yeah, I know, KILLER title, right? well, right now it's title-less (is that a word??). Anyway, thus far I only have 4 chapters done with a fifth in the works. I'm really interested in what you guys have to say about what little I have.

Helps if I give a little backstory. I'm taking the recent comic route and pretending like GB2 never happened… I've also upped the timeline a bit where the events of GB1 happened exactly how they happened, but more recently (again, subject to change).

He ran down the next block. His breath visible in the cold air, his uniform damp from the drizzle that was now turning into a strong rain. He stopped and leaned against a building to catch his breath for a moment. He looked around and saw no sign of his backup. He had enough and hit his radio.

“Ray, Egon, where the hell are you?!” Winston panted. “Listen, you two have been nice and warm in the damn car and I’ve been chasing this thing all over town on foot! I ran through two restaurants, a bar mitzvah, and a strip club…”

“We’re on 8th, coming your way.”

“Ray, 8th is a big street! I need you guys here… you guys might be better off running. Traffic is insane over here.”

Egon chimed in. “We can see you. Where’s the specter?”

“I don’t know! These damn goggles are low on power and keep flickering out on me. Can I get a little help here or should I start firing madly into the streets of New York?”

Ray jerked his head forward forcing his pair of ecto goggles to fall into place over his eyes. “Winston, I see him! He’s just sort of hanging out on the third story ledge.”

Egon slipped back into the car. “He?”

Ray shrugged. “Winston did say it flew through a strip club…” he grabbed the radio again. “On the building in front of you, third floor, fifth window from the left.” A stream of red energy streaked across the busy city street and melted through the stone and glass of the target building. “Damn! Fifth window from the right! Sorry!”

Winston let a curse slip out of his mouth. “I’m not being blamed for that! Is he still there? Where is it?”

“No, the stream spooked him. I can’t see him. Egon, anything on the PKE?”

Egon fiddled with the small device. “It’s fast. He’s already three blocks down. Winston, can you…” he was cut off by the rear door opening and closing.

“I am NOT going back out there. I’m cold, wet, and tired. Where the hell is Venkman?”

***

Peter let out a sigh of triumph as he put down the last box. He walked towards the balcony and took in the view. Even on a dreary day like this, it was still an amazing view. Behind him, he could hear Dana starting to open boxes.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Dana looked up with a smirk. “Unpacking.”

“No. No no no. We just got them up here. Relax. Besides, the boxes are fine where they are.”

“Oh really?”

“Sure! We get some sheets, those plastic covers old people put on their couches… who needs a sofa? Sweetie, what we have here are adult legos. We need a chair, we get a box. A loveseat? We put another box next to that one.”

“I want real furniture.”

“Well, you always were the prissy one.” Before she could respond he took her by the arm and led her to another part of the apartment. “Come with me. I have something to show you.” She wore a skeptic smile. He opened the door to the bedroom. Inside sat a large bed covered with rose petals. Several candles lighted the room. Peter pulled a small remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. The stereo began playing Dana’s favorite song.

She looked at Peter in disbelief. “When did you…?”

“Those nights I said I was working late. I did all this.”

“The bed?”

“Well, I paid the guys who brought it here. By proxy, I brought it up.” He slowly began falling onto the bed pulling Dana down with him. “Now, isn’t this nice?”

Dana smiled, “Yes, very.”

“You know, it’s just you, me, and this empty apartment… this wonderful bed that you’re not floating over…”

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“I’m just happy you grew out of it.” He leaned in closer. “The best part is no phone and no one to bother us for…” his words were cut off by chirping coming from his coat pocket. “It’s not important.” The device chirped again and Dana leaned over to get it. “No, leave it! They’re big boys, they can…”

Dana reached into Peter’s jacket and pulled out the small radio. She hit the button. “Hello Ray.” She did nothing to hide the fact she was annoyed.

“Hey Dana! How’s the new place? Is this a bad time?”

“Oh, not at all. You just rescued me from one of Peter’s lame attempts to seduce me.”

Peter gasped. “You said they were cute!”

“I lied.” She tossed the radio to Peter. “Talk to your friend.”

Peter sighed. “This better be good, Ray. I mean real good. Tell me Gozer is back and I’ll let this slide.”

“Sorry, but we need you.”

“Alright, I’ll swing by the firehouse and…”

“No need, Janine should be almost there with your stuff.”

Peter heard the doorbell ring. “Sweetie, be a doll and shoot who ever is on the other side.”

Dana yelled from the other room. “It’s Janine!”

“That changes nothing!” He turned his attention back to the radio. “Ray, tell me again what the range is on these things.” Peter could hear Ray talking with Egon.

“We’ve tested them as far as Jersey, but…”

Peter turned to face the open door of the bedroom. “Hey, sweetie, how do you feel about moving to Maine?”

Egon glanced at the PKE meter. “Ray, it looks like he’s headed towards the Port Authority.”

Winston grumbled. “Gee, you think? It’s like this thing knows when and where to go to really piss me off. Its three o’clock, that place is going to be hell to get to. This guy’s been playing with us from the start.”

Ray shrugged. “Winston, it’s mid-town, everything is hell to get to at this time. It won’t be too bad, I’m sure the local authorities will help us out.”

“Yeah, they’ll love that. You can tell them that we need to shoot something that’s invisible. Ray, I don’t feel like getting arrested… again.” From the front passenger seat, Egon added a quiet nod of agreement.

Ray defended, “We were acquitted!”

Egon muttered, “Peck.”

Ray’s grip on the wheel tightened. “Oh yeah, sorry about that criminal record thing.”

Winston buried his face in his hands for a moment. “Where’s our little friend now?”

Egon adjusted the PKE meter’s settings slightly. “I wouldn’t call him little. It stands approximately three meters in height. As for its location, it hasn’t strayed out of the area of 8th avenue.”

Ray turned onto 8th avenue as Ecto-1’s wheeled screeched as they struggled to keep their grip on the city streets. “Alright, so, either we tired him out or…”

Winston finished Ray’s thought, “… or it wants us there.” They soon found themselves across the street from the Port Authority. Winston looked around. “Ray, you’re going to park here?”

Ray put the car in park and opened his door. “I left the lights going.”

Egon pointed at the second level parking garage. “It’s perched right there in front of the second cross section.”

Ray strapped on his proton pack. “Guys, you two wait here, I’ll go first and explain things to the officers.” He dashed across 8th avenue ignoring the sigh from Winston. He walked calmly up to the two soldiers.

The two soldiers looked Ray from head to toe. “Is there a problem, sir?”

Ray cleared his throat. “Good afternoon gentlemen. I’m Dr. Raymond Stantz of the Ghostbusters. I am requesting your assistance as there is a Class Four sentient manifestation currently hovering above our heads. As myself and my colleagues don’t wish for any injuries, we would need you to keep the populace at a safe distance.”

One of the soldiers, distracted by the strange man with the funny goggles replied with a very uneasy “Okay” while the other one looked above him.

“I don’t see anything.”

“You won’t. It’s a poltergeist and is invisible to the human eye.”

“Right. Sir, I’m going to ask that you please turn around and leave.” He paused and tightened his grip on his weapon. “Now.”

Ray nodded and turned around. He waited for traffic to die down enough to make it back to Winston and Egon. “I can’t believe those guys!”

Winston smirked. “You mean they didn’t take you seriously when you said there was an invisible man flying around? No, you’re right Ray, the nerve of those guys.”

Egon tapped Winston on the shoulder. “I think we should get back in the car.”

Winston’s eyes grew wide. “Ray, get in the car.”

“We can’t just….” Ray was cut off by the sound of a gunshot.

***

Peter gripped onto the seat for dear life as the cab rocketed through the city streets.

“Wow, a real Ghostbuster. Man, I love you guys! That marshmallow guy… that was something else.”

“Yeah, well, all in a day’s work and all that. So, tell me about yourself…” Peter took a close look at the cabby’s card. “Carl. By the way, it’s nice to see a cabby with a one syllable name.”

Carl laughed. “Eh, not much to tell. I’m just a guy who drives a cab for a living. So, Port Authority, right?”

“Yeah, make the left at 8th.”

“Dude, that’s a one way. I’ll have to go down to 9th and…”

“Out of all the taxis in all of New York, I get the only one worried about traffic laws.” The cab suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. “Hey, Carl! What the hell are you…” Peter looked down the street as a swarm of people dashed in every direction. What were out of the norm were two military officers hovering ten feet in the air by their rifles which were firing wildly into the air.

Carl broke the silence. “Dude!”

“Yeah, Carl, time to move again.”

“No way! I need to see this!”

Peter noticed one of the rifles turning towards the cab. “Uh, Carl?”

“Wow! Looks like it’s coming towards us!”

“Dammit Carl! Get out of the car!” Peter dove out of the passenger door. Carl was soon next to him as bullets drilled through the windows spraying glass and debris every which way. Peter blindly slid his hand back into the car and felt around for his proton pack that was lying on the floor. With a grunt he heaved it out of the car and laid it in front of him and looked for any damage. Satisfied, he turned it on.

Carl smirked when he heard the famous low pitch thrum accelerate into a high-pitched whine. “That… that’s the coolest sound ever.”

Another volley of bullets sounded off, both men ducked instinctively though none of the shots were in their direction. Peter began to strap on his equipment. “So, Carl, have any kids?”

***

Winston ducked behind Ecto-1’s passenger side wheel as the bullets ricocheted off the car. He looked over to Ray and Egon who were sitting comfortably near the rear of the car. “Do you two really think that’s a good place to sit? If one of those shots hits the packs…”

Egon adjusted his glasses. “The explosion would vaporize us, take out at least three city blocks, and make the surrounding area inhabitable for approximately two decades. However, I put safe guards on the nuclear cores. If they breech, we’ll just pass out…”

Winston heaved a sigh of relief. “Good to know.”

“… right before our blood boils.”

Winston stared blankly at Egon for a moment. “Spengler… I hate you sometimes.”

Ray smirked and knocked on the side of the car. “About two weeks after we opened up shop, we reinforced the paneling. That thing could shoot all day and not get through to the gear.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but why the hell would you go through the trouble?”

“A bunch of guys running all over New York City with phasers on their backs… sometimes bad areas. Any street thug or arms dealer would love to get their grimy little hands on these things. So, we took precautions.”

Winston peaked around the bumper as the shots died down to see the two soldiers slide out of the weapons’ straps and dart off. “Guys, the hostages are clear. Let’s grab the packs and…” Another shot rang out, clipping the bumper. “I thought you said you armored this thing!”

Ray put his hands up in surrender. “Just the hood, side panels, and roof! The glass is pretty much bullet proofed too.” Ray paused as Winston climbed through the front door, but not before snagging the ecto goggles off. “Winston! What the hell are you doing?”

“Evening up the odds!” He pushed out the three proton packs that were stored in the rear of the car before sliding out himself.

Ray slipped on his pack. “Would be nice to have a distraction. I doubt we’ll have a clear shot.” Another volley or bullets sounded off, but different. The sound of glass breaking and car door paneling being penetrated and shredded accompanied the gunfire. “That works!”

The three men stood quickly, their proton guns aimed over the car. Three red streams of energy streaked across the street towards their invisible target.

Janine looked up at the clock and heaved a sigh. It was turning into another night she'd have to fight Dr. Venkman about her overtime and the lack of help she had. Business had slowed down slightly after the whole Gozer incident, but her work had increased dramatically as the plans for a Ghostbusters west coast branch out in L.A. began to see the light of day. Her normal duties of payroll, hardware orders, repair bills and lawsuit documents were the norm for her, but a new stack of possible “home base” locations as well as dozens of other documents had invaded her desk. She knew Peter gave everything to her just to make her life an even larger hell; at least that was her running theory. With the last page of paperwork from yesterday completed, she began to pack her things. She let out a huff as the phone rang.

“Ghostbusters… Oh, hi Egon.” Janine smiled slightly as she slid back into her seat. “Yes, I’m still here. Talk to your friend Dr. Venkman about that. I’m still waiting for… uh huh… You’re still on that call? It’s been hours!” She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Egon, I don’t know how they do things on your planet, but at ten at night, no one likes to get courtesy calls… By the way, when the other office opens, am I going to do all their work too? No, forget I said anything, I don’t want to give Mr. Moneybags any ideas.” She paused. “Good luck, Egon. Be safe.” She stared at the phone for a moment before grabbing her purse. As she turned off the radio, there was a mention of a stolen garbage truck. A knock on the door took her out of her late evening bliss. “I really need to start locking that thing….“

A man walked cautiously through the door. ”Evening… uh, are you still open?“

”Well, not really, but I'm here. How can the Ghostbusters help you tonight?“

The man looked Janine over as he walked across the length of the garage to her desk. ”You're a Ghostbuster?“

”No, I actually work for a living.“ She sighed as the man missed the joke. ”If you need one of the guys, they're still out on a job. You'll have to come back tomorrow.“

The man's eyes lit up with joy as a slight smile crept up on his face. ”So, you're the only one here?“

Janine instantly became defensive. ”Listen, pal, I don't know…“

He drew a pistol from his back pocket. ”I'm not going to hurt you. Don't be afraid.“ Without moving his aim or his gaze on Janine, he pulled out a cell phone with his free hand. ”It's clear.“ A moment later a garbage truck rammed through the front doors sending splinters and other debris throughout the garage. He turned his attention back to Janine. ”You're going to want to leave… right now.“

Janine fought back tears. ”I'm not leaving!“

He turned the safety off on his gun and adjusted his aim. ”Either you leave alive, or you stay dead. We’re on a mission from God! No one will stop us from carrying on his word. Please, we don't wish any bloodshed. Enough suffering has gone on in this unholy place. Please, go.“ He let out a sigh of relief when the redheaded woman ran out of the building. He looked to the other two men in the building. ”Brothers, it is time."

The three men climbed and crawled all over the truck like ants as they made their final preparations. As they finished their work, they walked out of the building. Two of the trio walked off, the final member of the team smiling brightly as he looked along the street. While late, it was still bristling with life. Each way he looked as sea of red and white lights filled the streets. The sounds of cars and footsteps filled what would soon be a very silent night. He turned around to look into the gaping wound he and his men had inflicted on the building. “With this final act, my lord, we shall set your true messengers free of their shackles. I am but a pawn for your grand plan and I willingly plunge myself upon this holy weapon to end the reign of your enemies!” He removed his cell phone from his pocket and made the last call of his life. As he heard the first ring in his ear, he saw a bright flash, a wave of heat, and then nothing.

The truck exploded, the blast blowing out the side walls of the firehouse. Cars and buses were crushed beneath the rubble as others were pelted by debris, the shockwave of the blast shattering nearby windows. For a moment, it was pure chaos and then silence. New Yorkers collected themselves and stood staring at the rubble that was once known as the office of the Ghostbusters. Their sign flickering on the ground, shattered. The earth beneath them began to rumble, a strange groan emanated from the pit where the building once stood. There was another bright flash…

***

Ray shifted in the driver’s seat of Ecto-1. “I can’t believe we lost him!” He slammed his hand into the steering wheel. “I mean, he shot at us!”

Peter sat in back, his eyes closed, his arms crossed and his feet propped up on the equipment rack. “Not to mention leading us into Jersey. Honestly, I prefer getting shot.”

Egon fiddled with his PKE meter. “Indeed. However, it did provide me with new data. Once we get back to…”

The car shook violently. Winston pulled himself towards the back of the driver’s seat as Peter rubbed his head after it collided with the window. “Ray, please tell me that was the car.”

Peter grumbled as he rubbed his head. “Ray, I don’t know what the hell you’re…” His eyes fixated on the New York skyline; a column of light shot into the sky obscuring the stars’ glow. “Guys!”

The PKE meter in Egon’s hands went wild. “This is very bad.” The normally calm voice of Egon trembled with a bit of fear.

Ray slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car. “No! Not again!”

Egon grabbed the radio. “Janine! Janine, please, pick up!” He was greeted with nothing but static.

Peter grabbed Ray by his collar. “Ray! What the hell is that?!” He didn’t wait for a response. “Dana’s still in the city, Ray!”

Winston put away his cell phone. “I just tried every number I know, and I’m getting nothing. I guess the system is all tied up…”

Egon put the radio down. “Radio is dead. Even emergency bands.” Egon took another look at the pillar as it began to deform like a fountain spout reaching its peak. “That seems to be blocking all communications.”

Peter let go of Ray’s jumpsuit. “So what do we do?” He ran his hand through his hair. “Is my fiancé going to become a dog again?”

Ray adjusted his uniform. “No way can we get back into the city. We need a plan.”

“My sister has a place around here. I don’t think she’ll mind us using her place while she’s gone for the week.”

Peter nodded. “Winston’s place it is.”

“This is Emilie Hawk reporting live. As you can see behind me, a large dome has mysteriously formed around the entire Manhattan island. Currently all attempts to contact anyone known to be inside this dome have been unsuccessful. The military has been…” Winston turned off the TV. “Well, we’re screwed.”

Ray buried his face in his folded arms. “How did this happen? We had back up generators for the back up generators! Even if someone turned off the primary grid, they’d still have to find the back up generators.”

Peter slammed on the table. “Ok, so we agree, this wasn’t our fault. Good. Great. How do we fix it? Egon, what have you got?”

Egon finished writing out his last calculation. “We would need a substantial amount of proton energy to even punch a hole into that dome, but that’s not our main problem.”

Peter turned the TV back on and pointed. “Egon, see that purple thing that’s making New York into a life size snow globe? I’d call that our main problem.”

“Our main problem is the entity controlling the psycho kinetic energy that is forming the shell. There was nothing in the containment unit powerful enough to create that.” Egon pushed his glassed back into place.

Winston spun a chair around and sat. “Alright, so we punch through, go in, bust the bad guy controlling that thing, and call it a night.”

Ray sighed as he rose from his arms. “Not even close! Even crossing the streams…” He let out a sigh. “Just four packs on full gain won’t put a dent in that. We’d need to hook up directly to the electrical grid to get the kind of juice.” He paused. “Or a nuke.”

Winston motioned to their proton packs resting in the corner of the kitchen. “And these aren’t nukes?”

“Real nukes. Military grade.”

Egon nodded. “Even then it would have to be a constant flow of energy. After that, there wouldn’t be much need for rescue teams.”

Winston looked at Peter who was staring out the window. “Hey, you alright?”

“Not even close.” Peter’s thoughts drifted to his fiancé.

“She’ll be fine, Peter.” Ray got up from his seat and went to the refrigerator. “We did give her that proton pack.”

Peter clenched his fist. “We gave her a girl’s gun, Ray. It fit inside a suitcase with room to spare! I feel like we’re carrying Buicks…”

Ray took a sip of beer. “That ‘girl’s gun’ is more than strong enough to defend herself with. Besides, she was possessed by a servant of Gozer. She’s marked territory now.”

Peter gave Ray a quizzical look. “Come again?”

Egon smirked. “Dana still has residual energy from her possession. That alone should…” The sounds of police sirens echoed from outside.

Winston looked through the blinds. “Those sound real close guys.” He stepped away from the window. “I don’t know about this. Maybe we should have turned ourselves in or at least explained what we think happened.” Red lights flashed through the window as the sounds of several car doors opening and closing filled the air. “Not again… you know, I never had so much as a ticket in my life… then I meet you guys and what happens? I get arrested… twice!”

Peter stood up from the table. “Relax Winston. Maybe they’re here to shoot us.”

“Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddmore: come out with your hands up and unarmed!”

Peter shrugged as he looked to Winston. “Hey, I’ve been known to be wrong.”

The four men slowly moved towards the door. Outside were several police cruisers as well as a few military vehicles. A tow truck was backing into the driveway, apparently to haul Ecto-1 off. The four remained silent as several armed police officers applied handcuffs and escorted them to separate cruisers.