Exiting the basement as a quickened pace, with Peter still leading the charge, Egon couldn't help but feel uneasy as the trio marched through the hotel. Something about their successful capture seemed a little off, something didn't feel right to the keen eyes physicist. Ray walked at a slower rate to ensure that Egon didn't trail too far behind. Glancing over his shoulder to his colleague Ray could sense that there was something bothering Egon.

"Something on your mind?" Ray asked nonchalantly as he followed Peter through the blackened, winding basement corridor.

"Perhaps." Egon was too unsure with his own reasoning to make a definitive claim. "Perhaps not."

Peter overheard the conversation and mumbled his own opinion. "You always did like a mystery Spengz. You're reading too far into this, I'm tell you!"

Ray brushed off Peter's dismissive behavior and humored Egon. "What's bothering you?"

Egon shook his head a little as the trio continued to exit the basement. Holding up the still smoking trap in his hand he presented it to his colleagues with a stern look in his eyes. "This creature is a powerful corporeal entity, one of legend. Yet we managed to capture it very quickly and with surprisingly little difficulty. Why?"

Peter cocked his head to one side as he offered a theory. "She was guarding the furnace, that was really a ghost battery. A guard dog isn't exactly a threat when three super charged proton packs are available. We've taken down bigger foes with smaller weapons before."

"No, Peter. I mean why exactly would a legendary ghost act as a guard to begin with? Surely weaker and more abundant ghosts could be summoned to guard a singular object in an isolated, unoccupied space. I don't like it. I feel like we're being tested."

"How's that?" Ray questioned curiously. "Because an above average ghost was summoned instead of a run of the mill subordinate? Maybe this ghost we're dealing with is smarter than the others in the past. This ghost knows we're coming and-" Ray stopped midsentence to swallow nervously as he caught onto Egon's suspicions. "Oh..."

"Precisely." Egon gave the trap in his hand a wary glance. "Whatever it is we're about to face we must be prepared. We..." Egon trailed off as he mouthed the word 'prepare' to himself. "Kismet: Was it a warning, or a challenge?"

Peter was growing impatient with his colleagues loitering in the dark corridor. "Egon, you're reading WAY to much into this! You had a pretty intense near death experience, you're venturing into the very location that sparked said experience and now you're suffering from paranoia." Turning around quickly Peter took two steps forward. "And I for one-" A loud 'crash' of metal followed by a heavy 'whump' ended Peter's thought.

"Peter?" Ray called for his friend. "You okay?"

Egon stared wide eyed at Peter who was laying on the floor in a daze. He was prone, helpless and surrounded by darkness.

Ray snatched the trap from Egon's hand, clipped it to his own belt and then knelt on the floor beside Peter. "You alright?"

"I hate pipes." Peter grumbled as he slowly sat upright. "I think they're after me." He pressed a hand to his forehead for a moment before staring at his palm. "I can't tell, am I bleeding?"

Ray took a closer look at Peter's forehead. "A little. You won't need any stitches though." Offering his downed friend a hand he pulled Peter back up to his feet. "What's our next play? We can't walk away from this, time is running out."

"Not sure." Peter pressed his hand to his forehead again before finally taking another step forward, continuing to lead the way through the dark basement back to the first floor. "It'd help us all out on a major scale if we had some idea of who we're dealing with. I mean, no one just picks a random building in New York to resurrect or summon a demigod and lucks out!"

Ray noticed Egon was still standing alone in the darkness. "Egon, you coming?"

Egon didn't budge, he didn't say a word. He stood in a silent daze as an unnerving fear crept up his spine.

"Egon?" Ray walked back to the statuesque physicist and put a hand on his arm. "Talk to me."

"Huh? What did you say?" Egon snapped back to reality and stared at Ray as he did his best to keep himself from trembling.

"You okay?" Ray asked sincerely as his slipped his hand down from Egon's arm to hand and wrapped his fingers around Egon's wrist. "Geez, Spengler you're heart's racing!"

"I'm fine." Egon lied, knowing that his colleagues were too educated, his friends were too close to him to be fooled. "Just a little... off."

"Off?" Peter repeated with a scoff. "If that isn't the understatement of the day. Come on, let's get back to ground level. I'm so tired of the darkness."

"Me too." Ray agreed as he put a hand on Egon's shoulder to usher him forward.

"You have no idea..." Egon all but whispered as he finally took another step forward. "Let's hope we can stop it before it spreads any further."

At the firehouse Dana and Janine sat by the phone anxiously, with bittersweet feelings about it remaining silent on the hook. No news usually meant good news, but it could also be the worst news possible. What if the Ghostbusters hadn't call for help because they couldn't? Maybe the were hurt, maybe they were lost, maybe they were... gone.

"Dana, do you think they'll be alright?" Janine broke the tense silence as she reluctantly broke eye contact with the phone sitting idle on her desk and chose instead to look at her just as worried friend.

Nodding Dana gave a shaking reply. "I do. Peter is very resourceful, Ray is very clever and Egon thrives under pressure. I'm certain they're fine."

"Yeah, sure. But Egon is hurt and without Winston with them it's like they went in at half capacity!"

Dana wrung her hands together as a new sense of dread weighed on her heart. "They were busting ghosts before Winston joined the team, and they've managed to stop horrible monsters from destroying the world before. I know they can do it again."

The doors of the firehouse burst open as the blowing wind surged through the streets of the city. The lights flickered as thunder shook the entire building.

"They will." A familiar, confident masculine voice echoed through the firehouse. With his clothing soaked through and a confident stride a much needed member of the team finally arrived. "And I'm going to make sure of it."

"Winston!" Dana rushed from her chair and ran over the fourth member of the team. "Boy am I glad to see you!" Wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug the weight lifted from her chest and she felt a renewed sense of confidence. "They're already down at the Mercado Hotel. They said they'll need all the help they can get."

"On it." Winston returned Dana's hug before letting go and opening his locker on the far wall. "And if the guys think they'll need some help then that means whatever it is they're dealing with isn't something to be taken lightly." As he pulled out his jumpsuit and slipped off his heavier, rain drenched leather jacket, he gave Dana a solemn request. "Dana, I'm going to need you to tell me everything that's happened. I've been out of the loop for some time and I can't afford to make any mistakes."

Dana folded her arms across her chest as she looked back to Janine, who was still staying right beside the phone.

"It's been a little strange, but I think I can tell you what you need to know."

Looking toward the elevator that offered a quick ascent to the roof, Ray and Peter waited for Egon to say something.

"Well?" Ray spoke up softly. "Do we take the elevator or hike it up to the roof?"

Egon wasn't willing to trust the elevator but he was less trusting of their time limit. Knowing that Peter would definitely choose to take the elevator, while Ray would be stick with Egon himself, the idea of splitting up and losing track of each other was the one thing he didn't want to risk.

"We don't have much of a choice." Egon motioned toward the elevator doors. "We need to get up to the roof, now."

"Fantastic!" Peter promptly pressed the call button for the elevator and stood outside the doors with a cocky smile. "I draw the line at walking up any floors past twenty three."

The doors to the elevator shuddered open with a weak sounding 'ding'. The interior of the elevator car was marked with Egon's now dried blood from his initial visit to the hotel. Sickly sweet smell of copper and ozone was heavy in the air.

"The maid service at this hotel is seriously lacking." Peter quipped as he uneasily stepped inside the car, doing his best to ignore the blood stains. "Going up?"

Ray and Egon stepped inside the elevator car and stood beside Peter nervously. As the doors shut the trio saw the ethereal downpour continuing through the windows of the lobby. The wind gusted by with such force that the windows and doors rattled and it could be heard echoing through the shaft of the elevator above the car. Lightning flashed and thunder roared as the three venturing Ghostbusters prepared for the final ascent.

"Ready?" Ray asked Egon he took in how tired and weak Egon still looked.

"Ready."

"Then let's do this." Peter declared as he pressed the button for the top floor. "Time to finish this, once and for all."

...to be continued...