From the Files of Dr. Fritz V. Baugh, GBI Historian
GBI Case File GBI-2023-41/412

In 1983, three unemployed scientists started up the world's first agency of professional paranormal investigators and eliminators. Now, forty years later, Dr. Johnathan Spengler, Dr. Eden Spengler, Eric Stantz, Marie Lupin, and TJ Anderson hunt strange things in the neighborhood, weird things that don't look good, things running through people's head, and invisible men sleeping in beds as the newest generation of Ghostbusters.

TJ Anderson has returned to her homeland of England, but she's not alone--John Spengler is with her! Naturally, everyone back home in New York is waiting to see if the inevitable is about to happen for John and TJ.

After having delivered an order of GBXes to the Ghostbusters UK--the actual reason for their visit--the two Ghostbusters attend the birthday party of TJ's uncle, Lord Sylvester Cadonfloyd, Earl of Lungbarrow. She had hoped to gain some insight into the connection Eric Stantz uncovered between their ancestor, Dr. Thomas Cadonfloyd, and the mummy Ahagotsu.

But the party is crashed by TJ's long-lost brother Jacob--who shoots their uncle with a stun gun, and summons Bombie the Zombie to drag Sylvester away. Martin, TJ and Jacob's father, passes out from an apparent heart attack as Jacob--now calling himself Dr. Vidius--and Bombie escape.

Eric and Marie were in the dining room; Conchita Rivera (like Eric and the Spengler twins, the daughter of past Ghostbusters) was visiting. They were looking at some new pictures of Tom Wallance, Peter Venkman's newborn grandson.

"Oh, he's so precious..." Conchita gushed. "It just makes me want one of my own. Doesn't he do the same for you, Marie?"

Marie made a sour face. "Hell. No. I do everything I can to avoid venereal diseases, and babies are the ultimate STD. Great if you want one, but not for me."

"Jessica used to say the same thing, you know." Eric pointed out, referencing Thomas's mother. He threw a pretzel at Slimer, who made sure it didn't hit the floor.

Marie got a smarmy look on her face. "Okay, spill it, Eric." Marie said after stuffing down another pretzel. "That shortstack the other day, the blonde one with the elf ears. How do you know her?"

"Is she the young lady you were...well...how did you like to put it?" Conchita giggled. " 'Hot and heavy' with back in school?"

"Huh?" Eric looked shocked. "Oh, no, that wasn't Windy, that was someone different!" He sighed. "Her name was Ariel..."

Conchita asked. "Ariel? Are you serious?!" She was obviously finding this hilarious.

Marie got up and sat closer to Eric, snickering "I gotta hear this one."

"Yeah, yeah, we know all the jokes. They had that movie in England, too." Eric rolled his eyes.

"Does she have red hair?" Conchita asked.

Eric sighed again. "No--it's brown, but she dyes it purple. And I've only seen her once since graduation; she's...well, she travels a lot, and finds it hard to keep a phone in hand."

"So the important question is, how do you know her natural hair color? The carpet and drapes not match?" Marie smirked.

Conchita chuckled a little uncomfortably. "That's a very rude question, Miss Lupin."

"Damn straight." Marie retorted.

"Could we just drop it?!" Eric reiterated. "You asked about Windy, right? Windy's the daughter of a couple of my parents' friends, and is working for my Mom. I can't really tell you more, because it's all wizard stuff."

"Likely story." Marie chuckled. "Okay, okay, important news is that Ariel's history. And you're into tall blonde girls nowadays..." Marie poked him.

Almost as though she heard the cue, Eden walked briskly into the room. "Eric!"

"Something up?" Eric asked, at this point hoping it was a Ghostbusting call. Marie poked Conchita and pointed at Eden. Conchita covered her mouth with her hand.

"I just heard from Johnathan." Eden began.

"Something about how good TJ's fancy dress looks lying in a crumpled heap on the guest room floor?" Marie asked brightly.

Eden and Eric both ignored her. "He didn't have time to say much--but they saw Bombie." Eden said "No sign of Ahagotsu or Pippi, but they saw Bombie."

Eric shot to his feet. "Bombie?! Man, and we're stuck here; if I could..."

Eden put a hand on his shoulder. "Johnathan and TJ are already following it."

"What can they do without any equipment?" Marie asked. "I mean, other than the PKE meter all Spenglers are born with welded into their hand?"

"You forget that GBI does have a presence in England." Eden finished. "They needed help, and knew who to call."

The ECTO-UK rolled down a London street. Its lights and siren were off, though.

Sitting in the driver's seat was GBUK's field leader, Dr. Ben King Jr. Next to him, in the vehicle's passenger seat, was London Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector Rebbecca Gates, head of the Occult Crimes Unit.

Behind them, dressed in a couple of borrowed GBUK "Rookie" uniforms--the same as Ben's but without the individualized nametags--were Dr. Johnathan Christopher Spengler and TJ Anderson, the former studying his GBX, the latter listening to her cell phone.

"Definitely stick with this heading, Ben." John said. "The signal is getting stronger."

As John had explained, first to TJ as soon as Martin Anderson was on his way to the hospital, he'd been scanning to identify the signal he'd picked up at the party--he had the trace recorded, and could follow Bombie quite a ways. "Pop once found Mom half way across the city this way, so trust me, this works."

TJ exhaled as she put her cell phone back in her flight suit pocket. "Father's all right...it wasn't a heart attack, just overwork and...the understandable shock of this evening. My cousin Paul is with him and will keep us informed."

John nodded. "Relieved to hear that. Marty's pretty tough--runs in his family."

"Speaking of family..." Gates looked back at her former coworker. "This 'Vidius' sod who did all of this...is your brother?"

TJ sighed. "Yes. Jacob Alexander Anderson, born August 16, 2000. He's two and a half years younger than I am. He was actually a very lively, happy child until..."

"Until what?" Ben asked.

John knew. "Your mother?"

TJ nodded. "After Mum died he...didn't take it well. He was just shy of five, and he didn't understand why she wasn't coming home...then as he got older, and he did start to understand, he got...angry about it."

"He acted out, but when he got to St. Susanna's he got into the sciences--excelled at organic chamistry. It gave him something to devote himself to--he got the best grades in his class, and..." She smirked slightly. "I know this won't sound so impressive to you, Doctor I-Got-My-High-School-Diploma-At-Age-Thirteen, but he finished his A levels a year early."

John rolled his eyes. "Bullshit. An accomplishment's an accomplishment. And actually I was still twelve by a couple weeks."

"Jacob got a scholarship to the University of Nottingham." TJ continued. "Our Mum and some of her family also went there. He seemed to be doing wonderfully..."

"Until?" Gates asked.

"We still don't know." TJ shook her head. "After his first year, he didn't come home for the summer. No one in the family or at Nottingham heard anything from him. His bank accounts had been emptied, then a few weeks later a parcel arrived at our flat with his identification and bank cards, along with a handwritten note..."

"That's it?" Ben asked.

"Yes." TJ answered. "That was five years ago. Nothing since. Until tonight, when he shows up with a bloody zombie to kidnap our uncle."

"All apologies, Inspector, but your brother sounds like a prime wanker." Ben shook his head.

"Well, Doctor King..." TJ replied "...at the moment I cannot honestly disagree with that assessment."

Now that was a bloody nightmare... Sylvester Cadonfloyd thought to himself as he started to awaken. Jacob showing up to my birthday party with some sort of zombie...the utter shite that bubbles out of my subconscious when I drink too many strawberry punches...

Sylvester opened one eye. There was a black cat about three inches away. Blimey...did one of Dad's cats get loose?

Then the bloody cat talked. "I think the older Cadonfloyd is awakening."

Sylvester tried to get up, but realized he couldn't move much. He was strapped to a table; and there was a tube stuck in his left wrist, with a crimson flow into a bottle.

He looked around the room he was in, sporting a large collection of bubbling vials and vats of foul-smelling fluids. In the center, a table was covered by a sheet--which seemed to be concealing a very large, unmoving human body.

And next to it, a coffin. Emblazoned with both the Cadonfloyd family crest, and a design from some sort of club Sylvester's great grandfather Thomas had belonged to, the "Children of Ether" or something like that.

Bloody hell...the coffin? Did... He gulped. ...Did Jacob steal that too?!

It was finally clear to him that his nephew crashing the party with a zombie was NOT just a bad dream. Especially not when Jacob appeared in his field of vision, sporting a ridiculous mint green lab coat with a utility belt with gadgets--and a gun--hanging from it.

"About time you woke up, Uncle." Jacob said. "I'd rather have you conscious when your contribution to scientific history occurs!"

The black cat blinked her eyes.

"This is it." John said. "Bombie's PK trace is coming from over there!"

He pointed at a decrepit building that had seen much better days.

" 'Hobbs Lane Music Hall'." Ben read from the sign that hadn't quite fallen off yet.

"Half a moment..." TJ said, looking at John. "Isn't that in Tobin's?"

"Shit. You're right." John realized.

"Back in 1899, the members of Hobbs Lane's pantomime troupe started to disappear; they called in Shrewsbury Smith and JH Tobin--it's how they met." TJ explained.

John finished. "They found the missing troupe members unharmed--they'd been kidnapped by the mummy Ahagotsu."

"The same bloody one you've been looking for for the last year?" Gates asked.

TJ and John both nodded in unison. Ben tried not to laugh at this.

With practiced precision, the three Ghostbusters retrieved and donned proton packs.

"My apologies, Ms. Anderson." Ben shrugged. "We're still using the Mark 4s, and they don't have the swappable trap and thrower connections."

"Not a huge problem." TJ shook her head. "I've been told GBI hasn't hired too many left handed people because we're sinister."

John chuckled, recognizing the joke.

Ben chuckled for a different reason. "I'll need to tell you about Captain Bennett's nickname some time..."

Chief Inspector Gates was wearing a London MPD uniform, but with a nonstandard accessory on loan from GBUK--a proton pistol system, the smaller thrower assembly first introduced in the late 1990's.

"Systems good." TJ reported, checking the displays on her thrower. Ben also nodded. John was looking at his GBX "There's another trace on file here, it's..."

The door to the dance hall opened up. Ahagotsu, in his eyesore outfit of bright, clashing colors, stood there. "You're five minutes later than I expected."

Ben and TJ both released the safeties on their throwers.

"I guess that one was before your time." Ahagotsu shrugged.

"Dr. Johnathan Spengler, Ghostbusters International." John stepped forward. "We met last year at the Zagnut concert."

"Oh yes, the ginger fellow with the blonde sister! How's she doing?"

"Sylvester Cadonfloyd--where is he?" TJ snarled. "If you've harmed him..."

"My dear, I haven't done anything!" Ahagotsu responded. "I don't think that Vidius has harmed him yet, but..." He leaned toward her slightly, undead eyes squinting. "Have we met before, young lady?"

The question gave TJ the creeps. Is he picking up on Jacob and my family resemblance? "No."

The mummy shrugged again. "You make me think of someone, but then again she's probably been dead for quite a few years by this point. Ah well, unlive a few millennia and everyone will remind you of someone else, I suppose."

Ahagotsu pointed into the building. "Vidius is set up in the tunnels--exit stage right, go past the prop guillotines and nightmarish mannequins, turn the corner into the storeroom, and follow the paper signs saying 'Definitely Not This Way' to where he's holed up."

Gates looked suspicious. "Why are you telling us this?"

"It could be a trap..." Ben suggested.

"My dear Inspector, I would do no such thing!" Ahagotsu sounded aghast, and pulled out a handkerchief. He blew into it loudly, but it made a slide whistle noise. "Quite frankly, that Vidius character is a rotten house-guest. He even creeps out my cat! Worse--his sense of humour is awful"

He's not wrong about that... TJ thought despite herself.

"The cat..." John snapped his fingers. "Pip...Panther-Panther, where is she?"

Ahagotsu looked surprised. "Ah...sounds like Pussums was getting into all sorts of trouble last year. Playing with the concert hall's speaker system or something? That would explain the rather disagreeable clamour coming from it..."

"We don't have time for this." Gates growled.

"Panther-Panther is down in the lab." Ahagotsu said, posing dramatically. "I had her keep a watch on Vidius. Plus Bombie's her favorite scratching post."

Ben looked at the mummy. "Chief Inspector?"

"Dr. Spengler?" Gates asked.

"Bombie's PK trace does seem to line up with what he says." John answered.

"Let's go!!!" TJ said forcefully, and barely waited to see if any of the others were following her.

"As for why..." Ahagotsu mused to himself. "...The look on Vidius's face will be one for the ages!"

"I actually owe a lot of this to the family, Sylvester." Vidius continued, eyeing the vial collecting Sylvester's blood. "It was something I found in the library that put me on this path."

Sylvester had donated blood before; he recognized the lightheaded sensation he was now experiencing. "And what was that, Jacob?"

"It all goes back to our ancestor, Dr. Thomas Cadonfloyd." Vidius continued. "He was quite interested in the paranormal..."

"Yes, I know that." Sylvester nodded. "I heard a number of stories from your great grandfather..."

"Yes, of course." Vidius nodded.

"But some of that had to be rubbish!" Sylvester noted. "Like his son Peter's story about the magical cat..."

"Uncle"? I was right...Vidius IS a Cadonfloyd!!! Where she was watching the scene, Pippi blinked. "Rubbish"?! I'll have you know that story is very real! And... She paused. Cadonfloyd...didn't forget about me?

"In Thomas's collection was a book of notes from an early nineteenth century scientist of some renown." Vidius continued. "His name was Victor Frankenstein."

"Frankenstein?!" Sylvester looked confused. "Isn't he...just a story?"

"That's what the world as a whole thinks, yes." Vidius nodded. "But in truth, Mary Shelley wrote her book based on notes given to her by the sister of Captain Robert Walton, the last human being to see Frankenstein alive."

"Frankenstein was a member of the Voltaic Order, a predecessor the Electrodyne Engineers, which in turn became the order of scientific visionaries that both Thomas belonged to and I am now a member of--the Sons of Ether." Vidius tapped the ether visor he was wearing.

"I thought that was just some social club..." Sylvester said, voice weaker.

"No." Vidius shook his head. "It's quite a lot more." Vidius looked at the bag attached to Sylvester. "This should be enough, Uncle, you're obviously getting weak." He leaned in closer for just a moment. "I did promise the family that no lasting harm would come to you."

Vidius continued. "How Thomas got the notes I have yet to piece together, but in those notes were a collection of parts of the process he used to create his legendary monster...and a number of ways he thought he might have improved it."

"Is that...how you created...that?" Sylvester pointed weakly at Bombie.

"Bombie?" Vidius said. "Good grief no. He's a creation of magic--one of my recent associates bought him from an African witch doctor who reanimated him in 1949. No...he's been interesting to study, to compare the results to Frankenstein's process, but he's not a creation of any Etheric science."

Vidius took the bag of blood and attached it to another IV, this one leading to the large figure covered by a sheet. "This, Uncle Sylvester, is my masterpiece! Generation of Life by Electrical Necrotic Negation. I just call him 'Glenn' for short."

With that, he pulled the sheet off.

Pippi's eyes narrowed. I hear something...and I sense...an aura that feels vaguely...familiar?

She thought about it for a second. It isn't Eric Hawthorne, I'd know if it was him, but if it's someone who...

She didn't even finish the thought before she quietly ran off.

The body was enormous, over two meters tall, dressed in a simple grey sport coat and pants, over a dark tee shirt. The upper body was enormously muscled, but in comparison the legs looked spindly. The enormous head's short black hair was shaved off over its temples, each of which sported a bolt that had an electrode attached. The creature's skin was an eerie green in color.

"Like the outfit, Uncle? I thought I'd go with the classic look..." Vidius chuckled.

"But Jacob, I thought the bolts were supposed to be on its neck?" Sylvester found himself playing along and snarking back, trying to fight off the horror that was filling him at the sight.

Vidius laughed. "Droll, Uncle, droll. Don't always believe what the popular culture does to great works, particularly ones they don't understand. The bolts in this position allow more direct stimulation of the brain, and should lead to a much better result, especially a brain as old as this one is."

Sylvester felt his stomach flip over. "Oh dear God...you don't mean....is this why you stole Thomas's body?"

Vidius looked ecstatic. "Ah...proof that Thomas and myself aren't the only ones in the family with a modicum of intelligence. Yes. Inside Glenn is the brain of Thomas Cadonfloyd."

"W...why?"

"Why not?!" Vidius retorted. "Thomas was a great mind. The world will be a better place with him back in it. And if this test works..." Vidius became silent.

After a few moments he continued. "That's why I need your blood--the brain has been dead for over half a century. But I have hypothesized that infusing the tissue with a sample of living material genetically linked to the dead material, the chances of reanimation are raised quite significantly."

He took his visor off, wiped his brow, and put the visor back on. "Obviously, I could have used my own blood, or Janey's, or Paul's, and have the same chance of success--we're all four generations removed from the original. But the closer to the source, the greater the chance of success, and is one living descendant only three generations removed from Thomas--you, Sylvester, his great grandson."

Vidius shook his head. "If only I'd realized all of this three years ago--Grandfather Colin would have been only two generations removed, which would have been even better."

"What now, Jacob?" Sylvester asked. "Wait for the next thunderstorm?"

Vidius laughed. "Don't be absurd, Uncle. It's been over two hundred years since Frankenstein's day--electricity is cheap, plentiful, and easy." He pointed to the machine the electrodes lead to. "You've heard of portable generators, right?"

"I hear something...' Ben said. "Like...a generator, maybe?"

"That can't be good." Gates added.

"Something's coming!" TJ gestured. The three Ghostbusters and Gates took as much cover as they could in the walls, all but John having their throwers drawn.

"PK signal..." John said as quietly as he could while still being heard. "...it's not strong, but..." His eyes narrowed. "...I've seen this before, somewhere."

A cat ran into view. "You might as well come out--I have excellent hearing." the cat said.

John went first. "Pippi?"

The cat looked at him with a death glare. "What did you just call me?"

"You're Panther-Panther, aren't you?" John asked. "But last year someone gave you a new name--Pippi."

The cat hissed. "How do you know that?!"

"Look at me, Pippi." He pointed to his right shoulder. "You've seen this before, right? Eric wore a symbol like this. Eric Sta...Eric Hawthorne."

"You..." Pippi's face showed less anger. "...You know Eric Hawthorne?"

"Only for my entire life." John replied. "I'm Dr. Johnathan Spengler, Ghostbusters International."

"The ginger weirdo! I saw you the night I met him!" Pippi realized. "You wore a different pelt..."

John nodded, and turned to TJ. "That's why the signal's familiar--she was in New York a year ago. I saw a cat throwing off a signal, but I thought it was a glitch."

"Can you tell us where Vidius is?" TJ broke in. "And Sylvester Cadonfloyd?"

Pippi jumped back and hissed at her. "You!!! I smell it!!! You're another Cadonfloyd--you smell just like Vidius!!!"

TJ sighed. Denying it wouldn't get her anywhere. "My name's TJ Anderson. But I am related to the Cadonfloyds--my mother was Sylvester's sister, Thomas's great granddaughter."

Pippi looked at her, intensely for a few seconds. "Maybe not exactly like Vidius--you have much better perfume than his cheap aftershave." She looked at John, and the other two humans. All of them were armed. "If you want to stop what Vidius plans, then follow me!!!"

"You might want to close your eyes for a few moments, Uncle!" Vidius said, with obvious glee. "Bombie, is the microwave unplugged?"

Bombie nodded.

"Now, as Ahagotsu might say...it's showtime!!!"

Vidius threw the giant guillotine switch.

The generator roared.

The other electric lights in the room dimmed.

With a loud crackle, the inert green body convulsed.

"Crap...it's started..." Pippi snarled. "Faster, you fools!!!"

"Give us a bloody break!" Ben snarled back. "We only have two bloody legs and this equipment is fucking heavy!!!"

The light was just fading out as the three Ghostbusters, the Chief Inspector, and the cat entered the room.

"Jacob!!!" TJ shouted.

Vidius looked around, drawing the gun on his belt and firing it. "Ghostbusters?! You will not stop my triumph!!!"

The Ghostbusters and policewoman scattered, diving for cover.

"Jacob Alexander Anderson!" Gates said firmly. "As a Chief Inspector of the London Metropolitan Police Department, I am placing you under arrest for the kidnapping of Sylvester Cadonfloyd, and under the charter of the Occult Crimes Unit, the use of an unregistered supernatural entity in the performance of the crime!" She paused. "And add a firearms violation to the lot--this isn't the States, you know!"

"We've got the throwers on setting five..." Ben noted. "But that might not do much against the zombie!" He popped up to fire a quick beam near Vidius, to keep him at bay, he hoped.

"I see Sylvester..." TJ said to John. "We just have to get to him."

"Listen to him, TJ, he's ranting about his triumph." John replied. "Maybe gunplay isn't the answer here." He holstered his thrower, and came out of cover, hands spread apart.

"We're not here to fight, Jake." John said. "I think we need to talk. Scientist to scientist."

Vidius chuckled. "A Ghostbuster uniform--that settles it, your name is not a coincidence, is it?" He looked at TJ "And my sister as well? Will wonders never cease?" He lowered his weapon, but did not holster it.

"Yeah, my name is Spengler." John nodded. "Professor Egon Spengler, co-founder of Ghostbusters International--I gather you've heard of him. He's my father."

"Then I would imagine you know of the Sons of Ether, Doctor." Vidius said.

John nodded again. "Of course I know. Pop's a member. And so am I."

"Then you understand..." Vidius continued, looking slightly less angry. "You know the kind of scorn visionaries such as us draw from the mainstreams of science. Our work does what all science must do--question everything. And dare to break the boundaries!"

"What boundaries do you mean, Jake?" John shrugged. "Why kidnap your own uncle and bring him down to this moldy hole in the ground? What are you doing here?"

"Janey?" another voice called weakly.

"Uncle!" TJ called, finding him, still looking a bit dazzled.

"Bombie." Vidius snapped his fingers. The zombie moved close to him. "Because, Johnathan Spengler, I needed his help to create THAT!!!" He pointed at the table in the center of the room.

On the table, the large form had smoke and a few bits of electrical crackle still playing around it.

As they watched, the body convulsed. A stream of smoke went into its mouth, its chest expanded...and then released a breath.

Vidius cackled. "Excellent!!! Or, as I suppose I should say, he's alive! ALIVE!!!"

Ben rolled his eyes. "He's probably been waiting all night to say that..."

TJ had moved over to Sylvester, and started to cut him out of his restraints. "You aren't harmed, are you?'

"He just took some blood." Sylvester shook his head. "Needed it to make that..thing..."

The creature sat up. Its eyes opened, beady black pupils with no sign of an iris, the sclera a lighter shade of green than the creature's skin, but still sickly looking.

"Adonai..." John shook his head. "You pulled off....the Frankenstein process?!"

Vidius nodded. "We Etherites have been trying to recreate it for two hundred years--I have at last succeeded!!!"

The monster got off the platform, and stood up to its full height--over seven feet tall, a head taller than even John.

"Wow." John admitted.

"Now you know how the rest of us feel." Ben quipped.

"Glenn..." Vidius talked to the creature. "Do you understand me?"

Glenn groaned.

"Smashing!" Vidius cackled.

"I'm pretty sure this is breaking some laws too..." Gates grumbled.

Glenn groaned again.

"Fire bad." Ben whispered to himself.

"Surely you see this for the triumph it is, Doctor Spengler?" Vidius gestured. "A triumph of Etheric science!!! A triumph!!! Just as your father proved life after death, Frankenstein gave us life from death!!!"

"I'm not sure this is a triumph that needed to be repeated, Jake." John shook his head. "We all know how it turned out two hundred years ago."

"It failed because Frankenstein was afraid of what he'd made!!!" Viidus spat. "The creature was innocent, and intrinsically good! If Frankenstein hadn't abandoned it out of fear, they both could have changed the world!!!"

Vidius glared at John. "And here I thought a fellow scientist, a Spengler, would understand."

John glared back at him. "Pop would tell you the exact same thing, Jake."

Vidius quietly seethed for a few seconds.

TJ had brought Sylvester over to the others, handing him to Gates then going back to John.

"I don't suppose you'd care, Jacob, but you put our father in the hospital." TJ told Vidius. "We thought he had a heart attack, but Paul is looking after him. He'll be fine."

Vidius nodded slightly. "Good."

The creature moved toward TJ and John as she talked. His eyes narrowed, and a quizzical look came onto his large face.

"Glenn..." Vidius called. "Stay away from them!"

Glenn looked at the people in front of him for thirty long seconds.

Glenn reached out a finger, and almost touched TJ's face.

His throat rumbled, and then, in a far more quiet voice. "...sArAh jAnE?..."

"What?" TJ asked.

"What?" Vidius exclaimed.

"Sarah Jane..." Sylvester gasped. "That was Thomas's wife...Grandfather did always say that Lisa Jane resembled her, and Janey..."

Vidius became giddy. "...Janey looks like Mum! He...he recognizes her--or at least has picked up on the family resemblance!!! This is a breakthrough!!!"

TJ was starting to feel quite creeped out at the way the creature was looking at her. "Johnathan..."

John nodded, and the two started to step back.

Vidius raised his blaster. "You cannot leave!!! You're the key to fully awakening Thomas's memories!!! I won't let you!!!"

"...sArAh jAnE?"

The monster convulsed again. It screamed with feral anger.

"No! What have you done?!" Vidius shouted, brandishing his blaster. "Bombie! Restrain Glenn!!! I will deal with these interlopers!!! Damn it Janey, you're ruining everything!!!"

But before Vidius could draw a bead on his sister, a raging streak of black fur jumped on his face, hissing and clawing at him.

A laser shot went wide, striking the generator.

It thew up sparks, and started to make a very unpleasant noise.

"Oh shit!!!" John, an electrical engineer, knew what that sound meant. "It's overloading!!! We need to get out of here!!!"

The two undead started to pummel each other, Glenn emitting deep, angry howls.

"Jacob!!!" TJ called back.

"We don't have time, Inspector!!!" Ben shouted, helping John practically drag her from the laboratory.

Gates, the least impeded by equipment, had Sylvester on her back; she and the group of Ghostbusters ran for their lives.

A minute later, a gigantic explosion rocked East End

They had managed to escape the conflagration that engulfed Hobbs Lane Music Hall.

"Everyone all right?" John asked. "TJ?"

TJ exhaled wearily. "Physically."

Ben wiped sweat from his eyes. "I'm not even sure I can say that, but no injuries."

"I've already called the fire department." Gates said, examining the exhausted Sylvester. "And an ambulance."

"Pippi?" John looked around.

"Haven't seen her since she jumped Vidius." Ben said.

"Damn." John shook his head. "If anything happened to her Eric's gonna roast me..."

They heard a small voice cough, and a somewhat singed black cat staggered up to them. "...you're not getting rid of me that easy, ginger..."

"Jacob?" Sylvester asked.

"Don't strain yourself, Lord Cadonfloyd." Gates admonished him.

"We...we don't see him, Uncle." TJ shook her head.

"Well, shit." another voice broke in, a now familiar grating voice. "I'm going to have a devil of a time explaining all of this to the insurance company."

They turned to see Ahagotsu, brandishing a sausage on a stick. He waved it over a flaming beam laying nearby. "Probably reduce the cheque to four pounds, three quid, two shillings, and a partridge in a pear tree!"

Ben pulled his thrower.

"So very hasty!" Ahagotsu said. "Remember I did give you the directions to Vidius?"

"Lich..." Pippi glared at him.

"You're leaving me, aren't you?" Ahagotsu asked.

"How did..." Pippi, being a cat, collected her composure quickly. "Yes."

"I've suspected this was coming. I could see the change in you since last year. You met someone who can give you the bond you need, haven't you?"

"Yes."

Ahagotsu reached down and scratched her head. She flinched, but didn't move away. "I'm going to miss you terribly, you foul mouthed little hellion."

A number of ghostly mice in acrobat costumes appeared. They all started crying.

Pippi sighed. "I hate you with the intensity of that fire behind us." She looked pained at the next thing she said: "But I am grateful for all you've done to keep my magical nature alive."

"Panther panther, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?"

After he finished desecrating William Blake's poem, Ahagotsu pulled out a handkerchief and blew into it loudly, once again triggering the slide whistle sound.

"One for the road." The crying clown mice disappeared. A tiny ghostly Ahagotsu appeared. Pippi pounced on it and messily devoured it.

There was a flash of light. Ahagotsu was gone.

Ben exhaled and holstered his thrower.

John went over to TJ, still staring at the fire.

"TJ..."

"My brother's gone, Johnathan." she said flatly.

"We don't know that. We escaped..."

"Even if he somehow survived this inferno..." TJ shook her head. "...My brother's gone."

Ghostbusters Central was quiet as Eric paced the floor. He knew he should at least try to sleep, but his nerves had been on end all evening.

Slimer looked up from the couch, looking concerned.

"Nothing you can help me with, Spud." Eric shook his head. He turned on the TV "Maybe there's a Lizardo or a Deadly Doctor Crowley movie on..."

Eric's phone's text signal dinged.

He looked at the message.

His heard skipped a beat.

There was a photo of John Spengler holding a black cat.

"I'm staying."

John looked up from the luggage he had hauled to the Andersons' front entryway. He knew this was coming.

"I know." John said to TJ, who was looking a bit nervous, her arms crossed. "I don't even need to ask why."

She clearly did not relish saying what she just told him. "No." TJ shook her head. "Father didn't have an actual heart attack, but he's under intense stress and is very confused. Him, Uncle Sylvester, everybody--it's been quite a shock."

"Yeah." John nodded. "To you too."

She looked at him for a second. "Yes."

"I understand." John nodded. "You know, I could..."

"You have no idea how much it means to me that you started to say that, but no." TJ cut him off. "They need you in New York. You need to get Pippi to Eric."

John nodded. "Yeah. The longer we wait, the worse the danger of acclimation is. But..."

Pippi, who had been sulking in her cat carrier, looked out at them. Oh just quit it and rut, would you? I can't believe you haven't already... she thought as she rolled her eyes.

Fortunately, TJ's cousin Paul helped run a cat shelter, and was able to create the necessary paperwork. As far as UK and US customs were concerned, John and TJ had jointly adopted the cat and were taking her back to America.

John moved closer to TJ. "I..."

"It's not forever." TJ told him, putting her left index finger over his mouth. "Just until after the New Year. They need the time to deal with this, I need the time to deal with this. If you stayed I..." She blushed slightly.

She looked him in the eye. "This place and everyone here is my past, Johnathan, and that will always be an important part of me...but New York, and everyone there, is my present, and my future."

She hugged him tightly; she didn't want to let go. "But right now they need me here, and I need to be here..." she said. Then more quietly "That doesn't mean I don't need you."

He felt his eyes misting. "Same here."

She kissed him on the cheek. "That's all I dare for now."

"TJ...Janey...I..."

"After the New Year, Johnathan." She turned away, so he wouldn't see her eyes starting to water. "That is a promise."

I suppose she's not so bad... Pippi thought to herself. For a Cadonfloyd.

They heard Huntwick honk the car horn.

"Please, Huntwick is waiting." she said, voice quivering. "Go before...before one or the other of us does something that we shouldn't..."

Without another word, he grabbed his suitcase and the cat carrier, and left the house.

She fought back the tears as the door closed.

She didn't succeed.

Neither did he.

Based on Ghostbusters Created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis

Ghostbusters 2023 Created by Fritz Baugh and OgreBBQ

Ghostbusters UK created by Iain Bennett, Ben King, and Tommy Simpson