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Ghostbusters: Regenesis

Chapter 2 (Resonance) Written by Leo_Todrius

Winter in the Pacific Northwest came in a variety of forms, though most years it was mild, overcast and wet... Then again that was the typical weather year around for Portland. The sound outside of the apartment building betrayed that mild had been cast by the wayside as rain came down in torrents. Water gushed down the gutters and rolled down the windows in sheets, but inside the small bedroom it was quiet and warm. The bedroom was typical for a teenager in high school. There were piles of laundry by the closet and a stack of dishes stuffed to the side of the computer. A few action figures lined the bookshelves as a memento to the past... but predominantly there was a singular theme. From the posters of heavy metal legends on the walls to the modest but impressive collection of guitars by the bed, it was clear that music was the driving focus of the teenager that lived in the room.

The door eased open as the teenager returned, his head hanging a bit. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and tossed it into his over-full trash can before flopping on his bed. He was a mere five foot six, wearing an olive drab t-shirt and black jeans and skateboard shoes. A gold necklace hung around his neck, keeping a Norse runic pendant above his chest. His dishwater blond hair was cut far shorter than he would have liked at the behest of his parents, especially for someone in a heavy metal band. The teen gazed up at the posters of the long haired, long bearded heavy metal bands he admired so much before sighing.

"Sig, did you check the mail?" His mother called from the other room.

"Yes! It's on the table where it always is." Sig groaned, pulling his pillow over his face.

"Sigvardr, don't you take that tone with me." His mother chastised. Sig growled, pulling the pillow even tighter over his face. He was so tired of taking care of his mother, of being the responsible one, of focusing so hard on school. Sig would have given anything to have his music take him away, to sweep him to fame and freedom... But his band hadn't even been selected for the regionals. Sig new that Nidhogg still had a lot of growing to do, it was composed of just three seniors and one kid that had graduated... but Sig wanted it so bad, he knew he had it in him. The serpent that served as the logo for their band was sprawled all over his notebooks and backpack, it was his life... He wanted it to be all of his life.

While Sig had covered his face in a pillow, he hadn't seen the swirling light collecting outside of his window, nor that the old window slowly rattled upwards, lurching and sliding, the dried paint cracking so it could open. The settled glass rattled, the bottom having gotten thicker over the years until it warped the image beyond. With the window open, the heat of the room spilled out while the rain outside grew louder. Sig slowly pulled the pillow off his face and sat up, looking at the window. He could have sworn it was shut... The teen slipped his legs out of bed and got up, moving over to shut the window before the rain destroyed anything.

Sig put both hands on the window and pushed it down, making sure it was secure before he turned to return to his bed, though something caught the corner of his eye. Sig turned back, realizing there was a book on the windowsill... It was the size of a spiral notebook but it was bound in leather. Emblazoned on the front was the Nidhogg serpent and several runes. The book looked very old. Sig was stunned, he'd never seen anything so fine as the book in his life. He lifted it up reverently before he opened the cover. To Sig's surprise, the inside contained sheet music... Notes, melodies, riffs, solos... There were numerous songs inside, inscribed clearly. The lyrics were both in English and Norse. Sig flipped through the pages, moving to sit on the end of his bed. There were parts for guitar, bass, keyboards, drums... it was all right there... and there were no copyrights anywhere. The teen closed the book and held it close to his chest, not sure what to do for a moment before he quickly grabbed his cell phone and called his band mates.

****

The garage door rumbled open, but before it had opened fully the last member of the band to arrive moved in. David was soaked by the rain, his brown hair going down to the middle of his neck. He was taller than Sig but almost was sickly thin. He looked around at the rest of his band. Sig had his guitar strapped over his shoulders while the Colt sat at the drums, pulling his red hair back into a ponytail. That left Kellan on the keyboards. The amps had been set up, the instruments had been tuned and Sig had photocopied the first song for them to try, putting out all the parts. David moved around, looking at the group with a bit of uncertainty.

"I thought after they turned us down that you wanted to take some time off..." David said. Sig shifted a bit.

"I thought that at first, but when a horse knocks you off, you gotta get right back up and... I had this stroke of inspiration; I know we can do this song justice." Sig said.

"It's a stroke of genius man, I looked at it, it's going to shake the neighborhood apart." Colt grinned.

"It'll be hard to keep up, but I think it's going to be great." Kellan agreed. David gave a nod.

"Well, then I guess there isn't much to do but try it out." David said, moving to pull his bass on. He plugged into the amp and adjusted his levels, looking through the music. Colt gave a count with his drums before Sig and David went at it. The garage erupted into loud sound with rough guitar and bass, the distortion as much a part of the music as anything else. Colt's drumsticks came down like Thor's hammer, pounding out a rapid percussion. Sig and David's fingers flew over the strings, bringing rich tones to the garage. In a few short notes it already surpassed anything their band had ever managed. Sig was getting into it, his head swaying forward and back. Soon Colt was too, his ponytail flailing around.

Kellan's head nearly rolled around as he played, falling into a trance of pure creation and music and soon David's head was bobbing in time with Sig's. The introduction spilled from their instruments, building and building. On the printed out pages the sheet music started to glimmer softly, the black ink throbbing with red light. The same red light seemed to be growing from the thumping speakers as well. Despite his bobbing head, Sig opened his eyes as his vocal part fast approached, his

Sig's lips parted and suddenly his voice belted out, thick and growling and deeper than it had ever been, lamenting the lost spirits of the Vikings, the call of the waves, their ancestors reaching out to them. It was traditional Viking metal, but there was something more in the words. It was as if the song was reaching out to them. The music was ensnaring the band, filling them and Sig's words were sealing the deal. They were being filled with such power, such masculinity. Soon David's eyes closed and his fingers sped up. He was playing the song without even looking. Kellan was next to close his eyes, then Colt. The three played as if they had been doing it all their lives, completely swept away. Sig kept singing, closing his eyes, his head bobbing, his throat feeling as if it was on fire from how rough he was singing, but they had never sounded even a percent as good as they did at that moment.

With each thrash of Sig's head, his blond hair was starting to stretch out, whipping forward and back, growing longer and spilling from his skull. The hair spread past his ears and extended down his neck. The same thing was happening to David. His hair had already been down his neck but soon the brown hair was growing silkier, sliding across his shoulders before spilling down his back. Colt's red hair was growing out rapidly as well, his ponytail becoming lost in the mane of red hair he was getting. Kellan's brown hair spilled across his shoulders, sliding down his front in two long tufts while even more spread over his back.

The words kept gushing from Sig's mouth, dropping in pitch as he sang. His entire body was on fire with inspiration, the song coming from some distance source. His shoulders and back and legs ached, his entire body starting to stretch and grow. With each growling yell, Sig's lips contorted, spitting out the consonants. His shifting lips moved the flesh above his upper lip before soft invisible hairs pushed out, spreading across above his upper lip. The hairs grew longer and longer, sliding down on both sides of Sig's lips. As Sig reached the refrain, blond pigment spread into the hairs, turning it from peach fuzz into an actual mustache. Sig spit out more words, beads of saliva landing on the blond hair growing out on his chin, the hair sliding out rapidly, sliding down from his chin into a long goatee.

David's head continued thrashing back and forth, his long mane of hair whipping about. His entire lower face had darkened with stubble before thick facial hair pushed out, obscuring his upper lip and cheeks, then his chin. The thick brown beard grew out, bushy and dense before dropping down longer and longer. Behind David, Colt's muscles bulged, spreading so large that his shirt was tearing. Colt developed nothing more than an orange strip of hair along his chin, but his red hair had spread down his back all the way to his waist, long and silky like liquid fire. Kellan bounced his head forward and back, hair gushing out of his chin like it came from a faucet before the thick brown strands of hair started spiraling around one another, wrapping into a long braid. Soon the braided goatee was swinging back and forth in time with the music.

The sheet music was glowing brighter and brighter by the moment, the ink changing color before light spilled out of the speakers, snakes of red energy shooting out and moving out into the city. Colt grunted and moaned, his lips twitching as a pain spread through his head. The skin on his temples suddenly bulged out into thick lumps, something moving beneath before the skin parted and thick white horns emerged, growing outwards before rising up, looking like a Viking helmet without the helmet. Kellen moaned, his lips parting to reveal fangs and a forked tongue before his mouth closed again. Sig nearly fell to his knees as he felt the tuft of his blond goatee touch his collar bone, but the music gave him the strength to stay up.

The discord of the song gave way to harmony, Kellan's melodies picking up, the base and guitar falling into sync before they all played the save ten haunting notes and came to a stop, the music leaving off with an echo from the amp. Sig turned and looked to his band mates with a deep satisfied grin, unaware that they had changed... or that the garage around them had changed as well. Expensive thick black sound proofing lined the walls. The boxes of Christmas ornaments and old magazines were gone, replaced with cases of mead and even more instruments. The memories in their heads were slowly shifting, changing, and contorting... just like the notes in the leather bound book in the corner as the runes on the cover pulsed with red light.

****

Morning had spread across Portland and the weather seemed to be letting up. The overcast had broken and thick patches of blue drifted along above the city. Even the sidewalks were drying out, returning to their neutral light gray. Seth Dillon wandered along the Lloyd district, spending his day off just enjoying the city he fought so hard to protect. He gazed up at the massive green glass towers of the Oregon Convention center, making his way toward the Rose Quarter. At a distance Seth seemed like many of the people in Portland with his own eclectic style. It wasn't until he was standing by someone else that it was clear he was much taller than them.

His straight brown hair was cut into a fairly simple haircut, his ears kept clear but the shag reaching the middle of his neck. A long brown goatee hung down five inches from his chin, one of the few reminders he kept to his wild past. While he dressed rather conservatively during work, Seth had decided to slip on baggy black pants that obscured his shoes and an old well worn leather jacket. It was a far cry from his teen days; his ears had barely closed up from all of the piercings before he had joined the Ghostbusters.

Seth wandered, reflecting more on his past than he had in some time, eventually making it to the massive Rose Quarter. It was quite a large entertainment area, holding both an arena and coliseum used for sports, concerts and shopping... though Seth nearly felt like he had stepped into his past. Every telephone pole, cross walk pole and community bulletin board was being plastered with an announcement for an upcoming concert at the Rose Garden Arena. Several men dressed in studded leather were putting up the posters with impressive speed. Seth moved over, looking at one of the posters. The band was standing on a pile of horned skulls, each with impressive custom instruments and the signature long hair of true head bangers.

Seth's eyes drifted to the band name, Nidhogg. He remembered the name from his Norse mythology. It was the serpent or dragon that gnawed on the root of the world tree and was controlled by their equivalent of Satan, trying to get out of hell and into the world. It was par for the course for Viking metal to employ mythology. What concerned Seth most was not the name, but that he hadn't heard of the band... It was a matter of pride and the fact that the band was big enough to play in the Rose Garden without him hearing about it was a huge breach.

Seth pulled out his cell phone and plugged in some ear buds, sliding them into his ears before looking up one of Nidhogg's music videos. All of the results were incredibly recent, almost shockingly so. Seth felt a little better than they had risen out of obscurity so fast, though he was surprised that they already were performing concerts when their album had only been released a week prior. Still, Seth was always happy to embrace his old musical tastes. The video buffered before it started playing. Seth's back went rigid as the guitar and base started and the drums flooded in next. It was as if the percussion had control of his heart before the haunting melody of the keyboard built into the song.

The music flowed through the man in a way that no song ever had before, unlocking all the doors he had shut between himself and his past. He felt sixteen again, rebellious and wild. Seth's large chest rose and fell before the vocalist burst out his growling voice, shooting through Seth like lightning. Seth closed his eyes, his head tipping back, shuddering softly. The screen of the phone started pulsing with red energy before it spiraled up the headphones and into Seth's ears. His eyes snapped open and he opened the Ticketmaster app on his phone, ordering tickets to the concert at once... before promptly buying their album and streaming it to his phone. Glancing around, Seth grabbed one of the Nidhogg posters and pulled it off, clutching it in his hand like the holy grail. He had to share it with someone...

****

The door to the kitchen in the firehouse opened as Nico moved in carrying a distinctive pink box from Voodoo Doughnuts. Like many of the Ghostbusters, they took pride in local establishments, though Voodoo's quirky sense of humor and frequent hauntings made a good match for the team, especially after a long day of Ghostbusting. Nico opened up the box, revealing the highly unique doughnuts within.

"Diablos Rex for Eli." Nico said, handing him a chocolate doughnut with a pentagram and red sprinkles, "Mango Tango for the boss man." Nico said, handing Gray an orange and white doughnut, "And cream filled for me." Nico said, electing not to state the fact that his doughnut was named 'Cock-N-Balls' for its Bavarian cream filled balls and phallic center tube. Nico settled down at the table and the three dug into their food. They'd trapped six ghosts in all during the day and had finished off their waitlist. Barring an emergency, it was looking like Seth wouldn't be the only one with time off.

"So, Eli, got any good plans?" Nico asked, licking the thick white cream up that had escaped his lips.

"I was going to go swimming, maybe catch a movie. They've got Specter three in theaters." Eli grinned.

"But that movie is so unrealistic, ghosts don't behave that way at all, and the effects... And it was stuck in development hell for like two decades" Nico chuckled.

"I think the effects hold up perfectly fine, and it's the character development that's important." Eli smirked, "What are you doing Nico?"

"There's... some shops I wanted to check out." Nico smiled, thinking of the brand new adult shop by his flat. Supposedly it had a very exotic inventory.

"How about you Gray?" Eli asked.

"I think I'll hold down the fort." Gray said, as he often did.

"Awww, come on. You need to relax, get out for a while." Nico said. Gray smirked.

"You two go ahead, I am fully capable of relaxing here with some nice tea, maybe I'll meditate for a while." Gray said. Nico smirked, taking a napkin to his lips before he stood up and took the box to the trash can. Eli stood up and stretched, pulling on a sweatshirt.

"You sure?" Eli asked.

"I'm sure, have fun." Gray said. Nico gave a wave before he headed down the stairs, Eli following after. After a few minutes Gray could hear the front door open and close, then silence. Gray cleaned up the table and moved over to the dishwasher, setting it to run before he grabbed a broom and swept up a bit before he finally moved into their bedroom and flopped down on the bed on his stomach, closing his eyes. With the looming silence, Gray started to drift off into a ight sleep, at least until the floor board creaked. He rolled over to see Seth standing at the foot of his bed with some headphones, though he looked rather different. Thick steel earrings hung from his ear and his upper lip was dark with stubble. His hair seemed a bit longer too and a thick necklace hung from his neck.

"Hey Gray, you've got to hear this new band, its amazing." Seth said, gazing into Gray's eyes. Gray looked a bit surprised. He had never really talked music with any of his fellow busters. He sat up, stretching a bit.

"What kind is it?" Gray asked.

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but Viking Metal. I know, not your usual thing but... Give it a try, what can it hurt?" Seth asked.

"You came in on your day off to have me listen to a song?" Gray chuckled. Seth shrugged a bit.

"Well, ever since you saved me from being turned into a gargoyle I... I've really thought we should hang out more. Besides, Nidhogg's got a concert tonight and I saw our docket was empty, so if you like the songs... I'd spring for your ticket." Seth offered. Gray smiled, it was a pretty touching sentiment, though he was pretty sure there weren't a lot of Asian fans of heavy metal. Still, it wouldn't hurt to listen.

"I'd be honored to listen." Gray said. Seth's eyes practically sparkled.

"Good, I've got the perfect song for you." Seth said flipping through his song list until he came to one called 'Fenrir', named after the great wolf spirit. He brought the headphones down over Gray's ears and pressed play. While Gray had been expecting to indulge Seth in his interest, those expectations were shattered as the notes poured into his very soul. Once more the cell phone screen pulsed with red light, just a little brighter than before. Gray reached up to clutch the headphones against his ears, his eyes slowly sliding shut. He gasped sharply as the vocals started, ripping through his very soul. Seth felt a charge move through his body just introducing his friend to the amazing music, moving to kneel at the end of the bed.

Gray was shaking and writhing as the music moved through him. His fingers clenched so hard his fingernails were digging into his skin, though the reason for that came from the fact that his fingernails were growing at an unnatural rate, stretching into points and growing black, the tips curving just a bit before the nails sunk into his fingers, extending from the tips as true claws. Gray's jaw went slack and his tongue slipped past is lips, hanging out as he panted. His hands relaxed, though as they unfolded, it was clear that parts of his palm and fingertips had swollen, ballooning out into pillow like pads.

"I'm... Oh god, this music is turning me on." Gray whimpered, his eyes opening, his irises having changed to a bright amber. Seth grinned, leaning in.

"That's perfectly natural Gray, give into it." Seth whispered, reaching to unbutton and unzip his leader's pants. Seth reached in and found Grayson's cock and drew it out of his fly, though the cock Seth held in his hands was far from the one Gray had woken up with that day. The eight inch length was a furious red, thick and bloated. The head of his shaft almost seemed pointed and flared like a canine's. Seth gave Gray's cock before he started stroking it up and down, adding pressure. Gray panted hard, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he started lifting his hips uncontrollably, humping like mad. Seth felt great power in his hands as the cock seemed to stretch and grow. Seth worked it hard, wanting to help Gray get as big as possible.

Around the headphones, Gray's ears stretched out into points, the pointed tips pushing up and back at a slight angle. The music was changing in Gray's ears, the words so short and rough they practically sounded like barking. Gray moaned, his lips turning black as his teeth stretched into sharp fangs and saliva dripped from his lengthening tongue. Even Grayson's pants were bunching up as something spread out behind him Gray whimpered in discontent before the swelling mass shifted upwards and suddenly a short fluffy black tail emerged, forcing his pants down part way down his ass cheeks. The tail grew out longer and thicker, becoming luxuriously soft, swaying back and forth.

Soft popping sounds came like a leather puncher working away, though the truth was that more black claws had forced through Gray's boots as his feet turned into paws inside. Gray's swelling balls forced out of his pants, covered in soft black fur before the base of his shaft bulged out in two half spheres, forming his first knot. Seth reached over with his second hand, squeezing Gray's canine knot, fondling and stroking it. Gray lifted his head skyward and howled, and as he did so his face popped and shifted, the bones stretching out into a long muzzle, black fur erupting from his skin to cover his face before sweeping down his neck and across his torso, then his arms. The fur swarmed his fingers, leaving only the paw pads uncovered. There was even a swelling of flesh around the base of his cock as a furry sheath formed, ready to encompass the cock when not in use.

Gray's shirt grew tight in places as his shoulders shifted, growing a bit bulkier as they changed. The joint became a lot more complex, able to support his arms either as they were or as front legs as well. His hips shifted too, giving his legs the ability function in bipedal or quadrupedal movement. Gray continued howling before his massive canine phallus pulsed and thick yellowed cum shot out, spraying all over his shirt and furry chin. Seth moved to lick and slurp at the cum soaked fur until it was clean before leaning down to give Gray's cock a lick. Gray shuddered before collapsing onto the bed.

Seth continued to lap and slurp at Gray, licking the cum from him before he lifted his head up. The stubble above his upper lip had grown into a thick mustache that obscured his upper lip and brown stubble covered his cheeks. Even his goatee seemed longer, almost eight inches. The muscles he had been putting on in the gym seemed bigger as well, filling out his clothing just right. Seth sat up and stretched before he moved over to a box he had brought in. He opened it up and pulled out a thick spiked leather collar. Gray's eyes sparkled before he lunged off the bed, running over to Seth on all fours, his cock swaying beneath his furry belly.

"Good boy." Seth murmured, leaning down to put the collar onto Gray, petting his wolf head, stroking the fur. Gray panted in delight, moving to lick Seth's leg. Seth chuckled, "Looks like we're going to enjoy that concert. Come on boy." Seth said, moving for the stairs. Gray followed after him, his torn and battered clothing falling off as he walked.

****

The growling sound of skateboard wheels on cement echoed off of the old buildings as Eli rolled along, the wind whipping through his blond hair, his tan skateboard shoes gripping the deck of his board with confidence, though Eli himself was feeling far from confident. Something strange was going on. No one had been at the pool and no one had been in the theater either... but the streets were crowded with people... Eli moved between several men, making his way back to the firehouse. He was used to a variety of styles in Portland, especially the bearded plaid shirted hipster lumberjacks, but he'd never seen so many metal heads before... He nearly felt bald in comparison to some of the long haired men on the street, and he felt VERY baby faced.

Eli reached the firehouse and picked up his board before stepping in, shutting the door behind him. He looked around, checking the security system. The lights were on and the firehouse wasn't in lockdown which meant that Gray had to be there. Eli called out for him and moved around before checking upstairs, then he took the pole down and checked the maintenance room. Finally he moved down the stairs to the basement, but he wasn't by the containment unit either. Eli sighed, pulling out his cell phone and called Nico.

"Nico here." Nico replied on the phone.

"I just checked back in the firehouse... It's empty, no one's here but they didn't set the security grid." Eli replied.

"That's weird... But things are a bit weird around here too... Everyone's trying to get me to listen to some metal band..." Nico murmured. Eli's eyes went wide.

"I know! There are head bangers all over the place..." Eli replied.

"I know a musical revolution isn't really our department, but do me a favor and run a PKE scan, will you?" Nico asked. Eli moved back up the stairs and over to the lockers, pulling out a PKE meter. He snapped it on and the bars lit up, moving half way up the scale already. The display showed a generalized field that was growing stronger by the moment and a weak local source as well. Eli followed the local signal, moving up the stairs. He passed through the kitchen and moved into the bedrooms and over to Gray's bed. The signal was strongest here but Eli didn't notice anything at first, at least until he saw a yellowed goo on one of the sheets.

"There's a PKE field over the town, and I think I found some slime on Gray's bed..." Eli murmured.

"Maybe you should check the security footage, I'm on my way." Nico replied. Eli moved over to the security panel and set the meter down, rewinding the footage. He saw a whole lot of nothing, then Gray wandered in and flopped down. A moment later Seth came in and put headphones on Gray.

"Oh crap... Whatever this is, Seth is affected and he had Gray listen..." Eli murmured, pausing. He leaned closer to the screen, noticing that both Seth and Gray were looking different... and then Eli saw Seth open Gray's pants. Eli blushed, his eyes snapping shut before one opened again, "Oh god, it isn't slime... It's semen..." Eli whimpered before he flinched. Nico had dropped his phone before scrambling to pick it up again.

"Wait, what? Really?" Nico asked, his breath a bit huffier. Eli, however, had been distracted by the shocking footage of Gray being transformed into a wolfman.

"The music changed him... He transformed..." Eli whispered.

"This... is bad. This music is addictive, mind controlling and transformative... I'm just outside, come downstairs." Nico said. Eli shut off his phone and grabbed the PKE meter, moving down the stairs just as Nico shut the door behind him and activated the security grid, locking the place down. He'd barely made it in before people were knocking at the door... and then a moment later, they heard the crackling of a boombox trying to tune in a radio station. Nico grimaced, grabbing Eli's arm. The two moved down the metal stairs into the basement, as far away from the noise as they could get.

"What are we going to do?" Eli asked, whimpering.

"It's alright, I've got a plan... Just before you joined up we had to deal with some sirens... I whipped up special noise canceling earplugs. We just have to adjust them to block out the psychokinetic carrier wave in that music. Do you have the meter still?" Nico asked. Eli nodded, pulling it out. He brought up the readings of both the general field and the semen, isolating the frequency. Nico smiled, moving over to the metal wall next to the Containment unit. It was arrayed much like the safety deposit boxes in the bank, acting as part of their archives. Nico moved through before opening a drawer, pulling out the flesh colored plastic earplugs.

"How long will it take?" Eli asked.

"A bit... But I better finish before that concert gets underway, or we may pass the point of no return..." Nico grimaced, pulling out his microelectronics tools from his pocket.

"Concert?!" Eli asked, eyes widening.

"Yeah, they've got posters everywhere... They go on at six." Nico grimaced.

"But it's already five..." Eli said. Nico nodded.

"I'll go as fast as I can." Nico said softly, laying the ear plugs out on the table.

****

The Rose Garden arena roared with the power and might of thousands of converted fans. Fifteen thousand seats had been filled in the stands and the entire floor of the arena had been filled with head bangers and metal heads, though many were showing various stages of transformation. Some had small Viking horns, others like Gray had become hounds, some had developed long wicked fangs in their mouths but most had changed to fit the image of a metal rocker. Even in the short time of getting from the firehouse to the arena, Seth's beard had grown in, the cheek hair pushing out to be as long as his goatee, dominating his face with a massive full beard. He stood shoulder to shoulder with others near the stage.

Gray had been let off his leash and wandered through the crowd, sniffing at all the musk and maleness before he spotted another wolf with his tail lifted and a quivering tail hole. Gray's cock hardened at once and he charged, pouncing on the wolf before spearing into his pucker, hilting into the other canine, fucking him down to the ground, humping him listlessly. The other male drooled wildly, humping the floor. Near by, countless men thrashed against each other, slamming their bodies into one another and getting the mosh pit going already.

The roar reached a pinnacle before the stage lights shifted and jets of fire rushed up. A laser projection threw the Nidhogg serpent onto the back of the stage in red light, though the image rippled and shifted as if it was trying to break out of the light. Amid the sparks and flame jets, the band moved out, walking with pride and power and strength. Sig stood at almost seven feet tall, his shoulders huge. His blond hair went down to his ass and his full beard dropped down below his collar bone. His left arm was covered in serpent tattoos while his right arm had a thick Norse hammer emblazoned on it.

Kellan moved to the keyboards, his long braided goatee hanging from his skin, skin that looked rather green in the lights. His nose seemed far less substantial, his nostrils practically slits as amber eyes gazed out. His skin even looked segmented, making him look rather serpentine. A forked tongue darting out into the air. Colt emerged next, his wide horns rising and arching up. His flaming orange hair had formed a thick mane, but his face seemed long, stretched into a muzzle. Like Kellan his skin seemed to glisten like scales in the light, though his skin tone was closer to the burgundy end of the spectrum. His clawed hands wrapped around the drum sticks, looking almost like a dragon. David emerged last, his body covered in dark brown fur, canine ears sticking up from his head, a thick beard hanging from his muzzle. His paws gripped the neck of the bass, his claws ready to strum the reinforced strings. Sig pulled out the leather bound book and put it before him, opening it up to the first page. The English had long since faded, the norse more complicated than ever before.

The cheers of the crowd grew even louder as they saw the heroes that had ensnared their very souls. The musicians took their place before Colt roared out the count and then, all at once, the band erupted into song. The quick drums and guitar spread out through the arena like a shockwave before Sig suddenly burst out, his growling voice shaking the ground like an earthquake. The music was building fast, coming out of massive speakers throbbing with red energy. In fact, there was so much energy in the arena that the air itself was growing into a red haze, moving along the floor like a fog, spiraling up around people. More fans morphed into wolves and snakes and dragons while others became more and more the epitome of the Viking gods.

As Kellan played on stage, his pants started to sizzle before they seemed to burn apart, falling from him as his legs started growing together. The flesh connected and filled out, new muscles forming rapidly as other bones disappeared. His green skin got even brighter as the skin hardened into scales. His knees disappeared, the keyboardist staying up by will alone as his feet merged, forming into a single point of flesh before more and more length grew outwards. Kellan resembled the Nagas of myth, becoming more serpent by the moment.

Across the arena one of the emergency exit doors opened up as Nico and Eli moved in. Eli almost felt like he was underwater. He could feel the sound waves passing through him and the vibration of the fans, but he couldn't hear anything but a faintly muffled roar of the fans. Nico gestured along the service path that led up toward the stage. Both men navigated through the crowd, though that was difficult while wearing proton packs. Eli had really wanted to bring his slime pack given that so many innocent people were in the way, but they needed a lot of power for what they had in mind.

On the stage Nidhogg moved from one song to the next, their fans thrasing and transforming more with every head bang and note... but something else was happening as well. The leather book was throbbing, pulsing with light at the same time of the haze around the masses. Even the laser logo was dancing around. Nico and Eli closed in on the stage, looking around for anything out of the ordinary. Eli spotted the red fog while Nico noticed the red glow of the speakers. Their eyes tried to correlate the two before they saw the glowing red book. They gave each other a knowing glance before Nico signaled for Eli to stay where he was out of the way. Nico moved through a door back stage, crossing around behind the band.

Eli waited where he was, thinking Nico was taking far too long. He prayed that Nico hadn't been captured; still, he could test his new equipment. He lifted his proton blaster and examined the thick module strapped onto it and plugged into the nuclear disc generator. The sonic damper was experimental to say the least, and for the moment it was useless when not used in tandem. While Eli wasn't able to hear much of anything, the bright red flash on the stage caught his attention. He looked up as the Nidhogg laser logo came to life, lifting off of the wall. The serpent swam out through the air over the audience, gathering the red haze into itself, becoming more tangible before it spiraled back and shot into the leather book. Deep red sparks showered out of the book before the pages started flipping through, stopping in the center of the book before a well of light exploded and a true serpent started emerging.

"Enough of this!" Eli muttered before he activated his proton blaster. The stream shot out across the stage and hit the snake, coiling around it. The snake writhed and thrashed, pulling Eli out of his protected nook and onto the stage. Seeing the interloper interfering with the concert, the fans started picking up things and throwing them. Eli yelped as he was hit with boots and things. The band didn't seem particularly enthused either and started playing even harder. Across the far end of the stage, Nico emerged from the other side. Seeing Eli already in the fray, Nico moved up quickly. Eli broke off the proton stream and switched to the damper. White light spilled out of the ribs on the device before both Nico and Eli started at once.

Across the stage the air began to ripple and contort like heat distortion, though the sound of the band was dying away. No matter how much Nidhogg screamed or strummed or hit, no sound got out. The band struggled and the audience grew still. The only sound to escape the field was the screech of the serpent trying to get out of the book. It stretched and contorted, whipping about... though its thrashing seemed massively diminished without the musical accompaniment. Nico knew their power was limited but he had to try. He shot out a capture stream, the energy crackling around the snake. Eli did the same, the two beams wrapping around the snake.

Nico opened his mouth when he was sure Eli could see his lips and mouthed 'on four'. Both men started to count. 'One, two, three, four' and with that they drew the serpent ghost up just a bit before they jammed their blasters down, slamming the serpent back into the book. The portal collapsed around him before the capture streams hit the book and the old pages ignited. The fire built up into a huge pillar of flame that turned from red to green before suddenly it exploded. A massive shockwave swept out across the arena, knocking the audience down to the floor and out of their seats. The band toppled backwards too, their instruments shimmering as they turned from top of the line into the cheap ones they had before.

Eli and Nico powered down their equipment, the only ones left standing since they canceled out the shockwave. In the audience, people started to slowly pick themselves back up slowly. While they had been united in style and fashion before, it appeared now that the head bangers were made of people from every walk of life. There were shaggy haired high schoolers, buzz cut lawyers and soldiers, fitness instructors and doctors... Seth groaned softly, crawling up onto all fours before standing. His hair and goatee had returned to normal, though the earrings that had been added remained. Seth looked around before his eyes went wide. Near his feet Gray was laying naked, except for a studded collar around his neck. Seth quickly pulled off his leather jacket and moved to put it around Gray. Thankfully it was just long enough to cover his package and give him a bit of modesty. Many other naked individuals in the arena were not so lucky.

On stage Nico and Eli moved over to where the band had toppled. David, Kellan and Colt had returned to normal. Sig was once more a thin and scrawny teenager of five foot six, though his arms were covered in tattoos... and a thick blond mustache and short goatee adorned his face. Eli pulled out his PKE meter and scanned the kids before scanning the ashes of the book and the audience. There was no more residual anywhere. He slowly pulled out his earrings.

"What happened?" David murmured, "Wait... We're actually here? It wasn't a dream?" David asked in shock. Kellan looked down at his legs, sighing in relief that he had them back.

"No... No no no! It's gone..." Sig whimpered, moving to crawl over to the ashes, his fingers sifting through it all, "No..." he whimpered.

"What was this?" David asked again, looking at the Ghostbusters.

"Well, if my guess is right-" Eli started but he was interrupted as Seth moved up onto the stage, lifting his hand.

"I've got this." Seth said softly, looking at the band, "Do you know what Nidhogg means?" Seth asked.

"The serpent of the tree of life..." Colt said.

"Nidhogg was a creature of the underworld, trying to get out for all eternity... and when he does, it'll bring forth Ragnaok, the end of the world and the final tribulation" Seth said.

"And... he almost got out?" Kellan whispered, "Oh my god..." he whispered. Nico moved over to where Sig was, resting a hand on his back. The teen looked over at Nico with sorrowful eyes.

"I had it... I had my own life; I had fame and talent..." Sig whimpered.

"You still can... You can practice, you can train, you can aspire to this. There just aren't any shortcuts in life." Nico said softly before he stood, looking out at the crowd. Many people had started flooding out of the arena, eager to get away from whatever had happened. Others, like Gray, lingered in confusion while some true metal fans stayed, waiting to see what would happen.

"I think I'm going to help guide people out." Eli said.

"Good idea, I'll do the same. Seth?" Nico asked.

"I'll stick around for a minute, just make sure things are okay, just leave me a meter." Seth said, taking Eli's. Nico nodded and passed by Gray. Gray blushed furiously but gave a curt bow of his head. Eli continued on, not wanting to embarrass him, though Nico lingered a bit, trying to get a peek before giving up. Gray moved up the stairs and onto the stage where Seth was. Seth looked at Gray with sorrowful eyes, "I... I'm sorry I got you into this and forced it on you." Seth apologized.

"It's alright buddy, don't worry, you weren't yourself." Gray said, shivering a bit at the cold updraft.

"Well, I kind of was. I mean, I loved this metal stuff and I wanted to share it with someone and that was you, I know I don't really talk much but..." Seth trailed off.

"But what?" Gray asked. Seth blushed before he leaned in and pressed his lips to Gray's. Gray's back arched in surprise, feeling the soft lips pry against his and the goatee fluff on his chin. Gray was shocked, but he soon melted into the kiss, his lips parting and letting Seth's tongue in. While the two embraced, Sig had moved back to the center of the stage. He lifted up his guitar and slipped it on, though the strap was quite loose now that he wasn't a towering Norse giant. He tightened it up until it fit again and looked at the others.

"It's going to be a long time until we're back here... And I think we're changing our name, but... You want to give it one last attempt since we didn't make regionals?" Sig asked. David looked surprised before a grin crossed his face and he nodded. Colt grinned, moving to set his drums back up and slide into place. Kellan leaned his keyboards back up and sat down on the stool again. Sig hesitated before he started to play, the others joining in.

While hesitant at first, Sig's fingers moved with more fluidity than before. Colt was seamless, Kellan's notes were still a bit haunting and David didn't miss a note. Their music began swelling, filling the arena from the big speakers. Seth and Gray broke their kiss and turned, looking at the band just as Sig's lips parted and he let out his best growl. He still sounded young, almost more like a screamo band than Viking metal... but he was actually pretty good. Seth pulled out the PKE meter. There was no resonance, no remnant... but it seemed the experience had changed the band. They had been left with some of the talent, the charisma and the drive... And Sig was no doubt the most bad ass looking teenager at Jefferson High.

Seth put his arm around Gray's waist and led him down the steps and through the remaining audience, heading towards the exit. Gray had already forgotten that he was still wearing a collar, but he didn't care. He felt fantastic. He had just realized he was gay by getting the first kiss in his life that felt right from a man he trusted his life to on a daily basis. Things couldn't be better. The two reached the far door before glancing back, watching the head bangers going at it, their hair whipping around, their cheers ripping out for the high school band that would no doubt go places. They had a hell of an origin story to tell and their legend would live on. Seth smiled, glad that he'd taken part in the music of his youth again. Maybe he had turned his back on it a bit much. After all, he'd finally confessed his feelings to Gray at a metal concert. How bad could it be?