Chapter 17: Eve

Night was starting to fall. Serena stood at the window in the kitchen of the firehouse and she was looking out as she rubbed the arm the Ghostbuster logo patch sat. She had taken off the gloves and was watching the energy shield shimmer just outside. She was hesitant. At first she thought she was doing the right thing. She had a lot of experience fighting monsters and evil as a Sailor Scout, but this was something she still had limited experience with. She knew why she had to perform this task not as a Scout, but as a Ghostbuster. It was already bad she had to reveal herself to the Mayor of New York just to convince him to let the Ghostbusters help, but now she felt more under tension because she couldn't use the abilities she was familiar with.

It was exciting at first. Now…

The spiral staircase leading to the kitchen rattled as Kylie emerged from the second floor. She saw the girl standing there staring outside, "There you are, Pigtails. The other Dan just got back helping Eduardo's brother. We're almost ready to go." Serena nodded her head but continued to look outside. Kylie could sense her uneasiness, "You nervous?" Again, Serena nodded, the rubbing intensifying on her arm. She attempted to quell a fear or two, "Don't be. This equipment has been tested and checked rigorously by Roland. Man has a thing about equipment failures, so if that's what's bothering you…"

"It's not that," Serena said, still looking toward the window, "I've been Sailor Moon for over eight years and I've never fought anything without my powers. I'm just thinking back to my time in Junior High and High School." She turned to the goth woman in the room with her, "I-I wasn't the best student. I always spent more time at the arcade and reading manga than I did studying. I was such a terrible leader and fighter when I started as a Sailor Scout, but I had my powers to protect me. Kylie, I'm scared. I'm afraid I'm going to mess up out there."

Kylie needed to ask - not in a hostile way, but in a very concerned tone of voice, "Then, why did you volunteer?"

"I don't know!" Serena turned and started to pace the kitchen, the rubbing of her arm becoming worse, "I think it was because I felt bad because of what happened when the Ghostbusters came back to Tokyo. Peter saved my life in the Tower and he nearly died because of it. All of the Ghostbusters put themselves in danger for us. All of these powers we had, and men with no powers - a-accept Dan - saved us, nearly dying protecting us. I remember Mina kept saying in the Tower that it wasn't fair to them. She was right. Even with everything I did until now, I spazzed my way through it. Ow!" She stopped and pulled her hand away from her arm. She saw blood on it. She had accidentally ripped her cut from Chi-Ecto's roof back open.

Kylie saw the blood and became irked at the woman's self-inflicted reinjury. She sighed, "Hang on," she went to the counter and grabbed a paper towel from the roll. She handed it to her and instructed her to put it on the cut and hold it there. As Serena put the towel on her arm, Kylie tried to talk to her, "I know how you feel. The same thing happened when the original Ghostbusters came back for Egon's birthday and they started going on calls. We ended up making a stupid mistake while trying to catch a set of class 4 metal feeders. We activated a set of filters on our packs but forgot to recalibrate our main circuits screwing up our guns. The guys - Egon included - saved our hides and we got mad at them for it. We felt inferior."

"It wasn't like that for us," Serena explained, "I knew I was a screw-up. It took me a long time to get good at being a Sailor Scout. I know I'm still kinda klutzy and that's what scares me. I owe the Ghostbusters my life. All of the Ghostbusters - you included, Kylie. I want to pay you guys back and do it right, but I'm not sure I can," she looked away and closed her eyes, "In the Tower Dan had me throw a Ghost Trap out and I screwed that up. I'm afraid of… I-I mean, what if…"

She felt a friendly hand on her shoulder. She looked past the goth girl's black eyeliner to her green eyes and saw a warmth in them. She spoke softly, "You're gonna be alright. Just remember that no matter how bad things can get, you got a team behind you watching your back. You don't have to owe anyone as long as you do your best. I mean, Eduardo's still alive, right? I feel like you two could have been related." Although it was a bit of a slight, Serena couldn't help but smile a bit at that. Kylie concluded, "Even though someone like Eduardo is such a pain at times, he's come through because he tries." "Yeah, I guess we do have a bit in common." Serena commented back, taking the paper towel off her arm, "And he is a bit handsome. Wouldn't you agree?"

Kylie's friendly demeanor suddenly started to sour. She pulled her hand off Serena's shoulder and started to become just a bit cold, "That goof-off? Like I said, he's lucky to be alive, let alone still in the realm of the living and human if it weren't for the rest of us." She started to walk away in a cold fashion when Serena's words stopped her, "I'd be careful. That's how it started with me and Darien: Hurling insults at each other." Kylie looked back and saw the blonde-haired Japanese woman smirking with her arms crossed. She raised an eyebrow, "You're deranged, lady."

All Serena did was smirk more coyly.

Kylie sighed, a slight disgust in the sound of her voice as she spoke, "Come on, we gotta get going."

Stoneface Masonry Main Office

7:55 PM

Vehicles approached outside the facility. Matthew was standing outside one of the main doors as headlights of multiple cars flashed across his body. It looked as though he was expecting this, but was still annoyed. The same look he had when he interviewed the Theater manager on Broadway was on his face now. After the vehicles parked several people in NYPD uniforms exited the cars and approached the man in black, a lone man in the crowd calling out, "Mr. St. James, we have a problem, sir…"

"What happened?" the man with the slicked back gray hair asked. Another of the other officers called out from the crowd, "Rivera's brother kicked us out!" "Yeah," another officer said, "and Shannon was with him. They were interviewing us and they found us out." That other version of Dan Shannon. When Matthew saw the man's reaction in Holly's office he knew the man had another sense he was unsure of. This other Shannon with the Chicago flag going through the Ghostbuster logo on his arm… he could see Matthew for what he was and it upset him greatly. Whatever this man's ability, it was clear he used it to assist Carl in weeding out the members of Asatro as well as his assets from the Bishop family.

On top of that, he knew Jensen was arrested already, so his control of McShane was now broken. He's not sure how the Ghostbusters convinced the Mayor to evacuate the city, but their Japanese guests were with them, according to the reports. Seeing the Emergency Alert System activate was a stark surprise considering how much Jensen was poisoning McShane's perception of the Ghostbusters as a precaution. It showed that they convinced the man that not only was it an actual emergency, but a massive and dangerous one.

"The Mayor gave Rivera free reign of the Tribeca Precinct," a member stated, "They've dismissed Captain Savalia and they're putting together some kind of a task force. What does Madame Holly want us to do?" "I'll speak with her," the man stated to his people, "in the meantime, report to the other harbor precincts and explain the situation to your contacts there. It looks as though we have a fight ahead of us. If any of you find out any information, send it to the central email address and remember to use coded language in case anyone stumbles upon it. I'll keep you notified, now go."

The members of the Order in police uniforms looked at each other. This was becoming more alarming the more they continued down this path. Almost everyone in the Order of Asatro thought the plan was flawless when they began. No matter what the scheme was, no one was the wiser. Now that the Ghostbusters were becoming increasingly involved and aware, a lot of their plans were becoming derailed. Nevertheless, the members got back into their vehicles and proceeded to fan out across the city's police precincts to strengthen their numbers in other districts, backing out one by one away from the concrete facility.

Matthew watched as his minions began to back away and out of the parking lot. After the last vehicle left, he walked back into the facility and walked to the back of the storage warehouse. The Forgotten stood in the darkness, the glow from their eyes illuminating their faces for Matthew to see. One of the Forgotten spoke up, "What's the plan, Mr. St. James?"

Matthew began calming down after the bad news. He knew if he were to get the situation under control and back on track he needed to focus. He looked to all of his elite and laid it out, "For now, we're going to see what the Ghostbusters and the NYPD are up to. They clearly haven't left the city with the rest of the fodder, so we'll have to see what their next move is. Patience, brothers and sisters. I know all of you are eager to perform for your Gydja, but we need to look into this delicately. One false move and we could undo everything it took years to accomplish."
"Should we send a sentry?" The question was an honest one. He looked to the member who asked that question and said calmly, "That won't be necessary, brother. It is all arranged."

"Are you sure you have it all now?" There was a small contingent of file boxes filled with documents on the kitchen island. Holly had spent the last few hours gathering all the information she had on not only the lawsuit but everything her and Matthew researched about the recorder and all of its related material. She was nervous. She had spent so much of the day watching the evacuation footage of the city that it left her feeling guilty to the point of nausea. The voice said it was just her becoming detoxified, but it was worse than that. She had done such a terrible thing…

"I think I got it all," she said, checking everything over one last time, "I'm still not sure if this is going to be enough." "I can't blame you for being unsure. A lot of damage has been done and a few will no doubt harbor a grudge for what you did even with all of this, but it has to be done. You better hope cooler heads prevail, here."

By this time Holly had walked to the refrigerator and took a picture off the door to look at. It was after her 7th birthday and she was dressed in a Halloween costume. She was dressed like Princess Leia, her father dressed like Han Solo. Her heart was beginning to hurt again, her vulnerability coming through in her voice, "Tell me honestly," Holly said as she fondly caress the picture in her hand, "Is that really you, Mr. Dub?" There was a bout of silence again. She yelled out loud in frustration, "Come on, damnit, don't run away from the question again! Please, I need to know!"

She heard the voice sigh. It sounded weak like it was losing strength, but it spoke to her, "I wasn't sure if you were gonna believe it. I've been fighting to talk to you and keep the other voices away for a long time. I was afraid I was running out of time. It wasn't until I got to the other side I saw the ugly and evil attacking you. I always believed you, but never could I imagine the sight I saw. I had to fight to stay at your side and hope you could hear me." Holly heard him and heard him become weaker as he continued. She felt even worse now, Mr. Dub expended his energy just to get to her and talk to her. She ignored him for so long.

"I'm glad that you did. I never knew you losing me would send you over the edge. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said as she put the picture in her pocket and started to gather the boxes together, "If I had any willpower, I wouldn't have let it get to me." "Willpower has its limits. You were just a kid and the Bishops knew that." She stopped gathering boxes as he said that, her eyes tearing up again as it did before, "They were in the business of breaking people. What happened to me was just the last of your bridge of reality crumbling. If I had just paid attention more…" the ethereal voice of Mr. Dub started to fade out. "Mr. Dub, what's wrong?" "I have to go now, Holly. I have to get my strength back. I… overdid it this time."

The guilt rose in her throat as she squeaked out, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said, "I should have told you sooner. I'll be back soon." With that, Holly was left with a task to perform. She looked at the spacious house she lived in. It was just an empty building, just like her empty bottles that piled the garbage can in the garage. For several years she took for granted all she had with her father. She again took out the picture and looked at it. It was a Polaroid that had faded since the 1980's, but she was just a kid having fun. She remembered the hauntings and horrible ghosts wandering around New York. It was just before the Ghostbusters had their fight with Gozer. For some reason it didn't bother her.

She missed those days. On the eve of what was surely the worst battle this world would ever know, Holly wished it could go back to those simpler times. She was named Holiday because her mother and father loved Halloween; named her after their favorite holiday which she was born to. She was told she was originally going to be born on Halloween which was why her name was going to be such. The part of the story Old Man Dan didn't know outright was that yes, her mother did die giving birth to her, but it wasn't because of the birth itself.

Her mother was in a shootout in the city and she was hit. It happened outside a building where her father's company was working when she came to visit him on the site. She was sitting in the car when a drive by happened and shot the site up. Several of her father's masons were hurt, but her mother was hit in a critical spot and didn't have long. She was dying with her inside her. It had to have been a terrible decision, knowing doing the C-Section was going to kill his wife, but he wasn't sure he could handle losing the both of them. Her father was much stronger than she ever realized, but after a while she had to come to the conclusion that a piece of him died when her mother couldn't even see her daughter being born. The Bautista family had horrible luck, but they endured.

Holly didn't think she had that strength. After talking with Mr. Dub's voice and realizing she could overcome her alcoholism, she started to think clearly enough to see that being strong is about doing what you don't like and powering through. After all the horrible things that happened to her, she finally saw where she could regain her strength. She started to cry and she put the picture to her lips and kissed her father's image, "I'm sorry, Dad. I made a real mess of things. I'm gonna make this right."

The garage door opened. The BMW backed out of the opening slowly. Down the street the two police that told Holly about Jensen's arrest sat in their squad car. The older black officer was playing a game of solitaire on his dispatch computer as his partner was asleep in the seat beside him. From the periphery of his vision he saw red lights in the direction of the house they were supposed to be watching. He looked and saw the car backing out of the garage.

He quickly nudged his partner and woke him up with a start. When the young hispanic officer looked at his partner he saw he was directing his attention to the BMW. They looked at each other then watched as the car finally got into the street and started pulling out of the neighborhood. They were in a place where Holly couldn't see them, but they watched on as they saw that the vehicle was full of boxes. The young officer grabbed the radio and was about to call it in when the old man grabbed the radio mic away from his hand. He shook his head and pointed to his eye, indicating they just needed to watch for now. Putting the mic back on its hook he started the squad car and started following the woman.

They noticed the vehicle was traveling toward Manhattan. Where Holly was going, it was at the heart of the situation.