Disclaimer: Ok, first things first I don't own RGB (I really wished I did, because Egon & Janine would have been together [married?? on the show and we all could have avoided the whole Slimer and friends episodes altogether.) Sony/Columbia is their mom and pop. I write for my own personal release therapy. So here we go…
Backwards Soul
By: Decipher
Chapter 3
"The surface of events has been initiated as agreed," growled a dark and misty entity. "Good, this should keep him occupied for a while, and at the same time you as well." a voice murmured. The air of conspiracy was in the air as the silent pact was completely sealed and finalized. Demons rarely trusted one another to pact a deal, but this one had advantages for both sides. "How might you precede Tronics?" inquired the mysterious voice. "Well, as you know I have my ways of having fun. Still, this human is rather intricate and different, so he presents some challenges. Nevertheless, he's just a human after all." Tronics boosted.
"Do not underestimate a human's will. That mistake would be foolish and unwise, and I did not do all this planning for not. Take it slow and be methodical in your toying with this one. I have a vested interest that he remains out of my way." explained the voice. Tronics was not one for taking orders; however he realized that he was no match to challenge his co-conspirator. The demon simply replied by darkening its aura and fading out of sight, leaving the mysterious presence to itself.
'Only a minor level demon would misjudge a human's will power. A soul will fight for its true will. I just need to buy some time until I have finalized the process of conversion,' thought the entity. The torching of souls needs to be paced, and the more complex the human the greater care needed. Humans have a tendency to suppress their weaknesses in the name of pride. By hiding their true selves they allow themselves to be exposed and weakened. That is the key in turning a soul against itself. The entity silently waited for the evolving plan to take effect, and resigned itself in Tronics' abilities in buying it more time.
"It's me, Peter. Are you crying? What's wrong?" questioned Peter. "Ask that jerk of a best friend of yours!!!" Janine cried out. Peter's brow knitted as Janine briefly relayed the story to him. "Are you on your way home? We can take our food to go and head over that way right now." Peter replied. "What's wrong with Janine?" exclaimed Winston. Peter held a hand up, as to indicate 'just a second'. Concern was etched on all their faces as they watched Peter's reaction with his conversation with Janine. "Okay, see you in a minute and Janine we'll work this out I promise." he stated.
Peter shouted out to the waiter that their order will be to go. While they waited for their order to be boxed, he went on to explain to Winston and Ray what Janine had told him. He had to admit to himself that he didn't want to believe it was true that Egon could say or do any of those things Janine had just told him. However, between Egon's earlier behavior and Janine hysterical crying on the phone it didn't look good?
They hailed a cab down and headed over to Janine's apartment in Brooklyn. All of them remained in complete silence on the ride over there; each one was too dumbstruck to say anything. When they reached the outside of Janine's apartment, they were all a little hesitant to knock on the door. As, if by simple intuition Janine opened her door, and let them in. Her eyes were swollen and red. Used tissues were piled up on an end table, next to a chair she was sitting in. She looked liked she was truly shaken up, and the guys' hearts were aching for her. She led them to her sofa, and they all were searching for the right words to comfort her.
"Janine, I don't know what to say…All I can say is I'm sorry…really sorry he treated you like that…I just don't know what else to say…" Peter stammered. "You aren't the one that should be giving the apology Dr. V, that's that blond-headed jerk's job." retorted Janine. "Something got to be going on with him more serious, than we ever imagined." Ray responded. "What could have brought this on all of a sudden?" Winston questioned. Each of the guys looked at one another an began to think back on the events of the day once more and none of them could come up with plausible theory.
"I just thought I knew him better, I guess I was so, so wrong. I'm usually able to read a creep a mile away; lately I've been a little off in that department. All these years I been putting myself through hell for a jerk!" Janine shouted. Peter reached for Janine's trembling hand and tried to comfort her, but his efforts were in vain, because she cried even harder after that attempt. "Janine, not to upset you any further, but did you notice the way Egon reacted to that whole episode with…um…" Peter paused. "Paul Smart…well, yeah at first I thought it was my imagination and I was confused by his reaction, but later I was actually hoping that he was a little…jealous." Janine confided.
"Do you think that has anything to do with how he's acting? We never even spoke about that incident with each other. I thought about it afterwards and maybe we should have put the cards on the table and dealt with it. But, I was just too scared he would deny it, and that would have crushed me completely. So, I just went along with the status quo, besides I was still a little too embarrassed by the whole thing anyway." Janine stated.
"Egon's a strange one; trust me I know, but even this I don't get. Yeah, it's possible that this could have triggered some jealous reaction and denial leading to that confrontation, but given my professional opinion that doesn't fall in line with someone of his behavioral pattern. Egon has always been rational and reserved. I think we need to keep an eye on him during the next few days, and see if his behavior becomes a more consistent pattern, or if it's only an isolated issue. If, it's an isolated anomaly, than we can confront him all together and get to the root this problem. "What if it's not Pete?" Ray questioned. "Then, we got a serious problem on our hands." Peter replied with a somber tone.