Ray's fiery red Honda Civic sped toward his bookstore. John and Kirsty sat silently in the cramped rear seats with Janine in the passenger seat nearby. Two Proton Packs and a modified Proton Concussion Grenade were stashed in the small trunk. Ray seemed to be driving like a man late for work.
"Why you driving so fast?" asked Janine of Ray.
He replied, "well, um, I don't know how to say this… but I know where the second Lament Configuration is. I have it, at my bookstore." All three passengers stared at him incredulously.
"Why on earth did you have us spend hours searching for it when you knew right where it was?" Demanded Kirsty.
"And for that matter why did you send the other guys on a wild goose chase?" Added Janine.
"Unless you wanted them out of the picture…" mumbled John.
Ray cleared his throat but did not respond to the accusation. Worry registered on his face.
Within a few minutes the Civic pulled up outside Ray's demolished bookstore and all passengers exited the vehicle.
"Okay, now do you all have your slime pendants?" Asked Ray rather militantly.
The others nodded. "Good. Janine, you get the spare Proton Pack. John, you take the modified PCG." The pudgy Ghostbuster haphazardly jammed the PCG toward John and he was forced to cradle it. "Let's go guys."
"Waitaminute. Why all this stuff?" Asked Kirsty. Ray ignored the question and looked at his watch. Three O'clock on the button. The parapsychologist led the three confused people into the bookstore. A few seconds later, the voice Kirsty heard almost threw her into convulsions.
"You chose correctly Raymond," purred a breathy male voice. Three Cenobites stepped into the halogen light of the bookstore: Chompers, Butterball, and the dark lord himself, Pinhead. The confusion on the faces of Janine, John, and Kirsty turned into pure terror.
"What the hell did he dangle in front of you to get you to do this?" Demanded John, in a frank tone of voice.
"He promised to end all this chaos and to give our world the secrets of his," replied Ray solemnly.
"You mean to give you the secrets," sneered John.
Kirsty tried to flee, but Chompers and Butterball caught her and threw her against the building's back wall. In the commotion her slime pendant broke from around her neck and shattered on the ground. "Now that that pesky little thing is out of the way," said Pinhead. "The Lament Configuration, if you please."
The Lament Configuration flew out of a hidden shelf in the desk of the cash register and straight into Pinhead's hands. He finished working the small device and watched with delight as it slowly turned into place. He lifted the other one and joined them. They morphed into a puzzle box twice as big as the individual boxes with patterns three times as intricate. While Pinhead was focused on the box, Ray silently motioned for Kirsty to get behind Janine. "Now, about your end of the bargain," demanded Ray. Pinhead nodded and began to levitate two tomes. They slowly floated over to Ray's hands and he tore them wide open, only to find blank page after blank page. The parapsychologist stared at the tomes with shock and then looked at Pinhead in desperation.
"But you promised-" stuttered Ray. The nail-headed Cenobite just laughed mockingly.
"Oh, but you will get what you want. You see Doctor Stantz, those who desire the secrets of Labyrinth get us as well." At that phrase the slime pendant broke from around Ray's neck and shattered on the ground, just as Kirsty's had done. Pinhead stared at his fellow Cenobites, who sent an assault of flesh-ripping hooks toward the surprised party. "And now we will get what we desire," he said menacingly. The nail-headed Cenobite looked around just in time to receive a sharp shoulder block from the pudgy Ghostbuster. As the lead Cenobite crumpled backward, the Lament Configuration fell from Pinhead's grasp and tumbled to Kirsty. Ray backed away from the Cenobites.
"Now, Kirsty! Get it!" Shouted Ray. The young woman grabbed the puzzle box. Pinhead snarled with disgust. Chains wrapped around the arms of both John and Kirsty, binding them to the walls. John's slime pendant shattered as well. Ray and Janine opened fire on all three Cenobites, but the beams simply evaporated into them.
"Fools! Do you really think you ever had a bargaining chip against me? Your toy guns cannot harm me. Now you will all know the torments of Hell." Pinhead aimed the flesh-shredding hooks.
"Pinhead, dear…" began a familiar female voice. Angelique slinked into the bookstore. Following her were Louis as well as the other three Ghostbusters, who spied Ray and all shot him vicious glances. Pinhead and Angelique began a rather heated argument. John and Kirsty's chains momentarily relaxed and the pair of victims wiggled free of their prison. The young woman began working on the puzzle box still in her grip, trying to close it. As the pieces shifted, John shouted, "Now, Ghostbusters, fire on the box!" They opened fire and crossed proton beams into the bright purple light of the closing box. After smoking a few seconds, the giant box separated into two smaller boxes. But nothing else changed. The Ghostbusters turned in horror to witness Pinhead tearing the skin right off Angelique, revealing her true form. When Janine spied her exposed brain and voice box, she said, "That was the one that abducted me."
After stripping Angelique of her beautiful appearance, Pinhead turned his attention back to the Ghostbusters. "You see the price of betrayal and selfishness. Now you too will know that price."
Several hooks shot at Peter, who tried to shield his face with his left arm. The hooks sank into his flesh, causing the Ghostbuster to cry out and then scream horribly as his left forearm was torn away from the rest of his body. A long crimson stream poured unceasing from his arm as he cradled the amputee wound to his chest.
"Pete, hold out your arm and brace yourself," shouted Winston. "This is gonna' hurt like a bitch." Winston then fired on Peter's arm, cauterizing the massive wound and ceasing the bleeding. Peter stayed silent through the whole process but nearly bit through his own tongue.
His eyes narrowed into slits as he rose methodically and gasped:
"Okay, boys. Fire at the boxes." Ray, Egon, Winston, and Janine opened fire on the puzzle boxes, causing all Cenobites in the room to fall back. While the Cenobites rose, Pinhead remained on the ground, roaring in pain.
"Patience, dear," purred the female Cenobite. "This will all be over soon." An icy purple light shone through the south wall of the bookstore. Leviathan was taking its place as ruler above the Manhattan skyline. To Pinhead's pain and surprise, flesh ripping hooks shot into Angelique's three hellish comrades. The female cenobite then summoned Louis, whom wandered over to her side like a loving puppy. She plunged her arm deep into his chest, tore out his beating heart and devoured it. The accountant's body dropped lifeless to the floor. "You see, we always take our toll," she purred while wiping blood from the corners of her pale lips.
Janine screamed in anguish and Egon turned her away from the awful sight. Angelique then slinked over to Pinhead, suspended by the otherworldly chains, and sank her fingers into his pale cranium; crimson nails sinking in between the jeweled pins. She repeatedly chanted, "Ia Ia Ithaxul." Pinhead's body began a hellish metamorphosis. Rusty medieval armor began to overtake the lead Cenobite's fetish clothing. Long tufts of cream-colored hair grew out of his spiky head. Pinhead's pretty face began distorting into a demonic shape as rat-like ears grew out of his forehead. The other Cenobites exploded in a bloody visceral mess as the chains tore right through them. Only Angelique was left. "You've done well, my love," the new creature said to the female Cenobite. Then the beast turned to face the Ghostbusters. "I am Vigo the Cenobite, and you will feel my wrath, Ghostbusters. I am reborn at last and you will suffer an eternity of pain to please me."
"Get the Lament Configurations and close them," whispered John to Kirsty. The determined young woman almost made herself part of the floor to remain unnoticed as she crawled over and gathered the puzzle boxes. The toy maker's descendant retrieved the PCG and yanked off the corded detonator. "Now help me. We can't get the others over here without being noticed. I need your physical strength to push against mine. We need to push the two puzzle boxes together while I detonate the grenade and hold it over the closing boxes." Words were unnecessary; John and Kirsty both knew this would be fatal and sealed their pact with only a head nod. The young woman began working her fingers over the surface of one cube until it began reforming and then worked the other cube. Winston looked over at John and Kirsty, who stared forlornly as John mouthed "goodbye." As she solved the final Lament Configuration puzzle, John detonated the Proton Concussion Grenade.
"Get down!" yelled Winston. The four other Ghostbusters dropped and covered as the explosion shot right over their heads. Between the inward negative energy of the Lament Configuration and the outward positive energy of the PCG, John and Kirsty were evaporated. Within a few seconds the explosion was gone, leaving only smoldering pieces of wood and twisted brass shell.
"No!" It wasn't supposed to be like this! No one was supposed to die…" stammered Ray, staring at the smoldering ruins.
"Uh, guys," started Peter. "Look."
Even though the female demon and Lament Configurations were gone, Vigo the Cenobite still remained in the room with them. "Now Raymond," it snarled. "For your reward." Vigo summoned the otherworldly hooks, only to discover that none came at his beck and call.
"Well, well, well, looks like someone lost his support," smarted Peter menacingly.
"You ain't got Labyrinth backing you anymore," added Winston.
The Ghostbusters rose and aimed their Proton Guns at Vigo the Cenobite, whom again tried summoning the hooks without success. Bright sunlight poured through the bookstore's decimated south wall, casting a warming shadow on the bookstore. Egon's PKE Meter chirped to life at the new presence: instead of the tremendous Cenobite emptiness there registered a class eight demigod. He dropped the small device and sneered, "Fire."
With fury like never before, the five Ghostbusters opened fire on Vigo the Cenobite. The creature roared in pain as concentrated protons assaulted every inch of its hideous body. Vigo the Cenobite expanded like a balloon until its body exploded, sending bits of flaming viscera and fountains of blood in every direction. The blended mess of monster imploded in a flash of purple light. All that was left was a black ring of soot and the acrid smell of burning flesh. All five Ghostbusters were drenched in Cenobite blood and monstrous viscera. The horrible stench caused Winston to vomit all over the floor. Peter hung his gun and cradled his cauterized arm. Egon and Ray surveyed the area.
All the books in the store had been ruined in one way or another. Some were burnt beyond recognition, some were hopelessly stained with blood, many were trampled and ruined, and the rest had just been shredded. A thick uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Janine kneeled near the corpse of her former boyfriend Louis and cradled it to her chest for a few moments. Egon approached her, slowly helped her to her feet, and escorted the heartbroken woman toward the outdoors. Ray looked forlornly at his decimated bookstore before walking quietly back to his red Civic. The rest of the Ghostbusters followed toward Ecto-1.