Chapter 19: The Circuit

Three vehicles. Nine people in all of them. One plan. This was going to be a ballet of timing.

Black Vengeance headed south with its lights and siren running. The 7.5L engine in the truck went up and down in RPM as it skidded around corners and hopped over the imperfections in the road. Darien tried to hold on for dear life as Dan drove the truck in erratic fashion, "You know, Lita told me about the time you drove her to school during the tower incident. I wasn't sure I could believe it."

"Believe it," Kylie said in a projected voice, her voice compensating for the noise of the engine and her running PKE meter, "This man has performed stunts the likes Evel Knievel would think was insane."

"What can I tell ya, Darien," Dan said as he threw the truck into another power slide, "my reputation precedes me." Straightening the vehicle he looked back a moment, "Kylie?"

Kylie adjusted the meter and got a good heads up for the area, "The highest concentration is right over us." She lowered her meter, "Okay, leader," she said as she put the meter down, unbuckled her seatbelt, and grabbed her pistol, "I'm ready."

Dan then looked to the man beside him, "Darien?"

Darien took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Ready."

With that Dan grabbed the microphone of his radio and radioed back, "This is Chase One. We're starting our run." "Acknowledged, Chase One," He heard Egon respond back, "Be careful." Dan clicked the mic, "Careful? Us? Never." Dan hung up the mic and reached for the audio generator Old Dan installed. Powering it up he settled his finger over the button to send out the sound pulse, "Alright, let's burn!"

High in the sky the Man-Bats looked around the city and patrolled. They were in a loose group hanging over the buildings when they suddenly heard a piercing loud sound coming from the streets below. They gripped their heads and tried to cover their ears while trying to stay aloft. They all finally looked below and saw the black truck adorned in lights and decals on the road. They looked toward each other and started diving toward the sound.

Kylie opened the back window and started looking toward the sky. Quickly overlaying a pair of Ecto-Goggles over her eyes she zoomed in on the mass in the sky. She dropped the goggles and called out to Dan, "They're coming!"

Dan looked back to Darien again as he attempted to crack his knuckles while holding the wheel with his knee, "You're the guest to this city, my good man," he smirked, "what would you like to see first?" That was Darien's cue. He grabbed the packet of paper that sat between them. It was the plan Old Dan provided. He started looking through it and found what he needed, "East Chinatown! We follow that north until we hit the East Village!"

Dan slammed the brakes and turned east. They reached Clinton Street and slid around the corner at nearly 50 MPH. Kylie held on hard to the back seat and steadied herself to fire off a few bursts of protons. She could clearly see it was agitating them. Dan looked at her in the rearview, "What ya trying to do? Save on uranium? Nail the sons-of-bitches!"

She yelled back, "You don't want them too angry at us." He responded in kind, "Yes, we do! We gotta get them as pissed at us as possible. They have to completely ignore Ecto-1!" She was trying to play it safe. She knew safety was risking the rest of the plan. The worst part was she wanted to yell at Dan for doing dangerous stuff again, but she remembered she couldn't just yell at him. This HAD to be the plan. She was still trying to lose her bitterness of rejection which triggered her vindictiveness toward him…

This whole time she was stalling. Dan looked in the mirror again and snapped her out of it, "Kylie? Kylie! Keep firing!" She shook her head and looked back to the sky. They were losing the creatures. She let the stream loose again and actively grabbed one of the beasts causing them to collide into each other airborne. She released them and saw a couple of them fight among themselves a moment before giving a more vigorous chase to the truck. Now they were good and riled up. "Okay," the goth girl stated aloud, "they're officially PO'ed at us."

Darien looked behind him and saw the look on Kylie's face. It was there again, that same look that she had in Ecto-1 the night of the second sacrifice. There was this horrible guilt all over her face laying just behind her facial foundation. It wasn't exactly the same as last time, but it was guilt nonetheless. There was a tension he felt before with the other Scouts and it was all over Kylie's body language. He knew what it was, too, "Kylie, are you okay?"

Kylie took her eyes off the skies and looked to the Japanese man in the front seat. She wanted to say it but refused, looking out the back window, "It's nothing."

Dan picked up the mic again and radioed out, "Chase One. We're at full capacity. How you doing, Chase Two?"

Across the island north of the F-150 was the Explorer. Old Man Dan, Eduardo, and Serena were cruising hard up Lafayette heading toward the Flatiron District. After receiving Chase One's call, Old Dan grabbed the mic and responded, "Almost in position. We'll let you know when we're there." Hanging up the mic he looked to Eduardo, "Check the map."

Grabbing the paper packet from the dashboard Eduardo thumbed through the papers and found where they currently were, "Okay, this says we're gonna make a loop around Central Park then stick around Midtown until phase 2. Is that right?"

Old Dan merged onto Park Avenue and increased speed. He answered after getting the truck going straight on the road, "Yeah. These things act somewhere between hornets and vultures. They like hanging over parks and wide open spaces to attack people."

From the back seat Serena asked, "Why do they attack people?" "We weren't sure," the extradimensional Ghostbuster answered, "Like I said, they acted without a pattern in my world. This whole thing only leads me to one conclusion."

"That Matthew guy again?"

Old Dan nodded.

Eduardo didn't understand what they were talking about, "Okay, who the hell's this Matthew you guys keep talking about?" "That's right," Old Dan recalled, "you went to sleep when we started researching the cult. Matthew St. James has been at the cult leader's side since this started, but we learned he was a mafioso in the mayor's office. Remember what Jensen said?"

At that moment the PKE detection hardware in Chi-Ecto started picking up a mass of incoming energy. He looked at the laptop and saw the influx of signals, "The man in the yellow hat just let George out of the cage. Our counterparts must be getting the bastards curious." He started rubbing his facial hair on his chin trying to think of the tactic.

After a minute of thinking it over, Old Dan spoke up, "Moondust, get into position." Without missing a beat Serena unbuckled her seatbelt and attempted to crawl over the back seat. After once again sliding into the back with a thud she sat up in the cargo area of the vehicle waiting for her next command. After a moment of no response she called back to the front of the truck, "Do you want me to shoot them?"

He yelled back, "No. Let's see what they do for now. We already got one group of these things outright chasing one of us. We do too many things too quickly, someone's gonna get wise." He looked to Eduardo and attempted to explain his rationale, "These things are talking to each other somehow. This Matthew St. James guy… there's something not right with the guy. I don't know how he's linked to these things, but he clearly knows something."

Eduardo felt the hairs suddenly stand on the back of his neck over that, "What? Wait a minute, hombre, are you saying this Matthew guy is controlling these things?" Old Dan looked hesitant to answer. With his previous criminal justice and police training Eduardo suddenly saw the old Ghostbuster's body language flare up as an uncomfortable look came over his face. He knew the old man knew the answer, but he also knew it wasn't a solid one.

Old Man Dan said as much, "I don't know. I didn't have my meter on me when I confronted Holly and ran into him, but his aura was absolutely headache-inducing." He started counting off his fingers, "He has no real past; needed a social security and green card a few days after this happened with this Whittington guy you guys keep talking about; he was in a mafia; has something to do with the Angel Guardian orphanage; a lot of his contacts are either ending up dead or run out of town, including the family he was a part of; this guy is a verifiable nutcase. Whatever he's doing, he's got enough power in more ways than one to fulfill his desire. What that is…" his body language changed again. Eduardo wasn't as proficient as his brother to pick it up normally, but here it was so intense it was hard to miss.

This older version of Dan Shannon was absolutely terrified at the prospect. These things - in his eyes - were controlled by this Matthew guy. He met him. He was in his presence. He felt hostility. More information needed to be unearthed in order to figure out the deal, but there was the question of safety. They had to secure the team, the firehouse, and above all else the Ecto-Containment unit.

Eduardo gave him a vote of confidence, "Egon'll figure it out, man. Egon figures everything out." Old Man Dan heard that and grunted, "Rivera, you're going to have to learn you can't always depend on someone else to come up with your answers. A lot of us in GBI did that for years and when Dr. Spengler died in my world, we felt lost. We had to learn the hard way that we couldn't always depend on the best because they weren't going to be around forever."

"Look," Eduardo felt slighted, "I ain't no scientist like I always thought I was. After all of this, I'm nothing more than a two-bit nothing that failed in the past." "Look, I don't presume to know what the fuck it is you're talking about, but that's a you problem. What I'm telling you is you're gonna have to learn as much as you can and figure out how to keep going without the brilliance of one man. Take it from a man who knows."

By this time Serena crawled back into the back seat and got between the seats to talk, "He's right. Amy was about to leave for Germany to go to a school for her medical training and we were so shocked we were about to lose the brains of the team. I tried to learn as much as I could, but…" "Serena," Old Dan said to her, "it's not the same thing. Dr. Spengler dying for us was the equivalent to losing Jim Henson. It wasn't just about what he could do, it was what he embodied. In the face of ridicule we come together and solve the problem. You don't have to be a scientist to solve problems."

It was silent as the truck continued on its course north. The mention of Egon in Old Dan's world made the conversation awkward. Eduardo knew how important Egon was in both worlds, but he was curious, "I don't want to make this worse, but how did… I mean, what caused…"

"How did he die?" Old Dan finished. From the corner of his eye he saw the Latino man nod nervously. "We had a research lab in Ohio. Dr. Spengler became something of a recluse. Ms. Melnitz was his personal assistant and she was the only one he trusted at that point. One night late at the lab, Ms. Melnitz went into town to get dinner for him when she felt the ground rumble under her feet. The whole town shook. She looked toward the lab and saw a huge fireball. There was nothing left of the place. She was never the same after that."

Serena gasped. Eduardo was shocked, but he needed more, "What caused the explosion?"

"He was working on a new man-made element: Spenglium-267. It was going to revolutionize miniaturized accelerator development. The density of the fuel could have made rifle-sized proton stream generators possible. He misaligned a neutron bombardment emitter and it hit a set of hydrogen canisters. He was right next to the gas cylinders from what the remote security footage showed."

Eduardo and Serena looked at each other. They didn't like the sound of that, Serena asking, "Security footage? You don't mean…"

"They asked me and Jen to examine the footage," Old Dan started to get uncomfortable, "I was in the midwestern section of the US, so, it fell on my office. Jen - being an investigator - helped me determine the… the cause of the accident." He sighed hard at that. The two riding passenger looked at each other realizing it was a very uncomfortable topic, but Serena was feeling it was adding to the mystery of Jen Bellum's death as well. The look on Old Dan's face was one of a hurt heart. As much as he respected Egon, she knew that wasn't what was hurting him when he spoke. She cleared her throat, "I-I better get back in the back."

As Serena moved her way back into the cargo area, Old Dan tried to soften his stance, "I'm sorry, Eduardo. This whole thing…" "I know, man," Eduardo tried to stop him from saying more, "You're tense; I'm tense… I know I should do better, but…" It was quiet again. Old Dan knew what he needed to say, "Just do as I tell all of my guys back home," Eduardo looked to him as he told him, "Just do your best. If you remember what you know and what you've experienced - no matter what life - you'll be okay." He leaned into his windshield and saw the next street, just north of the park, "We're coming to the end of Central Park. Everyone get ready."

Ecto-1 hopped a curb just outside the City Hall and parked in Millenium Park - a small park just outside Park Way. Roland, Lita, and Garrett sat in the car and waited for the second Chase vehicle to be in position. Despite the tense situation everyone in the car was calm… Well, Roland started to become calm when he grabbed his Proton Gun and started messing with it, but aside from him…

Lita kept watch outside the car as Garrett kept looking at his meter. He was watching as the mass of creatures that were in the area were speeding away heading up through the East Village, "Okay, looks like we got one mass of jerks heading away from here. Maybe we should start unloading."

"Stick to the plan, Garrett," Roland stated as he opened the access door on the top of his particle thrower, "We don't move until Chase Two is in position."

Although that frustrated Garrett a bit, he attempted to suppress his annoyance and decided to lean over the back seat to attempt a conversation, "So, Lita," he tried to be mellow knowing the amount of trouble he stirred this past week, "I was curious about something." She turned and looked away from the window outside and looked back to the paraplegic Ghostbuster, "How strong is this link supposed to be between Scouts and their Knights?"

"It's supposed to let their Knights know if one of them is in danger," Lita explained, "In the past, Dan was able to sense my pain from the moon of Europa. Since we were reborn we needed to retrain the ability, but I guess it's happening on its own."

Garrett was guiding the questions to a point, "Is there a time you can block it off?" "I guess so," she answered, "When I don't want Dan to know something, I guess it happens automatically. It can't work the other way, though. No matter what, I can see into his mind." Garrett knew that was the answer he was going to get. The setup has been established, "So, is that the reason he didn't know you tried to get ahead of him in Chelsea?"

Lita recoiled in horror. Before she could even stutter, Garrett addressed Roland, "Remember that argument we were having on our way to Chelsea? About me and Dan?" Roland's full attention left his thrower and was now on the conversation right as Garrett made mention of Lita being in Chelsea. He did remember it, "Yeah, I also yelled at you to not bring Lita into the conversation. You mean…?" "I saw Lita running through the Bowery while we were in traffic that day Dan lost it. Now I know why." "That explains the pillar of light in the sky," Roland turned to Lita and asked her, "He healed you after the Draugr attack. You must have been badly hurt."

Lita was blushing hard. She felt guilty, her breathing starting to accelerate as she felt compelled to explain, "I didn't want him to get hurt. He tries so hard to protect everyone, I didn't want him to be hurt fighting that ugly thing!" Roland put his thrower down and put a friendly hand on her shoulder, "It's okay! Lita, we understand!" "Roland, I'm scared about all of this! I thought he was rejecting me because he lost interest in me. I made a mistake!"

Garrett got beside her on her other side and did the same, "Hey, if there's anyone who understands mistakes, I'm the chief idiot of the moron parade." Lita turned and looked at him as he explained, "I made the mistake of hating someone because he was an outsider. I hated he was better than me. I hated he was made the leader. I hated he had a tendency to blow things up and make the rest of us look bad. I knew almost everything I said I hated Dan about was all because of my ego, but the one thing he did do I shoveled it all onto that one point: him breaking things. When he saved my life from the diner fire, I hated him more. His indiscriminate destruction almost got me killed. That is, until Roland told me the truth.

"Roland heated up the pipe that burst. No one knew I was in the refrigerator in the kitchen when it did. Dan risked his life to save my miserable butt and took the blame for it. He wanted for me to still be friends with the rest of the team. He knew I hated him. He used the hatred of him to keep everyone else safe. It was almost a grave of my own making if it weren't for him. He told me recently that not only was it actually me that made the pipe explode through my Knight powers, but that I wouldn't have even been a Ghostbuster if it weren't for him traveling through time and guiding me here. I left him to suffer on his own; you're trying to make sure he doesn't do anything at all. They're both bad ideas, Lita."

"He needs you, Lita," Roland added, "just like we need him, but he also needs to look after you like we need to do for him. Let's face it, we're the only family he has now. You; the Scouts; all of us Ghostbusters; he needs to see he's appreciated. I know you do and that was the reason why you fought that Draugr and joined the team. You've shown us the way."

Garrett finished it off, "We only ask you don't do anything crazy while you're here. Dan is your Knight. Give him support, but don't try to stop him."

Lita understood the sentiment. She thought she could do things like she always did: With brute force strength. Being a Ghostbuster was a much different affair than using her powers to destroy a monster or using martial arts to physically fight back. She had to look at Ghostbusting like a recipe. Everything had to be measured; mixed; timed. She was learning through the job that force wasn't something that always worked. She had to use her mind far more than she did before and was learning to appreciate it.

There was another thing she was starting to appreciate: Sarcasm. "Don't do anything crazy?" she asked with a smirk, "Why, afraid I'll take all your thrills away?" Garrett smirked back, "You know it, Livewire." "Uh, oh," Roland said playfully, "when Garrett gives you a nickname, it means he accepts you." He then looked to Garrett, "Who are you and what have you done to Garrett Miller?" All Garrett could do was smirk.

"This is Chase Two," the radio crackled, "We're starting our run." Old Dan gave the go ahead, Roland grabbing the mic, "Copy Chase Two. We're delivering the first package." After hanging up the mic he told everyone to get to their positions. Garrett deployed his ramp and rolled out as Roland and Lita came out the front. Getting to the cargo area they grabbed the disruptor and hauled it out.

Back in Chi-Ecto, Serena was in the cargo area. They were just looping Central Park coming back down Central Park West. It was time, "Okay, Moondust," Old Man Dan yelled back, "burn their asses. Get their attention."

Serena swallowed as she unholstered her proton pistol. She started it up and felt the pack start to shake. She looked at the pistol and realized it was real and she was in control of it. She spoke nervously to herself, "Who ya gonna call? Sailor Moon, apparently."

"Serena, come on!" Old Dan yelled, "We're burin' the midnight oil, here!" Hearing the man behind the wheel command out she turned back to the broken back window and took aim. Pulling the trigger the Proton Pistol fired off a stream and the kickback threw her back. As she fell back she kept the stream active and accidentally burned the headliner in the cargo area of the truck. Old Dan looked in his remaining rear view mirror and saw what she was doing, "Stop! Stop! You're burning the roof of my truck, goddamnit!"

Serena powered down and saw the damage she just inflicted on the vehicle. She took her gloved hands and started putting out the fire that was trying to start on the headliner. After she got the fire out she looked back to the front, "Sorry!"

In the chaos the truck passed the Museum of Natural History. On Old Dan's laptop, a blip was recorded. It was a strange signal. As quickly as the signal appeared it was gone.

Serena finally got herself back in the window and started shooting at the Man-Bats stirring their ire. Old Dan groaned at the new damage laid into his vehicle, "Man, Jerry and Mark are gonna be so pissed at me!" Eduardo looked to the man beside him, "Jerry and Mark?" "Chicago Division's in-house vehicle mechanics. Mark was pissed when the original Chi-Ecto was chopped in half. I would have told him what happened when we first purchased the original truck, but…" "Alright, stop, man," the latino stated, "You're starting to sound like Roland!"

Chi-Ecto continued down the Central Park West with Serena firing proton streams from the back of the vehicle. The Man-Bats began chase on the truck as it approached Midtown. The circuit of the plan was now complete.