusters noticed this as they pulled up and decided to proceed in carefully. They only light in the garage bay comes from the street light the open doorway lets in along with them. In the dim bay they see various objects, papers and furniture scattered around on the floor, as if there were some kind of struggle.

Egon leads the pack holding up his PKE Meter, the wings fully extended. Winston reaches back and pulls his positron rifle from his pack. They walk slowly deeper into the dark area, looking around cautiously.

"Janine?" Ray calls.

"I don't like this," Egon states.

"Me neither," Winston agrees. Ahead of them sits Janine's desk in the reception area. From under it, Janine grips the top and slowly pulls herself up to see her visitors.

"G-guys?" she quietly asks.

"Janine?" Peter asks curiously, wondering why she's down there. They start to approach her desk more rapidly.

"Janine, what happened? Are you okay?" Ray asks.

"GUYS! BEHIND YOU!" Janine screams out, pointing at them. Winston spins around and swings his rifle, clocking evil Janine and sending her down onto the ground. The axe she was about to use on them lands noisily above her head. She tries to get up and reach for the axe, but Winston steps down on her head, rifle pointed at her. Ray and Peter join him on either side, their rifles drawn and ready.

"Alright, this chick is toast!" Peter declares.

"Hit 'er hard, boys!" Ray adds.

"No, WAIT!" Egon shouts, stepping out from behind them. The others loosen their stances a bit, looking over at him confused.

"Wait? For what?" Peter asks.

"I don't think we should blast her."

"Why not, Egon?" Winston asks.

"It would be bad." Peter and Ray stand up while Winston keeps his foot planted on her head. Peter shakes his head as he slings his rifle over his shoulder, looking at Egon with an exasperated expression.

"Okay, that's it; you're forever banned from saying when things are bad!"

A short time later, Janine's evil duplicate is secured in a locked closet upstairs. She bangs on the door angrily, trying to force her way out. "I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL! I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL!" she declares repeatedly.

Inside Egon's lab, the Ghostbusters sit around the room on various pieces of furniture while Egon stands by a bookcase, trying hard to read the copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide he holds in the dim flickering light of the various candles set up around to light the room.

"After that ordeal in the mirror shop, I was reminded of something I once read in Tobin's Spirit Guide about a mirror demon named T'Maneth. The precise origins of T'Maneth are unknown but it's been speculated she stems from the deepest pits of Hell.

"Her mirror is an extension of her own power. Every full moon, she would lure as many unsuspecting people towards it and their sinister reflections would suck them in where they would be drained of all their energy to power the mirror and create a gateway to something called the mirror realm."

"And what do those duplicates do once they're free?" Ray asks.

"They abduct more people until dawn, giving T'Maneth sufficient stored power until their next release."

"What happens to all that power?" Winston asks.

"It stays stored until she draws enough over her lifetime. Once it reaches critical mass…" Egon falls silent.

"What?" Peter asks.

"…the mirror realm will replace our world and we will cease to exist."

"Oh, is that all?" Peter groans.

"What about the copies; why couldn't we blast the other Janine?" Ray asks.

"According to this the mirror copies can't be released until a bolt of lightning or similar source of power strikes the mirror on the night of the full moon."

"Similar source, meaning our packs," Ray says.

"Right. Our packs unlocked the doorway when we blasted the mirror, which means any further use could theoretically only empower T'Maneth's minions."

"Alright, so our packs are useless. Now what?" Winston asks.

"Since the mirror seems to be the source of all this power, couldn't we just destroy it?" Ray asks.

"But the gateway's open; that means things'll just pass trough if we try to break it, right?" Winston asks.

"Correct. Tobin's also says that the mirror can't be destroyed by any conventional methods, but based on this there must be some kind of way. Apparently, T'Maneth had a small amount of them scattered around the globe in the event that if one should be destroyed there would be a replacement to being the process all over again. There's mention of the mirror being destroyed a number of times but there's no details about it. Also, that explains why T'Maneth has yet to conquer our world."

"There must be some way we can destroy it," Ray says, trying to think.

"Well, if we can't destroy the mirror from the outside, what about from the inside?" Peter suggests. Egon rubs his chin and hums. He snaps his fingers.

"That's it! I think I have an idea."

"Well, whatever you guys do, you better do it fast!" Janine says, turning towards them from looking out the window. "It's a nightmare out there!" Down below on the side street a car sits in the middle of the road overturned as people try to flee or fight every which way; the scene looking more and more like the apocalypse.

MEANWHILE, TIMES SQUARE

With the crisis gripping the city, emergency services are spread pretty thin even though they're out in full force trying to deal with the escalating problem and keep the populace as calm as possible. Despite that, a large grouping of police officers and SWAT had managed to convene on Times Square where T'Maneth has been found to form a blockade. She stands on the street before them as they all position themselves behind their cars, guns drawn and aimed. One would take notice that every mirror on each car has been smashed or broken off.

"Stay where you are or we'll open fire!" an officer shouts. T'Maneth snickers. Easily, she could take flight and pass their pathetic blockades. But, she rather have some with this cattle.

"PATHETIC MORTALS," T'Maneth hisses as she raises an arm above her head. Energy begins to form inside her palm talking the shape of a fireball. She heaves her arm forward and lets it fly, destroying a police car at the front of the blockade completely. The closest police officers dive out of the way or duck flying debris. The others open fire.

The bullets bounce harmlessly off of T'Maneth's dense flesh. She smiles, revealing her rows of sharp teeth. "THE WEAPONS OF MORTALS MEAN LITTLE TO ME! SOON, MY MINIONS WILL COLLECT YOUR SOULS AND TONIGHT YOUR WORLD WILL BE NO MORE!" T'Maneth waves her arms and crosses them in front of her rapidly to send out an arched energy wave towards the police. The officers dive as more police cards explode when the energy hits them.

"Damn it! We're not trained for this kinda thing!" a senior officer shouts, holding onto his hat as he lies face down on the ground. "Where the hell are the Ghostbusters!"

THE MIRROR SHOP

Proton packs hum to life as they're turned on. Proton streams fly out through the front of the store, sweeping across the shop and destroying every single mirror and display in sight. Once they're satisfied the deed is done, the Ghostbusters power down and approach the shop.

Winston and Ray enter through the blown out window on the right. Ray has a tether line and a stake on his belt while Winston lugs a sledge hammer with him. Peter and Janine, decked out in her own Ghostbuster gear and pack, enter through the window on the left. Peter carries with him an extra proton pack.

Through the door enters Egon wearing the specialized suit he developed to enter into the containment unit and survive the unlivable environment there. It's a bulky white contamination suit with red knee and elbow pads, a red belt, red patches on the back of his gloves and red straps keeping his oxygen tank on his back. Black hoses run around his torso from it to the front before heading up to the metallic collar the helmet he carries fastens to.

"So…how many years bad luck you think we just got?" Winston asks as they move into the store, the shattered remains of its innards crunching below their boots.

"Approximately 490, assuming we destroyed every normal mirror on the floor and you believe in superstitions," Egon says, adjusting his glasses.

"You worry me sometimes, Egon," Peter comments. Egon flashes him a confused sideways glance.

"Better add 7 years to your total, Spengs, 'cause we're about to break one more," Ray states. The group stops by the mirror and Egon crouches down, taking the pack from Peter. Ray sets the stake up in front of the mirror and Winston begins to hammer it down into the floor. Egon makes a few adjustments to the pack.

"I've finished setting the timer. The blaster won't fire until 10 seconds after it's set," Egon says, standing up.

"I don't get how this is going to work," Peter says. "You said our blasters powered this thing." They all look towards Egon as he clears his throat.

"I have a theory that the Mirror Realm is not only descriptive of the portals used to access it, but of the realm itself. What that means is most likely it will have the opposite laws of physics applied to our world; no gravity, no stable physical forms…"

"And what's good here is bad there, meaning our streams will be like poison to the other side of the doorway," Ray adds.

"Precisely, however it's only a theory based on myth and pure speculation. I have no way to know for sure if this will work, or if my ecto-containment suit can substantially deal with the effects of the other universe."

"So basically this is all just one big crap shoot that may just blow up in our collective faces. Dandy," Peter comments.

"I still say you should let me go," Winston says to Egon. "Your mind is too valuable to sacrifice, we need it here."

"I appreciate that, Winston, but with so many unknown variables I'll need to make quick decisions. I'm the logical choice for this mission." He turns towards the mirror and lifts up his helmet. Janine grabs his collar and pulls him down so she can kiss his cheek.

"Just make sure you come back, alright?" she says, concern in her voice. Egon tries to keep himself from blushing.

"Erm, well, yes…I'll, uh, I'll try…umm…ahem!" Egon regains his composure and slips his helmet on, locking it in place and activating his oxygen. "Let's get on with this."

"Got you covered, Spengs…let's bust some heads! …In a spiritual sense, of course," Ray says.

"Naturally," Peter quips as Ray clips the tether line to Egon's belt, the other end attached to the stake in the ground. Egon picks up the pack and steps towards the mirror, the eyes on both heads of the frame glowing brilliant red.

TIMES SQUARE

Police cars lay smoldering and twisted. Police officers injured or dead. In a short amount of time, T'Maneth has made quick work of New York's finest; not that they ever had a prayer of holding their own against her. But suddenly, she looks around, getting a sense from her store.

"NO…" she utters before taking to the sky.

THE MIRROR SHOP

Egon stands just inches from the mirror, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. Grasping the pack tightly, he lifts his foot up and steps through it. They watch as the tether line follows him in, pulling taught as the stake holds it in our world. Peter looks back over his shoulder to see some of the horde of their reflections making their way to the store.

"Heads up, people! Show time!" he declares. The four of them turn towards the front of the store, positron rifles ready.

"Reverse neutronas!" Ray shouts. They all adjust their rifles accordingly. "Full stream! Keep them away from the mirror!" As soon as they start to enter the store, the Ghostbusters open fire; their proton streams now red instead of orange. It knocks them back out of the store, but more seem to be coming in.

"Screw the mirror; just keep them away from us!" Peter exclaims.

MEANWHILE, THE MIRROR REALM

Egon's foot comes through the portal, followed by the rest of him as he falls forward into zero gravity nothingness. It takes him a moment to reorient himself from the inter-dimensional trip, but once he does the sight before him takes his breath away.

The Mirror Realm has no definitive substance. No shapes, no mass at all. The whole area is just wide open space with swirling masses of colors blending and changing every which way. Egon realizes what he sees is more than likely his own mind trying to compensate for the strange, alien information his senses register by representing them as something more familiar and comprehensible. The whole dimension may be on a higher plain of reality, possibly the 4th or even the 5th dimension.

Fascinating, Egon thinks. He quickly snaps himself back to reality. As much as he'd like to stay and observe and study all of this, he still had a job to do and time was of the essence. Egon looks down at the pack, noticing that its shape was beginning to distort. Just as I feared! The physical rules of the realm alters the molecular structures of any foreign objects! I better move quickly!

Leaning forward, Egon activates the small jet thrusters located near his tank, propelling himself forward a suitable distance from the portal.

THE MIRROR SHOP

The Ghostbusters hold their ground, blasting at their foes while dodging enemy fire. Just when it looks like they make a little headway in cleaning house, more duplicates begin to arrive.

"You know what I miss?" Peter asks no one in particular.

"What?" Ray asks.

"I miss the days when you blast a ghost, throw a trap and boom! Fee collected." Peter ducks under a stream, narrowly missing his head. He shoots back at the duplicate with the nerve. "Now it's a Gozer, Samhain or evil duplicates every other day that refuse to just be blasted and trapped!"

"Damned inconsiderate," Winston adds, dodging a shot.

"At least things can't get any worse," Peter mumbles. Outside, a green streak shoots down from the skies and into the store, completely blowing past the Ghostbusters as it dives into the mirror, knocking them and some duplicates in its path off their feet.

"You ever get tired of being wrong!" Winston asks Peter.

"Occasionally…"

THE MIRROR REALM

Egon carefully aims the pack at the portal, making final preparations as the pack's shape begins to distort more; it begins to resemble the abstract painting with the melting clocks, and it's the clock. Egon turns it on and gets ready to press the fire button when T'Maneth zooms in through the portal and hits him, sending him flying away from the pack.

12TH CENTURY CHINA
THEN

"T'Maneth is all but invincible," a Chinese Wiseman tells Sir Frances and Sir Reginald inside the throne room of a grand, majestic Chinese Empire palace. "Demon attacks village and kingdom all over world. But, ancient legend say demon can be defeated."

"But how?" Sir Reginald asks, "We have tried every method known to us to defeat that foul creature and its minions, but nothing works."

NOW

Egon activates his thrusters and maneuvers to avoid another blow from T'Maneth.

THEN

The Emperor nods in approval to the Wiseman. He turns towards two royal Samurai guards carrying the round object on a cushion between them.

"This object filled with gunpowder. Legend say mirror can be destroyed from within. This designed to destroy anything. Light fuse and get inside mirror to defeat demon."

NOW

Egon propels himself to the pack and hits the button on the blaster and the digital timer begins to countdown. T'Maneth quickly veers around and comes in for another pass.

TIME: 10.

12TH CENTURY ENGLAND
THEN

On the castle in England, Sir Frances rears his hand back and throws, letting the object fly through the air towards the mirror.

TIME: 9.

NOW

T'Maneth closes in on Egon, just about to reach the portal.

TIME: 8.

THEN

The object flies towards the mirror and through the glass, disappearing as lighting strikes in the clouds above.

TIME: 7.

NOW

T'Maneth reaches out.

TIME: 6.

T'Maneth catches Egon's ankle, holding tight. Egon looks down in surprise.

TIME: 5.

THEN

T'Maneth looks at the mirror, laughing as she turns back to the knights.

"AND WHAT DID YOU THINK THAT WOULD GET YOU, MORTALS?"

TIME: 4.

NOW

Egon kicks T'Maneth in the face, trying to force her off of him as his body begins to distort like the pack.

TIME: 3.

THEN

Sir Frances smiles at T'Maneth.

"Enough," he responds.

TIME: 2.

NOW

With one final, desperate kick, Egon knocks T'Maneth off his leg and activates his thrusters at full burn, propelling himself away faster.

TIME: 1.

THEN

The object explodes, sending a shockwave through the mirror realm and into the mirror, causing it to blow out and shatter.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" T'Maneth howls.

TIMER: 0.

NOW

The pack, almost barely recognizable visually, opens fire, sending a proton stream straight for the portal just as Egon passes through and T'Maneth is almost upon it. She turns back with her demonic eyes wide open as the stream approaches.

Inside the store, the mirror emanates such a brilliant white light that only vague shapes and shadows can be seen by the human eye. It soon engulfs the whole area as begins are blow away from it. Soon, the brilliance overwhelms the senses and everything fades to pure white.

The sun rises over the Manhattan skyline, greeting the city to a brand new day. Inside the mirror shop, the Ghostbusters lay strewn about on the floor in various places amongst the rubble of the destroyed store. Where T'Maneth's mirror once stood is now nothing more than a charred flash fried spot. All is quiet and still until one of them begins to move.

Winston groans as he picks himself up, looking around as he rubs his head with a pained expression on his face. "Ugh, sometimes I hate this job. Is everyone alright?" he asks. Peter sits up, dazed and confused.

"I'm fine. I think…" Ray looks over at Peter as he all his efforts to get to his feet are diverted as he tries to hold back a snicker.

"I'm good. By the way, Venkman; nice hair." Peter looks at him puzzled until he reaches up and pats at the top of his head. His petrified, spiked hair is now straight up in a Bride of Frankenstein fashion.

"ARGH!" he screams. Egon removes his helmet as he sits up. However, his vertical position is short lived as Janine tackles him excitedly, hugging him tightly.

"Egon! You're alive!" Egon fixes his glasses as he looks at Janine curiously.

"Ahem…of course I am. Did you expect otherwise?" Janine lets go and the others help them to their feet.

"Had us worried there for a minute after T'Maneth cam in after you," Ray tells him.

"Yes, well, another couple of seconds and I would have been trapped with her in the Mirror Realm."

"Yeah, but ya didn't and we won. Know what that means? It's Miller time!" Peter exclaims.

"So, it's really over?" Winston asks, looking at the charred spot.

"It's hard to say," Egon says. "Remember, T'Maneth had other mirrors stationed around the world, lost or hidden for centuries. No one knows exactly how many there were, or even how many were destroyed. Until we know for sure…"

INDONESIA

A mountain range stretches across the land. From the outside, it appears to be ordinary bumps in the geological makeup of the nation. No more, no less. However, if one were to tunnel deep inside one particular part of the mountain, one would come to what remains of a small cavern. There, a mirror sticks halfway out of the ground on an angle, the cavern being dimly lit by the glowing red eyes of the demon head on top of the frame.

"…it's never really over."

THE END...FOR NOW

GHOSTBUSTERS: PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS VOL. 1 NO. 2 NOVEMBER, 2005 Q-CREW COMICS. GHOSTBUSTERS AND ALL RELATED CHARACTERS TM & © COLUMBIA PICTURES, INC. GHOSTBUSTERS: PPE TM & © Q-CREW COMICS. THIS STORY IS ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ANY SIMILARITIES TO ANY LIVING OR DEAD PERSONS, BUSINESSES OR ORGANIZATIONS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. RELEASED THROUGH ATOMIC MEDIA GROUP.