Chapter 20: Wrench

"That's what he said, Mr. St. James." The young hispanic officer found the payphone outside a Citgo and was calling Matthew. He managed to explain what he and his partner witnessed with Holly and what happened between him and his partner. "So, Officer Patel had second thoughts, huh?" "It looks that way. What's going on with The One? It looks almost deserted."

"Yes, you are out of the loop," Matthew explained, "Brother Hernandez, Sergeant Rivera has been instructed to take control of the Tribeca police station. You should know that there are two Daniel Shannons in this world now. You saw a third vehicle exit their headquarters, correct?" "Yeah," the Order member said, "It was a dark blue Ford Explorer with a light blue stripe down the side. The logo looked weird, too."

"That belongs to the other Dan Shannon. You see, it seems when Madame Holly played the Second Stanza she played an incorrect note. It brought him into this world."

"Huh?"

"Little quirks like that are bound to happen with the recorder to call Hel. She crosses many worlds to arrive at Her destination." This whole thing was starting to get strange to the Officer on the phone. He needed to know, "Why are you telling me this, sir?" "That version of Shannon has a sight. He can see people and their intentions. He helped Rivera root our people out of the station and pushed them to friendly stations. You said his vehicle sped out of their headquarters along with the new truck and the Cadillac?"

"Yes. Right after, I saw something. It was on their roof."

"What, Brother?"

"It was… i-it was a woman. First I saw bright lights coming off their roof then she appeared. She had black hair. It wasn't Griffen…"

"White bodysuit with red trim?" Hernendez blinked. Mr. St. James was good at knowing things before anyone else, but this? "Y-yeah! You know who it was, sir?" There was a very long silence on the phone. Something about the information suddenly made the conversation tense as he heard Matthew breathing. He sounded upset, "Thank you Brother. I will deal with Patel at a later time. For now, head to the 12th precinct."

"Okay si…" CLICK! Before he could say goodbye Matthew cut the officer off. There was something about this whole thing that felt very wrong.

On the roof of the firehouse Egon came out of the access door in full uniform and equipment. He looked to Janine as he approached the original disruptor on the roof, "They're at the first drop point. I need to increase the field to cover the neighborhood. You go down and look after the main floor and the basement." He then looked to Sailor Mercury, "Go with her. Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus have better fields of attack than you. Look after the Containment Unit." Sailor Mercury nodded and accompanied Janine downstairs.

Egon immediately kneeled beside the disruptor and started changing settings. As the field started to widen Sailor Mars came up and knelt down beside the senior Ghostbuster, "Egon, is this plan really gonna work? The other Dan isn't just blowing sunshine up our… You know."

As he turned dials and looked at his active PKE meter he answered her, "I'm inclined to believe this plan is the most feasible at current moment. Protective domes that could safeguard the city and could give us something of an even playing field to traverse."

Some of that went right over her head, "Are you saying these Order guys are going to come to us?" "They were willing to abduct Lita. They sent several of these creatures at us when you protected us the first time and shortly after the other Dan arrived. Then there's the Draugrs that were making their way here. It's not outside possibility they'd send as many creatures at us as humanly possible. If we reduce that, we'll have a better chance."

Sailor Mars was silent. This was big and she knew it. This young woman helped stop a damn meteor from hitting the planet and she was scared over this. Knowing arcane energies as she did she knew this was a force you shouldn't mess with. From what she heard, this Madame Holly and this Matthew St. James were not only at the center of it, but they had a whole army. Connections several levels deep. Unlimited money and resources. She always expected evil would be crafty enough to fool people, but to outright use people… The Negaverse never did anything like this before. This was a strange threat…

"70%." Roland was reading off the very slow charging of the unit while having his foot on the contact pedal. Even though there was a more powerful cell in it it was taking longer to power this unit due to the size of the shield that was in need to be generated. Garrett and Lita looked to the sky and saw nothing above. They were diligent nevertheless.

After a moment Garrett put a hand to his chest and rubbed it. He felt unnerved which was unusual for him. Lita took notice, "Hey, you okay?" "Yeah. Sailor Mars is a bit nervous. Egon's turning up the power on the disruptor back at the firehouse." He continued to look worried, even after taking his hand off his chest and resuming his watch of the skies. Sailor Mars' thoughts were running through his mind trying to construct a rationale that would make this whole thing make sense. The whole thing was confusing; from the energy fluctuations on the concrete elevator to the hamster that was experimented on.

Even going through Raye's mind and seeing the Negaverse Generals, the Cardians, the Heart Snatchers, ect. He wasn't sure what to make of all of this. Eduardo clearly saw his past due to Darien unlocking his mind and was absolutely enraged over it. Same with Dan explaining the weird story of a time machine being used to help him remember his own past. The plot was getting deep and he'd be damned if he knew where it would lead next.

"80%." Roland called. Roland was about the only one of all of them that was the most accepting of the situation. Even after being a Knight and being able to communicate with Amy he was still being level headed with the whole situation. Roland always had a very accepting nature to him, likely tempered by being the oldest of a large family. He was probably relieved Dan came along to help handle the rest of the team. It never dawned on Garrett before, but the two of them really were alike in some situations, but Dan's temper might have helped in moving that next step forward. Usually it was Garrett doing the initial charge. Maybe that was why he was so mad at Dan. Like Lita says: horning in on his thrills.

"90%. We better tell them." Garrett grabbed his radio and did as Roland instructed, "Delivery here. We're at 90. Get ready for fun, people!" He suddenly felt a chill go up his spine. It was likely Sailor Mars heard his voice on the radio and was becoming a bit more jittery than before, it becoming transmitted to him.

Back in Black Vengeance Kylie continued firing several bursts of protons at the Man-Bats in the air. They were on the truck's hindquarters attempting to overtake the vehicle, but the buildings in the neighborhood made it difficult to truly keep speed with the truck. A great deal of the monsters continuously slammed face first into the nearby buildings whenever the truck turned. Kylie was becoming annoyed, "Good God, how many of these things are there?"

"The Negaverse was a large place," Darien stated, "These things were probably the main animal of their world." "That's right," Dan commented back, "I remember Lita saying you were inducted into their ranks for a while." The Japanese man beside him sighed, "Not by choice. For some reason Queen Beryl was obsessed with me. Used me to try and destroy Sailor Moon and the rest of the Scouts. That wasn't easy to get over." That bothered Dan because he knew how much Serena loved him. The fact Serena was that hopeful and trusting even after all of that must have weighed on him more. Dan shook his head, "You guys went through way too much. I wish I was there for all of that."

"Don't blame yourself, Dan." Darien said as he again looked over the plan packet and looked at the map printouts, "You had far more important things to learn."

"About that," Dan stated, "we need to get Garrett and Roland up to speed. Are they going to have the same reaction to their awakening like me and Eddie did?"

"I'm not sure. I have the power to unlock it, but I don't know what's in their mind until I release it. I saw some of what happened to you through the Luna Mind Meld, but that's all I know."

Everyone braced as Dan cut the wheel and skidded around another corner. After Kylie stabilized herself at the window she asked, "Then what happened to Eduardo? What happened in his past that ticked him off at you so bad?" Darien sighed. It was a stressed tension filled sigh. "Everyone's past is their own. They can either keep the burden for themselves, or they can ask for another's hand in easing the pain of it. I know it, but it's not my place."

Kylie looked back to the back window and paid mind to her task, saying under her breath, "Thanks for the fortune cookie wisdom."

"98… 99…" Garrett's voice rang over the radio as the first of the disrupters came online.

Dan gripped the wheel, "Here we go!"

Garrett had his radio in hand reading the display on the disruptor, "...100%!"

Just like the disruptor at the firehouse, the antenna in the device sprang out and a blue shimmering light flashed out from it. The field expanded outward and began overtaking the City Hall. Lita looked up to the sky and watched as the field extended over the skyline. Her mouth was agape as she watched the pulsing energy grow bigger and light up the sky, "Oh, wow."

At the firehouse Egon, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Venus stood at the edge of the building and saw the energy field reaching out toward them. The field on the firehouse had extended out substantially to cover the neighborhood. Sailor Mars saw the two fields getting close to each other, "Here it comes!"

Sailor Venus looked toward Egon and saw the scientist holding a calculator in his hands punching in numbers rapidly. She was intrigued, "What're you doing, Egon?"

"I'm calculating the estimated time until the shields touch." He looked at his watch, then punched the remaining information in. Done, "According to my calculations, with the rate of expansion at 3.7 meters per second, we'll be experiencing an energy collision in approximately…" he looked to his watch again, "...4…3…2…1… now!"

Right on cue. A large sizzling sound was heard several blocks away as the two untuned energy fields crashed into each other. Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars looked to the sound and saw the energy fields flashing over the buildings in the distance. Sailor Venus looked on and asked on autopilot, "I wonder where that's hitting at."

"The best I can figure," Egon answered, "in the vicinity of the intersection of Thomas and Church streets." He looked over and saw both Scouts looking at him with confused surprise. Egon tried to smooth that one over, "Give or take a few centimeters, of course."

"Of course." Sailor Mars said with a bemusing laugh. She quickly looked at Sailor Venus and spoke softly, "Geez, he could school Amy." "Yeah," Sailor Venus agreed, "No wonder she respects him."

At that moment the disruptor went down. Both Scouts yelped as they turned to the device. As the disruptor completely powered down and began reconfiguring Sailor Mars put her hand to her head. Sailor Venus caught that, "Hey, Mars, you okay?" Egon also took notice and filled her in as he grabbed his thrower off his pack, "The field might have been interrupting her psychic powers and the sudden flood of ambient PKE might be overwhelming her senses." Egon grabbed his radio and began calling down to the basement, "Calibration is progress. Stay vigilant!"

Holly awoke from the sound of a very loud zapping and crackling. Looking behind her out her car's back window into the ally she saw the lights of the two energy fields crashing. She didn't expect to be awakened so soon, but she clearly didn't know what was happening. Before she knew it, the lights stopped and the glow of the energy shields stopped. "What the fuck was that?" That was when she heard a very, very loud noise. "Uh oh…"

Back north around Central Park Chi-Ecto was running the Man Bats in circles around the Hell's Kitchen area. Serena was blasting away at the creatures in the sky keeping them agitated when there was a sudden power drop from her thrower. The beam went dead shortly after. She called back to the front, "Eduardo, the gun went dead! What do I do, what did I do?"

Eduardo looked back. He saw her panicking. He tried to talk her down and instructed her, "Calm down, Conejito, and stop hopping around!" She started to calm down as she looked back to the front. Eduardo began telling her what to do, "Open the pack flap and take out the canister." As Serena spun the smaller fanny pack-like device around to her side and opened the flap, Eduardo pulled a canister off his own pack and got it ready.

She got the pack open and saw the yellow and orange canister sitting inside it. Eduardo continued, "Push down and turn to the right to pop it out."

This whole time Old Dan was trying to keep track of where he was going. With the little time he's had with this other world's equipment, he knew what Eduardo just instructed was wrong, "Uh, Rivera? I think you might…"

"I can't get the stupid thing out!" Serena exclaimed.

"Are you pushing down?" Eduardo asked.

"Yeah!"

"Rivera, you might wanna tell her…"

"Then, push down harder!"

"I can't, the pack's digging into my side!"

"Moondust, you might wanna…"

"Can it, man!" Eduardo interrupted Old Dan, "I know the equipment here!" Old Dan sighed as he turned back to the road…
A man stood in front of the vehicle.

Old Dan screamed and slammed on the brake, but it was too late. The man's body was pulled under the SUV and the vehicle clunked hard. Old Dan briefly lost control of the vehicle and frantically corrected the wheel to keep the truck from flying into another car left behind or a light pole. The truck finally skidded to a halt allowing Old Dan and Eduardo to immediately jump out.

Serena saw the man's body fall out from under the Explorer causing her to shriek. She opened the back hatch of the vehicle from the broken window and also stepped out. Old Dan knelt down beside the man and checked his pulse. There was a scrape on his forehead. Eduardo stood beside Old Dan and the man he ran over, screaming, "What the hell's the matter with you, Pendejo? Can't you watch where you're…"

Old Dan immediately grabbed Eduardo by the shirt under his vest and pulled him close to his face, growling, "You're. Not. Helping!" Serena got out of Chi-Ecto and pried the two of them apart, stating in a very scared voice, "Stop it! This man needs help!" Old Dan and Eduardo looked back to her and saw how distraught seeing this man on the ground was making her. The both of them felt bad about it, Old Dan quickly saying, "She's right. Rivera, call for an ambulance." He then grabbed the canister out of Eduardo's hand before he got his phone out and started calling 911. Old Dan walked to the front seat of the truck.

Serena followed him to the front as he sat in the driver seat and grabbed the radio, "Chase Two to Base, we just had an accident. Some clown just stepped out in front of my truck. He's alive. We're getting an ambulance now." After a moment they heard Egon's voice, the voice filled with stress, "Understood, Chase Two. Continue operation as planned." Old Dan was afraid of that, but he understood. Acknowledging the orders he hung up the mic and started the truck back up. Serena was dumbfounded by that, "You're just gonna leave him here?"

Old Dan saw the Proton Canister still in the Moon Princess's opened Proton Pistol. He physically turned her to where the fanny pack-like proton accelerator was facing him. With her looking she watched as he popped the spent canister out, "Turn left, not right. I don't want to leave the guy here, either. We're burning time and we need to be in position for the next drop." She scoffed at him at the sheer disregard, "Don't you care?!" Old Dan started breathing through his nose as he felt his blood pressure shoot up.

She felt the tension after accusing him. She just did to him what everyone else has done to him. She could tell he didn't like that, but he also understood why it was said to him. He said it calmly, "This man isn't in that bad of condition. He's going to be okay. The city was supposed to be cleared." He locked the new canister into place with a hiss, "There's nothing we can do for him. He'll just have to hope the ambulance can get him to a National Guard checkpoint. We have to get these disruptors in place or these Man-Bat things will overrun our asses. I'm not even sure they can stop those Draugrs you've been dealing with."

Eduardo ran back and exclaimed, "Ambulance is on the way!"

Serena looked back to Old Man Dan after he secured the Proton Pistol. She looked into his eyes again and saw the conflict. She still couldn't help he was abandoning this man on the road. Old Dan hated doing it, but there was a bigger task. What he said next was most likely the most hard-learned thing he's ever stated to someone…

"Serena, you can't save everyone."

Serena turned on her heel and walked back to the cargo area of the truck, pushing past Eduardo. Confused, he followed her to the back and watched as she crawled into the cargo area and closed it behind her. He saw how upset she was and saw her tears, her arms crossing coldly across her chest. He quickly walked back to the passenger side and looked back to the driver. He was about to lambast him…

The same tears were in his eyes. Eduardo was perplexed, "What the hell did you say to her?"

"A truth." It was all he could say. Eduardo screwed his face into confusion. That was until the older man said that continued his thought, "I told her a truth that I learned a long time ago." He sighed as he looked into the rear view mirror to look back, "Sometimes, I hate being so damn wise. Sometimes, being the wise one tells you too much of the Wiseman's life." Old Dan put the truck in gear.

The doors closed and the truck pulled away. The tires squealed as it rounded the corner and went back on its course. The man that was hit laid in the road, unmoving.

For a moment.

After a moment, the man began moving around as sounds of crunching were heard from the body. It sounded disturbing, like the sound of bones being automatically set back into place. He began to sit up after the sounds ceased. The man's eyes opened revealing they were glowing. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. Dialing a number he put the phone to his head. "Mr. St. James, they're definitely up to something. They said something about disruptors to block the creatures." He stopped to listen to the man on the other side of the phone ask him. He responded, "The only other thing he said was the Draugrs may not be affected by the fields. I'm assuming he means the shields over their headquarters."

After another round of silence, the man stood up and heard the sound of sirens coming toward him. The ambulance intended for the member of the Forgotten was approaching. He nodded his head as he addressed Matthew on the phone, "We'll be ready, Sir. För gudarna!"