"Present Day"

It was one thing for Christina Melnitz to watch her favorite ABC television program, Lost, in the comfort of her own home; but it was a whole different scenario when it came to viewing a repeat on YouTube on her desk computer. Because her TiVo was on the fritz, rather than her favorite show, all that was recorded was some ridiculous repeat of Dancing with the Stars. And with all of the commotion happening in the garage area of the firehouse, with the new recruits for Doctor Venkman's special "Junior Ghostbusters" program, it was hard to focus on what was happening in this year's season finale.

Knowing then wasn't a good time to see if Jack Shepard was going to prevent Oceanic 815 from crashing in the future, Christina let out a deep sigh and minimized the window. It switched to a desktop image of Dr. Sean Spengler posing in his Ghostbuster uniform, with his arms folded, his glasses down an inch away from the bridge of his nose, and a copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide in hand. And as much this image comforted her, it was not enough to ease her stress of having a room full of eager kids half her age and Disney characters.

Being twenty-six years old and having full seniority over everyone in the room were enough good reasons for her to tell them all, "Everybody shut it!!" And instantly the recruits fell silent, each of them giving a stunned look towards Christina, who sat back down at the same moment J.G. Stantz came out from the basement, wearing his usual uniformed attire.

Stantz seemed highly anxious as he entered, eyeing all of the new recruits with a big grin on his face. He approached Christina's desk and asked her, "Are these all of them?"

Still a bit peeved, Christina sternly responded, "All except for one kid named Tully and a few people from the Incas, one of which is Kuzco."

"Kuzco?" J.G. remarked in surprise. "As in Emperor Kuzco?!"

"The one and only," said Christina, who started to squirm around a little in her rickety, wooden rolling chair. "Dr. Venkman can afford twenty thousand dollars on a recruitment project, but not on a foamed chair to suit my numbing butt!"

J.G. chuckled. "It's for a good cause, Christina. We're spreading our tools and talents over to the community, handing them down over to the next generation, so to speak. Definitely one of the best ideas Venkman came up with, since starting Ghostbusters."

"Yeah, if Dr. Venkman was so righteous on the idea, then how come she's not here with us, dealing with these wildcats?"

"You know she's got that gig happening over in the West Coast right now, working on promos and deals for the business to help expand across the country. It's all part of her intentions to keep others from suffering from paranormal disturbances like citizens here do." Stantz happily gestured to the recruits in the garage, as each of them were engaged in conversation with one another, sharing their enthusiasm of being in the official Ghostbusters headquarters. "These guys will pave our way for the future."

Christina smiled at J.G., her stress having completely passed her. "Now you're sounding just like her."

"Hope that's a good thing." Stantz chuckled, and Christina along with him. "I'm going to get these recruits lined up for the registration papers, and we'll have interviews after." Christina acknowledged with a nod, before J.G. gently patted her back. "The day will be over soon before you know it, kiddo."

A light chuckle emerged from Christina's glossed, pink-hued lips. "Yeah, I hope so."

Meagan Tully's hands rubbed nervously against her blue jeans, as she attempted to remove the sweat developing on her palms. She rubbed them so hard that they turned red and even stung a little. The level of tension swelling up within her was intense, as she stared right across the street at the Ghostbusters' firehouse headquarters. A large, black, plastic-made banner hung above the front entrance, displaying the "Ghostbusters" name on it with the "O" replaced by the company logo. She didn't know why, but the sight of it made her feel intimidated.

Despite the intimidation, she knew there was no reason to feel so nervous. It was nearly four years ago when two of the Ghostbusters were at her place, nevertheless poking fun at her "problem" at the time. Although the bust was…well…a bust, she gained a valuable tip from it—a tip that she carried in the purple-shaded backpack that she had on.

Taking a moment to check if it was still there, she removed the backpack and reached inside. She felt through items that she deemed important to bring with her for the trip to the firehouse, from mango-flavored lipstick to a notebook that could've been handy for taking crucial notes about the "Junior Ghostbusters" program. Finally, she felt the object of her desire, as her hand came upon a rough object. She pulled it out and smelled the bizarre odor that it carried, having a bit of a familiarity with it.

The object was the same back of the cardboard pizza box that she pulled out from her closet on the night the Ghostbusters visited her apartment. On it was a crudely drawn image of the one-eyed monster she had seen that very night. What brought out the oddity of the object even more were the grease stains still plaguing it, as well as the molds growing around the illustration.

It was plain to Meagan that the stains and the molds didn't matter all that much, as long as the drawing was still visible. She desired for it to be seen by the Ghostbusters, hopefully the same two that she was visited by. Of course, it wasn't concrete enough to prove what she had seen that night. But it was enough to go by, even if it had been four years since the event occurred. She only hoped that the Ghostbusters would still remember, despite the busy times they've spent catching spirits and monsters of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

With a smile and a sudden wave of confidence flowing through her, Meagan placed the drawing back into her backpack before putting it on again. She took a step forward, attempting to cross the street, until…

SCREEEEEEEECCCCCCCCHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

A yellow taxicab pulled in right across her, coming to an abrupt halt. It nearly ran right over her right foot, possibly popping her toes right out of her sneakers. She froze in place, obviously taken by shock from the sudden arrival of the vehicle. Most New Yorkers would complain; Meagan just swallowed her gum.

Four tan-colored people dressed in red and white clothing came out of the taxicab, one of whom was highly recognizable to Meagan as the Incan emperor, Kuzco. Needless to say, he was less than pleased of the mode of transportation chosen by his friends, Kronk and Malina, while at the airport.

"I don't see why we could've just ridden on a limousine," he complained.

"Because it's expensive, Kuzco." Malina stated. "We could barely afford the plane ride!"

"I am the emperor. I have treasures aplenty. We should've arrived in Manhattan in st-hi-hi-yle!"

Kronk pulled out a small collection of large shiny golden coins from his pocket, shifting through them in his hand. Each and every one of them had an engraved image of Kuzco. "I don't think the state of New York accepts Kuzco coins, Kuzco."

The young emperor rolled his eyes in disgust. "Yeah, they'd much rather accept nasty, rusty, and something else that ends with 'ty' coins with some old guy with a ponytail."

"HEY!" The loud, angry voice came from inside the taxicab, as the driver was addressing the three youths outside the car. "One of youse foreigners gonna pay yer fee or do I haveta call da cops?!?!"

"Go ahead and call them." Kuzco said, much to the surprise of Kronk and Malina. "Maybe we can start getting some justice around here."

Before the driver could've granted the emperor's wish, Melina quickly stepped in and paid their fee, with American money provided by the one responsible for their trip, Principal Amzy (a.k.a. Yzma). Meanwhile, Kuzco took notice of Meagan's presence, as she continued to stand where she was, still paralyzed in shock.

"You! Strange, four-eyed girl with the funky-smelling backpack!" The urgency in his voice instantly snapped Meagan out of her frozen state, almost frightening more than she already was. "Carry the bags from our cab, will ya?"

And without even a second thought, Meagan immediately said, "Uh, sure."

"Good girl." Kuzco said, before taking one of the Kuzco coins from Kronk's hand and flipping it over to Meagan. "Here, take this for your troubles."

Meagan didn't expect to even catch the coin, with the poor hand-eye coordination she had. But, much to her surprise, she caught the coin and, without even taking a moment to glance at it, placed it in the left pocket of her jeans. However, unbeknownst to Meagan, there was a hole in that pocket big enough for the coin to fall through. It dropped down her pant leg and exited out through the bottom, hitting the concrete. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. The coin then rolled its way down the sidewalk and fell directly into the nearest storm drain.

And Meagan hadn't witnessed its departure at all.

"Dude! Can you believe we're even here?!" Pete Jr. (also referred to as simply "P.J.") exclaimed to his best friend and son of Goofy, Maximilian Goof. "Man, I've always wanted to meet Doctor Venkman! She is one bodacious babe!"

Max chuckled, as he waited in the line leading straight to Christina's desk. "I hear ya on that one, P.J. But I'm more interested in the equipment. Those nuclear accelerators are packed with awesomeness, dude!" He suddenly spotted J.G. Stantz passing right by them and quickly asked an important question to him. "Hey, bro! Do we actually get to handle the gear?"

Stantz fretted with an answer, not wanting to ruin the enthusiasm of the young recruits. "Uh…we'll see, okay?" As he noticed the enthralled expressions still on their faces, he left their side and continued with his task of checking to see who was all registering into the program. He was less than surprised to see the familiar faces of Alex Russo, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Cody Martin there in line, waiting for their official registration papers.

"Uh, excuse me?" Stantz turned and noticed a dignified-looking teenager focused on him. He stood in line with Alex and another teen that somewhat resembled the two of them.

"Yeah, what's up?" J.G. inquired.

The teen was about to ask his question, until Alex interrupted with her eyes rolling. "Justin, don't bug him with it. It's no big deal."

"It is a big deal, Alex." Justin said. "There has to be order maintained here or else there'll just be chaos."

J.G. became slightly concerned with what the two were talking about. "What's going on here?"

"I noticed another kid show up here with the same name as my little brother, Max." Justin informed. "How are we going to be able to address him, without attracting the attention of the other Max?"

"I can just change my name. I've always been thinking of going with 'Rico'."

"You aren't going to change your name, because Mom and Dad would freak if you did." Justin declared.

"Justin, this kind of stuff happens all the time in other communities, whether they're classrooms or chat rooms." Alex said. "I'm sure they'll just call him by his last name, like they usually do with each other."

Justin sighed, not seeming to be convinced. "But then we'll start confusing each other on which Russo they're calling out. No! No way! I'm asking there to be separate programs!"

"We only have one program going, kid." J.G. stated. "And we intend on sticking with it, until there is a need for another one."

"Yeah, dude," said Zack Martin, who stood behind the Russo siblings with Cody during the argument. "It's just a name. Chill out."

"Excuse me, but this is a family matter." Justin retorted. "No strangers allowed!"

"Who ya callin' strange?" Zack angrily asked. "At least I'm not the one buggin' about some stupid name!"

"Hey! Max is not a stupid name!"

"Did somebody just call me 'stupid'?!" Maximilian Goof yelled from ahead of the line.

"My son maybe a goof, but he ain't stupid!!" Goofy shouted, his voice even louder than Max's, attracting the attention of the people near Christina's desk, as well as Christina herself. She was just on the verge of handing registration papers over to Phineas and Candace Flynn, Ferb Fletcher, and Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, until the disturbance in the back of the line interrupted her.

Regardless of the attempts by J.G., Mickey, and even Donald (the rowdiest of all) at maintaining the peace, a huge debate occurred amongst the Russo siblings, the Martin brothers, and Max and P.J., all over the name of Max. It went on for nearly five whole minutes, before the sound of the front door busting open brought a sudden silence over the room and directed everyone's attention to whatever caused it.

There, standing near the opened door, was Emperor Kuzco with his arms outstretched and a smile brighter than the afternoon sun shining through the door. "Boom, baby! The emperor has arrived!" Behind him were a disgusted Malina, a nervous Kronk, and a horribly exhausted Meagan Tully, who stumbled in with twenty-nine suitcases, all belonging to Kuzco. "Now will somebody show this young stud where that certain hottie-hot-hottie, Doctor Venkman, might be?"

Witnessing Kuzco's underwhelming arrival, J.G. rubbed his eyes in irritation, not quite expecting these fresh recruits to be so much of a handful. He felt a hand gently come down his shoulder and turned to see Christina with a smile that could only have a sarcastic vibe behind it. "Looks like the day's gonna be a lot longer than we expected, dude."