Author's note: This chapter is also accredited to Robert Smith and Brian Roig, who provided the rocks upon which this part of the story was built upon.
Chapter 13: The Last Waltz
October 2004
Dr. CJ London cracked his knuckles as he stretched his arms behind his head. His usual pair of glasses were lying upon a writing table. He was in his room, at that moment. A slow day in the business of Ghostbusters, but a moment nonetheless. Or, at least, for a brand new team such as the Ghostbusters: Doom Patrol. In almost a year, the group had seen the worst that evil can offer, and yet had survived.
But one question plagued him: for how long?
In front of him was his journal, something he'd been keeping since he was fourteen years old. It contained, as all journals do, his thoughts, his feelings, but most of all his deepest secrets.
Everyone has secrets, he thought bitterly, as he read over what he had just written. He did not like it and had half a mind to throw it away. His right hand gripped the page tightly, but weakened. He could not do it.
His mind trailed back to the team's very first case. The outcome had been...
Excellent?
He smiled as the thought crossed his mind. The government had been gracious enough in giving the team the necessary funds to get started. But, as was made explicitly clear in the memo sent to them by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:
"You're on your own."
On our own...
It was a sentence he was becoming quite accustomed to. Even the very nature of their establishment and existence had proven to be a SNAFU when they did join Ghostbusters International officially. Many within had seen them as a low-key ripoff of a previous team. It annoyed CJ when the comparisons were made, even going as far as to almost getting into a fistfight once with someone who said it behind his back loud enough to hear. Rob (Always the mediator, he thought humorously) had to diffuse that situation before it escalated to atomic levels.
He no longer bothered with what people said anymore. Working "on our own" was what the team did best anyway. On their own and together.
His foot kicked a large wooden box underneath his desk. He regarded it for a moment before he returned to his journal. Rob had asked him about that box, as did Salina and Brian.
It was his comics was the usual excuse.
Really, if they knew...
He shook off the dread feeling he was getting. Despite being raised a Catholic, he was not much for prayers or the church, but he did believe in God; he believed that there was an inherent evil in the world. What he didn't believe in was that it wasn't coming.
It was already here.
I hope, though, that God forgives me for this sin and hope that if what I've been studying the last four months never come to pass.
He shut the journal and locked it. For a moment, the thought of burning it came to pass his mind, but he ignored it. He removed his closet. Inside were his three uniforms (the traditional tan flightsuit worn by many Ghostbusters, as well as the darker ones briefly seen in 1988, and the one he most frequently wore with Doom Patrol), various comic book t-shirts (Green Lantern and Flash being the most prominent) and a few "Dress" clothes, as he called them. Pushing them to the side, he stared at the wall behind his clothes, which revealed a door. He knocked on it twice. The door swung open. He put the journal inside and closed it.
Life really is easier when you don't know everything.
The Present
"I see them, master." The Servant said as he used his psychic eye to view the activity of his vexatious foes.
He saw the muscular young black man. He saw how swift he moved, dodging the claws of his master's minions. He was strong, this one, but the rage and emotion that plagued his soul loomed over his place as an ethereal guardian.
He was like a wild animal. And he knew exactly how wild animals should be treated. Then the Servant remembered, his master had just recently finished dealing with another not long ago. He knew in his scornful heart that he would take distinct pleasure in killing the stoic Doom Patrolman.
He saw the two females; one short, one tall, but both wearing the inventions that he had been perceptive to. The ones that were the means to the end of all the Dark manifestations in the world. Between them, he admired the tall, raven-haired beauty as she dispensed one of the attacking minion Yogs.
She was ravishing, though her soft, exotic looks did not overshadow her aptitude as a gifted fighter. Her long, slender legs intrigued him...she was an exotic beast that he craved with perverted desire.
"I see them, master."
"Good. You have seen what they can do. Now...it is your turn to show them what you can do better."
The Servant grinned. Hunched in a crouched position inside the tunnel that the Yogs had made, he had been slowly ammasing strength. His assailants would soon feel his uholy emnity.
Rob felt an unexpected surge of energy pulse through his body.
He dropped his proton blaster as he slumped to the ground.
"Abashed the devil stood, and felt how aweful goodness is!", Adrik Thorsen belowed with thunderous distain after his Servant struck Statler with a psionic blast of electricity from within the opening of the tunnel. He then left, addressing his disciple to keep his adversaries occupied while he tends to another pressing matter.
"ROB!" Salina screamed as she fired off another round at the Yogs. Erin turned around to look and see what happened, and gasped as she saw her friend's smoking body. Salina bent down next to him, feeling for a pulse.
Thin and thready, but still alive.
Salina's glasses were long gone during the heat of battle, and her green eyes narrowed at the darkly cloaked figure in front of her. She clutched her neutrona wand tightly. The attacking Yogs had perched above in the rafters of the basement.
"That's not enough to kill him…yet." It was another male's voice, deep and husky but filled with more menace than any the two of them had ever heard. Erin went pale as she saw the figure come through the eroded hole in the floor, as though he were rising from a crypt.
"So...it is true", she saw clearly for the first time the Servant's face. He grinned. Raising his hand, this time a wave of psionic energy rippled through the basement, knocking Salina and Erin towards the ground. The attack continued. Erin looked over at Salina as she grabbed a hold of a banister in the room.
What the hell's going on? She mouthed. But Salina did not answer as she tried to hold on to Rob's still unconscious body.
"Lord Thorsen told me all about you", the Servant said walking towards the trio. "You all had fun didn't you? Playing your little charade of being crusaders against darkness. Doom Patrol you call yourselves? Pathetic!" He intensified his attack. The room began to shake violently, threatening to collapse with them in it. Erin saw the floor beginning to buckle underneath the pressure.
"Is that what's going on? Some kind of vendetta against us for spoiling Thorsen's plan?" Salina shouted.
The Servant laughed. "Oh, much more than that, Salina. But, that's for us to know and you to painfully find out."
Suddenly, Salina felt something tug on her hand. Rob was looking at her.
"Salina, let me up", he said in a low voice. His legs were still jello from the earlier attack, and he was still dazed. He saw the worried look on her face. "It's okay, I got it."
"Ah, we have a new challenger!" the Servant said gleefully. Rob limped along as he dragged his left leg behind him.
"If it's not a bogeyman or a demigod, its something else. You would-be world- conquerors make me sick. All this (Statler pointed around to the destruction of much of the basement) just to take over an overpopulated and polluted Earth? Sloppy seconds, man. Sloppy seconds", Rob said with a pained expression on his face. "Especially ones that take the face of old friends."
The Servant's eyes narrowed.
"The Brian I knew would never go all Darth Vader on us, no matter what the circumstances. I know he's better than that. Just like CJ was."
"You are brave, mortal. Braver than most that my master has slain in his name."
"You know, I meant to ask your Master before…what kind of stupid-ass name is Adrik Thorsen? Now, Shaft, that's a motherfuckin' name!"
"What's he doing?" Erin asked silently. She had noticed that the Servant's previous attack had lessened, and then stopped altogether. Salina couldn't believe it as she laughed sarcastically to herself.
"I don't believe it", she said.
"What?"
"He's got that bastard monologuing."
"What?"
"You're the film student, you should know this. He's basically buying us some time by engaging this bastard in conversation. Erin, on my mark, I want you to fire the first round. I'll follow next."
"Okay."
The Servant walked up to Rob. He was smaller than the muscular Ghostbuster.
"Hitting a man all vile like that ", Rob said shaking his head. "You better watch yourself."
"And why is that?" the Servant asked, a tinge of a sneer in his voice.
Rob looked down toward his boots and wiped the blood that was trickling down the side of his mouth. "Because we will break you."
"Damn straight!" Salina shouted. Rob maneuvered out of the way as Salina and Erin's proton beams slammed into the Servant.
"ARRRGH!" the Servant bellowed.
"Rob", Salina said slightly out of breath, "if we make it out of this alive, I promise I will watch the Rocky movies with you after this."
Through the pain that he was experiencing at being stricken with nuclear enegry from the force of the protons streaming from the Ghostbusters weaponry, the Servant mustered the strength to fire back with a blast of his own, creating a surge of power that rippled through the room knocking his antagonists down.
The energy the Servant had suddenly unleashed caught the team off-guard, knocking Salina and Erin back into the wall. His eyes were blazing a fiery red as he walked towards the ECU.
"I am tired of this", he said between gritted teeth.
"He's going for the containment unit!" Salina yelled getting to her feet. She ran towards the Servant, her proton blaster readied and aimed.
He grabbed her by her throat.
"So, you think you can play hero?" he said as he squeezed her trachea. "I was intending to keep you for myself after I killed your friends. But you've made me bored."
"I so wanted to play with you,"he said as he stared enticingly at her cleavage.
"Then play with me, asshole."
"What?"
Rob slammed one of his metal chairs into the back Servant's head, knocking him across the floor.
"You okay?" he asked as he helped Salina up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But go check on Erin," she said. Suddenly, her eyes went wide as she shouted"Watch out!" Rob had only a moment to turn around as a psionic blast hit him square in the chest, knocking him through the wall.
"NO!" Salina screamed as she ran over to him. She felt for a pulse. There was none.
"On second thought, I won't be needing your containment unit", the Servant quipped getting to his feet, as he rubbed the back of his throbbing head. "I'll let someone else handle this." He placed an open palm upon the ground. It glowed for a moment and then stopped.
"Have a nice night", he said, faux-tipping to Salina as he ascended upstairs.
She grunted as she let loose a stream of protonic energy, narrowly missing the Servant.
In the corner to the far side of the room, she saw Erin beginning to stir.
"Ungggh...what smoked me?" she said wearily. She then saw Salina's face. "What happened to him?"
She spoke too soon. The basement began to shake as the Yogs began to descend back into the tunnel. Dust fell from the rafters.
"Salina..."
"Erin, you got a good handle on that proton pack yet?"
"I...think...so..."
Salina looked down at her PKE meter. The readings were faint and distant yet strong enough to confirm what was coming for them.
"Good." She turned away from Erin and ran towards the stairs.
"Wait. Where are you going?"
"It's a Bloofer."
"What?"
"Son of Koth, Prince of Evil."
"I don't like how that sounds."
"It could kill us all..."
"Now I really don't like how that sounds."
"There's a button on the particle thrower I should have told you about sooner," Salina said just remembering, allowing herself a moment to catch her breath. Most of GBI's client administrators would have had basic training in handling the equipment by now. It must have slipped their minds to pass that memo along to Erin. "Do you see it?"
"Yeah. I'm afraid to ask what's it do?"
The room was shaking more violently this time.
"No time to explain the full details, just know that when you press it, there will be a blinking light. If you press it again, there will only be two minutes until..."
"Boom?", Erin finished for her.
Salina nodded 'yes'.
"Oh God, I remember hearing CJ talking about this before, that it happened to the originals back in New York in '84. Dr. Duran, please tell me that we're going to survive?"
"I'm so sorry you got involved in this, Erin,"She said placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Don't be. Before I joined up with you, my life wasn't that exciting. It's not everyday a girl gets to blast away monsters on an occasional basis."
Dispite the moment, Salina mustered a faint smile. "I'm going to find Andrew. We can't stop Thorsen's disciple alone. Take care of Rob. And remember, you won't have much time before the thrower explodes. You'll have to haul ass and get yourself and Rob to safety."
Erin nodded and both women hugged, unsure if this moment would be the last they'd ever see each other again.
"Sure", she answered as Salina disappeared up the stairs. Erin looked at Rob as he lay limp in her arms. "You're a big one aren't you, Statler?"
The concrete underneath them burst violently, revealing a pink tentacle circling around the room. It came down upon one of the computers, crushing it. Erin charged her particle thrower.
She thought to herself: I could have so gotten into this. Oh well.
She fired.
It was dark. Everything was covered in thick, hazy fog and shadows.
"Andrew?" Salina said warily as her voice echoed through the corridors.
Chapter 14: All Things Must Pass Away
No answer.
She walked quietly across the floor, glass breaking underneath her boots.
"Andrew?"
Suddenly, she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. She turned around and was met with a blow across the jaw and collapsed on the floor.
Andrew stood above her. When she saw him, Salina felt a slight fervor of ease, but for only a fleeting moment. Though, as she looked closer at him, she sensed no feeling in his countenance.
His eyes were souless.
He grabbed her by the hair and allevated her to her feet, slowing removing her proton pack. He regarded her a moment before throwing her across the room. She landed hard upon Erin's desk, cracking the wooden frame in the process.
She groaned as she rolled over, her ribs feeling tender. They were badly bruised, if not broken. There was the metallic, putrid taste of blood in her mouth.
It was then that she heard the familiar snikt. She moved fast out of harm's way.
Andrew drove his Peacekeeper glove into the ground just as Salina rolled underneath the desk to the other side, the blades driven through the carpeted fixture of the office floor. He pulled them out and continued for Salina. His eyes were chilling, staring at her coldly with an unflinching intent to kill.
"Andrew what are you doing? This isn't you. They did something to you. Listen to me!"
He did not answer her as he leaped across the desk, the Peacekeeper's blades aimed at her head. Salina dodged the jab. "Andrew, shake it off! You're under some kind of..."
Andrew rushed her, letting out an animalistic growl. He snared Salina in a bear hug, attempting to crack her ribs. She yelled as the life was systematically being squeezed from her body.
"Andrew, please!" She winced, as she was barely able to maintain consciousness, let alone plead for her life.
This can't be happening, she thought grimly as she tried to keep her mind focused. Her right hand immediately went to her hip, where she unlatched a small pouch containing a cylinder. Andrew did not hear the rushing sound of air as the cylinder transformed into a metallic bo. She held it in front of her as a jolt of electricity (enough to knock Andrew down) coursed through them both as he went flying towards the wall, dropping Salina.
She breathed in heavily, gasping for air as she looked over at Andrew, who sat up quickly and gazed at her. Salina stood warily to face him as she held her proton bo in a defense position.
He rushed her again, but Salina stepped out of the way and cracked him across the back. She followed through by sweeping his legs out from under him with the blunt end of the bo.
"Come to your senses, Andy!" she shouted. "Thorsen and Brian have you under their control! Snap out of it dammit!"
Andrew attacked again as he plowed his shoulder into Salina's midsection, knocking the wind out of her and onto the ground. Her bo rolled out of her hand and across the floor. He was on top of her now as he grabbed her hair and struck her repeatedly.
He was heavier than her, and she knew that the only advantage she had was to reach her bo. But that was impossible.
Suddenly, Andrew stopped, his fist still raised as. He breathed in heavily, his visage in a mad rage not unlike a savage beast, as he turned towards Salina. He cried something inaudible before he would continue his abuse. With a bruised face, she looked at him quizzically but took advantage of the opportunity to push him off her chest and crawl towards her bo.
He raised his Peacekeeper simultaneously as Salina raised her bo.
People say life flashes before your eyes before you die. Salina was finding out that was true. She remembered everything, from her childhood raised by her father to her young adult life as an explorer. Regardless of the accolades she's received in her time spent as a doctor and freelancing across the globe as a photographer and cryptozoologist, it meant little more than outer glory. She'd never known true happiness, not until the life-altering phone call she received from Dr. Spengler that lead her to become a Ghostbuster. She cherished the last few years with her associates, who had become more her family than just a team. But now, Brian was a lost cause, CJ was dead, and she didn't know whether or not Erin and Rob were still alive. As it stood, there was little hope for her either. In the moments before her possible death, her feelings and perception of everything were never more clearer. But, she had to try…she had to fight. To save herself and if possible, the lives of her friends and the world, she had no choice but to face Andrew…who in the end, she realized, was the only man who gave her more peace and vivacity than she thought she deserved.
And so they fought.
What was mere minutes, seemed like an endless battle. They bled and cried. Hurt each other, never letting the other catch his or her breath, dare they not fall victim to the other's assult.
Andrew slashed Salina's shoulder with his blade and she stabbed him in the arm with a broken piece of wood from the secretary's station. Once he dropped his guard, she again brandished her bo.
Not before being shrewed enough to cushion her next blow with his good shoulder, he pivoted quickly, snatching her weapon and breaking it against a nearby wall. He then pulled back and grimaced in pain, nurturing his injured arm. He pulled out the broken shard she impaled in his bicep and tossed it across the room. His expression, once marked by ferocity, had begun to show its weariness.
He's holding back, Salina thought. He's trying to not kill me. He could have easily folded up my spine at any time, but he didn't.
Andrew stood up and looked at Salina.
Andrew, please, fight it. I don't want to do this anymore.
He walked slowly over to her as his heavy boots echoed in the room. For some reason, he allowed her a moment to move. She didn't know what to make of it. In an unorthodox gesture, he retrieved the broken half of her bo and tossed it to her on the floor. It slid and stopped by her feet.
She understood. Whatever was controlling Andrew didn't destroy the sense of honor he had left. She was right, he had been holding back.
Salina picked up her broken weapon. As he walked closer, she could smell his sweat.
He began walking faster.
He removed his Peacekeeper. Salina now knew what this indicated.
It was a fight he wanted now, and he wanted it fair. Giving her back her equalizer was the only chance she'd have of survival.
There's no surrender. Though her body says stop, her spirit cries never. Deep in their soul is a quiet ember. They know its them against each other. It's the paradox that drives them on. A battle of wills in the heat of attack. It's the passion that kills, the series that pushes on forever.
Andrew slammed his elbow into Salina's chest, causing her to cough and gag as she doubled over. He grabbed her by the back of her neck and threw her into the little gate that separated the offices from the rest of the room.
"Get up", Andrew said sternly as he walked over to her. His boot rolled her on her side, but refused to kick her.
"Get up!" He nudged her again, this time harder.
"GET UP!" He raised his foot, getting ready to put it through her back, but Salina grabbed his boot, surprising Andrew as she twisted it causing him to fall to the ground.
She brought the now broken gate down upon Andrew's face.
He snarled as he rose to his feet and dove at Salina, missing her narrowly and hitting a nearby desk. Salina picked the broken gate up (despite it's weight, she managed) as Andrew got up, crashing the gate into his face again, breaking his nose as he stumbled backwards.
She then swept her left foot across Andrew's face, which he attempted to block but proved unsuccessful. He then grabbed her leg and forced her backward hard, as Salina brutally slammed against the wall and slid to the floor.
I'm not going to win this, she thought. Even as he's resisting control, he's still too much for me. I'm a good fighter, but Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ, I'm not CHUCK FREAKIN' NORRIS!
She then found underneath her hand her proton bo.
How the hell did that get h–– she thought. But, then disregarded the only bit of luck she received during this whole ordeal.
She saw Andrew.
He was coming for her.
Fast.
He swung at her with a hard right hook that was blocked by the bo.
She tapped him across his left ear, disorienting him slightly.
He swung again, this time connecting with the side of Salina's shoulder and knocked her back to the ground. Another punch would have dislocated her arm from her socket completely. She rolled away again, positioning herself by the bo.
Salina aimed the jagged edge at Andrew.
She could almost hear his voice in her head:
Don't worry about saving me. Just get the job done and forget about my ass.
"I will", she said softly.
Salina ran towards Andrew, who swung at her, but she ducked and swung the bo across Andrew's torso and then uppercut him in the chin. With one last resource of her energy she rammed the bo as hard as she could into Andrew's right shoulder.
Andrew tried knocking her away, but Salina took the blows as she began pushing Andrew backwards. Thet picked up momentum as she thrust him towards the large pane that overlooked the bay, creating a perfect view of the Ben Franklin Bridge.
Salina closed her eyes when she heard the crushing of glass and then the rush of wind as she and Andrew fell backwards, tumbling towards the now dark and murky water.
The two plummeted to the deep. Salina's eyes were still closed. She cried. The coursing wind thrashed her hair against her face. Though, she was blind to the fate that momentarily lay before them, Andrew finally awoke.
She heard.
As they spiraled faster toward the approaching pier, he hunched in to stroke her cheek.
"Salina, I'm so sorry. I couldn't fight it. I…"
"I know," She finished for him as she pulled herself in, putting her finger over his lips.
Her last thought before she hit the rolling waves:
I wish I could have done more...to save you...
He too thought the same.
Soul meets soul on lovers lips. In pain and death, thy kiss will not submit.
Chapter 15: Getchoo
Erin had never seen anything like the Bloofer before.
It appeared to be a large cephalopod given the tentacles, but she had always thought giant squids were more indigenous to the east Atlantic than this side. The slime that rolled from the phallic tentacle hit the walls. Erin did her best to provide some kind of cover for Rob, pulling him (weighing more than the petite CA, Rob proved a challenge) out of the way and placing him in a corner that would provide some sense of security for the unconscious Statler.
Salina's explanation echoed around her brain as she jumped out of the way of the Bloofer. The floor was slowly giving way, so that Erin could see clearly the creature's multi-fanged mouth just waiting for her.
A monstrous howl floated in the air as Erin fired a proton stream at it. She looked incredulously as it appeared to have little effect.
"Goddamn it! Now wh at?" she cursed to herself as the Bloofer grabbed a desk and pulled it into the dark cavern it had for itself.
The tentacle fell down again, this time grabbing Erin left shoe.
"Ahhhhh!" she shouted as her hands flailed about trying to grab whatever she could.
It was then that she looked up at an enormous hole in the wall (that she and Salina had caused earlier) to see Jayson Riddle standing in front of her.
He raised his hand. A purple light shot from his palm and hit the Bloofer's tentacle, causing it to evaporate while also freeing Erin.
"Jayson!", she said getting to her feet. Jayson smiled weakly. The paramedics had certainly done a job on keeping him alive long enough to make it here, but each step he made was painful enough that it caused his gait to waver.
A spasm of pain crossed his face as he stepped into the room. Erin saw this and tried to rush towards him, but another roar from the Bloofer stopped her in her tracks.
"The packs don't work against this thing", she said breathlessly.
"Because it's not of this world", Jayson said, "your weapon won't work on the Bloofer like it would on a ghost."
"Then what the hell do we do?"
Jayson looked at the angry Bloofer, knowing it was only licking the wound he'd given for a moment.
That was all they had.
He knew he couldn't produce another powerful shot like that. He didn't even know where he'd gotten the energy to do it anyway.
He looked at Erin as she rubbed a small button on the proton blaster.
"What's that?"
Erin looked at him. "Possibly, the confirmation that I won't live to see my next paycheck."
"What?"
"Plan Beta. Salina, said it's a self destruct function on the particle thrower. In other words, big-a-boom!"
"Maybe coming back here wasn't such a great idea after all", Jayson deadpanned. As he said it, the Bloofer had had enough as it rushed towards the surface, knocking both Jayson and Erin to the side, exposing it's full set of teeth.
It was a nightmare come to life: there were no eyes. Underneath its many tentacles was a mouth, where the worst of its fangs were located. Jayson looked at it for a moment, entranced that something like this could possibly be transported to third dimensional space.
"Um, Mr. Riddle? You're sort of crushing my boob there..."
Jayson had landed on top of Erin.
"My sincerest apologies", he said quickly (yet painfully) rolling over. "What was that you were saying about Plan Beta?"
The monster roared again, shaking some of the beams from the ceiling. Erin raised her voice.
"If I press this button on the pack here, it will cause a protonic explosion that will probably atomize us, this building, and Squidward there."
"Isn't that a bit of a drastic plan?"
Erin nodded as she flipped open the protective case. "No other choice. You can't do anything. I can't do anything..."
"Erin..."
The Client Administrator turned around, startled, to look at the source of the voice. It was Rob, attempting to get up from his corner of the room but failing.
"I'll cover you", Jayson said as he drew a transmutation circle on the ground, summoning a demon of his own to keep the Bloofer busy as Erin hopped over to Rob.
"Check my left pocket..." Rob said weakly. As odd as his request sounded, Erin did as she was asked and rifled through it.
"Okay, but next time you're taking me out to dinner and a movie first, Mister," She joked, elated to see him alive.
Her fingers fell upon two Ecto-Spheres that Rob had invented, mostly for portable use against smaller ghosts and demons.
"It's got an automatic override that CJ suggested", Rob explained pointing to the yellow button underneath the sphere. Like the proton blaster, it was also protected by a glass case. "Implosion, a little more controllable than the proton packs. Catches anything within a mile in it's trap."
"Little bugger does all that?" Erin said amazed.
Rob mustered a slight laugh, but gripped his side still feeling the pain from the Servant's last little gift.
"You expected anything less from me? Hope you played softball as a kid."
"Are you kidding? I was in the Silver Spring, Maryland Junior League All-Stars five years running!"
Erin unstrapped her proton pack and slid it over to Riddle.
"Distract Bruce with that!" she shouted.
Jason doing his best to keep the beast at bay with his magic, "Oh, it has a name now?"
Riddle had no time to debate, as his Scorchos were being decimated by the Bloofer. The beam hit the monster in the mouth, destroying several of its teeth as it bored down upon Jayson, Erin, and the wounded Rob.
Erin wound the Ecto-Sphere only twice in her arm (arming it on the first spin) before tossing it with enough ferocity to rival Christy Matthewson...
The sphere bounced off the edge of the monster's mouth and clattered towards oblivion.
"Nice shoot'n Tex", Rob deadpanned.
"I should've mentioned that we lost all five years", Erin said sheepishly.
"You know, I'd hate to be a bother, Luv, but can we stop with this Vaudevillian comedy!" Jayson shouted. "Throw another sphere!"
Erin wound up the second one.
Her aim was true.
She grabbed Jayson and ran to Rob's corner, understanding that their close proximity would still put them in harms way.
"Cover your eyes!" Erin shouted to Jayson as she covered Rob's.
The Sphere entered the Bloofer's mouth and, almost immediately upon connection with it's tongue, exploded. Even with her eyes tightly shut, Erin could see tinges of the bright yellow and blue light at the corners of her eyes. There was also a forceful wind as the Sphere was forcing everything and anything it could inside it's cacophonous realms. The monster roared one last time...
Then everything was all silent.
Dust fell from the ceiling as Erin peered from the corner.
"Did we kill it?" she asked. She got her answer in the spinning Ecto-Sphere.
The green light dinged.
She grinned.
I got one.
"Congratulations, Erin. You're a Ghostbuster", Rob said.
"I think I need more practice", Erin admitted shrugging. Rob nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you do", he said before slumping over.
"We have to get him to a hospital", Jayson said helping Rob up.
"You could use one yourself", Erin commented, pointing to Jayson's wound. Blood was beginning to seep through his bandage.
"I'll live", he replied. He looked at the ruined floor. "So how do we get outta' here?"
Erin looked around then grinned as she retrieved her proton pack.
"These things aren't toys for nothing", she said eying the north wall and then looked at Statler for approval.
He smiled, "Go for it."
Outside
It had begun to rain.
Against the storm and the damage in his heart, Andrew thought he was going to drown.
Clutched at his breast was an unconscious Salina.
He knew he had to keep her head above water.
His right shoulder throbbed, both from the wound Salina had inflicted there and from the loss of blood he was experiencing.
It was the water that had brought him back to consciousness. Perhaps the shock of the ice-cold bay coupled with his own guilt had a tequila-like effect upon his psyche. He had been submerged under the waves, falling deeper into the void until he had come to his senses.
Nearby, he had seen Salina.
It was natural instinct what had to happen next.
A wave hit his eyes, blinding him temporarily and obscuring his vision but he still soldiered on as he swam towards the dock.
Gotta keep going, he chanted in his head. Gotta keep going. His muscles ached and his head throbbed.
What's the point of having all these skills if...
He stopped there.
He had no answer.
There was only if.
And that was not good enough.
A powerful wave swept Andrew and Salina near the foot of the dock. He carried her to safety up the drywood ladder and gently layed her back on the board surface. She was still, but breathing.
He got up and looked at her for a few minutes.
What do I do when she wakes up? What do I say
He saw a nearby hobo walking up towards them, eating peanuts out of a paperbag.
"Mister..." Andrew said in a low voice. "Could you...take care of her for me?"
The old man didn't understand and scratched his scraggly white beard. "What? But? Who am I gonna' call?"
Any other time, that statement would have amused him. But, not now. Andrew didn't respond. He searched his wallet for money and handed the hobo enough to hail a cab and see that she'd be taken to a hospital, as he turned his back and walked despondently towards the bridge into the fog of the night.
From there, he'd hop a ride.
From there...
God only knows.
Chapter 16: Let the Bodies Hit The Floor
He watched for some time as they walked from their damaged battleground.
Wounded, scarred.
But alive.
This incensed the Servant.
What more could he possibly sacrifice to make sure that his master's enemies were destroyed?
The first part of his master's first plan had worked: the city where the heroes dwell was in darkness. He had delivered that promise once he had removed his twin from existence.
Oh how he had enjoyed that. The look upon his twin's face as he stabbed him through the chest...watching his eyes grow wide with the fear and shock he had delivered.
Glorious the blood was.
And oh what fun he had with his twin's associate, the little man who was nothing.
He saw this same man now, standing weakly with the woman and the bigger man.
The Bloofer had failed.
They were alive.
He had failed.
He had failed his master.
Chapter 17: Recollections from Erin Cummins, Client Administrator
I hadn't really the heart to write all this down. It's only been a month since what happened happened, and yet I still feel like it all happened yesterday. The memory of that whole horrible day...I always pray that it ebbs with each passing year...but it is always with me, like so many memories. Good and bad.
My first adventure as a Ghostbuster proved a success: I had not only successfully handled a proton pack without legendarily "shooting my eye out", but had (with some help) also defeated my first real monster. Salina called it a "Bloofer"; and yet I still have no idea in hell what it was exactly.
Rob's injuries were still serious. He never really lets on when he is in pain, but I could see it in the beads of sweat dotting his face as we (myself and Jayson Riddle, a friend of Brian's) helped him to his feet. The blast that the servant of Thorsen had given him was still in effect. He was unable to walk without our aid.
It was unanimously decided that we should head to the hospital. Even though I agreed to this idea, I felt that I needed to stay here. Salina and Andrew...
Salina had said she'd be back.
Looking for Andrew.
Neither of them were upstairs when I did quick reconnaissance of the HQ.
It was all blown to hell. Even my desk, a gift from the guys on my one-year anniversary was busted.
Neither Salina nor Andrew were around, even as I called their names several times.
I realized I couldn't wait behind too long. Rob was hurt and, judging by the pained expressions every time he moved, needed immediate attention. Jayson himself looked in dire need of attention. Nobody I've known has shown up wearing a bandage around their waists with their shirts off like he did. And the blood...I could see it beginning to seep through the bandage.
"We have to go.." he said harshly, holding Rob up.
I looked at him and looked around the HQ.
Was this all there was to Ghostbusting?
Destruction?
Decimation?
Death?
I thought back to CJ.
A way-worse situation than any I'd ever heard from the guys. Thorsen's cold eyes...I could still feel them looking down at me as he did it...no remorse behind those black pupils as CJ disappeared before me.
Suddenly, Jayson grabbed my arm.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"We have to go. Now."
I didn't understand as he pulled me out the door, leading Rob and I to the garage. I held onto Rob as he opened it, revealing the two Ectomobiles.
"You got keys?" he said looking back at me.
"Yeah", I replied handing him over a set that I was given sometime earlier in the year.
Part of my pestering to actually have more access in case things got hairy.
Guess I got my wish, eh?
Jayson went for the bigger car, the Ecto-Millennium.
Rob's baby.
He helped me lay Rob in the first row of the backseats. He then hopped in the front seat and turned on the engine. She hadn't seen much use in the last few months, but I had to admit that she was a beaut that Rob took great pride in as the engine purred...like a lion.
"Hospital?" he asked.
"What'd you expect? A strip club?" I responded. I looked back at Jayson's wound again. "We ought to get you patched up too."
"I'm fine", he replied in a crisp tone. I didn't believe him.
Suddenly, I felt the car jar violently, pitching me into the dashboard. In my mind, I wondered 'What the hell?'.
"Oh shit", Jayson said looking in the rearview mirror.
"What?"
He didn't answer me, so I turned around to see what he was looking at.
It was the Servant.
He was pissed.
He held up an open palm and then closed it. At the same time, the Ecto-Millennium's trunk collapsed on itself, working it's way slowly towards the front.
"Grab Rob!" I shouted as I switched on my proton pack. I only held the Positron Collider in my hands, the pack itself sitting on the floorboards. "Come on big dude", I heard Jayson say as he kicked out the side door and pulled Rob out to safety. The wave of metal and and steel continued it's roll towards me as I fired at the Servant's head and rolled out the car. I heard him howl as the stream hit him in the face, blinding him.
"Hey", Jayson said pointing at the car.
"What?"
"Hear that?"
"What?"
I didn't understand what it was that Jayson was seeing...or even hearing it.
"It's gasoline", he said. "The bastard's caused a gas leak when he crushed the car."
I understood what he was saying then.
After all, how many action movies have I seen this cliché?
I fired the Collider at the car and within seconds it was engulfed in flames...followed rapidly by an explosion. I knew that when Rob came to he was gonna kill me, but I guess it was all for the best.
The Servant was knocked through the concrete wall and into the water below from the impact of the explosion.
I hoped he fried like a piece of Colonel Sander's chicken.
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't sight yet", Jayson said.
"Why not?"
"I still...feel that darkness that the bastard was emanating."
"What do you mean?"
The room suddenly exploded in a blinding green light, similar to what I had seen earlier.
"You idiots."
"We're screwed," I thought. "Could anything stop this monster?"
"It would have been so perfect for you to die. You would have been my reward...my master...he promised me...and I...promised him!" Suddenly, I felt an electric jolt shoot through my body as my hand dropped the Collider. The Servant rose through the ruined wall of the garage, floating above me, Jayson, and Rob as if some devil on earth.
What am I saying?
Of course he was a devil.
He looked over at the still burning remains of the Ecto-Millennium and I could literally feel the power that he put into it as he blew it up one last time, destroying it completely. I was the closest to the car, and the shockwave sent me flying across the room. I wasn't burned, but I felt the singe of a tan forming.
The Servant then went over to Jayson, writing on the ground as he attempted to get to his feet. He kicked Jayson in the mouth. He then grabbed Jayson by his neck and picked him up, so that the two were level
"Don't you see? Don't you all see? You're finished. You don't have any clue what it took to bring my master back here to this world after he failed to conquer it once before. How many deaths it took him to get the power that he wanted. Not that he needed it."
"The members of Ra..." Jayson said softly. The Servant grinned.
"Bingo, genius. He wanted you too, but you shook him off too easily. You weren't weak-minded enough to fall for the mind game. He would have done you in like he did that bitch in Chicago, but he didn't think about it at the time." The Servant threw a heavy right hook across Jayson's face, sending him back to the ground. I could see that he was out cold.
He now walked over to me. He grabbed my hair, but I felt no pain.
From that.
"Another hero", he said. "Your noble heart brought you here. You're not one of those that my master told me about. You have no special talents like the others. Heh, you barely know how to work that thing."
He expected me to say something.
I had nothing.
"Hmmm, you also already know your place. Perhaps I might spare you after all. The master did say I could keep anyone I see to my own purposes."
"On a cold, icy day in hell!" I shouted and, putting all the strength I could possibly have into my left leg, kicked the bastard in his gonads. He dropped me to the ground. But he was still going.
"Bitch!" he shouted and grabbed my neck. He picked me up, tightening his grip.
"You must be very tired of living", he said to me. "Give Beezlebub my regards". I could feel my trachea beginning to close, the air supply slowly disappearing. My head was getting light, but then I heard Jayson's voice.
"Why don't you tell him yourself asshat." He was standing up now, blood pouring from his mouth. He looked defiant. "Look at your feet."
The Servant looked down slow and a horror crossed his face. He dropped me again. I gulped down what felt like gallons of air.
It was a pentagram that Jayson had drawn on the floor, using blood from his first wound.
Jayson grinned as he put his hand on the ground. A blue light zipped from that hand, across the floor, and hit the pentagram, illuminating it.
"No!" The Servant shouted as he tried to get out. He was trapped in it.
"Erin, it might do you some good if you get as far away from that as possible", Jayson said. "The Netherworld, they're not too picky about who they bring down."
I didn't argue as I ran to a safe distance behind the Ecto-M. What happened defies most laws of physics. Hell, it defies most conventions. I'll try to explain what I saw, but if I lack in detail, I apologize.
The pentagram began to glow a dark red as it ensnared the servant. The look of horror on his face was disturbing but I could turn away from it. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a circle of fire, and I could hear the high pitched resonance of laughter surrounding the Servant.
It was then that I saw it...a small black creature, no bigger than my shin, crawled on the Servant's arm and began gnawing away at him. Another crawled up behind his back, followed by several more as the began attacking his body.
"Stop messing with me!" he shouted and began ripping them off. It was no use from what I could tell.
A smell began to roll into the room. I remembered how Salina had described it to me once, this putrid stench that defies all that is even pure and holy.
"Death", I said under my breath.
Rotting hands began to crawl from underneath the Servant, tugging at his clothes, and ripping his flesh.
"Nonononono!" he continued to shout. "Master! My Liege! Help me!"
"No one's gonna help you now, bubba", Jayson said. "You called me weak...harmless even. Who's the pussy now?"
"Noooo!Yahhhh. AHHHH! AHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHH!…"
Those were the final words I heard from the Servant as he disappeared within the flames. When I checked that spot several days later, I realized there was a scorch mark in the shape of the pentagram burned into the concrete.
After what I had witnessed, I emerged from my hiding spot to catch a collapsing Jayson in my arms and laid him up against Rob; I then joined them on the ground.
Dawn was about to come, as the storm dissipated. We both took a sigh of relief.
I could hear the blare of police sirens and abulances approaching in the distance.
"Do you think Detective Madison is on his way?" I asked.
"If he is, Luv, I'm sure he'll be absolutely thrilled to see me," Jayson said grinning a little bit. "Thank God that's over. Now…we can go to the hospital."
I returned his grin. "Yeah."
To be continued in:
Ghostbusters Doom Patrol
"The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man"