After shutting down the Sedgewick Hotel's node, the girls and the Ghostbusters met at the harbor while Ilyssa stayed safely with Janine at the Ghostbusters' station. There they boarded a boat and began sailing down the Hudson River, which was completely covered in dense fog.

Everyone on board looked around for something, but they noticed that Kairi seemed distant with Makoto, who was confused by her behavior towards her. Kairi was resisting the urge to say everything she knew about her in her face, but she had to be focused to seal the last node as soon as they found it, so she decided to ignore her for now.

"Egon, remind me," Peter asked as he walked around the boat. "Why are we driving aimlessly in the fog?"

"The final node, Venkman," Egon replied. "Close it and we seal the Mandala, trapping the ghosts inside."

"Sorry to break this to you, Egon. But I just don't see a Mandala…" Peter commented as he looked through his binoculars.

"Like we can see anything here. It will be a miracle if we don't crash with anything in this fog," Makoto said, looking into the mist.

"Right, this fog is extremely dense," Eve said.

Suddenly the ship lurched, causing Makoto to lose her balance and fall to the ground, only to get up confused.

Just then they saw how a huge island was emerging from under the water in front of them.

"You were saying?" Egon asked.

"Shandor Island... it's here!" Ray exclaimed watching the island rise.

Kairi, along with the others, saw how the island emerged in front of them as the boat approached it.

After entering a marine cavern on the island, the ship raised a docking area where they could go down to the island, but some rocks from the ceiling kept falling into the water, threatening to hit the boat.

"It's too unstable. I'm going to have to drop you and circle. If Ecto-8 sinks, we're sunk too," Ray warned as he piloted the ship.

"Ray, since you're the most excited about going to ghost island, why don't I just take the boat?" Peter suggested, but Ray shook his head. "I thought I was making a nice gesture, and you're giving me the suspicious look. Drop it instantly."

"Don't complain too much and go on, Peter," Kairi said dryly.

Peter looked at the people around him "Let's get going, because nobody enjoys rushing headlong towards their death more than this fellow."

"Sorry, but this time I'm staying here," Edea said. "I agree to enter buildings that have been haunted by ghosts, but a ghost island? I'm sorry, but this time I will pass."

"Are you sure?" Rena asked.

"I don't mind at all," God Ray. "I think I've seen movement in the water, and I'll need someone to keep an eye out if something gets onboard."

"Okay, but be careful, okay?" Said Kairi to Edea.

"Don't worry," Edea replied.

The group started down to the loading dock. As soon as Makoto came down, she offered to help Kairi up with a smile, but Kairi scowled and ignored the squirrel woman's help, jumping into the port single-handedly, which left Makoto confused as well as the others didn't know what was happening. Except for Eve.

"What's the history behind this place, Egon?" Winston asked as he observed the place.

"The Shandor owned this island for generations," Egon began. "The castle was built in the 1860s. Ivo Shandor used it as a refuge, a lab, and a temple for he and other cult members to worship Gozer."

"Mmm, interesting," Priere said.

"Okay, that's all well and good. But can someone explain to me how an entire island sinks?" Winston asked.

"That's true. It's unusual for a river to swallow an entire island like nothing," Makoto commented.

"The night the last Shandor died, there was a huge tidal surge and the river swallowed the island whole. Shandor consecrated the island to Gozer, and the Ghostworld claimed it," Egon replied.

"Mm-Hm," Peter murmured.

"This whole place was really in the Ghostworld?" Kairi asked in surprise.

"City's lucky it's in the middle of the river instead of Rockefeller Center," Winston commented.

"We're lucky now. But soon the Ghostworld will continue to assert itself on ours, and the damage will be incalculable," Egon said.

"Just another screwed up day at the office," Peter commented.

"Less joking, Peter!" Rena exclaimed.

"We'd better find a way out and get to the castle as soon as possible," Nina said.

Soon they located a route of rails that they could use to climb, but halfway up, they heard something approaching at full speed, it being a runaway cart heading towards them. Fortunately, Makoto and Priere stepped forward and hit her, causing the cart to fall into the water.

"Are you ok?" Winston asked.

"What's with you? You know we only get paid if we live," Peter said.

"Like we get paid for anything from you, Peter," Rena commented.

"Girls, you okay? Let's keep moving," Egon said.

The group continued down the pass, just as the cavern trembled for a moment as some debris fell off from the ceiling.

"Careful, we don't wear helmets," Peter warned.

"Focus, okay?" Kairi asked.

"Guys?" Ray called on the radio. "There's way too much dangerous debris falling in here. I've gotta take Marine Ecto-8 out where it's safer!"

"Don't get too far, Ray. If we need you, we're gonna need you really fast!" Winston warned.

"Aye-aye. Z. Raise me on the horn if you need me!" Ray replied.

"Now he's Captain Ahab. Be careful, Ray," Winston commented.

"Don't worry. Edea is with him," Nina said.

"Let's keep moving. We'll find a place where Ray can put in to get us later," Egon suggested.

"If that's not possible, we can ask the girls who can fly to take us to Ecto-8," Peter suggested.

"If that's the case, I won't be the one to take you up," Nina said. "And if we have to take you in turns, you will be the last one."

"What I just said now?" Peter asked.

"You should learn to think before you speak, Peter. That would save you from a lot of trouble," Kairi replied.

The group continued to advance through the tunnel until they finally reached the surface, facing Shandor's castle, which seemed to have a dark gothic style mixed with large pipes writhing around the outside of the castle.

Winston whistled at the sight of the place. "Check this joint out!"

"That's a three-million-dollar view, even by Manhattan standards," Egon commented.

"My apartment used to look like this," Peter commented.

"Truly this place has a lot of style. I have to admit it," Priere said.

"Too dark for my taste in my view," Rena said.

"Shandor's public architectural style ranged from Federal to Art Deco. His personal tastes, however, obviously leaned towards the Gozerian," Egon said.

"Oh, now I see what they mean by early demonic," Winston said.

"Yes, it looks a lot like the classic dark castle used by a villain or a dark lord," Nina commented.

"And I thought Hollow Bastion was scary," Kairi commented.

As they moved forward to search for a way into the castle, they heard a thunderous roar from within the fortress.

"Well. That doesn't sound good," Egon commented upon hearing the roar.

"Hearing a roar like that never sounds good," Makoto said.

Just then, dozens of Wraiths and Bats began to appear near them ready to attack them, while at the same time bats that were much larger than usual appeared (Giant Bat).

"Hey! Aren't those bats a little too big?" Winston asked, referring to the Giant Bats.

The Ghostbusters and the girls faced the Fallen that were coming at them, trying not to be surrounded to have a chance of victory. Surprisingly the Giant Bats were as fast as ordinary Bats, which was difficult to hit with ranged attacks despite their large size, but fortunately, the group was able to keep the enemy at bay with what they had.

But the Fallen were not the only problem they had, because around the place there were puddles of black slime that were becoming portals through which black slime creatures came out nonstop, forcing the Ghostbusters to use the slime drives to neutralize them. and the portals.

"Why so much security?" Makoto asked after landing a right hand on a Giant Bat.

"This place probably had some kind of security system that has worn off over time, and it seems someone isn't interested in having us here," Eve commented as she shot down several flying enemies.

"Guess Shandor would be red to see that his security system had failed like a wet rocket after so many years underwater," Winston commented as he closed the portals with the slime booster.

After fighting around the outside, the group reached the entrance to the castle. And just as they walked through the door, it closed behind them.

"If they want to scare us, they're doing a good job," Rena commented.

"Hm . I take it we're not welcome," Egon guessed.

Everyone looked at Egon arching an eyebrow at his comment as Winston spoke. "Yeah? There's a first. I'm gonna get us all name badges that say 'Hello. I'm not welcome.' Or maybe t-shirts. Or coffee mugs."

"I highly doubt anyone would want that even for free," Nina commented.

"Yeah, the only one who could be amused is Sora because of how absurd it is," Kairi commented.

"Huh... Pals, you need to see this!" exclaimed Makoto, who went forward a moment ago.

The group walked over to where the squirrel girl was, finding a picture of a woman. But the most surprising thing was who was painted in her portrait.

"Ilyssa. I see her," Winston commented looking at the painting.

"You and me both. She's wearing just a simple terrycloth robe. And she's brought me coffee," Peter said.

"You're kidding, right?" Rena asked Peter.

"That's her, all right. Spitting image," Winston said.

The person portrayed in the painting was the spitting image of Ilyssa, wearing a Victorian dress.

"The resemblance is uncanny," Egon said.

"It's not just uncanny. It's an identical carbon copy of the doctor's. But this picture was painted centuries ago," Eve said.

"This is Ivo Shandor's mother, painted in 1885," Egon said, looking at the painting.

"Wait, wait, wait. Rewind!" Kairi exclaimed. "Are you saying that Ilyssa is a Shandor?"

"Why does this always happen to me? I meet a girl. She's crazy about me. But she always turns out to be some kind of unbelievable fixer upper!" Peter exclaimed, cursing his luck.

"The thing about her being crazy about you, I sincerely doubt it," Priere said.

"This is all making sense. Ilyssa must have inadvertently triggered the Mandala because she has Shandor blood," Egon reasoned.

"She doesn't know it. When I did her profile, she told me she was adopted," Peter said.

"What a coincidence that it has to come to town the only person who can activate this whole system," Makoto said.

"You don't really believe this happened by accident?" Peter asked.

"No one believes that," Rena said.

"Clearly someone knew that Ilyssa was a Shandor and set this up," Kairi said.

Egon remembered something. "The Mayor did say that Peck personally recommended Ilyssa to be the guest curator of the Gozer Exhibit."

"Are you saying that Peck is responsible for this?" Nina asked.

"No wonder he has tried to get rid of us!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Once a Peck, always a Peck," Winston commented.

Kairi was thoughtful for a moment until she shook her head at her. "Let's think of something else since this is a mind-blow. We'll ask Peck later for excuses."

"Sure," Winston said, starting to look around. "Shandor must have employed hundreds of workers for years to build this place!"

"Good way to change the subject," Makoto said.

"The supports are waterlogged, the mortar is decrepit, and the foundations is shattered. In purely physical terms, there's no way all this can still be standing," Egon explained.

"Anyone would say you seem surprised," Rena said.

"No. Not really," Egon replied. "It's beautiful, in a horrific way."

"I would have used more direct and exact synonyms, but I'm with you," Eve said.

Then Ray, who heard everything on the radio, began to speak. "You can deny the pure genius of Shandor, it's a pity that it was all used for evil. If he would have just channeled some of it for good, the things he could have done."

"Yes, doing evil is too easy. The hard thing is to do good, whatever it is," Edea answered by radio.

The group kept looking for where to continue their search until they found something at the end of a corridor that seemed to be moving, but when they tried to get closer, the door slammed shut on them.

At that precise moment, they heard a noise that seemed to come from a lower floor to which they had visual access. The origin of the noise was strange hooded ghosts made of black slime that were making a strange dark chant.

"Posthumous Black Mass," Egon said.

"What? People still worshiping? Even after they're dead? That's a powerful church, man," Winston commented.

"That might explain how these structures are still standing!" Egon said.

"Oh yeah!" Ray exclaimed over the radio. "Ethereal stability induced by sheer focused concentration of posthumous will! Unbelievable!"

"Yeah, right. Unbelievable. What's unbelievable is that you can still use that word in context," Winston commented.

"Wait a minute!" Edea was heard exclaiming over the radio. "Not only being a ghost island full of ghosts, results that the ghosts themselves are the ones keeping the ghost island standing? I'm sorry, but I'm not going there no matter what happens."

At that moment the ghosts stopped singing and began to rise to the height of the group.

"Guys, I think we've been discovered," Rena said, preparing her bow.

The ghosts began to attack them, forcing the group to defend themselves. The battle was quite complicated in itself since the ghosts were formed exclusively of black slime, which made it difficult to physically damage them, forcing Makoto to keep her distance while the Ghostbusters used the slime blowers against them, at the same time that Kairi and Nina used her magic against the specters and Eve used her weapons against them, while Priere used her demonic powers to keep them at bay.

But everything got complicated when the number of specters increased as they killed each of the ghosts, this being a battle of attrition for the group, at the same time that Makoto was irritated at not being able to hit the ghosts due to the possible effects of the black slime on her skin, though this didn't stop her from throwing stones at the ghosts to at least do something.

Eventually the group managed to put an end to the ghosts attacking them, just as the locked door opened.

"This is gravy," Peter commented.

"But what world do you live in?" Rena asked.

"It is officially time for us to go," Winston proposed.

"I second that," Makoto said.

The group passed through the door to reach a huge and ostentatious anteroom near the strange moving object in the background.

"Check this joint out!" Winston exclaimed upon seeing the place.

"Unless my sensory array is malfunctioning, that is definitely the place we're looking for," Egon said as he investigated a mark on the ground with the Mandala symbol.

While the Ghostbusters watched the mark, the girls stayed behind watching the passage. There it was still noticeable how Kairi was reluctant to be close to Makoto, and that was noticeable in the previous fights because apparently Kairi ignored helping Makoto at certain times, forcing the others to help her when she was in trouble.

"Seriously Kairi. What's wrong with you with Makoto?" Rena asked.

Kairi looked at the elf seriously, but before she could speak, the ground tilted in surprise, causing all the girls to fall through the gap that had been formed.

Peter heard the noise and turned to see what it was, but he didn't see anything. Neither the girls.

"Hey, where'd the girls go?" Peter asked, seeing the absence of the girls. "Yo! Ladies! Come on out!"

Peter turned around when he had no answer, but at that moment there were noises of ghosts approaching.

"Peter! Behind you!" Egon exclaimed as he saw several ghosts enter the anteroom.

"Are you okay, girls?" Nina asked, seeing how they all got up after the fall.

"Yes, I am. At least I had my tail to break the fall," Makoto said, as she held Kairi tightly as she broke her fall as well.

"Well good for you," Priere said, groaning after falling on his ass on the ground.

Kairi said nothing as she wriggled out of the squirrel girl's grasp and got up from the ground.

"No! Get back! Take your imaginary hands off me, man!" Winston exclaimed over the radio, causing everyone to look up.

"No! There's too many of them!" Exclaimed Egon.

"Egon! They got Egon! Bring him back here!" Winston exclaimed again. "Girls! Help us!"

Soon all was silent.

"I don't like this at all," Rena said.

"So, what do we do now?" Nina asked.

"Okay you need to get to the others so they can help you," Ray suggested over the radio. "Please be careful, we don't know what we are dealing with yet, but it sounds big, and when big things attack it hurts."

"You don't have to say it," Said Kairi to the radio above them before addressing the group. "Okay, here's the new plan: find the Ghostbusters. They are the only ones with the necessary equipment to put an end to this. So watch out."

The girls nodded and began to advance through the area where they fell. At first glance, the place seemed to be the sewers of the castle, but instead of water, it was carrying lots of black slimes, which were everywhere. Kairi had to figure out how to use the Keyblade to neutralize the black slime that was blocking the way.

Furthermore, the entire place seemed to be a maze of constantly branching tunnels and conduits with blocked access everywhere. It was very difficult to navigate the place without ending up retracing the path made to try another route.

Finally, after walking for a long time, the girls reached a huge room where the lower floor was completely covered in black slime, but it was possible to walk through the upper area using several bridges that were around. Looking closer, they saw that there was a way to continue to the other side of the room, but the only thing that blocked their way was the black slime that flooded the area. Fortunately, they found a hatch that, if they managed to close it, could stop the flow of the black slime and make those on this side slip through the grids, thus allowing them to continue. Said gate seemed to work with several weighted chains on each side of the gate, but there was no way to reach one without too much turning. Unless you could fly.

"Priere, Rena, take care of one of the devices. Nina, Eve, take care of the other one, okay?" Kairi said to the girls. "We'll stay here in case something happens."

The girls stared and headed for the chains, Eve being the last to go after looking at Kairi, leaving Kairi and Makoto alone near the drop ramp, with the squirrel girl looking behind Kairi who had her back to her.

"Now that we're waiting, I want to ask you a question, Makoto," Kairi said. "For what reason are you with us?"

"What?" Makoto asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you just once. I'm not in the mood for games right now, and the last thing I want are lies," Kairi warned. "Why are you with us?"

The girls were attentive to this strange situation as they tried to manipulate the chains to close the hatch.

"Come on Kairi. Is this some kind of joke?" Makoto asked. "If you don't explain, I won't know what-"

Makoto was interrupted when Kairi was engulfed in flames, transforming into her Esper form in front of her. The squirrel girl instinctively went on the defensive ready to fight, while the girls watched in shock at what happened.

"Girls? What's going on?" Edea asked over the radio.

"I've already told you I'm not in the mood for games, Makoto," Kairi said seriously, turning her head to look at her seriously. "You know what's going on, but what I want to know is simple: why are you spying on us?"

All the girls were stunned at Kairi's question, except for Eve who already knew about it for a while.

"What? The spy is Makoto?" Edea asked over the radio, surprised.

"That's it. She has been spying on us ever since we came to this world!" Kairi exclaimed. "She only took part of the blame back then to get closer to us!"

The girls looked at each other as Kairi spoke, but she was aware of this.

"The Hatch! Now!" Kairi ordered loudly, making the girls go back to work on the chains. After that, she turned her attention to Makoto. "I want answers. I want the truth. And I want them now!"

Makoto was silent looking at Kairi. She knew that dealing with her when she was in her Esper form was like walking through a mine pass as she was more irascible while unleashing the power of her Phoenix blood. Either she does the right thing, or she would end up fighting her.

"Fine. I am here to spy on you," Makoto confessed. "More specifically you, Kairi. But don't get confused. I don't do it maliciously."

"Who sent you?" Kairi asked, getting only silence from the squirrel girl. "Who?!"

Makoto was silent for several seconds before replying. "Director Nick Fury."

"Nick Fury?" Nina asked as she and Eve figured out how the chain worked. "The director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"What has S.H.I.E.L.D. to do with all this?" Edea asked over the radio, confusion clear in her voice.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Ray asked through the radio.

"Long story, Ray," Edea commented.

"Makoto?" Kairi asked, turning to the squirrel girl.

"It's true. S.H.I.E.L.D. contacted a military agency in my world, and I was recruited for the mission because of my intelligence work," Makoto said. "But for the record, my help has been genuine. All I've done is report about you. That is all."

Makoto sighed and continued. "Look, I didn't do it maliciously. If I wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have helped you until now. I know that you are good people, people who can be trusted and befriended. I'm one of those who make friends easily, really!"

"Why?!" Kairi asked. "Why you did do it?!"

"Fury said that I should inform him about you and everything that happens when you transform into your Esper form," Makoto answered. "He believes that you can't control yourself, that you let yourself be carried away by that power, so you had to be watched. But I think you can adapt to that power. It is yours, and yours alone, and I know you will be able to master it."

Kairi stared at the squirrel girl, staring at her. At that moment the girls managed to close the hatch, beginning to hear how the black slime was being drained. But then a huge creature made of black slime emerged from the lake, heading towards the access to where Kairi and Makoto were.

Makoto noticed that the creature was closing in on them while the other girls rushed to its position as quickly as possible. But Kairi, without flinching, summoned her Keyblade and cast a spell that immediately destroyed the black slime monster, shocking everyone.

When the place had been drained, Kairi approached Makoto and looked at her coldly. "When this is over, I don't want to see you ever again. Is that clear?"

Makoto looked at Kairi with sadness for those words, while she watched as Kairi advanced towards the area below, reverting to her normal form, while the others passed by her side with faces of confusion and sorrow as they followed Kairi.

"Look, girls. I've heard it all, and I know this is tough, but I think we have a responsibility here. So I suggest looking for the guys and shutting down the node as soon as possible. We'll discuss this more calmly at the station, okay?" Ray said on the radio, after hearing everything.

None of the girls said anything about it.

The girls continued to advance through the corridor they had opened after draining the black slime. But the place was also like a labyrinth in which the gates were constantly opening and closing. For her part, Makoto wanted to help, but she couldn't speak for fear of Kairi's retaliation, which depressed her. Fortunately, Nina knew what it was like to be disowned for reasons beyond her control due to her black wings and she acted as an intermediary so that they could find a route out of her.

"Hey girls!" Winston said over the radio. "I'm trapped in a dark place. Can barely move my arms. Can you find me?"

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice, Zed!" Rena exclaimed.

Hearing Winston's voice relieved the girls a little, knowing that at least one of the Ghostbusters was still alive, so they decided to move faster through the tunnels until they reached one that seemed to ascend.

"I think you're getting closer to me, the sounds are getting louder," Winston said. "You know, I've heard it all through the radio, and I know it's a bummer, but may I suggest you deal with the situation after we all leave this place? It's because of the slime of the place. I almost tried to kill Ray once when my suit got covered in that slime."

The girls found a large break in the wall where they could pass through, leading into what looked like a huge laboratory, or black slime storage area. There the girls began to investigate the room in search of any clue as to where Winston could be.

Finally, Nina noticed that one of the strange metal sarcophagi in the room seemed to move, letting the others know, and they immediately forced the sarcophagus open, revealing that Winston was inside, who managed to get out.

"Hey, thanks, girls! I was seriously cramping up in there," Winston said.

"I'm glad you're okay, Winston," Kairi said to the man.

Winston nodded. "This is all looking a little familiar. Ray would be giggling right now."

"Seriously, what is this place?" Makoto asked, surveying the place.

"This is where all the mood slime must come from," Winston commented.

"Mood slime?" Eve asked.

"A type of slime that we found a long time ago. They were so dangerous that they made a dead tyrant from a lot of years ago come back like a ghost trapped in a painting!" Winston explained. "Look! They must've pumped it straight into the sewers from here," Winston said pointing to some of the pipes.

"You say that this slime can be pumped into the city through the sewers?" Rena asked. "We must shut this place down!"

"Let's go find Egon... then we'll think about finding Peter later," Winston suggested.

"Well thought," Priere said.

The group continued to advance through the area looking for Egon and exploring the place, arriving at another room with a large number of containers with slime inside.

"What IS this place?" Winston asked, looking around the room.

"This place appears to be some kind of laboratory," Eve said.

"Shandor's cult was working some crazy experiments here," Winston commented. "There's blue slime, pink slime, yellow slime. But every ghost in here is coated with black slime."

"Possibly the black slime is the natural state of that substance, and the colored slimes are different experiments with this slime," Eve said.

"What's generating it all? Where's it all coming from? Winston asked.

"That is a good question," Kairi said. "So much black slime must come from somewhere."

"What if all this black slime came from some animal or creature?" Makoto asked, making everyone look at her. "What? It's just a guess."

"Well, keep your next guess for yourself, okay?" Kairi said flatly.

"Hey, lady, there's no reason to go basilisk with anyone. And less here," Winston warned Kairi.

"You stay out of this, okay?" Kairi said to Winston with a serious look.

"Calm down, don't be like that with me," Winston said.

"Stop with that, here they come!" Rena exclaimed, readying her bow.

At that moment, dozens of phantom worshipers of the cult of Shandor and creatures made of black slime rushed towards them, forcing them to drop what they had in hand and focus on the enemy. Though the presence of the black slime once again forced Makoto to remain on the defensive due to his lack of weapons against the noxious substance.

"Being dead for 80 years sure hasn't improved these guys' disposition any," Winston commented as he used his slime booster against the wraiths, turning serious. "I'm not sure which one of you shoved me in that crate, but you all owe me a big apology!"

While Kairi, Nina, and Priere used whatever magical abilities they had at their disposal to hold off the ghosts and black slime spawn while Rena and Eve used their weapons to take them down from a distance. Meanwhile, Makoto had to stand behind Winston, hoping no ghosts would come up behind her, which irritated the squirrel girl at her helplessness with said enemies.

Just then Kairi launched a Firaga at one of the ghosts, destroying it instantly.

"You picked the wrong side, ghost. Shandor isn't here to help you now, is he?!" Winston exclaimed as he continued his task against the enemies.

After several minutes of dispatching the specters and monsters, they managed to 'purify' the room, leaving only them on the site.

"Seriously, this thing about all the monsters being covered in that crap is already too much. I can't do anything against them!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Then ask the Ghostbusters for their equipment," Kairi commented coldly.

"Hey, that's enough, don't you think?!" Rena asked, tired of Kairi's current behavior with Makoto. "Okay, Makoto spied on us, and you've made your position clear, but do you have to bug her all the time? Besides, this isn't the place or the time for this."

Kairi simply fell silent at Rena's attempt to defend Makoto from this behavior of hers.

"Man, what are these spooks up to in here?!" Winston asked, interrupting the conversation. "I get the whole Mandala-immortality-and-power thing, but what's up about all the slime science?"

"It may just be a guess," Nina began. "But this island must be right in an interdimensional portal."

"Yes, that may be it," Winston said.

Just then the radio started to work. "I think I heard you guys," Egon's voice said over the radio. "Yes, that sounds like my equipment. You are getting closer."

"Gals, Winston, this way!" Priere exclaimed, yanking open a door, revealing a room similar to the one they were in.

And there they found a box similar to the box where Winston was locked up doing nothing.

"Get me out of this thing. I don't want to be eaten by black slime," Egon asked over the radio.

"Egon, hang on, we are almost to you!" Winston exclaimed.

Just then Kairi opened the box, freeing Egon from inside it.

"Thank you," Egon said.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked.

"Yes. In most cases I find close proximity to mildew stimulating. That was a little much, though," Egon replied. "Have you seen Venkman?"

"Well... you know..." Winston replied.

"Have you looked for him?" Egon asked.

"Well... you know..." Winston replied, again.

Egon took the scanner from him and began to direct him around the room until he pointed in a direction. "The meter seems to indicate that he's somewhere in this direction."

Just then, more ghosts and creatures with black slime began to appear. And not only that, Skeleton Soldiers and Hunters covered in black slime began to appear, which seemed to empower them.

"Oh, come on! It's this a joke?" Makoto asked, seeing the Fallen covered in black slime.

"Don't worry, we'll slime them!" Winston exclaimed.

At that time, while the girls used everything they could use against the ghosts and black slimed monsters, Egon and Winston used the slime boosters against the Fallen to neutralize the black slime, allowing Makoto to finally be able to hit something. As long as they are in place. Without wasting a moment, the squirrel girl launched herself at the Fallen and began to pummel them clean, not forgetting to avoid the ghosts and any creature that was covered in black slime.

Dealing with said creatures fell to Kairi and the others, plus the Ghostbusters when they saw no more black slimed Fallen. Kairi, using the Ramuh Form, and Nina combined their electrical elemental spells to damage the ghost while Priere used her demonic magic against the enemies covered in black slime, though she didn't mind grabbing an object from the spot and launching it as a projectile at them. Rena and Eve from their part attacked them from a distance with their bow and arsenal respectively towards the paranormal monsters and the Fallen that Makoto forgot to destroy when they were in their fight.

Eventually, the group was able to destroy all the enemies in the room, allowing them to catch their breath for at least a moment.

"This is getting more and more dangerous," Makoto said. "Even the Fallen seem to be covered in black slime now!"

"This machinery indicates an astounding level of sophistication," Egon said, looking at the machinery in the room. "Pure evil notwithstanding, Ivo Shando was far ahead of his time."

"Certainly, this technology is genuinely advanced considering the time when this place was built," Eve said.

"You know, I have to take my hat off to Shandor," Egon commented. "This lab was built how many years ago? It's truly impressive. It's likely Shandor was THE parapsychology expert of his time."

"Stay in the light, Egon," Winston warned Egon.

"I'm trying, Winston," Egon replied.

"I promise that if you end up on the side of the bad guys, I'll punch you to the moon," Prior warned.

"I don't know why, but I see you capable of that feat," Egon said.

"Let's see, are we trying to find Peter or what?" Kairi asked the Ghostbusters.

"They probably stashed him around here somewhere," Egon said.

Just then they heard a door slam in the upper part of the lab, and looking up they saw Peter moving down the upper catwalk… being chased by a Sentinel who kept shooting at Peter.

"Help!" he exclaimed. "Yo, a little help!"

"Peter?" Kairi asked, surprised at the sight of her before her. "What the hell have you done?"

"Oh, just pissing off this metal lump to get me free," Peter replied, ducking to avoid a shot from the Sentinel. "I admit that it has not been one of my best ideas. Wait a moment!"

Peter managed to move to the side of the Sentinel as it prepared to fire, and with a shove he fell over the railing and hit the ground hard, vanishing on impact.

"I admit that it was the most original way to get rid of one of them," Rena said, nodding her head.

"Now. We're sure about this, right?" Winston asked.

"We need to be at full strength to shut down this Node," Egon replied.

"Come on, everybody up," Kairi said, making everyone enter an elevator that was in the area.

"Way to go!" Ray exclaimed over the radio. "I feel a momentum swing here in our favor, get and find the mandala node and shut it down. That should really piss someone off."

"And someone is going to give a lot of explanations back in the city," Edea said over the radio.

When the elevator took them upstairs with Peter, the entire group made their way through the place.

After ascending several more floors, they returned to the same floor where they parted, but through another entrance, and there they found a huge rotating structure with spheres that were rotating with each other.

"What are they doing?" Winston asked.

"The readings are as high as those at the library when we crossed over," Egon replied. "I think it's safe to assume that the machine they're working on was not built for a benign purpose."

"Okay, that's obvious, but what is this thing?" Rena asked.

"It's an orrery; a device typically used for predicting planetary alignment," Egon replied. "In this case it appears to actually be aligning dimensions."

"Clearly this is very bad," Makoto said.

"I for one do not want the dimensions to align. Not this close to Christmas," Winston commented.

"That would put a damper on the holidays," Egon added.

"Anyone here knows how to shut off this thing by chance?" Priere asked.

"The motion of those devices seems to be generating some sort of energy. Hard to tell, though," Egon said.

"If we touch the wrong thing on this machine, we won't get out of here alive," Eve warned.

"How about we lock this thing down?" Priere asked.

"I can calculate 54 likely outcomes," Egon replied. "We'd survive 3 of them."

"So, we have an 18% chance that, whatever we do, we don't end up burned," Nina said.

"That beats our usual odds," Winston said.

"Unfortunately, you're correct. Let's do it," Egon said.

The group began to watch the machine closely for a weak spot they could exploit, but they knew if they messed it up, who knew what might happen.

"It looks like the movement of those spheres is stabilizing the interior structure. What if they stopped moving?" Winston proposed looking at the machine, more precisely several spheres that were constantly rising and falling around the orrery.

"You know? That's not a bad idea," Eve commented.

"Ok, and how do we stop them?" Kairi asked.

"Either we freeze them where they are, or we slam them against the ground," Makoto suggested, scratching her head.

Kairi was about to say something to Makoto, but Nina cut her off. "Her idea is not that bad. If we manage to damage them, maybe we can stop them."

"Very well, then. I got this," Priere said.

The demon girl began to fly and hit each of the moving spheres hard so that they hit the ground and damaged them enough so they couldn't move. In a very short time, Priere neutralized the spheres.

"Well done, Priere!" Nina exclaimed.

"How come people smart enough to use science always try to take over the Universe? Huh?" Winston wondered, but he received no answer. "Egon? Ray? Eve? Anyone… didn't think so."

Just then the orrery stopped, but there was something that worried Egon.

"Wait. Those planets are aligning. I'm not so sure this is the safest source of action," Egon said.

"And you say it now?" Rena asked.

And just at that moment, the room began to fill with black slime that came out of various ducts in the wall.

"I think we found the source of the black slime, Winston," Egon said.

"I wasn't that curious!" Winston exclaimed. "The whole room is filling up! Get to higher ground!"

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. It's official: this was a bad idea," Egon said.

"Shut up already and go upstairs!" Kairi exclaimed.

Everyone climbed the stairs that were in the room, reaching a raised platform as the room began to fill with black slime, at the same time that the planetarium collapsed after a sudden tremor.

Then, from inside the black slime, a huge creature tied by a kind of collar began to ascend, while several eye-shaped machines flew around it.

"What IS that thing?!" Rena asked.

"That, my lady, must be a Slor. A juvenile to be more exact," Egon said.

"Well, if that's the juvenile, I don't want to know how big the adult will be," Kairi commented.

"Ugh! The stench is terrible!" Winston exclaimed at the stench the creature gave off.

"Smells like the Fulton fish market when they've got fish," Peter commented.

"A putrid mass of hatred, bile, and anger," Egon said.

"Not exactly Mr. Sunshine is he?" Winston asked.

"Is this creature the source of all the black slime on the island?" Nina asked.

"It seems that," Eve replied.

"For once, I wish I hadn't been right about something," Makoto commented.

At that moment the mechanical eyes began to fire energy beams at the group, forcing them to scatter across the platform at the same time that those who could attack from a distance opened fire on the eye objects, not taking long to destroy them.

Unfortunately, that caused the Slor to start moving and forcibly remove his collar freeing himself from it, showing that the Slor seemed to have a reptilian aspect, at least as far as the head was concerned.

"Okay, that's uglier than I thought," Makoto commented.

Everyone started throwing everything they had at the Slor, as the Slor constantly spewed huge streams of black slime at them, unaffected by both the proton packs and the magic.

"It's got to be vulnerable somewhere!" Winston exclaimed as he blew slime on the Slor.

"Statistically speaking, that's not entirely accurate!" Egon corrected Winston.

"Statistically speaking, we better hope it is!" Winston replied.

"Everything has a weak spot, including this thing!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Okay! Fair enough!" Egon said and started looking at the Slor's body until he found something. "What about that inaccessible anterior nodule?"

"That glowy thing on its head?" Winston asked. "That is its head, isn't it?"

Sure enough, on top of the Slor's head, there seemed to be some sort of appendage that glowed a brilliant greenish hue.

"I'm not sure that matters! How can we get to it? Egon asked.

"I got this!" Kairi warned, transforming into her Esper form and starting to fly above the Slor.

"Kairi, I don't think that's a good idea!" Eve warned.

Kairi began to use her magic as she flew over the Slor, repeatedly hitting the node on the head, being able to damage it with the spells. But the Slor raised its head and began to vomit black slime into the air, forcing Kairi to avoid the constant attacks that the huge monster launched.

Unfortunately, she did not see that one of the vomits of black slime that was in the air fell on her, instantly feeling pain from the black slime burning her skin. And the worst was that the black slime had extinguished the wings of fire on her back, which caused Kairi to begin to fall.

"Kairi!" Rena exclaimed as she saw how she fell.

Kairi cursed both her bad luck and her stubbornness in trying to attack the Slor like that without thinking something like that would happen, and with both wings disabled all she could do was fall into the pit of black slime below her. She had no chance of surviving that.

However, before she fell into the lake of black slime, something grabbed her arm and stopped her fall. Confused, Kairi looked up, seeing something she didn't expect: Makoto had jumped over her railing and grabbed onto it, the squirrel girl had caught Kairi's arm on the fly, preventing her from falling.

"Makoto!" Kairi exclaimed seeing the squirrel girl in that situation.

"Hold on, Kairi!" Makoto said, her face showing gestures of pain, because the arm where she was holding Kairi was impregnated with black slime, and she had her hand right in the black slime.

"Quick, someone distract the big freak!" Winston exclaimed, seeing how the Slor turned his gaze towards them.

"Do I have to do it myself?" Peter asked reluctantly before looking at the Slor. "Well okay. Hey big guy! I've seen ugly things in my life, but you just hit the jackpot!"

Peter started blowing slime at the Slor while Eve supported him by throwing iron spears, getting the monster to focus its attention on them, and allowing the others to help get Makoto and Kairi back onto the platform.

Already on the platform, Kairi and Makoto breathed hard but were still feeling pain from the burns caused by the black slime on their bodies.

"One second, we'll take care of this," Winston said and used the slime booster on both of them, immediately neutralizing the black slime and its ill effects.

They both began to breathe more calmly now that they no longer felt the effects of the black slime on their bodies. Makoto continued to breathe hard from the pain she still felt from her hand that had touched the black slime, but then she felt how not only the pain disappeared, but the burns healed quickly. She looked up a bit to see how Kairi was using the Curaga spell on both of them to heal the wounds.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked after using her magic.

"Yes, thanks," Makoto answered.

"Next time could you, maybe, not scare us like this, please?" Winston asked.

"Sorry, I did it without thinking," The squirrel girl said with a hand on her head.

"It's a good thing nothing serious has happened to you," Rena said.

"Sorry for ruining this emotional moment for you," Peter said, making everyone look at him as he was distracting the Slor with Eve. "But could you give us a hand with this monster?"

At that moment, the group turned their attention against the Slor, starting to attack the monster's body with magic and protons. In this case, Kairi returned to her normal form, since she hadn't planned to try to repeat the plan from before, only to transform into her Ifrit Form, starting to launch powerful fire attacks against the creature.

"Why are you shooting everything BUT the glowy thing on its head?!" Winston asked the girls, seeing that none of the attacks reached the Slor's head node.

"Well, as long as it doesn't lower its head down, tell me how we hit it there!" Priere exclaimed, using her strongest magic on the monster.

"Lower its head down?" Makoto wondered quietly before raising his voice. "I have an idea! Get ready!"

"What will you do now?" The elf asked the squirrel girl.

Makoto then dashed forward until he was close to the railing, starting to shake her arms. "Hey, slime bag! I'm here! Why don't you come and try to eat me?! You sure haven't eaten in decades being stuck here!"

"Have we missed some black slime in her body?" Winston asked.

"Wait, I think that's a good idea," Winston replied.

Just then, the Slor snapped its head down to try to bite Makoto, but the squirrel girl jumped quickly to avoid the bite and at the same time caused the creature to slam against the platform, being mildly stunned by the blow.

"All to one! Now!" Kairi exclaimed when she saw that the Slor was at their mercy.

Taking advantage of the opportunity given by Makoto, they all threw everything they had at the node on the Slor's head, ending with Kairi unleashing the fury of the Ifrit Form and impacting a huge ball of fire on said point, destroying the node on the spot and causing the Slor to fall into the lake of black slime.

"And that is all she wrote," Peter commented upon seeing the Slor fall.

"All the nodes are closed. The ghosts are trapped in the Mandala," Egon said.

"You don't know how happy that makes me," Makoto commented.

"Right where they belong! Our boy Ivo Shandor didn't didn't factor in that he was messin with the Ghostbusters!" Winston exclaimed before laughing.

"Yeah. Peck made the same mistake. We're gonna have a long talk with him," Peter said.

"Would you allow me to take over the interrogation?" Priere asked, bumping her fists.

"I doubt any human will last a session with you, Priere," Eve commented.

"Don't forget that Peter's girlfriend is a Shandor," Egon said.

"I'm going to have a… a very long talk with her," Peter said.

"I don't know when we started treating Ilyssa like Peter's girlfriend... but I doubt the talk will be pleasant," Kairi commented.

"You guys need to get down to the shore, and fast!" Ray exclaimed over the radio. "I don't know how much longer we can hold her - the whole island's sinking!"

"It's true!" Nina exclaimed, putting her hands on her mouth. "Without the ghosts to sustain the island, it's going to sink!"

"Ray, keep the motor running! We are coming at you fast!" Winston exclaimed with the radio in his hand.

The entire group began their escape from the island as the entire structure began to collapse, but they could only reach the area of the island walls. Fortunately, the island had submerged enough so that said wall was at water level, allowing the Ecto-8 to approach them.

"Ray! Edea!" Kairi exclaimed from the wall.

"Hurry up!" Edea exclaimed from the bow of the ship. "We ain't got all day!"

They all began jumping into the boat as soon as possible, and when the last of the group was on board, Ray moved the boat away from the island as it sank to the bottom of the river, probably never to be seen again.

"How was it?! Was it cool?!" Ray began to ask when they were already far from the island. "What did it look like? Did you get any samples?! Did it have multiple eyes?!"

Everyone looked coldly at Ray for all the questions he had thrown out at once.

"SHUT UP!" Egon exclaimed to Ray.

On board, Kairi sat on the ground leaning on the ship's rail, or she tried as Makoto sat next to her and put her tail up for Kairi to lean on. They both stared at each other for a moment in silence, until then they began to laugh audibly.

"Well, at least things have calmed down a bit," Rena commented, crossing her arms with a smile.

"And to think how things were while we were inside the island…" Nina commented.

"Believe me when I tell you. Black slimes are a bad thing," Winston said.